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Thanks for all the kind words!
Some of you (Bluesquare?) may have guessed from the tone of the piece, that I was considering retiring the log. Not packing in writing here altogether, but the end of the decade, and start of the 2020s, seemed like a good time to start anew - hence the opus! Again, thanks for your patience :pac: However, since ye gave me enough votes for second in Boards A/R Log Of The Year, I'll keep this one going, at least for clarity's sake
Anyway. Moving clumsily forward into the new decade.
New Year's Day - 12.35 miles @7:58/mi
For the third year in a row, Hartstown and Porterstown parkruns promoted a D15 NYD parkrun double. This time, I planned to run both, as well as running to and from. NYE socials with friends didn't go on too late, however the morning after I still had to shift up through the gears, in order to guarantee being on time for the start of Hartstown.
Lots of Happy New Years before the start. quick feet from these parts was also doing the double, as were a large contingent from Porterstown. I felt very heavy legged in the opener. Stephen pushed ahead over by the GAA clubhouse on the first lap, and I chose to encourage him rather than chase him. A guy in a blue and white hooped top appeared around here somewhere. Not someone I can recall encountering previously. Second lap S kept looking at his watch, but I wasn't close enough to shout at him Hoopy top went ahead in the last 500 or so. I wasn't too bothered, as a few others passed me too. 23rd in 22:45. Stephen got a PB, so we were all delighted for him. Hoopy top then came over to me and went "You fell off the cliff near the end". :rolleyes:
I didn't say a whole pile back, but I was boiling. You really think that was my best? I had a marker for Porterstown.
I ran between the two parkruns for over a mile on my own, until Sarah caught me, and hence the pace increased from there to Porterstown. She was kind enough to skip the bridge though :pac: 20 minutes or so to spare, before the second part of the double.
Keep it steady, nothing mad. quick feet and another lad I know (don't think he's on here) are slowly moving ahead, as are Stephen and CB (back after a long injury absence). Don't mind them. Second lap, more of the same. Grand. I can see hoopy top again. Marian pushes ahead (she got a parkrun PB). Not bothered whether she finishes ahead of me or not.
Last lap, I decide to see if I can pick up the pace. Shock horror, I can. Nice bit of speed down the hill to the bottom of the park. Hoopy top is ahead of me now, feeling the pain near the end of two parkruns in a short space of time. Gotcha! I don't say anything, just smile and push on. Stephen predicted at the end of Hartstown that he would pay for his effort, and he was right, as he fell away before the 4k mark, and I would also catch another couple of regulars, including one of our coaches, to finish with a surprisingly quick time of 22:25, quicker than the seemingly faster Hartstown course. Delighted I finally got to do the NYD double (#135 & #136) properly.
Sat 4/1 - Porterstown parkrun (#137)
Working Thursday and Friday, and various other things going on, plus my legs felt like bricks, even three days after the double. Even so, I was considering three possibilities for this morning :-
(1) Tyrrelstown, for (probably) a solo time trially kind of run.
(2) Hartstown, who had pacers, including 20 mins.
(3) Porterstown.
Option 3 got the nod. Good decision?
I shuffled up to get a warmup lap done, completing this about 10 minutes before the start. Great numbers, but not too many particularly speedy looking folk - some of the regulars were running the Masters on Sunday. Some geezer appeared wearing a Limerick triathlon top, who looked more athletic than most of us.
Off we went. Limerick led out, as I charged off to the first corner alongside RG. He was running this as a tempo, so I reckoned I could get a decent time if I stayed near him. The downhill was as good as it got. Well before I even started up the first drag on Lap 1, my goose was cooked. On the way up to the car park, Liam, and J's hubby, were running together and chatting. They're both 20:xx guys. Even at their chatting pace, I could only acknowledge that I'd made a total horlicks of it, as they sauntered past. 9th at the end of Lap 1. A miniscule piece of redemption was to arrive, as I passed back some chap in one of those hipster beards. That happened shortly after 2k. I ran the rest of the parkrun alone, apart from avoiding dogs and lapped runners. Ouch. 8th in 21:12. 7:10 for the first lap and a bit, 7:00 and 7:02 for the other two.
Short answer to the earlier question? Yes.
Bit more detail.... It just showed how far back my fitness has fallen in the space of a month. Before Christmas the concept of a sub 20 parkrun in Hartstown, pacers and all, would have been realistic. An attempt on Saturday would have been disastrous. Not sure if I'd have got much benefit from Tyrrelstown either. Looking at the results of that one, I'd have been busting a gut just to get 3rd or 4th.
I've actually run six parkruns in a two week period, but those alone won't do the job if I'm not to be embarrassed in Raheny. Christmas weight needs to go, and hopefully the resumption of intervals training will help too.
Sun 5/1 - Dublin Masters XC Rest
Couldn't do it this time. Wife's birthday. Literally hundreds of other races I can pick from this year Our men had a team for the first time in three years, led by Kenny, who finished 2nd M50. However, they were overshadowed by the women. Kate led from gun to tape for victory, and for the first time ever, the club had a Masters women's cross country team, so another little bit of history.
With our lady captain being first woman home in the Tom Brennan Memorial on New Year's Day, where Shane Healy broke the national O50 5k record, what more accolades could our club pick up this week? None, you might think. Au contraire. AMK got Boards A/R Log Of The Year for 2019, with moi in second place. Cheers!
Next
As I alluded to earlier, between Christmas and New Year I signed up for the Raheny 5. Less than three weeks to go now, for me to sort out diet and ramp up the training again. Still not sure whether I'll be running BHAA (Sat) or Leinster Masters (Sun) this weekend - at the time of writing, it's looking more like the former. Beyond that, I also signed up for the Carlingford Half Marathon on March 7, and am keeping my ear to the ground for any Trim 10 entries which may become available. However, I'll only take one if I think I can race it properly.
It's also looking unlikely that I'll be travelling to the Connemara Half (family birthday). At least the entries are transferable now. This one is deferred from last year - you can only defer an entry once. Anyway, lots of good stuff for me to get my teeth into the meantime! Thanks for reading. J.0 -
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Wubble Wubble wrote: »With our lady captain being first woman home in the Tom Brennan Memorial on New Year's Day, where Shane Healy broke the national O50 5k record, what more accolades could our club pick up this week? None, you might think. Au contraire. AMK got Boards A/R Log Of The Year for 2019, with moi in second place. Cheers!
J.
Love it:D
Glad you're not retiring it either, I do stick my head in every now and then and read a handful of logs, yours and A's included. Happy New Year J.0 -
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I didn’t pick up any fin de décennie vibe from your excellent 2019 recap, and I’m glad you’re keeping this going. You use words wisely and well, and the running isn’t bad either.
Happy new year.
Thanks D. Not too late for you to resurrect your old log. Or start a new one!scotindublin wrote: »A very impressive performance from the MSB ladies winner on Sunday; she looked very strong.
Thanks C. Yes, a very strong run from her. She was a bit surprised to lead all the way, as the other girl had beaten her in the Seniors. We now concurrently hold the Dublin Seniors and Masters women's XC titles, which is great for the club.Laineyfrecks wrote: »Ah it would have been such a shame to lose your log! Glad you're gonna stick around:D
Thanks E ! I read that, and straight away I thought of this..
"I don't wanna lose your log"mister paul wrote: »Not surprised that you struggled here, you'd run a 2 x 3.1M tempo on the Wednesday morning, that's not an insignificant session. You even say yourself that your legs still felt like bricks after that session. Park it and move on.
Cheers P. To be fair, I hadn't thought of it that way at all, just annoyed at running out of puff so early, due to a strategy on the morning that was beyond stupid. Live and learn.Annie get your Run wrote: »Love it:D
Glad you're not retiring it either, I do stick my head in every now and then and read a handful of logs, yours and A's included. Happy New Year J.
Thanks A, you're very kind! Do keep sending us updates from the Deep South :pac:Epic recap of the year and the decade, and I'm very glad to hear you're not throwing away the keyboard just yet. Even though you've admitted to being on the wrong side in the Blur/Oasis battle :pac:
See you in Raheny!
Thank you so much for the first part C. However, I'm appalled at your subsequent comment regarding the Battle of Britpop. Only one winner there, although I did also see Blur live in the Point, in 1996 IIRC. Hard to believe that all that was 25 years ago :eek: Yeah, see you in Raheny is right
(finds eyrie's log, clicks "Unfollow") Only joking Look forward to it, if I can spot you among the hordes 
Sunny Dayz wrote: »I'm only getting around to catching up on the followed logs now. That was a great round up post of 2019.
Thanks so much AM. I hope you had a nice cup of tea or coffee to sustain you through that readAuldManKing wrote: »Keep on turning up - 'keep the ball rolling' as Tinman says.
Nice one A. Sure we'll plough on and see what happens :pac:
Right so. Onwards to week 2...
Mon 6/1 - Rest
Tue 7/1 - 5.09 miles @9:00/mi
"Not a parkrun" as I labelled it on Strava. Three Carpo loops, so more like 5.35 miles. Balmy!
Wed 8/1 - Club session, Morton Stadium
My first time here in quite a while, and the first time ever in Santry for some of our group. Conditions weren't too bad, not as windy as it can sometimes be on the track. After a few warmup laps and strides, it was time for the session proper. This was 6 x 600 (200m rec). We'd jog the first 200, and then go for 600, before turning around and going again more or less straight away. There were about four or five of us more or less together for these, which was a definite plus. Minus - I had my doubts whether I could keep the pace going through six reps, so I eased off in rep 3, before picking up again for the remainder. While they were quicker than the last time we did this session (March 2019), consistency was conspicuous by its absence on this occasion, as the stats below illustrate.
Jan 2020 - 2:18/2:14/2:25/2:18/2:15/2:09
Mar 2019 - 2:21/2:19/2:21/2:21/2:19/2:21
In most or all of tonight's reps, I ran the first 200 at a much faster pace, before fading in the second half. So although the times were a lot quicker, I wouldn't say I performed as well as last year. Consistency is key. Just shows really how far off the pace I am - too much overreaching in these reps.
Thu 9/1 - 4.75 miles @9:12/mi
Nice and easy around D15. I passed quick feet and RG a couple of times on my loop. Thankfully, I was sensible enough not to join in the Porterstown Panthers hill session, which I passed close to home.
Fri 10/1 - Rest
Sat 11/1 - BHAA Bank of Ireland XC, Tymon Park
I found it harder than usual sleeping, with the strong gale force winds howling outside. Are we going to be running around in that? I saw shortly before I left the house that Brickfields parkrun had been cancelled. Nothing on the BHAA Facebook, so off I set. Arrived just before 10. All good to go, with a quick and efficient renewal of annual membership and payment for this one. Change, and then a warmup with Paddy and Graham, with the wind howling, especially in the open section alongside the M50. Get rid of the creature comforts, then a few strides and stretches before my first race of 2020. Big crowd here too! Four laps this time, instead of the two last year.
Lap 1
Usual mad rush to the first corner, then left up towards the M50. Lace undone already! I decided to just keep going this time. Plenty of shelter here anyway. Left again, running south parallel to the motorway. Woooof!!! It was strong here all right, the longest straight on the lap. I started making a bit of progress through the field though. Temporarily halted, when some big geezer bumped me as we were going through a narrow gap. His moment didn't last long, as I passed him back before we'd reached the end of the next pitch. Gave him a look as I went by. Didn't see him again. Finally, left out of the breeze and down to the steep bank. I'd caught Graham and Vanessa by now. V whizzed down the bank, but I cleared both of them after we turned left, and onwards hoping to make up more places. Left back towards the M50. Wind straight in our faces. With the slope here too, this was actually the hardest part of the lap. Thankfully it didn't last long!
Lap 2
I was having a bit of a battle with some guy I didn't recognise from other races. Passed each other back and forth a couple of times. He went ahead of me into the M50 stretch. Big mistake. I was taking advantage of that all day long. Sat back for a bit, then pushed clear shortly before we turned towards the bank again. One down. Back into the teeth of the gale, and then I caught up to, and passed, an ex-MSBer. Wasn't expecting that to happen, as she's quite a strong runner, and I anticipated a bit of resistance as I went by, but none was forthcoming. Two laps to go - I wasn't in the mood for settling.
Lap 3
I couldn't be doing too bad, as by now I'd caught up to Sinead (Daniel's Voyage). She had a great run in the Masters last week, and has tended to beat me more often than not through the years. Therefore, she was in no mood to let me off as I went ahead before the M50 stretch. Even at the end of this, I knew she was close, and one or two others were closing. However, I was passing other people too, so I wanted to keep that going. I didn't get lapped either, so that was another plus.
Lap 4
I knew S was still close, as her hubby was taking photos as I passed him. Few more places yet to make up. A chap in a yellow OPW top went by me here, and I tried to hang on, but by now I was tiring and just trying to make the best of my way home. That M50 stretch felt a lot longer on the final tour. Down the bank, just a few more turns left. OOOOOOOOFFFF! That last run directly into the breeze really knocked me for six. I didn't have much left near the end, even though it was downhill and downwind, but did pick it up sufficiently to get under 26 for 6k.
Time: 25:57
Position: 90/214 (18/24 M45)
Very pleased with how that one turned out. I certainly hadn't expected to finish that far up, considering how out of shape I feel at the moment. Faster time than last year, as well as a better % finishing position (42% vs. 45%) in what was IMO a deeper field. Overall, plenty of reasons to be cheerful, including the fact that I was able to push myself to feel a bit more pain than usual. Had a chat with the ever positive Marthastew at the finish, before a short cooldown, then coffee and cakes, followed by a drive home in at times minimal visibility due to the heavy rain and surface water on the M50.
Sun 12/1 - 10.31 miles @8:33/mi
I drank responsibly, in spite of the Reds bagging another victory, so I would be in good enough shape for this. Arrived at Castleknock Gate for 8, for an easy paced run around "Eugene's Lap" (we even kept talking all the way up the Khyber!) before joining up with the 8:45ers. These included AMK and The Champ, as well as Kenny, so a speedy enough crew. Thankfully, a good few (AMK included) ran at my pace rather than theirs, which ensured a relaxed run in good company. I couldn't have asked for much better, the morning after a tough race.
Next
You may (not) have noticed that I haven't stuck anything in the Goals for 2020 thread. I'm not going to here either. At the moment, I'm happy to primarily focus on XC through January and February. Hopefully, at the end of all that, I will have a better idea of what is realistic and achievable on the road for the remainder of the year. Provisional race schedule for the next few months looks something like this.
Sat 18/1 - BHAA Eir XC (5 miles), Cherryfield Park
Sun 26/1 - Raheny 5
Sat 1/2 - BHAA Garda XC, Phoenix Park or
Sun 2/2 - Trim 10 Mile
Sat 8/2 - National Masters XC, Avondale, Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow
Sat 15/2 - BHAA Alsaa XC
Sat 22/2 - BHAA Central Bank XC, Wesley College
Sat 7/3 - Carlingford Half Marathon
Sat 21/3 - BHAA K Club 10k
Sun 19/4 - Connemara Half Marathon
More than likely, a lot of this will change. As mentioned before, Conn is almost certainly going to be off the table. C'est la vie - hopefully I'll have more chances to go before I'm too old and creaky. Same with the Inishbofin Half (May 16), although I haven't signed up for that one. Always next year, as the saying goes Thanks for reading. J. 0 -
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Wed 15/1 - Club session, Morton Stadium
Back to Santry, for another 6 x 600. Delayed getting away from D15, so I landed in the middle of the stretches, before warmup laps and strides. Unlike last week, there was a strong breeze blowing, which would make from 250-450 particularly difficult.
Having said all that, I managed my effort far better, with significantly increased consistency as a result.
Last week - 2:18/2:14/2:25/2:18/2:15/2:09
This week - 2:15/2:18/2:15/2:15/2:15/2:13
Thu 16/1 - 4.72 miles @9:17/mi
I ran the opposite direction to last Thursday. This time, I decided to throw in a few strides on the way back, as I wouldn't have a chance to run on Friday.
Fri 17/1 - Rest
Sat 18/1 - BHAA Eir XC, Cherryfield
The BHAA tour made the short hop over the N81, from Tymon to Cherryfield, across the road from Ballyboden St Endas GAA. I previously ran this race in 2018, on heavy ground in the pouring rain. Bright sunshine today, as myself and Paddy set out on our warmup lap. Parts of the course were frozen, but with temps increasing, Paddy reckoned spikes would be better than runners by the time we got away.
After the women completed their 2 miler, it was time for the (mostly) men to line up. This was the first of the two long BHAA XC races, with Alsaa hosting the other 5 miler.
Lap 1
I found a spot somewhere in the middle, and despite a bit of early congestion, I had a clear run as we headed slightly downhill into the woodland section. Bit tight up the short drag through the trees, but the route opened out again as we headed back eastwards. I was passing a lot more than being passed, and although I was working hard, I wasn't foot to the floor at this stage, being mindful of the longer distance. Kept it steady around the finish area field, and remembered there was another field to go around to complete the lap :pac:
Lap 2
I decided to ignore the clock as we passed the finish line, just concentrating on my effort instead.I'd been gradually closing the gap on the second female for a while, and passed her just before we went back up through the trees. Few more places to be made up. "Tom" seemed to be getting plenty of shouts. He must have been close for a long while! I remember thinking I must have been going fairly well, as I'd gone by a few others who I wouldn't normally expect to get near. I couldn't afford to dwell on that part of it too much though. Overtook a guy from Revenue, due to me taking the corner better into the start field. Still another lap to go. I resolved to see how long I could keep this going.
Lap 3
Last lap. Kept pushing down the hill. However, just before the trees Tom decided to make his move. I hadn't seen him beforehand - he's a sub-3 marathoner, who usually wins his age category. Revenue passed me back as well, before we went around the lake in the middle of the lap. I wasn't going to start flying back through the field, now was I ? I did pass one or two others, so that brought some reassurance. However, 2nd F was back again, judging by the amount of shout outs she was getting. Last field before we turned into the finish. I tried to pick up the pace, but she went by me as we passed the Bros Pearse container, and I couldn't hang on to her as we turned for home. I still had to keep pushing, mindful that there were probably others closing in. Straight through the gap, all the way to the line. Saw the clock, and to be honest, I got a bit of a shock :eek:
Position: 68/151 (11/21 M45)
Time: 33:08
40 seconds faster than my 5 mile time last summer in Bettystown. It came as a total surprise - apart from being in some unfamiliar racing company, I had no idea I was that quick. Before last week's (Tymon) race, I recall saying to Paddy and Graham that I would probably struggle to break 35 in Raheny.
Now, things have changed. Sub 33 seems to be very achievable, although sub 32 is probably too much of a stretch. 32:29? It's also a nice confidence booster for the National Masters, which I entered during the week.
Sun 19/1 - 9.03 miles @8:37/mi
The temperature gauge in the car was reading -3C, as I set off for Castleknock Gate, a few hours after a winning night of poker. Between that and the race, I was hoping a few of the gang would keep the pace easy enough. What a morning for it, in the bright sunshine, with plenty of firm trails to run on. PP is hard to beat on days like this. On our rounds we passed Skyblue, well wrapped up and sans protegé, and scotindublin with his merry band of Donore men. I had originally hoped to cover 10 miles, but with the last of my buddies finishing at 9 miles, I decided I could live without running another mile alone.
I had been worried that the Mancs would ruin my good mood later, but what a finish to that one, as the Reds go marching on Thanks for reading. J. 0 -
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Comic Book Guy wrote: »Congrats on your race on Saturday J, Brill running.
Always love reading your XC reports on here!
Fair play J, here to entertain, while hopefully running a bit faster :pac:Laineyfrecks wrote: »Well done on the race, super running:)
And yes what a win for Liverpool:D
Thanks E, surely a 30 year gap is soon to be bridged :cool:career move wrote: »Super running. Well done
Thanks K, some great racing yourself lately!Brilliant running and reporting J! I bet the XC will really pay off when you hit the roads again too, roll on Raheny!
I had a very happy little LFC supporter in my house yesterday too, I was getting a running commentary while he ran between that and the GAA club finals, he was complaining that we need 2 TVs in the same room :rolleyes: :pac:
Hope so E. It'll feel a bit strange racing on the road in the middle of XC season, but that's my own choice, so I'll live with it. Yes, a great day to support Liverpool and Corofin. The Westerners won their first club All Ireland against my own club (Erins Isle) back in 1998.scotindublin wrote: »Great weekend J. Busy few weeks coming up.....are you doing Trim aswell?
Working on our Nat entry just now.....might throw my name down.
I don't think so C. At this time, I don't feel like I've enough miles in the legs to be able to go full pelt at Raheny and Trim. AMK, Healy, and others around here can do such things, because they run a lot more (and a lot quicker) than I do. Hence, it looks like I'll be returning to XC on the following Saturday (BHAA Garda XC, Phoenix Park) instead.Well done on the results, well mainly the XC & poker. Great race report as always.
Thanks T. Glad you enjoyed hearing about the XC and poker anywayNice one J, super report and cracking race. 40 seconds is a chunk, niiice.
See you next Sunday.
Sure is C. Like I say, confidence levels are up!MisterDrak wrote: »Good Man J. your flying at the moment...
Remember if you looking for a decent time in Raheny you need to get well forward. Valuable seconds can be lost with the crowds running down All Saint Road. Also the cars can be parked on both sides of the road, leaving little space to weave around miss placed runners.
At this stage id be delighted to break 35 min on Sunday.
Fair play D. Yes, a big problem I've had there over the years is starting too far back. Certainly the last time (2017) it seemed to take an eternity to get moving.Sunny Dayz wrote: »Great XC reports! Best of luck in Raheny!
Thanks AM, bring it on!
So now we're into race week, with a sense of optimism that wasn't there (or even nearly there!) two weeks ago. Small things like eating a bit heathier (in general!), staying hydrated, controlling interval efforts.
This week will be much the same in terms of the lead up. Great to see that a lot of the cool kids from around here are running the Raheny 5 this year. Hopefully I'll catch a decent few of you. Loads from my club too, as well as my SIL, and a stack of others I know, who have nothing to do with MSB or Boards :pac: My number arrived tonight. Buzzing when I saw that. It will look well on a sub 33 athlete on Sunday afternoon. Fingers crossed!0 -
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Mon 20/1 - Rest
Tue 21/1 - 5.18 miles @9:21/mi
Easy three Carpenterstown loops.
Wed 22/1 - Club session, Morton Stadium
Chaos on the M50, due to a crash just after the turn off for Finglas, meant literally none of us made it to Santry for the planned 7 PM start. In fact, only for my local knowledge, I would probably have turned around and gone home, as several clubmates did.
Anyway, considerably later than intended, we got the 6 x 600 under way. For some reason, I felt a lot less energetic than last week, yet the times weren't too bad. 2:14/2:16/2:14/2:15/2:14/2:12. The lights went out during the second last one (at 8 PM?) but even so, we managed to finish it out. Glad I made the effort to get there.
Thu 23/1 - 4.69 miles @9:23/mi
"Beautifully timed post intervals recovery run", as I labelled it on Strava. Nothing to do with my pacing over the course of a run of the mill spin around D15. Everything to do with the fact that my wife was reversing into the driveway, at the same time as I was arriving back at the house
Fri 24/1 - Rest
Sat 25/1 - 2.98 miles @9:27/mi
Up nice and early for this, having had a few nice pints at a quiz the night before. I threw in a few strides, just to get the blood going a bit. Marshalling at Porterstown then, as Stephen marked his 100th with a parkrun PB. quick feet and RG were shuffling around together, both impressed with my Liverpool FC hat and scarf :pac:
Sun 26/1 - Raheny 5
Pre Race
The Raheny race was my first 5 miler in modern history, when I took it on seven years ago today, as part of the original Lord Mayor's 5 Alive Challenge. I also ran it every year in the four following, but missed out in 2018 (college) and 2019 (holidays). Hence, I was looking forward to an overdue return.
Being obsessed with getting there early, we got parked in the church at 1, just after SIL and her little girl. After a spell chilling out reading the papers, we decided to head towards the start/finish area. Bumped into Lazare and his pal en route. I remarked that I would be doing well to hang on to his planned 4:10/km pace. That wasn't plámás - I was genuinely worried that I might not be able to reach my target. Eventually I got rid of the last of the layers, while wife, SIL and toddler headed for the playground in St Anne's Had a chat with skyblue on the way back. He reckoned I would go well, but would he be right? Nice chat with RedRunner too. Back to the school, and quick words of encouragement between myself and AMK, before I shuffled out for a miserable looking warmup. Thankfully I had FBOT's company for part of it, or I might not have bothered at all.
I was mindful of the need to get a decent starting spot. In the pen with mister paul, adrian522 and Singer (briefly, before he moved forward). I thought I had a better place than before. Concentrate, get the mind right, try to think positive. Last week's cross country suggested that surely I could go sub 33 today. Let's go.
Mile 1
Well, so much for a good start. It took me 29 seconds to cross the line - less than previous years, but still way too long. Don't get me wrong - most of you know I'm no speedster, but there were people ahead who looked like they would have taken an hour or more to complete. Gas. Brake. Left. Right. Somebody shoved me in the back. I didn't cut across you, get over it. I didn't look back or say anything, just tried to get out of first when the chance arose. Coming to the left onto Watermill Road, I can see Denis up ahead, also struggling to make his way through the hordes. Left again past the school, and Caprica gives a few words of encouragement as I head towards the 1 mile marker. At a guess, I'd say it took over 7 minutes. Not good enough. Nowhere near.
Mile 2
Little bit of space on Wade's Avenue, where I clear about another ten before turning into All Saints Road and heading into the breeze towards the Howth Road. Tight again, with the right hand side open to traffic. I catch Denis, and try to get him to come with me. No luck there. Can't dwell on it. Stop. Start. Not making as much progress as I'd like. Pass Ian as we turn left onto Howth Road. I can't say I'm sorry that most of this road has been taken out of the route since the last time I was here. Very tight with the barriers - a lot of this section, I'm stuck behind two geezers running side by side, until a gap emerges and I'm gone. Left and downhill onto the wider Sybil Hill Road. Time to engage third and fourth. Murph_D is stewarding at the entrance at the top of the St Anne's Park avenue, but he's too busy cheering someone from Raheny to catch me whizzing past him :pac:
Mile 3
Passing a good few I recognise from various races through the years. I reckon I'm still miles behind target ,as we turn onto Mount Prospect Road. More downhill. Half way comes on this stretch. Somewhere around here I catch Lazare. Finally, some indication that I'm at least close to PB territory. I'm feeling strong and push on, with Mister Drak next in my sights, a few seconds later. Mrs Mc was doing a fine job of keeping us to the left side of the road. Road bends to the left, bit of a drag. This is where I've struggled a lot before. Keep the hands on the wheel. This is going to get tougher.
Mile 4
Past Clontarf GAA dressing rooms, and a slight drop as the road bends to the right and we turn into St Anne's Park. Some of the speedies have already done the out and back. Keep the pressure on, as the pain starts to build and the breathing gets harder to control. Longer pre avenue stretch than I remember - past a playground, and all the way around to the bottom of the avenue. Just about here, mister paul appears on my shoulder. Tight left onto the avenue itself. Slight uphill drag, into the breeze. P goes past, and almost in a puff of smoke, he's gone, blended into the crowd up ahead. Sh1t. Great for him and A, but not great for my PB prospects, I'm thinking. Up the avenue, to the section where the fast folk are heading down the other side. I spot Sheep looking in the zone. No sign of AMK. I presume (correctly) he's already homeward bound. Get a shout from a clubmate on the other side. Stay with this! And now the dreaded doubts start to creep in.
"Too far behind starting off"
"You're going to start falling back now"
"That cross country wasn't anywhere near 5 miles"
Fight it. Ten minutes! We're surely near the U-turn. I see DF The Ref going down the other side. At last! Although I come to almost a complete stop before shifting up through the gears again.
Mile 5
Less than seven minutes left. Last push. Downhill now. Lazare gives me a shout from the other side. He reckons I've got it. Still plenty to do though. Keep passing people, although most of those have blown their lights long ago it seems, and only now I'm making up for starting so far behind. Over the bridge, past the dog run. Bit of a drag through here, legs really tiring now, although I'm still passing more than are passing me. Duanington is at the side of the path, as we approach the exit onto All Saints Road. No talking. Only a couple of minutes left. Out the gate, left. Bit of a breeze. Ronan is in the distance, seemingly slowing. Stick with this, come on! I've actually gone by my wife before she spots me. Turn back, quick wave. Skyblue and aquinn are a few yards further on. Great support from them too! Now I'm at the green. Turn right, don't cut the corner. Jeebus. This seems much longer than before. Can't give in now though. Push push push. Right again, finally. One more corner. Only a few seconds here. Ronan goes around the corner. Into the finishing straight, and it's only a few more metres. Push hard. Still not sure I've got it. Few seconds left. All the way to the line! YEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH!!
Time: 33:25 (32:56)
Position: 533/4064
Category: 53/280 M45
12 second PB! I slump over the rails to catch my breath, alongside Ronan, and Kev, who started a country mile behind, but still nearly caught us. Congrats from Skyblue and Caprica, before I find some of my clubmates and grab the goodies.
Walking back towards the school, my wife found me, and with the toddler in the buggy, we waited for SIL to finish. During all of this, she met quite a few clubmates and Boardsies, such as Lazare (PB), mister paul (PB), aquinn (supporter extraordinaire) and eyrie (another PB!). I think there might have been one or two others - apologies if I forgot anyone. If I don't write these things almost straight away, the chances of such details slipping my mind increase significantly My wife commented afterwards on how nice everyone was. And in case anyone is wondering, yes she does read here SIL found us, and with that we had to head off. On another day, I'd have caught up with a few of the fast folk in the hall or whatever. This time, we'd to get away fairly quickly, for dinner and drinks to mark BIL's birthday.
Next
Back to the cross country circuit for me this weekend, after the novel experience of road racing in winter. BHAA Garda XC this Saturday, which should be a nice tune up for the National Masters XC on Saturday week. I've signed up for the Great Ireland Run again, and the Brian Boru 10 mile on Easter Monday is a tempting proposition at the moment. Still on a high after yesterday! Thanks Raheny, and thanks to you for having the dedication to read through another mini-opus! J.0 -
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