Running

[An Gaeilgoir]

Decision made, after learning so much this year, am going back to give it a whirl next year....

[magpie seanie]

Guys - am due a new pair of runners. Have been wearing Asics Gel Virage without issue. I love them. Looking them up on the web it says they are designed for moderate overpronators and have a lot of support. My ankles wouldn't be the best from multiple sprains etc over the years playing gaelic football and soccer so the support is welcome. Not sure about the overpronation though. Where can I get a gait analysis done and is it necessary? Am I overthinking this - should I just stick with the brand that I have happily used before? Also, am heading to the the US in about 6 weeks so would it be better to hold off and buy new the new wheels over there?

[brokencrossbar1]

Brilliant read Andoireabu from a first timer.  Well done - definitely some achievement!

+1

+2, well done andoireabu.

All this talk is making me think stupid, stupid thoughts.....

Me too seanie,  me too!!!  I even got a proper training program done up by an inter county S & C coach but I have a pretty serious injury at the minute...a very bad case of lazyfatarseditis!!

[laoislad]

Great to read the reports from Bingo,andoireabu and others.

So as for my Marathon race report..Sorry lads this is very long and probably boring but here goes anyway.

I wasn't nervous in the week leading up to Monday as I felt I had given the training a good go and I had put the miles in. I had ran 20miles in training at 9'40 pace only a few weeks ago and decided I'd go with the 4:10 pacers as this would have been around 9'30 pace and I felt I'd be well able for that.
I was looking forward to the big day and was confident enough of doing well...maybe a little over confident considering how things panned out!

I got in early enough into town and dropped my bag off and took a wander around and found the area I was supposed to be in. I saw a few lads who had Monaghan accents showing off their bare arses around Earlsfort Terrace and made a quick getaway before they turned around to show off their crown jewels to everyone.....

Found the area I needed to be in and I sat down on a step and had a good look around and then thought to myself...What the f**k am I doing here getting ready to run a bloody Marathon! How did this happen.
I felt an urge to pee then even though I had gone a dozen times before I left the house.
The queues for the portaloos were huge,there must have been 500 people queuing up for 7 toilets. Now unless you are dropping the kids off at the pool there is no need to be queuing for a portaloo IMO.I went down a little alleyway and went there.I actually had to do this about 4 times before the start of the race!

Time was passing quick enough. They played the National Anthem which I must admit I got a great thrill out of and sang it in my best tone deaf Laois accent and then before I knew it the wheelchair athletes had got the start gun and then soon after the Wave 1 guys were crossing the start line..
So Wave 2 was up next and that was when I started. The gun goes and off I go still wondering to myself how the hell I got to the point where I was now competing in a Marathon...

I got to chatting to this girl almost straight away. Turned out she was from Kilkenny and knew nearly everyone I knew and vice versa.
It was great company and we stayed together till Mile 17 when things started to go really wrong for me..that story is a bit later in the post...
For now though I was going fine and the first 11-12 miles flew by. I was going a bit slower than my hoped for 4:10 finish time but I didn't mind and thought I would be able make it up later on.

My parents were going to be standing at the Ashling Hotel at around mile 4 and sure enough they were there along with my sister and her husband.
Into the Phoenix Park we went and I didn't feel the long drag that bad at all. I had ran this 100 times in training so knew what to expect. Into Castleknock  and the support from the crowd was brilliant and then back into the Park we went and down the Upper Glen road and still going grand.

Didn't think the hill just after Chapel Lizod was all that bad and off we went down towards Kilmainham where I have a few friends living right on the course and they were there cheering me on.The company with the girl I met was great and we were chatting away and I was feeling good.

Saw a poor fella as we came up near the Coombe in a very bad way. Looked unconscious to me and I hope he is ok. He was only the first of many many poor feckers who I saw in a bad way.
Turned right for Dolphins Barn and up towards Crumlin hospital. Something was starting to change with me now as we headed towards half way. I wasn't as comfortable as before and the girl I was with was having to ease off her pace a little to stay with me.Not much mind but it was getting a little harder to maintain a conversation and stay at her side.

I thought it a little odd they had a big inflatable thingy that you ran under at  around 12.7 miles. I was sure it was the half way mark as did everyone else with me.I thought for a minute my gps watch was off until we actually did cross the half way mark a bit later.
I found the stretch from Dolphins Barn up to Crumlin hospital and beyond very tough. The sun was coming out and the wind was in our faces.
I kept going regardless but I knew my average pace was dropping and thoughts of catching the 4:10 group had well gone.
I revised my time to 4:30 and was happy enough with that.

So then the fun starts. Mile f**king 16! I was feeling the pressure a good bit before it happened and I had told  the girl with me to go on ahead, but she said no and that we'd stay going together as she was finding it a help to have someone to chat to also.

Then it happened..It was like what I'd imagine taking a bullet to the leg would be like,my left calf had just taken that bullet and it stopped me in my tracks. I somehow got going again after a bit of a stretch and a short walk and made it to about 17 miles when it happened again,only this time it was both legs. To be honest it looked like a bit of a war zone at this stage with bodies lying on the ground at either side of the road and loads of medical staff attending people. I told the girl to keep going as she was feeling fine and I was delighted when she did as I didn't want to be holding her back.

I walked/jogged from then on. My goal now had gone from 4:10 finish to 4:30 to just to finish the bloody thing.
I needed to finish this Marathon,not just for myself but for my son and for all the people that so generously donated to the charity that I was running for. I'll be well over the €3000 mark by the time I have everything collected. That was the only thing keeping me going now and I was getting to the finish line no matter what.

A bit before Roebuck Hill I met our very own gaaboard member An Gaeilgoir who was also in obvious pain. It was great to meet someone you know even if it had been nearly 7 years since the last time I met him.We walked up Roebuck Hill together pass the Gooch Cooper who was handing out bottles of Lucozade. I was feeling a bit better than An Gaeilgoir at this stage and we shook hands wished each other luck and I went off jogging again. There is a picture of myself and An Gaeilgoir on one of the marathon picture sites and we look anything but healthy.

I continued my run/walk strategy until I got to the 800mts to go mark. I was really in excruciating pain at this stage and my legs were cramping every few minutes.

So 800 mts to go and that's when the fun really started in my maiden Marathon.Everything that came before was minor to what was about to happen in the last stretch of the race before the finish line...

Just as I got to the 800mts mark I high fived Des Bishop..he nearly broke me hand!I could hear the roar of the crowd and I was nearly sprinting now. I could see the finish line in the distance and the adrenalin was pumping now and then out of nowhere.... BANG...both legs gone..only 400mts to go....

I held on to some poor devil at a row of red and white bollards and only for him I would have been flat on my face on the ground.
Next thing I knew a steward in a yellow Dublin Marathon jacket was standing there and told me to lie on the ground and he worked my legs till the cramp went. I'll be eternally grateful to this man. I'm fairly sure I never thanked him at the time and I feel really bad about that.
As I was on my back I heard someone shouting my name. I looked up to see my brother at the barrier beside me screaming at me that the finish line was just there and I would make it.

I managed to get up and I just starting running. I dunno where I got the energy from.My brother had started running beside me at the other side of the barrier and he was shouting encouragement to me and I think some of the crowd were joining in as it felt like everyone was shouting my name.

As I got to about 200mts to go I saw him...
There he was with his gorgeous smiling little face and my wife running along holding him. It was my son Eoghan.
I gave them the thumbs up and made one last dash for the line and finished in 4:59.30
I had done it... I had finished the Marathon.

I leaned against the barrier before I collected my medal and to be honest I was close to tears. The enormity of the whole thing and why I was doing it just overcame me. A steward came over to me and asked me was I ok and when he saw the head on me he sort of backed away with an expression of I really don't want to be dealing with this weirdo!

I gathered myself together and told myself to cop on! I collected my medal and t shirt and made my way through the hundreds of other runners.. Honestly it was like a scene from The Walking Dead! There was people everywhere just lying on the ground and plenty of groans of pain as people tried to get up or simply try to walk!

I have to say and I know I give out about them an awful lot on here but the people of Dublin were absolutely bloody fantastic.
The support every runner got was amazing. I have never seen the likes of it before. The cheering and clapping and handing out jellies and mars bars etc it all keeps you going when you feel you can't go on anymore. I can't talk highly enough about the support.The homemade signs I saw were brilliant.
'Chuck Norris never ran a Marathon' made me laugh. There was another one 'I know a shortcut' I must have seen this 5 times. I dunno was it the same guy but if it was he went around the course quicker than I did!

The atmosphere in the last 800mts will live with me for a long time. It's the closest I'll ever get to feeling like a sportstar.
The roar was deafening as you turned onto Mount street. It was fantastic.

In summary.
It was the hardest most excruciating painful and emotionally draining but also one of the greatest experiences of my life.
Would I do it all again? Without a shadow of a doubt. I'm already looking forward to next year.

Muppet,Magpie Seanie,Midlouth or anyone else reading this. If you have a wish to do a Marathon then just do it.I promise you won't regret it. Believe me, if I can do it anyone can. I could not run for more than 30 seconds 15 months ago and I was 2 stone heavier than I am now. And while I know I went through serious pain and my time was on the slow to very slow side,as Bingo texted me monday night I now have a PB  time in the Marathon go and beat it next year.!

Thanks to everyone on here for the advice and good wishes. I'm not sure I would have kept the running going in the early stages of my couch to 5k program without this thread.
I have now gone from couch to Marathon and as I said if I can do it anyone can.


Now,what are these Ultra Marathons all about.....

[screenexile]

Great read that, well done laoislad fair play to you!

[CD]

i made the mistake of changing runners in the middle of training for DM. Was a disaster for me! I'm gonna stick to what i .know from now on.

[Bingo]

Cheers for the comments on the race report, always enjoy putting them together as a great way of capturing the day.

Been on the go most of the day, so going to read the other reports etc this evening...looking forward to it.

As aside, read these on boards.ie and seems to capture what happened for a lot on the day, so I'll share it here:

"Originally Posted by PVincent View Post

I wasn't running on Monday but was involved in stewarding in the last couple of 100 yards. I take my hat off to each and everyone who finished on Monday. It was not a pretty picture and rarely have I seen so many experienced club runners in such difficulty.

What faced you on Monday at 9am , was a freak in our weather. 17 degrees at 9am is even rare in summer, and the killer was not the wind but the humidity which from some reports was in excess of 85%.

For some of the inexperienced I am certain that a vast amount of them were overdressed with layers.

In the humidity , excessive sweating occurs, and so despite what appeared to be ok conditions , the faster club runners would have been very quickly soaked in sweat , unlike in normal conditions , you might take a few miles to get warm. In fact in Dublin more often than not , a lot will keep an extra top on, gloves and maybe even a hat, for the first few miles. Monday was not like that and no amount of prep would have attuned the body for that eventuality.

So excessive sweating will lead to a loss of minerals , in particular salt, and you can drink all the water you like , and take lucozade sport and gels, but that won't replace salt. When you lose that from the body , it makes you very prone to cramping . The minerals help to regulate the water retention in your body so with nothing there all that water just goes straight in and out again in sweat. So you also get dehydrated quicker. Taking salt tablets is certainly one way of counteracting the effect but not sure how many would have them in the back pocket. ( there must be someone on the forum who has experience in conditions like this and taken stuff to help)

So I am certain this is why so many were in difficulty so early on . The rumour is that about 2000 people DNF which is an astounding stat . But it was nothing to do with the course , it was all to do with the freak weather.

So massive kudos to those who got it done, even better if you managed a PB , but to those who struggled in the conditions, it was just bad luck that the weather played a tough part in the race, and as we have said to our own club runners , don't spend too much time analysing it , because it is highly unlikely that you will ever get similar conditions in Dublin in late October ( I hope) .

Just my own views"

[magpie seanie]

Well done again Laoislad and thanks for the report. I was waiting for it.

[Bingo]

Brillant read LL, the Tae was spat out on the Monaghan area's bit, brillant.

Summed up the day perfectly - the build up, the crowds, the friendship with the other runners, the finish, the determination, the emotion. I near welled up with your finishing story....nearly. Brad Pitt to play LL in the movie. 

One thing I picked up and could be related to the cramps - the amount of pishing you where doing before hand. Did you drink a lot on the morning of the race/night before? By sounds of it you never had those problems before. On the morning of a run, you'd find a lot of more experienced runners would tell you to actually drink very little. You could have flushed yourself out and then combined with the heat on the day, it really hit you hard. The boards post above would perhaps explain this better.

But regards, well done.

Berlin next September as a warm up for Dublin? 

[Bingo]

Guys - am due a new pair of runners. Have been wearing Asics Gel Virage without issue. I love them. Looking them up on the web it says they are designed for moderate overpronators and have a lot of support. My ankles wouldn't be the best from multiple sprains etc over the years playing gaelic football and soccer so the support is welcome. Not sure about the overpronation though. Where can I get a gait analysis done and is it necessary? Am I overthinking this - should I just stick with the brand that I have happily used before? Also, am heading to the the US in about 6 weeks so would it be better to hold off and buy new the new wheels over there?

A lot would say that the Gait analysis is over hyped or talked about.

In saying that, I was having problems with my feet in first year of running. Was told I was a moderate overpronator. Picked up a pair of Aiscs GT2000's for long distance running. Never had a problem since. On my 3rd pair of the 2000's and on my 2nd pair of 1000's which I rotate - 2000's for longer distances, 1000's up to half marathon distance.

If you in Dublin at weekends, try the Amphibian King store in Ashtown near Phoenix Park. Very good and won't just sell you the dearest brand. Better again, get the analysis done and then buy them in the states! 

[imtommygunn]

If what you know works for you don't change it.

There are many schools of thought on the gait stuff so the more you read the more you will pickle your head. 

If your trainers work stick with them. ~500 miles per pair and like Bingo says maybe try and rotate with 2 pairs.

[muppet]

Great read LL.

Especially this bit:

Now,what are these Ultra Marathons all about.....

Jebus!

[bamboo]

Great reading there lads, sounds like it was a hard day at the office. It's actually better for us at the lower end of the scale to hear about the tales of woe as its a bit of comfort to know that even the best trained guys suffer too.

I'm slowly but surely getting back into it. Ran a 10 miler a few weeks ago that nearly killed me, purely because I hadn't trained for it. Still managed to get round fairly unscathed so done the confidence a bit of good.

Still can't shrug off the core injury that I picked up nearly 18 months ago but resting up was doing my weight no good so back on the roads but at a lot slower pace until I get the stamina built back up and shed a few pounds. Then I'll worry a bit more about pace.

I bought a pair of the asics 2000 a few months back but every time I've worn them it feels like my feet are on fire? They're a nice feet and for a few k they're ok but then it's like running on hot coals and I actually have to stop and take them off. Waste of fecking money. I'm in NYC  feb so I'll try and pick up a few different pairs and see what suits.

Just to finish, well done again to the marathoners. Like some of the other lads, yis are making me think silly things. So silly that I've tried to recruit a few of running pals for Dublin '15. Let's see...

[moysider]

Guys - am due a new pair of runners. Have been wearing Asics Gel Virage without issue. I love them. Looking them up on the web it says they are designed for moderate overpronators and have a lot of support. My ankles wouldn't be the best from multiple sprains etc over the years playing gaelic football and soccer so the support is welcome. Not sure about the overpronation though. Where can I get a gait analysis done and is it necessary? Am I overthinking this - should I just stick with the brand that I have happily used before? Also, am heading to the the US in about 6 weeks so would it be better to hold off and buy new the new wheels over there?

So you have been wearing shoes designed for overpronation without ever having been screened? You may not overpronate at all?

Anyway you can get screened in minutes at amphipian king. Some Evelry stores do it too but don t know what quality is like. Mind you I got myself screened again last spring and told I was overpronating. I expressed surprise because I was screened normal in the past. Anyway it was double checked and  turned out that they got the film confused with the screening my missus had done before me, so mistakes can happen.
As regards runners I ve used several types over last 5-6 years. Sometimes using different ones from day to day with no ill effect. If you get used to a particular runner you ll probably think it s great but there may be others would suit you better/just as well.
In the last few years I ve worn Pearl Izumi, Brooks, Adidas, Saucony, Mizumo, Asics and Nike.The Asics were the only ones I didn t like.

I ve ran the last 3 DMs in 3 different makes of runner Adidas, Saucony and the last one in Nike Lunarglide 5.
Anyway back on the road just there. Got 6 miles done and moving parts back working again

[magpie seanie]

Guys - am due a new pair of runners. Have been wearing Asics Gel Virage without issue. I love them. Looking them up on the web it says they are designed for moderate overpronators and have a lot of support. My ankles wouldn't be the best from multiple sprains etc over the years playing gaelic football and soccer so the support is welcome. Not sure about the overpronation though. Where can I get a gait analysis done and is it necessary? Am I overthinking this - should I just stick with the brand that I have happily used before? Also, am heading to the the US in about 6 weeks so would it be better to hold off and buy new the new wheels over there?

So you have been wearing shoes designed for overpronation without ever having been screened? You may not overpronate at all?

Anyway you can get screened in minutes at amphipian king. Some Evelry stores do it too but don t know what quality is like. Mind you I got myself screened again last spring and told I was overpronating. I expressed surprise because I was screened normal in the past. Anyway it was double checked and  turned out that they got the film confused with the screening my missus had done before me, so mistakes can happen.
As regards runners I ve used several types over last 5-6 years. Sometimes using different ones from day to day with no ill effect. If you get used to a particular runner you ll probably think it s great but there may be others would suit you better/just as well.
In the last few years I ve worn Pearl Izumi, Brooks, Adidas, Saucony, Mizumo, Asics and Nike.The Asics were the only ones I didn t like.

I ve ran the last 3 DMs in 3 different makes of runner Adidas, Saucony and the last one in Nike Lunarglide 5.
Anyway back on the road just there. Got 6 miles done and moving parts back working again

Yeah. When I bought them I was just getting started from literally never doing any running at all. Saw this pair of Asics at a good price and got them.

Thanks for the replies, food for thought.