New PB!

Managed to organise a lift to Tullamore for the track 5km. It was about an hour and a half drive - a long way to go for a 5km!

There was a lot of hanging around. We arrived at about 12pm and I wasn't racing until 4pm. Still a good chance to meet some new people, and watch some pretty good athletics in the process.

At about 3pm I did a bit of a warm-up. Then I made my way to the start area. A few strides and soon we were under starters orders. The first lap was a real mess. I had to check my run many times as we all strived for our positions. I settled mid-pack and was a little disappointed with the time for the first lap of 76 seconds.

After that, the pace started to pick up and sure enough the gaps started to emerge. I worked my way up a few places into 4th overall and concentrated on each lap and not getting gapped. The pace was now up to 71 second laps which felt tough but manageable.

The same mind games as always with these races. Knowing full well how many laps you have left but always disappointed when you see the actual proof on the lap board. I wasn't wearing a watch so don't have splits but I was told that at 3km I went through in 9:05. That was good. Only 2km to go...

I was still in 4th but it was getting really tough. The 3 lead runners had found another gear, whilst I was red-lining. I was overtaken at this point by another runner so my battle was to try and hang on the back of him. This went on for a few laps and I think I went in front again, but with 2 laps to go I was overtaken a second time. I wanted to lift the pace for a quick finish but it wasn't happening. I think I managed to surge a little the last 200m but I could not close the gap on the runner in front. So I finished in 5th overall and was told my time was 15:14. My first PB on Irish soil (or track to be more exact).

Very happy with the run. Conditions were perfect and it was a good race. I'm sure the 3 leaders were under 15 so not too far in front. These are some of the best runners going round in Ireland at the moment so nice to be mixing it with them for a while.

I finished up with a good warm-down. All up 11km for the day.