Fingal 10k 2017

Luckily this weeks mini taper coincided with some fairly poor weather, and it was fortunate that I didn't have to drag myself out into the rain.

Monday was rest day. Tuesday was a nice day, so the planned 8 was stretched out to 10 miles.
It felt pretty easy, but the pace was fairly slow compared to the tempo Tuesday's, coming in at 7:25 average, with a 6:33 mile in there also.

Wednesday I'd didn't run, the weather was awful, so I used it as part of my taper.
On Wednesday evening however, I was full of the energy which would usually have been expended on my run, so I decided to do a strength and conditioning session, which I would normally do at least twice a week. This week however, I decided to add some squats. The first few sets went well, so I added some preacher squats too, and kept going until I could 'feel the burn'.

Thursday, the legs felt very tired for some reason. I headed out for a planned 6 mile, and chose a fairly hilly route which I would not normally take, but I figured as the distance was small, it would be not too taxing.

Friday my legs were physically sore. I struggled to get off the chair, walking the first few steps was stiff each time, and I started to get really worried. I had obviously thrown too much unfamiliar movements at the legs, and the soreness was the result.
In an effort to free things out, I did an easy 8 miles on Friday, and it did help somewhat.

Saturday was no run. I had planned a short fast 4 miles, but decided against as the legs were still a bit tender, but improved.

Sunday morning of the race was good, a little drizzle which cleared up nicely. Getting there in plenty of time for a 15 minute warmup, and saying hello to a few familiar faces. The legs were still a bit heavy, but I was confident the taper would show once we got going.

Lining up near the start, amongst some familiar faces, I felt I placed just right. At the off, the pace was where I wanted, not passing too many, and only being passed by a few.
Mile 1, 5:51. First half of the mile is a slight incline, and the second half back down again, so fairly neutral, and the pace felt OK. It was slightly harder, the planned was 6:00, but I wanted to try and bank a few seconds on the downhill.
Mile 2, 5:50, still on a ever so slight downhill gradient, still banking a few seconds, although I knew I was going a bit harder than ideal, and I was hoping not to pay too dearly later!
Mile 3, 6:07. Probably the second steepest part of the course, and a concious decision to slow and not push too hard up so as to conserve a bit of energy. Passing a few runners now, but still passed by some also.
Mile 4, 6:03. A better section. Still slightly off the pace, i had settled in with a small group, obviously running to a 6:00 pace.
Mile 5, 5:55. I knew the finish was gettin close, so I decided to push on a bit. The legs still felt very strong, but the breathing was suffering, and I felt less comfortable than I did at Dunsaughlin. The toughest climb was yet to come and I wondered if I had enough for it.
Mile 6, 6:15. Now that looks bad, like I faded, but I didn't. I was running really well, when I got a very bad stitch. It was so sharp, I nearly stopped, and it slowed me right back. I pushed through, knowing I could suffer the last half mile, and hoping a sub 40 was still a possibility. Thankfully, I started to recover after about 1 minute, and I was able to pick up the pace again, but the damage was done. The last .2 was at 5:34 pace, which shows I managed a bit of a pick up.
37:12 chip time, 5 seconds slower than Dunsaughlin , and were it not for the stitch, I would be confident I could have a new PB, and maybe even under the 37:00, but no point in maybes!

A few years ago, I got a stitch at this race also, and I was trying to figure out why.
My thoughts are, that at about 8k, there is a big fireman so hose spraying water over the runners, which is very cold. It is very difficult to avoid it as it stretches all the way across the road. I got the full force, and the jolt of the cold soaking is quite shocking. I believe that the jolt and sudden coldness upset the breathing rythmn just enough to cause the stitch. I may be way off, but it's all I could think of.

After the race, a quick drive home, I headed out for 10 easy miles. They felt good, with some flowing along at 7:10 pace, but some obviously a bit tougher. 7:26 average for the 10, which gave 17 or so for the day and 41 for the week.

Higher mileage and some longer tempos on the horizon.