10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The San Silvestre Sevilla

1. This Race was brought to you by Magic Shoes

I think that magic shoes have changed racing. The last time I did back to back races it ended in a crippling injury which kept me out for about 2 years. With magic shoes back to back races is no problem, its not even particularly hard. It’s like being 24 again but in a 35-year-old body. When I woke in the morning after the race in Chiclana the night before I felt nothing so as I was on holidays and it was sunny, I decided that I’d do a 7 mile shakeout before the race in the evening.

2. The Park

I think that the Star Wars Park in Seville is my favourite running park. It’s not the biggest and it doesn’t have a long loop but it is definitely the running loop with the most spectacular buildings in the world. The orange dusty hard gravel surface is also my favourite running surface. It’s just a great little park.

3. Joma

I think that Joma must be the most underrated shoe brand in the world. I don’t think I have ever seen anyone wear Joma shoes before. I have Joma shorts and a pink Joma singlet but Joma shoes, that would be crazy. Lining up against a sea of magic shoes in green Joma flats is very brave. I had done a session with the guy in the Joma shoes the last time I was Seville so I knew he was good but I thought that in my magic shoes I had a chance.

4. Dust

I think that my favorite thing about this race is the trail of dust that the car and the runners kick up at the start of this race. It is a great thing to see in December. We don’t have dust in Ireland as dust requires sun. The mad start plus the orange dust with the Plaza De Espana in the background is just excellent.

5. Detonations

I think that this Spanish race was unusual in that there appeared to be very few detonations. My goal for the race was to get as close to and stay as close to the guy in the Joma shoes for as long as possible. I tried to stay at the back of the pack as the pace was very fast and I’m not really able for anything much faster than 4:55 pace.

6. The Magical Gap

I think that running often fools you into thinking that if you could just have not let that gap open you’d have run so much faster. The reason the gap opened is because I wasn’t able to run that fast. It isn’t some sort of conspiracy or some mystery gaps happen because of lack of ability. In this case the gap to the front group happened after about 2k. It was as frustrating as always as the guys in the front group looked like they were having so much fun in their aerodynamic pack while I floundered behind heading up the group of rejects.

7. Kilometer Markers

I think that the kilometer markers for this race were placed entirely at random. I wasn’t looking at my watch but I reckon the 4km marker was at about 2.5k. Perhaps it was a cunning sports psychology experiment into making us think the race was nearly over. It certainly worked.

8. Feels Fast

I think that this is about as fast as I have ever felt in a race. It seems that a combination of perfect weather and a perfect course is better than any perfect training and preparation. I have never felt as good towards the end of the race. I still got passed out by two people in the finishing straight but I still felt like I was moving well.

9. Approximados

I think there is a good to almost certain chance that the 5k was not accurate and was approximados 5k. I got 3.08 miles on my watch which is close enough. But all 5k road races should be taken with a pinch of salt anyway. At least it wasn’t downhill like Newmarket.

10. San Silvestre

I think that doing San Silvestre races in Spain for a week is a great way to end the year. I finally found out where San Silvestre comes from. It is because the 31st of December is Saint Silvestre's day. Saint Silvestre is my favorite saint. He must have really liked running.