Frank Duffy 10 Mile Course
I was back to normal yesterday, thankfully...... the hang over had lifted ...... so Phil & I got out to the Phoenix Park to battle the Frank Duffy 10 mile course.
We started & finished at a different point to the usual starting line as the start of the course is 2 miles of flat road. An easy start, but we would have ran that at a pace too fast to substain for the duration of the course, or even the first part of it, so we started at the hardest part of the course instead to help slow us down. At least that meant getting the hard work over & done with at the beginning.
The course was grand though for about 20 - 25 minutes I did not want to be there & had every intention of just turning back & going home. I later found out Phil thought the same so it is just as well that we did not tell each other this or we would have quit right there & then. It is just as well that we didn't anyway as we eventually eased into the run at a comfortable pace. I actually spent most of the run behind Phil watching his legs & thinking of day to day chores just to keep my mind off the road. It worked.
The course is 2 laps. The first being just 5 miles, and the second takes a slightly different route which is just under 5 miles.
We mastered the hills quite well. I have a tenancy to increase my pace when running uphill but as I was running behind Phil he kept the pace. This helped a lot as otherwise id have been worn out too soon into the run.
The only problem I found with the course was that since we moved the starting line we had to do the 2 miles of flat road at the end of each lap which was unbelievably boring! For those 2 miles of the second lap Phil increased the pace. He wanted the flat road of boredom to end as quickly as possible. I wasn't best pleased with speeding up our pace but despite my protesting, I am glad we did.
Overall we were very proud of ourselves for continuing when we wanted to quit & for completing the course that we knew we needed to practice. We are on course as usual & I am glad that my lack of training last week did not effect my long run. Though I will not be risking that again & will make sure my midweek training is as much a priority as my long runs at the weekend.
The downside to yesterdays run was that I have discovered that my left knee has become a little weak. I do have problems with this knee when driving & it seems I am now having a few problems when running too. I think I might try out a knee support stocking for this. I am not sure if it will work but it is worth a try. I will let you know how I get on with that.
Back to mid week training today now. My legs are quite stiff but I think the half hour run will help. Next week are midweek runs are increasing from 3 days to 4 days. The heat is on, but right now, I am very much enjoying it.
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