The difficult second album

joey100

Think they said the water temp was 13.5 before we got in. I don't mind the cold water too much but honestly it wasn't that bad. I had 2 swim hats on, no neoprene hat and wouldn't say I was cold out of the water either. Sunday was fairly alright temperature wise though, especially when the sun was out.

I'd guess the howth aquathon isn't TI sanctioned. Seems to be a small operation, you can't be guaranteed the same course each evening, they have been known to put the run turnaround in different places.

http://howthaquathon.com/joomla/

That's the site, I think the lad who organises it organises some adventure races and muck races. It's very no frills but it's a good run out and it's very low key. Transition is just some taped off some in a green area. Done one last year and I enjoyed it though, turn up race and go home, not too bad!

El Director

joey100 wrote: »

Think they said the water temp was 13.5 before we got in. I don't mind the cold water too much but honestly it wasn't that bad. I had 2 swim hats on, no neoprene hat and wouldn't say I was cold out of the water either. Sunday was fairly alright temperature wise though, especially when the sun was out.

I'd guess the howth aquathon isn't TI sanctioned. Seems to be a small operation, you can't be guaranteed the same course each evening, they have been known to put the run turnaround in different places.

http://howthaquathon.com/joomla/

That's the site, I think the lad who organises it organises some adventure races and muck races. It's very no frills but it's a good run out and it's very low key. Transition is just some taped off some in a green area. Done one last year and I enjoyed it though, turn up race and go home, not too bad!

13.5 is grand actually for this time of year! I'm curious as to how I will find the water temp as I train in Westmanstown now which is very warm. Before I trained in the NAC which is competition temperature and therefore it prepares you well for the OW swims, was never an issue for me but I might be softer now!

I love those no frill races, always fun. I might do it too, be good to get some OW swimming in.

joey100

That's the main reason for me doing it, an extra bit of swimming. Swim there can be choppy enough but night I done it it was grand. Beach start so a nice run in. Bit of a run to T1 and then a good fast run. There is a lovely short hill on the run route, very steep! Other than that tho it's fast enough and you can grab some chips there before you go home!

joey100

Right so another race done and a quick update. Since Carlow I've done a bit, no hard running at all really, all easy and think only 1 longer run. Bike has been good though, few turbos and a long spin on Saturday where I done around 120km. Really enjoying the bike at the moment and can feel some form building in it. Race was last night at Howth aquathon short course. I had decided to do the short course when I signed up, done the long course last year and I enjoyed it but suffered for a day or two after. Idea behind doing the short course was that I could train as normal up to it and then back in straight after. So with that in mind there was no taper at all, long bike on Sat, medium run on Sunday, 30 min run on Monday and then out to do the race that evening. No fuss race. set up quickly and took it easy. And taking Zico's advice I didn't wear a HR strap and only had the watch set up for pace. I know the route anyway so would have an idea where I would be on it anyway so the plan was to go out as hard as I could and see where it got me.

Swim 9.55

I'll put the times in but in reality they mean very little. Transition was long and the timing mat was a good 100-150m from swim exit and the last 50m or so of the swim was wading through water too. decent enough start, had a good look at the long course lads and could see the wind pushing them out so aimed left of the first buoy and ended up straight at it. Know I haven't done enough swimming (wht change the habit of a lifetime) so didn't set out mad fast, just worked my way through the group. Had a feeling I was moving well through it, less and less splash in front of me. Bit of dodgy sighting between last buoy and slip way but I swam as far up as I could making time into the people in front who stood and walked. Got out around 4th and passed one before transition. No idea of time, have decided not to time the swims, my time will be my time, when I get the chance to see it there's not a whole lot I can do about it other than worry it wasn't fast enough. No idea where I was positioned either but reckoned top 6-ish.

T1 49 seconds

I think I had the fastest transition of the night over both races, wetsuit off no bother and straight into my shoes. Made up at least 1 more place here.

Run 12.49 (3.5km, think around 3.38min/km)

Head down and straight into the run. No HR strap on, nothing really on the watch just run. Ran hard enough and was passing people straight away, long course lads where on their 2nd laps so no idea where I was. Just picked a person pushed past, then repeat. Took it easy going up the steep hill and pushed on again at the top. Knew it was a bit of a false flat and would be a gradual downhill most of the way back so pushed on. Passing people all over the place. Liked having people around to aim for, took my mind off the hurting. So did not wearing the HR strap, it should hurt running 3.5k so I just made sure it did. Finished fast and was spent at the end.

Overall 23.33 and 1st place. No idea where I came at the end, had a feeling it was high up, never passed on the run and a decent swim and transition. Pleased to get a win, never thought I would win an aquathon! The majority of the quality on the night was in the long course so I won't get too carried away, transition and run time wouldn't have been too bad compared to them lads but swim impossible to compare, they done 2 laps during which one of the buoys drifted out so a different course really. The low key, low stress of this race suited me. So did not wearing the HR strap, couldn't get caught up in my HR or how it was high, just concentrated on running.

Anyway the body isn't too bad today so I'll be back on the bike tonight and will try and build again towards Derry. Looking forward to getting it done so I can move onto Olympic distance, much prefer that distance.

pgibbo

Nice one Joey. Congrats!!!!

El Director

Brilliant Joey. Delighted for you, you needed a little boost, we all do from time to time. I've always said that I'd like to win a race some day - any race at all! I thought my chance was gone after the last 4 years but I know it's not and can still be achieved. Well done!

Kurt.Godel

Great start to the season for you so far Joey! Looks like your illness a month back is well and truly done with!

joey100

Right so, not too busy in work at the moment so a quick update since the howth aquathon. Didn't back off too much after it, eased the run back a bit but worked hard on the bike. Training has been going well, consistent anyway. Even the swim has been a bit more consistent. Got a bit of advice off a different coach (thanks Ceepo) and have changed the way I approach my training a bit. I'm still training pretty much every day and the days have stayed the same but what I do on the days have changed. I'm not as rigid as sticking to intervals always on Friday and Monday for run and always specific intervals on Tuesday and Thursday for the bike. If I'm feeling too tired and stiff after my long run I'll do an easy run on Monday and do my interval on Wednesday then an easy run day on Friday. Has sort of worked out with alternating weeks of 2 tough run sessions, 1 tough bike and then the next 2 tough bike sessions, 1 tough run. Working more below my FTP and limit on bike and run. Feeling good though. done my first ever hill intervals on the run, in around 4.5-5km I climbed over 250m so a decent enough hill. Was tough but a stand out session, mainly for being a lovely evening, first time doing it and the dog running them beside me. Stand out bike session has been a comfortable enough 2x20@ 92%. Felt strong and followed it up two days later with a 5x5@270W (approx 105%).

So training has gone well, putting less pressure on myself and varying the training a bit more. Body is feeling good and feel like I might get to Derry on Sunday with a bit of form and fitness. Looking forward to moving towards Olympic distance racing though after Derry.

mossym

joey100 wrote: »

Stand out bike session has been a comfortable enough 2x20@ 92%.

good session there, what was the recovery?

joey100

10 mins, bit generous but plan when I started was to see how I went, originally aiming for 3x10 but legs felt good so went for it. Ideally like to get the recovery down to around 5 but as a starting point it's not bad.

pgibbo

You're being too modest lad. Where's the race report????

El Director

pgibbo wrote: »

You're being too modest lad. Where's the race report????

Absolutely! 6th in national sprint dude, awesome result.

joey100

Derry Sprint tri

Race was on Sunday and headed up on Saturday, was an early start on Sunday and didn't need it to be a really really early start! Stayed in a b and b just outside Derry, took it easy the night before and spent most of it watching tv.

Up early the morning of the race, found the registration easily enough and registered nice and quickly. Had brought a spare normal road front wheel with me, plan was if it was windy to use it, was a bit of wind but didn't think it was too bad so left on the flo60. Racked no problem and a very very short warm up done. Was lashing rain so thought better off to stay dry and a bit warm rather than get soaked that early in the day. Rain eased off and was decent enough weather during the walk down to the swim start.

Swim 10.56

Swim was a strange one, looked like against the flow of the river but with the tide, we were right in at the wall and were fairly protected for most of it by pontoons for boats. Started right at the front. decent enough start but became obvious early on that the fast lads were in the middle while I started far left. Got a bit complacent with the sighting because it was a fairly enclosed swim and added a little bit of extra distance for myself. Starting out far left worked at the exit though as the others seemed to have to cut back in left to get out. Gave up a minute on the swim to the fastest lads, not a huge amount but enough.

T1 43 seconds

Short run to T1. Wetsuit off quick and out on the bike. One of the fastest t1's. A lad who beat me by 15/20 seconds on the swim left T1 with me so pleased with the time made up.

Bike 35.27

Started well and straight into passing people. Road was a little slippy but was pleased with how I was cornering. Lumpy enough route and put time into people on the short hills. Didn't look too much at the power only using it as a guide when I was pushing too high. At the back of the course you go over a pretty high and wide bridge. Passed plenty up the ramp to the peak of it and then the downside wasn't too bad, until the last 300m or so when you were very exposed to a strong crosswind. Lost a fair bit here on both laps, not sure if the front wheel I didn't use would have made a difference or it was the whole bike but gave up time here on both laps. Would pull away on the uphill, lose some time here and then catch back on on the flat. Drafting was a problem. Groups of 3/4 lads in front sitting in a mini pack. Couldn't pass them at one stage they were that big. Few warnings were given but from what I can see on the results no penalties. Bike was a little long at around 21.5km.

T2 42 seconds

Another quick transition and made up time on a few lads in front of me and got out of T2 in front of them.

Run 16.21

Start by saying run was short. Around 500m short. Not sure why, there was 2 out and backs were they could have moved it longer by 100/200m to make up the difference. Passed 2/3 straight out and pushed on, could hear them sticking with me so upped the pace to make the pass stick. Settled into 6th quick enough and was gaining slowly on 5th. Few lumps and bumps and was gradually puling him back in, think he had around 20 seconds on me leaving t2 so was working hard to catch him. Back over the bridge and I could see the finish line but looking at the watch we should have had around 1km left so though we might pass it and come back to it. Really pushed on then but ran out of road and finished 6th 3 seconds behind 5th. I'd be confident that with another 500m I could have caught and passed him.

Overall 1.04.07 6th place and 3rd in my age group.

6th across the line and a bit of a wait to see what the next few waves would do time wise. Kept the 6th place and 3rd in my age group for a national sprint age group champs medal. Goal at the start of the season was a medal of some sort for my age group. Thought it would be NS medal based on my best 4 results, never thought I would win a sprint champ medal. Delighted with this. Not the strongest field at a national champs but I didn't know that when I signed up and I signed up to race the fast lads to see where I was.

I gave up around 1 min in the swim, 1 min on the bike and 25 seconds on the run to the lad who won. Not much I can do about that. Bike could have suited me but I was just too nervous in the cross winds and I'd guess that this is where the majority of that minute went. Might have been a bit conservative on the first half of the run but pleased with how it went. It was very short, but at a 16.21 for 4.5km I would have been low 18 mins for 5km off the bike. That's a big jump for me.

The training changes I made seemed to have worked today. I was strong on the bike, it wasn't bike strength that cost me places, rather nervousness and my handling. On the straights and uphill I was constantly passing and was comfortable. Power was good but went by feel rather than glued to the computer.

Run was good. Started strong and maybe pulled back a bit too much after the first 500m to try and save some. No looking at HR or watch at all during this really, just ran hard and made sure it hurt. This no frills approach to racing seems to be working so far for me. Result aside this was my best ever triathlon run and even if I didn't get a medal I would have been happy with it.

So back into training now into a distance that over the last few years has been my strongest. Olympic seems to suit me better and the training I have been doing has probably been better suited to it. Next race is in Sligo on Saturday 8th July. Gives me another 4 weeks training before it. Have the howth aquathon on Monday but that's treated more as a fast training session. Doing a sportif this weekend with my dad on the bike and after that will get back into into properly.

I'll update again after the howth aquathon.

joey100

@Pgibbo, you obviously didn't see my social media assault over the weekend if you think I'm being too modest!

I was in the middle of writing it, in work, when someone dropped into the office for a chat! Quick screen minimize and just got it finished there.

Neady83

Brilliant, delighted to see you get the result that you've worked hard for. The changes you've made to your training are obviously working. Well done on a great result, plenty more of that to come I'm sure

Kurt.Godel

F*cking awesome Joe!!!! Well done, great result, lets have more of the same this season!!:D

rooneyjm

Nice one Joe, super stuff

joey100

Cheers Folks, had a quick look at the bike computer this morning. AP around 220, NP around 242. Shows how much free wheeling I was doing when the cross winds got sketchy. Still at least the power is there, it's just a matter of putting it out, and getting braver!

El Director

Well done Joey! Look how quickly things can turn around for one! Not long ago you were very frustrated, but you adapted and reacted and it's paying off now. Which Howth race are you doing so I can avoid you? :P

joey100

Cheers El D, I'll be doing the short course race, easier to fit into the training and takes less out of me! The way I'm recovering after Sunday though I wouldn't be too worried against racing me next Monday, legs taking a while to come round!

joey100

Another quick update, Done a bit of training since Derry. Took a while for the legs to come around and there was no hard running between Derry and the 2nd Howth Aquathon last night. A night out on Saturday with the neighbours on the road had me in bits on Sunday and the first missed day of training in a good while. Monday wasn't much better and wasn't feeling great about the race last night. Got there early enough, grabbed a good parking spot and registered and set up my transition nice and quick. Quick run warm up done, not feeling great but never do for my warm up.

Swim 11.24

Swim felt longer tonight and judging by the times I'd say it was. Choppy enough out to the first buoy but got on decent feet for it and was pulled along. Across the next to the next buoy I lost the feet a bit but worked my way up. Passed by a faster swimmer I know as we turned towards the shore so I jumped onto her feet and stayed there until the end. Was 5th Male out of the water.

T1 49 seconds

Part of the swim includes probably a 100m run or so too. Passed 1 lad on the run to T1 and then got into T1 with 2 lads from piranha, they had a club mate shouting at them that they were 2nd and 3rd so I pushed to gain on them. Think they had around 20 seconds on me out of the water. Got out of transition before them, fastest transition of both races.

Run 12.59

I ran the to the turnaround flat out to try and open any gap I had over the 2 other lads in T1. I swallowed a bit of water on the swim and my stomach wasn't feeling right with the left overs from Saturday night still in my system, all made for a pretty sicky feeling run. Ran hard as I could, finished wrecked and was never passed.

Overall 25.13, 2nd place

So another podium, the lad who won was national series champ last year, big difference out of the swim but our t1 and run times overall were pretty much the same. I say it every time but the swim needs more work. Run was a little slower than last time but with the way I felt going into it I'll take that. The goal at the start of this series was to win the overall series. I was hoping for 3 top 5 positions so the results are good and put me in a good place going into the last one in July. Legs aren't too bad today, even though my HR was high and the effort was high I wasn't running as fast as I would like so the legs were never really able to get hurt. No HR strap on during the race again and all done on feel.

Back to the normal training now and try and get a bit of form back before the Olympic distance in Sligo in 3 weeks. I will probably train up to the race and use it to build for Caroline Kearney in August. I'll update again before that race.

joey100

Racing this Saturday in Sligo. Day off work tomorrow and a pet friendly apartment booked nice and close to the race start. Will get registered tomorrow and take a bit of the pressure off on Sat morning. It's not too early a start so should be 2 decent nights sleep between now and the race.

Body is feeling decent. Probably a week or two too early to be in proper good shape but some improving signs there. This race was always going to be about using it to build for CK and DCT. Looking forward to it though.

Have had a good enough run of training. Even been to the pool a few times and in the last 10/12 days have done 4 open water swims. Feel like swim fitness is improving but still a bit one paced in the water. Bike is steady enough, some days I feel great on it, others it's ok. Done a long-ish spin on the TT bike last weekend and was comfortable enough. Run going ok, another set of hill repeats in Ard Gillan flared up a bit of a niggle that I've had before but I was sensible about it and swapped a planned run for a bike and took a few days off running and when I got back to it I was grand and moving well.

No real idea of a time for this race, top 5% in the race would be nice so we will see how it goes on the day!

Kurt.Godel

Best of luck on Saturday joey! I wouldn't fret about your swim being one paced as no doubt its a fast pace

Enjoy the weekend!

rodneyr1981

Best of luck sat Joey

Race hard

joey100

Hazelwood Olympic Tri

So headed down on Friday, took our time and got settled in the apartment we booked. Registered on fri and had a quick look at the swim start, some of the bike course and transition. Race didn't start until 12 on Sat so a good sleep on Fri night and I was set to go. Racked nice and quickly, only negative I'd have about the race is how packed transition was, very little space, but they were limited by the size of the car park they were using.

I lost my timing chip during the swim, it didn't feel the most secure when I put it on so I used 2 pins to help keep it on, didn't work in the end! I don't record my swim times and the bike was a little late starting so I've tried to estimate as best as I can the swim time and bike time using my end time and run time. Not 100% accurate but not far off either.

Swim

A lovely swim, one big lap in the lake. Lined up far left behind one or two lads I was fairly confident I could hold the feet of. Start was a bit of a mess, far right started about 3 seconds before the horn sounded and it was a rush then. Held the feet well for about the first 300m, got pushed off then by another fella who I thought was going to hold them but turned out couldn't swim in a straight line and was all over the place. After this settled well into a small group, near the front but on people's hips and feet for the majority of the swim. Out in around mid 25 mins. Last 100m or so was wading through water that was just above knee deep. Time would compare pretty well to people I would normally be around.

T1

I'd guess around 1 min, maybe a little over. Bit of a problem getting the suit off my left arm but got it sorted and out fairly quick.

Bike. approx 1.06

Took a while to settle onto the bike. Was moving ok, just felt a little flat. Used my new helmet, giro aerohead and found it very comfortable. Little heavier than I'm used to but comfortable. Passed a few fairly quickly and was beginning to settle. A lumpy enough route and kept an eye on my power going uphill to make sure it didn't spike too much. Passed by 3 lads after around 10km who were doing a fantastic team time trial effort. Turned a corner though and there was a motorbike marshall sitting in who spent the next few minutes sitting behind them, they didn't notice him, seen a few drafting penalties at the end and not sure if it was them but I hope it was, really blatant drafting. Anyway, didn't let it bother me too much and stuck to my own thing. A solid bike without being great, never really got going and feel like there is definitely more there. Spells were I was feeling good and I was moving well, just wasn't enough of them! Could have probably done with a bit more water on the bike, helmet felt a little hot.

T2 Around 1 min

No real problems here, in and out nice and quick.

Run 37.30

Only accurate enough time I have. Taken from the watch. Run was short, but wasn't as short as the watch had it at. I'd guess around 300m short (based on other lads times and my own) so would have been a push but like to think I could have gone under 39 mins. Settled well into the run, lead lady passed me into T2 and I worked on catching her during the first lap of the run. After that the run course got busier which I prefer. Plenty of people to aim for and try to catch. Passed by one lad at around 8km, tried to go with him but it was to far from home to be holding his pace and would have killed me. At around 9km I seen a lad who had passed me on the bike. I reckoned I could catch him by the finish so worked hard. Caught him around 400m to go and put on an effort to go past him, I don't have much of a sprint so thought it better to go from far out. Worked well and crossed the line ahead of him.

Overall 2.11

Had no idea where I was when I crossed the line. Normally I'd be passing a good few on the bike but didn't really happen today and was passed by 4/5 as well. Passed a few on the run but got hard to know who was on which lap during the run. Really surprised to see I had come 8th overall and 2nd in my age group. For a race that went ok, a decent swim and another good run but never felt I got going on the bike I am very happy with the result. I was never going to be in great shape coming into this race, I took a little break after Derry and was only back into training about 2 weeks leading up to it.

Need to work a little on the bike, I am running well off it and it's ok times but just need to get the power a bit higher. Power was around 218 for this race and would have been hoping for 230 so not too far off but need to give it a bit more time. Need to sort out a decent bike warm up too, nearly like the first 10km of the bike are my warm up and then I settle into it. Run went well, again no real watching the watch, wouldn't have been much use anyway, the majority of the run was in a dense enough forest and half the time it was telling me I was running slower than 4.20km's. 3lap system works well for me and made it easy to break it down in my head. Swim was ok, swarm smart if not fast and never really lead the group out. Started well and if I could have held the feet better I would have been a bit quicker.

Overall I'm happy with the race. Main goal is top 3 in NS in my age group, Carlow I was around 7th but Derry I was 3rd and Sligo 2nd so if I can keep it up I hopefully have a decent chance.

Easy hour on the turbo on Sunday and an easy 40 min run yesterday to get back into it. This week will be easy enough to give the body a chance to recover, Monday is the last Howth aquathon of the season, hoping for another good result there and then a good 3 week block to Caroline Kearney.

zico10

Well done. One question; what sort of warm up do you normally do before races/did you do before this race?

joey100

Cheers Zico. Normally I'd do around 15 mins on the bike, easy at the start and then try and build the power a bit. Some high cadence stuff too. It's not an exact science and I don't have timings for anything. Need to put a bit more care into it.

Run warm up would normally be around 2km, with a few bits of race effort thrown in too. Again nothing scientific really about it but seems to work, or maybe by the time I'm getting off the bike the legs are warmed up for the run.

zico10

joey100 wrote: »

Cheers Zico. Normally I'd do around 15 mins on the bike, easy at the start and then try and build the power a bit. Some high cadence stuff too. It's not an exact science and I don't have timings for anything. Need to put a bit more care into it.

Run warm up would normally be around 2km, with a few bits of race effort thrown in too. Again nothing scientific really about it but seems to work, or maybe by the time I'm getting off the bike the legs are warmed up for the run.

My feeling would be that you want to be doing a bit more than that. What you describe on the bike is just really a warm-up for the warm-up. Fair enough if you're going straight into the run phase of your warm-up, but I think however you build on it, you should be looking to hit an effort level above what you aim to be cycling/running in the race.
The practicalities of warming-up before most races and transition closing means that a run warm-up is normally easier, but I wouldn't really look upon either a bike warm-up or a run warm-up as getting warmed up for the bike and run respectively, but rather getting warmed up for the race. And to be honest, I'd say it matters little which of them you do.
Also I f you've time to swim before the race, and you won't have to hang around getting cold afterwards in advance of the race start, I'd get in the water and make full use of that time to get my heart rate back up.
I don't know if you ever did Interested's classic 750m warm up at any of his sessions, but if time allows, it's an ideal one to go through before a race. There's a lot of max effort stuff in it, but I'd even try get it done after a warm-up on land. You're going to have to work a lot harder in a few minutes when the actual race starts and you need to be ready for that.

joey100

Howth aquathon race 3 17th July

Last of the howth aquathons for the year and another great day. Small enough in field in short course tonight but few lads who could run well so I was expecting to be chasing me down.

Swim 10.22

Bit of a mess at the swim start, we were told to walk back from our warm up behind the flags and when we were walking back it started. Meant around half the field had a good 30m head start on me and meant I pushed it harder than I wanted at the start. Worked out ok though, got into a little group behind the leaders and worked my way through it getting out around 20 seconds behind the main pack, pleased with the ground I made up though and how I swam.

T1 0.48

Pushed on to gain some time. Got into T1 a little behind the leaders but left on their shoulders. I could tell here the run was going to be tough, legs weren't feeling great. Fastest T1 of the night though, had the fastest T1 in every race (long and short) and think this was the fastest over all 3 races.

Run 13.12

My slowest run of the series but the course was a little longer tonight, turn around was around 20m further out than usual. Settled ok, legs were tired and found it a bit of a struggle. Passed 1st and 2nd within 500m and pulled it back going up the hill. Pushed on a bit and opened a little gap over them. should have pushed on more but got a bit too comfortable with my position and my body wasn't really feeling up to the hard running! Passed at the turnaround and hung with him for just over 1km. Took him passing me to spur me on and get me running properly. Bit of a push at the end, didn't realise it at the time but the lad who finished 3rd was gaining on me in the run and I was lucky I pushed on otherwise I would have dropped a place.

So overall 24.23 and 2nd on the night. Another good result and my run times compare fairly well to one or two other lads I'd be keeping an eye on. Done on a tired body too so overall pleased with the performance. A 1st,2nd and 2nd gave me the overall series win and nice handmade piece of pottery for the house. Nice little collection of medals and trophies building this year.

Next race is Caroline Kearney. Club TT tonight and then an easy enough day on Wednesday before I get back into it properly for it.

rodneyr1981

Good stuff Joey.
Your on a nice bit of form. Fair play