Scraping under the bar

As I start this post I think I scraped a PB at today's Ballycotton 10. I can't be certain as, for some foolish reason, someone pressed the stop button on my Garmin at the 10k mark. I rashly decided it would be nice to record my 10k split and pressed the stop instead of lap button. It wasn't long after that that the only nice thing I could think of was for the race to be over. But enough of the negativity.

The day was very similar to last year - it had all the necessary ingredients - wind, rain, cold, 3,000 plus runners converging on the small streets of Ballycotton to push as hard as they could along the rural roads of East Cork until they had 10 miles under their feet - all conducted in a great spirit of camaraderie ("we're all in this together" - as they say in "High School the Musical")

Thomas landed on my doorstep shortly after 10 and after calling on my neighbour Pat, all three of us were piled into the car and heading for Ballycotton. I wasn't feeling particularly energetic as I didn't get to bed until 2 a.m. (that's another story)

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We parked up in a field about a mile from the village and strolled down to the race HQ. A quick look around and we were off to the male changing tent. The wind was picking up outside and the rain coming down in intermittent showers. With about 40 minutes to go Thomas and I headed off for a 2 mile warmup along the coastal path - the wind was bracingly cold at times but we acclimatised.

Then it was back to the start and a push through the crowds to get a decent position near the front. I lost Thomas along the way but met up with Derek O'Keeffe of Eagle and Brendan just ahead of the sub 65 minute sign. Both of them were heading for 62 minute territory with me hanging back for 65 minute pace. I had been hoping of getting a little closer to the start line as I remember last years push to get past slower runners over the first mile - but the way was blocked solid.

Sure enough when the gun went off it the was a case of slow slow quick quick (a term borrowed from "quick step" lessons in the dim and distant past) trying to squeeze into gaps between the runners around us as we danced our way through the first mile. Brendan was out in front and disappeared through the crowd in no time at all. Mile 1 in 06:46 as the timekeeper called out 7:02, 04. deja-vu from last year - on PB pace. Thomas was on my shoulder at this stage - he had started 10+ seconds behind me. Well if he made that time up during the first mile I wasn't going to hold him back and wished him well.

During the second mile the crowed thinned out and we moved steadily along a net downhill section. Mile 2 in 06:23. Thomas was gone at this stage. The pace felt hard but sustainable - I had the Garmin on mile laps showing lap time, HR and lap pace. Checking my pace over these early miles showed each mile starting at low 06:20's but steadily creeping towards 6:30. Mile 3 in 06:33 - the sub 65 (06:30 avg)was looking like a tough ask. I kept pushing as we ran along a slight incline and turned left into the wind towards the 4 mile mark - Mile 4 in 06:33 (the wind and slight uphill cost me a few seconds).

Mile 5 was along a twisting road with the wind against us. My pace remained fairly steady as I crept forward and passed a few runners every 100 yards or so. I was surprised to see Thomas ahead sheltering in the middle of a group of runners with Mary Sweeney of St Finbarrs providing the shelter at the front. The clock at the 5 mile mark struck 33:00 as I passed - "christ - I'm closer to 66 minute pace - if Thomas is here at least i'm in good company" and then I realised that Thomas was only waiting until we turned away from the wind after the halfway point to make his move (which he confirmed after the race) and sure enough he broke cover as we turned the corner and he forged ahead. The Garmin gave me 06:30 for Mile 5 (32:37 for the half, which I didn't see at the time) although it beeped a few yards ahead of the mile marker.

For the next 3 miles as we ran with the wind behind us the gap between Thomas and I varied from 20 to 50 yards as he see-sawed back an forth in front of me (pulling away in the downhills and drawing closer on the uphills - I thought that if I could keep close until mile 8.5 that the "mainly uphill" last mile and a half would suit me better.

Mile 6 in 06:29.

Mile 7 in 06:xx (watch stopped for undefined period of time - turned it back on before the 7 mile mark and pressed the lap button at mile 7 - 02:49

Mile 8 in 06:19 I felt reasonably strong during mile 8 as I put in a surge on a gentle uphill and pulled within 5 yards of Thomas - but the rise gave way to a fall and the gap widened again. That the only move I had - as we approached the 8 mile mark my tank was empty and I was hoping the reserve would carry me the last 2 miles homes. It's not that I slowed down, it's just that all I could do was maintain pace - no push. Thomas crept forward as we rounded the corner for the rise to the 9 mile mark - Mile 9 in 06:32 - not bad considering. The time keeper was calling out 58:52 as I passed. "I'm sure it was 59 minutes even last year. I certainly thought I had a real chance of hitting 65 minutes as I had 6 minutes in the bag plus the time it took me to cross the line (must have been at least as much as the 15 seconds it took last year).

The last mile was a matter or perseverance - counting down the lap time on the Garmin as to how much pain was left. And finally I could see the finishing clock in the distance and pushed the final few yards - I approached a timing mat about 30 yards ahead of the clock and slowed down after I had crossed it, thinking it was the finish and suddenly I realised that there was another mat under the clock but as my legs were in slowdown mode all I could do was freewheel to the "real finish". I neglected to stop the watch at the finish but the mile lap showed 06:19 for that last mile.

I had thought the clock said 65:04 as I passed under it but that could have been wishful thinking (maybe it was the first view of the clock from my myopic eyes) as now that the official results are out my official finishing time is 65:18 with a chip time of 65 minutes even - a PB by 4 seconds!!!. (216 out of 2398 finishers)

Thomas had a much stronger finish and finished closer to 64 minutes, while Brendan was already back at home writing up his blog. We met up with Richard afterwards, who provided the camera for a Ballycotton photo shoot. Richards 37:38 should give him great confidence for his sub 3:20 target in Rotterdam next month. Pat also did very well with his first sub-70 (69:15)

A two mile warmdown with Thomas completed my running week. On a final note my resting heart rate yesterday morning was 42. On a good week this has been 37/38. My standing around HR at the start line was high 80's compared to 60's last year - I think I should scale back a bit before ramping up for Cork in 12 weeks.

Eagle AC's Rhona Lynch got third Female in 60:28 - well done Rhona that's a fantastic time.

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Well done to all runners who braved the elements today and a special thanks to Ballycotton Running Promotions and all the volunteers for putting on a great race.

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Richard and the three bloggers.

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Wed 4th Mar

11.11 miles in 01:27:34 (07:53 pace @ 137 HR). Cold and snowing for 3 miles.

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Fri 6th Mar

6.83 miles in 53:16 (07:48 pace @ 148HR???)

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Sun 8th Mar

14 miles with 10 miles in 01:05:00 (06:30 pace @ 164 HR)

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Transition Week 5 (Run 46.3 miles, Bike 21.3 miles, Swim 1,000m)

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