Non running friends have asked me why so many people want to do the Ballycotton 10 mile road race and to be honest i dont have an answer, sometimes these things just take on a mystic element and everyone wants in.
Maybe the fact that it is in existence since 1979 or thats it on the first sunday in March, or maybe its 2 and a half thousand competitors crammed (at the start) into country lanes? who knows, but all i can say is outside of a big city marathon, you will not see that amount of people running a race in Ireland or get that kind of atmosphere.
I had the training done, well as much as i could manage since focusing on running 2 months previous, but at least i felt fresh and had no injury or niggle, some thing that in the past i have never really been able to manage coming into a race i would like to do my best in. I can do it fine on the bike but when it comes to running i always seem to fall at the last hurdle, injury wise.
I had 67 mins in my head as a realistic goal, after i had ran 69.20 in the Mealagh valley 10 a month before and had got through the seriously tough Off-road half Marathon in Kenmare 2 weeks later, with only a knot in my right calf that lasted 5 days!
I had done a tough 1.15 hill run (see previous post) the previous sunday and after a tough basketball game on the monday night, rested on tue and wednesday and did a easy 35 min warm up on the thursday evening, followed by a 6 min mile @168 bpm followed by 10 mins cool down, rest on fri and sat, good sleep on sat night and a painless , in plenty of time drive on sunday morning, leaving home at 10 to 10.
I had decided to stick to my plan from the month previous which i felt worked very well and so started the race with no pace per mile time in my head, instead i was running off the heart rate monitor and feel, mostly sticking to the monitor, so i ran at an av of 165 bpm approx for the first 5 miles in 33.40, it felt easy enough but still plenty fast. I planned to run at that pace until the 7 mile mark but because it i felt so comfortable i latched onto a runner who came past me at the 5.75 mile mark, the heart rate went up to 174, 175 but i felt ok, yes it was hard but not unbearable so i said i would see how it goes.
I followed 'paddy' (a popular local guy obviously) for over 2 miles at this pace until my heart rate dropped to 170, i knew we had slowed and paddy was cooked, so i powered on steadily on my own. At the 8 mile mark 4 or 5 guys came past me in a macho roaring pack shouting 'come on lads' i knew a surge would be futile so i ignored them and let them go, from the 8.5 mile mark i really started to work, 178 bpm flashed up at me.
It felt hard but doable, by the 9 mile mark i had passed all the roaring lads and was now in the last mile and 182 on my watch, i pumped along in a whole world of pain, perhaps if i had been on my own it would have been to much (it definetly would!) but because i was catching runner after runner i just kept pushing. I eventually hit some kinda wall at the 1000metres to go and became aware that i was not running that well technically and i felt that i must have slowed, but i still was hell bent on passing more runners, i willed down the 100metres chunks, as they were all bloody well marked on the road!
I did despite my internal trauma notice a few pained expressions from spectators along the way, no doubt reflecting the twisted expression i must have on my face, then i had a real clear realisation that i was giving more than 100%, i have never subscribed to the 110% cliche but now i most certainly would agree that it is at least possible.
Finally the end came and i almost had forgot about the time aspect. I looked at my watch and it said 66.49, and a 6.20 last mile (must not have slowed that much!)
Running i have learned really is not about the times, but i do admit that the figure 66.49 added to my already huge sense of satisfaction. I had run clever, i had run negative splits, 33.40 and 33.09 respectively, i told anyone who asked 'So how did you get on in the race'? that i could not have run a second faster. Result!
Ballycotton reminded me why i like races. It made me push myself beyond the norm, way beyond infact! It provided tiny incremental achievable goals in the form of other runners, just ahead of me, to catch and do it again and again. It allowed me redefine where my limit is, it turned the 'science bit' on its head (no way i would have said (or my training suggest) i could maintain the heartrate i managed in the 2nd 5 miles) So, i guess i now have an answer, to why the Ballycotton 10 is so special. It was my first and i know it wont be my last.
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