Here goes...again!

digger2d2

CL was telling me about your great 10k time.... Well done, savage improvement

insinkerator

Your swimming has really rocketed! Wow!

Won't let up on the cycling though It's the only thing keeping me sane

littlebug

Bally8 wrote: »

I laughed out loud at the downhill hurdles!!

Funny in hindsight moving too fast for me to stop in time so I had no choice but to jump. With the lead wrapped around my wrist I couldn't let go so ended up landing in a strange crouched position with the arm attached to the lead and dog eh.... between my legs Could have killed the dog:mad:. Thankfully no one saw.. sure that's the most important thing

I did worry today about what would happen if he knocked me. I was running on very uneven shale/slate/rock? surface at times today and wondered if he knocked me I could have been hurt badly and would have been all on my own in the middle of nowhere. I might have to rethink running up there with him on my own.

ah but I'm sure he loves it and if you're like me you'll feel guilty going without him! I take my phone if I'm going to be any distance from civilisation and I also slow to a walk if the dog is being over-exuberant in tricky or potentially dangerous bits.

best of luck with the race... enjoy

Dory Dory

Good luck tomorrow, Bally8! (it's actually today where you are.) Looking forward to your report - you're always so perky!!!!

Bally8

Saturday 25th March
My second club duathlon. I really wanted to go all out and do better than my first one a few weeks ago but the weather had other ideas. The wind was not co-operating, it was very strong which made the bike leg especially very difficult. Anyways the duathlon is run on a handicap basis, based on our previous times. As the slowest person there I was first to head off. One of the girls who is usually faster came with me as she had a sore ankle but after a mile I realised she was still was way faster than me so I told her I had to slow. Mile 1 was done in 7:51 probably not the best idea. I was wrecked from it:( I really slowed down from there and struggled with the demons in my head telling me it was too difficult, who was I kidding, I'm not able for all this stuff. Still I kept putting one foot in front of the other and managed to keep going.

I was happy that no one had passed me until 3k in so I took comfort in that. I arrived in transition wrecked and not looking forward to the rest of the race. I had set my bike up much better this week and with my lock laces in I had a much more successful transition.

The bike leg was very tough on the way out to Nenagh, the wind in my face the whole time but I ploughed on and managed to over take one of the girls. I'm not sure how many people over took me but it wasn't as many as I had expected. Negotiated the 2 roundabouts with no issues (didnt need to stop and clip out like in the first duathlon:)). Once I hit the turnaround it was a whole other race. With the wind at my back I was flying at speeds of 35-40kms at times:D Great fun. Arrived back in transition to see my husband and daughter had arrived- lovely to see them there to support me.

Transtion 2 was super fast, lightening fast actually:) 24 seconds!!!

The second run was pure and utter hell. I wanted to stop and walk so bad, nearly everyone had overtaken me and the hill seemed too tough. I dug deep and arrived back at the finish delighted to be finished.

Of course when it was all over I was happy and proud of myself for pushing through all the mental stuff and not giving up. It was only a club race after all, no one would have minded if I stopped but I would have known and I would have been annoyed with myself.

So the details:
Run 1: 5.06km in 26:21 (14 seconds faster than first duathlon)
T1: 1:31 (48 seconds faster - and def room for more improvement there)
Bike: 41:01 (13 seconds faster and would have been more except for the crazy wind)
T2: 24 seconds (19 second improvement)
Run 2: 11:04 (3 seconds faster:))

Overall result 1:20:21, really hope to get under the 1:20 next time.

Bally8

Sunday 25th March
What a glorious day!! Hubby and I managed to head out for a short leisurly cycle while the teenage tearaway was at a camogie match. 20.5k with a climb of Port hill at the end. Its still a killer but seems to be getting shorter every time I do it.

I had planned to go for a swim this evening but as the weather was so fine I couldnt bring myself to go indoors to exercise so we walked the dog down the the lake instead. The place was over-run by people so we didnt stay long and walked up home again. I think my face is sunburnt!! In March!!!

Dory Dory

Bally8, you always make me smile. You know how to make lemonade out of lemons...and you've got an inner grit that is inspiring. You go girl!! You'll smash that 1:20 next time!!!!

Bally8

Eek I couldnt find my log- page six! I remember when there was only a page and a half of logs in here:)

Anyway this weeks activities so far:
Monday 26th March
My gym class at work was cancelled for a staff meeting in the lovely sunshine instead:) slightly disappointed as I couldnt sneak in my planned 3 miler. Pool after work. It was very busy for the first 20 minutes so I just battled my way up and down the pool with no real plan. After 15 lengths I had some good space I went for a timed 30 lengths. 19:27 happy with that. I think I can go faster but worry that on the day I will panic or will get caught behind someone slower or I'll just be crap. Or maybe it will all go great and I do it in under 19 minutes Total distance 1425 m

Tuesday 27th March
Such a shame to be housebound on such a lovely day but I couldnt go anywhere after work so I hopped on the turbo for a very sweaty 80 minutes. I really need to be spending more time on the bike. My milage this month and last has been very low and I know I wont see any improvements in speed if Im not getting out there.

Bally8

Wednesday 28th March
A game of soccer to start the day- I'm sooooo bad at it, remembered why I spent my whole childhood thinking I was bad at sport - I am, well team games anyway. Except of hockey which I rock at :D We managed to make the kids play it for a while even though they thought hockey was for weirdos only apparently So after a few classes back at the centre we decided it was just too nice to be indoors so brought all the students out to play rounders...which I suck at too by the way. Still a lovely way to spend a day at work eh?

After work I headed to the Nenagh Running Series for my first proper 5k race. My 5 k time so far is from the duathlon and its a bit longer than 5k so its good to have a PB to work from now. Anyway the format of this race was that you had to predict your finish time and the winner was the person who managed to finish at that without using a watch. I was totally unsure what time to write down- I always have my garmin. I first put down 28 mins as I thought I would be slower without my watch to pace me but after some consideration I changed it to 26:30.

Lovely evening and a nice flat route. I felt good throughout the race and while everyone else had speed off I managed to cling on behind one of my club mates and thank god for that, I probably would have got lost otherwise. Finished 32nd out of 42 but that wasnt what it was about for me, I just wanted to set a time to see where Im at- is this recent new speedy me a fluke or not? Well Im happy to say its no fluke- I finished in 25:37. So that's my official 5k PB. I fully intend to beat it next week:D and the week after and the week after- I hope to go sub25 by the time the series is over. The winner was only 1 second outside their pedicted time, amazing!!

Great race, looking forward to the next one.

diddleyland

fantastic PB well done:D

shazkea

Congrats on the new PB. Good target for next week

insinkerator

Congrats Bally8! You should go sub 25 with ease

Bally8

Thurs 29th March
Ran out of time to fully update yesterday so had to leave Thursdays activities out.

Anyway yesterday was a good day for me. I was off work and it was just so lovely out. I started out with swim. The pool was nice and quiet and I got a whole lane to myself. Happy days . 15 lengths warm up then did 1 x 50, 1 x 100, 1 x 150, 1x 200 and then 2 x 250. Very happy with the 2 lots of 10 lengths. The most I had done in a row before this was 8.

After lunch Mr. Bally8 and I took the dog exploring some of the Lough Derg way. It was tough climbing up Tountinna with the heat but wow the views are lovely. Our poor doggie nearly drowned though- he fell in a little lake and MrBally8 had to drag him out:eek: Amazing to be able to look for miles up there. Who knew I had such beautiful trails so close to home. We did some running on the way back down but I was unsure of my best approach to it as I felt out of control and a bit scared at the speed. Wanted to ask donothoponpop but he seems to be gone from boards:(

Anyway I decided to go for a run on more even ground when I got back home so headed out for a very easy 6.6k.

Today turned into a rest day but that's ok as I have my last club duathlon tomorrow and last week I suffered because I went into it tired. Hopefully I will be nice a fresh tomorrow and get under 1:20:00.

Dory Dory

Congrats on the 5k pb!!! And good luck tomorrow!

Bally8

Yikes its been ages since I updated here. I log in everyday but spend my time reading everyone else's logs and then run out of time so my own gets forgotton.

Anyway since I last updated I've been doing plenty training but I've also suffered a few niggly injuries which have dampened my spirits a bit to be honest.

I'll just write a quick summary of what I've been doing as I cant really remember the details of everything.

Sat 31st March- Dromineer Duathlon No 3. Really went for it. I was determined to get under the 1hr20 mins. Things didnt go according to plan though- instead of hitting lap when I came into transition after the first run I pressed stop so from then on I wasnt sure where I was when it came to my times. Really threw me but I kept going. The cycle was easier this week as there was less of a headwind and I managed to do it in 39 mins (aim was to get it under the 40 so was v happy with that). The last run was hell as usual but I pushed as hard up that hill as I could. Finished in 1:16:45!!!! Thrilled with myself- a huge PB for the course.

Sunday 1st April - Spent the whole day lying on the couch dying of a hangover. Wasnt able to move let alone swim/bike or run.

Monday 2nd April - Had a pain in my knee all day but decided to chance going to the club run after work to see how it held up when running. Disappointed to find out it it wasnt holding up well. I ended up running just over 4 miles when I probably shouldnt have ran on it at all. By the end of the session my shin and my achilles were hurting too and I wanted to throw a strop about how stupid my body is for constantly letting me down

Tuesday 3rd April - Met M after work and we did a timed 30l swim. 19:50 happy with that. I'm feeling much more comfortable in the pool now. Did another couple lenghts after to bring it to 1125 for the session.

Wed 4th April - Marshalled the 2nd run in the Nenagh 5k running series. Jealous of everyone else there. Why dont they get niggles like I do?

Thursday 5th April - Up at dawn for a club swim. Felt good today. I wasnt the slowest in my lane and I managed to do all the drills and sets we were given to do. 78lengths total. Kicked myself after when I realised 2 more would have gotten me to 2k. Still happy with the session and it was my longest swim yet by 6 lengths

Had planned to cycle later on but my bike wasnt going into the gears properly. Took it to the bike shop and he said he fixed it. He was wrong!

Bally8

Spent Good friday in Cork

Sat 7th April - Club cycle. I hadnt been on one of these in weeks and I missed them so was happy they were back on at last. Cycled into Nenagh from Portroe. I hoped this wouldnt be a bad idea for when the cycle was over I would have to cycle home again but I wanted to stop driving to these cycles for a while now. Anyways on my way into Nenagh I discovered the grears were still slipping so its not fixed:(

Cycle was Nenagh- Roscrea and back again. The pace was upped for the first time for this group and I really really enjoyed it, especially the sprint finish in which I very nearly kept up with the guys till the last 200m I'd say.

Felt a niggle in my knee on the way home. 85.61kms in 3:14. My longest cycle yet. Fun times

The pain in my knee progressed from a niggle to agony over the course of yesterday evening and I had a full on depression about this whole triathlon thing. I keep getting little niggles and injuries that make me have to rest and lose out on my training while it looks like most other people in the club cant train hours on end with no ill effects. I dont know what I'm doing wrong at all.


Woke up this morning feeling much better though so headed off to the pool. 1350m with 30 lengths times- 19:17, the fastest for this distance yet.

Out for my first run in 6 days after. 5.26 slow kms. Happy to report knee pain going and only slight achilles pain.

Have a rub down booked for tomorrow so hopefully that will help my tight calves which in turn might help the achilles.


6 days to the North Tipp Sprint tri- eek!!

insinkerator

Bally8, your swimming is testament that hard work pays off. At the start of the year, we seemed to be at a similar level, but you really got your head down and put the work in. You're lightyears ahead of me now

Good luck in your first tri too! Can't wait for the report

Bally8

Ya insink, I can see when it all clicked into place for me- it was when I started going to the pool 3 times a week, one of those times being with the club. I went from struggling and hating the pool to getting faster, more confident and loving it.


So with that said this morning I was up bright and early for a 6.30am club session. Only 4 in the slow lane so no pressure. Wu consisted of 1 fc,2 side stroke 1 fc x 4. I did this once and decided I hate the side stroke so cheated for the rest and did all front crawl Next was 2 one armed fc, 2 back stroke no arms x4. I also hate the back stroke, I think I'm going to drown when I do it as the water gushes over my face so I cheated a little again:o and put my arms by my side. I only managed 14 lengths of this set before it was time to take the fins off and start the main set.

This was supposed to be fc 3 x200, 5 x 100, 5 x 50, 5 x 25. I was thrilled with myself for doing the 3 x 200. 8 lengths in a row is a big thing for me so to do it 3 times was super if I say so myself . I only managed 3 x100 and 3 x50. I was just getting more tired with every length. I also only did 4 of the 25m sprints. Tacked on 4 lengths at the end to bring the total to 80 for the session. Finally reached that 2k in a session goal I've had for a good while now. Happy

Bally8

Wed 11th March
Nenagh 5k Race Series - Race No3
Decided to run this one instead of marshall to help keep the numbers up. My achilles is still at me so I took some ibuprofen beforehand in the hopes that it would keep the pain away. The plan was to just jog this nice and slow, maybe 10 minute miles. Of course this was a race and no matter how hard I tried I couldnt keep to that pace. Took off like a bullet- still a mile behind the leaders within in a few metres though:) then tried to reign myself in as the achilles was shouting at me to stop. It hurt most of the way around except for a while in the middle mile where it had warmed up so felt fine. I picked up the pace a little at the end to finish in 26:44. Not the planned outcome but the slowest time tonight was 33 mins so it wasnt the kind of race where you could trot around really. Achilles very sore after and I was kicking myself for being a fool.

Off to the pool then to try out my tri suit for the first time in the water. I look horrific in it and the embarrassment was almost too much- I had to drag myself out of the changing room. The slow lane was packed and there was no where for me to pop in so I had to stand at the side of the pool in full view of everyone with all my flubber bulging out for everyone to see. When I finally got in I realised after 2 lengths that it was going to be way too crazy for me in there so I left the lane and went over to the public side of the pool to do some easy lengths. My achilles was sore even when I was just kicking and pushing off the wall with it was a no no. 850 slow metres, following some of what the club were doing for their main set.

Went home seriously peed off with myself.
Stupid achilles, stupid me not minding it!



Checked my swim lane allocation this morning- Im in the second wave. That has kind of thrown me. I thought I would be in the first wave with all the other beginners. I'm prob going to be the slowest in my wave. I really dont want to come last:o:o

Oryx

Dont stress about where youll come. Youll do just fine, this is something EVERYONE stresses about. I know someone has to be last, but in all likelihood, it wont be you. Even if it is, all that means is you have more scalps to take on the bike and the run.

When I started in tri, I thought the suits were freaky, and that I wouldnt be seen dead in one. But you learn to love em, theyre so handy.

littlebug

Bally8 everyone is going to be so concerned with themselves no one is going to notice your belly! (though I know I'd be thinking the exact same).
And with the leaps and bounds in your training lately there is no way you'll be last!
Very best of luck! I'm really excited for you!!

Bally8

Thanks ladies. I've calmed down a bit after finding out I have the second fastest predicted swim time in my lane. So looks like I wont be last out of the pool after all fingers crossed

RacoonQueen

Best of luck A, totally jealous you're setting off two months before me.

Dory Dory

Bally8, your swimming progress is impressive! Well earned new lane assignment, no doubt. You keep working as hard as you have been, and that body of yours will be so fit that you'll be looking for excuses to hang out on the pool deck in that tri suit!

Good luck this weekend - I'm so excited for you! Is your swim in a pool or is it open water? What are the distances of each leg?

Bally8

Dory Dory wrote: »

Bally8, your swimming progress is impressive! Well earned new lane assignment, no doubt. You keep working as hard as you have been, and that body of yours will be so fit that you'll be looking for excuses to hang out on the pool deck in that tri suit!

Good luck this weekend - I'm so excited for you! Is your swim in a pool or is it open water? What are the distances of each leg?

Thanks Dory, I'm very excited myself right now and a little terrified too!

Its a pool based sprint tri - 750m swim, 20k cycle and the run is 5.26km hilly route.

Bally8

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Best of luck A, totally jealous you're setting off two months before me.

Trust me, I need the headstart

Bally8

Friday 13th April
Took the bike out for an easy 20 minute spin this morning. Didnt seem worth getting into all the gear for such a short spin and when i was finished I wanted to do more. But I erred on the side of caution and stopped then. I didnt run as I dont want to irritate the achilles. My gears were still slipping so I rang a different bike shop and he said to bring her in.

Spent the afternoon baking buns for the after-tri feast (it's my club putting on the race tomorrow) then took the bike to the shop. He was amazed with how out my gears were, couldnt believe another bike shop had 'fixed' them 8 days ago. Cycled round the car park a few times and they felt 100% better.

Registered this evening, a very quiet affair. I'm just getting my stuff in order now. Eeeek next time I log in I will have done a triathlon -woohoo!

couerdelion

Good luck with the Tri tomorrow. You will love it! (Maybe not at the time but definitely afterwards!)

insinkerator

Good luck tomorrow!

BTH

Best of luck this morning Bally8, hope you nail it. But hope you enjoy it more so.