10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Clonmel 4 Mile 2025

1. It’s Good To Be In Clonmel

I think that the closer I get to 40 the more I appreciate just being able to do a race. I wish I was this sensible and less mad 15 years ago. It’s good to be able to do any race. Clonmel on St Stephen’s Day is pretty good too.

2. People Like You

I think that it was very unfair of Viv to blame the slight delay to the start on me and people of my ilk, yes I didn’t arrive until 11:40 but that’s just because I don’t like queuing. I prefer nice relaxed races like Clonmel where the race starts when people like me are ready for the race. It’s the way it should be.

3. Calm Down, Calm Down

I think that one of the keys to running well is calmness, lots of things go wrong when you are running races. It’s how you react to them that dictates the result. I could see the stress in Viv’s eyes that the delay was causing, his perfectly planned and measured warm up disrupted. Me in contrast, I jogged the few 100m from the school to the start to the left of the bridge with not a worry in world, well apart from the worry that I was going to miss the already delayed start.

4. Loads of Them

I think that all of the young fellas must have seen last year’s results of this result and though if that useless article can finish 3rd man, I’ll have a bit of that, as there was absolutely loads of them on the start line. It’s great to see so many young people running road races again. Hopefully they will go back to the track in the summer or do a good long training block.

5. New Shoes

I think that there were a lot of Christmas present shoes on display at the start. It appears to be a draw between the Puma Fast R3 and the Asics Metaspeed at the moment with a few Vaporfly 4s thrown probably because they are basically giving them away. I’m still in the Pumas which are probably the best shoe I’ve ever worn by miles.

6. Very Fast

I think that owing to the amount of young fellas the start of the race was very fast. I have discovered a cure for my slow starts in Creatine which has definitely helped to make me more like a young fella. I take 5g a day with a similar sized scoop of beta alanine in a smoothie. I haven’t gotten any more muscly but I feel a bit more powerful.

7. Count the Beeps

I think that it is very hard not to look at the watch during a race like a 4 mile or 5k. I kind of want to know what pace I’m going but I also don’t. Instead I listen for the beeps every kilometre and count them, three more beeps, you can take three more beeps of this misery. That’s how I get through it.

8. Idyllic Marathon Weather

I think that if a marathon was to be organised in Clonmel on days like this it would be faster than Valencia. The conditions were ideal, about 6 degrees, little to no wind and dry. Perfect for running, you couldn’t rely on it so it would have to be like a cancellable marathon where you could keep moving it until the weather came right. Might work the week after Christmas.

9. Revenge of the Dermot

I think that it would have been better if Clonmel had of been a cross country race than a 4 mile road race. I spent the whole race in Clonmel with Dermot Gorman glued to my back waiting to exact revenge for my great victory in the moderately old man Munster cross country in Tramore. Sure enough the minute we got near the line I was overtaken by Dermot and his red Asics Metaspeeds in the sprint for the all important 11th place and absolutely no prize at all.

10. Worlds Best

I think that someone should be keeping track of Vivian Foley, he is definitely worthy of at least a Cathal Dennehy article and maybe even Paul Kimmage. 20:50 in the M55 category must not be far off a world record for 4 miles. I’m having to run probable PBs over 4 miles to give him a bad beating these days.