National League Round 2 - Sligo

I caught the team bus at 8:15am for the 2 hour journey to Sligo. I wasn't running until around 4pm so plenty of time to watch the action. But my attention was elsewhere - listening to the climax of the first test at Trent Bridge. I was mentally drained when England eventually got that final wicket. More on this later.

Hot conditions and there was a nasty breeze on the back straight/start of the final bend. The gun sounded and I settled mid-pack. The front group of 5 runners quickly worked away - no surprise as they were running 3 minute/km pace and I wasn't able for that. There was a mini-pack of me and a couple of others in pursuit. That lasted for a couple of laps and I then made a move on the back straight to lead the chase group and in terms of positioning, that's how it remained for the rest of the race.

Through 1km in 3:04, through 2km in 6:10 and by this time it was another time trial. I was running solo and despite feeling quite strong, the 3rd km passed and with a disappointing split of 3:10 (time 9:20) I started to crumble. The next few laps were a real grind. I don't recall my 4km split but I continued on as best I could eventually crossing the line in 15:44 for 6th place overall (4th scorer in the Premier League).

The lead group all ran close to 15 minutes with the winner clocking 15:01. That group included Roger Barrett who must have only been a second or 2 behind the leader. So despite the hot condtions, it didn't seem to slow some people down! Great running Roger!

Personally I was very disappointed by that run. I felt like I could go sub 15:30 but come 3km that goal was gone and it was a long slog home. The sub 32 target for the 10km now seems like a pipe dream. The thought of running a 25 lapper at this moment in time seems like slow torture...

Some great performances for the team today. Peter O'Sullivan guested and was brilliant running 4:09 in the 1,500m, and then 2:01 in the 800m. Well done Peter.

All up 10.7kms for the day and 57.2kms for the week. I'll try and put in a decent week's training next week and then I'll wind it back for the 10,000m attempt the week after next.

Well back to the Ashes. What can I say? That match had everything. I had no nails left as the Aussies were closing in on the victory target. But King Jimmy managed to muster up another wicket getting the faintest of edges to dismiss Haddin. A few celebratory beers for the lads and then onto Lords for the second test on Thursday. More of the same please!