Any excuse to get into a pair of Budgie Smugglers

Steroo

In May 2012 while on holidays I sat out in Lanzarote & watched the Ironman in awe!!! I had to get into this.
I was nearly 14 stone at the time.
Now 5 years on it's race week for my first full IM event. I was just over 12 stone this morning which feels pretty good. it's been a most enjoyable journey.

Training last week:

Mon: rest & sports massage in the eve. hamstrings tight!
Tue: easy morning run 7km 41 mins, lunch swim 1600m 36 mins
Wed: morning cycle 25km in 58 mins. just a local ride on the flat nice & easy. I was playing around with the kids in the evening & did something to my knee ;(
Thu: lunch swim 2k in 45 mins in NAC.. this felt different - easy, strong... energy was up. I could feel the knee giving out... so I rolled it & ICED it at night.

Fri: morning club swim 1600m in 33 mins... lots of time wasted chatting about Barcelona in our lane as there is a gang of us going. Knee still a bit sore so more ICE & rolling the quad which I found to be tight. I cleaned the bike up in the evening.

Sat: Easy club cycle out to DunLaoghaire 60km in about 2:15 with a coffee break. It was nice to be just cycling without any pressure/speed/egos. Knee felt fairly okay.. a little tingly. We then headed over to Wheelworx to drop off the bikes to shipmytri crew! getting real.

Sun: morning run out to HOwth 16km in 1:31... not sure why but this felt awful for the fist hour, everything was stiff. the diet on Sat might be to blame or I didn't drink much water. lots of stretching & water afterwards mad me feeling right again. I haven't been in the OW since Dublin 70.3 so I went over to Portmarnock at high tide & had a good 45 minute swim... tides tested me a bit, very comfortable overall. I started packing my case later on.

Total Hours: 9

So I'm in work today & it's hard to think of anything other than getting to Calella... fly out Thursday. Now I'm thinkng about what HR to cycle at... top of zone 2 I think (134)... but I'm not sure. I'd like to get around in under 6 hours.

Lot's of novice thoughts going on

a few light runs/swims/exercise bikes this week... maybe some hot yoga this eve or tomorrow.

But overall I feel ready & very excited/nervous. Race number 1530 if anyone is following

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

What has been the hr ranges on your long cycles to date?

Steroo

Sariah Rough Attire wrote: »

What has been the hr ranges on your long cycles to date?

good question.. something I should have looked at. So I just had a look & it's averaging around 130-139.. I thought it was going to be higher. So I'll stick to that yea?

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Steroo wrote: »

good question.. something I should have looked at. So I just had a look & it's averaging around 130-139.. I thought it was going to be higher. So I'll stick to that yea?

Yep, I would stick to what you have trained yourself to hold on the long bikes, same applies to run, but don't ignore feel on race day.

Enjoy the race and Calella.

Steroo

Cherry on top .. Oktoberfest comes to Calella on 1st oct 😂😂😂😂

Dilbert75

11:27:52 - delighted for you S. Very well done.

Steroo

Dilbert75 wrote: »

11:27:52 - delighted for you S. Very well done.

Thanks .. it was a bit more 11:37 but it's under 12 so I'm happy.

The day went to plan bar a difficult run due to stomach issues. Yesterday my quads were like stone but today I'm fairly okay.

Swim 1:15 - proudest if this
Bike 5:47 - held HR avg 137 but felt I could have gone a bit faster maybe. Had a groin pain bothering me had to get off and stretch it twice
Run 4:23 - the laps were hard and I must have over ate on the bike as I had a stitch and felt uncomfortable most of the way. Avg HR was 138 and I left 25 mins out there.

I'm here with family and my 6 clubmates and their crews so it's been brilliant craic and celebrations. Calella is so small everyone is staying close to one another

I am an ironman .. so I feel different, no! I didn't get the emotional surge I expected. I'm relieved, delighted, happy and humbled by the support from friends and family and clubmates etc yes. Maybe it hadn't sank in as it's been busy since.

My clubmate came off the bike and broke his collar bone so that put a sour twist on things, it was another cyclists fall that took him down and yer man jumped up and cycled off.

There is so much can go wrong on the day

So that's it for a while! Pizza and beer coming out my ears for another few days

Thanks a million to boardies for all support and advice since I started training to become a triathlete (swimming in particular)

RedRunner

Great achievement S. Well done.

Steroo

Have done very little the past month since IM... plenty of eating & drinking really. I did a few short runs, 1 cycle & 1 swim. I lined up for the Marathon on Sunday with a plan to try a 3:30 & see what happens... hard to know how the body/legs would respond.

I set out at 8 minute miles & by mile 3 my HR was at 182... this came back down to around 175 & I kept going. Around mile 8 I was doing 7:50/min and I pulled back a bit... at half way I was at 1:47 & felt fairly okay but knew it wasn't going to last. By mile 17 I felt the HR was back up 178 ish & I was labouring. My left hip flexor was acting up & both quads were feeling every stride. I just took it mile by mile & the pace dropped off. My brother was closing in on me I was sure so I pushed on as much as I could. I eventually crossed the line in 3:46 (9 minute PB). My brother beat me for once in 3:43 but we can revisit this again next year!

I am not recovered from IM.. legs are in bits since crossing the line & my left hip flexor is locked up so I'll have to get some physio I'd say.

But all in all it was nice to be there... huge participation & support which is great to see. Now time for a proper winter's rest with some S&C

RedRunner

Steroo wrote: »

Have done very little the past month since IM... plenty of eating & drinking really. I did a few short runs, 1 cycle & 1 swim. I lined up for the Marathon on Sunday with a plan to try a 3:30 & see what happens... hard to know how the body/legs would respond.

I set out at 8 minute miles & by mile 3 my HR was at 182... this came back down to around 175 & I kept going. Around mile 8 I was doing 7:50/min and I pulled back a bit... at half way I was at 1:47 & felt fairly okay but knew it wasn't going to last. By mile 17 I felt the HR was back up 178 ish & I was labouring. My left hip flexor was acting up & both quads were feeling every stride. I just took it mile by mile & the pace dropped off. My brother was closing in on me I was sure so I pushed on as much as I could. I eventually crossed the line in 3:46 (9 minute PB). My brother beat me for once in 3:43 but we can revisit this again next year!

I am not recovered from IM.. legs are in bits since crossing the line & my left hip flexor is locked up so I'll have to get some physio I'd say.

But all in all it was nice to be there... huge participation & support which is great to see. Now time for a proper winter's rest with some S&C

Jaysus, fair play to you Ste. The IM stuff obviously paid dividends for DCM too. Well done.

S.L.F.

Steroo wrote: »

Have done very little the past month since IM... plenty of eating & drinking really. I did a few short runs, 1 cycle & 1 swim. I lined up for the Marathon on Sunday with a plan to try a 3:30 & see what happens... hard to know how the body/legs would respond.

I set out at 8 minute miles & by mile 3 my HR was at 182... this came back down to around 175 & I kept going. Around mile 8 I was doing 7:50/min and I pulled back a bit... at half way I was at 1:47 & felt fairly okay but knew it wasn't going to last. By mile 17 I felt the HR was back up 178 ish & I was labouring. My left hip flexor was acting up & both quads were feeling every stride. I just took it mile by mile & the pace dropped off. My brother was closing in on me I was sure so I pushed on as much as I could. I eventually crossed the line in 3:46 (9 minute PB). My brother beat me for once in 3:43 but we can revisit this again next year!

I am not recovered from IM.. legs are in bits since crossing the line & my left hip flexor is locked up so I'll have to get some physio I'd say.

But all in all it was nice to be there... huge participation & support which is great to see. Now time for a proper winter's rest with some S&C

Thats great, well done on the IM too. I was tracking your time.
Nothing as bad as being beaten by a sibling though