Eddie Rockets!

Friday 24th February
Swim
I was supposed to meet up with Jackyback for a swim as i was down home but my battery died on my phone through the night so alarm never went off. I wke at 7:15 so was far too late. Headed for Navan instead and prayed the lane was ok. Happy to find two lanes, a fast and a slow. Two guys in the fast lane so i hopped into the "slow" lane. Nice pool actually as the sides are slightly lower than the water surface for a few inches which ,makes the wall lane usable. After some 50m des 1-4 on 60 (which came in on 47, 46, 42, 41) the plan called for one of my fav sets - 400sw, 4 x 100 band and buoy going down to 100sw, 100 B+B. Most B+B efforts were 01:40 - 01:45 and felt ok. Had to swap lanes then as a breast stroker joined as one of the other guys cleared from the "fast" lane. Soon enough though i was joined by two swimmers who werent up to much so fast 50m's on 50s got slightly disturbed. They were 39, next was ruined, 37, 39. On 50s is a hell of a lot harder then 60s! Ok swim and sorry JB for not appearing, again I was looking forward to some company!
Time: 01:02:33, Distance: 3250m

Run
Some speedwork then in the afternoon. Down home is very hilly! There isnt much flat ground so i ran for 15mins as part of the warmup to get some! I then had 5 x 800m on 02:45 with 02:15 recoveries. I worked out target pace and used it to gauge speed. This is my 5k pace from the race a while back and it felt good. I ran up and down the one piece of flatish ground around which probably had the locals wondering what was going on! The reps came out as follows:

Time Distance Elevation Gain Elevation Loss Avg Pace Avg HR Max HR
02:46.5 0.8 3 4 03:28 147 158
02:49.4 0.8 13 1 03:32 150 158
02:45.8 0.8 2 2 03:27 152 166
02:50.8 0.8 12 1 03:33 151 160
02:44.4 0.8 0 4 03:26 151 158


Was happy enough with it.
Time: 00:53:57, Ave Pace: 04:04/km, Ave HR 140, Distance: 13.27km

Monday 27th February
Swim
Finally i dragged my lazy ass out of bed for an early one! Plenty of drills to start with front sculls, mid sculls, fists and rock n' rolls and then 3 x 400m pull mod hard. The 400 pulls were 06:44, 06:52 and 07:01. Felt at times as though my hips were sinking but im not sure they actually were as my lower back still felt on top of the water. Think it was to do with putting downward pressure in the stroke.
Time: 1:02:08, Distance: 2900m

Run
Had hoped to get out at lunch for a short easy one but was too busy, had 10mins to scoff a sambo so had to switch the run to the evening. Was still hoping to make light but alas i didnt. Still though the park is deadly to run in. Kept it easy, HRM was spiking again but i know i did have one or two lapses which i did push it to low/mid steady. Pulled it back within a few seconds though. Legs were slightly tired and achey but not too bad. Still ran okish. Need new runners though! Bad enough wear on my current waveriders. I only copped it last week when cleaning them. They're dust! I havent felt any troubling niggles but i dont think they'd be long coming. Right runner is onto the white beneath the black sole in one spot!

Quick Review:
Mallorca is only 11 weeks away now. It wont be long coming. All the work to date has been about getting to this final few phases in decent shape where the work really starts. I think im there.
Swimming: While its frustrating at times, is still ok. I know there is massive room for improvement though but that will be slow coming.

Cycling: Im loving the power meter. Lst year i was basing training off HR and at times i really found ti hard to even stay in the "easy zone". It really frustrated me at times and id guess i was actually pushing far greater power than HR was telling me. Ive noticed this time around HR doesnt come around to the "zones" straight away and can take a good while to replicate those zones despite power being consistent. Im happy with the current FTP (322) and know i can puish on a lot from here as im really only traning in the new power zones a matter of weeks. Sub 02:28:00 in Mallorca would score me a top 50 (includes the pro's!) but should be doable. I'll be dialing in a power to ride at over the coming weeks and hopefully its enough. Right now id guess id be ok to go 250/55W for the duration but i hope to build on that.

Run: I think this is going well enough too. Theres some speed there without doing too much speed work yet and thats what this final few phases will start working on. I am still on the heavey side but ill not stress on that. I know with a taper i should be running sub 4min/km but ill need to be doing that to run as planned for the sub 01:24.

Over the coming weeks i need to get a few things in order:
Nutrition: I'll be using last years plans with possibly only minor changes. I like the berry isogels and find the citrus ones just bearable. Ill also continue usng the High5 2:1 drink. Ill start using all long bikes now as testing grounds on the frequency, concentration and combination. Ive a heap of all which should see me through all of this. The DCM expo is great for cheap gels! I picked up 2 boxes of berry and 2 boxes of citrus for €15 each! Score!

Gear: I'll still be in the skins two piece suit. Its really comfy! I need new trainers for the race. Im not all that comfortable in the Mizuno Elixirs i have used. I find one of my toes gets sore for some strange reason despite it not touching the top so ill be out to B2R to Amphibian King hopefully this week. I also need a new saddle, well i need a new bike as my P2C is to small but i cant afford that yet. So for now a saddle is priority. Ive been onto B2R lads and they have me down as next on their one of their trial Adamo saddle. I'll pop a review up here when i get some time on it. Looking forward to that. If that doesnt go well i hope to trial the fizik arione tri saddle.

Sportsman duathlon is up next, missed Naas cos of work! Really looking forward to it. Ive heard good things on the Airone Tri 2 alright. When speaking with the guy at B2R he mentioned he was going to try get a trial one of them too. Fingers crossed he has as id also love to try it out. Saddles are a very personal thing so id love to compare the two before settling.

Yeah that was a race to forget. I got very lucky there!

I wont be staying completely dry but just no more nights on the lash! They do serious damage.

tunney wrote: »

A lurker on your blog, great read.

Has your swimming not gone to around 1:30 per 100m easy? With 100m PB around 1:15? 200s consistently < 3:00, 400m TT is pretty speedy too I thought.

Probably what a low 22 minute 1500 OW swimmer now? 28-29 for HIM distance? Sub 60 IM swim ?

Not being a water baby is there really that much scope to go an awful lot faster without a significant investment in the pool? Like a horrible amount?

I dont think im quite 01:30/100 at easy just yet. Well for a few 100's maybe but not over 19 of them. Im far better than ever before alright though and the HIM target should come off. Oh to be a water baby!

tunney wrote: »

I found once you learnt this lesson of the relationship between HR and power it changes you even when just training with HR. Very hard to explain to someone but once you have seen it for a few months.......

Its a bloody revelation! Havent been frustrated with power at all yet. Well apart from 1 or 2 HoP ones but that was before learning about the P2M turbo issues and thuis i was probably working at a bigger power than it was telling me!

tunney wrote: »

A club mate has an Adamo. He had problems with lots of saddles and he got one from the states a while back. He loves it and it has changed his riding. (both senses of the word).

Another problem I know can contribute to saddles sores for some are overly hairy nads

I cant wait to get my hands on it. Everything ive read thus far is fairly positive. Nothing ruins a long ride more than a burning feeling and agony when the bike runs over a pothole! Up to two hours im fine, anything beyond that and im sore!

Wednesday 29th February
Swim - Speed work!
From memory this was the most amount of fast parts that ive ever done. 1500m worth across 2 x 200's, 6 x 100's and 10 x 50's. Coach wad there too which was good to see. He has something picked up which seems to be the cause of my right shoulder having pains lately. My legs felt fairly tired after the late bike last night but i dont feel as though i tailed off and kept a consistent effort for the hour. The 200's were on 04:15, 100's on 02:15 and 50s on 01:15 and came in as follows:
200's 1) 02:50 2) 02:52
100's 1) 01:24 2) 01:25 3) 01:25 4) 01:25 5) 01:26 6) 01:24
50's 1) 39 2) 40 3) 39 4) 40 5) 39 6) 40 7) 39 8) 39 9) 40 10) 38
I was happy enough with the session and i was very tired getting out!
Time: 59:40, Distance 2700m

Thursday 1st March
Bike
I managed to get out at lunch for a 75min easy bike to spin out the legs. Felt great, far better than i expected given i was quite tired yesterday. The wind was on my back out along the strand to Sutton and i knew id have to face it back. Went from Sutton out towards Portmarnock. Beautiful day out! I found I was going beyond easy for very short periods (a few seconds, if even) here and there which all felt very comfortable. Legs were responding well to any accelerations from a standstill. Session flew by, I couldn't believe it was already done when I got back. I was surprised i wasn't going a lot slower into the wind on the way back as 35 - 40km/hr felt effortless on the way out.

Time: 01:13:26, Ave Power 228W, Ave HR 121, Ave Cadance 89, Distance 38.05km, Ave speed 31.1km/h

For some reason I’ve been getting butterflies in my stomach with excitement thinking about Mallorca the past few days! It dawned on me how close it is and i got very excited. Need to calm them or ill wear myself out! I have flights, bike on flight and as of tonight accommodation booked. Im aware of a great crowd from Galway Tri heading over which was great to hear as im travelling solo. Ive decided to stay at the same resort as them which is about 5k from race HQ and in a very quiet area. I’ve also booked it all inclusive as it was a very reasonable rate but it'll be strange to have to say no to the beer/wine for a few days! I’m also travelling out nice and early. Flying 9am Monday May 7th with race on May 12th. The hotel is also along the bike route so ill manage plenty of reconnaissance. So all that’s left is the tiny detail of training for it

Saturday 3rd March
Long Bike
Planned to hit the hills again. Didnt some tinkering to the bike, new bolts here and there to replace rusting ones and set out with no real route planned. Circled the city and headed to some nice climbs. Hit the first real one at about 29.3k and it rose from 110m to 337m by 33k. Its a lovely climb that i havent done in ages! Good surface and to make it harder i was going into the bloody wind! Stayed seated and drove n over 300W's with a fair bit over 400 and some short surges to 500 here and there. Great view of the city from the top of that. Had some more little climbs and then found another deadly climbing 320m over 5.2k. (Am i right in saying thats an average of 16% gradient?!). Had a fairly hairy descent then. Very very nearly came cropper at one very tight turn. Felt like the front wheel tire almost caved in! Had another near miss but this time at about 60km/hr! Backed off a bit after those scares! When i got back to the city i realised why i almost came a cropper! Slow puncture on front wheel! I was hoping to get to the park for an hour worth of laps. Aimed to ride 250-260 for the last 15mins to see how a run felt like off it. On entering the park i repaired puncture, or so i thought! Could not find where the hole was! On fixing for the second time i got lashed on and froze! When i got going i just did a few mins 270W and headed home, could not get warm at all! Frustrating but had had a good session up to that
Time: 02:32:15, Ave Power 275W, Ave HR 128, Ave Cadance 80, Distance 73.97km, Ave speed 29.1km/hr, Elevation Gain 896m.

Transition Run
I wasnt not in great humor to run back int the cold rain but i perked up and got on with it just as i stepped out. I felt as though i was running really really easy but HR rose and rse and hung around 145-150. I could not get it down but it felt so easy! Twas strange! Its the first run off ive done in a long time. Probably going to do more of these from here just to guage effort but RPE felt very easy yet HR was too high for my liking! Twas only a shrt 10mins but felt good.
Time: 00:10:52, Ave Pace: 04:00/km, Ave HR 145, Distance: 2.71km

Went out to B2R today and collected the demo Adamo Time Trial saddle. I havent been on it yet but am really looking forward to trying it out tomorrow! Supposed to be a day off but ill just do 20-30mins real easy! While there i picked up some new Wave Riders. My old ones are far beyond their life expectancy! I've completely worn aware the sole and into the foam on where i land with my left foot! I also had a good look at some lighter trainers. Im not all that happy with my Elixirs and am looking around for something to use in races. I really liked the Saucony Grid Fastwitch 5's as they seem to be a mid-foot light trainer with a nice stiff sole! I ran for a bit in the car park and really liked them but the 12's were a bit small and they didn't have any larger sizes. It seems shoe manufacturers make the racier trainers smaller than the more supportive ones! My Elixirs seem a smaller 12 and the Wave Riders even though they're both Mizuno! Anyone have any experiences with the Sauconys or care to comment on the size thing?

Monday 5th March
Recovery Bike
First spin with the Adamo Time Trial saddle. I was anxious to see how this saddle fits so i just did an extended commute home. I have a bad tendency to race out from standstills at traffic lights etc but when i got to the park i got everything in check and just wanted to roll along around 160-180Ws. It felt like nothing but i used it to keep a crisp cadence and see how the Adamo felt. It felt ok, strange enough feeling. A fair bit more pressure on the shoulders so over long distance i might need to get used to it. The 18k was too short to really know if it works but it felt comfortable enough. Legs felt good too. Rolled out for 15mins when i got back to make more use of the session.
Time: 00:37:37, Ave Power 187W, Ave HR 109, Ave Cadance 78 (a lot of standstill time in traffic), Distance 18.18km, Ave speed 29km/hr

Its all about comfort for me. Ive been crippled with saddle sores here and there the past few years with the current saddle. I thought they were part and parcel of this game but supposedly not, so im trying to do something about it. Im fine to about 2/2.5hrs but beyond that i have been developing them despite only wearing bibs once, washing the region like no tomorrow and using savlon on anything that develops! I think the issue has effected my long spins as at times id almost be screaming with pain when id go over potholes/bumps. I actually found i was getting into a fairly aggressive position today on the Adamo which leads me to believe it will help the power too. IF it did great, but im mainly after something comfortable!

I'll have to make do with tackle in tact for now ;-) I think i know what a pejazzle is and i think it best to not google it here in work

Tuesday 6th March
Swim
Up bright and early for a short swim. Had company for it too which was great. Got some good advice and i tried to really focus on it. I wasnt paying too much attention to the clock but felt as though times were decent. Had some fs and fist drills and then 5 100's alt sw/p steady. Think we're getting to the bottom of the right shoulder. Im strill putting too much pressure on the arm and will be working on it. Bringing the hand in slightly seemed to help but itll take a little while to gauge if i have it right. Enjoyed the swim, couldnt believe the 45mins were already up! Felt like id only gotten in!
Time: 00:45:00, Distance 2000m

Id a good chat with coach afterwards. Im really looking forward to Mallorca! Ive a few things to get right this time (health, equipment, body in general!) and i need to stop switching off the week or two before the event. Ive a tendency to feel like its done before i even get to the race. I need to follow it right through this year. Ive a time in mind but at the end of the day ill just race to my ability and whatever the time is the time is. If things go well i should be well inside that time but having never raced there before its only an estimate and course conditions will have an impact.