project 40/41

RJM85

I'm curious as to the reason for leaving t2 barefoot on Saturday last?!!

peter kern

i never got warm after i cycled from dublin , had really bad cramps during the swim and bike and i needed to losen out a bit before i could put them on

MD1983

well done yesterday - good race

peter kern

MD1983 wrote: »

well done yesterday - good race

yeah for somebody that runs too much i did ok (its at least an improvement on last year and i think bodes well for next year )
i was a bit frustrated with the run and it felt like i was not hitting my min goal goal in the last 8 ish k, in hinsight i was on 1.18.30 till 14 ish k and had i known it would have been a nice boost rather than getting into a huff.
anways 1.20 better than 1.27-8 etc last year and there is is a bit more,if i stop being negative about it
body today gives the same feedback.

i think what most people dont appreciate we had the guys with the fastest swim split and run split at kona 2015 racing in Ireland y day.and i think anybody that appreciates performace just a tiny bit would have felt like in a very good restaurant watchig dylen swim and dave run

peter kern

Some reflections from challenge galway half
good and bad in no particular order

in one word
solid
nothing went really wrong ( which is not that easy ;-) , nothing really better than expected .

I can't say it in any other way but I have f..ked around with the bike so much lately it's not funny ( but this is the last time I plan to do this and while I should have done it earlier it's a 2017 investment and I think as of last Thursday Iam almost happy now )
one learns a lot in that process but its very time consuming and in the short term defo a loss.
so good and bad at the same time


Pro slept enough race week
con didn't feel great quite like I wanted on sat but it was good enough.

Had tent pitched very close to transition and it was good not to have the transport hassle in the morning
Was relaxed and looking forward to race
Very good swim start was with lead group for first 300or so meter ( I blame my swim budy tango for abandoning me the last 3 Fridays getting dropped ) but that was not bad
Once I got dropped it was kind of a lonely race till 60-5k on the bike
I guess I have to swallow the bullet and cut legs of wetsuit ( I really dont want as Iam a more neo is better person) but it was the 3rd time in 3 races I could not get it off and today I had baby oil all over the suit

3 big mistakes today
biggest tried to go with go skipper on the bike when he passed that could have ended badly that was just silly (at the current state and unlike at 70.3staffordshire he seemed to put the hammer donw the first half on the bike ) and i had seen earlier on that the next group was quite a bit up so 0 points in this department)

2nd biggest mistake I did two much work when I got swallowed by a group of 4 after 62 or so k
there was 2 guys that did nothing and 1 that did vey little and I tried to droop them . Debatable if right or wrong given the course profile but i should have stopped much earlier to try as it was not working
At the same time it was also fun it was a racing situation and it was stimulating
Missed a bottle on the bike at 2nd aid station 3rd and maybe the biggest mistake as there was really no rush i was in controll and could have afforded to slow down a bit . ( also forgot to have emergency bottle in t2 bag should not happen again )
Consequently could not take another gel as very low of water and that was costing me a bit end of bike and end of run where i got a bit dizzy
still getting negative aobut my run after aobut 12-3 k was by far the bigger problem

I can't say i happy with the bike but at least when iam confi the pace is decent.
And I guess i cant compalin as i made a good change only on Thursday - but I knew it was the right change and something I wated always to do.and it could have gone wrong

Run not much to say but it's a step in the right direction i was thinking aobut to many things rather than just making sure i run the best i can do

Forward I guess I have to think re swim it's too slow for first pack and was too fast for the the rest .
There is defo more in the swim but I don't think I will change it - but it's almost a bit tempting
as it is i could have swam 60-75 sec faster in a group

Bike looks good for the full But at the higher end it's still not right
small Part of is is adaption to new position but
From going from confortable pace to kind of hitting the wall comes way to quickly
i know what i have to do but havent done it yet so no point keeping complaining it f,,,ing change it

Run need to go back a bit more what has worked this year
Focus again on strenght
But additionally need more turnover
But I guess as they say learn to walk before you run and so far getting the strenght aspect to an acceptable level was more important

weight loss put on a bit of weight in last 3 weeks and I notice it a bit at the same time Iam still on scedule for mid august but need the refocus .( i f..king hate losing weight but its important as i have at least another 2.5 kg before i have to start to think wether losing more weight makes sense)

Focus during the race was ok but ok is not good enough ...

ie time I forgot about the gel I had which I really wanted on the run
and last 8 k of run sub standart focus
beforethe race
the race it was good as i did not let some small pre race issues get too me ( well maybe they were not so small but still it all worked out well )
and also before the start i was in the right zone ikne the swim start was messy and was ready for it .

Another pro despite nutrition issues today ,I see a massive improvement in energy efficiency and I can run a half without a gel and no gel for last 30 k on bike
And at the end of the day I have put my eggs in the 226 basket this year so that's good.
and while iam maybe 4 min of the bike I might be runing 5 min faster than planned for the full

There is loads to do but swim and run wise ( from bad to half acceptable) it was a step in the right direction . at the same time i defo have to lift my game.

good after race protocol ( massage ,in the pool by 8pm for 30 min easy swim and sauna monday morning 45min easy swim and a bit of bike )
I recovered well this is where playing with the bike starts to pay dividents as i do not oversue a particular muscle group.

peter kern

had written down a few things but lost it
so in very short usually I dont forget the more important races I do and store them in my menory .SO i will also rember the stuff I need to improve on. pre and post race .
Almost all ok now and friday was a solid swim
sat 2 hours solid turbo and 32 k run at 4 min k pace
sunday bit shorter than planned bike 4.5 hours

this week with IM uk on it will be a semi taper week and we will see what happens on race day, it could be from a good aquabike session too going into a dark place should the chance arise. In any case iam glad I entered the race as the very least it will be a good session and I will get some good feedback where iam and need to imporve and can test some nutrition stuff. At the same time should i have a good day I will go for it, as at the end of the day iam most interested in the run ,at the moment and should i feel it makes sense , I would try to run the first half in 1,27-8 and then asses again where iam .
anyway first goal to recover completely form an ear infection

MojoMaker

Best of luck with it Peter.

peter kern

This was some of my most frustrating three hours at the start of a race and the most common pic in my head was bjarne riijs throwing his bike... here I was in bolton and had to convince me after le than 25 k not to stop. This was worse than i had epected in the worst case scenario.


I had wanted to push the swim and at least parts of the bike. But both swim and bike were frustrating. In the swim I did not worry as I knew there was 2 solid cyclists around me and while going slow it was comfy.


On the bike nothing happened and I did really try for the first 25 k .
After 3 hours I managed to let go and make it what it was initially supposed to be, when i entered the race ,a good training session and i decided to run a bit more than planned.
As a consequence once i let go I enjoyed it a lot more and the bike course also became flatter
To be fair it was a very good training session, possibly the best i have ever done and the longer I run the better I got into a stride and while I had only 10 k planned if I was not in the race ( and unfortunately i never was in the race ) I did 18 k. i overcame the negative thoughts at the begining of the bike
nothing more to say.

it was something I wanted to try and I will asses if it worked later on.




From a coaching point it certainly made sense as one gets a better understanding of a course doing it ( and like lanzarotte and wales and nice UK is one of the course useful to know for a coach)
From a racing point of view it was the first time I did a training session which wasn't interrupted and did a full nutrition rehearsal.
I could test a few things and the one thing I take away is I will introduce a few SIS gels in my nutrition plan .
I also tried to take in more calories than usual before a race but that did not work ( or better there was to much sugar in the extra calories)
I tried a new insole for the left foot and that also worked and iam not unhappy how the run worked out.


A Time costly test ( fiancially it was less than 100 euro so i guess it was ok ) so there is pros and cons. but i think overall more pros than cons.



4 hours after the race I was quite happy whatever happened in the race the left ear got unblocked so at least thats something really good
( I wish I would know if or how much the ear has impacted my energy levels if it had no impact than iam in trouble;)

its a great honest race i have to say with a nice atmoshere.

One thing I was impressed with was the skills the volunteers had at the bike feed stations. All the people knew what they were doing and had obviously done it before or had been given good training .

peter kern

has been a while and i guess my passion for blogging was matched by the passion for training...

1 week holidays in iceland was great and since i was travelling on a bike i got some good cycling in ( with loads of breaks but still everyday solid efforts without feeling like training)
fantastic place to be and very suprisingly my cheapest hoidays in a long time.

overall form and body and mind are a bit in a dip right now , and after i came back i had a few days of rest,as both body and mind really asked for it , despite that i am looking forward to dublin half - less to copehagen ( but copenhagen i will defo finish)
At the same time overall iam quite happy how things have gone so far , on a more micro level thats a totaly different storry since the week after challenge galway were i got it really wrong not enough recover or better recovered but kind of knowing immunsytem was a bit down. and so far have not had the training i wanted.
Anyways this week has been defo much better and i did 1 very good run and 2 pretty decent bikes over the weekend on the 70.3 course ( approx 2,25ish pace for 90 k based on 70 fast k.
So its not so bad either and the knee which latel has given me some grieve cycling is getting a bit better.
defo not were i want to be at the same time not slower than for galway and today that was for the first time in 3 month i felt the bike is comming back a bit . at the end of the day more than form it matters if i get into copenhagen in the right frame of mind and i still think i have an sub 8.45 in me.

peter kern

dublin 70.3 wasnt exactly an A race. but so bad,that i decided to bottle copenhagen this week. bad performance on swim and bike on top of being out of form, run was ok given the circumstances.
it might be the wrong decison as there is a good chance the knee will need too long to get in shape for barcelona, to be really good , but so be it.

pgibbo

Hopefully your knee comes good for Barca Peter. Heal well.

peter kern

obivously havent updated for some time.
not much new here since last post
iam ticking away while losing fitness and gaining weight.
knee is getting better and i could start to train fully again...
anyway after barcelona i am going to take 2 weeks to give it a popere rest.

I know i run approx 20 sec slower per k , swim approx 7 sec per 100 slower and bike slower than in june but I still want to do the best on the day in barcelona
my guess 55 4.49 3.16 would be very good at current state. to give a rough estimate based on last years conditions.At he same time very little im specific traing done so it could be worse .


anyway unlike last year there is a few aspects iam quite happy aobut this year and i think i have said it a few time not happy aboubt stupid mistakes after galway but positve for 2017.
And while i could have defo done a good bit better this year
i have seen what i wanted to see to improve.



the biggest issue is that often i dodnt enjoy to train ( but that was something i always knew from the begining).
At the same time i have to say there was a time from sometimes beginning of march till july where i have to say running was such a plasure which is something i had long forgotten.
I enjoed the friday swims with tango a lot too and before i got sick i swam a sub 2.30 for 200 at the end of our regulare 200 400 200 set and that felt a bit like swimming.
-weight was one of the lowest since iam 27 .very tough to get there and i really have to make sure not to put quite as much weight on over the winter but i set 76 kg as a goal and got there. while I could get abit lower i decided not to try as i think the mental stress to get there does not outweigh thegains. ( unless for a very hot race)

cycling outside of morroco i did not enjoy as very tired of cycling routes and especially the traffic form home ( and realistaclly if i am reall reall serious i should move to somwhere wher i get quicker out of town,

Still iam pretty confident that end of june i was approx 8,37 shape which was my goal for this year and i run a 1.20 of the bike which was my 2nd goal and i was not happy with the bike and run that day .... and i know with being less greedy and patience and better decison makng there was some room for imoprovement.

overall was more a transiton year and i have a good few more miles under my belt found one thing that realy works,


next year
i will take 2 weeks off midseason
i wont let the runing go as much over the winter as it just takes me to long to get back in shape.
do more run races .
and train the bike more than 2014/15 but firt get the knee good.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

When are you heading over there?

davmurpla

Well done boss, despite some injuries at the end of the season.

Rest properly and get the ready for the next one.

Coach Gordo

peter kern

not doing much those days ,only running i have a decent level of fitness, but only one proper training session so far, the jingle bells 5k( was lucky with the weather for that one, as it made me look better than i was and when i tried to push a bit a 3 k i was shown my limits very quickly ,at the same time my first 3 k pace i could have hold at least 8-9k and prob 10
Anyway no rush not really planning to start training till mid february and then i will see whats on the cards . started bike training 10 days ago and i enjoyed that.
Naas and raheny5 ( gordo did you enter me) as tempo sessions for jan.

i have build enough fitness the last 2 years to start much slower this year, and mid feb would give me enough time to do lanzarotte if thats the pass i want to go. Weight is not brilliant but not bad either about 2 kg less than last year .
when i train very little change from last year. the main phrase would be do no harm. ie a couple of more rest days.

peter kern

tough strenght session yday getting the goodie bag home after the raheny 5. Poor concorde couldnt handle it and gave in. and had to be pulled home.
the second PW in 2 weeks ( naas ) but I felt quite good and another good training session under the belt, that was easy enough not to be fatiqued form it.

anyway thats 3 semi solid weeks in the bag. and last tuesday was the first real session in a while.
plan is to do next 2 naas duathlons and get roughly 2 min quicker in each of them without racing. ( more like 2.30 and 1.30 min )

rooneyjm

peter kern wrote: »

tough strenght session yday getting the goodie bag home after the raheny 5. Poor concorde couldnt handle it and gave in. and had to be pulled home.

A serious goodie bag, but I bet you haven't got a plaque like that in a while

peter kern

solid improvemt in naas and most importantly unlike the last time i wasnt destroyed on the bike ride back home after the race .
the 2nd run was enjoyable. and on the way back where body mass was benficial ;-) .
Still hiding my run form nicely, due to weight but iam pleased with it
and bike is comming on .

to my suprise i lost the internal pb3 race for most improved athlete from race 1 to Rory who went from 57.18 to 53.35 and beat my 3.40 improvement by another 3 sec.
run condtiotns were a bit faster y day due due the warmer temps and slighly less wind, bike about the same as slightly faster conditions were almost negated by wet roads.

note to myself must dispose off my worn out short duathlon racing flats if i run one more time with them i think i will have a hole in the sole

peter kern

cherry picker of the week defo goes to the author of this block
who won the Naas duathlon series y day.
to show how tough it is to win such a series.... I almost missed the race start...
sh..ty performance ,but I was there and won two 25 euro bets and it was still a decent training session and the longest training day of the year so far.
in the last 3 weeks I had 2 good weeks of training ( and for the first time really really pushed it ) and this week was sub standard ( i blame it on all the donner kebabs i had in berlin while wetsuit testing ...)

pgibbo

Happy birthday Peter!

MD1983

pgibbo wrote: »

Happy birthday Peter!

is it project 42/43 now? ;-)

peter kern

i have no idea where we are with the project ;-)
I have the basics now to be in pretty good shape for IM lanzarotte.after cyclng 10 days in morrocco,and shredding weight .
so as from this week i could enter, since I did pretty good work in the last 10 days and iam 78kg
in theory in 4 weeks i can be at race weight. and iam at an stage where i can change a lot in 6 week trainng and a very short taper, as iam not fatiuged at the moment.

the knee was just holding up while away ( i could not really have given it a harder test ) and after 2 days back feels pretty much the best it has been since last june.
and the rest of the body is all good.

there is one littel issue ... I have swam appox 3 k a week in last 5 month but again this can be rectifyed quickly.

anyway need to decide what i want in the next week or so ( in an ideal world lanzaroote would be sold out so i did not have to think aobut it ;-)
I might go for for an iron distance race in june and then hardman and lost sheep and ibiza 4 120 30 race in november ( its a distance i always wanted to do)
the only thing thats certain the plan is to be in good shape end of the season.
and i do want to run a 1.18 off the bike in a half this year.(or better the pace requred for it since distances are never correct)

MD1983

peter kern wrote: »

and then hardman

signed up for that myself - see you there!

peter kern

y day i had the nicest pleasure one could have ;-) as i was running
i calcualtated my ks from the last 7 days and immediately turned back home ...
was a good week and my tempo run has seriously gotten faster. over last 3 weeks.
in fairness i did not swim and bike that much last week so thats why i did not realise I was 110 k for 7 days when I turned back,

todays run intervals started a bit slower but once i got my head into it finished quite well and did actually enjoy that session.
Iam just at the point where runing is starting to be a pleasure and not just a slog.

El Director

peter kern wrote: »

... Iam just at the point where runing is starting to be a pleasure and not just a slog.

That's a nice place to be Can't wait to be there someday :rolleyes:

peter kern

its not an easy place to be and last year i got approx 6 weeks in that state... and 1 race in it.( at the same time thats much more than the year before ;-) and if i keep going by the age of 50 i should be there lol.
the good thing is i got to this stage this year with not much effort.( this is were a few years consitent training kicks in that build each year a slightly better base)
and so far also little mental cost

peter kern

first tri of the season done and it was a good valuable day out.
no complaints about the race , of course the time again dosnt look good but i did smile twice during the race as i was pretty happy about 2 aspects i have been working on the last 6 month .
after 12 or so k on the bike i suddently realized that it seems to come togheter, and also felt reasonalby strong on the run.

i guess looking backwards the only thing i could have done better during the race was between k 1 and 2 on the run where i could have handled myself better and let my mind slip a little but the rest i could not have done better, other wise.
I could have done much better in race prep especially gear but i will be better next week.

the original plan was to cycle home after the race but since i had to be back at earlier i brought a 2nd bike and did 95 k before the race and 115 after the race
i guess the only negative impact of that it made the swim harder as it was anyway going to be, and i already cramped after 200 meter and made me overall a bit slower , but still it was a great day out and I was running at a higher state of fatique , which was good.

i still have a decent idea where iam and what i have to adjust
and got a 2nd really good bike session in this week.

its a great no nonsense race

i was somewhat pleased after the race , I had a heavy trainings block the last 4 weeks and thursday the wheels came off a bit ,but i felt a good bit better after a rest day for the race . not 100% .

nevertheless the bike power is still bit off,and iam about 30 sec over 20 k slower than i like to be . at the same time last wed was my first really good turbo session .
run is where i want it . and swimming started saturday.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

You need Tango back from marathon training to keep you honest on the Friday morning swims:)

peter kern

Jared Fluffy Sorcery wrote: »

You need Tango back from marathon training to keep you honest on the Friday morning swims:)

iam ok were my swim is its actually better than i thought it would be and in a cheat suit i would have looked a good bit better.

its still the weight and bike were my main focus has to be on
I should have started swiming 2 weeks ago but in my case it makes more sense right now to work on bike and run .

since a few people asked in the last 4 weeks
i swam approx 8 k
cycled approx 2700 k
and run approx 320 k loads of it very hilly.

peter kern

I am always amazed how "animalic" athletes can be
y day for tempo run i had little hope something good would come up .... just as we were starting a cyclist came up and i said i will pace of him to get started....( following the wheel like a dog ...)
fastest first lap of tempo run ever
fastest first 3 laps of tempo run ever
and 2nd fastest last lap of tempo run ever
overall the 3rd fastest time on this course

anyway back in the pool and to day was the first time in almost 10 month the knee was not hurting at all in any of the wall push offs .