10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The All Ireland Masters XC

1. Only Over the Road

I think that it was wonderful to have an All-Ireland event so close to home. I used to cycle through Castlelyons a good bit back in the bad old days when I was miserable on a bicycle so I knew where it was. It was so nice to not have to drive for three hours to get to the race, even people with electric cars wouldn’t have to worry about getting to Castlelyons from Cork.

2. Masters vs Intermediate

I think that I probably would have been better off in the Intermediate race today. I was eligible for both as I never really ran the Intermediate XC because no one used to run it so we never had a team for it. Based on appearance only I think I would have fitted in better in the Intermediate race as I have all of my hairs in their original colour. M35 is a silly category, 35 isn’t even close to being old.

3. Muckometer

I think that it was great to finally have an actual cross-country race and not a road race on grass. This was a proper course with proper muck and real thick grass that cows would like to eat. I was so happy to see the muck, I have missed the muck greatly. Castlelyons style muck means that even Dragonflys offer no advantage other than making you look like a wannabe Jacob Ingebritsen with too much money and a Nike addiction.

4. Stress

I think that cross country races are very stressful. The most stressful part of any cross-country race is trying to find the numbers. Donie normally has them, so first you have to find Donie. This can be difficult. Thankfully he was wearing a very yellow hat so I found him relatively easily. Once you have the numbers the next thing to worry about is the race starting early so that the organisers can go home, for this reason your warmup should always be in sight of the start especially when the race is in Munster, it’s very stressful. I was glad to start the race.

5. Old Man Start

I think that the start of this race was not as I had expected. Normally old man cross country races go off very slowly and there is a sort of an old man mile while everyone warms up before the race begins. It’s a nice change normally, very agreeable and gentlemanly. Because there were quite a few non really old men in this race, the race went off like a normal cross-country race. I was a little surprised by this, so I ended up quite a bit back from where I wanted to be which was probably a very good thing.

6. Contact Sport

I think that because of my old man start I had a great opportunity to throw a few digs as I recovered my rightful position. First to get a dig was Viv, he gave me a scowl which made me happy. Then I saw Alan so I gave give him a dig too, he laughed which made me worried. Then I saw Meade, so I gave him a proper shove. Fortuitously just as I pushed off Meade with my right hand there was a left hand turn which I hadn’t been expecting as I was mainly focusing on getting a few digs in, the momentum from the shove was perfect and I glided up the inside of the turn onto the back of the lead group. I don’t know where Meade ended up.

7. Form is Temporary

I think that you should never mess with someone who used to be good. It is a bad idea, especially when they used to be good only a short time ago and aren’t really finished with being good. About halfway through the second lap, Alan decided to become good again and appeared on my shoulder insulting me calling me all sorts of awful names. I was delighted that it wasn’t Viv or John Meade so I just tried to follow him and returned to my old way of thinking where Alan is respected and just followed.

8. John Joe

I think that John Joe is a great name for a cross country runner at a race in Castlelyons. All I could hear for most of the race was “Go on John Joe”. It was far more reliving to hear than Go on John.

9. Five More Places

I think that it was very optimistic of Lizzie to think that I could make up five places for the team with about 400m to go. “only five more places”. Perhaps she was trolling me or maybe the lapped runners were confusing her. The five fellas in front had nearly finished at that stage. Impossible instructions are very unhelpful and not motivating.

10. Victory Over Meade

I think that I will never tire of crossing of the line and waiting for John Meade to cross after me. It is fabulous. It would have been better if I wasn’t thrown on the ground in a heap unable to watch but I can imagine how disappointed he looked crossing the line seeing me thrown victorious on the ground. Beating John Meade in a Masters XC that I suspect he had specifically targeted is probably my greatest achievement in the sport. If only all cross country races were in February in a farmers field in Castlelyons.