Out of the frying pan, into the .... fish pond

career move

May 16th - May 23rd

Run x 5

3 easy
1 speed session (2 x(3 x 100) + 2 min hard)
1 long (21.2k @ 5:17)

Running going well. I was pretty exhausted at the beginning of the week after the long kayak with Mike on Sunday 14th and I delayed doing any speed work until the Thursday when I just did some short intervals. Did an impromptu half marathon on the Saturday when I had arranged to meet Susan for a 10k run but she got delayed and I missed her because I had no phone with me. Ended up bumping into another friend who I hadn't seen for years who told me about a 100k cycle in the Slieve Blooms the following day....

Bike x 3

2 short turbos
1 long (117k in 4:37)

Cycled into the start of the 100k as it was only down the road. There were 2 groups, one aiming for 24k average speed and the other 28k. My friend wanted to go with the faster group and persuaded me to do likewise. Ridiculous thing for me to do because my speed on the road bike is generally 25k and slower. However being the eternal optimist (and some would say slightly deluded) I set off with my friend in the faster group. We were averaging 30k once we hit the open road and they dropped me after about 25k. I didn't mind because the road was well marked and going up into the mountains the slower group who started behind started to catch me. I really felt like I had very little power in my legs but I am pretty stupid because you can't run an untrained half marathon less than 24 hours previously and then set off at a suicidal pace and expect not to suffer! Lessons learned for next year! Anyway I was so so so happy to stop for tea and sandwiches after 60k. We regrouped then and set off in a large group at a comfortable pace. It was so much fun riding in the big pace group. Until myself and another lad got dropped after another 20k. At least I had company this time!! It was tough but I'm glad I did it and it was good training!

Kayak x 3

Short sessions practising my stroke on a makeshift erg in the kitchen

Core x 2

Karate x 1

This week was the first week of my new food plan. Trying to eat plenty of protein (at least 120g, goal 30% of total daily intake) and limit carbs (mainly sweets, bread and fruit) So far so good

May 23rd - May 29th

Run x 3

1 easy
1 with tempo effort intervals
1 long (18k @ 5:23)

Legs were pretty tired after the weekend so only ran 3 days this week. I kind of treated it like a step back week running wise. Left hip was a little niggly after the long run

Bike x 4

All out the road because I dismantled the turbo last weekend. Wednesday on the road bike for about 30k. My legs were still tired and this was slooooow. Saturday I took out the mountain bike and cycled to and from the pool and today I met my teammate Peter in Ballyhoura and we did 3 and a half hours on the trails and another hour and a half out the road. I had to work really hard to stay with Peter on the uphill trails and my left knee was a tiny bit sore on the inside. I think this is originating from weakness in my hip. We did a 50 minute hike before we started cause Peter's tyre blew and we had to wait for the bike shop to open and I had no pain in my knee then.

Swim x 2

Both with the pull buoy to loosen out my legs

Kayak x 3

2 short ones and one lasting an hour when I tried out my new cheapie short wetsuit. It's chaffing under the arms so I'm thinking I'll cut them off

Core x 2

Karate x 1

This was a really good week. I recovered well from the 100k bike and I think it's brought me on a bit fitness wise. Still have a good bit of work to do to get ready for ITERA in ~ 11 weeks. Food plan is going well. Just need to stick with it. Overall though I'm in a pretty good place

Neady83

Yeaeeeee great to hear that feeling good K You're doing great and I know only too well how you felt on that bike but fair play for getting out and sticking with it.

Dilbert75

Great work K.

Firedance

ah hear lads, gonna rename this section as the scary side between neady doing random marathons after middle of the night cycles and you doing 100K fast cycles after a half marathon!!! and what's with the dropping people, I thought cyclists were a friendly lot who leave no man behind?! So harsh Glad you're in a pretty good place

career move

Firedance wrote: »

ah hear lads, gonna rename this section as the scary side between neady doing random marathons after middle of the night cycles and you doing 100K fast cycles after a half marathon!!! and what's with the dropping people, I thought cyclists were a friendly lot who leave no man behind?! So harsh Glad you're in a pretty good place

Cyclists are friendly ..... friendly but ruthless. Even on 'challenge' cycles And it's such a bugger to be dropped from the pack because you have to work so much harder (~20% according to my fellow dropout) and still don't go as fast. However we consoled ourselves with the thought that we would benefit more from doing all the work ourselves

career move

May 30th - Jun 5th:

Run x 3 (40min, 50min, 67min)

All easy and the last one today was super easy. Had planned to do a HM paced session one of the days but I fell off a horse on Wednesday, onto very firm ground, and my right glute was sore when I was walking/running. It improved all week and although it was a bit stiff for the first couple of miles today, it was perfect by the end. I'm sort of planning to do the half marathon in Portumna on Saturday but just do it at a comfortable pace. Can't do the club 10k tomorrow as I'm going racing to Listowel.

Bike x 2

Two long bikes on the MTB (3hr and 4hrs). Both mainly on roads. First one on my own around the roads at home and the second one at night in Ardmore with Peter. I'm way more comfortable on the MTB compared to the road bike and I had no probs keeping up to Peter on the roads.

Swim x 1

Did this on Wednesday after I fell off. My arms were sore as well and I did a good bit of backstroke. Right leg was stiff kicking but the water is great for muscle pains

Kayak x 4

Three on the erg at home and one in the sea after the bike with Peter. The sea was tough. We got 3hrs done at a good pace but we had originally planned to do more.

Core x 2

Karate x 1

Another 18hr week that I'm pretty happy with. Diet going ok. Have been eating lots of high protein foods but as usual I'm eating too many carbs and the chocolate has sneaked back in. I started a new job in a small animal clinic on Thursday. It's just the odd day at the moment doing surgeries which suits me perfectly and no on call hurrah Ten weeks to ITERA!

career move

Jun 6th - Jun 12th

Run x 4

40 min recovery
40 min easy
70 min easy
Portumna HM (1:40:11) + 3 mile warm up

Delighted with the half marathon. Got my pacing spot on and although I had to work over the last 5k, I felt strong throughout. No bother from my hip

Bike x 2

3 hours and about 43 miles on the MTB on the roads on Thursday and 5 hours around Clare last night with TriHarder. The derailleur jammed and I couldn't use the granny gears but managed fine.

Kayak x 1

5 hours in sea with TriHarder between Fanore beach and Ballyvaughan. We started off around 7pm and the sea was lovely and calm but after an hour the wind and the swell picked up. It was a tough session (I think the words 'character building' may have been used!) but we were all in good form and it was my best paddle to date. Felt comfortable throughout and no bother from my arms. It was difficult to find the beach on the return leg because it was so dark and we had to portage the boats up over sand dunes and through a campsite. We only woke a couple of people up!!

Swim x 2

Did a really good swim on Thursday (4 x 400pb, 100bs). The backstroke is the best exercise for my shoulders and arms.

Core x 2

Karate x 1

22 hours this week. It's been tough and I'm exhausted now. I've had a little nap but I'm not allowing myself anymore or I won't sleep tonight. Next week is going to be super easy because I've done 4 big training weeks in a row now. Heading to Edinburgh for my cousins wedding so the timing is perfect. 9 weeks to ITERA and TriHarder is in a good place

tang1

Well done yesterday Kate.

career move

tang1 wrote: »

Well done yesterday Kate.

Thanks Barry. Hope you enjoyed your hols

hillsiderunner

http://www.portobellorunners.co.uk/oldsite/sevenh.htm
Bring your trainers?

Enjoy the wedding regardless!

career move

hillsiderunner wrote: »

http://www.portobellorunners.co.uk/oldsite/sevenh.htm
Bring your trainers?

Enjoy the wedding regardless!

Aw excellent thanks for posting that

Neady83

Another big week K, nice one. The kayaking sounds like fun. Was it warm or cool on the water when it was choppy and dark?

p.s. savage half by the way, I'm am very jealous of that time for your half.

hillsiderunner

career move wrote: »

Aw excellent thanks for posting that

I mean compared to your recent training, it *would* be easy, right?

ThebitterLemon

Nicely done in the half Madame D, but give up all that splashing, paddling and mechanically propelled motion in Lycra and spandex, I find myself wondering what I'd look like in a helmet every time I log into this twilight zone

TbL

Dilbert75

Nice work yesterday/today in particular K. It's all coming together!

career move

Neady83 wrote: »

Another big week K, nice one. The kayaking sounds like fun. Was it warm or cool on the water when it was choppy and dark?

p.s. savage half by the way, I'm am very jealous of that time for your half.

Thanks Neady. It was warm when we started but as soon as it got dark, it got very cold. I had the shortie wetsuit on that I showed you with a dri fit top underneath to stop chafing, my waterproof jacket and a hat. When I was paddling it was fine but I was shaking with the cold when we stopped. The water splashing into the boat was actually quite warm though.
P.S You'd do that time no bother for a half if you where training for it!

hillsiderunner wrote: »

I mean compared to your recent training, it *would* be easy, right?

I would like to think so. If I can round up a couple of volunteers/victims to come with me I'll do it

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Nicely done in the half Madame D, but give up all that splashing, paddling and mechanically propelled motion in Lycra and spandex, I find myself wondering what I'd look like in a helmet every time I log into this twilight zone

TbL

Hahaha Thanks. I'm sure you'd look very fetching in a tight fitting trisuit with an aero helmet. It could be the look you need to give you the upper hand in the clash of TbL v's tang1

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Nice work yesterday/today in particular K. It's all coming together!

Thanks Conor. Good to see you yesterday

hillsiderunner

career move wrote: »

I would like to think so. If I can round up a couple of volunteers/victims to come with me I'll do it

Good plan. Would love to be with you but can't because (a) am in Dublin till Wednesday night and (b) not running at all for a week or so more .

It would be worth dropping an email to an online forum or even one of the clubs - say Portobello or Carnethy. Or even Peter Buchanan himself (google "Best part of the day" blog). The race itself is on the 26th so there would be plenty of runners wanting to do recces around now.

annapr

Great time in Portumna, CM! Not to mention all that other 'stuff'

Firedance

Wow! excellent stuff K!! really well done in the half and as anna said 'the other stuff' too

Dilbert75

career move wrote: »

Good to see you yesterday

Likewise.

tang1

Very quiet here lately, hope all is going ok.

career move

Hi Barry thanks for asking. Training still going well. Will do an update later on

career move

I was going to do a detailed update but I'm not on boards that much anymore and it seems a bit pointless.
Briefly: I'm training away and it's all systems go for ITERA. Recovered well from Portumna/Clare and had a nice time in Edinburgh. Didn't have time to do the Seven Hills recce as there was a lot going on but I did some nice runs in the Dell and up to the lakes at the foot of the Pentlands. Claire is home for a few weeks so getting some good bike sessions done and a got a groovy new mountain bike!!!!! It weighs 5kg less than the kona and I still have to get a carbon seat post and handle bars which will take another bit off hopefully.
This week has been busy with a tough Karate grading on Wednesday where I got my orange belt and some very sore calves and Peter and I did the 24 hr Wicklow Rogaine this weekend.
I've moved my training to attackpoint so details are all there. https://ar.attackpoint.org/log.jsp/user_16271
It's much easier cause I don't have to keep a separate excel sheet and I love the pretty graphs! Oh and my teamies are there

Dilbert75

Nice report and like the format too. Will be sorry to see you drift away from Boards but as long as all is good, all is good.

tang1

Best of luck to you and your team Tuesday Kate, hope it goes well for ye.

career move

tang1 wrote: »

Best of luck to you and your team Tuesday Kate, hope it goes well for ye.

Thanks Barry, appreciate that Feeling good and looking forward to starting. Training has been going well. I got some good paddles done and I'm happy with my biking. I had a couple of big weeks in July doing 28/29 hrs/wk and unfortunately my left hip started complaining again. I've had a few rest days though and it's back under control.
It's been an anxious last few weeks as Mike broke his collarbone 4 weeks ago and it was touch and go whether he'd be able to race or not. Thankfully he's made of stern stuff and we have a full team again!
So I'm pretty organised food and clothes wise. Heading down to Killarney Tuesday morning and the race starts Wednesday :eek:
You can follow us on the tracker www.itera.ie/live (Team #34)

tang1

Well done Kate ya headbanger, cannot imagine the mental strength and stamina to get through that especially with the weather Friday and Saturday. If you doing a report throw it up, always very interesting to read your point of view on things. Huge well done to you and your team again.

career move

Cheers. Back home in one piece this evening. The main casualty was my iPhone. I had it in a 'waterproof' case and two plastic bags but it still got damp and won't switch on. Luckily I'm due an upgrade!
That was a tough race and every stage was long and physically demanding and that's without the weather gods throwing everything at us. As a team we had lots of lows but we pulled through and I am so so proud of us. I will eventually do a report when everything has sunk in and my brain is working again

Younganne

Well done Kate, an amazing achievement for you and your team

Dilbert75

Stick it in a bag of uncooked rice K and you might be lucky. Could get going again till you get to replace it.