10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About the Kilbeggan 10 Mile

1. Where’s That

I think that Kilbeggan is the perfect place for an All Ireland road race, it’s about 2 hours from everywhere including Cork. People came from everywhere for the race. I didn’t see anyone from Gdansk but I reckon every county in Ireland was represented.

2. Contactless Silent Race

I think that if you didn’t like people, were scared of them or are a Buddhist monk, then races at the moment are for you. They post the number out to you so you don’t have to talk to anyone to get your number. You just rock up at the start, run the race and then go home. Even if you win they seem to give you your brown envelope as you cross the line. It’s kind of great and kind of terrible.

3. Running Crows

I think that I was genuinely scared during the warm-up. I was about 0.75miles out the road when I heard the unmistakable sound of a shotgun. My brain did some calculations and concluded that the most likely scenario was that a person who dislikes disease ridden runners had decided to take drastic action and shoot them before they raced spreading their diseases. I reckoned there was at least a 40% chance of it being a lunatic with a gun so I turned around and jogged the other way. I think it was just a fella scaring crows. I now know what crows feel like.

4. Ageing Shoes

I think my Next%s are getting a bit old, they are almost 2 years old which for Next%s is very old. They still seem to work but John Walshe said they look worn out. I might have to get a pair of Next%2s. Kipchoge wears them instead of Alphaflys so they must be good.

5. Charleville +2.5% gradient

I think that the Kilbeggan course was pretty much identical to the Charleville marathon route except that someone edited the course on Strava removed 3.1 miles in the middle and added approximately 2.5% to every conceivable gradient. There were no actual big hills but I don’t think any of it was actually flat.

6. Longest 5k Ever

I think that the first 5k of this race was soulless. God it was miserable. It was uphill into the wind on the hard shoulder of a wide-open road in Westmeath. It seemed to go on forever and ever, one of those roads that could be anywhere in rural Ireland, all it needed was rain to make it properly miserable. The width of the road made it seem like we were only crawling along which we probably were given the wind.

7. Kind Kieran

I think that Kieran McKeown is a nice man. I presumed that he would do the same as he always does and sit behind me for 95% of the race before running away from me at the end. My presumption was wrong as I wasn’t fit enough for the distance to be of any help to him in this race. Because the first 5k was so depressing I was starting to give up a little. Thankfully kind Kieran encouraged me to stay with him which I did for about 8 miles.

8. Rolling Road

I think that the rest of the route was lovely. I really liked the rolling bog road from mile 3 to 9. It went by so quickly, there were lots of things to look at and the road surface changed from smooth tarmac to tar and chippings to make things interesting. The ditches were nice and close, which made it seem like we were flying along which we weren’t.

9. TT Racers

I think that the TT Racers singlet is really annoying. Just before the finish, a TT Racers singlet came flying past me. Owing to the last 18 months I have developed an intense hatred of time trials . I was so distracted by how annoyed I was at the thought of a time trial that I forgot to race the guy in the TT Racers singlet. Time trials should be banned forever. The word needs to be canceled.

10. More Races

I think that I will just keep racing every weekend. I love racing, there are lots of races everywhere except Cork although even that seems to be changing. I would still like a midweek BHAA race but you couldn’t blame anyone for not wanting to organize one at the moment given the red tape and hoop jumping that needs to be done. Hopefully, the hoops, yellow signs and the red tape will be put away soon.