Tri a bit of everything

nomadic

I did my first adventure race today up in Rostrevor in Co Down. It consisted of 3 mtb legs, 2 "run" legs and a kayak leg. We were given a map at the start that had 22 control points where we had to dib in. The route was only marked in places with spray paint on the trails.

There was 27 solo competitors and 26 2 person teams taking part and we rolled out on the mtbs just after 10. The first bit on the road was neutralised until we reached the dirt. My plan was to keep people in sight because this nagivation thing is new to me and I could let others sort that out. I managed to pass the second control point and had to double back to dib in. Good start. The first mtb leg was 15km which was mostly fire road with a bit of single track.
The first "run" was about 2 or 3 km I'd say but it was straight up a big mountain. Hard work and I walked most of the way up. Good fun on the way down but I did follow some bloke into a boggy bit and we went in up to our knees.
Back on the bikes for another 15km leg. The first part doubled back the way we came but I was crap at nagivating and had to wait for others a few times to see where we were to go. Most of this leg was fire road and pretty much uphill the whole way. Very tough climbing.
Transition 2 we were greeted with fruit cake and gels which were very welcome. The second run was very difficult. It was 8km I think. I did my following others routine and we ran up to the wrong peak so that was an unwelcome detour. It was very open mountain so I could see people ahead which made nagivating the rest of the run fairly easy. Down from one peak and up another. Then down along a stone wall and we had a huge gorge to find a control point in and climb out the otherside. Plenty of running and walking. I was glad to to get back to the bike.
The last bike leg was 7km. Up a stinker of a hill which had to be walked mostly and then it was down hill all the way back to the kayaks. The last legs was brilliant. Propper mountainbiking. I think we even followed a Downhill trail for some of it. I passed a few on this leg who we not so handy when the trails got tough.
Back to the yacht club and into the kayak. They shortened this leg which I was glad about.

All in all a fantastic day weatherwise and a great race. I finished in 4 hours 38 mins and was 4th solo male. The winner did it in under 4 hours.

El Director

Great report there dude. I must try one of these for the craic some day. Well done, 4th in such a tough event is terrific! 4hours 38 is along time to be active especially in this heat, well done again man

nomadic

El Director wrote: »

Great report there dude. I must try one of these for the craic some day. Well done, 4th in such a tough event is terrific! 4hours 38 is along time to be active especially in this heat, well done again man

I was treating it as a good training day really and it was good to do something different. Those mountain running folk are nuts really.

It was good to get a long race in before swinford too.

nomadic

Rest day on Sunday.

Yesterday

2,200m swim
200m warm up
2,000m straight

My legs were still quite sore from saturday so an easy session was the order of the day.

Today

2,600m swim
500m warm up
10 x 100m off 2.00
5 x 200m off 4.00
100m warm down

The 100's were all in between 1.49 - 1.54. The last few were the quickest which is good to see. The 200's came in at 3.44, 3.48, 3.48, 3.48 and 3.50. I'm happy with that session.

Bit of a mammoth mtb spin planned with the club this evening which i'm really looking forward to .

nomadic

21.92km mtb spin this evening.
Lugnaquilla was the destination for tonights spin. What a cracking spin. A 2 hour slog to the top followed by a deadly 30 min descent.

El Director

dude that is unreal tough! fair play! what is the terrain like?

nomadic

El Director wrote: »

dude that is unreal tough! fair play! what is the terrain like?

We went up via table mountain (the first peak). Its probably the only way to get up it on a bike. Up to table mountain its mostly a rocky road. After that there was a bit of hike a bike. Its mostly peaty ground so it's only really possible after lots of dry weather. Basically granny ring for 2 hours. The way down is fairly hardcore. Loads of rocks and drops and stuff.

littleredspot

That's a bloody ridiculous elevation chart! Fair Play. There's a lot to be said for some hardcore mountain biking.

shotgunmcos

Cooooool , That descent must have been hair raising!

nomadic

2,000m swim this morning
4 x 500m

Bit of an easier session today. Didn't push it too hard.


8.63 mile run this afternoon in 68.50, 7.56 min/mile pace.

I had to force myself to go out on this run. The legs were aching and I wasn't looking forward to it but it was ok in the end.

nomadic

~1,000m OW swim this morning at the bull wall.

28.74km spin in the park this evening in 49.32, 34.8 kmh avg.
I put the hammer down for this spin. I experimented with a couple of positions on the bike and spent most of it fairly far forward on the hoods and forward on the saddle.

nomadic

Friday
1,300m swim
300m warm up
2 x 500m

I was at the pool with a friend so I hopped out early and sat in the jacuzzi for about half an hour. My arms were fairly sore anyway.

5.2 mile interval run in 41.10.
I was fairly tired going out on this so the recovery parts were very slow.

Saturday
94 km spin in 3.39, 25.7 km/hr avg.
Long spin out to wicklow and up the sally gap. I love the descent. I hit 72.1 km/hr at one stage.

Sunday
5.2 mile run in 41.00.
I had planned to do a LSR but I was too tired so went for an intervals run instead. 10m into the first interval my groin didn't feel great so I just plodded around the rest.

I need to concentrate on the running for a while. I've been nackered for the runs this week and they were crap really. I enjoy getting out on the bike more than running but I need ease back on the bike.

Today
2,000m straight swim in 39.33

nomadic

8.63 mile run this morning in 63.47, 7.21 min/mile pace.
A good run at last. I felt pretty strong after the easy day yesterday.


~1,500m OW swim this afternoon.
I cycled (32km) out to the bull wall. I'm starting to feel a bit more confortable in the water.

nomadic

2,500m swim this morning.
500m warm up
10 x 100m off 2.00
1,000m easy

100's all in between 1.49-1.51

29km spin down the park.
1 lap hard, 1 lap easy, 1 lap hard.

littleredspot

Jeesh, you're really clocking up some training, inspiring stuff to a beginner:) It's encouraging me to get out more than once a day.

I know Budapest is a sprint, but are you thinking of an olympic distance too?

Just wondering which wetsuit did you go for from Wiggle?

nomadic

littleredspot wrote: »

Jeesh, you're really clocking up some training, inspiring stuff to a beginner:) It's encouraging me to get out more than once a day.

I know Budapest is a sprint, but are you thinking of an olympic distance too?

Just wondering which wetsuit did you go for from Wiggle?

Yea an olympic is on the cards at some stage. I was planning on doing the olympic at dublin city tri but its 2 weeks before budapest so I may just do the super sprint. I've the swinford Half ironman next month so i'm in at the deep end for that one.

I got the orca S2 from wiggle. Its the cheapest one but I couldn't be happier with it. Fits perfectly.

littleredspot

Sure why not? Skip the olympic and head straight for half......:eek: Your training speeds, distances and quantities certainly look up to it.
Gonna go for the Orca myself, they seem to be well recommended alright.

El Director

What number are you dude on Sat?

El Director

The best of luck too man!

nomadic

Yesterday

1,750m swim
2 x 500m
5 x 50m off 60
500m

5.2 mile intervals run
Bit of a strange run. All was going well until the end of the 4th interval about 5k in. I had a bit of a mini bonk. I walked for a bit then picked it up to a slow jog and by the time I got home I was feeling good again. I'd eaten an hour before going out so don't know what happened there.


Rest day today then athlone and probably the swinford cycle route tomorrow.

catweazle

Now thats what I call 1/2 ironman - sprint distance in the morning and then a 90k cycle in the afternoon.

Enjoy the weekend, make sure and stop and admire the scenery in Pontoon and The Windy Gap as you will miss it in the race itself.

If you are stopping off somewhere to eat on the route go to Healeys in Pontoon, lovely food and great scenery. Its lovely there on a nice day

nomadic

Very early start yesterday to get down to Athlone as transition was closing at 7. I bumped into Macanri in transition and we wandered around for a while and watched the first couple of waves set off. I was in the last sprint wave so plenty of time to waste.

Swim 13.30(101th)
The swim went ok. No real drama. The river had basically no flow and I didn't notice it being any easier swimming downstream. I managed to get some weed or something attached to my head for a few minutes . A few swiped to try and free it were unsucessful but it unattached itself after a while.

T1 2.55(46th)
It was a long run up to transition. I got to the bike and my helmet and race belt had disappeared from the handlebars and were scattered on the ground which was annoying. I could have saved a bit of time here.

Bike 31.37(7th)
The out leg of the bike was torture. There was a strong head wind and it seemed to constantly drag slightly uphill. It was a struggle to keep the bike over 30km/hr. The return leg was a pleasure. Tail wind and I was zooming along. I don't think the speed dropped below 40. I think I probably did the fastest dismount of the day aswell. Probably a little to quick. I upclipped on one side and put my leg over the saddle and stood on the peddle until the last second and unclipped the other. I think I was going about 20 km/hr when I hit the ground running which was probably fairly stupid but I managed to slow down without falling on my face.


T2 2.00(28th)
No real bother in t2.

Run total 22.03 - 3.20, 9.33, 9.10(84rd,49th,27th)
It took a while to get into the run and the times show that. I had a slight stomach cramp which treatened to get worse but it didn't really bother me. The run was 2 and a half laps around the town. A great little lap with lots of ups and downs. It was a little congested at times and I lost a little time getting stuck behind people. I finished very strongly which shows that I should have pushed on a bit earlier. I passed a chap on the bike and he passed me half way around the run. I tried to stay with him but he slowly got away. I caught a bit of time on him in the last couple of hundred meters but he beat me by 5 seconds.

Overall 1.12.02 - 13th place, 2nd in age cat.
I mainly did the race so I could compare the time with the euro age cat racers. I would have come 24th out of 28 so lots of work to do before budapest.
I'm delighted with the bike time but I think it was a little short. My bike computer read 19.99km which included the longs runs in and out of transition. I was very pissed off with the run time when I got the text message with my times but I think it was a fair bit more than 5km.


It was a great event and ran fairly smoothly. The river could probably do with a divider down the middle as I did see a swimmer or 2 veer into a large group of oncoming swimmers which looked nasty. Also some people seemed confused about the run lap situation and some of the foreign AGer's had no idea if they had more laps to do or not. I overheard some people who finished a lap short. The t-shirt was nice but tiny. Last word goes to the great stewards especially the two foreign national ladies down by the river who were giving it socks.


I had planned to do the swinford bike course yesterday evening but I was tired and their was too much sport on the tv. I got up at 5.30 this morning to do it but the apocalypse was taking place outside so I went back to bed. Family stuff all day and a big dinner meant I didn't bother with it later and I drove home.

Macanri

Congrats again on a great race and great time.
I agree about it being well organised. Yea the run could be confusing for some if they weren't paying attention or didn't know how many laps had to be run, very easy to just wander into the finish rather than do another lap.

nomadic

3,000m straight swim this afternoon in 62.30
Only my second swim in the 50m pool and its a nice change. I had planned to do 4k but I was getting a bit bored at 2k so I pushed it a bit harder and just did the 3k.

8.63 mile run this evening in 61.26, 7.06 min/miles.
Good run. I felt great and attacked all the hills.

DustyBin

Another savage time on the bike there nomadic - looking really strong now so you are
And 2nd in AG is pure class - well done

nomadic

Yesterday
36.69km bike down the park. 4 laps of the usual park loop. I think it was about 33 km/hr avg.

Today
1,500m swim
6 x 250m off 5.30, All in around 4.50.

Long Brick session, 60.22 km bike in 1.54.27, 31.5 km/hr avg and an 8.63 mile run in 1.04.02, 7.25 min miles.

Good session. I had no route plan for the bike after the first few km. I just kept cycling until I had gone 30km then came back the same way. I ended up going to Maynooth on the back roads and on out to Salins. No real hills on the route. I kept the pace handy enough. It took about 5 mins to get into the running gear and out the door. I felt quite fresh on the run. I had expected to run about 8 min/miles so the pace was a pleasant surprise. My legs were feeling it a little by the end.

I need to get another long brick in next week. I'll probably head for the hills on the bike because I need to see how the legs will react to a tough cycle.

shotgunmcos

Wow excellent result in Athlone Nomadic. Super bike split. The swim doesn't reflect the amount of work you have put in but 2nd in your AG is sweet. Well done!

nomadic

Thursday
2,000mswim
4 x 500m

I wasn't working off times as the clock at the pool wasn't on. Just as well, I was fairly tired. My legs had nothing so kicking was non existant.

Yesterday
1,000m ow swim at the bull wall yesterday morning.
I cycled out to the bull wall again. It was fairly choppy and bilateral breathing would have come in handy. Tough going.

Today
49.92km spin in 1.34.40, 31.6 km/hr avg.
I went out and did a couple of laps around the park and the strawberry beds. A few climbs thrown in for good measure, Kyber x 2, Knockmaroon x 2 and rugged lane once.

nomadic

13.12 mile run in 1.37.00, 7.24 min/miles.

Thats 3.44 quicker than my half marathon pb from last year so not bad going. I was feeling a bit crap for the first half of the run and thought I was running about 8 min miles so I was pleasently surprised by the time. I ate a tin of beans last night for the first time in years and the rhyme is still true. My stomach sorted itself and I pushed on for the second half.

nomadic

2,500m swim this afternoon
550m warm up
2 x 200m off 4.00
1550m

I cycled out to the bull wall this morning and when I got there I noticed that I'd forgotten my goggles and swimming cap so that was a wasted journey. I cycled home and then went to the pool. I had planned on doing a few 200's off 4.00 but the first one came in on 3.53 and the second 4.00. I got a bit disillusioned with it and just swam 1550m straight. My swimming seems to going nowhere for the last couple of months. I think I may get a 1 to 1 lesson at some stage.

21.41km spin on the bike this evening in 38.46, 33.1 km/hr.
Quick couple of laps around the park.