First one in the Bag...

Good grief!! What is this ? - Two posts in two days, I must have found my computer!

Well, after writing yesterday about my plans for the next couple of months, only fair to report on the first race of this block. Today was the Terenure 5M, organised by Sportsworld RC, and an 11 am start over by Templeogue College and Bushy Park. Headed over by waling a couple of Km to Rathmines to catch a linking bus (It's Sunday, buses are rare on days off!), and I arrived with an hour to meet up with Team Mates and warm up. Great to meet up with Rachel, Sinead, Darren, Nikki, James, Paul, Teresa, Liz, Jann, Aobhie, Rachel's mum Barbara, and Chief Cheerleader John before the race, and bumping into Speedster Paul as well at the front of the start line... (Apologies if I missed anyone!)

I lined up with the Sub 40 pacers, and when the start came, and grey clouds were lingering, I managed to set myself into a steady rhythm and the First Mile was run in 7:55, nice and steady, not over running and well within what I felt I was up for. Staying with the pacers into Mile Two, it was 15:52 at the Split and still I was feeling comfortable. The course here at Terenure is relatively flat, although slightly misleading as there is a long 1 degree downhill on the two laps, and a climb to the finish, perhaps un-noticeable, especially to those used to hills, but believe me, they are there.

Mile 3 was still will the pacers, and clocked at 23:45, and it was at this point that I decided to push on a little, and whilst I didn't pull away rapidly, it was a steady push, and I had my eyes set on getting well under 40 minutes. Mile 4 was clocked at 31:35, and I simply kept this up as we approached the finish. I was working out the spot where to kick on from, but, due to the slight incline, I didn't really have much extra in the tank for the final 400m, and just kept my head, solid running, and crossed the line in 39:23, a finish time I was very happy with, and even more happy in that every mile had been under 8 minute pace, not the up and down times I have featured in some races this spring.

Overall I ended up 450th out of nearly 1200 runners, and was 12th out of 278 in my age group. Very happy with the run, and seeing so many of my Team #RSP friends achieve Personal Bests on their runs. Next up, the 10K next Sunday in St Annes, and a possible Sub 50 run there - Let's Hope....

Slow to Update, but I'm getting faster-ish!

Realised it's been two months since I last posted an update. Since March, and the Meath Half Marathon, I have been running quite well, with a little up and down in the results column, but overall things have been heading in the direction I had hoped.

Three 10K's have been raced, with slightly mixed results, all having drawbacks, one with heavy wind, one at night with congestion (runners, not in my chest!), and the latest one in heavy rain and a tweeked ankle. Times of 51:41, 52:17 and 52:58 respectively, look like they are heading in the wrong direction, but overall, I was happy enough with each of the times at each of the races.

Before the 10K's there was the Battle of Clontarf 10 Miler where I was happy with a time of 85:49, and I also set a PB for the 5K Parkrun of 24:09 over at Hartstown. The best result I have had in the past two months was at the RTE 5 Mile Race in the BHAA series (Business House Athletic Association). On a very wet day in Donnybrook, I clocked a M50 PB of 38:54, and the Revenue Works Team won a little prize as well.

The training has been going well, with an increase in distance, and whilst I don't aim for PB's when I train, I do run time trials occasionally, and these have shown a significant improvement in recent times, showing promise for the rest of the summer. Which leads me on to setting myself some targets. I have races lined up over the next few months, starting with the Sportsworld 5M Race in Terenure tomorrow (17th), where I would hope to be comfortably under 40 minutes. Next up is a 10K next Sunday at St Annes in Raheny, and if the weather holds up, I really hope to be ducking under that 50 minute barrier. This will be quickly followed by the 5 Miler at Dunboyne in the BHAA series, followed by a break from racing, and a ramp up in the training as I build for the Dublin Series, kicking off at the end of June with the Irish Runner 5 Miler.

All roads are leading up to the Rock n Roll Dublin Half Marathon in August, which has long been a target for me. At this point in time I hope to be under 1:50, although this may change between now and then.

Adding a few pics from the last few weeks -