Hell hath no fury like a kicking from your mate's

Visualisation techniques are great ....... When your in the mood. Of late it's become more difficult to convince myself that what I'm trying to visualise is actually going to happen though.

Pre-race day mulling over tea trying to get beyond the reality that ten fast mile's is a bit of an ask based on what has passed for training over the last three months. A regular practitioner of visualisation techniques in the past - the lines between visualisation and imagination were oft times foggy - most times I'd fall short but sometimes I'd get it right.

In the week to ten day's leading into Dungarvan I started to think about where I'd finish time wise and the omen's weren't so great. Grasping at straws I started to look for anything that would ease the hit of ignoring the most basic rule of all - not enough running done. I tried to visualise myself running - effortlessly, fast, anywhere, slow, to music, without music, crossing finish line's, crossing start line’s, up hills, down hills. Thoughts drifted everywhere but where I wanted them to stay. I was the musician, I was on my bike, I even picked somewhere to go on holiday's but I could not stay on the runner.

There's a time and a place for everything and while there's no bad time to be tapping your feet one thing 'grazing in the grass' does not do is inspire fast running. Standing on the start line the mood was good but I'd my mind made up that I wasn't going to handle it and it wasn't going to be the end of the world.

Finding form out of the blue on race day wouldn't be the strangest thing to have ever happened but one thing's for sure the head would be the driving force behind it. My meh levels were too high to try to challenge myself so I gave myself a cop out that if I hit five miles in under 30min I'd be happy enough and that's what happened. I gave myself a pat on the back and decided enough was enough, If I'd a gun to my head I'd probably have carried on happily - if a tad nervous. Afterwards you rue the decision and curse yourself for backing off.

It was an uncomfortable run jog run for the next five. When you cop out once in a race it's too easy to do it again ..... and again. Dungarvan 10 is a good race, well organised, good location and It would have been rude not to make an effort.

In relation to my own running mates I feel like I've been caught napping, they're running well and most took advantage of good running conditions on Sunday to chip a bit off their fastest time's. The vibe's are good and they looked like they were having fun (Everyone in front of you look like they're having fun - that's just the way it is. The reality is different of course but there was no convincing me.) so it's a case of getting down and dirty and stepping back in the bubble to try and raise my game. To quote Yates "hell hath no fury like a kicking from your mates".