Connemara 26.2 - race report

6^th April 2014 – Connemara 26.2

I postponed the running of this last year so rather than lose my place this year and put the disappointment of last year behind me I decided to get training for this marathon around November. Confidence is a fragile thing especially in marathon running so I started from scratch. Training had gone well and I entered a few races the highlight of which was a sub 70 in the Ballycotton 10. What really made me happy was the long runs. I managed 4 X 20-22 milers in Charleville, Mallow and Cork and i didn’t have much problem with these. The tempo workouts went well too. While the peak mileage wasn’t particularly high (56 miles) I logged on average 40 miles a week. In otherwords all solid stuff. Were I running Rotterdam or a similar flat course i would have targeted a PB but this was Connemara – famous for it’s hills, crosswinds and the “Hell of the West”. I targeted a 3.45 if anything another 3.50.XX run would have disappointed me but sometimes you have to take what you can get.

The bus dropped us off in Lough Ineagh (I think) at 9.30 and just like Craggy island there wasn’t a whole lot to keep people occupied. The trip to the portaloo was as eventful as it got but it was handy jumping on the coach to keep warm before the whistle blew.I bumped into clubmate Ger Buckley. He went off a handy pace. The first mile went in 8.06 so I started to dial it back. This was the case for the subsequent miles 8.19, 8.13, 8.19. This was a bit faster than 8.30 pace but the course and terrain was quite flat. The only worry was my friggin bib number. I made shit of putting it on the night before and the wind was threatening to blow it off. I should have let Aoiffe do it for me or more to the point have taken more care. One of the pins finally came loose at mile 5 and I had to stop. This meant mile 5 was clocked in at 10.15 as i spent two minutes readjusting the pin. Thankfully I picked up the pace at mile 6 (7.44). Thomas Bubendorfer – the original “rubbish” marathon runner sped past us. He was doing yet another ultra and looked to be flying it. Mile 7 was comfortable at 8.05. I had ran 7.3 miles in a hour.

At this stage I decided to press on. I was only 3 minutes off a sub 3.30 and I reckoned I could make up some time. Mile 8/9/10/11 passed in 7.48, 7.55, 7.57, 7.46. I was feeling very good and the gap was reduced to 2mins45seconds. I reckoned I was overtaking plenty of runners at this stage and was sensible taking a gel on every 5 miles. The marathon here is a race of 2 halves. Miles 1 -13 are flat and downhill. Miles 13 to 26.2 are a different matter altogether.  A couple of fellow marathon runners commented on how fresh I looked. Coming in Leenane village it was cool to get a nice claps. I clocked the halfway  13.1 in 1hr.47min and I was gaining ground. I knew though that the next few miles were noted as being hilly but i didn’t feel to put out by them. Mile 14 passed in 7.55 and mile 15 in 8.04. Good going considering the climb involved. A lot of runners were struggling and I sensed blood. Mile 16 in 7.40 and mile 17 in 7.42. Mile 18 in 7.48. The gap was narrowed to 2hrs26mins. I was two minutes of so off a sub 3.30.

The leading female lady ultra runner was running beside us and she was really motoring. In fairness the rest of us gave her a great ovation but the slower 13.1 runners were really slowing things up. This involved lots of bobbing and weaving. The winds were really picking up and I was definitely beginning to feel it. I still felt a sub 3.40 was on the cards which would for me would be a very good time – my second fastest marathon time.Mile 20 passed in 8 mins flat giving me a course time of 2.43. That said I didn’t feel under too much pressure and mentally I was very positive. Mile 21 and 22 passed in 7.47 and 8.03. At the 3 hour mark I had covered 22.3 miles which was where I hoped I would be when planning the race. I turned off the stopwatch face of the garmin as ahead of me lay the Hell of the West.

I was philosophical enough about this part of the course. It snakes along and twists and turns like a corkscrew- you see every foot that is ahead of you and it never actually seems to end. What made it even tougher was the crosswinds that blew me and the rest of us around the place. Two people actually fell over on the way up. My attitude was that I would probably lose time but the main thing was not to stop and try to make up time on the 2 mile downhill. As we ascended two other marathon runners ran beside me. We all grinned at each other and battled on. Mile 23 uphill in 8.32 and mile 24 in a pretty slow time in 9.36 giving me a acceptable average of 9 minutes going up the Hell.

A Belgian guy said to me “Jesus Christ this is crazy”. I guess not many hills in the low countries. At mile 24 I walked for a 20 seconds, took my last gel and headed down. The problem was that the quads were completely packed in. I had hoped to run these two miles at sub 8 pace thinking I could push closer to a  even faster time but not a hope. Mile 25 went in 9.19 and the headwinds were playing havoc with me at this stage. I knew a sub 3.40 was in the bag so on I on  running the last mile in 9.11. The remaining 0.2 of the course was a nice little gallop and I checked the garmin reading- 3.37.23. The clock above me showed 3.36.23 so i will see what the outcome is. It was not a very impressive finish to be fair and while a couple of minutes might not have got me under 3.30 it would have made the what –ifs more interesting. That said not losing 2 minutes at mile 5 and losing 2 minutes at the end would have made things interesting.

I crossed the line feeling really happy. I didn’t hang around though. To be honest the finishing area was a bit of a mess and the t shirt and medal wasn’t up to a lot either. Small gripes on what was a satisfying day. I jumped on the bus and headed back to Galway texting every poor sod I knew with my time.

Connemara is no place for a PB unless it’s your first marathon but it is a enjoyable marathon. For me it was my second fastest marathon and my fastest non Dublin marathon. The ghosts of the Cork marathon are put to bed once and for all.

Future plans – rest!!!!

Connemara marathon 3.37.23. Miles for the week 34.