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DCM 2014: Mentored Novices Thread
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Hi all. I was one of the 5hr pacers on monday, a huge congrats to all who finished, and if you didnt hit your time, remember that finishing is a huge achievement in itself.Theres always another day.We saw lots of examples of bravery, some people who 'couldnt' at mile 22, yet passed us before the finish, others who went from a walk to a jog for the last mile to finish with us, and one girl in particular who made a solemn promise at the start line that she would cross the finsh line with us.and did.a great day for the soul
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Hi all. I was one of the 5hr pacers on monday, a huge congrats to all who finished, and if you didnt hit your time, remember that finishing is a huge achievement in itself.Theres always another day.We saw lots of examples of bravery, some people who 'couldnt' at mile 22, yet passed us before the finish, others who went from a walk to a jog for the last mile to finish with us, and one girl in particular who made a solemn promise at the start line that she would cross the finsh line with us.and did.a great day for the soul 0
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Guys I hope you don't mind me posting this here. On Monday after I finished the marathon, I had a quick hug with the Mrs. a sambo and coffee and then made my way back onto the course to find my best friend, he was carrying 57 pounds on his back and despite all advice before and throughout the event by medics to not continue, he did.
He came across the finish line with not a person in sight bar his girlfriend and some race officials and I thought it'd be nice for him to get some recognition for the utterly incredible effort he put in. Please share this in any way you can, I made efforts to have this covered by all the news outlets but nobody paid a word of attention (except for Balls.ie) and I thought it was a shame for him. He did it in just under 8 hours.http://goo.gl/xNXMsH 0 -
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Legs are worse today, quads are mangled. Downstairs is reducing me to tears!
Left calf, feels like there's something alive in there, like a worm or something, really strange sensation but not painful. I can actually see my left calf muscle moving in waves :eek (Anyone know what this is? I don't think I have worms )
Slept well since, and cold/flu is completely gone now, must have scared the ****e out of the bug.
Can't stop eating junk.
Found myself in the DCM 2nd video on Facebook, @1:50 mark, I pushed on in last 400m to beat the guy in the kilt, but it seems he crawled me back and pipped me at the post!
Planning my 10K St Stephen's Day race.
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Well, here goes with the race report. It has taken me two days to process it and think it through. Apologies in advance if it’s too long and rambling, a bit like the race!
The Background
For context, I grew up with absolutely no athletic or sporting talent of any kind… always picked last for teams at school. My early cross-country running career climaxed with coming 39 out of 40 in an u-12 race. The humiliation still stings. As someone who is naturally very competitive but lacking any physical ability, the only rational thing to do was turn my nose up at participation in any sport after that (other than playing second mixed doubles on the school U-15 badminton team, where we finished last in the league two years in a row).
I started running casually in 2012 and did some training in 2013 for the Dublin race series. The 2013 half marathon was nightmarish, the hardest thing I ever did but I finished it.
Anyhow, this is all to say that I am not someone who believes in physical pain as the path to redemption. I prefer to avoid it if possible. :eek:
In the meantime, my OH, Murph, had been bitten by the marathon bug and I was really enjoying being a spectator!
The Training
Because the 2013 half was so excruciating, I decided I was going to train properly for the 2014 Dublin Half and try to do it right. I downloaded a Hal Higdon Half training program, then on a whim looked at the Marathon program and thought, well, I can follow the Marathon program until the half and see how I get on, make a decision then.
The training was all too easy… I enjoyed it all, even the first long runs when I could hardly walk afterwards. I did a fair bit of training in Donegal, hills and wind didn’t faze me. I didn’t have a niggle or an injury and felt pretty invincible after nailing the Half Marathon in 2:01:xx (compared to 2:19 last year). Ah, the smugness and complacency that set in.:cool:
I did notice from Boards that almost everyone seemed to be doing more than HH1 Novice, and I wondered whether it was too easy, not enough mileage.
The only hiccup in training was in the first week of taper (right after the only 20 miler in HH1), when I came down with a pretty bad chest infection, needing antibotics. October 12 was the first long run I couldn’t finish (did 8 miles instead of the 12 in the plan) and probably shouldn’t have started. I missed about 10 days of running because of being wiped out and a little doubt set in as to whether DCM would be on at all.
But I was feeling better last week and got out for a few easy runs and decided I was feeling well enough to give it a go.
Pre-Race
Nutrition and hydration were good. Murph and I did the breakfast run on Sunday morning because it was very local for us. It was great fun, but at the time I thought I shouldn’t really do this, I should be resting, but I got sucked in and who could resist the battle of Clontarf ‘re-enactment’?
I had been feeling very calm until Sunday when I started getting very buzzy and excited (i.e., nervous). I didn’t sleep much Sunday night, but that was ok.
Had the usual breakfast of porridge, with apple, nuts, seeds and honey. Lots of complex carbs to help later in the day. Murph had to quit his 5:00 hr pacing gig earlier in the week because he caught the same chest infection, but felt well enough to run on Monday morning so decided to run with me.
We are lucky to live close to town, so ordered a cab at about 7:50 and got to Merrion Square at 8, in plenty of time for bag drop, etc.
Watching the big screen as the first and second waves took off was a thrill. It was already warm, we didn’t need the layers we brought. We chatted to a parkrunner we know who had a bad experience in Berlin and was hoping to finish DCM (we heard later that she did, fair play to her).
We lined up behind the 4:30 pacers (a new experience for Murph to be so far back in the field). I spotted Laois Man and his friend by their charity singlets, but decided not to say hello at this point as he had posted that he probably wouldn’t be able to speak at the beginning.
The Race
And then we were off… it was crowded but enjoyable running through Leeson St and across the Green, then down through the Liberties. Mrs FBOT, supporter of the day, gave us her first shout out (of 3 or maybe 4) somewhere around Kevin St, I think. A bit more space when we got on to the quays and the first water station. Coming in to the park we spotted some family members, which was a nice boost.
The drag up Chesterfield was fine, the park looked lovely. We had a brief chat with Laois Man about half way through. He seemed relaxed and confident.
I don’t remember the wind here, but I do remember starting to feel very hot. My head felt hot and this was before the sun came out at all.
We came out around Castleknock and as everyone has said, great support here. But only 7 miles gone, and negative thoughts started to creep in… I don’t know if I can do this. Some big guy clipped me from behind turning the corner into College Rd, but luckily no harm done. The downhill back into the park didn’t feel as much of a relief as it should have. At this stage we were just ahead of the 4:30 pacers, mainly to get out of the congestion.
Back into my favourite part of the park, from Knockmaroon to Chapelizod Gate, the Glen Pond shining below us, the trees magnificent. But again, I was starting to feel tired, and that there was a very long way to go.
Through Chapelizod, friends of ours were just across the bridge and gave us a great enthusiastic shout. Murph went over to hug them, I decided not to add any extra steps. As Murph caught back up with me, a runner quipped: you got great energy out of that cuddle!
Up the hill into Inchicore was fine, a challenging hill but didn’t really bother me. I enjoyed the guy with the guitar and then it was great to see the imposing gates of the Royal Hospital up ahead, and the iconic Kilmainham Gaol. I took the opportunity for a portaloo stop there (seems disrespectful somehow), no more than about 30 seconds, poor Murph had to wait outside, watching the 4:30 pacers pass us. We were never ahead of them again.
The tumult and hubbub of Kilmainham (loved the disco dancing fancy dress guys on the pillars!) was followed by an almost eerie quiet on the first stretch of SCR. I began to feel like I would never see the canal. The crowds at Dolphins Barn were a blur, although I think Mrs FBOT popped up here again.
I was starting to tell myself, just get to half way. By then, I didn’t care about the pace or time. On the Crumlin Road, I had to walk. I’m not even sure if it was before or after the halfway mark. This took Murph by surprise as I hadn’t warned him. I didn’t have any pain or discomfort, just no energy whatsoever. None. I felt completely drained. Bearing in mind that we arrived at the halfway point in 2:14 and I had done the Dublin Half in 2:01 and felt great at the end, I couldn’t understand what was going on. I had taken a gel as planned at 5 miles and again at 10 miles, I was well hydrated, I just had no energy.
Apocalyptic thoughts started then – I’m a complete failure, I’m not going to make it, this is awful, worst thing I’ve ever done, etc. I don’t know how long we walked (poor Murph, again a new experience for him) but eventually started a slow shuffling ‘run’ again. I think from Crumlin to KCR, we probably walked as much as we ran. I will not call this a run/walk ‘strategy’ because there was no strategy involved!
Murph was being really supportive but I could tell he was wondering what the best motivation tactic was. Finally, he said to me, as we were walking, ‘there’s 10 miles to go, what do you want to do?’ F**k, I thought, it will take forever to walk 10 miles, but I’m going to finish this even if I do have to walk. On the other hand, I was also fantasizing about where I could get a bus home or sneak off to the Luas.
So we started the shuffling run again. There was a girl in a Donegal jersey ahead of us on Kimmage rd and all the ‘come on Donegal’ shouts felt like they were for me too. Going around KCR, my future sister in law bellowed at us, that gave me a boost and I was relieved I was actually running when she saw me.
Murph was wearing his Crusaders singlet, so he got lots of ‘come on Crusaders’. He admitted afterwards that he was a bit embarrassed to be walking! I was wearing a Barnardos charity t-shirt but got no shouts for it, so either I was looking too grim or it wasn’t very legible! I apologized a few times on behalf of Crusaders, pointing out that it was my fault he was walking.
Through the Bushy Park stretch I was only barely aware of the crowds. I had my head down, repeating a phrase a friend had given me: rhythm and will. I didn’t have much of either but the phrase worked very well as a mantra, over and over, step by step. I hadn’t the energy to say it out loud, just in my head.
Terenure and Orwell Road went by in a blur, I was happy to see the downhill by the Dodder and then the uphill at Milltown… I ran up it, stopped only by an idiot in a car who pulled out of a side road into the race… really dangerous at that stage. 04 C… if I had seen the rest of his number plate I would name and shame him.
And finally around Clonskeagh and into the long drag up to Roebuck. By this stage, we were with or just behind the 4:40 pacers, who were chatting to Killian Byrne (we had last seen him and exchanged a few words on Parkgate st with the 4:30 pacers). A friend of Killian’s ran out to hug him and nearly collided with me on her way back. She was very apologetic, it wasn’t her fault, just that I was in a zombie shuffle at that stage and couldn’t take any evasive action.
I said to hell with this, I am running up that damn hill no matter what, I’m from Donegal, it’s not a real hill. I put the head down, focused on a bum in front of me (is that wrong?) and nailed Roebuck hill. I even had enough energy to point out the typo on the sign on the ‘wall’ at the top: ‘YOUR nearly there’. I was completely oblivious to the supporters here.
From there it felt like we were nearly home, walked a few more times on Fosters avenue, on the overpass and maybe even a little at the beginning of Merrion Road. I knew our daughters were going to be somewhere near Anglesea Rd and also some friends were likely to be along that stretch, so I decided I better be running when I passed them all.
Mr. Stew gave us a cheery shout with his megaphone, then for the next few blocks there was a friend at each corner and finally, a huge shout out from our girls and their friends, madly waving a Donegal flag… a hug, a laugh, and on we went down Shelbourne Rd.
I was more alert now and noticing the crowds more. I loved the Drogheda and District zone at Bath Avenue. Finally, we saw the 800m to go sign, such relief. The last stretch down Mount St, as everyone has said, was brilliant. I can hardly remember it, I didn’t see one face in the crowd, I think I just absorbed the energy and noise. I remember saying, where is the bloody finish, holding Murph’s hand, and then it was there. He pushed me across a few seconds before him.
Finishing time was 4:43:11.
As soon as I crossed the finish line, I could hardly walk, but shuffled around to get the bags. I was weirdly unemotional and flat. That, I thought, was one of the most godawful experiences of my life.
But coming out to hugs from the girls and to meet everyone in McGrattan’s cheered me up no end.
Reflections
I’m still not sure what I make of it all. I was relieved to read all the descriptions of the ‘carnage’ out there, so it wasn’t just me. I didn’t feel like the wind bothered me, it cooled me down a bit. Going into the race, I thought miles 20-26.2 were the unknowns, but felt very confident before starting that I could do 20 miles. So to crash before halfway was a big shock. From about 14-17 miles, it was completely touch and go.
How much of it was psychological? I don’t know. I wasn’t feeling strong from the beginning and definitely not from Castleknock on. Did my negative thoughts drain my energy? Or was it the residue of the chest infection from a week before?
If I had to do it all again, I would try to do more long runs than HH1 called for, and probably should have done them slower as Ososlo pointed out to me ages ago. I also would have skipped the breakfast run and conserved energy more on Sunday.
Interesting to look at the stats – from 10k to the half I slipped 1268 places! But from the half to the finish, I gained 1,022 places. Which confirms my crash at half way, but I suppose there’s some solace to be taken from some sort of recovery towards the end.
Splits and race position:
10k: 1:03:15 ; 8693
Half: 2:14:03; 9961
30k: 3:18:12; 9791
Finish: 4:43:11; 8939
Highlights:
My amazing OH, who gave me water, jellies, support throughout. I’d probably still be in a heap on the Crumlin road somewhere, only for Murph.
I never stopped. Walking doesn’t count as stopping, does it?
The families and kids all through Templeogue and Terenure handing out jellies, goodwill and sustenance.
The support from friends and family – every shout out got me another Km along the way.
Meeting all the Boardsies afterwards in McGrattan’s… even though I couldn’t even finish a pint!
I didn’t come last (no disrespect to whoever did, but it’s my biggest fear). I came 256th out of 490 in my category… so it’s still better than 39th out of 40!!! :cool:
No lasting ill effects that compeed (toe blister) and difene (leg pain) couldn’t take care of!
Oh, I also raised €1,100 and counting for Barnardos!
Will I do it again?
I hope so. I now know I can cover the distance, just about. Next time, I want to do it right
A big thanks to everyone on here for the support, advice and companionship through this. Especially Ososlo, who is now officially a legend.
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Hi folks, like others I was much more of a lurker rather than an active participant on this thread, but I would like to greatly thank everyone who was on hand to dispense the wisdom of their experience - as a first time marathon runner, it helped me enormously with my preparations. In the end I exceeded my ambitious hope of 3:30 and was over the moon to manage a 3:27 finish. More than the time though, I will take away the memories of the incredible support everywhere, the kids looking for a high-five, the families with jellies and sweets, the street parties and that 10am BBQ!! That said, my particular favourite was looking up at the local wag in Castleknock with his sign "congratulations, you're the slowest runner...so far"
As the pain slowly begins to dissipate from my limbs, and the euphoria which stuck with me all through Monday and Tuesday also begins to disappear, I've been struck by a numb and empty feeling - I was just wondering if this is common to any other novices? I've really noticed today that I've been feeling down - something which provided me with a focus and which seized me with such excitement and nervousness in the weeks beforehand has now gone, and I feel at somewhat of a loss... Traditionally I'd been a keen GAA and soccer player, but having completed my first marathon, I'm really hungry to take running a lot more seriously! But at the same time I'm frustrated that it'll be months before I'll have another big event to focus on!
Sorry if this is somewhat of a stream of consciousness, but until I meet the two friends I ran the DCM with tomorrow, I feel like I'm going a bit crazy and that nobody else outside the first-time marathon community will understand! 0
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