Ballybunnion Half Marathon

chrislad

I am currently training for the half and was planning to do my first half at the Great Limerick Run.

However, I'm down in Ballybunnion next weekend and I see this is on. Tempted to just go for it. I did 16 on Saturday fairly comfortably with a time of 1.32 or so. Elevation was similar to that in the Ballybunnion one according to their map as I live in a hilly area.

Am I mad? Should I just stick on my training plan and do the GLR one? Have anyone done the Ballybunnion half and can offer advice as to it being a good or bad one for beginners. Thanks!

NetwerkErrer

chrislad wrote: »

I am currently training for the half and was planning to do my first half at the Great Limerick Run.

However, I'm down in Ballybunnion next weekend and I see this is on. Tempted to just go for it. I did 16 on Saturday fairly comfortably with a time of 1.32 or so. Elevation was similar to that in the Ballybunnion one according to their map as I live in a hilly area.

Am I mad? Should I just stick on my training plan and do the GLR one? Have anyone done the Ballybunnion half and can offer advice as to it being a good or bad one for beginners. Thanks!

If you are doing it, do it as a long run and not a race. If you race it, your training will suffer in the week after because you need to recover and it will have a disruptive and negative effect on your preparation for Limerick which is the goal race. It would set you back a week in training and I think the negatives would outweigh the positives of racing it.

I haven't done the half but have done the 10k a few times which is half the course and can tell you it's a difficult.

Anyone else running next week? I'm in for the 10k.

chrislad

I'd definitely be doing it as a 'do this distance' run rather than aiming for a time. I was scheduled to do 17k or so that weekend anyway, so it's not a big jump. In my 16k this weekend, the elevation profile was very similar to that of the Ballybunnion one so I think I should be okay with the hills, in that it won't utterly kill me.

chrislad

All registered, but as luck would have it, I pulled something in my leg last night. Should be fine for the weekend, but probably no harm doing light training for the few days beforehand!

diego_b

I'm doing the 10K myself, did it last year and it was a lovely run (scenic and weather wise) but it was a very tough course I think.
I was tempted to try the half as doing the half in Limerick but I drove the course last week and it looks very tough to me. The ups and downs of the 10K route continue on for another 10K or so all the way around through Beale. It only really flattens out for the run on the main road back to Ballybunnion. The last two K of all the runs is great as it's pretty much down hill with a small incline as you turn the final corner.

chrislad

I was looking at this link.

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/166431883

It seems like the first 15 is a lot tougher than the last 6. As I said, I'm not too concerned with a fast time. I'll be going for around the 2,00 mark for Limerick. If I do 2,30 here, I'll be fine with it. It's just to get the distance done before I go for a proper one.

chrislad

2,24. Happy with that considering that my leg was still niggling at me. Bloody tough hilly course though. Those hills went on and on and on and on. Nice day. A bit hot but no wind, praise Jebus!

diego_b

I did the 10K and got a PB so was delighted given how tough that course is too. Managed to get a minute off my previous best time to get home in 47:15. 48:16 was my previous best back at the Off The Laois event in late November and haven't ran the distance since then as I had to deal with a niggle. The hills are fair tough even on the 10 to be honest, that last hill coming back between 7 and 8.5K is a killer but I managed to hold my pace well. 5 mins quicker than my first time at the event last year.

Wise Old Elf

Ran my first ever 10k here yesterday, 51:52 and very happy. I found the hill on the way out harder than the one back but both tough. Well done both of ye.