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The Lion's Roar - "Vita Perseverat Sursum"
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29-10-2012 11:09pm#1Well after being asked my a few people if I would continue my log and after realising how I get inspired to train by reading other peoples logs, I've decided to start a new one for my 2013 season.
The old log is here --> Tri-ing my best
The title of this log is pretty straight forward. The Lion is me (couerdelion), the roar is because I'm shouting my intentions which is the the Latin stuff - "Vita perseverat" means life goes on and sursum means it's going upwards - scaling new heights. It's in Latin because I'm pretentious although the phrase might not actually make any sense at all to a Latin scholar which instead makes me stupid.
Last year (2012 season) I put some of my targets for the season on my log to get them into the public domain. I'm a big believer that the simple act of making something public helped me last year to stick to the training that I needed to ensure I had a chance of hitting the targets - and as I hit my targets then I'm going to try this approach again for 2013. This is a bit different and potentially more embarrassing as they are going into the first post and not hiding in the middle.
My 2013 season started three weeks ago and I'm following the phases that are in the "Triathletes Training Bible". I start with 5 weeks in the preparation phase of training before moving on to my base phase.
Training Week as penciled in looks like this:
Mon: Swim / Weights / Yoga
Tue: Swim / Run / Turbo
Wed: Run / Weights / Yoga
Thu: Swim / Run / Turbo
Fri: Run / Yoga
Sat: Long Cycle
Sun: Long Run
It looks a lot written down but it isn't. Not counting the yoga (sure- it's only a stretching session
) it's around 10 hours a week.
I reckon now is as good a time as any to put down my goals and what I'm hoping all the hard work over the coming months will produce next season.
Firstly and most importantly by the time the 2013 season starts (May 1st 2013) I want to be weighing in at <90kg. I'm currently 108kg (110kg 3 weeks ago) so 20kg will be a decent drop and although I'll still be way off being considered a light weight for my height and build that's a fairly low number for me. It will have me around 14st 2lbs. When I left school I was around 15st and used to get called stick insect as I was pretty skinny - I'm carrying more muscle mass these days too so I'll probably look super skinny. But the weight loss will no doubt help in the bike and run too and it's free speed that those I will be competing against will have to work really hard to achieve in fitness gains.
Time wise I did put some 2013 prediction in my 2012 targets - I know that goals need to be attainable and realistic - god knows I spent enough time studying that stuff - but looking at my previous goals I now actually think they are a bit on the soft side considering that I hit last years goals.
I hit 1:14 for a sprint in the last race of the year and 2:35 for an Olympic so knocking four minutes off the sprint time and five minutes off the Olympic is roughly only a 5% decrease. Whilst I'm sure many triathletes would be happy with that, as I still think as I'm pretty new to the sport then my increases can and should be more significant and if I meet my weight loss targets then the targets should not be difficult to hit at all.
With this in mind I'm going to re-jig the targets to the following:2013 Targets - RevisedSprint
Swim 12.xx
Bike 29:xx
Run 19:xx
Total: <1hr 5 mins
Olympic
Swim 25:xx
Bike 63:xx
Run 39:xx
Total: <2hr 15 mins
Are they challenging enough now? Too right they are! They are aspirations that would be lifting me towards the front of the middle of the pack.
The Sprint targets would basically have me looking at a 15% improvement on my Fingal Sprint time from last year. That will be tough. The Olympic target is pretty much the same so another tough target.
Discipline by discipline...
The swim is where I need to improve the most. I didn't swim any where like enough during the middle and end of last season, but when I was swimming regularly at the beginning of the year my swim was coming on leaps and bounds, so I feel that if I get the regular sessions in over the winter I will improve my speed and my endurance. I set an 800TT time early last year of dead on 14:00 mins and felt that I faded towards the end so a 750m time of 12:xx looks to be something I should be capable of. The Olympic time is much more of a challenge with it being 20% faster than my CK Tri time last year but I know that if I put the time in the pool and an effort to increase my muscular endurance it will make this goal a possibility and something I believe I can achieve.
The bike is slightly more achievable. I hit 30:xx in a club TT this year and with less weight and a higher power to weight ratio I'm confident that I'll become one of the better bikers within my age group. With this aim in mind I've started training with a local cycling club and will also try and get to a stage where I'm participating in the club races in 2013 (and not making a fool of myself!).
The run is my weakest event in comparison to most of my age group. I have already stated that the loss of weight will help here and I honestly believe it will make a big difference. Based on the information out there regarding weight loss and improvements in speed then my current 46min 10km time should be down to 42mins without any increase in fitness. 42 mins to < 40mins seems a lot more attainable than 46 to sub 40. I think that proves beyond doubt that weight loss really does need to be a priority. I am not going to get fixated on weight loss being a magic pill or anything like it. I still need to work hard and hit my sessions to improve.
I do not believe that this is a case of biting of more than I can chew and setting myself unrealistic targets. I honestly think I'll be writing a review of the 2013 season next year and I'll hit each target. Make no mistake I'll have worked hard to do it, but I will succeed!
When looking at 2013 goals last year I had decided that my aim was to qualify for my age group for the Euros in 2014 and that will still be the case. Rather than trying to qualify through the national series I will try to qualify through a one off race so I am not waiting around to find out if I've qualified. I know AG racing is a joke to some but it's something I want to do. I'll also be attempting to get at least 100 points in each of the national series races I enter (in the top 30% of TI finishers). Hitting my target times or close to them should hopefully make that a formality.
I've penciled in a few races for next season but until the calendar is published I can only guess at the dates and what races may make up the National Series and Championships. Once the calendar is
On top of all this I am also taking part in a charity triathlon event "Up and Over Tri" - http://upandovertri.com
To quote the website:Up and Over is an 11 day Ultra Triathlon that’s being undertaken by three “athletes” in order to raise funds for Irish Autism Action & The Irish Cancer Society. It will take place from Aug 22 to Sept 1 2013 and will go Up and Over the country!I'm happy that my swim and bike will be fine. The run really worries me. I've never done a marathon, let alone 5 back to back! Hopefully that should change and I'll be doing a half marathon in December as a warm-up for perhaps a spring marathon. Really looking forward to the challenge though!
It will involve 3 different sports.- Day 1 is a 5km swim in Portlaoise Leisure Centre’s 25m pool.
- Following on from that is a 5 day cycle from Mizen Head in Cork to Malin Head in Donegal . There will also be a cycle with members of the public on the 3rd day in Connemara, Co Galway.
- Finally the athletes will leave Oranmore in Co Galway and will spend 5 days running to Dublin City, the highlight of this will be a public marathon/half marathon going through Offaly, Laois and Kildare!
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Hey dude, best of luck with all your goals! That "Up And Over" seems mad and something you will never forget. I know that you are dedicated and enthusiastic and that will bring you a long way towards your goals. Two questions:
1) IMO diet/what you eat is paramount when trying to shift the weight. What is your plan in this regard?
2) You are doing the Bikram which is right beside me-what days/times are you doing and do you find it a bit expensive?
BTW well done on the 3kg drop last week.0 -
El Director wrote: »Hey dude, best of luck with all your goals! That "Up And Over" seems mad and something you will never forget. I know that you are dedicated and enthusiastic and that will bring you a long way towards your goals. Two questions:
1) IMO diet/what you eat is paramount when trying to shift the weight. What is your plan in this regard?
2) You are doing the Bikram which is right beside me-what days/times are you doing and do you find it a bit expensive?
BTW well done on the 3kg drop last week.
Cheers El D.
1) I'm logging my diet and trying to keep a defecit regardless of excercise. The reading I've done suggests this is the best way rather than aiming to create a defecit solely through excercise. I don't feel short on energy though probably because I've loads of fat to use up
. I do need to get a bit more disciplined - as soon as my routine goes awry my diet follows.
2) I do Mon & Fri at 6:00pm and Weds at 8:00pm. Yeah, it's not cheap @ €99 a month but I find it beneficial and feel great about 30 mins after. I'm not great at it by any stretch but I feel more flexible and my stability/core strength seems improved too.0 -
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6th and final preperation week done - and probably my worst week out of the six. I was on a course all week and ended up working at the same time - early mornings in the office meant I didn't swim, short lunches meant I didn't get to the gym and late evenings back in work meant I had no time to catch up. I managed to get a couple of the cycles in during the week and then did the club cycle with Lucan on Saturday - up over the embankment wasn't fun! and did around 85km in total. Did the Gerry Branigan Memorial Cycle today and another 85km altogether. Yesterdays ride was at a quick enough pace - I got stuck behind a few people and got dropped on the way up to Blessington so had to get my head down and chase them down (which I did succesfully) also found I had a decent amount of energy for the hills later in the ride. Today was a more sedate pace as I kept my wife company at the back - we were left behind around 10km in and she spent the rest of the ride whinging about the hills (I thought it was fairly flat) and the condition of the roads I think we averaged around 25kmh still so not too bad.
Base period starts tomorrow and I'll be switching to logging more frequently so I feel more accountable if I miss a session.0 -
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Saturday 17th November
Tri Club Cycle. One of the lads decided a few weeks ago that we would have a cycle today from the NAC up to the top of Sally Gap and back. So it was arranged that I'd miss the cycle club cycle and meet up with the lads instead. In the end the lad who's idea it was didn't turn up, some excuse about being sick...
Set of at a handy enough pace and into Clonnee. A couple decided early on they were going to do something different so they turned off here to do Hill of Tara area. We carried on into Lucan then up to Newcastle. Met up with anoer club member here and carried on up through Saggart and up the embankment. We then took a left a short distance after the Blue Gardinia pub and started to climb. We'd kind of agreed that we would go at our own pace and then stop and wait every now and again. Once we got to Kippure Estate (as a group) next stop was the top of Sally Gap. I took it steady and it was fortunate that another group was doing the same run as I could use them as markers to chase down. The last 200m or so was a killer, I was looking for a bailout point in case I had to stop but I managed to keep the pedals turning.
We waited at the top for the group to form again and then we had the descent (my favourite part!). I went flying down and I don't think I touched my brakes at all until the bridge, the next few km's after that was done pretty quick too and all the way back down the embankment and down from Saggart.
At the bottom we stopped for coffee at Avoca (and a Rocky Road
). Just after Newcastle a couple of us stopped formore fluids and let the rest go on with the hope of catching them - in the end I got a puncture coming in to Lucan. I changed it quick enough but couldn't blow it up. took it to Staggs and they tried but my first spare was faulty. My second one they fitted for me for free (great service!). Felt like a long climb then up Laraghcon Hill and then we turned through Ongar and down back to the Nac.
Long day but good miles in the legs. 107 km done.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/1542886130 -
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couerdelion wrote: »weights up again:
couerdelion wrote: »Leg Press - 165kg (3x6)
Row - 82.5kg (3x6)
Swiss Ball Crunch (3x30) w/20kg plate
Hamstring Curl 65kg (3x30) - tougher!
Straight Arm Pulldown (3x6) 36.25kg
5 min spinning at 90+rpm to finish.
Can I ask what is your goal with the weights element of your training?
It seems like an unnecessarily heavy amount of weights for a triathlete. And from the little I know of weight training, sets of heavy weights and low reps are more suitable for bulking up, whereas sets with light weights and high reps are more for endurance.
Considering triathlon is an endurance sport, and you say you want to lose weight, my advice for what it's worth would be to treat the leg press, row, etc. similar to the hamstring curl.
Coming closer to the race, perhaps you can start to worry about explosive power, but right now with your target races so far off, it's not something I think you need to be worrying about.0 -
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Can I ask what is your goal with the weights element of your training?
It seems like an unnecessarily heavy amount of weights for a triathlete. And from the little I know of weight training, sets of heavy weights and low reps are more suitable for bulking up, whereas sets with light weights and high reps are more for endurance.
Considering triathlon is an endurance sport, and you say you want to lose weight, my advice for what it's worth would be to treat the leg press, row, etc. similar to the hamstring curl.
Coming closer to the race, perhaps you can start to worry about explosive power, but right now with your target races so far off, it's not something I think you need to be worrying about.
I'm following Friels outine plan so the first six weeks were all about getting the body used to handling weights again - what he calls "Anatomical Adaptation".
I now have the first four weeks of my base phase doing low reps - high weights to build "Muscular Strength". It's a short enough phase and the only way to get stronger is to lift bigger. Without a lot of extra calories it's hard to put on muscle.
After that I switch to "Strength Maintenance" so less weight / more reps / more sets.0 -
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couerdelion wrote: »Evening: Bikram Yoga. Good session. Keep meaning to bring my HR monitor just to see how much of a workout it actually is...!
Thought about doing the same myself. I reckon the range during the class would be quite emphatic
Good stuff on the weight loss0 -
shotgunmcos wrote: »Thought about doing the same myself. I reckon the range during the class would be quite emphatic
Good stuff on the weight loss
Cheers,yes I reckon during Stick pose it's sky high. I've just chucked it in the bag so I'll measure tomorrow night and post a link.0 -
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Wednesday 2nd January
Lunch time gym session - 45 minute run trying to keep HR under 118. Started off fine but then with heat it started to creep up and I was shifting the speed down quite a bit to make sure I kept below the target. 6.77km covered and I actually enjoyed it. No music or TV but the time passed suprisingly quickly (unlike the distance )
Still playing around with weights routines to see what doesn't interfere with the rest of the training. So just 3x12 of pullups, dips, chins. Need to add core in and I reckon that should suffice. I'm finding the leg exercises (presses, squats, extensions) compromise my ability to train and recover.
No late Yoga session as still xmas/New Year hours at the studio. Back to normal from Thursday so will try and get back into it from Friday.0 -
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A couple of long posts to bring it up to date....couerdelion wrote: »Going to get this log up to date soon and start using it as I did last year to keep me honest...
22nd March 2013
My training hasn't been going too bad but if I am being honest my diet has been poor. I do not eat particularly badly or unhealthy at all but I probably do eat too much (portion sizes) which means I've maintained weight rather than losing it - although I am 7lbs lighter than as of the same time last year so there is some 'top level' progress being made
So the plan is to place a higher focus on losing weight and concentrate on my diet. Scales this morning were reporting 17st 0lb. Ideally I'd like to be down to 15st 7lb for my 'A' race of the year in 11 weeks time so that would be just under 2lbs a week I need to lose - I think that it is an achievable target and one I really need to aim for - at the most it's less than 12 weeks of focus that needs to be maintained.
My 'A' race is still going to be the ITU European AG Championships in Alanya, Turkey. I was contemplating pulling out as it's not going to be cheap to fly, take my bike, stay, enter the race, pay various fees, buy the tri suit etc.. but sure, I might only get to do it once and could be injured next year or fall out of love with the sport - who knows - so I'm still going for it and I'm going to make sure I enjoy myself too. The aim isn't to win the thing (I will not be anywhere close) but merely to do myself justice and put a marker down for any future appearances. So now I've written it down again there's definitely no going back now.
On my way to this 'A' race I have a few shorter term targets. First up in mid April is a training camp in Northern Sardinia with the Triathlon Club (Activ Multisport). There will be plenty of hard cycling done that week over the hills of Northern Sardinia and I'm hoping that combined with eating well I will see a big jump in fitness and a good loss in weight. I've been planning the cycle routes and there's around 6,000 m of climbing over 500km in the 6 days - and that was when I was trying to keep some of the routes flat!
10 days after returning is my first race of the year - Joey Hannon (Olympic - NS) in Limerick. A National series race and a chance to see where I am at fitness and speed wise compared to last year (at the moment I am not confident I've improved much if any from last year!).
12th May is the Kildare marathon - my first marathon and essential in my opinion if I 'm going to be up to the task mentally of completing 5 marathons in 5 days later on in the year. Hoping to do a sub 4 hour marathon which whilst not spectacular will be more than good enough for me as the real target here is just to complete.
The 3D NAC Fingal Tri (Sprint) in mid May will give me a better indicator as to how I am progressing overall - it was my first ever race two years ago so I should be able to compare almost directly to previous efforts, although the bike course will have slightly changed slightly due to a new road opening.
Then I've TriAthy (Olympic - NS) penciled in for the beginning of June and then the 'A' Race mid June.
After a week or so of rest I've 3 national series races back to back -
Mullaghmore (Sprint - NS) on the 22nd June, Hell of the West (Olympic - NS) on the 29th June, Athlone on the 6th July (Sprint - NS) - followed the weekend after by a middle distance (Half Ironman) in Swinford, Mayo. That will be a tough month but I then have three weeks downtime (no racing - still plenty of training though) until the Beast of the East see me reappear on the 21st July.
Last up is Tri the Lough (Sprint - NS) on the 10th August to try and confirm my Euro AG place for 2014 and hopefully have enough points from the 5 National Series (NS) races to hit targets I've set and beat last years points total.
After that the focus will be back on Up and Over - the Ultra triathlon I'm doing with Mark and Wes of Trilogy Triathlon club and helping to organise (although Mark is doing most of the work!). It's all in aid of Irish Cancer Society and Irish Autism Action.
That kicks off on the 22nd August with a 7.6km swim in Laois, followed by 5 days of cycling - Malin to Mizen (with an extra 100km loop) and then 5 days to run Galway to Dublin. I'm sure you'll here lots more about this event as we'll be hitting facebook, twitter and linkedin pretty hard over the next 5 months to raise the profile and as much money as possible for the charities and will be looking for personal and business sponsorship for myself and the events. I also hope as many people as possible will sign up for the public day - 100km cycle in Galway and a half or full marathon from Offaly to Kildare.
I might round of the year with Lough Key (Sprint - NS) a week after I finish Up and Over but I might be a complete mess after all the exhertions (and massive after-party we've planned!).0 -
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