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Will I keep this updated?

MD1983

why start this blog? motivation to keep going and a means of tracking what training i am doing week to week.

2/12/13 - Monday
45 minute swim, focus on technique pointers from coached sessions and just to be able to swim without following a timed schedule and the pressure of a group. allows technique focus

1 hour turbo
10 minutes warm up, 1 minutes at 450-500 watts then 4 minutes easy and repeat this work until 1 hour is up. later repeats felt hard.

40 minute run with wife after turbo, start easy and pick it up and then finish easy. distance circa 8k

Drink recovery shake and pretend to do core strenght

3/12/13 - Tuesday
Turbo -
10 min warm up,
10 minutes of 1 minute at PE of 7.5 then at 1 minutes at PE of 6.
3 mins easy
8 minutes at PE of 7/8/9 so 320 watts, 350 watts, 370 watts
4 mins easy
8 minutes at PE of 7/8/9 so 320 watts, 350 watts, 370 watts
4 mins easy
8 minutes at PE of 7/8/9 so 320 watts, 350 watts, 370 watts
and cool down

legs heavy after yesterdays turbo so no run today. Tomorrow is a big day with main swim set and also interval running so today is supposed to be a moderate day so i want to be fresh.

Drink recovery shake and do core strenght

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MD1983

Tuesday

Turbo
15min warm up
45min hill reps, big gear, in the saddle and aero bars-done on turbo as 4 mins hard 1 easy
4min easy
20min TT effort
10min easy

Had a slight pain in right hamstring, happened when i sat down on the couch! lesson - dont sit on the couch and do more work instead

Wednesday
Swim:
200m easy
2x100m steady, pull bouy, 10sec rest
2x50m (15m hard 25m easy) 10sec rest
16x 25m swim fast with bouy band 10sec rest
200m hard paddles bouy
1200m swim easy
16x 25m swim fast with bouy band 10sec rest
200m hard paddles bouy
200m swim easy
16x 25m swim fast with bouy band 10sec rest
200m hard paddles bouy
200m swim easy

Run:
8min warm up
4x15sec fast 15sec easy use these to warm up.
4x30sec fast 30sec easy
4x1min fast 1min easy
4x1min 30sec fast 1min 30sec easy
4x1min fast 1min easy
4x30sec fast 30sec easy
4x15sec fast 15sec easy
8min easy

not as fast as i could as hamstring was still at me

thursday

Turbo
15min warm up
4x8min (4min race cadence hard, 4min big gear hard) 2min easy
2x3min hard race cadence 1min easy.
10min easy

Swim:
200m steady
2x100m steady 10sec rest
2x50m, 15m fast 25m easy, 10sec rest
10x25m fast with band bouy 15sec rest
5x400m steady bouy 20sec rest
5x400m steady paddles bouy 20sec rest
200m easy

Friday.

Run:
15min steady
4x20sec strides, just upping the pace each one. 40sec easy
3x1min solid but comfortable 1min easy
2min easy
4x20sec strides fast but not all out.
10min easy

plenty of stretching to mind my hamstring and ease the tightness

Saturday.

BIke:
3hrs easy ride in a big gear low cadence

Sunday
Carlow sprint triathlon

some positives and some negatives.

Swim
First o/w swim of the year and the water was pleasant enough. i hopped in and swam about for a bit, felt a bit alien being back in my wetsuit and i felt a little restricted. lined up to the right near the bank at the front. race starts and i follow one guy who went like a rocket, happy days i thought to myself as i had backed the right horse, only trouble was he slowed down as quickly as he started and i swam into the back of him FFS why start at the front if you are going to do that. trouble was that i got trapped then behind him as there was swimmers all over me and i couldnt get out of the scrum, it was like swimming in treacle until the bouy. i stayed to the right around the bouy and found some space and swam quite well making up a decent gap on the bunch ahead and exited. very disappointed with the swim. time 10.52. i lost a lot of time in the messing before the bouy, heres hoping that doesnt happen again.

bike
not much to report other than that sort of course is not so much to my advantage in terms of the climbing as i am a bit heavy. i caught loads and was in about 6th into T2 i think. time 32.15.

run
took it steady to the turnaround and when happy that my hamstring was ok i pushed a bit in the return. time 20.53. not great but happy enough that alls ok with the leg and push on to Athy from here.

i have to say i felt like i didnt race at all at the end of it and was very fresh, i feel like i am in good condition ahead of my first A race in 2 weeks time in the double olympic in Athy. my swim is much better than the result today which i think was a bit unlucky, my bike is a good deal stronger than last year and my run fitness is much improved. i absolutely cant wait for it now and it will be a very different race to today much better suited to me i think.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

8th fastest bike split not to be sniffed at, especially on a course which you believe did not suit you. I think a good few had issues in the swim, in particular first 250mtrs to the buoy was messy.

MD1983

Ruben Huge Jacket wrote: »

8th fastest bike split not to be sniffed at, especially on a course which you believe did not suit you. I think a good few had issues in the swim, in particular first 250mtrs to the buoy was messy.

yeh - not disappointed really in the bike, i am a realist and some courses suit me and some dont, i could always just train harder to increase the power or eat less to reduce the weight!

i do think its a light guys bike course, there is one guy who finished pretty high up and i only put 45 secs into him on that course and nearly put 2 mins into him in a flat sprint duathlon a few months ago.

Kurt_Godel

Very hard to take much from the swim, it was pot luck where everyone ended up to the turn bouy. Lots of eager beavers swimming/slowing/scrumming in every direction after 50m. Going out very hard for clear water might have been better.

Still, first race gives everyone plenty of food for thought.

zico10

Kurt_Godel wrote: »

Very hard to take much from the swim, it was pot luck where everyone ended up to the turn bouy. Lots of eager beavers swimming/slowing/scrumming in every direction after 50m. Going out very hard for clear water might have been better.

If going out very hard, would have put you in a better position, then it wasn't really pot luck where you ended up, to be fair.

I'm not saying I would have managed it any better, but I bet the fastest swim times came from the same guys who always swim the fastest swim times. There's nothing lucky about that.

Swimming 750m in a narrow river, with the turnaround at half way, what else could one expect but congestion?

MD1983

zico10 wrote: »

If going out very hard, would have put you in a better position, then it wasn't really pot luck where you ended up, to be fair.

I'm not saying I would have managed it any better, but I bet the fastest swim times came from the same guys who always swim the fastest swim times. There's nothing lucky about that.

Swimming 750m in a narrow river, with the turnaround at half way, what else could one expect but congestion?

for the 2nd tier swimmer there is an element of luck to it, i didnt recognise any faces at the start so its hard to know who to follow, i followed a guy who started very quickly but the guy slowed up very quickly too. first time that has happened to me and i would put that down to bad luck. my inability to get out of the scrum after was down to lack of ability and not luck.

i dont think following a faster swimmer is a bad idea, perhaps maybe not the best choice on the day but we have the benefit of hindsight now

Kurt_Godel

zico10 wrote: »

If going out very hard, would have put you in a better position, then it wasn't really pot luck where you ended up, to be fair.

I'm not saying I would have managed it any better, but I bet the fastest swim times came from the same guys who always swim the fastest swim times. There's nothing lucky about that.

Swimming 750m in a narrow river, with the turnaround at half way, what else could one expect but congestion?

Pot luck in that so many went off hard, and then slowed quickly, leaving you trapped in a sea of bodies. There was an element of luck in how you escaped that. I started behind someone I recognised as a good swimmer, but he was soon trapped behind slowing swimmers. He seemed to fair better than I by the finish, though.

You are right zico in that the fastest times came from those who controlled their own swim. The reason why I commented was the food for thought bit.

peter kern

zico zico
is all what i have to say here ;-)
but you are learning ;-) and i guess we wont argue about this one anymore, it took only 1.5 years ;-)

zico10 wrote: »

If going out very hard, would have put you in a better position, then it wasn't really pot luck where you ended up, to be fair.

I'm not saying I would have managed it any better, but I bet the fastest swim times came from the same guys who always swim the fastest swim times. There's nothing lucky about that.

Swimming 750m in a narrow river, with the turnaround at half way, what else could one expect but congestion?

MD1983

Monday
swim
500m w/up
28*100m, 14 band and bouy 14 paddles and bouy. really started to work hard during this set and it almost became enjoyable

Tuesday
turbo
15 mins w/up
15 mins hard
5 mins easy
15 mins hard
1 min easy
20 mins run as hard as i can off the bike. really happy with my effort level for the 20 min run, i was faltering at the end of it which is the whole purpose of it.

MD1983

Wednesday
Turbo
10 mins w/up
6*6mins hard in big gear low cadence on tri bars 2 mins easy
c/down

Swim
Swim:
200m easy
2x100m steady, pull bouy, 10sec rest
2x50m (15m hard 25m easy) 10sec rest
16x 25m swim fast with bouy band 10sec rest
200m hard paddles bouy
1200m swim easy
16x 25m swim fast with bouy band 10sec rest
200m hard paddles bouy
200m swim easy
16x 25m swim fast with bouy band 10sec rest
200m hard paddles bouy
200m swim easy

thursday
swim
500m w/up
10*25m hard with band
4*400m pull bouy steady
2*400m pull and paddles
c/down

run
15 mins steady
15 mins solid
15 mins hard
c/down

MD1983

Friday
Bike:
10min warm up
5x1min hard 1min easy, build each one.
1min easy
4x3min race cadence hard, 1min standing hard in big gear, 2min seated in big gear hard. 2min easy
15min easy

Saturday.

Long run:
2hrs steady and hilly

Sunday.

Long Ride:
4hrs 30min steady but times were big gear at a decent effort level when i felt like it

MD1983

Monday
Start of a taper week so reduced volume and intensity b4 race at weekend

Swim
500m w/up
14*100m band and bouy 10 sec rest solid effort
14*100m paddles and bouy 10 sec rest solid effort

tues
treadmill run
15 min w/up
2*(1 min at 8% 4 mins flat, 2 mins 6% 4 mins flat, 3 mins 4% 4mins flat)
10 mins steady

the above to be done at a comfortable solid effort. reduced from 3 repeats to 2 repeats.

Quick swim as i happened to be in the gym for my run

Also applied the carbon glue to my seat post on my trek so i am hoping the slippage issue stops now. in about 1 hours cycle at the weekend it slipped about 1 inch

Wednesday

Swim:
200m easy
2x100m steady, pull bouy, 10sec rest
2x50m (15m hard 25m easy) 10sec rest
16x 25m swim fast with bouy band 10sec rest
200m hard paddles bouy
1200m swim easy
16x 25m swim fast with bouy band 10sec rest
200m hard paddles bouy
200m swim easy
16x 25m swim fast with bouy band 10sec rest
200m hard paddles bouy
200m swim easy

hill repeats later on the bike is in the plan

MD1983

Wednesday PM
Bike:
15min warm up
40min hill reps, big gear, in saddle and aero bars. Not crazy hard
10min easy

Thursday:

Run:
45min steady

Swim:
200m steady
2x100m steady 10sec rest
2x50m, 15m fast 25m easy, 10sec rest
10x25m fast with band bouy 15sec rest
3x400m steady bouy 20sec rest
3x400m steady paddles bouy 20sec rest
200m easy

joey100

How you set for this weekend MD?? Looks like you will have a great day for it. The seat post staying put?

MD1983

I could be wrong but i think i am set very well for the weekend. i hope its not over optimism on my part but i feel like i have improved a lot from this time last year but saturday will tell a lot. i am chomping at the bit now and feel very fresh. one more swim and one more turbo and we are good to go! i think that mentally i have got myself ready to push hard to whole way through, so the plan is to push the swim as much as i can but take a draft if its there, then really try to make my race on the bike where i feel great recently and hang on for dear life on the run! my running still isnt good enough but i dont think it ever will be so i will make the most of what i have got. i was 4hrs 32 mins last year overall so hoping for maybe 4hrs 20-25 depending on how it goes.

there are a few good guys on the start list so i can compare where i got to over the winter with them

the seat post didnt stir on my cycle yesterday, it would be very frustrating if it moves on saturday but i plan to bring my tool with me to put it back again if it does move. its crazy that Trek would sell a bike with such a ****ty design to the seat post

joey100

Seems a bit crazy alright that you keep having problems with it. Fingers crossed it stays solid on Saturday.

Good luck with the race, you have done a serious amount of work for it and I hope you get the race you deserve. Good luck!

MD1983

tri athy double olympic

a really dispiriting day from start to finish

swim went poorly. i dont know where to start with it and what exactly the problem is but there was two issues, one being my right shoulder which seems to be gradually getting stiffer over the last few months leaving my right hand stroke compromised and the other is that i dont feel as physically powerful in my upper body as i used to. the swim was pure torture and i could tell that it wasnt going well. time was 49 mins and just less than 2 minutes lower than last year on a day when it should have been quicker as the current was slower. in my mind i thought i should be out in c46mins so not impressed with myself

18th out of the water

bike went well, cycling feels easy for me now and i made up a lot of places in the first lap and i think i was up to 5th place at the end of it, lap one was 1hr 4 mins. really measured my effort and was comfortable the whole way. lap 2 also went well and i caught the next 2 guys over the course of that lap and did another 1 hr 4. i arrived into T2 the same time as another guy who was no more than 20-30 secs behind me the whole cycle but he must have put in a spurt on the last 10km to come in with me. total bike 2hrs 8 mins, more than 2 mins quicker than last year. so along with the guy with me it was 4th into T2

out onto the run in good time and the guy i was with was a good runner and was up the road, i actually felt nice and relaxed and in control and i said to myself to take it steady for the whole 20km and just try to run something respectable, lap 1 was ok in 21 mins flat almost and i was happy with that. towards the end of lap 1 the sun and heat was bothering me and i tried to cool off some with water but thats only a temporary relief. lap 2 was starting to get more tortuous and i was over-heating and my head was sore. it just spiralled from there and i contemplated quitting for a bit as i was in a bad way with the heat and sun on my head. i decided to finish it anyway and duly did.

very disappointing day overall. the swim can be fixed and i am not overly concerned, i dont think i have turned into a worse swimmer overnight but maybe the training needs to change a bit too. fading in the heat, i dont think there is much i can do practically on this one and in ireland its probably rare enough to get a hot and sunny day like yesterday. sun and heat have never been my friend and that wont change and its quite debilitating but some folks handle it better than others

i dont know where to go from this disappointment, the swim can be fixed, bike is on good shape and judging by my first 5km yesterday i think on a dull and cool day i can run something respectable and i think thats the aim over the next few months

the rewards of yesterday were a bad headache and misery for the rest of the day and a ****ty sleep last night, i do question doing races at times like that!

RJM85

Would the headache imply dehydration? That's usually what it means for me.

MD1983

RJM85 wrote: »

Would the headache imply dehydration? That's usually what it means for me.

ah yeh i was very dehydrated at the end of it, could be the cause of the headache, i just put it down the heat and sun as thats what was bothering me at the time.

i did drink 2 bottles on the bike and at each aid station i had water but i am a heavy sweater so probably did not take on enough throughout the race.

joey100

Reading your report it doesn't seem you had as bad a day as you think MD. Bike was good , swim a little off and you suffered on the run in the heat. I wouldn't say that's an awful day. Bit like me in laois, I had 1 bad section. A strong bike from you, your not worried about the swim and a positive start to the run. I raced last weekend and it was 14 degrees and heat played a factor, I can only imagine it played a much bigger factor yesterday. Learn from this race and move onto the next.

MD1983

@Kurt - where did your post go?! i read it on an email notification but its gone from the forum.

ah your old use your legs in the swim chestnut again, you are right, there is no focus on my legs in my swim training, but that hasnt negated my legs, they never offered propulsion in any event and do little for my position.

i think a big part of the problem could be just the limited swimming this year, 3 times rather than 4 times a week, but that had a purpose allowing me to run more (not that i have shown that yet but its in there somewhere waiting to come out..!).

i need to talk to the coach about it as i simply cant be swimming worse than last year as now i have 2 crappy sections in a triathlon rather than just 1! maybe 4 swims it has to be, but i also am thinking that maybe we could make better use of the sessions as having me swim 10*400m every week is grand but i think its more 40*100m that i feel i need now and also i have adapted to the 25m sprints and its not pushing me enough so maybe i have gone backwards.

there used to be a 30*100m session with 5 secs rest (and you would love it Kurt as there was no pull bouy ;-) and i always found that a great workout and maybe that can come back in as i think its missed a bit

anyway onwards with training it is

Kurt_Godel

MD1983 wrote: »

@Kurt - where did your post go?! i read it on an email notification but its gone from the forum.

ah your old use your legs in the swim chestnut again, you are right, there is no focus on my legs in my swim training, but that hasnt negated my legs, they never offered propulsion in any event and do little for my position.

i think a big part of the problem could be just the limited swimming this year, 3 times rather than 4 times a week, but that had a purpose allowing me to run more (not that i have shown that yet but its in there somewhere waiting to come out..!).

i need to talk to the coach about it as i simply cant be swimming worse than last year as now i have 2 crappy sections in a triathlon rather than just 1! maybe 4 swims it has to be, but i also am thinking that maybe we could make better use of the sessions as having me swim 10*400m every week is grand but i think its more 40*100m that i feel i need now and also i have adapted to the 25m sprints and its not pushing me enough so maybe i have gone backwards.

there used to be a 30*100m session with 5 secs rest (and you would love it Kurt as there was no pull bouy ;-) and i always found that a great workout and maybe that can come back in as i think its missed a bit

anyway onwards with training it is

I deleted my post- as I thought it sounded a bit "big" to be analysing your swim from my limited position, especially just after a disappointing race for you.

Thanks for the reply. (The gist of my post was suggesting the amount of paddle, B+B, that MD does would be expected to lead to shoulder issues).

I think you should include some non-paddle straight swimming in your program, 30*100 with 5s sounds like a class session, any technique/strength issues will become evident during it.

Well done on toughing out the race. I'd agree with Joey, it seems like a decent race all things considered, and lots to consider.

peter kern

iam suprised you are suprised your swim wasnt great...
its not the program its how youe excute it ( ie not 100% you are swimming kind of half hearted which is kind of normal when you swim on your own )

bryan H wa in the same boat 5 weeks ago one porper swim a week got him going its not rocket science ...

MD1983

peter kern wrote: »

iam suprised you are suprised your swim wasnt great...
its not the program its how youe excute it ( ie not 100% you are swimming kind of half hearted which is kind of normal when you swim on your own )

bryan H wa in the same boat 5 weeks ago one porper swim a week got him going its not rocket science ...

on the surprised part peter - i suppose as i thought from the duathlons that the bike and run were improving that the swim would likely have improved a bit too as i was following the programme as much as possible. i dont test much in the pool but i did PB maybe 2 months ago when i did do a test so i didnt expect to go backwards at least.

but after a bit of thinking over the last few days i cant actually remember when i was last really bolluxed in the pool, maybe when i did that last test a few months ago. so i think the focus slipped. so i am the problem and the solution.

the mechanical thing with my shoulder i think accounted for a bit of time (but not too much i think) but that does not explain the lack of power which i think is purely down to my lack of focus the last number of weeks

and yeh swimming on my own isnt great for motivation, the guys from the local club are more interested in finishing than anything else (which is grand for them but not what i want and the demographic suggests that wont improve). when kim was swimming last year at least we could do handicapped races in training when the swim set indicated a hard 200m say i would try to to 200m by the time she had done 150m and so on, but i cant ask her to do that in her condition ;-)

anyway down to me to work harder, refocus and its only June ;-)

MD1983

Monday
1 hour steady run/jog - legs were absolute torture

swim
500m w/up
15*100m band and bouy solid
15*100m paddles and bouy solid

made sure to swim these borderline hard for fear i was doing them to easy up to now

Tuesday

bike
15 mins w/up
30 mins hill reps big gear on TT bars low cadence hard effort
30 mins TT - 19.6km done in 29.50 including one dead turn, one roundabout all the way around and one hill about 2km long. have to say was pleasantly surprised and on the flats i was well over 40kph. good effort on tired legs.
10 mins c/down

peter kern

the classic going hard when easy might be better
after the race is not the time to be afraid to go too easy ;-)
save the hard when you are feeling recovered.
and given your heat issues it might take afew days longer ( or not;-)
also to be fair given your body structure i would wait at least 72 hours after a race before i run anything more than 20 min .

dont overract i think you are closer than you think to were you want to be.

MD1983 wrote: »

Monday
1 hour steady run/jog - legs were absolute torture

swim
500m w/up
15*100m band and bouy solid
15*100m paddles and bouy solid

made sure to swim these borderline hard for fear i was doing them to easy up to now

Tuesday

bike
15 mins w/up
30 mins hill reps big gear on TT bars low cadence hard effort
30 mins TT - 19.6km done in 29.50 including one dead turn, one roundabout all the way around and one hill about 2km long. have to say was pleasantly surprised and on the flats i was well over 40kph. good effort on tired legs.
10 mins c/down

MD1983

peter kern wrote: »

the classic going hard when easy might be better
after the race is not the time to be afraid to go too easy ;-)
save the hard when you are feeling recovered.
and given your heat issues it might take afew days longer ( or not;-)
also to be fair given your body structure i would wait at least 72 hours after a race before i run anything more than 20 min .

dont overract i think you are closer than you think to were you want to be.

thanks Peter, its not me setting the schedule so its not me over reacting but its not the typical post race few days training either, i have queried it and will post the rationale!

MD1983

Wed
500m w/up
16*25 band and bouy hard (and really making sure its hard)
200m hard paddles and bouy (again making sure i am doing it properly)
200m easy
the above set repeated 3 times

puffing at the end of it so at least i was working at it properly

dreaded treadmill set run
15 mins steady
3*(1 min at 8% 4mins flat, 2 mins at 6% 4 mins flat, 3 mins 4% 4 mins flat)
c/down

thurs
turbo
10 mins w/up
4 *30 secs hard 30 easy
8*5mins hard 2 easy alternating between big gear and race cadence
c/down

swim later

MD1983

Long time no update to the training log.

a lot has happened in the intervening weeks and not much training has been done. the reason for the lack of training is that i have a new addition to the family and he decided to arrive 3 weeks early and in a mad hurry to get into the world too. i set one new PB in the last 3 weeks which sadly only relates to my driving time from kildare to the coombe hospital! i have also changed copious amounts of nappies and had very little by the way of sleep ;-) but i have to say that my personal happiness levels are at a new high.

needless to say the focus on training slipped a bit and aside from some cycling and a few swims and runs not much happened. i was signed up for tri an mhi but didnt go and i am signed up for a sprint triathlon in Kilkenny that i will go to and from next week i hope to start back structured training in earnest. i hope to make the same investment in training going forward but realistically junior is likely to impact on things somewhat but where there is a will there is a way, i actually think the broken sleep will be the biggest factor but hopefully that gets better as time passes.

:-)

joey100

Congrats MD, enjoy your time with your baby, be plenty of races to do. Congrats again.