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140.6 deep breaths...
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Great swimming shotgun considering that you are not back long in the pool. This reaffirms my belief that you will do a better IM time next year on a lower volume/milage, lets not forget that everything you did this year (and last) will still benefit you come next year. So although down on last years volumes I wouldn't worry, in fact I think it is better for you and that swim should be proof of it. Roll on IM 2012
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BikeActually got out on the road for a change. The plan was originally turbo but I figured I'd do the reps on the road. I have no power to go by so it was off RPE. It was unfamiliar surroundings too. Castlebellingham to Dundalk, swing around by Blackrock which was a nice piece of coast road, a 15km out and back on the N52 to Mullingar and back by Blackrock again. I got stuck straight into the work and did a 30min and 20min rep of work into a sticky headwind with 5 mins easy in between. The easy bit took in a bloody 3 minute hill though so wasn't much of a rest! It was supposed to be 100% FTP effort so I just grinded a big gear over the rolling hills to keep the heart rate in the 160s. It was hard work and I was barely mustering 32kmh for the effort. Once the work was done I turned around and spun easily. I intended 1:40 but took a wrong turn that thankfully only added a half hour. Just over 65km put down, my longest cycle since Roth. Avg hr 147, speed 30.6kmh. It was a bright fresh day but overall I felt rather heavy and unfit. Little hills felt like big ones and the wind just annoyed me after a while. Still, it was good to get out
Phase: staying in touch
21 -27 Nov|# sessions|Time hh:mm|Distance kms
Total|10|10:08|191.5km
Swim sessions|3|03:00|9,500m
Bike sessions|3|04:28|150.01km
Run sessions|3|02:20|31.96km
Brick sessions|-|00:00|---
Strength&Conditioning|1|00:30|Yoga
Weight check in the morning. DQS reflection tomorrow also.
It wasn't a bad week. An emotional rollercoaster but solid enough with mostly quality going on in the sessions. The swimming stands out. My form is certainly not justified by the work I've put in. However lets see if its still present when I do a solo set? I really really have to get some stretching and more yoga into the week though as my hammers especially are in poor shape.0 -
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Weight check: 77.5kg, -1.7kg for the week and -0.5kg overall
DQS for the week: +87 broken down as +12, +22, +15, +13, +7, +10, +8
Overall not too bad.
The alarm went off for a swim this morning, I hit snooze, blinked and it was an hour later. Session missed. There is a slim chance of getting to the pool after work but I'm not sure if I want to join the Monday evening madness. It would also require finishing work on time which hasn't happened in weeks.0 -
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shotgunmcos wrote: »There is a slim chance of getting to the pool after work but I'm not sure if I want to join the Monday evening madness. It would also require finishing work on time which hasn't happened in weeks.
The Club Coached session is on tonight 8-9pm if you fancy blagging your way in for a swim in UL. It wouldn't be as high end as your normal routine but might be better than nothing 0 -
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@RedB - thanks mate but that session was too late for me
@metamorphosis - thanks for the thoughts, she sure does know.
Swim/Run Brick
So I opted for the madenss of the Monday night pool. Yes its is quieter later in the evening but I promised Caz I'd be home so the choice was made. One lane for the public with a dozen in it up to all kinds of shenanigans. A couple with fins on doing drills, 2 lovely looking swimmer bodies, a couple of tri lads doing f/c and the rest breaststroking really really slowly. Some of the breast strokers were burly lads too who like to swim in the middle of the lane. I drummed up a set of 6*400 in the car on the way over to start off the longer sets that stood to me last winter. I thought I'd go off 7:30 but thats what I did last year so to guage progress I figured I'd go off 7 minutes and see how I got on.
6*400 off 7:00 in on 6:23, 6:26, 6:26, 6:24, 6:26, 6:24
I was pleased with that effort given the amount of overtaking and guessing where to position my hands and feet at the wall I had to do. One tanned girl in a blue suit flew passed me a couple of times though and she was barely kicking. I tried to engage her feet but she was too fast. I don't know how she managed the tumble turns at the wall either with 2-3 people loitering there
Last winter a similar set was off 7:30 and in on 6:37-6:41 so this was a step up in that session. It was solid work and I was right on the edge of losing the stroke. It wasn't pretty swimming, more of a dogged effort but hopefully I will improve the efficiency.
I changed quickly into runners and hoppedon the treadmill for a half hour easy run. 6.5km. I was hungry and teh gym was warm so it was at a higher RPE than I'd like. I perched myself in front of the window that overlooks the pool and watched the tanned girl doing her thing. She had a beautiful stroke. Lovely soft catch and barely a splash at the end of the stroke or at her feet, yet she was lifting out of the water. Every once in a while she would roll onto her back for a few strokes for a rest I'd imagine. She made it look effortless. I could have watched it all night.0 -
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shotgunmcos wrote: »The intention was 5am but Caz.. eh.. distracted me on the way to the pillow so I forgot to set the alarm. I woke up late for the swim too but still got a short easy dip in before work. 0
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Ha i laughed at that bit too.
And so when are we getting these before and after pics?!?! You're killing us here :P
I'll take a couple this weekend and post. House is done but hardly a stick of furniture. Big changes though and overall happy we are
@Notwitch & JB - the smut is in your own minds gentlemen
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The Plan
The challenge was to get home from work, do an hour turbo, shower, change and have it all done in 1.5 hours.
Actual
As the clock ticked towards 5:15 I was delegating like crazy. Half of my team were off on a training course for the day so I was mucking into their lot. Proper multitasking abilities going on. I was making a good fist of it too and began shutting down my 2 screens at 5:30. My desk was tidy and I was ready to dash for freedom. Freedom was a door at the end of a corridor 60m from me. However I had a few standard obsatcles to negotiate. The later shift. The Boss. The Director. The Corridor. The unexpected.
The later shift: A couple of girls on the team who work a later shift and like to call me over to review an urgent account as soon as I pick up my car keys. They were on the course though and got to go home early. Check!
The Director: If he emerges from the office looking for my attention, I don't make the door for another 30-40 minutes. I was prepared to hit the floor and crawl under the desks to get to the door His door was closed. Check!
The Boss: I had to swing by her desk to give her an update. I saw her picking up her keys too preparing to dash, excellent. Check!
The Corridor: The lurking danger of meeting the wrong person at the door (while holding it for others) and walking at snail pace to the freedom that awaits at the end of the 40m listening to them unload their day. The Boss was moving fast so the update could be delivered at a decent moving speed en route. Freedom was a minute away. Check Check Check!!!
The unexpected: I'm always on the alert for the damsel in distress, the man on a mission or getting to the car park and realising I've forgotten something. It looked to be a clear shot, until the colleague from India I had been baby sitting all day whipped out a camera to take some shots to bring home. He wanted to get the Boss in it too. Noooooo! We have a resident pro-photograper on the team who would have made short work of this situation but she had already secured her freedom. I was stuck. He wanted to find a suitable giant company logo as a backdrop too :rolleyes: Crap. Right, shoo to location, yank a random reluctant photgrapher from her desk, thrust the camera at her, bark some inaudible instruction, pose and grin. Thankfully the volunteer was in her element with the technology to the degree that I had a sudden fear of her directing some more shots. I left my colleague to pose alone and caught up with the Boss in the corridor to deliver the essential update. Check!
I had secured the freedom and sat in my car at 5:40. It was now in the lap of the traffic gods. I got lucky and pulled into the driveway 5 minutes later.
Turbo
I wasted no time. Not even my usual stop at the cookie jar. The turbo was ready, the gear was ready and I was spinning within minutes. It was a straightforward hour at an aerobic tempo with 30 second surges every 5 minutes. I had Beyonce vs Rihanna on MTV for company. I was wired and went off at a rate of knots. Within 10 minutes I was dripping but had settled. I pedalled at a fresh 100rpm and pushed the surges to V02 output at 125rpm. Caz arrived home 40 minutes into the session, took one look at me and opened the window in front of me. The cold air was like manna from heaven. I sucked the oxygen into my lungs and it felt like I had taken a gel 10 minues ago and it was taking effect. The session was good. 91% FTP average and the full hour put down. At times I seemed to find a good balance between pushing and pulling the pedal and when I did the power came easier. Looking at my watch too I had almost 10 minutes after wards to shower and change. Nice one.
The new house has a wet room downstairs and I pass the washing machine on the way to dump the soaked gear. After a short cold shower and change I was done. Mini challenge complete The evening was then spent with friends amassing the most negative DQS score imaginable
Everyone in front of me more or less tumble. I survive because I have a powerful kick off the wall. This effects me in longer sets 800m+ though as the power squats take their toll.I always presumed you were tumble turning in the fast lane. How are you surviving - does it screw the lane up if some tumble and others don't?
Thanks. For some reason you just brough me back to my Judo training days... interesting. I'll try that as soon as I can time my breath successfully to negotiate a turnMake sure you are following your lead arm through and across your body when you flip.0 -
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This log has been shamefully devoid of running recently. I've been doing a little here and there but its been short low key stuff. Barely 20km a week just to stay in touch. I had to find the love for it again after the Berlin wall re-erected itself for me. There are no Marathons on the 2012 plan. However if I don't make it to the IM I may reverse that decision. The plans are a little obscure at the moment and I'm just about holding onto to sight of some goals through the mist...
A Run
I arrived home yesterday evening to the pleasant sight of Caz kitted out and psyching up for her first run in months. With some wine induced persuasion from her own Marathon buddy the other night, she has tentatively got the Stephen's Day Caherdavin 5 miler in her sight. I too kitted out with long sleeves and gloves and proceeded to warm up with some exercises in the driveway. I thought about skipping but it was pretty cold out and I didn't fancy a slap of cold rope in the back of my neck before the run. Caz was only out for a 15 minute easy jog but she was back by the time my stupid garmin collected the signal from the skies :rolleyes:
The run itself was good and felt like the first proper run I've done in ages. It was over 10 minutes by the time my lungs adapted to the cold air and I got stuck into some work. 4*1km threshold with 4 minutes easy recovery. The reps came in on 3:43, 3:37, 3:35, 3:25. I did them in an industrial estate so it was flat. On the first one I struggled to get the legs turning over as quickly as I wanted. It was a bit of a shock to the system actually. I really have to work on this cadence. The next 2 were good steady 5k pace kind of efforts. My heart rate was in the low 170s for them which was spot on. The last rep hurt more than anticipated. I pushed too hard and stitched up after a minute which made the remainder feel rather unpleasant. I stopped and heaved for a brief moment after the set before jogging home. By the time I hit the door I felt much better, despite predictably tight hammers. It felt like a good session.
Swim Squad
My swim nemesis is back for good which is great. The technician proved to be a bit too fast to call a nemesis in her absence. I have her number on the faster stuff but still drop back for endurance work. The longer sets really sort the swimmers from the triathletes. There was a good group down and it was improved again with the addition of the softly spoken scot who kept a low profile at the back. The warm up was kicking and my legs felt a little ropey. No doubt down to the run last night. The Coach has a need for speed on Fridays so I expected some sort of pain to emerge after a tame 8*50 and 1500 low heart rate endurance main set.
It was just 4*100 but they were all out efforts off 3:00. I was a bit surprised when the first one came in on 1:20. I didn't believe the clock. However the next 3 came in on 1:20, 1:20 and 1:21 and were strong to the end. Ok, I was hanging over the ropes gasping for air after them but managed to pull it together by the 3:00 RT. I was dreading any more work and felt rather delighted when the Coach called a choice cool down. I opted for a few lenghts of easy breast stroke which I enjoyed. It was a good session all round 0 -
As promised some pics of the project that consumed the second half of my 2011 after Roth. This one is shows a before and after of the Bathroom. Its not finished yet but all that is left is cosmetic, colour, plants etc..
The original fornt door was off center. My main senses are visual and audio digitory so that pained me. We changed the look of the whole exterior and smartened up the entrance 0 -
The old kitchen was small, dark, dingy and 65 years out of date. I'm a foodie and the kitchen first had to be located to the center of the house and then brought into the 21st century. The original design was based on an award winning kitchen which we re pencilled. The challenge was A) the fit and
the budget with such a high spec. The pull up socket on the island has 2 usb ports for example. Overall we were thrilled with how is turned out. We went through 5 fifferent kitchen providers until we settled on a guy who did an outstanding job and gave us incredible value for money. I'd recommend him to anyone so if you are thinking of remodelling, pm me and I'll pass on his details. He has done kitchens for TV personalities but is as modest and humble a tradesman as you will meet. Bang for buck Now to bring the jamie oliver out of myself! 0 -
Ah its seem I have reached my upload quota so the rest will have to remain with the imagination Hopefully the 2 rooms uploaded gives a flavour of the project.
Edit.. well ok then just a couple more
We chopped a bit of the old hallway ceiling back to put the new stairs in. The plan is to put a runner up the middle of it for some colour. The new room will become a chill out room when it is furnished. For now I'm allowed turbo there for now The wetroom is an addition downstairs so I don't have to drag my sweaty self up the new stairs for a post painfest turbo shower.
So, thats it I'm out. Time for a jog around the city 0 -
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