Rocky Road to Rot(h)...

Izoard

Ingredients:

1 Aeging and weighty carcass
0 Interest in structured training
0 Bricks
4 Activity-heavy kids
1 Job that requires me to be in various 3rd world countries on an ongoing basis
1 uber cool other half
1 Boundless enthusiasm for swimming/biking/running

Objective:
Having been the ultimate proof that anyone can do an IM in 2010, I'm looking to repeat the goal in 2011 at Challenge Roth - Life gets busier, particularly at weekends, so I reckon this is my last attempt at the big one for some time.

IM CH was knocked out in 12:07, so I harbour secret ambitions to go sub 12, but I've a sneaking suspicion that I was on a "no-chain" day in Zurich, so might be hard to repeat.

Wish list Event Schedule:

April Conn Ultra
May Tri an Mhi HIM
June Wicklow200
July Challenge Roth
Sept Brittas Bay Oly
Sept Kenmare HIM
Oct DCM

Will be generally following Don Fink's Intermediate program sprinkled with regular stalking of mcos's log to see how it should be done for Roth.

How hard can it be, eh?

catweazle

Good man Izoard, an Ultra, an Ironman, a marathon, a 200k cycle, 2 Half Ironmans and an Olympic. You are taking it easy this year

pgibbo

Quite the wish list man. Best of luck with it. I reckon sub 12 in Roth is well within your grasp. Happy training.

shotgunmcos

Good Man, nice to have another logger with the same target event Yeah thats some schedule you have set for yourself, good one though as the events are spaced out enough. I'm assuming Roth is the A goal, minimum sub4sub12? No problem stalk my log all you want but I'm the rookie so It may be the other way around closer to the time. Might hook up for W200 and do it on TT rigs and pointy helmets

Best of luck with the Ultra. I've no doubt you will blast your IMCH time, but whats with the no bricks philosophy?

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

The 4 kids can be a juggle alright :rolleyes: I will be moving into that territory in the next few weeks all going well. I will also be doing the Wicklow 200, best of luck with the training.

Izoard

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Best of luck with the Ultra. I've no doubt you will blast your IMCH time, but whats with the no bricks philosophy?

Obviously bricks are an important part of the whole thing, but I absolutely hate doing them. Didn't do any last year and it worked out OK.

Another issue, is that they are politically a little tricky:D

For some reason the home tolerance for a 4 hour bike ride is far easier than a 3 hour bike ride followed by "I'm just heading out again for an hour run"

Izoard

1st HTFU Moment of 2011.

Heading into the RDS last night in the rain, the seat clamp snapped on the commute bike.

Interesting cycle home with no saddle with nice headwind, rain and sleet.

RedB

Izoard wrote: »

1st HTFU Moment of 2011.

Heading into the RDS last night in the rain, the seat clamp snapped on the commute bike.

Interesting cycle home with no saddle with nice headwind, rain and sleet.

Must have been a lot of carbo loading over Xmas . Thought it was too cold for the RDS. Could you not get into Kielys?

Best of luck with the training.

Izoard

RedB wrote: »

Must have been a lot of carbo loading over Xmas . Thought it was too cold for the RDS. Could you not get into Kielys?

Best of luck with the training.

Hadn't thought of that...here was I blaming shoddy Korean parts...:)

Obviously it was far too wet and cold to, like, actually watch the match?

Heard the result when a couple of Osprey supporters managed to blag their way into Kielys...shouldn't be allowed, really.

shotgunmcos

Izoard wrote: »

1st HTFU Moment of 2011.

Heading into the RDS last night in the rain, the seat clamp snapped on the commute bike.

Interesting cycle home with no saddle with nice headwind, rain and sleet.

Hmmm not sure if that qualifies as a HTFU moment. You were already cycling into that headwind, rain and sleet! Perhaps the HTFU moment was getting out in that weather in the first place

Izoard

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Hmmm not sure if that qualifies as a HTFU moment. You were already cycling into that headwind, rain and sleet! Perhaps the HTFU moment was getting out in that weather in the first place

Meh, it happened on the way in, so there was a strong temptation to stuff the bike in a taxi when I came out of the RDS, when the weather was even worse.

Very un-Leinster-like...

Abhainn

Nice one Izoard. Best of luck.

Izoard

First 2 weeks were on target time wise (8 & 10 hours respectively), but I see from the SCR Challenge, I'll be lucky to be in the mix with the HIM cats, never mind my fellow IM brothers.

Anyways, first road trip of the year coming up tomorrow, not quite 3rd world, but New Orleans has it's dark side:)
It is one of those US-kick off events, so long on talking shop over beers and not very conducive to training, so probably a blank week ahead.

Already way behind on the running in prep for Conn...must-not-wuss out-of-the-Ultra!

Izoard

Managed to get 6 treadmill sessions in while away - not bad considering the amount of alcohol consumed in the name of corporate bonding.

However, compared to the epic kick-offs in IONA's heyday, these are pretty sober affairs.

In return for "making the number" in 2010, myself and Mrs I. get to join my corporate brothers and sisters on an all-expenses-paid trip to the Dominican Republic - only down side is, it clashes with Connemara:( (also clashes with the Leinster Hc 1/4 final - seriously, do these organisers not check before scheduling events?:))

Not sure what to do on this one - kiddie logistics will mean that Mrs. I probably won't be able to go, but I probably should make the effort.
We'll see how this one turns out, but I'll be miffed if can't do Conn this year.

Anyways, signed up for the Tri an Mhi HIM - hope this is good - could be a great event in the calendar for those preping for a summer IM.

Seriously impressed with some of the output already on the S/C/R 2011 - need to start getting back on the turbo!

shotgunmcos

You could do a 63.3km trot in the D Rep before you unload the golf clubs (and the blazing hot sun arises) Have you done the Conn Ultra before?

Izoard

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Have you done the Conn Ultra before?

Hey mcos, I've done the full in Conn a few times, but first time for the ultra.
If it doesn't work out, I might turn my attentions to another full in the March/April time frame. Good psychological benefits for the IM, but as ever, not sure how useful it is as physical prep...

Izoard

I think Conn is out at this point, and the Kildare Marathon is on the day after Tri an Mhi HIM - now, I'm sure there are a couple of punters on here who'd say, "what's the problem"?, but I'll pass:)

So, against my better judgement, I've signed up for the Double Oly in Athy...(events in bold already entered)

April Conn Ultra
May Tri an Mhi HIM
June Tri Athy Double Oly
June Wicklow200
July Challenge Roth
Sept Brittas Bay Oly
Sept Kenmare HIM
Oct DCM

Izoard

Week 1: 8.5hrs
Week 2: 13hrs
Week 3: 4.5hrs
Week 4: 14.5hrs

Happy with that output so far.
I'm pushing the "up" weeks, to bank some time for the inevitable blank weeks, due to travel etc...

Definitely need to find the love for the turbo again though...:rolleyes:

griffin100

Revised event schedule...

I think Conn is out at this point, and the Kildare Marathon is on the day after Tri an Mhi HIM - now, I'm sure there are a couple of punters on here who'd say, "what's the problem"?, but I'll pass

So, against my better judgement, I've signed up for the Double Oly in Athy...(events in bold already entered)

April Conn Ultra
May Tri an Mhi HIM
June Tri Athy Double Oly
June Wicklow200
July Challenge Roth
Sept Brittas Bay Oly
Sept Kenmare HIM
Oct DCM

Sorry to hear about the Conn Ultra Iozard. I thought I was looking good for it as my run mileage is similar to yours on the ART challange but now I'm not so confident:)

Your predicted finish time for Roth is a bit pessimistic , no? especially considering the only uphill bit is the run from the swim to T1:D

Izoard

griffin100 wrote: »

Sorry to hear about the Conn Ultra Iozard. I thought I was looking good for it as my run mileage is similar to yours on the ART challange but now I'm not so confident:)

Your predicted finish time for Roth is a bit pessimistic , no? especially considering the only uphill bit is the run from the swim to T1:D

I'm running fairly regularly, but only 12-14km at a time, so not much help for Conn (either Ultra or marathon:))

As for predicting an IM time....IMHO, the single most important requirement on the day to deliver on your training, is having an Iron Stomach.
There were a number of 10.x potential guys in Zurich, who were hobbling in @ 14hrs+, as they struggled with various gastric related issues.

I'd be delighted with 11.x, but am very aware that it can easily turn into 14hrs, if the digestion is acting up...

griffin100

As for predicting an IM time....IMHO, the single most important requirement on the day to deliver on your training, is having an Iron Stomach.
There were a number of 10.x potential guys in Zurich, who were hobbling in @ 14hrs+, as they struggled with various gastric related issues.

I'd be delighted with 11.x, but am very aware that it can easily turn into 14hrs, if the digestion is acting up...

I agree......the smell of the IM marathon is something I'll never forget.....the smell of 1,000+ people who have being eating nothing but gels for 12 hrs....never gamble on the IM fart lottery....

Izoard

Was watching the Eamon Coughlan story on RTE Player...brought back a great memory of watching the Helsinki race live
Kind of the first time I witnessed an Irish person winning anything....up there with the "It's Stephen Roche!" finish on La Plagne.

Speaking of cycling, the full transcript of the Landis/Kimmage interview makes interesting reading - lots of grenades for US cycling to deal with.

Been spending a good bit of time in the pool of late...getting a better "feel" for the water, which is resulting in improved times across a range of distances.

Izoard

On the swimming front....anyone seen this? One way to smash a record - unbelievable!

shotgunmcos

Izoard wrote: »

On the swimming front....anyone seen this? One way to smash a record - unbelievable!

Gonna have to wait until I get home to access the link. Plenty of work going on in the pool alright. Did you make the call on Conn?

Izoard

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Gonna have to wait until I get home to access the link. Plenty of work going on in the pool alright. Did you make the call on Conn?

Worth a look if you have a chance - something to practice for the next swim session:)

Unfortunately Conn is off the list now - means that the 3 events pre-Roth are all on top of each other...

Izoard

Running through town at lunch wearing calf guards..plenty of commentary along the way - the joys of school half-day Wednesday!

You could see the non-runners thinking..."gimp!", while the runners were probably thinking "serious gimp!":)

I guess we all have to suffer for our A/R/T (ouch!)

Anyways, one of the more comfortable outdoor runs in a while...calf & achilles at correct operating temperature right from the start.

kingQuez

Izoard wrote: »

Running through town at lunch wearing calf guards..plenty of commentary along the way - the joys of school half-day Wednesday!

Must HTFU and wear my compression socks again; since reverting to shorts from running tights i havent had the balls to be seen with them on .. and thats at silly o clock in the morning

Izoard

kingQuez wrote: »

Must HTFU and wear my compression socks again; since reverting to shorts from running tights i havent had the balls to be seen with them on .. and thats at silly o clock in the morning

Starting to get calf cramps in the last 400mts of the pool swims at the moment.
Presumably down to poor hydration, but it could be just the excuse I need to don the compression socks in the pool:D

Combined with the obligatory IM swim cap, it will just scream tri-coolness...

Izoard

Cracking day for a run...have max 1hour while the eldest is at a tennis lesson and managed to hit 13km in 60mins -first time in many moons I've hit that mark...treadmills do have a benefit after all.

Izoard

Nice capture of the conversation involved in trying to wrap training around real life...

Krusty_Clown

Izoard wrote: »

Nice capture of the conversation involved in trying to wrap training around real life...

Brilliant article.. and so true!