Sonia O'Sullivan to run Dublin Marathon for the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind

The Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind sent on the following information to me about Sonia O'Sullivan running the Dublin Marathon next Monday. This charity which is based on the Model Farm Road in Cork

Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind...Olympic medalist Sonia O’Sullivan has agreed to run the Dublin Marathon on 26th October in aid of Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind. Below Sonia has provided an update on the training she has undertaken to date. If you would like to join the #TeamSonia by volunteering to run the marathon with her, please contact colm@guidedogs.ie.

“With two weeks to go the marathon countdown has really begun. The past two weekends I have had my longest runs - 33km last weekend and 31km yesterday. The main thing I wanted to do with these runs was to practice what breakfast that I would have and what drinks and gels I would try out during the run to maintain energy and boost energy along the way.

I have chosen SIS sports drinks and gels as the ones that work for me. For breakfast I had 500ml of electrolyte lemon and lime flavour along with a coffee and some dry cereal, Paddy’s Granola and some raisins. The new breakfast routine that I have been trying is poached eggs. I never really thought about this before as I used to think porridge was the answer but after speaking with a fellow marathon runner recently while running around Fota Island recently I decided that a protein breakfast might be worth trying.

I had my poached eggs and headed out the door, feeling a bit heavy to start, I was slightly concerned but glad that I had practiced in training when only my watch was recording my effort. I noticed later on in my run that I was feeling much better so maybe the egg was digested and helping me as I got beyond two hours and when I should have been tiring I was actually speeding up and feeling quite good. I tried the egg breakfast again yesterday and again after a sluggish start I finished strongly and felt really good at the end of my run.

It was great to have two weekends back in Teddington, UK and be able to re visit many of my favourite training routes in Bushy Park, Richmond Park and along the River Thames. I also carried a SIS Gel with me and tried the double espresso version yesterday with caffeine boost and this agreed with me so I think this will be my Gel of choice on the 26th.

Back in Cork this week, today is a rest day and later today I will be planning my weeks training but the focus will be on reducing the miles and focusing on nutrition over the next two weeks. I have a plan that I am following thanks to David Carrie at Team Carrie running and the guidance I have taken on this plan has helped me to get in my long runs and also to realise that I can achieve a satisfying result off of 5 days running and realising the importance of resting each week, while also paying attention to good nutrition and feeling after sessions and long runs and also the importance of massage and treatment from Barry my local Osteopath each week in Cobh. I don’t look too far ahead and just check the training plan at the start of each week and focus on a week at a time.

I am confident  that I have put in the miles in training and the key for me will be not to go too fast  during the first 10km or so of the marathon, a couple of poached eggs should slow me down and save the energy for a few hours later when I will need it more. I am really looking forward to joining the Irish Guide Dogs team in Dublin and know that I am running not just for myself but also to help give others greater mobility and independence each day with the assistance of a Guide Dog.”

Their website is http://www.guidedogs.ie/iopen24/index.php