Fat and unfit to 2hr40min Hell of west in 1year

Trig1

Sat 21st- fast run- Have been annoyed with my running of late so planned a fast 8k run during lunch time in work tonight, planned to push as hard as I could for the 8k,I felt I was going strong and at a nice pace but my km splits were not showing this, I struggled to hold an average of 4.35mins/km which is woeful, splits for the 8k were 4.39,4.29,4.49,4.25,4.40,4.35,4.48,4.17 giving me an 8k average of 4.35mins/km and I was wrecked after it, with Kilkee less than 1 week away I don't think I'm going to be beating last years 2hrs37mins, I have to take a step back and put things into perspective, so far this year I have only done 188kms running due to so many injuries!! last year at this stage I had nearly 500kms ran! anyway roll on Kilkee!!

session: 8k run at 4.35mins/km

Trig1

Sun 22nd June.... 25k cycle to work on road bike, felt really good, was only tipping away , pushed each hill but that was about it, was surprised to do the spin in under 45mins and at average of 33kph.

Mon 23rd June.... cycling home was a different story, felt really really tired, just wanted to get off the bike and sleep, contemplated ringing the wife to collect me!! 25k cycle this time took me 1hr1minute at 25kph!!!

slept for most of the day, missed my o.w. swim in worlds end but I was wrecked and needed rest- will swim tues or wed again, brought my running gear to work and managed a handy 8k run at break time at 4.52mins/km average, good to get some more running miles in the legs before Kilkee!

Trig1

ok wind down week for Kilkee...

Tuesday 24th June Last hard session today - Limerick cc summer race, 10k warm up then into 35k flat out, went in 2nd group again today, 4mins behind 1st group and 2mins ahead of scratch group, pace was relentless from the start but I felt really good and strong, held my own for the whole race!! got to the turnaround point and the scratch group still hadn't caught us but they were just behind us, we were rolling over ashard as possiblewith pace not dropping below 40kph once, scratch group caught us with around 12k to go then the pace took a jump up to 45kph as we still had not caught the first group, caught the first group with around 5k to go, it was then all about pushing hard and covering the breaks, I was delighted that I even managed to contest the sprint finish tonight( even if I rolled over the line around 15th of 70??), average pace for the race was 43kph :eek::eek::cool: last hard session before kilkee and a new p.b. for the course of 49.15mins
http://www.strava.com/activities/157665046

Wed 25th June Spent the day on the bog turning sods and stacking them- back and legs aching after it, probably not the best thing to be doing a few days before kilkee but I was under orders

Thurs 26thLegs really sore today after bog yesterday, just a light light 10k cycle on the bike at 26kph followed by 2k run with 1k flat out- did the 1k flat out at 3.58mins/km (dont ever remember doing a sub 4min km before) maybe things are falling into place for kilkee.

Fri 27th June Bike serviced, cleaned, recce to check out bike- just 5k with the daughter- all going well, all packed, going to bed early with alarm being set for 5.30am--- Best case scenario- I better last years swim, knock a few mins off last years bike and struggle home on the run to beat last years time of 2.37hrs...here's hoping... next post will be Kilkee race report

Trig1

A very happy chap today. Beautiful conditions and a sub 2.30 :-)

Trig1

Kilkee result 2012: 189/564 2hrs46:09mins
Kilkee result 2013: 171/696 2hrs37:44mins

Alarm woke me at 5.15am on Sat morning 28th june, jumped out of bed, on with my tri gear and tracksuit, downstairs for a banana sandwich, cup of coffee and out the door for 6am, arrived in Kilkee at 7.05am and registered with no hassle, it was a beautiful morning and strangely I had no nerves whatsoever! left car in hotel carpark and started unloading my bike, started chatting to guy longside me only to find out it was Bennymul(nice to meet you Benny, small world). had everything with me so headed leisurely down to set up in transition, everything setup ok, 3 gels on my bike and 2 in my running shoes for later, wetsuit on, met mossy who looked a bit nervous, chatted with the bro for awhile and then headed down to race starts, I was looking forward to the swim and bike as conditions were beautiful but I knew the run would be torture due to the heat...anyway positioned myself to the right and back a bit in the swim....

swim: first 200m of the swim was the worst I have ever experienced- I got the sh!t kicked out of me, panicked a little and ended up breast stroking for a bit until I got some clear water, once I got some clear water I loved the swim, felt really strong and relaxed, not struggling for breath and just really beautiful conditions, before I knew it the swim was over, exited the water and looked at my watch and it was showing 25:xx I was thrilled with that, by the time I got over the mat my time was 26:47 - over 2 mins faster than last year..
2012: 35mins
2013: 29.01mins
2014: 26:47mins 423rd/939 finishers overall 92nd in agegroup

cycle: no issues in t1
Felt great on the cycle, I was off on the bike at under 30mins and I was thrilled with that...was just motoring passed groups of drafters, (when your that far down in the swim there is loads to pass out), took my first gel straight away on bike, Had really no issues on bike whatsoever, just kept head down and took another gel at the turnaround and last gel on coming into transition, had a great dismount and couldn't believe my eyes when I looked at the watch and the clock was reading 1hr40mins...I was thrilled in transition heading off on the run.
2012: 1hr18:52mins
2013: 1hr20:07mins
2014: 1hr11:35mins 52nd/939 overall and 16th in agegroup 37kph for the spin

Run: I knew going on the run that it was years since I raced a 10k and got anything over 50mins so I knew deep down that bar an injury I was going to break 2hrs30mins, I was delighted but.....I had to get through the run, I was also shattered and the legs were dead, each of the first km's were all in and around the 5min mark- I didn't mind as I knew I would be faster in the last 5k, loads were passing me out but I still didn't mind as I knew I was going to do sub 2:30 today :D but the bro still hadn't passed, I was 4k up the hill and he still wasn't on the way down yet but just when I was thinking it he appeared- so I was around 10mins behind him (we have 2 bets each year- if he beats me by over 10mins I owe him 2 pints and if its under he owes me 2, other bet is slowest bike split owes the other 2 pints- for the last 2 years I bought him 4 pints on the night of HOTW) , got to the turnaround at exactly 2:05 and then pushed the rest of the way,passed mossym with around 3k to go and he was looking fast, thought it would be close between us today! I also saw a few more scalps that beat me in Kilrush and Kilaloe that I would love to beat today, 2 of which went off in my wave and were hot on my heels, the last 2k I let myself go but calf nearly went so I reigned it in a bit again, tried pushing to get under the 2:29 but just missed out by 8secs, I was thrilled arriving into the finish, 1 of the lads that ran past me in Kilrush finished just behind me and another lad that ran past me in killaloe finished another minute down , only scalp that I didn't beat today was mossym who had a fantastic race to beat me by 40seconds, the bro did a fantastic 2hrs16mins so I owed him 2 pints, he was shocked though when he saw the splits and I ended up beating him by a full 2mins on the bike :cool: so the pints were cancelled out this year ....what a day!!!!




did the run in 48:23mins ...
2012: 50mins
2013: 46:21
2014: 48:23 425th overall and 103th in agegroup

I never thought I would break 2hrs30 in kilkee , my aim today was to beat last years time but with a really strong bike I managed to smash that, I don't think I'm ever going to beat this time again...

Kilkee HOTW result 2014 : 2hrs29:08mins 182/939 50th in agegroup
very happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mossym

Great effort there trig. I'm going to have to knuckle down for Lost sheep, i'll have a serious amount of time to make up after the bike, and won;t have the same increase in swim to make it back. lot to make up on the run.

you've mentioed a few times going bike racing only. that last bit about not doing better at kilkee almost sounds like a sign off on the race. is it a case that the goal was met, or are you thinking of biking only next year?

Dory Dory

Excellent job, Trig!!!! Super duper congratulations!!!!!

Trig1

mossym wrote: »

Great effort there trig. I'm going to have to knuckle down for Lost sheep, i'll have a serious amount of time to make up after the bike, and won;t have the same increase in swim to make it back. lot to make up on the run.

you've mentioed a few times going bike racing only. that last bit about not doing better at kilkee almost sounds like a sign off on the race. is it a case that the goal was met, or are you thinking of biking only next year?

As long as I can I think I will always do kilkee, conditions were just perfect the other day, I think it will be a struggle for me to ever beat that performance,
on the cycling side- I think I will get an A4 license next year and do a few races

BennyMul

Really nice to finally meet you Trig. and savage result.
well deserved.

You will do well at the racing, may have to rethink getting my A4 license next year if I have to race against you,

Trig1

Tuesday 1st JulytookSunday and Monday off training recovering after Kilkee also today was to be the start of 3 days with minimal food, started using squeezy athletic ...https://www.squeezy-nutrition.com/v2/en/product/squeezy-weight-loss-2/athletic-dietary-food/

so...weighed 90kgs this morning...2 boiled eggs and wholemeal bread for breakfast.. had a squeezy shake at lunch time then went for an evening run at work.... a nice light progressive 6k run to get the legs working again, very handy run with last km getting a little bit of speed in the legs again, splits for 6km's were 5:07, 5:23, 5:20, 4:57, 4:53, 4:38. got home from work and just ate a chicken breast and salad. ( drinking litres and litres of mineral water)

Wed 2nd July cycle to work this morning 25.1km in 52mins at 29km/h- nice handy cycle...felt hungry at breakfast so had a squeezy shake with skim milk- did the job- hunger pangs gone, had another shake at lunch time and 1 more at 6pm- felt ok -not really that hungry- got on the bike for cycle home and felt great- pushed as hard as I could on the cycle home (with no food in me in nearly 24hrs) my p.b. for cycle home from work was set back in May 2013- 44.49mins at 34.2kph, kinda shocked myself with cycle home today, felt great and stopped the watch outside my front door at 43.31mins, 1min18secs off my p.b. and did the cycle at 35.3kph-(with bag on back)
Got home and showered and was starving- realised I had no skim milk to make a shake so just ate 1 chicken breast and 1 raw carrot and went to bed.

Thurs 3rd July got up feeling good- brought my gear to work to run in the evening, had a shake for breakfast and agin not hungry at all after it, another shake at lunch time, evening time decided to do my 500m drag intervals... so 2km warm up then 5 x 500m sprints, 1st one felt fine, HR right up at max for each interval, jog back down hill then straight into 2nd interval, stopped during 2nd interval as I felt I was going to puke, gave out to myself for a minute then headed back down hill for 3rd interval, 3rd and 4th intervals were my fastest ever intervals on this uphill route at 3.58mins/km and 3.54mins/km, 5th interval just hung in there, delighted to get all 5 done. arrived home in the evening and took another shake and drank 3 litres :eek: of mineral water- obviously up all night peeing- so in 2 full days all I ate was 1 breast of chicken and 1 raw carrot.

Fri 4th July shake for breakfast then off on the bike for a miserable,wet,windy,hilly climb over silvermines, felt like turning back after 4km's as I had no energy but persevered, did the 61.5km cycle in 2hrs20mins with 500m of climbing but at a miserable 26.3kph - soaked to the skin when I got home and starved- showered and stepped on the scales- before my 3 day minimal eating I weighed 90kgs (a little over 14stone) when I stepped on the scale this afternoon I weight 86kgs (just shy of 13 and 1/2 stone) :eek: chuffed- I lost half stone in 3 days, went downstairs and made myself a chicken salad and it was the nicest salad I've ever eaten

Trig1

Due to having sick children at home and other issues got no training on sat and sunday..

Mon 7th July: planned a hard 8k run- trying to get some speed back in the legs- was pretty wrecked for most of the run and reckon I couldn't have ran much faster...did the 8k loop in 35:44mins (was running probably 10-15secs faster last year but also had around 400 extra km's in the legs then) splits for the 8k were....4.21/4.24/4.21/4.20/4.30/4.18/4.31/4.07 pushed the last km to get under 36mins- was wrecked after it. did the 8k at 4.23mins/km

http://www.strava.com/activities/162844375

Tuesday 8th July- Limerick summer series race...just a 6k warm up and then into the race- had a huge headwind the whole way out to Nenagh, went in the 2nd group as usual and found it pretty easy, had a lot of people in the group not sharing the work so I found (out of 12) there was only 4 of us working for most of the trip to nenagh roundabout- I didn't mind as I was getting a good workout out of it... turned at nenagh and was still cycling into a headwind!!! , anyway we were not caught by the scratch group until the yellow bridge bar- pace jumped up a notch then, stayed with the group until the end and contested the sprint finish well, very happy with the race. maybe its time to go into the scratch group for a session??

http://www.strava.com/activities/163372553

Average speed of 40.1kph for the cycle (mostly headwind :eek:)

Wed 9th July planned a handy but pacy negative split 10k today working again on getting speed into the legs...felt very comfortable throughout the run and only out of breath and struggling for the last 1km (took up the pace for this) even though it was only 10secs/km slower than Mondays run... splits for the 10k were...
4.48/4.40/4.49/4.39/4.34/4.19/4.35/4.32/4.32/4.08...
hopefully running starting to improve...think this was actually my fastest 10k this year and it felt easy... did the 10k in 45.46mins at 4.34mins/km

http://www.strava.com/activities/163649382

Solobally8

maybe its time to go into the scratch group for a session??

]

Totally, only five weeks of the league left so you really should give it a go

BennyMul

Solobally8 wrote: »

Totally, only five weeks of the league left so you really should give it a go

+1,
Trig go with the scratch group, if hard sit in and let them pace you and work when you can.

joey100

I'd be careful with all that hard running Trig, that's a lot to be putting your body through. I know you enjoy your tough sessions but with the calf injury and just the general wear on the body from running I'd pull it back a bit. Bit of longer steady stuff helps a lot too and shorter intervals should help lower the wear on the legs.

catweazle

joey100 wrote: »

I'd be careful with all that hard running Trig, that's a lot to be putting your body through. I know you enjoy your tough sessions but with the calf injury and just the general wear on the body from running I'd pull it back a bit. Bit of longer steady stuff helps a lot too and shorter intervals should help lower the wear on the legs.

Theres no talking to him - it must be the ex rower in him and every session is a sufferfest, 3 balls out sessions in a row trying to catch up for no weekend training

Trig1

joey100 wrote: »

I'd be careful with all that hard running Trig, that's a lot to be putting your body through. I know you enjoy your tough sessions but with the calf injury and just the general wear on the body from running I'd pull it back a bit. Bit of longer steady stuff helps a lot too and shorter intervals should help lower the wear on the legs.

advice taken, think I am a little too eager to make up for lost time, some lighter longer runs will hopefully be done over the weekend, cheers Joey

Trig1

catweazle wrote: »

Theres no talking to him - it must be the ex rower in him and every session is a sufferfest, 3 balls out sessions in a row trying to catch up for no weekend training

I feel bullied!!! and with another race tonight what will people think

Trig1

thurs 10th julyNenagh league tonight... 11k warm up then into race, big group and some real racers in the scratch group so decided to go in 2nd group again tonight... pace was hectic even with a tough headwind, scratch group caught us early and pace ramped up but I felt I was well able for it and kept driving with the scratch group for rest of race, last 1.3km of the race is all uphill, contested it as much as I could and was happy finishing around 12th overall..(should have started with scratch group

http://www.strava.com/activities/164185928

Fri 11th July Nice 13k run-nice and handy- no data as phone died half way but once phone died I felt free'er and just ran at a comfortable pace..did the run in 1hr4mins ~ 4.57mins/km

Sat 12th July probably my longest bike spin so far,went for morning cycle with Nenagh cc.. juniors came along for first 50km so pace was nice and handy for first 50k- around 27kph... once juniors left pace increased, with a section of around 12km of hard rolling over, also a few hills were involved, legs were completely dead after the cycle...122km's in total at 29.7kph...route was ...Nenagh to Cloughjordan to Moneygall..Toomevara..silvermines..up Shalee..Newport...Limerick city...castelconnel..o'briensbridge..Killaloe..portroe and back to Nenagh with 756m of climbing in 4hrs6mins

http://www.strava.com/activities/164816804

Sun 13th July recovery day

Mon 14th July started another 2 days of no food this morning and just using "squeezy athletic" took a shake in the morn and another in the afternoon then did 1.8k open water swim at worlds end followed by 2 loops of worlds end bike course(40k) at a handy 31kph was fairly hungry when I got home but another shake and around 3 litres of water sorted me out for the night...

Tues 15th July Day 2 of no food and feeling good Morn 13k run at avg 4.56mins/km http://www.strava.com/activities/166167564

EveningLimerick League..I planned to go in the 2nd group again tonight due to the fact I haven't eaten in nearly 2 days so I did a 16k cycle warm up for the race,unfortunately numbers were smaller tonight so only 2 groups , 1st group was the usual 2nd group with around 18 in it, 2nd group was the scratch group, I was asked to go into the scratch group tonight to bring numbers up to around 12 so I said what the hell I'd give it a lash...we went off 2mins behind the first group...pace was hectic at 45+ kph until we caught the first group just before the Nenagh roundabout,,, felt good during this section, did my fair share at the front too but sat in a little for the hills behind the likes of Aaron O Brien.. when we caught the first group the pace dropped a little... and once we got around the roundabout it dropped a little more waiting for people to break, a few broke but were reeled back in fairly fast,,, once we got to the downhill section the pace really jumped up again, last 1km was hectic with everyone going for the sprint finish...I took a line behind Aaron and Jumped when he jumped, unfortunately he was too strong and went off to win, think I finished around top 10, happy with that especially after a 13k run this morn and no food in 2 days. pace for the 36k race was 43kph
http://www.strava.com/activities/166346595
Did a light 9k cycle home cool down... another shake when I got home and sitting down now with a 2litre of water...looking forward to some food tomorrow!!

The Lost Sheep

I was cycling with you Saturday then... I was the one suffering the whole way and dropped off the back(as I was feeling so rough) before the juniors turned in Silvermines....

Trig1

Sitting in transition waiting for race briefing for Little bo peep olympic distance tri.. A little nervous!!

Dory Dory

Good luck with it!!!

Trig1

Wed 16th July 71k cycle with Keeper cc, nice enjoyable cycle with a nice bunch of lads... average 31kph for cycle.

took thurs 17th and fri 18th off as taper for Little bo peep Olympic tri

Trig1

Last year for Little Bo Peep tri I did an Olympic distance p.b. of 2hrs22mins07secs but on the day the swim was short - around 1300m and the cycle was only 37km and not that tough with only 1 major climb... I knew this year it would be a total different kettle of fish with a 44k bike out and back over one of the Kerry mountains!!! basically 2 big climbs! what I did not expect was a race harder than Hell of the west....

Build up... Travelled to the bro in laws the evening before the race (Castle Island) as he lived 45mins from kenmare, said I would register in the morn instead so off to bed for 11pm and alarm set for 6.30am- 2 Weetabix and 2 banana's for breakfast and I was out the door at 7am...arrived at transition at 8am with loads of time to register- was hoping to get a nice t-shirt at registration but got another Gear bag instead must be going cheap.. anyway it was a lovely morning and the sea was flat calm but buoys looked miles away compared to last year... anyway got setup in transition, sun cream on the head, wet suit on , race brief over and I was ready.

Swim.... Didn't really feel comfortable in the swim for the first 5mins- couldn't catch my breath and kept getting hit in the head by the person alongside me, once I got my 2nd wind I felt a lot more comfortable and started moving and dropped the bully ..jumped on a few feet and started feeling really good, swim felt like it went on for ages but I was enjoying it! exited the water and looked at my watch and I was right about the swim, looks like they got the distance right this year (maybe even a bit more than 1.5k) last year swim was 25.58... this year id did it in 27.45mins -definitely long as only 1 person did a sub 20min swim- Chris Mintern 16.56 :eek:

swim: 27.45mins 81/159

t1 had a pretty decent transition with no issues- 1.02mins- 32nd fastest overall.

cycle... Was looking forward to this, took my first gel and started powering straight away and overtaking loads but bike didn't feel right and my left crank started creaking really badly- it was really annoying and really off putting, sounded like I was on a high Nelly coming through and everyone could hear me.. came to the first big climb and I felt good- spun the legs up the hill still passing out loads, 1 guy passed me on a road bike but I passed him out again once we got to the downhill section, the downhill is what I love- I flew the downhill section pushing hard (break time)

Trig1

(where was I) I flew the downhill section passing loads, was coming close to the turnaround when the leader came back towards me with a substansial lead. I was counting the cyclists coming toward me and counted around 30 so loads of work still to be done...crank on the bike was still very loud and getting worse but I kept pushing it hard...hit the turnaround and took another gel..didn't feel the greatest here and got passed by a gropu of 4 drafting.... got back to the climb again and was again climbing ok, passed the group of 4 and was well pissed off once I got over the crest to see the same group of 4 in a line pass me out again, I pushed hard and passed them out again and dropped them . after them there was no more cyclists to pass out for the last 15km, did another nice dismount at the line, wasn't happy with the bike overall, felt the creak in the crank was upsetting my rythym and there was way too much climbing... bike times were slow overall with only 1 bike split under 1hr15mins for the 44km cycle, I ended up with a 1hr19min07secs bike split.
Bike: 1hr19.07mins 8th/159

t2 did an ok t2 in 59secs around 60th overall for that

Run: Felt ok going on the run but knew from last year what I had in store--last year I had a disastrous run with around 50 people passing me out and walking a lot of it due to the severity of some of the hills..this year my plan was simple- no walking- just keep going!!! actually felt ok until I got to the first climb, just kept the legs moving and thankfully got to the top of it, actually passed out 2 on the first climb but was also passed out by another 2, I just kept plugging away watching the km's go by, after the 4th km my hip (have been having trouble with left hip for awhile but haven't mentioned it on boards) started coming at me again, with all the climbing and downhills my hip was taking a battering, I was delighted to get to the turnaround but this was gonna be a slow race, once I got to the turnaround my lungs felt ok but the hip was in bits, I just pushed through the pain barrier and was delighted to get to the flat final 2kms, a handful only passed me out and I was delighted with that, another guy was closing in on me with 1km to go but I held him off with probably my fastest km of the day..I felt fine when I stopped- hip was in bits but the fitness was well there.. did the run in 47.12mins

Run: 47.12mins 51st/159

Overall.. When I stopped my watch at the finish line it read 2hrs36mins6secs...this was a long tough race with a long swim, a very tough bike with 2 big climbs and a very tough undulating run, It honestly felt harder than HOTW , I still felt a little disappointed with my time thinking I would be lucky to finish in top 50 with a time of 2hrs36mins but once the results came out it made me realize how tough the race actually was...the winning time was 2hrs13mins and only the top 5 did under 2hrs23mins..my time of 2hrs36 didn't seem that bad all of a sudden..I scanned the results looking in the 40s and 50s to find my name but didn't see it, looked a little higher on the sheet and was shocked to see I finished 30th :eek: , had another quick look and saw 1 relay team finished ahead of me..woo hoo I finished 29th .. I was delighted with that and it was a great warm up for The lost sheep... worryingly the hip is still in bits and I'm popping loads of anti -inflammatorys and yes its the same Hip I had the stress fracture in 2 years ago , anyway- hopefully a week of no running will sort me out.

Little Bo Peep Tri: 29th/159 2hr36mins7secs 15th in age group

mossym

nice report trig, sounds like a tough race

BennyMul

Nice race Trig, some animal on that bike,
Did you go with the scratch group yet ????

Solobally8

Well done Trig, great result. Mind that hip. +1 about the bike, you are a savage biker!

Dory Dory

Super job Trig! You are some powerhouse on the bike!! Now take good care of that hip!

Trig1

Loads of cycling and no running this week due to hip issues (should have done some swimming but loving cycling at the moment and kind of loosing my love for swimming and running. (maybe a sign of things to come next year)...

Mon 21st July...just a light recovery cycle on the tt bike after weekends racing-nothing major..36.5kms at 31.6kph...

http://www.strava.com/activities/168961377

Tues 22nd July.. Limerick cc summer race..Did a long warm up of 25k's today before the race and was planning the 2nd group but today was 2 be my first major outing in the scratch group, I was not fully convinced I wanted to go in the scratch group as the groups were small tonight, (only around 8 in scratch) but Huff n Puff persuaded me I would be fine so I went in the scratch tonight, the first group were given 4 mins then 2nd group with around 14-16 riders were given 2mins and then we were off, pace was hectic straight away at 45+kph average and it never really dropped below that, I held my own and worked well in the group as we rolled over at a hectic pace, as we were going up the drags after birdhill the pace stayed the same :eek: and I really started feeling it so I just sat in for awhile on a back wheel (I didn't feel too bad about it as 4 or 5 were doing the same with only 3-4 strong riders rolling over at this point) once we got over the drags we started rolling over again on a fast section and the pace shot up to 55+kph, the 2nd group were in sight just before the five alleys so pace went up again to catch them, still felt good at this stage and we caught them around the five alleys, they had already caught the first group at this stage, once we got around the roundabout we had a headwind again on the way back, also all groups had come together at this stage so the pace dropped waiting for breakaways, got a nice breather at this stage, broke once or twice myself as legs felt good and had one of the longest breaks of the day with a west clare cc guy but as per usual everyone was back together for the sprint finish, did well in the sprint finish and I think I finished in the top 10 for my first time, delighted with performance and considering it would probably be mostly A3 or A2 riders in the scratch group I should have no problem next year racing A4....went to check the phone for strava data for the race and the bloody phone died after 4km's :mad::mad::mad:, one of the lads who was in scratch group said average speed was over 43kph for the spin..

Overall spin was around 70k

Wed 23rd July Nice spin with keeper cc group- just 51k but nice and pacey for most of 45km (35kph) until we just rode the last 6kms chatting at around 22kph...full spin averaged 31.6kph

Thurs 24th July... Nenagh cc race...the race that wasn't a race.. went down this evening with my new chinese import ultra light 60mm clinchers looking forward to racing the scratch group and was going to go with scratch group but as I was getting ready at birdhill I checked my phone and saw a post from Nenagh cc club that race was cancelled due to weather, at this stage there was a group of us already getting ready at birdhill so we decided on a spin anyway, once we got to gooig (race start) there was nearly 20 of us in total so we said we would do the race as usual but with no marshalls we would have to be extra cautious at the roundabouts, we went in 3 groups with first group- 4 riders getting 5mins on the 2nd group - around 8 riders and last group also around 8 riders- another really good training session and a hectic pace from the start, worked really well this time and even shared most of the rolling over after birdhill, all groups were together by nenagh roundabout but this time the pace never really dropped, again there was a headwind on the way back but there was loads of breaks, went in 2 or 3 myself and stayed away again for awhile, killed myself a few times to try stay on backwheels as pace was hectic- finish for Nenagh cc is a full km up Birdhill Hill -unfortunately had nothing left in my legs for the last climb to the finish but another great session done.. average speed for the race was 41.1kph- not bad considering smaller groups and slow going around roundabouts..

http://www.strava.com/activities/170396925

Solobally8

You are flying it. I'm so jealous, I should be at those leagues trying my best to stay on the slow group