Yep, making a welcome change in that I am not writing about taking two steps backwards after a week of improvements. After last weeks healthy race over 5K, I started the week with another race, the 5 Mile, Adidas Irish Runner Challenge in the Phoenix Park. They were unable to get the car parking at Castleknock College as in previous years, so I decided to go via Public Transport, which ended up with me walking around 3 miles as a warm up - maybe not ideal, but I'll live - Had to walk the same back, which wasn't quite as much fun :).
With the time I had managed over 5K earlier in the week, I was hopeful of breaking 40 minutes for this 5 Miler. However, I hadn't accounted for only 60 hours between the races, and I knew very quickly that the heaviness in my legs was not going to see that sort of time getting near. This race is part of the build up to the Marathon in October, and there were around 4,500 participants, and so with the legs heavy and the size of the field, I was reconsidering my strategy right from the off. The course also has its surprises in that there are a number of hills which slow you down, and with each mile clicking over 8 minutes and 20, I was struggling from the start. But once I had reached 4 miles, I needed to kick hard, and see what inner strength I might have, well, OK, the course had flattened out here, and I hoped I could run faster - Well, I did, not wonderfully, but fast enough to record a 41:10 finishing time, which in hindsight I was happy enough with.
Since then I have had a good week. Sunday saw me hashing over 5 miles, with a gym session beforehand, rested on Monday, 5K on Tuesday, 6K on Wednesday, and on Thursday I decided on a speed session to see where I am at that score, and ran a hard 3K on the treadmill in 13:48, again a time I was more than happy with, given my present levels of fitness.
All in all, a good week, and with my next race two weeks away, the Streets of Galway 8K, time to build from this and certainly look at that sub 40 there.
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