Sorry Sweder I will probably be banished from the Forum as the Guinness drinking didn't happen .... instead I was drinking Budweiser Ice
!!! So here goes .... the 18th Race Walking Grand Prix race in Dublin ....
Sunday 26th June
Not the best dinner preparation the night before my big race. We were staying in a very plush hotel so I was expecting a nice meal. Instead service commenced at 6:00pm on a ‘be there or miss it basis’. The first course was okay, 2 fresh bread rolls and vegetable soup. Then the main meal arrived commencing of boiled chicken breast, dry penne pasta, and boiled mixture of frozen parsnips, cauliflower, carrots and peas. The food was so very bland even after the waiter later came round with a small helping of tomato sauce. I didn't eat much of the main meal and have to say it was the worst thing that I have been given for many years. This was the end of the serving with no dessert being offered.
Afterwards I went into the bar/cafe area with some friends and bought myself a nice raspberry cheesecake and pint of Bud to finish off on. I didn't want to go hungry throughout the night as I only had a few emergency nibbles in my suitcase.
In the morning the breakfast service was surprisingly good - a selection of cereals, croissants, toast, cakes, yogurts, fruit and fried items. It made up for last night’s disappointment and now I was fully energised and ready for my race at 11:45am.
We all caught the bus down to Phoenix Park at 9:45am. The journey was approx 25 minutes and the park was surprisingly huge and very flat. The course was again a 2km lap (1km up and 1km down the same stretch of road). I made sure that I got a good warm-up in as I didn't want to risk the return of the hamstring cramps that I experienced at The Mall.
I set off at a very similar pace to The Mall. 11 minute laps was my aim to give me 1hr50mins. But already after 3 or 4 laps I was feeling tired and my pace was slowing. My 10km split was 55:20 and I knew that I would have to work hard to try and keep to a time that I would be happy with. At this point I thought that 1hr52min would be okay. But the going got tougher. There was a strong wind at either end of the course and as I got tired I struggled further. During the last few laps my pace was slipping further 12:00, 12:10 ... 12:20. On my final lap I went through with exacting 12minutes to go to get under 1hr55. Now this I wanted to do so I battled hard. One of the other England girls was having a bad race and was in my sight for me to try and lap. This kept me working and I did catch up with her with about 700m to go. For the final 200-300m I could see the finishing clock knew it was going to be close to 1hr55 so I tried to sprint. I just managed it and finished in 1hr54min57sec. I was a little disappointed but this was still my second fastest 20km this year out of 4 races.
After the race the mad rush to catch my plane began. My flight was at 4:40pm. The bus left Phoenix Park at 2:15pm. Just as we pulled up at the hotel the airport courtesy bus left so that gave me 20 minutes to go to the toilets and freshen myself up. As I waited for the next bus I was feeling ill. I was feeling faint, sick and had a headache.. I got on the bus and had a carrier bag ready just in case I was going to be sick. It was very hot and I had to fan myself to keep my temperature down, hence stop me from being sick. I arrived at the airport at 3:30pm. This didn’t give me much time to get through departures and along to my gate which closed at 4:15pm. The queues were terrible to get through the scanners. Luckily it wasn’t too far to the departure gate and I made it with 10 minutes to spare. Only when I got there did I find out that the plane had been delayed by 45 minutes. I sat in the departure lounge sipping coca cola and snoozing. Slowly I was starting to feel better.
When we landed at Gatwick I had another mad rush to catch my train to Preston Park. Only 10 minutes to spare after getting through Passport Control. If I missed it I would have to wait an hour until the next one so I was once again trying to move at top speed. The wheel along mini suitcase was a life saver – so much easier than carrying a holdall.
When I got home I had dinner with a glass of wine. A quick bath and went straight to bed.
In the morning I woke up still feeling terrible. My legs were feeling very sore and I had that feeling of going twelve rounds in a boxing ring. I also had a headache and felt sick again. Thankfully a couple of hours after taking some paracetamol the headache and sickness was on the mend and heading down to Kwik Fit to get my car mended which had developed a puncture overnight!!
