Chasing the Kona dream and a Mai Tai cocktail

kennyb3 wrote: »

Always advisable to cycle out into the headwind first up, your asking for torture on your longest bike to date doing it the other way.

Also why flog yourself to try hit 30kmph on such a long bike?

Why not do a 2*20 session and try hit 32-34kmph on the road on a seperate day? i.e keep your threshold sessions as that and also your endurance as that?

Have you got your TT bike yet btw?

Puncture should take 5 mins max to fix unless there is a problem, i know some who can do it in about 2 or 3 tho. Id spend some time practising on a recovery day. The more you do the quicker you ll get. You dont wanna train so hard then spend 15mins on the day fixing a puncture.

Fair play on a great ride btw, thats a great ride to have under your belt so far out.

Nah i quickly reined it back in when i knew i could not sustain that pace into the wind otherwise i could have easily bonked. The positive is i hit the pace in z2 hr for the first 85km and felt very comfortable in doing so.
I decided on going that way as i wanted to cycle up Corksrew hill although i did not reckon the wind would be blowing into my face on the way home:o
I will be doing a good bit of z3 & z4 sessions in the build phase as everything up to now as more or less been all z2 aerobic.
Going to work on the punctures as an extra 5/10 minutes could mean the difference between hitting or missing my target time if i do get one.
I am about an hour ahead on the long rides against the plan but made use of my time off this week.
Hope to have my TT bike on Monday which is a pain as i wanted to have a go on it before this Sundays duathlon.

kennyb3 wrote: »

You ll hit 30km/ph grand on your TT bike id imagine even where you are now, because i know when i ride in the drops im 1.5 - 2 km/ph quicker for less effort. A pointy hat will help too.

Yeah itching to get the the TT bike and try it out and see how the pace compares to the road bike. I was looking at the pointy hats a while back and some of them can be dear enough. More expense lol, this tri lark can be big money:)

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Agree with kb3 here. Yuo will go a little quicker with the TT set up, even if its 5secs per km faster it will make a significant 15minute difference over 180km! Its more about the time on the saddle now and well done for notching up a 5.5hr solo ride. You are ahead of me on this front and my IM is 3 weeks before yours You are getting some really good work in on your 'break'

Yeah i am ahead of plan on the long sessions just need to reign it back in a bit but thought i would make hay while the sun shines on my 'break';). One thing i will say that 5.5 hours on your lonesome can get very boring on the bike at times.

griffin100 wrote: »

PM me an address and I'll send you the DVD - great for watching on the turbo.

Chanel 4 seem to have taken down the programme from their 4OD service.

Cheers Griffin pm sent. I owe you a pint if we come across each other at any events this year!!

Week 15 Summary
21st Feb - 27th Feb|# sessions|Time hh:mm|Distance kms
Total|11|17:01|346.5km
Swimming|3|2.45|7.7km
Cycling|4|11:04|300.9km
Running|4|3:12|37.8km
Conditioning|0|0:00|Strengthening Work/Core - Gym
Other|0|0:00|


Totals so far
15th Nov- 20th Feb|# sessions|Time hh:mm|Distance kms
Total|175|188:15|3139.9km
Swimming|34|29:36|90.3km
Cycling|49|74:54|2275.1km
Running|72|65:46|736.6km
Conditioning|14|12:45|Strengthening Work - Gym
Other|6|3:30|Swim coaching


My most enjoyable and biggest volume week to date, it makes it so much easier when you are off work to get the training in. I feel well rested after the break away and look forward to a recovery/mini taper week next week. All focus is on Barcelona now and i want to be in good shape for the start line to have a good crack at taking 30 minutes off my PB.
Need to get the diet back on track as i put on about 3kg last week!!

kennyb3 wrote: »

Turn up a bit late? do expand!:)

Something like that:o . The first race in the series was a 12pm start but they reverted to a 9.30 start for the other three. Fairly pissed off and knew when i got there and seen nobody something was up. Such a mongo!!

Monday
Rest Day

Tuesday
Lunchtime Bike - 24km & 7km commute
Went out for a jaunt and took it easy so was suprised to see my pace was as high when i got off the bike. Glutes felt tight enough at the start but the spin sorted that out.
Distance: 24.06km
Time:46:48
Avg Speed: 30.8kpmh

Tonight the running club normally do 6x1km intervals, half thinking of replacing this session with either an easy 5/6k or else do the intervals at a slower intensity than last time perhaps PMP (4.45/4.50kms)

Even though it's not a target race cannot stop thinking about Barcelona, nervous as hell which is strange.

Wednesday

Crappy evening swim session
I opted for a later swim session than the early morning one to give myself an extra few hours in the leaba. Binned this session halfway through, a combination of laziness/no energy/generally not wanting to be in the pool. My stroke, breathing and rotation was utter crap.
I should have loads of energy to burn right now but it seems not.
Distance: 1.6km
Time: 40 mins

menoscemo wrote: »

I printed that 3:25 pace band today and did a few PMP miles this evening, so I should be good to go out with you for the first half anyway. That's the plan at the moment. Now all I have to do is to get in the sub 3:30 pen (or maybe you fancy starting from the front of the 3:30+ pen- we should get a nice clear run at it that way?)

Yeah cool we can agree the plan of attack on Saturday evening. Would we loose much time though running through the 3.30 group? although it would give us a nice target to pass out in the first few kms.

What pen are you in 3.30+ to 4hr?

Yeah i done similiar in Cork last year started at the 4hr+ group and passed the 4hr pacers after the first few miles.

El Director wrote: »

Hey JB, finally catching up on logs-yours and Macanri first as ye have some business this weekend. You seemed to have a lovely time in the west, I love going home and training, so quite and great routes to take in. Long solo bike rides can be tough especially in horrible conditions so well done on that front.

I hope all goes to plan in Barca and I am sure it will, you have done the work so just bang it out now. The nerves are a good thing in my experience. Good luck.

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Best of luck in Barcelona JB, I really must update my own Marathon time :cool::D

Thanks lads all the hard work done now although just working my way through a stomach bug at home right now:( Felt dodgy in the middle of the night along with the 2nd youngest kid, probably explains the **** swim session last night!!
No panic for Barca though as they normally only last 12-24 hours and feeling better already. The joys of 4 nippers in the house is me or Mrs JB seem to take turns in picking up these little bugs when the kids have them, better now than on Saturday/Sunday.

As a matter of interest Mike what is your "soft" marathon time at the moment and how was your progression timewise from 1st/2nd marathon etc? Similiar for you El-D as i am trying to benchmark against my own running progression from last year.
My marathon history so far is Cork 3:56, Dublin - failed sub 3:30 attempt due to injury and Barca XX:XX;XX:pac:

Thanks chaps hopefully i can nail a 30min+ PB:cool:

Thursday
Club Session - 1k wu/3.6km intervals/1k wd
After spending most of the day in bed with a gastric bug i felt much better in the evening. Young lad had club training so i went down in my running gear with no real intention of doing anything:rolleyes: They were doing sets of 6x600 so i decided to jump in, had that feeling of bundles of energy in the legs and the pace felt very easy but did not want to overdo it. Splits i think in 2.16/2.11/2.10/2.08/2.08/2.05
Distance: 5.3km
Time: 23:27
Pace: 4.25km/7.06mile
HR: 164/188

Last training update on here until Barcelona.

Friday
AM Swim
In the pool for an early start as i wanted to get my cycle in at lunchtime and pack my gear this evening. Just done a pyramid session and felt muh better in the pool compared to Wednesdays session.
Session: 300wu 100/200/300/400/500/400/300/200/100 and 200wd
Distance: 3000mtrs
Time: 1:05

Lunchtime Bike
Easy going just to turn the legs over
Distance: 19.14km & 7k commute
Time: 41 mins
Speed: 28kmph

Well thats all for now i hope to be back on here next week with a positive race report:). I am probably in the best shape i have ever been in so no excuses for race day, bring it on!!

This was my third marathon in the space of a year having previously run Cork in 3:56 and a failed 3:30 DCM attempt having to walk the last half with a hamstring tear in 4:45 so needless to say I was apprehensive going into this.

I arrived over late on the Saturday evening so late in fact that Macanri had to collect my race number (Cheers Mick) I literally dropped the bags into the room and straight out as I was going to watch the Barcelona v Zaragoza match with a few boardsies. The match was crap but it was a welcome distraction and the Nou Camp is amazing. The morning of the race I felt slightly nervous and met up with Oisin11178 and Briandrunner. My nerves relaxed slightly when I seen how bad Brian’s nerves were:D
I was due to meet up with Meno as we had planned to run together but missed him at the start so I made my way into my pen and set off to the tunes of Barcelona (Queen) blasting out in the background.

First 10k
I had two pace bands a sub 3:25 and sub 3:20 so the plan was to sit tight for the first 10/15km running at 3:25 pace and see how the engine was. There was a fair bit of jostling for position but I quickly got into a good rhythm. There was a small drag for about 2km around the NouCamp and then a bit of downhill. ChristieB passed me and I was going to follow him as I knew he was going for a sub 3:20 but I stuck with my plan of 3:25 pace.
First 10km came in at 47:58, 37 seconds under 3:25 pace and 35 seconds over 3:20 pace
10k-20k
I really started to push on a bit and felt really good. I had made up my mind to ditch the 3:25 and go with a 3:20 attempt around the 15km mark. There was a turnaround point just before the half way mark and I seen Frank and Brian about a 1km ahead,both looked like they were in good spirits.
This 10km came in at 47:23, 1:35:21 for the first 20km and 34 seconds off target pace.
20k-30k
I knew I needed to make back a bit of time and negative split the second half having ran through halfway in 1:40:36. I knocked out a couple of 4:3x kms and a few low 4:4xs to bring it back in. I passed the 15 mile marker and I seen a guy go from running to hitting the deck unconscious luckily the medics where close by so hopefully the guy is alright.
I hit 46:39 and I knew the race was on coming through 30km bang on 2:22 and 11 secs ahead of target pace.
30k-finish
Up to now I did not have a wobble although around the 36km I had a few minutes of doubt but with only 6km left I soon got over it. I was passing loads of people at this stage and passed a few Irish singlets along the way. The course gave an elevation rise for the last 4km but it seemed flat enough to me. I had passed the 40km marker in 3:09:43 and 47:44 for the split. I somehow miscalculated my pace and had lost 19 seconds leaving me a few seconds off target pace.
I worked hard for the last 2km and in particular the last 200 mtrs I needed to sprint as I mistook one of the banners as the finish line until I seen there was no clock and the real finishing line around the corner. Stopped the garmin on 3:19:51 and just prayed I was not off by chip time. Thankfully the chip time was bang on 3:19:51 and I had run a 1 minute 21 secs negative split on the second half in 1:39:15!!!

Met up with a good few boardsies after the race and had a right few pints. Head was sore this morning for the early flight back. Legs are tight today but I plan to do 20 mins later on the turbo to spin the legs out.

Well done to all as everyone seemed to come away with what they wanted, as for me I am bloody chuffed to bits taking 37 minutes off the PB. If I am honest I did not think I had a sub 3:20 in my legs yesterday and it goes to show that the training is paying off.
Garmin summary

El Director wrote: »

Terrific stuff JB, delighted for ya! All the hard training and it pays off with a perfectly paced marathon. Well done, rest easy for the week now dude. I am only realising how tough my sub 3:10 first marathon is going to be. Sounds like Barca marathon is class, I think I will put it on the calender for next year.

Thanks ElD. Yeah Barca marathon is class and the food & drink stops were fantastic, i would highly recommend it and may consider going back next year again. Looking forward to London in 4 weeks.

Tuesday
Club session
Took it handy and the main objective tonight was a short slow recovery run to get the legs back to normality. The first two kms were far too fast for a recovery so slowed it right down. Spent the 30 minutes reflecting on Barcelona and planning my attack on London.
Distance: 5.18km
Time: 30mins
Pace: 5:47km/9.18mile