Where are my legs???

Had a busy weekend of racing and unfortunately things seemed to go from bad to worse. Had thursday off work so decided to go to Ballyannon wood as I hadn't been there in ages & with the current dry spell I knew it would be quite nice. In hindsight it was a stupid move, with the sharp inclines and downhills reeking havoc on my achilles which had been slowly but surely improving. In fairness I took it very easy as I felt jaded but it was still a bit sore after.
Friday brought with it a cross country race in the shape of CIT v UCC on the CIT pitches. I decided from the start that I would n't be taking it too seriously as I had the more important matter of Dungarvan 10miler to look forward to on Sunday. Sure enough when the gun went one of the UCC lads who had represented Ireland the previous weekend took off I thought good luck to him rather than trying to hang in for a while. I settled into the chasing bunch & felt grand for the first 2 of 4 laps. On the 3rd lap I decided to try and stretch things out a little but I just couldn't find another gear. With about 1.5laps to go two lads overtook me & I just couldn't go with them. I spent the rest of the race resigned to my fate & ended up looking behind me rather than in front but managed to hold on for 4th. My pace was 5.56 over the 4.25mile course and considering I did a 5mile tempo run in similar conditions at Christmas at 5.50pace it left me wondering what was happening. My HR never got up to pace but my legs just felt like lead.Splits were 5.38,5.54,5.56,6.09 & 6.25pace for the last quarter - they pretty much speak for themselves!
Just did 2miles easy on Saturday hoping the rest would do me good and headed down to Dungarvan confident of running at least 57.30 seeing as I had managed 58.01 last year in very windy conditions. My plan was simple - 5.40miling for as long as I could and just hang on for the last bit. As per usual as soon as the gun went the plan went out the window with the first mile covered in 5.25. It was shortly after this that the wheels came off. I found breathing difficult and I wondered had I overtightened the chest strap on my HRM as it had become loose on friday. I struggled on but groups started to pass me and spit me out at an alarming rate. One of my regular rivals past me just before the 3mile mark & sort gave me a look to go with him but after trying for a few hundred metres I knew it was pointless. At this point I was running 6 minute miles plus and decided there and then that I was taking a break for a few weeks as soon as the race was over!! Around the first water stop another group went past me containing the leading lady who had a cyclist outrider. Vanity seemed to take hold as I managed to pick up the pace perhaps not wanting to be beaten by a girl. With the increased pace I actually started feeling a bit better and just concentrated on the bike and not on anything else. This seemed to work and suddenly I was leading the group totally focused on keeping pace with the bike and managed to bang out a few 5.50's which although was slower than my target pace was a lot better than what I had been doing only a few miles earlier. Passed through 5miles in around 29 minutes but to be honest I didn't really care anymore about time. Faded a bit once we got passed mile 8 and the lads from the group passed me and got away again. Finished out the last mile fairly well for a time of 58.43. Splits were (5.25/5.42/6.00/6.05/6.01/5.49/5.50/5.50.6.07/5.51)
My HR averaged at 166 which is well below usual, which suggests that it's my legs that are holding me back. So what to do now? Take the break I had decided on after 2miles? Just put it down to tiredness?Did an easy 6miles yesterday morning just to test the water & got through it ok although my achilles was quite sore. Feeling a bit better today so will do the 3K race in Midleton tonight. My time should be a good indicator of what I should do. If it goes ok I will train hard for the rest of the week, and start winding down next week for the IUAA indoors on the 13th & the national intermediate xc the following week. If it goes badly I might just take that break...
Last week: 67miles
Mon:6miles @ 7.24 HR138