Training Log Archive: Boyzone

Irish Classic Distance - Oughterard, Galway. This was a classic distance in the purest sense, the ground seemed to suck you in with every step. Or maybe my legs were tired from the middle and probably I hadn't done enough strength work and long runs but I died a slow and painful death out on the course. I did have some acceptable mistakes like at control 12 and hesitations at 8 (where the mapping seemed a world apart to the other side of the river!) and 4. But my biggest time loss came the longer I was out, my brain function was going and my legs did not work but somehow I still managed to drag myself up that last bloody hill on the way to 25 and what seemed even harder was contouring around to 26. Looking at the splits I had just snuck into 2nd place overall at control 24 (1.5km from home) but then I died more quickly than the others (my dying had started by number15). The only person who seemed to have the strength to the end (at the sharp end of the results) was the old man pinker! I was dead to the world at the end but what is surprising is how I managed to get around the last few controls without mistake functioning just on necessity of getting back (without dnf-ing of course). Finished 6th

1 - Splits

Irish Middle Distance Champs - Oughterard, Galway. Absolutely fantastic terrain, very technical with lots of boulders and contour detail, energy sapping boggy terrain to make it pretty physical too. The fact that the orienteering was so nice outshined my shite run. I was surprised to meet Hellsac (4min man) coming into number 1 just as I was punching it and even more surprised to see josh (8 min man - did not know the issue he was having with reading the map obviously)! So we set off as a pack to gobble up the controls, we did well for the first seven, spiking each of them (I had the leading time (just) at this point) but then on the way to eight in true pack mentality we decided to let loose then after thirty seconds or so of galloping a thought came to mind "who's reading the map, I know I ain't" so I slammed on the brakes, stopped and tried to figure it out, then the lads veared down the hill and I became a sheep and down I went too, we wandered around the area south of number 8 about three hundred metres short like headless chickens! After 11mins lost, Hellsac got us back on track, and we were off again, another few good legs with a sprint down the hill to 11 to try and cut loose, the lads too fast, then a couple of silly mistakes at twelve and thirteen but managed to get ahead despite those mistakes just to make another big mistake (on my own) at 16 going down the open/light green just before 16. The lads passed me as I was fecking up to gain back a minute by the finish. Very enjoyable race - I would have been annoyed in the past but the area was great!

Course 1 - Splits

Foxes Rock with Hellsac very pleasant evening to doing a spot of orienteering.