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Time for a New Adventure
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How have I only discovered this log now!!! :eek: you must have passed me at some point as I started a bit ahead of the 2 hour pacers!! dammit anyway - oh and well done
Honestly, I thought about you when I was out on the course but my mushy brain couldn't remember whether you were going for sub 1:50 or sub 2.
When I was passing a few people I did think about asking if they were Firedance but then I thought I wouldn't be able to outrun the funny looks so I didn't. I did catch sight of the 1:50 group on the long stretch of flat road and I decided at that point that you were safely tucked up with them and I was envious of the shelter they were providing for you
You ran a great race, there's great things to come in Rotterdam. I hope you're wearing that top with pride 0 -
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It could have been worse, I could have been asking people along the way if they were Neady I didn't realise you were running it, or I did and I'd forgotten, raging now but next time we'll hook up for sure
To be fair, I didn't know myself if I was doing it so it would have been hard for you to know
Next time your West of the Shannon for a race, let me know.
There's a really good one coming up in June if you're interestedhttp://www.athenryachalfmarathon.ie/Just catching up here Neady... Look at you casually doing a 1:51 half easy while anaemic!
Love the sucky calves story, i thought it was some sort of running injury at first.
And best of all, well done on the swimming, I didn't realise when you were writing about the Beast that you really weren't a swimmer... Even more in awe of you now!
Ha ha them Iron tablets are doing me the power of good
Yea, there was never ever a chance that I was going to make that 25m jump in the Beast last year - this year though, hopefully I won't be as freaked out by a coasteering section 0 -
Monday
4.5miles @ 9:30/mi
Nice lil recovery after Saturdays HM. My calves are feeling it a bit so plenty of foam rolling after this run.
30mins Swimming
10mins kicking with board
10mins pull buoy
10mins swimming
Hmmmm my kicking isn’t getting me very far. There’s something not quite right about it. Will check with Kate on Thursday.
Tuesday AM
Circuits: 9 stations @ 4x55secs each
1. Side planks with a weight (2kg) tap tap
2. Sprinting between cones
3. Arm Crawl with sliders/mountain climbers with sliders
4. Squat & shuffle with dyna band around thighs
5. 5 plank/push-ups & 5 mountain climbers
6. 5 jumps & 2 burpees, rinse and repeat
7. High knees while being held back with dyna band
8. Sprint, 2x burpee, sprint, 2xburpee, barf
9. Push-ups with resistance band
Energy: 7.5/10 – the best I’ve felt doing circuits in a while. There’s a bit more pep in my step
Tuesday PM
3miles @ 9:05/mi
Done in the pissy pissy rain with my hiking rain coast on, the rain was that heavy. Booo rain.
3.2miles @ 10:57/mi
Done with Kieran in the pissy rain after my 3 miles.
Energy: 6.5/10 though the bad weather could be reflected in this
Wednesday
7.4miles @ 8:45/mi
This was one of those runs where you rediscover or remember exactly why you love running. It was a bright, mild and dry night and the tunes in my ears were good. I really enjoyed this run and felt good. I ran to effort and felt like I was running at a nice clip.
Energy: 8/10
Thursday AM
Circuits: 9 stations @ 3x90secs
1. Overhead shoulder press with large resistance band
2. Balls slams & overhead squat (8kg medicine ball)
3. 5 side jumps & 1 burpee (2x6kg)
4. Kettlebell lunge press (10kg)
5. Split squat row (10kg kettle bell)
6. Glute bridge with 16kg kettlebell
7. Mountain climbers with sliders
8. Side planks with weights
9. Side shuffle with 5kg medicine ball & burpee
Energy: 8/10, yeaeeeeeeeeeeee
Thursday PM
4miles @ 8:55/mi
Down by the river watching the rowers go by and getting a wave from my friend who was coxswain. Good time ☺
Energy: 6.5/10
45mins Swimming (30mins lesson, 15mins practice
Tonight was the night ………. I swam a full length of the pool whoop whoop. A whole 25meters without stopping There was much excitement from Kate and I when I finished it
We started off with the board and kicks - I wasn’t flopping my ankle enough or keeping my feet close enough together but we righted that and now I'm moving better. My stroke is fine and I’m breathing more naturally, not having to think about it as much anymore.
I ventured down the deep end with the board and PB first and then we decided to give a full length a go and I kept going spurred on by Kate cheering me on from the side Kate is awesome, I love her.
She’s great at building confidence but also tweeking things at the same time. It’s coming more naturally and now I can practice going in the deep end. The deep end will be my friend – mind you I’ll be sticking close to the wall as my safety cushion for a while.
I was only able for 15mins of practice after my lesson because I was pooped from all the swimming.
My mantra in the pool from now is, the deep end is my friend, I float better there, the deep end is my friend 0 -
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shotgunmcos wrote: »I used to do circuits to beat the band back in Uni. Loved it. Reading this log is inspiring me to get to it again.
Well done on the swimming milestone. Small steps (or strokes) and you'll get there. No doubt about it!
Thanks Mike, I do really love the circuits especially the way Enda sets them up. e puts great thought into the sequence and how it will work each part of the body.You are rockin' the pool!! So, so, so proud of you!!!!!
Thanks DD, I really can't believe how it's all coming together and becoming more natural. I'm turning my head for air without thinking about it now. It feel so good. It has also given me a new found appreciation for how difficult swimming is though, I was cooked after 25m. You're a machine with the training that you doYeah that's fantastic swim progress. You could be ready for Loughrea yet :P
Ha ha so as well as the deep end being my friend, the security of being beside the wall to cling to incase anything goes wrong will take some time to let go of Kate is going to teach me to tread water and I'll do my damnedest to practice as much so I can get into open water before the end of the summer. 0 -
Friday Lunch
2.1miles @ 11:42/mi
Lunch time run with two of the girls from work. They both want to get up to 5km for a race in Claregalway in April and asked me to do some pacing and intervals with them. They’re fairly new to running so we did a walking warm up and did 2mins at the pace of the slowest person off 30secs recovery. They did super well, hopefully we can keep this going.
Friday PM
10.1miles @ 9:21/mi
This was supposed to be 14 miles but my calves were getting tight, I was getting tired after 8 miles and I had Saturdays SHARTS in the back of my mind so I called it a day at 10 miles and hit for the pool.
30mins swimming
10mins kick board
10mins PB
After warming up, I eventually built up the courage to cross the line into the deep end on my own. It’s amazing how having Kate up on the deck gives me more confidence to venture into the deep end.
There were some people around me and it was unnerving me a bit that their splash or a stray arm might throw me off when I was in the deep part but that is something that I need to get used to.
I love the pool now, the time flies by when I can go from one end to the other ☺
Saturday/Sunday
16km Hike: 3hrs 30
13km Kayak: 3hrs
MTB: 4hrs 30
SHARTS: Shared Adventure Racing Training Session with team #TriHarder, team ARSE and Lonan. Mike and Sean kindly pulled this session together, it was a section of the Beast from their first year of AR.
Hike: We set off from the car park at ULAC and headed in the direction of Moylussa, just West of Lough Derg at 9:30ish on Saturday evening. If we had called up the weather gods and put in a request for weather for this training session, we probably couldn’t have asked for a better night. There was a light breeze, it was mild and there was a slight moon sitting low in the sky. There’s a nice pull up Moylussa, mostly on gravel path and it has a tendency to burn calves but everyone was in fine spirits and the banter flowed and before we knew it, we were on the summit.
Next up was a dart across the mountain to Sliabh Bearnach, Frank ARSE did a good job of naving us to this point and we found it with ease. There’s no getting away from the soft wet waterlogged boggy ground in this area. It sucks your feet in and does it’s best to suck your shoe off sapping plenty of energy too. I always get around it by telling myself that my feet are getting massaged by this cool soft slurpiness.
We got back to solid ground and everyone belted for the bottom with many stories and giggles exchanged along the way.
Kayak: Next up was the kayak section. Mike, the legend that he is, got me a back rest, as the one I was promised fell through. Bryan and I hopped in our kayak and we were quickly on out merry way. We usually work very well together in the kayak but poor Bryan was having a hard time of it because his backrest wasn’t supporting his back and he was in agony for the entire kayak. This made for a tough kayak for both of us, he was squirming and shuffling, trying to get comfy. all the way, and wasn’t able to paddle consistently which left us chasing the pack for the entire night.
It was the most surreal feeling to be on Lough Derg in the middle of the night, with not a puff of wind blowing, paddling and enjoying watching the reflection of the land and lights on the calm water. My hamstrings were beginning to give me bother about 30mins before we came ashore, the seated position in the boat reeks havoc on them. Both Bryan and I were dam glad to get out of the kayaks.
MTB: Out of the boat, peel off the wet gear, shove food in mouth and gather ourselves for the MTB section. The next checkpoint was the Grave of Leinstermen. Bryan and Frank were doing nav and got us to a stile on the side of the road where we were to start a long hike-a-bike. We passed the bikes up over the ditch while Sean and Mike said their goodbyes, they had to head home earlier than the rest of us. Just before they left, Mike threw us a lifeline, we could do this hike-a-bike on a relatively easier route. Thank you Mike It’s one of the most surreal feelings to be travelling around roads in the countryside in the dead of night, waking every dog in the county.
Up up and away we went climbing uphill on roads until we met the turn for the hike-a-bike section. Mike was right, it was pretty, it was tough to push the bikes but the sun came up as we ascended and we got a great view of the lake where we had paddled hours earlier. There was a fast decent on the East Clare way and then Bryan was insistent on taking a short cut that would cut out 4km of road biking. We all protested, me especially, because Bryans short-cuts NEVER work out, they always result in us wasting energy and starting back at square one. He has a reputation among all our friends for his terrible short-cuts. Sure enough after spending time wading through a few feet of sh**e and passing bikes over and under wire fencing, there was no short cut. Most of the group needed to be back to their cars for 9 so we decided to call it a day, enjoy the fast decent into Killaloe and bring to a close the first SHARTS sessions.
It was a super night and I learned lots of team #TriHarder, they’re a class act and know their stuff – and they can be won over by fruit pastilles and other goodies. We could do with spending more time with them and learning from them. A huge thank you to them for the organisation and great fun along the way.
Weekly Totals
Running: 5hrs 30 (34miles)
Swimming: 1hr 45
Circuits: 2hrs
Hike: 3hrs 30
Kayak: 3hrs
MTB: 4hrs 30
Total: 21hrs0 -
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Yeah the coconut balls were amazeballs!
Great fun to get the gang out. The lake was surreal alright. I think next time we should have some bungy with us so if any boats are challenged we had hook them up for a tow.
As for the Narnia bushwhacking shortcut? That wasn't the plan! Last time I checked YOU were the Team ARSE Captain, someone has to keep your crazy Welsh wandering Nav from wondering 0 -
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Thanks for the input Joey.
I found that a lot of people stretch out a bit in a sit on top to reach the footrests and sort of slide down into the boat a bit. It's the stretching of the back that usually gives problems in the legs. This is all guess work because I can't see what you look like in the boat but just based on experience. I wouldn't rely too much on the back rest either, think of it more as a support than a rest. Should be supporting you to sit up straight rather than resting your back against it. If anything you should be slightly leaning forward so very little pressure on the back support. This is all very easy to say and I only ever done it by itself, not after a hike and before a bike so tiredness will be a factor too. Another thing is to try and keep the upper body steady, lot of people reach forward and use their body to pull back the paddle in the water, makes like a rocking motion, again putting more strain on the lower back and can cause tightness. Just some little things to keep in mind, especially if you still have a days racing to do when you get out of the boat!
It makes a BIG difference if you are spening 10hrs+ in a sit on top. Comfort and technique are everything.
I found that when I used my backrest as a support when I pushed off each foot, I got power power per stroke. It did mean sitting up straighter but was also a better position to hold for longer. When I leaned back into the "backrest" the bottom slid forward down the boat. Now I had little purchase with my feet and my back did a lot of work instead of my core. I guess the clue is that there is no "rest" in paddling 0 -
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That's pretty much it exactly Shotgun. Leaning against the back rest slides your arse forward down the boat. Sort of stretches out the body. Makes it harder to use your core as well. Other thing to keep in mind is if you ever see any of the top K boat (racing) paddlers they use their core but it is all in the rotation. Body stays very upright, all the core comes from pulling the shoulders across the body, hard to explain but if you look up K boats on you tube you will probably see what I mean.
Not going to get much better than this -
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career move wrote: »Lovely to see you today. Hope you recover well and I look forward to the next training day/night
P.s: your coconut balls are the bomb
Thanks K, I had great craic with you and the crew. Hope you enjoyr your easy week after your crazy week. There will always be coconutty balls for teams on SHARTS sessions - I hope that's an incentive to have more and not lessshotgunmcos wrote: »Yeah the coconut balls were amazeballs!
Great fun to get the gang out. The lake was surreal alright. I think next time we should have some bungy with us so if any boats are challenged we had hook them up for a tow.
As for the Narnia bushwhacking shortcut? That wasn't the plan! Last time I checked YOU were the Team ARSE Captain, someone has to keep your crazy Welsh wandering Nav from wondering
Thanks Mike, yea, a tow would have been good but still, it was good training and made me dig deeper and I was starting to enjoy Bryans blood curling roars
I have enough ammunition and evidence to stop Bryan going on his crazy short-cuts from now on I'm just glad there wasn't a bull in the field we came back through.i call bull on all this. i was out on the bike at 7am sunday morning. no sight nor sign of any AR types anywhere around killaloe. i reckon there was a few pints in the pub, a night in a b&b and they all went home pretending they had put in a savage nights training.shotgunmcos wrote: »You do remember AR is generally off road right?yes Mike:)
i also remember this is a light evenings work for you guys, so i've no doubts you did it, and that my post was only in jest...
Mossy, the guys were pointing out the direction of your place as we climbed Moylussa, I was saying that there was no reason that you couldn't have done the hike with us
Oh, we have two witnesses to our escapades. The guards came down to the quay to check on us as we were launching the kayaks at some god awful hour and just after Mike and Sean left, we were stopped at a junction (outside a house) while Bryan checked if it was the one we needed to take when a farmer came out asking if it was him we were looking for He must have been up milking or calving because it was still dark o clock.
There was sooo many groups of cyclists on the road as I headed home yesterday. It's a real mecca for cycling out that side.0 -
Mossy, the guys were pointing out the direction of your place as we climbed Moylussa, I was saying that there was no reason that you couldn't have done the hike with us
There was sooo many groups of cyclists on the road as I headed home yesterday. It's a real mecca for cycling out that side.
#1 reason is probably a need to get my own training done first before i take on any more!!
good area for cycling alright, you're pretty much at the corner of the two counties so you can go any direction out of the two towns and have a nice route. lots and lots of options0 -
shotgunmcos wrote: »someone has to keep your crazy Welsh wandering Nav from wondering
Ah Bryan is Welsh. That explains everythingThanks K, I had great craic with you and the crew. Hope you enjoyr your easy week after your crazy week. There will always be coconutty balls for teams on SHARTS sessions - I hope that's an incentive to have more and not less
Thanks. Absolutely those balls are like rocket fuelOh, we have two witnesses to our escapades. The guards came down to the quay to check on us as we were launching the kayaks at some god awful hour and just after Mike and Sean left, we were stopped at a junction (outside a house) while Bryan checked if it was the one we needed to take when a farmer came out asking if it was him we were looking for He must have been up milking or calving because it was still dark o clock.
Oh man I completely forgot about the guards and that farmer He must have thought a tamer version of the Hells Angels had rocked up his driveway 0 -
Some great training going on Neady, well done. Especially the swimming, plenty of work going into it!
I'm going to take a guess that your hamstring pain in the sit on top kayak is from the way you are sitting in it. Sit on tops are grand for messing around on and I know they use they in plenty of adventure races because they are nice and safe, no danger of getting stuck in them but generally they are not the most suited to longer distance kayaking, especially for smaller people. Do you have anything to rest your feet on in it? If you do are your legs straight out to the footrests?
I found that a lot of people stretch out a bit in a sit on top to reach the footrests and sort of slide down into the boat a bit. It's the stretching of the back that usually gives problems in the legs. This is all guess work because I can't see what you look like in the boat but just based on experience. I wouldn't rely too much on the back rest either, think of it more as a support than a rest. Should be supporting you to sit up straight rather than resting your back against it. If anything you should be slightly leaning forward so very little pressure on the back support. This is all very easy to say and I only ever done it by itself, not after a hike and before a bike so tiredness will be a factor too. Another thing is to try and keep the upper body steady, lot of people reach forward and use their body to pull back the paddle in the water, makes like a rocking motion, again putting more strain on the lower back and can cause tightness. Just some little things to keep in mind, especially if you still have a days racing to do when you get out of the boat!shotgunmcos wrote: »Thanks for the input Joey.
It makes a BIG difference if you are spening 10hrs+ in a sit on top. Comfort and technique are everything.
I found that when I used my backrest as a support when I pushed off each foot, I got power power per stroke. It did mean sitting up straighter but was also a better position to hold for longer. When I leaned back into the "backrest" the bottom slid forward down the boat. Now I had little purchase with my feet and my back did a lot of work instead of my core. I guess the clue is that there is no "rest" in paddlingThat's pretty much it exactly Shotgun. Leaning against the back rest slides your arse forward down the boat. Sort of stretches out the body. Makes it harder to use your core as well. Other thing to keep in mind is if you ever see any of the top K boat (racing) paddlers they use their core but it is all in the rotation. Body stays very upright, all the core comes from pulling the shoulders across the body, hard to explain but if you look up K boats on you tube you will probably see what I mean.
The other thing about leaning back into the back rest and sliding into the boat means that sometimes this has the effect of putting more weight into the back of the boat, lifts the front a bit and then changes the track of the boat. Turns a lot easier and becomes harder to hold a straight line, probably not as big a deal in a boat with two people but again spending 10+ hours in the boat you want as much of your energy to be used pushing the boat forward rather than correcting your self or lost energy.
Joey and Mike, thanks so much for this, it's solid gold advice and makes perfect sense. I'm going to circulate to the team.
Joey, as Mike said there's little purchase on the sit-on-tops. There's maybe four rests moulded into the deck that don't provide much resistance (compared to the sea kayak that we used on C2C last year - a dream to paddle). I usually put my feet where there's a slight bend in the knee but towards the end on Sat night, I was swapping them around to give some relief to my hammys.
Jacqo had said to me half way through the paddle to sit straighter and tilt forward slightly so that my bum was stuck right into the seat and it did help power wise but I think as tiredness set it I was all over the shop.
We're doing a full day of kayak training with Dave from Nevsail watersports in Limerick next weekend so it will give us a good chance to practice and get our technique right early in the season (as well as get the qualification needed for ITERA). Fingers crossed for a sunny day 0 -
career move wrote: »
Oh man I completely forgot about the guards and that farmer He must have thought a tamer version of the Hells Angels had rocked up his driveway
you guys would want to be more careful on the ballina side next time
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/farmers-in-co-tipperary-go-on-armed-patrols-at-night-1.25675060 -
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Good stuff Neady, yep that's the problem with some sit on tops, foot rests are moulded into them so if your not the perfect height for them they can be fairly useless! You def want a bend in your knee, helps push the hips back under you too and helps keep yourself straight up.
Tiredness is going to be the biggest factor, trying to hold the position can be tough enough without all the other stuff yous are doing! Think I mentioned it before but when your sitting up in the boat ideally you want your arse pushed back into the seat and slightly tilted forward, enough so that if you were to dribble down your chin it wouldn't touch your buoyancy aid on the way down and would fall between your legs. Nice mental image there for you!
What qualification do you need to do ITERRA?? Just wondering in these races do you use your own boats or are they supplied by the race organisers??
Ha ha that's a good check point to make sure I'm sitting correctly - nice mental image is right but sure that's not the worst we'll be doing on a 5-day race
Two people in the team (one in either boat) need to have a BCU 2 star or the Irish equivalent, Level 2 kayak skills award but we're all doing the course for the experience.
The boats are provided for the race but we can bring our own backrests, paddles and PFDs. There's also the added fun of strapping all our gear and bags into the kayaks and balancing that out.
The ITERA team have told us that the range of skills, techniques and competencies they strongly recommend we need are:
- Entering and exiting a Double Sit on Top kayak from the shore.
- Kayaking long sustained distances using efficient forward paddling technique. As there are two of you in the kayak, being able to paddle efficiently with a synchronized forward stroke is highly recommended. This will save you energy and keep you safer.
- You should also train in such kayaks carrying the backpacks and the kit you intend to race with, additional weight can affect the balance and performance of the kayak. Distribution of the weight and tethering of equipment to the kayak is a factor for consideration.
- Kayaking at sea or on large lakes& water ways will have you exposed to the elements, we advise you to give careful consideration to the effects of exposure to the elements. Your clothing for this will be of vital importance.
- Kayaking in such locations will mean that any wind, breezes or stronger conditions will affect the kayaks performances. The following strokes should be a standard part of all racers repertoire of skills and techniques:
- An understanding of the Basic Safety Rules Kayaking.
- An ability to Enter and Exit a kayak correctly.
- Efficiently Forward Paddle in a tandem kayak, Reverse Paddle, and Stop.
- An ability to turn while stationary using Forward Sweep Stroke, Reverse Sweep - Stroke and a combination of Forward and Reverse Sweep Strokes.
- Simple Draw Stroke.
- Low Brace for support to prevent capsizes..
- Turning on the Move.
- Edging while the kayak is moving.
- Capsize Drill.
- An ability to assist in an Assisted X Rescue and/or an H Rescue.0 -
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