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Sub-5hr Gaelforce West Log
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Saturday: Connemara Rough Diamond
Didn't feel right in the build up to the race, really feeling the running workouts in my lower legs, as such I was nearly wishing that I hadn't signed up at all the night before. Got up at 5 the morning of the race (a time I'd normally be going to bed after work) and went to registration and bike drop off, got an early tour of the assault course from Matt after we dropped the bikes off (thanks Matt). Left the car in Clifden and got the first bus to Lettergesh beach, got to the start at about 11:15, way too early for a race start of 1:00 :mad:, luckily someone found a café about 500m up the road at a camp site, big thanks to the overwhelmed cafe lady who served us our teas and coffees.
Started my warmup on the gorgeous beach and felt very tired and not 100% so started to get a bit worried so dropped an energy gel about 5 minutes before the start time. A fairly decent crowd of locals, bemused tourists from the camp site and about 300 sport entrants in the later waves were watching for the off and the 102 competitors in the expert wave were ready to go.
John Wayne Steeple Chase
A novel idea for a stage, we did two laps of the beach course over about 20+ hurdles of large round hay bales, the first few were tricky as everyone was bunched up and you had to pick out a line to the jump. Found myself drifting towrds the back of the group and started to feel the pace already so now I was getting really worried, crossed the dibber station at the end of the steeple chase in 91/102 position.
Garraun Mountain Run
Start of the run was up a very steep gravel road but after that if was completely cross country with some of the best scenery I have seen, I loved the cross country part as there was no road/fence/wall or defined path to follow, a large flag every few k showed the way which was adequate when you could also see the other competitors strewn in a line in the distance, all part of the tactics finishing last on the beach
(I don't know how the leaders navigated!!) This was real adventure racing, the terrain was very mixed from dry bog, wet bog, loose shale, large slipply rocks, at least a hundred small streams to jump over and a near vertical small climb. About 40 minutes into the race my engine finally kicked in and I felt a lot better, started to make up a few places on the uphill parts but lost a few again on the downhill parts...wore two good ankle supports for the first time and they never let me down and I felt really confident running over the rough ground so should speed me up next time as I'll have more confidence. Finished this stage 65th fastest.
Fear Gorta Assault Course
A good bit of fun and a few minutes to take a small breather, might be better if it was longer and more technical but no complaints here, very well laid out. Finished this stage 33rd fastest.
Cycle to Letterfrack
Short cycle and time to take on some fluids. Changed the tyres on the hybrid the night before from semi-slicks to full slicks and felt a nice speed improvement, travelled in a group of four and we soon overtaking a good few others...most of these were from the sport category as this is where we joined them. Cycled at a comfortable pace as I terified of the large climb ahead. Finished this stage 37th fastest.
Diamond Summit + Ellis Wood Trail Run
A very tough hill but it was made a lot easier with the laid out stones and wooden decking in parts which helped the ankles, Croagh Patrick can be a killer on the calf's due to the bend in your ankle as you climb. Got in to a nice rhythm and just put one foot in front of the other and started to climb slowly, about half way up started to feel a bit off and lost my balance once or twice (totally forgot about the energy gels)...took one and felt stronger and started climbing again, overtook a few people but not by much. Got a bit confused when I got to the top as I was expecting a crowd similar to the top of Croagh Patrick (Diamond Hill has a very sharp peek so there's no real space at the top), I also wasn't sure where to go but a couple of tourists pointed me in the right direction and I started down a different path than I climbed. It wasn't a very technical descent due to the laid out stones, but very tough on the knees and you have to have your wits to avoid the odd slippy stones...I was overtaken by one girl who descended faster than anyone I had ever seen, she was out of sight in a couple of minutes. The run through the woods at the end was a sadistic twist just when I thought the stage was finished, especially the woodensteps. Finished this stage 56th fastest.
Cycle to Clifen via Sky Road
A lonely cycle for the most part except for the first section that shared the same route as the sport category, some very smooth roads that I zipped along, overtook a lot of the sports on this part of the cycle. Turned off at the expert sign and was alone until the finish except for one girl that I passed who I'd say was a sport entrant with a city commuter bike who had taken a wrong turn...she looked well pee'd off. I was dreading the climb in the middle as we had driven it earlier but when I got there on the bike it wasn't as bad as I thought, once i got to the top it was all downhill into Clifden. I then suddenly became aware of the time, I had set a target time before the race assuming best case scenario for each stage and realised I had a chance of getting it...thought I had no chance coming off the beach at Lettergesh. Finished this stage 35th fastest.
Had set a best case target time of 3:59 before the race, crossed the line with 03:55:53 on the clock in 48th position out of 102 starters
, just over an hour behind the overall expert winner Padraig Marrey in 02:53:10.
The endurance levels have really improved since I started the training plan, except for the start and for a few minutes climbing Diamond Hill I felt like I was in control throughout...I'm glad I finished when I did but I'd say I could have gone on for longer. Compared to the Connemara Adventure Challenge a few weeks a go I was able to run for longer sustained periods, I jogged some of the uphill parts and ran all the downhill parts.
The lesson learned from this race is that I have to do a longer cardio warm-up before a race, I felt like crap for the first 30-40 minutes, need to trawl the net to find an good warm-up or if anyone here has any tips...might just need to jog slowly for 20 minutes before`hand.
Garmin link for the race in case anyone is interested, a bit shorter than advertised, I hit the lap button early/late at a couple of dibber stations so the stage times don't match the official stage results but the overall time is the same,
Sunday: REST DAY0 -
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Wednesday:
Type: Active Recovery
Time: 60 mins
Strength/core workout
Really tired Wednesday and didn't fancy doing a non-cardio workout before work...
Thursday:
Type: Bike/Run (60-75% effort)
Time: 110 mins
Bike 50 mins (60-70%) into run 20 mins (75%)
Bike
Distance: 24.0k (Static bike)
Time: 51:04
Avg speed: 28.2
Avg HR: 67% of max
Max HR: 71% of max
Run
Distance: 3.25k (Treadmill at 1% incline)
Time: 21:07
Avg pace: 06:30
Avg HR: 77% of max
Max HR: 80% of max
Shorter brick session than normal this week but felt every bit of it in the legs while running, obviously still a bit tired from Saturday.
I'm going to try something new this week, I'm going to do the next few gym sessions after work in the morning instead of before work in the evenings...maybe this will help the recovery after each workout because as it stands my legs are nearly always tired, doesn't bother me when I'm moving only when I stop!!!
Tomorrow (Saturday morning after work Friday night): Steady run0 -
Friday:
Type: Run (60-70% effort)
Time: 45 mins
Steady run
I was going to do the run after work Saturday morning, didn't fancy running outside after work and the gym didn't open until 9 so didn't run at all recovery week is slowly becoming lazy week...
Sunday:
TBD depending on work 5k Race (New PB)
Distance: 5.00k
Time: 25.09
Avg pace: 05:02
Avg HR: 84% of max
Max HR: 89% of max
I was going to get up at 07:45 and go for a long cycle, must have sub-consciously set the alarm wrong knowing there would be heavy rain and didn't get up until 10...didn't want to waste the afternoon on the bike so decided to run a 5k race in Monivea at the last minute.
I set a target pace of 5.00m/km on the garmin as I thought this would be achievable as the fitness levels are increasing, although I can't remember the last time I ran on the road. Completed the race in 25:09 (a new PB), the course was 50/50 road and off road through a forest, I went out too fast in the first k (4:16) and died for the last two k...while I was running I realised that this was my first 5k race ever! I've only done 8k/10k/20k races before.
Well run race for Monivea rugby club with about 180 entrants, the first year of the race I think...will do again.0 -
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