Rocky Road to Rot(h)...

Izoard

Oryx wrote: »

I just caught up with this now, I look forward to jealously watching you progress. How in god's name do you fit 19 hours into a working week?? Im glad Im not alone in the sneaking out of the house in the morning, tho in my case its not to wake the kids, who will want breakfast served and to describe in detail what they just dreamt of.....:)

And re the bricks, if you want to get away with it, load the bike in the car, drive to car park, cycle and run to your hearts content, then drive home via the shop for small placating gifts of chocolate. No going home in between. Works for me.

Hey Oryx,coincidentally, while doing my once-in-four-years brick I was watching highlights of a UK race called the Rat Race/Run, which involved plenty of jumping into rivers and running in wet gear - I presume this is on your bucket list!

The 19 hours includes bike commute, so not really training, but time on the bike all the same.

It is very hit and miss though...I'll be lucky to do 8 hours this week with travel and some weeks it could be zero.

I'm comfortable on a program doing what I can and what I enjoy, so I'm probably unfairly using the OH as an excuse not to do bricks:)

Izoard

Run #10 in my first pair of Asics (Nimbus 12s)...love them!

Was strictly a Pegasus man, until an un-named run store in Dublin city centre put me on the road to ruin by proclaiming that I needed stability and I ended up in a pair of structure Triax.
A lot of my achillies problems started around then, but I never put it down to the shoes.
A recent trip to AK and I ended up back in the Pegasus, but the local sports store had a sale on the Asics, so I gave them a lash (they are pitched as neutral, same as the Pegasus).

So, after some trial and a lot of error, I'll split between the 2, but promise to re-fresh them on a more regular basis.

pgibbo

Izoard wrote: »

Run #10 in my first pair of Asics (Nimbus 12s)...love them!

Was strictly a Pegasus man, until an un-named run store in Dublin city centre put me on the road to ruin by proclaiming that I needed stability and I ended up in a pair of structure Triax.
A lot of my achillies problems started around then, but I never put it down to the shoes.
A recent trip to AK and I ended up back in the Pegasus, but the local sports store had a sale on the Asics, so I gave them a lash (they are pitched as neutral, same as the Pegasus).

So, after some trial and a lot of error, I'll split between the 2, but promise to re-fresh them on a more regular basis.

+1 on the Nimbus. AK in Galway moved me to these lately and I love them.

Just need to get another pair now and start rotating them.

Izoard

Grrrr.....

shotgunmcos

Izoard wrote: »

Grrrr.....

LOL. At least it wasn't the device itself! I remember years ago having a boxer pup who found my brand new iPod Nano. I administered the biggest boot in the arse that I could muster.... to myself, for leaving it within her reach! She was rather comically bemused by my fit of rage though

Izoard

So, I joined the SCR Challenge on March 26th 2010...time for a reference check as to how I'm doing vs 2010

2010
Swim 47,500m
Bike 1,529km
Run 383km

2011
Swim 84,700m
Bike 1,616km
Run 548km

% of 2010
Swim 178%
Bike 106%
Run 143%

Swim:
IM 10: 1hr 23
IM 11 Goal: 1hr 20 & feeling fresh at the end
Probability of achieving goal: Good.

So far so good. Most of my 2011 sessions are ~3,000m, with little issue. Performance is a little better than last year, but expectation will be to deliver more or less the same performance.

T1:
IM 10:6min 27sec
IM 11 Goal: 5 min

Bike:
IM 10: 6hr 25min 45 sec
IM 11 Goal: 6hr 15min
Probability of achieving goal: Poor

Having a major problem with getting the long bike done.
Longest so far is 81km (today), but real life events mean that opportunities are very limited over the weekends between now and July.

I'll keep at the turbo, but the bike is the reason that I won't be doing an IM for the foreseeable future...

T2:
IM 10: 5min 07sec
IM 11 Goal: Goal: 5 min

Run:
IM 10: 4hr 06min 52 sec
IM 11 Goal: 4hr
Probability of achieving goal: Its' all about the bike

Running is going well - even though I bailed on Connemara, I'm getting good mileage done.
If I can get off the bike feeling like I did in Switzerland, I think I can go sub 4.

Overall:
IM 10: 12hr 07min 07 sec
IM 11 Goal: 11hr 59min

The bike is the major problem here - I've been doing distance cycling for a good while, so I'm hoping that when it comes to it, experience will help me through.

shotgunmcos

Mid week long bike? Book a day or 2 off work to get a couple of key long bikes in? You have the same miles in your legs as last year at this point so you are not doing too badly. Also you have the experience of having an IM under your belt too so that will count. Do a 3.8TT in the pool to see how realistic or soft even that 1:20 might be. If you are stuck for time and can't get 4+ hours done then a shorter session with quality threshold or hill reps work will stand to you too You'll be grand

RedB

Izoard wrote: »

Run #10 in my first pair of Asics (Nimbus 12s)...love them!

A recent trip to AK and I ended up back in the Pegasus, but the local sports store had a sale on the Asics, so I gave them a lash (they are pitched as neutral, same as the Pegasus).

So, after some trial and a lot of error, I'll split between the 2, but promise to re-fresh them on a more regular basis.

+1 on the Nimbus. Mine are rubbing one toe and are due for a change so I was considering a diffferent brand. Might give Pagasus a try.

Izoard wrote: »

I'll keep at the turbo, but the bike is the reason that I won't be doing an IM for the foreseeable future...

Probability of achieving goal: Its' all about the bike

So does Roth not count as an IM

So true about the bike. Focusing on it myself a lot more this year. Now if I could just get my nutrition sorted :rolleyes:..........

griffin100

2010
Swim 47,500m
Bike 1,529km
Run 383km

2011
Swim 84,700m
Bike 1,616km
Run 548km

% of 2010
Swim 178%
Bike 106%
Run 143%

Thems good numbers - I can't look at mine as this year has been so bad compared to last year.

I'd say you'r well on for sub 12hrs and beyond. I'm only back on the bike a couple of weeks now and I'm back up to 3hrs easy enough at a decent pace so given how much more you have on your legs I'd say you'll be fine for a 6hr bike.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Hey Izo your training seems to be going very well. Agree with mcos on the long bike, with the light evenings you should be able to get a couple of 4/5 hour spins in if you could leave work early.

Izoard

Bodie Bumpy Stew wrote: »

Hey Izo your training seems to be going very well. Agree with mcos on the long bike, with the light evenings you should be able to get a couple of 4/5 hour spins in if you could leave work early.

I admire your negotiating skills:)

Thems good numbers - I can't look at mine as this year has been so bad compared to last year.

I'd say you'r well on for sub 12hrs and beyond. I'm only back on the bike a couple of weeks now and I'm back up to 3hrs easy enough at a decent pace so given how much more you have on your legs I'd say you'll be fine for a 6hr bike.

Part of it is mental, I guess - the comfort of knowing that you've comfortably done a few good spins before the big day.

Mid week long bike? Book a day or 2 off work to get a couple of key long bikes in? You have the same miles in your legs as last year at this point so you are not doing too badly. Also you have the experience of having an IM under your belt too so that will count. Do a 3.8TT in the pool to see how realistic or soft even that 1:20 might be. If you are stuck for time and can't get 4+ hours done then a shorter session with quality threshold or hill reps work will stand to you too

Yep, I think this (a couple of mid week long bikes during the day) will be the way to go, if the weekends remain blocked off.

I've been putting off the 3.8km TT, but now that you've reminded me...:)

Izoard

Reverse brick yesterday - 13km run followed by HIM distance on the turbo.
First time in the 3 hour range on the turbo - finally got through "The Longest Day" and put a big hole into "A Bridge Too Far"...

Izoard

Some residual guilt over missing Conn, but I'm sure that will disappear once I hit the beach!

It has been my season kick-off event for the past few years, so I'm feeling a little undercooked at the moment - although my run volume is reasonably high by recent standards.

Hope the sun shines for the race - great day out when the weather is kind.

catweazle

Izoard wrote: »

Some residual guilt over missing Conn, but I'm sure that will disappear once I hit the beach!

It has been my season kick-off event for the past few years, so I'm feeling a little undercooked at the moment - although my run volume is reasonably high by recent standards.

Hope the sun shines for the race - great day out when the weather is kind.

I am beginning to regret not having another crack at it myself but I have only been thinking that the past few days - making sure its too late to do anything about it

Dont know about the sun shining, I could have done with a little less heat last year!

Izoard

catweazle wrote: »

Dont know about the sun shining, I could have done with a little less heat last year!

Hey CW, yep - it was hot last year - saw one fella in full Mayo colours (complete with rolled down socks) tear off at the start of the marathon, only to be horizontal around mile 6!

I'm much happier in heat than cold, probably due to my sloth-like pace!

Anyways, being solo in the Caribbean, means that I can get some time in the gym between beers & cocktails.
Good brick session; 31km bike/8km run. Will try to do something similar for the next couple of days.

Izoard

Just got a text to say my new tri-bike bike-to-work bike, has been delivered.

Caught on the hop a bit there - will have a bit of explaining to do when I get home:)

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Izoard wrote: »

Just got a text to say my new tri-bike bike-to-work bike, has been delivered.

Caught on the hop a bit there - will have a bit of explaining to do when I get home:)

Best of luck explaining that one:p

pgibbo

Bodie Bumpy Stew wrote: »

Best of luck explaining that one:p

Try hiding it in the garage? My OH spot checks the garage now to see what new toys I've been hiding from her!

What did you get? Best of luck with it.

griffin100

What did you get? IIRC you had a nice white Trek Equinox (and we all know white bikes are the fastest) so I'm assume you got a P4 if you're trading up from that

Izoard

griffin100 wrote: »

What did you get? IIRC you had a nice white Trek Equinox (and we all know white bikes are the fastest) so I'm assume you got a P4 if you're trading up from that

The Trek remains the weapon of choice - this is a back up that I will leave in Wexford for the summer and saves me bringing a tri bike up and down from Dublin.
Actually, that may well be my defense - "think of all the money we will save on fuel by only bringing only one car up & down"

Focus - going cheap on Wiggle...

Izoard

pgibbo wrote: »

Try hiding it in the garage? My OH spot checks the garage now to see what new toys I've been hiding from her!

Luckily most toys are more or less invisible or they just wouldn't believe that you might actually spend say, ~€300 on a digital watch Garmin....

Izoard

3km sea swim with no wetsuit and just a few fish and turtles for company.

Easy to train for tri in these conditions...they should give the Paddies extra points for our normal training environment!

Izoard

On the way home through Paris and met a bunch of runners returning from the Paris marathon.
Seemed like it was pretty hot but most were pretty happy with the organization.
Met one lad I know who's doing Malin-to-Mizen in Sept...training plan involves 13 marathons between Jan & Sept this year:eek:

Izoard

Nice Roth warm up video..88 days to go!

Izoard

First early morning outdoor run this year - loved it! Comfortable 17km @ 4:52 per/km pace.

First impressions of the new toy are very positive - serious spec for the $$$.
Mind you, I haven't ridden it yet, but hoping to give it a test drive tomorrow.

shotgunmcos

Well wear with the new steed Izoard. Thats 15 mins off your Roth time already Soo jealous of that sea swim. I've lost the gra for the pool at the moment

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Izoard wrote: »

First early morning outdoor run this year - loved it! Comfortable 17km @ 4:52 per/km pace.

First impressions of the new toy are very positive - serious spec for the $$$.
Mind you, I haven't ridden it yet, but hoping to give it a test drive tomorrow.

Well wear with the new bike, that is actually one of the bikes i had shortlisted when i was buying as it had a great spec for the price.

Izoard

Bodie Bumpy Stew wrote: »

Well wear with the new bike, that is actually one of the bikes i had shortlisted when i was buying as it had a great spec for the price.

When I got home, I was stumped with the question:
"So, which bike does this one replace?":)

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Izoard wrote: »

When I got home, I was stumped with the question:
"So, which bike does this one replace?":)

At least you did not get the "Why do you need two bikes you only cycle/need one at a time" my reply of "it should increase my avg speed by 2.95kms an hour resulting in a faster IM bike time" sort of went over her head.

Great to have understanding other halfs though:)

griffin100

''Why do you need another bike / expensive wheels / an expensive bike / a new wetsuit (delete as appropriate) when you're never going to win a race?''

Wives, can live with em, can't kill em.

Izoard

griffin100 wrote: »

''Why do you need another bike / expensive wheels / an expensive bike / a new wetsuit (delete as appropriate) when you're never going to win a race?''

Ummmm....harsh!

Did you not tell her you consistently place on the podium for "Giant-riding, Volvo-driving, 40-44 males"* category?:)

* Based on historical data and a fuzzy recolection after Sperrin HIM 10- many not be any of these things, currently!

Oryx

Its not all men who have these problems. 'Youre doing another event? You should give them up, youre getting awful thin....'

But Izoard you are taking the mick. You mention swimming with turtles to annoy the rest of us. Ive more chance of swimming with turds.

griffin100

Did you not tell her you consistently place on the podium for "Giant-riding, Volvo-driving, 40-44 35-39 males"* category?

Izoard

Oryx wrote: »

Its not all men who have these problems. 'Youre doing another event? You should give them up, youre getting awful thin....'

But Izoard you are taking the mick. You mention swimming with turtles to annoy the rest of us. Ive more chance of swimming with turds.

Ummm, I don't think anyone has ever said to me "you're getting awful thin":)

The turtles were a once-off...Grand Canal Dock is my usual habitat:rolleyes:

Izoard

28km run in a brutal 2hr 21.
Felt rough from the off (0630 start after a few bevvies at the RDS:rolleyes:), but glad to have booked my first run >25km this year.

Went out on the new steed yesterday...was impressed with the aggressive TT set up - for about 10 seconds:)

Looks like I'll be investing in a new stem, sharpish.

Dead week ahead due to work travel, so hopefully will get out for a couple of bikes over Easter.

Izoard

Haven't been near a pool in nearly 3 weeks, so need to get back in the swing of things this week.

Stat check Apr 30th:

2010 2011 %
Swim 95.9K 108.1K 133%
Bike 2,347k 2,836k 121%
Run 573K 772K 135%

On the face of it, looks promising, but today was my first >100km bike - 114km - not really what is required at this stage of the plan...

Will be interesting to see how the Wicklow200 goes!

kingQuez

Izoard wrote: »

Will be interesting to see how the Wicklow200 goes!

Glad I'm not the only one wondering that

Izoard

TCD pool closed for a month! WTF?????

shotgunmcos

Izoard wrote: »

TCD pool closed for a month! WTF?????

So get the wetsuit on twice a week instead Enjoy the W200

griffin100

TCD pool closed for a month! WTF?????

I'd invite you out to use UCD's lovely new 50m pool but it wont be open until early next year - although in the early days opening was predicted for about now:rolleyes:

kingQuez

Izoard wrote: »

TCD pool closed for a month! WTF?????

hmm... glad i didn't renew my membership when it died a couple of months ago! sure isnt it time to be in the OW anyway?

Izoard

kingQuez wrote: »

hmm... glad i didn't renew my membership when it died a couple of months ago! sure isnt it time to be in the OW anyway?

I'll probably re-locate to Carlisle...that will feel like swimming in the OW anyways...:rolleyes:

Oryx

We start OW in two weeks. Am taking high strength HTFU at the moment in preparation.

Izoard

OW? A bit early for all that, eh?:)

Braved Carlisle this morning..why is the water always murky in that gym?

Even at 6:30am, the pool is busy, but got through 3.1k in the time allowed, despite some breaststroke lengths in traffic:rolleyes:

Izoard

Managed to do my first 20hrs + week...I had done a number of 19hrs+ weeks last year, but never got over the 20, so another box ticked.

Swimming in Carlisle is not quite as dire as I first imagined, although the view is much better in TCD:)

Mrs I is off to NY this week, so my main focus is to try to sort out babysitting logistics for the Tri an Mhi HIM on Sat!

Looking forward to this race - because of the lack of long bike rides, I've no idea how I'm going, but it is great to finally have an event after months of solo toiling...

shotgunmcos

Izoard wrote: »

Looking forward to this race - because of the lack of long bike rides, I've no idea how I'm going, but it is great to finally have an event after months of solo toiling...

'Tis, best of luck with it. What day are you landing in Roth? I'm staying in Allersberg, a little town about 3km from the start and 6km from Roth. I'm going to drive the bike course and some stage before the race if you want to come along

Izoard

shotgunmcos wrote: »

'Tis, best of luck with it. What day are you landing in Roth? I'm staying in Allersberg, a little town about 3km from the start and 6km from Roth. I'm going to drive the bike course and some stage before the race if you want to come along

Flying to Munich on the Friday and based in Nuremburg. Would be well up for a reccie, if the timing suits you.

Izoard

Jeez, hailstorm just passed by. Perfect HIM weather:eek:

Izoard

A sleepy Grandmother arrives @ 6am to take charge of the hooligans and I’m off.
Nice day in Dublin, but by the time I get to Westmeath, it is windy and cold – no rain yet though.

Caught up with griffin100 who was anxiously awaiting the call that the latest was on it’s way – now there’s pressure!

Eventually get into the water – cold, but clear and off we go.
With ~130 or so in the water, we were quite spread out and I lost concentration twice, resulting in 2 major deviations from the race line. Only breathing on one side is always an issue for me- given Roth is in a narrow canal, it should be less of a problem.
Despite the 2 spins off-course, swim done in 34.39 – I’d say the course was a little short on that basis.

A lot of faffing around in transition, before finally deciding on the required clothing (what a waste of time that was….).

Rolling course until the first spin up the climb at 16km – was on the lowest gear as soon as I hit it.
Next obstacle was a f*cking rabid dog at 20km – now, I love dogs, but not ones that are roaming the roads, foaming at the mouth – a pursuit for a couple of hundred meters ensued before he finally got bored.
Soon after griffin went past me and we yo-yo’d to the finish from there.

Then the rain came.

We had heavy hail showers in Dublin on Friday and this was similar (not so many hailstones however). With the wind, rain, heavy surface water and rolling terrain, this turned into a suffer-fest.
A horrible 3.29.25 off the bike, but funnily enough, I was just happy to be done.

More time wasted in transition, trying to get fresh socks onto frozen feet, but glad to be out on the run.

The wind and heavy rain continued – changing the socks was a waste of time, with the surface water. Was slow starting out, as I couldn’t get going until my legs and feet warmed up.

Caught a lad I know, who is a bit of an uber-biker, so was feeling a lot better about my bike when I saw him – it must have been tough. However, when he veered off for home at the end of his 2nd mini-lap, I wasn’t quite so cocky.

Really enjoyed the 2nd half of the run and was catching quite a few towards the end. 1.47.01 – happy enough there, given the pain on the bike and the rolling run course.

Overall 5.54.55.

Poor, but in the end I was happy to be under 6hrs.

Only highlight, was that I didn’t have to stop for a bio break on the bike or the run – easier than I thought:)

Abhainn

Not an easy one there Izoard but good on ya. Bike seemed challenging, going by splits on the results sheet. And the winner just had a 2:50 bike