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Dilbert75

Nothing yesterday. Working late again so just about got dinner before I headed to a 7:30 appointment. So by today I was behind on some strength work from Wednesday, bike from Thursday and have Friday's swim too. Gulp.

Predictably enough I didn't get out on time today either but went to the gym on my way home. Bike session was to be 10 min wu, 5x (3 min in hrz4, 90 rec), 10 min CD, 10 min run. And that's pretty much how it went. Resistance 10 and mag 4 (thankfully it kept unwinding from higher mag forces) for the "on" bits, 10/1 for the off bits. Run was in hrz2 so was 6sk/hr.

Then picked up a bit of strength work before dinner, leaving me with swim, run and bike to do by Sunday. Problem is I'm off to Dublin now, up North and back to Dublin tomorrow, kayaking with the kids in Dublin on Sunday morning and then home. So I should get the run in but I'm not sure about the swim and bike.

Dilbert75

Saturday
Long day: total 300km driving, sat around most of the day and ate stuff I shouldn't have. Got home at about 7:45 and got the gear on & out for a run at 8:30. 11.24 unremarkable kms done in an hour, every step regretting the 5/8 of a 15" Boston 7 pizza with fries I had for lunch (Master D's choice). At least he got an Ulster bronze solo medal for his work - good going in a field of 12.

Now short a swim, a cycle and some strength for the week. Might try get the swim tomorrow but might miss out on the others.

Dilbert75

Week ended with a whimper rather than a bang: covered about 4.5km on the Grand Canal with Miss D in a double sit-on, accompanied by Master D in a single, in an hour. Was after 4 when I got home and had to head off again less than an hour later. I'm not long home and had dinner + wine, so have binned the swim, bike and strength. I guess this unwittingly became a step-back week.

Totals:
Swim: 51%
Bike: 34%
Run: 120%
Strength: 59%

Disappointing. What's more is the next two weekends will also have trips and I'll be away for work at the end of April and start of May. Going to have to make sure it doesn't all unravel.

Dilbert75

Club swim: 1850m. Went well.

Plans for next couple of weeks becoming clear: next Tuesday travelling to Germany. London on Wednesday night, home late on Thursday night. Following Wednesday off to NY till Monday. Looking forward to that but there's no gym in the hotel so I'll have to keep ticking over by running as much as I can.

Dilbert75

Wednesday
Run - back to hill repeats. Plan was 10 min wu (hrz2), 10x (30s hill, jog back), 15min @85-90% hr, 5 min cd. Working late AGAIN :mad: so again only got togged out just after 8:20pm. Somehow in my head I though I'd get some gym work done after the run but no.

Wu was a little too fast so the hr was above target. Was trying again to get even distances on the sprints but again they weren't as even as I wanted or thought: 141, 125, 132, 127, 124, 131, 131, 125, 130 & 123m. The 15 mins in hrz4 were better than expected - average 4:36/km. Total 9.11km in just under 50 mins.

Dilbert75

Thursday
Indoor bike. Plan called for 10min wu, 3x (5 mins at 85-90% mhr, 2 min recovery), 10 min CD, 15 min run.

Decided to do the following:
10min wu
3x (5 min at hrz4 with r10m5 low cadence, 3 min easy with r10m1)
2x (5 min at hrz4 with r5m1 high cadence, 3 min easy with r5m1)
10min CD
15 min run

First 3x 5 mins were tough out and I was having to stand up intermittently to get enough speed to bring the hr up. This wasn't a problem in the 2x 5 min high cadence repeats - hr was well up there. Funnily enough by the time I got to running, after just over 28 simulated kms of cycling in an hour, the legs were fine and I tipped away for just over the 15 mins for 3skms.

Dilbert75

Friday
Caught up on strength session missed on Wednesday but had to push today's swim to tomorrow or Sunday. Too cold for sea?

Kurt_Godel

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Friday
Caught up on strength session missed on Wednesday but had to push today's swim to tomorrow or Sunday. Too cold for sea?

A lot of skipped sessions lately Dilbert- reckon you need a good sea swim for penance (and be sure to let us know how you get on!)

Dilbert75

Kurt_Godel wrote: »

A lot of skipped sessions lately Dilbert- reckon you need a good sea swim for penance (and be sure to let us know how you get on!)

Feic.

The defence pleads that they were missed, not skipped, and is willing to plea-bargain for a barely-lukewarm bath....

Edit:
http://www.seatemperature.org/europe/ireland/loch-garman.htm :eek: 9.4°C

Neady83

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Feic.

The defence pleads that they were missed, not skipped, and is willing to plea-bargain for a barely-lukewarm bath....

I haven't been in the water myself but the West Clare Tri Club have been in the Marina in Kilrush for the past three weeks. Mind you Lahinch and Ennis swimming pools are so far away that there's an incentive for them to bear the cold I was chatting to one of the lads though and he reckons it's not too bad.

Dilbert75

Neady83 wrote: »

I haven't been in the water myself but the West Clare Tri Club have been in the Marina in Kilrush for the past three weeks. Mind you Lahinch and Ennis swimming pools are so far away that there's an incentive for them to bear the cold I was chatting to one of the lads though and he reckons it's not too bad.

I'm not as hardy as a west Clare lad though...

Dilbert75

Sunday
Myself and Master D got our first ow swim of the year done. Both much less nervous than before. Water was cold but bearable after a few mins and was very salty. Took way longer to get changed in and out than expected so only got about 500m parallel to the beach done (per Garmin) before we ran out of time but that's fine too. Back in at the weekend hopefully.

Dory Dory

What a coincidence!! I got into my outdoor pool today for the first time this year too!! But...uh....my water was 80ish degrees Fahrenheit, aka 26ish degrees Celsius. No wetsuit required.

Dilbert75

9.4 degrees C here.:eek:

Yes 9.4.

Neady83

Yer every bit as hardy as them West Clare lads

Dilbert75

As expected travel and work fecked up Tuesday. By the time I got time to run it was 3 degrees and raining and I hadn't enough gear with me to survive.

Got out this morning though - 8.4k though Freiburg into the hills, onto the trails. I did remember hearing the last time I was in this part of the world about wolves (or was it bears?) in the mountains but thankfully I didn't meet any. Started snowing on the way back to the hotel but it was lovely. Running is my fave way of exploring new places!

Dilbert75

Thursday
Lovely morning so up and out to explore Kensington. Ended up in the Gardens (Liz's back garden) and had a lovely trot around, along by the Serpentine and back to the hotel for a quick swim. 18m pool so did 4x180m with an extra 2 lengths tacked on to the last set to bring me over 750m.

Seem to have picked up a lurgy somewhere along the way though - I can feel it in the back of my throat. Don't need that this weekend in particular so will have to consider whether it's wise to do the club Tri tomorrow. Last thing I need is to be getting dry on a bike on a cold morning.

Dilbert75

Just realised that my training plan ends this week. Original plan was to repeat it and just up the distances and/or paces but I'm not so sure now. So I'm on the lookout for another sprint plan for 12-14 weeks if anyone has any suggestions.

Dilbert75

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Seem to have picked up a lurgy somewhere along the way though - I can feel it in the back of my throat. Don't need that this weekend in particular so will have to consider whether it's wise to do the club Tri tomorrow. Last thing I need is to be getting dry on a bike on a cold morning.

Had to bail on the Tri Don't know if I'll get to do anything today - might try a gentle jog - but tomorrow will be a long day of non-sport so it'll prob be Monday before I do anything much.

Dilbert75

Monday
Very gentle 4.4km trail run with Miss D (complaining all the way). Then down to Baginbun (where Tri the Hook swim is held) for another dip with Master and Miss D. Tide was coming in and it was quite choppy, and the water was very murky compared to the clarity of last week, so much less comfortable conditions (roughly the same 9°C). Despite that I was less uncomfortable in the water than last week. Did about 800m in total. Progress.

Dilbert75

Tuesday - nothing but work

Wednesday - nothing but travel

Thursday - early morning 9.3km run around Central Park. 46 mins. Was going at a right clip for a good part of the time - c.4:30/km. Was nice to loosen the legs after travelling.

Dilbert75

Friday
Miserable morning here so into the gym. Friend's boyfriend is a fitness trainer and is doing IM this year and he passed on a nice little bike interval session so I attempted it. Total was 1hr20 including crawling off the bike for 30s 3 times to get headphones, water and a towel. Going to Times Square later to see if I can make a few bucks with my impersonation of John Wayne.

Dilbert75

Saturday
Central Park again - full lap (11k) in 56 mins. Drizzly at the start, cleared up quickly. Birds singing, squirrels running around - nice start to the day.

Dilbert75

Sunday
Last day in New York. Was late getting back from dinner last night so missed the night time bus tour I was going to do. So I hatched a plan. Up and out at 5:45 and ran west from the hotel on 7th Ave over to the Hudson. Ran south along the river until I got to Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. Then hung a left and zig zagged until I got to 5th Ave and made my way back up to the hotel. Had estimated about 16km - turned out to be 21.45 (1hr50). And it started hammering rain as I was turning. But never mind- I got to see a lot of the sights and it was a lovely way to see them.

EDIT: Garmin route - I'm amused how, despite starting & finishing in the same spot, it puts me as several blocks apart. Obviously the tall buildings distracted the GPS.

Dilbert75

Tuesday
Club swim. 1800m. Utterly bet, physically and mentally.

Dilbert75

What a week. It really doesn't pay to go away. After keeping things going while I was away, it all came crashing down on my return. Made it to swimming on Tuesday but was jetlagged to hell. Working Wednesday from 8:30 till nearly 11pm, Thursday 8:30 till nearly 1am, Friday 9am till after 4pm (only) but too bet to wag by the time I got home.

Then I was on Dad duty all day Saturday (basketball blitz) and spent today reroofing (expected a 2 hour job, took nearer 5) & painting my shed and trimming back some of the invasive ivy plants coming over my wall from the neighbouring hospital. So I'm exhausted now and not a bit of training done.

Next week will hopefully be better.

Neady83

Keep the head up Dilbert, it's hard to keep all the balls in the air. It's frustrating as hell when you're trying to stick to a plan I can imagine. Anyway, surely all the DIY and are mechanics have to count for something?

Dilbert75

Yep frustrating alright. Planned to start a new plan tonight and guess what....?

Anyway. Mighty well done on C2C - spent the weekend dot watching! Looking forward to the report.

Dilbert75

Club swim. 1900m including 5x300 with increasing paces (60, 75, 90, 60, 75%). Felt every overhead branch that I hacked down on Sunday.

Dilbert75

Write-off of a week. But I'll not bore you with another rant about work.

Saturday
1425m swim, accompanied by Miss D, ended prematurely by cramps in soles of both feet.