Winter Miles, Summer Smiles

Kurt_Godel

Sat 21.1k run in 2:04

A dark, wet and very windy morning, we splashed through Arklow puddles up to the trails, onto the sodden golf course. Here we took off our shoes for some proper barefoot running- it felt great, if a little cold on the feet. Back on with the shoes, climb a hill onto more trails, up over a very gusty hill, and down through Glenart forests and home. We kept the pace very easy- slower than 6min/km- for a very enjoyable half marathon.

Kurt_Godel

Sun 2 hour easy turbo, 7k easy run 5:16 pace

An early start, a crap movie, and an easy 167W turbo. Quickly followed by a splashy 7k forest run.

Kurt_Godel

Mon 6km easy run 32mins; Masters swim

Nightmare day. I had to take the wifey shopping to Dundrum... I am useless to have around shopping. After 10 mins of following her around she told me to bugger off and do my own thing; meet back at this spot in 2 hours. Fine, I sat there against the railing and waited... after an hour the security guards told to to spend some money or get out of their shiney Emporium, so I looked around the sports shoe stores... useless tat sold by unenthusiastic yokels. Went into TKMaxx and perused their shoe section. They had a pair of Brooks PureCadence 3 that fitted me, 5mm heel drop, so I gave them a shot. Took 'em for a spin tonight around Arklow, nice shoe.

Masters swim:
300m warm up
10*50 as (25k, 25 drill, 10s)
Main set- all at 1:30/100m pace:
400m, 40s rest
300m, 30s rest
200m, 20s rest
100m
2 min rest
100m
200m, 20s rest
300m, 30s rest
400m, 40s rest
400m swim down

The main was a little messy as regards draft, but pretty much everything was done between 1:25-1:32/100m pace. Didn't feel great in the water, but my stroke is now good enough to hold together when tired.

1,500m TT on Thurs...

shotgunmcos

Kurt_Godel wrote: »

1,500m TT on Thurs...

Based on your times and a short pool. Surely you can cruise 1:30 pace now so?

Kurt_Godel

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Based on your times and a short pool. Surely you can cruise 1:30 pace now so?

Ha, no better man for cutting to the chase!:D Always up for a bit of swim (over)analysis, so...

I wouldn't get close to 1:30 cruise pace for anything much over 500m. My last 1,500TT was 6 weeks back (23:42 or just under 1:35/100m pace) when I was swimming well and often. The past few weeks I've not been in the pool as often as I'd like, and as you know too well, swim form suffers rapidly if not maintained 3+ times per week. You can surprise yourself by over-achieving in a run or bike TT after a slack few weeks, but not so in swimming. I'll be aiming to beat the last TT time, but not by any large amount. The aim will be to maintain 1:33 pace per 100m- which doesn't read like much difference but is night and day when it comes to holding form over the 1,500m distance.

shotgunmcos

Your swim volume may not be huge but 5:48 400 and recently you laid down 5x400 with a 6min avg for your first 4 (range 5:55-6:05 or so)

You hit 23:42 on your last TT so either your base is poor which begs the question as to why you are doing Jane Fonda on the deck during sets if improving your swim times are the objective, or you are sandbagging :P ?

Kurt_Godel

Jane Fonda

Don't think I'm sandbagging- the 4*400 (av pace 1:30) had 2 mins rest between each, the TT was 1:27 pace... targeting 1:33 pace for 1,500m seems about right to my mind?

Kurt_Godel

Tue 58 min turbo

13 easy
4x(1 HC, 30sec easy)
4x(30sec build, 30sec easy)
5x(5 mod hard, 1 easy)
5 easy

The 5min mod hard came in:
270
277
272
272
291

Nice HR chart

Kurt_Godel

Wed 5.45k @ 5:30/km

Junior was coughing after school yesterday, felt worst today so stayed home. Now I've started coughing...

Felt crap on this easy run, HR was much higher than it should be. Throat is starting to scratch- might have to concede defeat.

Kurt_Godel

Thurs 6k easy run; Masters swim 1,500mTT

400 easy
10*50 as (25k, 25fist, 10s rest)
1,500m TT (23:11)

Set the watch to beep every 93 seconds, so I'd have an idea of where I was at each 100m. There were four of us, the lad who led came in 20:xx so he was off doing his own thing. I went second, after discussing who was targeting what time. Thought that would establish we'd stay in a train unless the pace dropped, but...

I felt good from the off, the pace was manageable, on the cusp of cruise pace, in that I noticed if I put in more effort. Swimming well, tumbles going well. The two lads behind were a constant 10m back, but the faster lad passed after 700m and the other two were up to me now. Felt my toes were being hit after 800m, a little annoyed about that as my pace was bang on where I said it would be. I let em past but to no real benefit to anyone. Soon the other guy hit my feet too, so I let him pass. I guess to be fair any train is going to get discommoded if one speedster is cutting up past a few times. In any case I didn't want to take any draft myself, so stopped for 5 seconds at a wall a few times, to let some distance build. In the end we three slower ones all finished together so there was little point in passing, if you ask me. However, one could also say there is little point in doing a TT if you are always on feet, so maybe they were right to want some time at the front.

Felt good at the end, over 30 seconds off my last TT. 1:32/100m pace average. Could I have gone any faster? Sure Mike already answered that one a couple of days ago

griffin100

There are too many variables in comparing TT's from packed lanes. Get yerself down to an empty lane over Christmas and do an honest TT. My 2c

Kurt_Godel

griffin100 wrote: »

There are too many variables in comparing TT's from packed lanes. Get yerself down to an empty lane over Christmas and do an honest TT. My 2c

Yeah I agree with you, too many variables for the time to be etched in stone. If my aim was pool racing I would do another TT for an honest time, but for now I'll just take what I need from this one and move on. It's progress, it's validation of stroke changes made since September, it's an experiment in breathing on 2 over distance; all these things will matter more come the OW, than a time on a clock.

pgibbo

Did you breath on 2 for the 1500? Always to the same side or mixing it up if you did?

Spot on with your analysis above on the merits of doing another one.

Kurt_Godel

pgibbo wrote: »

Did you breath on 2 for the 1500? Always to the same side or mixing it up if you did?

Spot on with your analysis above on the merits of doing another one.

Bilateral breathing for the first 200m or so, then a mixture of BE 3/2, and BE 2 for the last 1000m (same side).

I lose speed when turning to breath so its a trade off. BE2 makes things more comfortable at that pace, but too much of this will unbalance my stroke. Fine during a TT though.

joey100

I find something similar Kurt, every 3/2 works well for me, Find breathing every 2 slows me down and throws out my timing. Encourages me to throw my leading arm around too and then the body follows it and I start snaking. 3/2 works for me as a balance for this. Sometimes, especially during a race I will go 3/2/2/2 and then back to 3/2 just to get breathing under control, especially if I have to work to catch feet or close a gap.

Kurt_Godel

Fri 6k easy run 5:08 pace

Legs felt heavy again today, and I'm coughing a bit. Enough to convince me to go and enjoy a few scoops tonight and pass over the race tomorrow. The duel has been postponed until late Jan, by mutual agreement. Since thats several weeks away and talk is cheep, I look forward to kicking his ass.

Kurt_Godel

Sat 16k easy run 5:34/km av pace

Club AGM last night, followed by drinks... good fun, and I just about had enough sense to leave at midnight, so felt fine this morning. Its been spitting rain all morning and I'm glad I didn't travel to the Aware 10k as conditions in the Park were dire. Got out for a LSR, splashing through puddles, and having to u-turn at a few flooded roads. Pretty enjoyable run, just adding to the distance to make up 90 mins.

Kurt_Godel

Sun 2:35 easy turbo (150W); 10.21k easy run 5:29/km pace

Its another miserable day round here, Nov and Dec have been most bleak. Thank grud for the turbo, hopped on for an easy spin while watching the first 3 episodes of Fargo 1979, what a well-written show.

Then later out to tick the streak box, I extended the run a little to take in the fresh air while there was still daylight.

shotgunmcos

Hey, good effort and result on the TT. A PB is a PB and thats a decent chunk off! Well done

Kurt_Godel

Mon 6.17k easy run 5:26/km pace; 2,200m Masters swim

200m warm up
6*100 (odds 50k,50fist; evens 100pb; 15s rest)
10*100 on 1:30 (as many as you can, stop when you don't make it)
400m swim down

The pool is starting its crazy Xmas hours a week early, meaning our slot was moved to 5-6pm. A mad dash to get there and changed, into the water and off we go. The main set was as many 100's in a row as you can, with the stipulation to stop if you don't make one, and then finish them off with a bit of rest in between. The problem was we were squished into one lane, ok there was only 4 of us, but varying degrees of speed. One lad went on 1:20, me 1:30, another 1:50, and a fourth just did them with pb... very difficult to keep any consistency going. I figured beforehand the speedster would catch me towards the end of my 6th rep, but in the end we both got held up on my 5th... so I only managed 4 in a row.

The positives to take from this are:
1) I'm swimming sub 6min 400's for fun now, and
2) there's a big difference between 1:30 pace and 1:32 pace (my pace for the 1,500TT recently).

Kurt_Godel

Tue 6k easy run, 5:32/km pace

A very easy run around the drizzly streets of Arklow, HR way down at 144 av. Done after a meeting with Swim Ireland people- now there is an organisation that knows how to inspire. Working on development for the club over the next few years. A lot of work for Coaches, Committee and parents, but after the run I was back at the pool and saw the smiling faces as all the fish did their thing. Its a great little club we got down here.

Kurt_Godel

Wed 45min easy turbo; 30mins easy run

Turbo was fine, I was told to up the Wattage during easy spins so average was 195W. Watching the final episode of Fargo, the second viewing is the better one.

Another grey, wet, windy, misty sort of day. Glad I'm not 17 again and listening to the Smiths in this weather. Easy run, okay then.

Kurt_Godel

Thurs 5k run 6:13/km

Felt crap all day, my joints are sore and I've a cold shiver. The dog was barking all night so sleep was limited... and I'm busy at work. Moan moan moan.

I plodded for the slowest 5km in ages, HR was higher than it should be. Perhaps I'll wake up with sense tomorrow.

Dory Dory

Merry Christmas Kurt! I received something in the mail....from the Irish Santa!

Kurt_Godel

Dory Dory wrote: »

Merry Christmas Kurt! I received something in the mail....from the Irish Santa!

Delighted it arrived! Couldn't let those fancy Roka goggles go unrequited- Merry Christmas Dory

Kurt_Godel

Fri 1st Jan 82 min easy turbo 183W

I had a good family day on the 25th, and a good New Years Eve party last night. Sandwiched in between was a fairly miserable week of illness- coughing and headaches and zero training. I'm still harbouring some lingering germs, but hopefully they should go soon.

Mid-Dec represented the success point of a career journey started several years ago, and the sudden loss of stress brought with it a compromised immune system. Amazing how much the body can carry itself through long stressful periods, only to collapse when rest is taken.

Anyway, a poor weeks training, but thats in the past. Here's to a successful 2016, and to hitting some targets. Happy New Year!

Kurt_Godel

Sat 1:32min easy turbo @ 187W av

More of the same today, I opted against a nice club mountain run as I'm still coughing a bit. Sweated out some impurities on the turbo.

I weighed myself yesterday, 92kg, so I put on about 4kg over Dec. Shedding that will be the January focus.

Kurt_Godel

Sun 10k easy run @ 5:46/km av

First run in over a week, along the swollen river. I found it easy at the start but overall my HR was way higher than it should be. Ended up with 163bpm av, which is crazy high and tells its own story. The slight hills were a killer, so I'm glad I skipped yesterdays hill run.

The trot itself was good, the river had burst it banks in Tomnafinnogue forest, so I took the middle and high roads which were a total slopfest.

Kurt_Godel

Mon 30 min easy run; 2,900m Masters swim session

Run: 5.62k @ 5:26/km pace. HR 156av
Met up with Mick for a long overdue trot. Pity it was so short, it was good catching up. He's doing R'dam Marathon so hopefully I'll get to join him on some long runs. Company makes runs so much easier!
HR was way higher than expected, again. It ramped up into the 170's after 20 mins.

Swim:
400 warm up
6*75 as (25k, 25fist, 25sw; 15s rest)
20*50 as (odds) 50pb, 15s rest; (evens) 25k, 25MAX, 15s rest
3*(50back kick, 25k, 25MAX; all with fins)
10*25hypoxic (3,2,1,0,0,0,0,1,2,3; all with fins)
400m cool down

Busy tonight at the Masters, lots of Xmas blubber on show too! This went smoother than I expected, although my breathing was a bit tighter than expected (I only made one of the "0" hypoxic). Good to be back at the pool

Dory Dory

Is that slogger jogger who's doing Rotterdam? And I'm glad you're glad to be back at the pool!!!