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Probably a Hugely Inefficient Use of my Time
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Still, well done to you. Seems totally ridiculous that the race and its organizers would allow this to happen - they should have ensured proper signs and marshals to assist you, but of course I am new to the world of triathlon so perhaps I am expecting too much. You put in a load of work that won't be wasted on down the road....so chin up and use this experience to your advantage in future races and training.
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Still, well done to you. Seems totally ridiculous that the race and its organizers would allow this to happen - they should have ensured proper signs and marshals to assist you, but of course I am new to the world of triathlon so perhaps I am expecting too much. You put in a load of work that won't be wasted on down the road....so chin up and use this experience to your advantage in future races and training.
Devils advocate - why is it the organisers fault? Did anyone else make the same mistake?
Zico is an experienced athlete. You learn to review and reccie the course. If you've not done that.... "Fail to prepare, prepare to fail" #PersonalResponsibilty
That being said it must have been some experience racing over there.0 -
Devils advocate - why is it the organisers fault? Did anyone else make the same mistake?
Zico is an experienced athlete. You learn to review and reccie the course. If you've not done that.... "Fail to prepare, prepare to fail" #PersonalResponsibilty
That being said it must have been some experience racing over there.
Devil's advocate or @sshole? I can't really tell.
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Monday 26th November
Run; 7.5km approximately
8.00 warm up, 6.00 @ tempo pace, 3.00 easy, 6.00 @ tempo pace, 3.00 easy, 6.00 @ tempo pace, 8.00 cool down
Swim; 40 minutes O/W
Run;8.00 warm up, {1.00 @ rep pace & 1.00 recovery} x 8, 8.00 cool down
I’d been away for the weekend on one of the Thai islands with my mother and it was only today we got back to the mainland. We didn’t make it as far back as my bike and turbo, so the cycle session I had planned had to put forward until tomorrow. We stayed in a city large enough to have a running track, so I got a taxi here to do a second run session. I was covering just over 300m for each minute ran at rep pace.
Tuesday 27th November
Cycle; Intervals
Main set;1 x 200m
400m recovery
1 x 500m
1,000m recovery
1 x 1.5km
Turbo; 56 minutes10.00 warm up
1.30-52x17 @ 81 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 0.30 easy
2.30-52x17 @ 83 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 1.00 easy
4.00-52x17 @ 84 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 2.00 easy
4.00-52x17 @ 84 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 2.00 easy
6.00-52x17 @ 83 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 3.00 easy
4.00-52x17 @ 84 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 2.00 easy
4.00-52x17 @ 82 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 2.00 easy
2.30-52x17 @ 83 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 1.30 easy
1.30-52x17 @ 82 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 0.30 easy
5.00 cool down
Run off bike;
2.08km in 7.38 (avg. pace
.41/km)
Wednesday 28th November
Swim; 2,200m400m warm up
5 x 50m kick
250m pull
4 x 100m off 1.55
100m active recovery
4 x 100m off 1.55
400m swim down
Run; Intervals1.9km warm up, drills, 0.76km x 3 (2.29, 2.28, 2.23), (avg. pace.17/km, .15km, .09/km), 0.76km cool down
Thursday 29th November
Swim; 2,500m800m (200 easy, 100 hard, 200 easy, 100 hard, 200 easy)I timed this 100, but I’d reset my stopwatch before making a note of the time.
600m (100 hard, 200 easy, 100 hard, 200 easy)
400m (100 hard, 200 easy, 100 hard)
200m easy
100m hard400m cool down
Cycle; 65.65km30 minutes warm up, {14.00 HIM effort & 6.00 recovery} x 4, 30 minutes cool down
Average pace for HIM efforts; 1) 39.6km/hr, 2) 40.6km/hr, 3) 38.8km/hr & 4) 38.8km/hr
My average pace for the HIM efforts increased with the longer proportional recovery I was taking from the peak of my training. Not much good to make any difference for the race on Sunday, but I’m probably going out too hard for the earlier efforts. It’s something I’ll need to be more careful of the next time I undertake a block of training for whatever target race I do next.
Run; 2.08km @ race pace off the bike
I left my apartment without my stopwatch. At this stage so close to the race, I thought the time didn’t mean much, (I’m either fast enough or I’m not) and I didn’t bother going back for the watch.
Friday 30th November
I drove down to Phuket today. Between getting ready, a 6 hour drive and finding the hotel in Phuket, even though I would have liked to go for a short run I didn’t get any training done today.
Saturday 1st December
Swim; 620m + 1,900m
Tomorrow’s swim was already marked out with buoys and I wanted to get out to the beach and swim the full course from start to finish. I’d parked the car closer to where we’ll exit the lagoon tomorrow, and it would have meant walking around the lagoon and through a hotel’s ground, under the burning sun to get to the start.
Instead of going through all this I just hopped into the lagoon and swam the 620m to get to the beach instead. After this I was able to swim the full course, which I just did at an easy pace.
I took the first swim across the lagoon at the fastest pace I could hold and clocked 10.39. I didn’t think there’d be any significant currents in a lagoon, but there must have been as this was a much faster time than I’d ordinarily expect to be able to do, whilst the inverse was the case for the swim in the opposite direction.
Cycle; 30km
13km out, I missed a turn off on the way back so it took a little longer than expected. I encountered hills after 7km of riding, I’d planned on pushing things from this juncture, so they sort of fell in a nice place.
It was an out and back loop, with the return leg making up the final 13km of the race course. This is when we encounter supposedly the most difficult climb of the race, so it was good to just to do a recé. I took the climbs in the big chain ring just to see. What I saw was that some of the climbs were bloody tough. And after today’s ride I’ve decided I won’t try to be a hero tomorrow and I’ll just take any steep sections in the small ring.
Run; 15 minutes (3 loops) 3,75km5.00 easy, 5.00 @ PRP, 5.00 easy0 -
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The Swim
From Sea to Lagoon
I was due off in the first wave, well the second wave actually, if the pros were counted as wave one. My wave was due off one minute after them, and we were lined up right behind them as both groups waited their turns for their starting guns.
We got a good vantage point of the pros as they began their swim. I was studying the way they dolphin dived their way through the not insignificant waves we’d have to get by before we could start swimming properly. What they were doing looked effortless, and I asked myself ‘How hard can that be?’
I know I’m not the strongest swimmer, but I thought I’d take a position near the front of the pack regardless. I’ve often been in races where far weaker swimmers than me stubbornly held positions at the front of the bunch. I didn’t think it would be any different here and I planned on going out at a frantic pace for the first 100 to 200m. I was hoping that would give me some space in which to swim. But if it didn’t it was not the first race I’d done, I was prepared to be bet up and have people swimming over me.
I wouldn’t have long more to wait for my answer to the question about how hard dolphin dives can be. Our wave’s gun went and everybody en masse began sprinting for the water. The water was shallow for quite a bit and it was too early to start swimming when the first wave of any volume approached. The time to dolphin dive was now, but I hesitated for too long and completely messed it up. I didn’t even get to dive and instead had a big wall of water crash into me as I was still standing vertically. It was like I’d just ran face first into a wall and the force of the wave knocked me back a few metres. My goggles had also been dislodged from my face and they began to leak. I always wear contacts when I race, and had it been fresh water that had leaked into my goggles I would have been worried about a contact becoming dislodged from my eye. With salt water this is not a concern though, so after regaining some bit of composure I carried on without touching the goggles.
It was another 20 or so metres before the waves subsided and my plan of sprinting for 200m was out the window. It didn’t really matter in any event, because I was swimming fairly freely and the need to find clear water wasn’t as pressing as I thought it was going to be.
I tried to stick to people’s feet, but at this stage of the swim the faster swimmers from my wave had gone well ahead of me and I was only drafting off swimmers of a similar level. This undoubtedly conserves energy, but when you want to be going faster than the person you’re drafting off it’s not much good.
Regardless though I felt I was swimming well. I wasn’t swimming too far wide of the buoys and I felt like I was advancing along the straightest line possible. I was about 200m from the beach when swimmers from the second wave started to come through. I worked frantically to get on their feet and stick to them for as long as possible. It was hard work, and though they’d quickly lose me it felt beneficial for the short bit of a draft I would get off each of them.
I soon got to the end of the sea swim and now we had to run across a sandbar to enter the freshwater lagoon we would finish off the swim in. It was a 100m sprint across this sand bar and I think this 100m was included in the overall distance of 1.9km. It gave me an opportunity to readjust my swim cap and drain my goggles of the water that had leaked into them. I didn’t pay too much attention to anybody else whilst running across the sand, so whether I lost or gained position I couldn’t be sure. It was still early days in the race, so I didn’t really care. I just wanted to finish the swim relatively comfortably, so as I’d be ready to push things on the bike where my expending energy would be more useful.
With no waves to contend with my entry dive into the lagoon went much smoother than my earlier attempt in the sea. Straightaway it was really noticeable that we were no longer swimming in the sea. The buoyancy provided by the saltwater was gone and it was hard to not get a sensation that however hard I tried to hold a good body position, I was still sinking.
As in the sea I felt like I held a good line. The passing swimmers from the second wave were that bit slower now and it was possible to draft off them for much longer. I assumed because they had got to this point 4 minutes quicker than me that put simply they were better open water swimmers than me. I trusted they knew how to sight, so for the final half of the swim across the lagoon I didn’t bother with the inconvenience of sighting. It worked a treat and I was led straight to the pontoon and exited the water after what all in all was an enjoyable swim.
Once out of the water a quick check of my watch told me I had finished the swim leg in 36 minutes. In advance of the race this was the most optimistic outcome I could imagine. So on a swim course, with 100m of running or not, I was very happy with how it had gone.
T1
I experienced a hassle free transition. Our bags were hanging up on racks we ran past as we made our way out of the water and headed for transition. We had to grap our brags from here and run to a changing tent. This in practice meant it wasn’t necessary to change beside our bicycles and made for very smooth transitions from one leg to another.
After grabbing my bag I sprinted for the changing tent, hoping to spend as short a time in there as possible. I had ten gels taped to my bike for fuel on the bike, but I’d put two Iso-gels in my cycle bag. I didn’t think I needed to take one right there and then, so I shoved the two of them into the pockets of my tri top just in case I’d want them later.
With everything seemingly in order, I ran out of the tent and straight to my bike. After collecting the bike I made my way out of transition and crossed the mount line. Before beginning to pedal I had a quick look at my watch which told me that 38 minutes had gone by since I’d started the swim. This was exactly what I had predicted, and the prediction was made in a best case scenario. So needless to say I began the cycle in a very positive frame of mind.
One thing I forgot to take out of my bag was my race belt with my number attached. I realised about 2km into the cycle. There was no way I was going to get around the full 90km without it being noticed and I just hoped there would be no time penalty imposed on me on account of it.
The Bike
Out of the Saddle
Once I mounted my bike and got my feet into my shoes and straps secured I began pedalling hard and was catching people right away. My plans for the bike were to just ride hard, take a gel every 20 minutes, and not really hold back. It worked well for the most part, only one member of a relay team passed me, and everybody else I encountered was cycling at a pace I could easily handle
It wasn’t all plain sailing and there were some hiccups in the early stages of the cycle. I’d no Velcro straps for the bracket for my aero bottles, and I had to use 5 strong rubber bands to secure the bottle & bracket instead. They held yesterday, but not today. Some bands snapped and apart from it the bottle no longer serving its purpose as an aid to aerodynamics I was worried
I’d have to dump the bottle at some stage. It wouldn’t have been the end of the world had this happened, I’d two bottles on the frame of my bike, there were plenty of aid stations along the way, and getting fluids on board was not going to be problem. But the remaining bands held and I made it to the end of the cycle with the bottle, but not the bracket.
I dropped a water bottle putting it back in its cage, but with it happening only 4km or so from an aid station, I didn’t bother stopping to retrieve it. It was about time for me to take a gel when this happened and with no water to drink, I had to use of the Iso-gels I’d stashed in my pockets.
I got to the section of the course where we had to traverse a pedestrian ramp across a highway shortly after taking this gel. I had been fearing this, and was half expecting utter chaos going across the bridge. But there was no passing rule in place running up the ramp or going over the bridge and thankfully all athletes respected this.
Because I’d just have to get my feet back into my cycling shoes on the other side of the road I didn’t see any point in taking off the bike shoes as I would do approaching transition. So I unclipped and like everybody else I could see ran over the bridge in my cleats. With no change of positions crossing the bridge, there was no real advantage lost here. I hadn’t thought to change down gear before dismounting, and it meant letting someone pass me before I could get my momentum back. It happened on a flat stretch of road though and he didn’t have the lead for long.
I had still to encounter any climbing of note and it wasn’t until 40km of cycling were completed that the hills were upon us. They were short and sharp affairs, of no great distance. After yesterday’s ride I’d decided to take the hills in the smaller chain ring, but I still happened to be caught in the wrong gear for first climb of note. Two bigger guys spinning at higher rpms passed me going up the hill and I felt a bit foolish for allowing this to happen.
I caught them both eventually though and made sure not to be caught out like this again. Apart from the hills we now had to contend with it was a fairly uneventful cycle. I came to the half point quicker than I thought I would. To be truthful I’d say it’s more to do with course being short than my prowess on the bike.
I got back to the bridge and went up the ramp again. There were less people trying to cross over this time around and I got over the bridge without episode. I thought I’d hate this part of the race, but as I said before it turned out to be fine and as everybody had to do it, it was a level playing field.
Just before dismounting my bike to cross over the bridge I heard the name Erik being called out. I presumed whoever it was doing the calling was talking to the cyclist just behind me also dismounting. A guy by the name of Erik had the fastest bike split at the last triathlon I did in Hua Hin, I knew from the start list that he was racing here as well, and felt I must have been going well had I caught this Erik gent already.
I had around 70km covered at this stage, with two of the course’s categorised climbs still to come. I’d cycled them yesterday though, so knew what to expect and they weren’t something I was unduly concerned about. My legs still felt good and provided I kept taking calories on board I was confident of arriving at the start of the run in good shape
As was inevitable the two hills came. I saw people ahead of me struggling up them, which served to give me extra incentive to catch them. I didn’t want to waste too much energy doing so, so I remained seated for as long as I could and spun the easiest gear I had, to comfortably(ish) pedal up them.
The final climb came at around the 80km mark, when I reached the summit a marshal told me it was all downhill from here, so I changed the chain back onto the big ring, got down onto my aero bars and determined to finish strong from here.
I passed a few more people in this final stretch, including a female pro drafting off a motorcycle, but I didn’t feel like I was competing against her, so f*ck it. I was going to beat her anyway, and there was no point wasting energy thinking about it.
I was nearing transition at this point so took my feet out of my shoes, and braced myself for a speedy dismount. As stated in the rules I made sure my two feet touched ground before the dismount line, unlike the aforementioned female pro who crossed the line before fully getting off her bike. Once more I thought f*ck it, it had happened right under the marshals noses, and I was only worried about my own race.
T2
Volunteers were on hand to take our bike off us as soon as we entered transition. This was great, as it meant no need to re-rack my bike amongst a large number of people trying to do the same.
The only thing I had to do was grab my run bag and get on with the race.
The run bags were all hanging up side by side on the way into changing tents. How difficult could that be? I grabbed bag 174 and not 175 like I should have done though. Fortunately I noticed straight away before I began running to the changing tent, so probably less than three seconds were wasted here.
I entered the tent, found a seat and sat down. I took my running shoes out of the bag and slipped them onto my feet. Once a volunteer saw me with my shoes on, he became overly eager to take the bag back off me. I still had to take out a running cap though and he was probably a bit taken aback by how vehemently I told him to leave the bag where it was.
He got the message though and backed off. I took the brand new cap I’d bought for the occasion out of the bag, and slipped it onto my head. I then handed my bag to the same volunteer and thanked him for his diligence. It was then time to get out of the tent and begin the run.
Run
The Finish That Wasn't
After what felt like another quick transition I was out on the run course. My stomach was at me from the start, but I was determined not to let it adversely affect my pace. I thought that after a few kilometres, any feelings of discomfort would be gone and there would be no stopping me. I released a bit of wind and felt better, but the old adage of never trust a fart though would hold true, and I wasn’t to make it around the full course releasing only flatulence.
Anyway that came later in the run, and early days into it I passed the leading Thai triathlete. I felt I was moving much stronger than him, he came second in the triathlon I did last August, where he put in a quicker run than me. I was certain I’d improved a lot since then and I was expecting things to be more competitive between us today. But still I was surprised to have caught him so early, and it was the clearest indication yet that I was having a good day.
After thinking back on things I’m 99% sure the mistake that lead to me cutting the course happened soon after this small victory, the timing seems to add up as well. I’d just passed an aid station and after grabbing sponges, drinks and whatever else I looked up to see a traffic cone straight ahead of me. I can’t remember if I noticed it was a junction and there was nobody ahead of me to follow. I developed tunnel vision from this point and didn’t notice the other cones that were lined up in a row alongside this one cone that caught my attention.
I was supposed to have turned right and then performed a U-turn and run back along the same stretch of road that formed the junction with the road I had just come off. The cones were there to separate runners who would be going in opposite directions, but noticing only one my gut reaction was that it was there as a turnaround point. So turnaround I did without paying any heed to what was around me.
All told I missed about 1.7km of the course, which based on the pace I held for the last 4.3km split, which I also completed without the need for a toilet break, would have added 6.30-7 minutes to my time. This would have seen me run the half marathon in approximately 1.25.30. Take out the time for two toilet breaks and I would have been closer to my prediction of a sub 1.24 run than I had initially thought.
Anyway enough of that, the mistake happened and there’s nothing that can be done about it now. I’m 100% certain I would have been third in my AG had it not been for the mistake. 2nd would have been touch and go. And whereas I only had a basic entry level road bike with standard issue wheels, the winner and runner up had much fancier bikes along with bling wheels, and both also wore speed suits for the swim. I can take solace from all that, and look back on my race with some element of pride.
After cutting the course I was soon chasing the 2nd pro female. It was an unfamiliar position for me to be in, and I had no first-hand experience of just how fast athletes at this level can run. I caught and passed her easily enough though. In total with my toilet breaks I overtook her three times. It was never hugely difficult on any of the three separate occasions, and she wasn’t able to stick with me either. With her run time being 1.27.32, it gives me further reason to believe that even with two toilet breaks a running full course in 1.25.30 was possible.
I carried on running, passing people here and there along the course. My stomach was causing real trouble now and I cursed myself for going back for extra helpings of pasta the previous night. I knew I could not hold it in for too much longer and that I was going to have to take a sh!t one way or the other.
I can p!ss in my pants fine and carry on racing, but the thoughts of running around with a half a litre of sh!t in my shorts was a different matter. I just wasn’t prepared to do it, and decided at the next opportune moment that I would dive in to the bushes and take care of business.
I was on the lookout for an ideal place not too far from the roadside, so I wouldn’t have to run too far off track just to do the needful. Running alongside a golf course and resorts, I probably shouldn’t have expected that finding such a secluded spot would be easy. I passed by a few places I half considered before settling on a spot just behind a row of trees. I wasn’t fully sheltered from view of the roadside either, but I couldn’t afford to be so shameful. With this I just pulled down my pants and got on with things. Don’t know how long it took me to discharge an explosive dose of diarrhoea, but I was back running as quickly as possible, not caring to look left, right or behind me to see had anyone spotted what was going on.
This happened somewhere between the 9 and 10km markers on the official route. I had another attack after the 15km marker. I adopted the same strategy of trying to pick a sheltered spot for some bit of privacy. I’d just overtake the 2nd female pro once more before an ideal spot presented itself. Like before I didn’t note how long it took me, but explosive diarrhoea is usually a pretty snappy affair and this time it was no different.
I was back out in the open and doing my best to close the gap I’d let open up on those ahead of me. The run was a two lap affair and there were more bodies out on the course the second time around. Running with slower athletes made it easier to pick people off, but there was the odd occasion I’d pass someone on their second lap.
Despite the digestive problems I was having I was still stubbornly sticking to a gel every 20 minutes. I’ve made mistakes in races before of not getting enough calories on board, and it’s a far worse feeling than what I was going through now, so I wasn’t prepared to risk running on empty. They were handing out gels at the aid stations on the run, so getting fuel on board was easy. Over the course of the race I had over ten gels, which might seem like a lot, but I still don’t think it’s what contributed to the digestive problems I was experiencing. Being so anxious about the race might have been a small factor, but think it was more likely that I committed a rookie’s mistake of eating too much on the eve of the race and again for breakfast that morning.
I wanted to finish strong and once I passed the 19km sign I started to push a little harder, and then harder again when I passed the 20km sign. I knew at that point I was going to cross the line without having to take another toilet break and I went hell for leather about 300m from the finish line. I crossed the finish line and stopped my watch on 4.29.something. I was completely destroyed, but not knowing about the DQ that was to come completely ecstatic as well.0 -
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X Marks the Spot - Where I made the mistake, and the section of the run I missed
I was aware that I’d run a very quick time, but I still had no idea that I’d made a mistake. I thought the most likely explanation was that the course was short and I got a text from my brother telling me I was first in my AG. To say I was delighted would be an understatement. I went to the registration for Slot Allocation for the 2013 70.3 World Championships thinking I’d secured a place. I was going to turn it down, but I just wanted to hear it for myself that I’d won my AG.
It then came time to announce the top three positions in the Male 30-34 category, and when they read out the names I couldn’t understand it. I knew for a fact I’d passed out the Thai athlete in third spot and told the guy making the announcements this. He then told me I’d been disqualified and I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know what possibly for and he didn’t offer any explanation other than to say I hadn’t completed the full course.
The same guy who told me I’d been disqualified carried on announcing the winners of the slots in the other age groups, whilst I just sat there like an idiot, not knowing what to say or where to look. Another marshal then beckoned me over and brought me outside the room, where he explained what had happened and where I had most likely gone wrong. He had the results on paper and whilst a 1.18 half marathon might have been manageable, the first 6.3km covered at an average pace of 2.44 clearly wasn’t.
It was obvious from this I hadn’t completed the full 6.3km section and I asked why weren’t there any marshals on hand to tell me where to go. He just replied saying the ultimate responsibility to know the course lay with me. There was no real comeback to this, and I could tell from his protests of his being sorry that there was nothing he could do, that there was no point in discussing it any further.
I stared at a map of the run course for about 20 minutes trying to figure out where the hell I could have gone wrong. Nothing was coming to me though, and at this stage most of the slot winners had finished signing up and were on their way out of the room. One of them asked me what had happened and I truthfully told him that all I knew for sure was that I’d been disqualified. He commiserated with me and praised me for my run, saying I’d passed him and I was flying. It was nice that he acknowledged this, and I’d hope everybody in the room could understand that a genuine mistake had been made, and I wasn’t some cheater who’d deliberately cut the course just to get a Vegas slot.
I went back to my car, so annoyed with everything. The last 4 months of hard training felt like a complete waste of time and I was asking myself why the hell I had bothered. It was a 6 hour drive back to my hometown in Thailand, and I was in such a foul humour all the way. At the time I was embarrassed about what had happened, it was very hard to accept I could be stupid enough to make a mess of the run course.
With a few days to reflect on things though, I feel I’ve nothing to be ashamed of. I still think I turned in a good performance. It was pretty much bang on what I’d predicted, and I don’t think I could be accused of making a soft prediction either. I absolutely flogged myself out there, and I crossed the finish line having just finished what was without doubt the most punishing race I’ve ever done.
I was very, very anxious about how I would fare over the half iron distance and I think I can be happy that my bike and run combined are going to have me near the top of most AG fields. I still think I can improve significantly on the bike, and I’m certain of this when it comes to swimming.
I’m still not sure how enticing I find the 70.3 distance, picking it as a goal
race was enjoyable in certain ways and it’s something I may do again. I think ultimately though I find the full iron distance more appealing and had I been based in Ireland instead of Thailand, I’m certain my A race would have been a full and not a half.
In short I do not know what, when or where my next race will be. This log was only intended as a record of my training for the race in Phuket, so I’ll cease detailing my training here. Updating it sort of felt like a chore at times, but it’s great to have a record of it in one place and I appreciate the interest anybody took in following me. I’ll probably return and start a new log when I enter another important race, but for the moment I’ll just go back to merely logging my miles in what’s left of the 2012 SBR Challenge.0 -
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Yep, I agree with you and the boys - not a thing for you to be ashamed about. Thank you for taking the time to write such an honest report....and thank you for including the photos of your nicely shaven legs so we all can admire the skill with which you wield a razor. (Won't mention the nice tattoos....:o) Solid performance - you will be a force to be reckoned with! 0
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It's been a while since I've logged any training. Not because I haven't been training (except for swimming), but up until recently I had nothing specific to train for. At this stage, I'm definitely, 200% certainly returning to Ireland in September. I knew this for a while, and I had hoped that The Lost Sheep (better than Ironman Laguna Phuket), would be a nice race to reacquaint myself with the tri scene in Ireland.
The original date though clashed with my brother's wedding, and I thought I was going to have to wait until 2014 to race again. Then through boards, I heard the date of the race had been moved. Which was great as it allows me do the race, but it now means I want to cram in a serious amount of training between now and September.
Since learning of the date change I have been focusing specifically on this race, which began about 5 weeks ago. I started logging my training then with the intention of pasting details here, but that fell by the wayside. (The logging & posting bit, not the training).
I'm going to based in Thailand until the middle of August, so the peak of my training is going to be warm weather based, then I'll begin my taper in the cooler climes of Europe. I have still have the same training conditions I outlined in the first post of this log, but I think I got into good condition last year with them, and hope to the same again this time round.
Target for The Lost Sheep, simply to be the best that I can be.
So without further ado here's details of last week's training (the start of a three week block of hard weeks, just after my first recovery week). Dertails might be a little sketchy in places, but even if nobody else understands I'll know what they mean.
Monday 1st July
a.m.
Weights
Lunch
Turbo;
8.00 warm up, 10.00 hard (90rpm), 5.00 easy, 8.00 hard (88rpm), 4.00 easy, 6.00 hard (84rpm), 3.00 easy, 4.00 hard (74rpm), 2.00 easy, 2.00 hard (72rpm), 8.00
I never made a note and forget what gearing/resistance I used.
p.m.
O/W swim,
22 minutes
It was easy going, just trying my best to stay swimming in a straight line. Less than 1m visibility where I have to swim and my hands start to get blurred in the water, but I didn't touch anything scary. So it's all good.
Run;
hill reps;
350m x 10 (from blue pipe at rectangular sign to very last lamp post) in 23.33
Average Rep: <2.22
Incredibly tough, this is not session I had done in while and I'd forgotten how much I hated it.
Tuesday 2nd July
Lunchtime
Swim;
1,000m (900 easy & 100 sprint)
800m (700 easy & 100 sprint)
600m (500 easy and 100 sprint)
400m (300 easy & 100 sprint)
200m (100 easy & 100 sprint)
200m swim down
p.m.
Turbo;
10.00 warm up,
{2.00 @ full effort 100rpm & 1.00 recovery} x 5
10.00 easy
{2.00 @ full effort 100rpm & 1.00 recovery} x 5
10.00 cool down
Tempo Run;
8.00 warm up, 26.00 @ interval pace (approx 4.20/km), 13.00 easy, 26.00 @ interval pace (approx 4.20/km), 8.00 cool down
Wednesday 3rd July
Lunchtime
Swim;
400m warm up
4 x 400m off 9.30 (coming in on 7.58)
4 x 200m off 4.30 (coming in on 3.56)
4 x 100m off 2.05 (coming in on 1.55)
400m cool down
Times might not seem all that impressive, but session was done in an outdoor pool under the midday sun, with a long sleeve top on and I was actually very happy to have all the harder sets below 2.00/100.
p.m.
Turbo; 2.5 hours
10.00 warm up, 10.00 @ 90rpm, resistance 4/7 52 x 19, 5.00 recovery, 15.00 @ 90rpm, resistance 4/7 52 x 19, 7.30 recovery, 20.00 @ 90rpm, resistance 4/7 52 x 19, 10.00 recovery, 20.00 @ 90rpm, resistance 4/7 52 x 19, 10.00 recovery, 15.00 @ 90rpm, resistance 4/7 52 x 19, 7.30 recovery, 10.00 @ 90rpm, resistance 4/7 52 x 19, 10.00 cool down
I hadn't used my turbo from last December until about a month ago, and the wire to change the resistance has rusted and started to disintegrate. I’m afraid to fiddle with it too often now, for fear of snapping it for good. So I left the resistance on the middle setting and changed gears for the recoveries.
I was just aiming to cycle at below threshold pace (I think you might call it), and while I was working, the hard parts were slightly below race pace intensity. I was only counting the revs in my head, but it was never an impossible task to keep it at the 90 mark.
Run off bike;
5.20km in 19.59 (average pace.51/km)
5 lap affair, target was to get all the laps under 4 minutes, felt like comfortable on first lap and thought I was on target. Was sort of taking it easy, but when I looked at my watch it showed 4.08, damn! Got laps 2 and 3 under 4 minutes (but only just), but I was starting to tire. Lap 4 took longer than 4 minutes, pushed it on the last lap to stop my watch on 19.5.
I've done a few runs off the bike in the last month or two. Haven't really comfortably nailed race pace speed on a 5km+ run just yet. A few notions in my head as to why, but the next two months should tell more.
Thursday 4th July
p.m.
Swim;
O/W 33 minutes easy
Run;
18.72km in 1.15.46 (avg. pace <4.03km)
Average pace was 3 seconds slower than I’d ideally like it to be, but I kept it comfortably consistent throughout the first 16 odd kilometres and still had enough left in the tank to push it for the last 2 laps.
Friday 5th July
a.m.
45 minutes weights
p.m.
Swim;
400m warm up
4 x 100m off 1.55
200m active recovery4 x 100m off 2.05
200m active recovery
4 x 100m off 2.15
200m active recovery
4 x 100m (25 swim, 50 c/up, 25 swim) off 2.30
400m swim down
I managed to get all the 100’s done under 2.00/100 pace, but it felt like more of a struggle than Wednesday.
Run;
58 minutes
8.00 warm up, 2.00 @ interval pace, 1.00 recovery, 2.00 @ interval pace, 1.00 recovery, 4.00 @ interval pace, 2.00 recovery, 4.00 @ interval pace, 2.00 recovery, 6.00 @ interval pace, 2.00 recovery, 4.00 @ interval pace, 2.00 recovery, 4.00 @ interval pace, 2.00 recovery, 2.00 @ interval pace, 1.00 recovery, 2.00 @ interval pace, 8.00 cool down
Interval pace averaged out at.45/km
Saturday 6th July
Cycle;
4 hours
30.00 warm up, 33.00 HIM effort (avg speed 39.2km/hr), 27.00 recovery, 33.00 HIM effort (avg speed 37.1km/hr), 27.00 recovery, 33.00 HIM effort (avg speed 38.5km/hr), 27.00 recovery, 33.00 HIM effort (avg speed 36.9km/hr), 40.00 cool down
The HIM efforts were done as out and back, out again and back again jaunts. There are no serious hills on the road I was cycling, but I did have the benefit of a sweeping descent where I hit 55km/hr on efforts 1 and 3. However I structured the 4 hours I managed to avoid this ascent on effort number 3, but did have to contend with it on effort 3. My speed dropped to 21.?km/hr, but I stayed in the saddle on other than to change gear remained in the aero position, during the 2 or so minutes it took to get up the hill. I tried my very best not to move my head or upper body during this fourth and final effort, and all things considered was a more satisfying 33 minute stint than any of the others.
Run; 15 minutes after finishing cycle
5.20km in 19.16 (avg. pace.43/km)
After coming off the bike, I was happy with the speed I held. Next week I’ll increase the distance for my runs off the bike to 6.24km and hope there won’t be any huge drop off in pace.
Need to pick it up the pace a small bit on my longer runs and I’ll be happy.
Sunday 7th July
Brick;
{27 minutes turbo (52x21 @ 85rpm) & 2.16km run off 41.00} x 4
Transition from turbo to run was from my apartment, down two flights of stairs and out onto the road, which took about a minute and a half all told.
Swim;
22 minutes O/W0 -
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