Belfast Energia 24hr race

Wednesday, 17th July, 2013 - 10.8km Recovery Run

With only one thing on my mind I took it easy all week to rest up for Friday evening. By Wednesday I was getting a little restless so went for this very easy run just to remain sane before the big day...

Friday, 19th July, 2013 – 162.0km (100.66 miles / 405 laps) Energia 24 Hour Race

I was flirting with the idea of entering this race all the way back to the start of the year. I was tempted by the thought of pushing my body for such a long time  but very much doubted I’d last the 24hrs. The longest run I had completed was the 2012 Connemara ultra at 6.5hrs. Even though I was sick leading into that race I struggled big time over the last two hours. This race was to be almost 4 times as long as that, how the hell was I supposed to manage that?!

Looking at the results from the first three years I noted a few names who I knew completed 100 miles in the race. Most of these familiar names had marathon PBs similar to mine. So my thinking became if they are able to do it then why couldn’t I? That longest run in Connemara totalled just shy of 40 miles and I’d be aiming for 2.5 times the distance of my longest ever run…

I thought the idea over for a couple of months before eventually making contact with the Race Director, Ed Smith. Ed answered a few questions I had and put a positive spin on his race so I was almost bought on the idea. Within the next few weeks all remaining excuses were dismissed and I made the leap of faith by signing up.

Over the next few months I kept the idea low-key to allow myself fully comprehend the task at hand before I got too many awkward questions relating as to why on Earth somebody would want to put themselves through all that! As the weeks rolled by to the race I started telling more people as the event became a real thing in my mind, and before long it was race day…

I’d tried to pre-load on sleep during the week but it didn’t really work so one of my challenges was to simply stay awake from 7:30am Friday morning til I got home after the race around midnight Saturday, about 40 hours in total. I didn’t spend too much time worrying about that aspect though as the main event would be taking up all my attention.

I left work at 1:30pm and after a brief stopover at home in Santry I set off for Belfast. I had planned ahead and printed off a map with the directions within Belfast to get me to the Mary Peters Track but I missed a turn-off and ended up taking the scenic route. Luckily I arrived with time to spare before the briefing arranged for 5:30pm. After registering I ran into a few familiar faces including Anto, Paddy, Frank and Graham. As soon as I got chatting to Graham it came up that I had no crew team with me. I was ok with those circumstances but Graham offered the use of his crewman, Philip. Knowing I’d be much better off with someone watching out for me, especially as the race wore on, I accepted the offer. I had only met Graham a few times before and never met Philip so all things considered it was a very generous offer from the guys. But that’s the kind of camaraderie the event was all about. No matter your standard there was so much good feeling on show it made the event something very special.

MPT just after the start.

About half the runners seemed to have their tents set up on the infield by now. I had brought mine with me also but looking at the weather I decided against pitching it. My reckoning was that if I did want to grab some sleep it would be perfect for lying on the grass and snoozing. I felt the tent itself would probably become too warm anyways, so the camping equipment remained in my boot.

There were lots of other familiar faces that I knew but had never spoken to before. Later, as the race progressed, there wouldn’t be many that I didn’t have a chat with at some stage. I got my bits and pieces organised into a blue plastic box and left it at the aid station. That was the great thing about the logistics of the event taking place at a track – you were only ever 400m away from food or drink. I lazed for the remaining minutes until the race start. Then at 6:40pm we started to gather at the start/finish area.

0 - 6 hrs

In a surprisingly low key manner the race began bang on time. The excitement and anticipation soon evaporated about halfway around the first lap when the realisation dawned on me that this would be the constant for the next 24 hours!

Lap 2.

As I passed through for my first lap it dawned on me that I’d done a ‘hard reset’ on my watch a couple of days ago to fix a technical issue and had forgotten to reset my filed displays to my usual data. This threw me for a few hundred metres as I tried to change the settings on the run. I managed to get a few data dields displaying and settled for that. The main field required being my ‘pace’ to ensure I didn’t start off too fast. By now I had fallen in step with Graham and Paddy which was a real boost. Paddy had ran 100 miles+ here for the past couple of years so he knew the ropes. Graham was a first timer like myself and he was adamant he wanted to go out at a sustainable pace which happened to tie in with my requirements too. After a few laps Paddy began to push ahead and create a gap so it was left to the two of us instead.

Just after the start of the race and trying to fix the watch on the run!

I had a general outline of desired pace and distance per hour which was projected onto a sliding scale. The first couple of hours however were to cover 10.5km per hour. Myself and Graham were holding to that remarkably well and as the first hour came to an end we were bang on target. The pace held good for the second hour too and we were on course for 21km but we agreed that we’d take a walk break of one lap as a preemptive strike on fatigue. By now the sun was disappearing behind the tree cover and temperatures were dropping a little but the humidity remained.

Early days with Helen, Pat and Graham.

We started into our third hour with 20.5km in the bank and still feeling good. The time so far had actually passed quickly. Another positive about running around a track is that you end up passing and being passed pretty regularly as a mid pack runner. So this meant we were having mini chats with lots of other runners and quickly saying hi to the leaders as they were speeding past! At this stage Ruthann Sheehan had some company in the ladies race in the form of Aine Gallagher. Ruthann’s pedigree is well known as she is a World class ultra runner, but Aine was an unknown to most of us. We were wondering if she knew what she’d gotten herself into trying to stick to Ruthann for so long. They were still right beside each other at this point but soon Aine would begin to feel the pace and drift back. The third placed lady Susan McCartney was remarkably consistent running her own race, lapping a little faster than myself and Graham and so had passed us a couple of times at this stage. She was to continue on to 100 miles without slowing significantly in another impressively run race.

Looking  for the shortcuts!

Around this time Paddy put in a spurt of faster running too and at one stage appeared to be lapping us too regularly for our liking. With all his experience from the past couple of years though we knew he had his tactics spot on and were impressed by his efforts. The men’s race though had pushed on much further by this stage and the foursome of Eoin Keith, John O’Regan, Eddie Gallen and the English raider Matthew Moroz were all kicking on at an impressive rate. All of these guys are International standard and that added further to the event. To be running in such close proximity to the best around…can’t imagine getting any similar opportunity to compete against the national soccer or rugby teams!

Myself and Graham ran for the next hour before taking another one lap walking break just before the 3hr mark and likewise for the 4hr mark too. At 4hrs the competitors changed direction on the track and we were now travelling in a clockwise direction. We had now hit 41km, right where we wanted to be! The following three hours passed by with us continuing to hit my target – 50km by 5hrs, 58km by 6hrs - a little slow to the 59km goal - and back on track with 67km by 7hrs. This was going remarkably well according to my plans.

Ladies winner Ruthann glides by myself and Graham.

6 - 12 hrs
A strange thing began to happen around this time. Our natural drifting to a slower pace was reigned in and we began to get back to our earlier pace and started banking a few kms without really noticing it. By 8hrs we were through 76km (2km banked) and we hit halfway in our target distance (80.5km) by 8hrs 20mins. By now we were feeling very confident that with almost 2/3’s of the race yet to go we would manage the other 80.5km easily. Our improved pace continued and by 9hrs we had reached 86km (5km banked)! Things were getting a little tougher now but due to our relaxed pace early on we were still in good shape overall.

MPT at night.

By 10 hours we were through 94km (6km banked) and the magical 100km marker was smashed in 10hrs 40mins. It was somewhere around this point that Graham was beginning to feel a little tired and walked a bit extra. For the first time in the event we were now split up. In hindsight I think that was what allowed me to become undisciplined in my approach. Because I was now running solo I found myself pushing on a little each lap. I’d just gone through a low spell and was beginning to feel very stiff and a little sore so on my break I took a nurofen to ease the stiffness and refueled with half a can of coke. That provided the impetus for 80mins of serious running from me which averaged out at 5:19/km for those 15km! For a short while I was the fastest person on the track allowing me to overtake both Eoin and Ruthann a couple of times. I felt really embarrassed as I went past each of them. They were probably wondering what I was at with this sudden surge, and no doubt they were taking it handy. I was feeling good however and my aim was to get as much distance as possible covered under the relative coolness of night, as I knew when the sun came up the pace would be dropping off anyways. So, I made a deal with myself to push on now and later, when I’d be reduced to mainly walking, I’d have less distance to cover. Not sure if that argument would have stood up to rational debate but at that stage I bought it easily! A few of the other runners started to comment as I was going past which helped the confidence no end. Eventually the effort levels started to get a bit onerous and I took a break before returning to the track at a more reasonable pace.

After 12 hrs: Dargan jump #1!

After 12 hrs + 1 lap: Dargan jump #2!

12-18 hrs

I fell back in step with Graham and a few others and after a couple of hours of 6:15/km pace we now stood at 119km after 13hrs. This was to be the beginning of the difficult stuff now as I started to walk more and more at this stage. Lots of others were doing likewise yet the leaders were still banging out their kms consistently. With a full marathon left to get to my target I knew I could afford to walk all the way to the finish and still break 100 miles easily. It was probably for this reason that my spirits remained so high even though the body was now in lots of pain. I started to run alongside some of the other runners that I met for the first time tonight, now that I was able to chat away while walking and jogging slowly. Pat and David who had ran together for most of the event also had recently won a 24hr two person relay race in England recently.

Myself and Pat

The McLoughlin sisters from Achill were now vying with each other for position in the ladies race with Donna eventually pipping Caroline to 3rd place. Frank and Eric were also running together and I paced off them for a while whenever we happened to be in proximity. John O’Regan paused a couple of times throughout the race to offer support and advice which was much appreciated given his vast experience and ability. All in all a very convivial atmosphere filled the stadium.

Trying to remain cool (obviously not in a fashion-sense!)

The kms continued to whittle away slowly and the heat was now in full midday glory! I was back to wearing the buff on my head to keep my scalp from burning. It wasn’t long before I was grabbing a sponge every lap just to pour water over myself to keep me cool. It was very noticeable the odd lap when I didn’t bother that I could feel my cor temperature getting insufferably hot. That’s the great thing about the track for an event like this – you’re never to far away from rectifying a bad situation.

Graham was a few kms back on me by this stage and was going through peaks and troughs of emotions. I was always confident that he’d make it to the 100 miles but around 19hrs he was having his doubts and struggles. Thankfully, with the aid of Phil and his son Matthew he managed to turn things around and kept the show on the road. By 21 hrs he knew he’d be ok but was adamant that once he had the 100miles completed he wasn’t going to do a step extra!

Myself and Graham

This was similar to my own thoughts on reaching 100 miles in fairness. At one stage towards the end of my mid race surge I was brash enough to think about the possibilities of going for 200km! Once the inevitable low followed I quickly reverted back to my original goal – 100 miles would be quite enough for me! So, having just changed direction yet again at the 20hr marker I checked on the count and worked out that I needed 20 laps to ‘finish’. The following lap took me 4 mins to walk so I figured I’d be done in about 80mins. For the first time I had an achievable and relatively short term goal. I kept the head down and marked off the laps in my head stopping only briefly after 10 laps for one last drink of coke for this final 40mins. With 7 laps remaining I got chatting to a guy. Amongst the small talk I managed to uncover that he was two laps ahead of me, so I took this as a challenge to beat him to the finish. Of course I never told him how close I was so he was clearly at a disadvantage! With 4 laps to go I managed to unlap myself once and by now Michael was struggling. I thought he had an injury so reckoned I’d have a decent chance of nabbing his spot before his 3 remaining laps were up. As it turns out I was only 50m behind him heading into the second last lap but suddenly he vanished. I thought for sure he must have miscounted when talking to me early and that he was now finished. I continued on regardless and finished my remaining lap and as I passed through the start/finish area there was a nice announcement about my achievement from the organisers. This surprised me a little and perked me up enough so that I ended up throwing in another lap! At the end of this lap I stepped off the track and went straight to the massage tent for a rub down. It was only then that I discovered that Michael had been pulled from the track due to heat exhaustion and blood pressure issues. As I was getting my rub down he was lying in the shade waiting for his vital stats to return to normal and get out for the final lap to make it to 100 miles. So close yet short. I left the massage tent 20 mins later and he was still there. Another hour would pass before he was allowed to return to the track for that solitary lap to break 100, but that he did!

Average hourly pace.

I was basking in my own achievements for a while and watched lots of fellow runners pass through their own 100 mile barriers. With approx 23 hrs on the clock Graham was getting thorugh his final few laps. I decided I’d venture out for another lap to keep him company but sat myself back down afterwards and let him complete out the last couple with his son Matthew. When he finally crossed the mat he made a beeline for the chairs on the side of the track and planted himself there with a beaming grin – job very much done!

By the end of the race 22 runners had notched the 100 miles and at the sharp end of things Eoin Keith ran just over 152 miles – a phenomenal performance! (Did I mention that I passed him a couple of times in the race?!) Ruthann led the ladies home with a just as impressive 140 miles.

Results

After the race there was a presentation of the medals and for those of us that hit 100 miles a specially designed jacket to mark the performance. Lots of sandwiches and home-baked goodies were laid on also as the speeches were being made. Belfast Lord Mayor Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, who ran the final hour of the race himself before heading along to the Bruce Springsteen concert next door, presented the medals. A nice way to finish off what was a surprisingly enjoyable 24 hrs of misery!

Throughout the event I ate very little. I normally have a great stomach for taking any food but when I run that trait desserts me (pun fully intended!). I took an oaty/chocolate bar after an hour and then a small amount of another after two hours. But then I didn’t take any food until Phil kindly cooked some pasta for us around 4hrs. Even at that I could only take half a small bowl of it. Come morning time around the 12hr mark the organisers laid on porridge which I never eat anyways so I avoided that too. Around midday there appeared some stew also but I wasn’t far away from the finish by now (only a few hours!) so left that too. I had bits of mandarin from Team Pat/David and a mini bowl of ice-cream courtesy of team Achill (thank you very much to all again!). Apart from that though nothing else from what I can remember now. I did take lots of fluids however as my body found it easier to digest them. I drank about 2-3 litres of water before the bland taste got the better of me, about 1 litre of milk (surprised that worked so well!) and the best help of all about 7 cans of coke! The coke alone equates to about 230g of sugar or 56 tablespoons!! And yet it was the water that gave cause for complaint to my stomach! At one stage when I was tying to take a second nurofen tablet later in the race my stomach had felt a little queasy for a while. I threw back the nurofen but the water struggled to wash it down so I went for another mouthful. Within a few seconds I was dry wretching on the side of the track! One benefit of not having eaten much was that there was nothing to come back up! Thankfully the tablet stayed down and I was back running in a few minutes.

Dame Mary Peters herself out to support Team Mayo!

My final task was to get myself back to Dublin in one piece. After dropping Frank and Eric into Belfast centre I hit the road around 9pm. It was a real struggle after half an hour to keep my eyes open and I had to pull in a few times before I even hit the border! I stopped off in Dundalk to break up the journey and get some food but by Drogheda I was drifting off again. I made a discreet pit stop here but as I tried to get out of the car my body was ceasing up! I was dreaming of the use of one of those walking aids for frail people by now! Somehow I managed to make it the remaining half an hour home without dozing off and what is normally a 1hr45min journey took me 3hrs to complete with no traffic! I think next year I’ll be booking into Belfast for the night!!

So, next year, eh? I’m already looking forward to it again! Not too sure what I’d do differently apart from perhaps have a few extra weeks of back to back long runs. My training this year was more suited to a 50 mile race really so if I increase the b2b runs I hope it’ll bring on the endurance further. I really think the few long mountain runs I did stood to great benefit for me from both physical and mental aspects.

I’d probably hope to avoid the mid-race surge from this year also as that would allow me to keep a more balanced output level and hopefully allow for me to run close to the full 24hrs rather than simply waste the last 2.5hrs like this year.

Assuming I do go back the next obvious target would be 200km now that 100 miles has been done. That distance would have got 5^th position this year and is termed National Standard by the IAU. It is probably a stretch too far but nevertheless something to aim for even if it is just pie-in-the-sky stuff! Just bring it on!

Not surprisingly I took Sunday off as a well deserved needed rest day!

Week 29 Summary: 

RTW: 2 from 7 days

DTW: 172.8km

DTY: 2450.6km

The calm before the...long & slow running!

Monday, 8th July, 2013 – 41km Cycle to Ratoath (27kph) + (1.5km Recovery Run)
My small toes on both feet were quite bruised after all the long distances so I decided to go for a cycle instead. Very enjoyable 41km followed and when I got home I threw the runners on thinking I’d get a few running kms added. However, after 500m of running it was obvious the toes were too sore and were causing over compensating tightness on the outside of my right leg so I looped around for a truncated 1.5km.

Tuesday, 9th July, 2013 –7.2km Recovery Run (5:15/km)
Thankfully the toes were much better today so I pushed myself out the door for an easy run but the first few kms were tough so it resulted in recovery pace instead. By 3km the legs were coming round and the final few kms were ran a bit faster. Overall though feeling a bit jaded for a few days now. Not sure if it’s the heat or the accumulated mileage or simply them both.

Wednesday, 10th July, 2013 –11.2km IMRA Race #8 – Ballinastoe
I’d already ran my 7th League race so I was guaranteed a LL prize regardless but the lovely weather this week was drawing me back to the hills. I gave Felim a lift from Loughlinstown and we were parked well in advance of the start. The course was a 2.5km outward section followed by a large 6km loop and then a run back along the initial 2.5km section again.

Just after cresting the first 2.5km hill

Right from the off we were climbing - up fireroads first, then followed by a rocky path through the woods. As has happened most of the time this year I started too far back in the field which meant I was well over 100th position by the first 200m. I wasn’t too bothered though as I didn’t fancy racing this one flat out due to a general apathy which included a total lack of a warm-up (I figured I was already warm and the first 2km were uphill so I’d be much warmer & without stressing the muscles too much so that should work perfectly). I passed lots of people on this long climb with most taking walking breaks waaay too early! Of course this led to me falling into step with some of their rhythms and therefore me walking when most of the time I didn’t really need to! Eventually we were cresting the hill and soon afterwards turning left and away from the glare of a low-setting sun. Much of the next 5km was downhill through pine trees, flat through pine trees and uphill through pi… you get the drift! The branches were very low lying so it felt like I was constantly bent over trying to avoid them. At one stage I had just passed a Junior runner and no more than 60secs later I heard him go flying to the ground behind me. I slowed and turned and asked him if he was ok but there was already 4 or 5 following runners asking the same so I continued on. There would be no pressure on me for a while now I thought as everyone would have slowed down due to the incident but lo and behold within 30 seconds the kid was trying to pass me again! Fair play to him. A minute later I was catching another junior runner in front of me so I rewarded the kid behind me by stepping aside and letting him past to chase his challenger. Unfortunately though, it seemed they were mates and once he caught up to the other lad they slowed to have a chat! Luckily for me the Junior course veered off from our course about 200m later and they were no longer holding me back.

More uphill!

A couple of more uphill kms followed before we looped back around to the outward trail and turned for home along the opening 2.5km. At this point I passed 2 or 3 guys on the top of the hill, so once we were descending the rocky path there were two ladies about 100m and 200m ahead of me. I made it my goal to overtake the two of them by the finish. The first girl held out for about 3-4 mins before I passed her and shortly afterwards we arrived out onto the fireroad for home and there I passed the other girl. Next up was a guy a further 100m ahead who was just passing an early starter. We were now only about 600m from the finish so I was quite literally running out of road! I had caught the early starter pretty quickly and with about 300m to go I was reeling in the guy. 100m later and I was on his shoulder but I was reckoning he’d find a boost of energy once he knew I was about to pass him. Seizing the inititative I upped my speed to maximum effort for the run in to the finish and to my surprise there was no fightback whatsoever from the other guy leaving me to beat him by 20-30m. The last 130m was clocked at 3:09/km pace which shows I wouldn’t have lasted much longer or I’d have blown up!

A quick headcount at the finish and I reckoned I might have sneaked into the top 60 as I waited to see how Felim and Jeff had done. They came home shortly after me and with the arrival of the flies we dalled no more and departed. As it turned out I was credited with 72nd position which was a little disappointing. There were several people who went the wrong way on the course and had been marked down as DNF but I was left wondering was there not a lot more who may have ran a short course also because there was one or two people who finished ahead of me whom I was sure I had passed early in the race.

Anyways, not to worry too much considering my attitude at the start. Another enjoyable Wednesday evening league race but that’s my lot for this Summer as the last race is next week and I won’t be able to make it. Hopefully I’ll be back out for a few casual runs after work over the next few weeks.

Thursday, 11th July, 2013 – Rest Day
Felt a bit tired from last nights mountain run and had a couple of things lined up in the evening so logged this one as a rest day.

Friday, 12th July, 2013 – 11.9km Recovery Run (5:35/km)

Just another slow recovery paced run to keep ticking over in advance of the HM pacing job tomorrow.

Saturday, 13th July, 2013 – 21.3km Clontarf Half Marathon (5:36/km)
Already a scorching day in Clontarf when i got there i was happy that I was pacing this and not racing! Met up with my 2hr pacing buddy Conor a while before the start as well as the others including Michael, Dominic and Matt who had to run solo with the 1:45 gang.

Everything went pretty well with a nice gang with us as far as the turnaround point near Kilbarrack. As we ran back however people started to drop off mostly due to the fact the cooling breeze was now on our back and thereby not functioning so well. When we were back on the beach the group was whittling away further and the soft sand exiting onto the wooden bridge decimated the group altogether. A few people remained and we picked up a few stragglers on the run-in to help get them in under 2hrs. It was Conor's first time pacing and he should be happy with a job well done as we finished in 1:59:37.

Sunday, 14th July, 2013 – Rest Day
Even though it was only a pacing job yesterday was still in the legs. Wasn't helped by going out for a few too many drinks in the evening time either!! Rest and recovery today!

So, not a huge amount of kms this week but with it being yet another taper(!) I am reasonably happy. Main thing now is to avoid injury before Friday!

Week 28 Summary: 

RTW: 5 from 7 days

DTW: 53.1km

DTY: 2277.8km

Sixmilebridge and Wicklow Way

Monday, 1st July, 2013 – 11.9km Easy Run (4:59/km)
First couple of kms were just loosening out the legs and then managed a decent clip afterwards.

Tuesday, 2nd July, 2013 – 17.8km Medium Slow Run (5:25/km)
Probably a little too fast last night as on tonight’s run the legs felt a little heavy again. Kept the pace around 5:27/km all the way and the HR in the 120’s.

Wednesday, 3rd July, 2013 – Rest Day
The big mileage caught up with me and I was knackered so I gave tonight a miss.

Thursday, 4th July, 2013 – 11.9km Recovery Run (5:23/km)
A gentle enough recovery run in advance of a couple of big days…

Friday, 5th July, 2013 – 42.6km Sixmilebridge Marathon (5:19/km)
It only entered my head during the week that I could do with a back to back long run this weekend, that I was free Friday afternoon and that Day 2 of the 10 in 10 was starting at 5pm. Everything came together so perfectly that I had registered for the marathon before I really knew what was happening!

I drove straight to Sixmilebridge from work and arrived into the village about 30mins before the race start. After a little bit of adventuring I eventually located the registration centre. 8 people had gone out for an early start at 3pm in a bid to be home safely before darkness. That left me among about 25 people to start at 5pm. The race started with a small lap of the village before tackling the main loop. After the first mile a group of five had broken away from the rest of us and I was leading the charge of the peleton (It would evolve into a tussle to the finish between Thomas, Stu and Rik for the win). I inched away from the rest of my group over the next few miles so it was strange when I heard another runner approaching after 5 miles. After a little chat it emerges it was John Chapman whom I had ran close to in both Le Cheile marathons two weeks previously. I fully expected that he would continue on past me but after a mile or so we fell into the same pace. I was now moving slightly faster than I’d aimed for but the company was allowing the time to tick by faster so I made the decision to maintain speed alongside John.

Myself and the other JC
crossing the finish line

The water stations were well manned by locals and appeared every three miles. This was a warm day so hydration was essential, although luckily the temperature dropped a few degreees after the first hour. There was also a couple of road crossings that the marshalls handled really well from a safety point of view so good performance all round!

After 10 miles we were met by a long drag. Barely noticeable at this stage it would seem much steeper just 2 hours later. We were back in the village in what felt like no time (actually – 1:53!) and here we managed to catch up to Denis Looney who had kept a solid 200m gap on us ever since John joined me 8 miles previous. Unfortunately Denis seemed to take it a bit easier from here though and he dropped back from us when we left the village for the second time. 

We were now coming across some of the 3pm starters who were walking including Tom who organised this whole event through the local Bridge Milers Olympic Harriers (BMOH) club. Unfortunately Tom had done his ankle the evening before and that resulted in him having to walk the entire course today. Around this point we caught up to Graham Whitaker also who had been in fourth place but like Denis he too was now easing back (full entitled to do so with a 3:35 yesterday!). Graham ran with us for a half a mile or so but let us off after that.

Marathon results

We passed a couple of more walkers soon afterwards but then it was just the pair of us til the end. Things got a little tougher (and quieter!) over the last few miles and that damn drag from the first lap now appeared neverending! Thankfully John was very familiar with the route so he could tell me just where the landmarks along the route were. We passed under the finish gantry together in 3:46:57 for joint 4th spot. Considering I was planning to run about 4:00-4:10 I was very happy with the time and how I felt (my HR was in the recovery zone throughout until the final few miles when a little effort was required). However, I was wary that I now had to drive back to Dublin and run a very hilly marathon distance tomorrow so I wasn’t sure if I’d regret this evening’s faster pace …

Saturday, 6th July, 2013 – 40.6km Wicklow Way LSR

Starting point

I parked up in the Lidl on Grange Road and immediately ran into Johnny. A short walk to the meeting spot and we ran into Pat and Sean while watching the winners first finishers of the Parkrun. After a few mins we noticed another group of backpak-clad runner-type people and on closer inspection confirmed it was the rest of our group. There was 12 in total and we’d be meeting a 13th - Felim - at Curtlestown Wood later. A plan which had developed in a pub after the Cork marathon between myself and Johnny had snowballed to this! People travelled from Cork (x3), Kilkenny and Laois for this so I’m sure they were happy with the glorious weather we laid on for them! And so it was that at 10:05am we set sail for the Wicklow Way.

The gang (minus Felim) at the start

The first couple of kms are through Marlay Park and out onto College Road before we turned undeer the M50 and the start of the first of three big climbs of the day. Kilmashogue Lane was steep in places and we were happy when it turned off road onto the mountain itself as the incline eased off a bit from here. Before long we were most of the way to the top and the first photo opp of the day looking back over a sun laden Dublin. Just a little while later we were cresting the mountain and stopped for a brief break at the junction of the Dublin Mountain Way trail. Everyone was in good spirirts and really enjoying the scenery and best news of all was that the next few miles were downhill!

Traffic jam on the trail!

The trail across towards Tibradden is quite technical and very easy to trip yourself up (as I did on the DMW a few months back!). Thankfully though no such accidents to report this time. The section where it diverges from the DMW down to the Ballybrack Road was very steep and a couple of times I could feel the grip from the runners begin to slide. Great fun! We regrouped again at the man road and it was here that the flies and midges first became unbearable. 

View from Kilmashogue
back over the city

Next up was Prince William’s Seat. The group was now beginning to splinter a little bit with the faster guys like Michael, Paul, Kevin and Jeff all bouncing lightly up the mountain! No shame in being droppped by that gang though as they all have impressive marathon pbs. Another brilliant if slightly hazy vista welcomed us at the top of this climb where we were now looking down over Bray, Dalkey and the Irish Sea. The descent from here included a section of large boulders which had to be carefully negotiated before we were back onto fireroad and before we knew it were at the gates of Curtlestown Woods. 

Drop down to the
Dargle from Maulin

Felim was waiting for us here with two x 2 litre bottles of water which was perfect timing as most of us were running pretty low. After a top-up we were on our way again. I could see that the faster guys were eager to get going and probably a little too much waiting around for their liking but in fairness they never complained. Well at least not while we were in earshot!! After a few miles on road, fireroad and through fields we arrived at Crone Woods. This was the start of the final large climb – but the toughest was kept for last! I’ve ran this climb a few times now and new what lay ahead so I made sure to take it handy. I’d arrived at the start without having refueled sufficiently from yesterday’s efforts so I was very conscious of not over cooking things too far from the finish. The group now broke into a band of four towards the back with the 9 others travelling at varying speeds in front. Another great photo opp presented itself just in front of Powerscourt waterfall and the first decent view of Djouce. 

Water refill at the crossing of the Dargle

Myself and Felim

We marched onwards and regrouped once more as we crossed the Dargle and stopped for a water refill. We weren’t too sure of the water quality but Pat promised he’d drank from it before so we gave it a taste. Just as good as from a tap so we refilled for the remainder of the run. From here to the top of Djouce was to prove to be a killer for me. Totally lacking in energy I just hiked to the high point before jogging around the peak and by the time we were on the far side of the mountain it was time for another photo opp so I decided to take on some food. This stop lasted about 5 mins and once we got going again it was mainly downhill to the finish. So, refreshed, reenergised and refocused the funk lifted and I was back to enjoying my adventure. 

Myself and John at Lough Tay.

Finito!

There had been talk (mainly by me I admit!) of continuing onwards to Laragh but one-by-one people were making up their mind to call it quits in Roundwood instead. The faster guys kicked on (subsequently taking a shortcut to the village!) while myself Felim, Johnny and Kate stuck to our pace and route to arrive into the Coach House about 25 mins after them. A short while later the remainder of the bunch dropped in too so there was planty of craic as we waited for our lift back to Marlay.

Thankfully I’d made it through two very long runs in decent nick and that gives me a nice confident boost for Friday week in Belfast. The past few weeks have reinstilled in me the old running mantra that ‘pace kills, not distance!’. Today’s run was really enjoyable again and before we’d left the pub Bertie was already working on plans for a follow-up run down in Kerry!

Note: Thanks to Kate, Bertie, John, Paul and Ger for all the pics!

Sunday, 7th July, 2013 – 7.4km Recovery Run (5:27/km)
Just got out and ran a leg loosener to keep the legs ticking over. No pain thankfully, just a bit of tiredness but that’s to be expected.

So, a week of over 132km, easily the biggest week of running I’ve ever managed AND I had a Rest Day in there to boot - gotta be pleased with that!


Week 27 Summary:
RTW: 6 from 7 days
DTW: 132.2km
DTY: 2224.7km

Croagh Patrick Heritage Trail...Take 2!

Friday, 28th June, 2013 – 7.5km St Coca's 5km race + 2.5km wu/cd (3:59/km)
I had planned to do this all week but after feeling a bit knackered yesterday I changed my mind and thought I’d give it a miss. Then on Friday morning an email from Philip suggested that the €12 was great value and that I’d probably have that value in food and goodies afterwards! Also, the race was en route to the West so I once more changed my mind and booked the race. For only €12 it really was a great value race. I arrived by 7:30 and after a quick regsitration, short chat with Niall and brief warm up with Philip we went to the start line. Niall had offered to pace me to sub 20mins but I wasn’t too bothered so told him to run his own race, rather than waste his time on mine.

There were lots of fast looking people at the race start and I found myself about 1/3rd of the way back the field. The race started without much congestion and after 200m I found myself on the shoulder of Niall! Eased back from this unsustainable pace and made it over the first bridge without major difficulty. Things settled down pretty quickly and before we knew it we were flying past the ‘kms to go’ signs. The course was very flat with the only two inclines being slight enough. With 1.5km to go things started to get a little tough. My legs weren’t moving at the required rate and the high mileage was catching up with me. I kept the effort up regardless and soon found myself passing the ‘1km to go’ sign. I was running on fumes at this stage and a few people started going past me in the final 500m but I managed to rally to stem the bleeding somewhat. I heard Niall shouting out as I was approaching the line with the countdown to 20mins ticking away. 20:00 as I passed through! This time I didn’t ‘split’ my watch at the real start line so I only have the gun time to go by. Probably the same time in reality as Enfield 6 weeks ago but without any faster training since, so happy enough all things considered. At some stage I will focus on the shorter stuff and aim to make serious inroads on the 5km/10km times but that will all have to wait for the moment! 

Approaching the finish line. Photo courtesy of Peter Mooney.

Saturday, 29th June, 2013 – 62.9km Croagh Patrick Heritage Trail
Back in February I attempted this trail run but called it short at 42km in Aghagower. Unfinished business meant I returned for another attempt on Saturday. The PB equalling 5km run last night probably didn’t help matters but I reckoned it was short enough and that the trail run would be nice and easy paced so there should be little enough overlap of tired muscles.

I started at 8:45am on Saturday morning from Balla Square. The weather was overcast and showery. The wind was pretty weak but I knew it was to get a bit stronger later on. The first 42km to Aghagower was quite similar as last time. Some sections were drier which was a help but then other fields were full of meadow so that took a little longer. It all balanced out to mean that I arrived in Aghagower in approximately the same time (4hrs55mins) as last time but I was definitely in a much better state - the hill just before Aghagower felt nowhere near as tough as last time out.

After a refuelling break in Aghagower I continued onwards past the ruins and the graveyard. Here I was looking for a turn to the left but knew it would be a bit difficult to find. After missing it initially and then asking a farmer in the field next to it I eventually discovered the track. This section was very overgrown and close to unrunnable with briars and nettles and low hanging branches to contend with. After about 800m I emerged out onto the main road again. This I was to later find out was the beginning of the second major hill on the trail. There was a walking group around here so it was good to have some company for a brief while. After a little longer than I’d expected I arrived at the top of the hill. Still I couldn’t view the Reek though as there was quite a bit of low hanging cloud around. 

By this stage my feet were getting sore, especially my little toes. They had been taking the slack for all the uneven off-road terrain to help keep me balanced. By now they were well blistered on top of lots of grit aggravating them. The average pace was beginning to fall back around now as I took a couple of wallking breaks for the uphills. Soon, I was on the downhill section to the Westport-Leenane road. As I crossed over to Brackloon Woods I really felt the worst was behind me and that I was definitely less than 10km from the finish. The next two kms were up through the woods on a nice tree-covered path. It was good to be sheltered from the wind as it had been quite exposed on parts of the last 5 miles and the wind was now quite strong. A couple of kms of back roads followed Brackloon Woods and soon I was at the base of the Skelp. This is where the beginning of the end occurred.

The first 1.5 miles are uphill with an elevation gain of over 150m along laneways and mountain trail. The next mile was further uphill but also had very thick heather which had to be negotiated. This section really broke me and when I eventually got to the end of this section I had to have a sit-down and clean out my shoes and socks! I figured the rest should be easy as it meant dropping height and then contouring around the mountain. The reality however meant the descent was too steep to run and then when contouring there was no trail at all. Instead a few waymarkers dotted along the mountainside gave you the general direction to follow but there was now a very strong wind in my face and the terrain brought an endless amount of downhill streams which made the ground saturated all the way to the end of the trail 2 miles away! 

Eventually I reached the terminal sign, just 100m above St. Patrick’s statue and a further 500m to the main road. 7hrs 55mins after starting out in Balla I reached Campbell’s bar. Happy to be sitting down and no longer having to deal with the unreasonable mountain terrain I ordered and savoured one of the tastiest pints of Guinness I’ve ever experienced!

Sunday, 30th June, 2013 – Rest Day
Small toes on both feet still very tender so no point in going out for a run to compound the matter – rest day instead.

Week 26 Summary:
RTW: 4 from 7 days
DTW: 88.8km
DTY: 2092.5km

More cycling and IMRA

Monday, 24th June, 2013 - 8.9km Recovery run (5:24/km)
Had to take today off work to get the car sorted out (€120 to fix and collected in the evening. Could have been much worse!) so I was planning to get out early but as things worked out it was actually evening time before I managed to get out the door.

I was still pretty tired for this run so took it at recovery pace again although it was still about 15secs/km faster than yesterday, so that was positive. The knee which had been at me so much yesterday behaved itself very well today with only a slight soreness which lasted no more than 100m.

Tuesday, 25th June, 2013 – 79km Cycle around South Dublin
Cycled from my apartment and met up with Niall at the IFSC. We went South along the Coast road before stopping off briefly at the James Joyce Martello Tower in Sandycove. We then continued through Dalkey onto the Vico road for a nice climb and then descent into Shankill before arriving onto Bray seafront. From there we headed for Enniskerry and while here we decided to go via Johnny Fox’s and have a pint in the Blue Light. By the time the Guinness was gone and the midges had their fill it was just beginning to get dark so we started our return journey to the city, dropping Niall off in Rathmines and then adding the final 12km to get home myself for almost 80km in total including some serious hills thrown in. A good night’s exercise which left me feeling almost as tired as the 87km running on Saturday!

Wednesday, 26th June, 2013 – 9.6km IMRA Race - Kippure

Start of the bog road on the return journey. 2km from the finish.

Feeling pretty tired after the cycle last night (and no doubt the double marathon on Saturday) so wasn’t hugely enthused about my 7th IMRA Leinster League race. This was more of a ‘tick-the-box’ exercise to get me over the line of completing the minimum amount of races required for the league. The race itself consisted of a 2.3km section along a slightly undulating bog road before a 2.5km climb to the top where we turned at the trig point beside the giant aerials. 

I found myself pinned in too far back at the start but given my lethargy I figured I’d leave things be. The bog road section saw me slowly move up through the field. Annoyingly though my Garmin was set to auto alert once my HR went above 150bpm (from my trail marathon) which pretty much meant it beeped the whole way! Once the slower stuff arrived with the start of the ascent I managed to adjust the watch to remedy this. In the process of doing so however about 10 people passed me on the climb.I soon got back into my rhythm and regained a few positions but we were at the top before I was properly able to let rip. On the descent the new innov8s were proving their worth and I was ploughing down the bog slope. Because of this wild abandon I twice got caught out by bogholes where I was lucky to get my foot and shoe out without major incident. Still though each time cost me precious second where people went by me once more. By the time we hit the bog road again I had regained almost 10 positions from the summit. A couple more on the way to the finish meant I got home in 87th position (55:04). A quick look at the results tells me that my usual spot of 66th required a time of 53:14 – almost two minutes which would probably have been possible had I been a bit fresher and not lost that time on the ascent to readjusting my watch. Still though, happy enough as I now have my base score for the LL. All future races (3 remaining) will now be in a bid to improve the score.

Thursday, 27th June, 2013 – Rest Day
All the efforts of the past week caught up with me and I deferred to an almost guilt-free rest day.