Swallowed up in the mist

ocnoc

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

I'll join you on these 3 if you like.
Croaghanmoira (this I've done a few times). If you run it the WAR Glenalure route you can get the bonus of running the peak twice, up and back up again.
Keadeen Mountain
Croghan Kinsella (ditto - it sits out the back of my house)

Keadeen looks great, but on the map its unclear what the best approach to the peak is? I must have a look at mountainviews

If you can wait til August I've leave coming up and can do it then, else it'll have to be some weekend.

Deadly!

Keadeen looks bloody steep both from a distance and on the map. In relation to best approach.... Its a summit, any way...or every way if your feeling fit :P

I can wait. No rush. Might drag out that waster of a hill runner, someone called Nolan is well... He needs all the help he can get

ocnoc

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Interesting route up and back Lug taking in Ballineddan and Slievemaan from the Ballinabarney gap too...

Have also discussed this... although it was tagged on at the end of the Circuit of Imall, the idea was scrapped due to legs of jelly.

Ideally, you want a car drop. Park one at Keadeen and do the loop then be picked up from the direction of the hostel

ocnoc

Another awesome run in horrible Wicklow terrain. Not an inch of good running.
However, I am beginning to feel stronger and stronger in terrain. Heather snapping at my ankles constantly is building strength endurance. Can't wait to test my strength in the Nav Challenges. The plan is to completely burn it as hard as I can in prep for the Mournes.

I'm not sure when I'll start to include 50% pack runs (ie runs that include a backpack with 50% of the actually race pack weight).
Probably should do it sooner rather than later. The problem is that your pace decreases due to the extra weight.... I kinda want to keep the pace high with a little weight rather than get monster strong but slow...
Unsure what the trade off is...

Any ideas?

Location: Secret due to Mountain Marathon in the morning (route).
Distance: 15.5km
Climb: +610/-915m

Slogger Jogger

ocnoc wrote: »

..Might drag out that waster of a hill runner, someone called Nolan is well...

Yep, get him off the sofa. Dpop too, as he needs tips to avoid coming off Lug the wrong way

You could park at the aforementioned gap and do Ballineddin and down and over to Keadeen in the one run perhaps.

Croaghanmoira is a short run, or you can make it longer by starting lower down on trails down under Rosahane cemetery.

Croaghan Kinsella is a bit of a monster, but the most straightforward ascent is probably via the race route for the imra race, I think 4 years back. I bagged the peak last year whilst out on a LSR training for a marathon. Nearly was the end of me, as I took it on directly from the Arklow side and the descent (on a bee line to my house) was completely unrunnable - gorse, ferns, rocks - come to think of it you'd have loved it.

ocnoc

This open mountain running stuff is a bloody dangerous narcotic.
I am gaunt and obsessed. I want more. I want to climb more, I want to climb faster, I want to lose the plot on a descent again. I want the buzz.
I find as if I am doing more and more, faster, steeper, longer, more gammy runs to get a hit....

Over the past 8 days, I've bashed out 85miles with 4500m of the vertical stuff, of which. 60% has been off trail, in ****ty terrain...

I want more!! Gimme gimme gimme gimme.... I must sound like a freegin heroin addict.

Must resist all temptation to go to Kippure... for if I go to Kippure there can only be one option left to me....

ocnoc

I wanted to do a massive session tonight, however, I know my legs could do with a rest even if I am on fire... So I went out on the bike for an hour.
I kept it cool and only did one tempo section...

ocnoc

Keeping my powder dry in Rio.
First race tomorrow morning.

Time to feel the burn again.

Bring on the O

ocnoc

CISM World Orienteering Championships Middle Distance

62nd in 32:38mins. 135% of winners time.

Extremely happy. Pushed hard and fairly red lined it the entire way.
Had one error of 2mins and 2 small slips.
Possibly my second best international result ever, going by placing and percentage of winners time.

Win

(my results)

ocnoc

Long
Long Distance... I wasn't pushing as hard, given the terrain and amount of climb, saying that, I was still pretty flat out.

Going through the spectator control I was 46th... I then hit the womens control, didn't realised my mistake and got disqualified. When I finished, I didn't realise I was disqualified until I saw my name pop up on the results screen as Unclassified.

Bitterly disappointed.


Relay
The Relay race was held in Jungle... I got stuck... it was nasty. I then ran into a field with a med evac chopper, and got confused as to why I was in the admin area when I was actually right... Not a good day.

Party
Night 1 Full spread of food, BBQ, beer...
Night 2 Full spread of food and carnival food, beer...

Flight
Leave White village accommodation 48 hours later home

donothoponpop

ocnoc wrote: »

... I then hit the womens control

Could you show me where that is, mine appears to be broken?

Well done on Rio. Time to hit the mud around Conevalla...

ocnoc

donothoponpop I have put a lot of thought into this, to put it on a pain threshold that people can relate to on Boards (marathon junkies...)

Lets say, your aim is a 2:55 marathon. You've busted your ass all year and you are in the form of your life. 26 miles till you cross in sub 2:55.

You take off and you're feeling real good, you know today is your day. Your in a crazy controlled cruise. The miles tick down but you feel stronger and stronger.
Cross mile 20, its feels like you've just started. You begin to pick up the pace.
You look at your watch for the first time all day and you realise your actually on for a sub 2:40. You keep calm and keep the legs ticking over.

4 miles to go, feeling strong
3 miles to go, feeling stronger
2 miles, your grinding it out
1 mile, your flat out.
Cross the line and collapse. 2:39:47 on the clock. You can't believe it.
You've managed to win your age class.
You hobble over to your mates and there are high fives around. You are ecstatic.... You feel so high you could run it again.

Then a marshal comes over to you with a clip board and checks your number.
You have just been disqualified.

Game over. No time. No category win. Nothing.

Imagine how everything collapses around you as the perfect race is snatched from your grasp. The only thing you can do is drop your head in your hands. Your isolated in an athletes only zone. Any energy you had left vanished as you sink to your knees. In shock. Unsure what to do.

Now imagine having to slot it and have 24hrs to focus on the next race.
You poured a lot of salt on a very open wound.


If your still getting your feet muddy on Conavella, you should run in terrain more. Once you get an eye for reading the ground, you'll see the correct line, the one perfect route choice :cool:

I love it when something I want gets taken away from me.
It gives me an excuse to lose a few screws and take it back :cool:

donothoponpop

I daresay you're doing yourself a disservice by comparing those sort of marathon times, given the standard of where you were racing; but your point is well made.

Not a good time to make such a mistake, but you'll be stronger for it, and experience is a valuable part of your next race.

ocnoc

One may beat me to my knees, but you better keeping hitting me cause I have a nasty habbit of standing back up again.

6 day stage race..... T - 4
Pretty high standard field

Bring it

ocnoc

YA ZAM.... Its one hell of a start list for the week. 64 guys battling it out.... Its gona be great. My goal is to be within 30% of the winner on every day.
This is possible as long as I stay RDACD.

6 days of racing, every day counts. To the over all score. Its going to be awesome!

Day 1 is a classic distance, 8.8km 440m climb
Terrain is a mix of open hillside and woodland.

Day 2 is a middle distance, 4.8km 175m climb
Intricate contour detail combines with fast runnable terrain under the oak canopy and slow tussocky marsh and bog myrtle in open areas.

Day 3 is a long distance, 14.3km 895m climb
Classic Scottish terrain with a wealth of contour, marsh and rock detail.

Day 4 is a chasing start, 9.2km 325m climb
Undulating moorland rising to approximately 300 metres in places and areas of woodland.

Day 5 is a classic distance, 7.7km 330m climb
Coastal peninsula with a rocky shoreline and several inlets. The area is mainly flat with raised areas of natural mixed woodland.

Day 6 is a seeded start, 10.2km 425m climb
Open moorland, moderate contour and rock detail.


Total minimum distance 55km with 2590m climb.

Classic distance is usually won in about 60-75mins
Middle distance is usually won in about 30-35mins
Long distance is usually won in about 90-100mins
A seeded start is where the current leading runner starts last
A chasing start is where the current race leader starts first and everyone starts at the corresponding gap behind. First cross the line wins.


Getting excited

ocnoc

Finally reached the rest day in the Scottish 6 day.
Day one was tough.
Day 2 was technical.
Day 3 was a sufferfest.

During the Long (D3) I decided to keep it country and stay in control of my orienteering... It worked for the most part and I was happy over all.
On the long leg, I died. It was the roughest terrain I have ever walked in... and I mean walked, it was so deep and rough that I couldn't get my legs turning over at all.

Savage. It took me 20mins to cover 1500m and I wasn't exactly holding back.

Tomorrow is the chasing start and then its all about survival over the final two days.

Ya gotta love scottish mountains

ocnoc

So the Scottish is over and so are my end of summer/autum plans.

After running myself into the ground (literally) on the Long distance. Live tracking is here

Kinda like post Avonbeg, I fell out of the car and reproduced the coffee/coke and pasta that was fed to me straight after the race.
I really have to find out something light that my system can take in after I running my body into complete exhaustion.

The following day my thighs were both extremely tight - so tight that I was unable to get out of the car. I was a crippled mess.
Lesson learned - don't sit on my arse for the rest day, should have gone for a light jog to keep the legs ticking over.

Following the extreme mess that I was in, I gingerly warmed up for Day 4, the chasing start. I wasn't expecting to finish but I got around and held my place. I cooled down on a serious runners high. Later that day, I couldn't walk and my right groin muscle got very sore. Flash backs of the Mournes came to mind.

So I was skeptical of day 5. Still, I started and finished 2nd last, hobbling around like an old man. At that, I called it a day. I go to events to race and do well, not hobble along and finish. Thats for when I'm all old and the wrong side of 30.

Looking at the big picture, I nailed the Long Distance race which was what I was looking for. I finished up 17th, which is my best result in the UK to date.

Hopefully, next year I'll be able to attend more of the British Champs races which will help me to improve my orienteering and race frame of mind.

On the flip side, most of the British Orienteers are top fell racers is well... for example, 2nd place on Snowdon, Murry Strain, is also going to the World O Champs for Sprint distance and will most likely finish top 20.

So thats the standard, therefore, thats the goal.

The Mournes are out due to the groin, which means, between now and next season, its going to be a world of hurt in the XC and some big sessions in the mountains, all mixed up with as much quality orienteering as possible.

Bring on a winter of suffering

Slogger Jogger

ocnoc wrote: »

..Thats for when I'm all old and the wrong side of 30..

Yeah, over 30 and its over! Once you get to 40 though it starts again.

ocnoc

I'm not sure if I'm scared or excited.
No further comment.

ocnoc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmp4qaNWgt0

ocnoc

Slowly building back into training.
Body has recovered from Scotland.

Sat 60mins, 11km very easy
Sun 120mins, 27km
Mon Missed Workout
Tue College + planning
Wed 60mins, 13km

Hopefully I'll get into a pattern.

Had a chat with my physio (my sister - not really a physio). The advice was simple. "Man the fúck up".

Due to a complete change in fortunes, the Round and MMM are now on the cards.

Typical :cool:

ocnoc

Had an ok week last week.
2 days of no running.

5:50hrs 79km
1 long run
1 Tempo
3 easy runs
No mountain runs

ocnoc

Pretty rough few days.

Tue: AM 30mins easy
PM Session, 1.4km x 5 on hills, each rep went faster - felt good

Wed: Howth Hill run, 16.8km, 450m climb

Thurs: Progression run. 20easy, 20 steady (went too fast), 10min fast (went too slow)

ocnoc

Today was a rough day.
3mins x 10 with 1min rec.

It pissed rain, the terrain got muddy and heavy, too heavy to keep up speed so I moved out to a more exposed area. Hard pack, strong wind.
Speed wasn't awesome. But serious mental points gained.

Money in the bank!

ocnoc

Had a better week this week.
0 days of no running.
5 light S&C sessions

8:22hrs 106km
1 long run
1 Tempo
2 Sessions
3 easy runs
1 mountain run

ocnoc

A week of college and rucksack luggin.
A new training base has been established.
The guts of a km from Phoneix park (now on shall be refered to as "the park").
I can see the mountains when I walk out the front gate.

2 runs
1 Long (this was a fail)
1 Mountain (this was longer than the "Long run")

No more shi*ty flat out and back to Bull Island.
Also, my bike* is back.


*the term bike is used loosely

ocnoc

First proper week back in Dub. Which means back to the club for sessions.
My house is also now complete. All the blocks are in place to have a solid winter

1 day of no running.

5:05hrs 66km
4 easy runs
1 progression run
1 tempo

Bike 1:50hrs

ocnoc

A good week this week. Got out in the mountains (Fairy Castle and Powerscourt Ridge). Did some quality sessions with the club.
Plenty of running in the dark and cold which was most enjoyable!

1 day of no running.
3 light S&C sessions

7:42hrs 92km
4 easy runs
1 progression run
1 session
2 Mountain runs

Bike 1:45hrs

ocnoc

Found this really interesting piece on decision making

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/spoilt-for-choice/story-e6frg6z6-1226134915444

ocnoc

I was reading through my blog and I came apon an unpublished blog piece that I typed up way back in January, at one of the lowest moments of the year.

Colms Unpublished Blog wrote:

I was mentally wrecked from exams and had just ran a **** XC race, dropping from 3rd Donore scorer to 5th and from top 30 to 66th over all.

Fiona, my sister summed it up best

Fiona wrote:

Colm, if you were a Junior the club would have a medal presentation in a few weeks and you'd get a medal for been a member of the team. Its the taking part the counts

Needless to say we both pissed ourselves laughing at that notion before I drowned my sorrows in coffee and chocolate brownies.

Its reading stuff like this that adds fuel to the raging inferno that is ambition. A relentless need to improve and get stronger and faster, and to learn the trick of the trade to produce consistent top class race performances.

May 9th, 2011 wrote:

I had taken the previous 7 days off training after bringing shame upon myself and my club by a disastrous race. My kinda mountain, my kinda course, my kinda distance. I didn't produce the goods. This will be rectified.

ocnoc

Not amazingly happy with this week. First week back in college and I was meant to get 2 morning runs in, only got one in due to a bit of drama - so no awesome coffee for me this week. Still ran quality sessions on Tuesday and Thursday. The weekly hill run on Howth was fun (as far as I can remember).
The major downside to the week was a trip to the physio. Lack of flexibility has lead to a few niggles - for once I got it sorted before it spirals out of control.

0 day of no running.
4 light S&C sessions

7:54hrs 92km
4 easy runs
1 tempo
1 hill session
1 steady state
1 Mountain run
1 O Sesh

Bike 2:26hrs