Off to Clifden we go!

Today myself and my crew are heading off to Clifden, Co Galway before running the 100mile at 6am tomorrow, which I hope to finish by 6am Sunday morning if everything goes to plan.   

Depending on the internet connection I hope to post updates posted throughout the weekend on my progress to my Facebook page. You can also follow my progress and the race in general at the event organisers page https://www.facebook.com/connemara100/ 

Thank you to all my crew for everything they have done to help in relation to this race, they have given their time and energy to fund raise, organise logistics for the weekend and are also giving up their valuable weekend to drive around Connemara supporting me during the race, without you I wouldn’t be able to take part in this event and I know it’s a big commitment to crew for me.  Thank you! 

To everyone that has donated so far, I would like to say a big thank you. The support for Mount Carmel House has been fantastic and it’s very much appreciated, the money goes to a great local community resource in the town. For anyone that hasn’t donated yet, its not too late you can still donate on-line at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/connemara100 or by simply calling into Mount Carmel House (beside the Fire Station in Callan) or the Post Office here in Callan. 

I would also like to thank you to my two main sponsors D&M Supervalu Callan and Callan Co-Op for all the support they have given, it’s made things easier for organising everything on the day and they have helped raising funds for Mount Carmel also. Their generosity has been overwhelming. 

Of course many other businesses have kindly donated over the past number of weeks, including, John Murphy Family Butchers, Callan Bacon, Philip Ireland Tyre's, Unecol Oil, P.Molloy & Sons Funeral Home & Sculptures, Doheny's Crash Repairs, Ormonde Veterinary, Keogh’s Model Bakery, Keogh’s Pub, & Callan Truck Parts. Thank you to all of you! 

This day next week...

This day next week I'll be out running the 100miles in Connemara, infact as I write this at 10.30am I'll actually be running for 4 and a half hours by now this time next week.

The last few days myself and others been busy fund raising, going door to door and also selling raffle tickets and accepting donations in the local Supervalu here in Callan, Co Kilkenny.  So far over €2,500 has been raised in aid of Mount Carmel House and its great to see such a fantastic amount of support from everyone.

This week is very much a taper week so I'm taking it as easy as I can with plenty of rest a head of next weeks events.     On Friday there's the long drive to arrive in Clifden in Galway before the mandatory pre-race briefing at 7pm, then it's early to bed for the 6am start and after then I won't get to sleep again for at least 24hours so rest is certainly very important.

I've thought about what I want out of this 100mile and once again I will settle for a sub-24hour finish, last year I came so very close and I would have been on to finish in roughly 22hours only for I ended up having to walk very, very slowly from 86miles so I ended up finishing in over 27hours.    Still, I think I've learned from this in relation to clothing, nurition and the fact that I need to be far more strict about my pacing and to ease into the race rather than doing the first half at a much faster pace then I planned like last year.

I'll be keeping things to short very easy runs for the rest of the week but I wanted to start the bank holiday weekend with something decent so I headed out for a 5mile run in 40min and a 17mile cycle in 57min this morning. Lovely way to start the weekend especially as I'm off work for the next 10 days or so :)

If anyone would like to donate to mount carmel please feel free to visit justgiving.com donation page.