Gael Force West Training

Hiya GF09,

The keys things to train for are the running and cycling sections. The kayaking section is very short, and doesn't require too much attention at all. All I'd recommend there is to do one kayaking lesson on Sit on Top kayaks (like used in the race), so that you won't make your "very first time" errors on the race itself.

If you want to be competitive it would be a good idea to tailor your training so that you're training for the nature of the race. Use the cumulative totals for both cycling and running as your target distances that you'll be training for.

Try and train as much as possible on terraine that will match the race conditions. For cycling, try and do your spins on roads on undulating hills (I know that this might be hard in the midlands, depending on where you are, but even repeatedly using the same hill multiple times in one session will be very useful). If you're new to the cycling aspect, then do your training on the bike you'll be using for the race. To be competitive, you'll want that to be a road bike. Personally, I'd recommend that when you go out for a midweek cycling spin you make it at least 2 hours, preferably 3. Try and get in one or two per week. At weekends try and do one longer spin, say 3-4 hours at a more relaxed pace.

For running, there are plenty of running programmes out there which you could adapt and use. Again, if you can, try and get in some hill training on a regular (weekly at least) basis. Make as much of your running as you can off road. This will help build up the muscles in your legs and feet that stabilies you on technical terraine. The first 2 run sections in the race are pretty straightforward, but Croagh Patrick is a very technical hill run (My favourite in Ireland, as it happens). To get up that competitively you'll want to build up leg strenght, so as well as hill-repeats on bike and on foot you might also want to do some gym work to help with that, if you haven't already. Coming down CP is more about technique than fitness. Its well worth going over there as soon as you can and doing the CP part of the route so that you know what you'll have to do on race day. In the meantime, it would be worth getting to one or two of the IMRA races to get used to racing on technical terraine. The sugarloaf race is probably the most similat to CP in terms of terraine. The Carrauntwohill race would be another good one, and as its on a bank holiday you might be able to make it to it.

I hope this helps... feel free to ask more specific questions if I've gone off on the wrong tangent there.

Alot tougher with 2 runs and a long cycle in the legs!

For sure! That's why you need to train as if you were running a longer cumulative distance.

What time did you get up and down Croagh Patrick? Did you use the path to the right or did you go straight up? Also what way did you come down?

I can't remember my up time. Think it might have been around 30 minutes. My down time was fractionally under 10 minutes. On the way up I used the zig-zag path up until it hits the shoulder, and then the main pilgrims route to the top. Similar on the way down, except for cutting accross the last zig-zag and going on a straighter route down. The guy in front of me seemed to cut off the path a lot sooner on the way down.

At moment i running 5km daily and 20km cycle 3 times a week so probably should start upping the distance yes?

definitely need to adjust. Don't up the distances accross the board. Rather, put more structure into it and have one long slow run per week, one speed session/hill repeats session per week. There are proper running coaches on here who will hopefully give you more specific advice. Look up some of the training programmes for marathons on the internet, and use one of the more ambitious ones if you're able to (not exactly, as you'll be doing cycling as well, but as a guidline as to how to structure your week, and your progression over the months ahead). Similarly with the cycling. And don't forget to give yourself a rest day. They're very important.

Will you be entering this year?

Probably! I need to be careful not to overdo it myself, but I really enjoyed it last year and its certainly my intention to give it a go again this year.

It does seem to be an older crowd, but definitely not exclusively so. There are two reasons I can think of for that. Its an endurance sport, and people's endurance gets better as you get older. The other reason I can think of is cost. If you get into it in a big way there is a lot of gear to be bought for all the different sports, and then there is the expense of travelling to the bigger international races. The older crowd tend to have a bit more money.

gaelforce09 wrote:

What time did you get up and down Croagh Patrick?

Enduro wrote: »

I can't remember my up time. Think it might have been around 30 minutes. My down time was fractionally under 10 minutes. .

http://imra.ie/events/view/id/614/ wrote:

Course Record: Men: 42:43 (John Brooks, Lochaber) Woman: 58:?? (Joyce Mitchells)

Better get onto IMRA. You might well be now the record holder.

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Enduro's times (which are mightly impressive) would have been for the Gael Force route which is shorter than the traditional imra route, the latter starts right down on the road beside the pub.

Ahh. Haven't done Gael Force but did the IMRA run once.

gaelforce09 wrote: »

Enduro

In last years race i have been looking at split times. you did first run in 53 mins? Was this going at a serious pace or what?
What you think a realistic time would be for this?

Your bike run was 85 mins. While some of the other riders was 65 mins. Its seems you made up most time on Croagh Patrick.

the first run was as fast as I would have wanted to go, given what was following. Not full speed. Not that far off it. A realistic time depends on your own abilities. I'd be running setting my aims for that leg based on effort, rather than time. There is no point achieving a target time for leg 1 and then being too knackered to finish the full race.

Careful of how you read my splits in the results. They seem to have missed a split in my results, so some of them read wrong. I got into the run-bike transition at delphi about 30 seconds ahead of the lads behind, so you can work out the run#2 and bike splits with that info.

Don't worry about time targets. You have to judge the effort on the day, and the time will derive from that. Obviously enough, the effort will have to be less than what you would be putting in for a 10k run, as its only the first leg of the race. Err on the side of going too slow. You can always make it back on later legs, but if you go too hard you'll be in trouble.

That's enough to get you around the course, I'd say, but it would definitely be worth your while upping the cycling milage

Thanks for that - I've seen stuff about waterproof clothing so was confused as I run marathons and wear the same gear - rain or shine ..and I assumed the same was for cycling, so that just left me to wonder about the kayaking part .

Thanks for the responses !

Runner of Jogger Seres with a 41 minute 10k run are you kidding me

Enter as a runner or you'll shame me ...

I run 10k in around 47 mins and I've entered the 6.30am wave.
There are guidelines on what wave to enter on the website and I usually come in 20-30% of females in my age group ( the oap ..!- also depends on how many people are in the race ) so I went for that wave on the basis that I've done marathons before and run regularly and hike every so often..
saying that, I've never tried running, cycling, hiking, cycling all in the one go , so here's hoping my legs stay in one piece ...

gaelforce09 wrote: »

Hi Guys/Girls

I have started training training for this adventure race and i was looking for a bit of help. I have never done anything like this before. Fitness wise i am not too bad.

Just wondering what sort of training ye think i should be doing for the next few months? With regards to cyclig/running/and hill training?

I would like to think i will be competitive enough in this race but just really have no idea what type of plan i should be using.

Also should i be doing over the distance in preparation for the race.
I am based in Midlands am 26 and most my training has to take place after 8pm due to work committments.

Would be great to get some feedback.

Thanks

This is maybe not too relevant to you, but just to give you an idea of volume/intensity for multi-sport events, the Limerick Triathlon club have a 22-week guide to training for the Hell of the West triathlon in Kilkee.

http://www.limericktriathlon.com/drupal/?q=node/57