Dublin Marathon
29th October 2007
2008
Dublin Marathon
27 October 2008
2009
In 2007, as I was talking to people about my training and running my first marathon challenge, many asked me if I was doing some fund raising as part of it. Sadly, the answer was "No".......
27th October was a very unusual day as it was not raining as it normally does the day of the Dublin Marathon. Beautiful blue sky, a bit cold but perfect for running, very light breeze for cooling. A day that marks the history of Dublin Marathons and marks a milestone in my life as I was set to run my first ever marathon. It also marks the end of tedious training, careful diet .. and a new beginning of more time with my wife and 2 children who have been very supportive all along.
I covered the first 10kms in 56minutes, which is exactly what I was aiming for in order to do the full 42.2kms in 4 hours. The 20kms mark was reached in 2hours, which was too slow as I was now into 4h13min for the complete distance. I was loosing close to 30sec per km. My watch was indicating 3 hours 01min at the 30kms mark, still into a 4h13min time and still running at 6min per km. I started to realise that I was paying off for the few corners cut during training!!!. Then a strange phenomenon occurred in around km34... My mind was saying "go on, just 8km left to the finish". My legs had an other view point and wanted to stop as the pain was getting excruciating. A physical and mental battle set in my mind, and I was not too sure which will win it. That's my first true experience of "hitting the wall". A big invisible hurdle between the runner and the finish line. The last few kilometers were actually surprisingly easy (-ish!!). Adrenaline had flooded the body, wiping out the pain. I passed the finishing line in 4h27min..
And what does a runner deserve after such an effort? sláinte.....
But I had just completed half a challenge !
The missing half was the contribution I could have made to a charity by getting some sponsoring from my Marathon miles. Well, this is now history and no one can repair the past. But let's look ahead and raise money in 2008 with more exiting challenges...
So, here we go, few days after finishing this race, and while I was still struggling going up and down the stairs, I signed up for the Connemara Marathon 2008 taking place on the 06th April 2008, and raise money.
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2007