After a great summer, were I kept up the training even in the searing heat of Spain, I’m back to race in the Piltown 10km. I was looking forward to this one as I lived for sometime in Piltown, and I even train on the bog road from time to time, so this was really a home town race.
Ok I must admit I was looking to even top my most recent result from my Stoneyford 10k, however as the race drew nearer, it was clear that that afternoon I would have to return directly from Belfast, and the 4.5 hour drive didn’t do much for my legs that’s for sure.
I made it to the start line in Kildalton College, it poured rain, but still there was a decent crowd there, and I think everyone just wanted the race to start and when it did, boy did everyone go for it, damn the first 2km was fast, too fast in fact I hit a small hill and blew a cylinder, from there on in I just couldn’t get into my stride.In fact looking at the charts the 6 km mark was my worst point.
I tried to up the tempo once I got onto the Bog road, but a few people caught me and even their encouragement didn’t move up my tempo.
Adidas miCoach track of the Piltown 10km
On the watch I clocked a time of 45:04 (although the GPS on the phone was a pain as it kept dropping out), and on the official timing sheets I was given a time of 44:47 and placed 80th out of 192.
I must say I left the race feeling disappointed I wanted to at least hit a personal best after all the training put in over the summer break, but on this occasion it wasn’t to be. However on reflection it was clear that this was a race, a real race as in there were very few walkers, joggers, hence the quick pace at the start, I shall learn from this. Onwards and upwards towards the race in Kilkenny in September., it’s obvious that some constant training is needed in the next few weeks.