Schoolboy Error

Today it was time for some intervals. No track to use so I had to use my imagination. Initially I thought about using the long straight road up and down the Quay towards Roman Island but the wind was so strong it wasn't practical. So instead I decided on part of the Westport 5km course inside the grounds of Westport House (more sheltered from wind and rain, plus some give in the ground).

The start point was the large gate at the start of the trail near Hotel Westport. The end was the metal gate outside the part of the park where you can go zorbing. I estimate it was around 650m and the terrain is about 2/3rds trail/gravel and 1/3 footpath. Heading out of town was more downhill, but it was into the wind. Coming back you had the wind on the back but with some uphill drags. In terms of effort, each direction was very similar.

I was initially planning on 12 intervals (off 1 minute recovery); this was quickly revised down to 10 as I approached the halfway mark of the session. Then as I was getting close to finishing I started feeling guilty so reverted back to 12. Upon completing what I thought was my 12th rep, I then had a brain snap and couldn't remember which gate I had started the session at. I quickly decided I had only ran 11 reps so had 1 more to do. Off I set but upon finishing I realised I had in fact done 13. Bad luck to finish on an odd number and all that, especially 13, but I was knackered so I called it a day...

The quickest was a 2:02 and my slowest a 2:09 with the average around 2:05 (so approx 3:12/km pace). With my 3.2km warm-up and down, all up I estimate 14.9kms for the day.

Later that night I headed into town finishing up in Matt Molloys. A great pub with good Guinness and excellent traditional music. Needless to say I was in there until closing time...