Training Log Archive: Dooby

SHI Relay. Crossmurrin. I was on the 1st Irish team with Paddy Higgins out first, me second, then Ruairi Short brining the team home. Paddy finished a few seconds ahead of the 2nd Irish Team but I blew the lead on the 1st control, got to the start triangle and couldn't make sense of the map. Got to the 1st control ahead of Seamus though. Next few controls were ok, same as Seamus before the long leg across the fields to 4, here Seamus had a different one but 5 was common. I punched 5 ahead of Seamus but lost him to 6 as I stopped early. On the way to 7 I saw an Irish top on the hill out of the forest where 7 was and thought how the hell did Seamus get up there. Pushed a bit harder then and as I entered the forest to get 7 I saw Seamus, obviously it was another Irish person on the hill. Uphill leg to 8 where I caught up a bit with Seamus. Different 9 to Seamus and I also stopped early for it, realised quiclky where I was and then downhill to the edge of the green for 10, went too far left, saw a hill that I thought the control might have been on, but wasn't lost maybe 30secs-1min and from then on only saw Seamus in the distance. At this point there was an Englishman with me on the same gaffle as me. The long leg to 14 was across rough ground, I didn't like it, I also was very careful since I'd made mistakes in the area where 14 and 15 were before. Got 14 ok and lost a few seconds at 15 trying to find the control in the heather. Tough leg through a marsh to 16 which was the specator control, 17-20 (last control) I made it easy and stuck to the path finishing ahead of the Englishman.

Ruairi had an awesome 3rd leg to finish ahead of the English teams and the 2nd Irish team. Our team was 4th, behind the 3 Scottish teams, the no.1 English team mispunched. Was happy with the effort I put in today despite the tired legs and very happy beating the English (and the Welsh)!

Garmin said I ran 7.29km,

Event: Northern Irish Orienteering Championships
 

SHI. Classic distance on The Burren. Picked up the map at the start and had to think for a while about the 1st control since it was a long leg. Went to the right, not sure if it was the best route but it was straightforward enough. Found it very rough around the control, high heather. At no. 3 I went too far left leaving 2 on a short leg, not much time lost though. Found it very rough going to 5 and after talking with Kieran Rocks today (Sunday) he mentioned the road he took for half the leg, looking at the map now the road which was to the right that I didn't see would have been a very good option. 6 was an uphill leg but no problems. Nothing of note until 13-14 where I lost concentration and took a bad route, again missed a track on the map which would have made life easier. Small bit of time lost in the circle too. 15-16 was a tricky leg in the forest which was vague, undergrowth in places made it hard to get a good route. Then back out into the open after 17 for an easy enough final loop apart from visiting the heather again at 19. Did lose a few seconds at both 18 and 19 as I stopped to look for the control, thought it would have been obvious when I got into the circle. 20 was in the forest again and it was a long leg to 21, looking at it afterwards the route I took wasn't the best and if I had the option to run it again I would have gone right on the route I didn't see. All the controls in the forest I took easy as I felt that time could be lost as the areas seemed vague with not much to relocate off. The only mistakes today really were route choice. Pushed as hard as I could and was definitely happy with my run. I don't like rough limestone ground, heather and fences, all of which were in abundance today so was glad to have survived.

Garmin said I ran 14.36km.

Tralee-Ballyheigue-Kerry Head-Ballyheigue-Tralee. As the farmer said to me at the top of Kerry Head, "lovely evening", it really was. The views around the Kerry Head were fantastic, on the south side to the Maharees and then on the north side across the Shannon Estuary to County Clare. Thought it might be wet leaving work as there had been some rain but roads were dry in town! Could see blue skies so I hit the road. Decided to do this cycle as needed a change of direction and knew it was a nice spin. Started off at decent enough pace all the way to Ballyheigue, it felt like there was a slight headwind though. I did this run on the 30th August and was 7 minutes faster this evening, being faster on all splits, Ballyheigue, Kerry Head, home. Did feel like I was pushing it a bit this evening which I realised when I was doing it but was a bit concerned considering the SHI is on Saturday!

The most stupid thing I did was on the steepest part of the cycle, a lad on a bike pulled out in front of me at the bottom of the climb and then started going up the hill. Felt I should be going faster than the young lad so I pushed it hard to get past him, was wrecked at the top of the hill, not a good idea at the time, should just have taken it easy, and I would still have been faster up the hill. I could say that I won't do this again but I know given the opportunity that I would!

Made a physio appointment for myself this morning. 1 hour of fun!!! Nothing wrong with me going but i'm only feeling better today (Wednesday) after the session. My left calf isn't 100% so the physio worked hard on that, was sore afterwards but I still ran that evening. Sore yesterday (Tuesday) all day so decided to give it a rest and not run. Felt a good bit better this morning, and went out on the bike as planned. Happy that I went to the physio as I wasn't that confident in my legs but feeling better about the state of them now.

Tonevane out the Dingle Way and around the hill loop on the way back. Was a bit concerned with the pain in my legs from the physio session earlier but felt that I had to train since I hadn't done anything since last Thursday. When I started running I could feel a spring in my step, due to the rest over the weekend. Not windy tonight, weather was nice, so didn't have a problem running out or up the hill. My average heartrate was 2bpm higher than the same run last week and I was 4 minutes quicker. I would put that down to the weather. Legs were still sore afterwards but they were no worse.