DCM 2018 - Mentored Novice Thread

Just caught up with the thread now. The race reports have all been amazing, so much so that I hate to single one out, but AppleGirl, that was amazing, had me in bits! You can be beyond proud of yourself!

Apologies in advance, this has turned into an absolute tome! This is really just for me when I want to look back over it in future, so the short version is "Marathons are tough, and people, not least boardsies, are legends".


So, Oct 28th. Or what I seem to have been referring to as "The Big Day" since I signed up in March. I had followed previous years' Mentored Novices threads and I knew joining in here would give me the best chance, so was delighted when I saw it re-appear earlier in the year.

Pre-race
I had managed to avoid the worst of the maranoia in the week leading up. Solid sleep on Saturday night, waking only once during the night. Alarm went at 6:30am, and the OH asked how I was feeling. Happily, "good" was an honest answer!

Had everything prepped the night before, so downed the breakfast, got ready and was into a taxi on the dot of 7:30 as planned. (As a side note, I've yet to meet a taxi man in Dublin who hasn't run a marathon :pac:). Met with the fellow boardsies beforehand to say a quick hello and wish them good luck, and then I was off to meet some friends. Bag drop, portaloo, chat to random strangers around me and before long we were off, a fair bit back from the 4:30 pacers, with a 4:25 paceband at the ready.

Mile 1-6 (10:47, 10:05, 10:29, 10:27, 10:29, 10:42)
It felt amazing to finally cross that start line after all the prep. (For a long time a few years ago I never imagined I'd be able to even get myself to the start of a marathon). I must've had a permanent grin on my face for the first 5 miles or more. It took me a couple of miles to warm up but I remarked to a friend I had started with that "this is fair class".

On the North Circular, I got the first of many shouts from my support crew that were at various spots throughout. The OH even had colourful balloons done up so I wouldn't miss her, gave me such a buzz seeing her shouting me on. (Just another in a long list of supportive things she's done for me over the last 18 weeks).

Was conscious to keep it slow during all of this part of the course. Quick pitstop in the park at mile 3.5 or so, and when I re-joined I was just behind the 4:40 pacers. Decided I'd stay in behind them til the top of Castleknock, even tho I was 2 mins behind my negative-split paceband. Figured this wasn't the part of the course to try make up time.

Got a great shout from my cousin and his family at mile 5 as well, and took the first of my 4 gels here. My gel-opening technique still needs a bit of work! . I had heard about the infamous crowds and noise in Castleknock and they didn't disappoint!

Mile 7-12 (10:28, 9:56, 9:50, 9:41, 10:04, 10:02)
Got to mile 7 and the paceband indicated it was time to up the pace. Mile 8 was my first sub 10 min mile and I remember thinking that I still felt very comfortable. Passed the 4:40 pacers on the downhill of Tower Road.

It was around here I noticed I had managed to lose 2 of my gels along the way. I had planned on taking them at 5,10,15 and 20, so quick change of plan. I'd take the remaining one at 12 miles, and meet the OH at mile 19 as arranged to get a spare. Thankfully I had some Clif Shot Bloks as well with me for every couple of miles in between. I was keeping an eye out for the 4:30 balloons in the distance at this point. No sign yet, but I knew their pace would be around 10:20 a mile, which I was ahead of.

Got to mile 11 and attempted another pitstop at the portaloos in Kilmainham. Queues for this one tho, delayed a little but decided to carry on to the next one.

Mile 13-18 (9:53, 10:29, 9:45, 9:45, 9:50, 9:53)
On the road out to Crumlin I could see the yellow 4:30 balloons a fair distance up ahead. I set about slowly roping them in. Had the postponed portaloo stop here at mile 14 as well, which accounts for the drop in pace on that mile.

Went through half-way at 2:16:06. It was at this point I was getting sick of cross-checking the pace band at every mile marker. It was becoming a bit of a chore, and I just wanted to concentrate on running. All the remaining miles were largely around 9:55 (which I knew was 4:20 pace) so I figured if I could maintain that, it'd give me a 2:10 2nd half and I'd come in around 4:26. Also here, I started to notice that I was passing far more people than were passing me.

Some of the support through this section was amazing as well. Got so many shout outs, and tried to say thank you to as many as possible. Caught the eye of one gent while saying thanks and he gave me a big wink and a smile. Tried to high-five as many kids as possible too. Something about the marathon really seems to bring the best out of people!

I remember getting to 18 miles thinking I was still feeling relatively comfortable here (or rather, as comfortable as you can be after running 18 miles!) and knew my OH would be up the road which would give me an added boost.

Mile 19-22 (9:50, 10:00, 9:59, 10:17)
Round about mile 19 I edged passed the 4:30 pacers. And then a huge highlight of the day for me. Approaching Milltown, I could see my OH, with the gel as promised, but also sporting one of my beloved Munster jerseys! Gave me a massive smile when I could feel myself beginning to slow. I took the gel, shouted a quick "H'on Munster" and was back at it. It's amazing the silly things that can spur you on.

Purposefully slowed on the hill up Milltown, and then the right onto the road to Clonskeagh. For me, this was by far the most difficult part of the course. By mile 25, I was in worse knick but knew I was going to finish. Whereas this was still too far away from home to be getting any notions like that. Really had to dig in here as people around me had slowed, many walking, and it was tempting to join them. Kept on pushing forward tho, passing many out, and determined to keep on moving forward.

Mile 23 - Finish (10:12, 10:12, 10:19, 10:05, 0.39 @ 8:44)
Roebuck Road. Just kept on moving, one foot in front of the other here with the head down, and I was at the top of it before I knew it. It's a bit of a stretch to call Fosters Avenue "some respite" but I was glad to be going downhill.

Got a huge cheer from a friend here, gave her a big high-five and tried to power on. Up the UCD flyover and I had resorted to the "repeatedly count to 100" trick. My uncle was at the top of the flyover, which I wasn't expecting at all. Tried to wave. I think.

On the far side of the flyover, another runner tried to start talking to me, but it was throwing me off completely, so I tried to edge ahead as best I could. Sorry Mr Randomer; we all have strategies to help get us to the end, but talking definitely wasn't one of mine.

Still counting to 100, incrementing every 4 paces, just keep it moving! On mile 25, I started to get a pain in my toes but it wasn't going to slow me down now I'd gotten this far! Huge crowds at this point, and I tried to up the pace, amazed in myself that I had some form of a kick. Was fighting back the tears for the last half mile or more, clenching my fist, knowing I was going to do it. And then the glory of the blue carpet and crossing the line!

Time came in as 4:26:49. All the humming and hawing in the previous week about my goal time, what pacers I would follow etc. seemed trivial now. For me, the glory was about finally being able to complete it. And knowing that this whole process has been one of the most rewarding things I've ever done.

Afterwards:
Hobbled up to the barriers to steady myself and soon limped on up to get my medal, t-shirt and goodie bag; in what order, I have no idea. Made sure I thanked some of these volunteers for their efforts today as well.

Made it to McGrattans very briefly, where I met my friends for a race re-cap on how we all got on. One of those friends (diego_b from around these parts) congratulated me and said a few things that will stay with me for quite awhile. Got a photo of the 3 of us as well which I absolutely love.

Got to stick my head in to say thanks to 2 of the mentors, but had to scarper pretty quickly after. The only downside to the day was I didn't get to stay longer to chat to some of my fellow novices.

The marathon really is a different animal tho. In ways, it feels like you have to run 20 miles before the real race starts. It seemed to range from an almost out-of-body experience, back to a very much in-body, feeling-every-aching-pain experience. Absolutely thrilled tho, and managed to negative split by 5 mins 15!

And finally, I can say I'm a marathoner. "The Big Day" turned into a big, huge, feckin massive day. I've been lucky enough to have a few of them this year, so this is in good company.

Would only be right to end with a massive thanks to the mentors, and my fellow novices for all the advice, encouragement and general craic over the last while. I know some of ye didn't have the day ye were hoping for, but ye are all legends in my eyes. This whole process has really given me the bug, and I'd like to think I'll bump into ye at other "big days" in future.