The Soleus. Treat of.

30 June, 2024 - Brian Mullins

I finally figured out how to post my ramblings as a report since I got a few acerbic comments about my Galty Crossing musings in the forum. Yes I apologise that forum brain dump should have been posted as a report!

Back to present day.

Matt was on a different planet to the rest of us in fairness. Someone give that man a Guinness to slow him down! It was clear to see Mark is getting better with age and some good battles were witnessed as I saw runners flash past me on their half controlled careering downhill run to the finish that I know so well. But back to my question, the soleus, treat of. An interesting question or a terrible dream….

My race ended earlier on Monday running along the road under Claragh Mountain supporting a runner on the coast to coast ultra. I felt a twinge in my right calf, classically ignored it as that type of stuff just happens to other people who are ill prepared and not as experienced.

Ahem!! Well maybe not. Running up the road with Brian Furey on a warm up I knew I was in big trouble but still wouldn’t listen to that same voice inside my head that has generally been right about injuries for the last 20 years saying your calf is FUCKED! Meeting Matt on the jog back down from there to the start where I couldn’t actually run should have sealed the deal. Nope.

I started, within 5mins I was 10mins behind and drowning. I was running on my left leg, yes that one. As anyone who really knows me that’s the one that has neither an intact anterior talofibular nor an intact calcaneofibular ligament as I destroyed them over a decade ago on a training run in the Reeks. I watched as the first 5 or 6 disappeared away from me up the hill and started bargaining with myself. Just get to the top you are a demon descender, 2 mins behind at the top is no bother, in fact it’s an incentive to break the descent record of just shy of 19mins. A doddle. Yep that’ll do, drive it on harder walking, what do you mean walking? We are running, on one leg to the shortest line. I look ahead and all the fast men, where I thought I should be, are hand railing the stream gully like sheep as I pretend to find a new more direct line to the col over a few rock steps purely because this allows me to walk and mask the fact I can longer run. Amazingly it’s working as everyone behind, apart from the cunning former Irish Champ Peter who has seen this type of deception before, seems to be following. That’s a big mistake!

Maybe not though as I pop out just before the col and have made up time on those running with two legs, so big mental note for future years when I’m fit, there is a faster line! By the time I reach the col I look at the watch, 40mins, add 3 mins to that time and it’s my normal time to the summit. I admit to myself I kidding myself. I walk to the marshalls at the col and tell them it’s a very flat summit and ask them why is it still rising but in reality I’m all out of excuses. I just thank them for being there, tell them it’s all over and turn around and begin the sore walk down to the beach.

It was a great walk back down though and just reaffirms what a great bunch of people the mountain running community are. Some of the faces I met on the decent asked did I want a shovel to bury myself, others had very helpful suggestions about you are going the wrong way, even better were those that thought I was leading on the descent when I was barely above zimmerframe pace but the best had to be the classic comment elicited from many descenders passing me at breakneck pace “now you know what we feel like when you pass us”. That’s not funny lads!

Thanks to Laura, Kevin, Daniela, Orla, Brian, Alice and many others for making it all happen. Best of luck to all at Nephin tomorrow, the best 5k in the country by a mile. I’ll be on the MRI machine by then trying to figure out how to make the start line of Crossing Switzerland in 3 weeks time.

If I could just sum up the Connacht Champs in a few words i would say this. Brilliant open mountain races with the two best and fastest descents in the country, approx 19mins and 11mins respectively from summit to finish for those that want to know these things.