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Irvine 5-mile Road Race
20th July 2009
The Glasgow funfair meant quiet roads down to Irvine, so Ellie and I arrived nearly 2 hours early and in time for several jogs back and forth to Asda. The Irvine 5-miler has replaced the Saltcoats 4M Round the Houses and starts in the tidy scenic harbour area of Irvine. As usual these races start off at breath-taking pace. I tried to ease in gradually and found myself battling with a group or 3 or 4 as we contoured around the edge of Beach Park. The first 2 mile markers seemed to take an age to arrive as I made several attempts to drop the group around me. At the halfway point comes a tough little climb and turn at a lamp-post, at which point I fell off the back of the group I'd been trying to lose, so I ended up running the secondhalf on my own. My target was sub 28 minutes, which I thought should be on the cards, but ended up clocking 28:03 despite gutting myself in the final 100 metres. Ellie did OK, but was pipped by the 3rd lady right at the end by 3 seconds..
Posted by Chris Upson on Tue 21 Jul 2009 | 5 comments
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Comments
On The Buses said...
Jeez! You wait 2 months and 13 days (not that I was counting) for a Cap'n Chris report to grace the new website, then 3 come along at once!
Tuesday 21st July 2009 6.43pm
Ellie said...
As this was the third race in three days, I wasn't expecting anything spectacular from my spaghetti legs...particularly given the race was advertised as "FLAT". I started comparatively slowly, but felt strong enough to keep a steady pace in the first 3 miles and gradually reeled in the eager beavers who had shot off at the start.
However, at the turning point, I saw the large group of beavers just behind me, held them off for a wee while, but in the 5th mile two had crept up to my shoulder, and I could clearly distinguish the unmistakable breathing of a female! By the time she kicked in for the final sprint, I had nothing left and she whipped past me quite easily. I had no idea where the finishing line was (the two traffic cones marking it were obscured by runners flopping about down both sides of the road), but under pressure from the guy next to me, managed to pretend I was still in a race until I crossed the invisible line.
Later on, I had an interesting experience of visual disturbance which looked like someone had ripped the back out of my retina and stuck a kaleidoscope in my brain; trippily colourful and resolved only by a bag of soft sweets. Any explanations would be gratefully received.
Tuesday 21st July 2009 8.20pm
Chris Upson said...
It was a bit distressing towards the end of that race not really knowing where the finish might be. There are some advantages with having an enormous finishing banner with a clock counting you in. Although I'm not convinced I could have sprinted the last 100 metres any harder.
Wednesday 22nd July 2009 10.30am
Lucy in the sky said...
Low blood sugar ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoglycemia
How long have you been running for Ellie ??? have you not had trippy episodes before ?
Wednesday 22nd July 2009 1.42pm
Ellie said...
Thanks Lucy. You're probably right.
I think that's quite possibly the first time I've ever pushed myself...hence the unfamiliar physiological reaction...until now I've just been cruising and gurning! Back to running in my comfort zone and enjoying the views.
Wednesday 22nd July 2009 10.03pm