| Date added : | 14-Jan-2010 |
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New Year and more marathons, they don’t get any easier. Well firstly by a long shot this was the hardest marathon for me to get to as I was as sick as a dog the morning I was due to leave. I was lying in bed an hour before I was due to leave and in two minds what to do but in the end I just got up and headed out the door. I hated leaving Aisling and kids. I suppose with Christmas just gone and me been at home it was just so much harder to get going again, despite the fact that I also wasn’t feeling well or that I was going to miss Ben my son’s fifth birthday and also Harry gave us another scare a few weeks earlier and had spent a time in hospital but thankfully he’s back in form now. Anyway I drove to Galway and basically nearly lost my life a few times sliding on the ice but got there and boarded a bus to Dublin airport. From Dublin I flew to London, delayed there for a few hours because of snow then flew onward to tel aviv.Then a two hour drive from here to Tiberias. It was now 7am and I was very tired and still very sick, what I am doing here kept coming into my mind? Thankfully the hotel let me check in early and I went straight to sleep.I awoke a few hours later with terrible stomach cramps so Aisling rang me just after she had spoke to my doctor at home to tell me what medicine to get at the nearest pharmacy. A while later I had got the medicine and waited. That night I didn’t necessarily feel any better but the cramps had stopped. (Sorry about the graphic picture that I may portray) off to bed I went and slept on and off. Jan 7th Race Day Got up at 6am with no energy at all but feck it I’m here now better give it a go. I decided to take it real easy as I wasn’t really sure if I was going to be able to finish or not. The race started at 9am on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and off we went. I was feeling ok for about the first 2km but then the cramps started again. So toilet stop, drink and onward. This basically went on for the next 20 km so I won't bore you with the route details. I did however at the 10km mark loose my footing and come crashing to the ground, my first ever fall, it seemed like the fall went on forever but the impact was a bit scary. Luckily I was fine, a bit grazed on my arm and a score small finger however nothing as bad as the cramps. We ran 21 km around the shore and then turned around and ran back on our sleeves. At halfway I was going to give up but at that stage the quickest way home was to run. I was running on nothing but kept going. There was chaos at the water stations because they were located on the same side of the road so you had elite runners belting down the road having reached halfway and turned going to get water only to meet the fun runners drinking from the same table. I saw many runners falling to the ground having crashed into each other. I was on auto pilot for the rest of the race and crossed the finish line in 3hr 54mins. I was never as glad to finish a race in all my life. I then went and dipped the Donnelly body in the Sea of Galilee and prayed it would look after my body on the flight home. I got some food, bath, packed the bags and then headed off to Tel Aviv Airport for the flight home. Job done. The Tiberias marathon is an interesting marathon to do as it is stepped in biblical history. However Not a very interesting marathon as such as it runs 13 miles around on side of the lake and back again. However strange but interesting one. Bye for now J xx.
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