You only get what you give
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Wednesday 02/02/2022
45min tempo run on for today, slotted this on in at lunch time. Same approach as suggested before, first 10-15mins easy pace, then the next 20-25mins building up to race pace, last 5 mins easy. Splits of 5:29, 5:15, 5:05, 4:43, 4:40, 4:42, 4:36, 4:37, 5:32 for 9K. I got down to the target pace of 4:36min/km (sub 46min 10K time) and certainly it felt a race pace effort....and tough one at that for a few K in there. Fierce busy with club stuff this week as were trying to prep for an athletics match against another club. Takes a lot of work to get anything done but it's great seeing the results when it's done! Anyways an efficient use of lunchtime with athletics coaching to come in the evening.
Thursday 03/02/2022
Today was the wrap day of a 10 day streak, I think my longest streak in a few years. No niggles but trying to stick to the plan as best I can. 5K easy was on the plan so ended up doing a 5.2K easy run on an out and back route after work. Horrendous weather, as I was heading "out" I was getting drenched on one half and knowing I'd have to turn into the same weather on "back" section was not a fun thought. Around 1.5K from home I had a not nice experience with a car, I think he saw me very late despite me wearing my brightness top, shorts and high viz plus bodylight(they are hard to miss alone). As they were going to be way to close for comfort I ended up having to back into the ditch briars and all so got a bit cut up on my legs by that. After he/she went past I had a bit of an angry man rants at the sky moment shouting back at them and gesticulating. Reckon they saw me then...as they slowed down about 200m after the incident but never thought to come back and say sorry. Good luck to them in this life. I tend not to like to tell my wife about the occasional bad driver I encounter but despite running for the remaining 1.5K home I still had a good rant about it to her.
Friday 04/02/2022
Rest day
Saturday 05/02/2022
60 minute cross train on the plan, usually a Saturday morning involves parkrun but after a late night prepping stuff for the athletics match today in Killarney and to join 50 kids on a bus for 45mins I just left it off and focused on the main job for the day, putting myself under too much pressure to try it in. The athletics match itself was a brilliant experience and the kids enjoyed it. Unfortunately my club did not win but that was not the aim of the day really, it was for the kids to take part and have fun and all did despite the overall result. After the last number of years it was a novelty to see our young athletes on a bus and some for the first time in their young life. We've got some great feedback and thanks for it which is always nice. After I got home I was completely shot so that was it for the day...so a second rest day!
Sunday 06/02/2022
Small matter of the Munster Master's Indoor Championships in Nenagh today, on the road at 7:30am...even though my first event wasn't scheduled for 12:30 but my travelling partner(my father)'s event was on at 10am. Being the only one in my age category (o40) competing in the shot and weight for distance I was certain of a gold barring disaster. First competition I haven't recorded a foul in a throwing event but I deliberately decided to play it safe and just set a marker for the year ahead. Got to within 5cm of shot pb from 2017, recorded 5.84 today and a second longest throw of 5.81 so with a bit of work I hope to try finally crack 6 meters in a few months. Just need to do some work on it so took so good tips and advice away from today. Throwers are some of the nicest and supportive people you met and the time I get to hang with them at county, munster and national events are always a good experience. Some brilliant throws from the other competitors across the U23/Senior/Masters age groups. The power people can generate in such a small space is very cool to see up close. 7.26kg still feels heavy to me though and driving a computer for a living instead of being involved in physical work probably doesn't help. After the shot it was onto the weight for distance, I was happier with this event as again only one in my age category it's trying to get close/beat pb...that was set back in 2019...a not very huge (2.92m)...so today each throw got longer with my longest throw 2.88 so happy with it as I haven't throw the 56 pounder since 2019. Again few things to work on but will try to hopefully pb and break 3m in the outdoor version in a few months. Nenagh as cold as venue as ever, the only place you ever put more clothes on going into the place that you do outside. My clubmates had a good day out so we took home a good few medals for the club back home to Kerry.
Forced myself out for the 10K run on the place when I got home, felt less tired after it than I did before. 10K easy in 55min @ 5:30min. A wholly forgettable run apart from some dog hassles at 5K. Can live with one dog when they come charging it but then a second one appears then it gets a challenge. Thankfully the owner was on hand in the yard and called back his hounds....I saluted him to say thanks.
Wraps the week with 37.4K
220.9K for the year so far.
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That's a very productive week's work. I wouldn't have been mad about a 10k run after all that, but fair play to you for getting out and doing it, even without having to deal with angry (or overfriendly) dogs.
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Thanks J, least the weather was dry so that was a comfort to push myself out the door. Just put on my running gear quickly when I got home and job done! Would have been annoyed if I'd not done it.
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Week 6 of Adare 10K plan
Monday 07/02/2022
5K easy on the plan for tonight but given the free evening I had I opted to do the club run on offer. I was originally going to do it at lunchtime but given I ended up taking a 45min nap at lunchtime after a hectic weekend that killed that idea. So come evening time it was into Tralee for 7:30 to see what was on the cards. Linked in with a few guys who were planning to around the same pace as me. Ended up doing a loop that was 6.3K easy, average pace of 5:39min/km so pace was grand to keep it at the right pace. Met up with some of the new people to club who recently joined as part of our new couch to 5K program, they were all going to be doing their first 20 minute run later on in the week. I was telling them I can still remember my first 20 minute run, it was before we lived in Kerry and were down here visiting my inlaws. I did it on the beach in Ballyheigue, i remember running 10 minutes one way and then turning to run back the way and telling myself...well the first half didn't kill me so just do it again.
I can remember at the end of that first 20min run the NHS choices podcast I was using told me that now that I had run for 20 minutes without stopping that I had learned to pace myself and could run any distance....this was back in the summer of 2013. My first 5K race was in November that year, first 10K early the next year, first half marathon in Sept 2014, first marathon in 2015 and first (and only) 50K to date in Feb 2022 so it wasn't lying.
Tuesday 08/02/2022
9K easy to do and 9K easy done after work @ 5:40min/km. After the bit of hassles with car last week I have varied up my route a little bit to take me away from the main road a bit quicker. Just did an out and back route down to the line road...unremarkable enough run.
Wednesday 09/02/2022
Speed session on the cards for today but between caught for time a little and a little notion for tweaking things a little bit this week (doing a 10 mile race on Saturday, albeit not at race pace) so I took a rest day today. Got in some calf raises work during an audio meeting in work, sometimes it's great when the cameras are off! Two hours coaching this evening kept me busy, doing a lot of relay practice with our juveniles at the moment in the hope we can make a strong showing in the Munster indoors in March. Fierce cold evening but great numbers at training so a good bit of excitement with it all.
Thursday 10/02/2022
6.4K easy on the plan for today but had pushed my speed session from Wednesday back a day so it was 10x400m @ 5K pace. Slotted this after work, nice calm evening at that start but pretty cold...long sleeves and gloves to start the run off with but the sleeves get rolled up fairly lively. Wore my Saucony Endorphin Speeds for this (likely going to be my race shoe but have been toying with investing in something with a swoosh on it). 15 minute warm up plus some drills and strides. The planned time for these is 1:44min for the 400m, really concentrated in staying relaxed as I could for these...reading about demfad's experiences in Kenya was still in my mind. So just focusing on form and keeping relaxed as best as I could...I know how these should feel speed wise now so was confident I would hit the splits. 1 min walk/jog between each one, small bit of discomfort around the left heel (where I got a blister a few weeks back) so having to play around with my sock at the end of every second or so interval which was a bit annoying. At the end that the only thing that would have put me off doing more at the end of the session was the heel discomfort. 400m splits as follows, 1:45, 1:41, 1:43, 1:44, 1:42, 1:43, 1:43, 1:44, 1:42, 1:39. I deliberately did the last one a bit faster as I wanted had I a bit more pace left in the legs after 9x400 and I had so that's nice for confidence. 5min cool down run home at the end. 8.3K in 47:46 for a nice evening's work. Blister on my heel had come up a bit when I got home but nothing major.
Friday 11/02/2022
Took a second rest day for the week ahead of doing a local 10 mile race tomorrow, planning for a leisurely enough run so aiming to run around 90mins or so. If the conditions are bad that might encourage me to run a bit quicker but hoping I might loop in with someone I know doing it who fancies a chat! Best of luck to those doing 10 laps and f-ing off tomorrow in Donadea, no headphones.
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Week 6 of Adare 10K plan continued
Saturday 12/02/2022
Took part in a local 10 mile run in Tralee today, pretty relaxed going into it really as was doing the run for a few reasons (social, nice to support a fundraiser for the local hospice and nice way to get a long run in) but not chasing a time was not one. Got to the start area about 45mins before the start and collected my number. Met a few runners I know before the race and caught up on what each was at and planning for the day....eventually found out what the course was, I couldn't find it published anywhere online before but I knew the start and finish (same area) and I would have plenty of people to follow. So after a quick briefing we were off a few mins after 11am.
Never changed my watch to imperial for this, had thought about it but forgot and just went with the kms. Would only be important if I was chasing a time. I was figuring around 90mins would do nicely but trying not to get sucked into running it hard. My 10 mile pb is 1:13:58 from 2018 so no fear of getting close to that. Just said I'd lock into an effort and go with whatever that was but something in 1:20s would be grand. First K was pretty fast as you get carried along a bit but just left people go, decided just to concentrate on running relaxed, keeping the effort constant and running a good line. 5:04, 5:16, 5:21, 5:18 the splits for the first 4K which for 3.5K was just a straight run out towards Blennerville...the main issue here is the head wind on the canal section but not too bad today for most of it. Once to Blennerville, there we did a 3K loop which is often used by local runners to that area for a time trial loop. 5:15, 5:15, 5:13 the splits for that loop which brought me up to 7K.
Next we ran through Blennerville itself and ran a road parallel to the main road known as Kearney's road. We crossed the rail crossing here of the old steam train that used to run from the Aquadome to the windmill in Blennerville back in the 90's. I visited the area on a primary school tour back in 92 I think it was, it seemed a far place away from my home then (took probably 3-3.5 hours) on a bus to get to Tralee. Little did I know the area would become my home 25 or so years later. Anyways a brief thought of that school tour when I was crossing the railway track and good memories. The race was zipping along nicely now and would have a check point at halfway. 5:15 for the 8th K, 5:13 for the 9K. We took a right turn around 8.5K after a tough drag for the previous k and then headed out away from Tralee passed the rugby club and up to an area called Ballyard. Plenty of drags and ups and down here, nothing steep but a bit of country flat as I once heard a race described as. Some nice houses in this area, remember running around here with a group when we first moved down in 2015 and thinking this is where the rich people live. Well that's probably not true, some do but a lot of rich people live in an area outside of Tralee called the Spa/Fenit which is out a different direction of the town completely. Working nicely with the route here now and was working out my finishing time was going to around 1:22/1:23. Probably a shade on the faster side but I was enjoying the pace. Went past a club mate of mine here at the top of a drag, the last hill if you'd call it that on the course. That had us at 10K and just 6K and change to go. 5:25 for the 10th K.
Picked it up a small bit now as could see a few runners up ahead and thought I can catch onto that group, managed to level up with them for a few mins and then went past them thinking I'll just try work myself up through the field now, 4:59 for the 11th, 5:16th for the 12th...a bit of a draggy section again here but nothing too bad, again just keeping the effort constant. Back down now towards Blennerville (3rd visit of the day) and a fast K again...4:53 for the 13th K. Was working well now and was figuring I could get a catch a few more runners over the last two miles as was making good ground.
Turning over the lockbridge now for the last run back towards Tralee, not my most favourite section of the road as you by what was once the town dump on the right hand side. It's been covered over by earth since and grown over with grass but the area for is just wide open exposed area with nothing of note but just a long road ahead. I saw a runner in a grey top about 200m ahead of me slow down to walk and I was thinking that's nice I'll catch him too. I was running below 5min/K pace now and was planning now to keep that to the end. As I got up near to him I recognised the guy as someone I run with in a group pretty regularly so gave him a shout to get going again and come on with me but he said to me he was in too much pain. I had a brief thought here what to do and I said f it...running in the last 1.5 miles or so hard as I was planning to do wasn't going to prove anything only a lot of sandbagging with my approach to the race and I could do him a favour so I stopped and walked with him for a few seconds. He beckoned me to run on and I said nah you're grand sure I was only planning to run this in 90mins and loads of time to go. I'd run it in with him, thought once he got running again he'd be fine and figured he'd tell me to f off if he didn't want me to. We got going again and after a few hundred meters he had to stop and walk again...this was the way for the last few KMs but he was happy to try finish it out. At the stage in the race the nearest marshall was around 1K to go so you might as well keep running or else you're in for a long stand waiting for help to come to you. I was just telling him 10mins running to go, 5 mins...then we were down to 400m and he had to walk at that. That surprised me but he said he was really pain, last two small turns (100m to go) and another walking break. Slightly surreal way to finish a race but the job was done. 5:04 for the 14th K, 6:26 for the 15th and 5:48 for the 16th. 38s for the change at the end to finish at 16.1K. The racing line craic had worked anyways whatever else I did on the day.
Official time was 1:25:38 (92nd place), exact same time for my mate. Looking at the results it was 25 places we lost over the last stretch but that didn't matter really and it was nice to do a good deed. Hoping the running gods will show some favour the next time I need a dig out. My running mate, he'll live to fight another day and hopefully get over the plantar fascitis issue he's been having.
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Week 6 of Adare 10K plan continued
Sunday 13/02/2022
Met up with some running mates for an easy beach run this morning to wrap the week. 6.5K in 38:37 @ 5:56min/km.
Two weeks until race day.
47.2K for this week.
268.1K for the year so far.
Post edited by diego_b on2 -
As I got up near to him I recognised the guy as someone I run with in a group pretty regularly so gave him a shout to get going again and come on with me but he said to me he was in too much pain. I had a brief thought here what to do and I said f it...running in the last 1.5 miles or so hard as I was planning to do wasn't going to prove anything only a lot of sandbagging with my approach to the race and I could do him a favour so I stopped and walked with him for a few seconds.
Fair play and in keeping with the title of your log. Hopefully the karma bounces back.
2681.K for the year so far.
That's quite a jump from the previous week. 😜
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Week 7 of Adare 10K plan
Monday 14/02/2022
5K easy to do, 5K easy done in 27:28 @ 5:30min/km. Been a very busy week again so don't have much of a memory of this run. Out and back route after work. Lot of work that evening thereafter trying to line up athletes for Munster indoors that evening, unfortunately finding that generic messsages from the club don't work well so getting coaches directly contacting parents to see if their child wants to take part. In my experience to date, if you have 20/30 athletes to are eligible to go, you only seem to get 2/3 that will respond to generic messages. Whereas a targeted approach to directly 15/18 athletes parents that should go will achieve 6/7 extra athletes to go. Lot of work to it though. Same rules apply when it comes to getting adults to go to anything.
Tuesday 15/02/2022
10K easy on the plan, another after work run..out the door a bit quicker this time and trying to slot in between showers. Ran the reverse of a loop I used recently when I had some dog trouble so a good hill to climb in that that I haven't ran that direction for a long time. You don't feel the climb at all really going the other direction but you still get the same elevation in a run when you start and finish in the same place. Funny enough no dogs out this evening, as when going past the house around 5.5K the weather had really started to turn so a good headwind then for 3K or so. Still got it done before the worst of it. 10K in 55:51min @ 5:35min/km. Invested in a small bit of late night shopping to order a pair of Nike Air Tempo Next% from Lifestyle...hopefully to have them for my speed session.
Wednesday 16/02/2022
Speed session on for today but was feeling pretty fatigued in general (not running related) so took a rest day. Due to the wind warnings we had to cancel outdoor training but slotted in a smaller indoor session for the athletes going to competition at the weekend. Lot of work on sprint starts, for some of the runners it's their first time using a crouch start in competition (from U12 you must use a crouch start, from U14 you must use the starting blocks) so just to build confidence and make some minor corrections. Approach taking with the indoors is that it's your first competition of year, go to go and set a benchmark. No pressure (not that there ever should be on juvenile athletes) and see how it goes. Looking forward to seeing them in action on Saturday and Sunday.
Thursday 17/02/2022
The 50min tempo run carried over from Wednesday was on the cards, very nice evening actually ahead of Storm Eunice...pure calm and nice temperature so gloves were got rid of after about 15mins. I had my new Tempo Next% to try out so was looking forward to that. Plan for the run was as suggested, first 10-15mins easy pace, then the rest of the run to build up to race pace and the last 5mins for easy cool down. Found the runners nice to run in in fairness, there's a bit of slap noise out of them which takes a bit of getting used to, think I only noticed in my warm up and then forgot about it or else it stopped as I was running quicker. As I mentioned earlier in my log been pretty tired this week so was happy to see I got down to race pace for a few K on probably similar effort as to the previous tempo runs. So reckon easily faster by about 5 secs a K. Very conscious of the different sections to the sole but probably just getting used to it as they are very different to anything I've ran in before, the upper and fit I would compare with a pair of Nike Zoom flys I have from a few years back, I used to use them as a racing shoe for 5/10K so the Tempo Next% will take the job now I think.
Splits worked out as 5:30, 5:30, 5:13, 4:55, 4:48, 4:46, 4:34, 4:31, 4:32, 5:12.
10K in 50:08 @ 4:48min/km
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Week 7 of Adare 10K plan cont.
Friday 18/02/2022
Not a great night's sleep with Storm Eunice coming in, red weather warning kicked in at 3am...the wind eventually woke me at 5am and there was no going back to sleep then. The wind or at least the dangerous gusted were pretty much gone by mid morning. Was on a half day from work before traveling up the country so just did 6.5K out and back in 35:57 @ 5:30min/km around lunchtime Hail stones kicked in about halfway through the run but thankfully was wearing a running jacket, running tights and a peaky hat so got off very lightly. My wife rang me mid-run to see if I wanted to be collected but I couldn't hear the call but it was all good. Small bit of hip niggle again today so back to the pigeon poses.
Saturday 19/02/2022
60min cross training on for today but ended up doing nothing. At the indoor track in Nenagh for 9am to assist with our juveniles competing. First time for many of the athletes competing at this level and for some of them first time competing in new events. All did great and all enjoyed the day and will go again which we're delighted to hear. One of our athletes got a medal in the long jump so great excitement there and a good way to start the season.
Back home to my parents house afterwards and caught up with my brother (haven't seen him in 3 months) and my sister (even longer) as Christmas plans did not work out due to covid. First time we've all been the same place and with our partners and kids since end of May last year. Hopefully won't be as long a break again.
Sunday 20/02/2022
Another day at the indoors in Nenagh, very impressed with how our young athletes got on. For some of them their first time competing at Munster level. Strong performances with athletes reaching semi finals and finals in sprints, unfortunately no medals today but they might come later in the year. Like the day before in every case it was a pb so all gave their best and all happy with how it went. Hopefully we'll be back to the same venue in two weeks with a large number of relay teams.
Horrible weather on the drive back home and when we got home my wife vetoed me going outside for a run. Tbh I don't think I could have really have ran in the wind, it was crazy strong and as it turned out, about 2K up the road on one of my regular routes an ESB pole was knocked over that evening. The wind, whilst only a yellow warning was much more severe than Friday, less gusts but just strong. So that Treadmill for the first time in a year, 13K was the planned run but I coped out with just doing 6.5K. Set the treadmill at 10kph so the run took 39:11.
38K for this week.
306.1K for the year so far.
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Week 8 of Adare 10K plan
Monday 20th February
5K easy in 27:50 @ 5:33min/km, done after work...another bad evening in store...such has been the way with the weather of late.
Tuesday 21th February
5K easy in 27:51 @ 5:33min/km, same as the day before. Different out and back route.
Wednesday 22nd February
Last speed session on the plan for today, 5x400m. Used the same section on the road as have been doing all of these on, so with the wind it would mean some with be with the wind at my back and the other ones would be into the headwind. Target pace of 1:44 for the 400m (5K pace, based on 23min 5K). After a 15minute warmup and some drills it was into the intervals, 1:37, 1:44, 1:41, 1:47, 1:36...pretty easy spot which ones were into the headwind. It didn't feel that bad for much of it but for the last 50meters or so it almost felt like going backwards at times so the effort on the slower ones felt higher. 5.8K in total in 30:15.
Thursday 23nd February
Last run on the plan, another 5K easy. Did this one at lunch time, same out and back route as my run on Tuesday. Awful grey looking sky for this one, tiny bit of hailstones but they managed to hold off till I got home. After this would be two rest days before the race.
Enjoyed the plan over the last 8 weeks and was good to get some structure going again. The hal higdon one has been pretty basic to follow, I do find the 5K runs a bit short for general easy midweek runs and regret not having done a 5K time trial during the plan. In the past I've had phases where my shortest runs would be 10K in general. Mileage for this plan has averaged out around 38K a week which fit in with life at the moment. Last year I was generally trying to have a minimum mileage of 50K a week but wasn't following a plan for the first half of the year. If anything I'd prefer to up the weekend mileage a bit, longer runs on a Sunday so will look for a more advanced plan next time.
Friday 24th February
Rest day, off work for the day which was nice. Training session in the track in Castleisland that evening with the juveniles so bus over and back. Pretty good session and something we hope to continue with over the coming months. Like to get them used to the track and surroundings so that when you talk about going to a competition it's nothing new. A lot of our training is done on astro or indoors at the moment so you have to get people out to the tartan and so on.
Saturday 25th February
Rest but spent around 6-7 hours on the mobile and laptop trying to sort out relay teams for the Munster Juvenile Indoors next weekend. So far we have 6 teams ready to go, maybe 2-3 more. A lot of work putting it together as mentioned before I find you have to contact parents directly to get response. Broadcast messages, social media posts, emails...none of them really work. Old fashioned calls and texts with the personal touch.
Race report to follow.
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Adare 10K race report
Training for this race began back at the start of the year, the goal was to run a 46min 10K time. My last 10K race was on New Year's Day in Beaufort, 47:57 for that race with a negative split (24:16/23:41). Last real 10K race before that was August 2019 (44:40, but the course showed as about 100 meters too short so has an asterix on it). Over the last two years a 45:30 10K time trial in May 2020 and a few aborted time trials in July 2020 (5 mile pb set in this before pulling up due to a left calf issue) and November 2020 (pulled up after 6K in this a right calf tear it turned out to be which took about 3-4 months to clear, was on course for a low 44min 10K that day...errr) brings me to today and looking for a 46min 10K time. In my head that was 45:59 and not 46:59. And would be paced accordingly, 4:36min/km or better.
Bit of slog of a start in the morning as woke up feeling slightly groggy and my wife asked if I had a cold...said maybe a small one but will be grand. Never got too excited with head colds and usually run (not sure have I raced) with them. Decent breakfast of porridge around 9am and arrived in Adare just before 12pm (it'd around a 75min drive for me). Th race was due to start at 1pm and unsurprisingly for a place that's bad with traffic the best of times it was bad enough getting into the village. Coming from the Kerry side I passed by school, all the car spaces filled up and the same with the car park across the road. Just when I got down near the petrol station spotted a little and lane and that did the job. Got chatting to a local club runner and he said it was a good place to park and he gave me some course tips too, friendly bunch in West Limerick AC. Number had come in the post during the week so just down to the hall to collect my t-shirt and then back to the car before a warmup. Caught up with running mate who haven't met since before Covid so telling me his current injury wows but he's on the comeback trail.
Did my warmup, including a facilities pit stop (and also some last minute messages on my phone in regards club stuff) and down to the start line. Met a new clubmate down there so caught up with him for a few mins and wished him best. He was going for 50min and I said to him around 45/46...wasn't sure. Race got underway at 1:02 so that's about as on time as these things can be....1000 runners had signed up but 730 running on the day according to the report. Largest crowd I've been in two years if not more. Noted it was quite warm for this time of year, around 11/12 degrees but plenty of sun.
Breaking the race into 3 sections as that's how it feels when looking back on it.
1-3K (4:25, 4:34, 4:28)
Was happy with start, felt I was in a good position from the off and little to no weaving. Jarring my right foot slightly just going past the post office in Adare but was fine...found a crack in the road. Noted a guy in front of my wearing a blue top, older man in his 50s with a nice gait for running (I guess a XC runner) but amazingly tanned calves. Figure he has miles in his legs and a good reference for me, I pretending he was a French man for some reason. First K took us out of the town and into the country, bit of support out on the course which was nice. Pretty happy with the race for the first 3K and I had the French man ahead of me. Little bit of side wind head and there but all good. Little bit surprised that I was averaging 4:30 at this point but felt good so stick with it.
4-6K (4:37, 4:36, 4:44)
Still with my French buddy, note we never exchanged words and never say him at the finish so will never know! Few ups and downs in the course, country flat you could call but not flat. Going through the 5K marker my watch was pretty close to markers, 23:02 for the first 5K so thought same again and with a good finish on the last K I should be good for a 45:xx...happy day. I was starting to feel the heat a lot at this point (not really hot but still felt hot for me), dying a bit for the water station around the 5K mark which is not a good sign this time of the year. For the 6K I knew there was a bit of a climb here but not fighting it and still with my new buddy I actually pushed ahead of him for this K and was taking it on a bit.
7-10K (5:14, 5:09, 5:45, 5:00, 4.51 pace for the last .1K)
During the 6-7K I was really starting to feel a bit off, hard to explain but legs awful heavy, breathing was getting a bit constrained beyond comfort and heart rate was around 178bpm...that's pretty 5K race pace for me. I figured this is not the best situation and said you won't keep the pace now so let it go...f it I said and just stopped to walk for 30 seconds. The Frenchman in the blue top, with tanned calves disappeared into the distance...no bother to him. As I walked for 30 seconds or so the heart rate came down then to the 160s so felt good enough to get going again. I was not getting anywhere fast though, good few runners going passed me. Nice one on their pacing unlike mine! Half way through the 8K and another walking break...this feels like proper crap now I said, encouragement from a West Limerick AC runner and I got going again...thought I was good again Knew I wouldn't even beat my time from New Years Day and given how the race went I didn't actually want to. No reward for such a poor race I thought but will try run to the end now. The 9th K...the worst one yet, minor enough climb but I was bunched again...a fella also having a bad day stopped to walk beside me for a minute told me to get going again..count the poles and run for 10 and then walk for one. My head was gone at this stage and thought that's pretty smart so that's what I'll do. Lost count after 8 poles though but got in a walk break then for a second, I think I did this twice. I ran out of poles then...was looking for my new friend to tell him the poles were gone (loving the thoughts in a mushed brain). Finally into the last K and I could actually hear the finish line...I was walking for the first 100m of that got going again was determined to run the remainder of the race out. With 500m to go I actually started to feel what appeared to be something like a cramp coming into my hip flexor...that's a new one I thought. Had to ease back a little but kept running...ever so happy to see the finish line and I could see the clock clicking from the 48s to 49s. No real muster of a fast finish really to try get the time at 48:xx.
Finish time: 49:13 (chip time 49:05)....first 5K 23:02, second 5K 26:02 aka how not to run a 10 race. Finishing position of 257/738. It appears I lost around 70-80 positions over the last last third of the race.
Afterwards, just happy to that have it done. Was going to sit down for a minute on an inviting wall but saw my club mate finishing and noted his time (he got a sub 50 and a new pb) so was congratulating him. The inviting seat on the wall there was gone then when I turned around, didn't feel very sociable to go chatting with anyone barring my new club mate and he was planning to hit the road soon so suited me fine to just walk away from the finish area. Normally I'd be very chatty at the end of races and would often catch a few I know to catch up with. I just wanted to put the race behind me and leave. Can't really explain the day to be honest, think a culmination of a few things, training has gone well over the last 8 weeks albeit a basic plan...maybe I needed something more aggressive and life stresses have been pretty high in the last week. Few club issues to work through as ever. I guess maybe just a bit run down and hence the cold kicking in this morning, took an antigen test just to check and all clear so just one of these things.
Will just take it handy over the next week, maybe the cold will prove to be more of a significant factor than I think it is. My next race will be the Kerry Road Championships 5K on March 27th. Have the option to do the Munster 4 Mile race next Sunday but it's a two hour drive to West Clare each way, will be in Nenagh all day on Saturday with those relay teams and given today's experience it's a pass. Will try seek out another 10K race in the coming months to try run a better one, good 10Ks are hard to find I think.
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The headwind there today from approximately 6 to 9k made it very tough and probably more so if you're coming into the race carrying a slight bug.
Also for a race with seemingly very little elevation there's an awful lot of little short drags.
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Was disappointed to see this on my Strava yesterday and apologies I had meant to wish you luck on here Saturday but between one thing and another, plus compiling an essay of questions for AMK in his log it totally slipped my mind.
Wouldn't overthink it too much. Probably a few factors at play. Life stress is a massive one. Most of the training lately has been in very tricky conditions - certainly not ideal conditions for 5k paced sessions every other week.
The plan itself is basic. Looking at it, I can see how it might not give you the endurance you need for the latter parts of the race. By the way , by all accounts the last few km of the race yesterday were very tricky with the wind. Plus the second half of Adare is not flat!
Rest, recuperate and get back at it. The 5k race championship might actually suit you better , given all the 5k reps you've done over the past 8 weeks.
As for other 10k races, Ennis 10k is cancelled is it? The Milford Hospice 10k is on March 13th in UL. There's always your local 10k in June (probably too far away) - a nice flat route 😂
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Yeah it certainly didn't help at least, was a few spots there where a decent wind came in. The coughing and spluttering overnight and today confirms a bug alright. How did your race go?
Indeed I had read through a course preview on the Running in Munster website beforehand but there was plenty of ups and downs...nothing major but testing enough. Great to see course records in male and female categories there. Impressive stuff.
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No worries P, it's a minor wobble and definitely a cold in the system anyways so I'm going to put down the majority of things yesterday down to it. Training has gone well so hopefully be able to pick things up again next week when this passes. That will give me a 4 week lead in for the road championships which should be enough as before the wheels came of yesterday much of the first 5K went fine. Back to the 400's then I guess, speed wise they had gone well and I can get a bit more endurance work in too. I like the idea of trying a fast parkrun mid March maybe two weeks ahead of the race if I can fit it in.
Not sure about the Ennis 10K, not one I've came across before. I see the Milford Hospice 10K alright, do you know what the course is like for that? Guessing some long drags, I went to UL for 4 years but never ran a step in Castletroy. Indeed that local 10K is a challenging route, my best time on that route is 47:27..I reckon due to the elevation I lose anything from 90-120 seconds on it.
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I've sent some texts in the meantime. Ennis 10k is cancelled.
Milford hospice 10k is apparently not the worst route. SOme of my buddies have got PB's there;
I can never make out those Strava elevation profiles but the net elevation per km doesnt look too bad.
I have
fondbad memories of Ballyheigue 10k - an awful route. But once you leave thoughts of a pb out of your head and just enjoy the sufferfest its a bit of craic. Finished fourth there one year I think. Always nice to get it done, jump into the sea and head to Flahives.1 -
I'd reckon that route is a pretty quick route, I just realized I lied about running in Castletroy...I did the parkrun in UL about 3 years ago...about 1K of that route is the same as the race route above. Will have a think about that, thanks for the details on it. Gonna say they got value for money with the 10.31K for 10K race though!!
Haha yeah, anyone who gets a pb on those race routes in Ballyheigue is either new to running those distances or else has a very soft pb. I got a half marathon pb there back in 2015 but it was only my third ever half marathon.
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Sorry to hear the race didn't go as planned D. Kudos for sticking with it as it sounds like you had multiple very good reasons for quitting. The good thing about 10k's is you can go again and again...
There might be something in this calendar of events to suit https://corkrunning.blogspot.com/p/calendar.html.
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Thanks AM, it was nice to get it done for sure. Fingers crossed for the next one! Ta for the link, keeping an eye on that alright and seeing where I can slot another race in.
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Time to catch up...
28/02/2022 - 03/03/2022
No running, not sure what was in the system...antigen tests were clear and only had a minor enough chesty cough but felt like crap for a few days. Had this before a few years back and remember back then trying to run with it and got about two mins down the road when I had to stop. For this time I just left it a few days and didn't bother.
04/03/2022
Simple out and back 5K after work, 5K easy in 27:22 @ 5:27min/km. Nothing too memorable about the run only nice to be back out at it.
05/03/2022
No running but a very busy day with a bus load of juvenile athletes to Nenagh for the Munster Indoors, we had 8 teams due to travel on the day but despite best efforts to ensure we had subs where we could we got one drop out 30mins before the bus was due to leave so it meant one team was not going to be able to run on the day. Disappointing but the lads decided to take the trip all the same and had a grand day. It was a great experience for all the young athletes, for many their first time attending that level of competition and very impressed with how they all got on. Only one team ran in the a straight final (coming in 4th place) and the other 6 teams didn't progress from their heats but the aim of the game was to get them the experience, get them to run as teams in competition and hopefully we'll see good results from their continuing progress in the county championships in May. Will be back up to Nenagh again in a few weeks (day before the county road race which is not ideal) with some younger age groups all going well.
06/03/2022
Few options this morning, one involved a group run with a 8am start and a half marathon easy pace run....not really there at the moment and the other was a club run in Tralee a few hours later, nice to get the lie in and do the latter. Managed to persuade my wife and daughter to take a nice walk at the same time as the club run. Met the new VI athlete in the club and was asked would I like to do guide run for his run, been a few years since I did VI guide (did a 10K race once before and also a parkrun with two different people, one using a fixed figure of 8 loop rope and the other the person held my upperarm throughout) but figured I'd take it on for the first 5K or so and see how it went. This time it was using a light rope which was comfortable as looped around your hand, hardest thing for me was to remember to move my arm in running motion as naturally was keeping it fixed at times. Otherwise the guide run went well and I really enjoyed this run now, after a bad run a week earlier at the race it was a bit of a reset to just simply run and be able to do something nice for someone. Interesting enough the guy I was guiding has a recent half marathon time of 1:34 (my best ever is 1:40) and I'd guess at my best at the moment could try 1:44 or so but would be pushed. My first time guiding someone who is a lot quicker than me but works for the training for him for easy miles, has access to other runners for faster stuff. Plenty of chats and the run zipped along, should get the chance to do it again in a few weeks when I get to a club run in Tralee again...doesn't happen very often at the moment. 9.6K in 54mins @ 5:38min/km.
Weekly total 14.6K...lowest in a long time
Yearly total to date 352.K
07/03/2022
5.2K easy at lunchtime in 28:33 @ 5:28min/km. Coaching that evening then with the athletes from Saturday, nothing too hectic. Debrief on the weekend's competition and some work on running form. Pretty cold and windy evening but all in great spirits so a nice session.
08/03/2022
Original plan was to go for a run after work but was knackered so that run became a 40min nap instead and no run.
09/03/2022
And finally back up to date, in an attempt to get some structure going for the next few weeks ahead of the 5K road championships I did a speed session. Much the same as the ones I did for the recent 10K race plan. 15min w/u plus a few drills, then into the 400s with a cool down to finish. Had decided I'd do 4x400, if that went okay I'd add 2 more to make it 6x400 and likely stop then. Aiming for 1:40-1:44 for the 400s. Pace wise the first one was too fast, not sure why that was the case but overcooked it, 1:36, 1:41, 1:40, 1:42, 1:43, 1:42. Was feeling pretty good for the first 4, started to get a bit leggy on the 5th so left it at 6 and all good. Nice to get that one under the belt so hopefully back on track now, will see what the next few weeks bring. 5min cool down jog home finishes with 6.7K in 36mins of running.
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One step forward, two steps back
10/03/2022
6K easy at lunchtime in 33:07 @ 5:31min/km. Two hours of indoor coaching to follow that evening with 6-10 years olds. Busy sessions preparing for the County Development Games. Sportshall Game format for that event so sprints, relay, speedbounce and standing long jump.
11/03/2022
Was going to add in an extra run here but figured as I'd been off from running most of last week then having 6 days running this week was probably not a good idea. Busy evening here as the club were taking over 50 athletes (6-17 yr old), 45 of them by bus to the local track that evening, around 40mins drive away for a 90min session across a number of events. For my own part coaching javelin, long jump and then relays.
12/03/2022
My club were doing a take over of the parkrun in Tralee so all roles were to be filled by members from the club. The majority of those volunteering would be parkrun regulars and a nice way to promote the club to more people in the area. Athletics for All is my club's motto. Originally I was meant to be doing timekeeping but was asked during the week would I do a VI guide run instead to assist our new club mate so said no bother, not had a chance to do a parkrun since the end of Jan so nice way to volunteer and to get a run in. Arrived around 9am to meet many of my clubmates already in situ for their roles, my wife and daughter were on token duty so when they went off to do that I went off to do a warmup before my clubmate who I would be guiding arrived. 1K easy in 5:34, ran with another clubmate who was also doing VI guide with another runner that day for the first time so was giving him some advice and tips. When I got back to the start/finish area I met my club mate who I was going to be guiding and did another 1K w/u with him, 1K in 5:13. We chatting about what time/pace he'd like to do so I said somewhere in the 22/23 min range was probably manageable for me (he recently did 21:3x). I thinking more 23min I could do but hard to judge as has been a while since I did a 5K and I know he is quicker than me so wasn't sure how it would go. We were starting on the front row and over to the left hand side so would be a quick start at least. Away we went then, big numbers running this morning...guessed around 250 so the first turn was pretty congested but took it wide to keep it safe. For the start my clubmate held my arm as we ran and then once it opened up we would go to just using the tether, occasionally in certain parts of the course (which he had amazing familiarity with having only ran it three times before we would hold my forearm or when I would tell him if we were coming into heavy traffic...lot of people walking so the third lap takes a lot of work to get around people)....I figured whatever keeps him comfortable I can work with. The run was going pretty well without issue but it was a good lot of effort for both pace and concentration for the guiding. I had said beforehand that at that pace I probably wouldn't talk much if at all barring cues for him so that was it really in regards chat between us. However coming onto the third and final lap I could feel a small issue with my left calf coming in...something akin to a cramp. Not sure whether it was a combination of all the turns (each lap in Tralee has 10 turns, many of them tight 90 degree turns and one 180) and the extra effort of guiding around these turns was causing the problem. I said it to my colleague that I would need to ease back due to calf issue so no problems to do that of course and easing back helped. I was a bit disappointed as were going well for say 22:40/22:45 is based on the lap time. I check that each time I run through the start/finish area as the GPS is not much use. In the end the splits for the run were 4:39, 4:28, 4:52, 4:59, 4:19 for a time of 23:15. Not that far off the suggested finish time at the start but bit annoying to picked up a bit of a niggle along the way.
I have to say it's a pretty unique experience guiding someone on a run like that and I'd hugely advise it as a very positive thing to do. The trust someone puts in you is a great honour I think as you are their eyes for that period of time. Hopefully next time I'll be able to manage the whole 3 laps better and not have to ease back on the third lap. Nice bit of excitement at the finish as well as well as a lot of my clubmates around and a local athlete, Oisin Spillane set a new course record taking 8 seconds off his previous best time on the course (the old course record and setting a new course record) and recording the fastest parkrun time in Ireland on the day. 15:44. For the record he did it in a pair of Nike Pegasus!! That is some running.
13/03/2022
Nothing, calf not as bad today as yesterday so hopefully back on the road in a few days. Fingers crossed.
Weekly total 26.8K
Yearly total to date 378.8K
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Catchup before getting left too far behind...
14/03/2022 - 17/03/2022
Nothing, sore calf...bit of swelling but no bruising so figure it's minor enough and a few days off would hopefully help. Could feel it at times during coaching when doing demos to kids but nothing major. Was hoping it would be someway right for my next target race on Sunday 27th, the Kerry road championships.
18/03/2022
The extra day off, be nice if we had double bank holidays like this more often. Decided to try an easy 5K out and back....running a little bit gingerly around 1K in and thinking would I turn around and go back home but kept going just to see where it went for the remainder of the run. In the end it was no worse than it was before hand so figured it's on the mend. 5K easy in 27:39 @ 5:30min/km.
19/03/2022
No parkrun but I got to watch a parkrun...Athlone. I was up at the National Indoor Juvenile Championships to support/coach one of our juvenile athletes. Arrived there around 9am so to assist with warm up and her getting her mark for her long jump (scheduled for 10am). Outside the window of the facility I could see the parkrun, looks a bit of strange course Athlone running around sports fields for the most part...can't imagine it being much fun in the winter but all the same would have been nice to do it. Maybe the next time I'm due up there the schedule will work better. In our athlete's case, bronze medal in the U12 long jump. Great stuff! Hung around until lunchtime to watch a few of the events and then back home to Kerry (took a different route home on the drive to keep the brain happy). Once home just did another 5K easy in the evening in 26:44 @ 5:18min/km. Pace a bit quicker than the day before but felt good on a flat enough route.
20/03/2022
3rd day in a row, the comeback is on. Few options this morning, a running mate was running a local half marathon route early so there was an option to join him , his training is looking very nice for the Great Limerick Run half so fingers crossed for him. Only for the calf niggle I would have joined him as the pace would be easy (5:40/5:50K) even if I haven't run that distance for a few months. That being said had another option to meet some clubmates in Tralee for a run so went with that....a few of the other club coaches were on the run so bit of a debriefing chat on the competition from the day previous and planning for the months ahead. It's a busy period now in the athletics season with competitions for various age groups coming up rapid. 6.7K easy in 37:30 @ 5:36min/km.
Weekly total 16.7K
Yearly total to date 395.5K
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21/03/2022
Up in Dublin for work, first time in head office in two years and first time meeting anyone who I work in with person in two years. Bit of a novelty to the trip as mainly just catching up with different people over the course of the two days I was going to be there. Different sets of people in on Monday and Tuesday, had a work meeting at one stage Monday for an hour with a group of people. Actually found it hard to concentrate for some of that as have become very accustomed to remote meetings both on/off camera and I find the remove there can be helpful to concentrate on topics and work through ideas in your head than actually getting around a table in person. Got a short run done in the Phoenix Park in the evening, it was just 5.5K...running up Chesterfield Avenue from Parkgate Street and taking a right down the Kyber pass (if I have my road names right) and back around by the Wellington Monument. Nice steak sandwich in Ryan's on Parkgate St then that evening...sure it was like a little holiday in ways.
22/03/2022
Nothing, 4 hour train home to Kerry after work and watched around 6 eps of Drive to Survive before my ipad gave up the ghost. I find Drive to Survive a bit of a curious programme as I watched the sport for long enough to see where things are being manufactured in it, it's still good entertainement though and gives me some justification for a Netflix subscription I don't use otherwise. I've been watching Formula 1 since my early childhood, particularly getting into it during the Schumacher era. I do have memories of Mansell, Prost and Senna but I don't recall watching the races avidly back then but knew the names and who they were but for a time during the 90s and into the 2000s I would not have missed a race. Got a little bored in parts of the last 5/7 years of Mercedes dominanence but still always either see the races, the highlights and/also listen to the BBC Chequered Flag podcast. Saying that the new season is fantastic and the regulation changes are making for amazing races, Drive to Survive won't need much script manufacturing next year I think.
23/03/2022
5K progression run after work on a flat enough out and back route, 25:41 @ 5:07min/km. 5:25, 5:14, 5:12, 5:02, 4:39. This felt pretty good so definitely on the recovery from the calf strain. Didn't push the boat out and getting close to race pace on the last K. Juvenile coaching that evening.
24/03/2022
Felt like running but decided that I'd take the day off and allow for proper recovery after my first session (albeit a short one) in two weeks. Two hours indoor coaching that evening with U8-U11s in preparation for Sportshall Games in a few weeks, second hour was a bit manic. Plenty of relay practice for the U9-U11s going to Nenagh for the Munster Indoor Championships in Nenagh on Saturday coming.
25/03/2022
5.7K in 32:30 broken down 5K easy plus 4x12 second strides. Last run before the County Road Race so decided I'd add in some strides at the end just to test the calf a little bit more and give me more confidence before taking on a race. Pace wise I running them around 3-3:15min/km and they were fine. Figured I'm as fit as I'm going to get for it now so will give it a go expecting around 23mins if things went well.
26/03/2022
No parkrun again, this time up in Nenagh for U9-U11 Munster Indoor Championships. 14 young athletes from our club competing on the day including my own daughter doing shot and relays. Long day as on the road for 7am picking up two passengers on our journey and not home till 8:30pm and all day on the feet keeping on top of things and ensuring all taking care of. All had a great experience and we go away with some learnings for the competitions ahead over the next month to 6 months. My daughter did great in the shot, coming in 8th with a throw of 4.71m. Next time she gets to through the shot in competition will likely be this time next year as U11s don't do in the outdoors in Kerry or Munster but she really likes the event so think it will be one she sticks with hopefully.
27/03/2022
Kerry County Road Championships
Race report to follow
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We started watching Drive to Survive, I must get back to it. I've been watching F1 for as long as I can remember. I still remember the horror of Senna's crash (and indeed Barrichello and Ratzenberger - who was also killed that weekend). Controversially, while I'll admit is was one of the all time greats, I never liked Schumy! I'm a huge Lewis fan, my nails are still trying to grow back after the showdown last season! Top tip for anyone who's not a Tifosi - don't go to a race in Italy 😀.
Anyway, F1 aside looking forward to the race report.
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Very good AM, it's a sport that more popular than many people realise despite little traditional press coverage. I know lots that watch it but it wouldn't always been in general conversation like other sports. Jordan did a lot for the sport in Ireland at least and many have kept interest up from then. I don't have much of a memory of that weekend of Senna's crash, certainly watched the Senna doc a few years back there were lots of things I didn't know or recall. That's one of the toughest watches ever in the cinema knowing what was to come. Gut wretching.
I don't hold it against anyone who didn't like Schumacher but his career was at it's peak during my teen years so an impressionable time....and of course he drove the Ferrari. I can recall seeing his Benetton F1 car at a stand at the ploughing championships and just standing looking at it for quite a long time. Think I might have touched a tyre even. Have only been to one F1 race to date, Barcelona in 2007. Not sure I've ever heard a noise as loud in my life as an F1 car....can recall walking to the track from the train station and hearing what was like a scream and then it clicking that is the noise....wow.
As for Lewis, I'm kinda 50/50 there. As a Massa fan he broke my heart a little back with his first title win and he's generally been on the opposing side of who I want to win the driver's title. I'm a Ferrari fan so have been disappointed in many title races by Lewis against Alonso and Vettel (can't believe neither of those guys managed a title win with Ferrari especially Alonso). Lewis's longetivity and taking of records that seemed unobtainable (many set by MSC) so credit to him for the career he's had and from where he's come from. 7 titles is enough for any one driver though!!
Must get to another F1 race sometime...now where is that race report.
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27/03/2022
Kerry County Road Championships
Always one of my favourite races of the year and due to a bit of luck around scheduling opportunities and gentle persuasion it never missed a year over the pandemic. My results on the 5K across the various routes we've ran are as follows.
March 2017, Beaufort (21:43)
Missed 2018 due to a wedding
Feb 2019, Kenmare (21:03)
Feb 2020, Beaufort (21:13)
Sept 2021, Castleisland (22:16)
I have also taken on the task of recruiting/cajoling/twisting arms for it at a club level to try get as many runners as possible, this year we had 19 runners on the day (1/3 of the club's eligible runners) which is quite a good turnout and it's increasing year on year both in membership and people going to competitions to represent the club. This is easily one of the most accessible events for all runners and due to the various age categories and team prizes you have a great chance of winning a medal. The first medal I ever won since I got involved with an athletics club was back in the 2017 edition, silver o35 so you never forget that. This year I have graduated to the rank of the o40s and the course was going to be same course as we ran for last year. My original plan for this race as laid out when I started the log back in Jan was to take 30-45 seconds off that 22:16 however best laid plans and all that, bad day out in Adare at my first target race back in Feb (went through 5K around 23:02 that day and the second 5K in 26:02). Seems there was a bug in the system that took a week or so to shake off, then two weeks ago at a parkrun I managed to get a bit of a calf injury so no running for 4 days after that and nothing much of note since. Saying that I still planned to give it a good effort, try not go off too hard as figure it's my endurance will be the issue here due to lack of volume in the preceding week.
Arriving in Castleisland at 9:30 and collected the numbers for the club, small walk of the track there and a chat to start off the warm up process. After giving out numbers to all the runners I got short warmup of 1K done with a club mate. Didn't do any drills, no particular reason but just a few dynamic stretches and deemed myself race ready. Quick group photo of our club runners (not often you can so many together) and we lined up for the scheduled 10:30am start. No briefing that I recall and away we went.
1K (4:19)
Fast start to the race as you down the main street in Castleisland before taking a left turn and heading out to the outskirts of the town and another left run to the countryside. Checking my watch after the first 400m or so to double check pace it tells me 1.4K. So I had made a rookie mistake of not stopping my watch after the warm up so figured feck it what can you do just run to the effort. Two club mates who would normally be 23/24 mins runners went passed me here but I figured based on effort I'm on pace here if not ahead of it...when the watch beeped for the 1K split that confirmed it.
2K (4:31)
Slotting into my pace now I was bedding in well to the run. No issues with the calf so just said will try hold the pace at this and see where it brings me. A few runners ahead who coming to the end of the 2K I went passed including the 2 clubmates who flew passed me at the start of the race.
3K (4:38)
After passing a few people here my mind started to drift completely, not sure what I was thinking of but I tuned out of the race completely and started to slow here. Can't explain this one but I was just enjoying the race. I then started to focus on the runners ahead of me again to see could I move up the field a bit. I pulled by beside a female Killarney who was stuggling a bit and kept dropping her shoulders and head so just gave her a few words of encouragement. It helped get my mind back on the race and we ran together for a few mins.
4K (4:32)
Into the 4th K I came up to pass out the two runners which was a club mate of mine who was doing VI running with another club mate of mine. I acknowledged them as I went past but little response so I knew my clubmate doing the vi guiding here was at a high effort.
5K (4:22)
Into the final K now and was pretty happy with how this had gone, had just crested the one hill on the route and based on the split times I was working out around a 22:30 finish time...probably not likely to beat my 22:16 from the previous September and I didn't want to risk overdoing it. Next I heard my name from behind and it was my clubmate who was vi guiding (5 secs or so behind me saying her lace was after opening and she needed to stop could I take him on). I said grand job and then we had quick a unique relay changeover as we managed to change over to the tether from her hand to my hand (it goes around your fingers) whilst at race pace...guess we could have stopped but adrenaline does funny things to your head. After that my guidee and I just ran on to the end of the race, just two tricky bit to navigate. One being a sharp left turn from the main road onto the lane way down to the track. Not the best surface at spots and then from the lane way onto the track a few minor things underfoot but all good. Just on the home straight we ran it in pretty hard as the clock went from 22:30 to 22:31, in the last 2-3 strides I eased back to let I go ahead of me as he should cross the line first. Not sure what our official time is as a bit of a fubar with those recording the times from 21mins on so all times removed from the results. I have it recorded as 22:31.
Afterwards DeepBlue from these parts came over and introduced himself which is great, he had a fine run and fairplay for racing the day after the other race you did. Some going! It's the first boardsie from the AR forum that I met in person in a long time, just added to a good day all around. Did a short cool down jog around the track, again in keeping up with the theme I forgot to stop my watch proper after the race so warm up, race and cool down all in one session. Feck it! After more catch ups with people in other clubs they did the individual medal presentations so nicely my club mate who I was guiding for the last K got the second place male o40 and I got the third place male o40 so medals for the pair of us. Found out during the week then that we both scored on the third placed o35 mens team so more medals to come down the line for that. Afterwards I got a lovely message from the last person who I had recruited to run on the day (he enabled us to have two over 35 men's teams) that he really enjoyed the run and he'd be available for anything like that again in future. Prior to that race he had never pinned a race on his top in his life and he ran a good time on the day. Looking forward to picking up the team medals and presenting his medal to him when I meet him. Athletics for All is the motto of my club and I felt today was a great example of that in action.
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Nope, he has to get to 8 to prove he's better than the best!!! I have a few years on you so was watching the greats before Schumy came along - did you know EJ gave him his first F1 drive? Perhaps why I never warmed to him as he jumped ship to Benetton the second his arse was out of the car seat, leaving a bitter taste in Jordan and Anderson's mouths - even Senna got involved!
Well done on the race and the medals, especially taking over for a VI guide in the final stages. Very impressive stuff D and it seems like the calf woes are on the way out too.
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Haha I don't think he'll win another title tbh, not with the regulation changes now. I did indeed know that about Jordan and Schumacher alright, Michael was never too far from controversy his whole career really.
Thanks AM, a good day it was! Seems like the calf issue is pretty much gone now so will have to figure what to do next. Another race plan that hopefully goes better than the last 10K or else some base building. There's a marathon coming up the end of October that is in my thoughts a bit.
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I have also taken on the task of recruiting/cajoling/twisting arms for it at a club level to try get as many runners as possible, this year we had 19 runners on the day (1/3 of the club's eligible runners) which is quite a good turnout and it's increasing year on year both in membership and people going to competitions to represent the club.
Well you did a great job there. If I'd had to guess I'd have said St Brendans had the most runners at the event as the place seemed to be a sea of blue. Turns out An Riocht had slightly more but they were the hosting club! Great job on the turnout and well done on your run.
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