Achill ROAR- Sat 11th Sept 2010

Fi H

thehamo wrote: »

Think I may have over taken you and your friend on the run on the beach Fi!:D

we could have been quite conspicuous alright :D
my mates wife was taking photos so we posed for a few aswell as the official ones

Soilse

4 stars (good)

I second the book ‘Born to Run’, already halfway through it and its brilliant. Pity I hadn’t met your man again would love to find out more as I’m spending a fortune on physio these days

Bit disappointed tbh not a single one of me not even in the background might have a look through your photos tonight runforestrun. Even had the pleasure of seeing a photographer lower his camera as I approached him on my bike, thought he was a participant as i slowed to see if he was okay realised afterwards that it was because I was wearing a sports no. that he had no interest:rolleyes:.

mo_bhicycle

4 stars (good)

Hi all,
this was my first adventure race and I really really enjoyed it, especially the run. There was one magical moment up near the mast where I could barely see where I was going because of the cloud and then it quickly disappeared to reveal the most amazing views of the entire Island.

I've a few questions about the top 5ish finishers in the Elite that somebody might be able to answer:

• Do they run the entire mountain or do they combine running and power walking to keep the heart rate down?
• Some of them didn't seem to be carrying any water on the run, is this the case or am I mistaken?
• Would most of them have done the kayak or did any of the top guys do the swim?
• Did the guys who kayaked all have their own kayaks?

Looking forward to next year already!

trinewbie

4 stars (good)

mo_bhicycle wrote: »

Hi all,
this was my first adventure race and I really really enjoyed it, especially the run. There was one magical moment up near the mast where I could barely see where I was going because of the cloud and then it quickly disappeared to reveal the most amazing views of the entire Island.

I've a few questions about the top 5ish finishers in the Elite that somebody might be able to answer:

• Do they run the entire mountain or do they combine running and power walking to keep the heart rate down?
• Some of them didn't seem to be carrying any water on the run, is this the case or am I mistaken?
• Would most of them have done the kayak or did any of the top guys do the swim?
• Did the guys who kayaked all have their own kayaks?

Looking forward to next year already!

Well done on finishing your first AR, it really is a sport like no other...

In response to your questions -

- The top 5 would have ran around 97 percent of the course,power walking up the final stretch before the cairn at the summit. The exception being Enduro who ran every step of the way (even up to the cairn), I was following him up thinking, WTF :eek:. To be honest, power walking is just as quick for most ppl in these steep steep sections.

- I dont think anyone in the top 5 had water for the run

- Top 5 bar Marrey were Kayaking, Tom O'Dowd was first off the water, followed by Chris Caulfield, Me and Enduro

- AFAIK top 5 had single kayaks sourced for the day. Tom O'Dowd was in a very fast fiberglass K1 racing kayak...everyone else was in singles similar to

http://elitechoice.org/2008/04/05/wilderness-systems-tsunami-145-kayak-with-rudder/

Such a cool race though, will definitely be back for more next year. That headwind in the last few kilometers was torture. I was on a road bike with standard drops but Aero Bars ot full TT bike were definitely the order of the day IMO.

mo_bhicycle

4 stars (good)

Thanks for that trinewbie, very interesting answers.
Couple more questions based on those answers:

• If your running for 90% of the hill, how is that effecting your heart-rate?
  Are you going anerobic for a large period of time or do you even bother with heart-rate based pacing?
• If you're not taking water on the run does that mean your also not taking gels etc? Sounds to me like the strategy is to blast the run then hydrate and eat on the bike, would that be correct?
• Was Padraig the only one with a TT bike?

You'll be glad to hear that's pretty much all the questions I have :P

trinewbie

4 stars (good)

mo_bhicycle wrote: »

Thanks for that trinewbie, very interesting answers.
Couple more questions based on those answers:

• If your running for 90% of the hill, how is that effecting your heart-rate?
  Are you going anerobic for a large period of time or do you even bother with heart-rate based pacing?
• If you're not taking water on the run does that mean your also not taking gels etc? Sounds to me like the strategy is to blast the run then hydrate and eat on the bike, would that be correct?
• Was Padraig the only one with a TT bike?

You'll be glad to hear that's pretty much all the questions I have :P

No worries, I wasnt wearing my HRM but based purely on perceived effort I would say that I was anaerobic for a fair chunk of the run alright, probably going up all the steady climbs, would have been in the red line zone for the 3 steeper sections....Generally would race on how I am feeling rather than trying to hit certain zones, but this is different for everyone I guess.

No gels on the run for me, just made sure I was well hydrated before the race with a decent breakfast and good nutrition in few days before the race. Its again different for everyone but I can find eating/ drinking whilst pushin hard on a run to be hard on the stomach, I regularly get stitches descending after taking on fluid/gels so avoid it if possible.
I did have a small bottle of dioralyte from the start until T1 that I sipped on during run to and from kayak, dumped this in T1.

Once on the bike I got a gel into me in the first 5 minutes, and another one at around 50 minutes in, had two 750ml bottles one with nuun and the other with 4:1 energy mix. I messed up on my nutrition a little on the bike as I started on the 4:1 before the nuun,which was not the plan- This didnt help with me cramping half way around on the bike.

Padraig was the only one in the top 5 on a TT bike I think, I did see a few other knocking around though...

DogSlySmile

4 stars (good)

Runforrestrun wrote: »

Hi Guys
This is my first post, normally I just read all the advice given!!
I was in the Sports category, 12 o'clock start.
I brought my camera with me and made a few videos during the race if anyone wants to have a look, I have posted them on face book. http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=1311422680205

That looks like a way easier run on the video than it was to do it! On the video it looks almost look flat!

Git101

4 stars (good)

Eventually got around to writing a report.

My view of the event.

toomuchdetail

4 stars (good)

Git101 wrote: »

Eventually got around to writing a report.

My view of the event.

You have had a busy year : Seen you waiting at the end for someone as I completed the sport and was waiting around beside you waiting for someone also.
Good report:

Git101

4 stars (good)

toomuchdetail wrote: »

You have had a busy year : Seen you waiting at the end for someone as I completed the sport and was waiting around beside you waiting for someone also.
Good report:

Yeah, busy year alright.
You should have said hello.
Maybe see you at WAR.

nerraw1111

4 stars (good)

Great review git. I know how you felt getting of the kayak.

Do you do much cycling? Your times on the bike were quite good

trinewbie

4 stars (good)

nerraw1111 wrote: »

Great review git. I know how you felt getting of the kayak.

Do you do much cycling? Your times on the bike were quite good

Its weird how much the kayak takes out of you, I found it really hard to get going coming off the water, and couldnt muster much more than a gentle canter for 3-4 minutes. weird...

mo_bhicycle

4 stars (good)

trinewbie wrote: »

Its weird how much the kayak takes out of you, I found it really hard to get going coming off the water, and couldnt muster much more than a gentle canter for 3-4 minutes. weird...

I completely agree. It was my least favorite of the 3 disciplines, couldn't wait for it to end. My hip-flexors were killing me trying to stay sitting upright.
I was talking to a kayaking friend afterwards and he said that the double kayaks encourage v bad technique because you can't get any leverage from your lower-body. Apparently they're supposed to have leg straps on them so you can have good technique and not kill your hip-flexors trying to keep yourself sitting upright.

nerraw1111

4 stars (good)

I find the kayak section much easier when it's half way into a race. At GF, I had no problem getting back into my stride after the kayak section. But in Wicklow and Achill Roar, took me 15 minutes to get comfortable on the run.

The single kayaks are far more comfortable. Would be interested to know if a relatively inexperienced kayaker would be quicker in a single kayak than they would be in a double kayak with another person.

Fi H

It depends on your kayaking skills. If you arent good at steering & paddling then you could find yourself going in circles & you will also loose the added propulsion of that the other person in the kayak brings. It also depends on whether you have been in the double with someone who is able to kayak or someone useless

I'm not entirely sure it would be quicker unless you have the right boat and even then over the distance involved it could be very close. Myself and my friend who both kayak took a double sit on top together and were only 4 mins in the difference from someone we know in single racing boat who would be considered one of top in country. Thats including the run which i think she would have done quicker. I think the key to kayaking in these races is that you choose a partner who is able to kayak, have been out training before and that you go hell for leather when you hit the water In a race like the roar theres no reason why you wouldnt have a partner picked in advance of the race who you know is able to do it!

Over a longer distances though i think it would make a huge difference, particularly if you had been training in your single kayak. For example the Cooley Raid and Challenge have minimum 7.5km kayak. Over that distance people who havent been training are going to show themselves pretty quickly & boat choice would be a factor too (although i think its possibly a sit on top for that race)

Apparently rumor has it that the kayaking legs of some of the popular adventure races will be much longer in 2011 so get training

Git101

4 stars (good)

nerraw1111 wrote: »

Great review git. I know how you felt getting of the kayak.

Do you do much cycling? Your times on the bike were quite good

Thanks for the kind words.

I've only been on the bike about 4 times since the Wicklow 200 in mid June.
2 x gentle training spins
The Humpy 100 in Carlow
Gael Force

I really should do more but I'm training for the Dublin marathon in October and getting enough time for everything is difficult.

Regarding the kayaking, I think Fi H hit the nail on the head.
Over the shorter course the difference between boat selection and paddling skills should not make a whole lot of difference.

It'll make for some interesting races if the kayak stages are extended next year

DogSlySmile

4 stars (good)

mo_bhicycle wrote: »

My hip-flexors were killing me trying to stay sitting upright.
.

I feel your pain man! I found it extremely annoying that in a race that consisted of a 1k kayak, an 8k run and a 22k cycle I found sitting in the kayak the hardest part!!:mad:

Fi H

practice makes perfect
first time i tried the sit on tops i found it a lot harder on the legs than regular kayaking but last weekend had no problem at all. I have seen a lot of people trying to paddle with their legs straight out in front of them especially guys with long legs. you should have a good bend on the knees and be bracing against the foot rests in the boat. sit up straight and take high deep paddle strokes not flat ones.
(did i mention that the kayaking bit is the only bit i can do properly )

Twink1etoes

Runforrestrun wrote: »

Hi Guys
This is my first post, normally I just read all the advice given!!
I was in the Sports category, 12 o'clock start.
I brought my camera with me and made a few videos during the race if anyone wants to have a look, I have posted them on face book. http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=1311422680205

Hey... u can see me in the far right... I just lost my runner in the mud and im trying to shove it back on
Thats brillant... I started in the 12o Clock wave and cant find any pics of myself at all..

woody1

4 stars (good)

any sign of the finish line photos.. there was a guy there.. was there a card in his camera ! better half was there with camera but apparently i was too quick for her !!!
think its a bit of a bummer that the experts get photos taken on the course and the sports dont maybe something to look at for next year..

Fi H

Even more annoying is that the seemed to be taking photos of the sports people but have decided to disgard them! For once I was actually there at the same time as photographers at nearly all points but no sign of photos

I also think its funny as you would imagine people in the sports class arent doing these events all the time and might be more likely to buy photos than the elite people who are at tonnes of events. (not all of them i know)

Wreck

4 stars (good)

Fi H wrote: »

Even more annoying is that the seemed to be taking photos of the sports people but have decided to disgard them! For once I was actually there at the same time as photographers at nearly all points but no sign of photos

Yeah after the travesty of my photos from Gael Force (I looked ridiculous in nearly every one) I made sure to keep an eye out for cameras during Achill and I'm pretty sure I was snapped at least four times, not one photo of me up though! Probably for the best :pac:, but still a little disappointing.

yop

4 stars (good)

From what I understand from the organisers they are enroute Going to be free anyway so worth waiting for

Fi H

Its the vanity really

woody1

4 stars (good)

finish line photos are up...