“Why are you doing it though?” I got asked this a lot before doing SnowDublin. While my non-running friends and colleagues have got used to the idea that I think running is fun, the idea that running twice as far might be twice as fun was a leap too far. But it’s true, the main motivating factor for doing SnowDublin was because we thought it might be a bit of a laugh. If you’ve listened to the audio of Snowdonia and Dublin, you’ll know it was mission accomplished on this front.

As the race weekend got closer, it wasn’t just about having fun. It became about seeing what was possible. Katie had run 39 miles at the Connemara Ultra Marathon earlier in the year but she was sceptical about how running 26.2 miles on DOMS would go down with her legs. I’ve never run more than a marathon distance (unless you count the mile sprint me and Liz did to get to the start on the Manchester marathon on time last year). Doing that twice in one weekend was a bit of an unknown.

We were sensible that weekend: we ran at a relaxed pace, we ate lots, we walked the hills and we had fun. We escaped without a blister or black toenail between us (though I had a lot of bra chafing. Turns out that’s where it was rubbing). We spent the day after Dublin marathon eating cake and wandering round Dublin surprised by how good our legs felt. I returned home, took 11 days (and counting) off running and then decided that yes, I can run further.

A few months ago I (along with half of Twitter it seems) entered Country to Capital a 45ish mile run in January, but I only told a couple of people. I didn’t want to get swept along with the crowd and wanted to give myself space to think about whether my body was ready to go further. Since getting back from Ireland, I’ve also signed up for an 80k trail run through Paris in March which finishes by the Eifel Tower.

Why do I want to run further? It’s a question I’ve already had and one that I’ll get asked even more over the next couple of months. The answer, though, is the same as last time: because I think it will be fun and to see what I can do. That, and I heard that there’ll be cake!