Me Against The World...

BTH · 12-01-2012 6:42pm #1

Here by popular demand is my training log….

Quick snapshot for those who don’t know anything about me.

2012 will be my third year in Triathlon.

I did a few sprint tri’s and one olympic distance in 2010.

2011 I decided to give the National Series a bash and managed a top 60 overall and top 25 in my Age Group. Despite that there was only 2/3 race that I was really happy with last year, with the best two being the last two.

2012 plan is another crack at the NS, and hopefully securing an AG place for the World Champs in 2013, hence the title. I’m aiming for at least a top 15 AG place this year which I hope will get me that place.

To achieve that, I’ll obviously need to improve all three disciplines, but my swim in particular has been very weak in previous seasons.

So, since October the swimming has been the main focus, with 4 swims most weeks. A roaring, barking, snarling Interested every Monday evening has helped me make significant improvement here, knocking 60sec+ off my 400mTT. So I’m hoping this will translate into a big chunk of time off my swims this summer.

Biking has been going fairly well, despite missing a lot of long spins in Nov/Dec (damn party season). But I feel like I’m in pretty good shape as I was getting in two turbos each week and the bike has always been my strongest leg.

Running up to now was all very very easy with the focus being keeping fresh for the swim sessions. As a result I’m a bit behind the other two, but a 5km on Stephens Day (beaten by two Olympians no less) showed that I’m only 40 seconds off my PB (set last April) with substantially less (practically no) intensity to my training. Swimming has now dropped to three sessions a week as the hard work starting to build in my run training, and my coach is fairly confident that I’ll be in good shape in 4-6 weeks.

I haven’t yet finalised my races for this summer, I have three weddings and the accompanying stag dos to fit around my race schedule. But in the more immediate future I’m looking at a 10k in Feb/March as I have a very soft 18 month old PB which needs to fall. Enniscorthy on 12/02, Adare 26/02 or Tubbercurry on Paddy’s day are the ones I looked at briefly today. Then my coach has suggested a lash at the Duathlon National Champs so I’ll head up there, with the March Naas Duathlon hopefully already in the legs.

So, here we go then……

pgibbo · 12-01-2012 6:46pm

WOW...peer pressure does work! :cool:

Best of luck dude! Nice goals

BTH · 12-01-2012 6:51pm

Suppose I'll put in some training...

14km this morn with 45min @4:25/km. This is what I mean by my running behind a bit behind as my HR averaged 165 and hit 184 Cadence 86/88. Was damn windy out in clontarf on the way back in though. Also 5*60m strides

Dory Dory · 12-01-2012 9:18pm

All the best to you. I look forward to reading and learning from your log - especially your swimming!

shazkea · 12-01-2012 9:44pm

Best of luck with the logs and goals. My new found interest in the SBR challenge has found me reading Tri logs now

catweazle · 12-01-2012 9:45pm

Are you sure the title is not inspired by that Westlife song

Good luck with the log

BTH · 12-01-2012 10:49pm

Dory Dory wrote: »

All the best to you. I look forward to reading and learning from your log - especially your swimming!

Thanks Dory. However, having seen your log I doubt you'll learn anything from my swimming. It's improved a lot but it was coming from a very low point.

catweazle wrote: »

Are you sure the title is not inspired by that Westlife song

Good luck with the log

Cheers. Never heard of that westlife one though.

BTH · 12-01-2012 10:54pm

Club swim session this eve.
Included 75steady25hard straight through for 400m, done in 6:30
10*100 on 1:45, in on 1:37-39
And some kick and drill work
2450m in an hour.

shotgunmcos · 13-01-2012 12:48am

Good man BTH and thanks for starting the log. Best of luck with the season and getting a slot for the AG Worlds next year. Just looked it up and see that its in London. I'm oh so tempted myself. Must keep an eye out for the QF races.

Fazz · 13-01-2012 6:59am

Great stuff sounds like your swim has come on an awful lot.

What is your 400tt pb down to now?

BTH · 13-01-2012 10:18am

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Good man BTH and thanks for starting the log. Best of luck with the season and getting a slot for the AG Worlds next year. Just looked it up and see that its in London. I'm oh so tempted myself. Must keep an eye out for the QF races.

Cheers Shotgun. Yup, London, which is going to be a very popular destination, so I'll need a good year to get a spot. Turkey or Israel just arent possible for me. Too expensive.

Fazz wrote: »

Great stuff sounds like your swim has come on an awful lot.

What is your 400tt pb down to now?

Cheers Ian. It has come on a good bit alright. The last 400tt I did was 6:20 in early December. However, in Mondays main set of 2*400, 3*200,4*100 I matched that time in the first 400, and 6:26 for the second, so I should be fairly confident of improving on that at the next TT.

EC1000 · 13-01-2012 12:04pm

Good luck with the log. Any plans to do CK this year? As I'm on RD duty this year you wont get a chance to pass me but I'm sure I can throw a 2 min penalty your way

BTH · 13-01-2012 12:28pm

EC1000 wrote: »

Good luck with the log. Any plans to do CK this year? As I'm on RD duty this year you wont get a chance to pass me but I'm sure I can throw a 2 min penalty your way

Thanks EC. Yeah, hoping to do CK this year again. It was my first Oly in 2010 and I went back again last year, so hoping to take another chunk off my time this year. My Dad grew up on Oliver Plunkett St and I still have family around Mullingar so I like to support the local race there too. If you have the same TI official that you've had there for the last two years I might be in trouble penalty wise. He has it in for me!!

griffin100 · 13-01-2012 12:29pm

Ah ffs not another tri log.....I'll never get any work done:D

NeedsTraining · 13-01-2012 10:54pm

BTH, This is the log I have been waiting for. I'll be keeping a keen eye on it and getting jealous at the amount of training you are getting in.

I'll have to live in the past forever more on my 'I beat BTH' title in our novice year

You going to give the National Duathlon Champs a shot? Thinking of doing it too. Carpool? Long way up

BTH · 13-01-2012 11:24pm

NeedsTraining wrote: »

BTH, This is the log I have been waiting for. I'll be keeping a keen eye on it and getting jealous at the amount of training you are getting in.

I'll have to live in the past forever more on my 'I beat BTH' title in our novice year

You going to give the National Duathlon Champs a shot? Thinking of doing it too. Carpool? Long way up

Cheers "NT". Yeah, I'm up for carpooling. Herself is at the backstreet boys that weekend so I'd be flying solo otherwise. Wasn't actually going to do it until coach suggested it. It is very far.

BTH · 13-01-2012 11:28pm

Easy hour on the turbo this eve. Zone 2 HR for the hour except 6*10sec sprints. 2*10min @70rpm still Z2. 31.4km "covered" 63.1kmph max hr 127/162 cadence 88/128

BTH · 14-01-2012 7:14pm

This morning was a session I've been dreading for 2 weeks since my coach put it on the schedule. Supposed to do it last Saturday this Saturday and next week, but I cried off last week with head cold/sore throat, deciding on a LSR instead. No excuses this week and I roped in a club mate for support.

Long hard run.
Easy wu
5*hard hill strides, walk back
15min easy @5:15 pace
4*5min @4:10 pace 1min recovery
10min easy @5:15
15min @4:25
Cd to finish.
All told 18km in 1:27odd. Glutes, shoulders, calves, everything is tender.

Then I was out in base2race and got thrown up on the Lemond turbo to give it a quick try, which naturally became a see how many watts you can churn out. Hit 900+ but the legs just didnt want to know after this morn.

Hill TT now tomorrow morn. Aaaaggggghhhhhh.

BTH · 16-01-2012 11:02am

Sunday
3hour 70km spin which incorporated a Hill TT, and a few steady hill climbs in South Dublin/Wicklow. Felt good considering the hard run session on Saturday, so very happy with the solid weekend's training put down. Matched my TT time from November on a colder day when everyone else was slower. So no complaints, except for the stiffness in my legs, which aint going to help swimming this eve. I'll try and get out for an easy 30min run as lunch just to loosen then out a little, and a good stretch before heading down for the bollocking from Interested....

BTH · 17-01-2012 10:29am

Monday Lunch
Easy 30min run to loosen out after a tough weekend 6+km @5:08/k HR 132 Cadence 87

Monday Evening
Club swim in the sardine tin. 7 in the lane, 25m pool, and I'm usually about 3/4 of a length behind everyone else.
Anyway, main set was 8*50 kick on 90sec, and 4*(4*100 descending) on 1:45 with 60 sec between sets of 4. Slower ones in on 1:39ish, faster ones on 1:32-35. And I swallowed half the pool.

Tuesday Morn
45 Min run with 25 @5:15 and 15@ 4:25 pace. The 5:15 pace came in 20 beats higher than last week (153v133) while the 4:25 came in lower (156v153). Yep, thats right, only 3 bpm difference between 5:15 pace and 4:25 pace this morning. Did this run at lunch time last Tuesday so I would have been more awake at the beginning. Took ages for the body to realise what was happening this morn.

BTH · 20-01-2012 12:47pm

Ok, an update.

Tuesday Eve

My hard turbo session. wu, 4*6min HR Z4 with 4min Z2 rec, 20min Z3 & cd. Z4 avg HR's were 143, 147, 150, 151 cadence 94/95 avg. Z3 avg 142 HR, 94 cadence.
My the time I got to the 20min Z3 my arse was killing me. So much worse than the pain in my legs!! 43k in 1:15

Wednesday Morn

Swim in NAC LC, a 3200 set from Interesteds speadsheet with 4*100(50fc50catchup) 8*50kick, 400pull, 8*100 on 1:50, 4*100 as 50easy50hard

Thursday Morn

13.5k in 64min with 45@ 4:25 pace. Still not as comfortable at this pace as I should be. Reckon early morning running as a part to play in that too. Avg HR for the 45 was 165, far too high.

Thursday Eve

Club swim, with some kicking on side, and backstroke kick, 4*100pull & 10*100 steady. Was thankful for the extra swim time on the 100's. Didn't feel that I had much more to give..

Friday Morn

60min turbo in z2 with 2*10min @70rpm. Also 6*10sec sprints. 31k in the hour.

Feeling fairly tired now. 4 early morning sessions in a row left me a little drained for the sprints this AM. It'll only be two early sessions next week. A relaxing weekend (hopefully) and no alarm clock tomorrow should see me right, before a long hard run once I do get up tomorrow. None of your LSR nonesense round here!!

BTH · 20-01-2012 12:54pm

Just completed my first race entry of the year. Tri an Mhi half. Only 16 weeks!!! Ok, 16 is actually a lot...

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 20-01-2012 1:13pm

It is pleasing to get a good chunk of the sessions in early in the morning, sets you up for the day!!

BTH · 20-01-2012 1:26pm

Margaret Important Cupcake wrote: »

It is pleasing to get a good chunk of the sessions in early in the morning, sets you up for the day!!

Yeah, it can be very satisfying to get a good session in before the world realises the day has started. But it's important to balance that with adequate rest/sleep, and I've lacked that a little this week. 6:20, 5:30, 6:20, 6:20 starts Tuesday to Friday. I was never an early riser!

El Director · 21-01-2012 12:14am

Hey dude, great to see another tri log! Wow, it will be an interesting season and looking forward to all the race reports already!

You are certainly one to watch out for in 2012. I'm jealous of your run cadence, I'd love to be turning over at that rate, currently 79-81rpm. Looking forward to seeing your race plan for the year and cross referencing.

The very best of luck dude, hope all goes well and most importantly stay healthy and injury free.

BTH · 21-01-2012 4:18pm

El Director wrote: »

I'm jealous of your run cadence, I'd love to be turning over at that rate, currently 79-81rpm.

Cheers ElD.

I worked a little on my cadence when I started back in October. Only got the Garmin then so no figures to compare to, but all my running then was very very easy and I worked on shortening the stride and and upping the cadence. It was difficult as the coach kept telling me to slow down. I reckon I looked a little like a duck or a walk racer the stride was that short!!

Saturday

Long hard run today. 14miles covered in just shy of 1:50. That doesnt sound that hard, but there was 5 hard hill strides, a total of 25min @ sub 4:10/km pace and another 15min after than @4:20. Dont know where my coach comes up with this stuff but its a great feeling to get it done. Glutes, arms and calves a little achy, but long spin tomorrow will loosen them out.

One other thing, running in Dublin makes a man soft. Its all too flat and sheltered. Constant rolling hills, and no shelter from the wind today. If I did all my running round here I'd be a much stronger runner. Also nice to come home from a run not stinking of exhaust fumes..

Bally8 · 21-01-2012 6:52pm

Enjoying the log BTH, it's the kind of training I can only dream of being able to achieve one day

El Director · 21-01-2012 7:17pm

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

Cheers ElD.

I worked a little on my cadence when I started back in October. Only got the Garmin then so no figures to compare to, but all my running then was very very easy and I worked on shortening the stride and and upping the cadence. It was difficult as the coach kept telling me to slow down. I reckon I looked a little like a duck or a walk racer the stride was that short!!..

So do you think after that initial period of being aware of your cadence and shortening your stride that it has paid off in a quicker turn over? Are you faster or more efficient do you feel? Have you any idea what your optimum cadence would be? One more (sorry

) what is your ave bike cad?

BTH · 21-01-2012 8:37pm

Bally8 wrote: »

Enjoying the log BTH, it's the kind of training I can only dream of being able to achieve one day

Glad you'e enjoying it Bally8. This time 2 years ago I was doing 1 swim 1 bikes and 2 runs a week gearing up for my first race. It can get very addictive very quickly! Really enjoying it though.

El Director wrote: »

So do you think after that initial period of being aware of your cadence and shortening your stride that it has paid off in a quicker turn over? Are you faster or more efficient do you feel? Have you any idea what your optimum cadence would be? One more (sorry ) what is your ave bike cad?

No need to be sorry!! It's very difficult to answer these questions as 1) I don't know what my cadence was this time last year, or even 5 months ago & 2) during the summer I naturally transitioned from a heel strike to a forefoot strike, which I changed to a midfoot strike during December. I did a Chi Running course with Catherina McKiernan in December, and using this technique properly is going to result in a short high cadence stride.

I believe that the initial time I spend focusing on my cadence probably resulted in an increase of 2/3 but as I said I can’t be sure about that. But I reckon I probably had a reasonably high cadence. I know we have talked before about having your run cadence within 10 or so of your bike cadence, and I would have a naturally high bike cadence. In some races last year my average cadence was over 100 (104 in Lanesboro!). My easy turbo sessions I’m spinning about 97 but out on the road this increases, unless it’s a group spin.

Whether I’m more efficient or faster I don’t know. Up to this month I did easy running and easy running only so I’m not anywhere near in race shape. But I’m confident that I’m moving in the right direction and that I’ll see big improvements and fairly quickly too. As I said above to Bally8, I haven’t been running consistently for long so continued improvement is to be expected as well so it’s difficult for me to quantify improvement solely as a result of increased cadence.

Optimum cadence I’m not sure of either. I did a 5km on Stephens day where I averaged 87. I intend on doing a 10km in the next 8 weeks so that will give a good indication of where I stand on this as I should be in decent race shape by then and able to give it a good lash, but I would expect it to be around 86/87 without having to focus on it.

So effectively I’ve rambled on for ages without directly answering the questions!!:pac:

BTH · 23-01-2012 10:28am

Easy spin with the cycle club back home on Sunday morning, with an hour solo after. 85k odd in 3:15 or so. Nothing spectacular. Avg HR was 123 cadence 93.

BTH · 23-01-2012 4:03pm

Easy lunchtime jog. Target HR low 130s. 30min @ 5:00/km 133HR 88Cadence.

By way of comparison, last week was @5:08 pace for 132HR & 87 cadence.
Early November was @5:08 for 146HR.

Slowly coming together.

BTH · 24-01-2012 7:19pm

Monday Evening was club swim time.
wu of 6*25m Sprints
8*50Kick
3sets of 4*50 off 1:15, 3*100 off 2:10. 60sec between sets. Aim here was to come in on target 400mTT pace on the 100s. And this set showed me how far I'm off a sub 6min 400m. I posted a 6:20 in early December and was hoping to be near 6min shape. I'm not! 50s were in on 44/45 after the first set which were slightly quicker (40sec for the very first one :rolleyes:) 100s I was stuck on 1:32/33 and just couldnt bring them any quicker. There has definitely been a lack of this short sharp intensity to the Monday sessions since the new year, with the coach favouring longer sets so far. Not saying that 16*100 off 1:45 wasn't bloody hard either, but these are the type of session I was making massive
improvements from pre christmas. May have been due to lower numbers turning up last night. Or Interested taking it easy on us for the first couple of weeks. Anyway, I hope it continues!

Tuesday Lunch time.
Easy run down to and around Herbert Park. 9.xxkm in 47min or something. 15min @4:20 pace. Ready for the tough turbo tonight..... Even more ready for nexts weeks easy week. First time I've ever felt that I've earned an easy week. Reckon by Wednesday next week I'll be fed up of easy sessions!

Quick jot down of races planned up to June.

March 11 - 10km in Carlow
March 25 - Naas Duathlon
April 22 - National Duathlon Champs
April 29 - Joey Hannan Oly
May 12 - Tri an Mhi Half
June 2 - Athy Oly
June 3 - Athy Sprint????

Couple of stag do's and a wedding in there to space everything out a little.

BTH · 25-01-2012 11:15am

Tuesday Evening was hard turbo night. 4*7min in HR Zone 4, 3min Z2 recoveries, followed by 20min Z3. The Z4 intervals were 5 min two weeks ago and 6 min last week. This was the first week where I saw a definite fade in performance through the 4 intervals, with HR stuck at the higher end of Z4 (tipping Z5 at times), with a lower cadence than normal. HR wasn't dropping enough through the recoveries either. During the Z3 effort I had to drop a gear from what I can normally push, as HR was tipping Z4 and cadence was threatening to tip below 90. So not particularly happy with the session. As said above, recovery week will be greatly appreciated.

Wednesday Morning, 6am swim LC in NAC. Came into this with renewed focus following my post-mortem of Mondays swim. Following a 400m WU, it was into 8*100 pull on 2:10, coming in 1:38-40, 10*50 kick which I did "side saddle" as the turbo was still in the legs, 6*100 descending on 2:00, in on 1:51,49,43,42,39,36, (far too soft for the first couple) 10*50 on 1:00 in on 48-50, and a 400m cd. Really tried to push the 8*100 pull & and 10*50s but keep it controlled as well, focusing on right hand entry which is a long standing issue (and requires a lot more work). Happy with this session, and happy with bursting El D's bubble who though he would get an early swim in to overtake me on the SBR challenge!! 3200m in 1:20

shotgunmcos · 25-01-2012 11:51am

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

Happy with this session, and happy with bursting El D's bubble who though he would get an early swim in to overtake me on the SBR challenge!! 3200m in 1:20

Thats the spirit

Good swimming BTH

BTH · 25-01-2012 11:53am

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Thats the spirit

Good swimming BTH

Cheers Shotgun. I was finishing a length when he arrived on the poolside. He wasnt too impressed when I told him I had 3k done already. He's probably still in there trying to make up lost time!!

Bambaata · 25-01-2012 1:16pm

Ah you're being slightly hard on yourself on not being happy with the turbo session. That session is designed to test you and improve you and it has to be expected that HRs wont match speed/cadence in the recoveries if you're comparing to easier sessions. Thats my 2c anyway

I've had sessions i haven't finished because i just couldn't maintain the effort, now they are the ones to be disappointed with.

BTH · 26-01-2012 11:52am

Wednesday evening myself and herself did an hour Yoga, and I did a little core work later on.

Thursday morning 13k run in 60min, with 45min @4:15 pace which is where I hope to have my Marathon pace come October. A long way off that now. AHR for the 45min was 164, which I dont think is sustainable for 3 hours! All the same, I felt good this morning. Pace was supposed to be 4:25 but I didnt pay too much attention to the watch and just ran off feel.

shotgunmcos · 26-01-2012 12:05pm

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

Wednesday evening myself and herself did an hour Yoga, and I did a little core work later on.

Thursday morning 13k run in 60min, with 45min @4:15 pace which is where I hope to have my Marathon pace come October. A long way off that now. AHR for the 45min was 164, which I dont think is sustainable for 3 hours! All the same, I felt good this morning. Pace was supposed to be 4:25 but I didnt pay too much attention to the watch and just ran off feel.

My avg HR for the Conn Marathon was mid 160s. You mainly do your long training runs at a lower HR overall but on Marathon day you will sustain a higher heart rate. Spending time at PMP or PMP HR during your runs is a good thing IMO. Long slow runs is for Ultra running.. not marathons (unless its your first one)

El Director · 26-01-2012 12:32pm

Hey dude, good to see you yesterday morning.....not :cool: (a very 90's inspired reply

)

While I am pleased with my loffty swim positon in the challenge what is more pressing is my slow start to the running and biking for 2012 so I must address that when I can.

Well done on all fronts though man, you are really putting in the work and there will be plenty of battles between all boardies in 2012 and I'm looking forward to it

BTH · 26-01-2012 12:44pm

shotgunmcos wrote: »

My avg HR for the Conn Marathon was mid 160s. You mainly do your long training runs at a lower HR overall but on Marathon day you will sustain a higher heart rate. Spending time at PMP or PMP HR during your runs is a good thing IMO. Long slow runs is for Ultra running.. not marathons (unless its your first one)

It will be my first but I don't believe in soft targets. Looking at the hometown half at the end of August so target for the full debut may have to be revised based on that result. Not going to do anything stupid, respect the distance and what not, but I'm going to finish my tri season in mid August to give DCM some proper focus and give it a good lash.

BTH · 26-01-2012 12:52pm

El Director wrote: »

Hey dude, good to see you yesterday morning.....not :cool: (a very 90's inspired reply )

While I am pleased with my loffty swim positon in the challenge what is more pressing is my slow start to the running and biking for 2012 so I must address that when I can.

Well done on all fronts though man, you are really putting in the work and there will be plenty of battles between all boardies in 2012 and I'm looking forward to it

Once those boring slow IMer's

get going with their long dull training we'll all be sliding down the SBR challenge fairly quickly. But happy with my training so far in 2012, and touch wood I havent missed a session yet, other than on Saturday run that I changed to a LSR instead of a hard run as I was suffering with a throat and nose issues. You look to be getting back on top the running this last couple of days, so hopefully that can continue for you.

It's going to be an interesting year alright. Myself yourself and Fazz all fighting for Bambatta's feet at the start of a swim.....

BTH · 27-01-2012 10:33am

Club Swim
5*100WU with middle 3 as drills
4*100 kick as 25 kick, 25 right side, 25 left side, 25kick

2*200 off 3:30, in on 3:16, 3:14
2*400 off 7:00, I miscounted (good job I'm not an accountant or anything) and only did 350 on the first one but I made up for it on the second, so I did 350 on 6min (in on 5:41) & 450 on 8min (in on 7:25)
2*200 off 3:30 in on 3:16, 3:14

100cd
2600 in an hour

Happy to hold 1:37/38 pace throughout, including the longer sets, even if I can't count! Tried to concentrate on not letting form or pace slip in the longer reps following the discussion on the swimming for tri thread. Lashing into the 450 after less than 20sec break after the 350 and still holding pace is very satisfying as well.

shotgunmcos · 27-01-2012 10:37am

Good stuff. I think I might be jumping on the feet of 'team interested' come triathlon races this summer. Now if ye could all just bunch together and kick hard please

pgibbo · 27-01-2012 11:38am

I wonder could we get interested to do a nationwide coaching effort? :cool:

Cracking swimming BTH. You're making great progress.

So sub 3 is the current target for DCM. How much under or 2:59:59?

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 27-01-2012 12:00pm

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

Once those boring slow IMer's get going with their long dull training we'll all be sliding down the SBR challenge fairly quickly.

Sure IM is where the real men race BTH;) Great swimming by the way!!

BTH · 27-01-2012 12:04pm

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Good stuff. I think I might be jumping on the feet of 'team interested' come triathlon races this summer. Now if ye could all just bunch together and kick hard please

pgibbo wrote: »

I wonder could we get interested to do a nationwide coaching effort? :cool:

Cracking swimming BTH. You're making great progress.

So sub 3 is the current target for DCM. How much under or 2:59:59?

If some of the others have made half the improvement I have then the club will put in a great showing in the water this year, as they'd all have been very good swimmers already. He just pushes us all that bit harder than we would have otherwise and I'm certainly seeing the massive benefit from it.

Sub 3 is the target. Don't care how much by. First half was in Portlaoise in August last and I ran 1:29:40. I'd be happy to come in with the same cushion to be honest. I wasn't as prepared for that half as I'd have liked to be, so I'm hoping with a better prep, and a lot more miles in the legs, I'll crack the 3hrs. The Longford half at the end of August might tell me I'm mad, but until then sub 3 is the target.

BTH · 29-01-2012 6:29pm

Friday Easy turbo. 60min in Z2 with 6*10 sec sprints. Legs in much better shape than last week. Struggled to push the sprints then.

Saturday morning
17km run with long WU, 10*150m hill repeats @ 5km intensity, walk back, then 2*10min at 4:10 pace with 2min recovery, and long cd. Had this, a trip to CSS for a new saddle, a trip to B2R for new racing flats, and a dentist visit all wrapped up by 2:05pm. Good mornings work!

Sunday morn.
Club "training day" so a 2800m swim set in the NAC at 8, followed by breakfast and a bike spin @10. This was shortened to 2hours because of the weather, soaked through. No one was in any mood for the planned run after, but I did get out for a short jog with the boss later on.

haggis_mccloud · 29-01-2012 11:21pm

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

Sunday morn.
Club "training day" so a 2800m swim set in the NAC at 8, followed by breakfast and a bike spin @10. This was shortened to 2hours because of the weather, soaked through. No one was in any mood for the planned run after, but I did get out for a short jog with the boss later on.

Fair play to you for keeping the log BTH!! Good reading and I will be borrowing some of your sessions

impressive with the fast stuff in the weekly long run, tough.
Was very glad when I woke up this morning that I had a road race today and not the club training day in the rain, got the cycle in yesterday instead.
You really are flying with the swimming, hard work paying off.
In relation to the high heart rate I also had a high average for dublin marathon (167), was expecting a bit lower, this compares to 5 miles today at a much quicker pace with average of 169, hard to figure it out at times.
keep up the good work

BTH · 31-01-2012 10:34am

haggis_mccloud wrote: »

Fair play to you for keeping the log BTH!! Good reading and I will be borrowing some of your sessions impressive with the fast stuff in the weekly long run, tough.
Was very glad when I woke up this morning that I had a road race today and not the club training day in the rain, got the cycle in yesterday instead.
You really are flying with the swimming, hard work paying off.
In relation to the high heart rate I also had a high average for dublin marathon (167), was expecting a bit lower, this compares to 5 miles today at a much quicker pace with average of 169, hard to figure it out at times.
keep up the good work

Cheers Haggis. I would imagine that the cold on Sunday prevented you getting the HR up much higher. While the marathon wasn't in ideal conditions, I don't recall it being a particularly cold day. You were much better off in Raheny on Sunday.

BTH · 31-01-2012 10:56am

Last Swim of the month and easy week starts off with a stinker of a set.

500m wu,
6*25kick hard,

16*50 hard, on 60sec. Brought these in on 45/46 sec for the lot except the first one was 44 and the second & 7th were 47.

6*100 on 1:45, in a:30,36,36,36,36,37
60sec rest
6*100 on 1:40, in on 1:32,33,33,35,34,34

I swallowed half the water in the pool, and kept smashing the knuckle of the index finger on my left hand against the lane divider.

Anyway, a pretty good month of swimming laid down. Largest distance month ever, with 38.65km in 14 sessions, compared to 35.60km (15 sessions) in December, and 21km (12 sessions) in January last year. Interesting the number of sessions hasnt changed drastically. Didnt realise I was doing so many sessions last Jan. Avg distance per session is up 1k, which shows that I was putting in the time last year, but not pushing myself at all, and therefore getting very little benefit. I know I'm not going to see a great deal of improvement from now until race season starts, the majority of the improvement has happened already. So the main aim has to be maintaining where I am, and becoming more comfortable swimming at these paces, while trying to hold decent technique. There are still a number of issues I need to deal with on that front, so there'll be no slacking off. And there will still be times for hard work, like last night!

pgibbo · 31-01-2012 11:00am

Cracking stuff BTH. That's a serious 2k of swim work.

Out of curiosity, do you find your times are much different on solo swims to the group sessions?

Me Against The World...

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