The Biggest Smile - Part 1

So here I was a little disappointed but relived as I approached the finish line. Marathon number 50 done, my first official Ultra but the wheels had come off big time over the final 6K that I missed my secondary target of 4:10 which I felt was well within my scope. This feeling didn’t last long as once I crossed the line it turned to sheer joy, I suddenly had as Seb put it “the Biggest Smile in Portumna”

The night before

On receipt of an Email prior to the event I soon realised that we could pitch tents the night before the event. This appealed to me as there would be less stress involved in trying to get to the 7AM start if I went the night before. Went to Limerick on Thursday and picked up on of these pop-up tents. As not to look stupid I did a trial run on setting it up. Popup tent does what it says on the tin, but getting it back into the bag took an half an hour to figure out. Arrived in Portumna on Friday evening to see several hotels already pitched there. So I set my minion tent besides Finns minion tent in the shadow of Hotel MacKessy fitted with its own elevator and en suite bathrooms. What a way to relax the night before an event burgers, wine both red and yellow, Mo produced a guitar so a sing-song started. Only downside was the midgets where having a field day on us. Pretty soon we all retired to our respective abodes for the night. Didn’t sleep to well but never do before a goal race any way.

Race Time

Courtesy of Mary Mockett

Up at 5 am got my number, breakfast. Alan Gorski joined me at the table and he was bemused that I could eat so close to a race. Luckily that has always been the case my issues seem to be on other side of that particular equation. Vincent Gutherie had the kettle on and I got a coffee which moved the necessary, a quick warm up and off to the start.
I had initial after a strong finish in The Burren thought that sub 4 was a possibility but the recent heat/humidity had raised doubts on this. I decided not to wear a GPS watch and wear a HRM for the first few laps to ensure I didn’t overdo the effort early. Took off at the start and found myself a bit to close to the front HR showed the effort to be a bit too high ignored it for 1K. It was however still rising so I dropped the pace back. This left me running comfortably with Mark who I meet in Ballyvaughan for the first two laps. Both came in over 25 minutes so I decided that 4:10 would be more likely time. Discarded the HR Strap and picked up the pace from here and try and hold the effort till the end.
My original plan was to bring my Son Christopher with me to act as crew, he neither had the inclination of getting up at 3 AM or coming camping with me for the pleasure of watching his dad run around in circles for the day. So on Lap 3 as I rummaged through my supplies under the MCI table Brenda Barrett Dunphy immediately volunteered to take over the roll. Nutrition for the day was going to be a mix of Jaffa’s and Pringles every second lap. It worked very well, I would tell Brenda what I needed for the next lap and it was available on arrival.

Courtesy of Mary Mockett

Not much to say about the race, laps flew by, the half marathoners soon joined us and the course was now busy. As they passed me it didn’t bother me as I was well in tune with my pace and moving nicely. Briefly spoke with CM from boards where we discussed which was worse been dead or injured, I think we concurred that death was the better option. At around 38K I passed Alan Gorski he was struggling, I was motoring. Passed the 40K mark and I was about a minute up on 4:10 pace but from here on things started to get difficult. Once we passed the 2K marker I really had to grind. My legs were starting to feel dead as doorknobs. Antos friend gave me a lift after this which got me going again until I hit 44K. The cool breeze we had in the morning on the long last kilometre of the loop had suddenly turned into a Calima. This knocked the stuffing out of me. Kept running, I was not going to walk just keep in moving. Hit 45K 3:45:xx on the clock, this meant I needed a sub 25 final 5K, spurred on by the crowd I lifted the pace but once I hit the climb at 1K the pace dropped again to I kept going but the pace was gone from my legs 4:10 was gone at this point. Got to the turnaround looking for coke or anything to lift me. No coke took an orange instead. Started to walk for a bit. Saw Alan coming against me and decided there and then right he is not passing me out so I started running again. Combination of the Orange and the downhill I got up to a reasonable pace but once we hit the 4K again it was a death march to the finish. In my head just keep running while trying to listen for footsteps behind, they never came I crossed the line in 4:12:24.

You can’t be serious

Courtesy of Mary Mockett

I then heard Seb announce over the microphone 3rd place finisher in the 50K. What I initially thought there is a mistake here, but then slowly remembered who was doing the timing. My God the sensation of going from the dejection of missing a target to finishing 3rd from 100 runners in the race was some buzz. Immediately returned to the MCI table and gave my stand-in crew a massive hug. Sheer joy Seb was right I had the biggest smile on my face. Cracked open a can of 95.7% water for rehydration and took my rightful place on the Podium.

Results

Courtesy of Trish Carey

On looking at the results I gained places troughout the race. My last lap was not as slow as I thought on the course and everyone seemed to to suffer to the same degree. I was only 2 minutes outside 2nd place but those 2 minutes where outside my reach. The winner Rory Mooney was of course a country mile ahead and the closest I got to him all day was on the podium.
 
 

 

 

 

Splits for the nerds
0:25:54,0:25:43,0:24:45,0:24:28,0:23:57,0:24:33,0:24:28,0:24:58,0:25:37,0:28:02 4:12:24 3/97

Oh look another race

Post Craughwell I had stated to Jude Hickey “If you see me with a balloon in Dingle next Saturday give me a kick”. I had planned to reset the only old PB left Half Marathon on Saturday in Doonbeg. Sure enough I got the pacer call but declined, I don't think my legs would hold up to another Marathon. Hell they probably wont be great in the race either but sure it is only a half.

Build-up

Did nothing all week, as my legs where in absolute bits after Craughwell. Got out for an easy run on Thursday night legs dead heavy but improved after the first 2 Miles. Morning of the race weather conditions where going to be close to ideal well they say 16°C is ideal but not for us fair weather paddies. Got to Doonbeg early and did the warm-up, first Mile legs where heavy but they seemed to improve for the second mile. I was still in two minds at what time/pace I should aim for. If I was fully rested and had this as a goal target I would probably be around 93 minute mark but I knew the auld legs would not survive that pace today. Decided to try and go out and aim for 95 minutes.

Race

There was a good crowd at the start for this with plenty of walkers up the front. However the road is plenty wide and I wasn't delayed at all. In saying that I clocked a sub 7 minute mile so pulled back a bit. Again as in the previous race my mouth was dry but luckily there was a water station at the 2 mile mark. Water was in plastic cups, doesn't bother me, got a good mouthful and even had some spare to throw over my head. Even though it was in cups and the day was quite warm I never felt the need to take it at every station. In total there was 7-8 water stations. Once we hit 3 miles you turn into the slight breeze and a gradual slope for the Mile. Everything was going well until 4 when there was a sharp descent followed by another sharp up and down. The combination of these two descents was the last straw for my quads and I had to drop the pace back slightly thereafter. Still passed 10K mark in 45 so target was still on. From here to 11 was a real struggle, legs just had no zip in them, which I was half expecting to be honest and if I had half a brain I would have taken the opportunity to stroll around Dingle for the day. Effort wise I was comfortable but I had no wheels under me today. From 11 onwards I pushed to try and catch two runners ahead. Just before 12 I was 20 seconds behind when they stopped to take on water. I knew I would be alright to not take on water so I just zipped by them and kept the head down and kicked on. One guy kept with me, and at one stage drew alongside with half a mile to go. I pressed on again all the way to the finish and kept him behind crossed the line in 1:35:56 some what disappointed.

The usual feed of nice stuff and a chat with Seanie Whelan afterwards on running. I hit home early as I had some DIY to attend to that had been neglected in the recent weeks. Turned out that final mile I promoted myself from 4th to 2nd in the M40 Category, this made up for my initial disappointment of not getting under 95 minutes. A first podium finish for me happy days.