The difficult second album

joey100

Thurs 16th Feb

Evening FTP test. The last while I've been estimating my FTP at 250, lowered it in September from last year and gradually built it up as the training went along. This was first time to test properly. Plan was to aim for 270-275 for the 20 min section, would give me an FTP of high 250's.

Like I predicted the garmin numbers were off, when I say off I don't mean they were 10-15 watts off what trainer road was giving me (which would probably match the numbers on the road), the garmin was saying 80-90 watts for everything I done. Annoying, but since I've started using trainer road pretty much every session I have done on the turbo (454 turbo sessions, and 504 hours) bar about 7 hours of zwift has been recorded on it so it's a good measure of improvement. The 20 min test on trainer road is a little different, only giving 5 mins recovery between the 5 min clearing effort and the 20 min effort rather than the usual 10.

Started well, plan was to hold a tough but manageable power for the 5 mins, usually set out too hard and blow up by the end. Held fairly consistent tonight with 316w for the effort. Previous best is 321w so not too far off.

Took the full 5 mins recovery. 20 min was up next. Plan was to aim mid 270's and then either build or pull back depending on how I felt but try and keep it above 270. Started well, first 5 mins were 276, next 5 it started to get tougher and dropped to 272, next 5 were 270, bit of a pattern emerging, from 16-19 mins in was awful. Power really dropped, was holding ok for the first min but really suffered during this bit and ended up with 261 for the last quarter. Overall total of 270w. Was hoping for a little higher but happy with the result. Gives me an FTP of 257, bit of a rise from where I was and puts me at around 4.3w/kg (weight is steady at 60kg). I normally hold a little lower on the road than on trainer road but the tests are always on trainer road so it's a good measure.

I was 5w off my best 5 min effort, equaled my best 20 min effort and set new 15 and 30 min records. Have to be happy with that. Bit more work on holding the power and it will rise again. Lack of strength to hold the power towards the end cost me a new 20 min pb. Only a little rise but I'll take it!

Fri 17th Feb

Morning swim in the new pool. It's definitely less hassle to get too and has ozone treated water too. Was swimming ok. Lack of recent time in the water showed but pleased with the effort. Lot of pull buoy stuff, legs still feeling the test from last night. Some paddle work too. Good swim.

pgibbo

Well done on the test. 276 down to 261 is a fair drop. Better pacing might yield a higher number too.

Is the Garmin reading the PM directly? Strange that it's not reading right. Is the PM working right?

joey100

~Yep, both are taking the power from the power meter. Haven't synced the kickr with trainer road and am using the numbers from the power meter. Might be the cold in the shed, can be cold enough starting out and warms as I go on.

Yep it's big drop alright, probably started a little too confident, first 1 or 2 mins where higher and I pulled it back. I don't think I would have held much higher, maybe a watt or two, I reckon it's a fair result. Better pacing probably would have made the last 5 mins a bit more bearable though! Once I get the bike outside on the road I'll get the power meter up and running again with the garmin and see what's going on. Might try it with Laura's garmin too to see if there is a difference. Trainer road seems to be consistent enough so strange that the garmin is giving completely different readings.

rodneyr1981

FYI merlin cycles currently has the kask @ 50% off..

Bambaata

joey100 wrote: »

Looks like sportsco Bambaata, drive past it every morning I drive to work. Not as new or nice really as UCD but seems to be quiet enough and is easier to get to.

id been eyeing that place up myself. What time it open and hows their fees? Cant seem to find mention on the site

joey100

Think the opening time is around 7 in the morning. Not 100% sure though, we get there around 8 and it's quiet. HAd the pool to ourselves for the majority of time the other morning. Works out for us at 50 euro a month, same as most other gyms really. No joining fee either.

joey100

Fri 17th Feb

Lunch time run. 40 mins easy. Body not feeling great during this recovery week. Everything just feels a little off. Run done though.

Sat 18th Feb

Morning run. Not as long as I would have liked. Had to head to a wedding in Galway and we were driving down the morning of it so this was cut to 45 mins easy. Legs feeling a bit better.

Sun 19th Feb

Nothing. Not back from the wedding until late and spent most of the day driving.

Mon 20th Feb

Lunch time run. 10 easy, 15 tempo, 15 easy. Moving much better today, bit of tightness from all the driving over the weekend but pleased with how this went. Easy pace improving too.

Tues 21st Feb

Morning swim. Mix of swim and pull. I think every pool in the world must have the same problem with people getting into the fast lane and doing back stroke. This pool is no different. Annoying but they did move out of the way when I caught them before the wall.

Lunch time run. 35 mins easy. Moving much better today. Starting to feel like I'm running again. Body feeling good. No aches or pains. HR settling well too.

Bit of a change of plan for the next 2 weeks. Normally I'd build over 3 weeks and then have an easy week. I'm off to Amsterdam for 3 nights on Fri week so from now until then I'll do a bit more than I normally would this stage into a block. It's only just over a week and the body is well rested. That will be a forced few days off and then the weekend after I get back is the last Naas duathlon so will do a bit before that and then start a new block from there. Bit messy but should work well.

joey100

Tues 21st Feb

Evening turbo. Working off the new FTP. Above FTP session. 2x(3x3@120%,3easy), 8 easy inbetween. On paper didn't sound too bad, first 3 were ok, held above where I needed. Last 2 where tough, struggled a good bit on last one an held about 2w below the target. Think some of it is down to me not being smooth enough with the power, tends to jump around and think this is making it harder on me. As I get stronger though this usually gets better, and then the FTP raises and it starts again.....

Wed 22nd Feb

Morning swim. Split into 2 bits. First bit mixing swim, pull and pull and paddles. Moving well enough in the water. Still lots to do though. Second bit was 10x50m off 1 min, aiming to hold 45 seconds. More about getting used to what this pace felt like rather than pushing it. Hit them all in or around 45 seconds, probably working a little harder than I would have liked but good to get a feel of what it's like to swim at that pace. Actually enjoyed the swim this morning. After this was more swim and pull work. About 1hr done in the pool.

Lunch time run. About 2.5km easy, then I met Laura and ran with her for a bit and then about 3km easy back to work. Nice day for a run and body feeling pretty good. About 9km done.

joey100

Thurs 23rd Feb

Lunch time intervals. Today was 3x(4x400,30ez inbetween) with 2 mins inbetween sets. Thought I would push harder for today, plenty of rest after every four and give me an idea if my run has come on at all.

Splits were 1.19, 1.24,1.19,1.24. Next 4 were 1.19, 1.20,1.22,1.27. Last four were 1.24,1.26,1.24,1.27.

I tried my best to keep up with the lad I run with and done a decent job for the first 7. The 8th one I suffered and the last four were more about running strong and not losing too much speed than running fast. Odd's seemed to have more of a tailwind while the evens where into the wind. Even still the evens were what I would run normally. The 1.19 and 1.20 are the fastest I can remember running a 400m interval and to put 4 of them in was pleasing. Paid for them on the last set though but pleased with this run. Pushed myself more than usual.

joey100

Fri 24th Feb

Morning swim. Started with 22x100m 10 seconds recovery between. More about consistent times than swimming fast. Were done at a steady enough effort, enough to make sure I was working. Times were consistent and held the form well. After this was 5 x 50m off 1 min aiming for 45 seconds. Same as the other day, about getting used to what holding this pace feels like but this was done on tired arms. Hit 45 for each and felt like I was moving well. An encouraging week in the pool.

Lunch time run. 40 mins easy. Think I'm going to pull back the HR for some of my easy runs. Normally easy tops around 153, think I'll pull it back to 150. Should help with the volume and keeping the body fresh. Tried it today and worked well enough, little jumpy around the 150 mark but overall a very comfortable run.

rodneyr1981

Is 150-153 really an easy run..?

joey100

From the last 2 years with the coach yep, max HR would get into the 180's. Generally would be high 140's for an easy run, but it does feel easy. Been running with another lad on the Thursdays and his max would be similar to mine but he keeps his easier a little easier than mine so going to give it a go and see.

Edit: Just put the info into a few online calculators there and they all come back in and around 153 as max for my easy.

rodneyr1981

Agreed zones look right, why target upper end..

joey100

Don't really target them but it always seems to end up towards the upper end, bit like a speed limit being a limit rather than a target!. Only looking back at past runs I see how close they are to it. Need to keep an eye on it, increasing my running frequency means I need to be more careful. I sort of knew it but when I was chatting to that lad I run with and I seen how close our easy paces are that I properly realised there was no need to be at the top end. Hopefully by trying to keep 150 my top it will keep it below this.

Cheers for calling me on it, sometimes we need others to say it to fully realise it!

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

I think you will see slight improvements in your quality run sessions by taking your easy runs easier.

joey100

Fri 24th Feb

Evening turbo. 4x5mins@105%, 2 easy inbetween. Aiming for 269 and holding mid 270's. Second one felt awful, legs felt like they were dying and had nothing left. Got through it though and the next 2 felt ok, no huge problems after that.

Sat 25th Feb

Morning cycle. Outside and off the turbo. Headed out with the new A1 cyling club, meet a little later than the other club I've been going on spins with so gives me an extra hour or so in bed. A good spin, probably pushed a bit too hard at times but around 95km done. Most of it seemed to be into a headwind too! Close to 1000m climbing too so a tough spin. Bit zonked at the end, at times it turned into a little bit of a race at the front. A good spin though and hope to get out with them again. Some really top cyclists there, the way they can just cycle away from you whenever they want reminds me I'm a triathlete, not a cyclist!

Sun 26th Feb

Morning run. done early to try and make the most of the weather. Done using 150bpm as my new limit for easy too. Average HR at the end aruond 146 so stayed well below, no huge drop off in pace but felt a lot better the whole way around, even with the wind like a wall, and recovery after felt a lot easier too. 1hr 30mins done.

Mon 27th Feb

Lunch time run. 45 mins with 20 min tempo in the middle. Lower HR again and felt very very comfortable. Legs tired a bit in the back half of the 20 min tempo but overall it was very comfortable. Kept the HR a little lower for that too. Average HR for the whole run was around 152 so was nice and controlled.

joey100

Tues 28th Feb

Morning swim. Lots of paddle and pull stuff this morning. Then finished with 6x100m steady with 8 seconds recovery between. Not concentrating too much on times at the moment but these were consistent, working hard without being flat out. Could have done a few more but was short on time.

Lunch time run. A very easy recovery type run today, main session today is the turbo later so this was pulled right back. Good section of it done with Laura who has started to run on her lunch break too so pace was kept very easy. Legs felt better after it, the purpose of a recovery run I suppose!

And out of the blue it looks like I might be getting a new TT bike. It's a second hand trek speed concept 7.5, only a few months old but seems like a great price. Have to go and have a look at it tomorrow but all going well I'll be changing the bike. Not expecting to be any faster or anything, just no real luck ever on the Argon and the last time I was on it I was very nervous so will be a new start. Bit more storage integration than the argon too so should work when I decide to go long too. All going well shouldn't cost me anything to change.

rodneyr1981

Spotted that last week. Sweet machine #notjealousatall

joey100

Tues 28th Feb

Turbo didn't happen, ended up calling into my parents after work for pancakes and to give a hand with painting and by the time I got home I had no desire to go out on the turbo. Fell guilty now but first missed bike session in a long time.

Wed 1st March

Day off. Half expecting this. Didn't get a chance to run during work because of a new project I'm involved in running over and then in the evening was collecting the new bike. Got a great price on a second hand speed concept 7.5. Less than 1 year old and in perfect condition. Came with the bento box and draft box as well as a set of Ultegra pedals, actually felt a bit guilty with the price I paid for it. Front end is very easy to work on (apart from the stem, but I shouldn't have to go near that!) and a few adjustments where made last night. Need to swap my P2M over onto it and then a bit of cassette swapping to move the wheels to 11 speed. I have a small argon 18 E118 for sale if anyone is interested! No wheelset, just the frameset and groupset.



Thurs 2nd March

Morning swim. Mainly longer stuff today so 200m + intervals. Fitness coming back, easy pace is improving and so is steady pace. Fast still not fast but improvements being made.

joey100

Right so, back from a long weekend in Amsterdam, nice break from training even though we ended up walking everywhere.

Tues 7th March

Morning swim. Got to the pool a bit later today and had to get out earlier than planned cos Aqua aerobics was using the pool. I was invited to attend but politely declined.

Wed 8th March

Proper morning swim. Bit of a warm up around the other swimmers in the lane then the lane cleared and I moved onto my main part. 5x200 off 3.35, again not particularly fast but were consistent and even though the rest felt short the times stayed consistent and never flat out. After this into 6x50 off 55 aiming to hold 45 seconds. Hit the times, 10 seconds was plenty, was working a bit for the last one or two but overall was a good set. Pleased with the pool this morning. The little bit of consistency over the last few weeks is starting to show.

Lunch time run. 40 mins easy. This was the complete opposite of this mornings swim. Hr a bit quick to rise, pace was slow. It did feel very comfortable though and putting it down to being my first run in about a week. 8km done nice and slow.

griffin100

How are you finding the 25m pool versus the 50m? Would the 5 x 200m of 3.35 felt harder in the longer pool?

joey100

Hey Grif, 25m pool is definitely faster but not as much as I was thinking it would be. The big difference is in the longer stuff, anything 200m and up and the times don't drop as much as they would in the 50m. It's probably the extra break every length. I'm not the fastest turner in the world so over 50/100m the extra turning probably takes away a bit of the speed, but once it gets over this the extra breaks means it's easier to hold a decent pace.

So in around a bout way of answering your question, yep set was definitely easier in the 25m pool, but not cos I was much faster, was just able to hold the pace better.

griffin100

Makes sense, you can definitely get a rest in at every turn if you're getting tired, consciously or otherwise. I remember a swim coach from a few years ago who used to take all lane ropes out and get us to swim laps of the edge of the pool without stopping - that's tough.

joey100

Thurs 9th March

Evening run. 40 easy including 5x30 seconds at race effort. HR still a bit high and jumpy, chest feels a bit tight but nothing too bad or out of normal. Legs feel good though, keeping the easy easy with my new lowered easy range.

Fri 10th March

Morning swim. Mainly pull and paddle stuff this morning. Half an eye on the duathlon at Naas on Sunday and trying to someway save the legs. Felt good this morning. Bit of tightness at he start but soon faded and felt I was moving well. 3 swims this week, 1 was short, but a step in the right direction.

Lunch time run. Again slow pace and high-ish HR, probably reading too much into it. Legs still feeling good and body overall feels good. A run to collect the new TT bike from Harry's. Just giving it a once over and changing the brake blocks for me. 2 new freehubs from FLO on the way, one to change the wheelset to 11 speed and 1 to change the disc to 11 speed. Lads in the shop said it's not too bad a job. Will have a speed concept 7.5 and a set of training wheels, flo 60's and flo disc for less than the price of the bike new by the end of this. No excuses then!

rodneyr1981

Good luck Sunday

joey100

Good luck to you too Rodney, you still racing the national's??

rodneyr1981

Yip on my door step. Plently of training/club mates racing so will be a bit of craic.

joey100

Sat 11th March

Morning turbo. 45 mins was all I lasted, high HR, low power, perceived effort out. Not a good pre race day.

Sun 12th March

Naas Duathlon

Got down nice and early. Registered, racked and little spin done on the TT bike. First ride on it outside, felt comfortable and no problems with the wind. Feels more stable in crosswinds than my older bike. Met few from the club, short run warm up done, had an idea after this that it was going to be a tough day, HR never really dropped after the warm up. Target was sub 1hr, I've gone close before but never done it.

Run 1 11.24

Fastest run at a Naas duathlon yet. First 1km is always fast but I took it too fast, approx 3.20, never settled then after this. HR steadily climbed to mid 180's (highest I've ever really seen before would be 180) and pace dropped off. Into Transition around 6th place.

T1 0.46

A good T1, do need to practice mounting the bike though, gave away time here when I stepped over the bike in my shoes. About 7th out of transition.

Bike 34.00 (NP 231)

A little lower power than I would have liked. Overtook 2 early in the cycle and was on my own then for the rest. Cycle was exposed with a good headwind and a crosswind at times, bike is definitely more stable than my last and not half as twitchy. Gave up easy time on 1 or 2 corners, more time on the TT bike and just outside off the turbo needed.

T2 0.46

Fast through T2, no problems at all.

Run 2 12.57

Died on this run. Pace settled around 3.50 and just stayed there. HR climbed and climbed and climbed. Passed by one, expected to be passed by more.

Overall 59.56 6th place

So went under the hour which was the goal at the start. For how I felt during the race and before the race I'm happy enough. Rest of the day was spent curled up in bed and sick. Very similar time to last years with the transitions the difference and bringing me below the 1hr.

I always seem to make excuses after races (windy, sick) and I don't want to be like that. A few things will have to change though after this race, I'm going to cut one run a week out of my training. I'm not sure of the benefit and I'm probably better doing less runs but better quality and better rest&recovery. I'm going to drop the 400's, even if I was feeling well I wasn't strong enough on the second run, I need to be doing longer intervals and from talking to a club mate after I'm going to do longer stuff at tempo. Bit of a new plan has been put in place for tri Laois, more focus on km repeats. Happy enough with the bike, a solo bike and hit the power I wanted. Need to work on the % I can hold though. I felt like I could have kept going at that power for another bit, took me around 8km to settle and get comfortable on the bike so need to work on harder stuff. Bike handling, seem to say this the whole time, have talked to the lads on the new club spin about this and hopefully going to get some help from them around it.

Overall I can't be too disappointed, I hit my target, but still plenty to do. Great race for the club, winning the womens race and coming 5th,6th and 7th in the mens. Race missing some real quality though with the nationals on the same day. Great racing from JM Rooney though. His hard work over the last few months has really paid off, if he had of taken off his helmet in T2 he probably would have caught me on the run.

Plan for the next day or two is very easy. See how I feel and if I'm up to it I'll do a little bit. I need to get over what ever is in my system and try and recover from it.

Neady83

Nice racing Joey, not a bad start to the year. Was the sickness on Sunday evening a hangover from the race or were you coming down with something?

joey100

Hey Neady, not sure to be honest, training coming up to the race was a bit strange, after the break in Amsterdam I never felt right training. HR was high and pace slow but put that down to the few days off. Think there is something in my system, hopefully over the worst of it now but going to take the next few days off and see how I feel.

Never mind how I feel though after my race, how are you?? That was a brilliant result and race at the RACE, you must be delighted?