Uphill Again

You might remember that last Sunday I had followed up a disastrous 5K with a run up Seefin mountain the next day. Paul took slight exception to me calling that "not real training", and while I can understand that a guy who has represented Ireland in a trail world championship feels that way, I am a road runner and the rule of specificity applies. But it got me thinking, why do I not feel the urge to run up these mountains every day like others would?

As much as I treasure the views from up there, that's not really what I'm looking for. I guess the main thing is that I get the quiet, peaceful me-time on the road at 6 o'clock just as much as I would up on the mountains. There aren't too many people on the Kerry roads at that time. I also like running purely for the sake of running itself. I prefer being able to stride out and not having to wonder what I'm landing on. Running across a boggy field isn't as meditative.

Having said that, I had enjoyed my little mountain trip sufficiently to do it again on Saturday, but this time I extended the route and once I had reached the top of Seefin (via a more direct route and almost 5 minutes faster than last week) I followed the ridge that runs parallel to Caragh Lake on the left and Dingle Bay on the right, basically re-tracing the route of the mountain run stage of the Rás na Ríochta adventure race. When I hit Windy Gap I turned left and followed the Kerry Way back home. All in all it got me over 10 miles and the conviction that I had just completely destroyed the last remnants of hope for a decent race the following day. Little did I know. Maybe the key to a fast 10K is to run a mountain the day before and then cycle 40 minutes to the race start (remember, you heard it here first!).

Interestingly, since yesterday morning I have been feeling much better. I am not sure if I am feeling better because the 10K lifted my spirits or if I had already been recovering and the 38 minutes 10K was merely a sign of that, but I don't care. I spent much of last week feeling sorry for myself, wishing my running were better and worrying about Dingle. All of a sudden I feel like newborn, Dingle will be great fun and I am thinking about adding one or two more races to my racing season (that last point could be a mistake, of course).

27 Aug

10.5 miles, 1:43:15, 9:50 pace, HR 151

29 Aug

6.1 miles, 47:22, 7:45 pace, HR 143

30 Aug

6.1 miles, 46:35, 7:38 pace, HR 146