IMRA season 2011

T runner

ocnoc wrote: »

Man up.... Run RACE both

You tell a lot of people to man up and race, for a man who rarely races!

Ofcourse a tough field on the plod mightened be your cup of tea.......? Perhaps youre away that weekend?

T runner

Enduro wrote: »

Spot on there! I've only once got a blister hillrunning, and that was from the road at the very end of the Snowdon descent. Tore the skin right off the soles of both feet.

It might have been yourself who advised me re plasters so.

Carrauntoohil was Eoghan McKenna and Brendan Boland i think, 1 sole skinned versus 2 and both good descenders.

Well done on the world trail. Fantastic performance, you must have been delighted you were able to pace it the way you did given the injury.

If you ever pen a book you should donate a chapter to acute injury recovery.

Ar Strae

ocnoc wrote: »

Man up.... Run RACE both

hahaha you'd think at my age that I wouldn't rise to that or mind being called a wimp :rolleyes: ...but I'm obviously not that mature...screw it, you're right. The season is ending, get the races in while you can.. "they're boggy and luvverly"

I'll pack my gear and give it a crack!

My new plan for next year is that it's all about the swag...try for the laugh to do all the races that give me stuff...Celtic Tiger materialism how are ya!!

So I reckon that's:

The WW Trail/Ultra (who am I kidding here...the trail)
The Leinster League
The Irish Champs

Anything else I'm missing out on?

'Cos as we all know...if it don't make dollars....

Ro

nerraw1111

Ouch. Last night's race was painful.

What an evening for it though. Great feeling to arrive at a race in the mountains under a blue sky and no midges! Sometimes almost have to pinch yourself that just an hour earlier you were in an stuffy office and now you're out on some hillside with 200 others.

I lived in the shadow of Kippure most of my life but have never been up it, so was looking forward to the race.

Alas I went off too fast and paid for it. Didn't realise the route would be so boggy. Near the turnaround, I passed the second place man who was having trouble putting his shoe back on. I heard that Solomans are particularly prone to coming off in bog?

Found the descent fairly technical with the amount of covered holes etc so decided to take my time and save something in the tank for the fireroad.

Was only when we got to the road that I felt almost human and managed to make up a few places. A lot of tired bodies out there who seemed shocked by the uphill finish. Not my best result of the year but happy enough.

I noticed from the results that three boardsies seem to be holding hands as the crossed the line

That's my 6th race so fingers crossed I make next week's Sugar Loaf and qualfiy for the league prize.

Enduro

T runner wrote: »

Well done on the world trail. Fantastic performance, you must have been delighted you were able to pace it the way you did given the injury.

If you ever pen a book you should donate a chapter to acute injury recovery.

Thanks! I was indeed delighted. Recovery was a fine balance between coming back as quickly as possible and not coming back so fast as to over-do it and set myself back. Very hard to do.

Enduro

nerraw1111 wrote: »

I noticed from the results that three boardsies seem to be holding hands as the crossed the line

That's my 6th race so fingers crossed I make next week's Sugar Loaf and qualfiy for the league prize.

Boards won the Male team prize last night. Well done lads. I've got the vouchers, so John and Eamonn, you can get them from me.

It's well worth getting the end of league prize. This year it will be one of these.

ThisRegard

Argh, I'm one short, that looks a great prize ! My non-compliant for the baby sitter toddler helped me miss Seefingan. Well wear anyway.

Ar Strae

wow that prize looks SWEET! Love it!

Great fun last night, delighted I went in the end. Ended up being my best LL result so far (nothing to compare to you Boardsie speedsters of course but hey, give me time!) and knocked 25 points off my LL position.

A really fun course (although I felt a little exposed on the way back as I started to die on my feet!) Fell a good few times and witness some massive wipeouts, but with that springy turf and soft ground everyone just bounced back up again!

Definitely seeing a pattern though..my best races are a few days after another hill race...it seems that for me, the best way to learn how to race...is to race... :rolleyes:

why did this not occur to me before!

So it's the Sugar Bowl next week my worst ever race. Time to try to do something about that I guess!

Ro

iamjenko

Enduro wrote: »

Boards won the Male team prize last night. Well done lads. I've got the vouchers, so John and Eamonn, you can get them from me.

It's well worth getting the end of league prize. This year it will be one of these.

Well done Boards, good result!! I was pushing hard up that fire road at the end trying to catch Eamonn while at the same time trying to hold Laurence off who i could hear getting ever closer!

League prize looks great!!

geld

Enduro wrote: »

It's well worth getting the end of league prize. This year it will be one of these.

That's a great looking prize.:D Applause to the person(s) responsible for organising these.

Do you know will they be available next Wednesday or do we have to trek into Basecamp again?

Kissy Lips

::END OF LEAGUE PRIZE::

"Also a reminder that in order to receive the end of league prize, you must complete 7 of the races and volunteer twice for any IMRA race (does not have to be the LL). New for this year is that one of the Volunteer races must be as a non running volunteer."

So I have completed 8 races but have not yet volunteered this year. How many more races are left to volunteer at to qualify for the league prize. There is no end date specified. Is it until the end of the year??

Slogger Jogger

Kissy Lips wrote: »

::END OF LEAGUE PRIZE::

"Also a reminder that in order to receive the end of league prize, you must complete 7 of the races and volunteer twice for any IMRA race (does not have to be the LL). New for this year is that one of the Volunteer races must be as a non running volunteer."

So I have completed 8 races but have not yet volunteered this year. How many more races are left to volunteer at to qualify for the league prize. There is no end date specified. Is it until the end of the year??

There isn't a formal end date but there aren't that many more races really on the calendar. Handicap race next Weds, then 3 trail races on consecutive Weds. Aside from that theres a few nav and championship races the odd weekend.

ocnoc

T runner wrote: »

You tell a lot of people to man up and race, for a man who rarely races!

Ofcourse a tough field on the plod mightened be your cup of tea.......? Perhaps youre away that weekend?

I look after my own shop. I did double races all spring. Hill race/XC and an Orienteering race.

Currently in Rio. I'll be back for Stone Cross.
Will you be there T runner??

T runner

ocnoc wrote: »

I look after my own shop. I did double races all spring. Hill race/XC and an Orienteering race.

Currently in Rio. I'll be back for Stone Cross.
Will you be there T runner??

Wont be around for your fourth hill race of the year.

Am away, but wouldnt run anyway as a target race for me is the following week.

Surprised youve been running back to back races all spring. Kudos on the bravado, but its hardly sensible training.

ocnoc

T runner wrote: »

Surprised youve been running back to back races all spring. Kudos on the bravado, but its hardly sensible training.

Not so much bravado as enjoying the sufferfest in the XC and when top planners set up Long Races to benfit the Senior Squad, how can I refuse

Are any teams in the pipeline for Stone Cross from this neck of the woods??

Ar Strae

T runner wrote: »

Wont be around for your fourth hill race of the year.

This all seems to be getting a little catty Since I was the person who the Man up comment was directed at, I have to say it was taken in the spirit I assume it was intended. And as implementing it got me my best LL position this year it was worth it!

Can't say I think ocnoc isn't training smartly either. 4 IMRA races, 4 first places. 2 of those races broke the course records I believe too?

No doubting the commitment as far as I can see!

Although I have to say..I was surprised, ocnoc you didn't hit Mt Leinster? 2 wins in two LC races. Only one more left would have sealed the championship?

Ro

T runner

Ar Strae wrote: »

This all seems to be getting a little catty Since I was the person who the Man up comment was directed at, I have to say it was taken in the spirit I assume it was intended. And as implementing it got me my best LL position this year it was worth it!

Can't say I think ocnoc isn't training smartly either. 4 IMRA races, 4 first places. 2 of those races broke the course records I believe too?

No doubting the commitment as far as I can see!

Although I have to say..I was surprised, ocnoc you didn't hit Mt Leinster? 2 wins in two LC races. Only one more left would have sealed the championship?

Ro

I was winding him up.......;)

Ar Strae

ahh sorry...obviously I'm a little slow this morning! :-)

All good

(and after thinking about it on the way back from lunch it's only 3 wins the Relay was a third place :-))

Ro

ocnoc

Ar Strae wrote: »

Mt Leinster

Stating the obvious.

If it was on saturday like the rest of em, I would be Leinster Champ. Sadly, it was not to be. I had made prior arrangements that I wasn't in a position to back out of.

As some big scary guy once said.... "I'll be back"

jlang

No doubt you'll be back. Luckily for the rest of us, you can't be everywhere. If you just gave up that orienteering lark you'd have more time for winning hill running races.

Nit-picking detail - 4 / 5 of the Leinster Championship races this year were on the Sunday. Tended to suit me better than Saturday ceteris paribus but you can't please everyone. The argument can be made both ways when it comes to travel.

nerraw1111

So that's the Leinster League finished. That flew by. Brilliant season and a great way to end it by having a BBQ with lots of non running volunteers there on the night.

Enjoyed last night's final race at Sugarloaf, my 7th race which qualified me for the league and that very swish Innov 8 jacket.

I swear that climb gets steeper and longer each time I do it. Legs were killing me, the stupidly fast start didn't help.

Bottlenecks are a mystery to me. You see them and upon reaching the point where the bottleneck starts, there's no bloody obstacle that prevents anyone from going full tilt. So with that in mind, I got myself into the top 30 or so and avoided it for the most part, slight delay. Which meant I was pretty much in the red for most of the race. Managed to put in a small burst to overtake a couple before the final push for the summit.

Downhill is great craic, like a rollercoaster the way you get to sweep around the corners. Caught my toe at one point which had me comically, yet gracefully, diving into a bush to avoid wrecking myself. People breathing down your neck, you breathing down the neck of the guy in front, relentless!

500 metres to go and felt strong enough to make a move, he responded and it looked like a sprint finish on the tarmac till he slipped and let me through.

Happy to knock off 5 and half minutes from last year's time.

Incredible time by the Danish newbie in 28.37. Course record?

Ar Strae

Yeah the league really seemed to fly by!

Exorcised a few ghosts at last night's race. I'd only raced it once before and it was my worst ever performance in an IMRA race that time so I had a lot to sort out! I find it a tough race, steep up, steep down, rocky underfoot and short so it was full on.

Managed to speed up my descent a bt and only lost two places on the descent. Lost them on the last open section on the grassy bit (aided by a shove from behind by a runner I won't name, I'm sure it was accidental after all :rolleyes: ) Finished up 61st, not stellar but 44 (yes 44) places better than my last time running it!

The RTE crew were at the wrong place I reckon, they should have taken advice from John Shiels on getting a good position.

The 500m sign was a great idea! The jacket is class (although i'm kinda worried that I'll bust the zip at some stage it seems kind flimsy?) and the barbeque was savage as always.

I love the fact that the Norwegian lad was over in Ireland on 5 days holidays, rocks up to the race and tears it apart! Totally out of nowhere. (Apparently the record still stands as the course was shorter?) I mean a minute ahead of the next runner in a 30 minute race!?

Can't get the enthusiasm up for the trail league...I reckon that might be pretty much it for the year for me. Although might have a crack at the handicap. And hoping to run the Powerscourt Ridge race (Djouce.....again.....)

Anything else coming up that looks like fun? Stone Cross to Lug is a bit too much for me this year I reckon.

Ro

ThisRegard

Season ended on a sour note for me, having gone through all last year and the winter and spring leagues without so much as a sprain I picked up two injuries within the last month, last night I went over on my ankle pretty bad, I swore I heard a pop or crack at the time. It happened with about 1k to go, before the race got really fun, so after figuring it was still attached I managed to walk, hobble and slide in places to the finish. I checked out my finishing time this morning and miraculously I was less than two minutes down on last years time.

I think that may be making me feel worse though as I knew I was flying, I caught a lot of people on the descent and was just about to move on a group of 5 or so when the hurt hammer took a big swipe at me, I would have taken a big chunk off last years time otherwise.

Anyway, I'm lying here with my leg elevated with an ankle the size of a football at the end of it, boy was it painful trying to get out of bed this morning and down the stairs !

ElectraX

Was a great race as always, once getting off that scree the descent is one of my favourites. Beat last years time by 30 seconds so that was good enough for me!! 500meters-ish sign was a nice touch as well, specially since I had someone breathing down my neck so knew I didn't have far to go to hold him off!
Fair play to the Norwegian guy. He had that fast runner look about him alright so wasn't surprised to hear he'd won.Lucky someone told him to remove his headphones he wore to the start.:p
BBQ was fab as always, and love the prize this year although it's a pity IMRA and the logo couldn't be printed on it.Really think the bbq money should go to charity though...IMRA have heaps of cash by the sounds of it.

Ar Strae

ElectraX wrote: »

Lucky someone told him to remove his headphones he wore to the start.:p

Dammit..we're too nice! :-)

ThisRegard, that sounds awful. Hope you get back on the hills soon.

Ro

Slogger Jogger

ElectraX wrote: »

BBQ was fab as always, and love the prize this year although it's a pity IMRA and the logo couldn't be printed on it.Really think the bbq money should go to charity though...IMRA have heaps of cash by the sounds of it.

bbq money goes to a good cause each year, not to IMRA AFAIK..

jlang

Had a little spill last night but nothing as serious as ThisRegard's. Just a few scrapes and grazes to add to the traditional heel blisters. Swelling under knees gone now, but the graze on my shoulder is still pretty raw. Happened on the flattish grassy section below the steep rocky bit and the fast rocky bit and above the steep non-rocky bit and the twisty non-steep non-rocky bit. I was reminded of skiing where the most ridiculous falls I typically have are while cruising in to a lift at the easy bottom bits having made a good job of the worst(best) black slopes.

Nialloooo

Only managed two IMRA races this year, Mount Leinster and Last nights, we had 8 travel up from Slaney Olympic (Enniscorthy) in training for CP in Galeforce and what a treat we had in store , Class route, i loved the decent, about 10 mins from top to bottom, i think form the reaction of the gang last night you will be seeing alot more of use on the hills next year.

Am i able to run the handycap race next week? or is there a min amount of league races that had to be run?

Slogger Jogger

Nialloooo wrote: »

Am i able to run the handycap race next week? or is there a min amount of league races that had to be run?

+1 to the Slaneysiders coming back.

Any registered runner can do the handicap race. You'd get a better starting time if you had more Leinster League races under your belt thats all. You could be starting near the last runners, but you'll have fun trying to catch the runners who went ahead.

Slogger Jogger

Decision for this morning, do my own training run in the hills or join the nav challenge for what promised to be a 10 to 12k run in the hills. The latter sounded preferable. Big mistake Never underestimate the evilness of a Nav Race Director. 3 hours later I crossed the line. Shattered. 900+m of climb. Nearly 18k for me but I'm nearly the worse navigator in town :rolleyes: Local knowledge of routes is key and I had none of where I was running today. Did I say running, I meant trudging and lots of other movement verbs apart from running. And this was the easy nav. Bring on nav 2 and 3. Great turn out today. Lovely sunshine in Wicklow.