The Castleknock 5k

I am at home today as we are off for a week. Going to Helsinki later in the week so might share a few photos from there. Today I should be studying, but as usual there is always something more interesting to do. Therefore I will write a quick report on my run yesterday, which turned out to be a PB for me.

The Castleknock 5k is a charity run set up in memory of a local man who died suddenly a few years ago. His family established the event to raise money for local charities; this year it is the stroke unit in the local hospital. It’s a family event with a nice route through the Phoenix Park, is close to home, and there is loads of lovely fruit and food waiting after the run. It’s great to see so many kids taking part, a lot of them ran a lot of the way as far as I could see.

I was a bit thirsty heading into the run and hadn’t eaten but it was a nice morning, about 14 degrees and no direct sun, so I felt I could manage with no water. It’s a small event, 928 runners, so I got over the start line fairly quickly. I let all the speedy ones go, and tried to stay out of the way of the rest. There were lots of kids, which is great, but you do have to be careful not to fall over them.

So I just started running. When my watch caught up with me I saw I was running at a 10 minute mile pace – I had forgotten to change it to kilometres. That is quick enough for me so I decided I would try and keep the pace up. My first mile was 10.14 and the next two were under 10! I think I actually achieved a negative split which is another first for me.

I knew I wouldn’t make 30 minutes as the pacer was too far ahead of me, but I definitely could do 31. I even did a sprint finish of sorts and my official time was 31.02, definitely the fastest I ever ran 5k in. So I was very pleased with myself, though somewhat red in the face (what’s new) and dying of thirst. Some water and delicious watermelon and pineapple slices sorted that out.

I never really focus on speed and I didn’t yesterday but I did push myself a bit, so it’s another lesson that I can achieve running goals if I want to. And I do. My first marathon workshop is next week so it’s getting real. However I have an exam on 19 July that is interfering with my free time, and am a bit panicky about the whole thing. Better get back to the books.

I didn’t carry my phone yesterday so no photos – I suppose carrying nothing makes you run a bit faster? Here’s a photo of me and my dad yesterday on Fathers Day, with my nice black t-shirt from the event. I love when they do black t-shirts, so much more flattering than luminous yellow. As usual I really enjoyed the Castleknock 5k, and I hope they raised lots of money. They deserve to.