Is there anything to be said for another mass?

Right, Friday is usually my rest day so I guess it makes sense to do my updates at this end of the week.

This week was all about recovery for me. I did Dublin Half Marathon on Saturday, and the rest of the week became about getting my legs to talk to me again after that.

Before the race I had set my target pace at 6:30 per mile hoping that I might be able to find 15-20 seconds in the later part of the course to bring me in under 1:25. For the most part everything went to plan. I kept an eye on the Garmin (set just to record average pace), and was never more than 2 seconds per mile off target, and even under target for the most part. In the end, I missed the sub 1:25 by 24 seconds. I'm putting this down to two things - I stubbornly kept in line with what the garmin was telling me, even though I could see at each mile marker that it was over calculating my distance run (it showed 13.2miles at the finish), and I faded a little in the last two miles coming in at about 6:40 each. I was annoyed with myself afterwards, as I think I could have found those 25 seconds; but in retrospect its still a fairly big PB (previous from May last year was 1:29:58), and those 25 seconds will give me something to work towards in the short term!

Sunday my legs were in bits, so I wasn't fit for much. 30 mins on a stationary bike @ the gym and 800m swimming.

Monday 10 miles easy and 700m swim

Tuesday 5 miles easy on my lunch break. Felt off in the afternoon so took the evening off

Wednesday 5 miles easy and 1k swimming

Thursday (first day without leg pain!) 5 miles.

No hard sessions as I wanted to focus on recovering properly. (I really was in bits on Sunday!)

Total run: 39.1
Total swim: 2,500m

Plan for next week is long run (20 miles) this Sunday, with a hard run midweek (say Wednesday). I'm heading to a training session with a local running club on Saturday morning to see how I get on and to arrange racing cross country over the winter months. I'm trying to keep swimming ticking over until the tri club start up their training sessions.

Monday: 5 mile recovery run planned. Felt like I actually bonked at 1.5 miles, started coming round by 3 miles. Had to cut this short (4.5 miles) as I was running late due to ridiculously slow running.

Tuesday: 5 miles easy. Feeling much better. 400m TT 7:33 - little below my best, but I think I'm a little tired at the minute (due to run training and work). Another 400m done then shower.

Wednesday: interval session. 1 mile warm up, intervals increasing from 1 min by 5seconds each to last interval of 2 minutes (1:00, 1:05, 1:10, 1:15 etc). 45 seconds recover after each. Tough session but got it done. 1 mile jog back to the office to cool down.

Split sessions planned for tomorrow 5 and 5 - 10 mile total.

8 Miles Saturday steady and wearing my xc spikes in advance of Sunday (bad idea)

6k xc race Sunday in drogheda. Flat course, good surface. Came 7th and was first man home for our 'B team' who came second in the team prize. Delighted with a medal! Feet not used to the spikes though and ended up taking a decent amount of skin off my right heel. Not keeping me from training or anything but sore. 500m swim in the afternoon.

5 miles steady Monday lunch time

2 x 5 miles steady today.

Interval session tomorrow afternoon followed by a swim (1k) in the evening. Had hoped to get a long run in but it's not realistically going to happen with work etc. will plan to get a 15-18 miler in on Saturday morning. Xc race then on Sunday.

5 miles steady Thursday.
Rest day yesterday.
18 miles with 5 at PMP today. Comfortable enought throughout. Good confidence booster for DCM I think.
8,000m XC tomorrow in Dundalk. It's going to be hard. And sore. And all those other words.

Taper starts here I guess. 12 miler next weekend and then it's only a week to go :-/

Following Sundays XC the cut on my heel which had been healing nicely got worse. I've decided to take a bit of time off to let it heal up properly. In the interim I've done 1.25km swimming Monday and Tuesday, with the same again planned for this evening (and tomorrow). Hopefully everything should be healed up nicely in advance of DCM, and I'm telling myself that the fact I can't run isn't the worst thing in the world as I was due to be tapering anyway.

:-/ aggghhh!

Up at six this morning to get a bit of breakfast and head for my first masters swimming lesson at 7. Put myself in with the 'beginners' lane as I had no clue where i stood. Turns out I seemed to be stronger than most of those around me and was told the 'intermediates' might be more appropriate by one of the guys in my lane. Always nice to get a confidence boost! I have a good idea of what might constitute 'training' now as opposed to just doing lengths. Good start to the morning!

Eight miles easy after that. Heel, though not fully healed was fine. All very comfortable 8 minute miles. I'll plan to do the same tomorrow (including some swimming beforehand) and then i can concentrate on resting up for the rest of the week!

5 miles yesterday

3 today.

Having to talk myself out of heading to the gym each evening.

Woke up Saturday with a cold. Didn't go for the planned swim in favour of rest and hoping to clear it in advance of Monday. Collected my DCM race pack Saturday afternoon and got to bed early.
Spent most of Sunday morning in bed. Feeling a good bit better by lunch time... Phrased out for 2.5 mile run starting easy and building pace to 7 min / mile. Felt good, and finished up cautiously optimistic for Monday. Dinner of steak, salad and sweet potato, plenty to drink all day, packed and bed early.

Monday: up at 6 for breakfast, my supporters club (my parents) picked me up at 7:30 and arrived at merrion square at 8:30. Queuing for a portaloo meant that I missed the 9:00 start but I decided I was better getting my business done first! Started out on my own roughly 5 minutes after my wave on my own. Felt good for the first half - comfortably at 6:52 per mile.
Around mile 15 I started feeling a bit of pressure, but was still well able to hold my pace. 18 miles was my prearranged point to meet my mum with 2 gels for the last part (2 taken at 7mile and 14 mile). At this stage I was starting to suffer - pace dropped to 7 minutes per mile resolved to slow down through the water stations to ensure I got enough fluid on board - in truth, it was probably far too late at this stage. Had to slow to a walk around 21 miles and again passing RTE, walked through the water station coming onto merrion road. Despite the stops I was still making (I think) 8 minute miles and was rationalising that if I could keep this up it wouldn't be disastrous. At about 24 miles I was passed by the 3:20 pacers - knowing that I started out over 5 minutes after then I thought that if I could latch on they'd bring me in at sub 3:15 (lemons and lemonade and all that...) just as I tried to pick up the pace my right hamstring cramped up badly had to stop and took what seemed like an age to get myself in a position where I could continue (a very nice lady gave me a bottle of water which, if it didn't help physically certainly helped psychologically!).
I struggled on the last 2 miles in an awful state. Crossed the line in 3:20:05 disappointed and feeling completely awful.

Turns out I was badly dehydrated, spent the afternoon vomiting and generally feeling sorry for myself. By about 5 or so I was feeling a lot better and fit to eat. May not have been the wisest choice but I decided that a Chinese take away would have all the sodium and carbs I needed to refuel! Despite the disappointment (and swearing to myself that I'll never do /that/ again), by the time I'd been fed and had a little time to reflect I've decided the following:
- I'll definitely be back; this time the marathon won - but I'm determined to give a proper account of myself.
- my training next time will incorporate more longer runs (20 mile plus) - the highest I did this time was 20 miles.
- more pmp sessions
- don't get a cold 3 days in advance

Makayla Abundant Scoutmaster wrote: »

Hard luck, marathons are tough. We had lot's of people dropping off the last 4 miles in our group (3.20 pacer), the run in from the flyover into the RDS can be a difficult stretch even more so with trhe slight headwind we had.

My attitude in most things is 'PB or blow up'. This time I blew up I suppose! (3:20 is still a PB, since it's my first I guess!)

Either way; I've learned more than I might have if I'd been more cautious. One of those things being that marathons are about a lot more than fitness and speed.

Dory Dory wrote: »

Because this is your first marathon, perhaps that explains why you didn't follow the example Oryx and I set by relieving ourselves behind the loos. You'll learn...oh, and welcome to the club.

If I could have I would have, but doing /that/ on baggot street wouldn't have been cool! (TMI)

Masters swimming yesterday morning. I think I'm getting the hang of this! I'm certainly not as terrible as I expected. Coach seems to be taking SWOLF scores at the end of each session to track progress. Mine is 92 (46 seconds for 50m and 46 strokes). Not really sure how that reflects, but as I understand it that number should start to come down over time.

10 miles easy after that. Lovely feeling to be finished for the day and showered by 10am on a saturday morning!

Louth Senior XC Championships this morning: 10,000m over a good surface with 5 laps. One steep hill and one shallower drag; Steep descent maybe 400 metres from the finish. From 20 seconds in I could tell I didn't have the usual strength in my legs I might expect. Either way; I raced my race - I had a Drogheda AC man breathing down my neck for the last 4 laps, but managed to hold him off, and a Dunleer man came close to passing me in the final straight, but I got the better of him in the sprint. Once the race settled into it's pattern I only dropped one place (to a team mate); so I guess I can come away happy enough. I came in 31st of 61 and behind a few from our own club that I should definitely be beating. I'm sure I'm not full recovered from DCM, and I still have a bit of that cold. The 10 miles yesterday probably didn't help either. Good experience though. The team came away with a number of medals, and there was a good bit of banter beforehand, which I definitely enjoyed.

I'm considering doing the Clontarf Half Marathon in a couple of weeks with the aim of going sub 1:25. I'll defer the decision till I see how I'm recovering mid week.

Weight is also down; 12st 1lb this morning!

Onwards and upwards!

Thursday: 5 mile steady at lunch. No swim in the evening as had to stay late in the office :-(

Friday: usual day off

Today:
- 70k spin with the club on the bike. First time on the bike in 2 months; I had notions beforehand of doing extra afterwards, but I suffered a bit on this spin. Heart rate seemed to be roughly where it normally is, but I just didn't feel great. Bike fitness will soon come back I'm sure. Good to get out with the lads and have a bit of craic etc. looking forward to our 'advanced' training spin tomorrow morning - 100k with a coffee stop; always great banter.

6 mile run this evening - my knee started playing up in the last mile. I might need to take a week off to let it (whatever it is) heal up. Might be due a new pair of shoes too.

1,000m swim afterwards. 2 x 250m; 250m sculling; 250m to finish.

Ill advised pizza and beer tonight!

100km bike tomorrow morning and will look to get an hour in the pool in the afternoon.

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Nice days work!

All being undone with beer presently!

Monday: an hour in zone 2 on the rollers
Tuesday: 40mins swim and 45 mins rollers again in zone 2
Wednesday: same as Tuesday starting to feel a lot better on the bike. Hopefully I'll feel more like myself this weekend.
Thursday: day off due to mother in laws birthday celebrations!

Think I'll plan to run tomorrow lunch time and get some bike time in the evening. Everything seems to be to ticking along ok. I'm down to 11st 13lbs this morning so making slow progress on the weight front too. I see the TI calendar has been published, the CI one didn't change from year to gear last year so I probably have enough info available to actually start making a plan for 2014!

Wife is coming up on 16 weeks pregnant too, so I'm sure that's going to have an impact on my training!

Thanks! We're delighted!

Nothing in stone yet. DCM in October will be a big target - I have unfinished business! I'll be selective about cycle races, but have a good idea which courses will suit me from last year. Will look to do at least one sprint and oly tri. Have my eye on some local duathlons which I think I can do well in too.

Saturday: 1 hour swim lesson with tri club followed by 4hrs / 105k on the bike. Finished with 10/15 minites with a foam roller which was more painful than I ever remember a foam roller being. Have to get one of my own so I can do this regularly. I suspect my knee pain is down to IT band issues.

Sunday: 2.5 hrs / 65k bike followed by 1,500m swim and 15 mins foam roller.

Apart from the fact that I'm itching to run I'm happy with the weekend.

45 mins on the rollers this morning. Plan to meet with one of the more experienced members of the tri club as part of a 'buddy' system to get some swim pointers tomorrow evening.

Makayla Abundant Scoutmaster wrote: »

Just on the knee issue, do you run on roads with a camber or is your local routes flat/good surface.

I would have said they're generally good surface and largely flat. I've also tried to do a bit more running on grass in the last while, but probably not half enough.

TBH I think the real cause of it is probably trying to keep up too high a mileage after the marathon. I could feel my legs getting tight but pushed on rather than back off. Which is never the right answer in retrospect, but very hard not to do at the time!

Left work on time Tuesday evening, shovelled my dinner in and raced across to.the gym - My 'buddy' didn't show. Great stuff.

2k swim on my own, not what was planned but a swim nonetheless.
80 minutes on the rollers yesterday evening.
Swim planned for this evening.

Not a bad week for training all things considered. (Not a great one either)

Monday: 60 minutes on the rollers
Tuesday: 2k swimming
Wednesday: wife's birthday, no training, made pig of myself
Thursday: 3k run. Little bit of tightness in my knee about 2.5k so turned for home. Hopefully it's healing - I only managed 1k before the same thing last time. 2k swimming.
Friday: dads 65th birthday this evening. No training. Hopeful of keeping pig self under control.

Masters swimming in the morning followed by 3hrs zone 2 on the bike.

Looking back at some of my Garmin files from when I bought the swim watch in September - I appear to have made little or no progress in the pool in three months. I think some one on one lessons might be in order - I'll ask around for recommendations.

I've also had a look at the TI calendar in conjunction with a few other things and I've a fair idea of my targets for next year:

February / March / April: Sportsman Duathlon Series (3.2k run, 18k bike, 3.2k run). I did race two this year off the back of loads of bike, but minimal running and came 13th. Think a top 10 finish in race 2 or 3 should be a realistic result depending on who is there on the day. I can also aim to beat last year's time of 56:33.

June: Crooked Lake Triathlon (sprint): I have no idea what kind of goals to set for my first tri; maybe just finish. I should have a better idea of what to expect from myself by then.

June / July: an Olympic tri. Carlingford may be a good one to do as it's local, but I'll wait to see what date etc.

August: Half Ireman (half IM distance). This will depend on how my first forays into tri go. The sole aim here will be to finish, but I'll maybe set some specific goals once I've a better idea of what I'm capable of.

October: Dublin Marathon. I think two (maybe 3) goals is appropriate for this
1) a PB. Better than this year's 3:20:05
2) sub 3:10 should be achievable given a good injury free run up. I feel like I could have done close to this this year.
3) long term goal is sub 3

I'll also plan to do a bit of bike racing, run a couple of road races throughout the year, do some xc in the new year and next autumn / winter as this year it was great fun, and try fit in more tri's if possible (e.g. blackrock sprint, or clougharhead are local and should be doable). If they're timed right I should be able to pick up a few PB's along the way. (10k and HM running and 10mile TT bike ones are ones I'd particularly like to get down to sub 38, sub 1:25, and sub 24 respectively).

Tired just typing all of that.

115k / 4 and a bit hrs bike this morning. Solo as I got my wires crossed. mostly zone 1/2 slipped into 3 accidentally once or twice.

2.5k run straight after 6:40 / mile pace.

Feeling guilty I won't get a swim in. Does this make me some sort of triathlete?

mossym wrote: »

first tri to olympic to half in 3 months? any worries that's a lot of stepping up in a short time?

not saying there is anything wrong with it, might be well within your abilities.

It may well be a bit much. The half is going to be dependent on how the shorter distances go (and how much training I can do once baby arrives). I'll also be treating it more as a bucket list kind of thing. I know I won't be at the front of the race, but I think I can get around. It might also be valuable to do one with no pressure first so that I've a better idea of what I'm training for the following year when / if I'm looking to be more competitive over that distance. In some ways I think I should have approached the marathon like that this year.

mossym wrote: »

can't argue with that, it's my approach, but over a longer period than you, first sprint last June, with a couple of oly's at the end of this season to get a feel. Mainly oly next year, but targeting one half at the end of the season to get a feel for it.

I think it's a little of the cycling racing mentality maybe. Best thing I ever realised was 'what's the worst that can happen?' You'll suffer and you'll learn something about yourself. I've often bitten off more than I can chew in the past 12 months or so but I've never regretted it (that's not to say I'm advocating going mad, but I'd err on the side of taking a calculated risk than playing things conservatively.

mossym wrote: »

Fair play. i;d agree with taking the calulated risk. i guess the starting point is the important bit, if the fitness is there already or not. i foudn ramping up too quickly was getting me injured, the running specifically. hence the slower appreach. if you can ramp quickly, then thats not a concern

yeah, this should probably be caveated with the fact that I'm just coming back from a knee injury due to overtraining!