Gaelforce West 21/8/10

Wonkagirl

Trotter wrote: »

Has anyone bought any of the clothing from the Gaelforce site? Just wondering if the sizing is average or big/small etc. Thanks!

massive. i'm a ladies 8-10 and got a 'small' in one of the ladies snugs at connemara adventure challenge, is like a TENT on me. dunno why i bought it, it was the spur of the moment and wanting to wear it around the following week thinking i was pure cool:rolleyes:

if youre normally a male LARGE, i'd go for medium.. but if you email the crew they'll sort you out- they're very helpful.

yop

Its very hard to say what you will get out of your tires. I have over 1200 now on mine and they are cut in a few places so its time to change.

But they say that the Continental 4000's will get you up to 10,000 km!!!!

The GF tops from the Connemara challenge were tight enough, even for large!

Mr Freeze

1200km.....thats nothing....those tyres aint even broken in.

yop

CKWPORT wrote: »

1200km.....thats nothing....those tyres aint even broken in.

They are cut not worn

watergal

CKWPORT wrote: »

I have a 10 mile road race 2 weeks before GF, so I will be doing that and taking it really slow now....and thats the last run before GF.

I nearly broke down on the reek too, it was hell....toughest thing I ever did, climbing that with 50k behind me.

Is that the 10 miler in Tulfurris on 7th Aug ? I signed up for that the other night. Am hoping there will be a large enough crowd at it, so I can melt in !

Did the jog in the bog a couple of weeks ago, to give me an idea of what I was letting myself in for. It was really well organised and I felt fine after it. Saying that, the amount of running in it was minimal compared to G.F., but running is my favourite part of the whole thing, so am hoping that I'll be ok for G.F.

Going to do a 2 hr run tomorrow in the pheonix park. Then come home and do a 1.5 - 2 hr gentle cycle.
Didn't get out today at all due to work ...
Hope I'll be ok on my road bike with the plain tyres .. nothing fancy. Haven't managed to puncture them yet, so fingers crossed as it's not something I want to face when my body is feeling like a massive lump of lead !!

Mr Freeze

Ya Watergal, Tulfurris 10 is the 10 miler I am signed up for. No idea how many will be running it? Hopefully a good few 100 so I can hide easily too.

Hope to be fit, i will just plodding through slowly it I'd say...Don't want to get injured again..

Have to chance a run today to see if the shins are ok.

Wonkagirl

there's another 1 for you to hide amongst now anyway guys as i've just registered for the tulfarris10, tks for the heads up!

can only manage about 8-10km at the moment, so will have to increase the distance over the coming weeks.. really need to get out running 4 times a week, at least one of them to incorporate hills

if it takes your fancy we might bring the aul bikes and go for a 1 hour spin after the race finishes?? some nice rolling hills out that direction

jesus the pressure's on now, feel like i'm way behind where i should be.

Mr Freeze

Well in terms of running I am way behind again this year. Damn shin splints...

If I can run this evening with no pain after 2 weeks rest, then I will go to a local 10km road run on Saturday.

At least my cycling is way ahead of last year.

I wont be chancing the reek again before GF, as it made a mess of my shins 2 weeks ago...Hopefully Tulfarris won't injury me further, I just plan to run that at my ease.

Wonkagirl

fingers crossed for the shins CK.. bloody awful niggling thing, shin splints. 2 weeks rest shouldve sorted you out though.

I'll be running tulfarris at my ease too- if i make it to the end without walking for a minute or 2 i'll be well chuffed- havent ever run more than 10km before. Gonna just increase by 10% each week for next 3 weeks, and hope for the best on the day, but wont be pushing it- not with gaelforce so soon after, would be devastated to miss out on that because of injury

Mr Freeze

Cheers Wonkagirl! The shins better hold up!!

Between physio and gear....this gaelforce is swallowing a lot of my wages, my own choice to do it tho! :rolleyes:

Most I have ran is 12k...kinda ran 16 once, but that was recon on the GF run last year and we went wrong, lots of stopping and checking maps.

Wonkagirl

CKWPORT wrote: »

Cheers Wonkagirl! The shins better hold up!!

Between physio and gear....this gaelforce is swallowing a lot of my wages, my own choice to do it tho! :rolleyes:

Most I have ran is 12k...kinda ran 16 once, but that was recon on the GF run last year and we went wrong, lots of stopping and checking maps.

yeah i did the 16km in gaelforce last yr, but sure jesus with all the hills/kayak interchange etc., i stopped loads of times.. also, the post kayak 4km run is pretty hellish- although flat, your legs are like lead having been standing around at the kayak interchange/sitting in teh kayak... anybody know what you can do to stop that? move around more while waiting for a kayak?? stretch??

Mr Freeze

Don't stop for long at the Kayak transition....

I got straight into the kayak in connemara adventure race, no rest...and no lead legs...I see some people were 40mins there.

This year in GF, I plan to get to the kayak, down a banana or powerbar, and straight into kayak queue...

watergal

Wonkagirl wrote: »

yeah i did the 16km in gaelforce last yr, but sure jesus with all the hills/kayak interchange etc., i stopped loads of times.. also, the post kayak 4km run is pretty hellish- although flat, your legs are like lead having been standing around at the kayak interchange/sitting in teh kayak... anybody know what you can do to stop that? move around more while waiting for a kayak?? stretch??

Hi Wonkagirl,

keep moving ( even on the spot) - the legs get like lead when the muscles start going cold. I'd try and swallow down a banana in the queue for the kayak if possible ( haven't done GF before so don't know the story about queues for the kayaks), but definitely keep moving to stop the legs getting stiff.

Glad to see that I won't be the only one plodding along in the 10 miler.

There's a duathalon in Donadea this Sat morning (24th). I thought it would be all club-level, but I'm glad to see that they have a serious runners start and a runner/jogger start. Thought I was going to be lapped after 5 mins, but this looks a bit more promising !

Anyone doing this duathalon ?
Anyone know a cure for all this damn rain ? Got absolutely saturated yesterday and am sneezing like a crazy person since last week. Hoping it doesn't develop into a nasty cold..

Wonkagirl

i got straight into the queue last yr but was still 16 mins waiting.. i'll know this yr to keep moving around. was only 8 mins at connemara which was the job, legs werent half as bad the far side then- althoguh they were still quite bad, but the kayaking was much longer for connemara, tis only about an 8 min crossing for GF

excited now!

Wonkagirl

watergal wrote: »

Anyone know a cure for all this damn rain ? Got absolutely saturated yesterday and am sneezing like a crazy person since last week. Hoping it doesn't develop into a nasty cold..

a roof? over the whole damn country!

4cast bad for the week, but looking better for the wend thank god..

go to a chemist and get some VitC watergal.. you should be fine. most colds are bacteria driven, as opposed to from a good soaking.. take 2 vitc tablets a day (recommended is 1, but you need 10 to overdose, so 2 is grand!). I'm a great vitc taker (and also eat a lot of kiwis, a great source) and never get colds. ever!

will defo keep moving at kayak interchange this yr.. banana and gel consumed as well.

helimachoptor

Are you guys going to wear bib shorts throughout the event?

What would you recommend?

watergal

if it takes your fancy we might bring the aul bikes and go for a 1 hour spin after the race finishes?? some nice rolling hills out that direction

jesus the pressure's on now, feel like i'm way behind where i should be.[/QUOTE]


that might be a good plan. Haven't been cycling on any hills ( I know, I know ...but there's none on my loop and I'm not a good cyclist -just started a couple of months ago.) So I just need to decide if I want to get the shock of hills during GF or before it !!
( I 'm running some small hills , but haven't ventured to one on the bike yet- unless you count those small hills in the pheonix park as hills ??)

Wonkagirl

ah there are some decent hills in phoenix park, dont beat yourself up! the best thing about phoenix park is the lack of traffic lights- can be a real dose when you're in the zone on the bike, and then you come across a red light..

there is one particularly vicious steep hill in GF- but sure look, if you have to walk it then so be it. newtownpark ave is a lovely long hill, 2.5km in total i think, but not particularly steep really. as long as you're out of breath a bit, then you're quids in, that's the way i look at it.

Wonkagirl

helimachoptor wrote: »

Are you guys going to wear bib shorts throughout the event?

What would you recommend?

anything goes for GF. last yr i saw people wearing full length track suit pants (not to be recommended), the guys in fancy dress, some in bib shorts, some in regular cycling shorts, etc etc..

whatever youre used to, and whatever you're comfortable in.

i'll be wearing 3/4 length nike fit pants, tech top and light rain jacket in the bag.. worked for me last yr. was a bit cold on CP, but it keeps you moving! kept the light rain jacket on for duration last yr- but i'm a cold creature..

helimachoptor

Cheers, i'm a bit unsure, would prefer shorts with not as much padding but we'll see

ThisRegard

helimachoptor wrote: »

Are you guys going to wear bib shorts throughout the event?

What would you recommend?

I have a couple of pairs of MTB baggy shorts and each one basically has an inner pair of cycling shorts with a chamois. In similar events I wore the inserts under a regular pair of running shorts and that has worked well for me so far. I was thinking about tri shorts but I'll stick with what I know, plus I've seen a few lads you don't want to see in tight anything, never mind tight lycra shorts !

These are what I have, I take the interior out and wear them under the shorts.
http://www.specialized.com/gb/en/bc/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=49907&menuItemId=10826&eid=5004

Wonkagirl wrote: »

but it keeps you moving! kept the light rain jacket on for duration last yr- but i'm a cold creature..

I find the rain jacket invaluable for the kayak, firstly you get cooler than what you are when running, and secondly, you inevitably get soaked anyway.

r0nanf

helimachoptor wrote: »

Are you guys going to wear bib shorts throughout the event?

What would you recommend?

Tri shorts with long running shorts over to preserve my modesty.... 32km is a fair tenderizer on a road bike without padding

Wonkagirl

r0nanf wrote: »

Tri shorts with long running shorts over to preserve my modesty.... 32km is a fair tenderizer on a road bike without padding

gel saddle?? would be lost without mine.. definitely wouldnt fancy anything >20km sans the gel saddle, and at least you dont have to lug that on your arse while you run:D

watergal

Wonkagirl wrote: »

gel saddle?? would be lost without mine.. definitely wouldnt fancy anything >20km sans the gel saddle, and at least you dont have to lug that on your arse while you run:D

I actually took the saddle from my b.friends mountain bike as the saddle I got with my road bike, wouldn't support a stick-insects ass...
Have been fine ever since. Also I've been using tri-shorts and have found them fine. I used them in the last AR I did which had approx 44km cycling (I think) and around 8k of running. I didn't even notice the difference between them and normal shorts. They feel rather padded at the start, but you just forget about them to be honest as it's not a mountain of nappy padding ...just a small bit !

As for the rolling hills around Tulfurris -I came across some of them during the last AR that I did there ... only I had another name in mind for them other than rolling ..a name that shouldn't be printed ...!! To say I was out of breath would be an understatement...- think I spent most of my time standing up on the bike than sitting in the saddle !!

madson

Don't post on here but read most days..

The Tulfarris 10mile looks good, I cycle part of route - between Baltyboys and Slievecorragh, a couple of hills between the then. The worst of it between the 4k and 5k markers on the map they posted.

If you plan on doing a cycle afterwards there are some good hills and rolling roads around that area, its where I do most of my cycling training.

If I wasn't doing the phoniex park duathlon on the 4th and the Hellfire duathlon on the 11th I'd do it myself.

On a different note... Last year I did Gaelforce is a normal pair of runners and had no problems but I'm considering getting a pair of Saloman Speed Cross as I'm doing more events now, anybody have them and will they make much of a difference?

snailsong

CKWPORT wrote: »

Well in terms of running I am way behind again this year. Damn shin splints...

If I can run this evening with no pain after 2 weeks rest, then I will go to a local 10km road run on Saturday.

.

I take it you mean the Balla 10k? I'll try that if the knee holds up. A bit sore after the weekend so its 50/50. Will go very slowly, I don't mind taking an hour if necessary, just trying to get my running back to where i was at 10 weeks ago.

Mr Freeze

Ya, the Balla 10k...

Supposed to be a nice course. I'd hope to do it in 49.

Mr Freeze

To save some of us from going off topic here talking about the Tulfarris 10 which is coming up soon, it has its own thread now.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=67031942#post67031942

snailsong

CKWPORT wrote: »

Ya, the Balla 10k...

Supposed to be a nice course. I'd hope to do it in 49.

Did only one 10k ever (that's 50% of my racing career), the Achill Island 10k and took 52.30. Would try for 50 here but don't want to risk the knee. Did 8k this morning in 46 or so taking it easy so it may be a useful exercise in restraint to jog along and let people pass me by. Pacing will be important for GF. Would be easy to charge off and be suffering for the cycle and the Reek. I'll regard this as practice for that. OK, maybe 55 would be alright...

Mr Freeze

I didn't exactly charge off last year in GF, but I did go a bit faster than a should have and I was burnt out by the time I got on the bike, nevermind the reek,so you are dead right when you GF is all about pace.

I have heard since that the Balla 10k is not a course for PBs, so it will be a slower time for me so if its a hilly course.

Achill 10k was my 1st 10k race too.