Catweazles Half-Ironman or Chicken challenge

interested

catweazle wrote: »

Cheers Interested......not really motivated to catch MCOS, just having a bit of fun.

I would never be able to keep up with MCOS long term on the swimming, I would be in a body bag. I need to start planning some more cycling soon anyways as I do nothing at the moment.

I will keep an eye on the kicking like a madman, but the odd class I had with a coach tells me what I think is kicking hard isnt really as much as I think (as in I wasnt even kicking at 4-1) so its all relative, then you seem to get the school of thought that during the race try not kicking as much at all to conserve the legs.

Comments re: your coach are funny - yeah, its all very relative. With a wetsuit on in a triathlon your hips will be higher since the suits generally help with the buoyancy. Strong steady kick .. cant hurt as well though.

I am enjoying it though which is the main thing, the swimming isnt becoming a slog at all yet, I suppose as long as i still see some progress it will keep me motivated.

Again thanks for the musing, I appreciate the feedback

If you're enjoying it and seeing progress you're well on your way ...

MCOS

catweazle wrote: »

Cheers Interested......not really motivated to catch MCOS, just having a bit of fun.

Yeah right No snooze button in the morning for me now

Good swimming all the same, good work!

pgibbo

catweazle wrote: »

I need to start planning some more cycling soon anyways as I do nothing at the moment.

I'm hoping to get out for 2 hours this Saturday morning. You're more than welcome to join me if you want catweazle. It will be my first cycle of the year so nothing too hectic planned.

catweazle

I might take you up on that Gibbo, I have just got text message from my friend that I am down for golf on Sunday. I would like a round but I dont fancy doing the pace run and then LSR on saturday, I was in an awful state last friday. In Dublin all day tomorrow so though so I may well be more up for it on friday this week

Will pm you later in the week and thanks for the offer, hows Ballinrobe Tri going have they any training schedules planned yet??

catweazle

2000m in the pool today, took it fairly handy as I had run due later.

Evening run I did 7 miles in 1 hour. My HRM seemed to be spiking I went from low 140s straight to 170s from about mile 3 and stayed there, went into the high 180's for the last mile and a half when i increased the pace. I am not sure what to make of it, I felt reasonably comfortable during the run but wasnt feeling brilliant either. Maybe the swim earlier put my heart rate up straight away.

Again this leads to more questions for me, was the HRM working properly, am I still suffering from tiredness, do I need to bump my base heart rates around. I think I worked from a gym measurement of 55 before a fitness test and a 185 measurement from the end of a 10k race. I probably should reduce resting and increase max judging from this.

One of these days I will do one of those HR tests. I cant let my wife see me wake up with the HRM strap and watch on though, she will have the men in white coats at the door, next hen she is on i will try it.

interested

catweazle wrote: »

2000m in the pool today, took it fairly handy as I had run due later.

Evening run I did 7 miles in 1 hour. My HRM seemed to be spiking I went from low 140s straight to 170s from about mile 3 and stayed there, went into the high 180's for the last mile and a half when i increased the pace. I am not sure what to make of it, I felt reasonably comfortable during the run but wasnt feeling brilliant either. Maybe the swim earlier put my heart rate up straight away.

Again this leads to more questions for me, was the HRM working properly, am I still suffering from tiredness, do I need to bump my base heart rates around. I think I worked from a gym measurement of 55 before a fitness test and a 185 measurement from the end of a 10k race. I probably should reduce resting and increase max judging from this.

One of these days I will do one of those HR tests. I cant let my wife see me wake up with the HRM strap and watch on though, she will have the men in white coats at the door, next hen she is on i will try it.

If its not the monitor ...and your HR is normally about 10 or 20 bpm below above for your run then maybe ... (and bearing in mind everyone is different) but when my HR does things like that I know theres a cold or some sort of nose/throat or chest infection in the post. Tis the season.

catweazle

Christ I hope not I have enough of them over the last month, anyways rest day today so hopefully that will knock it down tomorrow

catweazle

Heart Rate was back to more acceptable rates today, lunchtime 5k on the treadmill in 27 minutes havent downloaded the Garmin but max rate from glancing at the watch was 132. Quick dash down to the pool for 600 metres did 200m on kickboard and then 4*100 off 2.10.

Finally got around to turbo session again so did 20k again there, I find it hard to raise my heart rate too high on the turbo, my legs give way first, I need to get more strength and endurance into the legs badly.

Ran a quick 3k after it, my first "kinda brick" since Loughrea last september, didnt time it but was happy with it as the normal discomfort was way less than usual

pgibbo

Would you not be tempted to run outdoors rather than on the threadmill? I hate them. Would rather be outside if at all possible than on a threadmill.

Your clocking the miles though and that's the main thing. Fair play.

littlebug

Are you doing the Athenry 10k next weekend Catweazle? We're kind of spoilt for choice racewise here in the wild west over the next month or so.

catweazle

I am and I amnt, I perfer the weekend runs out on the road. But I dont mind the treadmills either, the 3 and 5 miles run I get through them at lunch and straight to the shower. Not to many hills near us but I usually have the treadmills at 3-4% during it. The longer midweek run I do on the treadmill after work on the way home. I think I have mentioned on Dustys tread our gym has the treadmills overlooking the swimming pool. Usually during lunches the gyms star swimmer is churning out the laps so I usually watch him, in the evening the pool gets busy so there is plenty of watching techniques (perving) to be done as well.

Littlebug I will more than likely do the Athenry race if the wife will race it and if I can get in, I might do the Tuam 8k as well this weekend. I am working out how to fit them in to the long runs, I am kinda being cautious as well as I have struggled a few times so far with exhaustion so I don't want to be taking on too much. More of a chance doing the Tuam one this weekend though as I have a 10 mile lsr this sunday, I have 16 miles on the 24th.........so I will either go early and do a very slow first lap of it or stick around and do another one after. No target to break never raced a 8k before so i have a pb no matter what happens, if wife races as well I will stay with her she will be looking at breaking 40 minutes I would guess

catweazle

Friday 5k 29 minutes AHR 123
Was hoping to get in a quick 600m to push me up to 15k for the swimming in the challenge but didnt have the time.

Saturday
Did 7 miles in just over an hour AHR 147, then 1 more mile warm down.

Tomorrow going to race the Tuam 8k with Mrs C, I could be in trouble in this one, word on the street is that she hasnt ran since thursday which is unheard of for her. I am suspecting a mini taper is in process.

I will need to bring my A game tomorrow to keep up with her!

catweazle

My first race report and it was a good one.

Tuam 8k, course was 2 laps, first two kms were flat, 3rd was uphill with a wind into the face and 4th was a fast downhill. Goal time sub 40 minutes

I was nervous about this one this morning, I have never been the best of sleepers and last nights wasnt great, so I was tired and a bit stiff from yesterdays run. Kept drumming it into Mrc C to keep it steady at 25 minutes for the first 5k and we will take it from there.

So when the whistle goes she of course bursts off, first km was 4.37, second 4.50, third was 5.00 even and 4th was 4.45, I think we came through the 5k mark at just over 23 1/2 minutes. Mile 6 was where I really started feeling it, another 1km under 4.30 and the legs were burning. At this stage the devil was on the shoulder telling me to let her off, no shame in being beaten by her, you shouldnt be running at this pace anyways you have a marathon to run in a few months, save yourself etc etc. Mrs C is a steady 8.30 mile runner so I didnt know whether she could keep this pace up as I hadnt done any race this distance before with her

I decided to hang in and hope that the hills would catch her on km 7, she was never great on hills, luckily enough I was right and I could hear the breathing becoming more laboured and the pace slowed, my midweek treadmill running at decent inclines was paying off. At this stage I was pulling ahead so I had to slow down a bit, its very unfair I have been hammered by her in a few races in my time, she tells me that she is so focused on running that she doesnt even remember to keep with me and just pulls away on her own. But I am a dead man if i do that so I slowed down, we got the 1km done in 4.57 but I was worried that she was out on her feet at this stage.

Then like a gift from the gods her arch nemesis races by us (we didnt even know she was running it), unfortunely I dont have one yet but my wife does. She comes across as a very nice girl, but their times are always very close, she beat Mrs C in West of Ireland 10k and Achill Half but Mrs C just beat her in the Galway Bay Half marathon. So almost immediatly Mrs C pins the ears back and picks up the pace again and pulls out a 4.26 final kilometer pipping her rival at the line. As usual the two of them were full of chat after the race, but deadly rivals in it.

Anyways pretended to tell her we didnt break 40 minutes and was pleased at the disappointment on her face so she was delighted when I showed her the watch at just under 38 minutes.

The second best part of the day was when we got home I breezily told her I had to head out for another 5 miles to complete the LSR, which I could see annoyed her. I proceeded to fly out the gate and as soon as I was out of eyesight hobbled about three miles up and down the road.

HR Rate I was happy with average for the 8k was 159 with 172 the max coming in at the end. The three miles after done in 30 minutes at AHR 137

RedB

Good running Boss Well done.

littlebug

Great running Catweazle! Well done. I was there watching and very happy to be on that side of the fence when I saw all the pained faces coming through! It looked hard!

catweazle

Thanks Red and Littlebug

Wasnt too stiff today at all which was good, did 1800m at lunch, drills for 1200 and 3*200 off 4.30.

Running step up this week so protected the legs in the evening by 600m drills and 1000m straight with the pull bouy. Didnt time it and took it handy enough

Total 3400m

ronanmac

Fair play to you on Tuam, Catweazle, I loved the line on being a dead man if you pulled away at the end! I too wish I had a nemesis, preferably an arch-nemesis, I reckon it would keep me focussed and get me out of bed on those mornings when the Snooze button seems tempting.

Just after reading through your log, that's some serious training going on there. Good luck with it, and all of the events planned for 2010.

DustyBin

Fair play on the Tuam 8k catweazle - nice to beat your target. Oh and congratulate Mrs C on beating her nemises

That's an impressive amount of training you're getting through in January!

You should look into incorporating those dogs on your 5 mile route into some sort of a fartlek / interval session . Would be a great motivation to keep runnning I'd say!

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=64098838&postcount=15

MCOS

ronanmac wrote: »

I too wish I had a nemesis, preferably an arch-nemesis, .

Me too, I'm kind of between the pack and the fast guys. A few fast guys in my club perhaps just too much out of my reach right now to call any a nemisis (might have them on swim and bike, but 3-4 of them are 34min 10k runners!). I'm sure someone will emerge this season though to keep me on my toes.

catweazle well done on the 8k and funny report too

catweazle

Dont be looking to me to be your nemesis anyways......both of ye will need to slow down a good but before I would arrive in your rear view mirror.

Tuesday
4.5 miles, working from home in the morning so enjoyed the outdoor lap

Today 1500m pool swim, took it relatively easy with a few drills, the day after I asked interested about those paddles gloves they disapeared from the gym but they were back today so tried them. Found them hard to use so doubt I will use them too much. Did 3*100m off 2min at the end as I wanted to get in 1500m and it was running late, all three low 1.40's although I dont think I would have been able to do another one at that pace.

Evening did 8 miles on the treadmill, was happy enough with this heartrate after the usual burst over 200 it stayed under 140 all the way.......well for 60 minutes as treadmill doesnt go longer than that. Stopped and Reset it and my HR was over 200 for the other 2.5kms even though I felt exactly the same. I dont think it like sudden changes in HR

catweazle

Thursday lunchtime run 4 miles 38 minutes AHR = 130
Thursday evening 1 hour Turbo Session 4 Hard power sessions built into it AHR= 135

Friday a rest day and for once I stuck to it...........maybe a little too much rest and relaxation though as I had a very late night, decided to walk home from the friends house at around 5am, but got too cold so was furiously trying to flag down taxis.

Saturday ran 8.5 miles, had forgot the HRM and I was glad as i am sure it was sky high all the way, the drink was dripping out of me. 1 hour 20 mins

Sunday LSR of 16.5 miles, my longest run so far. Decided to drive out to salthill for it to get some decent hills in as well on it, I need to plan out the run a bit more though I am looking at the garmin connect and it is just a sea of red squiggles all over the place. I didnt find it too hard, knees were at me around mile 10 but they stopped bothering me after a few miles. One thing I was glad of was that I stuck two Nutrigrain in my pocket as I was heading off. Coming around mile 12 I was fading badly so the two bars did the trick. Time 2.44 AHR =130

catweazle

Have to juggle my runs around this week due to work tomorrow, wednesday is my long midweek run so pushed it forward to today instead. I suppose it is better to miss a 4 mile run rather than an 8. I would still like to catch those 4 miles back by the end of the week, maybe I might do them friday although friday rest day has become much more appealing to me than previous with the increase in workloads over the weekend.

So today 2000m in the water, saving the legs for the run later so 1200m in drills and 800m straight with the pull bouy, came in at 15.55.

This evening 8 miles on the threadmill, done in 1.15 mins, AHR = 138

Yesterday just a quick session in the pool for lunch 1500m, mainly pull bouy again as legs were tired after sundays long run

pgibbo

Rest days are very important especially as you up the mileage and training levels. I'd opt for a rest day on Friday or maybe an active recovery run for 30mins or so if you feel the need to run. Just my 2c

catweazle

Ya going to go for a swim instead Gibbo, will use the pull bouy to rest the legs. Pissed off tonight, dropped my Garmin 310xt while I was taking it off after turbo session, picked it up to see it badly cracked, I cant believe it. I absolutley shouldnt have dropped it but I cant believe how badly damaged it was from the small fall, I would have thought a triathletes watch might be a bit hardier. Not sure what to do here, I can only assume Garmin wont cover that, the watch is fine, just the glass cracked. I wonder can a normal jeweler fix it, will i be dodge swimming with it from then on. **** it anyways.

Besides that nothing hectic today, I am too annoyed to take out the garmin to download the stats, so 4 easy miles today at lunch.

Tonights turbo session was 32k, still the same issue. Heart rate wouldnt go over 150 but lactic in legs was killing me. I will need to do a lot of cycling once this running lark is out of the way, I have no strength in the legs

catweazle

Left dongle at work so no internet all weekend, I felt strangely liberated in some ways. No chance of being caught for work at least.

Friday: Easy 1000m swim all with pull bouy, no watch (read last post) but long weekend running for me so was happy to save the legs.

Saturday: 8 miles lovely run, 1.12 = 9 min miles, havent got around to downloading the info but with the odd glance at the hrm it seemed below 140 all the way. Felt great.

Sunday: 17 miles, 2.55 min = 10.30 min miles, I found this a real slog, felt way worse than last weeks 16 miles effort, and there was little hill work compared to last week. Foolishly miscalculated the distance (no mapmyrun) so ended up going past the house at 15 miles. Was very tempted to call it a day but stuck it out for the extra two by going up and down the road. Legs were gone after about 10 miles. Only good part was my hrm looked like it was under 130 all day, so its not a breathing problem its getting the endurance in my legs.

Glad to get that week over with, running recovery this week so only a 10 mile lsr this sunday.....going to enjoy that and might even treat myself to some pints saturday night after the rugby

catweazle

Legs still stiff today although they are fine now, didnt do much today 1200m straight in the pool with pull buoy, followed by jacussi for ten minutes.

On the road tomorrow so wont be doing anything till wednesday, I am missing the odd 4 mile run here and there but with juggling I am sticking to the plan in the main

catweazle

Swim during lunchtime, was a tough one, decided I would try some 100m splits before the drills. so

200 m warm up
5*100m splits off 2.30............1.37/1.48/1.48/1.52/1.52
800m drills

I cant decide why the first one was so far ahead of the others, think I ran out of gas more or less straight away. Was well shagged after them and tempted to go home but i thought another 800m and I am ahead of Bagus, unless he uploads another monster session in the meantime so struggled on.

Evening was 9 mile run, another real slog, so much for nice easy runs on a recovery week, switched off the HR view on the garmin after a while because the heart rate kept spiking into the 220's all through it. Finished it in 1.20, I am too scared to down load the Garmin, ignorance is bliss.

shotgunmcos

What was the purpose of those 100s? When you say 'splits' do you mean race pace or sprints? Big difference between the 1st and 5th. Was the first flat out?

catweazle

They were all flat out :rolleyes:

Just the energy had been sucked out of me after the first, I think the splits after the first I might have been subconsciously trying to be more controlled to ensure I made the 100m in one piece

interested

catweazle wrote: »

They were all flat out :rolleyes:

Just the energy had been sucked out of me after the first, I think the splits after the first I might have been subconsciously trying to be more controlled to ensure I made the 100m in one piece

an alternative approach to consider would be to descend them ...
start off slow moving faster on each rep.

At least then you can hang on the wall - white in the face - at the END of your set with pride rather than at the start with more reps to come

Its still very early in the year - all time spent in the pool will be money in the bag for June / July / August / Sept / Oct