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Running mad in 2010
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My 4th marathon in Connemara and my 20th overall. A nice milestone and it was one I was keen to enjoy and not to put myself under any pressures in terms of times etc. Some races are for PBs. Connemara ain’t one of them.
The clan booked into the Leenane Hotel for the weekend and it was destined to be a great weekend. This is an old style hotel overlooking one of the finest views in the country (Killary harbour). An additional wing of new rooms have been added onto the hotel since the last time we stayed and we were lucky to be booked into the new part which was 1st class. A balcony view onto the harbour and across towards Ben Gorm. Priceless.
In recent marathons in Connemara I’ve completed the 1st half only to run into the throng of people who had just started the half marathon. I always felt that this slowed me down on those previous occasions so my plan this time was to go faster in the 1st half – the easier half – and try to get to Leenane before they had started, so the challenge was to do it in less than 90 minutes. More on that later.
Great weather greeted us on Sunday morning. The other half drove me from Leenane to Lough Inagh. A vagary of the Connemara logistics is that Leenane gets sadly overlooked in the transport grand scheme of things – Clifden, Oughterard and Galway are where it’s at for convenient transport.
There was a very relaxed scene at Lough Inagh. The view across the lake was magical. I posted a photo on the Connemarathon event thread to show the ‘start line’ view. Chatted away with some fellow boardsies - great to put faces to the user names. Had a nice chat with the lady who was featured in the Irish Times who is aiming to complete her 100th marathon this year. A legend from the Slaney Olympic club in Wexford.
We cheered the first few ultra marathoners through our start line and pretty punctually at 10.30am Ray O’Connor set our race underway.
I ran comfortably and fairly within myself for the 1st half. Tried to take in the views as much as possible and leg the legs do their thing. My km splits were quicker than they needed to be but I wasn’t too concerned. My mantra was to get to Leenane and see what happens after that. At various stages in the 1st half I could see the tell tale bib of Athenry’s Mick Rice up ahead and unintentionally I managed to reel Mick in just as we got to Leenane. I knew that he would run close to a 90 minute split so having him ahead of me worked well by way of a target.
The family gave me a cheer as I ran through Leenane. Myself and Mick exchanged a few words running through the village. The half marathon hadn’t yet started, so the plan was working. On the hill out of Leenane Mick picked up a gear and went away from me. It must have been at least 1k on out of Leenane before the 1st half marathoner went steaming past. Soon after a regular stream of half marathoners went past. Shared some greetings with, and got great encouragement from, fellow boardsies and imra runners in the half contingent. My pace had reduced out of Leenane but I wasn’t too concerned at this stage although I was conscious of the headwind which was making the running that bit more of an effort in the growing heat.
My pace was generally okay until the 30k mark. From here things started to go awry. I don’t know if it was the effects of the heat or what but my pace started to fall markedly and I couldn’t do too much about it. My legs had started to ache too and I was regretting having worn racing flats which didn’t give much protection from the pounding on the uneven tarmac roads. I had the will power to run, albeit slowly, the hell of the west, but painful cramp set in the calf muscles and I had to stretch and try walk it off. Ironically I found running the downhill from the hill of the west and to the end harder than the uphill. I was obviously suffering badly from the heat and the last few k – flat and all as they were was a struggle.
Crossing the line my energy levels were close to zero and soon afterwards I found the first patch of ground I could – a wall near Peacocks – to stretch out prostrate on. Cramp was wracking the legs – quads, calf muscles, feet and the pain was pretty bad. I managed to shuffle back towards the buses but the marshall didn’t know of any plans for a bus to Leenane. Bumped into a few familiar faces including Mick Rice (him looking fresh, me with the life drained from my face). Met my mate Aaron who had run a great 5:01 in the ultra and he too, despite the extra 13 miles was a bubbly as ever. Anyways, after getting some nourishment on board in the hotel – a great spread of soup, sambos, fruit etc, I eventually managed to locate a bus heading to Leenane – the long way around via Clifden!
After race thoughts… pay more attention to the weather. A cap would have been handy. Carry a gel or two.. drinking water alone isn’t enough to ward off the heat. Pre-race nourishment with some sort of electrolyte drink probably would have helped too. Also, I needed to get more long runs in. High mileage with small to medium sized runs is no short cut to a marathon. The plan to go out fast was probably a mistake. When the good half marathoners are streaming past you in droves it can have a demoralising effect. It’s nearly better in retrospect to meet the half back-markers and for you to make your way through them at your own pace, it’s an altogether more positive thing, but maybe that’s just me
Despite feeling wrecked immediately after the race, a few hours later the life had returned to me.. particularly after some grub and a few drinks. I’ll remember my 20th marathon with more fondness than not. Another learning experience.
42.44k, 339m ascents (according to Sportstracks), 4:39 pace
Recovery day:
No running. After a drive back from Leenane I headed out on the bike to stretch the legs in non-impact mode. A 25k amble around the backroads on a lovely Wicklow evening, followed by a wince inducing ice cold bath
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Cheers guys. No races in mind save enjoying the forthcoming imra races. I hope to get across the the Connaught champs even if I'm crap at running Croagh Patrick. Still I can do my penance as I do it.
I see in the final Conn results I'm upgraded (don't know how) to 14th overall and 1st M40
Easy run this evening. Did 4k out and back from Ballinastoe towards Lough Tay and along Wicklow way. Beautiful evening for a run. Going to head over to Glendalough early in the morning to see some of the WAR race...
8.05k, 4:40 pace, 270m ascents
100 days running this year.
Total 902.56 miles0 -
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After last week's efforts it was nice to have a free Saturday to do what I wanted. I decided late last night to venture out this morning early and see some of the WAR action on the spink. Picking donothoponpop early and making it to Laragh in good time, or so we thought, we were thrown a bit by not being able to park in the usual car park and had to go back to Laragh, which made it a bit of a rush to get up even part of the Spink in time for the advanced starters. The weather was out of this world (for Ireland anyway). It was great to see so many people in action and many were familiar faces.
Took some pictures near the Brockagh centre of the start of the cycling leg. Dropping donothoponpop up towards Dublin
I took a diversion to Roundwood to enjoy a hearty breakfast before hightailing it back up towards Djouce. Missed the advanced guys who were already off the mountain and onto their cycling last leg. I did manage to get a few nice snaps with the backdrop of Lough Tay. The views over the mountains were to die for. Back in Laragh I got some more snaps near the WAR finish.
Took to walking the dogs with the family in the afternoon to further enjoy the summery day thats upon us.
As evening closed in I set out on the bike and did an hour around the backroads, 22k's worth. Having seen the action today I'll need to brush up on my cycling and running endurance if I want to consider doing an AR event - like the Glenmalure WAR event - later in the year.
10.3k, 6.44 pace (took it easy on the spink etc!), 401m ascents
101 days running
Total miles: 908.360 -
I speculated about doing an LSR today but decided to concentrate on quality rather than quantity so took to the hills above the village with dog in tow. Coillte are tree felling on the hills which makes the going slower than usual. I followed the Annacurra race route to the top of the hill, hung a left down around and up a trail which I knew was a cul de sac. Trails were technical and gorse covered in parts which made for interesting running. The ups were tough - head down, dig in... About turn and back down, around and up to the top of the hill for the 2nd time. Followed the quick trail descent thats in the Annacurra race - trails are bone dry which makes the going good and fast. This brought me around the back of the hill where Oscar the dog gave chase to his first ever sight of a fox. Then had to haul myself up the hill for the 3rd time. Tough, but good for me
From there it was downhill trail run all the way. Sub 4 min splits without having to try just letting gravity do its thing. Had to push it towards the end as I tried to work the avg pace down below 5 min/k pace. Just about managed it and well happy with that as a work-out. Home for coffee and bagels. Great having these hills on the doorstep. Not a sinner encountered the entire morning either.
16.66k, 4.58 pace, 642m ascents
102 days running
Total miles: 919.310 -
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Arrived out in plenty of time and did c. 5k of a slow jog by way of warm up. Lots of familiar faces in the turn-out. Great to see old faces back too. The return of faster runners could only mean lower results for the rest of us mere mortals. I had words with one guy to tell him to ditch his mp3 player and headphones. Wouldn't have been safe to wear them in a race like this. Happily he took my advice...
A huge crowd gathered before the start. I reckoned over 200 runners were in the field. I stood in the crowd expecting the start to be where it was last time but the 'go' took us in the opposite direction and I was caught unawares. Sprinting at the start of a race is not my thing, but I had to do it to get into a decent position before we started into the first climb and single tracks. I managed to get into a decent enough position but had the fast start cost me? The route is 2 laps of trails on the head. I adopted a strategy that worked for me before in that I tried to pace myself evenly on the 2 laps. Start too fast and you can fade on the 2nd. As it happened then I managed to gain some places on the 2nd lap. A couple of k of that was a close and enjoyable nip and tuck tussle with Timaay, obviously only returning to fitness as he's usually well ahead of me. Fair play to him, he held sway at the end and pipped a runner ahead of him again. Just saw the results there. Delighted with a 13th place considering the experienced runners around me. The indefatigable Enduro was 2nd despite the WAR at the weekend. Bazman was back racing and back to winning form.
8.25k, 36:53, 4:28 pace, 211m ascents
13th, 112% of winning time. 225 runners or so in the race!
Warm up of 5.48k, 31:18, 123m ascents
Total: 8.54 miles
105 running days
Total miles: 942.580 -
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Race today: Report to follow later. Had it typed up but it disappeared in Boards as I submitted it
http://www.imra.ie/events/view/id/727/
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/31058964 -> check out the map view of the race and the elevation.
Reckon I was 6th overall which I'm chuffed with.
Total: 9.69k, 6:56 pace, 714m ascents
107 running days; 6 rest days.
Total miles: 955.550 -
Arrived in good time with donothoponpop and did a bit of a warm up. A nice crowd assembled at the Wicklow gap for the off at 12 noon on the dot. A steep climb to the top of Tonelagee followed. Tough going it was too. A lead group of Jason, Brian and Peter had set off into the distance with the rest of us following in single file fashion. Half way up the running got too tough, for me at least, so I adopted a long walking stride without losing position. Zoran had reached the trig point ahead of me. I knew Dan Morrough wasn’t too far behind. Off the other side of Tonelagee down to Lough Ouler. Here, different strategies were put to the test. Do you go immediately down to the lake and run alongside it, or do you stay to the higher ground and only hit the lake as late as possible? I took somewhat of a middle ground option and it allowed me to pick up ground on Zoran who had gone to the lake early. We were met at the apex of the lake by Dan who had taken the latter option. We started the climb back up Tonelagee in close proximity. Running gave way to walking before too long again as it was very steep and the path as it was turned out to be quite uneven. I managed to gain a lead on Dan despite this and Zoran in turn had stretched out a good lead on me. He looked like he could catch Aaron O’Donoghue ahead of him again. At that time I reckoned Aaron was 4th overall in the race. As the gradient levelled out near the top of Tonelagee running became an option again. Touched the trig point at the top of the mountain and from there it was going to be a short but fast downhill to where we had started from. Opinions differed again as to the best way down.. do you follow the sheep trail we had followed on the way up or do you run as the crow flies across open mountain ignoring any trail (which wasn’t too obvious at times in any event). Some of the grassy downhill was really really fast. Legs, feet, body coordination needed big time when you are running downhill at this speed. I’m a poor master of these skills but I did enough to hold my position in the race and finished in a time of 46:59 (unofficial.. 6th overall I think?). A great, but tough race and good prep for next weekend’s Connaught championship races. A bit of a misunderstanding at the end nearly ended up with donothoponpop taking my M40 prize but I intervened at this injustice at the last minute.
Looking forward to the next weekend race which have a great ambience, the smaller crowds and unmarked elements of the courses being in contrast to the overcrowded nature of the growing popularity of the Leinster League races. Thanks to the race director and helpers for a great event. 0 -
...to deprive me of my first win in anything since the cub scouts "two laps round the pitch" Challenge. You will have noticed how quick I was to point out the error as I grabbed for the prize table...Slogger Jogger wrote: »A bit of a misunderstanding at the end nearly ended up with donothoponpop taking my M40 prize but I intervened at this injustice at the last minute....
Great, great, course. If I hadn't had been saving myself for Limerick Marathon next week, I'd 'a had ya.;)0 -
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Staying around Delphi for IMRA Connaught Champs weekend. Briefly in Westport so have 5 mins of connectivity. 7k ran around Doo Lough yesterday in the shadow of mighty Mweelrea and Ben Gorm. Absolutely stunning. The drive to Westport this morning was tremendous. Some rain showers but Croagh Patrick peak clearly visible - always a good thing when doing a mountain race. Its less than 7k in distance but a lot of pain and fund to be endured during it 0
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You are some monster Mick. Either of those races would have killed a mere mortal. That photo of your descent just gives me the shivers. I like the 'nearly there' photo. My kind of terrain. Tarmac country roads and gentle hills.
Congrats on another great set of results and a massive improvement. I'm very jealous of your hill skills.0 -
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http://connect.garmin.com/activity/32717015
On a fine morning I headed down the road towards Bunclody for what I knew would be a nice sociable race and so it was. Jane and Graham Porter serve up some of the best races around. I've driven past this hill many a time on the way to Enniscorthy and little did I know of the delightful trails that were hidden up off the road. There was about 30 runners lining up to run. Some of the lead guys from the previous race in Kilbrannish were absent but I didn't recognise half of the field so you don't really know what to expect / who to look out for.
Knowing nothing about a route can be good and bad. At over 11k I knew there was no sense heading out too fast. There was the promise of long drags of hills later in the route too. So it proved. In actual fact there were undulating hills from relatively early, but none too long before you were flat or downhilling again. In the early to mid stages of the race I was positioned 3rd, the lead 2 having stretched gradually away from me. On the big hill however I could see that the gap between me and 2nd was closing so that gave me some heart and I dug deep. I was able to take off a bit on the technical downhills and gradually the gap closed and I managed to nab the 2nd spot with a few k to go. Could I hold on though? Up another hill and down some steep technical trails to the finish. Yes was the answer. 2nd in 46:23. 4:09 pace. Fast pace for a hilly trail race which I'm chuffed with. A nice gathering afterwards in the Moss House Pub in Bunclody where pretty much everyone got some sort of prize.
Miles this week: 48.4
4 races in 8 days. Maybe races is the new training 0 -
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Krusty_Clown wrote: »Great running Mick. Enough of the bridesmaid, time to step up and be the bride.
This was a training run for the WWR. I'm under strict orders from Major General d'pop. Today's tempo run was just what the doctor ordered 0 -
Slogger Jogger wrote: »This was a training run for the WWR. I'm under strict orders from Major General d'pop. Today's tempo run was just what the doctor ordered
And my whip will tan the behinds of any bridemaids (or brides) I find slacking in their training:D
Well done to everyone who got recces in the last few days, leading by example. Some great weather to be in the mountains.0 -
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