10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The All Ireland Senior Cross Country 2022

1. Small, Far Away

I think that it is possibly impossible for two consecutive races to be further apart on the island of Ireland than Eyeries and Rosapenna. Donegal is incredibly far away, Rosapenna is extraordinarily far away; however, it was well worth the 12 hours in the car and two nights in a hotel just not to have to run in Abbotstown again. It says a lot about Abbotstown that I’d rather drive for 12 hours than race there again.

2. Twitter

I think that you should never trust anything you see on Twitter. It is nearly always fake news. A day or two before the race, photos and clips of the course started to circulate on Twitter. It looked desperate, like something from the NCAA, a horrible flat unimaginative course where Vaporflys would prosper and useless articles like me would be found out for our lack of 10 x 400m sessions.

3. Na Dúnaibh

I think that the great thing about holding the National Senior in random places around Ireland is that you get to discover new places, Na Dúnaibh is an amazing place, as nice as anything in West Cork, Kerry or Achill Island. It has miraculous ground that will not become mucky regardless of how much rain falls and one of if not the best cross country courses in Ireland.

4. Donegal Carpets

I think that the surface we ran is the best surface in the world for cross country. It was like a carpet, a magical carpet laid by some cross-country loving god. Mondo should come and take a sample of the ground because I think it could revolutionize running. They could lay it on the perimeter of regular tracks for warming up or even make a full track out of it. No one would ever get injured if we ran on the surface of the main straight all year round. It was fabulous to run on especially in Dragonflys.

5. Dragonflys

I think that everyone needs to start wearing Dragonflys (or Adidas Avanti TYOs) in cross country races. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news but Dragonflys are every bit as bad as Next%s are on the road. If you are wearing regular spikes at the moment you are the same as someone in the late days on 2019 foolishly pointlessly trying to race the lads in the yellow and pink Next%s thinking it’s only a shoe it couldn’t possibly make any difference. I had held out until now but Limerick racecourse broke the spike plate on my old Brooks spikes so I had to try them out. I honestly didn’t think they would be that good on grass but they are amazing on Donegal carpet.

6. Tranquillo

I think that the start of this race was strangely slow for a National Cross Country. I had planned on using Michael Herlihy tactics again as it seemed like an Abbotstown style loop where it pays to save a little bit for the second 5k. I expected to be miles back with my cautious start but after the first short 1k lap which left out the hills I could still see the front of the race not too far ahead.

7. Magic Hands

I think that I may have discovered a new running technique. I have discovered that when running downhill if you use your hands like as if you were swimming it will make you go faster. It looks utterly ridiculous and I’m unsure if it actually works or if it just distracts and horrifies the other runners you are passing into slowing down. Every one of the six times we went down the hill after the uphill sand pit I passed someone using my wavy hands, it was great fun and well worth the ridiculousness.

8. Josh

I think that the great thing about cross country is that you get to race with people you wouldn’t get near on the road. After about three laps I saw Josh from Donore via Ballycotton just ahead. My initial thought was “these dragonflys are very good” as Josh had normal spikes on. Then I switched to thinking about beating him. I imagine he was horrified to see me. I didn’t beat Josh.

9. Last Lap

I think that the last lap of the race was a bit of a mess. The course was wonderful, one of the best cross country courses I have ever run on but a 1500m lap is a bit short when you have fellas wearing Dragonflys and other fellas not. By the last lap it was just a mess of lapped runners and wrecked runners like me. It was hard to know what was going on or who you were racing or lapping as everyone was pretty much running the same pace by the end. My only memory of the last 500m was getting passed by lots of people.

10. Boxes

I think that finishing 69th is a very good treatment for an excessively inflated ego. My ego had enlarged significantly after beating John Meade and Anthony Mannix in recent weeks, it was probably close to becoming an impediment. I was very certain of my greatness and the superiority of my training which is very important when you are a runner who uses social media. There’s nothing like the National Senior to put you back in your box, having said that I’m very happy with the 50th to 75th placed box. I think running boxes come in 25s, it would make sense, about as much sense as putting the National Senior in Rosapenna six hours from Cork.