Filling The Void

One thing I had not planned for after the Dublin Marathon was the lack of a medium/long term goal. What am I to do now? While I had planned and trained to break my half marathon PB in Charleville on 18th September there was no target time. The plan, hatched in late July, was still only a diversion on a longer road, something to keep me amused en-route to a greater destination. Where was I really heading - a 15 mile PB 2 weeks later? again another thing to keep me amused (and motivated) on my journey. And then the fog began to clear a little and I could see a greater prize, much closer than I thought. Is this where I was aiming for all along, suddenly within reach, is the pilgrimage over, is this the road I should take, I didn't have much time to think - probably a blessing in disguise - and swerved off the road without indicating and the rest is history.

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Now that I have arrived do I stop here? final destination, settle down, eat sleep and be merry, content with life. What about the journey? wasn't it fun? isn't that what it's all about? can't stay here forever! But which road do I take? does it really matter? Pick one and the next long term destination will reveal itself when you're ready. One things for sure you got to keep moving.

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So I am back on the road, after a week of eating and sleeping. 2+ kg heavier, so no shortage of fuel. Before diverting to Dublin I had planned on running the Clonakilty Waterfront Marathon on 10th December and while I haven't signed up yet I think i'll stick to that plan, in the absence of anything else. I had a notion, pre-Dublin, that I could PB in Clon - a tough ask on a hilly course but since I PB'd in Dublin I can relax a little - no pressure - treat it as an experiment - another 6 mile cut-in or maybe a 13.1 mile warmup to a 13.1 mile race. We'll see.

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My recovery from Dublin followed a predictable enough course and while my HR for a particular pace may still be higher than it was before Dublin everything else appears to be back on track. My speedwork at the track was initially at MP and an attempt to join the 6:00 mile pace group for 3 x 2k last Tuesday was met with a "you're not that good so piss off back to a slower group" from my body which bailed after 400m into the 3rd 2k. To be expected really as I have not trained at that pace all year - shows the importance of specificity. To be quite honest I was aiming for 6:20 pace, but the choice was 6:48 or 6:00, unless I wanted to run on my own.

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No problem with recovery though as I managed to follow it up the night after with a 39:30 10k (6:22 pace) in the Run for Mark in the Dark Charity 5k/10k in Cork. The race, over 4 x 2.5k laps (2 laps for the 5k) on the flat Monahan Road/Center Park Road loop, was well supported. My reason for entering was to support a worthy cause - something positive in all the doom and gloom. The fact that there were two races with the start/finish at the same location (so maybe not exactly 5k/10K) with a clock to see progress after each lap made it more interesting than most races. My plan was to run by feel, head out at a comfortable pace and see how I get on - certainly not looking for a PB. The clock showed 10:06 after the first lap, which automatically reset my internal governor to a sub 40 minute target. I just kept the pace comfortably hard and the 2nd lap came with 20:01 on the clock - I resisted the urge to chase down a guy who passed me racing for the 5k finish line as I was in a 10k groove. Lap 3 was less comfortable but still manageable - 29:53 on the clock. I continued the pace heading into lap 4. The course got progressively congested between laps 3 and 4 as slower runners running 3/4/5 abreast prevented me from taking the racing line - jumping onto the footpath, splashing through puddles - all part of the fun. I reeled in and passed a few runners on the last lap as my pace increased slightly, crossing the line in 9th place in 39:30 - although the results give me a 39:41 (adding 10 seconds to my first lap)

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