Lough Neagh Triathlon 2011

30 July 2011

Lough Neagh Triathlon

1500m Open Water Swim - 00:31:54

T1 - 00:02:39

40K Bike - 01:20:05

T2 - 00:01:24

10K Run - 00:56:08

Total time - 02:52:09

222nd out of 249 overall.

First Olympic distance Triathlon completed and I am absolutely delighted!

Pre race I was pretty nervous and all the usual doubts started to creep in, but once I got the bike racked and sorted out in transition the nerves started to settle.

Conditions were absolutely perfect with Lough Neagh bathed in sunshine and no wind at all with virtually flat calm on the water.

The Swim

The flat calm didn't last long as 250 people started the swim with a massive washing machine effect, but I managed to start off to the side a bit and avoid the madness.

I felt good throughout the swim, despite taking a very hefty kick to the nose about 700M in, which I seriously thought had done me some damage, but luckily enough there was no blood, but just tears inside my goggles from the blow.

I exited the swim at about 30 minutes and we had a short run through to T1.  Overall a very pleasing swim and time.

T1

This went very well and the liberal application of Baby Oil on my arms and legs before putting the wetsuit on earlier really helped as the Wetsuit just slid off.  I grabbed the bike and was out through T1 in a decent time, although as usual I could learn to shave another 10-15 secs off.

The Bike

I was really looking forward to this but also a bit apprehensive about how I would do on the longer course and the new bike and going "aero" in the Tri bars.  (Aero is not normally a word associated with me!)

The route is brilliant and it is great to have closed roads - it makes you feel like a bit of a pro to be able to take the whole road.

4 Loops of the 6 mile course, and this went really well.

The route is reasonably flat apart from a horrible little hill at about 3 miles on each loop which only lasts about 200M.  I managed to sit through it for the first 2 loops, but had to stand on the pedals for the last 2 loops.

I overtook quite a few people on the bike and the new Cube worked a treat.  It was an absolute pleasure to ride, and I am sure it saved me at least 5 minutes on my time - which I felt was a very respectible 1hr 20 mins.

I kept looking out for my friends Paul and Donald on the return loop on the bike leg but didn't see them - although they both had a better bike time than me.

T2

Quite literally over in the blink of an eye - very good time and felt strong heading to the run.

The Run

The feeling of strength lasted about 1K, then I felt pretty tired, but realised I was running about 7.30 pace, and needed to slow down a bit or I would explode and they would be picking pieces of me out of the other competitors hair!

I eased the pace off and managed to maintain a steady 8.30 pace for about the next 6K.

The run route is 4 out and back loops and this was psychologically tough.  I kept seeing Donald and Paul twice on each loop and was trying to guage whether I was losing ground to both of them.  I was!  but thankfully I manged to keep a steady(ish) rhythm and put in a faster last mile to complete the run in 56 mins.

The Run was brutally hard because of the heat and not being used to running this far off the bike - but I am pleased to have cracked the hour for the run.

So, on reflection - I now feel like a proper Triathlete, having completed and Olympic Distance event, and I would have been delighted to finish at around 3hrs yesterday - so 2.52 feels like a brilliant achievement.

Even better, Donald and Paul both got in under 3 hrs and we all felt great but knackered.

Roll on the next one - I can't wait.

Race link and some photos below - but none of me.

http://www.triathlonireland.com/index.php?id=107&nid=404

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64691623@N04/sets/72157627192438649/

Swimming and Tapas. The stuff of athletes!

Swimming

1000M - 00:23:42 in 18M pool at Gym
Swim before work this morning just to keep things fresh before the Triathlon on Saturday.

Had a great meal with work colleagues in 2Taps, a Tapas restaurant in Belfast tonight.  Lovely!

My New Toy. Well worth waiting for!

Monday 25th July 2011
The new toy arrived and got the first outing tonight! Wow, I love it.

Cube Aerium Pro 2011

Brick session this evening.  I couldn't wait to get out on the new Beast!

Cycling
18.00 Miles - 01:00:55 (17.7 mph / HR 141bpm Z2 77% Max / Cadence ?rpm)
First ride on the new bike. It was fantastic but will take a little bit of getting used to on a number of levels.
Gettting down in to an aero position on the Tri bars was interesting for the first time and more than just a bit wobbly, but it got better as I went on and I am sure that a few tweaks on the position will make a big difference as I kept hitting my knees on my elbows.  I know that is not meant to happen.
The gearing is also different from the Bianchi, both the ratios and the actual changing mechanism - going from Campagnolo Xenon to Shimano Ultegra.  The shift is so smooth and short - very pleasing.
Overall I think I am going to love this bike!  I would need to as this is the one to take me through Ironman Frankfurt!! Hopefully.

Running
4.00 Miles - 00:34:13 (8.32 per mile / HR 160bpm Z3 88% Max)
Run straight off the bike for 4 miles - and I aimed to take it at a nice steady pace as this is pretty much what I will need to do on Saturday for the Lough Neagh Triathlon. (My 1st Olympic Distance event - 1.5k swim / 40k cycle / 10k run)
Very pleased with the way the run went as I felt in control and strong the whole way through and kept my slowest mile up the hill home to 8.51.
Hopefully I can run just as well on Saturday!!

Don't Panic!

Thursday 21st July 2011

 

Swimming

1500M - 00:28:28 Open Water Swim - Lough Neagh
Practice swim for the Lough Neagh Triathlon which is next Saturday.
The water was very mild tonight and it was much tastier than sea water when you get a mouthfull.
All went well apart from a short panic after about 200M, when I just couldn't seem toget my breathing right and felt a bit out of breath - but I rolled on to my back for about 15 secs and composed myself and got going again.

This was a really well organised practice swim by the Hi-Elbow tri club - so well done to them.

Looking forward to getting back to Donegal this weekend again.

Back to School

Wednesday 20th July 2011

No training today.
In Dublin with work and staying in one of my all time favourite hotels - The Schoolhouse at Ballsbridge.
A few pics as a taster. http://schoolhousehotel.com

A VERY close shave - every second counts.

Tuesday 19th July 2011

 

Swimming

1000M - 00:23:31 in 18M pool at Gym
A nice little session at lunchtime in the pool.  Felt very comfortable but a bit disjointed - I just couldn't seem to put all the bits together very well today - but the speed was decent and I didn't feel tired at all.  So, overall pretty happy.

Running
7.0 Miles 00:59:58 (8.34 per mile / HR 164bpm Z3 90% Max)
Very happy to get the 7 miles in just under 1 hour.  I must admit that I did have to put a bit of hurry on up the hill for the last mile to make sure - but all mile splits under 9 min miles for what was not a flat route - so very happy with the outcome.  A Close run thing but good to squeeze in with a whole 2 seconds to spare!

Was listening to Coldplay live at Glastonbury on the ipod on the way round - a fantastic session - very inspirational songs and amazing crowd participation.

A Weighty question.

Thursday 14th July 2011

Cycling
22.00 Miles - 01:23:33 (15.8 mph / HR 146bpm Z2 79% Max HR / Cadence 81rpm)

Went for a ride after work when I got home this evening.  Fantastic July evening!!  Temperature about 9.5 degrees, sky as black as coal, a strong cold wind and patchy rain.  God I love the Northern Ireland summer.  And to make things worse, it was a rest day on the Tour de France - so restricted viewing for this evening - how sad is that??

I was very pleased with this ride - Average speed was decent on an undulating route and I was working on keeping the cadence (no. of pedal spins per minute) over 80, and that went well too.

On a completely different note - I weighed myself and I am the lightest I have been in 5 years!! Truly a landmark day!   (No, I'm not telling what the weight is - that's between me and my oversized shorts!!) I seriously think the cross training is working - and it is more enjoyable than just cranking out running miles. Don't get me wrong, I am not fading away and won't be trading in my man size clothing for "Hollister" T-shirts any time soon. Unfortunately!

I was meant to be running the portaferry 10 miler tomorrow night, but I have bailed out as it is a long way away and I can't be bothered travelling down to run in miserable conditions and then get up very early on Wednesday morning for the drive to Dublin for work.  Bit of a wimp, but I will try to get a run in tomorrow evening from home instead.

I am the Egg Man.

Thursday 14th July 2011

Cycling
50.01 Miles - 03:46:00 (13.3 mph / HR 141bpm Z2 77% Max HR / Cadence 79rpm)
I thought I would give a longer ride a bit of a bash today.
Given the fantastic weather we have had recently I thought the a route out round Glenveagh National Park and the back of Errigle Moutain would have been a bit of a treat.  How wrong can you be!

I knew it would be a challenging route with quite a few climbs and I wasn't disappointed!!
Miles 1-10 were OK with a few nasty little climbs and very rough roads, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well I was going and managed to stay in the saddle through the climbs - which is rare for me. I am normally out of the saddle for speed bumps!!

Miles 10 -17 were pretty good if not a bit uninspiring and bleak.

Miles 18-24 - Bloody Hell!!  6 miles straight up hill around the back of Errigle Mountain and the mist came down and the wind was straingt in to me and pretty strong.  At times like this I was genuinely thinking what am I doing here in bleak Donegal Bog Land pedalling in reverse and not even able to see more than about 250M ahead.  Just as well beause it was another climb! What was that I said about staying in the saddle!!

Miles 25-50  (Mile 25 - Egg Mayo Sarnie and a Snickers bar overlooking the Poisoned Glen and Dunlewey) were not too bad and relatively good with a rewarding descent for each climb along the way.
That didn't stop the rain from pelting down but at least the wind was now on my side or back.

I was pretty glad to get back to the Caravan and in to a hot shower, followed by a tin of Coke and a Bacon and Egg Mayo Sarnie.  NICE!

A good sense of achievement, but a bit of a sense of what is to come in training for the next 12 months.

If Carlsberg did training venues . . . .

Wednesday 13 July 2011

Swimming

1600M - 00:32:53 Open Water Swim
A very pleasing swim in the Sea at Marble Hill, Co. Donegal.
Water was flat and not too cold - I even had Keara chaperoning me in the Kayak.

This really is one of the nicest locations for an open water swim session and I was man enough for the swim today as I was clad in the comforting rubber again. I swam most of the way across to the far side and back of the bay in the picture below.

Tuesday 12th July 2011 - Taking my Traditional Route!

Running
8.03 Miles 01:09:51 (8.41 per mile / HR 162bpm Z3 89% Max)
A beautiful run from the Caravan in to Dunfanaghy and back.  At 9am the temp was already up to about 17 degrees and the sun was blasting down.
Quite hot for a cold blooded Norn Iron runner but absolutely gorgeous anyway.
Pretty happy with the pace and felt very comfortable throughout.

Followed up by a fantastic afternoon on the Beach at Ards Friary, playing Rugby and eating BBQd sausages.

I did get the p*$s taken out of me becasue I would not go for a swim!  It was FREEZING!

OK I was a bit of a wimp, but I get to wrap myself in rubber for Triathlon and Ironman - so I only feel a bit guilty!

"Some Ironman you are!" were the comments - they could be right, but we will see in 51 weeks and 3 days!

A couple of pics from the day. Very Nice.  The Sunset is the same colour as my forehead is now!

Cup of Coffee and a Cookie anyone? Monday 11 July 2011.

Cycling

8.79 miles - 1 Coffee - 1 Butterscotch and Pecan Cookie.  NICE.

A lovely ride in to Dunfanaghy with Keara on the bikes for a Coffee - what a civilised way to spend an hour.

Getting the Horn! Sunday 10th July 2011.

Sunday 10th July 2011

Cycling
15.5 Miles - 01:15:10 (12 mph / HR ? Z? / Cadence 78rpm)
Oh my God!  T|he hardest ride of my life - well about 3 miles of it!
Rode from my Caravan in to Dunfanaghy (all in Co Donegal) and round Horn Head. ( the anti-clockwise way for those who know Horn Head) It is the hardest climbing I have ever done.  Roughly 3 miles of relentless climbing on rough Donegal roads with gradients getting up to 15% and averaging about 10%.
At one point I thought I was stuck in the Big Ring and pusing like a dog - only to discover that I had used up all my gears and had nowhere left to go!!
But - I did it all without getting off the bike and enjoyed the downhill - which is only just over a mile, but bloomin' steep.  At one point I nearly locked up the brakes coming down as it is so steep and twisty.

The views are amazing as the photos show - well worth  every coronory inducing pedal stroke!

Swimming

680M Open Water Swim (00:13:12)

A Lovely swim in the Sea at Marble Hill in Donegal.  Water temperature was actually quite good and the sea was calm.  A Lovely swim, and I even had my lovely assistant (Keara) - in her best BayWatch style, paddling beside me on the Kayak just to make sure that I didn't get run over by a speedboat.  Although I was hoping that the bright orange swimming cap made me look like a buoy and that I would be safe - but you can't be too careful.

Thursday 7th July 2011

Running
6.2 Miles 01:00:00 (9.40 per mile / HR 155bpm Z2 85% Max)
Easy pace today running for 1Hr.  Felt very comfortable and was aiming to keep in HR Zone 2 at max 85% of HR – Bingo!

Yesterday I saw one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time.  A middle aged lady out for a jog . . . with an umbrella up and covering her from the light mizzle.

You have got to admire the determination to get out, but question the need for it while running – but each to their own I suppose – at least she was out!

Swimming

1500M - 00:34:44 in 18M pool at Gym.
Very comfortable swim and felt good throughout and was focussing on technique.
Happy with the time – probably my best for 1500m in the short pool.
It really is amazing how I now feel very comfortable swimming a mile and only 6 months ago I struggled to swim 5 lengths without stopping.  The moral for swimming improvement seems to be persistence and building up a tolerance to the taste of pool water!!

To clip or not to clip? That is the question.

Tuesday 5 July 2011
Swimming
2000M - 00:54:14
Not my best swim but I ground it out.  In the 25M pool at the Lisburn Leisureplex.
A pretty frustrating swim on a number of levels:
1) Got to the pool only to have to queue behind a load of grumpy pensioners waiting to get in for their free swim.
2) Realised I had forgotten my towel and had to leave aforementioned queue and drive home to get my towel.
3) Roped off lanes were filled with chatting / breaststroking / grumpy pensioners
4) Bl*$dy nose clip kept coming off
5) Couldn't get a decent rhythm going at all and feel pretty frustrated by the swim today.

The nose clip is really starting to annoy me now as it has started slipping off more and more and it even did it on the Tri swim on Sunday.  So, the question is going to have to be " To clip or not to clip?" I either need to get a new one that works or get used to swimming without one.  Oh, decisions decisions!

Cycling
20.31 Miles - 01:43:10 (11.8 mph / HR 120bpm Z1 68% Max / Cadence 69rpm)
Easy bike ride with my Brother-in-law to get him used to riding for a bit longer, albeit at a pretty easy pace.  At least it counts as time in the saddle.

Belfast Triathlon - Sun 3 July 2011

Belfast Triathlon
750m Sea Swim - 00:19:34 (Garmin clocked the swim at 980M)
T1 - 00:01:15
25K Bike - 00:41:24 (Garmin clockedthe bike at 15 miles)
T2 - 00:00:47
5K Run - 00:25:59 (run leg 3.37 miles)
Total time - 01:28:59

60th out of 76 overall.

A Really enjoyable, if slightly quirky event. The weather was fantasitc and was around 20 degrees at the start line.

The Swim started on the slipway outside the Dirty Duck Pub at Holywood Yacht Club.  The water temperature was great and much warmer than I had experienced at Glenarm Tri a couple of weeks ago.  I had done the practice swim on Saturday morning and was pleasantly surprised at how warm it was once we got going - and the race was no different.

The lessons from Glenarm open water swim had been learnt and I started wide at the back of the group and tried to stay out of trouble, kept sighting every 6 or 8 strokes and for the most part it worked pretty well.  The only incident was when I swam straight in to the 2nd marker buoy and staved my finger - so much for improved sighting!

The swim felt longer than 750M, and the Garmin later told me that it was almost 1K!  So I was pretty pleased with the time - and YES, Belfast Lough tastes as bad as it looks!

T1 was a bit odd - we got out of the water, stripped the wetsuit off and into trainers for the 1500m run to the Bike transition!!  (This was due to the path from the swim end to the main bike course having some rough tracks that may have wrecked some of the expensive wheels on show - not mine I might add!!) - I have just added this run time on to my run time at the end to come up with my overall run time. 

It was a bit weird getting out of the water and running while still feeling a bit wobbly from being washed around in the Sea.

The Bike was on a totally flat course in Belfast Harbour Estate - not the most inspiring views but a good fast flat couse - albeit with quite a bit of wind to deal with in parts.  The flat course is actually quite punishing as you don't get any freewheel time on the downhills - because ther aren't any!  It's a bit like a Turbo session without the sweat.

T2 was really quick and I managed to be in and out to the run in well under a minute.

The Run went really well, and I managed to pick off a few of the faster cyclists who slowed a bit on the run.  I think I picked up about 6 places overall. It was 3 loops partly on grass and pavement.

On the whole I was aiming to do sub 1:30 and I pushed like crazy in the last 1K to make sure I got there - so I was delighted to get the official results telling me 1:28:59 - a new PB!  Another nice friendly event organised by Derek at Real Triathlon.

Links below.

https://sites.google.com/site/belfasttriathlon/

Le Tour est Arrivé!

Practice swim this morning for the Belfast Triathlon tomorrow.
Approx 750M in Belfast Lough - sounds appetising doesn't it?

Actually it was great - the weather was good, no breeze so no waves and the water temperature was pretty good actually.
I am still getting used to swimming in the Sea but it went pretty well and I didn't get any Jellyfish stings either.

Really looking forward to the race tomorrow to see if I can bring it all together in a decent way.

Le tour est arrivé!

The Greatest show on Earth started today.  Can't wait to see what the British riders can do. 
Come on Cav and Wiggo!
Next 21 days block booked on Sky+  Gonna need more memory on the box!