The difficult second album

RJM85

Log cabin / training room. I am jealous.

joey100

Yep should be nice, 5mx3m, will leave not a lot of back garden but that's just less grass to cut. Plan is to move the 2 turbo's out there, hopefully pick up a smart turbo soon too and get a treadmill in too. Be no excuses not to train then.

rodneyr1981

Any target races left. Think you said before you couldn't do Dublin 70.3?

joey100

Hey Rodney, originally I couldn't do it, clashed with my brothers wedding, he's moved that though so Dublin will be the big race of the year, hopefully everything I learned over in Nottingham will help on that day. Looking forward to it though, I'm running better than I have all year this week and my bike is getting stronger too just from being out much more on the TT bike.

Next race is the club relay sprints in July, haven't heard too much about this, only short though but should be a bit of fun. After that it's the Wicklow sprint the next day, not ideal timing but hopefully with the relays being short I should be alright. And after that is Dublin, not a huge amount of races and would have liked another before Dublin but a few busy weekends means this probably won't happen.

joey100

Mon 27th June

Normally on a recovery week I take Monday off. Legs were feeling tight all day though and Laura was going for an easy run so I said I'd go with her. Made the right choice, nice and easy paced and whole body felt a lot better after. 6km done very easy.

Tues 28th June

Evening turbo. Nothing fancy 45 mins easy on the turbo, power kept around 180w and kept a little higher cadence than normal.

Wed 29th June

Morning swim. Main set being 15 x 100m. Because it's an easy week I took 20 seconds between first 5, 15 for second 5 and then 10 for last five, trying to keep the times consistent. Worked well and probably felt a little more comfortable as the session went on. A short enough session in total in the pool but felt I worked for a bit of it so a good swim.

joey100

Wed 29th June

Plan was for an easy run but got home late so was easier to swap it for an easy turbo. 45 mins easy. Little easier than yesterday but legs felt good.

Thurs 30th June

Lunch time run. 30 mins easy. I'm after straining a muscle or something in between my shoulder blades and around the side of my neck. Feels grand at times, other times it's sore. This was a bit of a tester run to see how it was. It's not too bad running really, HR a little high, usually is though after a few days off running. Comfortable enough.

Heading to Westport tomorrow with Laura and her family. Should get a swim in this evening and a run tomorrow morning before I go. I had hoped to do the Westport park run when I was down there, haven't done a standalone 5km in a good while and my current pb is the first 5km of a 10k I done in December in the wind and rain. Would be nice to try and lower it and from looking the Westport course seems fast enough. I'll bring my gear and see how my back is, if it's ok I'll give it a go. Bringing the TT bike to head out on Sat morning too so will be no training missed at all really. Good timing overall with it being an easy week.

joey100

Thurs 30th June

Afternoon swim. Got out of work a bit early and headed for a swim. Bit short on time because there was lessons and the swim team using the pool at 5. Main set was 20x100m off 1.55 aiming to keep it consistent. Held around 1.35/36 for each and a little tough towards the end but nothing major at all. Good session and felt comfortable in the water.

Fri 1st July

Travelling down to westport. Didn't get anything done, few bits to sort in the morning and then the long drive down meant nothing was done today. Not ideal.

Sat 2nd July

Westport Park run. BIt of a jog out and a warm up for 5km done before the race. Was hoping for a fast course and some fast lads to chase. Didn't really get either, course was around 2.3k out a slight downhill and then turn and back up the hill, then another turn and 400m down to finish. Was nice and windy too so not the best for really fast running but still a fast enough course. Was in front after around 20m and from then on it was a time trial really. About a 15 second per km difference between the downhill and uphill section so a decent enough climb. Finished in 17.55 for a new pb and 1st place on the day. Ran back to where we were staying after to add another 3km on for around 13km ran. Happy with the time, the goal was sub 18 mins' and I done it, just though. On a nicer day with some faster lads around I'd like to think I'd have a few more seconds in me. Next goal is 17.30.

Got back and headed out for a spin on the bike. Combination of wind, rain, bad roads and crazy tourist drivers made me cut it short and I done around 1hr very easy. Legs felt grand though, the easy run after really helped them stretch out.

Sunday 3rd July

Spent travelling back to Dublin, shopping for food and then taking it easy so again another day with no training. Again not ideal but into the last big block before Dublin half now so not the worst timing either, few days of to mentally get ready is always good.

RJM85

Is that a PB on the 5k?

joey100

Yep, PB before was 18.35 so a fair chunk of time off it, that's more from not racing a lot of 5k's though. Decided not to look at the heart rate on the watch at all really, normally I'd be careful above 173bpm, averaged around 179bpm for this race. Need to stop watch watching so much in the shorter races!

Neady83

Nice running Joey, great to have a PB under the belt going into the last big training block - bit of a confidence booster I hope.

I should have mentioned that I'd be in Westport at the weekend, we finished the Western Way trail run at the start of the parkrun at around 8 on Saturday evening. There's a nice drag up that hill.

RJM85

joey100 wrote: »

Need to stop watch watching so much in the shorter races!

Yep! Personally, I wouldn't look at HR at all for anything under a 10k - at that end of effort, one days 173 is another days 180 depending on the training that came before.

Well done on the PB!

pgibbo

Well done on the 5k pb. 8-) Any races planned before Dublin?

joey100

Cheers P. 2 races this weekend, club sprint relays on Sat (250m swim, 5km bike, 1.5km run). Should be a bit of craic, few teams entered from the club so looking forward to it. Next race after that is wicklow Sprint on Sunday. Hopefully with Saturday being short I should be good to go on Sunday. Looking forward to it, feel in good shape and with a bit of luck I'll have a decent result. Think it's around 5 weeks then to Dublin so will be no races, just another few weeks training before taper begins again.

joey100

Mon 4th July

Morning pool swim. 5x200m pull. Glad to be using the pull today, the driving and weekend away caught up with me a bit on sunday evening and was pretty tired this morning. Times nothing spectacular.

Lunch time run in work. 45 mins easy. Legs started feeling good but tired a bit as it went on, pace dropped off a little in the last 8 mins or so but overall a comfortable easy run.

Evening run with Laura. Aroudn 5.5km done at slower than 6min/km pace so nice and easy and another where the legs felt better after than before.

Tues 5th July

Evening turbo. Main set being 5 X 3min@260,2 easy. Aim was for the 3 mins @ race watts, usually I find the power easier to put out on the turbo than the road so I aimed a little higher for these. Comfortable enough and no real problems holding the power, legs a little heavy but overall comfortable.

Wed 6th July

Morning swim. Main set being 10x100m very fast off 2.30. For the first 6 of these I came in pretty much bang on 1.28, next 2 were just under 1.30 with the last two at 1.31. Pleased with these though, that's the fastest I've probably swam in a while and even though I was feeling it and needing the whole recovery it was nice to swim fast. My problem with swimming fast though is I use my kick too much, legs were feeling this more than arms or breathing.

Lunch time run. 30 mins easy with 5 x 20 fast,40 easy. Pleased with these fast bits, tried to build so each one was faster than the last, last one was done around 2.45min/km pace, all done on the flat too. Legs felt ok, still a little heavy but coming around.

Evening turbo. 1hr easy spinning. Kept this a little easier than normal, more towards lower end of easy zone. Watched some of the Stockholm triathlon from the weekend and concnetrated on keeping power and HR easy. HR pretty settled and around where I would expect it to be for a session like this.

Thurs 7th July

Rest day. Woke up this morning with a sore throat, not sure what's caused it but it's not comfortable. Glad of the rest day. I'll race Saturday because it's a bit of fun but I'll see how I feel for Sundays race closer to it.

RJM85

On the easy sessions - I'm tending more and more towards embarrassingly slow as the criteria for an easy session.

pgibbo

RJM85 wrote: »

On the easy sessions - I'm tending more and more towards embarrassingly slow as the criteria for an easy session.

The way to go according to this

joey100

Seen that alright Pgibbo. I'd say I'm probably guilty of pushing a bit towards the higher end of easy when I'm on the bike alright. Need to pull it back a bit, bit easier on the run because Heart rate will let you know straight away if your out of easy zone. But could probably do with pulling that back a bit at times too.

RJM85

pgibbo wrote: »

The way to go according to this

Yeah, what struck me about that was that he mentions 100 watts on the bike session. That's easier than any easy zone or anything like that for me never mind someone like him. It's the kind of thing you'd assume was giving you no benefit at all.

pgibbo

RJM85 wrote: »

Yeah, what struck me about that was that he mentions 100 watts on the bike session. That's easier than any easy zone or anything like that for me never mind someone like him. It's the kind of thing you'd assume was giving you no benefit at all.

I am assuming there's a bit of exaggeration there. I recall Brett Sutton saying recently in an article that sessions like that are better spent on the couch. Like all these things I guess it's a case by case basis and finding what works for you as an individual. I try to let feel/RPE guide me as much as possible for easy sessions and use the PM/HR as a second/third reference point.

joey100

Noticed that too RJM, I was wondering though does he have a different idea of what an easy day is, is he treating it more like an easy recovery day or does he mean easy like I mean it, so the majority of my training. I'd say load also plays a big part, When your training for multiple Ironmen in one year the mileage must be huge. I might get away with not going easy as much because my mileage wouldn't be as high. I do agree with the overall point though, and it's one thing I really notice in other club members (I probably do it too, but we don't like to notice these things in ourselves!), they seem to be training hard the whole time. They might only run 20-30km a week but think that they need to train hard for each of these km's.

RJM85

Brett Sutton is prone to the auld hyperbole himself to be fair.

Joey is probably right. A super easy session like that is completely different depending on context - if it's part of a 10 hour week vs. Jesse's likely 30hr+

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

joey100 wrote: »

they seem to be training hard the whole time. They might only run 20-30km a week but think that they need to train hard for each of these km's.

In reality they are probably not and are stuck in the middle. What i have come across numerous times is that people do the majority of their easy stuff too hard and when the hard work comes around they are not truly going hard enough, why, because they end up doing all their training somewhere in the "middle".

RJM85

Keegan Unimportant Arm wrote: »

In reality they are probably not and are stuck in the middle. What i have come across numerous times is that people do the majority of their easy stuff too hard and when the hard work comes around they are not truly going hard enough, why, because they end up doing all their training somewhere in the "middle".

I can't draw on coaching experience, but from numerous conversations I've had over a couple of years I'd suspect that true consistent training is something that eludes many - even when they appear on the surface to be quite committed / consistent.

peter kern

RJM85 wrote: »

I can't draw on coaching experience, but from numerous conversations I've had over a couple of years I'd suspect that true consistent training is something that eludes many - even when they appear on the surface to be quite committed / consistent.

i would be worried if i dont quit triathlon at least 4 times a week, so i guess at least iam consitently complaining at training ;-)

RJM85

peter kern wrote: »

i would be worried if i dont quit triathlon at least 4 times a week, so i guess at least iam consitently complaining at training ;-)

There's a difference between quitting and not being consistent! I've quit at least 3 times this week!

Kurt_Godel

Well done today Joey, shiny silverware!!!

joey100

Cheers Kurt, not a bad day at the office alright!

This is a report I've used somewhere else so sorry if it's a bit long, again It's more for me as a record of the race. I raced the sprint relays on Saturday, no times back yet but a short, fast , tough race. Then it was down to Wicklow sprint on Sunday. This is from Wicklow's race.

Down early and done a quick warm up on the bike. Legs felt ok, little heavy at the higher end of power but grand around steady and tempo stuff. Wind was playing a big factor though and few crosswinds shook me up a little. Made me a bit nervous on the bike and stayed with me for the rest of the day. Racked the bike then and a quick run warm up doing some of the course. First little out and back section, started flat with a little climb then another drop and then a fair enough climb to turnaround. Good to know this bit of the course before the race. Pace and legs ok, HR a little high but nothing major.

Swim 12.40 (5th overall)

Rolling swim start. Started right up near the front and was moving well enough. Didn't get behind the person I had good idea would be fastest swimmer though. Worked well picking off people from the start and got into a smaller group of around 4 of us. Sat back a little until the first buoy and then moved on a bit, passed by a faster swimmer on this section and grabbed their feet, worked well until next buoy when another swimmer jumped into the gap made going around the buoy but lost the good feet soon in. Stayed with this swimmer for the majority of the rest of the swim, drafting off feet and hip. Average swim pace around 1.35 (garmin has that as moving swim pace), not super fast but got out feeling like I hadn't done a whole lot of work. I think I could have swam faster but would have used a lot more energy and maybe 2/3 seconds per 100 fast so only really 20 seconds overall and would have ended up doing the majority of the swim by myself and pulling others around. I did notice though that it's the turning at the buoys I seem to lose a little time, not sure if it's the swim into them or the exit out but I'll try and concentrate a bit more on it in my next race.

Transition (Swim to T1 1.31 4th, T1 1.03 1st)

Transition timing split from run from sea to T1 and then T1 itself. Around a 350m run on concrete in bare feet. Feet a little sore for this, tried to run it fast enough without pushing too hard. got wetsuit right down for this, ready to go in T1. Knew exactly where my bike was and no problem getting suit off, recently cut the legs a little and works well getting it off. It was a cloth material around the ankles anyway to help speed up getting it off but just used to get caught on itself so got rid of it. Fastest T1 and even with that I lost the bike a little on the way to the mount line, getting caught in a gust of wind.

Bike 34.29 (3rd overall, AP 218, NP 230)

Didn't watch the power too much, only keeping an eye on it on the uphills to make sure it wasn't too high. A lumpy course, never really seemed to be flat and found it hard to get into a comfortable rhythm. Wind was gusty and was having trouble staying in control of the front wheel at times. Passed around 3 on the bike and passed by 2 to put me in 4th place off the bike. 3rd place held pretty much the same distance on me for the whole bike, around 40m and I'd pull it back a bit and he would gain it in other places. The big place I lost time was on some of the faster sections with the wind. I wasn't comfortable with the crosswinds and had a few gusts blowing me very close to the white line. When I was passed it was these sections the lads pulled away on and I would gain a bit on the climbs. Never really got comfortable on the bike and legs were feeling heavy towards the end. Knew the run would be tough. Nearly came off the bike getting the feet out of the shoes but just saved it, into T2 close enough behind 4th place. First half of the bike was 19.19 mins, second half was 14.10.

T2 1.15 (around 15th)

Little slow getting into runners, but legs were feeling a little crampy so didn't push too much either. Just got through as steady as I could.

Run 19.37 (around 3.55 pace, 4th fastest run)

Very top of left calf was twinging a little at start of run so pulled it back a bit and changed my stride a little to let it stretch out. Was gaining a bit on 3rd who made a little time on me through T2 but I was confident from how he looked running that I would catch him. First out and back section was tough enough, never really flat and again struggled to get into a rhythm. Never felt comfortable and struggled a bit to get the leg turnover up. Gained consistently on 3rd and after around 1.5km I was on his shoulder, was going to sit in a bit but he slowed so I kept going. Could feel him come with me so over the next 1km I upped the pace slightly and by 2.5km he was well back. Course got a little technical after this and few tight twists and turns. The last 1km had 22 steps on it and I didn't push too hard up these knowing there was around 800m after them to the finish, pushed on a bit after this to make sure of 3rd place but was confident enough I had it. Splits for the run were 3.47,3.50,3.54,3.52,3.55. Consistent enough but not as fast as I would like. After around 2.5/3km the legs began to feel very heavy and rather than building from there towards the end it became a real struggle and was one of the toughest runs I have done. Maybe not the course but with how my body felt and mentally trying to keep going.

Crossed the line in 3rd but because of the rolling start wasn't 100% I had that place, the first lad who crossed the line that I didn't overtake was around 5 mins behind me and started fairly close in water behind me so knew then I had third.

It was a tough day. On another day that bike course would suit me, it's not technical, it's a good bit of climbing. Wind played a factor, big factor. I struggled to match the top speed of the other lads, they were flying in parts and I could see them pulling away. I done what I could though and it wasn't a lack of trying or effort on the bike, just confidence really. I lost around 2 mins on the bike to the top 2 lads (both are top A3/A2 bike racers). The run was tough, I don't know if it was the bike in the legs, the racing on Saturday or just tiredness (in the last week I've been in Westport, Mullingar and Wicklow driving, set a 5km pb, raced the relay club champs and had sore throat during the week) catching up on me but just didn't have it in the legs on the run. I lost around 2 mins on the run (top lad ran quicker than my standalone pb and 2nd is a high 16 min 5km runner). Around 3.5mins behind 1st place, even on my best day I wouldn't have beat them 2 lads. A positive is though I swam quicker than 1st and 2nd. I have a good base to build on there and I'm confident the bike and run will improve. Them lads have a lot more biking and running experience than me. I know it sounds pretty negative but I'm actually pleased with the race. I would have liked to have gone faster, especially on the run but it wouldn't have made a difference to the result.

So a nice result to lead into the last bit of training before Dublin half. Some nice prizes after, 50 euro voucher for Amphibian King, full finger bike gloves, TYR swimming paddles and a neoprene hat. The only negative from the whole race was the waiting around. Once I knew I had 3rd we said we would wait for the prize giving, I don't get on many podiums so wasn't going to miss this. My race finished at around 2.10 and the prize giving wasn't until 6 o'clock. That's a long wait. They could have had the sprint prize giving after the sprint race rather than having us wait around 4 hours but overall it was a very good race and a good course.

RJM85

Great result, well done. And on the back of a lot of stuff which has to have had some fatigue.

mossym

smashing result joey, well done

pgibbo

Cracking result Joey. Congrats!!! :cool: