Race Report: Kinvara Marathon
Kinvara Rock and Road Marathon, the last race before Connemara Ultra, March 7, 2020.
The month leading up to the Kinvara Rock and Road Marathon was storm, and weather warning filled. It was tough to get training runs in, and when I did, it was always cold and wet, and sometimes mentally draining. Two days before the marathon, the organisers had to change the route slightly, as parts of the course were flooded. My feet were about to get soaked!
Going into the race I didn’t feel as prepared as I would have liked to, neither was I really excited about the race. I knew that I would finish, and I also knew that I would not attempt my PB time. My mind was set that Kinvara Marathon would be my last long training run before the Connemara Ultra Marathon which was supposed to take place on Sunday, April 19. There was no real race excitement, it just felt like going for a run.
However, I was excited to see how my feet would cope, as the Kinvara Marathon would be my first race in my Vivobarefoot Primus Lite shoes. I wore them, walked and ran in them for three months prior to the race. And I felt great during the race! My feet were wrecked after, but not like usually they would be after a marathon, instead I could feel every single muscle in my feet, I could feel that the muscles did their work. I was really impressed and happy with my feet! And was excited to continue on with my barefoot/minimalist shoe journey.
The week leading up to the race I was also excited, as my sister, Liene, was coming over from Latvia to visit, and I was looking forward to have her there. It added a bit of energy to my step and last training runs. The last time she saw me racing was my first half marathon in Riga, 2018. Three days after Kinvara Marathon Liene had to fly back home, as countries were starting to close their borders due to Covid-19 pandemic. It all felt rushed and scary!
Two days before the race there were few cases reported in Co Clare, the very same county where the marathon was happening. I remember talking to my partner and my sister, thinking whether I should still go and run, will it be safe. And at the start line you could see that I wasn’t the only one thinking about it.
The race day was grey, with winds and few brief showers. Some parts of the course were still under water, and there were plenty of puddles to jump over. The most enjoyable part of the whole course was a straight stretch with mountains in the distance, limestone on both sides of the road. I really enjoyed running that stretch and was happy when we turned and had to run it for the second time, it was stunning! As for the rest of the course, my mind was somewhere else, I was constantly doubting whether it was the right decision to come to the race in the first place. Yet, as I approached the finish line, I started sprinting, putting all I got into the last few hundred meters of the race. I felt proud, that I battled my mind and finished the race on a high.
As we got on the bus to get back to Galway after the race, I could feel a mental shift. This marathon really felt mentally draining. I could feel that my motivation for running was low, and I had no idea how to get that spark back to prepare for the upcoming ultra marathon; my last race for the Run to Plant Trees initiative.
Without knowing that the Connemara Ultra Marathon will be cancelled, I was already coming up with excuses that could get me out of that race. So when the race was postponed, I felt a relief. It was quite a different feeling to what I had after finishing Galway Bay Marathon the autumn before. Crossing the finish line then I felt curios whether I could go further, whether I could go faster. After Kinvara Marathon I wanted to be done, and was not looking forward to lacing my shoes up again to go out for a run. At that point I took a bit of a break from running; during the rest of the month of March I only went for four more runs with total distance of 20 km. Now looking back, I think it was my body’s way of dealing with an unknown situation and stress.
I was happy when we got home. I took a walk down to the ocean that same evening to give myself space to breathe. That evening I felt like hanging my running shoes up and that’s it. I am done with running.
I wasn’t. But it took me a while to re-discover and ignite my passion for running once again, and quite a bit of discipline. During the month of June I ran 5 km and went for a swim every single day. Somehow the spark was back and the passion for running as well. Since then I have learnt that it is fine to feel crappy after some running races, just like it is fine to feel happy. And it offered me a great insight into the way I want to continue with my training, so running would still be my happy place.
On March 7, 2020, I finished the fifth race for Run to Plant Trees, Kinvara Rock and Road Marathon in 4:25:30.