Ballycotton 10 - Not What I Expected

My plan for today in Ballycotton was to run a sub-65 minute ten miler in the vibrams. To be quite honest at this stage I think there is no difference between what I could achieve in the vibrams versus "normal" running shoes. My strategy was to go out at a steady pace just below 6:30 miles. With no satellite reception on the Garmin I aimed to run comfortably hard and check my splits at each mile marker.

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I accepted a kind offer of a lift from Thomas who was en route from the Kingdom and filled up his car with neighbours Pat and Ian who were also running. The day was sunny, with a cold north westerly wind, which meant we'd have it at our back for the last 5 miles. As I wasn't heading for a PB I wasn't too concerned about placing myself near the front of the 2,500+ field. Having said that I joined the queue to the race start a little later than I wanted and spent most of the time before the start pushing my way up through the throngs to get reasonable starting position. With chip timing I knew that my actual run time would be recorded.

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It still took me over 20 seconds to cross the start line after the gun went and the first mile was spent weaving in and out to get ahead of slower runners in front. I quickly caught up with Brendan, who was running his first race in over 2 years (and his first as an M40) and knowing that his target was also sub-65 I decided to hang on to him. The timekeeper was calling out 7:0? at the first mile marker, while the garmin gave me a split of 6:36, not too bad for an opening congested mile, albeit behind target pace. We continued on with the downhill second mile, which came in a much faster 6:14 ,which I put down to the downhill. We continued to pass runners, maintaining a steady pace, as the field spread out Mile 3 coming in 6:20 - building up a bit of a cushion on the 65 minute target. As the Garmin was displaying lap time and HR only I had no idea of total time, which was probably a good thing, especially later on.

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Brendan began to show some signs of distress during mile 4 as his breathing became a bit more laboured, despite the fact that he had done his fair bit of surging during the previous miles. We continued to pass others, which is always encouraging. Mile 4 came in 6:24, still under target pace. At this stage I began to harbour notions of getting under 1:04 as all I'd need is to average 6:24 per mile - i'll see how I get on as there are 6 miles left. Running in the vibrams felt very comfortable with no sign of discomfort. The clock at the 5 mile mark displayed 32:10 as I Passed it - Mile 5 split of 6:16. 1:04 certainly felt achievable, provided I could maintain pace for the remaining 5 miles. We turned South East shortly after mile 5 and the wind was now at our back. As I had no idea of current pace I continued to run by feel and was reasonably comfortable, still reeling in runners in front of me. Mile 6 in 6:14 - the wind must certainly be helping. Crossing the 10k mark I saw 1:19 on the lap time (39:23 for 10k, although I didn't know at the time).

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I continued to reel in runners in front of me, albeit a bit more slowly, which must have meant that I was running faster than average pace - Mile 7 in 6:08 more or less proved this. I could be heard well before I was seen, and as I came on runners shoulders, they would instinctively look down to see what the hell was making all the slapping noise. I could see two Eagles ahead, in their distinctive Eagle singlets, but couldn't make out who they were with my myopic vision. I gradually closed the distance, passing Mile 8 in 6:09 and with about 1.5 miles to go I was on the shoulders of clubmates Vivian and Diarmaid. My feet at this stage weren't too bad although it felt as if blisters were forming on the outside of both my big toes - nothing that would trouble me during the race but possibly afterwards.

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We ran on together until we hit the hill before the 9 mile mark and the other 2 began to move ahead of me. This was the first time during the race that I felt under pressure as it was the first time anyone pulled ahead of me (except perhaps for the opening half mile). The timekeeper was calling out 57:0? as we passed the 9 Mile mark - garmin showed a lap time of 6:22, the hill blunting my speed. I had no idea of what finishing time I was heading for, other than it would be under 64 (conservatively adding 6:30 to the 57:0? called out by the timekeeper - forgetting the 20+ seconds it took me to cross the start line). I pushed on at a steady pace - my lack of any real speedwork training showing as the other two, particularly Vivian began to pull further ahead. In fact as we entered the last half mile Diarmaid began to come slowly back to me, the effort of sticking to Vivian probably taking its toll. I began counting down the time left with the last km broken down at 200m intervals......"800m to go"......I could hear the MC at the finishing line "120 passed the finish line so far".......push......through the narrow Main Street of Ballycotton, which appeared to go on forever.........."600m to go"..........counting down the number of strides left in blocks of 90 (about 1 minute)............"400m to go".........one lap of the track........Vivian was gone at this stage......my neighbour Pat just ahead (62:34 last month in Dungarvan) I must be doing good.........."200m to go" keep pushing, but no finishing sprint.....the end is in sight..........I see 1:03:04 on the clock just before I cross under it, stopping my watch, where I think the finishing line is (no mat just a gantry) - 6:02 for Mile 10.

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My overall time was 1:02:45 (avg HR 159), I couldn't believe it, just 7 seconds outside my PB. I wouldn't mind but I wasn't aiming for a PB, if I had I'd certainly have given myself a better chance at the start, do a proper warmup (instead of the half mile jog) and get in a better position at the start line (I wouldn't have killed myself going for a 6:20 opening mile). Although I think I ran a good race, going out relatively conservatively (in hindsight) and negative splitting by nearly a minute(31:50/30:55) An encouraging run, although my feet were quite sore afterwards - the outside of both big toes and under the ball of my left foot - enough to limit my warmdown to a slow walk back to the carpark with Brendan and watch Thomas (Great run he had) complete his two mile warmdown before getting a lift home. All in all a good day out. Someone told me after the race that if I ran in normal shoes just think what I could do - I reminded them that it's my legs and feet do the running, not my shoes. I'm beginning to think I'd be faster in the vibrams. maybe I should give the Asics an outing in Mallow in two week time.