The difficult second album

Mon 28th April

Nothing again. called into work early and didn't get out until late, then had to collect the parents from the airport, so nothing done.

Tues 29th April

Finally a good session. Club spin in the park, good few from our club and a good few from Lucan cycling club turned up too. 1st lap steady and then the next three going hard on the hills and on one stretch on the flat. Went a bit smarter than usual and didn't blast up the hills from the bottom, waited until around half way up and then pushed it up. Legs felt good, although by the end they were pretty wrecked. One easy lap at the end with the gf to cool down. Never have had so many dangerous cars around me at one time though, I'd say at least 5 cars doing U turns right in front of us, rollerbladers deciding to try and skate out in the gaps between us. As well as on the very last lap having a woman in a small little car beep me to get out of her way while she was texting on her phone and another fella who thought it was his civic duty to tell me to get into the onpath cycle lane, even with the hundreds of walkers in it. The park is a dangerous place to cycle!

Wed 30th April

Club running session in the phoenix park, wasn't sure if I woud make it to this with the weather but glad I did in the end. Bit of a warm up then into the main set, bit of a strange one too. Set was up and down a football pitch, fast up, recovery was width of goal posts and then fast back and same again. Altogether 4 loops per set and 1 min recovery between sets. 4 sets altogether. Took me a while to get the legs going but once I did I felt pretty good, legs a bit heavy from the Tues bike. Times were consistent and so were recoveries across the goal posts so pretty happy.

Thurs 1st May

Turbo before work. 1 hour 40mins spent pretty much half on endurance and half on tempo. Tough enough session and again tired legs, about 20 mins in I wasn't sure I would get through it but did in the end. Set a new 90 min power record too which is always good.

April has been a decent month, lot of biking, ok amount of running and not enough swimming. The week in Sardinia was always going to push things in the bike favour but the plan for next month is too try get the run back up and the swim has to increase.

Tuesday 6th May PM

Club cycle session in the park. Good turnout again, Bambaata even showed up for the start (nice to meet you). Usually there is a warm up lap and then into 3 hard laps, not tonight, straight into the hard laps and very early on my legs were feeling it. Then the rain started. Still got 5 laps done but by the end my legs were completely gone, nothing left in them at all. Park was much better than the previous week, apart from a girl on a bike cycling on the path cycling straight out in front of one of the lads and then hitting the ground. Not much we could do about it, she apologised and everything was alright. This fella seems to attract people like this though, last week a roller blader went straight out in front of him too, will be thinking about giving him a bit more room in future!

Fri 9th May

Not much today. Busy day in work and my da got a delivery of stones, mulch and top soil so the evening was spent bringing that down through the garage to the back garden. 20km cycle in and out of work.

Sat 10th May

I had been looking for a 10km run to do, haven't done one in a long time and wanted to get an idea where I was before the start of the season. Only real option was a park run with an extra 5km at the end. 1st 5km went well, paced it well and came through in 19.30 and was feeling strong. The second last kilometre struggled a bit but was able to up it a bit for the last kilometre. Through the 2nd 5km in 19.55. New PB of 39.25 and first time ever sub 40 mins.

Evening was to be a decent swim session but got to the pool and the chlorine was thick in it. Done a bit of sighting and a lot of kicking but had to get out early because of the smell and it burning my nose.

Sun 11th May

Was heading into the giro so only option was an early morning 2.5 hours on the turbo. Mainly focusing on endurance with a bit of tempo work too. Legs felt good, bit too fresh after what should have been a tough 10km race the day before. Got through fairly handy.

Got news on Sun evening that my Granny had passed away, she was old enough at 89 so wasn't completely unexpected but still hard to take. Training might be bit all over the place the next few days but will still get something done even just to clear my mind.

Mon 12th May

Out early in the morning for a run. Wasn't sure what I would be doing but wanted to cover around 15km and decided to run on feel and see how I got on. Surprised to see the pace at the end of 4.33 min kilometres for what felt like a fairly handy effort.

Evening session was on the bike, 1 hour on the turbo. This was going to be a tough session with 4 X 9 min intervals above 88% of FTP. Settled in well and was only tough for the last few mins of the one. 4 mins recovery between each. Power was at least 5 watts above the average power aimed for at each interval so pleased with how it went.

Thanks for the comments folks,

Tuesday 13th May

2 hours on the turbo, tough session. Majority of time spent between 75-85% of FTP, got through it ok though and legs feeling good.

Wed 14th May

Club run session. Warm up then into main set of 200m, 3o seconds rest, 400m, 1 min rest, 600m 1min 30 rest 800m 2 min rest and then back down. Tough session but enjoyed it and was pleased to see the times remain consistent. bit of a cool down after for a total of 11.2km.

Thurs 15th May

Turbo session before work. First hour had 3 intervals at above 90% of FTP for 8 mins each, first of these had a 6 min 75% effort before it and last had the same after it. Tough but good session and never felt in huge danger of not finishing. After this was a half hour with a bit fo a warm up then the main set fo 3 X 3.5 mins at around 105% of FTP. Again never in danger of not finishing and legs felt strong.

Have a group in work playing football golf later but don't think I can count that as training.

Tues 20th May

Handy enough day, club TT. 20km around Ballycoolin. Best time last year was a 31.16 so was hoping to go close to this. Conditions weren't great, bit windy and greasy surface in places but was feeling good on the bike. Bit of a warm up, but probably finished this too early and was waiting a while to go. Set of steady enough and built into it, time overall was 31.31. Not too far off my best and on a better day be a few easy seconds to take off. Would have been nice to beat my best time but reckon that will come later in the summer, didn't feel as wrecked after this one either. Would have been better set up to run off the bike on it. Bit of a cool down after.

Club summer TT league is 5 races, 3 around Ballycoolin (number 1,3,5) second race is a 17km from Dunboyne to Summerhill and the 4th is a hill climb up Sally gap around 10km long. Best 3 resuts count. Looking forward to the hill climb one, reckon it should suit me better than the flat ones. Summerhill one be interesting too, last time we done that circuit I had a horrible day and finished right down the list. Be interesting to see how I get on this time.

Fri 23rd May

3.1km swim in the pool and 12.4 on the treadmill before I headed to the stag. Felt a lot better in the water than I have in a while and was moving a bit faster too.

Sat 24th May

Surprised myself and actually got out and done something even with the hangover from Fri night. 62km on the TT bike, kept it nice and steady and although it was flat enough got through the 40km in around 1hr 8mins so pretty pleased with that. Straight into a 8km run after this and pace kept around 4.15 for relatively little effort until the end when my stomach decided it was now too hungover to keep exercising and the pace dropped a bit.

Sun 25th May

Nothing. Was dying all day and decided a bit of self pity and an easy day was in need.

Mon 26th May

Short swim just to get moving again and a short easy run. Still way off feeling 100% but with bit of luck a few good nights sleep will sort that out before Athy this Saturday.

Wed 28th May

Skipped the run session in the park with the club, late home from work and still not feeling great so an easy enough 9km by myself. Legs felt ok, bit of a tickle in my throat but think it's down to hayfever so should be ok for Saturday.

Fri 30th May

Just an easy 5km run in the evening after work. Kept the pace easy and was just about stretching the legs for Saturdays race.

Sat 31st May

So up nice and early for my first race of the season, TriAthy Olympic. Looking forward to it because I done it last year and should give me a good guide how the winter went. Had been in a decent bit of form coming up to it too so was hoping to improve on last years time.

Swim 22.51 (46th Overall)

This was going to be a bit on an unknown this year. Had been going well up to christmas but after wasn't in the pool half as much as I should have been. But I had been going to coached sessions with interested and my 100,200,400 and 800m times were all down on last year. The flow didn't look too bad in the river but when we seen earlier waves get in and struggle against it I knew it was going to be tough. Positioned myself nice and close to the reeds on the left bank ad had a good start, found feet was going well. Struggled a bit after the first 400m or so, lack of time in the pool coming back to get me but settled into a nice rhythm and tried jumping from feet to feet using mix of people in my wave and back markers in others. Got out feeling ok and pleased with the time. Exactly 1 min faster than last year and tougher conditions.

T1 1.42

Nothing spectacular, wetsuit stuck around ankle a bit but that's it.

Bike 1.05.04 (34th Overall)

Have been working on holding myself back a bit on the bike, usually my strongest sport so push it on. Kept it nice and steady and the pace was good. Started picking people off fairly early on and was only passed by 2 who made it stick on the whole bike course. Never felt like I pushed it and was delighted with the time.Over 2 mins quicker than last year when I pushed hard and was well set up for the run this time around.

T2 1.39

Managed to walk up the wrong row of bikes but was only one away so a quick climb under a rack an I was grand.

Run 41.22 (31st Overall)

Kept the pace steady at the start and tried to build into it. Legs felt good and had no cramps. Again started picking people off early on and broke it down into 4 X 2.5km runs in my head. This really worked for me, only real dip in pace was when we reached the turn around and came back along the canal path on the grass instead of the track. Put this down to the grass and surface, once we were back to the track it went back to where I wanted it. Only 2 people passed me on the whole run, which was really strange for me, normally it's like a sea of people flooding past me on the run. This run was around 2.5 mins faster than last year and in the top 40 runs of the day.

Overall time 2.12.38 and 31st Overall

Was delighted with the time, was aiming for sub 2.15 and ended up around 5 and a half mins faster than last year. Everything was faster, even the transitions and most pleasing was my run. I've worked on it over the winter, sometimes at the expense of my swim but it's starting to really show now. Combined with a decent bike split my run is what got the time down. First race of the season down and a new swim, 10km in a triathlon and Olympic distance PB. Not a bad race overall.


On a completely different note, I was bored in work on Friday and entered a base2race competition to win an entry for Tri an Mhi middle distance race. It's a distance I'd like to do but was looking at the end of next season for my first one. I managed to win a free entry which means I have to now do the race next Saturday. I'll get through it but it will be my first half marathon ever, never even ran that far in training. Will be a bit of fun and I've no idea of a time in mind at all just to go out and enjoy myself.

Tues 3rd June

First swim session with Peter Kern. Went well, first half an hour is working on conditioning and 2nd half on drills and stroke. Never done the drills before so they were interesting! Gave me plenty of feedback and alot to work on with my stroke. He reckons there is a min to knock off my Olympic time and I reckon just being fitter would knock off a fair bit too so all positive.

Evening session was club cycle in the park. Not many turned up and I was nearly on my way home with the weather. Took it handy enough, 3 and a half laps, the majority spent chasing Macanri around on his TT bike. Never pushed it too hard, but was still a tough enough session.

Legs are still feeling it a bit from the weekends race so made sure I got to bed early and managed to get jus over 11 hours sleep and body is feeling a lot better today, need to see if I can get another nights sleep like that before the weekend!

Fri 6th June

An easy day, 5.5km easy run and cycle in and out of work.

Sat 7th June

So the day of the race, a race I had not planned on doing and a distance I had not really trained for. Was more nervous than normal the night before but got a decent enough nights sleep. Plan for this race was to push it a bit on the swim, take it easy enough on the bike and try to get to teh run in the best shape I could. The run was the big unknown here, the plan for the bike wasn't 100% either. The bike would probably be my strongest part and I wasn't sure how I would feel holding it back on it. WAsn't too sure of a time heading in but reckoned I could go under 5.15 and if all went really well under 5.00. Gels were going to be a new thing too, usually I take one on an Olympic course but wouldn't get away with that on a longer course. Plan was for some power gel jellies before race, a gel at 20km, 45km, 80km with a clif bar between 45-80km but not all at once. I would take one with me on the run if I needed it. and so the day of my first half distance race, Tri an Mhi CXIII

Swim 28.04 (28th)

Got a decent enough start and found myself in a group that seemed to be moving quick enough so was no point killing myself to overtake and probably get caught by them again. Stayed in the group for the whole course and reached transition at pretty much the exact same time as Fazz and Trinewbie so was in good company. Felt good, the drafting had worked and I was feeling in good shape heading out on the bike.

T1 2.16

These were always going to be a bit slow, I decided I would wear my proper bike shoes and put a jersey on. Bit of time gone but not too much. Wetsuit came right off though, no problems at all.

Bike 2.42.25 (18th)

Settled in nicely on the bike, was a bit busy out of transition but stayed back the required distance. Fair play to the morotbike marshalls they were busy going up and down stopping and drafting. Took the first 5km handy enough, think it was my slowest of the race. Legs felt bit heavy but still strong so pushed on a bit when we came to some of the lumpier parts of the course. Was feeling strong so kept it going and my plans for an easy biek went out the window. Caught most people on the climbs and tried to keep the pace up on the downhills and flats. Through the first 40km in around 1.09. Had to stop to take on more water at an aid station, ideally should have kept rolling but bottle top kept closing and couldn't get the water out on the move, Up to 18th overall after first lap of the bike. Kept the pace up for the second lap but my lack of long training for this distance started to show and the pace dropped a bit. Through the 2nd 40km in around 1.11. Legs were getting tired now and the last 13km took around 22 mins. A good chunk of this was into a headwind though. Finished the bike course in 2.42.25 with the 18th fastest bike split of the day. Bike course suited me, lots of little climbs with no technical downhills. Legs feeling ok getting off the bike.

T2 1.28

Bit slow again but bike shoes off, jersey off, runners on with laces tied and gel down my top. Not too bad.

Run 1.39.20 (34th)

The big unkown. Plan was to start slowly and build into it. But like all good plans I didn't stick to it. Pace was decent and heart raet was where I wanted it so stuck with it. I knew a little bit of the course but wasn't prepared for how tough the 2 laps would be. through the first 5km in 23 mins and was feeling good. First lap of the loop wasn't too bad, let the heart rate rise a bit on the climbs and then it would drop on the downhills. Pace was still were I wanted it even if it wasn't consistent. Second lap was tougher, a lot tougher. Again the lack of training for this distance was beginning to show and the legs were getting sore and tired. I knew though once I got the big hill out of the way it was downhill back to the lap start and then not too bad back to the finish. Kept it going and crossed the line in 4.53.34 for the 24th place overall. Half marathon was 1.39.20.


Very happy with the time after. the result is a bit skewed because of a few DNF's (Peter Kern, and Bambaata unfortunately didn't finish). This was my toughest race ever, but was probably my most enjoyable. The atmosphere, the course and the organisation were brilliant. It was without a doubt the most well organised and ran race I have done. Very happy with the result too, swam ok, biked well and hung on in the run! Best thing about doing a new distance is 3 new PB's. A new swim PB, new 93km bike PB (furthest ever done on TT bike) and a new half marathon PB (furthest I've ever ran). Was always a distance I liked the look of and after doing the race It is definitely a distance I will be targeting in the future.

Mon 9th June

So I took Sunday off becuase my legs were completely dead. Not too sore or stiff but just nothing in them at all. Before the race I weighed 61.5kg, I had 5 gels, 1 pack of jellies, 1 clif bar, baked potato and I'd say approx 4 litres of water. When I weighed myself again after the race I was 57.8kg. A nice drop in weight!

Monday was an easy run. Didn't want to leave it to long to get back into it so a nice easy 10.5km run before work. First 3km were very slow but body gradually got into it and started feeling nearly normal again.

So last week was a bit of a write off, my gf's grandad died on Tuesday so the enxt 3 days were spent down in Wexford so no training done. Probably not a bad thing to take a few days off after the half but not ideal either, more important things than training though.

So Friday I got back into it,

Friday 13th June

An evening swim. Bit of a warm up then 5 X 100's off 1.55, 5 X 200's off 3.30 and 5 X 100's off 1.55. Coming in low 1.30's for the 100's and around 3.10 for the 200's. Speed is still there but as the set went on struggled a bit.

Sat 14th June

Long time since I've been on the turbo and it showed, set was to be 5 X 10 mins ar 95%. Got through the first 2 and then had to change the last 3 to 4 mins on 2 mins recovery and another 4 mins. Glad I completed the full 1hour and half. Was very tempted to stop it early.

Run in the afternoon. Bike legs still not back after the race but run legs felt good. Steady paced run with 4 kilometres in the middle getting faster. Pace was kept around 4.40 overall with the fast 4 coming in at 4.30, 4.20, 4.15 and 3.58. Legs felt suprisingly fresh. 12.1km alltogether.

Evening swim. Back to the pool. 4 X 400's off 7.00, coming in around 6.20. 4 X 200's off 3.30 coming in around 3.15, 4 X 100 coming in around 1.34/5 and 4 X 50's off 1 min coming in around 46. Really feeling it at the end of the session. Stamina not where it should be but coming back. Good set in the pool.

Sun 15th June

Long cycle with couerdelion from the club. Cycled out to the NAC and from there out to Sally gap. Lovely day for it and pace was kept decent. Tired legs but a good and enjoyable spin. We have a club TT coming up up to Sally's gap and will be an interesting one. Great spin apart from a puncture, not in the lovely Wicklow countryside but in the middle of Finglas village on the way home.

Evening swim again. Just a very easy swim tonight, the gf is doing the Lough derg sprint this weekend (her first sprint) and had been worried about not being in the pool much. Just went to the pool and swam alongside her taking it hadny. 1.2km done and felt decent in the water.

Mon 16th June

Long run before work. Ran down to St Anne's around the park and home again. Gorgeous day for a run. Tired tired legs though. Pace was kept in around 4.50 for the 16km, no problem with heart rate, just tired legs. Few fast 200m's thrown in too.

Plan is to try keep the training up until thursday morning. An easy day on Friday and then Lough Derg on Saturday. Sprint pb is 1.08.XX and really want to beat this, feel this is a lot softer than my other pb's and think that this could be the course to do it on.

And finally some good news, after months and months of saving we have been approved a mortgage, going to make training a bit harder over the enxt few months with viewing houses and stuff but might just have to spend more time on the turbo!

Sat 21st June

First sprint race of the season and a distance I have tended to struggle over. Stayed over night down in Dromineer so didn't have to get up too early for the race on Sat.

Swim 13.04

Although the swim itself wasn't too bad I set myself up on the complete wrong side of the start line. I was over the very left when most of the faster people were over the right, when the race started I realised why. I had to swim out an angle to get to the buoy while they swam straight out. Sighting was good and spent most of the swim overtaking people. Got out feeling ok but bit annoyed about the silly mistake at the start that added some distance to the swim.

T1 0.40

Finally a fast transition. I've cut my wetsuit legs a bit, I've been told I have decent position in the water so don't need all the buoyancy offered by the suit. This means it comes off a lot easier now.

Bike 29.59

Knew the bike was going to be a bit short (19km) so was hoping to go sub 30 mins for it. Started well but legs were feeling a bit dead and heavy. Speed was ok and heartrate was ok but felt like I was missing my top gear. Not too bad a time but again bit disappointed with the bike.

T2 0.46

It's only at this race that I realised I've been setting up my stuff on the wrong side of my bike for the last year or so. Got in and helmet off but becuase of the side I push the bike in on it puts me on the opposite side to my shoes. Something to sort for the next time.

Run 19.31

Was down as a tough run with a few hills but because it started and finished in the saem place we got to go down any of the hills we went up. Took first km steady and then increased the pace. Passed by a club member after about 1.5km and coudln't go with him but managed to hold the distance fiarly steady without him getting too far away. First sub 20 run in a tri and well under. Legs felt good on the run, was surprised considering how they felt on the bike. Thought the run was going to be torture.

1.04.01 and 10th place

Overall pleased enough with the time. A silly mistake at the start of the swim added time and flat legs on the bike didn't help. But another race where the run held it together, I've gone from being a poor runner to a decent one. Strange looking back at the race and being most pleased about the run.

The race itself was great. Well organised, great support and no hassle. Fair play to Nenagh tri club. The two club races I've gone to this year (nenagh and Tri on mhi) have been two of the best organised and ran races I've ever done.

Sun 22nd June

Hour and a half of easy enough spinning on the turbo. Bit of a higher gear than usual but effort kept low and just about moving the legs after the race.

Mon 23rd June

Long run before work. Took the legs about a km to wake up but felt ok. legs a bit tired afterwards but nothing major and never felt under pressure. 16.2km ran.

Monday 30th June

I like my job, have no problems getting out of bed and heading to work, but it's in the summer that I love my job. We had a group of kids going wake boarding in grand canal dock in the morning and another group meeting the search and recovery diving team in the afternoon. The whole day was spent out in the sun, and the next month is going to be like this.

Anyways todays training was a run session. 5km warm up then into 5km at 10km pace +10 seconds and then 3km cool down. Good session and went well, no problem at all holding the 10km pace + 10 seconds, was nearly harder to stop me from pushing on with it. Good sign too that this was done on tired legs.

Wed 2nd july

Took a day off, body was wrecked.


Thurs 3rd July

Steady hour on the turbo, nothing fast or hard.

Fri 4th July

Few messages to do before work so meant a good bit cycled before the day really started. Light run in the evening just to loosen out.

Sat 5th July

Athlone Sprint tri

Again wasn't sure what to expect going into this, bike and run were coming along well but was pretty tired and had a few little aches before it. Never going to be a PB course with a long bike (21.4km) and a very very long transition. Good few down from the club so a good atmosphere beforehand, set up well in time and ready to start.

Swim 13.06

A bit of a sloppy start, no countdown, just a go. Lost a few places but more important the decent position I had when I didn't react quick enough. Spent the rest of the swim catching people until around 500m when I was towards front of second pack but too far off the first pack. Felt grand getting out though, no problems at all.

T1 1.48

A long long run in bare feet to the bike, wetsuit off no problem and then another good run to the mount line.

Bike 34.41

Legs didn't feel great at the start and didn't help that the first half was out into a headwind. Got in a bit of a pace line with 2 other fellas (Marshall spent about 5 mins beside us on way out and back and no drafting penalties were given) and this helped the legs to the turn around. Once we turned with the wind behind us I flew back in. Legs still tired but kept the pace up and happy with the return leg. No real notice we were approaching the mount line until we were on top of it so had to stop to dismount.

T2 1.47

Another long long transition. Didn't help that other waves were coming in from the swim as we were running out on bike.

Run 19.24

Goal was another sub 20 5km. Usually pull it back on the first km but decided to go with it a bit. First km done in 3.40 and was feeling good. Rest of the run went well, never felt really pushed and managed to keep the pace below 4 min kilometres for the whole thing. 3 of us passed the finish line together and they were place above me on the results but we all have the same time.

Overall 1.10.43 30th place

So overall a decent race. no one spectacular leg but 3 decent ones. The winning time was 1.03.xx so wasn't a particularly fast course so happy with the time. First home from the club too which is always nice. Have a 4 week block now of no racing (one wedding this weekend though) so should get a decent amount of training done and be well prepared for Caroline Kearney in August. The week after that I should be doing tri the hook and then Dublin after that.


Sunday 6th july

Wasn't feeling too bad Sunday morning so headed out on an easy paced run. done 9.2km before the rain made me stop. Evening session was a swim, bit of pull and paddle work. Altogether 2.1km done.

monday 14th July

Run session after work. Long warm up then into 5km ran at 4.10 pace, the wind made these hard to pace. Pleased to see the efforts come in aruond 4.06 for each for a steady enough effort.

Swim after this. normally swim on Tuesday but wasn't sure I'd get to the pool so a bit of moving around. Warm up then into some 300's. Felt decent enough in the water, forgeting little thinigs like body roll and stuff but working on getting it all back together.