I Am the Master of My Fate

peter kern

rooneyjm wrote: »

Do you think the dynamic of your relationship has changed since you qualified for Kona

if anything he is listening more. He has stopped resisting one thing and i think he sees for himself it has helped for the shorter stuff at least.and this is where he needs to improve most as nobody willl drop him after 300 or so meter.

At the same time the reason he is improving every year a bit ,is him being so stubborn, unlike his run talent his swim talent is really non existent.to get zico to run a 2,23 marathon would be easier than a sub 6 swim for 400 .
there is no doubt that in his case ,his stubborness has brought him further in swimming than any technical advise could. Of course being a bit less resistant, he should have broken 6 min for 400 last year.
But me thinks that maybe 2 out of 100 triathletes with zicos swim talent, will break 6 min for 400 m as hardly anybody is prepared to do the work. most triathletes would struggle to go sub 7 with his swim talent.

what is certainly sure that with don fink alan would not be where he is either, and mark and I are not uselss for him.


anyway i guess this should all be deleted as this thread about race results could be a good one.

zico10

Kurt.Godel wrote: »

Good progress recently with the swimming, well deserved given the effort you put in for the past few years.

Gradual would be a more apt adjective. It's all it ever seems to be for me when it comes to swimming. It's not always easy for me to see the evidence for progress, as there hasn't been a huge jump in my individual 100m rep times since I started this log. But I know my swimming is placed under greater scrutiny by you than most others here, so it's reaffirming to hear the praise.
I can string longer sets of 100s together now and I seem to be more in control of my pace than I used to be. A year or two ago, once I started getting slower, I couldn't do much about it. On a few occasions in the last few months when the same thing started happening, I was able to reverse the slide and get my times for the later reps in a set to fall.
And recently, it's often been the case when my last rep in a set has been my fastest. It might be a sign I'm still not fully in control of my effort, but this almost never happened previous to last autumn.
Any apparent progress though this needs to balanced against the fact that working with a personal coach this winter, means I haven't been doing as much training as I was when I was making my own decisions. As a result I'm not as fatigued in the water as I would have been 12 months ago. My training volume won't stay this low forever, but I'm sure the increases won't be too dramatic. I should continue to benefit from this guidance and I expect the small incremental improvements that are the trademark of my progress in the water will continue.

Chartsengrafs

Kurt.Godel wrote: »

Good progress recently with the swimming, well deserved given the effort you put in for the past few years.

+1 on this. My OH started the Friday sessions a few years back and reckons you have come on massively. She's a proper swimmer so I would take that at face value.

Kurt.Godel

zico10 wrote: »

Gradual would be a more apt adjective. It's all it ever seems to be for me when it comes to swimming. It's not always easy for me to see the evidence for progress, as there hasn't been a huge jump in my individual 100m rep times since I started this log. But I know my swimming is placed under greater scrutiny by you than most others here, so it's reaffirming to hear the praise.

I post here for selfish reasons- any scrutiny of your swim times on my part is because you are so much faster than me overall (and I'm faster for the moment with swimming). Nothing wrong with being selfish in that regard- I know you will listen to advice from anyone faster than you in a discipline, for similar selfish reasons.

And I've never seen you swim, and advice from a coach looking at you is worth much more than internet advice, but internet advice is what we do here, so 2c worth...

There's been a recent big jump in your fast 50 times, thats why I posted. Add that to the "hitting final reps" that you mention, and everything is set up well for a big swim breakthrough this year. From the limited experience I have, if you can swim fast 50's, you can swim well (streamline, good entry, catch, pull, position). And swimming well is a necessary goal before you swim well for long (750, 1,500, 3,800), and if you are hitting times in that last reps of a tough session in Jan, you set yourself up well for endurance in Summer.

Swim with good form, for a long time, that's all we look for, and based on recent splits you post, its where you're going. Anyone who struggles with the swim should look back over this log for the past 3 years, and consider the sets moving from longer reps a few years ago (400m+ as the usual reps), to recent faster shorter reps of 50m+.

Learn to swim short and fast, then its easy to swim fast and long.

rodneyr1981

Hi zico,

What's your thoughts on the whole xc racing? Post kona could you see yourself doing more of them. Get the feeling you were more doing to help your AC club.
Just did first few recently and found them enjoyable (but tough!). Something very refreshing about them. No bull, no gimmicks just run hard.

interested

Kurt.Godel wrote: »

sets moving from longer reps a few years ago (400m+ as the usual reps), to recent faster shorter reps of 50m+.

obj: progress not perfection ...
assumption: efficient stroke, known 50PB time
Being able to swim a fast 50 != being able to swim a fast and efficient 750 / 1500/1900/3800

A -> B-> C

Where A
PB = Personal Best ( != pull buoy and not wearing buoyancy shorts)

1
10 sets of
4 * 50 on 50PB +15'
extra 60' between sets

2
6 sets of
6 * 50 on 50PB + 15'
extra 60' between sets

3
3 sets of
10 * 50 on 50PB + 15'
extra 60' between sets


Where B
PB = Personal Best

1
5 sets of
4 * 100 on (50PB*2) +20'
extra 60' between sets

2
4 sets of
5 * 100 on (50PB*2) + 20'
extra 60' between sets

3
3 sets of
6 * 100 on (50PB*2) + 20'
extra 60' between sets

Where C
PB = Personal Best

1
3 sets of
3 * 200 on (50PB*4) +30'
extra 60' between sets

2
5 sets of
2 * 200 on (50PB*4) + 30'
extra 60' between sets

3
12 * 25 alt easy, all out
4 * 50 on 50PB + 2mins (active recovery or sit)
easy 100
3 * 400 (TT Effort) 200% recovery time swimming easy between, looking for best average

zico10

peter kern wrote: »

At the same time the reason he is improving every year a bit ,is him being so stubborn, unlike his run talent his swim talent is really non existent.to get zico to run a 2,23 marathon would be easier than a sub 6 swim for 400 .
there is no doubt that in his case ,his stubborness has brought him further in swimming than any technical advise could. Of course being a bit less resistant, he should have broken 6 min for 400 last year.
But me thinks that maybe 2 out of 100 triathletes with zicos swim talent, will break 6 min for 400 m as hardly anybody is prepared to do the work. most triathletes would struggle to go sub 7 with his swim talent.

I'll gladly take the compliments Peter, but I'm not sure I've any more run talent than I do swim talent. Show me somebody that runs more than me and I'll show you somebody that runs faster than me. Running is not a technical sport and I think just by simply running lots and lots, I got better. It's no coincidence that other people who adopt this strategy get faster too.

I've invested a lot of time in swimming,(a disproportionate amount of time for someone training for an Ironman, according to many) but my physiological limitations are much more costly here. It's a similar story with the bike, where you can also get away with being inflexible and uncoordinated, and where being as stubborn as a mule is an advantage.

It's also well worth noting that all the training I do stands to me in the water. I don't tire as quickly as I used to and hold up better than most of the people at your sessions, but it's not just down to the 5/6 hours a week I spend in the pool. Even in the off season, there's 10+ hours training on top of that and the two things combined build fitness.

zico10

rodneyr1981 wrote: »

Hi zico,

What's your thoughts on the whole xc racing? Post kona could you see yourself doing more of them. Get the feeling you were more doing to help your AC club.
Just did first few recently and found them enjoyable (but tough!). Something very refreshing about them. No bull, no gimmicks just run hard.

They're a useful blowout in the middle of winter and something different in the off-season. It wouldn't be entirely true to say I just did them to help out the club. (Though I do think I said something like that in my reports.) I knew they were coming up and if I hadn't them to do, I would have looked at the road race calendar for something else.

They do strike me as events more suited to pure runners, and for me they came when I was on downtime and I've gone into any of the XC I've done a few kilos overweight and quite frankly with nothing riding on any of them. Will I do any of them post Kona? Perhaps, but I can't ever see myself getting as enthusiastic about them as I am about triathlon or marathon running. That might change, but right now they seem to be too short and fast for me to do well. PBs are meaningless and it's hard to get excited about something when great progress at the last race I did would just be moving from 27th into the top 20.

zico10

Monday 16th January
a.m.
Run
70 minutes basic progression – Treadmill

1) 10 minutes warm up,
2) 30 minutes @ 4:39/km,
3) 25 minutes @ 4:28/km,
4) 5 minutes cool down

Going to bed last night, I was concerned about there would be patches ice on the road for this morning’s run. In anticipation of this, I had my bag packed for an indoor run. Conditions were fine when I woke up at 6 a.m., but I had my bag packed for a run in the gym and just stuck with my original plan of playing it safe on a treadmill.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 14.79km

p.m.
Swim
25m pool – coached session

16*50m off 60”, every 4th one @ 80%,
50m easy,
5 sets of {4*50m off 50” & 100m off 2:10},
50m cool down

We were been given lots of rest after each individual set in the main body of work. Coming in on time and getting adequate rest of the four 50s was challenging, so the generous rests were much appreciated. I made the time for all bar one of the 50s, which was a high enough strike rate compared to others in the group. It was during the fourth set when I missed my target, so it was good to be able to successfully complete the fifth set. Whilst I found the times a challenge, I was coping well enough to be able to be able to focus on my form rather than just frantically thrashing about. Had I been in the next lane up though, I would have had a target of 45” for the 50s and I dread to think how that would have worked out for me.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 2,400m


Tuesday 17th January
a.m.
Swim
50m pool

1,000m SKPS w. fins,
10*100m off 1:50,
100m easy,
4*200m pull off 3:45 (circa. 3:30),
100m cool down

I started the set of 100s getting about 5 seconds rest. This fell to only 2-3 seconds by rep #6, but thankfully I got faster from there and came in on 1:44/1:43 for the last few. With the first few 100s getting progressively slower, my thinking was just ‘Get to halfway and take an extra minute rest.’ When I had five done, this became, ‘Get to number 6 and reassess.’ Then I felt reinvigorated when I got there and it was particularly pleasing to be able to pick up the pace again.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 3,000m

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo

10:00 warm up,
20:00 IM effort,
5:00 recovery,
15:00 IM effort,
5:00 recovery,
10:00 IM effort,
10:00 cool down

For another week running, each block of work began with a twenty second max effort. I managed these parts better this week and was able to maintain a much smoother cadence when I backed off. I consistently held my cadence at 94-95 rpm and it only dipped to 93 at its lowest.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 42.0km


Wednesday 18th January
a.m.
Swim
50m pool

400m warm up,
6*50m off 1:20 w. 2nd half of each 50 all out,
100m easy,
3*400m off 7:30 (#1 fs: 7:25, #2 pull: 7:15, #3 fs: 7:13),
400m easy

This was an easy session on paper and I never had, nor was motivated enough, to push myself hard. 400s were a bit too pedestrian when I look back at the times.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 2,400m

p.m.
Run
45 minute split tempo

Warm up: 2.73km in 12:00, 4:24/km,
Effort 1: a) 110m in 20.4”, 3:12/km, b) 1.22km in 4:11, 3:26/km
Recovery: 1 minute @ 4:48/km
Effort 2: a) 110m in 20.8”, 3:06/km, b) 1.21km in 4:11, 3:28/km
Recovery: 1 minute @ 4:42/km
Effort 3: a) 120m in 21.3”, 2:56/km, b) 1.22km in 4:11, 3:26/km
Recovery: 1 minute @ 5:12/km
Effort 4: a) 110m in 20.5”, 3:08/km, b) 1.19km in 4:11, 3:31/km
Recovery: 1 minute @ 4:59/km
Effort 5: a) 110m in 20.7”, 3:28/km, b) 1.20km in 4:11, 3:29/km
Avg. speed for efforts; a)3:01/km, b) 3:28/km
Cool down: 2.58km in 13:22, 5:10/km
Totals: 14.09km in 58:11, 4:08/km

It sometimes feels like Rotterdam is just around the corner and the paces I’ve been running just won’t deliver a sub 2:35 marathon. My target tempo pace was revised downwards because of this and instead of the :40/km I aimed to hit last week, I was looking to hit :35/km tonight. It took a lot of effort, but I finished the session with an uncommon feeling of satisfaction, so it was worth it.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 14.09km

S & C

40 minutes approximately

I wasn’t very enthusiastic about hitting the gym after the earlier tempo run, so I deliberately did a shorter than normal session.
Totals: 0.5hrs – n/a


Thursday 19th January
a.m.
Swim
25m pool, coached session

200m warm up,
10*75m as 25 fast/25 easy/25 fast, w. 15” rest,
6*150m mix of 50 fast/50 easy, w. 15” rest,
100m front scull,
4*300m pull (4:58, 5:03, 5:03),
100m easy,
11*50m as 37.5m fast/12.5m easy, w. 10” rest,
100m cool down

I was quiet fatigued after last night’s run. I did my best to swim fast, but I was far from flying. Peter picked up on this, so chapeau for his observational skills.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 3,900m

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo

1½ hours easy

I’d been feeling the effects of last night’s run in my legs all day. I got the coach’s approval to take it easy for tonight’s turbo, with the understanding that it would leave me in better shape for the weekend.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 37.5km


Friday 20th January
a.m.
Rest

p.m.
Swim
25m pool – coached session

400m warm up,
16*75m 1:30, w. 25m fast at various points
100m easy,
4*100m off 2:00, steady & focussing on stroke,
200m easy,

These Friday night sessions are usually tougher, but Interested was focussing on technique tonight and he took it easy on us. This was much appreciated, as it gave me one extra easy day to prep for the training this weekend.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 2,300m


Saturday 21st January
Cycle
3 hours steady w. 3 x 10 minutes @ just below IM pace,

89.78km in 3:04:10, 29.3km/hr, 364m elev. gain, + 3km not recorded
Efforts;
1) 5.70km in 10:03, 34.0km/hr, 36m gain & 52m loss,
2) 5.49km in 10:00, 33.0km/hr, 42m gain & 30m loss,
3) 6.18km in 10:01, 37.2km/hr, 6m gain & 53m loss

This was my first time being outside on the bike since the 5th January. I ended up finishing after sunset and I was pretty cold by the time I got home. Thankfully I started and finished my efforts well before either of these things happened. I was happy enough with the speed I held for each of the 10 minute blocks of work. The gradient was more with me than against me. But whatever advantages I had, it’s still good to be able to look back and see I held these speeds in the middle of January. There’ll be a bigger test next weekend though, when I’ll be aiming to hold it together for four 8 minute blocks above IM intensity. I failed miserably at this back on January 5th, but hopefully I’ll manage better this time.
Totals: 3.0hrs – 92.78km


Sunday 22nd January
Run
77 minutes w. 4 x 10 minute blocks of increasing intensity

Warm up: 2.83km in 10:01, 4:15/km,
Block 1; 1.23km in 5:00, 4:03/km, 85?m in 3:06, 3:39/km, 57?m in 1:59, 3:28/km,
Block 2; 1.29km in 4:53, 3:49/km, 82?m in 3:00, 3:40/km, 58?m in 2:00, 3:29/km,
Block 3; 1.30km in 5:00, 3:51/km, 87?m in 3:10, 3:39/km, 57?m in 2:01, 3:33/km,
Block 4; 1.23km in 4:54, 3:52/km, 80?m in 2:56, 3:41/km, 57?m in 1:59, 3:30/km,
5.71km in 24:58, 4:23/km
Totals: 19.25km in 1:17:02, 4:00/km

Since doing a similar run two weeks ago, I’ve revised my target paces down quite a bit. However, I thought the paces I ended up running today were still a few weeks off and I wouldn’t have beaten myself up had I been slower. Setting out today, I hadn’t planned on going this fast. The first 5 minutes of work came easy enough though and I took that as a sign that I was ready to go quicker than planned. I’d no problems increasing my pace for the subsequent 3 minutes and it only took a slight increase in effort to run the next 2 minutes under what was my tempo pace target of :35/km from Wednesday. The rest of the run felt easy after this and the average pace of 3:51/km I held over the next three 5 minute blocks almost felt like recovery pace.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 19:25km

S & C

40 minutes

Totals: 0.5hrs – n/a

Run
60 minutes steady

13.54km in 1:00:01, 4:26/km

With the relative ‘success’ of my earlier run and a newly revised set of target paces, I had to run this a bit faster than my recent steady runs. My plan was to stay between 4:20-4:35/km pace and thankfully I was well under target. Both halves were ran at the exact same pace and while it wasn’t anyway difficult to hold this, I hope it becomes easier between now and Rotterdam. There’s a very simple solution though; losing another few kilos should take care of it.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 13.54km



Weekly Totals;
Swim: 5.5hrs – 14,00m
Bike: 5.5hrs – 172.28km
Run: 4.5hrs – 61.67km
Other: 1.0hrs

zico10

Monday 23rd January
a.m.
Run
70 minutes basic progression

Warm up) 1.95km in 10:01, 5:09/km
2) 6.69km in 30:00, 4:29/km
3) 5.87km in 25:01, 4:16/km
Cool down) 1.97km in 10:04, 5:06/km
Total: 16.47km in 1:15:06, 4:34/km

My legs were heavy for this. I found it hard to get going and it took what felt like a huge increase in effort each time I had to up the pace. It was my third run in less than 24 hours and it really told. Just hoping it does me good in the long term.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 16.47km

p.m.
Swim
25m pool – coached session

8*50m off 60”, # 4 & 8 fast,
3 sets of {3*200m off 3:40}, (3:25 drifting out to 3:33), w. 50m easy between sets,
9*50m off 60” (desc. 1-3) x 3, (52”, 47”, 42” approximately),
50m cool down

I led out the other swimmer in my lane for the opening 50s in the warm up and the sets of 200s. After that, the other guy took over and the drafting benefit I received was a big help. I thought I was holding good form for the three fast 50s at the end of the session, but now that I’ve broken 40” a couple of times recently, I don’t think I can be satisfied with my times tonight.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 2,850m


Tuesday 24th January
a.m.
Swim
50m pool

8*50m off 65”, # 4 & 8 @ 80%,
2*400m pull off 7:30, (6:45 & 6:50?)
4*200m fs off 4:00, (3:38-3:40)
6*100m pull off 1:55, (1:40 approx.)
8*50m off 60” (48”-51”)
200m cool down

This looked like a very manageable session on paper. The two long pull sets ensured I didn’t have to swim overly hard for any length of time. I was hoping the 50s at the end would have been quicker, but alas they weren’t.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 3,200m

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo

10:00 warm up,
20:00 IM effort,
5:00 recovery,
20:00 IM effort,
5:00 recovery,
10:00 IM effort,
10:00 cool down

My rpm dropped by one or two revs at the end of and start of the 2nd and 3rd efforts respectively. I managed to get my cadence back up to where it was throughout the first effort. I’m still adjusting to turboing without a fan obviously.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 45.0km


Wednesday 25th January
a.m.
Swim
50m pool

200m warm up,
4*400m w. 30” rest, (#1-3 pull, #4 fs @ 85%: 7:08),
200m easy,
8*50m off 65” alt. max(41”, 43”, 43”, 43”)/easy,
200m cool down

I felt okay this morning and everything was manageable. Up until the fast 50s at the end, I’d no real targets to hit. It would have been nice to clock 41” again, but I guess I had to dig too deep to hit it on the first one and it just wasn’t going to happen.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 2,600m

p.m.
Run
45 minute split tempo

Warm up: 2.73km in 12:00, 4:24/km,
Effort 1: 1.40km in 5:01, 3:35/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 5:01/km,
Effort 2: 1.44km in 5:01, 3:29/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 5:06/km,
Effort 3: 1.43km in 5:01, 3:31/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 4:43/km,
Effort 4: 1.38km in 5:01, 3:38/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 5:07/km,
Effort 5: 1.45km in 5:00, 3:27/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 5:10/km,
Effort 6: 1.41km in 5:01, 3:33/km,
Totals: 8.51km in 30:06, 3:32/km,
Cool down: 2.96km in 16:23, 5:32/km
Totals: 14.09km in 58:11, 4:08/km

I was back in the Phoenix Park running laps of the Playing Fields and the wind was a much bigger factor this week. I bore the worst of it during effort #4. After this one, I ditched the gilet I was wearing, as it was catching wind as well as causing me to overheat. With Kona in my mind, I plan to grow accustomed to overheating in training this year, but I could only deal with one extra stress tonight. Psychologically it was more important I ran my efforts below my target pace of 3:35/km and after missing it once, I wanted to minimise the chances of it happening again. I was glad to run the remaining two at my desired pace, but I had to dig deeper than I wanted to manage this. I had planned doing some strength work afterwards, but the combined 30 minutes of hard running killed my enthusiasm for that.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 15.32km


Thursday 26th January
a.m.
Swim
25m pool, coached session

200m warm up,
30*100m w. 10” rest done as {#1-4 75m fast & 25m easy, #5 100m easy} x 6,
100m easy,
2*300m pull as {75m easy/25m fast} x 3,
6*25m sprints,
100m cool down

I felt a lot better waking up today than I did this day last week. This was the most challenging work Peter has given us in a while. I coped fine though and according to Peter my times were very consistent.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 4,100m

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo

1 hour steady w. 6 random 30” accelerations

Legs felt good and there wasn’t too much evidence of tiredness from yesterday’s tempo run.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 29.0km


Friday 27th January
a.m.
Rest

p.m.
Swim
25m pool – coached session

400m warm up,
12*75m off 45”/60”, (over kicking drill)
4*25m pull off 60” focussing on fast turnover
4*50m all out off 2:00 (40”, 39”, 38” & 41”),
100m easy,
4 sets of {3*100m off 1:40} (<1:30 at the start, but out to 1:37 by the end)

The most important thing I’m taking from tonight is the fact I managed to swim two sub 40” 50 metres in a row. Granted we got a huge amount of rest and while it would have been nice to swim at least one more at this pace, it’s as fast I’ve ever swam two consecutive 50s before.
The 100s at the end started off well. I was drafting two others, which was a big help in the times I swam. As the sets progressed, I slowed down, but those in front of me didn’t and the drafting benefit became less and less.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 2,300m


Saturday 28th January
Cycle
3:15 steady w. 30:00 IM effort & 4 x 8:00 40km TT efforts

101.71km in 3:21:46, 30.2km/hr, 366m elev. gain, + 3km not recorded
Warm up;
14.52km in 30:01, 29.0km/hr, 45m gain & 32m loss,
IM Effort;
16.82km in 30:00, 33.6km/hr, 33m gain & 79m loss,
1 hour steady;
31.76km in 1:06:00, 28.8km/hr, 130m gain & 129m loss,
40km TT Efforts;
1) 4.66km in 8:00, 34.9km/hr, 22m gain & 6m loss,
2) 4.38km in 7:59, 32.9km/hr, 34m gain & 18m loss,
3) 4.52km in 7:58, 34.0km/hr, 15m gain & 17m loss,
4) 4.42km in 8:00, 33.2km/hr, 19m gain & 16m loss
Cool down;
20 minutes at 28.4km/hr

I felt like I did okay today. I fuelled better than the last time I did the session and this stood to me for the 40k efforts during the 3rd hour of the spin. Speeds could have been faster for all of them, but the majority of the IM effort was into a headwind. Then for the 40k efforts, I seemed to be spending the majority of the time going uphill. My chain was stuck in the middle ring for them as well and there were times when I ran out of gears and didn’t seem to be generating much power.
Totals: 3.5hrs – 104.71km


Sunday 29th January
Run
77 minutes w. 4 x 10 minute blocks of increasing intensity

Warm up: 2.83km in 10:01, 4:15/km,
Block 1; 1.27km in 4:58, 3:54/km, 800m in 2:59, 3:44/km, 577m in 2:01, 3:30/km,
Block 2; 1.27km in 5:00, 3:56/km, 809m in 2:58, 3:40/km, 573m in 2:00, 3:29/km,
Block 3; 1.26km in 4:59, 3:58/km, 815m in 2:59, 3:39/km, 581m in 2:00, 3:28/km,
Block 4; 1.24km in 4:59, 4:02/km, 799m in 3:00, 3:45/km, 574m in 2:00, 3:29/km,
5.31km in 25:35, 4:49/km
Totals: 18:60km in 1:17:36, 4:10/km

Overall, this was slower than last week, but my paces for the efforts were pretty much the same. I started confident of hitting my targets and everything went to plan. My legs knew they’d been working during the final 25 minutes steady. I could have gone faster for this section, but I wasn’t supposed to be even looking at my watch, so I just plodded along at a slow and easy pace.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 18.60km

S & C

55 minutes

Totals: 1.0hrs – n/a

Run
50 minutes steady

11.33km in 50:00, 4:24/km

I didn’t really know what to expect starting off this run. The acceptable pace range I’ve set myself for these runs is 4:20-4:36/km, but I feared it might have turned out to be a struggle to go much faster than the 4:49/km I ran for the final 25 minutes of my first run today. The fears turned out to be groundless and I was glad to finish well under the 4:36/km upper limit of my range.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 11.33km



Weekly Totals;
Swim: 5.5hrs – 15,050m
Bike: 6.0hrs – 178.71km
Run: 5.0hrs – 61.72km
Other: 1.0hrs

I’ve entered the Trim 10 Mile tomorrow. I did it last year too, so I have something concrete to compare it against. It’s been a typical training week, so I haven’t tapered for it. My coach has factored it in to my weekly training though, and I won’t be holding back. It’s going to tell me a lot I think.

rodneyr1981

Nice running yesterday

pgibbo

Nice going. One minute improvement on last year. Bodes well. Fair play!!!

zico10

pgibbo wrote: »

Nice going. One minute improvement on last year. Bodes well. Fair play!!!

Honestly, going one minute quicker is not necessarily indicative of much. A guy who finished only one second ahead of me last year was 1:40 quicker yesterday. But just like the 1 minute 'improvement', looking at only one thing in isolation doesn't tell the whole story. I remember the wind being a pretty big factor last year. By contrast, I thought it was a pretty good day for running yesterday. I need to study the results from both years a bit more fully to see how good or bad I really was.

El Caballo

zico10 wrote: »

Honestly, going one minute quicker is not necessarily indicative of much. A guy who finished only one second ahead of me last year was 1:40 quicker yesterday. But just like the 1 minute 'improvement', looking at only one thing in isolation doesn't tell the whole story. I remember the wind being a pretty big factor last year. By contrast, I thought it was a pretty good day for running yesterday. I need to study the results from both years a bit more fully to see how good or bad I really was.

That guy has being putting in some serious training for the last year, consistently knocking out 80-100 miles a week and it was only a matter of time before he had this breakthrough. Your time is a solid enough run for your target in Rotterdam at this stage in training in my opinion. Two months to go, plenty of time to tack on the extra endurance you may need.

Good running

RacoonQueen

zico10 wrote: »

Honestly, going one minute quicker is not necessarily indicative of much. A guy who finished only one second ahead of me last year was 1:40 quicker yesterday. But just like the 1 minute 'improvement', looking at only one thing in isolation doesn't tell the whole story. I remember the wind being a pretty big factor last year. By contrast, I thought it was a pretty good day for running yesterday. I need to study the results from both years a bit more fully to see how good or bad I really was.

That's dublin runner....wouldn't be comparing myself to him if I were you...also he's a pure runner so run improvements aren't measurable IMO. 1 minute over 10 miles, at your level, is pretty phenomenal. Especially when running isn't your main focus.

zico10

El Caballo wrote: »

That guy has being putting in some serious training for the last year, consistently knocking out 80-100 miles a week and it was only a matter of time before he had this breakthrough.

I know absolutely nothing about the guy, but that doesn't surprise me at all. Fair play to him, I love to see hard work being rewarded. He's obviously taken his running to a level or two above mine and I'm not using his performance as a marker against my own. I only mentioned our results to illustrate the point that reading too much into one single thing doesn't give the whole picture.

It's impossible to know how well prepared or rested every single runner was going into the race yesterday, or indeed last year. But bar that guy, at first glance, my result yesterday doesn't compare too badly against others I see who ran both years. I'll take the positives from the race yesterday and it certainly hasn't knocked my confidence ahead of Rotterdam.

Abhainn

For those running sub 60 conditions on Sun were 30 secs or better off than 2016.
The miles 6-8 were real energy soaking last year. So overall still a reasonable improvement. You ran well in Bohermeen half after Trim, doing it again?
Good luck in the training

zico10

Abhainn wrote: »

For those running sub 60 conditions on Sun were 30 secs or better off than 2016.
The miles 6-8 were real energy soaking last year. So overall still a reasonable improvement. You ran well in Bohermeen half after Trim, doing it again?
Good luck in the training

I haven't registered for Bohermeen yet, but I probably will be doing it. I don't honestly think I did well there last year. I was a long way off the shape I was in when I set my marathon PB in 2014. I'm hoping to get back to that sort of form this April. How I run in Bohermeen this year will be a good gauge for that, but if I don't take a good chunk off last year's time, I might be forced into readjusting my target in Rotterdam.

zico10

I was expecting my coach would give me an easier week, so as I’d be optimally primed for the Trim 10 Mile on Sunday. It obviously wasn’t important enough for this though, so things just rolled on as normal and the race served as a “hard set” for the week.

Monday 30th January
a.m.
Run
70 minutes basic progression

Warm up) 1.99km in 10:01, 5:02/km
2) 6.73km in 30:03, 4:28/km
3) 5.92km in 25:03, 4:14/km
Cool down) 1.90km in 10:15, 5:24/km
Total: 16.53km in 1:15:21, 4:34/km

This wasn’t easy, despite the fact I finished each separate section comfortably within my target pace zones. And I finished glad I hadn’t been asked to work any harder. These runs are getting a bit monotonous, so I strayed from the route I usually run for a bit of variety.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 16.53km

p.m.
Swim
25m pool – coached session

16*50m off 60”, #4, 8, 12 & 16 fast (41”-42”),
6*200m off 3:45, {desc. 1-3} x 2 (3:37, 3:27 & 3:16), (3:36, 3:28 & 3:19),
100m easy,
8*50m off 70”, initial 12.5m of each 50m all out (We were supposed to do these 12.5m without taking a breath. It sounds easy, but I failed each time.)
100m all out (1:31)

I was sharing a lane for this and I led out for the 200s, but not for anything else. I left a 10 second gap for the 100m all out at the end (for which the other guy swam 1:21, compared to my 1:31), so there was no drafting benefit whatsoever. I probably could have eked out a few more seconds for the effort, but I was tired and lacking the belief I had a fast time in me before I even started.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 2,600m


Tuesday 31st January
a.m.
Swim
50m pool (wore buoyancy shorts)

100m steady (1:48),
2*300m fast (guesses; 5:05 & 5:10),
100m easy,
4*100m kick w. 10” rest,
4*100m desc. 1-4 off 2:00 (1:48, 1:45, 1:42, 1:39),
100m easy,
5 sets of {3*100m off 1:45 desc. 1-3}, (#4 pull),
200m pull

There were only three lanes available for members and the public when I arrived at the NAC this morning. And with the annual drop off that comes as New Year resolutions fall by the wayside yet to materialise, the pool was very busy. I ordinarily wouldn’t jump into the fast lane, but the medium lane bore more resemblance to what should be a slow lane and with the slow lane being somewhere I’d only go if Aaqua-jogging, my options weren’t exactly plentiful. I’m fully aware of my standing in the pecking order of fast/medium/slow swimmers in the NAC, so it was only my intention to do a 15 minute warm-up in the fast lane, before more lanes were opened up to members at 7 a.m.
It my firmest intention to just stay out of the way of the others in the lane, but when I finished my first 100m, the sharks were at the wall waiting to start their next rep. They told me they were swimming 400s and asked me if I wanted to join in. It was a dubious proposition at best, but it was either that or see them swim over me. Bringing up the rear was a triathlete who’s also qualified for Kona. Although he’s a much better swimmer than me, he struggles to keep pace with the guys and girls who were in the lane. He said he was only going to swim 300m then take a rest, and told me to hop on his feet. Left with little alternative, two fast 300s is what my warm up turned out to be. The triathlete was tumble turning and I had to increase the effort to get back on his feet at the start of each length. I managed to stay in touch, more or less, for the first 300m. This only lasted for 100m on the second rep though and I finished the 300m reminded just exactly how far off the FOP swimmers I’ll be in October.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 3,800m

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo

10:00 warm up,
20:00 IM effort,
5:00 recovery,
20:00 IM effort,
5:00 recovery,
15:00 IM effort,
10:00 cool down

I was pleased with this and I felt I was holding a similar intensity throughout the efforts. My cadence was consistent. It’s a nice thought that this is due to the fact that I am getting stronger, but no doubt there’ll be many nights between now and October when I think the exact opposite.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 44.50km


Wednesday 1st February
a.m.
Swim
50m pool

400m warm up,
6*200m pull off 3:40 (3:30 approx.), straight into
6*200m fs off 3:50 {#1-3; 3:40-3:45, #4-6 desc.; 3:45, 3:41, 3:37),
200m cool down

This wasn’t a very taxing morning, but I didn’t get much rest throughout the hour. It’ll be good for endurance hopefully.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 3,000m

p.m.
Run
45 minute split tempo, tempo target = :35/km

Warm up: 2.87km in 12:02, 4:12/km,
Effort 1: 1.44km in 5:03, 3:30/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 4:39/km,
Effort 2: 1.43km in 5:01, 3:30/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 4:52/km,
Effort 3: 1.43km in 5:01, 3:31/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 5:03km,
Effort 4: 1.42km in 5:01, 3:31/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 5:03/km,
Effort 5: 1.41km in 5:00, 3:33/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 5:00/km,
Effort 6: 1.42km in 5:00, 3:32/km,
Totals for efforts: 8.55km in 30:06, 3:31/km,
Cool down: 2.60km in 13:53, 5:20/km
Totals: 15.07km in 1:01:08, 4:03/km

I was back in the Phoenix Park running laps of the Playing Fields. The wind wasn’t as strong as last Wednesday. I was running the loop in an anti-clockwise direction and I think I might have been faster had I ran the opposite way. There was only a 3 second variation between my fastest and slowest efforts. This compares favourably to the 11 second difference of last week. The wind certainly played a significant role in these respective differences, but I had more faith in myself tonight and I didn’t feel the need to attack any of the early efforts, so as to bank time for a later slowdown. It was tough-ish at times, but I was never in any real danger of failing to hold tempo pace and I was pleased to run all six of the efforts on target.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 15.07km


Thursday 2nd February
a.m.
Swim
25m pool, coached session

400m warm up,
8*50m w. parachute as 12.5m fast/12.5m easy
10*100m as 2 fast/1 easy, w. 10’ rest,
10*100m as 25 fast/25 easy,
400m mix, last 25 of each 100 fast,
3*50m sprints,
8*25m sprints,
200m cool down

I wasn’t too tired this morning, but with a weekend race in mind, I wore buoyancy shorts for today’s swim.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 3,550m

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo

1 hour steady w. 5 random 30” accelerations

I stuck to a limited range of gears for the hour, so had a mix of resistance and cadence. I’d planned to make a post or two on boards, but was working too hard to do so; a good I guess.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 28.0km


Friday 3rd February
a.m.
Rest

p.m.
Run
Treadmill

40 minutes (7.71km) at 11.6km/hr, 5:10/km

This was a slight change to my normal routine, but I guess three days with no running before a race wouldn’t be ideal preparation.
Totals: 0.5hrs – 7.71km

Swim
25m pool – coached session

400m warm up,
21*100m as 7 sets of {3*100m off 1:45, extra 45” rest between sets}
50m easy,
9*50m off 60” {desc. 1-3} x 3 (55”, 46”, 43” approx.), # 2 & 3 done as pull

There was one other swimmer in the lane with me. When on form, he’s faster than me, but I was right on his feet tonight for the first three sets of 3*100m and getting 8”-10” rest. He was by no means holding me up, but I thought he might appreciate if we shared lead-out duties and offered to go in front. I hit 1:35 for the first 100 in each set for which I was leading, but slowed for numbers 2 & 3, only getting 6-7 seconds rest. The other guy started catching up and I regretted my bravado in asking to lead out. It would have hurt my pride telling him to take over after only swimming out front for two sets, when he’d swum three. I was glad he asked me would he take over once more (rather than me asking him), and I was back happily swimming in his slipstream for three more sets. There was an increase in pace, but the drafting benefit kicked in again and my rests were closer to 10 seconds than the 6 seconds I had been getting.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 3,000m


Saturday 4th February
Cycle
3 hours steady

86.59km in 3:22:56, 25.6km/hr, 394m elev. gain,
Hourly splits;
1) 27.98km in 1:00:23, 27.8km/hr, 112m gain & 100m loss
2) 27.03km in 59:39, 27.2km/hr, 101m gain & 107m loss
3) 22.88km in 1:00:19, 22.8km/hr, 152m gain & 97m loss
4) 8.70km in 22:34, 23.1km/hr, 29m gain & 88m loss

With a race tomorrow, this 3 hour cycle is not something I would have done of my own choosing. But the coach prescribed it and given I’ve much bigger things on my agenda than the Trim 10 Miler, I was happy to be out on two wheels. I fuelled with the race in mind and was consistently taking calories on board over the three hours plus.
My Garmin was giving me some ridiculously low readings during the third hour, so I’m not quite sure the average speed of 22.8kph for the split is accurate. Once I’d 3 hours clocked, I felt I’d done what my coach wanted me to do, so I eased right off and pedalled home at a leisurely effort.
Totals: 3.5hrs – 86.59km


Sunday 5th February
Run
Warm up

1) 4.32km w. 4*10” sprints in 20:01, 4:38/km
2) 270m in 0:59, 3:41/km
3) 280m in 0:59, 3:33/km
4) 300m in 1:01, 3:21/km
5) 760m in 3:27, 4:32/km

Total: 5.94km in 26:29, 4:28/km

Race
Trim 10 Mile

16.10km in 56:10, 3:29/km
Kilometre splits;1) 3:20, 2) 3:22, 3) 3:29, 4) 3:22, 5) 3:28, 6) 3:26, 7) 3:28, 8) 3:37, 9) 3:34, 10) 3:27, 11) 3:34, 12) 3:40, 13) 3:34, 14) 3:29, 15) 3:28, 16) 3:22, 17) I was too ****ed to stop watch after crossing the, so data for this split isn’t accurate. With somebody breathing down my neck, it included the final 400m, for which I got a CR on Strava, so I wasn’t hanging about.

Report to follow
Totals: 1.5hrs – 22.04km

Cycle
Turbo

1 hour steady

Totals: 1.0hrs – 27.5km



Weekly Totals;
Swim: 6.0hrs – 15,950m
Bike: 7.0hrs – 186.59km
Run: 4.5hrs – 61.29km
Other: 0.0hrs (No S & C this week; old habits contd.)

zico10

Having raced this last year, I knew what was ahead of me and assumed the standard of runner for both years would be pretty similar. Based on the fact I'd placed 12th here last year, I felt justified in standing in the second row waiting at the start line. Based on the look of some of those in the front row, I didn't think they had much chance of beating me, but appearances can sometimes be deceptive and I was prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt. Besides they seemed pretty determined to toe the line, which the fastest runners in any race should be allowed to do unencumbered. As they were playing the part of fast runners, I thought I'd be okay starting behind them.

The gun went and they took off at a nice easy trot. Within 3 metres I was ahead of them, "Fncking idiots!", I muttered as I went by. The pack had no chance to thin out and I was forced into going wide to take a bend, which quite frankly was way too early in the race. A little grumpy about this and the idiots at the start line, I had to remind myself about my plan to hold back in the opening kilometre and just relax into the race.

Things settled soon enough and all feelings of grumpiness were cast aside. My Kona bound club mate was also running today. We're of a similar enough standard and we both thought it'd be good to work off each other. I matched his pace for the first 800m or so, at which point we took a left hand turn and a couple of people in our group decided to speed up. He went with them and gained a few metres on me. I briefly thought about going with the group, but doing so would have meant abandoning my plan to show restraint and I reckoned it would have cost me too much energy this early on in the race.

The three leaders were well up the road at this stage. My tri-club mate was in the chasing pack, and then there was me and a few others further adrift. We were about 2 miles into the race, when a Dunboyne AC club mate went by. I recognised one of the guys he was running with from a few of the road races I did last spring. Both would be a lot faster than me and I was a bit surprised it had taken them so long to overtake. If it had happened only a few minutes into the race, I wouldn't have thought too much of it. But at least 10 minutes had gone by at this stage and it made me wonder had I started too fast. I felt fine though, I'd shown restraint earlier in not chasing down my 3D club mate and I reassured myself I was running smartly and things would work out for me in the end.
As this group passed, they dragged some of my group along with him. I found myself running on my own for the next mile or two, which wasn’t what I wanted. There was a runner from Trim and another from Mullingar just ahead of me. The gap between us didn't get any bigger over the couple of miles I was on my own, but I wasn’t closing on them either. It came to a point where I thought, 'Fnck this, I better catch them, or I could be running on my own for the next 6 miles.' We came to a gentle downhill stretch and I upped the effort slightly. I made contact and we ran the next few miles as a trio. With company, things seemed to become easier and I actually started to enjoy the race.

Running with a Trim AC runner in Trim meant I heard a lot of cheers along the route. We ran together for another 2 miles or so, when the runner from Mullingar Harriers fell off the pace. There had been no perceptible increase in intensity and shortly after this happened, my watch auto lapped for the tenth time and it told me it had taken me 3 minutes 40 seconds to run the previous kilometre. I was on a slippery slope and needed to halt the slide.

It was at the point in the race where I thought I was going to be able to hold things together until the end. Without digging too deep, I upped my effort, hoping to see a quicker split the next time my watch flashed a split. This worked and the next kilometre went by in 3:34, then 3:29, 3:28 and 3:22. Things seemed to be working well for me. I could no longer hearshouts of encouragement for the hometown runner and I'd lost the gut from Trim.

Also I had made up ground on some of the people up the road. I thought I was going pass someone in red. Then I thought maybe not. But he still seemed to be getting closer. Then I thought, 'F*ck it! Just go for it and see what happens.' With a bit of work, I passed him was happy to make up one more place.

Someone was breathing hard down my neck though and obviously fancied doing to me what I had just done to the guy in red. I could see the finish line, before the road swung to the right. We were almost at the final right hand turn of the race that would take us up to the finishing gantry. I was working very hard at this point and wasn't sure just how close or just how hard the guy behind me was working. I wasn't sure if it was the same guy whose laboured breathing I had heard earlier, but presuming it was, my hope that his hard intakes of breath meant I would drop him well before the finish hadn't materialised.

I knew he was close, but I didn't dare look over my shoulder. We got to the right hand turn that signalled the final straight run-in to the finish. I took a quick glance behind me and there he was only a few steps behind. And 'Good f*cking Lord!', I hadn't remembered the finishing line being such a long way from the turn.

Having been pipped along this stretch last year, I didn't want the same thing happening again. I was in the lead and I was determined not to lose it. But good Lord, I was being made work for it. I passed some supporters from Dunboyne AC standing at the roadside. They saw my predicament and urged me to keep pushing and that there was only 10m left. I knew full well they were lying, but I told myself if I bust my ass for 10m, I'll be 10m closer to the finish line, then I can bust my ass for another 10m and I'll be 20m close to the finish line. Burying myself for 10m at a time, I finished the race absolutely spent. I crossed the line before the other guy, but bent over a railing, I was too ****ed to even acknowledge his efforts.


Reflection
Going into this race, I felt breaking 56 minutes was going to be the best case scenario. So finishing just 11 seconds off this wasn't too bad a result. Coming at the end of a normal week's training wasn't a bad outcome either. Considering how hard a time I've been having recently of hitting a tempo pace of :35/km for 5 minutes at a time, to hold an overall average pace of 3:29 for almost an hour is pleasing. I also managed to cover the first 10km in 34:31, which is only 39 seconds off my PB. Had it only been a 10k race, I’m sure I would have gone considerably quicker than 34:31. There are plenty of positives top take from the race ahead of the marathon. My training is working. Now, I just need to get my weight down over March and I should be good for my sub 2:35 target in Rotterdam.

rooneyjm

Nice one, not sure if there is enough detail though?

zico10

This won’t be as detailed an update as normal. A friend’s stag was on at the weekend and training was going to be very difficult. My coach reckoned it was best to just take an easy week, so as to be completely fresh for the week after. The stag weekend I had in Edinburgh sort of scuppered those plans.

Monday 6th February
a.m.
Rest

p.m.
Run
40 minutes easy

7.32km in 40:16, 5:30/km

Totals: 0.5hrs – 7.32km

Swim
25m pool – coached session

400m warm up,
5 sets of {4*50m desc. 1-4} x 5 (48”, 46”, 44”, 41” approx.),
12*100m off 1:50 (desc. 1-3) x 4, (#2 & 4 pull), I successfully descended through the first two sets, but I’m not sure what happened after that.
50m easy,
4*25m off 30”, alternating easy/fast,
50m easy

Totals: 1.0hrs – 2,900m


Tuesday 7th February
a.m.
Swim
50m pool

4*100m off 2:10, w. last 25 of each 100 @ 80%,
4*100m over-kicking drill w. 10” rest,
4*100m desc. 1-4 off 2:10 (1:50, 1:46, 1:43, 1:37),
8*200m pull off 3:50 (3:40-3:34),
300m cool down

I was in bad need of an extra gear for some of the faster stuff today, but I couldn’t find it.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 3,000m

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo

1 hour easy/steady

Totals: 1.0hrs – 27.0km


Wednesday 8th February
a.m.
Swim
50m pool

1,000m SKPS w. fins,
40*50m off 65”; 1-10 as 2 hard/2 easy,, 11-20 as pull, 21-30 as 12.5m all out/37.5m easy, 31-40 alt all out/easy,
200m cool down

Totals: 1.0hrs – 3,000m

p.m.
Run
90 minutes steady

20.14km in 1:30:05, 4:28/km

I never felt under any severe stress during this. I pressed lap on my Garmin halfway through, which showed almost identical splits of 4:28 & 4:29/km.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 20.14km

S & C

1 hour strength work

Totals: 1.0hrs – n/a


Thursday 9th February
a.m.
Swim
25m pool, coached session

6*50m building,
6*50m as 12.5m fast/12.5m easy,
6*200m (variety of stuff),
100m easy,
10*50m fast w. 20” rest,
200m pull fast (3:07),
100m cool down

Totals: 1.5hrs – 3,300m

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo

1 hour steady w. 2 sets of 3*15” sprints

The sprints were done in the first 36 minutes of the session.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 29.0km


Friday 10th February
a.m.
Run
Treadmill

40 minutes (7.71km) at 11.6km/hr, 5:10/km

I was flying to Edinburgh for a tag after work and although I’d usually take Friday morning a time off, now was the only time I could be certain of getting anything done this weekend and it was deemed a run would be more useful than a swim.
Totals: 0.5hrs – 7.71km

p.m.
Nothing, flew to Edinburgh


Saturday 11th February
Nothing


Sunday 12th February
Run
Treadmill

40 minutes (7.71km) at 11.6km/hr, 5:10/km

I’d planned on doing a swim, but with a competition on in The NAC, that wasn’t possible.
Totals: 0.5hrs – 7.71km


Weekly Totals;
Swim: 6.0hrs – 15,950m
Bike: 7.0hrs – 186.59km
Run: 4.5hrs – 61.29km
Other: 1.0hrs

zico10

Monday 13th February
a.m.
Morning off

p.m.
Run
85 minutes basic progression

Warm up) 2.08km 10:01, 4:49/km,
1) 7.93km in 34:59, 4:25/km,
2) 7.11km in 30:02, 4:14/km,
Cool down) 2.07km in 10:01, 4:50/km
Totals) 19.19km in 1:25:04, 4:26/km

I did this in Porterstown Park. It was windy out, but I had the efforts under control. The excesses of the stag over the weekend didn't affect me too much.
Totals: 0.5hrs – 7.32km

Swim
25m pool – coached session

400m warm up,
8*50m off 60"{ desc. 1-4} x 2,
50m easy
10*200m off 3:40, #4, 8 & 10 pull (3:25-3:30),
50m easy,
9*50m off 60”, first 12.5m of #3, 6 & 9 all out
25m easy

A faster swimmer than me was leading out the lane tonight. I was behind him and although he was quicker than me, there was a benefit to being behind him. I was cramping by the end of the hour and was no less ne'er able to push off hard. This is nothing serious I'm sure and merely happened as I didn't have an adequate break between finishing the earlier run and getting into the water.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 2,975m


Tuesday 14th February
a.m.
Swim
50m pool

8*50m steady on 60", #4 & 8 above 80% PE,
2*400m pull off 7:30 (7:00 approx.),
50m easy,
4*200m fs off 3:45 (3:35 approx.),
50m easy,
6*100m off 1:50, #1-3 pull (1:40 approx.), #4-6 fs (1:45 approx.)
200m cool down

I tried to descend through the last set of 100s I did and I might have managed ½ second improvements tops, which was very disappointing. I discovered afterwards that all six were meant to be done as pull and there were no instructions on whether to descend them or not. I felt slightly better about things after seeing this.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 2,900m

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo
90 minutes w. 3*20' IM Efforts

10' warm up,
{20' IM Effort & 5' recovery} x 3,
5' cool down

I was holding a consistent cadence throughout the three efforts. This pleased me, but it was a ridiculously late finish and it was the precursor to a poor night's sleep.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 46.50km


Wednesday 15th February
a.m.
Swim
50m pool

200m easy,
6*400m pull off 7:15, #1-3 @ 80% PE (6:40-6:45), #4-6 @ 90% PE (6:35-6:40),
200m easy,
8*50m fs off 65”; alt. fast (43", 44", 44" & 44")/easy,
100m cool down

I wanted an easy morning, so got into the pool wearing buoyancy shorts. Combined with the pull buoy, I wasn't really working at all. I took them off for the set of 50s at the end, just I wouldn't have climbed out of the water having felt liked I'd done nothing.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 3,000m

p.m.
Run
Spilt tempo run, 6*5' tempo efforts, tempo target = :30/km

Warm up: 2.87km in 12:02, 4:12/km,
Effort 1: 1.53km in 4:59, 3:16/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 4:51/km,
Effort 2: 1.47km in 5:00, 3:24/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 4:24/km,
Effort 3: 1.45km in 4:59, 3:26/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 4:44/km,
Effort 4: 1.48km in 5:00, 3:24/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 4:43/km,
Effort 5: 1.41km in 5:01, 3:33/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 4:59/km,
Effort 6: 1.43km in 5:00, 3:30/km,
Totals for efforts: 8.77km in 29:59, 3:26/km,
Cool down: 1.65km in 9:01, 5:27/km
Totals: 14.49km in 56:02, 3:52/km

The warm up went well and even though I was well ahead of the pace I set out aiming to hold, I was comfortable throughout the opening 12 minutes and didn't feel the need to slow down. I revised down my tempo pace target by 5 seconds for tonight's run and was afraid of failing. I went out way too hard on the first one as a result and come the 5th effort, the target started to slip away from me. Both the wind direction and gradient made this one the most disadvantageous of the intervals, but I think I was also paying for how fast I ran during the initial effort. Overall though, my average pace for the 6 efforts was well under target and I would have gladly settled for this starting off.
Totals: 1.0hrs - 14.49km


Thursday 16th February
a.m.
Swim
25m pool, coached session

300m building over each 25,
6*300m {#1 & 2 parachute, #3 & 4 no toys, #5-6 as 50 fast/50 easy},
50m easy,
10*50m fast off 65", (43"-42"),
50m easy,
8*25m sprints off 40",
50m easy,
300m pull steady,
8*25m sprints off 40",
50m cool down

Totals: 1.5hrs – 3,500m

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo

70 minutes w. 5 sets of 3*30" accelerations

Totals: 1.0hrs – 33.25km


Friday 17th February
a.m.
Rest

p.m.
S & C

40 minutes

Totals: 0.5hrs – n/a

Swim
25m pool – coached session

8*50m off 60", #4 & 8 fast (42" & 40"),
50m easy
3*200m off 3:30, #4, 8 & 10 pull (3:18, 3:16 & 3:17),
50m easy,
4 sets of {4*50m off 45” & 100m off 2:15}
100m easy

I was about 10 minutes late for the session and missed half the warm up. I felt good after swimming the 50m in 40 seconds and although the coach gave me the choice of swimming the 200s off a slower time, I opted to stay in the fast lane with a 3:30 push off and felt I swam well for this set also. When I heard what was up next, I never felt like I was going to make the times, which was the wrong attitude to take into the set. I made the first two 50s in the first set, but it was only rep #1 in all the subsequent sets. And I was finishing the fourth 50 nearly 15 seconds off target. It would have been a massive ask to even make one set of four 50s, but I've fared better when I've done this same set before. It also needs to be acknowledged that the faster swimmers ahead of me were also starting to slow and the drafting benefit was becoming more and more over the four sets. Things would have been even more pitiful for me had this not happened.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 2,400m


Saturday 18th February
Cycle
3hrs 45mins w. 2*20' IM efforts & 4*10 Olympic Efforts

105.87km in 3:43:13, 28.5km/hr,
IM Efforts;
1) 10.75km in 20:00, 32.2km/hr, 49m gain & 26m loss
2) 11.03km in 20:00, 33.1km/hr, 66m gain & 25m loss
Olympic Efforts;
1) 6.00km in 10:00, 35.9km/hr, 6m gain & 46m loss
2) 5.44km in 10:01, 32.6km/hr, 34m gain & 0m loss
3) 5.82km in 10:01, 34.9km/hr, 11m gain & 28m loss
4) 5.19km in 10:01, 31.1km/hr, 21m gain & 8m loss
Totals: 0.5hrs – 7.71km]

This felt like a longer ride than it actually was. I was happy-ish with the early IM efforts went, but after the first Olympic effort, I didn't seem to have anything in my favour during the final three and finished feeling a bit despondent with how slow I was.
Totals: 3.5hrs - 105.87km


Sunday 19th February
Run
87 minutes w. 5 x 10 minute blocks of increasing intensity (5' @ <4:00/km, 3' @ :45/km, 2' @ :30/km)

Warm up: 2.94km in 12:01, 4:04/km,
Block 1; 1.32km in 5:01, 3:47/km, 822m in 3:00, 3:39/km, 588m in 2:01, 3:26/km,
Block 2; 1.31km in 4:58, 3:48/km, 832m in 3:01, 3:37/km, 595m in 2:01, 3:23/km,
Block 3; 1.31km in 4:58, 3:47/km, 847m in 3:00, 3:32/km, 598m in 2:03, 3:25/km,
Block 4; 1.27km in 4:56, 3:52/km, 827m in 3:01, 3:38/km, 590m in 2:02, 3:27/km,
Block 5; 1.29km in 5:00, 3:52/km, 837m in 3:02, 3:36/km, 595m in 2:02, 3:25/km,
5.48km in 25:01, 4:33/km
Totals: 22:06km in 1:27:36, 3:56/km

An extra 10 minute block was added to this session since I last did it. I ran quicker throughout over all sections of the run since I did it two weeks ago, so it's satisfying to look back on.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 22.06km

Run
80 minutes steady

18.79km in 1:20:48, 4:18/km

I slowed by 6 seconds per kilometre from the first to the second half of this run. My Garmin recorded a net elevation loss of 37m during the first 40 minutes and a net gain of 32m during the second 40, but I think the drop off in pace wasn't just down to this. Still, an average overall pace of 4:18/km wasn't a bad way to finish my second run of the day.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 18.79km



Weekly Totals;
Swim: 5.5hrs – 15,075m
Bike: 6.0hrs – 185.62km
Run: 5.5hrs – 74.53km
Other: 0.5hrs

zico10

Monday 20th February
a.m.
Cycle
60 minutes w. 2 sets of 3*30" accelerations

27.29km in 1:01:13, 26.7km/h

This was a pretty straightforward session. The wind was up and it meant I didn't hit the speeds I would have hoped for during the accelerations, but I put in the effort and I guess that's the more important.
Totals: 1.0hrs - 27.29km

p.m.
Run
85 minutes basic progression

Warm up) 2.13km 10:01, 4:41/km,
1) 8.04km in 35:00, 4:21/km,
2) 7.38km in 30:02, 4:04/km,
Cool down) 2.20km in 10:01, 4:33/km
Totals) 19.76km in 1:25:03, 4:18/km

I did this on the ambulance track around Fairyhouse race track. This is is somewhere I haven't ran for a few months. It's a real cnutish circuit at the best of times and the wind made it even worse today. I was very exposed to the gusts in parts and it was a big factor in how hard I had to work to hold pace. With the lengthening evenings, I was planning to do some of my mid week tempo runs here soon enough, but it would be a big ask to hit my desired speed if I were to encounter conditions like today's.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 19.76km

Swim
25m pool – coached session

16*50m off 60", #4, 8,12 & 16 fast (42" ,41" ,41" & 39")
3 sets of {6*100m off 1:45},
6*25m off 40" alt. easy/fast
50m cool down

For the sets of 100s, I led out for #1, drafted and used a pull buoy for set #2 and ditched the pull buoy but was still drafting for set #3.
Overall it didn't feel like a great hour in the pool. The fast 50s in the warm-up went well. After those, it just wasn't happening for me though and I was only making the 100s off 1:45 by the skin of my teeth. I was probably just fatigued from the other stuff today and the two hard runs yesterday.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 2,850m


Tuesday 21st February
a.m.
Swim
50m pool

8*50m steady on 60", #4 & 8 above 80% PE,
3*400m pull off 7:20 (7:00-7:07),
20*50m off 65" as 5 sets of 4, descending 1-4, (extra 30" rest between sets),
200m cool down

I struggled once I upped the effort. I might have gone faster during each set of 4*50m, but my brain wasn't working and the times weren't registering. I wasn't much faster at any rate and I was glad just to be finished before they closed the 50m pool for reconfiguration.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 2,800m

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo
90 minutes w. three IM Efforts, 20', 15' & 10'

10' warm up,
{20' IM Effort & 5' recovery} x 3,
5' cool down

I was holding my cadence well and it actually went up by 1-2 revs per minute if anything. Hopefully it bodes well for the summer.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 46.50km

Run
40 minutes easy

7.57km in 40:10, 5:18/km

This was an easy, easy effort and I got it finished just before dusk.
Totals: 0.5hrs – 7.57km


Wednesday 22nd February
a.m.
I was cleaning my road bike all morning. This is something I do about twice a year, so it took a lot longer than it should have. I didn't get any training done as a result.

p.m.
Run
Spilt tempo run, 6*6' tempo efforts, tempo target = :30/km

Warm up: 2.87km in 12:02, 4:12/km,
Effort 1: 1.76km in 6:00, 3:25/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 4:38/km,
Effort 2: 1.76km in 5:59, 3:24/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 5:04/km,
Effort 3: 1.76km in 6:00, 3:24/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 4:49/km,
Effort 4: 1.75km in 6:02, 3:27/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 4:55/km,
Effort 5: 1.75km in 6:00, 3:25/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 5:00/km,
Effort 6: 1.76km in 6:00, 3:24/km,
Totals for efforts: 10.54km in 36:04, 3:25/km,
Cool down: 1.66km in 9:02, 5:27/km
Totals: 16.19km in 1:02:03, 3:50/km

Strong winds were forecast to arrive late in the evening and I was damned if I was going to be caught out in the exposed environs of The Phoenix Park trying to hit tempo pace. I needed an easier venue and opted for the 400m track in Dunboyne. I wore a Santini gilet I specifically bought for horrible weather, such as today's, after the Lost Sheep last September. Even though I had only ever imagined myself wearing the gilet on the bike, I put it on for the first time for today's run. It's quite a snug fit, so it didn't catch any wind and offered great protection against the elements. I don't think it slowed me down in any way and makes all the decisions I've taken to race in just a tri-top, whatever the conditions, seem pretty stupid.
The session went well and my pace was pretty much bang-on for all the efforts. It's much easier judge pace on a track and I completed each and every lap in very similar times. I ran each alternate effort in a clockwise and then an anti-clockwise direction. Unlike last year, when I was significantly faster running clockwise around the track, there didn't seem to be any difference today. I'm not really sure what to make of this, but it's something to ponder.
Storm Doris was blowing in over Ireland and the wind noticeably picked up during efforts #5 & 6. I managed to hit the speeds I wanted though, but it could have been different had I left it much later to do the session.
Totals: 1.0hrs - 16.19km

Swim
25m pool

400m building, last 100 @ 80% PE,
6*400m pull off 7:15, #1-3 @ 80% PE (6:40-6:45), #4-6 @ 90% PE (6:35-6:40),
16*100m as 4 sets of {4*100m off 2:00, desc. 1-4}, (#1 & 3 pull; 1:40-1:35, #2 & 4 fs; 1:50-1:38),
50m easy,
12*50m pull off 60”, done as 4 sets of {3*50m, desc. 1-3}
25m cool down

I was in a lane beside a group of water polo players bashing out fast lengths and consequently the water was more turbulent than it would normally be. It made for a strange feeling. Whether it was down to this, I'm not sure, but it was harder work descending through the sets of 100s than it should have been. The opening 100 in each set never felt like recovery. After struggling with 100s and the hard run I'd only finished three hours previous, I didn't fancy any more kicking and stuck a pull buoy between my legs for the concluding set of 50s. I expected this would make things easier, but it wasn't the case. I probably managed to descend through each individual set of 3*50m, but the improvements were not commensurate with the effort I put in.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 2,675m


Thursday 23rd February
a.m.
Swim
25m pool, coached session

600m warm-up & drills with wetsuit,
1,500m wetsuit TT-ish in 25:08, 1:40/100m
Various splits; 200m: 3:10, 400m: 6:32, 750m: 12:37,
300m easy

I was tired and wasn't fully committed to the TT. Peter saw this and being disappointed with my time, told me to do the TT again some other time. I know myself I'm capable of better, but I swam in a decade old wetsuit and after being passed within 400m by the other guy in the lane, I realised how slow I was swimming. I lost what little enthusiasm I had for the TT. I know this is a poor attitude to take into a session, but it's impossible to be on top of your game all the time and right now running is my priority. So sacrificing quality swim work, on a Thursday morning, because I've flogged myself on Wednesday's tempo run is a price worth paying.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 2,400m

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo

70 minutes w. 5 sets of 3*30" accelerations

Nothing too fancy or taxing about this. It's a nice way to wind down to the morning off I usually take on a Friday.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 33.25km


Friday 24th February
a.m.
Swim
50m pool

100m warm-up with wetsuit,
1,500m wetsuit TT in 23:51, 1:35/100m
Various splits; 200m: 3:06, 400m: 6:16, 750m: 11:54

This was take 2 of my 1,500m wetsuit TT. I wore my race suit for this and was much more committed to it. I was in a rush getting the wetsuit on and it felt tighter around the shoulders than I remember it being last year. Wishful thinking has me believing there might be a few more seconds if I had more time to put the suit on properly. Still it's a big improvement on yesterday's effort and I was satisfied looking at my watch afterwards. I think the oddity of someone wearing a wetsuit wards others off from joining them in the lane and I was able to swim unimpeded for the full TT.
Totals: 0.5hrs – 1,600m

p.m.
S & C

40 minutes

Totals: 0.5hrs – n/a

Swim
25m pool – coached session

800m warm up w. every fourth length fast
40*50m off 60", {desc. 1-4} x 10, alternate sets done as pull/fs

I led out the lane for the warm up, but a faster swimmer jumped in half way through these 800m. He took over for the 40*50. I was getting very close to him during these and the drafting benefit was huge. I didn't have to expend too much energy over the hour and my times for the 50s were approximately; 55", 50", 45 & 42".
Totals: 1.0hrs – 2,400m


Saturday 25th February
Run
87 minutes w. 5 x 10 minute blocks of increasing intensity (5' @ <4:00/km, 3' @ :45/km, 2' @ :30/km)

Warm up: 2.83km in 12:00, 4:15/km,
Block 1; 1.27km in 5:01, 3:57/km, 82?m in 3:00, 3:40/km, 58?m in 2:00, 3:29/km,
Block 2; 1.28km in 5:00, 3:54/km, 82?m in 2:59, 3:37/km, 58?m in 2:00, 3:26/km,
Block 3; 1.30km in 5:01, 3:52/km, 81?m in 2:58, 3:40/km, 61?m in 2:00, 3:17/km,
Block 4; 1.30km in 4:59, 3:51/km, 81?m in 3:01, 3:42/km, 59?m in 2:01, 3:26/km,
Block 5; 1.27km in 4:59, 3:55/km, 83?m in 3:01, 3:39/km, 59?m in 2:00, 3:24/km,
5.53km in 25:11, 4:33/km
Totals: 21.82km in 1:27:12, 4:00/km

I'd to drive down to Roscrea later on today and I was a bit pressed for time. Rather than driving to The Phoenix Park, as I'd normally do, I started this run from my front door in Ratoath. The wind was a big factor in the speeds I could hold. This was particularly true for the hardest 2 minutes at the end of each block when I never felt like I could comfortably settle into my desired paces. I hit my targets though and was happy with the results.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 21.82km

Run
80 minutes steady

18.26km in 1:20:07, 4:23/km

This was done pretty soon after driving for over an hour and a half and my legs felt surprisingly fresh for this second daily run.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 18.79km


Sunday 26th February
Cycle
Turbo, 2hrs 40mins w. 2*20' IM efforts & 4*10 Olympic Efforts

10' warm up, 20' IM Effort, 10' steady, 20' IM Effort, 20' steady, 10' Olympic Effort, 10' steady, 10' Olympic Effort, 10' steady, 10' Olympic Effort, 10' steady, 10' Olympic Effort, 10' cool down

I had originally intended doing 3 hours 45 minutes outdoors, but Storm Ewan meant it wouldn't have been very sensible to do it out out on the roads around Roscrea this morning. Although I'd brought my bike down to Roscrea, my turbo was in Ratoath. A social engagement in the afternoon that ran on into the evening limited my options. It was with a lot of misgivings I packed my car to drive back up to Ratoath at 6 p.m. I started the turbo at around 8 p.m. and it was ridiculously late by the time I finished. I'm never happy to have cut a session short by over an hour, but the easier option would have been to just scrap the session altogether; demons I'm always wrestling with.
Totals: 2.5hrs - 86.0km



Weekly Totals;
Swim: 5.5hrs – 15,125m
Bike: 5.0hrs – 161.29km
Run: 7.0hrs – 94.69km
Other: 0.5hrs

I'd the week off and I did an extra session on a couple of the days. My timing of these sessions wasn't the wisest and they left me feeling fatigued a lot of times during the week. Not going to work also makes it tempting to stay up late; a temptation I gave into every night. I'm still guilty of the same bad habits, but as I get closer to Rotterdam, getting proper rest and sleep is something I'll have to be more conscious of.

zico10

Monday 27th February
a.m.
Morning off

This wasn't quite planned, but I managed yesterday's training poorly and got to bed pretty late. Rather than getting up early to do a longish run, I thought it wiser to just postpone it until after work. It ended up that there wasn't a big enough gap between the run and my regular club swim, but I think it'd would have be more detrimental doing a near 20km run after minimal sleep and a 2½ hour + turbo last night.

p.m.
Run
85 minutes basic progression

Warm up) 2.14km 10:01, 4:41/km,
1) 8.02km in 35:00, 4:22/km,
2) 7.28km in 30:01, 4:08/km,
Cool down) 2.20km in 10:01, 4:55/km
Totals) 19.48km in 1:25:02, 4:22/km

I did this along the Royal Canal Way. Most of the stretch of path I was running was unpaved and it was harder hit and hold slower paces than I ran only two days previous. The path was mucky and slippery in places and being unable to get any traction in these spots also took a toll. This third run has never been comfortable for me since I started my double runs on a Sunday. Even now, after a slight change to my schedule and a full day off running in between the second and third run, it was still the case.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 19.48km

Swim
25m pool – coached session

16*25m off 45", every fourth 25 fast,
4*200m off 3:45, desc. 1-4 (3:28, 3:25, 3:23 & 3:18)
3 sets of {4*50m off 45" & 100m off 2:15}, set #3 all pull†,
3 sets of {3*50m off 50" & 100m off 2:15},

†I made the first three 50s in the first set, the first two in the second set, then I paid the price for leaving such a small window between run and swim and my right calf cramped up 25m into the 100m recovery in the second set. I got to the end of this length, climbed out at the far wall and rejoined the group for the next set, which I did as pull. Everybody in the lane was failing to complete the four consecutive 50s in under 45 seconds, so the coach extended the target time and reduced the number of reps for all of us. It's amazing the difference 5 seconds can make, but things became much more manageable and I came in with plenty of time to spare for all the reps from there on out.
I was drafting all night, so saved a lot of energy, but ultimately not enough to allow me hit the times.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 2,850m


Tuesday 28th February
a.m.
Swim
50m pool

1,000m SKPS w. fins,
6*50m fast off 60", (Average = 43")
100m easy,
5 sets of {3*100 off 1:50}, extra 60" between sets,
100m easy,
3 sets {3*50m off 65", desc. 1-3}
200m cool down

Totals: 1.5hrs – 3,500m

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo
75 minutes w. three IM efforts, 20', 15' & 10'

10' warm up,
20' IM Effort, 5' recovery,
15' IM Effort, 5' recovery,
10' IM Effort

I held a consistent cadence throughout all of the efforts. I've no metrics to go on, but I think I'm getting better at judging the intensities.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 31.20km

Run
50 minutes steady

11.29km in 50:02, 4:26/km

This was a simple out and back from my front door. I pressed lap on my Garmin when I got to the halfway mark and there ended up being not a one second difference between both halves.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 11.29km


Wednesday 1st March
a.m.
Swim
50m pool

400m warm up building to 80% PE,
10*200m pull off 3:40,
2 sets of {3*100m off 1:45}, extra 60" rest between sets,
100m easy,
3 sets of {3*50m off 65", desc. 1-3},
200m cool down

The times I set myself for the the 100s midway through the session were challenging, but having only three of them to do, and getting 60 seconds rest between the sets, made it easier to push off for the first rep believing I'd actually make the times. I feel I really shouldn't be looking upon 1:45 for 100m as a challenge, but in a long course pool, I'm not really good for much more.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 3,600m

p.m.
Run
Spilt tempo run, 7*6' tempo efforts, tempo target = :30/km

Warm up: 3.00km in 12:00, 4:00/km,
Effort 1: 1.78km in 6:01, 3:23/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 4:46/km,
Effort 2: 1.80km in 6:02, 3:21/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 5:05/km,
Effort 3: 1.79km in 6:02, 3:22/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 5:03/km,
Effort 4: 1.78km in 6:01, 3:22/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 5:02/km,
Effort 5: 1.76km in 6:00, 3:24/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 4:52/km,
Effort 6: 1.75km in 6:01, 3:26/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 5:04/km,
Effort 7: 1.76km in 6:00, 3:24/km, Recovery: 1 minute @ 4:54/km,
Totals for efforts: 12.39km in 42:07 3:23/km,
Cool down: 1.43km in 8:03, 5:38/km
Totals: 18.25km in 1:09:05, 3:47/km

This didn't exactly feel easy, but I was never worried about not hitting the pace. I'd to work a lot harder to go slower 12 months ago, so I hope things are coming together in advance of Rotterdam. I finished them with a comfortable gap between my target pace and actual pace. The wind was far less of a factor in this tempo run compared to last week and it was a lot easier to hold run 3:30/km for 6 minutes at a time. Considering this, it should probably be no surprise that my average pace was 2 seconds per kilometre quicker, even if I did have an extra 6 minute rep to do.
Totals: 1.0hrs - 18.25km


Thursday 2nd March
a.m.
Swim
25m pool, coached session

4*50m first phase drill,
5 sets of {3*100m off 2:00 & 300m pull steady},
100m back stroke (or at least my version of it),
8*25m sprints,
100m cool down

I felt like I made a good fist of the main set, which didn't take too much out of me. I finished with enough left to properly sprint all of the 25s at the end of the session.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 3,800m

p.m.
Run
Treadmill

40 minutes @ 4:38/km average

I varied the speed and incline over the 40 minutes and 4:38/km is what it averaged out at.
Totals: 0.5hrs – 8.63km


Friday 3rd March
a.m.
Rest

Cycle

88.14km in 3:33:45, 332m elev. gain, 24.7km/hr

3D had a club weekend away in Carlow starting today. Most of the others attending had already cycled down earlier in the morning. I didn't want to take the day off work for that and went down on my own after a day's teaching. I wasn't looking to break any records and did the cycle at a nice leisurely pace. It was raining, but it was never heavy or prolonged enough to get wet. My club mates who had cycled over the Wicklow Mountains earlier on weren't so lucky; Nice news to hear upon my arrival.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 2,400m


Saturday 4th March
Run
87 minutes w. 5 x 10 minute blocks of increasing intensity (5' @ <4:00/km, 3' @ :45/km, 2' @ :30/km)

Warm up: 2.80km in 12:00, 4:17/km,
Block 1; 1.31km in 5:01, 3:50/km, 497m in 1:46, 3:34/km, 487m in 3:01, 6:11/km†,
583m in 2:01, 3:27/km,
Block 2; 1.33km in 5:02, 3:46/km, 818m in 3:00, 3:39/km, 578m in 2:02, 3:31/km,
Block 3; 1.30km in 5:01, 3:52/km, 815m in 3:02, 3:43/km, 584m in 2:00, 3:26/km,
Block 4; 1.30km in 5:01, 3:51/km, 834m in 3:00, 3:36/km, 585m in 2:01, 3:26/km,
Block 5; 1.29km in 5:01, 3:53/km, 838m in 3:00, 3:35/km, 589m in 2:01, 3:25/km,
Block 6; 1.31km in 5:01, 3:49/km, 824m in 3:00, 3:38/km, 586m in 2:01, 3:26/km,
5.22km in 25:03, 4:48/km
Totals: 24.49km in 1:39:03, 4:03/km

†I was just getting into my groove and early into my run when a massive Irish wolfhound interrupted my run. The gigantic f*cker was jumping up on me and trying to run away from him was pointless. The owner wasn't too quick in coming out to call him off me and I was on the side of the road trying to push the mutt away for several minutes. In doing so, I accidentally restarted my Garmin and it completely skewed the pace you see here.
Apart from that, the run turned into a bit of a catastrophe. The paces were fine, but I injured myself and two plus weeks on, I still haven't been out for a proper run. The tendons in my shin are swollen and it's painful to run. I could feel the injury coming on from about 60 minutes in, but I stubbornly persisted in running at a fast pace, so as I'd be able to look back on another successful session. A very foolish thing to do and I paid the price for it. I don't think the injury is all that serious and I hope to be back running soon, but at the same time I've been to the physio three times and I'm still sidelined.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 21.49km

Swim

200m warm up,
4*50m drills,
4*100m VO2 max effort off 1:40(1:27 for first rep, avg. = 1:32),
200m easy,
4*50m HIM effort off 55" (45" approx.) (comfortable),
4*50m Olympic effort off 55" (43" approx.) (uncomfortable, but manageable),
4*50m Sprint effort off 55" (41" approx.) (very uncomfortable and almost unmanageable)
50m cool down

I was planning a second run, but the damage I did to myself on the earlier run put paid to that. The club had a swim organised in a pool in Carlow Town, so I went along to that instead. There was one other guy in the lane and we swam side by side for all the hard stuff. We'd be of a very similar standard and pretty much finished at the exact same time for all the efforts. He was tumble turning, which meant I had a bit of work to do after every turn to catch back up.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 18.79km


Sunday 5th March
Cycle

120.16km in 5:15:43, 1,799m elevation gain, 23.4km/hr average moving speed (+4km not recorded)

I wasn't 100% sure if a long cycle back from Carlow to Dublin, via the Wicklow Mountains, was the smartest thing to be doing only 24 hours after picking up an injury. But at least it wasn't running and I had to get my bike back to Dublin somehow. I cycled up Aughavannagh, the Shay Elliot and the Wicklow Gap. I wasn't moving all that fast and got dropped by the group I was riding with. To make matters worse, it was a wet, miserable day. I eventually got back to the Park and gladly accepted a lift back to my parked car from an awaiting van the club had rented out for the weekend. At the time, I didn't think I'd done any further damage to myself, but the days and weeks since have me questioning this.
Totals: 5.5hrs - 124.16km



Weekly Totals;
Swim: 6.5hrs – 15,125m
Bike: 10.0hrs – 243.53km
Run: 5.5hrs – 82.14km
Other: 0.5hrs

Neady83

Sorry to hear about the injury Zico. How're you feeling about Rotterdam?

Kurt.Godel

Bummer about the injury zico. Hope you get over it quickly.

Have you any thoughts on your training load and injury?- few rest days, huge volume, a lot of intensity... obviously its a loaded question, but I'd be interested to hear your take on straddling that fine line between injury and pushing the body that extra yard.

zico10

Neady83 wrote: »

How're you feeling about Rotterdam?

I'd be majorly p!ssed off if I had to miss it. Although, maybe it is something I have to consider. I think I'd get through it and still manage to run reasonably fast, but I need to consider at what cost. As much as I wanted to run well there, Rotterdam was only ever a B goal. If running it derails my training by a month or two, then I have to accept starting it could be a bad idea. The physio I was at yesterday said if I wasn't running a marathon in three weeks, he'd advise three weeks rest. He was an accomplished runner himself and has seen all manner of injuries, so it'd be better if the marathon was a bit further off.

It's not an ideal lead in, but I'm still optimistic about making it and on the plus side, the physio said he knows other runners with a similar injury who got through marathons unscathed. I had his blessing to continue cycling. I was able to maintain my fitness this way last summer, so I expect it will be a similar story over the next couple of weeks. I'm going to try an easy run on grass next Saturday and if this goes well, I can start easing back into running. I'll do all my runs between then and Rotterdam on grass and fingers crossed the pain will be completely gone come April.

zico10

Kurt.Godel wrote: »

Have you any thoughts on your training load and injury?- few rest days, huge volume, a lot of intensity... obviously its a loaded question, but I'd be interested to hear your take on straddling that fine line between injury and pushing the body that extra yard.

The injury was caused by running alone. I've been doing high volume with a lot of intensity and feck all rest days for a long time. In any event, I don't think the paces I was running were all that intense. Considering I aim to run 2 hours 34 odd minutes at sub 3:40/km pace in just over 2 weeks, that's at least how I need to look at them. So I don't think the factors you list have anything to do with my woes.

Unless of course you are talking specifically about the run training I've been doing. And it is hard to look beyond the recent jump in the volume of running I've done, and come to any other conclusion. Looking back on it now, it seems like it's the obvious cause. According to the physio I visited on Monday, my injury is an overuse injury plain and simple.

I thought having a near 5 month streak of continuous runs under my belt from three years ago would stand to me. The running I've done for the last three weeks or so was nothing close to the volume I was doing back then. I fully expected to be resilient enough to get through 5/6 runs a week. I guess I wasn't and it's been a costly mistake. Practically all my runs this year were done on hard, unforgiving surfaces. This would have been different had the Phoenix Park, and its vast expanses of grass, been on my doorstep like they were 3 years ago. It's unfortunate now that things have fallen apart that this has occurred to me.

zico10

Monday 6th March
a.m.
I had planned on doing something, but somehow the alarm on my phone had been accidentally set to silent. Even though the rest wasn't planned, it probably did no harm.

p.m.
Cross-training
Cross-trainer

1 hour easy/steady

Totals: 1.0hrs – n/a

Swim
25m pool – coached session

400m warm up,
40*50m off 60", (desc. 1-4) x 10, 2 sets done as pull
50m easy
200m fast (3:07)

This felt like an alright hour in the water. I was worried about the injury I picked up on Saturday. Although it was never painful, I could feel it at times.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 2,650m


Tuesday 7th March
a.m.
Swim
50m pool

400m pull w. snorkel,
12*50m fast off 65", every 4th one hard (47" approx.)
5*200 pull off 3:30, (3:20 approx),
200m cool down

I wore buoyancy shorts for this on account of my injury. The 200s weren't meant to be done as pull, but I didn't think the kicking that would have gone along with the five of them would helped with my recovery from injury.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 2,200m

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo
90 minutes w. 3 x 20' IM efforts

10' warm up,
20' IM Effort, 5' recovery,
20' IM Effort, 5' recovery,
20' IM Effort,
10' cool down

I maintained a consistent cadence and this felt like a good use of my time. I didn't really notice my injury, so even though I can't run, hopefully cycling is something I'll be able to keep up.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 48.50km


Wednesday 8th March
a.m.
Swim
50m pool

400m warm up building to 80% PE,
32*50m off 65", (desc. 1-4) x 10,
3 sets of {3*50m off 65", desc. 1-3},
200m cool down

My times for the descending 50s were typically 50", 47", 45" & 43", although I did manage one final 50 full stroke in 41". It would be nice to think this one fast length signals I'm on the cusp of a breakthrough, but I can't ignore the few factors that made it easier. Same as yesterday, I wore buoyancy shorts today and each alternate set of 4*50m was done as pull. These two things made the combined 1,600m a lot easier, but I felt like I was moving well all the same.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 3,600m

p.m.
Cross Training

10:00 warm up,
20:00 @ IM intensity,

Circa 5 minute break

20:00 @ IM intensity

The ligament in my shin was sore on the odd occasion, not painfully sore, but sore enough to remind me I was injured.
Totals: 1.0hrs - n/a

S & C

20 minutes rehab work

Totals: 0.5hrs – n/a


Thursday 9th March
a.m.
Swim
25m pool, coached session

10*400m (#1, 2 ,5 ,6, 9 & 10 pull, steady effort & #3, 4, 7 & 8 as 50 fast/50 easy),
100m easy,
5 x (25m sprint & 25m easy),
100m cool down

Other than the sets, I've no notes for this session. I got a good chunk of volume done though and don't remember thinking it was a hard session, so I guess that's a positive.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 4,500m

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo

90 minutes steady w. 10 x 30" accelerations

I've no notes scribbled for this session. All I know is I got it done.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 42.0km


Friday 10th March
a.m.
Rest

Swim
25m pool, coached session

400m warm up,
6 sets of {4*100m off 1:40}, (1:35 approx.),
50m easy
9*50m off 60", (desc. 1-3) x 3 (50", 47" & 44" approx.)

I wore buoyancy shorts yet again. They save me having to kick too vigorously when I need to go fast. It's not always enough to completely immunise me from pain though and I was frequently reaching for my pull buoy tonight.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 2,700m


Saturday 11th March
Cycle
3 hours steady

88.79km in 3:11:49, 373m gain, 27.8km/hr (+3km not recorded)

I didn't have any real goals starting off. I wasn't trying to bomb it, but I slowed over the course of the three hours nonetheless. There's not much else to be said this spin. My injury, which seemed to be going away this morning, made it sore to even walk afterwards. It looks like I might have to ease off on bike training on top of no running until I'm fully healed; not a move that I find too appealing.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 21.49km


Sunday 12th March
Swim

16*50m off 65", #4, 8, 12 & 16 fast (43"-44"),
4*200m pull off 3:50 (<3:20),
200m easy,
4*200m off 3:50 desc. 1-4 (3:48, 3:42, 3:35 & 3:20),
200m cool down

This was the first of two weekly swim sessions our club coach emails us in addition to the Friday night swim he takes. I usually leave it until Tuesday of the following week, but not being fit for anything else I did it today. As I've done all week, I did more pull sets than I should have.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 2,800m

S & C

30 minutes maintenance work

I was hoping to get two swims done today, but didn't show enough urgency getting up this morning. By the time I'd finished this, I felt there wasn't going to be a long enough break between the two swims and did this short workout in the NAC's gym instead.
Totals: 0.5hrs - n/a



Weekly Totals;
Swim: 6.5hrs – 17,050m
Bike: 6.5hrs – 182.70km
Run: 0.0hrs – 0.0km
Other: 3.0hrs

A week with absolutely zero running was obviously not part of the plans. I had hoped to run a half marathon in Bohermeen on Sunday 12th, but the price I likely would have had to pay, just wouldn't have been worth it. Even though I think I'd still have been able to get through it in a decent enough time, there was a very good chance my plight would have worsened. Not knowing when to stop last Saturday is what has me in this mess and I wasn't going to make the same mistake for the second weekend in a row. Although it will be harder to swallow, I need to adopt the same attitude towards the full Rotterdam. There are plenty of marathons in Ireland in May or June I could retarget. Risking a two to three month lay off by running in Rotterdam, however iconic the race might be, would be extremely inadvisable. I'm not giving up on the race yet, more setting myself up not to be too disappointed if I still can't run on April 9th.