project 40/41

no
( iam getting better with shorter replies;-) but i will add it in todays swim reflection email as i like the question)

sunday 95 min turbo constant 10 min 2oo watts 5 min 290 2 min 360 watts

monday 100 min swim was just in the zone and did 80 min solid paddle and pb intervals of various lenght plus 500m 25 kick 25 swim .

in between had to run quite a few errants and meetings so about 2 -2.15 hours of cycling done. 2 solid 30 min blocks with 10 min talking inbetween

7.30 pm 1.46 h run along the coast just loved it approx 24 k dosnt happen often that I have to hold myself back for a long run ( started too fast but just totally enjoyed it ) did not do the planned session but got a good solid session in and longest run of the year will be god enough for stimuli . as much as i enjoyed it i was happy to be home .

snapped up a ticket for 75 euro yesterday( plus 100 euro name change) to go to tenriffe from the 20th to 27.december.
( this will be a proper training camp as i will go camping so will be cheap as chips )
if you know anybody cycling in teneriffe south during this time please let me know.
plan is aprox 800 k cycling 20k swimming and 80 k running


and aother miles and more camp planned 20 th of february to 2nd of march in fuerteventura . ( that will be 'posher one' still basic ) I think we are looking for few serious guys for that one will be about 1100k cycling 25k swimming and 95 k running ( lees for the 2nd group ;-)
you dont have to be fast as we will have 2 groups but it will be an training eat sleep camp and not a coffee and whining camp ,..

this is getting serious now.

tuesday lunchtime intervals with running group was absolutely cool as i did not have to think and just had to run ( bill was a bit worried that i would try to take over the session ... I think i will wait for 2 weeks ;-) 60 min from door to door 400 800 1200 1600 1200 800 400 as average k pace 3.21 (casio measured and maybe 3.22 )
to be fair i have no idea about rest but i assume is was 30 sec for every 400 m off running . found the last 1200 a bit hard but funnily enough at the 800s i felt fresh as a daisy... and was sure we had to do anthoer 400 ...v positively suprised when they stopped .


pm 90 min x mas special turbo each participant was the coach for 2 minutes . i alwyas love it usualy people complain sessions are to tough but if you let them do the session. each of them tries to outdo the person before with a more cruel 2 min set ( was actually the 2nd time ever i participated in a turbo session i coach and it was fun.only thing i nticed i was sweating much more than the guys
despite old wesely is actually quite cold and some powerfiles showing high poweroutputs.and i was certainly not working the hardest.


wed am swim tts i felt wrecked but did quite well and each 100 meter split of the various 400 m tts I swam was within 2 sec, i had no speed but what iam trying to do in the pool is working ok
and despite being totally wrecked i was a good bit faster than last year.( not that this was a hard thing ....) only litte issue i was more than 40 sec faster than my fasted 400 in ww so far since september ( i am still such a lazy b.......d at the same time i really killed myself y day and i do work hard fridays in the pool) and use extra big paddles right now.

pm light easy run felt good as i loosened up a bit during it.

thur am the usual commute due to gear failure i had to spin it out at approx 120 rpms a always easy to hold for a few min after 40 min it started to get good work and i was cycling in the wind.

quick dipp in the pool as recovery session.approx 2.2 k

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Interview/A_chat_with_Snowy_the_Great_4796.html
reminder I must read that interview every 4 weeks

ok re cut and pasted and this time it should be ok

22nd
am 75 min good run going through all the paces and loads of hills very pleased and the warm weather does me well for running

Am 72 min non stop swim with paddles great fun and approx 4.6-8 k

Pm 5 hour bike first a bit flat, than from 0 to 2100not not to crazy pace but not too slow easier . Wonderful climbing . Bit late and downhill getting cold and shoulder in bits by the time I arrive home

23rd
am. 70 min run after20 min wu all kind of fartelegs and hill reps very good session and pleased with the speed and leg turnover.

Am 6 hour bike straight from o to 2100m in first hour I go 7 min quicker than day before meet 2 cyclist realize they have the same speed wait a bit and join them . After 1 hour the Swiss guy wants a coffe stop ( little does he know how that infuriates me ..) Anyway the Norwegian girl def not into coffee stops either and we march on at a solid pace and time is flying while talking about training . Reach 2100 25 min faster than day before. After going down to 1900 m ( being pushed out of my confort zone at downhill that girl can corner and agressivey attacts out of every corner and keeps the pressure on all the time ) . my own again climbing up to 2300m gong around the tide. ( one of the most amazing places to cycle in Europe) hit the downhill 1 hour earlier and defo more confi.
Easy 20 min run as to cold to go for a swim .


24th
am 75 min swim good pace all paddles approx 4.4k
30 min easy run with some drills

4h.50 bike ride though good pace 3 h with company. Vita smashing it in downhills me taking the climbs v good learning experience to cycle with a roadie she really knows her cornering and brutally sprints out every corner again (of which there seems to be one every 150m) she dosnt train much but totally switched on for 3 hours.

Pm another 4- 4 .2 k swim nonstop mainly for recovery right now the most painfully parts are the shoulders from long downhills.



25th Thursday. Am 80 min run physiological the first Junk session as rest would be better, but good training for mind and long steady climb for 52 or so min.

Am bike 40 min wu. I was 1 min late and Thor was already cycling in my direction ... i was trying to hang on downhill and me taking the lead uphill for next 70 min to get to a good place for intervals ( well for me that was almost the interval ...) . Plan 4-6x 10 min reps all I remember is I feel like a boxer in the ropes for 65 min when I call it a day for intervals. Was a bit worried how to get home struggled to count 80cents for a drink. ( it's 2 pm and I already drunk 5 liter still feeling Thirsty anyway after 20 min I come back to live and finish strong , 5.55h later Iam home. Overall Pleased how day went and noticing that the way I cycle is changing .

28th 40 min run cant rember what and not even sure if 40 min
4.30 ish bike ride last 90 min pushing home

29th 1 hour run

30th am 40 min 7 k easy run with pick up
70 min turbo 4x10 roughly 3 min easy ( hated every second of it but by far the best session so far )

pm 30 min bike 9x 620s at good pace decending in speed strangly enugh i enjoyed that session felt good at most times when the pace went higher i moved very quickly from confort zone into working too hard ( not a suprise )
30 min bike home
and few 100s recovery swim and stretching .

31st swim 70 min not very motivated (suprise suprise stiff form y day as 2 hards sessions were very close to each other ) but feeling for the water quite decent . reminded me how much i dislike pool swimming those days ;-0
60 min run with a few fartleks

1st easy bike no idea what time approx 2 hours
45 min run

apart from the 30th which was a good day the only really positive thing is weight still comming down slowly ( meassured with the dreamcatcher meathod ,

2nd 2.5 hour bike with hoth hill reps
run to the pool and home approx 45 min (run out of energy on way too the pools so quick stop at a shop
shambolic swim session did quit triathlon after the first 5x 200s ( felt like it was the first time in a pool and miscounted every 2nd interval ) anyway it was not so bad to be honest
given the fact that i was leading out all intervals bare the 2nd last one . 4x400 set was pretty good and approx 5.35 average
and the 2nd 200s also not bad .. no still the times cant hide it was the worst friday set i swam bare the first one as there was 0 rythem . the positive given the fact i had run out of energy and doing all the lead work i did work well but jaysus i am pretty sure i would have had a heart attack had i watched that session.

3rd 60 min cycle 90 min run 14 ,12 9.30 min intervals at prety good effort ( way to long rest ) still for sombody that was quitting triathlon again during the session . pretty good times.

pm 45 min run

4th 1.10 easy run 2 hours on the turbo

not happy with the training since back home totally lost the rythem dont enjoy cycling from home at the same time not a bad weeks training either with some pretty good sessions and while i only hit 1 good turbo it was a really good one . on the other hand overall i was never in the risk of getting ill or overdoing it , and sometimes a bit less than i wanted can be more and while a bit frustrated i also know that something is going to happen in the nexy 2-4 weeks the running is very close to get to the next level and fitness is coming on overall.
so a mixed back of training this week but weight is comming down and in the laast 8 weeks i have changed my diet each week a bit and its getting closer to where it needs to be. and before you ask i do nothing special i use the base
the less pre prepepared foot i eat the better. the less sugar i take on the better and iam actually increasing my fat intake right now. its very simple if i eat bad i put on wieght very quickly if i eat solid and train, I like 85 % of people one should not have to worry too much about weight. ( and for most people just stop making excuses i also put on 8 kg in 3.5 month so its not like iam a miracle in losing weight and being so lucky)
like training or not eating is a choice we make ( and of course for some its difficult but it cant be difficult for 80% of triathletes who are quite frankly overweight. not a suprise ireland has one of the higher obesity rates with its chipper and and carry out culture and supermarkets full of ready made foot. ( end of my little uncalled rant and back to focus on myself )
but new years resulutions do my head in ( mine is quitting tri btw )

What's your normal training rotation Peter - 3 weeks hard, 1 recovery? 4/1? Do you work off a 7 days schedule or a longer one, say 10-12 days etc?
a little brain strom ,,,,

right now i really work of nothing I have things i want to do each week but my sessions change a lot depending on many things .
its not structured training ( at the same time i guess in my head i do have a fairly thought out structure how i am going to move but like the irish weather is does change a lot )
i do not work of 2 3 4 on 1 week off it can be 2 weeks on 3 or 4 weeks on ( i look more at my fatique levels )
personally i have worked well on 2 on 1 week rec with tt s but also 4 weeks on 1 week off.
i have had one guy this morning the threw his poul buoy away twice and i will be watching him very carefully tonight and most liklely he will be doing a shorter session unless i am satisfyed he will be ok
also 4 hours for me does not mean its going to be 4 hours its a guide i have before the session but nothing more . same with a 2 hour run it does not have to be 2 hours as i can change the parameters around and its not like that if you have a 2 hour run planed bad thinkgs happen if you stop at 1.55 or 2.07 h and often real life time constraints etc govern what i do . likewise is i run faster than i have planned i run shorter if i run slower than planned and not too tied i run longer
overall i need to make sure that buy the end of january iam not worn out but ready to train ( and traiing in the dark time of the year is not that easy, even the most consitent guy i have ever coached once had a close to x mas burnout )

overall my thinking is that that most familly people should take their rest weeks due to work or family commitments etc so its often taken care for them so i dont really think for most agers it makes sense to work of a fixed on and off rythem. and looking at the sbr board most people dodnt train enough to actually need rest weeks ...but for some reason even the 6 hours a week atheltes seem to follow of season x mas break etc etc when it dosnt make sense they never train enough that they would overreach . or think it this way when a good atheltes does 18 hour weeks a rest week is still more than 6 hours training a week ...
( of course its different for beginners etc but i think we get the gist ...)

overall i believe much more to get an amount of key sessions into a 1o day circle than a weekly circle but again real live makes this complicated but i do change run sessions around.
and a 25 min good workout is better than no workout ....)

iam more reacting than planing ( and both ways have pros and cons ) but it is very clear there is so many things that change the parameters i cant plan them.
its very differetnt for a person that gets up every monring a 6 am trains goses to work finishes at 5 in bed by 9.30 .....
(the more you get that the better you can plan. but training fatiuqe is a lot infliuenced by work sleep stress and family factors and its important to include them into ones planning ( or reacting if you dodnt have a stable live rythem ) .

quite simpley my goal right now is more quality ( the week in teneriffe it was all about miles but still ...its quality i need ) despite the fact that is my seem crazy what i do i have a very good idea where iam am and i want to work more on those weaknesses.( still being clear that i could not even train the way i wanted as iam just not ready for it ,(both mentaly and physically and of course my body is not the same as 8 years ago )


credit used despite race entry irony last monday ;-)

5th I think I mentioned that swim as one of my best outside a
Friday
pm long run had no idea how that would work out started slow than a solid rythem a few hill reps from 57min to 1.03 and back home
realized i was getting faster saw the speed indicator in DL hovering around 15-16 kmh and suddenly hit a runners high. As i said i kind of know something was to happen with the running soon and I think we can now say I am back running. in the last 10 k there was 6k hovering around 3,57-403 k pace for a 1.55h run and i loved it ( iam sure there was a bit of a tail wind but not a crazy one so approx 4.10 pace and not slower than 4.25 min k in 2nd half which is fast for me for a long run. but as i said i loved it.

at home i got a message g barcelona down to last 50 entries (thanks marry and niamh) . so i went straight to the computer, as this was the first session which showed i like this stuff again ,and tried to enter but race sold out ( 2 good things i had myself there to enter , but also didnt get a place and to be fair it absolutely againts my thinking to enter a race 9 month in advance ,which was the only reason i raced pro to not have to deal with this .Anyway I am sure it will have some entries later on so no sweat. and lanza 2016 would not be a bad choice either. mallorca just dosnt do it for me (my plan is to spend 1 day in the altair bookshop in bareclona ( one of my favorite bookshops in the world)

6th 4o min lunch run easy
Short but high intensity turbo session pm ( better a bit really fast than nothing at all )

7th am swim no idea what i was doing but swam largley beside another swimmer that was also doing long reps and kept myself entertained by slowing down speeding up etc 68 min in pool

pm same session as last week in the park total fun i was playing catch the Niall with 10 sec handicap and it was great. starting behind somebody motivates me and he motivates me . Iam amazed how much niall is improving and we really getting somewhere with his pacing. he is really turning himself around right now to become the best athelte he can be , and again ,of course this has an impact on my session ( surround yourself with positive people) . 2 since i start behind him i can see what he needs to work on and how he progresses and of course it helps him too tohave somebody to pace off . hit 1 sub 2min for 600m up the pass 4 sub 208s and 3 sub 2.10 ( and 2 slower ones to focus on niall. overall 17 k of running
some 1h 40min commuting on bike

8th an 2 x 45min ish bike rides

7 x 5 turbo intervals bit low on energy, but giving it to myself and went into a few dark places. ( we are getting there on the turbo to start proper training)

pm 10 k easy run

9th
main set 6x200 off 3,05 i have no idea what average i know i did 2 250ms ,tango led the last 3x 200
4x400 in 5min.20.5 average off 6 5x200s average 2.49 off 3.05

despite another clown performance by myself until tango hit the water, which raised the spirit of the session massively.
but even then i kept losing the pb and sabotaging myself in any possible way. i
still good session and i seriously worked at some stages of that session .
so far my best week training in terms of hitting the sessions i wanted
and was tired entering the water today but this is the good thing when your bike gets stolen outside the pool it does give you a bit of belly fire every time you lock your bike and enter the pool...
also if you just entered a bloody race which is 3 times as expensive for what i want ie a race and not a tri show- i guess its time to get a bit serious now and stop fluffing around in the pool.
as project 40 step 1 is entered. (its funny some people tell me they heared iam doing an ironman but that is really the C goal for this year )

Since running is now at an decent level again and much more importantly i am loving it again.
its now time to bring the swimmng up so i will like it more again, until the bike focus starts on feb the 21st in fuerteventura .

I have to say its pretty nice to have swam a few 1.15s for 100 in the 400s this morning. i guess 1.15 is the pace when swimming starts to actually feel like swimming as you feel like you start moving through the water. they say it never gets easier but when you hit sub 3.30 k run pace or sub 1.15 100m in the pool it certainly starts to feel more like being in harmony with the task than working against something.

MojoMaker wrote: »

1:15 would certainly be the magic number for holding ITU swim splits. Nice to hear it's coming together in line with the effort - must feel good at the moment?

in itu you have to have the ability to start the first 400 in 4.30 and then hold about 1.10 pace for the rest.

of course it does feel nice to progress at the same time as with everything to see progress, effort has to go into , and fatigue level is now at close to saturate level before i have a few easier days.
so no it dosnt feel good at the moment. but there is nice glimpses of hope to get faster ( the proverbial carrot that keeps one going- we are simple creatureas after all ;-)

but yes I did swim two 2013/14 pbs in the pool this am ( did not wear drag suits this morning ... its a bit silly to trick yourself feeling good about yourself but it works ...)
ps at the same time i skipped the weigh in this morning as iam fairly certain i would not want to see the result