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Is there anything to be said for another mass?
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Makayla Abundant Scoutmaster wrote: »I assume that was you that passed in the group on the opposite way on the Slane Road on Sun morning? heard about the spill, nasty. Hard shoulder on both sides of that hill has plenty of debris on it at times.
Yeah. We'd had a nice enough spin up until that point. I can't conplain too much as I'm uninjured!0 -
Declined invitation to a stag. Real reason: that's 3 days missed training!0
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Mixed week. Impacted by injuries / family / etc. Consistency is still there though, and I need to make sure to address an IT band issue.
Monday
Rest day.
Tuesday
Swim: 25 * 100’s in the plan, but once I started the efforts I could feel a pain in my shoulder. Decided not to push through and swam steady for the hour.
Run: Negative split run. Full run avg under 4.20 pace. 1st half 4.15 pace; 2nd half 4.00 pace
Wednesday
Swim: 400m intervals descending.
Run: Intervals: 6 * 4 minutes with 90 seconds recovery.
Bike: Turbo: Big gear intervals 15*2mins with 1 recovery.
Thursday
Swim: 3k steady swim.
Run: Negative split run. Full run avg under 4.20 pace. 1st half 4:18 pace; 2nd half 4:16. Felt a bit of a slog.
Friday
Swim was in the plan, but baby didn’t sleep well and my wife was a bit frazzled when I woke (we do alternate nights, and it was her night). Decided to postpone the swim an let her have an hour or two’s sleep instead.
Run: Steady lunch time run. Sunny. Lovely.
Turbo: Big gear, 1 hr hard. Tough but good session. Was interrupted by the little guy after about 45minutes so it was a bit broken, but a good workout either way.
Saturday
Long run. Cut this short as my right leg started giving me trouble. Outside upper leg feeling tight and getting progressively sorer from midway or so. Seems like IT band or something like that. Had noticed during the week after some of the harder runs and had resolved to spend some time with the foam roller but I never got around to it.
Sunday
Bike. Club spin with 3 x all out repeats on Tullyesker (longish climb on the spin route). Properly wrecked afterwards.
Swim: 2hrs 29
Bike: 5hrs 58
Run: 4hrs 27
Total: 12hrs 54
TSS: 7950 -
Monday
Lots of time with the foam roller working on ITB.
Swim – 250m repeats
Tuesday
Swim – 25 x 100m off 1:45 – Frustrating session. Usual lane was very busy and with a bit of a mix of abilities. Had to elongate rest intervals once or twice to leave a gap to the next person, and even then was ending some of the lengths breast stroke. Got (i think) 12 done before deciding to give up and join the lane over who were doing sets together. did 4 x 75 with them, then 5 x 100, couple of 100's on my own and then swam steady for the remainder. Times on my own were in and around 1.34, and faster with the group (low 1.20's) as I had feet to draft off.
Run – planned run was changed as ITB still giving problems. Easy running, with a break to stretch and work on ITB.
Wednesday
Fartlek run – good session.
Turbo – 1 hr, repeating builds to all out sprint.
Thursday
Swim – hypoxic sets, drills, pyramid set.
Run – Steady lunch run.
Friday
Rest day – more time working on ITB.
Saturday
Long run – 1hr 45 with hill repeats. Running felt good. Little bit of tightness towards the end, and last mile or two were a little bit of a slog, but good overall.
Sunday
4 hr steady club cycle with hill repeats.
Swim – 3k steady swim was planned, but I struggled with cramp having not drank enough on the cycle. Managed 1k before bailing.
Totals:
Swim: 2hrs 33
Bike: 6hrs 6
Run: 3hrs 49
S&C: 45 mins
Total: 13hrs 13
Monday
4 hr steady solo cycle
Run – Interval set done on treadmill
Tuesday
Tabata intervals followed by 90 minute long run. Had to cut the run short due to ITB issues again.
Some good solid work done albeit hampered by ITB issues. I have an easy couple of days as the remainder of this week is recovery. I’ll spend as much time as possible working on the ITB and hopefully be back to full swing on Monday.0 -
Wednesday
30 minutes easy recovery spinning on the rollers.
Thursday
Swim – 400m intervals and drills
Friday
Swim – joined in with others in the lane as the pool was busy. 50’s and 100’s followed by some steady swimming on my own.
Run – Steady lunch run
Saturday
Run – 1hr on feel – steady
Sunday
Club spin – 4ish hours. The time of year, with open racing underway has meant that the make up of the group has changed over the last couple of weeks – those that are happy to ‘train’ and fit to keep a steady pace with some effort on the hills are gone racing and what’s left are effectively a bunch of lads on a leisure spin. It was most noticeable today and caused a bit of tension in the group. I was a bit annoyed getting home as I want to a) enjoy the spin and b) get proper training. I might end up going out on my own from now on. Had a good session with the foam roller after the spin.
Swim – had a little time so just a quick 30 minutes steady swimming to relax more than anything.
Totals:
Swim: 1hr 56
Bike: 8hrs 53
Run: 3hrs 31
Total 14hrs 190 -
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Monday
Active recovery. Stretching. Foam Roller.
Tuesday
Bike 2hrs 30 – commute to work. Steady.
Run – lunch time negative split <4.10 avg.
Wednesday
Swim – 400’s; drills.
Thursday
Bike 2hrs 30 – commute to work. 3 x 20 minutes zone 3 effort.
Run – interval session.
Friday
Swim – 100’s
Run – lunch time – easy.
Turbo – big gear planned – legs wouldn’t cooperate due to tiredness mainly I think - replaced with easy spinning for an hour. Little guy is cutting his top teeth at the minute and hasn’t been sleeping.
Saturday
Long run – 1hr 45 with hill repeats. Good run
Sunday
Planned day off as we had a christening to go to.
Totals
Swim: 1hr 21
Bike: 6hrs 18
Run: 4hrs
S&C: 45min
Total: 12hrs 240 -
Monday
S&C, foam roller etc.
Swim 1hr 100’s.
Tuesday
2.5hr bike – commute to work – steady.
Lunch time run – interval set.
Wednesday
Easy Lunch Run.
1hr Turbo – 5 x 5 minutes hard.
Thursday
2.5hr bike - commute to work – some intervals.
Lunch time run – negative split under 4:00 pace.
Friday
Swim – 400’s, Drills.
Long run with hill repeats – done way too late at night. Tired.
Saturday – swapped the planned sessions with Mondays rest day as I was wrecked.
Sunday
2hr TT – 73.2k total including small warm down. 36.9km/hr over a flat / rolling route. Can repeat the same route to measure progress. Pacing is something I need to learn a bit better for these longer efforts – I think I might have been a little too conservative on this.
Steady 1hr swim with a few stretches etc.
Totals:
Swim 2hrs 12
Bike 8hrs 38
Run 3hrs 44
S&C 45mins
Total: 15hrs 19 mins.0 -
Sportsman Duathlon – Race 3 - 26th April 2015
‘The Sportsman’s Duathlon is on on Sunday, why don’t you do that for a bit of fun!’ I keep doing this. The reality of how painful racing is always fades after a while. Somehow, despite how horrible you felt last time, your brain starts thinking things like ‘sure that would be a bit of craic’, ‘I’d love to do a race again’. I made the decision to do this race on Friday afternoon. I’ve been training pretty well, and working hard all winter, and I decided it would be good to do something a little competitive. Once I’d signed up, I spent the remainder of Friday and all of Saturday with a building sense of foreboding. By Sunday morning I felt physically sick. Walking to start line at 10am on Sunday morning I was *this close* to taking a detour for a quick vomit. Like I said; ‘bit of fun’.
Run 1
On the start line, despite my nerves I positioned myself at the front. I have found in the past that I tend to underestimate myself at the start of races - positioning myself too far back in the field from the gun leaving me with places to make up before the race has even started. It’s probably more of an issue in swim starts, but either way I was going to start this one right. I’ve worked hard on my running all winter and was keen to show the progress I’ve made. Hell, maybe I’d even be able to go with the front pack from the start (ha ha ha)!
The pace from the gun was crazy. Dessie Foley shot off and opened a sizeable gap straight away. 500 metres down the road my Garmin was reading 3.10 per km and I was losing ground on those around me. ‘Ah, Jesus you’re not at the races at all, man. You’re kidding yourself’. Panic isn’t the right word, but I was certainly feeling a few different things. One half of me was calm – people always go off too fast; run your own race. The other half was, well, not calm – you didn’t warm up enough; you’re sh!te; remember that slice of cake you ate 2 weeks ago?* You’re a fat b@stard.
*This implies I eat less cake than I do. I eat too much cake, and it is most certainly not two weeks since I indulged in gateau.
Not long after majors hollow, as the road levelled off; things were seeming better. The guys who had been pulling away from me only a minute before were starting to come back to me and I started moving up the field. On the uphill back to transition I made up a good few more places, and by transition I was in 3rd.
Bike
The Sportsman’s bike course is brilliant - especially when you’re lucky enough to have a little tail wind on the downhill. As usual I had lost a couple of places in first transition, so the race was most definitely still ahead of me. I rode hard from the outset and with two not too far down the road; I had a rabbit to chase. I caught and passed them shortly after Majors Hollow (I will make no mention of drafting here. None.) and by my reckoning at that stage I’d be in third, or maybe fourth. Into the roundabout at the bottom of the course as the leader was coming out – it soon became apparent that I was actually in 2nd. The rest of the bike was fairly uneventful. I focussed on keeping as aero as possible and pushing as hard as possible. Low, hard and in a man’s gear on the way down; sit back a little, open the lungs and spin the small ring on the way back up. Repeat. I could see that I was making ground on Dessie throughout, but not enough that I’d be in any danger of actually catching him.
Coming into T2 I suddenly remembered that it’s been nearly 6 months since I did any kind of fancy dismount off a bike. I duly messed this one up; smashing my left ankle into the chainring and ended up awkwardly cursing my way through transition, carrying my bike cyclocross style with one shoe still on my bike and one on my foot. If nothing else, I can always be relied upon to look calm, stylish and emit a general sense of being debonair and ‘in control’.
Run 2
Into the run my legs started turning over pretty well straight away and the familiar feeling that my chest might explode felt just about under control. I had been joined in T2 by one other, so the immediate focus was on staying ahead of him and seeing if I could put any time into Dessie in front. While it initially seemed like I might just be holding the gap to Dessie, he soon pulled away, and for the second half of the run he was out of sight. Similarly, when I looked behind – there was no sign of my chaser. The last kilometre or so was a bit surreal. My only company was the sound of my feet slapping the road, and my severely under pressure aerobic system. For the first time in the day, I started to enjoy myself. Hard work pays off. I’m a stronger runner and cyclist than I was last year, and to be able to end a tough training week with a result that would have been sincerely out of my reach 12 months ago is pretty good evidence of that.
Afterwards, I sat around and enjoyed the atmosphere. These races are always well organised and are a real credit to the club. The fact that they are so well attended year in, year out is testament to that fact. This morning, I feel like I’ve been hit by a train. I must have been gurning something serious, because even my face hurts.
Run 1 11:06 (3rd fastest)
Bike 26:40 (2nd fastest)
Run 2 11:52 (joint 3rd fastest)
51:08 (2nd overall)0 -
Race Report – Felda / Setanta 10k Road Race
If there was ever a race that I could call my annual ‘local race’ this is it. It’s organised by my Tri Club and the local gym. The start line is roughly 100m from my front door. It’s hard to find an excuse not to do it each year - I’ve now done it on three separate occasions. As such, it has become a good race for me to see how my training is going as I have plenty of comparable results. It’s also a race I like for a number of reasons; in 2012 I did my first sub 40 minute 10k here; it’s an honest course – flattish but not flat; and the weather is always great. Last year I was pretty happy with my 38:28, and top 10 finish, but something that stuck in my head afterwards was the feeling that I was the best of the ‘not the good runners’. The race had split from the start with all the ‘real’ club runners disappearing up the road. I set myself a goal – in some ways it’s a bit of a soft one as it depends who shows up on the day, but I wanted to come back this year and run with the good runners – to be in the pack that disappeared up the road rather than watch it disappear.
Going to bed on Friday night I set my alarm for 7am – plenty of time to breakfast and prepare in a relaxed fashion for an 11am start. I need not have bothered with the alarm – our teething one year old was more than happy to make sure that Daddy didn’t sleep in – although he might have been a little over enthusiastic – letting a roar at 5am! As usual; race morning wasn’t the relaxed perfect preparation that I had envisaged – but it never is. In any event I managed to get registered, do a little warm up, and be on the start line for 11. Also as usual – I spent the morning back tracking on my expectations for the race. What started the Monday previous as a target of ‘low 37 minutes, maybe even a 36:xx, definitely a PB’ was being downgraded with every excuse I could think of – ‘my legs are a bit sore’; ‘I didn’t get enough sleep last night’; ‘that cycle yesterday was hard’.
I put myself right at the front from the start and hoped that I’d be able to stick with the initial surge of the pack. Except, it never came. I was running in 2nd place behind Brian McCloskey (a real runner). Within a couple of hundred metres I started to doubt myself – I’ve gone off too fast; it’s just adrenaline; you’ll fade any second. Just about the 1km marker I was joined by two others – guys I recognised as being good runners, and consistently faster guys than me. I hit the lap button on my Garmin as we passed the marker and saw 3:30ish – too fast, that has to be too fast. I checked my heart rate – 180 something – too high, that’s definitely too high. I felt alright though… I tucked in to the side of one of my companions and prepared to feel some pain.
The short version of the next 7 or so kilometres is that the three of us ran together (Brian was away in front running his own race – a league ahead as usual) until after the 8km marker. Of course, to a large degree, the real race happens inside your head - mediating between the demons on your shoulder. ‘This is too hard’; ‘These guys are faster than you’; ‘You could back off a little – nobody will know that you went easy on yourself’. The trick – I have found – is not to flat out deny these thoughts, but to compromise with them. ‘One more km’, ‘just wait till we get to the water station’, ‘keep running and you can have some ice cream’.
I’m not sure whether the pace was increased after the 8km marker, or whether I started to slow. Either way, our little cohort started to break up. I could no longer stay on the shoulder in front of me, and I could hear the footsteps behind me getting quieter. The gap continued to grow in front of me, but I wasn’t getting away from 4th. He caught me and I dug in hard to stay with him. I would stay with him until 500m to go and I’d put in one big dig to try and get rid of him. Great plan – except my legs weren’t listening. Passing the 9km marker I put on a burst of speed and put a gap between us. Then I started to tie up and fade badly. He caught me again and I dug in to stay on his shoulder. Rounding the third last corner with 500m or so to go I tried again but I’d spent too much already. I moved in front, but I never really put a gap between us. Into the last bend he made his move and left me for dead. It was all I could do to keep my legs turning. I finished on my hands and knees – literally. It took bit of time before I could manage to even move myself to sit by the wall after the finish. There were some kids handing out water and bananas. The little girl that gave me mine was a bit taken aback that I poured the water over my head.
I got myself a new 10km PB (36:19) for my efforts and I finished 4th. I ran almost two minutes faster than I’ve done before for the distance. I also learned a lesson about digging in and that even when it feels like you’re going as hard as you can go; there’s probably a bit more in there. A bit more experience, and a little less panic in the final km and I might have got third, but regardless - I had a pretty good days work, and I enjoyed my ice cream after.0 -
That's a brilliant read. Love the part about making compromises with your demons! Well done on the pb.0
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Race Report – Felda / Setanta 10k Road Race
If there was ever a race that I could call my annual ‘local race’ this is it. It’s organised by my Tri Club and the local gym. The start line is roughly 100m from my front door. It’s hard to find an excuse not to do it each year - I’ve now done it on three separate occasions. As such, it has become a good race for me to see how my training is going as I have plenty of comparable results. It’s also a race I like for a number of reasons; in 2012 I did my first sub 40 minute 10k here; it’s an honest course – flattish but not flat; and the weather is always great. Last year I was pretty happy with my 38:28, and top 10 finish, but something that stuck in my head afterwards was the feeling that I was the best of the ‘not the good runners’. The race had split from the start with all the ‘real’ club runners disappearing up the road. I set myself a goal – in some ways it’s a bit of a soft one as it depends who shows up on the day, but I wanted to come back this year and run with the good runners – to be in the pack that disappeared up the road rather than watch it disappear.
Going to bed on Friday night I set my alarm for 7am – plenty of time to breakfast and prepare in a relaxed fashion for an 11am start. I need not have bothered with the alarm – our teething one year old was more than happy to make sure that Daddy didn’t sleep in – although he might have been a little over enthusiastic – letting a roar at 5am! As usual; race morning wasn’t the relaxed perfect preparation that I had envisaged – but it never is. In any event I managed to get registered, do a little warm up, and be on the start line for 11. Also as usual – I spent the morning back tracking on my expectations for the race. What started the Monday previous as a target of ‘low 37 minutes, maybe even a 36:xx, definitely a PB’ was being downgraded with every excuse I could think of – ‘my legs are a bit sore’; ‘I didn’t get enough sleep last night’; ‘that cycle yesterday was hard’.
I put myself right at the front from the start and hoped that I’d be able to stick with the initial surge of the pack. Except, it never came. I was running in 2nd place behind Brian McCloskey (a real runner). Within a couple of hundred metres I started to doubt myself – I’ve gone off too fast; it’s just adrenaline; you’ll fade any second. Just about the 1km marker I was joined by two others – guys I recognised as being good runners, and consistently faster guys than me. I hit the lap button on my Garmin as we passed the marker and saw 3:30ish – too fast, that has to be too fast. I checked my heart rate – 180 something – too high, that’s definitely too high. I felt alright though… I tucked in to the side of one of my companions and prepared to feel some pain.
The short version of the next 7 or so kilometres is that the three of us ran together (Brian was away in front running his own race – a league ahead as usual) until after the 8km marker. Of course, to a large degree, the real race happens inside your head - mediating between the demons on your shoulder. ‘This is too hard’; ‘These guys are faster than you’; ‘You could back off a little – nobody will know that you went easy on yourself’. The trick – I have found – is not to flat out deny these thoughts, but to compromise with them. ‘One more km’, ‘just wait till we get to the water station’, ‘keep running and you can have some ice cream’.
I’m not sure whether the pace was increased after the 8km marker, or whether I started to slow. Either way, our little cohort started to break up. I could no longer stay on the shoulder in front of me, and I could hear the footsteps behind me getting quieter. The gap continued to grow in front of me, but I wasn’t getting away from 4th. He caught me and I dug in hard to stay with him. I would stay with him until 500m to go and I’d put in one big dig to try and get rid of him. Great plan – except my legs weren’t listening. Passing the 9km marker I put on a burst of speed and put a gap between us. Then I started to tie up and fade badly. He caught me again and I dug in to stay on his shoulder. Rounding the third last corner with 500m or so to go I tried again but I’d spent too much already. I moved in front, but I never really put a gap between us. Into the last bend he made his move and left me for dead. It was all I could do to keep my legs turning. I finished on my hands and knees – literally. It took bit of time before I could manage to even move myself to sit by the wall after the finish. There were some kids handing out water and bananas. The little girl that gave me mine was a bit taken aback that I poured the water over my head.
I got myself a new 10km PB (36:19) for my efforts and I finished 4th. I ran almost two minutes faster than I’ve done before for the distance. I also learned a lesson about digging in and that even when it feels like you’re going as hard as you can go; there’s probably a bit more in there. A bit more experience, and a little less panic in the final km and I might have got third, but regardless - I had a pretty good days work, and I enjoyed my ice cream after.
Nicely done. Well done0 -
Super! Super!! Super!!! Serious congratulations to you!0
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1,500m swim TT this morning. 23:27. Nearly 2 minutes off my previous best. Of 25:09. Nice little boost coming into race season!0
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Tri-Cootehill Sprint 08th June 2015
With Tri an Mhi CXIII next Saturday on of my big races for the year, I had originally planned to have my first Tri of the year out of the way before now. For various reasons including a race I planned to do not going ahead and logistical problems with others this became my first proper hit out. The race came highly recommended from a clubmate who did it last year, and I can certainly see why. Now having done it I would have no hesitation in recommending the race to anyone at any level in the sport.
As usual, I had my dad as driver and head of the cheerleading committee for the day. My sister also tagged along to see what all this triathlon business is about (she was talking about taking up running on the way home, so there may be a convert in progress!). We arrived in Cootehill with plenty of time to get signed in, set up, and warmed up. Unlike the last couple of events I’ve done, I was able to keep my nerves (relatively) under control - butterflies, but no immediate danger of dry heaving. After feeling a bit rough at the tail end of last week, an easier couple of days had me feeling fresher than I have in a while. I’ve done a lot of work over the winter and have seen improvements in all three disciplines. But I haven’t raced swimming yet so I was keen to see what I could do.
Swim
Water was super calm. A little cold, but not overly so. The course was a straight out and back starting in the water. I was maybe a little slow to get started – the awe inspiring burst of speed before settling into a beautiful streamlined stroke maybe didn’t quite come off like I’d envisaged. However, I felt like I swam pretty strong. After swimming just over half of the distance on my own I found some feet to draft off on the way back. My feeling is that the course was a little long but I messed up the Garmin, so I don’t really have any evidence to back this up other than my time. I came out of the water in 6th in 12:49, just behind the leading lady (whose feet I had been following for the last ~350m). If the course was 750m exactly I’d be disappointed with that, but I have no way of knowing and 6th out of the water sounds pretty decent to me.
T1
I spent a lot of time getting my bleedin’ right foot out of my wetsuit.
Cycle
I have recently acquired a power meter (Stages) which I’m really enjoying using. It’s a great tool for pacing and for looking back over your race afterwards. For some reason the PM didn’t register on my Garmin for the whole ride. I didn’t have much time to worry about it, and the bike was done on feel. The course is probably best described as undulating. There are some nasty little hills, some gentler drags and some lovely fast sections with sweeping bends. I think it would be fair to say that a) it’s my kind of course and b) I bloody loved it. I’ve made a few adjustments to my TT bike set up recently and I’ve also spent a lot more time than I ever have before in tuck. My legs felt great throughout, and I feel like I struck the right balance of being *just* on the edge of pushing too hard. After passing a few on the course I still had no real idea of where I was in the field. At about 19km I could see a bike up ahead accompanied by a car and flashing lights. That must be the lead car, and I must be in 2nd… bike completed in 32:23 – fastest split of the day by 46 seconds. I’ll take that happily.
T2
Coming into transition I could see the leader. As I was racking my bike he was exiting. I’m not sure whether I was told then or after the race, but he had about 30 seconds on me.
Run
Beforehand, in light of Tri an Mhi next week the coach had said to push hard on the swim and bike, and unless I was in the runnings for a good placing to cruise the run. Obviously, there was to be no cruising. The run was a trail run around a very scenic park. There were a couple of little bumps and hills, and one particularly awful climb. It started with an out and back followed by a loop. The out and back obviously gave me a chance to assess where I was. I counted 20 seconds at the turnaround, roughly 1k in, and by 2k I could see that I was putting good time into the leader. On the turnaround I could also see that I had more than 30 seconds on 3rd place, and without wanting to be cocky (and without knowing who he was!) I thought I had a good chance of holding him off. At 3k, I was maybe 10m behind the leader, and for the first time I let myself think “you’ve a decent chance of winning this”. Ha ha ha ha ha. Literally as I thought that I realised that 3rd was closing on me, and pretty sharpish too. As he passed, I tried for a second or two to match his pace, but there was no way it was possible. I’m not even certain that I could have matched it with fresh legs. He ran through both myself, and the (up to that point) leader like we were out for a jog, and disappeared in the tree cover. I moved into second shortly after. We ran together for the last ~2k. I bided my time, and played the sprint far better than at the recent 10k. 18:13 – 2nd fastest run, and 2nd overall.
All in all, I’m pretty happy with the race. I would have liked to get my first proper win, but that’ll come. I was talking to the mother of the guy who won and found out that he a) has a background in running at a fairly high level and b) has Ulster junior medals in swimming. For a guy with a background in cake and cola, I think I’m doing alright for the minute.0 -
Good result chief, going well and it bodes well for Tri an Mhi0
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Makayla Abundant Scoutmaster wrote: »Good result chief, going well and it bodes well for Tri an Mhi
Anything can happen on the day, but at least I can say I've done the training and I'm going into it in good shape.
I see you're back on the bike! Good news.0 -
I got an email during the week from the coach with plenty of bits of advice. One thing was to not hold back and to not be afraid to fail this time round. This was my first half, the big target is Budapest in August, and what better way to learn than to find my limits!
Swim
2 laps around three buoys. Out to the first buoy was against the current and tough going. The next two seemed to go a whole lot quicker. On the way back to shore the first time round, I found some feet. Drafted the rest of the way. Felt like I was pushing hard and swimming strong. Came out of the water along with 2 others. My Dad shouted to me at this stage that I was in 18th. Swim time was 33:29. A bit slower than expected, but there seemed to be a consensus that swim times were slow this year.
T1
1:23. A lot smoother than last week. Got out of the wetsuit at first attempt and out onto the road quick enough.
Cycle
As I've only had the PM a while at this stage, and we're still figuring out my power profile I guess I was told ride by feel. I think I was a bit over excited in the beginning and there seems to have been a few unnecessary spikes. The course doesn't really lend itself well to steady riding either. Nonetheless, I felt good. Pushed hard, and was passing people the whole way. 2:30:13 for the bike. 3rd fastest split overall and it left me in 4th heading out onto the run.
T2
Glasses, socks, shoes, slug of drink. 58 seconds.
Run
Started well with the intention of aiming to hold 4:15 as long as possible and then hopefully upping the pace towards the end. All went to plan until about 6km before my pace started to drop off and I was passed again and again. Some, like Mariusz and Alan Kenny (zico?) would have left me for dead regardless, I'd like to think that others I could have held off. The run became an ever increasing slog. My feeling at the moment is that it was due to not taking on enough water on the bike, and from overdoing sections as well. I ended the run in 1:36:25. A bit disappointing. But I certainly can say that I gave the race a good hit out, and I can learn from my mistakes for next time round.
Overall that was good enough for 4:42:30. 9th overall and (I think) an AG win. As the day has gone on I'm coming round to the idea that I can be pretty happy with that.0 -
Well done RJM, good result out there. How did you find the course? Main thing I remember from it is the short steep hill on the bike and all the hills on the run, didn't seem too bad on the first lap, second lap they nearly killed me. Looks like this sets you up well for the big race.0
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Well done RJM, good result out there. How did you find the course? Main thing I remember from it is the short steep hill on the bike and all the hills on the run, didn't seem too bad on the first lap, second lap they nearly killed me. Looks like this sets you up well for the big race.
Thanks. Yeah, lots of learning to mull over for a bit. At least I have a better idea of what I've let myself in for in August!
The course was tougher than I expected to be honest. I really enjoyed the bike - those kind of courses suit me better than being totally flat or big hills. The steep hill was worse than I was expecting too!
The run felt like it was all uphill to be honest. I'd say that on another day, I'd really enjoy it - but certainly from the start of the second lap on it was survival moreso than anything else.0 -
well done, great result. nice to see the targeted work pay off!!0
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Run
Started well with the intention of aiming to hold 4:15 as long as possible and then hopefully upping the pace towards the end. All went to plan until about 6km before my pace started to drop off and I was passed again and again. Some, like Mariusz and Alan Kenny (zico?) would have left me for dead regardless, I'd like to think that others I could have held off.
That was me alright.
I usually try to grunt some form of greeting when I pass someone, but sorry I didn't know who you were when I passed.
Impressive bike split. Am I right in saying you are a member of Setanta? They seem to consistently produce strong bikers, what's the secret?
And for what it's worth I think the all or nothing approach to racing is sometimes a good race strategy. As you said this was only a B race for you. It was a demanding bike course, cycling 3km less in warmer weather, and on much smoother roads, you can expect to put in a much faster time, for much less effort, in Budapest. You'll be much fresher for the run. If your goal time is still sub 4:30, I'd say it's a bit soft based on how you did in Tri an Mhí.0 -
That was me alright.
I usually try to grunt some form of greeting when I pass someone, but sorry I didn't know who you were when I passed.
Impressive bike split. Am I right in saying you are a member of Setanta? They seem to consistently produce strong bikers, what's the secret?
And for what it's worth I think the all or nothing approach to racing is sometimes a good race strategy. As you said this was only a B race for you. It was a demanding bike course, cycling 3km less in warmer weather, and on much smoother roads, you can expect to put in a much faster time, for much less effort, in Budapest. You'll be much fresher for the run. If your goal time is still sub 4:30, I'd say it's a bit soft based on how you did in Tri an Mhí.
No worries at all - I wouldn't expect you to know me at all. I enjoy following your training on here and copped the tattoos after you passed.
Yeah, there seems to be a fair few strong bikers from round these parts. It's odd because I've never known any of the stronger guys to train together or anything. Setanta as a club does very little group training by comparison to other clubs as far as I can gather. Honestly, to have such a good bike split on Saturday was a pleasant surprise. I knew I was going well relatively for me, and cycling is probably my strongest - but I wasn't expecting that. I did have a bit of a wtf moment realising there were only 3 bikes in t2.
I think with a bit of luck you may be right. Budapest is almost completely flat for the bike and run as I understand it. The coach has also pointed out that while I thought I was pacing myself at 4:15 pace initially on the run, in the heat of the moment I was a lot closer to 4min pace which would have contributed to me fading as well. Going to work a bit on run endurance over the next while, and I've learned a bit about the distance now too. I may be a lot closer than I thought to getting a slot for the 70.3 WC which is something I had in the back of my mind as a medium / long term goal albeit I wasn't really sure how realistic that might be.0 -
Well done to you! If you didn't earn a slot outright, would you take a roll down slot if offered to you to Worlds?0
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Louth / Leinster TT Champs
I'm a little at a loss as to how to write a race report for a 10 mile TT and not have it be boring as f*ck, but at the same time I feel like I've had a relatively significant result that warrants logging.
After Tri an Mhi, the coach sent through a fairly thorough e-mail critique of how i'd done - the basics of which (good swim, very good bike, disappointing run; overall - a lot to be pleased with) I already knew - but with some interesting opinions and insights. Certainly plenty to mull over for the next while. I was prescribed an unstructured 'very easy week' focusing on recovery. The only bit of prescribed training was a turbo session for last night in advance of the TT. "What TT?" *checks training peaks* "ah, that TT. F*ck. I didn't think that one through at all...". I had totally forgotten that I put this in the calendar, and at the point that I was reminded of it any movement that didn't involve bringing food to my mouth felt beyond me.
Anyway. I got on with the week; a couple of very easy swims; a commute on the bike; the aforementioned turbo session. I took things pretty lazy and rationalised that I'm better starting the next 9 weeks to Budapest raring to go than any alternative. By last night I was feeling pretty good about the TT. I gathered up all my gear; checked over the bike etc. and started /half/ looking forward to it.
Sign on was at 6:30 at the gym beside my house. I signed on on my way back from work before getting changed in the house and carting my bike, gear and turbo over shortly after 7. I was happy with the spot I chose as it turned out I got to watch Colm Cassidy (2014 National TT Silver Medalist) prepare - it's always good to see what the guys who really know what they're doing do. I got a decent warm up and felt fresh and pretty ready with about 10 minutes to go. I think the timing of this - a week after Tri an Mhi meant that I didn't really have much nerves to contend with. Go out; go hard. Do my best and see where it got me. In the grand scheme of things this wasn't a target race by any stretch.
It had started a kind of misty rain on my way home from work, and that didn't really let up for the duration. I was off at 8:10, a minute before Cassidy so before I started I knew I'd get caught sooner rather than later. A desire to hold that point off as long as possible was a good motivator. I've mentioned before that I've recently got myself a power meter. We're still figuring out /my/ numbers so I didn't really have a target wattage. I had a max 20 minute power of 340-something from a short 20 minute FTP test I did when I got the meter, and knowing that I consistently test worse than I race I thought that might be a good ballpark to aim for (really, it was more a case of knowing that lower than say, 320 was too low, and higher than something like 370 was too high - after that it was done on feel.
The course is a straight out and back I've done numerous times. It's the local clubs go to TT route, and at least half of my training spins start and end on the stretch of road in some way. If you drive the course, it's pan flat. On a bike, at 40+ kmph, your legs burning, and your eyeballs millimeters from bursting out of their sockets however, there are some deceptive draggy sections. It invariably has a bit of a headwind on the way out. Regardless; 20+ minutes at absolute maximum isn't nice.
I settled into a rhythm fairly quick. I focused on holding my position as aero as possible. Move nothing but my legs unless absolutely possible. I think I managed a fairly decent pass at this - your field of vision during a TT always feels a bit unnatural, but sticking your head in the air too often to see down the road won't do great things for your time! Roughly 4 miles in, Cassidy passed me like a train. The guy is an absolute study in how to approach a TT. Low, narrow, barely moving other than his legs. I managed to sneak a glimpse at his Garmin afterwards - he held 412 watts for 19 minutes 36 seconds. Phenomenal.
At the turnaround, my Garmin showed 11 minutes. Given I had the tail wind on the way back, I figured I could be on for sub 22 if I could hold my power. With 1km to go, I could see I was on for a pretty big PB (previous best 23:28), and at 200m to go I got out of the saddle and sprinted as hard as I could muster. Crossed the line in an official time of 21:38, having held 355w for the full TT - a new 20 minute record. That was good enough for 3rd on the Louth podium, just 18 seconds behind the winner; and would have gotten me 1st on the A3 podium had I taken out a full competition license at the start of the year (not something that was clear when I signed up for the limited competition license so I was a little annoyed for a few moments, but not much I can do about it).
In my eyes, that's a fairly big step up to mixing it with some of the better local lads, and I'm chuffed with the podium.0 -
You are in incredible form. Well done on a fantastic result!0
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Good time on that course, alas my TT bike is still in the attic
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I'm expecting to be a front of pack swimmer from here on in. That's how this stuff works, right?0
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I think to go really really fast you need a pair of these goggles,
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