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To Connemara and Beyond ...
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Wow Nop what's happening everyone over here Triathlons ultras ...... must not get sucked in
best of luckAnnie get your Run wrote: »We are the borg, you have been assimilated, resistance is futile
Not too fast there, this is not a triathlon (as long as it doesn't rain/snow too much). In fact, if it turns out to be a triathlon, I am going home, none of that swimming lark!hillsiderunner wrote: »Course looks lovely with so many trails, and you have the perfect training ground in the Wicklow mountains. (a bit!) envious (except for that giant climb).
Did you ever talk to a physio about the cramps and what you could do as a prevention measure?
Haven't quite thought about how to approach training for this, but yes, up and down the trails like a jojo, I'm sure Maybe it's time for a boards training camp in the Edinburgh Hills!
Never followed up on the cramp-issue. I do keep an eye out for overstriding and aim for an increased frequency. I keep, naively, hoping it'll just go away with more and more miles!0 -
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Never followed up on the cramp-issue. I do keep an eye out for overstriding and aim for an increased frequency. I keep, naively, hoping it'll just go away with more and more miles!
*Noooooo*. Have heard hill-runners complain about cramp issues so it might be an issue esp with the longer race. I'd get that checked out.
Not wanting to pour cold water though, will be a great adventure. 0 -
Not too fast there, this is not a triathlon (as long as it doesn't rain/snow too much). In fact, if it turns out to be a triathlon, I am going home, none of that swimming lark! g'wan, you'd LOVE it!Never followed up on the cramp-issue. I do keep an eye out for overstriding and aim for an increased frequency. I keep, naively, hoping it'll just go away with more and more miles!
Follow.this.up. I'd imagine it's something that could get worse with more and more miles....0 -
Fantastic Nop, the San Juan Islands are beautiful. Looks tough!
And at least the climate here should have you well prepared (love that it's called rain shadow running).
Thanks Anna - yes, I was on the main San Juan Island, oh, a life-time ago on a day-trip from Seattle. Come to think of it, I don't think I had ever ran further than 1km at that stage.
hillsiderunner wrote: »*Noooooo*. Have heard hill-runners complain about cramp issues so it might be an issue esp with the longer race. I'd get that checked out.Annie get your Run wrote: »Follow.this.up. I'd imagine it's something that could get worse with more and more miles....
Okay okay, I knew I wouldn't get away with it
. I meant "more training miles" (and more S&C) should naturally improve endurance and thus reduce the problem. Will monitor carefully, I promise.
Right, after the initial phase of excitement having been accepted in this race, I have rather obsessively read every race-report and watched every video I can find. I am now officially in the denial phase especially comments like "trust me, it's steeper than you think", "I wanted to pack it in after 10k" and "don't do this as your first ultra". On the other hand, the course descriptions and videos are just absolutely stunning and everyone seems to be raving about the event, volunteers, and atmosphere.
I am starting to think what I need to bring in terms of gear. Any recommendations for trail-runners are much appreciated. The list keeps growing and growing! In one video, some dude changes his gloves at each of the three aid-stations with drop bags. In other words, he has four sets of trail gloves with him for the race! I don't even have one pair. :eek: I am also thinking I need a new watch, as my old Forerunner 10 can barely keep going for 2 hours, let alone the 8-9 hours that this is going to take.
I'm in doubt about Charleville at this stage, what used to be a goal-race now seems a distraction. I'll make a call closer to the time.
As for running (:)) two more weeks worth of effort to report:
July 24 - July 30
3 short-ish runs in the Flatlands (5-6M each, 8:30 min/mi-ish) and the local parkrun as we returned home. My daughter ran with me for the first lap, which is absolutely great as we have a great time at the very back of the field, joking away, and then I have about 100 runners in front of me to overtake as I speed up a little.
July 31 - Aug 6
Mon and Tue I ran two decent stretches with a good-runner-colleague (who's gunning for 3h30 in DCM17). We first covered the climb up to Kilternan and back to work, and on Tuesday we ran towards Cabinteely Park. Those hills aren't getting easier somehow...
Thu and Fri I worked from home, so got up early-ish to get some mileage in. I typically run up the local hill on the small roads (it is steep!) and then come bombing down the Upper Rathmichael Wood trail (also known as Kohima trail). At about 5.5M and some decent vert gained and lost, a really pleasant way to start the day.
On Saturday, my young fella and I were going to do the local parkrun and go for a parkrun PB (for him at least). He chickened out on account of the rain, but we went with our daughter (who was going to manage the barcodes). She decided, last minute, she was going to do the first lap as one of her friends was going it too. So any PB attempts will have to wait
Sunday, I ran all the way to the top of Carrickgollogan for some breathtaking, yet chilly views of the local 'burbs. Normally I don't bother with the last steep little climb to the "summit" but I thought it'd be decent training with the upcoming race :rolleyes: I will bring my camera next time, the views are rad.
Decent mileage this week, and some more to come tomorrow, before we're departing to sunny climbs for some heat-training 0 -
I'm no expert (so check in with those who are) but why not go ahead with the Charleville goal? You won't be able to race again until after February and it will take time to recover from that ultra so....? But of course if it holds no appeal to you now then I guess there's no point 0
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Annie get your Run wrote: »I'm no expert (so check in with those who are) but why not go ahead with the Charleville goal? You won't be able to race again until after February and it will take time to recover from that ultra so....? But of course if it holds no appeal to you now then I guess there's no point
No, you're right. I just feel a little undertrained for it - and it doesn't quite build towards the main goal race. Also there are brownie-points to be considered. We'll see ... if I can bum a lift of someone?!0 -
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There's big group from RahenyPR going down if you need a lift:)Don't use the no transport excuse, N - plenty of lifts available! Not sure which day we'll be going down but you're welcome to a seat.
Many thanks folks - let me see how the next few weeks goes, and might take you up on that offer! 0 -
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Haven't quite thought about how to approach training for this, but yes, up and down the trails like a jojo, I'm sure Maybe it's time for a boards training camp in the Edinburgh Hills!
For some reason only spotted this part of your post today, my eyes had focused in on the "hope it'll go away" section the first time.
There is a HM race in the Pentlands in December for example which might suit, 7Reservoirs it is called (tends to snow quite often for that though). Boards trips in general very welcome, as long as it's a couple of months away I might even be able to join you guys in the hills.... Had a bit of a setback with my ankle last weekend but after a week of rest it's now settled again. feeling really good this time in fact (*crosses toes and fingers*) so I re-start the walk/jog this evening.0 -
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Nop - The absolute very best with the Ultra. Am developing an interest in taking on some challenge myself so your post has pushed me on.
Great to hear, Denis - how about the Run the Line event in the Wicklow Mountains towards the end of November?hillsiderunner wrote: »For some reason only spotted this part of your post today, my eyes had focused in on the "hope it'll go away" section the first time.
There is a HM race in the Pentlands in December for example which might suit, 7Reservoirs it is called (tends to snow quite often for that though). Boards trips in general very welcome, as long as it's a couple of months away I might even be able to join you guys in the hills.... Had a bit of a setback with my ankle last weekend but after a week of rest it's now settled again. feeling really good this time in fact (*crosses toes and fingers*) so I re-start the walk/jog this evening.hillsiderunner wrote: »PS Also there is this, sorry for the political slant sliding into A/R, but people who like to run (or even walk!) in the Wicklow mountains might like to sign/send-letters ...
http://www.savethehellfire.com/how-to-help
Sorry to hear that, HSR! Thanks for the recommendations - I think I am settling on the RtL event.0 -
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Delighted to see you back logging Nop, especially coming up to the big event Keep us up to date on your preparations regarding gear choice, food and pace etc.
Thanks for your wonderful tour of the Phoenix park, 20 miles would certainly not have been done without your good company. It was the perfect solution to the Howth issue and there was most definitely no dragging you around. You've the work done, I've no doubt that Orcas will be a great race for you.
I'd forgotten about seeing 'The Claw', I thought it was a cheetah that'd gotten loose from the zoo with the speed of him.
....... and I'll just leave this here for you to browse while your still on a high after Orcas.0 -
Orcas Island 50k Preview
The ~5 loyal readers of this log might remember that last year, in a moment of madness, I signed up for the lottery for the Orcas Island 50k.
"Why on earth would you do that?", you ask? An excellent question.
A while ago, I had happened across a video of this race as I was perusing the material created by a dude called "The Ginger Runner" (check out his videos, plenty of cool stuff in there). Orcas Island is a remote (American) island in the Puget Sound, tugged in between Vancouver Island, the Vancouver area, and the Seattle area (see this map for a reference point).
I was immediately interested in this race for a couple of reasons. First, it looked absolutely awesome. Second, I had actually been in this part of the world years before (not on Orcas Island, but on nearby San Juan Island) as I travel to the Seattle area roughly once every year for work. Third, I have a life-long fascination with islands (I even ran the risk of Dubgal's wrath to race a parkrun on Bere Island at the peak of DCM15 training: see here).
However, the Rainshadow website (the crowd that organize the event) seemed to indicate that the race is vastly oversubscribed as they can only accommodate a few hundred runners. Plus, it sounded like such a large undertaking for 'just' a run, it's quite a trek even from Seattle to make it to the island. So it sounded like fun but more one of these events that would stay on the bucketlist forever. That said, I was chatting to some of my runner colleagues during the summer (two lads that have both featured on this log before as 'greyhounds', one is in Seattle and the other one in Europe). Both guys were so enthusiastic that we decided we'd join the lottery for the race. We could joind as a group, meaning that we got one entry in the lottery, and if we got picked, we would all be in. We signed up, fully expecting to be rejected. However, to my amazement, excitement, and utter "WTFment", we got a confirmation e-mail that we had been picked and better start training. :eek:
Since our entry has been confirmed, I have been obsessively reading and watching all material I could find on the race. One thing is sure, this is no 'ordinary' 50k (not that I know what an 'ordinary' 50k is, come to think of it). It's a brutally tough course. I have heard mentioning several time that this should absolutely not be your first 50k (oops). Orcas Island has a couple of large mountains (Mount Constitution, 700+ metres, and Mount Pickett, 500+ metres) that will be climbed (and descended!) several times. Most of the run is on single-track trail, some on roads. Oh - and the race is early February, so there's plenty of opportunity for snow, rain, hail, etc. Last year, apparently, was a complete snowy wash-out and the Ginger Runner video of the 2015 event seems to suggest it rained non-stop. :eek: The field ranges from ultra-elites (the 2014 and 2015 male winner went on to win the Western States 100 in 2016) to back-of-the-packers like myself.
Trawling through Strava activies, here is an example of a previous attempt.
The route has 4 major well-stocked aid-stations and each of these stations have a cut-off time. My objective for this race is easy: finish it ahead of the cut-offs, which, with 9 hours in total, seem reasonably generous despite its brutalness. I will be delighted if my Orcas 50k course record after this will be 8:59:59.
In the material I have read, there's some ambiguity about exactly where the aid-stations are (the locations depend on the weather conditions, I believe), but roughly the segments look like this:
Segment|Mile|Description|Cut-off
Start to Little Summit|5.1|The start is relatively brutal. It goes straight up Mount Constitution on a normal road surface, climbing alomst 500 metres to not-even the top. I intend to walk most of this At some point, the route will veer off the road for the trail (it'll be on trail for the rest of the race), and its a steep descend to the aid-station|10am
Little Summit to Mount Pickett|13.3|This is a long, runnable single-track section along a lake called Mountain Lake, and ends with a climb to Mount Pickett. I hope to reach it by 11am, as during RTL, Neady, DenisB and I covered a similar distance and elevation in about 3 hours and I felt great at that stage - so that would be a good benchmark.|Noon
Mount Pickett to Powerline|20.3|This seems to be 'easiest' section in terms of elevation. The trail loops around Cascade Lake which looks fabulous. Also, the fact that there's only 90 minutes for this section, makes me think it's reasonably easy... The hope is to be a little ahead of the cut-off here, as I will need a buffer for the next section.|1:30pm
To_the_top_of_Mount_Constitution|25.2|Undoubtedly the hardest section of the route, climbing all the way to the top of Constitution in two climbs (600 and 300 metres respectively), with a 200 meter drop in between. Yikes. The first climb is along the "Powerline Trail", the signature climb of all races on Orcas Island.|3:30pm
Downhill to the finish|31.3|All the way down, with two little "insult" hills at the very end, where beer, and pizza, and more beer awaits.|5:00pm
Here are some videos worth watching:- Someone clearly not enjoying the Powerline Trail. This is pretty likely going to be me in a few weeks time.
- This video is a nice first-person account of the 50k race.
- This video is a view from the front of the Orcas 25k race, which is a week later. I love how the dude yells out "This place is AWESOME" when he has just crested Mount Constitution. The views are indeed stunning.
- Another great video about a 100M race organized on Ocras by the same crowd is here. Some stunning views of the island.
Oh, I forgot to say, 3rd of February.. That means. 3 weeks. From now. Oh. My.:eek:0 - Someone clearly not enjoying the Powerline Trail. This is pretty likely going to be me in a few weeks time.
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