John Buckley 5k 2019
/10 Things I Think About The John Buckley 5k 2019
1. Dearest Vivian
It think that it was a good idea to write a nice letter to Vivian on Monday encouraging him to run the John Buckley 5k. I love beating him badly because he gets so upset when it happens. I tried to troll Donal Coffey into attending too for beating but he’s too busy winning mountain races.
2. PB Amnesty
I think that your PBs should automatically reset after 10 years. My 5k PB of 16:00 has tormented me for years. I ran it when I was very young and had no idea about training unlike now when I know everything. I ran it in the John Buckley 5k in 2010 on the old loopy course. There were no Garmins back then so it might not actually have happened. I might just forget about and pretend it never happened, I tried to find the link to the results during the week but the Internet seems to have forgotten about it.
3. Psych Out
I think that it is very easy to psych out Viv. He gets so nervous before the race, almost silent, like he’s resigned to being beaten. I did lots of things to psych him out, I ran a double the day before, did a 3 mile shakeout this morning, told him about my high haematocrit, parked away from him before the race and told him how tremendous I felt on the warm up. The race was already over before it had been run.
4. New Course
I think that the new course is amazing, it is so so fast and doesn’t involve laps. Laps are awful except in cross country where they are amazing. The start is a little bit narrow but that’s almost better because it makes everyone run faster at the start to get out into space. It’s a net downhill but only a small bit so it still probably counts.
5. Mile 1
I think that the first mile of a 5k is horrendous. It’s particularly horrendous when you are not really a 5k runner and you haven’t run under 5:20 pace for a year. I had a better plan this year than last year when I led for 800m like a calf who’d been let out after the winter. I decided that it was sensible to follow instead of leading. I even stuck to the plan.
6. Holes
I think that the badness of the surface on the marina only becomes obvious when you try and run fast on it, it seems fine on an easy run. There are ankle breaking potholes all the way down to the rowing club, it’s especially bad when you’re running in a group and you can’t see them because you’ve sunglasses on. Then you turn left down the hill and it all gets nice and smooth. Smooth is my favourite surface after grass.
7. Metal Mouth
I think that one of my favourite feelings in the world is that feeling you get halfway through a 5k. It’s that feeling of breathing in sharp metal, then you start to get that beautiful metal taste in your mouth like it’s cutting into your throat. It’s horribly wonderful but it means that you’ve got the race just right. Metal indicates perfect. I really like it.
8. Mile 2
I think that the second mile is the most important mile in a 5k. It’s absolutely miserable but it should be, the only thing that keeps you going is that fear that you are just about to be embarrassed by Viv.
9. Lies
I think that it was particularly horrible of Sean O'Keeffe to lie to me and tell me that Viv was right behind me after 2 miles. In my oxygen deprived state I believed Sean because he’s an accountant and they are normally honest people. In reality Viv was metres behind.
10. Eternal Happiness
I think that I wish that I had worse eyesight. The most horrible experience in running is to see 15:4X on the clock think that you are going to run sub 16 and then realise that you aren’t going to achieve the eternal happiness of a sub 16 5k. It’s probably what it’s like to die slowly, seeing that clock tick over 16, it’s miserable, horrible. Some day, some day I’ll do it, then I’ll be happy.
