The difficult second album

joey100

I'd be more interested in the Descents JB, last bit of cycling has shown me that although I should be suited to a hillier course I can't descend, and that's on my road bike, never mind the TT bike.

joey100

Tues 23rd June

Evening bike. Too nice to be sitting on the turbo so out around north county Dublin. Legs felt good, will be hoping for a decent improvement in my FTP on Thursday. Tried to get a few hills in and few descents too. Starting to get a bit better at them but still pretty slow. 5 X 10 second sprints included too, hit above 550 for each of these with 1 or 2 getting closer to 600. Lovely evening for a spin.

Wed 24th June

Morning swim. Yesterday I felt messy in the water but the times where fast, today I felt good in the water and the times were slower. Bit of warm up then main set of 8 X 100m pull off 2 mins. These came in from 1.45-1.48. Fast 50's after this, coming in around 55 seconds. At the moment it's all about time in the water so happy to be in the pool swimming.

RJM85

Did you mention trying some open bike racing previously? That would help with overall bike handling and descending. Descending is just a confidence trick to a large extent.

joey100

Have been thinking about it alright, think part of it is the majority of my bikes are done on the turbo. Need to make a better effort just to get outside on the bike, Have already seen a bit of an improvement so going to just keep it going. Have been going out looking for climbs and trying to keep the speed out coming down them too.

68 lost souls

joey100 wrote: »

Have been thinking about it alright, think part of it is the majority of my bikes are done on the turbo. Need to make a better effort just to get outside on the bike, Have already seen a bit of an improvement so going to just keep it going. Have been going out looking for climbs and trying to keep the speed out coming down them too.

Your around North Dublin these days I believe? Could try a loop around here https://www.strava.com/segments/1353665

Up that segment down the black hills back through Skerries under the bridge up the R127 and repeat.

You'll be taking in this descent as well which is good practice https://www.strava.com/segments/5701283

joey100

Yep, I've been up around them hills alright, haven't come down the hill to the railway bridge yet though, mainly because it's a narrow road! Have been heading towards the Naul direction and using some of the hills around there as well as some around Balrothery. I'll have a look at some of them closer to Ardgillan though and find what's around there.

68 lost souls

Yeah its a narrow enough road down from Ardgillan to the bridge and there is one point where the road gets a little gravely but certainly good practice. I spent the first few weeks of the year on Saturdays doing repeats there. 3-5 repeats of the hill up and back down and then back home.

joey100

Wed 24th June

Evening run. Still building back into it so only half an hour with 5 builds thrown in. Heart rate still a bit higher than it has been and rises quicker on the hills but was good to be out.

Today is the FTP test, if the rain holds off the bike and turbo and fan be moved to the back garden. Current FTP is 230w, hoping for at least 240w but we will see, @60kg that will get me to the magic 4w/kg. I'm hoping to hold above 260w for the 20 mins and around 300w for the 5 min. Again hoping for higher, sort of looking forward to it, won't be happy during it, fingers crossed I am after it!

Solobally8

Looking forward to seeing how the test goes.

joey100

Thurs 25th June

So the rain held off all day until I got home so no choice but to do turbo in the spare room in the house. Window open the whole way, fan about 10 inches from my face, weighed myself (60.2kg) and I was good to go. Legs felt decent, haven't been on the turbo in a while and I usually find first session back on the turbo doesn't go great but was happy with how I felt. Into the first 5 mins, pushed the power, plan had been around 300w but legs were moving well and was averaging around 330. Tried to keep this going, quick look at the time left, I've only done a minute probably set off too hard! Kept it going as best I could, power dropped off a bit but averaged 322 for the 5 mins. Delighted with that, lot higher than I thought, used the next full 10 mins to recover. Heart rate settled nicely and legs began to feel normal around half way through it. Then into the 20 mins test. Like the 5min part I set out probably a bit too hard, but it took a bit longer to bite on this one. Averaging around 270 for the first 10 mins and then it started to hurt. Broke it down into 2 X 5mins to try and trick the brain and then down further into 1 min sections. Last 3 mins were the toughest I've had on a bike. Average for the 20 mins was 266w, so a bit above what I was aiming for and not a huge drop off from the start. Pleased with how it went, 5 min power was well up. 20 min power was decent and it's getting higher so all moving in the right direction.

My FTP tests this season so far

1st one; 11th November (@62.3KG) 5 min -- 275w
20 min -- 242w

2nd; 24th March (@61.7KG) 5 min -- 297w
20 min -- 240w (Was week after
Honeymoon)

3rd; 25th June (@60.2KG) 5 min -- 322w
20 min -- 266w

So a good upward trend with the 5 min improving more than the 20 min. Pleased with how it went though, probably the furthest I have pushed myself in any FTP test. Legs were still shaking about 15 mins after it. Pleased with how I settled after it too, could spins the legs fairly ok and was holding decent power with it feeling easy. New FTP around 253w which puts me around 4.2w/kg. Overall the number is still a bit low but I'm probably never going to put out huge power anyway. 5 min power was around 5.4w/kg, would love that as my FTP!!

Kurt_Godel

Nice one Joe it certainly sounds like you toughed it out! The brain tricks sound familiar... the last few minutes of an FTP test when you're screaming at the watch to tick over every second... time stands still!

pgibbo

Nice progress!!! :cool:

68 lost souls

Well done, some great progress there. I really need to start upping my game.

Solobally8

Great test! Well done. Must be very rewarding to see the progress

shotgunmcos

Hey good work on the FTP progress

On the LD race if you want time then go for smooth continental roads. Roth was particularly quick good for minimising rolling resistance. It had a couple of hills too.

Re: descending. I'd recommend a spot of MTBing over the winter. Skill up on descending fast trails and road descents will be a breeeze in the summer

Dory Dory

Awesome job on that test and on your progress. Well done!

joey100

Cheers folks, pleased with the test and shows things are going the right direction.

Fri 26th June

Early morning swim. Can't really remember the set now but the legs were heavy and tired after the FTP test.

Sat 27th June

Out on the road bike for a spin. Easy 2 and a half hours. Legs at times felt great and other times felt like nothing left in them. Still a bit heavy overall but a great morning for a spin and covered around 70km in the time with about 800m of climbing.

Sun 28th June

First long run in a few weeks now. Usually keep the pace consistent enough on these but wasn't smooth today. Pace ranged a good bit, any wind or hill and the heart rate rised. Legs felt good through the whole run though so that was a positive. 1hr easy, 20 steady, 10 easy. Covering around 19km overall.

Mon 29th June

Early morning swim. Bit of a mix of stuff this morning. Kicking, pull and swimming. Easy 100's coming in around 1.44, mod around 1.37. 200's with pull around 3.35 and a 400 easy around 6.35. Arms were feeling it today. If the weather is as good as it's meant to be this week I'm going to try get an open water swim in this week too. Try to bump up the swimming distance a bit.

joey100

Mon 29th June PM

Easy evening run. Legs were bit tired after Sundays long run but surprisingly the pace for this was faster, getting closer to what it was a few weeks ago. Heart rate not as quick to climb and when I did go up a hill seemed to hover around the high end of easy. Pace was around 4.35 and covered around 8.7km in 40 mins. Another warm evening for running too.

joey100

Tues 30th June

Evening turbo. Moved the turbo outside for this, was worth the hassle. Too nice to be sitting in and having looked at the session wasn't something I thought I could replicate on the roads. Plan was warm up then 5 X (4@115%,4rec). I knew before I started that this was going to be tough. 115% is 290w so was aiming to hold just above this, plan said between 115-120% but with it being the first session since the FTP test thought it was better to aim for the lower end and build as they went if I felt good. Held just above for all of them. Power not very consistent though and there was some wide spreads across the 4 mins, ranging from 270's to 320's. More I do of these the better I will get at holding it consistent and should help the legs.

Wed 1st July

Morning swim. Bit of a mixture of stuff this morning again. 100's swim,,100's pull, fast 20's, lots of different stuff. Bit messy in the water and had to work hard enough to get decent times. Even with all that though it was an enjoyable session. Hoping to get a swim in this evening in open water, wetsuit is in the car and hopefully heading straight to the beach after work.

joey100

Wed 1st July

Open water swim never happened, got to the beach and the tide was out, miles out. Bit late getting out of work too so the mind wasn't really feeling it either. Ran home to get my run in, 40 mins easy with 5 X 20 seconds fast, 40 recovery. Pace was decent again, heart rate a little jumpy but nothing too bad. Legs were feeling the turbo from Tuesday but a good pace on tired legs for my easy zone.

Thurs 2nd July

Bit of a change from the normal and had a lunch time run. 30 mins easy. Garmin wasn't playing ball so started with it still searching for satellites. Heart rate took about 10 mins to kick in and had 1km on the watch were it said I ran a 5 min kilometre, was no where near it, pace before and after was around 4.35 and was kept consistent. Not sure what was up with it but hopefully it's a once off. Nice break from work.

joey100

Thurs 2nd July PM

Evening cycle. Another lovely evening here and carrying on with my trying to get out on the bike as much as possible and away from the turbo. One of them evenings when everything seems easy. Maybe it was because it wasn't as hard as the turbo on Tuesday or maybe it was just because my legs are starting to come good. Pace was good, power at upper end of easy zone and everything felt so easy. Climbing was good, descending was good, good speed on the flats. Really enjoyable spin. Around 37km done in around 1.15.

Fri 3rd July

Morning swim. Longer set this morning. Main bit being 3 X 300m pull off 6, coming in around 5.20 except for the second one when I miscounted and done 40m too much. Last time I done these I'm pretty sure I was around 5.40's so a decent improvement there. Very aware of how the body was moving through the water and moved quickly to try and stop any snaking. After this was 6 X 100m off 2, these were to be done moderate so not flat out and consistent. Came in around 1.34 for these and never felt under huge pressure. Still don't feel like I'm swimming great but it's going the right direction. First time in a while where I have had 3 proper swim sessions in a week and feel better for it.

Kurt_Godel

Yeah 3 sessions a week or you're going backwards. Nice swimming.

Whats up for next race?

RacoonQueen

pointer28 wrote: »

I know nothing but Kalmar in Sweden looks beautiful.

mossym wrote: »

reporting this so a couple of the mods here have to read it

(nothing wrong with your post, private joke with the mods )

Digging up the old stuff here Joey...I had a look at Kalmar when I saw shipmytribike go there. Would like to do that one...seems a bit messy to get to though.

Challenge have just announced one in Venice too Joey...
"Fancy a romantic weekend in Venice for the June bank holiday next year love?"
"Joey that sounds fab, you're the greatest"
*6 months later*
"Oh look at that, there's an Ironman in Venice while we'll be over there, sure I might as well do it"
":mad:"

joey100

Kurt next race is pulse aquathon next Thursday, after that Caroline Kearney and Dublin City and then Tri an Mhi sprint. I'd say that will be enough for this season. Looking forward to getting a full winters training this year, pleased with where I am now and had 2/3 months that weren't ideal over the winter, so bodes well if I could get a full winters training behind me.

RQ, I like that thinking and Venice is somewhere she would love to go. She's been having a look at a few herself, just to check out where they are and the choices and Barcelona is currently winning, but that might change if new races are announced or locations changed.

joey100

Sat 4th July

Long cycle. Took the TT bike out for this, plan was 1hr easy, 40 tempo, 20 threshold and 30 easy. Was moving well on the bike, legs felt good. Tempo was no problem to hold the power in and felt comfortable throught, threshold was a bit tougher, didn't help that the part of the county I was in was a lot of downhill but looking back the NP was well within the zone. Lovely morning to be out, Covered around 80km in 2.25. Nice considering 1hr 30 of that was well within my easy zone.

Sun 5th July

Have got into the habit of doing my runs early and have been enjoying them. Didn't happen today with the weather, had to go in evening instead. 1hr easy, 20 steady, 10 easy. Wasn't until the steady section taht the heart rate settled down a bit, was a bit jumpy before that, rose a bit on any incline, not hugely but enough to notice, pace was a bit slower but there isn't really a flat piece of road on the run so hard t judge a consistent pace. Around 19km done in 1.30. Legs were grand, only got tired around the last 10 mins.

joey100

Mon 6th July

Early morning swim. Tough to get up this morning but talked myself into it. Warm up in the pool and then into 6 X 60m descending 1-3, fast 4-6. Times were a bit out on these. Coming in around 54 seconds for the fast. Then into 10 X 120m (Had to do 120m so the pull would be on the right end of the pool), alt sw/pull with 10 sec recovery. Swims came in between 1.48-1.54, 1.48 was first one and too fast. Pull's came in around 2.05. Bit messy in the water but there was times I was moving really well. Seem to be getting bit better and higher in the water, even if it was only for short bits. 4 X 60m fast to finish coming in around 54 seconds again. Glad I got up and got to the pool, getting into a routine now and I'm starting to see a little bit of form returning in the pool. Consistency is king.

Planned aquathon this Thursday is off the list. Swim and run aren't in a good enough place and with the knock on effect from racing I would prefer the few days training. Wasn't looking forward to it at all and feel like I've a bit of pressure off now, (pressure I was putting on myself, not from anyone else). Have to keep in mind the bigger picture, Dublin City. It's about getting there in the best shape I can and that means keeping the training as consistent between now and then as I can.

joey100

Mon 6th July PM

Evening run. 45 mins easy. At times it felt very easy and other times it didn't really. Nothing much to note really, around 10km covered in about 46 mins.

joey100

Tues 7th July

Tough turbo planned for the evening. Left work early-ish to get home and fed before it. Got to the train station and all trains were delayed, not too bad, plenty of time to get home. Then we heard all trains were suspended because a truck had crashed into the level crossing in Sandymount. Wasn't ideal, meant walking into town, grabbing something quick to eat and then a bus home. Didn't get home until nearly 9 o'clock and wasn't really in the mood for the turbo but have been keeping the training going well so didn't want to miss it. Warmed up and wasn't feeling great from the start. Plan was 5 X 5mins @290, 4 recovery. Got through the first one ok, 2nd power dropped to just over 285, 3rd power dropped again to just over 280. Started the 4th and after about a min and a half I was struggling to hold over 250. Stopped after 2 mins and changed the last 2 X 5 to 5 X 2 and tried to hold over 280 for these. Just about did and legs were gone by the end. Even the easy bit at the end was a lot lower than usual. Tough session on the bike, would have liked to have given it a better go but just had nothing in the legs.

Wed 8th July

Early morning swim. Main set being 15 X 100m best consistent effort off 2. Tried to push these a bit more than I have been swimming recently. Apart from 2 that came in at 1.31 the rest were either 1.30 or 1.29. Not bad swimming, Swim in a 20m pool so 5 lengths is 100m. Across these I stayed strong enough for 2 lengths, started to feel it the next length and a bit and then the last length or so was just about holding the stroke as best I could. Pleased with these, done tired and happy with the pace. No one else in the pool so no drafting and was consistent. Still not swimming great so to be hitting them times is decent. Feel the times will drop more and more as I get fitter and stronger in the pool.

joey100

Wed 8th July

Evening run. Easy 45 mins again, pace bit better tonight, heart rate a tiny bit higher but whole thing felt comfortable.

Thurs 9th July

Easy 1hr 15 min spin on the TT bike, was a lovely evening and was in no rush home so took around 1hr 30 mins. Trying to get more comfortable on the bike so going to use it as much as possible. Power was kept easy and speed was decent enough. Out and back course, around 24km out with wind behind me and then back home into the wind. Legs felt better for it,

Fri 10th July

Early morning swim. Warm up then into 5 X 320m off 6.10. Alt sw/pull. Came in at 5.08, 5.11, 5.08 for the swims and 5.40's for the pull. Decent times and starting to see improvements in my swimming. 6 X fast 60's, all in around 51, 52 seconds so was moving well. Another good week in the pool, hopefully it carries on!!

joey100

Bit of catching up to do

Fri 10th July PM

First tougher run session ina while. 8 X 400m hard with 200m recovery. These where tough, pace dropped a little bit on the 400's and the 200's as it went on but happy that it was a hard effort throughout.

Sat 11th July

Long spin on the bike. Tried a new route that had a few of the same loop that was flat enough to try and hit my targets. Plan was 1hr easy, then 3 X (15 tempo, 5 threshold, 10 easy). Went well and was only a bit below the threshold on the very last interval. Covered just under 90km in 2.35 so was going well and legs were feeling decent.

Sun 12th July

Down in Laura's parents for the weekend so long run down there. Don't know the area too well so best way to run was to turn left out of the house and keep going. Plan was for 1hr 30 mins easy. Down around 1hr 25, just because I ran out of road. Didn't watch pace too much, no point really, they live on the side of Mount Leinster so the road is constantly up and down, but seemed to be more up than down! Heart rate a little high at times but overall a good run.

Mon 13th July

An easy swim. Didn't bring the watch because I have a tendency to chase times when I do. Everything kept easy and felt good in the water.

Tues 14th July

Early morning open water swim with Peter Kern. Good session and got good practice swimming through the group and trying to draft. Good session. Not a huge distance swam overall but good to get into open water.

Wed 15th July

Evening turbo. same session as last week. Went even worse than last week. Couldn't even do two of the 5 mins @115%. Annoyed at myself that I couldn't do it and if I'm honest doesn't do the confidence much good about my bike.