Back to Ballyhoura

Ballyhoura Trail Marathon Start

June 2019

Three and a half months further down the line towards the MDS and I found myself back on the start line of the challenge that prompted me to sign up for it in the first place. I had returned to the Ballyhoura Trail Marathon, the same course I ran on a damp and cold January night, this time on a glorious morning on the 4th May 2019.

Whilst the January event was billed as a 'challenge', simply get from A to B and enjoy it with no finishing places or times recorded, this was an official IMRA (Irish Mountain Running Association) timed race. I had a simple goal of improving on my very slow debut on the course of 6.15 from earlier on in the year.  

The sun was shining with a tinge of cold in the breeze, perfect running weather. This time it was an 8.30 am start, no head torches and a new pair of Saucony Peregrine trail shoes to help with the terrain, which I broke in during a 4 mile stroll around Belfast three nights before, not the best preparation. Instead of a mini-feast at the half marathon mark, there were aid stations every 6 miles or so and we had access to a drop bag at the halfway point in Ballyorgan. I had no excuses this time.

The course takes the runners through some of the most beautiful scenery County Limerick has to offer and you get a very different experience in the daylight. There is less of a need to focus on your feet and more time to appreciate the route. You also get the visuals of just how steep the climbs are, maybe the one disadvantage that you do not experience when running at night.

I had trained a little on the latter part of the course in April, so I had a much better idea of what I was up against. My only niggle was a slight strain in my left calf but nothing too concerning. 

The first half of the race went fairly well. The course was altered slightly from the January route due to forestry works, but the detour made little difference at the beginning of the race. There was a change to the final 2 miles, where we were brought in along a quiet backroad instead of through the wooded section but the distance was the same.

Over the first half of the race, I managed to keep a reasonable pace on the flat sections, whilst the trail shoes made a huge difference on the descents when compared to my slipping and sliding in my road shoes in January. There is little you can do about the steep climbs, most of the runners around me were reduced to power walking. This is good preparation for desert running anyway so I had no complaints about trudging my way uphill.

First Steep Climb Of The Day

We reached the Keale River after about 11 miles. This was the point where I ground to a halt because of a sharp cramp in my calf in January. Thankfully there were no such issues and I was able to run the riverside trail towards Ballyorgan with the only real obstacles being the series of stiles to negotiate which disrupt with your running rhythm.

I reached the halfway point in Ballyorgan in 2.10, significantly faster than my January time. My drop bag gave me a little boost, with some energy gels, jellies and a banana before setting off to take on Seefin, the looming mountain sitting over Ballyorgan with its steep ascent. Again it was a case of trudging my way up it before descending into the Ballyhoura Forest below, near the mountain biking centre.

Leaving Ballyorgan After 13 Miles

All felt relatively good until a familiar pain hit me as I approached 19 miles. My hamstring decided to throw a tantrum as I felt an all merciful cramp take over and I was reduced to standing on the side of a road bent over trying to stretch it. At least I only had 6 miles to go and after 10 minutes of walking and stretching, I was able to run again, albeit gingerly.

I eventually made the finish line in 4.51, almost an hour and a half faster than January, so that was a huge positive. Goes to show the difference the right footwear and the ability to actually see where you are going makes. Admittedly my legs were in agony but I could feel a real improvement from January, so at least I was on the right track.

The trail shoes got me to thinking about my 2014 MDS, which I ran in a pair of Saucony Kinvara road shoes. At the time, I said I had no complaints about my footwear and in my head for 2020 was that I would not make any changes. The effectiveness of the Peregrines (essentially the trail version of the Kinvaras) has made me reconsider, in particular for the dunes and the oueds (dry river beds) of the Sahara. Further investigation required I think.  

Training has been good some weeks and non-existent others. I managed just over 50 miles for all of February but I was off for around 10 days due to a chest infection. March brought an improvement and I clocked up 77 miles including a couple of runs over the 10 mile mark. I set a target of 100 miles for April and only managed 78 miles as towards the end of the month, I picked up a calf strain. This set alarms bells off as my with previous MDS experience I had issues with my Achilles tendon, which was solved by a couple of months of calf raises to build strength and severe physio sessions involving friction treatment - I do not want to go through that again. April did include a solid 16 mile run, my longest training run of the year, so there were some positives.

This brought me up to May and again I had set a 100 mile target, but with the Ballyhoura Marathon and recovery time, I felt this was a stretch. It did indeed prove to be a stretch and I covered just over 80 miles all month, which I was disappointed with. My body was tired after the mountains, although I did return to Limerick to run/walk the Ballyorgan Loop on two separate occasions later in the month, a ten mile loop including the steep Darragh Hills and Keale River sections of the marathon route.

So it is on into June and again a 100 mile target. Let's hope I hit it this time.