While all you want to be Irish are working away and planning to drink the Green Beer, I was on the start line in FREEZING conditions at 10am in the Phoenix Park, Dublin (The real one, not the one in Ohio!) for a 4 Mile Road Race. The conditions were not typical, even for Ireland, in that it was only just a shade over freezing, and the wind chill factor ensured that long sleeves, wooly hats and gloves were necessary.
I run my first Marathon of the year next Sunday (26th), in Connemara, so this was a "warm-up" in that I wanted a faster pace run to get the legs turning over, and blow away the mileage that has been building in my legs during the distance training. I hadn't accounted for the Arctic conditions however, and any thoughts of an easy, pleasant run, were rapidly being blown away as we lined up.
The first two miles were gently down hill, around a sheltered part of the Park, The Glens if anyone knows the Park, and I quickly settled into an even pace amongst the few hundred brave souls who had ventured out (WE runners are all mad - it's official - )... The first two miles were 14:15, and my "target" of running under 30 minutes was easily being attained - so far...
Between Miles 2 and 3, I was blown away - almost literally. There is a steep climb here, up towards the Papal Cross in the Park, and whilst I dug in and ran well up the hill, at the top, the Park opens up into an unshaded open field, and the wind was howling across, bitter and carrying hail stones along with it. It was murder - No shelter at all from the elements and I was gradually losing the will to live - It was COLD!
Reached the Mile marker in 8:05 and at last some respite as we turned with the wind behind us for the last mile along the main road. I started to get the feeling back into my hands and legs, and although I couldn't speed up enough to challenge any one ahead, I stayed clear of anyone behind, and was so glad to see the Finish Line and my watch stopping at 29:30. As I crossed the line I was greeted by the President of the Irish Athletics Association who saw my club vest and told me that a Clubmate of mine, Paul McNamara, had won the Race, so a great week for him as he won the National Short Course X-Country Title last week -
I was Cold and glad to get back to my car and gather up my track suit, and then, being mad of course, I decided to team up with a friend and run the course again as a warm down and extra mileage for my marathon. This time we "jogged" it in 40 minutes, and the hail decided to play a trick on us by deciding to come down again just as we hit the Open Fields by the Papal Cross again - Maybe somebody was trying to tell us something -
Did I mention It was COLD
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