Dream big, work hard, achieve your goals - My DCM '19 Journey

I got my number a while ago, my hotel is literally across the road...no queue at all when I was there. Only needed to give my name & DOB. If you are held up I could see if they'd give it to me for you as I'll be in my hotel for the evening? Hopefully you are not held up.

Ah thats brill! Best of luck tomorrow 😊

Apologies in advance for how long this is...

Manchester Marathon chip time 3:29:07

1976 of 32784 overall

143 of 8814 women

As most of you know this marathon was booked as a back up plan for Dublin not going ahead. I had spoken to my dad about it at the time around my worries of travel, covid etc & he told me to just go for it & see how things were at the time of the marathon. Dublin was always my 1st choice but as it was not happening I committed to Manchester & so my training began. My plan A goal all going well was 3:22 with 3:25 as my plan B. Unfortunately with my dad's passing & no matter how much I tried to pretend it wasn't affecting my training, it was, of course it was! I was thick in the middle of grief & this meant that I couldn't give the maximum effort to my training that I needed to obtain my goal A time. The 4 weeks after my dad died were the 4 crucial weeks that needed me to be 100% , & it was clear I just couldn't give that but I did continue to train & it did really help me, I really wanted to complete my 2nd marathon & see what the experience was like compared to the 1st time.

After a tough few days leading up to the marathon I knew I needed to re - evaluate my goal for this. What was the slowest time I'd be happy with? I had made Antrim all about my dad & my grief, it was the stage I was at in the process of grieving where I thought about him all the time & constantly wanted to do things that would make him happy (not that I don't know but along with the guilt I was feeling it was very intense). Unfortunately for me it just didn't help, although I felt pure joy after Antrim for a while the come down was just not worth it, the dark place I went to on the Monday wasn't helpful at all for me dealing with this thing called grief so I really wanted to do all I could to avoid that happening again. I decided that week that this marathon was 100% about me & no one else! Obviously I wanted people to be proud of me but really I wanted to finish with a smile on my face thinking YES I've done it! I didn't think for 1 min that I wouldn't think about my dad or feel emotional but I just didn't want to allow it to dictate my race. I had worked pretty damn hard for this, I put in a solid block of training, never missing a day, it was all down to me being committed & disciplined about my training so I felt I deserved to reap the rewards & PB on the day. After a chat with S we discussed a strategy & I had a better idea of where I was.

Set off to Dublin airport for the 1st time in so long. We got there early enough thankfully as the security queues were quite long, Friday evening peak time obviously. Once through we relaxed & I had an ice cold pint of Orchard Thieves, really enjoyed this! Flight was grand & we grabbed a taxi straight away, the hotel was in Manchester Central & I actually didn't realise how close I was to the convention centre to pick up my number so i was really pleased with this. Saturday I picked up my number, very fast & efficient, felt so a buzz again which was great. We did a few bits in the town, had Nando's then I made my way back to the hotel to chill!

I had a decent enough sleep & actually slept right up to my alarm. I felt quite rested & calm, maybe it was because I was away? Not really sure but it fet good not to be stressed! Got up at 7 & made my porridge pot that I had brought with me, hoped back into bed & put the tv on while I ate mainly to drown out my youngest daughter snoring in the bed beside me (oh the glamorous life of a runner). I got up a short while later, showered & got into my gear feeling proper excited. We all met downstairs to head off but my 2nd eldest daughter had such a good night that she was absolutely dying, she looked grey & still very drunk so we sent her back to bed & told her to follow down in time for my finish. The tram stop was full of runners, the chatter was great, such a buzz about the place. Crammed like sardines on the tram we got off at Old Trafford stop & made our way. I gave my gear to my other 2 daughters & headed off into the athletes village. Everything was set up quite well, toilet queues moved quickly enough thankfully. I had left a long sleeve top on me to wear till I started but realistically I didn't need it, it was getting quite warm. I made my around to the start & moved into the Red A area. It was fairly packed but again a lovely atmosphere of excited runners anticipating that today was going to be their day...well I know that's what I was thinking!

We were delayed a bit & then the crowd started moving, yes we are off. I tried to weave in & out of people at this stage to get a rhythm going. Looking back it was a quick enough downhill start. The GPS was hoping as we came to a lot of tall buildings. I felt good but now realise I was going faster than I should have been, I had planned for a more conservative start, my 10k splits do not reflect this! It was getting warmer although it didn't really seem to affect me unless the sun was directly in my eyes. The miles seemed to pass by so quickly, so many thoughts going on in my head but mainly positive ones feeling thankful to be here & enjoying it. The support was brilliant, the crowds cheering & calling you by your name really lifted my spirits, I felt like I was grinning constantly, ran by a DJ playing songs & he said into the mic, Elaine where did you get that smile? Priceless! I laughed, but again little things like this around the course made it so enjoyable. There were stretches of the road that were a bit more lonely & a bit of a slog but in general the supporters were great.

Came to a couple of drags & uphills towards Mile 14 I think it was & god they were tough, just looking at all the crowds ahead of your gradually going uphill is so bloody draining mentally. This was over a road on a bridge I think, then this lead to mile 17 going through Altrincham, Jaysus this was so steep, I thought I was going to cry, almost walked it, my legs felt so zapped after it. Then this brought us back across the road on the bridge. I looked to my right to see a runner on the ground rolling around, at 1st I thought he was having a fit but then he got up started screaming like someone possessed & tried to grab a cyclist who was watching. An army man & a paramedic ran & tried to hold him but he broke free & tried to jump over a railing, they grabbed his leg but he was still screaming. It was quite traumatic watching it, there was something really wrong with him. Anyway it shook me up for a bit but I just tried to get back to my own focus for the race. I had taken on a couple of gels at this stage & popped electrolyte tablets into a couple of my bottles of water by this stage but my tummy was feeling a bit sick, so I decided to just use one more gel but kept the bottle of water to sip on. For the next few miles I just kept telling myself, just get to mile 20 then you only have 10k left. So with each mile that passed I was happy knowing I was on the countdown. After mile 20 I knew it was about getting sub 3:30 & I was happy with that. The next few miles went by, people shouting well done Elaine, great running Elaine, Almost there Elaine. The energy was amazing but I knew I was slowing, I wasn't suffering really badly but didn't feel I had it in me to push on. As I ran around the corner heading towards my finish my gang let out a huge scream & they all had tshirts on with Go Momma E, I was beaming, so bloody proud to have them all there supporting me. I checked my watch & knew I had to push on for the sub 3:30, so that's exactly what I did. The photographer was just a bit down from the finish line, so I gave him my biggest smile & put my arms in the air because I knew I had achieved my goal!!! I crossed the line at 3:29:07, absolutely thrilled with this. I was quite wobbly & broke down crying so one of the girls with the medals came over to me with water. It was so emotional but just like my 1st marathon I enjoyed this. At no stage of the marathon did I suffer so bad mentally or physically that made me want to stop & I am so grateful for that!

I meet up with my girls & their boyfriends & we got a few pics then went for food & a celebratory drink. After showers etc we went out for a game of bowling & arcade games that conveniently had a bar for lots more drinks. Monday was followed up with a prison escape room, mini golf & some darts. Overall the whole weekend was brilliant & very well needed by me!

I met Healy in the airport on the way home & had a little chat, felt bad for him but he will pick himself back up & decide whats next & whats best for him(sorry if you thought I was some weirdo just staring at you!!) Nice to finally meet you.

If this had been before I would have been gutted I didn't get my A goal but I genuinely am so proud of myself & happy with how it went on the day.

I would just like to say a huge thank you to S who has really been supportive & well just so patient with me through all this...couldn't ask for a better mentor.

I did it dad & as your favorite song goes... In my life I love you more❤️

Haha yep I recovered a lot quicker than her😂 Yeah she was with the rest of them around mile 24/25 looking a lot better than the few hours previous! Oh to be young & carefree😂😂

Yeah he had one or two words for me alright 👀😂