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BQ or Bust!
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Sun 6 Mar
Ballycotton 10 mile
First time doing this prestigious and fabled race in East Cork. My Da did it at least once in the 80s, but I've no idea how he did, and his trophy mug hasn't been seen since about 1990. His times were similar enough to mine so I'm sure he wouldn't have been too far ahead or behind my time today. Speaking of the old man, I was feeling pretty old myself having recently entered a new and obviously not younger age category. Nowhere to hide as the Ballcotton organisers had the categories prominently featured on the bib. On the bright side, whatever happened today would be an M55 PB for me. :rolleyes:
FBOT and Mrs Mc had rented some very well placed digs on Main St. so we dropped in on the way to the start line, where the boys hoovered up a couple of precious Ballycotton 10 cupcakes. Strolled up to the start area then with A and the kids. Bumped into FBOT again at the bag drop and did a short warmup on the clifftop. We bumped into Loughie too and after some pleasantries I left the lads to take their positions and lined up myself a little forward of the recommended area as there was little regard for the posted time brackets, as has become standard these days. Even where I was there was plenty of the iPhones strapped to arms, and horror or horrors, the odd pair of earphones in plain view.
Anyway the gun went pretty much on time and we were on our way. As I'd posted yesterday I really had no idea how it would feel. The plan had an 8-15k race scheduled for the weekend, but not much in the way of taper, after a couple of 50+ mile weeks and another couple to follow. Had been feeling a bit tired of late, but also strong on the sessions and long runs so reasonably optimistic that a good result was on the cards (all my 10 mile races to date have been in the middle of marathon schedules, so no reason to be too pessimistic). Set the watch to 4:32/k (7:17) pace, which would be a small PB if I stuck to it. Turned out I didn't.
Mile 1 was downhill so not hard to hit the pace. Passed a clubmate and wished her well. In mile 2, a couple of Tallaght lads went past and I liked the cut of their jib so I hitched a lift for a while. Felt very comfortable but the pace was just a bit too much faster than planned so I decided to let them go after a couple of miles and joined a tall bald gentleman for a while instead, who had the added ability to shield me from the odd gust of wind that was blowing up. Told myself to concentrate and keep it going during the middle third of the race, where I've been known to sometimes take a bit of a breather. Passed the lone wheelchair competitor and his cycle escort just shy of the half way gantry, going through in 35:25, only 17 secs off my 5-mile PB, still feeling good. Through the water station, taking a bottle although there was little need, as the rain had been falling since well before the start, and conditions were perfectly cool. Took a swig or two and poured a few drops on the back of the legs. The 10k point was very visibly marked by a line across the road so I took a split here too, which later confirmed I was a good 10 secs inside my 10k pace from the Lakes last year (thanks to the downhill start, of course).
So it was looking good. I was a bit perplexed, actually, about what to do next. Could see I was about 90 secs under the planned pace. Should I push it a bit more, or keep steady and save it for the final mile and a half? FBOT had warned me about the sharp hill in second half of mile 9, and there was the drag up the final kilometre to deal with too. I wimped out and took the latter option. Joined a group of mostly Eagle AC runners for a while, but like most groups I’d joined all through the race, it felt a bit slow and I pushed on again. Hit the hill in mile 9 and had a flashback of BG powering up the hill in Blessington. Tried to emulate the form and power - doubt if I had the grace but it got me there.
Crossed back into Ballycotton city limits and a low five from one of the boys, gamely standing in the drizzle with Anna. 800 to go, and I tried to pick it up again up the final drag. The hillwork of late has definitely been helping and I’m happy with how I handled the final stretch. Got a shout from yaboya and FBOT on their way back down the hill from the finish. 100 to go and finally the finish line was visible - could see the clock counting up to 1:12:00 and gave it a last bit to try and dip under.
Gun time 1:12:00, chip 1:11:33.
A two-minute PB but there was definitely a better time out there for the taking, probably a sub-70. I have to learn to take the opportunity when it’s being dangled in front of me. Should have stuck with those two Tallaght lads!
Splits:
7:07 6:55 6:59 7:13 7:11 7:13 7:18 7:17 7:21 6:59
Many thanks to Mark and MrsMc for the cuppa and cakes afterwards!
Previous PB: 1:13:46 (Frank Duffy 2015)
Target: 1:12:xx
Official time: 1:11:33
Posn: 532nd. 14th M55. VDOT: 47.6. Age grade 71.91%.
Verdict: I’ll be back.
WTD: 56 km (35 mi)
MTD: 56 (35)
YTD: 583 (363)0 -
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That's a very well run race and a very nice writeup! Not much horror and suffering in there though - are you assuming we all know the horror and suffering involved in racing or is it just not worth writing about?
You're right - not suffering enough for the cause. Have to start pushing it more. I think a lot of my results are self-fulfilling - I pick a time and run it, rather than running and getting a time, if you know what I mean. That will have to change.0 -
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