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Ah now. At 9:37 this morning you were all jazzed to straddle that steed and ride your little heart out.....then 8 hours later you're calling it quits. ?? Doll, maybe the chain just needed a proper greasing tonight.....or perhaps the gears just needed a gentle yet firm hand...or maybe the ride was just too rough....or maybe it was just an "off" night....but whatever it was that happened, remember love is fickle - it's a roller coaster of emotion and not for the faint of heart. Before you whisper a final arrivederci, take a good long look at that gorgeous piece of machinery you'll be walking away from...and remember all the other woman who are waiting in the wings to try their hand at handling this untamed beast.
:):DAs another woman in a bad relationship with my beloved, I sympathise. You spend time with them, work hard on the small issues, sweat out the big ones, and still you can't get your happily ever after. But hey, you two have been through too much to throw it all away. Your bike loves you really and promises it will be better next time. Every love affair has a blip, go kiss and make up with your steed, as with any relationship, a good long ride can work wonders.
Ha ha thanks ladies
excellent responses, made me laugh.
So I've taken 2 days to lick my wounds, cut all contact with my bike (her name is vanessa btw) and yes time does heal. I think I'm ready to see her tomorrow and have a short slow ride to try make things good between us again 0 -
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3 minutes slower than last year
A TT bike, silly looking aero helmet, fancy handlebar bottle mount so I don't have to waste time reaching down, 1000 euro wheels (if purchased new) and copious amounts of training and Sufferfests compared to any other year and still 10 minutes slower in the Humbert last year than the previous one
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3 minutes slower than last year
A TT bike, silly looking aero helmet, fancy handlebar bottle mount so I don't have to waste time reaching down, 1000 euro wheels (if purchased new) and copious amounts of training and Sufferfests compared to any other year and still 10 minutes slower in the Humbert last year than the previous one
Sorry catweazle that really makes me feel better 0 -
Fri 5th and Sat 6th April
College assessments for Step Aerobics, Ex to Music and Circuits. Good fun, not only do you have to teach a short class of each you also have to participate in other people's classes. I was delighted to be able to participate fully with no pain at all in the ankle. A few weeks ago I would have been hurting after 2 minutes of step. My quads and calves were broken on Sunday so I took a rest day
Monday 8th April - Swim
I started this week with renewed vigour. I really want to HTFU and get back to a place where I feel strong and fit again. Started with a swim after work. Used the pull boy and did 100m pull, 100m swim X 5 then a few 25m sprints and some nice lazy lenghts to cool down. 1500m total.
Tuesday 9th April - A good hard ride :cool:
This was just what the Doctor ordered- a fast furious session that got the heart rate up, the legs shaking and left me feeling very happy and satisfied. 35 mile club cycle with an average speed of 18.2mph with crazy fast roll-over for the last few miles. Lovely bright evening, lovely company. Happy days
Wednesday 10th April -Run
Havent ran in 6 days so it was very important for me to get out today. North Tipp Sprint is 10 days away so I need to be comfortable with my running by then. It's only 5k but it's a hilly route and I havent done any running off the bike since last August:eek: And because of injury I've only ran about 35k since January.
Anyways the plan was to run 3 miles to see how the legs and lungs feel. A mile in I was amazed to see 8:50 on the clock. I thought I had reverted to a 10 minute mile runner! Decided to keep the pace up and was amazed to find I was going faster again. I was a worried all the time that this pace might end up injuring my and with about 200m to go my achilles did begin to hurt but not enough to make me stop. Stopped at 3 miles to get my breath back and jogged very slowly the last few hundred mtrs home. 3 miles with an average pace of 8:31. Still very slow for a lot of ye on here but nice and fast for me
Thursday 11th April - Swim
Pool isnt opening till 7 these mornings so I got an extra half hour in bed this morning, woohoo! Love my bed
9 in our lane so the going was slow. Shane wasnt there to tell us what to do so it ended up being a kind of mish mash of stuff. Even still I was sluggish and at the back for most of it. Just one of those mornings. And to be honest I enjoyed taking it easy. 2000m total.
Feeling very sick all afternoon. Sore throat and sick stomach. Hope its not a bug. I really want to do better in tonights TT. Fingers crossed I do better in the rain and hailstones than the wind of last week 0 -
Solobally8 wrote: »
Tuesday 9th April - A good hard ride :cool:
This was just what the Doctor ordered- a fast furious session that got the heart rate up, the legs shaking and left me feeling very happy and satisfied.
Thought I stumbled into some Porn blog there for a sec...sounds like an extract from 50 shades of grey:D glad to see you got your mojo back on the bike;) 0 -
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Thursday 11th April pm - Bike
After Tuesdays ride I was looking forward to this TT this evening. I've got the love back and wanted to see if I could get a better time without the wind this week. A sick tummy did it's best to make me consider giving it a miss but I knew I would be kicking myself if I didnt go.
We meet at the pool (the finish line) and do a warm up of the short TT course backwards to get to the start line at the hospital. A few drops of rain were a prelude to what was lying ahead. Off we went one by one, I was one of the last to go as only 6 of us were doing the short course. My speedo was working this week and it was a huge benefit to me. I had an idea of what speed I wanted to be at so any time I drifted under, it spurred me on to pick the pace back up. There is a horrible drag at the beginning and for the first 10 minutes I felt like my lungs were going to explode out of my chest but I kept pushing, telling myself I was going to do better this week no matter what. Got to the first turn faster then last week but still slower than last year. On the back road I was flying and was even able to catch my breath at times. Then a tractor pulled out in front of me and I had to slow down :mad: Such a bummer as I was flying at the time. The road was so narrow I had no room to over take him. Spend a minute behind him, cursing my bad luck when he pulled in at a house and let me pass.
So off I went hoping to make up for lost time. The last little drag back onto the main road nearly killed me (no exaggerations here) but I just counted to 10 and said it will be over soon. Actually I did a lot of mental self talk the whole way round the route today which definitely helped. Back on the main road there is usually a tail wind to push us home but it seemed to be a head wind tonight. I usually hit 35-40k for most of the final miles but this week I could only plod along at 30 ish occasionally getting a bit faster. The lashing rain and hailstones at this point didnt help I'd say.
Got to the finish in 29:25 a 2:05 improvement over last week. Still slower than my worst time last year but I was still delighted to have gone faster.
The only bad thing from the night was when I came to a stop I had an almighty pain in my chest. I couldnt breath deeply at all and worst of all it hurt so much to talk that I had to stay quiet I was coughing all phelmey stuff too as I had been at times during the TT. One of the girls gave me a puff of her inhaler and that helped ease it a little.
I wheezed and spluttered all night and am still caught up this morning. I really hope its not a chest infection. I've never had one of them before but its not good with just 8 days to go to a race. I had planned to swim, bike and run the course today but as I cant really breath I dont know what to do. Very frustrating.0 -
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earnyourturns wrote: »See you at the Skerries Triathlon in June, perhaps?
I hadn't looked at that one to be honest, not part of my National Series plan but I'll look into it!If you're not well, you're not well and the sbr will have to wait. No point borking yourself up completely 8 days out. Give the lungs time to recover.
Wish I had seen this before I headed out Oyrx. I did exercise some caution and only ran the course route. Still not a good idea, I had to stop to cough up a lung 2 times. I havent been able to train since. College Friday, Saturday and Sunday (I'm now a fully fledged Occupational First Aider- yeah!) I was sick Friday night, sicker Saturday and finally sick enough to go to Limerick doc on Sunday night. Throat infection so I'm on an antibiotic, cough bottle and steroids now. No training since Friday and I dont see myself doing any until next Friday at least.
Final written exam in college Thursday evening so I'm taking advantage of my free time to actually study I'm not sure what's happening with the race on Saturday. If I'm better I'll do it as a training session and to get a few NS points for our Nenagh womens team. If not I'll be marshalling for the day. 0 -
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So I've pulled out of the race. Contacted them this morning. The chest infection has improved a bit but not enough for my first training session in over a week to be a sprint triathlon. I'm a bit bummed, home club race and all but as Mr.Bally8 says triathlon is a hobby and not worth getting sick and missing more work over. At least it gives me a good few weeks to get in shape and back to proper regular training before Athy. 0
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Finally starting to get over the chest/throat infection. 9 days of no training, nothing at all except leading out the Nenagh classic family fun cycle on Sunday. It's the longest break I've had from training since I started keeping records over 2 years ago! My lungs were just not able for anything and I was busy with college (final written exam last Thursday night- aced it!)
Marshalled the North Tipp Sprint on Saturday. First time marshalling an event, I really enjoyed it. I shouted and clapped at every single person, willing them to pick up speed for the last 200m to the finish line. Was great fun. Wished I could have been out there with them but knew I had made the right decision for my health.
Eased my way back to training Monday evening by attending a club coached run session at the mud track. I worried about my chest being able for it and 5 minutes into the warm up I really questioned my sanity for choosing to come back to training this way. I only went to 2 club running sessions last year- they were so tough I nearly died!
Took plenty short cuts and walk breaks while the other 20 did their easy jog (I long for the day that I can call that warm up my easy pace). Then we did some drills, high knees, strides etc and started our interval session. Our little group was supposed to do 400m then 200m X2 five times. I only managed 3. I probably should be embarrassed or something about that but I'm not. I know I'm slow. I know running once a week isnt good enough. I know I'm fat and sluggish. This is a starting point and I'm looking forward to seeing my progression over the coming weeks and months. Finished with a cool down jog. 4.6 miles in total.
Nothing today. Had to stay late in Shannon so missed the club cycle. Wont get much training in this week as I have my final practical exam for the fitness course on Saturday. I'll be spending the week stepping up and down and rolling around on a big ball
Oh also I signed up for Athy, Dublin and Longford triathlons today. Must get training!!0 -
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It's been a while since I last posted. April can be considered a write off really due to 2 weeks lost to a chest infection and then a week of exam prep. I knew it was going to be a low mileage month but it turned out worse than expected. Ah well I have to remember this is a hobby so no need to stress about it
Skipping on to this month- I was in Portugal with the hubby for a lovely 4 days last week. Swam a bit in the pool and sea and even managed fit in a slow 3.5 mile run. Was heaven to get some sun on the body, really needed it. Twas sooo nice
Back full of enthusiasm and ready to kick start my training for this year finally.
Monday 6th May:
Havent been on the bike for nearly 4 weeks :eek: so decided to get out for a short spin today to remind my rear end what it feels like. 26.11km in an hour.
Came home and made up a nice weight training programme for myself. One big bonus of doing my fitness instructor course- even if I never teach a class, I've learned how to draw up my own programme:) Warmed up with a 10 minute treadmill run. Resistance work included bench press, prone row, squat, leg curl on stability ball, single arm row, shoulder press and calf raises. Did my body conditioning routine from my exam afterwards which was all done on the stability ball. Ab curls, oblique curls, abductor raises, back extension, hip extension and press ups. I am at least 14lbs over weight and so I'm hoping these exercised will help shift that. But a change in my diet is obviously the thing that will help the most so I've copped on with my outrageous eating as and from today.
Tuesday 7th May:
Club cycle. I was a bit nervous beforehand as I haven't been out with them in 4 weeks. Delighted to say I managed to stay with them and only felt like I was going to die on a couple of occasions Very windy evening which I think helped me as it kept the average speed down for long spells of the cycle. 54.52kms in 1:50
Wednesday 8th May:
Up in Dublin today at the Young Social Innovators Annual show case. I really enjoyed it and it gave me huge faith in teenagers again. All these talented lively kids. It made me very sad as the teens I work with would never do anything like this no matter how much I pushed them. Sometimes I wish I could teach kids like that who have an interest in the world. Ah well :rolleyes:
I had planned to run today but I was wrecked after driving home so had a nap instead. Managed to drag my lazy arse to the club swim session at 8pm. Again I haven't swam properly in 4 weeks so I knew tonight would be tough. The pool was jammers. I knew it was going to be stop-starty as there were 8 in my slow lane. It went well though, much better than expected. We did some practice for starting in open water so no touching or kicking off the wall was allowed. It was fun actually even though I nearly drowned every time I got to the deep end. I couldn't figure out how to turn without touching the wall 2000m total 0 -
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Thursday 9th May
Easy 30 min run on the treadmill. All good except it was boring and my achilles was niggly. I'm hoping its just me getting used to running regularly again. Not too worried about it yet.
After an early dinner I headed off to what was supposed to be a tri club roll over chain gang bike session. Nearly died when I got to the meeting point and saw all the boys in their Visit Nenagh racing kits and realised this was going to be a bike racing team session with little old me and 2 other new lads along for the ride. 6 miles in one of the boys punctured and while we were waiting around I realised I had one too. Finally all sorted we headed off. I was at the back and I somehow lost contact with the wheel in front on me. They all just disappeared off into the distance and no matter how hard I pushed I couldn't catch them. I was fighting to catch my breath and was wondering what to do when the slowed down and I finally managed to latch on again- phew. This was the easy warm up!!
Stopped at Dunkerrin where all the boys lined the side of the road for a quick pee while I had to avert my eyes. Then the plan was to break into groups were we form a chain and go as fast as we can to Roscrea and back to Nenagh. A slower group would go first then the next group and finally the fast guys. Aim is not to get caught by the faster group. However as there were only 12 of us it was decided we would go as one bunch :eek: I was told to sit in at the back and not to try to roll over, then to turn for home when I got dropped. I had to laugh at that, I knew there was no way I would be able to hang on for any length of time. And low and behold I managed a whole 10 seconds I'd say
So I was out on my own in the horrible wind wondering should I turn for home or what. I decided to continue until I reached 18 miles and then turn. Luckily one of the other new guys had been dropped too and I met him as I was about to turn around.
Thank god he was there is all I can say. What followed was the toughest cycle home of my 19 month cycling career. Those 18 miles home were never ending. The headwind was awful and I was cowering behind Barry the whole way back trying to get some relief. I felt like crying at times, I wanted to ring home and have someone collect me, it hurt so much. It was never ending and we were crawling along. Of course we were passed by the gang after about 3 miles!
It was dark and raining by the time we got back to Nenagh. I know it was only a club cycle but it was sooo tough. I'm actually proud of myself. I was challenged so much mentally on this cycle but I didn't give up. I know it will stand to me in the future. 57.56kms in 2:15 (remember it was very windy)
Friday 10th May
1600m swim. I just wanted to see how long it would take me to do 60 lengths. Terribly slow but I'm hoping it will get better before Athy. 42:42 for the 1500m0 -
Solobally8 wrote: »Thursday 9th May
Stopped at Dunkerrin where all the boys lined the side of the road for a quick pee while I had to avert my eyes. Then the plan was to break into groups were we form a chain and go as fast as we can to Roscrea and back to Nenagh. A slower group would go first then the next group and finally the fast guys. Aim is not to get caught by the faster group. However as there were only 12 of us it was decided we would go as one bunch :eek: I was told to sit in at the back and not to try to roll over, then to turn for home when I got dropped. I had to laugh at that, I knew there was no way I would be able to hang on for any length of time. And low and behold I managed a whole 10 seconds I'd say So I was out on my own in the horrible wind wondering should I turn for home or what. I decided to continue until I reached 18 miles and then turn. Luckily one of the other new guys had been dropped too and I met him as I was about to turn around.
Thank god he was there is all I can say. What followed was the toughest cycle home of my 19 month cycling career. Those 18 miles home were never ending. The headwind was awful and I was cowering behind Barry the whole way back trying to get some relief. I felt like crying at times, I wanted to ring home and have someone collect me, it hurt so much. It was never ending and we were crawling along. Of course we were passed by the gang after about 3 miles!
It was dark and raining by the time we got back to Nenagh. I know it was only a club cycle but it was sooo tough. I'm actually proud of myself. I was challenged so much mentally on this cycle but I didn't give up. I know it will stand to me in the future. 57.56kms in 2:15 (remember it was very windy)
Friday 10th May
1600m swim. I just wanted to see how long it would take me to do 60 lengths. Terribly slow but I'm hoping it will get better before Athy. 42:42 for the 1500m
Well done on not stopping and it will definitely stand to you, I've had a few cycles like that on my own and they are horrible!! you got through it though, thats the main thing!!0 -
Thanks Trig1 that's my thinking on it anyway.
Saturday 11th May
Tri Club Cycle. A fine group of 20 turned out so plenty of people to chat to for the first half anyway (was too shagged on the way home to be talking to anyone) I cycled in to Nenagh from home with 3 other girls from the club. We are going to do this more often. It was nice to be warmed up before joining the rest. It was very windy on the way out to Birdhill but luckily when it was my turn up the front we were asked to steady for some who were off the back. At Birdhill we set off up the ramp to the motorway at our own pace for hill repeats. One in our big ring followed by one in the small ring. The fast guys were going to do 6. I planned on doing 2. Wow for the first time ever the descent on a climb was tougher than the climb! The headwind coming down that ramp was like nothing I've ever experienced. One section in particular was nuts- felt like I was at a standstill. Managed to do 5 repeats in the end. Tucked in behind one of the other guys for 2 of the descents which made things a whole lot easier. We all regrouped and headed for Ballina on to Portroe where I turned for home while the rest carried on to Nenagh. I had been going really strong all the way till about 60k in and then I just lost all speed. I got dropped (again!) and toddled my way up Charlie's hill where I met the gang at the top. I'm tired of always being dropped. Actually it's not the being dropped that bothers me. It's the fact that I can be flying along for ages and then all of a sudden I have nothing left. I wonder am I eating enough on the bike or maybe I will just get better now I'm being more consistent with my training.
Sunday 12th May
45 min run on the treadmill. It was just too wet out to go on the road. I know- I'm very soft these days I figured I must start upping my milage a bit. Doing 3 miles a few times a week isn't enough when I have to run 10k in Athy. So next week I will probably do a lsr of 6 miles just as long as my Achilles doesn't give out too much.
This evening I went to our club's first open water session of the season in the lake at Youghal key. I remember last year at my first 2 sessions I couldn't put my head under so just did the breaststroke in circles trying to catch my breath. No such problems this year I'm delighted to say. It as a totally enjoyable 20 minutes. Freezing at the start and the lake was choppier than I've experienced it before and it rained throughout but it was so fresh and lovely and sooooooooooo much nicer than the pool. I had only planned on getting in for a minute just to say I had done it. Actually on the way down I changed that plan as I was freaking out - I was just going to watch but luckily I got over that and went it. Was great 400m swimming in total I'd guess. Not much but it's a start and it's done wonders for my confidence.
Week summary:
Excellent week. It's the first week this year that I could dedicate myself to training fully. Now that my course is over I've no excuses not to get lots of training in. 12 hrs total: 4 cycles (208kms), 3 runs, 3 swims and 1 resistance session.
More of the same planned for next week0 -
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Last weeks training:
Monday 13th May - Unscheduled rest day. I had to collect MrBally8 from the hospital after knee surgery so missed the club track session.
Tuesday 14th May - Cycle club spin
What a cold, wet, dark, horrible evening! It took me forever to warm up afterwards, worse than any evening during the winter! Anyways I spent most of the cycle hanging off the back as usual. We went up Shalee hill very early on and my legs never forgave me afterwards. 51.84k total
Wednesday 15th May - Run and Swim
Had to work late today so was caught for time. My run had to be very short. 2.6 miles with a very sore Achilles for some reason.
Club swim after. I can see how these swims are bringing me along. Twice a week would obviously be better but I just cant seem to fit them at the moment. I find it impossible to get up at 5.50 on a Thursday morning after getting home from the pool at 9.45 Wed night. Will have to just HTFU I'd say 2100m total
Thursday 16th May - Club Brick session
As last Thursday's session with the racing team was such a disaster (i.e no way in hell I could keep up!) I was looking forward to the alternative offered my the club- a brick session. I haven't ran off the bike since last August so it was probably about time I got a bit of practice in- Athy being just over 2 weeks away and all We headed off out to Monegall with the racing team lads. Was nice to have a relaxing chat on the bike for a change. All my biking seems to be at killer intensity these days as I struggle to keep up
At Monegall we went our separate ways and the tri club started a chain gang roll over session back to Nenagh. I was going well for a little while but then we hit a drag and that knocked the stuffing out of me and by my next time at the front I was totally gasping for air. Ended up dropping off the back yet again. I didn't mind though and time-trialled my way back to the track at the CBS with an average pace of 34kms per hour.
At the track I threw the bike up against the car, stuck on my runners and hobbled my way round 4 times. Total: 37.92km cycle and 1.6km run
Friday 17th May -Run and Swim
As I haven't ran more than 7.5 kms since March I decided it was about time I got at least 10k just to see if my legs can hold up to that distance. What a lovely day- sunshine at last- woohoo!! Not much to report, it was a hilly route and I have to admit I walked the biggest hill as I didn't want to aggravate my Achilles. It worked- I was the grandest. 10.16kms. Very very slowly
Off to the pool for another timed 1500m. I'm loving my new garmin swim. Delighted MrBally8 likes buying me gadgets This week I did 250m X 6 with less than 30 seconds rest between each interval. Total time for the 1500m was 38:49. Happy with that. 3:07 faster than last week and I know I could go faster than that if I tried. 2050m total including cool down.
Saturday 18th May - Club cycle
A tough tough tough one today (I know Im sounding like a broken record these days) Started off with sprints but I hung on the back to save myself for later. Then climbed up Shalee again. I was delighted to get a long break at the top while some of the crazy ones went down and did it again :eek: The speed for the whole cycle was crazy fast and I never got a chance to recover. Some of the lads hit 75.7kms on the way down Shalee. On another descent a lady roared abuse at them telling them to slow down and let the cars pass There were many times on the cycle where I wanted to give up but the guys helped me along, encouraged me and even gave me a push up one of the drags! Finally got my mojo back and flew the last 10 miles home. 82.67kms total
Sunday 19th May - Cycle and Swim
Out on my own for what was supposed to be a recover spin. However I live in an area which seems to have no flat. So it turned into a very slow crawl up many hills while exploring the local countryside. 1 hour of a crawl.
Club OW swim later practising for the club aquathon on Wednesday night next. It seemed colder than last week at first but I soon adjusted to it and actually for the first time possibly ever I enjoyed it! I was calm and not afraid at all (it helped that the lake was flat calm) As usual I was slow as a snail but still faster than I was last summer. The time didn't matter, I was just thrilled at how good I felt. I would have done more except everyone was getting out. Approx 970m total.
Weekly summary:
11:45 hrs total, 4 cycles 190.17kms, 3 swims 5.12km and 3 runs 16kms0 -
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