Out of the frying pan into the .... valley of the baboons

career move

Baby75 wrote: »

I agree, keep posting I love these logs

Good luck at the Beast

You're very kind thanks

career move

Jul 17th - Jul 23rd

Beast: 12 days
Expindia: 7 wks to prologue

Monday:

Stretching. Took a rest day but I don't remember being tired

Tuesday:

Bike turbo
40 min steady

Paddle practice in the kitchen

Stretching x 2

Run
35 min recovery ~ 3.5 mi

Wednesday

Run
Track races with the club. Small enough turn out. I guess people are on holidays and stuff. I was feeling tired all day and I was going to go to karate instead but I knew I could take it easy at karate and the track was going to hurt. And I'm a sucker for pain!!!
Started with 100m no blocks - 14:73
Walked a lap of the track then lined up for the mile - 6:41:39 Legs were very heavy and I was on my own out front for most of it. I don't know if I'd have gone much faster if I had people to push me but that's a pretty poor time for me and it just reinforces my belief that I'm fat and unfit
Next up was the 400m - 1:17:59 Martin who was doing the timing was recording 100m splits and he said I kept pretty even. Just slowed a bit in the third quarter
Finally I ran the last leg of the 4 x 100m. We were way behind the men but we beat the senior women
I did a good warm up and cool down and jogs in between the races. It was fun to do something completely different from normal and hopefully we'll do a few more of these nights

Thursday:

Bike turbo
75min easy
Wide awake at 3am. I didn't feel sleepy so I decided to do something useful

Karate
Club

Friday:

Run
30 min recovery ~ 3 mi
Tired today

Saturday:

Bike turbo
40 min steady

Sunday

Run
Masters road race. 6k in 27:20
In Clonmel. Not a great time but I didn't have much more. I was lucky for the last 2k my club mate was running with me and he kept me going especially in the last 500m. I shamelessly beat him in a sprint finish for the line

Bike turbo
2hr easy

Stretching

I've been practising my paddle stroke but it doesn't warrant an entry in the diary

Baby75

Great training, I would be over the moon getting those times running, I am slowly getting there some day I hope, but I think sometimes we just have crap runs thanks to our cycle or other sometimes unknown reasons. but then on race day or what ever event we are doing the legs serve us well

I was checking out Groupon and they have a great offer on renting a kayak for 2 hours might be an option for more practice for you. https://www.groupon.ie/deals/wicklow-kayaking-2-24046058 I am planning on doing it myself to get more practice in for Achill quest.
these tips are great as well and basically exactly what an instructor went through with us when we had a lesson might help you

Mulberry

career move wrote: »

Started with 100m no blocks - 14:73

It would appear, CM, that you are a sprinter! Next up is the indoors in 6 months - you should give it a shot! I will come back on here to remind you 8 weeks or so in advance, hopefully you won't be off jet-setting and can give it a few weeks training. Interested? Are you a senior or a master?

shotgunmcos

Sounds like fun on the track. Did ye not have any field events? I thought you would give some of those a go

career move

Baby75 wrote: »

Great training, I would be over the moon getting those times running, I am slowly getting there some day I hope, but I think sometimes we just have crap runs thanks to our cycle or other sometimes unknown reasons. but then on race day or what ever event we are doing the legs serve us well

I was checking out Groupon and they have a great offer on renting a kayak for 2 hours might be an option for more practice for you. https://www.groupon.ie/deals/wicklow-kayaking-2-24046058 I am planning on doing it myself to get more practice in for Achill quest.
these tips are great as well and basically exactly what an instructor went through with us when we had a lesson might help you

Thanks for the link. It probably would be very useful if you lived in Dublin or Wicklow and didn't have a boat. I'm lucky that I can borrow a boat anytime from Mike or Peter. What I need though is someone to look at how I'm paddling and tell me how I can make it more efficient.

career move

Mulberry wrote: »

It would appear, CM, that you are a sprinter! Next up is the indoors in 6 months - you should give it a shot! I will come back on here to remind you 8 weeks or so in advance, hopefully you won't be off jet-setting and can give it a few weeks training. Interested? Are you a senior or a master?

Haha I'm not sure I'm much of a sprinter but it would be fun to try I'm masters this year. Ya I'll definitely give it a go. You'll have to give me some advice re training though!!

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shotgunmcos wrote: »

Sounds like fun on the track. Did ye not have any field events? I thought you would give some of those a go

No field events. I would definitely have tried the javelin again. I'm not finished with that yet

Mulberry

career move wrote: »

Haha I'm not sure I'm much of a sprinter but it would be fun to try I'm masters this year. Ya I'll definitely give it a go. You'll have to give me some advice re training though!!

I think you are a sprinter, I don't know many masters who would do sub 15 on their first outing! I'll be in touch in a few months :cool:

Dilbert75

career move wrote: »

6:41:39 Legs were very heavy and I was on my own out front for most of it. I don't know if I'd have gone much faster if I had people to push me but that's a pretty poor time for me and it just reinforces my belief that I'm fat and unfit

Fat and unfit so you were on your own out front for most of it. That doesn't compute. And anyway, you're back trying to be all things to all people. How many people doing a mile sprint could do a 7-day adventure race?

career move wrote: »

I was lucky for the last 2k my club mate was running with me and he kept me going especially in the last 500m. I shamelessly beat him in a sprint finish for the line

Of course the poor sod wasn't to know you've form at this kind of thing, was he?:rolleyes:

career move

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Fat and unfit so you were on your own out front for most of it. That doesn't compute. And anyway, you're back trying to be all things to all people. How many people doing a mile sprint could do a 7-day adventure race?

Ah like I said there was a poor enough turn out.
I know but I want to be a good club runner and get PBs whenever I race and I want to be a good adventure racer and I want to be strong on the bike and also able to keep up with the boys in the kayak and I want to be good at karate and I want to be strong and fit and flexible ..... what's wrong with that

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Of course the poor sod wasn't to know you've form at this kind of thing, was he?:rolleyes:

Still bitter about KAR ..... time to let it go Conor

Dilbert75

career move wrote: »

Ah like I said there was a poor enough turn out.
I know but I want to be a good club runner and get PBs whenever I race and I want to be a good adventure racer and I want to be strong on the bike and also able to keep up with the boys in the kayak and I want to be good at karate and I want to be strong and fit and flexible ..... what's wrong with that

Nothing at all....until you beat yourself up for not meeting your own unreasonable expectations. Life's too short for that. And it's obviously only my own opinion that they're unreasonable but I don't know anyone else who competes across the spectrum of events that you do. You're already extraordinary. To have success at both ends of that spectrum and at every point in between is pretty much impossible. And it'd be much harder to like you if you did!:eek::D

career move wrote: »

Still bitter about KAR ..... time to let it go Conor

Haha. No I think I'm over it....it was just this that reminded me. Sure I couldn't pass up an opportunity like that!:p

career move

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Nothing at all....until you beat yourself up for not meeting your own unreasonable expectations. Life's too short for that. And it's obviously only my own opinion that they're unreasonable but I don't know anyone else who competes across the spectrum of events that you do. You're already extraordinary. To have success at both ends of that spectrum and at every point in between is pretty much impossible. And it'd be much harder to like you if you did!:eek::D

Haha. No I think I'm over it....it was just this that reminded me. Sure I couldn't pass up an opportunity like that!:p

Well thanks. You're very kind but I don't think there's anything extraordinary about what I do apart from my mental tenacity. I think physically, I'm pretty average at everything. But you have got me thinking about my training...

It's 8 days to the Beast, 6 weeks to expindia. I was reading this article last night
http://www.irunfar.com/2012/11/your-ultra-training-bag-of-tricks-altitude-training-and-racing.html
Two of the main things I took from it are 1) I need to bring iron tablets with me to India as I am prone to anaemia and it's easier to become anaemia at altitude and 2) several weeks of vO2 workouts at sea level prior to racing at altitude is a very effective way to reduce the adverse effects
Now here's my problem. I have 6 weeks left to India and I'm doing a 40hr race in a week. I can improve my v02 max in a month but I'm going to need to recover from the Beast as well. I can get a couple of good v02 workouts done in the week before the Beast but do I need to be tapering? If I did 12 min of intervals tomorrow 1/2/3/3/2/1 hard with equal recovery and a 10 mile race @ 8 min/mi pace on Sunday and 4 x 2 min hill repeats on Tues would that be unreasonable? Two of my team mates for the Beast did Snowdonia trail marathon last Sunday and it was very tough so surely I'll be as recovered as they are!! All opinions on this are welcome!

career move

Damn!! Nobody thinks it's a bad idea for me to do intervals today :eek:

Annie get your Run

I guess it depends on which race is your A goal, will the intervals affect your performance in Beast? and if so does that matter to you (that's a stupid question for sure )

career move

Annie get your Run wrote: »

I guess it depends on which race is your A goal, will the intervals affect your performance in Beast? and if so does that matter to you (that's a stupid question for sure )

Well both races are equally as important to me and I would like to be as competitive as I can be in both. Two new teams so it's important to me on a personal level that I don't feel like I'm the weak link in either team. I suppose my worry is that it doesn't take a whole pile of training to make me fatigued since Africa but the dye is cast. The intervals have been completed. The next few weeks are going to be a steep learning curve for me

career move

Jul 24th - Jul 28th

Monday:

Stretching

Didn't go to Kilkenny to kayak. I had a headache (bilateral, front) from the race I did on Sunday. It developed 2 hours after the race and lasted till Tuesday. I have got this type of headache after races before. Everyone I mention it to says oh you're dehydrated but my urine was a very pale colour so I don't believe that's the reason. I've done some research and headaches after strenuous exercise can be caused by dehydration as well as low blood sugar but the exact cause of primary exercise headaches is unknown. One theory is that strenuous exercise dilates blood vessels inside the skull. This would concur with the fact that NSAID's don't give me any relief and it only happens to me when the weather is very humid. I don't think any of the secondary causes (tumours, blood disorders, sinus infections) apply to me but I've had a couple of serious head injuries when I was (a lot) younger and because neural tissue has limited regenerative capacities I decided there was no point exacerbating things by doing more exercise. Oh and I didn't fancy droning to Kilkenny either!!

Tuesday

Run
31 min recovery ~ 3 mi

Stretching

Karate
Squad Ballinasloe kumite

The karate world champs is in Hong Kong in August. Sensei and one of the black belts were heading down and I said I'd go too. It was a great session

Wednesday

Run
10.5k easy in 62min

One of my club mates was complaining on Sunday that she was finding 10k runs hard. We both know she's running them too fast. I said I'd go with her tonight. My legs felt like they were glued to the ground and I would have only done half as much if I was on my own. Felt much better at the end though. We did half on the track and half on the road

Thursday

Bike
60 min turbo

Karate
90 min club

Friday

Run
10 min wu
1/2/3/3/2/1 min hard w equal rec
10 min cd

Paces: 6:56, 7:23, 7:18, 6:46, 6:54, 6:10
It was windy. Mostly headwind but I'm guessing the last one, the wind was pushing me along cause it didn't feel that fast. Effort was consistent though

Bike
60 min turbo

career move

Saturday:

Rest

I buy the Farmers Journal because I like doing the crossword in the magazine bit. So this week in the problem section there's a wife complaining about her husbands obsession with marathon training. She seems a bit bitter. I think he needs to get a new wife



Sunday:

Run
19k in 2:05

Had the alarm set for 8am so I was in good time for the 10m race at 11. However when I woke it was really rainy and I thought feck that I'm not spending 80+ min running in the rain getting cold. So I went back to sleep. It was sunny when I got up and I went out with a plan to do a 10mile session on a flatish route. 2E 1HMP 1E 2 MP 1E 1 HMP 1E
No bother I thought. Legs feel good. Energy levels good. And off I went. My breathing was not as relaxed as I thought it should be after half a mile and a look at my watch confirmed I was going too fast. I decided to keep at this effort and change my plan to 5 x 1T, 1E
First mile 8:08
I didn't really feel recovered after the easy mile 8:50 but when my watch beeped I upped the pace for the tempo mile. It felt tough. I was thinking should I slow a bit but tempo miles are supposed to be tough though and I'm stubborn so I got to the end of that mile and then the wheels came off. My legs felt like bricks and my head was gone. I just wanted to walk. Made myself run till I'd 30 min done, then I stopped to contemplate my options. I'm 6k from home but it's a nice day so I decide to walk for a bit. I walk for a mile. The flies are annoying and when my watch beeps I decide to run for a mile. It's as quick now to go around the ring as it is to turn and go back but after a mile running I'm fed up and I want to walk so I walk for another mile. And so on until it starts to rain and it's too cold to walk. Eventually I make it home. What a disaster

Monday:

Run
25 min recovery
Complete slog fest. What am I at?

I think I've over reached slightly!!!!! I have very little motivation today. Not interested in getting my stuff ready for the Beast. Kind of dreading it actually. No training of any description for the rest of the week. Hopefully that'll do the trick Que sera sera

Annie get your Run

Yikes, doesn't sound like you K, hopefully the rest will see you itching to get racing..

As for the paper, it's a piss take surely?! Or does everyone write to Miriam as if they were sitting next to her

career move

Annie get your Run wrote: »

Yikes, doesn't sound like you K, hopefully the rest will see you itching to get racing..

As for the paper, it's a piss take surely?! Or does everyone write to Miriam as if they were sitting next to her

Thanks feel better today. Actually as soon as I posted that and decided to relax for the week I felt better!!!

Re the paper it's the farmers journal so who knows

career move

I'm back in the game, looking forward to the weekend. Actually getting very excited about it

Yesterday evening I started organizing my food into bags (there were casualties! I decided I don't like jaffa cakes so I had to eat them to get rid of them and then I had to eat the Oreos because I had to test them to make sure they were a suitable replacement - they are :P) I'm trying out tailwind energy drinks to see if I'll use them in India. According to their web page "Tailwind mixes with water to meet all your calorie, hydration, and electrolyte needs, without upsetting your stomach or making your taste buds revolt. Just toss it in a bottle or hydration pack, shake, and GO!" We shall see

So according to the race schematic:



there are 11 stages and 10 transitions
This is brilliant in one way because the short stages will fly by but tough to manage because we have 4 different bags so if you put stuff in the wrong bag it's gonna suck. Also because there's multiple changes between bike and trek I've decided to replace the cleats with pedals and a power strap. This is because I'd have to change from bike shoes to trek shoes 12 times. 2 - 3 min per change adds up and it was going to be a nightmare with socks because I wear two pairs of socks when I'm trekking. I've done estimated times for the race and we cannot afford to waste a minute in any of the transitions if we want to stay full course. I have us crossing the finish line with 10min to spare :eek: I have to finish sorting out my clothes this evening

Annie get your Run

The very best of luck!!!! Look forward to the report (to see what I missed out on by not getting sucked in )

career move

Annie get your Run wrote: »

The very best of luck!!!! Look forward to the report (to see what I missed out on by not getting sucked in )

Don't you be worrying, you're not getting out of it that easily!! Always next year ...

Speaking during the week Ivan Park race director said “It is great to bring the event to Donegal which has a natural landscape suitable for events of this sort. We hope that the Donegal public will grasp the event and get out and support the competitors who are travelling great distances to take part. It is hoped that when the local adventure racers see what the event is all about we will have a larger local entry next year.”
http://www.donegaldaily.com/2017/08/02/fancy-having-a-beast-of-a-weekend-in-donegal/

Neady83

Hey K, been off the grid for the last few weeks but finally getting myself together in time to track ye mad yokes across Donegal The very best of luck this weekend, enjoy the sleep monsters and the scenery Can't wait to catch up properly on your log and hear all about the tricks that Ivan serves up

Baby75

Sounds like you are very well prepared, I'm very interested to see how you get on with the Tailwind I have heard great things about it and we ordered some of it for training and a few events we have coming up

Good luck and I am looking forwards to reading your report

career move

Neady83 wrote: »

Hey K, been off the grid for the last few weeks but finally getting myself together in time to track ye mad yokes across Donegal The very best of luck this weekend, enjoy the sleep monsters and the scenery Can't wait to catch up properly on your log and hear all about the tricks that Ivan serves up

Aw cool you're back Hope you're keeping well

Thanks I'll try and enjoy everything even the rain and the midgies ..... although I might need some of the usual post race amnesia for that!!!!

career move

Baby75 wrote: »

Sounds like you are very well prepared, I'm very interested to see how you get on with the Tailwind I have heard great things about it and we ordered some of it for training and a few events we have coming up

Good luck and I am looking forwards to reading your report

I don't feel well prepared. I always say after every race 'Next time. I will be better prepared. I will making better packing decisions. I will not end up cold and wet' ..... I'll let you know if I've succeeded this time.

Ya I'm excited to try out the Tailwind. If the web reviews are anything to go by it should be good

annapr

Best of luck this weekend, the weather forecast is threatening 'some reasonable summer weather'... hope that helps!

shotgunmcos

career move wrote: »

I don't feel well prepared.

Missing me?! LOL


Have a great race this weekend Kate. Cant wait to hear about it and hope the tracking is good. Mad 11 stages over such a "short" race! Will be "fast" and furious.


Good call on removing the cleats

career move

annapr wrote: »

'some reasonable summer weather'

Similar to Itera so :rolleyes:

career move

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Missing me?! LOL

Maybe! I certainly miss those Type A organisation skills

RacoonQueen

Best of luck Kate!

Annie get your Run

Looks like they've made good progress overnight and passed a number of other teams in the pack they're in. Nice !

shotgunmcos

Unfortunately decided to skip the loop to get CP30 so are no longer full course. Hope they are having a ball out there!

Annie get your Run

Have been following the updates on FB, lots of switching going on with teams missing CP or taking different routes to get there, sounds like the weather is good though so yes, hopefully they're all having a great time!

Dilbert75

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Unfortunately decided to skip the loop to get CP30 so are no longer full course. Hope they are having a ball out there!

Primal Tracking still have them as full course...???

shotgunmcos

So Columbia won it as predicted but followed closely by Moxie in 2nd and the Swedes in 3rd. Dogsleap are still back at CP38 on the tracker but are down as 4th. Just 4 teams on the full course.

Currently looks like Brick AR (7 - Kates Team) are 6th O/A and 2nd on the SC. They just passed Outsider (5th and leading SC) about 10 minutes ago who had Just tagged CP41. So they are approx. 2km or <20 minutes off the lead in the SC or a top 5 finish with 3 hours left to the finish. Something to race for..!

shotgunmcos

Actually looks like the decision to skip the loop for CP30 and get Mount Errigal (CP38 741m) in daylight was an inspired decision. They jumped onto the short course but ahead of 4 or 5 other teams heading for that loop. Seems Mount Errigal CP38 was straight forward to find in daylight but the other teams that took the gamble on full course had a hard time at night (or just thought they had no time and didn't even climb up to get it).


Meant Outside are Brick AR stole a march and were first onto the water (of the SC teams) at dawn. Good stuff!


Clocked CP41 34 minutes behind Outsider. I doubt Kate's Team will catch them but there is still a TA, a CP and about 2-2.5hrs biking left. No idea how tired the teams are and mistakes are easy even in daylight when you are sleep deprived

shotgunmcos

Hmm closer inspection of the chasers and the Danish Team Delta are the fastest paddlers on the water and are catching Brick AR. There could be as little as 10-15 minutes between them out on the bikes if I'm right. Team 16 are also paddling well and are maybe another b10 minutes back.


So on the last leg I reckon Outsider will be away first with Brick AR 30 minutes behind, Delta 10 minutes behind again and Eddie Birmingham and his crew another 10 minutes adrift. With the 4 long course teams finished its a race against the clock for the next 4 teams. Knowing Ivan Park. 40 hours means 40 hours so they are already clocking penalty time. Its a race to limit the damage and to catch each other!

Annie get your Run

I"m completely confused

shotgunmcos

Annie get your Run wrote: »

I"m completely confused

They are currently 6th. However they have 1 checkpoint (control point 43) to collect on the way to the Finish. Problem now is they are heading the wrong direction to that (Navigational mistake - probably sleeping on the bikes) and there are 2 other team in 7th and 8th hot on their heels.

shotgunmcos

All Grand they turned back and got CP43 and now flying down the road to the finish in 6th place (provisional as I'm sure there will be time penalties to be counted)

shotgunmcos

So Dogleap in 4th place (still on the course) were on schedule to complete the full course (They made cut off #2) but it took a long time to get CP 37 38 and now looks like they will miss the last kayak stage. Missing CP41 would also make them a short course team. Now I don't know whether CP30 (missed by Kates team) or CP 41 is worth more but Dogleap are will finish some 1.5-2 hours behind Kate and crew so there could be a possibility Brick AR could be bumped up to 5th...

career move

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Unfortunately decided to skip the loop to get CP30 so are no longer full course. Hope they are having a ball out there!

Ivan designed the Course "to keep as many teams as possible on the full course" hahaha but there were time cut offs in place and if you missed them you were short coursed. Most controls were mandatory but the ones that had a cut off had a time penalty of 2hr30 each. We missed the cut off for stage 4 (the pedal on Brian's bike broke off about 20k into the 110k bike. Robbie spotted an old bike in a house we were passing so we asked if we could have the pedal. But we couldn't get it off. We were about to go on our way when a neighbour called and took the bike to his garage and got it off. Long story short Brian got a makeshift pedal but it cost us about 75 minutes

career move

shotgunmcos wrote: »

They are currently 6th. However they have 1 checkpoint (control point 43) to collect on the way to the Finish. Problem now is they are heading the wrong direction to that (Navigational mistake - probably sleeping on the bikes) and there are 2 other team in 7th and 8th hot on their heels.

That was my fault I was cold after the kayak and I was too far in front on the bike. I went past the road we should have taken and by the time the others had caught up to me it was easier to take the detour

career move

shotgunmcos wrote: »

So Dogleap in 4th place (still on the course) were on schedule to complete the full course (They made cut off #2) but it took a long time to get CP 37 38 and now looks like they will miss the last kayak stage. Missing CP41 would also make them a short course team. Now I don't know whether CP30 (missed by Kates team) or CP 41 is worth more but Dogleap are will finish some 1.5-2 hours behind Kate and crew so there could be a possibility Brick AR could be bumped up to 5th...

I doubt we'll move ahead of them cause they only missed one optional control on the paddle and we missed 4 on the stage where we missed the cut off and one up on slieve Snacht that we couldn't find in the dark

career move

So ya all finished. It was tough (what more would you expect from Ivan!!!). My team mates were super awesome though. Delighted to have finished. The trek up mount errigal nearly killed me ... I thought it would never end!

shotgunmcos

Brill stuff Kate and well done. Sounds eventful, but then what ARs are not eh! Glad to see ye finish well and though it must have been a bummer to miss that stage (You have been there before and motored to a finish). Good training for Exp India?! (Bar the temp and bog...)

The tracker only updated every second CP so we could not tell exactly where the decision to SC or cut off missed was. Still, ye were one of only a couple of teams (ARSE included) to take on Errigal, Kudos!!

career move wrote: »

That was my fault I was cold after the kayak and I was too far in front on the bike. I went past the road we should have taken and by the time the others had caught up to me it was easier to take the detour

Wow this sounds familiar! Remember you were all guns a blazing to get warm after the Ferry in ITERA? Took your instructions from the Nav and motored off leading the boys for 20k or so... You get stronger as the race gets longer and knowing this, if you feel like pegging up the road make sure you know what the next turn is etc.. Easy to say I know but important to take lessons learned out of it :-)

Did you dip below a 7 at any point? LOL How much of it was above a 7? LOL

Drop in for tea and food if you are down my neck of the woods again. Would love to hear blow by blow about Ivan's latest. I'm really disappointed to have missed it but a year out is a year out. I've promised you a paddle so we should do at least one before India. Take it easy now for a week at least..

Dilbert75

Thanks for the informed commentary throughout Shotgun - I do be getting confused fierce easily...

Neady83

I'm doing the rounds and catching up on logs ......

Massive congrats on a well raced Beast at the weekend K I was keeping track on the AR Live feed on FB (little internet in the sthicks). The route sounded epic, Donegal is stunning isn't it? and plenty of ground left to cover next year.

Are you writing up a report? I'd love to read more about it. I'm catching up with some ARSEs in Kerry at the end of the month for a debrief From a brief chat with J, they really really enjoyed it.

How are you recovering? Did ye get any shut eye during it? Ivan was very clever by starting at 5pm, two nights out there would ensure that ye would have to get some sleep. What was the most enjoyable part? Did you miss M & S?