So the cold is gone or nearly and the anti-biotics are finished but the friggin leg is not right, just a small niggle just to the left of my hip, kinda on the front of my leg, dont know what it is? but its really impeding my stride and i think i have no option but to give it more rest and hit the bike for at least a week and most probably 2. I did an easy 25 minute run and the pissed me off from start to finish, must look up what it could be.
So time to hit the tarmac on the titanium bliss machine that is my Litespeed road bike, I have had it for nearly 6 years now and dont think i have ever thought about selling it and thats saying something as i have gone through about 8 mountain bikes i the same time/! And have just sold my perfectly good one as of 24 hours ago, :) i dont know what it is about those things but they seem to have a shelf life with me of 2 years max. I guess i will have to try the 29er thing that is all the rage for taller riders at the moment. Mike is getting one so i guess that will be the one i try when he comes down again the next time. I eluded to it being the time of year for a road buzz and this evening was a classic example, mild, raining and perfect! Donal my brother had a score so i had to go and do my bit for him, tommorrow. Also of note i broke the screen of my garmin, cause its fooked anyway, it would not stay on at all of late, so i guess i need to get a new one or something?
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
settlers Trail
So i have been at this section since October, sparodically and there has been a large amount of chain saw work in it and a bit of stone masonry! but today i was out bench cutting and clearing, there is the usual half inch of dead oragnaic matter on the top layer some i cleared some i left, from the end of the DNR trail i know that all it needs is 30 or 40 rides and a winter to bed in, she will be fine come next spring. The bench cutting was tiring but it is very rewarding as you can make nice sweeping lines and link it all together. I only had the shovel and 2 hours today, but i got a lot done, and most importantly i got a good bit of the soil based stuff done before what is meant to be 3 days of rain, so it should help with the bedding in.
I rode the trail after or at least 80% of it and i had thought that i was nearly there but in reality i have plenty left to do, it does not flow in a lot of sections due to little humps and hollows that combine to suck your energy, this is just the norm for a brand new trail, all it needs is another 5 or 6 hours of filling and slight rearranging here and subtly there and then a bunch of riding, then some more touches, a bunch more riding and to top it off a growing season, (just starting) and this time next year it should be in good condition and usable with little or no repair for years.
It is the final section on the epic 3 year building process that i started in the summer of 2008 and when finished will give a 2.6 km loop of pure Irish XC, nothing on it is beyond the technical capabilities of a newbie but to link the whole trail together will be demanding phsyically, despite only a modest amount of climbing the moderate challenges the rider will face along the way are spaced so that you will have to be consistently 'on the ball' to flow around the loop. A fit, proficient rider will take between 13 and 15 minutes to do the lap.
I rode the trail after or at least 80% of it and i had thought that i was nearly there but in reality i have plenty left to do, it does not flow in a lot of sections due to little humps and hollows that combine to suck your energy, this is just the norm for a brand new trail, all it needs is another 5 or 6 hours of filling and slight rearranging here and subtly there and then a bunch of riding, then some more touches, a bunch more riding and to top it off a growing season, (just starting) and this time next year it should be in good condition and usable with little or no repair for years.
It is the final section on the epic 3 year building process that i started in the summer of 2008 and when finished will give a 2.6 km loop of pure Irish XC, nothing on it is beyond the technical capabilities of a newbie but to link the whole trail together will be demanding phsyically, despite only a modest amount of climbing the moderate challenges the rider will face along the way are spaced so that you will have to be consistently 'on the ball' to flow around the loop. A fit, proficient rider will take between 13 and 15 minutes to do the lap.
Monday, March 28, 2011
7 days in tibet
Well not really, spiritually maybe.
Yeah so for the last 7 days the westcorktrailman has been resting up, not a whiff of sweat anywhere in the house. Last year i drove on hard as we say down here and went 'all in' on a regular basis and so by mid june i was done, 2 or 3 worrying visits to the doc and eventually a diagnossis of over training and a perscription of rest for a month!! Not that i could do much anyway, it truned out perfect as i went on a 2 week camping trip with my wife and kids and it was amazing, the weather bar Achill Island was super and we actually 'grew' as a family in the 18 days.
So this year i do ot want to feel like a asthmatic 70 year old man for a few weeks again, so i am putting in strategic! breaks 2 or 3 times a year, duringthis one i got a cold and chest infection so i might make it another 3 days before i go again, also a niggle in my right hip means i will be on the bike , which suits me fine as the time has changed and i need to pack in some miles on the roads and the woods.
This time of year is amazing, usually its really mild and even on the wet damp evenings i find i am drawn out on the bike. The smells of the first cut of grass and the echo of the cuckoo copper fasten that this is my annual mini season to become a man of the road. The Rás is on in mid may and until then it fills my head with notions that are well past there sell by date. Good to keep me moving though.
This year i have planned to race in mid may as every year i am flying and but i dont go and do a big one. So this year me and my mate Ward are going to do Coast to Coast Sligo to Down, on our road bikes , kayaks and trail running. Its far, and arduos but i am really looking forward to it. Gotta get 4 or 5 100km rides in before then though, I am also doing Monster Mac adventure race which will be 3 and a half hours of similar stuff, which should bode well for 2 weeks later.
Being sick has meant the rest has been a little easier not that frustrating at all really, infact i think i could take another week off no worries, a who am i kidding i would be intolerable by thursday! So Basketball first for a sweat fest and a couple days rest then and onto the bike then, looking forward to it, i have to say. Bring on he damp warm raod spray on my ass and back and pumping up the glorious hills around Westcork.
Yeah so for the last 7 days the westcorktrailman has been resting up, not a whiff of sweat anywhere in the house. Last year i drove on hard as we say down here and went 'all in' on a regular basis and so by mid june i was done, 2 or 3 worrying visits to the doc and eventually a diagnossis of over training and a perscription of rest for a month!! Not that i could do much anyway, it truned out perfect as i went on a 2 week camping trip with my wife and kids and it was amazing, the weather bar Achill Island was super and we actually 'grew' as a family in the 18 days.
So this year i do ot want to feel like a asthmatic 70 year old man for a few weeks again, so i am putting in strategic! breaks 2 or 3 times a year, duringthis one i got a cold and chest infection so i might make it another 3 days before i go again, also a niggle in my right hip means i will be on the bike , which suits me fine as the time has changed and i need to pack in some miles on the roads and the woods.
This time of year is amazing, usually its really mild and even on the wet damp evenings i find i am drawn out on the bike. The smells of the first cut of grass and the echo of the cuckoo copper fasten that this is my annual mini season to become a man of the road. The Rás is on in mid may and until then it fills my head with notions that are well past there sell by date. Good to keep me moving though.
This year i have planned to race in mid may as every year i am flying and but i dont go and do a big one. So this year me and my mate Ward are going to do Coast to Coast Sligo to Down, on our road bikes , kayaks and trail running. Its far, and arduos but i am really looking forward to it. Gotta get 4 or 5 100km rides in before then though, I am also doing Monster Mac adventure race which will be 3 and a half hours of similar stuff, which should bode well for 2 weeks later.
Being sick has meant the rest has been a little easier not that frustrating at all really, infact i think i could take another week off no worries, a who am i kidding i would be intolerable by thursday! So Basketball first for a sweat fest and a couple days rest then and onto the bike then, looking forward to it, i have to say. Bring on he damp warm raod spray on my ass and back and pumping up the glorious hills around Westcork.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
The last 2 weeks.
Well after bally cotton i was tired but not too bad, i have had 3 hard and fast basketball games, which i have steadily got slower at due to the volume of training i have been doing the rest of the week. Also i did the very tough but cool Ballydehob 10km in 41.25, which considering how tired i felt was great. This event will get very big in the next few years, especially with it on St, Patricks. Also my mate ward! came down for 2 days and we did maybe the best trail run i have ever done, basically you start at the cafe in tooreen, (tip of the sheeps head) and you head east to laharanadoota, cross the road, and still heading east, onto the poets trail and north along the road to Cahergal, then you head west along the trail all the ways to the lighthouse at the edge of the world! then back to the huge teapot bernie will have waiting for you in the cafe at Tooreen. The air was cool, the trails empty and the sea as still as you could ever hope it to be. The drop down into the cliffs at Gortavalig was as stunning as always, although i do think that at dawn it is even more magical, i will visit that scene this summer.
The following day we traced the south coast of roaring water bay for a while on our road bikes and ended up in the horse shoe cafe for an hour and more tea in glorious sunshine. Also i did a brutal duathlon which i wish never happened! as i was very tired from my youngest only sleeping 4 hours that night! So straight away i knew i was empty, but pushed on, as you do! i managed to stay ahead, just but really i should have stayed in bed. So a week of R and R was needed, to help very sore and tired legs and an annoying head cold! At least i am chilling in amazing weather.
The following day we traced the south coast of roaring water bay for a while on our road bikes and ended up in the horse shoe cafe for an hour and more tea in glorious sunshine. Also i did a brutal duathlon which i wish never happened! as i was very tired from my youngest only sleeping 4 hours that night! So straight away i knew i was empty, but pushed on, as you do! i managed to stay ahead, just but really i should have stayed in bed. So a week of R and R was needed, to help very sore and tired legs and an annoying head cold! At least i am chilling in amazing weather.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Pounding the road.
Well last sunday i headed to a part of cork i rarely go to, the very pretty Ballycotton, in East Cork, a stones throw from the ocean and county Waterford.
Non running friends have asked me why so many people want to do the Ballycotton 10 mile road race and to be honest i dont have an answer, sometimes these things just take on a mystic element and everyone wants in.
Maybe the fact that it is in existence since 1979 or thats it on the first sunday in March, or maybe its 2 and a half thousand competitors crammed (at the start) into country lanes? who knows, but all i can say is outside of a big city marathon, you will not see that amount of people running a race in Ireland or get that kind of atmosphere.
I had the training done, well as much as i could manage since focusing on running 2 months previous, but at least i felt fresh and had no injury or niggle, some thing that in the past i have never really been able to manage coming into a race i would like to do my best in. I can do it fine on the bike but when it comes to running i always seem to fall at the last hurdle, injury wise.
I had 67 mins in my head as a realistic goal, after i had ran 69.20 in the Mealagh valley 10 a month before and had got through the seriously tough Off-road half Marathon in Kenmare 2 weeks later, with only a knot in my right calf that lasted 5 days!
I had done a tough 1.15 hill run (see previous post) the previous sunday and after a tough basketball game on the monday night, rested on tue and wednesday and did a easy 35 min warm up on the thursday evening, followed by a 6 min mile @168 bpm followed by 10 mins cool down, rest on fri and sat, good sleep on sat night and a painless , in plenty of time drive on sunday morning, leaving home at 10 to 10.
I had decided to stick to my plan from the month previous which i felt worked very well and so started the race with no pace per mile time in my head, instead i was running off the heart rate monitor and feel, mostly sticking to the monitor, so i ran at an av of 165 bpm approx for the first 5 miles in 33.40, it felt easy enough but still plenty fast. I planned to run at that pace until the 7 mile mark but because it i felt so comfortable i latched onto a runner who came past me at the 5.75 mile mark, the heart rate went up to 174, 175 but i felt ok, yes it was hard but not unbearable so i said i would see how it goes.
I followed 'paddy' (a popular local guy obviously) for over 2 miles at this pace until my heart rate dropped to 170, i knew we had slowed and paddy was cooked, so i powered on steadily on my own. At the 8 mile mark 4 or 5 guys came past me in a macho roaring pack shouting 'come on lads' i knew a surge would be futile so i ignored them and let them go, from the 8.5 mile mark i really started to work, 178 bpm flashed up at me.
It felt hard but doable, by the 9 mile mark i had passed all the roaring lads and was now in the last mile and 182 on my watch, i pumped along in a whole world of pain, perhaps if i had been on my own it would have been to much (it definetly would!) but because i was catching runner after runner i just kept pushing. I eventually hit some kinda wall at the 1000metres to go and became aware that i was not running that well technically and i felt that i must have slowed, but i still was hell bent on passing more runners, i willed down the 100metres chunks, as they were all bloody well marked on the road!
I did despite my internal trauma notice a few pained expressions from spectators along the way, no doubt reflecting the twisted expression i must have on my face, then i had a real clear realisation that i was giving more than 100%, i have never subscribed to the 110% cliche but now i most certainly would agree that it is at least possible.
Finally the end came and i almost had forgot about the time aspect. I looked at my watch and it said 66.49, and a 6.20 last mile (must not have slowed that much!)
Running i have learned really is not about the times, but i do admit that the figure 66.49 added to my already huge sense of satisfaction. I had run clever, i had run negative splits, 33.40 and 33.09 respectively, i told anyone who asked 'So how did you get on in the race'? that i could not have run a second faster. Result!
Ballycotton reminded me why i like races. It made me push myself beyond the norm, way beyond infact! It provided tiny incremental achievable goals in the form of other runners, just ahead of me, to catch and do it again and again. It allowed me redefine where my limit is, it turned the 'science bit' on its head (no way i would have said (or my training suggest) i could maintain the heartrate i managed in the 2nd 5 miles) So, i guess i now have an answer, to why the Ballycotton 10 is so special. It was my first and i know it wont be my last.
Non running friends have asked me why so many people want to do the Ballycotton 10 mile road race and to be honest i dont have an answer, sometimes these things just take on a mystic element and everyone wants in.
Maybe the fact that it is in existence since 1979 or thats it on the first sunday in March, or maybe its 2 and a half thousand competitors crammed (at the start) into country lanes? who knows, but all i can say is outside of a big city marathon, you will not see that amount of people running a race in Ireland or get that kind of atmosphere.
I had the training done, well as much as i could manage since focusing on running 2 months previous, but at least i felt fresh and had no injury or niggle, some thing that in the past i have never really been able to manage coming into a race i would like to do my best in. I can do it fine on the bike but when it comes to running i always seem to fall at the last hurdle, injury wise.
I had 67 mins in my head as a realistic goal, after i had ran 69.20 in the Mealagh valley 10 a month before and had got through the seriously tough Off-road half Marathon in Kenmare 2 weeks later, with only a knot in my right calf that lasted 5 days!
I had done a tough 1.15 hill run (see previous post) the previous sunday and after a tough basketball game on the monday night, rested on tue and wednesday and did a easy 35 min warm up on the thursday evening, followed by a 6 min mile @168 bpm followed by 10 mins cool down, rest on fri and sat, good sleep on sat night and a painless , in plenty of time drive on sunday morning, leaving home at 10 to 10.
I had decided to stick to my plan from the month previous which i felt worked very well and so started the race with no pace per mile time in my head, instead i was running off the heart rate monitor and feel, mostly sticking to the monitor, so i ran at an av of 165 bpm approx for the first 5 miles in 33.40, it felt easy enough but still plenty fast. I planned to run at that pace until the 7 mile mark but because it i felt so comfortable i latched onto a runner who came past me at the 5.75 mile mark, the heart rate went up to 174, 175 but i felt ok, yes it was hard but not unbearable so i said i would see how it goes.
I followed 'paddy' (a popular local guy obviously) for over 2 miles at this pace until my heart rate dropped to 170, i knew we had slowed and paddy was cooked, so i powered on steadily on my own. At the 8 mile mark 4 or 5 guys came past me in a macho roaring pack shouting 'come on lads' i knew a surge would be futile so i ignored them and let them go, from the 8.5 mile mark i really started to work, 178 bpm flashed up at me.
It felt hard but doable, by the 9 mile mark i had passed all the roaring lads and was now in the last mile and 182 on my watch, i pumped along in a whole world of pain, perhaps if i had been on my own it would have been to much (it definetly would!) but because i was catching runner after runner i just kept pushing. I eventually hit some kinda wall at the 1000metres to go and became aware that i was not running that well technically and i felt that i must have slowed, but i still was hell bent on passing more runners, i willed down the 100metres chunks, as they were all bloody well marked on the road!
I did despite my internal trauma notice a few pained expressions from spectators along the way, no doubt reflecting the twisted expression i must have on my face, then i had a real clear realisation that i was giving more than 100%, i have never subscribed to the 110% cliche but now i most certainly would agree that it is at least possible.
Finally the end came and i almost had forgot about the time aspect. I looked at my watch and it said 66.49, and a 6.20 last mile (must not have slowed that much!)
Running i have learned really is not about the times, but i do admit that the figure 66.49 added to my already huge sense of satisfaction. I had run clever, i had run negative splits, 33.40 and 33.09 respectively, i told anyone who asked 'So how did you get on in the race'? that i could not have run a second faster. Result!
Ballycotton reminded me why i like races. It made me push myself beyond the norm, way beyond infact! It provided tiny incremental achievable goals in the form of other runners, just ahead of me, to catch and do it again and again. It allowed me redefine where my limit is, it turned the 'science bit' on its head (no way i would have said (or my training suggest) i could maintain the heartrate i managed in the 2nd 5 miles) So, i guess i now have an answer, to why the Ballycotton 10 is so special. It was my first and i know it wont be my last.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Core workout
So one of the classic core exercises to do is the wood chop, see here,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkhATg1-b9g
Or you could go all permaculture and get the fitness benefit and the actual wood!
1and a half hours of pure oblique fun! And it kept me warm and will for the winter ahead! Recommended.
Or you could go all permaculture and get the fitness benefit and the actual wood!
1and a half hours of pure oblique fun! And it kept me warm and will for the winter ahead! Recommended.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Family walks
As all parents know or should know, going for a walk is the most simple of all things to do with your kids and in the current economic situation the fact that it is free makes it all the more appealing. One of my favourite walks in Westcork with the 'smallies' is Lough Hyne hill or known locally as Knockomagh woods. The trails here are well maintained and are an out and back affair with one or two slight variations. There is excellent viewing points along the way complete with seating and a bringing along a picnic for the top or in the small car park or pier at the bottom is on a nice day, idyllic.
It should be pointed out that the hill is steep in parts and may not suit the more relaxed among the population! however if one goes nice and steady the rewards along the way and at the top are really worth it. This is a fine place for a short hill run especially when its wet and wild as it is very sheltered and well drained, the signs about falling trees during such weather should be considered though, i guess. Managing to jog up all the steps is a fine test of ones fitness!
This area is quite and beautiful and if one did not want to wander up the hill, a stroll along the edge of the lake on around to bárloge pier is bordering on blissful. We did the walk (pictured above) on the hill in about an hour at a very gentle pace with plenty breaks, our 2 and a half year old walking the whole way. What a lovely way to spend the first morning in March or indeed any morning.
lIt should be pointed out that the hill is steep in parts and may not suit the more relaxed among the population! however if one goes nice and steady the rewards along the way and at the top are really worth it. This is a fine place for a short hill run especially when its wet and wild as it is very sheltered and well drained, the signs about falling trees during such weather should be considered though, i guess. Managing to jog up all the steps is a fine test of ones fitness!
This area is quite and beautiful and if one did not want to wander up the hill, a stroll along the edge of the lake on around to bárloge pier is bordering on blissful. We did the walk (pictured above) on the hill in about an hour at a very gentle pace with plenty breaks, our 2 and a half year old walking the whole way. What a lovely way to spend the first morning in March or indeed any morning.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)