FITNESS A Sea2Summit survivor speaks

Sea2Summit – there and back again


Personal Trainer
Paul O'Brien

Well what a day! The inaugural Westport Sea2Summit is over, but not soon to be forgotten. Local winners, great local support – and even the Gods chipped in, holding back the rain clouds until the mid-afternoon, when most of the field were enjoying much-needed hot soup in the post-event hospitality tent.
A field of well over 500 competitors gathered outside the Castlecourt Hotel at 9am for the pre-event briefing. In truth, I don’t remember a word that was said. My focus was on getting started and getting the event behind me. I struggled to keep thoughts of dinner and the after-party at bay. A buzzing, celebratory mood encircled us as we stood in the hotel courtyard. The atmosphere was akin to that of a street carnival. Then the hooter sounded and we were, thankfully, off!
The run down the Greenway was slow going at first and I cursed myself for not having started at the top of the field. Running has always been my strength, but I spent a lot of energy speeding past others when the gaps presented themselves. The cycle to Croagh Patrick presented no problems and I was further pleased with my quickest Reek ascent to date. As I approached the summit, I noticed most of the elite athletes were taking the ‘alternative’ route down the mountain. I decided to follow suit and after a slow start on a descent I had not trained for, I quickly made ground on competitors ahead.
Some local photographers had braved the cold and were strategically placed to snap us as we tackled the course. Aside from a few small teething problems, organisation at the transition points and around the course was excellent, with lots of water at hand and good marshalling. These people volunteer their time for these events and deserve to be lauded for what can be a cold and thankless task in all conditions.
I was where I wanted to be entering the Stage 4 Maum cycle and was looking at a goal-beating finish time. Nearing the top of the series of hill climbs on the Maum, I started to feel the burn in my legs and eased off a little on the pace. By the end of this stage I had fallen back a little but still felt strong.
The final stage of the ‘Supreme’ event (the tougher of the race’s two levels, the other one dubbed ‘Spirit’ level) can best be described in one word – brutal! At least that was my experience. Jumping off the bike, I’m sure I resembled a speed-walk athlete with very bad technique. What followed was a combination of walking, shuffling, feet-dragging and mini-jogging that brought me face-to-face with what shall henceforth be known as ‘Paul’s wall’ – the obstacle course.
Hindsight allows me to write now with amusement of my experience. On the day, it was sheer hell. Bending down to crawl through the first tyres, my legs screamed stop in the language of the muscles – cramps. And I thought I had experienced cramp before! No sir. About 10 or 15 minutes later I dragged myself off the ground, was ushered to the end of the course by some sympathetic marshalls (bless you, whoever you were) and continued on my painful way. The final 3km or so of the Greenway run seemed like an eternity in Hades, but I finally dribbled across the line in just under the 4 hours. Mission accomplished.
All in all, a great day, a great event and a great night at the after-party. Adventure racing is here to stay. Roll on next year. I’m off to jump through tyres in the back garden!

Paul O’Brien is a certified personal trainer with the American Council on Exercise and a qualified life coach. He runs his own business in Westport and is the creator of Bootcamp West, an exciting and challenging exercise programme in Westport. For details of upcoming classes, visit www.bootcampwest.com or e-mail paul@bootcampwest.com or telephone 086 1674515.