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Budapest, Hungary Sept 8-12
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shotgunmcos wrote: »*you would be too far in front to know about this fun
Ive read about this alright
Athy was interesting for everyone last year - the river is so narrow and the wave sizes fairly large. This year promises to be different for those participating. 0 -
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Thursday pm: 8km easy run with strides
If only this warm weather would stay! Even running late in the evening was decidedly sweaty. Again late out of work and missed the intended session. Enjoyed this short jog though and threw in 3*60m and 3*80m strides.
Valentia Island Sprint tomorrow and polar opposite conditions from last year
I didn't get a Budapest slot out of Joey so these places are clearly not just hard earned but coveted. Valentia is the last QF race so the aim is simple. Top 5 in my AG. For that I suspect I'll have to be in the top 20, which will probably require a sprint pb for me 
Failing that I'm at the mercy of the Selection Pool in June. 0 -
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shotgunmcos wrote: »Thanks interested, informative as usual. I'll make sure the suit is pulled up alright at the weekend. I'm also LMAO at the last bit My suit is slung in the back of the car so maybe a bit of that TLC will make it be nice to me, at the very least give it a pep talk about the pending mosh pit* on Saturday morning!
Best of luck in Valentia. Give it socks.
Got the following from a Swim Smooth newsletter which again highlights the importance of getting the suit pulled up as much as possible. Don't forget to swim straight too.
"TIPS TO SWIM FASTER AND STRAIGHTER IN OPEN WATER
1) Learn To Put Your Wetsuit On Properly
Sounds simple but most swimmers don't put on their wetsuit properly. Watch this demonstration video http://www.swimsmooth.com/triathlon_adv.html#wetsuit of how to do it by shoe-horning plenty of material up the limbs towards the body and shoulders. This dramatically reduces the restriction around the shoulders, costing you less effort and freeing up your stroke.
2) Overcome Anxiety
Anxiety in open water is normally caused by external factors in the watery environment around you - depth, cold, not being able to see far (if at all!) and having other swimmers in close proximity to you. All of these factors lead to the same physical response - holding your breath.
Holding your breath immediately increases the anxiety further, things start to feel out of control and you may even feel a sense of panic. For many triathletes, their race is off to a very bad start, or even finishes there and then.
Focus on internal factors that you can control, the most important of which is remembering to exhale into the water. Check this throughout your next open water race, particularly if you're feeling anxious or panicky out there.
3) Swim Straight
To swim straight you need a symmetrical stroke and the natural way to become symmetrical is with bilateral breathing in training. Quite possibly this is not what you wanted to hear if you struggle to breathe bilaterally!
The straighter you can swim naturally, the less you will veer off course and the less often you will have to sight. That's good because every time you sight it requires an increase in effort and a loss of efficiency.
Learn how to conquer bilateral breathing here: http://www.swimsmooth.com/bilateral.html
4) Master The Art Of Sighting
You may think that sighting is as simple as lifting your head to look forward and see where you are going but it needs a great deal of skill to do it well. The world's best triathletes and open water swimmers can sight without disrupting the rhythm of their stroke or their body position in the water, and this is key.
Here's the correct technique: time your sighting to happen just before you're going to take a breath. Lift your eyes out of the water by pressing down lightly on the water with your lead arm (in this example your right arm). Only lift up enough to get your eyes just out of the water. Your left arm will have now started recovering over the water, as it does so, turn your head to the right with your body to breathe. As you do so, let your head drop down in the water to a normal breathing position. See a video clip of Ceinwen Williams using this technique to great effect here http://www.swimsmooth.com/triathlon_adv.html#ceinwen .
You can of course master this technique in the pool. Make it more race-realistic by practising in your quality swim sets when your heart rate and effort levels are high!
5) Draft Better
Drafting is swimming directly behind, or to the side and slightly behind, another swimmer. Studies show this saves 18 to 25% of the energy expenditure of swimming. In a race it makes perfect sense to capitalise on this source of free speed."0 -
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Saturday am: Valentia Island Sprint Triathlon
The conditions on Saturday could not have been more different from last year. The freezing cold, rain and hail replaced with glorious warm sunshine. A stiff blustery wind whirled across the Island still though.
Pre-Race. Come on now, a false start?!
I felt relaxed and ready to go and as usual mingled with the friendly faces in transition. Having done a swim course recce with interested the previous afternoon, he greeted me with encouragement. Cool guy. His lovely OH was also putting on her wetsuit for the short Atlantic trip. He even offered to lead me out of the swim for some clear water which was nice. He later emerged out of the water with Amy Wolfe who was the first to reach the Island! As if I had any chance! With an increased 500+ competitors being ferried across to the mainland amidst a dozen bagpipes and an RTE TV crew, spirits were high and the atmosphere buzzing. Treading water with hundreds of other blue hats the horn went off and we tore into it, only to be blocked by a canoe and sent back. The lead guys were out to sea by the time they realised that some fool had decided to use the horn to get everyone’s attention
Seriously!
Swim.
As we were shuffled back into place, I positioned myself between a couple of swimmers I knew but had no business being beside, however my plan was to swim hard to start and try to get clear of the pack. The horn went off again and that I did. I stayed on some feet initially and was amazed that after 150m I was still just behind the quick swimmers. I settled into a calmer pace but somehow drifted left. The middle few hundred meters were choppy and I weaved a little over the waves. This was perhaps due to having my goggles knocked off my face. I stopped briefly to put them back on but they were full of drops and so my sighting wasn’t the best. Still I had a pretty solid swim and emerged onto the slipway in the top 20-25. Sweet! It was my best swim ever in a tri and well inside pace targets for this year. I had always avoided the front and going out too hard but improved swim fitness has definitely given me more confidence to race the swim rather than just survive it.
T1
Transition was a longish jog but plenty of time to peel the top half of the wetsuit off. A mate of mine had racked next to me and positioned his bright blue aero helmet on top of his saddle making my bike easy to spot! Transition was efficient (I didn’t fall over taking the wetsuit off). The leap of faith also worked a treat after the absolute disaster I had in Joey. Feet slid in and I was away, passing 2 who had chosen the ‘put your feet on the shoes’ mounting option. Getting this right really helps to get a quick momentum up.
The Cycle
The first 3-4km is all uphill and a gradual climb to 150m or so at that. Climbing is my Achilles heel on the bike and I was duly passed 4-5 times. I maintained a steady cadence and resisted the temptation to toast myself chasing up a hill. I knew the course from a recce the previous evening and knew the middle part (technical, rolling) would be my playground. At least the trees, which almost formed a tunnel over the road, sheltered the climb from the wind. The course is cool, technical with great scenery. After a 150m section at the top where you have to get out of the saddle and lever the bike beneath you, I got motoring and passed everyone who had out-climbed me. We were onto a more exposed elevated part of the island now and the wind made staying down on the bars while hurtling downhill, a hair-raising if not thrilling ride! I learned something on the bike. Accelerating aggressively into a hill and downshifting enough gears to maintain cadence had the effect of sustaining a momentum. Taking the right lines around tight bends was also crucial in sustaining momentum. I had a good day with both. On the last 5km the wind blows across you from right to left. I passed the leading lady on this stretch and the field had since thinned out. I spotted another bike about 200m ahead but was gaining only inches. I kept the lid on it and stayed comfortable making sure to drink plenty of water as running on hot days was my enemy. I had a good bike, really enjoyed it and getting back to T2 in 7th position was a good return for it.
T2. Easy, rack bike, helmet off, shoes on... Go!
Run. It was hot.
Emerging from transition I realised this was the further up the field I’d been in a Tri although I knew it would be short lived as the runners would soon get going. It was good to have some of the lead guys within sight, albeit very far up the road! The run was straight up the hill we cycled earlier for 2.5km, turn around and 2.5km back down. Straight away by left calf cramped. Damn! I had to stop after a few ginger steps to stretch it out quickly before I got going again. It threatened me but I kept the pace steady (slow L ) on the way out. I lost 5 places on the way up including a guy in GAA shorts and a luminous T shirt. I figured he was a relay runner and he was the only guy smiling. The lead lady, Amy Wolfe also passed me gradually. 11.35 for the 2.5km up the hill is just pants. I’m definitely getting some hill running into my programme immediately. After the turnaround I was alarmed at the number of people who looked capable of running me down. After the first km of the return downhill I was passed 3 more times, the 3rd of which was Elena Maslova chasing Amy hard. Normally I just let these people disappear off down the road without a fight but something went off inside my head that it was enough with this mediocre running. I lifted my head and my pace and started to hold my ground with a km to go. With 500m to go I lifted the pace again going by Elena and catching another guy who had passed me, before the line. I think I was about 55-60th in on the run (yikes) but lost 6 places overall which wasn’t too much damage for a poor 20:34
Significantly for me I finished strong and passing people and this has injected a bit of confidence in me that I have a kick, yippee ! Next time I’ll latch on to someone sooner and have some faith.
Overall I finished 13th (1 relay ahead also) in 1:05:10, which was both a sprint pb and 10 places better than last year in a much bigger field. However it was still only good enough for 6th in my AG. Just to show how competitive the 30-34 category is, 4 of the top 6 were 30-34 including the winner, Kevin Keane (Bryan's big bro). I know 2 of the lads though and I’m sure they have their places for Budapest already. This leaves me quite sure I will get a slot but I won’t believe it until I see it written down. The race went well and I got about as much out of myself as I could on the day There was a bit of fuss in the hotel afterwards with some guy from TV handing out the prizes with a crew buzzing around him. I took little notice as I was absolutely ravenous. Nice event and I’d recommend to anyone 0 -
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Sunday pm: Recovery Cycle 50km
Beautiful day out. 2 hours+ easy on the mountain bike with Caz on her roadie, out to the lake and back with a break on the grass to chill, and another for ice cream.. you get the picture. Enjoyable way to get some bike time
Monday pm: OW swimming about 3km
Man the water was lovely. Soo different to 2 weeks ago. Did a lap with a few others waiting for the posse to arrive, then 2 more with some practice starts and general banter while lying on our backs. My stroke felt nice and long for the first half hour. Focused on a long accelerated pull and push and staying on faster feet. Then the shoulders started to feel weary and it all became harder work. Still beats the pool any day of the week.
I had my runnning gear on the floor to go out this morning for a recvovery jog - didn't wake up.
I transferred my gear to a bag and had it under my desk at work for a lunchtime jog - didn't get a chance
I put the bag in the boot of the car to go for a jog after the swim - was too hungry and wrecked and went home for food instead.
I guess I wasn't meant to run today eh!0 -
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Checked the results of Valentia last night. Fair play for TFBubendorfer getting through his first Tri and coming stoing through the field. My run rank stands out like a sore thumb!
Swim (25) Cycle (10) Run (58)!!
My runners are also dead (not an excuse by the way) and I need to get new ones but since I also had an incident with the car at the weekend they will have to wait.
Tuesday lunchtime: Recovery jog around the quays.
10.5km easy with no watch. The Peoples park was x-rated in the sunshine! A bit laboured but an enjoyable run on a warm day with a cool breeze.
Wednesday am: Swim session with the group.
50*18 warm up with fins - various
800m fast in 13:10
(200m/2*100m)*3 steady 200 and neg split 100s
50m*4 max off 1:20
100m super easy cool down
3,200m total.
I was very tired this morning (need more sleep - whats new there) and almost needed a chair in the shower after this session. Could only manage 4 50s at the end and I died half way through the 800 allowing the pack to catch up again. Not a great session I should have just tucked into the middle rather than lead.0 -
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