Another race? sure why not. This one seemed to fit well in place of a tempo this week so myself and my training partner John decided to head up to Rathcormac on a fine Thursday evening. I’ve had the tendency to skip racing during a marathon build up in the past but I think they can play an important role as long as expectations are reasonable and tapers are minimised if not banned. You can’t be expecting to lighting up shorter races when in a heavy marathon block on constantly tired legs (which actually turns out to be a great excuse if things go south). There would be no winding down for this one and I probably expected the legs to be a little rusty having not run anywhere near 5 minute miles since the Fermoy race 3 weeks ago. I was a little concerned about how the ribs would react knowing that things are not quite fully healed in that department. I was the first to arrive to race HQ, clearly having learned from my Dundrum 10k experience, now a distant memory. At least I would definitely leave today having come first at something. There was a great buzz around the sleepy little village and a nice pre-race atmosphere building up. You just can’t beat the mid-week summer races. I headed off for a warmup with a few club mates and we soon realised how quick the first mile would be and subsequently how difficult the last mile would be. When we were standing on the line, it felt like it would be a mini repeat of Fermoy a few weeks ago with Tim O’Donohoe of East Cork, myself and training partner John Shine all toeing the line today. We came 3rd, 5th and 6th respectively in that race. Would it be a repeat? Standing on the line I also realised that eating a very spicy curry for lunch was an awful decision, it felt like someone had started a bonfire in my stomach. It’s alright I thought, it’s only 4 miles, just survive it. The course would be a simple loop basically out for 2 downhill miles and back for 2 uphill miles.

Mile 1: 4:46

So off we went and eager to bank some of that free downhill money, I set out hard and sat right in behind Tim and John with another Midleton runner tracking just behind. I was feeling quite good at these early stages but how couldn’t you with a breeze on your back while flowing down the admirably paved country roads in bouncy shoes. At the halfway mark of the mile, the three of us had broken away and it looked like this was the battle for the top 3 spots. I had the time and splits turned off on my watch so no distractions to allow me focus on one thing, racing. I had a feeling we were running quite fast though but I also knew what lay ahead in the 2nd half so I wasn’t getting ahead of myself.

Mile 2: 4:59

At the start of this mile, I’m still in 3rd and we hit the first climb. It was a tester and it was here that Tim displayed his strength and conjured a couple of daylight units to separate himself from myself and John. I made an effort to go ahead of John here to pull us up the hill to Tim but the gap just remained the same. About halfway through the mile we took the first of the right turns and enjoyed some respite with a nice quick downhill. There was some good support around here though I was hurting at this stage and unable to properly appreciate it. Tim is really pulling away now and John is stuck to me but this was really keeping the effort honest. I knew the hardest part was yet to come but I’m feeling reasonably strong.

Mile 3: 5:08

We took the next right turn for home and are now faced with a pretty angry headwind. I just focussed on Tim ahead though it was getting hard to see him at this stage. He was getting smaller which usually means far away. I had time to think so I’m wondering what sort of time I’m on for. Can I look? Nah, just get back to it and stop thinking about the time. We’re halfway through the mile and it’s really, really starting to feel tough and with John right behind me I’m thinking I probably need to develop a gap if I want to stay in 2nd as John has a kick, a better kick than me. The problem is I couldn’t make a gap, it was really hard.

Mile 4: 5:12

Onto the finish straight and it’s literally all uphill from here. I was breathing really hard and the rib is starting to hurt now. It feels like a really bad stitch but I am somehow still able to maintain a decent effort. All I’m thinking is it’s 5 minutes, just suck it up and run. Just run. He’s still right there, breathing as hard as me so I know we’re both deep in the pain cave. With about 400m to go we get to the Y junction signalling the end of the loop and it’s straight uphill to the finish line. I start pushing now and get a small gap on John and I just push, push and push more up the hill. I can hear the fanfare though I can’t see the line yet. I start to see a crowd and a little bit of metal bar which is hopefully a metal bar attached to a finish line. It is. The rib is absolutely killing me at this stage but I don’t let up and push it all the way. John had apparently started reeling me in over the last few meters but I get in just ahead of him in 20:03. Absolutely spent.

I barely had enough energy to congratulate Tim and John but that’s why races are better than any session. I swiftly retreated to the safety of the curb and sat down to stare at the ground for a while munching on a banana. I don’t think I could have gotten much more out of myself today and I’m delighted with that effort when only a few weeks ago I feared being sidelined for a lengthy period. While the splits don’t look pretty, given the course profile I think that was reasonably well paced and it seemed everyone was leaking time in the 2nd two miles. In the context of the heavy training and the silly rib layoff, that’s a really good result so no complaints and I’m in a good position now to kick on with the training for Berlin. I’m having fun doing it all, that’s the main thing.