10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Kilsheelan 10 Mile

1. Algorithms

I think that artificial intelligence still has a lot of work to do. Despite the all-powerful algorithms I found out about this race in Kilsheelan a few miles east of Clonmel the old-fashioned way via Michael Herlihy telling me about it. Facebook seemed to think it would be of no interest to me, preferring to try and sell me even more running shoes. The Kilsheelan 10 Mile road race looked lovely, a nice Ballycotton style race on roads that I used to cycle but never ran.

2. Career Setbacks

I think that when you have had a major setback in your running career like I encountered last weekend in Den Haag it is best to get back racing as soon as possible. In general, regardless of the result it is best to get back racing as soon as possible. I felt fully recovered by Thursday when I took a good 10 seconds a kilometre beating by Michael Herlihy in a 6x1k session. This is probably what prompted him to tell me about the race.

3. Kilsheelan via Anglesboro

I think that getting to Kilsheelan from Glanmire would be very quick if you didn’t have to account for dropping Billy to Anglesboro before the race. Billy has had it with races so he was quite happy not to be standing around waiting for his father to come fourth again.

4. Marathon Mission

I think that it was great to briefly lead the race. I had hoped that it would be a great hatred filled battle to the line between me and Mike but two proper runners Sean Tobin and William Maunsell decided that the race fitted perfectly into their London Marathon preparation which was unfortunate for my chances of collecting some sweet coin. When we got underway the two lads took their time to get going so I led for about 150m before the marathon mission gradually gathered momentum and drifted off up the road effortlessly.

5. Two Mile Mike

I think that it is ironic that given his well-known love for electric cars Michael Herlihy accelerates into a race like VW Golf SDI from about 2003. There was no sign at all of Mike until about 800m when he appeared on my left shoulder as we passed the church. I felt the disdain for my presence before I saw him. We ran together for about a mile before the dirty diesel cleared and Mike accelerated away until he was far away enough for him not to be motivated by my proximity which is about 15 seconds of a gap. The gap remained steady for the next 5 miles.

6. Bonus Points

I think that 10 milers with rolling hills like in Kilsheelan should be classified differently. I’m not sure if you could get modern elite athletes to run a route like this, all modern popular road races are ludicrously flat or even downhill to ensure that the all-important race times get faster and faster so that Strava looks great. Perhaps you could count all the hills on a race route and get a time bonus for each little hill depending on the size of the hill, that might bring back the hilly races. Races like Kilsheelan are wonderful and should be what the sport is all about.

7. Rolling Mike

I think that it is interesting to watch someone run for 9 miles. I spent the whole racing watching, waiting, praying for Michael Herlihy to show signs of weakness. Having run with Mike for nearly 15 years I know every sign of weakness at this stage. I knew from experience to treat him like an angry dog and to keep a distance of about 15 seconds as any closer and he would speed up out of hatred for my presence. After about 5 miles I was happy to see that unlike on the first few hills where he powered up he had started to roll from side to side going up the hills which with Mike is a sign of terrible tiredness. I still kept my distance preferring a tactic of watchful waiting rather than direct intervention.

8. It’s the Athlete’s Responsibility to Know the Course

I think that I had a good chance of winning third place up to 9 miles. The one thing you don’t want to do when racing Michael Herlihy is to make him or have anyone else make him angry. Despite Mike knowing well that it is the athlete’s responsibility to know the course he nearly went wrong by turning left instead of going straight on like I knew because I looked at the directions from the stewards. My presence combined with the near miss on the race route resulted in an overly motivate Mike who took off like it was the first mile and not the tenth.

9. World Downhill Bike Path Championships

I think that if there was a world downhill bike path championship Michael Helrihy would be world champion. There is no surface that suits his running style better. I’m pretty sure that he was faster than the two marathon mission lads over the last mile. My safe distance of 15 seconds widened to 23 by the end with most of that gained in the last mile which was run on his favourite surface.

10. Vegan (and Gluten Free) Spread

I think that Kilsheelan must be the vegan capital of Tipperary. After a warm down with Mike where we discussed the great battle of Kilsheelan we went back to the hall where I wouldn’t collect any prize. The spread in the hall was better than any prize with trays and trays of every type of cake for vegans and non-vegans. The other vegan runners have been alerted, expect an invasion next year.