Chasing the Kona dream and a Mai Tai cocktail

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Thurs 11th
V02 Session.
I think this is the first aborted session in 10 weeks. Head cold turned into an itchy/sore throat. Canned the session at the start of the third interval, working far too hard on the first two and hr was well above what it should have been. Pity as i enjoy this session in a sadistic sort of way.

Fri 12th
1 hr easy and commutes, legs felt dreadful

Sat 13th
3hr turbo
I was really looking forward to an early morning spin until i checked outside and seen it was -2 with a wind chill of -4 and the roads iced up, turbo it was:) My viewing pleasure this week was Hercules (sh1t) and Edge of Tomorrow (equally sh1t). Legs took an easy hour to warm up and decided i would try my luck with 2x15min @ threshold, these felt fine so a few short efforts at 130% was enough to keep me interested.
3.10, 212wAP, 228wNP, 108kms, 135hr, 76rpm

Sun 14th
Usual day off although was tempted to go out for an hour. Ben however did turbo for half an hour and seemed to enjoy it, he had great fun trying to hit a max number on one of his sprint efforts....might put one or two on here to shame:)

Week 11
12.54
370kms
781tss

Not a great week at all as have not felt 100%. Not sick enough to stop training but sick enough for it to impact the high end stuff. About 1.5hr short of plan and not enough quality work done for the week.
Weekend long turbos suck, i am lucky i have a cool setup and can watch a few films/netflix but god help anyone that has to do long turbos looking at a concrete wall!
Last week of this block this week then a recovery week over Xmas before 9 days of family holidays in the sun with some cycling thrown in.
Training will kick into another gear from Jan onwards.

RJM85

I have a three hour ride in the plan for next Sunday. When I saw the roads on Saturday morning I spent the whole journey to Dublin contemplating buying a tv before next week.

mloc123

I think you need to rename your log

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

RJM85 wrote: »

I have a three hour ride in the plan for next Sunday. When I saw the roads on Saturday morning I spent the whole journey to Dublin contemplating buying a tv before next week.

Looks like there will be plenty of winter turbos if the weather gurus have it right, predicting the worst winter in years.

mloc123 wrote: »

I think you need to rename your log

Afraid to ask, to what?

mloc123

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

Afraid to ask, to what?

Hah, just something no tri related? You done with tri for the foreseeable?

tunney

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

Looks like there will be plenty of winter turbos if the weather gurus have it right, predicting the worst winter in years.


Afraid to ask, to what?

Prediction has no grounding in science.

Up there with TSS

RacoonQueen

They can't predict tomorrows weather, nevermind predicting the whole of winter...

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

mloc123 wrote: »

Hah, just something no tri related? You done with tri for the foreseeable?

Not done with tri, i will return at some point. Still want to go to Kona but if i am being honest its probably beyond me. For now its all about bike training and racing with a view to competing getting around the RAS.

tunney wrote: »

Prediction has no grounding in science.
Up there with TSS

Go and play with your 920:)

pgibbo

If you pick the right race Kona is possible. Europe is notoriously difficult to qualify from due to the uber bikers. I'd say it would be easier qualify stateside. You need to ditch the armbands though :pac:

mossym

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

Weekend long turbos suck, i am lucky i have a cool setup and can watch a few films/netflix but god help anyone that has to do long turbos looking at a concrete wall!

amen to that. turbo's and netflix. no worries about noise in the garage. just need to be better prepped for how cold it can get in there. won't make that mistake again. even one top was too much a week ago, two(one a long sleeve semi thermal) and my feet and hands were still freezing on saturday

pgibbo

mossym wrote: »

amen to that. turbo's and netflix. no worries about noise in the garage. just need to be better prepped for how cold it can get in there. won't make that mistake again. even one top was too much a week ago, two(one a long sleeve semi thermal) and my feet and hands were still freezing on saturday

You're having a laugh? It hasn't been that cold.

mossym

pgibbo wrote: »

You're having a laugh? It hasn't been that cold.

nope, was freezing on saturday. turbos done in the shed out the back, steel shed with insulation, but below zero on sat morning so shed was damn cold. usually i'm sweating buckets in there, but saturday morning my feet especially were freezing.

i know i know, not working hard enough

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

pgibbo wrote: »

If you pick the right race Kona is possible. Europe is notoriously difficult to qualify from due to the uber bikers. I'd say it would be easier qualify stateside. You need to ditch the armbands though :pac:

Or wait until i am 70+. When i do an IM again i will look at the US, have already considered 1 or 2. For now just going to see how strong/good i can get on the bike.

Re armbands, you are no Phelps yourself:)

Dory Dory

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

Or wait until i am 70+. When i do an IM again i will look at the US, have already considered 1 or 2. For now just going to see how strong/good i can get on the bike.

Re armbands, you are no Phelps yourself:)

Which ones???

mossym

Dory Dory wrote: »

Which ones???

pretty sure the two boys use these ones

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Dory Dory wrote: »

Which ones???

Out West, Los Cabos and Arizona. I will make sure i will let you know when i plan to do them so you can toe the line as well:)

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Mon 15th
VO2 & Z6 efforts
5x5min @ 325w with 3 recovery then into 5x1min Z6 efforts @ 400w/130% with 1 recovery. Not hitting this session as i would like, ideally wanted to be holding 340-350w on the 5s and 420w on the 1s. Ok session all the same considering tail end of head cold was hanging about.
1hr, 253wAP, 288wNP, 152ahr, 176max, 75rpm

Tues 16th
Easy hr at lunch spinning out the legs from last night

PM - BG Session, 3x14min with 3 recovery
Holding 85% on these, 265w, slightly higher cadence than normal at 55rpm as legs a little tired but found these grand. Started watching Lilyhammer on Netflix, looks good so far.
65, 232wAP, 245wNP, 147ahr, 65rpm

Wed 17th
2hr pre work spin
Only got about 3hrs sleep, alarm went off in work around 1.30 and never got back to sleep proper when i got back. Lovely mild morning, finally i think the head cold is gone, felt much better out on the road today.
1:51, 50.4kms, 27.2kmph, 193w

pgibbo

Lilyhammer is alright but I feel he's lacking a decent support cast. Worth a watch but has the potential to be much better.

mloc123

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

Or wait until i am 70+. When i do an IM again i will look at the US, have already considered 1 or 2. For now just going to see how strong/good i can get on the bike.

Re armbands, you are no Phelps yourself:)

I actually think in 35 years the old AG will be more competitive.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Thurs 18th
Just an hour easy, listening to the birds singing. No hr/no powermeter readings just me and the bike.
Normally i have a tempo/SS ride planned for Thursday but Wednesdays lack of sleep caught up with me so pushed it out and got some extra sleep instead.

Fri 19th
1.5hr with some work
45mins of work within the ride broken down as 3x15mins, 10@260w, 3@280w, 2@310w. Decent session and felt well rested. I even performed the chimney song from Mary Poppins with the sweeping brush with actions and vocals. Needless to say the sleepy headed kids at the breakfast table were well amused/concerned for Dad.

Work party tonight, thankfully the last one. Plan is to hit the roads early tomorrow and also get out on Sunday. Then 5 days of recovery after this block before a decent 10 days of cycling and sunshine abroad. Looking forward to some downtime from work.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Sat 20th
4hr endurance/easy ride
Another late night out and another 3hr sleep before rolling out at 5.45am. Enjoyed this much more than a turbo. Myself and Dolan do talk some extreme bullsh!t though when out on the bike. First 1.5hr was far too easy only holding 160w but we picked it up a little after that.
I had to cycle up and down a hill to make it up to the 4hrs, if it says 4hrs you do 4hrs not 3.45, something i often have to remind my own athletes of now and again.
Coffee and scone in Slane Bake is just awesome, will miss these stops from Jan onwards:o
4.02, 109kms, 27.1kmph, 198w.

Sun 21st
Club 3hr ride
Not often i am out on the Sunday but its something i need to consider and balance come Jan onwards as its an extra 3hrs of decent cycling i could be getting in as prep for the season ahead vs a sleep in and being at home.
Anyhow it was supposed to be a club ride, well we had two out, any guesses who was the other?
Pace a little higher than Saturdays spin and pushed a little more on the hills. Top end of Z2 ride for me but i was bloody starving and could have chewed the bar tape off the bike, legs felt a little heavy as well.
3.05, 88kms, 28.7kmph, 220w

Week 12
17hrs
481kms
1109tss

Biggest week so far at 17hrs. Ok week but what i am most happy with it is the consistency over the last 12 weeks/3 blocks of work.
Week 1-12
148hrs/12hrs 20
4196kms/349kms
9162tss/763tss
At times I feel like i have not improved hugely as a cyclist (always self critical) although i need to remember i have increased power by 10%/30w. I am also holding over 300w for an hour and Dolan has noticed a big difference as we cycle a fair bit on Wednesdays and at the weekends. I probably will not fully realise how good i feel until a recovery week or after my first race.
I am heading into 5 days easy before a big few days of cycling whilst away, obviously i will be balancing this with family time so as not to take the mick!

Merry Xmas

RJM85

9am spin from the square? There's always a dreadful turnout the week before Christmas. I showed up for 8 and was on my own!

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

RJM85 wrote: »

9am spin from the square? There's always a dreadful turnout the week before Christmas. I showed up for 8 and was on my own!

Not sure tbh, Liam mentioned the club spin was routed towards Naul direction so I just cycled towards them. Not sure what recent turn out has been like.
Hopefully a few more show up in Jan full of New Year resolutions

RJM85

Wouldn't be surprised if liam didn't bother to go to the square. There's not a lot of takers for the early mornings from what I can gather. I haven't done too many of them but had thought a bit of company might be good when I'm doing some long steady spins. I got there at 7:59 and only hung around till 8:01 before setting off on my own.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

I could have really done with a compact on today, proper climbs.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

So back from Spain, quick combined update of week 13/14 specifically the 9 days away.

First day ended up badly, I got lost twice and ended up on a motorway and back at Malaga airport. Other than that it was good to be out in shorts and short sleeves. Day after was an easy and early 3hrs.

First big day of my allowed quota of 2 big days. 172kms and 2500mtrs of elevation gain. Some epic climbs and a good 6hrs holding 224w by the end of it, a good dose of 300w+ on long segments when climbing. Legs felt good on this one although some sections of 13%+ would have been nice to have a 27 on the back instead of a 25.

Other day seen two repeats of a steep 9k climb, all out first time and over geared second time round, held 322w on first attempt and even passed out a local on a battered scooter up the climb . Managed to get a free coffee, I was in my BMC gear and I think the owner (keen cyclist) mistook me for a pro, how I am not sure with the belly on me!

I missed 2 spins, really just hung out with the kids and did not want to be away from them as we were having great craic and getting up at 6am was not appealing me that much.

Last two spins of note was a 2hr spin were I tagged onto the back of the Lotto Belisol boys for a few kms. Last big spin was an epic 7hr, 208km with 3600mtrs of gain. I was fecked after this and did not bring enough gels with me, still held over 200w but the last hour I was picking oranges from the tree.

So I had planned about 28-30hrs but ended up shy of that, not that bothered as time was well spent with family relaxing and we had a great time. I do think Lanza was a better spot than Costa for cycling, the motorways either side means you need to head inland and pass through towns etc.

22hrs, 636km, 1410tss for my 9 days away. Back to work tomorrow and some normality. Even with all the cycling I still managed to put 3kg on, will come off quick enough.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

A quick glance back at last year,
135km swam, 11,253km cycled, 1729km ran. 580hrs for the year and 11hrs averaged for the week.
This year will see a significant change with no swimming planned and just enough running at the end of the year to get around a marathon with the missus, the rest will be all about the bike.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Week 15

Last week was a crap week, poorest week out of the 15 so far.

I flew back on the Monday and had no time to get a session in. Tuesday i was caught for time in work and could not get out, then had two new clients for a meeting in the evening so another unplanned rest day.
Wednesday finally got out on the bike, it was windy, cold and dark, hardly appealing after a week away in the sun. Back to normality but did not enjoy the spin.

Thursday finally seen a bit of quality and a realisation that FTP feels like it has dropped back a touch. Some tolerance reps, continuous work at 270w up to 350w and dropping back down. Really hit home how hard racing is going to be as i use this session to simulate being in a break and dealing with surges and recovering whilst still at 85 to 90%

Friday was an hour on the turbo, straightforward session with 30mins tempo around 270w with a warm up and cool down thrown in.

Saturday was terrible, from the moment the alarm went off at 5am i should have switched it off and nodded back off to sleep. Howling winds, cold and rain. The rain is fine, cold is bearable but the wind really wrecks my head. I had no motivation for this solo spin and my attitude was terrible heading out on the bike.

Plan was for some hill reps around/over threshold around Bellewstown. I think i was about 1.5hr into a 4hr spin and had completed 3 or 4 of my planned 10 hill reps when i was caught daydreaming.

Coming down the descent (pitch black still) and turning to go back up again at a cross roads i hit the deck hard and at speed. Loose gravel where i started to take a wide turn around. Bike went one way and me the other. Thought the right arm was broken and felt blood running down inside of my top but did not want to look. First thoughts were damn, my new galibier top will be ripped, secondly ouch i am hurting and finally where is my bike, is it broken.

Thankfully all three were fine bar a few scratches on the coat, the bike and me. Carried on for a bit but then felt a bit off and was starting to ache. Headed to the sisters in Stamullen as i was a bit beat up and perhaps a little in shock as sister said i looked rather pale and battered. Quick warm drink and assessed the damage, trundled back home for 3hrs in total, not a good day on the bike.

Sunday i went out for two hours with two purposes. One, to see how the body was, answer is sore, might need some Physio this week as my right side is very sore including my knee which i cannot remember banging. I have had roughly 4 or 5 crashes over the years and i think all have been on my right hand side, at least i am consistent.:o
Two, change the attitude and get out and enjoy cycling my bike again. That was achieved with a stop in Slane Bake on the way home for some additional kcals.

No idea on total hours for the week as my battery is gone in the SRMs but about 9 or 10 crappy hours for the week. Best put this week behind me and not dwell on it too much.

Need to get myself onto a team for Ras Mumhan. I need to have the fear of a big race hanging over me to keep me focused and training away to a decent level. Also mindful 15 weeks is a long time for consistent training without the reward of racing. I wish race season would come around quick!

joey100

Hope your ok after the fall, seems to be happening around here a bit now. Hopefully doesn't knock you back too much or mean too much time missed training. I hit my knee too coming off the bike but not off the ground, the handlebar end smacked into it and took out a chunk. Could see after that why they make sure you have bar ends in when you race. In all my crashes I've come down on my left side, like to think that sub consciously I'm protecting my derailleurs and cranks but not sure it's anything as fancy as that.

Anyway, hope your not too beat up and able to get back on the bike!

RJM85

Hope the recovery is quick.