Sometimes you train too much.
Zero laps in the sun.
Irish Masters Champs in Morton Stadium, Dublin.
A tendon strain from the hamstring on the right leg had prevented me from running any great distance over the past few days. I had not gone for a run yesterday to let it settle. It was another glorious sunny day heading over to the north side, parked in the Omni Centre and walked up to the stadium. After retrieving my number I went for a warm up run. Unfortunately the mild ache I felt previously turned into a relatively severe muscle pain. That was my day over. I lightly ran back to scrub my name from the start list.
Having got there I felt I should watch the various 5000m races. The M65,70 and 75 race was the last of 3.
Watching the first stretch of the race it did not appear to be that fast. I timed the first 200m to be 50 seconds. Now typically adrenalin is running over this stretch and commonly it is quite fast, but 50 seconds is slowish, 45 seconds would have been my target. Following this the leader continued in 98.4 sec laps. That is crazily slow!
The result was
Given the finish times, I can take some benefit from the day. If I had been able been to compete I would have been sub 20 minutes.
Maybe I should be a bit more thoughtful in my training and realise that for my age I am a serious athlete. But hey, that may just take the fun out of it.