Féileacán Mór

sconhome

pgibbo wrote: »

You're being all too modest about Sunday! That was an epic spin :cool:

Aye it was an experience alright. Toss up between food or sudocrem first when I got home. The Sunday afternoon-nap-on-the-sofa was epic

Thought I would suffer on the MTB on Monday but felt surprisingly spry. Old age & endurance?

sconhome

Home and rather than a run I felt the subliminal pressure of the weather and just knew if I didn't tackle the lawn of 6 months growth before the family came home I would be leading a single live fairly sharpish!

2 hours of pushing a mower around doesn't quite count for core work so while waiting for a Skype call before going for a run I went for a few - pushup, crunches & unbalanced weights (curl to press) - circuits for 20 mins. Skype was delayed (kids not settling) till quite late so abandoned the run for an early night.

Up early for a nice trot around the lanes this morning. Crispy, fresh morning for it! Cleared the cobwebs. Back home for a leisurely breakfast. :cool:

Ahh the life!!

Might go out on the bike tonight for a couple of hours. Who knows what option freedom could bring!!

sconhome

Spoiling myself

Such a cracking evening yesterday so straight home and out on the bike to Loughrea and back 42k or so with a couple of 2k efforts thrown in for good measure. In for full on protein replenishment with a nice steak Mrs. AKW had left for me.

Up this morning to the pool for a paddle & sauna. Think a run is called for this evening to make the most of this opportunity.

sconhome

Wrapped up last week quite nicely.

7ish k trail run nice and relaxed on Friday evening. Got back in home just as the heavens ripped open!

Up Saturday (last day of solitude) and headed to the pool for 2.3k before work. A busy day in work followed by a quick dash to El...El...E....E.asons to pick up my pacing pack for Connemarathon on Sunday.

Home to meet the returning troops and withinn 5 mins it was a madhouse!!!

Mrs AKW brought me home a cool gift from her travels:

https://twitter.com/amphkingwest/status/586965025316810752

its a pop up bowl for when I'm doing posh adventure races and get a chance to have a sit down meal!

https://twitter.com/amphkingwest/status/587171943088050176

Awake and up early on Sunday to prep myself and head out to Connemara for my first run on the course and it was an honour to be one of the inaugral pacers for the half marathon.

Got the job done and we brought a nice group in for their 1:44:xx half marathon. The reward for pacing was an offer of a free entry for 2016. I think I hear an ultra calling....

sconhome

Started the week with a cycle to the pool and straight swim to loosen out the body. Not too bad though usually takes 2 days for me to feel any after effects of a hard session.

Plan was to run home at a nice easy pace which I did. Nice and mild (just for Peter ) 10k with 139AvgHR. Was happy enough with the legs ticking over and no real soreness or tightness which is a good sign.

Broken sleep (more than usual) last night and while awake early and ready to go, plan was to run into work, again easy recovery run, I decided not to.

I have been monitoring HRV and this mornings reading is clear enough indication that I need to take it easy for a day or two.

https://instagram.com/p/1cmwIcCLHC/?taken-by=amphkingwest

Easy (mild) spin home tonight and some yoga and conditioning this evening and we'll see what tomorrow brings

mossym

ouch that looks bad alright. big training week last week, dare i say first in a long time at that level? body needs time to take it on board?

pgibbo

How long are you tracking HRV? Do you find it useful? How do you track it?

sconhome

mossym wrote: »

ouch that looks bad alright. big training week last week, dare i say first in a long time at that level? body needs time to take it on board?

In terms of load I don't think it was that bad.

I suppose the 185k bike on the Sunday was setting up a big load at the start but at no point was I exhausted or sore so nothing high intensity.

Connemara wrapped up the week with a peak load all the same. Interesting that Saturday morning I was a 10/10 and then all hell breaks lose

(To agree, yes, there will be an adapting required as load is going up, up, up for the next 3 weeks)

sconhome

pgibbo wrote: »

How long are you tracking HRV? Do you find it useful? How do you track it?

Have done it for a while in different forms. Do a fair share of mindfulness breathing and stress control as an exercise form to help with body awareness.

With this new app I have only started a consistent baseline as the previous version didn't work properly. The update is smashing and compliments the Polar orthostatic test quite nicely.

I take a reading each morning once I wake (for the day)

shotgunmcos

AKW wrote: »

I take a reading each morning once I wake (for the day)

I wonder what that reading would look like after a mid beast nap?!:D

sconhome

shotgunmcos wrote: »

I wonder what that reading would look like after a mid beast nap?!:D

I'll tell you on condition I'm allowed tweet it during the race!!

career move

shotgunmcos wrote: »

I wonder what that reading would look like after a mid beast nap?!:D

Oi there'll be no mid race naps this year
You're allowed one hour rest for every 24 raced

sconhome

career move wrote: »

Oi there'll be no mid race naps this year
You're allowed one hour rest for every 24 raced

Note to self, be careful about searching for 'crack the whip' on work computers, images can get 'interesting'

sconhome

AKW wrote: »

Easy (mild) spin home tonight and some yoga and conditioning this evening and we'll see what tomorrow brings

When I heard my son was starting football this evening I skipped the bike and drove out to join him.

Within 5 mins I was given a job and within 10 I was loving it. You forget the things about sport sometimes and when you grow up with GAA in your blood it comes back like riding a bicycle.

Really enjoyed the evening training the kids in handpass, kickpass and mini games. Son really had a ball and despite arriving home an hour after bedtime he wanted to practise his handpassing in the kitchen until he literally dropped from tiredness

So complete day off training for me yesterday and HRV check this morning has me back in balance at 10.

Little 1.1k swim this morning before work with focus on feeling good in the water.

Lets' see what tonight brings...

sconhome

While at the football ground I spied some woods, and rough terrain and similar to an old blog post (http://amphkingwest.blogspot.ie/2012/02/hills-are-alive-january-27th.html) it niggled at the back of mind until I gave into the exploration bug

Last night on went the trail shoes, Silva CrossTrail II and out I went listening to a very good podcast on Brain Training. I made my way through my local woods and cut across country to the football pitches. Once I got into the woods I found it absolutely pure. No trails, no tracks (bar animal tracks) just me and some old woods! AWESOME!!

There was no pace, it was manoeuvring through the woods, over, under, around and working my way to the boundaries.

I knew where I was but it was so cool discovering a new playground

I came across an overgrown access trail which was leading to a transformer box or something. It was a bit Stephen King as here in the middle of these woods was a fenced compound with a box centred in it and a slow strobe light flashing...

The woods backed onto a semi-abandoned housing development (nice houses, some unfinished) and then I made my way back across the woods to the pitches and home.

I also clocked a decent stream which will make for a kayaking playground too :cool:

Happy out!!

joey100

If your looking for an hand when your buying kayaking gear or need any advice just give me a shout AKW, I'll do my best to help.

sconhome

joey100 wrote: »

If your looking for an hand when your buying kayaking gear or need any advice just give me a shout AKW, I'll do my best to help.

Thanks Joey, I spotted something in a post the other day that made me make a mental note about you. Cheers.

Been looking at a whole load of tandem sit on tops which is the machine of choice for most Irish races. I think the Gemini is the most likely candidate (this will give CareerMOve the shudders )



as we'll be seeing a lot of ass time in these

Also it seems I can use it with one or the other of the kids too. Long term I would love a Barracuda and go touring as well as racing (but gotta sell a TT bike first)



Other than that I'm going with basic enough paddles and PFD's for now with a view to upgrading in a year or two. Hard to justify the big spend on that right now (carbon paddles etc) though a nice Ninja vest has my name on it. Looking at Palm and they seem reasonable and with mid level pricing you get storage pockets too.

Any and all advice is greatly welcomed though. As this is first purchases.

sconhome

Thought these Point 65 Modular kayaks were interesting too

career move

It's ok I'm cool .... I can swim now

joey100

Sit on tops definitely the way to go. Pretty much every race that has a kayaking section that I have seen in Ireland uses them. I'd keep an eye out second hand too, lot of them sold and never used. With kids and for messing around they are a lot easier to use than a sea kayak. Easy to climb onto if you fall off and no danger of getting stuck. Usually they have a ridge running along the bottom of the boat too, helps hold a straight line.

For the paddles, just be careful about what feather is on the paddles (the angle of one blade compared to the other). Traditionally around 90 degrees was used, this meant one blade 'sliced' through the air while the other was in the water, and was thought to be faster. Some people find these harder to use, for me they destroyed my wrists. I suffered with bad tendinitis in my wrists from a combination of this and the paddle shaft being too thick. Try a few would be the best option and see what you like, it's not that hard to get used to the different angles once you have the basics down.

I'd get a decent-ish pfd at the start. First thing is if you want over the head (generally bit more comfortable) or a front zip (easier to get on and off). The ninja looks decent alright, never heard of them before but that wouldn't mean much. The only thing about it is it doesn't look like it has a lot of pockets, and if your using it for adventure racing they could be handy. I'd highly recommend the palm gear, me and my 2 brothers and dad have always used their gear and have found it great. (I was sponsored by them at one stage but no longer am so might be a bit biased). The last thing on the PFD and a reason to think about maybe getting a better one at the start is that a while they all have to pass the same test (be able to float while a 6kg weight is tied to them) this doesn't mean that they all pass the test as well as each other. It's going to be something that could possibly save your life so don't skimp too much on it. I have an older version of this and would highly recommend it, if you want an over the head one,

http://www.palmequipmenteurope.com/product/fx

Sorry for the long answer but I get carried away, any more questions ask away and I'll do my best to answer.

sconhome

Brilliant thanks Joey!

I like the look of that Palm FX, helps that it is the #TriHarder colour too

mossym

AKW wrote: »

Brilliant thanks Joey!

I like the look of that Palm FX, helps that it is the #TriHarder colour too

and i thought matching tri bike colours was bad....

joey100

No bother, had another look at the Ninja, does look like a nice PFD, only things would be a small pocket and the colour. You want something nice and bright, just in case!

sconhome

joey100 wrote: »

No bother, had another look at the Ninja, does look like a nice PFD, only things would be a small pocket and the colour. You want something nice and bright, just in case!

Just the ticket

sconhome

Hahahaha! Most surreal moment ever!!!

Rang through to a shop about a kayak to be told I'd get a call back as she was getting her hair done at the moment!!!

Only in Ireland!

tunney

AKW wrote: »

Hahahaha! Most surreal moment ever!!!

Rang through to a shop about a kayak to be told I'd get a call back as she was getting her hair done at the moment!!!

Only in Ireland!

If you are going out in a kayak should you not learn to swim first?

sconhome

tunney wrote: »

If you are going out in a kayak should you not learn to swim first?

Had to be said

mossym

it's okay, he'll be wearing a wetsuit and will be able to float the course.



oh.....

tunney

mossym wrote: »

it's okay, he'll be wearing a wetsuit and will be able to float the course.



oh.....

Sure it will be okay. If he falls out of the boat then they will just cancel the swim.

sconhome

tunney wrote: »

If you are going out in a kayak should you not learn to swim first?

mossym wrote: »

it's okay, he'll be wearing a wetsuit and will be able to float the course.

oh.....

Comedians!! :rolleyes: