Dizzy Dancing Dope Runs Disney (comments welcome)

[dancingtodisney]

RACE RECAP Part 3: Dublin City Marathon

Now that we were all back together we continued to push forward. We were trying hard to stick with our intervals but it was getting tougher. We used the spray my Dad had purchased as we pulled over to the side of the course, with that several people running passed pulled up to get some spray from us as well! I was starting to get some back cramping which I think was happening because my muscles had gotten cold with all of the walking we had been doing. It was a pretty miserable day, cold and it wet although up until this point there hadn’t been much rain.

Around mile 16 there was a medical tent and there were two phsyio staff giving quick sports massages. Rachel's knee was really bothering her so we decided to pull over. The other two woman that had been running with us went on ahead. Both myself and Rachel had a massage and I think in total with waiting time we lost about 10mins. The massage did help to loosen out our problem areas particularly Rachel's knee but I think the negative effect of getting colder on the rest of our body outweighed this benefit and we were about to pay the price for it.

It was a struggle to get back to our intervals and the weather had started to turn for the worst. The wind picked up and the rain started PLUS we were approaching what is considered the toughest part of the course.

I was still cheesing it up for the cameras!

The miles slowly ticked away and we passed the 20mile mark which made this run the longest we had every completed. A lot of people tend to hit there wall around now but for us this was just a tough few miles of up hill running with wind and rain smashing us in the face!

My Dad has always been the rock for us when running and he is full of motivational words and encouragement the whole time we run. Sometimes however it doesn't always work as planned. Trying to keep us going he would say thinking like 'only about 8k to go now, we can do that no problem' but in reality we had over 9k and that just made us mad!

Mentally after crossing the 20 mile mark I felt very confident about finishing the race, I knew I would walk 10k if I had to in order to make the finish line. Physically I was hurting!!

At this point we were basically running for as long as we could and then taking a walk break, our intervals had pretty much gone out the window.

Mile 23 took us out onto the main road back into the city centre and I finally started to feel like we were on the home stretch. I had been texting my boyfriend back in London to keep him updated and I remember texting him to say I was at 23miles and I got some final words of encouragement...

Myself and Rachel were struggling and between us we would call for the walks breaks when we needed them. My energy was fine, I never really hit a wall in that respect but my muscles were HURTING... A big thanks to @DopeyBadger for fueling advice!

We hit mile 24 and I had to stop myself thinking about the finish line, I knew we were going to make it and every time I thought about crossing that finish line I started to feel emotional. We had slowed down a lot for the final few kilometres and then just up ahead we spotted one of our running buddies from earlier! We caught up her right around mile 25.


The final stretch had some music playing, I was really feeling a bit of Uptown Funk and started to sort of dancy jog…

We all wanted to be running when we crossed the line so set ourselves a landmark of on of the bridges up ahead and agreed that we would run the final 500m

My mam was along the final stretch and we randomly decided that it would be a great idea for her to hop over and run the last bit of the course with us... Being that she was the main inspiration for our fundraising and what really made this a family effort it seemed fitting. Poor mam was carrying a rucksack and everything and did her best to keep up with us but we all had a last burst of energy to get us across that finish line.

We're all so photogenic

I was so proud of us as we crossed the line

WE DID IT

We hugged, I cried, even Dad shed a tear and we collected our medals, shirts and race bag...

Final split

Official finish time was 5hrs 48mins and 26secs

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[Ariel484]

YOU DID IT!! So proud of you guys! Sounds like it was such a tough race...Dopey should be a piece of cake for you after this.

Great job!!!!

 

[dancingtodisney]

Post marathon

After we completed our marathon we got a quick photo which we posted on Facebook to let all of our friends and family know that we survived!

My mam told us that our aunt had offered to make us dinner and had a lasagna on for us, I had other ideas, I had just run 26.2miles…. I was getting a big mac!!! We stopped in Mc Donalds on our way to the car and it was probably one of the best Big Macs I’ve ever had!

I was a bit annoyed as my mam insisted we go straight around to my aunts for food even though we were cold and wanted showers. I also kind of felt like there was a major anti-climax… We had just completed the toughest challenge of our lives so far and we were just heading home for some lasagne, a shower and probably the sofa for the rest of night. My boyfriend was in work (it was a bank holiday in Ireland but not in the UK) and was stuck in meetings so I hadn’t been able to speak to him since finishing. I was getting sore too so overall my mood wasn’t the best. WELL…. We arrived at my aunts and we got a fantastic welcome from not only my aunt but several others from my Dad’s family including my cousins and family friends. They had planned a surprise party for us!! There was lasagne and garlic break which I polished off even after my Mc Donalds… There was cheesecake, banoffie and chocolate cake all home made the family. Everyone was delighted for us and congratulating us and it just felt really special… I got to speak to my boyfriend shortly after and he was so proud of me too so that was the icing on the cake!!

That night we chilled on the sofa, I got into my Mickey Mouse onesie and we started looking ahead to our trip to Orlando.

I was exhausted when I got into bed but my muscles were really sore so it took me a while to get to sleep. I then woke up around 4am and could NOT get back to sleep. I was really sore!! I got up and had some water and then text Rachel and she was also up so she came into my room and we discovered the joys of haul videos on YouTube (very dangerous for any shopaholics). We heard Dad up a while after and called him in and he was the same.

The next day we all lazed about on the sofa and argued over who had to get up for food/water/tea/the remote etc. I had to fly back to London and that was an experience! I was so sore, it was such a struggle getting up the airplane steps, lifting my bag etc

So there you have it... my first marathon complete! I'm so incredibly proud of myself and my Dad and sister for what we have achieved, I never imagined I would sign up for a marathon but I've been bitten by the Disney running bug! Thanks to everyone on here for all your advice and encouragement it really means a lot! ​

 

[DopeyBadger]

Wow, what a nice surprise party!

 

[Ariel484]

That's so sweet that there was a party waiting for you guys, and I am LOVING that Mickey Mouse onesie! Again, congrats!!

 

[dancingtodisney]

Post marathon training update

November

So… I’ve not been so good at recording my training since my Dublin Marathon and the reason is basically that I experienced a sort of post-race runners low. I felt like I put so much of myself into that race, not only on the day but with all the training, the mental stress of the build-up and the exhaustion that followed that I deserved to have a break. I deserved a few weeks where I didn’t have all my training plan weighing me down, away from the pressure to get out and run 4 or even 5 times a week now with the final stage of our plan. I was SORE after the marathon, not just the day after but for a significant amount of time afterwards.

I’ve read on here that runs of more than 3hrs in training can do more damage than good physically (so the endurance you could gain from the mileage is outweighed by the damage caused to your muscles by the amount of time running you’ve spent running) and I have to say I do think this is a fair point that should be taken into account. The knock my training took after the marathon was pretty big, I’d say it took me a good month to fully recover physically. I especially found that my legs took a lot longer to loosen up during runs. Mentally however I was just over it. I wasn’t enjoying my runs and I was exhausted trying to fit in up to 5 runs a week.

I had been attending a phsyio in London but they didn’t do any dry needling and I feel like I needed that after the marathon. I was having some trouble with my right knee which I assumed was my quad as usual but it was more towards the back of my knee, I was also getting numbness and pins and needles in my middle toe on the right foot that was so painful it would prevent me from walking properly when it came about. I had explained all this at physio and had more sports massages but it didn’t really seem to help. In mid-November when I was back in Dublin I made an appointment with my physio back home and as soon as I explained my symptoms she said it was my right calf! My current physio had never checked my calf but as soon as she prodded it I felt the sharp pull at the back of my knee that had been causing all my problems. I had dry needling in the area and OMG it was the most painful I’ve ever had. Afterwards I legit could not walk properly!! Thankfully it helped a LOT but it did result in me missing some longer runs for recovery and prior to that session due to the injury itself.

I know it sounds very negative but I did continue to run every week, I got myself to the gym our out in the cold and got my runs in.
The last weekend in November I spent in Paris with my friends and I just gave myself the weekend off, no guilt, lots of wine and cheese and NO RUNNING talk. It was a really good idea and I came back ready to take on December and the rest of my training plan!

December (so far)



My training in December has gone so much better I've come up with a nice plan for my longer runs, I run from my flat in North London into my gym which is quite central (about 4miles) then I complete my run on the threadmil while watching a movie. It breaks the run up nicely and helps with my biggest problem with outdoor running where I live. SOOO MANY HILLS!!! Not like good for your training type hills, just constant steep ups and downs that were killing my legs and in particular my knee. The only way to run from my flat that isn't uphill is towards central London so that's what I'm doing now!

For my 19 mile I watched Lilo & Stitch and caught up on some TV programmes (my first time watching Lilo & Stitch ). But last week was by far my most successful week of running. I actually enjoyed my runs, I completed them all to the plan and on Saturday I ran to my gym and watch The Princess & the Frog (also new for me... I know... shocking!)

I was on such a runners high afterwards! This weekend is the toughest yet.. it's our Dopey dress rehearsal. I've adjusted my days slightly. I feel like 5days of running is A LOT especially with the dress rehearsal too so I changed Monday from 5miles to 3miles and I moved the dress rehearsal forward a day so I can have Sunday off meaning I am starting on Wednesday instead of Thursday for my 4 days of consecutive running.

WISH ME LUCK!








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[dancingtodisney]

Wow, what a nice surprise party!

I know! I was genuinely surprised... I think that was actually my first ever surprise party..!

That's so sweet that there was a party waiting for you guys, and I am LOVING that Mickey Mouse onesie! Again, congrats!!

It's really comfy too!!

 

[DopeyBadger]

Just think, Dopey is almost here! The soreness lasting almost a month after the marathon is not atypical. The marathon causes a lot of damage to the muscle and thus it takes about 4 full weeks before you are fully recovered. It's actually probably a good thing you gave yourself a little time off from running because this expedites the recovery process. You should start to feel back to normal around 8-10 weeks after the marathon (about the time the mitochondria will start to increase in density/volume). Good Luck with your mock Dopey this week! Just think all of us future Dopey 2016 finishers are all doing are mocks this week and we will help each other in spirit!

 

[Ariel484]

I can TOTALLY relate to your post-marathon experience - I myself could have written the part with how you struggled mentally afterward! That's exactly how I felt earlier this year after Dopey. You were so smart to give yourself the time off. Sounds like things are going great now!!

Good luck this week - think how awesome and confident you will feel when the dress rehearsal is done!

 

[dancingtodisney]

Just think, Dopey is almost here! The soreness lasting almost a month after the marathon is not atypical. The marathon causes a lot of damage to the muscle and thus it takes about 4 full weeks before you are fully recovered. It's actually probably a good thing you gave yourself a little time off from running because this expedites the recovery process. You should start to feel back to normal around 8-10 weeks after the marathon (about the time the mitochondria will start to increase in density/volume). Good Luck with your mock Dopey this week! Just think all of us future Dopey 2016 finishers are all doing are mocks this week and we will help each other in spirit!

I know!!! We leave on the 1st of January it's only 2 and a half weeks away... I can't believe it's come around so quickly!
I'm glad to hear that it's normal, I was getting frustrated with myself about it even though I knew when I was out running that I needed to pull back and rest more.
I would definitely say to anyone thinking of doing a challenge like this to leave a bigger gap between a big run like that and the main event. On the other hand we probably couldn't have been ready any earlier... Even a few weeks earlier would have been nice...

Thank you!! I'm kind of excited to see how the dress rehearsal goes, I've been reading a lot of your advice on here and as a result I have slowed my pace down, this really helped me on Saturday as I had a lot of tightness in my left hamstring (which has just come from nowhere never had hamstring issues before)...

I can TOTALLY relate to your post-marathon experience - I myself could have written the part with how you struggled mentally afterward! That's exactly how I felt earlier this year after Dopey. You were so smart to give yourself the time off. Sounds like things are going great now!!

Good luck this week - think how awesome and confident you will feel when the dress rehearsal is done!

Aw thank you for your comments, I feel a lot better about it all now but one of the main reasons I stopped posting here was because I felt so guilty and LAZY and just super frustrated it with all. It's good to know that I'm not the only person that has felt like this!

THANKS!! Fingers crossed it all goes well.... I'm also getting excited about the trip itself, I think I'll start posting some PTR stuff, with all the running to think about I've not really thought all that much about the holiday itself! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!

 

[SarahDisney]

Sounds likea rough race, but finishing is really what matters - and you did a great job!

I love that your family had a big party for you guys ... that's so awesome!

I love that Mickey Mouse onesie. It's adorable!!!

I totally get what you're saying about training after the marathon - it's always hard to get back to it after a race (for me that happens even with shorter races). I'm glad your back on track now, and I'm looking forward to hearing how your Dopey dress rehearsal goes!
Good luck!

 

[LSUlakes]

Congrats on the marathon! The recovery process post race is something I wasn't prepared for after my first marathon. Situation was a bit different, but I slept little because every time I moved while asleep it woke me up, and the leg cramps kept me up as well. I will say this, every marathon after that, the recovery has been much better. Good luck with your training this week.

 

[roxymama]

Stopping by to read everything about your marathon and wanted to say congrats!!
That's a huge accomplishment and very inspirational. I think we will be in the same 5k corral at wdw so hopefully I can congratulate you in person!

Also Uptown Funk is my running jam too.

 

[dancingtodisney]

Sounds likea rough race, but finishing is really what matters - and you did a great job!

I love that your family had a big party for you guys ... that's so awesome!

I love that Mickey Mouse onesie. It's adorable!!!

I totally get what you're saying about training after the marathon - it's always hard to get back to it after a race (for me that happens even with shorter races). I'm glad your back on track now, and I'm looking forward to hearing how your Dopey dress rehearsal goes!
Good luck!

Thank you so much!
Ye it was a really nice surprise too, totally unexpected....
My Dopey dress rehearsal wasn't exactly how I planned it but neither has any of this experience been!

I can't believe it's all so close now, we leave on Friday!!!

 

[dancingtodisney]

Congrats on the marathon! The recovery process post race is something I wasn't prepared for after my first marathon. Situation was a bit different, but I slept little because every time I moved while asleep it woke me up, and the leg cramps kept me up as well. I will say this, every marathon after that, the recovery has been much better. Good luck with your training this week.

Thanks! I'm hoping the recovery is better this time but I also think the fact that I won't have the pressure of another training plan to follow hanging over me will help a lot

Stopping by to read everything about your marathon and wanted to say congrats!!
That's a huge accomplishment and very inspirational. I think we will be in the same 5k corral at wdw so hopefully I can congratulate you in person!

Also Uptown Funk is my running jam too.

Thanks!!!! I'm going now to catch up on your JNL too!
YAH! We HAVE to find each other! Definitely post your outfit to make it easier I'll post mine the night before as well...
UPTOWN FUNK YOU UP!

 

[emilyindisney]

Totally got caught up in reading your training report and binge-read the whole thing! It was super fun to read your journey all the way to your first marathon (!!!!) Congrats! I'm looking forward to a Dopey report (hopefully you're going to write one when you're home and all settled.) Hope your travels to the States were/are safe (if you're still en route.) Good luck this week!