Roscommon Half Marathon

[Freecloud]

Very early start this morning because the runs started at 8am meaning I had to leave the house by 5:30 to get there early enough to do all the things before the run. I originally wore compression layers to keep me warm and decided to take them off because it was sunny for a change. I’m very glad I did.

Set out to take it easy on this one and was running by heart rate. As always it was very hard to run at the slower pace I was meant to run, your almost certain that you’re doing it until Garmin voice informs you of your pace and you realise you have to slow down another 30 seconds per k. Most of my runs on my own this year have been touching close to 7 minutes per k, its very different running in a group.

I walked up the 2 big hills, I felt good but wasn't running for a set time so didn't feel pushed. I passed everyone and more that had passed me when I was going down. I even recorded myself a couple of times during the run as a kind of personal diary of the day. Boy did I mumble and stumble the words…

I went a bit faster over the last 7k, I seem to have a habit of wanting to finish strong. I started to meet a few runners running back up the course and thought that they might be doing their cool down runs, however I noticed that they did not have any medals, so I thought they were the 10k runners. That didn’t seem right to me as they were running much slower and were more spread out. I eventually realised that they were running the full marathon and repeating the course. I did think of doing this myself but gladly changed my mind and signed up for the half. I’m very happy I did because I was well and truly done at the end and it dawned on me that I have a lot of work to do before Belfast at the end of April. At the moment I think its an uphill task due to not being able to do the runs I should have been doing. Thankfully I felt physically very good during that run and don’t foresee any problems with the final 5 weeks. Next Sundays 20 miler will be the longest run but I will be on my own so should manage the pace a lot better.

I finished the run with a time of 2:05:12 (the time in the picture is from when the run started, everyones individual time (net time) is the time we are given and starts once we run over the sensor at the start line), seven minutes slower than last weeks half. I did det the pacer on the watch for 2:15, I looked at that screen on my watch a few times but I was too far ahead all the time. I should have been slower and running at marathon pace. But its been around four months since I felt this good and probably foolishly couldn’t help myself.

[AlMorr Half Marathon]

Congratulations Freecloud on completing the Roscommon Half Marathon in in just over two hours, I hope you celebrated your wonderful achievement, good luck for next Sunday's 20 miler.

[Freecloud Marathon in reply to AlMorr]

Thanks very much AlMorr, much appreciated. The celebration of completing it was enough 😂. I had an early-ish night (for me on a weekend) and a 1hr cycle this morning. All too sensible 🤪

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon]

Well done on a great sounding race and time, and if you're feeling good then why not go for it. I hope there was nice bling 🙂

Good luck for next week’s biggie 🍀

[Freecloud Marathon in reply to Irishprincess]

Thanks very much IP, it's great to be able to start and finish them. I was full of dread at the start of the year because I thought I wouldn't be able to do any of them.

[Teresa1632 Marathon]

Well done on the run. Roscommon is hilly (I ran in Termonbarry last year), so that's a good pace. If you are near Longford, the canal route is good for the 20 miler. Flat and scenic.You are on the last stretch now, take it handy!

[Freecloud Marathon in reply to Teresa1632]

Thanks very much, yeah that was some hill! We have a good few hills here in Sligo as well but luckily none like that on my running routes. I did Ardagh on New year's Eve and the hill there was something else. I doubt I'll do that run again 😭😭

[Cowladyrunning Marathon]

Well done on this race. I hope your 20 mile run is good next week too.

[Freecloud Marathon in reply to Cowladyrunning]

Thanks very much, I was messing with my marathon plan because I didn't like the length of tomorrows run (run with Hal app), next week's run has been reduced now because of it. I'm going to do it anyway as it's on plenty of the other plans.

[Cowladyrunning Marathon in reply to Freecloud]

Oh is there an app? I'm seriously considering trying a marathon and am busy looking for plans that will suit me!

[Freecloud Marathon in reply to Cowladyrunning]

There are a few, I got the run with Hal as a present. It’s probably the most customisable and it also shows you how you are doing etc. It’s also one of the more expensive ones. There’s others from Garmin, Strava, Asics, Map my run and they are also subscription based. The best free one would be on the Nike running club (NRC) app. It’s great for guidance and training.

[Cowladyrunning Marathon in reply to Freecloud]

Yes I like the Nike stuff.... thank you!

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon]

You clearly had a ball! That's amazing FC. Take that confidence into the next few weeks of marathon training and then go smash Belfast 💪

[Freecloud Marathon in reply to linda9389]

Thanks very much L, it was a great feeling and a relief alright, and I'll certainly be giving the next few weeks a good trying..

[Dexy5 10 Miles]

Very well done Freecloud, There’s no doubt that running with others can speed you up. It doesn’t seem to have done you any harm .

[ForbiddenPlanet Half Marathon]

Wow - that's quite a punishing schedule you are on. 💪🏃But you're killing it! 👍Well done!

[Freecloud Marathon in reply to ForbiddenPlanet]

From the elusive one that constantly tops the mileage in the leader board 🤣, thanks very much 😁👍

[ForbiddenPlanet Half Marathon in reply to Freecloud]

All gentle running though, if I tried one of your 2 hour HMs I'd be on the IC! 🤣

[SueAppleRun 10 Miles]

Fantastic run

[Freecloud Marathon in reply to SueAppleRun]

Thanks very much W&S

[RunWillie Marathon]

Well done Freecloud 👍🏻

[aliboo70 Half Marathon]

Great result, congratulations Freecloud ! X

[Hedgehogs123 Metric Marathon]

Great race report and well done. I have my first HM in a couple of weeks, both excited and nervous. Still not good at pacing myself, so am determined to listen to my pace (on bone conducive earphones of course) and try to be a bit more aware of what i should be doing. Would like under 2 hours (1hr 59 would be good!) but we'll see!

[Freecloud Marathon in reply to Hedgehogs123]

Thanks very much. I think they are my new favorite's, my 4th will be on Easter Monday. I would advise you to start a bit back and not near the front. I got caught out a lot last year and set off too and had to walk a few times. Best of luck with yours.