10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Munster Masters XC

1. Operation put Viv back in his box

I think that it is very important to have a goal going into a race. My goal for this race was to put Viv back in his box. After his crushing victory over Alan O’Brien and Mike Morgan in the Killarney Half Marathon he had become intolerable, ne needed to be shown that magic shoe races mean nothing.

2. Two Minutes Hate

I think that listening to Brendan O’Connor on a Sunday is great preparation for running a cross country race. I was glad to hear that the enemy has changed from mouth breathing runners and joggers to South Africans and children. I listened intently and stored up the stress, tension and anger for use during the race. I might be getting addicted to the doom and gloom, I kind of like it.

3. Gorgeous Muck

I think that if you were going to bet on any place having some muck it would be Clarecastle. I imagine that there is muck there even in summer. Beating Viv was entirely dependent on there being at least some muck. It was a great relief to pull into the car park and see lots of muck and puddles, even the sight of muck is enough to slow most people down especially Viv. I was a little worried when I jogged the course as it wasn’t exactly heavy going, just moderately soft.

4. Viv’s Nonsense

I think that the worst part of having to race Viv is listening to the nonsense and excuses before the race. He tries a little bit of everything. Abusive comments on Garmin Connect were followed by complete nonsense about missing the entry and potentially not being able to run. I took no notice, I was surprised he didnt have a niggle. I tried to put him off by telling him about my potential stress fracture niggle.

5. Never ask a Masters Athlete his Age

I think that I owe James McCarthy an apology. I incorrectly assumed that he was an M40. I was so certain that I went up to him and said “you’re an M40 right”. My assumption was based on the fact that I have been running for what seems like 20 years and James was winning races when I started which would have easily made him 40. He’s not M40, he’s M35 like me. I’m not sure if he was insulted or not because East Cork people are like Kerrymen, they give nothing away.

6. Thank You Jonathan

I think that it was great of Jonathan Murphy to do my job for me. I knew that my only hope in this race as with all cross-country races was to get out fast and make the race as hard as possible. I had accepted that Michael Harty and John Kinsella were unbeatable but I knew that they would be cautious. I took off down to the first corner expecting to have to do all the work but Jonathan cut me off and led for the first lap. It was ideal.

7. Making The Calculation

I think that cross country running has a lot of similarities to cycling. In the Tour De France when a cyclist disappears up the road Sean Kelly always talks about making the calculation. I had to make the calculation after the first lap that Harty and Kinsella were going to have to be let go. It felt like I decided to let them go but in reality I think they just got rid of me.

8. One Trick Donkey

I think that I will have to go to the track and develop some speed. Because I can’t move much quicker than 5 minute mile pace no matter what happens I have no other strategy than to grind people off. After two laps I was in third place, I could hear two people breathing behind me. I didn’t think either of them was Viv so I was very happy. I could hear shouts of “Go on James” and I spotted a white Thurles singlet out of the corner of my eye so I kind of knew who I was dealing with.

9. Category > Overall

I think that the M35 category should be null and void if beaten by the M40s. Because I knew that Harty and Kinsella were M40 I knew I only had to beat James McCarthy to win the M35. I knew from the Masters track that the Thurles singlet was M40 so when we went onto the last lap and the Thurles singlet started to pass me out I just followed him because as long as I couldn’t hear James I was safe and would become the great M35 champion of Munster. This is a ridiculous way to race but a medal is a medal.

10. Victory over Viv

I think that I only believed that I was going to beat Viv in the last 200m. You can never be sure that he is gone as he races very cleverly. I only knew for sure that he had been beaten when someone told me I was clear behind. This was great to hear. In the end I beat him very badly by nearly 30 seconds which is ages. Because it was Masters Athletics we both got gold medals which was great. So we both won but I won more. Masters athletics is great.