March 21st and we're running the Pakie Ryan. The plan is to meet in DNG at 10 and run to Newmarket-on-Fergus to run the 10 mile race in the Pakie Ryan. It's another bright day, but there's a cold breeze as we set out. I'm running with 3 "greyhounds" so there's a small concern in my mind about pacing of this first 7 miles.
I'm not normally overly concerned with pace - but there are those long runs where, when I start out too fast, I find that at a certain point it becomes pretty hard work to get to the end....
Anyway, we get to Newmarket at a lively enough pace and have to make our way through the start line of the 5K.
Thanks Flan Sheedy for drawing everyone's attention to us as we arrived - they all applauded us and said "Well done" as we made our way through the crowd to the 10k/10 mile start line.
We thought we had timed it so that we would start with that group, but had to wait around a few minutes until we got going again.
Once the race itself got going, I decided to back off the pace to something approximating the pace we will be doing in the 50K.
After 3K, we left the 10K crowd behind and continued on towards Shannon. I'm keeping an eye on my pace to make sure I don't speed up. Like we said on one of our runs, "I run slower on the long runs, that's not an excuse, it's a strategy!"
On past Shannon and we turn after the Co-Op shop and then back towards Newmarket on the back roads. It's a bright day and nice countryside, so I keep the pace steady, knowing there are a few hills coming - nothing too big, but they can leave you short of breath if you're getting tired.
Up over the hill into Newmarket and there's Flan again telling you to watch your step on the uneven road, there's Derek, Shane and Micheál giving you a shout... thanks lads!
Coming to the finish, look at the watch - almost 17 miles done, legs are a bit tired...and it occurs to me...we'll have another 14 miles to do on the day. We're getting to the bigger miles now in the next weeks leading to our maximum in the Limerick marathon...so if you see us on the road, give us a shout or a beep, and remember, if we're running slow, that's a strategy!
Ronan
I'm not normally overly concerned with pace - but there are those long runs where, when I start out too fast, I find that at a certain point it becomes pretty hard work to get to the end....
Anyway, we get to Newmarket at a lively enough pace and have to make our way through the start line of the 5K.
Thanks Flan Sheedy for drawing everyone's attention to us as we arrived - they all applauded us and said "Well done" as we made our way through the crowd to the 10k/10 mile start line.
We thought we had timed it so that we would start with that group, but had to wait around a few minutes until we got going again.
Once the race itself got going, I decided to back off the pace to something approximating the pace we will be doing in the 50K.
After 3K, we left the 10K crowd behind and continued on towards Shannon. I'm keeping an eye on my pace to make sure I don't speed up. Like we said on one of our runs, "I run slower on the long runs, that's not an excuse, it's a strategy!"
On past Shannon and we turn after the Co-Op shop and then back towards Newmarket on the back roads. It's a bright day and nice countryside, so I keep the pace steady, knowing there are a few hills coming - nothing too big, but they can leave you short of breath if you're getting tired.
Up over the hill into Newmarket and there's Flan again telling you to watch your step on the uneven road, there's Derek, Shane and Micheál giving you a shout... thanks lads!
Coming to the finish, look at the watch - almost 17 miles done, legs are a bit tired...and it occurs to me...we'll have another 14 miles to do on the day. We're getting to the bigger miles now in the next weeks leading to our maximum in the Limerick marathon...so if you see us on the road, give us a shout or a beep, and remember, if we're running slow, that's a strategy!
Ronan