Tag Archives: multisport

Season Ends on a High at the Helly Hansen Killarney Adventure Race

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It couldn’t have been better!

Winning the Helly Hansen Killarney Adventure Race 2012 last weekend was the perfect end to a hard, intesnse season – which saw 6 demanding races packed into 4 months.

About the Race

I travelled to Ireland with a group of friends from Zurich who also competed in the 67km event.

The route was quite demanding, not because of the amount of height metres that needed to be climbed so much as the technical nature of the hill runs. The race began with a fast run up and down Strickeen hill in the Gap of Dunloe (7.5km) followed by a bike stage through the Gap of Dunloe into the Black Valley, up to Molls Gap/Ladies View and down to upper Lough Leane (35km). Next, a short kayak followed by a hard 18km run from the lakeshore up to the Devil’s Punchbowl on Mangerton Mountain (839m). Then, a descent of Mangerton back to the bikes at the lakeshore for a short ride of 4.5km to the finish line at Muckross House.

The breakdown and maps can be viewed here

Above, a photo taken by Valerie O’Sullivan on Strickeen, the first run stage, overlooking low-lying clouds over what would be Killarney and the lakes.

Excellent Organization

The race was one of the best organized I have taken part in, from pre-communications, to the check-in and registration at Kate Kearney’s Cottage the night before right through to the finish-line where you received a print-out of your time and position on the spot.

The Result

I finished in 1st place in a time of 4 hours 33mins and in 18th position overall. Although I had been aiming for a time of four and a half hours, I didn’t expect the standard of the men’s field to be so high (I had hoped to be within 30 minutes of the 1st male winner). The men’s winner Tim O’Donoghue was 55 minutes ahead of me!

Full results here

I made the front page of the regional paper – ‘The Kerryman’ (not so sure about my photo to the right of that headline though ; )

Another event review in the Irish Times blog

Tme Out

I am officially in off-season mode! It is hard to wind down from such an intense few months. Although I miss the activity levels, I have felt my body hasn’t been recovering well from hard sessions over the last month since the Inferno triathlon, there are twinges in muscles, signs of wear and tear that needs rest in order to repair properly.

I will take 2 weeks of full rest now, just some light exercise and strength and conditioning sessions. Then, return slowly to training with a focus on conditioning for a month or so to strengthen areas I have neglected while I was in race-mode this year.

2013 Plans 

Without going into too much detail. I plan to not compete in multi-sport events next year and focus exclusively on cycling. This is a big departure for me – but for a while I have seen my strength lies on the bike and I have been curious to see how far I can go if I focus on one thing. I have great support behind me from www.stct.ch the top amateur team in the region.

I am already excited to see what 2013 has in store!

An Inferno in Heaven; Re-visited!

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An Inferno in Heavan – A Re-Visit!

This was a great finish to my 2012 season! A 5th Place overall finish in the Inferno Triathlon and 3rd position in my Age Group (W30-34).

Results

2 Hard Races in One Week

With only 1 week in between the Züri Metzgete and the Inferno Triathlon, preparation was all about trying to get my body into shape and my gear sorted before taking on the mountain beasts in this hardest of Alpine Triathlons.

This year I am lucky to have been sponsored a 29er mountain bike from Zaboo for the Alpinathlon and the Inferno races. I love that bike! It eats up the trails both up and downhill and renewed my enthusiasm for mountain biking. Along with the Moser road bike and a nice set of wheels (thanks to Alain Baumann at Netcycle), I knew my equipment was better than 2 years previously when I did this race on much heavier bikes.

I travelled to Thun on Friday morning before the race with my friend Abi who was also doing the event, to start the long trek to each of the transition zones to drop off our road bikes, mtb’s and running gear before going up to Mürren to sleep the night there.

It all went according to plan – again, a different story to two years ago when I got a puncture the evening before the event and I was probably the last person dropping my gear off at each zone!

Good Morning!
The morning of the event was very relaxing, not just because we were half asleep for the first few hours of it (the alarm went off at 3.30am). I was excited but not as nervous as before the Metzgete. I knew that I had achieved more than I had imagined this summer, therefore a decent finishing position at the Inferno would be a bonus. Before the swim started we met Liselore Völlmer and Barabara Schwarz in the water and that was a really nice moment – 4 strong female athletes all wishing each other a great race just before the gun goes off.

The Swim

This actually went well! I had only been swimming about 1 time per week since April but this year I felt a lot more comfortable in the water. I seemed to have a better feel for it, and whenever I swam with friends I found it easier to keep up than previous years. I drafted the same swimmer for the bulk of the swim leg and came out of the water with Liselore to my right. 3.2km in 59 minutes – putting me in 26th place…no worries!

The Road Bike

Without saying this was going to be my strength. As soon as I got on the bike and managed to rub all the sunscreen into my skin I could really get stuck in. I reeled in and passed a lot of girls on this leg. I climbed 22 places on the bike and moved into 4th place. That was a nice feeling but it also reminded me that I am not a triathlete if I am so many places behind on the swim!

I really didn’t know how I was doing during the race – this is something I miss by not having ground support. I thought I was probably in 6th position so when onlookers told me I was in 4th I got quite a shock!

I had some back pain but I tried not to focus on it. Often in races this summer I have had a niggling lower back pain but I have been getting treatment for it and it releases with certain movements that unfortunately I can’t perform while cycling so I just have to put up with it!

Almost at the top of the Grosse Scheidegg something funny happened. I took a quick glance down when I heard a girls voice and I saw what looked like a skinny guy powering up the hill behind me, I wasn’t surprised – I just thought it must be a guy from a relay team. Until I heard the same voice behind me say “Hoi Fiola!” I got a shock! It was Andrea Huser, and I replied “Andrea! What are you doing here?!” (Erm…yeah – I put that unintelligent question down to brain malfunction that often happens in races). She told me she had a really bad swim and left the water about 25 minutes behind the leader. I rode with her for a little bit and left her off. Her pace would have jeopardized my plan to finish the race! She was on fire! I really am in awe of how much she has achieved this year…

MTB
The mountain bike was uneventful, I had a little tumble on gravel but I wasn’t the only one. The transition to run was also quite ok. I ate up the first 5 kilometers and my legs felt really good despite the heat (25 degrees)

The Run – Where the Race Begins

Once we started to climb I started to get slower. Then I noticed that Barbara Schwarz was just behind me and we started to battle against each other for a good 45 minutes or so. Then my back pain returned and to top it all off, every time I ran on the flat I got a stitch in my side. I tried everything, to massage it, hold my arm up in the air but nothing would work. I could only walk on the flats and I really needed to run those. Eventually she passed me. There was great comaraderie though as she asked me if I was ok and tried to cajole me into running with her too.

Getting Passed Once

Once I got to Mürren my stomach started to cramp. So now there was full system breakdown. Back, stitch and stomach! Brilliant! Anyway. I took a longer break at the refreshment station and as soon as I felt able to go on, I did. No point in getting upset, you just have to keep going forward and I definitely wasn’t the only person in this situation there were guys with various problems all around, from muscle cramps to tummy problems at this stage it’s a usual scenario.

Getting Passed Twice

About 1 hour from the finish line, right up in the middle of those majestic rocky hills, I noticed another solo woman closing in on me. The face was familiar. The same woman passed me in more or less the same stretch 2 years ago. I couldn’t believe it. I was determined not to let this happen again, so, with all my might, I tried to push some more. I held her off until the stitch came back and again I couldn’t run the flats! BUMMER!

The Finish

I didn’t let it get to me. There was no point. The objective now was to keep going, to finish and not let anyone else pass me. This, I did accomplish, and I crossed the finish line in 11 hours and 19 minutes – 46 minutes faster than in 2010, 3 positions higher and in much better shape than 2 years previously!

The only disappointment I had in this race was not to see Liselore and Abi cross the line. We had been looking forward to celebrating together at the Schilthorn. Abi suffered a nasty fall on the mountain bike and couldn’t continue, Liselore had bad stomach cramps and pulled out at Mürren. However, we shared stories over drinks later that evening and I’m sure both of them will have better luck next time ’round.

For me now, the season has to wind down. I would love to travel home to Ireland to do the Ras na Mna but I don’t feel as though I would be properly mentally and physically prepared for it. I would like to travel to Austria to do the Eddie Merckx Classic at the end of September, and enjoy the rest of the pass rides while they are still open this year.

Next year will be a big year for me. I plan to focus more or less exclusively on bike racing – therefore its probably not a bad idea to finish this successful season hungry for more! Bring it all on!

Zaboo 29er, MTBiking in Neuchatel and Countdown to the Alpinathlon

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New Bike – Zaboo Terra 29

Lots going on this week! First off I got a new bike! Zaboo are Swiss, and specialists in 29ers, the bike I’ve wanted to ride for the last year or so. Simon was really great to sort me out with one of their test bikes for the rest of the season, a Terra 29.

Here is a picture of the Zaboo on his first night with Moser and Maxlight in my basement:

zaboo3 zaboo2 zaboo

So now I have a great new ride for the Alpinathlon and the Inferno. Its already making a huge difference, climbing feels much lighter and easier on those big wheels and I am shocked at how easily they eat up the trails. I have been closer to Cait Elliot’s back wheel (I didn’t say that I am close – just closeER) on the trails than ever before on the Zaboo Terra 29. Thanks Zaboo!

Neuchatel Bike Trails

Yesterday Cait and I went to Neuchatel to avoid the bad weather forecasted for the region of Zurich. Our train ride was eventful. We didn’t make a reservation for our bikes and got charged 10 CHFs each, on top of our bike tickets (12 CHF). “Didn’t you see the sign on the train that says you need to reserve the bikes?” said the ticket collector. Erm, no? Do you mean the one that is hidden behind the bikes that you probably only see for the first time, like, 1 minute before the train is about to depart? Come on SBB! I want to follow the rules! Then we turned up extra early at the station in Neuchatel before to reserve our bikes on the return train to be told there was no room and we would have to wait an hour for the next train with space. This time the reservation only cost 10 CHF for both of our bikes. Confused. I guess we’ll know better next time.

The day out in Neuchatel was absolutely great. Thanks to our local tour guide Alexandre Dimitriou (who I raced with in Ecuador last year). There was a fair amount of climbing (1,300mtrs), Alex led the way and appeared hardly out of breath the entire time and the descent was sweet! I feel more love for mountain biking now after a year or two of not being so enthusiastic. New toys are needed every now and then..plus having great company and great trails to go with it!

The ride is on Strava here and

Countdown Alpinathlon

Last but not least, next weekend I will compete in the Alpinathlon. I’m apprehensively looking forward to it. However, in the back of my mind – having enjoyed the Engadin Radmarathon so much, I think I would prefer to be doing a straight bike race!

The Alpinathlon IS intimidating. The longer 5 route race has over 5,500 meters of positive elevation gain over 127km, on bike and foot. I don’t know how I will cope as I haven’t done any major long races this year but I do feel strong on the bike so Ill just take some consolation in that. Im pretty sure the hardest part for me (and everyone else) will be the last leg an 11km climb of 1,695 mtrs to the Corvatsch Bergstation! Lets see what happens! I’m not alone ; )

Apex AR World Series Interlaken Switzerland

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Cute bridge near BotigenPretty good for some rafting!Nice volume in this river!Nice morning to be waiting in the mountainsWaiting for a raft very early in the morning
MustardImboden Bikes R'ADYs after raftingTeam JFS from Sweden after rafting

Some pictures from an amazing weekend at the Apex World Series race in Interlaken where this year I helped out by manning some checkpoints and clearing the course.

Very little sleep, a couple of days of running around to collect some sticks with orange and white flags on them, and hanging out with many like-minded adventure racers left me exhilerated and wishing it didn’t have to end on Sunday evening!

Last year I started this race with Team Inov8 Irish AR, we had an unlucky race. We stopped to take a break in Lauterbrunnen in the afternoon of the second day, before the long trek on the second night, not realising there was a cut-off to cross the ridge a nightfall. Upon leaving Lauterbrunnen, we realised our mistake. We got stuck in wild thunderstorms on the way up the Schilthorn, had to take shelter, and didnt arrive at the summit until about 19:00, upon when the ridge was about to be closed and we were unable to cross and continue the trek.

The teams this year were amazing – sometimes I  just don’t know how they do it, and I definitely found myself asking the question “why do they do it?”. I know the answer to this question very well. It doesnt come across clear while the race is going on, it is a complete suffer fest. But it definintely becomes clear after the race. The complete satisfaction, sense of achievement, and incredibility of completing a race of such inhumane magnitude is IMMENSE. The pain and suffering doesn’t just disappear in a few hours as it might do after races of less magnitude, it takes a few days, weeks even, for your feet to return to normal, cuts to heal, chaffing to disappear. After most races, within a few hours you think “I can’t wait to do another one, that hurt, but it was great”. You don’t feel this after a 4 day adventure race – usually you vow, simply “never again”.  But as the physical pain disaapears, so does the notion “I’m never going to do this again” and it is replaced by the desire to chase the adventure all over again.

Team Imboden Bikes R’ADYs won the 2012 edition of The Apex by 1 hour, after coming a close second last year to team Silva of Sweden (who coincidentally won last year). They slept about 1 hour between Wednesday morning and Saturday morning. I was present during that fabulous 1 hour of sleep they took on top of wetsuits on a cold concrete floor in Bonigen outside Interlaken. The team is comprised of some of the most talented multisport athletes in Switzerland and Germany, Andrea Huser (European MTB champ ’02, Inferno Triathlon winner, 3rd Cape Epic (mixed) ’12), Marc Pschebizin (Challenge Wanaka winner ’08, multiple Inferno Triathlon and Swiss Gigathlon winner), Jan Béguin (mountain marathon world champion ’99) and Ben Hug (veteran adventure racer, 3rd place Wenger Patagonia Expedition Race 2011).

Here is a great video with some clips from this year’s race


Check out more pictures from the experience here