To add to the misery I had no less than two flat tires (on two different bikes) this week, already as many as over the entire last year. What’s going on?
I was wondering when the sudden lack of sleep caused by those things would affect my running performance, but so far it’s going fine. I ran 10 miles on Thursday at fairly easy effort, and managed to go under 8:00 pace without even trying. In fact, I never looked at the Garmin except at the turnaround point and at the end. It was quite windy, and the wind chill factor added significantly to the cold.
My normal Friday run is the 15 miles loop around Caragh Lake, but in view of Sunday’s race I cut that by 2 miles, which also meant that I avoided the toughest climbs, but it was still a hilly run. Again I ran under 8:00 pace without really trying; I only pushed the pace over the last half mile when I got down to 6:20 pace, 10k effort, and felt fairly comfortable. I’m fairly hopeful of a new PR on Sunday. In fact, I have covered 10 miles faster than my official 10 mile best both in the Blarney half marathon and the Cork-to-Cobh 15 miler. Thinking about it, my only 10 mile race to date was last year’s Ballycotton, barely one month after recovering from pneumonia. If I can’t beat that time, something’s wrong.
I started wearing my HR strap again, and the HR rate yesterday and today was reassuringly low.
- 8 Jan
- 10 miles, 1:19:08, 7:55 pace, HR 144
- 9 Jan
- 13 miles, 1:42:42, 7:54 pace, HR 144
It sounds like all of your bad luck might be used up before the race, so there's only good left. Have a great run!
ReplyDeleteNice countdown clock! I think your new PR is in the bag unless you somehow manage to DNF or DNS. Have a good race!
ReplyDeleteWith all those miles under your belt I'm sure you might surprise yourself with a tasty new p.b.
ReplyDelete10 miles is always a great distance to race over, enjoy, have a good time in more ways than one!
I fired Grellan up by telling him to sit on you. I'm not sure about the outcome of the 'race'. It should be a PB though - 64:52 is my guess.
ReplyDeleteThe PB is certainly there - a sub 65 i'd say. The "race" should be interesting - it certainly won't be a repeat of Ballycotton - except for the first mile where you and Brendan will take the lead.
ReplyDeleteHave a great run tomorrow. Nothing like laying it all out on the course to ward off the evil spirits. So, go scare the hell out of them!
ReplyDeleteGood luck, I'm looking forward to the report!
ReplyDelete