Challenging Times

rooneyjm

2016 is probably a year to forget with respect to my triathlon career. On reflection I put all my eggs into one IM Dublin 70.3 basket and it flopped. After a decent swim (for me) and a quick transition I punctured after a few km's on the bike on tubular tyres and ended up retiring. Did a few sprints after to make use of the training but the interest was gone. The wife signed me up for DCM on the sly so I did it with a couple of mates starting at the back in wave 4. Despite getting a hip injury in the last few weeks it was a good day out and enjoyed it in the end (3hrs 46).

I started back in 2011 nearly drowning in the first 2 Provences race but survived to tell the tale and followed that up with DCT Olympic the following month. In 2012 I joined Activmultisport to get some structured swimming lessons and have just progressed form there, every year getting a bit deeper. Left to my own devices I'll train 10-11 hrs a week but occasionally I get reeled in by the boss if I'm getting carried away. I swim with 3D on a Friday night as it suits me working shift, do a good bit of my cycling on Trainerroad this time of year with some commuting to Swords from Navan Rd and most of my running in the Phoenix Park.

So why now? Well a few of us hatched a plan after Dublin to put a few demons to bed for one reason or another and we picked Challenge Lisbon (7th May 2017) to do the job. Hopefully the blog will keep me focused, I'm usually motivated but just in case. Its the first year Challenge have take over the Lisbon event, it already gets good reviews from anyone I've spoken to so fingers crossed. Race entry and flights sorted so just the accommodation to finalise.

Now to targets. I'm going to aim for Sub 5 hours broken into 35min swim, 2.40bike and 1.40run, 10mins for transitions and 4.59 for other eventualities (hopefully not punctures). For the swim I'm not far off were I was going into Dublin and I did 35.13 so just need to keep that going and hopefully improve by a few seconds per 100. Cycling, again if I can get back to last summers numbers hopefully I can squeeze out 2.40. Run, probably my best of the three and I'd like to move my running on a bit this year so ill weight my training towards running slightly.

Thats all for now, hopefully I can keep some consistency over the Christmas period and hit the ground running in 2017

joey100

Bout time you started a log in here, seems like a good group heading to Lisbon. I think you need a bigger challenge than 5hrs tho.

Neady83

Yeaeeeee new log to follow Looking forward to following your progress rooneyjm.

You do shift work? Do you think that will have an impact on your training? It's tough on the body right?

MojoMaker

Good luck with this JR and Lisbon is a great race, fast course and will suit you I think.

rooneyjm

joey100 wrote: »

Bout time you started a log in here, seems like a good group heading to Lisbon. I think you need a bigger challenge than 5hrs tho.

Maybe if the training went brilliantly but id be more than happy with Sub 5. Realistically my swim will be 35+or- a minute, my bike may be a bit better than 2.40 and my run a bit quicker than 1.40 but lets just get around this one or else ill have to be talked down off something

rooneyjm

Neady83 wrote: »

Yeaeeeee new log to follow Looking forward to following your progress rooneyjm.

You do shift work? Do you think that will have an impact on your training? It's tough on the body right?

Yeah, this place runs 24/7 so very few of my weeks look the same. Always juggling. I've being doing shift a long time so i've become accustomed to lack of sleep, sometimes it hard to know if im tired from training or lack of sleep. I've two young kids in the mixer as well so its great fun. You can feel a bit flat after 3 night shifts and you need to watch you dont get run down, my wife just says "you look like sh1t" now and again and that usually a sign to take it handy for a few days. Just keep on truckin.

rooneyjm

Monday 13th
After two solid weeks behind me this week may not be as productive as we have to go to a wedding on Friday in Roscommon. That rules out Friday night swimming and Saturday so ill just have to get done what I can. With the kids off to see the big man from the North Pole I headed off swimming and running.

Swim (70mins - 2.75km)

• 400 warm up
• 4x50m kick
• 4x50m (rotation drill)
• 10x50m off 60sec (coming in at 50sec)
• 200m easy with pull buoy
• 100m (rotation drill)
• 10x50m off 60sec (coming in at 50sec for 1-3, then times started to slide a little, 53sec)
• 200m easy
• 4x50 all out effort off 90 (46,45,46,47)
• 200m warm down

Run Intervals (40mins - 7.5km)
Quick towel down and onto the tread mill. Do this session a bit rather than getting showered, heading home and trying to get back out later on which wouldn't happen. In work tonight anyway so its the best use of my time.

• 15 mins easy
• 4x3mins @ 15.5kmhr/ 3.52perkm with 2 recovery
• 5 min warm down

This went fine. Could probably push these a bit but have had a tight hip flexor the past few weeks and didn't want to push my luck. Had an issue with the outside of my hip back before the marathon which I got sorted with dry needling. Then it moved to the groin and again more needling. After DCM the hip flexor became tight so just keeping an eye on it. No issues anyway so hopefully I can push on over the next while. Signed up to the Rahney 5mile at the end of January so it would be nice to give it a good effort.
S&C - 20mins
Had a bit of time so just did some basic exercises

rooneyjm

Monday 13th
Run Intervals (40mins - 7.5km)
Quick towel down and onto the tread mill. Do this session a bit rather than getting showered, heading home and trying to get back out later on which wouldn't happen. In work tonight anyway so its the best use of my time.

• 15 mins easy
• 4x3mins @ 15.5kmhr/ 3.52perkm with 2 recovery
• 5 min warm down

This went fine. Could probably push these a bit but have had a tight hip flexor the past few weeks and didn't want to push my luck. Had an issue with the outside of my hip back before the marathon which I got sorted with dry needling. Then it moved to the groin and again more needling. After DCM the hip flexor became tight so just keeping an eye on it. No issues anyway so hopefully I can push on over the next while. Signed up to the Rahney 5mile at the end of January so it would be nice to give it a good effort.
S&C - 20mins
Had a bit of time so just did some basic exercises

rooneyjm

Not sure whats going on with the editing on this thing, seems to have a mind of its own

rooneyjm

Tuesday - Turbo 60 mins

Into the garage for a turbo session. Radio NOVA on and off we go.
3x12 minute Sweet Spot efforts. Did the 1st effort at a higher than normal cadence (92rpm), was able to hold the power ok but HR ended up at 160 which is above Sweet Spot. 2nd one I did at my normal cadence (85rpm), expected my HR not to get as high but finished exactly the same.

Wednesday

Swim- 65 mins- 3km
400w.u.
6x400m (3pull buoy, 3 with fins alternating)
200w.d.

Run- 30mins easy 5.5km

rooneyjm

Thursday

RUN- Long run (80 mins 15km)

Kept the Heart Rate around 140 for this. Headed for Blanchardstown and wrapped back around through Castleknock. Wasn't breaking any records with the pace but considering I wasn't running this time last year I'm happy enough. 3rd 80 min run in the last 3 weeks so will bring it to 90 next time out.

rooneyjm

Friday/Saturday
Friday and Saturday were a complete write off. 2 kids plays, a wedding in Roscommon and Aladdin in the Helix. Took the shine off an otherwise good week missing a swim on the Friday and 3 hrs on the Saturday.
Sunday
In work Sunday so cycled in and out, approx 90mins total.
Monday
Took the day off to finish the shopping and get the boss her presents. She came with me as its better than having to bring them all back and get her the stuff she really wants. Went for a bit to eat and had a sneaky glass of vino (tis the season). After we got home I jumped on the turbo. Did 90 minutes on trainerroad (Antelope - 5x10min sweet spot efforts). Normalised Power for the 90 was only 10watts under my best and that was with fairly easy recovery valleys of 5 minutes so should be in good shape to push on come January.  Wine didn't seem to have an effect so might try a glass for all turbo sessions.
Tuesday
Dragged my carcass out of bed at 06.20 to go swimming. Bit sluggish to get going 2.6km

• 400 w.u
• 5 x 400m (pull fins pull fins pull  
• 200 w.d.

rooneyjm

Wednesday
RUN - Tempo 4 mile. 2 mile warm up 4 mile tempo (6.54, 6.53, 6.46, 6.51), 10 min cool down. Up and down paths in the dark, trying not to get a bang of a car, not ideal but what can u do

Thursday
BIKE - Got an hour turbo done on trainerroad. 5x7 min sweet spot efforts, each 7min effort broken into 7x1 mins decreasing slightly then increasing. The hour passed quickly. Working on increasing my natural cadence.

Friday
Last day in work, hit the pool early. 400 w.up, 4x50m kick, 4x50m off 60sec. Main set 10x 100m off 2.00. 200m cool down.
Found a 70.3 plan earlier in the year with some good sessions. One of them was 100's and adding 2 every week, simple but I found them effective. Got up to 20 off 2.00 mins before Dublin and found it a good confidence booster. Will look to get back up to the 20 and then try them off 1.55, that should translate to a minute or so improvement for the 1.9k.

Probably not much going to happen over the next few days, maybe a little run tomorrow. Have 9 adults and a few kids on xmas day so I'll be flat to the mat prepping.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS PEOPLE

rooneyjm

The days are becoming a bit of a blur, so working backwards.

Today - Friday
Headed out for a spin with a few from the club. Cycled to Clonee to meet them, then a 2hr spin around Meath and cycle home. 73km in 2.40, lower back was pinching a bit towards the end but great to get out.

Thursday
Did an hour in the pool, nothing fancy. 800m warm up
4 X 400m pull bouy

Tuesday
Got out on the bike around the Phoenix Park for 70 minutes. Could have done a turbo but sun was shining so make hay and all that. Few laps with the Kyber thrown in.

St Stephens Day
Again a smashing day, loads out. Did 7mile. Got faster as the miles went on so just went with it. Got back and did 20 mins S&C, pressups, lunges, squats

joey100

Any new bike from Santa?

rooneyjm

joey100 wrote: »

Any new bike from Santa?

Na, bag of coal. I still have the promissory note though. I'll keep an eye on the sales.

rooneyjm

Suppose I should lay my stall out for 2017.

Sub 5 for Challenge Lisbon
Sub 2.20 @ Caroline Kearney
Sub 38 min 10k
Sub 3.10 DCM

Lisbon I've discussed. I've never gone under 2.20 for Olympic and just missed out by a couple of minutes at C.K. in 2015, so a bit of an unfinished goal form a few years ago.
If I can nail my running then I think the rest of my goals will fall into place, so I'm aiming for 38 minutes for 10k. Current pb is 39.20 so a bit of work to do. If I can get that then I should be on for sub 40 off the bike (which is a little secondary goal) in CK and get the 2.20.
If I'm still in one piece I'll go for 3.10 @DCM. Pb is 3.23 in NY 2015. You would think it's flat but the bridges are a killer. 3.10 will stretch me but it's easy to be ambitious when it's 9months away.

That's the easy bit now to get done

rooneyjm

New Years Day- Run- 70 mins

Been meaning to get back to a bit of hill work so no better day than New Years Day. Few nice hills at the bottom of the Kyber Pass so headed there via a 3 mile warm up. I won't lie I've had a few beers and one or two roses so wasn't sure what to expect.

Plan was to do 10 hill efforts(250m ish) with an easy jog back. At the bottom I did 10 body weigh squats and 10 p ups to add a little S&C. Got the ten reps done at a push, hr was 170 at the top of each rep. 2 mile jog home.

Monday
Swim - 60 mins - 2.85k
400m w.up
4 X 50m off 60
22 X 100m off 2.00 mins with pull buoy
50 back stroke

RUN - 35 min easy
S&C - 15 mins

rooneyjm

Tuesday - Run/Bike/Run

Evening session. Decided to run before and after my turbo session as I usually do a few duathlons early season. 2 more base weeks then 8 weeks build and 8 weeks half iron, loosely following the trainerroad plan. Small bit of VO2 work before the build phase.

Easy 20 mins, 2.5miles. straight onto the bike, 12 X 1 mins @ 120% FTP with 2 recovery between efforts. Was able to hold these handy enough and blasted one just to see what I could hold for one minute. 360 watts but I faded badly after 40sec. 370 is my best so I'll take it out next time.
Same 2.5 miles after but I pushed the pace a bit

On a side note, I know I don't have any specific bike goals for the season, well 2.40 in Lisbon is one is suppose but I'll start by increasing my power across all times on trainerroad as mini-goals and get my FTP into the 260's

rooneyjm

Wednesday 4th

Not in work until the weekend so this is usually a good week for training as kids go to crèche in the morning.

Swim - 60mins 2.65km
• 400 warm up
• 4 x 100m kick with fins
• 4 x 50 fast off 60sec
• 50m side kick
• 13 x 100m off 2.00
• 300m warm down

Planned to do 12x 100 but they were going well so added an extra 100. The first 10 all came in at 1.48 or better so I was pleasantly surprised. Working hard but manageable. Times slipped to 1.50 for the last 3 but overall a good swim session. Not often I say that.

RUN - 55mins 10k

20 min easy, 2x 10min tempo efforts, warm down. Had to dig in s bit for the tempo efforts (4.17per km/ 14km/HR)

S&C 10 mins - usual stuff

rooneyjm

Thursday

Hip/hip flexor has been feeling a bit tight over the last few weeks so decided to take the bull by the horns and get it looked at before it gets worse. Got some needling done last night and instantly felt better. More stretching required( I hate stretching)

Today I allocated to a Turbo, 2hrs. 4x 20 mins tempo efforts @ 200watts, 5 recovery. All went ok and NP for the 2 hrs was 185, only 5 off my best so getting there and I wasn't killing myself. Did a bit of a stretch after, visions of the physio sticking needles in me.

rooneyjm

Weekend of nights just done so didn't get much time to post. Flat out in work, not good.

Friday 6th

Swim- 2.7km 4x400 main set
Run- 12km easy - 65mins


Saturday 7th BENEFITS OF THE BLOG

Bike- Turbo 90 mins. 3 x20 mins sweet spot efforts. First 2 ok but the 3rd I started to suffer. After 10 mins I could have knocked it on the head but didn't want to have to report I cut an interval short. 5 to go and I was done but just put the head down and focused on smooth pedal strokes, 30 right, 30 left and I got there. HR was way up at the end, night shift probably not helping. IMO there is now way I would have done this on the open road so it's part of the reason I like using Trainerroad.

Sunday

Not sure if I've mentioned this before but as a rule I don't train on Sundays. It's nothing to do with baby Jesus but years of let's call them "discussions". So one day where I don't mention training or try escape. Seems to be working as we haven't had a "discussion" in a while.

Overall a good week, 3hrs Swimming, 4.5 on the turbo and the same running. A little S&C thrown in and the wife is still talking to me.

Kurt.Godel

rooneyjm wrote: »

BENEFITS OF THE BLOG

Bike- Turbo 90 mins. 3 x20 mins sweet spot efforts. First 2 ok but the 3rd I started to suffer. After 10 mins I could have knocked it on the head but didn't want to have to report I cut an interval short.

One of the main benefits of these training logs IMO, you don't want to report a half-hearted turbo.

rooneyjm

CHRISTMAS PUDDING & CUSTARD

Is it ever a bad time to have Christmas pudding and custard, probably not. Anyway so Friday night I stepped on the scales and it was obviously out of calibration. 79.5kg, holy fcuk. Needless to say that the end of pudding and custard, see u in December.

Monday

Just had time for one discipline tonight so opted for a tempo run. 10 mins easy then 50 mins @ 7.10 per mile, 5min cool down. 7 mile done @ tempo and a workout total of 13.8km

This tempo was done at the slower end of the range pace wise but done for longer. Closer to marathon pace than half marathon pace but the longer duration gives the desired effect. I'll look to extend this run over the season to 1hr+ and hopefully the HR will stay steady as it did jump over the last 2 mile today as I worked that bit harder to maintain the pace.

rooneyjm

Kurt.Godel wrote: »

One of the main benefits of these training logs IMO, you don't want to report a half-hearted turbo.

A bit like having a coach in a way, you don't want that awkward conversation.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

rooneyjm wrote: »

CHRISTMAS PUDDING & CUSTARD

Is it ever a bad time to have Christmas pudding and custard, probably not. Anyway so Friday night I stepped on the scales and it was obviously out of calibration. 79.5kg, holy fcuk. Needless to say that the end of pudding and custard, see u in December.

On a positive front you are 1kg lighter than the same time last year:)

rooneyjm

Rayden Shy Oceanographer wrote: »

On a positive front you are 1kg lighter than the same time last year:)

Ever the optimist. How's the form, are you still going ahead with the semi-retirement

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

rooneyjm wrote: »

Ever the optimist. How's the form, are you still going ahead with the semi-retirement

All good, in full flow of semi-retirement. Doing 2-3 runs a week to keep me from having to buy a new wardrobe of clothes (fat clothes thrown out years ago). Good luck with the sub 5, well within reach and 4.50 on a good day!

rooneyjm

Tuesday
Did a bit of core work and foam rolling while the youngest was having a nap. Jackyback put me on to it a few years back. Your mans a bit annoying but you just follow him for 20mins and it's done. A few twinges on the tempo run so just give them the once over and roll them out.

PM - Return of the Max

Short 45min VO2 Max session. 2 X (3x2mins @ 120%). Have to say I don't miss these bad boys. It takes a minute for the HR to get into the right zone but once it does they sting. Bit of fatigue from the tempo run but I can hardly wait for the longer sessions 😀.
Short 4km after, a plod more than a run, very handy.

Wednesday

Feeling tired this morning but have to make the most of today and tomorrow if I'm going to stay on track.

Swim - 75mins- 3km
• 400m wu
• 1000 as 250 pull, 250 fins, repeat
• 10 x 50m off 60sec
• 400m pull
• 10 x 50m off 65sec
• 200 wd

No point try to kill a load of 100s here, I knew wasn't at the races. Faded in the 1st set of 50s but got through it. Gave myself an extra 5 for 2nd set.

RUN- Long-90mins (17km)

The most exciting thing that happened here was the pool staff trying to throw some old lad out of the jacuzzi for wearing tracksuit bottoms. Didn't give up to be fair to him, rolled them up and did a sit in protest.

More mental than physical that one but minimal hip twinges so that's one positive. Back to the park next week I think.

rooneyjm

Thursday 12th

90min turbo on the cards, 2x 30min sweet spot. Power was fine, my heart rate only hit 150 in the last minute of each effort so never got into that sweet spot zone which Trainerroad says is 151 to 153. Maybe I'm reading too much into it but maybe it's time for a FTP test, which is kind of handy because I'm due to do one next week. Another thing to look forward to

Kind of had enough at the end, threw the runners on and headed for the other local park (D Bogeys) for a 35min run. Felt fine once I started running.

rooneyjm

Friday

Back at 3D swimming tonight for another 11 weeks, it's amazing how quick these blocks fly by. With that in mind, after the warm up a bit of a pep talk from Mark about making the most of the next block.

300 easy while some of the late comers get their disco pants on
400 w.u as 16x 25m every 4th fast
Straight away I get a rocket up the arse about my slow turn over and pausing at the front of my stroke. I don't mind it at all it means he's looking at me and it's what I need.
100m Easy
Full of motivation we go into 5x 200m off 4.10

With my new lightening quick stroke rate I come in @ 3.35, to fast, now we are cut to 4.00
Slow down a bit 3.45
3rd one was to be the fast one, thinking I'm going to pay for the 1st one. 3.40, ok but I let someone else take the next two out. 3.40 and 3.40

Thinking we'll just wind down we go into 9x100 off 1.55. Long story short we got them done, just about.

2.7km Total

A commitment to up my stroke rate over the next block as I'm sure Mark is getting a pain in his face saying it to me.

And buy a tempo trainer or should I say another tempo trainer. Good tool but not very reliable.