Andrew's Marathon Blog

I didn’t have the best start to my day. The flight was very early and we needed to be at the airport by 5am… I was still working a 2am and hadn’t packed. After 2 hours sleep i was on the road to pic up Joe and with two heavy sighs we stared through the windshield and headed for the airport.

After a minor drama of an oversized bag we boarded the flight and I slept all the way to Madrid. A taxi into the city left us at our hotel and we took the funniest elevator up to reception. It was triangular inside, as if they were making the absolute most out of the space the had and all they had was a wedge shaped elevator shaft. The other elevator was a more usual rectangular shape and provided less giggles.

Having checked in we took the comedy elevator to our floor to drop our bags into our rooms before heading to the marathon Expo. With shirts, chips and a million leaflets and goodies in hand our next task was dinner and of course it had to be pasta

Next day was race day. Warm, dry, sunny but not hot, yet. I bought a new water bottle and belt for the race but the damn bottle kept slipping out. After many adjustments to its position and tightness, almost 2 miles of them, I finally got it right and the bottle dutifully stayed put. I was very close to throwing it away, very glad I didn’t when I got past 20 miles and the pain really started to kick in.

The temperature slowly rose during the race and the I really found the last 6 miles gruelling but finish I did, and in a decent time of 4.42.17. I did feel like i had done some damage to my hamstring but after lashing on plenty of biofreeze it seemingly healed itself.   For the next couple of days we were tourists!

Back to the hotel for a ride in the comedy elevator, a shower and a cheeky snooze we explored our locality  looking for a nice restaurant for a well deserved steak dinner. We crossed Grand Via to explore some of the side streets, there seemed to be a lot of really friendly women hanging out on street corners and for a little while we just thought this was the happy side of town before we realised we were wandering through a red light district. Not seeing anything that appealed in that corner of the city we headed north for our juicy steaks and entered another district with an altogether more colourful feel, our tired minds finally figuring out that we were right in the middle of the city’s gay district, but still no open restaurant so onwards we went towards Puerta del Sol. We visited a few bars along the way but one would become a particular favourite. Judging by the explicit murals that covering the walls we decided this was a lesbian bar.  The staff were really friendly and looked after us by keeping us fed with tapas on the house. When it was time to move on the bar staff asked me if I wanted another beer, I declined but what i didn’t realise was that in traditional bars here the staff gives you a drink on the house when you are leaving.  A mistake i didn’t make again.

The next day we hired a three wheeled GPS guided motorcycle and saw all of the major sights in a whistle stop tour, that was a lot of fun! In the afternoon we had BBQ for lunch and back to our lesbian bar for drinks before a wander through the Madrid’s night life.

The next morning we has sore heads and foggy memories. After breakfast and cappuccinos all that remained was to enjoy the last few hours in Madrid.

This in my first race of 2012 but I have been training hard for the Madrid marathon in March which explains the 49.48 PB result. This is a special race for me as way back I 2006 I started my running life at the Great Ireland Run. Since then running has taken me to some wonderful places, to meet some wonderful people and to places within myself that I never knew existed.

5K me arse!!! Kerry and Paul have been doing this race for years and I had the pleasure of joining them this year. The race is deep in the Scottish countryside, not entirely sure if it’s the highlands or lowlands but definitely bloody cold and wet lands… and the distance is more like 10k… and then it’s up near-vertical bog and tracks, across hill tops, down through dense forests (and a mid-forest disco), through waist-high freezing river (won’t be seeing them for a while I said to spectator as I emerged from the water), under a tunnel filled with that same freezing water, through a swamp, literally into a cargo net from a serious height, under even more cargo nets, over 8 foot high walls and finally crossing the finish line… Then having to camp in the freezing Scottish night in my clothes, without showers and having to walk through a maze of tents in the pitch dark to have a piss and then having to scrape ice off my tent in the morning… On the up side it was the most exciting and exhilarating adventure race I have ever done, I had really the best time!! Speaking of times… I ran as fast as I could and covered 10k in 1.27.35, that’s how tough it was! Everyone should do this race!

A welcome stretch of the legs a couple of weeks after the marathon, more like a walk in the park with a time of 1.20.43.

This race was not on my radar this year but a colleague had to pull out due to injury and I saw the opportunity for another race t-shirt… Just had to deal with the tiny detail of running 26.2 miles first.

Having run Kielder 3 weeks earlier I knew this was a bad idea but sometimes bad ideas result in great experiences… Not this time but it was good, as Dublin always is.

I finished in 4.48.51, not bad all things considered.

This is a great race…. flat, fast and and close to home. When I finished in 50.54 I was convinced that it was a new PB but the GIR this year was seconds faster…

I knew this marathon was going to be tough but I totally underestimated just how tough. Kielder is in Northumberland, close to the English – Scottish border, the site of England’s largest forest and Europes largest man made lake which the marathon circumnavigates. While I knew this was going to be a tough run because of the terrain I failed to appreciate that the route may not follow the lakeshore exactly,  my logic was that if it did follow the waterline faithfully the entire run would be flat. The organisers had different other ideas and often took us deep into the Forrest along ridiculeously challenging terrain.

I wanted to cry on a few occasions but every time I felt like breaking down I was overtaken by a granny or someone dressed as scoobydoo which guilted me into not giving up. I crossed the line after running, walking, disparing and repairing for 4.58.07. I spent the next hour recovering, the guy next to me asked me several times if I was ok… apparently I was rocking back and forth muttering to myself.

We learned afterwards that the guy that came in second actually jumped on a bus around mile 20 and rejoined the race close  to the end. There is an amusing piece of TV footage of him being interviewed with the “real” runner up  looking on with a look of total confusion on his face, later he explained that he couldn’t work out how that guy managed to run faster than him without overtaking  him.

Hands down this was the most difficult AND enjoyable marathons I have ever run.

I’ve run a few races in Belgium but this the first time doing the Brussels half. The weather was perfect and I really enjoyed this run, I’d like to do the full in a couple of years. Finish time wasn’t record breaking but I can work on that, crossed the line in 2.05.37.

Just missed a PB by 2 seconds but ran with everything I had so really happy with 24.00.

The biggest half marathon world, something like 55,000 runners, walkers, scoobydoos, giant sunflowers and an occasional kitchen appliance running the same direction. Finished in 2.03.55, great day out! Loved it!

First time doing this one, really nice run but the best bit for me was the post race refreshments. The race HQ was a large school within the town where they laid on the best food you could ask for and as much as you wanted. I finished in a good time of 1.58.34, another decent time to add to my list to join the inch or two I added to my waistline.

Part of the Dublin marathon race series, I love this race and today was especially lovely as I crossed the line with a shiny new handsome PB of 1.27.08. Races, lots of races… Seems to be the key to PB’s!

A day after the Tulfharris 10 probably wasn’t the best time to tackle my first kilo-marathon, a 26.2 kilometre race. Finished in 2.42.04, and happy.

Accurately billed as the “Tough Ten” we spent the entire race running uphill and considering we started and finished in the same place that was a remarkably feat. Finished in a decent 1.33.28.

Loved, loved, loved this race. We started and finished in the grounds of Strokestown house but most of the run was through bogs and along twisting country lanes. Got in just under the 2 hour mark,  crossing the line in 1.59.51. Met one of the the organisers of the Longford half-marathon that I plan of running later this year, he reckoned one of the best marathons he has ever ran was the midnight sun marathon in Tromso, Norway… The most northerly marathon in the world… It’s on the list!

Really enjoyed this race though the heart of Dublin city. The liberties is one of the oldest quarters of Dublin and is generally safe but there are a few tricky spots which may explain the fast time of 31.24, I think subconsciously I was afraid that if I ran slow enough someone might have it away with my trainers…

Another one slower than last year but still happy with 41.53!

Finished in what I initially thought was a shiney new PB of 41.48 but turned out to be a slower time than last year… But only by 30 or so seconds so I didn’t beat myself up about it.

Home

Packing my motorcycle after a couple of days in the same place is always interesting, somehow my gear never seems to fit gracefully back into the panniers – it always requires prodding, poking, stuffing, punching, pushing to finally squeeze those lids closed. Needless to say nothing I carry is remotely fragile, except me of course.

Leaving Ouistreham I headed straight for Caen, probably following the same route as that the Canadian and British troops did in the days following D-Day. Caen is a beautiful medieval city with a castle as a center piece and narrow streets winding into a labyrinth of cafés, shops and restaurants. I stayed in the city of the morning after lunch I headed back to the Normandy coast to tour the other D-Day landing beaches.

I had plenty of time and visited almost every site worth seeing. Some were almost inaccessible by car but none were too difficult for my motorcycle. Almost without exception the views of the beaches were stunning, but you had to remember that the German defenders had the same panoramic views.

Ouistreham to Cherbourg

I slowly made my way along the coast occasionally stopping at monuments, graveyards, and memorials from a seemingly endless stream of regiments, companies, and nationalities each with their own crests, badges and mascots. The frequency of memorials to the men and women that passed along these roads was staggering. The vast American cemetery with endless rows of neat white crosses brings it into perspective.

After visiting Pointe du Hoc I had reached the most westerly end of the invasion beaches and began to head north to Cherbourg and my ferry home.

The sailing home was great. I had a really nice cabin with a fully stocked mini bar on the house. Steak for dinner and pretty decent pints of Guinness and as I read late into the night in the bar.

It was nice to be heading home. I had been on the road for over two weeks and had a lot to show for it. If you can travel light I can’t think of a better way to travel that by motorcycle. You get to see so much more and you are truly connected with everywhere you pass through.