Often becomes easy when the easy is often..

Bohermeen Half, and build up

(if TL;DR, skip to the next bolded bit)

I regret not keeping the log updated during the build up to today. I usually do so on a Sunday evening but have found it incredibly difficult to find time with such a busy house, and work being bedlam.

I signed up for Bohermeen on St Stephen's day, 12 weeks out, 12 weeks to play with, full of optimism, full of bold optimistic sub 90 statements. I got sick then and was sidelined for a few weeks. Sub 90 was shelved then in my mind. A PB though was surely doable, was still confident of that, and that was good enough.

Sean has been banging on about the Grads plans for years, and although I trusted him in that they were good, I had never followed one, nor never really delved into them. Mentoring the Grads thread though opened my eyes more to them, and I realised how brilliant they were. Plus, I couldn't really advise people to follow plans that I wasn't following myself so I decided to take on the 10k - Half plan for Bohermeen.

Sessions on Wednesdays and Saturdays, a long run on Sundays and easy Tue and Thur.

I got all the sessions in but missed the odd easy run, and ran about 70% of the prescribed overall volume.

The key session for me, Wed before last, was a 2x 20 min @ HM. I went to bed early on the Tue evening previous and got up and out for about 6:10am. Drove towards the canal and parked halfway there. Pitch darkness. Ran the mile or so to the canal and a little bit more to warm up then set off on the speedy bit. Felt so amazing after it. On the cool down jog back to the van I felt so on fire. At that moment I decided a sub 90 was possible.

I chatted to @scotindublin over whatsapp and told him that I felt it could be on, but was afraid to tell anyone else. I actually somewhat regretted sending C the message as I only half believed it was doable. Could I really hold 4:15 pace for 21k? Went through stages of saying 'not a hope' to 'sure you held 4:04 for 5 mile, surely you can hold 4:15 for 13' back to 'not a bleedin hope Conor'

Ran a tune up 5k then last Saturday week at Corkagh parkrun and ran my first ever sub 20 on that course, 19:52. When I ran 19:36 at Jingle Bells my equivalent effort time at Corkagh was 20:16 so things were looking good.

Confidence through the roof coming in to this week. Shattered somewhat with a lacklustre Wed mini session, and a developing head cold. A fantastic run then on Thursday night in the sleet and rain and cold and wind and dark with Dark Side Of The Moon in the ears. The most sublime soundtrack to running in the dark and the cold and the rain. The endorphins and the hopes buzzing again.

Been listening to Dark Side Of The Moon a lot lately, played it loud on my way to Bohermeen this morning. This line from 'The Great Gig in The Sky' stood out to me, has stood out to me, but echoed this morning....

'I'm not afraid of dying, any time will do. Why should I be afraid of dying. There's no reason for it'

Bohermeen Half 2023

Murph has hit on something there, 'the power of positive thinking'.

I feel it really is a thing, something we can all use and exploit. I went in there today off the back of a really good session (the 2x 20min HM) with a feeling like I could do it, a belief I could do it. That Pink Floyd line made me think 'F*ck it, so what if I don't and I die out there, so what'. Positive thinking made me go aggressive at it and it paid off.

Met up with @Laineyfrecks for a warm up, we did a few laps of the track. She was in really cool relaxed form, also full of positivity. We were buzzing off each other, relaying race plans like excited schoolkids.

Mile 1 - 5

Really congested start, first km was tight but it soon opened up, E and I parted company 800m or so in. First km was behind target but accepted. Settled into the right pace then, the 90 pace balloons about 200m ahead. Kms ticking off nicely on target. About 4 miles in was one of the toughest parts of the race for me, mentally. Pace was fine, was the idea of how long was left to go. Some windy bits that I tried to shelter behind big lads from, didn't really succeed much.

6 - 10

Things started to get so much easier here mentally, I had picked out this girl and set my sights on her for about 2 miles. I caught her and the two of us ran stride for stride for about a mile. I found my confidence lifting, and the effort feeling easier. I started to notice that most people around me were breathing heavily and I was silent, adding more to my confidence. I left the girl and took off and started picking people off. Realised that they were all part of the thinning 90 group that was still 200m ahead. I knew I was on for a sub 90 if I could hold the pace, and also knew that 200m away from the 90 balloons was fine. Some definite bouts of mental toughness here though, during which I kept thinking of @skyblue46 , S was running his own half in The Hague today, but I thought of him and how disappointed he'd be if I gave in, so I dug in.

I had visualised some 10 mile marker scenarios in my head, and how I would react to them. Pretty much happened. Looked down at 68:25 for 10 mile and dug deep for 5k.

10 - finish

I knew I needed to run a 21:20ish 5k from here. Breathing had been relatively controlled up until now. Starting to pant now. Still picking people off though which was amazing. Just got into a headspace, 'this is just a tough 5k, keep it up. 4:18 the target'. First km (km 17) is 4:19 and I feel some negativity slipping in. Pick it up then, km 18 beeps 4:13, pass the 11 mile marker, 3 bleedin K to go, keep it up.

Calfs beginning to burn. Some fleeting thoughts of giving up now, but put them to bed. Km 19 beeps in at 4:10 and my brain fist bumps itself. All I remember now is waiting to see that km20 beep so I can muster up a kick. It beeps 4:14 and I know I'm probably going to do it. Don't manage much of a kick, in fact it's pure pain at this stage, agony. But that's good. If I wasn't in agony at 12.5miles it's not worth it, and that thought gave me a boost, ironically.

Came up the hill towards the entry to the track, and I hear the announcer on the mic for the first time, honey for the ears. Crowds are great here, roaring encouragement.

Turn in to the finish track with the gantry in sight, it's reading 1:29:5x and counting and I find a last kick, a sprint to the line. Go under in 1:30:04. I hadn't looked at my watch since mile 10 other than the splits. Took about 10 seconds to finally look at it and jumped for joy to see 1:29:35.

Fell onto the track then in a heap to catch my breath. Left absolutely nothing out there.

A truly perfect race, I'm so so happy with what I've achieved at it. A pipe dream a year ago.

Believe. Believe. Believe.

Risk dying out there, because you know what, so what.

Chip 1:29:37

Onwards.

Thanks very much guys, I'm still buzzing after it.

@Bluesquare I really liked the course, a couple of drags that were fairly harmless I felt. The wind was certainly an issue on some of the more exposed parts but I wouldn't complain about that. Really loved the finish, it seemed to appear earlier than I expected which is always nice.

You're a sound man D, pity I didn't see you afterwards. E and I were in a bit of a daze with the buzz of it all.

Ah fair play A, thanks very much. No bother to you. Belief and inner confidence in yourself is so so powerful.

Cheers lads, means a lot to hear that.

Haha, that's right my man. So good to hear from you.

You can take credit for a lot more than that. I always think of you when I'm in need of inspiration.

@tunguska I might do Dunshaughlin again this Summer if you and Paddy fancy it. Enjoyed that night a lot.

Magical stuff. I'll almost miss the dark mornings it suits it so much.

This time of year I usually run a local industrial estate, with baldonnel aerodrome to my left. There's something about that album and those surroundings pre dawn that just creates an amazing mood.

Brick in the wall Pt 1 - Happiest days of our lives - brick in the wall part 2 is something else also.

Ah brilliant man, so happy to hear you're racing.

I only half hoped Dunshaughlin was a runner. I'll prob see Paddy tomorrow at the Tallaght 5k (Judy is racing it), I'll mention to him. Hopefully it happens.

The Burt Reynolds thing was a big highlight of that night 😄

That girl ticking your name off haha

Best of luck in Dunboyne

Forgot to mention that I'll be following the Grads 5k plan, link:(https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LOkLQ_a9NHWe97yaRkfF6ArFmCHmtf9y1tU0LR7uMr8/edit#gid=2059597888)

I'm also coaching my wife to a sub25 for the same race. When I say coaching, I'm getting her to follow the same plan as me but guiding her through it.

She was meant to race Tallaght 5k on Friday but she was a day ahead of me with that stomach bug so missed out. I'll get her to have a lash at parkrun next Sat to get an idea of her pace ranges.

Cheers C. Hopefully you do make it.

Good shout on the parkruns, I'll hit a couple for sure.

One second 😀

Raheny open mile - race report

'That Murph fella seems to race more than he eats hot dinners' was what I was thinking to myself admiringly when I saw his Strava one random Wednesday evening a few weeks ago.

I messaged him to say as much. The Raheny Winter League. He told me then about the upcoming open mile and invited me to come along. Ideal I thought, a perfect race for the middle of a 5k block.

Myself and D have a friendly best of 3 challenge going on since early Jan, Raheny 5 mile our first duel where I edged it putting me one up.

He suggested we make this our second head to head, so that added to the excitement and fun.

I orchestrated my work day to finish up out around Raheny so sat in the van for a couple of hours out there browsing the phone, made more sense than driving home and having to leave after ten minutes.

Got the gear on then at about 7pm. I've done it many times, but I don't think I'll ever get used to dropping my trousers at the side of the road and momentarily standing in my jocks. Must see if my boss will stump up for a Winnebago.

Headed the 1k or so to the clubhouse to register and bumped into D and M at their car. I missed warming up with them though for the most part but caught up with them with 15 mins or so to go.

A lovely cosy club atmosphere around the start area that I really enjoyed and am not really accustomed to. A few strides to heat things up.

Lined up then just beside D, to the right edge of the starting pack, a few people deep. We wished each other well and I readied myself for the oncoming pain, thoughts that had been banished up until now. Boom goes the klaxon and we're gone.

I've no real clue how to race the mile, I've only ever once ran it, the boards TT. D's advice a few days before was 'Line up, run like f*ck once around the course'. Haha. So with little more than that to go on I ran like f*ck. Was a tad congested for a little bit, had to dodge around a few people on the opening couple of hundred metres, avoiding clipping heels. Found some space then. I knew I had gotten ahead of D but had no idea what was going on behind me. Looked down at the pace and realised I was far too hot, running at 3:10km pace. It was about then that the pain came on, and heavy breathing. I got the pace and effort back to where it should be and just tried to focus, picked a few people off. My plan was to try race the whole thing in the 3:30s (km) for a 5:4x, thought a low 5:40s was doable. This bit is fairly blurry other than a little worry that a car wanting to turn left across me might just go for it. I also remember thinking my HR monitor was coming loose and was looking at landmarks in case it went.

We turned onto All Saints Rd and it was blustery, I was a good 3 or 4 metres behind a girl in front so nowhere to hide. I caught up with her and edged ahead and heard her mutter something to herself. Kilometre beeped 3:34 and that felt good. She caught back up then and I matched her stride, me to her left on the inside. I edged slightly ahead then and I heard that mutter again. We came up to the bend for home then alongside each other and she took it sharp forcing me up onto the kerb, she edged ahead by a metre. I put the boot down then and came alongside her. We raced for a few metres but she smoked me and took off. 200m to go now and I feel I've nothing left after losing that battle and I lose the will momentarily.

I then hear a roar from a lady D had said hello to during the warm up. 'C'MONNNN DENIS'. Then I hear it again from someone else. 'GO ON DENIS'. I glance back and see this bright yellow singlet in my far too close for comfort field of vision. What the hell?? It gives me the kick up the hole I need to push one last ounce of blood through my gills. His fame his enemy. I can almost feel his breath. Boom over the line in 5:50, D on my shoulder in 5:51.

Three more metres and he'd have gotten me. We hugged each other then both collapsed onto the tarmac. What a race. The first real 'race' experience I think I've had tbh, where I wasn't just racing the clock.

A fantastic night that I want more of.

D messaged me today to find out my chosen charity for our challenge and shipped them a €50 donation. Feileacain were such an amazing support to my wife and I when we needed them, and it makes me feel so good that our little bit of fun we had will help someone else in our shoes.

Thank you D for the lovely message you sent them, for last night, and for being an all round deadly guy. 😊

Yeah, it's a cracking race. Was my first choice for this target, but there was a little doubt about whether it was on or not, sewn by your good self haha.

Although even when I discovered it was on I still preferred Leixlip, given it's a Friday night, and eh, me birthday. 😊

😄😄👊