Over, around and through

Aimman

Best of luck tomorrow Frank. Enjoy.:cool:

Macanri

+1 have a great day - the full 24hrs of it!

liamo123

Best of luck Frank...

Oisin11178

Thanks lads:)

theboyblunder

best of luck frank!

ger664

Best of luck and enjoy

andrewchen

All the very best...

Krusty_Clown

Go do it Frank! In fact run for 25 hours, just to piss everyone else off.

kingQuez

Good luck man, kartwheels when they call the final 60 seconds!

Bally8

Keeping a close eye on your progress, you're flying it! Cant wait to hear all about it. Well done man!

Oisin11178

Belfast 24 hour race


To get a full feel for this event you would need to read Eamonn Dargans report also and maybe if niall could piece a few words toget about the support side of things. So much happened and so much of it is a blur.


Ill start at the end of the 5in5 in sixmilebridge. I finished in very good shape except for a swollen right ankle/ achilles. That went down over a few days and i managed 3 x10 mile runs in the 12 days leading upto this which went well.


Got upto belfast about 2.30 on friday and my phone was borked again:(. I rang niall who was already at the track and he came and got me in the hotel. We got some supplies in the loal mace and went to the track. My first observation was that the track didnt look as big as i thought it would. Did the rounds of the usual suspects and said a few hello's. Anto lee, grahame colhoun, pat quinn and his missus. Settles in over at eamonn dargan tent with his super supprt of ally fox and her daughter:D
Went and got my number. Was asked a fair few medical questions and signing disclaimers which raised the blood pressure slightly. I have to say i wasnt nervous at this point as i knew id done just about everything i could. I was as prepared for this as good as anyone expect the top few boys john o regan and eddie galen (lunitics):D


Before we knew it the start time approached, i had decided to mainly work of lucozade and pop tarts and pancakes at the start. Myself and niall put these on the nutrition table. We saw what john o regan had brought, loads of mars recovery drinks and lots of other goodies. Some good tips picked up to be honest. I put my number on and chip ect and was one of the last over the the start line and we were off. Settled in for the long haul. It was still nice and warm but i knew it wouldnt last. Settled in to a little group with the race organiser saying no groups(haha).


Ran for the first few miles with anto lee and paddy quinn. I was running miles between 9.15 and 9.30 which is a lovley pace to run at, very little effort required. Was chopping and changing running partners, ran with grahame colhour for a while but he was on a mision and lapped me a few time. Not to worry im only here to race myself, what everybody else does it outside my control. I started drinking about 10k i think. Water and my first bottle of luozade after 10 miles which i sipped over a good few laps. I think it was about 15 miles i saw someone had taken one of my bottles of lucozade. Kinda put me in a bad mood bcause the cheeky so and so put the empty bottle back after he/she was finsihed. I was eating salty pretzels, couple of iso gels with caffine and a mars bar. It was easy going to marathon (4.04). We had turned the opisite was at 4 hours and it was getting dark and cold. I had always intended to run through the night and stop as little as possible so i asked niall for the war kit. 1 nurophen 500mg express tablet to ward of any pain for a little while and best of all my ipod. Got these and on my tod off i went. Pizza had arrived at this stage and i had 2 slices of peperonni and 2 slices of plain cheese, absolutly beautiful. The speed started increase but i felt incredible comortable and this is where i started to put a dent in the 100 mile goal. Started putting alot of laps on most of the field and unlapping myself from those who where ahead(except john) After a few miles under 9 mins i settled into a pace spot on 9 min miles. Everytime i went by niall he was asking me if i wanted anything but i was grand and didnt want to interupt my flow. I was eating prezels and the odd pancake and gel and drinking a bottle of water every 5 or so miles as i wasnt sweating much. The miles flew by and i got to 39.3 in 6.06.

I was deffo feeling it at this point but i was no where near in trouble. I was the only one near enough on the course that hadnt put any layers at this stage but i didnt need it to be honest and didnt wanna stop. My origional plan was to run to 50 miles and take a ltille break and get going again. I didnt know at the beginning if i could do this as i had never ran 50 miles with walk breaks before. As i approached 50 miles i still felt strong enough and i relaised it would co-incide with 8 hours, I relaised i could easily run to 100k and break not only my pb for 100k but 10 hours also by a few mins. I agonised about it for a few miles and i decided to air on the side of cautions and stop at 52 odd miles. I stopped and ate 2 gels , 2 mars bars and loadsa water/lucozade. Decided to get a rub for my calves as they were tightening. Got and excellent rub of finn o mara that loosened the claves but a bad side effect of the rub was the heat drained out of me and i was very cold all of a sudden. Eneded up being stopped for about 20-25 mins by time i got the rub and put on an extra layer.


The second part of my pan came into effect at 57 miles actual. I had thought long and hard about my run /walk strategy and decided to go with a 4:1 ratio and it worked absolutly perfect and i was comfortable again and still rising in the rankings. I had taken another nurophen at 8 hours and 12 hours i was at about 67ish miles because of the near half hours break and the little bit of walking i had introduded. I took another nurophen at 12ish hours as the calves where tight as drums at this stae. When i was stated the run aspect of the run walk it took me about a lap to get going because the calves were tightening while i was walking. About this time i could smell something nice and i saw it was pots of porridge. I decided to keep running as there was a queue and didnt wanna stop and get cold. I had to wait about a half hour for them to make a second but it was worth it. Porridge with honey absolutly beutiful. Saw something falling out of the corner of my eye, it was the first casualty of the night. Absolute faceplant right becide where i was standing. Long story short this girl was out for the count and on the deck for about 45 mins. Ended up being low blood sugar. Had amended my run walk to whatever i could mage, sometimes it was 3:1 sometime 1:1 if i was having a bad patch but as i had had no more brakes i coverded as much or even more than the 8-12 hour period. I increased the speed coming upto 16 hours in order to get closer to the 100 by then before. the change around. Niall had gone for a sleepafter been stung to count laps for a few hours/ Ally got me anything i need which wasnt much as i was eating off the food table, was going through a good amount of salty pretzels with a bottle of water to water them down as they were very dry.


Got to 16 hour turnaround at 84.5 miles(nice). Niall was back shourtly before this and he had gotten me a rasher sambo but i was losing my craving for solid foos and couldnt really stomach them anymore. I at it just about kept it down. I kept the run walk going till 87 miles and it was walkies time. Calves were so tight i could barely rise my foot off the ground. The sun was well and truly out with a vengence at this stage and it was getting very very hot. Niall got me some sunscreen and lent me his hat. Of course i missed a few spots and got some bad sunburn. I knew i was approaching 90 miles and i could taste the 100 miles. I had niall harresed every few laps whith updats about my distance. In fairness to him he was doing it for alot of people and at least 1 person would not have gotten over 100 miles if it wasnt for him. Niall told me 144 km Lovely stuff. I was milling though the water and was ahving some great banter with the lads and boom a bit blister on my left little toe bursts. Jesus christ the pain was unbareable. **** it keep going and sort it out when you finish. About 20 mins later i asked the guy at the lap counting machine how far id gone and he said 144km. What the **** i said i was 144km 30 mins ago im at least 147 now. No i was told. I seen niall and there was a few expletives to him. He wnet over and checked it out and sure enough i was on 144. Your man must have been wrong the first time. I remember before niall told me 144 the first time i had asked myself 20 mins before and i hadnt heard back but anot lee heard the guy roaring over to me 143km. I was in the height of it at this stage and iall was doing his best to get to the bottom of it. I wnet about anoth 2 miles and i asked again and i was told 144.4km. Bleep bleep bleep ectt.........
I said to the guy ive been that distance for over an hour and wtf is going on. I left niall to sort it and he seemed to have it in hand but i was still in a mood over it. They have a back up system of manual lap counters but they was massive excitment in the lap timing van. I stopped and asked the guy whats the crack. He scanned my ship with a manual scanned and said to me its grand its working. I said its obviously not working. Niall had stood there and had physially seen my last 2 laps not register. The next lap or 2 i still havnt got a clue how far ive gone and it was really starting to get to me. Niall was still over with the timing guy getting to the bottom of it. Appartently it was a software problem and my laps were registering but not coming up on the screen. He credited me with 4.5 km and i was like ask my bollow 4.5 km its at least another 2 or 3 on top of that but i was just happy i was getting anything. This had got me to 149k and it look like that was all i was getting. I went in for a second massage at this stage before the final push. The guy im sure is a decent physio but he went way to far into my claves and nearly crippled me. I got out in worse nick then i went in. On the way out we figured out id been credited with another 4 laps. I had to laugh. I was like who is running the timing system Finna fail:D


That meant i had exactly 10k left of 25 laps so i put the head down and reeled them off 24,23,22,21,20,19 less than 20 lovely stuff Niall had gotten my some hot food at this stage, it was a sausage in a wrap but i couldnt stomach it. I didnt want to be ungreatful so i took a bite and nearly got sick. I had enough in me to get to the end and i told him i was grand. Took my last nurophen and i was under 15 laps to go 14, 13,12,11,10, 9 here we go less than 5km and only 9 laps to go. There was a buzz around the course as a few peole had gone over a 100 miles at this stage. With 7 laps left deirdre finn went over a 100 miles. We were very close the whole time but she just had more of something than me on the day. Very impressive woman. I was told i was next to go to 100 miles and so the laps went 8,7,6,5,4,3, i remember thinking jesus what an experiece Another 2 blisters had burst at this stage and my right foot and they were very painful but the end was near. 1 Lap to go, handshakes and hugs on the way around. Great comraderie in races like this to be honest. I turned the final end and with 50 metres to go i started running. Omfg it felt like someone had stabbed me in both calves. Crossed the line and felt great. It was always my intention to stop at 100 and especially with my feet and calves in the state they were i had no plans to change that. I sat down and put my feet up, it was great. I took off my socks and the right one was saturated in blood from a blister that former on top of another blister. Niall got me a cup of tea and a couple of biscuits and he even changed my socks for me as i couldnt bend down to change them my self(fair play to him) I was a bit weary about the chip timing company so i decided to do anohter mile about an hour later. Fully tracksuited in agony i gimped 4 laps of the track. Niall was still on lap counting duties and pat quinn was approaching 100 mile. Absolutly excelent achivment for me. I told him with 5 or 6 laps left to his 100 miles id walk his last 2 laps with him and i did just about. Grehame colhoun after a really really bad night where he was very chesty sneaked over 100 miles with about 10 mins to spare and he was the last . Eamonn did an excellent 90.5 miles and will destroy the 100 next time out. We did a bit more relaxing and when it came time for getting up i nearly couldnt. You would wanna see the walsk in the stadium it was very fuuny.
There was a ceremony at 8pm where everybody got a medal and those who went over 100 miles got a love rain proof acket. Back to the hotel and 2 drinks and i was falling alseep with the drink in my hand. We all decided enough was enough and it was bed time.


Thinking back i always knew i would get 100 miles i just didnt wanna be 2 cocky about it. I didnt think i would do it in just over 20 hours, that was a surprise to me to be honest. The untras are on the back burner for a while and its time for a rest until dingle on sep 3rd. Finishing distance was 101.7 miles and 10th place.

liamo123

Fair play Frank...Great report and performance... I know its near impossible to prepare 4 a race like this but looking back do u think the 5 in 5 was of benifit to u so close to this one ????

donothoponpop

Brilliant report Frank, congrats on the 100 miles! Hard to believe you've come so far from that "before" photo you posted of yourself about 30 stone:D

Oisin11178

liamo123 wrote: »

Fair play Frank...Great report and performance... I know its near impossible to prepare 4 a race like this but looking back do u think the 5 in 5 was of benifit to u so close to this one ????

yeah man it made the 100 possible so handy. I got to the 100 in 20h30m. I think without it i would have been an hour or 2 at least behind it. The marathon every day mimicked the fatigue later on in the 24 hour so i knew i could handle it and nothing really was a surprise to me. I knew i had great recovery so it was just a matter of resting between the 5in5 and the 24 hour with a few 10 milers in the 12 days. To be honest liam when you do these sorts of races i find you have gotta take chances and risk it all blowing up in your face otherwise you wont get a feel for the real pain and anguish you will feel at 100 miles. 2 guys and 1 girl callapsed during the race. The 2 guys had both just crossed the 100 mile barrier and they had put so much into it they hit the ground. Real dedication:D

misty floyd

Congratulations Frank!

Oisin11178

2 more black nails, 5 toes plastered up. legs are grand now. Have to keep going for naps the batteries are drained.

mithril

Great stuff Frank!
I have huge admiration for you and everyone else who completed it.

ultraman1

In the heraldî„“

Krusty_Clown

So, what's up next Frank? Think you'll do more 100 milers/24 hour races, or back to the shorter stuff for a while?

Oisin11178

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

So, what's up next Frank? Think you'll do more 100 milers/24 hour races, or back to the shorter stuff for a while?

Im not having another pop at a marathon pb till next march so ill do a bit of everything i suppose. So far what im hoping to do for the remainder of the year is Longford full, dingle full pacing 4 hours. Liverpool full, get the mate under 3.30. Dublin pacing 4 hours. Double marathon in sixmilebridge, 8 hour target. A few other matathons i hope to do but ill decide nearer the time.
Id like next year to do a 100 mile road race and beat my 100 mile mark from the track which was 20h32m. Id like to do a 12 hour track race and run it all as hard as i can, i reckon 75 miles is in me with some luck. Near to 9.30 for 100k. Marathon closer to 3 hours. lots to be going on with:D

hot to trot

Great report Oisin and brilliant brave run as well.
Dont remember giving you massage !! Sorry , but there was an issue with no heater in the tent and I will make sure that organisers dont make that mistake again next year. The girl who collapsed was nearly blue and shivering after stopping for a rub and I got her hot coffee when I finished with her. She didnt have enough resources to warm up properly but had the tent been warm, ye would have not wasted as much energy trying to stay warm.

Was incredible watching you all. I remember thinking how can they do it ? It didnt seem to be as bad when I was the one running it .
Enjoy it all.

liamo123

Oisin11178 wrote: »

Im not having another pop at a marathon pb till next march so ill do a bit of everything i suppose. So far what im hoping to do for the remainder of the year is Longford full, dingle full pacing 4 hours. Liverpool full, get the mate under 3.30. Dublin pacing 4 hours. Double marathon in sixmilebridge, 8 hour target. A few other matathons i hope to do but ill decide nearer the time.
Id like next year to do a 100 mile road race and beat my 100 mile mark from the track which was 20h32m. Id like to do a 12 hour track race and run it all as hard as i can, i reckon 75 miles is in me with some luck. Near to 9.30 for 100k. Marathon closer to 3 hours. lots to be going on with:D

So basically what ur telling us is ur going to take it easy for a while :eek:

Oisin11178

Decided to dip the toe in the water ultra stylr today. Left the watch at home, had a course maraked out from before and didnt wanna worry about pace. It was about 8.45-9 min pace judging on finihsing time.
15 miles and no ill effects, was a little tired near the end but that to be expected i suppose:D

RacoonQueen

15 miles? What the fudge? Why would you do that so soon? Why? Just. Why? :eek:

Oisin11178

RacoonQueen wrote: »

15 miles? What the fudge? Why would you do that so soon? Why? Just. Why? :eek:

Was going to do 10 but it was nice out so........

Oisin11178

15 miles @ ~8.55 a mile. Didnt bring the garmin again. No worried about pace at the moment just miles. Brought a wind breaker and was way to hot during this run. Sweated like a pig. Did my 10 mile route and then my 5 mile route. Wanted the option of bailing at 10 if the legs were creaking. First 10 were very sow and last 5 were around 8 min miles.

Oisin11178

http://runkeeper.com/user/196213224/activity/45818171
c ant find the cradle off the garmin charger. the easy runs are getting faster. Time for some some speed work me thinks:D

Aimman

Oisin11178 wrote: »

c ant find the cradle off the garmin charger. the easy runs are getting faster. Time for some some speed work me thinks:D

Found it in my gear from Belfast. Didnt realise I had an extra one, because I have two anyway. It was only when all three appeared on the table at the same time, I realised I had too many. Give it back to you on Saturday with your compression top and 24h souviner top. Actually swap you the lot for the 100M jacket from Belfast, :rolleyes:

PS.... if the battery is flat on the watch, we can charge it up in the car on the Saturday morning. I have an adapter for it.

Oisin11178

Over a month since i updated this:D
Have been doing just over 50 miles a week with a 20ish miler every week at a handy pace.
Did a marathon in sixmilebridge on saturday just gone in 3.41. Still feeling belfast a little in my legs and it was a very hot day so got a bit dehydrated.
20 yesterday at 8.25 and felt very comfortable so ive decided to go down to longford the weekend after a night shift so it should be interesting.
Have my garmin cradle back also, got it back of master theif Eamonn dargan:D

Oisin11178

Wednesday 5 miles @ 8.45 a mile
Thursday 10 miles @ 8.40 a mile
2 work days them longford marathon the weekend