Monday 13th April.
Completed my first ultra in Connemara yesterday. My
overall plan was to simply complete it and ideally get in under 6hrs 20mins
(9.30 pace). My dream time was to get in under 6 hours (8.55 pace). While it
wasn’t the fastest pace plan in the world in comparison to a marathon time
goal, the nature of the course (very tough and hilly) and the distance (the
effort required for the last 13.1 miles was the equivalent to a marathon)
called for a cautious strategy.
For most runners with a decent experience of marathons
it was clear many of the runners were hoping for a sub 6 hour time. In the end
only 50 runners out of 164 runners achieved it. My finishing time was 6.17.49,
so at least I finished it and achieved my B time.
Even at 6 hours with the wheels having truly fallen
off at that stage I was still only a mile from the finish so in many ways I am
not that far off a better improvement next year.
However from a more critical point of view the
training I put in since January never really paid off. I clocked up nearly 720
miles in the last few months running back to back’s, midweek long runs and was
very comfortable over 10 miles, running a
marathon and 6 20 mile plus Sunday runs. This has been a feature of many races
I have ran since 2012 where the training has not lead to the performance I
hoped for.
We were bussed from the Cathedral carpark on the
Sunday morning at 7 am. The rain was sheeting down at that stage in keeping
with the monsoon like predictions for the rest of the day. The weather was
expected to create havoc for the runners especially those out tackling the
longer distances but had cleared up by the time we arrived at Peacocke’s Hotel in Maam’s Cross for the pre
race briefing and the gear change. In fact the weather was to be glorious for the
whole day- sunny blue skies, no wind, warm temperatures with snow capped
mountains adding to the whole back to nature vibe.
I chatted to my clubmate Adrian Ryder before the
start. He ran this 2 years ago in a excellent time of 5hrs48mins and was hopeful
of doing well again. He shot off after a mile never to be seen by me until I
crossed the finish line. My neighbour John O’Connor was also running as well,
this was his second Connemara ultra and hoped to improve on last year’s time of
5hrs53mins.
I ran my own race. The plan was to run the first 26.2
miles in around 3hrs50mins (8.45 to 8.50 pace) walking through the aid stations
for 90 seconds at a time. I hoped then I would have enough in the legs for the
last 13.1 miles to get me around in 9.05 pace for a sub 6 finish. That was the
“A” plan. The “B” plan was to get around in the last 13.1 miles with what ever
I had left and try to get under 6hrs20minutes. The time of 6hrs20mins I picked
on the basis that was a achievable gap
that I could make up in the following year.
Miles 1- 5 went pretty well passing through the first
aid station in around 43 minutes taking on a gel and a few bottles of
water. The ultra marathon group were all
bunched very close to each other and I fell in
with this lad from Dundalk who reckoned if we kept up this pace we
should get in for 5hrs30mins!!!! I started to get a bit startled and was glad
to let him off. By the time I came to my first bag drop at mile 10 I took on
some Jaffa cakes, a banana and left the rest to the kids manning the table. At
that stage I had being running for under1hr26mins so I was hitting my target
pace. I felt comfortable and very relaxed as did most of the field.
At mile 12 I stopped for a toilet break bumping into
John O’Connor and we stayed close enough to each other with me stopping at the
aid stations and catching up with him later on as he ran on. The first 13.1
miles passed in around 1.53 around a minute of two ahead of schedule. This was
the point where the marathon runners started their race and we ultra’s started
to overtook a lot of the slower runners.
The miles up to mile 18 started to get a lot tougher
as we were running not only into a progressive climb but the wind started to
funnel a bit. It wasn’t as windy as last year, thankfully, but it was a tricky
spot. Mile 17 and Mile 18 passed in 8.56 and 9.06 respectively and I for one
was glad to get to my drop station at mile 19. A lot of early pace setting
ultra runners were beginning to wilt as well with another hill to negotiate
just after the aid station. Again I took on another banana but left the Jaffa
cakes behind. I also brought a bottle of flat coke with me but after a few sips
I dumped it into a bin. It was pretty revolting and the bottle (500ml) was too
heavy to carry. A lesson learned.
At mile 20 I was feeling ambitious. I was well past this point in under 3hrs and while I
wasn’t hitting 8.30-ish pace I felt I was doing well enough at this stage. I should have learned my lesson because by
mile 22 I was beginning to get a little strained. Thankfully these miles all
the way to Leenane (mile 26) were downhill but I was careful not to push too
hard because the calves were under pressure. I was also mindful of the IT band
which was beginning to tighten ever so slightly.
I was passed by a small but stocky ultra female runner
who was hammering out the miles at a handy rate. She appeared to be in good
form, me less so. I was glad to get into the village on flatter ground reaching
the 26 mile aid station in around 3hrs48mins. There was no official 26.2 marker
for the ultra runners but I estimate I reached the distance in around
3hrs50minutes. So far so good, now with 13.1 miles of uphill and downhill
running to go the real race begin, everything before this was shadow boxing.
The hill out of Leenane goes for around 1.5 miles and
the damage brought on by the last 4 miles into Killary harbour kicked in around
down. I had planned to walk it but tried to hold off until the garmin read
4hours which took me past 27 miles. It still meant I was in a good place
timewise. “Stocky” was pretty crocked herself and managed a few half hearted
jogs before walking herself.
I walked for 90 second before jogging again. I wasn’t
feeling 100% with the brain urging to me
walk again. I reached mile 29 in 4hrs16mins coming to my drop table. I was f****d
at this stage and I was not in a happy place. John jogged past me in that
relaxed ultra fashion. He was sympathetic but he had a race to run (finishing
in a new PB of 5.50 or so). I worked out that with 10 miles to go I needed to
run at 10 minute pace to get me under 6 hours. That on the face seemed easy but
the mind was pretty foggy at that stage.
This was where the true ultra grit kicks in as the key
to ultra running is mental more than physical. Every runner out there even the
sub 3 marathon runners are well and truly nackered at this stage but it’s all
about having the where with all to keep going.
I ran mile 30 in 9mins46seconds giving me
4hrs25mins41secs on the Garmin, a respectable landmark time. I would have gladly
have stopped there and then. I was wrecked having to discard a half digested
banana, passing on the flat coke. I really didn’t like it.
I ran beside another ultra runner who was moving at a
solid pace. Truth be known he was a bit of a headbanger ranting away to himself
but you could see he was feeling confident and was also physically very strong.
Mile 31 passed in 8.50 and mile 32 passed in another walk run effort of
10mins13secs, my slowest mile of the lot.
The course of this stage was marked by various pulls,
inclines and little hills but from here on the course was to drop downhill
until the dreaded “Hell of the West” at mile 35.
And so on it went …mile 33 – 9.53, mile 34 – 9.58.
That left with me 5 miles to go with 5hr06mins30seconds up on the official
clock. The garmin was out by 90 seconds for every marked mile- caused by the
fact that I was veering around other runners. That meant I had 5.5 garmin miles
to go , 5.3 course miles. This meant I had to run/ jog each mile in
9mins30seconds. It seemed easy on the face of it but the calves were completely
seized up meaning every time I attempted a light jog I would cramp very
severely. Jogging was out of the question and with 2 steep hills ahead of me
(the “Hell”) and 2 steep descents I was running out of luck.
There were a number of other ultra runners going up
the “Hell”. Some were sprinting up it, some were jogging it, many others were
walking it. I caught up with two other walking ultra runners. and we estimated
that our walking pace was around 15mins per mile uphill and that hopefully we
could jog the downhill’s at 9 to 10 minute pace. I was now aiming for my B
target.
Mile 35 passed in 10mins35seconds and Mile 36 passed
in 12.43. The steepest part of the Hell passed in a morale crippling
15mins28seconds. (It feels even hard to type these splits).
At the top of the Hell it was a steep 2.3 descent to
the finish. I tried to jog down the hill but the cramps were a sharp reminder
not to be getting any notions. I nearly fell over at one stage the cramping got
so strong. Even the breathing was getting laboured especially the diaphragm and
I started wheezing badly. Another ultra runner was power walking past me
(Tracey) and she gave me a shot of her inhaler. That did the trick and on we
power walked together like two middle aged women going for a walk around the
local park.
Mile 38 passed in 15.19 minutes. At 6 hours I only had
a distance of 1.3 miles to go. I took heart from this. As hopeless as I was I
was still only a mile off from a sub 6, something to take heart from if I ever
try this again next year.
We started to jog again as we came closer to the
finish line and Tracey pulled ahead of me. I was wheezing badly again and the
pain in my ribs was getting very sharp. I crossed the line in
6hrs17mins49seconds.
I wasn’t too downhearted when I crossed the line. I
wasn’t particularly elated either. It was more a case of a hard job done
reasonably well neither very good but not completely crap either. Plenty to
work on. It was my first ultra.
I chatted to
Adrian and John after the race. They did very well. Adrian’s marathon PB of
3.36 is a soft one indeed.
As for me I would depending on my circumstances next
year might give the ultra a shot again next year. I definitely can improve on
this showing but I don’t think I will ever see myself dipping my toe in the
ultra game on a regular basis. I need to work on shorter distances and improve
my times and performances in those distances first. For the moment though I
will take a break from running and recover instead.
Connemara ultra 39.3 miles. 6hrs17mins49seconds.
9mins35sec pace.
Miles 1-26.2 – 3hrs50mins approx., Miles 26.2 -39.3 –
2hrs27mins49seconds
