I Am the Master of My Fate

Bambaata

Well done Alan, enjoyed the read

zico10

Monday 6th April
a.m.
Run
I was still down in Roscrea for this, and I started about 9 a.m. I went out a quite country road and did 8 x 100m strides near the end of the run.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 10.95km

p.m.
Cycle
We had a family get together today and as much as I would have liked to have been out on my bike in the afternoon, it wasn’t possible until much later in the evening. I wanted to do more, but I was running out of daylight hours by the time I started and finished up after sunset.
Totals; 3.0hrs – 70.22km


Tuesday 7th April
Cycle
After an unsatisfactory day’s cycling yesterday and still with no work to go to, I was hoping to spend much longer in the saddle today. Had I been in Dublin, I would have gone to the Wicklow Mountains. The closest mountains to me in Roscrea are the Slieve Blooms. They’re not quite the mountains you’d find Wicklow, but the road surface is general good, there was very little traffic, and I was happy with the work I did. Once again it was a lovely day to be out on the bike. Unfortunately I was out for so long the battery in my Garmin died after about 5½ hours. The last distance I remember seeing on the Garmin was 145km. After charging it, all the stats from this cycle were deleted. I plotted the route on mapmyrun and got the distance from that. I’m not 100% sure of the time, but I left shortly after 2 and it was nearly 9 when I got home. I only stopped for a couple of pisses, so I’ll log it as 7 hours. There was 1,699m of climbing over the 7 hours, which meant my average speed was a bit down on other rides recently.
Totals; 7.0hrs – 176.54km

Run

Lap 1; 5.76km in 22:24, avg. pace .57/km
Lap 2; 5.76km in 23:12, avg. pace <4.02/km
Total; 11.52km in 45:54, avg. pace <4.00/km

I think I need to do a lot more runs straight after bike rides. Coming towards the end of the cycle, I decide I’d go for a run of 10km+ straight after finishing up. I wasn’t looking forward to this from the moment the decision was made. When I did get home I wasn’t motivated enough to get out quickly and do the run. About 15 minutes had gone by between finishing the cycle and starting. I went out planning to run <4.15/km pace. As my Garmin was dead, I ran two laps of a route I know and worked out my pace using a basic stopwatch. I only looked at the stopwatch once during the run, this was as I passed my house on completion of the first lap. This one glance told me I was well under my target pace. I didn’t mean to ease up on the second lap, but I slowed down by 5 seconds per kilometre. This might not sound like much and I was still well under my desired pace, but I’d like to have a more intuitive feel for the pace I run.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 11.52km


Wednesday 8th April
Swim
NAC, 50m pool

10*400m alternating full stroke and pull, untimed

Totals; 1.5hrs – 4,000m

Run

10.0km in 46:54, 4:41/km
10.0km in 41:59, 4:12/km
3.01km in 14:43, 4.53/km

This was tougher than I thought it was going to be. My planned pace for the faster 10 kilometres in the middle was 4.05-4.15/km. I managed this, but I was never once worried that I might have been going too fast.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 23.01km


Thursday 9th April
a.m.
Swim
Coached session, 25m pool
After warming up, one or two drills, and one fast 400m, Peter moved me and two others into a lane where we received more individualised instruction. This lasted for the bulk of the session and I’m not entirely sure what we did. The distance I’m logging is an estimate.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 2,900m

Swim
NAC, 50m pool
Peter had asked me previously to do a 1,000m TT in buoyancy shorts. The session we’d just done was a fairly easy one and I wasn’t all that jaded from it. After showering, I drove to the NAC to do the TT.

200m warm up
4*50m build
100m easy
1,000m TT in 16.56, 1.41/100m
100m easy

I thought I would have been faster in the 1,000m TT. I think there could be a lot of explanations for it, but I won’t detail them right now.
Totals; 0.5hrs – 1,600m

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo, moderate effort
Totals; 3.0hrs – 82.5km


Friday 3rd April
Cycle
This was an easy enough effort around the roads of North County Dublin. My Garmin recorded 105.06km in 3.55.44. There were a few times when I stopped, but didn’t stop my watch. Average pace: >26.7km/hr. I only drank water for the first three hours. I was looking for somewhere to stop for coffee. I’d take calories on board then, but didn’t pass any ideal stopping place. I abandoned my plans for a coffee stop and took a gel instead.
Totals; 4.0hrs – 105.06km

Run
To and from swimming
Totals; 1.0hrs – 11.5km

Swim
25m pool, coached session

300m warm up
4*200m off 3.35, alternating pull & full stroke (3.25, 3.30, 3.28, 3.27)
4*200m off 3.30, alternating pull & full stroke (3.25 approximately)
4*200m off 3.25, alternating pull & full stroke (3.20, 3.20, 3.22, 3.23)
100m easy
6*50m off 60 seconds, descending 1-3, 5-6
50m cool down

We took an extra 30 seconds rest between sets. I led for the first set of four 100s, then drafted for the second two sets, which was a good thing as I wouldn’t have made the times had I been leading. I was completely drained by the time we got to the 6*50m set at the end. I’d no speed at all and despite trying desperately, I didn’t manage to lower my times by any significant amount.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 3,150m


Saturday 11th April
Transition Practice
My triathlon club had a session organised where newbies could get tips on fast transitions and put them into practice under the tutelage of an experienced member. I was doing nothing else and fancied an easy workout, so I went along.
Totals; 1.0hrs

S & C
I’m not doing any strength work myself, so I went to a 45 minute TRX class in the gym in the NAC. I did some foam rolling afterwards.
Totals; 1.0hrs

Swim
NAC, 25m pool

Pyramid set; 200m, 400m, 600m, 800m, 800m, 600m, 400m, 200m

I wore buoyancy shorts for this and didn’t wear a watch or look at the clock.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 4,000m

Run
11km with 8*100m strides uphill
Totals; 1.0hrs – 11.0km


Sunday 12th April
Cycle
After the lovely weather during the week, going outside today wasn’t all that appealing. Paris-Roubaix was on telly as well, which made doing a 5 hour turbo instead of going outside that bit easier.
Totals; 5.0hrs – 150.00km

Run
25.91km in 1.59.54, 4.37/km
Waking up this morning, I wanted to start my run as soon as I had finished my cycle. After 5 hours on the turbo, I wasn’t as enthused about doing this as I had been earlier in the day. I started about an hour after finishing the turbo. The plan was 2 hours at a pace of <4.48/km. I think my long runs have been too slow and too easy for the last few months. I’m going to go back to the pace zone of 4.24-4.48 that I stuck to 12 months ago. I hope this will serve me better than the long slow stuff I have been doing.
Totals; 2.0hrs – 25.91km


Weekly Totals;
Swim; 6.0hrs – 15,650m
Bike; 22.0hrs – 584.32km
Run; 7.5hrs – 93.89km
S & C; 1.0hrs
Misc.; 1.0hrs


For the Easter holidays last year, I got the boat to France and cycled around there for two weeks. I cycled nearly 2,000km over the fortnight and I think all this slow steady cycling stood to me later in the year. It wasn’t practical or even necessary to do the same thing this year, but I still wanted to get out on my bike as much as possible this Easter. After the duathlon in Ennis and in prep for the tri in Portlaoise, I changed my mind and dialled back my training over my first week off. This meant I was left with a lot of cycling to do in the second week. There was nothing epic about any of the rides I did, but I’m happy with the hours I put in. I felt fatigued by the end of the week, which is probably no surprise after what I’m sure these are the longest training hours I’ve ever done in one week.

Dory Dory

What kind of nutrition/hydration did you take on for your 7 hour ride on Tuesday, April 7th?

zico10

Dory Dory wrote: »

What kind of nutrition/hydration did you take on for your 7 hour ride on Tuesday, April 7th?

I don't remember the specifics, but at a guess;
I'd 2 litres of water and High5 Zero for the 7 hours, a bag of wine gums (remember them?), a banana, 3/4 gels.
On training rides I'd often bring chocolate, but I don't think I'd any in my house on this day and I'm pretty sure I didn't have any on the ride.

Dory Dory

zico10 wrote: »

I don't remember the specifics, but at a guess;
I'd 2 litres of water and High5 Zero for the 7 hours, a bag of wine gums (remember them?), a banana, 3/4 gels.
On training rides I'd often bring chocolate, but I don't think I'd any in my house on this day and I'm pretty sure I didn't have any on the ride.

Wine gum!! I'm impressed you remembered that! Still haven't ever tried them. And I sure hope you ate well when you got home! Of course you had that one hour run you did as well. Whew! Massive week for you. Well done.

zico10

Dory Dory wrote: »

Wine gum!! I'm impressed you remembered that! Still haven't ever tried them.

I'd have brought some to The Market Bar had I known that.

zico10

After a big week previous to this one, this was a recovery week. I also had a 10k running race on Sunday that I wanted to do well in. I planned my running and biking with this in mind. I’m not sure if I feel fully recovered, but I’ll plough on regardless.

Monday 13th April
a.m.
Nada

p.m.
Run
To and from swimming
There was nothing remarkable about either leg, but it was finally bright enough to run home by the canal after swimming.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 11.0km

Swim

16*50m off 70 seconds, every fourth 50 fast (42-43 seconds)
Four sets of
{4*50m off 60 seconds (target 48 seconds) & 3*100m off 1.35 †}

†I only made the first one
I was completely shagged for this. I was barely hitting the target of 48 seconds on the 50s and I had nothing left for the 100s. I guess the big hours of last week caught up with me. How this session went convinced me to take it easier than I had even originally planned for the rest of the week. i.e. No 3 sessions a day.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 2,800m


Tuesday 14th April
a.m.
After the swim last night, I thought it would be more beneficial to stay in bed than get up for a hard swim session in the NAC. Consequently I postponed my homework until after work.

p.m.
Swim
NAC, 25m pool

16*50m descending 1-4, 5-8, etc. (Times falling from 55-40 seconds approximately)
15*100m as five sets of three with 60 seconds rest between sets
1) off 1.50
2) off 1.40 (pull)
3) off 1.50
4) off 1.35 (pull)
5) off 1.45
200m easy pull

This was a homework assignment from one of my swim coaches. It’s homework for his group and ordinarily I extend them so as they are approximately 4,000m. After last night’s disastrous session, I was a bit trepidatious going into this. My main concern was just hitting all the times and I didn’t want to make this any more unlikely by adding in extra sets. For the same reason I opted to do the faster sets with a pull buoy. It might have been cheating a little bit, but I considered it more important to make the times than the method I used to make them.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 2,500m

Run

3.5km warm up
Stretches, 1km drills & strides
Main set 4.85km as 10 x {1 minute fast & 1 minute recovery}
1) 332m in 1:01, 3:04/km, 2) 33m in 1:00, 3:01/km, 3) 299m in 1:00, 3:22/km, 4) 348m in 1:00, 2:53/km, 5) 305m in 1:00, 3:18/km, 6) 330m in 0:59, 3.01/km 7) 300m in 0:59, 3:18/km , 8) 327m in 1:00, 3:03/km, 9) 295m in 1:00, 3:23/km, 10) 331m in 1:01, 3:04/km
Average pace; 3.09/km
3km cool down

I did this with my club and we ran on The Furze Road in The Park. The 1st, 3rd, 5th, etc. efforts were up a slight incline and into a headwind, and vice versa for intervals 2, 4, 6, etc. My average pace was a bit all over the place. I was running with others which didn’t help, but even still I’d like to be looking back on more consistent splits. Also while they weren’t all out efforts, for efforts that were only one minute long with equal recovery, I’d like to have been faster.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 11.35km


Wednesday 15th April
a.m.
Swim
NAC, 50m pool

400m easy
8*100m off 2.10 descending 1-4 & 5-8 (Times fell from 1.53-1.40)
2*400m off 7.30 (1st 100 pull; 7:12 – 1:47/100m, 2nd 100 full stoke; 7:15 – 1:48/100m)
2*400m off 7.20 (1st 100 pull; 7:02 – 1:45/100m, 2nd 100 full stoke; 7:09 – 1:47/100m)
2*400m off 7.10 (1st 100 pull; 6:56 – 1:43/100m, 2nd 100 full stoke; 7:01 – 1:45/100m)
400m cool down

I did this with a club mate and was drafting off him for the entire session. This made things a lot easier, but I was still tiring towards the end of the 90 minutes. It’s only a small thing, but I’m pleased the times I was coming in on fell alongside the times I was swimming off. I just about made it on the 8th on final 100, but I’d go so far as to say, I was quite pleased to be able to swim faster times for each of the 400s sans pull buoy than I did on the previous 400 with it.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 4,000m

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo;
My go to session;

11:00 warm up, 10:00 Olympic effort, 5:00 recovery, 8:00 Olympic effort, 4:00 recovery, 6:00 sprint effort, 3:00 recovery, 4:00 sprint effort, 2:00 recovery, 2:00 all out, 5:00 cool down

Totals; 1.0hrs – 32.5km


Thursday 16th April
a.m.
Swim
Coached session, 25m pool

300m warm up
200m as 25m easy, 25m sprint & 25m kick
4*200m 1 &3 fast, 2 & 4 steady (20 seconds rest)
100m underwater
100m one arm drill
4*200m as 50 fast & 50 steady (20 seconds rest)
100m kick
100m 3rd phase drill
4*200m as 100 fast & 100 steady (20 seconds rest)
100m backstroke
6*50m sprints (40 seconds, drafting all the way)
50m easy

I was in a lane with faster swimmers for this. I did my best to draft off them, but how well I held their feet varied over the session.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 3,750m

p.m.
Run
Medium long run of 19km
I ran this as an out and back along The Royal Canal from Clonsilla to Leixlip. took splits at various points during the run;

1) 9:63km in 43:28, 4:34/km
2) 7:38km in 32:24, 4:23/km
3) 992m in 03:50, 3:51/km
4) 1.00km in 4:15, 4:14/km
Total; 19.00km in 1:24:28, 4:26/km

This was a bit faster than I had planned, but I felt good, so I went with it. I planned to go faster on the penultimate kilometre, but a walker had his dog off the leash. You can imagine yourself how this might have interfered with my plans.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 19.0km


Friday 17th April
a.m.
Nada

p.m.
Swim
25m pool, coached session

8*50m, every fourth 50 fast
Three sets of;
{4*100m off 1:40 & 400m off 7:00}
100m, first 25 fast (1:40)
100m, second 25 fast (1:43)
100m, final 25 fast (1:43)

We swam straight through the main sets of 100s and 400s. Apart from an additional 10 seconds when I surrendered the lead, I got through them without taking a rest. I led for the middle one, but the other two in the lane were just slightly faster than me and I didn’t feel much of a drafting benefit for the four 100s when I wasn’t leading. We could afford to ease up on the 400s and though our rests got shorter and shorter on them, they did serve as some sort of recovery. I managed to make all the times, which pleased me.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 3,100m


Saturday 18th April
Run

8km w. 6*100m strides

Totals; 0.5hrs – 8.0km

Swim
NAC, 25m pool

200m full stroke, 400m pull, 200m full stroke, 400m pull, 200m full stroke, 400m pull, 200m full stroke

I wore buoyancy shorts for this and didn’t wear a watch or look at the clock.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 4,000m


Sunday 19th April
Run
2.59km at gentle pace, done soon after waking up just to get my systems going
Approximately 3km warm up before race
Shinrone Gaa Club 10k Race
10km Race in 34.44, 3.28/km
I saw signs on the roadside for this on my cycles down home over Easter. I posted this;

zico10 wrote: »

Right now I plan to do a spring 5km or 10km race with target times of <16.20 or <34.30. If I can’t hit those times, then I’ll consider increasing the run mileage I am doing, but as of now I don’t see the need for any wholesale changes.

last January, so this local 10k suited. I checked the winning time from last year and felt very confident of beating it. There was a promise of a cash prize for the winner. This was an extra incentive to race and thankfully I managed to win and got €50 for the effort. More detailed report and analysis to follow.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 15.59km

Cycle
I went for an easy cycle later that evening. I set out just after finishing my Sunday dinner, so would have been in no great state to push hard even if I wanted to.
Totals; 3.0hrs – 74.65km



Weekly Totals;
Swim; 6.5hrs – 15,650m
Bike; 4.0hrs – 107.15km
Run; 5.0hrs – 64.94km
S & C; 0.0hrs

Kurt Godel

Well done on the win! That's a nice looking swim volume for a recovery week.

You almost seem apologetic about using drafting or pb to make times. Yes if you were doing it all the time, but its useful to swim faster at times to get used to a tougher speed. I've found drafting useful in this regard lately; times when I do lead off are faster than I would normally go. I guess its memory from an enhanced swim position while drafting.

zico10

Kurt, what you say us true, but I think it's important to make a note of these things. Looking back on my training it's good to know whether I was drafting, using a pull buoy, wearing buoyancy shorts, etc. No point fooling myself into thinking I'm easily hitting the times.

Dory Dory

Hi zico! Long story short - I watched the elite runners with wonderment at the 26 mile mark finishing stretch in Boston on Monday. After the top women passed, and then after the top men passed, my thoughts turned to who do I know that would be closest in speed to these elites? The first name that popped in my head was Krusty Clown, but then I realized that it was you who would be coming in closest to (and beating some of) these incredible athletes....and it gave me pause to appreciate how talented and gifted you are as a distance runner. I know you have IM goals that no doubt you will reach, but when you have scratched that IM itch, perhaps you might consider doing some big, international marathons - and don't be afraid of putting yourself in the money category. Boston gives prize money to the top 15 runners, and to the top 5 masters. I believe you have 5 years to go to achieve master status, but for a little perspective, the 5th fastest male master came in at 2:30:xx on Monday. Who knows what your marathon trajectory will be, but I'm not convinced you couldn't do that time (or better) in 5 years. Just sayin'. :)

zico10

Firstly I thouroughly refute the accusation that I am talented and gifted.:)

And I'm not sure growing 5 years older qualifies as an achievement, but I am pretty sure Krusty would give me a good run for my money.

It is interesting/enticing what you say about the masters' race in Boston. After Connemara last year, sub 2.30 is an ambition I have. I'd rather achieve this than pick up prize money for being the 5th master runner across the line in Boston, and finish in a time of 2.30.??.

To achieve the time, I sometimes think I'd have been better continuing with running exclusively after Connemara, and putting my Kona ambitions on hold instead. But the decision has been made and I'm fully committed to Ironman for the time being. Hopefully I'll have raced Kona sooner rather than later. And after that, I think I'd need to take it easy for a year.

It's hard to know what the future holds, but I do plan to give marathon a few years' focus at some point in my late 30s/early 40s. And when that time comes, I hope I'll still have the same ambition and drive for training that I do now.

Dory Dory

Sadly, you are that talented and gifted geek. :)

Krusty is class for sure, as is Abhainn (he's another I thought of at the 26 mile mark), and both would give you a run for your money no doubt (and both are older than you, which is impressive on their part), however, I think time is on your side.

I also think your commitment to Kona is perfectly timed for many reasons, so trust in the path you have chosen as I have a hunch it will pay you dividends later if you decide to target some serious goals with the marathon. You are one of the most brutally focused athletes I have ever known. You are smart. And you are wickedly competitive. Who knows what will hold your gaze 5 years from now, but there is no doubt you'll be fully committed and totally immersed in whatever (or whoever ) it is.

zico10

Shinrone GAA Club, 10km Road Race

I said a few months ago I'd have a bash at a 10k race to see how I compare to this time last year. I set a pb of 33:52 back then. I haven't been doing anything near the run volume I was last year and I set the bar at <34:30. If I could hit that, I'd be happy with my run form going into tri season.

Taking to the start line at this race, I didn't think I was in good enough shape for sub 34:30 and I would have been very happy and slightly surprised had I managed it. I'd no proper pacing strategy in place for my target time, other than to go out hard and try hang on. Kamikaze is probably not the most sensible way to approach a race, but as it was only ten kilometres I wasn't worried about any long term negative consequences of a poorly executed race.

There was a minimum of fuss in entering this. There was no pre-registration required and when I got to Shinrone GAA Club's ground, there was a bunch of 9 year old girls manning the sign on desk. After signing up and handing over the entry fee, I went back outside to go through my pre-race rituals, before jogging to the start line.

There weren't too many people at the start, and of these most of them didn't look like regular runners. I was fairly certain I was going to be right up there challenging for top honours and I took a position right at the front of the 50 or so starters.

The starter was on a radio to someone else starting the clock, there was no countdown and the starting signal seemed to catch everyone by surprise. I took the lead from the off and only one other guy went with me. We were still together after 1km, but I had led from the word 'Go'. The last couple of running races I've done have taught me that it's not always necessarily the wisest thing to be leading other runners around a course. I didn't want to make a similar mistake today and was prepared to relinquish the lead if he was still with me after 2km.

This other guy seemed to breathing heavily, and Instead I decided to try pull away from him before we got to 2km. This injection of pace paid off and I managed to lose him. The only trouble now was I was on my own and with nobody else to drag me along, I was going to have to pace the rest of the race on my own.

Being out on my own for so long made it a pretty uneventful race. The road was marked after every 1km and these intervals tallied with the readings on my Garmin. Unfortunately though it took longer and longer for the kilometres to roll by.

I'd covered the first kilometre in 3:08, then the second in 3:16. My pace went out to 3:27/km for the third kilometre and although I continued to slow from here, the drop off in pace over then last 7km wasn't as dramatic as it had been over those first three.

After almost steadily decelerating for each successive kilometre, I got to the end of the penultimate kilometre determined to up the pace for the final 1,000m. I figured I was going to have to take 15 seconds plus off the pace I was holding at that moment in time. It turned out to be delusional of me, but after 9km, I hadn't entirely ruled out the possibility of breaking 34:30. It wasn't a hilly route, but one of the inclines that we had to deal with came after crossing the 9km marker.

Perhaps it was just my imagination, but the wind, which was against me at this point, seemed to pick up as well. The road swept down for a stretch, but I couldn't take advantage of the loss in gradient. My pace stayed the same and I accepted that a finishing time under 34:30 wasn't going to happen. I was comfortably on for a time less than the next benchmark of 35 minutes. With this realisation, I eased up and crossed the line in 34:44.

Finishing Time; 34:44, Avg. pace; 3:28/km

I went into the clubhouse after the race to pick up a winner's cheque of €50. It's won't break than bank, but it's better than a kick in the arse. I met career move at the prize giving, who also picked up first prize. Well done to you.

Reflection
My splits for each kilometre were;
1) 3:08, 2) 3:16, 3) 3:27 4) 3:29, 5) 3:31, 6) 3:30, 7) 3:32, 8) 3:31, 9) 3:35, 10) 3:36,
Total average pace = 3.28/km
The above reveals a very poorly paced race. I don't know would I have been better trying to run more even splits. I feel haven't done enough 10k races to know how to pace them properly, so I don't know how such an approach would have worked.

Poorly paced or not, I still think I faded rather badly. This tells me that I just don't have the necessary stamina. There could be a lot of reasons for this, but I'm finding it hard not to compare the running I've done this year with the big volume I had ran by this time 12 months ago, and draw conclusions from that.

Even the running I am doing probably does not include enough hard stuff. If I'm being honest, my approach to running has been a bit willy-nilly for the last couple of months. While I'm not looking to follow any specific plan, I think my training needs more structure. I'll try to incorporate a brisk long run, tempo run, and speed work in my weekly runs from now and see where that gets me.

zico10

Monday 20th April
a.m.
I drove back up to Dublin from Roscrea this morning. Getting an a.m. session in would have meant being on the road before half 5. I’ve done this before, but after the race yesterday I didn’t fancy such an early start today.

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo
My go to session, only I held back a bit on the hard parts;

11:00 warm up, 10:00 IM effort, 5:00 recovery, 8:00 IM effort, 4:00 recovery, 6:00 IM effort, 3:00 recovery, 4.00 IM effort, 2:00 recovery, 2:00 IM effort, 5:00 cool down

Totals; 1.0hrs – 30.0km

Run
I only ran to swimming tonight. Afterwards, I was offered a lift back which I took.
Totals; 0.5hrs – 5.5km

Swim

16*50m off 60 seconds, every fourth 50 fast

6*400m off 6:40 was the next set we were to do. I made the time for the first one, but things fell apart after that. I didn’t even feel like I was working incredibly hard, I just had nothing to give. After losing their feet and a gap of nearly 15m opening on the person in front of me, I took a break and tried to latch back on after the other swimmers had lapped me. The same thing happened almost immediately and I was swimming on my own once more. I completely lost track of the distance I had covered and the times I was hitting. I checked my time for 50m at one point and I barely scraped under 55 seconds, which was nowhere near the pace I needed to be swimming. After a few more lengths struggling through the sets, I cramped up. I’d only gotten about three and a half 400s done, but I was getting nowhere and called it a night.
I was a bit disillusioned getting out of the water and despite the 10k race yesterday I was a bit mystified as to why things had gone so badly. It was even worse than bad to be honest, I’ve missed times before and I could just shrug it off. I missed them by so much tonight though I think it warrants some examination.
The coach saw that I was struggling all night, but told me in the grand scheme of things this was only a tiny blip, and that without bad days, there would be no such thing as good days.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 2,200m



Tuesday 21st April
a.m.
Cycle
Turbo;
Moderate effort for two hours
Totals; 2.0hrs – 55.0km

p.m.
Swim
NAC, 25m pool

400m warm up
3*400m on 6:45†
3*200m on 3:35†
4*100m on 1:45†
200m cool down
† first and second rep done as pull

Just like last week, I moved what has been a regular a.m. session for a good few months to the evening. After the previous night’s session, I was extra keen to hit my planned times. This Tuesday session was homework assigned by my club’s swim coach. I’ve said many times in this log that in my eagerness to swim big volumes, I’ve nearly always extended these homework sessions. Today however, I decreased the number of reps I was supposed to do. This was partly due to how I swam yesterday, but mainly because I was going to be running intervals later on. I’d no plans to hold back for these, and wanted to be as fresh as I could reasonably expect to be for them. For the main body of work, I should have done four sets of each, but cut it back to three for the 400s and 200s.
I made the times, which I was very happy with.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 2,800m

Run

7.0km warm up & drills
Intervals 10*{400m & approximately 200m recovery
1 & 2) 805m in 2:29, 3:06/km, (I didn’t to press ‘lap’ after the first interval, so I got this combined total for the first two) 3) 408m in 1:18, 3:11/km, 4) 407m in 1:11, 2:55/km, 5) 403m in 1:14, 3:04/km, 6) 402m in 1:12, 2:59/km, 7) 411m in 1:14, 3:01/km, 8) 412m in 1:10, 2:52/km, 9) 406m in 1:13, 3:01/km, 10) 410m in 1:10, 2:52/km
Total; 4.06km in 12:15, avg. pace 3:00/km
4.5km cool down

I had :20/km as my interval pace last year. At the time I started my training for Connemara last year, this equated to my 5k pace. I got quicker over that training cycle and I should really be aiming for an interval pace of sub 3:15/km now. Finishing tonight’s intervals with an average pace of 3:00/km might make what I’m saying seem bizarre, but these were only 400m, which for me at least is very short. I’ll see how I get on in the coming weeks with longer intervals before I decide on an updated target.
I started off these intervals not really knowing how I was going to fare. It took me a few reps before I got into my stride. It was part of a group session, which is both good and bad; good as I certainly pushed harder in the group, but bad as it was hard run consistent splits with the group I was with. I got faster as the session progressed, which mightn’t be ideal, but it’s surely better than slowing down and I did seem to have my pacing dialled in when the last four efforts came round.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 17.5km



Wednesday 22nd April
a.m.
Swim
NAC, 50m pool
I got the loan of a Z3R0D Vanguard wetsuit for one more 1,000m TT.

200m easy
4*50m build
100m easy
1,000m in 15.:48, 1.34/100m

I took off the wetsuit at this point.
400m easy
Five sets of {3*100m off 1:50, The 2nd and 4th sets were done as pull} I was coming in on 1:42-1:45 for the full stroke and 1:40-1:42 for the pull
100m pull

I swam 36 seconds quicker today than I did in my own wetsuit a month ago. I might be able to explain a ten second improvement because of a few small things, but a 36 second difference can only be explained by the fact that I must be swimming in the wrong wetsuit for years.
Just like the last time, I was overheating for the last several hundred metres of the TT. I’m not sure if this is the only reason, but I slowed by a couple of seconds per 100m over these lengths.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 3,500m

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo;
It was lovely outside, but for some reason that I can’t remember I still ended up on my turbo. 2 hours with; {3 minutes on and 3 minute recovery} x 10
Totals; 2.0hrs – 60km



Thursday 23rd April
a.m.
Swim
Coached session, 25m pool

200m warm up
6*50m kicking drills (The second three were the same as the first and we did them with fins)
Two sets of {5*100m as 25 fast & 25 steady & 400m with paddles and pull buoy}
5*100m as 25 fast & 25 steady
50m cool down

We spent a bit of time on ‘Q n’ A’ at the start, which explains why we got so little done over a 90 minute session.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 2,850m

p.m.
Run

27.51km in 2.06.09, 4:35/km
The run included 10*600m up the Khyber Pass.
1) 643m in 2:54, 2) 638m in 2:53, 3) 644m in 2:51, 4) 638m in 2:52, 5) 644m in 2:53, 6) 643m in 2:52, 7) 634m in 2:48, 8) 634m in 2:49, 9) 635m in 2:52, 10) 641m in 2:46

Totals; 2.0hrs – 27.51km



Friday 24th April
a.m.
Nada

p.m.
Run
To and from swimming
Totals; 1.0hrs – 11.0km

Swim
25m pool, coached session

6*25m all out, treading water to start
5*100m off 2:00, every third 100 fast (1:35 approximately)
6*50m off 60 seconds, descending 1-3 & 4-6
Approximately 1,000m of open water swimming drills

This was the final week of our Friday swim sessions for this year. The early part of the session was to teach us the effort required for the swim leg of a sprint tri. After that, it was some pool drills we could do to prepare us for open water racing.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 2,000m



Saturday 25th April
Brick Training
It was a miserable morning to be out on the bike, but I didn’t feel like I had much choice in the matter. My club are trying to get brick sessions up and running as a weekly fixture for our summer training. Another member is leading them, but I’ve volunteered to stand in for him on any weeks he can’t be there. For this reason I figured I better attend, just to see how he runs them.
The structure of the session was very different to any bricks I’ve done before. We spent 20 seconds cycling as hard as we could, dismounted, and then 20 seconds sprinting. We did this ten times and it was all uphill.
After the brick, I ran at a steady effort for two minutes, four times. Some were uphill, some down, so the distances I got covered were quite varied;

1) 509m, 3:58/km, 2) 592m, 3:23/km 3) 489m, 4.07km, 4) 580m, 3:23/km

The cycle home was horrible. I wasn’t dressed for the conditions and my hands were numb all the way. There were so many lights to go through that I wasn’t able to pedal hard enough for long enough to generate the body heat to keep warm. Anytime I’d stop, I’d start shivering from the cold. It seemed to be a long time before I got home and had the luxury of a warm shower.
Totals;Cycle: 2.5hrs – 47.2km
Run: 0.5hrs – 5.67km

Run

7.5km easy

I was going to do some strides, but on the return leg it struck me that I’d already ran similar today and opted not to.
Totals; 0.5hrs – 7.5km



Sunday 26th April
Run
Tempo Run

8.5km warm up
8km @ half marathon pace; 8.01km in 28:29, 3:33/km
1) 3:35, 2) 3:38, 3) 3:33, 4) 3:29, 5) 3:32, 6) 3:39, 7) 3:28, 8) 3:30
2.5km cool down

Much like the interval pace I aimed to hit last year is no longer up to date, last year’s marathon pace of 3:45/km isn’t accurate either. I’m capable of going much faster over 21km, but nevertheless I’d like to do a few tester lactate threshold runs, before I set any specific target. Today was one such test, and I can look back on another session this week that I was happy with. I’m in danger of becoming complacent if this rate of satisfaction keeps up.
The session itself was very hard. I’m not sure if they’re meant to be, but I find these types of runs the toughest sort of running there is. At least intervals are comparatively short and I get some recovery with them and though my long runs are often much longer, the effort required is far less. Running at lactate threshold for 8km takes a huge effort though. I did the hard work on the lap round the Visitor’s Centre in The Park and started hoping rather than expecting to hold a pace of :40/km.
The first kilometre went well and I kept pushing from here. My watch showed the average pace for each kilometre whilst I was running them. In addition to the total average pace being under target, it gives me extra satisfaction to get every separate kilometre split under 3:40. It was hard bloody work to run a pace under this, but the margin I was holding was enough that I wasn’t worried about slipping over 3:40, should I meet with a headwind towards the end of one of the kilometres. This was until my 6th kilometre, when my watch showed an average pace of 3:41/km with about 800m gone. I got slightly worried on seeing this and dug a little deeper for the next 200m. I finished the kilometre in 3:39, and the extra injection of pace I put in at the end carried over into the penultimate kilometre, and this thousand metre split turned out to be the fastest of the eight. One final effort meant I ran the last one well under target as well.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 19.08km



Weekly Totals;
Swim; 6.0hrs – 13,350m
Bike; 7.5hrs – 192.20km
Run; 7.5hrs – 92.26km
S & C; 0.0hrs



After the disaster that was Monday's night swim, I was happy with the rest of the swimming I did during the week. It feels like I redeemed myself as the week went on. I said last week I felt I needed ‘to incorporate a brisk long run, tempo run, and speed work in my weekly runs’. I managed to get these three sessions done this week, and I feel all three of them were quality sessions. I’m getting closer to my racing weight, and maybe I’m not as far off last year’s form as I thought I was.

zico10

Monday 27th April
a.m.
Cycle

1 hour easy turbo

Totals; 1.0hrs – 25.0km

p.m.
Run

To and from swimming, easy pace

Totals; 1.0hrs – 11.0km

Swim

16*50m off 60 seconds, every fourth 50 fast (43 seconds approximately)
Three sets of;
{3*200m off 3:25} I was getting 10-15 seconds rest on these
200m easy

I did the middle set of 3*200 with a pull buoy. I was the third person pushing off in our lane, but I only started to feel the drafting benefit during the second set. We did an extra 50 in the third set. I was certain the swimmers ahead of me had miscounted, but they pushed off before I got to the wall and I felt I had no other option but to follow.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 2,850m


Tuesday 28th April
a.m.
Cycle
Turbo;

10:00 warm up, 12:00 hard, 8:00 recovery, 20:00 hard, 10:00 recovery, 5:00 hard, 2:30 recovery, 5:00 hard, 2:30 recovery, 7:00 cool down

The hard efforts were hard. I’ve no stats to back it up, but I feel like it was a quality session.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 42.0km

p.m.
Swim
NAC, 50m pool

8*400m untimed

I wore buoyancy shorts for these, and still did each alternate one with a pull buoy. It got even more embarrassing when the American swim squad, here for the Irish Open Swimming Championships at weekend, got into the lane beside me. But I needed I to save my legs for the intervals I had later this evening, so I couldn’t get too worried about what anybody else thought of the buoyancy shorts, pull buoy combo.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 3,200m

Run

7km warm up & drills
Intervals;
1) 129m in 19.95 seconds, 2:34/km, 150m recovery
2) 135m in 20.92 seconds, 2:34/km, 150m recovery
3) 983m in 3:13, 3:17/km, 300m recovery
4) 988m in 3:12, 3:14/km, 300m recovery
5) 985m in 3:13, 3:14/km, 300m recovery
6) 977m in 3:10, 3:15/km, 300m recovery
7) 129m in 21.22 seconds, 2:45/km, 150m recovery
8) 129m in 21.00 seconds, 2:35/km, 150m recovery
4km cool down

I was pleased with this session and happy to have held an average pace of 3:15/km for the four longer intervals. Sub 3:15/km should be my interval pace, but I was running on grass, which would have made hitting the target that bit harder. Despite running with my club, I was stuck on my own for these four intervals and had to hit the times without anybody to pace off. Around half way through the fourth one, I was a few seconds outside my target. I busted a got to get these few seconds back and finished this interval as content with my running as I have felt all year.
After this, I should have gone straight into the final two sprints, but I spotted my club’s former running coach and chatted to him for a bit. I’m not sure if this pause affected my speed on the penultimate sprint, but my speed was a good bit slower than I would have expected. I was relieved to be able to get back up to pace on the final interval.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 17.26km


Wednesday 29th April
a.m.
Swim
NAC, 50m pool

400m warm up
8*50m off 65 seconds descending 1-4 & 5-8
4*100m off 2:00 (1:45-1:47)
8*50m pull off 65 seconds
4*100m off 1:50 (1:41-1:43)
8*50m pull off 65 seconds
4*100m off 2:00 (1:45 approximately)
200m easy
8*50m off 55 seconds (50 seconds approximately)

Totals; 1.5hrs – 3,800m

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo;

2 hours moderate effort

Totals; 2.0hrs – 55.00km


Thursday 30th April
a.m.
Swim
Coached session, 25m pool

200m warm up
200m as 25 easy, 25 sprint & 25 kick
200m kicking drills with fins
10*75m alternating fast & steady, 10” rest between each75
200m easy
10*50m fast with 10” rest
200m easy
10*25m fast with 20” rest
200m easy pull
12*25m alternating kick and legs crossed over, 15” rest
200m paddles & pull buoy
100m cool down

Totals; 1.5hrs – 3,300m

p.m.
Run

26.00km in 2.00.07, 4:37/km

I pressed lap halfway through;
I covered the first 13km in 1:00:08, with average pace of 4:38/km. The second 13km were done in 0:59:59 for an average pace of 4:37/km. I ran to The Phoenix Park and bar the distance from my apartment to the gates of the Park, and back again, it was all ran within the walls of The Park. I took no fuel or water with me and was happy to finish with equal splits for both halves.
Totals; 2.0hrs – 26.00km


Friday 1st May
a.m.
Nada

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo;

1½ hours easy spinning

The Friday night swims sessions I’ve been attending since October are over for the summer. I would have gone to the NAC after work, only for the Irish Open Swimming Championships taking place there. I postponed a decision on what I would do for a long time and it was very late in the evening when I finally climbed onto my turbo. The session itself was nothing hectic, but with my Friday swims now finished for the next few months, I’m thinking of using Friday as a proper rest day with only one easy session, which is what happened today. I think the fact that I’m regularly doing 2/3 sessions a day on the other 6 days of the week, means it might not be the worst decision to take.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 37.5km


Saturday 2nd May
The swimming competition was still taking place in the NAC, so I stayed away for another day.
Cycle
Turbo;

4 hours medium gear, trying to keep rpm above 80

Totals; 4.0hrs – 120.0km

Run

7km easy with 6 x 100m strides

Totals; 0.5hrs – 7.0km


Sunday 3rd May
a.m.
Race
Tinaheley Duathlon

Run 1; 5.00km in 17:47, 3:30/km
T1; 0:30
Cycle; 19.8km in 32:14, 36.86km/hr
T2; 0:32
Run 2; 3.00km in 10:49, 3:36/km
Overall Time; 1:01:54

I managed to win, which I was obviously happy with. It was a hard effort and I was made work for it, which brings its own satisfaction. Report to follow.
Totals; Run; 0.5hrs – 9.56km(including warm up), Cycle; 0.5hrs – 19.8km

p.m.
Run

Approximately 16km easy

I didn’t wear a watch for this and from my apartment ran to and around the Park. I did my best to stay on grass, forget the route I took, and have no way of measuring the distance.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 16.0km


Weekly Totals;
Swim; 5.0hrs – 13,150m
Bike; 10.5hrs – 299.30km
Run; 7.0hrs – 85.32km
S & C; 0.0hrs (I’m not sure why I even include this anymore)



I’m going to miss the Friday night swims, for anybody with a life it was an awkward time, but they suited me perfectly. I’m at a crossroads now about what I should do with my swimming. With the Friday sessions finished, I've lost one session where I was guaranteed to work hard in the water. I'm not sure if I am inclined to replace it with a hard session outside of a group. Also it doesn't make sense to be flogging myself in the pool on a Tuesday, morning nor evening, if Tuesday running intervals are going to be a weekly fixture. This week saw the lowest swim volume in while. I’m not sure yet of the new number of swim sessions I’ll settle upon, but whatever it is, it’s unlikely I’ll be back up to 20,000m weeks anytime soon.
I haven’t being doing enough biking to have a real gauge of progress. I was happy with how my cycle went at the duathlon on Sunday though. It’s confidence boosting to have won a race on the bike. A lot of people down there commended me on how fast I went, but it would be more meaningful to me had I regularly faced some of the other competitors before.
Tuesday’s run is the first run in a long time that I think I pushed myself to the limit. I’m happy to be able to say this and I was able to dig deep when I had to. I felt sluggish on my feet on Sunday though, but I guess you can’t win them all.

Kurt Godel

zico10 wrote: »

I’m going to miss the Friday night swims, for anybody with a life it was an awkward time, but they suited me perfectly. I’m at a crossroads now about what I should do with my swimming. With the Friday sessions finished, I've lost one session where I was guaranteed to work hard in the water. I'm not sure if I am inclined to replace it with a hard session outside of a group. Also it doesn't make sense to be flogging myself in the pool on a Tuesday, morning nor evening, if Tuesday running intervals are going to be a weekly fixture. This week saw the lowest swim volume in while. I’m not sure yet of the new number of swim sessions I’ll settle upon, but whatever it is, it’s unlikely I’ll be back up to 20,000m weeks anytime soon.

Hey Zico, I'm very curious to know how you'd define the 20K swim weeks- were they useful/best use of time/what would you do different? 20K being double what most would do.

Your swim times have come on tremendously, but the obvious question is, could you have used the training time better? I'd love to see your answer. Reading the above about Friday night sessions and having a life on a Friday... I'd say your Friday night sessions fed into your overall training week; the fact you were giving up Friday nights defined where you were going.

Whatever the answer, consistent training producing results... it'd be a hard sell to argue against your training and your results so far.

MojoMaker

The Friday night swim sessions were a real discipline-builder. Awkward as zico says but relatively easy to plan around and it felt like a committment, moreso (for me anyway) than say an early morning somewhere.

T'was a bloody good hour too, no messing, no chat, no toys - proper swim team session.

zico10

Tinahely Duathlon
Having only decided to race this the previous day, I wasn't sure how I was going to get on. After my late night post on boards on the eve of this race, KG had contacted me by PM assuring me there would be places, as long as I got there early on Sunday morning. He also hinted I should be thinking about overall victory, so the pressure was on before the race even began.

Run 1
My plan starting off was to let somebody else take the lead, and if I could keep up, tuck in behind and let them have the pace making duties. Nobody else seemed too eager to lead though and I found myself at the front initially. The pace wasn't hectic and someone else took over after about 600m and I was happy to run on his shoulder. I was managing this quite comfortably. Before we took the first right hand turn, two other guys decided they would push it a bit more and opened up a gap on the rest of us.
The road swept downhill after this happened, and I made an effort to latch back on. I had the gap reduced to less than 10 metres and thought I was back in touch, when a sharp left lead us off the road and onto a dirt/gravel path.
The change of route didn't suit me and I steadily lost contact with the two leaders. I was joined by another runner, the same guy who passed me after 600m. I thought he wanted to overtake me once again, so without slowing down I tried to make way for him. He seemed happy to let me lead though and ran at my shoulder for the rest of the run.
He helped me keep the effort up, but despite this the gap between us and the two leaders continued to grow. It was hard to see the front runners on the wooded trail we were on, but there was a clearing before transition and I guess they had anything between 100-200m of a lead.
It was a bit demoralising to see by how much I had been cut adrift, but at least the run was coming to an end and the gap wasn't going to get significantly bigger. One of the lead runners, Conor Verbuggen, was kitted out in an Amphibian King tri-suit. Being sponsored by a running shoe store, I clung to the hope, that this meant he had more prowess as a runner than a cyclist and I'd be able to reel him back in on the bike.
I came into transition 40 seconds down. The guy I'd ran the last 3km with put in one last spurt and crossed the timing mat one second before me.
5.06km in 00:17:47, 3:31/km

T1
I transitioned quicker than him and got out on the bike before him. I'd picked a good spot, which helped me get in and out in 30 seconds. Only one other guy in the top 20 bettered this, which indicates I did well.
00:00:33

Bike
Once the cycle started, to have any hope of winning, I knew I had to pass and open up a gap on the two in front of me. I didn't know who they were, so I'd no real idea if this was going to be possible. Nor did I know what the people behind me were capable of on the bike, and because of this perhaps I would have been better saving something for the second run. One thing was for certain though, I wasn't going to win if I didn't pass the two leaders before T2. There was no point holding back, so I pushed as hard as I could from the off.
Initially I was finding it hard to build any momentum and I didn't seem to be opening up much of a gap on the guy in 4th. After passing through the village of Tinahely, we climbed a hill and it was on the subsequent downhill that I pulled away from him.
They two leaders had enough time to open up a sizeable gap and it took a while longer before they came into my sights and I was starting to think first place was beyond me. Once I caught sight of them though, I found encouragement to pedal even harder.
Unfortunately for one of them, they were pulled in on the side of the road with mechanical issues. It's not the way I wanted to pass him, but sh!t happens and I've experienced my fair share of it. I think I'd have passed him anyway and I wasn't the only one to benefit from his misfortune.
No matter the details of it, I'd passed one and needed to catch one more now. I had him eyed up shortly after moving into second and could see he wasn't moving as fast as me. I'd still plenty in the tank and kept my effort up. I passed him at the base of a hill and glancing over as I rode by, saw he was in the small ring. I sometimes pigheadedly stay in the big ring, when I really shouldn't, but on this course I thought there was absolutely no need to drop down. I chatted with this guy afterwards and he said he was struck by whole low my cadence was. I'm not saying I've all the answers, but I cycled faster than him and beat him to the finish line. That's all that matters in my eyes.
There was still about 8 kilometres to go and I knew if I didn't put more time into him, I was unlikely to hold onto the lead on the final run. I'd stopped worrying about anybody else at this stage and had convinced myself if I could beat this guy, I would win the race.
The roads were twisty and looking back over my shoulder, I couldn't be sure if I had lost him. The fastest part of the course came after this. Thankfully for me it wasn't a technical course and I feel like I got the maximum benefit out of these stretches. Occasional glances back over my shoulder, when the road did straighten out, told me I was increasing the distance between us.
As an aside a Garda car was serving as the lead out vehicle, something which anybody involved in organising races in Fingal Co. Co. must be incredibly envious of. Anyway it was doing a stellar job and there was something reassuring about having the Law leading the way for you.
Looking at the kilometres tick by on my Garmin, I knew I was approaching T2. This meant it was also time to think about taking my feet out of the shoes. I'm sick of losing so much time in transitions, and I'm hoping that changes this year. I was waiting and waiting for the optimum moment to take my feet out of my shoes. I left it so late, I only had one foot out when I rounded a bend and the dismount line appeared right in front of me. I slammed on the brakes, coming to a complete stop, and just managed to put my left foot down before the dismount line. I lost momentum and the smooth flying dismount I had been visualising will have to wait until my next big day out.
I was running into T2 with one shoe on and one shoe off. It was annoying the hell out of me, so I stopped before crossing the timing mat to take off the shoe. I lost another bit of time here, but I was going to have to take off my shoe anyway, so no matter if the time was added onto my cycle or added onto my T2 time.
19.8km in 00:32:14, 36.86km/hr

T2
I've won the odd race here and there, but this was the first time I'd ever been first off the bike and there was something uplifting about running into an empty transition. Except for the episode with my shoe out on the road (which didn't count for my T2 time anyway), it was a smooth enough transition. As I crossed the timing mat to start the run, I saw the second placed guy coming in from his cycle. I thought I was quick enough in getting through T2 and I didn't think he was going to be able to get back too much time, no matter how fast he went. I calculated I must have been about 30 seconds ahead of him, which I reckoned was going to be enough over a 3km run.
00:00:32

Run 2
I wasn't taking victory for granted though, and I couldn't afford to ease up. The second run was all along similar gravel trails that made up a good portion of the first run. Again I'd have preferred to have been racing out on the road, but it at least felt easier to run a straight line this time. I knew a turnaround point was coming at halfway and I could tell from my Garmin how close I was to this.
I duly got to halfway and there was still no sign of the second placed guy. I took a hairpin turn, rounding some trees, and began the return leg to the finish line. I was about 10 seconds into my return trip, and I was just about to relax when I saw the second placed guy through the trees. I reckoned he was less than 10 seconds from the turnaround, and I figured my lead was down to about 20 seconds.
This was a signal to dig a bit deeper and I tried to up the pace. He had reduced the gap by a few more seconds by the time we rejoined a path with runners on their outward leg coming against us. A few shouts of encouragement from these runners helped me to keep pushing. I looked over my should once or twice during the final 600m. As the finish line got closer and closer, I became more and more confident I was going to hold on.
I was nearly at the my limits though and he hadn't given up the chase. I kept pushing as hard as I could and it was a relief to cross the finish line. took me a while to regroup after crossing the finish line.
3.01km in 00:10:49, 3:36/km

Overall Time; 01:01:55

I picked up another win, which was great. I felt strong on the bike and it was here that I won the race. That is a confidence booster, especially as out of the three disciplines, I've done the least amount of race specific work on the bike. It sort of feeds into an inkling I have that run work has a real benefit on my cycling and maybe I don't need to obsess as much about cycling as swimming or running. Maybe getting my run back up to speed, while I just keep the cycling ticking over, will be enough to have me ready for the Ironman in September.
I was well beaten on the both runs by two others, which, while it doesn't make me happy, I can accept. I think I can go quicker and I am confident it will come together over the summer.
I'm doing the Gauntlet in Lough Cutra and the sprint in Athy this month. As good as it was to win, those two races will tell me at lot more than this duathlon did.

zico10

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Hey Zico, I'm very curious to know how you'd define the 20K swim weeks- were they useful/best use of time/what would you do different? 20K being double what most would do.

Your swim times have come on tremendously, but the obvious question is, could you have used the training time better? I'd love to see your answer. Reading the above about Friday night sessions and having a life on a Friday... I'd say your Friday night sessions fed into your overall training week; the fact you were giving up Friday nights defined where you were going.

Whatever the answer, consistent training producing results... it'd be a hard sell to argue against your training and your results so far.

When I took the decision last winter to go with a high volume approach to swimming, ultimately my only goal was to improve. I hadn't set any specific targets other than that. It would have been great to have gotten my 400m TT under 6 minutes, but it looks like that might have to wait another 12 months.

It was a good use of time as far as improving as a swimmer is concerned. I still can't tell you if it was the best use of time as far as improving as a triathlete goes. But I'm happy enough with how I got on in the few duathlons and one triathlon I have done so far this year. My most recent 10km time is quite a bit off last year's, but would the training necessary to improve upon it have been the best use of my time either? I don't think so.

Your question is coming a couple of weeks too early and you should have a better answer after I race in Lough Cutra and Athy. It's also a bit early to say whether I would do anything differently. I'd be almost certain swimming is still going to be by far my weakest leg next winter as well, and I imagine I'll still be as motivated to improve upon it as I was last.

As you say, the fact Friday night was a fixed session in my schedule did mean I had to structure my other training around it. It was a constant and I benefitted from the certainty of it. Also working hard within the group and the coach on was guaranteed.

rodneyr1981

I see your name in the cutra HIM. Big field entered.
Will be interested to compare your times against the likes of KT.

sconhome

Congrats on the win Zico!!

Zippy transitions make a massive difference. Nice work on the bike reeling them in.

zico10

rodneyr1981 wrote: »

I see your name in the cutra HIM. Big field entered.
Will be interested to compare your times against the likes of KT.

I'll be so far off KT, any comparison between us will be completely meaningless. He is on a different level entirely, the fact we're doing the same race means nothing to me.

I would be interested in seeing some of the other people who are racing though, where did you see the start list?

rodneyr1981

zico10 wrote: »

I'll be so far off KT, any comparison between us will be completely meaningless. He is on a different level entirely, the fact we're doing the same race means nothing to me.

I would be interested in seeing some of the other people who are racing though, where did you see the start list?

A mail was sent out this morning. It may be in under promotions tab if u use gmail. Let me know if you haven't got it and I can forward on.

rodneyr1981

zico10 wrote: »

I'll be so far off KT, any comparison between us will be completely meaningless. He is on a different level entirely, the fact we're doing the same race means nothing to me.

I would be interested in seeing some of the other people who are racing though, where did you see the start list?

A mail was sent out this morning. It may be in under promotions tab if u use gmail. Let me know if you haven't got it and I can forward on.

zico10

rodneyr1981 wrote: »

A mail was sent out this morning. It may be in under promotions tab if u use gmail. Let me know if you haven't got it and I can forward on.

Thanks, I actually got the email. I'd opened it earlier, but stopped reading when I scrolled as far as the link to their online shop.

catweazle

Its on their site as well, provisional start list in race details section

Besides the winner last year the field was weak - looks like people have twigged there is decent prize money this year

I don't recognize any of the female starters as big names in the Gauntlet with my limited knowledge of local tri unless they have some English ringers entered

Racoonqueen i sense a confidence boosting win here if you enter

RacoonQueen

Wow seriously low female numbers. Drat, I've already entered the double oly!

griffin100

catweazle wrote: »

Its on their site as well, provisional start list in race details section

Besides the winner last year the field was weak - looks like people have twigged there is decent prize money this year

I don't recognize any of the female starters as big names in the Gauntlet with my limited knowledge of local tri unless they have some English ringers entered

Racoonqueen i sense a confidence boosting win here if you enter

Is the prize money big? All I could see was reference to €300 for the winner, which when it costs €150 to enter doesn't seem great to me (maybe I'm completely off but I thought it would have been a bit more for a race of this size). I have a female clubmate who would have a great chance based on the current field assuming no ringers from the UK . (Sorry for hijacking the thread Zico.)

rodneyr1981

griffin100 wrote: »

Is the prize money big? All I could see was reference to €300 for the winner, which when it costs €150 to enter doesn't seem great to me (maybe I'm completely off but I thought it would have been a bit more for a race of this size). I have a female clubmate who would have a great chance based on the current field assuming no ringers from the UK . (Sorry for hijacking the thread Zico.)

Think first was 750 last year. As per above apologies zico wrong thread for discussion

RacoonQueen

Well, I'm not sorry at all.

Anyone wanna pay my race entry, give me free travel and free accommodation...you can blame catz for encouraging me if I don't win.