Toiler's Constant

Kurt Godel

Tue PM 7k run in 34 mins

Met with a couple of lads after dinner for a trot into the Railway Walk extension. The pace was grand, chatting all the way around, although we took an uphill diversion to Killaveney church and my legs were complaining going up. Nothing too bad, just dull stiffness from Sunday's race. My back still seems a little tight, but getting better and it shouldn't be an issue at Hook or by Crook.

griffin100

Kurt Godel wrote: »

I'll try and get two 18milers* and a 20 miler, everything else will just be 5-8mile steady runs. Goal pace is 8min/mile. Endurance is the only thing to work on, there's no point in bringing in specific speedwork or tempo's at this stage. If I can do 18 miles at 8min/mile then I'll be fine on the day.

*Dory language. Ah-LOOM-ih-num.

That sounds like a plan to me. I'm following the Kurt plan for DCM

Oryx

griffin100 wrote: »

That sounds like a plan to me. I'm following the Kurt plan for DCM

I'm on the same plan. I start in two weeks.

shotgunmcos

Kurt Godel wrote: »

I'll try and get two 18milers* and a 20 miler, everything else will just be 5-8mile steady runs. Goal pace is 8min/mile. Endurance is the only thing to work on, there's no point in bringing in specific speedwork or tempo's at this stage. If I can do 18 miles at 8min/mile then I'll be fine on the day.

*Dory language. Ah-LOOM-ih-num.

+1 pretty much my plan too. Started training yesterday :pac:

Slogger Jogger

KG - didn't you start your training for last year the night before the big day? I can still picture the socks.

Abhainn

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

KG - didn't you start your training for last year the night before the big day? I can still picture the socks.

And the midnight training run:)

Kurt Godel

Abhainn wrote: »

And the midnight training run:)

I really enjoyed that whole night, it was a great laugh:) One of those evenings you don't expect too much from, but my sides were hurting the next day. Dinner, Fleurie, Socks, Midnight Run, Pints, Breakfast of Champions: these should form the basis of every Marathon training plan!

Wed 60 mins turbo

Sufferfest "Angels", a tough workout and the only tough one I can really fit in before Saturday.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

It was some night alright. I think you should aim for the 5 day training plan with the final taper run pushed out till 2am on race morning:)

Kurt Godel

Fri 7k EZ run

Just a leg-loosener with some strides thrown in, in anticipation of tomorrow's last Tri race of the year (for me). Jeez it's a very short season.

pgibbo

Bet of luck tomorrow. Give it stick

griffin100

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Fri 7k EZ run

Just a leg-loosener with some strides thrown in, in anticipation of tomorrow's last Tri race of the year (for me). Jeez it's a very short season.

Tis a short season in Ireland, need to move to warmer climes be thinks Give it a big effort tomorrow, no point in taking it easy at this stage

Dory Dory

Best of luck tomorrow!!! I hope you rip it apart and have no costume malfunctions. Looking forward to your ever colorful race report!!

Kurt Godel

Hook or by Crook Sprint 1:27:28 86th/355

Swim 15:14
A fantastic setting for the swim, Dunmore East is a magic place. The beach is set in a cove, flanked by Dali-esqe cliffs of huge copper-coloured boulders. A running start from the beach (a first for me), we waded out as far as we could and began the swim. With the Hook Head lighthouse in the far distance to sight off, and smooth calm conditions, there was little chance of going astray. However, I found myself between two groups out to the first bouy, so had no-one to draft off. After the first turn I got on feet, before I dropped them and cut off myself. Round the next bouy and a lad caught me, so I jumped on him till the end. I haven't been doing much swimming lately and it shows, I was more tired during this than I should have been. However, another way of thinking is I got all I could expect from the swim, so happy enough with it. The climb up the cliff was a killer!

T1 1:24
Ran down to my bike, past some paramedics attending to someone on the ground, a marshall roared at me what was I doing? I pointed to my bike and he said I had to take it and do another lap of Trans. Talking to a few others afterwards they were misdirected in Trans at different stages too, one marshal told a guy to run one direction, another then told him to run back, he did so and was ordered back the same way. Not too impressed by how trans was operated tbh. Anyway, it doesn't seem to have added much time.

Bike 37:52
This was a difficult bike, as we (second wave) were sharing space with a lot of slower first-wavers and irate motorists. Some of the cars overtaking were mad to see, blind bends crossing solid white lines, they would then have to jam on the breaks as they came head on with another car the other direction who had the same idea. Pretty dangerous to be honest. Otherwise I had a solid enough bike- although I'd expect to get a lot more from the new steed once I have a proper fit (waiting on Revolve to get their new computerized system in Sept).

T2 1:33

Run 31:33
Once again, straight off the bike and my back was in agony. I need a bike fit, no doubt about it. The first hill up was tough, and I tried to up the pace from the top. I managed to squeeze a little extra, but was wary my back would go into convulsions at any time. So I had a fair bit of pain throughout the run, which was a pity as I was up for some decent running, the legs felt okay. No km markers at all on the course which was a pretty big negative, hard to know what was left in the race. I managed to pick up a few places over the last couple of km, but only saw the finish 10m from the line.

Overall
Great setting for a race, and a great day for one too. I hate to criticize club events, but this one needed a good bit more basic stuff put into it, especially distance markers. I know they had to reschedule after tragic circumstances, so maybe the pool of volunteers ready to go last time, couldn't all make this one today. However, its one I'll be back for next year.

PS Missed my A goal by 2:03, sob.

Abhainn

Bit of a mixed bag there KG. Lessons learned though.
Yes top of that list for 2014 is that bike fit.
Re the km markers , even if they were there its not to say they would probably not be accurate.
Pop your 405 (or whatever GPS you have) on at T1. Initialise it a few km from T2 and feck the probable unreliable km markers anyway

Kurt Godel

Abhainn wrote: »

Bit of a mixed bag there KG. Lessons learned though.
Yes top of that list for 2014 is that bike fit.
Re the km markers , even if they were there its not to say they would probably not be accurate.
Pop your 405 (or whatever GPS you have) on at T1. Initialise it a few km from T2 and feck the probable unreliable km markers anyway

Lesson's are what its all about this year, alright. Now that my Tri season is over, I can look back at ups and downs, plenty to work on for next year. I'm happy to be able to still do a bit of sport as a hobby; this time last year I was still unable to run, chronic knee pain I thought would hasten the era of pot-bellied yellow jumpers on the golf course. Thankfully minimal shoes seem to have put paid to that for a while, so I'm looking forward to making the most of running ability over the winter.

Here's a meandering reflection on my 2013 Tri season to entertain the 1,000's who follow this log...;)

Swim
I made huge progress in the pool in our first block of coached sessions (as did everyone else who did them). Getting my 400 TT down to 6:05 was the highlight of the year- it was great to be able to work with feedback and learn how to swim faster. I'm really looking forward to starting coached blocks again (hopefully the coach will still be willing to make the journey to Arklow, half the club are already talking about it!). After this breakthrough though, I sort of put swim progress on the back burner, as I figured greater returns would be made from ticking over at my swim rate, and focussing on the weaker run and bike. I really enjoyed all the OW swimming I did this year, especially the briney taste of Wicklow harbour. My tethered pool was a great buy too, this helped my technique and allowed me to maintain form when I wasn't putting the work in the pool.

Bike
The vast majority of my bike training was in the form of turbo work to Sufferfest videos. I really put in a lot of effort during these, and they helped my bike speed climb to a lot faster than I would have expected. I didn't do any long bike spins, and that's something that will be addressed next year. The purchase of the TT bike was a little earlier than anticipated, but I didn't get to take full advantage of this because I haven't got a bike fit done. Messing around with position (without really knowing what I'm doing) meant I've got severe back pain off the bike; this will be addressed after the fit. I expect to bring my Sprint bike time under 34 mins next year, and I'd like to get Oly bike under 1:10. Hopeful this will happen.

Run
My running is my weakest discipline, mostly because I had been injured from it for almost two years. It's only in the past few months that I can run pain-free, so its still a work in progress. I'll enter a few running races over the winter to check on progress, but I've no reason to think I shouldn't be able for 41/42 10k in an Oly- to be continued.

Best/worst race
Best, Bray aquathon race 3, I did a decent swam, but more importantly I decided to suffer on the run and got a some reward. Also enjoyed Pikeman and Lanesboro.
Worst, BOTE, mediocre swim, then just a steam of being passed on the bike and the run. Dublin City Tri a close second, boxed in and slow in the swim, bike mech issues masked a solid bike performance, and an agonizing run with back pain over a course I would otherwise have liked.

Overall
I feel I learned a lot this year. Like I said, doing Tri kept me out of the golf club, out of the pub, kept me fitter and gave me a nice healthy distraction from work and study things (its a lot easier to study when you're exercising). My results were slightly above the average of participants in most races, which isn't saying much, but says something. I'm pretty interested to see where I can step up to next year, knowing what I do now about training and racing. I need to train more, and churn all three disciplines at the same time, rather than focussing on one or two at a time. Jack of three trades beats the Master of one in Tri. The intention is to step things up a notch and get an AG shirt during the year. I know people say they are soft (and for representing your country, they are), but they can be a goal, and a goal is a good way to stay focussed. And I'd rather stay focussed dreaming of that green, rather than the green of pivot putters and Mulligan's and Poor old Padraig. Also, I made a load of friends this year through Tri (and through this forum), so as long as I can pull the wool over their eyes that I'm a nice guy, all is good in the hood:)

Kurt Godel

Mon Bric- 45 mins turbo, 45 mins run

Easy spinning on the turbo, and then straight into a more interesting and testing 10k run, around my Hillbrook loop. The legs felt good and strong- there are no lingering back issues. With no real goals for the next while its going to be all about consistency in training, and that just means heading out the door to get the runs in. I've got Glendalough swim on next weekend (may or may not make it owing to family circumstances), but as I've been doing little swim training, it'll be for enjoyment more than anything. Great place for a swim.

Slogger Jogger

I'll probably do the Nav Challenge at the weekend if you are interested for a jog/hike in the hills from Glendalough.

Kurt Godel

Tue 7k steady run

Too soon after dinner, steady meant steady until severe cramp halted me for a spell on the sidelines, before picking it up again to catch the returning SJ and a few clubmates. Great evening for a run, on the new RW extension.

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

I'll probably do the Nav Challenge at the weekend if you are interested for a jog/hike in the hills from Glendalough.

Glendalough swim-bound this weekend

Slogger Jogger

new extension. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/370115573
Very impressed. Nearly goes to Ballinglen link road.

Kurt Godel

Wed 2 hr turbo

World War Z is a crap movie, even by brain-dead-turbo standards.

Kurt Godel

Thurs 10k run Hillbrook loop 47:52

With half an eye on training for the marathon I intended a 20k run, but felt a niggle in my knee after 3k. The absolute last thing I want to happen now is to get injured from running, especially when the marathon isn't even a goal, so I truncated the run to a different loop. I'm in two minds if I want to run the marathon or not- when I think of how much I enjoy Tri races (and the variety in training), I'm not sure I'm willing to put in the hours needed for endurance running anymore. Maybe I'll aim to hit a few 10k races instead.

Anyway, once I made up my mind to run the shorter loop I upped the pace a little. It is a fantastic fresh day to be running, the views from Hillbrook are amazing, and I finished the run at a decent clip. Running faster and shorter is a lot more satisfying than running slow and long, in my book.

Dory Dory

^^^^ <sniff, sniff.....sob....>

Kurt Godel

Ah I'll probably trot around, but can't really be arsed training for it. Todays run was meant to be 13 miles* at slower than 8min/mile (MP), but I find it a lot more rewarding getting a faster paced run done <60 mins than plodding for longer. It's a reward thing too, hard to get motivated putting in a lot of time training for something much slower than a pb.

*Dory language ("TOOS-day")

Kurt Godel

Fri 60 mins turbo

Sufferfest "Fight Club"

5:00 warm-up
6:00 of tempo riding, with attacks
1:00 recovery
2nd – 5th lap:
3*{4:00 time trial effort (with attacks), 2:30 climbing (with attacks), 3:00 recovery}
5:00 minute warm-down

I abso-shaggin-lutely flogged myself on this session, it was the hardest turbo workout I've yet done. Multiple faucets dripping from nose, chin, ears; face contorted with pain; a pool of sweat under the bike at the end. The attacks were 15 seconds long and were a long long countdown of pain from 3 seconds in. Tough, tough, tough. Think I won the race though, good old Sufferfest.

Kurt Godel

Sat 17.78km progression run in 1:25

The club lads do their long runs on a Saturday afternoon, and I need to start joining them, if I'm to have any hope of completing the marathon. Even though I had half a mind on beating shotgun and Oryx at the swim race tomorrow;), I figured I'd go out and join in for part of the trot. A load were racing today, so there was just three of us, and the other two were intending 16 miles or so. (Conversation and my Garmin are set to miles, so miles it will be for runs...). I figured that I would trot around for 12 miles or so. The first few miles were slow, and I picked up the pace when I left the lads after 5 miles or so. To be honest, trotting at a slow pace is boring, I don't really care for it. So I was happier to be running the backroads a bit faster, and when I turned in to the forest trails, I picked up the pace again and finished at a decent clip for the last 3 miles. We'll see what effect this run will have on my long swim tomorrow, but I enjoyed doing it and am happy with the scores on the doors.

Miles 1-5 (8:39, 8:11, 8:11, 8:21, 8:13)
Miles 6-8 (7:48, 7:23, 7:21)
Miles 9-11 (7:04, 6:54, 6:37)

BeepBeep67

As I ran along the Murrough today on the 2nd half of my LSR I seen arms and legs splashing about in some type of race along the Wicklow coast and I wondered were you amongst the melee - obviously not.

Nice run BTW

shotgunmcos

Kurt Godel wrote: »

17.78km progression run in 1:25......... ..........We'll see what effect this run will have on my long swim tomorrow, but I enjoyed doing it and am happy with the scores on the doors.

Snap! Our logs collide...

Kurt Godel

Sun Glendalough 3.9k swim race

(No idea of time or position as I type, that'll keep this report honest )

It was overcast and cold driving down for this, and conditions didn't really improve for the race. A cold sharp wind down the valley ensured there would be a bit of chop throughout. I chatted with shotgun and Oryx beforehand, everyone got their excuses in, and we entered the cold water. There was about 140 doing the race. The start was less frantic than any of the Tri's I've done- but that still meant a fast start was required, and kicks, digs, and punches were doled and received. However, this seemed to thin out after a few hundred meters, but I was finding it hard to catch my breath- breathing on two, and putting in a bit of effort. I was in a bunch I was happy with, all the way to the turnaround point. From here I upped the effort a tad, and all along the return the bunch started to break up.

Round for the start of lap 2, I realised I would have to put down some effort to bridge gaps if I wanted to be on feet. The chop was more evident now, and that probably helped me to make up 20 meters by swimming hard, to get onto those lovely sucking bubbles. I spent the length of the lake hanging on to one guy, who really didn't like anyone on his feet, he would but in a huge effort to shake me off every time I glanced his toes. I've learned over the summer that it's worthwhile putting in the work to stay on feet, and after a while he gave up, and I overtook him and swam hard to be on another.

From here it was a long 700m to the finish, and I started to tire. I lost the guy ahead, and one other took me before the finish. My form was dropping, and all I could think was to keep up the effort and not let anyone else take me. It was a long and lonely swim to the finish- I ended just wide of the finish posts and had to go back quickly to finish between them.

I've no idea of time, somewhere around my aimed-for 70 mins I guess. Lack of recent swim training was evident as I tired, but I doubt I had much more to give on the day, so I'll say I'm happy with this race. Great buzz about the place, Glendalough is one of the best spots on Dawkin's green Earth.

Slogger Jogger

Kurt Godel

Fri 7k jog

Well I've been fooked since the swim, a pretty bad pain in my shoulder. I couldn't lift my arm over my head for a couple of days, obviously I strained a muscle during the swim. I think this came about through breathing on two during the race, and consequently leading with one arm (with bad form towards the end). Its my first swimming injury, and still hurts a little, so I'll stay out of the pool until next week. Besides a little easy turbo and one 7k jog today, I've done nothing but drink beer and wine. My head hurts today, but the few days off did me the world of good. I'm still unsure if I'll do the marathon, can't really be arsed with the necessary long runs. Besides that I'm looking forward to hitting a few 10k running races over the winter, I'll probably settle down into an 8 week 10k specific schedule in a week or two.