A little bit of everything, just faster

nerraw1111

Thursday evening intervals 12km total

5 * 1km 90 seconds rest.

Tough going. Legs tired from last night. Usual mental battles. Splits were 3.35, 3.35, 3.39, 3.38, 3.41

Last interval wasn't that bad just a bit of traffic added a few seconds. Very happy with the session given the tired legs.

nerraw1111

Sunday 12km tempo
Two day break due to work/socialising.

Nice run in Phoenix park with the gf cycling with me. First 6km were handy, then 5km at 3.55 per km pace. Did the 5 in 19.33 with a 3.40 or so last km. Felt I could do a couple more but the other half was wrecked cycling in the wind after me and wasn't pleased to see me disappearing down the road. Bodes well for Raheeny 5.

nerraw1111

Monday swim 1250 metres

Lane swim was only open for 45 minutes so straight into 750 metres. Felt good after the 750 but noticed my elbows appear to be quite low on the pull. Think it is time to join a club. After the 750, did 10 * 50metres off 90 seconds.

Today's lanes were all over the place. OAPs were happy to walk up and down the fast lanes, crossing between lanes etc.

Monday afternoon bike 43km
Did a loop of Howth Head. Lovely winter's afternoon and felt great to be spinning out by the coast, especially around the South wall where the waves were crashing in.

I've no winter cycling gear but running tights with cycling shorts over the top did the job, nice and toasty. I had hoped to do 60km but misjudged the distance and didn't fancy doing loops of the city centre to get the distance up. I need to really up the bike training, really over estimating my ability and under estimated the amount of training required to improve.

Totals for the week
Running 34km
Cycling 53.6
Swim 2750

nerraw1111

Tuesday run 13km

Nice pace of around 4.30 per km with a few 4.20s. 7km of it on grass out by Clontarf seafront. Think I run 10km plus sessions too slow normally so kept the pace up tonight.

Pretty warm tonight, was sweating. I did have a moan at another runner crossing a bridge. She was two abreast with a friend, taking up whole path running towards me. Surprisingly neither of them would give way by dropping into single file forcing me to either stop or step into traffic. Grrrr. The bridge was empty besides us. Let out an exasperated "ah come on, move over!".

I'm blaming the lit up like a Christmas tree newbies

Looking at sunset times, March 25th is the date when the bright evenings return with a sunset time of 19.48.

nerraw1111

Wednesday 1500 metre swim

1000 metres with 10 * 50 off 90 seconds. 
Enjoyed this. Pretty much had lane to myself. Concentrated a bit more on stroke. My kick is crap. In that I barely kick. 

Going to try a club swim session in next week or so. 

Wednesday eve 
60 minute turbo "pyramid of pain." 
This is it here http://www.triradar.com/2012/01/13/fun-triathlon-turbo-training-workouts/
Total distance, avg 25.7
Avg cadence 92
Avg watt 175, max 334
Avg HR 153
Quite enjoyable. Legs felt ok. Did 2 reps of the pyramid. HR was 80% plus the whole time. First decent turbo session in ages. Found some of the intervals i was doing previously too tough. Intervals here were short enough to sustain. 

nerraw1111

Not a bad week last week. Took a bit of a step back.

Saturday swim 1200ish

Didn’t do anything on Thursday or Friday due to work.
Decent work out session. The speed isn’t quite there but I’m comfortable swimming over 1000 metres at this stage. Need to push myself a bit more in training.

Sunday Howth IMRA race 5km

I forgot how much I love trail running and it’s kind of put a spanner in the works regarding focusing on triathlons this year. Not sure if I want to give up on the mountain multi races in favour of road tris.
Despite living 20 mins away from the race, I barely made registration. Massive crowd for this one, good to see some familiar faces. Howth is pretty a fast and furious, all out race. Positioned myself near the front as there is some bottlenecks near the start which you can lose a lot of time.
First 1km was out around the pitch, usual jockeying for position. Into the woods and I was about 15th, a lot higher than I’d normally would. However, felt pretty good and decided to stick with the group. I was a bit quicker on the twisting descents so tried to make a break on the downhills. Still felt strong so pushed on any flats and on the climbs the plan was just hold on. Just before the main climb, I passed a fairly strong runner. Was in two minds whether to pass or sit in. Got a shout of encouragement from him when I did which was nice. He also told the person behind me to ‘keep going and catch him.’ That’s what I like about IMRA, no egos.
Got over the main climb and headed towards the aerials where I was starting to feel it. Bit of a long drag and was caught by the strong runner. Tried to go with him but legs didn’t react. Onto the last descent and I could hear someone coming from behind me. Last 500 metres is around the pitch and everyone has a big target on their back. I caught a club runner here who was just dying on his feet. Managed to hold off the chasers but unable to close the gap.
Knocked almost four minutes off last year’s time to record my highest ever IMRA position. Sweet!

Monday 63km cycle
Around 25kmph avg speed.

Slowly increasing the bike distance.
Dublin to Greystones and back again. Was expecting this to be flat, out by the coast but was hilly enough. Out by Dun Laoghaire, Dalkey, Killiney etc, stunning views. However Bray was a bit grim. Long hard slog over to Greystones and back again. Legs felt a bit tired for the last 10km. Be interested to see the Garmin profile to see the total climbed. Great to be out on the bike in January though.

As I was saying the Howth race has reminded me of how much I enjoy the hill and trail running. I was thinking of focusing on triathlon this year but following Sunday, I’m not so sure now. I may swing the focus back to multi-sport/adventure races with a few triathlons added in for fun rather than serious competition. I do want to keep the swimming up though.

nerraw1111

Tuesday Run 11.5km

Recovery run along the quays and over to Sandymount, avoiding the One Direction fans at the O2. Enjoyable run, kept it around 5min pace per km. Trying out some new asics 2170a. Got them as a Christmas present. I pronate and have been using asics DS trainer for the last year. Worn the same pair for best of a year without any problem. A great shoe so will get another pair when the price goes down.

2170s are a stability shoe which I’ll use for long runs. So far so good. A small hot spot on the arch but they seem ok.

Wednesday Swim 1200 metres

2 * 200s
8 * 100s

Ok swim. Wasn’t really feeling it to begin with plowed on. My kick is beginning to annoy me. I need to do a time trial soon to measure improvement. My distances have gone up but not swimming any quicker. Patience I suppose.

Raheny 5 mile on Sunday so will take it handy this week with intervals. Turbo tonight.

donothoponpop

Well done on that result, four minutes is some improvement for Howth!

nerraw1111 wrote: »

... I passed a fairly strong runner. Was in two minds whether to pass or sit in. Got a shout of encouragement from him when I did which was nice. He also told the person behind me to ‘keep going and catch him.’ ...

... and was caught by the strong runner. Tried to go with him but legs didn’t react.

If this is who I think it is, he's notorious for doing this! Slaps your back, Good Man, as you go past, before tearing past you before the finish

nerraw1111

donothoponpop wrote: »

If this is who I think it is, he's notorious for doing this! Slaps your back, Good Man, as you go past, before tearing past you before the finish

Ha. Never thought of that but now that you mention it! Brilliant.

nerraw1111

Wednesday eve Turbo 40 mins

Quick pyramids before legging it to dinner.

10 seconds on, 50 off ending with min on/off and back down again.
Was able to hold the high gears till the end and managed to push on. Did a few isolated leg drills. Was holding around 300 watts for the hard efforts. Did another five 1min off/1 off efforts.
Distance 17.9 max 44.6
Watt avg 182, max 343
Cad avg 84, max 142.

Handy run tonight with a three * 1km intervals to remind legs of what they need to do on Sunday

nerraw1111

Thursday 8km steady run avg pace 4.25 min per km.

Didn’t get out to do this till after 9pm. Wasn’t in the mood for a cold dark run. Was enjoyable in the end, streets were quiet and was able to run without much interruption. Was stretching the legs in advance of Raheny 5 miler so did a few stretches at 3.45 pace and felt comfortable.

So plan is to attempt sub 30 on Sunday. Will see.

nerraw1111

Saturday Raheny five miler

First ever five mile road race. Interested to see how I would go. Decided to aim for just under 30 rather than risk blowing up. Enjoyable race, had plenty of room within 500 metres. Bit of a battle to find race pace amid the usual sprint from the start line.

Settled in eventually after a quick 3.27 first km or 5.43 mile. Felt really comfortable in the first 4km or so and went through 5km equaling my PB. Still felt strong but didn't want to push as was saving something for the hill. Found it hard to concentrate, every now and again my pace would slip, particularly on the sea front section.

Got to the hill. It's not really a hill. Pushed on the hill and was passing people from here on in. My 8th km was my fastest. Had a good ole battle with a Raheny runner in the last km, back and forth.

Heard the announcers say anyone on the finishing stretch needs to put the foot down for sub 30. Passed the Raheny lad and under the clock for 30.03. Balls! Chip time gets me under 30 though.

Enjoyable debut at the distance, plenty of time to take off the PB. I probably saved too much for the hill, which never came. Very satisfying to hold my 5km pace.

It also confirms to me the madness of running for times just under the clock. If I was to aim for a sub 3 hour marathon, I'd train for 2.57 rather 2.59.59.

nerraw1111

Monday turbo 26kms

Easy bike. Well not that easy as was suffering with a hangover. Kept the HR in recovery zone and into aerobic for last 20 mins. Watched World War II in colour which isn't a bad turbo choice. The battle for the Atlantic. Was really touch and go for a while before the plucky Brits kicked some ass.

Watt max 236 avg 176
Kmph 31.6 avg 26
Cadence 89 max 106
Hr 142 max 162

Tuesday 15.5 km run

Very tough. Was an easy enough pace. Legs were very heavy and towards the end it was a real effort to get home. Probably too much between race on Sunday and bike yesterday. Felt a slight twinge in right calf so will do some stretches tomorrow.

nerraw1111

Totals for January

Swim 10.25
Bike 247
Run 132.9

Disappointed with the running, didn't realise that it was that low. Need to start putting the kms in. Friday Saturday and Sunday is my downfall. More often that not, I do nothing on those days. Mainly down to laziness. Actually felt like I was doing a lot more than the figures suggest.

Still not bad a month, Five mile PB, good start to IMRA winter league, I'm on the bike in January and I've swimming.

shotgunmcos

I hear you about training for time just under the clock. Def the way to get a sub 3 is to train for 2:55 IMO

Well done on the sub30 5 miler

nerraw1111

Agreed. Huge risk. It's a choice of 4.16 vs 4.09 per km pace.

Wednesday swim 1300 metres.

A real bleurgh session. Never got going despite having a clear lane for most of it

200 warm up
10 * 100 with 30 sec breaks.

100s were coming in around 2 mins for first 2 but for the remaining 8, it was 2.10 - 2.15 according to pool clock.

My kick is terrible. I do this weird jerking motion with my legs which is probably acting as a brake. It's all a bit patting your head and rubbing your belly at the moment.

Waiting to sort lease for apt before looking at joining a club. Did a swim session with one club a while back. Was enjoyable but lanes were jammed which slightly put me off. 20 plus due in one lane due to huge number signing up in Jan. That normal? Seemed like a nice bunch though.

nerraw1111

Turbo Thursday
Hour intervals.

Km distance 28.4 max speed 39.8
Cadence max 157 avg 93
Watt avg 197 max 347
HR avg 157 max 180

Really tough. Struggled with this session in past when I couldn't hold the pace. HR was way up from the off. Legs were burning 20 mins in and didn't think I'd finish the set. But lo and behold I got through it. Great from a mental perspective.

nerraw1111

Monday 28.5km mtb spin 600 metre climbing, 2 hours 10.

Did nothing since Thursday. Not too concerned about that, nice break. Small hike up Bray Head on Sunday. Was pretty cool actually. On the way there on the DART, I saw the two dolphins in Killiney bay. Hopped off and got to see them leaping from the sea and interacting with kayakers, who were no more than 2 metres away. Made it to Bray and the gf disputed my definition of 'muddy' and 'not that steep.'

Anyhoo, great spin in Howth today around the various trails. Just over 600 metres in climbing. Cycled around the cliff loop, some spectacular views. Had to lug the bike a few times up steps etc but enjoyable. Then headed over towards the aerials. Some fun descents and tricky sections kept it interesting. At one stage, a rock bounced up and caught me in the shin. Cue two mins of this:

nerraw1111

10km steady 45 mins

Didn't intend to run tonight but legs felt fine and was 3 days since last run. Nice steady pace of around 4.15min per km pace for 8 of the kms. Could feel it in the legs while maintaining the pace. Easy 1km warm and 1km warm down.

nerraw1111

12.5km

Total slogfest. Reminder, never listen to Liveline on a run. 4.30km pace. A favourite trail run along Sandymount, Irishtown nature reserve along the great south wall and onto poolbeg lighthouse. Must rank as one of the best city runs in Ireland if not Europe. Hadn't done it in a while due to dark nights so welcome to be running some trails along the coast. Legs were pretty spannered tho for whatever reason. Did plan to do 16km but decided to give the extra 3.5km loop a miss.

nerraw1111

Two good sessions yesterday.

Swim 1650 metres.

Only getting in one swim a week of late. Previously it was two. Trying to find a suitable time is proving problematic.
Pool was quiet with just myself and another bloke I shared the same lane with last week. So decided to do 1000 metres straight. Felt pretty good the whole time, did it in around 25 mins, judging by pool clock. Then 100 breast stroke, 10 * 50 reps, and 1 * 50 bs to finish. As always, figure comes with a health warning as I am useless at trying to remember reps.

Wed evening turbo one hour 30.2km

First time going over 30km for the hour, woohoo.
Initially the plan was to do a tempo session, and hold 30km for the hour. I’ve been doing intervals and long cycles but no session that requires holding an effort for longer than 5 mins.

5 min warm up, then 10 mins at around 33kmph. Became apparent quite quickly that I wasn’t going to be able hold the effort for the hour. So changed it to 10 mins hard, 5 mins recover, 10 hard etc. So 4 * 10 with 4 * 5 recoveries.

My HR was way up, 171, just a few beats short of red line 179, on the hard efforts. Which I take is a good sign that I’m working hard. 5 mins recovery was around 25kmph and the reps were around 33kmph. Pretty much fell off the bike after the hour to see the magic figure of 30.2km for the hour. Great session and gives me a real figure to aim at for the next FTP test.

Total distance 30.2, max 36.5
Cad avg 90, max 120
Watt avg 212 max 269
HR 161 max 177

DogSlySmile

nerraw1111 wrote: »

Wed evening turbo one hour 30.2km

First time going over 30km for the hour, woohoo.

Thats some going man, well done! What resistance level do you have the TT set to for that session?

nerraw1111

DogSlySmile wrote: »

Thats some going man, well done! What resistance level do you have the TT set to for that session?

Cheers. Was chuffed. I'd probably struggle to hold 30km for an hour, but broken down in 10 minute efforts is doable and less mind numbing.

I calibrated it to zero and then plus one resistance. PM me your email, another boardsie sent me about 60 different interval sessions for the turbo. They're really good and tough.

nerraw1111

I did write a post for Thursday which seems to have disappeared. Balls.

Thursday.

16km run. 75 mins or so.

Wore too many layers for first 8km which were really uncomfortable. Stripped a layer and finished last 4km in around 4.15 pace. Enjoyable.

Sunday Annagh Hill race. 9km.

A great day's racing. Conditions were muddy and sloppy so perfect for the descent.

Plan was to be up the front for the steep, hands on knees, climb and then hope to be dragged up it by fast climbers. Felt really good on the climb and settled behind a strong climber who beat me at Howth. Resisted the urge to pass him as it was a long race and made that mistake before.

Eventually popped out at the top in around 15th I'd say. The ridge was really sloppy and hard to find a rhythm with the uneven surface. The descent was a bit hairy as the grass was like a putting green and slick. Made up two places here. Into the forest to see one guy go head first into a puddle. I'll run around that one so. It was at this point I felt a runner breathing down my neck. Held him off through the trees but he was v good technically and was gliding over the rocks and brashings. Great to watch as he gained metres on me without making any extra effort. Kept him in sight though.

Onto the fire road and the long drag back up. Out of the mist I spotted a group of 3, including one guy who I have some good tussles with. This is why I don't wear bright clothing at IMRA race. It's like a big shiny target and he stood out in the soup.

Started to reel them in as one got shelled out the back. Back toward the ridge and was feeling v tired. The group had broken up and I eventually caught up with one of them. He looked like he was on the verge of bonking. He's a v strong runner. Sat behind him for a bit. The three big pools didn't help. Took a real effort to keep legs going.

Decided to risk it and increase speed to try and drop him after the pools. As I past he said he was starving and was struggling.

Onto the descent. Great fun. Could really attack it due to combination of mud and innov8s. Felt like you were dropping from the clouds. Spotted two lads up front and chased them down. I'm a decent descender and made up a huge amount of time relatively quickly. They looked to pick the wrong lines and were holding back. Passed
the two in one swoop and I knew finish line was close.

However one of them came straight back at me on a small section of flat and passed me again. The last hill fast and furious. 9km of hard running and it's down to a sprint. Balls. Popped out of the forest and he's ahead by 5 metres. See the finish and go all out. Get onto his shoulder and slightly in front. He responds, I can't feel my legs. Finish line comes and he pips me. What a race.

Check results and I'm in the top 10. Sweet! Didn't expect that. Knocked off around 5 mins from last year. Delighted. Still 5 mins behind the winner T Runner who had a savage race. Ridiculous time!

Pints afterwards to round off a great Sunday afternoon in winter. Definitely plan to run this route again later in the year.

Monday.
Bike 40km

Legs are pretty sore and tight today so just a handy spin out to Howth. Out by Clontarf sea front, up the hill and down into the village. Back up the hill again and home. Enjoyable cycle followed by a 3 hour "nap." wrecked!

donothoponpop

Great report! I can hear your brain thinking those final downhills, racing anyone down them is a real blast. Thought you had the sprint at the end, your quarry just blocked the line at the end. A surprising amount of sprint finishes along the final 200m.

DogSlySmile

TOP TEN!?!?! I nearly spat my tea out when I read that!! Well done man that is amazing progress you're making. And the fact that you had the energy for a 40k spin the next day just pisses me off!

shotgunmcos

Well done on the top 10 nerraw (figured out your boardsie name when I was scanning results ). Some real quality going on in the log keep it up.

I'm definitely giving an IMRA race a go this year, they sound class

nerraw1111

Cheers lads.

11km recovery run 55mins

Legs are in a jock today. Really tight calfs (calves?). Handy run on grass to loosen the legs a bit. Did the job but overdue a sports massage.

Plan for week is one swim, two turbos, and three runs incl a ten mile tempo with 10km of that at 4 min ish pace.

nerraw1111

Swim 1600 metres ish

32 * 50 reps. At least I think it was. Kept losing count of the reps but it was around 1600 anyway, possibly more, not much less. Broke down per group of 10 and did another 12 before the lane session finished.

Pool was busy so concentrated on form and my kick, as well as pushing a few hard 50s. Decent workout. Arms were hanging off me towards some of the reps while cruised others. Headed to sauna afterwards. Happy enough with the session as I was going to give it a miss.

Sessions appears to have done wonders for my legs. This morning my tendons were really tight and tender. Discomfort has considerably lessened. Plan was for a turbo tonight but will stick it back till tomorrow to give the legs an extra day. Off to see The Muppets instead!

nerraw1111

Run 14.5 km 62 mins or so.

Lovely run. Doing 4.15 km pace with ease. It was only at the turnaround that I realised I had a strong tail wind. Tough 7km into head wind out by coast. Was fantastic though. The birds were dropping snails on to the ground to smash their shells. Was carnage. Really get the sense that we're finally breaking out of winter.

Bike turbo. 27.4km

Got on to the bike hungry so decided to give intervals a miss. Plus I felt legs were not in best shape for it. Instead did a moderate hour. HR only got into aerobic zone for last 15 mins. Felt like a harder effort than thr HR suggests. Good solid session though.

Km 27.4
Max 35.7
Cad avg 92 max 156
Watt 186 max 260
Hr avg 140.