1 to 3

Dilbert75

Sunday
Had planned an early cycle but there was a change of plan. Went and played tennis and basketball with Miss D for a while (yayyyy) before we headed to do the grocery shop (awww).

After lunch I jumped on the bike for the first time in way too long for the first leg of a race pace brick. Two laps of the town, 9.5km each, the second one with Master D. Each lap went through the town centre so we got caught in traffic both times. The lap ends with a 2km climb, which is tough. Total was 19.92km in 45:03. Not very impressive but it is what it is.

I was about 15s ahead of Master D coming in and nearly maimed myself trying to speed up my transition (must YouTube some tips). He wasn't in cycling shoes though so he passed me at transition. And in my haste I made the mistake of setting off running with my helmet and gloves still on. So I ended up carrying them. And when that happened I made the mistake of bursting off to try and catch him, so I'd a stitch within about 500m. So I'd to slow down and never did catch the speedy fecker. I ended up about 50s behind him in 22:59 for 5k.

Then we headed to the beach for a swim. Wasn't noticeably warmer than last time, no matter what the temperature data says (11.1 vs. 9.4°C). Ended up doing 731m in 12:48, which I was happy with.

Swim Problems:
-Was warm putting on the wetsuit and found it hard to get on properly so it wasn't too easy to swim.
-Getting it off was far worse and I need to fix that or my t1s will last forever.
- Forgot my earplugs (had one pair of pool plugs between us) so was trying to avoid getting water into the unprotected ear. It was ok for a while but eventually a splash got me. Didn't like it much. I'll remember the plugs next time.

Neady83

Dilbert75 wrote: »

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

I am getting very familiar with these myself so I feel your pain Nice brick yesterday

Dilbert75

Monday
Club swim pulled forward from Tue because I know I won't make it tomorrow due to w...

2100m in total, incl. Drafting practise, Pyramid sets from 400-100 and back.

Next week is the last week before breaking up for summer. Gutted about that. Have really enjoyed it and couldn't contemplate having made in triple the time the improvements I made in the last 30 weeks.

Dilbert75

Suppose I'd better write something before the thread falls off the bottom of the second page of my own followed threads....:o So where was I last? Too much work, too little training? Well so it's continued. After the last update, there was no more training that week. Hardly an ideal lead-in to a race - the re-run of the Super Sprint tri at Lough Cutra.

On Saturday morning I prepped the bike, and Master D's old bike (his bike route at Lough Cutra was mostly off road so he went for the chunkier tyres of his old mountain-type bike), and put them on my new bike rack and packed up. We were to be there for registration between 4 & 5 but typically I didn't leave a huge amount of spare time and then got caught behind every tractor and Sunday driver along the way. We pulled up at 2 mins to 5pm and sprinted from the carpark to the registration tent....and joined a 30 min queue. But we got there in the end and got registered. Off then to get some shopping and to my friend's house a half hour up the road where we were staying. Bit of food, bit of chat & craic, good night's sleep, good breakfast. All good so far.

A little bit tardy leaving for Lough Cutra and ended up getting shoved into the far-off car park (for which you'd really need a 4wd or something with good ground clearance), so time was short to my start. But, as we know now, the start had been delayed by 2 hours due to fog on the lake. Panic over. Quick chat with Sconhome, Mossy & a couple of others and then down to get set up. Some queuing to get bike racked in transition, due to other races already in progress, but it was unremarkable. Chatted to a former colleague doing Olympic then got changed. All going to plan. Head was in a good place. Gold target was swim <10 mins, a min or two off both bike & run, not shame myself in transitions. Silver was same but with swim <12 mins and bronze was to improve my overall time, having swum FC all the way. Not too much to ask after 30 weeks of coached swimming.

Start time finally arrived at around 12:40 (vs. planned 10:45). Had had a couple of bananas to try and bridge the gap till race end but didn't want to take too much on board, lest I'd end up barfing. Race briefing - same as last year but took a bit more on board this time. Less terrified. Into the water, face down, front crawling my way out towards the start buoy. Roll over, just like Coach said, to let the water in the back and get over the shock of the cold. Check. Water was very brown but didn't taste bad. Stayed near the back but had clear space in front of me.

And we're off. Almost straight away people converged in front of me, going more slowly, so I got baulked a bit. Got a couple of kicks which didn't surprise me but did unsettle me. Lifted my head and tried to do some sighting. Started feeling uncomfortable, thinking the wetsuit was too tight and I couldn't reach out in front of me. Face down, face up. Breathing gone. Frig it. Breaststroke for a bit, calm the nerves. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Try again. Still can't get breathing right. Getting short fits of FC but can't get a rhythm going. Used Coach's technique for rounding the buoy but the dude on the jetski had shouted at us to go around another one further out too - we didn't do that last year. That'll be longer. Did it anyway 'cos everyone else was. Still breaststroking, tried rolling over to get a bit of speed up. That was fine except I obviously couldn't see where I was going so back on front. More intermittent FC/BS. Getting increasingly pi$$ed off with myself. It wasn't supposed to be like this. The watch said 650m as I was getting out (I didn't wear it last year so didn't know what actual distance I'd done). Watch said 17:47, official time was 18:05, so around 2 mins SLOWER than last year. That wasn't part of the plan. 103rd out of the water (across the various waves).

Out of the water - finally - and ran pretty lively to T1. Last year this somehow took me around 4.5 mins - this year was much better (about 2 mins quicker). Had forgotten my elastics for my bike shoes on the bike so ended up carrying the shoes to the mount point and putting them on there (and I wasn't the only one). At least this time I remembered to not leave it in 20th gear for the uphill start. 73rd out of T1 (easy places made up).

Out the drive and onto the road and started passing people pretty regularly. This is more like it. Took the first left hander and still passing people - uphill, downhill, flat. It's all good. This section was now one-way for local traffic but unfortunately there was some. Got caught behind a couple of cars whose drivers didn't seem to know whether to drive on or pull over, and instead chose to drive at 20kph. A no-win situation for them I guess. I just overtook them asap but lost a min or two. Through Gort was fine and back into Lough Cutra. Dismount again showed my lack of practise but I managed to escape without breaking my neck. 36th position.

T2 dispatched in a tolerable time (just under a minute) and out in my elastic-laced runners. I like them - have had the laces in the pack for about 2 years but finally put them in a couple of weeks ago.

Legs totally dead. Very quickly started getting a cramp in my stomach and it gradually spread around to my back, like a big band wrapped around me. It just got worse & worse. Wasn't thirsty and didn't take drinks at the station. It didn't help that the distance markers were way off (1km marker was 1.25km on my watch, 2km was at 2.5km, missed the 3 km marker but the whole run measured 3.83km on my watch) so it started messing with my head. Ground it out and struggled over the finish line, barely able to wag. A nice lady in a green tri suit came over to check on me when I was on the verge of barfing. She got me fruit and a cup of water, which I greatly appreciated.

Final time was 1:29:09, around 2 mins slower than last year. So the transitions were better but the swim, bike & run were all slower. I wasn't tired, the weather wasn't bad, the water was way warmer than what we'd been training in, I'd been training reasonably well up to a couple of weeks beforehand, my swimming is way better. So perhaps you can understand my disappointment at this outcome (thankfully I didn't realise the extent of my failure till I got home later).

Anyway. Master D was yet to race and it was time to pay attention to him and get him ready. We'd heard that the lost time was being recovered but it turned out that he wasn't out till around 5pm. He wouldn't say it but he was nervous about the swim. He kept fiddling with his goggles but wouldn't change to the backup ones. He swam out towards the marker ok but it soon became evident that he was in similar trouble to me - breaststroke most of the way. Poor sod was nearly last out of the water. The goggles had leaked so he got freaked out and just got around. From there it went pretty well. He was cycling in runners so only one change of footwear. His cycle was really good and his run was, predictably, fast too. So he took over 9 mins off last year's time, despite his swim problems. Excellent result.

Anyway. Less said, sooner forgotten. Except my next tri is 750m in Loughrea so I need a miracle between now and then. At least it answers my wonderings about whether to attempt an Olympic distance this year. (I can now picture Kurt holding my head firmly underwater until I stop breathing, at the thought that someone of my incompetence might attempt a longer distance before I improve substantially :eek::D!)

Since then things have not gotten too much better. Had my last club coached swim last Tue (or most of it - I was late for the usual reason). That was 1250m. A few final words of advice from Coach at the end - emphasising the need to stretch before the catch, work on posture and put on some body fat to help with buoyancy!

The following day I ground out a very tired 5k - it's like I never ran before.

1350m swim on Thur - pretty unstructured though. Need to get my head in gear.

Friday saw a nearly 29km cycle, in just under an hour, but I knew I was coming down with something. So it was that my full BH weekend was a flood of snot, so nothing done. I was adequately well to go back to work on Tue though. Yay. :rolleyes: But not before I got out for 40km on the bike on Monday, in 1:21, and got soaked again. Nice.

Every night last week was the same old story - out early, home late. Got a run in with the kids in the woods on Friday evening - only 5.6km or thereabouts but the first two laps were slow and the third lap was flat out. Nice to blow out.

So that's us up to date. Exciting? No. Inspiring? No. But I re-read some of my early log entries late last week and it reminded me that sometimes I do get stuff right and it works out ok. So I guess I'll just try to keep plugging away at it and see what happens. I'll focus on Loughrea - albeit with another work trip - to a bloody desert - at the end of the month (1 day travelling, 2 days training - where it's already 40-odd degrees during the day, 1 day travelling back, prob 2 days recovering). Need to get into open water. Had hoped to at the weekend but ended up too full of pizza (thanks girls) to swim on Saturday and just didn't get to it today.

Neady83

C, that swim sounds horrific. It sounds like the bike went really and you can only learn from the run and figure out what upset your tummy. Take the positives and work on the rest Well done.

ell done to MRs. D this weekend too

Dilbert75

Neady83 wrote: »

C, that swim sounds horrific. It sounds like the bike went really and you can only learn from the run and figure out what upset your tummy. Take the positives and work on the rest Well done.

ell done to MRs. D this weekend too

Thanks S - always positive. Yep she did very well despite stomach cramps that sound startlingly like what I had.

Kurt_Godel

Dilbert75 wrote: »

And we're off. Almost straight away people converged in front of me, going more slowly, so I got baulked a bit. Got a couple of kicks which didn't surprise me but did unsettle me. Lifted my head and tried to do some sighting. Started feeling uncomfortable, thinking the wetsuit was too tight and I couldn't reach out in front of me. Face down, face up. Breathing gone. Frig it. Breaststroke for a bit, calm the nerves. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Try again. Still can't get breathing right. Getting short fits of FC but can't get a rhythm going. Used Coach's technique for rounding the buoy but the dude on the jetski had shouted at us to go around another one further out too - we didn't do that last year. That'll be longer. Did it anyway 'cos everyone else was. Still breaststroking, tried rolling over to get a bit of speed up. That was fine except I obviously couldn't see where I was going so back on front. More intermittent FC/BS. Getting increasingly pi$$ed off with myself. It wasn't supposed to be like this. The watch said 650m as I was getting out (I didn't wear it last year so didn't know what actual distance I'd done). Watch said 17:47, official time was 18:05, so around 2 mins SLOWER than last year. That wasn't part of the plan. 103rd out of the water (across the various waves).

Sounds like a nightmare swim! We've all been there before though- once the breathing goes, everything goes. Its rare to have such good conditions as Cutra, so its important you work to make sure this doesn't happen again. From the sound of what you wrote, you lost confidence in your abilities on the day. Trying to BS and regroup was the right thing to do, unfortunately doesn't seemed to have worked this time. Hers a few things you might work on for next time:

1. Wetsuit tight around the chest/no reach. Your suit either doesn't fit, or (more likely) wasn't put on correctly. You should spend 10 mins or more getting a suit on, all the time inching material up from your legs, your hips, so your shoulders and arms are free to move as though there is no restriction. If its tight around the chest your breathing will be constricted, and if its tight around the shoulders you will be fighting yourself with each stroke. So the swim race starts long before the gun, when you start putting the suit on.

2. Breathing. It's all-important so needs to be controlled throughout. You got a few kicks, bit of congestion, tight suit, and these caused you to hyperventilate. Next time, try slowing down your FC to the point your breathing is settled again. Keep this pace until you are confident with your breathing, and speed up at that point.

3. Confidence. You need to trust your own abilities- if you get a knock, or goggles come off, or breathing goes, it can feel a lonely and scary place offshore in deep water. How you deal with these events- and how you prepare to deal with them- will serve you well in races. Confidence in your own capabilities is key, so the Cutra race will be useful to you (ie you know you won't drown when hyperventilating happens!). If you need to slow and regroup, make sure the slow and regroup counts- slowing right down for a minute until you are confident in your breathing, is better than turning onto your back and still feeling uncomfortable. Swim wide of a group into clear water if you want, be in control of your own race and have the confidence that you can do so.

And as always, the more OW practice, the better! Good luck next race, it will be a lot more fulfilling

Dilbert75

Thanks Kurt. I think you hit multiple nails on their heads there. The tightness in the wetsuit probably precipitated the rest because it quickly led to a rising sense of discomfort. I actually did a practise fitting last night and pulled the bottom half up much further than usual, and I'd much less restriction than at LC.

And, like you say, a lot comes down to practise and experience. It's a tough one - you need some measure of confidence to go out further and in harsher conditions but it's hard to build confidence without doing it. I guess I need a Nike up the ass (and Just Do It).

MojoMaker

Interesting one, and I can relate having suffered similar symptoms at Lisbon last month, albeit not for the whole race but the crucial first 400m or thereabouts. Chatting to Interested after the race he had a solid theory about wetsuit fitness - note, not wetsuit fit, but wetsuit fitness - i.e. the level of familiarity and comfort you have in your wetsuit in the immediate few weeks before your race.

I freely admitted it was my first outing in the wetsuit this season and from what I heard back, that was a bad idea. My own fault and lesson learned big time.

Moral of the story - make sure you have several (preferably lots) of OW practice sessions in your wetsuit done before your opening race of the season (and every race I guess) so that the feeling of neoprene around you isn't an 8-month old memory - or pay the price on race day.

Dilbert75

Makes sense. Thanks MM.

Dilbert75

Swim tonight. Late but hoped to fit in about 1200m. In the end I concocted a session as follows:
200fc wu
300fc @75%
200fc @85%
100fc sprint (it's all relative)
200fc @85%
300fc @75%
100bs CD

Must have lost count along the way because the watch ended up counting 1450m.

Defo need new goggles. Couldn't go back in ow with them leaking every 50 or 100m.

Overall happier coming out than going in. Read a thing on stalkbook this morning about the difference between motivation and commitment, the latter being what you depend on when the former dips. (as it does). Good distinction, I thought.

Dilbert75

11k trail run in my new NB trail runners (courtesy of gottarun.ie!). Took it at a handy enough pace but got it done in 1hr exactly. There's a nice short but sharp hill in the middle of it which pulls it out of the legs quite suddenly, especially by the time you get to the 7th lap. Good though.

Dilbert75

Bike this morning. Went down to Dunmore East to see a few friends in Hook or by Crook sprint triathlon. Went via Ballyhack, across on the ferry to Passage East and along the coast by Woodstown. Never travelled that road before and didn't anticipate the hills. But it was challenging enough. Total 33.9km in 1:13.

Stood, drank coffee, chatted, clapped and headed for home. Legs didn't take well to all the hanging around and starting off uphill didn't help. Made it 33.6km in 1:23, including Ballyhack hill, which is so steep that I usually avoid it in a car never mind on a bike. But I was fuelled by ShotBlox and Cornetto, so it was slowly but successfully negotiated.

Dilbert75

How better to spend Fathers' Day....than driving 2 hours to Tullamore for Leinster T&F with Master D, for the 800m? Turned out that they went for a straight final instead of heats, and he didn't feature in the medals, so we were home by 2:30pm.

Awful day all around the country so said I'd hit the gym and/or pool. Lots of people in the pool, finding refuge from the weather no doubt, so it was gym.

Decided on a friend's bike session - the mind was interested (if not entirely willing) but the body just wasn't able to hit both the cadence and hr targets. Also did 4 reps instead of 6 - I'm gonna have to work up to that I guess.

Finished it out after 55 mins, with a simulated 26.4km and 2 jelly legs. Went into a kettlebell squat set before going into some hanging shoulder stretches and some foam rolling. Pool was empty then but was closing soon enough that it wouldn't have been worth my while going in. Hopefully I'll get a swim in tomorrow.

Tired now.

Dilbert75

OW swim. Was meant to be in Dunmore East, in wetsuit, for 6:30 but guess what? :mad:

Got there at 7:30, when all of the other swimmers were out of the water and the supporting kayakers had packed in for the evening. But a friend stayed with me to do a bit of swimming and gently, in fits and starts, she coaxed me into swimming out the buoy in the middle of the harbour. And back, obviously. And then we turned and went out another bit, a little less tentatively. And then we went a bit further and then out to the buoy again. And then, a little less tentatively again, back in.

The Garmin measured 1562m. I'm not much convinced that's accurate but for me it was a big deal, no matter what the distance.

EDIT: Tide was fully in, so maybe the distance wasn't that far off....

Dilbert75

Sunday
Was in Howth for one of Master D's music competitions. Lots of hanging around so I went for a run. Did the loop up by the Abbey Tavern to the Summit pub, down to Sutton Cross and back to the village. At the end of the first lap I got to watch one of our bands playing then off again for another lap.

First 2k is uphill, very steeply in fact. After that it's mostly downhill to Sutton Cross and fairly flat from there. 21.4km in 1:50. It's a tough run though and the shins, quads & hamstrings are complaining today.

Monday
OW swim. Made it on time for the start at 6:30. My buddy from last week volunteered to mind me again. Set off on the short course across the harbour, then merged with the main bunch. Back to the beach and then out & back again. I won't lie - it still wasn't continuous fc; I was simultaneously enjoying the visibility and getting freaked out by the depth - but it was better than last time. Total was 1.67km in 25 mins.

Flying to Arizona tomorrow. Hoping to get some swims in but very much not counting on getting out for a run.

Dilbert75

Tuesday
Travel. Arrived in hotel about 7pm local time, or 3am Irish time, so was in bed within 2 hours. By that time I'd been on the go for 24 hours (with a little plane snoozing) so was bet. Had a look at the outdoor pool at the hotel - disappointingly short and barely worth bothering with. On the upside it was so hot that there'd be no need to get dried afterwards.

Wednesday
Awake and working at 4:30. Breakfast (the most awful approximation of porridge) and into actual work. Too hot to run afterwards. Went for dinner, more work then bed.

Thursday
Awake at 3:30, guts in an awful state (north and south). Packed up, into work at 7am, then to airport for 7:30pm flight home.

Friday
Travel - got some decent sleep and well fed. Connection from London delayed by 2 1/2 hours. Home to the in-laws' by 10pm. Bet.

Saturday
Closest I got to exercise was walking down to see the track cycling in Sundrive Park. Impressive cycling there - last year's World Champion was among those competing. Disappointing to see almost no spectators there, except people walking their dogs stopping for a curious look.

Sunday
Run: 11km in 58 mins with Mrs D. Much shorter (vs. 21.4km), flatter and slower (5:15/km vs 5:08/km) run than last week's laps of Howth but I was obviously still tired because avg hr was only 2 beats lower (149 vs 151). Off now to watch more track cycling.

Yes it's more like a travel blog than a training log but, as much as anything, I want to record for myself why there are gaps.

Tomorrow starts a new week.

Dilbert75

In the English language two positives can't make a negative, right?

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Tomorrow starts a new week.

Yeah right.

Missed swimming on Monday, cycling on Tuesday, running on Wednesday, swimming on Thursday, gym on Friday. So today I got my Wednesday run done, at the cost of a cycle.

Plan was 10-20min wu, 3x (1600@5:58,400RI), 5min CD.

Reality was 14 min wu, intervals were 6:00, 6:11 & 6:07 with 2:57, 3:41 & 3:13 in between. 10 min CD.

Bit disappointed not to have been closer to target pace but hr for intervals was 174, 174 & 176, so at least effort was solid.

Dilbert75

Today was the planned long run day. Plan said 21k@4:46/km but, given the session yesterday, I didn't hold out much hope of that. But sure where else would you go to find out other than the Festival of Running in Avondale. Mrs D was doing marathon no 22 so I was torn between 10 or 15 miles (@5 miles per lap). Given the target, I went for 15m with the plan of at least starting at target pace and see what happens.

First lap was fine, apart from where there was an unannounced turnaround point which foxed a few of us for about 15s. Couple of properly steep hills on the lap and about 2/3 forest trail vs. 1/3 tarmac. Was beginning to struggle through the 2nd lap but caught up with Mrs. D by 15km so decided to run my third lap (her 4th) with her. The slower pace got me to the end in 2hrs on the nose but there was no way I could manage a 4th lap to finish with Mrs. D. Never mind - happy enough with this, under the circumstances. Mrs. D was first woman home.

Dilbert75

Monday
OW swim 1.2km. Sent my buddy off on the long course and swam the short course twice. First lap I couldn't get going; just couldn't get my rhythm. Second lap was better, more concentration on breathing out for 3 and in for 1.

Tuesday
Late starts in work for 3 days this week so into gym and onto bike. Target was 20km. Invented a game called "average up, average down". 10 mins spinning at average of 90, spin at higher rate till average hits 100, slow down till average hits 95, speed up till average hits 100. 5 mins CD. Total 26 simulated kms in 40 mins.

Dilbert75

Wednesday
Run session. Plan was 10-20 min wu, 4x(800m @2:58, 2 min RI), 10 min CD.

Actual was:
15:28 wu (2.84km)
2:53, 240m, 2:47, 220m, 2:51, 227m, 2:56, 201m
10:00 CD (1.88km)
Total 8.81km in 44:47

The RIs were obviously getting progressively shorter in distance (i.e. slower) but overall I'm happy to have beaten the target paces.

Dilbert75

Thursday
Bike
5 mins wu - z1@90rpm
3x:
-6x30s @85rpm single leg z1
-8mins @75rpm z2
-2mins z1
5 mins CD

My dexterity switching over between legs wasn't great but it was ok. It's good getting the training done before work but it's back to regular hours from tomorrow.

Dilbert75

Friday
Plan was:
1.5k warmup
8km@4.27/km
1.5km cool down

Actual:
Picked an out-and-back route that would see me reach the main road with the hard shoulder before hitting target pace. I thought each leg would have a bathtub-shaped profile but it turned out it's a bit more rollercoaster than that. Never mind.

So anyway:
1.5km in 7:59, avg 136 BPM
4km @4:35/km, avg 152 BPM
4km @4:25/km, avg 163 BPM
1.5km in 8:00, avg 149 BPM

Average tempo pace was therefore 4:30/km, vs. target of 4:27. Close; not quite there but happy enough considering the hills and that it's the end of a tough week.

Dilbert75

Saturday
Started off with volunteering at the local Parkrun while Mrs, Master & Miss D ran it (Miss D's first time to do it without a walk break).

Then to the beach for a sea swim with Master D. Have a dilemma with him - he won't come out of his depth and then when it comes to doing a Tri he totally sells himself short because he panics. He knew I wasn't going to abandon him but still stuck parallel to the shore.

I went out, across and back in. I can't lie - I'm still not very comfortable with the changing visibility, plants, depth, etc but I think it's getting very slowly better. I did my loop, got out and chatted, then went back in for another short go.

The second run was better once I got away from underwater plants - got a nice rhythm going and went out and straight back in. Total was about 830m. Would have done more but Master D was peppering to get going - he's out with the Sea Scouts this afternoon.

career move

A whole week of updates! I'm impressed

When's your next outing?

Dilbert75

career move wrote: »

A whole week of updates! I'm impressed

When's your next outing?

July 31 Loughrea. Remember you were going to secretly book in to it because of your secret ambition to be a triathlete...

career move

Oh ya! And then I secretly forgot!!!! Oh well maybe next year

Dilbert75

Sunday
Plan was for 24km @4:55/km, starting slowly and gradually ramping the speed up. I took this instruction as being that I should aim for 4:55/km avg so I split the run into 6, each split 10s/km faster than the last. I was programming it into the watch so was allowing a tolerance of +/- 5s on each target speed of 5:20, 5:10, 5:00, 4:50, 4:40 & 4:30.

It started out well - the usual, struggling to hold back. Average was 5:14/km, 134bpm. 2nd 4km was 5:04/km, 142bpm. Up to the turn was 4:55/km, 153bpm.

Turned then. The breeze was now behind me, so I lost the cooling effect. Still the 4th 4km was done in 4:44/km, 157bpm. Pressure was coming on now though. The first half of the 5th set was ok and on target but then the wheels started wobbling. Knew the tank was nearly dry and I'd even used most of my electrolyte water. Stopped at a shop for a Cornetto (cos fat + sugar would fix me, right?) and that got me to the end of the 5th rep, albeit outside target pace at 4:49/km (161bpm). Had to stop again to drain the last of the drinks and just slogged it home from there with 5:38/km (151bpm). Average for full 24km was 5:04/km and 149bpm.

The good: I finished. The first 18km were good and, considering the humidity and my disrupted training for the last few months, the average was ok.

The bad: I didn't meet plan - again - and suffered badly at the end.

In retrospect 5s increments would have been more sensible. I'd have been starting a little faster but not trying to go so quickly at the end. I also need to maximise my recoveries - only 6.5hrs sleep last night, for no good reason, is not enough when I'm turning the wick up.

Onwards and upwards.

Dilbert75

Monday
OW Swim day. I need to be out the gap no later than 5 to be in Dunmore East by 6:20 for a 6:30 start. Hard to say why I agreed a call with a US vendor at 5pm then. So Dunmore was out.

Then my own club were meeting for a sea swim at 7pm and only 35 mins from work. Checked out the suitability of the beach for nervous swimmers and they assured me it would be good.

Got there a little late (not unusual for me) and not prepared enough to be already in my trisuit. Met the people in the club gear (mostly new faces to me) and was greeted with the question "Are you Dilbert?". Oh crap - where's this going? "Yep I am". Turns out my clubmate is a Boards lurker who dips in and out for inspiration every now and then, except this log is "mostly excuses lately". That's actually fair comment.

Into the water. We were swimming parallel to the shore to a landmark that everyone else knew but I didn't. So I figured I'd just keep on swimming until everyone else stopped. And that's more or less what I did. Some stops - shoulders still not wetsuit-fit - but much better than ever before. My direction was obviously like when I used to play golf (left, right, left, right) because what's 500m in a straight line added up to 737m on my watch.

Regrouped at the turn and came back the same way. Was much better on the way back - covered several hundred metres without pause - but again I was more zig and zag than an episode of Dempsey's Den. So it came to 1500m to cover 1000m in 20 mins. And I'm greatly encouraged that I'm not always going to be completely at sea with being at sea.

Yes today was a good day in my world of wannabe triathleticism.

Dilbert75

Tuesday
Run day. Interval running day.

Plan was:
10-20 min wu
1200m@4:22, 200m RI
1000m@3:36, 200m RI
800m@2:51 , 200m RI
600m@2:07 , 200m RI
400m@1:23 , 200m RI
10 min cd

Actual was:
18min wu (3.38km)
1200m@4:19, 200m RI
1000m@3:34, 200m RI
800m@2:51, 200m RI
600m@2:09, 200m RI
400m@1:24, 200m RI
19:33cd (3.61km)
Total: 11.78km

Was less humid when I was out than in the house. Got a couple of drops of rain too.

Happy to have hit the target times almost bang on. Was under pressure but isn't that the idea?