Clontarf Half Marathon & The Howth 10km - 2018

I wrote Achill off as an anomaly. It was too early into my Tri Club training to assess my progress and I had been hit by a bug that turned the race into a nightmare. I persevered with my new plan and my new routines and kicked on. The first sign that things were starting to improve was the Howth 10km trail run in October. It was another miserable day, with a constant sheet of rain falling from the start of the race until I crossed the finished line and ran straight indoors to tuck into some very welcome banana bread at the end. I started the race in wave 2 and it was the first two kilometres that showed me a glimpse of what was possible. Sticking to my own pace I managed to break away from the main pack, maintaining a steady pace, I ran my race and was pleased with the outcome.

The Clontarf Half Marathon was a month later. I kept my training up and toed the start line confident of a PB. I started at a steady pace and as the kilometres ticked by my enjoyment grew. 10km in I knew I was ahead of my 1 hour 55 minute aim and even when I started to slow at kilometre 16, it was clear my performance was where I wanted it to be. I crossed the finish line at 1 hour 50 minutes and grinned from ear to ear. This was better than Ok. I wasn’t going to start winning races but I was getting better, fitter, faster.