Grange Fermoy 4 Mile 2022
/10 Things I Think About The Grange Fermoy 4 Mile 2022
1. I Remember
I think that people have bad memories. I remember standing on my individual spray painted x before the 2020 race maintaining social distance and thinking how great it was to have a race. I remember the organizers saying before we started, “remember us when things get back to normal”. I remembered, many didn't.
2. Sea Level
I think that I didn’t spend long enough time at altitude. I only got 6 days, I think John Meade had nearly 9 which is a significant amount. I’m not sure if it makes any difference but I have felt terrible since I came back. The terribleness was probably more to do with the week of double runs but it is easier to blame it on the altitude.
3. T-Shirts On Sale Now
I think that it was a dangerous thing to get a t-shirt made up with a picture of John Meade celebrating breaking the tape and "Well Done John". When I met John Meade wearing said t-shirt he wasn’t very impressed. Thankfully John Walshe was there with a camera to take a photo and tell John Meade how excellent the t-shirt was and not to be upset about it.
4. Ladies Shoes
I think that it was bad enough tormenting John Meade with the t-shirt. Then on the startline of the race I looked down and saw that he was wearing the purple Vaporfly Next%2s. They looked very small. I told him “They are the ladies colour, John Buckley codded you.” I think he was very angry after this. In fairness they are very un John Meade shoes, the complete opposite of the Adidas suction boots he used to wear.
5. Good Memories
I think that it would have been better if Sergiu, Pat and John Meade hadn’t remembered the race. There was €300 for the winner which would have helped to pay for the altitude. When the race started it was pretty obvious that 4th was probably as good as I could hope for. Unfortunately the money ended at 3rd.
6. Maybe I Got Better
I think that after two miles I thought that the altitude and extra miles had made me better. Sergiu and Pat were well gone but after opening an initial anger fueled gap I managed to catch up to John Meade and I was happy to sit behind him and hope that my altitude was better than his.
7. No I Didn’t
I think that my altitude training ran out after two miles. Once we reached that little hill before we turned left onto the main road I knew that John Meade was going to destroy me. The minute the road turned any bit upwards he put the foot down and opened a big gap. It probably isn’t a good idea to wind up your competition just before a race.
8. Humidity and Wind
I think that the two invisible factors in this race were the wind and the humidity. It was a terrible day for running. Once we turned off the main road the wind started, combine this with the gradual uphill and it was pretty miserable watching John Meade disappearing into the distance appearing to enjoy the wind.
9. Two Seconds
I think that the worst thing about running is that you can spend a full year training and come back to a race you did the year before after about 3 weeks of running and run two seconds slower. It is an infuriating sport. Was all the training pointless? Was training at altitude on the track with Mo Farah detrimental? It is a terrible terrible sport.
10. Consecutive 4ths
I think that finishing fourth is terrible. It seems to be the trend that races have big prize money but only for the top 3 and perhaps an old man prize. I was better off when I never won any money from races. Perhaps next year Sergiu, Pat and John Meade will forget the lesson of 2020 and I can collect the €300.
