2 races in 1 week

Tuesday 5^th April.

I drafted this update a while back but only found the time now to finish it off. Last week saw me enter two races in a week – a 4 mile race in Boherbue/Kiskeam and  a 10k race in Cork City. In between I jogged 7 miles on Tuesday, 6 slog miles on Thursday and 6 miles in Doneraile park with the club (3 sets of 4 sprints , -25 -30 -35 -40 secs).

The first race is one of the oldest in Cork county and while it was a bit pricey (15 euro) I enjoyed the drive from Charleville and meeting up with clubmates. The first mile was a rapid downhill. I tried to hold back but it was difficult. The next two miles were quite hilly with a nice finish in the last mile into Kiskeam. My first mile was around 6.35 but I was finding it hard to get the legs moving after that, finishing in 28minutes05seconds. Still though it was nice to get out there and race. The legs felt surprisingly fresh the next day with the HR reaching a decent level of 145 at a pace of 8min15seconds per mile. I took the now customary day off on Wednesday but felt a bit blah on Thursday struggling to get the 6 easy miles up on my legs. Saturday was a series of hill sprints with the club in Doneraile park. I am beginning to warm to these sessions so hopefully I can stick with them. Truth be told I wasn’t very good on the sprints but road running isn’t about sprints more about mile by mile endurance. Nevertheless it was a good workout.

Sunday was the morning of the classic 10 k race in UCC. It takes in a tough but fair route along the Mardyke, the Waterworks, Anglers Rest and back up the straight road finishing in the Lee Fields. The tough part of the course is a long drag and a hill by mile 1.5 to 2.5 but the finish is a good one. I had planned to run around 7.15 pace and get in under 45 minutes, not a fast pace but I wanted to run under my Lactic Threshold. The plan was not to race all out rather at a controlled fast/comfortable pace. I was doing well enough up to mile 3 but started to struggle a bit after that losing 3 to 4 seconds on each mile after that. By mile 6 I was a bit battered and glad to get the whole exercise over with in 45minutes08seconds clock time. I timed it from when I crossed the line coming in at 45seconds02seconds. No matter though, it was tough but enjoyable. I felt recovered enough to tack on a mile cooldown for a good workout. (30 miles for the week)

Monday consisted of a easy 40 minute walk with Aoiffe.  I would have gladly gone for a jog instead but it was nice to talk and chat through our respective days. Tuesday I trundled down to the railway road starting with a  1 mile warm up with 4 X 1 mile repeats and 1 mile cooldown. Mile one 6.40, Mile 2 6.50, Mile 3 6.40 and Mile 4 7 mins. It obviously time to go home after the last mile repeat. I felt surprisingly energized for the rest of the evening.