First marathon in the bag - what a blast!
Finished my first marathon (Melbourne) yesterday, and what an incredible experience it was! The weather was close to perfect while I was out there (hardly any wind and stayed overcast until right near the end when the sun came out to light up the city), the crowd was super supportive and fun, lots of friends and family came out to cheer me on, and seeing Kipchoge run (fly) past after the turnaround was a huge highlight.
I was aiming for a 3:30 and was slightly ahead at the halfway mark, but got a bit of a stitch soon after and couldn't sustain the pace. Watch buzzed with about 10km to go to tell me I was behind, and I finished in 3:35. I'm not usually a "close enough is good enough" kind of person, but honestly, in this case, close enough really is good enough. Training was good, fuelling was perfect, and I had a fantastic day - wouldn't change a thing!