I think there's a huge anti-climax after you've finished a race. You've spent months training hard and working towards your goal of completing a race, and then it's all over in a flash. A really painful sweaty flash. You never stop feeling proud about the feat and the sense of accomplishment never leaves but I find it hard to know where to start afterwards. I felt like my head was up my arse after the Hell and Back because even though I love running, I like to run towards something. Preferably not a pole. So, with this on board, I decided I needed to set my sights on a new goal. This will be either the stupidest or the most rewarding thing I'll ever do but I'm going to run a half-marathon in a month. Then another one a month after.... and a 10km cliff run in between. Myself and my brother are going to do all the races together which is going to be brilliant, it's always nice to have someone to talk about your training with, especially if you're aiming for the same goal!
So I basically have a month to train for this. Is it enough time? Probably not. That's not the point though. Whether I cross the finish line in 2 hours or 5 hours it doesn't matter. It's about doing your best, putting the work in and seeing a result, no matter how you compare to others. The first half-marathon will be the Carlingford Half-Marathon and I'll be doing it mostly to get the feel for the race and get acquainted with the distance, I won't be doing it for time whatsoever I would imagine. The Bray 10km cliff run is in the middle of the two races and it just sounds awesome so why the hell not! It'll be a nice day out and good training for the second half-marathon. The second one will be the Cooley Legends Half-Marathon which is also in Carlingford, I should hopefully do a bit better on this race and it would be nice to see an improvement, if any. I know I can do it but it's going to be very hard, it's going to take time and sacrifice but what's the point of doing something if it's not a challenge. This will be great for me, I'm back in college full time next week and having a running/weight/eating routine will help me have some form of structure and keep me on the straight and narrow! That's all I have for now really, I'm going to spend today working out a running routine for the next month. I've never done this before so it'll be good to have a set routine that I can't stray from. Wish me luck I guess, I'm going to most definitely need it!
Here's a link to the April 6th Bray 10km Cliff Run, cos it looks just that cool.
