We Did It!!!

Sitting here in work it is hard to believe that this time last week I was a nervous wreck, about to run my first marathon... and what is even harder to believe is that I did it. I ran the Dublin City Marathon 2006!

As most of you know from reading my blog it all started with a 2 mile run on the treadmill. A 2 mile run that took me half an hour. A 2 mile run that has changed my life.

From starting as non-runners, Phil & I put in a lot of hard work this summer. We spent countless evenings after work & countless weekends, in the Phoenix Park, running in rain, hale or shine, increasing our miles as the weeks wore on, and realising as these weeks passed, just how determined & motivated we had come to be. We went through highs & lows, feeling excited & proud following some runs, to feeling disappointed after others. There were times when I doubted myself. I doubted my fitness, my motivation & my belief in myself. I doubted if I could actually complete the goal that I had set for myself, but on this day last week, after 4 hours, 50 minutes & 43 seconds of running, all that doubt was washed away & all the hard work payed off when Phil & I, hand in hand, crossed the finish line.

Here is the full story.......

Monday, 30th October 2006. I awoke at 5.45am by the sound of the 3 alarms that I had set. With everyone in bed (my parents & my flat mates) I crept out of bed to change into the running clothes I had layed out ready the night before & headed to the kitchen for a breakfast of porridge & banana.
Many times on a long training run I have started my day with porridge & banana as I find it is the best fuel for me but for some reason I had decided to try a new porridge that I had never tasted up until that morning.
Big mistake! The porridge was foul.
I added my banana in some hope it would help but unfortunately the porridge could not be saved & after a few mouth fulls & a lot of retching, it had to be binned. Not to worry, Phil told me he had our usual porridge at his apartment so I headed over there for breakfast. To be honest though, I still found myself retching when trying to eat the good porridge. I was that nervous!

Back at my apartment Phil & I were kitted up & ready to go, so along with my parents, we headed to the starting line. Once there the nerves had gotten to our bladders, and to everyone else's so it seemed judging by the toilet queue in Burger King. Phil even had to go again down the lane by Lillies & by time we were lined up & waiting for the gun we both needed to go again!
I'm not surprised though, we were both about to face the moment of truth. After 4 months of consistent training the time had arrived to put our training to the test. As we waited for the gun to fire Phil told me to look ahead of us & behind us. As I am only small I had to jump to look but when I did I just saw masses & masses of runners in both directions. I just thought "this is huge & I am part of it!"

Eventually, after what seemed like hours rather than minutes, the starting pistol was fired & after 7 minutes of shuffling our way to the starting line, our feet crossed over the mats & our heads under the balloons. We were off.

Only a minute over the starting line we passed my Mum, Dad & best friend. They were the first of my friends & family that I seen & would see until mile 11. It was great to see them as all 3 of them seemed to be beaming with pride that I had the motivation to even start a marathon. I hoped I would see them 26 miles later with the same smiles.

For the first 3 miles we somehow managed to lose 4 minutes off our time. This was not from waiting to cross the line as we had started our watch when we crossed it. Instead we could only guess that we were being overly cautious not to get caught up with the faster runners & burn out too soon. For the next 7 miles or so we did try to make our time back up but after every mile we were still the same 4 minutes behind.

Up until mile 11, apart from the missing 4 minutes, our running was great. We felt good & we were still soaking up the atmosphere around us. We'd encountered people in fancy dress & even a woman who's T-shirt told us she was almost 71! We also passed by my friends that refueled us with energy drinks & mini Mars bars & one of them even ran along side us for a minute or 2.
But from then for the next 4 miles, things went horribly wrong for me.

After having a Mars bar stuffed into my mouth I began to feel sick. I had already taken 2 gels on board & since waking that morning I had drank approximately 4 energy drinks. My body did not seem to be processing the sugar too well. I felt like I was about to vomit. On top of this we were running up the Crumlin Road while the wind was running down it. I told Phil of how I felt & he spurned me on as much as he could but then I reached a point where I felt so sick & disappointed in myself that I began to doubt myself & whether I would or could continue on for another 13 plus miles.
Eventually, after having to stop to retie my shoe laces as my feet had swelled, Phil started to get frustrated with me & was running on ahead. I had been feeling this way for 2 miles & had made it known to Phil so much that I was probably just complaining. I told myself that if I did not either buck up or shut up, I would be running this marathon alone, if at all.

For the next 2 miles I kept my head down & my mouth shut until we reached a water station & mile marker 15. I hadn't looked at a mile marker since I started to feel sick, but the minute I looked up & saw "15" I knew I could & would make it. I even remember looking around at the runners along side me & thinking "some of you might never have even run this far before, but you're doing it & if you can do it, then so can I."
After that there was not a doubt in my mind that I would cross the finish line & even though my legs & feet were feeling the increasing miles behind me, I felt great & I was loving every minute of it.

By mile 18 we saw Phil's sister & her children which really gave Phil the boost he needed at that point as he had began to tire. We were soon to also reach our friend from work. We wanted to be in good form when we saw her, and as we were also at an incline, we decided to walk for a few minutes. This really helped us. My feet were feeling the effects from the constant pounding on the road. It was strange though as the rest of me felt great. I wasn't out of breath or feeling fatigued. I just had sore legs & feet. If I could have taken off my legs & changed them for a fresh pair I'd have finished a lot quicker than I did.

At mile 21 I looked at Phil & looked up at the mile marker. He had not seen this as I had & as we ran past it I was delighted to tell him that we had just run the furthest we had ever run. We had 5 miles to go. Nearly finished.

The highlight of the run for me came a few miles after that when we reached mile 24. My parents were waiting for us at the corner of Merrion Road & Shelbourne Road. Just before we approached them we decided to stretch a little as our legs were quite stiff & I wanted to appear in good form for them, even though I was absolutely shattered.
Coming up to the corner where I knew they would be my eyes were wide open ready to spot them. For the past few miles I had thought of nothing but seeing them & I had to fight the tears back. I saw my dad first & started to wave my arms erratically above my head. He caught sight of me & I saw the joy on his face. It was probably just as much from the heat of the sun as it was seeing his daughter at mile 24 of a marathon, but whatever the reason, his face shone. I saw my Mum a split second after I seen my Dad but by that point my eyes were clouded over with tears & I ran as fast as I could to hug them. You'd have thought I hadn't seen them in years, rather than hours. They both looked so proud & it made me feel very special.

After a quick hug & a few tears shed Phil & I said our goodbyes & made our way along the final 2 miles towards the finish line.

Shortly after seeing my parents we saw Phil's nephew just before mile 25. He started to run along with us for a few minutes & I could see the smile spreading on Phil's face by the second. I knew he would get emotional by the last mile but I didn't realise how much until we turned the corner just at mile 25, and he saw his entire family screaming & cheering him on. We passed them on Westland Row & by time we were at Pearse Street Phil had gotten so emotional that he was losing his breath. The tears in his eyes were contagious & I had to stop myself from crying too soon. "There's plenty of that for mile 26.2" I thought.

At mile 26 my friends seemed to appear from nowhere to cheer us on. They were clapping & shouting as we ran passed them.
We rounded the corner & then all of a sudden, there it was. The finish line.
I took Phil by the hand & running past a loud cheer from Phil's father we ran toward & across the finish line.
All of a sudden every emotion I had in my body for the past 26.2 miles, every tear, every smile, all just came flooding out of me. I cried so hard I could barely breathe & had to stop to catch my breath.
We had done it. Every early morning run, every cramp, my sore knees, my sore feet, my sore hips, it was all worth it for that single moment when we crossed the finish line. It was the best feeling I have honestly ever felt in my life. I was overwhelmed & mostly, I was proud of Phil & I was proud of myself.

The rest is how you know it from there. We collected our medals & had our photograph taken & went over to the pub for a well deserved pint!!

The 30th October 2006 was the best day of my life. I was astounded as to how I felt & I will not be giving that feeling up for a long time.
Phil & I are already planning our next marathon.
I guess you could say we have the bug now, but not just from running, but also from the rewards that running has brought us.

Listen to me, I'm sounding very cheesy now & I've gotten myself all emotional just recalling it all.
I will be going for now, but you will be hearing from me again.