Running with the birds or for the birds?

Sunday April 1st, Connemara Ultra
39.53 miles avg pace 8.51 min miles

I signed up for Connemara Ultra race just after DCM 2011, crossing the finish line there I really did feel that I could have gone further and for me if I was ever going to do an Ultra it had to be Connemara. I had run the half here three years ago and I remember looking at the Ultra runners having huge respect for them and also thinking they were crazy. I also deep down thought that maybe if I stuck with the running I’d someday give it a shot. Fast forward to three years later and I found myself at the start line with some of those runners, I was now one of those crazy runners.


Connemara was a family event for Mr Stew and I, we travelled down in a minibus with our sons on Friday and checked in to the Connemara Coast hotel. My sister and her family were supposed to travel from Moscow but her son was unable to travel because of a tummy bug. She had signed up to walk the full marathon, Mr Stew was running the full and my cousin was running the half. I was very disappointed my sister didn’t make it over, even more for her than me as she knew she was missing a wonderful family reunion and a spectacular race. Among our group in the hotel were my aunt, uncle, sister, brother in-law, nieces… plenty of support.
saturday lunch time Mr Stew and I headed in to register in the Pilo hotel while our boys went bowling with their cousins. We bumped into a few familiar faces and we were in great form getting excited about the race. We both had a coffee and a chance to relax together in the bar downstairs, Mr Stew was being his usual analytical self and I was ranting and raving about the joys that lay ahead for us the next day. I was very careful to constantly drink as much water as I could and I also snacked a lot throughout the day.
Saturday evening we had a family dinner in my sister’s house in Galway, birthday cake for my son and watched the first half of the rugby match before we headed back to the hotel. The second half of the rugby was the perfect back-drop to our number pinning, food package making race preparations and when Leinster defeated Munster we took that as a good omen for the following day. After finalising the next day’s details it was time for bed. At this point I became aware of the band playing (rather badly) at the wedding in the hotel. Mr Stew began to snore and I tossed and turned until about 2 am. I had gotten a solid seven hours sleep on Friday night so I told myself tonight wouldn’t make that much difference. I fell in and out of sleep and was of course sound asleep when the alarm went off. I felt fine after my shower and room service dropped my breakfast (toast, rice krispies and coffee) off at 6 am. Mr Stew was up and about helping me although he wasn’t leaving till an hour after me. Our trusty bus driver was waiting for me in reception and by now the nerves were kicking in. I told Mr Stew I’d see him at the finish line and I wished him all the luck in the world. I honestly felt that he had a tougher job than me; he was going for a PB on a tough course on only his second marathon. I only had to finish and I had my PB. As I waited for the bus at the Cathedral familiar faces started to arrive and I was so glad to have people to talk to to take my mind off the reason we were all gathered in the cold at 7 AM in Galway.
On the bus I chatted to Alan, Niall and Joey who I like to think of as the three musketeers and I also got chatting to a Belgian called Jeff who was going to be cycling the course supporting another female runner called Hilde, from the provisional results I saw she came in 4th but I never caught them on the course. The scenery on the way out was surreal; the sun was rising behind us in a pink sky, mist settling on the fields, lambs and cows all the way, I was feeling happy and calm.
We all filed off the buses into Peacocke’s hotel and headed for the toilets, I remarked to the runner in front of me in the queue that this was about the only time you would ever see a shorter queue for the ladies,;) I’m not sure what the total number of female runners versus male was.
We dropped our supplies in the drop boxes (16, 26 and 32 for me) and I was glad Meno suggested I write on my hand where they were, I never would have remembered during the race.
I really enjoyed the pre-race briefing given by the race director Ray, you could tell he is someone who truly loves running. He also reminded us how lucky we were to be here and remembered runners who had passed away. One of the three musketeers (Joey) also got a well-deserved mention as he has just won his battle with cancer, he is a phenomenal powerhouse and he went on to not only finish but get himself a PB. Ray also asked us to take a minute’s silence to think of who we were running the race for and I got very emotional at this point as I had long ago decided to dedicate this run to my dad who passed away when I was just 10 years old. He was originally from Connemara so it was a fitting tribute. A few words also from The Italian Giorgio Calcaterra who would go on to beat the course record and finish in an amazing 3 hours 56.
We all filed out onto the buses again which took us one mile up the road to the start. Plenty of trips to the bushes for the guys. A fashion show from Niall of the three musketeers as he changed his shorts was a welcome distraction. I started chatting with Claralara and we both said we were feeling hungry. Where was my banana? Back in my hotel room! I decided to take one of my gels and even though it was gross I reckon it did me good.


Miles 1 to 13.1
Ray sounded the horn and then we were off. I settled in with Cl, Aimann, belcarra, Philip, and Digdig with Izoard just in front of us and Frank/Oisin was nominated to be in charge for the 6 hour bus. I glanced at my watch every few miles but my strategy for the race was to run in or around 8.45 pace until Leenane passing through marathon about 3 hours 50ish and that would allow me 2 hours 10 for the last third of the race. We settled into that pace and chatted away, Oisin was in flying form remarking on Aimann’s bum (maybe this is why Aimann dropped back?) and I remarked to Cl that we would definitely need a long shower after all this smutty talk. Oisin told me his cards were marked and he would do his best to behave. In my innocence I kept making silly remarks that were ammunition for him. Philip and belcarra were still with us and they very kindly shared some of their picnic with me as my first bag drop was further up at 16 miles. I had a couple of gels and some chocolate and felt much better after the first water station at 5 miles, by now it was heating up and we were all ready for a drink at that stage. I honestly couldn’t believe it when the half marathon mark arrived, I also knew that this was exactly how I should feel as I wasn’t allowing myself to think about time until we reached at least 20 miles.


Miles 13.1 to 26.2
Before we knew it we had reached the start of the marathon at Lough Inagh, the scenery was breath-taking and I was thinking of Mr Stew as we crossed over the timing mat, I knew he’d be in the happy first half of his marathon. I collected my package at mile 16 (flat coke with electrolyte, banana and cereal bar). I managed to consume most of it. Our group stayed together till about mile 18 (I think?) and we were now down to me, Oisin, Izoard and CL. We had started to pass some Full walkers at this stage and I was reminded of my sister who should have been here (all is not lost, she is arriving next week, for a different kind of marathon, the chocolate-eating kind:D). We were all still feeling great and chatting away as the miles ticked by. Oisin remarked that CL and I were going too fast on the decline into Leenane but I was enjoying it so much I hadn’t noticed, it was great to have him to keep us in line, we still had a long way to go. As we got closer to 26.2 CL told us what her marathon PB was and I told her we were going to pick it up to get her a new PB, not that she needed any encouragement! Just before the timing mat I collected my second drop bag (lucosade sport, banana and cereal bar) and I was glad Aimo had warned me not to stop and open it till after the mat. My watch showed 3.53ish, I think as we crossed the mat and there was great support in the village from all the locals. Then on to the first of the hills where the horror movie would begin:eek:

Miles 26.2 to 39.53
Oisin had suggested that we fly up the hill and get it over and done with and sure enough CL turned into a Kenyan and was closely followed by him. I held back as I knew it was too early for me to be doing anything too risky. Also my plan had been to stick with the group until at least here and then see how things went. By now lots of people were walking on the hill and even though my pace had slowed I was passing people. It was at this stage I met the third musketeer; Alan and I knew something had gone wrong for him as they were well ahead of me. He wasn’t doing too well, bad tummy trouble had him visiting the bushes and the porta-loos and he was understandably not too happy, but still was as charming as he always is. I stopped to chat to him and asked him if he’d try and pick it up a bit to get up the hill and I was glad to have his company, I think he was glad to have me for a while also. As we got closer to the top he told me to push on, he went on to finish in a really respectable time even with all the trouble. Then all of a sudden CL and Oisin were there and we were back together again, our posse now down to three. I started my drink even though I really didn’t want it, I added an extra salt tablet as Oisin had said my black top was white with the salt I was losing, I wasn't alarmed as this is normal for me. Izoard was just behind us, I was amazed at his strength after his “6 weeks of Hell” and I was thrilled later to hear he reached his goal and finished in under 6 hours. At some stage after this we met another Ultra runner I think and Oisin started chatting to him and then there were two! Me and CL and we were definitely starting to feel the miles. I was getting worried how things would feel after 50K as this was new territory and we were conserving our energy not talking too much (it was hard, we both like to talk, that will tell you how tired we were). CL remembered the course from last year and told me to push on if I wanted as my pace was picking up but I had sense enough to hold back, our overall pace still had us in well under 6 hours. A running pal form my gym appeared on the road running towards us as he was out to cheer on some friends of his doing the half and it was so nice to see him. It’s amazing how you crave a cheer on the side of the road, he ran alongside us for a small bit telling us there’d be a water station soon and that we only had 13K to go. That cheered us up a lot. My last package was at mile 32 and I really didn’t want anything from it but I knew I had to take fluids on as I was sweating so much. Flat coke with an electrolyte tablet, a packet of hunky dory crisps and a Rice Krispie bar, normally I would go mad for these but it was a real struggle to eat anything but I knew I wouldn’t make it to the end if I didn’t, I managed a small bit of each. As we headed down to the bridge before the HOTW I picked the pace up because I knew CL would turn into a Kenyan again on the hill and I wanted to keep her in my sights as long as I could. We now collected an Ultra runner who was struggling a little and the sight of us two brought him to his senses and he picked the pace up. The cheers from the volunteers were so welcome but I was so tired that all I could do was give thumbs up as thanks, I normally would be shouting and cheering back. Things started to get a little bit fuzzy at this time but I knew we hadn’t long to go and I just put the head down. I heard CL say something about a wagon (me?) and she was gone up the hill, Duracell bunny has nothing on her. Me and my new friend stayed together but neither of us had the strength to talk much. We were passing a lot of people at this stage and the cheers we got were so welcome. My Garmin beeped and told me the memory was full but I didn’t even care, I assumed it had stopped but as I had so little to go I knew I could just push on without it. As I looked up the hill it seemed to go on forever and it looked like the scene from Michael Jackson’s Thriller video, zombies everywhere…. I was literally counting one, two, three, four in my head to keep the feet moving. I also was imagining my dad was behind me pushing me up the hill and this really helped. My new found ultra friend was saying “I’m out, sorry” and I kept saying “Just a few more steps, come on” he stayed with me till the top of the hill and I was shocked when he stopped at the top and said something like “That’s enough for me, I’m out now”, I told him he’d catch me in a minute and I headed on down the hill. He later came and foudn Cl and I and shaked our hands after the Finish, he finished not far behind us at all.

At this stage the enormity of the whole day really struck me; I was just about to finish the Ultra in memory of my dad, my sons and my husband would be waiting at the Finish line for me, I started to cry:o, glycogen depletion, you gotta love it:D:D I soon pulled myself together as I knew I was dehydrated and needed those tears in my body not on my face.
I could see the hotel from far away and the last few miles seemed to go on forever but I was so happy I didn’t care. I had gotten my energy back at this stage and I felt so strong as I ran down into Maam Cross, in fact my last two miles were my fastest of the race. I was on a high as I neared the finish chute. My family; including my sisters who have no interest in running who I was sure wouldn’t come out to see me, nieces, nephews, my gorgeous sons, they were all waiting for me and over on the other side I heard someone call my name, it was the boards crew, talk about a great way to finish an Ultra:):) I was beaming as I neared the finish line. I glanced up at the clock and was utterly shocked to see the time 5.49.40, I couldn’t believe it. Ray was there to greet all the runners and I may have even told him I loved him as I thanked him and hugged him and then right behind him was the fantastic Mr Stew, he was looking good and I was so happy to hear he had had a fantastic race, PB of 3 hours 38 minutes, I was so proud. All the volunteers at the Ultra finish were so complimentary and Cl and I were jumping for joy. Meno was sitting down mumbling about splits and times and all I could think was “How could he not be happier? He’s just done the Connemara Ultra”(He finished with a PB and after the memory of the cramps faded he was indeed happy)

I wanted to head back up to cheer on the rest of the runners as they finished but with all my family around and our minivan ready to go I reluctantly left Maam Cross. I knew I would see a lot of them later in town that night. My cousin had run a fantastic first half marathon in 1 hour 54 so we were all on a high. Mr Stew told me had spectacularly fallen at the finish line as his foot caught in the mat, the boys are convinced he’ll end up on Youtube:D fortunately nothing hurt, not even his pride as he was so happy with his race.


My head was splitting on the journey back to the hotel so I gulped down a few litres of water when we arrived back. We took the kids down to the leisure centre where we caught up with a few runners in the Jacuzzi, there was an ice cold shower so I spent as much time as I could in it to help the legs which were feeling surprisingly good however my toes were in bits.
Then we had a few drinks in the bar (one delicious pint of Carlsberg and two pints of water for me) before a delicious Family dinner. It was so nice to be able to relax and have a few glasses of wine, my cousin was joking saying he was only allowed half a portion since he had only done the half and I told him Connemara Half was a very, very respectable half to do .
My sister had said she’d mind our boys so we headed into town to The Quays to meet lots of the gang. I was delighted to hear that Digdig adn Aimo had run great races in spite of the obstacles thrown at them over the last few months/on the day. We really enjoyed the evening but thoughts of our bus journey home the next morning with our three boys meant we left at a sensible stage. We had had enough drink to warrant a trip to the chipper for onion rings before getting the taxi back to the hotel:) All in all a super, super day, we couldn't have asked for better.


My initial goal for Connemara Ultra was to finish with a smile on my face, I achieved this with bells on. My second goal was to finish in under six hours and heading into it I knew I had done the miles in training but as I hadn’t done any speed work at all I was very worried I wouldn’t be able to keep the pace for the whole distance, I’m naturally over the moon with my result; Provisional results have me chip time 5.49.26.


Connemara is a race I would recommend to anyone whatever the distance, the fact that it sells out so fast every year speaks for itself. The wonderful volunteers along the course ranged in age from approx. 4 years old to over 80 and every one of them had a smile for us all. I know we were blessed with perfect conditions but the scenery is out of this world, this is a race I would do again and again although I suspect the HOTW will always be a tough going;)

What’s next for me?
I'm recovering very well but I plan to take this week off running as the Ultra brings my total miles for the year so far to a very sweet 701.02:D
I plan on finally getting round to doing some speed work over the summer with the ultimate goal of sub 3.30 in Berlin; Cl and I will once again have a chance to chat our way round a course and this time we will be joined by Digdig and Mr Stew who I’m sure will give us the come-uppance we deserve. Then it’s off to New York in November to tick another of the World Majors off my list, life is sweet indeed….


SPLITS
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/164109567#

Monday April 2nd
Rest Day
Journey back to Dublin on our minibus, I was still on a high and feeling surprisingly good. Mr Stew slept most of the way up making me insanely jealous of his ability to sleep anywhere, any place; After I had left the hotel on Sunday to head to the Cathedral in Galway he had managed to go back to sleep and had to be woken by his alarm for his trip to the marathon start:D


Tuesday April 3rd
Weather was so bad I actually drove the mile to the gym and did some stretching, foam rolling and swimming.

Wednesday April 4th
Cycled to the gym (avoiding the pothole that took me out last week). Lunchtime Half hour spin class and half hour abs class.
Lots of bounding about/stretching/chasing kids in the evening on an all-weather pitch as I’m helping coach some kids for the community games (this really means crowd control for the first few weeks and eventually picking out the faster ones), my legs felt great, I’m delighted I’m recovering so well.

Official results from Connemara
47th overall, 3rd in my category:D 1:56:52, 1:56:22, 1:56:11; 5:49:26, negative splits:)

Thursday April 5th
Lunchtime spin and abs class again, really wanted to run but decided to give it one more day as I know once I start back again I’ll be dying to go every day.

Friday April 6th
5.11 avg pace 9.49
I was really dying to head out the door and get my legs moving but I made myself take it nice and easy and I purposely ran a hilly loop in Killiney to keep it slow. Legs felt great and I was so happy to be back out running.

Saturday April 7th
7.95 avg pace 9.27
Out the door nice and early to meet my running pal who is Paris bound this weekend. It was a great chance to catch up and put her mind at ease for Paris as it will be her first marathon. Didn’t notice the miles ticking by. We took the easy option and stayed flat, in and out to Blackrock park.

Sunday April 8th
6.37 avg pace 8.41
I ran the first two miles of this with my three boys so I took it nice and easy as the 11 year old is still not completely overjoyed at the thoughts of running (poor boy; born into the wrong family;)), a lovely morning for it and we all really enjoyed it. I left my boys with my sister and picked the pace up for the last few miles.
Great to be back out running but I'm going to take it easy enough for the next week also.

Total miles for the week 19.43