Ticking the box..

BTH

The last time I did this it didn’t work out too well. Hopefully this time I make it to the start line of my target race. :rolleyes:

Target, as most(all) of you know, is IM Copenhagen. Its 6 weeks since I was in a pool, almost 7 since my last training ride and 5weeks since I ran :eek: . And its over three years since I’ve had a race performance I was completely happy with. So I know theres a hell of a lot of work to do in the next 46 weeks. Since my last training log ended I’ve been a busy boy! Married :rolleyes: , tonsils removed , honeymoon , relocate to the otherside of the country :pac: , new sh1t job with loads of travel :mad: , a baby boy , another new much better job with no travel and better money, and lastly buying a new house which we’re either moving into next week or the end of the month . I’ve tried to race through all of that but I really haven’t performed anywhere close to what I know I can because I haven’t been able to get in the consistent training that’s needed. So fingers and toes are all crossed for life to settle down a little for the next 10 months and I can get some decent training in.

Why log now? I’m not working directly with an overall coach. I have a swim coach who provides the sessions that I do with a group out here. Unfortunately he doesn’t get to see me swim anymore. I have another “coach” who tracks what I’m doing and gives me pointers and I can bounce ideas off him, but no-one giving me a weekly plan to follow and following up that its done. I’m hoping that’s where you guys can help a little. Too many breaks in training due to excessive procrastination and wussing out of the weather in the west. I’ve found it too easy to put-off the long run in particular and never actually getting it done. So please, if you see a gap of a few days (here or on strava) or something I have planned not getting done, please do pull me up on it. So this log is really to keep me more accountable.

This wont be a log of daily updates, nor essay length posts about my weeks training. It’ll be more along the lines of Trigs updates than Dorys or Zicos. But I do intend on updating here at least once a week. Since the Lost Sheep debacle I’ve been on holidays and I’ve been doing a decent amount of Pilates and Yoga as well as seeing a guy about on-going hip/hamstring issues I’ve been having since summer 2014. These are the kind of things I’ve neglected the last few years and really need to keep up so I’ll be mentioning them without going into any detail.

I’m going to be easing very slowly back into training. Plan for the next four weeks is less than 4.5 hours a week SBR and plenty of S&C/house painting to supplement that. 2*30min swims, 2*30min & 1*45min run and a 90min bike each week up to the end of October. I should manage that much anyway

BTH

And we've started.

30min easy run Monday evening. Was as bad as was expected.

30min swim this morning 4*400 off 7:30. Also as bad as expected. started at 6:28, drifted to 6:38. Very poor but not surprising.

rodneyr1981

Willing to share your IM target?
Any other race targets or is all focus on Copenhagen?

mossym

best piece of advice i can give you for CPH:

get on my shoulder and stick there, we'll get through it together.

catweazle

Good to see the house is nearly through, where did you buy?

BTH

rodneyr1981 wrote: »

Willing to share your IM target?
Any other race targets or is all focus on Copenhagen?

Kilkee, a half (Cutra/Tri an Mhi/Athlone) and depending on the calendar a few others.

Target is very much dependent on getting the training in, obv.

but..

on the bike by the 60min mark, should be doable.
On the run by the 6:10 mark. Again, once I get the biking done I see no reason why not. The run is the big unknown for me right now, I've never put a decent 6 months block of running together, so I need to do that before I know what I'm capable of. At my best running shape I would have thought 3:15 was possible, but probably unlikely to go so well at my first IM.

Conditions on the day will play a big part too.

BTH

mossym wrote: »

best piece of advice i can give you for CPH:

get on my shoulder and stick there, we'll get through it together.

I'm sorry, I dont believe in drafting.

BTH

catweazle wrote: »

Good to see the house is nearly through, where did you buy?

Up the hill behind Barna. Truskey

mossym

BTH wrote: »

I'm sorry, I dont believe in drafting.

Dear Mr Hare,

I was referring to the Run. Would you like to see my lost sheep finish line pic smart arse?

yours in triathlon

Mr Tortoise

BTH

mossym wrote: »

Dear Mr Hare,

I was referring to the Run. Would you like to see my lost sheep finish line pic smart arse?

yours in triathlon

Mr Tortoise

Would you like to see my finisher pic from 2011 when I went sub 5?? (I had originally written down 2012, can't believe it was so long ago)

Just like Liverpool fans, living off the past!!

catweazle

BTH wrote: »

Up the hill behind Barna. Truskey

Nice and near the golf course

mossym

BTH wrote: »

Would you like to see my finisher pic from 2011 when I went sub 5?? (I had originally written down 2012, can't believe it was so long ago)

Just like Liverpool fans, living off the past!!

sheesh. you try and help a fellow triathlete out and they start leafing through dog eared history books for faded records of long forgotten times.

BTH

catweazle wrote: »

Nice and near the golf course

Have one eye on retirement!!

mossym wrote: »

sheesh. you try and help a fellow triathlete out and they start leafing through dog eared history books for faded records of long forgotten times.

Just like a Liverpool fan

sconhome

BTH wrote: »

Just like Liverpool fans, living off the past!!

Strike 1

BTH wrote: »

Just like a Liverpool fan

Strike 2

......

mossym

AKW wrote: »

Strike 1



Strike 2

......

and i wouldn't mind but everyone now probably thinks i'm a Liverpool fan

BTH

AKW wrote: »

Strike 1



Strike 2

......

How many strikes did Brendan get??

sconhome

mossym wrote: »

and i wouldn't mind but everyone now probably thinks i'm a Liverpool fan

tunney

You going to donegal soon?

BTH

tunney wrote: »

You going to donegal soon?

Why we're there no initiatives like this when I was in college??

interested

The 'Ticking the box' title reminded me .... I guess it was either this or the baby grow pic

Best of luck with the move, painting, decorating ...etc etc ...

BTH

I love how my log has already descended into nothing more than ginger bashing. Just cant believe it took until page two. And Mark, as bad as that pic is, it is preferable to the onesie pic. What goes on stag do should stay on stag do.

Tuesday evening I did a little yoga after the little fella was in bed and herself was off at spinning.

Wednesday morning some rehab on the hips/hamstrings.

Wednesday even 45min easy run. 5:12/km avg HR 160 (which is nowhere near easy) and I'm fairly sure I was hitting the wall after 40min. This was brutal but I kept going.

Pilates class later than evening

Thursday morning 30min swim, 16*100 off 1:50. These were all in around 1:35 which is poor enough but I'm not worried about that. Started to tire around half way through so I used the pull buoy for the last 6.



This month is all about getting the body used to exercising again after what was a longer than usual break, so I'm not paying a huge amount of attention to pace or HR, but no harm in documenting them.

sconhome

BTH wrote: »

I love how my log has already descended into nothing more than ginger bashing.

Initiation rite to test your willingness to stick to logging training.

I didn't get one and look at the state of my log lately!

BTH

Thursday evening I did some rehab/strength work,

Friday morning 30min run, 5:17 pace for 156 avg HR. Atrocious.

Friday evening Hot Yoga class.

Saturday was more rehab/strength

Sunday, 43km cycle @26.75kmph 124avg HR. Nice morning, but sore arse, its been a while.

Sunday evening yoga class.

Monday morning 30min run 5:17 pace for 147 avg HR. Same loop as Friday morning so it looks like a huge improvement, but reckon its a fluke.

Tuesday morning 30min swim 1000m SKPS 50s, then 10*50 off 60 5 swim 5 pull, these were in 45/46.



Eoghan has been sick all weekend, temperature of 38.9 Friday evening, nose running like a tap, he can't sleep because he struggles to breath, so we're both completely wrecked. Temperature back to normal since Sunday eve, but nose not and now we're both coming down with the same thing. Damn creche.

catweazle

BTH wrote: »

Eoghan has been sick all weekend, temperature of 38.9 Friday evening, nose running like a tap, he can't sleep because he struggles to breath, so we're both completely wrecked. Temperature back to normal since Sunday eve, but nose not and now we're both coming down with the same thing. Damn creche.

Its like reading Tunnys log!

BTH

catweazle wrote: »

Its like reading Tunnys log!

That's exactly what I was thinking as I typed.

All I need now Is a good night out on the piss and a three day hangover.

tunney

catweazle wrote: »

Its like reading Tunnys log!

Except I spell Eoin correctly.

tunney

BTH wrote: »

Eoghan has been sick all weekend, temperature of 38.9 Friday evening, nose running like a tap, he can't sleep because he struggles to breath, so we're both completely wrecked. Temperature back to normal since Sunday eve, but nose not and now we're both coming down with the same thing. Damn creche.

Welcome to the real world

catweazle

tunney wrote: »

Except I spell Eoin correctly.

Hes living out in the Gaeltacht area now - probably getting some kind of benefit/subsidy for the Irish name!

BTH

tunney wrote: »

Except I spell Eoin correctly.

catweazle wrote: »

Hes living out in the Gaeltacht area now - probably getting some kind of benefit/subsidy for the Irish name!

Oh, the choice of spelling is very deliberate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eoin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E%C3%B3gan_(given_name)

pgibbo

tunney wrote: »

Except I spell Eoin correctly.

Whatever about Eoin/Eoghan, you can spell Tunney correctly :pac:

Dory Dory

BTH wrote: »

All I need now Is a good night out on the piss and a three day hangover.

Then what was all that hot yoga and sore arse post about???

BTH

I've done no S&C work at home this week. Its head-colds all round, and Tuesday night I spent the entire night holding the little fella upright so he could sleep meaning I got next to nothing.


Wednesday evening I got in a 30min run along the prom 5:08/km 149avg hr. Shorter than I would have done without a streaming nose and lack of sleep, but probably the sensible option. 60min pilates class after this which I took a little easier than normal.

Did nothing on Thursday. Supposed to be a 30min swim but with the nose running faster than I even had it would have been stupid to swim.

Friday morning another 30min run. Very cold all of a sudden. 5:15 pace for 154 avg hr. Felt great for the first half (the downhill half) but really started to struggle. I'm blaming the headcold.

Eoghan wasn't improving so we bit the bullet on Wednesday and started him on the antibiotics. Would have preferred not to but I was out-voted. On the plus side hes back to sleeping 10-11 hours straight through at night. See what happens when you spell your childs name correctly. :pac:

tunney

BTH wrote: »

I've done no S&C work at home this week. Its head-colds all round, and Tuesday night I spent the entire night holding the little fella upright so he could sleep meaning I got next to nothing.

This sounds exactly like my week. Its a bugger doing anything with tots.

BTH wrote: »

Eoghan wasn't improving so we bit the bullet on Wednesday and started him on the antibiotics. Would have preferred not to but I was out-voted. On the plus side hes back to sleeping 10-11 hours straight through at night. See what happens when you spell your childs name correctly. :pac:

You changed his name by deed poll?

BTH

Friday evening was a night out with work that ended with my first visit to a nightclub since a stag do a year ago. Good times and I was delighted to have made the decision to take a day off every weekend until the new year

Sunday morning 1:53 on the bike @27kmph very easy 121 avg HR.

Yoga class that evening.

Monday morning a 30min run, my usual route backwards for a bit of variety 5:09 pace and avg HR of 146, which is starting to approach properly easy territory as opposed to this unfit easy which is stupid hard and stupid slow.

We're still not sure, but today might be keys day. Living in limbo is great craic :rolleyes:

rodneyr1981

BTH wrote:

We're still not sure, but today might be keys day. Living in limbo is great craic

Any joy?

BTH

rodneyr1981 wrote: »

Any joy?

Nope, bank didn't release funds until nearly 5 o'clock so too late at that stage. Keys are with our solicitor in longford which is another logistical problem. Joys of it all

BTH

No training done Tuesday or Wednesday last week and S&C work dropped for the whole week. Also didn't swim as too much going on and wasnt fully over the headcold. We did move house though, so I wasnt exactly slacking.

Thursday evening was a very tired 30min run. 5:06 pace HR154 which is awful.
Saturday morning a 45 min run 5:12 pace HR 157, more awful.
Followed that up with a 1:43 bike 27kmph 133 HR, so again HR too high. Lack of fitness.
Headed for Wexford Saturday afternoon for a stag do, with two very interesting stops along the M50 on my way down.
Yoga session Sunday evening after I got back.

Glad to get the three runs and one bike in last week with everything thats been going on. Swim suffered but something had to give and probably the sensible decision with the lingering headcold.

New week, 30min run on Monday 5:04 pace 151HR so a nice improvement but still a long way to go. Also some strenght work and rehab work on Monday.
20min swim this morning which was a real struggle. Real training starts back next week and I'm not going to have much to work with starting off. Sorry Mark

pgibbo

Seeing as no-one else asked I will...what was interesting about the 2 stops? :pac:

sconhome

Burger King at Applegreen and Base2Race ?

BTH

pgibbo wrote: »

Seeing as no-one else asked I will...what was interesting about the 2 stops? :pac:

AKW wrote: »

Burger King at Applegreen and Base2Race ?

The bearded man is half right. Picked up some trial saddles in B2R, my rump needs more care if its to get through an IM without me chucking the bike in a ditch.

The other stop I will explain to you another time in person, but its very positive in relation to the big target.

tunney

BTH wrote: »

The bearded man is half right. Picked up some trial saddles in B2R, my rump needs more care if its to get through an IM without me chucking the bike in a ditch.

The other stop I will explain to you another time in person, but its very positive in relation to the big target.

He met me and signed up to Team Tunney. There we go, the ginger cat is out of the bag.

BTH

tunney wrote: »

He met me and signed up to Team Tunney. There we go, the ginger cat is out of the bag.

I prefer to work with the literate.




its EOGHAN

RacoonQueen

Owen

tunney

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Owen

Maeve

BTH

Quickly

Tuesday evening - small bit of rehab
Wednesday morning - 20min yoga
Wednesday evening - 45min run which was a real struggle and a dash to the toilet to finish 5:18 pace 151 avg hr
Thursday - Early session with my rehab guy which left me quite sore on Friday
Saturday morning - 30min 5:05 pace 152 avg HR hilly route out by the new house
Sunday morning - 60k bike @26.5kmph 124 avg hr
Sunday evening - Yoga Class

So ends the four weeks of getting my body used to training again. Swim hasnt happened, S&C has been below what I wanted as well. House move obviously a big factor. Run and Bike have gone to plan and at time I feel normal running even if slow. No fitness there but form is hinting at returning. Next four weeks will be easing into some proper weekly hours


Monday morning - rehab
Monday evening - 35min run 5:03 pace 151 avg HR. Still too high.
Monday evening - 20min yoga
Tuesday morning - First swim back for the group. 2500m covered in the hour with lots of chat in-between. Probably the perfect re-introduction.

MojoMaker

Curious BTH - is 5:03-5:06 your easy pace? If yes, congrats, I read somewhere Gwen Jorgensen's easy pace is 5:30 for her 33 min 10K. If not, why so many runs above easy pace, especially in a back-to-basics build period?

BTH

MojoMaker wrote: »

Curious BTH - is 5:03-5:06 your easy pace? If yes, congrats, I read somewhere Gwen Jorgensen's easy pace is 5:30 for her 33 min 10K. If not, why so many runs above easy pace, especially in a back-to-basics build period?

Up to now I haven't been overly concerned about HR or pace. Just run kinda easy. None of the runs so far have been properly easy. Properly easy is sub 140avg HR. I'm averaging at least 12 beats too high baring a couple of unusual runs. There was a time a couple of years ago when ~138 avg hr gave me 4:45-4:50 pace but I'm miles off that at the moment. Soon I'll starting paying more attention to my HR and probably slow down slightly initially. 5:30 pace is beyond me, as much as someone :rolleyes: would like to see me me run that slow, I just cant do it and feel remotely normal. As it is I look like I'm shuffling, not running, to which gibbo will attest.

I'm not Gwen Jorgensen and there's no shortage of varying definitions of easy, I just know what works for me.

MojoMaker

Thanks BTH.

We had a post a while ago, I think from Kurt, about how difficult it can be sometimes to really run 'easy' - i.e. slowly and most of us default to a running pace that is somewhere between easy and steady as it seems to make the best momentum. I'm just wondering are we polarising correctly in that case, maybe more of our easy should be really easy and more of our hard should be properly hard?

Alternatively, if we run at tempo most of the time what is the specific downside - longer recovery, higher incidence of injury etc? Interested in some thoughts as I map out the winter.

tunney

MojoMaker wrote: »

Thanks BTH.

We had a post a while ago, I think from Kurt, about how difficult it can be sometimes to really run 'easy' - i.e. slowly and most of us default to a running pace that is somewhere between easy and steady as it seems to make the best momentum. I'm just wondering are we polarising correctly in that case, maybe more of our easy should be really easy and more of our hard should be properly hard?

Most triathlete run 30km or so a week.
10% of 30km is 3km

How many km do you run hard a week?

BTH

MojoMaker wrote: »

Thanks BTH.

We had a post a while ago, I think from Kurt, about how difficult it can be sometimes to really run 'easy' - i.e. slowly and most of us default to a running pace that is somewhere between easy and steady as it seems to make the best momentum. I'm just wondering are we polarising correctly in that case, maybe more of our easy should be really easy and more of our hard should be properly hard?

Alternatively, if we run at tempo most of the time what is the specific downside - longer recovery, higher incidence of injury etc? Interested in some thoughts as I map out the winter.

Running properly easy, as easy you suggested, takes a lot of discipline, focus, patience. Patience is not exactly abundant in a lot of triathletes. It also requires that you push your ego aside, swallow your pride and this is probably the biggest stumbling block for most.

Zico is the only one on here who I have seen running properly easy, he was doing 5:30 pace or slower for easy runs during his Connemara marathon cycle. That's a hell of a lot slower than most would say his race time suggests easy pace should be. He was doing almost no swim or biking. Are his easy runs as slow after that marathon, I'm not so sure (haven't checked though). Many will say that running 20km per week or 30km per week at a properly easy pace is a complete waste of time. Given Tunneys post below he probably sits in that camp. Many very successful and well known coaches will agree with him. I obviously disagree, and there's many well known coaches that agree with me too.

Many ways to skin a cat.

tunney wrote: »

Most triathlete run 30km or so a week.
10% of 30km is 3km

How many km do you run hard a week?

BTH

While I'm here...........

Tuesday evening a very short strengthening session squeezed in around paint discussions as home
Wednesday morning more rehab. Left hamstring issue which has plagued me since summer 2014 is almost entirely gone which is great. No restrictions when I run anymore.
Wednesday evening 60min run, getting much closer to properly easy :pac: 5:17 pace 144avg hr.
Pilates class later on Wednesday evening.
Swim this morning. 55min, just 1900m and lots of chatting. Getting back into the routine is more important right now that trying to do too much too soon. Tiring very quickly when I swim, which is no surprise.