140.6 deep breaths...

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

I did not know you were a fellow Poker degnerate:). I played the live circuit for about 5 years and a lot online.
I have not really played anything since the WSOP main event in Vegas last year and with training poker has taken a back seat.

shotgunmcos

Tuesday long training triathlon
I had the day off work so headed to Kilkee for the last big session of the programme. Basically, spend the day putting it all together and see how the body holds up. It was 3.8k/145k/20k done and dusted in 7.5hrs and I was wrecked for a finish

The Swim: A local mate mapped a route out for me to get me the distance if the tide was in. I started on the slip in front of the Rescue Centre just after 10am near where the HOTW swim will start and circled the beach before heading towards the ocean. I had the bay to myself. He told me to go out to the edge of the reef as there were no currents which I did. Passed the diving boards, which is as far as I would have ventured on my own and out to the edge of the reef. I could see the cliffs back along the coast. The water was crystal clear. In the shallower bay at the beach there were shoals of little fish and crabs, further out it was jellyfish. I don’t mind the harmless ones but I swam over a couple of compass jellyfish hovering 2-3 feet below me and that freaked me out a bit. The route was supposedly 3.8kish with the tide in but with it out I did it in a shade over 40 minutes so I doubled back to the diving boards to get the distance in. I stood up back at the slip on exactly 1:05 and it was definitely 3.8 if not a bit more put down. I was pleased with that. I wore the Garmin for the first time in the water but it clocked twice the distance hmmm. I didn’t stop the clock until I wandered up to the car though. This was a good confidence boost that I can definitely target 65 for Roth. Transition was relaxed, about 10 mins getting the bike out and gear on etc...

The Bike: I had planned on 5 hours easy with IM pace inserts but it was hard to gauge where to do the IM pace bits on the HOTW course. It’s an unforgiving course. There are some fast bits but they all come after extended drags or the HOTW hill. Then there is the wind and the poor road surface. Even with the fast descents you still have to push as the road surface doesn’t tend towards gliding down. I ended up doing 120 of the 145km at IM intensity and eased down after that. It meant holding a 33kmh average for almost 3 laps of the HOTW course which I was pleased with considering I had to go over that hill 6 times. I’m thinking with a better road and longer straight sections I can average 34kmh with less energy. This was a tough though. I hit consistent 1:18s for the 3 laps and practiced the race nutrition. Powerbars for the first 2.5 hours then gels every 20 mins afterwards. I swung by the car after lap 2 to refill the bottles. In hindsight I’m unsure about the powerbars. The first 2 were grand but the chocolate flavour is a bit heavy for a warm day. That plus the gels went down ok on the bike. I finished with a short out and back from Kilkee before I put the bike back in the car. I felt a bit rough though. It took more out of my legs that I anticipated and I didn’t drink enough water. My heart rate stayed around 140 for the IM pace and 136 overall for the 4.5 hours. I was on 5:30 pace for the whole spin average so I think on the day on fresher legs and better roads 5:15 is a fair target for where I am. So far theoretically, this would have me on course for the sub10. Again I took a relaxed transition to get my run gear on.

The Run: It wasn’t exactly a Roth simulation as I spent the first 3km running back up the hill again. It was a shuffle at best. I had the signs of a stitch on board too so kept the pace as relaxed as I could. The Garmin, which had been good on the bike, was now acting up on me. I ignored it and ran at RPE. I was holding around 4:55/km pace it seemed which was bang on. At 7.5km I was about to take a gel when I Border Collie legged out of a gate over excited and jumped on me. I didn’t quite have the energy to fend him off. I spent a minute discussing with his owner who maintained he just wanted to run with me, yeah right. He was friendly enough though. I took a short break and washed down a gel. It was H5 electrolyte mixed into water and I didn’t like it. On the day it will be strictly water only to wash down gels. The stitch was toying with me by the time I turned back after 10km. Doonbeg was right in front of me before I turned and I was very tempted to jog down to the mobile home and sit down. The pleasant day was now very overcast and ominously so. Thick dark clouds rose above Kilkee on my way back. It was tough going. I’ve done more comfortable brick runs off long bikes over the last few months but there was something missing from my body for this one. More water or salt perhaps. I’ll take on more of both for Roth. I took another gel at 14km and wished I had some cool water to wash it down instead of the warm bottle. The run up the hill again was torture. I stopped a couple of times just to get going again immediately before my legs registered me walking. I also had the wind in my face. I hung onto 5min/km pace for the remainder of the run and finished the session back at my car very tired. I wasn’t completely spent but not far off either. I average 4:51 pace for the 20km which is about the pace I’d need to hold up to register a sub10. I don’t know. The tendonitis from the winter showed up to a slight extent as did the hip flexor issue. Neither a real player though thankfully. I reckon I could have pushed on for another 10k if I didn’t have that blasted hill in front of me again but another 12k on top of that would be hurtsville and 99% mental. Thankfully the legs held up. I think they will get me through. I have to limit the GI issues to make the first half marathon more comfortable. I need more water, salt and maybe just one vanilla powerbar in the first hour.

As expected I was fairly tired by the time I got home and the residue of the session is very real today but I’m happy with the fact that if I can just add another 25% of the same on race day I might just get it! Nothing is for certain but what is in the bank at this stage will have to do. 4 days to taper...

@JB - My Bro has been to the WSOP main event too but I just dip in and out occasionally for an hour or so, I play micro turbo games or some cards on a pizza nigt with the lads whereas he plays the real deal. I don't have the time to be sitting down for 8 hour tourneys, unfortunately. I do enjoy the little I play

Izoard

Good man - seems like it was a tough course to do this session on, relative to what you'll face in Roth...

Looks like you are all set..enjoy the taper.

RedB

Well done. Good way to test run the fuelling strategy. Was it all water you had on the bike?

kingQuez

Sounds like a tough session MCOS, and some days training is just a bit of effort. You've the hard stuff done now, and the structured taper will have your mojo back biting to give it some welly by the time Roth comes around.

For the record I also hate the real jellyfish, saw some recenly where I swim and even though they were a couple of metres away just made my skin crawl and me want to be out of the water

El Director

kingQuez wrote: »

For the record I also hate the real jellyfish, saw some recenly where I swim and even though they were a couple of metres away just made my skin crawl and me want to be out of the water

Me too :eek:


Well done shotgun that was some session, it will stand you good stead on the big day.

I presume it will be very warm in Roth, if so do not under-estimate you salt requirements. After doing two HOTW's on hot days I know the importance (as do you). I now use an electrolyte drink like Nuun or H5 Zero. Handy tabs that you just pop into your water.

zico10

Impressive swim and bike stats. If you can do 1.07 on your own in Kilkee Bay, then 1.05 in Roth, with plenty of feet to follow, shouldn't be a problem.
Don't know the Roth bike course, but the HOTW course could certainly not be described as fast, that you'll go faster in Roth with fresher legs is a reasonable assumption.
My only worry for you, would be that you still don't seem to have a definite nutrition strategy. I've heard stories of fig rolls, sports bars, gels, drinks, even Lion bars, but at the end of the day it's all about getting calories on board, how you go about this is up to you. But I think somewhere else, you've been warned of the dangers that go with solid food. To be eating only Powerbars for the first 2.5 hours on the bike, strikes me as a bit much. Other parts and systems in your body will be working hard, you should help them by making digestion as easy as possible. It seems late enough in your plan, to be finding out, or deciding, that maybe you're eating too many bars.
Water is hugely important, especially at the start of the cycle. Don't forget you've been on the go for over an hour, before you get on the bike. You still have hopefully less than 9 to go. At this stage you might not feel like you need to drink WATER, but you do. You should be ready to collect a new bottle at the first aid station. On the bike you should be pissing regularly, I'd say I went 5 times over the 180km.
I'm sure you've heard it before not to experiment with new things on race day, if you haven't been using salt tablets up to now, you shouldn't start in Roth. This is the advice that was given to me and I don't think loss of salts affected me on the day. I don't know what the weather has been like in Ireland, but you must have gotten a sessions in, in warm weather. If you're worried about loss of salts, a simple, if fairly disgusting, way is to lick your forearms. There'll be plenty of sweat on your face you can dine on as well.
An average pace of 4.51, you say will get you what you want, and I've no doubt you're capable of this. Your run is certainly not to sniffed at, but remember it's for 42 odd km, not 20. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I get the impression from reading your report, that you were starting to suffer towards the end of the run. Like you say, you really need to get a comfortable first half marathon in, ideally this feeling of comfort should last for the whole run. Coming off the bike with tired legs or under-fueled, then this feeling of discomfort is going to set in closer to 10km than 21.
Get things right on the bike and sub 10, should be no problem to you.

My 2c worth

shotgunmcos

A couple of easy runs..
A short recovery jog last night with Caz but she was running a bit faster than her usual so I struggled to keep up with my dead legs for a change! We both started a mini running streak but mine will run out soon with lovely full rest days coming up. Out again this morning and it took a good 20 mins for me and my legs to wake up and realise we were running. I thought it was cool initially so I wore a l/s base layer. It improved from there but I'm banking on this same run feeling like a warm up in a couple of weeks I was both roasting and gasping for a finish.

@Izoard - that was the point of doing it in Kilkee and yeah I hope it feels easier on the day. The roads are defintely not as bad, hopefully the wind isn't either. I don't mind hills now (never thought I'd say that)

@RedB - I had an aero bottle of water only which I topped up. So about 1.3L of water. I had a 700ml over strength carb drink on the cage, approx 700cals. Total about 2L which was way below what I should have taken on. Lesson learned.

@KQ - It was just the exposed parts I was concerned about, my face and feet. I also didn't fancy catching any of those tentacles with my hand 2 weeks to go for you dude, stay healthy and seep as much as possible!

@El Director - I'll be salting everything I eat that week and on the day I'd opt for a shot of somthing really salty rather than sipping an electrolyte drink.. yeuch. Just don't like them

@Zico10 - Cheers for the feedback Alan. Yeah you hit the mark on the hydration. I'll have a target level of fluid intake to hit each hour in Roth. Up to now I've only had max 2L totl for up to 6hour sssions. I just didn't want to be stopping on long rides. I'll be tripling that in Roth at least. On the nutrition I hear you on the digestion and GI issues in general. I've had a think about it and I reckon as long as I'm getting the calories in I think I can stomach 12+ gels so I am going to avoid the solids. As for the salts, its still something I need to consider. If it comes down to licking my own face I'll do that but I guess I should sort an easir supply than that!

Gringo78

shotgunmcos wrote: »

As for the salts, its still something I need to consider. If it comes down to licking my own face I'll do that but I guess I should sort an easir supply than that!

I've used Nuun tablets, drop in a bottle to dissolve and I find the drink actually refreshing. I was able to stomach them no problem, you've plenty of time to try them between now and Roth so why not? You can start off by trying them during a short easy run or cycle so if they do cause you any problems they won't ruin a key session. That said, I doubt they would cause any stomach upsets. Sosa was having stomach problems during cork and I gave him a salt drink and it actually settled his stomach. Lack of salt can cause cramps in the legs and being well 'salted' will help you on the marathon when you need all the help you can get.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Dropped you a mail Mike.

griffin100

I know its late in the day but I changed to the Hi5 isogels this year and they have worked really well. They are easy to stomach and liquid enough that you can fill a 750ml bottle with them and drink from that. 24g of carb and 88 cals per 60ml sachet.

ronanmac

griffin100 wrote: »

I know its late in the day but I changed to the Hi5 isogels this year and they have worked really well. They are easy to stomach and liquid enough that you can fill a 750ml bottle with them and drink from that. 24g of carb and 88 cals per 60ml sachet.

+1 on the Hi5 gels. I've tried a wide variety over the years and the Hi5 isogels are the easiest on the stomach for me. That said, different gels seem to respond in different ways for different people. Powerbar gels make me vomit, SIS gels send my stomach all over the place.

shotgunmcos

Cheers guys. I've simplified the nutrition plan.

Nothing but water after the swim for 20 mins.
...Then a gel every 20 mins. powerbar ones which I lik chaseddown with 2-3 mouthfuls of water
...A 700cal overstrength carb drink, SIS, so sip and chase with water between gels. It will be in the aero bottle.
...At least a litre of water per hour, over double what I trained with. The water on the cage so I can replace at aid stations.
...No Solids.
...I try out some Nuun Tabs in the next 2 weeksto see how my body takes it, but I will have salt on my mind too.

...I tried at testd H5 stuff and not too fond, except for the chocolate recovery shake. Unfortunately H5 is the nutrition of choice for Roth so I'm going to have all of my feul on board. 2,300cals worth giving me about 420 per hour.

The plan is to get me to the run with no GI isues, no cramps and feeling good The run plan is a PB gel every 6k with lots of water, then coke as I need and whatever else teh body wants to get me home...

pgibbo

OK, no-one else has asked or mentioned it on here so I figured I may as well ask. Will you be stopping for pi$$ breaks or going it on the go on the bike? That's a lot of fluid and I'd imagine most people need a whizz at least 3 or 4 times on the bike leg if they're drinking the required fluids.

Any idea what's the norm?

kingQuez

pgibbo wrote: »

OK, no-one else has asked or mentioned it on here so I figured I may as well ask. Will you be stopping for pi$$ breaks or going it on the go on the bike? That's a lot of fluid and I'd imagine most people need a whizz at least 3 or 4 times on the bike leg if they're drinking the required fluids.

Any idea what's the norm?

I can't imagine anyone giving up a couple of minutes to a toilet break when they've trained for sub 10. I'll be well off this time (by an order of hours) and I sure wont be stopping. Not sure how easy this will be to do with an audience though

Hydration is the one thing in nutrition that I don't have a good feel for. In training I always get through a bottle an hour, (or a little less on long bike rides to avoid too many pee stops). Never had cramping issues so far, but I dont like the nuun or zym tablets so took others advice and got some salt stick tablets just incase (and tried them a couple of times to make sure they dont do anything bad). 1L sounds a lot, but I guess if its hot.... hard to figure these things out in irish weather.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

I splashed some poor Spanish fecker in the Barca HIM whilst peeing on the bike:eek: In fairness thats the risk you run when drafting
I am in the "not stopping for a pee" camp, you could easily loose 10 minutes over the day which could be the difference in hitting your target time and not. I do draw a line though on wearing adult nappies for number twosies:)

mloc123

Have you tired this nuitrition plan on you long bikes?

Pissing on the go is fine, but wet shoes suck

shotgunmcos

kingQuez wrote: »

stuff..... hard to figure these things out in irish weather.

@KQ -Thats the thing. Yes you can practice nutrition but I think its harder to practice hydration for an event that will be in 30 degree heat. I think the only time I had more than 1.5L on board for a long cycle, I was p!ssing every half hour. The lads though it was amusing at first and then just let me off to TT my way back to them.

@mloc - more or less but I always started with solids and finished with gels

So, on top of the salt and hydration thing I have not practiced the art of peeing while on the bike! The IM is 3 weeks away :rolleyes: Well there was one time where i was frozen with the cold and bonking fast on the way back home and peed withough taking my hand off the handlebar. Hmm.. I have some more browsing/reading to do

Training.. blah blah...
Oh yeah there was some training there too last night and this morning. A turbo and a swim but apart from "Is it race day yet?"... nothing interesting to report ...well except the craziness in the lane this morning which I posted in the main forum

I was chatting with a mate of mine who did IMUK last year and LanzaIM this year as his first 2 IMs and plans to do NiceIM next year (nutter).. anyway he reckons I'm about ready for taper with my mood swings My winning bet changed from brownies to a massive delicious carrot cake which I got stuck into last night. Caz had 1.5 slices, I had 7 :o:o

shotgunmcos

I was just heading over to the 1,000mile challenge happy as Larry with my 1603kms running thinking I could mark it off. Turns out I need to go out and run another flippin' 4.4 MILES before I can do that... stinkin' statute metrics :mad:

RedB

mloc123 wrote: »

Pissing on the go is fine, but wet shoes suck

Dare I ask is there a way to avoid this?
Or even a proper way to do it ?
One example http://tntsdhrdenner.blogspot.com/2008/12/how-to-pee-on-bike.html

From a cycling forum "Pee, then dilute your shorts with your water bottle. That way you don't even have to stop pedaling" :eek:

You may want to pick your time and place also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvdkfW6b5ks

Plus have a spare pair of socks in T2!

shotgunmcos

Weekend sessions..

Saturday evening build run
I missed my window to get out on the bike in the morning after a night out on Friday so was happy to get out before the sun set. It had been a long day of house stuff and I was a nit weay to begin with. I started out with Caz nice and easy jogging along chatting and finished at my own steady pace. I had a bit more energy than the few days after the epic brick but began to feel a niggle on the inside of my right knee towards the end. While it was a better run it wasn't by any means a good one. About 1:16 at 4:36 pace.

Sunday morning club cycle session.
It was a small group out as I assumed everyone else was either in Kilkee training, racing or resting for Kilkee. About 10 started and after a half hour it was down to 4 of us spinning along at a decent clip over a hilly route. Sunday cycles are usally easy but I had the company of 2 TT bikes and a strong Italian cyclist. I was on my roadie and adamant to stay on the small ring. It meant pedalling furiously at times. We were out for 2:40 altogether and I'd guess I spent about 2hrs of it at the front. So much for an easy spin! I knew I was lacking some juice when a section of rolling hills I usually drop the Sunda group on felt tough. The guys were pushing up them too making me work for it. On the way back into Limerick as suspected the Italian bolted off with the TTers in hot pursuit. I let them go. A minute later though I saw one of the TTers give up the ghost so I reeled him in. The other 2 were still apart so I just put the hammer down for 5 minutes and pulled the goup back together. The Italian fella said I should try some bike racing which I took as a nice compliment Anyway just under 85km done and I was glad to finish. I had some food on board but as the spin was under 3 hours I just drank water for it. It was Father's Day so I was allowed to have a sleep afterwards I needed it too.

Sunday evening struggling to put one foot in front of the other.
I had abandoned the idea of a brick run earlier as the bike took more out of me than usual. So, I headed out again late in the evening for 75min of the least motivated running I can remember doing. I just had zero energy or will to do it but I plodded around for about 15km like it was a punishment for failing an exam. My legs felt flat and dead. I was almost heel striking. My core struggled to support my upper body. I ran with my tongue hanging out, panting and sweating profusely. Junk miles if ever there were some. To make it worse, the niggle in my right knee gave out 40 mins into it. I would have walked home from there only I was hungry and craved a bowl of Alpen. At least the 1,000 mile challenge was done.

Weekly numbers - IM Phase week 13 of 13
13-19 June|# sessions|Time hh:mm|Distance kms
Total|12|19:34|307.45
Swimming|3|3:03|9.8
Cycling|3|9:07|294.5
Running|6|5:58|75.3
Conditioning|--|1:15|core


Overall I fell short of the bike mileage I wanted to do on my last IM phase week. But missing a 3 hour session at this stage isn't going to make much of a difference. I got the key session done during the week and that was the main thing. I really struggled with motivation this week. I was kind of sick of training.

So, the main body of work is done and in the bag.

Programme numbers - Base + Build Phases
01 Nov - 19 June|# sessions|Time hh:mm|Distance kms
Total|405|521:28|9,409
Swimming|100|97:06|302.8
Cycling|112|213:57|6,948.9
Running|170|166:21|2,126.1
Conditioning|23|44:04|31 rowing, yoga, core etc..


Volume averges
Weekly hours: 15.5 (inc core)
Weekly swimming: 9.2km
Weekly cycling: 210.6km
Weekly running: 64.4km
Weekly core: 1 hour

While the numbers just indicates the quantity of work done I feel as though I got a good deal of quality in there. Like any self made programe I'm sure a Coach would look back over it disagree with this and that, particularly the 2 Marathons in the spring saga. Ultimataly 15.5 hours may seem like a lot but taking a self coached approach to an IM actually adds a lot more to it. The time you spend reading, studying and planning. The weekly construction of the blocks to fit the plan. The hours pouring over detailed stats. It all means your training hours are probably matched by your mental commitment. I made a good fist of periodising the programme and addressing limiters early and most importantly balancing it all. I do think though that one major advantage of having a coach that you trust is that it frees up a lot of this time :cool:

Swimming has stayed at an average of 20% of weekly volume throughout. I have plenty of race distance swims done and am confident I can deliver on the hours spent in the water with a 65 swim at least.

Cycling started at 32% ofthe overall weekly volume and progressed each month to 47% wich I maintained through the build phase. While I would have liked to have more cycling under my belt I prioritised long solossessions over group spins and got a feel for IM pace early. I embraced the turbo for the winter and got some good long bricks done recently. The bike is typically my best bit at shrter distance so I hope the trend continues for long distance and I can set myself up for a chance at sub10. The nutrition and hydration plan will be finalised soon. Salt is the final testing point or me here. I aim to start the run under 6:30 all going well.

Running started at 32% of total weekly volume too but I progressed this to 37% by Decemeber and maintained a higher (for me) weekly kilmeterage up to February. This was to address my running base which I saw as a weakness. It resulted in PBs at 10k, half marathon and marathon distances but the second marathon was a mistake and interrupted the rhythm for a few weeks. A lesson learned. I came closest to the edge with running out of the 3 diciplines. Thankfully no injuries other than some minor wear. Overall running has improved with the base fitness laid down. I just need to pace the swim and bike, execut ethe nutrition, stay hydrated and cool and hope that the focus pays off.

I've done more core over the last 33 weeks than I've done in 2 years and I can safely say it is worth the time. Both for running posture and staying injury free. Just my 2c on that. I'd recommend pilates or yoga to anyone.

So, 19 days to the Race. No doubt I'll become a paranoid hypochondriac soon and I'll forget about all the work done and panic about even finishing!! Time to tidy up the diet and impose a strict bedtime curfue. The visualisation has started in earnest.

shotgunmcos

Yesterday started well. I got on the scale at 75.7kg , had a nice breakfast with Caz and made my way to work humming along to some tune in the car. I had my wetsuit in the boot for a dip after work and was looking forward to a nice swim to kick off taper.

Then life threw one of those testing days at me.
Hell at work, other life stuff and then did something to my back. I can’t pinpoint how but lifting tools from the car at lunch break is the likely candidate :rolleyes: Not sure what it is but its musculature thankfully and either lower back or top of the glut. I had the physio booked for Thursday anyway so I’ll get to the bottom; excuse the pun, of it then. Instead of the swim I comfort ate crap excessively and the pain meant a sleepless night to boot. Marvellous day indeed! Training will be tentative this week. I’ll probably slot myself in to Marshall the Hell of the West at the weekend and watch the action with envy. I’ll bring the bike and hopefully get a cycle and a swim in the Bay done. I’m down to 14-15 hours for this week’s planned volume, a lot of which will be core now. Zero done so far...

pgibbo

Hope you recover rapid and the back isn't too serious.

shotgunmcos

Wednesday morning Yoga
After a couple of days of nothing and a rub I figured yoga would be a safe environment to see how she goes. Got through that fine. I haven't been in ages though and my flexibility seems to have gone backwards :rolleyes: Anyway I then jogged around the indoor track a few times and it felt ok. Its just a little stiff so business as usual will reasume cautiously. I've another rub tomorrow. It was only a couple of days of sitting on the couch but a sense of depression (the sports kind) was setting in. My last session at the weekend had been awful and I was mad to have a 'good' session to fire up the mojo. I read an interesting write up on tapering by Chuckie V http://chuckiev.blogspot.com/2009/06/science-of-tapering-is-art-part-1.html which got me thinking about having a 3 week taper, although its just 2.5 weeks by now. It holds up the key aspects of tapering I've read in other articles too, albeit with slapstick rhetoric I'm resisiting the urge to cram a load of cycling in this weekend!

Its a bit unnerving that the next 'big' workout in the programme is Race Day! 17 days to go...

Must galvanise the positive energy..

El Director

Hey dude, I really hope that back is ok. Just be carful becuase it is one of those things that will cripple you and it's next to impossible to continue if the back flares up on the day, I'm sure it won't but just be careful-getting to the start line now well rested and in one piece is what it's all about. Just my opinion but you know this already.

After 6 days of nothing but negative thoughts I am beginning to turn around finally. I looked forward to the taper and the reduced work load-now it's doing my head in, the bloody guilt! Now I am looking forward to a few guilt free San Miguels and easy 5 milers and lying around catching up on all the reading that has piled up on me over the past 6 months.

Anyway, time now to put the trust into all the good work we've done and believe....believe what we've done is more than enough, believe that our good results/times/PB's were no fluke and believe that the best is yet to come!! A little pep talk for both of us :cool:

shotgunmcos

@ El Director - Cheers for the pep talk Mr Motivator

Ok 4 days of no training! It feels like there is a lunatic trapped in my body waiting to get out to smash things. I woke up bright as sunshine at 3:30 this morning and seriously contemplated going for a long run. I opted to go back to sleep only because it was dark and raining and subsequently missed the intended morning session. :mad::mad::mad: To make matters worse I stupidly stepped on the scale this morning to further depress myself :rolleyes:

On the positive however, my back is clear enough to train. There is a TT league win up for grabs tonight if I show up and beat the cyclist dude currently occupying top spot in my category. Off at 30 seconds intervals, I'm going to try and get my name on the list behind him and then chase him like he stole my mojo and gets to keep it if he beats me to the line

Hopefully I'll get another shorter training triathlon done on the HOTW course on Sunday and I'll be feeling the love after watching the race on Saturday...

kennyb3

How sure are you the back is 111% right?

Just a full gas TT seems like a strange come back after 4 days of no training...

I'd rather say it now then after

shotgunmcos

@ KB3 - Fair observation.
A) Physio said shouldn't be an issue, it was actually a strain at the insertion point at the top of my glut
I did some Yoga poses yesterday that isolated the spot and got through them ok.
It was more evident running so I won't be getting out of the saddle to power up a hill this evening if it doesn't feel right. I have a 40 min cycle out there to suss out how the system feels. Its only a 15km TT anyway and if anything I'm fresher for this one than any of the series. If I catch yer man early I can back off to ensure I just close the 30secs on him.

kennyb3

Ah yeah i figured you d know yourself but no harm someone pulling you on it so its in the back of your mind when giving it socks later just in case you do something daft.

shotgunmcos

kennyb3 wrote: »

Ah yeah i figured you d know yourself but no harm someone pulling you on it so its in the back of your mind when giving it socks later just in case you do something daft.

Much apprciated dude, its one of the reasons I keep a log on boards Although I'm being subtly enticed away to the world of Blogs and Coaching, I'll hang around here a while yet because of the community!

Well done on your cycling podium by the way, been browsing more than logging lately!