Matthew McConnell's Irish qualifying weekend

After narrowly missing out on an Irish vest at the 2023 world championships trial, Matthew has now

secured two call-ups in a row on the same course at the 2024 and 2025 trial events. The progress has been significant - from running 1:08:12 on the 15k, 800m route in 2023, to 1:04:55 in 2024 and 1:04:09 in 2025. This year Matthew also doubled up by racing in the uphill-only trial two days before the

up-and-down trial race, and qualified for the Irish team in both disciplines, with a strong third

placing at each race. Here, Matthew chats to us about his training with coach Sarah McCormack, his approach to challenging race weekends, and long-term plans for future racing.

How do you feel your running has come on in the last two years to account for your steady improvement? Where have you made the most gains?

I feel like the last two years in particular I've seen the biggest jump in my running that I've ever seen. Being able to see such noticeable improvements not only in performance but also in my ability to train consistently is really satisfying. One of the biggest wins for me in the past two years has been a development of my love for training and my love for the sport, which I think has made a big difference in my ability to train well and therefore my performances in races.

What does a typical training week look like for you as you’re building up towards a key race, and what’s your favourite part of the training week?

My training can vary quite a bit week to week which I enjoy. Depending on when the race falls in the calendar my preparation will look slightly different. However, to take the trial race for example: this is probably the key race of the first half of the 2025 calendar, and Sarah and I began planning the training block towards it towards the end of 2024. We focused on a speed block for the first few months of the year before transitioning to the hills in the spring.

My weekly structure would normally be 8-10h running (mostly hilly) and 2-5h cycling (also hilly). This is usually made up of 2-3 specific and progressive sessions, one long run of 2-3 hours in the mountains, and easy running and cycling in between. I love my long run and would often do it with friends. It punctuates my week.

During the race build-up, what specific weaknesses did you identify - and how did your training help you to focus on improving it?

One of the significant weaknesses that we addressed early in the year was my lack of

speed. As I did not come to mountain running from a track, road or cross country

background I lacked the top end speed that many of my training partners and competitors had access to, and since I have been prioritising classic mountain races in Europe the past few years speed is a huge component. Regularly doing interval sessions on the running track, probably twice a week for many months in the winter, made massive differences in my ability to sustain and my comfort at higher speeds. Another weakness that Sarah and I identified in 2024 was my ability to get going on a climb after a

hard descent. We trained this with undulating trail tempos, hard hills with cruisey descents and, gradually increasing my running volume.

Are there any sessions you’ve been doing that you have found particularly beneficial to your training? Are there any sessions that you feel are more challenging than others?

I definitely think the track workouts that I did in the winter were massively beneficial to my top end speed which not only helped me run some road PBs but has also helped me feel more comfortable at higher paces in the hills. When it comes to the hills I thoroughly enjoy longer trail tempos where I can settle into a rhythm, and uphill tempos (30-45m). To be honest I enjoy working hard in sessions and I find them all challenging, but that’s the point!

Do you use cross-training to complement your runs, and how has that helped?

I used to do quite a lot of cycling. As I've been able to increase my running volume this year I've been able to slowly reduce the amount of cycling I'm doing. However the bike still remains an important tool that I will use two or three times a week in my training. It allows me to keep the body moving to help aid recovery from harder sessions while also having the added benefit of some of the additional aerobic stimulus. I might begin to factor in occasional swims moving forward as another form of cross training and I will be doing a bit of strength work this summer too to complement my running.

This year you’ve had a string of successes, including big PBs at the Trofeo Nasego international mountain races in Italy, off the back of some significant PBs on the road. How do you prepare mentally before a big race to help you get the most out of yourself?

This is probably something that belongs in the weaknesses category! I think mental preparation for me comes hand-in-hand with physical preparation. The times I've been the most nervous for races are when I know that I have not had a lead-in that has gone as close to plan as possible. One such example is the trial race this year where I was sick two weeks before. I found the mental toll for the trial very high this year in comparison to other races. I think focusing on the controllables is a really important thing to do in the lead into any race. Focusing on my own process and allowing myself to visualise the race to the best of my ability and play out how I would like to race to go how I would like to feel at certain points in the race without allowing myself to descend into too much overthinking and over analysing. Having a few mental triggers or routines on race day I find really useful as well.

The Irish trial race weekend mimics the format of the world championships in that there is an

uphill-only race followed swiftly by the up-and-down classic race a couple days later. How do

you manage the double race weekend to get ready to go again with such a quick turnaround?

I think distraction and light movement is the recipe for a successful recovery and turnaround. I felt confident doubling up on the trials this year as I have accumulated a decent amount of experience racing twice in quick succession. I have done such race weekends in Ireland and in Italy and in some cases I have my better run of the two on the second race. I think you can get rid of quite a lot of nervous energy going through the race day motions for the first race and feel a lot more free for the second race.

Looking back, what’s a key lesson or adjustment from this training cycle you’d take into your

next season?

Run more (mindfully). I feel as though I still have significant room to grow in the sport both in my training and in my racing. I have gradually been able to increase my running volume over the past three years and especially in the last 18 months I have noticed an increased ability to adapt to more running. I'd like to continue this progression in my training and I believe that it would translate to a progression of my racing. I also think that being able to prioritise speed in the winter on the road was very beneficial this year

and would be something I would be looking to take into next season.

Looking ahead, what are some races that are on your bucket list? What direction do you see your racing goals heading over the next five years?

I want to represent Ireland at senior championship level at all available disciplines of mountain running: uphill, classic, short trail and long trail. I'm in absolutely no rush to increase the distance though as I am thoroughly enjoying the fast racing at the moment. I would definitely like to step into some longer races in a few years. Races such as Sierre Zinal, Zegama, Marathon Du Mont Blanc are quite appealing stepping stones to longer distance races. At home I would love to have a crack at the Wicklow Round Record.