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A Slow Journey to Faster Times
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Don't forget to tell 'em about that toilet break Peter....They were holding hands too... belcarra didn't think it was strictly necessary, but yaboya insistedThat was more to prevent his hands straying elsewhere J!;)So now we know what really got you hot and bothered
Sounds like the 1:45 pacers had a good day out......I presume you both signed up straight away for the November event 0 -
Saturday 11th July - Marathon Des Escargots HM 1:50 pacing
21.12km @ 5:10p/km average (1:49:16)
Wasn't a great seven days for me mileage wise last week. With working hours and various colleagues leaving drinks, I struggled to fit a lot of running in. I did see Claude Burgundy was looking for pacers for the above event though, and knew it would fit in perfectly with my plans for the day if I could arrange it properly. When I pm'd him, he said there was still a 1:50 slot available so I thought it would fit in nicely as my long run for the week.
Pre-Race
I jumped on a train to Portarlington and was there about an hour before the race. I checked in, received my t-shirt and was told to come back to HQ for 11am to collect my balloon. Met jake1970 (who'd just completed the 10k) & Dilbert75 before I did that and had a quick chat with both. I returned to meet my fellow 1:50 pacer, ahead of an introduction to the other runners just ahead of going down to the start. He told me he had done the same pacing job in November and the course was relatively flat, so even splits the whole way was a good tactic. I made this 5:10min/km and adjusted the units on the Garmin as that's what the course was marked in.
The Race
0-5k
We set off shortly after the advertised time of 11:15am. I settled straight into the target pace and was enjoying the perfect conditions we had been granted from the start. We had a decent enough sized group with us, some asking what time we were pacing just to make sure. I noticed early in the 5th kilometre that the pace had dropped to 5:2x. My fellow pacer seemed unperturbed with this, but I didn't want to have to make up time later so stepped it back up to what it should be. He didn't and I started to pull away from him with a few others who followed me. I didn't see him again until after the finish.
6k-19k
I had a nice little gang of 6/7 with me now. Pace was bang on and I couldn't figure out why the others had dropped so far behind. I took on water at each station and offered it out amongst the group. I couldn't believe we were actually 7/8k in already. I was extremely comfortable and wasn't even noticing the km's ticking by. We came across/overtook a wheelchair athlete as we scaled a tiny climb in the road, before he zoomed back past us on the other side
. Then all of a sudden - BANG! I looked around for a cramping AMK. It sounded just like the sniper that takes him out near the end of any recent distance events. But neither him nor the gunman were anywhere to be seen. It turned out my balloon had caught a thorn bush and exploded. The group I was in shared a giggle and somebody commented that they'd have to keep me within touching distance now, since the balloon was gone and it wouldn't be possible to pick me out from too far behind. I gave them a shout around 10.5k to say we were just about halfway there with around thirty seconds in the bank. Everyone seemed happy with that and a few started to kick on for home. I hoped they knew what they were doing and hadn't gone too soon. The Garmin had been bang on the kilometre markers up to this point, but around km 12/13 it started to measure 100m short. I thought I remembered reading that the course had been officially measured and assumed it would correct itself later on. I just stuck to target pace anyway. At kilometre 12, I was dropped by everyone in the group and left in no mans land. I couldn't go with them because my job was to pace 1:50 and they were all going faster than that at that stage. The next 6/7k were very lonely.
20k - Finish
As I ploughed my lone furrow home, I started to catch some runners who were slowing down. None of my original group yet, but I gave them a shout nonetheless to advise that I was the 1:50 pacer since the balloon was long gone. At that stage, very few of them could hang on and reluctantly let me pass. I was still coming up 100/150m short on the km markers until I passed 19k. But early in the 20th km, I saw a sign marking '2k to go' for the 10k race. The run in to the finish was the same for all races and I knew things were back on target as my watch now read 19.12k. It seems someone meaured 1k short out in the country somewhere which caused all markers after that to also measure short, until the whole thing righted itself and aligned again before 20k. As I moved into the final mile I spotted two guys from my original group slightly coming back to me. I had yet to pass anyone from my 'class' yet and was going to do my very best to ensure none of them would fail. I caught the first guy as we passed 20k. I asked was he ok and offered him a bottle of water I'd been carrying for a situation just like this. He gladly took a sup and asked how we were doing. I explained he just needed to hold my pace (no faster) and he was under. He told me he'd nothing left. I told him to just hang onto me. Getting 20.5k on target and missing out wasn't an option. 600m to go. 'Fcuk sake' he muttered. Although I felt sorry for him struggling, I knew he would do it after he said that. I just felt if he really had absolutely nothing, there's no way he would have come out with that. I kept counting it down for him each 100m, and with 200m to go told him he'd definitely be under, so he might as well pose for the cameras at the finish now. He reluctantly agreed, but then really put whatever he had left into a sprint finish. You can see the determination in his face in the race photos. There had also been a guy from the group just ahead of us, but within earshot. He seemed to focus on keeping us there so he got in under too. Two happy men when we crossed the line, along with a few more that kicked on earlier in the race and really sped up.
Splits:
Km 1 - 5:07
Km 2 - 5:11
Km 3 - 5:14
Km 4 - 5:08
Km 5 - 5:11
Km 6 - 5:11
Km 7 - 5:10
Km 8 - 5:09
Km 9 - 5:11
Km 10 - 5:08
Km 11 - 5:08
Km 12 - 5:12
Km 13 - 5:10
Km 14 - 5:08
Km 15 - 5:18
Km 16 - 5:18
Km 17 - 5:13
Km 18 - 5:08
Km 19 - 5:09
Km 20 - 5:11
Km 21 - 5:10
0.12 - 0:35
Post Race
Had a good chat with a few of the group after the race while enjoying a cup of tea and some sandwiches/biscuits. I met my fellow pacer after the race and asked how he got on. When I looked behind me after 18/19k and saw he was so far behind (300/400m+), I was worried that anyone who had stuck with him wouldn't be under 1:50 as I'd only had 44 seconds to spare at the finish and felt he wasn't close enough. He said he got in on time, but I've since seen the results and the next finisher to me is 1:50:08 :eek:
Headed to the Leisure Centre for a quick shower before grabbing some dinner, watching the tennis and rounding off the day with a trip to Thurles for the hurling double header. A productive day 0 -
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I think the marathon loop was slightly different so I may not have passed you at all, or else you didn't see me because I hadn't got a balloon and wouldn't have stuck out from the crowd. Surprised I didn't see you post race though. I hung around for at least half an hour.
I caught and passed your fellow pacer around Mile 21 in the marathon. I was doing a few 7:10 Miles MP at the time. Shortly after that I dropped the pace back to 8 Minute Mile and was just really surprised to see him overtake me before the finish. You where probably 100/200 meters ahead of me at some point around then. I hung around as well for a bit as I had 90 minute wait for my train home and I couldn't drag myself away from the custard creams. Strange
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Monday 20th July - 45 minutes Easy
5.31m @ 8:28 p/m average (136bpm)
Running wise, last week was a complete write off, and it's not likely to get much better this week. I'm in the process of moving home (again!), so all the time that takes up and the fuss that goes with it has really interfered with my training. On the plus side, the best running facility in the country is now literally only a mile from my doorstep. The effects of it all have left me a bit run down lately, and although I've done no running, I've not got much rest either. The HR was higher than I'd expect for a run of tonight's pace, so I'm definitely a long way from my best. Luckily I've got 15 weeks to get there. Will get a few easy runs in this week before getting some structure back when I'm fully settled in.
Splits (in kms as I forgot to change back since HM):
Km 1 - 4:54
Km 2 - 4:52
Km 3 - 5:10
Km 4 - 5:25
Km 5 - 5:29
Km 6 - 5:29
Km 7 - 5:18
Km 8 - 5:26
0.55 - 2:58
Spotted aero2k in the train station on my way to work this morning. We may meet more often now that we appear to be neighbours :pac:0 -
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Tallaght no good for you?
Just catching up- good job on the pacing. I see you have been learning from the best (not Belcarra
). You did well to push on from the other lad when he was going too slow, sounds like he made a right pigs ear of it. 0 -
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