Find Me Spot

Follow our route by clicking on the Find Me Spot icon located on this page.  During the week as we check out the route we'll log our location and Jarlath will log each point as I pass through during the race.  Live updates will also be available from the race website by clicking here but they might be few and far between as the race progresses and the field starts to spread out.
 

An Easy Week

Distance for week=30K
Average Pace = 5:15 min per K
HR zone = 120-130bpm
Avg HR = 123bpm

I had planned on doing a little bit more than I managed for this week but the usual last minute preparations meant missing a few sessions but that's life. Monday was an assisted stretching session with John Belton and Jarlath got some tips on how to stretch my quads and hamstring during the race and this meant a rest day. Tuesday I had some last minute shopping in the Great Outdoors to stock up on Nuun and Powerbars which meant another rest day. The rest of the week went ok with a short easy run on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for a total of 30K.

Tonight I finish off my packing in advance of the flight tomorrow afternoon and if I manage to wake up early enough I might head out for a short easy run. I won't set the alarm for an early start and will only head out if I wake up early and naturally as I think the sleep is just as important at this stage and the run won't make me any fitter but it will help with a good start to the day.

Here's a brief update on my totals since January 01st.

Distance = 4000K
Average pace = 5:15 per K
Rest / Recovery days = 44
Longest Running Streak = 680K over 37 days
Longest single run = 205K (24-hr World Championships, May)
Longest other run = 100K (Anglo Cetlic Plate, June)
Longest training run = 50K (ran 3 of these)

Tracking The Mobile Marathon Relay

The Mobile Marathon Relay for the Jack and Jill Foundation starts tomorrow and you can follow our progress online by clicking here.

I can run but I can't hide

I've started using a 'Spot Me' satellite messenger thanks to the Great Outdoors which allows family and friends to track my location anywhere in the world. I'll be testing the unit over the next few weeks to familiarlise myself with it's use starting with the Mobile Marathon Relay for the Jack & Jill Foundation starting on Friday 07th August. Later this week i'll post a link so you can check out the unit in use.

Although I say I'm testing the Spot Me it's really a tried and tested unit and is one of the compulsory items supplied and carried by competitors in the Yukon Arctic Ultra a race which I took part in back in 2005 (100 Mile category).

As well as finding a user's location the 'Spot Me' also makes it possible to follow user's adventures via Google Maps tracking a route in real time. But most importantly, in times of need, a user can request assistance from family / friends or from an Inernational 911 Emergency Response Centre which will direct help to an exact location if requested.

I have on ocassion carried an emergency transmitter when travelling in an extreme environment which is good for one use only although it will be replaced if used in a real emergency. These units can cost a few thousand euro but for less than €200 and a yearly registration of around €100 the Spot Me is now making this technology more accesible and adding a fun element to something that can be quite serious.

An obvious use which springs to mind would be for the parent of a teenager heading off on a backpacking trip for a few months. The Spot Me is an inexpensive way of knowing where they are and where they've been.

Click Here for a recent article in the Irish Times about Spot Me.