So Much For A Downhill Start!

And there was me, really looking forward to today's race. The website still states

Just to make it a bit different, we are starting just inside the gates opposite the Cathedral and finishing at Killarney House, so no uphill finish!

which to me meant a downhill start and the possibility of a very fast race. I wasn't the only one under that impression, as three quarters of the field gathered at Knockreer, only to be ushered towards Killarney House. I was seriously confused, and so was Seamus, because if we started there and finished there, surely that would be well over 5k?

Anyway, I started right up front with the leaders and hung in there. Two guys eventually gapped the rest but there was a sizable pack of at least 6 runners (possibly more but I never looked behind me) sticking together and we made good progress. We went over the little hill at Knockreer, where we SHOULD have started and then followed the usual 5K route that I have raced on at least a dozen times, but in the reverse. After about 1.5 miles I felt the strain of the fast pace but managed to stick with the (by now considerably thinned out) pack for another half mile, but at the prize of seriously hurting lungs and legs and eventually I just could not stay with them any longer and they started inching away from me. The leading lady passed me as well, and even though I tried to hitch a ride, I lost contact soon.

From that point on I was on my own. I thought of my Dad who is at that very moment in the intensive care unit in hospital and thought that pushing through the pain barrier might make him proud of me even though he would never say so, but that soppy romantic image faded as quickly as the rest of me. I knew I had slowed down considerably as the runners ahead disappeared into the distance and was amazed that nobody caught up with me. My breathing was totally haywire, I was wheezing loudly with every breath but could not get enough oxygen into the system. The last mile seemed to last forever, and the fact that the course was way long did not help. Eventually I saw the finish, just as I heard footsteps appear from behind. I upped the pace, trying to hold off the challenger, but natural pace is not something I am blessed with and he easily caught me. I would have been well clear of him at 5k, but the real distance today was 3.33 miles according to my Garmin, as well as three or fours other runners' toys, and the RD later admitted the error.

It didn't really matter, looking at it now I went through 5k in 18:56 which is a lousy time. The mile splits of 5:38, 6:04, 6:34, (6:10 pace for the final 0.33 miles) tell you the entire story. You could of course argue that I started too fast, but in my experience 5Ks don't work like that. All my best times at that distance have been achieved by starting fast and hanging on as best as I can. The times I tried to start in a measured way and keep the pace even have always been slower. It's a painful distance and a painful way of running it but I'd had vague hopes of breaking 18 minutes today and I was worlds away from that.

By the way, after the race I saw a map of the proposed course in the hall, and it clearly showed Knockreer as the start, just like promised at the web site, so why they made us run the extra distance from Killarney House is anyone's guess.

Oh, and apparently I came sixth, though I thought I was about eighth or ninth during the race, not that I was concentrating on counting the runners ahead of me. There were no prizes for age group runners, so I went home empty handed.

I was completely shattered afterwards, I collapsed into the grass beside the finish for a minute and when I tried to get up felt dizzy so I stayed down for a bit longer. When walking back, one woman inquired if I was ok, I must have looked really bad. I've had a cough/cold for the last 10 days or so, the entire family has it and we can't seem to shake it. It never bothered me at all in training, but things may be different at race intensity, especially at 5K race intensity. I don't want to make excuses though, I faded extremely badly today and was well off the pace at the end. The HR was as high as for my PB a few weeks ago, so it's not for lack of trying. My best guess is that as someone who sharpens quickly I cannot hold my peak shape for long and my conditioning is on the downward slide already.

18 Aug

6.1 miles, 47:12, 7:43 pace, HR 143

19 Aug

5 miles, 38:45, 7:44 pace, HR 151
   incl. 5x100 strides

20 Aug

~7 miles, including:
Run Kerry Run "5K" (3.33 miles!)
   20:16, going through 5K in 18:56, avg. HR 181, max. HR 187
   6th overall (?), no M40 prizes