Navigating the Pain Cave

02 May, 2023 - Ian Synnott

Up to the little town of Kilfinane for the 10th running of the Ballyhoura Ultra. I've been trail running myself for just about 1 year now after transitioning from the roads, so this was my first attempt at the route. I arrived at the start location (Scoil Pol) approximately 50 minutes before the scheduled start time of 7am. My pre-race meal was consumed 2 hours prior, and prep now consisted of making sure I had all the race essentials in my hydration pack (water bottles 2x500ml, nutrition, salt tabs, jacket, emergency foil blanket, phone, and chewable ginger candies}. As a side note here, for anyone who has trouble with gut bombs on these long treks, then ginger is the golden elixir. All items were present so all was left was to apply my anti-chafing cream (Squirrel Nut Butter my preference) and my trail shoes.

So after a short briefing inside Scoil Pol, we lined up outside the school gate for the start. And just after 7am, on this mild overcast morning, we were off.

The first couple of kms were through the village before hitting the trails proper. Having studied the elevation map, I knew there was a fair bit of climbing to be done up until the 11th km. The plan in these early stages was to go slow, and keep the heart rate in the aerobic zone. So this meant walking when I needed to - a strategy I noticed many others were also adopting! A group of about four or five runners started out quicker however, and were out of my sight by the time we hit the first testing climbs at kilometre 4. These hills were nothing too major here and there was a nice downhill section from km's 6-9.

About 9.5km in and I was greeted by the first significant climb. A single path trail with overgrown foliage, coupled with technical terrain. This was an exercise in self preservation as it would have been all too easy to take a bad step here. But I traversed successfully, and passed a couple of runners along the way, and met another at the top. He courteously stepped aside to allow me through, and the next 9 kms or so were all downhill or flat towards the first checkpoint, and the completion of the "half" loop. Got here in just over 2 hours... so far so good. I should note that the section after the climb had a largely un-runnable section, unless you felt like going knee-deep into a tremendous amount of mud baths. Images of Artex sinking in the Swamp of Eternal Sadness in the movie "The Never Ending Story" entered my mind for some reason. I wanted to avoid that.

So back to the race... A quick top up of water at this station, and a re-tying of a lace that had come loose, and I was off out on the "marathon" loop. This is where things would get hairy.

Some minor climbs followed by a downhill section (a part of which was treacherous due to some large machine ploughing through the track) completed the next 10 kms. I held my pace steady, but when I hit a significant climb at kilometre 31 (and the half way point), it took some of the wind out of my sails. I had hit a wall. Experience has taught me that this is nothing unusual, and you just need to grind your teeth and fight your way through it.

An ultra is more a mental battle than it is a physical one. And it is here where your body is going to start shouting at you to stop. Your subconscious will weigh in too with messages of "why are you even doing this?", "you're no good", and my personal favourite "you're not able for this". It is in these moments that you find out what you are made of, and if you quit just because you are tired, then you'll never complete one of these. This psychological battle can be waged for miles, and the only way to emerge victorious is to keep going. The body and the subconscious will eventually relent and kneel before the awesome power of the mind.

About 35k in while on a steep climb... I hit rock bottom. I stopped for a breather and then walked to the top. A rather jolly man from across the pond who was consuming a can of pale ale last time I met him, (the with alcohol kind) joined me about half way up. He offered words of encouragement which are always accepted with gratitude. We parted ways again as he began motoring down the descent in front of us. I would meet him again further down the trail.

I was doing a bit better now, but next up was the steepest climb of the course. A 25-30% slog complete with rocky technical terrain that went on for about 3 kms. I think it took me half an hour to complete!! At the top, I realised I'd picked up a rather annoying niggle on the side of my right foot. This would be exacerbated in the closing stages of the race.

A long downhill section now on very runnable terrain. Only problem is my legs were still flush with lactic and this niggle was causing pain every time I put pressure on my right foot. It wasn't until I got to the end of it that I finally broke through the wall and was now re-energised. I travelled along now at a steady pace and began ticking off the kilometres. Ninety minutes ago I wanted to quit, now I didn't want it to end. That's the irony of an ultra! I met my ale drinking friend again and swiftly went past him. No time for chit-chat now.

A quick stop at the last aid station with 10k to go. The can of coke I guzzled here was delightful, and when I'd drank my fill I was off again. I passed another couple of runners on this section before hitting another climb. I decided to preserve some energy and power walk it as I knew there was a long downhill section to the finish line. The two runners I had just passed now passed me. I'd catch them on the descent I told myself. But alas, when I got to the top, I couldn't run the finish as fast as I would have liked as now the pain in my right foot was rather significant. I ran as best I could.

I reached Kilfinane again and steadily made my way to the finish line at Scoli Pol, passing another runner in the town who had completely bonked, and was walking rather gingerly accompanied by a steward. I think we all know his pain. I got to the school and ascended the steps to finish in a time of 7hrs 13m and a 17th place finish. A very satisfactory race, and it's now onto longer races in the summer.

A big thanks to everyone who organised and volunteered to make this a successful event.