[pgibbo]

I know that when I got my bike fit done off Fernando he mentioned that if I came to him before I bought he could have told me what frames in what sizes would suit me. It might be worth mailing him to see when he is back in Dublin again.

James O'Donnell in Galway has a rig that will allow you to try varying positions and observe power output along the way. It gives you your stack and reach AFAIK. Not sure how good it is but it might be worth having a chat with him.

[Bambaata]

Wednesday 18th Jan
Late Run
Planned on an easy 30mins to get the ball rolling again. I could possibly have done something light yesterday but i think theres no harm in having one buffer day to ensure everything is ok. I hate hate hate time off as the doubts set in about the race being only x many days away and ill never be ready but a nice easy 30mins and hopefully i can now get back on track! This week is a recovery week anyway and i am well and truly recovered. HR was rising very very easily but i felt full of energy. Had to run late as i had a mental day at work and college and it was beautiful out in the park with the head torch on. Savage evening for a run.
Time: 00:33:27, Ave Pace: 04:09min/km, Distance: 8.06km Avg HR 141 bpm.

[El Director]

Great to see you are feeling better dude and certainly no worse for the lay off.

[Bambaata]

Thursday 19th Jan
Easy Bike
Had hoped to get about 45mins in at easy power but was caught up at work and only managed 30mins. Felt great. Last year id been working of a 130's as easy for HR before the power meter but now HR is only an interesting stat as opposed to anything i use to base the effort off. Holding the top of my easy power range (up to 210) had HR hovering below 115 and it was staying consistent rather than rising so im pretty sure im 100% again now. I had originally got the T5 + T20 planned but we've had to bail on that for another time. No point trashing myself only a few days after feeling ok, that would most likely kick me right back again.
Time: 00:30:42, Ave Power 189W, Distance 16.05km, Ave speed 31.4 km/h

[Bambaata]

Friday 20th Jan
Lunchtime Run
Out Clontarf Stand again up towards the Bull Island bridge and back. Lovely route but fack me the wind is a serious killer out along the strand! Im thinking my HRM strap needs a new battery as i could never get it to settle (well for about 30mins anyway). It was wrecking my head. I was running low 04:0x's on the way out but it was telling me i was in the 150s but when i made it settle (holding it tight to the chest) it was then saying 140 and RPE felt more like 135-140 so i just decided to ignore it and just enjoy the run. Had a good tailwind out but bam again that wind coming back was woeful! Again it was like a wall of wind and the 04:0x's went to barely 5mins/km. Bewteen the wind and the HRM spiking i wasnt enjoying it so much as usual, still enjoying it none the less but not to the same degree. I feklt good the whole way and felt like id never gone out once finished. It didnt take anything from me so RPE was truthful whereas the Garmin was a liar!
Time: 00:46:18, Ave Pace: 04:27min/km, Distance: 10.41km Avg HR id guess about 140/141 bpm

I've decided im going to keep a basic food diary here from next week so as to possibly stir some discussion there. Ive been sick twice in 3/4 weeks so im keen to see if anyone might spot any glaring deficiencies i might be missing. I don't believe its related though but no harm anyway as it might also help me keep it clean

[kingQuez]

Originally Posted by Bambaata

Friday 20th Jan
I've decided im going to keep a basic food diary here from next week so as to possibly stir some discussion there. Ive been sick twice in 3/4 weeks so im keen to see if anyone might spot any glaring deficiencies i might be missing. I don't believe its related though but no harm anyway as it might also help me keep it clean

Cool, i'd be very interested to get a view into what other people are doing! I've been thinking of tracking what I eat myself, mostly to stop kidding myself about how well Im eating

[El Director]

Originally Posted by Bambaata

Friday 20th Jan
Lunchtime Run
Out Clontarf Stand again up towards the Bull Island bridge and back. Lovely route but fack me the wind is a serious killer out along the strand! Im thinking my HRM strap needs a new battery as i could never get it to settle (well for about 30mins anyway). It was wrecking my head. I was running low 04:0x's on the way out but it was telling me i was in the 150s but when i made it settle (holding it tight to the chest) it was then saying 140 and RPE felt more like 135-140 so i just decided to ignore it and just enjoy the run. Had a good tailwind out but bam again that wind coming back was woeful! Again it was like a wall of wind and the 04:0x's went to barely 5mins/km. Bewteen the wind and the HRM spiking i wasnt enjoying it so much as usual, still enjoying it none the less but not to the same degree. I feklt good the whole way and felt like id never gone out once finished. It didnt take anything from me so RPE was truthful whereas the Garmin was a liar!
Time: 00:46:18, Ave Pace: 04:27min/km, Distance: 10.41km Avg HR id guess about 140/141 bpm

I've decided im going to keep a basic food diary here from next week so as to possibly stir some discussion there. Ive been sick twice in 3/4 weeks so im keen to see if anyone might spot any glaring deficiencies i might be missing. I don't believe its related though but no harm anyway as it might also help me keep it clean

Good luck with the diary, I found it tough keeping one but it did sort out a problem for me If you remember. I was fading towards the end of LER and long bikes. In my attempt to drop the kg's I started to not eat enough carbs, I did not do it on purpose so if I didn't have the diary it would have taken longer to figure it out.

During the day I found it best just to take pics of my food and write it in the diary later that evening.

[jackyback]

Wind was a killer alright i had intervals today and went from being pushed along to straight into a gale It certainly would be interesting re food diary as i seen you mention on a previous occasion about being light headed after tough/long sessions. It would be interesting to see what calorie deficits people are working off and if that could have an impact on running yourself down and getting sick.
I assume you take recovery product after a tough or long session? I find manuka honey very good and i use it mixed with my tea now as a substitue to a spoonful of sugar. I also take a multi vit and echinacea daily.

[Bambaata]

Saturday 21st January
Swim
I headed to the pool just before lunch to get some feel back after missing swimming for about 1.5 weeks. Felt far better than i expected considering the absence. I looked to keep everything fairly easy to just focus on things, making sure form was good and breathing easy and controlled. The lane was mental at first with 6 or 7 in it, half of them breast-stroke/drowning and the other half trying to swim. Lane beside me cleared up after a quick warmup so thankfully the rest of the session went smoother. I just did some 50pulls as 25 fist, 25sw and some front sculling with some easy swimming around them. Times seemed fairly normal but i didnt have my watch and had to rush off at times to get past traffic so i didnt get to see what most of the 50s were coming in on.
Time:00:40:00, Distance: 2000m

Easy Bike
Hoped on the turbo for a 2.5hr session but had to cut a little short. Felt good and just maintained a 190-200W range. Also focused on maintaining a road like cadence (about 90) as i sometimes find i run with a faster one of the turbo for some reason, not sure why. From seeing HR data and cadence i find i am more efficient around 90-95 rather than 95+. Session flew by. I had no fan as i left it behind me in my folks place so i was sweating a fair bit. Took on 750mls water, 400mls Lucazade Sport with a Harvest Morn Cranberry cereal bar (60mins) and a banana (90mins). Felt great at the end and happy to be getting back on track.
Time: 02:05:02, Ave Power 191W, Ave Cadence 90rpm, Distance 65.05km, Ave speed 31.2km/h

Sunday 22nd January
Long Easy Run
Just an hour today seeing as its a recovery week "long" run. Felt great and was loving seeing a 03:54km come through at easy HR for km 2. Just ran up through the Phoenix Park and out past the M50 and back. Lovely evening out with the head torch. I find i sometimes run better when i cant see much to distract me. Had bags of energy and i was guilty of letting the HR climb ever so slightly to low steady at times. Ran mainly ton RPE though and breathing was never labored. I normally feel a little tightness on my right calf but not a dickey bird from it tonight and legs felt great. Still do now, not a bit of an ache in any part of them. I went through 7k in 29:03 (04:09/km) with a HR ave of 141 (includes some spiking for 10mins or so to the 150s) and am delighted to see my endurance/fitness seems decent as the second 7k was 29:23 (04:12/km) with only a tiny rise to a 143 average HR. Felt like i could have sprinted for ages but kept it reigned in.
Time: 01:02:52, Ave Pace: 04:10min/km, Distance: 15.07km

[Bambaata]

Im going to start the food part of each day as a post and just edit it as the day goes on (otherwise i could leave things out)

Monday 23rd January
Brekkie (9am)
Porridge with 1/2 scoup NurtitionX Vanilla Big Whey, handful of walnuts and small bit of manuka honey
1/2 glass OJ
Multi-Vitamin, lysine, cod liver Oil (Active 55+ one high Omega 3)
Black coffee

Lunch (12:00)
Stir fry (using coconut oil), spinach/cherry tomato salad + spoon of cottage cheese
Half portion noddles
1/2 carrot
1/4 red pepper
Small few flaked almonds
2 bird eye chillis
4 mushrooms
1/4 portion black bean sauce
2 cloves of garlic
200mls apple juice

Post Swim Banana (14:15)

Dinner (16:15)
Thai Prawn Curry (Pic attached)
Made by the sister for me from scratch using coconut milk. Lovely so it was. I could identify the following:
Courgettes
Red peppers
Brocolli
Green chillis
Topped with coriander and 1/4 lime
2 small pieces of naan bread and tablespoon of chutney
Desert: Fat Free Olken Vanilla youghurt (three spoons) with mixed fruit (strawberries, apple, pear, banana, kiwi)
Didnt have the two plates of the above i normally would and feeling a little hungry already (18:15 now)

Tea (19:00)
3/4 bowl of carrot/parsnip/turnip mash with 1/4 bowl of potato/spring onion all mixed together wioth some tabasco (leftovers of yetserdays dinner)

Post Run Snack (22:15)
Wholemeal pitta with small amount of chicken, small amount of ballymaloe relish, spinach, 3 cherry tomatoes - Had this a bit later than id have lied but i didn't get a chance to get my run in til late.

Over the day i had about 2.5-3ls water and two other coffees

[shotgunmcos]

Originally Posted by Bambaata

Sunday 22nd January
Long Easy Run
Just an hour today seeing as its a recovery week "long" run. Felt great and was loving seeing a 03:54km come through at easy HR for km 2. Just ran up through the Phoenix Park and out past the M50 and back. Lovely evening out with the head torch. I find i sometimes run better when i cant see much to distract me. Had bags of energy and i was guilty of letting the HR climb ever so slightly to low steady at times. Ran mainly ton RPE though and breathing was never labored. I normally feel a little tightness on my right calf but not a dickey bird from it tonight and legs felt great. Still do now, not a bit of an ache in any part of them. I went through 7k in 29:03 (04:09/km) with a HR ave of 141 (includes some spiking for 10mins or so to the 150s) and am delighted to see my endurance/fitness seems decent as the second 7k was 29:23 (04:12/km) with only a tiny rise to a 143 average HR. Felt like i could have sprinted for ages but kept it reigned in.
Time: 01:02:52, Ave Pace: 04:10min/km, Distance: 15.07km

Jealous.com

[BTH]

Originally Posted by shotgunmcos

Jealous.com

Was thinking the exact same. My 4:08 pace is up around 170HR at the minute. I've just done 30min @133hr which was 5:00 pace. There'll be no catching Eddie this year...

[Bambaata]

Cheers lads. If only they all felt that easy! Some days it can be 10-15s slower per km but i was feeling great yesterday. Still feeling good actually, had a good swim there and now to some painting in the house!

[Bambaata]

Monday 23rd January Training
Lunchtime Swim
Great swim. I stormed off a little hard to start clocking 02:54 for the opening 200m. It wasn't flat out but was more between hard/steady, race pace id say. Calmed down after! I was a bit over enthusiastic. Some drills and then some 50pulls as 25 fist/25 swim all went well coming in between 46 - 51. To finish i had some fast 50s on 70. they came in on 38, 37, 38, 38.
Time:00:45:23, Distance: 2000m

Late Run
Wasnt out until after 9 so i thought i might not run too great. To my surprise the legs felt ok and i was running similar to Sunday. HRM strap was spiking a bit again but would work ok when id press the strap to my chest. I turned at 5k in 20:29. I was still feeling good and the spikes got worse again 6-7k so i just ran to feel more and tried to get it to settle. I did lift it though a little and did just about go into steady at times. Second 5k was 20:30. while it is almost exactly the same as the first 5 k there was a 5BPM difference and a slight downhill. NO real hills on the route but just very gradual drags through the park. Still delighted to feel good. Not sure why my run form seems to be going so well as i dont feel its warranted yet after the short breaks in training recently.
Time: 00:45:53, Ave Pace: 04:05min/km, Distance: 11.19km

[Bambaata]

Tuesday 24th January Food Diary
Up at 07:30 and had 200mls OJ, fish oil, multi-vit and vit B

Breakfast (08:30)
Porridge with walnuts, half scoup protein powder, manuka honey and small amount of milled linseed

Snack (12:00)
3 or 4 walnuts halves, apple, banana

Lunch (13:15)
Other half of yesterdays stir fry and some potato/spring onion
200mls whole milk

Snack (16:00)
Banana

Pre session snack (18:30)
Slice of bread and peanut butter
Was supposed to leave work at 16:00 but wasnt out til near 6 so i was fairly hungry pre-session!

Dinner (20:30)
Homemade lasagna, spinach salad with 1 gerkin (i love gerkins!!), beetroot, 3 cherry tomatoes, small amount of spuds/spring onion
Made a big lasagna yesterday and to make sure theres some goodness in there i added onions, 3 large carrots (mothers trick to get veg into my brother ), mushrooms, green pepper and a red pepper.

Post Dinner Treat (20:45)
Coffee and 2 small roses fudge sweets! Figured i deserved it. In other times that could have been half the tin!!

Water intake was good enough again today. Not sure on amount but the toilet test showed it was a weak straw colour all day