Its become a tradition.

Running (10.01 miles / 01:23:23 / 00:08:19 per mile / HRZ 2)

I always love this run every year. Its my traditional run from the Burrendale Hotel in Newcastle up to Castlewellan and around the lake and back down again.

The first three miles or so are up hill in to Castlewellan and I really felt like I was struggling. Partly due to the long grinding road but more so the lack of fuel as I skipped breakfast to get the run done early.
I recovered again and knocked out the next 4 miles in  very steady pace and then cranked the pace up coming back down the hill for home while still not raising the heart rate.

Its nice to knock this run out ten minutes faster than last year. Pretty pleading stuff.

Now to eat and drink even more.

That was really enjoyable.

Saturday 28th December 2013

Cycling (46.74 Miles / 03:00:00 / 15.60 MPH / HRZ 2 / Cadence 82)

That was a really enjoyable ride today with Jonny and Gavin.  The weather was pretty good, maybe a bit cold but the rain held off and the early frost on the road lifted pretty quickly.  The wind was still there but a bit lighter than it has been.

I'm really beginning to love the routes out around Gilford and Banbridge.  It's a lovely area, the roads are pretty decent and has a bit of everything, including about a three mile drag out of Scarva to Banbridge which Jonny "forgot" to tell us about!

I wish I had added a few more miles on to make it up to the 50 mile mark but I felt good anyway and I'm not worried on missing out on  a few miles.

That'll be the last of it for a couple of days now.  Maybe just one more run before the end of the year.

Happy New Year everyone.

Is it windy and horrible outside? I hadn't noticed.

Tuesday 24th December 2013

Running (00:48: 16 / 6.00 Miles / 00:08:02 per mile / HRZ 2)
Tempo Run

A Christmas Eve Tempo run.  Normally this is done at lunchtime with my mate Brendan but given that it was Christmas Eve I waited until I got home and then wen out.
It was absolutely horrible!
I am definitely getting tough when it comes to running in all conditions,  I am pretty much prepared to go out in any weather and give it a go, although as I came out the end of my street and almost got blown over, I did think about the wisdom of my choice but I just bent over in to the wind and got on with it.

The conditions were definitely not conducive to tempo running, although the main objective is to put out a tempo effort.  The pace was down from last week but to be honest I don't care as I worked hard  and was pleased with that average pace.

Two days off over Christmas and then back at it again.


Friday 27th December 2013

Running (01:00:00 / 7.13 miles / 00:08:25 per mile / HRZ 2)

Yet ANOTHER bloody windy and wet day.
Just a normal paced Zone 2 run in the blistering heat and sunshine of a Norn Iron winter!!

Very steady paced effort and I felt great apart from the wind blowing the rain sideways in to my eyes!

Maybe out on the bike tomorrow so long as the Hurricane dies down.

PB one day and frozen toes the next.

Saturday 21st December 2013

Running (3.05 Miles / 00:22:22 / 00:07:20 per mile / HRZ 3)
Wallace Parkrun

This was it.  My hit out at trying to get the full set of PBs this year.  I'd already got it for Marathon, Half Marathon and 10K, so all I needed was to bad a time of 22:38 or better for a PB.
Wallace Parkrun is harder than Queens Parkrun where I set the previous best last year but I was feeling relatively confident.

I started a bit too quick but I managed to pull my self on to pace again and I held on for the PB that I was so keen to get.
It may not seem like a lot to get a PB of 17 seconds but it means a lot to me.
This is proof for me that the tempo runs and hard work are starting to pay off already.

Sunday 22nd December 2013
Cycling (41.50 Miles / 02:29:42 / 15.60 MPH / Cadence 82 / HRZ 2)

Once again another windy and cold day.  Who'd have thought that winter in Norn Iron would be so crap!
The wind was stiff enough and it was against me for the first half of the ride, and I managed to get it either across me or behind me on the way home.  It was still cold the whole way though and I literally couldn't feel my feet after about 25 miles.

Just before getting in to Gilford the road was closed because of an accident and the Police Woman re-directed me up this country road and I asked her was she having a laugh as it was really steep but she was having none of it and sent me on my way.  What made it worse was that my chain got stuck in the big ring on the way up and I had to literally jump on the pedals to get to the top - and of course sods law meant that as I crested the top of the hill the chain slipped in to the small ring.  A bit bloody late.

Anyway despite the wind I was pretty pleased to hold a reasonable average speed which I know will improve as the winter goes on and I continue to get stronger.

Week 6Summary  7Hrs 37 Mins

Swim: 1250M
Bike: 73.96 Miles
Run: 16.41 Miles

 A poor week for swimming as I missed the Wednesday session and opted for beer at home instead.  How bad is that?
It was a decent enough week for cycling and the mileage was OK although once again I missed doing my Hill session.  I really will need to get this nailed down better.
My running was not quite as scheduled of planned but I will definitely take a PB at 10K and 5K in the same week.  I only got one run of any length but at least it was a good quality one and I am happy enough that the quality of all of my runs was excellent this week.

I am a bit unsure of how the training will go against my plan for the next week or so with the Christmas Break coming up.  If I can manage to get at least two bikes and runs in over the week that will not be a total disaster.

Running from the Blimp

Thursday 19th December 2013

Running (7.16 Miles / 01:00:03 / 00:08:23 per mile / HRZ 2)

This is getting boring now but I'm not complaining.  Another great run with pace up and Heart Rate down.
I really needed it as the vast selection of sweets and lovely things in work has gone through the roof.  Everywhere I look there are Sweets, Celebrations, Buns and all sorts of Christmas lovelies.
I have the willpower of Dawn French at the Terry's Chocolate Orange factory and have been greedily tucking in to all and sundry.
I really hope that this is not a sign of things to come over Christmas otherwise I'll look like the Goodyear Blimp by Boxing day!

Anyway. it's good at the moment and I will take it while it comes.

A new 10K PB (Unofficial) but feeling class.

Tuesday 17th December 2013

Running (6.2 Miles / 00:47:36 /00:07:40 per mile / HRZ 3)
Tempo Run

I didn’t expect that at all.

My plan for today was to increase the length of my lunchtime tempo run from around 30 minutes to about 45 minutes.

These runs have been going really well for me at lunchtime and I give some of the credit for this to my regular ‘Tempo Buddy’ Brendan for pushing me on.

Today however, he abandoned me in favour of the meat-feast lunch at Bubbacue in Belfast, so I was on my own today.

I was a bit anxious about the run as I hoped to hold an average pace of 8 min/mile across a 10k route and although I know that is OK for the 4.3 mile runs I’d been doing, this extra two miles was a bit more of a challenge.

Anyway as it panned out, the first mile was tough enough but paced out pretty well.  As the run went on I started to feel a bit more comfortable and actually started to increase the pace slightly.

With 4.2 miles gone I actually started to realise that a PB could be on the cards here for 10K.

I knuckled down and focussed on fast turnover of the feet and keeping as relaxed as possible even though the temptation was to just work hard and forget about good form.

The last mile actually felt Ok and was my fastest of the run – probably spurred on by the overwhelming desire just to finish.  When the 6.2 mile mark ticked over I had beaten my previous time by 10 seconds.  Not much time but it meant a lot to me.

I know that this doesn’t count as a proper PB as it wasn’t in a race, however I am delighted and it’s just another indication that my running is getting both stronger and faster. 

Cycling (16.60 Miles / 00:53:00 / cadence 85)
Turbo Sufferfest Wretched

A good turbo session but my legs were paying the price for my run earlier. I found it hard to hit the high cadence.
Still, nice to get another tough set in.

You should have seen her jump! It was almost worth it.

Monday 16th December 2013

Cycling (15.86 Miles / 01:09:21 / 13.90 MPH / HRZ 2 / Cadence 72)

The Monday commute.  This was a horrible commute, both to and from work.  Nothing to do with weather but more just to do with Arseholes and Traffic.
To paraphrase the Stealers Wheels Song, "Arseholes to the left of me, traffic to the right of me.  Stuck in the Middle with you."

On the way in to work this morning I nearly got wiped out.  Not by a car, oh no, but by a stupid COW who decided to just walk across the road right in front of me as I'm doing about 20MPH.  I let out an almighty scream and I swear she almost lifted off the ground in surprise and I'm pretty sure she may have sh*t her pants too, but she deserved it.  I missed her by about 2 feet and if I had hit her, she would have been in serious trouble and I'd have been a mess. (And not just because of her sh*$ty pants!)

I'm pretty sure she will learn from this experience and I know that I have learned that pedestrians are as much of a hazard as car drivers sometimes.

Swimming (1250M / 00:55:00)
Technique Session

This was not the ordinary technique session.  Coach Oliver was wearing a Santa Hat to we knew something was going to be different.
It did turn out to be a different session alright - not a lot of metres but in the middle of it all was a set of Vertical kicking, Tug (push) of war kicking with a float, swim lane tig and flat out 25M sprint relays.
I absolutely loved it. It felt good to get competitive in the pool, even though I'm not the fastest or strongest I loved the competitive edge it brings out.

We even had Celebrations sweets as treats at the end.  Truly the spirit of Christmas!  I'm sure it won't last.

My God  - my legs and lungs were burning at times

Windy Windy Windy and a bit of rain and Week 5 IM Training Round up.

Saturday 14th December 2013

Running (7.00 Miles / 01:00:12 / 00:08:35 per mile / HRZ2)

Holy Cow that was windy!
I knew it was windy when I went out, but I didn't expect it to be just so bad.
In all seriousness I was almost blown off my feet at a  few points. That was a wet windy tough run but once again I am delighted to hold a steady pace despite being blown about like an empty bag of Bacon Rashers in the wind!

 

Sunday 15th December 2013

 

Cycling (25.04 Miles / 01:32:12 / 16.30 MPH / Cadence 80 / HRZ2)

 

Sadly my weather beaten arse didn't get away lighter today than yesterday, in fact it was probably worse today.

Erin and Ben were reading in Church today so I went to see them and then head out for my ride after lunchtime.  I was going to pay for that alright!

The plan today was to do about 40-45 miles but I have to admit the conditions just completely got the better of me and I had to settle for a thoroughly miserable 25 miles.

I am a bit disappointed in myself for bailing out and cutting short but I have to weight it up against risking an injury.  It was a very real possibility that I could have been blown off the bike and the belting rain just made that even more possible.

At one point I checked my cadence while riding down a slope in to the wind.  I was pedalling at 107 rpm downhill and doing 11MPH.  Not good at all.  That was like being in a wind tunnel.

 

Despite it all I am taking the positive that I still managed to hold a decent average speed and now that feeling has returned to my fingers I thought that I might write this up. ( Despite some sarcasm from folks that seemed to applaud the absence of a blog on Friday!)

 

 

Week 5 Summary  6Hrs 35 Mins Swim: 3750M
Bike: 40.93 Miles
Run: 17.4 Miles

 A bit of a disappointment this week.  Travel with work interrupted my training plans, so this week was a bit of a step back in volume but that might not have been a bad thing.

Quality of the sessions was good so I'm happy with that.

Rude London runners and blisters

Wednesday 11th December 2013

Running (6.10 Miles / 00:52:13 /00:08:33 per mile / HRZ 2)

I took advantage of being in London on business to get out for an early run around scenic Hyde Park and Green Park.

My Hotel was just behindBuckingham Palace so it was going to be pretty nice to run past the Palace and up to Hyde Park.  Unfortunately London was fog-bound and although visibility wasn’t dreadful, it was down to a couple of hundred metres at best so the run through Hyde Park was a bit less scenic than I had hoped it would be although the lack of visibility was no excuse for the rudeness of the average London runner.

Sorry to all of my London running friends, but bloody hell, what a completely unfriendly bunch.  There were literally hundreds of runners and cyclists out in Hyde Park at 7.00AM and as I’m used to giving a friendly nod or ‘hello’ to other runners here in Northern Ireland, I started doing the same as I ran along. Not one, and I really mean, not one single person even acknowledged me.

Was I invisible in the fog?  I don’t think so.  I think it was just that big city attitude and I didn’t really like it.

Anyway, the run was great and again it felt nice and easy and the pace at just over 8.30 per mile felt very comfortable indeed.

 
Thursday 12th December 2013

Running ( 4.30 Miles / 00:32:23 /00:07:31 per mile / HRZ 3)

Because I missed my usual Tuesday lunch time tempo run, I arranged with Brendan to head out at lunch today to do it rather than miss it out altogether.

We modified the route a little bit but kept to the same distance.

Once again I have seen a slight improvement from last week with an 8 second time gain and the average speed improving to 7.31 per mile.

It did feel a little bit harder than I expected it to but I’m still pleased to be consistently running times that are better than I hoped for and importantly I am being very consistent on the mile splits.  Some of the credit for this must go to Brendan as he is very steady, and although he tells me he feels it tight at times, he always looks very relaxed and in control of his pace.  I know that I don’t!

The pace splits today were 7.33 / 7.33 / 7.35 / 7.24 / 7.33 – very consistent if I do say so myself.

I did forget my socks though and ran barefoot. The resulting blisters are not good. Oh well. They'll heal.
 

An enjoyable swimming mash up.

Monday 9th December 2013

Cycling (15.89 Miles / 01:04:33 / 15.00 MPH / Cadence 75 / HRZ 2)

 The usual commute to and from work.  No point wasting letters.  Nothing to report.


Swimming (1750M / 00:53:21)
Technique Session

Another really enjoyable session tonight.

Do you know something?  I could really get to like this swimming lark!
Well, let's not over step the mark but it was good fun and tonight I really felt like a lot of the lessons started to sink in.
I don't want to give the impression that I'm getting good at swimming but I can feel an improvement in how I feel in the water.

We even finished up the session with a bit of a mash up with six of us swimming three abreast down the lanes.  It just reminded me of how much I actually enjoy the physical side of the swim.  A bit mad but true.

Sadly I'm missing the session on Wednesday night but I'll make up for it hopefully.

Batling the wind, missing the view and the week 4 IM training round-up.

Saturday 7th December 2013

Running (6.60 Miles / 01:00:13 / 00:09:05 / HRZ 2)

My weekend long run and I thought it would be a good opportunity to take it really easy and run at a pace that felt sedate.
The great news is that it did indeed feel very easy and the average pace was a bit slower than previous runs, but in saying that so was the corresponding Heart Rate.  Lower than it's been in a long time and plenty of space to crank up the pace a bit but still keep control of everything else.
I'm rather pleased with that.

Sunday 8th December 2013

Cycling (32.47 Miles / 2:09:37 / 15.10 MPH / HRZ 2 / Cadence 77) Elevation Gain 576M

The Sunday long run was under some doubt of cancellation and was dependent on my condition this morning following the Tri Club Christmas Dinner last night.
Thankfully on so many levels I woke up feeling fine and decided to hit the road and get a decent ride in.
My intention was to head up the hill from the house and make my way up to Divis Mountain which is a decent wee climb.  Once I got to the road just below Divis it became clear to me that I was going to have to rethink things as I couldn't even see the big transmitters on the top of the Mountain because the weather had closed in and I was already engulfed in fog and mizzle.  No point heading up to one of the best views over Belfast if all I was going to see was rain and cloud.

This is what it should look like

I then took a turn down towards Dundrod along the home straight of the Ulster Grand Prix.  Sadly the wind was absolutely battering me and it was pretty rough at times.

The wind was a constant feature of the ride and it was really strong and my route unfortunately meant that I was riding in to it or across it.  I know that his explains my slightly lower average speed but I am pleased with myself that I rode through it and even though there were some tight hills and strong winds I actually never really felt under any pressure and kept comfortable.


Week 4 Summary9Hrs 15 Mins
Swim: 3800M
Bike: 85 Miles
Run: 16.91 Miles

A pretty successful week of training and the first week that I have managed to get all the sessions in, except for the Core strength sessions.  I really am struggling to get these in to my structure but I will find a way.
The great thing is that the levels were all either consistent or up this week, more miles running and cycling and average running pace is up a bit too.
Good news I think.

Next week will be a challenge as I am away on business for a couple of days and think I will struggle to get all of the sessions in but I don't think it will kill me if I miss one or two for a week.

Sea sick in the pool

Friday 6th December 2013

Swimming (2000M / 00:43:43)
Endurance Session – 18M Pool at Gym

Quick swim at lunchtime today to make up for missing the Club endurance swim on Wednesday when I was in work in Bristol.

I haven’t done a longer straight through swim in a wee while as the Club sessions still have some drills and rest periods in them, so this was a chance to see how the endurance engine was building up.

My goal was to do 2000M and ideally in about 45 minutes.  Secretly I hoped it would be a touch quicker as the shorter 18M pool definitely helps.  More importantly though I wanted to do this at a steady 7 out of 10 effort scale.

The first 1500M went really well and I felt smooth and well in control and was working well on my body rotation and pull.  Then I started to feel a bit queasy and I decided to take a one minute rest.  I think it was the rocking motion from extra rotation combined with doing it for a longer period than I have done for a while non stop. Anyway the result was a sort of mild sea-sickness.

It did pass pretty well during the rest minute and I was able to finish off the rest of the set without puking in the pool.

I’m fairly satisfied with the swim and know that the feeling of queasiness will pass as I get more used to building the distance.

Most importantly I contained the effort and focussed on my stroke and rotation and from that perspective it was positive.

 

Born Again hard.

Thursday 5th December 2013

Cycling (01:00:14 / 19.30 Miles / 19.20MPH / HRZ 2 / Cadence 88)
Turbo Trainer - Sufferfest Angels

The horrendous weather put paid to any thoughts of doing my early hills on the bike this morning - it would have been too dangerous.  The wind and rain would have tested my very ordinary bike handling skills on the descent down the Pond Park Road.

I opted then for a Sufferfest Video and sure why not choose one with a simulated climb up Alpe d'Huez.
The session went really well and although probably not as tough as the hill session I had planned, it was a good substitute.

Running (00:51:32 / 6.00 Miles / 00:08:35 per mile / HRZ 2)

In the words of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman from Full Metal jacket, I am "Born again hard!"

No doubt about it, I am sure most people would have looked at the weather this evening and called it quits on a run.  Not me though!  I went out and braved the elements.  After all, I am an Ironman!
Once again the tippy tappy steps and fast turnover was the focus, and once again it worked.

A low level Zone 2 Heart Rate but still cracking out a pace just over 8.30 per mile.  I am bloody delighted with that.  Would the real Jellyman please stand up?  because it just doesn't feel like me.

A nice pacey run that's getting a bit quicker each week.

Tuesday 3rd December 2013

Running ( 4.30 Miles / 00:32:41 / 00:07:35 / HRZ3)
Tempo Run

Lunchtime tempo run with Brendan from work again.
I am delighted with this run, even though it felt pretty tough going and at times we were running far too quickly to be sustained.
I really must learn to pace myself better when running at tempo pace.
The beauty of doing this run regularly is that I can see improvements easily.
In the last three weeks I have knocked 1min40secs off the same route.

The splits were nice and even as well with 7.45 / 7.34 / 7.37 / 7.28 / 7.27.  That's pretty pleasing.

Cycling ( 00:55:06/ 17.65 Miles / 19.20 MPH / Cadence 90 / HRZ2)
Turbo Trainer - Sufferfest A Very Dark Place

Club Turbo session again.  Tough enough with some really hard standing sessions on top of some extended intense drags.
Even better news for everyone was that we had no fallers.

No training planned for tomorrow as I am off to Bristol with work tomorrow so I will re-jig the training across the rest of the week.

This day shall forever be known as 'Brown Monday.'

Monday 2nd December 2013

Cycling (15.86 Miles / 01:04:45 / 14.80 MPH / Cadence 75 / HRZ 2)

Where the hell did November go to? I can't believe it's December already.
Anyway the commute to work was relatively straightforward and on the way home I even managed to hop on the back of a couple of other cyclists and then slip ahead of them.
It was unusual for me to be the one doing the overtaking and pace setting.
Good fun though.

Swimming (1800M / 00:58:07)
Technique Session

I really enjoyed the session tonight - things are gradually just starting to feel a bit better and smoother.  I certainly couldn't be described as having 'Finesse' as Oliver was urging us to strive for but at least I was consistent. 
The evaluation set of 3X100 at the end saw my splits at 02:03 / 02:01 / 02:02 - I am pretty impressed by that and especially as I felt pretty uncomfortable on the breathing to the left set, which ironically was my fastest.

I am delighted though that I went to the 7PM session as unfortunately the 8PM session had to be cut short as someone in the pool was caught short and dispatched a brown floater in to the water.  Unbelievable!  I have to say that it wasn't one of our Club and probably a kid on the far side.  At least I hope it was!

Here's the set.

300M warm up and stretch
Fins on:
Improve positioning
100 kick on back
100 kick on front

Improve breathing, the how and the when of breathing. Low intensity technique focused
100 Br R, 100 Br L, 100 Br 3...
100 Br pattern 3,4,5,3 per length

Fins of:
50 Br R, 50 Br L, 50 Br 3
100 Br pattern 3,4,5,3 per length

Improve Catch and Pull
3 x 100 as 2 Doggy Paddle, 25 Swim, 25 Doggy Paddle, 25 Swim
#1 Focus on right arm and Br R
#2 Focus on left arm and Br L
#3 On swim Br 3 and focus on keeping non-breathing arm aim straight

Evaluation set:
3 x 100 steady, with 45secs RI. Record times and give make out of 10 for the effort put in
#1: Br R
#2: Br L
#3: Br 3

A lesson in Group Cycling and the Week 3 IM training round-up.

Sunday 1st December 2013

Cycling (02:26:25 / 40.32 Miles / 16.50 MPH / Cadence 84 / HRZ 2)

The ride today was really enjoyable and it was great to get out on a group ride with the guys from the Club.
I even managed to learn something today.  I'm not all that proficient at riding in a group and not absolutely with the etiquette or the technique to move up through the group and take turns at the front.

After a wee bit of instruction from Arran who could see that I clearly had no clue, I managed to get it right.  In fact I think I did a few good turns on the front and was happy to do so as it made me push on a bit.

It was a lovely route and I was pretty chuffed with my riding.  A good end to the week.


Week 3 Summary
9Hrs 03 Mins
Swim: 3900M
Bike: 83.44 Miles
Run: 13.49 Miles

This week was another little step up in the progression in terms of mileage and time in training.
It's been good and the additional time has felt OK and it feels relatively comfortable so I am looking forward to it stepping up a bit over the next few weeks.
I still haven't managed to nail all of the workouts planned in a week so far and this week I missed out on a Tempo Run because of my sore toe, which in hindsight was a good thing as I recovered quickly and was able to nail all the other main sessions.
I still haven't managed to get my core sessions in yet and this has been a combination of circumstances and probably more honestly, a lack of enthusiasm to do them.  I'll try to get at least one of them in this week. (Fingers crossed.)