The difficult second album

Kurt.Godel

Well done Joe on rounding out the series in first place- any interest in taking that rich vein of aquathlon form to the Nat Champs this weekend?

joey100

Cheers Kurt, nope, no plans at all for that! All eyes are on Caroline Kearney and DCT now. I'm not swimming well enough to make the journey down, I'd be found out fairly quick!

joey100

How you know your getting close to race shape

1. Your mam says you look sick

2. A friend you haven't seen in a while asks is everything OK.

3. Your wife's friends partner who you have never met before hears you race and presumes you are a jockey.

rodneyr1981

CK next weekend?

joey100

Yep, in a good shape now so hopefully can hold it for it. Won't be winning anything with the quality going but its a great race.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

joey100 wrote: »

How you know your getting close to race shape

1. Your mam says you look sick

2. A friend you haven't seen in a while asks is everything OK.

3. Your wife's friends partner who you have never met before hears you race and presumes you are a jockey.

4. Your partner asks do you want to get intimate and you turn and say "sorry love, I need to sleep"

RacoonQueen

joey100 wrote: »

How you know your getting close to race shape

1. Your mam says you look sick

2. A friend you haven't seen in a while asks is everything OK.

3. Your wife's friends partner who you have never met before hears you race and presumes you are a jockey.

Keegan Unimportant Arm wrote: »

4. Your partner asks do you want to get intimate and you turn and say "sorry love, I need to sleep"

5. Your mam keeps trying to give you money because she thinks you can't afford food

joey100

Right so quick update before CK tomorrow. Training after Hazelwood was going pretty well, miles were building and was getting better at holding power for longer on the bike. Until around 2 weeks ago when I started to feel off (ear and throat infection), off antibiotics around 2 days now and feeling a bit more normal,not much swimming done, couldn't be in the water with the ear, then last night I hit my leg off the edge of the ktichen table and have abit of a dead leg and a nice bruise today. So not expecting a whole lot from tomorrow, I'll be going in fresh enough tho! It;s a race I have enjoyed doing before and we will just see how it goes on the day!

pgibbo

Hope it goes well. Best of luck.

rodneyr1981

Best of luck Joey

Kurt.Godel

Good luck joey, have a great race!

rodneyr1981

Well done Joey great racing

rooneyjm

I think u just proved over rested is better than overtrained

joey100

So race report form Caroline Kearney. I've done this race a few times now, like it, usually a fast course, but with a new bike course this year the times from other years wouldn't really be comparable. Got down nice and early, brought all my TT wheels with me, deep front, normal front, deep back, disc back. Hadn't decided what I was going to use so brought everything! Down in plenty of time, registered nice and quick. Made a decision on the wheels and went with deep back and normal road wheel front. The last few races I've felt very twitchy in the wind with the front wheel. I know the deeper wheel is faster but I come out of aero when I feel it go and I'm usually a bit on edge then after it. I thought that the aero benefits I'd lose I'd make up for by being able to hold my position for longer. Bit of a warm up with 2 other lads from the club, running the last 1.5km and the first 1.5km of the run.

Swim 24.39

Not a bad swim for the amount of swimming I've been doing but not a great swim compared to the other lads around me. Got into a group and settled well, worked my way up it a bit going from feet to feet but felt like I worked it well and was working with them. Bit of a fumble getting my left arm out of the suit again, has got a little bit stuck the last 2 times now. Swim time included a bit of a run to T1 and the last 30/40m of the swim walked too in shallow water.

T1 1.10

Not the quickest but not far off them either. No real messing around, out fairly handy.

Bike 1.02.32

Bit of a cramp in my left calf getting into my shoes but cleared quickly and apart from a little tightness there not an issue for the rest of the race. Plan was to start steady and build through the cycle. Bit of bunching at the start of the cycle, sitting back and then once the road went up put in an effort and pulled away from them and held it away. Worked well with 2 other lads, all of us staying back and taking turns on the front. I tried to play it smart and moved to the front whenever the road went up a bit, not a huge amount of this though, less than 250m climbing in the course, could stay at planned watts and still pull away on the hills. On the flatter bit concentrated on keeping my head low and staying as aero as I could. Passed by 2/3 on the bike towards the end but overtook approx 10/12 I'd say. Out of the shoes on a decent bit of surface about 1km from the end, knew it got a little tighter closer to T2 so out in plenty of time. worked well, passed 1 lad and caught another who were struggling taking the feet out on the dodgier road surface. Off the bike in 1.02.32 so a good cycle. NP around 230w, off a FTP of 257W (I'd say it's lower, this is based on 97.5% of 20 min test but I'd guess I'm closer to 95%) and weighing 59kg on race day so decent numbers, Ideally I'd like to hold higher but that seemed to work well. Pretty steadily paced too with no huge variance in the number apart from the initial dig up the hill to drop some of the lads hanging on. (peaked around 450w). Front wheel worked well too, no wobbles and felt very comfortable, only came out of aero on a few corners and once or twice uphill, other than that no issues with the wind or staying down low.

T2 1.01

Again not the fastest but not a million miles off either, didn't rush putting my shoes on and had to move a bike over that was in my spot but no real issues.

Run 37.56

Left T2 and overtook 2 within the first 200m. Plan was to take it steady enough out to 5km, in the warm in seen it was a slight rise pretty much to half way and then you came back that road. Settled well, not really watching the pace but keeping it faster than 3.54min/km. Plan was to aim for 39mins pace for the first 5km and then push on from there at around 6km. Got into a nice rhythm, got about 20m behind another lad and the gap seemed to stay like that. He was moving well though so I was happy with that and we were passing a few as we went. Got to the first out and back at around 4km in and seen a club mate who I was expecting to run me down was catching me. Pushed on a bit from there, knew the route dropped a bit and I'd be able to up the pace, in the back of my mind was to hold a little something back for the last 1km, it would rise again here and then go off road in a field for the last 300m or so. Pushed on and began catching the lad in front, passed him just before 8km gone and pushed on. 1km out from home caught another lad and again gave a push to stay ahead. Happy I held a bit back, was able to push on the last km when it got tougher and opened up a decent lead and held it to the finish. Never passed by the club mate so was a good day! First 5km approx 19.10, second 5km 18.45. Passed by 1 on the run and passed approx 8/9.

Overall 2.07.20 20th place

This had been a goal race at the start of the season, I was hoping to do well here. Not the best position I have finished this season but by far my best race. This was a stacked field, the top 9 were all very very low 2hrs or sub 2hrs, top 15 all sub 2.05. When I seen the line up I was hoping for a top 30 and would have been happy with that. So to finish 20th was a good result. Very pleased with the bike, pleased with the pacing, how I handled the bike and the time. The change of front wheel worked well, even psychologically it helped keep me calmer and more comfortable on the bike. I ate more than I ever have on the bike and felt good getting off. Bottle leaked a bit so didn't have as much fluids as I would have liked but it didn't have a negative impact on my race. The run was my stand out. My stand alone 10km PB from around 18 months ago when I was running well is 37.45. To go just over 10 seconds slower than that after a tough bike was great. I felt I paced it well and in the second half when others where starting to suffer and slow I was getting stronger. A fairly decent negative split too. I was hoping for my first sub 39 min 10km run off the bike and I went well below it. The swim is the only poor event on the day. When I look at the times around me I was close enough on the bike and run but was the swim where I lost out. I'm not too worried about it though, I know with a bit more time in the pool I can lower that time.

Disappointed not to get an age group podium, TI didn't have a seperate race for Cat1 and if they didn't finish in top 3 they were eligible for age group prizes even though in every other race they aren't. Probably wouldn't have got one anyway but would have placed higher. But that's only a small thing, overall a good race and very happy with it.

Very stiff today and yesterday. Done an easy 2.5hr bike with Laura yesterday and felt better for it. Will be another day or so before I'm back running. Next race is Dublin City and the challenge will be to hold some of this form for it. I don't think I will be in the same shape as CK but I'll give it a go. Week after that is Skerries sprint tri and then that's my season done.

Kurt.Godel

Well done Joey on a great race, and a brilliant run in particular. Lock that memory in a vault, you should be proud of that one!

RacoonQueen

Great racing Joey - I stood up far too early coming out of the water myself. Ended up walking right into both holes they warned us about. With my short arms I probably could have swam pretty much right into shore and saved myself some seconds.

career move

Great racing Joey. Well done

Neady83

You're having a savage year Joey, nice racing, well done.

Do you think the set up in the shed is helping or taking pressure off yourself? along with the dedicated training you're doing obviously.

joey100

Cheers folks.

Neady, the shed makes the bike training very easy and gives you no excuses for not doing it. I had the bike in a spare bedroom before and that worked well too. Once they are set up on the turbo already there is very little excuses for not doing a session. Looking back at my training I don't miss bike sessions, could probably count on 1 hand the amount I've skipped the the last year or two, I don't really miss run sessions, the only sessions I seem to skip are swimming. And that shows with my times! But the shed is great, I hope to pick up a treadmill for it sometime soon and it really will all be sorted then.

rodneyr1981

I see you have moved in the top 3 in your AG.
If I remember correctly that was one of your season goals?

joey100

Been keeping an eye on that myself Rodney. Yep into 3rd place now, I know at least one lad who will probably move into the top 3 if he completes the right number of races so I won't be expecting to be there come the season end. Bit disappointed with the points from both National Champs though, low scoring races, points seem to have been worked out including the top Cat 1 lads from CK. Means I scored lower than expecting. Boys in black did say this at the start of the year and it seems some of the top lads have picked better races than me for points. Personally I think if you want to be going to National series age group placings you should have to race the National Champs, too easy for people to hide and not race each other otherwise. I was 2nd in my age group in Sprint NC and was 6th in Olympic including the Cat 1 lads, probably move up to around 3rd if they weren't included and even with them 2 results more than likely won't get a top 3 NS placing. hopefully pick up some decent points in DCT this weekend but I'll be surprised if I'm there at the end of the season.

El Director

Great work Joey, racing brilliantly. Wonderful season so far.

RJM85

Good luck tomorrow. You're flying and due a big result. Hopefully it's tomorrow.

joey100

So the lead up to DCT after Caroline Kearney wasn't great. My right calf was in a jock after CK, was around 3 days before I chanced running on it and then another week nearly after that before I chanced it again. This just meant around 1hr of running in two weeks and not a huge amount on the bike either. Body was tired and on the morning of DCT I was very tempted just to roll over and go back to sleep.

Swim 25.25

There was a few fast swims on the day but the majority where around my time. I took it handy enough and stayed on the same feet from the first buoy to getting out. Was out with the first group after the faster lads and hadn't really worked too hard at all so was starting to think it might be a good day after all.

T1 1.35

Gave up a little time to a few others but had to take off and put on my timing chip again, it had started to slip off in the swim so that's probably a bit of the time there.

Bike 1.05.29

Started well, a little too cautious on some of the bends on the first lap or two but as it went on got more and more confident, not the fastest bike split but nearer the top than the middle. Never really felt under any huge pressure, took it easy enough out of some of the dead corners and tried to stay consistent with the power. Had a bit of drafter the 2nd time up the kyber, rather than blast off up it I thought I would try make him suffer, started the power at 230w and gradually raised it to 270w (4.5w per kg) through the climb. He started to go backwards very quickly here and didn't see him again during the day. Pleased enough with the bike, no huge spikes and when I got back to t2 there wasn't many bikes there at all so had gradually worked my way through the field. Hard to tell with the mixed waves but only around 2/3 from my wave over took me and I was constantly passing.

T2 1.14

Some of T2 is included in the bike time, bike computer has me closer to 1.04 but mu T2 time compares well to the other lads around me.

Run 40.53

Suffered from the start. Legs were dead and knew about 500m in this wasn't going to be a fast run. I don't think it's the fastest course anyway, it's a little long and the first 3.5km of the first lap and around 3km of the second lap are all uphill, some more a gradual hill but the road seemed to be always climbing. Settled in and just got through as best as I could. Gained a little over the first 6km on the lad in front, he had around 30 seconds leaving T2 but I got this back to around 4 seconds before he pushed on at around 7km and left me well behind. Watch has me just sub 40 mins for the 10km, think on the day only around 8 people went sub 40 mins for this run so overall not too bad a run.

overall 2.14.38 and 12th place. 5th in age group.

A decent race, pleased with the swim and the bike. I knew heading in the run was going to be tough, my legs were still a bit sore the morning of the race and that combined with it being a tough course meant I knew I wouldn't have my best time. Bit annoyed with the run time straight after the race but after seeing how few went sub 40 mins I'm not as annoyed anymore. Overall happy enough, getting close to finishing the season now and body is a bit tired overall. Not a bad result considering how I felt going in and would have been around the lads I would normally finish around too so looking at it that way a good performance.

Next up is Skerries next Sunday. Legs don't feel too bad today, not half as bad as they felt after CK. Keeping a better eye on recovery and straight after the race they were into compression socks and have been taking it easy on them. I'll see how I feel on Sat/Sunday morning before deciding on Skerries. To be honest my head is already finished with this season, but it's a local race and I can cycle down to it so I'll probably give it a go. It's only a sprint so should be over quick enough and I think it's a fast enough bike route, just depends where they put the turn arounds. I swim there for open water swimming anyway and the dog is usually walked down on the run course, so it would be a pity to miss it. This week will be about ticking over until then, no running until Wednesday though to give the calf a bit of a rest.

joey100

So I had hoped I'd be writing a race report after Skerries detailing my glorious victory. Unfortunately it wasn't to be, a DNS for me. Down and in transition for the race in a storm. Swim cancelled, fears even from the safety boaters about going into the water, that's fair enough, I can understand the call. Meant the race was to be a duathlon, not ideal with the way my running currently is but I could try make it work. Having your bike continually blown 2 wheels off the ground when your walking to transition did make my mind up though, wasn't worth the risk for me on the TT bike. I struggle with cross winds anyway and on a day like that I wasn't going to take the risk, on a road bike maybe but not on my TT bike. Seen a few others make the same decision and even though I was a little annoyed later in the day I didn't stay and give it a go I know I made the right call. Being blown across the road, with your bike nearly parallel to the ground on the bike out route when your walking to Transition was not fun!

So with that my season is over in a bit of an anti-climax. So this will be a bit of a season review, and a look at my early plans for next year.

This season was a bit of a breakthrough year for me. This log has been called the difficult second album for a while now, I had a good year a few years back and since then have been trying to back it up and make the next step, this year is probably the year I have done it.

This year I was going self coached, bit of a change but hoping I could use what I have picked up over the last few years to make it work for me. Over-trained over the winter, done far too much, squeezing in training where ever I could and resulted in the mini-break down earlier in the year. Made me re-evaluate my training and try and plan it a little better. This was the turning point in my year. Less pressure on myself, more freedom to change the training based on how I felt and moving more towards training below threshold and pushing up than training above and pulling up. Worked well and I was rarely sick after this and was good signs in the training.

Started doing new sessions, longer running intervals at threshold, some hill running around Ard gillan and started cycling on Saturdays with a cycling club that has some top lads in it. Became about getting as much as I could out of as little training as I could rather than doing as much as I could. Was still training a fair bit, usually over 10hrs a week but it was consistent and I was enjoying it again.

Race results were good too. Carlow was too close to when I changed to see any real results but Derry wasn't too far after and I seen a good improvement there. Not the strongest National Championship field but a 6th overall and 2nd in my age group was a great result. Sligo not long after was another decent day, 8th overall and 3rd in age group. Then was Caroline Kearney, 20th overall and 6th in age group and finishing off with DCT with 12th overall and looking like 3rd in age group. This combined with a 1st,2nd,2nd in the howth aquthaon short course series and overall series winner make it by far my best ever season. At the moment I'm 3rd in the National Series in my age group and 10th overall, I wasn't smart enough when I was planning my races and with some better choices I'd probably be ranked higher overall, but I'd guess similar enough in age group. I'd be surprised if I stayed there by the end of the season but you never know. Season goal was a national champs medal or a top 3 age group National series. Done this in Derry in the sprint champs so a successful season really.

Highlights of the season are mainly run based, the 4.6km 16.2x in Derry was a breakthrough run for me. When I started back 4 years ago the run was by far my weakest and I'd be constantly passed. I've kept working away to get where I am in a place now where I'm usually only passed by 1/2 in a race and usually have a run split near the top. I'd never ran sub 19min off the bike in a sprint before this and was a bit disappointed it wasn't the full course but I think I would have been mid 18mins for the full 5km here. The highlight race of the year was CK. A stacked field meant I was never going to be troubling the top and a top 30 was the goal. A 1.02 bike and then ran 37.51 off it. My standalone PB was 37.45 before this race so a big run for me. Probably my most complete performance ever, swim lacked a little but the return for the work was good with one of my best ever bikes and probably my best ever run.

Overall a good season, faded out a bit towards the end, body was tired and motivation started to wane.

Plans have begun for next season. It's looking like The outlaw full distance for my first full distance race. I've been there and raced in the venue before so the logistics are already figured out, takes a bit of the stress of planning out. The plan at this race is to do one and see how I like it. If it goes well or I really enjoy it I'll do more but this way it gives me a chance to try it without investing too much money into it. I've been talking with a few coaches about it and it looks like I've made my mind up with who I'm going with. A short chat about his way of training and seems to match up well to what I have experienced so I'm hoping it's a good fit. I'll fill in more when it's finalised.

Plan now is for this week off completely. I've already had a few very easy weeks but this week will be a complete rest. Off to Majorca then next Monday for a week and we are going to do a day or two on the bikes over there, nothing mad, just a bit of sightseeing and will do some swimming over there. Once I get back I'll do 2 weeks easy, getting back into the hang of things before starting training again in October. Next year I'll probably stick to the way I have been updating the log the last while, not too often but once every 3/4 weeks with an update on how the training as been going.

Steroo

I was going out yesterday morning in the wind for a run thinking of the Skerries race... I even thought they might cancel it entirely. the wind was 40kph in Baldoyle at 7am but I think it faded to 30kph by 10am. A good call by you I'd say!

And a good season of course. Well done & enjoy the holidays!

pgibbo

I see more long distance races in your future

Well done on a stellar season. Nice gains made. Congrats. Enjoy the break.

Neady83

You've had a cracking season Joey, especially considering things got off to a rocky start.

Those holidays will be enjoyable knowing that you've a hard but successful season behind you. Well done

rooneyjm

Nice one. Just as a matter of interest, which are the races that score high in points, just in case i decide to do more than one next year

joey100

Pretty much any race I didn't do will score high. Nah, Westport and Jailbreak in Cork seem to be two of the highest scoring. Your looking for races with large fields that don't have many of the top lads there. So avoid the National Champs.