Iām still quite green in race situations. I saw from results there was just shy of 200 racing & the chap one place ahead had 24 seconds on me. He was edging further away all the time & I couldnāt bridge the gap to work with him. Like the recent half, I spent the majority of the race running on my own - that half I was passed inside the first 5km by a couple of groups of 2/3 lads from the same clubs running together & I should really have broken my hole to latch onto one of the groups. 10 miles later & they all finished 1-2 minutes ahead of me so any early effort to stay with them surely wouldnāt have been harder than running those miles on my own.
Thatās exactly it. A race with huge numbers gives you more chance of it. I broke my arse in the Gorey 10 mile to latch onto a group of 3 between 4 and 5 miles and they carried me to around the 8th mile where I had a 2nd wind to kick on. If I was on my own Iād have been a minute down on them. Instead I was 30 seconds ahead.
The Dunboyne race was amazing for it as the numbers were so huge there was always someone you could try get to and then take a bit of a breather and then see if you feel like kicking on again. Sometimes it can be a case of you going at the same pace but someone coming back to you so you can find yourself accidentally going slower by staying with them too.
I find stuff like this great for keeping the brain busy when running and distracted from other stuff that can mess my head around.
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I got my comeuppance today @Bandage. Latched onto a group again nearing mile 3 and knew Iād gone out too quick. Was coming to a part of the route I know is about a constant 2km drag with the wind straight in your face the whole way. Weāll all help each other says I. It also was just at the point where the 10k and 10 mile runners split. So off the rest of the group toddled on their 10k route just as I expected a breather. The head gasket wasnāt long blowing on that 2km stretch.
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You didnāt really want it enough
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The brain was all on for it but the legs had a different point of view
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A fine run all the same.
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Great Running @mac and @Bandage , we often have short term memories in running. Gauging off our last race or recent training. Go back on ur Strava and have a browse through the last 6-12 months and ull see your true improvement.
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The bar of self expectation only goes up. It rarely comes back down
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Itās funny (maybe not in a ha ha sense) but I think my best ever proper race was my first ever proper race - a half marathon in November 2021. Coach @fenwaypark had me flying in training, I was a fearless 40-year old youngster & wasnāt overthinking things. I guess Iām putting races back to back now but Iām not making huge inroads in terms of getting quicker. Like I said, I hope that will come in time though as Iām told consistent training should ultimately yield results.
Youāre right though, looking at the big picture Iām a good bit fitter at this stage this year than over both of the last two years as I ended up getting calf strains around March 2022 & 2023. While it would be nice to chip away at my PBs, I like running whether it be training or racing for running itself. If I was 100% committed to improvement Iād probably be more disciplined about diet (back over 80kg after being down at 75kg) & incorporate a strength training session or two into my timetable every week.
All good with you? You seem to be tipping away nicely & throwing in very good race performances.
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Ah yea . Iām doing ok. Was going really well there a month or 3 weeks ago. A couple of back to back races and a fast park run in the last few weeks have zapped me a bit. Energy levels are low and Iāve a hamstring that is not really behaving. 10 mile run in Patrickswell at the weekend but I think Iām gonna run it more as a training run as I donāt think I can face going. Alls out again this weekend.
As you say about the time improvements,itās a lot of work to get very small incriments off your time once you get down near each personās max. Like yourself I ran for a good while before doing my first proper race. A 10k and Iāve not taken much more than 3 mins off that time since and that was years ago. In my other distances I have seen decent improvement alright. Some of my favourite races were where Iād no interest in doing a āfastā (for me) time .
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You know the drill, youāll have to make it very clear on Strava youāre running NOT racing.
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"Nice to get a training run in and support a great cause at the same time. Kudos please "
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Your training is consistent at moment but youāre not training for one thing or the other imho. You should do a block of 5k specific training before going into a marathon block of training. If you did, you would pb across all distances imho.
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I noticed this last year. My 5k PB, 5k NB, 10k PB, and HM PB all came in that order last January - May. Moved the focus of training up along from pre 5k to the HM
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This block is along those lines, albeit itās 5km-10km oriented. Week 3 of (I think) 16 starting tomorrow.
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Just to add to this, I did feel over trained by the time the HM came around and while I was happy with my time I felt like it was way harder than it should have been, and lost all interest in running for a good while after it.
Iām hoping Iāve timed to my lead up to it a bit better year. I wonāt be near last years time but hopefully Iāll be motivated to keep the training going and target another one for later in the summer
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@backinatracksuit whatās that track you ran this morning like? Is it similar to the bit after you go under the bridge?
I didnāt know what you mean about under the bridge,
I mean itās mostly a decent grass path, it gets muddy in places, I had to turn around because I came to a proper marsh which is normally passable In summertime anyway
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Sorry i meant that stretch after you go under the ānewā bridge (the main bridge across the shannon) at the start of that path and stay along the waters edge instead of going onto the tarmac path at the city end of the condell road. Itās a mix of mud and gravel.