Going to tri this

joey100

So with a busy weekend, 2 BBQ's and a lot of drinking I still got some training in. Nothing major but with this being an easy week that was always the plan. Anyway got back into it today.

Monday 10th June

So back to the turbo, was to be an hour session but was half expecting to have to cut it short because of work. Began with 10 min ramp, then into 3 X 3.40 min intervals at around 130% of FTP. These were tough, rest of around 6 mins between intervals, this rest was done at higher power than usual and needed all of it. Got about 3 done and had to stop, pretty relieved I had to stop too, was really suffering. Think the drink is still in my system. Checked it back when I got off the bike and set a new 5 min power record so some positives from the session. Need to get back into it properly this week, but with Hook or by Crook on Saturday going to be short enough week training wise. Nice 3 week block of training after that before my first 'A' race of the season in Athlone. Will need to do some good work during that block to see an improvement on my sprint times for the race.

joey100

Tuesday 11th June

So no swim today, was wrecked and slept it in. Run went well though, plan was to keep it steady, done 7.5km at an easy pace. Didn't really look at the Garmin and when I did it was in and around 4.30-4.35 pace. Pleased with this, definitely didn't feel hard and could have kept going.

Wednesday 12th June

So today was to be my first club time trial. Horrible day out but a good turn out from the club, about 10 out, but missing the two fastest lads from the club so thought I had a good chance of a good result. Was last to go with 9 people between me and the first person who started around 14 minutes ahead of me. Course was a 20km course, just short of 3 laps of the industrial estate. First lap was the toughest, took me a while to get into a rhythm but legs were feeling good and by the end of the lap had passed one. Kept the pace up and tried to push it on some of the small drags, thought this was were I could make up time. Wasn't until the last lap that I started passing most people. Ended up third across the line and fastest time on the night of 31.17. Was delighted when I seen this, training hasn't been going great recently and was nice to get a good result like this. Also puts me second fastest on the course out of two races. Will definitely be getting out for more of these. Plan now for rest of week is to keep it easy enough to be ready for the race on Saturday. Not expecting much from the race, like I said training not going great and looks like a tough course. Sprint course with a long run, not my strongest point so not sure what to expect.

Ceepo

Great going there Joey,
Nice to meet you in Athy, the 1st time not so nice to meet you the 2nd time, when you passed me on the bike, lol, but again nice the 3rd time, on the run.

Dont know if you should be talking on the run, were you working hard enough ???

Doing TO on Sat, so will see you down there,
The swim is grand, and a fast bike course, great surface for the most part, keep a bit in the tank for the hill at the start of the run, its a bitch.
best of luck,

joey100

Thursday 13th June

So up early for club swim and with race on Saturday meant it was to be more of a drill session. Enjoy these and get some pointers on what to watch in my stroke. Felt Good in the water, well I did until I noticed Gavin Noble and Bryan Keane flying up and down in the lane beside me!

Thursday evening was just an easy run, headed to the treadmill, weather wasn't great outside. Felt ok, reminded me how much I hate the treadmill but legs felt ok after the TT on Wednesday.

Friday 14th June

Found out the race had been cancelled, which was the right decision so meant I could do some more training. Wanted to keep it easy enough though so was an hour session on the turbo. Main focus being on recovery and endurance. Whole session was done in the same gear, using cadence control to increase and lower power. Again felt good on the bike, legs bit tired but nothing major.

Saturday 15th June

Headed out on the road bike towards Wicklow. Route was Celbridge-Newcastle-Blessington-Kilbride-Saggart-Lucan-Celbridge. Altogether around 67km done, kept the pace steady. Was never pushing it too much but felt good to be out on the bike. Ankle was a bit sore towards the end, just when I thought it was fully better too.

Sunday 16th June

Only a short session today, just a slow 8km run. Legs were tired and ankle was at me a bit but felt ok on the run. Doesn't always be sore and doesn't seem to be any training that makes it sore, just happens every now and again. Should be back to normal training tomorrow, nice 3 week block before TriAthlone now to get some good work done.

joey100

Monday 17th June

Back to the turbo. Hour session with 10 min warm up then 3 x 8 min intervals at 90-95% of FTP with 5 min break inbetween. There was a 5 min part before the first interval and after the last that was done around 70% of FTP to work on endurance. Have been taking it easy enough on the turbo the last while and it showed a bit today. Worked on controlling the pace rather than pushing it for the first 5 mins and then dying for the last 3 of each interval. First was ok, second got tougher and was really feeling it by end of third one. Good session done and will try get a few more like this done before Athlone. Evening session was home circuit, no breaks between exercises or sets.

Tuesday 18th June

Early morning swim. But not early enough judging on the amount of people in the pool. Had a narrow lane between me and another fella and even though we nearly hit each other every time we passed it was working ok. Working ok until one fella got in lane beside us and decided that it wasn't wide enough and he would back stroke up and down with his arms crossing the ropes. Then another fella got in lane and would breaststroke up and down the middle, then wait at the end until I got up to the wall and push off in front of me. Made for an interesting swim. Got around 1500m done before all the messing around, mix of FC, kick board and some descending 100's. After this not too sure but wouldn't be more than another 300m. Altogether not too bad but had been hoping to do some fast 100's and 200's. Will try get there bit earlier next week to see how busy it is then.

joey100

Tuesday 18th June PM

So back to my running intervals. On paper didn't look too bad, warm up then into 10 X 400m intervals aiming for 90 seconds with 400m recovery. After this into 3km at 10km pace + 10 seconds. (4.22). Felt ok at the start, majority of intervals coming in around 88 seconds, one drifted out at bit, not sure why but was around 96 seconds. Last two were tough, needed the last recovery. The 3km wasn't too bad, set off too fast though and took a while to find a decent pace, was either going too fast or too slow. Once I settled in wasn't too bad but by the end was feeling it. Altogether around 13km run and legs didn't feel too bad. Felt good to be back proper training.

joey100

Wednesday 19th June

Another turbo session before work. Was meant to be an hour and a half with the majority being spent just below FTP and short intervals over it. Knew this was going to be a hard session but wasn't expecting it to be so hard. After a tough enough turbo on Monday, swim on Tuesday and tough run on Tuesday evening was always going to be tough. Couldn't last at all, half way through first 10 min interval I had to drop it to 90% then after another 5 mins or so had to drop it to 80%. Done about one and a half intervals at 80% and just couldn't do anymore. Heart was pounding, seeing stars and feeling sick. Was wrecked. Legs were tired, breathing was heavy and was a big pool of sweat on the ground. Only around 30 mins in total on turbo.

I took some of my gear to work with me in the off chance I'd get off early and head to the Pulse aquathon. Turns out I did get out early and got down with plenty of time to register and get set up. Didn't have high hopes for this race, was going to use it more for training. Plan was to push it a bit on the swim, try get myself in the middle of the pack and then stick to my 10km race pace for the run.

Swim started well, got into the middle, few hits and slaps on the feet. Was good fun though, got out to first buoy pretty quick and then it got tougher. We turned into the chop and the wind and was hard to find a rhythm. With the waves coming head on every now and again you would drop over one and there would be nothing to pull with your hand. Was struggling for a bit along here but dropped the pace and regained my breath. Felt swim went ok, the lack of fast intervals on training (my own fault, missing sessions, not coaches) showed with the longer recovery after the fast start. Swim time 11.25 so not too slow but slower than I would have liked.

Transition was bit of struggle, tough to get feet into shoes but got moving quick enough 1.11.

Run started pretty bad, left camp started to cramp a bit and meant I had to pull back a bit and ease it in. Picked the pace up a bit after around 1km and was keeping the pace around where I wanted it. Tried to hang onto people as they ran past me, some I could some where too fast. Measured the run a bit long but came in at 22.17. Watch has me at 21.35 for the 5km.

Overall a good training night, not a great race. I was never going to be going really fast here after my training and it was a good training session on tired legs. Felt I suffered a bit more on the run than I normally would, normally would have backed off the pace. This is one thing I have picked out that I need to work on, able to suffer on the bike but don't seem to do it as well on the run. Pleased with how it all went and enjoyed the night. Well organised race and good to meet good few others from the club there.

Thursday 20th June

Up very early for club swim. Small turnout today but good quality session. Was tired getting there but after a few lengths woke up. Bit of a warm up, including hypoxic breathing and sprints then into main set of descending 800m, working on speeding up arm turnover and keeping legs same speed. Tough. Then into 8 X 50m with 25 sprint, 25 easy. Then was another 400m same as the 800m. Again tough. Bit of a cool down and done. Felt good in the water, shoulders felt ok after the race, legs bit tired, especially after kick board 100m's. Enjoyable session.

Got home and jumped on the turbo to do 30 minutes at around 65% of FTP to try and freshen up the legs. Got to use my new specialized sworks trivent shoes too. Different fit than what I'm used to but felt good. Legs felt much better after the turbo. Better than I did when I woke up in the morning.

joey100

Thursday 20th June PM

Plan was for a recovery run tonight and I was looking forward to an easy session. Last few days have been tough and busy so was nice just to head out on a slow run. No idea of pace, only that the run took around 48 mins. And was slow. Don't think I could have went fast if I had of wanted to. Nice enjoyable run though and great weather for it. A good two days training where I got to do all 3 sports both days.

joey100

Friday 21st June

So straight out after work for a run. Plan was to be 30 mins easy, 20 mins at around 4min kilometres and then 10 mins easy to cool down. The 30 mins easy was grand, legs felt a bit heavy and tired but as it went on felt better. Then came the 20 mins at as close to 4 min kilometres as possible. First was 4.10 so a bit out, 2nd 4.04, 3rd 4.06, 4th 3.56, 5th 3.50. Was pushing a bit more than I was probably meant to at the end but was feeling ok, never felt too hard. So the 5km took 20.06. Fastest ever 5km in training and coming at the end of a tough training week. Wanted to suffer a bit on the run, just even to show myself I can and it worked. Very happy with the 5km, less than a min off my PB and done in training. Here's hoping that this will mean an improvement in my race times.

So I had a bit of a chat with my coach, this is pretty much mid season for me and getting close to my A race. Both happy with the way things are going, every training goal set at start of season has been achieved so and after TriAthlone we are going to meet and come up with some realistic expectations for Dublin City, my A race. Have just signed up for 2 more races at the end of the season too, Sporting Proud triathlon in Brittas (charity triathlon and one of the charities this year is an organisation we work a good bit with in work) and Donadea duathlon in September. Hopefully these will make me keep up the training after DCT and fingers crossed I might even get a good result.

Macanri

Hey Joey. What distance did you get on your garmin for the Bull Wall Swim the other evening?

joey100

Macanri, The swim came in at pretty much bang on 700m on the Garmin and from what I could tell on the night I swam a pretty straight line. 700m in them times show how much of an effect the chop had on the swim. Run came in at 5.33 so again explains most of the times being over the 20 min mark.


Saturday 22nd June

So with the weather as horrible as it was outside I jumped on the turbo. 2 hours at around 65% of FTP. Boring enough session but no way I could get out and can't be making excuses for missing more sessions. Kept the pace steady enough and only pushed it for the last 2 mins. Ended up setting 5,10,20 and 30 second records during this and set a new 2 hour record. Good session overall.

Knew I would be stuck for time on Sunday so moved my swim. Got to the pool and delighted to have it pretty much to myself. Bit of a warm up, then some kick board and descending 100's and into main set of 22 X 80m all at different levels below my Tpace. Each 80m came in around 4 seconds below what I needed to come in at so pretty pleased with that. More pleased that I was able to keep it consistent for the whole lot of them. Not a huge variation in times and even though they were tough I could keep them going. Finally a good session in the pool.

Sunday 23rd June

Plan was for a brick session 1 hour building on the bike with a 10km TT and then 30 min run off the bike keeping as close to 10km pace as possible. Ended up having to do the bike part on the turbo, again weather to blame. Got to the turbo and some how it had a puncture. No idea how, bike doesn't move off it but ended up having to change the tube. A lot harder when it's tough turbo tyre than a normal road tyre. Eventually got it changed and hoped up. First 35 mins were building from 65% to 85% of FTP with a 15 min effort than as close to FTP as I could keep it. Ended up setting a new 10 min record here, then was a 5 min recovery and then into 5 mins building back towards 85%. Legs were really feeling it at the end, quick change and out for run. Legs didn't feel too bad, no real jelly legs and bit heavy but nothing mad. 1st km came in bit fast at 4.00, next 6km came it at pretty much bang on 4.05 so ended up doing a 20.20 5km and a 28.30 7km. This is probably my 3rd fastest 5km time and only 2 days after setting my 2nd fastes. Really pleased with how the run went this week. Nice to see the times coming down and I'm still setting new records on the bike so all in all a really good training week.

joey100

Monday 24th June

Back to the turbo. Wasn't to be too long a session today, a good thing after 2 days in a row on it. Hour session focusing on endurance ranging between 50-80% of FTP. This was harder than it should have been. Suppose it shows how hard I have been working during the week on the run. Got through it and legs were feeling tired after. Skipped the home circuit later in evening, got stuck late at work and legs were still tired.

Tuesday 25th June

Early morning union meeting in work meant it was going to be a busy evening fitting in a run and swim session. Went straight to gym after work and decided on run first. This is the section I need to improve most so will be concentrating more on it than the others. Onto the treadmill, 4km warm up then into 12 X 400m at 3.50 min kilometres. 400m recovery between these. Even took into account the 30 metres or so it took the treadmill to get up to speed. Legs felt ok, was only the last 2/3 were they started to feel really tired. After this was 12.30 mins at 10km pace + 10 seconds (decided on 4.15 for these). Got through these ok, was tough at the start but stuck with it and got through ok. Good session on the treadmill and not as bad as I was expecting it to be. Overall around 15.5km done.

After this straight into the pool for my swim session. Bit of a warm up, then some kick board work. Few drills then into main set. 10 X 120m alternating between FC and Pull buoy. Felt good through these, legs were bit tired but nothing major and felt like I was moving good in the water. After this was 320m kick, great fun! and then 200m to cool down. Another good session and felt good in the water. Even after the run session felt good, helps improve the confidence a bit coming up to Athlone.

joey100

Wednesday 26th June

Handy enough day today. 45 min turbo, again focusing on endurance and was between 60%-80% of FTP. Lot easier today than it was on Monday. Was more pleased with how quick I recovered after the run the previous night. Legs felt grand no problems with them at all. Evening was home circuit, no breaks.

Thursday 27th June

AM Club swim. Less and less people showing up every week. No real problem for me, means I nearly get one to one coaching. Bit of a warm up then into main set of 20 X 100m, with the first 50 being slow (recovery) and the second 50 being fast. Idea was to hold the same speed through all the second 50's. First should be same speed as last. Kept this in mind and didn't set off too fast on first one. Came in at 42 seconds and wasn't looking forward to trying to keep that pace for the whole lot. Managed to though, pretty much bang on 42 seconds for each fast 50m, except for 2/3 that came in at 41 seconds. Very happy with this swim session, was able to control my pace much better than I have in a while and knew during a length when I needed to push it a bit to hit the target. Few tips from Bjorn around my leading hand when I'm breathing and overall a very good session. Seems to be a lot of good sessions in the last week or so!

joey100

Thursday 27th June

PM

Just an easy run. No garmin, no idea of pace. Just an easy 45 min run. Nice evening out and legs felt ok through the run.

Friday 28th June

Same session as the previous Friday. 30 min easy run, 20 min fast and then 10 min recovery. Covered 6.4km in the 30 min easy, took it handy. Legs felt good, bit heavy at the start but when they woke up felt good. Wanted to push the 20 min, wanted to get 5km done as close to it as I could. 1st km done in 4.00, 2nd 3.55, 3rd 3.55, 4th 3.55 and 5th in 3.47. 5km done in 19.32. Pretty tired at the end but delighted to go under the 20 min mark. Run really coming on the last few weeks and only 2nd ever time under the 20 min mark. Was pretty happy with the 10 min easy too, km's coming in at around 4.55. Faster than my old easy pace, and felt very comfortable. Altogether just under 14km done. Evening session was home circuit, no breaks.

joey100

Saturday 29th June

Out for a cycle. Headed out towards Blessington, then turned to come back around the lake to Manor Kilbride but turned before it for the Sally gap, turned once I hit that road and headed back towards Manor Kilbride. From here it was back to Saggart, down by peamount to Lucan and then back to Celbridge. altogether around 75km done with a good bit of climbing. Legs felt good, bit tired but nothing major. What was obvious was I haven't been doing much descending recently, gone back to being nearly always on the brakes. Something I'll have to sort before beast of the east.

Sunday 30th June

Woke up with very tired legs so wasn't looking forward to the planned brick session. First 14km was building, this was much harder with the headwind. Struggled to up the pace and was tough to keep it above 28kmph. Legs were tired and wind was a pain but kept going to the turnabout point. Knew it would be fast back and would mean I could set a fast return time. And it was fast. Very fast. Plan was for 10km TT, first 5km done in 6.30, second 5km in 6.50 (included coming to complete stop at a roundabout). So 10km in 13.20. By far fastest I have ever gone, if only I could go this fast all the time! Then was approx 2km steady and quick change at the car. Bike into boot, runners on and off I went. Plan was for 7km at 10km race pace. Started off well but when I turned into a headwind the pace dropped by around 10 seconds. This really took it out of me, got to 5km and when I had to turn back into the wind decided it be better to just head home. 5km done in around 20.50, not as fast as I have been running but with the wind and the bike before it was pretty pleased with it.

Swim session was bit of a warm up with more kicking. Main set was 15 X 120m off 2.15. Managed to get them all in around 1.55 so pleased with this. Cool down was 200m steady. Another good session in the water, starting to get back to where I was a few weeks ago.

Monday 1st July

Few changes to the regular week this week. Race in Athlone on Saturday and cycle training on Tuesday with the club means my run was moved to tonight. 4km warm up then into 12 X 400m with 400m recovery between each. These were ran at around 3.50 pace, all came in between 1.27 to 1.29. These were tough, legs were tired and even though I wanted to cut it short I stayed out for the full set. After this was 2km done at 10km race pace. These came in around 4.08. Legs were really tired by the end of this and was glad to be stopping. Cycle session tomorrow is last big one of the week then I start to get ready for Saturday. Need to find some time to practice mounting the bike and getting in and out of the shoes!

joey100

Tuesday 2nd July

Started the day with an early morning swim session. Bit of a warm up then into main set of 15 X 120m's alternating between FC and pull buoy. Felt ok in the water, not 100% but not too bad either.

Evening session was cycle in the phoenix park with the club. Good session. First lap was taken handy enough just to figure out the route. Pushed it up the hills during this lap (even got up one of them in the biggest gear on the bike!) and recovered at the top. Altogether 5 laps done and around 44km. No lap was done full out, usually pushed it up the hills and then used the bit of flat on Chesterfield Avenue to recover, had one eye on the race at the weekend.

Wednesday 3rd July

Plan was for a 45 min easy cycle. Headed out with the gf after work, too nice to do it on the turbo. Took it handy and on way back to house threw in a moderate 5km effort. Legs felt bit heavy but were still able to go. Covered around 25km in the cycle. After this was quick swap of bikes and out on the TT bike to the local train station car park. Partly to check the bike was alright for the weekend and partly to practice getting in and out of the bike shoes. Have bought specialized sworks trivents to help with this. Was bit underwhelmed with them at the start, used them few times on the turbo and were a bit awkward getting my foot into them on the ground. Not comfortable at all to walk in either, feels like they would give me nice blisters on my achilles. They are much easier to get into on the bike though, no problems at all getting in and out of them, practiced a lot and will be leaving them on the bike for Saturdays race. Really like them now and glad I got them.

joey100

Thursday 4th July

Woke up wrecked so decided to skip the very early club swim. Took it handy all day and legs were still tired so didn't do much training wise. Bit of an off day but felt like body needed it after 2/3 weeks tough training.

Friday 5th July

So up early and enough to help me sleep later tonight. Got run done before work, nice and handy with 5 mins at the pace I want to run tomorrow (4 min kilometers).

Tomorrow is first full sprint race of the season (triAthlone) and the aim is to go as close to 1.10 as I can. If everything goes well on the day I would be expecting to go under this by 2/3 mins. Bike is feeling good at moment, run has come on a huge amount and swim is around the same. Swim probably isn't as good as it was at the start of the season but would still be confident enough in it, going to try draft a bit of Saturday. All the open water races so far I've been left in no man's land between the fastest swimmers and the next pack. Other main goal for the race is (again) to go as close to 20 mins as I can for the run. Running consistently around this in training so depending on how the bike goes I'd say I will be in with a chance for this. Now it's just about resting before the race.

Chartsengrafs

Good luck tomorrow, a lot of hard work done so I'd expect it to pay off.

joey100

Saturday 6th July

So the day of Athlone sprint triathlon, national championships and a national series race. Knew there would be a high standard here and was looking forward to seeing how I was against them. Got down nice and early, registered nice and quick and down to transition. Transition was huge, well no it was lonnnnng! Straight away knew that my hopes of 1.10 were going to be tough, must have been 400/500m from one end to the other. Got down nice and early for the swim. Coming up to this race training had been going well and I was feeling strong for the race.

Swim 13.12

Got in nice and early and got used to the water, bit cold but nothing major. Seen from other waves that they tried to line everyone up by the pontoon and then start from there, but pontoon wasn't long enough so meant some had to start in front. Decided this would be where I would put myself. Worked well too, got a good start and was moving fairly well. Had the watch set to 250m intervals to give myself an idea how far I had gone. By the time I got to the first 250m I knew it was going to be a long tough day. My legs were wrecked, had only just started the swim and they felt tired, really tired. Kept going and the swim overall went ok, was off the fast group at the front but ahead of the next group. There was a bout 100m from swim exit to timing mat so swim would have been under 13 mins, not too bad, would have hoped to have gone faster.

T1 2.37

As long as this sounds it was actually not too bad compared to others on the day. Wetsuit bit stuck at ankles but other than that went ok, even got onto the shoes on the bike.

Bike 34.17

Bit like the swim, once I started I knew was going to be slow. Legs were tired and struggled to get them moving. Got passed by a good few on the way to the turn around and even seen one of the top lads get a yellow card for drafting (looks like the motorcycle officials were tougher than last week). Once I got to turn around seen a club mate right behind me so pushed it to try and keep him off before we got to T2. Just about managed to, we entered T2 together. By end of cycle the legs were dead, chances of a 20 min 5km were gone out the window and the rest of the race was just about finishing.

T2 2.24

Again not too bad compared to others, got out in front of the club mate and found my space for bike easily too.

Run 20.23

So set off on the run and first km came in at 4.00 min. Exactly where I wanted it to be. After this the wheels fell off, really struggled to keep the pace going, nothing in the legs and stomach was cramping up. Had tried a new flavour gel on the bike, same brand as usual so wasn't expecting any problems with it. By time I took gel wasn't a lot of water left so couldn't really take water with it so could have been that. Either way they are both excuses and the run got worse and worse. Got passed by 3 club members before the end of it. Tried to up it for the end but was still going slow. Run was about 400m short so while 20.23 looks like a fast time, it wasn't.

Overall time 1.12.50 and 122nd overall out of 926. Close enough to target of 1.10 but not a good event at all. Felt crap at the end, all the training and to feel like I did during it wasn't good. I just had nothing in my legs. Was pretty annoyed and down after the race. Out of 4 races this year I have felt good in 1. Not a good return on the training. Even though my times are well down on where I was last year and the training is going well I seem to struggle to bring that to the race. After a night's sleep still not happy with the time but overall wasn't too bad a day. The day itself was enjoyable and few pluses to take from the race and I got to see the girlf finish 10th in the women's supersprint. I think I need to look at my taper for races closer, I was too tired to do much in that race and I don't want that to happen come Dublin City (my 'A' race for the year). Anyway it's back to training today, once the tennis is over!

joey100

So since Sunday I haven't done a whole lot. Few easy runs, swim on Tuesday morning and a missed swim this morning. Another club swim missed, not happy with this but not much I could do about it. WAs up at around 5 on Wed to drop girlf to airport and has been mental busy in work all week. Will be there next Thursday.

Last night was another club TT. Great turnout from the club and there were plenty of the top lads there. Plan was to push it hard for first lap and then hang on as best I could until the end. Worked well too, was going 4th last so was hoping to catch people early and force them to try hang on to me. Passed a good few very early on and was going great. 2nd alp I suffered, pace dropped a bit but was still catching and passing people. Start of 3rd lap was toughest, legs were burning, sweating and gasping. Pushed it for the last 500m, probably started pushing too early but didn't want to get passed so close to the line. Was 4th across the line and 4th fastest on the night. An improvement on last time, came in just over 31 mins, garmin has me at 30.30 for the 20km. Really pleased with this, shows me I do have the speed in my legs when I'm bit fresher. Great night and plenty of fast times for everyone.

Met the coach before the TT and just planned out the rest of the season. Explained how it will be hard to peak for every race and really we are aiming for Dublin city. Everything else, although important, is about preparing for this. Talked through the taper for it and I'm feeling good about it. Have a week off work before it and it comes at a good time, will let me get one last big week in before I start to get ready.

joey100

SO not much gone on since the club TT last Wednesday, most of the rest of the week was easy runs, few swims and a long bike. Nothing major and nothing intense. Got back to it on Monday tho,

Monday 15th July

In the aquatic centre with work so got in an hour swim, good to get back into the water, have really been neglecting my swim over the last while. After work then was a run, 20 mins warm up, 8 X 400m coming in around 86 seconds and then 3km at 10km pace + ten seconds. This was tough, felt it in the legs, took a while to get going. The evening was another swim session, will be missing Thursday morning club swim so went along to the Monday evening one. A lot busier, more people more lanes and shorter lanes. Bit of a warm up then into 10 X 100m with fins bringing the time down by around 1 second per hundred. Started off too fast in this and was really suffering by the end, last 3 were pretty much the same pace, rest of them managed to keep lowering it. After this was 10 X 100m lowering pace with pull buoy, didn't set off too fast but by last 3 again times in and around the same. Good swim session and was good to have a few people in the lane to chase.

Tuesday 16th July

Another club cycle in the park. 5 laps and around 42km. Plan was to stay with Bjorn as long as possible, managed to stay with him for around 39km and then dropped off, didn't help that he was staying out for another hour at that pace! Pushed it on the hills and used some of the straights to recover, for first 2 laps we were swapping positions but the longer it went on the less time I spent in front and more time hanging onto him. Good session, again good to have someone to chase. Nothing on tomorrow, long day in work and girlf home from america so will be Thursday before I get back to it.

joey100

Wednesday 17th July

Nothing today, spent the day in an adventure centre with the kids from work so was wrecked by the time I got home.

Thursday 18th July

Only a 40 min easy run today, nice to see easy pace is down, felt comfortable, legs bit heavy but nothing major.

Friday 19th July

Another long day in work so another day with nothing.

Saturday 20th July

Easy spin on the TT bike, around 20km. Took it handy and legs felt good, good pace for little effort. Wanted just to check it was ok for race on Sunday and all the gears where there, could be needing them.

Plan for tomorrow is to try and just enjoy the race. Last few races I've been putting pressure on myself coming up to them and haven't performed as well as I would like to. Tomorrow is just about having a good day, looking forward to some of the cycle, that last hill looks tough. Will try leave something in the legs for it. Looking forward to the race, but not the midgies, everyone has been telling me to make sure I wear lots of the spray. Good nights sleep tonight and will be good to go tomorrow.

joey100

Sunday 21st July

So the day of the race and I slept great the night before. Was a bit nervous heading down, hills looked tough and I had opted for the tri bike. Got set up in transition, people were racked in their clubs. Meant I was surrounded by lads I knew which was nice. Plenty of room in transition and bike racked with all the gear I needed. Not much hanging round for the briefing and then it was down to the water.

Swim 24.57

Water was at a low level in the lake because of the rain and made it tough to swim out at parts, hands scraping the bottom. Got set up nicely and then the line was moved back. Ended up towards the back of the pack. bit of a messy swim once the hooter went but settled into a nice rhythm. One of the rougher swim starts I've done but got to the buoy and was in a bit of a pack so got a nice draft. Passed a few more, sighting was working well today, nice big buoys to sight and lake was pancake flat. On the home stretch I drafted off a lad up had tried to pass me but just couldn't get the last 2 metres, sat behind him for a bit and then with around 300m to go upped the pace. Felt great during the swim, well paced and never felt like I was pushing it. Maybe took it a bit too easy but this set me up well for the rest of the race.

T1 1.01

Timing mat was a good distance from the swim exit so swim time would have been down and T1 time up. Very fast by my standards, not the fastest by the rest of the days.

Bike 1.15.03

Struggled to get into the shoes on the bike and seen a few other people struggle too. Mount line as a bottom of short hill and made it hard to get a rhythm. Eventually got in and shoes closed. Straight into a climb and it was a tough one, granny gear and out of saddle for most of it. Fast descent into roundwood and hit the ramps at a good pace. This was the first problem, the ramps and road surface made the stem loosen at the handle bar and meant when I put weight on the brakes they dropped forward. Not great on a course with a few tricky descents, had to stay in aerobars and pull them up towards me for the rest of the cycle to stop them dropping. To anyone behind me on the neutralised zone I apologise, I wasn't being a chicken but I couldn't use both breaks, the handle bars just fell forward so meant using one brake and unclipping one foot to help with my braking. Overall cycle wasn't too bad, I'd say the handlebars cost me a few minutes but nothing major. A good course, suits me being short and light. Road surface wasn't great in places but overall a nice course.

T2 00.53

Again quick by my standards but not overall, socks went on as didn't want to chance running without them.

Run 37.12

First off the run course was short, around 1km short. It was a tough course though, straight into a 3km hill. Pace dropped right off and ended up walking a bit until a lad from piranha told me just to keep the legs moving, that I was getting close (thanks for the encouragement). Once it flattened out the pace came down a bit, really pushed it on some of the downhill sections, 1km I remember coming in around 3.35. Run went a lot better than usual, legs felt good from the start and breathing was good. On the bike I pulled it back a bit than usual and I think it helped with the run. Pleased with the time, would have liked it to have been closer to 10km but at the time I was delighted it was over.

Overall 2.19.10 (58th/316)

Another race under 2.20 and another in top 20%. Felt good today, legs were good and think the new mentality of taking it easier and enjoying it worked. Great organisation at the race, no real hanging around, good food after and a great atmosphere. Need to check my bike more closely before each race now! Could have made a few minutes on the bike but wasn't to be. Overall very happy with the race, highly recommended. Back to training now, lough rea sprint in two weeks and then the big race, Dublin city at end of August.

Kurt Godel

joey100 wrote: »

Sunday 21st July

So the day of the race and I slept great the night before. Was a bit nervous heading down, hills looked tough and I had opted for the tri bike. Got set up in transition, people were racked in their clubs. Meant I was surrounded by lads I knew which was nice. Plenty of room in transition and bike racked with all the gear I needed. Not much hanging round for the briefing and then it was down to the water.

Swim 24.57

Water was at a low level in the lake because of the rain and made it tough to swim out at parts, hands scraping the bottom. Got set up nicely and then the line was moved back. Ended up towards the back of the pack. bit of a messy swim once the hooter went but settled into a nice rhythm. One of the rougher swim starts I've done but got to the buoy and was in a bit of a pack so got a nice draft. Passed a few more, sighting was working well today, nice big buoys to sight and lake was pancake flat. On the home stretch I drafted off a lad up had tried to pass me but just couldn't get the last 2 metres, sat behind him for a bit and then with around 300m to go upped the pace. Felt great during the swim, well paced and never felt like I was pushing it. Maybe took it a bit too easy but this set me up well for the rest of the race.

T1 1.01

Timing mat was a good distance from the swim exit so swim time would have been down and T1 time up. Very fast by my standards, not the fastest by the rest of the days.

Bike 1.15.03

Struggled to get into the shoes on the bike and seen a few other people struggle too. Mount line as a bottom of short hill and made it hard to get a rhythm. Eventually got in and shoes closed. Straight into a climb and it was a tough one, granny gear and out of saddle for most of it. Fast descent into roundwood and hit the ramps at a good pace. This was the first problem, the ramps and road surface made the stem loosen at the handle bar and meant when I put weight on the brakes they dropped forward. Not great on a course with a few tricky descents, had to stay in aerobars and pull them up towards me for the rest of the cycle to stop them dropping. To anyone behind me on the neutralised zone I apologise, I wasn't being a chicken but I couldn't use both breaks, the handle bars just fell forward so meant using one brake and unclipping one foot to help with my braking. Overall cycle wasn't too bad, I'd say the handlebars cost me a few minutes but nothing major. A good course, suits me being short and light. Road surface wasn't great in places but overall a nice course.

T2 00.53

Again quick by my standards but not overall, socks went on as didn't want to chance running without them.

Run 37.12

First off the run course was short, around 1km short. It was a tough course though, straight into a 3km hill. Pace dropped right off and ended up walking a bit until a lad from piranha told me just to keep the legs moving, that I was getting close (thanks for the encouragement). Once it flattened out the pace came down a bit, really pushed it on some of the downhill sections, 1km I remember coming in around 3.35. Run went a lot better than usual, legs felt good from the start and breathing was good. On the bike I pulled it back a bit than usual and I think it helped with the run. Pleased with the time, would have liked it to have been closer to 10km but at the time I was delighted it was over.

Overall 2.19.10 (58th/316)

Another race under 2.20 and another in top 20%. Felt good today, legs were good and think the new mentality of taking it easier and enjoying it worked. Great organisation at the race, no real hanging around, good food after and a great atmosphere. Need to check my bike more closely before each race now! Could have made a few minutes on the bike but wasn't to be. Overall very happy with the race, highly recommended. Back to training now, lough rea sprint in two weeks and then the big race, Dublin city at end of August.

Well done today joey, solid progress this year, looks like a good result (and more minutes there too for the taking).

You were a mile ahead of me in everything today, that mentioned Dublin Tri smackdown is looking very one-sided at the moment! Anyway, no harm in trying to close the gap a bit, good luck in Loughrea and mind someone doesn't let the air out of your tyres in Dublin;)

Dory Dory

Well done you!!! Super fantastic result.

joey100

Thanks Dory, was nice to have a good result, even if it was one of my scariest ever cycles! It's not until your handlebars move that you realise how much faith you put in them staying still!

catweazle

Nice high placing in a national series race well done.

I will be marshaling in Loughrea - if I am on bike check in again I will be watching out for a tattooed lad with dodgy handlebars

Macanri

Good man Joe; great result.

joey100

Monday 22nd July

Didn't feel that bad straight after the race but was feeling it when I woke up. Tight legs and calves, good thing I had taken day off work. Only a 45 min easy run and to be honest it was enough with the legs feeling the way they were.

Tuesday 23rd July

Club cycle in the park. 5 laps and around 43km. None of the fastest lads there tonight, which suited me, legs were still tired and meant I wouldn't be killing myself trying to keep up with them. Pushed it a bit, got drowned on the second lap, few dropped out but few stayed. Cleared up lovely and spent the whole time at the front trying to keep the pace up. Pushed it up the hills and down chesterfield avenue. Legs felt ok, heavy but still able to move. not as fast as previous weeks but fast enough with how the legs were.

Wednesday 24th July

Another recovery type day. 45 min easy run, legs starting to feel better. Bottom of calves still a bit tight but rest of legs starting to get back to normal. After this was a home circuit, no breaks and pace kept up.

Solobally8

Well done at the weekend joey. I've been meaning to ask for a while - what do you do in your home circuit training?