Winter Miles, Summer Smiles

joey100

I seen this online and thought of you,

https://www.kiefer.com/stretchcordz---short-belt-4-ft-products-374.php?page_id=237


I hope you patented that idea!

Kurt_Godel

joey100 wrote: »

I seen this online and thought of you,

https://www.kiefer.com/stretchcordz---short-belt-4-ft-products-374.php?page_id=237


I hope you patented that idea!

No patent I'm afraid, there are loads of these! I use a version that suits my pool. If you can think of a swim toy, it has already been invented;)

Kurt_Godel

Mon 5,200m Masters swim in 90mins

I had *another* chest infection the past few days, and could do no training. Its debilitating when this happens, very annoying, but what can you do. Missed training means I might skip HOTW and focus on getting fit for Wicklow in a months time instead.

Coach said to just do an easy run today, but the lads had a 90min swim TT scheduled so I did that instead. To be honest my thoughts are turning to leaving Tri for pure swimming, I have too many setbacks in multisport, and I really enjoy the water.

I targeted over 5km for the 90min TT. Things were going very well until about 3k when I started cramping. Took to the pb in an effort to shake them off- tried a few lengths without but the cramps came back. I had to use pb for the rest, and even then I was dragging cramped feet and stopping to stretch. Nonetheless a total of 5.2k in 90mins, about 1:42/100m pace. I took a split each 1.5k- 25:06, 26:06, 26:10. Happy enough with the consistent form (although skewed by use of pb).

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Kurt_Godel wrote: »

Coach said to just do an easy run today, but the lads had a 90min swim TT scheduled so I did that instead.

This made me smile:)

joey100

Sorry to hear about the chest infection Kurt, from someone else who seems to get them a lot they are a pain and really affect the training.

I'm going to play Devil's advocate here though and say that an easy run doesn't equal a 90min TT in the pool. I really think you need to take care of yourself a bit better, that long run led into the chest infection and then to do a 90min pool TT is a bit mad as your first session back. I don't think your body would have been able for that. I know for me the swim and run are the toughest after a chest infection, and a swim at effort for 90mins wouldn't be a good idea for me. I'm not having a go here at all, you have done the work over the winter and seem to enjoy the races, I'd like to see you do well but sometimes I think you nearly press the self destruct button!

tunney

Kurt_Godel wrote: »

To be honest my thoughts are turning to leaving Tri for pure swimming, I have too many setbacks in multisport, and I really enjoy the water.

I'm sure you will manage to self-destruct in pure swimming too

Kurt_Godel

joey100 wrote: »

sometimes I think you nearly press the self destruct button!

When you hit my age Joey you realise there are many self destruct buttons on offer each day! Yes there was a smidgeon of "f*** this" and doing the TT out of anger, but I've missed a lot of these longer swims the lads do and this was to be the last one. The effort throughout was steady, and I let my breathing dictate how long I stayed in for. I was just a bit fed up after missing so much training lately.

I realise I'm probably trying to convince myself as I write this, though!

Tue 6k easy run

Well my lungs felt better this morning, and I managed a nice run in the wet forest. Kept an eye on any tight muscles from yesterday's cramping, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Kurt_Godel

Wed 39k easy bike 25.4kph 1:32:09

I was told to take it easy on the bike tonight so thats what I did. Lungs are still full of gunk, yeuch. This was a very enjoyable easy spin around the backroads between Gorey and Arklow, some great routes found. Coming back I saw the SERC race in action, a swimming buddy leading the breakaway and working hard. He came second in the end, good man.

Thurs 12k steady run 4:38/km av 55:46

More backroads running, the legs felt good on this, not having ran in a few days. I picked up the pace as it went on, breathing being the only limiter. Felt good for the pace, its close to my "baseline" fitness yardstick of 13k in a steady hour.

Kurt_Godel

Sat 20k run West Dublin Peaks IMRA race

I was browsing last night and spotted this IMRA race- this would do nicely for my weekend long run. A quick online reg, pack some gear, and I had everything ready for the morning. IMRA races are great (especially the weekend ones), they are very friendly and laid-back. After a briefing from RD Ken we set off. Its been a while since I raced the hills, and I was soon walking- and soon doubled back from blocked "short-cuts"! The temps were great for a day in the hills, and visibility was good. Lots of slop, lots of peathags that needed crossing, lots of sinking and schlepping through the mud. I really enjoyed the downhills where you could just let go. The climbs are always hard if you don't have practise in the legs, and so it was today. Coming back was free route choice between Kippure and Corrig and I took some distance off here. Great fun, and I loved being back doing an IMRA race.

Kurt_Godel

Mon 4,100m Masters swim

Yesterday was spent all day at a kids Gala at Wexford, so no training done. Lots of notes taken, when you see so many kids of all ages and sizes swimming so quickly, you have to wonder about your own abilities, and lack thereof.

Swim:
500m wu
8*400m off 7 mins alt swim/pb
400 easy

I have DOMS as expected from the hill run so didn't chance an easy run yet. Calfs are tight but much better after this swim. My times slipped during this session, to be expected as breathing was a limiter. Still have a bit of a cough.

Times (alt swim/pb): 6:02, 6:31, 6:22, 6:35, 6:31, 6:45, 6:31, 6:59

Dory Dory

Wexford?? I hope you looked up our ultra-iron-hoochie while you were there!!!

Kurt_Godel

I haven't been able to shake a cough, so decided to take a good few days off training and see if it got better. I've had it for quite a while, and in general feeling run down. Went to the doc today to get bloods taken and checked to see if there anything amiss. In the meantime the few days off seems to have helped. It meant unfortunately that I missed HOTW, and the greatest, roughest swim that ever was or will be staged in Irish Triathlon. Sod's Law.

Mon 3,000m swim

6*(5*100 off 1:40/1:45)

I was on my own, Masters have finished, so they were unstructured. I varied these between swim and pb, with some experimenting with stroke rate/length to see what worked and what didn't. Got some result from using a more aggressive pull towards the end.

Tue 16k run 4:50 pace

Set off with the intention of an easy run, 5:20 pace felt way too easy, and was comfortable all the way at a slightly faster clip. Felt very good on this run, as I usually do after a running break.

Wed 2k OW swim

Met up with some of the club lads for a very enjoyable swim in Arklow. The sea felt very cold at first but soon we didn't notice that. Eight traverses of the cove, about 275m each, with good sighting practice. I felt good tonight, had a nice stroke in the suit. Something from the result on Mondays swim was helping.

Kurt_Godel

Thurs 40min real easy run

Fri Rest

Sat National Aquathlon Championships (25th/80, 2nd in AG)

A very early start for Junior and I, we hit the road at 6am for the long trip to Castlewellan. Great set-up, lovely venue. There was a harsh wind blowing down the lake towards the finish, which created a fair bit of chop. Kids races off first, they swam to a bouy and back (extended distances for the age groups). Junior told me his race had been shortened due to chop, a familial roll of eyes. He set off with a good swim, died a bit on the run, but picked it up to catch a few places on the last lap and won a sprint finish.

As soon as he finished I headed off but had missed briefing, transition set up, and had to hurry to get my suit on! Our race had been changed from a loop, to a straight km "downwind" to avoid the chop. Safety First(tm), this is the National Champs and we are fragile petals who need mothering;) Oh well, could have been worse, it could have been cancelled. A long walk to the start, and into the water, which was warmer than expected.

Swim (15:27, 29th/80)
I had a decent enough swim, or so I thought at the time, but was further down the field at trans than I'd hoped for. There was a lot of swells which you had to catch correctly, and "surf" each wave. Would have loved to be fighting against this, but at least the swim was a little long. Swimming "downstream" like this tends to Normalise results.

Trans (1:12, 48th/80)
Really bad trans, Garmin hindered taking the arm out, and I need to cut my legs off to get feet out quicker, and also ages getting the shoes on. I need velcro shoes.

Run (20:35, 29th/80)
A couple of people went past me on the first km, I tried to stick with them but it was difficult. The route was a dirt trail loop of the lake, with an extra up-and-down a hilly section to make up the 5km distance. I suffered up this hill but its the same for everyone. Made up quite a few places coming down, and from here to home I worked on targets. I was passed by a fast Pirahna runner with 2k to go, tried to stay with him but he's too fast. he did help me take three others though. I was spent at the finish, couldn't have run any faster, and started dry retching once over the line. Soon came good though, pleased enough with my race. Solid, if not spectacular. I came 2nd in my AG, first would have been nice in a National Champs but there you go.

Breathing (again) was my limiter on the day, but things are getting better. Hopefully this will be the start of a decent run of races, onwards and upwards. Well done to Olympian Triathlon Club for a very well-organised race today.

Kurt_Godel

Sun Nothing, was at a swim gala in Limerick. A lot of driving this weekend.

Mon 30k bike.
Testing out my new disc cover. It seems to work very well at higher speeds.

Tue 7k easy run 5:11/km; 1,800m swim
6*300 alt swim/drill
Focus was on form through the water, a useful session.

Wed 1km OW swim; 8.3k easy run
Swam in Wicklow Harbour with the club, then a scout of this weekends run course. New runners, Saucony Kinvara 4, they are a great fit, nice and light with a 4mm drop. Perfect.

Thurs 23min bike
More testing with the cover (taped down this time).

I've been pretty unstructured this week (and last week). I got my blood results back, everything is good except high cholesterol (6.8, should be 5). This might explain feeling run down after hard training. In any case, statins for 6 months at least, and a change in diet. No more eggs, cheese, dairy, coconut oil, red meat. All things I had increased eating over the past 6 months!

Kurt_Godel

Sun Wicklow Harbourman Oly 2:28 (41st)

This is as local as they come, I was looking forward to this race as its held on familiar turf. A big crew from our Tri club at it, and plenty of other familiar faces around too. Well done to Wicklow Tri Club, they pulled off another cracker; they really know how to put on a good show. I had a pre-race chat with Abhainn who was marshalling, he suggested I ditch the deep wheel and cover, as it was very windy out there. I ran back to the car and changed to the C50 Dura Aces- there wasn't too many deep wheels or discs on show at trans.

Swim 23:47 (25th)
This was a rolling start, your time began after passing a timing mat before the shore. I positioned towards the front of the queue, alongside a couple of lads I train with in Arklow. Straight into the water and begin swimming- I liked how this start operated, no fuss, no "back behind the imaginary line lads", no hanging around; just straight in and swim. The water felt great, inside the sheltered harbour walls but still with a few drags in places. Sighting was decent enough, but you had to keep your wits about you for the two laps. My goal was a solid swim without working too hard, and I took a lift when presented. As it turned out we three Arklow swimmers exited one after the other, by chance rather than design, an indicator of solid effort as we are all around the same standard in the pool. I was happy enough with the swim.

T1
A long 350m run to trans from the beach, I stripped the suit early and ran with it. This made for a fast T1, and I exited on the bike in the top 10

Bike 1:12:21 (33kph av)
The route has a few sharp hills at the start, and I was conscious of not burning matches too early. We went into a strong headwind to the turnaround point, and I managed to handle this well. After 9k we were on good roads of the N11, which went well for me- spin a big gear, and keep up the speed. In general I suffered up hills and made back places on the flat. Around the turnaround, still quite high up the field, but on the return I saw the huge peleton of drafters chasing me down, about a km behind at that point. Disappointing, but what can you do. In general I didn't see too much drafting otherwise.
With the wind at our backs we could speed home, and I performed well for the return. Almost lost it with a gust of wind at a roundabout, but stayed upright and continued down to trans, happy with my bike and with how I felt.

T2
No fuss, the new shoes went on quick enough.

Run 47:23
I was targeting under 4:30 pace, and then pick it up during the run, but there was nothing when I went looking. Lads were passing me with ease from the start. 4:43, 4:41, 4:38, 4:39, 4:35, 4:50 for the first 6km out-and-back, it was a slow plod and heavy going. I was leaking places throughout, the Pirahna guy who had passed my in last weeks Aquathon ran by after 3k saying "didn't we do this last weekend?!?" and I had no response to his pace. The two laps for the last 4k had a lot of twists and turns, and some killer steps to sap the legs. 5:10, 4:41, 5:14, 4:39, with my calf starting to complain towards the end. I was glad to see the finish line, disappointed with the run however.

Overall
Pleased with the race overall, although the run was a pain in the ass, and as the last discipline it sort of defines your race. My swim and bike couldn't have been better, Trans went smoothly and without incident, but I need to lose weight if I'm to be competitive for the run. Came 5th in my AG, having been 1st at T2, so the carrot is there and its worth fighting for. There was a great atmosphere at the finish, this was one of the best races I've done, really enjoyed the whole day. Nice to catch up with shoot the breeze with several from these parts.

Kurt_Godel

Mon 7.3k run 6min/km pace
A local loop
along the forest walk,
idly lolling
fatigued feet.

Tue 7.3k run 5min/km pace
The similar route,
on different legs.
Time was the diference.

pgibbo

No swimming? You having withdrawal symptoms? :pac:

Kurt_Godel

pgibbo wrote: »

No swimming? You having withdrawal symptoms? :pac:

Haha I guess so! The Masters have finished for now, and I'm training unstructured for a while, so running is more important at the moment. To be honest, I have taken a step back in general to get healthy again, and to start enjoying things again. It hasn't impacted races (at least not the swim or bike parts anyway), and I'm feeling better and enjoying training/racing again. Next race is Lanesboro where I hope to run a sub 21 5k. After that, a week in Gran Canaria at a hotel with its own steps down to the sea... I'm sure I'll make up some swim volume there!

pgibbo

Sounds good Kurt. Good to hear. :cool:

Kurt_Godel

Wed 77mins easy turbo

154W av, this was an easy peasy spin to round out a long work day. They're all long work days lately. Feckin Brexit spooking everyone... the Empire is over little englanders, get with the times.

Thurs 44 mins run

10 easy
7*(2 mins sprint pace, 1 min easy)
3*(1 min sprint pace, 1 min easy)
4 mins easy

Since running is my weak spot lately, I've been working on that discipline. I've done 4 races the past couple of months; the first I ran well, the next three I have felt laboured during the run. Weighed myself yesterday for the first time in a long while... I had been 88kg in late May, I'm now 92kg. Mother of God where did that come from? At least I've not coughing anymore, and feel better than I have in a while.
So for the past few runs I've been playing with cadence, gait, stride, form; as though they have the same sort of impact on time as technique does for swimming. They don't- running fast means hurting, and running fast while fat means hurting even more. My goal (while losing weight again) has to be to find a balance between hurting and covering distance without the lungs giving out. Tonight my "sprint" paces were (4:10, 4:16, 3:49, 4:08, 4:06, 4:06, 4:19, 4:00, 4:09, 3:53, 3:56). I tried altering form but I don't think much difference was made- keeping the shoulders relaxed so breathing stays relaxed is more important. If I can hold 4:12/km for 5k during Saturday's race I'll be very happy.

pgibbo

Best of luck tomorrow. Enjoy :cool:

Kurt_Godel

Sat Two Provinces NS champs (1:11:26, 85th overall, 7th AG)

Its been three years since I last did this race- it made a great impression first time around but I've missed it through holidays since. So I was eagerly looking forward to returning- in a nutshell the midlands tri clubs put on a great show; Lanesboro TC set a very high bar today (I'm sure Midlands TC will respond in kind for Caroline Kearney race ).
Not a great nights sleep, and an early start for the 2.5 hour journey, but thats part and parcel of this game, and doesn't seem to hinder me. Easy reg, then a wait around as I was in a later wave. Got to watch the Cat1 swimmers race. They exit the water so well, very impressive. The eventual winner James Edgar swam a good gap into T1. I did a warm up, got ready for my wave.

Swim (12.48)
Last night had a fair bit of chop and wind, the kids races were swim-cancelled (so I was very glad I didn't go with the plan to caravan down with Junior to race...). Today the wind had died down but still a bit of chop and wind, which had to considered with the general flow of the Shannon. I positioned central and decided to just take a straight line to the first bouy, sure I'd be correcting along the way anyhow. Had a decent start, felt good in the water, and was in the lead... or so I thought... breathing away from the chop, I hadn't noticed the few on my inside, getting ahead. No bother, I was in control on my swim, the suit felt good (placed the shoulder and knee "D"s very high, for future reference). It wasn't an easy flat swim, not terribly difficult either, but good fun all round. I exited 5th in my wave, without having pushed too hard. (Something I need to look into for next year though- I start the first half very well but others make up ground on the latter half).

T1 (1:52)
Suit off easy enough, grab the bike and go.

Bike (34:19)
It took a while to get my feet in, and this cost time, no doubt. Once going, things were good, I had the disc cover on (can't say it felt much better than last weeks C50's race), but the overall speed was up. I had a ding-dong to turnaround with one lad in an IRL suit, he would take me on hills and I'd get him on downs/flats. I need to lose weight! Hit the turnaround and headed for home, possibly not as hard as I'd have liked. I was conscious of leaving energy for the run, but a few from turnaround put a minute into me. Overall speed 34.4kph and 250W, and wasn't wrecked after it. I enjoyed the bike; 20k is a nice distance. Didn't see much drafting and I was surprised that there wasn't much congestion. The waves (with 15 mins in between each) worked very well.

T2 (0:48)
It was very muddy in trans from last nights rain, so I ran barefoot with shoes in hand to dry land outside of trans.

Run (21:47)
Again I had issues getting the shoes on. Lost some time to this, which is included in the overall time (my garmin says 4:19 average pace. Otherwise I started well enough; not blasting the bike meant I could run and hold an okay pace. There were a lot of runners from previous waves so I had targets all the way, and just held the effort in the pain/breathing twilight zone. At turnaround I counted I was 40 secs down on my bike ding-dong nemesis, and I worked to reel him in. With a km to go he was 12 seconds ahead, but he upped his own pace, and I couldn't didn't catch him (finished 8 secs behind). Changed that word, because I made a conscious effort not to bollix myself for the place, as I've been under the weather lately. Was it the right decision? I think so, but it always annoys doing that. Had a chat with him after and I'd say he would have been up for a fight anyway. Still, happy enough with my run.

Overall
I really enjoyed the race, it was a pleasure to take part in it. Hats off to Lanesboro Tri club, they really shone on the day. The best organised race I've been in, I think (putting CK into a close 2nd). The field was stacked, I finished 7th in my AG... with a bit more fight I could have came 5th. Lose some weight and I could have been in the mix for 2/3/4th, who finished closely. Looking at the svelte figures in their trisuits, a fatty like me really has no business lining up beside them...and yet I am close to the mix. Dropping weight for the next race (CK 13th August) has to be the priority, as I've obviously got a decent engine/fitness otherwise.
I've trained the last 3 weeks unstructured, and have got my health back on track (as well as rediscovering the joy of Tri, though racing). I'm away for a few days soon to warm seas, so lots of swimming to do, but the priority has to be getting under 88kg fast. Then I can get some potential from the tail end of race season.

Dilbert75

Well done Kurt. Good result, especially having been under the weather.

Kurt_Godel

Sun 10k walk
Just a late evening walk, the body felt good after the race but a walk was better than a run.

Mon 3,500m swim; 40 min easy run
8*400pb off 6:50 (6:23, 6:27, 6:25, 6:25, 6:30, 6:34, 5:55 (350m), 6:55)
100m easy
250m hypoxic set

First time in the pool in a couple of weeks, and I was happy to see solid enough form for these steady swims. I started to tire after the 5th rep, and continued to see how I could hold form. Got distracted for the 7th, but was slowing anyway. I didn't think I was slowing much slower than 6:40 pace for the last, but 6:55 tells its own tale.

Kurt_Godel

Tue 33 mins turbo; 43k easy bike

Plan:
5 easy
5x(30sec build, 30 sec easy)
10*(2 flat out, 2 easy)
5x(15s fast, 45s easy)
5 easy

Actual:
5 easy
5x(30sec build, 30 sec easy)
5*(2 flat out, 2 easy) (hard 356W, 326, 310, 298, 295)
3 easy

I figured the 2mins flat out should be over 380W+, and started at 400W. This quickly died, and as can be seen from the following efforts, I continued to struggle. They certainly felt "flat out", and so I bailed after 5 of them.

I'm going to have to reconcile something regarding my training (and turbo training specifically). The program I've followed since Oct has been pretty much full-on, very few rest days, lots of hard turbo efforts. Interspersed with periods where I've been run down, little energy in the body. I did three "easy" weeks unstructured, feeling better almost immediately, and have had three relatively successful races during that period. The thinking is that I need more rest- intuitively I also think I hurt too much during turbo training. To be fair, I've not followed parts of my prescribed training schedule, missing many long easy bike rides. Perhaps I try and compensate for this by flogging the turbo.

Either way, I'm at a stage now where I should recognise that rest (psychical and mental) is important, and factor that into how I train for the rest of the season.

*Edit* Evening spin was 43k easy along the backroads, chatting all the way. Better for the mind, and better for the body than brooding about a failed turbo session.

pgibbo

Couldn't agree more regarding rest - in both respects. A lot of the time you don't realise or appreciate the effect of work or other stresses until after the stressful period has passed.

Your recent form on the bike after the 3 easy weeks was probably a combination of recovery and those hard sessions since October. Last year I had 10 weeks off the bike from May to mid-July. I had a solid winter training before that. My races, all sprint distance, didn't suffer from a bike perspective. I put this down to the solid winter on the bike.

The good thing is you're recognising this and can address it. Another reason why generic/one size fits all plans don't work.

Best of luck finding the balance. It'll hit you in an ow swim off the coast on the Canaries :pac: Keep us posted.

Kurt_Godel

pgibbo wrote: »

Your recent form on the bike after the 3 easy weeks was probably a combination of recovery and those hard sessions since October.

Thats a great point, and emphasises I shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. There's a place for recovery, and a place for hard sessions. It can be a tricky science to balance the two!

Kurt_Godel

Wed 1.75k OW swim, 5k easy run

A nice club evening swim in Arklow, the sea was salty and flat. Myself and Myr swam out to a far bouy (that looked much closer from the shore), and stopped then to decide our next point. I looked away for 3 seconds, when I looked back I had drifted 15 meters from him. There was a strong pull this far out, and we fought it all the way back in. Met up there with Kirk, just back from injury but swimming very well, great to see. Another lap to the bouy and back, and done. Love swimming in the sea.

Straight after a very easy jog up around Arklow Rock, keeping the pace right down and the chat right up.

Kurt_Godel

Catch up
I went on holidays with the family to Gran Canaria- never did a sun/relaxing holiday before, I think it was much needed. Everyone had a great time, we stayed at a wonderful hotel in Puerto de Mogan which had direct steps down to the sea- so a lot of swimming was done. I would highly recommend this place to anyone looking to recharge the batteries.
The only downside was I stepped on an urchin during my first swim, so had to go to docs to try and take the stingers out. They got out what they could, but the remaining bits were very sore and took a long while to dissolve (I can still feel one of them). This meant I couldn't run at all, and in fact walking had to be done by tilting the foot in an awkward way.
Otherwise, a great time, food intake was very healthy, booze was limited to one Mohito disco hangover and small amounts of wine with dinner. I dropped some weight over there but still a lot to go! The only training I did was swims, lots of short sea swims, one long sea swim, nothing structured or timed or done for any reason beside enjoying swimming in this wonderful place.

When I got back I had a chat with the coach who wants me to go back structured training. I mentioned I'd entered Loughrea and was mulling going down, he suggested that mightn't be the wisest trip after limited training and a foot injury and I agreed. Long run, long bike, were prescribed for this weekend...

...which didn't happen- Sat I was preparing for an upcoming client meeting from 8am, and I was still in the office at 7pm, with more to do. I knew if I stayed local today that it would be more of the same, so I travelled to Loughrea for the sprint. Very glad I did, I had a decent race- strong swim, solid bike, and my fastest race run this year. Splits and times aren't up just yet so I'll hold back on any report, but a good race today was a direct result of training the mind rather than the body over the past while. Sometimes you need to be happy in what you are doing, to be good at what you are doing, and lately I've been very happy training unstructured.

"Sometimes" is very different than "Always" though, so structured training and dieting begins again tomorrow. CK, Tri the Hook, and the "A" race Clougherhead will be good 'uns.

griffin100

Missed you at the Barrow swim today. Still have your medal from last year in my car Was a good day, topped off by junior missy being first home in the junior 400m.