TW3 IMFF Week 27

Monday 30th April 2012

Week 27 completed

Hours Trained: 17H 21Mins
Swimming: 6K (3.7 Miles)
Cycling:  132 Miles
Running: 40 Miles

Week 27 done!  This was my biggest week to date and it actually felt pretty good.  The big impact on family life is really starting to kick in now with nearly 8.5 hours of training on Saturday and Sunday alone. 
The cycling volume is starting to build up now and this makes the legs feel a bit heavy for the running - but it is all good.

Next week is another big week and it is my last heavy week before easing off a bit next week ahead of the Half Iron distance race on Saturday 12th May at Tri an Mhi.
http://www.trianmhi.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=107&Itemid=2

Here is the week ahead.

A tough call but the right one.

Sunday 29th April 2012

Running
02:57:50 - 18.01 Miles (09.52 per mile / HR Zone 2 / 81% Max)

This run was always going to be a bit of a test, doing a long run on the back of such a long cycle yesterday.

The legs felt reasonably OK but after about 2 or 3 miles I was starting to feel a little bit tired and wondered how I was going to get through it. 

This really felt like a bit of a crunch moment as it would have been easy to just cut the run short and put it down to tiredness from the long bike.

I made the decision that this was not going to happen and I had to work through it all as this was only a fraction of the tiredness i would feel on the big day and i would have much tougher mental challenges than this to come through.

 

 

I "Iron-ed" up and worked through it. After a few more miles I started to feel a bit better and was managing to hold a steady pace - albeit not the fastest pace I have ever done.

 

I was pleased to see the end of this run to be honest but I was very pleased at how I toughed it out.  Plenty more of these still to come.

3 Men in Lycra and 3 burst rubbers. Oooh Matron!

Saturday 28th April 2012

Cycling
05:29:18 – 79.02 Miles (14.40 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 74% Max / Cadence 79rpm)

The weather held up really well for my longest ride of my training to date.  I was looking forward to this a lot and I was joined by my friends Donald and Jim.
(Donald is doing IM Lanzarote in 3 weeks time after winning an all expenses paid entry via Triathletes World - nothing like a 5 week training plan to do one of the hardest Ironman events in the world!!)
The route was a lap around Lough Neagh - approximately 80 miles.  It turned out to be pretty windy for the whole ride and this probably slowed us down a bit.

It turned out to be a tale of punctures and soft tyres.  The tone was set after Jim punctured at about 1 mile in to the ride.
This was followed by another one at about mile 30 and then another at about 65 miles  - all of these were for Jim.  Nightmare for him.  He was also suffering with the tyre going soft in between punctures and having to stop and pump it up every few miles.

On the whole the ride was really good, I was pleased with the way it went but slightly disappointed in the pace.  I had hoped I could have gone a bit faster - but i did feel comfortable the whole way through and this pace would give me about a 7.5Hr Ironman bike ride - this is not too far off the pace I am looking for.

Big thanks to Jim and Donald for the company throughout and I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did.

Jim in the usual position of fixing a puncture

Donald full of concern at Jim's misfortune and taking the chance to refuel!

Bezerk Monitor.

Friday 27th April 2012

Swimming

01:30:30- 3500M

My longest swim to date and I am really happy that it went so well. I had reckoned on it taking me about 1 1/5 hours and that was exactly what it was.  I am a little disappointed that it wasn't a touch faster, but I will take it OK.

Running
01:00:00- 6.85 Miles (08.45 per mile / HR Zone 3 / 87% Max)

This was a bit of a strange one to start with as my Heart Rate monitor was going bezerk and reading really high. The readings levelled out but never really came down low enough to reflect the run in Zone 2.

I was pleased with the pace of the run and how it felt.

Tomorrow is a big day with a long cycle planned around Lough Neagh.

A wet lock out.

Thursday 26th April 2012

Cycling
01:06:02 – 18.00 Miles (16.40 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 77% Max / Cadence 85rpm)

PLEASE STOP RAINING!!!
Yet ANOTHER wet and windy ride.  I am really getting so tired of this.
I must sound like a broken record about the weather for cycling but I honestly feel like I have had about 3 dry rides in the last 6 months.  The wind is just the final straw.

Despite the conditions I focussed on keeping a steady cadence and trying to keep the pace up.  It went pretty well actually and I am glad I just did 1Hr.

I then had to wait at the front door for about 5 -10 minutes as everyone was out and I had no key.  Locked out of my own house.  Stupid really.

Orange Goggles

Wednesday 25th April 2012

Swimming

01:05:360- 2500M
First swim since my trip to New York - 2 weeks out of the water and I was dreading this a bit.
Thankfully it wnet really well and although a wee bit slower it felt good to be back in the water.  The new goggles I bought in New York were great.  Same as my old ones but with orange lenses.

Brick Session

Cycling
01:00:00 – 23.32 Miles (23.32 MPH / HR Zone 1 / 69% Max / Cadence 85rpm) Turbo session

It was really horrible outside - wet and very windy so I decided to do the bike session on the turbo tonight and catch up on a couple of episodes of 24.

Running
00:17:25- 2.00 Miles (08.42 per mile / HR Zone 2 / 85% Max)

A decent wee run off the bike.  It is definitely easier running off teh Turbo than the bike out on the road.  The legs don't feel anywhere near as fatigued.  Even still, it was a good brick.

i'm too sexy for my . . . Lycra Calf Compression guards!

Monday 23rd April 2012

Running
01:00:00 - 6.58 Miles (09.07 per mile / HR Zone 2 / 82% Max)

Decent run today.  I think the break in running has done me good.  I felt fresh and the pace felt pretty easy - the old heavy leg feeling has gone.

 

Tuesday 24th April 2012

Cycling
00:55:14 – 11.74 Miles (12.70 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 81% Max / Cadence 79rpm)

A really great hill session early this morning. 4 sets up the Pond Park Road.  This was the first time doing 4 sets and it felt really good.  It was brilliant to be back on my good Cube bike as I have been off it for about a month while it was being fixed.  It felt a lot easier to pedal up the hill and the average time for each climb set actually got marginally better as I went on.  Each set is 1.38miles and the 4 splits were 9.4 / 9.37 / 9.31 / 9.24.
I am delighted with that.

Running
01:00:00 - 6.52 Miles (09.11 per mile / HR Zone 2 / 85% Max)

Another consistent run - pretty much identical to the one yesterday in terms of pace and how it felt.  Legs felt great and i was wearing my new Calf Compression gear.  A great buy from SLS Tri in California. (unfortunately I did not get to collect in person.) A fantastic company and amazing online service.
 http://www.slstri.com/athletes.html
  Not my legs in the photo by the way!  Mine are better!!

TW3 IMFF Week 26

Monday 23rd April 2012

Week 26 completed

Hours Trained: 8H 37Mins
Swimming: 0K (0 Miles)
Cycling: 105.89 Miles
Running: 9.26 Miles

Week 26 done. I am hoping that this is the end of the interrupted training now.
I really feel like the last 3 or 4 weeks have been pretty poor with low volumes and quality of training and it is panicking me a bit as I only have about 10 weeks left to go.

Suddenly I am not feeling very fit and as though there is a really long way to go.
I really need to knuckle down over the rest of the training schedule and try not to miss any planned sessions and get the most out of the quality from these.

The only good thing is that the foot injuries I picked up over the last week or so seems to have eased off and is feeling much better.  I am hoping that it has gone away and will not impact on my running over the coming weeks.

I have decided not to do the 5K Swimathon on Saturday which I entered quite a while ago.  I do think that I could do it OK, however it would mean compromising on my Saturday Long run, and I think that is more important than the 5K Swim. 
I also plan to do a long ride on Sunday this weekend and would love to do the Lap the Lough route around Lough Neagh which is about 82 miles.

Here is the week ahead.  It's a big week.

Riding before the tour

Thursday 19th April 2012

Cycling
03:22:52 – 50.00 Miles (14.80 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 72% Max / Cadence 80rpm)

I had to try to get a longish ride in before heading off on Ben's rugby tour for the weekend.
For once the weather held up pretty well and it was quite nice.

Happy with the ride although the pace dropped a bit over the last 10 miles or so which was a bit disappointing.

Knackered, in a New York sort of way.

Wednesday 18th April 2012

 

I was supposed to swim warly this morning but I literally could not get myself out of bed at 5.30 as I think that the New York travel and time difference finally caught up with me.  Boy I felt knackered!!

 

Brick Session

Cycling
01:00:00 – 15.60 Miles (15.60 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 76% Max / Cadence 82rpm)

A decent bike part of the brick session. My legs felt pretty heavy but the pace was steady throughout and I never felt under any sort of pressure or tiredness - just heavy legs.

Running
00:30:00- 3.26 Miles (09.12 per mile / HR Zone 3 / 86% Max)

A slightly longer brick run this evening to try and push things on a bit as I know I will be missing a bit of training this week AGAIN as I will be on rugby tour with Ben (My Son).
The legs felt even heavier getting off the bike but loosened up fairly quickly and it was my first run in the new K Swiss Tubes.  They we re pretty comfortable but the noticeable thing was the slightly odd noise they make when running.  I think this is due to the hollow tubes under the show,  No doubt I will get used to it or it will go away as the tubes loosen out a bit.

I was going to run early tomorrow morning again, but I felt completely knackered this morning and I am going to give it a miss and just do a 3 1/2 Hr bike session tomorrow evening - seeing as the nights are getting a bit brighter now.

The day the music died.

Tuesday 17th April 2012

Cycling
00:45:00 – 9.20 Miles (12.30 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 80% Max / Cadence 73rpm)

After giving myself a bit of a battering last night on a tough ride, I decided that the best thing to do was to get up at 5.30 and do my hill sets up and down the Pond Park Road on White Mountain.

I am delighted at how it went -  the time of all 3 sets were within 30 seconds of each other which shows a good degree of consistency.  The legs felt OK throughout and the only down side was the biting cold on the descent which was really biting.

Running
00:56:00- 6.00 Miles (09.20 per mile / HR Zone 2 / 85% Max)

I knew that things may not go well on this run as everything I did in preparation seemed to go wrong - I put my shirt on back to front - the Garmin went dead - the ipod went dead and my foot is still a bit sore.
I put the ipod and Garmin on to charge for 10 minutes just to give them a bit of juice to see me through the run.
I was also looking forward to running in one of my new pairs of trainers which I picked up in New York.  The new Asics Nimbus 13.  I haven't used the new K-Swiss Tubes 100 yet but am looking forward to getting them on too.

The run was a bit sluggish as I haven't run in a week and the sore foot slowed me down a bit too - but all in all it was OK - But typically - the Garmin died at 2.5 miles closely followed by the ipod about 1 minute later!! Balls!  I was loving listening to Lissie again.  But the music died.

I hope the foot feels better soon as it is a bit uncomfortable to run on.

"Why does it always rain on me?"

Monday 16th April 2012

Cycling
02:03:54 – 31.09 Miles (15.10 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 80% Max / Cadence 81rpm)

After having a week off training while I swanned around New York, I thought it was time to get back in to the swing of things again, so I headed out on the bike this evening.

Once again the weather was rubbish and I pretty much had 2 hours in the wind and rain racing against the ever reducing light.
The last 10 miles home were really miserable and my clothes were soaked and my waterproof gloves were doing their trick of keeping the water in!!
I did find myself humming the Travis song "Why does it always rain on me?" - it just seemed appropriate.
Over 350M of elevation combined with wind and rain made this a pretty touch training ride, so I am delighted to have averaged over 15 MPH.

Back in the saddle again, so to speak.

TW IMFF Week 25

Monday 9th April 2012

Week 25 completed

Hours Trained: 9H 19Mins
Swimming: 2.5K (1.55 Miles)
Cycling: 102.03 Miles
Running: 8.68 Miles

Week 25 done.  I knew that the Easter break and heading up to Donegal would have an impact on the training schedule and it did.  I missed out on about 1 swim and 2 runs.
To be honest I am not all that worried about missing these as my running schedule has been pretty solid over the last few weeks and I was more concerned about getting the bike mileage in.
Although I would have liked to get a few more miles in, I am pleased to get another 100+ miles week in and also good quality too I think - plenty of hills and wind.

Next week's training plan is virtually blank as I am off to New York Baby!!  I always had planned in a week off for this and if I am lucky I might just squeeze in a tourist run around Central Park.

When I get back from New York there needs to be a concerted effort for the last 12 weeks and I will need to do my best to get all the sessions in and really crank up the mileage on the bike.

That's all for now folks - see y'all.

From Donegal to Central Park - sounds long.

Sunday 8th April 2012
Running
01:02:41- 7.00 Miles (08.57 per mile / HR Zone 2 / 82% Max)

It is Keara's birthday today but she was still kind enough to let me head out for a short run.  nice and windy again in Donegal - just for a change.

Decent pace and tantalisingly close to getting back to 1HR for the 7 mile mark.

Last run for a while as we head to New York next week.  Oh Yeah!! New York Baby!!  Here I come.

I might try to sneak in a run round Central Park if I can - sounds like good fun.

Hare racing in Donegal.

Saturday 7th April 2012

Cycling
03:31:13 – 51.04 Miles (14.50 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 77% Max / Cadence 78rpm)

After having to postpone my ride on Friday I managed to get out.  Yeah!!  I was really looking forward to a hard but scenic ride in Donegal, heading from Marble Hill to Creeslough, Carrigart, Millford, Ramelton, Kilmacrennan, Glenvaegh and back through Creeslough.  Quite hilly.
It started out as a lovely morning - nice and clear but with a hint of dark danger in the sky.

And by God did the dark skies come rolling in.  By the time I got to Creeslough, the skies had started to open and the wind was picking up.

I did see a really big Hare run out in front of me and head up the road at a rate of knots ahead of me - it was lovely to see a Hare as they are not all that common now and it was a beautiful sight.  really big too!

I was making good progress through to nearly Milford and then the wind really picked up and the pace dropped a bit and then I hit a short sharp slope that actually was good fun because it twisted up and around and looked a bit like a low alpine hill. Lovely.

All went well until I started to get back towards Glenveagh, which is a tough enough road as it is Bleak and isolated and the wind was blowing hard.  The rain picked up too and at one point I was in my lowest granny gear and standing up on a flat just to keep going forward.

I was pleased to get back home again and very pleased with the effort and average pace.  I did feel good and could have gone on and done another 20 miles or more.

Wet but enjoyable.

Try Try and Try again. (No pun intended)

Thursday 5th April 2012

Cycling
01:30:00 – 23.24 Miles (15.50 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 76% Max / Cadence 83rpm)

Early morning ride on a fantastic clear morning.  Even though it was freezing, it was absolutely beautiful with the sun coming up and not much wind.
I felt really strong on the ride even though I had knoocked out a tough brick session the night before.

Friday 6th April - UPDATE - long ride in Donegal was planned for this morning to be about 65 miles.  CANCELLED!!!  Weather is totally crap and I couldn't get out for the ride.  I will hope to try again tomorrow!

Layering up and tired legs - it's all good.

Wednesday 4th April 2012

Swimming

01:04:00- 2500M
Early swim again.  Pretty much the same time again as the last few times.  Not a bad thing but it would be nice to get a little bit quicker - please!!

Brick Session

Cycling
01:03:18 – 17.00 Miles (16.100 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 75% Max / Cadence 78rpm)

A Slightly longer bike for the brick session tonight and a return to our winter again.  I can't believe how bad our weather has got again.  It is so annoying to have to layer up in APRIL!!
I pushed it a bit on the way out and average about 18 mph even with an annoying side wind.  Coming back the cross wind moved a bit to the front and the pace slowed a bit - but I still pressed on as I really wanted to tire the legs out before the run to really get the benefit of the brick - and it worked!!

Running
00:15:00- 1.68 Miles (08.56 per mile / HR Zone 2 / 75% Max)

Legs tired -Check.
Horrible weather - Check.
Crank out a brick run -Check.

Really pleased with the run - Good Stuff.

No big shakes.

Tuesday 3rd April 2012

Cycling
00:53:11 – 10.75  Miles (12.10 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 77% Max / Cadence 70rpm) 346M of elevation.

Another hill session this morning early on.  It was a horrible wet mizzly morning, with wind and cold.
It just made the climbs that much harder but the value of the training went up because of it.

I am definitely feeling a bit better on the hills and I think that this type of training is paying off - bit by bit.

I was meant to run tonight - but I have a bit of a sore joint on the big toe ( a recurring problem) so I decided to lay off it tonight - no big shakes.

Just Giving - Raising Money for Cystic Fibrosis Trust

I began the journey / odyssey / adventure / training to "tri" and become an Ironman back in October 2011 and the journey will hopefully reach it's culmination at Frankfurt in Ironman Germany on the 8th of July 2012. (after what will be 9 long months of training)

For those who don't know; an Ironman is a long distance Traithlon where I will do an open water swim of 3.8K (2.4 miles), Cycle 180K (112 miles) and then run a Marathon 42.2K (26.2 Miles) all within a time limit of 15 hours.

Ironman has been called the ultimate single day endurance event, and I can testify to that. It is a challenge of body and spirit - both of which will take an almighty battering during the long day.
I would love to raise some money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust along the way because as hard as an Ironman may be, it is nothing compared to the fight, determination and strength that children with CF display every day. They are the stars with real endurance and if by raising a few £s we can help make CF stand for Cure Found, then the efforts of everyone involved will be very worthwhile.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please dig deep and donate now.

TW3 IMFF Week 24

Monday 26th March 2012

Week 24 completed

Hours Trained: 13H 08Mins
Swimming: 4.25K (2.64 Miles)
Cycling: 100.70 Miles
Running: 32.03 Miles

Week 24 has been my biggest week to date with a total of over 135 miles logged.  I am particularly pleased to have broken through the 100 miles on the bike this week - albeit by 0.7 miles - but at least it was a landmark.  I am very pleased with my running and even when I was training just for a stand alone Marathon I would not have done this many miles on a regular basis.  (Probably explains why my Marathon times never really improved!)

I am bit concerned about the impact to my training over the next 2 weeks as I have the Easter Bank Holiday in Donegal and then a 5 day trip to New York.  I really should not be complaining about these great trips - but it just happens that they coincide with me being jittery and nervous about my perceived lack of Bike training and sub 100 days-to-go nerves.

I will work something out and just hope that the firm foundations built through the tough winter will stack up for me and that I will not lose fitness.  God knows I certainly won't be building it much over the next 2 weeks.  I will be lucky just to maintain it.

Here is the week ahead:

Falling for a Scone

Sunday 1st April 2012

Cycling
03:29:46 – 53.95 Miles (15.40 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 73% Max / Cadence 79rpm)

I had been invited out by my neighbour to join his regular Sunday group today.  I must admit I was a bit nervous joining in as I was hoping that I would not be holding them up or even worse getting blown straight out the back of the pack and left for dead a long way from home.

As it turned out, they were a great bunch of fellas and girls and I managed to hold my own in the mid pack the whole way.

I had originally planned to do about 4.30 hrs, but we did less than that as actual riding time, but the time we were out was quite ab it longer than that - mainly due to a forlorn and fruitless  search for an open coffee shop along the way.  Nowhere open in Downpatrick, Killyleagh, Saintfiled or Temple.  So we eventually got a coffee and Scone when we were only about 4 miles from home - but my treacle scone tasted fantastic.

I am so delighted that I paced myself really well, and felt very comfortable the whole way and in the first 25 miles was averaging almost 18 mph.  On the way home from Saintfiled, I managed to hold on to the fast guys for about half the way and then just fell off them a bit - but it went really well.

One minor mishap was when I pulled up to the kerb in Saintfield where the faster guys had pulled over ( at a closed coffee shop) and hit a bit of gravel, recovered the slide but could not unclip and fell flat on my side right in from of the bunch of guys.  Not he best way to make an impression on people you don't know.  they were not too rough on me and thankfully both the bike and I were undamaged.

Really enjoyed it today but I am slightly starting to worry about my biking in that I think I need to do more mileage and longer "long" rides. I need to work on this now.

17 is the magic number.

Saturday 30th March 2012

Running
02:40:43- 17.00 Miles (09.27 per mile / HR Zone 2 / 81% Max)

I was looking forward to this long run today.  It may sound stupid saying that about a planned 2hr45min run - and maybe only other Marathoners can appreciate a mad statement like that - but - this is the longest run I have done in almost a year and I know my running has being going pretty well so far and I was hopeful of a good steady pace and feeling in control.

Thankfully there were no ill effects from my night out the previous night and I felt good starting out.  I would be mostly running down the tow path in to Belfast to collect my Car which had been left there the night before as I was on the booze.

It was a lovely day for a run and I am so pleased that it went well.  I paced almost every mile about the same - probably with only 15 secs per mile difference in the splits and it felt nice the whole way.  I do think that I could have gone a wee bit quicker at the end if I had wanted too - and I didn't feel too tired when I finished.

Good result and all went to plan.

Running for a Pint.

Friday 29th March 2012

Swimming
01:22:04- 3250M

My longest swim ever and it went really well.  Felt good throughout and could have comfortably done another 20 lengths. Really pleased.

Running
01:00:00- 6.65 Miles (09.01 per mile / HR Zone 2 / 82% Max)

Managed to sneak in a good run from the gym after work before we headed out for a few pints and a meal with the guys from work.  Pace was really good and felt well under control.  I think the prospect of a couple of pints lured me back at a faster pace than I went out at - maybe that should be my training method - have a cold pint waiting at the end of every session as a reward!!  Mmmmmmm Nice.