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Turning a mule into a race horse.
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Have been sick for last few days so no running done. Feeling a bit better today but won't run considering there is a race tomorrow. Not so confident at this point of hitting 47 but will find out tomorrow if Yaboyas handicaps were even close (they aren't
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Posted this over on Yaboyas log where the original odds / handicap discussion for the race tomorrow were first brought up
Continued.......
Enniscorthy 10k
Yaboya1 (Scratch) – is hoping to run a pb and break 37 minutes for the first time. Last Sunday's 5 mile time suggests this should be possible, but burnout is possible with a 10 miler to come in Trim this weekend. Vulnerable.
Calvin Johnson (-3mins) – encountered some unexpected heart problems in Raheny causing a DNF, but had gone into that race in good form expecting to run a big pb. He’ll come here fresher than originally anticipated because of that, and with training going so well lately the arbitrary 40 minute time barrier may be under real threat.
barryoneill50 (-3mins) – could probably be likened to an old school Martin Pipe style plot for a big handicap. Very little info is leaked from the stable and posts of: am - 5, pm - 6, total - 11 don't give much away in terms of form. Has been dropping down the weights (& belt sizes) since early in the season and may be ready for a huge pb attempt here. Can only be judged on his recent Ferrycarrig run formwise, but he ran that coming off an illness and could be capable of better. Let's forget about the field and make this a straight match between him & Calvin Johnson. Evens each of two. Who do you want??
Dubgal72 (-5mins) – normally smashes her goal time by at least two minutes, so expect a pre-race target of sub 44 here. Went out and shamelessly destroyed the field in a recent X-Country, despite claiming she'd be happy just to get around beforehand. Has called me a bousy in the past, but everyone knows it takes one to know one........
adrian522 (-8mins) - may be a late supplementary entry to the race. Fortunately for him that's still only €10 :pac:. Ran a pb of 35:43 in Raheny which he celebrated by acting thoroughly disgusted. Is now claiming he'll be happy with a sub 50 here when in reality he should be aiming for sub 45, especially given (like Dubgal72) he's been using performance enhancing footwear lately.
Pacing Mule (-10mins) – Improved training has seen pb’s at all distances in the past 12 months, bar a hiccup in the DCM. This can probably be put down to illness quite close to the race, with an impressive run in Raheny last Sunday backing up that theory. Has publicly stated he’d be hoping to run 48:30-49:00 here, but something closer to 47:30 is definitely a big possibility in my opinion.
MKDTH (-20mins) – is like the human marmite of the A/R forum. Constantly creates debate and opinion with his crackpot theories and revolutionary training style. Ran a very nice pb in Fingal of 57:25 last July, but recent form suggests that won’t be threatened here. Maybe he’s been sandbagging in recent training/races in pursuit of a favourable handicap mark and some easy money from his rivals. We’ll find out soon enough.
Let the trash talk begin........
On the eve of the race a revisit of the odds is always welcome.:PMy market:
Dubgal72 (-5mins) - 3/1
barryoneill50 (-3mins) - 10/3
yaboya1 (Scratch) - 7/2
Calvin Johnson (-3mins) - 4/1
adrian522 (-8mins) - 7/1
Pacing Mule (-10mins) - 10/1
MKDTH (-20mins) - 12/1
Pacing Mule - At only 10 min handicap off Yaboya I'd need a 46/47 to have a chance. Was originally going to aim for 49. Would have to be a long shot. 10/1 is about right !
Yaboya at scratch is where all the odds were based on. Pegged at 37 min but has since speculated 36 should be his aim. Likely to go out and hit well below 37. 7/2 reasonable odds.
Dubgal72 - Only 3.5 min off Yaboya at Raheny 5. Add in the extra minute of padding Yaboya has priced into himself and you have a close call here. 3/1 fits in !
Calvin and Barry - Form hard to judge but pegged together 3 min off Yaboya seems about right to me. Of these 4 it's hard to call. Given the unknown form both at 4/1
Adrian - 5.5 min off Yaboya at Raheny. 8 minutes handicap very generous. Joint favourite for me. Original 7/1 is massive odds. More like 5/2
MKDTH The other joint favourite with a crazily generous
20 min handicap. Sub 56 almost guaranteed to beat Yaboya. Is aiming for 54 and should get it. Still has 2 minutes padding if not. Again the original 12/1 odds could bankrupt a bookmakers ! 5/2 joint favourite.
I do make myself the longest of long shots but that's only because of the shockingly poor handicap I was given :pac::pac::pac: Will be giving it 100% either way. Current PB is 53:20 so barring a total disaster a PB should follow. Breaking 50 min for a 10k was one of my bigger goals in running so it's nice to be going into a race aiming well below it and being in with a good chance of the lower target. Anything from 47-48.5 would see me very happy.0 -
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I know you might initially be disappointed with having to revise your initial target but compare this to some previous races you have had and two huge positives to be taken from it
Finishing in a big PB and healthy and injury free means you raise the bar to a new level of training to push on to the next race, the consistent training and races builds on top of each other and as long as you can keep it going you will move forward. Enjoy the PB as I fear it may not stand for too long the way you are going
Well done0 -
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As I said earlier mixed emotions on this overall.
The day started well - hitching a lift down with Yaboya1 and in the company of MKDTH and Calvin Johnson too there was obviously discussion about the handicaps and the odds etc for the group which had grown from Yaboyas log. Yaboya argued quite well that 47 min should be realistic pointing out he ran 46:5X in the same race 2 years ago after a slightly slower Raheny 5 mile than I had just ran. So on one hand I knew I had fitness within me to get a 47 but on the other hand I didn't feel 100% at all. Had been up that morning dosing myself with Lemsip again. I felt ok to run but I was fearful of blowing up. Second topic of conversation was the course itself and how hilly it was. Yaboya having experience of the course was advising that the first half was very tough but there was opportunity to make up any time lost in the second half. His aim would be to hang on as close as possible to target for the first half.
The lesson I should have learned from DCM last year I clearly didn't. All of the above points to revising my target times. I was ill, not 100% facing into a difficult and hilly course yet I elected to still go out with a 47 min target and to try and hit 47 min pace right from the start.
Don't often do this but for perspective here's the course profile from today ...
Mile 1
The usual congestion for these races reared it's head but it soon disappeared - the irritation from this replaced by a stone in my shoe which landed about half a mile down the road. Decided to ignore and keep going. Steep climb in the first 3/4 of this then a bit of respite. Bang on pace at this point. 7:34
Mile 2
Started off ok but by the time the second steep hill came along I was working way too hard. 3k in and I'm really struggling. Felt like energy reserves were as depleted as if it was the end of the race. Not a pleasant place to be so early in a race. 7:31 and still on original target.
Mile 3
It just got worse. Climbing climbing climbing and I'm not holding 7:30 pace at all. Having no idea what the course was like all I could think was that what goes up must come down so perhaps ease off a bit and catch up a bit later in the race. And even if I didn't catch up it was still the right call to make. I had no chance to hold that pace. Was pegged back to 8:30 pace at the crest of the hill here but a welcome relief of the downhill started allowing me to bring it back to finish the mile at 7:58
Mile 4
Downhills can be too steep. The legs were taking a hammering on the downhill section and it brought us back to near flat from where we started. Flat enough to look up the steepest hill on the course. This hill smashed me to pieces. Was at near walking pace on it and thoroughly demoralised. Gave up running - this was my last race etc thoughts went through my head but I got the head down and started to grind it out. Stopped looking at the watch at this stage. 8:28 and the slowest mile of the day.
Mile 5
The torture continues ! I'm hating Enniscorthy at this stage. Battered on the uphills and getting little relief on the downhills. At this point my revised target was a sub 50 but even that was starting to look like a struggle. Head down and just concentrated on one foot in front of the other as quick as I could but energy levels were near zero at this point. Was beginning to feel mini blackouts. Calves started screaming. The body had had enough. Still 8:19 wasn't too bad all things considered.
Mile 6
Would the decent to the finish line ever ****ing come. Climbing again. Losing places at this stage. Passed out by a woman pushing a buggy. Running races sucked so badly at this stage. I'd lost track of time. Didn't know what I was aiming at and was waiting for the 9k marker to see what time I needed to run the last k in to get in under 50 minutes. Honestly wasn't sure I could at this stage. Thoughts of reporting on boards how far away from where everyone thought I was stuck in my throat. Finally passed the 9k marker and it was downhill to the finish. 8:02
0.2 mile to end.
Downhills suddenly very welcome no matter how steep. Flew down at a much increased pace. Thought I would be closer to 50 min looked at watch and realised I had clawed back quite a bit in the last stretch. Was so thankful to hit the final bend and crossed the finish line without realising it was there as there was no gantry. 6:33 pace
Both calves are in tatters now.
Finish Time
49:18 and a 4 minute PB.
Dead last in the handicap stakes but that probably would have happened anyway even with a 47 due to Yaboyas strange handicaps MKDTH on the other hand made a mockery of his and came home first taking cash off Calvin Johnson and Yaboya in the process. Congrats to him !
I think on an easier course and feeling a little better I would have been closer to the expected 47 min. A little disappointed therefore not to be sitting here with a 47:xx PB but I won't end this on a negative. Delighted with the PB. Delighted it went under 50 min. Delighted with the improvements overall. When a bad race on a hard course not feeling 100% still gets a 4 min PB you have to be happy.0 -
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Well done today PM.
Good to get the pb and the sub 50 even though you weren't at your best.
Thinking about it now, your run today sounds very similar to mine in the Portumna HM last summer. I was in trouble early in that too, but held on for a pb that I wasn't entirely satisfied with. The good news is I absolutely murdered that in Longford next time out. You will too.
See you in Bohermeen.0 -
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