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Standard Deviation

Kurt Godel

A new log for a new training cycle. This will be my second year doing Tri, and I want to do about 10% better than last season. That means a standalone 10km run around 38:xx mins, 400m swim TT under 5:30, and 36kph average or greater for a 40km bike. Overall I'd like 550+ NS points (495 last season, but with a couple of soft Oly results).
There are a lot of training mistakes I learned through last year, but I've a better idea now of training cycles, juggling three disciplines, tactics in races... there's a whole heap of stuff I can do better. But I also want to keep on enjoying the training and racing, both of which are very rewarding, and there a lot of friendly faces in this sport

Mon 21 Oct 2km swim lunchtime, 50 mins easy turbo pm
I need to get in the pool at least 3 times a week- and that means year round, not just swimming hard over the winter only to slack off once the races come around. Steady swim this lunchtime, there's a lot of work to do in the pool, but it'll come back in good time. I'm really looking forward to the splashy stuff over the next few months...

Easy spinning on the turbo tonight, listening to the rain and wind crashing against the roof. Love having a good turbo!

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BTH

Kurt Godel wrote: »

He came up behind my partner, I didn't see him.

You should get a seal for your pool.

Mark gets around alright

Kurt Godel

BTH wrote: »

Mark gets around alright

Love that image; him as a seal swimming the seas checking up on people

Kurt Godel

Sat Caroline Kearney Memorial Tri 2:23:15

Well no training for the past few days, as I've not been feeling great, waking up at night in a cold sweat, and stomach issues. The day after I did my 5k swim in Brittas, the council closed the beach citing poor microbiological quality that may lead to illness. I don't know if the two are related, but its a bit of a coincidence. Anyway, since I was entered in this Tri I figured I'd drive down and give the swim a go, at least, and see how i felt after that.

The whole event was very well organised, it was obvious how much thought and effort had gone in to planning a great event. That's really appreciated, so thanks to Midland Tri Club for their efforts.

Swim 22:45
The water was calm and clear, once we were off there was the usual scrum and fight for position. I didn't seem to be catching the water as well as I might have liked, and was battered a fair bit by the time we reached the first bouy of the triangular course. From here I coasted along to the second bouy, not really getting on feet, as there was a lot of traffic. I tried to pull past the group but the fire wasn't there. Turned after the second bouy and began the stretch for home. I'm usually stronger in the latter parts of 1,500m swims, so I was taking a good few positions. Again, the traffic made passing difficult. Stood up at the end, and saw BTH just in front of me, so made sure I hit the timing mat before him. Hey, small victories Eugene!:)

T1 1:33
Straight out of the water, and I started dry retching. I hung over the barriers for 45 seconds or so like this, and was convinced my race was over, just didn't feel right. However, it passed, and so I hopped on the bike anyway.

Bike 1:12:24
This was a great bike course. Ok, a few sharp turns, but it was well marshalled, and the road surface was fantastic I thought. Got passed by a train of drafters after a few KM, but that was all the drafting I saw. I think the harsher penalties are working. My bike was ok, nothing special, but solid enough, so i'm content with it. Towards the end there was a real heavy rain shower which stung a bit! Got passed by a good few more than I passed, but thats par for the course.

T2 0:58
The new shoes I bought in Decathlon are great for Tri, they go on and are strapped really quick.

Run 45:33
It was a slow slog from the start. The route itself I loved, through the forest, but I struggled throughout this run. I said to myself I'd get to 5km, and then it was just a matter of knocking down the last few KM. I was passed by runners throughout, so lost a load of places on the run. I can't complain, not having done much run training, and was very very glad to see the finish.

Overall
Mixed feelings, I would have liked to have swum better, but the bike and run are just desserts. Very glad I went down, and I'm happy enough with the overall time. Dr. SelfDiagnose may or may not have cause to feel I wasn't at 100%, but thats neither here nor there. What matters was I doubt I could have got much more out of myself on the day, so I'll take that.

PS I was talking to Joey100 after, now there's a man who is going places! 2:08, kudos sir!:)

BTH

Had to laugh when I saw some chancer sprint up the hill to the timing mat then stop to a walk. Laughed harder when I realised it was you !! 4th time at CK for me and I'll keep going back. The north Midlands have this tri lark well sussed between this and lanesboro, two excellent races.

Chartsengrafs

Well done Paul, very consistent day out!

Kurt Godel

Sun 12k easy run

The wifey was going for her Sunday slot, so I asked if I could tag along. After 1km of plodding I was annoying her (nothing strange there) so she told me to shift my ass up a gear and get thee hence from here. It was still a plod, my legs felt sore, but I jogged around for 12k through a wet forest. That's a pretty good use of a Sunday morning.

BTH

Found this photo which shows just how much of a sprint you needed to get past me before the timing mat. Impressive desire!!

Kurt Godel

BTH wrote: »

Found this photo which shows just how much of a sprint you needed to get past me before the timing mat. Impressive desire!!

That's gas- pity I couldn't keep up that desire for more than 10 meters!

Mon 1.5k OW swim

The pace seems very slow on the Garmin, buts who's counting? A great swim at Ballymoney beach, my first time there, but certainly not my last. What a spot.

Kurt Godel

Tue 3.75k OW swim

This swim felt great, as we had a strong tidal current behind us at first. 2.8km at 1:24/100m pace average, at an easy effort! It was a different story when we turned around though- we swam harder, but only travelled about 400m in the next 30 minutes, and we were being carried out from shore. A quick discussion and the decision was made to abort the swim and make for the beach, but even that was a huge effort in itself, so strong was the riptide. It was a pretty scary feeling actually, you realise no matter how strong a swimmer you are, the sea is always going to win in a battle of strength. It's kind of sobering now that I'm back on land.

Dory Dory

Just a reminder...if you find yourself in a riptide, you need to swim parallel to shore until you exit the rip (and you will), then you can turn back towards the beach and swim home.

Kurt Godel

Wed 2,000m pool

10*100m off 1:50
1 min rest
5*200 off 3:40

I managed a quick pool visit this morning. The aim was pacing: steady 1:47/100m, which should be an easy pace... Not so! Last nights swim must still be in the arms, as I found it tougher than expected. The 100's all came in 1:47, the 200's started to get a little quicker as I found my stroke, but I toned it down for the last few and hit the correct pace.

I've been skipping the pool in favour of OW swims, the thinking being "smoke 'em if ya got 'em", but I'm not sure how good idea this is. Certainly my endurance has improved, but at the expense of speed and form. While endurance is of course more important for Tri's (and Swim Ireland racing), there's a complement from pool work that you can't replace. From here on, back in the pool at least twice a week.

Kurt Godel

Wed PM Bray Aquathon
(I've no idea of the time, or the position I came)
After a decent but mediocre showing in the CK Tri at the weekend, I was anxious to put in a good performance in this Aquathon. Arrived and regged early, and took a stroll to see the sea. The tide was as far out as it gets in Bray (supermoon again), and there was a faint flow from the south. However, given yesterdays adventures a few shores down from Bray, I had an idea that this flow mightened be fixed in stone come race time. Sure enough, the flow had changed direction by the time the ladies race set off 10 mins before the men. Great, we'd be swimming into the flow, it would suit the decent swimmers.

I positioned myself wide, determined not to get caught up in any scrum for the first bouy. Rounded the bouy with a group, kept wide, and started to battle for positions. Someone came up wider beside me, and sandwiched me between another. This was slowing things down, so I made sure my intentions were known and swam up between them, and started to pick of others ahead. The swim to the mid-point blue bouy was taking forever, I just targeted groups ahead, and made up ground on them. From the blue bouy I could glimpse that I was in a high position, and kept swimming strongly. All I wanted to do was catch those ahead, and I was making up ground all the way. My sighting was good, I was in control of my race, and I caught the water well- this is as good a race as I've had. Round the final bouy, and the long swim in to the beach. I was battling a lad all the way in here, neither of us wanted to give way to the other. Got out of the water ahead of him, and started up the beach to trans. I'm very happy with how the swim went.

The shoes took a while to get on, I didn't close the straps correctly in my haste, and so they felt very uncomfortable throughout. I said I'd run hard to the start of the hill, and see how I felt. Then I said I'd run steady up the hill, and see how I felt. I felt f***ed! However, running back down is a tonic, and I kept plugging away to the start of lap 2. I was aware of a few lads passing me, but nothing like the steady stream of runners I'm used to, so this run was going better than planned. Lap 2 was the same, run through pain to the hill start, then struggle up, then turn for home. There was a sizeable gap between me running down, and the next runner coming up, so I figured I wouldn't be taken before the finish. I upped the pace at the bottom of the hill, saw the finish in the distance, but heard determined feet running fast behind. The other runner had caught up, and he ran past me with an impressive gait, to finish in front. I didn't recognise him at the time, but it was zico10, kudos to you, you've got some running form.

I'm very happy overall with the race- its by far my highest position of all the times I've done this one. And I loved the swim. More running work is needed though, but that'll come. I prefer running shorter distances, the 10k runs are just a killer at the end of an Oly. Next up is Tri the Hook this Saturday, there's only a gentle breeze forecast so I hope they don't shorten the swim. If they keep the swim as it should be, I'll have a cracker.

PS One of the fish that swims with us on Thursdays in Arklow came 2nd lady tonight, and had the brightest smile afterwards. Well done L!:)

Dory Dory

And well done KG!

zico10

Thanks KG, if only I could acquire some of your swimming form I'd be all set.

pgibbo

Great race Kurt. Your satisfaction & happiness with it jumps off the page. Congrats! :cool: Keep it going this weekend

Solobally8

pgibbo wrote: »

Great race Kurt. Your satisfaction & happiness with it jumps off the page. Congrats! :cool: Keep it going this weekend

+1 your enthusiasm makes me want to hurry up and get back into training. You are the evidence that consistent hard work pays off.

Kurt Godel

Solobally8 wrote: »

+1 your enthusiasm makes me want to hurry up and get back into training. You are the evidence that consistent hard work pays off.

Thurs 5.65k easy run
After a long hard day at work, I really felt like a night off, but reading that ^^^ guilted me into a leg loosner;) I've been out for a year with injury before Solobally8, its not nice and very frustrating. The fact that I can get around a few races at all now is motivation enough, and makes up for the injured times, so you'll get back at it soon enough and you'll be enjoying the training and racing as much as I am now!

"Hard work"? Ok yes for the swimming, but for the B and R I feel like a fraud- the guy who passed me out last night is doing hard work, there's a lot more I could be doing. I agree with you about consistency though, that's key to progress, cheers.

Kurt Godel

Sat Tri the Hook Sprint 1:17:41, 67th place

Drove down early and got regged, the lady who was giving out tshirts asked what size? "Large", says I. "Extra-Large", insisted her 5-year old daughter who was helping, without any hint of irony:D

Down to trans to set up the bike, and more importantly check out the sea. Perfectly calm, no waves, no breeze, perfect conditions for a 750m swim, had to be. I watched nervously as they placed the two bouys, and rolled my eyes when I saw how close together they were. I'd say the swim was about 550m, and there is no reason at all that I can fathom for that, except maybe the Tri the Hook people are including the long run up to trans as part of the overall 750m?

Swim 8:22 (25th)
I stayed wide from the start, realised I was towards the front around the first bouy, coasted with a couple of others between the bouys, and took feet to the finish. Not before smacking into an underwater rock at the exit though- they really should have moved the exit from this rock (I heard there was someone standing on it as a marker for the ladies wave). Exited about 5th or 6th from my wave, and began the long run up the cliff to trans, wondering why on earth the swim was so short?

T1 3:04
Disaster, I couldn't get my wetsuit unzipped, it was caught at the top. Someone tried to assist, but he couldn't get it either. All the time watching athletes pass me by, this was the longest 3 minutes of my life. Eventually I got it off. I'll have to watch out for this, can't be letting it happen again.

Bike 41:31 (63rd)
I was passed by a few over the first couple of k. Pretty congested course, terrible road surface, tight technical bends, cars and tractors on the route. Talking to someone at the finish, he made the point that you'd know it wasn't a tri club who organised this race; there was a lot of gravel on the tight bends that a Tri club would have brushed off before the race. Anyway, I plugged away as much as I could, and had a decent performance.

T2 1:29
I made sure to get the shoes on tight and strapped, no other issues.

Run 23:15 (93rd)
Slow start, things picked up after a couple of km, and I managed to pick off a few. Couldn't have gone much faster.

Overall, this is just an okay race. It doesn't deserve NS ranking. I did the CK last week and you could see the expertise everywhere. Tri the Hook is a lot more amateurish. I know a lot of the seas around here, from holidaying as a kid, its a magic place to swim. The fact that year after year they manage to f*** up their greatest asset is annoying. A lot of people I spoke to after said they benefited from a shorter swim (being weaker swimmers), but all of them also said they'd prefer the swim was the correct distance. God knows the bike route isn't up to much, so its baffling why they continue to underutilise what should be their defining discipline.

Anyway, another weekend, another race, we drove back happy with smiles on our faces, and thats the important thing. Plenty of marshall's on the course, who were visible and effective; well done to them.

Oryx

You make me glad I couldnt do this.

Kurt Godel

Sun 10k easy run
Through the forest, on a fresh night, on not fresh legs.

Oryx wrote: »

You make me glad I couldnt do this.

It's a pity; the race location has so much going for it. Once bitten, twice shy: I did this race before two years back, in great conditions for the swim, when they curtailed the swim to about 250m on ludicrous "safety" grounds. Fair enough, I can whinge, but everyone thinks you're a gobshyte for arguing against "safety". I only entered again as it was given NS status, so I figured they would have to adhere to set measurements and standards. The sea yesterday was the flattest and calmest I've seen anywhere this year, and I've spent most of the past 4 or 5 months in the sea. The fact that it was truncated for the third time in three years (they first anchored the first bouy far out, then moved it a lot closer) tells me they don't give a sh*t about standards. There was quite a few cheepo cost-cutting measures too- it is what it is, a local race that would be on par with a local fun-run fundraiser.

Nothing wrong with that, good luck to them, but it shouldn't have the NS "Triathlon Ireland Assured" seal of approval. Much as I dislike negativity on forums, I'm going to continue to be a crank about this race and would encourage you (and others) to look elsewhere on the 2015 calendar.

Oryx

My instinct was to avoid it. The inaugural year I just had my doubts about it... never bothered since.

Kurt Godel

Oryx wrote: »

My instinct was to avoid it. The inaugural year I just had my doubts about it... never bothered since.

I wish I had your spidey-senses.

Picture a lonely field, two miles from the finish line action, with 300 very expensive bikes and wetsuits, and no security and nobody checking who was taking a bike out afterwards... they really should have stepped up to the plate when given NS ranking, but they utterly failed. If only there was a decent tri-club in the south Wexford area that had an established course loved by all, to take the Sunny South East NS calendar slot next year...

Oryx

Kurt Godel wrote: »

I wish I had your spidey-senses.

Picture a lonely field, two miles from the finish line action, with 300 very expensive bikes and wetsuits, and no security and nobody checking who was taking a bike out afterwards... they really should have stepped up to the plate when given NS ranking, but they utterly failed. If only there was a decent tri-club in the south Wexford area that had an established course loved by all, to take the Sunny South East NS calendar slot next year...

If only said club had someone willing to be race director....

Kurt Godel

I haven't a clue what I'm doing training wise in Triathlon. Previously, I've had two swim coaches, who picked low-hanging fruit, and my swimming got to an acceptable standard (it still needs a ways to go). Run and bike I've no idea really what I'm doing, and there's a lot to improve on in both. Club coaching isn't an option as I'm a member of a small (new) rural club, so there's not much in way of pooling resources. I want to get a lot faster for next season, so I'm thinking of online coaching. The obvious things to do are cut alcohol, lose 8kg, and increase volume, which I'll sign up to, but would like some sort of guidance.

I've been on these forums for quite a few years, so people should have an idea of my character, good and bad. If anyone has any suggestions regarding coaching, I'm all ears, because I've been treading water this season and I have the goal to achieve a lot more next season.

Oryx

Ive had a coach this past month, its good as it removes the need to think about what to do. Too early to say whether it works or not but for now its good.

Dory Dory

The best thing I've found with having someone(s) guide me is the logical training structure they provide - every session has a purpose. However, in addition to defining your goals and seeking out a coach who is qualified, keep in mind the dynamic of personality (student's and teacher's), needs (the student's), and level of time and interest (the teacher's in the student), because some of us athletes are a little more high maintenance than others, and not all coaches are able to provide that extra hand holding and guidance that some of us need. And that is okay. As they say, that's why they make chocolate and vanilla!!

Kurt Godel

Mon 7,000m swim

1,000m straight @ 1:54 pace
min rest
20*100m off 2:00, in 1:47
min rest
1,000m straight @ 1:55 pace
min rest
10*100m off 2:00, in 1:50
min rest
1,000m straight @ 1:50 pace
min rest
10*100m off 2:00, in 1:55

I had hoped to do a 7km sea swim last week, it didn't transpire, so I hit the pool early this morning. The focus of this session was to determine what pace I will attempt the 10k swim at. Sub 3 pace is 1:47/100m, which I won't be able to hold for that distance without a wetsuit. So I had an idea that breaking up this 7km swim today would be useful, in that I'd have an idea of what I could hold after 6k...

1st 1k straight was tougher than I'd have liked. The body is still sore from recent racing.
The next 2k was more solid, I hit 1:47 pace pretty much bang on for all of them.
The 4th km was straight, and I found 1:55 pace harder than I'd have liked.
Back to repeats for the 5th km, I held 1:50 well and was finally catching the water well.
6km, this was straight, and a solid hold 1:50.
7km I was definitely tiring, and found 1:55pace to be quite manageable.

The second purpose of this session was to see what happens after swimming 5km. I found it harder to concentrate, my brain was switching off. It took a fair amount of effort to keep a solid stroke. This will be very important during the 10km race, so fueling will be important (no breakfast today, 500ml water, quinine, sugar, salt, mix. I'll need gels on the day).

So what did I learn today? The main thing, it will be far easier to lose time over the last 3k, that has been "gained" over the first 3k. Start slow and comfortable. With that in mind, I've settled on 1:55/100m pace for the race. This should feel easy enough for 0k-3k, begin to pinch for 3k-6k, and get harder (but doable) for the rest.

interested

{swim|bike|run} from the start at a pace you can maintain or increase during the event

For swimming I'd even go as far as as, swim at a pace that you can maintain good stroke during an event, since if the stroke goes, efficiency diminishes and ... actual and perceived effort will go up as the pace gets worse.

imho

Kurt Godel

Tue 60 mins turbo, SF "Downward Spiral"

Not surprisingly, my shoulders are sore this morning, In the interest of balance I did a tough turbo to make the legs sore too.

I've a funny sort of weekend racing planned- the 10k swim on Saturday, and Dublin Super Sprint Tri on Sunday. The more I'm thinking of it, I'm just going to aim to complete the 10k, so might start off at a leisurely 2:00/100 pace. The Super Sprint Tri is just a bit of fun, see if I can maintain three quick bursts of intensity.

Tue PM 10k run 47 mins

The first half was over 24 mins, to the turnaround, at chatting pace. Picked it up a little on the return, I had to drop from the guys and came in a minute after them. However, I felt good on this run (notwithstanding tiredness), it was like I had an extra gear or something. Reminded me of how I used to run a few years back. More steady runs like this are needed, for the body and for the soul.

Dory Dory

This was kind of timely.....of course it's a bit of advertising by them too.

http://www.usatriathlon.org/about-multisport/multisport-zone/multisport-lab/articles/finding-a-coach-081814.aspx