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Alanya, Turkey 2013 - My Euro Dream Odyssey
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El Director wrote: »Thanks DD, and thanks for pointing out interest's cowardly comments, I couldn't even defend myself! Guess that's what I get for falling behind on other peoples logs-that'll teach me!
Interested We should have a 500m dash at the bull wall some evening-while you still have a hammy leg I mean!
BTW things I day dream about from time to time-does interested really believe he'll beat me in a tri or even an aquathon some day?! Surely he doesn't!
disturbing ... you day dreaming of me
re: swim - Ill tie up both legs for the bull wall challenge and we'll leave off the wetsuits 0 -
interested wrote: »disturbing ... you day dreaming of me
re: swim - Ill tie up both legs for the bull wall challenge and we'll leave off the wetsuits
Is there any way we can schedule this challenge for....um....let's say July 9th or 10th so I can watch?? In fact, I think I deserve to be the ref!
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interested wrote: »disturbing ... you day dreaming of me
re: swim - Ill tie up both legs for the bull wall challenge and we'll leave off the wetsuits
It's on....9th, 10th, 40th....whenever-it's on!0 -
El Director wrote: »It's on....9th, 10th, 40th....whenever-it's on!
grand, so do you want directions again ? 0 -
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shotgunmcos wrote: »El D, I know you are going well and all but taking on interested, in swimming, is just asking for it...
He's a big boy now (arm bands are ring have been taken from swim bag earlier this year) and it's not like I've been swimming much so it should be quite the contest.0 -
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Actually I can't do July 9th - July 20th! Sorry DD! Ok so some evening next week then interested?
(@everyone did not think interested would call my bluff
)
Crooked lake report tomorrow.0 -
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Aw crap. And I was going to challenge the winner (or loser, or spectator, or random drunk guy at the bar...) to a dance off.
Seems appropriate for you DD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdQbqA9kqWk
@ ElD, just let me know when suits you - I rarely pass opportunities.
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El Director wrote: »Crooked lake report tomorrow.
I know you're probably uber busy at work....oh wait a minute Or has interested scared you off? 0 -
I know you're probably uber busy at work....oh wait a minute Or has interested scared you off?
Ok, finally getting around to my report. I've taken advantage of this week being unstructured, got myself down home to "do up" the house, you see we are 'having the stations' this year...queue the townie's questions So that means the 7 year big home improvement. The house and all external walls power washed and painted, all inside the house painted and a lot of landscaping to be done also. Now it was supposed to be an unstructured week, run/swim/bike when you want for however long you want but do something each day, except Monday-day off. That was basically the instruction from the coach. I did nothing Mon, Tues and Weds and only 20 min run Thurs (yesterday). I was just too wrecked and finished to late to do anything. I have ate a lot of crap, drank a moderate amount of beer and put on 2kg. I am not looking forward to Hell of The West next weekend.Crooked Lake Race Report
Camlough is only an hour up the road from Dublin and race start was 2pm, so it was a relaxing morning. UP at 8am to eat breakie and watch the Ire - V - New Zealand game...the beginning of an woeful week for Irish sport
Got registered at 12 and rolled into transition. A lovely race location I must say. Got in my best warm up to date. 15 min on the bike course, did some fast spurts. I noted the first 15 min of the bike is going to be hilly and on narrow, badly surfaced roads but at least it was dry. I then did a lap of the run course, included a few fast spurts and high knees and heel flicks, this took about 15min too. I like to work up a sweat during a WU and that I did. I then did some stretches and got into my wetsuit.
Swim
This swim start was an example of how a swim start should happen. It was very simple and there was no jumping the gun, a rope with flags on it and everybody had to be behind that line or no race start. That's what we all need, a start line, nobody had a problem getting behind it and no delay to the start.
I felt I got a good start but no draft. It was about 300m to the first buoy and I got it very wrong. I went way too wide trying to stay out of trouble, I took it wide and kept wide after, much too wide. I was keeping a good turn over and I WAS sighting well but something happened. Somehow I started swim in almost the opposite direction to where I should have been going! I had to stop because I was looking for the next buoy....turned my head around and there it was, WTF :mad: Swam hard to try and make up for it. I did start passing loads in the last 200m or so. Everybody commented on how accurate the swim was, 750m.
Time 12:23; Split Pos 41/474;
T1
A fairly long run into T2, getting much better in the first transition, wetsuit half off before I get to the bike and it whips off pretty easily. Running out it was a little tight but I forced my way through. At the mount line there where two guys basically standing on the line trying very badly to mount, I had to squeeze between the barrier and one of them, it was way to narrow here. One of the lads did their best to ram straight into me but I got away safely thankfully. Linda said that later when the bulk of the swimmers were out it was crazy and dangerous as people tried getting on their bikes.
Time 1:21; Split Pos 24/474;
Bike
As I tried to get clipped in I started to cramp in my right hamstring but didn't fully cramp thank god. I then got to work, I had a lot to reel in over a short, c.18km, bike route. So it was short hilly and windy-didn't really suit me but I just went for it as best as I could. I was reeling in all before me, one person came by me and made me look like I was standing still-Bryan McCrystal so no shame there. Soon it started to thin out and I had fewer to catch. The next guy looked familiar-my new nemesis Cormac McGarry, battled with him in Athy too. Eventually I caught him and he overtook me once before I went to the front again and led us into T2, according to Linda I was 8/9th in. So I biked into the top 10, right where I wanted to be. Could I hold on and defend it? No, not on this occasion :rolleyes:
Time 29:18; Split Pos 12/474;
T2
While overall my transitions have improved I have noticed that I am slower in T2 where most are faster. Unlike Athy I did not cramp in T2 and I was aware of McGarry being in there with me. I think what slows me up in T2 is the laces I am using, I see people pull on their runners and off they go. I pull on my runners and have to pull on a cord to tighten them-I have now ordered Xtenex laces as it seems most recommend them. McGarry was quicker in T2 and we left shoulder to shoulder, it was on.
Time 0:47; Split Pos 64/474;
Run
I knew he out splited me in the run in Athy but I hoped he was going to be weak on the hill and thats where I'd test him. Turned out I struggled on the run and he stole 15m or so and 3 more came by me here including Owen Martin-sub 9hr Ironman. So I was struggling and even felt a bit sick However after 2k I was feeling beter and picked it up but in a 5k foot race that's too late really. In Athy I got straight into my stride but then again there was no hill to test me. That hill at the beginning of the run did for me and it took a while to recover. The second time up it I di better and really started motoring from 3k on. I could still see McGarry and was actually beginning to rein him in. I had my eyes on Alan Mitchell too and Andrew Kinane (beat me to 2nd place in Ballbriggan Aquathon). I really felt good aka Athy run style. Then with about 500m to two lads, very very fresh looking went by me, I was really hoping that they were a lap down and would go left for their second lap...no such luck Now there was McGarry, Kinane, Mitchell, these two other guys (McDonald and McCabe) and myself. 6 of us battling it out, 7 sec would cover us, 8th place was only 4 sec more ahead. Although I caught and passed Mitchell he obviously had more in the tank and re-passed me with 100m to go. I had no response to this and out of the 6 I was 6th I gave it everything I had and pretty much collapsed after it. 7sec between me and 9th was hard to stomach.
Time 19:25; Split Pos 21/474;
So McGarry is where I want to be. 17sec between us in Athy and 7sec in Camlough. He finished 10th and 9th respectively and me 13th and 14th. I'm not far where I want to be this year, top 10 in NS races, but I am consistent and last year these would have top 25 performances so big big improvements made. Also a top 20 national champs result, last year that was a top 35. So a lot gained and I will have to work equally hard and smart to get into the top 10 now.0 -
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BetterThanHoyte wrote: »Great Report and good racing. You did better the week before your target race. Funny how things work out sometimes. And if you can see Andy Bolt closing down on you in the run you've no hope. Guys a machine and big things expected of him in Austria in a couple of weeks.
I have the Xtenex laces. They'll not be as easy to get on as your existing laces. They are a much tighter elastic so the are harder to stretch. Obviously as you have to tighten your current laces after putting on your shoes they must go on very easily. Once on they definitely fit better. No difference to normal laces if you ask me. Of course, most important is that you get laces that match your shoes!!
Well both Athy and Camlough were A races, but ya I thought Camlough would be the better race for me. However when making this assumption I did not factor in a shorter, hillier bike course and a tougher run and also the fact that it was Thurs before I recovered fully from Athy (because of the 2cm seat drop). So I learned a lot about myself and my next A race is an Olympic, hilly course-Blacksod near the end of the season. The bike course is 45k with a b1tch of a hill, and exposed, windy course, the run course is 5k up and 5k down. So this race is completely different from Athy and Camlough and I'm looking forward to preparing for it, right now I am certainly primed for this type of course, I'd do it just not well....and yet I have HoTW next weekend I've decided to cruise around next weekend, I certainly won't be pushing hard as I'd pay too much in terms of recovery and I am very anxious to get back down to basics and hard work.
Andy Bolt == Andrew Kinane?? Ya he is a great runner. I must say I am delighted to be mixing it with the likes of Kinane and McGarry and these boys then there is yourself BTH and Fazz all in the same AG...not easy but we are all pushing each other to be better...pushing to catch Eddie & co. some day 0 -
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interested wrote: »race report, doing up houses, contemplating kilkee over beer and crisps <yawn>... and yet... still running scared obviously. I hate to write this in your own blog but ... or maybe its all about being positive in the run into Kilkee.
Ok dude you've got what you want, you've drawn me out with your attack on my masculinity and slur campaign, next week, Tues or Thurs my man, don't forget our paddles you might need them
Ok so although not logging as frequently I have got back to training. Like I mentioned above a busy week at home and just mentally not being up for training I basically did nothing for 4 days then last Thurs did 20min run, nothing again Friday. Saturday a hungover hour run with a good mate, nothing on Sunday and Monday saw a return to a structured training week thank god.
Sat June 16th
Woke early, lovely bright morning out, decided enough was enough time to re-join the multisport world so with that - text a mate of mine from home, my usual running partner when home, I was still a little drunk at 6:30 but banged him off text as I knew he would b getting in his run early and I wanted to see if I could convince him to wait until the evening. He's a top man and agreed to 6pm. So 1 hour easy, 19:30 run, 0:30 walk x3 was also agreed. I got plenty of fluid into me during the day to re-hydrate. Didn't enjoy the run of course being 3kg over race weight (mainly fluids etc..) but I did enjoy the chat and clean country air
Time 01:00; Dist 13.2km; Pace 4:34/km; HR 134; Cad 83;
Mon Morn 18th June - Return To Training
Swim Coach Prescribed NAC LC
Back in teh pool after no swimming for 8 days. Felt unfit and very sluggish. Compared to my race/peak week times were of course down a good bit. WU and drills folled by:
4x 50 des 1-4: 48, 47, 45, 42
5x 100, pace 10 sec faster than race pace: 1:30, 1:30, 1:35, 1:38, 1:33
So all over the place there with the 100's, not one 10 sec faster than race pace but I felt much better after it and I bet my next swim will have me feeling a lot better.
Time 0:50; Dist 1,600m;
Mon Eve 18th Jun
Brick Bike Part
A lovely afternoon for this and headed into the MEath countryside. I was actually feeling frisky enough I just felt like letting rip but I kept HoTW game plan in mind which is to bike steady, not mod hard and no surges to try and catch the person ahead, just steady effort trying to keep the legs fresh for the challenging run. I had 3x 5min at race pace with a min between.
TIme 49:50; Dist 26.7km; Speed 32.5km/h; HR 136; Cad 86;
Brick Run Part
Tried to quickly get into a rhythm and pretend it was Kilkee, steady, steady no point in bursting out the gap in T2 in Kilkee. Goal is to get the HR settled before tackling what is essentially 5k up. I had 1 min at race pace too.
Time 12:09; Dist 0.03km; Pace3:58/km; HR 155;
Each morning this week I have started the day with 45 min of rolling/stretching/core. I need to keep this up, helps to keep me injury free and therefore to keep up consistent training which eventually will lead to good results. I'd love a year of injury free training and then I'd have the confidence to push myself more and more, during hard sets only mind! Well 3 months injury free now thank God.
As I knew I had Kilkee coming soon after my peak phase I thought it would be a good idea to pencil in Bray Aquathon the Wed night before it (tonight) Why? Well I kinda thought I would go mad during the Euro's and I knew if I had something mid week before Kilkee it would force me to keep a little portion of my mind on the fact that Kilkee is coming and it's a tough course. Didn't go as mad as I thought but still....glad now I entered tonight because
a) it's an OW session at race pace (intend doing one OW session per week during summer)
b) it will remind the body that I still race/train
c) I love these Aqua's
d) It looks like it will be a lovely day 0 -
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El Director wrote: »next week, Tues or Thurs my man, don't forget our paddles you might need them
You'll keep, unless one of us can commute between here an california - you pick your week don't you enjoy the swell at the weekend, I'm sure you'll be fine. 0 -
interested wrote: »You'll keep, unless one of us can commute between here an california - you pick your week don't you enjoy the swell at the weekend, I'm sure you'll be fine.
If you were any good you'd swim back for the challenge :cool: enjoy Cali.
Tues 19th June
Run easy 45 with build work
Only got 35min done and felt awful. Did not enjoy it but stretched and rolled well after and another session under the belt on this return to training week.
Time 35:03; DIST 8.08km; HR 149; Pace 4:16/km; Cad 85;
Weds 20th June
Bray Aquathon
Arrived in Bray early, 5ish so I could relax with a cup of coffee or two while reading. Went to register then at 6:30, hassle free as per usual.
WU
Started off with some dynamic stretches and movement prep. Also brought my new grid with me (got it in Oranmore @amphibiankingwest TI discount, nice) actually much better than the long foam roller I had plus easy to transport, went for it in black much better than the orange IMO. Enjoyed rolling, might bring it to races anymore. Then it was 10min easy run with surges, high knees and heel flicks. Worked up a good sweat, another good WU like in Camlough.
Swim
I was shocked at how surprised I was with the cold water, usually it does not bother me. Got in with 8mins to the off and spent about 4min swimming and then was able to stand to do some arm exercises/stretches. Saw a guy that seems to always beat me here by a matter of seconds, usually in the last 300m or so. Well happened twice last year anyway. I made some silly ass comment about the water temp, completely blanked me. Fine, thats the way you want it. Lined up beside a guy I see in the NAC every morning, swims with NUIM, I knew he was really really fast, I'll try to get some draft from him. We were off, he was like a bullet and gone. I was determined to keep tight to the buoys, not like camlough. The first came within 70m, still very bunched it was a bit rough but nothing too mad. I then had a good draft going with a guy Swimming at my pace. After a few mins I lost him as he was going off course a bit, we then came back together side by side. We both seemed to have the same turn over and this helped to keep a nice rhythm. I then noticed that a group ahead were pulling away so I really concentrated on a longer stroke. Started to rotate more to give me extra reach at the front end of the stroke and (shotgun eluded to this in his log) made sure my triceps were feeling the burn on the back end of the stroke. Is tarted to pull away from my swimming buddy for the last 5/6 min and slowly but definitely catching the group. Turned at the final buoy and swim into shore until my chest was almost scraping the sea bed. Got a call of "10" when i got out, so top 10, not bad. The guy i marked before the swim was first out in about 9min, nearly 3min head start on the run :eek:The water btw was crystal clear, beautiful it was and so clear.
Time 11:50; DIST 955m; Cad 34 strokes/min
Transition
Getting better at these
Time 1:07
Run
So onto the run and got into a good stride pretty quickly. There are 4 turn arounds on this course, great to see if you are catching and/or being caught. I passed two fairly quickly but It wasn't until halfway up the hill I saw the lead man, Kevin Thornton followed fairly closely by a few others. I counted that I was probably 8th. Short quick steps up that steep hill is the way to go and then open up on the way down...big time. At the second turn around there was the guy that usually pips me, about 20m back. I passed a couple more and was moving fairly well. The third turn around he was still 20m back or so, so nothing gained but like I said he usually gets me in the last 300m or so. At this stage it was difficult to know who was ahead of you or behind as the course was fairly crowded now. Second time up the hill and I was actually further up this time when I meet Thornton, he had this one in the bag so must have eased off. At this stage I thought I was fifth and definitely closing in on another place. 4th turn around and 'blank me' guy is if anything 25m or so back. I was confident now of holding him off. Down the hill and onto the final 1k stretch. Slowly slowly catching 4th, but it was just too much of an ask, finished 5/6 sec behind him. Delighted though with my run, km splits were: 3:45, 3:48, 3:42, 3:50 and the last 660m in a pace of 3:40.
Time 17:30; DIST 4.66k; pace 3:45/km; HR 174
Actually finished 6th, best Bray result yet and delighted that nobody passed me on the run, especially 'blank me' guy a podium here someday is the dream
Reason I come back every year? The hassle free and relaxed but very efficient running of the event by Wicklow Tri Club, well done to them and their members/volunteers.0 -
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Ok, ok lads sorry here it is....but first the preceding days
Thurs 21st June
Bike 30min Easy
A really nice spin in the pissing rain Loving it I was. Felt very good.
Time 0:29; Dist 13.42km; Speed 27.8km/hr; HR 128;
Fri Morn 22nd June
Swim NAC LC
I had a WU, drills and descending 50's. Then 5x 100 faster than race pace (10sec/100 faster) These felt refreshingly good, coming come in on 1:28-1:32.
Bike
So 30min on the bike with some race efforts. Again, raining heavy. I practiced what I thought would be race pace tomorrow.
Time 0:31:44; Dist 12.97km; Speed 24.5km/hr; HR 113; Cad 90;
Run
Then straight onto the run. My legs were feeling very heavy so I cut this short.
Time 0:050 -
Hell Of The West 2012 Report
So as I mentioned before I was only doing this race for others, a good mate of mine and Linda ☺ Now in fairness it does not take much to agree to do this race. It is the premier triathlon race in Ireland and it’s how all other races are measured and assessed. So I had the mate returning from Oz for this, a mate coming Mayo, another from Dublin and another from London with whom we were staying with in Kilkee. It was great to see all the lads, a once in a year thing if we are lucky. So we travelled down on the Friday after some bike shopping for Linda ☺ I decided to wait and register in the morning, instead just relax in my mate house for the evening. Relaxing was the theme of the weekend, I was going to enjoy this no matter the weather or circumstances.
I woke up good and early Saturday morning, 05:30. Did a bike and gear check as I always do. Then did a bit of rolling and easy stretches just to activate and wake up the muscles. Then the usual breakie and off we went to the race headquarters in Kilkee. Got there for a little after 07:30 and registered. The goody bag ☺ Well everyone the country by now has heard, Giro sunnies and a deadly jacket amoung other things…mostly raided by herself as is the deal between us. Linda comes to most of my races and she is my supporter No.1…what this means is she gets the goody bag and when she’s done I get what’s left Jacket too big for her so that’s mine ☺ I had to give a bike and helmet to my friend from Oz (in my first log he was referred to as “the carrot on the stick”) so after that I headed to transition. I was one of the first there to rack my bike as I like to, this means I can head for coffee with Linda. We hit the Pantry and there we met our follow Galway men, PGibbo and Amphibiankingwest. Great to meet them and have the bit of craic.
So back to transition to get set up proper. I was loving the fact that this race had no label on it, no ‘A race’ or ‘training race’ just racing. So there I was chatting to everyone and anyone, although I may have looked relaxed I was anxious to get out on the bike with Gibbo for a bit. Eventually I managed to get away without being too rude. We hit out the bike course, up the hill out of Kilkee and it was fine, not as bad as I remember. I have done this race twice before, in my first year in tri 2009 and 2010. We 13min and 5.5km. We agreed then to get the runners on for a run warm up but on the way in I bumbed into MCOS and we had a little chat! I think Mike thought I was only entering transition for the first time ☺ Truth was though I had already been in I still had a lot to set up. So after our chat I started to realise just how much I still had to do. So I decided to get everything set up and see if I could fit in a run WU then.
I had to get my gels on my bike and attach that awful front hydration bottle (I have since ordered the profile design HC mount for between the arms on the tri bars). Runners had to be set up, bike shoes on bike, race number on belt and a few other little things. By the time all this was done a run WU was out of the question, time to get suited. I wasn’t too worried though because this was an olympic distance race and therefore my plan was to keep it steady in all three disciplines. It’s not just the distances but the nature of the course, a proper good, honest to god challenge, love it ☺
Now get this….as we were being counted out of transition before we walked down the ramp to the beach some guy had a waterproof MP3 player attached to his googles and waterproof ear phones. He was instructed by a marshall that this was not allowed, the guy questioned this, the marshall said it was in the rules. Tutting and shaking his head the guy turned around muttering “FFS…” I gave him a dirty look I wondered…is this our mate from last weeks thread on the issue. I was glad he was caught.
As we walked along the beach flanked by what seemed to be hundreds of yellow jacket marshalls – an attempt to stop people getting in the water before the race start, which did work., I did some heel flicks and high knees. We were then loaded into a pen and final instructions which I could hear fine. I then noticed, now I will call him a name as he was told and he deserves it, the idiot that tried to get away with his MP3 player. Sure enough he decided to sneak them in anyway. There he was with his MP3 attached to his googles and in one of his ears a hooped ear ring! Even worse IMO, for safety he should have been asked to remove that too. What if someone caugth their small finger in the bloody thing and ripped part of his ear off! Anyway in the melee I can only hope his MP3 player was knocked off his stupid head.
I had a little chat here again with MCOS, just the usual chit chat, salt opening gates, hydration and electrolytes and stuff ☺ MCOS knows his stuff.
We were then allowed to enter the water and I made my way to the front.
Swim
I actually didn’t even hear the starting sound (horn, klaxton,whistle??) I just looked to my left and it seemed they had started so I just went! GO, GO, GO! It was a tough swim, I love tough sea swims me ☺ My breathing was not the best, everytime I sighted all I could see is a wall of sea and perhaps some legs! It took a while for me to learn to time my breath for the cest of the wave but I got the hang of it eventually. I felt my swim line was all over the place, certainly not straight anyway. I was loosing focus, a lot. This being my first 1,500m of the season I forgot how much you need to concentrate on your form. So I was daydreaming half the time, then I’d snap out of it and get going again. So all over the place, this was not going well and my poorest swim of the year. But I did not panic, kept calm safe in the knowledge that the bike course is 4k longer than normal and this will catch a lot of people out. The dist below is a guess, I did not hit lap until I was actually in transition at my bike
Time 29:20; Dist c.1,700m; Split Pos 55/589; Pace c.1:44/100m;
Garmin File here
T1
My lack of focus continued into T1. I had the wetsuit off quick snap and grabbed my bike, but I was running out very slowly, why? I knew I had forgotten something…then it hit me. Left my bike against the band stand and ran back to grab my helmet! Lucky not to be penalised here…helmet first always! Crazy I’d forget that. So although being relaxed may suit me between this and the unfocused swim I was too relaxed. Somewhere inbetween please ☺
Time 0:58; Split Pos 106/589;
Bike
Usually after a poor swim I get angry and take it out on the bike course. Could not afford to do that today, a tough course and I knew I had a 20km head wind to deal with on the way back. So stick to the plan, steady as she goes. This was the first time I raced a tri with a Garmin and I will be using it anymore for Olympic and above. I found it great to know what my HR was and my cadence. If the cadence dropped below 90rpm I’d just select an easier gear so long as HR was not below 155bpm. With the wind behind me and no rain yet I was cruising along at 40+km/h for the first half of the bike. The watch was set on autolap for every 11k (total distance was 44k so this gave me 4 splits). Details below:
At times on the way out I was spinning out, now I was very weary of not pushing it, it was steady all the way. I passed loads but I did not care if there were people ahead, I was determined not to surge just to catch. I was just confident that if there were people ahead I would get them eventually. And that’s the way it worked. Actually it wasn’t until 33km that someone came by me. I had not passed anyone in a while but was slowly, slowly catching a guy ahead for the last 10k. Eventually I did get him and at this point there were 3 of us in danger of drafting. We were yoyoing a bit, passing, dropping back etc… Very difficult to go slow on purpose going up a hill BTW! So coming back into Kilkee 3 guys went by me but I did not chase, “…save it for the run, you will get them then” And so it was. I took two gels and about 650ml water with nuun tab.
Split Pos 23/589;
Summary above in table, Garmin File here
T2
Did not forgot anything here, actually took my time just to make sure. Grabbed two gels too, stuffed one in my trisuit and one in my hand.
Time 0:56; Split Pos 132/589
Run
Ok this is where it can all come apart. I concentrated on a high cadence and good form. Doing my form check every now and again from head to toe, at this stage I was totally focused. Within the first 1k I passed out those 3 that passed me in the final stages of the bike. I pushed on up the climb. I passed another 2/3, I can’t really remember. My quads were on the verge of seizing up…just above the knee, “..oh no, cramps..” I thought. I knew that this meant just not opening up, so I didn’t I just kept a nice turn over. I had the watch set on autolap for 1k, details below:
I was struggling for most of this run, head saying “…god you are so slow…” delighted to have my watch with me, each time I clocked a km the number were pretty good, great to see two sub 4 min km even going up the hill. This kept me going, I found some comfort in my beloved numbers ☺ Then at around the 3k point I started to meet the leaders, “..not bad…” I thought. Keane flying but Huff ‘n’ Puff hot on his heels! Amazing performance. McCrystal and Woods at it again, Ludick a lonely figure on his own but going well all the same, we both tried to mutter some encouragement but it was muffled, the ecoustics in the pain cave are pants! :P So I was playing the counting game…we all know it ☺ I knew one relay had passed me but that was all. MCOS then came into view just as I sighted the turn around up ahead, and also Yelverton. Then I hit the turn around and it was only then I realised I was running up hill and into a head wind! It’s a difficult run couse…even the downhill has uphill bits…to me it felt like 10k uphill ☺ I knew I was in 15th spot. “wow, really, top 15 in a stacked HOTW! Is it possible!” I had a nice gap on 16th but I knew I was being caught. I just kept going hoping I could hang on and maybe catch one more myself. With about 800m to I was caught, the only individual to catch me so that’s not bad! Boy was I happy to be finished, the look on my face says it all ☺
Split Pos 36/589
Summary above in table, Garmin File here
So 16th place overall and 5th in AG. Perhaps my most satisfying result of the year so far.
Great to meet the boardies that I did, Pgibbo, Amphibiankingwest, Catweazle, MCOS and hopefully meet more of ye soon. Pgibbo’s sub 40 off the bike was a standout as was MCOS’s overall great performance. But the performance of the weekend has to be Huff ‘N’ Puff, legend that man in my eyes! Well done on a super, super performance. To be 2min behind Keane coming out of the water and catch him and build almost a minute lead going onto the run…seriously impressive dude.
Positves
I am used of being higher up in the bike leg but I think I got the pacing spot on for this race! Had I gone lets say 2 min faster on the bike then I reckon my run could have been 4 min slower. Really happy with that.
Top 16 in HOTW, thrilled with this. Before the race I thpought maybe top15, all going well. Then I saw all the talent on the morning and I thought top 20 would be great!
As 1st, 2nd and 3rd OA were not included in AG prizes it put me in 2nd place in my AG! Seeing as 2 of the top 3 were Pro’s they have no business accepting AG prizes anway IMO so fair enough. Good job I went along to prize giving…it would have killed me had I missed accepting a prize at HOTW. I remember two years ago, looking on as people collected their prizes and wondering, “…how do I get there..” I was jealous! I was in a bit of shock when I heard my name. A pity MCOS could not hang around as he got 1st, so 1, 2 for boardies in AG 20-34 ☺
Here is a comparrision from the three times I have completed this race. 2009, 2010 we had wonderful weather…not so 2012 ☹
Negatives
The lack of concetraion which lead to a poor swim and T1.
The crampping quads.
Fading a little towards the end of the bike leg
So after missing last year I was back at Kilkee, the after party was so good too, really enjoyed ourselves. Back on Sunday evening and hit out on the bikes with herself fro an easy 30min spin in the sun ☺0 -
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