Chasing the Kona dream and a Mai Tai cocktail

shotgunmcos · 12-06-2011 12:03am

Nice running JB, enjoy the hills tomorrow :pac:

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 12-06-2011 5:07pm

Well that was one mental day, waiting to defrost myself.

Izoard · 12-06-2011 5:23pm

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

Well that was one mental day, waiting to defrost myself.

Felt like a manky February day, TBH....

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 12-06-2011 8:17pm

Headed out around 7am in the full winter gear with a mate from work. Took the first hour with him very handy (around 22kmph pace) i left him at the Sally Gap when he got off the bike to walk up it:) Turns out he turned back shortly after the big wuss:) I did not pace the Sally Gap climb well and went into the red early on which left the rest of the climb as a real struggle. There was two nasty crashes on the SG descent and i nearly added to the statistics. I was hitting about 65 when i came upon the sharp right/left at the bottom crossing the river where i think someone ended up in it:eek:. I just about made it around and had to stop right after it as i near crapped myself.
I paced the Slieve Mann and Shay Elliot climbs very well keeping the hr below 155 and passing heap loads along the way. The hills sessions are deffo paying off as i completed the majority of both these climbs seated and dare i say it i really enjoyed it, the hill work is paying off!! The descents however were a different matter, i more or less had to keep the brakes on all the way down on both SM and SE with the driving rain it made visibility very poor.
At the last checkpoint i was shaking with the cold as i had lost the waterproof jacket from my pouch early on in the ride so i was soaked right through for the majority of the ride. It was that bad i was hoping for more climbing (which we got) to keep myself somewhat warm. I don't know how anyone done that today in borderline summer wear as there was a load of them about

Cycled in the last 40km handy enough with one of the lads i know as he looked as if he was borderline bonking, thankfully he finished well after some more food & gels.
Overall i enjoyed the challenging conditions and that spin to Wexford two weeks ago stood me well. I reckon there was about 2500 mtrs of climbing, can anyone confirm as my garmin appears to have packed in since i powered it off:(. I might as well of submerged it in the sea with the amount of rain we had.
Overall a Z1 effort and i felt fresh after it but bloody freezing. Not ideally what i wanted from the session as i would have liked a higher IM paced effort (around 144-146 hr) but at least i know what my slowest speed around the IM course will be:)
Stats from finish was something like
Distance: 199km (an extra 7km due to a wrong turn at the last checkpoint)
Time: 8:04 rolling time
Avg speed: 24.7kmph
HR: 135
Climbing: 2500mtrs?

I think i deserve a glass of vino after that day. Well done to the few tri heads on here who braved the conditions and to the marshalls,it cannot have been fun standing around in those conditions.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 12-06-2011 8:18pm

Izoard wrote: »

Felt like a manky February day, TBH....

Right up there as one of the worst weather spins i have completed. At least our IM bike sections will seem easy:)

RacoonQueen · 12-06-2011 9:16pm

Well done. I'm glad I stayed in bed this morning.

kingQuez · 12-06-2011 10:33pm

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

Overall i enjoyed the challenging conditions and that spin to Wexford two weeks ago stood me well. I reckon there was about 2500 mtrs of climbing, can anyone confirm as my garmin appears to have packed in since i powered it off:(.

My garmin gives me "Elevation Gain: 2,547 m". You'd win the prize for guessing how many marbles are in a box with estimation skills like those sir!

Well done today -

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 12-06-2011 11:14pm

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Well done. I'm glad I stayed in bed this morning.

You dodged a bullet there RQ. I was actually thinking to myself recently it is about time you do a sprint tri...what ye reckon as it could be something different? I know you hate swimming sure so do i but heh at least you have the bike and run to make up time:)

kingQuez wrote: »

My garmin gives me "Elevation Gain: 2,547 m". You'd win the prize for guessing how many marbles are in a box with estimation skills like those sir! Well done today -

Ha Ha not far off then. I think i read it on the site or ridewithgps or something. How did you get on? did you practice your swimming coming down the Slieve Mann:)

I have had two glasses of wine tonight and it feels like two bottles:) Cheap date.

RacoonQueen · 13-06-2011 12:00am

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

You dodged a bullet there RQ. I was actually thinking to myself recently it is about time you do a sprint tri...what ye reckon as it could be something different? I know you hate swimming sure so do i but heh at least you have the bike and run to make up time:)

Cycling with other bikes around scares me more. Was considering the one in Tri 795. Have to build up brownie points for the bike transport.

"We really should head to Wexford and introduce your baby to the cousins sis, I'll bring my bike, for a cycle, in Wexford..."

I now finish work the day before though, the celebratory beers could scupper this ( or give me a valid excuse to wus out) :pac:

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 13-06-2011 3:50pm

Week 30 Summary
07th June - 13th June|# sessions|Time hh:mm|Distance kms
Total|12|21:34|422:94km
Swimming|3|3:58|9.3km (2.5km OW)
Cycling|5|13:19|361.24km
Running|4|4:17|52.4km
Conditioning|0|00:00|Strengthening Work/Core - Gym
Other|0|0:00|

Totals so far[/cU]
15th Nov- 13th June|# sessions|Time hh:mm|Distance kms
Total|341|404:44|7350.04km
Swimming|75|69:35|190.75km
Cycling|112|193:28|5793.5km
Running|128|119:26|1365.79km
Conditioning|20|18:15|Strengthening Work - Gym
Other|6|4:00|Stretching & Swim Coaching

A pleasing week and happy with the effort levels in nearly all the sessions. The unplanned 5k pb time was an added bonus for the week.
More of the same planned for this week, then a recovery week followed by a final 2 week block and then taper time.
I will knock the distance back a bit on the long bike for this week but will be increasing the time/distance on the long run.
Only 47 days to go:cool:

@RQ: Go ahead and tri it (excuse the pun:)) you will find the cyclists are normally well spread out in these races as there is no drafting allowed.

shotgunmcos · 13-06-2011 4:39pm

Well done on the W200, sounds like it was a tough day out. Not long to go now... I'm bored of training :rolleyes:

kennyb3 · 13-06-2011 8:43pm

Fair play to yourself and all the others for slugging it out for so long in the wet yeaterday. Good spin to get under the belt with such a hilly IM course.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 14-06-2011 10:28am

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Well done on the W200, sounds like it was a tough day out. Not long to go now... I'm bored of training :rolleyes:

Yeah it was tough but i enjoyed it especially the hills as they kept me warm. I hear you on the training front i just want to race at this stage. It is probably down to the fact that both of us worked from such a long base period that it seems the training has gone on forever.....which it has:)
At least your up soon and i am looking forward to see how you get on!!

kennyb3 wrote: »

Fair play to yourself and all the others for slugging it out for so long in the wet yeaterday. Good spin to get under the belt with such a hilly IM course.

Hey KB. Yeah plenty of climbing, testing conditions and a tougher route than UKIM. I am actually taking the ferry over to the race and bringing both the road & tt bike just in case it is a miserable windy/rainy day as i would be opting for the road bike over the tt setup.
I seen there was a few of the Swords lads out braving the conditions as well, good bunch of people.

Monday
Swim Session - Interested Session 1 Set
Plenty of kicking in this one which i need to work on. The 8x75 kicks towards the end of the session had my quads and hams screaming. I will not be rushing back to pick this set again:)

Evening Run
I was garmless for this but sometimes it is nice to just go out and run without constantly looking at the watch. I knew the route well, 2k down to Oldbridge 2x5k laps around the field and 2k back home for what was an enjoyable and relaxed run. Stopwatch had me down for 1:09 running time.
I must check the hotpress and see if my garmin has sprung back to life or if i need to buy another one:(
Time: 1:09
Distance: 14km
Pace: 4:55km roughly

El Director · 14-06-2011 10:52am

Well done JB on W200. I think it's now fair to say that you have the mental toughness down for IMUK. You have had so many of these ling and testing bike rides, surely in tougher conditions than IMUK. Mental toughness can not be over rated imo.

You guys must be sick of the training at this stage. The only thing that keepsme going is the races. I don't think I'd have that sort of discipline to do an IM event. I suppose you must really want it and be ready for it. Two of the reports i am most looking forward too. Fair play to you both.

El Director · 14-06-2011 10:52am

Well done JB on W200. I think it's now fair to say that you have the mental toughness down for IMUK. You have had so many of these long and testing bike rides, surely in tougher conditions than IMUK. Mental toughness can not be over rated imo.

You guys must be sick of the training at this stage. The only thing that keepsme going are the races. I don't think I'd have that sort of discipline to do an IM event. I suppose you must really want it and be ready for it. Two of the reports i am most looking forward to. Fair play to you both.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 14-06-2011 2:39pm

El Director wrote: »

Well done JB on W200. I think it's now fair to say that you have the mental toughness down for IMUK. You have had so many of these long and testing bike rides, surely in tougher conditions than IMUK. Mental toughness can not be over rated imo.

You guys must be sick of the training at this stage. The only thing that keepsme going are the races. I don't think I'd have that sort of discipline to do an IM event. I suppose you must really want it and be ready for it. Two of the reports i am most looking forward to. Fair play to you both.

I will not be failing on the IM due to mental toughness thats for sure as i have some tough training days under my belt. I really am sick of training at this stage as the finish line seems so far away, 4 weeks training and 3 week taper left:(.
TBH i think thats why i decided to do that 5k last week to act as a distraction from IM specific training:rolleyes: If i was to ever do an IM again i think with the solid base i have built up i could work a programme of 16 weeks instead of 36 weeks, although that would be a big if.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 14-06-2011 9:39pm

Tuesday
Lunchtime Spin
Out for the usual spin at lunchtime. I threw in 5x3 minute bursts at PE9 and kept it steady for the rest.
Distance: about 23km
Time: 43 minutes

6x1km Evening Club Session
After googling various websites i managed to do a reset on the garmin and hey presto it is back working:). There is about 10 of the more experienced people in the club training towards DCM so these longer intervals and newly introduced tempo runs midweek will be of huge benefit for IM and for a fast marathon attempt later in the year.
Plugging in my projected marathon time into McMillan so i should be running these between 3:47 and 3:56km pace.
We had 6x1km intervals with 80sec recovery in between. Intervals were hit in 3:51,3:50,3:49,3:49,3:54 and 3:49 and they all felt good and easy tbh. I would have struggled earlier in the year running these intervals at this pace but not now.
Distance: 8.16km
Time: 34:26
Avg pace: 4:13km
HR: 163/181

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 15-06-2011 9:41pm

Wednesday
AM Swim session planned for this morning was cancelled as i did not sleep well last night, kids were taking turns waking us up for most of the night:rolleyes:.
I tried to get the session in at lunchtime but a work meeting ran over.

Brick Session - 31km bike & 10.8km run
Bike
Run
I had planned to be out for a longer brick but had to be back early to help get the kids to bed and the O/H was heading out to meet friends.
Overall the session was not my best, the cycle was lame but at least the run went better and that pace off the bike felt extremly easy although i will set out slower come race day. I have learnt short strides and a higher run cadence helps for the first 10 minutes for the run off the bike....read it somewhere and it seems to get the legs going quicker.
The poor bike was probably down to low energy levels as i had no food in me as i rushed out the door. At least i grabbed an energy bar and gel during transition which gave me the boost on the run. Lovely evening to be fair.

I hope to get a decent spin in tomorrow morning before work.

Not sure what is going on with Garmin Connect and my garmin but somehow i was in Copenhagen today running 51km @ 1:59km pace. WTF

menoscemo · 15-06-2011 9:50pm

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

Not sure what is going on with Garmin Connect and my garmin but somehow i was in Copenhagen today running 51km @ 1:59km pace. WTF

That's a pretty fast 50k

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 15-06-2011 9:51pm

menoscemo wrote: »

That's a pretty fast 50k

World Record, the running is coming on well:p

menoscemo · 15-06-2011 9:52pm

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

World Record, the running is coming on well:p

Good training for Conn

RacoonQueen · 15-06-2011 10:11pm

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

World Record, the running is coming on well:p

Impressive heart rate for that pace too!

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 16-06-2011 10:58pm

Thursday
Lunchtime Interval session cycle.
It was windy enough out which had me working a bit harder for the actual pace and working hard to keep the tt rig in a straight line. Threw in a couple of 3 minute intervals down on the tri bars grinding a big aul gear tting it but not quite like Cancellara:o Hr suprisingly low as i felt like i was working harder (higher end of 140).
Distance: 24.13km & 7km commute
Time: 46:02
Avg speed: 31.5kmph
HR: 139/156.

Club Tempo Run 1m wu/5mile tempo/1m wd
I ended up leading out some of the marathon group within the club, need to convert them to kms though!! The plan was a 1 mile warm up and then launch into your prescribed tempo pace which for our group was roughly under 7 min mile pace. I felt alright on this although the legs started to tire in the last mile. If i could put another 21 miles in at this pace who knows:rolleyes:
Distance: 11.28km/7 mile
Time: 50:39
Pace: 4:29km/7:13 mile & tempo pace @ 4:17km/6:54 mile
HR: 164/177

Swim Session with tri club
I don't normally chase missed sessions but felt real bad for missing the swim session yesterday. Headed down tonight after club training. This was bloody tough going and it was literally non stop for the hour, my arms feel like they are going to fall off.
There was loads of drill work but the main set was 3x(4X100s) on 2:10, 2:05 and 2:00. I was dying on the last set but i was coming in on 1:50 but by god it was tough going. If i can i will try hook up with them next week as no doubt the group swims bring you on rather than solo work.
Distance: 2.5km
Time: 60 mins

Tough old day and i felt on the limit during the swim and the end of the run. All well and good having a 3 session day but to have them at a decent to high intensity is not such a good idea.
Ah well 3 more days and into a recovery week and then two more weeks and taper. I might go for a rub down next week as the legs are starting to feel like Ironman legs.

kennyb3 · 17-06-2011 9:02am

There was a good thread on low HR's and windy conditions on tritalk a while back. Its not unusual

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 17-06-2011 9:57am

kennyb3 wrote: »

There was a good thread on low HR's and windy conditions on tritalk a while back. Its not unusual

Had a quick search and could not find the thread. Suprising that as you would think by working harder into the wind that your HR would naturally be higher.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 18-06-2011 11:17am

Friday
Today was all about easy sessions to try bring the legs back to life.
AM Turbo
Switched the swim around as the arms and shoulders were still tired from the group swim on Thursday night. Just took it handy, maintained a high cadence and spun out the legs. Felt better after it.
Distance: 43.25km
Time: 90 mins

Swim Lunchtime
Just done 4x500s easy and maintained an easy stroke hitting these around 12 minutes.
Distance: 2km
Time: 50 mins

Evening Easy Run
Joined another two club members for this nice and easy z1 run. The plan was 9 mile/14.5km. Legs still had the tempo miles in them from Thursday so it took me a while to work into it. We ended up doing the distance but i ended up forgetting to turn the garmin back on for 4/5 minutes when going through one of the pedestrian gates in Oldbridge.
Nice to do an easy run for a change:)
Distance: 13.65km (14.5km)
Time: 1:15:13
Pace: 5:30km
HR: 140/155

Long Bike - Turbo
Plan: 6 hours
Actual: 5 hours
It had to be the turbo for me today as i needed to get it done early as i have a long list of things to do today and get the kids to all their weekend activities. Hopefully this will be the last long turbo of my IM training as they are bloody tough to do and keep yourself going.
I climbed on board at 5am with the plan to be finished by 11am, i was holding a decent wattage/cadence for the first two hours averaging around 220/99 but that started to drop the longer the ride went on for. I set up a 180km route with 3x2km climb @ 3%, 1x5km @ 4%, 1x3km @ 4% and 1x10km @4% which finally killed the legs off, all in all about 1000mtrs over 20kms of moderate gradient climbing.
I wanted to give up at the 4hr mark, tricked myself into doing 4.5 and then onto 5hrs but with the best will in the world i could not go for another hour so finished the session an hour earlier than planned.
Had group 5,6,7 of the Tour de Swiss to catch up on for my viewing pleasure so at least i got caught up with that. Spent a good 30 minutes with the rollers sorting out some planks that used to be known as my legs:( At least the session is done early in the day!!
Distance: 162kms
Time: 5 hours
Power: 203
Cadence: 97
Avg speed: 32.4 kmph

Just a core session planned tonight in the house when kids in bed, 30km LSR tomorrow with the club doing 22km of it, an OW Swim (2.5km-3km) and that will be the week done and dusted. Really looking forward to the recovery week to recharge the batteries. Not a hope in hell i could of maintained a 3 & 1 recovery for the peak phase as the body would be shot to pieces heading into the third week.

Right enough rambling for now

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 20-06-2011 11:47am

Sunday
Sunday turned out to be a backwards traithlon training day Run/Swim/Bike

32.7km/20 mile LSR
I headed down to Jims field in Termonfeckin for an 8am start and got some kms in before the group started at 9am. First 10k was done at a very easy pace and i picked up the pace for the rest of the run. Nice relaxed run with a low z2 hr, really enjoyed it and could have easily kept going for another hour at that pace.
Distance: 32.7km
Time: 2:51:17
Pace: 5:14km
HR: 144/155

OW Swim
I only ended up in the water for about 20 minutes or so as i had to cut the session short as i swam into a few jellyfish. You know the type the big fckers with the long tenticles!! I ended up getting stung on the top and bottom of my right foot and it swelled up a bit after i got out of the water. It is very off putting to be cruising along only to run into these critters, i much prefer the seals now:)
The joys of OW swimming.

Distance: about 1km
Time: 20 mins

Cycle
I got back from the swim and decided i would cycle down to the parents for Fathers Day dinner. Turned out i got down before the missus as she was stuck in traffic for ages. Decent enough effort but it became very much stop/start for the last 10km with all he traffic and pedestrians heading to the blessing of the graves.
I treated myself to two dinners, carrot cake and big helping of apple tart....well you have to replenish those lost calories:D
Distance: 47.3km
Time: 1:30
Avg speed: 31.5kmph55kmph
HR: 140

kennyb3 · 20-06-2011 12:00pm

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

Had a quick search and could not find the thread. Suprising that as you would think by working harder into the wind that your HR would naturally be higher.

http://www.tritalk.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=78429

PS that foot looks nasty. Hope you took a good pee on it

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 20-06-2011 2:40pm

Week 31 Summary
13th June - 19th June|# sessions|Time hh:mm|Distance kms
Total|17|23:09|436.59km
Swimming|4|3:40|8.5km (1km OW)
Cycling|6|10:49|336.65km
Running|6|7:40|91.44km
Conditioning|1|00:60|Strengthening Work/Core - Gym
Other|0|0:00|

Totals so far[/cU]
15th Nov- 19th June|# sessions|Time hh:mm|Distance kms
Total|358|427:53|7786.63km
Swimming|79|73:15|199.25km
Cycling|118|204:17|6130.15km
Running|134|127:06|1457.23km
Conditioning|21|19:15|Strengthening Work - Gym
Other|6|4:00|Stretching & Swim Coaching

That finishes off another two week block of the peak phase which totalled out at 29 sessions/859.5kms/44hrs 43mins so its not at all suprising i am feeling a bit tired right now as i type this.
Going to try and get plenty of sleep this week, eat well and generally just recharge the batteries. This week i will only do 1 or 2 intense sessions and then i will be back the following week for the last two weeks of hard stuff.
Some decent sessions over the week and i am really happy with the work put down on the running with 2 quality speed sessions and a nice long run at the weekend.
I know the finish line is getting closer but it still seems so far away.....i feel like i am ready to race IM right now!!

shotgunmcos · 20-06-2011 4:07pm

I know how you feel!! I would need a week to recover though to race, I'm knackered! Was it one of hose brown compass jellyfish I posted a link to in my log that got you?! :eek: I saw them clear as day in the Kilkee Bay during the week, freaked me out they did.

Fair play on the 5hr turbo man, that aint easy

Chasing the Kona dream and a Mai Tai cocktail

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