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

SUNGOD

hi MCOS just catching up on your log now ... congrats on marathon great stuff

aoa321

Hi, I just read through your log, fair play on the marathon time - are you still getting out early in the mornings?

I started running in the morning during the summer, loved it and now I'm back to it again, I'm surprising myself because I like the dark mornings even better than I did the summer mornings - there's a different atmosphere in the early mornings isn't there?

MCOS

Thanks SUNGOD. Well done on yours too, soooo close! At least you must have the confidence now that you can definitely get it next time.

aoa321 yeah I actually really enjoyed running on those dark mornings. There is definitely a different atmosphere. Its kind of peaceful knowing that most people are still asleep! I haven't been out for a run yet since the Marathon but I'm going to keep at least 2 early morning LSRs in my monthly programme. I'm training to do Triathlons now but I'll keep some of that running endurance so I have a base for the next time I do a Marathon.

Cross Training

10 minutes ergo 1'48.4/500m @ 25 spm 2,766 meters. Tough warm up

Upper Body exercises
Wide grip lat pulldown 70kg 4 sets 10,8,6,4
Chest Press 70kg 4 sets 10,8,6,4
Shoulder Press 18kg db 3 sets 10,6,4
Pullover 18kg db 4 sets 10,8,6,4

45 minutes Spinning Class. Pushed it quite hard (went for it on sprints and put the resistance on for climbs).


Arms were wrecked after the row and weights! I haven't done any resistance training since last winter and it shows. I'll be stiff tomorrow.

MCOS

1k easy swim before work. I had intended a longer swim but the snooze button defeated me this morning! Arms and shoulders stiff from the weights yesterday and I only did 4 exercises! The stiffness also meant my stroke length was shorter and thus took longer to complete the swim... but that wasn't the only thing slowing me down...

...I think I will be using the UL pool after Christmas as the one and only lane in the local 20m pool can be annoying. This morning for example there was a woman back stroking and breast stroking in the lane with another swimming frontcrawling which was fine. I gave her loads of room but she kept kicking off the wall before me which meant I had to pass her a few times often squeezing between her and the other swimmer. When she eventually did stop at the wall she gave me a talking to for 'dangerous swimming' to which I retorted with the pool etiquette written up on the wall :mad: ! Meanwhile the frontcrawler who was doing a good pace suddenly got up mid length and walked about 4 lengths in the lane!!!!!! GRRRR ARRGHH

MCOS

Club swim session.

700m warm up
12*25m drills
50m timed kick
50m timed free
50m timed kick
50m timed free
100m easy

1300m total but I was wrecked after this session. My heart was beating through my chest after the anaerobic set! Happy with my times though.

MCOS

First run back after the Marathon and decided to do a fast run to test the legs.

4miles 26'28" avg 6'37"/mile. This would be a personal best for me but it was on a treadmill so not sure of it counts? It could have been a better time only the treadmill takes about 12 seconds to get up to the speed you want. It wasn't an even paced run. Started at 7'30" pace and finished at 5'39" pace. I just upped the speed every half mile.

MCOS

90 minute steady lsr around lake schlei in northern Germany. If only we had these cycle paths back home life would be much safer for us runners on the roads! It was a quiet still cold morning and after about 8k I found myself running though an eerie old military compound. I then for some reason thought of the movie Hostel and became freaked out so I turned around. On passing back out through the gates I saw a white mask in the window of an out haus. My heart skipped a beat :eek: Its not like I haven't run this route before but the sun was out then and there were kids out playing and boats on the water...

MCOS

oK,been so illdiscplined this weekend its not funny. Have you ever felt when you take time out that you are getting less fit and fatter by the minute? I'll be back into the swing of things on tuesday. Met a german guy yesterday who has placed well in a few ironmans and a few marathons to boot. Unofficially signed up for Berlin by the end of the conversation and am so damn commited to do my first triathlon in May now. Miles away but bring it on!

--amadeus--

Ahhh a bit of il-discipline every now and again does you no harm!

Berlin is a cracker - you'll love it!

MCOS

Ah yes but the hangover+ travel was not pleasant!

1,600m swim in the local 20m pool this morning before work. Struggled. No concentration. No energy. No length. No air in the lungs. The session was pure pants :mad: Ah well, its done now.

MCOS

4 miles on the Treadmill at lunchtime in 30 mins. Even paced, nothing interesting to report about the run. I felt grand. On the scale at 83kg which is not terrible but I'll need to shed some of that before May. It just feels like a lull after the excitement of the Marathon

MCOS

Club swim session

150m*4 warm up
25m*12 drills
200m*5
100m

2,000m total. Didn't get last few 100s finished. Right foot cramping up. Getting the hang of this lane swimming lark although the lane I was in was tight and I kept hitting the rope and wall. I'm obviously not swimming in a straight line which doesn't bode well for the open water swimming!

Abhainn

Heh MCOS just catching up on your log.
Great stuff, very interesting, your certainly putting in a lot of work especially the swimming sessions.
Also see your 30 mins session on the rower. Nuts. In my rowing sessions (not recently) but usually did 2.5k under 9 mins and that was a killer.

Wouldn't worry about your weight, that'll keep slowly coming off. I know my wife says I have no arse now and I all my jeans and trousers are way too big.

Speaking of arses I'd better get mine into gear for 2009, though I am looking forward to my first bike ride in a while this Sunday.

pgibbo

MCOS wrote: »

Hey pgibbo 1'50 for 10 mins is a good 'warm up' and good strong pulling. You training for anything in particular?

Hi MCOS, just ticking over at the moment with 2 runs and 2 swims a week plus 2 other sports sessions a week. I did 2 sprint triathlons this year and loved them. So the plan is to step up to Olmpic next year. I am only swimming 10 months but am hooked on it.

You will see a lot of familair faces when you do your first tri. There's a sh*t load of ex-rowers doing them.

Kudos on keeping the training going after the marathon.

MCOS

Thanks Guys!

Abhainn you would have thought that training for a Marathon would cut some weight. I stayed at a pretty contant 13st in the months leading and weeks after, this weight is comfortable for me but I've had better power/weight ratio in the past. I basically put it down to working a 9-5 and eating crap late at night. I also sit down for most of my day at work (would look a bit strange if I started pacing around the meeting tables!). If I change small eating habits I should see the body fat % lower and increase my power to weight ratio and this will help me on those hills in the Hell of the West next summer! Hoping to get out on Sunday myself, my new bike is shamefully gathering dust...

pgibbo I've heard about the ex-rowing community alright. I even recognised a few crewmate names on results sheets. Pressure for the newbie !


Lunctime row today and all I can say about it really is ouch, ouch, ouch

30 minute ergo at 1'51.9"/500m
8,040m
rate 24-26

Well, this wasn't fun! I had blisters after 20 minutes and my forearms felt as though they may explode. It was almost pointless showering as I was still red faced and sweating heading back to work! At least I got the 8k for my effort which was a semi goal for this month, so I don't have to do it again yay!

MCOS

Swim at the UL 50m pool.

Decided to trek across town and check out the Arena pool. In short, I'm going to cancel my current gym membership and get a UL one when I have the dosh. Super facility!

200m*6 on 5 mins
3'48", 3'48", 3'51", 3'46", 3'50", 3'49"
300m*2 easy practicing bilateral breathing (still gulping but getting there)

1,800m total

Really enjoyed this swim. My times were slower I guess because I was not kicking off a wall as often but I don't care, I'll get them back and more. It was so nice to swim for more than 15 strokes and the pool temperature is nice and cool.

MCOS

Out at 5.30 this morning for 13 miles in 1'39'. After 6 of those breezy miles I wished I had stayed in bed. I was soaked through and the last 3 miles had all the hills. I had to work much harder than anticipated to get up and over them. Had a poor sleep which didn't help. It was also hard going to find the motivation. A few weeks back this would have been geared towards the Marathon and so there was a desired outcome. The lack of stretching told in the hamstrings too. I really have to work on flexibility.

MCOS

Hopefully first group cycle tomorrow, weather permitting. I'm nervous. Not about the cycling. I got my first road bike ever 3 months ago, I've only been out on it 3 times but enjoyed each spin. However I put SPD pedals on last week and attached the cleats to my new Tri shoes. Clipped in today in the spare room holding onto the wall. Let go and clipped out the right one, tilted right, put the right foot down, all ok. Next attempt let go, clipped out the right shoe, bike tilted left, lost balance and couldn't get left shoe out so toppled onto my side heavily (The kitten who had been attacking my right shoe at the time had a lucky escape!). My 3 yr old son ran in and helped me peel myself off the ground Had no chance to practice lately which is why the practice happened in the spare room. I really hope the weather is ok because I have a sitter organised for the day and I'm just going out with these pedals. If I fall, I fall Its pretty late in the day but any quick tips (apart from leave the pedals at home) would be hugely appreciated

showry

at least you didn't fall off in public as I did a few weeks back in front of a group of boy racers, detailed amongst others in this thread
enjoy the group spin, keep your wits about you and you'll be grand

MCOS

Thanks showry good thread to read, funny too As much as it amused me there seems to be an inevitability about it now

MCOS

Cycling 75k, group spin for about 50 of it. Average speed 29.4 km/h

Well first spin done and quite enjoyed it. Loved the cycling part Learned a lot today. I think I was the only person without leggings, gloves, glasses, padded shorts and shoe covers to start. Definitely the only bare knees out on a miserable day. Pace started leisurely and then took off without warning at 45k on the dual carriage-way. I was chatting with a guy before I realised half the group had accelerated and there was a gap widening quickly. It took a fair bit of effort to re-attach myself! I later figured out that I had been using too high a gear at the start. Legs ran out of steam towards the end but pleased that I kept with the group and didn't fall off. I did learn to downshift before stopping at lights after a near miss though!

showry

75km without padded shorts? :eek:

group cycling's good though, you do learn a lot

showry

just being reading this on the cycling forum,
that wasn't ye upsetting this poor chap was it?

MCOS

showry wrote: »

just being reading this on the cycling forum,
that wasn't ye upsetting this poor chap was it?

Nope, we were in a double file on the other side of Limerick :rolleyes:

MCOS

Cross Training

10 minutes ergo 1'47.6"/500m 2,790m at 25/26 spm very tough, gearing was light (maintenance required) so that made it harder to keep splits low. Maybe a bit hard for a warm up!

Resistance
Standing shoulder press 16kg db 10,8,6,4
DB row 20kg db 10,10,8,8,6,6,4,4
Chest pullover 20kg db 10,8,6,4
Chest Press 70kg 10, 50kg 8,6,4
Had to drop the weight on the chest as the ergo was hard and took no rest between upper body sets, Was already very sweaty getting on the bike!

45 minutes spinning class. Worked hard but felt the cycle from yesterday and my @ss hurt. Need to get some padded short asap

Core
Planks and sit ups.
Weight check 83kg

MCOS

Swim at local 20m pool.

1,200m and I don't know how I even got that. I went back in time this morning to when I couldn't string more than 2 lengths together and my legs dragged like I was wearing jeans and wellies. Awful swim, the ladies who don't like to get their swim hats wet were lapping me today!

DAVE_K

You look like you've been working very hard the last few days. You're probably knackered and that contributed to the bad swim. It also must be a real pain in the ass swimming in a 20 m pool after your 50 m experience.

MCOS

Yep it was pretty glum alright. The pool is so warm its like a feckin bath for starters. I had intended 2k easy but the thought of 100 lengths was just killing me. A staff member then began to wash the gunnels with some soapy water which leaked into the pool. I could taste it everytime I hit the wall. I was so disinterested that I stopped to watch others swim every couple of lengths. It was boredom and fatigue that sent me to an early shower. The sooner I can join UL the better

MCOS

Club swim session.

Technique tonight

50m*4 catch ups
50m*4 kick
25m*12 drills
50m timed kick
50m timed free
50m timed kick
50m timed free
300m various exercises

1,200m total. Timed 50s consistent with last time. Tried a couple of tumble turns, still no joy with these. Decent session overall.

MCOS

Decided that today is a rest day. Tired and just not in the mood. I figured it would be better to feel fresh for the weekend. Even though I'm training most days, I don't feel as though I'm doing much. Its probably because I'm not running much and the sessions are mostly short. I feel the need to run. I didn't want to do it half arsed today so I may report myself to the track for a speed interval session before work in the morning to plug myself back in :cool: