Control-Alt-Delete.........RESTART!

El Director

Nothing done Friday, Saturday or Sunday. With the weather, picking watching the super series instead of getting out (that was my window of opportunity on Friday and Saturday) and a wedding I just didn't get out. So no endurance run or cycle again.

Monday 20th March

Swim

A nice technical session. Drills included - shoulder tap, broken arrow, 6/1/6, breathe every 3/5/7. Then straight upstairs to the gym for a run.

Dist 1,800m; Time 37mins; Ave Pace 1:52/100m;

Run

Just 30 minutes easy, actually enjoyed it. I think I will do one run a week on the treadmill from now on as there are many benefits. Shorter recovery time as it's easier on the legs, safer, more time efficient, more control of HR, control the elevation. I'm sure there are more.

Time 30:00; Dist 5.2; Pace 5:46/km; AHR 148; Cad 80rpm

Gripe...

I HATE it when people talk about their work place, colleagues, conditions etc out loud in the changing rooms. It actually really annoys me. No body wants to hear about your fu@king life! Such idiots. Also, you never know who is around and your big stupid mouth might get you in trouble. If it were up to me and it was my gym then I'd politely request that work/personal life, politics and religion talk is left at the door on the way in, pick it up on the way out. Keep things positive and light hearted.

I have benchmarks in swimming and running but none in cycling. Back doing some training now since the last week in Jan so I think I'm ready to see where I am in biking. FTP tomorrow :eek:

rooneyjm

Good to see you back at it. Your swimming and bike power hasn't stuffered that much.

The other comeback king has booked 2Provences in July

El Director

rooneyjm wrote: »

...The other comeback king has booked 2Provences in July

Who's that? And thanks dude 😊

I'm afraid by the time I can afford race entries and my TI registration most races will be booked out! If that's the case I'll just do the ones that are not as popular.

Swimming is going well alright, another 2 months of 3 swims a week consistently and I'll be very near where I used to be. The bike? I'm not so sure about. I keep missing the endurance ride which is the most important for a triathlete especially if endurance is a limiter! Tomorrow we will see I guess. I'm looking forward to having more accurate zones so that I can start some tempo stuff.

rooneyjm

El Director wrote: »

Who's that? And thanks dude 😊

I'm afraid by the time I can afford race entries and my TI registration most races will be booked out! If that's the case I'll just do the ones that are not as popular.

Swimming is going well alright, another 2 months of 3 swims a week consistently and I'll be very near where I used to be. The bike? I'm not so sure about. I keep missing the endurance ride which is the most important for a triathlete especially if endurance is a limiter! Tomorrow we will see I guess. I'm looking forward to having more accurate zones so that I can start some tempo stuff.

A loss of 60 watts over 3 years isn't that bad, I'd imagine your body will remember and you'll get half of it back relatively quickly

Eoghan Rooney booked this first race since 2014

If your still interested in doing a half there are a good few of us looking to get into Lost Sheep

pgibbo

Enjoy the suffering today

El Director

rooneyjm wrote: »

A loss of 60 watts over 3 years isn't that bad, I'd imagine your body will remember and you'll get half of it back relatively quickly

Eoghan Rooney booked this first race since 2014

If your still interested in doing a half there are a good few of us looking to get into Lost Sheep

Ah yes, Mr Rooney! We must pencil in some races alright. I'll ask him later what race he booked. L I really want to do Lost Sheep she me day but not this year as it's 6/7 days before the Dublin Half Marathon. It's on the 2018 list though.

The 60 watts loss was a guess but so long as I get the pacing right this evening then I'll know for sure. I think I said on the last page that my FTP was 301 but that was my 20 min average power, my FTP was 286. I'll be paying close attention to my HR which should average out at 170ish and my cadence for the 5 minute 93ish, 83ish for the 20 TT. I'll start at 250 for the 5 TT and build it from there if I can. Last time, 3 years ago, I held 87% of that for the 20 TT, this time I'll start out at 80% for the 20.

Could be a disaster, if it goes wrong I'll spin out and try again next week but the above should help me.

El Director

Tuesday 21st March

FTP Test

Results:

5 minute TT
Ave power 252; Ave Cad 89; AHR 166;

20 minute TT
Ave power 213; Ave Cad 88; AHR 165;

So an FTP of 202

I was able to hold 85% of the 5 minute TT and I felt I paced both TT's as best as I could. There was no big fall off at the end of either but I was a wreck. Learning to hurt again is something I hadn't thought of but it became clear during the test. There should be some early gains over the next few weeks with an endurance ride, tempo and big gear ride each week so I'll Test again in 4 weeks or so.

Wednesday 22nd

CCS/Threshold

Same as last Thursday's session. Beginning to dial in the 1:52/100 pace now, much better this morning

Dist 2100m; Time 41 minutes;

joey100

Well done on the test El D, not an easy thing to do especially after a while off. I think you might be a bit like me though and guilty of over thinking it rather than just giving it a go! I get caught up in the numbers too and generally over think it beforehand and work out what I need to hold for what FTP rather than just giving it a go.

Would a 20 min test of 213 not give you an FTP of nearer 200 though? With it being 95% of the 20 min test?

El Director

joey100 wrote: »

Well done on the test El D, not an easy thing to do especially after a while off. I think you might be a bit like me though and guilty of over thinking it rather than just giving it a go! I get caught up in the numbers too and generally over think it beforehand and work out what I need to hold for what FTP rather than just giving it a go.

Would a 20 min test of 213 not give you an FTP of nearer 200 though? With it being 95% of the 20 min test?

Hi Joey, thanks for the correction- totally forgot about the .95 part! 😬

I think you are right about overthinking it beforehand too, I kind of had to for this one though as I had no idea really where I am. Next time though I'll just go for it. It's going to be a while before I get it up to 287 again but I'm going to aim for 250 this year, 24% improvement should be possible considering my low base...not that you asked, sorry! Thinking out loud 😊

El Director

Wednesday 22nd March - evening

Tempo Run

Done on the treadmill, good session but felt tired, that'd be the FTP I'm sure. I did the first 5 minutes in my vibrams, I did a good stretch before and glute activation exercises and some 100 ups and ankle hops.

Time 35min; Dist 5.77km; Pace 6:04/km; AHR 143;

Thursday 23rd March

Bike - Big Gear

This includes some build then BG as in {3 minutes BG, 2 minutes recovery} X 4. Third week doing this and finally feeling stronger, I'll do a 5th set next week. The BG bit I just concentrate on keeping the cadence between 45 and 55. Turns out this has me a few watts above threshold mostly.

Time 50 min; AP 151; AHR 131; Ave Cad 78rpm;

A good stretch and rolling session this evening.

El Director

A quick update. On Friday I did a endurance swim pyramid session, 100, 200, 300, 400 and back down. As I was going to the match in the evening I decided to do my run straight after the swim on a treadmill in the gym, 30 minutes easy.

Today I finally got out for a long bike! A joy to be out in the 17 degrees down home. Struggled for the first half but felt better then as it went on. Had a nice tea stop too. Now if I get the long run in tomorrow then this will have been a great week!

El Director

Sunday 28th March

LER

One of the most beautiful runs I have ever done and it's been on my door step all these years! Indeed part of it goes through our fields!! I mentioned the trail a couple of weeks ago, The Suck Valley Way, myself and my mate from home indeed on doing the whole 105km's this year. We did Ballymoe to Castlerea already, yesterday was Ballymoe to Glinsk. Point to point. this takes time as we first have to drive to where we are finishing in both cars then leave one there and head back to the start in the other car, but it is so worth it. We ran in fields, through bog and woodland, very dry for the most part but some bits need another week or two. Words cannot desribe this route, you just have to do it. not that anyone really does, you'd see the very odd walker, perhaps one or two per year. We meant to only do 45 min but turned out to be 66 min. Delighted that I was able for it! We had to skip, hop, jump and climb at times, the variation was wonderful. Some parts were very marshy which meant we need to be light and nimble on our feet. I employed a walk/run strategy as is my preference for LER, even at my fittest I did this. It breaks up the run mentally and it resets your form when you start running again. I did 8:30 run, 0:30 walk. After this run my legs felt wonderful, beforehand they had been feeling heavy after the spin the day before.

Dist 10.2km; Time 1:06; Pace 6:29/km; AHR 147

Today is a rest day, actually this week is a recovery week. Day off today and no gym sessions. I've a 90km spin on Saturday planned with some mates - a bit worried about that but it will be grand. Then next week is Base 1, week 1.

Neady83

That sounds like a fantastic route ED I'd be interested in doing the whole route whenever yer thinking of doing it - maybe we could do a Boardsie 105km trail run

As you're in the West you might like this. I did it last year and it's as nice as the trail you describe above.

pgibbo

How far to the nearest point on that trail from my gaff? I fancy some trails but nothing too close to me.

El Director

@Neady83 doing it all in one go would be something else for sure! For now I'll do it section by section. I'm actually based in Dublin but I get down home 2 or 3 weekends a month. Raw Ultra looks class! I've never ran beyond 22km and marathons don't really excite me but (after reading Born To Run) I'm very excited about trail running and ultra marathons. I don't have the endurance yet for such ventures but I am working towards it

@pgibbo probably Ballygar or Creggs dude. There is a website, hover over the sections and it will give a full description.

http://www.suckvalleywaywalk.ie/

It requires having to drive and wouldn't be very time efficient. I can let you know next time I'm doing it, Glinsk to Creggs is our next section, probably Sunday.

El Director

Monday 27th March Rest day

Tuesday 28th March

Bike
Big gear session, extra set today so it was 5 X{3min BG, 2min recovery}. The average power was about 105% of FTP. Finished by doing 5 X {15sec sprint, 45sec recover}

Wednesday 29th March

Swim

This was a threshold/CCS session. Felt a bit sluggish and heavy. I'm going to starting upping the milage from next week.

Run

I left this until late enough in the evening, great now to have bright evenings back. Forgot the HR monitor so did this by feel. Definitely did this over Z3, I think I just needed a good blow out. I did this around the Munich Lap/Military Fort in Phen Park which is beautiful but hilly, should be really doing my tempo stuff on a flatter route. Enjoyable hit out. Great to see so many out enjoying their training too, be it running or biking.

mossym

El Director wrote: »

, I think I just needed a good blow out.

that brought a smile, as i've done a fair few easy run a bit harder than they were meant to be, for that very reason..:)

El Director

mossym wrote: »

that brought a smile, as i've done a fair few easy run a bit harder than they were meant to be, for that very reason..:)

yeah, sometimes you just gotta say f@ck it! Once I realised that I forgot the HR monitor I just focused on having fun, and that I did.

Today was a turbo session.

15 easy
3 X {10 tempo, 2 easy}
9 easy/Z2

Tempo rides are always very pleasing. Just the right about of difficulty. Played around a little with cadence but Z3 stuff was the priority here.

1st rep: AP 162; HR 117; Cad 87;
2nd rep: AP 164; HR 122; Cad 94;
3rd rep: AP 163; HR 127; Cad 94;

Time 60min; AP 140; AHR 117; A Cad 90;

Got my first TI membership in 3 years tonight
Entered two races too - Duathlon in the park on April 22nd and sprint triathlon in Salthill on June 4th. Not a fan of those duathlon's in the park but the date and location suit and I need something soon.Looking out for a try a tri too in May just to remind myself of what racing in a triathlon is like, by then it will be close to 4 years since my last :eek:

catweazle

El Director wrote: »

sprint triathlon in Salthill on June 4th.

Will you need my tri suit again?

Will see you there - I am going well in pool and bike but I will do well to run under 25 minutes the way I am going

BTH

catweazle wrote: »

Will you need my tri suit again?

Will see you there - I am going well in pool and bike but I will do well to run under 25 minutes the way I am going

I'll have to go down for a gander on race day so.....

Might even tog out myself.

pgibbo

Think I'll defo have to enter too Reunion

El Director

Sounds good gents, lets do it

Season Goal

My only goal this year is to race and to enjoy it. Enjoy the build up and morning of, try to embrace the suffering and then enjoy the post race atmosphere. Have a laugh and chat with people and appreciate how lucky I am.

Training Objectives

Swim

1) 200 TT: under 3:10
2) 400 TT: under 6:40

My slow stroke rate is an area that I can improve as well as my swim fitness. 3 sessions a week, technique, threshold and endurance. Open water once a week from June too.

Bike

1) Improve my FTP by 25%. So...an FTP of over 253

3 sessions a week, tempo, FTP and endurance

Run

1. Run a sub 20 5k
2. Run the Dublin Half in under 1hr 40min

4 sessions a week, tempo, speed, easy and endurance.

One other objective - hit 95% of my planned sessions. I need to do this if I'm to hit my training objectives. That allows for 1 missed session every 2 weeks.

rodneyr1981

Good to see if entered a few races again.

FYI to the others - early bird for salthil finishing tonight

El Director

Friday 31st Mar

Due to the bus/train strike on Friday I had to help Linda get to and back from where she was going so training didn't happen.

Sat 1st April

I bit off more than I chew on Saturday. My longest cycle in 3 years was 38km which was done the Saturday before...this was a planned 90km with two mates in Connemara. After 2.5km I knew I was in trouble The headwind nearly killed me. I suffered on anyway and it was great to be out there but I shouldn't have done it as the recovery cost has been high. Also the monitory cost has turned out to be high. The magnet for the power meter somehow attached itself to the chain and sheared the dropout! This happened at 76km, 13km from where I parked up in Maam Cross. The two lads cycled back, got the car and came back for me, only had to wait 45 minutes so fair play to the lads. The sun actually came out and kept me warm while I waited.





This ride was too difficult and too long for me, I obviously still know how to suffer which is good to know I guess. Look at my power profile for the ride...my long "easy" ride



Had to take Sunday and today off as a result. I didn't feel great on Sunday, headache as well as muscle soreness. Totally got my eating and drinking wrong on the bike too hence the headache I'd imagine. Anyway lesson learned. Given about 3/4 weeks of sensible training I should manage this ride just fine.

So week 1, base 1 off to a bad start with two missed sessions, not to worry, gym and bike session (provided the bike is fixed) on the plan for tomorrow.

Neady83

Fair f**ks for toughing it out ED. That's a really great cycle to do in the dark if the weather plays ball. If you're up for it in a few weeks, let me know, I'm not that fast but I'd keep plugging away at it.

El Director

Neady83 wrote: »

Fair f**ks for toughing it out ED. That's a really great cycle to do in the dark if the weather plays ball. If you're up for it in a few weeks, let me know, I'm not that fast but I'd keep plugging away at it.

Hey Neady, sounds like a good plan! I'll let you know next time.

This week has been a bit of a write off. Had a head cold and I was still fairly fecked from the spin at the weekend. 2 swims and 2 gym workouts, nothing to really report. Actually enjoyed today's swim - endurance.

100m CCS + 6s
200m CCS + 6s
300m CCS + 6s
400m CCS + 6s
500m CCS + 6s
400m Buoyancy shorts, CCS + 3s
300m Buoyancy shorts, CCS + 3s
200m Buoyancy shorts, CCS + 3s
100m Buoyancy shorts, CCS + 3s

Bike all shorted now and ready to go so I'll do 1.5hr hour easy spin tomorrow morning, a few laps in the park. Might just get up early for the ITU Gold Coast Tri before my spin.

Next week will be a much better week 😊

El Director

Sat 8th April

Easy Bike

Beautiful morning for it Watched one of my favourite female triathletes win the latest ITU World Series race and half of the mens race first. Hit the Phoenix PArk then. The 1.5hrs + spins have to be my priority sessions for many months to come I feel. This was supposed to be easy but the last half hour felt laboured tbh. Still, two weeks in a row that I got it done.

Time 1:33; Dist 38.4km; Ave Speed 24.7km/h; Ave Power 159; NP 183; Ave Cad 88; Ave HR 135;

El Director

Mon 10th April

Morning - Swim

Technical session, some broken arrow, 6-1-6 and PT paddle stuff. Also some fast 25's.
Testing on Wednesday, 400 and 200 TT.

Time 45min; Dist 2400m; Ave Pace 1:54/100m

Evening - Run

Easy run in the park. Still have to walk to keep HR in Z2 but getting fitter for sure despite not running in 12 days.

Time 38:44; Dist 7km; Pace 5:31/km; AHR 149; Cad 156spm

El Director

Tuesday 11th April

Gym

Upper body and core.

Time 1hr

Run

Hill repeats, 3 sets of 3 up a steep hill in the park, preceded by strides. Short but steep hill, sprinted up, good form, strong. Extra recovery between sets.

Time 39:20; Dist 6.6km; Pace 5:57/km; AHR 151; Cad 156spm;

Wednesday 12th April

Swim - CCS Test 2

Bitter sweet this one. I miss counted laps on BOTH TT's! Annoying. But big improvements for sure. So I've a 350m time and a 150m time.

350m
Time 5:54; Pace 1:41/100; Stroke Rate 50spm;

The first 25m was 23sec, each lap after that was 25/26 with the last two 24. So if I where to adjust for my lap counting mistake I think it's safe to say that my 400 TT would have been in and around 6:44, massive improvement from my March 8th 400 of 7:09.

150m
Time 2:20; Pace 1:34; Stroke Rate 56spm;

21 sec for first 25m, 23/24 thereafter. So adding 50sec on for the two missed laps I would have came in on 3:10. Again, massive improvement from 4 weeks ago which came in on 3:25.

Annoyed I miscounted but safe to say there has been big improvements. I wasn't sure if I was improving at all as I was doing very little fast sets or even anything under my CCS of 1:52. So this is great for the confidence.

New CCS of 1:47/100m.

El Director

El Director wrote: »

Sounds good gents, lets do it

Season Goal
....
Training Objectives

Swim

1) 200 TT: under 3:10
2) 400 TT: under 6:40

My slow stroke rate is an area that I can improve as well as my swim fitness. 3 sessions a week, technique, threshold and endurance. Open water once a week from June too.

I need to revise the above now too I guess!:cool: