Hi lads. Good to catch up on recent posts just now. Work has been hectic since I got back from hols to haven't been able to check in as often as I'd like.
Hols were good..and managed to get in a decent bit of running despite the heat. I was hoping that the training there, and some new strength exercises to finally try to make my left leg contribute to running in some meaningful way (!), would stand to me but then I managed to strain the Achilles/calf on one of the last day and had to back off a bit when I got back. That, and blowing up badly at the Barrs 10 miler, knocked the confidence a bit so I wasn't sure what to expect when I headed to Dungarvan for the Waterford Greenway Half Marathon this morning.
I'd entered the race a few months back as part of my A goal for the second half of the year...finally going sub 80 for the half (and getting over the hump of 82.30…my equal PB from three separate races!). The hope had been that between this race and another half in Copenhagen when I'm over with work in a few weeks, I'd give myself a chance....with Charleville as a potential back up. That said, given I’d first gone sub 30 (5 miles) and sub 60 (10 miles) in Dungarvan in the past, I was hoping it would prove a happy hunting ground for me again…and there so I decided it was going to be all or nothing.
I got up at 5.30 (!) and was out the door at 6.30 to head to Dungarvan. The race goes in one direction from Kilmacthomas so I had to get to Dungarvan between 7.30 and 8 to get one of the buses to the start line. The rain started just as I arrived so I packed everything I thought I could possibly need and boarded the bus…and happened to be sitting next to a few other Eagle lads, which passed the time.
It was coming down fairly heavy when we got to Kilmacthomas but, once I managed to find a dry spot in a small marquis to leave the bag temporarily, I headed out for a couple of warm up miles. I was sopping wet when I came back but felt human again after changing into the race gear (plus a throw away top). I placed a gel in the back of the shorts (I hate the things but know they’re a necessary evil that I’m going to have to start using more frequently) and, after putting the bag in the bag drop van, I headed to the start line. While waiting for the gun to go off, I went through the numbers again in my head….80 minutes corresponds to 6m06s mile pace, though realistically I’d need to go slightly faster as it’s never possible to follow the racing line the whole way around. The race has a net downhill but there is a continuous gradual climb from 1-5 miles and another from 8-9 before a lovely downhill stretch from 9-12. So…keep to the pace until 5 miles first and then hope I haven’t used up too much, too early.
I was brought back to the present as the 10 sec countdown started….off with the throwaway top and then we were off. Nice and steady for the first couple of hundred metres to let the speedy lads off and then see who’s around me. There was a nice gang of 7-8 lads together including a very handy O50 runner from Grange-Fermoy, a big West Waterford fella, a Barrs man, a guy in a green&yellow singlet and another lad who I subsequently found out was from Youghal. The first two miles passed quickly at 5.57 and 5.59 pace. This was a few seconds faster than I hoped but when I looked around, there wasn’t another group just behind so it was a case of either staying put or having the work the whole way on my own…so I sucked it up and ploughed on with the lads. Mile 3 was a 5.58 but I felt I was working hard and having to try to ignore the demons in the head that were trying to convince me I couldn’t keep this up. Looking back at Garmin now, miles 4 and 5 were slightly slower (6.06, 6.10) but I didn’t register them as being any slower at the time. The Greenway is often under tree cover so maybe that was something to do with it….or I was just delirious at that stage! The tree cover and bushes also meant that any slight breeze there may have been there (which was close to zero) was not a factor. Finally, we got to the 5 mile mark…my first mental marker in the race. Around the same time, the lads in the group (we’d lost a few by that point including the Barrs lad) started chatting about their targets and it was a relief to hear that 80 mins was also their target and they didn’t plan to ‘take off’ after the first few miles. I don’t know whether it was reaching the highest point of the race or the talking (perhaps combined with the slightly downhill gradient) but what followed over the subsequent 3 miles was something I don’t think I’d ever experienced in a race before…..2 miles of what felt like effortless running along while completely in the zone (5.54 and 5.59). If only I could figure out how to reproduce that! In fact, I was at the front of the group for a while now and even when West Waterford stepped in front to take over for a bit, I soon passed him out again as I felt I was going to clip his legs.
At 7 miles, I thought I’d better take my gel if I was going to get any benefit out of it, so I broke it out and took small sips to try to avoid any stomach upsets. No stomach upsets but the messing around with it took me out of my zone all of a sudden….”feck, I’m not yet at 8 miles, this could still go pear shaped, are my legs starting to feel heavy, there’s a climb coming soon, why did I take that gel”. I tried to stick with Grange-Fermoy and Green-Yellow at the front of the group. While the pace stayed the same (5.58), it felt like I was working harder…and even harder again from 8-9, though in that case the pace seems to have been impacted with Garmin showing a 6.16 (I didn’t register that at the time, just as well I didn’t it as I would have freaked….though also I wonder if it was affected by the 400 m tunnel we passed through around the same point).
At least I was now at the second mental marker and had the nice downhill ahead. As we went through the tunnel, the metronomic echoing sound of the runners on the surface and the atmospheric mood lighting somehow through me back into a positive mindset. Right…just 4 miles to go, 3 of them are downhill. Don’t do anything mad and the sub 80 is yours. While I was conscious of sticking to around 6.00/6.01 pace, I didn’t realise that I was opening a small gap to the other lads (5.55, 6.01). Based on Garmin, the heart rate also jumped significantly from then on (could the caffeine gel have been a factor?). Green&yellow responded and went past at around mile 11 but I had no interest in chasing as my big fear now was cramping or tying up….just keep things consistent. I made the best of the last downhill mile (5.53) but it still seemed that the rest of the lads were just a few steps behind. Returning to a flat (or slightly uphill) gradient from mile 12 was a bit of a shock to the system and the legs suddenly felt very heavy. I was waiting for the other lads to fly by but West Waterford and Grange-Fermoy must have dropped back a bit further around then as suddenly there was only one, Youghal, behind me at the 13 mile mark (6.01 pace). Youghal put on a burst to pull away as the finish line came into sight but I didn’t respond immediately as I wanted to make sure I was nearer the finish before emptying the tank. With 300m to go, I knew the sub-80 was in the bank…and, I could finally start thinking about placings, so I went for it! Youghally responded and edged ahead again, but I was fully committed now and pulled back level. The two of us collapsed over the line, with me taking it by a nose, as we both clocked 1h19m10s (apparently 4.50 pace for the last 0.2 of a mile!?). Woooo-hoooo!! I won’t describe the two mile warm down as that was a complete sufferfest…but I couldn’t care a less, I’d finally achieved what was probably the last major landmark time that I’d hoped to achieve in running. One of the days that makes all the hard work worthwhile! (Final position, 19th; category position 3rd [feckin green and yellow was in the same category!])
