I hope you're all settled into your favourite chair and have some beverages and a few snacks ready as this is going to be a long post. It's about my journey from my first steps out the door in March 2014 until the finish line at the Dublin Marathon... A story I still can't believe I'm writing...
Back in March 2014 I met Laura and she somehow managed to get this lazy old boy off his backside and out the door for a 60 second run and a bit of walk, and she made me repeat it a few times a week. Then she made me run ever so slightly longer until 9 weeks (ish) later I was running for 30 minutes non-stop. I couldn't believe I was doing that and when I did my first Parkrun I was amazed I could run 5k without stopping. I thought to myself it couldn't get much better than that. Oh how wrong I was. You see, Laura had me hooked. I loved running, I loved the freedom it bought me, the respite it gave me from the daily grind. I also found an amazing community in Health Unlocked and later in my Facebook family in C25Kers and Beyond C25K. My virtual cheer squad, the people who "got it", who helped me through my first 10K, my injury lows and the highs of my first half marathon and introduced me to Fartleks, Hill Repeats and Intervals. I loved it; I was fitter than I had ever been; people noticed the difference in my body and my mind felt more free than it had for a long time. I'd found an outlet for the up and downs of life and something that was just for me. Me time - just me and my running. Running started to be a part of who I was, it was what I loved to do. But I'm also someone who likes goals - so I always had a new race to enter, a new distance to reach, a new target to aim for. I enjoyed working towards them and spent hours pounding out many miles to work towards those goals.
In April 2015 I decided - okay maybe I was cajoled into it - to enter the Dublin Marathon. I had a few HMs under my belt and I figured that if I could convince myself to run a marathon that life could pretty much throw anything at me and if I conquered a marathon then I'd push through anything. It was a massive target and I had no idea how I'd achieve it, but I set about planning it out in the same way I'd gone from nothing to 5k and then onwards to 10k, and then to HM. It was all about incremental improvement and keeping the end goal in sight. It was also about remembering the lessons from C25K, helping others on their journey and allowing yourself to learn from others.
I told my family I'd entered and had a great conversation with my Grandad about how I'd decided to do it and that it was being run on his 92nd birthday and he was awfully excited about it and told me about his days as a high school sprinter. I didn't even know this about him until I talked about my running - amazing what we don't know about those so close to us. Unfortunately, my Grandfather passed away on the 4th July this year and it hit me pretty hard. I really wanted him to see me finish the marathon and now it wasn't to be. I went out that day for a run and cried most of the way and when I stopped I had an ice lolly for him. One of my favorite moments in his last days was a photo of him enjoying what was to be his last one. In a amazing show of support, this brilliant community of runners I'd found, completely unprompted, all went out for a run that week and posted dozens of photos of them enjoying an ice lolly after their runs in memory of my Grandad. I was so humbled by this group of people, these runners, most of whom I've never met, supporting me through this tough time. I love you all.
I then spent the next few months training for the marathon, doing many many miles and lots of long runs. I did a few races and met up with fellow forum and Facebook members and had the pleasure of doing my first ever 20 miler with Vicky and Helen. I'll come back to this as that run helped me during my marathon in a way I couldn't have imagined. The long runs were hard at times, keeping to the plan was a mental test - something that would also come in handy on the day.
Fast forward to October and I flew out to Dublin with my family on the Saturday as the marathon was on a Monday (a bank holiday in Ireland). The hotel was a stone's throw from the marathon expo, so I headed down on the Saturday to collect my race pack and to explore the expo. It was surreal being at a "proper" marathon expo and after I got my race number, my baggage bag and all the bits of advertising, I was able to sit down and listen to the race director giving the low down on the race logistics and they did a video run through of the course. It seemed like the time lapse video went forever and I remember thinking "that really does seem like a long way". My family wandered off at some point and when they returned my 5 and 7 year old daughters had made some signs for the big day. "Go Daddy - you rock - we love you". This was real, this was happening and I was going to get in the start line! The hotel was right near the 40km (!) mark so I decided that was where I would meet them on the big day. See you at 40k I said, laughing at how crazy that sounded.
On Sunday after a decent night's sleep and a sports massage, I met up with Sheralee and Lauren, my fellow Beyonders who had been crazy enough to try a marathon on for size. The expo was really busy so we enjoyed a brief catch up and a quick (non-alcoholic of course) drink before bidding each other good night as we had a marathon to run in the morning. The weather forecast was looking decidely "wet and miserable" but I went to bed after laying out all my gear thinking "it's just another long run". This one has a decent medal at the end of it and happens to be the longest run you've ever done, but don't panic!
Morning came quickly and I stuck to my normal long run routine. Breakfast was porridge I'd bought over from home, a banana, some water and then on with the race gear. Nothing new on race day! An hour or so later and I got a cab to the start line and made my way to the baggage drop to drop off my warm clothes and dry shoes for after the race. There was a light drizzle and it was pretty cold at the start and I had a good 80 minutes or so to kill before my wave started off. I bumped into Sheralee not long after I arrived. This was great as it meant that we had a chance to have a chat and try our best to ignore the task ahead of us ("just another run", "this rain will be cooling us down soon enough", etc). I wandered off to find a bathroom before we kicked off and lost Sheralee as the wave moved to the start line but I got lined up in good time and had a bit of banter with a few of the boys before the start which had us all in good spirits.
Before I knew it, we were off. Here I was, crossing the start line of my first marathon. I had no idea what lay ahead, but knew I'd done all I could to deserve to finish it somehow. The first few miles were pretty congested but the Great North Run taught me to just kick back and enjoy it and not worry about trying to get around people. I had many miles ahead of me so no point in expending energy now. The first 5k kicked over in about 35 minutes and I felt really good. The crowd had thinned enough to get a decent rythm going in my run and I found this pace pretty comfortable. Somewhere around here I think I caught Sheralee and we had a quick hello and then we both got back into the rythym of our own runs. We stuck together for quite a few miles, sitting in nicely behind the 5 hour pace team who were doing an amazing job of keeping us to 35 minute 5K pace. 10K came up as we exited Phoenix Park (glorious place for a run) and by 10 miles we were back into the park for the second time and I was still right beside the pace team. I'd lost Sheralee somewhere but I wasn't sure if she was ahead of me or not as we'd been together for a while but we were each running our own race and our own pace. The crowd support was amazing with loads of people out at almost every corner and at least every 800m cheering us all on. My favorite signs were "Chuck Norris still hasn't run a marathon", "Go random stranger", "Motivational Sign" and "Push here for power". I was having a blast. I hadn't even really noticed that 12 miles had gone past... this was awesome!
Then I came around a corner and a bit of an incline. Not a big hill you see, but one of those long undulating inclines. It was also as we got back into the more residential/industrial areas so the scenery changed which I'm not sure helped. That's when I saw the big old gantry over the road that proclaimed "HALF WAY". One would think this was helpful. I can tell you, my dear friends, that this was NOT helpful. The rain started at this point and the wind picked right up and almost pushed me back to mile 10. There was a water station at the half way point and as I picked up my bottle of water I felt the back of my knee start to complain. This had happened in training and I was worried about it and I knew I couldn't keep this pace up and expect to still be upright by 26.2 miles... This was where having a Plan B helped. I wanted to stay with the pace team, but I knew my leg wouldn't have it (and if it did I'd risk a long term injury) so I reverted to my backup plan. Remember I said that I did my first 20 miler with Vicky and Helen? Well, my friends, that run taught me that I could walk/run in 500m intervals and I clearly remember Vicky telling me that what I needed to do was "keep your pace up while walking" and "stride out long when you walk". So, that's what I did... I walked 500m really briskly and then ran 500m until Mr Garmin buzzed out the kilometer... after 2 of those I realised my pace was still sub 40 minute 5K pace and I simply reset my goal to sub 5:30... simple as that... it was wet, it was windy and I was carrying a niggle behind my knee... all I had to do was continue what I was doing, trust my training and carry on... just 20 more 500m runs and 20 more 500m walks and I'd be home...
This was all working well and I called my wife at 30km to let her know I'd be at 40km in "about 75-80 minutes". Happy days - let's push on then. All going well, I can get this done, all is not lost and I'll run all of it one day. Still smiling, not even disappointed with myself at this stage as just getting this thing done is going to be awesome. Until mile 21 that is. At mile 21 there's another hill, not a long hill, not even a steep hill really, but it's a hill. I hate this hill, I hate this race, I hate this marathon, I hate my knee, I hate the rain, I hate the whole stupid thing. I want to go home now - this is stupid. I mean, I'm not even running it anyway, what's the point?
Then the weirdest thing happens - there is a DJ playing music to the runners. I hate him right now too. Right up until he says "and here's Andrew from Australia and he looks like he needs a big Dublin cheer!". The crowd all cheered, people were screaming out my name and calling me a superhero and shouting "fair play Andrew, you got this 5 miles to go!". You know what? I ran up that bloody hill... and I punched the air... and then I walked again once I was out of sight! But, I got through that dark bit of the day and all thanks to that DJ who won't have any idea how much he helped. If you're ever watching a race, cheer people on.. encourage them, give them a bit of a pat on the back. Sometimes that's all they need...
I'm now back in a good mood despite the rubbish weather and the walk/run strategy is working for me. Lots of other people are doing the same now and the walk breaks give me a chance to chat to my fellow runners, joke about how ridiculous this all is and convince ourselves that we only have a Parkrun to go. By now I know I'm going to finish it - I just don't know how broken I'll be by the time we get there! The weather gets worse and it's pouring down with rain so the walk breaks mean I'm also getting pretty cold too... keep smiling though - this is meant to be fun remember... onwards we go...
The next thing I remember is passing a hotel that looks a lot like the one I'm staying in. I'm a bit delirous by this point and then I hear my kids screaming out to me... they are standing out in the pouring rain with my wife and with their handwritten signs cheering me on. My wife is in tears, my daughters are beaming with pride. I stop, right there, have a bit of a cry myself, hug my wife, kiss my kids and tell them how much I love them and that this is the hardest thing I've ever done and how I don't know if I can carry on... my daughter says "it's just like a junior parkrun from here Daddy.. you can do that..." <sniff>
I hand over my haul of jelly babies and sweets to my kids that have been handed out to me along the way (I never want to see another jelly baby again for the record) and shuffle on towards the finish line. It's hard, really hard, I know I have less than a mile to go but my legs don't work... I'm going to walk it home... I'll finish it, my time will be good enough for me today but I'm done... I'm spent... I'll limp in...
And then someone grabs my hand and says "let's finish this". I turn to my right and there's the lovely Sheralee.. I pick up my legs and run a little bit until she says "you might need to slow down though"... we're both tired, we're both walking and running a bit... but we're together, and we're going to bloody finish this together! Then we see the Finish Line and it says "Marathon Finish Line" and we can see it, and we are going to run to it! I always love to see the finish line at a race but words cannot describe how much I loved seeing this one and how badly I wanted this to be over... We ran with everything we had left... I was running on empty but we gave it our all...
We crossed the line hand in hand and had a huge hug and told each other "we just finished a bloody marathon". Words cannot describe the feeling of accomplishment I felt as I crossed that line. I did it, the bloke who couldn't run for a bus 2 years ago, the bloke who was 22kg heavier and in hospital 3 years ago with a suspected heart problem. The guy everyone picked last for the sports teams at school. I am a marathoner! 43 years young...
Will I do it again? You bet! Brighton - I'm coming to get you! Will I train differently? You bet - I need to get more miles under my belt and more strength training to go the distance non-stop. You need to really respect that sort of distance. It's not to be trifled with!
That's why you need to run your first one with the only objective being to finish. Never worry about your time. I learned so much about myself and about my body through all that training and on the day. On the day, I was my best. No one can take that away from me... I'd also like to say a big thanks to my Grandad for watching over me and matching my stride. I know he helped me through the tough miles.
And to all of you for cheering us on... you're bloody amazing! All of you!
Never stop believing in yourself and what you can do. You don't have to run a marathon, but stretch yourself a little and you'll find you may not break after all.
And to my fellow Dubliner marathoners Lauren and Sheralee - it was a pleasure to have run with you in this amazing event! Hats off to you both - you're awesome!
I Raced for Life and now I'm an official Couch to 5k-er!
The small one and I ran race for life
Half time. ..
marathon moger style
Couch to London Marathon: Part 2
