On Sunday last I participated in the Waterside Half Marathon in Derry. I had to do a 16mile run as part of my training so I ran a mile before the race and 2 after it to make up the 16 miles.
This half marathon went well for me and I completed it in 2hours 18mins. I was delighted with this time as it was 10minutes faster than the half marathon I did in May.
Just after mile 11 I saw 3 friendly faces heading towards me. They were Padraig Friel, Adrian Callaghan and Kieran Coyle from Letterkenny AC. They ran back to complete the race with me.
This gave me a great boost as after 11miles my legs were getting tired. After the race I ran back to the car, then I ran up and down the road and around the car park like a clown until my watch told me that I had 16miles completed. This felt like a great achievement!
I cannot thank Letterkenny AC enough for all their help and encouragement. Their training sessions on a Tuesday and Thursday night are open to everyone and I highly recommend them! We meet at the Aura at 6:15pm. These sessions suit all runners of all abilities so give it a go!
On Saturday the Spartans and I met in Phoenix Park for our final race before the Dublin City Marathon! This race was a half marathon 13.1 miles. There was a great atmosphere as 8025 runners lined up to start.
After running the Waterside Half Marathon the previous Sunday I felt confident that I would match my time or at least be close enough to it.
I was so excited! I had my Spartan top and gear on ready to go and it was only when I met the other Spartans with their numbers on that I realised I had forgot my number. It was sitting in my kitchen in Donegal!!! Whoops!
Luckily for me one of the Spartans had a spare number or I would not have been allowed to run! When we were warming up it seemed quite chilly so I decided that I would ditch my water belt and use the water stations throughout the race.
This was a bad idea and iIsuffered because of it! At the start of the race it was hard to get going as there were so many people. I ended up speeding up and slowing down to overtake people to try and get my pace right. After a couple of miles I needed water and I had to wait for the water station to appear. At the second water station I had to stop and wait for a lady to open the water bottles and pour them while the other two boys with water were chasing each other having a water fight. I had to queue for the water. There was a sign up that this was the last water station and we were just over the half way mark. I knew that I would not have enough water drank to continue at the pace I was going as I knew there were hills ahead.
I started to slacken off a bit to conserve my energy for the hills. To my surprise there was a third water station before we finished but at this stage I was really dehydrated and was not running well. I knew I wasn’t going to match my time and I was just aiming to finish the race. I finished the race in 2:20:27 which was disappointing after my time the previous week. I was mad that I did not take my water belt but I am glad I learnt this lesson now as it won’t happen me on the day of the marathon. I will be well equipped!
After the race all the Spartans assembled at the Spar tent and when we were leaving we realised that our next race is the big one – 26.2 miles at the Dublin City Marathon! I am really excited about it and am really looking forward to it. I will make sure not to forget my water and number that day 🙂
I would like to thank all of the shops and businesses who have taken a sponsor card so far in particular Tobins Spar in Letterkenny and McBrides Shop in Milford as they put boxes on their counters. I would like to thank all the people who have sponsored me so far in particular the Staff from Woodland National School. I am raising money for MS Donegal Branch and North West Cancer Group so all donations are greatly appreciated. I have set up a bank account so people can sponsor me by their online banking. If anyone is interested in taking a sponsorcard/box or sponsoring me online please email me at lindabrennan21@yahoo.ie
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