project 40/41

Good last week
Had to pick up the tandem which was in Scotland. ( things are so much more complicated without it so glad it's back.weather was quite OK for January and it was a nice camping trip.
Funnily herself said she wanted to do a few turbo sessions before and it made a good difference .never thought she would ever go on a turbo.
I have no idea but did at least 90 k running last week
body wanted an easier week with little fast stuff and muscles have recovered.

Swim was alright first 5 k session this year and approx 1.02 for 3.8 k

Weight keeps comming down slowly. haven't been on scales since last June and have no plan to do so. But Skin folds and cloth say it's on the right way.

another 2 weeks this time was a few more up and downs . which is fine



usual tue to wed training last week and thursday in right harmsting a few fibers pull against a tendom and fast running got a bit anoying its not a big deal.

evening flight to portugal. did not sleep well thursday night and friday was not quite the day i wanted but still 120 k bike 6 k run weather was a bit annoying with serious wind and rain ( but not to bad either and by night time as predicted the rain was over . had a great fresh fish supper under an amazing pine tree and after aobut 5 pages reading my book about persia i was gone. ( 2 two glasses of wine might have had something to do with it as well)



sat am 75 min run in rio fromosa natural park one of the best places to run at the algarve.

130 mostly up and down the hinterland with some great vistas.

another nice fish and loads of vegatbles.

sunday 2 hour am run around monte gordo and san antonio thats another great aera for for running.

2.5 hours cycling with my friend tom who happend to be there for work one of my favorite people to talk triathlon with. and it was great not to have to think aobut where i was going as he knows this area better than prety much anybody. after lunch back to faro criss crossing the smaller roads of the cost and a 55 min run.
monday 4.5 hour bike and home . cycled till 12.30 and was on the plane at 13.50 so i guess i made the most of my time.

all over 535 or so k on bike 360 or so with luggage 175 without and aobut 52 k running

apart from first day which was not the best all the rest worked well and left leg felt better monday than it was last week.

tue swim and run i started in the slower group to run a bit easier. we did 4x2 k and i felt i had hit the session well ( in hindsight i wont do that again . at best this session could do little good and the risk was way too high that it is a negative session ( which at the end it was )
wed turbo first time on tt bike this year and easeir sesion to get used to it ) pm swim

thursday swim short short intervals not a great session

friday 10 k run steady turbo swim

sat 16 k run swim

sunday 25k to race athy duathlon 3.45 cycle hom 45 min easy turbo



overall the best swim week of the this trainings year with approx 18 - 19 k

solid bike week

and not so great run week did not feel great friday saturday flying alwyas a bit of an risk and very clearly tue run was an error as just swim would have been enough.
the race today there was 1 or 2 things positive and 2 things i did not like so much .

i would have liked to do a bit better on the other had the way i felt friday and sat iam actually happy. if i was a cola i would have been perfect to serve on course today so flat i was ( and yes the plan was to be a bit less flat) at the same time I did enjoy the race ( of course thats not a good thing if you enjoy the race ) but i did . Interestingly while i did not have time for a proper run warm up I felt actually quite good i just did not get into th 4th gear today. overall another good training day and loads of cyclng at roads i dont get to ride too often.]
next week will be a bit easier and then iam going slowly to start to get more serious.

base fitness is good . and overall interval work is quit solid nothing crazy yet but good frequency . almost 1000k in last 2 weeks on the bike with little mental energy spent . But i would have liked to be a bit more willng to go into the zone which is the most negative aspect of today (neither did i want to go to deep but on the run today i was a more a fun participant than a racer . at the same time getting to the start line this morning had its stuggles to say the least.

I have to say it was a really great atmosphere and the food and tables after the race was prob the best i have seen . its actually really nice to sit at a table after a race . I will be back at that race for sure.



ps . i have to say while iam not mad aobut the algarve I finally have understood how to make it work and i undrstand it now.and having gotten flights for 32 euro return i cant complain i guess.

not much happened the last 2 weeks first light cold this winter

pretty much only easy training not feeling bad really at the same time as sooe as i went a bit harder i knew not to go there.



in refelction of this , all todays race was not so bad, but it was still total s...e apart for first 200m on the run and last 400 on the bike ...( and with my 2 transitons maybe i should do an eye test...)

the only good thing iam masively annoyed. I know i have more and i know iam not where i was planing to be at the moment.



good training today . waste of time to enter a race.

Not sure we're we are since last post
It's an up and down 2 steps forward 1 step backwards
The last few day running has been an issue due to a cough but on the upside I'm doing a lot of core strength work with all the coughing
Swimming is going well the last 2 weeks and I can report that I'm not just in the water but also working. Good progress.

Bike Patrick day and Monday saw 6 hour turbo sessions including 35 min runs one day 4.30 the other day 4.10 pace
Last saturday 190k at good solid pace I race set up about 5.10 for 180 k.
Sub threshold Endurance is good but but power is lacking.
Running I start to enjoy it again it's not where I want it to be but it's okish
Weight is not OK.
Anyway I have 9 weeks left and while a bit behind schedule on pace I'm still in control as endurance is good. And while the last 6 weeks have not been that great there is 5 years of miles in the bank and I had done some good stuff October till Feb. It's still entirely in my hands
I'm nowhere near were I wanted to be for the dua champs so I scrapped this.

Out of my plan of doing a 4 day trip faro to Madrid and then later another 4 day trip Madrid to bordeux became now faro to Dublin trip I got a 3 euro ferry from chearbourg to roslare... I was a bit lucky to sneak off for this one.oh got nominated for a price at a film film festival but I was told my nose doesnt suit for the red carpet ( thanks God)and it would be super boring . I would have been interested to go but... I was quite quick to look for flights and when I saw the ferry it took less than a min to book
I realised only later that this will be a challenging trip ( I knew the distance bordeux to cherbourg but forgot I have to fly to biarritz since this is where my bike will be .. Rookie error lol ( but as a bonus I get to ride a good chunk of the Frenchman bike course)
I have to do 850 k what is effectively 75 hours it's a good challenge and fits the programme timing well ;-)



I also booked flights to Frenchman last week very happy to have been invited back, as I would like to improve on last year race . not fighting windmills on the bike like last year. There is a chance.

i said the OH god nominated for a few festivals with her movie.
nothing to do with me, apart from the fact that while she goes there i go cycling for 4 days ;-) interesting process to follow she wrote the script, is the director and the editor selcted the actors. bloody hard work which makes triathlon look so easy. i had some difficult athletes who think that they are special but none of those come even close to your average actor or actress lol

So I wanted something different ...I got it...
Maybe I did not want it so different but faro Madrid was a different experience.
It was an iron-man experience over 4 days with all the good and bad.



Thursday flight was 80 min late and 80 min less sleep. ( not good as it was an impoertant hour given i already arrived late) Took me a while to get into a rhythm Friday morning climbing up into the hinterland of the algarve. The weather was shine and hail but out of 10 or so hail storms 7 or so I had a bus shelter within a couple of 100 meters so that's luck 🍀
The further I got away from the coast the more rural it got and traffic was as usually very minimal once you get of the cost.with loads of cobbled stone sections in the vilages. ( i almost came down one as road was wet and front wheel sliped from cobble into a nice gap ) I passed a few nice villages and being so close to Spanish boarder they were many castles some quite impressive
At about 3 pm I got into a rhythm and started to eat miles to ended the day at about 180 clicks with good climbing done.
Serpa was a very interesting town and I got a bit of sight seeing done. Prepared some fish and had a nice glass of wine.


Sat after a good night's sleep I got into a nice rythem and enjoyed the landscape.
I made the ambitious decision to visit a town which was a bit out of reach but I was on schedule. Needed to do 225 k I to stay on schedule... And then if course as it does troubles start at sat late afternoon when shopes are closed.first some issues with front hub ( totally my fault ) then an almost new tyre I had on had some of its casing sticking into the inner tube very tiny and it took me a good few punctures to realise what's going on i checkecd carfully each time but with the rain and quite a fed debris on the road i thought thats the more likely cause. As they say measure twice and cut once. By trying to be quick I was only 99 percent and missed the issue. Not helped that after 3 punctures I had 3 spare tubes I realised my glue wasn't the quality it should have been so I had a slow leaking puncture... In the rain... at this time ecided to just press on pump up every so often and lok at it proper after sun set.



Loads of times missed and I was on the back foot did not made it to merida ( but did enjoy an albeit brief visit to badajoz) . With all the repair work I started cooking at almost 11 pm ( nice mussles as a starter and octopus and rice as main dish so at least a good finish) 190 or so k for the day what should have been "easy " 225 k

Still badajoz was nice the detour it's kind of cool with in 60 k you have badajoz which an very Arabic architecture and merida which is very roman with quite a few impressive sides.
I had another puncture ( a real one I have to say the second one in the last 6 month ie i really cant complain about punctures in the last 6 month ..)

sunday I got a bit annoyed looking for a solution to my issues ad struggeling to get anywhere and suddenly I was 75 k back behind schedule. still merida was still cool lol

a slight mental crack atfter i left merida but At around2pm I just decided to just enjoy and rode a lovely little rode and then an old railway path and just got into a nice rythem in isolated landscape and just loved it despite 3 hours of constant rain, Into the hills ,
only 165 done with a good bit of gravel and nice hills.




But I was driven to make it to the airport the next day
This point to point travelling on a schedule it's like in an ironman, this kind of travelling requires good decision taking, to get the max out off it without overstepping the line. There is ups and downs and prep is key ( and I was a bit gear under prepped and this will be charged for the next trip.


I started Monday 1 hour before sunrise despite the rain it was one of my most enjoyable cycling hours no cars a great uphill and the downhill, it got a bit lighter for downhill just enough to see the valley shapes, awesome. I just belted it... about 240 k to the airport and then 15 k home in Dublin all went well till 75 k to Madrid and it looked like I would have an hour to spare in Madrid and then another tyre episode started.... Which included 2 faulty inner tubes I got in a shop....( I did not even have time to lament about the wasted money, which is a good thing.lol Speaking of money the trip cost me approx 95 euro flights food and spare tubes so that's pretty OK and I was eating well.)
Anyway a short story cut short I was at the airport 58 min before departure so all good lol. And then flight was delayed 80 min again....
So all in all loads of changing landscape
From coast to snow and cloud forest I had it all in 4 days. The real stress score 0 pages read in 4 days gives an better idea how full the days were. It was not a hilly trip but still I would imagine 4 k of climbing over the 4 days and it's certainly some work with luggage .
That next trip I am fine r 40 pages and the third one ( the most ambitious one I can read on the ferry)
I was about to bring a spare tyre but decided against it last minute...
I knew about the hub issue and totally forgot the grease and the hub key...
As they say piss pure preparation gets piss poor results...
I need to bring a few more tools and spares as shut always happens x mas day and Saturday evenings or Sunday lol.



A few take aways the shortest way was 650 k. I took on to many places I wanted to see and I ended up with close to 780- 790 k over 4 days. Cycle to Madrid airport is a nighmare if you are short on battery
Still even crossing Madrid is a sight ,it's amazing how much one you can see just going through the city e ( I like Madrid it's a great city I would hate to live there but however short I enjoy it there)


Be a little bit less ambitious I can't train sightsee cook. And repair bikes. Overall I slept to0 little and had 0 downtime. as in 0 pages of reading is no good.
But like in a race there was many ups and downs and I will be thinking about this trip during the race.

So in a way it was a very good race prep.
And as I said I was looking for something different this year and going faro Dublin in 3 etaps over 4 days is just that.

I wasnt too sure how it will work but the next flights will work a bet better with sleeping and with that i think it will just be fine.

i have to say i love to pick up and leave the bike at the airport .
its realy good to max out time ( and i will bring a new front wheel for the next trip lol)
for the next trip i am really looking forward going back to san sebastian great town and ne of my favorite places to swim. ad go through the rolling hlls of the basque country.

i like galicia still the picos de europa attract me more





re bike i just leave it at the airport usually 5 -50 meter from the departure building , i think i did say i like to maximise my time lol and my cooking stuff and bibs and bobs is usually within 1 k of the airport , unlike train stations bike thieves dont seem to frequent airports. i do have a solid u lock. ( i just hope i remember where i parked my bike in madrid - ref no d 216 t1 20m just in case )
and if they steal it i wish them good luck with the front wheel and rear tyre ... they will need it. the tetra pack strip in the rear wheel wont last eternally lol the first 2 worked about 150 k each so i guess there is not much left.

I left the house sat morning and I felt miserable... Made it to the startline and as always first 205 meters in 39 to 40 sec 40 this time and I was like wow that's better than I could have hoped for
3.17 for first k 6.44 after 2 k I was wow no way did I think I would have that today, struggled up the hill and 10.28 aftervr the third and I stopped... I started again after 20 sec but just before the 4 k mark I had enough....
It was recovery week and I still had 32 k to run in the afternoon. But this run sums it up nicely I'm tired I'm actually not far away from making a nice step forward but I'm frustrated where I am.
That was actually a very solid run till k 3 given how I felt but still I was so p.ssed off running too slow.... I had had enough ( and weight is the issue up the hill ..)
the good news after the 32 k run pm I had exactly the soreness I wanted. So not so bad... The big picture is what counts after all.

In fairness the last 4 week's have gone well
I started to swim and times are heading in the right direction first sub 5.30 pull for 400 this year first sub 1.15 free as well so I have shaved about 5 sec over 100 in the last 4 weeks. And as I said I'm totally fine if I swim 1 min slower this year.

The endurance on the bike is there. And even Friday when I had another bad day my times where not bad on my test course
So while not thrilled it's fine and what I lack at ftp I compensate with endurance. Not the way it was planned but this is how it is.

And the run... If only I would lose some weight.... There is glimpses of hope and there is bad sessions but 2 kg less and things would look much better and while I'm not where I want to be I'm better than last year.

But... The weight showes the training enjoyment and no weight loss means it's not enjoyed. It's just a bit of a struggle, I'm not where I want to be and it just annoys me... Which is of course not good
And I'm not in bad shape either while at this stage I can't say I'm better I would say at the moment I swim a bit slower cycle a tiny bit faster and run a bit faster so I'm I'm legit sub 8.50 shape... But from 8.50 to 8.43 something has to happen and let's face it I would not have started another year if I did not think a sub 8 . 40 is out of question... And no we are defo not there....

it's one thing that I'm not that far away from it and another thing it happening. Sometimes you need something positive.
Ie I'm not patient enough and I can't keep crying in my cornflakes that I had 4 bad weeks due to chest infection....
But yes I can lol if it was easy everybody would do it


I have no real stats but I know in 2 weeks I did 64 hours and this week was still some 70 krun. And I was away y day and today on the bike which was still 180 k on the tandem mostly overgeated work ( and very enjoyable to spend a night in the wicklow mountains and be on some roads I have never been on. So close to 300 for the week

So all in all all is OK at the same time OK annoys me and while I do a lot well, there is enough I don't do well enough and I have to lift my game a bit the next 4 weeks.
because I want make this jump munching away...
Bla Bla Bla.... Just get on with it....


on the niggle front I can't complain the left leg is still a bit dodgy but it's under control and the rest is as good as it can be at 44

so that trip never happend ryanair cancelled flight i got them to book me on aer lingus flight later on that flight after clowning around for 2.5 hours got cancelled as well ...

havent decided what to do know but i guess i go for a weekend late july.



otherwise all ok did my last long run on tue and many was i happy when it was over ...

i cant say i enjoyed the last few weeks training and happy to made it through. some test sets show iam not too bad

the other day somebody asked me where i was and i said swim 2 min slower bike 3 min faster and run 3-4 min if same race weather etc as last year

so this is roughly where we are and there is a solid chance to go sub 8.45 and with a bit of luck not being 180 k solo there is a few min there . and of course with more wind etc i might be slower... ( and of course i have 2 x 5 k park run dnfs lol so thats not the best sign if i cant even finish a 5 k run i was leading by 50 meter at k 4 )

but i cycle better and run better than last year and i have spend a couple off 100 euro on bike speed and filed off some things on the bike and shoes and i going to drill some things on frame and shoes tomorrow . and if my 1 chainring finally arrives i should have another 1min there as last year the chain came of a few times when i used a standart chainring as a 1 chain ring. so the odds for being faster than last year are in my favor . especially if my bike dosnt get lost again.

anyway the biggest gain would come from if race a bit less agressive on the bikes ( maybe i killed 2 with that tactic last year so it was not wrong but those 20 spikes and going really hard form 40-50 and 90 to 140 km cost me too and this year i will race for fastest time possible not placing, thats the plan anyway and of course it depends who is there but i certainly wont try to shake off a IM 2.46 marathoner like last year after 100 k going after 90k was smart but after 115 it was not anymore.



i was being told that my legs are skinny but the person very smartly did not mention upper body lol . i have not stood on a scale for almost a year , i think but i know i am about 2 kg above where i should be and another 2 kg to best race weight. (but no the best weight is not going to happen anymore but by end of june the other 2kg will be gone ) so i guess all the money i spend on the bike is neutralised by weight at the moment lol.
anyway iam in one piece and since monday i feel like i like to race (something i did not have so far this year ) henceforth frenchman will be the first triathlon of the year. which is good as it will give me a few race nerves and i have become to calm before races.

no plan b if it dosnt go well next week but i guess since i do the half champs end of june i would not do a full before ( but we will see ) so far the plan is aquathon champs at bull wall mid of the june since its close to home and always a great race. not ideal 2 weeks after a full but its good fun.



one thing i really noticed if i do this again i need to find a running partner for long runs and long bike i got all the long runs done and have done more long bikes than in the last 4 years , but to get me on the bike is not getting easier and without those weekends away it would have been a struggle and at the end of the day it needs to be fun.

moritzburg irondistance race and other things
If you don't try you can't win...they say. So I guess the is the good takeaway from the race, I took a punt to race and despite a performance I'm not happy with, I still won... on a day where quite a few people collapsed on the bike ( and it does not surprise me since I know how much I struggled to keep somewhat hydrated on the bike and the drug test after the race was a serious struggle)
More important than the race... Did it make sense to race...
To be honest even now. I still don't know what I should have, done no race, toursman or moritzburg. everything had pros and cons. and as I say even after the race I don't know the answer...
For a start I think it was right to give it a go as I needed to find a few answers from the frenchman, and With the issues at frenchman I had recovered rather quickly. The weather and no wetsuit in moritzburg I miscalculated, at the same time that's racing.. and I had a great time seeing weimar dresden and leipzig. Besides moritzburg was my first long distance race 21 years ago and 3 Rd triathlon ever. SO A NOSTALGIC OCCASION LOL
People ask how I do 2 ironman races in 2 weeks and the answer is simple. I start to move asap after the race. I tend to walk 5- 8 k the evening after the race get a massage and of course take on proteins asap after the race
The next day I go for a spin, after Frenchman it was 60 k cycling back to bordeux. Last Sunday Sunday it was just 15 k as there was no more time. And I tend to walk 10 - 15 k the day after the race and ideally swim 20 or so min. To move is key. And loads of self massage and light stretching . But the key is too move, rest move rest move the days immediately after the race.
I started swimming Tuesday after the race cycling Wednesday after the race and first short run was Thursday. Over the weekend I went on the tandem to the west and did 130 and 160 k and each day an am an pm run. Approx 10 k felt good for each of them.( 20 min at least was the goal the rest as long as it felt good and when you run along the cliffs of mohar I guess it's hard not to feel good) . So between the races I did about 500 k on the bike run about 65 and swam about 13. Not using mental energy and just doing what felt good.
The race week I did a short crisp swim and a ramp run on treadmill where I stopped at about 18 k just to get turnover going, that was the only intensive stuff. And of course plenty of stretching and self massage.
It wasn't planned to 2 fulls last year and if fact it was a no no for this year in the first half of the season but I felt much better on Friday after the race and henceforth made a decision to race.mainly as I wanted to make sure 2 things are OK. And of course I was really frustrated about the frenchman.

I had made 2 changes to the bike set up (and I guess that was the good things to take that I had correctly identified the little issues)
And of course I really focused on the hip area to losen up.

Race day The one thing that never crossed my mind was the chance of no wetsuit swim mid June. So I had no swim skin.
The race started of I felt solid and was working well with one guy. Until he suddenly disappeared after 1.8 k... ( they do what the call a duet where 2 athletes do half of the distance and then the other takes over. After that I was alone and felt solid. 59.50 was slow and I was not pleased with at the same time given the high temperature I would not want to have gone faster. I have done ironman Malaysia twice both years at tough conditions but I have to say the swim and bike where warmer than both Malaysia races...
Whereas at Toursman the next day it was nice 20 degree lol

Good transition and onto the bike all felt good. And I was pleased after 60 k. The bike was like as if somebody was holding a hair dryer into may face. I drunk about 700 ml every 15 k yet for the first time every I did not pee on the bike. I definitely did not under drink...
I got through 10 litre roughly .
4.34.5o for the bike which was well paced and the right effort. The only thing to mention apart from the heat was that I lost half of my pump ffs half... ( I still had the co2 system)
T 2 was solid as well.
And the run felt fine. The run was undulating but with loads of forest and to be fair the run was not as hot as Frenchman 2 weeks ago.
I was not happy when I looked at watch for first time after 7 k... But I felt like given The day I would be happy with a sub 9 and I was still nicely on course for that. So I just kept plodding on but after 25 ks I did get slower. The only change I would make is to run with a half litre botle and fill it up but unfortunatly I can't blame the heat for the run time as much as I would like to. Still getting in as much fluid as possible I did not pee on the run either. I felt much better on the run than at Frenchman but I was even slower... When I was running, not a big surprise 2 weeks after a full and what was more important I did not cramp up this time. The good thing is I did not really let it get to me and just kept plodding on.
I was glad to reach the finish line and have it done.
It was not a good race at the same time I raced the best u could on the day so that's OK.
After 6 litres of drinks I managed to provide a sample for the drug test. That was harder than the race and I did get sick during it. It's of course great that there is drug testing and I welcome that but after such a hot day it was not fun.
I was super lucky that I had a top masseur at the end if the race and he did a fantastic job. And the lady at the food looked out for me to make sure I ate enough.
So yes I'm pissed off about the race but as I said it was a good race give n the circumstances. I learned a few things and as somebody said a win is a win ( not in my books but still it's not entirely wrong)
A bit of rest know follow what the body wants than sheephaven. While after frenchman I was mentally fresh and the body was fresh too but I was a mess from above knee to above hippy. This time there is only one tendom in a mess but the tiredness is more deep this time. After sheephaven I will take a week total rest and then back to the drawing bord.
Swim and bike are fine weight run and range of motion not and there is a few trigger points I need to sort out and with so weight loss and a few little tweaks to the run training I'm still Confident I get the run to 3.06- 08-level. And redress the run over the winter.
I'm hitting t2 consistently at 5.36 plus minus 1 with a bit more lucky and get the run where I want it and an sub 8.4o performance is within reach and sub 9 at the Hardman . not going to be easy but one day I will get the day where conditions and body get it right.
To be honest at this stage I'm almost ready to enter a draft ironman race such as Copenhagen or Barcelona but I d much prefer a real race. I guess to get the same satisfaction I would get from a sub 8,40 in a real race ( ie no packs on bike) I would have to go 8.30 in an branded race given the huge advantage you get ( and of course I would wait 6 - 10 min at the swim start to get the max pack bike benefit of the 1 to 1.05 swimmers..

Anyway it was a great trip and I did manage to get this heavy brick trophy made of the famous elb sandstone, home.
Few details are missing but I'm much closer to a performance that would satisfy me than it looks like. it's not a great realisation, as it is never nice to admit to onesleves the errors that where made for one I should have done all the bike stuff and changes earlier and take more care of left leg, but at the same time 90% is in place and I would not say luck was with me in the last 2 races given the conditions. So there is good room for improvement.
on the weight front I have been making solid progress over the last 6 weeks or so.

So frustrated yes but also with good positive things to take away from.

Sheepheaven participation report...

Fist things first that was a well organised value for money race. hats off to letterkenny tri club.

If there was any chance of a solid race I had to go steady from a to c... So naturally that hat was the plan, besides plan a there was a plan what place in the race would merit to finish the race ( and to be fair I was already on the edge after the swim so if there is a day good for a puncture it was this race)

Steady worked about till mile 6 or so on the bike. ..

The swim was not good but I just shrug it off and while I did not go fast I was well in control.
I did not cycle great for the first 6 miles but I did not care, because like in the swim I was steady and the race was going to really start at mile 27.
At mile 6 I was not in control, as I had no air in the tyre and of course this happened on a sharp uphill ( which made me look stupid after the repair running up a hill... For some reason I did not care too much either and after quick fix I was on the bike.
But the steady plan was out of the window.... The only issue the power I put in, did not transfer into going forward .... Given a few steep downhills in the race I had tightened the rear break ( anybody knows that break on the p4 is a bit.h and it takes great care to adjust the wheel time I did not take after the puncture....) I had repassed a few people but for 3- 5 k I knew that it wasn't right. So off the bike again and yes this time I did care.... I was way behind my goal I kept still going for a while but my heart wasn't in it anymore. still I planned to run for a few k, until I punctured again after about 74 or so k... I had enough then...and roled home
Great race, great location, this is one of the few parts of Ireland I had not seen yet and I'm glad I made it up there it was worth it for the landscape. And the friendly volunteers. It's a great addition to the race calender.
Did a nice spin on Sunday around the area before I took the bus home.

As an aside after I have watched frankfurt I rate my performance in my last ironman race a bit higher. Still not good but OK.

Now a bit of rest

not much to say

weight loss slow ( too slow) progress

swim actually quite good have done some of the best sessions this year and set quite a few training season pbs in the last 10 days



bike solid



run slow improvement


still not sure what iam going to do ( neither am i too bothered about it ) i dont have the biggest motivation to race as the run is just not where it should be. I have invitations for 2 races but i dont fancy to fly unless i feel i am sub 8.50, or better said do a race i feel satisfyed with and while i have the endurance to run 42k its just too slow and the likely outcome is 3.20 maybe 3.15 if all goes well . 4 weeks of good run training would make a nice change and would likely get me in the 3.10-3.15 area and while not a perfect outcome i would take it as in a way i am in "too good " shape not to race at all. and i have done 2x210 k bike days in last 3 weeks. ( maybe i should do an aquabike race ...)

I was in lourdes for some guidance last weekend to find the road to Kona... Should have known that lourdes is biased and said do the Frenchman...
So it's still the same Frenchman and the race in the Algerian desert really intrest me and I find it very hard to get enthusiastic about the m dot races
. At the same time it's now or never. The one thing is clear I'm in my last 13 en month long distance racing and 21 22 I don't see myself doing more than only distance.
i plan to do an iron-man when I'm 80 but more like one every 5 years
Anyways I'm on project 10 since the start of October . I have already lost 2.5 kg so 25% done and loads of work left. I'm still borderline fat and thats the first thing to change.

not in a rush at the moment and first I want to see how things are going. If I go to Kona the only goal would be a realistic top 5 chance. I was not there on the run last year and while I would be confident that swim and bike get me there the run was not and 2018 was also 7 or so min off .

Interestingly I did buy a swimskin a few weeks ago. But the title of the thread is project 40so and I do feel with the Kona money I'd much rather go 6 month travelling. So that will be interesting.
More importantly the main goal is to get a solid run ( not sure if it's going to work bur I will try and doing a 8 week really good bock for 1 race.

Kilkee and the half champs are on my schedule. Really happy to see kilkee Nat champs it's just the classic triathlon in Ireland and it made me sad that it lost a bit of its glory in last few years. . It's the cradle of triathlon in Ireland and given there is not much history in our sport it should be treated as something special by all the triathlon stakeholder in Ireland.

not much to write
January overall was not a good training month but solid enough for what I am looking for at the moment.

unfortuntely running still not good but at least i did over 30 k last week so thats a small improvement. I do feel its going to sort itself out in the next month but would say its more a cautious optimism then reality



entered joey Hannon and the fear of pool tris i have , did make me start to swim more seriously since then , until then i spend more time on the nordic skiing machine than floating in the water . ( i improved my 4 month I00 m pb by I4 seconds this week ( i even put my googles bellow the swimming hut for that effort and it was still slow ... but its a start )


anyway the run is still a serious concern but the rest, despite the negativity of my trainings partner ( i am keeping a diary with all the insults i was given the last few month) I am ok with swim and bike and since

I have no planes to enter a race before mid april .



subject to running I have my season roughly planned out .

Yesterday when I started to count the tiles of the roof ( 846 btw ) I realised I have spend 37 hours on the turbo 14 en this week . Whi,e i have certainly done a few 12 hours week I don't think I have done 14 and never excluively on the turbo. ( 6 k cycling to the shop is the only outside cyc,Ing done the last 3 weeks.

The good thing is this was the first week irelaid where I got into the training Grove, that was the first good and more importantly good and enjoyable week . My first sub 3.30 k my first proper tempo run good turbo week and good nutrition . Part of it was planned part of it I just struggled a bit which is normal when I wouldnratherndonthe washing up then going for a run. There will sure,y be ma y more ups and dwns in the run but the last 2 weeks most of them I enjoyed and its starting to feel a bit like running rather than a struggeling slog . Iam still very careful but I had also my first 20k run day this week ( still broken into 2 )
it's ****ing hard work but the needle of the imaginary scale is moving to the left.

It's interesting tiimes doors close and others open , when my had was okish again I offered 2 clubs swim cord sessions online and with the club in germany it's works very well . sometimes German efficency is a good thing slow at the beginning but once started no fluffing around

I still think there will be a few small races September October and at the moment I don't really mind I need to get in shape first and there is no need to waste enrgy what will happen and not .

Kurt_Godel. wrote: »

Are these sessions you can offer on this forum? (appreciate not everything is free)

It's an interesting idea but
By and large most people have a real poor execution .and it's really really hard work to correct people.
Personally I don't think it's very swim specific training but really valuable for stroke awareness and improving range of motion . Both aspects issues for most tri swimmers.

Totally my personal opinion and 0 evidence based is, classes like this with coach in a room would be super valuabke for adult learner's .

Swimming is nice I guess this sums it up nicely. Loving it again .

Well not for my trainings budy, day 5 and the message was" I can't be ars.d today" ....

Too much to write .In short I would say I am just about in sub 9 h Iron distance shape now . So basically ahead of scedule weight and fitness wise. And run is catching up nicely now. Realistically I would likely still break at 34 k but not much longer( I hope ) and the last few weeks run has gone well which is great and swim and bike are excatly -well a bit ahead of -where I want it to be.
The more detailed version would be pretty long so I leave it there at the moment ,but the last 3,5 weeks were great . not always plain sailing but well worth it .

rodneyr1981 wrote: »

So based off that are you planning any racing? Assuming that some do go ahead

yes I do. And if not I do organize my own race . Which to be honest is not that different of 50 percent of long distance races I do . Last year in moritzburg I had a swimmer for 1 .2 k or so with me and a relay cyclist for about 10 min with me the rest was totally solo.