Resisting the urge

There were a couple of times during todays Cork to Cobh 15 miler that the urge came on me to break out of the 7 minute miles I was running and chase after a few "hares". I resisted until about the last mile and a half which was too late to do any real damage to my plans for a trial marathon paced (fingers crossed) run. I headed into town with Pat O'Connor, my next door neighbour, with plenty of time to get in 5 miles before the race, but ended up warming up over 2.5 miles. Pat was planning on heading out at 7:00 pace also. I was a few rows behind him and Pat Twomey at the start. Pat Twomey was aiming for 7:10 pace, so I thought I would see them both once we settled into our paces. Some of the other Eagles were heading out at 6:45 pace (the sub-3 club) and others at 7:30 pace. I settled into a comfortable pace from the start covering the first mile in 7:03. No sign of the 2 Pats. They must have headed out at a faster pace, which should not have surprised me. I tried to mimic my plan for Dublin by taking on plenty of gels to see if I could stomach them - no issue there - I took 4 in all. For the first 8 miles I settled into a small group of runners that appeared to be yo-yoing back and forth against my steady pace. I passed halfway in 52:18 (06:58 pace - 12 seconds ahead of target) and the half marathon point in 1:31:12 (06:57 pace - 34 seconds ahead of target).

My pace upped slightly after 13.5 miles as I heard a few runners on my heels and basic instinct kicked in. Shortly before the 14 mile mark I caught up with Pat Twomey and could see Pat O'Connor ahead. As my legs were relatively fresh I decided to go for it over the last mile - "can't hurt me that much". I don't think Pat was too happy as I came up behind him with half a mile to go. I pushed on passing a few more and down the hill for a sprint finish to the line stopping my watch at 1:43:15 - 6:01 for the last mile and 105 seconds ahead of target. A slow 2.5 mile warmdown with Pat gave us 20 miles for the day. Well done to Brendan who had a "Cork to Cobh" to remember! Can I hold 7 minute pace for a marathon - I don't know but i'll give it a good shot if the first 15 miles feel anything like today.

Splits as follows:-

Mile	Pace	Time	HR
1	00:07:03	00:07:03	132
2	00:06:54	00:13:57	143
3	00:06:57	00:20:54	142
4	00:06:59	00:27:53	144
5	00:06:54	00:34:47	148
6	00:06:57	00:41:44	154
7	00:07:02	00:48:46	155
8	00:06:57	00:55:43	156
9	00:06:57	01:02:40	152
10	00:06:55	01:09:35	153
11	00:07:01	01:16:36	158
12	00:06:47	01:23:23	159
13	00:07:04	01:30:27	165
14	00:06:47	01:37:14	165
15	00:06:01	01:43:15	169

Sun 4th Oct 20.12 miles in 2:25:46 (07:15 pace @ 147 HR) with 15 miles in 1:43:15 (06:53 pace @ 153 HR) Marathon Training Week 10/13 - 67.08 miles. Postscript:- Photos at 100m to go. .