Everybody else is doing it, so why not me?

pointer28 · 01-03-2012 05:29PM

Week 8 Update

Well, that's that then. Sick as a small hospital from last Friday for 5 full days. Really badly infected and sore throat and a fever. I even had Monday off, perfect day for a long spin and stayed indoors all day trying to shake it off.

I'm hardly ever sick and when I am, a day in bed usually sorts it, can't remember the last time it took 2 days, let alone 5. Anyway nearly all better now and hoping to do a few easy sessions to end this week and then back into full flow next week.

Totals for Week 8

Run 135 mins
Bike 0 mins

YTD Totals

Run 872 mins
Bike 1321 mins

pointer28 · 01-03-2012 05:36PM

Thursday

73 Min Bike, 28.4 km, Av Spd 23.4 kmh, AHR 131, MHR 169

First day back and went for a nice easy spin in the afternoon. Got some very good news this morning relating to work so in a great mood and just had the most enjoyable spin in a long time. The sun was shining, the birds were singing etc. etc.

I thought about continuing on and turning it into a longer spin, but put on my sensible cap and turned for home as I still have a small dose on me and don't want a relapse.

Feeling really good about the whole thing now and can't wait to get stuck back into it next week. My fitness levels feel really good and whenever I got my HR up while attacking a hill or whatever it seems to be dropping back really quickly while I presume means my heart is getting fitter. However, my legs just don't have it in them at the moment, I really think it's the short weekday spins that make all the difference to my bike legs and when I miss them I haven't got the legs for the long spins.

pointer28 · 06-03-2012 02:35PM

Sick for most of this week so only just got back for an easy spin on Thursday (post above). Between working at 5am and still feeling a bit tender, I got no run in at all, which is the first time since October that I haven't ran at least 3 times every week.

Still, I'm going to stay positive and look at it as a rest / recovery week and get back into it properly next week.

Totals for Week 9

Run 0 mins
Bike 73 mins

YTD Totals

Run 872 mins
Bike 1394 mins

pointer28 · 06-03-2012 02:44PM

Monday 5/3/2012

71 Min Bike, 28.4 km, Av Spd 24.4 kmh, AHR 145, MHR 183

First day back proper training and went for a quick spin on the bike. Before I got sick I was getting the feeling that both my running and cycling were getting very one paced, so I decided to mix it up a bit today and get the heart pumping.

There are no climbs as such around here but a few short, sharp hills that I usually just wimp out and spin up in the easy gears. Today, I really attacked all these small hills without changing down and I also did a couple of hard intervals in the big gears when on the flat. Nothing too impressive compared to some of the guys on here, but I felt really good afterwards and might have actually accomplished something rather than just wasted miles.

Feels really good to be back at it.

pointer28 · 06-03-2012 06:37PM

Tuesday 6/3/2010

48 Min Run, 9.30km, Pace 5.10 m/km, AHR 164, MHR 181

My first run in ten days and as this is meant to be a build week I decided to split it into 4 intervals of 12 mins run, 90 secs rest to make sure I completed it.

Holy Moly! 5.10 m/km

That's the fastest pace I have ever managed and it felt easy, no niggles, aches or pains afterwards. And yes, I did subtract 0.5km from the distance ran to allow for the 270 secs of walking I did. I think from now on that I'll make some intervals a regular part of my training.

Side Lying Leg Lift 10 secs x 10 each leg
Plank 10 secs x 5
Single Leg Deadlift 10 secs x 10 each leg
Bridge 10 secs x 15
Push Ups x 20
Squats x 20
Bicep Curls x 15 each arm
Overhead Press x 20
Honestly, I'm starting to think that my body just needed a good rest and that's why I got sick. I've never been a fit person, so all of this activity has come as a huge shock to my system. Luckily, after reading so much here and elsewhere, I knew better than to try and run through the illness and took it easy for the week.

Rotten day out though. Only a light rain, but that along with a bitter cold wind made it quite uncomfortable. This was the first time in ages that I didn't meet a single other runner on the route.

pointer28 · 07-03-2012 04:34PM

Wednesday 7/3/2012

72 Min Bike, 29.3 km, Av Spd 24.4 kmh, AHR 135, MHR 176

Moderate breeze my b*llocks !! :rolleyes:

Never went as slow down a hill in my life but on the other hand never went as fast up one either. Very, very windy and quite sketchy at times. Kept both hands firmly on the bars at all times as it would have been very easy to end up in the ditch.

Took a different route today with a nice little climb which felt surprisingly easy considering I haven't seen any kind of a hill in months. I would have liked to push it a bit harder but the wind really was a bit scary at times. I still managed to keep my AHR higher than I usually would for my long rides and that's my intention with these short spins.

Still, a nice workout and happy I got out.

pointer28 · 08-03-2012 06:48PM

Thursday 8/3/2012

197 Min Bike,72.1 km, Av Spd 21.9 kmh, AHR 129, MHR 166

Straight into a headwind for the first 90 mins. Pure torture. Lovely spin after that though and was tipping along at a nice easy pace and keeping my HR nice and low.

I know that the calorie readings on HR watches are meant to be very inaccurate but I use as a kind of fitness gauge and over this same exact route my average speed has increased, my average HR has decreased and my calories consumed has decreased so I presume this means I'm fitter than I used to be. :cool:

I'd love to have a nice still and sunny day to test this route and see what the figures are like.

pointer28 · 10-03-2012 06:31PM

Friday 9/3/2012

50 Min Run, 9.60km, Pace 5.13 m/km, AHR 165, MHR 182

5 Intervals of 10 mins with 1 min rest. Super session but by christ did it hurt. I was hardly able to get out up off the couch that evening. Legs feel OK today though, a bit tired but no pain so I'm happy.

pointer28 · 11-03-2012 02:28PM

Sunday 10/3/2012

56 Min Run, 9.34km, Pace 6.00 m/km, AHR 146, MHR 176

Because I've basically been doing nothing but tempo runs for the last 3 months, I decided to change this week and mix it up a bit. My first two runs were tempo intervals at a decent pace (for me):rolleyes: and today's run was the first time I've ever done a proper LRS (even if it was more SR than L).

I concentrated on my HR and tried to keep it as close as I could to 145 and firmly in Zone 2. I had only done intervals so far this week and no running at all last week so basically no non-stop running over 12 minutes for the last fortnight. I was really delighted with myself after this workout, it felt so easy and I felt like I could have kept going for ages.

So, I think I'm going to continue mixing it up for the next few weeks. My first 10k goal race is 4 weeks away now and I'm happy that I can manage the distance which was always my main worry. Now I'm just going to concentrate on trying to improve my pace a bit. My initial goal was just to finish the race, but now I think I should set my self a goal time of 55 minutes to work towards. This is a pace of 5.30 m/km and while it might seem laughable compared to some of the times I read on these boards, I'll be more than chuffed if I make it.

Totals for Week 10

Run 154 mins
Bike 339 mins

YTD Totals

Run 1026 mins
Bike 1733 mins

pointer28 · 12-03-2012 08:39PM

Monday 12/3/2012

92 Min Bike, 38.72 km, Av Spd 25.5 kmh, AHR 137, MHR 173

Short bike again and made an effort to put in some intervals in the big ring and attacking some small hills. I also made an effort to ride a hill that I drove up yesterday that looked like a good climb and while it wasn't a walk in the park, I expected it to be harder so happy with that. I'll keep it in mind for a few hill repeats in the future. I'm surprised my AHR was so low, I expected it to be higher as I thought I really pushed it a few times.

Nice day out, bit of a breeze but not a patch on last week. Quite warm too, no leg warmers, skull cap or long fingered gloves for the first time in a long time.

pointer28 · 13-03-2012 08:10PM

Tuesday 13/3/2012

68 Min Run, 10.44km, Pace 6.30 m/km, AHR 144, MHR 158

Well, that's the first 10k in the bag!

I know it wasn't my goal race yet and it was as slow as slow could be but that's exactly what I was aiming for. I had a niggle in my right knee and glute and I wanted to take it easy without missing a session. I think I actually ran off the aches that I had as I feel a lot better sitting here writing this.

pointer28 · 15-03-2012 08:43PM

Thursday 15/3/2012

213 Min Bike, 82.75 km, Av Spd 23.3 kmh, AHR 129, MHR 170

Felt really good on this one. I even went back down the biggest hill on the route and tackled it a second time

I had a day off yesterday and I knew it today. Still up at 5am, seven days a week with lambing so massive fatigue at the moment and would love a day off. I fell like if I switched off my alarm and went to bed I mightn't wake up for a week.

pointer28 · 16-03-2012 06:34PM

Friday 16/3/2012

40 Min Run, 8.16km, Pace 4.54 m/km, AHR 166, MHR 182

4 x 10 min Intervals with 2 min rests

Oh sweet jeebus that hurt. My proper running tops were all in the wash and all I could find was a light fleece top. Bad idea. I may as well have been running in the sauna. Horrendous. On the plus side I weighed myself before the run at 75.3 kgs and after the run at 73.6 kgs. That's 1.7 kgs of a drop in the space of an hour. Maybe I've happened onto something here.

Anyway, as much as it hurt I think it was good pain and I feel better now for it.

pointer28 · 18-03-2012 10:32PM

Sunday 18/3/2012

52 Min Run, 8.85km, Pace 5.53 m/km, AHR 156, MHR 167

I made a real effort to keep this at a very steady HR for the entire session and I think I managed it quite well as my max HR was only 11 bpm higher than my average. Run felt good and not too fatigued at all after it. So that's one LSR, one steady session and one interval session for the week.

One bike session missed again this week but I'm so fatigued with work I really just wasn't able for it, rather than avoiding it which was the problem with the turbo sessions.

This week coming is an easy week so I'll try and slip in an extra easy bike ride to make up my figures for the month. I know this isn't recommended but I have missed a lot of sessions this month and my body is feeling good and I'm enjoying the bike.

Totals for Week 11

Run 160 mins
Bike 305 mins

YTD Totals

Run 1186 mins
Bike 2038 mins

pointer28 · 19-03-2012 07:10PM

Monday 19/3/2012

97 Min Bike, 37.59 km, Av Spd 23.25 kmh, AHR 137, MHR 174

Very windy so average speed quite slow for the HR figures. Did some really good intervals and a great workout overall. Really enjoying the bike lately.

pointer28 · 20-03-2012 06:33PM

Tuesday 20/3/2012

40 Min Run, 7.42km, Pace 5.23 m/km, AHR 159, MHR 176

The plan for this session was to do 8 mins easy at under 145 bpm and then step it up and do a steady 24 mins at over 160 bpm, and another 8 mins under 145 bpm at the end.

In reality, this is how it worked out

7.57 @ 143 avg bpm
24.00 @ 165 avg bpm
8.03 @ 156 avg bpm

The warm up was fine and within the limits that I set. The core session in the middle was tough but worthwhile and felt good. I found it really hard to bring my pace back down and kept speeding back up whenever I took my eyes off the watch. Anyway, it could be worse.

pointer28 · 21-03-2012 08:31PM

Wednesday 21/3/2012

220 Min Bike, 85.8 km, Av Spd 23.4 kmh, AHR 129, MHR 176

Bit breezy but very cold. Didn't feel great, no major problems just wasn't into it. Still, more miles in the legs and avg. speed getting better.

pointer28 · 26-03-2012 09:11AM

Thursday 22/3/2012

69 Min Run, 10.2km, Pace 6.46 m/km, AHR 145, MHR 168

These LSR's seem to be getting slower but my main problem is keeping the speed down as I find it so incredibly dull and boring. I find it easier to push myself hard for the interval sessions than to hold myself back for the easy ones.

Sunday 25/3/2012

155 Min Bike, 57.87 km, Av Spd 22.4 kmh, AHR 133, MHR 169

A rare occasion where I had a free day on a Sunday and got to go for a lovely spin with a friend. I bought my bike this time last year and this is only the second time that I've cycled with company in over 2,500 kms.

It turns out there are a few hills in Westmeath, you just have to know where to find them. No real killers but better than nothing. Really beautiful and scenic route, a little testing but one that I'll be using a lot from now on.

I took a drive with the GF this afternoon and had a bit of lunch and then went for a recon lap of the Slieve Blooms in the car. First up was the Cut

followed by a lovely, twisting descent and then the Wolftrap :eek:

On second thoughts, I think I might quit the cycling and take up snooker.

Totals for Week 12

Run 109 mins
Bike 472 mins

YTD Totals

Run 1295 mins
Bike 2510 mins

couerdelion · 26-03-2012 09:41AM

pointer28 wrote: »

These LSR's seem to be getting slower but my main problem is keeping the speed down as I find it so incredibly dull and boring. I find it easier to push myself hard for the interval sessions than to hold myself back for the easy ones.

Training looks like it's going well for you.

Yep, LSR's are pretty boring. Have you tried listening to podcasts or audio books? I find it passes the time and makes it easier to go slow listening to the spoken word rather than having dance music encouraging me to go faster.

pointer28 · 26-03-2012 12:24PM

Thanks Couerdelion,

Yeah, really happy with the training. Just back from a run now and feel a million dollars after it, weather helps too.

Thanks for the tip, I never thought of that. The faster music does tend to encourage to pick it up a bit too much. Any recommendations for something to listen to?

pointer28 · 26-03-2012 12:38PM

Monday 26/3/2012

56:10 Min Run, 10.2km, Pace 5.30 m/km, AHR 158, MHR 182

The plan today was to just do a steady run for 60 mins. The first ten minutes felt really good so I changed my plan and decided pick it up a bit and see what kind of PB I could set for this regular training route, thereby giving a gauge for the future.

While I felt it for the last few minutes I think I could have done a lot better if I really pushed it. Like I said, the first 10 minutes were done quite easy as a warm up and I feel 100% ten minutes after finishing so I'm hopeful that I'll manage my 55m for the 10k race in two weeks time.

While it's nothing to get excited about, at least I now have a PB to work from for the future. This weather is just superb though, makes the whole world just seem a bit better.

pointer28 · 27-03-2012 07:13PM

Tuesday 27/3/2012

150 Min Bike, 41.00 km, Av Spd 16.4 kmh, AHR 132, MHR 172

Slieve Blooms - The Cut and The Wolftrap - 539m Climbed

I had planned to do these climbs a few times over the next couple of months in preparation for the Mount Leinster Challenge and the Sean Kelly Tour.

I drove them on Sunday as a recce and to be honest they scared the bejaysus out of me. I had myself nearly convinced not to do it as I had a tough 10k run yesterday and still felt it a little in the legs. I was home at 9am and the day was just fabulous so I threw the bike in the car and headed for Kinnitty before I had a chance to talk myself out of it.

I have never experienced any kind of a decent climb before so didn't know what to expect. All the perceived wisdom was to pick a nice easy gear and get into a steady rhythm so that's exactly what I tried to do. This proved to work quite well on The Cut as it's a nice steady climb all the but The Wolftrap was a different beast altogether. Constant changes in gradient and some really steep bits thrown in for good measure. Still, I managed to get over both of them without stopping or walking (apart from some photos at the top) so I'm as proud as punch of myself.

529887_3604386909936_1281523119_33496207_970642591_n.jpg

A climber I'm certainly not but I did it nonetheless and it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. All the training must be paying off. Before I do the SKT in August I hope to be able to do 2 laps of this route.

pointer28 · 28-03-2012 04:03PM

Wednesday 28/3/2012

245 Min Bike, 94.36 km, Av Spd 23.1 kmh, AHR 127, MHR 162

Probably not the wisest decision to do my longest ever ride after yesterday's session in the mountains, but I just couldn't waste another day like that. I even got a little burnt on my arms, but nothing to worry about.

My legs felt absolutely fantastic for most of it but a little fatigue started to set in towards the end, but nothing more than that, no pain of any description. On the plus side every hill I met today looked a hell of a lot smaller than they used to.

pointer28 · 30-03-2012 11:02AM

Thursday 29/3/2012

69 Min Run, 10.2km, Pace 6.46 m/km, AHR 144, MHR 160

Friday 30/3/2012

84 Min Bike, 32.23 km, Av Spd 23.3 kmh, AHR 128, MHR 157

pointer28 · 03-04-2012 01:04PM

Mad busy over the weekend and just couldn't manage anything more for the week, so hit my bike target for the week but came up 30 minutes short on my run targets, first time this year to miss a run so I'm not going to beat myself up over it.

Totals for Week 13

Run 125 mins
Bike 478 mins

YTD Totals

Run 1420 mins
Bike 2988 mins

pointer28 · 03-04-2012 01:08PM

Tuesday 3/4/2012

62 Min Run, 10.2km, Pace 6.05 m/km, AHR 157, MHR 182

Seriously fatigued after a mental weekend and wasn't feeling great so spent all day yesterday on the sofa.

Forced myself out the door this morning, and wasn't loving it for the first 20 minutes, but eventually got into my stride and enjoyed it by the end. Ignored my HR and just ran as I felt like it.

pointer28 · 05-04-2012 07:36PM

Thursday 5/4/2012

51 Min Run, 8.2km, Pace 6.13 m/km, AHR 143, MHR 158

Keeping it really easy this week as my first official 10k race is coming up on Monday.

I have always struggled to keep my easy runs below an AHR of 145 and Couerdelion suggested that the music I'm listening to could be a factor and that I should try some podcasts or audio books instead. I don't want to spend money on audio books just yet and any free ones I could find weren't to my liking.

So, I did some research and came across this site www.marathontalk.com and downloaded their latest podcast. I really enjoyed listening to it and the time really flew by. I happily plodded along at a nice slow pace until I reached home. Thanks Courdelion.

pointer28 · 06-04-2012 05:26PM

Friday 6/4/2012

82 Min Bike, 32.23 km, Av Spd 23.5 kmh, AHR 129, MHR 160

Haven't got out on the bike at all this week, but I had an opening this afternoon so went for a quick spin. Nothing exciting to report.

Once I get my first 10K race out of the way on Monday I'll hopefully get back to hammering the pedals again.

pointer28 · 08-04-2012 12:38PM

Sunday 8/4/2012

20 Min Run, ? km, Pace ? m/km, AHR 139, MHR 178

Race tomorrow so just did 20 minutes this morning around a local track to loosen the legs. All at a really easy pace except for 2 laps at a higher pace to get a bit of speed into the legs. I haven't done any speed work or intervals for the last fortnight so it will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow.

pointer28 · 09-04-2012 07:27PM

Monday 9/4/2012

51.11 Min Run, 10 km, Pace 5.07 m/km, AHR 169, MHR 189

Rosslare 10km Road Race

KM Mins AHR
Km 1 5.46 156
Km 2 5.24 163
Km 3 5.15 167
Km 4 5.09 168
Km 5 4.44 172
Km 6 5.05 173
Km 7 5.04 173
Km 8 5.12 169
Km 9 5.01 172
Km 10 4.33 176

My first ever race fantastically organised and run by Oryx and her clubmates at Wexford Triathlon Club.

I got up at 7 and had my normal breakfast and gave myself plenty of time to digest before the race. I spent my morning watching Adam Rickman eating monstrous amounts of food and went up to register about 9.15. I had no idea what to expect, and didn't even know what to do with the timing chip when they handed it to me at sign up. As soon as I signed up the nerves started to get to me so I went back to the house and purposely didn't go back to the race until 10 minutes before the start. I knew if I hung around too long at the start I'd only find more imaginery ailments to add to ones that have been bothering me all week. The race briefing started just as I got there, then I walked around and jogged a little for 5 minutes before lining up at the start.

I had no race tactics, only I knew I wanted to hit each Km marker at multiples of 5.30 mins/km to reach my target of 55 mins. I wanted to take it easy for the first few K's and then pick it up from there on. I also knew I could sustain an AHR of high 160's for the 10k so kept an eye on that too. After the first 4 kms I was starting to gain on my planned time but I felt good so just went with it.

I got a stitch at about 7 kms but it was manageable so I slowed down a little and kept running through it. Once I got over the last railway bridge shortly after the 9k marker I put the boot down and passed loads of runners who really seemed to be dying a death. I finished really strongly with a chip time of 51.11, a full 3.49 faster than my target time. I think I could have done even better but I was scared of going too fast at the start and blowing up so I was a little too conservative. My race time was 51.31 because dopey here started right at the back and was a full 20 secs before I crossed the start line.

So, that's it! First goal race done and target time smashed. Ironman 2015 here we come.

Everybody else is doing it, so why not me?

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