2013 The year of the tri

red face dave

Planned 1600 meter swim

Only managed a miserable 650 meters. Was flying the first 20 lengths, my stroke was never better but then I started to get dry mouth and my eyes were burning. Jumped up on the edge for a moment and said maybe it was in my head. So I decided to give it another go but again only manged 6 lengths before this really strong smell and taste came back.

So most of my planned session was done in the Jacuzzi and sauna. Did try it again before I left but it was still the same.

c07

Oh crap Dave.. Sounds like some chemical probs with the pool water.
But, take heart in the fact that you recognised your stroke was tip top. Well done

woody1

not overly excited yet.. have biked or ran in this triathlon every year except one so far so im used to the approach of it by now.. having the practice swim done takes a lot of the anticipation out of it too.. that said i probably wont sleep a wink the night before..
as for the tide, well im only reading them for the last few weeks so im not exactly an expert or anything , from looking at the tide tables high tide in killala bay is around 5.45 , ive little clue how this affects the river but presumably the tide will be on its way in at this stage so there wont be as much water in as at 6 but how much less ive no idea.. can swim in 4 feet of water easily anyway so i guess we'll have that anyway.. apparently it was moved earlier because it clashed with some other event on in lacken...
hope your ok after your chemical bath in the pool !!

red face dave

Yeah I said it to the lads on the way out so hopefully it will be grand by tomorrow. Not to bad now only for a bit snuffly

Woody so you are well ahead of the game so:). I'm taking the bike and run are flat. I don't mind the water been a bit low it takes me a few minutes to get my bearings in the cold water

woody1

run is almost totally flat..bike is rolling i suppose.. one real hill up the side of coke to the kilala road and thats only because you hit it on a corner without a chance of getting any speed up for it.. other than that nothing that you would say you have to climb few rollers to slow you down a bit...very open in spots so if theres any wind at all even a cross wind, youl have to work at some stage.. according to accuweather wind will be pushing us on the way out and then into it on the way back.... that could change though, bit far away still to be relying on weather forecast to be that accurate..
if i was aiming at a particular time id probably be more nervous about it, with it being my first swim i just want to enjoy it and then see whats left for the bike and run.. im hoping to catch my better half whos running for a relay team before she finishes the run but that may be wishful thinking as the swimmer is way faster than me and the cyclist about the same level as me..but thats as big a target as i have..

red face dave

5k run

Nice and easy. Just kept the pace slow enough. I'm not sure if I am supposed to do a taper or even how to structure it but I will do a small one anyway.


Headed up to the pool this evening. Only to be told it was closed so my hunch was right yesterday. Hopefully it will be open tomorrow as I was hoping to do a good session

red face dave

The pool is still not open. So headed for a longer run today

7k run

1k Warm up. Just took it nice handy and did loads of stretching
5k Went into a field beside work. Found this really hard not used to running on such uneven surfaces.
2k cool down nearly at walking pace

The no swimming this week is starting to play on my mind, I hope it wont effect Saturday's swim.

c07

Good luck this weekend to both of ye .. Dave and woody

Dory Dory

Best to you at the weekend!! Enjoy the day - looking forward to your report!

red face dave

Thanks Dory. Just back from a light jog along the swim route water seems to be very low. Every bit as nervous as last time

elvis jones

red face dave wrote: »

Thanks Dory. Just back from a light jog along the swim route water seems to be very low. Every bit as nervous as last time

Very low sounds great to me !

Sprint for you ? What wave ? I'm in the last one, 1st race of the season !

red face dave

Sprint alright for me but Im doing the one in Ballina. I did pass Athlone today and the water looked great. Best of luck Elvis

elvis jones

red face dave wrote: »

Sprint alright for me but Im doing the one in Ballina. I did pass Athlone today and the water looked great. Best of luck Elvis

right back at ya ! I'm racing in Swinford next Sunday !

red face dave

Swinford the aim for two years time. Slow and steady :-)

red face dave

What a nightmare.
1.30
Had a great swim in 12 minutes decent T1 in 2 minutes. That's where it all stops.

Bike 47 minutes feck sake. My new **** bike computer kept slipping and banging of the spokes which meant i had to get of the bike 3 times add to that a stitch because i took a gel before the start.

Run 28. Just wanted the day over.
Bad report as i am on the phone

Lessons learned

woody1

the bike computer thing happened to me in gaelforce before.. was maddening, in the end i left it until the spokes made sh*te of it.. nearly lost a finger trying to fix it..
as for lessons learned.. yeah me too .. dont wait at the back of the swim as youl want to strangle those doing backstroke down the river and swimming across you every 2 seconds !!

red face dave

Swim was a bit manic alright. One or two parts the water was very low. Alot of slapping . The worst part was that I know i could have done a 1.25 yesterday or quicker
Well done yesterday you had a great bike

c07

****e Dave, sounds rough. If its any consolation (prob isn't!), I think the times look good...
Write it off to bad luck and onwards and upwards.

elvis jones

red face dave wrote: »

What a nightmare.
1.30
Had a great swim in 12 minutes decent T1 in 2 minutes. That's where it all stops.

Bike 47 minutes feck sake. My new **** bike computer kept slipping and banging of the spokes which meant i had to get of the bike 3 times add to that a stitch because i took a gel before the start.

Run 28. Just wanted the day over.
Bad report as i am on the phone

Lessons learned

Pick your next race and forget about yesterday.........chalk it down as experience !

Dory Dory

No worries...shake it off and move on. We all have really bad days with things that go wrong that are out of our control. Chin up....and onwards and upwards. Times like these build character. :)

red face dave

Thanks guys.

I cant even look at the bike since Saturday, she makes me sick :-) :-)
Looking back there is a few things which didn't help

Nutrition - When I'm not a home, I never eat correctly before a race. Missed an early lunch and then the race didn't start until near 5 so all I had was breakfast a 10am

Gel - Because I was a bit hungry and I was feeling a bit flat I decided to take a gel. Bad idea you should never try something new before a race. Rule No1

It was just a bad day. Roll on Nass at the end of September. Might try and get a race in during August it all depends on the new arrival but one good thing came from this is I'm defo joining a club next year.

elvis jones

red face dave wrote: »

Thanks guys.

I cant even look at the bike since Saturday, she makes me sick
Looking back there is a few things which didn't help

Nutrition - When I'm not a home, I never eat correctly before a race. Missed an early lunch and then the race didn't start until near 5 so all I had was breakfast a 10am

Gel - Because I was a bit hungry and I was feeling a bit flat I decided to take a gel. Bad idea you should never try something new before a race. Rule No1

It was just a bad day. Roll on Nass at the end of September. Might try and get a race in during August it all depends on the new arrival but one good thing came from this is I'm defo joining a club next year.

I personally wouldn't touch gels for a sprint, its only 90 min ish of racing and your body stores enough for 2 hrs. You'd be better with an energy drink to sip on the bike.

For nutrition don't do anything you wouldn't normally do, its not a time to experiment.

I had porridge on sat, its one of my normal breakfasts and that was at 9:30 am and i wasn't in the water until 3:15, all i had in between that was a scone and a cereal bar. I wasn't going to try soemthing i don't normally eat.

red face dave

I also had porridge at around the same time but didn't eat anything else until after the race. I should have had something around 12/12.30.

Trust me Gel's wont be taken again

elvis jones

red face dave wrote: »

I also had porridge at around the same time but didn't eat anything else until after the race. I should have had something around 12/12.30.

Trust me Gel's wont be taken again

With gels there are a few rules.

1. Don't try them for the 1st time in a race
2. Try them in training so your body is used to them
3. try a few brands to find one you actually "like"
4. Try to take them with water as they are sticky and yuck

I don't use them at all. I use power bar shots. They are jellies with gel in the middle. Once packet is roughly the same as two gels. I used two packets on my 28k run yesterday and they work very well........FOR ME. Its all about finding something that works for you.

red face dave

First time to get something done since Saturday. I have had a sinus infection but its cleared up now.

Picked a great day for it. You have got to love this weather.

6k (no garmin)

Just took it nice and easy, just wanted to stretch the legs a small bit.Had to stop a couple of times to wipes the sunglasses and head and I was leaking sweat all over but really enjoyed it. Not going to do a whole lot this week, going to start back full training next week

red face dave

Full day of a class meant I had little time for training.

Managed to get 30 minute run on the dreaded treadmill. My god did I sweat, nearly had to cut my top off afterwards.

Kept the pace high and for one minute in every five I upped the pace and then dropped it again.

red face dave

Up early this morning to get a run done. Its great to say we have to get up early or else I might melt.

Just an hour running cant find the cable to charge the watch so just used my time on the phone but it was done at a slow pace.


Took the full week off both the bike and swimming. Hope to get back to all 3 next week.

joey100

I wouldn't say never take a gel again, on longer distances they are useful!. Just make sure before the race you have tried the gel and flavour, you want to be sure your stomach likes it. I've experienced differences in flavour so may sure you try them all. They are an easy way to get calories on.

Just a side, try to keep in the pool as much as possible, from what I've learned it's time in the pool that will stand to you. The more time in the pool the better, just keep going and logging the kilometres. More fast ones the better! (within reason!)

red face dave

I was looking into doing more drills then say just clocking up the km's. Which do you think would be more beneficial.
Would love to break 11 minutes before the year is out.

joey100

TBH at 12 mins for sprint tri you are probably faster than me! Drills will always help, you can't improve your stroke too much but at same time you need to know where to draw the line. There has to be a balance between stroke and stamina. But you look like you have the swim down on that time.

Looking at the times you give I would be looking at spending time on the bike at the start, I want to make sure you know I'm no expert but definitely time to be made up on the bike, for, in my opinion less effort than to improve that swim!

Your swim time looks pretty good, an with a bit of time on the bike and run you could jump up the standings!