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Bliain Faoi Thrí
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I would never have considered driving to Kildare for the day for a half marathon, but one of the few decent legacies we have from the Celtic Tiger, motorways, means that heading from the far west to Kildare isn’t the expedition as it once was.
The alarm went at 6:15, the two boys were fed, suited and booted and brought to their grandparents, and my wife and I headed off to Kildare. My wife volunteered to drive, as my knee still tends to flare up a little bit on longer car journeys. We got to the Curragh at about 10:30, and had no problem picking up my race number, a sign of things to come from a well-organised event.
This was my first race as a Boards AC member, and even got to wear the Boards singlet, having met christeb before the start of the race and engaged in the second-hand singlet market. My suspicions that christeb’s size large singlet might be a bit big for me were confirmed by this photo!
My plans for the race itself were a bit ambitious, set off with the 1:30 pacer and see if I could hang on for dear life! I headed down to the start, meeting with DaithiBC, and in a first for me and most people other than Ronald McDonald, being recognised by my shoes
. DustyBin can spot a gaudy shoe from a mile away! Despite the violently competitive portrayal of DustyBin by others (ahem!) on this log, he actually turned out to be a very nice man, who also happens to be a very good runner, especially considering he didn’t start running until last August!
As I waited at the start line for Catherina McKiernan (who looks younger now than she did at her athletic prime!) to start the race, it dawned on me that I hadn’t bothered with any warm-up. No dynamic stretching, no light jog followed by strides to open the lungs, nothing. There was no time to dwell on it, the foghorn sounded and we all ran off in the dust after DaithiBC. I’ve noticed recently that my concentration levels, whether running or on the bike, are appalling and that I tend to snap out of daydreams at a much slower pace than I should be at. I had never run with a pacer before, and I was looking forward to not having to bother concentrating on pace, letting DaithiBC do that for me. This didn’t work in real-life, though, as the end result was me losing concentration, falling behind the pacer, waking up and working hard to catch up again, only to fall back again.
Thinking back, using a pacer probably led to me abdicating all responsibility for my run, to the extent that not alone did I not warm up, I didn’t recheck my shoe laces before starting, something I always do. Sure enough, at seven miles, my shoe lace opened. At this stage, I was a bit behind the pace group and figured if I stopped to close the lace, I’d never catch up. I set off to get back into the bunch and got there coming into a village called Cut Bush, just in time to see DustyBin miss an actual bin and hit a young lad square in the chest with a half-full cup of water! The people of Cut Bush put on a great show, what with music and jelly babies, and once I got through the village and to Cut Bush city limits
, I stopped to close the lace.
That was it for me and the pace group. I never got back, and any time I put in a spurt, it seemed to coincide with the pace picking up ahead of me. At eleven miles, I remembered the HTUF written on the road earlier and picked up the pace, only to be smacked back down by a long uphill drag at about 12.5 miles. I had always imagined the Curragh and Kildare to be flat, I was wrong! Ahead of me, I could see DaithiBC’s white balloons cross the line, then the clock turning from 1:29 to 1:30. Arghhh! Seventeen seconds later, I crossed the line. A PB by over eight minutes, but still a bit disappointing. Thinking about it yesterday, I was annoyed at missing the sub 1:30, but also annoyed at being annoyed, as I would never have thought a few months ago, when sub 1:40 was a genuine target, that anything near 1:30 was possible.
Anyway, it was the first time I finished a race where the queue for a massage wasn’t really long, so DustyBin and I got in line. I was finished in five minutes, but I think DustyBin went for the facial and full wax as he seemed to be in there for half an hour! At least I finished something quicker than him on the day!
A big thank you to DaithiBC and the other pacer whose name I didn’t get. It was a privilege to witness someone running at sub 1:30 pace and yet run so utterly comfortably within themselves. The pacers provided an excellent service, a pity my legs weren’t up to it. Kildare was my first run as a club member, and wearing the Boards vest is definitely a great way to meet people, I met loads of boardsies.
Overall, the race was extremely well-organised, with the many turns well-marshalled. There were plenty of supporters out for what was a rural route, and the little motivational signs (plus ultraman1’s spray-painted messages!) were welcome. As for the water being in cups, I didn’t think it was too much of an issue. The first water table was a bit chaotic, though, the others were well-organised.
As for the run itself, 13 miles is a long distance for me at sub-7 pace. I felt it tough going, even after 4.5 miles
. I'm not convinced I could come under 1:30 without a pacer, but I'm determined to give it a lash again!
Distance: 13.18 miles
Weather: Pretty warm, with a breeze
Surface: Gravel, grass and road
Time: 1:30:17 (average pace 6:50)0 -
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Excellent report there Ronanmac
It was great to meet up with you on the day
Yeah, I hope that young lad in Cut Bush managed to recover emotionally from having a grown man throw water at him
Well done on a fantastic time, it was the feckin shoe lace done you in at the end!!
And as for the massage tents, it's just my lovely legs I suppose 0 -
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Well done Ronanmac. Despite the unsympathetic pacers not waiting for you while you tied your shoelace (joke!) you hit the numbers really well. Definitely a more aggressive target for the next race! Nice to see another Boards singlet in action! The elevation in your Garmin Connect link looks pretty downhill towards the end though.
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Krusty_Clown wrote: »Well done Ronanmac. Despite the unsympathetic pacers not waiting for you while you tied your shoelace (joke!) you hit the numbers really well. Definitely a more aggressive target for the next race! Nice to see another Boards singlet in action! The elevation in your Garmin Connect link looks pretty downhill towards the end though.
Can you not see that steep incline at 12.28 miles?:o0 -
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A combination of heavy legs post-Kildare, and driving all over the country in the past few days with work, meant today was my first run since Sunday. Probably my last this week as well, as I'm doing the Kilcornan 8k Forest Run next Sunday and I take my tapering seriously.
All this racing and my beloved tapering strategy, coupled with a three day running week, is playing havoc with my 1000 mile challenge. My marathon training doesn't start until July 6, so I'm going to have these next few weeks to put some bike work and trail hills in the legs in anticipation of Gaelforce.
As for today, it was an enjoyable sideroad loop from work down around Trá Mhaoras and back up to HQ.
Distance: 5 miles
Weather: Overcast and warm.
Surface: Bóithríní beaga bídeacha
Time: 33:41 (average pace 6:41)0 -
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Another weekend, another race. I think I've raced more this year alone than every other year put together. The sheer number of running events in the west is great, a major change from a few years ago when a look at any running calender would show most races around Dublin or in Munster.
The Kilcornan 8k Forest Run was being organised by Predator Tri Club as a fundraiser for the Brothers of Charity. I had taken part in a duathlon they had organised earlier in the year, and the marshalling issues that cropped up there didn't arise yesterday. The marshalling was top-notch, a tribute, no doubt, to our very own Catweazle taking his place amongst the flourescent vests!
I travelled to Clarinbridge with my wife, the two boys and Breandán, and met up with two other lads from work who were taking part. Registration was straight-forward and a 15 euro race fee refreshingly gentle on the pocket.
The race started in the Kilcornan forest, on tarmac road and we set off on what seemed a ferocious pace! I clocked the first mile at 5:43, probably the fastest mile I have ever run! The leaders ran on in a bunch and I was at the back of a second long string of runners. The first two miles were on tarmac and were downhill into a breeze. By mile 2, I was seriously suffering. I knew full-well that I had gone out too quick and after passing a few people early on, my aim was to finish without being overtaken. The lungs were burning though, and once we turned back into into the forest, I could hear someone closing up behind me. I kept going, trying to put some distance between me and the steps behind me, but with a slight incline and running on rough tracks, it felt like tough going.
Shortly after the 4k mark, however, I felt a second wind and got myself together. I passed the 5k mark at 19 something, delighted, as I had never run a 5k race and wondered if I could do it under 20. We came out of the forest and I glanced back, seeing two guys not too far behind. We were back on regular roads again, until we passed through a forest trail. The surface here was very rough, between stones and dips in the ground, and without my prescription sunglasses, it wasn't the easiest ground to navigate. Once again, though, I could hear someone closing in again. I think the forest added to the closeness of the sound but I was definitely being closed down.
At this stage, I would have taken the last leg handy as I was suffering, but determined not to be passed, I tried to run as fast as I could, crossing the finishing line in 31:21, two seconds ahead of the two behind me! Twelfth place overall. I met Catweazle at the finish line, complaining of a sore arse following the previous day's cycle.
The other lads got on well, Bren returning from illness and delighted to finish 8k on the back of no training.
Overall, I was delighted, knocking two minutes of my previous 8k PB. That's it for racing now, I think. Time to start focussing on Gaelforce and DCM 10.
Distance: 4.99 miles
Weather: Cool and dry
Surface: Tarmac, dirt road, forest trail, grass
Time: 31:20 (average pace 6:16)0 -
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Today was kind of the start of my DCM training, a makey-upey hybrid of programmes until I get to the "official" start of my 16 week programme on 06 July.
Today's run was a 2 mile easy, 2 mile at 6:24, 2 mile easy run. I found the two fast miles really tough, though, the legs felt really heavy. They were both done at 6:27 pace, but I felt like I was struggling to get anywhere near that pace.
I've been reading the "training in the morning" thread on the main ART section and I've tried to get up a few times this week to train but have failed. I was doing most of my runs in the morning at the start of the year but the second bambino has thrown me out of kilter. My problem is the eldest of the two young lads wakes up at about seven and I need to be back at the house by then, so realistically I have to be on the road by six :eek: and I'm just not a morning person! Will try again next week...
Distance: 6 miles
Weather: Overcast but very muggy
Surface: Small sideroads, mixing it between tarmac and the grass in the middle of the road
Time: 42:24 (average pace 7:04)0 -
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