project 40/41

peter kern

groundhog day...

another good week of training and another bad race. the plan was to really make this race a test were iam . the reality was i wanted to quit after 4 k on the run and the bike was frustrating. the good thing is i good a chance to practise race tactics. and the swim was confi.well at least when i was drafting, and good solid pace when i was leading.
I did not mind being tired and i was a bit stiff from traveling down in the morning , but i do mind that i was not focused.
Anyway thanks to limerick tri club for a great no nonsense race.

Sub conciously on the bike and more than subconciously on the run ... I rembered that last year this was my thoughtest training day and cycling home form limerick did push me to the limit.
the good thing at least that felt a good bit better than last year. and i did really enjoy the r491 road from nenagh to roscrea.desite i made a muck getting out of neangh and then google suggested to get me on gravel roads adding a bit to the jounreny but once on the r491 i was holding a 34 average till dublin including some v short food stops. i had brought enough food that i did not have to have a single shop stop. ( wind was helping the back bag with the gear and food wasnt ;-)



first swim week and overall
15.5k swim
500-520 bike
just shy of 80 k run

peter kern

last week was an easy week
got a massage on thursday
swam a good bit and feeling fitter in the water
still havent swam a single 400m or less interval fast so far , just a few solid longer ones to get in the grove
sat sun and monday did 3 good days with good bike efforts ( i guess iam back in the focus zone and willing to do longer inervals )

first open water swim monday and the water was gorgeous, if there was anything to complain... the wetsuit was a bit lose for my liking , but thats a good thing ...

peter kern

decent last week

good turbo wed and some solid swims

sat triple run day

20 min wu turbo
47 min push pace turbo , last 14 min were hell
1.50 long run steady pace

afternoon 60 min swim with big paddles
32 min treadmill at 5.55 mile pace @2%
15 min swim paddles

pm 12 k run roughly 4.15 pace
one of the most enjoyalbe runs in a while

sun monday good solid bike and run work.

everything is well but the last 5% are missing in every aspect ( diet ,focus , going to bed early enough)

peter kern

not the best of weeks but still solid enough
18 hours of cycling and 3 good quality sessions

running prob the lowest milege and intensity week this year

and swim would have been solid if i had not stood in front of a closed pool sunday.

did not feel great thursday friday ,sat chest was not happy , so apart from an somewhat steadier 40 temp run thursday am
and the friday turbo and 1 solid swim friday i cut out sessions or did them super easy( sat bike)

one thing to take away is that maybe i can do my tempo run a tiny bit easier as i am working a good bit harder on it than yesterday when i run a 10 k tempo run in 35.15.

of course running with somebody feels always easier ( and my run buddy kindly lead out in the head wind sections) and having dropped 3 easy runs i usally do thursday friday and sat pm and no long run sat i was considerably fresher than i would usually be
but still I did notice the last 3 weeks iam not looking forward to the tempo runs and making it a bit easeir would be better.

this is usually the only session of the week i am really using a watch and focus more on time than how i feel. this is something that worked really well last year march - june but not quite as good this year
( i guess tempo run struggle goes hand in hand having started to swim and going from 3 to 15 k has its impact)


anyways while my main goal is to run solid when fatiqued it was great to feel fresh when running and running off the bike for a change.

while slower than i would like it , bike is comming on a bit and knee now takes overgeared work without complaining at all .while i still need to mange it a bit and be pro active to make sure it dosnt come back , i need to stop thinking about it as its now a good few weeks it has been fine. and that ftp needs to go up a good bit. and while the longer the distance the less its an issue , its still by far the biggest limiter.

I had a huge pizza y day that was the only way to keep me on the turbo for 3 hours last night. best thing of the week ;-)

El Director

peter kern wrote: »

I had a huge pizza y day that was the only way to keep me on the turbo for 3 hours last night. best thing of the week ;-)

Did you have the pizza while on the turbo??

peter kern

El Director wrote: »

Did you have the pizza while on the turbo??

iam glad this is your biggest issue teacher lol


usually to think about pizza is better than eating it .
and deal was
no 3 hours turbo no pizza

El Director

peter kern wrote: »

iam glad this is your biggest issue teacher lol


usually to think about pizza is better than eating it .
and deal was
no 3 hours turbo no pizza

Wasn't an issue at all

To think about eating a pizza is better than eating it - truth! I usually get to 2 or 3 slices max and stop as I am satisfied. Anything beyond that I just feel that it is too much. How did I gain 4 stone - by eating the whole pizza, 2 or 3 times a week :eek:

peter kern

last week was a top week. tough but it was as good as one can hope for
after an easeir monday i did exactly what it said on the tin
( tough week )
defo there was no 5 % missing in any aspect last week
twice thursday and sat i hang in the ropes
thursday on the treadmil I stopped 8 times and started everytime as soon as a cought some breath.( i hated every minute of it but it was great)
and saturday for the long run after 2 hours solid push pace on turbo . I was running for 20 min from one lamp post or traffic light to the next. but got home.
suprisingly by sunday I was back in great bike shape and that was prob the most enjoyable bike ride in irleand this year ( thanks grumpy)

sunday session and wednesday turbo made it easily in the top 5 ( behind nenagh tri , limerick tri and dunboyn duathlon ) this years training sessions and fridays turbo was also quite good.
just a touch over 100 k running
and enough swimming to build more swim fitness.

this week ( an easier week) i did my first intervals in the pool and swam the first hard 400m and i guess with the right feet I could swim the same swim time as in limerick last year by now. ( i would certainly not lead out for first 300 meter as last year but i could defo hang in )

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

You doing 1 or 2 double run days to tip over 100?

peter kern

usually 2 -3 double runs a week trying to incorparate it into other sessions and in life and work .

peter kern

just a quick one before i go out for 180 k

last 2 weeks not that great with the culmination at lough cutra
I think i have gotten lost 5 times in races .. i have a 3 out of 3 record now for lough cutra . this year i did the oly . I guess i cant complain at all since i had a 50% disount and it worked out the cheapest oly race of the year ,but iam done with the race its not important enough for me to go there a day before to do the course ( ie the uk lads around me oboiously found theire way without a marshal at that corner, and when i came back there was one .
anyway i did 50 k on bike swim was were i thought it would be and i run the 2nd lap with the guy that finsihed 3rd and he did 35 something. didnt feel great and iam glad i did only the oly race not as planned the half.
anyway got another nice bike ride in cycling home from the race.
this week alos not that great trying to shake of a small chest infection
but i think its over now. was funny on thurday in open water swim for the first time i undnstood what a horrible feeling open water swimming can be , as I could not breath proper for the swim ( and run )
anywa if i go out now it will still be an ok week. so off i go

I guess we saved the week
190 k 2o or so wu 80k in 2.05 ( airport loop no aero gear ) 5 isk easy 40k at 1.02 5 isk easy 20k at 31min . home . i have no idea why year after year i go there but its a great bone shaker and is good for adaption in tt postion . and of course i know the times i hit there. the right leg is still weaker but its getting closer .
still loads to do but I was pleased with today.
and ps the week before i hit 22 k swimming since i havent done that in a while i guess i should keep a not of it ( also since there was qite a bit open water its also the likely cause of cheast issue should have done a bit less open water

peter kern

this week i will write down a bit more as i tend to monitor closely since i usually do the duathlon in the park. as a test session in june . and its also a key week

monday naturally tired from sunday 2 hours easy turbo and 1x 9 k runs it could have been 2 runs but i have no idea

tue 7.5 k swim pool and ow open water was fantastic nice and chopy
run interval session 7 x 700 solid push pace 12k total

wed am 10k run and turbo25 x 1 min max 1 min easy
pm 2 k wu 2.5 k run 12 k bike 2.5k run 5 k steady 30 min cd bike . run was ok , bike as expected very tough i worked quite hard in the morning session .
2nd run felt comfortable and I am in better shape than last year
the main goal was to be able to do 25 k run thursday and that worked well.
overall taking in everything i was a bit faster than last year so no complaints and i did feel i cycled the kyper pass nicely, last year when i was equally tired i really struggled there ( course i guess this year 25-30 sec shorter , i think i spend 12 extra seconds in the non overtake zone rain cost a bit time too and gear maybe anohter 10 -15 sec and while the run is always windy it was bit windier than last year too )

thursday 25 k run pm 2.3 k swim 7 k run


fri 100 min turbo 6 7 min bike intervals pool 3k mostly paddle and pb

sat tri an mhi tri oly 2 k warm up run , race immediately followed by 6 k ironman pace cycle home 8 k run
swim misseralbe ( but it was great fun) bike no complaints , i got the sufferfest on the bike i wanted and i really gave everything and i do thing being fresher there is a good bit more now ( not quite where i want to be but not as far of as 6 weeks ago )
run was really enjoyalbe and i think the 1.18 for the half i want to run this year is there .


sunday am 15 run 3.5k swim
pm 3 hour hills and a bit turbo when it was raining good swim and 12 k run


overall bearing in mind that i dont use speedometer count laps in the pool and usually i dont really know how much time i spend in a session. and hardly use a watch
swim 17k
run 130 k
bike 450 k

more importantly since last sunday to sat this week 230 k ( that no i have a fairly good idea about ;-) on the bike of intensty vo2 tempo and long steady efforts
while the bike time on sat dosnt look good ,i was a lot happier with this bike given the week. i still have to focus 100% on the right leg but at least i get the power there now when i really focus so thats a nice little step in right direction

run
mo 9k
tue 12
wed 24
thur 32
fri 0
sat 26
sunday 27

pleased with this week there was good efforts and also a lot of training while fatiqued and that were i guess iam most happy as my runing fatiqued has come on quite a bit .
and i have to say i was really happy at the run on sat ( i really did not expect t that at the same time i had 48 hours no running so i guess not such a suprise as i was almost tapered ;-)
the negative lack of sleep
on the upside 3 pints saturday night
same old story the bike power is lacking at the same time i have not a single niggle for a few weeks now.

if all goes well I should hit 75 kg begining of this week and that would be quite a mlle stone. i hit 76 last year end of june and 75 is my roth 2005 weight or a touch below . i read y day that it is not realistc to get to one s weight from the early 20 but iam actually quite close to it now as i would have been 74 ish kg late teens early 20s.
more important weightloss still makes running easier
I would say iam 10-11 % body fat now so there is still some room.
but in a way the hard work is done now and the focus is more on sustaining. it was bloody hard work to get there , but overall now its more important to just be consistent if i lose a bit more weight great if not thats great too.

RacoonQueen

What race are you training for Peter?

peter kern

good week last week cant even rember what i did only the more important stuff
easier monday
tue run intervals tue and a new pb swim tuesday 7 k

wed great turbo 90 min of hard work and it felt great
thursday 32 k run 11 k run pm
friday easy
sat 4 hour bike 15 k run 5 k swim
sunday 180 k bike (one of the 3 best ones i did and i massivly enjoyed it ( 2000 m climbing ) 5.30 hours including getting in and out of dublin. pm run and 3 k swim

and finally i did make a call on a race well i kind of made it last wednesday but entered today challenge Poznan
i had a look at the weather last week and decided it could work out well .... still looks pretty good....
its a fast course. originaly this was the race i wanted to do and then i felt like i wait a few more weeks and do challenge vitoria. but last week on wed i kind of felt I am ok to go . and i wont go faster in vitoria and it will give me a bit more time for podersdorf in september.

needless to say i have a time in mind and entering means i think i have somewhat a chance for it, to get there,
especially the weather in ireland right now and projected weather forcast is as good as it gets .ie its likley that last sunday bike was warmer than race day.
given the name project 40 of this blog there has to be a 40 involved in the goal to keep it a bit on track or maybe keep it on track falling apart ;-)

pgibbo

best of luck on Sunday Peter. hope it goes well.

rodneyr1981

Well done on the win Peter

TopOfTheHill

Well done on the win Saturday.

It was my first half - talk about in at the deep end :eek:

peter kern

TopOfTheHill wrote: »

Well done on the win Saturday.

It was my first half - talk about in at the deep end :eek:

good half ironman introduction ;-)
your name is fitting for the course
having cycled the lost sheep route yesterday i have to say its not even close what is the most scenic bike course in ireland . The hardman half bike course is just unreal. ( and dont get me wrong i think the lost sheep course is fab too )

the race had a nice easy going vibe, which i liked.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Well done on the win.

peter kern

thanks
it was another little step in the right direction but poland showed me something and iam working bloody hard on sorting it out, its going to take a good few weeks ...
and i had the same issues on saturday.
iam am a good bit closer to the bike power i need now but the body cant hold it yet.
Anyway big thanks to my top class physical thereapist.
and to Dave Corcran who fit in a missing puzzle piece.
thanks for reaching out Dave.


quit a bit dissapointed in my first run lap , i felt really good out of t2 . i know i overshoot the first run turnaround by some 60 m ,so approx 120 extra meter and the course was not flat, but still thats aprox 3 sec a k off than what i was planing for first 5 k and what i felt what i was running .
on the upside the 3.58 pace for lap 3 felt very easy and i was sure i had slowed down much more. ( the third place guy - than in 4th place- offered me a pint if i lap him so maybe that kept me motivated ... it certainly kept him motivated as his 3rd run was the fastest ;-)
anyway its still the bike and swim thats causing the issue and its limiting the run speed, i am at least 1 min of where i want to be in my half im pace . I think the ironman pace is where i want it.... IF i get of the bike with out tight stabeliser leg muscles ... and for right now this is the big if .

peter kern

i have no real idea what i did last week
I just did what i felt like
i guess it worked out
18-20 k swim
it was 10 hours cycling over the weekend all in the mountains and it was fab and i guess approx 4 during the week

running v little approx 40 k?
thursday was prob my most favorite run of the year run with zico at a place i never run before and totally loved running on that grass ( went a bit ahead of myself and also had no idea what the session really was as i did not really care , all i know it was tough and i was wondering how to finish and then was totally suprised when he said thats it what i thought was approx half way.

the other run was a 10 k run on sat and that went really bad
goal was 33.30 i run wthout watch iam pretty sure i run the first 800 spot on than put in a bit of a surge and was suddetnly leading the race ... waited for the next guy at 4 k as i knod of new what hwas going to happen , went through 5 at approx 16.45 and that was it
the last 4 k were just a struggle . i told one mate the first 5 were good the second 5 not... got serious stomach pain as i had brakfast to late after a way to late dinner at 12 pm the night before . and t make thinks worse i swallowd fly at 9.2 k and had to stop a few secs as i could not breath.

the only good thing aobut that run was a i was so p.ssed off i did my best swim this year later on and after a 3.5 h spin in the wicklow mountains in the evening i was good again.
but still its now mid july and i havent done a single proper race this year were i went flat out and was satisfyed with the race ( i mean the satisfaction when you know this was all you had on that day and then a bit more ) .
Not a biggie as its aobut consitency and the way i race i lose very little training , but still one realy satisfying race would be good.
if i look back i did work and there was just not more , due to stomach issues but still nothing to write home as i wasnt happy on the luck of focus a few times
the truth is there was no way i was going to do sub 33.30 with my nutrition , on that course and that wind ...
given those facts i run like an idiot.
anyway it was 'fun' somehow and I should do more of those 10 ks . will find another 10 k race .

joey100

Out of curiosity Peter, what are your 5 and 10km pb's?? I'd love a 16.45 5km time, never mind the first half of a 10km race!

El Director

FYI Fingal 10km is this Sunday, 23rd. And F(My)I where did you and Zico run? I like to mix up my running locations.

peter kern

i dont actually rember I am 100 % certain of a 32.15
and i know whne i was 6 month in melbourn my tt pace aound the tan run loop can out with a 15.25 5 k time ( but i have only done a 5 k race apart from jingle bells 5 k when iam not in shape.
i like to think i broke 32 for 10 after a very intensive 10 week running block but one thing is sure the older i get the faster i was ... so that might very well be wishuf thinking but about june 2004 i am pretty sure i was sub 32 10 k shape.

the other tie i rember was a 33.20 or so 10k split in the ballycotten 10 which was the only 1o miler i have ever run 2008 or something
and it was 54.40 i think for the 10 miler
the prpblem is i a decnet runing mechanics and runing with the wind iam quite good but this is ofocurse not that great for triathlon where you want to be good runing into the wind
so thoose days all iam focuisng on is becommng better at hills but in the next few weeks i ant to get a bit of fluidty back. i relaise i have no a better strenght but my turnover is the worst ever. so a bit of more fluidey would help. still id much rather have "crappy" technique like zico od lcd and have their natural strenght " for triathlon.
a sub 1.10 half marthon i could do with a focus but both of them would always beat me over a full.
for instacne the session i run with zico is useless for me and great for him.

zico10

peter kern wrote: »

still id much rather have "crappy" technique like zico od lcd and have their natural strenght " for triathlon.
a sub 1.10 half marthon i could do with a focus but both of them would always beat me over a full.
for instacne the session i run with zico is useless for me and great for him.

That's a very touching compliment, Peter. I'll be back next Thursday, same place, trying to hold the same pace for 20 minutes straight. If my "crappy technique" proves to be a limiter, I might dial it back a bit. Once again, you're welcome to join me. You blocking the wind was much appreciated last week, but I guess you owed me that from the duathlon in Dunboyne.

El Director, we were running on the XC track in the NSC.

El Director

zico10 wrote: »

That's a very touching compliment, Peter. I'll be back next Thursday, same place, trying to hold the same pace for 20 minutes straight. If my "crappy technique" proves to be a limiter, I might dial it back a bit. Once again, you're welcome to join me. You blocking the wind was much appreciated last week, but I guess you owed me that from the duathlon in Dunboyne.

El Director, we were running on the XC track in the NSC.

Ah, perfect. Thanks Zico. I was looking online for information on the XC track up there but couldn't find anything really. Will just rock up this week some stage and see what it's like.

peter kern

good week last week the most intensive 9 day block of the year done and i was pleased with the results.
took tuesday off after morning session and did 1.5 k swim 180k solid bike 2 hours rest and then pulse aquathon. tough day but happy with it and the first time this year i was really tired at the finish line.
the other 2 key days were sat 180 k all big chainring , would have been arond 5.30h for uk course ( since the course i do with 2000 m climbing has roughtly the same climbing as im uk course ,going twice over sally gap)
after 90 min rest 9 k run at hardman pace so approx 3.55 min k, really enjoyed that run
sunday cycle to glendalough 2.40 h run and cycle home.
total for 9 days
approx 900k cycling ( the 2 weekends and tuesday 780k) 135 k runing and 13 k swimming
pleased with the cycling as its coming on , there was a lot of running a good pace and 2 long run days .
swimming so so
this week 3, 5 days easy and y day v fast treadmil run.

peter kern

to coninue from last post
friday fast turbo
sat 180k
sunday 1.40 run 150k bike

monday nothing
tue bad swim bad run pm another uninspired swim and easy run
wed 50 min turbo pain as main set pm 12 k run
thursday session with zico swim and pm run swim
friday dub city intervals on bike swim

monday and tue was the first real struggle this year to train so i just did nothing monday ( i guess i have less than 5 days of nothing this year so no problem at all )
the wed thur and friday hard sessions were good but i struggled to motivate myself for the easy stuff
i guess it would be strange if that didnt happen its 8 month of training now and not that much more to go . and in a way i did nail pretty much all sessions bare one

started to focus again on eating less. was quite hungry the last 2 weeks ( which is a sign that i need to be careful not overdoing it and i did not mind to put on a bit of weight and did take monday off)

another solid bank holiday weekend
92 k running
220k bike
8 k swim

tue easy swim easy bike easy run
wed short brick session
thursday test run the last serious full tempo session this year
and 3 surprises . for first time ever i run longer than the session was planned (4 mim more ) . i smashed my all time record on this course by just a bit over 40 sec in 40min and it was not that hard ( thats the good thing doing 3 sessions with zico over last 3 weeks those sessions were a bit short for my liking but running with him is a nice push and one just does push a bit harder when there is soebody else that suffers with you)
I know i had 2 easish days before but at the same time by tonight at 10.30 pm i will have done 200 k running in the last 10 days with some big days so its not like i went into the session too fresh either.

MD1983

thats very committed training peter i hope it all pays off for you - whats the goal race?

peter kern

it never pays off ... at the same time what does ;-)
plan is hardman ( really looking forward as i really like the course ) and then podersdorf 2nd of september, where i will try to go sub 8.40