Swashbuckler's Marathon Debut?

Cheers for that. Really appreciate it. Just wanna get moving now.

Thanks B. We should have done a pool to see who gets closest 😄

Great Limerick Marathon 2022 Race Report

I’ve thought quite a bit about what this race report will look like and I’ve still not settled on what I want to get across. Apologies in advance as this is going to be ridiculously long but I figure this whole log deserves the final chapter to be detailed and then I’ll move to a new log. Get a coffee – you’ll need it.

Race Week

The taper went pretty well in general. In terms of the runs and tune-up sessions the only thing worth noting was the 3 x 1T session on the Tuesday before the race went as well as you could hope for a pre-race tune-up. I felt like I was floating. I ran this with a Limerick AC buddy who was also running the marathon and hoping for somewhere around 2.55. We were running 6mins flat pace at one point and chatting which says it all really. I was brimming with confidence after this. I even jokingly texted AMK that day asking what was this taper madness about as I felt great! However from Wednesday on I really started to feel it mentally. There were never any phantom niggles or anything like that. If anything my body felt in the best shape its ever been in but I was tense. It was looming over me a bit. My moods were a bit up and down and I was very tired in general. To be honest it was a familiar enough feeling from training when I was waiting all day to get out for a big session. They weigh heavily on me a bit and I’m always much happier to get them done early. So I was itching to go. The shakeout the day before was so enjoyable. I just really let it sink in what I had done to get to this point and had several chats with all my body parts to congratulate them for getting me this far. Might sound odd to some folks but this is something I often do which helps me with the whole psychological side of things – I talk to my arms, legs, heart, lungs, heart, head and get them all in sync. I thank them and ask them to trust me. It’s crazy levels of hippy crap I know but it just works for me. When things get tough in the race they all start to scream and fight so I like to get them thinking we’re all in this together, and that after all of this I will reward them.

Diet was very very good on race week. My wife was a superstar to be honest. Dinners were all geared towards getting the right nutrients. In the three days before the race she made a point of them being “carby” dinners. I didn’t carb load like a maniac but I made a point of increasing my carb intake. Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning I made a point of upping my electrolytes. Took a diuralyte each morning and night. I tried Maurten mix 320 the day before the race but I just couldn’t stomach it. I decided to just dump it and stick with the old fashioned methods.

My missus insisted I spend race week in the spare room. Sleep was pretty good most of the week. The night before the race I woke at 2am and that was it. I was awake. Thanks to Duanington for the warning that this is normal on race week. On the plus side I was following Katie Taylors fight online and by god did she inspire me. What a woman. The definition of what I love to see in an Irish athlete – basically the anti-McGregor.

One last note on the day before – the messages of support simply knocked me for six – I was blown away. Thanks to all of you that got in touch. Maybe the most humorous text I got was from LambayIsland who sent me a pic of the view from his hotel room of something getting burned out on Childers Road. Welcome to Limerick I said. Haha. I got some great nuggets of advice on Saturday (and throughout the block) which I will touch on throughout this report as they were honestly key.

Race Day

Like I said I woke at 2am but made a point of staying relaxed, visualised the race, saw me crossing sub 3…to be honest it was a lovely few hours between 2am and 6am. I was finally in a zen place after a few days of anxiety.

My young fella has learned how to climb out of his crib so he joined me for breakfast at 6am. His sister followed downstairs soon after. Exactly what I wanted to be honest – distractions. Had two Weetabix, a diuralyte, two slices of toast and half a banana. Sipped away on water but to be honest I was well hydrated at this stage. Texted a few buddies who were running and headed out to collect Lambay around 7.50am. That was also a welcome distraction – having someone (especially from Boards) to share this with made it more special. We parked up as planned and headed to the bag drop. Went into the start area and milled around for 40 minutes or so. I was nervous but excited. I explained to Lambay what my plan was. I wanted to sit at the back of the pace group and see how things were going. Having him there with me was just a massive psychological help. Again, before we took off I made a point of having the self-talk thanking my body for getting me here. Reassuring all the body parts that I would look after them but we had some hard hard work to do today.

Welcomes, speeches, prayer, 10, 9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 off we go.

I feel good, calm, positive, smiling. I don’t intend on doing a mile by mile breakdown here but ill pick out the key things from each section.

Town/Castletroy/UL/Riverbank/Town aka miles 1 to 13.1

I was happy to see Lambay right beside me as we took off. My plan was to hopefully keep the first three miles 6.50+ but no faster. Didn’t happen. I was relaxed starting but a couple of miles in I was contemplating the big challenge ahead. It felt a little windier than I expected. We were about 10 seconds behind the pace group. I was worried we might end up isolated. I wanted to connect with the group. Because of that I think I made a point to push on around mile 3 (heading in through the city) to get in touch with the sub 3 group. We did, and I was happy with that. As we headed out towards Castletroy I was thinking it felt warmer than I expected. I had worn a head buff to keep the forecasted rain out of my eyes (I am a salty sweater which can be a pain when it rains and end up with salty eyes). I ditched the buff as I was already sweating. First water station was chaos so I just stepped aside and left it. Lambay asked me when was the first bad mile – I assured him we were entering it. Big drag up to UL and Vistakon. That being said, and this was the theme throughout the whole race, I felt like being part of the big group “hid” some of the drags and hills. I’ve run the relay on this section before and I just don’t like it. Out to Vistakon and back and through UL is just a “meh” part of the rote. Vistakon was where my support buddy gave me my first diuralute mix. Thanks AMK for the advice on that. It genuinely helped. As we headed in along the riverbank I thought back to a text from healy the day before. His one piece of advice was geared towards assuring me that regardless of how fit I felt there would be dark times in the race and I would have to work to get through it. This proved to possibly be the single best nugget of advice I received. I used that advice countless times on the day. And this is where the struggle started and it was completely unexpected. Around mile 8 or 9 I started to really have doubts about my ability to stick with the pace. It was a horrible thing to experience this early as I had convinced myself I would likely be ok til mile 18-20. I wasn’t. Far from it. I think this was more mental than physical. I think we had a few water stops in this section. I took them all. In fairness I think I did very well with water and gels for the first half. Lots of water, two diuralye and two gels. By the way the SIS gels were a dream to work with. If you are a rookie – try SIS gels in training. When we exited the riverbank and headed into town to hit halfway it was a pretty severe drag. It’s a tough mile but countered by the amazing support…One of my slowest miles on the day. Lambay and me were working well together and nicely attached to the pace group. When we passed halfway I noted to Lambay “just one more of those and we’re set”. A minor thing to note here was some of the pace group were in very high spirits. I’ll touch on this more later as it was something I struggled with.

Miles 1-13: 6.46/6.48/6.38 (trying to reattach to the pace group)/6.50/6.47/6.41/6.45/6.39/6.52/6.55/6.46/7.00

Halfway split: 1.29.09

Town/Raheen/Town aka miles 21 to 20

As we left town on mile 14 and headed towards Raheen I just had a feeling of dread. AMK had advised to break up the race and I was very good at doing that but there was just something about heading to Raheen that made me feel like I had a big task on my hands. By now I had taken three gels (32mins/65mins and 129mins), two diuralyte (miles 7 and 13) and plenty of water. Physically I didn’t feel anything crazy although my glutes and hamstrings were sore. Heading out of Raheen I meet my buddy who passed me the first of my energy drinks. That was it for me. I just decided at that point that I didn’t want any more gels or energy drinks. It felt at this point that they were upsetting my flow and the cons outweighed the pros. So at mile 17 I reckoned it was **** or bust – do whatever you can to finish. One thing I struggled with was the pace group just seemed so upbeat while I felt like it would take everything I had to make it through. Why aren’t they hurting as much as me? At this point I had stopped looking at the supporters. This felt like it was going to be a very grim day and there was a very real possibility I wasn’t going to make it. I thought of the 18 weeks of work. The cold winter nights (and days). I thought about how I would explain this to Boards. Maybe most important of all I thought about the fact my wife and kids were at mile 24 and there was a very real possibility that Daddy was gonna be a no show. I don’t want this to come across as brave or inspirational or anything like that, it wasn’t. It was sheer desperation and stubbornness that kept me going. Constant negotiation – get to Henry St, get to north circular etc etc. It was simply horrible. They say enjoy your first marathon – was this enjoyment? Is this normal? It didn’t feel like it. That pull up to O’Connell avenue nearly finished me. Some people in the pace group still joking and chatting. One annoying bloke who joined us at halfway keeps cutting across me. I’m cranky – why am I the only one feeling this way. In terms of the weather conditions I cant honestly say I was thinking about anything along those lines for most of the race from mile 10 onwards. Maybe being part of the pace group helped but wind never felt like it was factor apart from very early on. Every now and then me and Lambay had a checkin with eachother but from mile 17 on this had stopped. I was in my own world. The support through town on mile 20 was amazing. It gave me some brief respite. Not that I could stomach looking at anyone but I knew it was there.

Miles 14-20: 6.42/6.47/6.50/6.40/6.46/6.48/6.57

North Circular/Ennis Road and back/Finish aka miles 21 to end

Heading out of town on to North Circular is always a part of the route I hate. North Circular feels like just a complete ghost town. Silence, warm, nothing but you and your doubting thoughts. Oddly it was around here where I finally felt like everyone in the pace group was suffering as much as me. Silence fell upon us. Alright now lads – welcome to the feckin club. Its about f*cking time as I’ve been here for the last 30 minutes. I look around. It feels like everyone is moving better than me. I am 100% purely focussed on getting to mile 24. Get to the kids, They will be gutted if you don’t. Just get to the kids. I…do…..not….want….to…..go…..on…..but………….1% of me wants to. And I am desperately clinging to that 1%. I think of Boards again. I cant let the final chapter be a DNF. Maybe its ok if I report a 3.10 or 3.15. That’s a respectable debut. They’ll understand – you have a busy life. Literally every single mental negotiation in my arsenal I use. I think of healy again – dark times will come, you will have to fight. I ran 36.20 for 10k in Banna – why isn’t this easier? Why are all the lads running back up the Ennis road against me looking so strong? Why am I so weak? Why am I not pushing on like I thought I would. A right pity party.

I make it to mile 24. I dread seeing the kids as I know I will barely be able to muster a wave. I see them up ahead and almost cry. Im seeing them at my lowest ebb – the worst mile is yet to come and I’m not going to finish. I don’t care anymore. I just done care. I’m broken physically and mentally. My legs feel like they are barely lifting an inch off the ground. My head feels like it weights 200lbs. For the last 6 miles my sole focus has been a balloon. I have not looked at the watch since mile 20. I saw 2.57 as my predicted finish time earlier in the race. I have no idea where I am at now apart from the fact I have been clinging on to the balloon for the last 6 miles. That could mean I am well within target or right on the edge. Now more than ever I realise how a marathon can turn in an instant. I feel like if I give in to this pain that it could add 10, 15mins to my finish or easily a DNF. I have ran so many shorter races and I know failure at those can mean a minute or two added on. Now I realise how different the marathon is.

We turn the corner to head back up Ennis Road and for me this is it. If I survive this then I might have a chance of finishing but it’s a big if. My form is gone. My head weighs a tonne. I am dying out here. I try to find anything positive to get me through. I am somehow ahead of the pace balloons. The pacer (Dermot) keeps talking us through this, as he has been doing throughout. Quick note here – he was simply fantastic – just amazing and attaching myself to the group was the best decision I could have made. We get to the top of the hill and I finally start to think I might actually make it to the end. Some lad jumps cross me to grab water and I adjust my stride to make sure we don’t have a fall. Sniper cramp shoots through my right calf. **** I’m done. Seriously I’ve battled through all this pain and a cramp is gonna finish me? Dermot aint happy and shouts at the lad to be careful. So we’re into the last mile and I’m trying to nurse my calf to the end. I literally shifted all the work to my left leg and dragged my right leg behind me a bit. This has echo’s of my Charleville PB where I cramped badly at mile 11. Dermot is a superstar at this point. Points to the 1km to go sign. I feel like finally this is within my grasp. I can do 1km of work. I push ahead. It’s the last time I see Dermot before the end. I don’t care who passes me (and some folks do)..I just want to get there. I’m sure I’m ok at this point as I’m ahead of Dermot and I think I’m ok at nursing the leg home. Turn the corner up to O’Connell St and wow…I clap, I wave…I see the clock and yeah, its job done, its sub 3 by a healthy margin. 2.58.15…I cross the line and I’m not gonna lie I sobbed like a baby. Then I turn back and sob on Dermots shoulders. Haha. He’s kind and tells me it’s a massive achievement and he’s proud to have been part of it….I am just so happy, relieved, proud, shook, humbled, haunted…

Miles 21-end: 6.46/6.48/6.45/6.51/7.00/6.48/6.20 for the 0.2

I get a badly needed massage and hook up again with Lambay. He causes huge drama in the tent and takes up all the volunteers each working on a different part of his body! I drop him back to the hotel and head home where I’m greeted with a warm hug from the missus and kids. I needed it. A massive post race fry up follow by many many pints with Lambay. What a great night. I am massively proud of the achievement but very much humbled by what it took to get there. It was way way way tougher than expected.

A few days have passed since and those are my general feelings about the day. I know it comes across as mostly negative and self-pitying but those were my genuine feelings and I don't want to sugercoat it. In terms of the plan I think it prepared me. I naively thought that some of the sessions would feel like those latter miles. They didn’t. Nothing in training felt like that. But all those fast miles after lots of easy miles did their job. Will I run a marathon again? 100% yes. But next time I will be equipped with massive learnings from training and the race itself. I think I now know what it takes to do well. I’ve learned so much. It’s hard to comprehend how people do multiple back to back marathon cycles. I won’t say I never would because no doubt I’ll change my mind, but right now I can’t wait to get back to some shorter stuff for the Summer.

So "Swashbucklers Marathon Debut?" has become Swashbucklers Marathon Debut and thankfully with the result I was hoping for. Thanks for reading.

Sheer and utter relief looking up at the clock