Sunday 18th September 2011
Cycling
33.13 Miles - 02:35:10 (12.81mph / HR 130bpm Z2 72% of Max HR / Cadence 72rpm)
A nice ride with Nick (the B-I-L) on Sunday morning. Really enjoyed the route from home to Purdysburn, Carryduff, Ballynahinch, Anahilt and then home.
The weather stayed dry and the easy pace was just what I needed to keep in the HR Zone and ease off the pain in the muscles from playing 5-a-side football on Friday night.
Now, I like to think I am reasonably fit, but playing 3 x 7 minutes of football on Friday night really caused me a lot of pain. I can't believe how sore it is using different muscles. I am glad it wasn't the Friday before the Tri this weekend. Lesson learnt.
This still wasn't as sore as watching the Liverpool performance on Sunday against Spurs - PAINFUL!!!
Monday, 19 September 2011
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
In Dublin's fair city.
Running
6.02 Miles - 00:52:51 (8.47 per mile / HR 161bpm Z3 89% Max)
Quick run in Dublin while down on business. Managed to cover a bit of the Dublin Marathon course - not that I am doing it this year - but nice to back on part of the route.
6.02 Miles - 00:52:51 (8.47 per mile / HR 161bpm Z3 89% Max)
Quick run in Dublin while down on business. Managed to cover a bit of the Dublin Marathon course - not that I am doing it this year - but nice to back on part of the route.
Monday, 12 September 2011
Running in a Hurricane
Monday 12th September 2011
Swimming
1150M - 00:28:55 in 18M pool at Gym.Was meant to be a 1500M session but unfortunately for the first time I was caught short and had to make a hasty exit from the pool. Apart from that I was happy enough with the swim, but just was running out of time during my lunch break to finish the rest of the session.
Running
5.00 Miles - 00:41:38 (8.19 per mile / HR 163bpm Z4 91% Max)
Happy with this tempo run in the middle of the tempest. It was very windy as we are getting the tail end of Hhurricane Katia and for some reason I always seemed to be running in to it.
Saturday, 10 September 2011
Limp Wristed Brick
Friday 9th September 2011
Cycling
21.01 Miles - 01:18:55 (16.00mph / HR 138bpm Z2 76% of Max HR / Cadence 81rpm)
21miler from home to Magheralin and back. The route is almost completely flat, so I am a bit disappointed with the average speed, but there was quite a bit of traffic on the road and especially on the road in to Moira.
I used this ride to practice a bit more in the aero position and time trial it. I have discovered that spending any length of time down in the aero bars causes my left shoulder and wrist to get a bit sore. Limp wristed I hear you say!! In my defence I need to get set up properly on the bike and I think I will go for a Retul Bike fitting. It is meant to be the Puppy's twitcher. I reckon it will be worth it as I will be spending a lot of time on the bike over the coming year and I want to make sure I have the right set up and am as comfortable as I can be and am getting the most efficient power out of the bike. (by the way it is not me in the picture!!)
Cycling
21.01 Miles - 01:18:55 (16.00mph / HR 138bpm Z2 76% of Max HR / Cadence 81rpm)
21miler from home to Magheralin and back. The route is almost completely flat, so I am a bit disappointed with the average speed, but there was quite a bit of traffic on the road and especially on the road in to Moira.
I used this ride to practice a bit more in the aero position and time trial it. I have discovered that spending any length of time down in the aero bars causes my left shoulder and wrist to get a bit sore. Limp wristed I hear you say!! In my defence I need to get set up properly on the bike and I think I will go for a Retul Bike fitting. It is meant to be the Puppy's twitcher. I reckon it will be worth it as I will be spending a lot of time on the bike over the coming year and I want to make sure I have the right set up and am as comfortable as I can be and am getting the most efficient power out of the bike. (by the way it is not me in the picture!!)
Running
1.66 Miles - 00:15:00 (9:06 per mile / HR 154bpm Z2 85% Max)
Added a quick run straight after the bike to make up a brick session. This felt very comfortable and easy within the Heart Rate zone.
1.66 Miles - 00:15:00 (9:06 per mile / HR 154bpm Z2 85% Max)
Added a quick run straight after the bike to make up a brick session. This felt very comfortable and easy within the Heart Rate zone.
Long and Smooth
Thursday 8th September 2011
Swimming
2110M - 00:58:14 in 25M pool at the Lisburn Leisureplex at Graduates Swim Club.Swimming
Decided to push the distance up a bit this week. 84 lenghts and focussing on the stroke length and smoothness. Pretty pleased with the outcome.
Thursday, 8 September 2011
1000 - Hitting a milestone
1000 views reached on the blog.
Good stuff. Thanks for reading- whoever you all may be.
Good stuff. Thanks for reading- whoever you all may be.
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
Slow Slow Fast
Wednesday 7th September 2011
Running
7.00 Miles - 01:07:44 (9:40 per mile / HR 150bpm Z2 83% Max)
Although the pace on this run was very slow, I am really pleased with it as I am now starting to get the hang of being disciplined about running within a particular heart rate zone. Each of the 7 miles were in the right zone.
Believe it or not, it is actually quite hard to run slower than you want to or what your legs are used to. In my case I would normally do 7miles in around 58-60 mins.
The purpose of staying in Zone 2 for Heart rate is to train my body's aerobic engine and learn to burn stored fat rather than the energy which has just recently been ploughed in to it. The benefits are twofold - you burn stored fat and lose weight and you build endurance with the eventual outcome that you can run faster for the same lower level of effort expended. This of course is really important for an Ironman - because if you expend all your energy early on - you will be blowing out your arse and struggling badly later on- as if it is not hard enough anyway.
So basically I am learning to run slower in order to eventually run faster and longer. Bizarre but true.
Running
7.00 Miles - 01:07:44 (9:40 per mile / HR 150bpm Z2 83% Max)
Although the pace on this run was very slow, I am really pleased with it as I am now starting to get the hang of being disciplined about running within a particular heart rate zone. Each of the 7 miles were in the right zone.
Believe it or not, it is actually quite hard to run slower than you want to or what your legs are used to. In my case I would normally do 7miles in around 58-60 mins.
The purpose of staying in Zone 2 for Heart rate is to train my body's aerobic engine and learn to burn stored fat rather than the energy which has just recently been ploughed in to it. The benefits are twofold - you burn stored fat and lose weight and you build endurance with the eventual outcome that you can run faster for the same lower level of effort expended. This of course is really important for an Ironman - because if you expend all your energy early on - you will be blowing out your arse and struggling badly later on- as if it is not hard enough anyway.
So basically I am learning to run slower in order to eventually run faster and longer. Bizarre but true.
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
I've got really bad wind!
Tuesday 6th September
2011
Cycling
16.05 Miles - 01:15:28 (13.65 mph / HR 129bpm Z2 71% of Max HR / Cadence ??rpm)
Truly a tale of two rides.
I cycled to work today and the ride down in to Belfast this morning was fantastic. Despite the weather looking a bit dodgy it turned out pretty good and stayed dry and pleasant. the ride took only 27 mins and the Heart rate was well under control. The only minor blip was almost falling off the bike turning in to work as I hit a bit of a wet patch on a patched up bit of shiny tarmac. Luckily I managed to catch it and stay up! Phew!
Now.... the ride home was horrendous!
The wind had picked up more than considerably - it was blowing a bloody gale.
I was cycling up the Lisburn Road directly in to the wind and my backpack was acting like a sail on my back and catching the wind. then I would get hit with the side winds and was almost blown over about 5 times. I was actually pretty scared and thought I was going to end up under a Bus.
I am not ashamed to say that I rode on the pavement up the hill for the last 1.5 miles as the wind was really dangerous and I didn't want to risk getting blown under a car.
What started out as a training ride home turned into just being pleased to get home.
The fact that it took me 48 mins to get home, compared to 37 mins last time coming back tells the story.
I am however, pleased that I still did it in that time and my Hear trate stayed reasonably under control.
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger - I hope that is true.
Got in a swim at lunch time today. It was meant to be yesterday but the pool was closed as apparently it was leaking.
Happy enough with the session and I was focusing on stroke count and stretching out the stroke. i was delighted to be consistently averaging 14 strokes for the 18M lengths. I would love to be able to bring this down to 12.
Cycling
16.05 Miles - 01:15:28 (13.65 mph / HR 129bpm Z2 71% of Max HR / Cadence ??rpm)
Truly a tale of two rides.
I cycled to work today and the ride down in to Belfast this morning was fantastic. Despite the weather looking a bit dodgy it turned out pretty good and stayed dry and pleasant. the ride took only 27 mins and the Heart rate was well under control. The only minor blip was almost falling off the bike turning in to work as I hit a bit of a wet patch on a patched up bit of shiny tarmac. Luckily I managed to catch it and stay up! Phew!
Now.... the ride home was horrendous!
The wind had picked up more than considerably - it was blowing a bloody gale.I was cycling up the Lisburn Road directly in to the wind and my backpack was acting like a sail on my back and catching the wind. then I would get hit with the side winds and was almost blown over about 5 times. I was actually pretty scared and thought I was going to end up under a Bus.
I am not ashamed to say that I rode on the pavement up the hill for the last 1.5 miles as the wind was really dangerous and I didn't want to risk getting blown under a car.
What started out as a training ride home turned into just being pleased to get home.
The fact that it took me 48 mins to get home, compared to 37 mins last time coming back tells the story.
I am however, pleased that I still did it in that time and my Hear trate stayed reasonably under control.
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger - I hope that is true.
Swimming
1000M
- 00:24:24 in 18M pool at the Gym.Got in a swim at lunch time today. It was meant to be yesterday but the pool was closed as apparently it was leaking.
Happy enough with the session and I was focusing on stroke count and stretching out the stroke. i was delighted to be consistently averaging 14 strokes for the 18M lengths. I would love to be able to bring this down to 12.
Sunday, 4 September 2011
Stena Line Triathlon
Sunday, 4th September 2011
Stena Line Triathlon 2011
Stena Line Triathlon
750m
Swim - 00:17:22
T1
- 00:01:56
20K
Bike - 00:44:51
T2
- 00:00:54
5K
Run - 00:21:55
Total
time - 01:26:56
80th out of 145 overall. 39th out of 64 in Age Group
I had been really looking forward to this race today for a number of reasons. I hadn't had a pool based Tri since the Roe Valley Tri in May and I was keen to see how my swimming and biking had come on over the last couple of months.
Things started off a bit ropey for me. As I was unpacking the bike from the car, I noticed that my front tyre had a puncture and this was despite checking everything rigorously as part of my prep yesterday. I think I overinflated the tyre and caused a slow puncture.
I managed to keep calm and luckily had about 25 minutes before the Race Briefing started. I am very proud to say that I kept calm and sorted the puncture in just over 5 mins. A new PB!
After racking the bike in transition and having the race briefing I went to leave my bag in the locker room in the leisure Centre. This is where the rule of things happening in 3s kicked in.
Twice, the bloomin' lockers ate my 20p coin and I had to go up to reception to get them to give me another one.
I could feel the hackles starting to rise a little bit - but once again I kept calm, got sorted and went round to the viewing gallery to watch the first 2 waves of swimmers start in the pool.
As I was watching I had a bad feeling and went back out to Transition to check my tyre pressure - and luckilly it was OK.
The Swim
I was in the 3rd wave out of 5 and there were only 4 of us the lane which made of a hassle free swim.
I started 3rd in the lane, but pretty quickly moved up to the front and felt great throughout the swim.
I exited the pool first in my lane and in a time of 16.44 mins. The short run to transition and I was heading for the bike.
T1
All went pretty smoothly, although I am going to have to do something about socks - I take a bit of time to put them on, but I seem to be losing about 45secs to 1 min on this. I might need to try no socks and add some talc.
The Bike
The first 5 miles or so are pretty much uphill, albeit only about a 3 or 4% gradient. I managed to get off to a strong start and passed about 10 people on the uphill section.
The next 5 miles or so are flat but felt a bit tougher as there was a bit of a headwind but I kept turning over and progressed pretty well.
On the run in there is a fantastic downhill for over a mile, and I topped out about 40mph on the hill and loved being tucked in the aero position and going really quick.
Back in to transition and feeling really good - I only got passed once in 12 miles.
T2
This went very smoothly and I was in and out in no time.
The Run
The run is a 2 loop route uphill for about the first 1K and then levels out slightly and then uphill for another 0.5K - then a good downhill for the rest of the 2.5K loop.
I felt pretty rough for the first 1k, but steadied in to a rhythm and took advantage of the downhill to pick up a bit of speed. The second loop went very well and I really bombed it on the downhill section back in again and was pleased with my sub 22 min run.
Overall a really pleasing event, managing to knock 2mins off my PB for the Sprint distance and 3.5 mins off my last pool Sprint Tri.
The next race is Strangford 888 and this will be the last event this season and before the Ironman training really starts.
On a different note, I stumbled across this band of triathletes called IRONBAND who do some pretty decent rock music - not too heavy and lots of tongue in cheekTri related songs, such as "Who stole my Bodyglide"
Friday, 2 September 2011
Oysters. The food of Champions. NOT!!!
Friday 2nd September 2011
Last Brick session before the Stena Line Triathlon on Sunday. I will be taking it easy tomorrow and heading up to the Hillsborough Oyster Festival for a couple of beers.
Nothing too much as I want to be in tip top form for Sunday morning.
I will certainly not be eating any of the slippery little suckers on sale!! Yeucchhh!
Cycling
6.01 Miles - 00:21:58 (16.4 mph / HR 158bpm Z3 87% of Max HR / Cadence 87rpm)
Just a short ride to make sure the bike was all set up OK ahead of Sunday, and a good chance to chuck in a cheeky little brick session too.
It was actually about 7.5 miles, but I paused the Garmin when I was stopped at Traffic Lights for a long time and forgot to turn it back on again until I was about 1.5 miles down the Road. DOH!
Running
3.00 Miles - 00:24:44 (8:16 per mile / HR 175bpm Z4 96% Max)
I Decided to push it on a bit on the run, just to see how the legs reacted after being a little bit fatigued coming off the bike. All went well and the average speed was good.
hopefully all is well for Sunday.
Last Brick session before the Stena Line Triathlon on Sunday. I will be taking it easy tomorrow and heading up to the Hillsborough Oyster Festival for a couple of beers.
Nothing too much as I want to be in tip top form for Sunday morning.
I will certainly not be eating any of the slippery little suckers on sale!! Yeucchhh!
Cycling
6.01 Miles - 00:21:58 (16.4 mph / HR 158bpm Z3 87% of Max HR / Cadence 87rpm)
Just a short ride to make sure the bike was all set up OK ahead of Sunday, and a good chance to chuck in a cheeky little brick session too.
It was actually about 7.5 miles, but I paused the Garmin when I was stopped at Traffic Lights for a long time and forgot to turn it back on again until I was about 1.5 miles down the Road. DOH!
Running
3.00 Miles - 00:24:44 (8:16 per mile / HR 175bpm Z4 96% Max)
I Decided to push it on a bit on the run, just to see how the legs reacted after being a little bit fatigued coming off the bike. All went well and the average speed was good.
hopefully all is well for Sunday.
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