From Dublin Marathon to Dublin Ironman

scheister

Right decided to start the log as im starting on a training plan next week originally aiming for the Half Iron man in dublin next year with the aim to continue on to do the full one the year after.
Bit about my background cycled alot when younger but running never was my think and like all children learned to swim but that was really it. after Leaving cert my cycling has fallen by the way side bar few weeks where i binge cycle. In 2012 i took up running to get and lose weight and get fit. Set up self the aim of a sub 4 hour marathon in Dublin in 2013 and came over the line in 4:30:02 so returned in 2014 to break the 4 hour barrier and did. Since 2012 have also brought down my 5km time from around 28 minutes to a current PB of 21:09

Will be aiming to update this weekly during my training and any information help or hints that can be given along the way will be appreciated.
thanks

scheister

the plan was to update this weekly but was on holidays last week so did not get a chance

So week 1
Monday was a session in the gym to build muscle. Followed a plan i was given in the gym that was mix of machines free weights and some trx. overall it looks like a good plan and aim is to be in gym twice a week

Tuesday was a simple easy run. total distance was 3.11 miles in
30 minutes which is the slowest i have run over that distance in a long time.

Wednesday was a nice 1hr cycle in which i went 14.5 miles in a line pretty much from dundalk to castlebellingham. this cycle showed me two things how unfit i am on a bike and how bad the roads around here are

Thursday was the 1st swim 710 yards in in an hour. the time seems quite slow but was a mixture of front crawl swimming swimming with only my hands and swimming with only my feet so the last two slowed down the time. the things i learned here were that my feet dont wanna work sometimes and how hard breathing can be some times

Friday was back to a nice simple slow run 3.63 miles in 40 minutes

Saturday was meant to be an hour cycle similar to wednesday but 11.5 in i got a flat and had no spare with me so ended up having to walk the last 3 miles

Sunday was a longer run then the earlier two i ran 7.52 miles in 1:05:34. could have run a little longer but at this stage i was passing my house so seemed a nice place to finish

Totals for week
Running 14.3 miles
Cycling 25.6 miles
Swimming 710 yards
Total Time 5.34

Feeling at the end of the week is that if anything it will be the swimming that will be the cause of my not finishing the Half Iron man but i am happy with the running but the cycling will need to pick up a small bit as well

Week 2 Week 2 would be described as a nightmare week. Went home for the week as i had holidays and that may not have been a smart move

Monday was down as a swim. I decided to head to the pool nice and earlier so i would be home for the registration for the half Ironman. two thing i did not take into consideration in my plan Katie Taylors fight been on TG4 and the car been frozen over as a result of the two of these i was 10-15 minutes late entering the pool but still got 745 yards done in 53 minutes. As part of the plan i got. i was doing swimming golf as part of this as well as different strokes which was enjoyable but i would rather just be doing lengths and improving my front stroke. But on the positive i was one of the lucky ones that got into the half Ironman.

Tuesday was a simple 40 mile run in which i got 7 miles run

Wednesday was an hours cycle like the earlier session but as i completed lap 1 of a 2.5 lap course the fog was to heavy so i called it up at that stage rather then risk hurting myself or somone else so got 5 miles done in 25 miles which shows how slow i had to go.

Thursday was a swimming session again back to the plan from week 1 which i will post at a later stage similar not sure about distance in this case as i was in a hotel pool the size im not sure of but took my an 1.15 and was a nightmare of a session.

and at that is the end of week 2 due to jobs that had to be done at home and Christmas shopping i missed the plan Saturday and Sunday

So distances for week 2
Swiming 1490 yards
Running 7 miles
Cycling 5 miles

total time 3 hours 13

Lessons from week two be carefully about the hotel pools you chose to swim in and also have a turbo training as a back up when you cant cycle outside

MojoMaker

scheister wrote: »

Lessons from week two be carefully about the hotel pools you chose to swim in and also have a turbo training as a back up when you cant cycle outside

Makes a lot of sense. Good start btw and great goal.

scheister

This weeks main aim was bit of a test week to see where I lay fitness wise.

Tuesday was swimming. this was a 600 warm up and cool down with 400 as fast as I can in the middle with 10 minutes of relaxing swimming all in all I covered 1.85km in a time of 1.20. This lead to me feeling alot better about where my swimming is at the moment compared to the earlier weeks.

Thursday was a 10 minute warm up/warm down with a 5km fast run in the middle. this was a dam cold day for one thing. covered the 5km in 23.33 about 2 minutes outside me PB. Total distance cover in the 4.33 was 5.2miles not sure on the day if i could have given much more over the 5km.

Sunday: This was meant to be on Saturday but was in a very lazy mood on Saturday. This was a cycle with 20 minute warm up 10 minute warm down with 30 minute time trail in the middle. Just my luck as soon as the 20 minutes are up i end up cycling the 1st 3 miles up hill and into the wind. But overall the cycle like the run was a very cold one and i had the fear of my cycling getting a puncture like my last run in Dundalk but luckily enough it did not over all for the hour I did 13.9 mile while is little down on the last hour cycle i did but not but much.

Overall its a week I enjoyed but was reminded again how important it is to get winter training gear so I have had a word with santa to see about getting running under armour for christmas. Till next week

sconhome

Fair play, good start.

Made big progress in 2 weeks from runner to triathlete. Just need you cycling in km's too and you'll be well set up

Well done.

scheister

Sorry everyone i realise its been a while since i posted up here but between work christmas training and getting the flu i could not find that time.

So this will be a bit of a long update to bring my posts up to date
Week4

Tuesday 30 minute easy run distance 3.67miles
Wednesday was meant to be a 1hr easy cycle but with very bad wind and rain i skipped it
Thursday was a drilled swimming session swimming still weak so got about 1531yrds of the 2843 covered took me an hour
Friday 10 mins warm up then
4x3 mins increase speed each 1 mins with 2mins easy jog recovery
10 mins easy cool down. covered 4.5 miles in the time
saturday covered 24 miles in an hour easy cycle
Sunday i ran 6 miles in 53 minutes

Week 5 was a total write off just to flu

Week 6
Monday i was meant to do a short 40 minute run. seem to have missed it and dont know why.

Tuesday was meant be a decent swimming session working on distance but got 798m in and the gym i was using was evacuated due to the fire alarm going off and by the time we were let back in i was no in the mood of finished off the session

Wednesday Christmas eve was meant to be a 40 minute cycle, i decided to cycle to my sisters to see my niece's was 7.7 miles each way took me 39 minutes going out as i was taking it easy and trying to work on using my gears. took me 32 minutes back as i decided to work on speed

Thursday christmas day: Sure how else to start christmas day then a nice parkrun in the freezing cold but a nice 24:03 for the 5km.

Friday St stephen's day. Swimming. I had the great idea that if i got to the pool early it would be empty and like all great ideas other had it as well i started of 2 to a lane which was fine quickly went to 3 to a lane not ok as both other were stronger swimmers then me. So i took a little rest then found a lane were it was back to 2 so had a side to myself but this did not last and as it went to 4 a lane i called it a day. I was meant to do 2600m worth of drill in the end i did 800m as a mixture of front crawl arm only and legs only


Saturday I went touring again for parkrun going to st annes and running my 5km in 23.14

Sunday was a nice 2 hour easy cycle and dam it was a cold one putting my new under armour to a real test.

Week 7
Monday was meant to be swimming but i could not find a open pool to go to

Tuesday was a 45 minute easy run in which i covered 5.4 miles

wednesday New years eve was an hour easy cycle covering 14 miles

thursday was a tempo run 10 minutes WU/WD with a 14 minute tempo run with 1 minute break done twice 4.7 miles covered the warm down was done at walking pace.

Friday was a swimming working on pace and distance was meant to over just over 3km but at 1.4k got very light headed so though in the towl as 1.45km taking a total time of 45minutes

Saturday was going to be an interesting one as it was my 1st time using my new turbo trainer, was meant to cycle 2hr 30 but bordem kicked in very quickly and managed to get an 1.30hr done but was tough.

Sunday is a 10 minute warm up with 5 3 minutes speed blocks with a 2 minute rest and a 10 cool down will let ye know how that gets on

So my thoughts at this stage is i need to work on making sure i get my session covered and do the right time as i have gotten very sloppy in the last few week especially with the swimming. My diet is another thing i will have to look at as it went to pot over the christmas period till next week enjoy

scheister

Monday was meant to be 4*100m with 50m kicks after the warm up was meant to do that 5 times but had to stop after 3 as the body was not in the best shape. so left me with 1600m covered in an hour

tuesday was 10 mins easy warm up,10x30sec fast with 30sec rest
10 mins at hrz3-4, 5 mins easy
5mins at hrz3,5 mins cool down

this was fine tough but a fine session only worry for me was that the simple 220-your age way of getting max heart rate is not accurate so my zones are way off.

Wednesday 15 mins easy warm up,2 mins in each gear aim to hold 95rpm
in your big chain ring, 4th, 5th,6th 7th, 8th
3 mins easy and repeat ,10 mins easy cooldown
This was done on my turbo trainer so i had to wait around for a plumper to arrive. As i dont have a bike computer all i have for this is time no distance no RPM.

Thursday was 10 minute warm up/down with interval speed training in the middle was very tough but a well worth it training 5 and a half 5miles covered in the 50 minutes

Friday was meant to be a 2km straight swim but i was totally wrecked and any training i done i felt would have been wasted.

Saturday i decided to do the swim that was meant to be on friday. Was never happier to see the end of a session. The 1st 500 was hard reached the 1km distance in about 33 minutes and was a little faster on the second half coming in for a total time of 1hr 5 for the 2km. was also chatting to one of the ladies in the pool beside me who does Ironman races and she was saying that my feet sink when training so to invest in a pull boy to try and raise my legs

Sunday I was left with the question weather to do the cycle or run that was not covered during the week so it was a choice between a 3 hour easy cycle or an 1hr easy run between the weather and my lack of light due to working nights. I settled on the 1hr easy run and covered 6 miles during it.

So another weeks over think i got 5 and a half hours in for the week meant to have been 8 and a half but made the decision that going forward all long runs will be on Mondays as that's a day off where I have the most light.

in the words of Fianna Fail lots done more to do

joey100

my feet sink when training so to invest in a pull boy to try and raise my legs

I'd be careful with that. The pull buoy will help but you will just be hiding the problem of sinking legs. Not 100% sure how to get over it but kicking drills can help. In saying that the Dublin half will more than likely be a wetsuit swim so you will have the benefit of that but no harm in trying to sort out the problems with the body position rather than hiding it using the pull. Pull buoy can be useful though when you want to concentrate on your catch and pull, it takes the kick out of the equation and lets you concentrate on just your arms.

Oryx

Engaging your core and learning to kick from the hip would be my (uneducated) advice for sinking legs. Agree that the pb might mask the problem.

pgibbo

You might also be holding your breath. Make sure you exhale whilst swimming. Have a look at the swimsmooth site.

griffin100

Sinking feet / legs can be caused by all of the above but also if you are lifting your head to breath.

tunney

joey100 wrote: »

I'd be careful with that. The pull buoy will help but you will just be hiding the problem of sinking legs. Not 100% sure how to get over it but kicking drills can help. In saying that the Dublin half will more than likely be a wetsuit swim so you will have the benefit of that but no harm in trying to sort out the problems with the body position rather than hiding it using the pull. Pull buoy can be useful though when you want to concentrate on your catch and pull, it takes the kick out of the equation and lets you concentrate on just your arms.

As much as part of me is screaming about posting on a "dublin ironman" thread.

Balance drills, while as frustrating as people calling halfs fulls, can really really help. Mainly by making aware of how bad the balance in the water is and forcing the swimmer to be aware of it at all times.

Front and side balance drills

scheister

thanks everyone will take it all into consideration. Im at a training camp start of feb so will have a chat with them as well as see what they as well sure still a good few months to sort the issue out ahead of raceday

scheister

Week 9 was a real mix bag between going home for the weekend and the weather.

Monday was a simple swimming drills session but after the high of the 2km swim saturday this was the low. From the moment I entered the pool it was not going to be my day. In the end 750m was done in 24 minutes but was not at the races at all with this session. Monday night i decided to get some inspiration by watching the Mens ITU season final and did a bit of the job as i hope on my turbo trainer while watching and did an hour easy cycle.

Tuesday was nice 5 mile 40 minute run and even the snow that hit me for about 3/4 mile was not enough to stop me completing this run. According to one shop i pass on my route it was 1 degree while doing this run.

Wednesday was a gear cycle. It was going fine till 20 minutes in i got a puncture and it was not the weather for fixing it on the side of the road so had a walk back home with the bike fix the puncture and back out again for the last 30 minutes of the cycle. the time off in the middle sort of ruined the cycle as did traffic light when the gear change was every 2 minutes but what can ya do.

Thursday was a running with 10minute w/u and w/d with 5 1 minute fast 1 minute rest intervals. was tough but enjoyable session. starting to like the speed and interval session while i used to hate them with a passion.

Friday was due to be another swim drills session and Saturday was a 3hr bike both writes off as i was tired beyond repair. Bold Philip

Sunday I decided to go for a nice easy run to end the week. 8.11 miles in 1hr 15 lovely run but cold as could be according to my Garmin was 0 but felt like -6.

So as i have said in the weeks earlier i really have to put in an extra effort to get in my swim and long cycle sessions but will soon by moving Monday to Friday in work so hopefully this will help. On a side note gave in an get a nutrabullet so hopefully this will lead to a higher intake of fruit and veg and got a copy of derval o'rourke cooking book so going to try and make food from scratch on my days off so hopefully this will both help on the health side of things.

scheister

It is finally here test week 2. So we can see what improvments have been made since week 3

Tuesday was planned to be the swimming session for the week but i arrived at my gym is find the place on fire so that idea was scraped. So decided to go for my run instead. It was 10 minutes warm up 5km flat out and 10 warm down.

In week 3 the 5km took 23.22 in week 10 was little over a minute faster in 22.18. It is always good to improve but a minute improvment is nice and getting me closer to my PB which is 21.09. The run its self was an average run foolishly use a different route for the run so was a little lost for a while but sure you have to explore as well

Thursday went for the swim which was 600 warm up 400 fast 25 flat out and 600 warm down

I did not have a waterproof garmin in week 3 so time are very rough but 400m took 12.45 then and 12.02 in week 10 a decent drop in time but was not really as wrecked after the 400 this time as i was back then.

Saturday I went for my cycle but only got 7 minutes into it before getting a puncture so back home repaired the puncture and planned to try again sunday.
The plan was 20 minute warm up 30 minute time trial and 10 minute warm down. Last time i covered 13.9m in the hours this time i covered 13.1 in 51.42 and then had a puncture so had to call it quits at that. but if i had continued at the same average i would have done about 2 miles more this time then last time.

So a very mixed bag for the week but improvments in all 3 area which is the positive to take out of it

scheister

Sorry everyone been over a month since I updated this log but in the last 3 week I been training in work and as sick as a hospital so have clocked up 2 parkruns one coming in at 22:06 and a 21:39 and one swimming lesson in the 3 weeks. The week before that i was at a training camp in France. Was very cycling based with 220km cycled over the 7 days 30 ran and about 7km cycled. Appears my swimming technique is dire hence the swimming lessons. But as of monday im back normal times in work and my body clock will be normal again for me so normal service will resume from monday.
I am aslo hoping to get a 10km run in this evening and a 2hr cycle in tomorrow so here hoping the hope is over and can get my ass in gear and train up for my 1st triathlon in May where i am going to give the triathy Olympic distance a shot

scheister

So since my last post a month ago i ended up with a chest infection i only noticed after struggling to run one night and running out of energy at 4.2km A visit to the doctors, antibiotics and a 2 week rest i think im finally back to health.
As last week was my 1st week back after pretty much two months of hiccups. I was taking it easy So i did two turbo training sessions of 30 minutes each a 500m swim and a 5km and a 6km run at around 5/km pace. Heres hoping im finally back to fitness otherwise the olympics distance triathlon in athy will be a very bad day at the office

scheister

This week was an interesting week is best way to say it.
I have now moved my long cycles to mondays or tuesday as im off work.
So the week started with a 26km cycle at 24.4km an hour pace. was taking it handy enough but will be slowly building up that milage as the weeks go on.

Tuesday i had planned to do a km swim and a 5km run in the evening. While walking into the gym i got a call from my doctor that knocked me for 6. So my mind was not on the swimming and got 500m done and did not see the point. in the evening i did complete the 5km run but was at a 5.23km pace as my mind was still on what the doctor has said

Wednesday i did an easy 35 minute turbo training session at home this will be building up to stage i hope to do an hour turbo once a week and long cycle of 3-4 hours on the monday

Thursday. I set out to do a 5km run and hope the ghosts of tuesday were gone. Felt great as i ran and ended up running 6km in 4.58 pace no where near my best but a hell of a lot better then tuesday was.

Friday rest day

Saturday was very tempted to an indoor tri in my local gym but decided a swimming lesson would be more beneficial. instructor was happy with progess i am making and once i work on the 5 drills she gave me she does not think i will have any issues in May or August.

Sunday: i decided to do something i have not done in a long time and go for a Long slow run. In my head 10 miles at 10 minute would suit but my body has totally forgotten how to run that pace and was running more 9 minute miles. i was also trying out a route i have only done once before so did not get back to where my water was stashed until around 7 mile instead of the 5 i had planned. This did not help but managed to complete the 10 miles in 1:32

I also decided to sign up for the wings for life race at the start of May and set myself 13.1 miles as the target.

So till next week i will leave you with this
Every morning in Africa, an antelope wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion, or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest antelope, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the lion or an antelope – when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.” – African Proverb

scheister

The week started off on the tuesday with a nice 28.95m cycle and i plan from here to increase the distance by 5km per week on the long runs. This cycle was nice and i planned a slightly different route home to include a new village into my loop and see more of louth. But the plan is still in place the during june i will cycle dundalk to drogheada and back as a long run which is around the 90km i will need to cycle as part of the half iron man

Wednesday i went for a swim to try and work on the building blocks given to me in the swimming lesson they still feel odd but not as odd as they were feeling so thats a good sign

Thursday i went for a run and decided to let me body do the pacing rather then following my garmin this ended up with splits of 5.18 4.47 4.42 4.29 4.28 5.20

Friday i did 35 minutes turbo training while watching Vincent brown as you do. Least with the pick up in weather now hopefully the turbo can be put away for a while.

I then went home for the weekend and was planning a nice 13.1 mile run on sunday will i realise I never brought my runners with me grr so that put an end to that idea.

Over next 2 weeks i will be working more on my runners as i prepare for wings for life. but will have few shorts weeks then to triathy and my 1st attempt at a triathlon

scheister

Monday rest day

tuesday. I had aimed to get a 30km cycle in but got a slow puncture about 6km in cycled on it thinking it was only a flat and realised at 11.6km it was a puncture so i deicded rather then cycling the few km to hit 15km and risk have a longer walk home i changed the tube and turned around at that point and did 23.2 km for that cycle

Later on the tuesday i was bored so decided to add a 5km run into the mix for the day was a nice run but pace was all over the place going from a 5.04km to 4.21km

On the thursday i decided to do some hills so was a a km warm-up and warm down and then 5 runs up the hill which is about 100m and just gentle walked back down

Friday i went for my swim where i did 200m of each of the 3 drills with a 200 warm up and warm down i plan to increase this by 50m per week then

The weekend was resting as i was bag packing on the saturday for Dundalk Parkrun and sunday i took an extra shift on in work so i could get an extra rest day ahead of wings for life next sunday.

It looks like my training is slipping again so i will have to take it back up a notch after wings for life or triathy will be the death of me and HIM Dublin will be a no go

sconhome

Have you a plan laid out for your training? Minimum goals for each week with an ideal target to hit?

scheister

AKW wrote: »

Have you a plan laid out for your training? Minimum goals for each week with an ideal target to hit?

Have a plan i developed my self. 2 sessions a week on each long/short run and cycle.
long run will peak at 15miles short run varies easy run/interval/hills
long cycle increase by 5km per week/ short cycle will be either hour on road or build up to hour on turbo

swim will be drills for now both day but will after athy will do drills one day long swim other day

scheister

As I had the wings for life race on Sunday this week was a mixture between resting the legs and running.

Monday I went for a 7 mile run and easy mile to warm up and warm down and 5 mile at 8 minutes each with was my pace for Sunday. Felt very well after the run the paces were 8.59,7.55,7.54,5.57,7.53,7.56 and 8.37

I had plan to get an easy cycle in a some stage during the week but this escaped me.

Friday I went for a simple gentle 3 mile run paces 9.01,8.55 and 9.0. This run was simple about making sure their were no aches or pains ahead of Sunday

Saturday morning as Friday night was a rare night off i decided to head to the local gym and do an early morning swim session with the local tri club. main part of the set was relay sprints in groups of 3 doing 25m a time and each person doing 6. Followed by 20 minutes of 200's with 20 seconds rest. Appears main issue for me here is i keep opened my fingers while swimming which slows me down also my breathing is going wrong again so two things I will have to work on ahead of Athy end of the month

Sunday I did the wings for life running 21.57km before being caught. I will do a separate post for the race

And the final note for this week. I decided late Sunday night as i could not sleep to enter the ballot for next years London Marathon so fingers crossed

scheister

So i knew from the start this race would be interesting and according to the organisers Dublin was the third hardest course of the 35. For people reading that dont know what Wings for Life is its a simple concept in 35 venues across the world the race starts at the same time. 30 minutes after the runners start a chaser car sets off going at a certain speed and getting faster as it goes on. Your race is over when the chaser car catches you. You are given an course ranking and a world wide ranking.

The day was an early start for me as a friend had agreed to pick me up at 8.30 for the trip down to Dun Laoghaire. We arrived at around 9.45 and walked from the car to the start area. We bumped into another Running Support Page member while walking and were discussing how far we hoped to go and he gave an answer that scared me "im only back running 10 weeks so 40/45k will be good.
The place was quite enough when we arrived so we picked up our number and wandered around and managed to get caught by the camera's for an interview (thank god it appears that did not use the footage). We then dropped some stuff back to the car and headed up to the start to warm up. At 12 the buzzer went and the race started

Like I tend to do in these races my pace was way to fast at the start was meant to be doing 5.08m/km but the 1st 6km were covered in 29.15 which included the 1st of the main 2 hills in the race. From 7km to 14km the paces ranged from 4.51 to 5.08 so alot closer to where it was meant to be. But could already feel the push in the 1st 6km catching up on me.

At 14km around as we left bray heading to greystones was the toughest part of the course until you hit 40km which I was never going to hit. i found 15-18km to be some of the hardest running I have ever done then again me and hills are not good friends. The pace over these 4km were 5.51,5.50,6.23 and 5.58. By km 17 it was very much running and walking. When i was starting km 19 the only thing in my head was i had 17 minutes to get to the half marathon distance to hit my target which spurred me on to run a 4.49 for the 19th km but that finished my off km 20 was little slower at 5.23 but i was dead then and km 21 was my 2nd slowest of the day at 6.15 and the .57 i managed into the next before i was caught was at a pace of 6.17/km.

Overall I really enjoyed the race despite how I felt at the finish. I will be back next year id imagine depending on how training goes to get a little further.

Some quick point I noticed about the event its self, the registration seemed a nightmare on the saturday as their was only 3 girls on computers and 3/400 people trying to register and pick up their numbers on the day. Their was very little hope of them starting on time. In the end i think people were handed any old number in order to run and some where told to run with no number.
While i understand a race like this has logistic issues getting people back to the finish. After being caught 4 of us looked at each other and had no idea what to do next we ended up walking back to the 20km marker as their was a bus their when we passed. It was not gone and 15 people were already their waiting and wondering if another one was coming. Some decided to walk to greystones dart rather then waiting to find out. Some of waiting and a bus did arrive. But could have been informed better. Even if it was simply a marshall standing their saying the next bus would be in X minutes. Rant over

scheister

Due to system issues with my laptop i was unable to post last week so doing a double post this week.

This starts off the day after the wings for life and no exercise got done this day as i was still in bits from the wings for life so was a rest day for me.

Tuesday: I decided to start the week off with a long cycle so extending the distance on i was aiming for a 40km cycle today as this would be the cycle distance for triathy. I found the course grand as i have not done this course a number of times and im only really only adding to the end. When the cycle was finish i was none the worse.

Wednesday was a rest day

Thursday was a rare treat i decided to do a bit of hill training so found a local hill and did 5*100 sets. The 5th set was tough but that more as i dont do enough hill training and will need to change this

Friday I went for a swim and did my 5 drills and increased the distance to 250m per drill and concentrated on swimming with my fingers closed as i was given out for this at the swim the saturday before

Saturday was another rest day as i planned a fun session for Sunday.

Sunday I wanted a bit of a trial run ahead of triathy so i could know what to expect. So i planned a 40km cycle 10km run Bric session So an interesting session cycle came in at 1.45 2:30 transition with the 10km taking 51:41. Overall i was happy with how the session went.
Legs felt heavy for the 1st km but after that it felt like i was on a normal run in places i had to slow myself down as i did not want to race it.

The 2nd week was a bit of a rest week as i was feeling very drained for the week so took a step back.
Monday and Thursday were rest days

Tuesday I went for a swim in the morning to see how much swimming i could get done. But was one of those days were the mind was not there but in the middle i had a mental block and could not remember weather i had done 600 or 650.(must start bringing my garmin again) at this stage i tried to continue swimming but was no longer at the races so called it a day.
I had planned to go for an evening run but at short notice was drafted in for a Yes to marriage equality canvass, so decided to get the 5km run in after wards for went for some interval training and did km 2 (4:16) and 4 (3:52) hard and the rest at a gentle pace.

Wednesday i decided to go for a cycle but rather then my normal long cycle i decided to go for a 10km cycle but concentrate on speed instead and in true form every light i hit was red .But covered the 10km in 23:26. Which was not as fast had i planned but was about 1.5km/h faster then normal. But will try this again as part of my session to improve on that.


Friday was one of those days where i had a million things to do so became a rest day when it was not meant to be.

Saturday I ran a local 10km race setting a new PB of 45:07. I did not plan to race this but to go out and have fun and my body seemed to be in the mood for a speedy run so went with the flow. But never realised how hilly blackrock is.

Sunday was going to be an interesting experience was planning my 1st open water swim. Like a child on first day of school i was all excited going off in my shiny new wetsuit going to see how the 310xt deals with open water. Think when i tired to turn my garmin on in the car and got low battery despite charging it on friday night i should have seen the signs. Dear god the water was cold. As i edged in to the lake i went a snails pace trying to figure out why i was doing this to myself. Finally i got into the water and start swimming a very small bit and threading water. But my breeding went out the window and the longer i was there the more i panic and after about 50m i turned around and went back to land. The lads i was with said i could wait for rest of group and try again but when they arrived i was walking into the water and could not get in so again i went back to land. After watching everyone else conquering their fears one of the ladies said i should go in otherwise i will never go in. So back in a went and stayed where i could stand to feel safe. i finally started swimming a very small bit doing 10m out and back or swimming parallel to land with head above water to increase my confidence. Dont think i will be running off to the ITU just yet but at least i got back in the water so next time will be easier.

Steroo

it's certainly a shock first time in the cold dark water! just keep going back.

scheister

Ah yes its the time this post covers my tapering weeks for triathy. This was a very lite week as i spent most the week working or traveling for a family gathering.

tuesday 19th May: Like most tuesday a nice double session. In the morning i did a 1.5km swim in 55:59 just to make sure my fitness was still at the level it should be for the big race.
Tuesday evening was some interval training. Im at the stage now where im doing 5km session with 2nd and 4th being the speedy ones and today was a 1st i ran both those km in under 4 minutes with 3:53 and 3:58 being the times. Saying that the 4km nearly killed me it was very tough getting under the time, so i'm going to stick to this format till im doing both easy enough.

The only other session i got this week was a 5km run around Fota Island on the Saturday morning. This was 2 laps of a route going from my accommodation to the back of the Hotel to along side the golf course and a bit of forest running thrown in. It was a nice route but went a little slower on the 1st lap as I had no idea if i was even going the right way.

Monday 18th and the start of race week was a gentle 10km run from one relatives house to little past another. This route had 2 decent enough hills in the route one that i was not expecting but as I always say on here hills are one thing I always need training on

The only other session I had this week then was another 1.5km pool swim on the Thursday which was covered in around 52 minutes.

Not the ideal last 2 weeks for a race but a few things seemed to come together to interfere with my training. I'm going to covered triathy in a post on its own but a little spoiler due to that race i have made a change in my plans and will no longer be doing Dublin this year.

scheister

So the day finally arrived. Alarm clock went off at 5.15 as i wanted to be out of the house for 6.30 at the latest. A nice breakfast of porridge and boiled eggs and coconut water and i was feeling great. Loaded up the car and off I went. It appears i arrived at the right time as the line for registration was not that long it seemed to treble in size between when i arrived and when i was registered. I went away to set up my transition which was straight forward enough. Then time seemed to stand still as the double Olympic went off as the time for the pre race talk get delayed and delayed think in the end it was an hour late. So finally we all went down to the swim and as i was in wave 7 meant another long wait for me. Finally the green men were called to entered the river and i had decided rather then stepping in as some where i jumped in so their was very little time for my body to wimp out. But second i was in the water the feeling of panic that I had in camlough lake came back. I tried to tell myself i was safe as their was plenty of help around and I could actually stand up in the lake but it was no good the gun went off and no matter how slow I went and tired to put my head down and swim and breath as i was in the pool it was no good.
So i tried to swim keeping my head out of the water it worked for a little while but soon the panic was getting to me and i ended up with a personal kayak beside me and got little bits of swimming done but was getting shorter and shorter gaps between starting and stopping and after the pink group who had started 8 minutes behind me the marshals were not happy with my progress and I advised to throw in the towel. As i was doing the walk of shame back to transition I was told if i wished i could still go ahead and do the bike and run.

So i went i got back to my gear I approached my a TI official to make sure I was ok and if I needed medical attention. After a few minutes to get myself together I hoped on the bike and went off for the 40km cycle. I was feeling alot better now and from what i could make out the only people passing me where lads on TT bikes which would be expected. While the cycle was very enjoyable and was great to see my speed staying over 30km/h for most of it. I did not even mind all the hills sounds were tough enough but just dropped the gears and worked though the distance and know i would be grand unless i got a puncture or something. 1hr 20 minutes after starting the 40km cycle i arrived at the end and swapped my cleats for running shoes and off i went for the 10km run.

I was very happy with the cycle as it took 15 minutes less the i had planned for it to take. Similar to the say i had done the bric session the 1st km my legs were very heavy but still ran a 4.30km i knew this speed would not continue and listened dropped as needed. i found the run quite nice bar a moment or two. One of these being where i had it in my head it was only a 5km run and could not understand why we were not going past the starting line again as I neared the 2.5km mark. The one thing on the run that picked me up as I looked at others was the number of people that appears to no longer have their ankle chips. This had me believe that i was not the only person that would be getting a DNF for the race. I had one real Doh moment while i was going on the run as i had 500m to go on the run i came across a man struggling and tried to encourage him by saying only 500m to go for him to inform my he was only only his first lap. So after 48.08 minutes i crossed the line for the finish. I was happy with both the run and bike times but the swim still on the back of my mind.

After sleeping on the race i decided to withdraw from the 70.3 in Dublin this year and work on my open water swimming and trying to control my panic attacks that i may return to Athy next year and get that medal I missed out on this year.

Next up on my list with the sprint race in Blackrock where the swimming should not be as much of an issue as i have been told you can run the swim the water is that shallow.

Till next week which will include race 1 of Dundalk parkrun

Steroo

That's a tough decision. I wouldn't throw in the towel so soon. Get more open water experience and you'll get more comfortable and it may seem more doable again?

There is an open water training camp weekend coming up on south side

tunney

A difficult decision and if it makes you feel any better you won't be the only one that has a DNS in Dublin 70.30

The water is an alien place and a scary place if you are not confident.
Regroup, get to the pool as often as you can, get confident in the water and come back stronger.

Keep at it. Perhaps change this year to focus on sprints. Get an OW sprint done confidently.

Slowly slowly catchy monkey, come up a three year plan to a half and odds are you will enjoy it more, finish it faster and be in the sport longer than those that rush in.

Chin up!

sconhome

Firstly, as Tunney says chin up.

Considering your first OW session was only 2/3 weeks ago you can't expect miracles.

What you can do though is pick that towel off the floor, put it back where you got it and get back into the water. Slowly and steadily, you may not be ready in time for August, but by addressing these issues each time you go swimming you will get there.

Approach the water without a plan. Don't be thinking about the nice Garmin plot or the big heroic 1k swim. Jump in splash about, have fun for a bit, get used to the temps. Go back in a few days for a paddle around, at the weekend go for a 100m swim long shore. Practise, practise, practise and you will get there.

But don't quit. It lasts forever.

MojoMaker

How exactly do you withdraw though? Since you can't get a refund what you've just described is you quitting on the race with 9 weeks to go. I'm sure you'd love some sympathy but you won't get any from me, your bike and runs times are more than good enough to be respectable in Dublin 70.3 and you have plenty of time to gain some rudimentary OW skills that will wipe this fear of open water away. If you choose not to do that, and instead look arbitrarily at some nebulous point further in the distance whereby you will be magically "ready" I'd suggest you should forget about triathlon right now, period, and focus instead on keeping the cycling and running going independently or perhaps as part of a duathlon training cycle.

If you are interested there is an OW workshop in Seapoint in a few weeks time, led by a former world-ranked OW swimmer, with a strong focus on first time OW swimmers and the inevitable panic that all swimmers experience outside the safety of the pool. For €50 I reckon it could be a milestone investment for you.

You only give up when it's not possible to do anything else, and at T-9 weeks I suggest it is FAR from the point where it's not possible to do anything else. Man up dude.

catweazle

Yeah I tend to agree with Mojomaker, saying you are going to work on your open water swimming for next years Athy is just kicking the can down the road. You probably only really have around the 9 weeks before Dublin before the wet suit is retired till next year due to cold water/bad weather anyways and you are back at square 1 come Athy next year

Ironman love guys like you who sign up and then quit before the race. They get to keep the money and not have to pay out on the little sundries that you are entitled to for participating. For sheer spite I would never quit and let them keep their outrageous entry costs

You cant get the money back so why would you formally withdraw 9 weeks before the race - wait and see!

Open water swimming is most definitely disconcerting but you get used to it, schedule some open water swimming to go along with your pool swimming over the next 9 weeks

Find a place that is relatively calm with decent visibilty, stay close to shore and keep at it - but you have to go regularly

griffin100

I still get an occasional panic attack when swimming ow, event after years of doing it. The last bad one I had was during a lake swim of 750m, two weeks after I had swam 6km in an ow sea swim with no problems . When the panic comes on you have to relax into it, divert your mind to something else (think about your stroke, work, tv, the girl beside you )....you'll find that the panic will pass if you do this. The main thing is to 'ignore' the panic, do not dwell on it when it comes or it will get worse. Do not kick this issue down the road or you will never get over it, try and sort it now. Get into ow every day or as often as you can, even for a few minutes and that will help. Best of luck!

tunney

Find an experienced triathlete - and by experienced I mean actually experienced, not just been on telly - and ask them to mentor you for OW swimming. You'd be surprised what 5/6 sessions will do for you.

Now if you just cannot swim at all well thats slightly different.

What time can you do 100m, 400m and 750m in (or guess at) in a pool?

scheister

will post a proper report of the post athy but to clear up a few things. The reason i made the choice when i did was i still got a small refund which covers my next marathon if i had waited a week longer I would have lost that.

Looking at tunney last question swimming in a pool 100m in around 3-3.30 the 1.5km in around 55 minutes.

"I'm sure you'd love some sympathy" that i ain't i'm looking for advice so i ain't sitting here next year typing the same message.

I also completed my 1st triathlon yesterday which was a 500m swim in blackrock in louth and from that race and as people here have said slow and steady rather then jumping into the deep end may be the way to go

tunney

scheister wrote: »

will post a proper report of the post athy but to clear up a few things. The reason i made the choice when i did was i still got a small refund which covers my next marathon if i had waited a week longer I would have lost that.

Looking at tunney last question swimming in a pool 100m in around 3-3.30 the 1.5km in around 55 minutes.

"I'm sure you'd love some sympathy" that i ain't i'm looking for advice so i ain't sitting here next year typing the same message.

I also completed my 1st triathlon yesterday which was a 500m swim in blackrock in louth and from that race and as people here have said slow and steady rather then jumping into the deep end may be the way to go

okay at 55 for a 1500 its a bit much for you alright.

Swim 3-4 times a week every week and you'll be fine for next year.

reidman

I am a decent runner and signed up for the half IM, - the swim has been where I have focused, I can crank out decent miles on the bike and run, and have done plenty of transition for run/bike. If you get your ahead around the swimming and want to give it a go when ready, the best confidence builder I have found is the leinster open sea swims, there is a couple each weekend. They are tough, especially the first one I did three weeks into my training but you learn to relax, take your time, deal with the open water conditions. Just training in the pool and heading into the sea on race day would be a potential disaster if the conditions are tough. The same with swimming by yourself at the beach, you're likely to go in if the conditions are fine. With the open sea races there is a course, lots of people, rescue boats, crews, kayaks, and you experience the open sea in all conditions. It seems every time I go on the bike or for a long swim, the wind is up, but this will only help on the day of the half IM. I also signed up with a local swim club and do early am sessions once a week on top of my training. It is all about getting your breathing right in the open water, relaxing, taking your time, taking a break if you need (I do), and gaining confidence with each swim you do. I swim in my tri-suit surrounded by hundreds of tough lads in just trunks but the training is great, and you get great buoyancy in the suit, you are not going to sink! Good luck in the future with your training and keep at it, you'll find you are not alone in getting the yips in open water, happens to lots of people. But you can do it, anyone can. All in the head.