Achill ROAR- Sat 11th Sept 2010

snailsong

That's me, most saturdays, Wonkagirl. The forecast is pretty promising on Wind Guru, no rain till the afternoon. Their forecasts tend to be reliable and are very detailed. I can't post a link from my phone so you'll have to google them. Set location to Keel or you get a forecast for Hawaii!

Wonkagirl

4 stars (good)

snailsong wrote: »

Set location to Keel or you get a forecast for Hawaii!

that'd be nice! it was like hawaii down there last yr it was so gorgeous

Fi H

Wonkagirl wrote: »

Set my alarm early this morning to get up for a spinning class... one last ditch attempt to get the fitness levels up for the wend. needless to mention it went off and i said FOOK that and reset it for an hour later.. disgusted with myself now. Might try and throw in a 5km run later, but in all honesty there's probably little point. Have been so bold since gaelforce. Have only done 1 run!

hahaha! sounds like me last week...i have been determined to cycle to work, packed the bag with work clothes, laid out the cycling gear, filled the waterbottle, alarm went off....rolled over and snoozed for another hour

Not to worry...theres always next year...aiming to cut 2.5 hours of my GF time

Checked the brand of the blister spray and its Flexitol Blistop spray

Wonkagirl

4 stars (good)

oh great, tks Fi- will pop into boots on my way home.

If you did GF tomorrow you'd probably cut 2.5 hours off your time, just by knowing more about the course, and knowing more about your abilities than you did on aug 20. let's tackle that one next yr tho- i'm training for GF from next may and want to definitely do sub 5'30 this time.

Was looking at my time from achill last yr- 2'24- confident i can do 2.'05 this yr. reasonably confident anyway. Have a much better bike this yr if nothing else, and my legs are well able to run 8km- last yr i was really only up to 5km running.

what are everyone elses goals? i was well down the pecking order last yr, so my aim this yr (as with gael force) is to be top 50% overall, and top 20% of females.

yop

4 stars (good)

I was 2.08 last year, so want sub 2 hours this.

Again ALL on the day, if i can get on the bike cramp free I will do sub 2 hours.

trinewbie

4 stars (good)

Wonkagirl wrote: »

what are everyone elses goals? i was well down the pecking order last yr, so my aim this yr (as with gael force) is to be top 50% overall, and top 20% of females.

My goal is just to race well and push myself as hard as I can, but also to enjoy the race, not blow up and get around in one piece...

Wonkagirl

4 stars (good)

yop wrote: »

I was 2.08 last year, so want sub 2 hours this.

Again ALL on the day, if i can get on the bike cramp free I will do sub 2 hours.

I have never suffered from cramps. Infact I'm beginning to think it's a male-specific complaint. Isnt it a sign of poor hydration? Maybe i'm not pushing myself enough, but i have never while exercising gotten a cramp!

thehamo

never did the course before, so hoping for around the 2.30 mark. I ran my first continious 8km the other night in the phoenix park, made it a very hilly run and was all off raod, so hopefully that wil stand to me. Managed that in 50 minutes. 22km on the bike should take me about 45 minutes and not too sure about the Kayak. So i'd think 2.30 is a reasonable time.....

ThisRegard

4 stars (good)

Wonkagirl wrote: »

snt it a sign of poor hydration? Maybe i'm not pushing myself enough, but i have never while exercising gotten a cramp!

Apparently they're not actually sure what causes it, there's a number of theories why though. I got my first ever cramp, quickly followed by my second, at Gaelforce this year, have never had them before and I was plenty hydrated.

Mr Freeze

3 stars (average)

Regarding cramps, I have no idea what causes them, nor have I ever had one, but I still fear them as most people I know who have trained with, have gotten them at some stage this year.

But to prevent them, I have heard numerous things, like keep hydrated before and during an event, we all should be doing that anyways.
Take lots of salt with your food in the days running up to the event.
Salt tablets or nuuns, drink them a few days in advance of an event too.

For GF, and the half marathon, I did these and was fine, with one small side effect I won't mention.

nerraw1111

4 stars (good)

I got cramp in both Roar and GF. Agony. Was well hydrated before and after both races so wasn't down to fluids. Might've been salt.

No idea about time for this weekend. Looking at last year's results and this year's GF, I hope to get close to the 4 hour mark. Would be fantastic to be under 4 hours but just a guess.

Shall see! Looking forward to it now.

IslandFella

Its a great spot for a pissup. I've heard good things. Feck the roar... lets all get roaring drunk!
AAArrrrrrrr!

Fi H

My aim is to not come last...has been for all my races this year will concentrate on times next year hhehehe! ...also being slow sets a very easy benchmark to beat next year.

As for cramps ....i wonder could you be diluting the salt by overhydrating before a race but not taking in salt so even though you have taken in lots of water you would get cramp?

never had one myself during training or a race, although borderline in the kayaking bits due to boat positioning rather than dehydration!

snailsong

My target is to not come last. Don't know much about the course, I guess 5 hours would be ok, 4.30 would be great.

Fi H

snailsong wrote: »

My target is to not come last. Don't know much about the course, I guess 5 hours would be ok, 4.30 would be great.

Contraversial....see ya at the finish we can fight for 2nd last over the line although I will be doing the sport! haha!

Wreck

4 stars (good)

I'm hoping to do 2.10, maybe a little bit quicker if my leg is up to it. I can't work out how long the swim is going to take me, but once it's under 25 mins I should be able to manage 2.10.

yop

4 stars (good)

Wonkagirl wrote: »

I have never suffered from cramps. Infact I'm beginning to think it's a male-specific complaint. Isnt it a sign of poor hydration? Maybe i'm not pushing myself enough, but i have never while exercising gotten a cramp!

Rumour has it that is very common for the "very beautiful people" to get cramp, ssshhh but tell no one

I don't know what causes them, I didn't it any on the 1/2 marathon on Sunday, I do think that my calves just are not used to a mix of sport and then there is something other denominator there that I have that causes the cramps.
Know LOADS who probably do less exercise than me and who don't get cramps

snailsong

Fi H wrote: »

Contraversial....see ya at the finish we can fight for 2nd last over the line although I will be doing the sport! haha!

I believe that the sport get to start 2 hours later so we may be racing for 2nd last over the line yet.

mooseygoat

hi guys and gals ,getting excited now , was wondering can you go from sport to expert ,hopefully should be able , does anyone know will there be many people staying around afterwards as it was a bit of a let down in wicklow ,and as ive been off the drink all summer so looking forward to a few pints .how long would it take from cork to get there ,

kippy

mooseygoat wrote: »

hi guys and gals ,getting excited now , was wondering can you go from sport to expert ,hopefully should be able , does anyone know will there be many people staying around afterwards as it was a bit of a let down in wicklow ,and as ive been off the drink all summer so looking forward to a few pints .how long would it take from cork to get there ,

Id say there will be a good few hanging around from what I have heard.
Its a fair spin down there for most and a fair spin back up again.
Just as an addition, I will be down there myself for the weekend (am from the Island) and had at one stage thought about entering the "beginner" section as my first "crazy" event but an injury scuppered that.
Am gonna be supporting a few people I know and looking forward to a great (but slightly less overcrowded session than the half marathon) session on the night!

mooseygoat

Expert:
ThisRegard
nerraw1111
trinewbie
GoHard
Snailsong
Pbull69
Rinker
smurphy29
mooseygoat

Sports:
CKWPORT
Wonkagirl
Yop
TooMuchDetail
Mountain Rescue
elchupanebrey
Wreck (injury permitting)
Head the wall
thehamo
Fi
Knipper
DogSlySmile

GoHardOrGoHome

4 stars (good)

Wonkagirl wrote: »

If you did GF tomorrow you'd probably cut 2.5 hours off your time, just by knowing more about the course, and knowing more about your abilities than you did on aug 20. let's tackle that one next yr tho- i'm training for GF from next may and want to definitely do sub 5'30 this time.

Was looking at my time from achill last yr- 2'24- confident i can do 2.'05 this yr. reasonably confident anyway. Have a much better bike this yr if nothing else, and my legs are well able to run 8km- last yr i was really only up to 5km running.

what are everyone elses goals? i was well down the pecking order last yr, so my aim this yr (as with gael force) is to be top 50% overall, and top 20% of females.

Last year I was 4h36 for Gaelforce and 3h46 for Achill. I got down to 4h12 for Gaelforce and would love to get Achill down to around 3h35 this year. I was going to say 3h30 but that would have been good for 11th position so I don't think I'm there yet (maybe next year!). I lost a lot of time relative to other competitors on the bike section last year and while I'm nowhere near as strong as I'd like to be on the bike I'm definitely better than last year.

Most importantly I don't want to be beaten by the girls! There's some very strong girls out there who normally beat me but I just about got away with it in Gaelforce. First female was 3 minutes behind me. My legs were spinning like a hamster in a wheel hoping she wouldn't glide by me effortlessly (she's a stronger biker than me).

This year I'll be in a single kayak so that might be a *slight* disadvantage.

woody1

4 stars (good)

Expert:
ThisRegard
nerraw1111
trinewbie
GoHard
Snailsong
Pbull69
Rinker
smurphy29
mooseygoat

Sports:
CKWPORT
Wonkagirl
Yop
TooMuchDetail
Mountain Rescue
elchupanebrey
Wreck (injury permitting)
Head the wall
thehamo
Fi
Knipper
DogSlySmile
woody1... slowly.. legs still stiff from ben nevis last wknd and rough diamond the wknd before

ThisRegard

4 stars (good)

GoHardOrGoHome wrote: »

This year I'll be in a single kayak so that might be a *slight* disadvantage.

How does that work this year, is it similar to the elite in Gaelforce or are you bringing your own ?

Just reading Pauls mail there, looks like they've got a decent crowd going with 5 different waves.

Wreck

4 stars (good)

Leg appears to be fine so almost certainly doing the race. Waves and start times are up on the website now, I'm in the 12.00 wave, seriously excited.

Wonkagirl

4 stars (good)

good news about the leg wreck!

i'm very excited too. BRING IT

DogSlySmile

4 stars (good)

Mandatory Equipment:- Must be carried on both Run and Bike sections – Please comply with this requirement as it is intended for Your safety

* Whistle



Where are people getting their whistles??

I dont even know where to start lookin!

Agus tá mé very excited!!

Fi H

its a whistle...you can get one anywhere! tescos probably even have them ...you will find emergency whistles in any outdoors shop

mo_bhicycle

4 stars (good)

DogSlySmile wrote: »

Mandatory Equipment:- Must be carried on both Run and Bike sections – Please comply with this requirement as it is intended for Your safety

Do people actually bring all the stuff on that list? In particular I'm talking about: Basic first aid kit, Survival bag, Whistle.

Having looked at the pictures from last year it looks as though a lot of people didn't bother with it.

So how much of the list are ye gonna bring?

ThisRegard

4 stars (good)

A decent bag will fit everything in and you won't notice it. I bring everything that's mandatory with me, I didn't see any checks at Gaelforce but the organisers will be a bit more strictly on it I reckon. You only need it for the run and cycle at Roar.

trinewbie

4 stars (good)

mo_bhicycle wrote: »

Do people actually bring all the stuff on that list? In particular I'm talking about: Basic first aid kit, Survival bag, Whistle.

Having looked at the pictures from last year it looks as though a lot of people didn't bother with it.

So how much of the list are ye gonna bring?

It may have looked this way from the pictures but it can all be fit into the pockets of a bike jersey...No need for a big awkward bag for mandatory kit IMO.

Wonkagirl

4 stars (good)

trinewbie wrote: »

It may have looked this way from the pictures but it can all be fit into the pockets of a bike jersey...No need for a big awkward bag for mandatory kit IMO.

IMHO it should only be for the Expert course.. common sense should be exercised as always. It's not really necessary for the shorter sports course.

Fi H

I've always carried the mandatory kit with me no problem. Thats why its an adventure race, casue you ahve to do things you wouldnt normally do

Saw a lot of it used during GF too!

ThisRegard

4 stars (good)

I used about 3 plasters from my first aid kit before the start of the first bloody cycle.

What's embarrassing about it was that I got the cut the night before when I cut my finger on my razor when I stuck my hand into my wash bag

Sniipe

Expert:
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nerraw1111
trinewbie
GoHard
Snailsong
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Rinker
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mooseygoat
Sniipe... No training done since a poor GF (but sure that happens when u get married... right?)

Sports:
CKWPORT
Wonkagirl
Yop
TooMuchDetail
Mountain Rescue
elchupanebrey
Wreck (injury permitting)
Head the wall
thehamo
Fi
Knipper
DogSlySmile
woody1

Peterx

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/20788034

Dat's a link to last year's course with a wee note explaining which red squiggle is which.
For fook's sake just bring the mandatory kit, It's already very trimmed down for achill roar.
Best of luck to all!

jeffontour

Expert:
ThisRegard
nerraw1111
trinewbie
GoHard
Snailsong
Pbull69
Rinker
smurphy29
mooseygoat
jeffontour

Sports:
CKWPORT
Wonkagirl
Yop
TooMuchDetail
Mountain Rescue
elchupanebrey
Wreck (injury permitting)
Head the wall
thehamo
Fi
Knipper
DogSlySmile
woody1... slowly.. legs still stiff from ben nevis last wknd and rough diamond the wknd before

trinewbie

4 stars (good)

Peterx wrote: »

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/20788034

Dat's a link to last year's course with a wee note explaining which red squiggle is which.
For fook's sake just bring the mandatory kit, It's already very trimmed down for achill roar.
Best of luck to all!

Thanks for the link Peter, shame your not racing yourself to give Padraig a run for his money. .Should be a great race, looking forward to it, will be interesting to see what damage Padraig Marrey and Tom O'Dowd do on the bike.

ThisRegard

4 stars (good)

Cheers Peter, 20 plus minutes for the kayak, I'll be walking around like an orangatang after that.

DogSlySmile

4 stars (good)

Fi H wrote: »

its a whistle...you can get one anywhere! tescos probably even have them ...you will find emergency whistles in any outdoors shop

I tried tesco's, didnt have whistles... I tried trespass, didnt have whistle either... So I got mine in imaginarium!

Fi H

I hear theres a run on whistles in advance of the race....must be sold out :D

Thank god you got one anyway....wouldnt want to be stuck out in the middle of nowhere without a whistle

mooseygoat

i got all that mandatory kit for west wicklow roar and never was asked to produce it do lost it now ,is it really necessary seems a bit over the top ,apart from obivous ,helmet spare tube and phone .does any one know what the final number of entrants are

Git101

4 stars (good)

Expert:
ThisRegard
nerraw1111
trinewbie
GoHard
Snailsong
Pbull69
Rinker
smurphy29
mooseygoat
jeffontour
Git101

Sports:
CKWPORT
Wonkagirl
Yop
TooMuchDetail
Mountain Rescue
elchupanebrey
Wreck (injury permitting)
Head the wall
thehamo
Fi
Knipper
DogSlySmile
woody1... slowly.. legs still stiff from ben nevis last wknd and rough diamond the wknd before

Git101

4 stars (good)

mooseygoat wrote: »

i got all that mandatory kit for west wicklow roar and never was asked to produce it do lost it now ,is it really necessary seems a bit over the top ,apart from obivous ,helmet spare tube and phone .does any one know what the final number of entrants are

As Peterx said
"For fook's sake just bring the mandatory kit, It's already very trimmed down for achill roar."

It's no big deal to fit everything you need into a small bag or the pockets of a cycling jersey.

I have some whistles in stock. I'll bring them with me, can't remember the exact price, they're not expensive, about 3 euros each, I'll check tomorrow. If anybody is stuck for one give me a shout.

Head The Wall

4 stars (good)

Going on the wave list there seems to be nearly 250 for the expert and over 500 for the sport. There goes my chance of improving my place since last year (24th in sport) although I will be hoping to improve my time

thehamo

out for a 6.5km run and 21km cycle. Legs are feeling very sore, will have to rest up good for the weekend now! Foam roller will be seeing some action!

ThisRegard

4 stars (good)

mooseygoat wrote: »

i got all that mandatory kit for west wicklow roar and never was asked to produce it do lost it now ,is it really necessary seems a bit over the top ,apart from obivous ,helmet spare tube and phone .

You'll be sorry when you slide down a gully with no blanket to keep you warm while your rescuers can't find you, if only you had something to attract them while you were stuffing tha 6 inch gash on your leg with moss to stem the bleeding ;-)

seanie500

4 stars (good)

Git101 wrote: »

Expert:
ThisRegard
nerraw1111
trinewbie
GoHard
Snailsong
Pbull69
Rinker
smurphy29
mooseygoat
jeffontour
Git101
seanie500

Sports:
CKWPORT
Wonkagirl
Yop
TooMuchDetail
Mountain Rescue
elchupanebrey
Wreck (injury permitting)
Head the wall
thehamo
Fi
Knipper
DogSlySmile
woody1... slowly.. legs still stiff from ben nevis last wknd and rough diamond the wknd before

looking fwd to this now nice prep for WAR!

Fi H

:D hehehe!
Nicely put!

ThisRegard wrote: »

You'll be sorry when you slide down a gully with no blanket to keep you warm while your rescuers can't find you, if only you had something to attract them while you were stuffing tha 6 inch gash on your leg with moss to stem the bleeding ;-)

Rinker

Registered earlier today. 1 minute in and out. Picked up a €10 irish triathlon cycling top downstairs in cycle superstore. Chuffed, cycling gear is usually really pricey. Wore it earlier and am very happy with my purchase.
9k hillrun this evening. With the crappy weather its the first time I've gotten out in a week. I was worried at my lack of training but it was the best I've felt since before GF so I reckon the rest has done me good. Short spin on the bike tomorrow and then sit back til 10am Saturday.
I still have gatorskins on my bike since Gaelforce. Any advice on whether I should stick with them or change back to my regular tyres? Do gatorskins give any greater grip or are they simply just more puncture resistant?