Challenge is in the name…

and of course I have missed that. Again. Focusing my attention on the part Clare Burren marathon… Have sign in for the run without even checking route. Just knew that it will be in County Clare and that it will start in the small village. Didn’t even know the village name. I was totally relaxed before run… till I met all my friends on the starting line. Then I heard: ‘You need to add at least 20 minutes to your marathon time’, ‘It’s a trail run’, ‘You are climbing here’. Ohhhh crap. Mistake again. Haven’t done my homework again. At least I took with me trial runners and Hokas. Decided for Hokas cause it was quite dry so terrain would be hard. Choice was good. Now on the starting line. Nervously talking to other runners. Plenty of friends and familiar faces… But I was feeling uncomfortable still. Didn’t know the route, didn’t know what to expect. Decided to go with the flow. ‘What will be will be. All I need to do  is to run’. These were my thoughts. Before start Cezary just said to me not to follow the runners on the head of the whole group cause they are running just 10 K race…

Started slow focusing on the challenge run and wondering where Cezary disappeared. After 4 km I was able to catch Cezary ask him the question about his suaicide pace. Reply was: ‘I know what lays ahead. I won’t be able to make up on the down hills later.’ Strange that he asked me not to do that and then went himself… Anyways, I kept my pace and focus. First small incline on the road… not bad. And then trail and uphill. That where the group was split. Straight away you could see who is a trail runner, who is quite strong. That was the place where some runners overtook me. My first trip… Slippy, windy, foggy. Getting higher. Tired but wanted to stay strong or at least not to show that I’m not that comfortable. From the top of the hill downhill on trail. Couldn’t ggo to fast, need to watch where I was stepping. Watch for the stone, ouch… Hopefully tarmack was close. Downhill on the road. Was able to catch some runners. Was trying to take advantage on my faster pace on the tarmack. After that incline and decline I was scared little bit. That was just 12th km and still plenty of time or distance to get another hills. And the first one was hard already. Rested on the road and then 18 km came… trail up. Huge incline in the mid distance. This one was even harder. You could see cleary where you were heading, how far and high is the top. Twice I almost went to walking pace but still was detirmine not to allow anyone to overtake me.

That hasn’t happened. I was happy. On the top of the hill felt relief. Now down… where is tarmack? Eventually black ribbon of the road started to appear on my eyes. Down again. This time on my terms, faster. Road followed to ‘Wild Atlantic Way’. Really nice views. Fog cleared, you could enjoy now the surrandings… On the road directions to Ballyvaughan 13 km. But wait… GPS showing still 15 km to go. Where is the catch? Question was quick anwsered. Back to beach, almost on the sand. Add 1 km and back on the road. Was happy at this stage but that hasn’t lasted. Back on the trail. Forgot to mentioned one lad overtook me on the beach but I was able to close the gap on the tarmac. And on the last water/food station decided to grab one small bar, water and flee leaving him behind. That was good move. Have finished in front of him. On the last 3 miles we were back on the road and started to overtake walkers. Usually that was easy but sometimes walker were gather in groups not paying attention to other runners/walker and traffic…

So, strugle and happines same time. Last straight on the pier. Through the finishing line. Plane finish… Delighted. I was still in good shape. Could run b2b next day. But unfortunatelly mixed the days for Newry marathon. On the MCI site date was for Monday not Sunday… Damn it. B2B next time…