A little knowledge is a dangerous thing

mossym

Right, so yet another log, but in honesty I'm doing this as much for me as for any deluded idea that people may be interested in another MOP'er detailing his all too average training. Updating this will keep me pretty honest i feel, and if it serves only that purpose it'll be well worth it.

Background: 35 Years old, married, with one kid of 3 and a very important half. Was never a distance athlete of any form. played a lot of football(soccer) through my teens, and through my twenties, but i would never have put my fitness down as one of my strengths. Lived in the US from 2000 to 2006 in silicon valley, and after moving home, played inter firm for about 3 years in the limerick league before the arrival of our first put paid to even that.

Queue early 2012. at a wedding, get picture taken and am horrified at the state of me. I'm 6'1 and at the time weighed in at about 213lbs (97kg). looked huge. So began a complete overhaul of what i ate, no more hot chicken rolls, weekly subways and so on. At the same time i was doing an MBA, and when we broke for the summer break i found myself with 3 extra hours a night after work so decided to get fit. Bought a pair of runners, started the couch to 5K. Had been doing some mountain biking for a few years, so took the MTB out on the road, and started doing what i thought were long spins at 25 to 30km.

fast forward a few months, running happily 3 times a week, road bike purchased, and my thoughts turned to tri. something that had always interested me, as i had always been involved in watersports, grew up on the shannon, did a huge amount of scuba diving in the mid 2000's. so tri had huge appeal, so started training to do a few in 2013. started cycling with a good bunch of committed cyclists, pushing up the run distances, and got in the pool, but looking back not half often enough, thought i could leave the pool until spring. big mistake

Over the past year i've done a few 10kms, shorter ditance road races, killarney HM in July, ROK, and a few other sportives. On the tri front did

Athy Sprint: 1:18:00 total, 12:25 swim, 35:51 bike, 25:26 run
Castleconnell/Worlds end sprint: 1:16:41 total, 14.58 swim, 35.18 bike, 23:07 run
Boru Olympic: 3:11:30 total, 31:20 swim, 1:32:16 cycle, 1:04:48 run
Ocean Lava quarter Distance (950m/45km/10.5km) 23.06,1:44:10,57:35, race report here:
http://mossym155.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/2/

So ends 2013. Last race was early November, took a couple of weeks off, and am now back training for next year. couple of 10k's before the end of the year, and a 4 miler in the wife's home town of Clonmel on Stephens Day are all that is on the radar.

Next year, aim is mix of Oly and sprint, with one exception, a first go at a half in Kenmare. They are the goals for now anyway.

That's the background. Bring on the fun/pain!!

mossym

Going to cheat a little, and copy and paste a pre written overview of the training done already this week, jsut to get started

Friday night Spin session:
Long warm up as got to hall early so span easily on bike while waiting. Session was then
4* 1 Min by One leg only (2 each leg), focus on smooth revolutions
1 Min rest
1 Min On, 1 min off, 2 min on, 2 min off, 3 min on, 3 min off, 4 min on, 4 min off, 3 min on, 3 off, 2 on 2off, 1 on 1 off, all on at Threshold (172 HR).
Good effort for first workout back, definitely not as hard as i could but an honest effort
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/405487913

Saturday Morning Spin
Slow spin, first ride in a while, and one of the guys jsut back from injury so was short and slow. will build this weekend.
2 hrs moving, 47.39km total, easy ride with a few pushes put in.http://connect.garmin.com/activity/405487950

Sunday: Planned run but scuppered by a rare night in the pub Saturday night.

Monday: Circuits: 1 Hour focused on core, planks, push ups, burpees, sit ups, some weights. 3 circuits of 15 exercises, 45 secs at each exc with 15 seconds break, 2 mins between each circuit. 10 mins running warm up, 10 mins stretching afterwards

Tuesday: Lunchtime run, 8.19km, 43:52. Steady Pace all round, running with a colleague from work. Pace felt good, but hip started aching a little towards end, was little stiff and sore for rest of day and Wednesday. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/406806815

Wednesday: Morning Swim, 5 * 340M Medium effort. Could tell hadn't been in water in 10 days
Evening: Mountain Biking up local forestry, 1hr 11 15.1km, 429M elevation gained, out with same guy coming back from injury who isn't a great climber, so put bike in middle ring front and back and ground a big gear for the duration trying to keep a high heart rate. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/406806860

tunney

mossym wrote: »

.....

as i had always been involved in watersports,
.......

HEHEHEHEHE </12 year old mode>

mossym

tunney wrote: »

HEHEHEHEHE </12 year old mode>

you know it occurred to me to change that as i was typing it and i completely forgot to. :D

i asked for that in fairness. I'm sure it won;t be the last time either. Well at least we got the thread off to a proper start

mossym

Thursday Evening Run

Usually run at lunchtime on a Tuesday and Thursday, but had a conflict at work so came home and headed straight out again. Running tights, gloves, hat, buff and was still cold. Did a nice local route which is a nice almost 8km loop, with the bonus of a few small hills. Decided to throw in a few interval sessions, so average pace was 5.05min/km with a couple at 4:18 and 4:29. Had a head-torch on but had trouble checking heart rate so pretty shocked when i got home to see average HR was almost at threshold, max at threshold +10. Didn't think the efforts were that hard(i knew it was high coming up the last hill alright), but finishing an interval just before the hill probably never gave HR a chance to recover. happy with the pace, times and how it felt, maybe not so happy HR was so high. Hip a little tight and sore again but nothing too bad that a day not running won't solve again.
Total: 7.76Km, 39.23mins, 5.05min/average

Have to decide now on weekend run, am seriously considering amphibious King west's run in south Galway ,be an hours drive but might bring the family and spin into Galway for an hour when it is over. Weather may dictate a lot

mossym

Friday Morning Swim
One of those workouts you'd rather have stayed in bed for. Cold frosty morning, had to deice teh windscreen from a heavy frost, offered the wife the option to drive in together if she didn't want to drive but roads were dry so she said she was fine. IN pool for 7.05. quiet for a change.

First 5 strokes i knew it was going to be bad. no energy in the arms, and with me it's all about the arms. I know i should kick, but everything falls apart when i do. Decided then to get some use form the session of the session was spent focusing on form, although the way i was swimming today even that was awful. Did some catchups, and some focused leg laps

1700m in 40 mins. Slow. 4* 200M sets, with a 400 and a 500 to finish. Glad to have that one finished. Probably not total junk workout but definitely not one of the better ones

mossym

Friday Night Turbo Session
Good Session, just over an hour, four of us, we train in a handball alley at the side of a community hall, all bare concrete so last night it was damn cold, until we got going at least. 12 mins warm up, couple of 1 mins one legs only, then 3*12 @&gt;90 threshold, 4 mins easy in between. Could tell by the lack of chat that everyone was working. Like sessions like that
total time:1:08 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/407708805

After Spin, decided to replace the normal 23c tires on the bike with some 25c winter tires i had gotten on here. an hour later was still struggling to get the back tire onto the rim, the alex 500 rims i have on my felt winter bike just did not want to take those tires .After breaking the valve on one tube, pinch holing another one, finally got the two of them on. by the end i was wondering how i had ever managed to change a tire previously( I have, lots, and with no issues)


Saturday Morning Spin
This was intended to be an early morning one, none of the guys i usually go with could make it so was going solo. Then our little one asked to sleep over at her grannies so that was an early morning spin out the window. not giving up a lie in when they come about so rarely. So anyway, 11am, rolled out the door, wrapped up like the Michelin man. was colllllddddd, but not as cold as it would have been at the earlier time. Looking at the training for the week a lot of higher heart rate stuff so decided to keep HR pretty low, but aim for 70 to 80km . Decided to spin to Toomevara, which would keep me on the main roads for the majority.

Nice easy pace setting off, watching the HR, next thing, familiar wobble from the bike. You;ve got to be kidding me. Flat. Already. with those tires. and after the escapades of the night before, i've only one spare tube .Ah well, lets change it. not sure what made me realize it, but even before i opened my saddle bag i was sure i had forgotten to put the tire levers back in the bag. opened it. yup, one tube, two co2 canisters, no tire levers. Super. Did have my multitool, so with a lot of effort, and no short amount of time(Garmin puts it at 25 minutes or so) i got the tire changed. it happened on the busiest bike route in the area, i was sure another cyclist would pass. no dice. as i was putting everything back together it occurred to me as soon as i was done oone would pass, and sure enough was just done and one did, fair play to him for stopping to make sure i was okay. anyway, off again, now with no spare tube( if you;re reading this you're probably thinking i know where this going).

Anyway, spun to Toomevara, had a coffee and a muffin (earned on the spin right?), and headed back. Now, the cold weather decides to throw a heavy mist as well. SPun back through nenagh, and took the back road through portroe, which is not a great surface, is pretty hilly, but has the appeal of a decent workout with some stunning views of lough derg. Arrived home much later than expected, but happy with the spin and without the second flat which seemed inevitable.

looking back, the second half of this year is notable for the complete lack of longer spins, nothing over 50k after ring of kerry in july, which has a lot to do with what i consider a poor bike at Ocean Lava. Was good to start getting the mileage back up. Happy enough with an average moving speed of 26.2 given i was trying to keep heart rate down, it was damn cold, and i was of course solo.
2 hours 41 Moving for 70.34km distance http://connect.garmin.com/activity/407708845

Now, have to decide between LSR at home tomorrow, 10km race in shannon, or a 10 mile race there(will be very slow if i do it), or a 10km race up in south galway. Glass of red might help make that choice

mossym

I'm slowly realizing the impact of juggling an MBA with training. With the MBA now out of the way, this week is going to come in as my second highest training week in terms of time this year. it'll be my fourth highest in terms of distance(two of the higher ones are because of a cycling weekend away, which is also the highest time one, and the Ring of Kerry Cycle week).

That has put the last season in perspective, and made me realize beating myself up over performances has to be tempered somewhat. Still, shows lot of room for improvement. and that's a good thing, gives me a goal

Trig1

Good to see you finally starting a log, best of luck with it and with next years goals..

RJM85

mossym wrote: »

Flat. Already. with those tires. and after the escapades of the night before, i've only one spare tube .Ah well, lets change it. not sure what made me realize it, but even before i opened my saddle bag i was sure i had forgotten to put the tire levers back in the bag. opened it. yup, one tube, two co2 canisters, no tire levers. Super. Did have my multitool, so with a lot of effort, and no short amount of time(Garmin puts it at 25 minutes or so) i got the tire changed.

Wheel skewers will do the job fairly well if you find yourself stuck

Dory Dory

I've never even changed a bike tire. Best to you on your goals and training!!

Oryx

The last time I put a set of gatorskins on I was a sweating ball of pure fury by the time I got the bastids fitted. You have my sympathy!

Good luck with the training and the log.

RacoonQueen

Dory Dory wrote: »

I've never even changed a bike tire. Best to you on your goals and training!!

Thats a sign you don't cycle your bike enough

Dory Dory

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Thats a sign you don't cycle your bike enough

Agreed!! But I'm trying to change that.

mossym

RJM85 wrote: »

Wheel skewers will do the job fairly well if you find yourself stuck

ah, nice thinking. i had a multiool so was using the flat bit of the chain breaker, helped a little, but the skewers is one i wouldn't have thought of, but will now!!

mossym

Sunday Run

Most of the running to date had been short 10km or less running, so realised it was time to get a LSR back into the mix. Was tempted to do the 10 mile out in Shannon, but two things decided that wasn't going to happen, 1) i realised i was going to be very slow, give the lack of any distance work recently, and 2) my grandmother, who had been in a nursing home in Newport for the last 3 years, passed away yesterday morning. Almost didn't go for a run at all, but decided it would help to clear the head, so laced up and went out. Kept it slow, tried keeping the HR down. Last few km the legs started to complain they hadn't done this in a while, but was happy enough with the effort.
15.24Km in 1hr28


Overall Week:
Happy with that weeks effort. Probably one of the more solid weeks i've put in, 3 cycles, 3 runs, 2 swims. Totals come out as

Biking: 4hr1, 85Km(one trubo session not included in distance)
Running: 2hr50, 31.1Km
Swimming: 1hr 35. 3.4Km
Circuits: 1Hr

Total 9h26. Will be happy out if i can maintain that level of effort. Going to miss circuits tonight though due to the funeral, but priorities first.

Trig1

Sorry to hear about the Grandmother....

mossym

Trig1 wrote: »

Sorry to hear about the Grandmother....

thanks for that. wasn't going to mention it but i knew it would scupper the training for the week, and it has

mossym

okay, so training so far this week not been so hectic. Missed circuits on Monday for the removal. decided i'd get a run in tuesday morning first thing as i wasn't in work

Tuesday Morning Run:
Falling back into my old habit of pushing everything but my LSR. This should probably have been easy but wasn't, heart rate in the 160's all way around, too high given my threshold is 172. It'd be okay if it was the only run like that in the week, but it isn't. I feel good [udhing it like this for a few weeks, then i invariably get some lower body injury, knee or ankle or hip. you think i'd learn
8.02km in 41.35 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/409867405

Wednesday was a write off. No swim, no bike. missed day completely, just no energy to even try to convince myself to do something

Thursday Lunchtime run
Back in the swing of it on thursday, lunchtime quick run at work. HR too high again. anything ~5:00/km or lower is fast for my training runs, and this was all at that pace. really need to learn my lesson here and back off on one of the runs at least . Especially given my other planned run for hte week is a 10km race on Sunday
5.47km in 27.09, http://connect.garmin.com/activity/409867409

tunney

mossym wrote: »

thanks for that. wasn't going to mention it but i knew it would scupper the training for the week, and it has

I managed to missed that bit, didn't register. Condolences

Bambaata

Sorry to hear about your grandmothers passing.

mossym

not really a log entry, but i managed to make the video report for the Ocean lava tri in lanzarote.

4.40 in, white cap, awful running style. That'd be me.

mossym

Friday Morning Swim
In the pool for 7. Decided to do something different than the normal, so copied something i saw on here (thanks trig1), but got it slightly wrong .

200M wu
100m, 200m, 300m, 400m, 300m, 200m, 100m, all with 1 min rest in between. all done mod hard. felt the longer ones .
200m warm down

felt good in the water, if not overly strong. total 2km


Friday Evening Group Turbo

1 hr 4 mins. Long warm up as others didn't arrive. after that

2*1 mins one leg only, focus on smooth strokes
Then Big ring front, 2nd big back. 90% Threshold for 3 mins
up two gears, 85% threshold for 2 mins
up two more, threshold + for 1 min
2 mins rest
repeat X3

2 mins rest
30 secs on. 30 secs off *6

Nice honest effort .
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/410126519

Chartsengrafs

mossym wrote: »

4.40 in, white cap, awful running style. That'd be me.

I've seen far worse! Sounds like a tough race, was it worth going that far?

Fazz

Best of luck with the training, keep up the consistency is most important I think.

See you at the home town 4mile on st stephens day. Also probable showing from huff n puff I expect too so chance to meet others.

sconhome

Fazz wrote: »

huff n puff

He needs to change his username. Went by me in the Sixmilebridge half like a TGV, no huffing or puffing to be heard at all!

mossym

Basster wrote: »

I've seen far worse! Sounds like a tough race, was it worth going that far?

1000% yes. Loved the race. So many races here you rush after work or in the morning to register, drive that morning, face miserable weather, long drive home. To go on a trip focused around a race was so enjoyable. Plus, lanzarote is probably my favourite sun destination anyway, so mixing the two worked well. Also, although it was a tough course, it was every enjoyable, interesting terrain, ,great roads, tough climbs, fast descents, and the run was along the promenade in puerto del Carmel so plenty of support. Whole town was involved in the race that morning and the buzz was superb. Small taste of what the IM/ challenge guys get at their races and I loved it. Plan for next year is a 70.3 at end of season in Ireland in prep for a few in 2015, one of which will be abroad, almost certainly lanzarote, IM 70.3 or ocean lava

mossym

Fazz wrote: »

Best of luck with the training, keep up the consistency is most important I think.

See you at the home town 4mile on st stephens day. Also probable showing from huff n puff I expect too so chance to meet others.

Never realised you were a Clonmel native or am I reading your home town comment wrong? Thanks for the advice. Serious step to ensuring the consistency occurs has already been taken, one I'm pretty excited about. This year was getting my feet wet, next year is about getting a real idea what I am capable of.

mossym

AKW wrote: »

He needs to change his username. Went by me in the Sixmilebridge half like a TGV, no huffing or puffing to be heard at all!

After his effort in kilkee this year while still injured I'd agree. Went by me on the way out of t1 (and back in) like the tgv you mentioned. After a hernia op. I mean come on, that's impressive

Dory Dory

Hey, just getting caught up - so sorry about your granny.

mossym

given everything that's been going on, this week has been a write off in terms of training. Sunday offered one last effort at something to take away.

Last year, the Birdhill Turkey Run 10Km was my first ever race of any description, distance or discipline. i still remember the dread tinged excitement coming up to it. 8 months before, i couldn't run 100m, now i was going for 10km. i'd run 10km once before in training. Once. so queue race day and i'm very happy to come home in 51.28. i'd have been happy with anything under an hour to be honest.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/248743823

fast forward a year. The birdhill turkey run has become an annual event, and due to being a well run race it's attracting a much bigger crowd. New addition this year in the form of a half marathon option, but on a course which is far from attractive, from Birdhill into Limerick on the old main dublin road the N7. Long straight stretches, some drags, and with not having run a half since July i decide to go for the 10Km . i figure it will offer a good barometer of where the fitness has gone in a year. 10Km it is.

I like this course, lots of turns and drags, both uphill and downhill, some pretty steep, with a long mainly downhill stretch to finish. it's also in support of the primary school i attended, so i like supporting it

Saturday evening on the way home from town i stop in and register for the 10km. i like local races like this, no hustle, walked in, paid 15 euros and left with my number inside a minute. It's also 5 miles from my house. Perfect

Sunday morning, head for race. half way there realise i forgot my garmin. no watch. have the hr monitor on but no watch. given how close it is toy with going back for it. only take a few minutes. Not sure why but decide not to. Few reasons. 1), its a local 10Km, figure forget time just go run it . 2) i have a tendency to go better sometimes with no watch, stops me looking at pace for last km and slowing down cause i figure i can't hold that pace. 3) it;s not a target race of any description, i'm just running it, and anyway they have chip timing, so will get a time anyway. Didn't turn back

Get to Birdhill. Parking is already along both sides of road out to the roundabout outside of town. Wow. They said it was bigger than last year, but this is crazy. Turns out they had 700 across the 5km, 10km and HM. Numbers on the 10k were lower as people switched to the half. Recognised some around, some fast HM'ers, Huff n puff was there, doing the half, think it was his brother with him.

Race Start for the 10Km was a couple of Km out of town, so walked up with my wife and daughter who had decided to tag along, and were going toc all to a friends house right at the race start line. got a quick warm up in, and met a friend who i was talking to when he said Sh%t we're off, looked around to see everyone moving forward. ah well, here we go.

Started strong, decided to push from the start and see how i held up.The toughest part of this race is a long steep drag around the 6/7km mark, so decided to push hard before that, hold as best i could up it, and then try to finish strong. Have learnt at this stage that for races if i am holding pace i think i can;t hold i'm usually okay, and with no watch i'm going entirely by feel. Get past the usual crew who start at the front of every race and then do nothing more than jog, 5 abreast. get on the feet of two guys who are holding a decent pace, just above what i think i can hold. This'll do nicely. Stick on their feet through some rolling roads, narrow country boreens, and we get to the 5km mark, i hear one of them comment on time. ask them what we're're at and he said 23 flat. Delighted with that. Don;t expect the second half to be much quicker than that, but even a little slower and i'll easily have a sub 50 .

Hit the hill at 6, have lost the guys at this stage, they pushed on a bit in the km before the hill. Decided to let them go. Kept the effort up the hill, knew pace was down a little but was passing and not being passed which i was happy with. Hit the top, and knew the worst was over, so push now, Little further on, passed where my grandmother who passed away last week lived, bit of a moment, but kept going on the flat now. could see the two who had left me ahead and was closing fast. we'd hit the 5km traffic at this stage. being a local race, there was lots of walkers, so was picking my way through traffic. last 300m is a steep downhill, once i hit that knew was nothing more to worry about. Had arranged for the family to be near the finish, my little one loves running over the finish line with me. stopped and collected her near the finish and ran across the line, just as the clock hit the 46.02 mark.

So a 5.26 min PB, so delighted. Not that it's overly impressive given how slow the last pb was (i hadn't run another 10km since this race last eyar, any other 10k was part of an oly and didn't beat that time. I ran a 46.40 6 mile at the great limerick run where my daughter ran the last 200m with me, which slowed me a lot, but was still only 6 mile), but i've now what i feel is a reasonable, for me, 10km time posted. Bit surprised, there didn't appear to be a timing mat at the 10km race start. got texted my time and it's the 46.02 i crossed the line in, even though there was a good 10/15 seconds before i crossed the start line . What's the time in chip timing if it's only gun time, rather than chip time? Maybe it'll be updated afterwards. hopefully, as it'll bring me sub 46.
Result: 10Km in 46.02 . No garmin/gps track as i forgot the watch, but course was identical to last year

All credit to the organizers of this race though. Done it twice, and loved it both times. Well organised, great spread afterwards, absolutely cracking community support for it, and a great atmosphere, xmas tunes setting the tone, lots of happy people. Even with the numbers growing to >700 from <300 last year it kept the small race feel, and everyone i talked to loved it. hats off birdhill, you put on a cracker and i'll be back next year