140.6 deep breaths...

A couple of sessions that I felt good after, all with a purpose.

Club Run Session
Bolted out of work a bit late for this and missed the dynamic warm up. To make up for it I ran a sharp 5 minute warm up building the pace every 30 seconds until I was running hard. I then slotted into the main set
2*2 minutes, pace 3:25 avg
2*4 minutes, pace 3:39 avg
6 minutes, pace 3:45
1 minute, pace 3:17
All done hard with 2 minutes really easy jogging recoveries. It was a lovely chilly calm evening and I enjoyed this session a lot. Its the first run I've done without having breathing issues in a while and I maintained strong steady efforts on the reps. The Coach hooked me up with a lad of similar pace and I we paced each other. I to felt good to have someone pushing you along like that, very motivating. We split into teams and did some realys next and I sprinted harder than I have since I was a teen. It was good fun.

Long Run
Just 80 minutes so not that long but the objective was to run by percieved effort and that I did. I sauntered around the city ignoring the garmin and keeping my pace in check by listening to my body. It was one of the most relaxing long runs I have done. I worked out a lot of LIFE stuff en route which is unusual for me. I finished with no niggles for once and some ideas on how to turn the corner. Every run from now will have a focus, the focus is to improve

Bike 2.5hrs with Hill Reps
I was all geared up despite feeling the effects of a night out, for a spin. My second of the year. To my dismay my decking was covered with ice and it seemed like I was going to miss my window. We had a slew of visitors due for the day, dinner was put on at 0830! I had arranged to meet DaveR1 for some hill reps and we decided to give it an hour to thaw and check again. Thankfully the sun came out and set the thaw in motion and I was not going to be deterred.

I was a tad' anxious about the session with Dave as he is a whippet on hills and just fast in general at everything. The plan was 6*10 minutes climbing and it turned into a solid hour of work, covering 870m of ascent in the process. We pushed each other on and it was needed too as we both felt it at different times. I was pretty pleased to put down this session given I have huge room for improvement. We pushed the last rep up to the top of the hill and then bolted back down as the descent had dried out a little.

Very good session and again having company made a significant difference, especially fast company
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/154951863

Right then, a week of down time, back soon

Monday swim and easy run
I was heading up the country with Caz for a few days so just took the opportunity to take an early dip before we hit the road. An hour of cruising with the odd tumble turn thrown in. It was a quiet lane and I simply enjoyed the serenity of it. The distance didn't bother me but if I had known I was just a couple of lengths off an SBR green at the end of the hour, I'd have thrown them in.
Total 3,300m

Later in the evening I took to the roads for a 50 minute aerobic run at dusk. It was a windy evening and I struggled a bit into the wind. My legs felt quite wooden and controlled by a puppet master who was otherwise distracted. I had to drag them reluctantly around after me. It may have been a symptom of DaveR1 pushing me up the hills the day before.
11.17km at 4:30 pace
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/156246883

Tuesday bike with HIM intervals
I plotted a route but forgot to check the wind direction. As a result I ended up almost bonking into a headwind spinning home after the work section. I warmed up initially and then horsed into 3*20 minutes at a target HR of 155 with 10 minutes easy in between. The first 2 reps were with a cross and tail wind respectively. I also went over a climb crossing the border and wasn't looking forward to the 3rd rep being back into the wind and up the hill.

It hurt as expected. I had no problem hitting the target heart rate for this rep! The wind was a gusty southerly and pinched significantly. Once the work was done I had the bones of an hour to get home. It took 1:10 and I had to stop at a shop for coke and chocolate before I faced the last 10k into a direct open headwind. Overall it was a solid bike and my first ton of the year. The difference bewteen this 3 hour spin and its equivalent last year, apart from fitness level, is the prescribed work included.
100.37km at 30.7kmh
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/156246896

Wednesday Hilly Run and Core
I went looking for hills and found them. I ran up them. I found wind. I ran into that. I found rhythm. I went with that. It felt good. I felt good. It was a good run. As I stood on the doorstep stretching a dark ominous cloud rolled in furiously and opened its contents with a prupose. The dog even pawed tthe front door. The feeling of getting the run done just before the elements unleased hell felt good too. This run, I smiled
14.77km at 4:25 pace with hills at 160ish HR
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/156246909

Straight afterwards I hit the bedroom floor and performed the 4 yoga poses illustrated in Tiathlete Eurpoe magazine this month. That felt good too.

Thursday Bike with OLY reps and a swim with an experiment
I did 3 loops of Maynooth - Cellbridge - Clane which included good long flat roads for the intervals. I targetted HR 160 for 4*15 minutes with 10 minutes easy in between. The first rep was into a fresh southerly wind and hitting the heart rate wasn't a problem. I was working hard just to hold 28-29kph! The second rep was with the wind behind me and I had to pass cars out to hit the target output!

The next 2 reps followed suit but the energy waned somewhat. Both long bike this week were done on a single water bottle and a banana. I made sure I had a tailwind for the last 10km this time so I could wind down. Good spin but felt rather stiff afterwars. I subsequently did a very very easy transition run around the pretty golf course of Carten house which felt heavy and lumbersome.
91km at 31.5kmh
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/156246920

The swim involved a short warm hotel pool so I had to break the 3k into 3*1k to get through the long easy bit. With that out of the way I decided to see how quickly I could sprint the 18m. Roughly 12 seconds. I then got Caz to time me for a dive start one. 11 seconds. I did one kicking off the wall again and gave it full bore. 11 seconds. I was puzzled. Were dive starts not supposed to be faster. So I did 1 more of each and they were both 11 seconds. Then, when I visualised swimmers on their blocks and it clicked that I was diving from a standing position.

Cue Caz again starting me, but from a crouched toe touching stance. My dive felt more horizontal and faster and I covered the remaining 6 strokes or so at full effort. 9 seconds The experiment confirmed a 2 second advatage for a dive start over a wall start. Given my 100 PB is 1:13, I would be dangerously close to what Tunney once procalimed an adult learner could never do!
Total 3,200m

Friday Swim and Hill Reps with the Run Club
I planned to do a long swim to scoop some room for a proper atttack on the buffet breakfast. 3.8k was about as long as I could manage in the short warm pool. The first km was done nudging between a breats stroking ould fella and a backstroking ould fella. I figured thay would get the hint and give me space but they just carried on and even left a straying elbow from time to time to remind me that they were there first.

I took 10 minutes in the jacuzzi to let off steam half way through the swim and hopped back in when the emerged. I did some damage at the breakfast for a finish
Total 3,800m

I debated doing the club run as it was a hill rep session and I had a race the following day. The race was just some fun though and my legs felt stiff. I though some work and some stretching would loosen them. We did some dynamic exercises on either side of 9 hill reps foe a short quality session. I had a partner for the hills and he was strong, pushing me all the way up. The hills were short enough so as not to take too much out of me. I'm enjoying the group runs. Sadly I will miss them every second week but I'll just appreciate them more when I attend.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/156246930

Keeper Challenge Race Report
This was my first 'Adventure Race'. Although not an AR by purist standards it was rougher and more hair raising than a triathlon. I recced the bike route before the race to find some fairly muddy and dodgy roads and a stinker of a climb. It was wet too which concerned me as I'm not exactly risk averse!

The First Bike
We started in a large group and rolled up to the start. I met my cousin and we chatted en route. He has done some proper ARs and we discussed pedal choice which I'll approach in the form in due course. Once we hit the start line tha gun went quite by surprise and I found myself buried in the middle of the group. Everyone took off and bike wove about almost recklessly. The first 10km was basically a series of long drags. I moved up the outside of the group and noticed a break peel off the front after just a few minutes. I put the boot down.

Within a couple of minutes I had covered the break and was working with the lead pair to push away from the pack. There was another mini group working in between but not quite bridging us. I did my fair share of pulling at the front and we had build 30-40 secs on the pack by the time we hit 10km and turned off the main road to circle the mountain. The terrain grew gradually worse. Mud, loose stones, hills, grass etc.. Some of it shuddering mountain bike territory.

I noticed the other 2 were strong cyclists and seemed to know each other from this AR scene too. I felt strong and felt I had another gear on flat if I had to. I pulled away on descents but was caught again on ascents. At approx 17km we hit the main climb. It was approx 1.5km but 10-15% gradient. Granny gear stuff. I was 3rd to the top of the climb and had lost 100m to the lead pair. There was no one else on the climb behind from what I could see.

The terrain plataued for a moment before descending sharply. I dropped to the hoods and put the boot down to re-engage with the lead pair. I was reeling them in but far too quickly. I completely misjudged a 90 degree turn at the bottom of the descent. It was very muddy and I had gone wide to cut the apex. It was too late to see that this was not possible. I couldn't turn right sharply or the bike would have gone from under me landing me heavily on my right. I had no choice but to aim for the ditch, close my eyes, pull the brake and wait for the impact...

The next thing I knew I was flying over the handlbars and my head clattered off something. Thankfully the ditch took the brunt of the speed off but I hit the deck heavily. It took a minute to get back to my feet. My forehead hurt with the impact of the helmet slamming against it and my neck hurt from the impact too. My hip was grazed but I knew, thankfully, I was not badly hurt. My helmet was loose and I couldn't tighten it, but it was intact. It took another minute to straighten my bars, fix my chain and derailler and loosen my fingers. During this time 3 other lads flew passed knocking me down to 6th place. I got back on the saddle and got motoring again.

My helmet kept slipping down over my eyes which was annoying but I was glad to be moving. I chased down the 3 lads again and caught them. I wasn't going to hang about either. I was told that there was some proper AR racers at race briefing and I also knew there were some quality hill runnes in the pack behind me. I was surprised that more hadn't passed me while I sorted myself and my bike out. That steep climb was clearly taking no prisoners. Anyway, just as I caught the 3 lads and shifted into a big gear to push on, my chain came off I got off and fixed it only to find myself chasing the 3 again. The 3 had become 2 when I of them punctured so I was chasing 4th and 5th spot. I caught them with 5km to go to transition but again when I had pushed on my chain came off again

I was raging now. I felt like throwing the towel at it at this stage. I had a mountain run to do, my neck and hip ached and I was wondering if my bike was even going to get me there. I was covered in mud and breathing heavily. The adrenalin was flowing through my veins. I wasn't giving up yet. I fixed the chain again and chased once more. I caught the 2 just before transition. I had a small bag on my back with my run shoes so I racked my bike and change into those. I had taken on about half of my carb mix drink on the bike. The drama had distracted me from drinking more.
Leg #1 - 31km bike in 1:06. Avg HR 160, max 175 - Thats TT effort for 28kmh average
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/156482234

The Run
I grabbed my bottle of lucozade as I left transition. The 2 guys were already a couple of hundred meters up the trail. The advantage of caged pedals over clip in I guess. My legs felt suitably wooden and I was questioning the decision to do hill reps last night. I reminded myself that this was to be enjoyed! There was something odd about this route for starters. The intended route was called out as 7km up and down the hill but we were running around the base? I gradually reeled in one guy to move up to 4th but the 3rd place guy was pulling away. He turned out ot be the eventual winner, running down the breakaway boys.

I knew I wouldn't have fun carrying the lucozade bottle up the steep hill so I took a few swigs and dropped it by a marshall. It was a self sufficient race and I was now into 14km with no water. The thought of getting back to my water bottle of my bike was my carrot. I kept the 3rd place guy in my sight on the flat and even held his pace but once we started climbing he was gone. The climb totalled 615m and was simply a slow never ending grind. I was full sure that I was going to be caught and my expecation were dropping every time I took a walk break. The trail was mostly mud and fireroad up to 7km. When we hit that point we were still shy of the summit and I expected to be divereted back down. Instead the marshalls decalred the race was up to the peak and back. I already had 7km on the watch! It turned out to be another 2km to the top on steeper looser terrain. It was energy sapping. The 14km had turned into 18km. I still hadn't been caught though and I just worked hard and as steady as I could.

The top 3 guys passed me on the way down and all had several minutes on me and looking strong. I figured I'd soon struggle without water. I reached the top and got my wristband however and to my delight was handed a small water bottle "as long as I took it back to transition". I made the promise and turned to begin the descent. 5th place was maybe 30-40 secs behind me and I recognised Mike Cunnigham a couple of minutes behind him. He became my motivation. I figured 5th pace was closing too quickly on me not to be caught but I though it would be an achievement to get down before Mike. I knew that once I got back on my bike I'd not give up whatever position I was in to anyone. I went for it initially to make it a taller order for them. A 3:26km followed by a few 10km pace ones to hit 13km still in 4th place?! I glanced back a couple of times to see no one behind me but it hurt my neck too much to do so. I decided to let what will be, be. My hammers and hip flexors had felt so tight and stiff on the ascent but they now opened up to cover the ground with greater strides. It was hard going though. I tried to stride as softly as I could but I reckoned the village far below could hear me coming it was so heavy footed.

With the transition area in sight about 5 minutes running away I knew I could hold onto 4th place if I just kept moving. The 250ml water bottle made all the difference between getting through the run and dying half way down. I was feeling it alright and didn't appreciate the last hill up to transition one bit. I saw 3rd pllace leaving T2 as I approached but knew he had 2 minutes on me and I wasn't going to make that up in just 7km. My aim was to hold off the charge behind. I stuffed my run shoes back into the bag and put my helmet on. I was delayed as one of the marshalls was asking me if I wanted a medic to see me. I must not have looked pretty
1:27 for 17:88km, slow but happy to get through it
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/156482248

Second Bike
I struggled to get my feet back into the shoes and was wobbling all over the place. I was already embarassed enough to have fallen off once, I was NOT going to topple over in front of all the marshalls! I eventually got on the road to see 5th place at the bottom of the hill before transition. I had made up over a minute on him and knew I was safe. I basically rolled back to the finish saving just a little fight in case he pulled something out of the bag.
A sluggish 12 minutes for 7km downhill
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/156482260

Overall 2:47:37 for 4th place I was glad it was done too as I ached.

Ok, a bit of a length post to catch up but I'm back in the game people

Lunchtime 10k easy run with strides.
We just have the one changing room so I changed after my work run buddy giving him a couple of minutes of a headstart. It took a couple of 3:45 pace kms to catch up and then I settled to his chatting pace. The conversation for a set of hard strides which I felt more than usual. I was still sore from the weekend.

A hard turbo brick session was scheduled for this evening, a repeat of the one I couldn't finish a few weeks ago. My shoulder and neck still ache so I thought it best to allow an extra day of recovery. I have to fix the bike up anyway. It has been far too long since I did a long run so I'm going to use the Mallow 10 mile to judge my target pace for the Limerick Half Marathon.

Weight trend line is climbing in the wrong direction. Simply no sugar control going on here 4.5kg to race weight....
RW