Me Against The World...

BTH

Basster wrote: »

Fantastic performance at the weekend, well done.

Early days yet, but have you a target for the marathon? How 'S' do you plan on doing your LSRs? This is something I've been having trouble with.

Marathon..... the target at the moment is sub3. I know thats very very ambitious, and may be a little too far for my first attempt. I'm doing my local half marathon in late August so I'll settle on a definite plan based on that result. Need to get there first.

I'll likely run somewhere around 5:00/km for the LSRs, maybe just below. I had a habit of doing them a little fast too, but my coach spent the first month telling me to slow down, so I've improved a little. Easy pace yesterday was in and around 4:40-45 so I'll need to ease off a little more.

pgibbo

Bilbao...a beautiful part of the world by all accounts! See you there with a wild 18 month old in tow :cool:

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

I would be more looking at doing some long progression runs, starting off at a very easy pace and building to 4:10s at the end of the run. You want the body to get used to running MP when tired.

Something like 30mins easy at 5min km pace, 20mins at 4:45, 20mins @ 4:30 and 20mins at 4:10 pace would do for a 1.5hr run. Ideally target your training 5 to 10secs per km faster in your MP efforts as the margin of error is too tight for a 2:59:xx. You have natural pace so its the stamina is the only thing you would need to work on.

El Director

Hey man, CK was penciled in and indeed paid for but....it clashes with one of only 2 road runs planned for this year. The Streets of Galway 8k, a fav race of mine, top road race in a city environment, between one thing or another I have not been able to do it for 4 years or so! So I will be doing the 8k. If I was any good I'd do CK in the morning and the 8k that evening! It is a pity though, CK is probably my fav Olympic course.

pgibbo

El Director wrote: »

Hey man, CK was penciled in and indeed paid for but....it clashes with one of only 2 road runs planned for this year. The Streets of Galway 8k, a fav race of mine, top road race in a city environment, between one thing or another I have not been able to do it for 4 years or so! So I will be doing the 8k. If I was any good I'd do CK in the morning and the 8k that evening! It is a pity though, CK is probably my fav Olympic course.

See you at SoG so!! :cool:

Clum

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

Marathon.....

I'll likely run somewhere around 5:00/km for the LSRs, maybe just below. I had a habit of doing them a little fast too, but my coach spent the first month telling me to slow down, so I've improved a little. Easy pace yesterday was in and around 4:40-45 so I'll need to ease off a little more.

Your coach knows you better than I do and you should probably listen to him but on the basis that you're nearly running at my pace as it is and will probably be faster than me before the year is out I'd say don't go any slower than 4.40 for your long run.

Training for Dublin last year I ran all my long runs starting out about 4.40 pace and running the last 3k at about 4.25 pace. Race pace was 4 mins-ish.

I know it's your first marathon but Long Slow Runs are for beginner athletes, Long Runs are for more advanced and you're definitely more advanced than a beginner.

BTH

El Director wrote: »

Hey man, CK was penciled in and indeed paid for but....it clashes with one of only 2 road runs planned for this year. The Streets of Galway 8k, a fav race of mine, top road race in a city environment, between one thing or another I have not been able to do it for 4 years or so! So I will be doing the 8k. If I was any good I'd do CK in the morning and the 8k that evening! It is a pity though, CK is probably my fav Olympic course.

Pity. Doesn't look like we'll get a show down this year then.

Margaret Important Cupcake wrote: »

I would be more looking at doing some long progression runs, starting off at a very easy pace and building to 4:10s at the end of the run. You want the body to get used to running MP when tired.

Something like 30mins easy at 5min km pace, 20mins at 4:45, 20mins @ 4:30 and 20mins at 4:10 pace would do for a 1.5hr run. Ideally target your training 5 to 10secs per km faster in your MP efforts as the margin of error is too tight for a 2:59:xx. You have natural pace so its the stamina is the only thing you would need to work on.

Clum wrote: »

Your coach knows you better than I do and you should probably listen to him but on the basis that you're nearly running at my pace as it is and will probably be faster than me before the year is out I'd say don't go any slower than 4.40 for your long run.

Training for Dublin last year I ran all my long runs starting out about 4.40 pace and running the last 3k at about 4.25 pace. Race pace was 4 mins-ish.

I know it's your first marathon but Long Slow Runs are for beginner athletes, Long Runs are for more advanced and you're definitely more advanced than a beginner.

Cheers for the input lads. I fully intend on introducing plenty of race pace work to my long runs, but for the time-being at least the triathlons are the main aim so I'll take it a little easier on the few long runs I do manage to get in, hoping that it doesn't interfere with biking and more importantly swimming. The coach didn't have me doing any LSR's this past winter, preferring two short easy runs and one long hard run, so I can't imagine it'll be weekly LSR's once my tri season ends.

And as for being faster than Clum before the end of the year, I'm finding that a little hard to believe. 2:52 last year in DCM :eek: ?? You're safe for a good while yet!! Only a couple of weeks before Spain, how are you set for it??

BTH

Wednesday Morning

Down to the pool with me and after a 400m WU I took on 10*100 on 1:45. Brought these in all under 1:40, mostly around 1:37. The 5*100 pull on 1:45 in around the same, and a further 5*100 swim. Fairly consistent throughout but I was fairly wrecked by the end.

Wednesday Eve

Out on the new bike. Up to Howth for a couple of hill reps, that I intended on doing relatively easy. Bit of a pinch in the hill though thats tough going and really gets the HR up. I was out for over two hours but there was plenty of chatting in that too .

Ar$e very sore after. Not sure whether its the saddle height, angle, the fact I was sitting up most of the spin (saddle is much more comfortable when down on the bars), or whether the flex in the old seatpost aided comfort. Might try an easy 45min on the turbo tomorrow morning to see if its any better on the aerobars.

Clum

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

Only a couple of weeks before Spain, how are you set for it??

June was a disaster! I took a few days off after the double in Athy to rest but no sooner was I ready to get back in to full training than I got sick. Over 2 weeks of cold/flu and zero energy levels. I was back to full health by last weekend but had to skip Athlone to catch up on training. I've missed about 3 weeks training so playing catch up. Lots of work was done over the winter and spring so hopefully it won't have affected me too much.

Fazz

A second place over the weekend and here we are with nada/...

Man there is some slacking going on! though not at races clearly

Fair play dude, fantastic racing and result! Well done!
Might pop up to BOE for some support if my training allows.
If not Best of luck. A decent field but you can fly a top 10 easy I think.

BTH

Fazz wrote: »

A second place over the weekend and here we are with nada/...

Man there is some slacking going on! though not at races clearly

Fair play dude, fantastic racing and result! Well done!
Might pop up to BOE for some support if my training allows.
If not Best of luck. A decent field but you can fly a top 10 easy I think.

Cheers Fazz, I'll get round to the report eventually....

As for BotE, top ten might be pushing it a little. Be disappointed not to break 15 though. We'll see on the day. 7 weeks since I've done an Oly so hope I remember how to pace it right!!

Edit: theres actually two race reports to do.

pgibbo

Great result at the weekend. Nice to get a podium in your home race too. :cool:

Congrats

BTH

Been a while since I logged any training here.

Thursday 5 July
Club Swim session, lots of kick and drills.

Easy run. 9.25km@4:40 pace. Easy effort

Friday 6 July
30min Turbo AM, all easy, trying to get new bike position right. Its not.

Long run 25km+ 4:50 pace. Not too bad. Absolutely soaked.

Saturday 7July
My once a year game of 5-a-side in the DCU tournament. Somehow we finished third!! Sunburnt

Sunday 8 July
2 hours on the bike, headed to howth for some hills, but took the climbing fairly easy. Absolutely soaked.

2k OW swim with Interested and another clubmate. Swam well and stayed with the other guy who would usually drop me.

Monday 9 July
PM swim, more kick, and a 6*100 which I pushed a little. Didn't do a great deal

Easy run with 4*80m strides. 9.65km @4:49 pace

Tuesday 10 July
45min easy turbo with 4 short hard efforts.

BTH

Since Athlone the coach has left me to my own devices, telling me to race for fun and avoid any structure to the training to take a small break after all the work done to date. The second part was difficult to do. The first part came into play last Wednesday. Hammered out from work on the bike to get to the Bull Wall on time for this race.

Knew there'd be a great turnout from the club, but wasn't expecting the strength of the field. The TI juniors coming to the end of their week long training camp in DCU were there, along with Bjorn Ludick and Kevin Thornton. So I was definitely going to be well down the pecking order.

Good bit of craic with all the clubmates there, and my coach on hand as well in his role with the Juniors.

Eventually into the water (these never start on time) and I go towards the right of the field as there is a left turn within 200m and the inside line would be carnage. Lined up behind the feet I swam on last Sunday ! Got away well enough, but sure enough at the buoy things came to a standstill. There is a permanent plastic drum in the water there, and the buoy was attached to the front of it. Obviously loads of people weren't aware of the drum behind the buoy, so everything came to a stop, with some breast stroking as there was nowhere to go. Moving again quick enough though, and I was moving well. Caught and passed a few people on this section who had obviously gone out too hard. Around the second buoy and back to shore, but I was sighting to last years exit point and ended up taking a wide arc back into the new exit point (and pushing a swimmer to my right even further wide ) Out of the water in 11:28 for 24th fastest, but 17th if you discount those pesky kids. More importantly I was only 1 second down on the guy I started directly behind, and only 18sec down on the star of last weeks Fit magazine!!

Transition was a disaster. Wet feet, dry tight-fitting shoes, and no talc meant that I couldn't get them on. The coach later said it was messy to watch alright. 29th fastest in 1:08

Starting the run I could see Conor down the beach already (1 second became 15 in transition) and Vanessa further along. Went out hard with the intention of bringing them back in fairly quickly. Caught Conor within 1km I reckon and caught Vanessa and littlemsfickle shortly after. I think the two of them were having a little chat when I arrived as they were matching each other stride for stride. Passed a steady stream of people for that first 2k, and then met the leaders coming back the other way. Just before the turnaround I passed one female junior and shortly after the turn I passed the second. Once I had enough of a cushion on her I eased off a little as there was no-one within striking distance ahead. Cruised home with a 17:52 run good enough for 7th fastest, or 3rd if you only count those who can legally drink. 9th over all, and 4th non junior behind Bjorn, Kevin, and our own Peter Kerns.

As soon as I crossed the finish line the lady taking the timing chips asked if I'd fallen. Hadn't a clue what she was on about until I noticed the blood running down my left wrist. I can only think it happened in the water. Over to the first aid guys in the 40yo ambulance anyway, but nothing serious. About 12 scratches along my wrist, 1cm-ish long. I'll likely live.

BTH

Thursday 12 July

Easy Lunchtime run 7.45km 4:46pace

Club Swim. More kicking :rolleyes:


Friday 13 July

Lunchtime run super easy, 6.3km 4:55 pace

BTH

Second part of racing for fun was to take part in my local triathlon. The only race on the calender in my home county (even if the bike course is mostly in Roscommon). I finished 16th in this race last year, getting chicked by littlemsfickle, but I'm totally over that:o!!!

Last year this race was part of the junior series, so presuming they weren't racing this year, I had hopes of a very high finish. Other than those juniors, there was only one person who raced last year that I hadn't beaten since. Going in, I was hoping for a top 5 minimum, and I reckon I'd have been disappointed not to podium.

Got down nice and early and I'm queuing for registration in front of an Amphibian King sponsored athlete. Oh, maybe this field might be stronger than anticipated. Saw all the usual local guys who I expected to the there, congratulation David Sheridan on this Austria exploits.

Out for a bike WU, and I'm feeling good. Couple of short hard efforts to wake the legs up. Turned for home and noticed that I'm moving at 38kmph for little to no effort. The return leg is going to be fast so!!

Similar run WU but I'm not feeling 100%. Maybe the hard run on the sand on Wednesday is still in the legs. I'd done easy runs on Thursday and Friday to ease this but perhaps would have been better served with rest and a good stretch. Michelle coming back sick from a long weekend away on Wednesday probably not helping matters.

All the usual setting up nonsense, briefing, etc. and into the water. Then I experienced a first. A false start. In a triathlon. And it was bloody hilarious. To my right about 10 people decided to start. No one else moved, so they all stopped. Except two guys, who were hammering away side by side, oblivious to the laughing and shouting. Canoes and the rescue boat went after them. About 150m later the boat pulls across in front of them.. Except one guy decides this is just a hinderence and trys to swim around it. When they eventually did make it back to the start line there was some slagging going on when we realised it was two of the locals!! Que lots of donkey noises!!

Anyway, when we did eventually get going (on the 3 of a 5-4-3-2-1) I got good clean water for the first 150m or so before getting caught in a little sandwich. The course was a triangle, and very close to equal length sides. Once around the first buoy I was in acres of space, and picking off a couple of places too. Again people going out too hard too early!! Seemed to swim the last 2/3 of the swim on or mostly on my own. I swam well, strong, and straight, and exited the water 10th (out of 200+). A full two minutes down on David Sheridan, but that was to be expected. He'd just swam well under the hour in Austria, sans wetsuit, 2 weeks earlier.

The first part of the bike course is neutralised due to the narrow lane so I was eager to get a quick transition. T1 was clean enough 50seconds 5th fastest on the day.

Approaching the mount line there were two infront of me. One stopped to mount so I flew passed him. The other mounted cleanly enough so I didn't risk passing him. Up out of the neutral zone and we have to take a right turn. My friend in front decides to take this on the wrong side of the road as I'm overtaking him. Ar*ehole. Get around the corner, drop him and start working on picking off those ahead. Quickly pass 3 of the Longford Tri lads who are top swimmers (including the guy who was part of my relay team in my first ever Tri experience!!!) as well as a couple of others. 5 km in and competitors are a little more sparse. Did pass another one or two in the next couple of k then nothing for a while. I was moving well, hammering up the drags, and working hard to keep the pace up. I knew Sheridan would probably have 2min at least on me out of the water and he's a fairly strong biker(5:30 in Austria) so I had to push hard. The first 5km passed @36.2kmph despite the breeze. The second draggier 5km in 32.3kmph. Just before the turn I see Sheridan coming against me, and no-one else. Second place, nice!! . Clock the time..... 30second to the turn. Circa 1min down. I'll definitely take that out of him on the run. Game on :cool:. After I turn I notice the lunatic who cut me off aint far behind, so I've towed him through the field with me and he has a decent sized group with him too. I knew I'd be hard pressed close the gap with the wind so I didn't expect to see anyone ahead. 1min is massive at 40+kmph. Hammer down now, with the breeze, 44.7kmph for 10-15k. There is a small village (basically just a small school, church and tiny shop) around midpoint on the bike leg and the locals were all out cheering everyone on which is great to see. Not often you have that at races here. 15-20km was also pretty un-eventful and passed by @41kmph. Off the bike in 31:33 for second fastest bike split and an average speed of 38kmph.

T2 again uneventful, and 33seconds (only 18th fastest :eek:) later I'm tearing out after David.

The beginning of the run is through a small forest with a couple of small ramps before a longer ramp up to the main road. As a result you can't see more than 10m in front of you. Eased off slightly on the longer ramp as I can't seem to hammer these as I would like, but I was anxious to get onto the road to measure the deficit. A target you can see is easier catch. Once on the road I can see I'm only 300m down. I'll definitely catch that up. Only fear now is a super strong runner coming from behind. I'm not running anywhere close to as comfortably as I was in Athlone. With that hill I clock the first KM in 3:53. Closing in slowly but surely and then I hear it. Footsteps behind. Damn it.. With about a mile gone I'm 5m from Sheridan when a small fella in a Sligo tri suit shoots past the two of us. Don't remember seeing him on the bike course. Absolutely flying, and I have no answer. Even if I was running well I don't think I'd have had an answer. I ease past David and he's encouraging me to give chase, but I know I haven't got the legs today. Second km by in 3:39, then a 3:41 and we're around the turnaround. I can see the athletes behind us and no-one (even Mr Amphibian King or the bike lunatic) is close enough to have any chance of catching. While my last two KMs were still quick (3:43, 3:29) they were slightly downhill and I'd reined in the effort a bit (despite how the finish line photos look). I was comfortable in second and no chance of catching the leader. My Run split was 18:32 which I am a little disappointed with. 7th fastest on the day, but crucially, 96 second behind the winners run split who went sub 17 for an accurately measured 5km. Seriously impressive running, and he had it won from a long way out so no doubt could have gone faster it needed. He also landed the fastest bike split of the day too, 20second faster than mine. I was a full minute down by the end. David held off a late charge to claim third, a further minute back.

So, second place, first Longford man, first podium, and a result I'm very happy with. Its a fantastic race, well supported by the locals which isn't always the case. The course is accurate (not often you get to say that) and challenging with a couple of fairly tasty drags on the bike course and a nice hill early on the run too. Midland Tri club have used this race two years in a row now as their club championship race so that should say a lot too. I'll definitely be back anyway.

Great chatting to everyone after as well. I've got to know a good few people from Midland and Athlone Tri clubs as well as the Longford lads so these local races are great for meeting people at. Oh, and EC1000 has said that anyone who wants an entry to CK this year just give him a bell and he'll sort you out. He's a good lad like that!! :pac:

BTH

Monday 16July
Swim. 400m kicking and 3*(5*100) on 1:45. Total 2800m

Tuesday 17July
Run 8km easy, 5k marathon pace. 2k easy. Did this on a hilly loop as I wanted to push pace a little on the up hills/drags as I have some hilly races coming up. As a result HR was higher than I would expect for the marathon, but all good.

Couple of tough sessions in the next 24 hours...

BTH

Wednesday 18th July

8*900m long efforts in Howth. Tough tough work. Took the first one handy enough (too handy it turned out) and built into them. Went 3:08, 2:52, 2:52, 2:48, 2:48, 2:45, then really pushed the last two, for 2:35 and 2:28. Good session

Thursday 19th July

6*5min @3:40min/km pace 1min walking recoveries. Ditched the last rep, feet were killing me. Damn blisters agitated again. The concrete paths out along clontarf probably not helping matters. Think I'll stick to grass for a few weeks.

Club Swim, lots more technique work. I need lots more kick work

Friday 20th July

Rest Day

Saturday 21st

30min easy run, with progressive strides.

BTH

The bike coach in the club recently wrote on our website about the list of spare bike parts that one should bring with them to all races to cover any last minute problems. Spare wheels, saddle, cables, stem, chain, seatpost clamp. Quite a list and I have to admit to only carrying spare wheels myself. I’ll need to rectify this in the near future. However, I also make sure I have spare swim hat, ear plugs and goggles. This part saved my race yesterday.

Usual craic of setting up, multiple toilet breaks, quick warm up jog, briefing, and we’re into the water for the first wave start. I’m positioned right up the front, looking out at the blue buoy in the distance. Dark blue buoy and a gloomy start to the morning, so this might not be the easiest to spot. 1 minute warning and the goggles are fogging slightly. So I pull them down to wash them out again. Nothing unusual so far, until the strap snaps at my right eye, Sh1t, sh1t, sh1t, 1500m is a long way to swim with no goggles, but I’m seriously considering it. What would interested do?? Then someone beside me asks if I have a spare pair. Well, not on me obviously!! Go in the next wave he suggests. That might work. So I’m, making my way back towards shore as the race starts. Trying to shout out what had happened and run to my bag for the spare goggles. Lots of repeating my name and number to everyone there, while Eamonn Tilley is trying to get all sorted so I can go in the second wave.

Anyway, back into the water with my new goggles (which I only purchased on Saturday). Red lenses which aren’t great in this dim light, and render me almost completely colour blind. Back up to the front of the wave. I know the second wave is the slower wave so I wasn’t expecting traffic. Straight away I know I’m on my own. Not even a rub on the feet!! One other person over to my right is inching away from me. I try to get over to them. At the first turn (maybe 200m) I notice there is another fast person on my left. The two of them are too fast for me to stay with though. Around the buoy and they go very far to the left. I never got close to them anyway, but I followed my own line as I was sure they were going wrong. Long lonely slog for the next 1000m. No one for company but my own thoughts. Second buoy seemed like miles away. Around that, quickly around third, and on the home stretch. Picked off a couple of slower people from the earlier wave along here. With the final buoy approaching someone starts to overtake me. WTF. Where did she come from (I don’t recall why, but I was fairly certain is was a female). Must have had a nice draft for 1300m behind my rather large frame!! I could also see that we were closing in slightly on the lead two. Or else they were just finally coming back on the right line having swam an extra 100m! Out of the water 4th in the wave, in a time of 26:09 for 37th overall. I’m disappointed with this. I know I should be swimming circa 24 minutes for 1500m, and given Stephen Early time it doesn’t seem to have been a long course. The lack of a draft hurt me badly though. 1500m on your own is a long swim. 3:33 faster than the same swim last year, so great progress in 12 months, but I know I’d have swam probably a minute, maybe more, faster if I was in the first wave.


T1 I had the usual wetsuit over the ankles problem. 10 seconds slower than last year. Disgrace!!

Out onto the bike, and without anyone to really race against I wasn’t sure how hard to push. Think I got it right though. Straight into that hill, and by the top I was in the lowest gear, but no great surprise there. Pushing pushing pushing, passing a trickle of people from the earlier wave. The bike was quite uneventful for me. I knew there was no fear of someone overtaking me. I was in a virtual race against those 10min up the road. The road surface from Laragh to the turn, and back again seemed even worse than last year, but I didn’t let it suck the life out of me like I did last year. I could also tell that I was closing the 10minute gap on a couple of the clubmates in the earlier wave so this spurred me on. Up the hill out of Laragh and the quads are complaining. A lot. What would Jens do. Shut up legs. Again, constantly passing people. Heading back towards T2 now and I can see the clubmates just heading out on the run. Not close enough to catch, but enough to make them worry about a poor run!! Home in 1:11:22, which was 1:45 faster than last year. Improvement, but not a massive amount. 12th fastest split.

T2, lost another 6 seconds compared to last year. Whats happened my transitions?

I hadn’t been feeling great the previous two days, so I was worried about how I would cope on the run. I’ve also been struggling running up hills this season. I knew this was going to hurt. Stephen Early was flying down the hill as I was going up. Flying. And no sign of second by the time I got to the junction where the course splits. Massive lead. I felt like I was going backwards up the hill. I did the entire run on the verge of vomiting. Even still, I don’t suffer on hills, don’t push myself like I really should. I’m reduced to a shuffle when there is any increase in gradient no matter how short. I reckon I need a winter racing IMRA to set me straight!! Eventually the pain ended and I got home with a 39:22 run for the 9.7km per my watch. 24th fastest on the day, but I know I should be able to do better than that. 3:12 faster than last year though. I finished 14th overall and 6th in my AG.

When I did the beast last year it was only my third Oly, so massive improvement was expected. I took over 8 minutes off last years time. But I wasn’t completely happy with my performance. That was my third Oly this year, but my first proper Oly swim. Athy (down-stream) and Joey Hannan (pool) don’t really count. So its only my second proper OW long distance swim in 2012 and the first in well over 2 months (after the HIM in May). With another 2 in the next 3 weeks, I’m expecting these to go much better, and hopefully I’ll have a little company in the water! The bike improvement equates to about 0.8kmph extra which looks like a very small return on a lot of hard work in the last year. And while the run time has come down a lot I really need to sort out the hills issue. With Brian Boru Olympic distance race next more hills are on the cards very soon.

couerdelion

Any improvement is always good and with the hills that should translate into a bigger amount on a flatter course.

I saw you getting out and wondered what was wrong. Someone mentioned that your goggles had snapped. Lucky for you you weren't in the last wave

Saw you on the bike and you were flying.

shotgunmcos

Cheers for the updates and well done on the podium. The standard of the boards logs is exciting this year. Best of luck in the upcoming hilly races!

RacoonQueen

Well done yesterday BTH fantastic result. Swimming isn't easy when you're on you're own. Would love to know how people bring their fancy bikes over that course. Was afraid my piece of crap would collapse under the strain of that road surface on the approach to/from Claralara

interested

nice swimming champ, as you mentioned, I suspect swim course might have been short, either that or it played with the wind and it is what it is for all competitors.
As with the advice regarding spare bike kit - having spare goggles to hand is a good idea. More importantly is checking the kit prior to race day. The straps ALWAYS go first since they're the weakest type of material. Most goggles are 'all in one' molded, lenses, nose pieces - the lot. So they rarely go. Some leakage perhaps around the lenses but nothing as catastrophic as a strap break at the wrong time.
I've re-rigged the straps in a hurry before, but for sprints in a pool where the race is over within a few minutes and not whilst threading water waiting on the start of a triathlon. Splitting for a second set and going in the second wave was the smart move Sunday.
All good.

BTH

interested wrote: »

nice swimming champ, as you mentioned, I suspect swim course might have been short, either that or it played with the wind and it is what it is for all competitors.
As with the advice regarding spare bike kit - having spare goggles to hand is a good idea. More importantly is checking the kit prior to race day. The straps ALWAYS go first since they're the weakest type of material. Most goggles are 'all in one' molded, lenses, nose pieces - the lot. So they rarely go. Some leakage perhaps around the lenses but nothing as catastrophic as a strap break at the wrong time.
I've re-rigged the straps in a hurry before, but for sprints in a pool where the race is over within a few minutes and not whilst threading water waiting on the start of a triathlon. Splitting for a second set and going in the second wave was the smart move Sunday.
All good.

Cheers fluffy. They were fairly new goggles, only their third outing after the Bull Wall swim with you and Conor two weeks ago and the race last weekend. So for the strap to break like that was quite a surprise. B2R have said they'll replace them next time I'm in (they were on-site as race sponsor). I did momentarily think how could I tie a knot in them, but in 10ft deep water that might have been a struggle!!

Also forgot to mention that I was "interviewed" by a guy who I saw wandering around before had. I recognised him but couldn't figure out why. Turns out he finished one place behind me at the 10k in Carlow in early March, we'd run the first 5k or so side-by-side. Worryingly he also works on the Fit Magazine in the Indo so I might get a mention in that. He got me just after I peeled myself off the ground after finishing so god knows what gibberish I was talking!!

interested

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

Cheers fluffy. They were fairly new goggles, only their third outing after the Bull Wall swim with you and Conor two weeks ago and the race last weekend. So for the strap to break like that was quite a surprise. B2R have said they'll replace them next time I'm in (they were on-site as race sponsor). I did momentarily think how could I tie a knot in them, but in 10ft deep water that might have been a struggle!!

Also forgot to mention that I was "interviewed" by a guy who I saw wandering around before had. I recognised him but couldn't figure out why. Turns out he finished one place behind me at the 10k in Carlow in early March, we'd run the first 5k or so side-by-side. Worryingly he also works on the Fit Magazine in the Indo so I might get a mention in that. He got me just after I peeled myself off the ground after finishing so god knows what gibberish I was talking!!

Yeah, thats not a great reflection on the manufacturers and they definitely should be replaced.
Between the recent spate of articles featuring or referencing a Fenton sister I await with baited breath for this Thursdays latest insight into the world of a triathlon shining light - and I mean that literally in your case

Bambaata

Ive had the goggles snap like that before but id no way of going back! Happened as i was on the pontoon at DCT a few years back and they were brand ew goggles! Id only bought them the night before. I managed to tie a knot and swim with one eye closed as it kept flooding! Wasnt my best swim!

BTH

interested wrote: »

Yeah, thats not a great reflection on the manufacturers and they definitely should be replaced.
Between the recent spate of articles featuring or referencing a Fenton sister I await with baited breath for this Thursdays latest insight into the world of a triathlon shining light - and I mean that literally in your case

Fentons two weeks in a row, its about time someone else had a go.

To be fair on the googles, I've had a few pair of the same ones and none of the straps broke so hopefully a once off.

I'm choosing to ignore the shining light comment.....

El Director

Well done dude on your recent performances BTH. YOu handled the googles problem well but something tells me that you were lucky to know E Tilly* otherwise you may not have been allowed to go in a later wave, this is usually stressed in race briefs. That list of spare bike parts is crazy imo! I don't bring any, not even spare wheels but I will from now on. For the swim, two types of googles, they are the same but one pair for dark conditions and one for bring, sunny conditions and also a few pairs of swim hats.

Anyway back to you....all I can say is that I am glad we are not matching up again this year



*also if ET did not know you me thinks he would have said "tough..."

Trifreak

Well done BTH. It is a tough race and there were some great performances out there.

If it helps, I set the swim course, and we checked it twice with a garmin 10 mins before the race.I am happy that it was within 10 metres of 1500m. FYI, the long straight between bouy 1 and 2 was against the flow of the lake, and the shorter bouy 3 to 4 were with the flow. Even though the flow is slight, it may have made a difference. (The lake drains from the end near the race start, and is filled at the other end)

Stephen Early's swim was savage. I would not benchmark your performance off his. Well done again.

littlemsfickle

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

nder in my home county (even if the bike course is mostly in Roscommon). I finished 16th in this race last year, getting chicked by littlemsfickle, but I'm totally over that:o!!!

ahahahahaha, just seeing this now. I think you got your revenge at the bull wall anyway:) Looking at your recent times I don't this will be happening again any time soon...

p.s. ahahahahahaha