Run for your life.

Oryx

A drop in hours this week caused by real life getting in the way, but moreso because I feel just lousy. I see a lot of chat here lately about people losing their mojo and I'm just the same. Am in taper for Athy now anyway, hopefully that will perk me up a bit.

Oryx

Did circuits last night. It was hard, and I wasnt going at 75% of my normal pace. Oh dear.

Got my bike serviced and the cassette changed from 25/12 to 28/11. Yeah, I know, 28 is for pathetically bad cyclists, but call a spade a spade.... Ive been using the old bike with its 26/12 for hill reps cos I couldnt get up the worst hill on the new one, which was pointless. Dunno what the issue with the gearing on the giant is, but I ran out of gears in both directions, seizing up on hills and spinning out on a fast stretch. Which is odd. Havent test ridden the new set up yet but hope its better both ways.

Izoard

Oryx wrote: »

... the cassette changed from 25/12 to 28/11.

Good call - no prizes for having a pro-gearing set up and your legs will thank you on the run.

For IM CH, the bus couldn't get up one of the hills on the bike recce. In a blind panic, I pegged it to the bike stand and got a 27 on the back. Never used it in the end, but was a lot more chilled out knowing I had it there.

Oryx

Thanks for making me feel like I've done the right thing. It shouldnt matter for Athy and Antwerp which are both flat, but I need it for the hill training I'm doing, and Vitruvian is described as 'challenging' .

shotgunmcos

Hey Oryx I feel ya on that wind :rolleyes: Well done on the long ride and the 100m swim pb all progress. FWIW I did my whole first year of tri on a 28-11. You will be hard pushed to spin out a 50/11 (assuming you have a compact) or a 53/11, but the 28-11 cassette was great for hills. I did The Lost Sheep that year and I was happy with the 34/28 on the steep section on the top of the first pass

Oryx

Youre making me feel better about putting whats been described to me as a 'dustbin lid' on my bike. I will update on how it feels as soon as I get out on it. Its sea swim/run later, so no biking today.

Oryx

Sweet Jesus the sea was cold tonight. Did 800m but it took forever. I dread Saturday. Couldnt breathe, got dizzy, and was chilled the whole time. There were about 30 swimmers out and its demoralising to be last by ages. But am used to it I guess. Ran after, just to warm up. Did 5k and didnt feel my feet for 4.5k. I'm not really selling this tri mallarkey well, am I?

Izoard

Best of luck for tomorrow - I'll be keeping an eye out for a Wexford tri suit with a bin lid hanging off the back wheel.:)

Enjoy!

Oryx

Was a plus one at a wedding yesterday and am severely hungover today. Not the best pre race preparation!

Do say hi if you see me (ill be in the pleb zone at the back)

Oryx

Am burnt to a crisp. Had a lovely day in Athy, got round the course at least. My first Oly. Yay. Loved it tho, great race. A few familiar faces around which was great. Report to follow sometime when I'm not tapping into a touchscreen phone

Oryx

Had to get up at five to make my way to Athy yesterday. Never seems like a good idea at that hour of the morning to do anything, let alone race. Got there for half seven and apart from taking two long walks in with kit from the car park everything was grand.

Set up transition and had a pep talk from one of the superwoman vets in the club, twas like a scene from Rocky Also met elvis jones, the amazing compere for the day who must surely be hoarse by now. Then we walked to the start holding big flags with pipers playing. Felt very daft doing that

Was in wave 1 and apart from goggle issues making me effectively blind, the swim felt good. Swam onto a shallow bank and got cramp, but otherwise no problems. Just need new goggles! 37 mins.

Fumbled my transition but went off hard (for me) on the bike. Kept the pep talk in mind: concentrate, look ahead, spin the legs. Funny thing was, the bike didn't feel that long, maybe cos I wa doin all that concentrating. My lack of skills showed once again tho, I couldn't drink and almost lost it on one of the u turns! 1hr 29.

More shoe issues in T2, and began the run feeling very hot and drinking warm isotonic drink that was just foul. Settled into a steady trot which I knew was slow but could maintain. The sun was baking and I found the grass hard to run on. It was frustrating knowing I couldn't pick up the pace and watching my target slip away. Crossed the line with a finish time of 3.02 so near and yet so far from sub 3 But I know what I need to do to make more gains at least and the race gave my flagging mojo a good kick up the ass!

And well done Athy, the race was flawless.

Izoard

Well done Oryx! - sets up you nicely for the 2 HIMs to come.

I thought I saw a couple of flashes of Wex Tri gear - both wearers (at least I think it was 2 different people:)) were looking solid on the run.

I was breaking a number of fashion rules on the day - powder blue top on the bike and black bandana/white shades on the run - if they ring any bells.

Oryx

Can't say i recall you. There were six from wexford racing, but just two girls. I'm the larger girl

Oryx

Had planned to do something easy, training wise yesterday but ended up as a full on rest day. No harm. The sun this morning inspired me to get out the door for a run. Did 10.75k but as slow as I have ever run it, 56 mins. I wore my old running shoes on Sat which was a huge mistake. The auld plantar wotsitsname has flared up big time. Will take some tlc and a trip to the physio to get that mended by the 26th.

Izoard

Oryx wrote: »

Can't say i recall you. There were six from wexford racing, but just two girls. I'm the larger girl

Can't say I noticed any anatomical difference:)

You were both running strong in any case...

Oryx

Can't say I felt strong but good to know I can fake it

Oryx

Sea swim last night, and for some reason everyone was in giddy form, so a lot of jokes and messing which helps when youre walking into bloody freezing water. We are, however, dead responsible this year, with a safety marshal every week and a swim briefing, swim buddy, the lot. Last year numbers were so small there was no need, but now we have up to 30 per session, which even attracts a crowd of spectators! I didnt think it was quite as cold as last week, but its still horrible when the water leaks into the suit.:) 1200m, so my longest ow training this year (or ever). Somehow the sea is harder than a river, (in Athy 1500m felt fine) and a bit of chop last night meant sighting was tricky, got a face full of water every time.

Ran afterwards to warm up, just two of us went out last week but this week it seems to have caught on and quite a few did the 5k route. Loved the run because it started off easy and built to a sprint finish, which suits me. Definitely feeling a bit of a boost, either from the three rest days last week, or a relatively easy weekend (3 hours of oly, but otherwise, rest).

Need to up my running mileage for the next few weeks. Half mara on the 26th.

Oryx

Wednesday is usually a rest day but I've done enough of that this week, so I did an easy run last night. 6k. Still have that lovely bounce in my step thats been missing for so long.

Out on the bike tonight for a ride that felt easy, but I seemed to be keeping a good pace up. 32k. Short but heck, it's all got to help

Oryx

Swam yesterday while my kids had a lesson 1600m, 45 mins. My longest swim session in weeks, and boy did I know it. Swim fitness disappears fast!

Oryx

Another day, another 6k. Tied to home for the weekend, so no long session this week. Ho hum.

Oryx

Well. What a long weekend. No training for two days because real life took priority for once. So a good session was well needed today. Did a 1300m sea swim in quite choppy water. Being thrown around a bit made it quite fun

Then out for the usual run which is more to warm back up than anything. Did two loops tonight which made it 10k in total. And i was with the good runners and they ran my little legs off. Which I need a lot more of. At one stage I musta slowed cos I was told I would get my ass kicked if I thought of stopping. A cruel bunch they are.

elvis jones

I'm getting tired just reading this:D

Oryx

Do you keep a log on here Elvis?

Woddle

I see you're doing Bunclody now
Whats the goal time?, can't remember what you did last year. I havn't been swimming in months so I'll find out tonight where my swim fitness is and hopefully it hasn't gone as quick as you say

Oryx

I did 1.33 last year. My current times don't seem much different so this will be the first real check on whether I'm improving. Half my club and a good few boardsies will be there so I didn't want to miss it, tbh.


Let me know how the swim feels.

edit.. Checked time.

elvis jones

Oryx wrote: »

Do you keep a log on here Elvis?

Yeah just recently http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056240706

Woddle i'm seriously low on the swim so sub 1:40 would be amazing !

Oryx

Youre much better than me on the bike, ej, so its totally doable.

Shortish bike tonight. 35k. 85 mins give or take. Dammit I'm just not getting any faster!

elvis jones

Oryx wrote: »

Youre much better than me on the bike, ej, so its totally doable.

Shortish bike tonight. 35k. 85 mins give or take. Dammit I'm just not getting any faster!

Ya my big chunky legs are finally finding some use:D

Spinning really helped me in the winter season, i worked on the tri bar position and it was a tri specific class so long sprints and much harder than a normal spinning class.

My 20Km is at about 38 min at the mo so if i can keep improving on that to the 40km i'll be very happy ( my last 40km was 82 min )

littlebug

Oryx wrote: »

Dammit I'm just not getting any faster!

And there I was looking through your log to pick up some cycling tips

You are getting faster!

Oryx

littlebug wrote: »

And there I was looking through your log to pick up some cycling tips

You are getting faster!

I've been told that the only thing that improves cycling is more cycling.