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+--- Thread: Six weeks to Toral 2005 (/showthread.php?tid=1135)
Six weeks to Toral 2005 - Riazor Blue - 15-05-2005
The week with the runs and the dodgy squid ran into last weekend and a half marathon in Ferrerúa. I ran this one two years ago two weeks after the marathon in Madrid. Last year I wanted to run but in the middle of a thunder storm en route I deciced that a large coffee and a croisant was a much better idea. This year, come rain or shine, I was determined to run. In the end the sun shone, in fact it was a tad hot at the finish.
I think I have described Ferreirúa once before. It is an aldea, in the South of Lugo, very close to the wine producing area of Ribeira Sacra. For those with good maps, the nearest town is Monforte de Lemos, then 10 km west of there is a small village Pobra do Brollon, then 8 km north of there is a cluster of farms and a few houses, this is Ferreirúa. Not a place one would normally pass through, let alone visit. They do however have this fantastic day with the half marathon, a race of 9.6 km and shorter distances for children. Which all results in around 400 people descending on this hamlet, about 350 people more than the residents I would imagine.
The course itself consists of two laps of 9.5 km then the rest is a mini loop of Ferrerúa. Naturally, its all rural, running alongside farms, forestry plantations and a nice shady river. We passed two bars and a general store en route, whether they were in Ferreirúa or in neighbouring aldeas, Im not sure. Its not a race for personal bests as its up and down all the way, the first and third 5 kms are generally downhill, while the second and fourth quarters are uphill, add to the that the heat we finished with 26°C and in reality, its a tough old race.
What makes it special though is how the whole of Ferreirúa is out there helping, trying to ensure that everyone has a good time. There are two ways to apprach the place, one is from Pobra do Brollon, the other from the direction of Sarria to the north. To ensure that nobody gets lost there were villiagers out there to direct us to Ferreirúa. Next up there was a large field for parking, with marshals directing everything. Picking up the race number was easy as pie, and there was plenty of room to warm up. During the race there was ample bottled water at well manned stations and for those slower runners there was also a guy on a moped with water bottles. En route, which was superbly marshalled (traffic free of course because its in the middle of nowhere, but theyd also kept the cows off the roads), the support was great.
Once finished, there was the tee shirt, bottle of poweraid, water and fruit as per normal. There were showers (refreshingly cold) and then there was the prizegiving ceremony. Again, this is what makes Ferreirúa special, midway through the prizegiving there was empanada, pinchos of ham, cheese and chorizo, plus wine and soft drinks for everyone. Unlike many of tha races Ferreirúa is a family day, there were lots of families there, whether the kids were running or not, at the end, all of them were playing football. The weather helped Im sure, but I cannot think of a better Sunday morning run than Ferreirúa.
Ferreirúa was supposed to be a training run but I ended up running hard for the last 15 km which resulted in the need for a day off on Monday. There was no run on Tuesday as I had to be in Oviedo all day so the training schedule has been a bit haphazard these last couple of weeks. Im now more or less back in line, although Ive concentrated more on distances this week, there will be 34 km on Sunday then next week will look like this:
Monday: 6 km @ 140 bpm.
Tuesday: 8 km @ 150 bpm.
Wednesday: 4 km warm up; 8 X 400m @ 190 bpm; 4 km cool down.
Thursday: 8 km @ 150 bpm.
Friday: 16 km @ 150 bpm.
Saturday: 16km @ 150 bpm.
Sunday: Carriera Popular do Arteixo (12 km flat out)
Arteixo will be special for me this year as the shop is one of the sponsers, although in the publicity I am The Runing Chop which I think I found funnier than the race organizer did.
*** My 34 km run was eventually shorter than I had hoped, ending up at 27 kilometers. No wonder I felt fresh as a daisy afterwards. Next time Ill have to measure the route before I go for the run and not afterwards. Still, 27 km on fresh legs not bad.
Oh, and by the way, I ran 1 hour 30 minutes in Ferreirua, visit them at http://www.ferreirua.com
Six weeks to Toral 2005 - Bierzo Baggie - 15-05-2005
Shame about Palace Brian me ol' mate...try getting it out your system with a sub 3:15 in Toral!
Six weeks to Toral 2005 - Riazor Blue - 15-05-2005
I have to say that we were lucky to go up last year, and the experience (and money) should do us good. With luck we can bounce back although it's a hard division, just look at West Ham, they should have been back in the Premiership ages ago.
I have to say aswell that I was shocked to see the other day that Nottingham Forest had been relegated. They were always a team that I had respect for. Let's hope they can bounce back aswell. If Manchester City can do it....
Six weeks to Toral 2005 - sampedro - 16-05-2005
Congratualtions Brian, that's quite a good race considering the course in Ferreirua. Your doing really good, but dont you think 34 Km is too much?
By the way i won't be at Arteixo although i wanted to, that same day there is the last race of "Corre con Nos " in Lugo and i can't miss it.
Six weeks to Toral 2005 - El Gordo - 16-05-2005
I love these off-beat Spanish race reports - thanks, RB. It's funny how some communities (talking generally now) really support race events, while others seem unaware/uninterested in them. The Dublin Marathon for instance, is apparently not very well supported, though if you know Dublin, you'd think they'd go crazy about it.
Post-race wine, chorizo and cheese... hmmm. I like that idea.
Six weeks to Toral 2005 - Nigel - 16-05-2005
Riazor Blue Wrote:With luck we can bounce back although it's a hard division, just look at West Ham, they should have been back in the Premiership ages ago....
Just look at West Ham, indeed.
Yes, but some of us can hardly bear to watch....
Ipswich again on Wednesday.
Six weeks to Toral 2005 - Nigel - 16-05-2005
As I recall, wasn't it a last minute goal by West Ham against Wigan which got Palace into the play-offs last year, and then into the Premiership by way of beating West Ham ?
Shame to see Palace and Norwich go straight back down. Meanwhile, Wigan are going the other way, whilst West Brom survive by the merest whisker. It's evolving into a trapdoor system, and we certainly seem to pick 'em round here, don't we ?
Still, on the positive side, there's exactly zero chance of the Irons, the Eagles or even the Baggies ever being taken over by a Florida billionaire. Indeed it would be less of a debt mountain than an entire range of despair mountains to overcome in the case of those particular transactions ....
Six weeks to Toral 2005 - Sweder - 16-05-2005
Gee, thanks for reminding me Nigel. I'd managed to forget all about the Hustling Pixie for a couple of hours . . .