Running mad in 2010

littlebug

Fantastic stuff Slogger. I was looking over at Croagh Patrick on Saturday wondering how in the world anyone can run it. I must get my act together and get over there and walk up it one of these mornings

Krusty_Clown

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.

PositiveNegativ

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Views to die for and which could kill you if you weren’t careful.

The trill of racing in the Mountains brilliantly summed up in one line.

pgmcpq

Bloody hell .. I had to sit down after seeing that photo of the descent above ! Congratulations.

Slogger Jogger

This was a video made by one of the lads descending...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT3mms6t0tg

Slogger Jogger

According to the event details this was 7.58k, 317m of climb. I'd no garmin for once so I was running blind so to speak, which for once wasn't a bad thing.
Legs felt heavy after the weekend's activities. I'd followed that up with a comfortable 34k cycle on Monday and a 5k jog later that day. The weekend had caught up with me yesterday and I'd a chesty cough so no running for me. I was touch and go as to whether to run.
Run I did and it didn't work out too bad. I held my own (ish) on the climb. Lost 1 maybe 2 places when the legs started to not function. However, made up for it on the fireroad that leads to the finish when I overtook 3 runners in quick succession before the end. Finished 12th in 34:15. A Pb for the route, but thats on a dry mountain whereas in recent year's it was anything but.. Still I was within 14% of Barry Minnock's winning time so I'll take that.

Slogger Jogger

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

Krusty_Clown

Great running Mick. Enough of the bridesmaid, time to step up and be the bride.

Slogger Jogger

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

donothoponpop

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.

Slogger Jogger

Did a very easy day Monday and a handy day Tuesday. Covered 20k between both days without any major exertion.

Wednesday evening I arrived early and did c. 6k around the Tibradden trails. In retrospect I probably overdid the warmup. From the off in the race I was a bit leaden legged and couldn't hold pace with runners I normally would stay with. Nevertheless I hung in there and lo and behold after a few k I started to get my running legs. I ran a lot of this race in the company of Martin Francis. Me with a slight lead on the ups and him faster on the downs, but we both kept each other at a decent pace. The route was very dry.. Last time we raced this it was icy and frosted over. Its quite a technical route with rocks and stuff. Its not a trail you want to trip on as some people found out. On the backward leg of the route myself and Martin started to narrow the gap on runners ahead of us. I overtook a total of 3 on the backward leg. Martin 4 (inc. me). He zipped past me on the last downhill and took off like a hare on the last trail section. I ran that k in 3:07 and I was still slower than him. Happy enough with result as the belly didn't feel the best at times during the race but I was able to perservere. 16th and 2nd M40. Boards were 3rd team aswell. My pace equalled my pace in the Winter League race. Then I was 4th. Shows the difference in competition level between the Winter League and Leinster League.

11.21k in 50:35, 4:41 pace, 348m ascents.

Followed that with what was supposed to be an easy run this evening. Ended up running 10.05k in 4:23 pace, 247m ascents. Maybe I should pretend I'm training when I'm racing.

Slogger Jogger

An epic race. A thankfully fine day greeted us today and that made my mind up to give this event a shot. I was seriously doubtful about running it if the weather was iffy as my navigation skills aren’t up to much. The race called for 25k+ of running around the hills with some serious climbs on some difficult terrain. My objective was to try enjoy it, not go astray and see what happens.

Some 41 runners registered with mandatory race kit (compass, map, water etc) checked. An unexpectedly large no. for a long unmarked race in the hills. We set off from the Glenmalure valley and headed up zigzag trails towards Arts Lough. A lead group of 3 runners had extended a lead from the outset – Colm Hill, Niall McAlindon and Peter O’Farrell. I was in a small bunch after that with the rest behind. Ran a bit alongside donothoponpop in this section and he was running well. The pace was comfortable. Not too fast, not too slow. It was going to be a long day after all, so no sense pushing it too early. I’d never been up around Arts Lough before and it looked tremendous. A little lake nestled under cliffs with the Glenmalure valley spread out behind. After that it became a bit of a slog up (walking time) towards Clohernagh which is marked by a small mound of stones. We tend to underdo the markings of mountain peaks in Ireland – you’ll see that throughout this report. From there we followed a worn trail which lead up towards Lugnacoille. 9k in, 18+k to go. After Lug I headed north on a patchy trail towards Camenabologue. I’m not familiar with this part of the route so I stopped to check my bearings at least twice and in doing so I was caught by some other runners. We ran together for a while, safety in numbers type thing with at least some of them knowing where they were going for sure. The going was tough in parts and involved a bit of walking. On a race like this a run / walk strategy is almost essential. You run when you can. Walk when you have to. Camenabologue nearly had a smaller mound of stones marking its top. The next peak is Conavalla. You’ve a decision to make on this part.. Do you lose height and head directly for it across some uneven boggy ground to make up the climb on the other side or do you contour around towards Table mountain where the ground conditions might be iffy too? A few of our group took the latter option. I ran with Adrian Tucker the most direct line, a wise choice as I knew he was a man of great running and navigational experience. Pace was slow up and down through boggy ground, through big tuffs of grass and up, down and around peat stacks. Lost and had to reclaim one of my runners in a boggy bit. Walking was necessary on the steep uphill bits again but that gave you the chance to take on water and some food, in my case I’d a couple of bags of raisins tucked away which did the trick. From Conavalla we headed left bearing towards Turlough hill in the distance, up and down peat stacks as we went, before we turned right to bring us on a fairly direct line towards Lugduff. During this section I ran, and walked, side by side with Adrian, chatting away. No sign of other runners so did our direct line to Conavalla work for us? We’ll find out later. A couple of stones marked the top of Lugduff and from there it was a case of following a bit of a trail down then up the flank of Mullacor, crossing the boardwalk for the Wicklow way in the process. The Wicklow way traverses our race route. Slowly up towards Mullacor we passed some walkers. They said that 3 runners had gone ahead of us.. the 3 leaders perhaps? Less than 4k to go at this point. Getting tired but at least the climb in the race was done at this point. We passed a pile of stones on Mullacor.. not the peak. The peak is the next pile of stones, but we all know that don’t we? Turned right at the stones (!) and headed steeply down the mountain until we encountered the Wicklow way again. Followed this for a good stretch – tough trying to run fast on hard firetrail after so much hill running. Especially when you are wearing very light and unsupportive inov8 Xtalons like I was. We turn the requisite turn on the trail, saw a bit of reassuring marking tape and heading on from there. An orienteering kite on the trail showed we were on track. From there it was steeply down a set of zigzag tracks of what used to be a miners path to finish at the Ballinafunsoge car park.

I finished seconds after Adrian. He was 4th (and 1st M50).. some running! I was 5th.. 1st M40. Found out later than Peter O’Farrell had won, just ahead of Colm Hill with Niall 3rd. The runners who had taken the other navigation option early were some minutes behind us. I hung around at the finish and saw Donothoponpop make the best finish of the day to outpace a fellow racer. I was completely knackered afterwards. Happy out though. Objectives achieved. Well done to the organisers and to all who took part and made this a great event.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/33349031

26.4k in just under 3 hours. c. 1,300m of climb. Ouch.

donothoponpop

Great running from you today SJ, you were like a glowing yellow beacon for the first half. Well done on consistent running to get in under 3 hours.

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Donothoponpop make the best finish of the day to outpace a fellow racer.

You're too kind. I had a 'mare of a race, dying in the second half, no energy. Thankfully, managed to slide down between the steep zigzigs at the end, and just pip a guy on the line. Which more than makes up for a crappy race, as all sprint finishers will testify:)

DustyBin

an excellent race report SJ
congratulations on another great result - thats some year you're having!

BeepBeep67

Great running again Mick, looking forward to the personal account on leg 8 later.

Slogger Jogger

Just ticking over at the moment. Mainly easy runs, some rest days and races.

Thursday I recce'd the Wicklow way leg 5. A great route of over 13k with 600m of climb. Ran at chatting pace in 1h 10m. On the day in a few weeks the task at hand will be to get it down nearer 60 mins.

Friday, a light 10k at lunchtime turned into a 13k run by accident. Not ideal prep for a race today.

Saturday. IMRA 30th anniversary race at Fairycastle. A scorching hot day. Far from ideal for a run in the hills. Did a minimal warm up having hydrated loads. The race itself promised to be short and hard and relatively fast. Just over 6k with c. 250m of climb. Not an ideal route for a slogger like me with no great speed. The start went off fast. I went off steady and held my own on the climb. The climb seemed to go on forever with the sun beating down. The ground underfoot was quite rocky and single track at times, but dry as a bone. Near the 3k mark a marshall shouted to runners ahead of us 'don't turn right, go straight', and told us to do the same, so off we went straight and straight away it appeared that this was wrong. We ran for quite a while but no markings. A guy ahead of me had enough and took the next right hand single track and I followed. Glad I did as David Healy knew the way to Fairycastle and when we got there we saw the markings which led us back. We met much of the running field heading towards fairycastle as we headed back, on tight and rocky single track. I could feel that I was parched despite the copious water taken on earlier. Faster and downwards we went but I couldn't bridge the gap between myself and the guy ahead. At one point we met Gerry Brady taking photos and he called out positions. 4th and 5th he said. What! I thought, that can't be right. Before we knew it we had crossed the line and so it was.. Other runners who would normally be ahead of me started to cross the line soon after. It appears that many had gone off the correct course. I checked the distance I ran versus Barry Minnock who had won and I ended up running c. 200m more than him. A bit of a mess really as you want everyone to run the same route. The marking needed to be better. There was no sign of the usual lines of tape blocking the tracks you shouldn't run down. And, as I said above we had a marshall who gave us incorrect advice. Lesson learned.. follow the markings whatever happens.

5th overall (an unsatisfactory 5th, but hey), 1st M40 (happy with that as other M40s has run at least the course I ran), 2nd team (for Boards AC: me, Enduro and Jeffontour) At the post race social I also took home a lovely engraved Tankard, my prize for winning the M40 category for the Winter League. Nice one.

6.24k, 4:47 pace, 267m ascents

BeepBeep67

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

At the post race social I also took home a lovely engraved Tankard, my prize for winning the M40 category for the Winter League. Nice one.

Well done Mick I'll have to get to the Salty to fill it for ya!

Slogger Jogger

Main objective in the coming weeks is the Wicklow way relay. Go team Boards.

Started the day with an easy run before I headed to work, 6k or so to stretch the legs..

This evening my run started much later than planned and I just about managed to eke out a 10k hill run above Annacurra village. The pace was good from the outset and I was determined to keep the kilometre splits sub 5 minute, even on the uphills. Managed to do this just about and the avg pace as I head the top of the climb was 4:50 pace. Total climb was 236m. The last 4 k mainly downhill were fun but still tough. 3:23, 3:14, 3:27, 3:40 (tiring).

Avg pace for overall session reduced to a nice 4:15. Very happy with that for the hilly conditions. I need to pull something like that out of the bag for the WWR.

Easy run tomorrow then IMRA Brockagh race on Weds.

Slogger Jogger

A cool and sunny evening in Laragh with a bit of a breeze which was good as it kept away the dreaded midgies. Did a bit of a warm up along the trails up towards the hill onto the grassy commonage and back, c. 4.5k. A typcially large LL crowd assembled (209 runners) for the race including some the speedy guys. Lots of younger and fitter guys than me there too. The start of the race is cruelly back along the tarmac road near the main Laragh Glendalough road. When we headed off I ran at a decent pace but I ran within myself and I tried to keep this pace going as we started onto the hillier trails and up onto the open mountain. My pace slowed but I wasn't passed. At least I was still jogging.. trying to maintain a steady sustainable place for what is a bit of a drag up the first of the Brockaghs. All the while we were running into strong sunshine from a low sun so visibility wasn't great. A bit of a downhill then its a steady climb again to the far Brockagh peak on tinder dry trails. Around midway on the climb I gained a place and I stayed in that position until the far peak. Along this stretch the lead runners on their return journey started to tear past. Bazman in the lead and other familiar faces followed. At the trig point places were yelled out by the summit marshall and I was 15th. Turning at this point I saw that the pursuing bunch were very close behind me and included some of my usual sparring partners like Martin Francis and Rene so I couldn't hang about. Running downhill you need to be careful. Running fast along tight tracks you are running against a crowded field of runners on their outward race leg. A couple of near misses collision-wise. The final grassy downhill off the commonage is fantastic and you can really let yourself go and spin those legs. A nice bit of downhill on fireroad switchbacks followed before the sorry bit of the race which is a long-ish straight run on fireroad to the finish (still, fastest k split 3:18). Up ahead I could see the runner placed ahead of me but the gap was too much to close. A quick look around showed that no one was nearby, so I relaxed a bit and coasted to the finish.

A time of 48:48, 4:41 pace over 409m ascents. My time was nearly a minute faster than last year so thats a PB for me on Brockagh but it was a lot drier this year than last so even though I probably raced better last year the ground conditions then would have slowed me somewhat. Happy with the run. 15th overall, 3rd M40 behind some seriously talented runners. Bazman set a new record time for this course, 41:26. Fair play.

The times for the leading runners were recorded at the summit. Mine was 30:10. Baz was 24:50. 6 mins difference, not good. Downhill was better. I was 18:47 vs a winner downhill of 16:36. So while I cursed the damned fireroad I wasn't too slow on it coming home.

donothoponpop

Jeez that's some time difference on the outbound!:eek:

Fair play on your return, very fast. You're always a streak of lightning coming down the hills.

Slogger Jogger

Another Weds race, another beautiful evening. Took it easy on the warm up and just did 2k. A good crowd assembled along the Wicklow way on the trail just off the Oldbridge road. This is a good old-fashioned hill race. Up and down the hill and no messing. No dawdling around a forest trail before or after. You are climbing straight away. According to the garmin which isn't necessarily completely accurate the 1st k gained us 122 metres. I ran steady on this, happy enough. Leveled out a bit on the 2nd k. Gained just 36 metres. Started to feel the hill impacting the legs on the 3rd k where the gain was 138 metres. Was mad with myself for having to walk for short stretches, but on the flip side I got running well fairly quickly thereafter. The 4th k brought us to Scarr peak with a further gain of 71 metres. A bit like last week after the steady start I managed to avoid being overtaken on the uphill - so I obviously find my level within the field early in the race. The sun was beating down and I was feeling thirsty despite taking on plenty of water beforehand. The downhill from Scarr is the business. All those gains of height are reversed in your favour. The trail was dry as tinder and you can bounce along the turf at times. Immediately off the summit I gained a few places. Over the course of the descent I gained a few more. Didn't lose any places either, so it was a big net improvement in places. I ran close by Joe Mooney who had a big lead over me in Brockagh last week. He got away from me in the final analysis as my lightweight inov8s were giving me shag all support on the hard ground and I was feeling the effects of the downhill pounding, so incorrect shoe choice for the route and lesson learned. The last k split was 3:12. 8k in 39:36, 369m of gain. I wasn't happy overall with the run but my time was still more than a minute faster than my previous best on Scarr. A bit like last week through I need to get focused on practicing uphills. Need to HTFU as some of the young guns would say. Nice to meet up with some of the regulars afterwards. TRunner needs to stay away from the pies On his day I shouldn't be ahead of him. It was good to meet mymojo afterwards. Seems like she ran well and is on course for the relay. Go team!

Slogger Jogger

7th Leinster League race for me in 2010 so whatever happens on subsequent Wednesdays I've done my compliment of races for the league. This route is a goody, its one I like and have done well on (in my terms) before. Not the easiest to reach (for me) being beside Blessington but it has its rewards, particularly on the run back from the main hill along Lugnagun and down the forest ride the views of Blessington lake are terrific below you.

This was my last race before Saturday's Wicklow way relay when Boards will have 2 teams lined up.

A gentle 3k warm up beforehand. A strong wind was blowing so that could be a factor in the run this evening. A good crowd congregated at the start. Good to see some familiar faces Boards and otherwise, many of whom had tackled Carrantoohil at the weekend.

I started off reasonably conservatively as Enduro and co led the way ahead. A gentle ascent on a fire road followed. Heading left up a steep forest ride where Coillte have been busy felling followed. Got stuck in behind some slower movers, but that kinda worked in my favour as once we were off the narrow track I had energy left to burst clear on the 'flat' section along the shoulder between Lugnagun and Sorrell hill proper. I tucked in behind Joe Mooney, a bit like the race last week. Wind was gusty but it was neither favourable or not. More annoying than anything else. Half way along the shoulder we passed another runner. Niall? Joe pulled away from me as we approached the steep track leading towards the peak. My legs went all lazy on me at this point so long walking strides took over from short running steps, but I still made decent progress up the hill with no one gaining on me. Picked up a jog as the ascent flattened somewhat but not before the lead runner, PeterX - back on song - went dashing past on his descent. Followed by a Cnoc runner and Eoin Keith. Others followed thereafter as I neared the cairn and greeted Gerry Lalor who was doing his marshalling bit this evening instead of an Alternative Wednesday run.

The descent off Sorrell is great, but the narrow trail is fraught with hazard as you run down facing other runners coming the other way. Gained a place here as I got past Shane by taking a route through the gorse. From here it was a case of digging in along the shoulder and up towards Lugnagun. Not fast, but effective. Dig in, dig in. Through the fence and over the stile before charging down the forest ride towards the forest trail from whence we came. All the while the guys ahead had moved well clear. A quick look around showed a clear gap back to Shane (I think) so I probably mentally eased up on my final descent. Finished 12th, and in a faster time than my previous Sorrell hill runs. Couldn't really understand that 'cos I didn't feel I had run too well. Happy enough though and good prep physically and mentally for Saturday's relay.

9.53k, 4:59 min/k pace, 384m ascents.

Thursday: Did an 11k recovery paced run. Wore heart rate monitor which I don't often too and concentrated on running slow enough to keep HR well down. Until I got to the back hill straight which I attacked 3 times with jogged intervals in between. Heart rate shot up to 166. Not high by other people's standards but thats my current limit. I need more hill training to work this limit I think. Avg HR of just 136. Job done. Rest tomorrow.

Abhainn

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Rest tomorrow.

Rest day for you SJ? Comon Sat then!

Slogger Jogger

Abhainn wrote: »

Rest day for you SJ? Comon Sat then!

Thats me tapering.

Slogger Jogger

My run today

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Slogger Jogger

13.45k, 4:25 min/k pace, 59 mins 25 secs (watch time), 522m ascents. Elevation pic in previous post.

The Wicklow way relay. Another IMRA event that brings a smile to the face. The 2nd year team Boards would tow the start line and this year 2 teams would be fielded. I would run leg 5, as per last year and we had the majority of last year’s team re-appearing with a couple of changes due to injury etc. but all in all our team was quite strong and I was confident we could do better than last year’s 12th place. The fact that the European trail race the day after this would rule out some top runners from running the relay would provide a sense of lottery to the proceedings which are regularly dominated by Clonliffe and Rathfarnham. More of that later.

During the week I looked again at the time I ran last year. 1 hour 1 minute. I wondered if I could repeat the feat. In a recent recce I genuinely struggled to do 1 hour 10 mins and felt tired, but whether that was due to over-running or reduced fitness this year remained to be seen. Ironically I ran well last year having only ran the Edinburgh marathon some 5 days beforehand so I wouldn’t exactly have been fresh then? So who knows what would happen?
Captain Paul Joyce was in charge of proceedings and we received our logistics email beforehand with our instructions and times. My run was scheduled for c. 10.45am give or take 15 mins in Glendalough. The day starts early and the text line is busy with updates on the earlier legs. 7th after leg 1 (great run by Gary), and by John on the ‘B’ team who was 9th at that point. 2nd after leg 2 (stupendous leg by Joe Cawley, a relatively last minute call up. Talk about a super sub!). 2nd after leg 3 (well done Vanessa, another last minute addition ironically from Rathfarnham). I was on the way at this stage to Glendalough. Suzanne was running leg 4 as I was driving over. Not long after I arrived, with some light limbering up on the green road in Glendalough, Suzanne arrived having maintained our 2nd position. Brilliant run girl. According to the masses at the start Rathfarnham, who were in 1st, were well clear. 15 mins or so possibly. I’m listing the split times and paces below but I must say that I don’t tend to look at this stuff during a race. Hardly looked at watch at all – just race your best and get to the end.

I set off along the green road. A relatively flat beginning to a very testing route. 1st k, 3:39 split. Tried to run within myself and not overdo it at the start. The hard work then begins. The steep section up past the poulanass waterfall. Short steps, keeping the breathing steady, slow necessarily but keep plodding away. 2nd k, 5:13 split. From the top of the steps it’s a steady climb up a fire road that acutely cuts back to the right and continues relentlessly upwards. Trying to keep my breathing easy. No idea how far anyone is behind me. Tempted to look around at times to see if anyone is there but never did. Focus on the road ahead. 3rd k, 4:54. The same is true over the next 3k of fire trail. Onwards and upwards, never easy, all the while thinking of the team and how well they have run to get me into this position. Splits of: 4:53, 4:57, 5:55. Getting near the top now. The constant climbing is starting to impact the legs. Starting to sense the top of the climb. I remind myself “we’re in 2nd!”. You’ve not been passed on the climb yet. I know I’m a decent descender, so if someone challenges me I’ll do my level best to stay with them. However, still no sign of a challenger and I slog on along. 7th k, 5:30. Reaching the high point on the run at this stage. Energy levels still okay. Not too hot or windy either. Up and down along the boardwalk section and along the grassy bit of the Wicklow way without any slip or slide. 8th k, 5:01.

Now the fun starts. Downhill through the tricky forest section over slippery steps, trying to ensure you don’t brain yourself against the protruding branches. Jump off the steps at the end and start to unwind the legs for the fire road descent. 9th k, 4:19. The next 3k are a joy. Legs spinning, trying to make gravity do its thing and trying to keep an effort full-on but constant (to the end). Splits of: 3:17, 3:29, 3:43. Some minor climbs in there too to keep the runner honest. Nearing the end now. Keep pushing on. Lungs starting to burn. No challenger in sight. Still 2nd, happy days. Last k, 3:13. Additional 450m in just 1:16. Yippee. Tag Paul and stop to a standstill.

Felt surprisingly good after the run. Felt chuffed to have run faster than last year. Surprised and delighted to have broken the hour barrier. That hour is a good quality mark on leg 5 and I’m in good company from the record lists.
At the end of the leg there was still a good gap to the leading Rathfarnham team. The question was could we hang onto 2nd? The Wicklow way relay has lots of twists and turns though. It transpired that the leading team’s man would go astray and Boards ‘A’ would find ourselves in the lead when Paul Joyce tagged David Walsh-Kemmis in Ironbridge. The Rathfarnham leg 7 runner could only wait. To cut a long story short David ran a very solid leg and we maintained 1st place at Crossbridge. Dom Horan had the honour / pressure of leading the team home on the last leg. Again Dom ran a very solid leg, despite a bit of a meander up a side trail, to lead Boards ‘A’ to a win in the relay. I said earlier I was hoping to do better than last year. At my most optimistic I would have hoped for top 5. To finish 1st was incredible. A memorable day. Well done all. Thanks to Rathfarnham who were very magnanimous afterwards. Cheers guys. Our guy went astray last year so we know how you feel (okay we weren't leading but you know what I mean).

Well done to the other Boardsies for a very solid run too. Could we have 3 teams next year?

Slogger Jogger

Resisted the temptation to run in the European trial race at Crone wood today. The standards were such I was so glad I didn't. A great race report on Colm's blog here

The legs didn't feel too bad though so I had to get out and do something. Headed off into the trails with the dog at the heels and turned the legs over nicely for 12k in less than the hour with 320m of climb. Dug in on the uphills and took it easy on the downhills, trying to keep the HR and effort low. Avg HR 145, pace: 4:55. Dog got to chase some bunnies and deer . Got in before the rain.

tisnotover

Great running, well done on the team win !!

Enjoyed reading the reports from ye all !

Slogger Jogger

Hard targets have been set for next year so the training must start now

Rough evening so a stress relieving run was needed instead of the 1st half of the Italy match. Not much time so 40 mins or so out the road and up the trails. 9.1k, 210m of ascents, 4:18 pace avg. 5 back to back 3:3x ish splits on the way back down. Rest tomorrow. Hope to give Powerscourt a blast on Wednesday even if uphill only is not my bag. Avg HR 150.

Slogger Jogger

Felt fresh before this race but any freshness was more imagined than real I think. Struggled to get going at all and it seems that Saturday's race has taken a lot more out of me that I thought. I rarely wear a heart rate monitor but did this evening and from the outset my heart rate was well up there. Got caught in a bunch at the start so many of my contemporaries got away quickly and before I knew it a gap had opened up. Tried to concentrate on keeping an even effort but couldn't pick the pace up to close any gaps. Legs got sore before they should normally do in a race, again a sign of tiredness. Ran until the stile at the far side of the Dargle but had to employ a run / walk strategy from that point onwards. On the plus side I didn't lose any places and near the summit I managed to pick it up and close down 2 runners near me and that gave me a little lift. Eamon (gohard) finished ahead of me for Boards on the night. Well done young man. You should be doing that more often for your age
6.47k, 40:47, 6:18 pace, 627m ascents, Avg HR 162 (max 168),
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/37215407