Ep 28 The Iveragh Traverse with Joe O'Leary and Kevin Leahy, plus training around shift work with René Borg
· Trail Running Ireland Podcast
Eoin heads to Kerry to talk with Joe O'Leary and Kevin Leahy about the Iveragh Traverse, one of the toughest new running challenges in Ireland. Before that, René Borg explains how to keep training when shift work gets in the way.
Eoin opens with condolences after the tragedy at the Yellow River Stone Forest 100k in China, where 21 runners died, and points listeners back to the safety advice in Episode 26. He also notes the welcome news that outdoor sport is beginning to reopen in Ireland.
René explains that shift work makes a fixed weekly routine difficult and usually costs sleep. His advice is to follow the work pattern rather than fight it: do the hard sessions in weeks with normal sleep, and keep it easy during night shifts or long workdays. He suggests thinking in nine, twelve or fourteen-day blocks instead of a calendar week, and resetting a goal if life simply will not allow the volume it needs. He also talks about heart rate variability as a possible way to estimate aerobic threshold, but says that for most runners mood and muscle soreness are still as useful a guide as the gadgets.