Enniscorthy Half Marathon

Friday 24th May 2013 – 17.2km Easy Run (5:13/km)
An easy run along the seafront in Clontarf. A little bit tired towards the end from the faster stuff earlier this week.

Saturday 25th May 2013 – Rest Day
Took a rest day this evening to allow me be a bit fresher for the Half Marathon tomorrow.

Sunday 26th May 2013 (morning) – 21.1km Enniscorthy Half Marathon (4:22/km)
I’d managed to get a free entry for this race from Alan & Orna (thanks again!) who were doing pacing duties. I had originally planned to go West and do the Moy HM but I figured this would be just as good, closer and cheaper. It was a lovely sunny morning which meant the chances were it was going to get hotter later which would mean a tough day on a hilly course. 

I ran into my two sponsors beforehand and with them were Johnny, Matt (both pacers also) and Barry (who was also aiming for 1:30).

We made our way to the start line and the race started just after 10:05am. Immediately there was almost a pile-up as a guy to my right tripped up on the starting mat and half fell to the ground. Luckily he was up and moving again before anyone else had fallen over him, but not a great beginning!

Race Start with Barry in blue (& me in grey!).

The first half of the race contained the majority of the hills and while most of them were a manageable gradient I was maxing out my effort trying to keep with the 4:17/km pace. This was confirmed with my av HR consistently being around 163bpm for the first half of the race. Given my LT HR lies around 158bpm I knew there’d be payback later on. By the 6km mark I was beginning to drift off the back of the pacing group and over the course of the next few miles I tried to limit the gap as much as I could. Unfortunately though, every time we went uphill they gained extra time on me and by the halfway point they were approximately 200m ahead of me.

Around this time I was going through a tough patch mentally, debating if I shouldn’t just ease off the pace altogether given it was plainly obvious this wasn’t a PB course. I stuck with the effort though and happily the next couple of kms were reasonably flat so I managed to exorcise the demons in time for the next hill.

I managed to close the gap and 
pass this guy over the next 100m!

There were only a couple of short hills in the final 6km but the one just before we emerged onto the N11 really slowed me down. I probably wouldn’t even notice it on an easy run but where it came and the fact that I was maxed out meant pure misery. Once on the N11 it was pretty flat for a mile and a half before we passed over the last drag and then it was downhill/flat to the finish. I had been passed by a couple of runners at the start of the N11 and they had created a gap of about 30m on me while I was struggling along. However, once we were over the last incline I was slowly catching the second guy again and made it my goal to reel him in over the final km. Eventually, with about 400m to go I managed to get by him as I was on the opposite bank of the river from the finish line. It was only then that I realised the lead guy was only another 40m ahead at this stage and fading. I kept up the pressure and by the time I rounded the final bridge and beginning the 200m run-in to the line he was still about 20m ahead. Yet I was getting faster and he was slowing so I went into overdrive once more to keep the legs turning over and managed to nab in front of him with about 15m remaining. I was hoping that he’d not have enough time to react and didn’t dare turn to see his reaction as I passed by. Simply kept the legs pumping and I was over the line in 1:33:31 – 42 seconds slower than my PB from Bohermeen but a much tougher course and conditions.

I think judging by my HR data it was definitely a PB effort if not quite a PB result. Disappointed not to grab the PB but I’ll put it down as a really good training session for the bigger picture of Portumna. Hopefully the sub 90 will come in the Athlone Flatline half marathon in September, if not before.

Sunday 26th May 2013 (afternoon) – 4.1km Recovery Run (5:19/km)
I called into the Phoenix Park on my way back home to go for a leg loosener after the race and the drive back up. I was pretty stiff starting off but after the 4km things were much better and the legs had loosened out nicely.

Week 20 Summary:

RTW: 6 from 7 days

DTW: 72.5km

DTY: 1,705.2km