The difficult second album

joey100

Right so the race is over and have had a few days off work to recover. Legs still not right but getting there. A bit of a race report, I'll use this for myself to remember mistakes I made so it might be a bit long!

Got over to Nottingham on the Thursday, racing on Sunday and just took it easy for the few days really. Figured out the swim and run course and done some short bike and run sessions on the Friday and Saturday. There was a sprint race on on the Saturday so didn't get a swim in before the race but no real problems. Registered and briefing on the Saturday. Found out that the swim had to be moved down the lake a little bit because of some algae growing and would mean a longer run to T1 from the swim but at least the full swim was going ahead. Decent dinner the night before and bike prepped nice and early. Good nights sleep beforehand and up nice and early to give myself plenty of time to get sorted. Was staying on a campsite right beside the venue so meant I had a 3/4 min walk to transition the morning of the race so everything was nice and relaxed.

Swim 30.20

Got a decent start in the swim and was moving pretty well. Aimed for feet the whole way and most of the time was on good ones. Had the watch set up to vibrate every 600m just to give me an idea where I was on the course. Splits were pretty consistent, middle split probably the fastest and matched when I was on the best feet, lost these a bit though on the back straight and the pace dropped a bit. Average pace around 1.35/100m. Got out feeling like I had done a bit of work without feeling wrecked. A good set up for the race.

T1 2.32

A long run to T1 so not as long in transition as it looked. In and out with no real fuss. Had a spot right next to the mount line so took the time to put my shoes on rather than mount without them and get into them on the move. Worked well, was a narrow enough first few km and I passed a few people struggling to get into their shoes.

Bike 2.35.27 (35.2kmph, NP 200 , AP 190)

Settled well into the bike at the start and straight away got to passing people. Route was straight forward enough. Legs were feeling good and power to effort was very good. Splits were set up for the every hour and then the remaining time. Consistent enough, bit of a drop off in the last half hour. This was as much my head going as the legs getting tired. Ate 4 gels, a bar and some gel jellies on the bike and feel like I got my nutrition right. Not so sure about taking on fluid. Only passed by a few on the bike and by around 60km in I had passed a good chunk of the first wave and a lot of the lads who got out of the water in front of me. Bike was a bit long at around 92.5 and the last 3.5 were awful. Roads in bits, pot holes all over them, it was an old drive way thru a country estate. Pot holes, chunks missing on the road, speed ramps and in parts around 2/3 inch deep gravel. Just got through this section as best I could, speed dropped but tried not to lose too much. Back to T2 feeling good and looking forward to the run.

T2 1.26

Nice and quick. I had put socks on in T1 so into my runners and gone.

Run 1.29.26

Settled really well into the run. Pace was really good at the start pulled it back a bit but HR was exactly where I wanted it so kept it going and body felt good. Straight away passing people and moving up through some of the people from wave 1 on their second lap. Lap 1 went really well and made good time. Lap 2 was not as good. Around 17km in my legs began to feel like they would cramp, my thighs and my IT bands got really tight and even though the HR wasn't too bad I just couldn't get the legs moving at all. Picked it up a bit for the last 1km to get under the 1.30 but I was on for around a 1.27 before the legs tied up.

Overall 4.39.10 for 34th place (removing relays) and 10th in my age group.

My legs were completely gone at the end. I could barely stand. For the last 3/4 km my eyes had been going grey around the edges and when I finished I was having a bit of an out of body experience. Bit of a ly down for a while then some food and then a massage. Felt a bit better after that but took an hour or so before I felt properly ok.

Now for the learning bit from it and my mistakes. Swim was ok. The swim is the one I find it hard to motivate myself for the most and a lot of the times in training I'm probably going through the motions a bit. A good thing was though it wasn't a particularly bad time and I got out in good shape. Just more work needed when I am training.

Bike. Bike set up was good. Disc and new front wheel worked well and felt like I got a decent return on power. Will look at a new TT helmet, cracked my old one earlier in the year and have been using an evade since. Will look at getting myself a proper TT one. If it got me 0.5kmph it would get me closer to 36kmph that's needed for a 2.30 split. The big mistake I made though was my drinking. I felt like I drank a good bit on the bike but when I collected my bike from transition I was surprised with the amount of fluid left. I had put a tab in my BTA bottle and my frame bottle. By around 65km I would have preferred some water and not really liking the stuff I had. Next race I'll have one of water and one of the mix, should make it easier to drink enough.

Run went well but it was the lack of fluid on the bike that hurt it really. Early in the run I was dying for water at the aid stations, not a good sign. I'm going to put the legs down to that and not the pace as it was grand until it went all of a sudden. Pleased that I got under 1.30 but know there is more there. I washed my tri suit when I got home and fluid loss def played a part, lot of salt staining on the suit that was never really replaced.

Overall I'm happy with how the race went. The goal had been 4.30 but the individual times I had hoped for where nearly there (30 min swim, 2.30 bike and 1.30 run). Swim and run will improve by next race. Even looking at the top lads times my run wasn't too far off, it was the bike where I gave up the most time. More work needed to either raise my power or get more used to riding at a higher percentage of FTP. I learned a lot from the race and that was the main goal going in. To learn from this race to put me in a better place going into Dublin. Plenty of more work to do but a good indication of where I am at the moment, and the best part is I can see some easy time to come off it and get me even closer to that 4.30.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Great racing Joey and very efficient on the bike holding that speed with those numbers. Looks like your training is working well and paying off.

Neady83

Nice racing Joey and lots learned, that training is paying off

mossym

nicely done joey, good solid race across all three. nice reflection on the work

Kurt_Godel

Well done Joey, reads like a great race well executed, especially with your illness leading up to it.

joey100

So back to some training, Monday was spent getting home from the race, 2 accidents on the English motorways meant we cut it a bit tight with the ferry but got home ok in the end.

Tues 31st May

Evening turbo. A lovely day and spent the day out and about so was a bit later than planned getting this done. Legs weren't feeling great so the turbo was the plan, would save me going out from the house and then struggling to get home if the legs didn't work properly. Took a while to get going and after around 25 mins at my usual easy pace I pulled it back a bit and spun out the legs for the last little bit. 1hr easy done.

Wed 1st June

Evening run. Done with Laura around some of the trails in the Phoenix park. Stiff legs during and was glad it was done at a very easy pace. Like Tues I felt better after for doing it. Watched the Duathlon in the park after to see some seriously fast lads, some like zico who had just raced on the weekend too. Even though I'm getting faster, I'm still a way off these lads and seeing how fast they go makes me want to work a little harder to get there. Before this season I had never gone to just watch a race, been to few this year and it's helping with the motivation. Anyway around 6.5km done nice and easy.

Thurs 2nd June

No training today, legs feeling a lot better, compression and protein seems to be working pretty well. Headed out for dinner with people in work, no boozing but knew I wasn't going to get anything done so just enjoyed the evening.

zico10

joey100 wrote: »

Wed 1st June
Watched the Duathlon in the park after to see some seriously fast lads, some like zico who had just raced on the weekend too. Even though I'm getting faster, I'm still a way off these lads and seeing how fast they go makes me want to work a little harder to get there. Before this season I had never gone to just watch a race, been to few this year and it's helping with the motivation. Anyway around 6.5km done nice and easy.

No mention of you, Peter.:p

Joe, I wasn't always near the front of the fields and in the grand scheme of things, I don't consider myself all that fast. I don't think I have any particular talent for triathlon. I can get through big training volumes relatively unscathed, which some people might consider an ability. Personally though, I don't see how you, or anybody else, couldn't do the same things I do. If you want to get to where I'm at, all it takes is hard work.
I'm not saying you're not training hard right now, but you need to remember I started training for triathlon in 2006. I've had a 6/7 year head start on you. All that I've achieved in triathlon is just an accumulation of all the training I've done over those years.

For some context;
In my first year in triathlon, I took part in an Olympic distance triathlon in Connemara. It took me over 40 minutes to complete the swim that day, David Graham did it in 20. I thought he must have been from another planet and that I could never hope, to ever get near him in any race of any distance. Granted The Gauntlet was turned into a duathlon, but after all those years, I finally beat him last Sunday.
All those years ago, Peter Kern was this almost mythological figure on the Irish triathlon circuit. No Irishman at the time had even come close to going sub 9 in an IM. Peter had a PB of 8:49:32 and I had him up on a pedestal as another superhuman. As the years went by, I realised the main reason he was so much faster than me was mainly down to the fact he had trained harder than me. His mystique wore off and I realised he was beatable. It took a few years, but I finally beat him at Tri an Mhi last summer.
Don't get me wrong, I draw motivation from what Peter, and other hard working triathletes, have achieved in the sport. But when I ran past him last June, I honestly just felt there was a certain inevitability to the result. I'd trained consistently for years and it was simply time to reap the benefits that day in Meath.
You already swim faster than me, and if you keep up the training you currently do, you won't be long getting onto podiums.
אם תרצו, אין זו אגדה; ואם לא תרצו, אגדה היא ואגדה תישאר

RJM85

" It is my experience that most 'middle of the pack' athletes significantly over-estimate the difficulty of top age-groupers' basic weeks but significantly underestimate just how consistent these athletes have been over a period of years ('be patient' is rarely a popular message)."

http://www.xtri.com/features/detail/284-itemId.511710021.html

This is kind of my mantra or whatever is the appropriate name to put on it when looking at where I am vs where I want to be. I'm not as fast as zico. But I will be, some day

joey100

Fri 3rd June

Evening run. Run a bit all over the place at the moment, sometimes it's grand and feels easy with easy hr other days it's a high heart rate, slow and feels tough. Today was one of them days. 40 mins easy with the pace and HR jumping around.

Sat 4th June

Stephen Roche 3 county challenge. I knew this would be an easy enough week so I signed up to do this with my Dad and Laura, sportif itself was 80km and with cycle to the start and home it would be around 100km, first 100 for Laura and my Dad. Went pretty well, nice and easy throughout, bit of an effort at the start to pull a little group up when we ended up with the short route people but nothing major and found some good new roads that will make it easier to add to some routes that I already use. Great weather and 102km done. Average speed around 26kmph.

Sun 5th June

Legs a little tired waking up but done a 45 min easy run. Had hoped for the hour but another crappy run so cut it short. Annoying but more km's done.

Had hoped to do an open water swim but all the beaches around me where closed because of water quality. Great when it's some of the warmest weather of the year and you can't even use the beaches!

Mon 6th June

Another long easy spin on the bike. Out on the TT bike and weighed it down with plenty of water, probably more than I would use but no harm. Used some of the new roads I learned on Sat and done around 105km in total. Kept nice and easy throughout and was pretty enjoyable. Another long day biking to bring my biking mileage up but poor running over the last week.

RJM85

When you say you cut the 45 min run short is that like 'stopped half way through' short or just a couple of minutes?

tunney

When is the last time you had a rub down?
(Mind out of the gutter kurt)

joey100

Was going to do an hour but stopped after the 45 rjm, just wasn't with it at all. Run today went a lot better, maybe its just the affects of the race or something. Turned pace off the screen today and just ran to heart rate. Looked at pace at the end and it wasn't too bad. Think I'm probably getting a bit caught up in times and stuff and need to just relax and run easy.

@tunney, had one after the race in Nottingham. Finished before most so had plenty of time and no rush to get out. Before that, I'd say...... Never. I had been thinking about it but never done it yet.

mossym

joey100 wrote: »

. Finished before most so had plenty of time and no rush to get out.

joey100

As I wrote that I thought it was a bit of a back door brag, but I left it in anyway

mossym

joey100 wrote: »

As I wrote that I thought it was a bit of a back door brag, but I left it in anyway

i think you were damn right to too

RJM85

joey100 wrote: »

Was going to do an hour but stopped after the 45 rjm, just wasn't with it at all. Run today went a lot better, maybe its just the affects of the race or something. Turned pace off the screen today and just ran to heart rate. Looked at pace at the end and it wasn't too bad. Think I'm probably getting a bit caught up in times and stuff and need to just relax and run easy.

Yeah, that's what I was going to say. For me pcs can vary wildly depending on a huge number of factors. Unless I'm not physically able to do the session (or its a bad idea to) I'll still run easy at whatever pace easy is that day. Your coach might tell you different, and I'm not going to say I know better or anything, but in my experience / opinion you're rarely better off binning the session entirely just because it's not going well.

joey100

Tues 7th June

Afternoon run. Legs a bit better for this and everyday I'm feeling better and better. Didn't concentrate on pace at all, instead just really used HR. Still a little quick to climb going uphill but overall it was a good run. Legs start to feel like they are coming back.

Evening turbo. Main set being 5 x5 Low cadence, 1 easy. last time I done this session I held my cadence around 55, tonight it was around 50 and tough but comfortable enough at same time. Legs were tracking well and no real kicking out at the knees. Different type of session to the 110-120% stuff I do and probably a bit easier if I'm honest. Still though felt good on the bike.

Wed 8th June

Morning swim. First swim in a while, and I felt it. Arms and shoulders a little tight. Main set was 8 x200m sw. Moving well at times and used a lad in lane beside be to try and catch and pull away from. Amazing the difference something like that makes and even though I was averaging around 3.25 for the 200's when I pushed on a bit I was around 3.17 without going flat out. If I'm not going to swim with other people I need to get a bit more creative and do some stuff like that to up the effort and motivation.

Lunch time run in work. 40 mins easy. Legs feeling better again and pace improving. HR still quick to go up on hills but it's starting to come down a bit quicker and feels more comfortable. An enjoyable run. I think I've been expecting to run great times for my easy runs after the race but I need to just take the pace for what it is and not get too caught up in it.

Evening run. Run with the TRI club and Laura. Done in Phoenix park and enjoyable. HR spent most of it just below easy but overall went well and a good days running with around 17km ran and 6km ran the day before. Legs feeling grand today so the pace I'm running is good.

MD1983

joey100 wrote: »

Tues 7th June



Evening turbo. Main set being 5 x5 Low cadence, 1 easy. last time I done this session I held my cadence around 55, tonight it was around 50 and tough but comfortable enough at same time. Legs were tracking well and no real kicking out at the knees. Different type of session to the 110-120% stuff I do and probably a bit easier if I'm honest. Still though felt good on the bike.

i find the low cadence stuff to have really improved my bike power. it feels aerobically easier to push a big gear at a low cadence for sure but i still think its good training, works well especially if you can stay on the bars during it

joey100

I'd agree MD. Before I started with this coach my average cadence would have been around high 80's to low 90's. Now it's around low 80's, find I'm getting more power and seem to be running off the bike better too. That could be down to just getting better at running but I def put some of it down to the lower cadence. Concentrate on it more in training, don't even show cadence on my garmin when I'm racing.

zico10

Was lowering your cadence an objective of your training? If it was, why was this deemed necessary?

joey100

I think so Zico. I used to spin very high, around mid 90's, lowered the cadence and the power output has gone up. On the turbo it's lower than on the road, probably mid 70's on the turbo, on the road it's mid to lower 80's. Don't focus on it, don't even show cadence on my garmin when I'm racing, I just go with what's comfortable on the bike. I still spin up hills but I find it easier to put out the power now on the flats and any downhills. Used to find it hard to push going downhill, because of the high cadence I'd spin out, I'm more comfortable now using the lower cadence so can seem to keep the power up higher going down. Just means it's all a bit more smooth, rather than power spiking going uphill and dropping going down.

joey100

~Thurs 9th June

Evening turbo. 1hr easy. Will have to do a bit of work on the new TT saddle just to get comfortable on it. Broke this down to 4 x 15 mins and built the power for each one but all where well within easy.

Fri 10th June

Early morning swim. Main set being 12 x 100m, nothing fast here but consistent. Arms still a little tight and lacking a bit of strength but getting better.

Evening run. 5x500m fast,500easy. Fast were around 3.16,3.18,3.20,3.18,3.22 min km pace. 1,3,5 all up a slight incline so I'm using that reason for the slower times there. First bit of fast running in a while and it was tough. Don't have the strength to hold it fast for any considerable long period of time yet.

Sat 11th June

Up early and out on TT bike. Got drowned about 20 mins in so got shelter under a petrol station. waited for arond 15 mins for it to pass and no sign. Eased off a bit so gave it a go, weather wasn't too bad but a lot of flooding on some of the roads so gave up after getting drowned in spray and having cars beep me cos I wouldn't cycle through the puddles. Spun home, bike dried off, gear off and bike set up on turbo. 3hrs 15 done, not the most comfortable I've ever been on the turbo and weather turned nice with around 1hr to go but a decent session done. All kept easy.

Sun 12th June

Morning long easy run. 1hr 30 easy, this didn't go well. This must be the slowest my long run has been in around 1.5years I'd say. HR very quick to rise and slow enough to settle. Only 2 of the km's were below 5 min km pace. I feel good so I've been looking for excuses, I think there might be something up with my HR strap, the reading would jump from around 147 to 156 and back all within a few seconds of each other. Sometimes I feel the HR is higher than it says on screen and others I feel like I'm walking and HR is high. Going to try Laura's watch and strap for a run and see how it goes. The other thing I've looked at is it seems to be the long runs on Sundays that have this problem, the only thing I can think of that is different is 1, I'm running in the morning and I usually run afternoon or evening and 2, I normally have a cup of coffee before I head out. Probably 1 of 2 or 3 cups of coffee I'd have a week so think this might be playing a part. This Sundays run will be done with no coffee in me. They are all excuses though and I'll keep an eye on it to see what happens.

Mon 13th June

Morning swim. Mixed up the main set this morning because I'm doing the aquathon in Howth this evening. Was to be 12 x 100m again but used the pull for some of them and split some of them into 2 x50. Felt ok in the water, good to be getting a bit of consistency back into my swimming, It's only a few days but moving right direction.

Race tonight is 1km swim with 7.5km run. Both of them aren't in their best places right now so it will be more a training session than a race. I'll still be pushing it, I'm just not expecting anything great from it.

joey100

Mon 13th June

Howth Aquathon, 1km swim, 7.5km run.

Got out nice and early, went straight from work and figured out where the race was on and had a bit of a look at the course. Really shud have walked a little bit more of it but no harm. No hassle with registration and got a good spot in transition, right beside the entrance, trying to cut down on the distance I'd have to run in my wetsuit.

Swim 22.24 (9th place)

Swim was long. From a few other watches and mine it was around 1.45. The organisers realised this too and moved the furthest out buoy in a bit for the short course race. Started well and was moving through the field. Group split a bit and around 6 people got off the front leaving a few of use working together. This split through the swim and I was in the group of stragglers after the first 6 got out, coming in in 9th place but swam smart and tried to draft as much as I could. Not far off Olympic distance and if I seen that time after getting out of an Olympic swim I'd be delighted. Feel that although my swim isn't where I would like it to be the 50m pool is paying off in the open water. I was passing from the start here and while I didn't have the speed to go with the top lads me and another in our group managed to split it up and put sometime into the others. Long run to Transition and calves a little tight but in a good place overall.

Transition 50 seconds.

Fastest transition in my race and 2nd fastest across the 2 races. Worked well getting into runners right at front of transition and was running quickly, making up 1 place here.

Run 26.49 ( around 7.1km, around 6th place, 2 laps splits 13.29,13.21).

Legs were feeling my long hilly run from Sunday, but that was always the plan for this race, no taper or rest, just go into it as a normal training week. Moving well and was comfortable enough, like a few have said to me I'm probably too conscious of my HR when I'm running, no issues with that in this race, wasn't working, said my HR was around 77 for the full race. Ran off feel, took it steady up the hill and pushed on a bit when we got back to the sea front. Made places on the first lap and up to 5th was gaining on 4th but the race wouldn't be long enough to catch him. Probably should have pushed a little harder when I got up the hill to the turnaround but I wasn't fully sure of how much more climbing we had, it turned out not a lot but I was still moving well here. Second half of second lap and I was being caught by a club member (low 2.40 marathon runner and 34 min 10km runner), the goal was to stay ahead of him as long as possible, knew it would be hard but wanted to make it as hard for him as possible to pass me. Pushed on on the flat bit and was running a 3.27 min/km when he passed. Tried to keep him a steady distance and gained a bit with around 100m to go but he seen me with around 50m to go and pushed on himself and I had nothing left. Finished 6th place, 5 seconds behind him. 1st and 2nd a good bit ahead but only around 1min between me and 4th so not too far off.

An enjoyable race. I knew the run would be fast in sections and tough in others and am pleased with it. The fact I could run my second last km at 3.27 says I probably had a bit more in the legs before that and if I was to do the race again I know I could push a bit harder on top of the hill. I negative splitted the run, really happy with that and pleased with the run on tired legs. Even though I might not be running my best in training it's good to see I can still push it for good pace in a race. Overall the race was probably a B+, some improvements can be made but some good signs there.

Tuesday 14th June

Laura had to be in work early so I got a lift in with her and went to the pool for a swim. Bit stiff getting in but felt much better after it. Getting a bit of a feel back for the water and was happy with this this morning. No real plan but kept it short enough, mix of 200's, 100's split into 50 easy, 50 fast, used the pull buoy for some and swam most. 3rd swim of the week and only on Tuesday morning, I'm turning into Kurt!

joey100

Tues 14th June

Evening turbo. Legs weren't too bad for this, same session as last week with main bit being 5 x 5BG, 1easy. Higher power this week for the BG stuff and was still around the 50rpm. Legs tired a bit towards the end but nothing major and no danger of not finishing.

Wed 15th June

Bit of shuffling means this mornings swim is moved to tomorrow. Lunch time run in work. HR strap died yesterday, not sure what is up but it was washed and battery changed and fingers crossed it would work today. Worked well and either I've gotten a bit faster in a few days or it was on it's way out but HR was a lot more settled, no real big jumps and pace seemed better. Legs started tired, eased out in the middle and tired again towards the end. Around 8.5km ran.

joey100

Wed 15th June

Normally run in the evening on Wednesday with Laura. Didn't happen tonight, hamstrings tightened up as the day went on, don't normally suffer with that and the bottom of my left calf into my achilles felt a bit tender so decided I'd be better off not running on it. Monday's run was tougher than it would normally be so happy enough with the quality of running this week so far.

Thurs 16th June

Morning swim. Wednesdays swim moved to here. A tough and long session. 5 x 500m sw, with 30 rec. Had to cut the last 2 short to 400m to get into work but was glad I did. Really tightening up towards the end, last while my swims haven't been that fast but have been consistent. This was neither, no exact times but was dropping out after the first 2. Very tired arms and shoulders at the end. Pool a bit busy so not all of them were fully straight through either, some had a little pause at the wall and some slower sections behind other swimmers. still a good session to do.

joey100

Thurs 16th June

Evening turbo. 1hr easy. Felt alright on the bike tonight, few sprints thrown in too and was hitting decent enough numbers. HR climbed a bit through it but nothing major.

Fri 17th June

HAd been playing catch up with my sleep all week and it caught up on me this morning. Missed the planned swim session.

Evening run. Bit of a warm up then 3x750m fast. Hit around 3.18,3.20 and 3.22 for these. Legs were really tie-ing up early on the last one but decent paces. Stretched out the easy bit at the end to up the distance a little. Still only around 10km done.

Sat 18th June

Long bike. Out on the TT again, 2hrs easy,1hr tempo, 30 easy. Got caught in the middle of a sportif so had to change my route a bit and forgot to restart the garmin after stopping at lights so was missing around 8km at the end. And they were a fast 8km too! Chased the power a bit for the tempo section when it could have been a bit smoother, still a good return on power and averaged around 200 for the tempo section without it being particularly tough. Altogether around 120km done in 3hrs 30. An enjoyable spin on the bike.

Sun 19th June

Long run done later than I would have liked. No coffee before the run and HR was a lot more settled. A different route than last week, a bit flatter but still a few hills on it. Average pace was around 25 seconds a km quicker than last week and legs felt good. Around 19km ran.

Mon 20th June

Unplanned day off. Sunday night I was getting bouts of feeling very queasy so took the day off work on Monday. Lasted until around lunch time on Monday and then seemed to pass. Took the rest of the day off anyway, motivation wasn't there and feeling a bit sorry for myself.

Tues 21st June

Early morning open water swim session with Peter Kern. Organised by the club and had to go after missing my Fri and Mon swims. Felt decent in the water today, not as quick for the arms to tire and was sighting well. Some small loops of a triangle circuit and some sprints. Tired a bit towards the end but overall an enjoyable session. Good to get into open water as well.

peter kern

id suggest you need more open water swimming with people around you .
looking good when on your own ( bare left arm) but positioning in pack and drafting can defo be impoved

joey100

I'd agree Peter, my positioning is normally what lets me down in open water. Especially at the start, in a few races I've missed the first group and it's more to do with following the wrong feet or getting pushed out of the way (like what happened in one or two of the sprints yesterday) than a lack of initial speed. Hard to replicate that swimming by yourself, hopefully I can do a bit more work on it when the club sorts out some more open water swimming.

joey100

Tues 21st June

Evening turbo. Similar BG/low cadence set to last week except 5x6 mins this week. Held the power very similar to last week but for a little longer. Legs feeling this, even though they felt alright during the day they felt tired for this. No problem completing this and overall the power up on last week.

Wed 22nd June

Morning swim. Main set being 12x200m. Times drifted a little towards the end but overall not too bad. First 3 were probably the toughest, struggled to get into a rhythm and shoulders were pretty tight. Moving well at times and had faster people in the lane beside me to chase.

Lunch time run. Usual Wednesday run with 5x20 fast included. Timed these so there was 3 uphill and 2 downhill. Pace was decent for the uphills and at one time on the downhill I seen around 2.30 min/km pace, fastest I've ever seen on the watch. Strava has me trending upwards on that run and I ran some of the sections around the fastest I ever have today so even though it felt easy the run is coming on a bit.

Evening run with Laura. 2km warm up, then 8x400m with 90 second recovery. Turned out I was running these not far off my half marathon pace so was a good session for me too. Nice to run for a bit at that pace and the 400m meant that my HR never went too high, only once or twice just outside easy zone. Legs felt strong and was nice and comfortable. Laura was flying and ran the last one at sub 4min/km split. The power of consistency showing there. Altogether around 8km ran for around 17km for the day and legs not feeling too bad at all really.

joey100

Thurs 23rd June

Evening turbo. 1hr 15 with few sprints thrown in. Tried using zwift for the first time, it's not bad, bit clunky on my laptop but works to distract me. Legs had been tired all day but where feeling great on the bike. No problems at all holding easy and had to pull back at times too. Think I managed my highest sprint ever so legs were definitley strong.

Fri 24th June

Morning swim. Good bit of pull today and was glad of it. Body starting to feel a bit tired but coming to a recovery week so normally the way. Times were ok, descending distance and the splits got better as it got shorter. Decent enough.

Evening run. Building on the last 2 weeks sessions. Warm up then 3 x 1km fast, with 500m recovery. Aiming for 3.30 min km. Plan was to run strong and then try push on the last 200 metres. Worked well, was holding the pace where I wanted for the 800m and then pushed on to go below the 3.30 for each one. Tried to keep moving for the recoveries too rather than stop. Worked well, legs were tired and found it hard enough to get them moving so pleased with the pace.

Sat 25th June

Long bike. 2hrs easy, 1hr tempo,10 threshold and then easy until home. Wind was a bit of a pain today. Legs still a bit tired and during the easy wasn't sure how they would hold up for the tempo and threshold. Done well for the them though, at one stage was averaging over 40kmph for around 30 mins, the next 30mins killed that average though but overall a good spin. around 125km done and another confidence building session on tired legs.

Plan was to recover after this and take it handy. Didn't happen though, spent a few hours digging out the back garden with Laura's dad for my log cabin/training room that's arriving soon. Not ideal but leading into a recovery week not the worst timing ever either.

Sun 26th June

Tight hamstrings waking up and lashing rain out. Knew if I put off the run I'd never head out and do it so straight out the door. Just like the last few days a good confidence building session. Average pace was around 4.35 and felt really easy. Legs were tight and only in the last half hour or so did they feel normal enough. 1hr 30 ran and around 20.2km covered. A really good training week. Run distance a little down on what I would like but this whole week was on tired legs and I was hitting good numbers and times on every session. Training is building nicely.