Annaghdown 10km

Arrived late - my fault as I forgot my racing flats so had to turn back to get them. The weather upon arrival was poor. Heavy showers and after registering it was a case of do I get soaked and run a warm-up, or remain in the dry. About 5 minutes before the start the rain had eased a bit and after a km warm-up (no strides), it was time to line up. I was struggling to get into race mode being such a rushed build-up and despite the short warm-up, my socks and shoes were soaked through.

The race started and I went straight to the front. That's how it remained for me and I was left playing chase the police car who was leading the race round. Well I caught him - on the first corner. I had to check my run and it cost me a few seconds but after that the car remained a safe distance in front.

The course itself was predominantly flat. Regular undulations but no long uphills or downhills to worry about. I wasn't feeling great but tried to keep the concentration going. The only marker I missed was the 5km one but I knew that if I could keep it going in the second half of the race I was on for a quick time.

But too many negative thoughts in the second half. Nobody to race and I knew I was slowing and the course was probably a little trickier. Difficult to remain focused when it's you against the clock. At 7km I did my "if I take 10 mins from here what time will that give me". I knew it would be sub 33 so pushed on but the legs weren't responding. I'd convinced myself that the last km was all downhill so I saved myself for a quick finish. That wasn't the case as there were a few drags to contend with but the last 400m was quick and I gave it my all to cross the finishing line in 32:41 and 1st place.

That's a massive 3 second road PB! You can never be disappointed with a PB but having said that, I wouldn't rate my run that highly today - I ran a fairly average second 5km. With the right race I'm sure there is plenty more to come. I also need to toughen up mentally. Too many thoughts of giving up and just jogging it in. Not good.

I finished up with 4kms warm-down and got completely soaked through in another massive downpour. We were lucky really as the race itself was good - no rain and very little breeze but it was quite humid.

All up 15km for the day. Here are the km splits:

1km 3:07
2km 3:11
3km 3:16
4km 3:16
6km 6:36
7km 3:18
8km 3:18
9km 3:23
10km 3:16

Thanks to Paul and the team for putting on a great race. Very well organised and plenty of food and drink to keep everyone happy post race!