Adare 10k 2017

Sunday 26^th February

Running has been going well in the last week or so in that I am  completing 4 workouts most weeks with a solid speed session, one long run and two more relaxed aerobic runs. That’s probably as much as I will be able to do until the summer and even then I will be only doing 5 workouts a week but that particular cycle is a while aways yet. I ran 7.25 miles (1 hour) at 8.16 pace. I do hope this casual aerobic pace will eventually improve over time but I know it will take a while to ideally drop down to 7.30 pace by the time September comes around. On the plus sides the legs were pretty fresh after the 6 X 800 intervals the day before. Saturday morning I had hoped to get up at 7.40 am in order to join club members for the Doneraile hill session but I was pinned to the bed. I don’t get a chance to make the Sunday long runs either as I am on night feed duty with Iseult from Thursday to Saturday’s . 

Feeds are generally scheduled at 11.30 pm, 5 am and 9.30 am and considering Aoiffe has her all the rest of the week it would be unfair to change the routine for a club run. I miss the club sessions no doubt about it but family first. It may mean that running times will remain mediocre but that’s the way it goes. If I keep the emphasis on running for enjoyment and being less time obsessed that will hopefully prove a more fruitful approach. I ran 40 minutes easy on the Saturday morning (around 4.7 miles) before a busy day up in Cork City.

My good friend Aidan came down from Portarlington to run the Adare 10k with me. I ran this 3 years ago when I was training for a Ballycotton PB and a marathon in Connemara. This year I was hoping for a sub 45 minute time, slower than before  but ideally faster than the pace I ran in Dungarvan. The Adare course is a tough mother of a route with plenty of ups and downs but it’s also a satisfying race to have completed. The weather was pretty bad in the morning but storm Ewen had largely blown out when we started. Up at the sharp end were Micheal Harty and Sean Hehir, the rest of us making up the numbers. My mile splits were good at the start but started to slip as the race progressed. I was overtaken by a large amount of the field by mile 3 including Colm , Pat and Gary from Mallow. It was nice saying hello as they went past. I crossed the line in around 44.47 at around 7.13-7.15 pace with mile 5 passing in 36 minutes (must keep a eye on that). It was a solid average time but I would have liked to run a bit faster than my tempo training runs but again the course is very hilly. Aidan enjoyed himself finishing in around 41.45 – a loose shoelace costing him 30 – 40 seconds. It was a tough but fair race. The ankle was throbbing afterwards so the ice pack was thrown on afterwards.

Mile 1 – 7.04, Mile 2 – 7.07, Mile 3 – 7.11, Mile 4 – 7.21, Mile 5 – 7.10, Mile 6 – 7.08 , 1.45 for the rest.