Official Marathon photos...

Team Twomey Photos of the Big Day

The Marathon 26.10.2009

What was it like?

It was great. Great for 21 miles and then I discovered that Anthony Walsh knew exactly what he was talking about when he told me that the real marathon begins after 20 miles... I was flying along for the first 3 hours - I was loving it. I did some of the best running that I've done over the past three months - my time, my pace, my breathing, my body - everything was going well.

And then all of a sudden my body wanted to take it easy. Mentally I was fine and I was telling myself that I didnt train for 4 months to walk a marathon and so I kept going; but then I'd have to walk for a while and grab some more jelly babies off some kind bystander. At one point, around 23 miles, I was picking up discarded water bottles to finish them. Yes, I was dehydrated and low on energy but I kept going. The last mile went on forever - I was averaging under 8 min a mile in the first half of the race - the last 1.2 miles took me 14 minutes!!How did it feel to cross the finishing line?

I hardly heard people screaming even though my family were yelling their heads off. I remember smiling and putting my hands up just in case there might be a camera around somewhere. But to be honest, I was too tired to care. All I wanted at that point was an extra small t-shirt and something decent to eat in the goodie bag. I sat on the footpath and opened the bag. A cheese sandwich made with white bread - I never eat white bread. It was too much for me so I started crying and suddenly I was surrounded by four fit men all looking concerned and telling me that I'd done great. I just waved the white bread at them and cried some more...

I have to say that the crowd throughout were fabulous and it was an amazing experience. I loved every bit of it in retrospect - it was just the final 4 miles that really pushed me. 3:58:08 was my final time so came in the top 30% - not bad for a newbie!

Would I do it again? Of course! I can't not run my own city's marathon!!!!! June 7th 2010!

Week 18/18 - 2 days to go

This time in 48 hours I'll be lined up at the starting point for Dublin Marathon. The sun will be shining down on me gently and I'll have my orange lightweight poncho, courtesy of Woman's mini-marathon courtesy pack, wrapped around me to keep me warm. I'll be surrounded by 14,999 others all excited, nervous and ready to go; ready to start the marathon journey around Dublin city.

After a busy week at work I'm sitting here with a list of things to do today. Need to get plenty of water into me too - as advised again and again by veteran runners (thanks John, Anthony, Anthoni & Andrew!!!).

Toni & I are heading up on the train tomorrow, together with an expanded Team Twomey, half of whom will be sporting glorious tans. Need to book an italian restaurant in the minute for Sunday night when the Twomey clan will all get together and break bruschetta (as opposed to bread) together ahead of the big run.

Feeling good - excited, nervous and pleading to every god out there to help me run well and strong.

Forty eight hours and counting!!!

Week 17/18 - 23 miles, 8 mile long

M-day approaching fast at this stage. Last week I feared the event; I doubted myself, my ability and had a new ache and pain everyday. Physio on Wednesday stressed the importance of stretching and lots of water so I've been doing both. Still feel a bit stiff at times and still have a bit of a limp but feeling much more positive today.

Did 8 miles yesterday out the Straight Road and back with Toni. Felt really good which has boosted my spirits - was afraid this limp would impact my running too but if anything I loosen out when I run. Was warmed up at 2 miles and loved from 5 miles onward. Did some great daydreaming!!

Not much running planned for this week - might try to get a lap of the village done one or two mornings - am going to keep away from the treadmill as at this stage I don't think it does me any good and I much rather running on the road - much less tortuous!!

Received chia beans in the post today from Dervila. She says ultrarunners swear by them - I welcome every bit of goodness at this stage.

Imagine, it's week 18 of 18 as of tomorrow!!!!!!!!

Week 17/18 - Fundraising Target Achieved!

Thanks to last night's contribution from my next-door-neighbour, Majorie, I've now hit my target of €2,600 - one hundred euros per mile. And for those of you pedantic enough to be pointing out that a marathon is in fact 26.2 miles, the plan is to put 20 euro in myself - so there!!

Thanks to everyone who supported my charity, Marymount Hospice - talk a drive out the link road if you want to check where your money is going.

Go raibh mile maith agat!

Week 16/18 - target 26 miles, actual 0...

Almost there with two weeks to go. Last Monday woke up with a limp - bursitis the physio told me on Wednesday and advised a few days off. Busy at work with week 1 of UAT so was glad of the free time. Had great plans to run on Saturday or Sunday morning but decided on a full week's break.

Glad to report that I am back on track tonight - did my usual 8 mile route in and out the straight road and feel pretty good. Bought some 'Deep Freeze' as recommended by Rathmore physio. Am discovering a whole new side to aches and pain!!!

Hit my fundraising target of €2,600 earlier today so thought of all my sponsors, the numerous people who have shown such faith in me and thus I sailed through my eight miles. Only need to do three times that on 26th!!!

Week 15/18 - 25 miles, long run Cork to Cobh

Ached a bit last week after the long runs on the two previous weekends. Had a busy week at work and play so was out doing laps of Ballincollig village at dawn on Wednesday and Thursday.

It was strange on Saturday morning not having to dedicate a few hours to warm up, long run and cool down... Instead of pounding the pavements I went for brunch in Kinsale with Dervila, who was down from Dublin for the weekend. Lovely!

Sunday was the BHAA Cork to Cobh road race - 15 miles. Woke at 4am feeling dehydrated after half a bottle of wine with a gorgeous dinner and a fabulous date at Fenn's Quay. Vino the evening before a long race - not very clever and a lesson I certainly learnt again and again as I ran through Glountaune & Fota with its never-ending series of corners. Fortunately Team Twomey was on hand to dole out the Energise. The team had a new recruit with week - Marguerite, team photographer!!! Twelve to fifteen went by in a blur but I was definitely happy to come down the hill and past the Comm... Suffered some leg cramps afterwards due to dehydration - first time ever but again, lucky me, I had my own personal physio, Toni, with me.

I'll have a little bit of celebrating re turning 27 again this Wednesday and then am going to be a Father Matthew patriot for the 3 weeks up to the big day. Focus!! Sans vino...

I'm delighted to report that fund-raising is now over €2,400 - there's obviously a lot of people out there with a lot of faith in me. Thank you!

Week 14/18 - Ladies Mini-Marathon

Ran in the Women's mini-marathon Sunday 27th. It's very much a fun run/walk attended by lots of buddies in matching charity t-shirts. My running-mate got injured in a match a few days before so I headed down alone and felt very much like 'billy-no-mates'. Managed to squash towards the front of the crowd to get near-ish to the 'real' runners but still overtook a buggy a few seconds into the race.

I'm used to seeing mile markers but as this was more of an event the signs appeared at '2 + 1/4 to go', '1 + 3/4 to go' - it was like something from Harry Potter. Very strange and kinda condescending to runners. 'Get over yourself' I thought to myself when thinking this - for the majority of participants it was a fun day out.

Having gotten used to the style of Ballycotton & BHAA this was a very strange run & definitely not a mini-marathon... At least I got my miles in!

Week 14/18 - 38 miles with 20 mile long run

I'm just in from my 20 mile run and well, it felt like a marathon today!!! In order to be able to run the Cork mini-marathon (???) on Sunday I brought my training forward by a day and because of Cork > Cobh next week I upped the mileage two weeks in a row. As a result I think I overtrained a tad and that was obvious today.

The 6 miles into town went well enough though getting stuck at traffic lights at various intervals along the quays added about a minute.

The Marina was gorgeous as usual and then I continued on up to Blackrock Castle. Have you seen some of the houses up there??!!! Wow. Went to the cinema last night instead of driving this new route and well, I took a wrong turn. Fortunately Team Eileen (Dad) was at hand to set me straight so I reckon I only cut off 0.2m - still it messed with my head and with an already under-rested body I was running about half a minute slower than my normal pace - not good.

Having Dad drive ahead at the new turns and then be there to hand out water or sugary stuff every 3 miles made all the difference. It really kept me going. Woohoo for Team Twomey!! Did an extra piece around the Lough to make up for the earlier shortcut and felt good enough heading out Magazine Road to the Model Farm Road. They're redoing the pavement after Mount Mercy and it's really rough under foot so I moved out onto the road and tormented a few motorists...

Coming into Ballincollig village I thought over and over 'You've just run 20 miles. 20 miles!!!' and I felt like I justified all the sponsorship and support everyone has given me recently. Despite it being one of my toughest runs yet I'm delighted that this big one has been achieved. I'm off for a well-deserved pedicure now!!

Week 14/18 - Fundraising commences

Fundraising starts today - I set up a webpage on mycharity.ie to faciliate sponsorship for friends and family overseas but it's handy for locals too, like me who aren't too cash focused (!!).

I decided to run on half of Marymount Hospice as they are in the process of building a new hospital just off the link road towards Ballincollig.

The new project, which will be built by Curraheen Hospital Ltd. a wholly-owned subsidiary of St. Patrick’s Hospital (Cork) Ltd. will include a 44-bed hospice providing a comprehensive specialist palliative care programme, (to include an in-patient unit, a base for community services, a day care unit and an education centre) and a 75-bed hospital for the care of older people providing continuing and respite care services. This facility will replace the existing 24 beds in Marymount Hospice and the 64 beds at St. Patrick’s Hospital.

The full cost of the project is estimated at between €52m and €55m. The Health Service Executive is committed to providing €17.5m, and the Atlantic Philanthropies, a Bermuda based philanthropic organization established by Mr. Chuck Feeney, are contributing a further €10m. The balance of the funding will come from the proceeds of the sale of the Wellington Road property, and local fundraising.

You can sponsor me using http://www.mycharity.ie/event/eileen_twomeys_event/

Thanking everyone in advance for their encouragement and donations. It's another opportunity to sing 'Come On Eileen' to me and see me grimace!!

Week 13/18 - 33 miles incl 18 mile long

As I was in Dublin on Saturday I did my long run on Sunday instead and having fallen into bed the night before it was tough getting up early enough to have time to digest my porridge. Started with the usual route of the straight road and then diverted to run along the north quays. The sun shone down and it was good to be alive!! Water stop #1 by the Idle Hour - Dad was in position and I was perfectly on time at 50 minutes for 6.2 miles. I continued along the marina which at 10:30 on a Sunday was very busy with fellow runners, walkers and cyclists. Blackrock Rd wasn't a great route as the footpaths were narrow, very up-and-down and the road itself was narrow too. Nice downhill though. Was feeling great and running good too - no sign of knee ache. The uphill from Victoria Cross was the only bit of struggle encountered and was glad to see Team Eileen again at the 15 mile mark at the turn in to Raheen (Water stop #4). Felt like I'd had enough of the Energise stuff at that point so shouted ahead to Dad to get water rather than the sugary stuff. He had to run forward to the car for it and it was funny running along behind him!! Arrived home to the 18 mile mark feeling pretty good and with a time of 2:30 I'm still averaging 8:20 miles a minute.

Dublin here I come!!

Week 13/18 - Chi Running with Catherina McKiernan

Headed up to Dublin this Saturday for a one-day course on Chi Running with Catherina McKiernan.

ChiRunning combines the inner focus and flow of T'ai Chi with the power and energy of running to create a revolutionary running form and philosophy that takes the pounding, pain, and potential damage out of the sport of running.

I was hoping for tips on running better and faster but I was surprised when she replayed a video of me running & I was doing loads wrong!!

Here's some of the main points I took away from the day:

1. Lean - gravity should pull you forward so you should lean slightly forward from the ankles up as you run

2. Heel strike is bad - you should be landing on the ball of your foot - leaning will minimise this

3. Hands should be at waist level, move the elbows (don't pump)

4. Posture is all important - lengthen neck and keep full body aligned in a straight line

5. Relax your entire body, it's particularly important to keep your lower legs loose

6. Stretching should be done about 5-6 hours after finishing the run; no need to stretch before

7. Smile

8. Train in bare feet, eat loads of bananas and drink unpasteurised milk (ugh!!!!)

9. After run, drain legs by lying with back on floor and legs up against wall

10. Hot and Cold Showers, particularly on the legs

Week 12/18 - 31 miles incl. Dingle Half Marathon

Oh my gawd, what a gorgeous race Dingle Half Marathon was!!! I was going along so nicely I felt almost disappointed to take a left towards the finish line at the 13 mile mark...

It was a glorious day from start to finish and the event was brilliantly organised. I loved the fact that there was no traffic on the road and of course, the scenery was spectacular. It took me about a mile of overtaking to get to the runners at my own pace and then I settled into it. Lovely, lovely run - there I was in beautiful Kerry on one of the sunniest days of the year - I was healthy, fit and loving life. I felt invincible around the 10 mile mark just after the view across to the Blaskets at Slea Head. It felt good to be alive!!!

Like I said, I almost didn't want to stop at the half marathon mark. It put me in good stead mind-wise for Dublin - no knee pain, good breathing, good steady pace... Finished 1:44:07 so eight minute miles and felt that I could have done it faster. Finished in position 21 amongst the ladies, 18th based on chip time.

Not bad for a beginner!!

Week 11/18 - 32 miles with 16 mile long run today

Hurrah!!! I ran 16 miles in 2:15 and despite the blip midweek I now feel confident that I'm well on my way to being able to run 26.2 miles on 26th October.

I chose a slightly different route this time which took in the Lee Road. I've seen lots of runners there in the past but with no footpath for most of it and cars tearing along I was glad of my bright pink vest! 'Team Eileen' was in position with liquids at 6, 9, 12 mark which was a real mental boost. Going down the Straight Road, coming up to 10 miles, a carful of thirty-something males on their way to Killarney tooted and shouted out the car to me. It put a smile on my face until I faced into the worst incline of Model Farm Road, which I'm now starting to think isn't bad at all.

Knee didn't act up so am very happy and motivated again - I deserve a big bowl of pasta now...

Week 11/18 - Midweek Mindset

Did my midweek 8 mile last night, out the Straight Road and back to Ballincollig. Before I even left the apartment I was struggling to feel motivated. I've hit a point this week where I'm resenting the amount of time this training is taking up. Am exhausted from fitting social outings around the training and then not having any 'me' time at all.

Last night I was going well until about the 3 mile mark and then my right leg started to hurt - usual problem of knee feeling hot and then pain moving up and down the leg. Pushed on but then my mind started asking why not walk for a while, or just do a shorter run tonight or take the rest of the night off and finish right now... Struggled on, trying to think positive. It worked but I plodded home feeling completely frustrated and was in bed by nine, totally fed up.

Going to relax today and face the 16-miler in the morning...

Week 11/18 - Ballycotton Series results

Week 10/18 - 31 miles with 14 mile long run

Am my gawd, how am I going to run 26.2 miles???? Am just in from running 14 miles. The knee pain encountered a few weeks back reared its ugly self again when I stopped for water (bottle retrieved from under a hedge) at the 11 mile mark at Muskerry. Looking back at my notes, it was at around the 11 mile mark that this happened last time a few weeks back. Hmm... Stopped, stretched out the leg and walked about 200 metres. Undefeated, I ran on in pain for about another mile and then I was fine again after a while. Felt pretty good when I got to the 14 mile mark - my front door.

Had my brother man the water station at the 6.5 mile mark. Team Eileen in the making!!! Nice to have a familiar face appear upon the route...

Right, must go search for that dress I want to wear tonight. Haven't seen it in weeks and I just remembered it's existence during the run earlier...

Week 10/18 - The t-shirt is all mine!!!

Was in Ballycotton again last night with my sights set on a t-shirt issued to the top 15 lady finishers for the Summer Series of 5-milers.

Having chips for lunch wasn't a great idea but I tried to stay focused on my posture and take advantage of the downhills. In the end I managed a time of 36:23, and that combined with a couple of 'no shows' on the night meant that I worked my way into the top 15 (awaiting official results).

Just need to work out how to shrink it in the dryer now...

Psyching myself up for 14 miles training run tomorrow. It will be the usual circuit of the Straight Road - Bishopstown - Ballincollig with the addition of the Mardyke and back to Victoria Cross. On track for 31 miles this week...

Week 9/18 - 30 miles run with 12.5M long

Yes, I did it - I completed the 12.5 mile route that left me injured a few weeks back. This time around I was a lot more prepared - much fitter and with mini-bottles of water and Energise hidden in bushes along the way. It was my first run with Energise and wow, it really got me through the 9th mile at Raheen. Fabulous stuff!!

Was feeling great at the 12 mile mark and thought

about running further but then I figured a plan's a plan and so I stuck to it.

All guns blazing for the final Ballycotton Summer 5 Mile Series run on Thursday. Top 15 women get a souvenir t-shirt & I'm in 16th place after 3 races!!!!

Week 9/18 Half Way There

Decided that I'd keep a record of the second half of my preparations for the Dublin marathon on 26th October - my first marathon.

I have to admit that I wasn't 100% focused for the first nine weeks. Yes, I was training regularly but only when I felt like it and not exactly keeping record of what I was doing either. I was a bit sloppy with warm-ups and stretching and never having experienced a sports injury I thought I was invincible...

Week 5/18 was up to 12.5 miles, going well and feeling positive. Week 6 did 4 miles on the treadmill Mon & Tues and then the killer - cycled 34 miles on a round-trip to Sneem followed by a 5 mile road race in Kinsale the next day (personal best 35:41). Saturday woke up and couldn't even run around the corner. I was out of action for a week and a half with a damaged nerve near my right knee.

I'm back on form now - my confidence is back up again, as well as speed and distance. Tomorrow I plan to do that 12.5 mile route again, without damage this time.

I'm going to do this!!!!