Chasing the Kona dream and a Mai Tai cocktail

ronanmac

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

Sums up lake swimming for me as you don't know what is lurking around you.

If it's any consolation, anything that is down there is definitely more scared of you than you could be of it... (unless, of course, someone has given up on trying to house their baby pet Orca in an aquarium and let it loose in the nearest lake )

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

griffin100 wrote: »

Don't worry about it JB, if the water quality is anything like last year you'll be too busy making sure you don't swallow any of the green grainy water to worry about what's beneath you.

Ah thats grand feel so much better knowing that:eek: You are not helping Grif:)

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Monday
Chewing the handlbars -Turbo session
10 min warm up
5 min hard/big gear & 5 min spinning x 6
10 min warm down
All done at a .5% gradient
Really pushed it hard and had the hr up into z3 in the 5 min spurts. I was soaked through afterwards.
Distance: 47.6km
Time: 1:20
Avg speed: 35.2kpmh
Power: 264 watts
Cadence: 98
HR: 146/169

Tuesday

Club Run Session - 600s & 200s
Distance|Time|Pace km|Pace mile
5.32km wu|28:14|5.18km|8.32mile
600 mtr |1:59|3.18km|5.19mile
600 mtr |2:04|3.27km|5.34mile
600 mtr |2:02|3.23km|5.27mile
200 mtr |0:30|2.28km|3.58mile
200 mtr |0:30|2.29km|4.01mile
200 mtr |0:31|2.33km|4.07mile
600 mtr |2:06|3.31km|5.40mile
4.26km wd|23:42|5.33km|8.57mile
totals12.59km|1:01:41|4.54km|7.53mile

Happy with tonights session, ran from the house as Junior was not feeling well so made the most of the evening. I had to drop the pace a small bit after the first 600 as it felt a bit too fast for me with it being my first speed session since London. I struggled slightly on the last 600 but enjoyed the 200's in the middle.

Turbo - 30 minutes
Straight in from the run and jumped on the turbo and just spun the legs out for an easy 30 minutes. I stretched/foam rolled the legs for about 20 minutes after it and then ate a full Easter Egg:)

theboyblunder

great session. impressed with the 200m times - very fast for a marathon runner! I went flat out at this a while back and could only manage 31 secs.

I'll be having a go at that now.....:)

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

theboyblunder wrote: »

great session. impressed with the 200m times - very fast for a marathon runner! I went flat out at this a while back and could only manage 31 secs.

I'll be having a go at that now.....:)

Cheers TBB i reckon i could knock another 1 or 2 seconds off so you need to be hitting them in under 28 secs:p
I seem to have decent short speed under for anything under 400 mtrs which is strange considering my training. Next time i am on a track i am going to go all out and time my 100/200/400 times and see what pace i can hit.

theboyblunder

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

Cheers TBB i reckon i could knock another 1 or 2 seconds off so you need to be hitting them in under 28 secs:p
I seem to have decent short speed under for anything under 400 mtrs which is strange considering my training. Next time i am on a track i am going to go all out and time my 100/200/400 times and see what pace i can hit.

great stuff. end of summer. you and me (and anyone else who wants to), sprint race. game on

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Wednesday
3km Swim Session
I knew this would be a struggle given the lack of swims in the last while. The plan was a 300 wu, 10x200 with a 500 in the middle and 200 wd.
I was hitting the 200s around the 4:10-4-15 which is a bit of a sickener as i was coming in on these about 15/20 secs quicker earlier in my training. Amazing how the swim can suffer when you take the eye of the ball.
3km/total time in pool 1:15

Hill Repeats Session - Tullyesker Hillx5
Tullyesker Hill Repeats|Time|Avg speed
(1)2.85km|7:52|21.7kpmh
(2)2.88km|7:43|22.3kpmh
(3)2.88km|7:18|23.6kpmh
(4)2.87km|7:15|23.7kpmh
(5)2.88km|7:11|24kpmh
totals42.95km|1:27:18|29.5kpmh

Really pleased with this session considering each repeat was quicker. HRM up to its usual tricks for the first 10 minutes (need to get the ky jelly ordered). I had planned to do only 4 of these but i seen a cyclist head up the hill as i was coming down. He had about 400 mtrs on me and the competitive side in me was unleashed. I caught him in no time and as i passed he shouted i will hold your wheel, i said to myself best of luck as i am going to give it socks. Sure enough i turned and headed back for home and he was a good minute & a half behind huffing and puffing....he just gave me the nod of defeat:)
TT'd the last bit home averaging 35.1kpmh. A total of 477mtrs of climbing done, happy bunny.

griffin100

Hey JB, you can get ky jelly in Tescos, it's next to the condoms and vibrating c**k rings - and I wonder why my wife won't buy it for me.

Just make sure you pick up the right jelly, last time I bought a new one as they didn't have my usual brand and as I was liberally lubing up the undercarriage before a long bike ride I noticed that the label said that this particular ky jelly was designed to enhance feeling, sensuality and pleasure - not the reason I was rubbing it on before a bike ride.

That said that brand would probably be a good one to rub on the nipples to get a better HRM signal!!!!!

Bambaata

haha classic griffen100!

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Grif you owe me a new keyboard as i literally spat a cup of tea all over it reading your post:)
By far the funniest thing i have read in a while, wp sir:)

pgibbo

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

Amazing how the swim can suffer when you take the eye of the ball.

Amazing and frustrating as hell! :mad: One week or so out of the water and it feels like starting from scratch at times. I'm guessing it's the same for most triathletes unless they were childhood swimmers.

@griffin - CLASSIC!!! LMAO

interested

pgibbo wrote: »

Amazing and frustrating as hell! :mad: One week or so out of the water and it feels like starting from scratch at times. I'm guessing it's the same for most triathletes unless they were childhood swimmers.

@griffin - CLASSIC!!! LMAO

No, it happens to everyone - maybe just me - but I feel out of sorts or way off pace if I miss just a day or two. My advice, first session or maybe two, back from a break - just swim, ignore the clock, do a long warm up, do some stroke work, do some bilateral breathing or pull and start back working with the clock when you get a feel for it again. The stroke, the fitness its all there. Getting stressed out by the clock, or how much slower you're swimming etc etc can make things worse.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

interested wrote: »

No, it happens to everyone - maybe just me - but I feel out of sorts or way off pace if I miss just a day or two. My advice, first session or maybe two, back from a break - just swim, ignore the clock, do a long warm up, do some stroke work, do some bilateral breathing or pull and start back working with the clock when you get a feel for it again. The stroke, the fitness its all there. Getting stressed out by the clock, or how much slower you're swimming etc etc can make things worse.

Solid advice Interested i will try ignore the times for the next few sessions and just try enjoy them without watching the clock.

Thursday
Lunchtime Bike
Got out late so only had 30 minutes on the bike so just headed out the Duleek Road and back to work. No garmin as i left it at home but i kept it a very easy pace especially with the tough sessions in the last two days. Nice to be getting out in the summer gear.

Evening Club Session 12x200s:o
My heart dropped a little when the coach announced 12x200s for the session tonight. I decided to run these at about 90% intensity bearing in mind i have the race on Saturday and pacing duties at the GLR on Sunday. First 3 felt far too easy so picked it up a bit and kept the last one as my fastest one. This session was a real lung buster but i secretly enjoyed it.
The fast guys were saying i am coming on well at the faster stuff in particular my leg turnover is much faster than it was compared to two months ago.
I plan on revisiting the shorter distances like the 5k/10k after IM to see if i can improve on my pbs, should be easy enough as they are very soft.
Distance|Time|Pace km
2.85km wu|15:29|5.25km
200 mtr|0:35|2.58km
200 mtr|0:35|2.56km
200 mtr|0:36|2.57km
200 mtr|0:33|2.45km
210 mtr|0:34|2.43km
200 mtr|0:33|2.44km
200 mtr|0:33|2.48km
210 mtr|0:32|2.34km
200 mtr|0:33|2.45km
200 mtr|0:32|2.39km
200 mtr|0:34|2.52km
200 mtr|0:30|2.31km
1.22km wd|6:26|5.16km
totals6.5km|28:40|4.54km

shotgunmcos

Whats the deal with all the speedwork JB? Its 140.6 miles you are training for dude! Impressive rep times and all but

Good luck with your inaugural pacing gig!

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Whats the deal with all the speedwork JB? Its 140.6 miles you are training for dude! Impressive rep times and all but

Good luck with your inaugural pacing gig!

I know its the club scheduled sessions on Tuesday/Thursday, the sessions are probably of no real relevance to IM training (especially the 200s) and i am actually cutting one of the sessions out from next week to replace it with an IM paced run and/or brick session and keeping one of the longer interval sets like the 800s.
It must be said though without these sessions earlier in the year i may not have seen some of the running improvements that i have gained. Also worth noting that i have revised my IM run time down by 25 minutes over the last few months and its mainly down to improved running cadence.
I think one speed session a week, either an interval/tempo should form part of an IM plan or maybe not?
Looking at Zicos mentored thread i see he has one scheduled every week albeit over longer distances 1/2k interval sets.
It is interesting you brought it up as i spoke to one of the club coaches recently about it and told him i thought the speed training may not suit the IM training. His train of thought at the time was that it will help with leg turnover and you will find your steady/longer pace will improve as it will feel easier. Interested to hear your take on this though?

Cheers man may catch you over the weekend.

Macanri

Have a good weekend and enjoy the pacing buzz.

See you Sunday evening, please God.

zico10

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Whats the deal with all the speedwork JB? Its 140.6 miles you are training for dude! Impressive rep times and all but

Technically it's only 26.2 miles he's training for, which in relative terms isn't all that long.

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

Looking at Zicos mentored thread i see he has one scheduled every week albeit over longer distances 1/2k interval sets.
It is interesting you brought it up as i spoke to one of the club coaches recently about it and told him i thought the speed training may not suit the IM training. His train of thought at the time was that it will help with leg turnover and you will find your steady/longer pace will improve as it will feel easier. Interested to hear your take on this though?

I don't claim to be an expert, but my running coach also insisted short intervals were good preperation for marathons. He's from a purely running background, which I think isn't a bad thing. I don't claim to know much about leg turnover and what not, but I honestly don't see why training for a marathon should be any different to training for an ironman marathon. (Minus the bricks) Obviously you have your swim and bike training to factor in, but once you subtract these from the hours you're willing to give over to training you might be left with a figure of 7/8 hours.
If a newcomer training for a marathon asked me for advice, the sessons I'd tell them to make sure they covered would be long run, intervals and a tempo run. I've no great depth of knowledge to back this up, but that's the approach I took to Copenhagen and I was happy with the end result.

Good luck to the two of you marathon anyway. I think you're both mad to be doing it so close to an ironman, but that's a whole other debate.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

zico10 wrote: »

I don't claim to be an expert, but my running coach also insisted short intervals were good preperation for marathons. He's from a purely running background, which I think isn't a bad thing.

Good luck to the two of you marathon anyway. I think you're both mad to be doing it so close to an ironman, but that's a whole other debate.

Cheers Zico, yeah thats what my running coach was saying and he is also purely from a running background so took his advice at the time.

No marathon for me this weekend, i have done enough of them already:) Just pacing the 1.50 half marathon group which is very comfortable training pace for me. I will be tacking on a few kms and it will be this weeks LSR.

In other news i am no longer a tri virgin. I had a horrible swim (a lot to do and learn) with a decent bike/swim overtaking near half the field.
I will stick up a report on Monday as i will be busy between now and then.

Brianderunner

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

No marathon for me this weekend, i have done enough of them already:) Just pacing the 1.50 half marathon group which is all out race pace for me, i pity my pacees.

In other news i am no longer a virgin.

Good for you

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Friday
AM Swim Technique Session.
Took it handy enough at this and just mixed in a load of drills.
Distance: 1,350mtrs
Time: 55 mins

Lunchtime Bike
Another easy session with 3x5 min race pace bursts thrown in. Out on the tt bike.
Distance: 24.2kms & 7km commute
Time: 46:14
Avg speed: 31.4kpmh
HR: 138/164

Saturday
Muckno Sprint Tri
Left the house early and made the drive to Hollywood Lakes in Monaghan. I had not slept well the night before as i was a tad bit nervous doing my first tri event.
Arrived early so ended up heading out for about a 15 minute spin and a short 5 min easy run just to get the legs going.
Racked the bike, prepared my gear, slipped into the wetsuit and we were good to go.
Swim
I was ****ting it getting into the water:) It was not as cold as Lough Neagh but it still takes the breath away when you get in for the first time. The starter lined us up and cue mad panic as the start position was covered in weeds and people getting caught. Every time i kicked or moved my arms i was pulling up more weeds, i could feel my hr starting to rise before we even got going.
Starter let us go eventually and bang off we went, i tried to concentrate on my stroke and find some clear water. Within the first minute i had a guy swim/trample over the top of me which had me coming up gasping for air. I got going again but as we turned the first buoy i got a heel into the forehead, the pain could be best described as brain freeze:o At this stage i felt like my heart was beating out of my chest so took it easy for a few minutes. A quick glance and i knew i was going to be one of the last out of the water. I finished the last 200 mtrs a little bit better but by this time i had lost some valuable time.
750 mtrs - 20:09 - 96th out of 115:eek: I would say the actual swim time was about 19 mins as we had a run back to the timing mats in transition. I had targeted under 15 mins for this so really annoyed with the time.
T1
Lost about a minute faffing about getting the wetsuit off but other than that no other issues.
T1 - 1:56 - 84th out of 155
Bike
Back into my comfort zone. I took it handy for the first few minutes as the hr was sky high but i knew i would pass out a heap load of people on the bike and claw some time back.
The course was technical enough with two decent drags and two very sharp left turns. Do not want to sound bad but when i seen some of the people i was over taking on the bike it just showed how sh1t i was on the swim. I was trying to keep count of the number of people i passed but lost count after about 40 places.
Garmin connect is not uploading this morning but i think i averaged around 32.5kpmh.
18kms- 32:56 - 26th out of 115....better
T2
Much cleaner transition and quickly into my runners and off i trotted.
0:38 secs - 44th out of 115
Run
Passed out a good few on the run as it was very warm at this stage and a good few in front were suffering. I had targeted a time of sub 21 but given the hilly nature of the course (especially at the turnaround point) i was happy with my time. I snatched a few more places in the last 100 mtrs as i mounted a sprint finish:rolleyes:
5kms - 22:15 - 29th out of 115

Overall a 1:17:58 which is pretty **** and a dissapointing 57th place finish out of 115. I will never compete for a top 10 finish if i do not get the swim right. I was giving up nearly 10 minutes to the faster guys. I can take some positives that i can only get faster, there is a good 6 minutes to shave off the swim/first transition which would easily bump me up another 30 places.

Sunday
Great Limerick Run - 1:50 half marathon pacing - LSR for me
Met up with the pacers on the Saturday night for some grub, nice bunch of folks apart from that Frank & Ken combo.....awful messers:p
I was sharing the pacing duties with Amadeus. Off we trotted and straight into pace mode we went, this pace feels so easy compared to last year. I have to say i really enjoyed this run and the banter along the route was great. It was a pity about the mile markers as they were miles (excuse the pun) out in places. We got a decent group across the line for them to hit their target, there was plenty of hugs and high 5's going on across the finish line which makes it all worthwhile.
Some may say why go to the bother of driving all the way down to Limerick to essentially run your LSR, it's simple....payback. We all start somewhere and i was so greatful to the pacers that got me around when starting out.
Chip time: 1:49:42 job done!! total about 23.5kms with wu/wd.

Boyne 10k - Marshalling Duties
The club were running this and whilst we had 80 members running in it along with a 1000 others i decided to help out with the marshalling. It was a great event and we had some great results with a 2nd and 3rd place finish in the Mens and a 3rd place finish in the Ladies which was great for the club. I can see the numbers doubling for this next year.

Monday
The only way i was going to get the long bike in was an early turbo session as i had promised Mrs JB a lie on and she had a huge list of DIY jobs for me to do. I set the alarm for 4.30 but i hit the snooze button twice, eventually got on the bike at 5.30. The plan was to cycle until the kids woke up:) I stuck on the Tour of Flanders dvd, thankfully the VR trainer does not simulate cobbles as my arse would not have appreciated it.
Youngest lad woke up around 7.30 so paused the bike jumped off got him some brekkie and jumped back on. God love him he got his bike from the front room and put it beside mine and started to pedal backwards sharing some of my juice. It was welcome company at that point as the legs were feeling starting to feel heavy. I managed another hour before the rest of the clan woke up. Glad to get the session done early.
Distance: 96.8kms
Time: 3:06
Avg speed: 31.2kpmh
Avg cadence: 96
Watt: 217
Avg HR: 134

Does weed pulling and painting the decking count as training because thats what the rest of the day was spent doing:)

griffin100

Congrats on losing your virginity JB. As you probably worked out during the race pool training just doesn't replicate the fun of a mass OW swim start

Aimman

Pity you didn't have the opportunity to hang around for a few drinks on the Sunday, but fair play to you for heading off to for the Marshelling afterwards.

Abhainn

JB ,you would definately have learned alot in the race on Sat. The only good thing about having a poor swim is that you know you will be overtaking many on the bike and run. I know it well by now.
I really admire all the session you get in , made busy weekend there

ronanmac

That's one busy bank holiday weekend! Good to get the open water swimming out of the way, not looking forward to the kicking myself!

interested

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

FridayI will never compete for a top 10 finish if i do not get the swim right.

never say never chief
imho, for sprint and oly distance it can matter but for longer events if you can get used to open water swimming and put in practice your efforts in the pool you'll be amazed at how far along you'll come with a good bike and run. Giving up 10+ mins on a sprint and potentially more on an oly is alot alright but it'll get easier the more you swim in the open water.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Week 24 Summary
25th Apr - 02nd May|# sessions|Time hh:mm|Distance kms
Total|13|14:20|306.54km
Swimming|3|2:31|5.1km
Cycling|6|7:53|252.35km
Running|4|2:18|49.09km
Conditioning|0|00:00|Strengthening Work/Core - Gym
Other|0|0:00|


Totals so far
15th Nov- 02nd May|# sessions|Time hh:mm|Distance kms
Total|270|308:20|5484.46km
Swimming|56|52:10|148.95km
Cycling|87|143|4257.32km
Running|105|95:10|1078.19km
Conditioning|16|14:30|Strengthening Work - Gym
Other|6|3:30|Swim coaching


Some good quality sessions in last weeks training and the standout sessions in terms of effort were the club session on Tuesday and the hills session on the bike on Wednesday however the most enjoyable session was the LSR doing the pacing gig, great fun.

I have updated my projected finish time for my IM as the last time i put down some projected times was back in March. Should there be a DNF beside the swim:eek:
Swim: 1:15 revised to 1:30
T1: 0:05 same
Bike: 6:40 revised to 6.30
T2: 0:05 same
Run: 3:45 revised to 3.40
Total time: 11:50 same
I think i need to take a spin down to Bace 2 Race and have my swim looked at.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

griffin100 wrote: »

Congrats on losing your virginity JB. As you probably worked out during the race pool training just doesn't replicate the fun of a mass OW swim start

Pool/OW swimming are completely different. I have the half IM in 4 weeks but ideally want to try and get a few more crowded OW swims in to get used to them.

Aimman wrote: »

Pity you didn't have the opportunity to hang around for a few drinks on the Sunday, but fair play to you for heading off to for the Marshelling afterwards.

I was gagging for a few pints as well:o I would say it turned into a great session.

Abhainn wrote: »

JB ,you would definately have learned alot in the race on Sat. The only good thing about having a poor swim is that you know you will be overtaking many on the bike and run. I know it well by now.
I really admire all the session you get in , made busy weekend there

Learnt a lot and it has flagged a huge weakness which i need to rectify pronto. I suppose psychologically passing a load of people on the bike and run could have its benefits. Yeah mental weekend followed by a marathon home DIY session on the Monday:)

ronanmac wrote: »

That's one busy bank holiday weekend! Good to get the open water swimming out of the way, not looking forward to the kicking myself!

Probably best to give yourself as much room as possible. The first few minutes is the time to watch out for flying arms and legs.

interested wrote: »

never say never chief
imho, for sprint and oly distance it can matter but for longer events if you can get used to open water swimming and put in practice your efforts in the pool you'll be amazed at how far along you'll come with a good bike and run. Giving up 10+ mins on a sprint and potentially more on an oly is alot alright but it'll get easier the more you swim in the open water.

I hope so man or else that IM swim will be a nightmare!!

shotgunmcos

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

Does weed pulling and painting the decking count as training because thats what the rest of the day was spent doing:)

I don't think so! Otherwise I'll have to add about 4-5 hours a week to my tally over the next 3 months :cool:


That was one BUSY weekend JB :eek: Congrats on your first Tri. Hey trust me, you can only improve from there. Your swim was out of whack with you pool time so its just a case of getting used to the OW and wetsuit. You got stronger with each discipline too which is a very good sign. Well done on the pacing job. A mate of mine was delighted with his 1:48 PB thanks to yourself and --amadeus-- Top job!

griffin100

I have updated my projected finish time for my IM as the last time i put down some projected times was back in March. Should there be a DNF beside the swim
Swim: 1:15 revised to 1:30

Jaysus now you're starting to panic. You are well able to get a 1.1.5 IM swim. Your swim times are better than mine have ever been and I got a 1.15. Dont be worrying about one short swim. On the day seed yourself in the swim properly and you'll be grand. There's loads of room on the IMUK swim course.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

griffin100 wrote: »

Jaysus now you're starting to panic. You are well able to get a 1.1.5 IM swim. Your swim times are better than mine have ever been and I got a 1.15. Dont be worrying about one short swim. On the day seed yourself in the swim properly and you'll be grand. There's loads of room on the IMUK swim course.

If i was in a pool with nobody around kicking/punching me then yes 1.15 can be achieved but given my current OW swim pace i think its a fair reflection of where i am at right now. Thats not to say it will stay there:) plenty of OW swims between now and then to build the confidence back up and who knows.