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Me Against The World...
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Cheers ElD, yeah there's been a few times lately that I've come away from the pool feeling pretty pleased with myself. Swim fitness has come on a lot in the last month, and I can sustain the effort for much longer before the stroke starts to fall apart, and I start talking myself out of it. Hopefully I'll be able to maintain the workload into the new year. I'm not overly concerned about the running just yet. Back in with Dave on Tuesday morning, so we'll see how I am after that.
Sorry to hear you're struggling to get going. You seemed to be ticking along nicely in November, and I would have thought the new toy would have you itching to get going.
Thursday Morning
I was back in the pool again, 3100m with 800 total band & buoy, 400kicking, and 5*200 at almost CSS.
Only in work an hour yesterday when herself phones. She arrived at work, took a dizzy spell, and felt very ill. She's on a couple of antibiotics, antihistamines, and a few other things (we're best mates with the local pharmacist at this stage) to fight a very bad ear infection. So I got a taxi over to her, and brought her back to the doctor. Couple of extra meds and a sick note for a week and a half. Not much point in her sitting in an empty apartment on her own for the week, so I said I'd bring her home to her parents house yesterday evening after work. Left the apartment at 7, and I was back in the park by 10:15 for a quick 20min jog in the muck. Tired now, and the knee is feeling a little stiff, probably not helped by the 250km round trip.
Long story short, free gaff for a week!!
Sorry to hear about Michelle dude I hope she has a speedy recovery!
Regarding myself, I was ticking along nicely, 4 easy weeks of prep put down and 2 weeks without missing a session, felt I was really beginning to get back to the way I was earlier this year. Then a big week for me-testing in all three disciplines and I get a chesty flu/cold/bug so no training for 8 days
got back at some easy stuff Weds, still not 100%. So thankfully it ain't a lack of will power nor a lack of motivation. Hopefully I will be back at it properly come Monday and test perhaps the following week, it puts me behind schedule but I am trying not to think of it that way, I just don't believe in schedules anymore 
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El Director wrote: »Sorry to hear about Michelle dude I hope she has a speedy recovery!
Regarding myself, I was ticking along nicely, 4 easy weeks of prep put down and 2 weeks without missing a session, felt I was really beginning to get back to the way I was earlier this year. Then a big week for me-testing in all three disciplines and I get a chesty flu/cold/bug so no training for 8 days got back at some easy stuff Weds, still not 100%. So thankfully it ain't a lack of will power nor a lack of motivation. Hopefully I will be back at it properly come Monday and test perhaps the following week, it puts me behind schedule but I am trying not to think of it that way, I just don't believe in schedules anymore
Michelle is feeling much better. Appetite coming back, but still very tired.
I hear you about the bugs at this time of year, I seem to pick up something myself this time of year every year. Last year I missed a bit around Christmas, and the year before I spent Christmas week on Antibiotics. Feeling a little something coming on at the moment, so I'll try to manage that this week, before the training takes a step back in the lead up to the week off. Also need to behave myself at the Christmas parties, as nights on the piss give me a sore throat which is where all the bugs I catch start from.0 -
Friday
Swim session. Comfortable 200s in under 3:05, and comfortable 100s, in around 1:31/2, before some hard 50s. Thrashed at the 50s a bit too much.
Saturday
Needed to get a 3hour bike in, but it was too frosty early on so I headed to the park for my long run :rolleyes: 6.25 km in 32min
Frost cleared quickly so I got out on the bike at 10, up the back road (Swords, Balbriggan, Julianstown) to Drogheda and back, with 3*20min efforts. 102km in 3:30
Sunday
Club bike spin, and I brought the group up to Naul and over what I have since learned to be "The Wall". Nice little ramp alright, and a very good spin. Nice to try out some new roads. Legs felt very ropey at first, but loosened out after a while. 96km in 3:35
Totals
Swim 11725m
Bike 284km
Run 15km
Another great swim and bike week, and the running is getting better all the time. I'll not be able to get in the two long bikes once we get into the new year, but thats fine. Great work put down in the last 6 weeks and I'm really happy with where the bike and swim are right now. Back into the Man with the Tan :rolleyes: tomorrow, and I'm expecting and almost all clear.0 -
Monday
Club swim session in the evening. Hadn't been looking forward to this all day, so I was thankful that the first half was drills and stroke work. All good until 6*100 on 1:30 was called :eek:. I brought in the first three on time, before blowing up and hopping out of the pool after a 1:33/4 fourth 100.
Tuesday
Morning was a trip to the man with the tan. Reckons I'm good to go, just take it easy as I'll be fairly weak after so long out. Its the popliteus muscle thats been the problem, not releasing as it should. Still have no idea how I injured it as its not a muscle that runners injure and I wasn't swimming or biking when it started. Also seems that despite her best intentions, some of the exercises the other physio had me doing were compounding the problem. :rolleyes: Anyway, I'll be slowly getting back into it, but I still don't have full movement in the leg. Heel flicks and high knees are out of the equation for the time being anyway.
Easy lunchtime jog. 6km @5min/km pace.
Tough tough evening turbo, with some Z4 work which burn the quads badly. Ouch ouch ouch.
Wednesday
Morning swim. Feeling very tired and a little bit of a sore throat as I mentioned in a previous post. WU and 1800m of CSS work which required more effort than previous weeks. Tried a kick set after this, but legs said no chance after the turbo on Tuesday.
Thursday
Another morning swim, still very tired and flu-y so i just did some stroke work, and kick work. Didn't want to push myself much and end up sick all over Christmas. Again...
Evening jog in the park, in the muck, in the dark. Good fun. 7km @5min/km pace.
Still not feeling great so kinda glad the work Christmas party is postponed tonight, although not so glad for the reasons why. I'll swim again as usual tonight, but don't expect to be able to push myself too hard.0 -
Friday Eve
Swim session with some drills work before descending 100s off 2:00. Hard ones in on 1:22
Saturday morning
Club handicapped christmas 5k. Went along to jog round the course. A few raised eyebrows when they saw my handicap! Aimed for 24min and brought it in right on target for 23:57. No issues with the knee either, but I'm being extra cautious. No hurry
Sunday
I was down home and got out for 75km on my own on Sunday afternoon. A fairly lumpy route, so a decent workout.
Weekly Totals
Swim 8850m 4sessions. Took it easier in the pool this week as I've not been 100%.
Bike 160km, which is my smallest week in a while. That not a bad sign!!
Run 22km! slowly slowly......0 -
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Still ticking along nicely.
Monday
Lunch time run. Easy jog, 6km in 30min.
Evening club swim. 8*200 on 3:20, descending sets of 4 and then some snake fun. That hurt! Wasn't feeling great in this session. A little one paced, stuck in the one gear meaning that descending was more difficult than it should have been. 2900m I think
Tuesday
Morning turbo with 2*20min in Z3. Good steady work.
Evening was another tough session with 7(?) pints of Paulaner and a pizza cool-down.
Wednesday
Lunch time jog. Another 30min 6km.
Evening swim. Very very tired from Tuesday evening. So no major work done, a whole heap of drills and kick work. 2500m in total
Thursday
Evening Swim again. Been dreading this set since I saw it on the schedule at the weekend. Main set was 25*100 @CSS 1:32, 10sec between reps. Still a bit tired from Tuesday (getting old/always been a lightweight) but I absolutely nailed this set. Felt great in the water. Better than any time in the last two weeks. Times were a consistent 1:29/30 with the odd one coming in either side of that, but never in fear of missing the target times. Arms starting to feel the effort after 19, and more so after 22/23, but no drop off in times. Coach is already saying that my CSS might be a little weak now, so there might be a re-test early in the new year. This session went so well than I might give the 6*100 off 1:30 another look....... 3100m including wu&cd
Friday
Morning Swim. Pools are going to hard to come by next week, so make hay while I have the chance. Few drills, kick, 5*100 pull&band, 5*200swim. 3250m total0 -
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shotgunmcos wrote: »You have come on so much in the water this year. What is the difference?
IMHO persistence, attitude, consistency over the last couple of years, but its all about the OW before we get ahead of ourselves
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interested wrote: »IMHO persistence, attitude, consistency over the last couple of years
Surely there must be an easier way that that!!
Seriously impressive swimming there BTH. Maybe you should try the 100 x 100m off 100 secs
http://loneswimmer.com/2012/01/18/achievement-unlocked-100-x-100-x-100/0 -
griffin100 wrote: »Seriously impressive swimming there BTH. Maybe you should try the 100 x 100m off 100 secs
I once saw Mike Yelverton get out of the pool in UL after 100*100 off 90 :eek: I greeted him after watching him hit the last 10 or so with barely 2 secs rest. I greeted him and asked how the set went, thinking he must have a good 5k down. He grunted "a hundred hundreds, I'm starving" mid stride and shuffled passed me over to the shower like an old man... I was simply gobsmacked :eek:0 -
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Where did we leave off?? Looks like Friday 21st.
Friday 21st
9km easy run in the park in the early evening after ducking out of work a little early.
Saturday 22nd
Down home early and out for a 3hour+ spin. 85km
Sunday 23rd
3km swim
followed by 10k easy run in nearby woods.
Monday 24th
8k easy run in the woods, followed by a couple of pints then a 75min easy turbo.
Tuesday 25th
30km on the new bike
Wednesday 26th
Shane Brennan 5km. After jogging a 24min 5km in the club handicapped race a couple of weeks ago I intended on running this in 22min and then the new years day race in 20min. However, I couldn't slow myself sufficiently in this and clocked 4:06/4:07/4:06 for the first 3km despite running with the handbrake firmly in place. Theres a bit of a gentle descent in the later half of the 4th km, and I let gravity bring me a 3:54 4th km before taking the handbrake off and opening out the legs a little for the last km. I was cruising past loads at this stage and finished off with a 3:35 & sub 20min 5km a week ahead of schedule. 19:50 and 31st place on what wouldn't be the fastest of courses with a couple of short sharp ramps over the train line and some long drags too. What pleased me most was how easily the speed came for the last km. That and no ill-effects from the knee.
Thursday 27th
Swim 2750m followed by a 2:45 80km cycle.
Friday 28th
3km swim followed by 11km easy woodland run.
Saturday
4hour 111km bike followed that evening by a throat infection which has written off Sunday and Today, and put tomorrows 5km in the unlikely box baring a miracle recovery. I'll likely be there anyway, hoping to get Michelle to run it.
So thats December done.
Swim: Second consecutive 40km+ swim month. Also my second ever 40km+ swim month!!
Bike: Second consecutive 1000km+ bike month. Also my second ever 1000km+ bike month!! Bit of a trend here....
Run: Breaks that trend, but I did sneak past 100km despite only breaking 10km in a run once during the month. Definite progress on this front.0 -
Tom Brennan 5k New Years Day
Wasn't sure whether I was going to race this or not. Throat was improving on Monday evening though, and if I didn't go it would give Michelle an easy opt out for it! Still unwell this morning but went down anyway. Very cold, and not feeling great in a 4k wu. Decided I'd hold back a little at the start and see how I felt.
Got swept along a little in the initial madness, but I made sure not to get totally wound up. Eased off a little and the first 2kms went by in 3:35 and 3:45. Obviously got a little too enthusiastic at the start
Approaching the turn just after the 2k turn I lifted a little to get on a shoulder for the "headwind". Not sure whether the shoulder I attached myself to slowed, or I was still warming up, but I felt he was holding me back so I pushed on a little. I was slowly catching a few that went off too hard. 3rd km was a 3:41, and while others around me were using the corners as an excuse to slow, I was flying around them making up more places. I pushed on a little up the Ordinance Survey road, lifting the pace and picking off more places. KM #4 3:38. A slight downhill on the main road and I used this to lift the pace a little more, now picking off loads of places. Again, I flew out of the last corner, and made up another 3/4 places on the last 100m. Last km was 3:28 pace and I finished strong with 2:52 pace for the last 80m odd. 18:18 chip time and 50th place overall. I wouldn't have called my effort comfortable, but I certainly had a decent amount more to give. Bodes well for when I can get a little bit of training in. 18:18 off 20-25km running a week for a month after two months inactive, and a throat infection.0 -
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Wednesday
Evening turbo session. Couple of 6sec sprint efforts and 30min steady. 33km in the hour
Thursday
Lunch time 40min easy run. 8k of agony. Legs very very stiff from the race on Tuesday despite plenty of stretching in the mean time. Same happened after my first race of 2013, legs were wrecked for ages after.
Had hoped to get a swim in, but had to go to the Doc to get a referral to an ENT specialist. I reckon I'm going to be getting my tonsils out sometime in the not too distant future. Just hoping I can put it off until after the season is over, but if it causes me to keep getting sick then I'll need to do it sooner.
Friday
Another easy run time run. 30min this time, and much improved, but I can feel my left ITB and, or want of a better work, arse are very tight still.
Hope to finally get a swim in this eve. So much for my recent rant about consistency in the water. I've swam twice in the last 12 days. The plan had been for that number to be 6 0 -
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Monday Lunchtime
Easy 30min run. One of those runs where despite the HR staying down, I couldn't slow down as much I had intended. Pity it doesn't happen that often.
Monday Eve
Club swim with 3 sets of 3*200, repeat times reducing with each set, then 4*100 at the end. Swam pretty well considering small illness last week. Even closed the 10second gap to the, admitted very tired, NS runner up who was swimming ahead of me for the last 2 100s. The guy 5 sec in between us had blown up after 2. 2700m total0 -
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amphkingwest wrote: »See you at a few of those.
Not a bad calendar considering how busy you are going to be in the mid-year. Great to see the running form returning too.
Cheers Sean. Only seven Tris this year. I did ten last year :eek:, one of which was a HIM, so definitely taking the foot off the gas a little.
I figured the run form wasn't too far away after my efforts on new years day. 0 -
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banner_phoenix wrote: »Best of luck with the goals and all the mid year activities!
Thanks BP. Damn extracurricular activities getting in the way of race season.
Tuesday Eve
75min turbo. Nothing hectic. Some steady work, and a couple of sprint efforts. Felt good, even during the 15min slightly harder.
Wednesday Morning
An hour in the pool this morning that didn't go as well as I'd hoped. Possible that I bit off a little more than I could chew this early in the year. 3000m but was aiming for a good chunk more, but didn't work out and even 500m+ of what I did do was pure junk.
Theres always tomorrow.0 -
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Race Plan 2013
25May Rosses Point NS Oly
13Jul Lanesboro NS Spr
20Jul Galway Aquathlon NC
27Jul Lord of the Dring Spr (local race and hopefully Michelles first race)
04Aug Loughrea NS Spr
25Aug DCT NC NS Oly
14Sep London AG-WC
21Sep Blacksod NS Oly
Not a huge amount of racing, but when you put a big X through June theres not much left in the calender. I'll no doubt fill in a couple of Aquathlons during the summer as well, and early season there'll be the odd Duathlon or road race (probably bike and run races) but nothing concrete yet until I know how the early months pan out training and wedding planning/stag/etc wise.
Good to see the running is rapidly returning to where you were last year (36:xx for a 10k if I remember rightly)
As I will be doing most of my racing in the west this year it would seem we will do battle on a few occassions in the coming months 0 -
El Director wrote: »Good to see the running is rapidly returning to where you were last year (36:xx for a 10k if I remember rightly)
As I will be doing most of my racing in the west this year it would seem we will do battle on a few occassions in the coming months
Nice one, I'm looking for revenge for Athy Although I don't want to be racing you unless you're in top shape as well, make a proper race of it! So get yourself sorted out soon!!
Delighted with my running this week alright. Felt the smallest twinge in the knee yesterday morning but it didn't hang about long. Should break 40km this week, maybe 50 by the end of the month and keep it in and around that, fingers crossed.
36:11 in early March last year. Might give the MSB St Patricks week 5k a bash, and maybe another 10k in April, but April looks like it'll be busy with my stag and a wedding to go to, so we'll see. 0 -
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Nice one, I'm looking for revenge for Athy Although I don't want to be racing you unless you're in top shape as well, make a proper race of it! So get yourself sorted out soon!!
Delighted with my running this week alright. Felt the smallest twinge in the knee yesterday morning but it didn't hang about long. Should break 40km this week, maybe 50 by the end of the month and keep it in and around that, fingers crossed.
36:11 in early March last year. Might give the MSB St Patricks week 5k a bash, and maybe another 10k in April, but April looks like it'll be busy with my stag and a wedding to go to, so we'll see.
Excellent, it should all come to a head in London in September then I will be at the height of my powers by then! TBH I am confident that I'll be going well by the end of June/beginning of July.
The MSB 5k is a top event, I will be doing it myself and all going well I should clock close to my PB of 18:13, if I do I will be thrilled. I have the Tuam 8k next weekend for one simple reason: remind me what it is like to race and remind me why I do all the training. It's been so long that getting back into can be difficult as the motivation is low. For me the reason I train is because I love racing and competition, so after the race I will be motivated to push on and improve.
So it will be a great summer of racing and I think the National Aquathon Champs in Galway is as good as any place to reignite the rivalry 0
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