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Fat and unfit to 2hr40min Hell of west in 1year
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will try again...wont be as long this time....
lead up to race.....
was sick all week during lead up to the race...only did 1 14k run on the tuesday and a light session friday to loosen out the legs...had 2 aims for this years race...1..beat my 2 mates that were racing- both very good runners but i should have around 10-15mins after the bike on them... 2..aim for top 15 finish and beat my time of 3.12.20 from last year (aiming for 3hrs).. felt good before the race..some good banter and slagging with the mates..chatted to shotgunmcos and was introduced to the infamous Redb.. a very nice chap and was great to meet him... lined up alongside shotgun at the front and off we went....
https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=321306301306389&set=a.321304651306554.1073741825.282642471839439&type=3&theater
myself in the compression socks and shotgun in the white and blue
32k hill cycle....
Felt great from the off and was immediatley at the front of the race (leading
when I passed the wife and kids at the graveyard).. myself shotgun and 1 or 2 others shared the lead a couple of times.. when I looked around there was around 10 in the group in total but only 3-4 sharing the lead while the other were sitting back drafting- this pissed me off so I pushed harder (mistake no. 1)...after around 10k I was feeling it in the legs but was still leading the race..shotgun came up to me twice and told me not to be pushing so hard and save the legs..I wish i listened to him (mistake no.2) but i was in the moment- leading a race and feeling good and strong...swapped the lead again a few times but always the same 3-4 sharing lead....comming to the dreaded hill I slowed down and took a gel..kinda messed up here as i got caught in the wrong gear and before I knew it there was a 20m gap between me and the group..I wasn't too concerned as I knew I would catch up on the hill as i had my new cassette on the bike which would surely get me over the hill ..my 25-11, got to the hill and my thighs were screaming at me going up it whilst i was watching everyone else pull away:eek:...3/4 of the way up I fell off the bike..couldnt push the pedals anymore..what was happening, was this it, had i blown up already after going too hard at the start...the demons in my head were fu*king with me, I was in a world of pain...I looked up and saw shotgun walking too (he had an excuse though as his derailler was broke and he was stuck in the big cog)...ok i said to myself if I caught him and we worked together we could reel everyone in..I looked up again and he was gone 
.. I got over the hill and hopped back on the bike ready to push hard and catch people again but...my legs were shot..I could barely move the pedals..I had to freewheel for a minute or 2 and regain my composure..my legs were fried...my legs slowly came back and i slowly started pedalling again..started moving again on the decent and once i passed out 2 people my legs felt good again (granted 1 was changing a puncture)..I was eating road now with 5k to go to transition but there was still no sign of anyone....I got into transition at around 1hr6mins gone to see around 6 or 7 bikes in transition and my wife and kids roaring at me...this spurred me on and i felt good again.. bar a minor set back i could still finish top 10..thighs felt really sore but I thought they would loosen out once i got on the run...so on with the runners and off i went on the run...
doing this in segments so i dont lose the report again...0 -
19k hill run....
ok so ...i set off on the run feeling good and knowing I was well within top 10..looked around 500m into the run and there was no one behind me so I had a good lead on anyone else..
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=321327961304223&set=a.321304651306554.1073741825.282642471839439&type=3&theater#!/photo.php?fbid=321348777968808&set=a.321304651306554.1073741825.282642471839439&type=3&theater
me leaving transition
at 2km into the run I found myself walking, I couldnt believe it- my legs wouldnt move..the 2k took 13mins..jesus I was crawling...this continued for the rest of the ascent..at 4km i was 26mins into the run and my ankle was throbbing badly and hurting with every step..i felt again like i wanted to throw in the towel and give up...I looked around and there was still no one in sight which spurred me on again..run,walk,run walk continued until I looked around and the inevitable was starting to happen..2 guys were just about to pass me..I could not respond..my ankle was in bits, my thighs were on fire and i was gasping for breath...hit 6km mark at 37mins and the turn for the steepest part at 45mins..3 more passed me out here but still no sign of my mates thankfully... headed up the steepest last 2km stretch and it took forever, kept looking over my shoulder for my 2 mates but so far so good..still walking for a minute, jogging for a minutes..race leader passed me out on the descent followed by a few more guys and then shotgun..I wasnt too far behind him as the summit was also in sight at this stage- perhaps 5mins behind him and 10mins behind race leader but I was being passed now every few minutes by the odd runner which meant my top 15 was now a thing of the past...still had not been passed by my 2 mates which gave me renewed hope..got to the turnaround at around 2hrs5mins and when i turned around I saw one of my mates only 50m behind my and the other mate 50m behind him...my heart sunk..I was utterly deflated..the only thing keeping me going was now about to be crushed...https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=321327961304223&set=a.321304651306554.1073741825.282642471839439&type=3&theater#!/photo.php?fbid=321490211287998&set=a.321489791288040.1073741827.282642471839439&type=3&theater
...me just after turning around with my mate catching in the distance in red and black...
after another few minutes he caught up to me and passed with ease..I tried to speed up to stay with him but my ankle and thighs screamed at me..shortly after my other mate passed me too.. I came to a slight incline and was walking again...i couldnt get over it...and was passed by 2 more...this was it, after another few words with myself and another gel.. i decided to HTFU, I looked at my watch and knew i could still beat last years time if I ran through the pain barrier..tried to pick up pace and get into a rythym and......i did.......the pain in my ankle surprisingly subsided a bit the harder i went...I was in a nice rythym now and was clocking the time down to the next transition and..thankfully..no one else passed me out for the rest of the race...:D:D...I got back to transition to the wife and kids roaring at me again and i was never so relieved...that is until my 10 year old shouted at me "come on dad i am walking faster than you" ..kids eh..really know how to stick the dagger in!!....
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.321304651306554.1073741825.282642471839439&type=1#!/photo.php?fbid=321357077967978&set=a.321304651306554.1073741825.282642471839439&type=3&theater
....on the way back to transition ..deflated..
last 6k cycle....
got back to the bike and tried to get runners off and cycling shoes back on without cramping..struggle but did it..could barely crawl the last 6k home..had a guy in my sights and would usually be able to catch him but couldnt...got to the finish line and thankfully..the only saving grace from the race was that the time was reading 3:06:xx ...beat last years time by 6mins.. when i stopped i was in a world of pain..my thighs and calves were cramping and my ankle was in bits...was told i came around 25th but no official times out yet (dont even know how many were in the race)...
aftermath...
looking back on the race i learned 2 valuable lessons...dont be a hero...dont lead the cycle...be clever..draft if it is allowed....
my mates beat me by 4mins and 6mins...fair play to them
also i need more hill running in my legs next year (i need to HTFU)
sorry for the length of the report..basically a 2hr moan but hopefully there will be better reports soon0 -
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Solobally8 wrote: »Great read there Trig1. Must have been cool leading the race. You are going to have some great season I just know it
Ha ha I wish, just a small matter of learning to swim fast and run fast first:D0 -
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19/3/2013
Well spent st patricks day doing family stuff, also had friends over that night for drinks so spent next day very hungover and missed my session so 2 days missed so decided to make myself suffer today, heating on and windows closed in the sweat box (pain cave) 1 or 2 extra tops on to sweat the alcohol out and on with the sufferfest...downward spiral... world of pain!!!...2mins flat out 2 mins recovery, 1.45mins flat out 1.45mins recovery, 1.30mins flat out, 1.30mins recovery...and so on down to 15secs flat out 15secs light, 5mins recovery then same again with few extra 15secs thrown in at end..
Had the rear cog in 3rd hardest gear for the first set, turbo on gear 2, was hitting avg cadence of 100+ for these with legs on fire, sweat pouring off me, 2nd set pushed myself harder- from 2mins to 1min changed gearing to 2nd hardest gear- hitting cadence of 88-90 for these- legs were screaming ,from 1mins to finish I change into heaviest gear- standing on pedals barely hitting cadence of 80 but my heart and lungs were about to pop out of my chest and my legs were on fire....great session and training all done in 1hour, delighted to get a good quality session done...need to get more of these before my 2 sprint tri's in April,,, swam out of the room afterwards:D, lets just say the wife wasn't impressed with the smell
session 1hr turbo- downward spiral0 -
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20/3/2013
Morning Run
Had planned this morning to do an interval run.. couple of hard 500m's but Wife needed to go to town so changed the plan...instead decided to do a hard 10k and see how I was going..last hard 10k was 13th Dec in 44:40 and was also my 10k p.b. so decided to give that a go today and see how much if any improvement there was...so headed off hard..too hard, the sports-tracker on my mobile glitched once or twice in the first km giving me a 3.43 first km and 4.10 2nd km...I knew i was going fast but not that fast, thankfully I also had my stopwatch started and I knew where the 10k finisked due to running the same route numerous time..still though I was going way too hard so decided to ease off a bit for the next few km's..also next few km's had a few inclines so I didn't want to blow up, next 3 kms came in at 4.29, 4.28 and 4.32...at this stage I had gotten through the hard inclines and had a few downhill sections and flat sections next...also according to my sports tracker i went through 5km in 21.28mins, even adding 30secs to that for the 2 glitches in first 2k i was still on target to smash my p.b...knowing this and knowing I was on a long downhill section I decided to have a real go at the next 5k and push as hard as I could..when I was young-(i mean 18-20) I was a good runner...I felt like I re-discovered some of this for the next 5k (muscle memory maybe:D) but i started flying it and I felt really good and strong..next 3k came in at 4.03, 4.07 and 4.06.. with 2k to go I was starting to suffer but went through 8k in around 34mins..last 2k was flat with few light inclines but I dug hard and got through them strong with a 4.12 and 4.13 to finish off the 10k...wrecked at finish and delighted with time..sports tracker giving me a time of 42.17 but watch which had right time gave me 42.36mins , glitches were only around 10 secs each so first 2kms were still around 4.00 and 4.15 I reckon..knocked a whole 2mins04secs off my 10k p.b. - delighted with that and I know I could definitely go harder in a 10k race..nice light 3k run home after that
session 10k run 42.36mins..3k light jog home
http://www.sports-tracker.com/#/workout/DerekBowen/9ghq5lc4ken863bc ...10k run
http://www.sports-tracker.com/#/workout/DerekBowen/bfh8q3ffjiinffba ...3k light
Evening swim
Went down to the pool tonight aiming to do my first 3.8k swim...longest swim before this was 3.5k...just started off nice long and relaxed...went through 750m in 16:xx, went through 1500m in 32:xx, 2250m in 49:xx, 3000m in 1hr7min:xx.. really suffered in the last 800m and was conscious that they would be blowing the whistle for people to get out in 15mins,, shoulder started seizing up and toes were cramping but I was determined to get a time for my first ever 3.8k swim,,, on my 73rd length (u.l. 50m pool) they blew the whistle for people to get out, I pretended I couldn't hear it and kept my head down to crawl through the last 3 lengths, suffered, form (whatever form I had ) was gone but I did it:D, my first 3.8k swim in 1hr27mins16secs, 20mins for the last 800m...slow but what the heck, I did a 3.8k swim... never in my life before last year did I think I would be able to do a 1hr27min swim without stopping....as I said at the start...a good days training!!!
session 3.8km swim 1hr27mins16secs0 -
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24/3/2013
Another midnight run tonight, was pretty cautious doing this run and didn't want to push it as my body isn't up to running 2 days in a row (i'm tender
) so just did a nice light 8K run in around 41mins...a little sore but felt ok
session : 8k run 41mins0 -
26/3/2013
At a funeral all day yesterday so no training done...suffered with hangover all day today after a long days drinking the black stuff yesterday, managed an evening 1hr on turbo, planned 10x 1min flat out, managed 6 until I was sweating pure alcohol and was wrecked, decided to just spin for the rest of the hour watching the Irish match...
session 1hr turbo with 6x 1min flat out
27/3/3013
the good and the bad
decided to cycle over to parents house today..was around 25km away, very cold out but tucked up warm..cycled through town over to Ivans of caherdavin...besides stopping few times in the first 2k to fix sports-tracker, cycle went really well, felt really strong, if it wasn't for first 2k at 24 and 23 kph, avg speed would have been above 35kph and felt really good, actual was 23.5km in 42.31mins for speed of 33.2kph...included stopping at a lot of traffic lights in town....
http://www.sports-tracker.com/#/workout/DerekBowen/bphnnvebfl801pok
spent around 40mins chatting to my parents and then decided to cycle home the back roads as traffic was crazy in town, also my gear was a bit cold and wet now with cold sweat
, off i went on back route...up past thomond park..parteen...obriens bridge...castleconnel and home....worst cycle ever.... struggled into an icy headwind, couldn't get warm no matter how hard I tried, I was freezing, miserable, tired and freezing :rolleyes: ...also the journey home happened to be 8k longer this route...anyway a horrible cycle home in 1hr11mins at 26.3kph.. 31.4km
full session..55km cycle in 1hr55mins
http://www.sports-tracker.com/#/workout/DerekBowen/fjaklp6j6mlsidlc0 -
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31/3/2013
The strap on my watch broke 2 weeks ago so I've been using my phone to time my runs over last 2 weeks at work...I usually set the sports-tracker app running on the phone on the off chance that it kicks in and gives me a few splits per km as it never works right in the industrial estate...over the last few runs it kicked in probably 10mins or 15mins into the run but for some reason today it worked straight away- maybe there was a sattelite straight overhead, anyway set off with my mate for an 8k run at lunch time , wanted to do a fast run today as I felt I've been improving recently in my running and I wanted to see how the mate was getting on so I set the pace.. got settled in for the first km and started taking the pace up gradually... 4.44mins/km for first km, kept increasing pace and did next 2km quick in 4.17 and 4.18, mate was still holding in ok but slowed down a little for the next 2kms at 4.37 and 4.31- he had had enough at this stage and told me to push on- still a p.b. for him for 5k at 22.29.. I pushed the next km hard (prob too hard- said I'd aim for sub 44mins for 10k) did 4.07 for km 6 and 4.14 for km 7, was delighted to see the mate ahead again to pace me for the last 3k which were done in 4.25, 4.25 and 4.13... to come in at 43.54 for the 10k..delighted with that from a training run- considering my pb last year was 45mins+ for 10k.. december i did a 44.40 pb and now in march I've done 2 training runs in sub 44mins and sub 43mins..very happy - at least I'm heading in the right direction
http://www.sports-tracker.com/#/workout/DerekBowen/5mgh63aqk3675p26
session 10k run..43.54mins
1/apr/2013
Plan today was to get out for 2hr cycle but missus was going to town shopping for communion so i was left at home with kids so plonked them in front of a movie with popcorn and easter eggs and i hopped on the turbo for the duration of Blade 2, threw in around 4x3min pieces and 4x1min pieces throughout session, 110min later movie was over, kids arrived into the room to tell me "i stink".. chased them for next few minutes around sitting room and kitchen looking for hugs - dripping in sweat- If anyone was looking in the window I dread to guess what they would have thought!! screams were comical- good times :D...
Session 110mins turbo
2/apr/2013
Just a handy midnight run in work ...8k in 38mins avg around 4.45mins/km
session 8k run 38mins0 -
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Solobally8 wrote: »See you at Nenagh so. Although my training is going so bad I'll just be happy to beat last years time
My aim too!! although I had a bad race last year there so should beat it!!
4/apr/2013
Just another nice midnight run tonight with my mate, nice chatty 8k run keeping splits at 5mins/km, felt nice and comfortable..brought pace up for last km to do the 8k in 39mins30secs. lovely night for running!!
session 8k run 39.30mins0
oh well!!! Advertisement