me running…
That feeling day before race – mix of anxiety and excitement. Especially when it is your first in ages. Like a small kid and on the race day it’s getting even crazier. I was really excited and kind of stressed but Bozena was ok. I supposed to run half marathon and Bozena was running 10 K. And she was calm as cucumber…
Last week my Wife went to ‘Amphibian King’ to buy running shoes. She loved hers New Balances 1080 (she bought those about 7 years ago – version 4) and guess what she bought another pair of NW 1080, just version 11 this time. I was with her in the shop and I was remembering times when I was going to similar shops to look for shoes or any other running gear…
I started running because I desperately needed a way to vent. That simple. There were days when all I wanted to do was scream. Scream out of anger, frustration, lack of control of simple things. Knew I needed a release. The thought of running has been with me for a while before I ventured on the 1st run. It’s been bubbling for a while, growing on me. Left it until late, until such time that I felt the only way to handle it was to start moving or crack (and not in the fun Irish way).
Race is called Energia24. I was planning to do 12 hours run but besides that one there were three different distances or type of runs. There was 24 hours run for all those crazy runners ;-), 24 hours relay – 4 runners team and the last group was running 100 K. Festival of running was starting Friday evening. 6:45 PM runners started their race for 24H, relay, 100 K and the first group of 12 hours. I wanted to run fresh, not after whole day of work so decided that I will start my shift in the morning but still to the track on Friday evening to check the atmosphere of the place and to see all these determine runners. Hard to describe what I saw that Friday. I saw happiness, focus, determination and on that stage not yet tiredness. I was admiring them. John, Don, Thomas, Brenda that just some of them… Everyone of them was prepared to fight with their weaknesses, pain and much more. And I was joining them next day. When I was on the track trying to pick up my racing pack and the number. Unfortunately there was no one who could registered me. That meant showing 15 minutes earlier and making sure that I will be able to pick up all needed. So, Friday evening was spent on the chat to Ed – Energia24 organizer and watching glorious battle. Emotional? Yes. I knew that in less than 12 hours I will be on that track running with all these ‘heroes’. Went back to hotel to prepare for the race. Four sets of tops and buffs, two sets of running shorts and socks. At this stage I was wreck tired and stressed out. Went trough nutrition list with Bozena. All prepared: me, Bozena and the food. I was well after midnight when I went to bed and felt asleep…
Big day has arrived. Coffee, three toasts slices, quick shower and I was ready. What I really meant was ‘not ready for 12 hours of run’. I don’t think you are ready ever for 12 hours run. Especially when it is your first one. At 6 AM we have arrived to the track. We had plenty of time for my registration and to set the tent. When I was on the briefing Bozena started her tiring job. Job of a supporting crew. She was great from the beginning till the last second of the race and even after that when I was in bits locking my wounds. Set the food station with all necessary supplies for me. All put in order to ease my breaks as well as for her to know exactly what I have used and what needs to be refilled. Now I think that it is actually her who was doing the more demanding job during these 12 hours. I was just running in circles, nothing else. She was helping me, nurturing me, trying to do everything for me. I know that runners always appreciate their support crew but I think that support crew need to be mentioned more in reports, in discussion. It is them who actually keep you going and deserve much more attention not the runners. 6:45 AM 18th of July I have started my first 12 hours run. Plan? Try to cover 120 km, when running to average speed of 11 km/h. 120 km in 12 hours was giving me coverage of 10 km in each hour. Very difficult. But when was I setting my goal I haven’t got the clue how tough the race will be. And again has learned that keeping the pace slower is more important than speeding up on the beginning and being very tired later. During such a race when you are tired it is very hard to recover. Back to me not running as I suppose to. Started much faster than planned. On the watch I was reading pace well below 5 min/km. I knew that on some stage that will bite me in the ‘backside’. Was feeling ok, was really grateful to Bozena for setting the food station. Box was even signed with ‘mad IT runner’ and my name (still that hasn’t stopped other runners from using my stash). My 12 hours shift started slowly. Everyone but me was pacing themselves. Quite quick I was in the lead with couples laps to spare. I could control my 12 hours shift but haven’t got a clue how good were the runners running during night. And organizers didn’t want to give that information away. Maybe that was smart move preventing day runners from trying to catch the distance of the previous participants. Only info you were getting was amount of the laps you did and even that wasn’t always correct. From that you had to work out yourself distance already covered. In fairness I wasn’t paying attention to amount of laps I was running with the watch. That was apparently a mistake cause GPS grid covering that track is off and adding up distance. For me laps were just indication how big is my advantage. In the first 5-6 hours advantage was fast building up. I was running quite fast having in mind that there is still another same time period to run. At this stage I haven’t eaten much yet. Plenty of liquids but not much solid food. I knew that I will be slowing down soon. Strength slowly was deteriorating. During first couple of hours my pace was as high as relay runners but that would change later. Cause of the weather I had to change my tops 5 times (got just 4) in the morning was sunny but after that cloudy with rain going on and off. Bozena has force me to stop and eat some rice. All together I ate just 5 jaffa cakes, half of protein bar, half of energy bar and 4 spoons of rice. Not much. I think now that I should maybe more often to keep my energy level higher rather than waiting until you are hungry and missing the strength to go on. Last 2 hours were really tough. Bozena told me that my watch is of by 4 km, I was thinking of the distance which I would like to cover. At my pace I should be able to do that without any problem but then something has happened. I couldn’t run, wanted just to stop, mind tricks. Was that the famous wall? If yes, that was my first time I have experience that. I think I have already run 110 km. Bozena convinced me that I had to go on. Decided that I won’t stop will just walk for the moment. Have walked with Bozenka for about 2.5 laps and then started to run again. I wouldn’t call that running but I was going faster than walking. At the end I wanted to finish strong but body was so tired that my last fast try was just 20 second before finishing. Stopped, knew that I achieved my goal even with that 4 km difference. Now had to wait for Ed to get to me with measuring wheel. These couple of minutes were very long. Lasted for ages. Couldn’t stand so I lay down covered by thermal blanket. Apparently runner on the floor covered with thermal blanket is an alarm. Suddenly by me there was two members of medical stuff. They thought that I was collapsing but I was just laughing. Had to wait for race referees to measure everybody distance from the beginning of the lap. First 24 hours runners, after that us – 12 hours. So, it took some time for Ed to arrive with measuring wheel to take my distance. After that I had get up and limp back to our tent. And must say, changing your clothes after long run is the most difficult and awkward thing to do. I was in pain, knew that I had blisters, muscles were very tight. I did 121 km running but now I was barely moving. It took me about 25 minutes to get into dry clothes and now I had to walk about 50 meters to tent where medal presentation was organized. Ouch, ouch… That was me going to that tent, passing others. Cause I haven’t got a clue about times night shift runners got I didn’t know what was my final position. All I knew was that I have covered most km from runners who were running during day. Plenty of laughter during the ceremony, tired faces but everyone was happy. Awards were given away for relays – great new record set by A team from Dublin Bay Running Club, 24 h race for men and women – both well over 100 miles mark. After that was the one which I was waiting for 12 hours. First woman – just couple of km shorter than me. And… men. I wasn’t on the third place, wasn’t on the second place. So, there was always option that I was below 4th but when Ed started to introduce winner of the category he just have mentioned that this person wanted to be sure of the track location, number pick up and all the race details cause of that arrived on the track 10 hours earlier to check all of that. After that I knew that he was talking about me… First win in the important venue. Nice… Have covered over 121 km. More than happy… I won’t achieved anything if not for my Wife – Bozena. She won that medal with me. And I think she deserve it more than me…
Big challenge, big lesson… Learn from that and continue what both of us doing. Go team ‘mad IT runner’.
Pictures:
Just before getting into the car I have asked Cezary what kind of shoes I will need for the run. Ansser was – ‘Road runners would be ok’. So, took my Hoka’s. But already on the way down I knew that there will be problem. Most of the route was along the canal, on the forest path (proper forest, not tarmac). But I had to ‘work’ with what was there… Anyways, arrived into Castletroy Park Hotel. Really nice but very busy. So, decided to eat in near by Chineese restaurant – Chungs Cuisine. Just to let you know – food not great, OK maybe and the stuff… not organized at all. And there wasn’t much guests in there…
Next day has welcomed us with heavy rain. Wanted to start at 8 AM but decided that one more hour in bed will do me much better after marathon day before. In the back of my mind was the idea that rain will stop till my start. Ohhhh… I couldn’t have been more wrong. But first things first. Arrived to UL car park in lashing rain. But there was still 50 minutes to go, so time to clear up. In the boat house (where we were dressing up, having snack and so on) alarm was set off. Apparently was like that since 6 AM when the power went down. Wet and in very noisy environment waiting for marathon. Already knew that route was amended. Didn’t knew the reason for that but instead of route from point A to B we had 4 loops mostly on the mucky (already) path and some on the tarmac…
Not ready, but started the the run. And straight away it just came back to me – memories of ‘Lock-up the year marathon’. Thought. And it was. Road runners, weren’t ideal for that run. But you could live with that. On the other hand having Hoka’s on my feet was a nightmare. Sliding, slipping, legs all over the place. Now I know that I have to carry always second pair of runners with me and if there is any chance of trail have a trail runners. Better have too much than just one wrong pair. I knew that I should be running slowly and I have tried to do that. Was aiming for 3:45 and got 3:42 but I had to dig really deep. For the first time I had to stop beside water station and take some jaffa-cakes and coke to get some energy back. That was on the midway point of marathon. Still 2 loops to go and still before hail and strong winds blowing in your face when you were climbing up the hill. Tired as hell after 3rd loop and again need to get zip of coke, jaffa once more. And off for the last one. At this stage I really just wanted to finish in 3:45 and was trying to keep my pace at level where I can still have a small cushion just in case something will go wrong. At the end I have finished with over 2 minutes still in the bag and very happy after that ‘all weather’ marathon. Definately place to come back next year if that b2b will be organized again…
After run, nice shower and snack with hot tea there was small celebration for me. I got my first ‘milestone’ medal. Completed 25 marathons. I was really nice feeling to be awarded with that medal. That medal wasn’t just for me. It was as well for my Wife – Bozena. Without her I wouldn’t be able to finish couple of these marathons. Thank you…
Quite amount of pictures…
So, I was quite suprised when my Wife told me that my birthday present will be actually pair of Hoka Stinson Lite. Shoes, which suppose to be very fast and still give you much cushioning when running. Had to wait for my delivery little bit longer but it was worth it. Shoes are huge (I’m at least 6 cm taller) and little bit heavy but when running you won’t fill that. Shoes are coming with two insoles, higher one for regular foot and lower for wider toes (I need to use the lower one). As well Hoka’s are coming with regular laces and fast tight one. At the moment I’m using the fast ones and these do the trick, easy to tight, easy to untight. Working well…
It takes so time to adjust to weight of the shoes but after couple of km you are ok. You can manage. There is one more thing which can be slightly problem for runners – slightly higher arch, but can adjust to that as well, no problem. Checking the weight of the shoes you would say that there is no way you can run fast in these, but it is working. I actually think that I will be able to get my new PB in them quite soon after I will recover from IBS…
For now, great shoes…
First thing first. My Lovely Wife decided to surprise me and do the marathon in Clonakilty as well. So, this time I wasn’t alone on the 26.2 mile journey (I’m never alone, massive amount of runners is sharing experience with me). Cause Bozena didn’t want to slow me down she asked me to run with runners where she has started with early starters. Bozena started after 7 AM and me at 9 AM. New Clonakilty course was set on the about 12 km loops (you were running to beach and coming back) so that gave us opportunity to see each other couple of times during run. Cause Bozena was supporting one of the injured walker she end up walking the whole marathon and that gave me chance to catch her and Eamon (supported walker) with still at least 15 km to go. There I have decided that I will accompanied my Wife to finish line and we have walked together till the end. When I told that story to rest of the guests in B&B (as well runners) girls said that it was very romantic…
If they just know the rest of the story. We have stayed in B&B where food provided was all home-made and very tasety. Brilliant scones after we have arrived and toasts with jam in the morning and that just caused problem during run. Actually three problems, visits to loo (and I was not even on the half way mark). After about 18 km it started to calm down. But again diet and my ‘never ending’ appetite put me into troubles. As I was mentioning in previous post https://maditrunner.com/dont-slip-now/ I need to get a grip and stop doing like that. Next chance on Saturday in Clontarf/Howth marathon. That’s the bad from the run…
Now little about marathon route itself. From Quality Hotel to Inchydoney beach and back. One loop was about 12 km, so runners have in front of them 3.5 loop course. Over whole route over 400 metres incline. Hard route but great views, so you couldn’t complain. Even that I thought that course wasn’t easy it was piece of cake for Garry O’Hanlon. great run from the champion. He mixed the route adding up over a mile but still was able finish below 2:30. He was going for the PB during that run but there was couple of runners like Dave, Brenda or Lilliane who run that marathon on Friday morning, drived to Howth to run 8 PM marathon there, to come back during night and run main Waterfront Marathon in Clonakilty on Saturday. 28 hours or so and clocked 78.6 miles… Respect… For endurance and the idea – 3 marathons and two car routes for 3.5 hours (that not counting “relaxing” drive to and from Clonakilty)…
Hopefuly one day I will be able to do the same… but for now I hope that Bozena will add something more to that post 😉
Pictures as usual:
I wanted to do maybe 4 foreign ones and the rest in here, in Ireland. Planned as well maybe 1 or 2 longer runs – ultra and that was already sorted out by My Wife when she have signed me into 50 KM run in Donadea in February. That was the plan. Quiet but still pushing me to get more marathon runs…
And of course that have changed. Actually it was amended by Don. He knew that my ultimate goal is to run 100 mile in Connemara in 2016 or 2017. ‘So, why wait?’ That are his words now. And it seems that 100 miles race will be on my agenda for this year. I will still be running marathons but not for PB. Malta Marathon is the last ‘race’, rest of marathons will be used to build my endurance before ultra runs. Agenda: 50 KM Donadea, 50 miles in Roundwood, 100 KM in Portumna or in Donadea again, 12 hours run in Belfast with strong finish in August in Connemara 100 miles…
That is now…
It was no difference this time in Craughwell. 30th of August and we were in beautifull county of Galway. This time route was splited into 8 laps, just over 5 km each. It was quite flat but when you run as I do it doesn’t make pin of a difference cause after about 20 km somebody if turning off the fuel knob. I don’t know how many times I have told to myself that I just need to keep my pace steady, not to fast, do not start too fast. But it is not working. I always starting strong and after 10-15 km I start to slow down, after half of the distance I just strugle to run. And again, nothing has changed with that…
But even when I thought that I couldn’t made another step I was passing the end of lap and saw my Wife telling me that I CAN… So I was going. But that makes you think, if I was alone there would I just stop or still finish the run. Anyway… have finished it. That’s most important. Marathon no 7 done.
How I feel when running? Hmmm… Mr Haruki Murakami japaneese writer and runner has described that very well in book ‘What I Talk About When I Talk About Running’:
‘I’ve discovered that after twenty some years, and as many marathons later, the feelings I have when I run twenty six miles are the same as back then. Even now, whenever I run a marathon my mind goes through the same exact process. Up to nineteen miles I’m sure I can run a good time, but past twenty two miles I run out of fuel and start to get upset at everything. And at the end I feel like a car that’s run out of gas. But after I finish and some time has passed, I forget all the pain and misery and am already planning how I can run an even better time in the next race.
The funny thing is, no matter how much experience I have under my belt, no matter how old I get, it’s all just a repeat of what came before. I think certain types of processes don’t allow for any variation. If you have to be part of that process, all you can do is transform — or perhaps distort — yourself through that persistent repetition, and make that process a part of your own personality.’
Isn’t that correct?