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Time for a New Adventure
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career move wrote: »Good luck Monday. You'll love it
Thanks Kate .... I really hope I do
Yep enjoy Monday S. I'll be near the bus stop (on the left) before mile 16 but I'll hardly see you. Knock it out of the park like we know you can.
Brilliant, I'll keep an eye out for you, I'll have an orange top on. Hope you bring me the same luck on this that you did on the BeastAbsolutely, have a super day on Monday. It'll be no bother to you. Enjoy it most importantly.
Thanks so much A and especially for all your encouragement and advice during the year, hope I do you proudMy absolute and very best to you on Monday. Trust in all the work you've done, and enjoy every minute of the ride. Super special mojo heading your way from across the Atlantic! Stomp it dead in Dublin!!!
Thank you Just so you know, I'll be using you for motivation. If When I'm in pain I'll be telling myself to suck it up because if DD can do this after a swim and a cycle with a smile on her face, than I can get on with this and stop whinging to myself Good luck on Monday.
Also, may I suggest a change of log title? It's a little bit misleading now that you're no longer a novice and also the fact you're running a marathon.:)
Thanks Zico - you've given me something to think about for a few miles tomorrowThe very best of luck tomorrow, Neady! You have put in soo much effort for this and other races. If I can cling on to your coattails, I'd be very, very happy.
Ha ha Nop, I'm hoping to be be using you and the other 4 hour peeps as wind breakers
I'll be wearing orange too and hanging out a bit behind the 4 hour guys so I'll keep an eye for you Well Neady... hope you are feeling confident, DCM is a walk in the park (well hopefully a run in the park) compared to the Beast...
very best of luck with it and looking forward to meeting you tomorrow, all going well!
Thanks so much Anna, can't wait to see you and call ourselves marathoners 0 -
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Thanks everyone
DD I literally scraped in under the four hours at 3:59:58. Honestly I thought the sub-4 had slipped away, I was sure that I was a minute over. It was soooo HARD, I've never had to dig that deep - I wanted to walk from 13 miles on, I don't know what was wrong with me, I wasn't feeling the love for it today. My legs were on autopilot but god was I glad to see I snuck in under 4 hours
Dilbert, it was so nice to see you on the route. Em apologies for the weird look on my face, I didn't want to scream out thanks Dilbert and by the time Conor came to my mind, I'd passed you. Also I was hurting quite a lot.
I have to say, Dublin is amazing, the people are amazing. I was never short of jelly babies or water or gels and the support literally carried me that last two miles.
p.s. How in the bejasus do you Ironmen and women do that after a day of swimming and biking?0 -
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I wasn’t sure about taking on DCM until after the Beast and thought 4 hours was a pipe dream but some great guidance and encouragement from some great boardsies (you know who you are) prompted me to go for sub-4. My training went well, I felt good on all of my training runs and I was looking forward to enjoying the friendly marathon. I knew it was going to be tough but I had no idea how hard it would be.
I stayed in the Charleville Hotel on the North Circular Road on Sunday night and had brought my porridge oats, dried sultanas and almond milk mixed up and ready for breakie on Monday morning. I slept ok but woke every now and then to check the time as I was afraid that the alarm wouldn’t go off or that I’d sleep through it.
I got a taxi into O’ Connell St. to drop my bag with my laptop and a present for himself for putting up with marathon madness into a storage area (I didn’t want to leave my laptop in the baggage area). The taxi driver mentioned the marathon and when I told him I was running, he said that ‘he wouldn’t even do 26 miles on a push bike’. Then he started complaining about the road closures and asking why it had to start so early as it was disrupting people who needed to get to work etc. etc. etc. In my mind I was shouting ‘do you not realise that today is about the 15,000+ marathon runners and hundreds of volunteers and NOT about the inconvenienced workers’. But I didn’t, I told him it was to avoid the hottest part of the day (it is I think?)
I dropped my change of clothes at the bag drop and by 8:30 was heading for the loo, the lady on the microphone said not to use the loos around the bag drop and that there was plenty of portaloos in the green area, so I obeyed her and headed for the green start. Big mistake, the queue was massive and I had to go so I waited and it was 9:05 when I bolted from the portaloo and jogged to the big long massive snake of people. It was impossible to get through people and I could see blue balloons up ahead (but couldn’t see the time on them because I’m blind) so figured that they’d be the 4 hour guys, don’t sweat it and reel them in later (I did read the book the night before and did read that I should be following the red balloons but I forgot in my panic).
I trotted off nice and easy, the first mile clocked in at 9:30 because of the congestion and the second was around 9:00. I caught the blue balloons around the three mile mark. I can only imagine the look on my face when I saw the 4:10 on them – I was hoping to run with Nop and the other 4 hour boardsies from the Novices thread - this wasn’t working out at all how I’d planned. Then I remembered that Anna should be around here somewhere and I could run with her but everyone’s names are on their front which isn’t at all convenient for other runners to identify people, sorry I didn’t see you Anna.
I was worried a little but I remembered back to the Kinvara half when I lost the pacers at the start and how I reeled them in over 7 or 8 miles so I figured I’d do the same here and I’d be fine. I know I should have just ran my own race but I really wanted the comfort of at least seeing those red balloons in the distance.
As we were running though the Phoenix park, the doubts crept in, I was finding the going tough (@ 9:05/mi) and it was only early days, I’d a small niggle in my left quad that I was hoping wouldn’t turn into more than a niggle. I was telling myself that I’d done too much this year, that I’d pushed my body too hard and now it was repaying me and I was convincing myself that I’d peaked in Athlone and that I should have picked a Spring marathon instead. Next thing I know I’m overtaking an extremely tall man shrouded in green loose fitting robes, I look down at his feet and he’s running barefoot. I look to the person next to me and say, holy sh*t, he’s got no shoes on. Time to suck it up Néady, you’ve got your cushy runners on so get the hell on with it.
At about the 6/7 mile mark I spotted the red balloons, hallelujah, way way in the distance but I had sight of them and that was the main thing. I kept my pace even and the miles flew by until mile 9 – 10 which dragged forever and was a suffer fest. I tried to soak up the atmosphere as much as I could, high fiving as many kids as I could and taking in all the other people running around me. The support along the route was absolutely amazing, there was hardly a fifty meter section without any supporters.
I was so glad to see the half way point and I checked my watch – about 1 minute under the two hours so not doing too bad though I was wondering how the hell I was going to run the same distance again at this pace. I won’t lie, I wanted to stop and walk after 13 miles, I was really starting to hurt but I had those dam red balloons in my sights. I eventually caught the last pacer – well I was a bit behind him but I hoped to stay on his coat tails and I did for about three miles but I just couldn’t move my legs fast enough and I could see them drift off and with them my 4 hour target. I talked to myself to keep with them but my legs wouldn’t listen and I resigned myself to letting the four hours go.
Around the 16 mile mark, Dilbert gave me a shout out, thank you Dilbert, it really did give me the pick me up I needed – it made me concentrate and snap out of my misery. I dug deep and found some pace in my legs again and though still a bit behind the balloons, I was determined to keep them in view. I figured that I started well behind them so I had some time to spare.
This spurt of energy kept me going until mile 22, dear god, I was having to dig deeper and deeper to keep it going. All I wanted was to stop and walk and I kept remembering the advice from the Novices thread to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Mile 22 took me 10:00 minutes and I was going as hard as I possibly could, all the while the f*icking balloons were getting further and further away from me, I could barely see them now. At the bottom of the hill on this mile, a fire truck was trying to get through the runners and out onto the road so I stopped and shouted at the other runners to let them through, I was only stopped for 5 seconds max but I thought that was it, game over. I grabbed a bag of jelly beans from a little child though and I was off again. A spectator at the bottom of this hill was shouting that it was only 70 meters long and to drive through it, honestly, those little words of wisdom were what got me up it.
I was emptying the tank but a few calculations in my head made me think that if I could finish stronger than this I might only be less than a minute over the 4. I was going at what I thought was 10km pace and looked at my watch, 9:22/mile, how could that be, it was hurting sooooooo much. I could hear a person on my right telling a fellow runner that even though they were going through a rough patch, they’d run through it, she said ‘you ran yourself into it, you’ll run yourself out of it’. Who ever that lady was, wasn’t directing it at me but it sure as hell had an impact on me.
The cheering of the crowds on the last three miles were all that got me through. Mile 24 came in at 8:53. I remember a fellow hiker telling me before that if you don’t leave it all out there on the course, you won’t be happy with yourself and I can honestly say I was leaving it all out there. I told myself that whatever was on the clock at the end, I was going to be dam proud of because I was pushing through everything from the physical to the mental pain.
My brothers were on mile 25 and seeing them there was what got me over the finish line. About 500 meters from the finish line, there was a girl receiving CPR on the road, it was honestly the most sobering sight of the day. I later heard that they used the defibrillator on her and she was stable in hospital, thank god. The image of that girl lying lifeless on the ground will stay with me for a long time.
For those last 6 or 7 miles, while I was hearing the crowd, I was completely and utterly focused on nothing but the road in front of me. I couldn’t look at the other runners around me and I couldn’t offer support to anyone. I don’t ever remember being so focused on anything in my life, all I wanted to do was cross that line.
My watch read 3:59:57 when I passed under the finishing arch but I was sure that I was a few seconds if not a minute over. As soon as I got my bag and my phone, I called himself and he told me it registered two seconds under the four hours, wohooooo – talk about by the skin of my teeth.
It was hard work, from beginning to end. It was much harder than any training run that I’ve done and not at all what I expected. I thought that I’d be comfortable until mile 20 and have something left in the tank to kick on but it was far from that. The support from the people of Dublin was unbelievable, the words of encouragement were amazing and while it was tough, it was enjoyable. I’m so glad I’ve a marathon under my belt and I really hope the next one won’t be quite as tough
Back in January I made this vision board thingy and put it on my desktop. It’s all done now wohooooooooo. Now to start working on next years one 0 -
Superb debut from you Neady!
Massive congrats!!! Recover well and enjoy the rest:D
Thank you Ososlo My legs are basking in being in a horizontal position all day Brilliant, Neady! never doubted that you would do it... did you make it to McGrattans? Sorry we didn't get to say hello!
Thank you Anna and likewise, you did so well, delighted it went so well for you. I didn't make McGrattans in the end. I was a soggy smelly mess and a bit emotional at seeing my brothers and the car was parked about 2km away with a drive to Clare in front of us so I was dying to curl up in the back seat. The walk while painful did me the worked of good, I had loosened up a good bit by the time I got there and I was so glad not to have to get on a bus back to Galway
I'm so sorry I missed you and I missed up during the race too, I was hanging around the 4:10 pacers for a bit.Neady - what a brilliant result! I am so proud! You're a marathoner now!
From looking at your 10k splits, we must have ran practically together for hours, but I never spotted you, what a pity. I didn't manage to tough it out like you do, I had to stop and stretch, albeit briefly, in Clonskeagh - you must have passed me then.
Super well done again!
Thanks Nop, my plan was to run with you and the other boardsies but you'll read in my race report that the start didn't quite go to plan so I was only hanging on the coat tails of the 4h pacers for a few miles. I did look around for your orange top but I didn't see you.
Well done to you too, you did amazingly well So proud of all of us career move wrote: »Mighty stuff. Well done and well deserved
Thanks CM and thank you for all the advice during the year You and the other boardsies got me over that finish line 0 -
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I think you are the shiniest spot in the tri forum at the moment - a rising star. Your sincere enthusiasm and love for everything you do is what it's all about - you've cracked the secret wide open. Well done you. And welcome to the club.
Well said Dory. To be honest, between Neady, Oryx, CM and yourself there's some impressive band of hoochies on TDAR.0 -
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Great report, Neady... we were so close and yet so far I saw the barefoot guy just outside the park, so you were ahead of us by then, you must have zipped past me!!!
Fair play to you though for toughing it out! well done again
It would have been so great to have run with you for a bit - next year, we'll both have a good go at the sub-4 and do it together
Am I really talking about next year already?What a legend
Yes, I saw the barefoot guy too, about halfway up the PP. I wonder how he got on?
You're so kind, thank you again
I saw him on the news Monday evening, he was over 60 years of age and was so thankful to the people of Dublin for the support.What a gusty performance. Wow girl, so proud as anticipated. That is tough going and you stuck with it. Good woman. NOW GO MIND YOURSELF.
Thanks so much A I really appreciate it, you're words of wisdom and encouragement kept me going. I fully intend to take it very easy for the month of November, I owe this body a breakI think you are the shiniest spot in the tri forum at the moment - a rising star. Your sincere enthusiasm and love for everything you do is what it's all about - you've cracked the secret wide open. Well done you. And welcome to the club.
DD, I started to cry reading this, thank you so so much, it really means a lot coming from youThis Fat Girl Runs wrote: »Fantastic race and fabulous report! Well done, you!
Likewise TFGR, you're an inspirationWell said Dory. To be honest, between Neady, Oryx, CM and yourself there's some impressive band of hoochies on TDAR.Ooooo......4-hoochie team event, anyone???
Me likey the sound of this *waves hand madly in the air like an over enthusiastic childCongrats on a fantastic debut Marathon Neady.
Likewise, sub 3:20 on your first time out, you're destined for great thingsWow.
You're bleedin' deadly 0 -
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