Galway Bay Half Marathon 1/10/2011

I had originally planned to write this on Saturday after the race, but was feeling bitterly disappointed, groggy and I suspect a bit dehydrated after the race and didn't feel up to much. 

I woke up at about 7:30 am on Saturday, excited that the day had finally come. I had breakfast, yogurt mixed with some muesli, nothing too heavy as I didn't want to be carrying a heavy stomach with me. Was sipping on water as much as I could and headed on into town. 

Pre-race everything was looking good, no niggles, no pains and was feeling good. Got to the start line and was ready to go. We got under way at 11 on the button and up the Grattan Road out onto Salthill,the first thing i noticed was that it was very humid even for October, which i thought was just my mind playing tricks with me (but thankfully verified by another runner later on) and moved along at a nice steady pace trundling along between the 8:35 - 8:40 mark per mile. As we returned from the first loop and passed the 6 mile marker at the 51 minute mark I was thinking at this point that the sub-2 was definitely within reach. 

I went through the 7 mile marker at 1:00:03 and was looking good. But as i approached Blackrock and the hill for the turn to the caravan park again, i started to feel the first serious signs of something not being right. Its hard to explain but my legs were still going and plodding along and when i reached the 11 mile mark at 1:40 my legs just said "enough". At this point I was reduced to a walk for at least a minute to two minutes to try and pull myself together. I went again and attempt to run and made the turn in the park for the small loop and there again i was reduced to a walk -thinking to myself as I saw my sub-2 disappearing from me "f**k it - it's gone". 

I tried to pull myself together and made it on to the Mutton Island causeway and made it down around the turn at the bottom and then again my legs seemed to stop me. Was feeling really dejected at this point and wished for it to be over, the time no longer concerned me. Eventually when I got going again and down the final stretch into South Park (a piece i normally enjoyed) seemed to go on for an eternity as i could hear the announcer calling the runners as they passed over the finish line. 

Eventually i could see the turn and pushed on, apparently according to my better half "looking pretty miserable" coming over the finish line. 2:02:08 was my time, so that explained the look. 

When i eventually got to sit down, i could feel my legs shaking and my head was starting to feel a bit funny. I attempted to pull myself together and get out and get some fresh air - but felt pretty groggy for most the day after. Thankfully its gone now but was a new feeling for me. 

Since then I've had a few days to think about it and have a couple of suspicions as to what happened on the day:     

• Breakfast, am not sure I had enough, plus it was probably digested after 3 and a 1/2 hours and probably burnt off the remainder midrace - so might have just had nothing left in the tank     

• Hydration - am not 100% convinced i had taken on enough water the day before and the day of the race.  

Like I said, these are just my suspicions, I don't claim to be an expert. But the one thing I learned on Saturday is "don't disrespect the half marathon" - preparation is everything for a good time, and leave anything to chance you will get caught out.

Location: Galway Bay Half Marathon
Distance: 13.1 miles (21km)
Pace (Avg): 9:19 p/mile
Time: 2:02:08

10 Miles and an Ironman(Not Me!!)

As I only had one run done last week I was a bit worried about hitting the 10 mile mark in my training and probably couldn't have picked a harder route to have done it in (although difficulty is relative to the person doing it I imagine :) )

Anyways I arrive in Galway early on Saturday morning, fully conscious of the fact that the half-Ironman competitors were arriving and was greeted by a form of chaos and cheery individuals all rolled into one. I was even mistaken for one of the athletes doing this incredible feat - which did my confidence the world of good as well as my ego.

That long long route

So I got down to the Prom in Salthill, had a quick stretch and off I went. I have to say I was fairly distracted by the activity in Salthill but loved the buzz, plus you could only imagine my envy at the bikes on display as I jogged by thinking "I want one of those". I eventually negotiated my way out of Salthill and off I went, into town and out towards Renmore which is a nice change of scenery for me, even if the inclines killed me a little, but i know thats going to be my weakness when it comes to running, but something to work on in the next year or so. I reached Renmore and turned back towards the roundabout which lead back towards the Headford Road and out towards the Quincentenary Bridge. Out past the hospital i went and out towards Taylors Hill (God I'm really beginning to hate that hill), which is about 10km into my run i slowed to a walk for 90 seconds as the hill finally beat me. That hill is now my challenge to beat in the future, i was not happy having to slow down to a crawl to beat it.

As i finally reached the top of Taylor's Hill I proceeded across to the Knocknacarra road, and plodded along, grateful to finally see the road back into Salthill :) It never ceases to amaze me when you know the end is near that you can find an extra gear in your legs to finish the run. As i landed back at where i started I felt a great degree of satisfaction, even if the walk up Taylor's Hill felt like a bit of cheat in my head, hopefully that was a once off and won't happen again :)

Location: 10 mile loop - Galway City
Distance: 10.14 miles (16.32 km)
Pace: 9:24 p/mile
Time: 1:35:20

Ironman(Not me!!!)
I was lucky enough on Sunday to catch the tail end of the Ironman in Galway on the Sunday, have to say it would inspire you to watch people give it their all for 70.3 miles and the joy on their faces when they complete it.

One of the many finishers on the day

Just have to say congratulations to all the finishers and competitors, it was an amazing achievement and would inspire anyone to get out and run, cycle or swim. Well done!!

The first 9 miles are the hardest

I took off for Salthill on Saturday this week to get my LSR in, a bit apprehensive that i may be hitting my wall in terms of distance for training. I suppose with this being new to me this is to be expected, but felt really stressed thinking about how am I going to pace myself? What if i have to stop? What if this is as far as i can go?

The best thing probably is that these questions pop up in my training runs, and hopefully these things will be gone by the time i do the half marathon. But got on with it anyways as I took off from the Claddagh and made my way towards the Prom, consciously trying to keep the pace nice and steady so not to blow up half way down the road. After the first 3km or so, I started to feel like myself again and felt my breathing start to settle and feel a bit more comfortable in my run. As I reached the end of the Prom i headed up the road towards the turn down to the caravan park and started to loop back and was beginning to feel that maybe this isn't my wall just yet.

Into my second loop and coming towards the 13km mark at the end of the Prom I got that familiar sore legs as i knew the hill towards the caravan park was coming up again (talk about mid games), and said "screw it" and just pushed on up the hill. I'm telling you, i never felt that hill so long as i did on Saturday, even though its only about 800 metres. When i finally got to the top i turned left, and was never so happy to see a downhill section and plodded around to come back to the Prom. That was it, 15.25km - was never so happy (and sore) as I was then, such a great feeling.

This time last year this would have been nothing more than me making excuses that i could never do this, and have somehow come this far. Its a great feeling, long may it last :)

Location: 15.25km Galway Bay Half Marathon Route
Distance: 9.48 miles (15.25km)
Pace: 8:42 p/mile
Time: 1:22:30

Just curious if any fellow runners read this (hopefully haven't bored you to tears yet), but what sort of tricks would you have to take the mind off the pain when you know you're reaching the tough end of a race? Would really appreciate some feedback on this and my blog in general as well:)