The Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar - A great watch with one infuriating design flaw
Its sticking buttons make it feel like a $10 Aliexpress special. The customer support is worse.
After a couple of great years with the Forerunner 935, the ever-reducing battery life started to become annoying and I decided last summer to upgrade to the 955 Solar.
Overall I like the feature-set and it generally feels like a solid upgrade to the 935. I particularly love the maps navigation. Being able to load up a course like the Beara Way Ultra and follow it via glances, along with some buzzes and beeps for major turns and going off-course, is an amazing time and hassle saver.
Posted by Conor O'Neill on Thursday, June 8, 2023
The inaugural Beara Way Ultra - Don't bring a knife to a gunfight
You can tell I just watched John Wick 4
Guaranteed finish I’m pretty sure the great Hal Higdon’s training plan for an ultra would be:
Do minimal daily sessions Do one long slow amble a week Skip core and glute exercises for a month Don’t get that long-term hamstring issue sorted out DNF after 88K of a different ultra three weeks prior Don’t sleep for the week beforehand Setup for success like this, I headed to Castletownbere at 3am from Bandon to try the first ever Beara Way Ultra.
Posted by Conor O'Neill on Sunday, June 4, 2023
The Brooks Caldera 6 is an ultra-devouring monster (but)
My absolute favourite trail running shoe for Irish conditions
UPDATE: See below for a major proviso to this post.
My entire history with Brooks until a few months ago was one pair of Adrenaline 19s which did not suit me at all. I always associated the brand with big reliable heavy running shoes for conservative joggers. The Caldera 6 takes that reputation and shreds it, in the best possible sense.
The perfect shoe doesn’t exist I’ve been on the hunt for the ultimate ultra-distance trail running shoe since I started going longer in 2017.
Posted by Conor O'Neill on Monday, May 22, 2023
Having a WTF moment at the Waterville Trail Running Festival
WTF could be our UTMB week if more people knew how doable it is
Waterville To my shame I had never been in Waterville until early 2022 when my Kerry Way Ultra recces began. Despite its remoteness, its position on the Ring of Kerry means it’s always busy and buzzing. And as an absolute bonus, all the tourist traffic means that vegans are very well catered for everywhere in the town!
Last year I also learned about the Waterville Trail Running Festival from Yvonne Walsh and vowed to give it a go this year.
Posted by Conor O'Neill on Monday, May 22, 2023
The Columbia OutDry Extreme Mesh is the running jacket I've been dreaming of
It is possible to have a waterproof running jacket. But it's not cheap
For someone who runs a lot in bad weather, I’ve bought very few running jackets since I started back in 2009. But once I started running trails, I had to up my game. They can be summarised as:
2009-2017 Various cheap generic windcheaters 2017 - Decathlon heavy running jacket. Not very breathable. Still use it. 2018 - The classic Ronhill Infinity Torrent Running Jacket with the chest pocket square. Still great.
Posted by Conor O'Neill on Monday, February 13, 2023
Conor's Top Tips for DNFing The Kerry Way Ultra
Everything I learned whilst failing to finish The Kery Way Ultra
DNF? For non-runners reading this, DNF means Did Not Finish. In my preview post I ended with “Let’s see how I do. Particularly when the rain comes in at night.”
On the plus side, the rain came in during daylight hours. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s go back to the start.
Nope, nope, let’s thank some people first.
Thank Yous Elieen - The woman, the legend. Words like “community” and “culture” have become overused and devalued.
Posted by Conor O'Neill on Friday, September 9, 2022
Watch your first Ultramarathon online with the Kerry Way Ultra
Ireland's legendary Ultra, the KWU, will be covered live this year. 120+ miles in < 40 hours.
The Kerry Way Whilst millions of people have completed marathons over the past few decades, ultramarathons are still pretty niche. Ireland has a bunch of fantastic ultrarunners and a handful of amazing ultramarathons.
The big kahuna of them all is the Kerry Way Ultra, which is about to have its tenth outing on September 2nd and 3rd. The Kerry Way is a wonderful trail that traverses the entire Iveragh peninsula. Many people travel from the US and mainland Europe to do multi-day hikes of the route.
Posted by Conor O'Neill on Thursday, September 1, 2022
Mirch Masala - Best vegan menu in Ireland?
Incredible range of vegan and vegetarian dishes in Clonakilty
We are spending two weeks in Clon whilst our kitchen gets rebuilt and decided to treat ourselves to an Indian takeaway on the first night. A bit of googling revealed that there was a new place called Mirch Masala, so I loaded up their website on my phone and my jaw hit the floor as I started browsing the menu.
The range of vegan and vegetarian options is almost beyond belief.
Posted by Conor O'Neill on Wednesday, January 26, 2022
How Flahavan's Oat Milk can out-market the big brands
There are a few areas Flahavans could dominate quickly
I was so pleased when I heard Flahavan’s was getting into the oat milk market. As the most famous porridge brand in Ireland, it seemed like an obvious move.
I only turned plant-based in January 2020 and switched to oat milk pretty quickly as I preferred, and still prefer, its taste to all the other plant milks. Having Flahavans as an option along with the usual Oatly, Califia, Minor Figures and Alpro means I can now finally support Irish farmers again with my cuppa tea and coffee.
Posted by Conor O'Neill on Sunday, October 17, 2021
Tre Cime di Lavaredo - A European wonder hiding in plain sight
One positive pandemic outcome - From LMFF 2020 to a hike in the Dolomites
I got those Pandemic City Blues Four weeks ago I’d never heard of Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Last weekend we hiked around it and I’m still struggling to find the English to describe the beauty of what we saw. How we got there is kind of a funny story.
We humans have an ability to let trauma fade, which helps us in countless ways from childbirth and broken limbs to the death of loved ones.
Posted by Conor O'Neill on Friday, October 15, 2021