Me Against The World...

Chartsengrafs

Fantastic progress again.

Looks like you got your mention in the paper anyway. No gibberish reported.

BTH

littlemsfickle wrote: »

ahahahahaha, just seeing this now. I think you got your revenge at the bull wall anyway:) Looking at your recent times I don't this will be happening again any time soon...

p.s. ahahahahahaha

Yeah, yeah, have a good laugh

Basster wrote: »

Fantastic progress again.

Looks like you got your mention in the paper anyway. No gibberish reported.

Cheers. Thankfully it was just a by-line at the end of the report. He obviously found a much better story than some ginger who snapped his goggles!

El Director wrote: »

Well done dude on your recent performances BTH. YOu handled the googles problem well but something tells me that you were lucky to know E Tilly* otherwise you may not have been allowed to go in a later wave, this is usually stressed in race briefs. That list of spare bike parts is crazy imo! I don't bring any, not even spare wheels but I will from now on. For the swim, two types of googles, they are the same but one pair for dark conditions and one for bring, sunny conditions and also a few pairs of swim hats.

Anyway back to you....all I can say is that I am glad we are not matching up again this year



*also if ET did not know you me thinks he would have said "tough..."

To be fair to him, ET has looked after me this season. He sorted out the time for the extra swim in Joey Hannan, and was giving me time gaps in Lanesboro the other week. I don't remember the last race I did that Eamonn wasn't at!!

Trifreak wrote: »

Well done BTH. It is a tough race and there were some great performances out there.

If it helps, I set the swim course, and we checked it twice with a garmin 10 mins before the race.I am happy that it was within 10 metres of 1500m. FYI, the long straight between bouy 1 and 2 was against the flow of the lake, and the shorter bouy 3 to 4 were with the flow. Even though the flow is slight, it may have made a difference. (The lake drains from the end near the race start, and is filled at the other end)

Stephen Early's swim was savage. I would not benchmark your performance off his. Well done again.

Just had a look at last years results, and it seems that Stephen actually swam 20sec faster last year, so the flow was perhaps a little more of a hindrance this year. Although he had company on the swim last year so hard to tell. Either way, I was a little disappointed with my time as I believe I should be in and around the top 10% on swims this year. I will have lost an awful lot without any draft, or any company to pace off, but maybe I just didn't have a good swim as well.

Cheers for putting on a great race all the same. I'll hopefully be back to crack the top ten next year...

BTH

Hardest "week" (actually just three days) training ever. I'm a spent man....

Monday

Rest day after the Beast. Motivation flagging a little, and struggling to sleep in the heat.

Tuesday

Alarm went for a morning swim after another poor nights sleep. Coupled with the lack of motivation I gave it a miss.

Run in the evening, and I was dreading it. Plan was for 6*5min @3:40 pace with 1 min recoveries. The tiredness and motivation problems really not getting me up for this. Headed to the park to run around the pitches. Took it a little easier for the first rep. It was raining lightly initially, but soon it was lashing down, and I absolutely loved it! Haven't run in the rain in ages. Its class!! Mojo definitely starting to return after that! Held 3:45,3:39,3:45,3:41,3:43,3:37 for the efforts, 13.5k in bang on an hour.

Wednesday
Another poor nights sleep so I didn't get up to swim, again.

Bike session in the eve. 10*2km efforts at 20km race pace with 1min recoveries. Hard work. Out at the back of the airport. Coach asked me to do these @90rpm. I managed to hold 90rpm for 2.5 efforts, before my legs gave out. Burn burn burn. Made sure to keep the cadence below 100 for the remainder though. Faded a little on the last two westbound efforts, after the initial harder work. East bound avg speeds 40.9,39.7,39.9,39.5,39.1, westbound speeds 40.7,40.2,39.1,38.0,38.4. Total of 55km in 2hours.
I also asked the coach whether I had read Thursdays run session correctly. "Yep", before I even got to ask anything further. Oh dear god.....

Thursday
Club swim session
400wu, 4*200 on 3:30, 8*100 on 1:40 (I sat out reps 5&6 with my mind on what was to come), and 400cd.

Straight to the park afterward for a run session. 4*1km @3:25 pace, 6min turnarounds, straight into 4*500m @3:25 pace with 3min turnarounds, 5min easy, 3km TT. Soooooooo much pain. I was in pain my the end of the first rep. 1k paces where 3:25,3:25,3:31,3:28. 500m paces 3:28,3:30,3:25,3:21 Dying a death at this stage. Reduced to walking the first half of the recoveries since the end of the 1km reps. Into the 3k TT, and I'm dreading this. First half wasn't too bad, but struggled after that and faded badly in the last 300/400m. Somehow managed to hold on for 10:57. Reckon I lost about 10sec in that last 300m!! Nearly collapsed when I was finished. Legs in pieces. 15.5km in 72min. Everything was done in slow motion for the rest of the evening, and I'm not much better this morning!! Rest day today thankfully. Badly needed.

pgibbo

Tough, tough session. Embracing the pain

El Director

Wow dude well done this week, you are flying. Great to get those tough sessions done.

BTH

Update on the training.

Friday

As mentioned, this was a rest day

Saturday

Up early to join a clubmate in the park for a long run. 18km @4:45pace followed by a choco and peanut muffin in the visitors centre. Nom nom.


Squeezed in a quick OW dip that evening too. Only about 1k swam. Current very strong in the out-leg and I was making very very slow progress, getting thrown about a bit. Flew home though.


Sunday

Was supposed to get out on the bike for 2/3 hours, but a hangover put a stop to any early activity. Looking out at the changeable day didn't up my mood much either. So at about 4pm I set up the turbo in-front of the TV, and hopped on. Within 15min the womens beach volleyball came on. Zara Dampney perked me up quite a bit!!! 2hours with 3*20min in low Z3. 65km in all, holding 37kmph+ for the z3 work.

Monday

Down to the pool. 800 wu mixed between swim and pull trying to decide what to do, and also trying to work on my breathing to the left. 4*50 kick, then into a made up set of 5*(100 on 1:45, 200 on 3:30). Went better than expected. Swam around 1:35-37 pace throughout. Swimming has taken a bit of a back seat lately, so happy enough with the effort. 300cd for a 2800m set in total

Tuesday

Run again in the park. 1 hour with 2*(400m, 2min recovery, 200m, 1min recovery, 100m) all at 3:05 pace, with 5min between sets. Nice loosener before the weekend. 13.xxkm

BTH

Bit of catching up to do here.

Wednesday

On the bike out to Howth, bumped into Bambatta for the spin out which was great for a bit of company. 6*1min hard efforts on the last section of the hill by the carpark with long recoveries. Went well, and happy with the efforts. Once I was finished my work Bambatta appeared on my shoulder once again so I'd company for the spin home too. 45km in 1:50

Thursday
Easy 45min run at lunch time. kept the effort well down but held 4:40/km pace for the 45min.

Thurs eve was club swim session which consisted of a lot of drill work. But in the middle we had a max 50m, 2 max 100m, and a max 200m. A 1 second PB on the 50 for 35sec. 3 second pb for the first 100 1:19. Slightly slower for the second 1:21. Legs gave up 75m into the 200 and I crawled home in 3:02 or thereabouts. Long rests between the efforts so overall distance covered was small.

Friday

60min turbo easy with 4*200m sprints. Just shy of 31km covered.

Saturday

Up early for a 30min run with 5* progressive strides, all done in time to get back for the womens tri. What a race, despite RTE's best attempts to ruin it!

BTH

Nice early start on Sunday morning. Michelle really loves these!!

Registered, parked up, set up, banter with clubmates, usual craic. Going in the first wave so no hanging about. Had already looked at the start lists and the Olympic looked to be the weaker field so I was hoping to go well.

Got away relatively cleanly at the start. Within 200m I was clear of any trouble. Around the first buoy no problems and I settled in just slightly behind a group of three. Used these to sight off as I couldn't make out any of the other buoys. The water was fairly choppy and I had to change my stroke rhythm slightly to fit in with the waters rhythm, otherwise I was taking in a loot of water. I was happy this group were going fairly straight as I knew there wasn't many up ahead of these three so they must be fairly strong. Great logic I know!! The passed two other buoys on a straight line to the last turn. I only know this because I'd seen the buoys from the shore. I never saw them during the swim!! Around that last buoy and suddenly the group are pulling away slightly. I tried to go with them, but to no avail. I knew I was going fairly well though, and was well up the field. Out of the water in 25:20 and 7th fastest per the results, but I reckon there might have been another 1or2 who subsequently pulled out. Still, top ten swim in a NS race! Who'd have though that this time last year after I'd spent over 16min in the water for the sprint here!! Also seeing that some people have the course measured at 1700m on Garmin Connect, so pretty pleased with my time (although it was prob closer to 1600m in length).

Was running quite sharpish into T1, but started to feel a little queasy so eased off into a jog. Nice clean T1 though and out in 1:50 which was 4th fastest in the Olympic but would have had me well down the field in the Sprint.

Clean mount and got on my way. Think I'd picked up a place in T1, and quickly picked up another as a guy was pulled over with a mechanical. Onto the hill, and I'm quickly down in my lowest gear, somewhere I'd hoped not to go, but I couldn't get the HR down and I was still feeling a little queasy. Almost at the top, I passed another cyclist, carrying his bike over his shoulder. Got down the otherside cleanly and out onto the main road. Now I can gauge my position. Very quickly met Trevor Woods coming the other way. Right, that's one I won't catch. A good bit later was a Predator Trisuit. Won't be catching him either. Nothing for ages and then I noticed I was closing in on a guy ahead. Then the turnaround came into view. Fourth place!! Class!! Around the turn and at 10km mark I moved into 3rd. Then I could see a few lining up behind me approaching the turn, including a clubmate and Galway trisuit. Head down and keep working. Actually hit some massive speeds on the way back to the start of the climb again. Didn't look behind for ages but when I did there was no sign of any of the chasers, or the last guy I'd overtaken. Took on my one and only gel along here. Then back into the climb again and I'm back in the lowest gear again. Now passing a few of the slower people from Wave 2 and the first Sprint wave. Also some sirens blaring and an Ambulance goes past me. That doesn't look good. Not too many on the hill. Over the top I met a few and passed a couple on the straighter sections of the descent. Almost at the bottom when I was brought to a stop by a marshal. Road closed, accident. There was a Midland Tri guy there also who had just walked back up from the corner with his mangled bike as he had crashed just minutes before the crash that stopped the race. For a while no-one knew what was going on. I was disappointed as I was sitting in 3rd, and while I knew there was no chance of catching the first two I was fairly determined to hold onto this position. Game over in my mind, all I was thinking is was there anyway off this hill without having to go back over the top again. Eventually this is what we did.

Back into transition Michelle was there roaring at everyone that the race is still on and that we had to do the run. Communication from the marshals was pretty poor at this point. I had gotten cold on the spin back to T2 and wasn't in much mood for that hill now.

Started out at a decent clip and I was passing loads up the hill. I'd done this race last year so had a good idea what to expect. I was running well, knowing this wasn't suitable, but also knowing that the descent would be very easy. What I wasn't ready for was the "flat" bit at the top with was up and down and up and down and I didn't have enough left in the tank at that stage. Started to get pains in my chest and having to stop twice. That queasiness coming back again. Once I got through this flat :rolleyes: section the controlled falling on the descent was quite comfortable and I finished strong. As everyone had returned to T2 at various times from the road closure it was impossible now to know who you were racing. I ran 45:01 for the 10km+ which was 6th fastest, and brought me 4th overall. Turns out that the guy who beat me for 3rd was in the second wave and while I was out of the water 2 seconds quicker than he, I don't know how well he was going on the bike so I can't know whether I'd have beaten him or not. He beat me comfortably on the run in any case.

4th in a NS race (albeit a weak one) and decent splits, but theres a little feeling of disappointment there. However, once the crash happened there was no choice but to close the road, and I don't see how the result could have been decided in any other way than how they were. Disappointing for those affected, but nothing else that could be done.

The race? I'll not be back. The hill on both the run and the bike are a proper hard challenge. The descent, while dangerous, is no more dangerous than that at the end of the bike course on BotE. Marshalling on this descent could be more visible and assertive, but as has been said, everyone was warned about this descent. My biggest problem is the main road is far too busy for this race. Michelle said that athletes coming out of transition was being made to wait for passing traffic who were given the right of way. Michelle was shocked at the level of marshalling in and around transition and she's never even done a race before! This is supposed to be a race, and not just a fun local one but a NS one. How can we race when we're held back for passing cars. Last year I had to undertake stopped cars on the approach into T2 as the road was so busy. The alternative was to stop and wait. It just doesn't work.

Anyway, one weekend of my tri season left, and a return to the site of my first Oly race two years ago. Looking forward to this one!!

BTH

Monday

In bits from Sunday, just a 30min recovery run which started out very very slowly, but eventually loosened out a bit. Was glad when it was finished though. Very stiff.

Tuesday

On the schedule as a rest day but I headed to the pool. Just did an easy 10*100 alternating swim and pull. No times, no pressure, just easy. Also did 4*50 kick, and 3*50 trying to tumble turn. The first attempt went ok, except I was too far from the wall and barely got my toe to it to kick off. The second two I almost hit the bottom so I gave up. Good job I didn't try it in the shallow end!!

Dory Dory

Working on your tumble turns, eh?? (that word always cracks me up) And don't you love swimming with no pace clock?? OMG, that's heaven. Good job on your race - even with the disaster that occurred, you were flying. You've really had a super season.

Fazz

Nice race and result BTH.
AG prize also at NS race is not to be sniffed at so Fair play.

Be interesting to see how that fairs out in the NS Points collection.
I've my work cut out now to try jump you!

Last race this weekend at CK is it?
Super race and course best of luck with it.

pgibbo

Glad I switched events last weekend by the sounds of it. Rosses Point was the polar opposite. Loads of marshalls who were very vocal and super organised.

Congrats on the AG prize and 4th in a NS race :cool:

All set for this weekend?

BTH

Dory Dory wrote: »

Working on your tumble turns, eh?? (that word always cracks me up) And don't you love swimming with no pace clock?? OMG, that's heaven. Good job on your race - even with the disaster that occurred, you were flying. You've really had a super season.

Cheers DD

My tumble turn needs a hell of a lot of work. When I got to the pool on Tuesday there were two clubmates there finishing up their sessions and heading for the steam-room. I nearly didn't bother getting in....

Fazz wrote: »

Nice race and result BTH.
AG prize also at NS race is not to be sniffed at so Fair play.

Be interesting to see how that fairs out in the NS Points collection.
I've my work cut out now to try jump you!

Last race this weekend at CK is it?
Super race and course best of luck with it.

Cheers Fazz, 3rd in the AG is a nice one to pick up alright.

You've obviously seen the NS points since this. Worked out pretty well , but look at what its done for Trevor Woods :eek:!!!

Finishing up tomorrow alright. Looking forward to it. A certain Belgian cartoon character look-a-like (and his dog!!) might be looking for revenge tomorrow so I'll need to be on my toes!

pgibbo wrote: »

Glad I switched events last weekend by the sounds of it. Rosses Point was the polar opposite. Loads of marshalls who were very vocal and super organised.

Congrats on the AG prize and 4th in a NS race :cool:

All set for this weekend?

Been meaning to do either Rosses Point or Mullaghmore sometime. Sligo is really only an hour from the home place so no excuses. Maybe next year.

pgibbo

Best of luck tomorrow!

BTH

Wednesday

I was supposed to do a bike session on Wednesday, but I had this weird pain in the middle of my chest. Not sure what is was or where it came from, but I decided resting was probably the best idea.

Thursday

45min run at lunch time with short hard efforts. 80sec on 80 off, 60 on, 60 off, 40 on, 40 off. Two sets of that with 5min easy in between. Down around 3:00 pace or below for the hard efforts. 9km+ in total. Chest pain pretty much gone. Maybe had slept strangely Tuesday night.

Evening Club Swim session. Short sprints to wu, the 5*100 on 1:45, 4*100 on 1:40, 3*100 on 1:35. Made all the times with rest, but did have to work a bit!!! Then 2 sets of 5*50 on 60sec descending. Other than the second rep on the second set :rolleyes: I descended all of them. Not bad.

Friday

Supposed to do an easy run today, but meetings and phone calls with our Brussels office meant I didn't get out at lunch for it. Probably not a bad thing. Feeling tired and run down. Have a small ulcer at the back of my mouth/throat all week which is a sure fire sign I'm run down. Obviously immune system lacking a bit as I'm flu-y from swimming last night too. Blocked nose and phlegmy, so not ideal going into a race weekend. But its my last tri of the year so I'll give it everything.

Plan tomorrow is to go out hard and see how long I last. I have a good NS total already racked up and this isn't a high scoring race generally, so swim hard, bike hard (harder than I normally would for an Oly) and possibly blow up on the run, but I don't care. Hang on as long as I can anyway. Then go on the piss at my mates stag!!! I'll most likely be proper sick on Monday!!

Dory Dory

Good luck tomorrow and blow yourself to bits!

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

"swim hard, bike hard (harder than I normally would for an Oly) and possibly blow up on the run"

I have a feeling my race strategy might be the same:)

Fazz

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

Cheers Fazz, 3rd in the AG is a nice one to pick up alright.

You've obviously seen the NS points since this. Worked out pretty well , but look at what its done for Trevor Woods :eek:!!!

:eek: :eek: :eek:

Ah here... not that many entries, bike negated and the race rewards huge points!!!
Strange one there eh! Must be the biggest scoring race since the new system!
Kinda shows the NS needs a bit of tweaking as it should be the best guys racing each other for the title not racing the random races that reward best points and skipping Nationals due to low points etc - not aimed at you just a general comment as for example Stephen Early and BMC missed B Boru and lost a healthy points differential compared to Trevor Woods and Shane Scully.

Seems like it may be time to reward top 10 or top 3 places in a chosen few races per year. Say the Nationals for example.
A fair comparison may be that the Top 10 in Nationals get an extra % or few bonus points, that way they would be less susceptible to being overtaken due to random races such as B Boru or Athlone Sprint etc.

The only other alternative would be a super series of 5 races rewarding higher points and them being targetted by anyone going for the NS title.


Anyway I digress... Kick ass tomorrow.

BTH

My first Olympic Distance race two years ago. I went back last year. Again this year. Probably next year too. Great race, my Dads hometown, and great to be able to compare times and improvement each year. As mentioned above, I have a great tally of NS points already in the bag, so a little experiment here. Swim hard, hammer the bike, and see what happens. I was going to learn a lot about myself in this race.

As mentioned, I had been feeling a little off this week, and missed two tune up sessions. Friday night I had an atrocious nights sleep, so I wasn’t in great form when the 6:30 alarm call came. Michelle had gotten a summons for a weekend in the office so I was travelling solo.

When I arrived I made sure to get in a little loosener on the bike and run. Suited and booted (and suncreamed), craic with the club mates and ready to roll.

Into the water and I positioned myself behind David Sheridan. Figured this was probably a good line if he’d chosen it, and I’d get clear water very quickly as he disappeared into the distance. My swim is improving a lot, but I still have a long way to go!! A little bit of argy at the start, but nothing too hectic. Did get one smack to the goggles and a little water got in but no big deal. I had planned on swimming fairly hard, but the water was quite choppy and I never got as comfortable in the waves as I did in last weeks swim. Still, I was making good progress. Made sure to stay closer to whatever group I was near this week, and swam reasonably well. Had hoped a little better, but it was what it was. Out of the water in 26:41 and 31st place. 261 swimmers so slightly outside that top 10% I’m aiming for. Lost 5min to David Sheridan! However, last year I lost almost 7 minutes to him. 2011 swim time 28:18, 2010 was 29:05 when the course was a little short. Apparently this year most times were 2/3 minutes slower than last year, so still good progress made.

Into T1, and I could see KingQuez at his bike getting out of the water 5 seconds before me. Clean T1, 53 seconds, but only 64th fastest. Still picked up 3 places in T1.

Out onto the bike and this is where I was going to let loose. Once mounted I had a guy just in front who looked like he was going to be going fairly hard too. So I sat in the required distance behind him and gave him his rope to hang himself. Looking at the results now I reckon he must have been Davin Power from Waterford. I never get close to that guy!! Quickly passed KQ and was picking off quite a few early on too. I was determined to keep a big gear turning even on the worst drags. I would have always geared down and spun up these to save the legs for the run. Probably saved too much. Wasn’t going to worry about the run today. Today was about smashing the legs. 7/8km Mr Power was easing off a little. I’m in no mood for that, so blast past him and go about chasing down a few more. First 10km in 39.7kmph. At 15kmph I’m approaching the sharp corner that has claimed a few DQ in the past. On the approach I catch up on Dave Cahill. I know Dave hasn’t been doing much training lately but hadn’t expected to catch him so early. Round the corner and I ditch him too. Hammering along, and the second 10km goes by in 38.7kmph. Ending lap one and I get a blast from the BBQ cooking up the post race burgers. Smelt awesome!! At the beginning of the second lap I catch and pass a group of three, one predator tri and one in a K-Swiss tri suit. I was also passing a lot of the slower swimmers from the second wave now. I obviously took it a little easy around the first corner before the first drag this time around, as K-Swiss came up along side me at the start of the climb. Glance over, then do a double take when I realise its Patrick Quinn. Another guy I’ve never been close to in a race. Turns out Predator tri was Mairtin Grealish who finished second in my 4th place race last weekend. This is going really well. Right, quit looking at his guy and push on. Looked back a couple of km later and no sign of him. Don’t think I passed anymore from my wave on this second lap. Lots of people from the first wave though. Third 10km done in 38.5kmph. At 30km I’m starting to feel the effort now. Looking at the data and my cadence starts to creep up in the last 10km. Averaging 97 up to this, its now averaging 100, and I’m obviously pushing an easier gear this time around. Fourth 10km in 38.2kmph, so a little drop alright. Closing out the last couple of KM I see I’m catching 2/3 others. The last guy in the group is a midland tri guy. I start to worry. Who the hell from Midland could be ahead of me at this stage of the race. Doesn’t make sense. Also see the Piranha trisuit of a guy whos been on the radar for a while. He’s in sight now! Bike split in 2010 was 1:11:39, last year 1:09:47, this year 1:05:53 and second fastest bike split. Now that’s a good day on the bike, and I’m into T2 in 8th place. Now I have to start thinking about that run.

Clean T2 again. 36 Seconds and 34th fastest. On the way out I see a completely different Midland Tri flying out of T2. Ah, a relay. That makes more sense.

Actually moving well early on the run. I can see Matt Coughlan and another guy not far (about 150m) ahead. They’re moving fairly well, but I can sense I’m closing. Easy Eugene, take it easy. For the first km I’m pulling back on the reins a little. You’re going to blow up, at least get a few KM done first!! First km done in 3:42, and I catch and pass David Sheridan. Always an encouraging word from David when I go past. 2nd and 3rd km are 3:52 and a 3:41, so moving well. At 3km I catch up on Matt and his sidekick. I let them get away a little to take on water, but on their heels again quickly. Approaching the turn and I ease in between the two, and shortly after the turn I move clear of both guys. Km 4/5/6 in 3:48, 3:57, 3:48. 5 was obviously when I slowed to stay with the two lads and 6 when I pushed clear. I was up into 5th place on the course!!! Holy sh1t!! In CK, which is a fairly strong race. I could tell neither guy was in great form with Matt struggling a little more. However, I was struggling badly now too and had to walk the last water station. Before I did so Patrick Quinn came flying past. When I was walking Matts running buddy went past (who is this guy, I know I recognise him). I get back up to speed and sit on his shoulder. Matts gone now. Then Grealish comes flying past. 7th km with the walking and the being overtaken is not a good one. And it’s a downhill!! 4:08 for this. Another goes past us, this time its an Invictus trisuit. Phill Wood?? Never heard of him. Somewhere along here I also met KingQuez heading the other way. He said something to me, but I didn't catch it and was only able to grunt in response! Back onto the main road and I’m still running with this stranger. I take the lead for a bit and try to push a gap. Not sure where I thought I was going. I had nothing and I was soon on his shoulder again. We’re both in bits, but fighting on. I glance behind a couple of times now we’re on the main road, no-one within striking distance. 8th km in 3:53, and struggled 9th in 4:02. I know I’m running on empty now and theres no chance of a sprint finish to this. Turned the screw as much as I could for the last bit, but I never got past his shoulder. Finished with 3:47 pace for the last part of a km (850m). Gerry Duffy is calling out the finishers names. Its only then I realise I’ve been running with Andrew Kavanagh. Christ. Another guy I’ve never been anywhere close to. He beat me in this race by almost 13minutes last year. 6 seconds this year. 9.85km in 38:00 for 18th fastest (avg 3:52 pace). I ran 40:16 last year and 41:13 the year before. Not a bad improvement considering the wheels were well and truly gone. I know I can run better than that, but this race was about hammering the bike.

2009 84th 2:24:08
2010 38th 2:19:13
2011 9th 2:12:05
2012 ??????

The big question that has come out of this is, have I been too soft on the bike this year? I ran reasonably well off the bike here. Not as well as I can run, but even if I ran as well as I can, the likes of Quinn, Grealish and Wood would have put significant time into me anyway. I’m a decent biker, but do I bike trying to conserve too much for the run? Am I much better off trying to put some time into these guys on the bike?? Another winter like the last and I should see some more improvement in my swim. Biking like I did this weekend would leave me with more a cushion over these guys. My run still needs work. I’ve haven’t been anywhere close to where I was in March, and hills hurt me badly. IMRA here I come!!!

I've said my word of thanks to the organisers in the race thread, but thanks again Midland Tri Club. Great race.

So that’s my tri season. Do I have to move back across now???

Dory Dory

Wow! Well done! Talk about taking Interested's advice about just hauling @ss for as long as you can to find your limits. Great day for you!

interested

well done and all ... but DD, ^^^ this was nothing to do with me

shotgunmcos

Really enjoyed that report dude. You raced well in good company. Very very solid season out of you. Well done!

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Good to meet you Eugene and put a face to the name. I expected you to be taller:) Great racing out of you this year and cracking bike split there on Saturday, could be your new race strategy from now on.

pgibbo

Cracking outcome and approach to the race. Fair play. :cool:

Best of luck with the DCM training

El Director

Well done Eugene on a great result. Interesting tactic that obviously suited the course. You set yours tall out early this year and were smart and got what you wanted so congrats on that too! Best of luck in the marathon pursuit-is this your first? Have you any time in mind yet?

BTH

Dory Dory wrote: »

Wow! Well done! Talk about taking Interested's advice about just hauling @ss for as long as you can to find your limits. Great day for you!

Thanks DD. Really enjoyed the day alright!

interested wrote: »

well done and all ... but DD, ^^^ this was nothing to do with me

I'm sure all the verbal abuse during the winter helped a little! :rolleyes:

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Really enjoyed that report dude. You raced well in good company. Very very solid season out of you. Well done!

Thanks MCOS. Not a patch on your recent report, but I did enjoy writing it, despite the hangover...

Margaret Important Cupcake wrote: »

Good to meet you Eugene and put a face to the name. I expected you to be taller:) Great racing out of you this year and cracking bike split there on Saturday, could be your new race strategy from now on.

I think there has been some exaggeration going on on these pages. Who'd have thunk it hey!! If you can't believe what you read on d'internet then what can you believe. Nice to be able to put a face to the name, and likewise with Macanri (although I wasnt talking to him) and duffyshuffle. Might be looking into hammering bike legs in future alright, although as ElD says below, this course certainly suits that approach.

pgibbo wrote: »

Cracking outcome and approach to the race. Fair play. :cool:

Best of luck with the DCM training

Cheers PG, although not going well with the marathon training at the minute. Finger crossed I'll be going again shortly.

El Director wrote: »

Well done Eugene on a great result. Interesting tactic that obviously suited the course. You set yours tall out early this year and were smart and got what you wanted so congrats on that too! Best of luck in the marathon pursuit-is this your first? Have you any time in mind yet?

Cheers ElD, yeah I suppose you could say all targets were hit this year. Securing London qualification was the main target and I got that based on Athy, so then the aim was to make sure I was going to be racing the Oly, meaning as high a finish as possible in the NS. 37.5 more points than last year and hoping that will eventually settle closer to 40 once CK points are in. Guessing at 30 places higher in the NS overall, so yeah, a good year.

Marathon plan is 3hours. But I'll reassess once I have some work done towards that.

BTH

Saturday Post race - Stag do, hobbling around with a bad blister and aching legs. Obviously not a great nights sleep!!

Sunday - Hungover hobbling on that blister which was slightly swollen. Can never sleep well the night following a night out. Getting old

Monday - Hobbling on blister and now top of foot sore and swollen. Putting on shoes was painful. Home late after committee meeting. Another bad nights sleep as Michelle was in work until 2:30am. A nice 17.5hour day for her.

Tuesday - Blister improving, top of foot still painful, and I awoke with a massive bruise on the inside of my knee. God damn it I'm falling apart. Michelle in work until 6am :eek:. 21 hour day for her, ouch, and another poor nights sleep for me.

Wednesday - Top of foot now seems to be bruising so thats good. Means hopefully it aint anything serious. Michelle aint at work today, got a call not to come in, thank god, so maybe I'll get a decent nights sleep tonight (and a decent dinner!!!)

Off to Brussels tomorrow, day trip. That'll be 5 days and no training. Registered for the Longford Half marathon on Sunday week. I definitely won't be running what I was hoping for. Still not a definite for the marathon. I'm not going to enter unless I get the work done.

Clum

Well done, Eugene. That was some season you put in! Totally exceeded pre-season targets, especially in the National Series.

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

Off to Brussels tomorrow, day trip. That'll be 5 days and no training. Registered for the Longford Half marathon on Sunday week. I definitely won't be running what I was hoping for. Still not a definite for the marathon. I'm not going to enter unless I get the work done.

Don't worry too much about not running this week. With the level of fitness you currently have you won't loose too much with a few days rest (having gone through a brutal June and July I can assure you of that).

nerraw1111

Great report BTH, well done on giving it socks.

handangeo

Well done - great report!