The Long Run

Dublin really can be a beautiful place when the weather is good.

This morning I decided to do my final long run in preparation for my first marathon, taking place in Belfast on May 4th. Leaving the house at 9.30 I was ready to spend a few hours slogging it out in the sunshine on the roads of North East Dublin. Honestly, worried is an understatement. For the past few weeks I've been struggling with an injury to my left foot. Plantar fasciitis or something I believe. Basically it hurts. And I was literally a kilometre in before it began to throb. But, throwing caution to the wind (and understanding that the two ibuprofen I had swallowed would soon kick in) I powered on. And I couldn't stop smiling as I ran. Perhaps that was the painkillers doing their job; possibly it was the beautiful weather or maybe it was just the fact that I feel great when I'm running. As a good friend once recounted to me on one of our training sessions in the Phoenix Park: "You don't have to run Dan; you get to run."

Basically to cut a long story short - I finished it. 3 hours 35 minutes. 30 kilometres. Burnt face. Sore legs. What a rush! I don't want to bore you with split times and nutrition tips but rather give a brief summation of the area I live in. It is beautiful and I feel very lucky to be fortunate to be able to explore it.

I live 3km from the seafront on Dublin's North East Coast. Having reached the sea I journeyed out to Howth. It's a beautiful area, as seen here:

Turning around then I headed back south towards the Bull Island along the bike track which runs all the way around the north and south sides of Dublin's seaside. Turning east I headed onto the Bull Island and headed back in the direction of Howth for 2.5 km (which you can see here on the right of the photo} before turning 180 degrees and running the length of the island (5km).

Having reached the other end I ran across the famous Wooden Bridge in Clontarf and turned north once again in the direction of St. Anne's Park.

St. Anne's is a public park which is situated on the grounds of what was once the Guinness family's estate. It's a fantastic place to go walking, running, biking or even just for a picnic. There are around 40 playing pitches, children's playground, rose gardens, dog park, tennis courts and one of the best par 3 golf courses in the country. Every Saturday morning at 9.30 the parkrun event is held there which is a volunteer-led 5k event open to everyone, from beginner runners to seasoned athletes.

The main avenue (seen above) is 1500 metres in length and it is always packed with people walking the dogs and jogging up and down. I was at 25km in my run at this point and I did two lengths of the avenue. Here I began to hit the wall. People were looking at me as if I had a few too many drinks taken. Thinking back now it was actually quite funny.

I headed for home at this point and ran back through Raheny towards Mecca (also known as Donaghmede where I live). It was "fun" but thankfully I'm done now with long runs before the Belfast Marathon. Time to relax and take it easy for the next few weeks.

I never thought I would be grateful to only have to run 13km next Saturday. So the point of this post is ... well I suppose it is to enjoy your surroundings when you're out exercising. Appreciate the beauty of the land and sea around you. Sometimes it's better to leave the headphones and music at home and just be one with nature and the present moment. I love it. Give it a go sometime.