Keep On Running, Keep On Trying....

Who's been a busy boy then?  Well, that would be me, actually.  When I sat down to write this column last week I had no intention or thought in my head of entering the Butlerstown duathalon last Saturday. But somehow I'm sitting down to write this week having done just that.  Not only did I enter the Butlerstown duathalon, but I completed it too. All of it, all of it being a 5km run followed by a 20km cycle and topped off for good measure with a 3 km run. 

I came second last by the way. Not second, in case you misread it, second last. I'm used to doing the Winter League where there will always be people better than you, but there will usually be people a lot worse too.  I was that soldier on Saturday. I placed myself at the back of the group because I knew by the amount of lycra on show among the hundred or so others taking part that I was not going to be finishing top 10.  But even though I started  at the back I never expected the gap between me and the group in front to grow as fast as it did. Within a half a mile of the start of the race it was like I was on my own. I couldn't even see the group ahead of me. So I upped my pace and ended up completing the first 5km at an 8 minute mile pace. My usual is 10.

The 20km on the bike was fine. The hills were hilly, but I managed them. What was a bit more disconcerting was being lapped not once but twice by the guys and girls at the front of the pack. 

The third leg which was the 3km run was interesting. Have you ever seen an 80 year old out jogging? You get a lot of it in Florida where people who should have slowed down to a walk years ago insist on still going through the jogging motions.  Well that was me for the first kilometer of the last stage, but eventually the legs loosened up, just in time for the long steep hill which eventually petered out ahead of the finish line.  So all in all I didn't do too badly. 1 hour and 34 minutes all in. 

My issue is that I never felt in the zone once during the race. To be honest with you, the fitness levels of the main group in the duathalon left me a bit worried. If I am going to be able for the 6 hours that the WAR will take to complete, I'll need to up both my pace and the distances I'm covering.  With this in mind I went out last night with the intention of running my longest distance yet, and I did. I did the 6.7 mile loop from Tournore to Clonea along the Quigley Magnasite track to Ballyclamper and then back home via the Goldcoast. Unlike Saturday's event I was completely in the zone. I could have run all night.  I did it in an hour and 5 minutes which is an average of 9 and a half minute miles.

So after all that exertion, poor Martin Lacey in Clonea Leisure Centre didn't have much to work with when I went out to see him this morning.  That didn't stop him trying, mind you.  He's also given me a programme to do for the next week while I'm away, consisting of a lot of press ups, squats and jumps, sit ups and tricep dips, along with a lot of road work.  Oh well, so much for my holiday, but I guess this race won't run itself.

Who came last in the duathalon?  I've no idea. I only ever look ahead.