I Found My HR Monitor.........

I should tidy under the bed more often - cause I find all sorts of things that I have given up as lost, none more precious than my Garmin HR Monitor. Now I could see, as well as feel, the suffering in todays Half Marathon in Blarney. The morning was perfect, for running that is, mild with a light rain. I left home shortly after 10 for the 15 minute drive to Blarney. Still no sign of sunshine - great. Following registration I met Brendan coming in from his warmup as I was heading out on mine. I felt a bit sluggish and my stomach was a bit heavy after my breakfast - not conducive to fast running - then again that is the purpose of the warmup - better to warmup before the race than during the first few miles. I returned to my car and changed, pinning the gel I got from Richard to the inside of my shorts - felt a bit uncomfortable so I decided to hold it in my hand. I met Thomas just before the start and we wished each other well as we stood on the footpath not too far from the front line....and then the gun (well whistle) went off and we were away. As I was slightly in front of Thomas I got in front of him as we headed down the road - new territory for me. I kept a comfortable pace over the first mile, my half formed strategy being to keep under 06:50 pace (90 mins) until I was over the first hilly half and push the pace for home after that. A few runners passed me during the first mile, but I controlled myself. 3 Eagle AC runners in particular, noticeable from their black singlets (I don't have one yet), passed me - Pat Twomey, Pat Murphy and Denis Carroll. I thought that I might see some of them again as my target was somewhere in the middle of their recent results. Mile 1 in 06:31 - "ok well it is my HM training Pace and the hill hasn't come yet and I feel comfortable". I kept the pace reasonably even as we headed out to Waterloo when suddenly the gel slipped from my hand and I turned my head in what appeared to be slow motion, took a quick look at it lying on the road - "fuck it" I thought and turned around and took one of two fast steps to retake my position relative to the guy in front of me. "Shit" I thought "I may come to regret not picking it up - then again I could drop it again - i'll just have to make sure and take on water at each station". Mile 2 in 06:33 - "Slightly behind the 06:30 pace required for 01:25 - well that was always going to be a very tough target, remember sub-90 is the goal" - but I knew that I would not be satisified with just a sub-90 - I wanted a bit more. First water station after the 2 mile mark and I managed to get some water into me. The next 2 miles went by more or less at the same pace as I managed to pull back some distance on runners in front of me, Pat Twomey being one of them (Pat did very well in the AAI 2008 National Half marathon in waterford last Sunday - getting third M55 in 87:55). Mile 3 in 06:29 and Mile 4 in 06:32. Then the rise to Grenagh started, first with a gentle pull and gradually getting steeper. I spotted Pat Murphy in the middle of a bunch of girls ahead (like Charlie and his angels) and gradually managed to catch up and as the rise began to get steeper the bunch spread out leaving me and Pat at the front. Mile 5 in 06:44 - To be quite honest, eventhough the Garmin matched the mile markers very well, I did not see all the mile splits (combination of small text and trying to keep my arm still) - but I knew I was doing farily well and while I felt good there was a long way to go and I was hoping the early pace could be maintained to the finish without blowing up. The road continued to rise and then the only steep part of the course to the 6 mile mark. My pace certainly reduced but so did the pace of those in front. Top of the hill into Grenagh Village. Mile 6 in 07:04 - I certainly don't remember seeing that split. The Garmin was on total time and current and lap (1 mile) pace. I picked up the pace going through the village and then the right turn and the long steep downhill over the best part of 3/4 of a mile. Picking off one or two in front but most managed to increase their pace like me. I spotted Denis Carroll ahead - if I'm near him I must be doing good. Mile 7 in 06:09 - I certainly didn't see that split at the time. The next 2 miles turned out to be at the same pace (although I didn't know at the time) Mile 8 in 06:08 - I did see the total time of 52:12 as I passed the 8 mile mark. Mile 9 in 06:09 - Those three miles were consistently fast - may be due to the momentum of the first. I was alongside Dennis Carroll now, after passing a guy and a girl (girl turned out to be 2nd female). But I don't think I got too far ahead as I could hear the odd bystander saying "c'mon Dennis" as I passed. Fatigue began to creep into my legs now and my breathing got heavier as the effort to maintain pace became more difficult. Every time I looked at my watch the current pace seemed to read 06:27. As I passed the ten mile mark I looked at the watch 01:04 "shit no second display on this screen - still it is better than my Ballycotton 10 Mile PB of 01:05:04. Mile 10 in 06:23 - Didn't see this split either. I was now concentrating on the overall time. I appeared to be close to 01:25 time so I started counting down the minutes as the effort and pain intensified. I caught up with another Eagle AC runner, Derek O'Keeffe, and we ran more or less together over the next few miles, changing position regularly. Mile 11 in 06:19 - All I saw was 01:11 on the watch. "14 more minutes of pain - keep the legs on autopilot for as long as you can". This is when the mind games begin. I began wondering when I would begin to blow up and fall of the pace - would I lose 1 or 2 minutes. "The longer I hold on the less I will lose". Mile 12 in 06:27 - "01:17 on the clock - only 8 minutes of pain". Dennis Carroll was back on my shoulder and passing me out. Derek was ahead of me also. How much would I fall behind them - would I lose 30 seconds over this last mile. My "autopilot" kept going. We kept going and for a spell I was in front of them. "They don't look as bad as I feel, maybe they are human just like me". So we all suffer in silence. Mile 13 in 06:23 - just another big effort up a short incline and around the corner, I could see the finishing area, Dennis was past me at this stage - I had no kick. I was just delighted to be so close to the end as my first sight of the clock showed 01:24:2x. I passed under it in something like 01:24:33 and stopped my watch. Exhausted, delighted and sooo glad to be finished. My watch said 01:24:30 but I don't mind I was under 85 minutes I couldn't believe it! I had beaten my PB by over 5 minutes. I know it was any easy PB to beat, but to run a HM in sub-85 as my first sub-90. McMillan had given me 01:25:07 as my target HM based on my April 10k time and I had beaten it - this is now my breakthrough race. While I was expecting Thomas to come up on my shoulder at any moment during the race, it was not to be - but he was closer than I thought. I met Thomas, Brendan, Richard and my neighbour, Pat, after the race (he ran it at the last moment with very little training and still did a 01:36). Richard let out a cheer when he heard that I had come in first as my race history with Thomas had not been peppered with success. I completed a warmdown with Brendan back to the car (less than a mile) where I met John Desmond and I joined John for a warmdown with Pat Twomey back out the Waterloo road. What I didn't know was that this warmdown was over 4 miles - a "Pat Twomey" special I'm told and by the time it was over so was I. I was famished and headed straight for the refreshments at the GAA Hall - and what a spread was laid on - ham rolls, cakes, scones, tea, soup, coffee and plenty of it - full credit to the volunteers with St Finbarrs AC they know what a hungry runner needs - plenty of food & drink. The official results put me at 01:24:21 which I think is wrong. Others thought that the official time was out by 7 seconds - so i'll stick with my watch time of 01:24:30. Sun 14th Sept 19.13 Miles in 02:14:56 (07:03 Pace @ 156 HR) with 13.11 Miles in 01:24:30 (06:27 pace @ 167 HR)