Tarmonbarry Half Marathon
12/10 - Tarmonbarry Half Marathon @ 2:06:46
Another stunning half marathon done. This was some good easy mileage in my taper for Dublin in roughly 2 weeks. Next weekend will be an easy 10K. Termonbarry is a little town along the N5 just a few miles from Longford. Lovely little place, with beautiful countryside views along the mostly flat route. The race starts out along a long and rather lonely stretch - the heavy fog that made the drive in so treacherous was somewhat of a blessing along that stretch of road: you had no idea what lay ahead of you and had to focus on your immediate surrounds. With a tiny field of runners (I'd estimate barely over 100), it was somehow never lonely. Even though I started at the very back, and was stone last for the first mile or so, there was always someone just ahead. Along that first stretch of road, it is a gentle but definite climb, no enough to really notice it, you'd notice that you're a little tired at a pace that's usually relaxed and easy. lt's the next hill that you need to be wary of: steep but deceptively short, it actually continues with a gentler gradient for quite a ways beyond where you thought the top to be. This caught a number of people, but my slow-and-steady strategy won out in the end and I bested that hill with a smile! Finished with my fastest half marathon in 4 years, and I really was taking it easy. Until the last 2 miles anyway. I simply can't resist gunning for the finish line if I'm feeling as strong as today :-)
The cold weather that l was cursing all morning also turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The heat saps your energy, even if it may not be noticeable, but I've come to realise that l run faster at the same effort levels in cooler weather ov.er warm. Not outright cold, mind you, but definitely on the cooler side.
Tarmonbarry Half is a lovely taper run for Dublin that should fit nicely into most people's training schedules. I can definitely recommend this one for 2015. The post-race spread they put on is lovely too.
Angela Ross Innes
