Fingal 10k - a bit of a jog

Courtesy of SwordsToday.ie

One of the goals I set myself this year was to complete my first 10k run and I managed it to do it when I completed the Fingal 10K. Was it easy? I was expecting it to be a bit of a challenge but it ended up been much more of a challenge than I expected.
As per usual I had great plans for building up my training over the previous weeks and like all my personal plans they came to nought. Well not completely nothing but certainly not the level I had in mind. I ended up with the plan to put a couple of big runs in on the Tuesday and Thursday before the event and even this plan came a cropper. 
When it came to Tuesday I roped in my son, Dave, to go for a leisurely 8 or 9k and I went really well. We took a new route down through River Valley park which was beautiful in the haze of a summers evening except maybe for the midges of which I managed to swallow quite a few. Once down into village proper the plan was to follow a bit of the planned route for the Fingal event, just to get a sense of what we would be up against.

We ran along the original Swords by-pass to the end of the village and that itself was a bit of a mistake as we didn't have the luxury of a closed road. Hindsight is great but we did manage to get to the end without been run over. it was when we came to the end and we took a left turn that it happened. I think it was because the turn stretched my right leg but I felt something just below my right knee. When I say I felt something I don't mean I felt a pain building up. It was more like somebody hit me in a spot with a ball peen hammer. With the ball end! Hard!

I kept running for a bit as I have had knee pains before that I just run off and I thought I might be able to run this off. No such luck as I continued the pain just got worse. I had to stop running. But I was able to keep walking. So I stretched the pace of walk out a bit and in time the pain disappeared. I tried running again and could feel the pain rising. I tried a different pace as I have also found this can help get rid of certain pains. I raised the pace to a full sprint and thought yeah this is good. Just keep this pace for 10k and you will be fine. You see how deluded I can get? After about 100m my body said are you out of your tiny little mind. I had to slow to a walk again. Not because I was out of breathe but because the pain was too much.

I repeated the cycle for the rest of the journey home, increasing the walk pace to the point where I would break into a run and then having to slow down to nothing as the pain returned. The end result was I did 8.5k in a reasonable time of 1 hr 14mins, considering the injury. You can see the route here.

That was end of my plans for training. I rested the rest of the week until Sunday arrived and I was set for the Fingal. When I say set I mean I had bought a form roller to stretch everything. I had dug into my belongings to find a strap I use to wear playing badminton and I had dosed up on Difene, my drug of choice for any injuries.

Sam, my wonderful daughter was also running and she got up with me to make the most gorgeous breakfast before we set off. We hadn't arranged to meet anyone else but we knew a good few who were running including a good few members of our informal running group the "Dell Trotters". However it was impossible not to meet someone. We bumped into lots of people and the atmosphere was only brilliant. This was my first 10k but also my first big event outside of the Malahide Parkrun. I was used to the excitement as I regularly accompanied Sam to her big runs and as a result it was no surprise to find the whole of Swords buzzing.

When the time came to set off I was well happy, thanks to the difene, strap and hearty breakfast I was pain free. I felt good and I was looking forward to the run. Sam and I were joined by my son Dave who was also running. He asked could he tag along with me as he was not up to his usual pace. We also bumped into Martin Smith, Martin is a hero of mine and someone I strive to emulate. He has ran a number of marathons and is also a regular parkrunner. he consistent puts in times of about 26 minutes for the 5k while all I have managed is a personal best of 32:34. 

Not a big deal except Martin is 79! I have followed him around on the park run and tried to stay with him but always lose him at around the 2km mark. When I say lose him I mean he loses me as he disappears into the distance. 

When the start is signalled we shuffle up to the start line before breaking into a light jog. By the time we pass Eddie Rockets we have found a pace and I find myself right behind Martin with Dave beside me. Hmmmmmm Eddie Rockets, hungry now as I write this. I feel great, the pace is good, the knee is good. I have the normal pain I get in my knees at the start of every run but that is like an old friend and I know that it will pass after a kilometre or so. The route takes us up to the top of the town to the first of the 5 roundabouts. Roads have been closed and it is a bit weird to be running where there normally would be heavy traffic. As we make the left turn on to the by-pass I am still comfortably behind Martin. Dave is up ahead a little bit but he isn't getting out of sight.

The thing you notice when running or cycling is that roads you would swear were flat are not. The road from the Travellodge roundabout to the Pavilions is one of those roads. It isn't flat it is in fact a slight incline for nearly a kilometre. This is no big deal as it is a very slight incline and it is very early in the run. Once we pass the Malahide/Pavilions roundabout it is all downhill for nearly two kilometres. I am still tucked in behind Martin. Dave is about 20 metres ahead of us. The initial pain in my knees has passed as it usually does and my breathing is good. In fact I am feeling pretty good and looking forward to the rest of the run.

When we arrive at the final roundabout I can see a car driver having words with the stewards but I barely pay him any attention as we start up the old N1 towards the Balheary lane turn. We are about halfway up when I notice something odd. There is a car in amongst the thousands of runners. Whats more he is driving very close to a girl running in front of him and revving his engine. I ask him what he is doing and lets out a shout that this is a public road. I tell him that I agree it is a public road and as a member of the public I am using it. I get ahead of him and join the girl to give her some moral support. He continues revving the engine behind us.  I wouldn't mind if he was on an urgent journey somewhere but he wasn't. How do I know? He turned right at the next break in the centre of the dual carriageway and made a U-Turn. This was less than 100m where you could see the runners turning down Balheary lane. So the only conclusion I can draw was he was up on his high horse demanding to use a public road. I should add that Fingal council had announced that there would be rolling road closures for the event which the council is entitled to do. Have a look at the video and then imagine a car driving in the middle of them all.

So in all this distraction I had made a big mistake. I had got ahead of Martin. What was worse was martin had seen me. He told me later that when he saw me he assumed he was going way too slow and picked up his pace. Suffice to say he had lost me in less than 150m. I may have lost Martin but I had gained a son as I had caught up with Dave and he decided to stick with me. 

We turned down Balheary lane and the first water station was in sight. I took on as much water as I could and threw a cup of water over my head as it was really warm. Shortly after the water station

there is a left turn. it would now appear that left turns are the pivotal cause of my knee injury. Literally the extra pressure on my right leg causes my knee to go again. It is agony. I let out a yelp and Dave looks at me. Physically I want to stop but mentally I most certainly do not. I slow to a very light jog but then give in and slow to a walk. Dave has a worried look on his face but I tell him I am fine and for him to continue running but his concern gets the better of him and he stays with me. I up the pace of the walk and continue until the pain subsides. I try running again and manage to get across the 5k mark when I have to slow to a walk again. it continues like this for the next two kilometres but I have now passed the 7km mark and I know that even if I have to continue in this way I will make it to the finish. It is on the 7 to 8km mark that I get over the worst. I can honestly say I have never revelled in a shower as much as I did in the shower supplied by the members of the Civil Defence. It was glorious. I wanted to go back and run through it again. 

The spray has given me a great lift and I manage to park all the thoughts of the pain in my knee and settle into a comfortable pace. I tell Dave repeatedly to go on but he keeps telling me that he would rather stay with me. At the 8km mark I am on well travelled roads and feel pretty okay. I tell him finally to go ahead and get a decent time and he sets off on his own quickly overtaking those in front of us. The last two kilometres are really easy. I keep telling myself there is no way that this is 2km to the finish. I catch up with a girl in front of me who has slowed to a walk. I ask her is she going to let me pass her when we are so close to the finish? She picks it up and settles in beside me. I keep describing every turn and feature of the last kilometre and this helps her focus on finishing. He helped her but it really helped me. The last 500m was really easy. I knew we had a slight incline to the turn and then downhill to the Pound with a 70m hill climb to the finish. We crossed the line together. It was some feeling to finish. All thoughts of pain have disappeared. I had in my head that I wanted to get inside 1 hr 20mins, I don't know why but it was the target I set. The time at the finish line was showing 1:18 as we crossed. Due to the chip timing I know a couple of minutes come off that again.

Final time was 1 hour 12mins and 24 seconds. Well happy. Can't wait until next year. Sam did a magic run and finally cracked the 1 hour for her 10k. She is pushing me to sign up for a half marathon next year. I might do it but I need to get the knee sorted first and then get a few more 10k's under my belt.

Final note: I ran the Parkrun two weeks after the Fingal having given my knee a rest. It was atrocious conditions with wind and rain and my knee was hurting. I still managed to set a new PB of 32mins 12 secs. I cannot wait for the knee to heal up properly because the second goal I set myself of a sub 30min 5k, is well within my reach now.