Dublin City Marathon: 05:29:04

A marathon... it really is such a long way, much more that my legs were expecting!!

I felt really good at mile 14 which is hardly surprising as the longest I had ran during training was a 1/2 marathon. I was following my “take it easy and save it for later” strategy which seemed to be working (running an average of 11.5 minute miles).

BUT I had no idea what would happen after 14 miles and it wasn’t long before I realized that all was not well despite my carb loading diet leading up to the race and regular consumption of carb rich gel packs during the race; my legs were just not willing to do what they were told and as the miles went on they became less and less interested.

By mile 22 they had met with their union and were threatening to go on strike unless this ridiculous exercise ceased, I managed to keep them going for another mile or so but they finally had enough somewhere near mile 24 and we were walking for the next 2 miles.

It wasn’t until we got back into the city that their ego took over and responded the cheering crowds that lined the streets along the final stretch.

Crossing the line was an awesome experience, it somehow made up for the pain.