The Mallow-10 is the first in a four race series of ten mile road races. Last year I had intended on running this series but I got injured just before Christmas and that was that. In the end I only competed in one of the four races - Ballycotton - my first race over 10k ever. That race went well enough for 7 miles or so but then my lack of endurance training showed and I went through a bad purple patch. I still mananged to finish in 66:15 or so which was satisfying at the time. Until, I ran faster during the first 10 miles of the Great North Run. So this year I decided that I was going to try the 10-mile series again just to see if I could better my Great North Run split. Yesterdays race proved that I could and I'm not injured today so maybe I'll make Race 2 in Dungarvan on Feb 1st. I also found out yesterday that I got a place in Race 3 Ballycotton so assuming no injuries I should make at least 3 of the 4 races!!
So, yesterday I got to the race HQ early, 2 hours ahead of the start time, and I spent the next half hour debating with myself what to wear. The weather was awful outside wet, cold and windy. So the argument was whether to wear long sleves or not - a very serious decision. It's amazing how silly things take over pre-race jitters. I eventally went out for a 2.16 mile jog just to test the weather and find the start line which was about 1 mile from the race HQ. Despite running most of the streets in Mallow I failed to find the start!! Also my achilles had been showing signs of tendonitis during the past few weeks so I was glad not to be in too much pain after the warm up. I think the fact that I rested on Friday and Saturday certainly helped.
When I got back to race HQ I bumped into Grellan and shortly afterwards Thomas. We jogged to the start and a bit beyond together (luckily Grellan knew where it was!!) in all 1.7 miles. There was still a bit of time so I took shelter from the wind and rain under a tree beside a high wall while the other 2 guys continued on their warm-up. (I had decided to race without long sleeves!!).

Mile 1 was reached in 6:30 - bang on target. Mile 2 took 6:33. Still reasonably on target given the slight uphill climb during this mile. The race really started after the second mile mark as we turned onto the main Cork to Limerick road. This was a downhill section with a strong tailwind. Just as Thomas pulled level with me a gust of wind pushed me forward - I felt like I was flying (literally!!) for a couple of strides!! Thomas surged past me and I decided to let him go - looking at my watch I was doing 5:30 pace which was more than fast enough for me. I tried not to let the gap get too big keeping Thomas and a group of 5 or 6 others about 20 to 30m ahead. Mile 3 was completed in 5:56. The next 3 miles were along the Killarney road past the Mallow Race Track and into a headwind!! At about the 3.5 mile mark I caught up with Thomas again (although he was surprised to see me there and so was I!!). Not content to run in the middle of a group and as I was feeling relatively OK I thought to myself that I'd try and push the pace for a bit. So I went to the head of the group with a target to catch the next smaller group 30m ahead. Mile 4 was completed in 6:11 and I felt strong. Mile 5 was 6:21 (the wind getting stronger and the gap between runners greater). I was still passing runners so that was a good sign. I passed the 5 mile mark in 31:35. Wow, if I can keep this up it may be a PB but going on past history I'll probably blow up at about the 8 mile mark!!


Week Total (5/1/09 to 11/1/09) - 5 runs
50:02miles - 6:09:21 - 7:23 min/mile pace
2 comments:
You had a great race, Brendan, and I think this will be a breakthrough year for you.
From your splits I noticed that my 9th mile was 10 seconds quicker than yours, but I couldn't quite keep that up on the last one. It was close, but you're the deserving winner of our private little duel.
not so sure about the 'breakthrough year' but I'm certainly looking forward to our next encounter when the 'ultrarunner' and the 'sprinter' will duel again!! :) As I said I'm glad that last Sunday's race wasn't any longer!!
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