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

tunney

MCOS wrote: »

Hi Poncherello. Actually it was an 18 week plan up to Kilkee but it went belly up a while back due to Life constantly getting in the way which forced me to re-evaluate. Right now I've altered the programme with races in mind up as far as Kilkee anyway. Much the same as before, just heavier training load on a non race week. After Athy I'll put in 3 hard weeks and then the week of Kilkee will be tapered like a Marathon as Kilkee is an A goal. I'll start to build the distances progressively then for my next A goal. Lost Sheep in September.

A taper doesn't happen in a week.

Three hard weeks between Athy and Kilkee will leave you flat and tired.

MCOS

Fair point tunney thanks, most swim sessions are with the club these days and the sets are pre designed. The morning ones are usually comfortable and I tend to focus on what I'm doing. The Wed pm one is a stretch though. Swim lessons are on my to do list for real. I'll start to log more about what I'm focussing on technically in a session too.

MCOS

tunney wrote: »

A taper doesn't happen in a week.

Three hard weeks between Athy and Kilkee will leave you flat and tired.

What is your suggested approach?

tunney

MCOS wrote: »

What is your suggested approach?

Whats the definition of a "hard week"?

What are you going to do to make it hard?

How do you envisage that these three hard weeks will help Kilkee?

And what are the specific sessions planned that will help you peak?

Bear in mind that it takes about two weeks for the benefit of a session to hit the body.

MCOS

tunney wrote: »

Whats the definition of a "hard week"?.

For me, a week that has some sort of 2 hour midweek session, or getting up early 4 out of 5 mornings, also when I choose routes with more hills, or a 3+ hour bike.

tunney wrote: »

What are you going to do to make it hard? "

lengthen LSR and do a hard 40k/5k hilly brick in each of the first 2 weeks, spending time in the car to get to OW sessions. I had intended a flat 50k/5k on the 3rd week. Also get at least 2 long bikes

tunney wrote: »

How do you envisage that these three hard weeks will help Kilkee? "

Get me used to hills, stamina for bike leg and T2, more confident with OW

tunney wrote: »

And what are the specific sessions planned that will help you peak?"

The 40k/5k is very tough with proper hills. At least one 2k OW swim in those 3 weeks. Tuesday night track reps with the club for speed.

tunney wrote: »

Bear in mind that it takes about two weeks for the benefit of a session to hit the body.

Thanks for taking an interest by the way, much appreciated So, do you reckon 2 hard weeks and then start to taper?

tunney

MCOS wrote: »

tunney wrote:

Whats the definition of a "hard week"?.

For me, a week that has some sort of 2 hour midweek session, or getting up early 4 out of 5 mornings, also when I choose routes with more hills, or a 3+ hour bike.

MCOS wrote: »

tunney wrote:

What are you going to do to make it hard? "

lengthen LSR and do a hard 40k/5k hilly brick in each of the first 2 weeks, spending time in the car to get to OW sessions. I had intended a flat 50k/5k on the 3rd week. Also get at least 2 long bikes

Instead of a hard 40k/5k hilly brick, the recovery from which would be long, why not do a 2-3 hour bike with fast pieces in it. Hour warm up, some build, then 3x20 mod hard, or 5x10 hard, with 5 minutes easy. Spin down for 15 minutes and then run 20 minutes easy.

I understand why the 40k/5k session might seem like a fantastic idea but its not something I would recommend.

MCOS wrote: »

tunney wrote:

How do you envisage that these three hard weeks will help Kilkee? "

Get me used to hills, stamina for bike leg and T2, more confident with OW

To be honest if you are only building the stamina now for the bike leg its too late.

Getting used to the hills on the run is a good idea. I'd do a 30-45 minute warm up and then hit a steep hill hard for somethign like 10x1min jog down recovery.

MCOS wrote: »

tunney wrote:

And what are the specific sessions planned that will help you peak?"

The 40k/5k is very tough with proper hills. At least one 2k OW swim in those 3 weeks. Tuesday night track reps with the club for speed.

Triathletes and track sessions.............. I've said my piece before.

MCOS wrote: »

tunney wrote:

Bear in mind that it takes about two weeks for the benefit of a session to hit the body.

Thanks for taking an interest by the way, much appreciated So, do you reckon 2 hard weeks and then start to taper?

I don't think you have a plan. I think you have an idea of some sessions that you think will fit and are jamming them in. I think there is too much hard stuff not enough recovery. Have faith in the training you have done to date, you did well in Nenagh, and now you are looking to capitalise on what you have in the bank, sharpen up, and hit the race fresh and fit.

If I was you I do something like:

04/05/2009 Build 1 Looking some race paced work. Nothing that’s going to wipe you out. Some good volume.
11/05/2009 Build 2 Looking some race paced work. Nothing that’s going to wipe you out. Some good volume. Longer and tougher than last week but nothing OTT
18/05/2009 Build 3 Looking some race paced work. Nothing that’s going to wipe you out. Some good volume. Longer and tougher than last week but nothing OTT
25/05/2009 Recovery Race Athy
01/06/2009 Build 1 Looking some race paced work. Nothing that’s going to wipe you out. Some good volume.
08/06/2009 Build 2 Looking some race paced work. Nothing that’s going to wipe you out. Some good volume. Longer and tougher than last week but nothing OTT
15/06/2009 Taper Faster sessions, volume 50% of Build
22/06/2009 Race week Only short sharp sessions or short recovery sessions

If you give the time you are available to train - before and after work - and what sports you can train when, and you want me to I could do up something more detailed.

MCOS

Thank you Tunney, thats very kind of you. I'll pm you some details. You are right by the way. I created my programme by sort of mashing sessions into the week with no specific strategy behind it. Hows the Austria prep going for you?

BombSquad

MCOS, great log, very interesting reading... sorry to hijack it but...

tunney wrote: »

Triathletes and track sessions.............. I've said my piece before.

Tunney, what did you say before? 1 line answer is plenty! ... Thanks!

MCOS

Club swim session.

550m warm up.
(50m/100m/150m/100m/50m)*4 all off normal RTs

2,450 meters and first time completing the set Focused on a couple of things.
Bi lateral breathing - I don't roll to my right as well as left so sometimes missed a breath and gasped for the next one. I'm improving slowly.
Length - Tried tried to leave my hand glide for a split second to feel a stretch on the shoulder, basically trying to achieve the same speed with fewer strokes. I need to focus on this specifically on Sunday when I get tired at the 1k mark
Elbows - trying to keep them higher
Right hand - I tend to pull it deep and across my body which pulls me out of line to the right to flirt with the ropes. This is a key focus for me because this will have me getting lost in OW!!

ladytri

Good luck at the weekend MCOS, have you done any open water swims yet?

MCOS

ladytri wrote: »

Good luck at the weekend MCOS, have you done any open water swims yet?

Nope, need to get a wetsuit soon and try and have a dip somewhere next week if I can

Last night: Cycling TT league 18.4k done in pairs so it was much faster. 27'42" average 39.8km/h. Really enjoyed this and seem to be doing ok in the league too

This morning: Swimming 2,800m
600 easy warm up focusing on rolling to breathe
100m*22 at a good pace but I was able to focus on length and breathing. Its the first thing to go when I get tired, shorter strokes and shorter breaths so I'm aiming to be able to breathe every 4 in the last 500 if I need to on Sunday.

I'll probably do a very short light jog tomorrow and hopefully a good long sleep tomorrow night. Really looking forward to this one!

pgibbo

All the best this weekend MCOS. BTW, I reckon tunney won't be far off the mark with his predictions!

Great going in the TT last night. Looks like you are really hitting form at the right time.

Seres

best of luck at the weekend , bring back another good result

Abhainn

Best of luck MCOS

donothoponpop

Yeah, best of luck dude. You're doing a great job in keeping the crossover appeal of triathlon to this forum, fair play to ya.

MCOS

I'm delighted I found this sport, I really am. I just can't do a report any justice in how much I enjoyed it The sun came out again and it seems almost everyone had a great experience. Overall the race was run very smoothly and orgabised very well. The Marshall were encouraging and helpful too so it was a big success for Limerick Tri Club! I was so excited about the race I hardly slept the night before. I headed down to UL for 0630 to help out for a bit before getting into race mode. The was a nice buzz developing shortly after as I engaged some familiar faces in transistion set up. It was only at this point did I consider niaively that I didn't consider having to eat anything during the race... oops!

The race.
We had organised ourselves in an order in the lane and with a plan to work together to get a good time for everyone. Eh... that all went out the window from the start. The lead guy tore off zig zagging across the lane to shake me off his tail. I reckon I spent more energy chasing a draft than any benefit I may have got from one in the first few lengths. It all split up and there were elbows, knuckles, shoulders and kicks involved with the lapping and overtaking. At one point in the last 200m one of my own club guys kicked off the wall straight at me so I had no choice but to swim right over him! It was eventful and I was wrecked but had worked hard for a personal best 27'02". T1 was good and there was lots of shouting and supporting going on. I lost my left shoe from the clip after hopping on the saddle, so I had to go back a few steps to retrieve but once I got going I passed a few people and found a rhythm. The outward leg was windy and hard work. I made a decision not to crucify myself but kept a decent enough pace. I was passed by 3 TT bikes in total, one of which was seriously motoring to an unreal bike split, however I made up more places than I lost and felt a good deal of satisfaction passing nice shiny TT bikes and cone shaped helmets The return leg was quicker. I had set a possible target of 1'12' if the bike went well. I entered T2 at after 1'12' so I was having my ideal race so far. T2 was easy again, however there is always that lingering possiblity of toe cramp when you are putting on your shoes...!! The legs were quite heavy on the run but I found a rhythm at about 4 minute kms. The run course is gorgeous, lots of little turns and features to break the loop into smaller chunks. Shortly after the turn around for the second lap I saw that I was ahead of the leading lady, sweet, I was going well. At 6k however I began to lose ground on the guy I was catching and the quads started to cramp. I had to ease the pace a little for the next 2 km as I was afraid the quads would seize up. It was painful running at this stage and I felt as though the fuel tank was in reserve also. With less than 10 minutes to go I picked up on the super encouragement from the marshalls and managed to smile and savour the last 2km. It was a fabulous feeling to cross the finish line with an empty tank. Exhausted but ecstatic at the same time The 10k was 41'39" which was not great for me but could have been a whole lot worse had I not backed off a little at 6k. I had made up a couple of more places in the last 10 minutes to finish in 2'23', waaay under target! The tank was empty and the difference between a sprint and an olympic distance immediately apparent. Pacing was more critical and I could have done with some gels on the bike. I was grateful for the discipline in training over the winter months. There was a great atmosphere after the race. The BBQ food was savaged and I managed only a few beers before bailing at about 2am. Roll on Kilkee!!!!

Results 2'23'10" overall 25th (5th in age group). Swim 27'02" (50) T1 1'13" Bike 1'12'19" (23) T2 0'58" Run 41'39" (46)

Well pleased with the swim and bike and overall result. I'll work on the run for the next one. Took a day off yesterday as the legs were quite sore. Easy 4 miles recovery this morning but legs are still stiff.

--amadeus--

Nice one, well done. You'll be targeting podiums next year then?

Seres

well done MCOS , another solid result , strong bike leg , fair play , god knows where you will be at this time next year !

showry

Great stuff MCOS, all the hard work's paying off

Krusty_Clown

Onwards and upwards! Well done MCOS. 25th out of...?

MrCreosote

Very impressive times for all the legs! Should defo aim for the podium next year:D

MCOS

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Onwards and upwards! Well done MCOS. 25th out of...?

Thanks KC, About 180 I think. How does it feel to be back running?

pgibbo

That's fantastic going MCOS. Fair play to you. You must be well chuffed.

I wonder if tunney does the lotto? If not, he should, he was only 50 seconds off your actual time!

hunnymonster

MCOS, well done on a fantastic result and really well done on enjoying it so much.

MCOS

Thanks Guys, I'd like to point out that I recovered faster after last year's Dublin Marathon than I did after my first Olympic Tri :eek: Only got back to a bit of training last night...

Last night: Cross training (weather too mouldy so decided on the gym)

Ergo 10 minutes at 1'47.7 avg 23-24 spm tough for a warm up
Bench Press kg/rep, 60/10, 70/5, 80/3, 70/5, 60/10
Chin Ups 8,8,6,6
Indoor Track 5 miles at 7' pace
Spinning Class 40 mins
Core 10 mins

This morning: Intervals on the Track

2 miles warm up easy
400m*12 with 90 sec rest
1 mile easy cool down
Reps
79"
77"
78"
75"
76"
77"
76"
77"
77"
78"
78"
77"

Tough session but good Don't know how I didn't wretch on the last 3 reps.

hunnymonster

MCOS wrote: »

Thanks Guys, I'd like to point out that I recovered faster after last year's Dublin Marathon than I did after my first Olympic Tri :eek: Only got back to a bit of training last night...

That's very interesting. Most things I've seen suggest you should recover faster from an Oly. Do you think you are more experienced as an athlete now and could hammer it more in the triathlon? Are you just more concious of recovery as you've other goals to get ready for or something else? <HM dons her Freudian hat and waits to analyse MCOS>

showry

MCOS wrote: »

This morning: Intervals on the Track

2 miles warm up easy
400m*12 with 90 sec rest
1 mile easy cool down
Reps
79"
77"
78"
75"
76"
77"
76"
77"
77"
78"
78"
77"

Tough session but good Don't know how I didn't wretch on the last 3 reps.

Jaysus that's some session MCOS. Impressive stuff.

MCOS

hunnymonster wrote: »

That's very interesting. Most things I've seen suggest you should recover faster from an Oly. Do you think you are more experienced as an athlete now and could hammer it more in the triathlon? Are you just more concious of recovery as you've other goals to get ready for or something else? <HM dons her Freudian hat and waits to analyse MCOS>

My knowledge of recovery and approach to training is definitely a bit better. That said my approach to the DM was spot on for my target. Did all the LSRs etc.. maybe mileage was a bit low. I hit my target but was probably running well within myself. --amadeus-- will attest to that I was able to get back into training within a day of the DM. I went swimming and the legs were not really beaten. After Joey though I was wrecked, I gave it a real lash. My quads and gluts hurt for the next 2 days. Its not the most wrecked I've ever been. I stupidly did the Conn Marathon with a flu last year and got very ill after pushing myself when unwell. Lesson learned there. I certainly did not have another goal in mind during Joey. I reserved nothing in the tank. I could not have gone faster on the day.

showry wrote: »

Jaysus that's some session MCOS. Impressive stuff.

Thanks showry, DOMS developing all over the place though from the XT last night. My mother is an instructor in the Arena and I did her 'no mercy' core session last night and it hurt. Don't worry about the track by the way, it was defo a result of the hard cycling the night before. I have the TT league on the bike and I'm not expecting anything major after the session this morning.

Abhainn

MCOS great result in Joey Hannon.

IMO that interval session is a bit soon after Sundays efforts. Recovery is the key. (Impressive session though!)

MCOS

Jaysus training log was well buried... had to get the spade out to find it... getting busy around these parts!

@Abhainn... took it easy at the weekend

Thursday pm: Swim 1,800 (100m, 4*400m, 100m) got a tip to keep my back straighter as I was dragging my feet too low and using too much energy with my shoulders
Friday: Swim 2,000m easy steady state trying to focus on the tip from the day before. 7 miles run afterwards at 7'28"/mile pace. Decent workout.
Saturday: REST DAY
Sunday: 5.5 miles hills at 7'26"/mile pace. Intended an LSR but didnt have the time.
This morning: Swim 3,100m. 400m focus on distance per stroke (getting about 38-40 per 50m), 100m*4, 200m*8 off 3'45", 50m*4 max effort. Struggled with the pace this morning on the 200s.

Got myself an entry level Blue Seventy Sprint wetsuit and testing it out this evening woohoo