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DCM 2014: Mentored Novices Thread
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It was very worrying to see so many participants requiring first aid even quite early on- I'm thinking in particular of a lad in Dolphins Barn who seemed to be unconscious. I hope he, and all the others, are ok.
For me, Plan A was 4.20, Plan B 4.30. I realised relatively early on that Plan A was a touch ambitious today but I'm very happy to say that I beat Plan B by coming home in 4:27:04. I'm a marathoner!
I found it very tough but my feet have barely touched the ground since I finished I'm so happy (just as well, seeing as I'm doing a mean impersonation of the John Wayne walk at present).
It was great to meet a few of my fellow 2014 graduates
in McGrattans - SoundoftheSea, Laura, Annapr & Aquinn and, of course, the mentor of the moment, Ososlo. Sorry I couldn't stay any longer.
I hope everyone has enjoyed the rest of their day and hopefully their rest! (And celebrations!) 0 -
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Cross post from my own log ...
Preparation:
Preparation had gone well but maybe not well enough. Getting sick two weeks out and not recovering fully was not ideal nor was the niggles and calves that needed managing or resting along the way. That said I felt and indeed still do feel I had trained to be in 4:15 / 4:20 shape. I had hit all the LSR's on the HHN2 program, one particularly tough one along the way but took the character building aspect of that as a positive.
Start to Castleknock (7 miles):
Got there nice and early and was in position just behind the 4:10 pacers. Plan was to head off at 4:15 pace towards the park then drop back a bit under 4:20 for the duration of the park to arrive out of the first hilly section still on 4:20 overall. Small bit of congestion at start but nothing too bad. The drag up the park was tougher than expected. Swirling wind didn't help matters at all but I knew my family were just outside of the Phoenix Park gates so had that to look forward to. Came out of the park feeling very good - even stopped briefly to hug and kiss the kids before heading off again. The wall of sound and people at Myos pub in Castleknock was incredible. What a buzz to run through that feeling on top of the world at this point.
Splits 1-7:
9:55, 9:26, 9:27, 9:47, 9:53, 9:40, 9:40
7-Halfway:
After Castleknock the descent back down towards the park and Chapleizod was a welcome relief. Mindful of advice given here I didn't tear off down this and tried to take it a bit easy. Despite that though my breathing started to become quite laboured and I could feel my heart rate rising - heart was thumping like you do when you are scared and you can feel it beating fast. Got a little bit worried at this stage but soldiered on dropping the pace back a little more. Out through Chapleizod and the second big hill of the day under the flyover up to Sarsfield Road. Again took that nice and easy - I was about 1 minute up on 4:20 pace at that stage and allowed myself to lose a bit of this on this section. Out across the SCR and then the right hand turn over the canal and up to Crumlin. OMFG where did that wind come from ! Combination of the steep incline over the canal and up to the shopping centre and the wind billowing down meant the pace slowed dramatically here for the last quarter of this mile dragging that split down a bit. That said went over half way bang on where I wanted to be.
Splits 8-13
9:32, 9:41, 9:48, 10:03, 9:43, 10:15
Halfway at 2:09:53.
13 - 17
Then ladies and gentlemen the wheels came off. Just after halfway my right quad went bang. Every step was like someone was punching me giving me a dead leg. Had to stop to try stretch it out. Would run a bit more - it would go again. Going uphill into the wind stopping and starting was not fun at all. Eventually got to the top of Walkinstown hoping that the flat ground thereafter would help things. It didn't but I was still managing a relatively decent pace - all be that 4:20 was out the window. Then just before Terenure the left leg went exactly the same way. Now I could hardly move and after a few more burst of running before being hit with the snipers shot I mentally wrote off the entire race. Posted here I was as good as DNFing and was walking back in the hope of beating the 2012 time of 5:36. Thought about turning left at Terenure and heading straight back to town but decided not to.
Splits 14-20
11:41, 11:10, 11:47, 13:23, 13:12, 14:46, 13:17
20-Finish
I was getting really fed up with being passed out by pace group after pace group and it kind of invoked my stubborn side. I had been hobbling along at this point for 4 miles. Heartbreak hill was upon me and I decided that I was running up it without stopping no matter what. Passed out a lot of people on this very short section and I was telling myself that once I was up there the last 6 home were the easiest terrain wise. At that point it started to enter in my head that perhaps I could make it home sub 5. Having a 4 in the hour column sounded much better than 5 and wouldn't be a total write off for the day. So I sped up a bit. Except every time I tried to run fast the legs would go. I was reduced to a slow shuffle trying to balance off the pace I needed to get sub 5 versus what the legs could handle. Got it wrong every few hundred metres stopping in agony on the side of the road each time. Got to 40k sign - only 2 to go! Garmin at this stage was .4 of a mile out and I was trying to work out the maths of what I needed to hit time wise. I thought I was worse off than I was and sub 5 was slipping past too. At this stage the 4:50 pace group caught me - bearing in mind I started off a 10 minute wave ahead of them I knew I was toast if I couldn't pull away from them. So I decided with 1k to go that I simply wasn't stopping until the finish line no matter what. Highly highly stupid of me to be honest. Ignored the pain, was close to crying from it, then ignored feeling light headed, focus on that finish line which seemed an eternity away and not getting any closer. Copped then that I was maybe a minute under 5 hour but knew if I slowed or stopped I mightn't make it so kept going.
Splits 20-Finish
12:15, 12:48, 11:37, 12:29, 12:30, 11:51, 10:18 (pace for last half mile on garmin)
Finish time 4:58:34
The Finish
Hit the finish line and I wasn't in good shape. Wobbled a bit tried to walk through but was like I had 10 pints on me. Started to lean left and one of the marshalls caught me. Was trying to insist I was fine but a couple of first aiders got to me then and insisted I wasn't. They were right of course. Had to be helped to the barrier. Spent a bit of time there and thought I was ok enough to walk on. Got a few more metres and had a repeat peformance outside the first aid tent itself. When I eventually got out and got back to the family I was in tears. Emotionally and physically shattered. Mortified at the time but in hindsight gave it absolutely everything I had to get home under the 5 and I am proud of that - but I do know it wasn't smart.
Reflections:
Made it into Mcgrattans late in the day - was in no shape immediately afterwards. From talking to people there, reading on boards and the amount of people I saw in deep trouble over the course it's clear that yesterday was a tough tough day. The course, wind and sun knocked the stuffing out of most people it seems. I don't know how much the sickness effected me - only running once in the two weeks up to the race could have had a toll on the legs influencing the injuries. I know in my heart and soul I had trained for a better result than I got but it was a PB by nearly 40 minutes so I'm not too dissapointed. I will be back for a better time.
I hope that all those I saw in worse shape than I was at the finish line but still out on the course are ok. A scary amount of ambulances required yesterday. Something horrific about passing people being worked on on the ground The support on the course was unreal - a huge thank you to anyone reading this who was out there supporting or marshalling. Special shout out to the woman at mile 1 with the sign "I'm proud of you random stranger" The best sign of the day for me - and I'm proud of you too.0 -
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rainbow kirby wrote: »I've noticed quite frequently that women are both more conservative with their goal setting and more likely to hit their targets.
So you're admitting that women are more likely to sandbag than men? 0
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