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Its about time - IMAT12
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griffin100 wrote: »Unsure as yet. Only got back on the bike after 8 months off two weeks ago and have only swum once since last March. If I do do it it'll be a long slow one based on run fitness alone.
Sounds good. What's the rush?
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Thanks folks. I'm not too fussed about it really as I'm taking it as a training day with a couple of objectives:
1) Get used to taking on regular nutrition
2) Pacing the bike a bit easier to try and keep a bit of life in the legs for the run
3) Possibly try a run/walk strategy of 9min/1min (not sure about this as I haven't practiced it)
The swim is going to be pretty cold based on Monday's dip and I haven't gone near hills in a while so I'm planning on taking it conservatively but still hopefully dipping below the 6hr mark.
TICKshotgunmcos wrote: »Now remember to keep this week very low key ahead of the HIM!
Had a bit of a training slump after the tiring long weekend and a busy week at work and 'tapering':rolleyes: so its been an exceptionally low key training week to date. I'm actually looking forward to getting stuck back into proper volumes and intensities again next week
Weds 09/05/12 - Rest. Travel to Carlow with work. On the road early and zonked later.
Thurs 10/05/12 - am Run. Travel to Kerry with work. Went to UL with No1 in the evening but her training session was cancelled so I 'coached' her instead of doing my swim and had to sort my gear out later on.
12.43km, 1:04:13, 5:10/km with 5x1min pick ups after 0:10min
Fri 11/05/12 - am Swim. Travel to Dublin with work. Hope to get a short run in later.
500m WU
10X50m drills
5x100m off 2:30
Looking forward to tomorrow's HIM
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BetterThanHoyte wrote: »See you bright an early tomorrow Red. You bringing your shopping bag again??
Not unless there's a >1km T1 involved that I don't know about:D
Quick route planning query for you BTH based on your trip there last week - Is it about an hour from the M50 and do you take the M3 all the way to Kells?
Also I think I need to practice my finish line photo look for IMAT Get the arms up early and hold them all the way through the line :rolleyes:GLR HM Photo Link 0 -
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Sat 12/05/12 - Tri an Mhi Half Iron Triathlon
Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose 6:04:58
Well, the dust has settled on another HIM and I don't seem to be getting any faster :rolleyes: but it was better.........
Stayed with the outlaws in Dublin the night before and woke around 5:45 and had a fine feed of porridge, toast, banana and coffee before hitting the road to Westmeath. It was a beautiful morning with plenty of blue sky but a little cool. A nice relaxed drive up had me onsite by 7:30am and quickly registered and got setup in Transition. Fluted around for a bit while waiting for the off and got chatting to a few Limerick heads around 8:30 as we waited for the briefing. This was delayed as there was some stuff happening out on the lake and there was idle talk about the swim being shortened. It turned out they were worried about the water/air temperatures so they were making it two laps of a shorter loop rather than one big loop for safety reasons. Same distance although it felt longer to me
. There was a big speel about the water temp and safety and how it would be ok to get out if you were in trouble, etc. It was actually getting a bit cold standing around so I was glad when we finally headed down to the "warm-up" area of the lake which ironically involved an initial period of rapid cooling down .
Took an Isogel and then got into the water in the first batch and got as acclimatised as I was ever going to with a few swim bursts and letting the water into the suit. Yep - It was definitely cold. It was a waist deep standing start and the crowd were spread out so I was only a few metres from the front when we were let go. Straight into the mayhem and hated it! My legs seemed heavy and lifeless (didn’t have any run previous day or proper warm-up / stretch). Struggled for a minute and thought about getting out! The guy had said it would be ok and I felt "unsafe" (i.e. not in a happy place) so I should just get out
! But then I gave myself a mental slap in the face and told myself to cop myself on and get stuck in. Which I then did albeit in poor fashion. I was concentrating on getting my breathing under control so my stroke was cat. I couldn't get a draft as everyone was spread out or not at my pace. It seemed a long while to the first buoy and I was dreading having to do it a second time. The water temp, while cold, didn’t seem too bad once we got moving and I was a bit more bothered by the choppiness of the lake. Got around the second buoy and everyone seemed to have disappeared! The field was well spread out and I was probably sighting poorly. Headed for the final third buoy and thought “Yahoo, time to do it all again” as the leaders disappeared past the first buoy. My hands and feet were cold and my stroke seemed short and tight. Just get on with it I thought and get it over with. Seemed to be out there a long while by the time I finished the second lap and struggled into the shallows where I was a bit dizzy standing up but that cleared quickly. Checked that there were a few behind me still in the water but I was moving like a robot heading into T1 as the cold had seeped in and I was feeling it bigtime. And I find out after to my surprise………while I thought I swam poorly and I was a bit disappointed with the time, it turned out to be higher ranked than I imagined at 42:09 (117/187 = 63%) .
I struggled to get my wetsuit off in T1 with the cold and sat down to slowly pull it off and get on my socks and shoes but everything else was ok. I felt like I spent too long there and it was a bit sluggish but surprisingly again it turned out to be higher ranked than I imagined at 3:19 (48/187 = 26%).
I was freezing for a long time on the bike as I just went straight out in my trisuit with no jacket, arm warmers, etc. Plenty (20+) went by me in the first hour as I clunked along and really struggled to warm up
. I didn’t feel like eating or drinking either but forced myself to take a gel after 20min, again on 40min and some energy drink on 60min. I repeated that twice more throughout the cycle and picked up a replacement water bottle on the start of the second lap giving a total of 1.5L water, 750ml Energy Drink and 6 Powergels. I was too cold to really use the aerobars initially and it took over an hour before the deep cold left me. It was a bit breezy in spots and we had a shower or two so I regretted not wearing more. The sun was out alright but I was never in danger of overheating so it would’ve been wiser to have a jacket than not. The course was a bit rolling with mixed surfaces and I deliberately wasn’t attacking it as I wanted to hold back for the run. However, I didn’t hold back enough once I warmed up and ended up picking off approx. 10 riders in the last hour but feeling more tired than I wanted over the last 10-15km :rolleyes:. I also needed to water the flowers for ages before finding a suitable time and space on a downhill section with no cars or riders around. The relief was worth the discomfort and at least I didn’t fall off this time! The course was very well marshalled and the water in bike bottles was excellent. While I was a small bit behind my target time I hadn’t factored in the rolling nature of the course which took more out of me than intended and in hindsight I should have actually gone slower again and saved more for the run. I did enjoy the second half of the cycle but the first half was not good. During the race I was a bit disappointed with the time versus my effort and how many people had passed me but it turned out to be a fair enough ranking for me in 3:20:15 (123/187 = 66%).
I came through T2 with no issues, grabbing a hat and gel belt as well and out in an ok 1:46 (74/187 = 40%).
I was breathing heavy at the start of the run but probably going a bit too fast for me as I hit 1M in 7:59 (4:58/km). I waited until a suitable round number on the Garmin and kicked off my 9min run/1min walk strategy. I found it ever so slightly uncomfortable to restart running the first few times but that passed and I was happy enough for the next few miles at 8:29/M(5:17/km) and 2 x 8:26/M(5:15/km). I took a gel around then and a few more roughly every 20mins but I lost count and was feeling a bit sick of them at that stage so probably only took 3. It seemed we were hitting hillier territory and the pace dropped to 9:09/M(5:41/km), 9:13/M(5:44/km), 8:51/M(5:30/km) and by 12km when we hit the first lap at Fore I was fairly busted but had to go around again. I cracked after 13km and had to walk part of a hill when it wasn’t planned and it was a slog from there to the finish . I tried keeping to the plan but mentally and physically my strength slipped away and I slowed and stopped several times. The cramp alarm bells had been going off for hamstrings and quads but I just about avoided them. The last few miles were 9:20/M(5:48/km), 10:34/M(6:34/km), 9:06/M(5:40/km), 9:44/M(6:03/km) and 10:15/M(6:22/km) and I knew Sub6 was gone. I wasn’t sure of my run time though as I’d no swim time and just total bike/run time displayed. I figured from feeling I was > 2:10 for the run. When I got near to the finish line the clock displayed 6:04:44 so I legged the last 70m+ to scrape in just under 6:05. I was disappointed with that but figured I’d learned a few lessons. It was only when the official results came out yesterday that I realised that I’d done 1:57:29 (118/187 =63%) for the run which I’m actually well chuffed with as sub 2:00 was my target. Official overall time was 6:04:58 (124/187 =66%) which wasn’t as far down the field as I feared so happy enough with that all things considered .
Got some grub into me and had a few words with BTH as I very slowly got dressed. Cracking result from him and I wonder why I bother sometimes when I look at those sort of Sub 5 times but hey, I enjoyed it.
http://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.274385259324224.58661.100002582567904&type=1&__user=717595190#!/photo.php?fbid=274398862656197&id=100002582567904&set=a.274385259324224.58661.100002582567904&__user=717595190
http://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=274410452655038&id=100002582567904&set=a.274408099321940.58667.100002582567904&refsrc=http://m.facebook.com/photo.php&refid=9&_rdr]Run photo here.
Lessons learned – dress conservatively, go easier on the bike, get the nutrition in and run/walk.
Sun 13/05/12 - Rest 0 -
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Well done you!! Way to go a sub 2 hour run after the freezing cold, core chilling swim and the looooong bike. Oh, and congrats on relieving yourself on the fly. You fell last time? :eek: That must have been horrid. But what a fantastic job you did on Saturday!! 0
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Ain't gonna happen. I've burned all my bridges there and she owns me bigtime for the next year at least!:D
Checked in at home yesterday afternoon with MrsB and I'm asked "What's this about me owning you?" :eek:................<gulp>:D
A friendly neighbour (hi Conor) had mentioned the above comment to her and directed her to Boards with my username. Now I know its the internet and all that but I thought the inner sanctum of a log was where I could pass idle comments or bare my soul as the case may be. Alas, my 'private' persona is exposed as a public one. I feel violated :rolleyes:. But seeing as we're sharing I suppose I'd better say a MASSIVE thank you to my wonderful, darling, gorgous, dream wife (hiya Hun ) without whose help none of this IM stuff would be possible. Words cannot begin to express, etc . And yes, you have owned me for over 20 years now so what's another year :rolleyes::)
OK, Mini-rant / Love-In over.
Missed my Turbo last night as I forgot I had to go out again after the GAA match to a meeting so was too tired when I got home.
Weds 16/5/12 am LSR
22.5km, 2:00:07, 5:20/km
Fabulous morning but a tad cool at 6am, should've had gloves. Out to Worlds End. Heavenly. Energy faded a bit last 2km.
Only 4 weeks of regular training left so need to push it hard for a while if possible.0 -
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Weds 16/05/12 (cont'd) - pm 0:45 100rpm Turbo
Simple spinning session to flush out the legs after the morning's long run
5min WU, cal to 0, set at +1
30min steady. Avg 198W
10min WD in easier gear.
All at 100rpm. Thought about going for the hour but was fading at that so just banked it as it was late anyway.
Thurs 17/05/12 - am 2500m Swim
500m wu
10x50m drills (one arm on side, catch, superman head down - all 3 with fins, fist, pullbuoy)
10x100m off 2:30
8x50m drills (one arm on side, catch,superman head down - with fins)
200m wd with fins
Travelled to Kerry with work.
Planned on a VO2 Turbo after house chores sorted but sat down to watch the 9pm news and tiredness caught up with me. Typical Thursday eve feeling. It was mental rather than physical and I knew I'd shake it off if I got started but I decided to just try to get an early night for a change and start refreshed again the following morning.
Fri 18/05/12 - am 1:00 run with 0:10 hard at 0:45
12km, 1:00, 5:00/km
Could only hold hard pace for 8mins - 4:01/km
Had music with me which I never do but I'm getting a bit bored with my route. Made sure to concentrate on body also.0 -
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Fri 18/05/12 (cont'd) pm 1800m swim
500m WU
13 x 100m off 2:30, in on 2:08 avg, 28spm avg.
Felt comfortable enough before being evicted from lane early for swimming class
Sat 19/05/12 am Long Cycle with hills
130.78km, 5:38:43, 23.2kph, 1795m ascending
Met up with Mr Alps at 6:30am for what he called a 3 counties challange. Headed out to Cratloe first and up past the woods to Gallows Hills
[url=https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/183126/87912.JPG]here[/url] before turning left back down a fast descent to Sixmilebridge and round to Cratloe again where we hooked up with Kevin7 just after 8am. Having come out there he wanted to go over Gallows and I was keen for doing that again until I heard what else was on the agenda. Mr Alps had us heading to Broadford via Meelick, Parteen and then over to Kilbane and The Gap to Killaoe before making for Silvermines and over [URL=https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/183126/87953.jpg[/url] (2.6km, 10.8% average, 16% max). Holey Moley - it was a tough route. Gallows was no bother but The Gap was a white knuckle, lung buster. The descent was worse as I had wipeout images at every bump and corner and I really didn't enjoy those at all. Kevin7 left us at Killaloe but we picked up a guy there who was heading from Ennis to Thurles via Silvermines and was glad of the company. We also met another buddy (Hi again Conor ) on the N7 for a few minutes so plenty of distractions :rolleyes:. We took a short break in Silvermines as we said bye to our new friend as we'd nearly 100km done by then and a whopper of a climb to come. Twice now I've been up it and twice its beaten me :mad:. Long story short, it did it again. :mad::mad:. Started nice and slowly and headed into the clouds. Got up the first long straight bit with a struggle through the thickening mist, recovered a bit after rounding the tight bend up to the carpark but died rapidly a few 100m later with no sign of the summit in the thick cloud. Mr Alps caught up a minute later and he must have better gears than me because I couldn't cycle that slow and remain vertical :D. After stopping, I couldn't clip my second foot in on the steep incline and I had to try and turn the peddles unclipped. That worked for a short distance but I couldn't get enough momentum to clip in and then had to get out of the saddle but slipped and had to repeat the exercise again before finally getting enough traction to clip in and grind out the last section to the top. Bugger - now I'll have to come back again another day to get this hill off my list :mad:. A compact probably isn't ideal for it but its what's coming to IMAT with me so its staying. I nearly got cramps in my upper arms from squeezing the breaks so much on the desent as it was worse than the Gap with awful road conditions and wet. Back to Newport via Kiloscully and a bit of a speed in the road to Limerick just to finish it off nicely. It was a tough mornings work but ticked the boxes in terms of climbs that I was looking for. A lot more hillwork to squeeze in on the bike and run .
Speant the rest of the day at Communion parties doing some serious carbo loading and watching Rugby and Soccer.
Sun 20/05/12 - Rest0
![https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/183126/87953.jpg[/url]](https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/183126/87953.jpg[/url]){kind=link}
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