Go Long, Go Strong x2

Reciently, the HPO of Irish Orienteering, Ivan Millar decided that the Irish based team members weren't getting in enough long, well planned, technical races on good maps.

This problem was solved by the Irish Long Distance Series. 3 races, on 3 maps. The terrain, standard unforgiving Irish mountain side. The planners were only to make sure that the winners time was to be around 120mins to give the runners a mental and physical challenge.

Needless to say once I heard this series was on I was delighted. Proper planned courses, on proper maps and it would be Long! not Leinster League Brown 55min winning time long, but +90mins winning time Long.

Race One was planned by Greg McCann on Gortalughany, close to Florencecourt, deep in Fermanagh country. The terrain was a mix of leg sapping heather, but also a section of burnt heather and rock that allowed runners to open up if they had the energy.

My plan for the race was to cruise around and focus on my route choice and for every control have an attackpoint.

At the start I was calm... tried to take up my map, failed due to gloves, took off gloves, pick up map and floored if off down the road... And that was to contuine. I was running strongly, not flat out, but not going easy. A mistake at control 5 through my confidence slightly, and the following controls were shaky as I tried to find my flow again.

Once I found it, I was off flooring it again. At control 16, I was on a high, and I set my eyes on a pack in front. I chased hard and caught the pack leaving the butterfly. On the last long leg, I went the track route and ran as hard as I could to drop Conor. It worked wonders as I pulled away. From control 16 onwards, I dropped 60seconds from superman. I was pretty happy with my last half, where I could open it up and kept it pretty clean.

Map and results

From FermO country, we moved onto Carlingford for race 2. Carlingford is a bitch of a mountain. You think your on top of it, you let your concentration slip and bam, your lost. This insain map was combined with IOC Sprint planner Igor Stefko.

Heading up I was concerned. Mainly due to the Nat Seniors XC the day previous and the worry that my legs wouldn't work.

I set off 3mins behind Conor with the idea to put him under pressure. I started off easy, building into it. I kept it under control, making sure of the nav, as I slowly pulled in Conor. By the top of the hill, I had caught Conor, but I stuffed up the control. I was afraid to drop contours.

Head to 6, I didn't read my map at all, but I relocated close to the control. As the race progressed, I got more confident and was able to control my pace to the orienteering needed. Needless to say, the climb was more of a speed limiter.

Once we got off of the open mountain and onto the runnable stuff, I put an extra 6mins into the following runners. In the post race analysis, I was happy to be able to open up the legs after 900m of climbing and the tough race before hand.

Map and results

With two races down, the only race left before the JK and Irish Champs is the LongO race on the combined map of Meelmore and Tollymore. With Ivan planning, its sure to be a technical challenge.

Can't wait!

January Mud

January also was the month of XC.

It was interesting. The Novices, I died. The Inters, I died. The Seniors, I died. Good season :)

Below is the stuff plugged from my training log:

All Irelands Novice XC Champs.

The plan was simple. Go out easy and pick it up, come through like a train and secure a Donore Team win....

Started off easy, sitting in around 60ish. Jogged up the first hill and took the first lap casaul. After the hill on the 2nd lap I upped the pace slightly and began to pass runners at ease. By the time I had got to John again, I was in 41st and moving like a freight train picking up places. John was going mental at me as I was finally nailing a XC using sensible tactics....

Then somthing happened and it all went to shit. My legs refused to turn over, my lungs tightened up and I found it hard to breath. Keith Daly went by me and I couldn't go with him at all.

I was leaking places like a sinking ship. Last lap, I was dead on my feet, I didn't even have any fight left in me. Fergal came past me. Couldn't do a thing.

Really really disappointed. I thought I was well up for the race but I guess I'm mentally tired from exams.

The top 4 guys for Donore, Mark 7th, Ken 31st, Keith 37th and Fergal 50th finsihed 2nd team and picked up silver medals so a pat on the back to the lads. The advantage of a strong team I guess.

Full Results

Pissed off, bitter, pumped for the Nat Seniors.

With this minor mishap, I sorted the head and was up for the National Inter Champs. A hard fought mud bath. My training log is blunt and too the point.

National XC Club Champs!! :P Woop!
Go on the Donore!!

Anywho, the course was a mud bath. Never seen anything like it before in my life. Manky ouvit!

Finished up 43rd in a battle of attrition. Not really happy but came through strongly over the last two laps.

John, Keith and Ken monstered it. I suffered around and surived to get the last space on the team. Downsy was giving me dog abuse the entire way around. Gave it everything. Just wasn't strong enough.

Am now bollocked.

What I didn't say in my log was that I got home, showered, went out for a beer and spent the next 48hrs in bed except for 2 easy runs. I was still pale on Tuesday. It really was throw everything, including the kitchen sink and the adjoining pipework at it. Very pleased with it.

The next and final race was the National Seniors on Saturday. It was a 7 lap sufferfeast.

Plan was simple, go out easy and build into it. Disappointed, but not sure I could have done any more.

National Inter Clubs.
The plan was to go out easy and build into it.
So thats exactly what I did. I ended up in a bunch with Travers, Mark, Shane and Ken (all donore). We were packed around 40th, just crusing. We tipped through lap one, still in 40ish. The things began to heat up. However, I let them go and ran my own race.
I was running ok on any of the ups or downs, but once it got flat, groups would just string past me. I kept plugging away at it, counting down the laps. The all of a sudden I was on my second last lap. So I tried to push on as was the plan. Ended up racing a DSD guy over the final two laps. He got me in the end, just had more of a kick.
Bit disappointed with my run. I'm sore, but something was missing. Maybe I took it too easy or was too conservative when racing.
Lap times
2:29 (short run to the start of the main loop)
5:45, 6:01, 6:02, 6:14,
6:13, 6:18, 6:09.

Full Results
Live and learn.

With the third race, it ended the XC season, excluding the colleges in 2 weeks time.

All in all I can't complain with the haul.

Leinster Novices

Induv 18th

Club 4th (3rd Donore)

County 2nd

All Ireland Novices

Induv 66th

Club 2nd (5th Donore)

Dublin Intermediates

Induv 3rd

Club 2nd (1st Donore)

All Ireland Intermediates

Induv 43rd

Club 1st (4th Donore)

County 2nd

Inter Club Champs

Induv 64th

Club 6th (4th Donore)

The end result is that I can only run 4 XC races next year. Inter Clubs, County, Dublin and Leinster Senior. More time for the hills. Smiles all round

January. The month of Suffering

New Years!

January started off with an eventful hike up Tonelegee. The plan was to do a run with Ruairi, a bit of a mini epic. However, with conditions like this

It was decided against... Given it was well dodge!

The Art O'Neil

When ya get a call from anyone from the world of IMRA and long distance stuff you know it's gona be great!

Then when new shiny free kit is thrown into the equation it becomes even better.

The Art O'Neil is a walk that goes from Dublin Castle to Glenmalure. In recient years, it was organised as a charity walk, hybrid run or Ultra run (if your crazy like Eoin).

Word got around that I was taking part and almost as quickly people assumed (incorrectly) that I was challenging Eoin in a Nav Ultra. No dice.

On the day of the event. I got the kit sorted and headed off to Dublin Castle. On kit check duty, I allowed alot of people through that I didn't think should have started. Needless to say, Mountain Rescue gave them the go ahead. (The following morning I found one getting onto a bus pullout as she was too cold. Seamus found her and pretty much saved her sorry ass.)

I was leading a group with long term bad influence, fluffy Niall.

It was uneventful enough, excluding the zero visibilty, the 180 mistake off the first hill, the group splitting, half my group vanishing in the mist, more dropping out at the 2nd check point, having flogged themselves on the road run and the pushing people up to Arts Cross. And the mess up with tracks at the end. Lovely stuff. By the end I was pretty tired myself. I forgot what a lack of sleep was like. Good fun!

Next up were the exams. They were hell.