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A little knowledge is a dangerous thing
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Genuine question here, why would it be considered good to do a 4km training swim outside straight through but not do the same in the pool? Would the reasons for not doing it in the pool, form falling apart, mistakes slipping into stroke, not be the same in open water? Or would it be more to see how you feel after the 4km swim? So nearly a test session rather than a training session, if you know what I mean.
I don't think that it is a good thing.
See comments on swimmers swimming, runners running, and bikers biking for where the motivation for the session may come.
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I deffo noticed it in France last year, I did one or two 4k swims but in the main around the 3/3.5k mark training for it. Towards the end I definitely started to feel a very slight fatigue, not much but I usually push towards the end in Olympic and 1/2 but all I was doing towards the end in that one was trying to maintain decent form i was beginning to fade
Hoping to do at least one endurance based swim a week this year thats 4k+, means getting up perhaps 20 minutes earlier
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IM Copenhagen 2016
Alarm was set for 4am, but i woke, looked at my phone and it was 3.58am, guess the internal clock was looking after me. So up, and breakfast at an ungodly hour, consisting of a bowl of muesli and greek yoghurt, and two rice cakes with peanut butter and honey. On reflection, given i was relying on high 5 bars on the bike which were peanut butter flavour i should have done something else on the rice cakes, but that only occurred to me after the race. Started on the water then, and chilled for a while before we headed for the start at around 5.30. All very relaxed.
Race start was a buzz. Met the other irish lads that were racing, bit of talk about the course, but not for long and i went off to sort out my bike. Got everything sorted, and decided it might be wise to get a last minute run to the portaloo done, but there was a long queue that wasn’t moving and after standing in it for ages and getting nowhere i decided to forget it. They were already starting to shout about people lining up for the swim and i hadn’t even taken the wetsuit out of the bag yet.
Got the wetsuit on, and lined up at the 1 hour ten sign. CPH is a self seeding rolling start, and i figured i’d be around 70 minutes, especially if i got somone of a similar speed i could sit on their feet. Next thing they picked up the sign and walked way way forward with it, so now i had no idea where i was in the queue. Suffice to say i was a long way back, but those around me were all saying 70 minutes so i stayed where i was.
The race started, and every 5 second 5 went into the water. With 3000 racing though, and 60 going in every minute, there was going to be almost 50 minutes before everyone got in the water. Must have taken 20 to 25 minutes for me to shuffle around to the start, but finally i was in the chute, then at the top, watching the numbers tick down, 3,2,1 buzz, and my first IM was a go
It was a pretty foggy morning, and the course was to swim about 100m out to a buoy, turn right, then about 1km down under two bridges, u turn, long drag back up at 180deg to what we had done but further, then another 180 to come back down to another buoy and turn right again back into the shore
With the fog though, could barely see the first buoy, so was just following the stream of swimmer out. Took the buoy wide as we had to goa bit further out anyway so no gain in taking it too tight. Settled into a rhythm fairly quickly, but no luck in getting a draft anywhere. Anyone i tried to jump onto were either too fast, too slow, or swimming in any direction but the one i figured we were meant to be heading. So i swam solo, which is the norm for me anyway, but something which needs to be addressed (2017 winter goal 1).
It was a pretty uneventful swim, kept the effort steady. Went through 1900m bang on 35 minutes, so right on target. I think i lost a bit of time coming up the second 180 turn, didn’t take the best line, but when we turned and came down to the last buoy to turn right for the exit the fog was really heavy, and we couldn’t see any sign of the shore. We were heading into towards some vague outline in the fog when a kayaker came over and screamed at us we were going too far, we were heading towards the swim start and not the exit, so we had to turn a bit backup and finally the swim exit appeared
In total it came out at 4005m, so i went a bit over, i’m thinking about 100 of that are the wrong line at the exit, so i swam an extra 100 over the rest of the course, which isn’t too bad, but not ideal.
Second half of the swim was a bit slower as a result, and i came out of the water at 1:17
Came out feeling good energy wise, felt like i had swam steady and hadn’t taken too much out. The downside was my back was in bits, it loosened up as i went through tranistion, but i was worried about how the bike would go. Was hoping to get to lap 2 before it got sore but based on how it felt i didn’t think i’d get that lucky.
Transition was okay. Don’t think i wasted any time. It may seem a little slow, but they were adamant that unless you had you shoes clipped into your bike you had to put them on in the tent, no running with them in your hand which had been my plan as i was going with road shoes rather than tri shoes for comfort, so i had to shuffle down the long run in my shoes .
T1 time: 6:47
Out onto the bike, and the first 10 minutes were cooooollllldddd. On top of that, they wound their way through the city, making it impossible to get into a groove, while i was passing lots there was lots of sharp turns,, including a very tight one that took us onto a pedestrian bridge. Finally though we were out of the city and heading north along the coast, settled into a rhythm and started moving properly.
Had started on the nutrition soon as i got on the bike. Plan was a bar (pre cut into halves) and a gel per hour, so something every 20 minutes. Kept this up over the course of the bike so was happy, but it’s not easy you lose track of whether you ate 20 minutes before or forgot to, but overall nutrition went well. Bars were in a pouch on the top bar, gels were stuck up the leg of my suit (thanks Peter/Fran).
Stretch up along the coast was fast, bit of a tailwind, and very pretty. We turned left then and the course got a lot tougher, much more windy, up and down, and tough to stay in a groove, especially given how poor on the bike some of the people were, seriously they were all over the road, and would not accept being passed.
The run back down to the south was on a double lane road, much better surface so the speed started to come back up, and the stretch included Gills Bakke, the longest “hill” on the course. I say “hill” as it’s not really, it’s short, big ring managable, and over before you know it, but in true IM fashion it draws a huge crowd who roar you up it, both sides of the road lined and a great experience. After that it was a short run to the junction where you went left for the second lap or right to head back into town.
In truth, the whole day flew, but the first bike lap definitely did, i was at the lap point before i knew it. My support crew had gotten the train up to cheer me on, and got the road side just as i came into the view, but getting the cheers was a huge lift. At this point i remember having a really serious look at where i was performance wise (probably the first time i’d properly taken stock). I’d been watching my power numbers and keeping them roughly where they were meant to be, but on the hilly middle section had raced more by feel then trying to hold the numbers, but for the first time i looked at my overall rather than the 10 sec AP i had been watching and was shocked to see how far off my number i was. That said i was holding a 35.5km/hr average, and while the legs felt ok i wasn’t stupid enough to think about to think about going over the target for the second half. The other factor was my back, which had been sore but manageable on the first lap but was getting more painful the longer i went, meaning getting out of aero to try and stretch it. So while the second lap i was more focused on holding my numbers it was getting harder.
Second loop was more of the same, fast run up the coast, slower middle section, and then onto the highway run back to town, and the run through the city again with all the twists and turns, which bled both the speed and the power off.
At one point i had thought i’d slip under the 5 hours on the bike, but that slipped away, which is my fault, i didn’t hit my bike numbers, probably the biggest gap on the day. Holding what i had trained to would have had me in well under 5 hours. So it was there, but i’ll honestly say that numbers aside, and taking the run into account, by feel i rode right, i’m not sure how the run would have been if i had held the numbers. Actually, i have my suspicions, but it will go in the we’ll never know box.
So rolled into T2 with a bike of 5:16:01, an average speed of 34.18km/hr, and a cumulative time of 6:40.
T2: hadn’t seen T2 as we dropped our bags at t1 and they were carried over for us,but found my bag pretty easily, into the tent, and see brezzie just finishing getting changed and heading out. There had been a running joke among the few here going that we had to beat brezzie, so there was target number 1. Change went well, fresh socks, runners on, visor on, and out. Stopped for a quick pee at the stand up urinals they have for the men(poor women) and out of t2 in 4:17
Biq question was how the legs would feel, and while i wouldn’t call them fresh they felt good, to the point that the first few hundred metres i had to rein back and cop on. But i settled into a groove, which felt comfortable, and started to tick off. Went past brezzie in the first 2km, had a quick chat with him going past, but could see from how he was running i wasn’t going to have to worry about getting beaten and the slagging that would ensue.
The course in CPH is very windy, some nice long straight stretches alright but a lot of turns and stretches along boardwalks, ramps, cobbles. The highlights were the wooden section along the water with the bikini clad local ladies and their very enthusiastic support, and the lowlights were the stretch along the very rough cobbles which actually destroyed my legs every time.
The crowd in CPH is something else, they claimed 200k would be out to see it, i thought they had a 10x exaggeration factor, but nope. It was absolutely thronged. And it wasn’t jsut the numbers, they had music everywhere, the crowd was having the biggest party i’ve seen and the energy you got from them was incredible. I honestly have never seen anything like it.
The other thing to mention was the heat, while the forecast was for a nice morning with rain for the afternoon, it was way off. The whole run was under blue skies and baking sun, it was roasting. Saw a few collapse mid stride in the middle of the street while running. Lots more lying on the side of the road getting first aid.
For the first two laps, i felt good. Aid stations were every 2km so my plan had been to skip every second one and walk the others, giving me a walk break every 20 minutes or so which was exactly what my training had been . with the heat though this chanhged pretty quickly, and i ended up stopping quickly at the ones i was supposed to skip to get water over my head and throw some sponges down my top, then taking a longer walk through the ones i had planned to use.
It was working well, first two laps i felt fine, back felt fine which i knew it would once i got running, but the one issue was a growing need to use a portaloo, and despite what had been said in another thread about just going on the run, while i had no issue peeing on the move, there was no way i was going to be able to relieve this on the run. My stomach was acting up a little as well, think it was all connected, but the one gel i had taken on lap 1 hadn’t settled too well and i was on coke and oranges.
My support was at the exit to t2 which was the start of the run laps, BTH had located himself a bit further out, so was getting a lot of encouragement which helped a lot, and i got to the end of lap 2 feeling good, tired and sore, but still running.okay
Lap 3 was a biggie for a number of reasons. Firstly, i’d never run further than 26km in my life. So now i was going to go over that for the first time with no idea how the body would react. Secondly, i’d gone from every second aid station being a minor stop to walking them all and running between, and i’d started taking the few extra steps out of the aid stations before i’d start running again
It was also the first time i saw either of the other lads from here, had been watching out for gibbo and rob, but as i trotted along with head down i hear paul shout going the other way, and given i was on lap 3 i thought for sure he was on lap 4 and heading for home.
I wanted lap 3 done, i knew once i got on the last lap i’d get this done, nothign was going to stop me on lap 4. Family said the start of lap 4 was the first time they really saw me suffering, i was in a lot of hurt but was still moving, the pace had slipped out to over 5.30/5.40 min/km though, and i was struggling.
The biggest problem was the portaloo issue. But the first quarter of lap 4 i realised i could not make the finish without addressing so at the second aid station i saw an empty one and jumped in. felt like it took forever, and until now when i look at the results i would have sworn i was in there 10 minutes, but looking at the time it was about 6. My biggest fear was that after stopping the legs wouldn’t go again, but when i came out (hoping there was no-one waiting but there was, felt so sorry for that poor woman!!) i started moving much better than when i went in. got to the turn back point, got my last band, and headed for home.
On every lap, you passed the finish line, had to run right past the chute going up to the finish, and look longingly at it. Not this time. Heeding advice i had seen here many times, i got a gap between myself and those ahead and behind me, and took the chute with the biggest smile on my face. Will never forget the 100m or so down that finishing straight, my wife gives out to me that i always look so serious finishing races but there was none of that here, i had a smile from ear to ear.
Crossed the line in 3:59, didn;t realise i was that close to the 4 hours on the marathon, would have been a bit disappointed to slip over the 4 in fairness so glad it was under. If i had just have given in and used the toilet earlier that might have been a bit quicker, but another “we’ll never know”.
So first IM done in 10:43:41. Could it have been faster? Sure. Could have been slower too. I feel like it was all i had, but numbers would say otherwise. GIven how the year has gone though, to come in well under the 11 on my first is something i’ll take any day. I’ll readily accept there is room for improvement, I can see that myself, but i also know that won’t be my last IM and i’ve learned more about myself both as a person and in terms of training than i have any other year.
Into the finishers areas where i had two of the best slices of pizza ever(they were only okay but at the time tasted like nothing on earth), some icecream, got changed and out to celebrate with the family.
had a quick dinner and went home where someone put a glass of wine in me which i got halfway through before i got sent to bed after falling asleep on the couch. Didn’t make the beers with the others that night, stomach wasn’t up to it.
Overall a great experience, loved every minute. Cheers to the irish lads that were over, made it a much bigger occasion having the gang over, to my family that ran all over the city both on race day and before and after to support, and to Dave for getting me there, wasn’t an easy one this year with everything that went on but he got me through it so cheers Dave.
Right, that’s it. For the first time in almost 2 years i am not entered in a single event(which is bugging me big time to be honest). But i also know i won’t be going long next year, promised both myself and my wife i wouldn’t, definitely 2018 though for my transition into a new AG. I’ve a number of takeaways from this year that give me solid goals to work on for the winter, and next year will be about racing shorter and a lot more. Considering a half abroad somewhere but will see how that pans out.
I’m going to take a few weeks off now, let the body recover, then start back. Few small things coming up, the local tri club do an end of season swim where they go up lough derg in a boat, jump off and swim back down to Killaloe for the end of season beers, so i’ll do that in 10 days time. Apart from that, it’s time for a few coffee spins and some easy runs, my wife recently ran 10km for the first time and i want to do a few very easy runs with her just for fun
I’m back logging though, so the updates on here will be patchy for the next few weeks which will reflect the training but consistency on both will return. 0 -
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Congrats on great IM Mossy, a brilliant report and a savage time. You must be well chuffed. Sounds like a cracking but hard race, well done for staying focused and moving forward under those conditions
Nice first marathon too I'm glad that you're resurrecting your log, I really enjoy following it. 0 -
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