Moving Forward Faster

Tuesday 21st May

Na Fianna/Bob Heffernan 5KM, Johnstown Bridge, Kildare

Chip Time: 17:47 - PB
Average Pace:5.43/mile
Result: 65th (TBC)


I was a bit worried about this one yesterday. I had taken Sunday and Monday off after Killarney to get well rested for the race. However my shin has been at me a bit since last Friday so I was icing it in work on and off all day! Don’t think it’s serious...more of a nagging now and then rather than a pain and the run Saturday didn’t harm it a bit. Watching it carefully though.

Anyway put that out of my mind and I hit the road after work. Arrived in plenty time and was good to meet up and chat with tang1 and other boardsies before the race. There was a good crowd around and it looked like it would be a deep and high standard field. Which is what you want as it will drag you around. drquirky ,CL, tang and myself jogged down to the start with about 25 mins to go and done a good solid warm up. I threw in a good few strides and then a good few stretches to loosen out and get in the mood. Leg was feeling grand at this stage (nothing to do with the half a tube of deep heat I put on! ) so I was feeling good.

In hindsight, the blow-up in Lucan actually served me well. It taught me how much out of my comfort zone I needed to be and how not to run a 5km race!

If I had not run Lucan, then I would have likely blown up in this race so it was a blessing in disguise so to speak. Last week I ran the first mile in 5:41 and it killed my race. The strategy for this one was to pass the first mile a little slower in 5:45 and keep this pace until halfway, once I passed the halfway mark, let rip.

I had heard that the start of this race is a bit manic so I placed myself in a good position (I thought) while we waited to walk down to the start. However when we started heading down I was knew I was way too far back cos I saw meno next to me It was difficult to know where you should be to actually get a good position. Luck of the draw really. Nothing I could do now only try get a better position half a mile in. Gun went off and the first 500m was a bit manic and I was well over 6min pace. I was getting at bit jumpy at this point (meno can confirm!) Eventually I found a good gap and I tore off but I was determined to keep it at a hard but controlled pace. It’s a 5km not an 800m race. We rounded the first bend and I felt good. There was now a 3.5km back straight before the turn for the finish. Here I was passing a phenomenal amount of people showing how much out of synch the start was. Passed 1 mile at bang on 5:45 and I soon spotted two bray runners up ahead and they were to be my target men. One which I found out after to be wrstan. I settled into a group to conserve a bit of energy for a few seconds before I kicked on to settle in with the next group. This happened a couple of times and I hit mile two with a split of 5:46. Was a bit disappointed with this and I feared a second blow up.

That was my last look at the watch and with a mile to go, slightly downhill I just tore on and started to pick off runners giving it everything I had left, Legs were feeling the effects at this stage and wanted to slow up, but this time I wasn’t having any of it, this was not going to happen again. Thankfully it was mind over matter and I kept a good pace up. It was now starting to burn and the stomach was getting iffy (why do I run 5ks! :eek:). I was looking eagerly (understatement!) for the finishing turn. Thankfully two more bends and I was there. Entered the hotel car park and saw the finishing straight with 17:42 on the clock, gave one last spurt and crossed with 17:45 on the watch with a third mile of 5:41.

Such a difference a week makes. Unbelievable standard that a sub 18 would have one so far down on the results and goes to show how popular the race is! It’s a lovely route, slight incline unnoticeable for the first half a mile, level for a bit and then downhill to the finish. It would be perfect if the start can be sorted out. The distance also measured correctly :cool:

I’m happy with the result but as always I know there is a couple seconds more in there :rolleyes: but I’m ok to move on to other distances for the moment now that I’ve taken care some unfinished business and broken the 18 mark.

Fantastic running by all the boardsies with the majority coming away with PBs on a glorious summers evening. Great to feel the heat in the air at 9pm!

Leg seems ok today too, happy days, onwards to the next event!

ncmc wrote: »

A sub 18 min 5k! That's fantastic J, well done. Glad you had a good race, I know you were disappointed with your last race and I know only too well how it can knock the confidence to have a couple of bad races in a row!

I have a niggle in my shin as well, sometimes when I put my full weight on my left leg, I can feel it 'give' a bit. It's not massively painful, but it's a concern at this stage. This may be a stupid question, but when you were icing it, did you just ice the front of the shin, or the calf? I have a feeling mine could be a calf issue pushing on to the shin, but not sure.

Thanks! Yeah finally nice to run a race on your own terms and get out of it what you intended.

With my shin I don't think it's the calf muscle, more a very minor dose of shin splints possibly. Therefore I'm icing the front of it and taking all unnecessary runs off for the next couple of weeks to rest as much as possible. Supposed to do an easy run tonight but will skip it and RICE instead to give the leg a chance to recover. :cool:

Wednesday
5.5 miles recovery / 8:10 average pace

Went down to the club session for this but instead of reps I just done a few easy laps of the track. Kept it handy after the race the night before.

Thursday
Rest

Supposed to have an easy run on Thursday but I cut it off to give the shin a rest. Will only stick to necessary runs until it eases. Iced it and elevated it for the night and gave it a bit of a rub. It seemed to do the trick.