I'm just here for the tanlines

johnk123

Hi everyone! Hereunder lies the start of my first Tri-specific log here on boards. I'm a long time lurker on the TDAR and logs forums but decided that I'd like to start my own to track my progress over the coming summer and what happens after that. I've always kept "training diaries" for myself for the past few years and they are very interesting to look back on. Couple that with the 'community' and such I've seen here, it's something I'd like to try so I'm inviting myself to your party....

A little backround info, well I guess I have a pretty solid base of fitness starting this log. I'm in my early twenties and still in College which is great as I've plenty of time to fit in training and lots of easy access to facilities at affordable rates. (Although at the moment we're in exam panic season so training hours have toned down at the moment... or increased as a method of avoiding doing study.. Wait, am I procrastinating just writing this log??:o)

My tri race history has been Dublin City Tri '13, Athy Olympic '13 (first ever tri was the sprint distance the year before just to annoy a friends dad doing it and try beat him!) I've done a couple of 5 & 10k's (some before I started 'running', some since), two half-marathons and the DCM in '13.

The thing is, I've never really followed a proper tri-specific plan and that's what I'm looking at for this summer. I'm an ok swimmer and follow swimsets I scab off people I chat to, other logs here on boards or random tri-blogs I read etc. I know how to train for a marathon and I've my own ideas about my time spent training on the bike. For the past few months, I've tried to combine my poor attempts at training every discipline. The result was possibly the least scientific plan or schedule you can imagine.... I swim early morning 3 days a week, 3/4 cycles a week and run about 3/4 sessions covering about 50miles p/week... I start by just going to intervals once a week with college athletics club, swimming in a lane with fast guys/girls that i know are swimmers and cycling with my cycling club buddies. I've glanced at various plans in issues of Triathlete magazine and others I found on google etc, but I've never committed to one plan. It's not for lack of commitment or organisation, perhaps I'm still at a stage where I just want to trust someone to hand me a plan or organise all the sessions for me!! I can't afford a coach, nor do I think I need one as I know that the information is available, I just need to get some help and put together what would be best for me. (2 years of extremely structured training in another sport with dedicated coaches has me ruined!! :pac:) In hindsight, this winter could have been better spent. But I enjoyed it all either way.

With my cycling, I spent ages researching various plans and methodology behind training. I ended up making a lot of mistakes, missing crucial info and wasting my time. Had I just asked someone sooner, I'd have gotten the info and recommendations I needed and been on the right track sooner... I don't want to make the same mistake anymore with the tri training. Do I just go and buy one of the popular books? Do I just follow one of the multitude of plans that come up on the first 6577643579 pages of google when you search for a training plan?? I don't know where to start..

So why this log? Other than to pry you all for information of course... :rolleyes:
Basically, after my stab at the Athy sprint or 'try-a-tri' i think it's called, I got a great buzz at the event and decided to do two the next year. After those, I decided I wanted to do some proper training and try improve my times. However I still never took it seriously enough and made any attempt at following a plan, so I kept going with the swims/runs/cycles as above. No real structure, just swam and ran when it suited around cycling and didn't kill myself if I missed a morning or fell short on weekly mileage. I was cycling and racing so that was where most of my 'hard sessions' were going... I was focused on being fast on my bike and the rest was for my enjoyment.



My aims for the next 18months is IM distance next summer. I'm going into my final year of college next year and I want to treat myself to a full IM race in the summer after finishing... I know that this might be unrealistic, so maybe IM70.3 could do it. I know, I know.. I'm a sucker for the branded races, but I don't care. I know I work hard and want to go do a race in the sun after all the work is done! But sure we'll see what happens...


I hope my log may add something different to those already on the go at the moment. While I may have time on my side, there's still other things to balance while being a student and training for anything. As I learned with other sports, you can't just forget about your friends who aren't at training with you... Yes you can feel superior to your friends when you say no to a night out because you've to be on the water at 6am the next morning (and have to finish some coursework), but that wears thin after a while and you need to enjoy yourself too. So while I don't have anything as important as a family or a fulltime job and their respective responsibilities, I have other areas of my life that need to be kept in check while trying to get the hang of this triathlon business...

Sorry again for inviting myself into your party..... I make great flapjacks for the bike if you guys need any bribes to let me in :cool:


PS, Sorry for the cringy title.. I couldn't think of a title and everyone has whitty titles... So I panicked! :eek:

Dory Dory

Welcome...and best of luck to you!

May I ask what you are studying in college?

BTH

Where do I pick up my flapjacks??

johnk123

So I've been waiting to buy myself a Garmin 910xt for a while now, however I recently notice a lot of rumors suggesting product refreshes etc, so I'm going to wait another while and see what comes.

Friday 18th

AM Swim : 2.4km

Once again no major science behind it, just a set I found online... Some kick and pull drills in 400s each. The rest just a good honest solid pace.

PM: Run. Around 17km, with some drills with a friend who I met towards the end. Just a nice run in the gorgeous sunshine. Perfect way to end the week spent cramming.


Saturday

6AM: Spin on the bike. 82Km. (Forgot to charge my Garmin )

Out the N11, up the long hill into Roundwood, back via ashford, greystones and so on. Nice spin with a friend I hadn't seen in a few months, so a bit of chin-wagging, but we both move at a good pace.

Afternoon: Came back, showered and changed and went to meet some friends for brunch. (sidenote, Herbstreet in grand canal dock. My first time there and really liked it. Suppose the sunshine and sitting outside made it even nicer, but the food was tasty!) So I'm sitting there eating my guilt free mountain of Eggos Mexicalos when the group decide they want to go out walking the sugarloaf....

Ever searching for a reason not to study, I said I'd join them. Nice walk up to the top, enjoyed it. It's surprising how much of your body gets a workout on those types of walks. Although I had made plans for the next morning, so was saving something in the tank...


Sunday

Agreed for an early morning trail run with a friend. Same friend from Saturdays cycle. He got me into doing some IMRA runs over the past couple of years. Picked him up nice and early for some porridge in his kitchen and drive out to Crone Woods. We parked up and did a nice run up to the 'summit' of Djouce. This was my first ever IMRA race a few years ago, and one which I wouldn't recommend for beginners!!! But we held a nice pace up to the top. Not much talking really, did a bit of leapfrogging in terms of pace which I found good fun. It's nice to be chasing someone when putting in efforts. Made it to the top, extra layer on and took a nice easy jog back down, with one big sprint up the section after the stream. (Will probably only make sense to anyone that knows the route).


All done and dusted in time to make it back to my family home in time to shower and make it to Mass... Home now to eat my weight in chocolate!!

I will say that after being out on those two trails over the weekend, it's a worthwhile experience that I would recommend to anyone. I'm not big into the whole hiking idea of it, but those trails can be done in running shoes and shorts and a great way to get out for some air. If you ever feel like a tough workout, then just do some runs up the trails!

Happy Easter!!

johnk123

Dory Dory wrote: »

Welcome...and best of luck to you!

May I ask what you are studying in college?

Hey Dory!

I'm studying Economics modules. Mostly very maths based subjects, but I also do accounting. My first choice was veterinary, which I missed by 5 points & sulked for about 6 months. People often say why did I not just choose medicine or another science course, but for me it was veterinary or nothing. Aside from veterinary I do have a genuine interest in finance and business which led me to my second choice. I'm very happy now and enjoy what I'm studying and hopefully it will provide me with a life where I can keep animals of my own too.

It's one of those things though that's always on the back of your mind, you know? Ah well...

Dory Dory

johnk123 wrote: »

Hey Dory!

I'm studying Economics modules. Mostly very maths based subjects, but I also do accounting. My first choice was veterinary, which I missed by 5 points & sulked for about 6 months. People often say why did I not just choose medicine or another science course, but for me it was veterinary or nothing. Aside from veterinary I do have a genuine interest in finance and business which led me to my second choice. I'm very happy now and enjoy what I'm studying and hopefully it will provide me with a life where I can keep animals of my own too.

It's one of those things though that's always on the back of your mind, you know? Ah well...

So funny...hubby is a veterinarian, and I am an accountant (CPA)....but by the way you write I figured you were in English/Literature.

Kurt Godel

johnk123 wrote: »

Made it to the top, extra layer on and took a nice easy jog back down, with one big sprint up the section after the stream. (Will probably only make sense to anyone that knows the route).

What a very steep part to sprint up:D! Good luck with the log; do you have any races on the horizon this summer?

Solobally8

Welcome to the logs John, already an enjoyable read. You have a nice way with words