I Pity The Fool

Last week I finished off the 8 week 5k training program I had been following on Zwift. It was very strange in 2 completely separate ways - firstly that I was doing it on a treadmill and secondly that I was doing a 5k training program at all - me, the ultra runner with the Diesel engine and without a single fast twitch fibre. Anyway, I finished it off with the obligatory 5k time trial, obviously with a fair amount of trepidation, and ended it with a 19:16 treadmill TT, a pretty decent improvement compared to the 19:44 I had done 4 weeks earlier as part of the boards.ie TT.

As it happens, the community on boards.ie had gotten the taste for virtual races and today was the second installment, and this time it was the mile! That's even more fish-out-of-water territory for me, so of course I jumped at the chance and signed up (while trying to ignore the fact that Anto has been organising a series of virtual ultras all along).

I knew what to expect.

I was already chancing my luck bombing along at 5k pace on my home treadmill, so for that one I was definitely heading outwards, and the flattest piece of road anywhere nearby is obviously the Prom, though I avoided the Prom itself because, you know, people and social distancing, so I ran on the bike path parallel to it and don't worry, I jumped off onto the road whenever a cyclist was nearby.

The fact that my first glance at the watch in desperation was as early as 0.18 miles wasn't a good sign, though in my defence I was a bit paranoid about missing the turnaround point.

A 19:16 5k would translate into a 5:33 mile, though taking my speed-deprived legs into account you could probably add a few seconds to that, but even that always sounded way too optimistic - at the GOAL mile half a year ago I wasn't even able to break 6, so in the end I was actually pretty pleased with 5:56, faster than my previous fastest mile at the 2018 GOAL mile, and let's completely ignore the fact that I used to run a lot faster for 5Ks. Getting old sucks, but I think I might have mentioned that before.

Hey, it's good to be alive and we're having the sunniest spring in Irish history, which makes the lockdown so much more bearable.

Stay safe.