Reach for the sky...

woody1

25th jan turbo 1 hr
27th jan turbo 1 hr
28th jan club swim 1.15 ish
29th jan turbo 1 hr ( very easy spin , testing saddle )
30th jan club swim 1 ish ( short had to abandon )

actually meant to do more turbos this week as im testing out an adamo saddle, but a combination of sick kids and being kept up all night for most of the week and then catching the bug myself has meant ive only got one spin on it, hopefully short spin later.. actualy had to bail on the club swim last night before it was finished as i was overheating in the pool, took a break got back in, did another bit and was well and truly emptied at that stage so finished without doing the last 1000m,when i got out my face was the same shade of red as my swim hat, smallest one was sick at home last night so i presume i have the same bug, i have the workout and if i get lucky il get into a pool at the weekend and try to do it again

on the plus side i had the echo cardiogram this week and all is normal, getting on top of digestive probs as well by changing diet so all is looking good.. also i can see / feel an improvement in my swimming , definitely getting a feel for catching the water and trying to capitalise on this..

woody1

1st feb 35 min turbo ( long scream ) 10 min treadmill
2nd feb 20k cycle outside !!
3rd feb 20k cycle outside again
4th feb club swim 1300 -- put chinup bar back up.. 20 chin ups & 20 press ups
5th feb chinups and pressups again
6th feb 50k cycle , club swim 1800
was heading for the windy gap ( a decent hill ) on the bike but didnt leave myself enough time to get back in daylight so ended up turning around after 25k.. looked at the map when i got home and i was only 5 minutes from the bottom of the climb.. one for another day..

adamo trial saddle goes back today, it works for me in that it keeps the pressure off where i dont want it, ass bones are still adjusting but the mild discomfort is getting less on every ride so i will be buying one and that should be one less excuse to stop me from getting on the bike a bit more often

woody1

7th Feb core
8th Feb treadmill 30 min run
9th Feb 25k Bike
10th Feb core
11th Feb 5k treadmill, club swim 1700m
13th Feb club swim 1500..

was hoping to cycle a bit more but a combination of crappy weather and laziness just didnt help, hopefully get a couple of turbos in over the weekend to get things back to normal

woody1

15th feb 63k bike, windy and hilly
18th feb 5k treadmill run, 1800m swim, club swim, with wetsuit
20th feb 5k treadmill
21st feb 1000 swim, 36k hilly windy cycle

brewing a cold all week, all of these felt a lot tougher than they should have and thats why theres some 2 day gaps there.. club duathlon tomorrow morning but at the moment i dont feel like it.. might make more sense to take a proper break and recover rather than prolonging the cold..

woody1

funny week.. sick at the start of it , mad for road at the end
took sat, sun and monday off, sniffles and general cant be arsedness, a lot of people i know have had a horrible hard to shift cold / infection thing, taking them 3 weeks to clear it and i was determined not to go down that road,
tuesday 25th club swim,1800m wetsuit in pool, dont really like this as i find it too warm
wednesday 26th 5k treadmill, bailed on a turbo as still not 100%
thursday 26th 5k treadmill, pool swim .. approx 1500m
friday 27th turbo 1 hour.. was gonna go outside but hail showers put paid to that.. set up the bike on the turbo and the sun feckin shone thru the window for the full hour..!!!
brought the 5 year old to a fit kids kinda thing , 1 hour disorganised p.e. really but its a bit of craic for him and itl be good socially too.. stayed and watched it ..shouldve brought the bike and gone for a spin for an hour so an opportunity missed but it was good to watch him enjoying it.. next week bringing the bike or running gear as he told me afterwards, all the other parents left , so you have to leave..
4 hour week , not great.. but i feel full of energy now in comparison to the start of the week so next week should be better

woody1

sat 1st march 40k bike
sun 2nd treadmill 30 mins
mon off
tuesday easy swim 750 ish
wed off
thursday 6th club swim time trial
100 200 and 400 tts to compare to when we started in november
novembers times were 100 in 2.50 and 200 in 7.01 no 400 time

i dont have last nights exact times to hand , but i took about 50 seconds off the 100 time, more than 2 minutes off the 200 time and i think the 400 time pretty much held the same pace as the 200...
the 100 shouldve been faster..went totally balls out from the start and predictably i had blown a gasket by the end of the 3rd length.. died a death for the last 3/4 length..so if pacing was a bit better i think id be under 2 minutes...

there was probably a little bit in the tank for the other 2.. but would only have made a small difference..
i was curious as to whether the sessions were having much effect, as everybody is improving at much the same rate its hard to see a difference..
if i didnt make such a balls of the 100 i wouldve been first in my group, which is a huge jump from trailing in last a minute behind everyone so i have to be pleased with that..
i know im still slow in comparison to most here, but its all progress..

woody1

few stupid questions, im going to ask them here rather than cluttering up the main page

1. is it a bit out of order for a non beginner to do a try a tri,( i think it is ) ive been asked by a mate to go along with him, i dont want to seem pretentious and seem like im above it ( im not ) but i dont want to take someone elses spot either, truth is there will be much faster swimmers than me there.. but still im not a ( total ) beginner .. its a bit of a trip and id rather make something of it than just go up and watch him

2. is this bike any good http://www.donedeal.ie/bicycles-for-sale/turas-volata/6526549

3. so ive made a decent improvement on my swimming thanks to the club swims which are twice a week and predominantly technique driven, im probably going to add a third session and im wondering whats the best to do.. 1. to add a bit more speed, 2. endurance ( speed endurance )

woody1

friday 7th march.. 45 min cycle whilst eldest in at fit kids thing..
sat 8th march.. local 5k race.. this was a 5 and a 10k and looking around the start there wasnt a whole pile of talent in the 5k, still i didnt realise just how weak the field was..
i had been out the night before , up til 4 , and had a raging hangover and a sick stomach all morning, add to that a hilly course and a strong wind and it wasnt ideal day for me to be out running but i figured id be as well to do something

as usual i started a bit back from the front, it started and i found myself cutting through the field and up to third , yes third ! by the end of the first km, the second place guy is in the tri club with me and i know hes a little quicker than me on a good day so i just wanted to keep him in sight and keep as many behind me as possible, at 1k my laces were open but i wanted to go on as far as i could before i tied them, at 2k i was passed and put into 4th, got laces tied and went on, at 3k the wheels totally came off, ran the 3k in 12 minutes which is basically flat out for me and now my body had enough.. there was a water stop, so i stopped and drank properly, i thought only one passed me but actually 3 did, got started again but it was now going uphill and into the wind , so it was just torture, by 4k it was out of the worst of the wind and turning downhill again to the finish, i was closing on the girl in 6th but was afraid to kick by her too early in case she kicked and i couldnt hold it , so i basically ran on her shoulder til about 100 yards out and then kicked and she couldnt go with it, finished in 6th...( admittedly in a very weak field ) in 23 minutes..with a raging hangover running into a gale..first 3k in 12 minutes , 2nd 2k in 11 minutes !!! still havent run a lot this year..twice a week tops for last 4/5 weeks..all on the treadmill... its encouraging to think that without the hangover i couldve done a fair bit better.. .. couldve been worse
wouldve taken a pb to make the top 3, even without the hangover and the conditions i dont think that would have happened..

catweazle

woody1 wrote: »

few stupid questions, im going to ask them here rather than cluttering up the main page

1. is it a bit out of order for a non beginner to do a try a tri,( i think it is ) ive been asked by a mate to go along with him, i dont want to seem pretentious and seem like im above it ( im not ) but i dont want to take someone elses spot either, truth is there will be much faster swimmers than me there.. but still im not a ( total ) beginner .. its a bit of a trip and id rather make something of it than just go up and watch him

If it's the race I am thinking of I know a lad that win it I think twice in a row a few years back, my eyebrows raised when I heard he was racing a tri a tri while he was a poor swimmer he certainly would do very well in a duathlon. He said no one seemed to care a jot and it was only a fun day out anyways

2. is this bike any good http://www.donedeal.ie/bicycles-for-sale/turas-volata/6526549

The Turas from memory (I may be completely wrong here) are china frame imports and the lads build them up. I would expect they have good experience at this stage at doing this and they do have a good reputation down in their local area

3. so ive made a decent improvement on my swimming thanks to the club swims which are twice a week and predominantly technique driven, im probably going to add a third session and im wondering whats the best to do.. 1. to add a bit more speed, 2. endurance ( speed endurance )

If you could do 4 and both sessions you would see great improvement, 3 seems to keep the status quo but anytime I was swimming well it was always when I was doing 4 sessions a week

woody1

thanks.. 4 sessions a stretch at the moment, but il bear it in mind as main races get closer..
if i did 4 swims now id have to drop running or cycling and im not doing a lot of that as it is

woody1

have swim times now
100 went from 2.50 to 2.08 ( dissapointed i thought it was more )
200 went from 7.01 to 4.59
400 had no time but new time 9.49

so 400 pace better than 200 pace, probably was holding back on the 200 after blowing up on the 100, i think theres another bit to get off all of them starting another block of club coached swims next week, hopefully will squeeze in the third session a week and get a few more seconds off these times, really want to get the 100 under the 2 minutes..

woody1

3 days off with shagged legs after hungover 5k
wed 12th 1500 swim
13th 5k run
14th 7.5k run
15th 85k bike
16th 19k bike

woody1

17th nothing
18th club swims back for another 7 weeks , 1500 ish
19th nothing !!
20th 5k run , club swim 1900 ish
21st 5k treadmill
today and tomorrow.. turbo planned for later, long cycle planned for tomorrow.. we'll see what actually happens

woody1

sat 22nd turbo with better half.. angels.. 1 hour
sun 23rd turbo again .. despite it being a beautiful day outside.. blender 1.45..

woody1

tues 26th 1900 club swim
wed off
thurs 28th club swim called off.. so turbo . downward spiral 1 hour, mrs did it as well.. great motivation, quality turbo session for a change ..
friday 29th .. afternoon.. 5.1k run very easy
evening... swim with mrs and bro in law.. tried to do a few 100s off 2.30 in the middle of this.. did 5 , was shagged by the 5th .. did 300 before and 400 after , so 1200, might try them in sets of 3 next time and hopefully can do more..
sat 30th off.. 5k tomorrow, had the kids as mrs working, so couldnt do anything anyway
sun 31st
morning 5k race.. nice day, not much of a crowd for the 5, prob more for the 10, anyway , ran 21 21 which is a 20 odd second pb, came 5th which tells you about quality of field, the top 5 ran together til 3k and then there was a break where 3 made a burst and i wasnt able to go with it, able or willing , im not sure.. anyway i didnt fold as much as the last few races , i ran from 3 to 4 in 4.30 , the splits were 4.08, 4.18, 4.00, 4.30 and 4.18 . .. twas a hilly little course too , someday id like to get 19 something, results like this with little running done makes me think its possible... if i can sneak to 20 something by the end of this year id be very happy and if i could translate this kind of running to a triathlon ( where i havent ran 5k under 25 mins ) id be ecstatic

afternoon.. 32k cycle.. i tried to do this reasonably hard as ive been doing a lot of slow cycles outside and i wanted to get a feel for what level im at.. 32k in 1.11.. heavier traffic on the roads than normal so had to slow at times for safety but im happy with it, wanted to see what i could expect for the 40k Olympic cycle.. should be around 1.30 ish given that it wont be as hilly as this was ..

woody1

mon 1st off
tues 2nd april club swim, think 1900 ish
wed 3rd off
thurs 4th 5k treadmill, 1900 club swim
friday 5h 5k run outside
sat 6th 60k bike around lough conn.. early morning cycle, lots of creaks and groans from bike, think bottom bracket is either gone or almost gone
sun 7th mrs did the club duathlon, i waited til after and did 23k cycle and 2k run..tried to keep pace up on the run a bit as thats where im hoping to pick up some time this year..

short week coming up as we are away at the weekend, if i can get 5 sessions in il be content with that, patsy kelly 5k on saturday evening, flat 5k, hoping to dip into 20 minute territory..

woody1

mon 8th off
tues 9th club swim 2k
wed 10th turbo 1 hr
thurs 11th brick session 15 min turbo, 15 treadmill, 15 turbo , 15 treadmill
club swim 2k

woody1

sat 12th april.. patsy kelly 5k.. crowbarred this into a very quick visit home.. was hoping to get under 21 minutes but didnt happen, i am dubious about the chip times but even allowing for that i wouldnt be under 21.. massive crowd, almost 900 ran, well run, nice course, congestion at the start line and first few hundred metres meant that i ran the second 500m fairly hard to get back on track and prob ran the first k under 4mins, was 7 something at 2k, 11 something at 3,3 to 4 and 4 to 41/2 were tough, slowed a fair bit 4 to 4/12 and picked it up too late , started watch on the whistle and stopped it a bit after i crossed the line and i have 21 25 on the watch, so thought maybe 21.15 or less, but chip has 21.23, wife has a difference of 20 seconds watch less than chip and she started and stopped the watch dead on the start and finish.. doesnt really matter, legs were tired, 4 hours driving and probably did too much with brick session on friday..

woody1

13 and 14th april off
15th club swim 2250
16th off
17th swim 1750
18th 5k run
19th 52k bike
20th 46k bike

itb trouble so not much running this week, will most likely test it out with a run ..prob brick run tomorrow

woody1

crummy week ..
tuesday club swim
thursday club swim 3k run
nothing for rest of week, barring a short football match on saturday..

itb twinge now feels worse and maybe not itb at all.. physio needed if i can get time somewhere.. otherwise it could be another quiet week

woody1

29th april.. last club swim of this block.. did it all with pull bouy because of twinge in hamstring / quad / not sure but i think its improving.. coach did a bit of a critique on everones technique .. didnt get too many negatives.. ive gone from not rotating to over rotating .. !! you cant win !

did some tumble turns and diving in last thursday in preparation for gala on sunday. didnt really enjoy the diving as i hit the water flat a few times and wasnt getting it,despite all the swimming ive done in the last 18 months im still not hugely comfortable jumping in.. didnt do the gala in the end as i had to mind kids but i was sorry i didnt... was good craic...

feck all done in last 10 days and its starting to make me twitchy.. really want to get up on the turbo tonight to get back going again and to make the months numbers a tiny bit more respectable..but it makes more sense to do nothing and get a fresh start tomorrow or at the weekend.. better half working friday sunday monday doesnt help as there will be limited opportunities to do something..

first triathlon of the season that i was aiming for is now cancelled, so im now considering lough cutra.. problem being that whilst all of us could do the local one ( granny bring kids to watch, its 10 minutes from the house ) more than likely only one of us will get to do cutra.. unless we relay it which i wouldnt be keen on..still with all the different distances on the same day there should be a good crowd and a bit of craic around, must have a look at the web and see if theres even a duathlon on..just need something as a target and to feel like im getting going..

woody1

1st may 20k bike ..
2nd may 5k run
3rd may 33k bike .
4th off
5th hour turbo bike slow and easy
6th club swims ..start of block 3

tried a few yoga sessions from the t-internet in there as well.. hip/knee injury is improving .. probably take it easy enough this week whilst still doing a bit ..better half working again this weekend so its a matter of trying to crowbar in something if i get a free hour on any particular day ..

woody1

7th may.. turbo / treadmill brick.. 15 min long scream.. 7.5 min run x 2 + 3 min run to finish

went thru the calendar last night..

looks like cong / rosses point, ballina, swinford oly, gaelforce,lough key are the races for this year ..
lough cutra ,westport , mullaghmore all clash with work but i think theres enough in the list anyway..

port beach in september is also likely but with it being national series race it might sell out.. might try to relay blacksod if this doesnt work out..

id take or leave gaelforce but better half thinks i should do it, will see closer to the time.. id be much stronger on the bike leg, but conversely i havent ran beyond 6 or 7 k this year and hadnt really planned to do much longer distance stuff..

boyne swim is also a maybe but depends on how much o/w swimming i get done in next month.. 2.7k swim albeit downstream.. need to get up to that distance on my own before committing

so 7 weeks to first tri !!! might be time to get out of the build phase and start doing some actual hard training

woody1

9/10th may up at 3am for darkness into light ballina.. 5k jog.. great athmosphere and brilliantly organised.. thousands of tea lights lining both sides of the track in the forest, floating candles on the duck pond and a choir singing in the middle of the woods along with a big attendance and a very positive vibe.. i took a lot more from this than i expected to

sat 10th .. nada.. super crummy day , better half recovering after working night, kids need minding..guest room occupied so no turbo.. etc etc

sun 11th unexpected 1 hour window opened ..so jumped out into a crummy morning for an hour on the bike ,
changed it back to tt position during the week, fast forward seatpost, and dropped the handlebars right down but this was first time on it, .. handlebars bit too low, hard on shoulders to stay in tri bars, so i'll be adjusting them up a bit... but on the plus side got a few 5 minute blasts in the tt position at full tilt to blow off the cobwebs and had more in the tank than i thought i would,
got 4 seasons in an hour..too cold, too wet, too warm ( too much gear on ) and too windy ..

quiet weekend given that i was hoping to get a lot more cycling done and get to a 5k race today ( cant, no one to take kids ) but it worked out better than i thought it was going to at the same time..

Oryx

Gah! I feel your frustration, kids wrecking training! Hopefully you get a better run at it next week.

woody1

wifey has worked last 3 weekends including the bank holiday on top of the full mon to friday 9 to 5 week so i cant really complain about not getting out to play :cool:

i thought there was someone to take the kids for the 5k as it turned out there wasnt, it couldve been a total zero weekend but for my sister came to stay last minute , only for her i couldnt have done darkness into light or got out this morning on the bike.. so its not all that bad.. unfortunately her train time home clashed with the 5k :mad: ... you just have to take what you can get and get on with it..

next week will be better .. my parents are visiting next weekend so il have loads of cover for long cycles and runs

woody1

tuesday 13th club swim 2.1k
thursday 14th club swim 1.8k
sunday 18th 47k bike , 23k of it very slow, company for someone doing long slow run for marathon
monday 19th 5k run early morning.. 21 minutes ish..

so thats the 2nd of 2 fairly poor weeks, circumstances have conspired against me to a degree, my car blew the cylinder head and ive been looking for a new one and thats taken a fair amount of time over the last 2 weeks , i had 2 nieces for communion this weekend and all the associated time that goes with that.. visitors last weekend and this weekend and while they actually freed me up to get out, i couldnt get out as much as i wouldve liked...cant just abandon them to the kids on their own all day..

having said all that i couldve made more of an effort , i rolled over on saturday morning when the alarm went off at 6 to go cycling, and i generaly dont do a lot on mondays and wednesdays because i want to be fresh for swimming but i think thats going to have to change..

made an effort this morning to get out for a quick run at 7 and it was grand.. surprisingly a nice quick pace too which is unusual for me..

more early starts are beckoning in order to get things back on track.. i dont like chasing sessions but the last 2 weeks have been so ridiculous that i think i need to do more this week to get things back on track

woody1

tuesday 20th 6k run .. 1.9k club swim
wednesday 21st 600m swim
thursday 22nd 5k treadmill run , 2.1k club swim
friday 23rd off
saturday 24th .. 54k bike.. including a first ascent of THE GAP...only at the top did i realise id no drinks with me !!! Serious hill.. should have a defibrulator on it .. thought i was going to die..

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/424273072

sunday 25th.. 61k bike..again no shaggin bottles.. warmer today and couldve done with them.. too early in the morning for anywhere to be open to buy anything either..

much better weeks training thank god.. with any luck we are going to chance getting in the lake later :eek: cant say im looking forward to it..

edit.. sun 25th evening.. 30 mins o/w lake swim.. wasnt too bad at all. certainly wouldnt be what id call cold.. no idea of distance..

woody1

mon 26th 5k run
tues 27th 2km club swim
wed 28th 1.25k pool swim..
thurs 29th 2.5k club swim
friday.. zilch
saturday .. 35k bike.. was supposed to be 60k but this was done at 6 in the morning and i just wasnt feeling any love for it so i turned around early on and headed back home
saturday afternoon 600m o/w lake swim..
sunday .. day off.. very tired.was going to run.. couldnt be arsed .. always a sign that a rest is needed..
monday 2nd june.. plan for today is some kind of brick..and maybe another lake swim depending on what babysitters can be found.. will see what happens.
monday ended up being neither a bike run nor a lake swim, just a 6k trot around the woods which felt free and easy and was probably enough realistically..

woody1

tuesday 3rd june 2400 club swim
wed 4th.. 1500 ish o/w lake swim
thursday 5th 1700 club swim
friday off
saturday 6th.. 38k cycle including 16k of the local tri bike route.. did 4 mins hard 4 mins recovery and was pleasantly surprised at the effort i could put in and hold.. think it ended up at 6 hard efforts with 4 of them being on the tri route..
went for 2k run straight off the bike..
sunday 7th local 5k race.. cycled in 11.5k, ran 5k in 21.40 something, came 7th, still looking for that elusive 20.59 , was never going to happen today, legs were cooked from early on, ... and cycled back a different route as i wanted to take in the one decent hill on that tri route..14.5k