Smashing the Barrier

After spending Saturday afternoon with the boys (and having to deal with Cian’s, err, potty issues), I couldn’t wait for Sunday’s run. I was really looking forward to smelling fresh air rather than s**t again. (As always, I just knew you really wanted to know that).

The real reason why I was so keen to go out was the following: I just knew that this would be my first ever run under 7:00 pace. I had come close to that the week before, and since I seem to improve from week to week at the moment, I was certain that this was to be the day. I even wore my DS-trainers for the effort, which are usually reserved for races. I set off at a decent but measured pace, and when the first mile went by in just over 7:30 I knew I was in for a good ride. The weather wasn’t exactly cooperating, It was quite windy and one of the predicted scattered showers came by as well, but it didn’t really bother me. I can’t say for sure if it was the lighter shoes or the fact that I was really up for it, but for once I never lost my concentration and kept going at a higher heart rate than on any recent tempo efforts. I did start to tire by the time I reached the turnaround point, but I figured since the second half would be wind-assisted I would do ok. That wasn’t entirely true, and between miles 5 and 6 I kept thinking “f***, this hurts”. I managed to keep it going though, and over the last two or three miles I felt better again. I got home just before the hour mark, and knew that I had achieved my target. In hindsight I probably set off a bit too fast; I managed very even splits, but if you take into account that the first half was against the wind and the second one was wind-assisted, it’s a slightly different picture. Anyway, when I calculated the pace I found that I had done even better than that. At first I thought I had miscalculated, then I thought I had gotten the distance wrong, but no, I couldn’t find a fault in either. 6:43 pace it was, and I’m damned pleased about it. Outside a 5k race I’ve never run anywhere close to that pace before. I’ve improved so much in the last 6 months it’s starting to scare me.

After that run, Monday was always going to be a much slower recovery effort. The weather was still windy, despite promises to the opposite from the meteorologists. I ran the by now customary devil’s elbow loop with its steep ascent, and then added a dozen strides into the mix. Despite the strides and the climb my heart rate was the lowest in months, but my pace was also the slowest in months. It’s been some time since I’ve run slower than 9:00 pace, but after Sunday’s run a good old pedestrian recovery run was exactly what I needed.

I had some bad news as well, well, not bad, just annoying. There’s a big 10-mile race in Ballycotton every year, and it would have been perfect this year, 4 weeks before the Connemara Ultra. It’s one of the biggest events on the Irish running calendar, and as a result they get more applications than they can handle. I got my rejection letter a few days ago, which really annoyed me. I was very much looking forward to it, and the timing would have been great this year. There is a 10k in Adare, about 90 minutes drive from here, the week after that, which I might do instead. I have to think about it. I don’t know how clever it is to run a 10k just 3 weeks before an ultra.

Oh, and I did over 80 miles last week. That’s way above any previous levels, and of course it was all in singles. I’m getting there.

14 Jan: 8.75 miles, 58:53, 6:43 pace, avg. HR 165
15 Jan: 10.5 miles, 1:35, 9:08 pace, avg. HR 141

Weekly mileage: 80.5 miles