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Chasing the pack......one step at a time.
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Injury time
(= taper time 
?)
Not sure how but I I've picked up an injury to my left leg. It started out as a pain from my left hip to the front top of my left knee and I don't know if its like a trapped nerve, muscle or just bone strain / damage. Its subsided into just a pain in my hip and I've done very little on it over the last week in the hope that rest would help which it seems to have. I'm still planning on doing the Lost Sheep on Sat but thats based on pure stubberness. Anyway, time will tell. I guess its a deep taper period.
w/c 5/9/11 (cont'd)
Wed 7/9 - 1500m am swim. 400m WU, 10 x 100m off 2:30, 100m WD
pm Brick. 45 min high RPM Turbo (20km), 30min Run (6km)
Thurs 8/9 - Rest - Travel to Carlow and Clonmel with work
Pain in leg. Upon mature reflection it may've come from last night's high RPM Turbo
Fri 9/9 - 'Rest' - Travel to Dublin. 15hr Day. Wrecked
Sat 10/9 - Rest . Shattered tired from previous 2 days travelling, working, etc and sore leg puts me off doing planned long cycle.
Sun 11/9 - 1500mm straight easy swim. Approx 36min. Still tired and carrying a sore leg.
w/c 12/9/11
Mon 12/9 - Easy run, 8.27km, 46:19, 5:36/km, HR 136. At least I can move. Travel to Kerry with work.
Tues 13/9 - 1500m swim. 400m WU, 10 x 100m off 2:30, 100m WD
Wed 14/9 - 'Rest'. Travel to Dublin with work.0 -
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6:04 and happy as a clam all things considered.
Good swim, ok cycle but crashed coming down the Caha Pass and had a very impressive set of bloody hands, elbows, knees, ankles as a result of a perfect 8 point landing
for the rest of the race. Thankfully no major damage diagnosed (so far) and took a small dose of HTFU to get through the rest of it. Poor run but still an hour faster overall than the last 2 years. T1 took nearly 10min due to the run from the pier after collecting runners and hoofing it back to the bike at the hotel so with the crash as well, I'm going to chalk that down as one small step for man, one giant leap for RedB. Oohrah 0 -
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Time to wrap this log up and so here goes the final update. its a report on my 3rd Lost Sheep where the previous 2 times have been epic fails.
After my last post here I realised I was a little the more worse for wear than anticipated. As I came straight home after I finished without changing out of my gear
I didn't pick up on the extent of my bike crash injuries. Suffice to say that a bath that evening had a 'Jaws' moment in it when the water went suddenly red as I got in . As well as cuts to my hands, elbows, etc I also must have done a bit of tuck and roll off my bike crash as I scrapped along my thighs, side and shoulders and even another important appendage :eek:. They don't tell you about that at the Tri Club Open Days ! Long story short the right elbow had a particularly deep cut that got infected and the lower arm swelled up and went purple as Cellulitis kicked in. I'm just finshed a weeks course of Antibiotics but the elbow and right knee still have open wounds and are bandaged. My ribs are bruised and its agony to sneeze, laugh, etc. On top of that we had a 'bug' in the house and last week was yuck as it knocked us all for six one at a time. Plus my brother was home from Oz on his honeymoon with his new bride and we had a small 'Irish' wedding ceremony last weekend. Suffice to say there's been no training going on 
.
Anyway, apart from that, I'm still satisfied with my race as I learned a lot from the it and about the level of training I need to be doing to catch the pack.
The evening before the Lost Sheep I travelled down on my own but had arranged to meet a clubmate at Registration who had booked a local B+B. I didn't know him but it turned out we were aiming for the same times. I had all my stuff sorted early in the week and was very relaxed that evening. My roomate was a bit more anxious and was sorting out his stuff past midnight as I just chilled.
We got up at 5.15am after a decent few hours good kip and just had a museli, OJ and coffee before heading towards the starting area at 6am. I got setup quickly as it got bright and spotted a few familiar Limerick faces around the place. For once I was very well organised, knew what I had to do and had the time to do it. There was no problems and I strolled over to the swim start in plenty of time. The previous 2 years I was more panicky and rushed but I was in the zone this time. The organisers had timed it better in terms of closing T1 at 7am and allowing warmup time after that before the start was due at 7:45am. I got my face into the cold water as early as I could, got water into my suit and did several short bursts before positioning myself midpack in anticipation of the off.
I hit a nice routine immediately from the klaxon and followed feet for the first time ever. I felt very comfortable after warming up and had no shortness of breath. I drifted on and off several sets of feet but made a concious effort to follow them when I could and definitely felt the benefit. Coming into the first buoy I was feeling good and was determined to take a strong line which worked out perfectly. I was enjoying the swim for probably the first time ever and the second buoy came up quick as I drafted where I could. I had been a bit worried about the mask I was wearing coming loose during the race but I didn't adjust it at all after putting it on the first time and it stayed fine which also helped me relax and sight ok. The homeward stretch was a bit tougher but I was still on top of it and within myself. I couldn't believe the clock when I got to the top of the slipway and my split was 34:59 and 135th of 265 starters. Last year my time was 1:12:35 (238th) :eek:. My pool time has been hit and miss although I did a bit in recent weeks but I'd struggle to do 100m repeat's on less than 2:30 so 1:50 per 100m over 1900m is amazing for me. Either that or the course was short and tide assisted. However it was an out and back course and my relatively good position in the mid pack must say something! The wetsuit must really improve my body position and I had a relaxed slow kick the whole swim. Plus following feet paid dividends. Either way it was my best swim ever.
Feeling pretty chuffed with myself I grabbed my garmin, runners and bag, ran clear of the pier, stripped off my wetsuit and put it in the bag, put on the runners and garmin and did the approx 1km run back to the bike racks in a reasonable 9:53.
Onto the bike and it seemed like I was going backwards for the first 20km as lots of decent cyclists went by me and I only passed a few. I was focused on maintaining a steady effort and I had my alarm set to take an Isogel every 20minutes so that became my other focus rather than other people. It was a bit wet but I'd put on a cycling jacket and was happy to be relatively warm and dry as the wind picked up going up the Healy Pass. It actually blew me over the top which made a nice change as the final slope made its presence felt. The descent was slow in the wet and I took it handy. The field opened up after that and it was a quiet spin to Glengarriff where I took on water and started up the Caha Pass as the sun came out. The field tightened again and it helped to try to 'chase' the odd punter. I knew the road well at this stage and paced it evenly to the top with little real bother. Through the tunnels at the top and the road opens up below as I let Gravity do some work for a change. A wide open road, downhill with the wind at my back, 40+KPH and no-one around. The perfect time to try to water the flowers from the bike for the first time ever! La la la la lala "Ohhhh the Hills Are Alive with the Sound on Music" Oh yeah, that feels soooooo much better. A bit of housekeeping , a splash from the water bottle and all's well in the world. Except..........................
whilst putting the water bottle back in the cage, Gravity decided to show me who was boss. Mid-manouever I glanced up, felt I was picking up a little too much speed for this particular task and decided to give my brakes a small squeeze. However, with my right hand engaged in replacing the bottle, and of course having sqeezed my FRONT brakes with my left hand, my front wheel immediately jack-knifed and I couldn't correct it quickly with my left hand only. KABOOM! INSTANT WIPE OUT! Next thing I realise the bike is going down fast and left, I'm going down fast and right and HOPPING off the road. Right elbow down first followed by right knee followed by left hand and elbow and then assorted legs, ankles and torso. Bottles, pump, etc all over the road and the bike in a heap. MY NEW BIKE!!!! Sh1t!!!F$CK!!!DAMNIT!!!ETC. Dazed confusion for a few seconds as I took stock and realised I hadn't actually killed myself. Took account of the bleeding knees, hands, etc. Afraid to look properly at the elbow but my jacket arm is well ripped. Very afraid to look at the bike. Check that my Garmin is ok - result! If the bike is wrecked then I am so f$cked! Its 15km to T2 and I'm dripping blood from several locations. No broken bones but if this race has f$cked me over again than I'll go f$cking bananas and I'm not a violent person! Did the carbon frame split into several pieces? Are the wheels buckled? Are the gears locked? Is the chain broken? Am I going to be able to finish this damn race??? Because if that bike is rideable then I will finish this damn race! But if its not, then I'm going to go medieval on something. No way am I going back home with another sob story. Gingerly I pick myself up and hobble over to the heap that is my bike. OK it look likes its in one piece anyway which is a start! I straighten it up.....its looking good....the chain is off but I put it back on and spin the back wheel.......good rotation.....I spin the front wheel.....no rotation! The front brakes are locked. I try to pull them apart and get some rotation. Halle-f$cking-lujah!!!!This baby is worth getting up on! I pick up my pump and a topless empty waterbottle and refix them. My other full water bottle is 20yards back up the hill where I first hit. In my semi-dazed state I decide to leave it there. I'm not going back, I'm going forward! F$ck you Gravity! F$ck you Lost Sheep! One or two cyclists go by me now and I'm keen to get back in the game. I have to stop 50m down the road as the brakes are sticking. I open the quick release lever and they work ok. I'm anxious now that the frame may be cracked and will fracture on me at any moment. Not a good thing to be thinking coming down the rest of the Caha pass. I block it out but still take it handy. I get down the bottom and the rough road surface scares me. I pass where I got punctures previously and grit my teeth. Not this year b$tch. Fuming mad with myself over the stupidity of it. Blood is congealing ok on my knees but dripping down to my fingers from my elbow. I'm yearning for any sign of Kenmare in case the bike fails on me and finally it arrives. I'm happy as I head towards T2 and dismount. Split was 3:03:49 and 155th place and I'll ok with that.
The race stewards want to get me medics but I just ask them for painkillers and head to rack the bike. No painkillers available by the time I head back out of T2 in 1:35 so up the road I run. A spectator shouts 'C'Mon Limerick' and then realises I might have an interest in rugby so shouts out that Ireland beat Australia! Are you serious I ask her? Yeah! I doubt her so I ask another spectator if its true! Unbelievable!
Anyway my run was poor. I had to fight my dizzy demons again and walked many short stretches but always fast. My roomate overtook me with 3 KM to go but I was still happy to finish the run in 2:13:52 (219th) to give an overall time of 6:02:07 (186th) over 1 hour faster than last year's 7:05:32. Not great but not bad.
I learned a lot from this year and hope to put it to good use next year. Watch this space 0 -
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Nice one Red, you always seem to be able to pull off a cracking swim when it matters. Pity about the bike crash as 3.03 is still great going on that course - between the crash and the overlong run to T1 you would have been looking at clipping a fair chunk off the sub 6.I learned a lot from this year and hope to put it to good use next year. Watch this space
Did we get the full approval forms signed from Mrs Red, I assume this is what you mentioned to me at Kilkee
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Nice one Red, you always seem to be able to pull off a cracking swim when it matters. Pity about the bike crash as 3.03 is still great going on that course - between the crash and the overlong run to T1 you would have been looking at clipping a fair chunk off the sub 6.
Did we get the full approval forms signed from Mrs Red, I assume this is what you mentioned to me at Kilkee
I might have squeezed another 10mins without the crash and long T1 but I wouldn't call that a fair chunk off sub 6! Not close to your territory anyway.
MrsB is not interested in signing those forms anytime soon so I went on a solo run and put my name down anyway It made for an interesting discussion :eek:. I'm going to have to be on best behavior for a long while yet and stock up a lotta brownie points before I might get the full approval nod. Meanwhile I'll keep doing a bit of training . 0 -
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