Me Against The World...

BTH

Feb Summary
Swim distance was down for the month. Lower than each of the last 3 months. I did miss a couple of sessions, or ditched sessions, but still got a lot of quality work in and a couple of PBs, so not bad. 30k for the month ain't a bad return.

Bike distance is also down, but with no long bike last weekend and only 4 weekend v 5 in January that was always going to be the case. The three long spins I did get in each had over 1100m of climbing too so a good months work.

Hit over 200km running for the first month ever, and with more hill work done this month than I would have done previously too. Good solid months running, and I'm starting to hit some form of running shape. 10k race next weekend and looking forward to see how I get on.

Core and flexibility work took a bit of a hit this month. I was tired a lot earlier in the month, with no motivation to keep this end of things going. Starting to come back round now though.


Now, March. Time for some racing, finally!!!

BTH

Thursday Evening
Club Swim, after the WU we did a little kicking, and some drills, and sculling. Finished off with 3*[4*100 on 1:45] 90sec between the sets. Pushed these a little to bring them all in below 1:35. Mostly took it easy before what lay ahead on Friday......

BTH

Friday
Club weekend away, and a spin down to Courtown. We took a "scenic" route in search of a few new hills. This was always going to be a long day and almost 8.5 hours after leaving the house we arrived. Ride time was 6.5hours, just shy of 160km, 2225m elevation gain. Avg speed of 24.5kmph, HR 131/184:eek:, cadence 84. The Shay Elliot/Slieve Maan combo gets you every single time. We had arranged a physio for our arrival and he comfirmed what I said here last week. Sport massage now essential.

BTH

Saturday
After shaking off the worst of the Guinness induced hangover from Friday night I headed out for an easy 10km run. Then later in the morning there was an Interested led splash in the pool, couple of OW drills, and drafting practice, so easy enough session except for the pressups at the end. 1k or so covered.

Rest of the day was taking it easy. Watched Van Persie produce a bit of magic once again. Genius!

BTH

Sunday
Spin back to Dublin, and the adventure continued with the search of even more new hills. And brutes they were too. One was in the Coolgreany area of Wexford, and another just west of avoca. Once more aver Shay Elliot and then Sally gap for 115km, 4hours50, HR 130/176 Cadence 82 Avg Speed 23.8. Just the 1700m elevation gain on Sunday!!

BTH

Housework first

Monday
Club swim, which was an easy session after the weekend. 8*100 pull on 2min, some back-stroke messing, 8*50 on 60sec as 4@12.5easy 25 hard 12.5 easy, 4@ 12.5hard 25 easy 12.5 hard. Total 1750m

Tuesday
Lunchtime I went in for my first sports massage. Turns out that all the tightness was stemming from the glutes which were exceptionally tight. I knew they were probably the worst of it before I went in. Painful hour!

Easy 45min with strides in the evening. Ditched the turbo but this was to be an easy week anyway and there was plenty of biking at the weekend so not concerned.

Wednesday
60min easy run with 2*80sec on 80recovery 60on60off40on40off. Just the little bits of effort to kick some like into the legs before the race on Sunday. Felt a little uncomfortable, still a bit tender from the clobbering I got on the table on Tuesday!

Thursday
Club Swim. 4*25max sprints. Main set was 10*200 on 3:30. Going well until the last 3. In on 3:13,11,15,14,14,14,17,20,24,35(cramped up 125m into the last one). Total 2800m

Friday
Easy 55min turbo with 6*10sec max sprints. 29.2kmph avg. Also visited these guys http://physioneeds.biz/ who have the gird for €39.

Saturday
Easy 30min with strides. A little over 6km

Sunday
Race……

BTH

St Laurence O’Toole 10km Race

Ok, so I last raced a 10km in July 2010, and my PB from then stands at a weak 41:12. Weak compared to my 5km PB of 18:25. I’ve probably beaten that 41:12 time on the run leg of a tri but they don’t count as courses are generally short. Lined up a 10km to smash that time and just to gauge where I am coming into the season. Bottom line, hoping for a bit of a confidence boost. Need to know that I can run a fast 10km so I’ll push myself more off the bike.

Came into the race on the back of some solid running. I don’t think I’ve missed a run this year yet. But I’ve no speed work down yet, so wasn’t expecting a miracle. Was thinking that I’d be happy with a sub 38min, and maybe mid 37s on a great day. Ran 19:05 for 5km on St. Stephens day so hoping to beat double that time basically after the work put in since.

Lined up in my day-glo green slippers I was a little nervous. Gun went and we’re off. I got a little boxed in for the first 200m, but went wide around these to get back to the group I felt I should be running with. [/FONT]Eilis Connery was with this group and I know I sat on her shoulder for the first leg of a duathlon this time last year so figured this was a decent group to be in. This ensured I didn’t go mad for the first KM which I have a habit of going in all three disciplines. But I gradually found myself at the front of this group. There was another about 15m in front, while the leaders were gone into the distance from the gun. I didn’t know how many were up the road as I couldn’t see while boxed in. First two kms clocked in 3:35, 3:40. At around the 2.5k mark another guy pushed clear of our little group and I went with him. A 3:42 & 3:41 km (up hill here) brought us to the three guys ahead on about 4km. Sat on the shoulder of the first guy here on the run into the end of lap 1. Km5 @3:34, downhill. I was only getting km splits so didn’t know it but this would have been a 5km PB of 18:12. I was feeling good through that first lap. Felt very strong. I checked the watch at about 3km and HR was at 173 which was good as I knew I had another 10 beats there before the pain really arrived.

At the end of lap one I pushed on a little. Not an intention tactic, but I was just feeling good. Km6 came and went in 3:39. This left me running on my own ahead of everyone bar the proper runners who hadn’t been seen since the gun. I figured to keep around the 3:40 per km mark should give me a good time and allowed for blowing up with a 4min km at some point! 7KMish I looked at the HR again. I knew I was working hard now, and the 183 told me I needed to relax as I couldn’t hold that for the next 3 km. km7 was 3:37. Into the hill and I needed to ease off a little. Nothing steep, but a gradual drag. I had a quick glance over the shoulder taking a corner and there was a guy about 40m back. I couldn’t ease off too much. KM8 3:43. Sharp corner and it was downhill to the finish. It was much easier to accelerate out of this corner the first time. I didn’t look back again. I didn’t want to know. Push push push. KM 9 in 3:34. Traffic was very heavy, footpaths narrow, and walkers still finishing their first lap were taking it up. A bit of polite yelling did the trick. Don’t look back, don’t look back. The last KM I could feel my form slipping a little. I wasn’t as controlled at I was earlier. Praying that this guy didn’t come around me. How far back is he? I don’t think I have a sprint. Hit the gates of the track and the marshall said 36. There can’t be that many ahead of me. Wait, what, 36min? I might break 37min? No way. 200m to go. Push without sprinting to discourage any heros behind me. Then I see the clock. 36:08,09,10,11!!!!!!! No way. Check the watch. It’s saying the same. Holy sh1t. Ouch ouch ouch, my calves.

I’d run the last km in 3:27, the second half in 18 flat. I’d just run a 5KM PB, and then run another straight after. 5minutes off my pb. Over the moon. And that’s with no speed work. Sent my coach a text. I’d asked him what he was expecting from me last weekend. He was thinking high 37’s too, but see how you get on he said. “You’re not going to believe this. 36:11” “Awesome. Well done. Gotta go slow to go fast. Wait till you start training ”

I’ve always thought I should be a better runner than I’ve shown. Maybe I couldn’t suffer enough. Took the easy option too often. In the later portion of races I’d think “that’s good enough”, “let him go you can’t keep up”. This has really been the confidence boost I was looking for and more.

A congratulatory tweet from El Director as I start writing this. How does he know how I got on? Ah, this is how… http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056574465
So it turns out there was only 4 guys up the road. 5th place in my first race of the year. And then I get out done by Shotgunmcos and Bambatta. Typical!

BTH

Also, congrats to my significant other to went under 30min for the 5k today. And she really enjoyed it which is more important. Work colleagues are talking her into the mini-marathon, so watch this space!

Bambaata

Geez well done, seems like a very well executed race!

Fazz

Epic.
What a fantastic way to start off, and destroy an outdated pb!

You killed it, great time that's serious progress at this stage!
Fantastic result.
Well done man!

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Great running BTH, central governor well and truly resest there!! Nice confidence boost to take into the tri season.

redved

Hey, great report, well done on the 5th place.
Do you mind me asking what your max HR is? I often wonder if I don't push myself hard enough during races

El Director

Truely fantastic race, so well paced too dude. Brilliantly described....between you, bambatta and shotgun ye have me dying to get back racing! Well done again.

Dory Dory

Congratulations!!! Truly well deserved by you. You've worked your fanny arse off!!

BTH

Thanks everyone.

There was actually a time about a month ago when I considered whether with my swim having improved to such an extent, and my running stagniated, that perhaps my run would be my weakest discipline this coming season. Thats probably unlikely now!

I honestly didn't think I was anywhere close to this kind of result just yet. I'm still buzzing from it!

Although, the Garmin did only clock 9.99km. They did tell us that to run the full distance we would have to stay off the footpaths, but damn it this was a race too! I wasn't going to run further than the guy infront!


@redved, I'm not sure what my max run HR is as I've only been training well below that thus far. Max on the bike is 183. I hit a max of 187 yesterday, and average was 177. I hit 191 (181avg) in a 5k at Christmas which would be the highest I hit to-date other than the 220+ that garmin sometimes tells me :rolleyes:. Probably not much more in me than that.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

@redved, I'm not sure what my max run HR is as I've only been training well below that thus far. Max on the bike is 183. I hit a max of 187 yesterday, and average was 177. I hit 191 (181avg) in a 5k at Christmas which would be the highest I hit to-date other than the 220+ that garmin sometimes tells me :rolleyes:. Probably not much more in me than that.

Similar enough to myself so on bike and run for hr and my run MHR would be 193

nerraw1111

That's savage going especially given your expectations going in.

couerdelion

That's some great running and a great report.
I wonder if the athletics crowd were put out when looking at the results and see a triathlete up near the top.

BTH

couerdelion wrote: »

I wonder if the athletics crowd were put out when looking at the results and see a triathlete up near the top.

I bloody well hope so

Monday
Out for a recovery jog at lunch to try and loosen out the legs. 5.2k @ 5:10 pace. It didn't really work and I'm hobbling around the office all day. I don't know if my legs have ever felt this bad! Don't think the hard club swim tonight is a great idea, but I'll get to a pool anyway.

BTH

So, after rolling out the legs on Monday morning, and a recovery run at lunch that didnt really work, I headed along to the club swim on Monday evening. Before leaving the office I did some stretching as well, but this didn't seem to make much difference either. Took it easy during the session, swimming in a slower lane and using the pull-bouy for everything. 6*100 drills (Catchup is even tougher if you're not kicking!), 6*100 on 2:00, 6*10 on 1:55, 4*100 on 1:50. Despite rather gentle kicks off the wall and no kicking, I could feet the sole/arch of one of my feet cramping up slightly. Nothing else to report really other than hobbling around the changing rooms before and after.

Tuesday Morn was to be a little more stretching, but got very little done as I didnt get up early enough. Did a small bit though.

Tuesday Eve was a 45min run @ target hr 144, with 4*30sec progressive strides to 90%. Had to really ease into this as I was still hobbling all day. The progressive strides also took a bit of warming into, but I got through it. Some more rolling that evening.

Wednesday morning. STILL hobbling, down to the pool for a swim. wu then 5*200 10sec rest. Didn't target any time on these but was in at 3:20ish for them all. Again I took it very easy on the turns to save the legs. Followed this up with 5*200 pull, same 10sec rest. Threw in a hard 50 in the middle of each of these. In on low 3:20s. Finished with 3*50 hard on 75 which came in on 40/41.

I've never had muscle pain like this after a race before. Even Kenmare last year, the biggest problem I had in the days afterwards were the massive blisters, especially the huge one on my big toe. And its not a case that I didn't cool down properly, as the calf pain kicked in immediately after I stopped running. I was still bent over trying to catch my breath. I hobbled away from the finish line. Is this normal? I'm hoping that its just because I haven't done any speed work yet and my legs arent used to the sustained running at that pace.

shotgunmcos

TBH I wouldn't mind too much feeling like that after a PB run as emphatic as yours!! You were clearly in the zone and went pretty deep on yourself. It felt amazing, you shocked yourself but it was probably the hardest you have pushed yourself so far.

If you don't have a localised niggle of some sort, I'd hazard a guess that you have proper DOMS and they will pass

Some low intensity high cadence on the bike will help...

Fazz

Sounds like you have some heavy DOMS alright.

Was clearly a damn hard run and understandable result.

After a hard run I get DOMS the following day or two, but it eases from swimming, easy spinning and even easy running.
Doesn't last more than 2 days for me, though I haven't done a balls to the wall 10k yet neither!

If I were you I'd do some easy spinning tonight and if not a fair bit better tomorrow perhaps look into a leg massage to ease the tightness.

Ps 36:11!!! Again i have to say well done. So close to 35:xx too.
My running seems similar to yours in training to date, be interesting to see my time if I get a blast soon. I was thinking 37's myself but you've raised the bar

kennyb3

Would make sense to organise your regular massage for after races like that, least that way you ll prob cut down recovery time from 4/5 days to 2/3 days meaning you can get bit more training in.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Easy spinning/high cadence works for me everytime when getting rid of DOMS.

BTH

shotgunmcos wrote: »

TBH I wouldn't mind too much feeling like that after a PB run as emphatic as yours!! You were clearly in the zone and went pretty deep on yourself. It felt amazing, you shocked yourself but it was probably the hardest you have pushed yourself so far.

If you don't have a localised niggle of some sort, I'd hazard a guess that you have proper DOMS and they will pass

Some low intensity high cadence on the bike will help...

Thanks MCOS
Seems to be hurting everywhere although my right calf is worse than the left. The D in DOMS would suggest that the pain shouldnt be so immediate though!

And yeah, it did feel amazing when I saw the clock!

Fazz wrote: »

Sounds like you have some heavy DOMS alright.

Was clearly a damn hard run and understandable result.

After a hard run I get DOMS the following day or two, but it eases from swimming, easy spinning and even easy running.
Doesn't last more than 2 days for me, though I haven't done a balls to the wall 10k yet neither!

If I were you I'd do some easy spinning tonight and if not a fair bit better tomorrow perhaps look into a leg massage to ease the tightness.

Ps 36:11!!! Again i have to say well done. So close to 35:xx too.
My running seems similar to yours in training to date, be interesting to see my time if I get a blast soon. I was thinking 37's myself but you've raised the bar

Cheers Fazz.
Plan for tonight is a fairly easy turbo, which I would have done at 100+ anyway. Supposed to be a few max 20secs as well but they may be ditched. To be fair though, once I warmed up running yesterday I wasnt too bad. Ran on the grass out along Clontarf which also probably helped.

I really surprised myself on Sunday so you could well do the same. It'll hurt though!!

kennyb3 wrote: »

Would make sense to organise your regular massage for after races like that, least that way you ll prob cut down recovery time from 4/5 days to 2/3 days meaning you can get bit more training in.

Thanks KB3, I think the massage is something thats going to have to become more regular. Only had my first last week though, so I figured consecutive weeks would be overkill. I'll defo look to having one after the Duathlon Nat Champs.

Margaret Important Cupcake wrote: »

Easy spinning/high cadence works for me everytime when getting rid of DOMS.

Planned for this eve. I cycle 7km a day to and from work, and I thought that would help but it hasnt done the trick. Hopefully a proper spin on the turbo will do it.


After the 10k on Sunday my coach is talking about sub 17 5kms, and a sub 2:55 debut marathon :eek:.. He's going to kill me!!!

pgibbo

Just catching up here. Congrats on the 10k. Savage time and PB :cool:

BTH

Wednesday Eve
Turbo session, 75min Z2 easy with 9*20sec max efforts in blocks of 3, 1min rest, and 10min between blocks. The max efforts were tough, but I got threw them. More rolling after this session on those calves.

Thursday
First day I've been able to walk hobble free. I can still feel those tight calves, but thankfully its much better. Thursday eve on the Turbo plan was 3*15min @target HR152. The second was at 70rpm which meant 53*11. That was tough! 75min again 41.85km compared to wednesdays 37.18.

Friday Morning
Swim session this AM. 500m WU, 10*100 on 1:45, 50easy, 8*100 on 1:45, 300easy with every 4th length hard. Had intended on doing more this morning but I was fading towards the end of the 8*100. I feel like I've been slacking off in the swimming recently. 6 swims in the last 14days, but three of those were used for recovery more than anything else. At least I'm getting in the water I suppose, so I should be able to get back into a groove pretty quickly. Next two races are duathlons so focus is off the swimming slightly, and I need to be careful of that as Joey Hannan will come up very quickly.

Girl in the lane with me this morning was doing 50s off 45sec :eek:. Looked very comfortable with it too. Damn her!!

BTH

Friday Lunch
Easy 45min wuth a target HR of 144. Held 4:40 pace for 9.5+km. Miserably wet out there today, but first rain in what seems like weeks so we can't complain. Didn't feel as light on my feet as I would have liked to. The run was becoming a bit of a slog by the end.

Doozie of a run lined up tomorrow. This one's going to hurt.

Dory Dory

Tell me about the run you've got lined up for tomorrow.

BTH

Dory Dory wrote: »

Tell me about the run you've got lined up for tomorrow.

Exact instruction from my coach are

progressive warm up with 4X 90% strides 70m
10X 150m hill strides @ 5k intensity
Look to maintain time
Walk back rec.
to
60 mins 30@ 145 to 30@ 165HR

Criptic I know. That last 30min I reckon will be in and around half marathon pace so likely to be sub 4min per km (around 6:10 per mile). After hill repeats. On legs that arent yet fully recovered.