GFW 2012

Steamer

Race day breakfast. Has anyone any tips? Something easily digestable with lots of energy

hardCopy

Steamer wrote: »

Race day breakfast. Has anyone any tips? Something easily digestable with lots of energy

Whatever you normally eat. Don't try anything new or make big changes to your routine.

Steamer

Well I normally train in the evenings after eating all day long!! Morning is never good and I felt like I hadn't eaten enough before the Connemara Adventure Race so just wondering if anyone had any good suggestions

nerraw1111

I go with a bowl and half of porridge two and a half hours before the race. The microwaveable signle pots ones. Just add milk and you’re sorted. Handy for races away from home. No faffing about.

Peterx

Steamer wrote: »

Race day breakfast. Has anyone any tips? Something easily digestable with lots of energy

It's not easy to eat in the middle of the night but try and stuff as much milky muesi/porridge into yourself as possible starting from the moment you get up.

You then have a further hour on the bus to eat in comfort. I bring 1.5l of weak mix energy water, a banana and a thick slice of fruitcake to eat on the bus.
The main thing is a big (but not huge - you need to both digest and sleep) pasta dinner the evening before and tonight Thursday. You will then have good energy stores in your body even if you can't eat much breakfast.

The only problem with all that eating on the bus is having to start the run slowly - but that's usually a good thing unless you start so slowly you don't get on the coattails of the good cyclists leaving Delphi

You really don't need to eat much during the event, the body can only process so many calories per hour anyway during exercise.

Skilgannon79

Peterx wrote: »

It's not easy to eat in the middle of the night but try and stuff as much milky muesi/porridge into yourself as possible starting from the moment you get up.

You then have a further hour on the bus to eat in comfort. I bring 1.5l of weak mix energy water, a banana and a thick slice of fruitcake to eat on the bus.
The main thing is a big (but not huge - you need to both digest and sleep) pasta dinner the evening before and tonight Thursday. You will then have good energy stores in your body even if you can't eat much breakfast.

The only problem with all that eating on the bus is having to start the run slowly - but that's usually a good thing unless you start so slowly you don't get on the coattails of the good cyclists leaving Delphi

You really don't need to eat much during the event, the body can only process so many calories per hour anyway during exercise.

Peterx while we have you.... I've heard you mention before about dioralyte sachets in case of emergency to relieve cramps. Do you just throw one into your water bottle or how do you take them?

Thanks for the advice!

Rew

Skilgannon79 wrote: »

Peterx while we have you.... I've heard you mention before about dioralyte sachets in case of emergency to relieve cramps. Do you just throw one into your water bottle or how do you take them?

Thanks for the advice!

Emergency? Ill have them in everything I drink that day, some people neck the powder and was it down, not sure id recommend that. If your getting cramps its too late.

nerraw1111

A good tip is to make use of the kayak time out if you are timed out. There's a water container there.

Last time, I had small 25ml water with diarolyte waiting at bike. Downed it and onto bike.

I also downed a sachet dry. Bit awkward but got rid of calf cramps. Just make sure you have something to wash it down with.

centre back

first time in 3 years i wont be heading up to westport, gutted to miss such a great event, best of luck to all!! any predictions on the winners lads?? peterx tom o'dowd and tim o'donogue for me seem to stand out!

Peterx

I carry three dioralyte sachets in my cycling jersey pockets and swallow them dry if I have to, obviously I'd prefer to wash them down with water:)
They work - fast. Like that woodstain that does what it says on the tin only you don't even have to carry a tin!

In my 2 bike bottles I have a nuun tablet mixed in with the energy junk. I eat plenty of salt with my food today although you need to be careful here as too much salt can cause water retention and "bloating" and really more importantly it might not be wise to try too many new things the day before a race..

In terms of the formguide, www.msai.ie has 4 lads listed as likely winners with Tim O'Donoghue being the favourite as he has won everything all season and was already 4 minutes ahead of the field after the first run including Aidan McMorland and me in (some unmentionable) race in Glenmalure 3 weeks ago. As always though, we'll just try our best on the day and hopefully my course knowledge will help mitigate somewhat against Tim O'D's faster running and cycling:)
Tom O'Dowd has got quicker every year and this could his year too. A real pity that Niall Somers and Padraig Marrey are missing. With those two in the mix the race really would be savage as Niall would match Tim's running

Peterx

centre back wrote: »

first time in 3 years i wont be heading up to westport, gutted to miss such a great event, best of luck to all!! any predictions on the winners lads?? peterx tom o'dowd and tim o'donogue for me seem to stand out!

and coincidentally listed together on the start list too, 166, 167, 168. Aidan McMorland should get a change to Aidan O'McMorland for the day:D

woody1

so 2 bowls of porridge, fruit , fruitcake,
massive feed of pasta the nite before,
thered want to be a jacks somewhere along the route

so anyway not long to go, regd last nite and hung up bikes , over 4 hour round trip and i live in mayo !!
my bike transition ( 1-950 )not in as bad knick as was mentioned on facebook but then i suppose your definition of mucky varies depending on where you come from
gonna call 5 1/2 hours as my time for it, which is a total guess, it took under 3 hours to cycle climb cyle so im at a loss as to how long for the run kayak run and how much itl take out ..
i cant see being a lot faster than that but could be a lot slower

thehamo

woody1 wrote: »

so 2 bowls of porridge, fruit , fruitcake,
massive feed of pasta the nite before,
thered want to be a jacks somewhere along the route

so anyway not long to go, regd last nite and hung up bikes , over 4 hour round trip and i live in mayo !!
my bike transition ( 1-950 )not in as bad knick as was mentioned on facebook but then i suppose your definition of mucky varies depending on where you come from
gonna call 5 1/2 hours as my time for it, which is a total guess, it took under 3 hours to cycle climb cyle so im at a loss as to how long for the run kayak run and how much itl take out ..
i cant see being a lot faster than that but could be a lot slower

Ya have to take into account the jelly legs after the run gettin on to the bike. Won't be as fresh as just jumping on for a spin! That said, that's a good time for cycle climb cycle!

snailsong

Good luck to everybody, esp the newbies. I signed up at the last minute so reluctantly in the first wave. should be an experience:).

Peter O'Farrell for the win. He's fantastic on the Reek. Decent guy too, no one will be disappointed to see him win again.

The only advice I have for the first timers:
Go straight through the puddles, you'll soon be wet anyway.
Don't stop to visit Glenda Vock. She'll take your voice and leave you howling at the moon.

acurno

Didn't get my final confirmation email. Were these sent out yesterday?

thehamo

acurno wrote: »

Didn't get my final confirmation email. Were these sent out yesterday?

They were sent out alright. Best thing to do is check the web site and the race numbers are up there. If your name is there your laughing, if not... I'd be ont to them!

Harto45

Best of luck to everyone. Gutted I'm missing it this year due to a nasty bike accident. Just realised that would be racking up the bike about now. Enjoy it.

pauldoo

Registered this afternoon, took about 3.5 hours,easily,and it was quiet enough,I pity anyone going to register tonight

gigantic09

Good luck to everyone tomorrow!.Hopefully the bus driver has some decent 'wake me up' music to give everyone a kick start!.Alice in Chains or ACDC beats a feckin muesli bar everytime!!!!.

ThisRegard

I'll miss this year too and I'm missing not being there. Have fun everyone and best of luck, I'd imagine there's a few willing themselves to sleep at the moment.

thehamo

pauldoo wrote: »

Registered this afternoon, took about 3.5 hours,easily,and it was quiet enough,I pity anyone going to register tonight

Jasus I got there about 7.30 and we were in and out in literally 5 minutes, bike drop off was max 20 minutes!!

woody1

best of luck to all..

thehamo

Had to pull out of the race after the run. Knees were in bits, could hardly even walk down hills. Went and done the kayak and walked up to the bikes and cycled back in to Westport via the N59. Absolutely gutted. This was my year to break the 6hr mark. In the hotel now with ice packs and ibuprofen. A few pints later should sort me out! Hope all had a successful and enjoyable day

pauldoo

Ah that sucks,sorry to hear that

That was tough,first time doin it

Underestimated the mud and hills in the first run
The second run was grand
That hill on the cycle was massive,never cycled a hill like that
The off road track was a pain,a real time zapper
The mountain was way tougher than what I thought, bout an hour forty up and down, first time on a mountain run like that

Overall underestimated it a lot,took 6.43,could have taken a decent chuck of time off between transitions,training for the mountain and a more suitable bike/tyres

woody1

got 5.21 very happy
first run tough, otherwise pretty much
as expected,
tough tough race for me anyway

hardCopy

5:50 for me, down from almost 7 last year.

Fantastic day for it, although the puddles were much deeper this year, nearly got lost in one pit when I sank up to my waist.

Toughest part was probably the 4K cycle back to our b&b.

Well done all.

snailsong

Well done to everyone, esp the first timers.
Conditions were ideal today, but alas I didn't improve on last year. 4:56, slower by 5 minutes. First wave, lack of transition time out cost about 3 minutes queueing for the kayak. 2 minutes slower on the bog run, maybe the rest would have helped. Almost identical times on the other legs.

Had hoped to gain on the bike but only got 19 seconds, bad cramps all the way. Went straight up the Reek, hoping it'd be quicker than my usual zigzag route. I was 2 seconds faster, so there's conclusive proof that straight up is fastest:). Fell 3 times on the way down putting paid to any thoughts of a fast finish. I must have been up that mountain 50 times and it breaks my heart every time.

Still happy to finish in one piece and keep it under the 5 hours. Already planning for next year and a serious assault on 4:30:).

endswell

some results up front, 3,32 for tim o donoghue? must be a machine

Slogger Jogger

endswell wrote: »

some results up front, 3,32 for tim o donoghue? must be a machine

Course record I believe. Included a puncture fix too I heard.

pauldoo

Any videos of people doing the reek quickly-thats where I lost a lot of time,comin up and down