Lost Sheep Advice

Mos Eisley

Hi Folks

I'll be doing the Lost Sheep for the first time in 2 weeks (sounds explicit!!!) and am looking for some tips or advice from people who have raced it previously. Please feel free to pass on any knowledge that might help make the day a little less painful. This will be my second middle distance race having completed numerous sprint and oly races competitively over the last few years.

Thanks

EC1000

Be prepared for all types of weather - had heavy rain and sunshine last year. The descents were treacherous as a result. Just pace it on the climbs - there are 2 long climbs and one shorter climb - nothing too steep so just spin up them at a pace that doesn't burn too many matches.

Great race - must go back next year.

Pidae.m

Mos Eisley wrote: »

Hi Folks

I'll be doing the Lost Sheep for the first time in 2 weeks (sounds explicit!!!) and am looking for some tips or advice from people who have raced it previously. Please feel free to pass on any knowledge that might help make the day a little less painful. This will be my second middle distance race having completed numerous sprint and oly races competitively over the last few years.

Thanks

I've done it 6 times and it's an epic day out. Be prepared for terrible weather even if it's sunny when your on the way down Friday.
The swim is pretty straight forward, cycle is tough but you have to pace it. Every one talks of the two mega climbs but there is a horrible drag after adrigole , long boring stretch to glengarriff.
Its 5 miles from glengarriff to the top of the caha pass and 7 miles then on to kenmare.
The first half of the run is great because it's out & part for a couple of miles do your are meeting people coming against you & giving words of encouragement. Second half of the run is total crucifixion at 17k there is a hill you will DEFINITELY have to walk.
The finish line is great in town & the night out after is legendary;)

Best of luck I'll be in my kayak for the swim so hopefully you won't need me!!

mossym

That hill at 17 can definitely be run. It's not that bad. Caught me the first time but following year ran up it it's tough but certainly not something that definitely needs to be walked.

Hills in bike not that bad, the stretch from bottom of Healy to glengariff can be the toughest as it is deceiving

Swim, just make sure you sight the roof of the house on the way back in
Epic race

Mos Eisley

Great stuff, that's the kind of info that can make all the difference. Looking forward to a bit of climbing...

joey100

I'm not doing the race, just curious, how long are the climbs in total during the race? And the descents? Anyone have a link to the course route, I know it's on the website but I can't seem to open it in work, it's a shared google document.

carbonceiling

Don't do what I did and just wing it on the nutrition side. I stayed in a B&B with my wife and 4 week old daughter and not wanting to disturb their sleep, I planned to eat breakfast in the ensuite bathroom.

It's hard enough to eat porridge at 5 am in the morning, but sitting on the toilet lid in a tiny ensuite bathroom, eating it out of a ziploc bag (forgot a bowl) I just couldn't stomach more than a spoon or two, so I abandoned my breakfast. this is a terrible idea, do not do it.

otherwise it's a fantastic race and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have never been so happy and emotional after a race than I was after finishing Lost Sheep. You will love it.

Keeks

joey100 wrote: »

I'm not doing the race, just curious, how long are the climbs in total during the race? And the descents? Anyone have a link to the course route, I know it's on the website but I can't seem to open it in work, it's a shared google document.

https://www.strava.com/activities/81723728#13146163256

Not 100% sure if this is the exact same source but the two big climbs haven't changed anyway

boysinblack

This...




''Hills in bike not that bad, the stretch from bottom of Healy to glengariff can be the toughest as it is deceiving ''

Mos Eisley

Cheers carbonceiling! I am in a similar situation as in I'll be staying in a B&B with wifey and baby. I intended eating my pre made porridge in the dining room, the toilet seat was never a consideration ::D

Great info about the stretch between Healy and Glengarrif, nice to know what to expect as I doubt I will get a chance to drive the course.

Pidae.m

Mos Eisley wrote: »

Cheers carbonceiling! I am in a similar situation as in I'll be staying in a B&B with wifey and baby. I intended eating my pre made porridge in the dining room, the toilet seat was never a consideration ::D

Great info about the stretch between Healy and Glengarrif, nice to know what to expect as I doubt I will get a chance to drive the course.

Ya always hated that stretch

gilleek2

Mos Eisley wrote: »

Cheers carbonceiling! I am in a similar situation as in I'll be staying in a B&B with wifey and baby. I intended eating my pre made porridge in the dining room, the toilet seat was never a consideration ::D

Great info about the stretch between Healy and Glengarrif, nice to know what to expect as I doubt I will get a chance to drive the course.

They just resurfaced that section recently despite it not needing it at all and of course it's finished with crappy rough chippings making it slower than before.

kierank01

gilleek2 wrote: »

They just resurfaced that section recently despite it not needing it at all and of course it's finished with crappy rough chippings making it slower than before.

cycled the route on Saturday, the road surface seems to have improved a little from traffic, gravel towards the edges.

They have resurfaced the last few k into Glengarriff as well, it's runway smooth, but some marbles left over, hopefully will clear.

bumped into the head of transition during the week, said that the tide will be wrong on the day, so we will have to walk/run over seaweed/stones at the end of the swim.

TopOfTheHill

Mos Eisley wrote: »

I'll be doing the Lost Sheep for the first time in 2 weeks

How did you get on?

Did it for the first time myself - what a day - already have it pencilled in for next year.

Mos Eisley

Had a great day. Swim was cold and long as i think everyone went off course! The bike was grand, I enjoy climbing and was actually surprised when we reached the top of the healy pass, I expected it to be longer. That long stretch to Glengarrif was tough as was suggested by other posters and the last few miles after the caha descent were tough mentally. Really enjoyed the Caha descent, was probably my favourite part of the race. The run was tough but felt great until I hit the hill at 18K, ran up it slowly and struggled all the way back to kenmare after that. There was one lad in my sights coming towards the finish but at that stage I was done chasing and was delighted to finish in the top 20. It certainly is an epic race. We were very lucky with the weather at the weekend, cant imagine doing a race as tough as that in bad conditions. Great race to finish the season.

Thanks for all the advise, it certainly helped.

Pidae.m

Mos Eisley wrote: »

Had a great day. Swim was cold and long as i think everyone went off course! The bike was grand, I enjoy climbing and was actually surprised when we reached the top of the healy pass, I expected it to be longer. That long stretch to Glengarrif was tough as was suggested by other posters and the last few miles after the caha descent were tough mentally. Really enjoyed the Caha descent, was probably my favourite part of the race. The run was tough but felt great until I hit the hill at 18K, ran up it slowly and struggled all the way back to kenmare after that. There was one lad in my sights coming towards the finish but at that stage I was done chasing and was delighted to finish in the top 20. It certainly is an epic race. We were very lucky with the weather at the weekend, cant imagine doing a race as tough as that in bad conditions. Great race to finish the season.

Thanks for all the advise, it certainly helped.

Well done, it's a great achievement even finisothat race. I was marshal at the caha pass. It was one of the calmest days up there. I think 3 people got hypothermia , swim looked tough I was surprised how long it took.... always a bad sign. It took me 67 minutes the first year I done it!!

MojoMaker

Shows you what a $hite summer we had when the water temp in Kenmare is 3 degrees colder than last year. Slickly run event again and some great coverage before, during, and after. Good craic down the town after as well.