I have supported my wife on numerous occasions, as she has run a number of marathons. I decided to try and see if I could complete one. So, I contacted Joe (CoachPACT) in November 2022 hoping that he would take me under his wing on this journey of discovery or lunacy.

We set up a video call and we chatted about what I was looking to achieve, how family life and work looked, and we started to put a plan in place with the Dublin Marathon 2023 the goal. As part of our chat, Joe wanted to know where I was starting from fitness wise. I had run the Charleville half marathon that September in 2:17:00. From there Joe set up my training plan.

The plan was based around what worked for me. Even though this was the biggest sporting challenge I had ever undertaken, the plan was built around family life and any other commitments that occurred in life. Training started on the 5th of November 2022 with a 5k easy run. It took 36:40 and we built from there.

Joe (CoachPACT) was able to track my progress through the Training Peaks App and he dropped in plans there weekly. The App also had a lot of information on other aspects of training, nutrition, hydration, and general health.

I signed up for the Clare run series. This consisted of 5k in Lisdoonvarna,5 miles in Spanish Point, 10k in Ennis and 10 miles in Kilkishen. There was also the Limerick and Charleville half marathons. This was a real eye opener for me. I had played many different sports throughout my life in team environments but this was very different and the lessons I learned throughout this process were so valuable. To say that running is just running, is a totally different story.

Joe told me about a concept called PACE. Unfortunately, this concept was lost on me for a couple of the races at the start of training. Thankfully by the time the Dublin Marathon had rolled around I had learned in running terms that, "speed kills, distance doesn't".

So having done all of the training I was having had doubts about being able to do the marathon. I had a few injures along the way due to playing hurling with my sons and using my ankle as hurley, plus not warming up correctly and straining my hamstring. Despite some setbacks, I had a number of Personal Bests due to the coaching and support from Joe.

My first half marathon in 2022 was 2:17:00 and the next one was 1:58:30. The target for the Dublin Marathon 2023 was 4:15:00 and my finishing time was 4:11:44. I know if did not have Joe (CoachPACT) in my corner, I would not have achieved the goal of completing my first marathon. The process was so enjoyable that I have signed up for the Dublin Marathon 2024 with the goal of doing another PB with Joe plotting further improvements while raising some money for charity.