Beyond the Fjords

 

After arriving in Clonakilty Thursday night MUCH later than expected, Friday turned into a relaxing day which is exactly what we needed.

While Alyssa worked a little, I wandered around the small town of Clonakilty. I was feeling a bit under the weather, so I made a straightaway for the pharmacy. Once that task was completed it was onto exploring the two main streets of the city. Small shops lined the streets and all the locals wandered about the streets making small talk and catching up with each other. I probably stuck out like a sore thumb!

Some cute shops to check out if you are ever in the area:

1. Kerr’s Bookshop. I really didn’t need to buy a new book, but this little bookshop was adorable and of course home to many books with an Irish twang.
2. White Fawn Boutique.  Adorable clothes, scarves, and accessories. I could have easily spent more money!
3. Richy’s Restaurant. A cozy restaurant and cafe to sit down in and enjoy your new book that you bought at Kerr’s Bookshop!

I would have LOVED to do a bit more shop hopping, but I was feeling shattered from the travels and needed to rest up for the big 13.1 the next day!

 

GIVE ME ALL THE CARBS AND NO ONE GETS HURT.

1. Be sure to check out Sticky Bun for your teas, coffees, and pastries. We cheated and had dessert before dinner. One tea, one cappuccino, and two lemon drizzle cakes, please!
2. Mio’s Restaurant. We filled up on delicious Italian pasta. No wine included, but we had Murphy’s on our mind for after the race!

 

Let’s go run a casual 13.1, shall we!?

Luckily, I woke up feeling not much worse, but not much better. For some reason I woke up and felt like I had all the time in the world, but I didn’t. We made the mistake of not eating our breakfast before leaving our hotel to walk to the other hotel where the race start line was. Side note: One thing I LOVE about Ireland is how friendly everyone is! As soon as we walked out of our hotel doors an Irish woman asked us if she could walk with us to the race. Yes, of course we were all clearly going to the same event, but still! We found out she drove in the night before from Dublin and was running the FULL marathon that morning. You go girl!

We arrived at the hotel and we were in such a rush! We finally shoved our bag and coats in a corner and then we HAD to find some hot water to make our oatmeal! The night before, Alyssa and I met another runner from Massachusetts at the registration expo. She was there with her son and some other members from Team Hoyt. While asking her about the events for the next day we quickly realized that all the shops would be closed for the night and tomorrow morning. We didn’t have any food for the morning! We failed on that one! She was so generous and gave us so many goodies for the next morning (packets of instant oatmeal being some of them).

Oatmeal made: CHECK

8:40: WE ONLY HAVE 20 MINUTES!

At this point we were standing in the restroom line, eating our oatmeal (classy I know), and we hadn’t even stretched or warmed up yet.

8:55: Quick stretch, a couple squats, and here we go!

 

9:00: RUN, BABY, RUN!

Alyssa and I basically ran together the whole time, except for the last 1.5 miles. Never have I ever ran that far with someone and without music or a podcast playing. It was actually a ton of fun! We chatted throughout the run, stopped to take pictures, and took in the beautiful waterfront and countryside of Ireland. We clearly didn’t do our research on the course, so when we got to the hill we weren’t too pleased. I kid you not, this hill went on for FOREVER! I still haven’t looked at the course map, but we definitely ran up a hill for about 2-3 miles. A guy overheard us talking about how the hill was “never ending,” and he decided to give us a bit of a laugh. He tried to persuade us that we would continue to keep going up. There was no downhill. HAHA, that was not a funny joke, sir. Eventually we made it down hill and next to the seaside.

 

 

I finished the race in 2:16:27. My first half marathon time was 1:55, but that was over two years ago. Although I started training in September and did put the miles in, I just did not feel ready! Training during the winter months with injuries and aches creeping in was not easy! The atmosphere and vibe we got from the other runners at Clonakilty was to simply go out there and have fun! It was all for the love of running, the peace it brings and the bond it creates between runners.

 

 

Clearly we ran for the Guinness and the bling! Check out the size of those medals! #doitfortheguinness. But in Cork it is #doitforthemurphys

We ended our afternoon at Casey’s Pub in town. Two roasts and two Murphy’s please!

 

We sat and enjoyed all of our post race feels (and pains). Eventually we limped (maybe just me and not Alyssa) to our bus stop and headed back to Cork. We hope to see you again, Clonakilty. Thank you for an amazing two days. xoxo