6 weeks in hell -Abu Dhabi to Conn via Donadea

Izoard

Some boards-spotting on the lunchtime run today....

Passed ultraman1 heading back from Blackrock Park..it wasn't clear at the time whether he was on an epic Clane-Blackrock-Clane loop, but when he passed me again in a car, I felt a little better.

Also passed the man with (at least) 3 (boards) names - but you never really know whether he sees you or not -probably in a world of z4 pain...

Izoard

Beautiful morning for a run - cold with no wind, although some slippy paths with the 0630 start.

34km in 3hr 07. My longest training run ever, and felt good all the way around.
Schoolboy error of donning a brand new pair of Pegasus 28's, but no issues.

Bit of a monster week done - next week is back on the road-not many training options on the mean streets of Johannesburg...

Izoard

2 weeks out from the first of the "3 in 6 weeks" lunacy and a quick status check:

Donadea 50km
Assuming I get the final 2 long runs in (tomorrow and next weekend), I think this will go OK.
Plan would be the get through the marathon in 3:45 and then finishing in 4.30, on a good day.
Confidence factor: How hard can it be, eh?

Abu Dhabi Long Distance:
Swim should be OK (unless it is bath-like, I'll go with the wetsuit), but I'm worried about the bike. My last long spin in very hot conditions was L'Etape in '06 and that did not have a happy ending. If I can make it to the end of the bike without cramping, I should get through the run.
Heat will be the deciding factor here, one way or the other.
Confidence factor: I suspect this will be a really hard day out - finishing will be a result.

Connemara Ultra:
I'm having a recurring dream of being at the bottom of the hill in Leenane, curled up in the foetal position, sobbing because I have another hilly 13.1 miles to do after a marathon.
Think it is a premonition at this stage.
Confidence factor: Cacking it.

Izoard

34km again in 3hr 07 - nothing if not consistent....

ultraman1

Izoard wrote: »

34km again in 3hr 07 - nothing if not consistent....

wud u not of do the run around the car ting to make dis 1 ur longest trainin run

Izoard

ultraman1 wrote: »

wud u not of do the run around the car ting to make dis 1 ur longest trainin run

You mean I should be running longer than that in training for this thing?;)

As the junk-mile king, it should have been no bother to me, but I was running late for u6 footie training, so that was that...

RacoonQueen

ultraman1 wrote: »

wud u not of do the run around the car ting to make dis 1 ur longest trainin run

Sure Donadea is just a training run so he'll get his longest training run in there!

Izoard

Managed to get a puncture on the turbo this evening - a first for everything.

Schwalbe Ultremo's - truly the worst tyres known to man...:(

Izoard

Last long run before Donadea complete.

34km @5.23min per km pace.
Felt comfortable with this and I'm hopeful with a group in Donadea I can hold this for the longer distance.

Let the madness begin....

Izoard

Final run before Donadea - 17km @ 5.10min per km.

Far from stressing about Donadea, my main worry is when I can fit in the long turbo before Sat morning

Really looking forward to (hopefully) loosing my ultra marathon virginity on Sat - I just hope she is gentle with me...

BennyMul

Good luck Saturday.

griffin100

Izoard wrote: »

Final run before Donadea - 17km @ 5.10min per km.

Far from stressing about Donadea, my main worry is when I can fit in the long turbo before Sat morning

Really looking forward to (hopefully) loosing my ultra marathon virginity on Sat - I just hope she is gentle with me...

It's not really a real ultra, it's just a marathon with a short cool down run at the end........:pac:

Best of luck.

catweazle

Is that this weekend :eek:

Christ I was signed up to that race a while ago but thank god I saw sense as I hadn't ran in nearly a month since DCM. Perhaps next year

Good luck, races coming thick and fast for you now! What are you going to for the rest of the year?

Dory Dory

Good luck!! And enjoy your maiden voyage.....

shotgunmcos

Enjoy the long trot. Sure its only 5.8k more than a marathon which you could do in your sleep at this stage! You can pen this report as a practice for your Abu Dhabi tales

menoscemo

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Enjoy the long trot. Sure its only 5.8k more than a marathon which you could do in your sleep at this stage! You can pen this report as a practice for your Abu Dhabi tales

7.8k more actually

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Best of luck Fergal, enjoy the race and give it socks.

Izoard

griffin100 wrote: »

It's not really a real ultra, it's just a marathon with a short cool down run at the end........:pac:

ultraman1 would like you to step outside to discuss the ultra-ness of his race:)

catweazle wrote: »

Is that this weekend :eek:

Christ I was signed up to that race a while ago but thank god I saw sense as I hadn't ran in nearly a month since DCM. Perhaps next year

Good luck, races coming thick and fast for you now! What are you going to for the rest of the year?

Ironman is a four letter word in chez Izoard at the moment, but had a bizarre conversation with Mrs. I last weekend where she suggested signing up for IM Nice - this year! - The mystery of woman, eh?

While a Lance-shadowed IM Nice is tempting, it is not a runner, so I'm hoping to do either Galway 70.3 or the Lost Sheep + an Oly in early Sept.

handangeo

catweazle wrote: »

Is that this weekend :eek:

Christ I was signed up to that race a while ago but thank god I saw sense as I hadn't ran in nearly a month since DCM. Perhaps next year

Good luck, races coming thick and fast for you now! What are you going to for the rest of the year?

IM Austria - you know you wanna :D:D

Best of luck Saturday buddy!

Abhainn

Enjoy the forest lad.
Watch out for the squirrels, I hear they are some big ones around that part of the country

Izoard

What a great race for the ultra novice - with the 10 laps, it meant you could leave everything at the start/finish and help yourself as you go - excellent.

At the start - lots of boards legends and quite a few skinny ultra types - feeling a little out of my depth.

Quick hello to the usual suspects and a chat with Gerry Duffy and we are off!

Had planned to stick to RQ like glue as she was going at 4.30ish pace.
My training for this, had me at 4.30 on a very good day, so I wasn't sure how long I could hang on.

Turns out it was 100m or so....

With the rabbit disappearing up the trail, I'm quickly on my own for the first lap, but fall in with a chap from Wexford Tri and one other.

Finding a group was key, as I was to discover to my cost later.

This little group fractured and I was running on my own for laps 5-8 - found this really tough. The lap splits show that I was ticking along at the standard pace, but I found them interminable.

Through the half way in 2.11 - slower than planned.

Was caught by 3 guys at the end of lap 8 and it gave me a huge boost. Was able to jump on and get carried over the first half of lap 9 (first half of each lap was the tough part, with a couple of rollers).

Through the marathon in ~3.45, which I was pleased with, given where I was at the 1/2 way point.

When you are faced with a longer distance, you begin to realise how arbitary the marathon distance is and how we generally program ourselves that this odd measurement is the limit of our distance capabilities.

I kicked on from my group and was feeling great hitting the last lap.

Began to catch a number of folks both on their last and 2nd last laps.

Up ahead RQ appears in view, looking like she is suffering over the past few km. Despite this she's on for a great finish.

Last lap proved one of my fastest and I was flying at the end.

Both goals hit: 3.45 for the marathon and 4.25 for the full distance.

Great event, even if I got a little lonely in the mid section...

Ultra virgin no more!

RacoonQueen

Awesome running. Welcome to the ultra club.

I'd have told you I was running the first 42 in 3:35ish but if I had pressure would have been on and I'd have gone kaboom. You were over 5 minutes ahead of me in the end. Had a brief attempt at sticking to you but couldn't do it.

Interesting how different people like it. I ran on my own for the whole thing other than lapping and being lapped and loved it. Reckon if I'd been with a group I'd probably have pulled up.

Izoard

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Awesome running. Welcome to the ultra club.

I'd have told you I was running the first 42 in 3:35ish but if I had pressure would have been on and I'd have gone kaboom. You were over 5 minutes ahead of me in the end. Had a brief attempt at sticking to you but couldn't do it.

Interesting how different people like it. I ran on my own for the whole thing other than lapping and being lapped and loved it. Reckon if I'd been with a group I'd probably have pulled up.

I need people around me to push the effort, otherwise I'll just saunter around, getting slower and slower if left to my own devices...

Story of my life!

ultraman1

well done ferg.....u wont need ky now...

griffin100

Great result F. How do feel about Conn now? Raring to go or nervous after today?

Izoard

griffin100 wrote: »

Great result F. How do feel about Conn now? Raring to go or nervous after today?[/QUOTE]

Cacking it - another 13km + those 2 climbs in the final 1/3?

shotgunmcos

Well done Chief.

Krusty_Clown

In Connemara though, you'll run into the marathon group first and then the half-marathon group, so you'll either be pushing past, or running with people for all of the second half, including those tough hills.

Congrats on a great run. That your final lap was among your fastest, is a very positive sign. You should really sell the bike and flippers, and focus on running.

belcarra

Well done izoard, it was a great day out there. Rare that there's such universal praise for an event!

Izoard

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

In Connemara though, you'll run into the marathon group first and then the half-marathon group, so you'll either be pushing past, or running with people for all of the second half, including those tough hills.

Congrats on a great run. That your final lap was among your fastest, is a very positive sign. You should really sell the bike and flippers, and focus on running.

Assuming there are still some stragglers to catch...

At least I'm pretty familiar with the course, so will know what's coming:)