10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Cork County Senior XC

1. Michael Herlihy

I think I missed my chance to finally beat Michael Herlihy today. I was so close, so so close, I had a gap, I had a few laps of being ahead, it was wonderful, I was really enjoying it. It would have been excellent if I'd held on, I was looking forward to mentioning it to him on every single run forever more.

2. Meade

I think it was a great pity that John Meade didn't run today. I'm absolutely certain that I would have demolished him. He turned up on a mountain bike making excuses about not being entered. I was very disappointed. I was really looking forward to beating him. Beating John Meade is one of life's great pleasures.

3. Rain

I think yesterday was the worst day in history. It rained all day, incessantly, it was so dark, I didn't like it. I don't like that weather. I made purple porridge, got my haircut and watched Burn After Reading to pass the day. Thankfully it was beautiful today, almost perfect, sunglasses weather.

4. Five Coffees

I think I had five nespressos with my tower of power this morning, I wasn't counting but I think I only had six pods left, I definitely had four. I made the tower of power from corn cakes because they are yellow like my Leevale singlet. I took another nespresso with me in the car in my keep cup. I must buy more nespresso pods.

5. Rutted

I think that course was fantastic. Whites Cross is a beautiful place, its no surprise that John Meade lives there, it's perfect John Meade territory, rugged, hilly and treacherous.

6. Mushrooms

I think that I should take better care of my spikes, I made the mistake of leaving them in a bag in the car after the last cross country last year. They were in a bad way, almost as bad as an old lunchbox, thankfully no mushrooms grew in them. I took them to the car wash on Wednesday night to clean them. The car wash worked magic on them. I don't think the spikes are every coming back out of them, they'll be 12mm forever.

7. Mr Motivator

I think Andrew O'Hobbs is a great motivator. He is a very annoying man, he is especially annoying when he laughs and shouts at you "you're not just going to let Mikey Herlihy beat you, are you". This made me very angry, I may have cursed at him. I sprinted very hard, it didn't work.

8. Lead Leg

I think that every race should have hurdles. The hurdles in this race were particularly brilliant. There were two of them placed about 100m apart, they were made of a big ribbed pipe about the same height as my knees. I was getting quite good at jumping them by the end, I stuttered into them, led with my right leg and landed powerfully on my left leg, I think, well that's what I was trying to do.

9. The Bad Samaritan

I think I felt bad for Tim Twomey, he was well ahead of me all race but with 300m to go I saw him stopped up ahead like a Formula 1 car with a hydraulics failure. He looked like he was in trouble. I knew that if I passed him I'd be the fourth Leevale and get a shiny medal. Just as I passed him he got going again. I probably should have let him pass me again but I didn't know how close the rest were so I just finished. Cross Country is proper hard, this wouldn't happen in a road race. Tim will be back.

10. East Cork

I think that it was great to beat East Cork. I didn't know if we'd beaten them when I crossed the line because Donie was telling us different stuff every lap. I ended up on the flat of my back like I normally do. Then the maths started, we beat East Cork by three points, I still wish I'd beaten Michael, I would have beaten Meade.