The difficult second album

joey100

So been ticking away since Friday, Got to cycle the Dublin route. Not as fast as I thought it might be and didn't get the planned session done but good to get out on it and see what it's like. Will be the same route for everyone though and looking forward to it. Decent run on Sunday too, first time in a while I felt like I was actually running comfortably. Had a few run efforts on Friday night and was really pleased with HR to pace, hard to judge at times with the wind but HR settling a bit and was running in my steady zone for slighty faster than race pace. Two swims this week too and a short easy run and bit of intervals on the turbo last night at race effort. Not as comfortable as I would have liked but no problems holding the power. Body a little tight but feels decent. Nice run in to the weekend now and should be good to go on Sunday.

rodneyr1981

Good luck Sunday. Hope the race goes to plan.

joey100

Cheers Rodney, any races planned yourself? Have seen your name high up some result sheets recently, your training seems to be going well.

mossym

joey100 wrote: »

Cheers Rodney, any races planned yourself? Have seen your name high up some result sheets recently, your training seems to be going well.

think he is doing some low key local thing in ten days or so

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=98806649&postcount=30

rodneyr1981

joey100 wrote: »

Cheers Rodney, any races planned yourself? Have seen your name high up some result sheets recently, your training seems to be going well.

Myself and few from these parts heading CPH next week.

joey100

Ah sure that may as well be a local race by this stage! Didn't realise you were part of the group heading over, best of luck over there, hopefully you can keep the form from the last few weeks going over there, be nice to finish ahead of gibbo again

rodneyr1981

joey100 wrote: »

Ah sure that may as well be a local race by this stage! Didn't realise you were part of the group heading over, best of luck over there, hopefully you can keep the form from the last few weeks going over there, be nice to finish ahead of gibbo again

One swallow doesnt make a summer and a sprint is not an IM

mossym

think i am going to bring a grappling hook and rope to get around CPH next week, the sandbagging that will be going on i'll need it to get around.

on more immediate matters, best of luck this weekend joey

Dory Dory

Aw jeez, I'm so far behind on everyone's log that I have no idea what race you are doing on Sunday, but best of luck to you!!!! Will watch for your report!!!

joey100

Dublin half Ironman on Sunday Dory, provided they don't cut the swim! Stupid jellyfish.

Wednesday 10th August

Short enough run with 10x1mins @ race pace. These felt good, no problems holding the pace at all, pace judgement is out though and I was constantly having to pull back. Something to keep an eye on on Sunday, need to stick to the plan.

Thurs 11th August

Evening turbo. Again short enough with 5 x1@90%,1easy. Legs didn't feel great but the power was there. Legs felt a little heavy but surprised at how easy it all felt considering. Bit like the run the effort judgement a little out and had to pull back the power on most of the intervals. Nice session done.

Fri12th August

Rest day. Still got up early and went to the pool but spent all my time in the jacuzzi and Sauna. Today will be about taking it as easy as possible. Should be handy enough cos nearly everyone is out of the office today so won't be a whole lot for me to do so no stress at all. Plan is to get out to register and rack the bike tomorrow early after a run and bike. Want to get it done and out of the way so I can take it easy the rest of the day.

Plan for Sunday. I'm not sure. 4.30 would be a nice time, I think I can go close but transitions are what will probably bring me over it. If I can hit 4.30 for the swim, bike and run I'd be happy. Swim 30 mins, bike 2.30 and run 1.30. Probably a little optimistic on the swim and bike but you never know. A better run in than Outlaw and a lot less hassle and travelling before it. Feeling better too so hoping for a good day. Top % is probably better to aim for than a time so with say around 2000(?) in the race, so top 10% would be above 200th place, top 5% above 100th place. Hard to know cos it all depends on the other athletes racing but top 5% would be a good finish. Either way I'm just going to try and enjoy it and prepare to suffer on the run. After the race I have an easy 2 weeks or so and then holidays before it all starts again so will push as hard as I can for this one and then enjoy the downtime!

RJM85

Swim strong, bike smart, and make sure you're completely empty by the end of the run and you'll get a good result. You've put the work in so there's no room for self doubt. Best of luck!

Kurt_Godel

Best of luck Joey, looks like you have the race well planned. Nothing you can do about the jellies, what will be will be.

joey100

Cheers RJM, sure what ever happens happens, like you say the work has been done and I've just got to go out and race now. Lot more relaxed going into this race than usual so should be good either way.

Normally I don't like jellies kurt but for sunday I don't care if they are there, I still want to get the swim done! Good Luck down in CK tomorrow, probably my favourite race on the calender, pity I'm not going to get it done this year.

pgibbo

All the best on Sunday. Have a great race. Give it socks!!!!

Neady83

Hope you have a great race on Sunday Joey, make all that hard work pay off

tunney

Race smart!

MD1983

my tip is to swim and bike as hard as you can and leave yourself with nothing for the run ;-) foolproof strategy!

best of luck!

Steroo

Good luck

rodneyr1981

Savage. Well done.
Delighted all your hard work paid off.

ray o

Great result Joe!

tunney

Well done Joe. Look forward to the report.

joey100

Unfortunately not to be lads, on the phone so will keep it brief. The swim and run are mine, broken stem 10km into the bike means the bike isnt!

Kurt_Godel

joey100 wrote: »

Unfortunately not to be lads, on the phone so will keep it brief. The swim and run are mine, broken stem 10km into the bike means the bike isnt!

Ah hard luck Joe. That stupid tracker. Hope all is well with you and the bike.

joey100

Ah I'm grand Kurt, lucky that it happened where it happened and not around 5k later on a steep uphill or downhill. Bike we will see, need to have it looked at. I have officially been given permission to change my bike now though, seems to be unlucky for me. So I may be selling a small argon 18 e118 if anyone is interested! This may change tomorrow when laura stops feeling sorry for me!

mossym

joey100 wrote: »

This may change tomorrow when laura stops feeling sorry for me!

sorry to hear about the bad luck joey, shame as it looks like you had a cracking performance in you.

on the bike, buy now quickly and then deal with the fallout if she changes her mind..

joey100

Right so an attempt at part of a Dublin half Ironman report.

Originally this had been my A race for the year, I had decided early out that this was going to be the big one. Few changes throughout the season meant that it wasn't until late I got to enter this but after my race in Outlaw and a good run of training after, I thought I had a good shot at this race. Training was going well, new 5k and 10k run pb's both on slow enough courses and even though my FTP wasn't rising much I was getting a lot better at putting out and holding power on the bike. Swim was going ok, I had already wrote the season off from a swim point of view so a lot of my swimming was going through the motions. Run in to this race had been good, work was easy, was healthy and was hitting all my sessions, motivation waning a little bit but was still doing the sessions and hitting the numbers. Before the race I felt nervous, more nervous than I have in a good while but Iput this down to knowing I had a good performance in me. Out and bike racked the day before and figured out how Laura would get there and park and then out of there again. Started to feel less nerves, more and more things been taken care of and all that I had to do now was race.

Morning of the race. Up nice and early, breakfast into the car and the drive to Dun laoghaire, managed to get around 7hours sleep so wasn't feeling tired and body felt good. Few more little bits to eat, bit of chatting with the club and then down to the swim start.

Swim 31.17

I'm not 100% sure of the rolling start, in theory it should work well but people putting themselves up in the 30 min pen when they shoud be in the 40 min pen only slows everyone down. Anyway got a decent start, felt comfortable and was moving from person to person along the route. Felt in control of my breathing and even though I wasn't finding feet I could stay behind for long I was trying to swim smart. Just before the first turn around I felt like I had pulled some sea weed in the water, had a quick look and nothing there and then a tingling sensation in my wrist followed by the back of the calf. Jelly fish stings. Calf was very tingly but not sore, wrist swelled up a bit and the watch got very tight around it but nothing I could do only keep swimming. Didn't affect the swim at all really, bit uncomfortable but made no difference to the time. Got out of swim feeling good, body was working well, no problems getting the suit open and half off before T1. Time was around 31 mins I'd say, started the watch early, not fast but compared to other lads in the club who I know the swim times of it was fast enough, lot closer to some of the top lads than I would normally be.

T1

Worked well enough, found bag quick enough and into bike gear nice and quickly. Found my bike no problem and was out quick enough.

Bike (10km, around 15 mins 50)

Straight onto the bike, shoes were put on in T1 and straight into passing people. Power was good and effort was low. Once I got moving I was passing people the whole way. Took water on from the frame on the good roads so I could use the BTA bottle when the roads got rough. Little bit of food in too and was feeling great. Around 10km in I felt the handlebars slip a bit and push me forward. Stopped where I was to check them and there was no grip from the stem on them. Just moved up and down. Luckliy there was a few marshalls there and they helped get bike support out to me. Took aorund 20 mins for them to get to me so by then I knew my race as a race was over. The stem has 3 bolts, 2 on top and 1 below that all screw directly into the fork. Bottom one seems to tighten but then slip and start again. Not sure what this means for thebike but it will be going back to the shop to see. Anyway wheelworx took the bike in the van and I'm left standing on a roundabout on pigeon house road. Ask the marshalls what happens next and they don't know. Eventually find out a bus will be driving around the route but won't be around for another hour and a bit. Leaving me standing their in my tri suit for that time. Other option I'm told is to walk the quays to the phoenix park to get to T2. Not really an option to walk the quays barefoot and in my trisuit on a Sunday morning. Luckily where it happened there was few roads close by that weren't closed so I was able to use one of the marshalls phone to ring my mam. Had a bit of a walk and then a wait but finally got picked up. Lot went through my mind during this, not going to go into it here but wasn't at my most positive or pleasant during this. So my mam came and picked me up and then dropped me to the phoenix park. After paying 275 euro to do the race I wasn't going to just do a swim. Talked to the people at transition and they agreed to let me do the run. I wanted to hand back the timing chip but they said to leave it on and they would just take my result out. Waited for a while to let the pro's get out and when a few lads came in who I would have expected to be running with that's when I left for the run.

Run 1.25.46

My timing chip from the site is off. a combination of going the wrong way aaround mats and stuff but the time is wrong. Didn't have the best warm up, 2 hours waiting around in a tri suit with no runners meant I was pretty cold and starting to tighten up when I began running. Moving pretty well quick enough, HR a little higher than I would have liked but stopped looking at it and ran by feel. Got in behind another lad after around 2km and stayed there until around 6km. He was running a little faster than I had planned but I felt ok and the distraction of just looking at him made the first of the 3 laps go quick enough. Pulled alongside towards the end of the first lap and we talked for a bit before he slowed for an aid station and I kept the pace going. by myself for a little before doing the same again on the second lap, in behind somone for a bit before pulling alongside and then going past at an aid station. Plan was to build into the run. I've never ran an open half marathon and only had the half in outlaw to compare it too. I went low 1.29 there so wanted to go faster today to get something out of it. Legs tightening by the 3rd lap but by now I knew where the tougher parts and faster parts of the course were so knew where to push on and wher to steady it up. Ended up crossing the line in 1.25.45. A big PB, first lap was around 29.20, second around 28.40 and third around 27.50 so a well paced race and a decent time. I did feel guilty passing people who were cramping and having a hard time of it. They had a tough 90km in the legs and I was fairly fresh. I got an offical overall time and position but I emailed them straight away to tell them that I shouldn't have been on the times and wanted to be taken off.

So where does this leave me. this was not the race I wanted. I was prepared for a good day and the body was good and fresh. It brings an end to what wasn't my best season to date and leaves me with decisions to make about next year. I can take the positive that the training won't go anywhere and all the work I done this year will stand to me next year too. And another race were I was better off not looking at HR for the run and just going on feel. A half decent half marathon PB isn't an entirely bad result from the race, just not the result I was looking for. I think the offical times have me around 4.24. I reckon I would have been closer to 4.38 but it would have been a good time and given me a good position but that's only guess work.

On the bike front, I have been given the go ahead to look at new ones, will I get one, I don't know. A new bike is going to cost around 3000, then I will have to swap groupsets over because all my wheels are 10 speed only. It's a bit of hassle and a big enough cost for something that probably won't make me any faster. But we will see. I do like the Felt IA, but it seems to be a heavy enough bike and I'd have a few concerns over how it handles in crosswinds, something I suffer in anyway. I said after the race that I would probably stay away from bikes that have intergrated stems and stuff next time, if this stem wasn't integrated it would just be a new stem needed but I'm not sure what's going to happen now. Anyway, plenty of time to make them decisions.

The rest of this week but just be a bit here and there. I'll try keep ticking over for the next 3 weeks. There is a fast enough local park run and depending on how the body is I might give it a go on saturday for another 5km pb. I'm off on holidays in 3 weeks for 2 weeks so once I come back I'll start getting back into it with next year in mind. The one thing I cna say is that a while back I had though about going long next year, that's not happening. I'll be sticking where I am.

rodneyr1981

Hi Joey.

Rough blow yesterday. Fair play for sucking it up and making the best of a bad situation. A lot of people may have sulked and packed up for home. Enjoy the down time.

Neady83

S**te, disappointed for you Joey, that's really bad luck. I can only imagine what was going through your head standing there in the col and on your own. It took balls to get back on the bike and out on that run, you're fierce tough mentally. Well done the PB for the half.

I hope I can channel some of that mental strength when I'm out on the kayak over the next few days

mossym

respect Joey. fair play on keeping going. would have been easy to buy an icecream and call it a day. will remember this one when things get dark at the weekend

think you're making the right call on going long as well. big eye opener for me this year. biggest take away was this: if you're not fully committed, don't do it. if you have questions over the desire or the commitment to the increased training it's not the time.

joey100

Thanks for all the best wishes through the blog and over social media folks, it was much appreciated. I've had plenty of time to think about this season and next and what my plans are. I know there is still a little bit left in this season but my brothers wedding next weekend and my holidays the week over mean that this season is pretty much over for me. Before Dublin I had began thinking about next season and the goals and plans. Right, so this is going to be a long enough post, it's more for me to write down my thoughts so people can skip this if they want!

I've always put my goals out there before a race, I think it keeps me honest and makes me think about what I want from a race and a season so next season will be no different. I'm going to put them out there now and my plan and we will see how it progresses as the season goes. I probably won't be updating much over the next few weeks, will all be just ticking over and then a break so now is as good a time as any to look at how this season went and the plans for next season.

So this season. A good season, winter training went well, a new 10km pb on a slow enough route on a horrible day in December (37.45) showed that my winter training to then was going well. Consistency was there and the body was responding well. Bike power was up a little but more important than that was that it was transferring to the road. My FTP on the turbo only went up a little but I got a lot stronger on the road and was holding higher power for less effort. All the training was going well until around April when I seemed to plateau a bit, a long period of always seeming to be sick combined with a little loss of motivation meant that I was treading water a little and not kicking on as much as I would have wanted to. A decent result in an early season Duathlon was good, not as good as I should have went but again good signs coming into the season. I didn't race as many tri's as I should have, this was my decision, I was too concentrated on training and not missing sessions to put races into the calendar. A few more races would have helped with the motivation and also given me a better idea where I was as the season went on. The first of my A races was Outlaw half. A good race, IT band cramping at the end pulled the time back a little but overall I was pleased with the result and more importantly I had learned from it. I know I come across a lot of the time like I'm not happy with my results but in general I am. I try to learn from every race I do and a lot of the time I learn more from the races that don't go well compared to the races that do. After Outlaw was Wicklow sprint and the relay champs, decent result in Wicklow but not the performance I wanted. But learnt a bit about pushing on the bike and how my bike handling let me down a bit. Relays were a bit of craic and was a great atmosphere in the club down there. A fast 5km pb (17.55) along with a good bike TT meant I was in good form heading into Dublin half. Unfortunately I didn't have the race I wanted there, but it wasn't down to a poor performance, just a mechanical that would end my day. I did run well though and knocked 4 mins off my half marathon PB. Recovery so far seems to have been quick enough and the body is starting to feel good.

So what have I learned from this season? The increase in my run training worked well, but I need to relax about the pace I'm running and just trust the training. Swim training was ok, I switched off mentally from the swim training early on in the season, I swim in a great facility and apart from it being a little busy I should make the most of it. When I look at some of my swim times it seems to be here that I gave up a bit of time this year compared to others. My own fault for getting too complacent with it. Swimming is probably my least favourite of the 3, find it hard to motivate myself a lot of the time and easier just to go Jacuzzi and take it easy. Bike went well, power not up as much as I would like but like I have said earlier I got better at putting it out on the road and went 25.40 for a 17.5km lumpy TT so would like to think that there is a 30min 20km in me.

I need to race more next season. It should help with the motivation and give me shorter term aims rather than one or two big goal races over the season. I hope to do a bit more with the club next year too and do some more of their bike TT's.

So the plan for next season. I've touched on it there a bit. There will be more racing. I'm hoping for the gingerbread 10km in November and will be going for a 10km pb there. Then hopefully the jingle bells 5km for another pb. In 2017 I'll be aiming for at least one of the Naas duathlons and probably one more depending on the calendar. The big goal next season is a top3 age group in the National Series. I'm going back to Olympic and sprint distance. At least that way I can race more and 1 bad race won't ruin my season. I'm hoping to do the National championships in Olympic and sprint distance too and will be pushing for a top 3 in age group in both. High enough goals, but with a good winter and a bit more focus no reason I can't.

To get there I need to hit a few other goals along the way, in the swim I want to be swimming 100's coming in on 1.30, I'd like to be able to put together about 10-15 of these with 10 second rest on each. A big jump from where I am at the moment, currently swimming around 10-15 coming in on 1.35 but more time in the water will see the swim fitness increase and I'm going to go to a few club sessions too. Every second week I'm hoping to go to portmarnock tri's swim session on a Sunday evening. This should help with the motivation a bit and lets me swim with other people. Other than that I need to be in the pool at least 3 times for a decent session and this needs to be consistent. So rather than setting out going 5 times a week and this dying off as I lose motivation for my swim if I can keep it consistent at 3 plus the extra one every second week should work well for me.

Bike. I'm going to try add a little to the bike next year. I'm hoping for maybe 1 extra session of around an hour a week. this will bring it up to around 3 turbo's and one long spin at the weekend a week. FTP is currently at 255 and I'm hoping to get this closer to 275 for next season with my ability to hold power on the road improving too. I need to work on my bike handling too so this will mean making sure I get out as much as possible. I'm also looking at a new flo front wheel, a Flo 30, should help ease some of my fears on crosswinds and the aero time I give up I should get back from better handling. I've contacted the bike shop about my bike since Dublin and it will either be a very easy fix or a very expensive fix. Depending on what they can do it might make it very hard to sell it on and if I can't sell it on I can't afford a new frame. I'm currently looking at 2 frames, the new Argon 18 e119 and the Felt IA, I have concerns over the weight and how it handles in the crosswind of the Felt IA and the Argon 18 seems to be a bit more user friendly than the one I have now. I will know more about this is the next few weeks but either bike is not going to save me much time, it will be just about moving on from a bike I haven't had much luck with.

The run will largely stay the same as this year. I'll try to slightly raise the mileage but more on my lower weeks than my big week. Looking back at my running history it seems to be every two years I've seen the jumps so I'm hoping the run next season will take a bit of a jump based on what I have done this year. I'm also going to focus less on pace when training and less on HR when racing. My best run results this year came when I just ran and didn't get too caught up in the HR. I think I was on the edge of what my body could handle on some of the longer runs this year but hopefully the strength built this year will help with next. Goal times are to get my 5km pb down to sub 17.30 and my 10km pb down to a mid 36. Big enough jumps from where I am now but with consistency I reckon I can get there.

The other big change for next year is I'm going self coached. I've been coached by Tunney for the last 2 years and I have learnt an awful lot about training and how I respond to different types. I have a bit of experience at sprint and Olympic and I have a good training routine in place now. I'm hoping that I can build on everything I have done over the last few years next year and put together a good season, but I'm not naïve enough to think that if I do it will be down to my plan next year, the last 2 years, and the 2 years before that being coached by Couerdelion will all have helped lead to it. I wanted to thank Tunney publicly for his help over the last 2 years and sure what better place than here!

My garden shed/log cabin/ training room has arrived and is built. In the next few weeks a treadmill will be going in as well as a new kickr and our other turbo to make a nice little training room and make it even harder to miss sessions.

So for anyone who has read the full thing, thanks for sticking it out and I'll be back logging my training mid September when the training for the 2017 season starts!