My UltraRunning log

Abhainn

Great running Mithril.
Impressive negative split.
Yes those showers were cool but I spent many weekends in the past 20 years in colder ones than those, you get used to them

mithril

Sunday
Rest

Monday
Cross-training , stretching in gym.

Tuesday
Cross-training , stretching in gym.

Wednesday
Summary 4.93 in 23:08 on grass around U.C.D.

No obvious tiredness left in the body, and I hoped the stretching might have helped, but ankle was always uncomfortable, running action was impaired and when knee started getting sore as well, abandoned the session early.
Well get another sports massage and see if that helps.
Definitely not travelling south now for Ballycotton.

Abhainn wrote: »

Great running Mithril.
Impressive negative split.
Yes those showers were cool but I spent many weekends in the past 20 years in colder ones than those, you get used to them

Depends how soft you are, I guess.

The split was not really by design. I was not running well in the early laps. Jeff pulled me around them. Once the body loosened up, I managed to cope a bit better.

You had a very good run yourself. Running against some of the best ultrarunners in the country, you showed yourself one of the best ultrarunners in the country. Were you targetting sub 3:30 ? Was that a flat-out run?

Abhainn

mithril wrote: »

You had a very good run yourself. Running against some of the best ultrarunners in the country, you showed yourself one of the best ultrarunners in the country. Were you targetting sub 3:30 ? Was that a flat-out run?

It was great running against some of the real ultra guys of the sport. You never know one day there may be a 100k in me when I find the 42.195 a bit short
No this wasn't flat out. I was treating this a long training run and depending how I felt I had loosely set a sub 3:30.

mithril

Thursday
8.46KM in 43:23 (5:07 pace) around U.C.D. GAA pitch.

Friday
5KM in 28:28 (5:35 pace) around Carysfort Park.

Sports massage in morning.
Slight improvement I think. I have slowed down the pace and am concentrating just on proper running form. A lot less inflammation now either due to an improvement or I am doing less damage with the slower pace so can now manage back to back runs without Ibuprofen. I have no problem taking loads of it to get me to a starting line feeling OK, but its not sustainable to take it daily just to get in a regular training run.
Doing my exercises to transform my flabby middle aged a*rse into a ball of hard muscle which physio thinks will fix my ankle. I was a bit sceptical at first, but once it was pointed out, its obvious how the glute muscles not working correctly are throwing the whole running action way off and putting a lot of strain on the leg.
Leg started to buckle during first lap of today's run but by concentrating on proper form, I gradually got an improvement in the later laps. Pace felt more like 4:50 than 5:35 though. Donadea showed me I can still run quite well after a 2 hour warm-up, so should still manage a reasonable performance in the WW Ultra next month.

Picked up a nasty souvenir of the Donadea 50K, and was hoping the blister would burst by itself, but it was starting so show signs of infection yesterday, so finally overcame my squeamishness and sterilised a scissors and lanced it.

mithril

Saturday
Summary 7.52 KM in 40:30 (5:23 pace) around Carysfort Park

Sunday
Summary 10.21 KM in 59:06 (5:47 pace) along Royal Canal from Maynooth to Kilcock abd back again.

Driving through Maynooth and took advantage to do a recce of the Royal Canal pathaway. Planning to run along this from Maynooth to Mullingar sometime in the Summer. This section won't pose any challenges. First 2KM on gravel and then 3 KM on short grass.

Slow improvement but struggling to maintain running form once pace goes below 5:00. Pointless pushing for anything faster at the moment since I know it will just do damage.

mithril

Monday
Summary 10.03 KM in 46:55 (4:40 pace) on grass around Carysfort Park

Disappointed that even a short section on gravel at recovery pace appeared to have generated a fair amount of inflammation in the ankle.
Popped some Ibuprofen to get the swelling dwon at lunchtime.

Managed a solid aerobic run in the evening though around Caryfort park, either due to the Ibuprofen, or stretching yesterday, where I loosened up a very tight hamstring. Running a lot more fluently today and first solid run in last fortnight.

mithril

Tuesday
Summary 12KM in 55:30 (4:37 pace) on grass around U.C.D.

Quite a lot of inflammation in the ankle last night; enough to wake me up during the night and give me a disturbed night sleep. By the evening though felt a lot better so headed out to U.C.D. for another aerobic run. Still not able to run on any surface harder than grass but now managing a reasonable pace. Leg felt a bit unstable after 5 KM but stopped and streched for a bit, and when resumed felt a lot better. Lota of stretching and iced the ankle immediately after shower.

mithril

Wednesday
Summary 7KM in 34:51 (4:59 pace) on grass around U.C.D. GAA pitch

I managed to loosen up the ankle with a lot of stretching watching the match last night and felt good coming into it.

Planned to try a few faster laps on the track getting down to MP but after a couple of minutes it was clear that the harder surface of the track was still a bit too much of a challenge so headed over to the GAA pitch.

Ankle a good deal more stable than a week ago but really struggled to get any momentum behind the run even though I stopped and stretched a few times. The strong wind around the pitch did not help but legs felt quite heavy even though the volume I am doing at the moment is nothing. I was comfortably managing 2*20 miles at the week-end at the same time last year. Watched the Garmin crawl up towards 7K and then abandoned the run in relief.

Will take next two days easy. I want to get a quality run in at the weekend in preparation for the Wicklow Way Ultra later this month.

mithril

Thursday
Summary 8.63KM in 42:51 (4:58 pace) on grass around Carysfort park

Friday
Stretching in gym.


Saturday
Summary 32.20KM in about 3:20:00 (6:15 pace) on Wicklow Way.

Recce of part of the WW Ultra route with Brownian,JeffonTour,Donothoponpop and KrustyClown, from Foxes Pub to shoulder of Djouce and back again.

Pace of this a bit faster than I normally do my long, hilly runs and noticed the lack of conditioning particularly on the climbs where I am normally relatively strong. Trail very muddy in places and took anything remotely technical very gingerly. Was hoping to get by on this with a road shoe with a lot of shock absorption but think I need something with a bit more grip if conditions persists. Body held out a lot better than Donadea , and never noticed the progressive deterioration in the ankle that was so evident in that long run.
Followed by a quick pint and an afternoon of watching sport in front of the box where all the good guys managed to lose.


Sunday
Suffering badly from DOMs after yesterday, but no injuries, and I think that was a good exercise which will pay dividends in two weeks time. Ankle a bit too sore for a recovery run, so instead did some stretching and cross-training in the gym.

Headed down to Amphibian King to try and get the Roclite 315 a half size smaller than the one I have; I like the shoe but my size of 8 is too roomy in it, and I want a snug fit to protect the ankle. They were out of stock so settled instead for a Mizuno Cabrakan which has less grip but might do the job. Will fit at least one more hilly run in the next few days to try it out.

liamo123

Hi Mithril... hope u dont mind but Ive been snooping through ur training log and read ur excellent report on the Conn Ultra 2010.... ( the more of these reports I read the more Im learning but the more nervous I get!! ).... Viper Boost is my drink of choice atm and will b using it while running Conn... Just wondering are Viper Bars still ur food of choice while competing.. Have never eaten " Powerbars " before, I just rely on Banana's but I get the impression I need to eat something more substantial while running in Conn...

Tks Liam

mithril

Monday
Summary 10 KM in 48:27(4:49 pace) on grass around Carysfort Park .
Tied to the computer until midnight with a work problem but managed to slip away briefly for an aerobic run with the new trail runners around the park.

Seemed to be coming back to my old form since this took a lot less out of me than previous runs at the same distance. Could have brought a lap down to MP except for the trees that the council have planted randomly around the park. Did not want to run into these at speed in the dark. Quite like the shoes after this brief trial. i will give them a stiffer test on Thursday.

Liam, I will respond to you tomorrow.

mithril

liamo123 wrote: »

Hi Mithril... hope u dont mind but Ive been snooping through ur training log and read ur excellent report on the Conn Ultra 2010.... ( the more of these reports I read the more Im learning but the more nervous I get!! ).... Viper Boost is my drink of choice atm and will b using it while running Conn... Just wondering are Viper Bars still ur food of choice while competing.. Have never eaten " Powerbars " before, I just rely on Banana's but I get the impression I need to eat something more substantial while running in Conn...

Tks Liam

Yes,
I would suck Clif Electroltye Bloks and then take 2 viper bars as well.
I have a pretty strong stomach and I never had any issues with an upset digestive system caused by running. Others are not so lucky.

Bananas are a good choice as well. I would not obsess over it. There is no right answer and I think race day nutrition is less important for ultras than for marathon running where you need to get energy into your system fairly quickly. Quantity of calories is more important than quality. You may find your appetite going near the end of a long run and anything you can get down you near the end will do you good. Among the elite ultra runners John O'Regan sticks strictly to sport nutrition products while Thomas Maguire had a big Mac and fries during the Belfast 24 hour. In the Dingle Ultra,I saw RaccoonQueen reviving after a packet of crisps - maybe due to the salt content - when she would not look at any of the healthy stuff I was carrying.

liamo123

Tks Mithril for the info....much obliged

mithril

Tuesday
Summary 16.77KM in 1:30 (5:24 pace) on 3 Rock Mountain.

Managed to get out of work at 4:55 (an extra 5 minutes makes a huge difference in Sandyford Industrial State) and headed for a run up 3 Rock Mountain.

Parked in Taylor's Pub, and then up the Wicklow Way to top of 3 Rock , continued over to the other side until the edge of the forest, which has a new waymarked sign, that I assume is for the new DMI route. Then retraced my steps.

Running on road still hurts the ankle but bio-mechanics are much better now and the extra core stability meant maintaining my planned pace took a lot less out of me. Running quite well up-hill but not able to power downhills as I would like. I knocked together a couple of 3:40 KMs on the the WW trail a couple of years ago, and if you are loooking for a competitive time, you need to be able to manage some fast descents to compensate for the climbs.

mithril

Wednesday
Summary 8 KM in 45:32 (5:41 pace) recovery on grass around around Carysfort Park

mithril

Thursday
Summary 18 KM in 1:46:13 (5:54 pace) along the Wicklow Way from Ballinstoe Car Park, up Djouce, down to the Dargle and back again.

Finished the remaining section of the Wicklow Way Ultra recce we did not get as far as on on Saturday, this time doing the Ballinstoe leg back to the Dargle in much nicer conditions.

Ground a lot less slippy today, and my new trail runners helped as well, so was able to move a good bit faster than Saturday without risking a fall.

Nice fit to runners and ideal for a shorter race but conscious that top of my foot was starting to expand and push against the shoe by the end. Might get serious blisters when I am running for 5 hours plus.

Brought no water with me, and never felt thirsty, but drank to my fill when back at the car and emptied a two litre container so might be in trouble without a secure supply. Don't want to rely on IMRA helpers having a stock at Crone. Maybe cache some on route whcih I understand is permitted provided you tidy up afterwards.

mithril

Friday
Summary 5 KM in 27:30 (5:30 pace) recovery session on grass around Carysfort Park.


Left calf muscle felt very tight so cut this session short early as a precaution. Felt very fresh otherwise but ankle felt unstable for the brief period I went off grass onto concrete. Not quite ready for road running yet but slow running on trails seems to be doing me good.

mithril

Saturday
Summary 23.96 KM in 2:22:33 (5:57 pace) in the Dublin Hills.

Parked outside Pine Forest and headed up along the DMI route to the cairn at top of Cruagh at what I felt was a good pace but disappointed when watch revealed it to be only 6KM/Minute. Right calf very tight even though I had spent a good bit of time on it yesterday, so stretched again at the cairn which did seem to generate an improvement. Decided then that this needed to be an easy time on the feet run. Headed over the hill, initially up Glendoo, and then retraced my path out to the military road and headed up Kippure along the bog road until it petered out. This was built during the war for Dubliners to harvest turf and keep their house warm with no coal being imported from England. Headed down the steep road to bottom of Glenasmole which would be a lovely spot except it was full of litter. Then over Cruagh again back to the car.

Decent run with slow pace due more to rough ground rather than hills. managed the long climb out of Glenasmole well. Tried out the Montrail Continental which are intermediate between a running shoe and hiking boot. These which saved my ankles on a few occasions on the rough ground, but are too heavy to use next week in the race.

mithril

Sunday
Summary 8 KM in 58:09 (7:16 pace) recovery run along the coast road between Dalkey and Killiney with a detour up Killiney Hill to the obelisk.

Decided to take advantage of the lovely mild weather for an easy run along the coast. Found the hard surface was impacting the ankle a little and slowed the pace right down as a precaution. Lovely views over the bay from the top of the hill and fancied I could see the Welsh mountains but I think the elevation is a bit low for this - maybe some low clouds over them instead.
Afterwards, not quite the same feel of muscle relaxation I typically get from a recovery run. I think it is most effective when run on grass and even though most people on boards run them way too fast, this pace was at the other extreme.

mithril

Monday
Summary 10 KM in 42:37 (4:15 pace) around U.C.D. pitch.

Another milestone on the road to recovery reached with a comfortable marathon pace run on grass. Something seems to have clicked back into place after the 20 mile run in the hills last Saturday, since ever since I am finding it a lot easier to sustain a fastish pace.

Congratulations to my work colleague, Mark Christie, who won the MSB 5k in in a provisional time of 14:17 yesterday. Mark is heading over to the U.S shortly to run in a few races with the goal of achieving a qualification time for the World Championships in Korea.

brownian

mithril wrote: »

Monday
Summary 10 KM in 42:37 (4:15 pace) around U.C.D. pitch.

Another milestone on the road to recovery reached with a comfortable marathon pace run on grass. Something seems to have clicked back into place after the 20 mile run in the hills last Saturday, since ever since I am finding it a lot easier to sustain a fastish pace.

That's solid running - you're picking up the pace all right!

mithril

Tuesday
Summary 6.25 KM in 35:17(5:39 pace) recovery run around Sandyford.

Planned a core strengthening session in the gym but seem to have picked some type of strain in the side from yesterday's run which was being aggravated on some of the stretches so I abandoned it.
Streange place to pick up an injury from a run. I was doing fairly tight loops on a pitch which might have put some pressure on core muscles I would not generally use.

Managed a recovery run comfortably enough so maybe not an issue for Saturday. Treating it with a tube of Deep Heat I picked up a few years ago and never got around to using. Nearly all my injuries are acute and ice is generally a better therapy for them.

Woundedknee.

mithril wrote: »

Bananas are a good choice as well. I would not obsess over it. There is no right answer and I think race day nutrition is less important for ultras than for marathon running where you need to get energy into your system fairly quickly. Quantity of calories is more important than quality. You may find your appetite going near the end of a long run and anything you can get down you near the end will do you good. Among the elite ultra runners John O'Regan sticks strictly to sport nutrition products while Thomas Maguire had a big Mac and fries during the Belfast 24 hour. In the Dingle Ultra,I saw RaccoonQueen reviving after a packet of crisps - maybe due to the salt content - when she would not look at any of the healthy stuff I was carrying.

Hi Mithril, just to add something to the above. You are correct in saying that I stick strictly to sports nutrition products during ultra events and here's the reason why. Over the past few years I've worked out almost exactly what I need through trial and error and it's easy to regulate and monitor what you consume when taking a nutritionally balanced product that tells you on the label what it contains. Consuming too much can be worse than taking on too little.

mithril

Woundedknee. wrote: »

Hi Mithril, just to add something to the above. You are correct in saying that I stick strictly to sports nutrition products during ultra events and here's the reason why. Over the past few years I've worked out almost exactly what I need through trial and error and it's easy to regulate and monitor what you consume when taking a nutritionally balanced product that tells you on the label what it contains. Consuming too much can be worse than taking on too little.

Woundedknee, thanks for the advice which differs a bit from what I have given above based on my vast experience of 1 year of running ultras.

I guess the consequences of taking on more food than your body can tolerate could be very unpleasant. I never encountered an issue like that but I had a spare pair of shorts in my bag at the finishing line in Connemara just in case!

Woundedknee.

We're all different and as such all need to find what works for ourselves. For me I try to replenish rather than replace what I think I'm burning based on the intensity. The longer the race, the slower the pace and the less I consume. Fluid intake will be decided as I go but as a rule I would aim for approx 500ml per hour and then make adjustments based on temperature and toilet stops. You'd be surprised at how little I ate during the Spartathlon but I did eat often!

Aimman

mithril wrote: »

I guess the consequences of taking on more food than your body can tolerate could be very unpleasant. I never encountered an issue like that but I had a spare pair of shorts in my bag at the finishing line in Connemara just in case!

I never thought of that, I'll have to add it to my list, just to be on the safe side now, even if it hasnt happen before.

mithril

Managed to aggravate a minor strain I picked up running fast on Monday with core strengthening exercises on Tuesday. Four or 5 sit-ups did the damage.
Felt dreadful getting out of bed on Wednesday and needed to hold side for support.
Running in a straight line is fine but any twisting or turning motion is a bit painful and it may deterioriate over the run.
Doing a total rest until Saturday and that should at least get me to the start line. Definite improvement in last 24 hours but I am also running out of time.

liamo123

mithril wrote: »

Managed to aggravate a minor strain I picked up running fast on Monday with core strengthening exercises on Tuesday. Four or 5 sit-ups did the damage.
Felt dreadful getting out of bed on Wednesday and needed to hold side for support.
Running in a straight line is fine but any twisting or turning motion is a bit painful and it may deterioriate over the run.
Doing a total rest until Saturday and that should at least get me to the start line. Definite improvement in last 24 hours but I am also running out of time.

Jez sorry to hear that Mithril.....Take it easy 4 the next couple of days and fingers crossed it continues improving....

mithril

Summary
51K approx. in 4:49:49 (5:41 pace).
9/56 finishers. Winning time 4:11:27

Preparation
The WW Ultra was the first of three goal races I had planned for this year (the others are the Mourne Marathon and Dingle Ultra). I had managed a good period of base training over the Christmas period, but then picked up a niggling injury in my left leg, which the physio identified as the glute muscles not firing properly and anchoring the pelvis, and manifested itself initially as an inflamed knee and then moved down to the ankle. Running volume was a lot less than I would have liked coming into this race; I had focussed on managing one long run a week but that tended to be a “hero” workout and caused a good deal of inflammation with days off to recover, and I was not able to manage consistent running during the week.A lot of core strengthening work in the gym finally paid dividends, and I started to run a lot better and without resulting inflammation about two weeks prior to the race. I managed to complete one solid 20 mile recce along some of the route with a few others who were also attempting it
I had picked a slight muscle tear in my side on Tuesday in the gym, but it was not directly impacting the running action and while still a bit sore, I was not overly concerned with it and on the day it was not an issue. I had however taken the remainder of the week off for rest and to give it a chance to heal.
I had carbo-loaded with pasta on Thursday-Friday and only had a light breakfast of cornflakes to top-up the glycogen stocks on Saturday morning.
I had decided to travel as light as possible, depositing two bottles of Lucozade Sport at the initial check point in Crone - approx quarter of the way along the route - and another bottle at the half-way point in Ballinastoe woods. In a small waist bag, I carried a Viper caffeine bar and a few jellies.
I just wore shorts and a t-shirt, which was a lot lighter than most others, but I found to be adequate on the day, if a little cold on top of Djouce.
The previous few weeks had brought warm sunny weather, so I had gone in the end with road shoes reasoning that I was not going to be bombing down rough ground very fast anyway in an Ultra, and the extra shock absorption in the shoes would help guard against injuries. I had got some very bad blisters in the Donadea 50K a few weeks previously, which had never fully healed, so I taped over the outside of my feet as a precaution, which worked really well on the day since I had no blisters during the race.

Stage 1. Foxes Pub to Crone Woods Checkpoint. (13 k)
It was clear from the number of cars in the car park that turnout would be bigger than normal. The check-in was the normal efficient IMRA operation and the 15 Euro entry fee must be some of the best value to be had in the country. We started promptly at 9:30 up the initial 2K of road leading to the trail. I tucked myself behind the leading group a few places behind Krusty Clown. We were running at nearly marathon pace for the initial bit on road, and you knew from the laboured breathing from some people that they were getting caught up in the excitement and running too fast (not a mistake I would make!). I thought I might stay with Krusty up until the top of the initial hill, but the effort in doing that was unsustainable, and by the time we got up to Prince Williams’s Seat he was 200 m ahead receding into the fog in the distance.
As planned, I took the granite blocks at the top of the hill carefully, but then I got caught up into a race on the fire trail with two others down to the checkpoint at Crone (I came last). Not something you should be doing during an Ultra, but it was exhilarating at the time, and provided my best memory of the day, and my fastest ever KM on the Garmin (3:31). We got down (quickly!) to Crone, I saw Enduro and a few others there giving encouragement, quickly found my Lucozade bottle, and rehydrated . I checked the time, 4:40 average pace, when I regularly do this section of trail in about 5:00 as a hard workout but I felt good and had a bit more time than I expected in the bank

Stage 2. Crone Woods to Ballinstoe Half Way point. (25K).
I knew the others I was alongside were running at a pace that was too fast for me, so I let them go ahead and made my way up the ascent to Djouce at my own speed, a steady fast jog, that I thought would be sustainable until the end . The mountain was clouded in fog which took quite a bit away from the experience. I could only see a few yards ahead of me, but knew the route well and was in no danger of getting lost, and kept wiping the mist from my glasses but it did not seem to make any difference. I passed the lead runner on the race already on the way back just on top of Djouce, and then made good progress over the boardwalk, and turned at off the Wicklow Way just after the J.B. Malone memorial, for the descent to the halfway point to Ballinstoe. The marshal told me I was in twelfth place at this point which was about what I expected. On the steep descent, I felt for the first time the left hip feeling sore, but you have many aches in a typical Ultra which come and go as the distance mounts and I was not particularly concerned. I passed the bulk of the runners ahead of me at this point on the way back and they were not as far ahead as I expected, so I felt a steady effort on the return leg might pick up a few places.The race started to go wrong for me at this point when I was unable to find my bottle of Lucozade at the halfway point. I wasted about a minute looking to see whether it was buried under a bag but could not see it or much else anywhere (I had a better idea why by the finish) and then settled for a cup of water before I started to head back on the return leg.
I had travelled very light and needed some fuel at this point and it robbed me of the momentum I had acquired as runners passed me while I was searching. It was never as easy thereafter

Stage 3. Ballinstoe Half Way point to Crone Woods. (38K).
I joined one of the runners wearing an Eagle A.C. top on the slog back from Ballinstoe towards the Lough Tay viewpoint, and when I told him what had happened he lent me a small water bottle I had and pointed out a small stream I could use to fill it. A few mouthfuls of water at that point made a big difference. He never got it back either since I was back at the pub before I thought to return it at the finish. You get that kind of behaviour constantly in Ultras - someone stopped to pull me out of a peat hag in Iceland - and it’s one of the reasons I prefer them to the more competitive road races where everyone including myself are so focussed on the finishing time. The climb out of Ballinstoe is a bit of a slog and does not make sense to have it other than the context of the WW Trail at the same day. I was concerned when the Eagle A.C. runner was walking it nearly as fast as I was able to run it, and realized that the power in the legs was going.I passed SJ taking photos and giving encouragement at the rock, but I was paying now for the excessively fast start and I was feeling miserable as I made poor progress up the boardwalk, the hip was hurting and was not moving fast enough to keep warm in the cold breeze. I reached the top of the hill, came off the boardwalk, started to relax as I anticipated the long downhill , and immediately tripped up and fell hard, face forward. My nose took the impact, but I was lucky. There were plenty of rocks nearby, but I had hit some packed earth instead, and escaped with just a cut finger. I picked myself up, found I had no real damage and made a careful descent to the Dargle river and walked the steep valley to the top of Crone. I had been looking forward to the steep descent to the Crone Wood check-point but the pain in the hip which had been present since the half-way point intensified and I had to take it very easy on the way down. At this point, I was in such pain I considered dropping out, and I was concerned about doing such damage that I would need another long lay-off to recover. I knew though I would have a reasonable time if I could make it over the finishing line and that it was only on steep ground that this was impacting. I was struggling on the flat as well, but the cause of this was different – lack of fitness and preparation as I had not managed the hilly , double LSRs at the week-end that are crucial in building up the strength that this event required.
This time I found my bottle of Lucozade without difficulty, downed half of it, and tried to convince myself I would soon be finished.

Stage 4. Crone Woods to Finish.(51k)
There was a nice flat section from Crone along the river up to Curtlestown but I kept getting overtaken by trail runners and I found it really frustrating how limited was the power I had in the legs to respond. I knew it was pointless trying to run the steep off-road section but even the forest trail was difficult to manage a reasonable pace on. There was an additional checkpoint on the return leg in the car park of Curtlestown and I took on some banana and more water which seemed to revive me. I managed to keep jogging most of the way up Prince William Seat which was no faster than most others were walking, but was better than I was managing earlier. I finished the Viper Bar, the caffeine and extra energy seemed to kick in, and I was shortly afterwards past the granite steps and able to run properly again. I was more cautious with the downhill than in Crone and kept it at 4:40 even though I could have pushed a bit harder if the hip was not so inflamed. I eventually got off the trail and burnt the reserves on the final small climb out of the valley. I managed to overtake a couple of the trail runners at this point which give me a lift , passed Rene who gave me some encouragement, and I knew I was genuinely on the home leg. I relaxed the body as much as possible for the final road section and found it pretty comfortable as I managed a steady sub 5 minute pace to the finish.
Beforehand I had given 5:15 as the target which correlated with the top 10 finishing time last year, but thought I might break 5 hours on the day. So a finish time of 4:49:49 was solid enough, but I was still disappointed by the way I struggled so much in the second half which is the first time I ever have come near “dying” in a long race. Normally, I tend towards steady and controlled pace to reach the target.
Krusty had finished a few minutes earlier was looking in a lot better shape than the same time last year in Connemara. I rashly declined the offer of a lift in his car back to the pub, and then found that once I had stopped and the body had stiffened up, I could barely walk. In a pub full of the walking wounded, my limp was far worse than anyone else. It seems to be responding well though to Ibuprofen and ice, so I don’t think there is any real harm done. A bigger concern though was that my vision was very blurred after the race, I could not read the newspaper I had bought, and I don’t think I would have driven home if I had realized how bad it was at the time. The race finished for me at about 3 and it took another six hours before I could see normally again. I have noticed the effect previously, but this was a lot worse on previous occasions, and something I need to get to the root of.

brownian

Great report - sounds like you had an epic day! Fair play on the time too.