I'm ready to go. Let's Bring it!

Unbelievably I set off for Zurich tomorrow.  I can't quite comprehend that over a year ago I pushed the button to enter Ironman Switzerland and here it is. 
I'm feeling excited and not really anxious.  I remember at this stage two years ago before Frankfurt I was a bag of nerves but at the moment I'm pretty relaxed.  I have no doubt that I'll be nervous as it gets closer to Sunday.
This week is a pretty easy week with a focus of just keeping loose and fresh with very light training.


Monday 21st July 2014


Swimming (00:49:04 / 1450M)


A very easy session with the Club tonight - just what I needed.


Tuesday


Cycling (00:54:56 / 15.56 Miles / 17.00 MPH / HRZ 2 / Cadence 84)
Brick Session


Just a fairly easy session just to keep the legs spinning over.  It was a really beautiful evening for a ride and it's such a pleasure to be out on a night like this.


Running (00:15:00 / 1.81 Miles / 00:08:17 per mile / HRZ 2)
Brick Session


A wee run straight off the run and it felt fantastic.  So easy and the pace was effortless. 




Wednesday 23rd July 2014


Swimming (00:53:00 / 2250M)


This is the last of my early morning sessions. Will I miss it?  Not a chance.  It's lovely to know that the 5AM alarm will not be going off again to hit the pool.
The swim itself went very well and like everything this week was easy paced.

Achilles be gone!

Friday 18th July 2014

Swimming (2500M / 00:53:00)

Finally!  After pretty much a week of doing nothing because of an Achilles injury, I was able to get back in the pool and knock out a reasonable swim.

My Achilles started getting sore again on Tuesday and on Wednesday it was really sore. After an appointment with the Physio and lots of Ibuprofen and icing on the tendon it has been getting better day by day.
It's just typical that with about a week to go until ironman Zurich that I pick up an injury and it's the old (un)faithful Achilles Tendon.


Sunday

Running (00:34:09 / 4.00 Miles / 00:08:34 per mile / HRZ 2)

This was going to be an interesting and important run for me.
It was the first run in almost a week and would be a good test of how the Achilles was  holding up.

I took it really easy just so that here was no risk at all. I'm both pleased and relieved that it went well and I felt no pain.

So, if all now goes to plan I should be able to get through to Zurich with no more problems.

I can't quite believe that it's only a week from now.

Not quite the week I'd hoped for but not bad. Tapering soon.

 

Monday 7th July 2014

Cycling (15.55 Miles / 00:54:25 / 17.30 MPH / HRZ 2 / Cadence 75)

Yes this was my normal commuting ride in and out of work, however it had been preceded by a 5.15AM wakeup call and a 120 mile drive home from Donegal first.

Then I get to the house, grab my gear and bike and head in to work.

A long way to drive for a short cycle.

The good news was that the ride in to work was possibly my fastest ride in ever.  You’ve got to love the school holidays for cutting traffic volumes.

Swimming (1750M / 00:40:54)

Club session in the pool and once again I went my own way and just did a straight through set in order to help with my endurance swimming.

It felt really good and the time just flew by.  Hilary was aiming to do the same as me, however when I stopped to take a drink after 750M she just kept going and ploughed through.

Another decent wee session, although I did notice my left shoulder joint was getting a bit sore.  Nothing bad but just enough to notice.

Tuesday 8th July 2014

Cycling (23.48 Miles / 01:48:00 / 13.00 MPH / HRZ 2 / Cadence 68)
Elevation 673M

Rather than doing the usual hill repeats on Pond Park Road tonigt, I decided to mix things up a bit and just go for a really hilly ride.  Fortunately I don’t have to go too far from home to get some reasonable hills and I was joined by Ian tonight as he is preparing for a really hilly Olympic distance Tri called the Browns Bay Beast. Sounds good doesn’t it?

We headed up the Pond Park Road, just once and then made a route out towards Dundrod, which takes in part of the Ulster Grand Prix Motorcycle racecourse and is pretty rolling.

I’d decided to take us on the back roads around to the back of Divis Mountain and then through to the entrance to the road up the Mountain.

There are a lot of grinding type hills and it was tough enough going at times.  Ian was sticking at it manfully and grinding his way through.  Complaining a bit as he went but still just plugging away.

I felt reasonably good, which was just as well because we were pretty soon at the foot of Divis and looking at a tough climb to the top.

The last time I did this climb it went OK but I remember that the last 400M or so is pretty steep and is an all-out effort to jump on the pedals, so I wasn’t really looking forward to it.

The good news was that the weather was great and we were being rewarded with fantastic views over 360 degrees.

Unfortunately for Ian, he slipped his chain on the ascent and suffered a bit of a cut to his leg.  (His photos and commentary later would lead you to believe it was a near death experience and he was lucky to keep his leg – but it wasn’t too bad.)

It meant he missed out on the opportunity to “summit” but he got pretty well up.  Lucky for him he missed the final part which feels like a 25% gradient.  I’m sure it’s not but it just feels like it.

I must admit that this time up was still hard but it felt easier than last time and it was certainly quicker too.

The rest of the run was mostly downhill with some pretty quick sections all the way back to the house.

A really decent ride out with challenging climbs, fantastic views and great company.

Wednesday 9th July 2014

Running ( 01:00:00 / 7.42 Miles / 00:08:05 per mile / HRZ 2)

This was aimed at being what I am calling a mid tempo run.  I’m trying to keep within my HR zone but more towards the upper end of it. Which to me feels like running at a controlled faster pace.

It was a really good run, pacing and breathing felt good and there was even a bit of heat building so that was nice to chuck that in to the mix also.

I’m pleased to be able to run 8.05 pace inside Heart rate zones now.  That is a huge improvement on 6 months ago.

Cycling (78.28 Miles / 04:42:37 / 16.60 MPH / HRZ 2 / Cadence 78)

This was my last long ride before I cut the volume down a bit for my taper in to Zurich.

I was looking forward to this ride as the weather was decent and I had a nice route mapped out which would provide a reasonable amount of climbing broadly similar to Zurich.

The only thing I noticed as I hit the road was a bit of a breeze blowing.  Hopefully it wouldn’t be too bad.

I was going rally well and averaged 18MPH for the first hour and right about that time, I got to Ballynahinch and encountered the headwind.  It was more than a breeze and was hitting me smack in the face and making progress a bit more laborious than it had been.

This wind continued right in to my face all the way through to Carryduff and beyond to Purdysburn.

I finally got a turn and it became a strong side wind.

Heading back towards Lisburn and out towards Ballinderry then Aghalee and Lurgan, the wind seemed to ease off a bit and I made up a bit on the average speed.

The rest of the ride went along pretty well through to about 70 miles and I seemed to drop a bit of energy at this point.  Maybe it wasn’t enough energy going in but it’s something I need to be careful of on the main event.

Happy enough with the overall ride and average speed.
 

Friday 11th July 2014

Swimming ( 3500M / 01:21:20)

ANOTHER early start for the 5.30 swim.  I really will not miss these early morning swims and to make things worse the water was pretty damn cold this morning.

I had it in my head to do 3500M as I missed out on swimming n Wednesday after nursing the shoulder in case it got worse and thankfully it was fine today.

I also missed out on a bike / run brick yesterday as my Achilles Tendon had become a bit sore and I decided to rest it.  There’s no point doing anything dodgy at the moment as I need to be in the best shape possible in  two weeks’ time.

This swim went Ok.  Just OK.

The pace was the same as the last time for 4000M which is consistent, but it just felt a bit flat.  Rather than doing my usual sets of 750M, I just decided to go through to 2500M with no rest, take a wee drink at 2500M and then crash the rest of it.

This went great until I started to feel belly rumblings at about 2000M.  I held it in until 2500 and then had to make a swift exit for the loo.

Once I got back in the pool feeling refreshed I managed to finish out the set pretty well.

Only a couple more early morning swims before the big day thankfully.

The plan for this weekend is to do a 15mile run and then rest on Sunday.  That will then

Big hill session, long runs, lots of swimming and I'm feeling ready to go.

Tuesday 1^st July 2014

Blooming heck!  July. Where did that come from?

Running (01:02:40 / 8.00 Miles / 00:07:50 per mile / HRZ2)

Early run before work and once again it was really lovely heading up the tow path towards Shaws Bridge from Belfast and back down again.

I’m delighted with the pace and even more importantly, the pacing of the run.  Very evenly paced and steady miles.

The run is coming along nicely.

Cycling (20.36 Miles / 01:27:55 / 13.90 MPH / HRZ2 / Cadence 68) Elevation Gain 735M

PP Hills X 7

Another hill session this evening and I was determined to get 7 repeats in.  Last time I just didn’t feel like it but this time I was doing it.

It felt pretty good for the initial few and I was joined by Aaron for the last few as he was also doing a lot of repeats.

The average pace for each repeat was steady and I just slowed a bit on the last couple but they came in at  - 7.52 / 7.47 / 8.05 / 8.27 / 8.34 / 8.55 / 9.19 - AVG 8.24

I’m pleased with the session and that average is probably my best for a sustained session.

Wednesday 2^nd July 2014

Swimming (3000M / 01:14:00)

Another early session and I don’t have too much to say about it apart from the fact that it was very steady despite taking me about 30 lengths to feel like I was swimming with any sort of form at all.

Running (00:51:21 / 6.00 Miles / 00:08:33 per mile / HRZ2)

A really easy 6 mile run today.  I just wanted to do the run and feel very comfortable throughout,  it surprised me how easy it felt at this pace and my Average Heart Rate was only about 80%. I think there’s a good base of strength coming through there.

Cycling (17.89 Miles / 01:07:03 / 16.00 MPH / HRZ 2 / Cadence 73)

This was meant to be a 50 mile ride but clearly it didn’t turn out that way.

I was to ride out to Ben’s house and meet up with him and then carry on to finish off the 50 mile route.
Unfortunately when I got out to Ben he couldn’t go because of a family emergency.  This was just the excuse I was looking for.  It was a bit of a dull night and threatening rain, plus I really just couldn’t be bothered. So, Instead of doing what I should have done, I just headed for home early and left more than 30 miles unaccounted for on the training plan.

Not good but these things happen.

Thursday 3^rd July 2014

Cycling (47.82 Miles / 02:45:47 / 17.30MPH / HRZ2 / Cadence 80)

In an effort to make up for the poor showing last night, I headed out with Arran for a planned 50 mile out and back ride to Richhill.  It wasn’t a bad night at all and despite a headwind most of the way out, we made good progress and I was looking forward to the return leg with a bit of a tailwind.

The wind didn’t let me down and we definitely had a bit of a shove in the back most of the way home again.

It was good to ride with Arran and chew the fat over a few things (mostly Tri related) and tick off a decent number of miles as well.

Average pace was terrific and importantly it felt very easy too.

Friday 4^th July 2014

Swimming (4000M / 01:34:08)

A big effort in the pool this morning.  I was pretty determined to get the big yards in and this was the perfect opportunity for it.

Traffic in the lane was a wee bit slow this morning as there were four of us sharing it but we all made decent progress.  I focussed on keeping a steady pace and just relaxing in to the swim.

All went to plan and I’m delighted with the time which was some 10 minutes faster than I managed at the same stage of training for Ironman Germany two years ago.

Saturday 5^th July 2014

Running (02:51:50 / 20.00 Miles / 00:08:35 per mile / HRZ2)

Running in Donegal is never really my favourite thing.  I don’t know why.  The scenery is lovely but I just never really seem to do it very well up there.

I agreed to meet my friend Michael for part of the run and I headed out to meet him a few miles in to the route.

Sure enough the first couple of miles out to meet him felt really hard and I was sure I was in for a bad run, which is not a good feeling when you are planning to cover 20 miles.  It makes for a very long day!

 

After meeting up with Michael we headed out towards Ards Friary and did a lovely little loop there and then back for a run through Ards Forest park and a bit of time on the trails.

The conversation was fantastic.  Michael filled me in on all the great things to do in Lake Garda when we go in a few weeks and we didn't even notice the miles slip by.

 

At about 14 miles Michael headed off and I went on to finish out the 20 miles.  The last 6 miles went by well enough and I held the pace consistently.

 

I'm delighted with the average pace for the run and it was really great to catch up with Michael again and it just proves that good company makes a good run. 

 

Weekly Summary

13:00 Hours

Swimming - 9000M

Cycling - 101.72 Miles

Running - 34 Miles

Celtman - Saturday 28th June 2014 - Race Report - The Support Crew perspective.

A while ago my good friend Donald Smith had the great idea of taking on one of the hardest Iron Distance triathlons on the planet by entering Celtman.  This event takes place in the northern wilds of the Highlands of Scotland and promises a tortuous swim of 3.8K, a bike of 202K and a run of 42.2K off road and over Mountains and passes.

Sounds like a bit of craic doesn’t it?

The event is self-supported for the most part, meaning that competitors must have a support crew of at least one person and preferably two.

This is where I came in to the equation.

Donald asked me and another friend, Paul to act as Crew for him. After some negotiations and jiggery pokery I was able to organise the time and make the trip with him to Shieldaig and Torridon for the meanest event I am likely to see.

Given the remoteness of the location we had to set out on Thursday evening for a ferry to Scotland to allow us enough time to drive up part of the way and stay overnight in Arrochar, then complete the rest of the Journey northwards on Friday and

Get up to Torridon in time for the 4PM race briefing.

The stopover in Arrochar was welcome and the hotel was lovely with a gorgeous view over the Loch.  Rather stupidly we lost track of time in the Bar and missed the last chance to order food, so with less than ideal nutritional preparation for Donald and the trials to come, we tucked in to several packets of crisps and nuts each as dinner, washed own with a few cold pints.  Lovely but not a nutritional strategy anyone would recommend.

The trip north took us along the shore of Loch Lomond and it was absolutely beautiful.  I now know what all the fuss is about.

It’s only on a trip like this do you realise the size of Scotland.  It is pretty vast and once you get reasonably well up north it becomes rugged and empty.

Going through Glencoe on the way towards Fort William was breath-taking and I thought that scenery like this just couldn’t be beaten.  It also gave me a bit of an insight n to what was awaiting Donald for the Mountain run, and me also, as I would be running the first part of the Marathon with him over the Coulin Pass.  It even sounds daunting!

After a couple of hours and reaching Fort William we grabbed a coffee and scone and stretched the legs for a bit.  Unbelievable after this stop we still had about another 120 miles of travel north to reach Torridon.  I don’t know about Tipperary but it’s a really bloody long way to Torridon.

The view of the back of Ben Nevis as we left Fort William was spectacular and the scenery just seemed to improve with every bend in the road.

We also saw one of the best road signs ever which warned us to be careful of “Feral Goats.”

“We’re not in Kansas now Toto.”  That was pretty damn clear to us.

As it turns out, the only Feral Goats were the three of us crammed in to the Renault Scenic, along with a bike, bags and the usual plethora of equipment needed for an Iron Distance triathlon.  There wasn’t a lot of unutilised space in the car.

One of the things I hadn’t expected was the degree of remoteness in Northern Scotland.  I’m used to remote and rural Ireland with our time spent in Donegal but this was a different thing altogether.

There were no houses for miles on end, we literally drove for over 120 miles without a single traffic light and pretty quickly the roads became single-track with passing places every few hundred yards.

It genuinely is the back of beyond but with such breath-taking scenery, the likes of which I’ve never seen before.

Eventually we made it to Torridon about 3.30PM after setting out at about 10.30AM.

The Race briefing was a chance to see some of the other competitors and crews and have the 45 minute briefing.

The guys who organise this event are fantastic at what they do.  I know from experience that running a race is hard work and can be highly stressful but to do it in such a remote location must be a logistical nightmare.

The briefing laid out the rules and covered the course.  The Swim was to be cut to 3000M from 3800M as the water temperature was a less than balmy 11 Degrees C.

That will put a chill in anyone’s bones.

The other fantastic news was that the competitors needed to be at registration and Bike racking at 3AM!!!  Yep 3AM.

As our accommodation was about 45 minutes away from the start, which would mean a 1.30AM wake up for us.  I can still barely believe that we did it but we had to.

Not wanting to replicate our mistake of missing dinner on the night before, we called in to Shieldaig on the way to the hostel in Applecross and had dinner in the local pub.  This was an experience in its own right with a few other competitors around and a couple of locals who were well on their way with a few pints head start on us.

No beer for Donald though, partly as he was driving but more so as he had a bit of a busy day ahead of him.
Paul was only too pleased to sample the local brews and had a lovely pint of something unpronounceable in Gaelic!  It seemed to go down well in any language.

After a massive portion of Fish and Chips that looked more like a Bag of Spuds and a Whale we hit the road for Applecross.

All preconceptions of a twisty mountain road and stunning scenery were about to be blown out of the water as we went up over Bealach Na Ba, which is the highest road pass in the UK and it’s single track hairpin bends and massive elevation gain up to 2000ft make it a truly awesome experience.

The view from the top across to the Isle of Skye as the sun was setting was simply out of this world.  Literally like nothing I have ever seen before and judging by the remarks others have left on Trip Advisor, I’d say I’m not alone.  Check out some of the comments.

http://www.tripadvisor.ie/Attraction_Review-g551815-d4106283-Reviews-Bealach_na_Ba_Road-Applecross_Ross_and_Cromarty_Scottish_Highlands_Scotland.html

The descent off the pass was just as exciting and stunning as the ascent and I was thinking how it would be to do it on a bike.  The answer is that it would be bloody difficult.  I think it would be a complete leg buster but an awesome sense of achievement.

Eventually getting to the Hostel and battling our way through a swarm of Midges (this would be a common theme all weekend) we started getting sorted for the next day, all the while, the clock was ticking on and our sleep time was shortening rather rapidly.

Eventually by about 11.30 we were getting to sleep and a short two hours later the alarms went off and we got ready to have a long day.  Donald was very relaxed about the whole thing and both Paul and I felt that we’d have been “touching cloth” at the prospect of what was to come.

The trip back up over Bealach Na Ba was amazing, not just because I was driving this time but because of the amount of Red Deer on the road.  In the space of 10 miles I am sure we had 50 of them run across the road on us. They were huge and would have made quite a dent in the car had we hit one. Although the Venison steaks would have filled the freezer for a while.

Unfortunately a little rabbit didn’t prove to be so lucky as it bounced off the underside of the car on the way up the pass.  At least I did my bit for the local carnivorous wildlife as it would prove to be a tasty breakfast for something.

Shieldaig was the registration area and this is a tiny village.  The morning was beautiful and very still and the water was flat calm which was a real stroke of luck for Donald.  It was a chilly morning and the water was freezing.

The swim start was a few miles away on an opposite shore where competitors swim across the bay and around a couple of islands back in to the jetty at Shieldaig.

Eventually after getting set up and registered Donald made his way to the bus at 4AM which would take the competitors off to the start.  We wished him luck, waved him goodbye and waited for the local bar to open so that we could get breakfast.  Amazingly the local bar and a small café opened this early to make the most of the rich pickings on offer.  This was probably their busiest day of the year.  Milk it while it’s there!

A great bowl of porridge and a coffee set Paul and I up for what was going to be a long day ahead.

Paul in a stroke of genius pre ordered a bacon butty and coffee for around the time Donald would emerge from the water so that he could get a warm coffee and a bit of food before heading off on the mammoth bike leg.

 

The first swimmer came in to view surprisingly quickly and was out of the water in about 45 minutes which was amazing in that cold.

After that a stream of athletes emerged from the water.  Some were in a bad way with the cold causing cramps and dizziness but the amazing volunteers were in the water freezing their own asses off in wetsuits to guide the tired swimmers out to transition.  They were brilliant at this and so encouraging to the guys as the came out.

Donald emerged from the water at around 1Hr 15 and was looking good.  Cold but good.

The Transition area took up a chunk of the main street in Shieldaig and at this point was a flurry of activity with competitors, support crew and some spectators all busily getting the guys ready for the mammoth 125 mile bike leg.

I mentioned that the scenery was amazing and this theme carried through in Transition where a rather fit young lady proceeded to completely strip off to get in to her cycling gear.

I can only assume she was doing her best to increase the temperature and blood flow of the male participants around her, although I suspect that they were so cold that a full on lap dance from Cameron Diaz may have been a wasted effort at this stage, but it was good fun for the support crews.

The Bacon Butty and Coffee went down well and the reasonably leisurely transition time of 15 minutes meant that he was well prepared to hit the road.

As Donald made his way out from T1, Paul and I watched some of the later swimmers coming in and to our amazement one of the last guys was backstroking in.  I later heard that he may have backstroked the whole thing.

When you think about it, why bury your face in the water when you can look up and enjoy the scenery.  Not a bad plan at all!

The bike leg is where the support crew are really meant to offer the greatest degree of assistance as there is no real official support on the way around.

The plan was to meet Donald about 40 miles up the road where Breakfast had been laid on for the support crews.  (it was bloody fantastic by the way)

In fact it was so good that Paul and I missed Donald coming through and spent the next 30 minutes chasing him down so that we could offer him some fresh supplies.

We were panicking a bit as we had just blown the first meeting point and reckoned Donald would be thinking “Some support team they are!”
Eventually we caught him up and stopped to top him up with Drinks, peanuts and gels.

The plan from here on in was to head about 15 miles down the road  each time, let him catch up and re-stock supplies and then head on again.

The plan worked and it also had the added benefit that we could try to find somewhere scenic to stop. 
It was funny to see all the other support crews along the road as well and everyone doing their best to look after their athletes.

Several more stops and top ups and Donald will still looking strong which was quite remarkable as some of the climbs we had driven up and he rode up were massively challenging.  The longest of which must have been a climb of about 7 miles at least.

As time moved on it was becoming apparent to Paul and I that the cut off time for doing the High Mountain run course of 13Hrs was looking more unlikely as Donald really needed to be off the bike by a maximum of 9Hrs in order to even stand a chance of making the T2A cut off of 11Hrs.  We didn’t mention this to him as we didn’t want to apply any more pressure on him and he didn’t mention it either and he was clearly just focussed on getting the job done.

Eventually we made it through to T2 and after about 8H 30mins of cycling he was off the bike and ready to hit the hills for the Marathon.

It was decided that I would run the first leg of the Marathon with him for about 18K from T2 to T2A which would take us up and over the Coulin pass.

I had decided not to run the second leg as it was more Mountainous and I was worried about injuring myself only 4 weeks out from Ironman Zurich.  Also Paul is a far more experienced Mountain and Trail runner than me and would do a better job at looking after him.

I was a bit concerned that my lack of trail and mountain running would slow Donald down, but we set off at a gentle pace (for me as I hadn’t just swam 3K and cycled 125 miles) and walked some of the steeper sections.

At the top of the Coulin pass there was an Aid station.  Possibly one of the most remote aid stations on the planet that day.  The Girl there was so friendly and encouraging and the cake and pretzels on offer were fantastic.  I ate more than I should have.

My objectives was to keep Donald going, stocked with food and drink and generally keep him motivated and spirits up if things got tough.

The reality is that he needs very little of that as he is so motivated and positive anyway, so it made for a really enjoyable run.

Our pace was decent enough given what had preceded and the terrain we were running over.

As we neared T2A Paul was waiting on the Road to meet us and encourage us as T2A was only a mile down the road.

This is where I had to apply a sensible head over the heart as Paul asked if I wanted to carry on and finish off the Marathon with Donald.

I dearly wanted to do it as I was feeling very fresh and strong but I knew I had to be sensible and avoid injury risks and I also wanted Paul to experience running in this stunning environment.

We made it to T2A with about 15 minutes to spare for the overall 13Hr cut off which if missed means you can’t continue and in effect your race is over.  Having missed the 11Hr mark to do the High Course, Donald and Paul set off on the low course.

Low Course is somewhat of a misnomer as it is still very difficult terrain and stil another 15 miles of off road running – so not easy at all.

I headed off in the car to a point where they would come off the trails with about 3 miles to go before the end.
I knew I’d have a long wait so I took the time to get a few photographs and chat to the Mountain Rescue Guys who were manning the junction where the trail became road.

They were a great bunch and one of them had earlier been a Safety Kayaker for the swim.

They just typified the generosity and enthusiasm of all the volunteers on the day.

After a few hours Paul and Donald emerged from the wilds.  The plan had been for me to take over again here from Paul and run the remaining few miles in, however I was getting cold from hanging around and it would have been tough to get going again, and Paul was having such good fun I just wanted him to carry on.

They headed on and I went ahead to the finish line in the car and got the camera ready to capture the moment as Donald crossed the finish line.

The last few miles are back on the road in to Torridon and they covered this ground quicker than I had expected.

I went and waited right behind the finish line so I could get a good photo of Donald crossing the line.

As they came to the line Paul peeled off to the side to allow Donald to cross the line himself.

In doing so, he clipped Donald’s heel, almost sending him to the floor.  It drew a few groans and gasps from the crowd but amazingly after 3K swimming, 202K biking and 42K running, he managed to keep his footing and cross the line after 16H 40mins.
He even had donned a Scottish Saltire hat to stir the Nationalistic juices.

It was an amazing achievement and it’s fantastic to see someone achieve their goal after putting in the hours of training and commitment.

Post-race was a great chance to finally sit down together and have a bowl of soup and a bite to eat with all the other finishers and support crews.  The atmosphere was fantastic and we got talking to a young American couple.  He had finished the High Course and she had been support crew.

It’s at times like this that you realise that the M-Dot Ironman tattoo is a bit lame for someone like him.  He has done Celtman, Norseman and Swissman.  All three absolutely iconic and brutal races.  Ironman races are probably a bit soft for people like him.

It’s great to speak to guys who just push the limits.

Eventually we headed back off to the Hostel and I was driving this time up and over  the Mountain pass and it was a bit of a white knuckle drive as it was getting dark, the roads are narrow and the Red Deer were back out on the road again.

Back at the Hostel and after a couple of celebratory beers we fairly quickly fell asleep after almost 24Hrs on the go with virtually no sleep.

The next morning brought yet more Celtman, this time in the form of the awards ceremony and presentation of the Finishers’ T-Shirts.

The overall winner was a big Swedish dude who claimed one of the best Endurance Sports quotes I have ever heard.  In describing his desire to stay at the front of the race, in a laid back Scandinavian accent he said “It was Hospital or win!”

Absolutely fantastic.  That says it all about why he won and how he managed it in only 11H 40Mins.  Brilliant.

Post ceremony we were back in the car for another long drive and about 6Hrs later we finally made it back to Troon to get the Ferry home.

I’m delighted I made the trip to see one of the iconic Iron distance races on the scene at the moment and also to seem y good friend achieve his goal and become a Celtman.

It’s no mean feat to be a Celtman.

Would I do it?  I’m not sure.

I loved the location but I know that this year we just got lucky with the weather.  I can’t imagine doing that course in the wind and rain and cold.  It would be so difficult.

I did enjoy the low key nature of the event and it’s what makes it unique but equally I love the massive hype and production values you get at an Ironman branded event too.

I think I thrive on the support and encouragement of crowds and that just wasn’t really here, although on a pro-rata basis the support was fantastic.

Anyway back from this event and buzzing about the prospect of Ironman Switzerland coming along in a few weeks for me.  I can’t wait.

Big well done to Donald and thanks to Paul for the great company over a long few days.  The bigger question is what the hell will Donald do next to top this one?

Strava King. (Sort of)

Monday 30th June 2014

Cycling (15.65 Miles / 00:54:02 / 17.30 MPH / HRZ 2 / Cadence 80 RPM)

After the long and tiring weekend away it was straight back o training again with the commute to work.

Usually when I’m doing the ride down the road to work it’s off the back of a big weekend of running and biking, however my legs felt really fresh this morning, so it was a nicely paced jaunt.

One thing of small significance that made me happy was that on the way down I claimed a 3rd place overall on a Strava segment. (it was only a very short one with not that many people doing it – but hey it’s still a 3rd place!)

The ride up home was a bit later than usual which meant a bit of a clearer run home and this combined with the fresh legs meant a good paced ride home.  In fact this was my fastest ride home ever.

All in all, a decent couple of rides.

Swimming (200M / 00:46:04)

No Coach tonight for swimming so I decided just to focus on endurance set for the 45 minutes.

I just focussed on being steady and visualising myself high in the water.  I’m sure I was still dragging my feet with low legs but it did seem to help a bit.

I did 2 X 750M and then 1 X 200M. It was a nice steady pace and felt really comfortable.

The best thing was that the splits were very even which means good pacing.

Running with Stanley Gump and cycling with The ice-cream man.

Saturday 21^st June 2014

 

Running (03:01:04 / 21.00 Miles / 00:08:37 per mile / HRZ 2)

Long Run

 

It’s Saturday so it must be long run time again.  After putting out a note on Facebook to see if anyone else wanted to join me, my only taker was The Man, The Legend, The Earl of Tullynacross, Mr Awesome – Stanley Edgar.

This scared the crap out of me a bit as Stanley is a hell of a runner and I thought I was going to be in for a bit of a pasting today, especially over the longer distance.  He doesn’t have three Marathon des Sables under his belt for nothing!

 

As soon as we started out I mentioned to him again that this was going to be slow.  I hoped he heard.

After mile one I reckon he had heard me as we went through in about 8.45, which was pretty much about where I wanted to be.  Sadly the next three of four miles were a bit quicker and this saw Stanley pull away from me and maintain a gap of about 15 metres and it looked like he was effortlessly cruising along.

 

Then something strange happened at 7 miles.  He stopped. Just stopped!

It was reminiscent of the scene in Forrest Gump, when Forrest just stops running and announces to his gathered followers, “I think I’ll go home now.”

Not that Stanley is Forrest, although…..

Turns out he had a bit of a recurrence of his Quad injury and it had briefly got the better of him.

He sent me on and assured me that he would catch me up at the Garage around 11 miles.  When I got to the Garage, sure enough after a few minutes Stanley rolls up to me and was looking in slightly better shape.

 

Rather than take the projected 10 miles home on my initial route, he decided to take the marginally shorter 8 mile route home.  So we went our separate ways.

(As it turns out, he has a torn hamstring - ouch!)

 

I felt pretty strong the whole way through the run and by the 11 mile point was averaging 8.28 per mile.

The rest of the run went really well for me and I could feel that pace was steady and I felt strong.

 

The last mile up the hill home is always a bit of a slog at the end of a long run and this was no different, however I was delighted to come in with 21 miles done and a terrific (for me) average pace of 8.37 per mile. 

I had a daft thought about carrying on for a 5 mile loop to make up the marathon distance as I was pretty confident of brining it in around 3H 50 Mins, just for the hell of it but I decided against it as I don’t need those miles now but I will on 27^th of July.

 

All in all a great run.

 

Sunday 22^nd June 2014

 

Cycling (06:34:04 / 108.10 Miles / 16.50 MPH / HRZ 2 / Cadence 75)

Long Ride – Century no.4 in this training cycle

Another Sunday, another Century ride planned and it looked like this one was going to be another nice day.  I certainly could get used to this nice weather.

Brendan was joining me for the ride today and this would be his longest ride ever.  Impressive, given that less than two months ago his longest ride was 25 miles.

Due to the fact that I was out the night before and had more than one beer, we opted for a 10 o'clock start time.

I picked a route that I haven't done before that would be relatively challenging and a bit of a different scene to remove the boredom.

Out through Portadown and Armagh and then on to Newry we were pushing along at a decent pace and Brendan was looking strong and pushing on well.  At the half way point in Warrenpoint we were over 17mph average speed.

Next up was Rostrevor for a quick sandwich stop which was well needed.

It's always hard to get going again once you have stopped, even for a short time and it took me a few miles to get the legs back in to action again.

Brendan found it harder to get going again and the run through to Kilkeel and then onwards to Newcastle proved to be a tough spell for him but he worked through it and kept the head down.

A quick stop in Newcastle to get a drink and Brendan was back in great form again.  There must have been some EPO in his drinks bottle because for the next few miles he was off like a rocket.

Maybe it was the promise I had made to buy him an ice cream from Brennans on the way home.

Anyway we settled down a bit and got in to a nice pace for the next few miles and despite having to stop for a passing Orange Order parade in Clough we made it to Brennans and treated ourselves to a large cone which would sustain us for the last 20 miles home.

Finally when we got through Ballynahinch, I took the front for the run home and we made great progress along the undulating road.

By the time I got back up home I had just tripped over 108 miles on the clock.  Well done Brendan on his maiden Century.

I must admit I felt fantastic through the whole ride.  I felt strong and focussed on staying steady and keeping control of the heart rate.  This all went perfectly to plan and I'm pretty pleased with the average speed of 16.5 MPH, although in hindsight I would now have liked to see it at 17 MPH but that can wait for another day.

The only thing that needs sorted still is the nutrition on the bike.  Snickers Bars and Ice Cream are just not going to cut it in Zurich!

Just one more long ride over 100 miles planned before tapering in to Zurich.

A bigger week in the pool and a pleasing Half Marathon.

Monday 16th June 2014

Cycling (00:58:22 / 16.78 Miles / 16.50 MPH / HRZ 2 / Cadence 76)

My normal Monday commute and it was lovely to be cycling in warm weather.

The ride down wasn’t particularly speedy but coming home seemed to just fly along and it was a fastest ride home ever.

Swimming (00:44:21 / 1800M)

Club swim tonight which was un-coached.  I mostly just did an endurance set of 750M repeats then a few sprints thrown in at the end.  Not big distance but at least it got the arms and legs turning over.

Tuesday 17th June 2014

Running (00:54:40 / 6.41 Miles /00:08:31 per mile / HRZ 2)

An early morning run again with David before work and once again we were greeted with an absolutely glorious morning.  The sun was out, there was no wind and the River Lagan looked fantastic.  I love these early morning runs, despite the early start it is nice once you are up and about.

David was suffering from a bit of a niggle in his hip, so we stopped a couple of times for him to stretch it out, which he did with some sort of Yoga-tastic elasticity, which thankfully no one else observed as it may have raised a few eyebrows.  

The pace was actually just what I wanted as the next day was the Lisburn Half Marathon and I was trying to preserve my legs a bit for the next day.

It was good to get the run done and it left me feeling fresh for the Half Marathon.

On Tuesday evening some of us from the Club  had the pleasure of having a Run Technique and Form analysis carried out by Iain Getty.  Iain is a local Physio and funnily enough has a large clientele from the Club.

This was a real insight as I’ve never actually seen myself run on video before and it was quite surprising.

In short, I don’t swing my arms enough (or at all basically) and what movement there is, is too much side to side rather then back to front.  Also, I slightly over stride and need to lean forward more and look up.

I wonder how I’ve managed to run at all over these years with such bad technique.

It was good craic doing the session and Stevie Bloomer has wound up with another nickname now as “Usain” given his Gazelle like running style.

It will take a bit of effort and time to implement some of the changes but I will try to work on them one at a time.

Wednesday 18th June 2014

Swimming ( 01:11:34 / 3000M)

Back in the pool early again and a straight endurance session of 4 X 750M.  I think it went really well.  Interestingly the first 750M felt fairly tough although the time didn’t portray that.

This is exactly the sort of swim training that I think I need at the moment and given the low volume last week I am keen to step it up a bit this week.

Overall a good session and I’m pleased enough with the pace and particularly the level of effort vs. comfort.

Running (01:44:49 / 13.14 Miles /00:07:58 per mile / HRZ 3)
Lisburn Half Marathon

Possibly my favourite event of the year and certainly my most long standing event.  This year was my 11th straight year running the Half Marathon and I went in to it very optimistic of a PB given my decent form and run training recently.

As with most of my events I like to have a plan to try to stick to, and this time it was to run flat 8 Mins per mile and if there was a pacer for 1H 45 Mins I would stick with them.

Perversely I was looking forward to this being a really hot evening and I wasn’t disappointed.  It was over 20 degrees and I saw this as good training for Zurich where it is likely to be substantially warmer than this, so I need to get used to it.

I was delighted to see that there was indeed a pacer for 1:45 and I was hopeful then that my plan would work.

Keara and the Kids were down with Pond park Primary school and they had an exceptional turn out of over 250 people running in the 3K fun run, including Ben who came home in a respectable 14 minutes.  Not too bad.

As the gun went off it looked like this was the biggest crowd I had run in at this event.  I rapidly lost touch with the pacers as the crowd made it impossible to keep a steady pace and I had to zigzag through hundreds of people.

It was easily a mile before I got back to the pacers who at one point were about 300M ahead of me.

The crowds didn’t really thin out until about the three mile mark which was a bit of a nuisance but great to see the event be so successful.

It was around here that the first water station was and I thought I would be sensible and take on a bit of fluid.  Just as well I didn’t rally need it as most of the water in the cup went over me, up my nose and in my eyes.  What did go in my mouth wound up choking me and I choked for about half a mile. I hate drinking from cups when trying to run.

I caught up again to the pacers and was feeling fairly good as we progressed through 5 miles and then faced on of the major challenges on the route which is a steady climb of about three quarters of a mile.  It’s not steep but just a grind.  I just sat right on the pacer heels and ground it out.

From there on the next two miles were fairly speedy and then the hardest part of the course as we went up Waterloo Road.  The pacer shouted to everyone around him that if we could stick with him up through this section we would probably finish with him and this was enough for me to dig deep and work hard.  It worked and I was able to come out the end of the road only about 30 metres behind him as I took on more water but learned my lesson this time and walked while I drank.

I knew that the downhill stretch for the next mile or so would give me a chance to catch up, which it did but it took the whole mile as he stepped up his pace down the hill a bit also.

I kept calm and didn’t panic in to pushing too hard to catch him and it paid off.

At 11 miles I was running beside him and starting to press on a bit as I knew we only had 2 miles to go and the PB was well and truly on the cards.

With one mile to go I knew I had a PB and I really started to crank it up as much as I could.  The last 400M were a bit of a mad dash and I was delighted to finish in 1.44.49.  A PB by five minutes and most importantly another confidence boost ahead of Zurich.

Notably I had a negative split run again (which is becoming a speciality for me) by doing the second half of the course one minute faster than the first.  This is really satisfying and usually signifies good pacing and strength.

I finished 262nd out of 1063 finishers.  I’m delighted with that and was 39th out of 119 in my Age Group.

The PB is very satisfying and faster than I could have hoped for a year ago.

Friday 20th June 2014

Swimming ( 01:32:36 / 3800M)
Full Ironman Swim Distance

Another early session and this time I was hoping to get the full IM distance swim done.

Thankfully 152 lengths and 3800M later I got out of the pool felling pretty fresh and pleased to have knocked the distance out.

Timing wise it wasn’t bad and when I look back a couple of years ago to this sort of session, I am about 3 minutes faster, which is not too bad but I think the biggest difference is that previously I would have crawled out of the pool and curled up in an exhausted ball, whereas I am now feeling OK.  That’s the main aim as I want to complete the swim and feel fresh heading out on the bike.

Given the relatively low volume of swimming last week I wanted a bigger week this week and it certainly was bigger.

8600M of swimming which is just under 5.4 miles.  It feels good to have it done.

The weekend hopefully will be a big one also, with a 20 mile run and a cycle of 110 miles.  Hopefully the weather will be kind to me.

 

 

 

Big tan lines to match the big weekend of training.

Saturday 14th June 2014

Running (02:39:32 / 18.12 Miles /00:08:48 per mile / HRZ2)

Hardly the ideal preparation for an 18 mile run the next day but we had friends round and the beer and wine was flowing rather well.

So, when the alarm went off on Saturday morning I was a bit nervous as to how I would feel.

Thankfully I felt fine and eventually once I got myself sorted I headed out the door to get this run done.

Pretty quickly the effect of the night before made itself clear to me as I had awful heartburn for abut 5 miles.  It eventually subsided but wasn’t too pleasant while it lasted.

We are having a decent wee spell of nice weather and it was pretty humid on the run. This is all good practice for me ahead of Zurichwhich is sure to be hot and sticky.

I had a purpose in mind for the runtoday and it was to remain in control with heart rate, feel comfortable and not get out of breath – and if possible, maintain a pace around 8.45 -9.00 per mile.

As I progressed through the run I felt good, I had two gels with me but wound up only taking one of them through the run and didn’t really feel like I needed any more than that.

The pace splits were really consistent and the only mile split that was out of the normal range was the last mile up the big hill home, and even then it was only about 40 seconds off, which is not too bad.

I’m pretty chuffed with the run.  I felt strong, in control and aware of my pacing.  Job’s a good ‘un!

Sunday 15th June 2014

Cycling ( 101.02 miles / 06:16:10 / 16.10 MPH / HRZ 2 / Cadence 75)
North Down Coastal Challenge

A couple of years ago I built this event in to my pre-Frankfurt preparation and I was keen to do the same again this time around.

The big Sportive is about 60 miles around the Ards Peninsula, so I decided to ride down there and home again afterwards to make it up to 100 miles.  A decent day of training.

Ian was joining me for this and only at the last minute did he decide to go the whole hog and do the 100 miler rather than meet me at the start in Bangor.  This was great news as it meant I would have company for the whole ride.

Starting out at about 8AM I had to put sun-cream on for the first time this year.  The only stuff we had was Factor 10, so I was fully anticipating a bit of burning as even at this time of the morning it was warm and bright.

The ride down to Bangor only took about an hour and a quarter and once registered, we started out ahead of the scheduled 10AM start time.

Within about one mile of starting out we had about 4 to 6 people latch on to our wheels and they literally followed us the whole way.  Sadly they were just happy to sit in and draft of us for the whole 32 miles down to Portaferry and never once took a turn at the front.  I’m not really up to speed on cycling etiquette but even I know that they should have been taking a turn on the front.  Maybe we should have taken it as a compliment because we were setting a decent pace and averaging about 18MPH without too much effort really.

The lunch stop in Portaferry was very welcome and set us up nicely for the return leg back to Bangor.  It turned out to be a 20 mile straight run in to a headwind all the way to Newtownards.  This was tough enough at times but we still kept the average speed up without destroying the legs.

It was great to meet up with a few more friends, Michael, Donald and Ivan and their friend Jonny on the way up the Ards Peninsula and ride along with them for some miles.  Donald even found the energy to ride ahead at speed just to get a good photo for Twitter!

Ian was holding up very well and we made good progress back toBangor and I think we finished up doing the 60 miles in about 3H45Mins.  Not too bad.

Psychologically it was tough to know that while everyone else was finished, we still had another 20 miles to ride home.  It was warm and windy and we never really seemed to get a proper tailwind.

I have to say that I’m really pleased with my ride as I felt strong the whole way through and not under pressure at any point.  Certainly there was a bit of tiredness in the legs on a few of the hills from time to time but really nothing too bad, and I could have comfortably run off the bike when I got back home again.

Ian did brilliantly and knocked out his first 100 mile ride and it was well earned in the heat and breeze.  It was great to have good company on the way round and plenty of laughs to keep us going.

That’s my third ride of 100 miles or more and I certainly felt a lot stronger on this one than any of the others and hopefully the strength is coming along at the right time.

Weekly Summary

Hours: 15H 49Mins
Swimming: 1300M
Cycling: 162.50 miles
Running: 34.38 miles

A decent week of training and the only disappointment was the low level of swimming,  I’ll pick up on that next week.

A bit of warmth on the bike at last.

Wednesday 11th June 2014

Running (01:00:26 / 6.75 Miles / 00:08:57 / HRZ2)

I took this run intentionally very easy as I wanted to keep the Heart rate really low and see what sort of pace it would translate to. It was pretty warm out but I'm pleased with the way it went and I really didn't feel like I was running with any degree of effort.

Thursday 12th June 2014

Cycling ( 01:27:08 / 23.59 MPH / 17.50 MPH / HRZ 2 / Cadence 82)

What a glorious evening for a bike ride. I've been longing for a night like this to get out on the bike.  Short sleeves, shorts and no gloves.  It was still warm and makes such a change from being rained on in freezing conditions.

I wanted to get a nice wee 90 minute ride done and try to stay controlled and keep a decent pace.
It all went well and this is despite turning on to a C Road from Ballynahinch back towards Anahilt.  I didn't even know C roads existed but clearly they do.
Unfortunately for me this one had recently been covered in loose chippings and I had to ride in the gravel for about two miles.  This wasn't just a puncture risk but a serious hazard for coming off as the gravel was pretty deep at times.
I made it through and as a reward, the road back to Lisburn had recently been resurfaced and was pristine tarmac.  I flew along this bit.

Happy enough with the average speed and relatively easy effort but more pleased to enjoy some sunshine and warm breeze.