What a year of competing and training, i started the year struggling to run 10km, but i kept at it and trained so hard over the summer without competing, when i did come back , i was flying, taking 3rd in timoleague duathlon and 2nd in the southcoast adventure race in skibbereen, my 2011 races were,
2 off road duathlons , clashnacrona woods
Mealagh Valley 10 mile road run,
Wild west run,Kenmare, off road half marathon,
Ballycotton 10 mile
Ballydehob 10km
Monster Mac adventure race, milstreet
Coast2coast Adventure race, Sligo to Down
Killarney mountain bike race
Shannonvale 10km
Westcork Crosscountry Championships, Clonakilty
Timoleague Duathlon
2time trials and 1 hill climb,Drinagh
Liffey Descent Kayak marathon, Dublin
Southcoast Adventure race, Skibbereen
The raid, 24 hour adventure race Co Tyrone
Clonakilty Marathon
What a fucking year, i could not have guessed that it would have been half as good.Not that there was not some lows, being injured for 7 weeks in march april, meant i could not really go hell for leather at monster mac, although i still finished 5th and again in august sept, i had a left shin problem that really curtailed my running training, this did mean that my cycling endurance was balanced through out the year and The highlights were, Ballycotton for the sheer size of the event and the prestige, coast 2 coast cause it was a cool, varied 2 day event, southcoast, cause i was flying! the raid cause i have been waiting for that for so long and clon marathon cause i have always wanted to feel that good after running 26.2 miles.
The 15 or 20 nights of basketball in ballinacarriga with the lads were also sooooo good.
Major thank you to Eoin Ward and Mike Flanagan, mentors, listeners, movivators and friends. And of course my wife and 4 kids for letting me away, i think i always came back better!
Roll on 2012, i can hardly wait.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
2011 a look back.
In late 2010 the weather went nasty and this was a picture i took on one ride up in the Mealagh valley, mad day out,
Around this time i also was reduced to running laps of the park, like alot of laps, i have in the past done 20 miles of laps (80 laps!!) during this spell the most i did was 'only' 36, i persevered and with the help of basketball really taking off on the monday nights, got a good fitness going, i had really hurt my ankle in sept 2010 and it changed things, most notably i went to a phsyio and finally started trying to sort out my groin problems of 4 years, and she recommended running as as therapy (to balance my one side leg muscle's from all the hard cycling!) well that really caught on and in nov of 2010 i headed to westport for the innaugural sea 2 summit, in a hope to salvage something from the year and it was a great experience, really setting me up for a great and varied 2011, thats why i include it in the 2011 review,
Dubbed as the last race of the season, the inaugural sea 2 summit race held 2 weeks ago in beautiful Westport was a tough but beautiful race. Consisting of a 4.5km run, then a flat 8km, then an all out effort up and down the famous Pilgrim Mountain of Croagh Patrick, then onto the bikes again for a 35km jaunt back around the mountain and up the infamous Maum climb with the aptly named “ramps of hell” ! and a final 4 km run which included an obstacle course for good measure. Course designer Padraig Marrey was even on hand to roar encouragement on the last energy sapping section.
2 members of the mountain bike team from the EDGE traveled up, new signing Anthony Cornforth and myself Donncha O Brien.
The gods were on side as the day was clear and dry albeit very cold, but considering the weather that we had in the 36 hours before the event it was a small miracle that the day turned out as pleasant as it did. All assembled at the Castle court hotel for a briefing and away we raced at 9.15 am to rapturous applause from a good sized crowd for that time of the morning. There were 2 races the supreme event as described above and a sprint event which would be half the distance approx. The initial run was along the excellent new green path (the old railway line) and it was a lovely experience to be trotting along with 600 hundred other competitors for company.
Onto the bikes for what was a sprint to the foot of Croagh Patrick, as i started the run up i could see former World Hill running Champion Robin Bryson in the lead up ahead, and my team mate Anthony flying up not far behind behind him. As i hit the shoulder ridge on the mountain i glanced back and it was some sight to see hundreds of ‘ants’ crawling up behind me. I dibbed at the top and turned to go back down the same route conscious that i better be cautious with my ankle only out of plaster 4 weeks. One man that certainly was not having these thoughts was Mr. Cornforth the flying Man from Kealkil, Westcork, recorded the fastest time down the mountain, top to bottom in 18 min flat!!
At this stage we were all strung out all over the course and the cycle was tough but coming from the heartland of hilly cycling we faired very well on the hilly bike leg. I sank 2 gels near the end of this phase as we were 3 hours in and the energy levels were dwindling, these perked me up a little but i still found the last 4 km shore run very difficult, i am a mountain biker after all, (something to work on over the winter) anyway i soldiered on and crossed the finish line in 3hours 28 mins for 14th one minute behind my teammate Anthony in 13th.
The legs were sore for a couple days after this one but the happy endorphines it released in me lasted for days, this was due to the race itself and also the excellent meal and after party in Westport that night. Full marks to the organizers, truly a brilliant weekend, looking forward to next year already.
Anthony Cornforth Powers up Croagh Patrick.
Donncha O Brien spinning up the Maum Climb
After sea 2 summit i kept tipping away at the running, just bit by bit and by early 2011 5 or 6 miles was still a good run for me, i had done very little cycling so in an effort to address this and include a bit of craic and community into my training i came up with the idea of an off road duathlon series, no entry, no fuss, short type events. The numbers were small but enthusiastic, making a great 3 race series.The 2012 series is starting in january (on a flatter,faster and more fun course) so get training, here is a look back at what i wrote about the very first one, almost a year ago!
Around this time i also was reduced to running laps of the park, like alot of laps, i have in the past done 20 miles of laps (80 laps!!) during this spell the most i did was 'only' 36, i persevered and with the help of basketball really taking off on the monday nights, got a good fitness going, i had really hurt my ankle in sept 2010 and it changed things, most notably i went to a phsyio and finally started trying to sort out my groin problems of 4 years, and she recommended running as as therapy (to balance my one side leg muscle's from all the hard cycling!) well that really caught on and in nov of 2010 i headed to westport for the innaugural sea 2 summit, in a hope to salvage something from the year and it was a great experience, really setting me up for a great and varied 2011, thats why i include it in the 2011 review,
Sea 2 Summit Adventure Race
November 23rd, 2010Dubbed as the last race of the season, the inaugural sea 2 summit race held 2 weeks ago in beautiful Westport was a tough but beautiful race. Consisting of a 4.5km run, then a flat 8km, then an all out effort up and down the famous Pilgrim Mountain of Croagh Patrick, then onto the bikes again for a 35km jaunt back around the mountain and up the infamous Maum climb with the aptly named “ramps of hell” ! and a final 4 km run which included an obstacle course for good measure. Course designer Padraig Marrey was even on hand to roar encouragement on the last energy sapping section.
2 members of the mountain bike team from the EDGE traveled up, new signing Anthony Cornforth and myself Donncha O Brien.
The gods were on side as the day was clear and dry albeit very cold, but considering the weather that we had in the 36 hours before the event it was a small miracle that the day turned out as pleasant as it did. All assembled at the Castle court hotel for a briefing and away we raced at 9.15 am to rapturous applause from a good sized crowd for that time of the morning. There were 2 races the supreme event as described above and a sprint event which would be half the distance approx. The initial run was along the excellent new green path (the old railway line) and it was a lovely experience to be trotting along with 600 hundred other competitors for company.
Start line
Eventual winner Colm Staunton (3hr3mins) mastering the Cargo Net.
The top section of Croagh Patrick
Anthony Cornforth Powers up Croagh Patrick.
Donncha O Brien spinning up the Maum Climb
After sea 2 summit i kept tipping away at the running, just bit by bit and by early 2011 5 or 6 miles was still a good run for me, i had done very little cycling so in an effort to address this and include a bit of craic and community into my training i came up with the idea of an off road duathlon series, no entry, no fuss, short type events. The numbers were small but enthusiastic, making a great 3 race series.The 2012 series is starting in january (on a flatter,faster and more fun course) so get training, here is a look back at what i wrote about the very first one, almost a year ago!
Off road duathlon, Westcork, 29th jan 2011
January 30th, 2011A big well done to all who competed in the duathlon this morning, it was cold but the course was in immaculate condition, so despite the pain! it was excellent.
The winter cobwebs were there in abundance but at least the first hard effort of the year is out of the way, the next event in 4 weeks time should be a little easier! Time to start picking up the training as the days hopefully will be a little warmer and the evenings are already stretching out noticably.
As all triathletes and multi sport competitors know, the transtion from the bike to the run can be tough but today having to do it 2 times was brutal, i for one had a tough time getting the legs moving quickly for the last leg, the heart rate was soaring and i was only going a little faster than walking pace! I guess thats the way it should be in January! Close racing is the goal of most event organisers as it makes for great excitment and the athletes usually push a little harder as a result. Podge and Adrian had fairly close racing and if podge works on the bike , it will be much closer in 4 weeks time.
Here is what Adrian had to say after,
“Well ya could say its a great way to start the weekend but I’m sure I am now fucked for the rest of the weekend! I must say there is no way I would ever do a work out like that for the sake of a work out but the bit of competition really makes the difference, It was good crack and I’m looking forward to the next one for some sick reason, Need a while to recover though, Ouch”
James and i were, basically clung to each other from start to finish, i pulled out a 40 second lead on the last run but he managed to speed his single speed along the single track to cause a sprint finish, which i barely managed to win by half a wheel! Super racing to be fair. Anthony pushed hard for 3rd with adrian in 4th, podge a close 5th and a anti-biotic taking Ken in 6th. Tom P took the photos and a stomach sick Alex turned up to do the timing, fair play.
All round it was fun and a great workout, in short the perfect saturday morning in January!
Results Off -Road Duathlon 29th Jan 2011,
Off road Duo Run 1 Bike 1 Run 2 Bike 2 Total
1st Donncha 7.58 11.41 9.01 12.43 41.07
2nd James 8.27 11.32 9.48 11.22 41.07
3rd Anthony 8.29 13.36 9.09 13.54 45.08
4th Adrian 11.15 13.33 12.31 13.04 50.20
5th Podge 9.55 15.53 12.12 17.43 55.43
6th Ken 11.49 17.36 13.00 17.30 59.55
The winter cobwebs were there in abundance but at least the first hard effort of the year is out of the way, the next event in 4 weeks time should be a little easier! Time to start picking up the training as the days hopefully will be a little warmer and the evenings are already stretching out noticably.
As all triathletes and multi sport competitors know, the transtion from the bike to the run can be tough but today having to do it 2 times was brutal, i for one had a tough time getting the legs moving quickly for the last leg, the heart rate was soaring and i was only going a little faster than walking pace! I guess thats the way it should be in January! Close racing is the goal of most event organisers as it makes for great excitment and the athletes usually push a little harder as a result. Podge and Adrian had fairly close racing and if podge works on the bike , it will be much closer in 4 weeks time.
Here is what Adrian had to say after,
“Well ya could say its a great way to start the weekend but I’m sure I am now fucked for the rest of the weekend! I must say there is no way I would ever do a work out like that for the sake of a work out but the bit of competition really makes the difference, It was good crack and I’m looking forward to the next one for some sick reason, Need a while to recover though, Ouch”
James and i were, basically clung to each other from start to finish, i pulled out a 40 second lead on the last run but he managed to speed his single speed along the single track to cause a sprint finish, which i barely managed to win by half a wheel! Super racing to be fair. Anthony pushed hard for 3rd with adrian in 4th, podge a close 5th and a anti-biotic taking Ken in 6th. Tom P took the photos and a stomach sick Alex turned up to do the timing, fair play.
All round it was fun and a great workout, in short the perfect saturday morning in January!
Results Off -Road Duathlon 29th Jan 2011,
Off road Duo Run 1 Bike 1 Run 2 Bike 2 Total
1st Donncha 7.58 11.41 9.01 12.43 41.07
2nd James 8.27 11.32 9.48 11.22 41.07
3rd Anthony 8.29 13.36 9.09 13.54 45.08
4th Adrian 11.15 13.33 12.31 13.04 50.20
5th Podge 9.55 15.53 12.12 17.43 55.43
6th Ken 11.49 17.36 13.00 17.30 59.55
More Archiving!
Putting the Mountain back in biking!
April 29th, 2011 Nietzsche once wrote that ‘in the mountains the shortest way is from peak to peak, but for this you need long legs’ ! well on Sunday last the legs of all the Edge Mountain bike team riders were extended fully as we went from peak to peak in the second round of the National Mountain bike series in the rugged Nagle Mountains, in Ballyhooly, Co Cork.The Race was run by the Local MBCC club and they did a very good job, although the course was not to everyone’s liking. Course design is a subjective affair of course and the rocky, rough and almost brutal nature of this race meant a record number of DNF’s for all sorts of reasons, from punctures to pure exhaustion.
Above James shows the glamour! and effort of Mountain Bike racing.
Above James on the long tiring rocky descent.
National Mountain Bike Series
April 5th, 2011 Pictured below is Edge team rider and part time employee Rory McLiam ripping on his new Scott Scale 10 in the brilliant Bellurgan Estate, Co. Louth last Sunday where he finished a fine 12th.
History!
It all never really happened as the edge sports shop proved very hard to work with and ended up backing out of promises they made and we wont even talk about the despicable way they treated Rory. I did get alot of free gear from them for which i am very thankful, just a pity they did not follow through on there 'we are committed to yee' talk, they gave us. I also see that the road team they sponsored (the road team won an amazing amount of serious races in their jersys) have left and have a different bike shop sponsor this year) i dont know the story but i am sure they were just as fed up at being used as we were. Anyway i took all the stuff down that i put up from their website and have recorded it here for posterity. I really like the promo film and think this stuff will be nice to look back on in years to come. To quote Alannis, 'you live, you learn' :)
Mike winning the Bally houra Blitz Adventure race and being part of history when he was on the record setting Mizen to Malin team. Mike rode as part of this elite group which set a new team record of just over 18 hours non stop, for this famous route, not bad for just under 600kms!! day ‘n’ nite riding. Mike confessed to having one or two mid summers dreams whilst setting this record in the middle of June last year. A remarkable feat from a Mountain Biker no less
Below is a picture of James winning the Sheeps Head Raid MTB Marathon, which attracted a big field and was designed and run by Donncha.
Rory had wins and podiums at every National points series race he went to and won the national Champs race in his category so will move up to Expert level in 2010 following a great first year racing. Mike had an excellent top ten in the fiercely competitive classic MTB race that is the Cooley thriller as well as becoming National singlespeed champion taking the title from 2008 winner Donncha.
2010 seen Donncha step back from competition as his family size increased (again) but he still managed 3 top 8 finishes in the Manic masters category at national points series races, as well as winning a Munster league race organizing one and making the podium in Dundalk in a very difficult Leinster league race. Donncha also was in the top 10 at the national marathon champs along side Mike Flanagan when he washed on a corner and had to be ambulanced to hospital, receiving 7 stitches on his knee and breaking his ankle! He recovered from this and recently was back competing near the head of affairs in the sea2summit adventure race. He also is guiding MTBers through beautiful, lesser known trails in West Cork (for a modest fee), and actually building MTB trails.
Michael Flanagan had an excellent end of season finishing 3rd in the Elite National Marathon Champs, having stepped up from a very good 5th in the short course Nationals at Expert Level. A 3rd (with a mechanical, he had only one big gear for 75% of the race!) in the Sheepshead Raid Marathon 2010. He also had a top 10 in the cooley thriller this year and a close 2nd in the Connacht champs behind french ex pro Anthony Testa. Mike heads to another team for 2011 and we wish him all the best as he continues to rise to the top of the Irish Mountain Bike scene.
James and Rory were back competing and had a good start to the season in 2010. The first race of the season was in Kilarney on the 7th of March. Here’s a short note from James (who is snowed under with Uni work currently so excuse the short one) on the first race of the season:
“Race was really good, unreal new track. excellent climbs and tecnical decents, rory rode expert and came in 5th. I rode elite and came in second, was 1st for 3 laps but got caught on last climb. Good turn out and well organised.”
James and Rory both raced another couple of Munster races again finishing in the top 3. After this they rode 2 National Points races in late spring and recorded solid top 5 results in these races in Dublin and Killarney in the Expert category including an excellent 3rd for James in that Dublin race. They then headed to the USA for the summer where they also did some raciing. They are currently back in Ireland and training hard in preparation for the upcoming spring 2011 Munster MTB race series due to start in late January and like all the team are really looking forward to 2011.
Promo film we made, link; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmZu-N_uRdI
Edge Mountain Bike Team 2011
November 23rd, 2010The sponsored riders on the Edge Sports Shop Mountain Bike team for 2011 has just been announced it will be,
Donncha O Brien
Rory Mcliam Oir
James Pittam
These athletes will be riding a variety of Mountain Bike and some Adventure Race events in 2011, locally, nationally and one or two abroad.
They will give regular updates on the blog on their training, events and happenings in the Mountain Bike world in Ireland.
The team are also always open to any questions or queries anyone may have on all things Mountain biking and Adventure racing.
With the the dawning of a new era of Locally based Mountain bike races, on courses that cater for all abilities, there has never been a time better to try the exciting sport of Mountain Biking in the south of Ireland.
In 2009 the edge sports sponsored 3 superb Mountain Bikers from Cork and 1 from Galway - Donnacha O’Brien, James Pittam, Rory Macliam and Mike Flanagan. They had a great season overall, notching up wins and high finishes all over the country included in this were,Donncha O Brien
Rory Mcliam Oir
James Pittam
These athletes will be riding a variety of Mountain Bike and some Adventure Race events in 2011, locally, nationally and one or two abroad.
They will give regular updates on the blog on their training, events and happenings in the Mountain Bike world in Ireland.
The team are also always open to any questions or queries anyone may have on all things Mountain biking and Adventure racing.
With the the dawning of a new era of Locally based Mountain bike races, on courses that cater for all abilities, there has never been a time better to try the exciting sport of Mountain Biking in the south of Ireland.
Edge MTB team 2010
Mike winning the Bally houra Blitz Adventure race and being part of history when he was on the record setting Mizen to Malin team. Mike rode as part of this elite group which set a new team record of just over 18 hours non stop, for this famous route, not bad for just under 600kms!! day ‘n’ nite riding. Mike confessed to having one or two mid summers dreams whilst setting this record in the middle of June last year. A remarkable feat from a Mountain Biker no less
Below is a picture of James winning the Sheeps Head Raid MTB Marathon, which attracted a big field and was designed and run by Donncha.
Michael Flanagan had an excellent end of season finishing 3rd in the Elite National Marathon Champs, having stepped up from a very good 5th in the short course Nationals at Expert Level. A 3rd (with a mechanical, he had only one big gear for 75% of the race!) in the Sheepshead Raid Marathon 2010. He also had a top 10 in the cooley thriller this year and a close 2nd in the Connacht champs behind french ex pro Anthony Testa. Mike heads to another team for 2011 and we wish him all the best as he continues to rise to the top of the Irish Mountain Bike scene.
“Race was really good, unreal new track. excellent climbs and tecnical decents, rory rode expert and came in 5th. I rode elite and came in second, was 1st for 3 laps but got caught on last climb. Good turn out and well organised.”
James and Rory both raced another couple of Munster races again finishing in the top 3. After this they rode 2 National Points races in late spring and recorded solid top 5 results in these races in Dublin and Killarney in the Expert category including an excellent 3rd for James in that Dublin race. They then headed to the USA for the summer where they also did some raciing. They are currently back in Ireland and training hard in preparation for the upcoming spring 2011 Munster MTB race series due to start in late January and like all the team are really looking forward to 2011.
Promo film we made, link; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmZu-N_uRdI
Friday, December 16, 2011
Week, Post marathon
Well i have been very tired but i got loads of naps and sleep so by wednesday i felt grand, i had been sore on the outside of my quads until tuesday but the game on Monday night of basketball got a nice sweat going and helped with the recovery, nothing like draining a few 3's to get the happy endorphines going! Then on wednesday evening i was getting a bit twitchy and rang Ken, who was up for some swimming and off we went,i took it very easy but still managed a 1000meters, then on thursday i was hungry for more and off iw ent and did about 1500, trying once again to do some front crawl which i am not good at, at all.
Then i did my local hill run on lough hyne today, 45 mins nice and steady, i felt nice and springy on this and had a couple mins of real flow where the running felt effortless, what a lovely feeling, i was a little tired at the end but then again its only 6 days since i ran a marathon PB and i am hill running, so i aint complaining, far from it, i am smiling from ear to ear actually.
Then i did my local hill run on lough hyne today, 45 mins nice and steady, i felt nice and springy on this and had a couple mins of real flow where the running felt effortless, what a lovely feeling, i was a little tired at the end but then again its only 6 days since i ran a marathon PB and i am hill running, so i aint complaining, far from it, i am smiling from ear to ear actually.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Clon Marathon
3.26.23................Result! 1.44.17 first half, 1.42.09 second half..............
boo-yach-a sha! :)
boo-yach-a sha! :)
43.13 for the last 10km, felt fine injury and muscle ache wise in the days that followed, even managed to play my usual Basketball game on Monday night. There must be something in the 'drink 1/3 of a bottle of whiskey and stay out dancing til 4am' recovery plan i followed the night of the race!
Friday, December 9, 2011
Stay in the zone!
Below is a picture of my arm and on it is the zones and miles that i want to be in for the Clonakilty Marathon that i am doing in the morning, 26.2 miles of ? i am looking do it as something between a long run and a race, i want to break my PB from Dublin in 2006, the last Marathon i did (3hrs 35 mins) but mostly i want to do it well and recover fast and be in ok shape for basketball on monday night! and keep running in the week coming. I am well rested, the last 4 days i have sat on my ass, bar an easy 90 min walk on thursday, checking out local trail potential in the hills. I feel good and knowing the route and the weather, (cold but sunny) it will be very cold starting, i am really looking forward to it, the bit in rathbarry and along the long strand and red strand are stunning as is the bit by inchadoney strand and dunmore. I hope to be in good form at the end and not struggling like in the last 3 marathons that i have done, i am in great shape and strong so i am optimistic that i can get under 3 and a half hours but regardless i will be sticking to my self made heart rate plan. I plan to drink at all the water stations, every 3 miles and eat a gel 20 mins before and at the 5 mile, 10 mile 15 mile, 19 mile and 22 miles points and maybe take some carb drink late on in the race at the stations. Hopefully this should do the trick, this is largely based on Eoin wards advice, which i think is spot on.
It will be interesting and surely will be an indicator as to whether my ultra ideas for 2012 are pie in the sky!
It will be interesting and surely will be an indicator as to whether my ultra ideas for 2012 are pie in the sky!
South Coast Adventure Race 22nd October 2011
A picture paints a thousand words! but just in case it does not! (added new, 9-12-2011)
- The 2011 south coast race was one that i had been targeting all year, and thankfully i had trained hard over the summer, done the speed work and long stuff, i had done 3 or 4 races prior to it with the sole purpose of sharpening up and getting used to race pace again. The evening before i signed on and i was a ball of nerves to be honest, i had tapered really well before hand and rested up for 2 weeks, i was bursting at the seams with energy and excitment!
- Anyway we dropped the bikes in the middle of no where and then the kayak to the rowing club and i headed home, i had a nap during the day and did not feel tired, so it was 1 am before i was in bed, the norm for me before a big event, i slept well and got up and had 2 fryed eggs on toast with some ketchup, was down with a pint and a half of vit c fizzy up as we call it in our house, the drove on down to skibb on my own and had a cereal bar and coffee an hour before the start, i got to the pavillion in skibb and met Sean Murran running around looking for his shorts, his wife save dthe day but he ended up in the 3rd wave when he misplaced his chip! I had decided to use a mix (with water that Gill had given me in April and brought it with me on the bus and sipped it away, it was called megapower i think and is actually made in shannon, ireland, i dont really know what is in the stuff but good god i really felt it worked, must get more of it especially for events under 2.5 hours, it might send you out to fast for ones longer than that.
- I was off in the 2nd wave, i was a little dissapointed with this but decided to give it my all and if i was on a good day well then it should not matter what wave i was in. As it turned out i think i could have held the winner on the first run and for a long portion of the bike, but ultimately he would still have beat me, looking at his splits, so it made no real difference in the end. I started with acouple guys i recognised and thought i would have some good competition on the run but after 1 km i simply floated away form the 80 other people i started with, i was in disbelief as i felt the pace was very comfortable.
- Later i would guesstimate that i was doing sub 4 min/km pace on the very muddy paths, that had large holes of water every half mile, basically i was in my element and flew down any tricky bits. I hit the bike, making a 10 sec error in judging where it was! no matter, but still, i was a full min ahead of the guy behind me, but in the actual real scheme of things i had no idea where i was although i did suspect that i was well up there.
- I hit the bike hard for a couple miles making sure i was out of sight of the second place guy, then i settled into a steady pace, it was pissing rain for lots of it and the wind seemed to be head on, no matter what way we turned. The cycle was hard ish but i made sure not to go into the red, i was probably operating in the high 150's low 160's for all of it, so comfortably hard, i wanted an even effort so no surging or sillyness. The coombe hill, i walked or actually jogged most of it and this was to avoid the 180 plus heart rate that i would need to hit to cycle up it. With the hill run on lough hyne coming only 15 mins later i would be in that zone soon enough.
- I knew starting the hill i was flying and but i still hit the hill conservatively and aimed to run it all and have no walking, i did manage that, just the tops steps were hard, and i did my patented 'come on, Donncha' roaring at myself, which works so well i find, i did scare the crap out of a few people though, as usual!
- At the top i knew it was time to move it into top gear and i flew down the hill, only slowed by having to urinate on the run! the first time i have managed to do that after many attemps! I got to the bike and drove as hard as i could up the hill out of lough hyne, it hurt like hell and i had to change down to a fairly easy gear a spin my way through the pain, i hit the transtion at the kayak and took a 4 min time out, which was available to everyone, then after my wife had lined up the kayak with the marshals i powered the kayak around the short course, beating all by 2 mins, if only the kayak was 4 or 5 kms ??
- The last bike is short and i was trying so hard on it, driving for home, the cramping started here and when i hit the final 400metre obstacle course i was drawing on all my mental strenghts and only when i crossed the finish line did the cramping take over, i was freezing and Billy my cousin tok me to the massage tent and after 10 mins of rubbing and shivering i could walk. No showers working but to be honest i am not sure could i have managed one with out help! Why the cramping? well the liuids were minimal and i only had one gel, dropping the other on the first bike! it was taped onto my top bar and simply fell off with the rain and wind. This probably wouldf have helped but the effort was such that over 2 hours 30 mins that it was always going to hurt, especially with the terrible weather.
- I went home ate , drank and kinda slept and then in the evening was in great form and well ready for pints, we had a great night out in skibb with alot of the competitors especially Sean and Janet, it was great to find out i had finished second, a real buzz, and a few mins later it was dissapointing to receive no trophy to commemerate it. I did get a free entry for next year though. Overall . super, tough race for me, a few people went wrong but mostly i thought the oragnization was good. The lough hyne transition needs to be changed if the event gets bigger, it was chaotic with the numbers we had. And more prizes, its 65 euro to enter for god sake! Looking forward to next years event, which i know a few locals will be out to get me, as for my own goals, keep progressing like i have been, get leaner, put in some longer hard efforts on the bike, e.g 1 hour TT efforts and get in the first wave and try my best to hang onto Trevor woods, (winner the last 2 years) 7 mins behind him this year, its a lot and its not, it will be interesting trying my best anyway :)
- This will go down as one of my best perfomances ever, up there with my 5th in Gaelforce,winning the Connacht Mountian Bike Championship, comfortably completing the 24 hour Raid, getting 5th in the Galway criterium and my 2 all Ireland titles in Road Bowling.
Monday, December 5, 2011
First Ride in Ages.
Easy!
:)
So i went for a spin on the 'new' mountain bike,(a 3rd hand 2007 genisis IO) after Mike flan brought it down, the bike has a Ti color paint job and i think the tubing and detailing are beautiful,giving a bespoke look. At first glance it gives the impression of ' this bike looks expensive'. I changed the stem,bars (it made an unbelievable difference, immediately, as i thought it would) and the brakes to the ones i know and love which i have been riding for 2 years now (yeah, no riding in over 6 months) and the brakes which i have since spring 2007, they have had countless bleeds and both hoses have been changed along with a lot of pads worn out, i still love my mini mono's though. Also i had a crossmax st front wheel on borrowed from mike, cause i could not change out the 180 mm disc to the mono 160 due to some funky bolts, i just need more time to figure that out. I was happy with the set up, but the 2.35 UST tyre on the back did bug me a bit cause its over kill and would drag like hell on the climbs, i did run it at 20psi which no doubt helped on the slippy tricky descents. I also swapped out the fire flamed saddle as i had one lieing around that did not look so naff!
The trails were sloppy from the incessant rain we have had for a month now! And straight away i could feel the rust of having not ridden in mud since the spring! last wet ride! however after only 20 mins riding i felt the bike and i were at one, which is amazing as usually i would expect it to take a min of 10 hours riding to figure out the subtle t's of a new bike.
We rode down a couple of our local very testing 'XC' trails, (all mountain with bits of DH) and i had only one tiny dab, the bike made me just go for it, i did err on the side of caution and rode slower than i might normally but over all i was expecting to be bucked off a few times, in what were about as testing conditions you will get up there, but i stayed right side up and absolutely had a ball, whooping and hollering on parts. Jeez , what a sport!
The frame fit is as good as the xtc carbon was. It did help of course that i knew the trails but that did not stop me from feeling nervous thinking about them as we rode up, i guess my mental attitude was spot on, just go for it, without being mental. It worked. The gears on my bike were ok, i think they just need a little tinkering or possibly a new cable, the hub is working fine just the cable is probably old and stretched/dirty. The silent shifting is a bit weird and i don't have a full grasp of the ratio's yet but that is just time to get used of them. Also the weight seemed ok, noticable on the climbs but then again i had a tractor tyre on the back wheel, which is getting the road asap. When i put on a 2.1 and run it at 30 psi i will then be able to say what the weight of the hub feels like, but i am guessing it will be grand, better than i expected actually and with the bangladesh type climate we have at the mo' i think it will more than compensate for its weight with consistent, trouble free shifting in the mud.
Overall, great buy, (for the money, amazing actually) but more importantly great to be back mountain biking :)
:)
So i went for a spin on the 'new' mountain bike,(a 3rd hand 2007 genisis IO) after Mike flan brought it down, the bike has a Ti color paint job and i think the tubing and detailing are beautiful,giving a bespoke look. At first glance it gives the impression of ' this bike looks expensive'. I changed the stem,bars (it made an unbelievable difference, immediately, as i thought it would) and the brakes to the ones i know and love which i have been riding for 2 years now (yeah, no riding in over 6 months) and the brakes which i have since spring 2007, they have had countless bleeds and both hoses have been changed along with a lot of pads worn out, i still love my mini mono's though. Also i had a crossmax st front wheel on borrowed from mike, cause i could not change out the 180 mm disc to the mono 160 due to some funky bolts, i just need more time to figure that out. I was happy with the set up, but the 2.35 UST tyre on the back did bug me a bit cause its over kill and would drag like hell on the climbs, i did run it at 20psi which no doubt helped on the slippy tricky descents. I also swapped out the fire flamed saddle as i had one lieing around that did not look so naff!
The trails were sloppy from the incessant rain we have had for a month now! And straight away i could feel the rust of having not ridden in mud since the spring! last wet ride! however after only 20 mins riding i felt the bike and i were at one, which is amazing as usually i would expect it to take a min of 10 hours riding to figure out the subtle t's of a new bike.
We rode down a couple of our local very testing 'XC' trails, (all mountain with bits of DH) and i had only one tiny dab, the bike made me just go for it, i did err on the side of caution and rode slower than i might normally but over all i was expecting to be bucked off a few times, in what were about as testing conditions you will get up there, but i stayed right side up and absolutely had a ball, whooping and hollering on parts. Jeez , what a sport!
The frame fit is as good as the xtc carbon was. It did help of course that i knew the trails but that did not stop me from feeling nervous thinking about them as we rode up, i guess my mental attitude was spot on, just go for it, without being mental. It worked. The gears on my bike were ok, i think they just need a little tinkering or possibly a new cable, the hub is working fine just the cable is probably old and stretched/dirty. The silent shifting is a bit weird and i don't have a full grasp of the ratio's yet but that is just time to get used of them. Also the weight seemed ok, noticable on the climbs but then again i had a tractor tyre on the back wheel, which is getting the road asap. When i put on a 2.1 and run it at 30 psi i will then be able to say what the weight of the hub feels like, but i am guessing it will be grand, better than i expected actually and with the bangladesh type climate we have at the mo' i think it will more than compensate for its weight with consistent, trouble free shifting in the mud.
Overall, great buy, (for the money, amazing actually) but more importantly great to be back mountain biking :)
What have i been doing the last few weeks
Well, after the raid and the Southcoast race , which i peaked for and went very well, (still kinda buzzing when i think of them!) i took a full week off (5 days), i drank beer every day and did nothing, i felt tired and chilled, then the following saturday i did 3mile run, (ran very slowly on trails, felt tired) and in the afternoon i did 2 hrs steady on the road bike, the following day i did 4 mils run on the road, again i felt tired but i said i would man up and get back to training and take rest as i felt i needed it, no plan just excercising based on feel and what i wanted to do,
MOnday7th nov, 8 miles road run followed by an hour of hard basketball
tuesday 8th nov, 5 miles easy roadrun
wednesday9th, nov, 1 hour easy roadbike, caha pass
thurday 10th nov, 20 mins barefoot grass
friday 11th nov, 17.1 miles road run easy pace, lots of hills (2.20hr)
saturday 12th nov, 2hrs road bike
sun 13th nov, 40 mins easy trail run
mon,14th nov, 8 miles roadrun followed by an hour of hard basketball
tuesaday 15th nov,REST
wed, 16th nov, 20 barefooting grass
thurs, 17th novREST
friday, 18th nov, REST (felt very tired, slept loads during these few days)
saturday, 19th nov, 80 mins hard trail run, lots of steep hills
Sun, 20th nov, 3.5 hour trail run/walk
Monday 21st nov, 1 hour hard basketball
Tue, 22nd nov, 20 miles road run, in 2.43, lots of hills
Wed,23rdnov, REST
Thursday,24th nov, 20 mins barefoot grass
FRi, nov 25th,REST
sat, nov 26th,1 hour trail run
sun, nov 27th REST
Mon, nov 28th 1 hour basketball
Tuesday 29th nov, 2.05 hrs sheeps head trail run (1/4 of ultra)
wednesday 30th nov, 30 mins run ,incl 2 by 1 mile @5.55 with 90 secs rec
Thursday, 1st dec, 1.15hrs trail run (in the dark) with alex in clashnacrona semi hard.
Friday 2nd nov, 1.35hrs trail run sheeps head with mike and ken
Sat 3rd dec (my birthday!) 2 hours mountain bike, clashnacrona, semi hard.
Sun, 4TH dec, REST
Mon, 5th Dec, 1 hour basketball hard
Tues, 6th Dec, REST
Wed, 7th Dec, REST
So even with the first week off i did, 16 runs in nov and as of today i have done 99 runs in 2011, not bad a s i had a total of 3 months of no running or very limited running cause of injury. Wonder what run i will do for my 100th, something tells me it will be in the hills!
MOnday7th nov, 8 miles road run followed by an hour of hard basketball
tuesday 8th nov, 5 miles easy roadrun
wednesday9th, nov, 1 hour easy roadbike, caha pass
thurday 10th nov, 20 mins barefoot grass
friday 11th nov, 17.1 miles road run easy pace, lots of hills (2.20hr)
saturday 12th nov, 2hrs road bike
sun 13th nov, 40 mins easy trail run
mon,14th nov, 8 miles roadrun followed by an hour of hard basketball
tuesaday 15th nov,REST
wed, 16th nov, 20 barefooting grass
thurs, 17th novREST
friday, 18th nov, REST (felt very tired, slept loads during these few days)
saturday, 19th nov, 80 mins hard trail run, lots of steep hills
Sun, 20th nov, 3.5 hour trail run/walk
Monday 21st nov, 1 hour hard basketball
Tue, 22nd nov, 20 miles road run, in 2.43, lots of hills
Wed,23rdnov, REST
Thursday,24th nov, 20 mins barefoot grass
FRi, nov 25th,REST
sat, nov 26th,1 hour trail run
sun, nov 27th REST
Mon, nov 28th 1 hour basketball
Tuesday 29th nov, 2.05 hrs sheeps head trail run (1/4 of ultra)
wednesday 30th nov, 30 mins run ,incl 2 by 1 mile @5.55 with 90 secs rec
Thursday, 1st dec, 1.15hrs trail run (in the dark) with alex in clashnacrona semi hard.
Friday 2nd nov, 1.35hrs trail run sheeps head with mike and ken
Sat 3rd dec (my birthday!) 2 hours mountain bike, clashnacrona, semi hard.
Sun, 4TH dec, REST
Mon, 5th Dec, 1 hour basketball hard
Tues, 6th Dec, REST
Wed, 7th Dec, REST
So even with the first week off i did, 16 runs in nov and as of today i have done 99 runs in 2011, not bad a s i had a total of 3 months of no running or very limited running cause of injury. Wonder what run i will do for my 100th, something tells me it will be in the hills!
Thursday, November 24, 2011
ultra running.
I have never done one. I dont really know anyone that has. There are only a hand full of them in this country and really only 2 of them on trails. I have read about ones in the usa, leadville , rockyracoon, badwater. I have read and know the route of the connemara 100 (miles!) race, it would be a very long cycle never mind run.
The 3 full marathons that i did, Dublin (1998, 2006) and Conemara (2002) were all a long ways from success stories, yes i finished them, but both Dublin's were horror stories, starting way to fast, sick and injured and struggling to finish the last few miles, the first i cant really remember much off, finishing in well over 5 hours and the second, whilst in a much better time of 3.35, was in truth a failure, as i was in shape to run a sub 3.15, but a sore foot , injured on the last long run prior to the marathon, and very poor tactics, (i did the first half in 1.31! and the second in 2.04!!) connemara was done on no training and a 4.02 was very satisfactory but the pain in my knee for the following 4 months, was most definetly not!!
So with that kind of a history in 'only' 26.2 miles, why the hell do i want to do races that are, in some cases nearly 4 times! as long. I have no real idea, but i know that some time in 2012 i will be toeing the line at the start of an ultra.
The 3 full marathons that i did, Dublin (1998, 2006) and Conemara (2002) were all a long ways from success stories, yes i finished them, but both Dublin's were horror stories, starting way to fast, sick and injured and struggling to finish the last few miles, the first i cant really remember much off, finishing in well over 5 hours and the second, whilst in a much better time of 3.35, was in truth a failure, as i was in shape to run a sub 3.15, but a sore foot , injured on the last long run prior to the marathon, and very poor tactics, (i did the first half in 1.31! and the second in 2.04!!) connemara was done on no training and a 4.02 was very satisfactory but the pain in my knee for the following 4 months, was most definetly not!!
So with that kind of a history in 'only' 26.2 miles, why the hell do i want to do races that are, in some cases nearly 4 times! as long. I have no real idea, but i know that some time in 2012 i will be toeing the line at the start of an ultra.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
For alex!
seen this today and thought 'this was made for alex'! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEu42L0ufBY
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
New bike!
So i bought a mountain bike! yeah i know i have not been riding one much, (except the 100km in the raid!) but i need one and fancy carbon ones with hangers and deraillers just bug me at this stage and i cant afford them anyway, also 'performance' mountian bike racing, i think is something i will be doing feck all off, so i went for a workhorse bike. I had a few priorities, first, steel or titanium frame, so steel cause i is broke :), no friggin hanger or derailler, i have broke 3 hangers on 3 different mountain bikes, nearly everyone i know has too, deraillers are a left over design from the early days of road bikes and for a long time i have thought that on a mountain bike they just do not make sense. The belt designs are not there yet, i think or are too expensive and i gave single speeding a full year or sweat and its great but in westcork its a bit of a pain, i mean you dont want to race everytime you go out riding and effectively you have to on the hilly terrain we have here, that or walk and sure if i wanted to do that i would take up downhilling!.
Also tubeless rims on the wheels, they loose air, yes but you get so few punctures its worth it. SO with a super limitied budget and a fairly impossible list of requests i had to wait and wait, (over 6 months!) but finally one came up. Its a genesis IO,reynolds 520 steel frame with an 8 speed internal geared alfine hub and bog standard everything else, it also came with a single speed wheel! bonus. I am sure the hub will be well heavy but its a trade off. Weight versus ever bodging gears? i think i have spent enough time dicking around with deraillers and bending back hangers with my hand, hoping it would not break off in my hand! Have not got the bike yet, it will arrive in 2 weeks, but it should be interesting when it does arrive. I think it will be like my toyota hiace, a bit dead but it will always start!
https://picasaweb.google.com/bunclodyfurlongs/Genesis_IO_with_8spd_Alfine
Also tubeless rims on the wheels, they loose air, yes but you get so few punctures its worth it. SO with a super limitied budget and a fairly impossible list of requests i had to wait and wait, (over 6 months!) but finally one came up. Its a genesis IO,reynolds 520 steel frame with an 8 speed internal geared alfine hub and bog standard everything else, it also came with a single speed wheel! bonus. I am sure the hub will be well heavy but its a trade off. Weight versus ever bodging gears? i think i have spent enough time dicking around with deraillers and bending back hangers with my hand, hoping it would not break off in my hand! Have not got the bike yet, it will arrive in 2 weeks, but it should be interesting when it does arrive. I think it will be like my toyota hiace, a bit dead but it will always start!
https://picasaweb.google.com/bunclodyfurlongs/Genesis_IO_with_8spd_Alfine
Monday, November 21, 2011
'How far will it be Dun'?
'Lets do one of those trail runs you know up in the hills of castlesdonavan' am yeah ok, i respond, I look at thge map for 10 minutes, gotta plan, 10km, proper big lump of a hill in the middle. Pack the bum bag, map, compass, rain jacket, survival blanket, compeed, whistle, locozade energy tablets as emergency food and 2 cereal bars.
Off we head in the van, ken, alex and myself. We start up a big long road hill, then hit the really wet, slippy bog trail up the back of the once much talked about Mullaghmesha (the glory days of pirate radio, 80's and the mast that was up there) we are walking alot of it, it would be exhausting running and we are out for a trip on a sunday afternoon, more than any specific workout, alex and i have tired legs from a hard hill run the day before anyway, relax enjoy the day. We get to the top its very misty, 40 metres visibility, we are running along now for a km on a lovely spongey water bed of moss and peat. Soon the poles dissappear, we are on a featurless plateau, time for the map.
I guess where we are , take a bearing and we head off with the lads out front so i have something to line the direction arrow with, there is almost no features, we hit the small lake i was hoping for, its tough terrain, contour around, follow the river hit the bigger lake, then east and onto the trail, push on running here, it feels great, it really feels like a team adventure race, we hit a trail junction, yeah up here, lovely running, 'no, no, i'm wrong, sorry back again', fun running though so who cares, then down a super track flying for a mile, god what craic. Yeah drive on ticking off the features, great trail, hit the road , look up, 'o, i know that trail, its on the bantry.....................side!' open out the map, i was navigating fine but was going to the wrong location, i am roaring laughing on the inside, and questioning 'did i actually mean this' 'did i want to end up wandering in the dark' 'maybe' i definetly have done this to almost everyone in know for the craic of it,
subversive subconscious!
So this adds over 5 miles of road, with lots of hills, 'really, o fuck' did you do that on purpose' i say 'no' but if i am honest, i have no idea, but i can say that 'it' will definetly happen again!
We drive on, then some ball sack issues and a dodgy knee slow us to a walk, grand sure, even in shorts, in the dark, in November. The stars are out, the chat is good and i am only half hungry, would love an expresso though.
'How far will it be dun'? 'Am, an hour and a bit (een)' 'RIGHT'!
So thats it a lovely 3 and a half hour trip on a sunday afternoon, cool.
Post note, did a hard basketball session on monday night, shot the ball very well and did 20 hilly miles on the road along the beaches and coast near clonaklity on wednesday, 2.40, so thats 4 hardish days so rest needed now!
Off we head in the van, ken, alex and myself. We start up a big long road hill, then hit the really wet, slippy bog trail up the back of the once much talked about Mullaghmesha (the glory days of pirate radio, 80's and the mast that was up there) we are walking alot of it, it would be exhausting running and we are out for a trip on a sunday afternoon, more than any specific workout, alex and i have tired legs from a hard hill run the day before anyway, relax enjoy the day. We get to the top its very misty, 40 metres visibility, we are running along now for a km on a lovely spongey water bed of moss and peat. Soon the poles dissappear, we are on a featurless plateau, time for the map.
I guess where we are , take a bearing and we head off with the lads out front so i have something to line the direction arrow with, there is almost no features, we hit the small lake i was hoping for, its tough terrain, contour around, follow the river hit the bigger lake, then east and onto the trail, push on running here, it feels great, it really feels like a team adventure race, we hit a trail junction, yeah up here, lovely running, 'no, no, i'm wrong, sorry back again', fun running though so who cares, then down a super track flying for a mile, god what craic. Yeah drive on ticking off the features, great trail, hit the road , look up, 'o, i know that trail, its on the bantry.....................side!' open out the map, i was navigating fine but was going to the wrong location, i am roaring laughing on the inside, and questioning 'did i actually mean this' 'did i want to end up wandering in the dark' 'maybe' i definetly have done this to almost everyone in know for the craic of it,
subversive subconscious!
So this adds over 5 miles of road, with lots of hills, 'really, o fuck' did you do that on purpose' i say 'no' but if i am honest, i have no idea, but i can say that 'it' will definetly happen again!
We drive on, then some ball sack issues and a dodgy knee slow us to a walk, grand sure, even in shorts, in the dark, in November. The stars are out, the chat is good and i am only half hungry, would love an expresso though.
'How far will it be dun'? 'Am, an hour and a bit (een)' 'RIGHT'!
So thats it a lovely 3 and a half hour trip on a sunday afternoon, cool.
Post note, did a hard basketball session on monday night, shot the ball very well and did 20 hilly miles on the road along the beaches and coast near clonaklity on wednesday, 2.40, so thats 4 hardish days so rest needed now!
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Trail run
So i did a lovely easy /steady trail run this morning with Young gun Alex along for company. He has great enthusiasm and a passion for most sports, especially road, XC and Dh Biking. Rowing i guess is his number 1 Sport and so like all rowers he needs to do some running. We did a cool 2 hr road spin last week and this week did a 80 min trail run in Clashna, and it was cool, sunny morning, wandering around wondering what trail to go up or come down, nice and interesting. We parked at Alexs house, ran for 90 seconds on the road and then trails all the way!
We went through bog, water up to our knees, briars, fireroad, grass, mud, earth, in short the works, alot of steep ascent and had to practice a range of trail running techniques, alex hit his head off a tree, bleed down his face (see pic) and vomited some cider from last night and also had a big blister on his arch at the end, he said he was really thirsty so we drank from the mountain strem we ran past, it tasted sweet.We ran the whole thing in just our shorts, and its the middle of November! You cant get a better morning than that.
We went through bog, water up to our knees, briars, fireroad, grass, mud, earth, in short the works, alot of steep ascent and had to practice a range of trail running techniques, alex hit his head off a tree, bleed down his face (see pic) and vomited some cider from last night and also had a big blister on his arch at the end, he said he was really thirsty so we drank from the mountain strem we ran past, it tasted sweet.We ran the whole thing in just our shorts, and its the middle of November! You cant get a better morning than that.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Back to basics
Well its winter proper now and despite the unseasonal balmy weather we have had in the last 5 days, its time for the the long slow stuff and some cross training, and sure you might as fire in some stretching/yoga, core stuff too while your at it :)
On sat i did 25 mins off road run in the am and 2 hour hilly roadbike pm. On sunday,4 miles road easy followed by lots of lunges, squats and some yoga. On Monday i did 8 miles road and 1 hour basketball, on tuesday i did 5 miles road,yoga on wednesday 1 hour hilly roadbike,thursday 20 mins basketball shooting and 16 mins barefoot on grass, strength excercises. The barefoot run is one of the most enjoyable runs i have done the whole year, i just felt great during and after it (and i didnt beforehand!) baefooting for me will only ever happen on a nice grass field, doing it on the roads or trails just is not suited to me, it definetly is not a fad though and i think has a clear place inany runners programme this is why i will strive to do one of these a week up to 20 mins for the next few months.
On sat i did 25 mins off road run in the am and 2 hour hilly roadbike pm. On sunday,4 miles road easy followed by lots of lunges, squats and some yoga. On Monday i did 8 miles road and 1 hour basketball, on tuesday i did 5 miles road,yoga on wednesday 1 hour hilly roadbike,thursday 20 mins basketball shooting and 16 mins barefoot on grass, strength excercises. The barefoot run is one of the most enjoyable runs i have done the whole year, i just felt great during and after it (and i didnt beforehand!) baefooting for me will only ever happen on a nice grass field, doing it on the roads or trails just is not suited to me, it definetly is not a fad though and i think has a clear place inany runners programme this is why i will strive to do one of these a week up to 20 mins for the next few months.
Monday, November 7, 2011
The raid part 1
24 Hour Adventure Race, Sperrin Mountains, Co.Tyrone, October 29and 30th
So last weekend I headed up north and completed a 24hour nonstop adventure race, as part of a team, it was, in many ways the culmination of a decade’s worth of trapezing up and across mountains, kayaking down rivers and biking through forest and over dale.
I headed up to Dublin on the Thursday and stayed with my fantastic hosts, Cormac and Susie, a husband and wife pairing that I had bumped into them at the start line of the Mountain Bike Single Speed World Champs, last august in Co Limerick……dancing!
On that day, we were all in fancy dress and despite the fact that the 500 strong crowd (400 from abroad!) were in festive mood and there for fun and frolics on show all around, there was something about this couple that for me set them apart from the crowd. After the ‘race’ (I had a drop of whiskey and 2 pints before the start!) we hung out and drank a few beers (ok, a lot of beer) and a few weeks later I got an email form Cormac asking me to join him as part of a team for the upcoming 24 hour adventure race, that was previously known as the Cooley Raid. I was delighted to get the invite but I had reservations to be honest.
In 2003, I had tried this type of race and it was a disaster. The weather was horrific and my partner was not much of a team player so I parked the idea of real Adventure racing for the bones of a decade, and rightly so as I had ‘things’ to learn. In the intervening years I have become a much better, kayaker( 2 alpine white water trips and 4 liffey descents), I have raced my road bike around the country and put in 4 seasons as a competitive Mountain biker, I also have much better stamina from a running point of view, doing multiple long mountain training runs and races. I have also got married and marriage is the ultimate test of team. Lastly and perhaps most importantly I have had 4 babies to care for with my wife in that time.
This sleepness haze that lasted for 6 or 7 years has without doubt hardened my mind so that I can physically overcome tiredness in order to complete a given task, be it change a nappy at 4 am or follow a compass bearing across a bog in the dark with my bike on my back! So with this notion that I had toughened up, I finally committed to do the race and would be on a team of 4, 3 male, 1female (the classic Adventure race format), with; Cormac from North Mayo, Robbie from Kilkenny and Hilary from Carlow, none of whom I really knew, having only met Cormac and Robbie for an evening and never actually meeting Hilary. This might be a worry to some people but it only served to excite and intrigue me as to what might happen between all of us in the depths of the Sperrin Mountains in the middle of the night!
The website for the race is limited. This I have decided in very much on purpose. True Adventure racing in Ireland is a tiny niche underworld community that for the individual not in the know is very difficult to discover and if you do hear of it the descriptions that follow usually deter most normal people from any further exploration.
In fact, I would say that finding your way onto a team for the first time is more difficult than the 24 hours of navigation you will encounter on the rivers, lakes, forests, mountains and roads in the actual race itself.
Remember I stumbled into this race by accident, falling down the rabbit hole as it were.
We are now at a stage in this country where almost every county has a so called adventure race, the Gaelforces, the War’s, the southcoast adventures all ‘roaring’ along from sea to summit. These races attract big numbers up to 2500 people flying along the roads on bikes, up and down local trails by foot and the compulsory few hundred metres of kayaking, before the winner reaches the finish in around 3 hours and the beginner taking up to 6 hours to complete the challenge. In short they are the slightly alternative versions of Triathlon and like that sport they have seen incredible growth in the last 5 years. This is fantastic in my view. It makes for a more diverse and interesting sporting community in Ireland and a healthier one as well.
These races are however not really adventure. They should be called multisport or alternative triathlon or something similar. There is no real requirement to be self sufficient. There is no Navigation neccesary, you follow arrows or markings and or Marshalls like in a triathlon, they are on in daylight, they stick to roads and defined trails in the hills, they are short enough to insure that you will usually reach the finish line before hypothermia, starvation or dehydration will over take you and if it does, rescue is never far away. Also and possibly most importantly you do these races on your own, answering to know one but yourself, adjusting your pace, food and drink intake according to your own feelings. Pushing hard to the finish or pulling the plug and going home early, its your call.
True Adventure racing requires good map and compass skills, self sufficiency for long periods, a broad range of technical skills, an ability to stay awake through the night, a strict nutrition plan to ensure energy levels for over 20 hours, clear and effective planning, tactical awareness, sometimes advanced improvisation and 4 people to work together, harmoniously so the team make it to the finish, if one person cant go on, the race is over.
Basically these long races are a completely different Beast altogether.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Some man for wan man!
Check this crazy guy out, http://corkrunning.blogspot.com/2011/10/100-year-old-sets-new-marathon-record.html and also there is a piece on there about guys on running streaks of 30 years or more, one guy from east cork has run every day since 1986! and ron hill of the running wear has everyday since 1964!!!
I personally did a nice hour on the bike last wednesday with si and carol followed by a hard 30 mins on lough hyne and oon Friday i went and did 2 thirds of my 3 pod route in Glengarriff, so amazing with the auburn colors and falling leaves, for me its the best biking on the road in Ireland. I just love it over there and plan to explore the hills for running over th winter and spring.
Resting up now for the South Coast thing on Saturday, which will be tough enough if the weather is shit, either way the piss up after should be great!! :)
I personally did a nice hour on the bike last wednesday with si and carol followed by a hard 30 mins on lough hyne and oon Friday i went and did 2 thirds of my 3 pod route in Glengarriff, so amazing with the auburn colors and falling leaves, for me its the best biking on the road in Ireland. I just love it over there and plan to explore the hills for running over th winter and spring.
Resting up now for the South Coast thing on Saturday, which will be tough enough if the weather is shit, either way the piss up after should be great!! :)
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
My local Mountain Bike Trails
http://www.pinkbike.com/video/182634/
There is loads of xc (easy) stuff as well thats is not shown.
Lots of shots of Alex N in the red top.
There is loads of xc (easy) stuff as well thats is not shown.
Lots of shots of Alex N in the red top.
Monday, October 10, 2011
A busy weekend
http://www.liffeydescent.com/Photos_2011/AlbumID/2614-127/Page/1.aspx the link left shows competitors on the first weir at Straffan Co Kildare. We are in the wave! see if you can find my orange helmet
So on Friday morning i made the trip up to Dublin for the Liffey Descent, which for those who dont know is one of the worlds premier white water martahon canoe events. I would be paddling in a touring double with fellow Drinagh man Dave Glaswell. We overnighted in KIldare with a good friend of mine, Emma Lucy, nice veegie lasagne! and creamy pints in Bardons of Killcullen not to mention the great conversation. We headed out after watching a dissapointing rugby match on the saturday morning. Dave did the shuttle which took ages so i just sat in our kayak and chilled, its a great spectacle everyone running around with different types of canoe and kayak and all sorts of participants from the full on serious muscle guys to the shirt weraing fancy dress lads in open boats. Eoin and gordon 2 good buddies of mine did it in an open boat and had a good time, despite paddling into a wall!
We had a horror show of a start but recovered after our second swim to style all the following weir's and come in 16th in our class in around 2.50, not what dave was hoping for but a grand day out none the less. I should and probably would (if i was still living in Galway) get my act together and do this in a K1 which is the blue ribbon category and would be challenging to get down from a 'not breaking my boat point of view' I found the 3 hours flew by and i could have done double the distance, the long runs and cycles of the last 4 months obviously paying off.
Photo above is us just after dropping over the wrens nest weir. That night i went out with Gordon to the after party and i would say lost 3 or 4 pounds in sweat such was the effort i put into dancing! Good ould night out. Stayed in GOrdon's camper van near jervis street, got 6 hours sleep, then up drive to westcork, change into running gear and rocked out a steady 17km fairly wet run. Which was so nice as my leg feels a lot better and just to back running was amazing, i felt super at the end and would have loved to do another 10km but i said i owuld be prudent and not chance the leg so soon. Man did i sleep last night! What a weekend of traing for the 24 hour race at the end of the month! i was awake 37 out of 43 hours and did a marathon kayak race, partied hard and ran nearly a half marathon (it was hilly), a busy weekend indeed.
So on Friday morning i made the trip up to Dublin for the Liffey Descent, which for those who dont know is one of the worlds premier white water martahon canoe events. I would be paddling in a touring double with fellow Drinagh man Dave Glaswell. We overnighted in KIldare with a good friend of mine, Emma Lucy, nice veegie lasagne! and creamy pints in Bardons of Killcullen not to mention the great conversation. We headed out after watching a dissapointing rugby match on the saturday morning. Dave did the shuttle which took ages so i just sat in our kayak and chilled, its a great spectacle everyone running around with different types of canoe and kayak and all sorts of participants from the full on serious muscle guys to the shirt weraing fancy dress lads in open boats. Eoin and gordon 2 good buddies of mine did it in an open boat and had a good time, despite paddling into a wall!
We had a horror show of a start but recovered after our second swim to style all the following weir's and come in 16th in our class in around 2.50, not what dave was hoping for but a grand day out none the less. I should and probably would (if i was still living in Galway) get my act together and do this in a K1 which is the blue ribbon category and would be challenging to get down from a 'not breaking my boat point of view' I found the 3 hours flew by and i could have done double the distance, the long runs and cycles of the last 4 months obviously paying off.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
The liffey descent
So in a past life! and every now and again these days i am a white water kayaker. I paddled at expert level (if i do say so myself!) usually hitting grade 3 and 4 white water and often nailing grade 5 lines aswell, until i over dosed and decided to try other stuff in life, i.e have kids, run, cycle etc :) anyway now and again i venture into the white and watery world of water and this weekend i am heading to Dublin with long term friend and paddler extraordinare David Glasswell to compete in the Liffey Descent, Ireland's and indeed Europe premier white water marathon. They really come form all over the world to this one. ave is intent on breaking 2.30, which is a hefty goal but sure we will give it a blast. Should be fun! here is a taster,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VV_DyBTjRU
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Wet 'n' Wild
Don't get excited its just another road ride in the shit weather we are having, i was 100% soaked to the skin 18 mins into this one! but still enjoyed the 2hr 35 min hilly ride. It brightened up nice (ish) at the end too.
Here she is http://ridewithgps.com/users/25361/routes 4300 feet of climbing and it felt like i only went up the road a bit and back.The return ascent of mealagh valley climb (from the dunmanway side is 16% !) thought if felt hard alright :) Shit day but as always great to be out riding.
Here she is http://ridewithgps.com/users/25361/routes 4300 feet of climbing and it felt like i only went up the road a bit and back.The return ascent of mealagh valley climb (from the dunmanway side is 16% !) thought if felt hard alright :) Shit day but as always great to be out riding.
You need to find a trail like this in Glengarriff, Simon!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFCjaKhbHMk&feature=player_embedded
Good god that looks like some craic!
Good god that looks like some craic!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Running in winter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjDLorXfkao&feature=related
Click and watch the invisible link above! 266 times up the same hill, wow, he loves that hill, and its hard to argue it looks amazing, like lough hyne of carraigfadda at altitude! Seems like a cool guy and an unbelieveable runner.
Click and watch the invisible link above! 266 times up the same hill, wow, he loves that hill, and its hard to argue it looks amazing, like lough hyne of carraigfadda at altitude! Seems like a cool guy and an unbelieveable runner.
Cycling 101
So with the 24 hour non stop adventure race only a month away and with my running injury i am back on the bike and yesterday was looking to get a long ride in, well 101kms later i arrived home happy and tired, i was riding for 4 hours and 5 minutes. Its the longest ride i have done since May and there was 3 fine hills in there aswell, 2 of which came in the last 30 mins and whilst i did not fly up them i felf comfortable enough. So a class day out and a rare ascent of Mount Gabriel which is the Westcork version of L'alpe d'uez, cool and misty. All in all a mighty day out, felf great after and not to bad today.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Barefoot running
So its a world wide craze for a couple years now and a study released last week suggests that it only is helpful if you actually fore foot strike and that if you heel strike when barefoot or in minimalist shoes it can actually exasberate injury. I am and always have been a barefoot fan, as a kid i raced cross country and interchanged between spikes (about as minimalist as you get) and barefoot, when i ran as a 5 to 10 year old at sports meets (which were fading but still popular then) i always ran bareffoot and i can remember the feeling that over a 100metre sprint i never felt as fleet of foot as i did when bearfoot. I did over the years since go for the odd run on grass barefoot but not to improve my foot strength or technique or anything fancy and structured, rather just to feel the earth and grass beneath my feet, simply for the purity of it, it felt great to be outside of my sweaty shoes, some of these were in the USA in 2001 as i found my feet sweat at an alarming rate!
I just read 'born to run' and its a must read for anyone who has ever run! an absorbing read and even if you think the whole thing is pointless alternative hog wog, its still interesting to hear another view on what we all kinda believed as gospel, (wear cushioned runners, replace them every 500 miles, pronation neutralizers etc)he makes a good argument that its all just commercial marketing and totally unsubstanciated by any proper research. However there are runners who trot along for many many miles in modern shoes and do not get injured and whether you would be less prone to injury with or with out runners is down to more than just what is or is not on your feet. What i think is that the barefoot thing has clearly a part to play and everyone should do a little (20 mins a week) sans footwear. With this in mind i did a km onthe road! last sunday and yes it hurt but i was skipping along like i was on hot coals as they say but of course i got a bit of a blood blister, no big deal though, i did not run all week as i hal a shin splint type thing going on, (so aannoying) and on friday night i did 4 km bare foot in the local pitch, it was so wet and fun, i slipped on my ass whilst turning at one stage :) i felt lite and my cadence was definetly faster, so yeah a lot of fun and a great work out.
I still am injured though and will have to give it another week of total rest from running, so back on the bike for some more hills which i enjoy alot an dthank god too cause i would go mental otherwise, might even go swimming! so in a way it could be a good thing for me, in ther long term but god all i want to do is go out and run. I should be doing the cork to cobh right now and not sitting here writing this but sometimes things just dont turn out the way we want, still i can hardly really complain as i am healthy and happy and there is a lot of people with real problems and so much worse off than me.
I just read 'born to run' and its a must read for anyone who has ever run! an absorbing read and even if you think the whole thing is pointless alternative hog wog, its still interesting to hear another view on what we all kinda believed as gospel, (wear cushioned runners, replace them every 500 miles, pronation neutralizers etc)he makes a good argument that its all just commercial marketing and totally unsubstanciated by any proper research. However there are runners who trot along for many many miles in modern shoes and do not get injured and whether you would be less prone to injury with or with out runners is down to more than just what is or is not on your feet. What i think is that the barefoot thing has clearly a part to play and everyone should do a little (20 mins a week) sans footwear. With this in mind i did a km onthe road! last sunday and yes it hurt but i was skipping along like i was on hot coals as they say but of course i got a bit of a blood blister, no big deal though, i did not run all week as i hal a shin splint type thing going on, (so aannoying) and on friday night i did 4 km bare foot in the local pitch, it was so wet and fun, i slipped on my ass whilst turning at one stage :) i felt lite and my cadence was definetly faster, so yeah a lot of fun and a great work out.
I still am injured though and will have to give it another week of total rest from running, so back on the bike for some more hills which i enjoy alot an dthank god too cause i would go mental otherwise, might even go swimming! so in a way it could be a good thing for me, in ther long term but god all i want to do is go out and run. I should be doing the cork to cobh right now and not sitting here writing this but sometimes things just dont turn out the way we want, still i can hardly really complain as i am healthy and happy and there is a lot of people with real problems and so much worse off than me.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Another road spin
Did this route http://ridewithgps.com/routes/743085 yesterday and i was wrecked after, it took 1hr 50 mins, so i was wondering why the tiredness? i guess i have been on the chainsaw for 12 hours this week so maybe that.
Then when i looked at the amount of climbing, 2400 feet, i guess i dont feel so bad. Thats the story round here, you go for a bit of a spin on your bike and you do a couple thousand feet of climbing by accident. I guess it means when i go anywhere else in the country it feels flat ish! sure the cycle i did on tuesday was only 18 miles but had 3000 feet of climbing with a few bits 18 to 20 % gradient! http://ridewithgps.com/routes/743102
Need to rest today!
Then when i looked at the amount of climbing, 2400 feet, i guess i dont feel so bad. Thats the story round here, you go for a bit of a spin on your bike and you do a couple thousand feet of climbing by accident. I guess it means when i go anywhere else in the country it feels flat ish! sure the cycle i did on tuesday was only 18 miles but had 3000 feet of climbing with a few bits 18 to 20 % gradient! http://ridewithgps.com/routes/743102
Need to rest today!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
I hear ya, but i got shit to do?! ok, but only for a little bit.
Well my leg is at me a little, kinda sore half ways up my left shin and i said i would give it some proper rest so its a week of biking, which is great, cause the legs are strong and i need to put in some good tuning up time on the bike anyway, (i do wonder how people who only run, cope when they get injured!)
I also lost at that other sport i do (throwing metal balls down country roads) and that annoyed me, even though i swore i would not let it, but i am only human.
Anyway i felf that my soul needed some quality time so with that and a good workout in mind, there is only one place to go, and thats the hills around Glengarriff. I always park in Ballylickey or Bantry so i get a warm up before hitting the steep stuff, and no matter what shape i am in either one of the big 3 climbs aound there always is a real test. I was planning on doing my 3 pod route, which is basically ride up to barley lake, then back down the same way and then up another climb which is very nearly the exact same, it comes out about 200 metres below the tunnel on the caha pass, then zip down to Bonane, turn right there and up the priest leap climb from the Kerry side, and back into Cork, Its brutally but as pure as it comes, its hard to do this route with out roaring at your self to 'come on' or when your not in shape,you may have to walk parts, which there is no shame at all in.
I parked at Ballylickey and spun it out and up the Cork side of the Priests leap, mostly cause i had never actually done it, its a tough but enjoyable climb, about 2 thirds of the way up i could not resist throwing the bike behind a ditch and running down a small boreen and through a pine forest to the riverbed, then turn around and back up again, 15 minutes of a fun trail run to keep things interesting, i was trying the float up the hill thing from the book 'born to run' and maybe i was just feeling good or maybe i was doing it right but i was back at the top before i knew it and not out of breath, there could be something in this technique thing! must try it on a big hill and see how long i last. Then it was back on the bike and trying to spin up the steep last part of the climb, which actually has a bit of down hill in it, just to mess your head and legs up!
It was cold and misty on top, as is befitting a fine climb, almost alpine like and only over the road :) i put on a buff and a jacket a caustiously rode down the other side, i once rode down this hill on a 5 and a half inch full suspension bike and when i checked at the bottom i had used the full travel, front and back, which on a road descent is crazy, but there are loads of compressions and little jumps, fine on a mountain bike but not so good on a road bike, so i took it steady, shouting at all the sheep i saw, that i was coming, those fuckers would run right across you and knoock you off and god, hitting the deck on my own in the arse of no where!! Not good, i am all for going fast but sometimes you just gotta slow down.
Then i turned around and powered up again into the wind and a light rain that had started falling, i had to dig deep but thats always the way on this climb, it remains the only climb i have ever had to walk a bit of when i was out biking, and this is mostly due to the fact that by the time you get to it you have some big climb already in your legs. It is such a good test to see where you are, and thankfully i am in a very good place now, both in body and mind, casue when i got back to the van again i felt a whole lot better, do i have to always phsyically empty myself to feel spiritually full? There is nothing like heading to the hills, although at the mo i would prefer to be running and sleeping on the peaks and bogs, they call every so often and right now they are shouting.
I also lost at that other sport i do (throwing metal balls down country roads) and that annoyed me, even though i swore i would not let it, but i am only human.
Anyway i felf that my soul needed some quality time so with that and a good workout in mind, there is only one place to go, and thats the hills around Glengarriff. I always park in Ballylickey or Bantry so i get a warm up before hitting the steep stuff, and no matter what shape i am in either one of the big 3 climbs aound there always is a real test. I was planning on doing my 3 pod route, which is basically ride up to barley lake, then back down the same way and then up another climb which is very nearly the exact same, it comes out about 200 metres below the tunnel on the caha pass, then zip down to Bonane, turn right there and up the priest leap climb from the Kerry side, and back into Cork, Its brutally but as pure as it comes, its hard to do this route with out roaring at your self to 'come on' or when your not in shape,you may have to walk parts, which there is no shame at all in.
I parked at Ballylickey and spun it out and up the Cork side of the Priests leap, mostly cause i had never actually done it, its a tough but enjoyable climb, about 2 thirds of the way up i could not resist throwing the bike behind a ditch and running down a small boreen and through a pine forest to the riverbed, then turn around and back up again, 15 minutes of a fun trail run to keep things interesting, i was trying the float up the hill thing from the book 'born to run' and maybe i was just feeling good or maybe i was doing it right but i was back at the top before i knew it and not out of breath, there could be something in this technique thing! must try it on a big hill and see how long i last. Then it was back on the bike and trying to spin up the steep last part of the climb, which actually has a bit of down hill in it, just to mess your head and legs up!
It was cold and misty on top, as is befitting a fine climb, almost alpine like and only over the road :) i put on a buff and a jacket a caustiously rode down the other side, i once rode down this hill on a 5 and a half inch full suspension bike and when i checked at the bottom i had used the full travel, front and back, which on a road descent is crazy, but there are loads of compressions and little jumps, fine on a mountain bike but not so good on a road bike, so i took it steady, shouting at all the sheep i saw, that i was coming, those fuckers would run right across you and knoock you off and god, hitting the deck on my own in the arse of no where!! Not good, i am all for going fast but sometimes you just gotta slow down.
Then i turned around and powered up again into the wind and a light rain that had started falling, i had to dig deep but thats always the way on this climb, it remains the only climb i have ever had to walk a bit of when i was out biking, and this is mostly due to the fact that by the time you get to it you have some big climb already in your legs. It is such a good test to see where you are, and thankfully i am in a very good place now, both in body and mind, casue when i got back to the van again i felt a whole lot better, do i have to always phsyically empty myself to feel spiritually full? There is nothing like heading to the hills, although at the mo i would prefer to be running and sleeping on the peaks and bogs, they call every so often and right now they are shouting.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
An 'onroad' Duathlon!
So great race in Timoleague, beautiful evening, i said to simon on the warm up cycle to courtmacsherry that twas like california with the sun, sea and girls in tight clothes everywhere!
I got third, losing 2nd with a km to go, very happy though, got a small crystal thingy. Delighted with how it went, i pushed hard on the first run, sitting in behind a guy that surely has run sub 35 mins for 10 km, i was all out to stay with him, then i got ahead of him , due to the fact i had no shoes to change, just stayed in my runners and pushed hard out the first 4 km's averaging 38 or 39 kms an hour, ward said if i had tri bar i would manage another 2 km's an hour?!
anyway the guy in 4th after the first run caught me and he was flying but i managed to stay with him, comfortably enough and came out of transition with a 15 metre lead, which i held to 1 km to go and then he caught and passed me, i stayed with him for a little but he was just a tiny bit to strong and i decided to cut it back a little instead of maybe totally blowing up, as the 4th place guy was not far back and closing, i had a good few looks back but he was never going to catch me. Very happy that i could push that hard for 43 mins and still feel strong (ish!) at the end. The guy who won it was 3 mins ahead and a really fine athlete.
Simon did super (this was his first time in his life starting a running race and i must say he ran very well with only a months running in his legs, and he caught a load of people on the bike, so obviously the 2 time trials we did in the last 2 weeks helped.
Well organised, very friendly, great tough racing at all levels, there was fancy carbon bikes at the front and a couple of bikes with baskets further back, so a race for anyone really. There was 85 in it, including cork footbaler Pierce oNeill.
Lovely evening out, thanks to my mad gang and wife and Carol for cheering us on.
And a huge thank you to simon for going back and getting my runner's (doh!) that i had forgotten!
I got third, losing 2nd with a km to go, very happy though, got a small crystal thingy. Delighted with how it went, i pushed hard on the first run, sitting in behind a guy that surely has run sub 35 mins for 10 km, i was all out to stay with him, then i got ahead of him , due to the fact i had no shoes to change, just stayed in my runners and pushed hard out the first 4 km's averaging 38 or 39 kms an hour, ward said if i had tri bar i would manage another 2 km's an hour?!
anyway the guy in 4th after the first run caught me and he was flying but i managed to stay with him, comfortably enough and came out of transition with a 15 metre lead, which i held to 1 km to go and then he caught and passed me, i stayed with him for a little but he was just a tiny bit to strong and i decided to cut it back a little instead of maybe totally blowing up, as the 4th place guy was not far back and closing, i had a good few looks back but he was never going to catch me. Very happy that i could push that hard for 43 mins and still feel strong (ish!) at the end. The guy who won it was 3 mins ahead and a really fine athlete.
Simon did super (this was his first time in his life starting a running race and i must say he ran very well with only a months running in his legs, and he caught a load of people on the bike, so obviously the 2 time trials we did in the last 2 weeks helped.
Well organised, very friendly, great tough racing at all levels, there was fancy carbon bikes at the front and a couple of bikes with baskets further back, so a race for anyone really. There was 85 in it, including cork footbaler Pierce oNeill.
Lovely evening out, thanks to my mad gang and wife and Carol for cheering us on.
And a huge thank you to simon for going back and getting my runner's (doh!) that i had forgotten!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
TT
Well TT sounds tough and time trails in any shape or form are, you push, push,push like your having a baby and you have to keep goiing not matter the pain, til the baby comes out :) i have seen 4, so i have a little idea. (although clearly as i am a man i have no idea about real pain!) but a hill climb is probably extra special/tough and a hill climb like the leg ripping hill road in Drinagh is especially savage. It has 3 ramps and even a tiny bit of down hill, to try and get a rythm is impossible, it constant gear changing and up and down out of the saddle, in short its torture to race up. Every local rider i know who has raced up it feels like they have got a chest infection when they reach the top!
Anyway the other night i organised a TT on "the hill road" and cause it was wet and shitty only Simon 'i ride and run now' O Driscoll showed up, which was fine cause i would have rode up it just as hard on my own anyway but the company was nice to distract one from the iminent pain. I really focused on spinnning up the hill, instead of bulling the bike up as i did in the past and the result was a 5.54 in runners, which is roughly the same as the 5.39 i did in my carbon fancy shoes and loads of cycling in my legs last year. In short very satisfying, its so nice to have tangible bench marks, it kinda reassures you that what you are doing in training is working and you are going in the correct direction. Simon did a 8.18 and will smash that in a few weeks with some tempo and redline riding in his legs. Did an hour 20 all in and twas a fine night out on a bicycle.
Probably will head to a local duathlon on Saturday next with Simon, it will be some more racing for my legs and mind ahead of the important races i have coming up in October.
Anyway the other night i organised a TT on "the hill road" and cause it was wet and shitty only Simon 'i ride and run now' O Driscoll showed up, which was fine cause i would have rode up it just as hard on my own anyway but the company was nice to distract one from the iminent pain. I really focused on spinnning up the hill, instead of bulling the bike up as i did in the past and the result was a 5.54 in runners, which is roughly the same as the 5.39 i did in my carbon fancy shoes and loads of cycling in my legs last year. In short very satisfying, its so nice to have tangible bench marks, it kinda reassures you that what you are doing in training is working and you are going in the correct direction. Simon did a 8.18 and will smash that in a few weeks with some tempo and redline riding in his legs. Did an hour 20 all in and twas a fine night out on a bicycle.
Probably will head to a local duathlon on Saturday next with Simon, it will be some more racing for my legs and mind ahead of the important races i have coming up in October.
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