The long route to Cork

Last Full week before Lost Sheep

Mon 20th 9k run in the morning with 3*1k in Zone 3
Mon 20th 2hrs in the evening on the Turbo Trainer in Zone 2 to make up for the skipped session in Sunday
Tue 21st OW Swim 1,600m in fairly choppy water
Wed 22nd 9k run with 2*1k in Zone 3
Thur 23rd Pool swim 1,700m straight
Fri 24th Rest Day
Sat 25th 10min Bike Zone 2 into 10min Zone 3 Run into 10min Bike Zone 3 into 10min Run Zone 2
Sun 26th 100min bike ride out in the wind and rain good experience which I needed.
Sun 26th 20min OW swim in Ballybunion being thrown around by the waves

Total for the week 7hr 20 min

Lost Sheep HIM A story of 2 halves

Got down to Kenmare Friday evening happy to find out our Airbnb was at the turn off for the pier so only a 2 min walk to transition in the morning. Had dinner and went to register and attend the briefing, ran into a few club members and the excitment started to build.

Daughter woke up at 5:30 and as I was gonna be up early anyway, I got up with her as we were in an apartment and didnt want her screaming the place down. Had planned on porridge for breakfast but opted to just have the cookies given in the goody bag last night. 6:50 grabbed my gear and headed down. Forgot to have my banana with breakfast and forgot to bring some for the bike but I had plenty of water, high five, bars and energy gels so not an issue. Got racked by 7:00 and was ready to go, number 44 down by the water so will be out of the wetsuit quickly but a long run with the bike. Got speaking to a marshall who warned me of a pull across the bay to the left on the way out.

Swim
Quick briefing, final warning about Healy pass and into the water. A bit of swimming to warm up and I was ready to go. Found a club mate and was having a bit of a chat when the shotgun went off without any warning and it was on. Overall I was very happy with the swim. I concentrated on keeping my form and didnt push to try go faster, Found some feet on and off which I stuck with. From what I could see everyone seemed to cut a good line on the way out, however on the way back in, the majority of the field seemed to get pulled off to the right, I was worried for a while as every breath to the right I could see a huge pack of swimmers 100 to 150 metres off but I kept my line and was happy with my time. 34.59

T1
Nothing much to report out of my wetsuit quickly and into my shoes, it was a long run with the bike out of transition but had no problems everyone kept well in while changing. 3.18

Bike
Overall I was happy with the bike, the first 30k I got overtaken a good bit but I would expect that to happen to me for a long time yet but I managed to take back a few places in the last 15k without pushing myself too hard. Got plenty of water and nutrition on throughout the course. At no point did I have to contemplate getting off the bike and had no issues of my legs cramping, so overall very happy. 3.14.40

T2
Into T2. Was concious of the long run down transition again in T2 before I could offload the bike so decided to slip out of the shoes on the bike and run down in my socks. Never attempted this before and it almost ended in disaster as my left foot got stuck in the shoe and I panicked for a sec trying to pull it out, but managed it in the end. Into the tiolet for 2 min and off on the run. 5.27

Run
Heading out on the run I realised that if I could keep it together I could get finish this in under 6 hours something I would never have believed possible after the Hardman. My plan was to do 5.40/km which would get me home in under the 6 hours, managable for me without pushing it too hard. I finished the first k in 4.50min, I found this pace easy but I knew I was gonna get into trouble quickly if I didnt slow down. Managed to pull it back to 5.40min for the next few k's, however the heat seriously started to build and then I hit the hills. It was no longer easy to keep this pace and the course could really have used some additional aid stations. Kept it going until the 5k aid station got some water on and more over the head. I held my pace until 7k and hit a wall going up a hill and couldnt run any further, I had to walk. The next 14k were a misery of walking for 30 sec and running at a slow pace as long as I could, I tried to keep it to one walking session per kilometre but my body had completely given up. I dont know if it was the heat, the hills not enough water, energy drinks, the bananas I forgot that morning or if I need to take salt tablets with me but something went wrong. I had to forget about my 6 hour finish and the new aim was in under 6.21 to knock an hour off Waterville. But that was also not be be as for the last 4k my 2 calfs decided to cramp up and needed to be stretched on a regular basis. 2.24.03

Overall Time 6.24.30

If someone had told me I might get that time after Waterville I would have been very happy but I know I could have done better on that run, I just have to figure out now what went wrong.

BennyMul wrote: »

but better to walk in the warmth than in cold rain

I knew there was a silver lining there somewhere .



It would have been nice to have put some names to faces but Im not too sure I would have been able to string too many words together for a while after

Quiet week last week focused on recovery and rest after Lost Sheep.

Tue 1000m pool swim followed by sauna
Fri 40min Run
Sun 60min Run

So starting on Monday I will be working my way through the Don Fink Intermediate Plan, had been thinking of starting on the Competitive Plan and dropping down later but feel it would be better to stick with a plan and just fit in longer sessions when I can. As I will be around 40 weeks out I have decided to double up on the build phase as I know if I dont work to some plan I will let what I have built up to date slide. This will also give me a bit of flexibility, in a few weeks when all my plans could be thrown out the window to drop some of the double up weeks.

Regarding my bike I have managed to pick up a Felt F85 second hand. It is practically new with very little use. While not a super bike, it is a bike I feel I can upgrade overtime. For now I will settle for getting some aerobars and a proper bike fit done, and my Carrera can stay fixed to my Turbo.

Well Im back, my beautiful second daughter arrived a few weeks early back in September, everyone is happy and healthy. After a week of in and out to the hospital she came home. I have come to realise that having 2 kids is very different to 1 and while I thought I knew what was in store for us I was wrong. All training plans went out the window and I have been happy to fit in the odd run or turbo session when I could. Since my last update I have also hurt my back which lead to few physio sessions, been laid low by a bad case of man flue and the vomiting bug rampaged through the house.

But that is all over now as it 30 weeks to IM Cork and my training plan is kicking off. I have accepted that I will miss sessions, get little sleep and will need to be as flexible as I can with my sessions but Im optimistic I will get enough done before Cork as I have a very supportive wife.

So plan was meant to kick off this morning with a small brick session but my 2 year old woke crying at 5(she has not been sleeping properly since the vomiting bug) and didnt get her back down till 6:30 so that session has been moved to this evening, hopefully not an omen of whats to come.

Thanks EC1000. The family will always come before the training, so I will just have to be as flexible as possible with the training, I have already made adjustments to Finks plan to suit my schedule and im sure more changes will be made as I go along. No way will I hit all my training targets but ill get as close as possible without stressing too much about it.

Week 30

Day 1 Rest day(all going good so far)

Day 2 Easy brick session planned for the morning, but older child woke at 5:30, couldnt get her settled properly so that was a no go. Changed till the evening and got session done. Feels good working to a program again.

Day 3 Club interval run. Got there a little early and sat in my car as wasnt too sure what was happening. Eventually 2 got out and started a warm up jog around the track, so I followed after. Eventually we got into the intervals 3 sets of 90sec on, 90 sec on and 120sec on, with rest's inbetween, then cool down jog and stretching. Felt like the interval session could have gone on longer but I suppose they have to cater for everyone. Will get out as soon as I get there next week and get a bit extra running in.

Day 4 First proper swim back in a while so decided to skip the swim program this morning and just bash out 2k in the pool, to get a feel for the water. Got a major shock, my swim fitness has disappeared, need a good bit of work there.

Day 5 30min Turbo Trainer Zone 2 low resistance high RPM.

Day 6 60 min Turbo Zone 2

Day 7 Should have checked the schedules when setting out the week, pool was booked up for the day. So decided to get out for my long run should have been 45 mins but pushed on for the hour, I have fallen way back here too but onwards and upwards. I will move this swim to Monday evening(should be rest day) as I cant afford to miss out on swims at this stage and the training load is still low at the moment compared to what I was used to 2 months ago, so I can afford to miss a rest day.

Total for the week is 5hr 15 min, not what was planned due to the missed swim.

Week 28

Mon Rest Day

Tue 45 min on the Turbo Trainer followed by a 15 min brick run

Wed Club Interval Run, got their early again to extend my run. Really enjoying this part of the training.

Thurs Swim Program 36 completed, christmas party this evening so gave me a bit of flexibilty to fit a proper swim in the morning. got 30 min done on an exercise bike then in the hotel before heading out.

Fri 45min Run the next morning on a treadmill, was very tempted to give this a skip, but managed to get it done, with zero energy left for the rest of the day.

Sat Swim program 37(Pool was booked up on the Sunday) completed first thing in the morning, followed by a hard 105min Turbo session that evening.

Sun 60min Run, felt very comfortable on this run, putting in my best average speed while maintaining my heart in zone 2 in a long while.

Total for the week 479min

Very happy with completing everything this week, I had some worries coming into it with the party on Thursday night.

Week 26 I had Christmas with 2 smallies this week and a Christening for the youngest to organise around

Mon 45 min run today to free up Christmas day.

Tue Not sure if the Christmas swim would count as a very short Aquathlon so will put it down as a rest day

Wed 60min on the Turbo Trainer followed by 15 min Brick Run, legs felt very fatigued after the previous days eating and drinking.

Thurs Swim Program 35 completed followed by a 60min run later in the evening

Fri Out in the morning for a 45min Turbo Session followed by Swim Program 36 later in the evening, unfortunately my timetable was out of date and the guy in reception never told me but the swim club had the pool booked 30min into my swim which I didnt realise until they started arriving and stretching so had to cut the swim short.

Sat Family down for the christening so out for some food and drinks Friday night lead into me doing the Park Run Sat morning with my wifes cousin, while feeling the effects of the last few weeks overindulgence I still managed to post my fastest 5k onto which I tagged another 4k slow to stretch out the session.

Sun Eventually got everyone out of the house the next day after 3 o clock after a late night which allowed me to finish off the week with a 75min Turbo Session, really struggled through this session, cant wait for all these parties to be done and get back to normalacy.

Total for the week 437min

While I might have over indulged this week if you had told me 2 years ago I would put in over 7 hours of exercise on Christmas week I would have thought you were mad, now Im just starting to think I might be mad.

Week 7

Mon Rest Day

Tue 2.5k swim in the morning P34. The programs include about 700metres of drills, I had been doing only fists but I managed to get a list of alternative drills so will be working in 2 drills a week(Fits and Catch Up with a float)

Tue evening 45min Turbo session followed by 15min brick run

Wed 2.5k swim in the morning P35( Leg kicks with float & Doggy Paddle)

Wed evening club interval run session, happy to see I completed my first ever 4min Kilometre

Thurs 60 min Turbo Session

Fri 75min Run 12.17km

Sat 150min Turbo Session

Sun 90min long run 14km

Total for the week 610min

After having a discussion with someone in my club Ive started trying to get my nutrition sorted. Under their recommendation I have bought some Powerbar Isotonic mix, to start drinking on the Turbo instead of water, since starting this I have felt fresher coming off the bike, I now just need to decide on something more solid I can have on the bike all recommendations welcome.