The Mallow 10
Hey lads, haven’t posted on here in a while. I got a bad hammy tear during an easy 10-miler on NYE (usual story, 5 miles into the run, fully warmed up, no reason for the tear), but I didn’t post on here to-
- Avoid killing the good new year buzz
- Avoid the usual “I take all injuries seriously except yours, BT” response from Carmona
Went the usual route of rest and an MRI but good old Affidea – despite being referred on Jan 2nd, I still haven’t got an appointment from them. Either way, I figured no matter what the scan showed, the recovery program would be the same in any case – ease off on the running and loads of rehab exercises.
I also went to a new physio – one I hadn’t gone to with running injuries before – the immortally-named Dirk Harm – down on Penrose Quay. He’s done all the physio for our three lads through their swimming careers and did great work on them. Plus, he runs a gym, so I went to him with two requests:
- Diagnose/treat the hammy problem
- Give me a weights program that works on the hamstrings – but also does some all-round running S&C
It was no harm that I was taking a few months off between jobs to do a load of work on the house so I was able to make sure to get to the gym three times a week. After around a month, he also got me working on walk/run “pyramids” – bouts of easy running interspersed with walking.
I’d start off with one minute running, then walk for a bit, two minutes running, then walk for a bit, on up through three and four minutes running, then work back down again to finish. Once I got that going OK, I inserted a running piece at the top of the pyramid – initially 5 minutes – and then expanded that over consecutive sessions. Eventually I got the middle piece out to 35 minutes, which overall meant 53 minutes running in the “session”. All done at what felt a comfortable pace. It’s funny though, once you run for more than 10 minutes, your natural running pace starts to come out anyway and you speed up. However, it felt great to be running again, a serious buzz.
I had entered both Dungarvan and Mallow and while Dungarvan had to be knocked on the head, I said that if I could manage an hour of consecutive running last Sunday, then I’d give myself the treat of going up to jog the course at Mallow today. It’s brutal always running on your own so the race was an ideal tonic.
So, to the start line at Mallow Castle this morning and meeting loads of the Cork running fraternity, from the club and beyond. I did no real warmup – bar two 2-minute pieces of jogging – and I also knew that if the form was good I’d inevitably go a bit harder than jogging during the race. I wasn’t going to force it though – just let it play. I knew I’d beat 75 minutes and it was a case of seeing if the leg could do more to get toward 70.
For such a narrow start pen, we got away with no problems and I found myself chatting with local running legend, Mary Sweeney, as we shuffled over the bridge and up the hill. Around the corner and heading out the road to the cemetery and
this local hero pulls up on my shoulder. It was great having him there because, as I got into the flow I was speeding up, but he was clearly on a 7:00 per mile schedule and that meant slightly - but not too much – faster for me. Through the bridges and on up to the Wild Goose and mile 2 before turning onto the main Cork Road – two miles of downhill with a slight headwind on the way. John and I rolled over on the front to share the windbreaking and I knew the pace was going up a bit but it felt OK. We rolled back into town and headed left at the four-mile mark out the Killarney Road where John dropped back. Looking at the splits later, it was clear that I had hit a pace now, and even though there was no more long downhilling, this was going to be the deal for the remaining miles as long as the leg and the 18-mile-per week “program”allowed it. It was a great setup though, because, having started slowly, the extra pace meant I was passing people all the time now. The wind was negligible and we passed the 5-mile mark before the racecourse with a grand open road ahead
Miles 1 to 5 - 7:10, 6:56, 6:37, 6:39, 6:35
Mile 6 is the last one before you turn off the main road and head towards the old sugar factory. After the turn, it always feels a long way from home and the road also gets twisty and lumpy. The worst of the twists finish at 7 miles and once you get the sip of water there, you have a couple of miles with pulls – but the road is straight, and feck it, there’s less than 3 miles to go. I had picked up a lad around 4.5 miles who was doing some fierce puffing and blowing but we ran together to the water station at 7, where he gave an almighty grunt and stopped to walk. I knew from the watch that a sub-70 was there, so I said I’d keep relaxed and see if I could hold the pace. Again, it was no harm that people were coming back to me all the time due to the slower start. Two long pulls arrive at the start of the 9th mile but then you’ve a grand bit of downhilling. The sun was out now and it was getting warm (I had a T-shirt on under the singlet because of the possibility of going a lot slower). At the 9-mile mark, it was clear I could do a 9-minute mile and still break 70 minutes so that meant I could avoid the usual last-mile anxiety. LOL, of course that meant the last mile had the same split as the others since there was no pressure.
They say France had a nineteenth century which lasted 125 years from 1789 to 1914, and the Mallow 10 has a last mile which seems of similar length – a few lumpy pulls under the viaducts an’ all and a long time before you see the Supervalu, then the church as you hit that last climb. I kept telling myself to enjoy being back on the road with a crowd but in truth, I was well ropey along that last half-mile. Finally, the church and I coasted down the steep descent to finish.
Miles 6 to 10 - 6:45, 6:36, 6:37, 6:36, 6:36
Time – 67:28
3rd place in AG
Great to hang out with all the lads after the finish – it was warm and sunny and I’d finished a 10-mile race so I was in great form. Tea and a bun before hitting the road back to Cork. I’ll feel it tomorrow but it’s good to be out there again.
www.corkcitymarathon.ie
