Farranfore to Firies Road Race

I waited all year for this race having heard about it too late last Christmas and when I arrived at the start line it had been called off. I wasn't too disappointed because for me it had served it's purpose in my schedule by giving me an excuse to run during the holidays and it made me take it easy on the food & drink on Christmas day.
Rather than write off the day I decided to run the route with a few others in the wind and rain checking it out for next year.

The Kepler Challenge.

Gretel Fortmann, Tony Golden, James Owens & Rob Costelloe after finishing the Kepler Challenge.

The Kepler Challenge is a 60K race over steep mountain inclines, alpine ridges and deep forest looping around the Jackson Peaks in Te Anau, South Island, New Zealand.  Total ascent / descent for the race is 1,350m which includes what's described as two steep ascents and one punishing descent.

I had planned on running this race in December 2008 as my last continent race but the entires fill up so quickly that I missed out.  Disappointed at the time but I then found the North Face 100K in Australia and became friends with all of the above and had an excuse to visit my running buddy Rob who also crewed for me during the race.
Congratulations to Gretel, Tony, James and Rob on their successful completion of this event.

Richard Donovan wins Antarctic 100km.

Photo copyright Antarctic Ice Marathon.

It was quite tempting to stay in bed this morning after looking out the window and seeing the roads and cars covered in a layer of frost and snow but I had arrangements made and people to meet.  Returning to my house 18 miles later my hands were frozen and I thought back to this time in 2005 when I was in training for the first Antarctic Ice Marathon.  Back then I was almost praying for a frosty morning and the colder the better to help prepare my body as best I could for the conditions in Antarctica.  


The attached news report is from Ultrarunning Ireland.

Richard Donovan won the IAU-labelled Antarctic 100k for the third time on December 14th.

The race, which is the world's southernmost ultramarathon, was held at 80 Degrees South in the interior of the Antarctic.

Conditions underfoot were extremely tough this year due to snowfall. Windchill temperature was -14C.

Richard also organised the event, which incorporates a marathon, and is called the Antarctic Ice Marathon & 100k.

Training by time.

We can't make time so we've got to make the best use of the available time we have.  If you have an hour set aside for a regular run and you run the same route continuously you may find that after a few weeks you start to cover the same route faster as you get fitter.  If you run for distance rather than time the session will end sooner and you won't gain the benefit of the minutes saved by covering the distance faster and the earned time is wasted.

My regular Saturday morning run is a hilly 60 minutes followed by a cool down walk to my house and as you'll see from the attached Garmin Connect links the distance I cover in the 60 minutes has started to increase as my fitness level has increased.  If I was running it as an 8 mile loop the run would be finishing sooner and like I've said, I wouldn't get the benefit of the extra training minutes I've made!

Run 1.
Run 2.

If you compare the Heart Rate average and max for both runs it's evident that run 2 shows an improvement in my fitness level as the effort is less with a faster pace over the same route.

An hour is an hour and a mile is a mile but as you get fitter you can cover a mile in less time and get more training for your hour.

Ultra Running Ireland end of year awards.

Check out Ultra Running Ireland for more details.

Planning ahead.

There's not a lot to say at the moment as all I'm really doing is clocking up a few miles at more or less the same pace which is back to my default easy run pace of 7:30 min mile / 4:40 min Km.  Recovery runs are slower but again the pace is constant and my mileage is in the region of 50-60 miles per week.  As the end of the year approaches I'm now trying to decide which races to do and it's looking like a busy year so I need to make some compromising choices.

For starters I'm entered into the Connemara Ultra in April and I also have an entry in the Dingle Ultra Marathon in September through Ultra Running Ireland which will be run as the National 50 Mile Title but apart from that there's nothing definite.  Other planned races happen in May, August & September and i'll make my decisions on which races to do at the start of January.  I could try do them all and just get around and use the last race as an excuse for not doing well in the next but that's not how I operate.  I like to prepare well and give everything my best shot and I don't make excuses.

Thomas Maguire wins Monaco 24

Ireland's Thomas Maguire set an incredible new Irish record of 248.392km (154.344 miles) to win the IAU-labelled Monaco 24-Hour race on 22nd November. Maguire's performance is an elite Grade A standard and propels him into the top 5 in the world rankings this year.

The distance, which is the equivalent of running almost six full marathons in a single day, was also a new event record for the Monaco race.

The 'No Finish Line 24-Hour Race', staged on a 1km circuit at Monaco's world famous port, proved to be a fascinating duel between Maguire, the Irish 100km record holder, and Emmanuel Fontaine (FRA).

The pair demonstrated fantastic mental and physical prowess as well as top class sportsmanship as they battled for dominance over the second half of the race. However, Maguire's pacing strategy ultimately proved successful and he gained control over the final few hours.

Maguire ran negative splits and his time for the final 100 miles (161km), yet to be confirmed precisely, is also set to be an Irish best at the distance.  

He was supported by former Irish Olympian Paul Donovan - and Fearghal Murphy. He was also accompanied in his efforts by Ireland's Richard Donovan over the initial third of the race.

The IAAF World Athletics Gala took place on the same day in Monte Carlo and HSH Prince Albert II was at hand to give Thomas his winning 'No Finish Line' trophy.

His amazing achievement further boosts Ireland's 24-Hour team for 2010, especially given Eoin Keith's 5th place finish at this year's World 24-Hour Championships. The next World 24-Hour Championships take place in Brive, France on 13th-14th May 2010.

Monaco Results

1. Thomas Maguire (IRL) 248.392km
2. Emmanuel Fontaine (FRA) 243.570km
3. Christian Leroux (FRA) 225.118km
4. Christophe Laborie (FRA) 213.850km
5. Robert Ludger Boewer (GER) 210.210km

Check out Thomas Maguire's profile on Ultrarunning Ireland.