Simon's job log: 5

The story so far... Simon works for a small IT firm in North Yorkshire - a nice area, but it's good to get away.

The Dublin Marathon 2008

 

Some people go to Dublin to try the black stuff. Others go for a relaxing weekend break. I came to run a marathon. Ever since I ran my first marathon in Edinburgh in May this year, I’ve wanted to run another one as soon as possible. Allowing about three months training for it, Dublin was the soonest I could reasonably expect to run.

As soon as I turned up on the start line, my legs told me why a marathon in late October was only for the hardy: the weather was cold - very cold - and the longer I waited around on the start line dressed for a marathon, the colder I became. At 9.00am, the marathon finally got under way.

The first six miles took us out of Dublin centre towards Phoenix Park. Dublin has some beautiful architecture, like the General Post Office, which we ran past. My plan was to keep to a pace of around 12 minutes per mile, which would mean I would complete the route in five and a half hours. The first mile was done in just over 12 minutes, right on target.

Mile three brought the first water station, in the Dublin suburbs. I took some water on board, even though I wasn’t thirsty, because I hadn’t had anything to drink beforehand (knowing that there were water stations every three miles) and because running is a dehydrating business. For every mile run, about 150ml-300ml should be consumed. I was also learning a lesson from Edinburgh, where the water stations were much further apart and where I became badly dehydrated in the latter half of the race.

A run in the park

The six-mile mark came running through the epic Phoenix Park. My timings weren’t very accurate during this section because the mile marker signs weren’t as obvious as they could be. I took on my first energy gel after the water station as part of a pre-emptive strategy to avoid running out of energy too soon, which was another thing I learnt from Edinburgh.

As the morning progressed, the sun gradually poked its way through the clouds. I didn’t need warming up - the running was doing that for me - but the sunshine was a welcome addition to a race which, so far, was going swimmingly.

Leaving Phoenix Park, the course took me as far west as it would go, to Chapelizod. I had deliberately slowed down on this section, averaging 13 minutes per mile, because I was afraid I was running too fast too soon. After leaving the park, the route took me back east again, through a more industrial landscape.

Running under the Chapelizod bypass and back up again gave me my first big hill, which I managed to take in my stride. The next couple of miles were a little bit more challenging as my body started to get used to the distance. Around mile 13, I was feeling quite pleased with myself. I had slipped into a steady rhythm and was crossing off the miles without feeling tired.

I had to keep a steady pace and stick to my original plan of 12 minutes per mile however, as if I went any faster, I’d have no energy left to run the last few miles and I already knew what a big mistake (and how painful that could be) from my first marathon.

Trouble ahead

By the time I had reached mile 18, the circular route was well on its way back to Dublin city centre. The race was about three-quarters done and my confidence levels were sky high. I even thought I could pull off a real surprise and record a time around five hours. However, I had already run past the maximum distance I had run in training (fifteen miles) and I had a feeling in my stomach which suggested that I was coming to the end of my energy supplies.

Unfortunately, at the 20-mile mark, I was dead right. I took on extra energy in the form of gels and sweets given out by kind bystanders, but it would take time for my body to convert this into usable energy. I wasn’t hitting ‘the wall' (which is basically the point at which your body totally runs out of energy and tells you to stop) at this point, but I could see it and I was heading straight for it.

Despite taking on extra energy, energy drinks and water at the next water station, the pain of running was becoming intense. My feet began burning with every footstep. My leg muscles started to ache intensely. If I wanted to make my target time, though, there was no choice but to try and run through the pain. Even if I stopped or started walking for a while, I’d lose too much and there wasn’t enough distance left to be able to make it up.

Wall of pain

It was probably as I was running on the sliproad of the Stillorgan Road, a major artery into Dublin, that I hit the wall. I was about 22 miles in and still had 4.2 miles to go. I congratulated myself on getting this far, but that couldn’t make up for the crushing thought that I still had so far to go. I desperately tried to ignore the pain and just kept putting one foot in front of the other. I sucked on sweets to distract me from the pain in my feet and legs and kept my head down to try and concentrate and keep going.

As the route took me back into central Dublin, at about mile 25, I saw my 'support crew' (consisting of my father and two other friends) for the first time since the same morning, nearly four hours ago. They gave me the extra boost I needed to keep on running and tackle the last mile and a bit.

The city centre loop took me around parts of the course I had confidently strode along earlier that morning, but with more energy and less pain. Hundreds of supporters, bystanders and well-wishers, even casual passers-by, shouted words of encouragement.

In the final 384 yards, I wasn’t feeling too brilliant. My muscles felt like they were being torn apart, sinew by sinew and I started having headaches, making my temples throb. Running up to the final corner, I started having stomach cramps as well, possibly because I had taken on so much water and because I was pushing myself so hard to get to the finish line.

Finished

Running down Merrion Square West, I saw the finish line and the timing gantry. It was already on 05:29:58, so I made a last-minute dash to cross the line. I could only hope that I had completed it in under 5:30.

A few days later, the official results were posted on the Dublin Marathon website. I crossed the line a few minutes after the official start and my timing chip recorded my official time as 05:27:47, shaving one hour and one second off my previous personal best. I did wonder, whilst running, why someone would choose to spend a day of their life running a marathon, but the answer is the unbelievable high it gives you - once the pain has subsided, of course.

My earlier job logs