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The Long and Winding Road
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Ok so trip report for Gaelforce to follow, probably too long and boring for anyone to actually read but at least I'll be able to look back on it at a later stage.
Friday waiting to go down was awful, was filled with nervous excitement and my lift got delayed in work so we didn't actually leave Dublin till after 16.00. One of my friends who had already left rang me saying she was backing out of doing it, but eventually she agreed to go ahead when I said I'd run it with her, provided she could get into my wave. To be honest I was delighted to have someone to run it with as I'd no idea what to expect, and didn't know anyone else who was starting in my wave.
Because we ended up leaving late, we didn't get to stop for a meal on the way down as we were afraid of missing the registration cut-off. In the end we made it down in good time and the registration went pretty smoothly. By the time we got to Westport itself it was around 22.00 so decided just to get a sandwich in the garage. Unfortunately I didn't get to eat it as when I got to the hostel I was staying in I basically went straight to bed. When I got into my room the three others were already asleep and I didn't want to disturb anyone's race prep so I just put my bag in the corner and went to bed. Two big mistakes here - not eating and not making sure I had everything ready for the morning.
Had a pretty restless night, finally dozed off around 01.00. My wave had to be at the bus for 07.00 so was planning to get up around 06.15. Unfortunately, the people who were on the 5.30 bus were extremely obnoxious, so I (and probably everyone else in the hostel) was awake at 04.00 and had to listen to people laughing, talking out loud and actually running up and down the hallway. I understand people being excited, but these gimps had no regard for anyone else. Once the first wave left thing quietened down a good bit, probably because everyone else was aware just how annoying the first wave was.
There was no getting back to sleep for me so I decided to get up and 05.45 and try to eat as much as possible - was a good call as I spent about half an hour eating, and I think if I hadn't done this I may not have made it through the day. (Spoiler is possibly too much information)I also tried to take a dump as I'm pretty regular about needing one around 08.30 every morning and would be on the start line at that time - this did not work out however. There was still one person asleep in my room so I just grabbed all my stuff and went to the bathroom to put on my gear and check over my supplies for the day - two of my bananas had been squashed and were destroyed, and I forgot to put in two energy bars - again this was stuff I should have checked the night before.
Got down to the bus and met my friend, bus journey was good, was great to have someone to talk to. Got down to near the start line for about 08.10, but we were delayed starting until 08.50 - this would normally annoy the **** out of me but there was great camaraderie among all the competitors so it was actually a bit of a laugh. Rush of adrenaline as we were called to the start line and big cheer once the hooter went.
I found the first 12k run really easy. In hindsight we didn't go hard enough, but I was worried about going too fast and being wrecked for the rest of the race. The first section was on road, and not pounding this out was a mistake, as there were plenty of spots on the off-road section that you had to take slowly which would have been a chance to recuperate. We did the run in 1.54, but I could easily have knocked half an hour off this and been fine.
Next section was the kayaks, which was just a joke to be honest. My friend and I did it in under 12 minutes, and neither of us had any kayak experience to speak of. It was just so easy compared to the rest of the race, it seems like a gimmick to me. My back was a little sore coming off, but I think that was due to the way I sat more than anything else.
This was followed by a 4k bog run, which again I found pretty easy, although there was a danger of twisting an ankle. Did it in 30 mins, but again could probably have shaved 10 minutes off this.
Got to the bikes in 02.51 in total, which was about 15 mins slower than I had hoped but still fine. From then everything started going wrong. First off the brakes on my back wheel must have come lose on the trip down, as the wheel was constantly rubbing against it. Managed to get them straightened a little bit, but they kept going back all through out the rest of the day, which was obviously a bit of a hindrance.
Once I got on the bike I felt really good, my legs were fine. This 33k cycle was the part of the race I was most worried about, but starting out I was pretty confident. Again we made the mistake of not pushing hard enough on good surfaces and roads. About 20 minutes in I hit a pothole and punctured my back wheel. Just then it started lashing rain, had been lovely up till then. Took me almost half an hour to change the tube as the wheel had become jammed when I went over the pothole. My friend stayed to help me, and I felt really bad for delaying her, but I honestly think if she hadn't waited I would have packed the race in there and then. Was so frustrating trying to get the wheel off in the rain, and my hands were becoming numb. Eventually managed it, got the new tube on and we were off again.
We had a good stretch of decent cycling over the next 15k or so, I stopped to fix my breaks at one point and ended up having to help another guy with a puncture, only took about 10 minutes though. I left my pump with him as I wanted to try and catch back up with my friend, which I eventually did, just before the last section of road before the path to Croagh Patrick. This was pretty terrible for cycling on, and I got a second puncture - no idea how, as I was trying to take it easy and didn't notice hitting anything. I let my friend go on so that I wouldn't be delaying her anymore, fixed it in about 10 minutes with the lend of a pump from someone else. At that stage I was about 3k from Croagh Patrick, and I ended up running with the bike for at least 2k of this as I couldn't afford another puncture - no more spare tubes. All in all this 35k cycle took me 2hr56, an absolutely ridiculously slow time. I reckon the punctures and break problems cost me about an hour in total on this section, and tactics probably another 30 minutes.
Got to Croagh Patrick and started pounding up it in an attempt to catch up with my friend, I'm sure people thought I was mad sprinting past them but I actually felt fine at that stage. Also I was just delighted to be off the bike and not be worrying about punctures for a while. When I caught up with her about a third of the way up she was pretty tired, so ended up taking it quite slowly from then on. Due to my lack of prep in the morning, we had run out of food at this stage, and although I was fine and had plenty of energy, she was struggling big time. About 3/4s of the way up I honestly thought she was going to pack it in, she looked so pale and was complaining of dizziness. Took a little breather, and I bumped into a girl who was staying in the hostel with me who I had met at breakfast, and she supplied us with some food. We pushed on to the top and it was great to get up there. There was no mist or clouds at that stage so we had a full panoramic view of the area and it was amazing.
Managed to get some more food for my friend, and I shared out some drinks with others who had left theirs down with the bikes. Seemed to do the trick for my friend, as she was much livelier on the way back down. She broke her ankle a while back, and really struggled on the descent as a result of this, so again we took it pretty slowly. I went up and down in just under two hours, on my own I reckon I would have done it in 40 minutes less, but there was a pretty good chance I wouldn't have made it past the first puncture on my own. All in all I really enjoyed Croagh Patrick, only had two issues. I felt it was quite dangerous having so many people on the mountain at one time, especially as there were quite a few gimps who didn't take other people into consideration. I understand it's a race, and fair enough if you want to risk your own body on the descent, but knocking stones into others and shoving past people is really not on. My second problem was that my hands were totally numb by the time I got down, I couldn't even buckle my helmet - will definitely put the gloves on next time!
Got onto to the bikes for the final 14k cycle, and I was absolutely petrified of another puncture. I guess I ran about 3k of this pushing the bike over the crap surfaces. Along the way I bumped into the girl who had given us the food on CP, she was struggling with her own puncture so I stopped to help her - at this stage I was quite the expert so only took about 10 minutes. Once I got on to the better surface for the last 8k or so I absolutely pounded it out, I reckon I passed at least 30 or so people. Got off the bike and started off on the final run, which I thought was a 100 metre dash, so I again I sprinted it, turned out it was actually 800 metres, but I was well able to keep up the pace and past another ten or so people. Over the last section of the cycle and run I was pretty delighted to find that I still had plenty left in the legs despite being on the go for over so long.
So I finished in 08.55, which is nowhere near what I wanted, and I am disappointed with this time. I'm especially disappointed that I didn't push harder on the runs. But I'm also delighted that I actually finished, and overall I really enjoyed the race. I also had a great laugh doing it with a friend beside me, I think over 9 hours on my own would have driven me insane! And experience wise it was brilliant, I've learned an awful lot for the Achill Roar next month.
I thought overall the race was really well organised, everyone including the marshals, locals, tourists and competitors were amazingly enthusiastic and supportive. Was a super experience. Yesterday thoughts of punctures on the bike were putting me off doing it again, but today I'm already planning training and tactics for next year!0 -
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Well done Wreck, that sounded like a tough time, with punctures and lack of food and a poor nights sleep. But as you say you have learned loads from your day. Great to see people hepling each other out throughout the journey - that's a flipping long time to be on your feet. Fair play to you and all the best for your training for Achill. It is from doing the veents we really see where the work is needed for the next one, keep up the good work.
Yay! Someone else finally posted on my log
. You're absolutely right, I've learned so much from doing GF that will hopefully set me up better for Achill. Thanks for the good wishes. 0 -
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