Galway County 5,000m

Another cracking day - temperatures were around 29 degrees as I arrived at the track for the race. Not much activity with lots of people milling around trying to keep out of the sun. At about 7:15 I did a 10 minute warm-up with the guys, then another rest. Still no race and as the women's 3,000m race started myself and Owen went out again for another 10 minutes warm-up.

We were called to the start about 8pm. There were around 28 starters and after a few admin issues which caused a further delay, we eventually got underway. Two guys went straight to the front and I settled into third place. By 200m one of the guys had blown, leaving me in second. A few laps passed and I worked into the lead and then it was a question of trying to maintain the pace whilst in time trial mode.

I wasn't wearing a watch and to keep myself focused I tried to run 75 second laps as they were calling out the times at the 200m mark. I went through the first 4 laps in 4:59, through 8 laps in 10:02 or so, but I knew I was going to struggle home. The last 4 laps were a real grind and there was no attempt to lift the pace for the run home as the legs were heavy and unresponsive. I crossed the line in 15:53.67 (electronic timing!) for the win.

So another disappointing time but I'd say most times were way down due to the Galway heatwave. I've been very unlucky with conditions this year but I'll keep racing in the hope that I get lucky soon - starting with another 5,000m in Sligo this Sunday! Sub 15:30 would be nice!

A 3.5km warm-down to give me 12.5kms for the day.

Here's a photo (thanks Jane). Race number 90 - that's how old I felt...