GODZone...

shotgunmcos

Interval Run
Back to life and responsibility, ugh. First session since the run into the sunrise. Very different. Cold evening but dry and crisp. Basically 20min warm up, 4x800m with 2min recovery, then easy home to cool down. More people out running around suburbia than I've ever seen. Great to see. Dusted off the garmin for this spending 5 freezing minutes in my dry doing lunges and leg swings while it searched for signal :rolleyes: Weighed it at 81.2kg, about a kg down since Lent started. 13 days in and I still haven't touched chocolate, biscuits, cereals, cereal bars, crisps and sugar in coffee

800m reps in
2:50
2:48
2:46
2:44

Average about 3:30 pace. HR hit 181 and I was sucking fumes on the 3rd rep. I haven't done speed or any interval work in over 2 years. I wanted to give up in the middle of the final rep but instead of listening to the gremlin I just pushed harder. It hurt! Bent over heaving after it. Better overall than I expected. I just wanted to hit about 3 mins but just ran hard and hung on when the watch beeped. Total: 11.53km in 52:15.

nerraw1111

Sweet training. Sounds like a superb holiday. Tempted to head there myself for a rosemantic break with nice training in between.

shotgunmcos

nerraw1111 wrote: »

Sweet training. Sounds like a superb holiday. Tempted to head there myself for a rosemantic break with nice training in between.

I'd recommend Playa Blanca and the Volcan hotel. I don't recommend too readily either but I'd go back to both for a short sunny break. Lots of trails off the beaten path to enjoy for running or biking

shotgunmcos

Group Swim
Nearly 50 down at the morning session! All the main faces back. Over 20 each in the 2nd and 3rd lane and just 5 in the fast lane. My nemesis was leading lane 2 and I originally planned to jump on her feet for the main set. The train nearly spanned the length of the pool so HTFU pill swallowed and into the Shark pool I jumped. The technician was back with water polo boy and the maco shark leading her out. I joined the back of the group for the session:
800m various warm up
3x200m off 3:35
3x100m off 1:40
3x200m off 3:35
3x100m off 1:40
8x50m max
200m cool down
3,200m total

Wow fast from the start. I couldn't even hang onto the back and I was hitting 3:03-3:06 for the 200s :eek: No surprise though. You need to be cruising at 1:30 pace to survive this lot. The maco even gapped water polo boy who swims at 1:20 pace :eek: Toasted, but I may as well hang around and chase Sharks

Interval Swim
Second swim of the day. Simple short session while shotgun junior did his lesson.
10x100m off 1:45 in on 1:27/1:37/1:33/1:31/1:35/1:35/1:32/1:32/1:32/1:33
1 main rest
10x100m off 1:45 in on 1:29/1:33/1:27/1:32/1:33/1:33/1:33/1:31/1:33/1:36
2,000m total

Times a bit all over the place as there were 6 others in the lane doing sets. One guy liked to swim in the middle of the lane and another sped up every time I passed him :rolleyes: The first set was good although there was some fatigue from this morning. The second set started well but I was working hard. Really working hard with four to go and the last 2 was hanging on for dear life. Good swim, felt good in parts.

Hill Run
Rocked up to the hill run gang in Ballina under a clear starry night. Cold cold stiff wind blowing us up the trail. I could only plod up at 6 min pace, legs burning, lungs heaving. The descent was fresh. Into the strong cold wind at 4 min pace. I rolled over on both left and right ankles separately on a technical section so I need to ease up tomorrow. Pretty dry trail with just 2 ankle deep mud patches. The Soloman Speedcross felt good. I'll sleep tonight
7.03km in 35:05

Kurt Godel

Two good swim sessions there Shotgun. Volume plays a bigger part in swim improvement than I previously considered, certainly your large OW week is showing dividends. Will you have any 5k swim races before your 10k goal?

shotgunmcos

@Kurt - I doubt a single week had much to do with it but got about 2-3 normal weeks worth of swimming done in a few days and I guess it is more a feel for the water. Fitness will take more time

Steady Bike
Got out of work on time for once and knew there was a decent evening stretch. Changed quickly and hopped on the roadie for an out and back. 70 mins was barely a warm up once but a strong cold northerly wind and open road felt tough enough. I'll get it back. Wore cycling shorts and my knees froze. 36.5km total

shotgunmcos

Swim
Had time to burn and though and planned an easy swim/run. My ankle felt a little sore after rolling on it on a technical dark downhill Wednesday. Rested it Thursday and a km into the swim I decided to ditch the run and turn the set into a descending workout.
2,000m off 40:00 in on 37:02 pace 1:51
1,500m off 27:00 in on 25:50 pace 1:43
1,000m off 18:00 in on 16:38 pace 1:40
750m off 13:00 in on 12:15 pace 1:38
400m off 7:00 in on 6:26 pace 1:36
200m off 3:30 in on 3:11 pace 1:35
100m off 1:45 in on 1:31 pace 1:31
50m all out in on 42 sec pace 1:24
6,000m total

Wasted after it. Shoulders on fire and noodles for arms. Left foot crampy. Longest pool swim ever. The initial 2k felt very comfortable and I finished it fresh. The 1500 was steady but the 1k felt like the effort shifted up 2 gears. The 400 hurt and I could just about hold the pace for the 200. Very much in the pain cave but no time to think about it. The 100 was horrible and the 50 was literally emptying the tank. I needed a few minutes before I could pull myself out of the pool. I had a H5 energy mix in my bottle which I feel helped. Overall it was ambitious when I dreamt it up on the easy 2k but for a finish I was delighted to get through it. I'll remember this one!

shotgunmcos

Run
Easy run avoiding hills so I simply ran 4 short laps of the block. The ankle felt fine but I kept this at recovery pace. Got caught in a ferocious hailstone shower :rolleyes: So missing the sunny Lanzarote sea side promenade 8.05km at 5:24 pace.

Bike
Just checking the MTB before a spin on the trails tomorrow. An hour on the road. The headwind sucked the life out of the legs but felt great on my back coming home. The trails will be interesting if it is this cold!

Pmaldini

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Swim
Had time to burn and though and planned an easy swim/run. My ankle felt a little sore after rolling on it on a technical dark downhill Wednesday. Rested it Thursday and a km into the swim I decided to ditch the run and turn the set into a descending workout.
2,000m off 40:00 in on 37:02 pace 1:51
1,500m off 27:00 in on 25:50 pace 1:43
1,000m off 18:00 in on 16:38 pace 1:40
750m off 13:00 in on 12:15 pace 1:38
400m off 7:00 in on 6:26 pace 1:36
200m off 3:30 in on 3:11 pace 1:35
100m off 1:45 in on 1:31 pace 1:31
50m all out in on 42 sec pace 1:24
6,000m total

Wasted after it. Shoulders on fire and noodles for arms. Left foot crampy. Longest pool swim ever. The initial 2k felt very comfortable and I finished it fresh. The 1500 was steady but the 1k felt like the effort shifted up 2 gears. The 400 hurt and I could just about hold the pace for the 200. Very much in the pain cave but no time to think about it. The 100 was horrible and the 50 was literally emptying the tank. I needed a few minutes before I could pull myself out of the pool. I had a H5 energy mix in my bottle which I feel helped. Overall it was ambitious when I dreamt it up on the easy 2k but for a finish I was delighted to get through it. I'll remember this one!

Savage set :eek: serious respect!!

Kurt Godel

Brilliant numbers there, perfectly executed with the paces too. I wouldn't even consider the 100 and 50 times, they are totally irrelevant in the context of the overall set. What matters is seeing those paces fall so well from 1,500 to 400.

You dodged the question before: will you race before your 10k?

shotgunmcos

Kurt Godel wrote: »

You dodged the question before: will you race before your 10k?

No. The 10k is May 24. I might get a few OW training swims done in May but doubt I'll be over 40 mins in it by then. Unless the Sun comes out for a few weeks before then. Its also about having company. If someone is doing/willing to join me for a longer swim then cool but its not advisable to swim far up a river alone. I might do some races afterward.

Bike Trails
Met up with career_move, one of my Beast teammates for as short easy spin. Parked a few kms from the trails and headed up chatting. Found that there was a MTB race in progress and it was very busy. I didn't know if we would even get on the trail. We took the fire road to climb a couple of km then plunged into the trail to cover about half of the brown loop (level 2 of 5). We had to occasionally pull in to let a competitor fly by. I felt very rusty but took it handy with Kate on her first off road go. I wore cages and made a decision to take them off from now on. Trying to put my feet back into them after the slipped out was a pain and the cause of me cycling into a tree! Lovely spring day to be outdoors and good company too

shotgunmcos

Turbo
I haven't been using the turbo and super woman wanted to borrow it so I hopped on for an hour easy before it found a new home. The legs felt awful until warmed up which took 20 mins. Weighed in at 80.5kg and 19 days into Lent still good, all good . Caz made a savage banana bread which I've demolished in 24 hours. I can see it being part of the nutrition for the Beast this summer.

Swim
Simple 2x1500m steady with 90secs rest. In on 26:05 and 25:52. Busy lane and I was in no rush so just took my time to overtake. I remember as few years ago a whole years swim training with the aim of doing as 25 min 1500! By comparison an aerobic swim this evening . I'm beginning to find form but will suffer with the Sharks again this week without doubt. Putting just short of 7 of them back to back in 8 weeks is the new swimming everest.

Run
A short 10.4km in the wind and rain before some steak with a red reduction and steamed veg mmm mmm mmm.

Kurt Godel

Amazing how quickly what was once anaerobic becomes aerobic in swimming! 1:44 pace, 8 weeks out, non wetsuit; perfect place to be.

shotgunmcos

Swim
Gah, shortened by way of minor injury :mad: Was 2km into a straight aerobic hour. Lady breast stroking. She wore a knuckle duster. Made contact passing. Didn't notice blood until I finished the length. Small gash on the forearm, the lady oblivious. Had to get out to clean it, didn't want to risk infection. Headed into work to get a plaster from first aid. Weird start to the morning:rolleyes:

Run
Lunchtime aerobic run around town. Some band playing on the new riverside promenade so a bit of pedestrian side stepping required. Kind of pressed the pace as bit to set a time for the route to benchmark progress over the next few weeks. Nice spring day but a cold wind holding off any warmth from the sun. 8km in 35:20, pace 4:25

Bike
Quick change into gear after work and out for a short trip out and back on the roadie. Nice evening and the wind had relaxed but it was a slight headwind coming home and subsequently a bit of work. My bike fitness sucks. My lungs burned from the cold air and I simply pushed a decent cadence with steady enough power. I pushed a similar effort for the same 33.15km route on the MTB and returned 23kmh the other day. 61:25 and 32.4kmh on the roadie

shotgunmcos

Interval Swim
Since reading about Kurt's 4x(5x100m) descending set, I thought it would fit nicely into my 40 minute window while Junior did his thing. I figured I'd start on 1:45 until I realised it would entail a sub 6 minute 400m on the last set. My last TT wasn't under 6 so this was over ambitious. Starting at 1:55 though wouldn't have made the best use of the window. I still started at 1:45 but changed to..
200m easy
8x100m off 1:45 in on 1:35/1:38/1:37/1:38/1:36/1:38/1:36/1:36
60sec rest
6x100m off 1:40 in on 1:29/1:31/1:32/1:32/1:36/1:32
60sec rest
4x100m off 1:35 in on 1:27/1:28/1:30/1:27
60 sec rest
2x100m off 1:30 in on 1:24/1:26
100m easy
Total, 2,300m

Busy lane but people kept to the rope as there was a lot of passing going on, including a kid shark doing a set of drills at sub 1:30 pace. In the first set I swam on his feet for a length and he was swimming single arm! Another one of his drill when I was on a rest was backstroke catch up with the other arm straight up in the air at all time. Anyway the set was good. I felt the pinch at 1:35 and the last 2 reps felt flat out, I wouldn't have had the reserve for 3 more. Reviewing the garmin my first 50 on every rep was 2-4 secs faster than the return 50. I'd no idea the turn and glide on the last stroke cost so much Next time I'll try the 4x(5x100m)

griffin100

I've been planning on giving the 4 x (100x5) set a oh as well since I read it in his log but I suspect I'll be starting on 2mins and dropping to 1.45. Don't think I could pass the 1.40 test.

shotgunmcos

griffin100 wrote: »

I've been planning on giving the 4 x (100x5) set a oh as well since I read it in his log but I suspect I'll be starting on 2mins and dropping to 1.45. Don't think I could pass the 1.40 test.

Hey Griff I didn't pass the 1:35 test and I was spent for a finish Too hung ho. Going to try it again tomorrow starting at 1:50. I've never actually done 100s off anything faster than 1:40 before so it was breaking new ground at least. You planning any OW events this summer?

griffin100

I'm hoping to do the Beginnish Island swim this year, as it's a bucket list race of mine. Might give WOTS a go again. There are some other races on the calendar that look good (I like the look of this one http://ossischmidt.wix.com/gaddinabtgarnish#!) but I've no firm plans as yet. I need to sit down with the race calendars and work out a plan!!

Kurt Godel

Lovely number there MCOS, in particular the 4*100 off 1:35. You were well under! 1:47 pace will seem like a doddle to you come race day.

shotgunmcos

Row Intervals
5 days since I last posted a session . Life got in the way. Oh well, no moaning, just move on. Nice out this morning so I put the erg on the deck for 3x2k with 2 mins rest.
2,000m in 7:19.6 avg 264w pace 1:49.9/500m
2,000m in 7:19.2 avg 264w pace 1:49.8/500m
2,000m in 7:15.5 avg 271w pace 1:48.9/500m

Being fully rested I was fresh and felt good. I did this session a month ago and managed 2 reps at 255w. This was a whole lot better despite not being on the erg for weeks. All reps were at 24-25spm and solid power throughout. The last one was tough but never thought about giving up until it was done. Total for the session 8,500m in 31:55

pgibbo

Nice session Mike. Funny, I was only thinking the other day that I hadn't seen you post any ergo sessions. You pre-empted my query

shotgunmcos

March Done. The Numbers

• 54.0km swimming
• 309.15km cycling
• 153.41km running
• 40.71km rowing
• 100 push ups
• 78 pull ups
• 49 hours total

March done. Best Key Session hit.

• 2 hour OW swim at sub3 pace
• no long row
• no long run

March Done. Most Satisfying/Enjoyable Sessions.

Running over trails alone towards a spectacular sunrise in Lanzarote
All the beach swimming in Lanzarote, particularly the 2 hour benchmark
3x2,000m row

March done. Biggest disappointments

• No long runs again :mad:
• No long row
• Going over on my ankle on first hill run

April General Focus.
More swimming and an OW swim brrrrrrr
Core, core, core
Rowing volume
Lent - 25 days still off chocolate and biscuits

April 3x3 Specific Training Benchmarks

• Running: Consistency
• Rowing: Volume
• Swimming: Volume
• White loop at Ballyhoura trails
• Race: Off road duathlon

shotgunmcos

Easy Run
Aerobic lunchtime loop of the town. Split it into 5 segments to benchmark progress going forward. Warm spring day and little wind, nice for running. Wore old shoes, squeezing some life out of them for easier runs. 8km in 36:32, pace 4:34

Row
Steady 30 minutes at 20spm. So much more laboured indoors plus the heating came on for a boost to make it sweaty. I wouldn't have the heat on at all but Caz rules. 7,635m covered, pace 1:57.8/500m.

Dory Dory

shotgunmcos wrote: »

I wouldn't have the heat on at all but Caz rules.

Good man.

shotgunmcos

Swim Intervals
A go at the 4x5x100m. After a 200m warm up feeling heavy I knew this was going to hurt..

5x100m off 1:45 in on 1:37/1:38/1:38/1:33/1:33 avg spm 23 avg swolf 85
1 min rest
5x100m off 1:40 in on 1:32/1:34/1:32/1:33/1:35 avg spm 25 avg swolf 85
1 min rest
5x100m off 1:35 in on 1:27/1:30/1:32/1:29/1:33 avg spm 27 avg swolf 86
1 min rest
2x100m off 1:30 in on 1:26/1:27 avg spm 29 avg swolf 85
1 min rest
3x100m off 1:45 in on 1:35/1:39/1:35 avg spm 25 avg swolf 88

I was patient with traffic for the first few lengths but was not getting much recovery so I started pressing a bit to pass. I found the 1:35 set very tough and I was barely able to stand before setting off again. The 5th rep of that set hurt and I barely made the RT. The minute rest was needed but even with that I knew a set off 1:30 was still a bridge way too far. It basically felt like a straight 200 before I ran out of juice. Wrecked, I took a breather and finished the last couple of reps off 1:45 with noodle arms and cramping calves. Interesting how the average swim golf index remained consistent when the session felt anything but consistent. Shoulders definitely heavy from the erg but a lack of both consistency and speed work the real reason.

Easy Run
It was a lovely evening and the plan was a hill run. I didn't have enough time after dropping shotgun junior home to hook up with the group on time plus I was knackered after the short but intense swim. Instead a few gentle laps of the block dragging a weary body around for a reluctant 40 minutes.

Kurt Godel

Kudos Mike, going off 1:30 for the last set was a real test. Dead jealous!

If you hadn't done the erg yesterday, do you think you'd have squeezed out the final three?

shotgunmcos

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Kudos Mike, going off 1:30 for the last set was a real test. Dead jealous!

If you hadn't done the erg yesterday, do you think you'd have squeezed out the final three?

The Sunday erg was a more likely culprit. No, not a hope of even I more. The 1:35 set toasted me. I nearly bailed after it but caught some breath in the short rest. I hammered the first 100 and didn't even think I made 1:30. I went again immediately but was deep in the pain cave on the return 50. Emptied the tank on the second. I wouldn't have made another one even if I was fresh. Yeah I hit 2 1:30s but they were rubbish. Form went out the window and I was red lining the whole time not to mention wasted for a finish. Its only my second ever session doing reps off sub 1:40 RTs and its a jump. I might stick with 1:35 for a while and see if I adapt. I think you need to be consistently and comfortably 5-10 secs under the RT before moving on. Bringing 200 RTs down to 3:15 will be new ground too. Never went off better than 3:30

shotgunmcos

Swim Group
Early swim, been a while. Packed, even the shark lane.
200m ez
4x100m at 1:30 pace 30sec rest
10x50m hard in on 37/37/38/37/38/37/37/38/38/37
6x200m off 3:20 in on 2:52/2:52/2:58/2:59/3:00/2:59
8x50m choice
100m ez
3,000m total

We went off 2 at a time for the 50s. Swam beside huff n puff who was wincing with a rib injury yet still cruising at my sprint pace :rolleyes: The 200s were savage to start. I burst a gut trying to keep up with a big group of sharks but after 2 reps was red lining. I backed off a little but lungs were on fire by rep 5. The remainder of the set was easy but the 200s hurt. The technician swims about 1:25 pace or better and she was getting dropped by the lead sharks. Its way way above marathon pace but a combination of these tougher swims with some CSS+10sec aerobic swims is the simple plan.

Easy Run
Short lunchtime run, nice weather, decent run. 8km in 38 mins

Kurt Godel

That's a lovely looking session! It's funny, a year ago that would just be a bunch of numbers to me, but now I can decode how you felt after each set. Hanging on for the 200's, after that hard 10*50 set, was great going. You can't beat swimming with sharks to up your game- swimming solo and one might not push quite so hard.

Its all looking good in the hood for your 10k, some lovely work being laid down here.

shotgunmcos

Life conspired to kill the training windows again today. No proper winter done in the last 2 years plus the simple lack of consistency makes this year's task an even taller order :rolleyes: