Is it Now?

Thurs 8 miles, including 5.5 at tempo

2 miles @ 7:10 pace
4 mins to buy Lidl sunglasses
1 mile @ 6:50 pace
3 min jog
1.5 mile @ 6:32 pace
4 min jog
1 mile @ 6:29 pace
1 mile jog

Sun 40 miles Wicklow Way

1.5 mile warm-up:cool: to the sign at the start of the WW. Touch, and off, in a pace that hopefully showed some gathering runners what a real "plod" was:).

Leg 1

It was two miles to Kilmashogue, and a gentle run up and over the first hill. Coming down, the vegetation narrowed the path, leaving unwanted watery droplets on my shoes. I was conscious of keeping then dry for as long as possible to keep blisters at bay. Hit the road, begin the next climb, no problems. I hate the granite rocks at the summit, so I walked down them, not wanting to jar the knees too much. This Ultra was a good bit further than anything I had done before, and I was mollycoddling myself a bit, not wanting anything to go wrong.

Leg2

Heading up the road I was passed by one of Ireland's best female ultrarunners, in a group of four out for a training run. All sinew and bone, in contrast to my rather more rotund figure. Part of the reason for doing this ultra is to start getting the weight under control, in prep for DM training. Picked up my backpack (stashed the night before), filled with food, gear, rainjacket, spare socks, plasters, etc. This was its maiden voyage, but it performed splendidly, far better than any running pack I'd used before. (More expensive too, €80:eek:). Run past the hostel, eat a powerbar, up into Crone woods. No real hassle getting up by the waterfall, helped by a strong tailwind.
Down and cross the river, and begin the slog to Djouce. This was starting to feel like more of a mountain run now, as it was raining, and very wet and boggy underfoot. Very sloppy too as I skirted by the summit, and I was looking forward to hitting the boardwalk, for some good traction, and get back into a stride. But, ye gods!, as soon as I was out of the shelter of the leeward side of the mountain, I was hit by an almighty gale, the sort that pushes your mouth over to where your ear resides. Even standing on the boardwalk took significant effort, as the wind tried to force your body off, into the knee-deep bog pools on either side. Ok. my shoes were wet at this stage, from all the rain and splashing, but bog water is full of billions of pieces of grit, which work into your sock and are agony to run against sore feet. Instead of running, I just about managed to stay upright by leaning into the wind at a 20 degree angle, and walking very slowly, the length of the sleepers. I was very happy to get off them, I can assure you! Looking down from the road, Lough Tay could have hosted a surfing competition. More power to anyone who runs this leg on the WWRelay, its a real toughie!

Leg 3

Picked up some stashed iso drink, and headed into the forest. The contrast couldn't have been more extreme- although it was raining, it was calm and serene to run in. It was over before it had begun. Nice leg to run at any time, and under the cloud, I got to see some nice views.

Leg 4

Ugly, horrible, uphill, road- actually wasn't as bad as I expected. There's a drinking tap at the house where you turn into the forest, with a sign saying "Free Water! Help Yourself!", so I gulped, mentally thanking this strangers kindness. Nice grassy surface to run across, and my feet were liking it too. Marathon distance had been passed at this stage, and constant pounding was starting to take its toll. Cross the road onto Brockagh, and a couple of German girls eyed me increduisly as I ascended- they being covered in all manner of rain gear. (Lots of Germans walking the WW yesterday, I made sure to wave and make friendly chat to them all. Hopefully if enough people do this they will lend more money to those fiscally reckless but smiling and charming Irish people.:)
The turn from Brockagh to Glendalough was a new route to me, a little too steep and slippery for my taste yesterday. It would be great to give this socks in the correct footwear some day. Cross the road, into Glendalough, about 6 hours gone, which is as fast as I expected to do it on a good dry day, so I was inwardly happy with myself, given the rough conditiotions.

Leg 5

This was a bridge too far. When planning this run, (which ultimately would take me from Marlay to my house just past Tinahely), the debate was whether to overnight in Laragh or Drumgoff. Since it was meant to be a bit of a challenge, I opted for Drumgoff, and had left my dry clothes there. The run to the uphill turn was fine- I could have run a lot more at this pace, on the flat. However, I knew that relentless climb would be tough. I walked up past the waterfall. then started running again, where it was a shallower gradient. The rain was coming down hard now, and the wind was picking up again as I got higher. A pre-race beers chat with Kiwirunner had made me pack some ham sandwiches, and I figured this was a good time to take them, hopefully they would steel me for the climb ahead. As I walked and munched, a descending German guy looked worried, and asked if I was alright? (I think he meant alright in the head:D). No problems I told him, in fact I was quite warm, and knew what the signs were in the unlikely event that I would be hypothermic in "summer" (it can happen, especially when you're fatigued and lashed by wind and rain).
Picnic over, started running again. A long climb. Run to the corner, turn, another long climb. And another. Leg 5 is relentless, and it broke me here. I started jogging/walking, but the ratio was becoming loaded in the favour of walking. Its been a while since I recced all leg 5, and I'd forgotten just how long a slog it is, with no views, differing terrain, undulations, to distract you. When the top finally came, that was it, hit the boardwalk, you're over, start descending. I think with better planning, I might have jogged up, but no matter now. Off the boardwalk, the "grassy track" had become a 45 degree sheep trail, pooled with muck and bogwater. Started picking my way through to keep dry feet, feck it, you're nearly there, start running, slip, thud, wallop. I hit my Garmin falling, and it broke in two pieces, the screen and electronic contents lying on the grass. I'll get the superglue out, hopefully it can be fixed- but this happens after about 37 miles?!?
The mountain micheal steps down to the trail have been washed away, and huge landslide of rock, bog, and a river running down it, so I had to make very slow progress here, its extremely dangerous. Don't know when that happened. Last two miles were uneventful, follow the trail, onto the road, pass the Lodge, make a mad sprint for my (untimed!) finish, at the halfway point. Touch the rock, with a huge grin on my face.

Very happy I did this, and no real issues on the body. It was slow, I'd say 40 miles in about 8 and a half hours, but 2 and a half were due to Mullacor. Not that any of that matters an iota, this was a run for the head and heart, and it was well worth it. I'm an ultrarunner!:D

Mon 25 miles

After a good nights rest, and a decent bit of grub, I suited up in fresh clothes and damp shoes to finish the journey. Turning into the start of leg 6, Coilte were smashing things to bits, so I had to run up the road. Raining again, but I didn't mind that. After a mile, any stiffness left the legs, and soon I had summited, and ran to the entrance to the forest. I quite enjoy this leg, and like the second climb- its not too long, not too steep. Can't say I'm a fan of what the powers that be have done to the nice technical downhill though, very hard to run on, and using marble rocks in places where people step, is a recipe for slippy disaster.
Anyway, into the forest, running well, down the remaining (hands off!) technical downhill, and I'm into the next leg. No problems with this at all, up the summit without issue, down through the forest, (had to head through the trees because of Coilte work), onto the road. By now my feet are starting to complain, all the constant pounding is starting to tell. Cross the river, and walk up the steep bit. I'm happy to hit grass again, it's a lot softer underfoot. In truth, this area is my favourite of the whole two days running; the views are great, and the solitude is welcome. Horse's, sheep, and cows, are the only curious onlookers, but I salute them anyway. (When the animals take over the world, we may have to borrow money from them).
I turn for Mangon's Lane and say byebye to the WW. Feet are sorry to leave, as every pebble seems like a knife in a blister underfoot. Through Tinahely (fighting the urge to stop and rehydrate with some of PN's wine), and onto the softer surface of the Railway Walk, familiar stomping ground. Soon I'm home, the legs are very happy to stop. (25miles in about 4:50 or so).

My feet now will need a bit of TLC, and muscles are starting to complain. Yesterday I was thinking a lot about the guys who run the whole of the WW in a day, its an amazing feat (and certainly far beyond anything I could ever do!). There's so many variables, so much that can go wrong with logistics, or weather, or navigation, or broken paths. I'm very happy to have run half it in a day, and I guess I could have plodded on slowly today, to finish the whole thing, but it would have taken a lot of effort, and I don't know if I have that. 65 miles in two days is far beyond anything I've done before. Looking back on the past two days running, I've learned I have endurance (if endurance is measured by keepin' on keepin' on slowly). I've been decent enough before for shorter speed things in training- 800's, mile's, 5k's. So what I need to do is work on my speed endurance, and area I'm woeful at.

Woddle wrote: »

Fantastic.
I remember you mentioning sth like this about 2 summers ago and was a little tempted and finishing in front of a pub fire and a few pints. You obviously got sick of waiting for others
I hope you had a camera to capture some of the amazing views.

No camera, most of the run was in mist and rain anyway. Leg 3 was the only respite (being relatively low) for panorama's, but the views I have are stored in memory (Gushing waterfall across the Glenmalure valley; incredible smile I got from a hottie who stood back to let me pass on Maulin...:))

I asked a load of people who i thought might be interested, but 5 milers, Plods, weddings, etc, got in the way. I had a couple of free days from commitment, so it was now or never!

But it got me thinking... the 31 miles from Marlay to Glendalough are very do-able, for a lot of Boardie's. Maybe we could organize a BAC Ultra, and stay over in Lynam's hotel? Failing that, Excuseless and Kiwirunner have an annual pre-Xmas blowout- bus to Glendalough, run back to Marlay, pints in Taylor's.

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Hey ultra runner, For your next mission you can attempt the Stone Cross to Lug route all in one go as a recce for your race date with destiny

(It gets a little annoying replying to all these mere marathon runners. but I'll persevere...;))

SXtoL was my back-up "big-run" if this one didn't work out. Logistics were harder though- spend the night in the Glenmalure Lodge, or on Fenton's cold hard floor? (and bang my head in the morning). I'd still like to run it, but in decent, dry-ish conditions. Speaking of it though, we need to start organizing a few relay teams from here, and get recce'ing. You're in, right? I know Jeff is, and by the time I'm done, PN will have come out of retirement more times than Mick Jagger.

Tue 4 miles easy

Stiff and sore today, but an easy run in the forest with Izzy and Paul took care of that. I was stiff, slow, wheezing, at the start, but felt much looser later. A proper recovery run, with good company, and great to see the injured-ankle twosome coming back into running form. France, its the country that cures all your ail's.

Fri 5 miles steady

One lap of Marlay, running fast enough, 14:48.
One lap slower, 17:19.

Legs feel great, lingering knee pain has disappeared, the only negative I notice from the weekends long run is that my lungs feel a bit tired. I guess thats from having the motor running for 8+ hours.