After Terenure, I was hopeful of ducking under 50 minutes again for 10K at the Raheny Summer Series 10K in St Anne's Park at the end of May. However, it wasn't quite to be, running 50:27, which was a PHD PB, which I can't complain about, and it certainly got me nearer the Sub50 mark. This race was swiftly followed two days later with a BHAA race over 5 Miles in Dunboyne. Again, I had a decent enough run, once again going under 40 minutes for 5 miles, the third time in 5 weeks, and only a few seconds behind my M55 PB, again, things heading in the right direction.
Next up was a return to my favourite parkrun, over in Waterstown. It had been a few months since I had managed to get over to this particular parkrun, and I had high hopes of a decent run on this challenging course. I hadn't managed to break 25 minutes here, and I was determined to do so this day. I actually managed it with some ease, clocking 24:41, a 25 second Course PB and all going well. I felt a few niggles over these races, mainly a tight hamstring on my left leg, coupled with a recurrance of my ankle problems - nothing serious, but I was glad to be having a break from racing for a week or so.
The Bank Holiday Monday at the beginning of June saw me standing in the rain cheering on Paula and the Team #RSP girls in the mini-marathon here in Dublin. Now, I am never happy about races with the word Marathon in them, when they are not over 26.2 miles, but the Dublin Women's Race, over 10K, has been going for many years now, and is the largest Women Only Race of this nature in the World, not bad for a small country! It wasn't the best day, weather wise, but everyone had a great day, Paula completed her first 10K, and we got dry afterwards with a few drinks with the RSP girls.
Niggles aside, it was back to the BHAA a week or so afterwards, and something very different for me. Two races on the grass track at Trinity College over 1200m and 2000m. First up was the shorter race, and not having run on a grass track since school, and I don't believe I have ever raced over 1200m, three laps of the track before. Doing intervals at 4:15/4:20 pace over 1000m, I had to guess the best way to run this, especially as were running with a a wide range of BHAA Standards in the same race. I simply tried to run at an even pace, not getting carried away, and I think I managed that, clocking 4:55 for the 3 laps, around 1:40 per lap. Only problem I had was that I had no kick in my legs on the finishing straight, the faster pace leaving me unable to pick anything up here. One hour to cool down, and then it was back for the 5 laps of the 2000m. A little closer to what I know I was capable of, and I decided simply to try and run around the 4:30 per Km pace, and not worry about other runners. I tucked behind another competitor running around the same pace, and we checked off each lap, with me being a stride or two behind, hoping to take him on the finish straight, but once again, I had nothing in the legs, and he kicked away from me, as I finished in 9:03 - mind you, he was some 30 years younger than me :)... At the prize giving later that evening, I picked up a prize for my run in the 2000 and our Revenue Team won our Standard Division, so came away with some nice goodies on the evening.
The following Saturday saw me up north, and a trip to Wallace Park, Lisburn for parkrun. This was the scene of my first parkruns back in 2013 when I first started running again after my back injury. Only having run this course twice before, neither spectacularly, I was pretty much assured a Course PB here, and despite the three hills on this course, I ran a steady run and clocked 24:39, and was happy with the time and the overall run.
This last week has been strange. I took Paula out for a 7.5 K easy run on Monday, and then on Wednesday evening I went out with the Run Logic Team for a run on the first few miles of the Rock n Roll 1/2 Course, and felt terrible. I don't know why, but nothing felt right. My legs were heavy, I had sore hips, generally out of sorts. Thursday morning I felt tired and lethargic, and as a result I passed on any runs on Thursday & Friday, hoping to feel better for Saturday's 10K race in Dunshaughlin. To be fair, I din't feel too bad as I boarded the bus over to Meath and the race, and once there, it was great meeting up with the Team RSP gang, and I felt OK as we headed to the start. It was a hot evening, with the sun actually beating down, a rare sight this summer, and once the race started, I knew within a few early kilometers I would suffer a little in this heat, and I did. I started off with a 4:45 first Km, and One Mile was sub 7:45, and after 3Km in under 15 minutes, I started to wilt, so decided, as I have a few races this week (See below!), to take it easy, and that's exactly what I did, kicking a little on the finishing straight, and coming home in 52:40, well below expectations, but a finish is a finish, and live to fight another day.
That's brought things up to date, and now I have a three race series, all in the space of a week. Tuesday coming sees the latest BHAA Race, a 5K grass trail race in the Phoenix Park, again, not quite sure what to expect, followed by Thursday night and a trip out to Clonee and another 10K, and finally on Saturday the Dublin Race Series begins with the 5 Miler on the road in the Phoenix Park. One more run at Waterstown parkrun on the 4th July will see me through to July 10th, and a far more important race begins that day, when Paula and I tie the knot.... Not that it will stop either of us running!
So, not really progressed as much as I would have liked over the last month, more treading water a little, albeit reasonably consistent, aside from Dunshaughlin. Hopefully a decent run in Clonee on Thursday will eradicate that one and get me back on the road, and then the 5 Miler over the testing course in the Park will see how the rest of the summer will develop. I'll pop a couple of pics from Dunshauglin, including a deserved drop in at the pub after the race - Fiona Kenna & Colin Morrisey star in one of the pics, with Trina & Rachel photobombing two tired runners, myself and Mel at the finish line, followed by the gang in the pub afterwards!
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