P in the Pool

Kurt_Godel

Mon Masters swim 3,450m

200m warm up
20*50 as (25IMO, 25sw, 15s rest)
5*400 alt pb, swim (steady pace, 1 min rest)
250m hypoxic swim down

I somehow managed to pull a muscle in my back this afternoon, so its been pretty sore. Decided the swim would help, and so it seems to have eased the pain a little. The IMO were fine, no issues with either fly or breast. The 400's were steady pace, which seemed to suit everyone as most of us had races at HOBC and were happy not to have a killer session. I concentrated on form- always seem to swim higher in the pool after a wetsuit race. All the 400's were in about 6:20-6:35.

Abhainn

Good to see that finally things are coming round for you. In fairness decent effort on Sat. Gives you a fighting chance for the big one.

Kurt_Godel

Tue 50 min turbo 230W av

10 easy
5x(30sec build, 30sec easy)
5x(5 Kilkee pace, 1 easy)
5 easy

A long day at work, swim club meeting, kids swimming, &tc, had me home eating dinner at 21:30, and contemplating a day off (which would lead to contemplating the cold bottle of Chardonnay in the fridge...). Thankfully I opted against that, and hopped on the turbo for a sweatfest. The tough part was 5*5 at Kilkee pace, which I figured around 280W would do. 280, 281, 283, 290, 289, so there or thereabouts.

Kurt_Godel

Wed 40min easy run

An antiarduous ambulation around Annagh alongside Aran, and absolutely aught achilles aches ascertained.

Kurt_Godel

Thurs Masters swim

200m free
200m I/M (by 25m)
10x75m free (25k25d25s) 15s
Main set: 20x50m free as;
4x50m on 45
4x50m on 40
4x50m on 45
4x50m on 40
4x50m on 45
(90s rest every 4x50m)

Fast and tough! The first set was fine... we were talking after, and its gas how swimming 1:30/100m pace is now considered "fine"! I led off for the second set, which would light a match under my ability. First 50 was in 37, next in 40, then slipping a bit, so the full 4*50 took 2:48. Happy with that as I was wrecked and it pushed what I could do on the night. The third set was fine again, then I was on feet for most of the fourth (in 2:50 for the lot), and starting to hurt for the last, in 3:05.

shotgunmcos

Kurt_Godel wrote: »

Fast and tough! The first set was fine... we were talking after, and its gas how swimming 1:30/100m pace is now considered "fine"! I led off for the second set, which would light a match under my ability. First 50 was in 37, next in 40, then slipping a bit, so the full 4*50 took 2:48. Happy with that as I was wrecked and it pushed what I could do on the night. The third set was fine again, then I was on feet for most of the fourth (in 2:50 for the lot), and starting to hurt for the last, in 3:05.

Your swimming has come on leaps and bounds, well done. #jealous

Anyway, based on that session you should be able to crank out a sub 15min 1k with a bit to spare. What is your straight 1500 pb? What is your ultimate swim goal(s)?

Kurt_Godel

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Your swimming has come on leaps and bounds, well done. #jealous

Anyway, based on that session you should be able to crank out a sub 15min 1k with a bit to spare. What is your straight 1500 pb? What is your ultimate swim goal(s)?

You know yourself Mike, its all about consistently swimming, and consistently swimming with sharks. I'm very lucky with the Masters group we have in Arklow, great coach and great company!

I did a 1,500m with a draft a few weeks back in 14:50. Prior to that I think I did one in 15:30 solo... certainly things are getting quicker, and if I could get the tumbles down I'd shave some seconds off each length. Not sure what my swim goals are now, besides high T1 position. I'll do some of the OW races shortly, they are great for tactics, sighting, practice. And great for reminding you that no matter how fast a Tri swimmer you think you are, there are many, many levels faster in the skins crowd!

ToTriOrNot

Kurt_Godel wrote: »

And great for reminding you that no matter how fast a Tri swimmer you think you are, there are many, many levels faster in the skins crowd!

Do you think skins are faster than wetsuit?

I was in Sandycove, kinsale, during the week, and got talking to one of the lads there that do big swims (they are off to Barcelona in October to do a 21km swim, skins! ) , and he had a wetsuit on but it's doing 7km this weeekend in Garnish, and he says he's slower in skins than with the suit!! I actually though it's actually the opposite, as your arms are a lot restricted with the suit! (still, I am in no rush to take the suit off, too cold for my liking! )

I am in awe of your swimming Kurt, I will never get to that level, but I can see the benefits of putting time in the pool, I have taken almost 10 mins of lasts years sandycove lap time, according to my garmin anyway (will compare the official times when I do the challenge)!

Kurt_Godel

I was actually saying the standard is generally faster in OW (skins) races, than in Tri races, but its an interesting one about suit/skins being faster. If you have a flow behind you, no contest, the suit is faster. Swimming upstream or into a current, not so sure. I did a Tri race before without a suit, when everyone else wore them, and I was a lot further back than usual upon exiting. Overall I'd say a suit is a good bit faster, for most people.

Agree with you totally on the shoulder restriction part though, skins swimming is much freer in that department. Although a better suit can help (thinner material around shoulder area), as can pulling the suit up as much as possible so the material isn't tight around the shoulders.

Kurt_Godel

Fri 8.32k run; 2,700m swim

Run:
10 easy
5x(30sec build, 30sec easy)
5x(2 mod hard, 2 easy)
7:45 easy

I'm still finding my feet with the running, and was under strict instructions to ditch the session if anything felt amiss. Thankfully, all was good, no pain at all. The "mod hard" pace... what to do when you haven't a scale to judge from? I figured under 4min/km pace would do, and I got there or thereabouts. It felt good to be running with a bit of speed, and even better that it didn't seem laboured or too difficult at all. Recent weight loss has meant I'm not shuffling quite so much lard around when I run, and the benefit is obvious and immediate.

Swim:
200sw,200p,100k
4x50 fist + 15sec
5x300p race pace + 90sec
4x50 fast on 60
200 choice easy

Couldn't find my session slip of paper when I hit the pool, so this was from memory (and not quite right, the main should have been 4x300p race pace + 30sec). Decent pacing; the 4x50 fist were all 54/55, the 5x300p were in 5mins. Lost it a bit on the sprints at the end, started with a 40, before 43,42,42.
I don't like the pull bouy but it certainly has its uses, my catch has got much better from working with it. Isolating aspects of your stroke to deconstruct, refine, and then rebuild, is the way to get faster.

Kurt_Godel

Sat 1:55 turbo 188W av

1hr easy
2x(15 Kilkee race pace, 15 easy

My TT bike headset has been very stiff lately, and its tricky to DIY, as wires go through the top of it. So I took it for a service to Revolve bike shop in Gorey. Called in for it later, and he showed me the headset- totally blocked up with rust! This is from turbo sweat, so I left with a new headset and a Cyclops turbo towel (which seems to work a treat). The service I got from Peter was a top notch job as usual. He looked at the wheels, cones aren't too bad but could probably do with new bearings, on order.

Great day today to be outdoors, but I wanted to hit numbers and thats easier on the turbo. First hour was easy, then into the 15 min race pace. This was tough but manageable (282W). A handy 15 easy, then another 15 hard (284W). 10 easy after, I was hot and bored so left it at that. Weighed myself after- 84.5kg. A lot of that is due to water loss, but its still a decent amount of lard gone after a strict week. Only two beers last night: positively monastic!

Dilbert75

Got my bike from Peter in Revolve - found him excellent and would visit a lot more if I was closer.

Kurt_Godel

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Got my bike from Peter in Revolve - found him excellent and would visit a lot more if I was closer.

Yes he gets glowing praise from everyone around- a great facility to have in the South East, for sure.

Sun 10k easy 54:47

Moderation, weight loss, discipline... what devil is in my character that I must constantly break a good streak? Hot weather, the little pool was out, so we had a BBQ last night where I ate a load of hotdogs and burgers, as well as 3,960ml of beer. So I was suffering today, an early dip in the little pool, an afternoon nap, and a 10k run that was hanging over me all day. Took the first couple of km very slow, then picked it up slightly on the return journey, along with 5*30sec pickups. Felt almost human by the end, having sweated out much of last nights excess. Time to hop on the wagon. Again

Kurt_Godel

Mon 1,500m TT swim

Garmin was borked of juice when I went to switch it on, so this was done by the pool clock for the first 300m until my brain shut down its mathematical faculties. There was just the two of us, so I went off black top +5... first 100 in 1:25 too fast... 200 in 3:00 better... 300 in ??? whats blacktop +5 plus 3:00 minus black 40???... have I even done 300 or was it only 250???...

Luckily my partner had a garmin, was much faster than I, so I figured I'd just swim and add on whatever he lapped me by. Which was 150m as he finished, so I noted my three final 50's (50s, 50s, 44s) to his total, and got 24:10 for the lot. Content, rather than thrilled, with that. I turned awfully, but the pace was steady enough throughout. 1:37/100m average

shotgunmcos

Was it all out? How did you feel afterwards? Decent time but not consistent with your form, what do you think?

Kurt_Godel

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Was it all out? How did you feel afterwards? Decent time but not consistent with your form, what do you think?

Ah I was fairly disappointed with the time alright, but wasn't really in the mood. 1:33/100m pace would have been better... back has been stiff recently so turns were bad... excuses will do for tonight, but not for Saturday

Dory Dory

Having never swam with a watch - only pool clock - so, do you look at your splits as you are swimming? What do you think a watch gives you that a pool clock doesn't? And I mean in real value for pool swimming, not just gimmicks and feel-good perks.

Kurt_Godel

Dory Dory wrote: »

Having never swam with a watch - only pool clock - so, do you look at your splits as you are swimming? What do you think a watch gives you that a pool clock doesn't? And I mean in real value for pool swimming, not just gimmicks and feel-good perks.

For anything up to about 400m the pool clock is superior- a quick glance every 100 will suffice to check on pacing. However my ability to count both lengths and pace goes out the window after that, particularly if the pace is multiples of some irregular (so counting 1:37 multiples is a lot harder than counting 1:30 multiples). The obvious solution is to swim 1:30 pace!

A glance at the watch every 500m will verify both pace and distance, so in that sense I prefer it for the longer sessions. I don't really place much stock in the SWOLF score, but the guy I was swimming with last night does, and he's someone I really should listen more too (he is a very good OW swimmer).

Kurt_Godel

Tue 30 min easy run

Great morning run in the forest, it felt like France

Wed bric as: 45 min turbo, 18min run

Turbo:
10 easy
10x(2 just over 290W, 1 easy)
5 easy

This was tough work, but the Watts jumped higher whenever I sat still and let the legs do all the work. Food for thought.

Run off the bike:
6 mins easy, 6*(30s race pace, 30s easy), 6 min easy

Happy with this as I was running well.

Kurt_Godel

Hell of the West Kilkee

Came down the night before with my son and stayed in the caravan. Great move, as we were blessed with the weather and got in a good warm swim in kilkee bay. Regged that night so all that travel stress was done with. It's a slick operation by limerick tri, you can see why this race is so highly rated and popular.

Race morning, headed down and admired all the new wetsuits in trans. Good morning for the race, watched the earlier waves do their thing. The cat 1 leaders missed a boy and saved themselves a lot of distance. From the shore it looked like a lack of kayak marshaling, but as one lad said to me "if we did that we'd get a DQ". Later cat 1 swimmers seemed to go round the correct buy. Anyway, good to watch that part of the race unfold before our last wave.

Swim 1.72k 25.49
Started on the left and immediately regretted it as I was well down. However ad the chase to first buoy proceeded, my choice was vindicated as I made ground and the pack had to fight against a slight flow. I passes the first buoy high up in my wave. Figured I held a good position for the rest of the swim, but it was gifficult to be certain ad there were three different swim caps in that wave. Added for confusion, the previous wave had yellow caps, and you can guess the colour of the sighting bouys... anyway, happy enough with my swim, solid if not spectacular.

T1
Fecking wetsuit zip problems again, ran to three different Marshall for help, only one managed to get it open. Not happy with these zip down suits.

Bike 44k 1:18:07 33.8kph 248W
The surface was good, I managed a decent power throughout, and am happy with this bike. Lots of congestion and pretty windy out there too. I was struggling into a hard wind, passing out loads, sometimes picking up a passenger. First time this happened, I slowed and went beside the lad, "hi do you know the draft rules?". "Ah yeah I do, sorry"; he dropped off I never saw him again. Next lad I asked him, no answer and he stayed on me. I didn't spit at him, but I spit as though he wasn't there. He stayed on me. Two snot rockets were launched, again as though he wasn't there. He stayed on me. "What do you think is coming next?". He dropped off me then
Happy with the bike, and that I managed to stay incident free. Saw a few crashes along the way. Well marshaled and the traffic on the route seemed to accommodate.

T2
Very fast, no problems.

Run 10k 46:12 4:36/km pace
It's a hilly run up for 5k, turn and back down. Don't know what it's worth against a flat 5k, but I was passing people all along the run. It was rough going up, my breathing was laboured, but I was running well. Turn and head back down, pretty tired the whole way. No pains or problems, this was a good run and sets me up nicely for Geneva in two weeks time.

Good to meet a few from these parts. It's a great venue and a great race, I'll be here again next year.

BTH

YYYYEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHH, the swim wasnt shortened.

Kurt_Godel

BTH wrote: »

YYYYEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHH, the swim wasnt shortened.

Amen to that brother!

How'd your new wetsuit go? Will you cut the price tag off or return it to the shop?

BTH

Kurt_Godel wrote: »

Amen to that brother!

How'd your new wetsuit go? Will you cut the price tag off or return it to the shop?

Girl who took 45sec out of me in salthill Sprint three weeks ago was only 5metres ahead of me today and I've done shag all swimming since then, so, yeah, a well fitting wetsuit makes a difference alright.

pgibbo

BTH wrote: »

Girl who took 45sec out of me in salthill Sprint three weeks ago was only 5metres ahead of me today and I've done shag all swimming since then, so, yeah, a well fitting wetsuit makes a difference alright.

Was that not more down to being pushed to your limits on Fridays swim whilst being chased down the lane by a shark :rolleyes:

pgibbo

Nice going at the weekend Kurt.

You shouldn't have given warning about what was next :pac:

BTH

pgibbo wrote: »

Was that not more down to being pushed to your limits on Fridays swim whilst being chased down the lane by a shark :rolleyes:

It was definitely that :pac:

Kurt_Godel

pgibbo wrote: »

Nice going at the weekend Kurt.

You shouldn't have given warning about what was next :pac:

There's always some silly moany tale of woe, in my case the wetsuit zipper... my swim wasn't great, but I added on time before trans trying to get the zipper off... Overall rank swim was 133/842. Overall rank run was 72/842. Think that tells its own tale

And I'm going to stop wasting time berating the bold boys drafting, its turning me into even more of a cranky bollix and is ultimately a waste of time (both during the race and the bigger picture). There's a lad who consistently finishes top 5 in races, I always see him sucking wheels without punishment. If the top end can get away with it with impunity, there's no disincentive for us mid-packers.

joey100

What happens with the Zipper Kurt? Have looked at them wetsuits before and thought it looked like a good idea.

Kurt_Godel

joey100 wrote: »

What happens with the Zipper Kurt? Have looked at them wetsuits before and thought it looked like a good idea.

You need a second person to help with the zipper putting them on (the zip attach from the top and zips down). Getting them off is usually a case of just pulling up the cord upon exit, but in three races now my zip has become stuck. Don't know why (I always ask fellow ZeroD suits to zip in so they know the procedure), I practice zipping off and no issues, its only been an issue in races.

Google doesn't help, the zip looks fine (no wear or loose threads), and I'm loath to put candle wax there.

Kurt_Godel

Mon 45 mins easy turbo

Nothing done yesterday, we were driving home with the caravan and I was wrecked. A great father/son weekend behind us, brilliant fun altogether! He wants to be a writer and live down there and swim every day

Today was just an easy spin. Masters swimming has stopped for the summer as everyone is OW swimming and/or racing.

I'm as fit as I can be, just maybe lose a kg before the race, and focus on the course. I'm going into this with a PMA and a gameface. Looked up the Lake Geneva water temp, currently 20˚C, with a heatwave forecast for next week... no wetsuits if the water temp hits 22˚C
:D:D