Chasing the Kona dream and a Mai Tai cocktail

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Sunday
1hr easy run
Not a great run in fairness and probably down to the fact i was tired after staying up late watching Kona and the kids up earlt leaving me with 4 hours sleep:o Calves were tight from the cycling in the runners so i spent a good 20 minutes rolling them out when i got back.
Time: 1:06:24
Distance: 12.7kms
Pace: 5:13km
HR: 154


Happy with the 9.5 hours work put down for the week and extremely pleased with the effort/progress shown in the 3 swims along with the feel good run on Friday. Early morning sessions are really helping with the training/life balance but i just need to work on hitting the bed earlier for a quality 6/7 hours sleep a night. The days of getting by on 5 hours is long gone.
More of the same for next week will do nicely.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Monday

AM - 2200mtr swim set
Talked myself out of the bed then back in and then out again which meant i was in the water for 6:40:) Generally i was feeling tight all over but the swim soon helped loosen me out. Session was a mix of some kick work which i find tough, some 200s easy, 4x50 descending and some 100's with pull buoy to help focus on stroke and rotation. Overall a decent session.
I am reading some info on my swim style through swim smooths swim types and i am certainly an Arnie type, very good reading.
Time: 50mins
Distance: 2200mtrs

Weekly weigh in this morning and i have gone from 70kg down to 69.5kg in the last week and the food intake has been very good. Even over the weekend i only had 2 glasses of red (thats how i roll):D

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Tuesday
AM Bike - 1hr easy spinning
Another early start and my first time doing a session with the power meter on the turbo so it was going to be interesting to see what the differences were like.
I kept a >90 cadence, focussed on good pedal stroke and kept the slope setting to one. Kept the hr in zone 1 and had the polar and garmin hr on. It was only 2 bpm out this time, polar showing 2 less so the garmin is starting to settle again.
After the hour i compared both sets of results and all i can say that even after calibration i was shocked to see the differences. A few who are used to training on the turbo and are switching to power meters prepare yourself as you may have your bubble burst like i did:)
Essentially the readings for me were 20% off, sucks big time as i am not at the level i first thought so it just means the proposed Roth bike split and comfortably holding 210-220 watts for 5 hours is going to be a tougher ask but still doable.
Once i get a proper FTP test with correct power measurement i know what will be required. My gut feeling tells me about 60watts to find in the next few months.
Time: 60 mins
Distance: 27.87km
Power: AP 124 / NP 125 and turbo 154:o
Cadence: 94 and turbo 89
HRM: 136garmin/134polar

Lunchtime 40min Easy Run
I received the new Brooks ST5 racers this morning. After recently retiring another pair of shoes i decided on picking up something lighter with less cushioning for the faster stuff. Nice shoe and i could see me racing these up to 10k possibly even HM, one thing is for sure i will be well lit up with the colour of them on early morning or dark evening runs:)
Run was fine, easy for the first half but effort levels increased a little on the way back as i hit some hills and into a strong headwind for good measure.
Time: 39:37
Distance: 7.97kms
Pace: 4.58km
HR: 155

menoscemo

Any Plans for long runs before DCM pacing or are you happy enough as it is?

If you want I might do 18-20 at pacing pace on sunday week (8 days before DCM). We could maybe do the second half of the Mara course if you're free.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

menoscemo wrote: »

Any Plans for long runs before DCM pacing or are you happy enough as it is?

If you want I might do 18-20 at pacing pace on sunday week (8 days before DCM). We could maybe do the second half of the Mara course if you're free.

Nah Niall i will give it a miss i reckon the longest run i will have beforehand will be an hour and a half, just going to keep ticking along as the coach prescribes the sessions. DCM will just be a long easy day on my feet.
Looking forward to it.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Wednesday AM
Swim Session - 2200mtr set
This was a real good session and a real confidence boost that i am noticing little improvements as each session progresses. It also helps that i feel the swim fitness returning, one thing is for sure i will never let 6 weeks pass without going to the pool next time around.
Set was a 300swim, 200pull, 100kick warm up followed by 4x50 with some f/sculling mixed in to help with "feeling" the water, 4x50 with 25 fist and 25 swim, 2x200 steady +20sec and 2x150 mod/hard +15 sec. I then done 4x50 fast with a longer interval and i nailed these in 55,56,57,56 which shows improvement from last week.
Happy as a pig in sh*t with that session.
Time: 55mins
Distance: 2200mtrs

Izoard

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

DCM will just be a long easy day on my feet.
Looking forward to it.

Just goes to show how far you've travelled in a few years!

Fingers crossed for a nice day on the 31st!

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Izoard wrote: »

Just goes to show how far you've travelled in a few years!

Fingers crossed for a nice day on the 31st!

Actually never even thought of it like that, my pb last year in June 2010 for Cork was 3:56 and that was murder at the time:)
Now i am joking about essentially doing the same this year as a bit of craic...how times have changed indeed:)
Are you sticking around for post race pints?

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Wednesday
40 min run with 5x20sec bursts
With a missed lunchtime run and the missus heading out early to watch Alan Carr with the girls i just about squeezed this one in.
I was sluggish starting off but soon opened up after 20 minutes when i hit the 20 sec bursts. I was hitting just under 3min km pace for the 20 secs.
Easy plod home and happy out.
Time: 40:01
Distance: 8.07km
Pace: 4:56km
HR: 154/178

Thursday
Lunchtime Gym-Core Session
40 mins focussing on the usual core work, gym no longer appeals to me as its boring as hell

PM - 50 min turbo with HC,Builds,BG and sprints
As the the title suggests i have not visited my pain cave since the last 10km of UKIM. There is a little monkey that lives there and he was getting lonely so i brought him some bananas on the 3rd, 4th and 5th interval of the 3min big gear work:) I love the suffering and work you can put in on the turbo, there is nothing like it.
Below is the ride file from the power meter on WKO+, some pleasing stats in particular the 20min and 30min peak power at 255 watts and 246 watts respectively. I tipped out at 676 watts in the sprints.
A real confidence builder if ever there was one, delighted i hit those numbers i am obviously not completly useless on the bike:p
Time: 50mins
Distance: 23.4kms
Power: avg power 231/norm power 244/max power 676 watts
Cadence: 80/124
HR: 156/177

El Director

Those numbers are impressive JB for sure, keep that up and you'll be an animal on the bike come next summer.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Friday
AM - 2200mtrs swim session
On the menu this morning was the usual warm up of swim/pull/kick followed by sets of 50s f/s and m/s. Some rnr was employed in the form of 4x50, i was spluttering a bit on the first one but got to grips with them. Then 4x50s des in 60,60,58,56 topped of with 10x50's concentrating on good form. Another enjoyable session and i perked up when the fish in the next lane who has been swimming beside me and said nothing for the last 6 morning sessions (not even a hello) made a comment of what he seen as "improved technique" from when he first seen me last week:)
Time: 50 mins
Distance: 2200mtrs

Lunchtime 40 min run
Out in the brooks st5s (love these shoes) 25 minute easy, 10 minute increased effort but still easy and 5 min easy back to work. I was holding 4.43km pace for the 10mins which was nice and comfortable.
Time: 40:39
Distance: 7.96km
Pace: 5.06km
HR: 143 first 25mins, 159 for 10mins and 148 overall

Looking forward to the 2.5hr spin in the morning.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

El Director wrote: »

Those numbers are impressive JB for sure, keep that up and you'll be an animal on the bike come next summer.

The BG work was probably done at a higher effort level than required for this type of session especially whilst still in the prep stages of training.

pgibbo

Does that mean that you are still doing the sessions off feel / HR rather than power zones as you are getting familiar with power?

Nice improvement on the swimming. Will you be doing any group swims or stick to swimming solo?

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

pgibbo wrote: »

Does that mean that you are still doing the sessions off feel / HR rather than power zones as you are getting familiar with power?

Nice improvement on the swimming. Will you be doing any group swims or stick to swimming solo?

A combination of both P, hr and feel. Any numbers prior to the power meter arriving are junk so i will be re testing in the next week or two to establish my power zones along with some swim and run testing. Pointless doing it now as i am still in prep and regaining fitness as each day goes by.

Going solo for another few weeks on the swim until i iron out my technique issues and i will then consider jumping into a group session. Deffo noticing more quality with the sessions the coach is prescribing compared to the junk swims last year. As each session goes by i am correcting something along the way and for once i am enjoying and looking forward to my swim training sessions instead of muddling through them.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Saturday
2.5hr easy spin with 4x15 sprints
Woke up with a very sore and stiff back this morning which led me to stop twice to stretch out on the ride but other than that an enjoyable ride and more time in the saddle. Need to get lights sorted as i had to wait an hour for it to lighten up before heading out!!
Sprints avg/max in 492/594, 515/639, 488/620, 531/652
Avg power: 167
Norm power: 181
Max power: 652
HR: 142/73%
Cadence: 88
Distance: 67.79kms
Time: 2:28:52
Elevation: 435mtrs

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Sunday
Plan: 1:15 easy run
Actual: 1:38 very easy run
I had the Mother and Father stay over for dinner on the Saturday so i headed out with the Father this morning for an easy run. He is running his first marathon at DCM and at his age he is doing really well and may push for sub 4hr which would be cool.
Run was longer than planned as we were chatting away and missed a turn which added about 3/4 kms onto the run.
Time: 1:38:01
Distance: 17.27kms
Pace: 5:40km
HR: 125/63%MHR

Weekly totals
Another decent week and fitness returning nicely. Thursday bike was the stand out session for the week and i continue to make progress on my swimming. Just over 11 hours for the week.
Swim: 6600mtrs/2:30
Bike: 119.06kms/4:20
Run: 41.27kms/3:38
Other: 40mins

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Monday
AM Swim - Planned 1800mtr set & Actual 1500mtr
This was the toughest morning to get out of the bed, i eventually got to the pool and had no goggles with me. Luckily the pool is a 2 minute drive from the house but i did have to cut 300mtrs from the set as i needed to get to work.
I had 6x50 with pt paddles and 6x50 with fs/ms/rsculling. There was also 6x50s descending 1-3 fast in 63,64,63 and 4-6 faster in 59,58,56.
Not as good a session as previous ones.
Time: 40mins
Distance: 1500mtrs

Tuesday
AM - Bike 60mins easy with a high cadence
Same session as last Tuesday, stuck on The Wire as i need to get back to watching this as i am still on S1:) Easy effort and some decent improvment on last weeks session. I am feeling unreal on the bike at the moment and keep having to reign in the effort levels.
Stats this week : 60min/Avg Power 179/Norm Power 193 / CAD 104/HR132
Stats last week : 60min/Avg Power 124/Norm Power 125/CAD 94/HR 136

PM - Club Run - 45mins easy
I missed my opportunity to run at lunchtime as i am up to my eyes in work right now and it looks like it will continue for the next 6 months. Good run apart from feeling stodgy from my dinner an hour before as i missed my lunch. Started off with 2 very slow kms at 5:40 pace and i was comfortably running 4:30/4:40 km pace with some of the faster runners in the last few kms.
Time: 48:55
Distance: 9.77km
Pace: 5:00km pace
HR: 154

Diet has been pretty brutal the last few days essentially lost no weight in the last week. My kryptonite is those bloody caramel crunch krushems in KFC....bloody addictive. I need to cut this and other sugary crap out if i went to get back to a decent weight of 65/66kg.

El Director

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

...stuck on The Wire as i need to get back to watching this as i am still on S1:) ...

Jealous

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

El Director wrote: »

Jealous

I found it hard to get into the first few episodes but its starting to get good towards the end of season 1:) I have heard its probably one of the best to watch.

Wednesday AM
2200mtr swim session
Bounced out of the bed and i was the first into the pool. Warm up of 300sw,200p,100k and 4x50 des in 58,57,57,55 then straight into the main set of 10x100 alternating between pt and sw with 20secs recovery. The pt work was difficult enough.
My lane started to fill with some seasoned breast strokers towards the end of my set so I switched to the fast lane with the "fish" who was doing his fast 50's (by count he was coming in on close to 30 secs:eek:) I had 4x50s with a longer recovery and i timed them as he went off and caught feet for about 3mtrs:) all the same my fastest set yet in 53,52,51,54 and a good 10 seconds quicker from 3 weeks ago, steady progress being made!!
Time: 50mins
Distance: 2200mtrs

shotgunmcos

Significant change in attitude towards swimming in this log! Good man and keep up the good work. Keep making the progress and I see a comfortable sub 70 swim at Roth

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Significant change in attitude towards swimming in this log! Good man and keep up the good work. Keep making the progress and I see a comfortable sub 70 swim at Roth

Cheers Mike. Like anything in life you tend to avoid the things you are weak/crap at. Not this year as i know without a good swim of 70mins or close to it i know the sub 10 is too much of an ask on the bike and run. Embracing the sessions year and beacuse i am noticing the improvements as i go along i am enjoying it.

Lunchtime Run - Easy 40 mins
Standard enough run in blustery enough conditions on a hilly course around work. I passed my eldest lad in the schoolyard out playing and i could tell he was not impressed by Dad stopping for a chat in front of his buddies. Oh how they change when they get older:o
Time: 40:01
Distance: 8.32km
Pace: 4:49 & 4:35 norm pace
HR: 158 although spikey for the first 5 minutes

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Thursday
Silly O Clock - 48min BG Turbo Session
I had to be in Dublin very early for all day work meetings which meant hopping onto the turbo for a 4:30am start. I was bloody wrecked after clocking up 4hours sleep:( Session was far from my best, numbers are well down on last week although the effort was less as i kept the hr capped on the BG work at 85% of mhr. The session this week was the usual HC work, 30 sec builds and 3 x 5 minute BG work with cadence around 50-55.
Time: 48mins
Distance: 21.25kms
Power: avg power 162/norm power 178/max power 640 watts
Cadence: 75/114
HR: 149/169

Half arsed 30min core workout
After a long day this was nearly a cancelled session but with a 100% 28 out of 28 sessions so far since i started back i took a small dose of GTFOYA (my own term:)) and got it done.

Hitting the leaba early and hope to get a good 7 hours of solid sleep in as i am bloody wrecked tired. I have a tough strength session in the pool and a run with some moderate work thrown in so need to tick those two boxes tomorrow.

El Director

Fair play JB, getting it done! Keep tipping along, ticking the sessions off one by one

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

El Director wrote: »

Fair play JB, getting it done! Keep tipping along, ticking the sessions off one by one

Missed my swim session this morning:o needed the extra 1.5 hours sleep tbh. Now rearranging my day to get it done at an extended lunchtime and pushing the run out to this evening after work. The "missed sessions now missed goals later" struck a chord with me in your log.
Juggling things now imagine when i get back up to 20+ hours:)

shotgunmcos

Aliya Wailing Bench wrote: »

"missed sessions now missed goals later"

Depends on the session. Missing key sessions matters more. Missing rec runs or the usual swim set isn't going to matter in the long run. Catch up training can be significant though. I'd recommend learning how to let sessions go now so that you don't develop a habit of catch up sessions when the going gets tough.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Friday
Lunchtime Swim - 2500mtr swim set
I figured as i worked long hours and i am the boss i took an extended break seen as i missed my early morning opportunity.
I was cursing the coach during this session as it was bloody tough. I had a 1,200mtrs of band & buoy work which had my legs sinking like the titanic. I can see the positives of doing the work as it builds strength but also gets you thinking about trying to keep your body on top of the water amongst other things like trying not to sink to the bottom.:)
A chap out of work who would be a decent enough swimmer reckons it is tough going. He went off and done 100mtrs with the band on and said it was like swimming in concrete up front. On a positive note he has also mentioned that my stroke has totally changed to the extent he did not know it was me swimming in the lane when he came into the pool. This is coming from someone who would have seen me swimming a fair bit during my IM build up.
Areas of improvement he noticed was a higher elbow, no crossover of the centre line, leg kick improving (legs not as wide) no snaking and better rotation which leads to better breathing.
I might see can i hit an early morning group session in the NAC or somewhere in Dublin if am down the direction with work as it would be good to have someone on the pool deck critique my technique.
Out of all three disciplines right now i cannot believe i am actually enjoying swimming the most eek:
Time: 1:10
Distance: 2500mtrs

40 min run - mixed effort
Plan was to run by PE with 20 minutes easy, 10 steady, 5 moderate and 5 easy.
20 mins easy - 5.03km pace / 146
10 mins steady - 4.40km pace / 162
5 mins moderate - 4:06km pace / 168
8:43 mins easy - 5:18km pace / 158
Enjoyable run and overall felt very comfortable with good form. I was hitting a run cadence of 90 for most and up to 94 in the 5 minute mod work. Right achilles a little tender, something to keep an eye on.
Time: 44:02
Distance: 9.2km
Pace: 4:52km
HR: 155

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Depends on the session. Missing key sessions matters more. Missing rec runs or the usual swim set isn't going to matter in the long run. Catch up training can be significant though. I'd recommend learning how to let sessions go now so that you don't develop a habit of catch up sessions when the going gets tough.

I here you on the key sessions alright for example i would see todays swim and run sessions as the key sessions within each discipline for the weeks work. I would never play catch up on a missed session a day after although during the day the session is planned i will always need to juggle things around, its a case of having to with a busy life:o. Somedays it may be an early morning and lunchtime session changing like it did today to a lunchtime and evening session.
The more important issue i think is listening to the body when something is up and being able to let a session go.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Saturday
2.5hr Roth spin
No option this morning other than an early turbo as i needed to stay in the house. Loaded up the Roth course and off i set holding an easy to steady pace throughout. I cannot believe i used to do 5 or 6 hours on the bloody thing, after 2 episodes of the Wire i was getting bored so found some pumping tunes to see me through the last 30/40mins. Took 1 gel about 1.5 hour in and took on 2 750ml bottles of fluid. Done and dusted as the kids woke up for brekkie:)
Looking at WKO the majority of my work is in the IV Quadrant, low force but high velocity and probably where it should be.
Average pace and power over 180kms would have me in around 5:55 or so, just need to find 56 minutes and about 60watts:) so.
Time: 2:30
Distance: 76.7kms
Other stats below

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Sunday
80 min run
I was putting this off all day, the JB clan decided to have a duvet day and with the wet and windy conditions outside i had to tear myself away from my comfortable surroundings and out into the wet and wild conditions.
After two minutes i was soaked through after 5 minutes i was enjoying it, i like running in the rain its just the dry to getting wet transition i do not enjoy. The plan was 19:30 of running with a 30sec brisk walk, rinse and repeat until finish.
I ended up running very strong towards the end, perhaps to get home to the hot bath that was awaiting.
Missus took a photo of the drownt rat at the door and the kids laughed at crazy Daddy out in the wind and rain.
Time: 1:27:13
Distance: 17:51kms
Pace: 4:58km/4:55km norm pace
HR: 155

menoscemo

I'd be laughing at you more for those shorts than for being wet :pac:

RacoonQueen

Can't believe you wore those shorts in a non-race situation.