The Good Mood Cookbook

Oryx

griffin100 wrote: »

There's nothing like tracking someone in an IM from the comfort of your couch to put you off ever doing one again!! There're already finishing the swim when you get up, you've been out with the kids and had lunch when there're still on the bike, and for the late finishers you're watching their run times from the couch with a glass of vino in your hand!!

Thats oddly depressing put that way! I'd rather be tracked

Oryx

More cycling today! Out with Mr Stark and Mr Quality-Alloy all on tts so I pretty much got dragged along at a pace. I know I held them up but the nice gentlemen didnt drop me completely. The craic was mighty as usual, with so much pisstaking I struggled to stay upright from laughing. Loved it... the pace was just that sweet spot between 'solid effort' and 'I'm dying here'. Need more of this. I take it far too easily normally. 90k 3.5hrs. The perfect antidote to I-should-be-in-bolton. Two crazy guys, sunshine, and quiet roads.

Oryx

Just kettlebells today... Im tired! So didnt do the possible run I thought about this morning. This set was hard on the shoulders particularly, and Im struggling to clean up my form which is pretty much gone from lack of practice. But even in the few weeks I've done it I'm getting stronger - I think! We also did a bit of messing around on the monkey bars... got halfway along... next week is our last week... ill have to do it all!!

Oryx

Speaking of kettlebells, I watched a video of a friend winning gold in the OKSE english cup at the weekend. 2x 12kg, 93 clean and jerk reps in 10 minutes. Incredible mental and physical strength required to do that. The kind of thing that motivates you to train!

I got my run done this morning anyway... 8.5k in 47 minutes. I did 1 min hard every 5 ez, and thought about proper form all the while. Today was, honestly, the first day I felt I wasnt working against this 'thing' that is wrong, the pressure in my chest and feeling of being restricted was gone. No missed beats, no dizziness. I didnt have to keep pulling back. I have spent 3 months doing my own program of training, not a plan, and listening to my body and today it felt like a strategy that is working. Thank feck for that. Today was set one of intervals I hope to build up, get some speed back in these legs.

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Oryx

This morning, this drooling zombie crawled out of bed at 5.17. The zombie me does not remember eating breakfast, but I probably did. I then rode 10 half asleep kms to a meet point to do hill reps. I think I semi woke up about halfway through the set of 7 hill reps, (same drag as last week) but prior to that both the cycling and polite conversation were a struggle. These were not the best effort hill sprints I've ever done but it was work, and tt practise, and its done. A latte before the ride home perked me up a bit, and the spin home was handy. 52.5k in 2h 10.

Moral of this session: dont go to bed at midnight and expect to be all bushy tailed on a bike at 6am!!

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Oryx

I never did catch up on my lost hours yesterday morning and spent the day with an irregular heartbeat and ever increasing tiredness. All part and parcel of where I am at... but always temporary. Tho it meant I had to bail out on a planned swim last night which I felt very bad about. I dont like breaking arrangements when it affects others. But I had to, and an early night and regular wake up time reset the body back closer to normal. I didnt train this morning but I had to take a turbo class tonight. The plan was race simulation, a main set of 3 min build, 3 min 85%, 3 min race pace, 2 min ez, done three times. I struggled but I couldn't let it show

Ill rest again tomorrow and hopefully be right as rain by the weekend. These lulls are predicable enough and I honestly dont stress about them anymore. Mark it as an easy week and go again when it passes.

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Oryx

Rest day yesterday, well, not quite rest... I spent the day a little out of my lycra-clad comfort zone, in heels and bling at a wedding. So I was very glad to reset the balance this morning with an hours run. I was away from home so had no idea where I was going, but I had a good time jog-window shopping and following the ring roads around Naas. I don't know how far I went because I had no garmin, but I tried to do this at a decent pace. I have no idea if I succeeded, but it felt good, and at least I was out of the damn heels.

Dory Dory

I saw pictures - she does heels and bling very well.

Oryx

So, last Sunday was a washout. The tired phase was at its peak, weather was poor, and my bike kayak bike got cancelled anyway. So I stayed in bed. Not all day... but a lot of it!

Monday I tried to shake myself up with a spin on the bike. 48k in 1h 50 something. With coffee It was nice but I was still tired.

Tuesday I did roughly an hours run through treacle wearing concrete boots. Well thats how it felt. But I have a philosophy that sometimes you have to push yourself to break out of a slump like this and yes, the final ten minutes were the best of the whole thing.

Yesterday I did some neglected s&c work. I'm getting nerve pain at the break site so this is needed. 40 mins of burpees, planks and stretching.

Yesterday evening I got in the sea for the first time in ages. I had no idea what I was able for and I wore paddles as I thought they would make doing distance easier (they made it worse). It was cold but in that respect the paddles did help by generating heat in hardworking arm muscles. A certain other boardsie had a long swim to do and I had said I would do swim buddy for it, but didnt think Id get it all done to be honest. But we broke it into stages and by 1.8k I knew I was staying in for it all. We did 3.6k in 1h22. Thatll do! One advantage of putting on lazygirl nontraining weight is that I tolerate cold better. Im told its like +1 deg per kilo and that felt about right! Not even shivering afterwards. And bravo to my swim bud, ticked that box, one more hardman hurdle accomplished.

This morning another long course buddy wanted to cycle to see how their pace is as theyve trained alone quite a lot recently and wanted to push it. We did 64k in 2h45, but I didnt tackle the ridiculous hill at the turnaround point which she did. I could justify it by saying heart rate pacing fatigue tt bike yada yada but in reality I looked at it, went fook that and wussed out. Which means I now have to go back and do it. Damn you tri brain!

Oryx

Tonight I was so tired i went to bed for 40 winks after work. But kept one eye on the clock because I was expected to lead a turbo class at 8.30. The great thing about turbo is you can dial down the effort and still do the set, but honestly, this was still hard. You cant fake overgearing and you certainly cant fake an out and back run off the bike. The set went down well and I hope Im doing a good job with these guys. Theyre a novice group so metrics are limited, so its hard to really hit levels accurately. But I try to keep them honest.

I need a day off tomorrow. Right now I just want to lie down and not get up for a long time.

Oryx

I rested as promised yesterday, and it was grand. This morning was supposed to be a 2h hilly bike, and I wasn't keen. I don't need it, and really didn't feel like it. Especially when I looked out at rain. So I bailed. And thank god I did, because the whole group bailed out too without telling me. I would have ridden to the meet point for nothing.

I eventually got out for a run, but because I'm still recovering from earlier in the week, I just did 30 mins of drills, and followed the run with some S&C. Kept it light and easy. I feel great now, so I think it was the right thing to do, I doubt I would feel this perky if I had done a few hours in the rain. Weather tomorrow is supposed to be poor, but I hope to get out on the bike then anyway. Maybe dodge the drops. We will see.

Oryx

Not too many drops were falling at half seven this morning, and the sleeves came off the jacket within a few miles, it was warmer than it looked. I was late and had to cover 12k in 25 minutes so I didnt mess about. Got to the meet point almost on time but my buddy was late so it didnt matter anyway. Made friends with a cool stray dog while I waited. He didnt like me enough to come along though We set out at a pretty strong pace (for me) and that was how it continued. It was still comfortable but not easy. No matter what way the road went it was one of those sneaky days where the wind seems always in your face. We rode in high 20kphs or low 30s most of the time though. A few hills slowed the average but effort remained. A coffee stop at hook then back at it. Threw in some sprint efforts and attacked every hill. Those were the only times I got ahead of my companion who is a new cyclist but strong! A few squalls of rain cooled us down here, but not as bad as forecast.

I did the last 10k alone, it was also the steepest portion of the ride, 110m elev gain over 5k which isnt very steep but tough after 4 hours

109k in 4h12 1022m total elevation gain.

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Oryx

Another cycling partner bailed out on me this morning (note to self: check deodorant) so I did an ad hoc trail run instead. Ear buds in, music LOUD, I just took to a trail and kept going down smaller and smaller routes till they either dead ended or brought me out on another road where I would start again. Got a bit lost, which was the plan, and ended up up to my knees in mud at one point, but this run did for my mind what a power shower does for the body. Came back mucky, sweaty, and refreshed. Took 85 mins to cover 12.7k but that includes headscratching moments when I stood and thought how the f do I get through this?

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Mr Tony Stark

Where's your old reliable cycling partner. He wouldn't let you down. Well maybe the odd time.

Oryx

Mr Tony Stark wrote: »

Where's your old reliable cycling partner. He wouldn't let you down. Well maybe the odd time.

Old reliable was off playing in Molls Gap!

Oryx

I didnt train yesterday. It was nice to mentally switch off but by evening I was bored and fidgety. I could have distracted myself with all the household stuff thats looking at me but wheres the fun in that?

The weather was atrocious this morning and I was glad I had planned a pool swim. Got there as it opened so I nabbed the swim lane first. I ended up having it to myself for my hour, though I would have shared . I haven't been in the pool for around two months, and this was bliss. Warm, clean, clear, no chop, and unrestricted movement with no suit. And I hadnt quite forgotten how to swim without one.

I did blocks of 500, the first was w/u. Then did pb, and pad & p. Did 50 bc between each 500. They point of this swim was to swim bilateral. I dont in normal swimming and thats just laziness. Using the pb let me figure it out and get used to it, so by the final block done without it, it felt a lot more natural. The final block was 50s (25 hard 25 ez). Strangely, it was easier to swim bilateral on the faster length than the slow.

1 hour, 2400m of warm indoor splashing.

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Oryx

Hill reps this morning. The hill we chose was really not as hard as I thought it would be, I was getting a loop done in around 7 minutes. The descent was sweeping turns with many poorly placed manhole covers so very good downhill practice. It had a speed monitor halfway down - much as I tried I couldnt get it past 48kph - but thats a challenge for next time. Great fun but easy. I did 7 reps but could have done more. I just didn't want to do more than I had told my friends we would do. I couldn't tell if they were enjoying it as much as me.

46k overall (about half that on the hill) with a coffee and chat before the ride home. Nice training.

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Dilbert75

Good work. Numbers?

Oryx

I didnt put numbers in, and just knew I was going to get pulled up for it, meant to go back and do it but forgot!

Dilbert75

You might have gotten away with 1 day but 2 in a row? (Unless of course you're done with the numbers and, seeing it's your log, it's your prerogative).

Oryx

Dilbert75 wrote: »

You might have gotten away with 1 day but 2 in a row? (Unless of course you're done with the numbers and, seeing it's your log, it's your prerogative).

Mucho apologies.

I'm not done with numbers, though I am seeing a pattern without them anyway. Two hard sessions too close together, and I am done in for best part of a week. One hard session where the heart plays up, and about three days later, if I train normally and don't take additional rest, I will probably crash. I might need to refine the system to mark the perceived toughness of what I've done, because I tend not to allow for that.

From an article I read (and posted on fb) about over training and heart issues, for most, the key is rest and recovery. Once you get onto this thing of having problems, if you don't rest it really isn't going to go away. Its not about the level of training, its controlling the other stressors that suck away at your energy, kids, work, sleep. All that.

Oryx

I ran this morning. Nothing tough, just a jog for something to do. I am so off plan these days its not funny. My legs could feel yesterdays hills, which I see as a good thing. It was a nice morning, more spring cool than summer hot, but sunny and mild. Today's ear worm was brought to me courtesy of Whitesnake. I didn't even know I knew a Whitesnake song, but here I go again on my own. If it is now your ear worm, you're welcome.

8k approx in 45 mins approx

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Oryx

The stars aligned today to create a morning so conducive to training you just couldnt stay in bed. Plan was a swim today, and there wasnt a breeze at Rosslare, the flat water was reflecting the sun like glass. Though the air temperature was 7 degrees. In August. Which is nuts.

The water felt cool getting in, we complained like wimps, but once you got moving it actually wasnt at all cold. Goldilocks water - just right. I swam quite slowly at first, I was having a good time watching the smooth water skim by, and I also swam madly off course because I wasnt concentrating. I realised at about 1k that I was going nowhere so I had to give it some welly to catch up! Worked honestly from then on but good god my sighting needs work. My garmin map would look like a graph of my heart rate.

I didnt want to leave the water it was so nice, but at 2.6k (a lot of that down to my meandering) we got out and after a minute considering going for coffee, decided we were going to do the run we had talked about instead. 5k done easy; the first km felt like my legs were seized up but they eased out eventually. The run took just under 25mins which is not stellar but ok. Then we got our coffee, which was smugly enjoyed on the strand watching sleepy people wander onto the beach. My scoring only goes to 9, but today was a 10.

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Mr Tony Stark

Dear Oryx/Boardies/Whoever.

Today Oryx the beast flashed her teeth and ripped up the road. She must have got out on the wrong side of the bed, as she massacred us mere mortals on her TT bike.

If watts were confetti, Oryx fired them over her shoulder to land as hand grenades for myself and our poor companion. It was a display of what she really can do and it was frightening. I know how Cecil the lion felt, lured out of his zone and shot. We were the poor lions. There is a dentist in you somewhere!!!!!!!!

Anyway, sorry for the long winded post, but if you see Oryx flashing her teeth in the mood for a race, get of the way. Its impressive.

Oryx

Oh. My. God. Lol. Thank you Mr Big Cog. My swelled head will slow me down next week after that.

Was it that good? I doubt it. But I had fun. As usual I was late so had to hammer it to the meet point, and having had a taste of pace, I didnt want to slow down. I apologise now, Tony. You are in taper. You got jammed in your big ring, and I still dragged you up that hill. I hope you are lying down now.

So the first 54k to the coffee stop was tough enough into the wind, it took just over two hours, but no accusations of excessive speed were thrown at me. But the second half of the ride was proudly sponsored by Kenco (two cups) and once we got into the Loftus Hall tt zone, well I just wanted to keep going. Caffeine seems to be my performance enhancer of choice. I was on beastie, and was loving being down on the bars. I even managed not to paste myself into the rear of a car that was not supposed to suddenly stop in the road on a bend, grrr... I must be getting better on the thing.

Stayed with the boys till 95k, then headed uphill to home. The final slog was slow and grinding, but I kept the effort high. 109k in 4h 6 mins. 7 mins faster than last week... so not as crazy as Mr T makes it sound, it just had a few more crazy blasts than normal. The best part for me was feeling so at home on the tt bike. Forgetting to be tense because I just wanted to go fast. Now thats progress.

Oryx

Brought my bikes for some tlc today, and only got one back so far. Apparently the storck's chain was so worn out it shoulda been changed months ago. Oops. But the beastie got a new gear cable and a clean bill of health from the chattiest bike mechanic I've ever met.

I took the tt out for a spin this afternoon and as promised the gears were freer and smoother. I stayed on the bars for all but the junctions during this ride, there were no really bad hills but the wind was tough so it was handy to get down. 39k in 88 mins. No sparks flew today, I could really feel yesterday in my legs. But seeing the amazing times put down in the 70.3 yesterday, I know speed is my weakness and something I need to work on.

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Oryx

Yesterday was a day of rest, well needed. Sundays bike had left it's teeth marks in me But a rest day and good sleep set me right again. Tonight I went for a swim to wash off a tough day at work. It has been a grand day and a nice evening though the sea was rolling and rough. The swim was short but hard enough against the waves. I liked it like that though.

Afterwards i ran with two other girls. Pace started handy and picked up a little as it went on. I have got horribly slow lately. I was feeling the pace when it was barely under 5 min kms. It would be nice to work on that. 5k in 25 mins.

Oryx

If anyone out there is reading this, I would value an opinion. Dublin City Tri. Looping technical flat but twisty course. Do I bring my storck which I am used to, lends itself to the course, but roadie, or tt bike, which I am less agile on, may not suit the course, but I need to actually practise racing on.... I have been scratching my head on this all week.

Kurt_Godel

Oryx wrote: »

If anyone out there is reading this, I would value an opinion. Dublin City Tri. Looping technical flat but twisty course. Do I bring my storck which I am used to, lends itself to the course, but roadie, or tt bike, which I am less agile on, may not suit the course, but I need to actually practise racing on.... I have been scratching my head on this all week.

This seems to come up each year... FWIW the debate tends to favour TT bikes. The course isn't that technical as it might seem from maps, nor is it hilly. There is one hairpin turn on the lap, but its a wide enough turning circle.

TT all the way IMO.

Oryx

Kurt_Godel wrote: »

This seems to come up each year... FWIW the debate tends to favour TT bikes. The course isn't that technical as it might seem from maps, nor is it hilly. There is one hairpin turn on the lap, but its a wide enough turning circle.

TT all the way IMO.

I did it before, (with an atrocious time) so I am kinda familiar with the course. I just wasnt sure if the tt would earn its keep. Suppose its time to actually race on the thing. Will practise my l/h 180s