Can Do Better

That's the conclusion I have come to after this evenings 17 mile slow run. Why? Well yesterday I ran a new personal best for Ten Miles in Craughwell. While it was a PB it should/could have been quicker. This session is one of the cornerstones of my marathon race prep stage. Flat out race followed by a long 2½ hour run the day after. In this evenings run I was able to run 2 miles downhill at marathon pace for miles 14 & 15. If I had ran Craughwell yesterday to my ability and not taken the easy options there is no way I would have had Marathon Pace in my legs this evening let alone in the second half of that run.

Another PB

I have discussed the mental aspect of races and normally I am pretty solid in this department, but yesterday was a different story. When my alarm went at 10 o’ Clock on Sunday Morning I was having to work to get out of the bed. I even contemplated no bothering to go but eventually I convinced myself it was better to go. Arrived in Craughwell and very nearly had an incident in the Car Park with a certain boardsie TBL. Luckily I spotted 3 digits in his plate and decided that hitting it would be expensive. We both had a quick chat and went to registration where he was up to his usual antics looking for a small tee shirt. I just wish the girl had the neck to hand him the xs tee shirt he requested. We went our separate ways for warm up my been 2 miles his been two thumbs on the iPhone. Meet again at the start I was going for sub 69:52 (Tom’s PB) and TBL had been told to do nothing faster then 6:30. I didnt have a GPS watch so I slotted in near TBL and on the off I tried to judge my pace of his 6:30. Should have known better, he never does as he is told. Hit the first Mile marker with him sailing away in the distance and me with my mouth open and a 6:25 opening mile. As there was a stiff breeze and I had tuck into a group I tried to stick with them but the pace was too hot. I fell off the back before mile 2 (13:10) and was left to struggle into the wind on my own until the turn around at 4. Hit halfway with 34 dead on the watch. Comfortable but hard. As the undulating hills started to bite into the legs I began to struggle and pretty quickly started to settle for a 35 min second half to get me under 69 minutes. Then it got real tough at 8 and I took the easy option and readjusted my goal to 69:15 you know the rest I never really got into the cave and just finished out the race. Hamstring gave a twinge over the last mile which gave me another excuse to easy off. Finished in 69:33 nett a PB can do better, but that's for another day

Tired

On Tuesday morning doing a recovery run I pretty much realised that my 5 hour excursion in Tralee had taken more out of me then I bargained. As I was racing in Craughwell on Sunday. I reduced my weekly sessions by a third but kept the intensity the same. By Saturday Evening legs felt really fresh and I was looking forward to a good race in the morning.