Dublin Marathon 2018: Fifth and Final Chapter

I started fading quickly after that hill. My pace went to pieces. I had no rhythym. To say I was shook was an understatement. I slowed to a crawl and took a gel. It took a while before I leveled out and came through the wall. I wasn’t giving in. This was the last Dublin Marathon for me and oddly I was happy. It didn’t matter that I was struggling. I was enjoying it. That being said I tried to restart the engine but I didn’t have enough energy left to get angry. I rely on my emotional intelligence to point my anger in the right direction when I need it but now after heartbreak hill I searched for some anger to get the fire going again but it wasn’t there. I didn’t just try once I went deep, looked around, cross checked and double checked. My mind reported back with ‘nothing left’ circling around my minds eye in bold, italics and highlighted in red.

Andrew BurnsNovember 7, 2018Dublin Marathon, Fitness, Marathon, Hitting the Wall, Running

Rebel Run into Long run

The truth is we got suckered into this Marathon. We kept seeing the Dublin Marathon shirts from 2017 on runners around Cork. I joked that the Dublin Marathon was ‘calling to us’. The Dublin Marathon Social Media kept influencing us, drawing us back to memories of the great achievements of last year when we raised nearly €1,500 for the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind and took home PBs. Then the mother of all persuasions the Vótáil 100 medal. Julie is a woman actively involved in public life and standing up for what she believes in. 100 years on from Ireland granting women the right to vote, Julie selected as candidate for the next general election, Me knowing what Julie faced the last time alone and willing to lend support. We couldn’t not enter the Dublin Marathon 2018 even if it did nearly kill us to get there and finish. And finishing is important, the medals are for finishers only. You have to earn those medals.

FitnessAndrew BurnsOctober 21, 2018Fitness, Running, Cork Sport, Rebel RunComment

East Cork Harbour Half Marathon 2018

The opening 2 miles bring you past the entrance to the Aghada GAA grounds and in the foreground the choir were belting out 'Something inside so strong'. I couldn't think of a more appropriate motivational song for this race. We were soaked threw at the start line in east cork that morning. There had to be something inside that was strong enough and tough enough to finish.

'This could be one of those days where we race to finish'. Racing to finish is our last resort tactic. If everything outside your control on race day like the weather goes wrong then you run what ever pace your body can handle and get over the finish line even if it means walking.

I roared into the last 5k and for awhile it worked then I blew a fuse.