Quick Beat; Slow Feet

Macanri

El Director wrote: »

Hey Mac, catching up here tonight I am! Well done on the North Tipp and the 10k PB the very next day! I hope you are enjoying the training dude. I see you are putting in some hill work on the bike, I must go to Howth some day and tackle that famous hill!

So I was wondering, when will you be setting your next A race?

How are you finding the Thurs swim session? Are you making any other club sessions?

Cheers, yea doing a bit of hill training on the bike. Plan to head over Howth on Fri evening and do 3x loops. So if your around give me a shout. At the minute I'm taking the easy side - I will go for the tougher climber later on.

I'm not sure what my next race will be. I have a list drafted but will be away for the first 2 weeks of June so it will prob be early or mid July before my next 'real' race. Maybe DCT or Lough Neagh.

Yea the Thurs swim session is going well. I think I need to be getting in the water 3 times a week, to try and come on a bit. We met up for a few pints on Sunday evening after the first 'club' race - Fingal Sprint - I didn't do it myself. But not making any other training sessions - which I knew would be the case more or less anyway.

El Director wrote: »

Also will you be having a crack at the mike this Weds in Santry?

For some reason I thought the mile race was on Thurs, but I will try and make it for 7 on Wed. Will need to get permission first;). Will you be heading yourself?

El Director

I am ya, sure send me a text if you are. It will be a tough one but these races teach you how to run even when hurting.

I have Spiddal tri on Sat so I will give the hill repeats on Fri a miss but thanks dude.

I've actually decided to go with the tri club now. It will be well into the summer before I get any kit though! I won't be able to make any of their training sessions-even the swimming ones as I have already paid up with my swim club. But it will be nice to be part of a club I must say.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Hey Mac if you are ever back up home the OW swimming around Clogherhead Slipway (beside the pier) is pretty good with an out and back measuring 1200 mtrs. There is a group meeting at 7 on a Tuesday and 11 on a Sunday.

Macanri

Tues 17 May PM
Bike 67km

There seemed to be a headwind no matter which direction I was travelling in, but at least it was dry. Decided to spin through the wind in the small cog for the first while, then picked it up in the big cog for most of the rest and ont he tri bars for nearly all of it. A good road surface for most of it apart from the section from Ballyboughal to Oldtown and back to the Sword Rd.

67km even, ~2hr11min, 30.5kph av, 52.9mx, av Cad 100, HR 156/176.

Wed 18 May AM
LC Swim 2000m

Seriously struggled to get out of the bed and ended up later than expected.

WU 200m
Kick 2 x (50front, 50back) w Fins
8 x 100 off 2:15, (1:52, 53, 54, 54, 54, 53, 56, 51)
6 x (50 FS, 50 Kick on Back)
200 CD

Tired - more sleep needed!

Macanri

El Director wrote: »

sure send me a text if you are.

I have Spiddal tri on Sat so I will give the hill repeats on Fri a miss but thanks dude.

I've actually decided to go with the tri club now. It will be well into the summer before I get any kit though! I won't be able to make any of their training sessions-even the swimming ones as I have already paid up with my swim club. But it will be nice to be part of a club I must say.

I won't be able to make the 1 miler, ah well.
All the best for Spiddal.
Great stuff re the tri club. The lads were asking about you the other evening wondering were you joining - that's great. I haven't got any gear yet either - a mix up with the order.
Yea it will be great to be part of a club and for the bit of extra commraderie and excitment during the races.

Will Elegant Sandbox wrote: »

Hey Mac if you are ever back up home the OW swimming around Clogherhead Slipway (beside the pier) is pretty good with an out and back measuring 1200 mtrs. There is a group meeting at 7 on a Tuesday and 11 on a Sunday.

Cool. Will try and make one or two of these if I can. Thanks for the heads up.

Macanri

Thurs 19 May AM
Group Swim LC 2500m

WU 100FS, 100, 100, 100BkSt,
5[100easy, 2x50 All Out] 20sec RT - (50s in 46 & 47, 49, 50).
12 x 50 (15 All Out, the rest easy),
CD Fins 100 Kick, 100Bk Kick, 100LArm, 100RArm, 100FS.
I can't remember what the WU involved exactly?

Thurs LTime
Run Intervals

Done on a grass track near work.

WU 1.8km (~5:00/km)
4 x 400 (w/ 400m jog recovery after each) Splits: 79, 77, 75, 73.5 secs (HR 180 - 185)
4 x 200 (w/ 400m Rec) Splits: 34, 33, 33, 31 (HR 175 - 179)
CD 2.6km (~5:00/km)

10km total.
A good session, but was wrecked after them on Friday and took it as a rest day.

Sat 21 May PM
Easy Run 9.8km

It rained on me for this one and I could feel the left foot this morning after it, where I twisted my foot a bit during the intervals on Thurs.

Done in 48:35, 4:57/km, 7:59/ml, HR 157/165.

I missed the planned bike today (Sunday) due to one thing and another, but wasn't too pushed to be honest.

Weekly Totals
Swim 4500m - (2000, 2500)
Bike 67km - (67)
Run 35.2km - (15.4, 10, 9.8)

Macanri

I picked up a bit of a chest infection (which is part of the reason I wasn't too pushed about that Sunday cycle above), and is only coming right now. I'm hoping to get a little bit done tomorrow and easy myself back into it if all goes well tomorrow. We are down in Banna at the minute and looking forward to this warm weather that's due. Weather hasn't been too bad so far, but the 2 wee ones are also coughing so have to keep an eye on them and hope they get better too.

Last week:

Thurs 26 May AM
Group Swim LC 2900m

WU 100FS, 100BkSt, 200Kick&Stroke.
4 x 50(25fast, 25easy)w/fins,
4x400w/fins,
4x50(s5fast, 25easy)w/fins,
200 sidekick&pull w/fins.
CD 100BkSt, 100BrSt, 100FS.

I probably shouldn't have done this session looking back as it set me back, chestwise.

Weekly Totals
Swim 2900m

So the last bike was 17th May, last run 21st MAy and last swim 26th May.

Not a great month as a result. Sh!t happens.

Macanri

Went out for a run before midday yesterday at a nice handy pace. It was a really nice run around the back road near the holiday home, while Mrs M had the kids in the adventure world. Then when I got the wee lad down to sleep last night I headed up to the pool.

Wed 01 June AM
Easy Run 9.2km

9.2km in 48:22, 5:15/km, 8:28/ml, HR 157/169. I was keeping a close eye on the HR and it had only went as high as 162, until I came to the small steep hill before the small steep downhill!

Wed PM
Swim 2800m, 20m pool

I did Interested 2nd Set, 1st Session, and added a few hundred onto the end. The session is geared towards a 25m pool, so I had to do a wee bit of rejigging during the set.

WU 200 FS,
8 x 25 10 x 20 Kick, (Alt 2 w/ board, 2back w/o, 2w, 2bk wo, 1w, 1bk w/)
8 x 100 off 2:15, (I was hitting these in ~1:45)
8 x 75 10 x 60 (20FS, 20Bk, 20FS)
CD 200 FS.
Then 4 x 200 easy.

After 15 mins or so into it the pool filled up with 'aul ones' doing an Aquafit class. They were pullin' some shapes!

Planning on heading out on the bike this evening, once the wee mans asleep. We had him to the doctor this morning as he was wheezing and coughing like goodo last night. The doc put him on an antibiotic and a Ventolin liquid, and as soon as he had the first dose he improved. The ventolin is mighty stuff. So hopefully I'll get more sleep tonight.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Seems to be some ****e going around with the wee ones at the moment i have two now unwell and the other two are waiting to be infected as it always happens when you get a sickness in the house:o
Are you planning on doing The Tour of Louth this weekend or are you away? It is a 100km relaxed sportive ride around the Cooley Mts.

Macanri

Just see this now JB. Yea the kids seem to pick things up more frequently than the adults, I suppose the're around other kids more, and as you say, once one gets a cold the other/s will eventually get it. Our lad picked it up from his sister, but he is alot better than he was, thank God.

That sportive sounded interesting, but yea, we're down in Banna, Co. Kerry for 2 weeks. The weather has been fairly good so far, but next week isn't looking to good. We'll see how it goes.

Well done in the HIM again. You have a 2min PB on me .

Macanri

May Monthly Totals

Swim 14500m
Bike 187.5km
Run 90.1km

A low milage month due to the chest infection.

Last Week

Thur 02 June PM
Bike 51.3km

A nice but steady bike around a section of North County Kerry (Banna, Ballyheige, Causeway, Abbeydorney, Tralee and Banna). A light wind and a nice sunny evening.
29.5kph av, 58mx, HR 154/176, Av Cad 95.

Sat 04 June PM
OW Swim 1300m

The first OW swim for the year. I headed down to Banna beach despite the strong cross-shore wind and the 3 to 4 ft swell I decided to give it a shot. I swam parallel to the shore and went north first for a few minutes (hardly moving) then went south for a few (a bit better), then repeated this to be sure. Then settled for heading south from the carpark. I was in the water for about 45 mins as it was a stop / start type swim, but happy enough with it. The water was cold to start but I got used to it and there were actually warm/warmer spots in places. I exited the water don the beach and jogged and walked back to the car. I wore the HR monitor for the craic: 144/163.

I find the beach swims difficult/disorientating sometimes due to the sea bed and seaweed etc moving underneath you.

Sun 05 June PM
L?SR 12.8km

No point in overdoing it on the long run. So just building it up over the next few weeks again. Another nice training session in the sun, and I added a bit of tempo in the last few km.
O/A 12.8km in 59:29, 4:39/km, 7:29/ml, HR 168/187.
Tempo 2.7km in 10:40, 3:57/km, 6:21/ml, HR~185av.

Week Totals
Swim 4100m (2800, 1300 OW)
Bike 51.3km
Run 22km (9.2, 12.8)

Macanri

Mon 06 June PM
Bike 37.9km

Windy and rainy for this one. 29.3kph av, 50.8mx, Av Cad 99, HR 157/182
Banna, Ardfert, Causeway, Along the Coast, Ballyheige, Banna. Got a bit lost coming back but stopped to ask directions. Some view from the top of the headland back towards Ballyheige and Banna - spectacular.

Tues 07 June PM
Swim 2500m (20m Pool)

We were all in the pool and when the kids were finished I stayed on to get a session done. No real plan so broke it down to:
WU 100
5 x 200 off 4:00 (~3:40)
5 x 100 off 2:00 (~1:45)
5 x 100 off 2:15 (~1:45 to 50)
CD 50bkst, 50brst, 3x100 easy

Wed 08 June PM
Swim 1200m (20m Pool)

Again we were all in the pool, so I grabbed two 10min stints.
2 x 600.

Headed down to the beach for a surf in the evening seen as the wind had died down a bit and there was a fair swell. Rusty!

Thur 09 June PM
OW Swim 1400m

I shot off an email to the guys in Tralee Tri Club about joining them on a OW swim if they had any planned. I got an email back saying they had nothing set in stone this week due to upcoming races, but that the swimming club and the tri club swim at Fenit @ 6am and 6pm, where there are bouys marked out. So I headed down for 6pm and met a group of 8 or so. I really enjoyed this swim as it is more sheltered (yet one of the lads said that it was rougher than normal). It is 750m out and the same back when the tide is in. The tide was out so about 700m each way. It was tougher going on the way out as the wind was against us as was the small bit of flow. It all took about 30mins, ~16.5 out and ~13.5 back as a pure guess-timate. Home in time to help Mrs Mac get the kids to bed - result.

Thurs PM
Bike 61.4km

Had planned an easy run, but seeing as the evening was nice and dry (and rain threathened for today) I decided to switch todays bike with yesterdays run.
Banna, Ardfert, Lixnaw, Tralee, Banna.
Again got a bit lost and asked a lad out jogging for directions.
30.2kph av, 49.4mx, 96 Av Cad, HR 156/174.

Macanri

Fri 10 June PM
Swim 1000m 20m Pool

Grabbed a few minutes when I could to get a few lengths in.

Fri PM
Bike 61.4km

Another nice cycle around the Banna area. Banna, Ardfert, Got Lost, Lixnaw, Tralee, Banna. 30.2kph av, 49.4mx, 96av Cad, HR 156/174. I was lucky to avoid the rain.

Sat Rest.

Sun 12 June PM
LSR 14.3km

Back to my local well worn roads. 1:10:18 for the 14.3km, 4:55/km, 7:55/ml, HR 157/167.

Weekly Totals
Swim 6100m (2500, 1200, 1400 OW, 1000)
Bike 99.3km (37.9, 61.4)
Run 23.5km (9.2, 14.3)

kennyb3

R1's for a good price esp if you can collect, just in case your interested. few other lads might see it this way too

Macanri

kennyb3 wrote: »

R1's for a good price esp if you can collect, just in case your interested. few other lads might see it this way too

Thanks for the heads up KB. I bought a pair and am going to collect at lunch time. Now all I need is a set of nice wheels to put them on:rolleyes:

How did you get on in the race last night?

kennyb3

Macanri wrote: »

Thanks for the heads up KB. I bought a pair and am going to collect at lunch time. Now all I need is a set of nice wheels to put them on:rolleyes:

How did you get on in the race last night?

Good stuff, they are great value.

Report on the cycling forum - went very well. Last weeks A3/A4 race went shocking and couldnt figure out why but turned out i was coming down with something. Form coming along nicely now. Best thing i prob did was wrap up my log - have been experimenting a lot more and worrying less about km's covered and avergage pace and its working out well.

Macanri

Mon Rest day.

Set the alarm to go for a swim and just rolled over in the bed. Meant to do something in the evening but during the day Mrs M smashed the rear window in the car and I spent the evening cleaning up the glass and putting on a plastic covering.

Tues Another rest day.

Meant to do something in the evening, but got a call from one of the bro in laws during the day asking if I could help him install an extractor fan in his appartment. A 1 hour job turned into a 2.5hr job And to top it off I accidently broke the glass in the ceramic hob.

Not a good week for glass related incidents - I have been eating and drinking from paper plates and cups since!

Wed 15 June PM
Bike 60km

I had intended to do a AM swim but again was too lazy to get out of bed - need to get to bed earlier.

Along with the new tyres I picked up a 'trial' Fisicik saddle and tried this out last night. It was a little better than my saddle, but am going to trial a different one next.

Did 60km on the nose, headed for Naul and diverted over to Ballyboughal and back to Raheny. A nice spin. I had started out trying to keep it handy and was averaging about 25kph, but the HRM was going mad (197 to 212 crazy). I switched it off and on again. Then after a while I stopped taking it as handy and then picked it up again for a finish. So a sort of progression ride.

~1hr54, 31.5kph av, 55mx, 99av Cad, HR 167/197??

Thurs 16 June AM
Group Swim LC 2200m

WU 50 Side Kick L, 50 SKick R, 100FS, 100BkSt
4 x 50 Kick w/ board
4 x [ 300FS + 100 Pull Bouy ] The 300 done as 50 3breaths, 50 5breaths, 50 3br, 50 7br, 50 3br, 50 5br.
CD 4 x 50 Kick w/ board (only did 2 x 50 due to time)

I was happy to be able to kick a little more effectively than normal. Still woeful slow mind you.
The main set was all about getting the lungs working. The first set of 7 breaths was a struggle and didn't manage them all. 2nd 7breaths went ok, 3rd nearly managed the 7 breaths, and 4th again managed to stick to 7 breaths.

I got my club gear today too - a trisuit, polo shirt and a casual jacket (more feckin money!) The look good especially the tri suit. The red and yellow against the black really stands out. As the lads were saying we'll need to be finishing in the top of the field as they are very 'fast' looking! (No problems for El D there )

ronanmac

Macanri wrote: »

Mon during the day Mrs M smashed the rear window in the car

Not in the same manner as a certain Mrs Tiger Woods, I hope

Macanri

kennyb3 wrote: »

Good stuff, they are great value.

Report on the cycling forum - went very well. Last weeks A3/A4 race went shocking and couldnt figure out why but turned out i was coming down with something. Form coming along nicely now. Best thing i prob did was wrap up my log - have been experimenting a lot more and worrying less about km's covered and avergage pace and its working out well.

Cool - tell me more!

Macanri

ronanmac wrote: »

Not in the same manner as a certain Mrs Tiger Woods, I hope

LOL - very good. No not in a Mrs Woods way.

She was putting the buggy into the back of the car. Unknown to her, the handle stuck up in the gap between the back part of the 'boot door' and the rear window. When she closed the boot - BANG. Could happen to a bishop! Covered on the insurance thankfully.

Macanri

Thurs 16 June Lunchtime
Run 11.2km w/ Tempo section

A nice run along the canal heading the other way (so something different). Went out nice and handy at ~152 HR.

O/A 11.2km in 54:10, 4:50/km, 7:47/ml, HR 159/180
Done as:
5.6km in 28:25, 5:04/km, 8:10/ml, HR~152
3.45km Tempo in 14:13, 4:07/km, 6:38/ml, HR~178
2.15km in 11:32, 5:22/km, 8:38/ml, HR~159

Macanri

Fri 17 June AM
Swim 2400m

Having slept in Mon and Wed I needed to get to the pool this morning.

WU 2x100
500 in 10:05
1000 in 19:57
500 in ? 9:30 or 10:30 ?
CD 2x100

Happy enough with the times. I couldn't remember what time i started the last 500 at so can't figure out whether it was preety quick or not. It felt like a 10min swim so can't judge by effort either:rolleyes:

I decided to do a long session to see where I am in relation to TriAthlone where I'm going for the standard distance. If it is a up and down stream swim, I would be happy enough with sub 30.

kennyb3

Macanri wrote: »

Cool - tell me more!

Now that would be telling! Ah no its just a case of not being a slave to stats like km's and average speed.

Doing proper warm up and cool down. Taking proper recovery between intervals. Doing up hill sprints. 3 mins up howth turning around and freewheel down. Training the quads to climb out of the saddle for a couple of mins plus at a time.

A lot more hard efforts but also a lot more recovery. Just a lot more freedom than riding xxkm @ xxkm/ph.

Im just generally finding it more fun and the form is coming.

Macanri

kennyb3 wrote: »

Now that would be telling! Ah no its just a case of not being a slave to stats like km's and average speed.

Doing proper warm up and cool down. Taking proper recovery between intervals. Doing up hill sprints. 3 mins up howth turning around and freewheel down. Training the quads to climb out of the saddle for a couple of mins plus at a time.

A lot more hard efforts but also a lot more recovery. Just a lot more freedom than riding xxkm @ xxkm/ph.

Im just generally finding it more fun and the form is coming.

Fair play, sounds good.

I know what you mean. I find it very hard to just take it easy on the bike - I'm constantly looking at the computer to see where my current speed is in relation to the avg (gotta keep that arrow pointing up!).

Macanri

Fri PM
Bike/Run/Bike Brick

Bike: 27km, 32.3kph av, 54.7mx, av Cad 100, HR 163/182
A bit of a long transition to get the bike locked and changed into my runners. ~5 mins
Run: 4.8km in 19:59, 4:10/km, 6:42/ml, HR 169/178
Bike: 26.9km, 32.1kph av, 54.1mx, av Cad 94, HR 147/170

El Director

Interesting discussing on the 'slave to stats' thing. I actually find it easy to take it easy on the easy bit no problem actually! I hope to really up my bike milage during the Autumn and Winter, I don't do enough hill/strength work so I intend on working on that. Sprinting up hills? When I was doing hills I just try to get to the top best I can. Mmmm...maybe I could throw in a sprint up as far as I can then turning around and free wheeling back down and try to get further and further up each week. Sorry...just thinking out loud.

Mac that was an interesting brick. First thing I notice is your high ave cad on the first bike, I have struggled to keep my cadence high this year. Your run was very pacey off the bike-you are probably full of beans after your hols. The most interesting thing though was how low your HR was on the second bike despite keeping the same speed as the first Your cad was lower too so that must explain it. Good stuff dude and a nice brick done there.

kennyb3

El Director wrote: »

Sprinting up hills? When I was doing hills I just try to get to the top best I can. Mmmm...maybe I could throw in a sprint up as far as I can then turning around and free wheeling back down and try to get further and further up each week. Sorry...just thinking out loud.

I guess it depends on what you are training for - for triathlon id guess a lot of intervals and threshold work is required. You'd need to climb a bit but not a huge amount.

For me though, i hope to do well in A4 late this year and early next year and progress to A3 and up the swords league groups to mix it with the big boys so that involves being able to follow wheels and breaks (sprinting required) on the flat and on hills so its much more anaerobic. I think its important to train your quads to climb out of the saddle for extended periods - i remember when i started and 10secs out of the saddle and the quads would be burning and id feel goosed, now i ve no problem climbing for maybe 3 mins or so out of the saddle.

Anyway my point is its like running training put some structure on it - hill intervals, flat intervals, hill sprints, flat sprints, endurance ride etc, dont just keep chasing an average speed.

It works - you look at my log and there wasnt many cycles over 30/31kmph - even short ones and my longer ones were well below that. Last night i did 78km @ 32.4km/ph without really pushing it over a hilly route. Av speed isnt a good measurement but its pretty obvious something has changed.

Anyway sorry for the hijack Mac

Macanri

El Director wrote: »

Interesting discussing on the 'slave to stats' thing. I actually find it easy to take it easy on the easy bit no problem actually! I hope to really up my bike milage during the Autumn and Winter, I don't do enough hill/strength work so I intend on working on that. Sprinting up hills? When I was doing hills I just try to get to the top best I can. Mmmm...maybe I could throw in a sprint up as far as I can then turning around and free wheeling back down and try to get further and further up each week. Sorry...just thinking out loud.

Think away , it's all good.
Because I have got onto the bike late this year I have not got round to/ built up to doing any real sessions yet. But I intend to start doing hill repeats again and also doing some 'intervals' (have never done intervals - so if you have any easy to follow sessions to start with I'ld be interested in hearing of them).

El Director wrote: »

Mac that was an interesting brick. First thing I notice is your high ave cad on the first bike, I have struggled to keep my cadence high this year. Your run was very pacey off the bike-you are probably full of beans after your hols. The most interesting thing though was how low your HR was on the second bike despite keeping the same speed as the first Your cad was lower too so that must explain it. Good stuff dude and a nice brick done there.

Yea, I was happy with this brick. How and why it was done like this: I had to go to a work location to let a man in to do a task which was only going to take 20 or 30 mins. So I decided to drop the car at home and cycle to the location, let him in, do my run, let him out, and finally cycle back home. So I had a bag on my back with the runners in it.

So the first bike was 'out' and the second bike was 'back'. The route is fast enough as it is flat to rolling and I was fairly pushing it on the way out. (I have just checked the log for the last time I did the out & back route - 15/04/11 - 'Out' 29.8kph av, av Cad 97, but at HR 154av/170mx, I may not have been trying as hard then - 'Back' it was 34kph av @ 100av Cad, HR 162/176 on that occasion)

Anyway I pushed it on the way out yesterday to make it a good brick for the run. I was happy with the run hitting a HR of 162 for the first while, and then picking up a bit as the effort increased. I suppose the 2 rest days Mon & Tues has left me a bit fresher this week.

I had planned to take it handy on the way back and managed it to a certain extent. I think the back route is a bit 'easier' and I was able to take breaks from the pedalling when I was rolling a bit. I was surprised to see the HR so low too during it and was thinking "Have I been over training?" - Answer: Eh I don't think so - understatement of the week!

So yea a nice brick I suppose.

I am running the 5km in Raheny Sunday morning and hope to get 18:xx, My PB being 19:23, but I didnt' want to let sessions go just to achieve it.

Macanri

I don't consider it hijacking at all KB. This is good discussion and in the last few posts I have already picked up things that I could (and will) add in to my bike training. cheers.

Macanri

Sun 19 June AM
Run Mid Summer 5km

PB 18:16

After mass we headed straight for the race and Mrs M brought the kids over to the play ground. I met up with a few of the lads and did the WU.

I checked with the powers that be and indeed as I suspected this is an accurately measured 5k, in fact they were out with the wheel this morning crossing their i's and dotting their t's.

The course is 2 loops, and then another bit. Before the off Dick Hooper reminded every one to look out for any pedestrians - especially those with dogs, or children! I lined up on the line and started fast to make sure I was away from the crowd on the narrowish starting section. After 2 or 300 m I settled down a bit and came through 1km in 3:30 and in about 10 to 15th position. 2km in 7:14, and I was starting to feel the pace. Just then I heard a shout as we were running by the edge of the playground - 'Daddy'. I give a big hello (this is the first race they have been to). Then a few seconds later I hear little miss Mac shout out "Run faster daddy". - I wish I could darling! - I think to myself with a smile. A few 100m on and we were at the finsh line which meant we had just one full loop left to run. I had planned to pick it up a bit fom here, and this is what I did, passing the pony-tailed runner who had been just ahead for the last 1.5km. Passed 3k in 11:06. Then after the 3km mark I passed 'alanfoley' who I didn't realise was ahead of me. Said a quick hello, I was huffing and puffing big time now! Then passed another 'white with black stripe singlet wearing club runner from a different club'. This lad had been near kicking the arse of any little dog he saw in his path. And indeed after I passed him and anothe lady walking a little dog I could hear the dog yelp in fright behind me! Didn't look at the watch as I passed 4km, but tried to push on another bit from here. Then as we passed 'John' who was standing at the '2km' marker he gave us a shout with 'go on, just over a minute to run'. So I tried to push on again and managed a bit of a sprint (but not much) approaching the line, as a spectaor called that I had someone on my shoulder.

Walking through the chute I stopped the watch so don't know the time for sure, but it was hopefully sub 18:30. Very happy with that on an honest course. Nice and flat but with a fair few bends in it. Very well organised, a plaque and bananas, oranges, apples and water at the end. A lovely sunny morning and I'm surprised they didn't get a better turn out for it.

I headed back to the playground after a while and little miss Mac and I ran back to the finish area where she got a big cheer and a bottle of water. Nice one - she had been crying in the car on the way over when she heard that she couldn't run in the race, as it was only for adults!

5km, 18:16, 3:39/km, 5:53/ml, HR 189/194