First Goal Achieved - On to the next...

It's been a cold month, but with Jantastic going well, and the enthusiasm of the Team #RSP gang, my training has been consistent if not exactly electrifying. A fair bit of treadmill running, and interval work showing signs of improvements, I was looking forward to this weekend, and the first Goal Race of the year, the Raheny Shamrock 5m.

I decided to run a back to back, with a Parkrun on the Saturday, and went to St Annes, in Raheny, to take on the Parkrun. I wasn't looking for a particularly fast time, and just ran a steady race, and was pleasantly surprised to duck under 25 minutes, and a Parkrun PR, albeit, St Annes is a lot flatter as a course than my regular Waterstown run.

So, onto Sunday, and a much warmer day than the rest of the month has been. It was great to see so many Team #RSPers out, and I was looking forward to a decent run. I was planning on running around 8:20 per mile, and started well at around that pace, or slightly faster, and the first 80% of the race was uneventful, plodding along, reaching 3 Miles in 24:35, and then along the waterfront before turning for the only hill on the route. I missed the 4 Mile mark, and went up the hill comfortably, however as we flattened out, I was overheating and had to take a short walk-break - The price paid for wearing a long sleeved cotton vest under my Team #RSP singlet - Naturally I was spotted by a team mate, embarrassing :) - But once I cooled a little, it was on towards the finish, and an easy run home, breaking the finish line in an unofficial time of 41:16, well inside my target of 41:59, and over a minute faster than the Simon 5 last October.

First Goal achieved, and now I have 5 weeks to build on this for Ballycotton, where I have double the distance to travel, and an ambitious goal to aim for. Great to have such a supportive crew at the race from Team #RSP, with great runs from each and everyone there, with many a PR achieved. Looking forward to the next few weeks of training, with the odd Parkrun thrown in, and Ballycotton in Cork on March 8th.