Where's That Sinking Feeling? - Cork to Cobh 2011

Icebergs Ahoy!

Given the race destination. it would have been easy to include in this post comments like "I didn't hit the wall, it was more of an iceberg" and "as Cobh came into view, I got that sinking feeling" but the fact of the matter was I never hit a wall, nor an iceberg and there was no sinking feeling.

The historical significance of our destination however, meant that the irony of the situation was not completely lost on me. It was after all the route that many would have taken from Cork to join the Titanic at it's last port of call before they drowned in an icy sea. It was also the last journey for many prisoners were taken from Cork Gaol to be deported to Australia (thank you Wikipedia). So all in all, safe to say it was essentially a punishment route, a very long Green Mile (thank you Stephen King) if you will.   

Having not ran anything over 10 miles since 2007 until the Cork Half Marathon in September, the 15 miles Cork to Cobh race was going to be a whole new challenge. September was a miserable month in terms of training, a combination of laziness, work and an occasional lack of motivation, meant that the half marathon was about as good as it got, and if you read the previous post, you will know that it was no highlight for me, with my legs exacting retribution on my body at the 10 mile mark.



Having seen the photographs from the Cork Half Marathon (see previous post), I was disappointed by my poor heel-striking form in the Five Fingers. It therefore meant that I would have to alter my approach to the race to try and maintain good running form, so as there were no pacers for the race, I thought I would try an hold a steady 7.30 mile pace for the 15 miles. It was going to be a little bit slower that what I thought I was capable of, but it would ensure that I ran with a decent foot strike.



Heading Out the Lower Glanmire Road
Check that foot strike!

My only time constraint was that I had to be in Cork Harlequins to coach my side in a Peard Cup clash with Bandon. The match was to start at 1.00 pm, which meant meeting at noon. The race started at 9.30 am and would take somewhere under two hours to finish, so there was little margin for error, but I was still conscious off heading off too quickly and struggling after 10 miles.

The plan was to finish, grab my bag from the van that takes your bag from the start, jump in the car (which was dropped down the night before) and high tail up to Harlequins. Nice and straightforward. All this while I missed the Ireland V Italy rugby world cup match, mind you the stewards kept us well informed during the race, even if you had recorded it and were hoping not to hear how it was going.

The route was fairly flat, straight out of the city from near the train station, out along the Glounthane road, passed Fota and straight out to Cobh. There's a bit of a drag once you got passed Fota and another one coming into Cobh.

Two sachets of energy gel, 3 bottles of water and a segment of orange from a nice lady on the side of the road saw me home in 1.53. I came through the half marathon distance a minute and a half faster than in Blarney and held my 7.30/mile target pace. That's about as exciting as it got! Another triumph for barefoot running, well Five Finger running.

It was after the race when the real punishment began. As soon as I finished, I started looking for the van and was then told the bags were in the community hall. "Grand" says I, "where's that?". The man pointed at the long, very steep hill rising out of the square in Cobh. "Up to the top of that hill, turn right and then up the other hill".

It must have taken 15 minutes to walk up the hill to the community hall and get the gear, before running down to the car, getting slightly lost and driving along the back roads (as the main roads were closed) to get to Harlequins, in my singlet, short shorts (I wear them) and my Five Fingers, my classic coaching outfit! Delivered the team talk, out onto the pitch to watch a 2-2 draw, extra time golden goal win. Happy days.



In other news, I'm up to 48 on the waiting list, slowly but surely getting there, and am looking at doing the "Run the Gauntlet" Gap of Dunloe Half Marathon in November, so trying to keep the head down training.

Barrack Hill, Cobh: "Up to the top of that
hill, turn right and then up the other hill".
The route to collect your bag. Balls.