Swashbuckler wrote: » Barefield 5k - Race Report (Race 1 of the Run Clare series) Well its been a few hours and I've had a chance to absorb and reflect so why not get the race report in. Things have been building nicely over the past few months so I went into today with optimism. Being completely honest in my mind I was hoping for sub 18. But today turned out to be a lot more than a time on a clock. In the run up to the race I wasn't really "feeling it" all week. Hard to explain but I just felt no sort of flow or groove to my running atall. Felt a but lethargic even. Coach and Duanington reassured me it can happen with a taper sometimes. Interesting, and I'll put that down to experience, because I felt anything but lethargic today. Lesson 1 - trust Coach (and Duanington). Speaking of Coach I had an email with words of encouragement yesterday from himself. Those words actually stuck with me before and throughout the race. Something about the words resonated with me. Nice to have some motivational words to keep you going. Funny how sometimes it takes someone else to tell you your strengths. I need to have a bit more faith in myself. Had a fun night with baby! She was fine but woke for feeds at 1am and 5am. I pretty much didn't go back to sleep after the 5am feed. Got up at 7am and had a good early breakfast. I like to leave a decent gap between eating and racing as food doesn't seem to agree with me so close to running. First experience trying to get a baby ready on a race day. It went surprisingly well. Got to Barefield pretty early. Got the race number and chilled in the car with the missus, baby and my buddy who was targeting sub 20. Weather conditions weren't great but not horrific either. Rainy and a stiff breeze. Headed out for my warmup. Wasn't sure what direction I was going but it turns out I was going the opposite direction of the last 800m of the race. This would stand to me later. The start of the race was delayed by 25mins due to feck ups with the registration which was frustrating because by then I had pretty much cooled down. We got a five minute warning so I quickly did some strides to try to warm back up. I was right up front with all of the fast looking guys. Haha. A few last good luck wishes to my buddies and off we went. Took off pretty quick but nothing crazy. I was surprised how in touch with the leaders I was after 500m which I took as a good sign. I had my watch set up to lap every mile. It's just habit at this stage. First mile was reasonably flat. Into a bit of a headwind with one or two bumps but nothing major. Phone buzzed after a mile. 5.49. Hmm. A little disheartened as it felt quicker. Suddenly I'm a bit conscious of my pace. Start checking the watch a few times (stop looking at your watch Paul). By about halfway I had found myself isolated a bit. The leaders had pulled about 15s ahead and there was a decent gap behind me. Check the watch for pace again as the effort level felt like it had dropped slightly(stop looking at your watch Paul). Got a bit annoyed at myself and made a conscious decision to absolutely not look at the watch under any circumstances for the rest of the race. I know it sounds silly/dramatic but very rarely has looking at my watch ever helped me in a race. It has either made me feel bad that I wasn't meeting my expected pace or I saw a very fast pace and thought I should ease back a bit. I did a good job in my New Years Day 5 miler without using it so I decided to have a bit of faith. So no more watch gazing. By now the gap of 15s had pretty much stayed the same. Turns out my second mile was 5.51. This was a combination of a couple of drags in mile 2 but also a drop in effort level for a bit. I think I just became a bit hypnotized by the group in front and settled in to the pace a bit too much. Don't get me wrong, still tough but maybe not as tough as it could be for that section of that makes sense. Coach had said to me a few weeks back that nothing replicates a race. Those last second decisions that you can't replicate in training. His was right. I looked ahead and said feck this. I'm chasing the guy at the back of the pack down. I could see the leading car up ahead (a first for me) and counted I was in 6th place. Let's see what I can do. I started to reel in the fifth place lad... As we turned up a hill I saw the next section was the route I had run on my warmup. So I knew exactly the distance to the finish line. That was enough for me to kick on. I took him in the hill (fruits of the strength building over the last few months). He was behind me and I was pushing on by now. Now I have my eye on the guy in fourth. I'm giving it a lot at this stage but I know I'm able. I kick past him and he responded a bit. No way am I giving up this place so I surge again. I manage to establish a little gap. I can see the top three ahead but I can also see the finish line so there's no way I'm catching them (I wouldn't have caught the top two regardless). Look over my shoulder and know I'm not getting caught. The clock reads 17.50 and I'm still a bit from the line. Sub 18 isn't there for me today. I cross the line 18.05 in 4th place. 19s behind the winner. Only a few seconds behind third. Not the pb I hoped for but a pb all the same. Last mile was 5.46. 5.10 for the "bit". Greeted by a cheering wife and sleepy baby at the finish line. Happy days. Today was a strange one in a good way. If you had said to me beforehand I'd run 18.05 I'd probably have been a little disappointed. I obviously have notions of myself haha. But I thought about it after and today was much more than a time on a clock. I felt stronger than I ever have in a 5k. The difference in strength especially on and after hills is still surprising me. I was never able to run like this so the training is working. All in all a good day. Lessons learned today; 1. Sometimes you'll feel crap on race week and still pull out a result. 2. I'm one of those people that runs better ignoring the watch and running on feel. 3. Coach told me to be aggressive. I was a bit tentative in stages. A bit fearful of not knowing the course and getting a shock with some massive hill. Also a bit fearful of being so close to the leaders. Am I running too hard? Do they know something about this course that I don't. Haha. 4. Having someone to chase down or keep ahead of helps massively. I'm a bit sick of running races in isolation. 5. The training is working. The times mightnt exactly reflect huge improvement so far but the reality is I'm a different runner. Strength has increased massively. And with that I'm gaining confidence. 6. I have a lot of work to do to get to where I want to get. But it's all about doing the right work and I feel I'm getting that with Coach. So the future is bright assuming I can stay healthy. 7. It's fun being in contention So that's my day today. A few of my buddies ran well. The guy I travelled with got a pb but not the sub 20 he hoped for. His day will come. Work buddy smashed it. 19.40. Delighted for him. Loving these race days. Great motivation and looking forward to seeing how everyone gets on in Raheny tomorrow. I suspect I'll see some wicked times from some of the lads on here.
Wubble Wubble wrote: You're definitely heading in the right direction. Your number 3 in lessons learned is one I can particularly relate to. Keep it up.
hot buttered scones wrote: Sounds like you had a great race and got some good experience too. Well done. Star pupil, I reckon! :-)
ariana` wrote: 18:05 and 4th place, what a result, statistics some of us can only ever dream of! But mostly what a race, a brave and strong run from you which is something we can all aspire too, well done.
aquinn wrote: Brilliant, well done to you. How are you feeling now?
aquinn wrote: 4th place finish is superb.
OOnegative wrote: Best of luck this morning.
hot buttered scones wrote: Have a good one tomorrow - have fun on the hills!
Swashbuckler wrote: » 3 hours sleep. Off to a bad start today!
AuldManKing wrote: So another couple of hundred people made the same mistake as you, but you were better able to deal with it??
AuldManKing wrote: » Finished 8th. :eek: :eek: So another couple of hundred people made the same mistake as you, but you were better able to deal with it??
