Ep 12 Kerry Way Ultra winner Gavin Byrne
· Trail Running Ireland Podcast
Eoin Flynn talks to Gavin Byrne, fresh from his second Kerry Way Ultra win and an appearance on RTÉ's Liveline, about racing 200 km, his relaxed approach to training and his Wicklow Round record. Simon Kelly reports on recent Wicklow Round completions and the autumn calendar, and René Borg explains why recovery after a big race matters, prompted by Mimmi Kotka's openness about RED-S.
Simon congratulates three runners who completed the Wicklow Round in under 24 hours over the summer. He runs through IMRA's autumn fixtures and the new Dublin Mountains Trail Running Festival, which sold out in two and a half weeks. He also covers the Mourne Skyline and the Mourne Mountain Marathon, a two-day team event now in its 41st year, and recommends Leadman, the film about Dave Mackey returning to the Leadville 100 after losing a leg. Eoin reports on a time-trial start format used at a race in the Spanish Pyrenees.
René reads out Mimmi Kotka's post about RED-S, relative energy deficiency in sport, and explains how training hard while chasing a low body weight leaves the body in long-term energy deficit. He describes training as putting money in the bank and then spending it, and explains how hard training and racing drive the sympathetic "fight or flight" system. That is why he recommends two to four weeks of rebalancing after a big race: if you stay stuck in that state, healing and digestion suffer, mood drops and training stops working. He suggests ways to switch on the "rest and digest" system, including naps, gentle massage, time in nature and time with friends, and reminds runners that all stress is cumulative.