Running faster and easier.

Saturday 30th November 2013

Running (6.82 Miles / 01:00:00 / 00:08:47 per mile / HRZ 2)

Well I wasn't expecting that!
As I've mentioned before I am pretty pleased with my running at the moment as I seem to be doing a decent enough pace for me in a relatively Heart Rate Zone and today was even better.

Todays' route was a bit lumpier than my run on Thursday and that makes me even more pleased with the average pace and heart rate.

While I was running I was trying to think why was it that I am finding it easier to up the pace and keep the effort relatively low.

It's potentially down to a few factors; the shorter strides and faster turnover of the feet is one possibility.  The residual fitness from my Dublin Marathon training, getting back in to some cross training and increased cycling and swimming or perhaps that I am now my lightest weight in probably 15 years is helping.

Whatever it is I am thankful for it and hope that it continues.

Ministry of funny walks

Thursday 28th November 2013

Running (01:00:00 / 6.67 Miles /00:09:00 per mile / HRZ 2)

Another run with tiny steps, or at least it felt that way.

I have no idea what I look like when I’m doing this run with smaller faster steps, quite possibly completely ridiculous but it does seem to be working.

The fact that I managed to average 9 minutes per mile at a low heart rate is encouragement enough for me to continue with the ‘poker up bum / needing the toilet’ style of running.

Ooooh, must run, I need the loo!

 

Riding the Tunnel.

Wednesday 27th November 2013
 

Cycling (00:43:46 / 8.95 Miles / 12.30 MPH / Cadence 68 / HRZ 2) Elevation gain 324M

Hills - 3 X Pond Park Road
 

A really early start this morning saw me out on the road for my Hill Repeat session just before 6AM this morning.

Thankfully it wasn’t a bad morning and although it was dark and a bit drizzly it was mild enough and not too much wind to cause me much bother.

Three repeats up the Pond Park Road was the aim and I wondered how my legs would feel after the fairly intense Turbo session less than twelve hours earlier.

The answer came pretty quickly on the first repeat as I noticed that I was spinning slower than I would have expected and that the average pace at various marker points on the way up was not quite at “optimum” levels.  It’s seems obvious to say but the Turbo session obviously sapped the leg power.  I’m actually taking this as a positive because it means that the hill sessions will be done on fatigued legs which can only make me stronger, so long as I manage nay risks from injury along the way.

I’ll be honest, it was a strange sensation riding on completely black roads, save for the occasional lorry or car passing by.  The cloud and mizzle put paid to any light from the moon, and riding with the light beam from the bike meant that it was similar to riding in a tunnel, with just the 20 metres ahead of me illuminated.  Quite exhilarating too, but I might not be saying that if it was bucketing down and freezing cold, but that’s the joy of Winter training.

Splits for the 3 repeats were:  09:25 / 09:36 / 09:55 - fairly consistent.

 

Swimming (2000M / 00:57:44)

Endurance session

Another reasonably tough session tonight but very enjoyable.  Apart from 6X50M Breaststroke!
I really hate Breaststroke.  What made me feel even worse was that while I was finishing one of my Freestyle sets, Michael in the next lane was overtaking me while he was doing his Breaststroke set.  That's motivating.  Not!

Still, it was good to get another 2K in and feel half decent after it.  I might be a wee bit sore in the morning as we also did some sets with the paddles on the hands.  My shoulders won't thank me tomorrow.

It's a long way to Tippearary - no wait it was Kilkenny!

Tuesday 26th November 2013

Cycling ( 00:50:00 / 18.36 Miles / 22.0 MPH / Cadence 94 / HRZ 2)
Turbo Trainer - Sufferfest Revolver.

Club turbo night again and the best news was - No Fallers!
Revolver was about right as the title for the video - it was a series of 15 one minute sprints followed by one minute recovery.
Great fun and pretty tight going.

I managed to cover nearly 380 miles today.  Albeit only 18 was on the bike, the rest was made up in the car on a return journey to Kilkenny.
I don't know about Tipperary but it's a long way to Kilkenny.

I was hoping to run this morning before setting off early but my big toe is sore again so I binned the run, simply because I couldn't.  I hope it clears up pretty quickly.

Flanders ACT - New to me.

Monday 25th November 2013

Cycling (15.81 miles / 01:05:14 / 14.55 MPH / Cadence 75 / HRZ 2)

The Monday commute to and from work.
This was the first outing for my "new to me" Winter Bike.
It went really well and it's pretty comfortable.  I decided to get a winter bike so that I didn't have to worry about my good bike getting damaged in the bike rack at work or the carbon and components taking a battering over the winter.  This one is a Flanders Cyclocross bike so it is pretty robust and should hold out through the winter really well.  It also gives me the option to maybe try out a bit of Cyclocross next year if the mood takes me.
(By the way I have changed the riding position before Sean at VeloCafe Magasin has a fit!)

The commute was uneventful apart from the silly woman who decided to park in the bus lane outside Starbucks thinking this was OK!  I put her right on this through her open window :)

I'm happy enough with the way I felt for both parts of the ride and also I'm pretty pleased with the last couple of miles back up the hill home. 

Swimming (1900M / 01:00:21)
Technique Session

The metres are approximate as the Garmin sometimes does not count laps when using a kickboard.
There was a lot of focus on kicking tonight, including the absolutely hateful vertical kicking, which pretty much involved me trying to avoid drowning while kicking in a standing position in the deep end with my arms crossed on my chest! 
Yep!  it's as much fun as it sounds.  NOT MUCH!

Some more leg work but then the relief of pull drills.  These I like.

I know I'm only about 3 or 4 weeks back in to the pool sessions but I think I feel a bit better already.  That's good.

MoJo a NoGo.

Saturday 22nd November 2013

Running (6.51 Miles / 01:00:00 / 00:09:12 / HRZ2)

You know those days when you just get things done early and it feels good.  Well, this was one of those days.
Ben was dropped of to Rugby and I was on the road for 7.50AM.
I had the same plan as last time which was to aim for a shorter step and higher cadence and keep the Heart Rate low.
Guess what?  It worked again.
I felt really comfortable and well within control the whole time.  if I can keep in Zone 2 and get to sub 9 min per mile I will be pretty pleased. 

Sunday - It just didn't happen.
I was supposed to get out on the bike for a couple of hours this morning and I had been looking forward to it.  When I woke up this morning I had a total loss of motivation and decided not to bother.
Do I feel guilty about it?  Not really actually.  I know I should have done it but I am not going to worry too much although I will not be able to do this too many times.  Hopefully I will get back in to the longer ride mojo next week.

Snot working for me.

Thursday 21st November 2013

Running (5.00 Miles / 00:47:37 / 00:09:30 per mile / HRZ2)

Fairly easy run tonight and one where I thought I would try something new.

Actually I tried two new things but gave up on one of them pretty damn quick.
I got both of these from the fantastic website http://www.nomeatathlete.com/
It's a great source of training tips and much more than just vegetarian writing.  I would seriously suggest checking it out.
But anyway, on to the new things I was trying.

Attempt 1 - Breathe only through your nose.  The purpose of this is for slower runs where it is important to stay within the lower Heart Rate Zones.
I tried it and maybe it was the cold weather or maybe it was just too difficult but I found myself suffocating on snot after about half a mile and struggling for breath even though I was running pretty easy.
Now I'm sure if I stick at it, I will get the hang of it and see the benefit - but literally I could not breathe and had to give up.
I might try it again on a warmer snot free day.

Attempt 2- increasing my stride rate to approximately 180 steps per minute.
I know that I don't have the quickest leg turnover and the prospect of moving the legs faster seemed a strange idea to me.  However it is supposed to help and also enable a more comfortable run at a lower heart rate.
To my surprise it actually seemed to work.  My legs were turning over quickly and I felt like I was taking little tiny steps.  Well actually I was taking little tiny steps.
I probably looked a bit funny, or maybe I actually looked a bit more runner-like.  I don't know and I don't really care.  It felt pretty good and I think I will try to stick at this one.

So the conclusion on all of this is that I will try to keep taking tiny fast steps and avoid drowning in my own snot.  Simple really.

Marginal Gains - that's the name of the game.

Wednesday 20th November 2013

Swimming (2150M / 01:00:15)
Endurance Session

WU - 3x100 easy, every 4th length choice & stretch.
4x100 kick (Fins & kick boards - focus on a steady and deep kick) @30s recovery.
6x50 easy (focus on when & how to breathe to the wall) @20s recovery.
3x100 steady (no pull buoy - focus on breathing pattern of 3,4,5,3 and generating power from your WHOLE body) @20s recovery.
Main Set:
4x200 - (7 out of 10 pace) bring all lessons from previous drills together and keep core tight. 30s recovery between 200's.
2 easy lengths cool down

That is the furthest I have swam in a long time so I'm pretty pleased with myself.
I did concentrate on rotating the body and generating power and I even managed to breath to the left a bit better then before.
Every week I will look for little signs of improvement.

In the words of Team Sky Cycling - " Marginal Gains."

Falling down is the new sitting up.

Tuesday 19th November 2013

Running ( 4.31 Miles / 00:33:27 / 00:07:45 / HRZ4)
Tempo Run

Another really nice tempo run with Brendan from work.  he Manfully came out with me even though he is not feeling 100% and was with me every step of the way.  I think he'd have destroyed me if he was feeling fit.

I'm pleased with this effort as it is a touch quicker than last week over the same course and actually felt a little bit easier.
The splits were nice and even as well with 7.52 / 7.44 / 7.39 / 7.45 / 7.45.  I've got to be happy with that.

Cycling ( 00:47:29 / 15.04 Miles / 19.00 MPH / Cadence 86 / HRZ2)
Turbo Trainer - Sufferfest Wretched.

Back to the Club Turbo session again tonight.  A rather disappointing turn out of just four.  Not sure what puts people off but the turbo is good fun, especially in a group getting splattered by a Sufferfest video.

Although this one was only 45 minutes long it felt like a hard effort and I'm glad it wasn't an hour otherwise I might have been in a world of Ssufferlandia!  I see why this one is called 'Wretched.'

A pleasing effort and another decent session knocked out.

I even had a comment that I've lost weight in the last couple of weeks - good to hear!

Oh, and another faller off the Turbo!  Not as spectacular or funny though, or maybe I'm just getting used to seeing people fall off a stationary bike.  It's obviously the new thing.

Swimming Ugly.

Monday 18th November 2013

Cycling (15.79 Miles / 01:06:00 / 14.60 mph / Cadence77 / HRZ 2)

First day of commuting to work using the bike - round trip totals above.
The weather held up OK thankfully so I didn't get too cold or wet but it was tight enough in the traffic coming home this evening.  Some drivers really are complete plonkers!

Swimming ( 1250M / 00:59:25)
Technique Session

This week we did quite a bit less on the distance side of things and focused a lot on being streamlined in the water and rotating side to side to reduce drag and keep form.
Oliver's mantra was to "Slice" through the water.  I get the concept OK and was trying hard to get it - as usual I was better on the right side then the left but I noticed some improvement as we went through the session.  As I said to Oliver, it was ugly but better!

Sadly I think in my case too much slicing through cake over the last few years has probably diminished my ability to slice through the water.

Two rides, a run and a rant. Not a bad end to week 1 of IM training.

Saturday 16th November 2013

Cycling (8.94 Miles / 00:41:18 / 13.00 Mph / Cadence 67 / HRZ3) Elevation 337M
Hills - 3 X Pond Park Road

Having missed this session earlier in the week because of my alarm clock malfunction, I was determined to get the session in.  I rearranged the schedule a bit and swapped my rest day about and hit the hill on Saturday morning.  Weather conditions were decent and thankfully I had the wind behind me a bit on the climb.  it did mean however that coming down the hill was a bit slower but that's not necessarily a ad thing.

I haven't done the hills in a while so I was a bit worried as to how it would go.
I won't lie.  It was a bit harder than it had been before but that's only to be expected as I was doing up to 5 sets on it previously and was getting the climbing legs but at least this was a start and it will be a weekly feature for me throughout this training cycle.

Pleasingly the three sets all went well with times for the climb of 08:54/ 09:01 / 09:27.

Fairly consistent and a positive start to the hill sessions.

Running (5.01 Miles / 00:46:00 / 00:09:11 per mile / HRZ 2)

While Ben was doing his warm up for his Rugby match I decided to kill the time with my Zone 2 slow run today.
Very strangely this felt like a tough run even though I was taking it easy and not worrying about pace.
It might be that I haven't run much this week, or maybe it was running so soon after the bike hill session, although there was a gap of over an hour but either way it felt much harder than it should.

I got it done though and it did get a bit easier as the run went on.

Sunday 17th November 2013

Cycling (28.43 Miles / 01:50:40 / 15.40 Mph / Cadence 80 / HRZ 2) Elevation 362M

You've got to love the Northern Ireland winter!  typical weather which is breezy, cold and wet.
The rain wasn't belting down but it was what Peter Kay describes as "Wet" rain.  You know that mizzle that just soaks you through no matter what you are wearing.
Not to be put off, I hit the road nicely wrapped up with tights, gloves and overshoes on and hopefully as well prepared as possible for the conditions,

My training plan had me schedule for a 90 minute ride so I estimated approximately 24 miles or so, although the conditions were bound to play a bit of a role.

Very quickly it became clear that this was going to feel a lot longer than 90 minutes.  Within 5 minutes I was wet through and my vision was pretty impaired because of the mizzle. Imagine driving your car without wiping the windscreen and it fogging up.  That was it!!

My route was undulating and one that I have done many times.
I felt a bit tired early on and realised that the winter wheels which I had put on the bike were substantially heavier than the normal ones I ride.  It is amazing the difference in a set of wheels.  In some ways the heavier slower wheels are good for winter training as they will build a bit of strength and the decent race wheels will feel so fast when I get them back on again.

Anyway I started to feel a bit stronger and pushed through the rest of the ride pretty well, although I was really freezing cold and wet.

By the time I got home I was able to wring out my gloves and empty my shoes.  so much for my "best that money can buy" SealSkinz Overshoes!

I'm reasonably happy with the ride and the average speed.  not too bad as a start.

On a completely non training related point.  Later in the day I took the Dog for a walk to Wallace Park in Lisburn.  It was lovely and the leaves were beautiful colours. 

However, I'm about to have a rant here and I'm not being at all sexist about this.
One of my recently developed pet hates is seeing women out running who are obviously "Boot Camp" regulars. (Usually in pairs!)
They are bloody annoying!  They run along then suddenly stop, walk a bit.  Which is fine but this pair proceeded to launch in to the most pointless exercise in the middle of a run.
The first one started doing about 150M of lunges and the other got on to hands and started walking monkey style along the side of the football pitch!! 
What the Hell is that all about.

I blame Boot Camp and some of the so-called "Trainers" who take these.  A lot of the exercises they do seem to be pointless and certainly not any use when mixed in during a run.
Another one that I see regularly is running carrying hand weights!!  Why?
Just run faster it'll have more effect.

Anyway rant over and I feel better.

Week 1 Summary
7Hrs 39 Mins
Swim: 3250M
Bike: 75.59 Miles
Run: 9.4 Miles.

Not too bad for a first week, although I missed both of my core strength and conditioning session and a brick run - but got everything else in OK.

I didn't sleep in. Honestly!

Wednesday 13th November 2013

Well that was a bit flipping annoying!
I set my alarm this morning for 5.45AM so that I could get up and do my early morning Hill session on the bike.
I was actually looking forward to it, so you can imagine my amazement when I wake up, look at the clock to see it is 6.30.
How the hell did that happen?  It seems that I also turned the volume down and the alarm did go off but I just couldn't hear it.

Oh well.  I'll try to make it up at some point this week.

Swimming ( 1850M / 00:54:13)

Arran was taking the session tonight and he had it labelled as an endurance session. Given my lack of endurance swimming recently I was dreading this a bit.
As it turned out I didn't really need to worry too much.  It certainly was a tougher session than I have done for a while but pretty enjoyable.  Early focus on kick and swim with fins then 200M sets.

Arran did however turn the screw with a nice flat out 100M time trial to wrap up.
I am not a fast swimmer and secretly hoped that given my lack of swim fitness that I could knock out a 2.00 for the 100M.
I am quite pleased that I managed 1.54.  not a lot faster but still not bad at this stage of the season.  The goal has to be getting that number towards 1.30 later in the season.

Luckily I have no early alarm call in the morning but I will check that the volume is up as I don't want to miss work.  wouldn't that just be awful!

Two knock-downs at Fight Club. (you know who you are!)

Tuesday 12th November 2013

Running (4.39 Miles / 00:34:21 / 00:07:49 per mile / HRZ 4)

This was the first of my tempo runs which I hope to do at lunchtime every Tuesday when possible.
I was lucky enough to run with Brendan from work and as he is a good bit quicker than me I thought this would be good for a Tempo run - aiming for 8 mins per mile for around 30 minutes.
lucky for me Brendan cranked out a tempo run yesterday and was treating today as a bit of an easier run.

Setting out I knew the pace was a bit hot and to be honest I found it hard to pace for the whole run.
I am comfortable holding anything around 8.30-10.00 per mile and being pretty consistent mile to mile, however as this pace is not my normal pace I find it harder to judge.

The positive slant on this was that my deviation from pace tended to be faster rather than slower.

Anyway I'm happy enough with the run and felt OK after it too, although after showering it took me about half an hour to cool down once I was back at my desk.

Cycling (00:56:18 / 18.06 Miles / 19.20 mph / Cadence 90 / HRZ 2)
Turbo Trainer - Sufferfest Fight Club.

Back to the Turbo again but this time with the Club.  once again about 7 of us turned up to endure Fight Club courtesy of The Sufferfest.
Sadly for poor Arran he suffered a puncture after only about fifteen minutes.  I didn't think you could get a puncture on the Turbo but obviously it can be done.

The session itself was tough with lots of short sharp bursts which really sting the legs.  It's funny how it felt different to the Angels session yesterday.

Not content with a first in the form of a Turbo puncture, the Boys decided that tonight would be a good time for me to catch another first.
Two falls off the Turbo!
That's right Two!  Not content with watching Chris fall off the Turbo and slam to the floor, Ian decided he would have ago at chucking himself to the ground when getting off the bike.

Maybe they were inspired by the title "Fight Club" or just knackered, I don't know but the end result was pretty funny anyway.

I'm sure they are hoping that in the spirit of Fight Club, the first rule is never talk about Fight Club (or falling off the bike!) that I would not mention it.  Sorry Lads I couldn't not give you a slagging about it!

Not a bad start.

Monday 11th November 2013

Cycling (01:00:44 / 20.16 Miles / 19.90 mph / Cadence 89 / HRZ 2)
Turbo Trainer - Sufferfest Angels.

Well I might as well start as I intend to go on.  An early session saw me once again tackle the Sufferfest on the Turbo trainer.

It wasn't any easier than the session doing the same workout with the Club last week.  If anything the lack of being in a group saw my average speed drop a touch - however conversely my heart rate stayed a bit lower too.
Was I not working hard enough, or had I paced it about right?  Who knows?  Not me.

I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to trying one of the other Sufferfest videos next time. I might as well have a bit of variation in my suffering!

Swimming (00:55:52 / 1400M)
Technique Session

Following on from last week Oliver (Coach) put us through our paces a bit more, focussing heavily on streamlining in the water and rotation on breathing.  Using the fins and float to work on keeping high in the water and streamlined certainly felt good - and then the float went away and the fins came off and then my ass and feet started to sink to the bottom of the pool.

Tonight was a really enjoyable session and it is clear that I have a lot of work to do to improve my technique but that's what Monday nights in the winter are for. Oh... and listening to Oliver!

Only 259 days to go.

Sunday 10th November 2013

Training starts tomorrow. That is all.

 

 

259 days until Sunday July 27 2014

                

Swimming with Fish and Riding with Angels.

Monday 4th November 2013

Swim (1350M / 01:00:00) Club - Technique session

Back in to the pool with the Club to get a decent winter of technique and general improvement in my swimming.
It's been a long time since I swam with the Tri Club, mostly due to a bot of apathy and some injuries.

Given the task of Ironman ahead of me, I thought I better get back in the pool again in some sort of structured manner and I plan to make both training sessions each week when the real training starts.

This one went well, although my lack of technique was pretty well exposed but I feel like I made awe bit of progress and held my own. I also remembered how much like Fish some of my fellow club mates are, just to make you feel completely inadequate.

I had forgotten though how much I hate breathing to the left side, or drowning to the left as I once called it!

What doesn't (almost) kill me only makes me stronger.


Tuesday 5th November 2013

Cycle (01:02:19 / 22.66 Miles / 21.80 mph / Cadence 87 / HRZ2) Club Turbo Session
Sufferfest - Angels

The Turbo session is a new activity for the Club this season and it replaces the old Spin class.
It wasn't a bad turnout with 7 of us turning up, although I am sure it will get more popular.

Arran had lined up one of the Sufferfest videos for us to work to.  This one was called "Angels" and featured a decent amount of simulated climbing.

Here is a link to a quick glimpse of Sufferfest for those that don't know.

http://www.thesufferfest.com/video-sufferfests/details-angels/?gclid=CIjOhfDizroCFbMbtAodoCIAkg

It was a tough session but really enjoyable and will make the sessions on the turbo a lot more interesting than they ordinarily can be.

I can't wait to try some more of these videos.

Pity da Fool who rides with The A-Team!

Sunday 3rd November 2013

Cycling (29.64 miles / 01:52:49 / 15.80mph / Cadence 73 / HRZ2 ) Elevation 323M

Originally I had planned to do a duathlon today but I decided a couple of days ago not to bother as I just plain couldn't be arsed driving up to Ballymoney. So instead I hit the road with Aaron and Arran - henceforth to be known as "The A Team." - mostly because it's easier to write but also because I definitely felt like some kind of 'Crazy Foo' compared to them.

Meeting up at the bottom of my street was a bit of bonus for me as  it meant a wee bit longer in bed as the Vino from last night had an extra opportunity to get out of my system.

The A-Team had promised me that this would a Zone 2 ride, which should translate as an easy enough pace.  What I hadn't reckoned on was the stiff breeze that seemed to follow me most of the way round the loop ride.

Over recent weeks I have been concentrating on my running which seemed sensible enough as the Marathon was my main goal.  The side effect of this is a total absence of bike fitness which was cruelly shown up by Face and Howlin' Mad Murdoch every time we approached anything even resembling an upward gradient. 

On the whole I found it tough enough going which was made worse by the knowledge that the A-Team could have kicked my ass on bikes hastily knocked together by B.A. with Duct tape.
I am still pleased enough though that in a state of poor fitness and windy conditions I managed to still hold an average pace at near 16mph.

Lots of work to do still but I love it when a plan comes together.