Thursday, August 26, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Gaelforce West 2010 - a First Timer's experience
I suppose I should have started this blog way back, when I started training for Gaelforce West. The thing is, in the early stages, I didn't really think I'd do it! But once I got going, the bug got me, and I was hooked! On second thoughts, it's probably no bad thing you've been spared the story of my training over the past couple months!
So to the event itself: I left at 12 on Friday, and made great time to Galway, thanks to the wonderful new motorway ( I had the cruise control on so I didn't break the speed limit, so there!). A quick stop for a bite, then on to Killary to register. Registration was very efficient - well done to the crew in the adventure centre for that. And thanks too to the very friendly bike mechanic, who for a fiver checked my bike and adjusted my gears for me - I'm sure that knocked a couple of minutes off my time!
Over to Delphi then to drop the bike - that was a bit more tricky, due to the lack of space for cars. I got stuck in a line of cars for a while, but that didn't bother me, as I was in no hurry. I heard some of the guys in front of me saying to bring the bikes over, so I did that, leaving my car in the queue, behind others doing the same. A few minutes later I heard a steward shouting for the owner of my car, so I had to rush, and I think that contributed to the trouble I had the following day!
On to Westport to check in to the Castlecourt Hotel, which was really nice. I went down to dinner in the restaurant (part of their special Gaelforce offer), and spotter Watergal at a nearby table so we had dinner together and met a couple of other GFers there too. The dinner was delicious! I headed off then for a swim and sauna in the leisure centre, to try and relax.
I couldn't sleep, so I was up early and down for the big bowl of porridge - that kept me fuelled for the first part of the race! The bus journey to the start was fine too - thanks to Luigi, an Italian from Navan - and a rugby player to boot! - who was an entertaining companion. Thanks Luigi - I hope you did well!
The start was delayed by half an hour, which was a pain - I hate hanging around! But I met a few people I knew - Emma and Kevin (brilliant performance Emma - 2nd place in the women's section!!), plus Howard, Julie, and Karen - fellow members of Ireland's best athletic club - Le Chéile A.C. in Leixlip
Stage 1: run - I found the beginning hard - we were straight into some hilly roads, which suck the energy out of you almost from the word go. But then it was downhill towards the new section, which took me by surprise - the terrain was much rougher and boggier than I expected. I made good time though, and by the time we got to the famine road, I had settled into a steady pace, and averaged around 5min 45 per kilometre, which is what I had hoped to do. I felt pretty good, and was passing people in the latter half, and was able to speed up for the last kilometre before the kayak. I was wearing a Garmin Forerunner 305, and my time to the dibber at the end of the first stage was 1hour 20, but there were a few people in front of me so I had to wait to be dibbed, so my official time shows up as 1.21, still well inside the traget time I had set for that leg.
Stage 2: kayak - I ran the last couple of kilometres with Sean O'Connell, a guy I played with in Barnhall a few years ago, and he intially said he'd paddle with me, but his pal arrived, so they stayed together. There was more than 20 minutes of a wait for the kayak, and I linked up with another stray and we made it across fairly handily in just over 9 minutes. I had trouble getting my life jacket off on the far side, which slowed me down a bit, as did trying to pack away my rain jacket as I headed up from the sea to the bog run.
Stage 3: bog run - this was awful! It was really soggy, and the several hundred runners from the earlier waves had churned it up a lot, so I was going knee deep into holes, and fell twice. Then onto the road towards Delphi, and I was able to pick up the pace again, and was very comfortable arriving at the transition to the bike, again passing quite a few people. This took me about 20 minutes, once again, on target.
Stage 4: bike - this is where things went wrong! When I dropped my bike there the previous day, there was loads of space on the racks, and as I said earlier, I had to rush leaving mine. When I got back then in the race, I went to the place wher I had left it, and there it was - gone! I nearly freaked! I went up and down the row, and after a few minutes, I found it, but I lost a couple of minutes doing so. Also, the toe-cage on the left pedal was hanging off ( it was perfect when I dropped it!). That caused me two problems: first, it made it very fiddly to try to get my foot into the strap, as the pedal kept spinning on me, and second, it lessened the power on my left stroke, putting more pressure on my right, which became very painful later on. But once on the bike, I was flying, and flew along, passing lots of people. The off road section was worse than I had expected - even from viewing the photos posted by CKWport - but I was determined to stay on the bike, and keep cycling, so like Thisregard, I found it a bit disruptive trying to weave around the large number of walkers pushing their bikes. At the very end of this bit, there was a very short, steep, gravelly uphill section, so I got off to walk the 20 metres or so, then onto the bike again, and I was pleasantly surprised to find myself arriving at Croagh Patrick. The transition here was a bit messy too - I had to walk the full length of the field to drop my bike, and then back up onto the road to head for CP. My Garmin timed me at about 1 hour 36 for this section, but the race time was 1hour 44, which would have included the few minutes lost looking for my bike, and the couple of minutes getting up and down the field at CP to drop the bike.
Stage 5: Croagh Patrick - this was tough, but I was expecting it to be. Once again, I had decided that no matter how I felt, I wasn't going to stop on the way up, so I plodded along very steadily, just putting one foot in front of the other. However, the mountain was absolutely chock-a-block, and I found I was constantly having to check my stride to get past people, or let people coming down get past, so I was slower going up than I had hoped - 49 minutes. I then stopped my timer, as I had decided to do before the race, as I wanted to text my supporters - the self-styled SADS (sisters & daughters!) - to let them know what time to expect me in Westport. I took about 5 minutes to do this, and headed down. Once again, the crowd (swelled by quite a number of pilgrims, some in bare feet!) slowed me down considerably, and my descent was timed at 34 minutes (29 on my timer), which I was very disappointed about. I felt fine at the bottom, and was looking forward to what I thought would be a handy 12.5k down into Westport.
Stage 6: cycle - this turned out to be another shock! I had read the numerous boards.ie posts about the Skelp ( off road section) but I wasn't expecting the longish uphill part! Still, I stayed on the bike the whole way up, passing plenty of poeple ( plus lots of poor souls fixing punctures!). Then I reached the top of that section, and looked at the steep, Himalayan terrain which was the descent. I couldn't believe it, and on my road bike, I knew there was no way I'd get down it with the bike intact, so I got off and walked down about 500 metres. Back on then, and on to the road section, which was very steep, and with lots of potholes and rough surfaces. I found it quite scary, and was on the brakes the whole way. Once I hit the main road, though, I was in great form, and went like the clappers the rest of the way, as I was feeling great!
I came hurtling round the last bend onto the Quays, where the first thing I saw was the SADS, who had stationed themselves outside the Tower Pub to cheer me on! I was so thrilled to see - and hear them - that I missed the turn in to the finish. I skidded to a halt, and believing that was where we were to drop the bikes, I jumped off and made to push the bike into what I thought was the enclosure. The crowd started roaring at me to get back on the bike, that I still had a mile to go, so then my embarrassment was deepened further, as I couldn't get my left foot into the pedal strap again! I felt such an eejit, especially as I had been going so well up to then. I eventually got going properly again, but I hadn't a clue where I was supposed to be going, so I was furious at the time I was losing.
Having read on the Gaelforce site that there was 500m to run after dropping the bike, I was again dismayed to be told I had to run 800m to the finish, and the first bit was over some very uneven ground. But once I could see the finish I cheered up, and cantered over the line, where the SADS were screaming and cheering for me - what a feeling! 45 minutes for the final stage, which was more than I had aimed for, but given the time I lost as described above, it wasn't too bad.
Back to the hotel, where I fell asleep in the bath, before recovering, and going out for a great night with the SADS in Westport, ending up singing and dancing in John O'Grady's to Frank and Eamonn - well done lads!
Overall: a fantastic experience! my time was exactly what I predicted on boards.ie the week before, but to be honest, I had hoped to do it about 5.30. As you can see, I lost quite a few minutes in unexpected ways, not all my fault, but even with that, I could, and should, have knocked a few more minutes off. But don't get me wrong - I'm thrilled with the time, and finished in 706th place, which I'm delighted with. By the way, my Garmin gave my moving time as 5 hours 25 for 67.7k.
The organisation was excellent most of the time. My quibbles/ suggestions for next time are: subdivide the rows for the bike drop with numbered sections, so there's less chance of "losing" your bike like I did; provide more information - e.g. photos of the terrain for the off road bike sections; better signage at the finish - why not a barrier with a big red arrow pointing left???, and a map on the site showing the finish section in detail, so that we know what to expect after turning off at the Quay.
Good points: the scenery, the weather, the camraderie among all the participants, the spectatators along the way - it's a great help to be cheered by complete strangers, the sheer thrill of having done it, the SADS!
Well done to the other competitors, and to the organisers, and the people of Westport for giving all such a fabulous welcome.
Here's a link to my Garmin record: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/45545595
So to the event itself: I left at 12 on Friday, and made great time to Galway, thanks to the wonderful new motorway ( I had the cruise control on so I didn't break the speed limit, so there!). A quick stop for a bite, then on to Killary to register. Registration was very efficient - well done to the crew in the adventure centre for that. And thanks too to the very friendly bike mechanic, who for a fiver checked my bike and adjusted my gears for me - I'm sure that knocked a couple of minutes off my time!
Over to Delphi then to drop the bike - that was a bit more tricky, due to the lack of space for cars. I got stuck in a line of cars for a while, but that didn't bother me, as I was in no hurry. I heard some of the guys in front of me saying to bring the bikes over, so I did that, leaving my car in the queue, behind others doing the same. A few minutes later I heard a steward shouting for the owner of my car, so I had to rush, and I think that contributed to the trouble I had the following day!
On to Westport to check in to the Castlecourt Hotel, which was really nice. I went down to dinner in the restaurant (part of their special Gaelforce offer), and spotter Watergal at a nearby table so we had dinner together and met a couple of other GFers there too. The dinner was delicious! I headed off then for a swim and sauna in the leisure centre, to try and relax.
I couldn't sleep, so I was up early and down for the big bowl of porridge - that kept me fuelled for the first part of the race! The bus journey to the start was fine too - thanks to Luigi, an Italian from Navan - and a rugby player to boot! - who was an entertaining companion. Thanks Luigi - I hope you did well!
The start was delayed by half an hour, which was a pain - I hate hanging around! But I met a few people I knew - Emma and Kevin (brilliant performance Emma - 2nd place in the women's section!!), plus Howard, Julie, and Karen - fellow members of Ireland's best athletic club - Le Chéile A.C. in Leixlip
Stage 1: run - I found the beginning hard - we were straight into some hilly roads, which suck the energy out of you almost from the word go. But then it was downhill towards the new section, which took me by surprise - the terrain was much rougher and boggier than I expected. I made good time though, and by the time we got to the famine road, I had settled into a steady pace, and averaged around 5min 45 per kilometre, which is what I had hoped to do. I felt pretty good, and was passing people in the latter half, and was able to speed up for the last kilometre before the kayak. I was wearing a Garmin Forerunner 305, and my time to the dibber at the end of the first stage was 1hour 20, but there were a few people in front of me so I had to wait to be dibbed, so my official time shows up as 1.21, still well inside the traget time I had set for that leg.
Stage 2: kayak - I ran the last couple of kilometres with Sean O'Connell, a guy I played with in Barnhall a few years ago, and he intially said he'd paddle with me, but his pal arrived, so they stayed together. There was more than 20 minutes of a wait for the kayak, and I linked up with another stray and we made it across fairly handily in just over 9 minutes. I had trouble getting my life jacket off on the far side, which slowed me down a bit, as did trying to pack away my rain jacket as I headed up from the sea to the bog run.
Stage 3: bog run - this was awful! It was really soggy, and the several hundred runners from the earlier waves had churned it up a lot, so I was going knee deep into holes, and fell twice. Then onto the road towards Delphi, and I was able to pick up the pace again, and was very comfortable arriving at the transition to the bike, again passing quite a few people. This took me about 20 minutes, once again, on target.
Stage 4: bike - this is where things went wrong! When I dropped my bike there the previous day, there was loads of space on the racks, and as I said earlier, I had to rush leaving mine. When I got back then in the race, I went to the place wher I had left it, and there it was - gone! I nearly freaked! I went up and down the row, and after a few minutes, I found it, but I lost a couple of minutes doing so. Also, the toe-cage on the left pedal was hanging off ( it was perfect when I dropped it!). That caused me two problems: first, it made it very fiddly to try to get my foot into the strap, as the pedal kept spinning on me, and second, it lessened the power on my left stroke, putting more pressure on my right, which became very painful later on. But once on the bike, I was flying, and flew along, passing lots of people. The off road section was worse than I had expected - even from viewing the photos posted by CKWport - but I was determined to stay on the bike, and keep cycling, so like Thisregard, I found it a bit disruptive trying to weave around the large number of walkers pushing their bikes. At the very end of this bit, there was a very short, steep, gravelly uphill section, so I got off to walk the 20 metres or so, then onto the bike again, and I was pleasantly surprised to find myself arriving at Croagh Patrick. The transition here was a bit messy too - I had to walk the full length of the field to drop my bike, and then back up onto the road to head for CP. My Garmin timed me at about 1 hour 36 for this section, but the race time was 1hour 44, which would have included the few minutes lost looking for my bike, and the couple of minutes getting up and down the field at CP to drop the bike.
Stage 5: Croagh Patrick - this was tough, but I was expecting it to be. Once again, I had decided that no matter how I felt, I wasn't going to stop on the way up, so I plodded along very steadily, just putting one foot in front of the other. However, the mountain was absolutely chock-a-block, and I found I was constantly having to check my stride to get past people, or let people coming down get past, so I was slower going up than I had hoped - 49 minutes. I then stopped my timer, as I had decided to do before the race, as I wanted to text my supporters - the self-styled SADS (sisters & daughters!) - to let them know what time to expect me in Westport. I took about 5 minutes to do this, and headed down. Once again, the crowd (swelled by quite a number of pilgrims, some in bare feet!) slowed me down considerably, and my descent was timed at 34 minutes (29 on my timer), which I was very disappointed about. I felt fine at the bottom, and was looking forward to what I thought would be a handy 12.5k down into Westport.
Stage 6: cycle - this turned out to be another shock! I had read the numerous boards.ie posts about the Skelp ( off road section) but I wasn't expecting the longish uphill part! Still, I stayed on the bike the whole way up, passing plenty of poeple ( plus lots of poor souls fixing punctures!). Then I reached the top of that section, and looked at the steep, Himalayan terrain which was the descent. I couldn't believe it, and on my road bike, I knew there was no way I'd get down it with the bike intact, so I got off and walked down about 500 metres. Back on then, and on to the road section, which was very steep, and with lots of potholes and rough surfaces. I found it quite scary, and was on the brakes the whole way. Once I hit the main road, though, I was in great form, and went like the clappers the rest of the way, as I was feeling great!
I came hurtling round the last bend onto the Quays, where the first thing I saw was the SADS, who had stationed themselves outside the Tower Pub to cheer me on! I was so thrilled to see - and hear them - that I missed the turn in to the finish. I skidded to a halt, and believing that was where we were to drop the bikes, I jumped off and made to push the bike into what I thought was the enclosure. The crowd started roaring at me to get back on the bike, that I still had a mile to go, so then my embarrassment was deepened further, as I couldn't get my left foot into the pedal strap again! I felt such an eejit, especially as I had been going so well up to then. I eventually got going properly again, but I hadn't a clue where I was supposed to be going, so I was furious at the time I was losing.
Having read on the Gaelforce site that there was 500m to run after dropping the bike, I was again dismayed to be told I had to run 800m to the finish, and the first bit was over some very uneven ground. But once I could see the finish I cheered up, and cantered over the line, where the SADS were screaming and cheering for me - what a feeling! 45 minutes for the final stage, which was more than I had aimed for, but given the time I lost as described above, it wasn't too bad.
Back to the hotel, where I fell asleep in the bath, before recovering, and going out for a great night with the SADS in Westport, ending up singing and dancing in John O'Grady's to Frank and Eamonn - well done lads!
Overall: a fantastic experience! my time was exactly what I predicted on boards.ie the week before, but to be honest, I had hoped to do it about 5.30. As you can see, I lost quite a few minutes in unexpected ways, not all my fault, but even with that, I could, and should, have knocked a few more minutes off. But don't get me wrong - I'm thrilled with the time, and finished in 706th place, which I'm delighted with. By the way, my Garmin gave my moving time as 5 hours 25 for 67.7k.
The organisation was excellent most of the time. My quibbles/ suggestions for next time are: subdivide the rows for the bike drop with numbered sections, so there's less chance of "losing" your bike like I did; provide more information - e.g. photos of the terrain for the off road bike sections; better signage at the finish - why not a barrier with a big red arrow pointing left???, and a map on the site showing the finish section in detail, so that we know what to expect after turning off at the Quay.
Good points: the scenery, the weather, the camraderie among all the participants, the spectatators along the way - it's a great help to be cheered by complete strangers, the sheer thrill of having done it, the SADS!
Well done to the other competitors, and to the organisers, and the people of Westport for giving all such a fabulous welcome.
Here's a link to my Garmin record: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/45545595
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