Injury - The Inevitable End Result

I'm injured... again.  For me there are two types of injury, ones that slow you down and cause discomfort and ones that stop you doing what you want to do, unfortunately this one is the latter.

I shouldn't be surprised really, after all riding mountain bikes fast in techy terrain invites crashes and crashes tend to lead to pain and injury!  Over the years MTB has seen me spend plenty of time in various hospitals.  As far as I can remember the current list is two broken wrists, one broken arm, broken hand, collarbone, leg, kneecap, two ribs, cracked elbow and hip and a couple of knockouts, one where I didn't wake up until I'd been in hospital for a while.  I can possibly add a broken thumb but I'm really hoping not.

The crash was pretty hilarious really, first run on an incredible new trail in Donard Woods I clipped a tree with my bars at full speed.  That sent me wider than planned on the next corner and my front wheel washed out and I flew OTB into a river.  My first reaction was to laugh, after all I was up to my elbows in water but then a familiar burning pain kicked in followed by a few minutes of swearing and annoyance.  I finished the trail sheepishly, quickly realising that my grip on the bars was weakening and a strange bulge was appearing on my thumb.  For once I did the right thing, headed home, took Ibuprofen and iced it for an hour.  The swelling went down and despite shooting pains and no movement at all I was confident all would be well in a week or so.

That was over a three weeks ago!  I have a small amount of movement back, I can almost grip a toothbrush but I definitely can't wrap my hand around a handlebar and hook my thumb under.  It's dawning on me that it may be worse than I thought.  Needless to say I'm gutted.  I was just starting to get back to speed and had survived a couple of other big crashes in the previous week which always breeds that sense of invincibility that adds a couple of mph when things get scary.  Now it looks like I'll be off the bike for a few more weeks, made all the more annoying by the dry trails I'm missing.  On the plus side it's only a thumb so I can at least still run and sit on a turbo trainer, on the downside, it's only a thumb which makes it more annoying that it's preventing me from actually biking.

So what's the point of this blog?  To let myself share my self pity?  Well yes!  But not only that.  There are plenty of times when I can't really be arsed to head out, getting changed, filling Camelbaks, getting wet and cold, the washing, the cleaning etc etc all seems too much.  As ever though, the minute you can't do something, the degree to which you want to do it magnifies massively.  I never regret going biking, even when I break bikes or bones, right now I really regret the times I've decided not to head out.  Go ride your bikes people and crack a smile for me...

Paul falling off his bike... on a road by the look of it!

MBL Pilot Course - Feeling the Pressure!

I've been delivering the Cycling Ireland/Coaching Ireland MBLA Trail Cycle Leader course for a few years now with great success in training the guides and coaches of the future.  It's the industry standard introductory level leadership course qualifying guides to lead groups of up to 8 people on terrain below 600m and within 30 minutes of getting help.  As good as the TCL is, there has been a growing demand for an advanced level qualification without the limitations on remoteness and terrain from both existing guides and from myself too.  As such, Cycling Ireland tasked me with writing the new qualification and getting it to match all the Coaching Ireland 'Advanced' qualification criteria.  Not an easy task!

Luckily, the framework for the course already existed and I was able to use the excellent Scottish Cycling Mountain Bike Leader syllabus as a guide.  Taking that course and improving and advancing it to the levels demanded by Coaching Ireland took many weeks of design, session planning, meetings, conference calls and practice until finally a couple of weeks ago I was ready to deliver an observed pilot.

I must admit that it was a lot more daunting than I'd anticipated actually delivering the course.  I'm well used to teaching and coaching with all types of people but with 4 candidates on one side of me and a panel of 4 observers made up of my tutoring peers and representatives from Coaching Ireland and Cycling Ireland on the other, I did feel a bit sandwiched in the middle.  I'll openly admit to being a bit of a perfectionist and so although it was a pilot course I put myself under great pressure to deliver a polished finished article.

Did it work?

Largely yes it did!  The timings need a tweak and there are a couple of suggestions from Coaching Ireland on content and also around firm pre-requisites in terms of the personal skills of participants but essentially it was a great success.  Therefore, I'm anticipating that Rock and Ride will be offering the new Cycling Ireland MBL course from early 2014.

The course is a step up and away from the Scottish Cycling MBL course with a greater emphasis on personal ability and coaching without losing any of the essential leadership aspects.  It definitely focuses on developing leaders who are not only safe to operate in remote mountainous areas but are also able to offer the detailed one to one coaching skills that really add value to a clients experiences.  For Cycling and Coaching Ireland, leadership and coaching have to be viewed as one interlinked entity and I totally agree.  The idea of a leader who doesn't coach seems ridiculous and unrealistic to me, if you can't teach somebody how to ride a bike properly then how can you safely lead them on a mountain biking session?

A good MBL standard fix on the pilot MBL training!

 Who is the new MBL course for?

- Existing TCL holders who have used that award extensively and to its limits.
- Coaches and guides that want to legally and safely operate in highly technical terrain.
- Guides that want to operate abroad in the mountains (it will be internationally recognised so can be used to guide in mountainous regions throughout Europe, except France!).
- Highly skilled guides who want to be recognised as being amongst an elite group at the pinnacle of their profession.

The assessment is going to be deliberately very tough, physically and technically in order to ensure that only the very best can gain the qualification.  Criteria for the assessment are obviously discussed in depth during the training course.  Pre-requisites for training include the ability to ride highly technical terrain confidently and confidence inspiringly and perform skills such as bunny hops, riding drop-offs and step ups and pumping.  If you can't do these things then you are recommended to attend an Intermediate Skills course a few months prior to the MBL course.

Cost will be around £165 for training and £90 for assessment.  Contact ian@rockandrideoutdoors.com for more details.

Broken Dreams - A Cautionary Tale Of Woe

Not really broken dreams, just broken bike bits but I thought a dramatic title might suck you in and it has!!  Anyway, the Rock and Ride crew have been hit by the rear mech gods last week with both Paul and myself doing expensive damage resulting in unplanned walking and swearing combos.  Mine wasn't the usual blap it on a rock type of incident though so I thought I'd briefly share it with you to avoid a repeat and save you some annoyance.

I was literally two minutes into a ride when for the first time in over 25 years of MTB I snapped a gear cable.  Faced with the prospect of spending the entire ride in top gear (not appealing, I've tried singlespeed on a 32-16 and that was bad enough!) I had to fit a new cable.  Smugly buoyed by the fact that I always carry a spare cable having spent years telling MBLA candidates the advantages of doing so I was quickly back on a fully functioning bike.  As I don't carry cable cutters I did the obvious thing and coiled the spare foot of left over cable into a neat little circle and got on with enjoying my day.

It was the final run of the day when my bike suddenly (and I mean very suddenly) locked up and stopped.  A glance down at the mangled wreck of metal near my back wheel confirmed the worst, my wallet was going to take a battering!  I carefully removed the twisted gear hanger, took off the snapped mech and tried to get out the chain that was wedged behind my cassette.  Simultaneously I was trying to work out what the hell happened as I hadn't hit anything.  Long story short, the spare cable had unwound and wrapped itself around the back wheel behind the cassette, instantly destroying the hanger and pulling the mech into the gears, snapping it in half.  The chain got thrown into the back wheel and got so badly wedged that I decided a 45 minute walk back to a chain whip and cassette tool was better than killing the back wheel by ripping it out.

Check out the twist on that hanger!!

Unfortunately upon taking the cassette off I found most of the drive side spokes were trashed anyway so I still had to rebuild the wheel, so the final tally was about 12 spokes and build time, a new hanger, new mech and obviously another new gear cable too.

So what's the moral of the story?  Be better prepared and carry a set of cable cutters?  Be less prepared and never carry a spare gear cable?  Actually neither.  As I carried my bike a few miles back to the van I was overcome by a strange calmness.  It dawned on me that I was walking through a beautiful forest in fine warm rain enjoying an inner peace to match the tranquility of my surroundings.  I felt energised and healthy and thought of friends who haven't been so lucky on bikes recently, damaging bodies instead of kit.  My ride had been brilliant, fast and loose.  For the first time in about 2 years I felt pretty pinned but the breakage allowed me a different kind of experience and I was all the better for it.  Like Ferris Bueller said. 'life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it'! 

The Process Of Belief

The Process Of Belief

Sporting success can be yours but you have to believe you deserve it....

This story begins a long time ago, the mid-nineties to be precise.  I was a moderately talented Cross Country mountain bike racer back then, regional champion, sponsored, felt like a big fish!  Which is all great until you get into the biggest pond.  It was my first year racing the full national series and I distinctly remember feeling totally overawed.  The sheer scale of the races sapped at my confidence and ultimately I found myself hiding on the back of the grid for the biggest race of the year, the National Champs, trying to be invisible, not bothering anyone.  The inevitable happened, I got stuck at the back of a huge bottleneck at the first singletrack and lost minutes.  By the end of the first lap any hope of catching the top 20 riders had been obliterated by other people's technical inabilities.  I was left frustrated by a 28th place finish in a race where I wasn't passed, not once!  I had spent the entire race picking off nearly a hundred other riders and when I finished I still had energy to burn and the definite knowledge that if I'd had the balls to stand at the front of the grid I'd have been a top 10 finisher.  The process had begun...

Fast forward 17 years and I found myself stretching my hamstrings on a bench in Janske Lazne, venue for the 2013 World Masters Mountain Running Champs.  After a frustrating 8 weeks of preparation since my last race, hindered by a run of interconnected injuries that had made my left leg a virtual passenger in my heavily interrupted training schedule, I had every right to feel nervous and unconfident, except I didn't.  Obviously I had the adrenaline, the essential buzz that brings out the best of performance when the flag drops but those crippling teenage doubts were nowhere to be seen.  I finished stretching, jogged back to the start line and placed myself on the front row, dead centre, racing line.  Any of the other racers could've demanded I moved back and joined the grid from the back as you should, but they didn't.  My demeanour said I was World Class, I belonged there.  The race went perfectly, tactically and physically.  As expected the genuine World Class athletes pulled away from me, the pros, full timers and superhuman specimens.  The rest of the field didn't catch me, couldn't pass me and I gradually eased away to get my top 10 finish.  Top 10 in the World!  The process of belief was complete.

Feeling confident 30 mins before the biggest race of my life

This scenario doesn't really make sense.  In 1996 I was already an experienced mountain bike racer with a fairly enviable CV of results.  I was at the peak of fitness and belonged somewhere near the front of that National standard grid.  By contrast, this year I was just a second year runner, albeit with some good Irish results but absolutely no experience of racing on a World stage and with no right to plonk myself in pole position on the Czech starting line.  In the 17 years between those two races I had learned a very important lesson...

Ability without confidence is about as useful as confidence without ability and neither is likely to win you anything!

I'll elaborate in a second within the limited context of my own sporting successes but first I want to drill this point home.  Picture Usain Bolt at the start of a race, any race, as he doesn't really lose ones that matter!  His posturing, smiling, oozing confidence, ultimate external image of relaxation actually served to change the sport of sprinting for a while.  I remember reading an article not long back about how Bolt's demeanour so totally crushed his opponents that the only way they felt they could compete was to copy him.  So everyone started acting the way he did, but they were just pretending to be confident, playing into his hands and basically by interrupting their own finely developed pre-race routines they were conceding the race before they even got into the blocks.  Even Olympic standard athletes need to believe they can win, the alternative is a lack of confidence that can end the careers of the truly talented.

Funnily, there are actually some comparisons to be made between those Olympic start lines and the pre-race warm-ups at the Irish fell races in which I've spent the last two years competing.  In my tentative first year I was turning up and getting sucked into a trap of amiability!  Despite always arriving with an hour to spare I'd end up chatting to so many really friendly people that I'd end up not even completing my warm up!  This left me underprepared and therefore never fully ready for the race.  I did OK that year, always top 10 but never a winner and there were a group of 5 or 6 runners who I never could beat, physically or psychologically.  I could almost predict my race result whilst stood on the start line because I knew that whoever was there from that elite group would be beating me to the finish line.  The process of belief was still a work in progress.  Having decided to focus properly on mountain running this season I began to think a bit more professionally and glean every bit of information that could make me faster.  I watched the pre-race rituals of the top contenders and realised that amongst all the chat (and they'd still be very friendly) they were definitely focused on their own routines and rituals, ensuring that when they stood on the start line they were 100% ready.  They were the Usains and the other 95% of us were the hapless opponents.  If I was going to win, my pre-race had to be right.

So that was learning point number one.  I changed my approach and developed a warm-up schedule that still allowed time for me to chat to everyone but guaranteed that I always finished with a final stretch just in front of the grid before stepping on to the front row, dead centre.

Here are the other things that I learned this year in order to mentally develop the required belief.  I think these are pretty generic and I'll be applying them back to mountain bike racing again in 2014.

1)  Prepare Physically

Yes this is totally obvious!  If you're not physically capable of winning races then you won't, but the format of your physical preparation can have a massive impact on your mental strength and belief processes.  Personally I'm a big believer in targets and goals and I had the perfect set of measures in the previous race results.  I based my pre-season training on an intention to beat the winning time from the 2011 Tollymore Hill and Dale race won by the then invincible Des Woods.  I knew that if I could get close to his time in my training then I'd have a really good shot at winning this year.  As the 2013 Tollymore race neared I focused all my energy on a full pace attempt at the course the week before.  I had to bury myself on that training run but I beat Des' race time without the added incentive of competition and so despite having never won a Hill and Dale race, I turned up at my first race of the season feeling like the firm favourite.  Ironically in this case it was the speed I'd developed and the confidence to run off the front of all those people I'd never beaten before that led to me missing a turning and leading the next three runners temporarily off course and to disqualification!  To me this was also irrelevant though, as far as I was concerned I won that race convincingly and I'd a sneaky feeling that my opponents felt that way too.  The belief was growing and I took it to the next race and won by over two minutes.

Brutal pre-season training added self-belief

2)  Set Ambitious Goals

At the start of the season I was asked what my goals were for the year.  Bearing in mind that this is just my second year in the sport I chose these.
a) Win my category in the classic Mournes based Hill and Dale race series and come top 3 overall.
b) Complete the iconic and historic Slieve Donard race in a sub 1 hour time.
c) Put together the results required to represent Ireland at the World Championships and not be disgraced when I competed there.
Pretty ambitious stuff but I figured if I was going to put everything into one sport for a year then I may as well aim high.  As it turns out my season started well and gained momentum from there, I achieved or over achieved all of these.  The important aspect though was the fact that having stated these to other people, the incentive was there to achieve them (or look very foolish/arrogant).  By setting these goals I was making that psychological shift needed to believe I could beat opponents who I previously found unbeatable.

3)  Ride The Momentum 

This is something that I learned but could have probably done a lot better myself.  Anyone who follows sport generally will probably have witnessed the way that winning is a habit.  Good teams become seemingly unbeatable and opponents start sub-consciously playing for a draw or just simply trying to limit their losses.  My season had great momentum but almost got de-railed by surprise success.

The Slieve Donard race is the one to win.  People have trained long and hard to get their names on the winners shield alongside the good and great of Irish mountain running and most have failed.  It's the race that used to totally astound me when I read that the winners could get to the summit and back in less than one hour.  Perhaps because of this I never once believed I could win it.  I raced it last year and was both delighted and gutted with my performance.  I was overjoyed with my 7th place but couldn't help but be disappointed with my time, 1hr and 46 seconds.  Not because it was slow by any means but because I'd built up a sub 1hr Donard as the ultimate verification of being a proper Mourne Mountain runner and I'd come so close.  That's why this year my main goal was to bag the 1hr Donard.  I prepared well and turned up with tactics in mind, get to the top as fast as possible and then try to hang on to the elites as long as I could on the way down (I'm not known for my descending prowess).  Sparing you most of the details, I ran away from everyone on the ascent and then unbelievably stretched my lead on the return journey to complete the course in 57:01 and win by nearly three minutes.  It's no word of a lie to say that I was in shock as I approached the finish and the realisation dawned that I'd won, and in a decent time despite the worst imaginable weather conditions.  My slightly over the top fist pumping as I slowed for the final 50 metres to savour the moment was entirely involuntary and came from a sense of disbelief.  My performance had outdone my self-belief and my head had some catching up to do!

The upshot of the result was that I nearly stopped running after it.  My total surprise at winning a race I respected and revered so highly almost derailed my whole season as I couldn't envisage it getting any better and subsequently lost motivation to train.  If I'd had a bit more belief then maybe I'd have taken it all in my stride, likewise if my goals had been more ambitious.  As it was I slacked off a bit and instead of riding the momentum of victory I had to wait a while to win another race.

The trophies that nearly ended my season!!

 4)  Stress the Details

I figured that if I was going to spend just one year achieving as much as possible in mountain running then I'd be insulting myself and the sport if I didn't do everything in my power to be as good as I could.  Obviously having a job, two young kids and a growing business meant that I couldn't train as much as I'd have liked but I took control of all the other factors, from the most major to the smallest details.  In terms of the bigger aspects I lost weight, taking over 1.5 stone off an already skinny (although I'd prefer lean) frame.  This took sacrifice, no booze, no buns, no biscuits, the lifestyle of a monk!  Obviously being lighter is a big advantage when running up steep mountain sides, imagine carrying a bag with 1.5 stone of rocks in it, it'll definitely slow your progress.  The other side to this discipline though is the fact that for every pint you refuse and for every Hob Nob you turn down, psychologically you feel that tiny bit stronger.  The more you sacrifice, the more it matters that you perform when you get the chance, because why make all that effort if your performances are going to be mediocre?  At the smaller aspects end of the scale I ditched the baggy biking shorts which had previously caused much amusement for my club mates and competitors alike.  By donning a pair of what passes as a pair of shorts amongst runners I was taking another psychological step to being a real runner myself (and on a practical note that move probably saved me from being blown off Millstone Mountain by a blistering headwind which would have flown my old shorts like a kite with me still inside them!).  By focusing on making all the measures I could to be faster, mentally my belief continued to grow.

Every little counts, and those shorts are little!

5)  Have a Routine

And stick to it.  Whether your race is a local evening event or the World Champs.  Whether it takes place at 7pm or 11am.  Whether your journey there takes 10 minutes or a whole day, just be sure that for the last hour before your event you're following your routine.  This takes out all the stress and allows you to go through the motions almost subconsciously.  Register, attach numbers, drink, warm up, stretch, energy gel, check the first 100 metres of the route, stretch again, line up on the start line, front row, dead centre, jog on the spot, GO.  Simple and worry free leaving nothing to burst that bubble of self-belief.

6)  Keep The Faith

You'll probably get beaten.  After all, there are lots of people stood on that start line with a race plan that ultimately ends up with them victorious.  Some of them may even have the self-belief too and so they'll probably get their results just like you get yours.  There can only be one winner, don't let your self-belief diminish because someone was better than you on the day, just work out how to beat them next time.  I won more races than I lost this year but I definitely lost races that I wanted to win.  I picked myself up and tried again next time but always with that same degree of belief.  On a similar note, if you're a runner you'll get injured at some point!  Give yourself time to heal properly (not easy I know) and with a bit of effort you'll soon be as good as you were before the injury and maybe even better for giving your body some much needed R+R.  Don't let your confidence be destroyed by the doubt that comes with injury.

7)  Keep It In Context (Or Maybe Not)

You could read this blog and assume that I'm some kind of genuine athlete with a solid backing in sports psychology (or probably not!).  The fact is that I'm neither.  I am fit, in fact very fit and I train hard (and have for years).  If I hadn't competed for years on bikes there's no way that I'd have been able to compete in a brand new sport physically, but even more so, there's no way I could've managed it psychologically.  It took me years of being totally rubbish, to mediocre, to average, to above average, to leading races for a while, to actually winning races as a mountain biker.  Without that experience there's no way that I'd have coped with the pressure of leading a race in a new sport with 250 people behind all wanting to be ahead of me!  This apprentiship as a sportsman is something that all but the most outrageously naturally talented have to go through.  The pleasing thing for me was discovering that in addition to the physical side, the mental side of being able to compete at a high level is also transferrable between sports.  Despite not actually winning a race of any kind since I quit mountain bike racing 15 years ago, that mentality and knowledge remained dormant, ready to be utilised when required.  If you too can develop that self-belief, the feeling that you belong amongst your rivals and deserve to beat them too then who knows where that mental fortitude could take you.  Big businesses love paying sports stars, adventurers, entrepreneurs and other 'inspirational achievers' to come and address their employees.  Why?  Because they want to inspire this winning mentality in their staff, show them the drive and self-motivation needed to be the best they can be.  I guess by the same reckoning I've never gone into a job interview, exam or assessment with anything less than 100% confidence and that's almost always got me the desired result.  Maybe there are very clear parallels between the psychology of sport and everyday life.  Don't forget to keep the sporting bits in context though.  Achieving what I have this year has brought me satisfaction and confidence.  However, if I'd failed dismally I'd like to think I'm man enough to shrug my shoulders and accept that none of it really matters in the grand scale.  Losing my job or business would have slightly more far reaching implications!

As a postscript to this story I took the self-belief to a whole new level in my final race of the season (and possibly my running career).  The details of the Mourne 2 Day Mountain Marathon are covered in my previous blog but now it's over (and with a sense of slight embarassment) I'll let you into a secret revealing how self-belief can get a bit out of control!  Despite having literally no experience of running in this type of event, no idea of how long we'd be out there for, no clue on how stiff the competition would be, I went in to the race fairly firmly expecting to win the Elite category.  Part of this belief definitely came from being partnered by a top athlete and previous winner of the event, but part definitely came from a degree of blind self-confidence.  I'll even admit that I'd considered what to buy with my half of the £500 prize!  I'm a touch ashamed to have felt like this and obviously if we hadn't won there's no way I'd ever had admitted to it but you can't control your sub-conscience.  I meant no disrespect to my fellow competitors, many of whom are very good athletes.  It's hard to ignore the fact that confidence can become a self-fulfilling prophecy but I was definitely setting myself up for a big (and probably deserved) fall!

The logical conclusion?  I expected this win before it came despite a huge lack of experience!

So next up I'm going back to a sport I'm very familiar with but in a brand new format, Enduro mountain biking.  I was out with the current Irish champion the other day and he left me for dead despite him complaining that he's massively out of shape and off the pace!  I'm going to have to seriously go back to the drawing board before I honestly have the self-belief to beat him.  Here we go again....

Small Margins, The Lowe Alpine Mourne Mountain Marathon

This one definitely wasn’t my idea!  When I decided last year to focus my efforts on mountain running for 2013 I had a few targets but they were all focused on joining the exclusive group of runners capable of winning the short course races.  A strong Winter's training developed my capability to run full speed up tortuous gradients before releasing the brakes and letting my legs pick a terrifying line down through uneven mountain terrain but never for much over an hour.  It’s safe to say that I over achieved in this respect, bar an untimely DQ that cost me one series, everything else I managed this year has pretty much astounded me.  The ability to drop weight at will, bury myself physically and learn from mistakes has led to a pretty satisfying season!

This progress clearly didn’t go unnoticed and so it was that I got an offer I couldn’t refuse, as much as I’d have loved to!  Earlier in the season I was very nearly tempted into taking part in a major running and sailing event around the Scottish Islands by Deon McNeilly, a legendary figure in Irish mountain running.  Very fortunately for me work commitments staved off that event but it meant that refusing the next offer was to prove too hard.  With his regular partner taking a year off, Deon was seeking a team mate for the Mourne 2 Day Mountain Marathon and it was me he again asked.  My initial reaction was suitably non-committal, it was less than tempting for a few reasons.

1)      It’s long (55km) and involves carrying all your kit and camping out before doing it all again the next day.

2)      It takes place in September, way beyond my planned season end (even if I went to the World Champs in August) which meant having to stay fit and lightweight for much longer than anticipated.

3)      I’ve never really done any distance running, except for my two Mourne Wall runs (see previous blogs).

4)      I hate being hungry and I knew that we’d be carrying minimal food!

5)      It’s another event I used to read about with bemused interest (much like all fell running really) but under the impression that I could never actually compete in it.

The only thing that really tempted me was the fact that Deon has won it before and obviously wouldn’t ask unless he thought I had a chance of helping him win it again.  Despite all the arguments against, simple flattery overcame them all.  Ego can get you into some strange situations.  So it was that I entered the world of balloon beds, scooping water from rivers as you run through, weighing food, reading maps whilst running up hill, titanium stove pots and many other new concepts, the world of Mountain Marathons.

30 seconds to start and feeling relaxed!

The Lowe Alpine Mourne 2 Day has been running for decades, always along a similar format.  Pick what class you want to enter (these days from Elite down to ‘D’) and move as fast as you can through the allocated checkpoints whilst navigating yourselves in pairs.  The winners are simply the teams that complete the distance over the two days the fastest.  As long as you ‘dib’ all the checkpoints, route choice is entirely up to you meaning there is plenty of scope for being creative, and in many cases simply being lost!  We were entered in the main event, the 55km Elite race.  I was dubious as to how close a race could be over such a long and varied course but a pre-race tactical chat with Deon and a peek at previous results clarified that even over 10 hours of running, fine margins really can count.

After a week spent teaching navigation in freezing 40mph winds coming into the weekend’s race it was safe to say that I was very apprehensive and more than a bit unenthusiastic.  The reality of what I’d signed up for dawned on me and I had a few sleepless nights.   Extremely fortunately, the stunning Summer weather kicked in again just in time and we were faced with a forecast of mild, still days and even better a dry overnight camp.  Buoyed by this I packed an extremely light bag (12lbs) containing simply the obligatory kit list items and only one luxury (a hat to go with my Buff).  On arrival at Tollymore it was clear to see that not all teams had been so precise!   There was a very clear distinction between the Elite and ‘B’ class runners adorned in lycra, fell shoes and carrying as little as possible and the ‘C’ and ‘D’ classes, many of whom were wearing proper waterproofs, hiking boots and carrying a hell of a lot.  Us competitive types were obviously smug about carrying less weight but it was clear who’d have the last laugh at the campsite when comfort became an issue.

Following kit checks and final goodbyes and good lucks we were bussed to a ‘mystery’ location and as our allotted time arrived we grabbed our grid references for the day, got them plotted and started running.  I’ll not bore you with the details but basically we cocked up the first point and lost 10 minutes but then had a very solid day, moving well over some of the worst ground imaginable before reaching the campsite after around 5.5 hours.  I was pleasantly surprised by how easy I found it, having to move fast over that ground (and I really can’t reiterate enough how poor underfoot it mostly was) for several hours meant that we were never at our limits.  In fact, myself and Deon were able to chat away through much of it, sometimes about the navigation, sometimes about the race and sometimes about navigation in the race!  Not all teams were so careful to conserve energy though and it was a great surprise to us when a rival elite team overtook us despite starting 15 minutes behind.  It was less of a surprise though when they subsequently ‘blew up’ and ended up losing over 40 minutes.  It was very useful having the experience of Deon and my own experience of years of endurance biking to keep our pace suitably steady.

2 second pause for a pic and then up Slieve Muck

As the day one results came in we’d been informed that the front end of the elite race was close.  As it happens, it was extremely close.  After 330 minutes of racing only 6 minutes separated the top 3 pairs with us enjoying a slender 4min 40 lead.  I tried to put this out of my mind and focus on shoving as many calories as I had into me to attempt to recover for the next day.  The overnight camp was actually a total pleasure, some great banter, lovely sunshine and soft grass to pitch the tent on.  I strolled between the various pitches marvelling at some of the items carried by other teams, full size stoves, 4 man tents, cans of food and even some booze!  How the other half live.

Day 1 over, still smiling and a near 5 minute lead

Day 2 dawned bright with heavy cloud just touching the summits.  Remarkably my legs felt strong and relaxed and I felt really confident about the day ahead.  The format was slightly different with no staggered start and ‘clusters’ of checkpoints meaning that teams could choose the order they wanted to visit them.  This allows totally different route choices and adds a whole new element as you therefore have no idea how your closest rivals are fairing.  Myself and Deon were hoping for some better ground and more climbing to drive home the advantage we felt we had in terms of running ability and we weren’t to be disappointed.  Summit checkpoints on Slieves Binnian and Bearnagh meant some hard climbing but also some more established tracks and we flew round the course aided by some very precise navigation.  We occasionally crossed paths with the English pair who were looking like our closest rivals but it was obvious that they were taking a completely different route.  It wasn’t until the cluster was completed that we were headed to the same checkpoint again and as we approached it contouring round Luke’s Mountain we caught sight of them sprinting down the opposite side of the valley, it was going to be close!  As it was we led them by a couple of minutes and stretched out that advantage in the final run in through Tollymore Forest aided by the local knowledge of running on our familiar training routes to the finish back at the National Outdoor Centre.  In the end our advantage was 9 minutes but in the context of a 9 ¼ hour run it certainly isn’t much.  Another error like ours on the very first point of the weekend and we’d have probably lost it.

As I stood agonisingly in the shower watching blood flowing from my toes and a huge blister on the sole of my left foot I contemplated all the small decisions that had resulted in our victory.  There are so many ways in which you can lose ten minutes in an event like that with so many variables.  It truly is a combination of fitness, mountain craft, preparation, experience, pain denial and luck.  It just so happens that I got a very capable partner and the fortune required to pull off a first time victory.

Elite winners 2013!

I can’t express what a superb event the Lowe Alpine Mourne Mountain Marathon is.  Perfectly organised, a really friendly atmosphere, suitably challenging but also fun.  This year it was dedicated to Denis Rankin who was central to the event’s organisation for decades and who sadly died during a fell race earlier this year.  At the prizegiving his wife gave a great speech which coincided with a huge sunbeam breaking through the clouds and bathing a stunning Mournes vista in light, I couldn’t have imagined anything more poignant.

Huge thanks to the organisers but most of all to Deon for persuading me to take part.  I’m happy to retire from competitive running now but Deon is still searching for the ‘perfect 2 day’ as he has been for years so I’m sure he’ll be back again next year!   If only we’d pinpointed that first point maybe Deon could be feeling as satisfied as I am right now… 

Sorry for the lack of pictures by me, we could’ve had hundreds of stunners but my phone weighs 82 grams which any serious Mountain Marathoner will tell you is far too much to ever consider.  Given the choice between nice pictures or extra breakfast there really is no choice, you can’t eat a phone and as the title says, it’s all about the small margins!

Both sides of the coin...

Cycling has undeniably witnessed a massive growth in this part of the world in recent years with the obvious successes of Team Sky, the London Olympic squad and for Ireland the continuing performances of the likes of Nicholas Roche and Dan Martin etc.  Sportives are appearing, clubs are flourishing and mass participation is becoming increasingly noticeable with all sizes and shapes squeezing into lycra and hitting the roads.  Never has this been more noticeable to me than during the recent dry spell when the Mournes were crawling with cyclists enjoying some dry roads and pretending Spelga was the Alpe D'Huez.

Brilliant I say!  What could be better than a fitter, happier, healthier, more focused and motivated society?  Cycling is truly an incredible sport allowing the rider to become connected to the countryside whilst exploring areas they may have never before appreciated from behind their dashboard.  More cyclists can only be a good thing with demonstrable social and economic benefits from improved mental and physical health.  So why do some people hate cyclists so much?

I'm a sucker for the comments sections on websites and amongst the obvious trolls there is always the opportunity to laugh at the way that people seem to fight over anything, often subjects which have nothing to do with the original article.  I've definitely noticed that whenever there is a cycling article on the BBC website there is genuine vitriol amongst the comments which usually boils down to the 'shouldn't be on the road' argument.  I've generally dismissed these comments with the withering disdain they deserve, after all, yes I do pay road tax on my car, I just prefer to use my bike!  However, recently I've had a couple of experiences which have forced me to think about why there is so much animosity between the two user groups on the asphalt.

The first was as I was riding to work one morning down a classic single lane country road with big hedges on either side and little in the way of passing space.  I was occupying my usual position, just off the roadside enough to be noticeable but not so much to be obstructive.  Generally people slow behind me, I pull in another foot and they go past.  This time though a car flew past, close enough for me to feel the heat from their vehicle but luckily not close enough to clip my bars.  As I unleashed a torrent of abuse towards the idiot driver they then noticed the sheep enjoying a munch of the hedge whilst stood on the other side of the road.  Instantly they hit the anchors and with a big wobble just managed to avoid the animal before speeding off again.  My first thought was what a complete dickhead!  My second was why did they deem it necessary to brake for a sheep but not a human?  The answer is fairly obvious, they couldn't be sure that the sheep wouldn't step out and damage their car.  They clearly didn't consider my life to be important enough to slow down by just a few mph rather than speeding past.  It's safe to conclude that this person was an idiot, they hit the next blind corner at the same speed which would have almost certainly resulted in a fatal crash if there was anyone coming the other way.  At this point it was easy for me to see why cyclists may hate some motorists, they present a genuine danger to our health.

Surely it's as unacceptable to overtake a cyclist here at 60mph

As it is to hold up the traffic here doing 12mph...

The second was as I was driving up the Castlewellan road from Newcastle, a busy road where overtaking is normally easy unless there is traffic coming the other way.  On this occasion my lane of traffic was slowed to about 12mph by a couple of cyclists riding casually side by side and having a conversation.  There was no opportunity to get past as the opposite lane was packed with traffic.  The upshot of this was that we all had to drive at 12mph for several minutes.  What the cyclists were doing wasn't illegal, they can ride two abreast on main roads for as long as they want but I'm pretty sure that I wasn't the only one in that queue cursing their ignorance.  Personally I prefer the common sense approach of two abreast until the traffic behind slows and then go single file, it keeps the cyclist safer but doesn't slow the drivers too much.  Anything else seems to just further annoy the motor vehicle drivers and result in the cyclists getting passed in more marginal places, actually increasing the danger rather than limiting it.  At this point I was myself a driver more than a bit annoyed by the arrogant actions of cyclists.

I've spent a fair bit of time riding bikes on the continent and two things there definitely hold true.

1) Cyclists are given space and respect by drivers.
 2) That doesn't mean that drivers are going slower (if anything they're faster and more dangerous).

The difference I've witnessed though is that the drivers put their own necks on the line always giving me a full lane, moving themselves completely on to the wrong side of the road rather than cutting close to me.  This is a matter of attitude.  At present many drivers here seem to still see cyclists as second class road users and they see nothing wrong with passing within a metre of the rider's handlebars.  Unfortunately cross winds, pot holes, poor road surfaces etc make this a potentially lethal act.  On the flip side, I've come across many cyclists here who display open animosity to drivers and as a result almost take pride in being as obstructive as possible.  I've no doubt that as cycling becomes more and more mainstream these attitudes will gradually change and the roads will become safer, however, in the meantime surely us cyclists have a duty to ride responsibly with a thought to not irritating other road users too.  Mutual respect is the only way to guarantee genuine safety on the roads.

As a postscript to this blog, yesterday I completed the Giants Causeway Coast Sportive, 120 miles of twisting and sometimes narrow roads in horrendous conditions and at times limited visibility.  There were over 800 cyclists on the road, a sizeable hindrance to any car drivers journey and yet I didn't see any marginal overtaking, horn beeping or animosity at all.  This is credit to both the drivers and cyclists.  Co-existence on the roads can work, even in the most dangerous of road conditions.

World Police and Fire Games 2013 - Outdoor Activities for Competitors and Families

The Mourne Mountains

If you're heading over to compete in or watch the World Police and Fire Games 2013 then you truly are in for a treat.  Many of the events are taking place in and around the Mourne Mountains, one of the most stunning natural areas in Ireland and home to some of the best locations for outdoor sports. 

Rock Climbing in the Mournes!

Of course, as with all destinations, local knowledge is the key to getting the most out of your limited holiday time and that's where Rock and Ride Outdoors come in.  We are Ireland's premier outdoor adventure company and we love to show off our local area to all visitors.  During the whole duration of the games we will be offering adventurous days of Mountain Hiking, Rock Climbing and Mountain Biking, taking you to the hidden gems and incredible viewpoints which are normally accessible only to the locals.

We'll save you the bother of needing to bring piles of heavy kit by providing all the specialist equipment. Our hugely enthusiastic and highly experienced and qualified instructors will give you a day out that will last long in your memory.

Mountain Biking in the Mournes!

From August 1st-10th we will be offering full days of Mountain Hiking, Rock Climbing and Mountain Biking.  During these days you can expect to find yourself conquering the granite Tors of the High Mournes, taking the challenge of sheer rock faces and flowing through the hidden singletrack of the Irish woodlands.







We put together itineraries just for you to be as relaxed or action filled as you like and pitched to just the right level for your abilities.

Prices from just £50pp per day (group discounts for large groups and families).

Contact us at info@rockandrideoutdoors for more details.

For full details of all of our other courses check out www.rockandrideoutdoors.com or find us on facebook at www.facebook.com/ Rock&RideOutdoors

R&R on RTE

After filming with RTE last summer the series has been produced and is now showing on the next three Sundays in May @1830. Worth catching for the scenery and interesting facts about Ireland's Flora & Fauna.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzPRjy_bAwU

Skiing - Irish style

Climbing our line on Bernagh to check snow conditions!

So over the last few weeks conditions in the Mournes have been alpine.  Blue skies, no wind and snow covered mountains.  Who would have thought you could be skiing after work at the start of April!!






I was lucky enough to get out and enjoy these conditions.  Along with a hardcore crew of Craig, Graham, Ellie and Paddy we skinned many peaks, descended many slopes and had many a big smile.  Below is a short GoPro edit of what we all truly enjoyed.

I think you could still be skiing in a weeks time.  The lee slopes (west facing) still have a huge amount of snow on them and those patches are not disappearing to quick!

Apres ski Newcastle STYLIE!

DIY Winter Training Camp

In an ideal world we'd all be able to head away to the sun for the Winter.  A few hours on the road bike every day, run up a mountain and then have a swim and spa whilst the chefs cook us numerous tasty and healthy dishes to keep us fuelled.  We'd return tanned, chiselled and destroying our PB's for fun...

Another sunny Malta day

Reality time!  For most of us a week away over Winter is a luxury and even then exercise comes way down the list behind family duties so I was delighted when my wife suggested we head to Malta for three weeks this February.  Now I'll be honest, the major factors behind this idea were more to do with the fact that our two year old son couldn't pick the sun out in a line up and heating the house for our new baby is more expensive than buying a foreign island but in the back of my mind I was hatching a plan.

Having decided to train properly this year I'd had a great December and January but was already getting jaded with the idea of getting frozen and soaking yet again every day through Feb so I jumped at the idea.  Luckily with two weeks paternity and a part time contract I was able to free up a whole three weeks.  Here is what I learned.

1) Do it!

A self catering apartment in a 4 star hotel cost us 21 Euro per night for 2 adults and 2 kids!  21 Euro!  Fresh towels every day, cleaners, gym, pool, spa and all for less than it costs for us to be at home with heating, fuel etc.  The flights cost us £350 and food was really cheap with fresh veg and fruit markets everywhere.  The journey with a 2 year old and a 7 week old was a dream, Easyjet were excellent and allowed us 4 big free extra bits of luggage as well as priority boarding, brilliant.  Can't say we'd expect the same level of service from other well known (and much hated) low cost airlines though!

2) Be Organised

In the first week I was trying to fit in my running whenever I could which is really difficult.  Anyone who trains seriously knows that having no time to mentally prepare for a hard session makes it doubly hard as well as the problem of not being able to exercise within a couple of hours of eating.  By day five I decided to get up early and get out there, it was still hard on minimal sleep but at least I knew it was coming every day.  It also meant that I could spend the rest of the day being as relaxed as possible.

3) Be Realistic

I was on a family holiday which with our kids meant little sleep, constant playing, virtually no genuine relaxation and impromptu weights sessions (carrying a knackered 3 stone kid over a mile up a hill from the beach!).  As fun as this all is it isn't classic recovery time so be prepared to listen to your body and adjust your sessions accordingly.  I managed to train every day, some sessions were absolutely brutal and others were a bit more relaxed but I was amazed how well I did recover despite never stopping all day, just the mental relaxation of being on holiday can spur you on physically.

4) Be Creative and Go Explore

Malta is definitely not your quintessential mountain running training venue.  There are no mountains for a start, as well as that, virtually all spare land is used for growing veg so there are very few trails.  On day one I headed out just to see what I could find and ended up with a 7 mile loop with road, beach, trail and off-trail elements ending with a big hill.  This formed the basis for getting in some miles.  Outside our hotel were 112 steps which provided some amazing endurance and sprint interval sessions.  This led to some funny looks, filming, photos and fighting through the stink of the morning smokers but definitely made a difference.

The 112 Steps

Done 100 times!

5) Lay Off The Booze!

I'm no drinker these days but the local Cisk lager was amazing and the wines were really good too. There's undeniably something about being on holiday that makes you want to drink but if you're going to get going at 7am then you need to be disciplined. Couple of glasses at dinner = Good. Couple of bottles at dinner = Puking on the aforementioned steps.

6) Think How Bad It Is At Home!

The weather in Malta wasn't amazing initially and I wasn't hugely delighted when everyone's Facebook was showing blue skies in the Mournes but then I saw sense.  Running in shorts and short sleeves in the dead of Winter along a stunning deserted clifftop path at 7am is a total joy.  The skies were blue in the Mournes but then so would my skin have been if I'd headed out in what I could wear on holiday.  Smugness is a top motivator and no matter how much I may have dreaded an upcoming ball buster of a session, knowing it would be warm made all the difference.

7) Let The Family Know

Don't just sneak out every day, tell the family your plans.  If your partners are anywhere near as understanding as mine then it means that at least you'll get time for a shower and some breakfast when you return from running up and down 11,000 steps before you become a human climbing frame for the day!  Also there's nothing better than an adoring child saying 'did you have an excellent run daddy?' when you get through the door (obviously those with teenagers wouldn't expect this!)

Getting the family involved - Rowan doing some resistance work

So that's that.  I've never run more than three times a week in my life with biking taking up so much of my fun time so I was really intrigued to see what effect my DIY training trip had.  Since coming back I've taken chunks out of my quickest times on two of my usual testpieces and there's more in the tank.  I definitely feel fitter, stronger and mentally great having got more Vitamin D than I'd usually see this side of August in a year.  If you can free the time then I'd really recommend putting together your own Winter camp.




Malta was great, the people were lovely, the weather good, food and drink good, prices cheap and lots for the kids to do.  I'll happily pass on recommendations based on my experiences, drop me a line at ian@rockandrideoutdoors.com if you'd like some details.

Eagle Ridge - Lochnagar

Yesterday (21st Feb) John McCune and myself climbed the classes Eagle Ridge (VI, 6) in Lochnagar.

2nd Pitch - Eagle Ridge

We had asked about conditions of the route but no one had been that way.  What we didn't want was unconsolidated snow as this was meant to make it quite hard going.  The approach was promising with bullet hard neve requiring crampons.  Unfortunately the steeper the approach the more unconsolidated the snow was. Not letting this get in the way John headed off having climbed the route in summer and knowing the line (pictures of topos on iphones isn't always a great idea!).

We both ended up with 4 great pitches.  Pretty much all of the cracks were filled with snow and it gave for quite a bit of clearing and what felt like swimming at times.  The route is currently in but a small freeze thaw would do it the world of good.

It was John's last route after 6 weeks in Scotland.  Great way for him to end his trip!

Alpine Conditions in the Scottish Highlands......

Gargoyle Wall

Indicator Wall

It has been a pretty intense few weeks up in the West Highlands.  Here are a few words I wrote for the Alpkit lads!



www.alpkit.com/daring-deeds/classic-week-on-the-ben

Last pitch on Orion Face Direct

The last few days with John McCune have been very good as well.  All routes high up on the Ben are in excellent conditions with light winds and very much alpine conditions.  I will let the pictures do the talking..........

The panoramic from the top of Ben Nevis

Lochnagar tomorrow for Eagle Ridge hopefully!

Scottish Winter Climbing

Anybody over in Scotland this coming weekend as this might be worth a visit.


Scottish Winter Climbing Meet 2nd-3rd Feb 2013

http://www.scottishwinterclimbing.co.uk/

Rock & Ride will be out working and climbing in Scotland so if you are interested in Scottish Mixed or Ice drop us a line.