On a related note, Cian asked me the other day what place I would have come in the last championship with my Belfast performance, and I told him about 45th.
The poor boy was devastated!
In one split second his dad had dropped from potential champion to complete no-hoper!
I tried the angle that being in the top 50 in the world isn't actually that bad but was chasing a lost cause. I'll never live up to his standards, I guess.
Right now my Belfast result has me in 49th place (men only, that is, though they only have 4 women listed with better 2014 results [can't be right, can it!?!]) in the DUV statistics for 2014, though I don't know how complete that database is and of course there are still some races yet to come. Still, I like to think that's not a bad result for the nerdy kid who used to be the last one picked for football in school because he was so useless at sport. Oh, and the other way of reading this data is that I am in 16th place in my age group.
Anyway, recovery from Sixmilebridge is going very well. As always, my recovery program consists of running 5 slow and easy miles each morning until I feel better and then slowly increase the distance. The first half mile on Monday morning was a rather painful, awkward and pathetic hobble until the legs loosened up a bit. Tuesday was already a lot better, the hobble part lasted only as far as our driveway. On Wednesday I was almost back to normal, the HR had almost gone back to pre-race levels and apart from one bit, there was no more soreness.
The one bit that hurt a bit was my right hamstring, but get over this, that's not the hamstring that has given me grief over the last few weeks but the other leg. I'm reasonably sure that it's nothing serious and will get better within another day or two, but in my geeky way I find it interesting that the troubled part of my physique seems to have been completely unaffected by running 52+ miles. Anyway, by Thursday morning all that was left was it feeling a bit tight, no more than that. The HR had recovered even further, to pre-race levels already, which is rather mind-boggling. I must be in good shape to be able to recover that quickly.
Oh, and for the question if I raced Sixmilebridge or treated it as a training run: I ran it at the same effort level as I had done the races in Staplestown and Portumna, before Belfast. That training had led me to qualify for the world championships, so I figured something is working rather well - don't change it.
- 17 Nov
- 5 miles, 45:26, 9:05 pace, HR 131
- 18 Nov
- 5 miles, 43:46, 8:45 pace, HR 134
- 19 Nov
- 5 miles, 40:56, 8:11 pace, HR 135
- 20 Nov
- 8 miles, 1:04:07, 8:01 pace, HR 136
Well done Thomas. I'm sure you'll make your son proud and represent your country well. BTW I think Top50 in the world is a pretty good statistic!!!
ReplyDeleteThe Rory McElroy of Ultra running ;-) great news Thomas and congrats again, top 50 is superb and you've come a long way (excuse the pun) , an Irish vest would suit you better I think but you're firmly adopted now and I for one will follow your progress with pride.
ReplyDeleteRun well Thomas , stay injury free and inspire.
Top 50 is ace...
ReplyDeleteIn terms of Irish and Austrian placings where do you come? Well done again. Sure tell Cian you are the highest placed Kerry man on the list
ReplyDeleteI'm second in the Austrian team. Not sure where I'd be in Ireland, depends on who makes the team - not that it matters, really.
DeleteExciting news! Looking forward to a photo of you in the Austrian uniform. Now you've put pressure on yourself to at least make the top-50. If not, Cian will be telling you to take up lawn bowls ;)
ReplyDeleteGreat news Thomas, no more than you deserve after the years of diligent training. You're certainly in great shape and building nicely towards April'15.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Thomas, that's fantastic news.
ReplyDelete