Sunday, December 02, 2012

Carnmore 5km Turkey Trot

Lots of rain around and also very cold. The positive was that there was very little breeze. Not too bad once you got going but the course was very damp. This picture is taken off the Athenry AC website gives you an idea of the conditions:



A shortish warm-up of around a mile running down to the start if you include the strides. The race started and I hit the front with a couple of other runners for company. By the time we hit the first km there was still 3 of us together but shortly after that reduced to two leaving me and Steve McKeigue together. After a left turn we started the lollipop section of the course. Through 2km and still together and after taking a right turn we were greeted by a long uphill drag. I took this opportunity to push on and within reaching the top of the climb I had opened up a small gap.

From there on it was a case of holding on. Passed the 3km marker and then continuing around the loop before the long descent back down to 4km. By this stage I was starting to struggle a little but I'd opened up enough of a gap not to let it slip. Disappointed not to find another gear to finish off the race with a quick last km but a pleasing win in a time of 16:01. Here are the splits:

1km 3:01
2km 3:13
3km 3:15
4km 3:15
5km 3:17

Total 16:01

The clock on the finish line wasn't working and if you'd have asked me to guess the time I would have said around 16:15 to 16:20 so the actual time was a pleasant surprise. Looking back to last year I actually ran 3 seconds quicker this time around although the splits are completely different (last year was a quick last km of 3:05 where I came off second best in a sprint finish).

A great event and lots of turkeys given out as prizes. That's Christmas dinner sorted. I really like this course and I'd like to have a dig at it when I'm in better 5km shape as I reckon it's a quick one. It certainly wouldn't be out of place as part of the Galway 5km series.

I ran the loop again as a warm-down with Brian Furey and then we ran back to the hall for the presentation. All up 14.2kms for the day and a mighty 56.0kms for the week. A pleasing end to the week and nice to run a race on fresh legs (no sessions all week makes a big difference).

I notice I gave Judd the kiss of death in the snooker. Okay, my new tip is Neil Robertson...plus a great finish to the darts with the Power adding another major to his collection. Peaking nicely for his 16th world title?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Matt,

Well done on the race win. looks a bit moist out there!

just out of interests, back in 2002/3 when your marathon PB was around the 3 hour mark. what were your respective 5k, 10k and half marathon PB's at the time

Thanks
John

BeerMatt said...

Good question! I broke 3 hours for the marathon in Apr 2003 and going into that race my PB's for 5.6km were 19:48 (Nov 2002), 10km 37:03 (Oct 2001) and half 1:23:18 (May 2002). I hadn't ran a straight 5km at that time - the 5.6km was the distance for the Corporate Chase.

Anonymous said...

Some progress over the years Matt, do you think that any committed runner can get down from 3 hrs to sub 2.30 marathon as you did..? Whats the one best way to do it - hard sessions , races or miles/kms?? This is a great blog btw

BeerMatt said...

That's another good question. I read somewhere that most people have the ability to run sub 2:30. I'm not sure I agree with that! If you have broken sub 3 with relative ease then there is definitely plenty more to come. There are no short-cuts to improvement - it's about all the things you mention: sessions, miles and races. For me a big part is also consistency - if your body can hold-up to running over long periods of time. You'll get a better idea over time of what your marathon potential is if you focus on the shorter races (using McMillan). Like I say, it's basically about getting the training done! Good lcuk with it and let me know if you have any other questions. Matt