1) 42km (26mi). 7 hours given to finish. I had signed up for the SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon 2017 a while back, and this would be my first marathon here. Any sane person would have trained rigorously for the event, but unfortunately I wasn't. Bar a 15km slow jog/walk at St. Stephen's Green a few MONTHS ago, I had not trained at all for the marathon. Literally zero/zilch. My reason for not training was very simple - I simply could not stand the cold! Every time I stepped out of the door with my winter jacket, I could hardly wait to step back inside again, much less forgo the jacket to go for a run. But boy was I going to regret my decision not to train...
2) This morning we had daylight saving time, and all clocks were rewound an hour earlier. That gave me an extra hour in bed, which was awesome. I reached RCSI before 8.00am to meet the RCSI Running Club for a group photo. Afterwards, we went to our respective waves; runners were categorised into waves depending on their projected finishing time. There were 4 waves and I was in the fourth. My friend Jesse and I went over to the starting line, and at 9.30am our wave started! Very early on I retreated back and ran at a pace that I was comfortable with. We ran past Lesson Street :'( (my old house) and continued downwards.
3) From the outset my legs felt cold and tired. I was fine for the first six miles, then it got progressively more difficult for me. As we entered Phoenix Park - all I could think was there was no way we're going to exit at the other end (Phoenix Park - home of the Dublin Zoo; is HUGE!) And yet I eventually found myself at the other end of the iconic white gate at the exit. At mile 6, I was fine but I knew I wanted to stop at mile 13.1 (the half way point). At mile 7, I knew I was NOT going to make it to the half way point. At mile 8 I had already stopped running and was brisk walking.
4) At this point, every fibre in my being was begging me to stop. I contemplated pulling out from the race more than a hundred times. I didn't think I would even make the finish line and be eligible for the finisher's T and medal. Then I remembered if I quit I would have to take public transport or even a cab back, which would cost money - so that kept me going for a bit XD We reached the next village - Chapelizod, and things took a turn for the better. Subsequently, every town/village we went to was accompanied by loads of cheering and sweet treats by the locals. As I was wearing my RCSI jersey with my name on it, the chants of "Go Kevin" and "You've got this. Fair play" were instrumental in boosting my morale. Children were everywhere, some holding cardboard messages which I found really witty, and some others just there for a high five or to cheer us on.
5) To cut a long story short, the last time around I encountered cramps in both calves. This time, I had no cramps in my calves, but in my thighs instead. So I did a cycle of walking and running for the duration of the race, the running sections becoming increasingly shorter until I was virtually walking the last bits of the race. At mile 24, we had passed UCD with two more miles to go. I ran a bit too long here and paid the price. My thighs felt so tight and sore, which made me grimace through the last mile. As the finishing line came into view, and spurred on by the vocal crowd, I made a final ~600m dash to the end. In the end, my grunts and heaves became as loud as their cheering XD. Nevertheless, I crossed the line, with an hour an a half to spare. My legs were like jelly, my toes were swollen and blistered, my whole body ached, but I felt like a million bucks.
6) Took my finisher's medal and finisher's T-shirt, before literally limping back to the library. For the next couple of days prepare to see me walk awkward and grimace as I ascend or descend the stairs XD. At the very least tomorrow is a holiday, so I can rest and recuperate. That has been my day, and hopefully you can appreciate my hard work and effort. Thanks for reading, and enjoy the pics. Cheers!
FYI - THESE ARE THE INTERESTING PLACES WE PASSED EN ROUTE TO COMPLETING THE MARATHON
Georgian Dublin (Fitzwilliam Square) --> Fitzwilliam Street --> Dublin Castle --> 15 Ushers Island --> James Joyce Bridge --> Stoneybatter --> North Circular Road --> Phoenix Park --> Dublin Zoo (parameter) --> Chesterfield Avenue --> Castleknock --> Castleknock College --> Phoenix Park (cont'd) --> Chapelizod Village --> St Laurence Rd --> Inchicore --> Kilmainham Gaol --> Irish Museum of Modern Art --> South Circular Road --> Dolphin's Barn --> Crumlin Rd (HALFWAY THERE!) --> Walkinstown --> Kimmage-Crumlin Crossroads (KCR) --> Templeogue --> Terenure Village --> Rathgar --> Orwell Park --> Clonskeagh --> Roebuck Rd --> Islamic Cultural Centre --> Roebuck Mountain (incline) --> Fosters Ave --> Nutley Lane --> RTÉ Entrance --> Merrion Rd (Dublin's Embassy belt) --> AIB Headquarters --> Royal Dublin Society (Race EXPO here) --> US Embassy --> Northumberland Rd --> Grand Canal --> Merrion Square (Georgian Dublin) --> FINISH!
RCSI Dublin Marathon Team 2017 :))
The smile belies the agony and pain I went through to get the job done...
Shiny new medal
Group pic ^^
Group pic #2
In front of the New Academic Building
Finisher's Goodie Bag
In the New Academic Building post-run...
PC: Shahmina Ashiqin :))
Will I do it again?
In a heartbeat.
Something resembling the Last Supper
(Boojum lunch with the fellow RCSI Running Club members)
Oh-so-scary Halloween costume at Boojum yesterday :)
Extra photos XD
