Payback

I really haven't been putting in the miles lately with being so busy at work, but with a good run at the 5 mile race two weeks ago, I felt confident enough going into this weeks 10k in drogheda. As I said in my last post, not aiming for a flat out time, but confident enough of a PB.
The race was at 3, which is a nice time, no rushing or early morning starts. A huge crowd of around 2000 were entered. I positioned near enough the front, a few rows back. My garmin had lost signal in the shopping center where I parked earlier, but a quick glance at the screen and it seemed ok.
A few familiar faces around me left me pretty confident I was starting with the right group.
There were no real elite athletes, sorry if there was someone I didn't know, and there was a massive turnout from the host club.
At the off I pushed the garmin start, with a 6.10 on the pace. I hadn't run this route before, and by all accounts it was a hilly one to come, with a steep climb at 8k. As I settled into my stride I looked to the watch, and was met with black blank dashes. It hadn't reset. It's funny how much I have come to rely on the watch to keep the pace, I find it actually can motivate me when I start slowing down, and I enjoy checking it as the run progresses and comparing the effort.
I spotted the guy I paced Bohermeen half with, and latched onto him. As I pulled up beside him, I asked him what he was pacing at, at he laughed out loud when he realised it was me. He was going for 38 which I was happy with, and we settled in.
The route was very undulating, and we passed 5k at 18.05. I was really feeling the pace, much more than I should have, and at 6k I started to develope a stitch, and let my pacer go. The stitch didn't get any worse, and I was able to pick it back up again. The hill at 8k was punishing, and I had little left to cross the line in 38.17.
It was a new PB by 43 seconds, but it was far from happy with the run. It was a real struggle, and showed me that I cannot rely on the amount of training I am putting in to get the results I want.
I have almost come full circle in exactly a year since I started this blog, and I am back to a situation where I need to change my training or adjust the expectations, albeit from a slightly different starting point.