Training Log Archive: GaryHouseIn the 7 days ending Mar 25, 2017:
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Saturday Mar 25, 2017 #
9 AM
mountain run race (Ultra ) 5:10:00 [4] 31.5 mi (9:50 / mi) +1737m 8:24 / mi
shoes: Salomon Speed
Maurice Mullins Ultra.
Sunny start to the day and felt pretty warm while registering etc....
The morning had gone smoothly with breakfast then getting picked up by local Jonny.
With a quick race briefing on the road the starter finished with 'Right yerr off in feckin 10s' haha....bit of confusion as there was no real order or start line for that matter but anyway we were off on the flat first mile down the road.
The eventual winner (Ian Bailey) was off like a rocket and nobody went with him...
as we hit thee first long climb out the valley there was a group of four including Paul Tierney and I was back 10 seconds in a group of about 10.
this stayed the same for at least 8 miles while it was a gradual downhill run before the long climb. Up to know I had been running faster than I usually would but it felt fine.
The next 5 miles is just a long climb up towards the summit of Djouce Mountain although we never actually go to the summit turning just short I think...
this climb was where the groups fractured with quite a few dropping off and I was in a group of three still inside the top ten on my count.
I could still see second and third was Tierney but they were a few mins ahead by now.
About a mile from the top it felt very warm and I let the other two drift off about 20/30 seconds ahead while I tried to keep in control and dipping my hat in the odd stream,....your probably thinking WTF....its Ireland in March but I was boiling ha!
Anyway the highest point came around soon enough and I had come back to the to in front as they had broken out in to a hike...
You then run down hil on these narrow wooden boards and the gaps increased while the ones in front of me simply ran quicker down to the turning point....I just felt like I needed to ease of a bit as its all downhill from 12 -16 miles and I knew that meant a good 4 mile climb on the turn.
I was at half way in a little over 2hrs 12 mins which I was happy with and quickly got my head down to climb back up.
there was a few twinges in the calves when I turned but apart from that I was quickly able to work hard at climbing.
It was a bit of a grind especially having to dodge the other runners who were running down past me.
It felt hard work but I was comfortable doing it if that makes any sense?! all the way up to the 20 mile mark where I could see I had gained on the person in front and completely lost sight of anyone chasing....
Then came a short section on the boards of flat running where an older couple with two dogs were walking too....there is hardly any room to pass anyway so I just jumped off the side to go around them and I just instantly felt a big spasm in my hip and glute....I jumped back on but I could tell straight away that my legs were about to cramp up.
With my hip in some kind of weird pain/spasm I had to completely shorten my stride to protect myself against full blown cramp in my quads but I kept getting short sharp bits of cramp before being able to run again....not ideal when the next 4 miles are all downhill
From that point it was all damage limitation ending with a bit of comedy trying to cross a bridge at mile 24 while on the flat my quads/adductors etc just went in to a complete painful cramp....
I could hardly walk along the flat river bank and had to lean on a tree and do a few weird movements to try and relax the muscles.
Would I have cramped up anyway without the miss timed jump? I dont' know..........my quads definitely took more of a beating than usual so maybe a lack of mountain conditioning after training for L100 last year showed?
Climbing from mile 25 to 29 was actually a relief because at least I could run but I could hardly get my feet of the ground having to shuffle on the odd flat section.
Pretty much downhill to the finish and it was just a case of keep moving rather than run.
So yeah......great race, weather, scenery, people and 20 odd miles then 10 miles of mental torture.
Ive not really suffered with cramp before so to have it on a massive scale was an experience I am keen not to have again!
I don't think I went off too fast considering the work we have done and turning at 2:12 I still felt confident but finishing nearly 3 hours later just shows how much the wheels fell off.
After the race I actually felt fine once I could walk off the stiffness etc.
Sunday my hip kept going in to spasm and I had a painful adductor (I think)
Quads are still a bit trashed and my inside leg (adductor/hipflexors) are tender to touch and feels very tight but I can move fine.
I will back fill other sessions on AP but wanted to get this done while it was fresh.
Sunny start to the day and felt pretty warm while registering etc....
The morning had gone smoothly with breakfast then getting picked up by local Jonny.
With a quick race briefing on the road the starter finished with 'Right yerr off in feckin 10s' haha....bit of confusion as there was no real order or start line for that matter but anyway we were off on the flat first mile down the road.
The eventual winner (Ian Bailey) was off like a rocket and nobody went with him...
as we hit thee first long climb out the valley there was a group of four including Paul Tierney and I was back 10 seconds in a group of about 10.
this stayed the same for at least 8 miles while it was a gradual downhill run before the long climb. Up to know I had been running faster than I usually would but it felt fine.
The next 5 miles is just a long climb up towards the summit of Djouce Mountain although we never actually go to the summit turning just short I think...
this climb was where the groups fractured with quite a few dropping off and I was in a group of three still inside the top ten on my count.
I could still see second and third was Tierney but they were a few mins ahead by now.
About a mile from the top it felt very warm and I let the other two drift off about 20/30 seconds ahead while I tried to keep in control and dipping my hat in the odd stream,....your probably thinking WTF....its Ireland in March but I was boiling ha!
Anyway the highest point came around soon enough and I had come back to the to in front as they had broken out in to a hike...
You then run down hil on these narrow wooden boards and the gaps increased while the ones in front of me simply ran quicker down to the turning point....I just felt like I needed to ease of a bit as its all downhill from 12 -16 miles and I knew that meant a good 4 mile climb on the turn.
I was at half way in a little over 2hrs 12 mins which I was happy with and quickly got my head down to climb back up.
there was a few twinges in the calves when I turned but apart from that I was quickly able to work hard at climbing.
It was a bit of a grind especially having to dodge the other runners who were running down past me.
It felt hard work but I was comfortable doing it if that makes any sense?! all the way up to the 20 mile mark where I could see I had gained on the person in front and completely lost sight of anyone chasing....
Then came a short section on the boards of flat running where an older couple with two dogs were walking too....there is hardly any room to pass anyway so I just jumped off the side to go around them and I just instantly felt a big spasm in my hip and glute....I jumped back on but I could tell straight away that my legs were about to cramp up.
With my hip in some kind of weird pain/spasm I had to completely shorten my stride to protect myself against full blown cramp in my quads but I kept getting short sharp bits of cramp before being able to run again....not ideal when the next 4 miles are all downhill
From that point it was all damage limitation ending with a bit of comedy trying to cross a bridge at mile 24 while on the flat my quads/adductors etc just went in to a complete painful cramp....
I could hardly walk along the flat river bank and had to lean on a tree and do a few weird movements to try and relax the muscles.
Would I have cramped up anyway without the miss timed jump? I dont' know..........my quads definitely took more of a beating than usual so maybe a lack of mountain conditioning after training for L100 last year showed?
Climbing from mile 25 to 29 was actually a relief because at least I could run but I could hardly get my feet of the ground having to shuffle on the odd flat section.
Pretty much downhill to the finish and it was just a case of keep moving rather than run.
So yeah......great race, weather, scenery, people and 20 odd miles then 10 miles of mental torture.
Ive not really suffered with cramp before so to have it on a massive scale was an experience I am keen not to have again!
I don't think I went off too fast considering the work we have done and turning at 2:12 I still felt confident but finishing nearly 3 hours later just shows how much the wheels fell off.
After the race I actually felt fine once I could walk off the stiffness etc.
Sunday my hip kept going in to spasm and I had a painful adductor (I think)
Quads are still a bit trashed and my inside leg (adductor/hipflexors) are tender to touch and feels very tight but I can move fine.
I will back fill other sessions on AP but wanted to get this done while it was fresh.
Sunday Mar 19, 2017 #
8 AM
trail running (easy) 55:00 [2] 6.3 mi (8:44 / mi) +96m 8:20 / mi
shoes: Altra Lone Peak
easy running with the dog...Charlottes birthday so good to have a quick easy session planned.