Don't stop moving...

Muddled my way through the rest of the training plan, which included missing the 2nd Tune Up race in the plan. lol

Dunboyne 10k Race Report

I had been targeting this race since Stephens' Day when I ran an unofficial 10k PB (I think) during a training session (2 x 5k at threshold pace with about 1k easy in between). Granted my 10k PB was ancient, from 2019, but it was a hard fought PB (38:38) at the time.

PreRace

Not ideal prep, hosting a 4th Birthday Party in the house the day before, and then coaching 6 year old's GAA session at 9am on Sunday before heading to Dunboyne for about 11am. Considered my pacing strategy (and ate my 2nd breakfast) on the drive on the way down; and settled on aiming for not slower than 3:45/km, not quicker than 3:39/km. I reckoned worst case I was in 37:30 form, best case 36:59.

Couple of KM warm up with strides as I found my way to the start line. I actually then sat on a wall for 5mins to stop me pacing uneasily before a few final strides and into starting pen a few rows ahead of 40 min pacers. Conditions were ideal bar a little bit of wind - dry and fresh otherwise.

First 3km (3:39, 3:39, 3:42)

Wind was on our backs here, so I was comfortable that the 1st couple of km might be on the quicker end of the pace range. down the road through Dunboyne Village, I noted that the 1km marker came at 1.05 on my watch, so another reason not to worry about the 3:39 that flashed up as 1st split.

The 2nd km ticked by and I was reminded at the quality of the field when I looked ahead on a slight incline and saw 100s ahead of me at this point. 3rd km, there was a slight incline which slowed me up a bit. Started to worry a pain cave might be on the way.

Kilometres 4, 5 & 6 (3:41, 3:40, 3:35)

My "Raceday" watchface displays, distance, time, total average pace and Current Lap Pace. I have learnt from previous races that the Current Lap Pace is pretty useless in the first 500m of each lap (i.e. it is a bit random until the average gets heavier), thus I make concerted effort to not look at my watch in the first half of each split. And it was notable in the 4th and 5th km, that I only got an urge to look down in the last 200m of the split. Basically, this is a long way of saying, these km flew by in a good way.

I did a body check at 5km, realised 2 things 1) my halfway split was ~18:30, so if i did same again sub 37 was on and 2) I felt good. Based on this I didn't go mad at the water station, quick sip and small splash on my head and keep going.

6th km split demonstrates that I was getting excited by these 2 thoughts and I started to accelerate. Had to tell myself to calm down! It was the most downhill km, in a basically flat course.

Kilometres 7, 8 & 9 (3:40, 3:45, 3:41)

7km ticked by, no memory of it, bar a 90 degree turn where I tried to keep momentum. I actually think I lost focus a little and my mind left the race as I started the 8th km. Tried to regain focus but I was starting to struggle. The endless bends in the road, and blustery headwind weren't helping and the crowd was thinned out so no shelter.

I noted looking at @Lambay island and @Murph_D splits, they experience similar slow downs around here. Maybe coincidence, maybe they went through the same thing.

Tried breaking down the rest of the race, I knew last 300m was on track, so was 1 mile left on the road from 8th km marker etc etc. I had to make a concerted effort to get away from someone who was breathing VERY heavily. It was quite offputting and making me feel tired. More positively, I noted that I had been following in the footsteps of a fella from Mayo AC who was about 10 yards ahead. Resolved to not let him pull away, so I just focussed on the red and green vest and let him pull me along.

Last km (1 at 3:33/km plus .06km at 2:37/km)

I could hear the finish line loudspeaker in the air at this point, and less than 700m on the road to go. The pain of 8th and 9th km was washing away as I hit the last km, when I turned the corner toward the Athletics track at about 9.5km I just got a burst of energy and pace dropped to less than 3:30/km, then hit the track and accelerated again finishing at about 3:00/km. Felt great finishing with strongest split, and it was my first time on a track with carbon plates - very springy!

Chip Time: 36:51

1st 5km Split: 18:32

2nd 5km Split: 18:19

Reflection

Yet another shiney PB; that completes the set for major distances from 5k to marathon in the last 8 months or so. (Bar 5 miler, but I think I actually PB'ed that yesterday within the 10k race, my last 5 miles were 29:29)

A guy at work said to me that the best training for anyone is to do a marathon training block (even if you don't race a marathon). I can't help but agree, that solid 16 to 20 weeks last year building to DCM has pushed my running to another level with not much "guts". I have simply done a lot more miles, no magic sessions or puking on the side of the track from effort.

The race itself was well organised, and continues to confirm my perception that races in Meath are great. The route isn't the most memorable, it's really about 7km of running between hedges in the countryside but the course is flat, and the standard high. (I finished in about 260th place with 36:51, I think 8 runners did sub-30!) I really appreciated having the crowd of runners to help set a pace at the start and maintain it toward the end.

Not sure what next, might see about a HM in June/July, before a new arrival in August. :-)

Been doing no training of note recently, tipping away with 5 or 6 runs and bout 50km per week. Try throw in the odd session too.

It was also the 6th edition of a 5k time trial comp amongst my friends group (not all runners!). It started in COVID, but has stayed on as a way to benchmark our respective fitness levels YoY as our 40s approach.

One of the group suggested doing the Sandyford 5k as the entry, so given the start line is 2k from my house, I couldn't resist.

Sandyford 5k Race Report

Pre-Race

An evening race, so my buddy parked at my house and we just jogged down together and discussed our race tactics. He was aiming for 17, hoping to dip into 16, and I was aiming for 18, hoping to dip into 17.

For probably the first time ever, I also discussed out loud a pacing strategy. The course is 2 and a half laps. The half lap is first, basically a km, and net zero elevation.

Then its 2 laps of a larger loop which is basically a downhill km followed by an uphill one. Knowing the course well, the idea was to not be scared of a slightly quick first and second km, but control the effort in the uphill 3rd km. Then final lap, release the governor a bit on 4th km, hang on in 5th km up the hill.

Race

No shame for me, unusually. Started in 2nd row of the race, as I was confident enough of being Top 20 or so.

1st km, 3:30/km, went out at a clip, consciously. Could see my buddy about 10 to 15m ahead and was happy to settle in behind him at that distance. It felt like the right gap given our respective paces. Really didn't feel this one, hit the 1k marker without feeling like I'd started yet.

2nd km, 3:34/km. Down the hill, gave @ReeReeG the 1st wave of the day. I slowed down a little on the flat section here as I was trying to control effort.

3rd km, 3:35/km. Battle up the hill, shoulders back, breath into it. Try not to bleed speed. Smiled at the cameraman and pointed out that he had dropped his glasses.

4th km, 3:31/km. Weeeeeee, turned the corner and released down the hill. Even managed to bark a sentence at ReeRee, lol. I was starting to feel the pain but very manageable. There was only a few runners here that I could pick off, but I was overtaking more than being overtaken.

5th km, 3:31/km. More battling up the hill, try not lose speed. I was picking off runners every 25m or so which was entertainment enough. Final sprint up the hill and around the last corner, with what is becoming my customary surge of energy when the line appears.

Final Chip Time: 17:46. About a 7 second PB compared to Jingle Bells in December. But this is a fairer course than JB, so a much stronger performance that I was delighted with.

My buddy did 16:48 or so, so we both executed our pre race declarations perfectly. He came 5th, me 14th. So we jogged over for an ice cream and back home both satisfied with our evenings work.

Did mean I only came 2nd in the 5k Time Trial though, despite my PB efforts. lol

Well organised race, and ideal racing conditions.

Yeah, I'm defo in a good vein of form.

There's no secret sauce though, just been doing >200km a month for a year now.

Good luck with your mini plan!