The difficult second album

joey100

Mon 28th April

Evening easy run. The first run in a while where I felt like I was actually running and not fighting it as much. Pace was good and heart rate even better. Few different loops from the house so decided to do the tougher one just for a change of scenery really. However it worked out I seemed to be running into the wind downhill and have it behind me on the uphills. Meant the pace looks better than it normally would have been. Covered 10km in around 46.30 and heart rate was in middle of easy zone so a good run overall.

joey100

Tues 29th April

Evening turbo session. The same session as last week so had a good idea of what was ahead. Was a tough session last week so was expecting it to be tough again. Legs were bit dead/tired from the start and held around 1w lower each interval but the recoveries weren't as low so in the end I equalled last weeks 1hr power record. Not as bad as last week and much more in control.

Wed 30th April

Early morning swim. The usual warm up and broom work and then into main set of 8 X 200m with 20 seconds recovery. For my 100's last week I held 1.36 so I was thinking that the times would be around 3.16 this week. Wasn't far wrong, first was 1.36, last was 1.37 and the rest were around 1.34. Pleased with this swim, concentrated on the stroke much better and much more aware of any snaking and crossing over. When I get tired I throw my right arm over a bit and it has a habit of crossing. Really concentrated on keeping it wide of centre line today and seemed to work well. After this was 4 X 60m fast off 70, coming in at 52,53,54 and 54.

zico10

What's this broom work?

And you've had your dates mixed up for the past week.:cool:

joey100

Ah I always get the dates wrong!

You use a broom or piece of plastic around 30 cm long, hold it in one hand as you do catch up drill and pass it to the other hand. Both hands should be on either edge of it. Gets you used to what it feels like to swim with a wider hand entry and helps you realise when your arms are crossing over when your swimming without it. Seems to be working for me, lot more aware of where my hands are entering and how they are entering.

pgibbo

joey100 wrote: »

For my 100's last week I held 1.36 so I was thinking that the times would be around 3.16 this week. Wasn't far wrong, first was 1.36, last was 1.37 and the rest were around 1.34.

1:36 & 1:37 is very impressive for 200s

mossym

3:16 200's. pretty much snap on my times this morning. i think is excellent swimming joey, well done

joey100

Ah it's too early in the morning for me to be recording times and dates!

That should have been 3.16 and 3.17., with the rest being around 3.14.

The right numbers where there, just in the wrong order.

joey100

Wed 29th April

Evening run. Was pretty windy out so not sure how accurate the paces where. Plan was 15 easy, 10 steady, 10 mod, 10 easy. Easy averaged around 4.45, steady around 4.08 and mod around 3.52 so pleased with how it went. Heart rate never hit the high part of the zones and even though the legs where tired they felt decent. Covered 10km in around 43 mins so was moving well. Pleased with how quick the heart rate dropped after the 10 mod and how easy the easy paces felt.

Kurt Godel

joey100 wrote: »

Sat 6th Dec

Planned long easy spin on the bike. All set to use the road bike and new to me power meter. All was going well until about an hour in and I was coming round a corner and the back wheel slid out on me. Could feel it happening but not much I could do. Hit the ground and took a bit of a smack. Hip was bruised and managed to take bit of chunk out of right knee using the handlebars. Everything else felt ok then, hands a bit sore but not too bad. Decided to go on a bit and see how I felt, route had a few points to turn off if I wanted. Didn't get far when I decided to go for home. Couldn't use the front brake and hand and wrist was sore. Was more in my mind about my hip and knee but Sat night I couldn't sleep as my wrist got sorer and sorer. Went to the local VHI swift care centre on Sunday morning and turns out I've fractured my left wrist. 1 week in a half cast and then into the fracture clinic and probably looking at another 6ish weeks in a cast. Isn't too sore now and swelling going down a bit. I'm off work for the week and will take another day or two off and then I should be ok to use the turbo. Fingers crossed by weekend I'll be running again, even if it's only slowly. The swim will suffer though. I'd be targeting late season races anyway so hopefully won't have too much of an impact. Will just have to get the run and bike good enough to compensate for the swim over the next few weeks!

Brilliant swim numbers recently. This log is a good read on how to manage training (and the head) when dealing with injury.

joey100

Cheers Kurt, but wouldn't agree with me being good with dealing with injury! I rushed back a bit too soon, didn't realise the full effect that it would have on my body and recovery. Didn't do any lasting damage but probably done a bit too much. I'd say the main reason I recovered well was because of the break I took around the wedding, and had no choice around that!

On the plus side though the fitness does come back quicker than it took to build it in the first place. Consistency is key.

joey100

Thurs 30th April

Evening turbo session. Easy 1hr 15 mins. Nothing too remarkable about the session, little bit higher power than same session last week and little bit higher heart rate. Legs felt decent and kept cadence in mid to low 70's.

On a more interesting note, to me at least, I got a present of a lovely new set of Oakleys today.

http://www.oakley.com/en/mens/sunglasses/sport-sunglasses/jawbreaker/polarized-jawbreaker/product/W0OO9290P?skuCode=OO9290-07

Bit of an 80's style and very big but very cool too!

Fri 1st May

Morning swim session. Stupidly forgot my watch for this, so only had the pool clock to work off which is just a normal clock on the wall so not the easiest to see. Used it more for recoveries than timing the intervals. Main set being 3 X 300m pull then 6 X 100m swim off 2.00. Gave myself around 20 seconds rest for each of these. Felt ok in the water, no real idea of times but was moving ok.

mossym

belated happy birthday due then?

joey100

No that was months ago, just a present! I'm a lucky fella! Have a thing for Oakley sunglasses, never had a pair of proper ones until a few years ago but have a nice little collection now. Seen them around last years Tour de France and have been keeping an eye on them since. Managed to get the Cavendish ones with the new prizm lenses, not sure if I will wear them during races but you never know, didn't think you could look anymore stupid when your wearing a tt helmet but these push that a bit.

mossym

love oakley's myself, but the steelframe casual glasses for non cycling use more my style, never warmed to the big wraparound ones they have

joey100

Fri 1st May

PM. Evening run. Bit of a warm up then into 6 X 4 mins @faster than 3.50 pace with 2 mins recovery. Second one of these was up hill and into the wind but the rest weren't too bad. Pace for slower one was 3.50 and the rest around 3.45. Heart rate around 172 for each of these so right in the mod zone. Legs felt decent too.

Sat 2nd May

Wasn't going to get out on the bike with the weather so the turbo it was. Similar session as last week, 1hr warm up, then 4 X 20 mins @210 watts with 5 recovery and then 20 easy. Normal cadence for the first two and bit of a lower cadence for the second two. New 90 min, 120 min, 150 min and 180 min records on the turbo so a good overall session.

After this was straight out onto a run. 10 mins mod. Pace for first of these was 3.50, next one was uphill and into wind and pace dropped off a bit around 4.18, next 2 mins done at 3.50 again as it leveled off a bit. Cut the cool down short becuase of the weather, didn't fancy staying out for 10 mins in the rain so done enough to get me home, around 4 mins.

Sun 3rd May

Up early and out before the rain. Long run today, 1 hr easy 30 steady, 10 easy. Picked new route for thsi to save me having to run back on myself a few times. Bit of a tougher route but the legs weren't feeling it from the start. Pace was around 10 seconds slower per kilometre on the easy bits and around 12-17 seconds slower on the steady bits. Heart rate was towards the higher end of the zones too with the heart rate slow to come back down. Not too surprised though, been a tough enough two weeks training with this weekend being tough too. Covered 21.1km in just under 1hr 42 mins.

joey100

Mon 4th May

Had a bit of free time in the morning so got out on the bike for a long spin. Plan was for at least 2.5hours and keeping it easy. Tried a new route and found some decent hills, plenty around North county Dublin I still haven't cycled. Altogether around 96km done in just under 3.5 hours. Legs felt strongest they have on the bike in a long while. Had planned to try get an open water swim in in the afternoon but the day got away from me, curtain and bed sheet shopping meant no time for sea swimming.

MD1983

joey100 wrote: »

Mon 4th May

curtain and bed sheet shopping meant no time for sea swimming.

i feel your pain ;-)

joey100

What's even worse than that is how much they cost! But I have been informed that they are bargains and are usually a lot more expensive. Wish that would work on bike gear......

catweazle

joey100 wrote: »

What's even worse than that is how much they cost! But I have been informed that they are bargains and are usually a lot more expensive. Wish that would work on bike gear......

Wait until you have to buy a pram if you want to see cost

tunney

catweazle wrote: »

Wait until you have to buy a pram if you want to see cost

Prams can be expensive, prams can be relatively cheap.

The things that go in them though............

joey100

Tues 5th May

Another bike session. Legs were feeling decent all the day but had a feeling they would be feeling it once I sat on the bike. And I was right. Tired legs from the start. Plan was bit of a warm up then into 4 X 8 mins @250w with 4 recovery. Similar session done the last 2 weeks and that was 6 mins@250w so knew this would be tougher. Legs bit dead for the first one and hit around 252w, each interval after this got steadier and steadier, even though the legs were tired once they got through that initial bit they felt relatively ok. Next 3 were 253,254 and around 258 (bit of push for the last one). Felt decent getting off the bike, good session. New 1hr record too and not too far off 20 min and 30min power records so bike is definitely going the right way.

Wed 6th May

Plan was for a swim this morning but had to meet the solicitor before work about the house so swim is moved to tomorrow. Easy run tonight, glad it's just an easy one and nothing hard.

joey100

Wed 6th May

Evening run. Plan was for 45 min easy run, heart rate monitor was dead, no signal from it at all so had to be done by pace. I've a fair idea where I should be at different points at the run by time so wasn't too bad to keep this easy. Legs started off well but were bit tired by the end. Stayed out a bit longer and done just over 10km.

Thurs 7th May

The morning swim session I missed on Wednesday. Bit of a warm up then into main set of 4 x 400m with 20 seconds recovery. Wasn't sure what pace these would be, judging by some recent 200's I was hoping to hold around 6.35 pace. Pace came in at 6.43,6.35,6.36,6.38. Not too bad but if I'm honest I was hoping for faster times. Lack of time in the pool showing in them times. Plenty of time to fix it though. Feeling it by the end of the session and the 4 X60m fast came in around 55 seconds each.

joey100

Thurs 7th May

Evening turbo. It's one of them weeks when all the electrical stuff seems to be playing up. Plan was for an hour and fifteen easy. Heart rate monitor still not working, settled at around 140 and didn't move then around 88 and didn't move. Will pick up a new battery for it today and hopefully that will sort it out. After 1hr 5 mins the garmin died too, thought there was plenty of battery left in it but turns out there wasn't. Just kept spinning for the last ten mins then to make up the time. Power for the hr and 5 was around 173 watts.

Fri 8th May

Morning swim. Not used to swimming two mornings in a row and the arms where feeling it. Bit of a warm up then main set of 400m sw, 4 X 100 pull and band, 300m sw, 3 X 100m pull and band, 200m sw, 2 X 100m pull and band, 100m sw and 100m pull and band. All the times were pretty bad this morning. Just one of them times when the swim doesn't seem to be working. Done around 3km in total and arms were really tired by the end.

mossym

one thing, when you take out the old battery, turn it upside down and put it back into the battery slot. kills any residual charge in the electronics, essentially doing a factory reset on the hr strap. leave in for a few seconds, then put in the new one and good to go

joey100

Fri 8th May

Evening run session. I've started to try doing my tougher run sessions, usually Fri evening ones, with no music. I use the music to distract myself from how I'm feeling, not sure this is the best idea, Think I need to know what it feels like to run at these paces and get an idea of how hard I can run without it wrecking me. Anyway, had been raining all day but have been on a decent training run recently so made sure I was going to get out. Only problem was I'd normally do this before dinner but after waiting for the rain to stop had to have dinner before I done this, not ideal. Bit of a warm up then into 6 X 5 mins at 3.50 min kilometre pace. First 2 of these were tough enough still hit the times though. Next 4 were much better, the legs woke up a bit and these all came in around 3.45 pace. Tough session and legs feeling it by the end.

Sat 9th May

Another long turbo with a run off it. 3hr 20 min on the turbo, main bit being 3 X 30 mins at 92% with 10 recovery. First of these was around 218, then 222 then 226 so was very pleased with how they went. FTP is around 230 from last test but would reckon that has risen since. New 90 min, 2hr, 2.5hr and 3hr records too. After this straight out into 10 mod, 10 easy run. Covered 2.74km in first 10 mins and was moving well, legs tired but was able to keep the pace up. Legs were fried after this session, been a long while since my legs had been that tired after training.

Sun 10th May

This was done early to try and miss the rain that was forecast for the day. Wind was a bit of a killer though. Legs were still pretty tired when I got up but headed out. Plan this week was 1hr 15 easy, 15 steady, 10 easy very similar to last week except last week I had 30 mins steady. Wasn't running well the week before and covered 21.1km in 1hr 42mins. Covered the same distance today in 1hr 39mins with more of it being in the easy zone and a fairly lower heart rate overall. Legs were tired for the whole thing and even though it was all easy it was tougher towards the end.

So a good 3 week training block done. Took a lot of confidence from this week especially, a good fast run off a 3hr 20 min turbo and a decent, for me, paced half marathon the next day, mainly in easy zone. Carlow this weekend now, and even though I wouldn't have minded another block of training before it (but I reckon we always think that) I feel in decent shape going into it. Got all the race blurb last night and looks like I'm in the second wave, not too much waiting around so, but a lot of the faster lads (well the names I recognise anyway) are in wave 1. Would have liked to have been in there with them but in reality makes no real difference to my race. Like to think I could go sub 1.07, but will see on the day. Nice week ahead of me, nothing too long but some tough enough stuff in it.

mossym

nice work there Joey. run pace is looking good.

joey100

Cheers Mossy, yeah feel like it's coming on well. Hard to know though, usually by this time of year I'd have done a 5km race, and a few duathlons to get an idea of pace. Only have the one sprint tri done so far and wasn't the best prepared for that. Plan is to aim for 3.50 pace for the weekend so we will see.

joey100

Monday 11th May

Plan was for a swim but I never got up, no excuses, just rolled over and went back to sleep. Not a good start to the week!

Tues 12th May

Turbo session in the evening. Not too long at under an hour but looked tough enough. Main part was 5 X (5mins @ above 260 watts, 1 easy). Held these well and built through them all. Lowest was 262 and built up to around 272. Set new 10 min - 264w, 15min - 259, 20 min - 257 and 30 min - 254 records. Not sure but I would like to think that if I were to do an FTP test it would be above 255 which would put me just above 4w/kg and getting closer to goal power for Dublin.

Wed 13th May

A swim that I actually got up for. Not too long a session today. Main bit being 4 X 60m descending on 1.10. Tried to have a wider range of times than I usually would have for this. Felt in better control of pace and last one was fastest I have gone in a while. Next was 5 X 100m above race pace with 30 second recovery. Wasn't too sure of race pace so just pushed it for the 100m. Not flat out but not too far off, held around 1.28 pace for these. Fastest I have gone consistently in a while. Maybe it's because I'm fairly well rested, having the Sunday run early in the morning and a Monday off and then Tuesdays session in the evening means it felt like a long time with no training. I was in the middle lane in the pool today, usually right beside the wall (sheer wall that goes from floor to roof at side and one end) maybe this is part of the reason I went a bit faster. Either way doesn't really matter, bit of a confidence booster for Sunday.

joey100

So most of last week after Wed was a bit of a write off, got the keys for the house and spent Thurs, Fri and Sat moving and unpacking. Still got a bit of training done but wasn't too confident going into the race. Legs were tired from lifting boxes and moving furniture and hadn't got much sleep. But still, the training was done and hopefully I could make it through the race ok. Sunday morning drove down to Carlow for the race, down nice and early, set up in transition and went for a bit of a warm up. Legs didn't feel great on the bike but felt good on the run. Plenty of big names down there too, was going in wave 2 so wouldn't see many of them too often but just meant I had to keep pushing until the end, no slacking off at all.

Swim 11.58

As mentioned in other places the swim was changed to a 1km downstream swim. Not going to go into details about it. Positioned myself well, over on river right and near the front. Started well but didn't have the sprint speed to go with the faster lads at the start. Tried to swim smart and went from feet to feet, started passing most out around 400m into the swim and was getting into a rhythm. Ended up around 6th out of the water in my wave and drafted the whole thing. Swam a relatively straight line and was surprised at the weaving about of some of the other swimmers, some where nearly over the left bank at times when the exit was on the right. And the water was absolutely freezing! I couldn't feel my feet about half way down the course, normally wouldn't be too bad with cold water, a childhood spent kayaking has seen to that.

T1 1.35

Less said about this the better really, missed my rack, again. Even though I walked transition a few times I missed it. Then had bit of hassle closing the helmet with cold hands and then struggled getting into the bike shoes, think this came out of bike time though.

Bike 34.09

So a slow start to the bike, but once I got going I made up a bit of ground. Flat for around the first 4km out then the climbing started. Not a huge climb but enough to know you where going uphill. Legs started well but faded a bit as it went on, seem to struggle to put out power in the aero position a bit. Got to the turn around and pushed it back. Normally wouldn't be the best at descending but this was grand. Decent surface, nice wide open road with no tight bends. Passed a few going downhill which is strange for me and kept the pace up as best I could. After it levelled out I tried as best I could to keep the power going. Got off the bike looking forward to the run.

T2 0.39

Much better than T1, nice and quick.

Run 19.05

Plan was to hold 3.50 pace which would bring me in for 19.10. Legs were feeling good and was surprised where heart rate was for the pace. Kept it as comfortable as possible, few tight bends slowed the course down a bit and a bit of a narrow section along the river bank held me up once or twice but no real complaints. Legs felt good and was happy with how I was going. I constantly aimed at people in front of me and tried to pick them off. Think I paced the run well too, not much of a sprint left in the legs by the end but very pleased with the overall time for it.

Overall 1.07.26 and 18th place

Was much better prepared going into this race than TriLaois and it showed. Even with the less than ideal run up I was confident of going sub 20 on the run and was probably hoping for a bit of a better bike if I'm honest. I was passed by one person on the bike and no one on the run so I was definitely moving well. I beat some people who when I seen their names on the start list would have recognised them as being fast and Cat 1 athletes. Few easy and silly seconds lost in T1 and getting onto the bike but overall pretty pleased with the race. Swim needs more work, just didn't have the speed to go with the fast lads at the start but did catch them as it went on. Happy with the run, especially how it felt and how I dealt with it. Another 3 weeks now until Crooked lake triathlon and then a bit of a training block before my 2 Olympics. Feeling good about my run and bike and know that with more time in the water the swim will come on a bit.

A great race, well organised and very enjoyable. Only two small things I would have changed would be the number supplier, huge amount of them fell apart or the ink rubbed off, inside of my wetsuit is covered in paper. Other small thing would be some water on the run, no water stations. Not the warmest day I know but nice to have a water station to break up the run a bit. Other than that a very well ran race. Will definitely be looking at going back next year.

pgibbo

Nice going and congrats on the house move. :cool: Did you hit the numbers on the bike?