project 40/41

peter kern

did my first tempo run at sub 4 min k pace today.
first time I run every hill strong. ( i guess my tempo run has approx 150 m flat route over 12 k )

that felt like the first strongish run its a long way to sub 3 h ironman run but what counts is right now every week i get a step closer.

peter kern

8 tough days in a split camp ( ie 2 locations ) there was 2 places i wanted to see also i was planning around the rain which is great if you bring your tent and are flexible , and my first location had really warm open water ( mar menor ) but i love the part between cartagena and almeria ( the best strech of coast in spain east of the apart from asturias and galicia) so this ws a great 2nd location and since i did all my biking , swiming and half my runing alone. it was good to change.

swimmng was lovely at mar menor and i did roughly 1 day 6 k 1 day 3 k
running was a recovery week and i did aoubt 115 ks in 8 days but nothing fast
the focus was on cycling and the one thing that defo worked was that iam in tune with the tt bike again.
roughly 1 day 5.30 hours 1 day 7.5) with good workd included one day easy 4 hours. the only outlier day was the 200k day where i had massive head wind for 150 k from a physiological point this day was to hard but I was under pressure entered dark places and came out of it again so it was valuable.
but it did bring me a bit over the edge and felt it a bit the last few days and the quality wasnt quite what i had aimed for.

took a few days good rest and it seems like it worked fine as i did well in the profiling sessions for swim and run. Happy where the swim is ( my swim alone crusing speed has gone up nicely and its not anymore an embarassment ) and i was bit suprised about the run as this was better than i though it would be at the same time i would not have done it if i had not thought i do ok , as I was certainly not prepared to not do well ,as the last few days were not the best and that bike split in limerck still annoys me .there was no need for a negative experience. I needed something positive.... ( and after the test i treated myself with a shortcut of the restof the session as mentally I wasnt ready to really push -and had started training at 4.45 am .
I was very pleased with the result and pm I did a short run to to focus on my current run limiter.

Anyway bla bla bla it all dosnt mean much and right now all I have to show is a shi..y oly distance race and training numbers dont intrest me that much especially for the run, they can be cute but not much more. At the same time if i was to do barcelona im in 2 weeks time with the same conditons etc as last year I would want to knock 15-18 min off that time . Iam not to unhappy where iam and espcially mentally I havent used too many jokers yet.
of course from now on the gains will become more marginal and ihave to take a bit more risk ... so far nothing has gone wrong apart from 3 weeks being ill in jan feb , and at some stage its likely to happen ;-) but so far I have been doing the right thing twice when there was a danger of overcooking .
i defo wont improve in the swim and will just try to hold it were it is ie low 50s min ) the bike endurance seems to be good , Ftp could be higher and i need to start to push a bit more and bring the miles a bit down.

my highlight was a visit to a bike shop I love watching people when they are commited in what do what they do , and this guy treated my bike way better than I would do ( i actually only wanted to borrow a tool but he had none of it and adjusted everthing , and he gave it a great clean in the most sophisticated bike cleaning station i have ever seen in a bike shop.He was happy as larry and I kind of had to wrestle the bike out of his hands.as he should have closed his shop 30min ago ( and i was hungry ;-)


ps mental note need to focus more on taking on nutrition while on the bike. ( at the same time I wont have ham sandwiches in training in ireland and I do not want to eat good ham while on the bike.but overall this was a negative point on the camp ineed to rectifiy.

so far iam less than 750 euro for 3 camps all in and i feel it was much more useful than a race abroad .

Fazz

peter kern wrote: »

running was a recovery week and i did aoubt 115 ks in 8 days but nothing fast

I'm pretty sure there's not even any pro's out there that would class 115km running as a recovery week Peter?

Be it easy or not, the fatigue from such volume cannot surely be classified as a recovery week in fairness?

Mad volume yourself an Zico should have a spreadsheet battle at the end of the year - and after A races of course to see which worked best.

What are your racing plans for this year?

Is it the the full at Challenge Galway?
Any other ironman distance or 70.3's planned?

peter kern

I dont do stenght and conditoning work dont stretch dont do massage. so i can do many more short runs and water wasnt warm enough for recovery sessions longest run was 13 k that week
I would classify 90 k as recovery work to losen out the legs and get the blood flowing in the morning pre breakfast and pm after dinner spread over 14 or so sessions . 20k or so might be run training.

btw were you happy with your race in lisboa ?

zico10

I also happen to think Peter is running too much, trying to do too many races, beating himself up too much for not hitting arbitrary times in the races he has done, and picking meaningless targets in the races he has coming up. But he's the coach.

I can't speak for Peter, but I've been building up for years to the 'mad' volume I do. Any targets I set myself are challenging, but realistic. I want to qualify for Kona, race there, and hopefully some year go back. Peter only wants to go, if he can do a <52 minute swim, a BMCesque bike and a sub 3 marathon in his qualifying race.

I think he should have taken his Kona slot last September, given it his best shot this year and learned from the experience of racing there. This log could be 'Project 80/81', if he keeps waiting for the perfect opportunity. Then when he's finally happy, he might go to Kona, and be hit by a bus on the eve of the race.

peter kern

If i get hit buy a bus i would regret more that i did not travel more, ergo i prefer to use the kona money for travelling and if i dont get hit by a bus and feel I can make a podium ( for which i will have to hit those nonsense numbers ie on a fast course 50ish 4.30ish 3 iish or whatever is the equivilant on a rainywindy hot day a difficult course but roughly 8 % behind a world class athlete in a fast race ie usually the winner of roth or franfurt and approx 10 % in kona ) I will worry to find the kona money when the need arises ..

zico10

peter kern wrote: »

If i get hit buy a bus i would regret more that i did not travel more, ergo i prefer to use the kona money for travelling and if i dont get hit by a bus and feel I can make a podium ( for which i will have to hit those nonsense numbers ie on a fast course 50ish 4.30ish 3 iish or whatever is the equivilant on a rainywindy hot day a difficult course but roughly 8 % behind a world class athlete in a fast race ie usually the winner of roth or franfurt and approx 10 % in kona ) I will worry to find the kona money when the need arises ..

I didn't call your numbers 'nonsense'.
Get your Kona ticket, then worry about being world class. That'd be my advice. I presume it's at Kona, not your qualifying race, that you want to be at your absolute best for.

peter kern

zico10 wrote: »

Get your Kona ticket, then worry about being world class.

this would not be so far of your approach when you bought your car and iam not sure you would do that again.


the one thing i take away from last year is ,that i first focus on getting the numbers closer to were i want them to be, and then worry about kona.
and i might never get there were i want to be , but thats fine, and thats the nice thing of a challenge you dont know if you can achieve it. as hemmingway says “It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”

zico10

I know it's expensive, but do you think Alan Ryan would have podiumed in Kona, had he not gone there multiple times? As Ironman say 'anything is possible', but I think it would take a very special talent to go there and beat the best in the world on their first attempt.

Fazz

peter kern wrote: »

btw were you happy with your race in lisboa ?

Lisboa wasn't a race. It was a training day at end of holiday on no strength endurance and low training due to other commitments in march/April.
Not ideal prep for Roth but only starting proper training now really so try and salvage what I can and max out fitness on the day.
Realistically, looking at a late season peak when fit and fast for me this yr.

You still ignore the race plans question?

I find it hard to believe you haven't got an IM planned on current training?
They all sell out early so if not entered worth planning.

peter kern

Fazz wrote: »

Lisboa wasn't a race. It was a training day at end of holiday on no strength endurance and low training due to other commitments in march/April.
Not ideal prep for Roth but only starting proper training now really so try and salvage what I can and max out fitness on the day.
Realistically, looking at a late season peak when fit and fast for me this yr.

You still ignore the race plans question?

I find it hard to believe you haven't got an IM planned on current training?
They all sell out early so if not entered worth planning.

yeah i guess iam ignoring your question since i cant answer it yet ;-)
sounds like you are willing to sell your roth spot for cheap ;-) so maybe i take that then.

Fazz

peter kern wrote: »

yeah i guess iam ignoring your question since i cant answer it yet ;-)
sounds like you are willing to sell your roth spot for cheap ;-) so maybe i take that then.

Ha no chance!

We have different philosophies.

I recognise Triathlon is a hobby of mine, I'm passionate about it and want to be as fit and fast as I can be when racing, but also recognise there will be life, work and other priorities that throw things off some times.
I'm still willing to do races when not at my fittest as I love racing and get great enjoyment even knowing that I could be fitter etc. (granted Lisbon was miserable conditions, but we all love pushing ourselves and it's prob even harder when less fit!)

Part of this is through realising life is too short, part is from seeing others be injured and realise I'm gonna race whether at my peak or not as I can race and others are not so fortunate.
Most summers I finish the season wishing I could have done more races. I love training but love racing even more.

Roth is a bucket list race for me. I'm lucky enough to be entered and whilst I may not be fit enough as hoped for a sub 9 goal, I will still enjoy it thoroughly and give it my best shot.
Imagine deferring or selling a slot and then peaking late season but picking up an injury, sickness, bug etc etc etc. And we all know how hard Roth is to even enter in the first place!

I'd advise you to get your race entry in lively for any potential plan you have as they sell like hot cakes. Sounds like you're getting pretty fit so get racing and smash it!
I know as I've been looking for a late season race and down to 2 choices I'm interested in. FYI even the Nirvana equiv of Arizona slots are gone.
Same with Nirvana and Barca slots. They charge a heck of a premium though so wouldn't want to go down that road if poss.
Few USA ones avail but selling fast. and Mallorca your local option too of course.
Half expected you to be on the Lanza start list for this weekend...
Or Bolton/Wales maybe...?

See you in Kilkee hopefully! (and maybe Kona'17 thereafter :D )

peter kern

btw recovery run week seems to have worked
tempo run was 5 sec a k faster and 11% longer than 2 weeks ago .
over 12 weeks thats 40% more distance and 25sec a k faster.
of course that showes more how slow my runing was 12 weeks ago but still little steps and i am holding my form longer and longer.

Anyway i think i used my blog quota for this week and next week.

novarapid

peter kern wrote: »

8 tough days in a split camp ( ie 2 locations ) there was 2 places i wanted to see also i was planning around the rain which is great if you bring your tent and are flexible , and my first location had really warm open water ( mar menor ) but i love the part between cartagena and almeria ( the best strech of coast in spain east of the apart from asturias and galicia) so this ws a great 2nd location and since i did all my biking , swiming and half my runing alone. it was good to change.

.

interested to know how you bring your tent and gear on a tri bike, could you give details on the logistics please,

peter kern

tent can go bellow the top tube sleeping bag and matrace fixed behind the sadle. other gear fixed bellow the handle bar and a back pack for cloth.

IN the case of the p4 i could find a nice way to build a nice lugage carrier as the seatpost has 2 holes and if saddle is in the forward hole than you can build a simple device using the rear saddle hole.

this time i just put the lugage in a bus ;-) as you reach the limit quickly if you bring cooking stuff. and also have the packing stuff for the bike transpot on the plane ( its not heavy but quite a bit of volume)

you could also use a trailer

peter kern

i must be overrun , as it should have said 70 or 68 % and not 40% longer ;-)
I realiced that y day while i was running ;-)

peter kern wrote: »

btw recovery run week seems to have worked
tempo run was 5 sec a k faster and 11% longer than 2 weeks ago .
over 12 weeks thats 40% more distance and 25sec a k faster.
of course that showes more how slow my runing was 12 weeks ago but still little steps and i am holding my form longer and longer.

Anyway i think i used my blog quota for this week and next week.

peter kern

cutra race

tough week
tough getting to the race
tough getting into the right wave ( than no swim and all changed anyway :-)
i was quite happy it was a duathlon as my mind wasnt really up for a 21 k on that day of the bike .
first run great fun , took the 110 or so degree corner aober approx 2 k to narrow and hurt left foot a bit but felt nothing during the run.

on the bike the left calve casued some issues for first 20 k cramping up immediately on the bike , but than it was fine ) to make matters worse the instructions were if no mahshal you go straight and at 82 k there was no marshall ( and since car broke down on sat on the way to race we could not drive the course the day before besides a good run of the bike my main goal was not to get lost twice on this course ....)
anyway i was no not better than 2.34-5 course so itdosnt really matter. I was not in the race for first or 2nd.

and in relation to the bike the run was decent
it was hard to start the 2nd run knowing the race was over but iam glad i did and finished.


would have liked to be in a better shap for the race and reduced the training last week. But there was a lot on somoe of it out of my control some my own fault.
ON the upside I am now one of the few people that have a proper working rear beake on a p4 and totally overhaulled the p4 ( even greased the peddal bearings and it is now race ready . I bent new tri bar extesnions with the help of a great plumber ( which was quite exciting ) and that was the best thing I could have done and I cant belive this is not done more often as done rightly it gets rid of any shoulder pressure.
At the same time at came with a price ( serious lack of sleep
and of course I should have done it last week but it all took longer as for my bike to get the right extensions is a serious struggle and finally i decided to make them myself and I am happy how that worked.

FAZZ has a seriously nice set of handlebars if you run a DI2 and dont need very long extensions.

anyway I defo see run progress and the bike legs had freshend up by friday and that was important as they were too tired for the last while only to feel i was like a flower friday and sat due to lack of sleep . As anoying as it is it also means the race dosnt interupt the training much but i will defo do another race before galway.

after i realiced i had goten lost it was tough to keep going but I pulled myself well togheter and the main goal yesterday was to see how I am running of the bike and without going really hard it was solid
this was good to know.

peter kern

good last week
very good training session on wed
and a weekend of long tough cycling
only negative point non drive side crank semi broke but still kind of did another 400 k on the challenge course and getting me back home. no compalints aboubt the weather ;-) when did i ever get 700kin a row without rain in ireland ;-)

apart from friday good swim week 2
slightly easeir run week after the half. this week is run and bike week
with v little swiming.

peter kern

so far a week with ups and downs mon and tue grumpness motivation and food dicipline went into the red ( mainly lack of sleep in the last few weeks but also I started sundays 230 k bike ride to late as i had a nice nap in the sun after a 3.5 k swim and 15 k run in galway in the morning and had to really push it more into the wind the last 120k to make it home before 11pm ) anyway not a biggy and by thursday all was good again i can already laugh about some confusion this week ...

I have entered IM UK, Copenhagen and Barcelona and also entered a race what in my mind is one of the most beautyful counrties in the world - Challenge Iceland ( half ) - and iam seriously excited aobut that ( especially when I found flights for 100 euro return from belfast ;-)
post race recovery in a place like this ;-)
https://aadurian.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/adriana-durian-photography-blue-lagoon_03.jpg
and not far from this
http://www.amazingplacesonearth.com/strokkur-iceland/
and this
https://www.google.ie/search?q=gullfoss+waterfall&client=firefox-b&tbm=isch&imgil=6Yh7bUNuuYBpCM%253A%253BqxuvY6WHavPKDM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.amazingpix.net%25252Fgullfoss-waterfall-the-most-popular-tourist-attractions%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=6Yh7bUNuuYBpCM%253A%252CqxuvY6WHavPKDM%252C_&usg=__1RvJlunGL3l090TjhletPajxiLc%3D&biw=1366&bih=657&ved=0ahUKEwjL3c2imp7NAhUpJcAKHQl7DSgQyjcINA&ei=hBZbV8uLD6nKgAaJ9rXAAg#imgrc=41NHQjPek9cFGM%3A

zico10

Fair play, Peter. For a man who claims he doesn't like the whole razzmatazz attached to them, you sure do a lot of Ironman events.

You'll be a dead cert for AWA Gold status next year.

peter kern

zico10 wrote: »

Fair play, Peter. For a man who claims he doesn't like the whole razzmatazz attached to them, you sure do a lot of Ironman events.

You'll be a dead cert for AWA Gold status next year.

there is always exeptions and for me it was likely the most ecconomical decison but more importantly also an the one with the best flexibility and it dosnt seem to be a waste of time for me to enter the pool. and feels more like racing.

Fazz

peter kern wrote: »

I have entered IM UK, Copenhagen and Barcelona

Are you doing Challenge Galway full as well?
so 4 ironman distance races in short space? :eek:

Your name isn't on the start list for any of the 3 ironman races above.
I know as I was looking at another race option and all sold out and was curious for a few Irish or those entered.

How did you get in to these races as they are all sold out?
Did you buy Nirvana entry slots though think not as more expensive and Barcelona sold out of those too?
Or are you racing under other athlete's names who pulled out?

Interested as I'm looking into late season IM and wondering if you've found a loop hole to the sold out ones without paying through the nose?

rodneyr1981

Fazz wrote:

How did you get in to these races as they are all sold out? Did you buy Nirvana entry slots though think not as more expensive and Barcelona sold out of those too? Or are you racing under other athlete's names who pulled out?

Sorry to off topic on your tread Peter.
Fazz I was on waiting list with nirvana for IM Barca. Got a mail over weekend to say more slots have become available. I didn't take as i entered CPH. Might be worth contacting them as not everybody on waiting list have have taken their slot.

Fazz

rodneyr1981 wrote: »

Sorry to off topic on your tread Peter.
Fazz I was on waiting list with nirvana for IM Barca. Got a mail over weekend to say more slots have become available. I didn't take as i entered CPH. Might be worth contacting them as not everybody on waiting list have have taken their slot.

Ah interesting thanks for that.

peter kern

solid last week
only realy note worthy

sat 2.5 h run was the first long run i felt in my legs the next day many steep up and downhills


2 good swim run bricks mid week .Valuable lessons learned from that and it was good to shake things a bit up.

and another 2 hours run up and down kyper

bike intneisty came a bit short mid week but there is a good session tomorrow planed and long bike sunday.

joey100

2 good results mid week Peter, well done. Hopefully you got some prize money to put towards Iceland

peter kern

kudos to pulse
pulse would be the only race i could think of that has increased prices in the last three years and keeps it somewhat line with entrance fee increases )
the only race in i can think of in Ireland.

to bray you go for the soup and sandwiches and i think its the best value event in ireland . and there is the problem again all those people that complain aobut high entracne fees don t go to those races that are value for money.

mloc123

joey100 wrote: »

2 good results mid week Peter, well done. Hopefully you got some prize money to put towards Iceland

You will need it

Spent two weeks there in May. Lovely country, but quite expensive for food etc..

peter kern

mloc123 wrote: »

You will need it

Spent two weeks there in May. Lovely country, but quite expensive for food etc..

eating out is expensive alright ( good country for a diet ;-) but if you cook yourself its quite ok
and you eat also better as you can buy fanstatic lamb and fish from the producer.
so many free hot springs and they do well getting all the gringos into the blue lagoon ;-)

mloc123

peter kern wrote: »

eating out is expensive alright ( good country for a diet ;-) but if you cook yourself its quite ok
and you eat also better as you can buy fanstatic lamb and fish from the producer.
so many free hot springs and they do well getting all the gringos into the blue lagoon ;-)

Yes we cooked a lot when we were there... avoided the blue lagoon but went to some smaller hot springs instead, would be nice recovery for after a race Looking at the race now, one for the list.