Oooh! I enjoyed that!

Monday 30th September 2013

Running (20.00 Miles / 03:07:38 / 00:09:23 Per mile / HRZ 2)

Far too much drink!  That was the story of my weekend.
The Tri Club awards dinner on Friday night turned out to be messier than I had anticipated and thanks to Gavin and Jonny, I wound up drinking a canoe load of Starporamen Czech beer.
It was fantastic and we had a brilliant night but I suffered really badly the next day.

By the time we got to Sunday I was feeling better but there was a problem!
My Best friend's baby was being christened and he had "invested" in some fantastic German beers, along with a cheeky little Lithuanian number.
Self control kicked in and I behaved myself a lot better, even though I knew I was off work on Monday as I booked a day of leave.

The plan for today was to get a 20 mile run in and I felt good this morning and hit the road at 8.30AM.
Spurred on by my strong run at the Belfast City Half Marathon, I decided to try to run a bit faster and hold on to my goal marathon pace of 9.30 which would give me around the 4H15M time I am looking for in Dublin.

I decided to make the run this morning in to two separate loops and it worked well for me as I was able to leave an extra drinks bottle  at the half way point.

I worked hard the whole way through the run to maintain my pace but stay controlled, and to be honest it couldn't have gone much better for me.
Everything seemed to click really well and I felt pretty comfortable the whole way through and I managed to come in with an average time below the 9.30 plan at 9.23 per mile. 

As I finished my run I had the rather insane thought that I could go on and do my usual 6 mile loop from home and just carry on and do the full Marathon distance as I was fairly sure I could bring it home in a time well under my PB of 4H21Mins, but I decided not to be stupid and I stopped.

let's leave the full distance until race day.

I have to say that I am feeling good after that run and fairly confident of hitting my goal in Dublin, but as anyone who runs knows - the best laid plans can fall apart very easily, so I will keep my feet on the ground and just work hard for the next few weeks and try to carry on shedding the weight and be the lightest I have ever been at the start of a marathon.  Maybe that'll make the difference for me.

Don't look!

Tuesday 24th September 2013

Running (7.00 Miles / 00:59:13 /00:08:27 per mile / HRZ3)

What is my natural tempo pace? 

That really means what sort of pace will I run at if I just go and run at an intensity that is a bit of a challenge but that can be held on to for a decent enough length of  run.

In order to see where I am on this I just went out and ran and ignored my watch completely.  This is not as easy as it sounds – especially for someone who has been using the watch as a key driver for training over the last three years or more.

No looking at Average Pace, Heart Rate or Last lap mile split.  This was a real challenge.

Don’t Look.  Don’t Look.  I had to force myself to not look but I’m glad I managed to abstain.

The run felt Ok and the final mile or more up the hill home felt a bit tougher than the rest but that was only to be expected.

For me the pleasing thing is not just that the average pace was under 8.30 per mile but that every mile was at a consistent pace and the swing in mile splits was only about 10 seconds.

The confusing thing though is that I ran an average pace faster than that at the weekend for the Half Marathon.

I suppose it just goes to prove that in a race the average pace will be a bit higher as I’m prepared to put a bit  more on the line.

I intend to take this approach in to the next long training run and then in to the Dublin Marathon.  Not that I’ll be running 8.30 per mile for theMarathon but I think I will now aim at around 9.30 (ish) per mile and see how I go.  It’ll hurt but hopefully the reward will be worth it.

Sunday 22nd September 2013 - Belfast Half Marathon

 

Belfast Half Marathon.(13.10 Miles / 01:50:20 / 00:08:25 per mile / HRZ 4) 

Overall 919th / 3253 M40  Category 160th / 351 

Being only 5 weeks out from the Dublin marathon, this event offered the ideal opportunity to test out the legs and get a good paced Half marathon under my belt and then kick off the last phase of my training for Dublin.

The event touted itself as the first ever Belfast Half Marathon (however, there is a little controversy over this fact) so it would be nice to be in the first running of it and the course promised to be pretty flat.  This in itself is a novelty for me as every other half marathon I have ever done was hilly.

Preparation during the week had gone well with two runs of six miles each completed at a pace which is way above my normal Zone 2 training pace.  I managed to knock them out in 8.20 per mile and 8.40 per mile. 

(Incidentally I also had two very successful swim sessions and continued to improve my 750M swim split, bring it down now to 14.23 – the swims this week were 1000M and 1250M) 

The experience of these runs had me really doubting if I could hold a pace to get near my current PB time of 01:50:55.  Running at sub 8.30 per mile felt tough and I was realistically thinking that 1Hr55M would be a decent time based on the bulk of my training being at 9.30 per mile and slower. 

The great thing about being part of the Tri Club is that there is usually someone else doing an event and it’s great to meet up before or share lifts to the race.Very kindly, Keith picked me up and we met up with Big Andy and Mark from the club also and headed down to the venue.

This was to be Keith’s first Half Marathon and we both planned to run together, although secretly I suspected he would be leaving me along the way. 

The organisers did a great job and there was a really good atmosphere at the start line and well over 3000 entrants lined up to toe the start line. 

The route was a pretty good circuit around the City Centre and surrounds up until about mile 6 and then it moved out of the City Centre and towards the University area and on to the Botanic gardens before moving along the Tow path for the finish at the recently refurbished Mary Peters track. 

Weather conditions were perfect for the race.  It was dry, slightly overcast and warm enough for this time of year and time of the morning. 

Keith and I got of to a very steady start running together and let Andy and Mark head off as they were planning on runs around the 1.40 - 1.45 times. It’s been a while since I ran any distance with another person and I found the company great and the chat and banter between us meant that we cracked through 10K and held a steady 8.25 average pace the whole way and barely even noticed the miles pass.  Same story through to 9 miles and at this point we were on the Tow path where I noticed the pace start to pick up a wee bit.This could have been due to the bunching of the crowd on the narrower Tow Path and the need to accelerate through the gaps in the crowd as they emerged. 

By 11 miles it looked as though a 1.52 finish was well on the cards and 1.50 could be possible if we pushed on a bit.At Mile 12 my lack of pace work was beginning to bite me and I had to hang on to Keith for the last mile and he did a great job of keeping me with him.

The sting in the tail is the last 0.2 mile to the finish which is a moderately steep trail up to the back of the running track.I lost Keith on this as he was going strong up the hill but I got caught behind a couple of other runners and a lady pushing a child in a buggy up the hill.  I got through a gap but Keith was too far ahead of me to catch on the hill. 

In all honesty I don’t think my legs had enough left to keep up with him on the hill even I hadn’t been held up. 

As I cleared the top of the hill and entered the running track, the finish line was at eh end of the 100M straight and I knew that I had a decent cushion of seconds to try and get a decent time.  I put on a spurt to try and catch up to Keith but he obviously had the same idea and he took off as well.

Crossing the line I knew that I probably could not have given anything else and that I had had a really good run.

The finish time of 01:50:20 was a 35 sec PB and although it doesn’t seem like much to knock 21 secs of to go sub 1.50 – I don’t know where I could have found it. 

On reflection I am delighted with the PB as it was unexpected and it also hopefully puts me in good standing for the last few weeks run up to the Dublin Marathon. 

I’m pretty desperate to get a PB in Dublin as this will be my 11th stand along Marathon and my PB was set back in 2008 in Barcelona, which was my 3rd Marathon.  I think it’s about time I showed some improvement.

My best is 4.21.I am going to put it out there that I would like to do 4.15 this time around.It’ll be tough but I am hopeful that if I can stay injury free it is a possibility.  Time will tell.

Speedily avoiding the Breaststrokers

Swimming

(1000M / 00:19:21) 18M Pool at Gym

Quick dip at lunch and it turned out to be surprisingly quick – despite five of us being squeezed in to the narrow pool at the Gym and having to dodge the flailing arms and legs of the two Breaststrokers either side of me, until they got out. Thankfully!

I managed the first 750M split in 14:28. That’s another new best time for me.

To be honest I’m getting a bit worried at all this improvement because I don’t feel like my stroke is much better.  Maybe it’s just my swimming fitness coming back a bit.

It feels good though.

Gone Long

Tuesday 10th September 2013

 

Swimming (1500M / 00:30:08) 18M Pool at Gym.

Back in the pool again.  It’s time now to step things up a bit as I need to build a decent base of swimming as I head towards the beginning of official Ironman training which is looming in November.

Up until now, I was happy enough to just knock out 750M swims in preparation for the Tri last weekend, however I now need to start building a bit more endurance in.

With that in mind I managed a very pleasing 1500M today at lunchtime.

Now, I know that 1500M is hardly an major endurance session but I haven’t swum that far in a while so it was good to get back a bit more distance.

I felt really good and it showed in the first 750M, which were completed in 14.38.  That is faster than I managed over the last few weeks when I was working specifically on the 750M distance and speed.

I thought I might pay for that in the second 750Ms.

I did a little bit but it was only 52 secs slower at 15.30.  This is the purpose of endurance training.  I should be aiming to stay strong or possibly even build pace as I go along.

I’m not complaining as this was a good session and a really decent base point to build from.

Running (19.50 Miles / 03:15:12 / 00:10:00 per mile)

I am not doing any more long runs at night after working all day. Nope, never, no how, no way!

The experience is just not really all that enjoyable.  Maybe in the summer it would be better but as we march onwards towards Autumn, the experience of seeing the light fade while out running is just not doing it for me.

As I will be hitting the Dunfanaghy International Jazz and Blues Festival this weekend in Co Donegal, I decided to get the long run out of the way and thus freeing up valuable drinking and “recovery” time this weekend.

The aim was for a minimum 19 miles and my rough estimation of the route might see me touch on the 20 mile mark.

Now, this is a bit further than I would typically be going with six weeks left to go, however my recent experiences have taught me that I have lacked the strength of consistent long runs in a Marathon and I really start to lose pace over the last 6 miles or so.  My aim this time is to do more longer runs and build the strength to see me come through without slowing down just as much.

If I am completely honest I am just not enjoying my long runs as much as I normally do in this block of training running up to the Dublin Marathon.  I don’t know why, but my suspicion is that it is poor experiences of evening long runs are dragging me down.

The run itself went pretty well.  Having decided to ditch the Heart Rate Monitor in favour of working on a paced run, I set out aiming to hold 9.30 per mile for as long as I could, and then not let the wheels come off.

By and large the run then was successful as I held that pace through until about 15 miles without too much problem, however the last couple of miles up home were blooming awful.  It’s all up hill and my legs were not feeling the love, probably not helped by the funk that my brain was in at this stage.

I walked a bit of the up hill (probably quite a bit) and this was largely responsible for the 10 min per mile average pace.  If the last couple of miles had been flat, would I have done better?

Probably, but not to the extent of regaining 9.30 pace.

The verdict is that it is good to get it done, it went largely to plan and I am not doing night time long runs again!

Stena Triathlon - Race Report - 8th September 2013. Racing "The Nemesis."

Stena Triathlon - 8th September 20123

 750M Swim - 00:16:23 (70th Overall)
Transition 1 - 00:01:47
20K Bike - 00:42:25 (69th Overall)
Transition 2 - 00:01:02
5K Run - 00:20:53 (47th Overall)
Total time - 01:22:57
(26th /56 in Age Group / & 60th Overall / 143)

 

This is one of the events that I look forward to every year.  Maybe because this race was my first ever and it is usually my last event of the season that I get pretty excited about it.  It's not an easy course wither but I still love it. Finally I was relatively injury free, managed to string a few weeks of training together and was posting some reasonable swim times in training, so optimism was high.  The target was last year's time of 1:23:10.

 

The Swim

The goal for this swim was to go sub 16 minutes and ideally somewhere close to 15:30.  Being placed in wave three felt about right and all the other five people in my lane all were declaring goal times of 16 minutes. The swim pretty much exactly to plan apart from swallowing a lot of water for some reason. No idea why but I just got it on with and considered it as some extra hydration ahead of the bike. 

I got out of the pool in 15.40 so I was well chuffed with that time and I made my way out of the pool to T1 taking care not to slip on the pool deck floor as I tried to get out as quickly as possible.

 

T1

Now. My good fried Donald often wonders what the hell I do to take so long in T1.  I've been accused of taking time to straighten my hair and do my nails etc. as I am pretty damn slow.

I have finally made the move to ditch socks for bike and run and I generally try to be a bit more efficient at getting on to the bike.

Today went really well and my time of 1.47 includes the run from the pool out to the Transition area.

 

As I came in to T1 I was joined by my mate Donald and also Gavin from my Club.  Both of them got out on to the bike ahead  of me.  I never saw Donald again but Gavin was within touching distance.  This was to become a bit of a feature of the race for me.

 

My goodness There's a real danger that this triathlon might just go to plan!!  How could that happen?

 

The Bike

Having sold my TT bike I was forced to use my Road Bike, however on this course which is a bit grinding and rolling there was no real loss in using the Road bike instead of the TT bike.

As I got out on to the course I was feeling strong and was trying to pull in Gavin who at this stage was about 150M up the road from me.

The first 3 miles of the course are pretty much dominated by a grinding upward course and then it levels off a bit.  Nothing too steep but just enough to force me down a few gears.

 

At about 5 miles in Gavin was still about 150M ahead and I just couldn't bridge the gap, although  I noticed that when the course started to rise up a wee bit I managed to gain about 50M, immediately losing it again as it flattened out.

 

At about 11 miles there is a final false flat and gradual rise and I could see Gavin ahead of me, this was my chance. I pushed on but unfortunately so did he, so I finished the bike ride about 100M behind him.

 

I was delighted with my bike and I managed to knock a few seconds off the time from last year.

 

T2

Quick for me, that's pretty much all there is to say about it. Out on to the run with a Rabbit to catch up ahead of me.

 

The Run

The run at this event is never easy.  It's two loops and the first half of each loop is up hill and has a couple of tough wee gradients just to test the legs out.

I was feeling relatively fresh as I hit the course and only felt any stiffness in my upper Hamstrings and that was caused by a lot of standing around yesterday at The Hillsborough Oyster Festival.  Not Tri related at all.

 

This was turning out to be a real race for me. Not just going along on my own but a real race.  I ran one and a half laps either side by side or just in front or behind another competitor from my wave in the race.  I could tell we were both not wanting to give an inch at all. Any time he slowed on the hill I pushed ahead and as we got to the flat or down slope he pushed ahead of me. 

The positive side of this was that I was managing to pull back a bit of time again my "nemesis" and I could see him about 50m ahead of me.

 

As my shadow and I came to the top of the last part of the hill for the final time, Gavin took a little glance back, saw me and put the hammer down.

I responded and pushed on more but this just seemed to rile up my shadow and he simply took off and I could not catch up to him.

 

I finished really strong and managed to run the last three quarters of a mile at 6.45 per mile pace.  Sadly it wasn't enough to catch the Shadow or the Nemesis. 

I am pleased though to have clocked up another decent run off the bike.

 

I think in future I should cycle to running events as I always seem to run stronger off the bike than just stand alone.

 

Overall

Pretty much mission accomplished.  I beat all of my times last year apart from the run time, but that was only 21 seconds slower than last year.

 

Considering my lack of training this year and the inconsistency that caused, I am delighted to finish the season with my strongest performance.  Not a bad way to close out the season.

 

Meat is for Pussies. (So I'm told)

Tuesday 3^rd September 2013

Swimming (750M / 00:14:46) 18M Pool in Gym

Back in the pool and aiming to carry on the steady work from last week.

I felt pretty comfortable and didn’t have the sensation of pushing all that hard, it just felt like I was swimming quite strong for a bit less effort than before.

One of things I have been trying to do is not to check my watch for time as I go, and I was fairly sure that I was going to be slower than my previous effort as I felt like I was going easier and slower.

When I finished my requisite number of lengths I stopped the watch and was surprised to see that I had knocked another two seconds off the time from last week.  I have no expectations to keep improving with every single swim and knocking time off each time, however I will gladly take it as long as it lasts.

Amazing really how just two seconds can make you feel.

Running (18.00 Miles / 03:01:23 / 00:10:04 / HRZ 2)

Time to pay for my laziness at the weekend. I had ditched doing my long run last weekend and I needed to make up for it now.  So after work it was time to slip on the shoes and head out for an 18 mile loop.  Not exactly the highlight of my day but it needed to be done.

My mind set was fairly optimistic as I headed out the door, the weather was lovely and it was around 19 degrees, which is warm enough at 6.30Pm in Northern Ireland.

About half a mile in to the run I realised I had forgotten to put on my running cap. No big deal you might think, however it’s funny how something so simple and habitual can make all the difference.  To say I was irritated the whole way round by excess sweatiness due to the lack of hat is an understatement.

The sun was shining, the countryside looked nice and all was well with the world.  Then at 7 miles I turned off the country road and on to the hard shoulder of the main road.  Not just as nice but I was feeling pretty strong and keeping in my Heart Rate zone – going slower than I would like but still keeping steady and no worries. (apart from the sheen of sweat that perpetually covered my face and attracted flies in their dozens!)

One of my pleasures when running is to listen to Podcasts.  I prefer this to music as it feels like I have someone talking to me, although I don’t get to answer back.

I have to say that the interview I listened to on the Rich Roll Podcast was brilliant.  It was with a guy called John Joseph, who is a veteran hard core punk musician from New York, Ironman, Author, Buddhist Monk and Vegan.  A really interesting guy and the most atypical New Yorker you have ever heard.

He talked a lot about his new book which is called “Meat is for Pussies(A how-to guide for dudes who want to get fit, kick ass and take names),” which sounds like a great read, if for nothing else than the brilliant title.  I will definitely be getting the book and I recommend having a listen to the interview.  All two and a half hours of it!!

http://www.richroll.com/podcast/rrp-41-explicit-cro-mags-john-joseph-punk-icon-spiritual-warrior-ironman-triathlete-plantpower-iconoclast/

 

(He also happened to say “F*$k” more times in an interview than I’ve ever heard before – so it was right up my street.)

Sixteen miles in to the run and the legs started to come off.  Admittedly it was 9.00 PM at night and I was feeling tired and the pace was significantly dropping to below a 10.30 per mile pace.  Not good, but it was late and up hill so I was just glad to get home and sit down and get a very large drink in to me.

Am I happy with the run? Yes, in that I did it and pushed through when it was hard going. No, as it was at least 30 secs per mile slower than I wanted and I really felt like I was suffering more than I should in the last couple of miles.

The verdict is – More work to be done and Meat is For Pussies!

Wednesday 4th September 2013

Swimming (750M / 00:14:44) 18M Pool in Gym

Another two seconds off.  Quite pleasing.

Over and out!

 

Riding Faster. Manning the Penalty Box and the new Bike Project can begin. Soon!

Thursday 29th August 2013

Cycling (18.31 Miles / 00:59:48 / 18.40 mph / HRZ 4 / Cadence 88)

One of my big goals for the year ahead on the road to IM Zurich is to improve my cycling and get a lot stronger on the bike, which hopefully will allow me no to just go faster on the bike but also mean I am less tired going out on the run.

I will be using this route every so often as a gauge of progress as to how I am going.
Its a decent 18 mile route with a little bit of undulation and typically some wind.
I went out and rode it reasonably hard tonight but not killing myself.  I focussed really hard on keeping the cadence high, over 90 and for the most part I achieved that really well.

Also this weekend I had my first experience of acting as a Technical Official for Triathlon Ireland at the Mourne Triathlon at Castlewellan.
It was a great experience and I wound up manning the Penalty Box.  This is where competitors who have been penalised out on the Bike route for things like illegal drafting or overtaking are required to serve a two minute standing penalty.
Needless to say there were a few people who weren't too happy but on the whole those that came in for a "visit" with me were good natured.
Would I do it again.  Yep, certainly would, although next time I will probably have to step up and take on a more responsible role but it's all part of the learning experience.

Finally!! My Cube Bike has sold! It's been on the market for a while and I've had to drop the price a bit - but tonight a nice Couple came and bought it.  It's probably getting decked out in a nice pair of Zipp Carbon rims and it will look brilliant.
It was a bit sad to see it go as that was the bike that I trained on and completed Ironman riding.

The good news however is that I am now able to start buying the parts for me new Austro Daimler TT bike.  I can't wait to get it built.
This is roughly what it will look like - minus the Zipp wheels.  Unfortunately