Training Log Archive: Dooby

Killarney-Kilgarvan-Kenmare-Killarney

Fantastic morning, apart from the bloody wind, felt like I was cycling into it for a high percentage of the cycle.

Starting off the legs felt a bit tired and my ass wasn't so sure of the saddle. Thankfully both issues resolved themselves once I got warmed up. Although it must be said a hard chair this afternoon would not be welcomed, luckily i've no plans to sit on anything other than a couch.

Before The Kerry Way Pub I saw 3 cyclists in front of me, so decided this morning was all about cyclist canabilism, if I saw one in front of me they were getting eaten!

Glenflesk was around 20km into the ride and felt I was riding a good rhythm, then saw a sign for Kenmare, 30km, so took a mental note of the time on my Garmin to see if i'd get there in under the hour to keep the avg above 30kph. Overall it was 30.7 so pleased with that, felt the last few km badly. That being said my descent from ladies view was faster than the evening I did it the week before last, only by a few seconds but progress.

Felt alright hitting Kenmare and took a lap from the junction with the ROK road to the top, 9km and 21.26 cycling time. Tried to keep pushing all the way, keeping the speed up. Did some more canabilism early on and then with around 1.5km to go I spotted 2 more bikes so pushed on to get them. The last km is fast riding so got them with a few 100m to spare. So 5 in total on the ascent. Group of cyclists at Molls Gap, think there was a cycle on. So I pushed on to the descent and ate up 9 more bikes between the top and Muckross House.

Kept it in the big ring all the way so pleased with that, despite feeling like I was pedalling squares before Torc Waterfall and the hill up home was fun! Strava says I got a couple of PRs so happy with that, the Molls Gap climb being one of them, but I probably don't have enough uploaded there yet for a realistic overview.

Joined by robrunner for a session on Crohane Lake. Short jog up a track to the start, only 3 gates to get through.

Crohane Lake

Ran a course I planned during the week. Started off at the same time as robrunner but was quickly ahead. Ran clean and confidently for the first 4 controls, then lets just say I made a small mistake! Estimated time of 3-4mins spent wrong. Got direction wrong leaving 4, headed north instead of northwest. So climbed a lot extra, then relocated off 6 and still missed 5 which was close-by. Rob caught me up again there.

Then dropped him again to 7, went left, then more uphill running to 8 which was a control we had on Monday. Added in a leg up the hill that Brian had planned on using. It would have been tough if he used it. Then downhill again to a control also used last Monday but was approaching it from a different angle. Nice views up high.

Went right to 11 but knew where I was picking off a few features before hitting the control. 12 was fine too, knew where I was, and tried to use the compass but I ignored it. Also tried to force myself to use it climbing to 7 earlier but forgot about it.

Used 13 as a control as I wanted to see what the new fence on map was, mapped as uncrossable but looks like the new fence on Crohane. Then nice run to the finish across a dry marsh.

HR was generally high enough today, lots of climbing early on, but didn't really drop later on, i'm blaming the heat along with tiredness. Fantastic weather, hoping I don't end up with a stripe!

Big dinner plans, cooking a couple of kg of ham:-)

Jog back the track to the car with Rob. Climbed 2 of the gates instead of opening them on the way back. Got a few minutes in the sun waiting for Rob to come back, sounds like he'd an adventure off the map!

Reading my mistake from earlier I couldn't even describe where I was supposed to be going. Control was northeast but I just went north!!! Either way I need to cut out the silly mistakes and concentrate more.

Legs didn't feel too bad today, was shattered going to bed, but stuck to my plan of taking it easy. Got home late anyways, car was slow being released from the garage, getting some bits fixed, the parts that failed the NCT!

Then on my way home I collected WOC t-shirts. Now must decide how to get them to WOC. Any suggestions?

C • In your suitcase? 3

Lacey Cup route in reverse.

Only got dinner at 10pm, late!

Bit of indecision before leaving, go with Barry, Colin & Rob on this route or an easier route with a slower group. I was encouraged to go with the lads so I succumbed to peer pressure.

Over Castlemaine hill was tough going, lost the lads near the top, missing some top end climbing power. Ok on the descent and out towards Inch. Legs feeling a small bit tight but felt better as they went on.

Was grand up through Annascaul, but the hill after Inch before then was one where again I didn't have much push. Wind into the face all the way out didn't help.

New road on the way back from Annascaul so that really made the hills easier. Then onto the last bit up to Gleanagealt, had some energy so kept with the lads, went to the front for a bit, and then it got interesting near the end, the lads pushed on but I was missing a gear, lack of cycling showed. But at least I understand I was doing well to get this far. Fantastic descent down through Camp and onto the road home.

Hung on at the end and the few digs by Colin on the way home, took a bit to catch up. Really happy to have survived. Avg speed of 31.3kph is pretty decent I feel.

C • Speedy 2

This is version 1 of the M21E course for Day 2. Took until version 3 before the start/finish arrived at the points that were used, but a lot of course revision took place between versions 2 and 3.

Muckross - Friday Loop

Garmin distance is a small bit short and around 30m more climb!

Knees were sore running, particularly at the start, then they felt better, but got sore on the descent from the high point. Left is quad related, really need to do more stretching, and left is impact related from a bang on Monday.

Nicest weather for training so far this year, I like running in good weather.

Spotted a fox too.

Didn't think I pushed too hard, happy with my avg HR, back to looking something normal. Max was near the end, got chased by a yappy dog as I passed a house on the hill up home after leaving the forest, and it was a hill.

Tired this morning.

Will start the training plan for the week today instead of yesterday.

Tuesday - Rest (bringing car for its NCT after work)
Wednesday - Running (maybe usual loop, it's been a while)
Thursday - Cycling (1st chain gang spin of the year!)
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Orienteering (maybe a middle type course on Crohane Lake, mountain part, not the forest!)
Sunday - Cycling (Kilgarvan-Kenmare loop)

Tried to do some stretching this evening but struggled to put weight on my right knee. It's still sore after banging it near the end yesterday. Did a bit mire icing of it to se if that helps.

Car failed nct too:-(

Body feeling tired running up the track to the start, not feeling that motivated, hopefully a map in my hand will sort that out.

Crohane Lake

Nice morning for running.

Got the 1st control grand, along with every other control on the mountain. They were where I expected them to be. Did drift a bit left on the way to 7 but knew where I was later in the climb. Some lovely downhill running to 8. The underfoot conditions are much better on this area than the Black Lakes or Crohane.

Then after 10 we hit the forest. I'd been dreading this area for a while.

Not entirely sure where I was on my way to 11. Hit an open area but couldn't make it fit to the one to the west of 11, turns out it was that area. 11-14 were straightforward enough.

To 15 I went out to the open, down the fence and back in. Faffed about a bit getting back in and out, rough. Hesitant before the control, think there were more boulders than the single one marked to the northeast of the control. On reflection I bascially ignored the contours when I hit the forest, probably not a sensible option as they were probably something I could have made use of.

Went right to 16, but again struggled through some physical stuff leaving the hammerhead. Found the control on the boulder before mine so knew where I was then. Took a compass bearing to 18, but again the physicality of some of the running was a bit hard. Hit the control fine.

Got the first part of the route to 19 right, hit the yellow open area on the stream. Then did something very very silly, starting navigating to 20 instead of 19, realised it close to the control so took a bearing through some slow run to get to 19. Doh!

Went left along the ride to 20. Then used the ride from the yellow open heading east but cut in too soon, relocated off the assembly area, then climbed to the control. And again to the last I faffed about with direction and with the physicality of the forest, was definitely fed up at this stage, and to compound it all I fell and banged my knee before the last control so ended up hobbling over the line. Sore knee but no damage.

Ran the first part hard and then was more controlled in the forest, not massively motivated since I wasn't competitive. Pleased with my time. Only a minute down on Nick, so overall in the 2 races I ran I beat him!

Results
Routegadget

Crohane Lake

Collecting 4 controls, only a small direction error getting the 1st one. But picked a few things out on the way in contour wise which I wasn't reading earlier.

Looked at the stats for Crohane and time spent on the mountain.

23/12/2013-02/06/2013
- 14 visits to the mountain (includes control collection)
- 24.28.04 total moving time (time actually on Crohane would be longer)
- 131.38km covered (would include distance from car)
- 4155m climb (would include climb from car)

No idea how many hours were spent on OCAD, but that would be a very high figure too.

Course 1 - Splits