At least it not a cold winter morning ergo LSD...

MCOS

Good Stuff pgibbo and best of luck at the weekend!

MCOS

2 miles on Grass to warm up, some stretching and a Pilates class. Missed track session as Life got in the way.

Poor start to the week training so far, need to get my ass in gear

MCOS

Last night: Hill running. 6 miles on the road to warm up at about 7'20 - 7'30 pace. A mate pulled up alongside me on a bike and kept me company for a few miles which flew by. With someone cycling beside you chatting the miles fly by, if only I could organise for long runs! Hill run was approx 6 miles on mountain trails and fire roads. Steep climbs included for about 300m of total Ascent. Descent part 1 was along a fireroad for about a mile with an absolutely spectacular view of Lough Derg, quick too sub 6 mins. Descent part 2 was down a short but very very steep single mountain bike forrest track. You kind of ping ponged off trees to stay upright! Descent part 3 was a mere 40 seconds through briars. Legs shredded. Jumped in the lake afterwards to cool down which was gorgeous. 12 miles total of extremely enjoyable running

This morning: The session I was dreading. Cycling 45km hilly practice. 1'47' total average speed 25.3 km/h. Spent about 75 mins of the session climbing. Total ascent approx 900m including 5 reps of a 3km hill with 150m climb. The gradient hits 10-11% for a little while on this hill and the clock was at about 9-11km/h, slog city! Legs a little tired after the hill running but the objective was to climb not push myself. Still, lots of heavy breathing and sweating. Felt like a heavy session for early morning, my spirit gave out to me

MrCreosote

MCOS wrote: »

. The gradient hits 10-11% for a little while on this hill and the clock was at about 9-11km/h, slog city!

Holy frack that's steep! This is where I'd get off and push...:pac:

MCOS

MrCreosote wrote: »

Holy frack that's steep! This is where I'd get off and push...:pac:

Tell me about it, sweat pouring out of you while cycling at a pace slower than your running lsr pace. The hill averages about 6% altogether so its not too bad its just that section of a couple of hundred meters of 10% that hurts. I have a compact chainring 50/34 and a sram (11-28 cassette. the heaviest one :rolleyes: ). The 34 ring was having issues so the full session was mashed out on the bigger cog... legs are knackered just walking around the office today! Climbing is something I really need to work on though

--amadeus--

MCOS wrote: »

I have a compact chainring 50/34 and a sram (11-28 cassette. the heaviest one :rolleyes: ). The 34 ring was having issues so the full session was mashed out on the bigger cog

Coming next week the MCOS log in English

MrCreosote

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Coming next week the MCOS log in English

English is overrated! Much better to talk in the international language of bike...

MCOS

Ha ha witty man --amadeus--

Just for you..

kinou wa suieie sesshon desu.
100m high elbows
100m kicking
100m backstroke :eek:
100m pull bouy
100m stroke count (72 for 100m)
100m more backstroke :eek:
100m pull bouy
100m easy
500m in 9'15
500m in 8'58
sanban no 500m kabe kara ashige sugi ookiie sujichagai! Kurushikatta yo! It still hurts this morning!


Apologies to all Nihonjin for the state of my grammer etc...!

--amadeus--

私は日本語を話したことを知らなかった

MCOS

--amadeus-- wrote: »

私は日本語を話したことを知らなかった

Translation --amadeus-- is saying that he never learned how to speak japanese... in perfect japanese

The jist of the last post was that on the 3rd 500m rep I got a cramps in the calf right from hurtsville when I kicked off the wall. Worst one I've had in ages, took about 3 mins to able to put my heel on the floor. Cramps are the bane of my life in the swimming pool!

--amadeus--

Do you still cramp when you are running? Any idea what triggers it?

MCOS

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Do you still cramp when you are running? Any idea what triggers it?

Running cramps only come on 2-3 hours into a session if at all. (Which is why I worry about them in a marathon) Last one really was last few km of the Joey Hannon. For some reason I cramp a lot swimming. In kilkee I felt the twinge of cramp in the calf while swimming but it only came on hopping on the bike. I'm lost as to what causes it. I definitely wasn't dehydrated

ladytri

I'm no swim expert but it may be that you are kicking too much from the knee as opposed to from the hips so your calves are working harder than they should have to...or something like that

jlang

Do they have a running board on http://boards.jp/

rigal

MCOS wrote: »

The gradient hits 10-11% for a little while on this hill and the clock was at about 9-11km/h, slog city!

Hi MCOS - sounds like a tough session. This may be a stupid question but how do you tell what the gradient on a hill is?

MCOS

jlang wrote: »

Do they have a running board on http://boards.jp/

Nope

rigal wrote: »

Hi MCOS - sounds like a tough session. This may be a stupid question but how do you tell what the gradient on a hill is?

I use www.mapmyride.com and calculate as follows
(total distance travelled / total height gained)x100. So for example the hill I did recently was approx 155meters of a climb over 2.7km
(155/2700)*100 = 5.8%

You can also download the elevation info to excel and it breaks it down to finer raw data

Incidentally I found another hill to train on that is known as the 'step'! So now I have a hill to graduate to after I can get through a few reps of the Shalee hill

The Shalee Hill: approx 2.7km, climb 155m average gradient 5.8%, max gradient 10%
The 'Step' Hill: approx 2.7km, climb 290m average gradient 11%, max gradient 18% :eek: not looking forward to this one!

MCOS

Saturday: Nothing working
Sunday: 3.2k aerobic swim. I had intended a longer swim but I just got bored!

Couldn't drag myself out of bed this morning. Heavy work week last week plus lots of Life stuff going on. Poor week overall as I can only remember 2 purposeful quality sessions.

Weekly summary in kms
3 Swim: 1400(ow)/1800/3200
1 Bike: 45
2 Run: 3.2/19.2

Favourite session of the week was again the hill run by a mile
Least favourite session of the week, hmmm a choice here. While the early morning hill repeat cycle was not fun it has to be the thursday night swim. I was delighted with doing back stroke for a couple of lengths and then that cramp. My calf was sore for 2 days afterwards.

MCOS

Last night:
7 miles steady state at 7'00/mile pace. Calf feeling better, warm and raining out. Was feeling lethergic all day so this was the ticket to wake me back up.
OW swim afterwards 1500m. Lake was gorgeous and calm due to rain. First 750 at steady state then another one hard timed in 13 mins

This morning:
Bike 55km in 1'36 average 34.4km/h. Incorportated an all out 40k TT into this. 1'05'01" a personal best for me Last 4 km home though is an uphill drag. A slow puncture coupled with the legs spent after the TT effort made this a slog into a slight headwind. Had to get off and jog the last 500m as it was quicker to do that than fix the puncture.

Bally8

MCOS wrote: »

Lake was gorgeous and calm due to rain.

Hi MCOS sorry if you have said this before but what lake are you swimming in?

MCOS

Hi Bally8 we are swimming in Kilalloe on Mondays after work, from 2 mile gate.

Bally8

Cool, I've just moved to Portroe, 10 mins from Ballina and 2 mins from the lake, I've been wondering if it was ok to just go down and have a swim. Might have a go if the weather gets a bit better

MCOS

Bally8 wrote: »

Cool, I've just moved to Portroe, 10 mins from Ballina and 2 mins from the lake, I've been wondering if it was ok to just go down and have a swim. Might have a go if the weather gets a bit better

Of course it is. Better to swim in company for safety and all of that. Usually a few of us at 2 mile gate at about 6.45 on Mondays. Range of abilities. We are all in wetsuits usually

MCOS

Last night

60 mins high impact step aerobics! Used to do this in College. Bit of an intense warm up. Wearing running shoes so no lateral grip... blisters under both feet by the end of the class not to mention burning calves. Fun though

6 miles including intervals. Downpour out on the Track so I opted for the treadmill for these. 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 with the recovery being half the interval. Interval pace 5'49"/mile, Recovery pace 9-10'/mile. Tough workout.

Hydration note. Session was about 2 hours. Weight before 80.3kg, 700ml bottle taken. Weight after 79.2kg. 1.8liters total lost!!

Turned off the alarm this morning and opted for sleep instead of a swim

limerickleader

Hey MCOS, I did that session on the UL track last night...you made a good call with the treadmill.

The rain was biblical, lane one was flooded the whole way around, and the thunder and lightning added a fairly eerie feel to the whole thing.

That being said, once you're wet you're wet and when we got going, the session was pretty good. Tough alright, given the short rec between each interval, but a great session to blow away any cobwebs in the system!

MCOS

Hey limerickleader I normally like running in the rain but prefer when it rains mid run. Biblical it was indeed! Good that it was short and intense I couldn't be doing much more on a treadmill. I hear ye did 4*10sec sprints afterwards :eek: I take it Joe didn't have ye on the floor doing core this time! Yeah good sess it was..

MCOS

Hill running:

Lovely evening for a run. 7km up Keeper Hill in Tipp with 460m climb in 38mins. Fireroads mostly and gets quite steep in last 2km zig zagging upwards over loose rocks, I had to stop and walk twice. The forrest trees obscure the view initially in the first few kms then they part and the views are just spectacular. Quick breath at the peak to take in the beauty of the misty hills beneath (so worth the climb) and then the descent. 7km back down in less than 25mins. I just went for it. At times the stride seemed to fly. Arms high to balance and kept knees bent. The adrenalin pumped and lungs were wide open. There is one section on the descent that climbs again for about 20 sec but when you are motoring along this feels like a dead stop! I was probably close to max HR for the whole thing. I knew it was too fast, the legs were screaming but I said I was going to push the envelope and hang on. I passed the guys who had outclimbed me. A stitch with 500m to go forced the pace down but still emptied the tank. Total run 14km in about 63' or so. It felt terrific. Hugely enjoyable run

pgibbo

Hill running sounds like great fun and a real rush. Must try it at some stage. i don't think I know anyone that does it though. Must bounce it off a few of the crew!

All the best in Athlone this weekend. It will be a nice warm-up for Carna. What's your goal for Athlone & Carna?

MrCreosote

Nice work on the hill runs. Any risk of you crossing to the dark side and doing IMRA runs?? All that mud and everything! I've heard they don't even shave their legs...

MCOS

pgibbo wrote: »

. What's your goal for Athlone & Carna?

No idea. Haven't thought about it yet. Just going to give Athlone a lash and see how I get on. Go hard and eh.. hang on!

MrCreosote wrote: »

Nice work on the hill runs. Any risk of you crossing to the dark side and doing IMRA runs?? All that mud and everything! I've heard they don't even shave their legs...

Apparently they also carry clubs to kill their food for the day en route and grunt a lot...

MCOS

Massive epic session yesterday...

20 min straight swim - 20 lengths of the pool

Exhausted.. beaten down I was.....:D

Ah no seriously, from parking the car I managed to stop and chat with 3 separate people en route, swim 1k, shower and back in the car in under 40 mins total! Quickest session of the year. The purpose of the swim was to kick the legs gently to loosen the DOMS picked up from the step aerobics. TriAthlone tomorrow so early night tonight after 20 mins on the bike, short run and a feed

ladytri

take it easy man!
20 lengths spells B.U.R.N.O.U.T:D
Good luck tomorrow- here's hoping for a good day!

Seres

mcos, best of luck morro

MrCreosote

Good luck tomorrow. Be interesting to see how you find the sprint after the olympic distance ones...

Slogger Jogger

Sounds like a nice run yesterday.. Good luck tomorrow.

Killerz

Best of luck tomoro in Athlone MCOS. I feel like a slouch only doing the 5 miler in Dublin in comparison!

MCOS

I had one race this year where it all went to plan and no incidents, my first one! Since then it has been a comendy of errors but also loads of fun!

Triathlone was akin to Athy in terms of the numbers and organisation but the comparison stops there. The entire town gets involved and behind this showcase and it doesn't feel like the money spinner of Athy. Its friendly, warm and exciting.

Upon first sight the transition area in the army barracks is so vast and busy you wonder how on earth you will find your bike amongst it all during the race. It was actualy quite spacious and organised so that transitions, while epic, were not shrouded in confusion mid race.

So it was a fast downstream swim at the last minute and the cobblestone transition run was carpeted... get over it. Its an eventful event eventually and fun too. At the start of my wave (green hats) I found it amusing that some would rather cling to the mid stream pole than swim a few strokes up stream against the current. Some just couldn't swim against the current and were halfway down the stream by the time the klaxon sounded. I tore off after the fast guys and was having a good fist of it too. The Shannon water was lovely and clear so following the direction of the rushes beneath had you travelling happily along the flow with little effort. The first 500m or so I was only a minute or so behind the wave leaders and well ahead of the pack. For some reason I kept the head down and didn't sight for almost 30 strokes. I had drifted to my right across the river, lost feet and by the ttime I looked up it was too late. I swam straight into a yellow kayak. He has actually parked in my path to stop me swimming further. I had missd the chute to the pontoon! This meant swimming a few meters back upstream and back across to the chute. Easily a minute lost there... oops! Swim 10'48", should have been better.

T1 felt quite quick in that, the ground didn't bother me, wetsuit came off quickly and I found my bike with no drama. The only thing odd was the helmet. You see, while setting up transition earlier I was nice and relaxed and felt organised. As the steward ushered everyone out of transition I suddenly realise I had forgotten my helmet. Sprint to John Buckly and with borrowing not an option, €27 for a helmet with a flashing light on the back I kid you not. In the haste I had lost my goody bag and so had to sprint to the registration tent to get another hat. Just as well I had put my chip on I thought. Anyway, in the end the clasp on the helmet just felt different but didn't deter me from having a fast 4'02" transition!!

The bike was easy, out and back 22km as apposed the 20km advertised. Upon leaving the barracks however I had taken the wrong route and had to duck under the tape. In doing so the saddle caught the tape and pulled the whole lot down. The Stewart roared at me but I shook it off and carried on. There was some dodgy stewarding going on but I'll never give out about someone who volunteers their day to ensure the safety of the competitors. The road surface wasn't great but the cycle itself wasn't challenging. A little wind, slight inclines and lots of mountain bikes to overtake from the previous wave. It was quite quick on the return leg and I had a good tussle with a guy from Newry I think. I managed to dismount at speed but unfortunately quicker than the bikes in front of me and thus rear ended some guy... sorry mate! Bike 36'12", happy enough.

T2 was again long but lots of room to find your number on the rack. The clasp on the helmet wouldn't open so I had to squeeze it off over my chin almost pulling my nose off in the process. Shoes on quickly and gone. I didn't notice the usual pain in the quads as my nose was throbbing but got into a rhythm after a minute or so. The run was like doing a Marathon. All shapes, sizes and speeds on the road. I must have passed 100 people of not more and was also passed by a couple of speed merchants myself. On the first lap I ran up the finish chute and managed to stop myelf short of the line. If I had crossed it, I would have been DQ... yikes. Back onto the raod and covered the 2 laps of the town. It was a lovely little course, no long straights, loads of support. Just one short hill. I could see that the fast guys had to skip outside the lane at times as there was no room to pass. I felt fine. No lucozade or gel madness today. Just plain ole water and my energy was with me all the way to the finish. Run 18'13", my running clearly needs work. While the legs felt a little tired at the end of the run, it was nowhere near the pain of Kilkee. Happy was I that I was doing the sprint and it was all over in 1'13'22". 69th overall and 19th in my AG (out of about 300 I think). I'm pleased enough with that and I can immediately see where I can improve things for next year. I recovered very quickly and spent the next hour skipping queues.. Shame I lost the goody bag, it was one of those nice swim bags... ah well.

I hung around to watch the Elites do their thing and it was interesting chatting to their coach before the race. Great results for the Irish and the support for them was amazing. Overall a very enjoyable day had.

Took yesterday off and slept in this morning. All the races this year I guess have taken their toll but I'm feeling quite fresh and am giving Carna a good lash next week. I plan to empty the tank on it...

Abhainn

So MCOS good day out by your usual good detailed account.
Judging by your and others reports its seems some improvement in organisation needs to be addressed.

Seres

very funny report , some series of fumbles from start to finish though , how you managed to come in so well despite is fantastic , well done

pgibbo

Great report as usual MCOS. LMAO here. Sounds like something from a Laurel and Hardey skit in T1 and T2. Fair play to you though for not losing the plot and panicking. It could all have worked out a lot worse. Good time too. Sounds like you're in good shape for Carna.

MCOS

2nd morning in a row I haven't been able to drag myself out of bed.

OW swim last night. 1500m. Quite laboured, had to work much harder than usual to keep up.

Krusty_Clown

Run 18'13", my running clearly needs work.

Is that for 5K? That's superb running on the back of a swim/cycle.
Equivalent to 30:11 5 mile.;) What's your best 5K?

MCOS

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Is that for 5K? That's superb running on the back of a swim/cycle. What's your best 5K?

It was short KC. I'm not sure by how much either. I've never done a 5k race so no pb. I did pass the 5k mark at the great ireland run in the pheonix park in about 19mins but I reckon I could do better than that for 5k.

ladytri

Good job MCOS, but I'd expect nothing less! I love the way when you look around transition you think everyone else's race is going perfectly when in actual fact there's people everywhere struggling with shoes/helmets/noses:)...funny stuff

MCOS

5km warm up on river bank easy. Ran on the balls of my feet and switched to heel strike regularly to guage the difference between effort, comfort etc...

Track session, usual long warm up with strides, dynamic moves and stretches. 10*80 seconds with 30 seconds recovery. First couple were about 400m and this decreased to about 360m for the next 7 reps. Stayed on the balls of my feet up to about the 7th rep and then calves felt tight. These interval sessions will just take getting used to.

60 minutes Pilates afterwards.. excellent session, really focused on Core.

pgibbo

Are you taking any time off before Carna or just going to train up to it and use it as a training session also?

I'm doing similar as for Ballina - train Mon to Wed as normal, rest on Thurs and short brick on Fri.

Carb

MCOS wrote: »

60 minutes Pilates afterwards.. excellent session, really focused on Core.

Well done at the weekend.

How do you find Pilates? Do you get many guys doing it?

The reason I ask is that apart from needing to do core work (which I could do at home), I must be one of the most inflexible people on the planet. I'm talking difficulty touching toes here. It's the way I've always been, even during all the years of football training, so maybe it's meant to be that way.

MCOS

pgibbo wrote: »

Are you taking any time off before Carna or just going to train up to it and use it as a training session also?

I'm doing similar as for Ballina - train Mon to Wed as normal, rest on Thurs and short brick on Fri.

I had originally planned to train through it but then found out how tough it was! Hence, no morning sessions this week and yep I'll be doing a light swim tomorrow and maybe a short bike spin Friday.

Carb wrote: »

Well done at the weekend.

How do you find Pilates? Do you get many guys doing it?

The reason I ask is that apart from needing to do core work (which I could do at home), I must be one of the most inflexible people on the planet. I'm talking difficulty touching toes here. It's the way I've always been, even during all the years of football training, so maybe it's meant to be that way.

Know how you feel. I think I could last touch my toes during my Rugby days. Sitting in a rowing boat for a few years tightened up the tendons behind the knee like lead. Pilates is excellent. Depends on the class and exercises of course. Its a great mix of strength, balance, posture, breathing and zones in on the core region. General stiffness would be on top of thighs, hips, ass, lower abs and lower back after it. I do it after a Track session and its a great way to finish off. You will be sweating but all at a very low HR.

pgibbo

MCOS wrote: »

I had originally planned to train through it but then found out how tough it was! Hence, no morning sessions this week and yep I'll be doing a light swim tomorrow and maybe a short bike spin Friday.

OOPS! Maybe I overdid it a bit so this week. I guess Saturday will tell the tale. Off for a 6 mile hilly bike TT now.

MCOS

Not even going swimming today, taking a REST day.

Hill running last night 11.2km total. 3 laps of the Clare Glens forrest trails. Only 60m ascent per lap, 180m total but the legs felt like lead very quickly. Now, I did chase 2 very experienced mountain runners so I was probably off too hard on the first lap but I certainly wasn't fresh. Very soft and muddy on second half of lap (your foot disappears into it) so this sapped the energy too. You can choose to run around the muddy parts ontop of bushes I suppose but thats no fun. Some peope had clean runners after the run Runners were also about as good as skates on ice for It was impossible to hold balance and maintain any speed. Had a look at the trail shoes the experienced guys were wearing afterwards, the threads on those are akin to a mountain bike tyre! Another thing on the 'to get' list. I still enjoyed the run but due to being tired concentration was low and I went over on my ankle with a few hundred metres to go. Limped gingerely back and hopped into the stream for a cool down. On the second lap I was thinking 'ok have a tough race on saturday... slow down!'. Slow down I did... well a bit. Feicin ankle sore this morning though..

pgibbo

Hope the ankle is alright for Saturday. Will you be taking tomorrow as a rest day too or what's the plan? Thinking of a short brick myself but not sure what to do based on feedback of how tough the course is. Any thoughts? Cheers.