Dublin Half Marathon 2015

I have ran 163Km in 2016 to date according to my running diary. It's not an impressive mileage, not as much as I'd like it to be. I was out of action for some time: two weeks out caused by sinus infection :( and some really strong storms in Jan and Feb. Let's face it, I'm not a hardcore runner (yet, anyway!).
But I did start itching for some challenges and races. 'It's time to brush off those cobwebs!' I thought, so I recently signed up for two half marathons and a 10 km race in Wicklow :) This should keep me honest and my running diary busy!
It made me think my first Half Marathon, Dublin Half Marathon 2015 and I'd like to write a couple of words about this event today.
 As far as I know, Dublin Half Marathon always takes place in Phoenix Park and this time was no different. It's a great place for such events as it's a huge urban park which is great for long distances such as half Marathon and saves closing down roads for the duration of the run.

Heroes of the day!

Signing up for my first ever Half Marathon was a bit of a spare of a moment. I made up my mind just a couple of weeks before the event and just a couple of days before the closing date. It was August 2015 and I would have done the VHI Women's Mini Marathon and a couple of Parkruns thus far. Getting a new PB on a 5km distance was getting harder and harder, so I started toying with an idea of starting to run longer distances. I probably still wouldn't have done it on my own, so as soon as my friend Alex said she'd be up for it, we signed up before we could realise what a crazy distance we have just committed to run!

Pacemakers

It was a crazy distance for me then and it still is now, because never before (or since for that matter), had I gone for a run longer than 12km. I felt however, I was capable of it and decided to embrace the challenge setting my goal at 2hrs. Quite a tall order for a first timer but in theory, according to online calculators, my 10km time indicated 2hrs was within my reach, so I went for it! 

8,500 runners at the start line

 The preparation for the race was very minimal. I think I prepared more in theory than in practice. I had this routine where I was doing intervals once a week in the gym, some morning runs with hills in the neighborhood and Parkruns on Saturdays. On top of this, I was preparing my strategy of pacing myself and tackling 'the wall'. I also had to decide which runners to wear for this occassion and decided on my 'competition' minimalistic Nike Free to give myself the best chance of achieving my goal!
It didn't help that I lost my Fitbit Charger a week earlier in Paris, and Endomondo had to suffice.

Couldn't stop showing off

On the race day, we'd arrived nice and early, worying if we;d get a parking space, but it turned out to be fine and we had an hour to ger ourselved organised and get in front of the 2:00 Pacemaker. It was fairly stress free as we had been posted our race numbers and a brochure in advance, so all we really had to do was to show up! 

 As we started running, it was quite easy to keep up the pace with the crowd. The adrenaline kicked in quite early into the race and I had to actively slow myself down not to get too tired too quickly, but it made the first couple of miles pass quite slowly. I started getting somewhat tired halfway through the race and decided to check my stats on my running app and it turned out, I was 'running' a little late! I started stressing about it a little bit and worrying that my dream of finishing within the 2hrs was going down the drain as I was only getting more tired from now on, but my fighting spirit kicked in and I picked up my pace ever so slightly and made the the most of any downhill miles. I must say, it is really nerve wrecking to be constantly analyzing any possibilities of going over the two hours. Somewhere the 8th or 9th mile I decided that it's my first half marathon and it would be OK to go over 2hrs. Sure, a goal is just a goal and I will take stock of my results and improve for the next one. But I also promised myself, that if I do go over the two hours, It wouldn't be because I gave up. Because I knew that 1:59 would taste so much better than 2:01, so I gave it all I had. 

Poser :)

The real struggle was the last three miles. It's the distance I run every week in the park. It seemed the longest! Much longer than the first 10! At that point I was on track for the 2hr mark and struggling to keep it up. I kept telling myself that all I had to do is to stick with the pace for another 30 minutes and then live in glory for the rest of my life ;) So I ran and ran preparing for the hill on the last mile. I felt that I was running for ages and the hill was nowhere to be seen!!! When it finally appeared in front of me, I was saved! I was on the last mile and I knew this mental and physical torture was almost over. What I also noticed was that I started overtaking others, which I'm not sure if i speeded up a little or they were slowing down? I just couldn't feel anymore. I wanted it to be over.

Chip time: 1:58:24

Crossing the finish line knowing I made it within the 2 hours brought me back to life!!! I could feel happiness, pain, thirst, hunger, pride and my feet. More than ever before, but it felt good. It felt damn good and I'd do it again as soon as I get over the trauma of my first one ;)

 You can find more details on this year's event on the official website here. This is yet another event I'm going to miss in 2016, which is a terrible pity. I will try to make up for it by running a half Marathon in Connemara this April, which is supposed to be one of the most scenic and the Clontarf Half Marathon in Clontarf in July which promises new PB being one of the flattest course!