A Slow Journey to Faster Times

adrian522 wrote: »

Nice Session. I'm in 2 minds on what to do for the rest of the week. I might try do 2-3 race pace miles this evening with the club, and add in a warmup/cool down and leave it at that.

There's some way more knowledgeable than me on here, but I wouldn't do more than 2 @ race pace tonight if I was you. I'm actually a day later doing that session than I originally intended, hence why I left it at the two miles myself. Easy miles with strides might even be better at this stage?

adrian522 wrote: »

Is this Ballycotton you are running?

Yes. See you there?

Friday 4th March - 90 minutes Easy
90 minutes @ 126bpm

Extended the easy run home from work. Very cold out, but definitely glad I did it this evening rather than this morning. Rest day tomorrow ahead of Sunday's race.

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

All the best P, you'll fly it but if by some fluke AULDBOT finishes ahead of you, break his zimmer frame that'll teach him

TbL

Thanks for the vote of confidence.
No fluke about Raheny though. I'd advise against backing me

63:59 for me.
2 minutes & 20 seconds slower than my pb. I'll have a think about it and write up a report tomorrow.

Super running by any other boardsies I met. Well done all.

So, the famous Ballycotton 10. I'd heard a lot about this race since I took up the running. My original intentions were to run sub 60 and nab myself a top 100 t-shirt when making my debut here, but circumstances didn't really make that realistic and in the end and I turned up far less fitter than I'd need to be for that goal.


Pre-Race

Drove down to Cork after work on Saturday, where we were staying with friends of the other half's in Killeagh. Despite the fact that I'd never met the people that owned the residence before, I was treated like some sort of royal guest and had to restrain myself from overloading on tea/cakes etc. the night before. Fifteen minute drive to Garryvoe on Sunday morning where we caught the shuttle bus to Ballycotton. Met loughie on the bus for the first time since Berlin 2014, which brought back some good memories. Dropped the bags into FBOT01's accommodation to avoid pre/post race queues at baggage drop and made my way to the start where I hooked up with FBOT01 who had also caught up with loughie at this stage. We moved up to the sub 58 section to try and avoid congestion, but could still see what looked like 90min+ runners in front of us. I didn't want to push any further, so just went with it as FBOT01 positioned himself more prominently. We were sent on our way very close to the advertised off time of 1:30pm.


The Race


Mile 1 (6:07)

For those who don't know the course in Ballycotton, the first two miles are essentially downhill, then it flattens out a bit. After you hit mile 3 you do a big four mile loop incorporating a few drags and drops (nothing serious though), before covering the first three miles in reverse making for a very tough uphill finish. I gradually picked up the speed from the start as I passed the 90 minute runners who had started in the sub 58 section! I remember looking at my watch early to see it showing 7:51 pace. However, there was nothing I could do until the gaps appeared and I continued to gradually weave and accelerate every time I found some space to run in. By the time we were three quarters of a mile in I had caught up with FBOT01 and we were moving just above six minute pace. I felt ok at that stage, but we were going downhill. I saw him take a look at his watch and make a spurt right at the end of the mile. I felt it would be exerting too much effort at that early stage to go with him, so I didn't. There was a guy calling out splits at the marker. My watch clicked about 10 seconds quicker than the race clock, so I knew I'd that in hand from the gross time. FBOT01 had already started to extend the gap here.


Mile 2 (6:13)

Still mostly downhill and still on pb pace, but even at this stage I knew that was deceptive. Given the terrain, in pb shape I should have been sub 6 on both of these miles. I was already thinking how tough they were going to be coming back. Starting to lose sight of FBOT01.


Miles 3 (6:20), 4 (6:28), 5 (6:26), 6 (6:28), 7 (6:26), 8 (6:29)

As expected, once we hit the flat, the pace slowed without the assistance of a downhill. Now I could gauge what pace I thought I could hold to the finish instead of fooling myself by judging from Miles 1 & 2. I hit 6:20 here, but even that felt a bit hot with seven miles to go. I ignored the watch for the next 800m and dialled into a pace I felt was hard, but sustainable. The splits above show that was just a few seconds slower than Mile 3. Even though I only dropped 6/7 seconds against my third mile, I was constantly getting passed. I read comments on here about recent winning times of this race not comparing favourably with lads from the 80s & 90s. However there's definitely nothing wrong with the club running standard in this race. I've run a lot of 10m/HM races at this sort of pace and been completely alone for miles. I think it would have taken 60:13 to make the top 100. I heard the announcer say they had 400+ over the line around 70 minutes. I came 8th in the Clonakilty 10m with 65:02!


Mile 9 (6:37)

I had asked Loughie at the start what the course was like. He told me it was mostly flat with a few drags and the obvious uphill finish. He stressed that Mile 9 was the most difficult as you have the crowd in the last mile and knowing the finish line is close, almost anyone can pick it up. How right he was! My slowest split of the race. I was actually surprised it wasn't slower. This is a really punishing mile. Even though I had been constantly passed during the race, running a 6:37 at this stage actually saw me overtake a fair few in front of me.


Mile 10 (6:25)

I think no matter how knackered you are, you can always put in a fast finish relative to what you've just done when you know the line is so close. In Ballycotton though, even though you may be speeding up, it doesn't feel like it as the incline blunts your acceleration making you feel like you're moving fairly slowly. I had moved away from anyone immediately around me by this point and only had one guy in sight that I could possibly catch. I made that my aim, but it seemed so difficult to make up ground on the hill. I passed annapr with 800m to go as I gradually continued to make inroads on the guy ahead. Finally got by him at around 400m. He looked like he didn't want to let me by, but had the same running in treacle feeling that we were all experiencing at that stage. The above mentioned friends were at 100m and took a cool slow motion video of me going by (also on the way out in Mile 1), while cheering me on enthusiastically. I could see the clock ticking down to 64 minutes at this point, but knew I had the 10 seconds in hand, so I'd be under. Turns out I cut that finer than I thought.


Official Time: 63:59

Garmin Data: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1076073892


Post-Race

The relief of stopping after that punishing two mile climb to the finish was pretty immense. I was a bit woozy collecting my mug if I'm honest. Having to climb back up the mud hill to get your water/banana/mars bar wasn't exactly something to look forward to either, but the thought of strolling back downhill for 1km afterwards made it a bit easier. I leaned against a railing and took a few swigs of water to get myself together before making my way back to the FBOT01 residence. Gave anyone I recognised a cheer as they passed me on their way to the finish, before stopping for a chat with annapr again until FBOT01 appeared. He informed me of his superb result and later result checks confirmed a satisfactory day out for most, including Loughie who told me pre-race he'd probably be around 62 minutes (61:58).


Verdict

I don't think races get such a great reputation and continue to sell out and attract bus loads of clubs from all over the country unless they are doing something right. My experience of this race was a pretty good one. The whole thing seemed to run flawlessly and organisation seems top notch. Like Raheny, it was a little congested at the start, but I don't know that there's anything any race can do about that. I heard there were people caught in the laneway between the baggage area and the startline before the race got under way, but it sounds to me like they got there too late. I arrived twenty minutes before it was due to kick off and had no issues getting into position. €15 to compete in an incredibly deep, accurately measured race. I don't think anyone can complain. I'll be back, hopefully to give my original target a go when I'm in better shape.


Thoughts

This could be a long one................

Ok, first of all immediately post-race I wondered if I'd tried hard enough. I originally thought I had run a negative split on a course that definitely favours a positive one. However, when I got the results I noticed that wasn't the case and my second half was almost a minute slower than the first. My HR also averaged 168bpm and hit a high of 179bpm. My max is 184. So this dispelled any doubts I had about putting it all in. So how come I can run a 17:15 5k in 2014, but busting a gut last week only gave me 18:27? How come I can run 10m in 61:39, but trying my best yesterday I can only run 63:59? It's a fairly simple answer. I'm not as fit as I was in 2014. Why? Because after the Chicago Marathon in 2013 I completely dedicated myself to training for Seville, and then Berlin. Nothing got in the way of my training. I ate reasonably well, ran the miles, never missed a session, never made excuses and I ran a pb every time I turned up for a race. In more recent times I've had other things that have prevented this. Life getting in the way I suppose. Would I change anything about that? No. I had the time of my life on a three week holiday last month. I may never get to do something like that again. If I'd missed my sister's wedding last September in favour of training runs for the New York Marathon, I'm not sure I'd be very popular. There are races every week of the year, every year. Can I get back in the shape I was back then (or even fitter)? Of course I can. But, it will take the same work, dedication and lack of interruptions. When I get a run like that, I know I'll be back challenging my pbs over the shorter distances. I'm not making excuses by the way. All of the stuff I've done to leave me in this position has been my own choice. I'm just giving the reasons why I'm not where I was a couple of years ago.

Now for the good news.........

Despite my best pb's showing VDots of:

59 (5k - 17:15) & 58 (HM - 1:20:17), my marathon pb has always been by far my weakest at 54 (2:59:04).

Now, five weeks ago I ran the Raheny 5 Mile in 30:16 (VDot: 55).
Last week I ran the St Anne's parkrun in 18:27 (VDot: 54)
Yesterday I ran the Ballycotton 10m in 63:59 (VDot: 54)

For anyone who hasn't twigged what I'm getting at yet......

I'm nowhere near the fittest I've been, but the VDots I'm recording for all other races lately still point to a marathon pb in Boston according to JD(2:58:47). McMillan gives me a slightly worse time (2:59:36), but basically a pb definitely still looks achieveable in six weeks even if I don't get any fitter (which I should as I have a six week run now with zero interruptions). I'm clinging onto this thought for now. I'll worry about the 5ks, 10ms etc. when I get back from the States