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.