I Am the Master of My Fate

zico10

I'm all for gender equality and encouraging everybody, male and female, to participate in sport, but unfortunately I’m amongst the near 90% of starters that aren’t eligible for that half of the prize money. If you want to discuss it elsewhere, then by all means start a new thread on the topic, and I’ll stay out and keep my opinions to myself.:cool:

Now back on topic;
Monday 4th May
Cycle

5 hour cycle

With a full day off this is all I got done. I would have put in a more productive day’s training had I actually had work. I don’t do well when I lose my routine. Throughout the cycle, I had plans to go for a run afterwards, but it was nearly 10 p.m. when I finish.
Totals; 5.0hrs – 135.66km


Tuesday 5th May
I didn’t sleep well last night and woke up in the morning feeling terrible. I wasn’t out of bed for long, when I ran into the toilet and puked my guts up. It’s the first time in a long time that I can remember vomiting and I spent the rest of the day lying on the couch. I didn’t do any training today, the first time this has happened since St. Stephen’s Day. My school was closed for an extra day following the bank holiday, and this was not how I had planned to spend it.


Wednesday 6th May
a.m.
Just as an insurance, I took the morning off to give myself more time to recover from whatever bug I had yesterday.

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo;

2 hours steady effort, Medium/low gear (88-89 rpm)

Totals; 2.0hrs – 60.0km

Run

1.6km easy
9.37km in 36:15, 3:52/km
1.6km cool down

I was out the door and running 8 minutes after getting off the turbo, after getting to the Park I was off running fast laps around The Visitors’ Centre. My target pace was <4.00/km, I went a bit fast on the first kilometre, but after that my kilometre splits were consistent. I’d only originally planned on running two laps, but I felt good, so went for a third. I felt strong enough for a fourth, but it was already nearly 11 p.m. and felt getting home for food and bed was a better option.
Totals; 2.0hrs – 60.0km


Thursday 7th May
a.m.
Swim
Coached session, 25m pool

200m warm up
100m 3rd phase underwater
100m one arm drill
4*50m build w. 5” rest
6*100m fast w. 5” rest
50 easy
6*75m fast w. 5” rest
50 easy
6*50m fast w. 5” rest
300m paddles & pull buoy
5*100m fast w. 5” rest
50 easy
5*75m fast w. 5” rest
50 easy
5*50m fast w. 5” rest
100m cool down

There were only two of us in the lane for this. The other guy is a good bit stronger than me and he led for the entire session. I ignored the clock and my objective was simply to hold his feet. I managed this, but it was tough work.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 3,875m

p.m.
Run

1) 14.01km in 1:05:31, 4:40/km
2) 14.01km in 1:05:31, 4:40/km
Total) 28.01km in 2:09:45, 4:38/km

I ran along The Royal Canal. I got as far as Leixlip Louisa Bridge, before I turned for home. I was worried it was going to be dark, before I got back to the lit up section of the pathway east of Castleknock Train Station. I upped the pace a little bit after halfway to do this. The sun had long since set by the time I got there, but thankfully I could still see. I was wearing trail shoes which were fine for the majority of the run, but didn’t provide much comfort on the paved section of the path.
Totals; 2.0hrs – 28.01km


Friday 8th May
a.m.
Swim
NAC 50m pool

6*400m untimed

I wore buoyancy shorts for these and alternated between full stroke and pull.

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo;

1½ hours easy spinning

Totals; 1.0hrs – 25km


Saturday 9th May
Cycle
I was over in Howth for a club brick, that never happened. There was no point wasting the trip, so I went for a cycle on my own. This included eight climbs up Carrickbrack Road. I only had the Garmin switched on for some of it, so the time and distance are estimates.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 37.16km
I was planning a swim after this, but I had to be over at the NAC before 12 and I didn’t make it. Then I planned an evening time run, but some friends were going to the pub. I needed to unwind, so I joined them there.


Sunday 10th May
Cycle

109.25km in 4 hours approximately

I was suffering from my trip to the pub last night and this cycle was tougher than it should have been. I felt like taking a short cut home a couple of times, but after the poor week I thought there was no way I could justify it.
Totals; 4.0hrs – 109.25km


Weekly Totals;
Swim; 2.5hrs – 6,275m
Bike; 13.5hrs – 367.07km
Run; 3.0hrs – 40.57km
S & C; 0.0hrs


This was a bit of an abysmal week. If it wasn’t for two long cycles, the hours would be down in single digit figures. The swim and run totals alone are my lowest weekly totals in a long, long time. It didn’t help that I was sick on Tuesday, but I could have been more diligent about things as well.

Dory Dory

I notice you mention that you used a medium/low gear (88-89 rpm) in your turbo session above. What is your target rpm in a race?? And is that where you are naturally most comfortable?

And while we're chatting bike stuff - how many bikes do you have? And what is their gearing like? Thanks!!

zico10

Dory Dory wrote: »

I notice you mention that you used a medium/low gear (88-89 rpm) in your turbo session above. What is your target rpm in a race?? And is that where you are naturally most comfortable?

And while we're chatting bike stuff - how many bikes do you have? And what is their gearing like? Thanks!!

How I measure my rpm during turbo sessions is I look ay my stopwatch and count how many times I turn the pedals over a minute or whatever length of time. I check a couple of times throughout my sessions just to see I am being consistent with it. If the revs become harder to hold, I know I'm getting tired. I know most people use cadence sensors for this, but this simple approach works fine for me.

I can't be so focussed on my watch and counting my revs in race. So I don't know exactly what my rpm is, but I know it's nowhere near 88-89 rpm. I push a hard gear in races. Even going up climbs, I don't really spin up them and try to push as high a gear as I can for as long as I can. At a guess, I'd say my average rpm is less than 75.

I've three bikes;
A touring bike, I've only ridden a handful of times in the last 41/2 years.
My road bike, which is all I use on my turbo, has three rings on the front and an 11 speed cassette on the back.
I don't know off the top of my head what the gearing on my tri bike is. It's past my bedtime now, but I'll check tomorrow and let you know. Being honest this stuff bores me. I know I should be more concerned about it, but that's my nature.

Dory Dory

Honestly, you don't need to take the time to check your tt bike - I just thought if you knew off the top of your head it would be interesting to understand your bikes. I'm pretty clueless about bikes (3 rings on the front...really??), but I'm trying to learn a little.

But two more question, if I may. Obviously the way you train is working for you, so there is no need for you to change a thing. !!!! But, I'm curious - do you see any value in cadence sensors and power meters in training or racing? And, if you use a bike computer when you're racing, what metrics are you tracking on the display?

zico10

Dory Dory wrote: »

3 rings on the front...really??

Yeah, but I practically never use the smallest ring.
it's a Giant SCR 2.0. I bought it as is back in 2006. What little I know about bicycles now, I knew absolutely nothing back then. The guy selling me the bike said it was unusual, but that I might be glad of the granny ring if I ever went touring with the bike, which I did for two weeks in France last year. I would have managed without, but this is the only time it was ever really beneficial having the third ring.

But two more question, if I may. Obviously the way you train is working for you, so there is no need for you to change a thing. !!!! But, I'm curious - do you see any value in cadence sensors and power meters in training or racing?

My approach might be working. Training hard invariably does. But who's to say it wouldn't work better with a power meter? I never claimed what I'm doing is the best way to train. I understand the basic principal of power and in many ways I think it could suit me perfectly. If I had a number to hit, I'd do my damndest to hit these numbers.
I'm not anti-power, as some people might think, I just don't have a PM, so why would I bother educating myself more? If I found my results were plateauing, and someone could convince me of the merits of buying a PM, I'd buy one. But I think I'm still improving.
I need a new wetsuit and at least one bling wheel, and you'd have a very hard job convincing me a PM would be a better investment than either of those.

And, if you use a bike computer when you're racing, what metrics are you tracking on the display?

During my races last year, I had the most basic of Cateye cycle computers. I had it left on time for the entire race. It was reassuring to pass certain distance markers in X amount of time, but it wasn't really guiding me. 'Ride hard and stay out of the red zone' was my only mantra.

Dory Dory

Sharp as a tack, you are! Thanks!!

catweazle

I would say you are invited to shag all dinner parties with fellow triathletes - uncomfortable listening for the other half if she hears how old school you are as regards bikes, tech and gadgets and the other lads shelling out 5 figures sums on high end bikes, power meters and what not for 12 hour + Ironmans.

pointer28

catweazle wrote: »

I would say you are invited to shag all dinner parties with fellow triathletes - uncomfortable listening for the other half if she hears how old school you are as regards bikes, tech and gadgets and the other lads shelling out 5 figures sums on high end bikes, power meters and what not for 12 hour + Ironmans.

Good point!

I'd better unfollow quick before herself gets wind of that.

Dory Dory

zico10 wrote: »

I can't be so focussed on my watch and counting my revs in race. So I don't know exactly what my rpm is, but I know it's nowhere near 88-89 rpm. I push a hard gear in races. Even going up climbs, I don't really spin up them and try to push as high a gear as I can for as long as I can. At a guess, I'd say my average rpm is less than 75.

Obviously, if you could push that same harder gear for the same length of time at the same effort but at a higher rpm than your current average estimate of less than 75, then you'd be going faster. I'm sitting on my trainer as I type this warming up for my big gear session, and this/you/your post is what popped in my head. But then again, maybe you'd just choose a harder gear to go faster.

Dory Dory

If you're racing tomorrow, then knock it out of the park!

zico10

Dory Dory wrote: »

If you're racing tomorrow, then knock it out of the park!

Thanks, I'm not sure how far out of the park I'm going to knock it though. But after what I like to think has been a good few months' solid training, it will be good to compare myself to others.

By the way, I took off the cassette on my tri-bike to clean it yesterday and it's an 11-25.

Dory Dory

Good lord!! Shouldn't you be tucked away in your jammies getting a good night's sleep???!!! :eek: Or is it morning there and you're getting on your way to the race? Either way, have fun and do your best.

Dory Dory

Oh, and 11-25....same as what's on my tri bike!!

zico10

Dory Dory wrote: »

Good lord!! Shouldn't you be tucked away in your jammies getting a good night's sleep???!!! :eek: Or is it morning there and you're getting on your way to the race? Either way, have fun and do your best.

It's quarter to 4 in the morning. Race starts at 8, I'm up early for breakfast. I don't want to be eating too close to the race. I'm going back to bed now for a short nap.

zico10

Monday 11th May
a.m.
Run

11.50km in 58.23, 5:04/km

Totals; 1.0hrs – 11.50km

p.m.
Swim
25m pool, coached session

4*25m all out from treading water start
4*25m drills
12*100m off 2:00 descending 1-4, 5-8 & 9-12
3 sets of {4*100m off 1:45} 60” rest between sets

I’d no doubt I was the fastest in the lane tonight and led out the first set of 4*100m. The girl behind me asked could she go first on the next set. There’s no doubt in my mind I’m stronger than her, and she should know this too, but I didn’t want to be rude, and let her off. She missed her times. Again I made mine, forgot about my manners and insisted I was resuming lead out duties for the final set, I made the times once more without anybody behind me tipping my toes.
Totals; 1.0hrs - 2,950m


Tuesday 12th May
a.m.
Swim

200m warm up
100m 3rd phase drill w. paddles
100m one arm w. fins
4*50m build
6*100m fast w. 5” rest
50m easy
6*50m fast w. 5” rest
150m pull
5*100m fast w. 5” rest
50m easy
5*50m fast w. 5” rest
150m pull
4*100m fast w. 5” rest
50m easy
4*50m fast w. 5” rest
200m cool down

We had been advised by Peter to repeat last Thursday’s session this morning. I was in a 50m pool though, so I had to modify it somewhat.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 3,600m

p.m.
Run
Intervals with club
After 7km warming up, some strides, stretches and drills, we began the tough work. We were doing laps of the Polo Grounds and it was a tough, tough session. The session consisted of four sets of two laps. The first lap in each set was done as 30 seconds hard followed by 30 seconds recovery, then straight into one full lap at 5km pace. I got four 30 second efforts done on the first lap in each set, the final recovery before beginning the full lap at 5km pace was very brief and was less than 5 seconds for at least two of them. The essential stats from the hard parts are thus;

1) 30” @ 3:18/km, 2) 30” @ 3:02km, 3) 30” @ 3:06/km 4) 30” @ 3:15/km
5) 968m in 3:08, 3:15/km
6) 30” @ 3:13/km, 7) 30” @ 3:02km, 8) 30” @ 3:10/km 9) 30” @ 3:13/km
10) 989m in 3:08, 3:15/km
11) 30” @ 3:15/km, 12) 30” @ 2:57km, 13) 30” @ 3:13/km 14) 30” @ 3:22/km
15) 982m in 3:13, 3:16/km
16) 30” @ 3:25/km, 17) 30” @ 2:56km, 18) 30” @ 2:57/km 19) 30” @ 3:22/km
20) 997m in 3:08, 3:19/km

Somebody else was running with me for these, which was useful as it ensured I kept the effort up.
It was a very slow jog home when we finished up.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 19.61km


Wednesday 13th May
a.m.
Swim
50m pool with club mate

6*100m off 1:05 descending 1-3 & 5-6
1,000m in 18:17, 1:49/100m, 1’ rest
500m in 9:12, 1:50/100m, 45” rest
500m in 9:15, 1:50/100m, 45” rest
250m in 4:35, 1:49/100m, 30” rest
250m in 4:38, 1:50/100m, 30” rest
250m in 4:42, 1:52/100m, 30” rest
250m in 4:41, 1:52/100m, 30” rest
200m easy
12*50 pull off 65” (coming in on approximately 50 seconds)
200m cool down

I did this with a club mate and bar the warm up and the 12*50m pull at the end, I was drafting for the whole session.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 4,600m

p.m.
Cycle

2 hours turbo

Totals; 2.0hrs – 60.0km


Thursday 14th May
a.m.
Swim
Coached session, 25m pool

200m warm up
200m kicking drills
200m one arm drills
6*150m as 50 fast, 50 steady & 50 fast w. 15” rest
6*100m as 25 fast & 25 steady w. 10” rest
6*50m fast w. 10” rest
150m easy
600m paddles & pull buoy, steady effort w. first 12.5m of each 100 fast
9*50m max effort of 1.10 (I was coming in on 40-42 seconds)
100m cool down

I was the only one in the lane this morning, and with no one to hide behind, I found it tough to get going. A guy in the lane beside me was beating me on the longer sets at the start. I got faster though as the session went on and I redeemed myself on the fast 50s at the end.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 3,700m

p.m.
Run
Easy pace, I’d my Garmin on, but didn’t look at it. I only had it to record the distance.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 12.09km


Friday 15th May
a.m.
Cycle
Turbo;

10:00 warm up, 20:00 hard, 8:00 easy, 12:00 hard, 5:00 easy, 5:00 hard, 2:00 easy, 5:00 hard, 2:00 easy, 10:00 cool down

The hard efforts were all done in a medium high gear. I was holding an rpm of 82-84.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 39.65km

p.m.
Run

23.01km in 1:46:50, 4:38/km

About 60% of this was done on grass. I felt good throughout and my kilometre splits were fairly similar. I started after 8 p.m. and a lot of time had elapsed since I had last eaten.
Totals; 2.0hrs – 23.01km


Saturday 16th May
Cycle
Turbo
I was aiming for three hours, but this was cut short by a blow out in my rear tyre. It was a special tyre for turbo trainers, which I thought were meant to bullet proof. I’ve had it years though, and it’s been through countless hours of work. I guess it had to happen at some stage. I’d about half an hour of work left, and for this length of time, I didn’t think it was worth replacing the tyre to resume the session.
Totals; 2.5hrs – 75.0km

Run
Easy run w. 8*100m strides
Totals; 1.0hrs – 9.5km


Sunday 17th May
Swim
NAC, 25m pool

10*300m alternating pull & full stroke
100m cool down

I did the middle 100m of each 300m fast. I’d no watch, but glances at the pool clock told me I was doing these in about 1:36 for the pull and 1:38 for the full stroke. I felt like I was moving well in the water, but who knows?
Totals; 1.0hrs – 3,100m

Cycle

109.25km in 2:58:25, >32.4km/hr
1) 18:19, 26.4km/hr, 2) 13:19, 36.2km/hr, 3) 14:06, 34.2km/hr, 4) 15:52, 30.4km/hr, 5) 15:52, 30.4km/hr, 6) 13:09, 36.7km/hr, 7) 15:02, 32.1km/hr, 8) 14:27, 33.4km/hr, 9) 14:18, 33.7km/hr, 10) 15:12, 31.7km/hr, 11) 15:01, 32.1km/hr, 12) 13:58, 33.5km/hr,

I have my Garmin set to record a lap every 8.05km. Excluding the first 8.05km split when I had traffic lights, slow moving traffic, etc. to negotiate, my average pace was 33.18km/hr. I didn’t have any major hills to tackle, but it was windy out, I only took one gel after the halfway point, so I am happy with the pace I held.
Totals; 3.0hrs – 96.32km

Swim
Open water – High Rock, Portmarknock

1.07km in 17:45, 1:39/100m

This was my first open water sea swim of the year. I’d known for a few weeks that I needed to get into the sea sooner rather than later and I really wasn’t looking forward to it. After the initial cold shock, it wasn’t that bad at all. Certainly nothing like I had feared. I wasn’t concerned with swimming a straight line or drafting. My sole plan when I got in was to stay as warm as possible. My strategy for this was to both kick and swing my arms as frantically as possible. My Garmin recorded an average spm of 70, which would be up hugely on my normal turnover. But it also had a maximum reading of 128spm, which makes me doubt the average reading as well. In an effort to stay warm, I was working harder than I normally do though, so I’m sure my stroke rate was up.
The cold hit me as soon as I got out of the water and stripped out of my wetsuit. I got as many layers on me as quickly as possible, but I was still shivering like mad for a while. Thankfully it was a club get together and there was somebody on hand with warm coffee and cakes. It helped, but I had to get back in my car with the heat on full blast before I came around again.
Totals; 0.5hrs – 1,700m

Run
I ran from my apartment to the Park and did an easy trot around the Visitors’ Centre. This was only a token run really. For all the benefit it did for me, I’m sure it would have been just as much use to have skipped it, but mentally I thought it was important to get out and do something.
Totals; 0.5hrs – 6.0km



Weekly Totals;
Swim; 7.0hrs – 19,020m
Bike; 9.0hrs – 271.07km
Run; 7.0hrs – 81.21km
S & C; 0.0hrs

RacoonQueen

What sort of times do you generally swim your 100s in Zico? And whats your goal time in Mallorca? Sub 60? I'm assuming you find swimming at 1:50, even in the 50m pool fairly easy?

pgibbo

Nice going at the weekend. Were you happy?

zico10

RacoonQueen wrote: »

What sort of times do you generally swim your 100s in Zico? And whats your goal time in Mallorca? Sub 60? I'm assuming you find swimming at 1:50, even in the 50m pool fairly easy?

In a 25m pool; 1:40. Coming in on 1:35-1:37 would be close enough to my CSS. In a group and on a good day, I reckon I'd manage 20+ of these, but it certainly wouldn't be easy.
I'm generally on my own in the 50m pool and tire more quickly. I could swim 100s off 1:50 here, but I'd be in danger of missing the time after 12 or so reps. The first 4-5 might be fairly easy, but as they went on, they'd be anything but.
Come September, I'd hope to be able to go 3-4 minutes quicker over 3,800m in the pool than I was in September 2014, but I don't think that's necessarily going to equate to a sub 60 swim in Mallorca. I've said it numerous times, but I'll say it again, I find it hard to believe last year's swim was the full 3.8k.
There's going to smaller waves and less people to draft off this year. Also the wave I'm going to be in will feature the stronger swimmers. They'll have no problem swimming away from me, so I could well be on my own for extended periods of the swim.
I don't honestly have a goal time for Mallorca. Sub 60 would be great, but if a non-wetsuit swim, I think it will be slightly beyond me. My ultimate goal when I increased my swim volume last November was simply to become a better more efficient swimmer.
My swim goal in Mallorca is to come out of the water fresh and ready for the rest of the race. Unless it's a complete disaster, the swim is not going to make or break my race. Quite honestly, the time is largely irrelevant.

zico10

pgibbo wrote: »

Nice going at the weekend. Were you happy?

About a 7 out of 10 on the Zico happiness index.

The guys ahead of me were quality athletes and there's no shame in being beaten by them. Because of this, I'm happy with where I finished.
But in terms of my own performance;
If the swim was a full 1,900m, I'd be very happy with my time, but I'm more inclined to believe it was short.
I went well for the first 65-70km of the bike, but I faded after that. Up until this I was very happy.
Looking at the splits I didn't run as fast as I was expecting. I'm not just talking one or two minutes. I was hoping to run sub 1:20 and I ran 1:23:26 on a short course, so that concerns me.

P.S. I changed the rating on my happiness index from an 8 to a 7 after typing this reply.:(

Dory Dory

^^^ Sometimes I think you need a Dory-intervention ....but then I realize I understand your self-criticism too well and would be wasting my time and perhaps be doing you a disservice. Congrats on your 5th place. !!!!

zico10

Monday 18th May
a.m.
Cycle
Turbo;

1 hour easy

Totals; 1.0hrs – 25km

p.m.
Run
I only ran to swimming tonight. I had planned to run home as well, but I was offered a lift back afterwards. I was planning an easier week than usual, so I took my club mate up on the offer.
Totals; 0.5hrs – 5.5km

Swim
25m pool, coached session

16*50m off 60” (every 4th 50 fast, I was doing these fast ones in about 44 seconds)
100m easy
4*25m w. 8 seconds very fast kicking in the middle
9*200m off 3:30 (middle three 200s were done with pull buoy), coming in on 3:10-3:15

Totals; 1.0hrs – 2,800m


Tuesday 19th May
Swim

200m warm up
4*50m build
100m easy
1,900m in 32:43, 1:43/100m
50m easy (non wetsuit)

I saw Peter Kern doing a TT in his wetsuit last Tuesday. This was in prep for his HIM on the Sunday. Two of his athletes, who were also going to Austria, were doing the TT as well. Peter generally seems to know what he’s doing, so with my own HIM coming up at the weekend, I figured I should do a Tuesday morning 1.9k wetsuit TT as well. It was going to shorter than my usual Tuesday morning swim, so I got an extra half hour in bed as well.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 2,450m

p.m.
Run
Club Session

Warm up
{1:00 hard & 1:00 recovery} x 5
Cool down

The pace I held for the minute intervals were; 1) 3:23/km, 2) 3:06/km, 3) 3:27/km, 4) 3:24/km, 5) 3:06/km, Avg. pace) 3:17/km
Totals; 1.5hrs – 15:19km


Wednesday 20th May
a.m.
Cycle
Turbo;
10:00 warm up, 2:00 hard, 1:00 recovery, 4:00 hard, 2:00 recovery, 6:00 hard, 3:00 recovery, 8:00 hard, 4:00 recovery, 10:00 hard, 5:00 cool down
My usual go to session, only I did the shorter efforts first. I’d generally do a swim on a Wednesday morning, but I planned to go to an open water swim session with my club this evening and I feel one swim a day is enough at this time of the year.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 30.4km
p.m.

Swim
Open water swim, Forty Foot
I rarely drive south of the Liffey and got lost on the way to The Forty Foot. Because of this, I missed the start of this club session. They were in the water when I got there, and I held off on getting in. I waited for then to get out and exchanged pleasantries before I got in myself. It was barely worth the journey in the end, as I literally got in swam 150m to the nearest buoy, swam back to the steps, and got out. I got cold at least and hopefully the very brief dip furthered my acclimatisation to cold water.
Totals; 0.0hrs – 300m


Thursday 21st May
a.m.
Swim
Coached session, 25m pool

300m warm up
6*50m build
6*100m off 2:00 (I was doing my best to hang onto the feet of the guy in front of me and was coming in on <1:35)
5*50m (12 strokes fast & 12 slow)
1,000m in 17:05, 1:42/100m

The guy in the lane with me was gone soon enough after we started and the drafting benefit was over almost as soon as it started. He lapped me after the halfway point and I briefly benefitted from being in his slipstream once more.

200m easy
300m paddles & pull buoy
7*50m fast
100m cool down

Totals; 1.5hrs – 3,500m


p.m.
Run

11.01km in 45:57, 4:10/km
Kilometre splits; 1) 4:40, 2) 4:36, 3) 4:29, 4) 4:28, 5) 4:19, 6) 4:09, 7) 4:02,
8) 3:35, 9) 3:28, 10) 3:33,
11) 4:31

Reflecting later on Tuesday’s run, I felt it wasn’t hard enough. The P & D marathon programme I followed last year, had a race prep run like the one above on the week of the goal marathon. I’d no better ideas, so copied this. 3km were to be run at goal race pace. I was hoping the half marathon on Sunday would be done in <1:20, this would require a pace of :47. I was certain I’d be able to hold it tonight, but I decided to do it blind and didn’t look at my watch during the hard 3km. Each of them ended up being well below my target pace. With the way my run went on Sunday and looking back on this run, I think it might have been a mistake. But c’est la vie!
Totals; 1.0hrs – 11.0km


Friday 22nd May
a.m.
Swim
NAC, 50m pool

6*400m with buoyancy shorts, alternating f.s./pull

Totals; 1.0hrs – 2,400m

p.m.
Run

8.0km in 38:07, 4:45/km

I kept the treadmill at 12.0km/hr, but during the final 12 minutes I increased the speed to 20.0km/hr, for a total of 10 seconds. I did this eight times
Totals; 0.5hrs – 8.0km

Cycle
Turbo;

10:00 warm up, {2:00 medium high gear, 88-90 rpm & 1:00 recovery} x 6, 4:00 cool down

The hard efforts were tough. I was aiming for high revs and sweated more than normal to manage this.
Totals; 0.5hrs – 17.5km


Saturday 25th May
Swim
NAC, 25m pool

250m pull,
250m f.s. in 4:11, 1:40/100m
250 cool down

Totals; 0.5hrs – 750m

Cycle
Turbo
30 minutes easy spinning
Totals; 0.5hrs – 12.5km


Sunday 24th May
Race
Lough Cutra Triathlon, The Gauntlet

1.9km Swim; 1,900m in 00:30:27
T1; 00:00:51
93km Cycle; 93km in 02:35:20
T2; 00:01:25
Run; 21.1km in 01:23:26
Overall Time; 04:31:28

I was 5th overall. There are a couple of things I could have done better, but all things considered I was happy with my race. Report to follow.


Weekly Totals;
Swim; 5.5hrs – 14,100m
Bike; 5.5hrs – 178.40km
Run; 5.0hrs – 68.80km
S & C; 0.0hrs

RJM85

Well done at the weekend. You stormed past me on the second lap of the run like a man possessed. Very impressive.

zico10

I was holding off on updating until I got a report for Lough Cutra typed up, but I’m having difficulties with the writer and it’s taking longer than expected. I’ve done a few other races since and there’ll be too much to catch up on if I don’t keep my weekly training updates coming.

Monday 25th May
a.m.
I was still feeling the effects of yesterday’s race, so I took the morning off.

p.m.
Swim

25m pool, coached session
8*100m off 2:00, descending 1-4 & 5-8
9*200m off 3:45 (1-3 & 7-9 were done with a pull buoy)
9*50m off 1:00 (coming in on 48 seconds approximately)
50m easy

There were two others in the lane tonight and the coach gave us easier times as all three of us were racing yesterday. I led out for the whole hour. Even though I was sore form yesterday, the times weren’t very difficult to hit, so I didn’t mind the responsibility.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 3,100m


Tuesday 26th May
a.m.
Cycle
Turbo

1 hour easy

I still didn’t feel fully recovered from the race on Sunday. Also I had a hard run coming up in the evening, so I did another easy session to start off the day.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 25.0km

p.m.
Run
Club Session

9km warm up (including drills & strides)
Monaghetti session
{15” fast & 15” recovery} x 2, (3:04/km & 3:26/km)
{30” fast & 30” recovery} x 2, (3:18/km & 3:20/km)
{45” fast & 45” recovery} x 2, (3:09/km & 3:04/km)
{60” fast & 60” recovery} x 2, (3:07/km & 3:07/km)
90” fast & 90” recovery, (3:13/km)
{60” fast & 60” recovery} x 2, (3:08/km & 3:08/km)
{45” fast & 45” recovery} x 2, (3:03/km & 2:58/km)
{30” fast & 30” recovery} x 2, (2:54/km & 2:58/km)
{15” fast & 15” recovery} x 2, (3:06/km & 3:11/km)

I got a lift home after the run, so above is all I did tonight.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 14.8km


Wednesday 27th May
a.m.
Cycle
Turbo;

10:00 warm up
20:00 hard, medium high gear, 96-98 rpm
8:00 recovery
12:00 hard, medium high gear, 96-98 rpm
5:00 recovery
5:00 hard, medium high gear, 96-98 rpm
2:00 recovery
5:00 hard, medium high gear, 96-98 rpm
8:00 cool down

Totals; 1.5hrs – 41.75km

p.m.
Swim

Open Water session, Bull Wall

The water was very choppy and I felt like I spent more time being tossed about by the waves than I actually spent properly swimming. My Garmin was constantly losing signal. I was in the water for 18 minutes and I’m estimating the distance as 1 kilometre.
Totals; 0.5hrs – 1,000m


Thursday 28th May
a.m.
Swim
Coached session, 25m pool

400m warm up
2,000m practice for the open water
50m cool down

Totals; 1.5hrs – 2,450m


p.m.
Run

15.81km in 1:25:05, 5:22/km

I kept this nice and easy and paid no attention to my Garmin throughout the run.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 15.81km


Friday 29th May
a.m.
Swim
NAC, 25m pool

250m pull, 250m f.s. fast, 250m pull
100m easy
12*50m off 70 seconds (coming in on 46” approximately)
50m easy

Totals; 1.0hrs – 1,500m

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo;

5:00 warm up,
1:00 hard medium high gear & 1:00 recovery
{2:00 hard medium high gear & 1:00 recovery} x 6
1:00 hard medium high gear & 1:00 recovery
3:00 cool down

Totals; 0.5hrs – 18.0km

Saturday 30th May
Run

Upon waking I went for an easy run in The Park.

Totals; 0.5hrs – 5.0km

Race

Triathy Sprint
Swim; 00:11:40
T1; 00:01:35
Bike; 00:30:22
T2; 00:01:42
Run; 00:17:44

18th overall.
Report to follow.
Totals;
Swim; 0.0hrs – 750m
Bike; 0.5hrs – 20km
Run; 0.5hrs – 5.0km


Sunday 31st May
Cycle
Turbo

3 hours easy

Totals; 3.0hrs – 75.0km

Run

Easy effort

Totals; 1.0hrs – 12.20km



Weekly Totals;
Swim; 4.0hrs – 8,800m
Bike; 6.5hrs – 179.75km
Run; 5.0hrs – 52.81km
S & C; 0.0hrs

zico10

RJM85 wrote: »

Well done at the weekend. You stormed past me on the second lap of the run like a man possessed. Very impressive.

I spent €1,700 on wheels the day before. Potential prize money from Tri an Mhí is partly how I justified the outlay. If I could get into the top 5, I knew there was €100 reward for every place I made. That's probably what was on my mind as I passed. Hence the 'man possessed'.

zico10

Monday 1st June
a.m.
Swim
NAC 25m pool

Pyramid Set
200m, 400m, 600m, 800m, 800m, 600m, 400m, 200m

I wore buoyancy shorts and no watch. It was all done at an easy pace.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 4,000m

p.m.
Run

19.01km in 1:27:02, 4:34/km

Totals; 1.5hrs – 19.01km


Tuesday 2nd June
a.m.
Cycle
Turbo;

10:00 warm up, 10:00 hard, 5:00 recovery, 8:00 hard, 4:00 recovery, 6:00 hard, 3:00 recovery, 4:00 hard, 2:00 recovery, 2:00 hard, 6:00 recovery

Totals; 1.0hrs – 32.5km

p.m.
Run

6.25km in 30:01, 4:48/km,
6.35km in 25:01, 3:56/km,
1.16km in 04:03, 3:30/km,
296m in 01:02, 3:31/km, (I was meant to empty the tank for this single minute, but there was obviously nothing left, as I couldn’t go any faster than I had been running for the previous 4 minutes.)
3.95km in 20:31, 5:12/km
Total: 18.0km in 1:20:40, 4:28/km

I wasn’t able to make my club session this evening, but I knew the format (detailed above) and I did it on my own later in the evening.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 18.0km


Wednesday 3rd June
a.m.
I only got two hours’ sleep and despite having only being to the pool once this week, I felt it would be counterproductive doing an a.m. pool session today.

p.m.
Run

3.5km run to register for Belpark Duathlon & 3.5km back to my apartment.

Cycle

4.0km cycle to Duathlon

The above formed part of my warm up. I hadn’t preregistered for the race, so I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to race. For this reason, I ran to the Park. In the event that I couldn’t enter, I was going to go for a long run. Thankfully I got in though and was allowed start in wave 1. That meant running back to my apartment, getting changed, and cycling back to the Park.
Belpark Duathlon
Race

Run 1: 00:08:10
T1: 00:00:23
Cycle: 00:20:31
T2: 00:00:26
Run 2: 00:08:23

3rd overall -

Cycle

4.0km cycle home

Run

7.0km easy run

I thought this run would be a nice way to finish off the day and it nicely sandwich the cycles to and from the duathlon, and the duathlon itself, between two 7km runs.
Totals – Run: 1.5hrs – 19.0km
Bike: 0.5hrs – 20.0km


Thursday 4th June
a.m.
Swim
Coached session, 25m pool

I’ve no notes made about this session and forget what we did. The distance I’m logging is a guess, it could have been more, or it could have been less.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 3,500m

p.m.
I was too wrecked to do anything this evening and went to bed instead. I slept for 4 hours, which was well needed.


Friday 5th June
a.m.
Run

9.88km in 52:27, 5:18/km

Totals; 1.0hrs – 9.88km

p.m.
My brother’s stag was on in Kinsale this weekend. After work, I drove down to this, so the early morning run is all I did today.


Saturday 6th June
Run

11.55km in 59:05

I got this run done while the rest of the stag party went for breakfast.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 11.55km


Sunday 7th June
I drove back up from Kinsale to Dublin today. I would have been physically fine to go out and do something, but I was bracing myself all week to be feeling lousy and being a lazy bastard decided to do nothing when I got back. It was probably the wrong thing to do, but feck it, I don’t think I let it happen too often.


Weekly Totals;
Swim; 3.0hrs – 7,500m
Bike; 1.5hrs – 52.50km
Run; 6.5hrs – 77.39km
S & C; 0.0hrs



This was my worst training week in a long, long time. My brother’s stag at the weekend ruled out a lot of training opportunities. Ordinarily I’d have gotten around this by cramming in the hours during the week. This wasn’t possible this week though, as the Department of Education selected my school for a whole school evaluation. I was one of the teachers chosen to be inspected. This meant a lot of needless paper work and other pointless preparations. It had been affecting my training for the last couple of weeks and was a stress I didn’t have to deal with before. The inspectors were in with me on Wednesday, so thankfully it’s out of the way now and I can get back to focusing on my priorities; IM Mallorca on 26th September.

RJM85

My wife is a teacher. WSE is basically a curse word around these parts. Just be glad you made it through alive and with your sanity intact!

Dory Dory

zico10 wrote: »

3rd overall -

OMG!!!!! He's posted a smiley face!!!! :eek::eek::eek:

(congrats....on the podium, and the )

zico10

Dory Dory wrote: »

OMG!!!!! He's posted a smiley face!!!! :eek::eek::eek:

(congrats....on the podium, and the )

It was a last minute decision to race, and after being up until 5 a.m. the night before, I wasn't expecting to place so highly. I beat Peter Kern for the first time.:) And I came away with €50 from what was essentially a training session.
I'd finished my WSE (whole school evaluation) that day and in one week, it is the start of two months' holidays. Why wouldn't I be happy?

zico10

Monday 8th June
a.m.
Cycle
Turbo;

10:00 warm up, 10:00 hard, 5:00 recovery, 8:00 hard, 4:00 recovery, 6:00 hard, 3:00 recovery, 4:00 hard, 2:00 recovery, 2:00 hard, 6:00 recovery

My go to session – I kept it in an easier gear than normal and aimed to hold a higher cadence; 95-96rpm for the hard bits.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 32.5km

p.m.
Run

11.0km to and from swimming

Totals: 1.0hrs – 11.0km

Swim
Coached session, 25m pool

400m warm up
4*100m on 2:00 descending 1-4
Five sets of;
{4*50m pull descending 1-4 off 1:00 & 200m off 3:25}
25m easy

Totals: 1.0hrs – 2,825m


Tuesday 9th June
a.m.
Swim
NAC, 50m pool

200m easy
4*50m as 25 fast/25 easy (30” rest)
100m easy
400m in 7:05, 1:46/100m
4*100m in 1:39, 1:37, 1:37 & 1:38
300m in 5:19, 1:46/100m
3*100m in 1:37, 1:36 & 1:35
200m in 3:29, 1:44/100m
2*100m in 1:38 & 1:39
100m in 1:46
100m in 1:36
400m cool down

In the absence of the draft I get from my regular swim partner, I wore buoyancy shorts for this. I was happy all the same, as it feels like the first tough swim I've done on my own in a while.
Totals: 1.0hrs – 2,900m

p.m.
Run

7km warm up
5 sets of;
{10 hill sprints (approximately 70m w. 12m of elevation gain) & 1.20km @ 5K race pace}
The four 1.20km efforts were done in; 1) 4:01, 3:22/km, 2) 3:59, 3:19/km, 3) 4:02, 3:22/km, 4) 4:06, 3:24/km.
5km cool down

This was a tough session. I was doing the hill reps in The People’s Garden in The Phoenix Park, then straight out onto North Road, around the front of Dublin Zoo, onto Chesterfield Avenue and back into the gardens. Somebody else was running with me, which worked well for both of us. (He ran sub 3 in IM Austria a few weeks later, so hopefully it’s a good omen) The hill reps were done in 16-18 seconds, but definitely got slower on the fourth set. I took recovery after these efforts, which was just pacing slowly back and forth at the bottom of the hill we used for the reps.
Totals: 1.5hrs – 19.52km


Wednesday 10th June
a.m.
Cycle

1 hour easy turbo

Totals: 1.0hrs – 25.0km

p.m.
My lower back had been paining me for a while, so I went to the physio today. I told him about my plan to race tonight. He didn’t think it was ideal, but said there was nothing serious wrong with me. He could understand my desire to race and didn’t think I’d do any damage by racing. So I left with him cautioning me to just mind myself, something I am not very good at.

Race
Pulse, Bull Wall Aquathlon

750m swim & 5km run
Swim & Transition: 14:46
Run; 18:18
Overall time; 33:04

8th overall (If only I could swim)
This wasn’t the best race I ever did. It never is in aquathlons. I didn’t have the greatest of swims and don’t think I swam the straightest line possible. I was wearing a leaky old wetsuit and I spent what felt like ages in transition trying to take it off. But in more positive news, Richard Doyle who put 34 seconds into me on the run in Tri-Athy, was only 16 seconds quicker over the same distance tonight.
Totals - Swim: 0.5hrs – 850m
Run: 0.5hrs – 5.0km


Thursday 11th June
a.m.
Swim
Coached session, 25m pool

Like last week, I’ve no notes for this and the total distance is a guess.

Totals: 1.5hrs – 3,500m

p.m.

1 hour easy turbo

Totals: 1.0hrs – 25.0km


Friday 12th June
a.m.
Run

9.5km easy w. 6*100m strides

Totals: 1.0hrs – 9.5km

p.m.
My school had a night out tonight. I’d have preferred to be in bed, but it would have been poor form not to show my face. I went for the meal, stayed off the drink, and left shortly after midnight.
In other news, I bought a disc wheel and deep rim front wheel in Wheelworx earlier in the evening for €1,700.


Saturday 13th June
Race
Tri An Mhi CXIII Middle Distance Triathlon

Swim; 00:35:16
T1; 00:01:04
Cycle; 02:32:49
T2; 00:01:37
Run; 01:21:24
Overall time; 04:32:11

4th overall (€200 prize money and beat Peter Kern for the second time in two weeks:))
Totals; Swim: 0.5hrs - 1,900m
Cycle: 2.5hrs – 93.0km
Run: 1.5hrs – 21.1km


Sunday 14th June
Run

6km easy

I met friends for some pints last night and parked up in Drumcondra for the night. Today’s run was from Ashtown to Drumcondra to collect my car. When I got to Drumcondra, I went to Domino’s Pizza for my dinner, undoing any slight benefit I might have got from the run.
Totals: 0.5hrs - 6.0km



Weekly Totals;
Swim: 4.5hrs – 19,450m
Bike: 5.5hrs – 175.50km
Run: 6.0hrs – 72.12km
S & C: 0.0hrs

pgibbo

What wheelset did you buy?