ARtist in the spotlight: RacoonQueen

RayCun wrote: »

my thread is about done, so next up in the spotlight is the woman... the legend... the RacoonQueen

Favourite flavour of crisps?

Salt and vinegar. No other flavour is worth talking about.

RayCun wrote: »

You played basketball when you were younger - how good were you? Would you drop running etc to go back to it?

I would give up everything I have in swim/bike/run if I could play basketball at a decent level again. I was strong and fast. Defensively no one could get past me and I could mark the best player on the opposition out of the game. Sadly, injuries and stopping growing stunted my basketball career The extremely odd time I get a basketball in my hands I feel so at home. Would absolutely love to play again but unfortunately it's hard to get into as an adult and I do love what I do now so wouldn't want to stop that altogether. Can't do everything, unfortunately.

RayCun wrote: »

Crosstraining - at what point do you think it starts to eat into your running time and you should cut back? (Hint: you have passed that point)

Swimming has made a huge difference to my running IMO. I can train much harder doing all three. Strangely, I don't miss 'just' running. Though I still run 5/6 days a week which is probably too much for what I'm trying to do!
Running is great, the freedom, the ease, it can be done anywhere, I miss running with the girls, the progression that concentrating on one sport brings, how much you look forward to doing every race under the sun when you're feeling confident, strong and fast in training.

RayCun wrote: »

How did you discover boards/this forum?

I was using the Health and Fitness forum a lot when I was working in gyms, I was doing my second marathon and moved over here. Lifetime ago!
Odysseus, Sungod, Hunnymonster...it was full of Ultrarunners... and Athletics had it's own (very quiet) forum of its own...it's no wonder I went in the direction I did!

RayCun wrote: »

How many bans have you handed out so far?

0
I'm the good cop

RayCun wrote: »

Tempted to try to remerge the forums?

I never wanted them separate Now I think tri has a place as it's own forum. Probably a much 'smaller' community in the tri forum though. I like having them separate, tri forum is a nice refuge from here

RayCun wrote: »

Best and worst things about Donore Harriers?

Couldn't put down what is the best thing about Donore, everything is great about Donore. I love the club and have really missed training with the girls. Though I've been run coached for the last 16 months or so and wouldn't change that.

I don't like the training structure. The way the women train separate to the men. Hugely detrimental to the progress of the faster women IMO. At the time I stopped training with the girls, I'd been pretty much part of a group who were leading out the girls and there was no one for us to chase down. The faster girls trained (more specifically for what they were training for) and earlier in the day.

Training, as with any club, is very generic and many don't realise they should be taking a recovery week every 3rd/4th week so will blindly follow what they are told to do and there is an inevitable fallout from that for them.
The main thing I would change would be to mix up the training groups - I think the current structure isn't helpful to slower runners.

RayCun wrote: »

Last race? Next race? Favourite race?

Last race? Couldn't tell ya. A cross country race before christmas methinks.
Next race, IM Austria is all I'm registered for but I'd like to do at least one tri and maybe a run race before that.
Favourite race - Toss up between Mallow 10 mile and Connemara ultra. I'm a big fan of 10 mile / half marathon distance so I'll go with Mallow. Great organisation, great race, nice course, on at a time that's convenient for people to travel to Mallow for and go home on the same day and great, helpful organisers. Looking forward to going back next year.

menoscemo wrote: »

How may bans have you gotten so far? :pac:

I'm a good girl never been banned...

Ososlo wrote: »

Hi RQ
Do you prefer it now that the ART forums are split?

It's much of a muchness for me. The split came shortly after I started tri, I question whether I would have ever gone into tri if they hadn't been merged previously. It was interesting to read the training/race reports etc of the tri guys. I think it's good for the runners to have that around in the forum the tend to visit (athletics) rather than navigating to another forum. I would hazard a guess that I'm not the only one that made the move because of the forums being together at the time.

Ososlo wrote: »

Do you like being a mod?

Only when my phone isn't hopping with reported posts when people start being bold.

Ososlo wrote: »

Running Pbs across all distances?

So long since I actually raced..pb's are mostly old and terrible. 4 mile, 10 mile and half are probably the only distances where I've ever really done myself justice. By that I mean, actually raced from start to finish without wussing out.

3K - 11:49 (2013)
5k - 20:09 (or 20:07, one of them..) (2013)
4 miles - 26:02 (2013)
5 miles - honestly, no idea...in a 5 mile race it's low 35 (2012)
10k - 44:55 (2012)
10 miles - 70:31 (2013)
Half - 1:38:xx (officialy, 2011 I think - went faster for 13.1 in the midlands 14.5 mile half marathon though...)
Marathon - 3:39:57 (officially - have gone a couple of mins faster as part of Donadea 50k and significantly faster (3:26 IIRC) in a garmin training 26.2)
50K - 4:31 (2012)

39.3..can't remember 6 hours something, 50 miles - total embarrassing joke, 10 hours something.
Haven't road raced really since June 2013.

Ososlo wrote: »

Ultimate running goal? Distance and time?

Sub 3 marathon, which in turn probably means a sub 85 half marathon.
Have no real interest in long distance/ultra anymore but the Barkley 100 still remains my total bucket list race.

Ososlo wrote: »

You couldn't run, swim or bike for a year. What sport would you pick up if any?

I wouldn't like to live in a world where I could not run :eek:

I'd probably go and try something completely new. Rock climibing, mountain biking...theres a whole world out I believe!

rainbow kirby wrote: »

How have you coped for all these years with the sheer misery of being a Leeds fan?

Why do you think I really started to run?!

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Any chance of some chocolate biscuit cake next time I'm home?

Sure thing. I've got some 80% choc in my press that's too dark for most peoples tastes but I think it'll make an awesome CBC!

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Cost no object, what bike would you get?

I would have said the Argon E118. Recently got the E116 and I'm pretty damn happy.

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Absolute favourite session?

Thats a toss up between mile repeats and 1k repeats. These are both sessions I love to see pop up. They're short enough to run fast, but long enough to not be swimming in lactic.

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Your opinion of strength work for runners/triathletes?

Everyone should be doing it. We all have tonnes of weaknesses that we don't realise we have and that are detrimental to our training and performance. Ciaran Ó Lionáird's recent JTG article shows even the elites can suffer with preventable issues that could be solved/prevented by doing the right strength and mobility work.
http://jumping-the-gun.com/?p=4959

You won't bulk up by lifting weights unless you are training specifically to bulk up. Runners can lift without worrying about gaining large amounts of muscle mass.

yaboya1 wrote: »

When did your memory start to go? Can you remember?

Do I know you?

Sorry, crazy training week so only getting back to this now!

Chivito550 wrote: »

And on to the serious questions:

1) What were the reasons you made the move to triathlon after years of running?

It was something I kept thinking of trying. Back when the forums were together, I enjoyed reading the tri logs etc...I had a bike, I thought I could swim. I entered the last tri of 2010 and bought a wetsuit, little did I know at the time that it was organised by thou who shall not be named on boards, I was banned from cycling by my doctor and it was cancelled anyway.

Following the shock of my health problems I realised life is too short to dream and after lung surgery, I couldn't devote the same effort to running for a while so started swimming more, got swimming lessons with a tri club and went out on the bike once every 6 weeks.

Found it hard to devote the time to the other sports until recently and even now I still run 5 times a week, we've only dropped my hill session really. I wanted to be running but I couldn't run at the level I wanted to train at. Still classify myself as a runner but I haven't enjoyed training as much as I am now since I was training for Barcelona 2010 - I'm having a ball, I'm even loving the horrible training sessions that are complete junk or that are spent fighting the wind, lashing rain and sleet.

Chivito550 wrote: »

2) Are you a member of a triathlon club aswell as Donore? Are there many triathletes in Donore, and what's the general attitude you find among the athletics community towards people who do triathlon?

I'm a member of Pulse and swim and do a spin every now and again with Phoenix. When I started triathlon there we no other triathletes in the club, triathlon was a dirty word and I had to keep it a secret. Very few people knew what I was doing. A few from the tri club then joined Donore and then I roped more in from Pulse to Donore...and a few of the girls who I'd been running with started tri and joined Pulse/other clubs. Now there are a good few triathletes.
Though it's still a dirty word, a while since I saw Jim Mc but I never told him what I was training for!

Triathletes tend to neglect their running any of them who have joined Donore have either turned to runners or improved their run. Perhaps saying the neglect their run is a bit harsh, tri clubs don't tend to offer run coaching/structure in the same way. Pulse members can join Sportsworld as associate members to avail of that structure, few who have now joined Donore or other AC's were with Sportsworld but some didn't like it for whatever reasons.

Chivito550 wrote: »

3) Any elite triathletes that you look up to, or take inspiration from?

Nope, not really. Years of being a Leeds United fan mean I no longer look up to professional athletes I love watching tri and follow a few triathletes blogs but nothing major.

Chivito550 wrote: »

4) Olympic Gold or Kona champion? If you had the luxury to choose one?

Jayus, Olympic gold, hands down. Maybe I'm not in triathlon long enough or don't take it seriously enough but Kona is not my dream. Not now anyway....running into the stadium at the end of an Olympic marathon or smashing out the last 400m of an Olympic 10K however...

Chivito550 wrote: »

5) Long one here. Can you explain to me the purpose of the World Age-Group Championships? I get it for 40+, as it serves as masters championships, but is there really a point in having 20-24, 25-29, 30-34 categories? To me, it just comes across as a makey-up world championships for those not good enough to compete in the elite version. It would be like having a world championships for all guys running 400m between 48-55 seconds. It just seems stupid to me. I know a guy who went to the age-group worlds and finished top 20 or whatever, and he posted it on his fb leading everyone to think he was one of the top 20 triathletes on the planet. All very ridiculous. I like triathlon, just find this element of it stupid.

LOL..there is no purpose to it. Pretty much anyone with a passport and a credit card can 'represent' their country at the AG champs. Don't think you even have to do many tri's to qualify!
Unless you are actually one of the top age groupers in the country, I don't see why you'd even want to go - even then, you can top national series just be selectively picking your races. AFAIK you even have to pay for your Irish trisuit.
Imagine going to the IAAF World Champs and running a 3 hour marathon?!

It's not even a makey uppey world champs, it's a money spinner. In fairness, I'd say if there was an similar race at the World Champs for say a 10k or a marathon...a lot of the 'backslappers' would lap it up, apply, get their Ireland gear and lap it up.

Chivito550 wrote: »

6) Elite races can end up being a shoot-out on the run, with gains on the swim lost very quickly on the bike. Should something be done to stop this, and make all 3 disciplines equally important? Is banning the practice of drafting on the bike the answer?

It's arguable that draft legal races are about who is the best runner. If you can get out of the water with the leaders and get through T1 quickly, you should be able to stick with the lead pack on the bike. This kind of racing is good for the TV camera's, I don't think non-draft legal races would be anywhere near as interesting to watch.

Chivito550 wrote: »

7) Have you ever raced on the track? Ever tempted to try the 400, 800 and Mile?

One of those things I'd like to do but haven't ever done. Track racing is quite inaccessible here and Wednesday nights are awful awkward for racing. As well as that, clubs (seem) to just aim for middle/long distance runners. If I wanted to do track training/racing I wouldn't even know who to go to in Donore to talk about it. The female track athletes are the teenagers who've come through as juveniles and we throw in a few of the long distance runners for the gradeds/ national champs to make teams. Absolutely no focus on it.

But yeah, defo something I'd like to try. Like mountain running too...but you can't do everything

Chivito550 wrote: »

9) You don't seem to be a big fan of Australians. Can you explain why?

I work in tech support/fraud/customer experience/do a lot of other sh*t and one of our white label resellers is a major Australian brand. 90% of the people I'm in contact with every day are whinging and bitching and moaning like nothing I've ever experienced with any other nationality. I do a lot of complaint resolution so Aussies cause me a serious headache. And they're extremetly rude.
http://www.topix.com/forum/world/australia/TQ1FENIA50AR4PTOJ

There is LOADS on google about Australians being world champion whingers :pac:

The Officer wrote: »

Are you sick that it was CL and not you that got a shot at the title?

Which title is this?