3,000m race and Tallaght 5k

Monday, Apr 27th: 16.2km LSR (6:01/km)

Myself, Roisin and JC joined together for this run which took in the three parks of DCU's Albert Park, Poppintree Park before finishing in Northwood Demesne. The pace was pretty leisurely for me on this one and finished feeling like I could have gone much further.

Tuesday, Apr 28th: 11.9km CH: 1 Mile – 1km– 1km – 1Mile

Club session. Managed this more easily than previous similar session back several weeks ago. Still tough though!

Wednesday, Apr 29th: 4.8km Recovery (5:33/km)

Short recovery run to keep it between the ditches!

Thursday, Apr 30th: 6.3km CH: 3,000m Race (12:00)

3,000m race on the track. First time ever doing a track race (apart from a marathon on Le Cheile’s old grass track in Leixlip and a 24 hr race on Mary Peters’ Track in Belfast!!) I ran in the second race after the fast folk completed theirs. From the off I tucked in behind the leader and was very comfortable for the first couple of laps before a lady runner came past both of us. The other guy was beginning to fade so I went with the lady runner for a few more laps. The pace was beginning to have an effect by lap 5 and the leader began to drift slowly away. Over the course of the second last lap I could hear/feel the pack clsong on me and were only a couple of steps behind now. With 600m remaining they began to ramp things up and within about half a lap I was passed by about 5 others! I was maintaining my pace but they were simply getting faster. I managed to hold position from there to the end though and finished in 12mins flat. Pretty sure there wasn't another second to be found out there though as I was totally spent when crossing the finish line. 

Great event and an eye opener to racing for me, as opposed to time-trialling! Already looking forward to hitting up my next mile 3,000m race!

Friday, May 1st: 7.0km Battery died!

I know I ran but just can’t remember anything about it apart from the fact it was in the park! Recovery pace after last night.

Saturday, May 2nd: 0.9km Aborted Poppintree Parkrun

I was feeling a twinge in the right groin ever since the race on Thurs evening, and possibly in sympathy with Roisin’s knee which was giving her jib, we decided it was pointless either of us doing this parkrun. So, after a very short warm-up lap we reverted straight back to the car.

Oh, and the torrential freezing rain may have helped sway our minds!

Sunday, May 3rd: 13.4km Tallaght 5k Race (21:17) and 6.4km Easy(5:17/km).

I went to Tallaght for their 5km race with the hope that I’d give 20mins a serious run for its money. The groin was remaining quiet and the weather 24 hrs later had made a dramatic improvement so things were looking good.

After a 2km warm up I joined in with the field of runners. Without any notification back where I was we were suddenly set off on our way. Immediately I noticed a girl I know called Karen overtake me. I decided I’d try hanging with her as I knew she’d be close to 20mins. It all remained a little tight for the first few hundred metres until we turned the corner towards Tymon Park. We were making nice steady progress and went through the first km in 4:02 which I was very happy about as I’d wanted to ensure I didn’t go off way too quick here.

Towards the end of the second km there was a sharp left turn and a slight drop so I kicked on again past Karen and to forge my own race. How wrong was I! I ran strongly for the remainder of the downhill to the halfway mark of the course but as soon as the incline began to increase upwards I had no response! I trudged on but the legs just would not go any faster. At this point I realised that racing a 3,000m on the previous Thursday probably wasn’t the best prep for this 5k! With about 1km to go Karen went past again and over the course of the final km she took about 80m out of me!

So, while I was hoping to be close to 20mins I ended up crossing the line in 21:17 or thereabouts. Definitely one to write off and forget about!

Week Summary:
RTW: 8 from 7 days
DTW: 61.0km
DTY: 877.1