10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Autumn Open XC

1. Masters Trial

I think that masters running is great. If it wasn’t for masters running, it would be hard to motivate yourself to drive all the way to Dublin for a cross country race on a course you detest. The definition of running old age is interesting as it is really up to you when you accept the game is up, signing up is really the beginning of a new career.

2. Beara to Abbotstown

I think that I did too much driving this weekend. Bere Island is much closer to Glanmire than Abbotstown but it take precisely the same amount of time to reach both. The drive and boat to Bere Island is much nicer. The boat gave me a good idea on how to solve the traffic in Dublin. Turn the M50 into a river and make everyone get a boat into the city, it would fix everything.

3. Spikes, Dragonflys and Vapoflys

I think that cross country is nearly worse than the road for shoe choice dilemmas. Michael Herlihy did a reconnaissance lap on the Saturday and reported back that the course was rock hard. Vaporflys are now legal for cross country, so I threw them into the boot just in case I had to fight fire with fire. Thankfully the only cheating taking place was dragonfly related which are based on the research probably worth 3.43% running economy. I stuck to my Brooks which was probably a bad decision.

4. Sand not Gravel

I think that this course is not being used as designed. I went back and looked at the website of the original course designers (who were actual horse course designers). The design specifically mentions sand sections. There are no sand sections. There is rock hard gravel which is a faster surface than the track at the Mardyke. We have enough road races and track races, they should at least make the course some bit challenging.

5. Carlos Sastre

I think that running the race in Bere Island the day before was a great idea. It meant that I really didn’t care about the race as I had an excellent excuse for Michael Herlihy and Viv beating me. Because I had nothing to lose I decided to try out some different tactics. I decided to warm up into the race like Carlos Sastre used to on the climbs to win the Tour De France and less memorably like Michael Herlihy did to finish an excellent 8th in the county senior a few weekends ago.

6. I Ain’t Worried

I think that this was the most fun I have ever had in a race. Because it is a glorified road race the race went off like a downhill 5k road race in south county Dublin would. I was miles back after half a lap but despite barely trying I was still ahead of Michael Herlihy, perhaps I had confused him by running like him. Viv was well gone and not to be seen.

7. Target Engaged

I think that it is very handy to have spotters on the course. By the third lap I had gotten going and started to mow people down. I wasn’t actually going any quicker it’s just that I didn’t slow down like the other runners. Rhona and Billy told me that Viv was up ahead, I looked for him but couldn’t spot him but as I reached the top of the hill I spotted him entering the gravel track section. I was so motivated by the thought of catching him, passing him and burying him that I jumped in the air and took off down the hill, at least I did in my own head.

8. Max Verstappen

I think that my overtake of Viv was one of the best overtaking maneuvers in a cross country race ever. It took until halfway through the last lap for me to get near him. It was beautiful, I swept around the outside of him through the gate that leads into the uphill section that is invisible to spectators and absolutely buried him up the hill. Declan Guina helped me then to open a huge gap on him over that last few hundred meters. It was definitely my best victory over Viv.

9. Perfect Pacing

I think that there should be an award sponsored by Strava for the nicest looking pace graph on Strava after the race. I think that I would definitely have won this award as my graph was very beautiful. I’m sure that Michael Herlihy was very jealous as he sat on the sofa with the laptop and a large glass of electrolyte drink analyzing how I destroyed him by forty five seconds which is ages. I might use this tactic again.

10. Seventh Best Priest

I think that it is just as well that I live in my own self-created world where I have victories over Viv and Michael Herlihy as in the real race for the M35 team I failed miserably and was beaten very badly. I was the seventh best moderately old man. Apparently only the first four moderately old men get automatically selected to buy their own Irish singlet so I will have wait for another year. It’s alright, I honestly don’t mind.