10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Great Ireland Run

1. There’s a 9am in the morning now?

I think that 9am on a Saturday morning is a ludicrous time to hold a National 10k. It’s bonkers, are we turning into the US where the races are on early so people can go back to work? Is it to fill the hotels? It probably doesn’t even suit the volunteers. It would be grand if it was on in Cork or say perhaps Portlaoise, Dublin isn’t fair to anyone.

2. Once Stung, Twice Shy

I think that the first race after a race where you had an unexpected injury is always terrifying. I was pretty certain I was better as I can now do every single hamstring exercise on Instagram. Still with something like a hamstring cramp you are always afraid it will happen again as it comes from no where. Unfortunately as I have prodded and poked my hamstring everyday relentlessly for the past three weeks I seem to have irritated the nerve. Injuries breed injuries. Nerves are very annoying.

3. Weather

I think that you know you aren’t taking a race too seriously when the weather on the day of the race is a complete surprise. I really only went because I was going to get my tanned skin checked in Dublin on Saturday so I had to go to Dublin anyway. When I woke at 7am after 5 hours sleep I was delighted with the sunny cold dry wind free air, it was perfect.

4. Atmosphere

I think that race organisers who are doing atmosphere before races need to be sent on a course to the Berlin Marathon to learn what to do. What you need to do is have the dramatic do do doo music and then introduce the great runners like Mick Clohissey, have them wave and then play the Chicago Bulls walk-in tune until the start. That’s it nothing else works, no hand waving, no jumping, just that. Every race that wants atmosphere at the start should do that.

5. Handy

I think that it was an interesting experiment to see what happens when you go off handy at the start of the race. Because of my sciatic nerve self provocation I was scared of sprinting so I kind of went off reasonably handy. I know know that this is a terrible way to run a race and you should always go off as hard as you can as it is free energy at the start.

6. This is Grand

I think that if you are thinking this is grand after about 3k of a race you really aren’t up for a race. All I was thinking about was my hamstring wondering if it would act up again. It felt perfectly fine but I was thinking about it so much that I was monitoring every single muscle contraction to completion. This is not a very nice way to run, running should be free from worry about individual body parts, they should just work and allow you to concentrate on suffering.

7. Same People, Different Day

I think that it is miraculous that no matter what happens you will end up racing the same people in every race that you run. It’s almost as if running is laughing at you, pointing out the futility of training. No matter how in shape or out of shape I am I will end up racing Michael Kiely. We have taken to saluting each other when the inevitable exchange of places happens.

8. Undulations

I think that this is a great 10k course. I really like the Tour de France style hairpin climb with the nice straight finish. It’s quite a fair course in terms of elevation so the times are real. I’d like to do it without spending the entire race monitoring my hamstring. It was organised perfectly, if it was on Saturday at 6pm or Sunday at 11am there probably would have been thousands at it.

9. Exchanging of Excuses

I think that another example of the futility of running was encountering Pauric McKinney after about 6k, I have vivid memories of racing him the only time I ever ran on snow in Derry in 2010. We ran together until the finishing straight when he destroyed me. I think the result was the same in 2010. After the race we exchanged excuses, he was up at 3am to drive from Donegal, I had my hamstring and arriving in Dublin at 1am. Excuses are vital and the only one who cares about your excuse is yourself but it feels good to exchange them.

10. Post Race

I think that the post race was perfect. I got a non winners medal and two expensive protein bars which was good value for the €25 entry fee, some people took as many bars as they could hold which was clever. My hamstring was the same as before the race after the race so I did a buggy run with a bawling Billy, smiling Matthew and delighted Sinead to warm down. Hopefully that’s my annual injury out of the way now.