10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Cloyne 5k

1. Running with the East Corkonians

I think that East Cork is like the Rift Valley of Ireland. There must be something about the terrain, the way they resurface the roads or the potatoes that they eat that makes them so good. Cloyne is like Eldoret, the gateway to the centre of running excellence, they should almost put up a sign.

2. Shakeout

I think that the most important thing to do when you are doing back to back races is to do a short run the day of the second race to check for any problems. Due to magic shoes problems tend to be very obvious so if there is no pain then it’s good to go for the race. That’s my method anyway. Like an early warm up.

3. Playground

I think that a playground is an excellent place to park for a race. As we arrived into Cloyne I spotted the playground opposite the field where the County Senior XC was on years ago when I used to run well for Togher. We parked up but Billy had fallen asleep so there was no need for a playground, I left the car there anyway incase he awakened which he didn’t. It was about a mile to the start which was an imperfect warm up.

4. Winding Down

I think that when your great running career is winding down like mine, it is perfectly acceptable to do back to back races and not take running too seriously. I’m hoping that the winding down process will be longer than my actual running career as I prefer not worrying than trying to be excellent. Due to magic shoes the winding down period seems to be better than the actual career period.

5. Pacing

I think that I actually considered Lizzie’s incredibly generous offer to let me pace her for the course record. I am an excellent pacer and my services are frequently requested. I thought about it briefly and then decided no I’ll try and beat Heywood instead as he was due a beating after Cobh.

6. Harty

I think that Michael Harty ruined my race. We lined up about a mile outside Cloyne on a a backroad to a backroad with a unique road surface. Michael Harty took off and took James Hayes and Tony Forristal away from me. I took a while to get going owing to the previous nights race so I ended up dangling 5 seconds behind in no mans land. At least I had good sight of the random road surface.

7. Triggers Broom

I think that the road surface in Cloyne is amazing. I can’t believe that Michael Harty hasn’t written a daily letter to the local TD looking for a Vienna style smooth tarmac surface. It’s an extraordinary surface that would have required less tarmac to resurface properly once than to individually fill in each pothole numerous times. It does however provide a certain character to the race, it almost wouldn’t be as good without it.

8. Peter The Monster

I think that it was great to finally race Peter Hanrahan. He appeared on my shoulder just after a mile. Initially I feared it was Heywood then I realised that he was taller than me so that could only be Peter. Racing Peter is odd as I almost wanted him to beat me. Unfortunately our spell together ended after 2 miles and I was left to pointlessly chase James Hayes on my own.

9. Photos

I think that I was focused on the wrong thing for the last 200m. Donie was standing at the 3 mile mark, as I passed him he said 32 seconds to go sub 16. I knew however that Garry Lee was standing between 3 miles and 5k and as I was solo in 5th it was the perfect opportunity for lots of excellent photos. I didn’t get sub 16 but I did get 10 excellent sequential photos of my biomechanical brilliance.

10. The Aftermath

I think that as I get older my immediate concern after every race is to check for any injuries. There are a couple things that you can do to avoid injury. Don’t sit on steps as this causes calf cramping, don’t pick up a heavy toddler either as this can cause back and glute injuries. The best thing to do as in Cloyne is to keep standing and walking and talk about how disappointed you are not to have run a great PB by me with the other people who are similarly disappointed.