Flora mini marathon - Done and dusted

I did it! Finished the Flora Mini marathon! Before I even began the marathon I had to walk 1.5 km's to my luas stop which was teaming with women in running gear, man paradise!

When I got into Stephens Green I decided to visit the ladies, avoiding porta loos being my primary reason. I battled to get into the shopping centre because of all the people and once I made it up 2 flights of stairs and saw the queue for the ladies I made a hasty exit. I guess 40 000 women clog up a mall with ease...

I walked down Baggott street to the meeting point and nipped into Burger King - no queue for the ladies there! I met up with two of my colleagues and we made our way to the starting point. Interesting!

If you could see the sights I saw! The shoes some wore, would cause the feet to roar! (Sounds a bit like Dr Seuss there) Okay seriously then...for a 10km mini (I know) marathon may I present you with the image of a woman in HEELS - yes I promise it is true. Women walking in skirts, jeans, women looking ready for a night out after the leisurely 10km stroll. Well at least it helped pass the agonising 35 minute wait in the sweltering sun! Katie and I had a good gawk and an even better giggle. And then we were off! I was VERY nervous as Katie had been training and I did not want to get left behind because her husband was looking after my purse and phone (Kirstin did not want me to leave home without a lifeline...for her) so I mentally prepared myself for hell..."When you get that stitch, keep going, when your calf muscles are screaming, keep running, when you can hardly breathe, keep breathing, etcetera" and then I surprised ME. I could jog the course, I discovered that the reason I can only make it around the block is because I start too fast! I run instead of jog. I had a marvellous time! I confess to being very relieved in the beginning because with 40 000 women we actually could not jog but then things began to open up and Katie began to move...and I kept up! In fact I think I could have jogged more than we did! It was extremely hot so we decided to take it easy and did some walking but in truth I wanted to keep practicing my new found ability to JOG!!! Of course being sprayed with water by firemen along the route gave all us ladies that little bit of extra reserve energy required to push on through! I now have my first mini marathon medal and plan to start a little collection I think!

After the marathon I caught the luas home, jam packed full of other sweaty smelly women! In fact I hoped I could make it all the way to Windy Arbour for the odour! I got home (another 1.5km walk I MUST point out) and the first thing I said to Kirstin as she opened the door was "Do I smell?" She sniffed the air rather carefully, came in for a closer whiff and confidently said no. "How about under my pits" I asked lifting my hand to the heavens. She backed away slowly but I really did need to check... and so the poor child came in for a cautious sniff again and a relieved (and surprised) look crossed her face as she declared me smelly free. Perhaps I need to work a little harder next year??