Tour of Dublin City

  Two weeks back I happened to be in Dublin with about 6-7hours to kill so in the end rather than walking aimlessly around shops or seeing museums on my own (its never as fun on your own) I opted to run around Dublin for a few hours,

Now I don't know Dublin that well so after a quick post on Boards.ie asking for suggested routes and views on the route I was thinking about I opted for down the quays, through Ringsend Park, out towards Poolbeg lighthouse and then head towards Sandymount.

It was a early enough start so traffic wasn't hectic but as somebody who is used to running on low traffic country roads I must say its very frustrating to stop and traffic lights in order to cross busy streets, I honestly don't know how people in Dublin deal with it.

However, eventually after clearing the quays it was off through Anne's park and heading towards Poolbeg chimney stacks, this was my first mistake as I should have gone a different route....I honestly didn't realise just how rough and industrial this area would be.   However, once I reached the chimney stacks there was a right turn and I entered a nature park which I stayed running on the sand until I hit the pier out to Poolbeg.

Although the pier has a very uneven surface (much like many of the roads in Co Tipperary!) it was a pretty nice experience and I couldn't get over just how long the pier is.   So it was out and back on the pier and then back through the nature reserve and onto Sandymount.

I had planned on running on the beach but sadly the tied was right in so that was not going to happen but I must say its still a lovely area to run and I'll def be back again. After an out and back I then headed back to Heuston station to the car to clean up.

It was a slow enough pace as I had run a fast 12mile the day before but it was still enjoyable, here's the route I took.

Overall it was nice to run different routes but I'll certainly be taking the suggestion from one of the posters on Boards.ie and I'll be running to Dalkey next time via the coast, although the headwind was annoying on the coast the views were lovely so I'll def back n again sometime in May, here's the route in question for next time.

Some more catching up

I'm aiming to get the blog upto present day so here goes...

Very little running at the start of the year due to being well in January and also work commitments, however in February I decided to start making more of an effort and got back into more of a routine as I was really missing getting out and about.  

During the first week of February I happened to be in Finland so I got some lovely runs in some very different conditions!

The area we were staying in made for some lovely running with a good mix of flat and hills and unlike here in Ireland where everywhere has ditches and high hedges you can just run into any field beside the road.

It was cold though as it was between -5c -8c most days, as much as I normally where shorts when running for this trip I brought running tights and its the first time I've used them in maybe 4 years.

It wasn't just running tights I was using again, I was also  obsolutely delighted because after buying Yaktrax Pro's back in 2010 I finally got to use them for the first time and I must say I highly recommend them when running on snow, I never slipped once!

Of course after coming back from Finland we also had some snow in Ireland at the start of March and the country went into emergency road but that that didn't mean you couldn't run in it :)

Although much harder work then running in Finland because Finland had compacted snow and lots of ice on roads I managed a number of runs in the much softer Irish snow including in a local wood where it was upto 8 inches deep...that made for a very hard 11mile run!

Towards the end of March I continued trying to get back into a routine and opted for my first 30 mile run, for this I made my return to the Waterford Greenway which I regularly used last year in prep for connemara by doing numerous 30 and even 60mile runs.

Right now I'm running about every second day but I've started regularly running the 12miles from where I live to Kilkenny City at a reasonable pace of 7:20min/mile and the route is a lovely mix of flat and hills so its nice for a change.

I'm also mixing in shorter recovery runs and the odd 18-20mile,

2017 Year in Review

I'm a few months late posting it but here is my 2017 year in review!

What a varied year it's been last year, a new PB, placing top 3 in an ultra, taking on another 100mile and finishing off the end of the year with an injury (none running related) and some nice enjoyable runs.

While my big race of the year was again the Connemara 100 which I ran in aid of a local charity I'll begin with my return to Donadea 50km after a 4-year gap since my last Doneadea 50km race,

This was a sizable improvement on my previous PB 50km time of 4:49:33 which I also set in Donadea back in 2013, my rough plan for the day was to aim for a sub 4hr 30min finish. After experiencing some issues with my quads from the 7th of the 10x 5km loops for the race I just missed out on my goal time but I still finished with a very respectable 4hrs 37min 17sec.

My next race of the year was in April where I had opted to pace 1hr 45min for the Wexford Half Marathon.

The last time I ran the Wexford Half I set a PB of 1:44 with a lot of effort since then I've improved to the point of a 1:29 PB so this was going to be a nice return to the course. The day went to plan but it was much warmer then I had expected which was not helped by the fact I missed picking up water at two of the water stops.


Throughout March, April and May I had started regularly running the newly completed Waterford Greenway and in April myself and a few other runners got together to run the entire greenway, more details at Greenway Out & Back as a day-long training run.

It took the bones of 13hours to complete the 59mile (or so) route but it was a really enjoyable day out.

At the start of the year I sort of set myself two goal races, my big race of the year would, of course, be the Connemara 100mile but I had also decided that when I would run the Tullaroan Ultra in June.

Previously in Tullaroan for the Ultra in 2016 when I ran the 39.3mile course I finished 4th so when I looked at the results and noted this I had decided that with some planning on the day and effort I could definitely place in the top 3,

Initially and certainly up until the 32mile mark I was in 2nd place but towards the end, I was passed by another runner and I eventually crossed the line in 05:47:58 to finish in third place. I was thrilled!

After the Tullaroan Ultra at the start of June it was back to training for Connemara and as part of that I was planning to run the Waterford Marathon, this was my first time running the Waterford Marathon which is more than a little strange I suppose as I used to live in Waterford City for around 10 years and I live relatively close to the city still.

Rather then just run it like a "normal" marathon I opted for something different, so with that in mind and with the marathon start being at 9am on a Saturday morning I left my house at 2am to run the 30 or so miles to the Marathon start line.

I eventually arrived down in Waterford City at around 8am and the marathon started around 9am. My biggest mistake for this day was not paying attention to the route profile before setting my pace and as the miles went on I realised there were lots of very steep climbs and these took a lot out of me which resulted in a lot more walking then I would have liked.

Still, I didn't mind the walking as it was all good training at the end of the day for Connemara.  As I approached the finish line it was nice to get a mention over the loud speaker of having run from Kilkenny and doing over 56miles as I crossed the finish line.

After the Waterford marathon, it was taper time for Connemara 100, but it was also back to fund raising for Mount Carmel House.

Mount Carmel House provides supported care for low dependency elderly people from the local & surrounding areas. The community resource has a link to my family as my mother has been on the board for a number of decades and my Uncle who at the time was the local GP was involved in founding it.  So I kicked off fundraising for this community organisation by going door to door in the evenings.

After finishing work each evening I kept going to houses door to door and explained what I was doing, most of the responses I got were a sort of disbelief and by far people were very generous in relation to what they gave.

Eventually, the weekend of Connemara 100 arrived and while it didn't go to plan it was certainly an experience and I have a very detailed blog entry about the weekend here.

How did I do with the fund raising in the end?   Well, in the end, I helped raise over 4,600 euro in aid of Mount Carmel House at the end of the fund raising so it was fantastic. I even got a mention in the local paper once or twice :)

After Connemara, I took it easy and I opted to do easy runs and cycling in order to maintain fitness, I didn't want to over do it because in previous years I learned that if I, for example, start into a new training cycle for another race I very quickly end up injured or sick.

All was going well until the end of September when I was coming back from a morning cycle and the bike just slipped from under me approx 200metres from my house and I hit the ground hard!  I cut up my arm and I thought I bruised myself pretty bad....as it turns out however I had actually managed to crack a rib!

I'll admit this fall but an end to my cycling and much of my running for the next few weeks as while it didn't hurt to run for example a 9min/mile pace I couldn't drop the pace to 7min/mile as it would hurt to breathe, this was more than a little annoying!.

Healing from the fall seemed to take weeks and weeks and despite the discomfort or pain if I run some fast miles I was still determined to maintain what fitness I could so I opted to run the Dublin Marathon as a training run, the same with Stook 10mile and I also took part in  the South Eastern Mountain Rescue which was in Clonmel.


The mountain rescue race was especially fun as I approached it as a bog standard training run but I decided to have a bit of a laugh and ran it with a Christmas hat and Christmas lights wrapped around my backpack, this got a lot of comments from people I must admit.

After the South Eastern Mountain Rescue race, I did opt for running the Waterford Half-Marathon but I ran it at the slowest race I ever have, for 11miles I took it seriously easy but I only upped the pace for the last 2 miles.  Nothing very special to report on this race.

So that's it for another year, I've nothing big planned for 2018 just yet but I'm going to resume regular blog updates now :)

It's been sometime since I posted...

Dublin Marathon
Credit: Marathon Club Ireland / Vincent Guthrie

It's been awhile since I've posted an update and it's also not been a very activate few weeks.

Why?
Well, back on the 13th October I headed off for a spin on the road bike which I had been doing to maintain fitness while I've eased off from running to allow recovery.          All went well until I reached around 200metres from home where the road bike just went from under me and I hit the ground hard. 

I wasn't even doing any sort of fast speed but I still managed to cut up my arm and bruised my ribs from the fall.

It's over 30 days later and only now can I do a run where I can a run at a decent pace without any sort of pain or discomfort. Up until now it hurt to breath deep, hurt to lay down in bed and if I coughed. All of this really makes it awkward to do any sort of decent running.

Due to the injury sustained in the road bike I did still go ahead and run the Dublin Marathon but I opted instead to only use it as a slow training run with the aim of finishing somewhere between 4hrs-4.30. I did manage to pop by for a Marathon Club Ireland group photo before the race though.

Since then things have improved and during the week I managed my first run where I could comfortably run at a sub 7:30min/mile pace without feeling discomfort from the ribs so that was a good feeling. I did this for 9miles.

However, yesterday when I ran the Stook 10mile (for the 5th time) I still opted to take it nice and handy and also treated this as a normal training run and took it handy at around a 8:30-9min/mile pace for the vast majority of the run I also spent most of the time talking to people including Catherine Guthrie who represented Ireland at the Belfast 24hr in July of this year.

The exception to this was the flying mile (mile 8-9) where I ran the mile in 5:35min, I'd have run it faster only for the road was wet so I actually slowed myself as I was afraid I'd slip and fall on the steep hill.   Grace also joined me at Stook this year and she took part in the 5km event so it was nice to spend time together at the event.

The Famous Stook Cowbell

So whats next?

Next Saturday night I'm taking part in the Long Way Round which is a fund raiser for the South Eastern Mountain Rescue in Clonmel. It'll be a challenge as its almost all trail and mountain but it should be an enjoyable event and I'm looking forward to it.

Some Cycling & Running

It's been awhile since I've posted any updates and thats because I've been taking it so very...very easy.

Lately I've been doing a mix of shorter runs and cycling to keep things ticking over, I did do the JJ Ready 10km in September and while I pulled off a very respectable time of  43:33 I think going into it I might have been getting sick as I ended up off work with a chest infection which was a pain.

I did my longest run since the 100mile back in August last Sunday when I did a 10mile run but I have been regularly doing 10-16mile spins on the bike before work to maintain some level of fitness. To make the morning spins more comfortable I even picked up some over shoes in Aldi, they were well worth the buy.

This weekend I'm planning for a 15-20mile run as I'm very mindful that dispite my lack of running lately I've still paid to run the Dublin Marathon at the end of October so I still need to run that one way or another.

When I've not been running lately I've been busy brushing up on my woodwork skills by building a Little Free Library which I've put up outside our house, it's proven pretty popular with people.

Time for another race...sort of

I started writing this blog entry last week but progression isn't as I had hoped so plans are being revised somewhat since!

I always find it useful to have a focus when it comes to running and sometimes that's a long term goal like Connemara 100 which I had aimed for months out and other times its a last minute idea.

On Sunday 20th August it was very tempting to go and do the Clonmel Half-Marathon as its only down the road from me (assuming there were entry's available of course), but I opted against such a temptation and instead took it easy.

I was origionally planning to do the JJ Ready Half Marathon towards the end of September, however now I'm not even going to chance that and instead I'm opting for the 10km least I push myself too much and end up injured by doing the half-marathon!

It's not that I think I won't complete the half-marathon, I would but I know myself well enough that I'll push the effort more then I should be and this is likely to set me back which is an utterly stupid thing to do at this early stage after the 10km where I know myself that i'm no where near 100% yet.

Post Race Thoughts

So with Connemara 100 over I can sit back and look at what went wrong.

I had gone into this race with the idea of a sub24 finish and the idea of sticking to a stricter pacing plan in order to achieve this, of course those that look at my checkpoint times will know that things were looking a bit fast (although slower then last year).

Of course others that have finished just under sub 24hr actually arrived into Leenane much sooner then me so at the same time perhaps I wasn't going too fast but that when things did slow down later in the race (as you expect them to) for me they didn't just slow down they crashed and burned and this time resulted in me passing out.

Despite this, my legs were actually in much, much better shape then they were last year, less chaffing, less blisters, I could manage a brisk walking pace and not just a shuffle like last year so its not all negative.

In this case to me at least it seems like a faster pace then it should have been and also a mixture of the much warmer day that was in it, while I certainly wasn't de-hydrated in anyway the lack of sleep from the night before and the increased effort from the run eventually caught up with me.

I've done 3x 100mile races now and for each I've failed to hit my goal of a sub24 hours, for each I also experienced issues after the 80mile mark. Now for those that are reading this that haven't run Ultramarathons you're likely thinking "But you bloody ran 80 good miles!", yes I did and that alone is an achievement and even finishing a 100mile race is something in itself as its normal that depending on the race that between 50-30% of those that start simply will not finish.

So what's the end result of my thinking on this?
Honestly, I'm going to give 100miles a rest, at least for now. Instead I'm going to focus on other distances.   I'm not ruling out Ultra's altogether as I'd like to improve on my 50mile or 100km times as I feel I could push a 50mile finish down into the 8hour 30min -8hour 50min region or better if I just put the head down and focused on it. This would be a substantial improvement on my current 50mile PB of over 10hrs for an actual 50mile training run or 9:30 during a 100miler.

How's my recovery going after Connemara?
Initially on Monday I paid a visit to Bodymend for a session and initially I also felt good at the time of writing up my race report. But the next day things were far from pleasant and I was experiencing a good amount of pain just when sitting especially with my left leg, if I wasn't lying on the coach it was painful.

On Wednesday I paid another visit to physio and had some dry needling done and the left leg hurt like hell after that, it took more effort to get into the car after the session then it did after the 100miler!   By Thursday however things seemed to improve after the dry needling and by the weekend my leg was starting to feel like normal again.

Now the left leg isn't giving me problems anymore I'm going to start with some easy runs this week and see how things go.  Overall though I feel fine, blister has healed up just fine and outside of being a little tired at the start of the week I feel good.

Connemara 100 Mile 2017 Race Report

Friday's Pre-Race Briefing

Race day had finally arrived and it was a bright and early 6am start, we arrived on Friday evening at around 6pm and attended the pre-race briefing at 7am in the Station House Theatre, then a quick bite to eat and we headed off to bed for what I hoped would be a decent night sleep...that however was not to be.

I wrote the following at around 4.30am on Saturday morning before the race:

Not the best night sleep, I'd say I slept about 3 hours total last night which is very unusual for me. Normally the night before a race I have no issues sleeping, but last night the brain just didn't switch off. I'd be lying if I said it didn't worry me.....

Still, while the lack of sleep was worrying me a little it wasn't going to be the end of the world so I got ready for the race and performed the final checks with the crew.

This year the crew was made up of my wife Grace, my 3 sisters Sinead, Claire and Finola, Finola's two children Jane and Neil also helped out and finally Victor Young. Everyone of them had given up their valuable weekend time to drive around Connemara supporting me and I'm very thankful for that. Thanks guys!

Fancy new sign!

Learning from last year we had opted for some nice big vinyl signs for the back of the cars and also a flashing amber light which we'd swap from crew car to crew car to ensure they'd be better seen during the day and night, this would ensure better safety for the crew and myself during the race.

At around the 5.30am mark we headed towards the Station House Hotel in Clifden in preparation for the race start and also the short pre-race briefing, you could feel the nervious energy in the air, like any race I've done regardless of whether it is 10miles or 50miles, I'm always nervous and a little emotional at this point.

At around 5:50am we started to make our way to the start line for the annual starting line photo, this year 19 men and women stood at the start line. A lot can change over the next 30 hours and we knew that it was unlikely that all 19 would finish the race as its usual for around 30-40% of the field to DNF (Do Not Finish) on this 100mile course.

Courtesy of Maryse O Connor Mackessy

A brief countdown to 6am start and we were off.  The start of Connemara 100 isn't like a big city race as it is a much slower, more casual affair as everyone first does a slow lap of Clifden town passing the starting area where the crew are standing and clapping before finally leaving Clifden and heading on towards Letterfrack and later Tullycross.

Start to Lough Inagh Lodge (mile 28):
My view is the first 5miles or so after Clifden are very easy going as there are no crew cars yet and everyone is taking it nice and easy, at the starting loop in Clifden I had been chatting to Louise O'Rourke, Derek Mackessy and others during the first few miles.

Something that I've found often comes up when I get chatting to people during marathon and ultra-marathon races is my blog and this race was no different as a few people mentioned me posting on it and posting on Facebook including Louise. I'll be honest, sometimes I'm just surprised people actually read half of the stuff I type here after races :)

Miriam & Myself

During this section I also got chatting to Miriam O'Connor who had previously run the Connemara
100 like myself and she had also taken on the six day multi-day Marathon De Sable last year which was impressive as I honestly don't think I could hack either the intense heat or the annoying sand.

Despite the easy miles by mile 8 I was slightly worried, I could feel a hotspot developing on my left foot just near my big toe and I mentioned it to my crew so they pulled up around mile10 and I changed out my socks and re-greased my feet.

By mile 15 I wasn't happy and I knew I had a blister so the crew pulled up again and I applied a Compeed Blister plaster to the area, at this stage I was worried as a blister developing at mile 8 is something I've not had happen for years! I've done 40mile races without any blister even starting in more recent years so this didn't look good for the day.

I continued on through Letterfrack and Tullycross, just after the junction at Tullycross I got chatting to Johnny Hanson. This was his first 100mile event and I was telling him what to expect going into Roundstone (not trusting the lights) and Clifden at the end, I know that not knowing what to expect last year really affected me so its helpful to know the course layout.

This section of the course is visually lovely as we pass a picturesque lake and what looks like an old school, we also passed many walkers for the Connemara marathon walk and we received lots of words of support. At this stage myself and Louise had met up again and had chatted again for a few miles.   At one stage a farmer was herding sheep down the road passed everyone...you certaintly don't get that during the Dublin Marathon.

Eventually I arrived at the junction that turns right towards Kylemore and we passed the well known "Stop & Pray" church for the first of two times today, then a few miles later it was a left turn towards Lough Inagh Valley and the first checkpoint of the day. Lough Inagh Valley was very hot at this stage of the day but the scenery was stunning. I kept a good running pace for this entire section and finally I approached Lough Inagh Lodge.   If you ever want to get away from it all, this is a good choice for a place to stay as you won't get a mobile signal on this part of the course. As I was approaching the Lodge I spotted Seb who is one of the checkpoint crew standing near a stream, he took the photo below which shows just how beautiful parts of the course are!

Approaching Lough Inagh Lodge

When I arrived into the Lodge it was time for a quick pitstop and also to get some boiled potatoes into me.   I arrived into Lough Inagh Lodge at 11.11am.

Lough Inagh Lodge (mile 28) to Leenane (mile 55):
It was time to change over the crews and so I bid fairwell to Sinead and Grace with the arrival of my new crew for the next few miles - Victor and Finola. After leaving Lough Inagh my plan had been to mainly run untill the N59 Galway/Clifden junction, but first I walked a bit to allow myself to eat my boiled spuds. The N59 section is the busiest road on the course as I have to take in approx 10miles of the N59 Galway/Clifden road. For any sections with sharp bends Victor and Finola stuck with me to stop any motorists running me over.

About 2miles from the Peacock Hotel I met Johnny again, like myself he was run/walking this section but I still appeared to catch him quickly enough. Although the road was busy I would actually say it was less busy then last year.  Still, it was a lovely sight to finally see the clock tower belong to the Peacock Hotel.  Once we reached the hotel Victor and Finola set me up on a chair and Victor rubbed down both my legs which really helped freshen me up again as they had been getting very tight at this point.

After the Peacock Hotel is the "Hell of the West", for anyone who has ever done the Connemara Marathon Half-Marathon/Full-Marathon or Ultra-Marathon held in April each year you'll be very, very familar with this section as this is the last big hill you have to climb and descent before you finally run onto the finish line at the Peacock Hotel.   Unfortunately for me I had to do this hill in reverse and also continue running the Half Marathon section onto Leenane and then a further 45miles once I reached Leenane so it was going to be a hard day.

This section for me really is a pain, its hard when doing the race in April and it is even harder to do when you already have 40miles done on the legs. Victor decided to keep me company for this section so it was a mixture of run and walking with him for this entire section. At this point I was passed by Peter from Donadea AC who to my surprise was running all the hills as we approached Leenane. Eventually we reached the drop into Leenane which is about 2-3miles of downhill, this section last year really did a number on my legs but this year wasn't too bad. I arrived into Leenane at 5.05pm, where we had another change of crew with Sinead and Claire taking over.

Finally in Leenane

Originally I had decided to change all my clothes at this stage as I thought it would freshen me up and this might give me a boost, but I actually felt pretty fresh still so I opted against this. I also didn't mess with my socks or shoes either as that blister patch from earlier was still holding fine. Although I didn't change clothes Victor and Claire set me up lying on one of the picnic tables and they worked on both of my legs, normally one person doing this can hurt a lot but two people doing it at the same time hurts like hell!
Despite it hurting like hell it didn't stop a crowd around me gathering and appearing to find it amusing while I'd shout every so often, thanks guys! :)



Leenane (mile 55) to Lough Inagh Lodge (mile 67):
Once my legs were finished being rubbed down it was off again, I ran as far as the Ferry dock and then opted to walk the very steep hill out of Leenane as I thought I would be crazy to run it. The benefit to walking this section is I was also able to take on some food. Although the crews had been planned to change over in Leenane Victor stayed for this entire section and it was nice to have some company.

Myself and Victor leaving Leenane

My crew was now Sinead, Claire and Jane & Neil had tagged along as well for this section, I continued to walk once I reached the top because the road dips and rises again before finally dipping again and heading towards the famous "Stop & Pray" church, this would be my second and final time passing this church. This time the church section was much busier as there was a mass on but overall the traffic on the roads was getting less and less, I kept a running pace for most of this section and I opted to listen to music for the first time.

After the climb out of Leenane

However, as I couldn't fine my headphones I had to put my phone on loudspeaker to listen to the music so I must have looked crazy running along the road listening to blaring music, I didn't care as it helped pass the time.

Eventually I finally reached the junction that turns left into the Inagh Valley and thankfully the heat was starting to reduce at this stage too. My plan had been to run almost this entire section and then walk the final section with the hills just before Lough Inagh Lodge and then once again pick up the pace and run into Lough Inagh Lodge. For the sections when I walked Sinead kept me company which was a nice break from being on my own again.

I arrived into Lough Inagh Lodge at 8.22pm.

Lough Inagh Lodge (mile 67) to Roundstone (mile 82):
Leaving Lough Inagh Lodge the plan was to run/walk to the N59 Galway/Clifden road and then once I reached the road as this section was up hill I was going to walk it until I finally reached the Roundstone junction and then I picked up the pace again and run. During this section I was joined by my niece and nephew Jane and Neil and we chatted about this and that, I commented to them how nobody in either of their classes at school would ever end up walking around Connemara at around 10 at night in the dark during a 100mile race so it would be an experience to hang around with their crazy uncle Barry.

Sinead, Jane & Myself

Finally I reached the Roundstone junction and I could once again pick up the pace, I also opted to listen to music again but no sooner did I start running but my legs started causing me problems again so shortly after the junction beside a church the crew pulled over and Claire rubbed down both my legs again, this once again gave me a boost.

I continued on and shortly after the crew switched over again and I was joined by Victor who even after so much running earlier decided to join me for the last 5miles or so into Roundstone. The first time we saw the lights for Roundstone and Victor commented on them I told him not to trust the lights as we were still miles out. In the last 5miles approaching Roundstone I started getting really cold and every so often we'd hit a really cold pocket of air, so I put on extra layers but that didn't help. The crew packed a foil blanket around my body underneath my jacket but that also didn't really seem to help. I just couldn't get warm and this just kept making this section harder and harder for me.

At around mile 80/81 I had resigned myself in my own mind that as soon as I reached the checkpoint at Roundstone at mile 82 I was out of the race and done, I didn't tell Victor this and even when Victor kept asking was I ok I honestly didn't have the energy to respond back to him especially during the last mile before the checkpoint. Once we reached the checkpoint at 1.50am and I saw them marking down my time I just turned around and collapsed to the ground hitting my left knee on the ground. As I fell Victor and Ken (staffing the checkpoint) caught me and I remember being lifted up and things went dark. The next thing I remember was sitting up against the crew car wheel, my legs in front of me on the ground and Victor holding up my head and slapping my face....I had passed out!  This is very much a first for me as I've never passed out during a race before. I could see everyone looked really worried and I was really worried about what my wife Grace must be thinking as I had seen her to my right just before I collapsed.

They asked did I know where I was and I responded Roundstone, they also asked me a few other questions and Grainne (support crew and Ken's wife) got me to drink some sugar water. I said I really needed to sleep and they put me in the crew car and covered me in blankets and stuck the air con to hot in the car, once I was lying down I asked for the crew to get out for a minute and asked them to get Grace as I wanted to talk to her.   Grace got into the car and I said to her I thought I was done and that I didn't think I could go any further, that I knew how many miles were ahead and I couldn't go through them knowing it would take so long.   I was sure Grace would say "Ok babe, you go to sleep and we'll get you back to the hotel", but she didn't.To my surprise she responded in a really upbeat tone saying she didn't think I was too bad, I had been much worse the year before and after a sleep and a change of clothes we'll see how things are, just before I feel asleep I held her hand and I slept for around 40minutes.

I asked Grace to write something about what happened in Roundstone:

"From my perspective I knew he was emotionally in trouble, but physically he was far worse last year and therefore had more to give. He wasn't done in my opinion. Naturally I was worried about him when I saw him hitting the ground, but he didn't hit his head, he was out for a matter of seconds, and he wasn't bleeding anywhere, so for the most part I wasn't too concerned. I also know my husband well enough to know if he had quit then, he never would have been content. He needed to give it one more go. Also, I wasn't having a situation where we would have to come back next year due to his DNF this year! I made a call with the help and advisement of the other crew members that a sleep, some food and a change of clothes would do him the world of good, then we could decide if he could continue or not.
The other crew members and support crew members were worried, and honestly believed his race was finished. There was a medic on standby to sign him off, and there was a lot of concern through the support crew regarding whether he would be able to continue. Once he had slept, I asked him if he wanted me to change his clothes and see about continuing on, or did he want to finish and go back to the hotel. Once he said "I don't know", I knew he wasn't resolutely finished. With that, it confirmed my initial thought, he's not done yet. I got him changed, the crew checked him out, and made sure he was with it enough to go on. I said to him "if in 5 or 10 more miles, you decide you are finished, we have at least given it our best try. Let's just see how you get on." He said okay, and kissed me and I never doubted for a moment that not only was he good to continue, but that he would cross the finish line as well. Barry's determination literally knows no bounds!
- Grace - wife and crew member.

After the 40minute sleep Grace woke me up and got me to change clothes and eat some food, I opted not to change my shoes or socks as I didn't want to mess with something that had worked perfectly from mile 15 since I put the blister plaster on.  The crew switched over again at this point and I was in the hands of Sinead and Claire.


Roundstone (mile 82) to Finish (mile 100):
Once ready I left Roundstone with Sinead walking beside me at a "blistering" 17min/mile pace which I kept up for around 3-4miles. During this time I passed Johnny who I had chatted to much earlier in the day around Tullycross and Peacock Hotel, Johnny was doing a much slower walking pace then myself and he must have really been feeling the cold as he had switched to pants (I still had shorts on but I was no longer cold!).

After around 4miles of 17min/mile I once again started to flag and I was getting worried I might collapse again as I had trouble just keeping my eyes open, Sinead who was still walking with me commented then I should dig deep and keeping going but I said I was worried that if I did collapse they wouldn't be able to get me up off the ground again without help.   So I opted to sleep in Claire's car this time for around 20 minutes during which time Johnny passed me. After this it was a very mixed walk all the way to Ballyconeely, I'll be honest this section felt utterly endless to me. I could not wait until I would be finally 9miles away from Clifden. At Ballyconeely the crews met up again and I was so thankful to have Grace walking beside me again at this stage. I would go through stages of having the energy to hold a conversation to not talking at all. At one point I felt so tired that we stopped and sat on a wall beside a lovely beach for a few minutes just so I could rest.

As the miles counted down to Clifden we met Ray (race director) and he mentioned we were 4miles out from Clifden. I asked him if he heard about me passing out at Roundstone and he commented on how I was Lazarus for getting back up and heading for the finish. I knew at this stage I could 100% finish the course and that I'd finish it under the 30hour limit. It wouldn't be the sub 24hr I wanted and it certainly wouldn't be my fastest 100mile race either but it would not be a DNF. (I'm perhaps too stubborn or stupid to DNF). At this stage Grace took a break from walking and Victor once again walked with me as we finally made our way up the hills towards Clifden town and we commenced the 3 loops of Clifden town.

This has to be the hardest finish of any race I've done. Most races you see the finish line and you cross it.    But Ray designed this race so that when you see the finish line you have to pass by it 3 more times before you can finally cross it, to quote another runner who was speaking to Ray earlier in the day "You're a very bad man!".

Just as I started the first of these 3 loops I once again met Johnny who was also starting the loops, we spoke words of encouragement to each other and to his crew and we headed off. It was around now that I found out that I had been last place in the race but I'd jumped to second last after passing Johnny. Last year when I did this section it was desperately slow and it must have taken me 20minutes to complete each loop, this time it took me around 10minutes per loop. Victor did all three loops with me, Grace did the first loop also. On the last loop Grace joined me again and we made our way around, as we got closer to the finish the rest of the crew joined me so myself, Grace, Sinead, Claire, Finola and my niece and nephew (Jane and Neil) joined me as I completed this final loop.

On The Last Loop

Coming towards the finish on the last loop I noticed I had less than 40seconds to go to finish under 29 hours and although the legs were tired and the energy levels were very low I refuse to be one of those people that walk across a finish line so myself and Grace started running while holding hands. We finally crossed the finish line in a time of 28hours 59min and 37seconds (10.59am) to everyone clapping and cheering, including other runners who had finished earlier in the day.

Finished! - Courtesy of Miriam O'Connor

Neil & Jane at the finish line

After crossing the finish line I made my way to the nearest thing that looked like a seat and I was never so glad to sit down, this was the longest ever time I've spent on my feet out of any race I've completed. While I've done three 100miles since 2015 this race was almost 90minutes longer then my first and I've never passed out in any race I've done before so that was unsettling. However, despite passing out I would actually class last years Connemara 100 as a harder race because mentally it was torture as I had to basically walk at a shuffling pace for miles upon miles until the finish. This time I at least knew that at times I could walk a brisk pace so I knew that instead of doing 2miles per hour like last year I could do upto 4miles per hour.

After sitting down for a few minutes I made my way back to Foyles Hotel where myself and the crew had been based for the weekend and as I got to the front door the receptionist came out and clapped and congratulated me on finishing the race.  Despite the hotel having finished serving breakfast they were very accommodating and were happy to serve breakfast to myself and the crew.  I devoured every bit of the breakfast as it was lovely and it was nice just not to eat something loaded with sugar again.

Post Race Presentation:
One of the special things about the Connemara 100 race is the feeling that despite how fast or slow a runner is that everyone including the crews are in it together. There's a real good feeling about the race and everybody is happy to help everyone else along the way. For the race presentation Ray O'Connor the race director talks about the runners and crews and also talks about the people that didn't finish and thats important. In a race like this a lot can go wrong and a person could be feeling fantastic at mile 50 but they could be out of the race by mile 60. Each team has a story and there were plenty of interesting and funny stories and comments made during the presentation, when it came to me Ray once again referred to me as Lazarus due to what happened at Roundstone and he asked me to explain what happened. I told everyone about how I had resigned myself to not finishing the race around a mile from Roundstone and once I saw them mark my time I collpased and then passed out. But it was only with the words of encouragement from Grace that I continued on. I wouldn't have completed the race without her, thanks babe.

Presentation from Ray O'Connor

The race was incredibly hard but it was an experience and I was so thankful to share that experience with my crew, I know it was hard on them to dedicate so much of their weekend to me and I'm very thankful to them for all their support.   There were times in the race when I know I was cranky or I may have snapped due to exhaustion and you put up with it and everyone of you walked with me at some point during the race and that company was very much appreciated as it made the time pass faster and I liked being able to share the experience.

To Victor, thanks very much for running so many miles with me. It was likely many, many, many more miles than you had expected to run but its certainly a good start for training for the Dublin Marathon again. If you do decide to run the Connemara 100 I'll be more then happy to crew for you! :)


Post Race Recovery & Fund Raising:
On Monday morning I felt reasonably ok, despite the massive lack of sleep over the weekend I felt pretty good after 9hours sleep and during the day I had plenty of messages to get done so I got a good bit of walking in on the legs.   I also paid a visit to Body Mend Physical Therapy & Sports Injury Clinic for some work on the legs and they felt miles better afterwards (Thanks Tracy).
With the exception of the leg muscles being a bit sore and the one blister on my left foot I've no issues or pain to report and after a visit to Bodymend it's no longer hurting to sit up from a chair, so that is always a good thing!

The race has been an experience and I'm glad that I've been able to use the race to raise awarness and funds for Mount Carmel House, the support I've received from everyone has been fantastic and every donation has been much appreciated, thank you to everyone that has donated.

I would once again like to thank 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 to raise 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 Bodymend, 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!

Over the next while I'll be posting updates in relation to the total funds raised for Mount Carmel House and the funds will be presented to them, so stay tuned for updates!

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.