Breaking Through the Carbon Ceiling

gofasterdad

I abandoned my previous log in the middle of last season as it seemed to have run it’s course and I was basically worn out from a lack of sleep, lots of work and a house move & renovation project.

By the time Kilkee 2014 came around, I was exhausted and whilst I matched my PB set in 2013, it was under much easier conditions so the performance was not as good. This was the first time I felt like I had slipped backwards, like I had put in a tough year of training only to emerge slower than before.

I gave myself some easy weeks after Kilkee 2014 and then set Castleconnell as a target. I didn't swim once, but put in six savage weeks on the bike and a bit of running. I managed to come in 7th place which I was very pleased with and got a great finish line pic of my little girl running out to meet me with arms outstretched. I have it hanging up in the house and look at it every time I walk up the stairs, I love it, the race was worth it just for that moment.


The Carbon Ceiling: For the last six years I have raced triathlons on my entry level Aluminum-frame road bike with a very basic factory wheelset. For the first few years, I didn’t buy a TT bike because basically I felt like I hadn’t done the work to deserve one. I always wanted to earn performance rather than buy it. In the last two years, I have put in a huge amount of work on the bike, usually on my own in the garage at 06.30 in the morning. I began to feel like I had earned the right to ride a good bike, but with babies arriving and a house to renovate, there was always something more important to look after first. I felt I was a decent cyclist, but I was frustrated that some guys were beating me simply because they had a better bike. It was time to do something about it.

Two months ago, I bought a TT bike and a new set of wheels. Now, it’s time to see if I can burst through that carbon ceiling!

joey100

Good to see you back logging. Any races lined up for this season or will this be a log building towards Challenge Galway??

What bike did you buy? Need an aero helmet know to complete the look!

gofasterdad

Race Report: Boruman 2015

result: 9th overall

This was my first race of 2015 and with not even a duathlon or a 10k completed, I had no idea what to expect. I had been working hard on the bike and run all winter and went back swimming after easter. It was also going to be my second time riding a TT bike outside, in summary, a lot of unknowns.


Swim: 11:45
I positioned myself just behind the fastest group of swimmers while waiting for the whistle, my plan was to sprint behind them for approx 50 metres get a bit of clear water and then relax into race pace and drift off the back of the lead group. It seemed to work as I missed most of the rough and tumble and had a relatively uneventful swim. I accidentally swallowed some water at the very start and instantly started thinking about the Weils disease warning in the race booklet, so I made a special effort to not swallow any more and hope for the best.

Bike: ~37:30 (the results are offline so I might be out a couple of seconds but my bike leg was 4th overall)
Coming out of the swim, I had a feeling I was in a decent position. The bike started bouncing around as I ran through the rough transition field, so I lifted it up a bit to avoid knocking anything out of position. Off on the bike, I closed the shoes and floored it. there were a couple of guys ahead and I flew past them, I had no idea how far back they went, but it felt like I was leaving them for dust. The road surface between Killaloe and O'Briens bridge was newly laid (I think) and it was snooker table smooth, for a couple hundred metres, I had a very wierd sensation that the bike was sliding down the camber towards the side of the road so I was actually glad to get back to the more regular tarmac. The speedometer was showing me numbers I had never seen in a race before and I was just barreling down the road, picking out targets up ahead and roaring past them. This was exhilerating and I was loving every minute of it.

Up ahead I could see one guy from the faster swimming lane and further ahead in the distance I recognised another one, two good scalps I thought. I didn't accelerate, because I was already catching them fast and soon they were in my rear view mirror (if I had one). I saw the leading lady up the road, again, i just kept my own pace and overtook just before the turn off to Killaloe. Approaching T2, I regretted not doing a course recce as I had no idea which bend would reveal the entrance. I spotted the hi vis vests and took my feet out of the shoes a little early and hopped off the bike also a little early.

Run: 20:49
As I came off the bike, I counted four bikes in transition, a marshall told me I was in fifth. I was delighted with that and headed towards the bridge, I wasn't super fast, but the legs were holding up quite well, considering I gave it welly on the bike. I could hear my wife shouting my name but couldn't see her as there was a good crowd at the far side of the bridge. I eventually spotted her and was amused at the unusual combination of shock and pride on her face, she didn't expect me to be coming through in fifth place either. Later that evening, my wife told me that as the first 4 were going through, the crowd greeted them by name, but as I was going through, there was a general murmur of "who is that". I suppose that's what I get for training at unsociable hours on my own!

I was happy with the way I was moving, I knew there were some handy runners not far behind so I expected to lose some places, I was running to my absolute limit, so after the fourth person came through I was relying on a bit of luck to keep a top ten position. With around 1k left to go I took a look behind and there was nobody within ~400 metres so I knew 9th was in the bag.

Kilkee is up next which is a different ball game altogether and will be a real test.

Trig1

gofasterdad wrote: »

Race Report: Boruman 2015






Bike: ~37:30 (the results are offline so I might be out a couple of seconds but my bike leg was 4th overall)

So you are the other guy from my race report that beat me on the bike, I had the 5th fastest bike split, fair play to you that's some result and you have come on heaps since worlds end last year, I came 8th just behind you in worlds end!!

gofasterdad

joey100 wrote: »

Good to see you back logging. Any races lined up for this season or will this be a log building towards Challenge Galway??

What bike did you buy? Need an aero helmet know to complete the look!

Thanks Joey100, I have Kilkee, Lough Derg, Castleconnel & Kenmare lined up for this season. I do plan on going long some day but i'm not sure if I am ready for next year. In the absence of the Galway Ironman, I would have left it another year or two but it has got me thinking. One of my big long-term goals is Ironman Lanzarote.

I bought a P3 and put some Flo cycing wheels on it. So far so good and it also makes that really cool Night Rider type noise when you go fast which is an added bonus.

RJM85

[quote="gofasterdad;95895464"

I bought a P3 and put some Flo cycing wheels on it. So far so good and it also makes that really cool Night Rider type noise when you go fast which is an added bonus.[/quote]

Giving serious consideration as how to have my bike play the nightrider theme during races now...

gofasterdad

Trig1 wrote: »

So you are the other guy from my race report that beat me on the bike, I had the 5th fastest bike split, fair play to you that's some result and you have come on heaps since worlds end last year, I came 8th just behind you in worlds end!!

Thanks Trig1, I really pushed it on the bike on Saturday just so I could justify the expense of the TT bike! Genuinely though, I have worked harder this year than any other year, the turbo sessions were harder and longer and I introduced some really unpleasant run sessions to my routine. My little boy eventually started sleeping through the night last chrismas, he still wakes up shortly after 5 every day but the extra few hours of sleep has really helped and I have gotten more disciplined about going to bed early.

gofasterdad

Kilkee 2015 Race Report

Trig1

wheres the report?

gofasterdad

I took the report off-line to edit it and never put it back up.

Kilkee 2015 Race Report

Overall 2:25:58 65th overall (Excluding relays)

I drove down to register with my younger brother on Friday evening. Every other year I have registered on the Saturday morning, but it adds a little extra time pressure and I usually end up with a XXL jacket as all the Mediums would be long gone. So this year I decided to head down on the Friday and get it done early, I met a few people including Trig1, had a quick chat and then went for a look at the sea to stretch the legs before driving back home again. There was a strong wind, but the sea looked fine.

Saturday Morning

The bigger crowd was evident this year as space in transition was fairly cramped. I was in a pretty awkward spot at the back of the bandstand that needed a few sharp turns to get into so it wasn’t ideal.

Swim 25:55 I thought the beach start worked well and the worst of the jostling seemed to be over by the time the swimming began. For me, It was probably the most relaxed Kilkee swim I have ever done and for the first time ever I actually managed to draft properly instead of swimming on my own. I was in wave four and after the first buoy, we were overtaking the swimmers at the back of wave three.

Bike 1:12:33
Out on the bike and I was feeling good, there were some nice smooth downhills and the bike was flying it. It was blustery though and not having ridden deep rims in those conditions before, I was unprepared for the little wobbles that came when the wind burst through gaps in the ditch. At the top of one hill I found myself holding back a little as I could see it was going to be open and gusty. But then I thought about all those long hours on the turbo that would mean nothing if I didn’t go 100% on race day. So, I gripped the bars and just went for it, I focussed on reading the road a bit better and when I expected a gust I just kind of leaned into it and I had no more issues after that. I heard a lot of people came off their bikes so I assume the wind must have been a factor in some of these as the road surface was great for the most part.

It was busy on the bike course though, I overtook around 90 cyclists or on average one every 500 metres, most of that was over the first 30k and things settled down a little after that. I finished the bike leg with only two athletes from wave four and around 30 guys from wave three up ahead of me. In 2014, the level of drafting on the course was a disgrace and there were hundreds of people that let themselves down badly by riding in the big groups. This year, as I made my way up through the bike course I did not see one single rider drafting. I was prepared to have a few words with any drafters as I was really p*ssed off with the way people acted last year, but I am happy to report that everybody that I overtook was racing properly, either the drafters had not turned up or they had grown a pair in the last year.


Run: 45:29
As always. the run was very poor, I had a cramp in the water that never really went away and it was still there for the entire bike. It didn’t affect me on the bike but on the run it acted like a speed limiter, anything faster than a jog and I knew all about it. I gave up a lot of places in the run and it was a bit disappointing. Collecting my gear afterwards, I was disappointed to find that someone had helped themselves to my sunglasses, they were a birthday present from my wife so that was a really sh*tty thing for someone to do.


Sunday Morning: back down to Carrrigaholt / Kilkee again for the kids splash & dash.

Summary: I’m somewhat pleased as it’s an improvement on last year, but, being honest a lot of that was clearly down to the better bike. I can’t shake a lingering feeling of slight disappointment, I think losing so much time on the run, combined with the transition thief left a poor taste at the end.

The plan:

Swim: thinking back on the swim, it was more of a cruise pace than a race pace, I only ever worked really hard at the very start and afterwards when I needed to catch feet for a draft, then I settled back down to a comfortable pace again. I need to get comfortable with the idea of pushing myself a bit harder in the swim and not holding back.

Bike : keep going as I am really, I’m very happy with the way the bike has gone for me. I love the new bike and it feels very comfortable to ride, the handlebars are dropped as low as they can go and it still feels great. I used to come off the old bike all stiff and sore, but the new bike is great and I have stayed down in the Aero position for three hours at a time with zero discomfort, in fact I much prefer being in the Aero position and don’t like sitting up.

Run: some drastic action needed here, whatever I am doing at the moment clearly isn’t working. I’m going to address the run problem in the same way that I worked on my bike performance. It will be unpleasant as I don’t enjoy running in the same way that I enjoy cycling, but being realistic, it is probably where I can now get the most return on investment for my training.

Trig1

Heard about your crash . Gutted for you. Hope your on the mend. Take care!!

gofasterdad

Thanks Trig,

i'm doing ok, I broke my eye socket, my jaw and my left arm. i had a bad laceration just above my eye but thankfully, my vision is unaffected and there was no brain injury so i consider myself to be extremely lucky.

i hit that wall straight on at serious speed so it could have been a lot lot worse. it was scary lying there in the spinal board, really scarey and i was in a whole world of pain until i got some painkiller later that evening.

i have facial reconstruction surgery on thursday and will be on the mend after that.

6 weeks on a liquid only diet, so if anyone has some good nutri-bullet recipes, send them on.

the bike is ok, the front of the aero bars are bent upwards so they must have hit the wall first, the front wheel is perfect, i have no idea how.

gofasterdad

ouch - Copy.jpg

joey100

That sounds really nasty, hope your alright. Take your time coming back, not worth rushing back when your not fully healed. Season pretty much over now anyway. Hope you heal quickly.

mossym

glad to hear you are okay. i was walking back up from the swim start when my wife texted me to say she had seen a bad accident, she saw you hit. i was there when the ambulance crew was looking after you. my wife was extremely worried about you, kept getting me to check if there was any news online about you.

so very glad to hear all the damage will heal, which is really really good news(i know it might not seem like it).

given i came off in kilkee, and she saw your smash, she is now freaking out completely about me racing lost sheep on saturday. my own fault for telling her how steep healy pass is!!

sconhome

Heal soon dude, that sounds like a horrible list of injuries. I heard on Twitter about the accident at the weekend and it sounded horrendous.

pgibbo

Man, that's scary. Heal well and best of luck with the surgery.

gofasterdad

mossym wrote: »

glad to hear you are okay. i was walking back up from the swim start when my wife texted me to say she had seen a bad accident, she saw you hit. i was there when the ambulance crew was looking after you. my wife was extremely worried about you, kept getting me to check if there was any news online about you.

so very glad to hear all the damage will heal, which is really really good news(i know it might not seem like it).

given i came off in kilkee, and she saw your smash, she is now freaking out completely about me racing lost sheep on saturday. my own fault for telling her how steep healy pass is!!

Thanks Mossym, apologies for freaking your wife out! i could hear a lot of people around but could not see anything. some people put their jackets over me which was very kind but i dont remember any faces other than the ambulance crew and my very kind team-mate who took fantastic care of me before they arrived. some people who saw it said it was quite spectacular and scary to see, i am glad my own wife did not see it.

Trig1

Jesus Dave. I didn't realise it was that bad. Feck your poor missus must have got some fright. I know mine would have died. Thank god all is ok bar a few broken bones and at least no major damage done to the bike 😉 ... No Lost sheep til next year!!

68 lost souls

Best f luck with the recovery sounds like an awful accident but glad it's not worse. Happy healing

gofasterdad

5 weeks since the crash and things are going pretty well.

the last two weeks have been spent on holidays with the family. I rented a three wheeled dutch cargo bike, with seats for the kids which they loved. I cycled around 20k each day, but it was easy cycling on a flat island with lots of stops for picnics and beaches etc.

Visually, it's almost impossible to tell anything ever happened, the surgeons did some very nice work and the scars are barely noticeable. My face, which is now partially made of titanium is still sore and I have elastics & bolts holding my mouth shut for another week, so it's going to take some time before everything feels normal again.

I want to start back doing some gentle exercise next week, I cannot run, that is out of the question, but I can cycle (turbo), swimming is out too. I think I will spend some time in the gym reacquainting myself with squatting and deadlifting, I have neglected that side of things over the last few years, and building a strong back and legs is never a waste of time.

I would love to do yoga, but i can't hold my head in an upside down position.

Trig1

gofasterdad wrote: »

5 weeks since the crash and things are going pretty well.

the last two weeks have been spent on holidays with the family. I rented a three wheeled dutch cargo bike, with seats for the kids which they loved. I cycled around 20k each day, but it was easy cycling on a flat island with lots of stops for picnics and beaches etc.

Visually, it's almost impossible to tell anything ever happened, the surgeons did some very nice work and the scars are barely noticeable. My face, which is now partially made of titanium is still sore and I have elastics & bolts holding my mouth shut for another week, so it's going to take some time before everything feels normal again.

I want to start back doing some gentle exercise next week, I cannot run, that is out of the question, but I can cycle (turbo), swimming is out too. I think I will spend some time in the gym reacquainting myself with squatting and deadlifting, I have neglected that side of things over the last few years, and building a strong back and legs is never a waste of time.

I would love to do yoga, but i can't hold my head in an upside down position.

Good to hear your on the mend!!

gofasterdad

slowly slowly getting back .

I'm about 4 kg heavier than I was last August, so I really need to reverse that trend before Christmas takes its toll.

Running: still not possible, I horsed around yesterday for a bit with my little boy on my back, chasing his little sister and I'm paying for it today. I knew it was a bit too much, but the look of sheer joy on his face was addictive so I kept going.

Swimming : not possible, although I haven't tried, I just know it's not time yet.

Cycling : I have become very very familiar with the Watt bike.

Weights: I'm quite pleased with progress, starting to develop some real core strength again, I'm still maxing out on weights that I would have warmed up on years ago, but the form is pretty good and weights are moving steadily upwards.

Overall, progress remains steady but slowing down, I had the bolts removed from my mouth which was a real milestone for me. I got the bike fixed up and it's sitting on the turbo, I'm back at yoga and there is zero visible evidence that anything ever happened.

Patience and discipline have brought me back to this level, for now it's just a case of keep tipping away. According to the surgeon, the healing process is a full 18 months. No early morning sessions for the time-being, i'm enjoying the luxury of sleep.

pgibbo

Good to hear you're on the mend. And more importantly being patient!! :cool:

mossym

How goes the recovery? are you back on the bike yet?

gofasterdad

Thanks Mossy, the recovery is going fairly well, I'm slowly getting back on track and have made some progress in the last few weeks.

I started running again at the start of January, just an easy start with 10 mins easy on the treadmill a couple of times a week. It went OK, so I have increased it gradually and I am now back doing hill repeats. I am slow though, averaging >2.00 mins for a climb that used to take me 1.35 - 1.40 but it feels great to be back.

I started swimming two weeks ago, and that did put me under a bit of pressure. With all the injuries, i guess I hadn't really been opening my mouth as wide as it could go, but swimming and gasping for air forced me to do it over and over again. My jaw muscles got really tired and that whole side of my mouth felt kind of stretched out, but I think it's probably good to get the whole range of motion back and the effect was less noticeable this week.

I have been on the watt bike a good bit since last October, just short sharp sessions of 30-40 mins as it was the only aerobic exercise i could do. In the last week I have settled back into regular turbo sessions. I did a new FTP test last week and I'm about 10% lower than this time last year. Not as bad as I feared, but it will take a lot to get it all back again.

I haven't gone outside on the bike yet, although that wouldn't be unusual for me as I tend to stick to the turbo for the winter. A lot of people have asked me how I feel about getting back up on the bike, and the truth is I don't really know. I hope I still have the hunger to push it, but I also hope I have learned to hold back a little...

so I guess, slow and steady is the way it's going. I have entered Kilkee and see that as my goal, to get to the start line in Kilkee in good shape.

mossym

im amazed given the break you had you held 90% of your ftp. that's seriously impressive. i reckon i'd drop that over a 2 week holiday.

good to hear you're getting there. Loads of time between now and kilkee. will expect to see you there!!

gofasterdad

Two steps forward, one step back.

At the start of this year, I secretly harboured notions of returning to Kilkee and beating last years time (which was my fastest ever). I designed a training plan that would see me arrive in Kilkee in great shape. I wanted to prove to myself that I could recover fully from the crash and what better way to prove it than recording a fresh PB

Things went great during the earlier stages of the plan and I was feeling good. When the level went up a notch, I hung in there and stuck it out but when the training level went up another notch I really wasn t able for it. The whole right hand side of my face would hurt for days after a tough session (intense turbo sessions were the worst). I found myself holding tension around my jaw / temple area which led to awful headaches and generally feeling a bit crap.

I backed off from the intense stuff and the soreness has dissipated back down to a more acceptable level. It s a clear sign from my body that it s not ready to go all guns blazing just yet.

I have no goal for Kilkee this year other than to complete it and to enjoy the fact that I am able to complete it. Being honest though, I am a little disappointed as I had hoped to come back strong and I m feeling almost embarrassed in advance of the pretty slow time I know I m going to finish in. On the other side, I have a new son, who is just four weeks old and the reduction in training time has given me some great extra time and energy to spend at home with my growing family.

Earlier this week I took the bike outside for it s first spin since the crash. My heart was pounding like crazy for the first kilometre or so, and I must have gone back into the house five or six times for some last minute things, just to put off the inevitable. But once I got going on the open road it just felt like normal.

I did take a sneaky detour to the scene of the crash and successfully negotiated that corner at a very modest pace. I stopped and took a moment to take in the scene and the immense height and cold un-moving greyness of the stone wall put things into perspective for me. The sheer violence of the event briefly flashed through my mind, so I moved on and cycled off to enjoy the rest of the day, feeling like the one that got away.

MojoMaker

Powerful stuff, thanks for sharing.