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Elvis goes Up & Over
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couerdelion wrote: »How do you find it splitting the runs like you are (10k morning and evening?) - I'm thinking about running in and out of work to help get mileage up.
Wes mentioned it to Gerry Duffy and he said its fine to do. I intend on doing it today actually0 -
Sunday was rest day and i ended up staying up until 4am monday morning as my little fella was sick. He passed something onto me as i couldn't keep my eyes open Monday or Tuesday. It was that bad i went out to my car at lunch and fell asleep:o
I'm much better today and go to bed early last night.
Today was a long swim, 5k. I finished work at 1pm and straight to the pool with an energy drink and a bag of sweets. At first my stroke was all over the place but it settle down after a few hundred meters.
I stopped every 360m ( 20 lengths ) for some energy drink and every 720m for some drink and sweets.
I was measuring every km and they were working out at about 31 min including stops.
In total it took me 2:33:40 in total and in the end i felt grand.
I want to hit 6k in July which will leave me with only 1600m to add on Aug 22.
When this idea came into my head the swim was what i was worried about most, but not after today:cool:0 -
Wow a 5k swim! That's brilliant Elvis. U give me great hope. I'm barely swimming 5 k per week!0
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Jesus 5k swim fair play. I hope they had the lane up for ya.0
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elvis jones wrote: »
When this idea came into my head the swim was what i was worried about most, but not after today:cool:
Fair play to you! What are the sweets of choice? I'm thinking Jelly Babies.0 -
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couerdelion wrote: »Fair play to you! What are the sweets of choice? I'm thinking Jelly Babies.
Some jelly things i bought in Apple Green, not too scientific !! On the bike its normally wine gums.
Dave there was no lane but during the day its very quiet and at time i was the only ones in the pool.
Solobally i wasn't sure if i could do it either but once i get over 1k i just settle down at a nice pace and keep the arms turning over !0 -
10k at lunch today. I was meant to run before work ( a was in at 10 ) but mrs Jones made me stay in bed and get some badly needed sleep.
10k took about 57 min, my garmin went dead and i always seem to run a little faster than i normally do.
Happy day today as there's an a 2 page article in FIT magazine today about Up & Over which should get the name out there. We really need people to run on the public day as that will raise great funds for our charities.
I think its actually funny that i'm featured in a magazine called FIT:D0 -
elvis jones wrote: »
I think its actually funny that i'm featured in a magazine called FIT:D
My brother told me it was a spelling mistake. He's getting a punch next time I see him0 -
couerdelion wrote: »My brother told me it was a spelling mistake. He's getting a punch next time I see him
That's actually funny:D0 -
Friday evening i was on daddy duty and only managed a 75 min turbo session. I've seen a marked improvement here as in Jan or Feb after 20 min i was whacked when i dropped down the gears and spun out the legs, now its 75 min with lots left in the legs !
Daddy duty yesterday and out for dinner last night, meetings today and very little else.
A step back weekend really before the 6 toughest training weeks of my life. June was nice step up in training and i enjoyed it. But July is a double step up with some racing in there every weekend. From now until Aug 10th its train, eat, sleep.............nothing else.
As a good mate of mine says, its time to Fcuk $hit up !0 -
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Love it!! Good luck with itelvis jones wrote: »As a good mate of mine says, its time to Fcuk $hit up !
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Lent begun this morning, my 40 days of hell !!!
I struggled out of bed with a hangover.........a diabetic one ! If i have too much sugar i feel it the next morning and i'm sooooooooo sluggish.
This is a planned cycle week where i need to get out on the bike and cover between 500 and 600k in total.
Anyway i had all my stuff packed for work so my wife could bring it all in for me and meet me at 9:45. I got out on the road on the bike at 7:45 and there was very little wind. I rang my wife after 5k and she dropped me off my gloves, it was an ickle bit cold !
Headed through Monasterevin and on towards Kildare. As i went up a few hills in Kildare i thought to myself, this is so much easier than this time last year in July. I was going up them with little effort and keeping the pace up.
Far side of Kildare just before the Curragh i turned and headed back at 23k. Not much wind but i went onto the drop bars and kept the legs turning. The rain started at about 40k and it was with me all the way to work in Portlaoise.
A total of 56k this morning and i really enjoyed it !
I hope to get out at lunch for a quick run and then 25k home on the bike.
Busy day tomorrow with a photo shoot in Dublin but i have to get the TT out and get it up the Cut in advance of the Half Iron Sunday week.0 -
Decided not to run at lunch, i had a few things to do and wanted them sorted !
Anyway busy race month and i'm really looking forward to it.
July 6th - TriAthlone Sprint
July 14th - Humbert Half Iron Distance Swinford
July 21st - Monasterevin 10k
July 27th - Lord of the Dring Sprint Tri Longford
July 28th - Stunt Jumpers Duathlon Portarlington
So i have a race each weekend, each with a purpose and each i'm really looking forward to. Its tough to train week after week without being able to get into a transition and enjoy the fruits of that training !0 -
Handy 20k home on the bike this evening in about 38 min. That's 76k today in total for day one of my cycle week. It will be nice to know what the legs feel like after four days of cycling with some good climbing tomorrow on the TT.0
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47k yesterday on the TT on the turbo, weather was awful and i'm still not 100% happy with my saddle position etc so i watched the team time trials on the tv and worked on my TT position.
I need to move my saddle back just slightly and up about half an inch or so. If i'm honest i haven't done much on the TT so it was good to stay in position and turn the legs over slow for a while and just get comfortable.
I'm taking it out this evening for 60 to 70k depending on the time i get out at. I might have two meetings as well. The organisation of Up & Over is in the final phase and i'm having to meet with people a few times a week now on top of training.0 -
A full day of meetings yesterday along with work ! Daddy duty again last night as mrs jones does bootcamp on a wen night. 90 min turbo with the focus on getting the legs turning over but changing the gear every 5 min.
Another bike session tonight and if i have no meeting at lunch it will be a nice slow 10k.
Good news is we have a confirmed end line for our public day !0 -
Nothing yesterday i had another meeting at lunch and nothing last night. Let me explain, i'm finished work at 1 today and heading down to Killarney to gig and won't be home until 5am. Add to that i'm racing sat in Athlone so i'll had to try and get all my gear ready last night.
Lucky for me Athlone doesn't start until the afternoon so i'll get 5 hrs sleep tonight, yippee:P
Its my first tri of the year and with a half iron next weekend i think i need to have done another race before that !
Working Sat night as usual and up Sunday for an LSR before i head off to get my new wheels ( thats if i get paid cash tonight !! ) otherwise i'll be heading to get them Monday evening.
My days are getting fuller and fuller and i just want all sorted by Aug so i can just focus on doing the event.
I've decided on my next charity event and i'm going to do it on Dec 21 or 22. Just want to talk to Irish Autism & LARCC before i set it in stone.
But i sat down last night and noticed i have marathons planned in Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec and Feb.............my wife asked when was i planning to file for divorce, i said Jan:D0 -
I'm angry, i'm livid...........this week i was with one of the staff from Irish Autism Action and he told me they are now down to working three days a week with any other work being on a vol basis. Having worked in the civil service for almost 12 years i've seen the waste in our system and how the most important thing is to keep the gravy train going and to get re elected is the be and all of it.
Below you'll see something i'm going to put on the Up & Over FB page and its timid compared to what i want to say. If you read this and you're on FB please like our FB page and share this status.
What is it about Irish politicians ??? When the country is falling to pieces with SNA's being cut, hospital services being cut, carers allowances being cut and important hospital wards being chained shut, all they are interested in is getting re elected. Fine Gael TD's couldn't care less about abortion, all they care about is Mary and Joe voting for them in the next election.
Add to that, the expenses, the 65 euro for just turning up, the extra money for sitting on committees BUT must important is getting re elected so they can stay on the gravy train.
This morning I look up the news and what are they speaking about in the Dail, not pushing the clocks back in October. With all that's going on that is what they are talking about, that is the most pressing issue for them at the moment. Just take a moment and think about that. Just think that its election time and a TD who wishes to be re elected comes to your door. Would not putting the clocks back one hour be high on your agenda of subjects to speak to them about ????
Last year i was in the Oncology area of Tullamore hospital and the first sight that greeted with was a ward that was chained shut, yes chained. We have no funds to keep SNA's for children is schools & keep hospital wards open BUT yet the most important item our "leaders" can find to discuss is the clock not going back one hour each October.
Its good to know that our "leaders" are focused on what's important.
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As i exited the water on Saturday in Athlone, there were almost tears. Anyone who's followed my progression over the last few years will know swimming has been a major problem for me. I only started to swim in Feb of 2011 and i even when i could swim i had a few major problem with breathing, stopping at the end of each length and most of all a fear of open/deep water.
But as of Saturday thats all a thing of the past, i got into the Shannon, swam 800m ( eh i wasn't great at sighting ) and got out with the biggest smile i've ever had on my face:D
Now to the rest of the race.
I was no 1116 and Gavin Noble was 1119, it was nice that he waited to see was i racing before he signed up !
I was woken at 9:45 and hadn't a clue where i was, i had only got to bed at 5am after driving back from work in Killarney. I had a lot of my gear sorted from early in the week and with the kids all packed up off we went. 1st problem of the day started when i tried to put new laces in my runners and there was a part missing so i had to buy new ones when i got to Athlone.
When we got to Athlone there was no marshall at the front or anywhere near registration, no signs to where transition was and in transition no information being given out at all. I registered and as usual was left with a poxy medium t shirt " oh we just ran out of large and XL". Why they didn't ask people for their t shirt size when registering is beyond me......they tried to tell me you were asked.........so knowing that the chip company did the registration as well i called over Dave from Race Timing Systems and asked were we asked " No Mark you weren't". I looked at the woman at the table and she didn't know what to say.
Back outside to find transition which was about 600m or so away from registration, well about 1k by the time i found it. Quick bike check and a looooooooooooooooong walk through transition which was easy 500m long. Transition was awful as it was 500m long stretch of road with no mats and hadn't been swept in advance so there were stones, fag buts etc on the ground.
I set up my gear as best i could, eh i haven't done this since last Sept and was scratching my head at times.
Off for lunch with my wife, i missed race briefing as it was in one specific area of transition and they only had two speakers to cover that 500m.....not good.
As transition closed i just got my swim gear ready and sat on the river bank watching others race, i was in the last wave so had lots of time.
Eventually i got my gear on and walked up to my wife, kids and mother who had come over from Longford. Mrs Jones zipped my up and i went off to the start line.
This is where the strange thing happened, i was clam. Looking at the water, i was calm. I was looking forward to it, i knew the swim was no problem to me.
Into the water ( lovely temp ), 3,2,1 and we're off. I stayed back and let all off, i got my position and just turned over the arms. The 1st 300m odd where down stream and that was fine, my sighting wasn't great and i went a bit wide. Back down/up the river and i just kept turning over and my position at the next buoy was a lot better. A final 50m to the end and i was saying yes yes yes in my head, out of the water and i asked " am i last, am i last" i looked around and at least 10 others were still in the water:)
Out and up into transition where i went over the mat in 21:15, it was a long ass run up to it.
Suit off, sun glasses on, helmet on and i carried my shoes the 500m before i put them on before the mount line. Slow T1 3:45 which really needs to be improved.
Out on the bike and this is where i felt at home, down on the bars and i started to pump the legs. I had my normal plan in place to try and make up on the bike what i lost on the swim but my Garmin wouldn't lock on so i had no idea of what pace i was hitting. It was an out and back course with the wind ( not much ) the face and the majority up hill on the way out. I picked off 11 riders on the way out and at the turn around i took on some fluids, saw my Garmin was reading and kept an eye on my pace. I pushed hard and picked off another 16 riders so 27 in all. I hit the dismount line in 38:42, i was hoping for sub 38 but i've since heard it was a 21k course so i suppose that time was ok.
I got in shoes off, i was going sockless as i got new orthotics that allow me to go sockless. My new elastic laces broke and i lost time trying to tie them:mad: Again we had the 500m through T2 and my time was 3:04 aaaahhhhh that was bloody slow !!!
The run was laps of the town and it was a pig with very little information and two nasty hills that had to be done at least twice. I started off well with a good pace until about 2k but the hills slowed me down and even when i picked off a few runners i still felt slow. One knob end tried to cut along the inside of my at a corner and got mad when i refused to give way. He got a mouth full of abuse from me, if you want to pass don't do it by trying to cut in on my line and then give out when i won't move......clown:rolleyes:
I passed my kids twice and gave them five which i enjoyed and was a positive of the run route.
As i came up the road the "final" time i looked at my watch and it read 4.35k i thought eh do i go in.........eh this is short.........eh eh eh. These are the national championships how can the run be 500m short ????
So i ran in towards the end line, passing my kids again and onto the lovely blue mats ( which weren't needed and should have been in transition ) and over the line for a run time of 24:12 which was very slow and i was unhappy with.
Total time of 1:30:58, i wanted to break 1:30 so was a little unhappy BUT i cracked the open water swim, had a good cycle and had the joy of having my kids shout "hurry up daddy "
All in all a good day BUT Athlone need to look at a few things.
1. Information when people arrive
2. More speakers in transition with information being given out
3. Picking your t shirt size when you sign up
5. Proper run distance for a national champ sprint
Home for 7pm and guess what............within 90 min i was off to work again:)0 -
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As i said above i was off to work less than two hrs after i got back from Athlone. I got home from work at 01:30 and was in bed by 2am.
At 08:45 my wife woke me to go running, i hadn't a clue where i was:o I got up and got my gear together including changing my insloes into different Brooks for running. I now wear a tri suit for my LSR and find it comfortable. Of course my viser and sunglasses were a must as well:cool:
I asked my wife to fill some small water bottles the night before so we'd have nice cold water for the route. I had a lovely 6.5k route done out so we'd get water at regular stops. Mrs Jones is doing her 1st half marathon on the public day of Up & Over so she was doing 2 laps ( 13k ) with me.
I've started using Power Bar Shots on my LSR and they seems to be working well for me.
Anyway off we went trying to stay at roughly 7 min per km pace. I found the first three km tough and it was very ugh. I took on a shot roughly every 1.5km as a ran. We completed the first lap, took on water for about 30 sec and then off again. The biggest problem for the second lap was keeping the pace down as we were going faster then we wanted.
At the end of the second lap i said goodbye to Mrs Jones, stashed my water and she drove home ( about 3k away ). I did a third lap at a faster pace and back for water. I had 23k done as i made the third lap longer. I did a short two km lap to measure something ( a 15k route for mrs jones ). Then it was time for a little more water and off home. I keep the pace up until i was about 1,500m from home where i dropped right back just warmed down.
A total of 28.5k in fairly hot weather. I was happy with the run, the pace and how i took on fluids.
Into the house, recovery drink, can of full sugar coke, bath with epsom salts and recovery sleeves on the legs !!!
Swim at lunch today, roughly 1,500m with some sauna time !
I'm going to keep the training ticking over this week and half iron distance race in Mayo next weekend !0 -
Swim at lunch, a nice 1500m in about 41 min. The pool was empty for the majority of my swim i just got it, did and got out.......nothing too special just a nice recovery session.
I have to say my legs feel great after it and i didn't even bother with the sauna etc.
I might do a short 40k on the bike tonight, all depends on how crazy i go with my BBQ :P0 -
elvis jones wrote: »Swim at lunch, a nice 1500m in about 41 min. The pool was empty for the majority of my swim i just got it, did and got out.......nothing too special just a nice recovery session.
I have to say my legs feel great after it and i didn't even bother with the sauna etc.
I might do a short 40k on the bike tonight, all depends on how crazy i go with my BBQ :P
I just enjoyed my evening at home with no bike, just a nice bbq and a glass of prosecco:cool:
Run at lunch today, about 10k done nice and slow. I just want to do it no hurry at all. More about running in the heat and putting more miles on the legs.
4 and bit weeks training left and all that has me worried is the run.0 -
Just as i promised, a nice slow 10k, 63 min. It was warm but it didn't get to me at all ready as i was doing it at a slow pace. I had my sun cream, viser and sun glasses on so i was lovely and comfortable.
The only negative was that my legs felt tired and heavy at times, i had planned 22k odd on Thursday but i think i'll drop that back to 15k and save the legs for Sunday.
I'm off this evening to get new wheels for my bike so i'l have to give them a spin tomorrow evening:D0 -
Rest day on Wen, i spent my day with the kids at the beach in Wexford and home for a bbq and 2 lovely glasses of chilled rose !
Yesterday begun with a trip to the physio go get my quads worked on. They were very tight and seem to be the only thing giving me trouble as i work through the training !
Back home and out on the road for a 15.5k run. I don't need to mention the heat but i was dressed in a black tri suit, black compression socks and a black viser ! I consider that part of my training as who knows what the weather will be like in Aug and i might have to run in temps like that ( car read 30.5 degrees after some driving )
I used my 6.5k loop twice with a stop at the end of each lap for some water and power bar shot which i also took on every 2k. I finished with a 2.5k loop, the reason for this was to have a nice 15.5k run designed for my wife for the weekend.
I felt fine at the end of it and was doing roughly 6:45 min km which is faster than i intend doing on the majority of the days on Up & Over but once again its good to push to body in the heat and get used to it.
Home for my recovery drink and an ice bath before jumping into the shower !
Rest today, rest tomorrow ( well apart from working at the half marathon in Clongtarf ). Home and early bed to head to Mayo at 5am Sunday morning and my Humbert Challenge half iron distance.0 -
Best of luck with the half iron, some great training going on there Elvis0
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Solobally8 wrote: »Best of luck with the half iron, some great training going on there Elvis
Thanks, i haven't done near enough what i need to do.........but i'm way ahead of where i was last year.
Hope the head is in one piece !0 -
Best of luck on Sunday Elvis, have a good one. Don't forget the sunscreen0
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Another busy weekend ! I was working until 8pm Fri night, got home and put a new bike computer on my TT. Up early Sat morning and was on site in Clontraf at 8am to do MC at the half marathon. Warm morning and i stayed in my little hut as much as i could to 1. keep cool & 2. to stay off my feet !
Home at about 3pm, went upstairs and lay down..........nice 20 min sleep and down again to pack all my gear etc for Sunday. A nice feed of pasta and i was in bed for 20:45, early start Sunday morning !0 -
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And so Sunday morning the alarm went off at 04:50 and i was packed and out the door at 05:05 heading to Swinford and the Humbert Half Iron.
This was my 2nd half iron, i got sick in the swim in the Lost Sheep last Sept and just completed the cycle & run so i had some unfinishd business and some negative thoughts to banish as when people said well done on doing the cycle/run after getting sick i still hadn't completed the race DNF was beside my name and it got to me.
I arrived on site at 7am and parked up. Registration was fast and into transition to get all set up. My mate got me some lovely chocolate with coffee beans in it, eh that woke me up as i got set up !
I got all my gear set up into the different sections of the race but did a major fcuk up that i'll come back to later !
We got the "transition is closed" warning and off we went to the briefing which was quick and to the point.
Down to the water and i took my place at the back of the group. For years i've had a major fear of open water and it's held me back for so long. In times past i'd get towards the water and my heart would race and i'd get a panic attack BUT yesterday i was calm, i was looking forward to it.
As the swim begun i sat at the back and just got my rhythm going. The swim was around the lake with a number of buoys and turns. The way out was perfect but the way back was harder as the sun was shining on the lake and it was harder to see the buoys. I tried to see some lime green hats and eventually made it to the final 3 turns on the swim and headed for home. The final 200m was tough i won't deny that but i got to the end and a big weight was lifted off my back, i might be slow but i can finally say........i can swim:)
Swim time was 51:23, i know its slow but it was constant and its not until this winter that i move from just swimming to swimming with some speed.
Into T1 and as i tried take my wetsuit off i feel flat on my back, i just lay there for a sec and laughed. As i got the leg off the strap holding my chip broke and i had to wait for John from Redtag ( a gent ) to put a new one on me............now here is were the major fcuk up of the day happened.
I don't really use gels but i do use Power Bar Energy Shots and i had 3 packets of them with me.........but i left them in my bag and only noticed that when i was 10k into the bike, fcuk fcuk fcuk is what came out of my mouth. It meant all i had on the bike was energy drink and water no food at all.
The bike was a nice course with one climb that i did find hard on the TT ( a lof of hill work on the TT now planned ) and i took on extra water at 26k. I picked off a few riders but at about 30k while going up a hill my hamstring played up and i ended up going up the hill just using my right leg. On the way down i worked on it and it settled down. We reached the half way point and i was going nicely with good pace but i was getting hungry, i took on more water but i needed solid food and quick !!! As we approached Swinford we took the 3rd turn into the town and i was like aaaaahhh will they ever let us into the town. Only 8k left on the bike and i kept pushing it and by the time i got off the bike i had picked off 11 on the bike.
Bike time was 3:08 for 87.5k, i wanted to do that under 3 hrs but hey with no food and my spending my time on the bike dreaming of a peanut butter and jam sambo i'm fairly happy with that:D
I racked my bike and took on a banana, energy gel and cereal bar. I was very hungry at this point, i put on more sun cream as wel. Some water on the way out of transition and off i went.
The run started with almost 3k of climbing and i took it handy enough. I was running about 6:30 km and i was very happy with that. I got to the 1st aid station and took on flat coke and water. Off i went again and i begun to slow down, its very simple my body had no fuel into it in almost 5 hrs and was starting to say, hey eh no fuel no speed. I struggled to the next aid station and took on the same again. I was feeling the same and at 10k i walked for 100m or so.
I reached the half way point and all that was on my mind was the next aid station at 12k or so. I took on 3 cups of flat coke and a lovely sponge on the back of the neck to try and cool me down. Off i went again and the fuel i'd taken on at the aid stations begun to kick in and from 12k to 17k i was back on track with some good running. I reached another aid station and i was gone, there was nothing left, the tank was empty and i knew it. Not getting any food on the bike was really hurting me now.
I there were two final aid stations on the run and i took on my flat coke and sponges. I'll honestly say there was more walking and painful looks on my face. At the final aid station they had a hose filling a bucket and there was only one place that hose was going.......over me !!!! It cooled me a lot and with 1500m left i just turned over the legs, i looked back with about 800m to go and i seen a girl catching up so i used up every piece of energy i had left and stayed ahead of her to the end line where i said to myself, i've done a half iron........swim and all:D
The run was 2:39 and that was sloooooow, i think the lack of food on the bike hit my badly on the run and in the end almost cost me finishing the race. Having no shade at all on the run and the core body temp rising the whole time didn't help either but that was the same for everyone.
My time was 6:47. I know its slow but its a starting point. During the run i made a decision to never do an full Ironman. Its not that i'm afraid of the distances its more to do with the time needed for training. I just don't want to spend that level of time training. I had two small kids, a full time job and a business to run. I love triathlon and i love the Half Iron distance so i think thats going to be my focus with that time above being slashed in the years to come.
A special mention to a guy who 3k from the end of the run had problems with both his calves, he walked to the end with two club member and it was only when he went for a rub down that he was told that he had actually torn BOTH of his cavles........how he finished i don't know.
I had a quick cold shower ( loooooovely ) and back to transition to grab my gear and head for home.
On the way home i begun to feel sore, no muscles but sunburn.......i'm destroyed:o
Today i feel fine and if it wasn't for the sunburn i'd be in the pool for a recovery session.
Overall a great race, very well organised with great marshalls, a great t shirt, a lovely medal and the aid stations on the run were the best i've ever seen.
I will be back next year and this will be one of my A races.0
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