Man! I feel like a runner

Bluesquare wrote: »

Just rejoining the boards now and enjoyed reading your log - I loved your half marathon report and your improvements from last year are inspiring . Hope the rest of the marathon training goes well - sounds like your in for a nice race!

Thank you! I read your log quite a bit before starting my own, and in the lead up to my own sub-50 goal race!

skyblue46 wrote: »

You obviously never heard of FOMO...I think you'll catch it too :pac:

ariana` wrote: »

It's highly contagious around here

Your training seems to have gone really well. I'm envious that 3:50 seems a comfortable target for your 1st marathon. Well done, will be following the next few weeks with interest.

I just think the intensity of marathon training is so much, it would be madness to attempt 2 in a year having never even done one before. Regardless of how well training has gone...
Thanks ariana, I hope the target isn't too ambitious though!

Week 17: Marathon Training.... one week to go
Mon 23rd Apr: Rest day.

Tues 24th Apr
Plan: 6 easy. Actual: 6 easy, avg pace 9.32/m. Felt good, little tired but nothing I wouldn't expect.

Weds 25th Apr: Rest day, with yoga at lunchtime. 

Thurs 26th Apr
Plan: 5 steady. Actual: 5 semi-steady? Avg pace 9.08/m. Not bothered much by this, kinda chose to go the social route of chatting to a clubmate rather than pushing that tiny bit more. Pilates at lunchtime also.

Fri 27th Apr: Rest day.

Sat 28th Apr
Plan: 2 easy, 4@MP, 1 easy. Actual: Not the plan! Did 3 easy, then attempted to go MP but kept misjudging the effort. So I just decided to scrap that after 2 miles, and finish with one cool down mile. Avg pace overall 9.19/m.

Sun 29th Apr
Plan: 12 easy. Actual: 12 easy (maybe slightly fast at times). Average pace 9.16/m, but to be honest I needed to just run if only to clear my head.

Total miles: 29.3, which seems so low now. 
Can't believe I am into the last week i.e. this time next week I'll have completed a bloody marathon. Tomorrow is my late boyfriend's 1st anniversary (the reason I am running this marathon) and to be honest my emotions are all over the place. Next week is going to be hard, and emotional, and god knows what really, but I've raised almost 5,500 euro for a cancer ward so I will be finishing that marathon no matter what. I have my goal time of 3.50 but if it gets too tough, I don't care saying that goal will be thrown away (or until another day). The focus of this training has helped me through some very tough months, so I should at the very least be thankful for that.
Possibly a bit of an overshare above but writing things out has always helped me.

I'm way more nervous than I expected to be! The weather forecast has put the frighteners on me too

Ah thanks all! Amidst all the nerves and fear, I am actually looking forward to it! Did the training so I'm gonna give this my best shot!

Kellygirl wrote: »

Hope you are excited and carb loading to beat the band and hydrating! I hope you have a brilliant day and looking forward to your report. We might pass each other on the route somewhere :-)

Thanks Kellygirl! Have had the unwelcome distraction and stress of my phone dying and refusing to turn on today  I am basically attached to my phone to my shame, so its hitting me hard!! 
Feeling calmer about the run now though...!

Week 18: Marathon week.
Mon 30th Apr: Emotional day obviously, took it off work and just had a day for me. Went to see Infinity War, being superhero nerds this is definitely a film myself and my boyfriend would have been all over, and then spent some time with his parents.

Tues 1st May
Plan: 6 easy. Actual: 6 easy. Did these with a clubmate who was due to run the half in Limerick. Kept it handy at average pace 9.32/m and good chats. Body feeling good.

Weds 2nd May: No run, but did a gentle yoga class at lunchtime.

Thurs 3rd May
Plan: 20 mins, with 1 min at MP. Actual: 15 mins jog, 1 min @MP, 5 mins easy. Avg pace 10:40/m. Nice little run.

Fri 4th May: Started getting my stuff together for the race. Nerves had been high all week but weirdly settled around this time.

Sat 5th May
Plan: 20 mins easy. Actual: 15 mins easy. Was volunteering at parkrun so did it beforehand, and didn't leave a whole lot of time. Felt a bit nervy again so was glad to pack it in! Avg pace 10.37/m. Got sunburnt.
Travelled down to Limerick in the afternoon with my friends, checked into the hotel, and went for dinner (italian of course) with a bunch of other friends, and it was all lovely and relaxing and distracting. I was looking forward to the race now.

Sunday 6th May: RACE DAY
My brother picked me up at my hotel about 7.45 and we headed into the city. Took a while to find the one open multi-storey amidst the road closures, but got there about 8. Wandered up to check out the start area and then back to the car to dump the layers and put on the belts. Jogged back towards the start area and hit the portaloos. I was just keen to get started now, but there were the few speeches (and a prayer from a bishop) to get through first! I hadn't realised there were only about 800 for the marathon though...
Mile 1-3
We'd agreed to set out at 9min pace to make sure we didn't go too hard at the start, so we kept to that nicely. Noticing the other runners around us and making sure the 3.45 pacers were ahead of us. The clouds and that weird mist was still around, so it was quite pleasant at this point. Settled into the 8.45-8.50 bracket then from the second mile. I felt great, excited, comfortable... splits: 8.59 / 8.56 / 8.44
Mile 4-6
Still feeling good through here, though we'd left the city at this point. Surprised by friends being at the 4 mile point where I didn't expect them, it was pretty cool! I hadn't realised we were going to head down along by the water (canal?river?) either so that was nice. We still had the clouds until the 10k point or so if I remember correctly. We did have that weird turn into a housing estate in mile 6 though... it was an interesting route overall! splits: 8.49 / 8.40 / 8.49. Hit the 10k mark in just under 55 mins.
Mile 7-9
Again, still comfortable enough here, and the toughest part was not speeding enough. As we would get distracted, we'd speed up. Took a gel at 7 miles. These were the first of the "out and back" miles, and the sun made an appearance by now. It was warm but manageable. Overheard a guy saying this was his 12th marathon THIS YEAR. Madness! Splits: 8.37 / 8.47 / 8.47
Mile 10-12
Somewhere along here, the demons entered my head. The emotions, the enormity of the marathon, the pressure of knowing people were waiting for me back in the city.. I just started to struggle so much mentally even though I was physically grand.  I tried to push it down and ignore it, but by the end of mile 11 I had to tell my brother this was too tough. Somewhere in mile 12 I stopped running and he grabbed my hand to get me going again. splits here: 8.48 / 8.50 / 9.17
Mile 13-15
The damage was done. Got through the halfway mark with smiles because my sisters and lots and lots of friends were around here so I had to keep going, but I let them know I was struggling. Hit halfway in 1.57 but the downward spiral had started. As soon as we passed everyone, I started walking and crying, telling my brother I couldn't finish this, and to go on without me, and all sorts of breakdown talk really. He is a star and wouldn't leave me and tried to talk me into running again. This was to continue for a number of miles... basically adopted a walk a little, run more approach. I think I took a gel somewhere here too. splits: 10:15 / 12:17 / 12:05
Mile 16-18
This section was HARD. We were now meeting the half marathon runners and their darned fresh legs, the sun was truly beating down and I was so annoyed at myself. But I just couldn't muster it back up. Even though everytime I started running again I was settling into a nice 9.xx pace, and then my head would get at me. Even though I also knew the more I walked the longer we'd be in that blasted sun! So somewhere in mile 18 I managed to hold my nerve for longer. Took a gel at some point here too. splits: 11.51 / 14.27 / 9.45
Mile 19-21
My brother pointed out once we get back into the city it will be easier, and I admit I didn't believe him, even though I wanted to so badly. More friends at mile 20 or so, and I did finally admit to my brother, that yes, I am going to finish this. I didn't believe it until then. I tried to run more and more from here. Used my zero tab which had been nicely stored in the zip-lock (thanks kellygirl, excellent tip), and I definitely think it helped! splits: 12.43/ 10.59 / 10.39.
Mile 22-24
I hated going around the stadium, really created a drag here. I think as well, there was the point where we could see / hear the finish line but we were headed the opposite direction for a while... cruel!! I started to enjoy it a lot from here though, the crowds were unreal and as for the folk out with their garden hoses... hallelujah! Still couldn't muster my head up to just bloody run the whole way home though. splits: 11.28 / 11.27 / 12.15
Mile 25 - finish
Was really trying to keep the 4.30 pacers behind me now. I think I ran most of the last 2 miles? Probably a bit of a walk break at the start of mile 25 actually. Anyway, coming back into that final mile was incredible. The music, the noise of the crowd. We were finishing with a lot of the 6 mile crowd so it was busy. I got very emotional seeing the 800m to go sign, and then all my friends and family and split out nicely along that last straight. Lots of cheers. When I saw the clock with 4.29.10 or something on it, I looked at my brother and we sprinted to get under the 4.30. And then the tears really let loose!!! splits: 10.37 / 10.21 / and 8.26 for the last .2 Finish time: 4.29.17

So that was my marathon. I had trained so well, but I don't think anyone can train for the emotions that can hit unfortunately. I honestly wouldn't have finished it without my brother, and I will be always so grateful for that. We shared the tears and had some fun too in it, with water fights with the volunteers and he was playing the crowds before the last turn! The volunteers were really incredible, and you couldn't possibly fault the organisers for the water stations, they were plenty and well-manned. The route was a bit mad, we even went through a carpark at one point, but look, it worked. Although I did hear someone mangled themselves on one of those poles on the path coming out of UL. The support around the finish is something I've never experienced before. Just insane! I felt like a rockstar.

I said during, and right after, the marathon; never again. By the time I was having a magnesium soak bath, I caught myself thinking about Dublin, and swiftly told myself to cop on. However, today I am fine. I can walk. I could probably jog down the stairs, and back up, none of that funny walking people talk about. I think this is because I trained for a much harder pace than I ended up running. So yesterday was effectively a training pace run for me. Inevitably, I am thinking about what I could do... minus the pressure, minus the occasion of an anniversary... something to think about.

Kellygirl wrote:

You have unfinished business too though so maybe time to hop over onto the DCM Novices thread and join us all up there on the 28th October. :-) (that’s what I did last year after Cork when I was injured and best decision ever).

As each minute passes, this does get more likely.
Goddamn running addiction.