Every accomplishment starts with a decision to try

Great stuff AM, I know nothing about cycling but it sounds lonely enough... good for you with your goals!!!

And first place, take a bow!!!!!

Ps glad woody is home and doing better

I presume you meant 'a windy cycle' than 'windy ride'? In fairness FBOT & Ferris called it long time back that you were a dab hand at the riding!!!! Well done on 1st place, Chapeau!!!

That's awesome AM, well done! Not just a podium, but Gold to boot :cool:. Glad to hear Woody's back home, wishing him a speedy recovery to full doggy health!

Great stuff in the relay, AM - although I was as confused about the course as everyone else! Fair play for stepping in and saving the day, and running well to boot.

denis b wrote: »

2 race reports in a week . Wubble Wubble has just been blitzed :eek:. Liking your style A. Keep up the good work and yes the S&C is vital ( glasshouses and stones - so an reminder to myself as well.

Yes indeed, and better again, these ones actually have successes to tell us about

Congrats on the win AM!! No need to qualify it with the (bike only) bit. It's a first place no matter what anyone says, so enjoy your celebrations, and hope Woody gets better

Congrats A, and enjoy the time with the best friend

Loved reading this report AM! Congratulations on your win!

Hopefully these links will work:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/133998076@N08/34526500181/in/album-72157680649597304/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/133998076@N08/34654288205/in/album-72157680649597304/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/133998076@N08/34523672641/in/album-72157680649597304/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/133998076@N08/34654334605/in/album-72157680649597304/

nice to get a win Am, well done great result.

Love the report, excellent stuff....fancy shoes be damned ;-)

Well done AM and congrats on the win.

Annie get your Run wrote: »

Dark? There's no darkness! I've definitely seen the light

I love it

On the fancy shoes, they'd definitely save you some time as they're more efficient but I'd imagine they'd be a bit of a pain in the backside on your commute to work with all the stopping and starting.

There's only one solution, you need a new bike for commuting and you can put the look pedals on the racer You know cyclists have a rule that you must own N +1 bikes

By the way, how're you finding the recovery from the bike racing compared to the adventure racing or the road running?

Bike: 81.2 miles for the week
Run: 7.3 miles for the week
S&C: zero, zilch, nada...

Saturday 20th May: Cabinteely parkrun in 28:47 avg 9:11 min miles avg HR 159 - (my best time here since July 2016).

It's been a tough week, and I needed to just race today and blow off steam. Headed over to Cabinteely to run. Lined up at the start half thinking of running with a friend who's times are around 33 & dropping but she kindly told me to F off so I did!. Started out with Meno & DK who were aiming for 26 mins, I was under no illusions I could stick with them but the first lap is downhill so off we went. Lost them half way into lap one :rolleyes: kept the effort high enough, probably about 80-85%%. At some point in the run I noticed a guy running in long leggings and matching t-shirt, he had passed me earlier but I'd caught him on the uphill, he was also wearing earphones and I decided he was my target today. We played tag (very temporarily) and the next time I passed him I was determined he wasn't getting by again. Even though my pace drops on the hills I'm usually stronger than most and pass a good few folks here, the big hill is x 3 times (note to St. Anne's crew, this is an actual hill ). Due to aforementioned earphones I could hear how far my new BFF was behind me (tsk) and we're on the last lap now, I can hear him coming he's making a move, I pushed on, again he comes and I push on, we're at the bridge, the start of the big hill home and I"m tired but I don't care, he's not passing me!!! I push on again. When we get to the 2nd bridge it gets much steeper but I know it's not far to the finish so I pump the arms, up up and away. I can't hear him anymore! I haven't really looked at the watch and I wonder what time I'll have - Meno was pacing 26 mins, could I do 27? Not even close! 28:48 official time and I think I've left it all out on the course - two of the regulars ask 'are you okay AM? have you overdone it?!' I nod yes but, after a few gasping breaths I jog back down to see if my friend is coming and how is she doing today. Meet her about half way up the hill and give her some encouragement so she passes the girl in front and sprints home to a PB (not my doing, she had all the work done herself). '

Cabinteely is tough, but I love it for sooooo many reasons.

Sunday 21st May 2017 4.2 miles @ 11:26 avg HR 138

The plan for today was to head up to the PP, run the trails and do about 6 miles, then head for a swim. Sleep has been rubbish all week and last night was no different. Headed up and needed the bathroom so parked in the visitors centre instead of at Castleknock gate as had planned. Jogged down the avenue on the trails and around by monument and up through the hills there. Quickly realised what a stupid decision that was, the legs were feeling yesterdays hilly parkrun and I'm feeling tired. In the end it was as much as I could do to get to 4 miles. Headed back to the car and decided not to bother with the pool as it would just depress me to manage a mere fraction of what some folks can do!

Last night I had the crazy idea that I could do Charlevlle Half Marathon - not aiming for a PB or anything but it would be nice to be able to complete the distance and it seems anyone who's anyone is making the trip down this year Today I realise what a mountain I'd have to climb to even be able to finish it - so I'm wondering whether considering it is the most unbelievably stupid thing I could do right now...? I could always just go down and support!

Am planning to do our local BHAA 5 miler on Tuesday week, obviously not aiming for a PB but will run it as best I can 'on the day'. I love this race so why not .

22/5-28/5

A mesely 45 miles on the bike this week. Needed to work from home for most of it after the dog had emergency surgery :eek: on Monday. Got out for a few runs instead drastically breaking the 10% rule :rolleyes:

Monday 22nd May
Bike: commute total 8.2 miles - shorter than usual.
Run: 3 miles @ 11:17, don't remember a thing about this & strava is no help.

Tuesday 23rd May
Usual bike commute 24 miles

Wednesday 24th May
jog/walk: 1 mile. Cooped up in the house all day so decided to get out for a quick jog around the block but had zero sleep the night before and it was hot hot hot. Aborted this .5 of a mile in and walked back home.

Thursday 25th May
Run: 4 miles @ 11:17, what a difference a day makes. Got out early in the morning before the heat of the day and loved every step of this. Avg HR 136 (max 145), not too bad at all.

Friday 26th May
Run: 4 miles @ 11:04. Had today off and spent it dog sitting sunbathing in the garden. Phoned a friend, arranged to meet up for a run in the evening, hopefully when it had cooled down a bit... eh, yeah. It was like a furnace and coupled with the chatting and the faster pace my HR was far too high for an 'easy' run AVG 141 Max 151. Enjoyed the run nonetheless, was lovely to have company too.

Saturday 27th May
parkrun: 3.1 miles @ 9:54. Was supposed to be RD in cabo today but had handed over to someone else during the week as I didn't know what way Woody would be. Headed to Hartstown parkrun as it's only 5 mins from the house, rain stopped in the car on the way over but then re-started just as I arrived in the car park. Tons of empty spaces despite the clock saying 9:27am #lightweights jogged to the start and we were off almost immediately. Ditched the jacket and jogged on. Kept it easy enough for the first mile but then then started passing people who'd gone out too fast. I was following two girls who were chatting away and when I looked at my HR it was 150+ so I pulled back. Ended up passing them too as they'd stopped to walk. Avg HR 144 Max 160. Really enjoyed this in spite (or because of?) the rain. Quick dash southside to collect the gear for next week's RD stint, hopefully the weather will be better for the bank holiday weekend!

Sunday 28th May
Bike: 12 mile easy spin to Leixlip on lovely quiet back country roads, needed to check the gears after I'd had some work done on the bike yesterday. New gears are magic and just had the birds and the sheep for company. Would have gone for much longer but conscious that I probably should have some sort of rest day.

Really missing the dog walks the last 2 weeks. I never count them towards my exercise but we normally do 3-4 miles a day weather depending so that's a considerable chunk of missing miles over a week - even my watch is telling me I'm well under the usual average steps!

I had been considering doing Charleville Half Marathon, I even consulted Ecoli for a training plan and then, as if she has bugged my email, I got a call from my specialist who'd had my latest bloods in to say levels still too high and to increase meds again which means no training plan and no HM. Having been adamant I didn't want to go down the surgery or iodine radiation route as it will inevitably lead to hypothyroidism I"m now seriously considering that option. I've been going backwards bloods wise since January . My fear of becoming fat & lazy (something I spent many years being) is now outweighed by my fear of never being able to train properly again. I'll see how the next few months go on the higher meds and then discuss with the specialist when I see her again in September. I have too much unfinished business with this running lark to give up yet.

Run total 15 miles :cool:

nop98 wrote: »

Ah - that sucks. :mad: I can't imagine you being fat & lazy given your relentless energy and optimism. Look after yourself - and the Charleville squad does need a chief cheerleader! :cool:

Yeah but if they remove the source of all that energy it'll be like Samson & his hair Others manage fine though so will do some research and talk to some people.

Oh definitely I'll be there in cheer leading capacity!!

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Dunno if you've ever ventured in to the long term illness forum, but, there are threads there about thyroid issues so you may get something from reading through or asking questions on there

Thanks M. Yes I saw that thread, read some depressing stories and left fairly sharpish :eek: there's plenty of good & bad like any illness I guess! Might be brave and go back for another look though...:)