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140.6 deep breaths...
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Aerobic lunchtime run capped HR (155)
I had to do this a couple of days ahead of schedule as my lunchtime schedule looks rather busy for the rest of the week. Conditions were miserably grey and wet. A persistant misty kind of rain that soaks you to the bone. I wasn't expecting any progression on the last run just 5 days ago so just set out to run comfortably and controlled. That didn't happen. My heart rate seemed to glue itself to 156 on any sort of little incline and I almost had to walk to settle it back down. Not happy with the control at all. I felt heavy, like I was running with a weight on my shoulders. Weight check in the morning.
On the plus side I feel some motivation creeping up on me again. Its been missing a long time now. I'm going to look to take a scalp* of sorts in each race I do this year. Part of the race reports in this log will describe what scalp(s) I targetted and whether I took them or not
Progression
Date|Route|Time|Avg Pace|Avg HR|Max HR|Conditions
Jan 5|8.3km|37:43|4:32|151|157|mild and windy
Jan 13|8.3km|36:28|4:23|147|155|mild and calm
Jan 19|8.3km|35:11|4:14|151|157|cold, wet and windy
Jan 24|8.3km|35:17|4:15|151|158|mild, light wind and v wet
*not inglorious bastards type scalps...0 -
Turbo sweetspot session
Its a session I've done before but now I have a higher FTP value to play with
10 minutes warm up easy
12 minutes at 90%, average HR 143, max HR 148
5 minutes easy
12 minutes at 90%, average HR 149, max HR 153
5 minutes easy
12 minutes at 90%, average HR 149, max HR 154
15 minutes coold down easy
Very solid session. I actually enjoyed it. Felt good and the thrid rep was much more controlled and steady than I anticipated. A bottle of shower gel had opened in my bag and I didn't realise some of it got on my shorts. I finished the session like I was doing it in a bubble bath
It looked like I was wearing a foam hula hoop! 0 -
Swim Squad
This morning was the set where you generally get lapped by the fish.
After a sleepy warm up and a few hard 50s to rev the engine..
2*400 with 40 secs rest
2*300 with 30 secs rest
2*200 with 20 secs rest
2*100 with 10 secs rest
Its a 2k main set that really breaks the group up as there is no repeat time, just the prescribed rest when you hit the wall. The lane evloved as the 2 lead fish doing their thing, a pack lead out by my swim nemesis and me and the tecnician in between. The tecnician was just back from a week of snowbaording and partying and cruised easily on my feet. We had clear water on my nemesis too and I set myself a target of not getting lapped. So I basically swam at threshold for the set. I was a bit shocked when one of the fish who I thought didn't even know my name, complimented the progession in my stroke. I was too wrecked to do anything other that smile and nod
In the end I wasn't lapped and even managed to put some more distance on my nemesis, even if she is only swimming once a week. The girls outnumber the lads 2:1 in my lane. Its not the worst place to swim in the mornings!
3,200m total0 -
shotgunmcos wrote: »A bottle of shower gel had opened in my bag and I didn't realise some of it got on my shorts. I finished the session like I was doing it in a bubble bath It looked like I was wearing a foam hula hoop!
Oh my god I laughed uproariously at this:D hilarious!!0 -
Hill Run
It was a bit of a scramble to get across the county for this but since it would serve as a recce for my fist adventure race of sorts I had to do it. Keeper Hill is one of the highest points in Munster at 694m. The run is 13km up and down and includes 500m of climbing. It was pitch black to begin with. I parked up just as the group were heading off so a rapid transition to trail shoes and headtorch and I followed with baby steps up the steep incline passing a few as I went. The terrain was easy enough for teh first 5km then became rocky and wet. I clearly went off too quickly as my heart rate hit 170 within minutes and I was breathing hard. I had a long way to go so I had to rein it back. It was just on trail so there was no real risk of me getting lost. I lost the group again and tried to track the lads up ahead. It was more open so I could track their lights from a few hundred meters back. At the short course turnaround the the clouds had folded away to show a spectacular view of Limerick in the dark. The last 2km is the steepest bit and I had to stop for a few seconds a few times. We entered thick fog with a km to go and it was slow slow progress searching the few meters of ground ahead. My heart rate hit a max of 181 at some point here. It was beating out of my chest. After 33 mins the lead guy passed me on the way down. I checked out the IMRA site to see he holds the course record and has won plenty of IMRA races so I figured I had a few minutes left to the top. The temperature at the top was cold and it was the first sight of snow and ice Id seen all winter. I wasn't sure if I was at the peak as I stood in front of a gate with a warning sign on it. It was foggy so I couldn't make much out. I waited for the guy I had passed recently to confirm it was the mast and I was satisfied. When I turned to run back down a chilly wind that was sweeping over the hill went straight through me and I shuddered.
Thankfully it was just at the top though and I plunged into the dark descent ahead of my new partner. I initially attacked it with far too much gusto and nearly tripped. It served as a warning to take it easy easy at least until I got over the wet rocky surface. It was hard to slow down at times though. I lost my partner and passed all kind of reflector gear on their way up. When I hit the fireroad/sandy surface I lifted the pace and gave it an honest effort. My quads and knees jarred at times and the ankle didn't appreciated the odd 'deeper than it looks' puddle. My right calf almost spasmed toward the end as I wondered where tha hell the barrier was. I loved it though. There was something raw and free about running down a mountain. You could probably do the course with normal running shoes but I was glad for the grip of the Innov8s. No risks! There is zero cushioning it them though and a since I soaked them in puddles too, I had a couple of nice blisters for a finish. Such a contrast of running. 35 minutes of slow slog and 25 mins of screaming speed under a blanket of stars. This morning my body feels exactly like I ran up and down a big hill
Overall 13km in 1:00:30, pace approx 4:39 average, HR average 160, max 181. Elevation gain 500 meters.0 -
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Cheers I sure did feel lke a newbie alright! I'm not a biker though. I'm sure the profile you are thinking of is those wispy stick like climbers? I've more meat on my forehead than they would have on their entier upper bodiesdonothoponpop wrote: »Classic account! You gave a very good showing doing 13k with 500m climbing in an hour- and in the dark! Your ascent was textbook stuff. Ditto the descent- jarring, and slowing because of a near trip, are very common in newbie descenders. (As are calf strains and plantar faciitis, so keep an eye out for them).
Bikers usually make for very good climbers in hill running, you might consider the IMRA Munster League, held within striking distance of you? That league doesn't suit but there is a Wednesday night league that I'd like to try out. The problem is I'm busy until 7:30 on wednesday evenings and as such I'd probably miss registration. I'd be pushed to get to these locations by 8pm too. However I have 'do an IMRA event' on my to-do list for 2012 so I'll find a way to do at least one of them! 0 -
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DOMS
That bloody hill run took a lot more out of me than it said on the tin. DOMS in my shins, calves, quads, groins, neck, shoulders, ear lobes... you name it! New respect for those trail running, mountain running goat like people
Turbo
Last night was supposed to be turbo night but I took Caz out instead. I'm going to need a stock of brownie points to support the change of plans this year. I was glad anyway as my legs were reeling from the hill run. I think I put away more calories in 2 hours than Bambaata did this whole week :rolleyes:
Lego
After the glee of finding the instructions for my old lego test car technic set (#8865) I won an auction on ebay for the 1994 super car version (http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=8880-1). While waiting for it to arrive I took the test car apart again and rebuilt in the same black and yellow format as the pending one which looks cool. Again ahem, how sad am I Anyway, the #8880 arrived this week but the wheel hubs were a bit yellowed. I've had them bleaching for the last couple of days and they have much improved and now I'm finally going to get to build the thing soon. Woohoo!
Swim
After a late night I just about dragged my ass out of bed. I was last down to the pool so slipped quietly into the middle of the group and kept my head down.
600 various warm up
3 sets of 6*100 off 1:40, 1:45, 1:50 with the last 100 of each set hard
100 easy
8*50 choice strokes
4*50 max effort off 1:30 in on 33 :eek: pb, 35, 35, 35
100 easy
3,200m Total
I cruised the majority of the main set in 2nd gear hiding behind a set of feet thumping the water, until I was found out. Then it was a sudden shift to 5th once I moved up to lead the pack chase of the lead pair and up again to overdrive for the 50s. I had to do a double take on the first one. 33! Ok I gunned it but didn't think I had that. We were racing in pairs which helped. The next 3 35s took the kind of effort where I had to remind myself to breathe! I was hardly able to pull myself up on deck afterwards. From comfortable to shattered in less than 10 minutes...0 -
shotgunmcos wrote: »DOMS
That bloody hill run took a lot more out of me than it said on the tin. DOMS in my shins, calves, quads, groins, neck, shoulders, ear lobes... you name it! New respect for those trail running, mountain running goat like people
It was the downhill wot done it. Happens to everyone who first runs a fast downhill- you're pushing eccentric contractions on muscles in ways and stresses they've not been extended before. It gets easier the next few times, but in the meantime stay aware that you're prone to injury for the next few days, so make sure any hard brick workouts are Lego-based. The good thing is this is overall very beneficial for your speed endurance.
Heres a study involving rats and eccentric muscle contractions that probably has no bearing on the above.0 -
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Its just helping a couple of lads out Pro Bono. Figured giving them a thumbnail scetch of a plan towards their goal would stem the flow of the questions I constantly get anyway. In general I love coaching, do a bit of it in another sphere of life also pro bono as I haven't renewed my licence. Wouldn't rule it out as a path.So how you enjoying coaching Mike?
I'd say your dreams have a tendency to come true! Its only on the horizonJaysus 33s 50! I can only dream of something like that. Fair play.
Some day when I get a bit better at this swimming lark, I'll attempt a fresh 100 off a dive startBranson Limited Greengrocer wrote: »At this rate i will be giving you a good 15/20 minute headstart out of T1 in Barca;)
Super swimming Mike, 1:10 for a 100 may not be that far off:D
Not a hope of that kind of lead champ, at the rate you are improving in general I wouldn't be surprised to find you on my feet exiting the water!
How much is a dive start worth over a push off the wall?I concur - awesome swimming! And I assume from a non-diving start, which makes it even more impressive.0 -
shotgunmcos wrote: »
How much is a dive start worth over a push off the wall?
On average, a block start is probably worth 2 seconds. You're doing very well indeed. 0 -
Turbo threshold session
Last week it was 5*6 minutes on 4 off. This week it stepped up to 7 on 3 off. So and extra minute of each rep at 100% FTP and a minute less rest.
I kicked off with a length 30 minute easy warm up as it takes a while for my legs to get going. The first 2 reps passed steady at exactly the right output. I started to feel it on the third rep though. I thought I had to dig in for it and pedalling easy afterwards doubted the energy I had left for 2 more. I shifted up a gear to grind the 4th one out at a lower cadence to keep my heart rate from taking off but it actually felt good. I felt a surge of power that I doubted was there and finished the rep confident I'd see the session through. On the last rep I held 100% for 2 minutes and when the thumping bass of MJB Family Afffair came on I pushed onto 105% for the duration of it. When the song finished I had 90 seconds to go and just ramped it up again to 115% finishing it out like it was a test. Super session
Long Run
I woke up with a slight headache so initially binned the idea of doing this is in the cold sleety conditions. I spent a few hours doing DIY instead and when that was done the conditions had changed to a rather pleasant day. I kitted up and hit the road. After 30 minutes easy I ramped the effort up in 3*20 minute segements to 4:30 pace, then 4:15 pace and finally 4:00 pace before cooling down with an easy 20 minutes. I took in the GLR half marathon route for this and the fast segment of course approached as I hit the toughest section of the course. It took a fair effort to hold the pace over this hilly section but I worked hard to do so. I had to stop twice for traffic lights and it kind of broke the rhythm but I managed to hold the pace on flats in Z4. I certainly could not hold the pace for a half marathon at this point but I've got 3 months to work on it. My hammers and calves were pretty tight on the cool down and my calves really felt it overall. Pretty pleased just to put down the planned session as it was tough enough.
Overall 25.14km in 1:50:30, average pace 4:23, avg HR 150 , max 171
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/145706251
I hopped on the turbo for 40 minutes very easy spinning after the run to try and loosen the legs out a bit. It felt fine and although my legs were still tired I believe they won't stiffen as much overnight as a result.
Another consistent week put down with 3 good swims, 3 quality turbos and 4 varied runs. I need to bring yoga and core back into the routine now.0 -
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Great training week last week dude. That mountain run in the dark sounded amazing, nothing more exhilarating than those fast decents on a mountain run. But be careful, I love mountain running but gave it up because of the increased risk of injury and more so the recovery time it took (never mind the fact that it's dark too)
Well done on the swimming PB and your long run at the weekend, 4:23/km pace for 1:50, now that is impressive.0 -
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Turbo sweetspot session
I was looking forward to this one. Even the late finish at work didn't dampen my spirits. Got home and got stuck in.
10 minutes easy warm up
12 minutes at 90% FTP average HR 139, max 145
3 minutes easy
12 minutes at 90% FTP, average HR 146, max 151
3 minutes easy
12 minutes at 90% FTP, average HR 149, max 152
3 minutes easy
12 minutes at 90% FTP, average HR 149, max 152
13 minutes easy
No foam hula hoop tonight. I had the bike in the utility room with the door ajar allowing that cold air in to cool me down. I felt it made a difference to the cardiac drift which I am very pleased with. I had 3 reps of this last week hitting a mx HR of 154 so I was expecting the heart rate on the 4th rep to lift off. However I focused and controlled the power and kept it rock steady. The quads started to burn half way through it but I knew I was as good as home. Another very solid turbo done. You can't beat the quality of a good sweetspot set
5km run off the bike with 8*80m hard strides.
I put on some dry kit and long sleeves and headed out for an out and back 5km easy. It was a cold crisp night and cooled me down. I felt pretty good and pushed the strides. One fella got a fair fright as I zipped past him at speed.
A huge bowl of stew with chunky veg and 2 slices of McCambridge bread and a glass of apple juice to follow hit the spot. I had a peanut butter chunky kit kat and a cup of tea afterwards.0 -
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Hill Run
It was very much out of the way for a 5 mile training run, but worth it. I was one of the first to park up by the dark lake. The temp was zero degrees so I layered up and ran 2 small easy loops on grass and trail by the lake to warm up. It was a lovely cold clear crisp night. By the time I was done a group of 20 or so had assembled and switched on their torches. We headed straight for the woods and a 3km climb with 250m ascent. I started steady in the group and spotted an old collegiate rowing buddy of mine up ahead, bigRon. He wasn't hard to pick out as he is 6ft7"! I caught up with him and ran alongside. He gave me a friendly punch on the shoulder and said "me and you like old times eh".
Back in the day he was a typical heavyweight crew rower, very tall, very fit and lean. I was a 'short' 6ft and over 20kg less but had the power to make some fun battles. It was great to meet one of the crew that nicknamed me shotgun We ran for a km together. It was heavy breathing stuff, too heavy for chat. My heart rate had been in the mid to high 160s after a couple of minutes. I managed enough short sentences to discover that he has IMRA racing experience and still rows competitively. I found his pace tough to hold initially. About half way up the climb I found a rhythm with both my short stride and breathing and it was like finding an extra gear. I moved away from bigRon and reeled the next guy in inch by inch. I had to stop and walk a few steps a couple of times. Only for a few seconds though as I could feel the light of the headtorch behind me wrapping itself around me again and bigRon's heavy breathing closing in. He is fiercely competitive. It was enough incentive for me to get going immediately!
I'm just not conditioned to run up these climbs yet. At about 2.5km we had a gate and a couple of barriers to negotiate. I didn't know whether to climb over, climb around or limbo dance under them so it was a combination of the lot. The final part of the ascent ramped up after these obstacles and it nearly broke me. I wanted to stop and walk and almost did if it wasn't for bigRon telling me earlier that descents were his playground. So I plugged into the pain cave and pushed on. When the terrain levelled out we turned left towards the lake and the most amazing view I've seen in a while. A crystal clear pitch black Lough Gur far below with an outline of lights under a blanket of stars. The air was clean and fresh and burned your lungs.
The descent was a thrill. Loose gravel terrain with some tight switchbacks. I got stuck in and ran as hard as I could withough losing focus. It was heart busting Z4 effort. I knew I could push harder but I would be risking the foot placement which was on edge at times. The switchbacks were fun too as you could lean heavily into them and guage the distance back to the next head torch. I passed a few runners on the way down. It was about 15-16 minutes of a descent but felt longer. I was happy to hit the main road and not be involved in a sprint finish to the carpark.
BigRon arrived a minute later and looked like he had given it some too. I have a feeling I have a target on my back for the next time we meet. It was cool to watch the stream of head torches appear from the woods and particularly the sprint finish of the 4 lads who had descended together. There was almost a dip at the line I spent a few minutes chatting with the legend that is Mike 'Curly' Cunningham who had been down, changed and had a cup of tea by the time I arrived. My quads were burning as much as my lungs. He looked fresh as a daisy and he had a 56 min 10 miler at Dungarvan and a hard 3k track TT in his legs :eek: Without a shadow of a doubt the best run I've had this year to date. Loved it.
Overall (including the warm up jog) 8.41km at 4:25 pace, average heart rate 162, max 174, ascent 250m
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/1464497370
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