Gaelforce West 21/8/10

r0nanf

It's funny it seems like every week I have a new decision dilemma! This week it's all about pedals/footwear! I'm definitely doing the whole thing in trail shoes, can't be bothered lugging around alternative footwear and changing and whatever. However trails shoes in toe clips are difficult and dangerous, so the clips have to be loose for safety methinks - therefore negating their use altogether. So should I just go for flat pedals then?

Mr Freeze

I wore trail shoes and used toe clips in WAR & Connemara without any issues, try it for a while if you haven't already and get used to them, should be fine. I will be doing the same in GF, carrying shoes isn't an option IMO.

Wonkagirl

CKWPORT wrote: »

Racers will flat bars look class I think,

I agree- it was my main requirement to be honest! i know that's a bit silly, but i just love the look of the flat bars.. i went into cyclesurgery and said to your man ''so i'm looking for a racer, it has to have flat bars and it has to be BLUE!'' i'm such a girl.

as for the shoe dilemma- trail shoes all the way- carrying/chaging shoes is a pain in the arse

ThisRegard

Trail shoes all the way for me too, my clips are in the post at the moment, you can get strapless ones which what I got. I'll see how I get on with them first before deciding on straps.

gmackk

Here goes. 7 weeks tomorrow till GFW. Can only run 2 miles @ the mo, and haven't got my bike yet. I've obviously left it too late to be able to justify my entrance fee, so I'm just going to go for broke. Its gonna be a case of mind over matter!

Wonkagirl

gmackk wrote: »

Here goes. 7 weeks tomorrow till GFW. Can only run 2 miles @ the mo, and haven't got my bike yet. I've obviously left it too late to be able to justify my entrance fee, so I'm just going to go for broke. Its gonna be a case of mind over matter!

if it's any consolation i only did 5 weeks training last yr for gaelforce- as i broke my elbow in may.. and i ended up finishing in 6 hrs 17 mins which aint too bad! but, for the 5 weeks, i did a lot of training- 15 hrs a week anyway.. spin classes, running, long cycles, mountain climbing, u name it/ was funemployed at the time!

just concentrate on increasing your run distance, you coudl do from 2miles to 10km easily in 7 weeks

Vitamin C

CKWPORT wrote: »

Definitely bring bug spray for out in Killary, always get ate alive out there with midges!!!!

We were stopped out there for 2 minutes a few weeks ago, just grabbing the bikes outta the van, it was torture, scratching the legs then for ages on the way from Killary to westport.

Jesus I'm getting itchy even thinking about that. I'll be packing the jungle formula so!

ThisRegard

Well Wonkagirl, how did you get on with the IRMA race the weekend, survive it o k ?

Wonkagirl

ThisRegard wrote: »

Well Wonkagirl, how did you get on with the IRMA race the weekend, survive it o k ?

chickened out.. raging. went to bootcamp instead and did a cycle after, so i shouldnt beat myself up too much i suppose. a category '8' race was probably a stupid one to start off on anyway!

how did everyone elses training go this weekend? bloody windy out there today!

yop

Wonkagirl wrote: »

chickened out.. raging. went to bootcamp instead and did a cycle after, so i shouldnt beat myself up too much i suppose. a category '8' race was probably a stupid one to start off on anyway!

how did everyone elses training go this weekend? bloody windy out there today!

It was not pleasant, rain and high winds was hell on the roads. But least the body feels "better" for it lol. Very few cyclists out this morning around Westport/Castlebar

Mr Freeze

Wonkagirl wrote: »

how did everyone elses training go this weekend? bloody windy out there today!

Crap, have a damn cold now I can't shake.

yop wrote: »

It was not pleasant, rain and high winds was hell on the roads. But least the body feels "better" for it lol. Very few cyclists out this morning around Westport/Castlebar

Great training though, at least you were out.

Chancing the reek tomorrow evening to fup, cold and damn knee injury be damned. Weather permitting, tis brutal here

helimachoptor

Did some serious mileage at the weekend with a friend and his friend. Dun Laoghaire- Bray- Roundwood- Laragh - Sallygap and then back home.

Really enjoyable spin, but i need to get used to eating as i cycle as coming into Laragh i was starting to feel pretty weak. Had planned to do some running around Glendaough also but gave it a miss. Enjoyed the hill, i like just getting the head down and ploughing away!!

Slept like a baby saturday night

Seres

went to final GF training weekend , :eek: , seriously unprepared , from training to gear to nutrition

Mr Freeze

Seres wrote: »

went to final GF training weekend , :eek: , seriously unprepared , from training to gear to nutrition

How are you unprepared, fitness wise, are you a bit behind?

I was way behind what I should have been last year, never did any GF training weekends tho, if its your first, just aim to finish.

Any good tips form the weekend anyways, especially nutrition?

ThisRegard

CKWPORT wrote: »

Any good tips form the weekend anyways, especially nutrition?

Yip, spill the beans Seres !

@Wonkagirl, at least you got something done anyway. I was seriously knackered all week last week so barely managed a run on Saturday, skipped Thursday and Friday altogether.

Bought myself a small tub of the Powerbar Recovery powder, makes quite a tasty chocolate drink when mixed with milk. I'll see how I feel tomorrow after taking it this evening after my brick session.

Seres

CKWPORT wrote: »

How are you unprepared, fitness wise, are you a bit behind?

I was way behind what I should have been last year, never did any GF training weekends tho, if its your first, just aim to finish.

Any good tips form the weekend anyways, especially nutrition?

fitness is fine but just thought my road running would translate better to hiking etc , found the kayaking hard too

good tips

1. get a proper adventure race bag , one with a bladder
2. dont usre road runners like asics get proper trail runners
3. dont carry too much liquid on bag , try and carry two on bike
4. make sure you get proper tyres for your bike if its a road bike, gaitterskins or armadilos
5. take gels or quick energy boasters before a difficult part of race but these only last bout 15min so make sure to take slower release energy foods as well thru out
6. test out the gear you will wear on the day sufficently
7. wear cycle gloves up croagh patrick can be usefull for grippin rocks on the way down
8. obviously try different foods before the race also, ride shots good alternative to gels if you cant keep them down and not as heavy to carry as isotonic drinks
9. have bottle with electrolye mix along with water bottle to replace salts
10. recommends eatin alot of protein rich foods bout 5 days before race and then carb up from then, with stuff your normally use to
11. use pedals with straps not cleats cause then you have to carry them round , recommended good straps for bike , can get in chain reactions, can post link once i fnd a link to them
12. also said that you dont really gain muchtime hiking up fast or running up the steep bits and jogging up can expend more energy ?!
13. if you are laying up make sure to put on thin layers and strip them off as you want

cant think of anything else at moment , you probably know alot of that info i have posted already

Seres

ThisRegard wrote: »

Yip, spill the beans Seres !

@Wonkagirl, at least you got something done anyway. I was seriously knackered all week last week so barely managed a run on Saturday, skipped Thursday and Friday altogether.

Bought myself a small tub of the Powerbar Recovery powder, makes quite a tasty chocolate drink when mixed with milk. I'll see how I feel tomorrow after taking it this evening after my brick session.

he recommends in order to optimise benefit of recovery formulas , you should take them within 20min of workout.

also while i of think of it , have a good carb meal ev before race as it will be hard trying to put food into yourself at 5 in the morning , advice coming from winner of connemara adventure challenge

yop

Seres wrote: »

fitness is fine but just thought my road running would translate better to hiking etc , found the kayaking hard too

good tips

1. get a proper adventure race bag , one with a bladder
   Very good advice
2. dont usre road runners like asics get proper trail runners
   Fair enough they help, but a large % of people will survive with runners without having to fork out 80+ euro on trail shoes
3. dont carry too much liquid on bag , try and carry two on bike
   I have 3 with me last year!!! Some fool I was
4. make sure you get proper tyres for your bike if its a road bike, gaitterskins or armadilos
   Hard one to call on that, at this stage I know 10+ who had done the CP trail on standard tires without as issue, its common sense too a lot of the time
5. take gels or quick energy boasters before a difficult part of race but these only last bout 15min so make sure to take slower release energy foods as well thru out
6. test out the gear you will wear on the day sufficently
7. wear cycle gloves up croagh patrick can be usefull for grippin rocks on the way down
   Very good advice, never thought of that!
8. obviously try different foods before the race also, ride shots good alternative to gels if you cant keep them down and not as heavy to carry as isotonic drinks
9. have bottle with electrolye mix along with water bottle to replace salts
   Or put a few pinches of salt into your liquid bottles
10. recommends eatin alot of protein rich foods bout 5 days before race and then carb up from then, with stuff your normally use to
11. use pedals with straps not cleats cause then you have to carry them round , recommended good straps for bike , can get in chain reactions, can post link once i fnd a link to them
    What I spotted a good few doing last year was using bungee cords and strapping the shoes onto the bar, worked out well for them. Since changing from straps to cleats I have noticed a massive difference in power on the bike and the total reduction of leg cramps
12. also said that you dont really gain muchtime hiking up fast or running up the steep bits and jogging up can expend more energy ?!
    I tried that with my brother in law there a few months back on a hill, in fairness what happened was he was MAYBE 1 - 1.5 mins behind me on the way up as he hiked and I jogged, but with his extra energy he whipped 1/2 of the time back on the decent.
13. if you are laying up make sure to put on thin layers and strip them off as you want

cant think of anything else at moment , you probably know alot of that info i have posted already

Thanks for all of that, very helpful.
I have added my own comments on the lines above. I am not trying to be smart with any of my own commnets

Seres

yop wrote: »

Thanks for all of that, very helpful.
I have added my own comments on the lines above. I am not trying to be smart with any of my own commnets

fair enough , feedback is paramount on this thread , good points re adding pinch of salt , those mixes can be expensive , also id be interested to see how exactly the bungee cord works , where exactly was it strapped on ?

nerraw1111

The gloves is a good tip.

I put a pair of lowe alpine on last year and I reckon i gained a few minutes between hauling myself up through the heather and then on the descent by barreling through the heather and holding on for dear life!

But not sure if that'll apply this year with the course change.

I left all my fluids on the bike last year. There was a tap at the kayak transition so at most you'll only need a small bottle starting and refill it at the tap for the remaining 5kms if you need to.

Seres

nerraw1111 wrote: »

The gloves is a good tip.

I put a pair of lowe alpine on last year and I reckon i gained a few minutes between hauling myself up through the heather and then on the descent by barreling through the heather and holding on for dear life!

But not sure if that'll apply this year with the course change.

I left all my fluids on the bike last year. There was a tap at the kayak transition so at most you'll only need a small bottle starting and refill it at the tap for the remaining 5kms if you need to.

remember him sayin alright bout the tap , but couldnt remember where exactly he said , thanks for that , so did you just bring one smally bottle of water at start , refilled and the rest was on the bike ?
how did you manage for food ? did you go for an isotonic drinks ?

yop

Seres wrote: »

fair enough , feedback is paramount on this thread , good points re adding pinch of salt , those mixes can be expensive , also id be interested to see how exactly the bungee cord works , where exactly was it strapped on ?

I have used the water with pinch of salt and mi-wadi on a few weekly spins and I have not tired too much (considering they cud be up to 70km spins you will get a tired anyway lol)
I suffered massively with cramps throughout Gaelforce and Achill and then initially when I was on the Sunday spins, but since I have started the pinch of salt mix this has worked out great.

They just strapped the runners to the bar of the bike, wrapping the cord around them. Kept them to the very front so as not to be catching them with ur legs.

The shoes were left on the bike then before the bike was left off, also left on the bike at CP.

Mr Freeze

yop wrote: »

Thanks for all of that, very helpful.
I have added my own comments on the lines above. I am not trying to be smart with any of my own commnets

Would agree with most of that Yop added.

But as for strapping the trail shoes or runners on the bike while cycling, I dunno, a recipe for disaster that sounds to me. I heard in the Connemara Adventure Race, some lad had them strapped to his bag and he lost them during the cycle. Not worth the risk.

Runners should be fine for it, the only place the trail shoes give an advantage really is on the reek, there is only one hill really on the 1st run, and most people end up walking that anyways.

I have yet to cycle the new off road route to the reek on the racer, I am due new tires anyways, but will probably get the same ones again, there is no such thing as puncture proof, they just want ya to fork out nearly 30 quid for armidillos and gaterskins. Any tire with Kevlar is as good as them.

Seres

yop wrote: »

I have used the water with pinch of salt and mi-wadi on a few weekly spins and I have not tired too much (considering they cud be up to 70km spins you will get a tired anyway lol)
I suffered massively with cramps throughout Gaelforce and Achill and then initially when I was on the Sunday spins, but since I have started the pinch of salt mix this has worked out great.



They just strapped the runners to the bar of the bike, wrapping the cord around them. Kept them to the very front so as not to be catching them with ur legs.

The shoes were left on the bike then before the bike was left off, also left on the bike at CP.

take it they werent wearing socks ?

nerraw1111

I didn't prepare that well but I started off with a bottle of Lucozade sport with I sipped on from the start. At the kayak section, I topped it up with the water from the tap.

The rest of my fluids, two bottles were left on the bike.

I took some power gels through the day, one at the bike transition and another on the bike followed by another before Craogh Patrick. I had a Mars bar too at some point which was heaven and a banana.

There were free Lucozade sport and figrolls at the start of CP which I took. But believe organisers ran out of both fairly quickly.

That was it. I felt fine throughout. I think I had 3 gels to spare.

Seres

nerraw1111 wrote: »

I didn't prepare that well but I started off with a bottle of Lucozade sport with I sipped on from the start. At the kayak section, I topped it up with the water from the tap.

The rest of my fluids, two bottles were left on the bike.

I took some power gels through the day, one at the bike transition and another on the bike followed by another before Craogh Patrick. I had a Mars bar too at some point which was heaven and a banana.

There were free Lucozade sport and figrolls at the start of CP which I took. But believe organisers ran out of both fairly quickly.

That was it. I felt fine throughout. I think I had 3 gels to spare.

you make it sound so uncomplicated , think will try and keep it basic also

Trotter

Ive still got the jitters. I've put almost 150k on the bike in the past 2 weeks or so and Im getting my running sorted so I can comfortably run 12k before the end of this month.

I still feel very nervous that the course will be beyond my ability/fitness. Is it the kind of course that allows for people who's aim is to finish injury free, with a smile on their face having made it through to the line before the course closes?! For me this is about getting through the course in one go and in one piece. Next year I'll think about times.

I hope Im not kidding myself

nerraw1111

I wore normal Asics road shoes last year and they were fine.

However, I'd definitely go for trail runners if possible as there's a few slippery sections which could be an issue if the weather is bad.

If you're short on cash, don't worry about it, you'll get away with it. You can do the race quite cheapily without the technical gear so if you don't have it, maybe wait till after GF to see whether it's something you want to invest in.

I wore normal road running clothes and a backpack that barely fits Ryanair's hand luggage rules.

Seres

nerraw1111 wrote: »

I wore normal Asics road shoes last year and they were fine.

However, I'd definitely go for trail runners if possible as there's a few slippery sections which could be an issue if the weather is bad.

If you're short on cash, don't worry about it, you'll get away with it. You can do the race quite cheapily without the technical gear so if you don't have it, maybe wait till after GF to see whether it's something you want to invest in.

I wore normal road running clothes and a backpack that barely fits Ryanair's hand luggage rules.

agree totally with ya , im not really a gear before preformance person , feel i have to earn it and by the time i get it i am really lookin forward to it , will go for budget gear this time round and see how it go , at the end of the day , startin off great gear as oppose to alright gear isnt goin to make a massive difference .

yop

Seres wrote: »

agree totally with ya , im not really a gear before preformance person , feel i have to earn it and by the time i get it i am really lookin forward to it , will go for budget gear this time round and see how it go , at the end of the day , startin off great gear as oppose to alright gear isnt goin to make a massive difference .

Aldi/Lidl is your friend lol Near all my gear is from there.