First Marathon - Edinburgh May 2013

sulli

Well, I decided to do my first ever Marathon back in November and lets just say training has been sporadic to say the least. Got my half marathon in in March with a time of 1 hr 44. Was fairly wrecked after it!! Then as the weeks went by i was not getting over 25 miles per week due to work, injury and playing Gaelic with individual runs of between 8-10 miles at a time!

In start of april did 14.5miles where i was in pain and continued doing very little! Start of may i then did 20 miles in 3.15 where i was absolutely off my feet and not in a good way! I know people will say im an idiot for even attempting it with as little training as I have but am going to give it a go!

I did another 10 miler last night and legs are heavy today so seeing as the marathon is on the 26th of this month...that is it for me!!!

Feeling very nervous and afraid of what is waiting for me at mile 22 to mile 26 but looking forward to finishing my first one! I always wanted to do one and with football being my first passion i was never going to be able to commit to a training program!! My mates think im mental doing it but as they say "No pain no gain"

average_runner

sulli wrote: »

Well, I decided to do my first ever Marathon back in November and lets just say training has been sporadic to say the least. Got my half marathon in in March with a time of 1 hr 44. Was fairly wrecked after it!! Then as the weeks went by i was not getting over 25 miles per week due to work, injury and playing Gaelic with individual runs of between 8-10 miles at a time!

In start of april did 14.5miles where i was in pain and continued doing very little! Start of may i then did 20 miles in 3.15 where i was absolutely off my feet and not in a good way! I know people will say im an idiot for even attempting it with as little training as I have but am going to give it a go!

I did another 10 miler last night and legs are heavy today so seeing as the marathon is on the 26th of this month...that is it for me!!!

Feeling very nervous and afraid of what is waiting for me at mile 22 to mile 26 but looking forward to finishing my first one! I always wanted to do one and with football being my first passion i was never going to be able to commit to a training program!! My mates think im mental doing it but as they say "No pain no gain"

Well at least u know you didn't train. Run the marathon at a slower pace than your 20 mile run. Try and enjoy it.

sulli

I am sure I will enjoy it, have done a few adventure races before so no what the pain is like but me thinks and knows this will be a different level!!! Looking forward to crossing that line (hopefully!!!!)

Bahanaman

sulli wrote: »

I am sure I will enjoy it, have done a few adventure races before so no what the pain is like but me thinks and knows this will be a different level!!! Looking forward to crossing that line (hopefully!!!!)

You'll enjoy it alright, just maybe not straight away! It might take a while after the finish for the sense of achievement to set in! I did my first marathon in Dublin in 2011 and have little memory of the last six miles. When I crossed the line I was very grateful for the presence of the John's Ambulance people! Still one of the best experiences I've ever had. There's great craic to be had out on the road during the race. Let us know what your opinion of the whole Edinburgh marathon experience is. Myself and some friends are thinking of doing this next year if possible. The very best of luck to you.

Dilbert75

I posted my experiences here - might be useful for you next year Bahanaman http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2056806123/1

Steroo

Go SLOW, slower than you think you should... The later miles 18+ will be hard work, going fast in the first half will only make it harder.

sulli

will defo be going slow! kinda hard to gauge when no pacers but will be starting in the 4 hr group but obviously wont be keeping up with them so will try and stake out someone who is running same pace as me and stick with them!
Bahanaman, what time did you do your first in? The nerves are really kicking in now! I did 10 miles on friday and nothing over weekend! avoided alcohol aswell!!!
GAA training tonight, will just do the running part and then wednesday and friday do 3 mile runs to keep legs ticking over...then it is in the hands of the gods!!!!

Bahanaman

sulli wrote: »

will defo be going slow! kinda hard to gauge when no pacers but will be starting in the 4 hr group but obviously wont be keeping up with them so will try and stake out someone who is running same pace as me and stick with them!
Bahanaman, what time did you do your first in? The nerves are really kicking in now! I did 10 miles on friday and nothing over weekend! avoided alcohol aswell!!!
GAA training tonight, will just do the running part and then wednesday and friday do 3 mile runs to keep legs ticking over...then it is in the hands of the gods!!!!

Don't do the training tonight!!!!!:eek: Surely they'll do without you for one night! I know it's hard to stay away from the field and the lads will have no sympathy with the fact you're running a marathon at the weekend but you'll be devastated if you get a dart of the hammer or something. That would put an end to the marathon altogether. I did my first in 3:36 but had followed an 18 week training plan fairly much all the way and my hurling career had finished the previous winter. I still hadn't a clue what I was at though. It's a huge learning curve when you come from a GAA background and start from scratch. Listen to what the others here are saying. Take it slow. Enjoy the experience. Like I said before I have little memory of the last 6 miles of my marathon debut and spent around half an hour in the John's Ambulance tent at the finish! Once you have one under the belt you can decide what the plan for the next one will be if there if there is to be one at all! And no matter how well you're prepared at the end of the day it's always in the hands of the Gods!!!

sulli

some solid advice there!!! i will defo be needing an ambulance after it i reckon!! have to break the news to them that i wont be playing the league match we have on the tuesday next week either!!!! haha!
Doubt there will be another one to be honest!! Too much dedication to training and it doesnt really fit in with Gaelic Football and can't be giving that up!!! 3.36 is a serious time!!! fair play! i know its stupid thinking of a time considering my training but would love to do it under 4 and a half and as you say if the gods are smiling anything is possible!!! ha!!!

Dilbert75

Good luck with the marathon Sulli - looking forward to the race report.

sulli

Cheers Dilbert! Absolutely bricking it now...flight early in the morning over!!! The doubts start creeping in now so trying to stay positive!! A DNF is not on the cards hopefully!!!! :eek:

Bahanaman

Sulli! How did your Edinburgh adventure go? Will ya be lining out in that football match tomorrow?!

sulli

Well, what can I say about my first marathon!!! What a great experience!! Flew over on the Saturday early so had plenty of time to roam about! Collected my race pack from the EMF hub which was very well organised! Thankfully where we stayed was very central so within walking distance everywhere!!! Got dinner in the city and went back to the room to watch champions league final!! The heat on Saturday was unreal so I was very nervous about that!

Got a great sleep which I was very surprised about but got up at half 7 Sunday morning! Drank some water with electrolytes and had breakfast at 8! Got my gear on...gels in hand and set off for the 10 minute walk to start line where I dropped off my bag on the luggage trucks that would be at the finish line which was so handy! Proceeded to my starting pen!! I was bricking it!! Race started at 10am.

So when I signed up I thought I would do it in 4 hrs but with lack of training not a chance or so I thought!!! The start was great, no congestion great buzz! My race plan was to go slow, slow slow!! Thankfully the first 4-5 miles were downhill and flat. I set out at about 8 mins for first mile and decided to really slow down so when I got to the 10k mark I was on 58 minutes. I decided I was going to keep it at 10 min miles! After 5 miles you are outside the city and heading out along the coast which I thought was lovely! The heat started to kick in though and that made it tough (I got a nice bit of sunburn!!!)

Plenty of water stations along the way and by the time I hit half way I was at 2 hrs 3 minutes. I was eating the gels as if there was no tomorrow...about 2-3 an hr!!! They ran a relay race with the Marathon and when I saw the first relay crowd finish the first leg this actually spurred me along...my mentality was ha...I'm doing a full one ye f&€kers!!!

Support was great along the way with people lining the route giving water and jellies which was great. There was even a woman at mile 19 out with a tub of Vaseline!!! At parts there was nothing really to look at but when you were running by coast it was lovely! Mile 17-18 we looped around and took a run through some woods which was well needed for the shade! I was feeling good and strong.

At the 30k mark I was at 2 hrs 58 and really started to believe! Although when I got to mile 24 I had some doubts but kicked on. I came over the finish line in 4 hrs 16 minutes. I am over the moon with this time considering preparation and training but what I am most proud of is that I NEVER once walked throughout the 26.2mile course! I wanted to...but didn't!that was a major achievement!

The finish was brilliant...got my medal, goody bag (which wasn't great) and collected my gear bag and met my girlfriend in reunion area...all excellently organised. The went to the beer tent and got my drink on!! Would I recommend it...most definitely!! One of the best feelings ever was crossing that finish line! Hopefully I didn't ramble on too long!!!!!

vitani

Congrats sulli - sounds like an amazing experience. Edinburgh is one of my favourite cities and you've just convinced me to run this one day.

PDCAT

sulli wrote: »

Well, what can I say about my first marathon!!! What a great experience!! Flew over on the Saturday early so had plenty of time to roam about! Collected my race pack from the EMF hub which was very well organised! Thankfully where we stayed was very central so within walking distance everywhere!!! Got dinner in the city and went back to the room to watch champions league final!! The heat on Saturday was unreal so I was very nervous about that!

Got a great sleep which I was very surprised about but got up at half 7 Sunday morning! Drank some water with electrolytes and had breakfast at 8! Got my gear on...gels in hand and set off for the 10 minute walk to start line where I dropped off my bag on the luggage trucks that would be at the finish line which was so handy! Proceeded to my starting pen!! I was bricking it!! Race started at 10am.


So when I signed up I thought I would do it in 4 hrs but with lack of training not a chance or so I thought!!! The start was great, no congestion great buzz! My race plan was to go slow, slow slow!! Thankfully the first 4-5 miles were downhill and flat. I set out at about 8 mins for first mile and decided to really slow down so when I got to the 10k mark I was on 58 minutes. I decided I was going to keep it at 10 min miles! After 5 miles you are outside the city and heading out along the coast which I thought was lovely! The heat started to kick in though and that made it tough (I got a nice bit of sunburn!!!)

Plenty of water stations along the way and by the time I hit half way I was at 2 hrs 3 minutes. I was eating the gels as if there was no tomorrow...about 2-3 an hr!!! They ran a relay race with the Marathon and when I saw the first relay crowd finish the first leg this actually spurred me along...my mentality was ha...I'm doing a full one ye f&€kers!!!

Support was great along the way with people lining the route giving water and jellies which was great. There was even a woman at mile 19 out with a tub of Vaseline!!! At parts there was nothing really to look at but when you were running by coast it was lovely! Mile 17-18 we looped around and took a run through some woods which was well needed for the shade! I was feeling good and strong.

At the 30k mark I was at 2 hrs 58 and really started to believe! Although when I got to mile 24 I had some doubts but kicked on. I came over the finish line in 4 hrs 16 minutes. I am over the moon with this time considering preparation and training but what I am most proud of is that I NEVER once walked throughout the 26.2mile course! I wanted to...but didn't!that was a major achievement!

The finish was brilliant...got my medal, goody bag (which wasn't great) and collected my gear bag and met my girlfriend in reunion area...all excellently organised. The went to the beer tent and got my drink on!! Would I recommend it...most definitely!! One of the best feelings ever was crossing that finish line! Hopefully I didn't ramble on too long!!!!!

Congratulations Sulli on a great performance. Time not bad considering the training you done. Now - enjoy a few days rest, next time stick to a proper training plan and you'll knock loads off that time.

DK501

Fair play Sulli - you've inspired me now

DK501

Fair play Sulli - you've inspired me now :-)

Bahanaman

sulli wrote: »

Well, what can I say about my first marathon!!! What a great experience!! Flew over on the Saturday early so had plenty of time to roam about! Collected my race pack from the EMF hub which was very well organised! Thankfully where we stayed was very central so within walking distance everywhere!!! Got dinner in the city and went back to the room to watch champions league final!! The heat on Saturday was unreal so I was very nervous about that!

Got a great sleep which I was very surprised about but got up at half 7 Sunday morning! Drank some water with electrolytes and had breakfast at 8! Got my gear on...gels in hand and set off for the 10 minute walk to start line where I dropped off my bag on the luggage trucks that would be at the finish line which was so handy! Proceeded to my starting pen!! I was bricking it!! Race started at 10am.

So when I signed up I thought I would do it in 4 hrs but with lack of training not a chance or so I thought!!! The start was great, no congestion great buzz! My race plan was to go slow, slow slow!! Thankfully the first 4-5 miles were downhill and flat. I set out at about 8 mins for first mile and decided to really slow down so when I got to the 10k mark I was on 58 minutes. I decided I was going to keep it at 10 min miles! After 5 miles you are outside the city and heading out along the coast which I thought was lovely! The heat started to kick in though and that made it tough (I got a nice bit of sunburn!!!)

Plenty of water stations along the way and by the time I hit half way I was at 2 hrs 3 minutes. I was eating the gels as if there was no tomorrow...about 2-3 an hr!!! They ran a relay race with the Marathon and when I saw the first relay crowd finish the first leg this actually spurred me along...my mentality was ha...I'm doing a full one ye f&€kers!!!

Support was great along the way with people lining the route giving water and jellies which was great. There was even a woman at mile 19 out with a tub of Vaseline!!! At parts there was nothing really to look at but when you were running by coast it was lovely! Mile 17-18 we looped around and took a run through some woods which was well needed for the shade! I was feeling good and strong.

At the 30k mark I was at 2 hrs 58 and really started to believe! Although when I got to mile 24 I had some doubts but kicked on. I came over the finish line in 4 hrs 16 minutes. I am over the moon with this time considering preparation and training but what I am most proud of is that I NEVER once walked throughout the 26.2mile course! I wanted to...but didn't!that was a major achievement!

The finish was brilliant...got my medal, goody bag (which wasn't great) and collected my gear bag and met my girlfriend in reunion area...all excellently organised. The went to the beer tent and got my drink on!! Would I recommend it...most definitely!! One of the best feelings ever was crossing that finish line! Hopefully I didn't ramble on too long!!!!!

Great stuff altogether! You'll always remember your first. Good luck in the football match tonight!