The difficult second album

BTH

zico10 wrote: »

What's wrong with peanut butter?

Well for a start it's a lot cheaper than almond butter, and what kind of triathlete wants to spend LESS money??

Nothing terribly wrong with it but other nut butters are going to be better for you and less likely to contain added sugar and other sh1t. Peanuts are also not nuts.

joey100

So another week down and a bit more of a normal week, ish. Nice to get back into things after the day or two off with the snow.

Swim. only 2 swims this week, but it was planned so not to bad. Completely out of sorts in the water on Thursday, just couldn't get going and really struggled. Stayed in for the hour though and got done what I wanted. Friday was bit more normal, still a little off but feeling a lot better in the water.

Bike. 5 sessions this week. With an easy spin outdoors yesterday, nice to be back out on the roads. 4hr 15 on the turbo Sat with a run off it. Tough session on Thurs with 3x(3x2@120%,2easy) and another on Friday with 2x(30@Sweetspot, 5easy). Really pleased with the bike this week, I've been happy with the bike up to now but this week the legs were tired and it wasn't as comfortable physically or mentally as it has been up to now but I still done every session and held all the numbers. About 9.5hours done on the bike this week.

A good run week too. First set of intervals (4x1km@ 4min/km pace, 1 easy). Nothing too fast but just a bit of a test set to see where the legs were. Felt grand and was well able for it. 3easy runs during the week as well and a long run on Sunday of 2hrs 15 mins. Tightened up a bit towards the end of it but overall felt good. A good brick on Sat too straight off the turbo. A bit of a progression run, 10 easy, 16 mins steady, 1km faster than 4min/km pace and then around 15 easy to finish. Well able to hold it and steady pace was coming in a fair bit faster than the race pace I will be aiming for at the end of July. No problems holding the faster km at the end either. About 7 hrs running done this week and pretty sure my biggest mileage week ever.

Recovery/step back week this week and a day off today. Will do a bit of stretching and foam rolling later but overall the body doesn't feel too bad. Definitely a little tired but that's to be expected after the last 3 days training. A swim tomorrow morning and then not back on the turbo until Tuesday evening will see a good rest between my last and next workouts. Weight was good this week too and seems to have settled at around 59-60kg. Will get some nuts and introduce more protein too into my food. Sleep was good last week too, not as good as previous weeks but at least 8 hours every week night and 9 hours on the weekend, had been getting 10 over the weekends so will try for that again this weekend.

joey100

Recovery/step back week done. Short enough week training wise.

2xswims. One longer steadier swim mainly using pull buoy. And one 1 swim pyramid with 5 fast hundreds after. A decent swim week, still feeling a little off in the water but fitness is coming back.

Only 4 runs this week. Mainly short enough and easy. 1 park run on Sunday to see where I am at. Windy cold day and was very tempted to stay in bed but headed down to Newbridge house. First 300m or so is on grass, mucky grass today. 2x dead turns and the wind meant I thought it wouldn't be a fast day. Ran well, maybe started a little conservatively but ran a 18.13 and a near 40 second improvement sine January on a faster course. I'd take a guess at losing 6/7 seconds cos of the dead turns and the grass. Pleased with this run, built through it and my last 3km got progressively faster with the last km being my fastest. Only one real interval session done since Jan so good signs.

4x turbo sessions this week. Not ideally spaced out but all done. Tues, Wed and Sat, Sun. 15x1mins@312W, 2 easy, tough enough but all done. ONe session that was a mix of sprints and FTP efforts. Longer steadier effort on Sunday with around 80 mins @200w and then another hour easy after this. Saturday session was 3x10@200w, 4 easy. Pleased with the bike this week, not as many hours but there was still the intensity there.

Sleep was good this week, 2x10 hours, 2x9hours and the rest where just over 8 hours sleep. Weight stayed around 60kg too so a good week there as well.

This week will a bit of a challenge at the weekend fitting stuff in. Club new to tri training day on Saturday means long run done before and turbo after. Sunday then is the first of our interclub TT's. Plan is to do it in the middle of my long cycle but just means heading out a bit later than usual but be good to get it done.

rooneyjm

I honestly couldn’t tell you the last time I slept for 10 hours or even 9 come to that. If I got 8 twice a week that would be fairly good. Are you going to bed at 9 o’clock?

joey100

haha, no kids makes it easier to get the sleep in! Up at 6 three mornings a week and 7 two mornings, in bed asleep usually for 10. So 3x 8 hours and then 2x nine hours during the week. Stay in bed til around 9 on Sat and Sun and bed between 10-11 so 2x10 hours at the weekend. Really helps the recovery, you should try it!

rooneyjm

joey100 wrote: »

haha, no kids makes it easier to get the sleep in! Up at 6 three mornings a week and 7 two mornings, in bed asleep usually for 10. So 3x 8 hours and then 2x nine hours during the week. Stay in bed til around 9 on Sat and Sun and bed between 10-11 so 2x10 hours at the weekend. Really helps the recovery, you should try it!

I’m caught i a vicious cycle of running late, going to bed late, getting up early and feeling tired

peter kern

joey100 wrote: »

haha, no kids makes it easier to get the sleep in! Up at 6 three mornings a week and 7 two mornings, in bed asleep usually for 10. So 3x 8 hours and then 2x nine hours during the week. Stay in bed til around 9 on Sat and Sun and bed between 10-11 so 2x10 hours at the weekend. Really helps the recovery, you should try it!

most likely the best injury prevention possible

joey100

Another week done, felt a bit tougher than the first week of a block should but wasn't 100% all week.

Swim, only two sessions, 1 missed session. One hard session, plenty of recovery but was working hard when I was swimming. Another session in a busy lane, a mix of everything really, when I caught people I'd stop kicking and cross my legs to slow myself down. Got a fair bit done though but need to stop missing the extra swim.

Bike. Tough bike week. 2 mid week sessions, 1 with 5x3@290w (held above 300w for these), 3 easy in a 90 min steady effort. not too bad for this, got through them all and settled back into the steady effort well. Other was approx 75 mins spent above 200w, again tough but managed it. Had to swap my usual Sat and Sunday around, club had new to tri training day so was helping at that so a session was done later than usual and on Saturday night. A tough one too, 90 mins with 3x20@approx 220w (holding around 228w), 5 easy. This was tough, was a long day with my long run in the morning and then on my feet all day so struggled a little here. Held the power but was hanging by the end. Long spin on Sunday was finally outdoors. 55km to the first of the interclub TT league, lumpy 17km route. Really struggled with this, knew from very early into my spin that I was not going to be in good form for this! Legs just had nothing, gave it a go though and broke up the long spin. Around 4hrs 10 mins done and about 125km done. Comfortable on the bike, just little in the legs.

Only 4 runs done this week. 2 easy mid week, 1 longer easy run on Saturday morning and an interval session with 4x1km @faster than 3.45 mid week. Legs were decent but were still feeling the park run from last Saturday. Pace was decent for the long run and felt very comfortable. Skipped the planned 30 min brick on Sunday, I was wrecked and didn't want to be digging a bigger hole for myself. Decent run week.

So about 15 hours of training done this week, not bad with 1 missed swim and a cancelled brick. I didn't include some cycling I done on Saturday either as part of the training day. Sleep not great this week, all around 8hrs and 1 9hr. Didn't sleep great after the late turbo on Saturday and felt it Sunday morning. Made the mistake of not eating enough during Saturday too, was on my feet and helping with the training day and just didn't eat enough. Had dinner when I got home but i knew by then it was too late and I was playing catch up. Woke up hungry on Sunday and again struggled to get on top of it, felt it a little on the bike. Nutrition on the bike was good, ate plenty and drank well too, trying a new bottle holder between my arms and it's working well, nothing fancy just a cage I can take a bottle in and out of, last time I tried one of these I nearly ended up in the hedges trying to get the bottles out! but this one works much better and just gives me plenty of flexibility taking bottles on a course. Other slight concern is the weight of the tri bike, it really does weigh a tonne. I know people say weight doesn't really matter on a tri bike, and it probably doesn't but at 59kg a few extra kg on the bike is noticeable, but when it was loaded up on Sunday it was very very heavy. I did have 3 bottles on it and few gels bars and 2 tubes and bits. But I was surprised at how heavy it was. Won't be as loaded up on the day but still in my mind. Maybe it's the bike, maybe it's the wheels, maybe it's combination of both but I was genuinely surprised with how heavy it was. Others noticed it too when I asked them to lift it. But anyway, we will see.

So another similar week this week, but less on the weekend. Weather looks like it might be back to Saturday turbo but I'd like to get out on the roads again if I can.

joey100

Bit of an up and down week last week, some good sessions, some not so good.

Start with the bad, swimming. As is the usual now I missed swim sessions. I was sick and off work so a bit of an excuse but still only 1 swim session this week. It was a good one though and was looking forward to doing some more after it but my motivation for any type of swimming is just really low and I don't really need any excuse to miss a session.

Run. Wasn't impacted too much by the sickness. Was a bit of a stomach bug that I got on Tuesday and I hadn't planned on running that day anyway and by time I was back running it had seemed to have passed. 4 run sessions. 1 long run @2hours. 1 brick with 30 steady and 10 easy off a 4hr 15 bike. Steady was decent pace and the easy came in around what I had initially planned to race the Ironman at. 1 easy run and 1 interval run. interval run was 4x1km @ faster than 3.45 and 90 seconds easy. Same as last week, didn't want to push too much incase I wasn't fully over the stomach but went well, 2 into a headwind around 3.42, and 2 with the wind around 3.36. Running well at the moment and comfortable.

Bike. 3 and a half bike sessions. Tuesdays bike session was cancelled half way through, nothing in the legs, session was 90 mins with 6x3mins@ 120% in the middle but knew by the time I got to them it wasn't going to happen so binned it after 40 mins. 2 other sessions with 3x20@90% and then a 4hr 15 long spin outside covering around 130km. Average speed not great, windy and lumpy route. At times moving well, others times not so well. Aimed for around 170w (what I had planned for the race), average was 159w, with NP 170. Pushed it up a few hills so more likely a lower NP than planned but it all felt very comfortable. Might need to drink a little more on the bike but overall pleased with how it went. Straight into 30mins@ around 4.10 min/km off this bike and was comfortably tough. Not a huge effort but I was working.

Weight wasn't great this week, mainly because of the stomach bug. Dropped down to low 58kg's, but back up a little after the weekend with the help of some easter eggs! Sleep was good, bit too much to drink Saturday evening with the neighbours but other than that was all good.

Some positives this week. Long bike was comfortable and the run off it was very pleasing. Still plenty of training left but feeling in a good place. The long 20 min sessions @90% on the bike seem to be going well and aren't leaving me as wrecked as the first time I done them. Power outside on the bike is very good. Better than it's ever been. Holding 170w easy enough and with a bit of effort holding around 200w without working too hard. Training in aero seems to be working. Very comfortable on the bike, tried a bigger bottle in the cage between my arms and works well and was able to swap bottles around from frame to between arms and back with no real issues.

A big week time wise this week and then another step back week. Don't plan on any racing during the next easy week, have done something the last 2 easy weeks but I'm not sure I'll be able to this time. FTP test in the week after the easy week and plan to do another 5km in the next easy week as another marker.

joey100

Can't see myself doing any cat2 racing this year but a nice way to round out last year.

RJM85

peter kern wrote: »

most likely the best injury prevention possible

Not having kids?

Kurt.Godel

joey100 wrote: »

Can't see myself doing any cat2 racing this year but a nice way to round out last year.

Nice way to measure progress Joey- and at least you deserve a new roadie?!

joey100

Haha, the last thing I need is another bike! Would be a good excuse though...

joey100

Last big week of this block done. Just under 18 hours done and overall the body is feeling good.

2 swims, mix of 200's and some pull buoy stuff. Moving fairly well in the water and happy enough with the quality of the swim this week. Quantity still needs work.

run was a good week. 5 runs. Meant to run on Monday but swapped to a bike because of the horrible weather. Double run on Wednesday, intervals in the afternoon, 5x1km @ faster than 3.45min/km pace, 90 seconds easy. Pleased with these, comfortably under the target, tired a little on the last but still under. Evening run was only 40 mins easy but was tired enough for it. Easy run on Friday. Brick on Saturday off 4.5hr turbo as 10 easy, 10@race pace,10 steady, 5 sub 4min and then 10 easy. 45 mins all in and a bit of a progression run. Race pace feels grand (aiming for around 4.37min/km pace). Steady was a good 20-30 seconds faster and felt good, even felt ok for the faster section at the end. Bit of rubbing with the socks in my shoes on the top of my foot and think it has flared up a bit of a tendon or something, awkward more than sore. Long run on Sunday 2hr 20min, around 29km run. Easy running pace has taken a bit of a jump,. at the moment it's not too far off the original planned race pace so might re-look at this closer to the race. Bit of HR drift towards the end of this but only last 10 mins or so. Longest ever run, done fasted until 2hrs in when I took a gel, more to get used to it than needing it. Altogether around 5.5hrs done running.

A good bike week. An extra session added to take the place of Monday's swapped run. only an easy hour on the turbo. Tuesday was 90 mins steady with 6x3mins pyramid, first 110%,2nd 120%, 3rd 130% and then back down, 3 mins easy inbetween. Held these well and overall with the steady bit felt comfortable for the whole thing. 1hr 45 min on Thursday with around 90 mins above 200w. Started well but began to feel it around 1hr 10 mins in, held it to the end though and held a little higher power than last time I done the same session when I started struggling around 45 mins in. Hoped to get out on the bike on Sat but woke up to rain and a heavy fog so turbo it was. Power meter acting up a little, reading low, done 4.5hrs holding a little lower than usual but the effort was there, never thought to re-calibrate until I got off. Felt grand though, little uncomfortable on the saddle, but more because of the shorts than the saddle itself. Sunday then was 90 mins with 2 x30@ 215w (90%), after sorting the powermeter. Another session I've done before and again held higher for what felt like less effort. Pleased with this session, done at ideal cadence and felt comfortable, no rocking of the body or getting out of the saddle and well able to hold the power. FTP test Tuesday next week and think it's well timed, looking forward to it and hoping for a decent improvement in my number. overall around 11hrs done on the bike.

Into an easy/step back week now. Normally would race the weekend of these but taking it easy this time, bit of time with the family is in order! Saving a bit for the FTP test next Tuesday too. Hopefully race the next easy week though. Left foot is a little tender, getting better though and is very similar to something I had happen me before a few years back so think it's nothing serious. Body feels good overall though, everything seems to be improving. Weight was good again this week, staying around 59kg, eating more nuts and protein and for what ever reason yesterday I couldn't stop eating. Sleep wasn't as good as normal last week, bank holiday weekend messed up my pattern and ended up only getting 5hours sleep on Monday night. Not too worried though, was more because of too much sleep the previous 3 mornings that caused this. By Wednesday I was back to normal.

pgibbo

Solid week.

The 2:20 run and 90 turbo might have something to do with you eating all around you yesterday

Running on empty can have that effect sometimes. It passes the more you do it but I think the body is just craving food after going on empty.

joey100

90 mins turbo was done in the evening but I take your point! Not worried about it, just a bit different is all, tried to eat half decent stuff anyway, might have been one or two cakes in there but nothing too bad!

Neady83

You're knocking out really solid training weeks Joey, looks like it's paying off, keep it up.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

You should try adding in a short bike (up to 1hr) before the long run as you get further on into IM training. IM run is not about being fast it’s about not slowing down, sounds cliche but it’s true

joey100

1hr @ironman watts JB? , Edited to add usually run long run easy pace, better to run at planned ironman pace for a run like that? About 10-12 seconds faster right now.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

joey100 wrote: »

1hr @ironman watts JB? , Edited to add usually run long run easy pace, better to run at planned ironman pace for a run like that? About 10-12 seconds faster right now.

Yeah @ IM watts, start off 30mins and build to an hour as you build in run distance over the few weeks. Are you adopting run/walk? I have done it on last 2 and ran faster than before. You will find your realistic IM pace a few weeks into IM specific phase as training load increases and you are starting to do these runs fatigued.

I would not do all long runs at easy or IM pace, I often throw progression runs where building from slower than IM pace to faster towards the end.

What are you doing to work on the mental side of it?

Good training btw, sorry for cluttering up the log

joey100

Haven't thought much about run/walk JB, have heard few people use it but haven't thought much about it yet.

Cool, I'll definitely work that into some of the long runs. Do a bit of that on the shorter brick runs on Saturdays off the long bikes but no harm doing it over the course of a longer run too.

Haven't thought much about the mental side of it only to think that long turbo sessions make outside feel easy and running short loops lots of times on the run to try build some mental strength. After that haven't really given much thought to it only that I know it's going to be a long hard day!

Not cluttering at all, more discussion the better. The plan I'm following is a mid mash of lots of different plans, might be completely wide of the mark but my first one and I hope I'll get to it fit anyway!!

Shell to Run

Re mental side of training - great read:
The Brave Athlete: Calm the F*ck Down and Rise to the Occasion, by Lesley Paterson and Simon Marshall.
Some very practical tips and insight into brain process during competition and training.

joey100

Cheers for that shell, I'll definitely check it out. Reminded me I bought a book, something like 'a champions mindset' must have a look for it again! Never even read it.

In other news, good turbo session tonight with 15x1@312w(130%),2ez, held above 320w for each of these and last two where the highest with the past one setting a new one min power record. All good signs for this FTP test next week!

rodneyr1981

No diff note altogether.
Did you ever buy that kask bambino pro last season?
If so thoughts?

joey100

How's it going Rodney, never bought one in the end, that second hand one I was looking at had the velcro straps at the back, had tried one of these on before and they were very fidelly (if that's even a word!). Ended up buying a Giro aerohead on sale. It's ok, little heavy and find it a bit hot. Generally considered one of the better aero helmets for most people.

I seen this data on the giro site, based on the aerohead and vanquish and compared to a baseline of the giro air attack with the shield. Aerohead is 103 seconds faster than an air attack over 180km at 250w, Vanquish is 40 seconds and then the specialized evade is 17 seconds faster. . 90 seconds between aerohead and evade over an ironman course, based on giro data so I'd say it's safe enough to say it's a little skewed towards their helmets. Then if you take into account the weight of the aerohead and the heat I'm not sure it's worth a 90 second saving. I use an evade at the moment, like it, very comfortable and no issues with it at all. I'll probably use it for the full, even based on giro's numbers I'm not sure the weight and heat of the aerohead is worth 90 seconds, and that's based on it being a good fit and suiting my position and holding the position. I'm probably completely off with my maths there, but in my head it makes sense. Maybe if I was chasing a kona slot and looking for every little second but at the moment I'm leaning towards the evade, possibly the newer one would be a little faster too.

Data is at bottom of this page,

http://www.giro.com/eu_en/vanquish/

joey100

Step back/recovery/easy week.

2xswims. Felt good in the water this week and the times are starting to improve. Main swim set of the week was 25x100 off 1.50. Not all of these were off 1.50, some where around 1.45, done around people in the lane so meant pushing off sooner than planned some time. Times held around 1.35, not flat out effort and was kept steady, little drift around 21-24 but nothing major.

Only 3 runs this week. 1 brick as 45 easy, 1 mid week easy and 1 long-ish @80 mins at the weekend. Skipped a mid week run with my foot still being a little tender but no issue at all now and was more being extra safe. Little stiff for the runs but usually like that after a little run break. Good pace for a windy easy long run too.

3x1hours on the turbo and 1 outside spin. Set a new 1min power pb on the last of 15x1mins@130%, 2 easy. Was really pleased with this, last time I done this set I struggled towards the end but got stronger this time as it went on, holding around 320w for all of them. 2 interval sessions then @ around 204w, one session was 3x15 and then Sundays was 3x10. Again held above where I needed and felt comfortable. Outside spin on Sat was 2hours easy with Laura and then 1 hour out by myself. Wind was picking up as the spin went on and probably pushed a bit too much by myself but pleased with it overall.

So a decent week, one missed run and still 11hours done. Nothing too hectic. FTP test tomorrow that I'm looking forward to to see what improvements I've made since the last one. Off to Belfast on Thurs for the night so only 2 swims this week but will move my Thurs turbo and Fri run around to still get them in. Race is getting closer but feeling good and looking forward to the next block of training.

joey100

Not the best week this week, will update now cos I'm not doing much today.

Swim, only 1 this week, no excuses, just didn't go to the pool once when I was meant to. Swam well when I was there but just need to get there more.

Run. Not the best week, 3 runs, 1 interval with 3x(2@faster than 3.55, 2mins easy), these were pretty comfortable. EAsy run on Monday and /thursday too, but by Friday evening, not sure because of my running or the runners I wore during the day but the outside of my left foot was very very sore. COuldn't really walk on it, means no running on Fri or the weekend. Fair bit better now but will stay off it until Wednesday at least, not ideal but plenty of time. Better now than a week or two before. Not sore to touch or bruised but will keep an eye on it.

Bike was a pretty decent week. FTP test on Tuesdaty, FTP up from 240 to 256 so a good jump. 5mins was around 295w and 20 mins around 268w. Pretty evenly paced too, bit of build in last 5 mins but only by a watt or two. 2 watts off my best ever 20 mins effort and all done in aero. Around 4.3w/kg now. Thursday session moved to Friday because of trip to Belfast, main set of it was 90mins @ around 215w, set new 90 min record for this and was around 20w higher than the last 2 times I've done this workout so a good day. Saturday was a long spin down to Wexford to Laura's parents. Usually a fast enough road but the snow and ice have the road is destroyed and was a lot busier than usual. Hit a big pothole after around 1hour and blew out the front tube. Done around 3.5hours, the last 45 mins or so with Laura's dad who cycled out to meet me so not the average power I was hoping for but was holding 180w pretty easy. Pleasing signs but not what I wanted overall. Had planned another long spin today but after looking at the front wheel of the bike it's suffered a fair bit of damage from the pothole and don't fancy trying it on the roads around here, not my race wheels so not too bad but not great either.

Will swap some runs for bikes this week until I'm able to go back running. Hopefully it's nothing bad and I'll be back to normal quick enough.

Kurt.Godel

Have you got in the OW yet? I was plugging race dates into my calendar, Aquathon Champs are only 3 weeks away!

joey100

Not been in the open water yet Kurt, Bank Holiday Monday is the planned first day! Not sure about the National champs, had a bit of time put into the plan that I could change stuff around but with the foot and the bike issues over the weekend I've lost a bit of the flexibility, I'll probably make a call closer to the day.

joey100

Another week.

Mainly a positive week, but I'll start with the only negative.

Run. Rested until Wednesday and then tried again. No issues when running really, little soreness every now and again but not enough that it was concerning. 55 mins done. Probably a little too long for first run back but was enjoying being back out. Very sore later that evening and on Thurs morning so back to resting. Had a hard turbo on Thurs evening and foot was sore getting on, no real issues pedaling though and after it felt perfect. No issues at all and stayed this way over the whole weekend. Done some longer walks with the dog and still no issues so Sunday done a short 20 min brick of the turbo, just easy running but no pain at all and even now it's grand. Fingers crossed but seems to be over now. Might not have been the worst timing either, bit of a break from running might have been good for the body.

Swim. Finally a 3 session swim week. One session was with a few others and main bit was 16x100m off 2mins aiming for 1.30. No real issues with this and when I was leading was coming in around 1.25. Plenty of rest though so won't read too much into it but a bit of speed coming back. other sets were bit longer, one day of 400m intervals and then the last day was 13x300m (200m pull and paddles, 100m swim). Tired arms by the end of the week but a good week for swimming.

Bike. A big enough bike week. Probably lacking a properly long bike spin but the majority of runs were swapped for endurance turbos. 3 steady endurance based turbos, 2 intervals, one was 4.5 mins @ 288w, 294w, 298w, same recovery between and then back down from high to low. Held just above where I needed but struggled with the first top one and then the last one. Second interval session was 4x12min of over unders 4x(2@95%,1@105%). again tough but held above where I needed and all done. Weekend then was a 3.5 hour turbo on Saturday and then a 2hr easy spin with Laura outside and back on the turbo Sunday evening for an hour.

About 16 hours done for the week. Glad I swapped the runs for bikes and hoping the added time on the bike might help. By Sunday evening though I was dying to go for a run and was really happy when the foot held up well. Will get back running this week but won't do anything too long or hard too quick. Will probably put my usual Wednesday intervals off until Friday and even then might change the session a bit to not put too much pressure on it. Sleep was good this week, no under 8 hour nights and 3x at least 10 hours. Body is feeling good, a little heaviness in the legs on the turbo but to be expected.

This week might be a bit messier, one or two things might mean moving stuff around and I'd be surprised if I got to the pool 3 times. But I'll do 2 good sessions and see from there. Hoping for a big enough weekend, Laura is off to London on Friday and I'm off work so hoping to bump up the training a bit. Last big week in a block so next week I can recover a little from the bigger planned weekend.