The difficult second album

mossym

training level you were doing i thought you'd do well here after seeing you win the entry. well done

pgibbo

Cracking showing. Congrats :cool:

pointer28

Good man Joey,

Knocking out a sub 1:40 without specifically training for a HM on your first attempt is pretty impressive, even more so after 3+ hours of swimming and biking beforehand. I'd say you wouldn't find it too hard to break 1:30 at a standalone HM.

Intrigued by the baked potato though! I presume it was afterwards, couldn't imagine trying to scoff that down while running hard.

mossym

pointer28 wrote: »

Intrigued by the baked potato though! I presume it was afterwards, couldn't imagine trying to scoff that down while running hard.

it's not that bad, it's keeping the butter pepper and chives in it is the problem

joey100

Cheers Folks, Was a good race and was lucky that noting went against me on the day.

@ Catweazle, I think you might be right. With my running coming along nicely and a bit more easy-ish time to be made on the swim I reckon I could put in a good time over the distance.

The baked potato was indeed at the end, and even then it was a struggle to keep it down. There was a fella cycling along the run route giving people haribo jellies and he had a bottle of coke or something, I think without him I wouldn't have finished the run! Right at the top of the last big hill, a handful of jellies and a swig of coke, was like heaven!

Pmaldini

joey100 wrote: »

Cheers Folks, Was a good race and was lucky that noting went against me on the day.

@ Catweazle, I think you might be right. With my running coming along nicely and a bit more easy-ish time to be made on the swim I reckon I could put in a good time over the distance.

The baked potato was indeed at the end, and even then it was a struggle to keep it down. There was a fella cycling along the run route giving people haribo jellies and he had a bottle of coke or something, I think without him I wouldn't have finished the run! Right at the top of the last big hill, a handful of jellies and a swig of coke, was like heaven!

he must have been gone home by the time I came around:), great race Joey100, tough course for your 1st half, are you going to kilkee?

joey100

@ Pmaldini, unfortunately not. Saving for a house so no money for any of the further away tri's. After cost of petrol, race entry, accomodation just gets a bit too expensive. I'll be sticking to races I can drive to and from in the same day this year.

Bambaata

Well done Joey! That was great going!!! You'll improve a lot if you do move to this distance as main aim.

griffin100

Just seeing the report now, well done Joey - great performance on that course.

joey100

So last week was a bit of a write off, my gf's grandad died on Tuesday so the enxt 3 days were spent down in Wexford so no training done. Probably not a bad thing to take a few days off after the half but not ideal either, more important things than training though.

So Friday I got back into it,

Friday 13th June

An evening swim. Bit of a warm up then 5 X 100's off 1.55, 5 X 200's off 3.30 and 5 X 100's off 1.55. Coming in low 1.30's for the 100's and around 3.10 for the 200's. Speed is still there but as the set went on struggled a bit.

Sat 14th June

Long time since I've been on the turbo and it showed, set was to be 5 X 10 mins ar 95%. Got through the first 2 and then had to change the last 3 to 4 mins on 2 mins recovery and another 4 mins. Glad I completed the full 1hour and half. Was very tempted to stop it early.

Run in the afternoon. Bike legs still not back after the race but run legs felt good. Steady paced run with 4 kilometres in the middle getting faster. Pace was kept around 4.40 overall with the fast 4 coming in at 4.30, 4.20, 4.15 and 3.58. Legs felt suprisingly fresh. 12.1km alltogether.

Evening swim. Back to the pool. 4 X 400's off 7.00, coming in around 6.20. 4 X 200's off 3.30 coming in around 3.15, 4 X 100 coming in around 1.34/5 and 4 X 50's off 1 min coming in around 46. Really feeling it at the end of the session. Stamina not where it should be but coming back. Good set in the pool.

Sun 15th June

Long cycle with couerdelion from the club. Cycled out to the NAC and from there out to Sally gap. Lovely day for it and pace was kept decent. Tired legs but a good and enjoyable spin. We have a club TT coming up up to Sally's gap and will be an interesting one. Great spin apart from a puncture, not in the lovely Wicklow countryside but in the middle of Finglas village on the way home.

Evening swim again. Just a very easy swim tonight, the gf is doing the Lough derg sprint this weekend (her first sprint) and had been worried about not being in the pool much. Just went to the pool and swam alongside her taking it hadny. 1.2km done and felt decent in the water.

Mon 16th June

Long run before work. Ran down to St Anne's around the park and home again. Gorgeous day for a run. Tired tired legs though. Pace was kept in around 4.50 for the 16km, no problem with heart rate, just tired legs. Few fast 200m's thrown in too.

Plan is to try keep the training up until thursday morning. An easy day on Friday and then Lough Derg on Saturday. Sprint pb is 1.08.XX and really want to beat this, feel this is a lot softer than my other pb's and think that this could be the course to do it on.

And finally some good news, after months and months of saving we have been approved a mortgage, going to make training a bit harder over the enxt few months with viewing houses and stuff but might just have to spend more time on the turbo!

Bambaata

Congrats on the mortgage approval! Ive a meeting on it tomorrow and dont know what to expect!

Solobally8

Best of luck on Saturday to you and your OH. It's a lovely spot for a triathlon, hopefully we will still have the good weather. I'll be around somewhere marshalling.

joey100

So been a busy week since I last updated,

Tues 17th June

1 hour on the turbo, tired legs for this. Mostly spent focusing on endurance and got through ok but legs feel heavy and slow.

Wed 18th June

Club run session. Warm up then into 12 X 1 min on, 1 min off. Paced these badly and struggled for the last 2. Again legs feeling slow and heavy.

Thurs 19th June

Too nice to stay in so out on the bike for an easy spin. Took it handy and around 30km done before work.

Swim before work too. Mainly PB stuff to try and rest the legs for Saturdays race. Not too bad in the water. Times still around the same though.

Fri 20th June

Easy 5km run before work. Legs starting to feel more normal and fingers crossed they will be working for the sprint in Dromineer tomorrow. Looking to do a good time and with good legs there is no reason why I shouldn't.

Back to the house hunting, viewed 2 houses on Tues evening, offer put in on second one on Wed morning, phone call from estate agent on Thurs afternoon to say the house is ours! Nice and quick, hopefully it doesn't fall through and we can get in before the end of the summer. Now comes the busy part of meeting solicitors, constant phone calls and looks like my power meter fund might be going towards a new couch for the sitting room. Other than that a quiet enough week!

joey100

Sat 21st June

First sprint race of the season and a distance I have tended to struggle over. Stayed over night down in Dromineer so didn't have to get up too early for the race on Sat.

Swim 13.04

Although the swim itself wasn't too bad I set myself up on the complete wrong side of the start line. I was over the very left when most of the faster people were over the right, when the race started I realised why. I had to swim out an angle to get to the buoy while they swam straight out. Sighting was good and spent most of the swim overtaking people. Got out feeling ok but bit annoyed about the silly mistake at the start that added some distance to the swim.

T1 0.40

Finally a fast transition. I've cut my wetsuit legs a bit, I've been told I have decent position in the water so don't need all the buoyancy offered by the suit. This means it comes off a lot easier now.

Bike 29.59

Knew the bike was going to be a bit short (19km) so was hoping to go sub 30 mins for it. Started well but legs were feeling a bit dead and heavy. Speed was ok and heartrate was ok but felt like I was missing my top gear. Not too bad a time but again bit disappointed with the bike.

T2 0.46

It's only at this race that I realised I've been setting up my stuff on the wrong side of my bike for the last year or so. Got in and helmet off but becuase of the side I push the bike in on it puts me on the opposite side to my shoes. Something to sort for the next time.

Run 19.31

Was down as a tough run with a few hills but because it started and finished in the saem place we got to go down any of the hills we went up. Took first km steady and then increased the pace. Passed by a club member after about 1.5km and coudln't go with him but managed to hold the distance fiarly steady without him getting too far away. First sub 20 run in a tri and well under. Legs felt good on the run, was surprised considering how they felt on the bike. Thought the run was going to be torture.

1.04.01 and 10th place

Overall pleased enough with the time. A silly mistake at the start of the swim added time and flat legs on the bike didn't help. But another race where the run held it together, I've gone from being a poor runner to a decent one. Strange looking back at the race and being most pleased about the run.

The race itself was great. Well organised, great support and no hassle. Fair play to Nenagh tri club. The two club races I've gone to this year (nenagh and Tri on mhi) have been two of the best organised and ran races I've ever done.

Sun 22nd June

Hour and a half of easy enough spinning on the turbo. Bit of a higher gear than usual but effort kept low and just about moving the legs after the race.

Mon 23rd June

Long run before work. Took the legs about a km to wake up but felt ok. legs a bit tired afterwards but nothing major and never felt under pressure. 16.2km ran.

joey100

So been a while since I updated this, house sale fell through so back looking and just means less free time.

Tues 24th June

Turbo session. 2 X 5, 2 X 6 and 2 X 7 mins at around 88% of FTP. 2 mins recovery between each. Not too bad, legs feeling much better after the race. Half an hour easy spinning after.

Wed 25th June

Easy 10km run after work. Nothing fast, pace kept steady.

Thurs 26th June

One of the lads in the club converted the Hell of the West bike course into a workout on trainerroad, so seen as I wasn't giong to be down at the race thought I'd give it a go. tough session, no real breaks and alot of it spent around FTP. Felt strong on the bike though so pleased with how it went. Set a new 1 hour power record too.

Fri 27th June

Easy run before work. Swim after work. Easy enough swim. 100's, 200's, some hypoxic breathing and a few all out 100's.

Sat 28th June

So from Monday the training will all be about peaking in Dublin, might see a bit of a drop in volume but the quality will be there. Because of this I need to retest my FTP to make sure the sessions will be at the right level. So on a lovely Sat morning I was sitting in a garage with a fan pointing at me convincing myself that I needed to do this. Started well and although legs were feeling bit tired they still felt fairly strong. 5 min went well, power above where I thought I could hold it. bit fo a recovery and then into the 20 min test. Kept the power steady and tried to build a bit to the end. Again power above where I thought I could hold it and kept it going right until the end. FTP up by around 8% after this test, a lot higher than I thought I would climb, and trainer road has me nearly at 3.5 w/kg now. Set a new 1 min, 2 min, 5min, 10 min, 15 min, 20 min and 30 min power record during this test so good to see some improvements. I've been working on lowering my cadence a bit the last while, normally I like to spin around 95 rpm but the last while I've lowered this to 88-90 and it seems to be working for power.

Evening swim. 6 X 400m's keeping it steady and in on around 6.30, not too bad for the effort I was putting in. Then a few fast 100's and abit of a cool down. 3.1km swam.

Sun 29th June

Few of my mates are going down to the Ring of Kerry next weekend and this was the first time I could get a cycle in with them before they went. Cycled over to Dundrum to meet them and from there up to the Merry ploughboy and up Sally gap from the other side than normal. Then up to Ballinastoe woods and back through Enniskerry and Stepaside. 86km done and at a handy enough pace, one lad hadn't been put on the bike in 6 months and was really feeling it so plenty of breaks stopping and waiting. suited me though after the FTP test on Sat.

No swim today, work being done on the pool in gym.

Easy run in the evening. 5.6km, again nothing fast but still more miles in the legs.


So from today it's all about Dublin City Triathlon, my 'A' race for the year. have a few races inbetween now and then, but the goal will be to try minimise the disruption to my training and nearly train through them. Fingers crossed it all goes well.

joey100

Monday 30th June

I like my job, have no problems getting out of bed and heading to work, but it's in the summer that I love my job. We had a group of kids going wake boarding in grand canal dock in the morning and another group meeting the search and recovery diving team in the afternoon. The whole day was spent out in the sun, and the next month is going to be like this.

Anyways todays training was a run session. 5km warm up then into 5km at 10km pace +10 seconds and then 3km cool down. Good session and went well, no problem at all holding the 10km pace + 10 seconds, was nearly harder to stop me from pushing on with it. Good sign too that this was done on tired legs.

joey100

Tues 1st July

bit of a swim in the morning, warm up then 4 X 300's, then a cool down. Total of around 2200m.

Evening session was a turbo session, a tough enough one too. Bit of a warm up then 3 X 2mins at around 130%, 3 X 1 mins at 150% and 3 x 30 seconds at 180%. Decent recoveries between them so was sorer on the legs than a high heart rate. Got a 5 second, 10 second, 20 second, 30 second, 1 min and 2 min record during this session so was putting out good power. Again legs weren't fully fresh and at one stage hit around 420 Watts, which is close enough 7 watts/kg for me, not that I hit it for long but a nice number to hit.

joey100

Wed 2nd july

Took a day off, body was wrecked.


Thurs 3rd July

Steady hour on the turbo, nothing fast or hard.

Fri 4th July

Few messages to do before work so meant a good bit cycled before the day really started. Light run in the evening just to loosen out.

Sat 5th July

Athlone Sprint tri

Again wasn't sure what to expect going into this, bike and run were coming along well but was pretty tired and had a few little aches before it. Never going to be a PB course with a long bike (21.4km) and a very very long transition. Good few down from the club so a good atmosphere beforehand, set up well in time and ready to start.

Swim 13.06

A bit of a sloppy start, no countdown, just a go. Lost a few places but more important the decent position I had when I didn't react quick enough. Spent the rest of the swim catching people until around 500m when I was towards front of second pack but too far off the first pack. Felt grand getting out though, no problems at all.

T1 1.48

A long long run in bare feet to the bike, wetsuit off no problem and then another good run to the mount line.

Bike 34.41

Legs didn't feel great at the start and didn't help that the first half was out into a headwind. Got in a bit of a pace line with 2 other fellas (Marshall spent about 5 mins beside us on way out and back and no drafting penalties were given) and this helped the legs to the turn around. Once we turned with the wind behind us I flew back in. Legs still tired but kept the pace up and happy with the return leg. No real notice we were approaching the mount line until we were on top of it so had to stop to dismount.

T2 1.47

Another long long transition. Didn't help that other waves were coming in from the swim as we were running out on bike.

Run 19.24

Goal was another sub 20 5km. Usually pull it back on the first km but decided to go with it a bit. First km done in 3.40 and was feeling good. Rest of the run went well, never felt really pushed and managed to keep the pace below 4 min kilometres for the whole thing. 3 of us passed the finish line together and they were place above me on the results but we all have the same time.

Overall 1.10.43 30th place

So overall a decent race. no one spectacular leg but 3 decent ones. The winning time was 1.03.xx so wasn't a particularly fast course so happy with the time. First home from the club too which is always nice. Have a 4 week block now of no racing (one wedding this weekend though) so should get a decent amount of training done and be well prepared for Caroline Kearney in August. The week after that I should be doing tri the hook and then Dublin after that.


Sunday 6th july

Wasn't feeling too bad Sunday morning so headed out on an easy paced run. done 9.2km before the rain made me stop. Evening session was a swim, bit of pull and paddle work. Altogether 2.1km done.

joey100

Mon 7th July

Run session. Few running drills during the run. 12.5km done altogether.

Tues 8th July

Turbo session. 4 X 6 min intervals going from 85% of FTP to all out sprint and as close to 150% as possible by the end. New 5 min power record set. Legs felt strong today. Swim in the evening. Mix of drills and intervals.

Wed 9th July

Club run session, about time I got back to these. Long warm up then into 2 X 800m, 4 X 400m and 8 X 200m. Managed to keep up with one of the fastest runners in the club until the last 2 x 200m. Struggling by the end but felt strong, especially at the 800m ran at 3.25 min pace.

Thurs 10th July

Turbo session. 3 sets of intervals starting with 90 seconds at 109% FTP followed by 3 minutes at 105% FTP then 5 minutes at 103%. Short rests between the intervals and 3 mins between the sets. Tired legs today but got through it all. missed swim session.

Fri 11th July

Recovery day and I needed it! Just a run at a very easy pace. 9.5km done before work.

The weekend was taken off because I was at a wedding in Sligo. Felt I needed a bit of a break anyway so not too bad. Back into it today after work.

joey100

monday 14th July

Run session after work. Long warm up then into 5km ran at 4.10 pace, the wind made these hard to pace. Pleased to see the efforts come in aruond 4.06 for each for a steady enough effort.

Swim after this. normally swim on Tuesday but wasn't sure I'd get to the pool so a bit of moving around. Warm up then into some 300's. Felt decent enough in the water, forgeting little thinigs like body roll and stuff but working on getting it all back together.

joey100

Tues 15th July

So like I thought I didn't manage to get to the pool today becuase of work. Good turbo session instead though, bit of a warm up then into main piece of work as 2 X (3 X 3min at 120% of FTP, 3 min recovery between intervals with 6 mins between sets). Tough session but happy with how it went, was around 6 watts above where I needed to be an never felt like I wasn't going to finish them, even though my right thigh did feel like it might have cramped once or twice.

joey100

Wed 16th July

Run session today and back out with the club. Tough session too, 5 X 800m's, first 250m fast, then pull it back a bit then last 250m fast. Around 1 min recovery between each. Kept them fairly consistent and fast pace was in aroudn 3.20 min/kilometres with steady pace around 3.50. Run definitely improving but still work to be done on it.

Thurs 17th July am

Just back from one of my favourite sessions ever probably. A club open water swim session led by Mr Kern. great morning for it and the sea was as flat as I have ever seen it. Worked on drafting and sighting. My sighting is actually pretty good, have changed to sighting pretty much every second breath and it seems to be working for me. Was able to keep straight enough and not too much veering off to any side. Need to draft a bit higher up the body, tend to hang off the feet when I should be on the hip. Overall a very enjoyable session with good company. Tough turbo session this evening to look forward to too!

And to make it even better I managed to get to the swimming for 6.30 in the morning, have really been struggling getting up so even that was a positive!

joey100

Thurs 17th July PM

So the tough turbo session, bit of a warm up then into 4 X intervals with 4 min breaks between them. Intervals were 1 min at 130%, straight into 3 mins at 100% then straight into 4 mins at around 90%. Tough sessions but was never the heart rate that was the issue was more the legs, They were tired and I felt it, felt like stopping after the first one but siad I'd try another, an another an another. Glad to finish it and again power a little bit above where I needed it.

joey100

Fri 18th July

nothing today, rest day on the plans and took it, needed it.

Sat 19th July

Headed out with the gf for a long spin on the bike. Pace kept right down and the route was fairly flat, apart from a few little hills. 76.3km done. Back and changed and into an easy run, only short distance and pace kept down.

Sun 20th July

Swim in the morning, mix of drills and fast swimming.

Evening a long run. Pace kept down and just enjoyed the run.

Mon 21st July

Run before work. 5km warm up then into 6km at 4.15 pace. These weren't too bad at all, legs bit tired on last one but think that was more becuase I knew I was nearly finished.

bit of a change over the next two weeks because of work, going to have to swim on Mon and Wed if possible, long days in work on Tuesday and Thursday, heading to an adventure centre in Athlone so won't get a chance to get to the pool.

Didn't happen this evening though, work going on in the pool. Gf was going on a slow run so joined her for it, 6.1km at around 6.15min kilometres so nice and easy.

Tues 22nd July

Only a turbo today but a very tough turbo. Bit of a warm up then into main set of 3 X 4min intervals including short sprints and longer efforts at just above FTP. Struggled with the last sprint, and legs were gone by the end. New 5 second, 10 second and 1 hour records though so good session.

Found out that there is a great lake swimming spot at the adventure centre we took the kids to and becuase the centre staff look after them for the day means I'll be able to get 3 open water swims in over the next week.

joey100

Wed 23rd July

Club run session. 3 X (4 X 400m getting quicker each one). This was a tough enough session, was abotu controlling our pacing and found out my pacing is not great. I tend to go too fast on the first one and then end up working very hard to keep getting quicker. Good session though and legs felt ok.

Thurs 24th July

1.5km open water swim while the kids in work where at the adventure centre. Lovely spot for a swim and very safe, never too far from somewhere I could stand up. Had to cut it a bit shorter than I liked because a swan was getting very interested in what I was doing. No bike today, only got back late from work (one of the kids was sick on the bus, meant we had to stop and then fully clean the bus when we got home).

Fri 25th July

Rest day, find I'm needing these more than usual. Work is very busy at moment and will stay that wat for another week or so, so happy for these.

Sat 26th July

A brick session of sorts. 15 warm up on the turbo building pace through it. Then straight into a 500m run at 4 min pace. Back then to 4 X (2min easy, 3mins at 100% into a 1km run at 3.40 pace). These weren't too bad, the bike was grand it was getting the legs moving that was tough. Again pacing a bit all over the place, first 400m were usually too fast and then easing off a bit for the last 600m. Cool down after this. Good session with 1hour on turbo and around 4.6km ran.

Gf wanted to go for an easy run in the afternoon so out we went. Her pb for 5km was 27.48 and aruond 2km in I knew we could beat this easily enough so paced her around a bit for the last 3km to come in at 26.24, not bad with the 1st kilometre at 5.38. Handy enough 5.5km run.

evening session was a swim, knew I would be missing it on Sunday so moved it. Good session, feeling ok in the water. The speed is there but my recoveries are too long and can't hold it too long either but getting better.

Sunday 27th July

Early morning long run. great morning for it, nice and quiet out and the weather was great. Altogether 15.3km ran and legs felt good.

mossym

joey100 wrote: »

. 15 warm up on the turbo building pace through it. Then straight into a 500m run at 4 min pace. Back then to 4 X (2min easy, 3mins at 100% into a 1km run at 3.40 pace). These weren't too bad, the bike was grand it was getting the legs moving that was tough. Again pacing a bit all over the place, first 400m were usually too fast and then easing off a bit for the last 600m. Cool down after this. Good session with 1hour on turbo and around 4.6km ran.

nice session that, what's your 5k run pace in relation to the 3:40?

joey100

cheers Mossy, that's pretty much my open 5km pace. The plan was to run it at 5km pace but wasn't sure if I should run it at open or tri pace so decided to give it a go at open pace. Worked well, was only 1km and then onto the bike.

Dory Dory

Swans mate for life, I hear.

joey100

I have heard that alright Dory and after seeing how vicious swans can be when I was kayaking I was out fo the water very quick once it started making it's way over!

Mon 28th July

Evening run session. 5.5km warm up then into 3km at 4.00 min kilometre pace. This was comfortable and never felt that pushed or hard. After this was a 4km cool down.

Tues 29th July

Another long day in work and no chance for an open water swim today. Turbo after work though that was tough, very tough. This is an explanatino of it taken straight from trainer road '3x14-minute sets of VO2max intervals ranging from 2.5 minutes @ 105% FTP to 45 seconds @ 130% FTP. Recoveries within the sets range from very brief, 15-second periods to longer but never adequate 90-second spans while the rests between sets are about 3 minutes long'. Another tough turbo session and set a new 1 hour record. Wasn't feeling great tonight and got through the session which is a plus.

joey100

Wed 30th July

Club run session. Not too bad tonight, warm up then into 12 X 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off. Paced these well and the distance covered for each was nearly the same. Legs felt good.

Thurs 31st July

My last long day in work for a while. Short open water swim when on the trip with the kids, around 1.1km.

Evening session was onto the turbo. 1 hour, warm up then into 3 X 10 min intervals, all spent around FTP with 10 X 15 second sprints. Tough session but set a new 5 and 10 min record. Think this was the second time in the last month so legs are definitely getting stronger.