tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9821854475719283572012-02-11T21:38:52.223ZOriginally about my training for the Swiss Half Ironman in 2008. Now more about training in general and some about gaelic footballMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.comBlogger1281100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-81916744027496108622010-04-23T09:51:00.002+01:002010-12-06T21:59:13.455Z

I wrote up a wee post on the duathlons coming up in the Phoenix Park

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-114149174051608302009-12-15T11:07:00.000Z2009-12-22T13:10:16.014Z

The results are out so I should probably write up a wee report before I forget it all.A few months ago, Pauline mentioned an off road marathon in Wales and I entered before realising that she was going to do the half and not the full one. Greg and Waggers were then talked into doing the half as well.The JourneyWe headed over on the Friday on the ferry from Rosslare and arrived in Gower before it

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-64206910353868655152009-12-07T19:33:00.002Z2009-12-07T19:34:07.138Z

I did the marathon in Gower at the weekend. I’ll write up a report later on but during the meanwhilst, here’s a pic of the medal: I finished the slightly longer than marathon course in 4 hours and 48 minutes.

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-8423437927947219952009-12-03T12:08:00.003Z2009-12-03T12:11:02.804Z

Another day, another run. Almost the same route as yesterday but slightly longer to take it over 10k. I'm now up to 30k so far. Keep an eye on my progress over at my new site where I'm also mirroring all these blog posts. I hope to move over to it permanently pretty soon, once I put the final finishing touches to it all.Here's the map of today's route, courtesy of Runkeeper

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-84248867527555540222009-12-02T12:47:00.002Z2009-12-02T12:52:08.126Z

The run for day 2 was done earlier this morning, just under 10km from Chapelizod, up through the park, up the Kyber Pass and around by the zoo and Garda HQ before coming back along Parkgate St.Oh yeah, I got yesterday's run done too. 10km around Chapelizod

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-162599259275148432009-12-01T17:12:00.003Z2009-12-02T12:51:11.849Z

Wow, it's December already. Time to start another challenge. Yeah, once again it's the "Run 200 miles in December" challenge. Last year ended in failure when there were too many weddings to go to. This year, I think I only have one to go to in December, so it might be a bit easier.Planning a quick 10k for this evening to get me started. It's cold and wet out but that'll only be a problem for

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-28662875740643961442009-11-27T10:20:00.002Z2009-11-27T10:25:49.156Z

If ever there was an incentive not to get run down, it has to be coldsores. I seem to get them every time I get run down and after getting sick earlier in the week, they've hit me with a vengeance. I've got them in my nose and down onto my top lip. The only thing I can do now is put up with them and keep them covered in vaseline so they don't dry out and start cracking. It does make blowing my

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-21196601926821556252009-11-26T10:10:00.003Z2009-11-26T10:15:18.549Z

I haven't been paying attention to this lately. I did the marathon, finished it in 3:11 and haven't done a lot since. I'm doing another marathon in Wales in two weekends time, a trail one this time. I got back on the bike this morning to come to work after being off it for most of the last two weeks. I was sick earlier in the week as well so this was a test as well as a way of not going back on a

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-76894415133487093162009-10-23T14:12:00.003+01:002009-10-23T14:21:33.213+01:00

Since yesterday, I've done two runs. Yesterday evening I did an 8km run from the house around towards HP and back. I managed that in just under 30 minutes and I was pretty happy with that. I only decided part way through to push it harder and managed to keep up a good pace.Then this morning I ran in from Chapelizod to work. Just took it nice and easy, no rush on me to get in :) Feeling good now

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-53521416117022256602009-10-22T10:45:00.002+01:002009-10-22T10:52:13.978+01:00

It's coming up on Monday, only 4 days away now and I am in a dilemma. Do I go out and race it properly, following the red balloons and try to get near to 3 hours? Or do I cycle in, run the race as I feel on the day and then cycle back home again?If I want to race it, it'll be in Ronan's name as I'm entered as him. He entered and then wussed out of racing so I said I'd take his slot. I didn't go

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-45755466570396978162009-10-13T16:54:00.003+01:002009-10-13T17:08:23.206+01:00

I've neglected this here blog for a while, so it's about time I put down what I have been doing recently.Football.We were knocked out of the championship by Cavan Gaels who were then beaten in the semi finals by Butlersbridge who went on to win it. We played Butlersbridge a week after the championship final and to my disappointment/embarassment and lots of other emotions I was sent off with a

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-17325890887033788152009-09-07T18:58:00.001+01:002009-09-07T18:58:43.300+01:00

I went out for a run yesterday. I didn't bring a watch nor did I know where I was going to go. I just went out and ran. It was a wet day but the rain held off for the most part. I ended up doing 10k in 46 minutes and saw some nice parts of the canal towpath. There were some not so nice bits too. Parts of the canal were totally overgrown as well. Good job we don't get too much hot weather as it

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-69051797091177766042009-08-14T10:33:00.002+01:002009-08-14T10:44:33.868+01:00

Two matches down in the 2009 Junior Championship and we are into the qurter finals. Our second match was against Maghera last Saturday evening in Breffni Park. We started slowly but were up by 1-5 to 3 points at half time. We pulled away in the second half to win by 2-15 to 0-4.There was a strange start to the match, with both myself and Martin (the two corner backs) being left unmarked from

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-52590936369218327432009-07-27T12:12:00.002+01:002009-07-27T12:17:36.112+01:00

Our first round match against Arva was played last Saturday evening in Belturbet. The pitch could have been better but we're probably spoiled with the great facilities that we have in Páirc Gaeil na Sionainne. We've been hit by alot of injuries this year and we had a kind of makeshift team out. I was picked at midfield with Enda McHugh. The warm up went well and we were all up for the match.

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-51142860779847532422009-07-06T16:51:00.003+01:002009-07-06T17:03:29.387+01:00

We won our last league match for a while against Mountnugent. They had beaten us twice last year so it was nice to beat them for a change. I was playing at corner back and despite us leaking two goals early on, we never really felt like we would lose.That's a different situation to the tag rugby team on Thursday nights. We finished second last in the league with only one win out of 7 matches. But

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-85950069558388213452009-06-08T22:27:00.004+01:002009-06-08T22:38:15.013+01:00

Well, it's a bit of an anti climax really. I was tired today, but not sore or anything like that. I had expected to feel some tightness in my back or my legs, but no, I was alright. It was a long day yesterday. It didn't start out too well with Greg sleeping in after his alarm went off. We got to UCD and on to the road by about 8:30 though so it didn't delay us too long. The first bit was

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-79094938187833842212009-06-04T12:57:00.002+01:002009-06-04T13:14:33.038+01:00

I raced in the second Phoenix Park duathlon organised by Belpark last night. Beautiful weather, a light breeze on the final straight and a good crowd. I entered on the night as the pre entries were closed when I finally got around to trying to enter on line. I got there early, straight from work, because I wasn't sure how many people would try and enter on the night. Because of that I had

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-62134534956248359222009-05-25T15:25:00.002+01:002009-05-25T15:33:33.200+01:00

I've had to admit that I can't continue with my burpees. On Friday night I played polo in the pool in Cabra and in the first sprint (about 30 seconds after I got on the water) I ripped a slice of skin off my little toe. I have done this regularly enough to know that I should wear booties, but this time was the worst yet. I bandaged it up and left it to rest for the night, but the next day it

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-70993128220973901722009-05-17T15:08:00.003+01:002009-05-17T15:14:14.471+01:00

I had to get the bus home on Friday evening after work because I am still searching for a part for the van. Got home just in time to turn around and find my football gear to go training. An hour and half of training and then back to say hi to Mum and eat some food. Saturday was spent coding and then in the evening we had a match against Kildallon. We were playing against the wind in the first

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-68018921768061422352009-05-14T11:11:00.002+01:002009-05-14T11:16:43.158+01:00

I'm falling behind again. Just when I was getting back to near parity, I got a bad back spasm which has now kept me from completing Tuesday's and even starting yesterday's load of burpees. This has now put me back to more than 100 behind again :(It's really disheartening, and the more days I miss now, the harder it will be to get back. I don't want to rush back to it and risk doing more damage

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-83636601287815922842009-05-10T19:00:00.003+01:002009-05-10T19:05:35.376+01:00

I'm getting back on track, I've been trying to catch up on the missed burpees from last weekend by doing an extra 10-15 each day. I've also created a set of graphs to show how I am doing over the course it all. It's updated each day and shows how many I have done that day and how my record is compared to what it should be.Here's the graph up to today for the number of burpees done each day:

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-15824324558005905222009-05-05T13:07:00.002+01:002009-05-05T13:15:43.814+01:00

I'm back to work after a pretty good weekend of polo. I was in Charleroi playing with Kamikaze in Division 2 and we came seventh in the division. A little disappointing seeing as we only lost one of your five matches and drew with the team that came second in a golden goal final.We had a very good win on the way, 12-0 against Strasbourg B. That was the biggest Kamikaze victory ever, I believe!

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-91452118453247133402009-04-27T10:52:00.003+01:002009-04-27T10:59:39.711+01:00

I've had a cold since last Wednesday or so and I am finally shaking off the last of it, or coughing it up and spitting it out at least. I decided to run in to work this morning because I left my bike over at Louise's house and I need to pick it up later. I felt slow and tired through the whole run but still managed to make it in in 50 minutes.I am on day 27 of the burpee challenge now, I forgot

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-62947267531974752302009-04-03T22:39:00.003+01:002009-04-03T22:48:34.793+01:00

I decided a couple of days ago to start a new challenge after reading this blog. It might soud a little weird, but it starts really easily. Start with one burpee on day one, and add one extra every day for 100 days. This means that on day 30, I will have to do 30 burpees and on day 100, I will have to do 100 of them.If I miss some on any given they, they have to made up the next day.

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-78646460738673141132009-03-31T23:42:00.003+01:002009-03-31T23:44:25.807+01:00

I guess that proves that I really did do it :)

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-45851957936639042252009-03-22T23:12:00.001Z2009-03-22T23:12:50.784Z

3 hours and 28 minutes. Up hill and down dale. Over the most picturesque countryside to run and finish the 2009 Connemarathon. It all started at 10:30 by Lough Inagh after the first ultra runner went through. It started off cold with a headwind but that was refreshing once we started. Turning a corner after 5 miles the wind was behind us for most of the rest or the race. Some nice uphill sections

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-3054184486018030712009-03-19T19:14:00.001Z2009-03-19T19:14:27.492Z

It's coming!On Sunday I will be running in the Connemarathon in Galway. It's supposed to be a killer of a race with lots of hills and running into the wind in both directions.To prepare, I jogged home from work today just to keep my legs moving. A nice 50 minute 10km at an average of 140BPM. Really looking forward to Sunday now.

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-44684507361047790942009-03-19T15:08:00.003Z2009-03-19T15:12:51.487Z

Last weekend was the end of the Munster League and we were in there right to the end. We finished in second place to Swink. We were put down into second place because we were beaten by Bad Company in one of the first nights when a whole gang of us went off to Revolutions in Manchester.We had some good games on Saturday night, we drew against Swink and Kamikaze and beat Bad Company. It was also

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-66384372180847655532009-03-09T12:26:00.002Z2009-03-09T12:28:46.081Z

We beat Templeport at the weekend, though we let it get a little close after letting in a goal in the last couple of minutes again. We won the match by 1 point, 2-8 to 1-10.Now we have a couple of weeks off from matches, I'm going to be using the time to play in the Munster League next Saturday and to do the Connemarathon on the 22nd.

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-27577789135916440712009-03-06T10:09:00.003Z2009-03-06T10:15:18.241Z

I went for a run yesterday at lunchtime. I decided to just go and run and not to worry too much about form or pace or anything. I did a 10k loop through the Phoenix Park, a hillier one than my normal loop and there was also a headwind for most of the first half. It took a while to warm up but once I got into my stride I was felling good. Looking at the stats at the end, my HR was an average

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-78600137032813909262009-03-02T10:21:00.004Z2009-03-03T00:05:31.344Z

And boy did we have a bad day!We were playing against Munterconnaght at home and were doing alright in the first half until we let in three sucker goals. That left us 3-3 to 0-6 down at half time, not too bad, only 6 points in it. I had started at half back, but was moved to wing back after the guy I was marking scored a goal. Then the wing forward I was on scored the third one. I wasn't with

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-13775582926471854182009-02-23T08:27:00.002Z2009-02-23T08:42:44.150Z

I'm back from a week of snowboarding in the Pyrenees. Myself, Louise, John, Una and Peter went to Andorra last week and we all made it back in one piece, some more bruised than others. We had lovely sunny weather, the snow was good and the slopes were quiet enough for most of the week. Myself and Louise managed to get every run done on the Pal side of the mountain and most of them on the

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-40238601941317029722009-02-11T11:39:00.003Z2009-02-11T11:44:17.013Z

Our first challenge match of the year had to be cancelled on Sunday. There was a large snowfall on Sunday morning and I got a few phonecalls telling me not to drive from Dublin.The night before I was down in Limerick playing in the Munster League. We had three matches, we drew the first one against Kamikaze and beat Glaway and Bad Company. Ireland were playing France in the 6 Nations but I

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-54580363860818442782009-02-03T12:35:00.003Z2009-02-03T12:39:57.192Z

I went for a swim yesterday in Northwood gym in Santry. I joined there last week with Louise, Ronan and Waggers. Only a 25m pool but it wasn't busy at all. I tried out some tumble turns and was starting to get the gist of it by the end. Didn't do much else except for a few hundred metres of fist drill. Wow, it's a weird one, I didn't realise how much I use my hand for balance! Some more of

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-7594649005896171072009-01-26T10:56:00.002Z2009-01-26T11:02:50.882Z

Football training is in full swing now, we had two more sessions over the weekend. I'm using these as interval and speed sessions as we are doing lots of running to get everyone fitter. We spent 20 minutes running in circles on Friday night on the track around the pitch. I really enjoyed it, but I don't think that was the general concensus from everyone :)On Saturday I went for a cycle into

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-78956748855295013922009-01-20T12:16:00.003Z2009-01-20T12:22:46.538Z

Like the subject says, training for the new football season started last weekend. We had 2 sessions, one on Friday night and one on Saturday evening. Nothing too strenuous, I thought, but then again I have more of a base to work off than most of the others. I only really have to work on my football specific skills. Oh, and maybe some speed work! :)I came back up to Dublin on Saturday night

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-2699516704342237872008-12-30T15:55:00.001Z2008-12-30T15:55:06.679Z

It looks like I won't make the full 200 miles this time around, there were just too many weddings and days missed. Since Christmas I have run on St. Stephen's Day, the 27th and the 28th. I have done 29km in those three days. Yesterday I didn't get any done because it was too dark by the time I arrived back to Blacklion from Louise's. Today I just haven't had the energy or the inclination to go

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-8832535468177970252008-12-24T15:23:00.005Z2008-12-24T15:27:42.914Z

It's almost Christmas and I'm still running. I missed out on the two days over last weekend as I had to go to a wedding on Saturday and then between recovering and going to Airsoft on the Sunday for Sparky's stag, I just didn't have time. I went over 200km for the month on Monday and got three runs in yesterday. Only short ones but it all added up to 17km. That means that up to now, I am at

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-7873579981479047322008-12-16T15:33:00.002Z2008-12-16T15:39:53.393Z

I've been continuing with the running, I ran on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday. I missed out on Sunday because I was helping out with the running of a cyclocross race in Raheny.I did my first double run yesterday, ran into work in the morning and then ran home from Louise's in the evening to give a grand total of 18km. I'm now up near 150km which is slightly below where I wanted to be at

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-69201791247225459692008-12-11T15:45:00.002Z2008-12-11T15:55:13.577Z

Yesterday I was all messed up, I didnt know what to do or how to do it. I was meeting Louise to go to the cinema at 8 o'clock but I didn't get home until after 6 and I still had my run to do. So I did the only easy thing, I ran from home in to town to meet her. A chilly 10km later and I was in Parnell Street and looking for sustenance. Into the nearest Spar shop I go, but they have next to no

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-86361597572426122012008-12-09T22:38:00.001Z2008-12-09T22:38:38.349Z

I managed the run on Friday, slightly over 10km and then off to Brasserie 66 for lunch. Nice food, and good craic. Stayed for one drink in the pub and then headed home to Cavan to join Waggers bringing the car back.Saturday was spent marching in town with Louise and the teachers, 40,000 if you believe the reports. Then it was back home and off for a run, the same as Tuesday with Waggers.On Sunday

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-36480238106517855542008-12-05T13:07:00.002Z2008-12-05T13:09:20.427Z

Today I will be mostly eating a christmas lunch. But before that, a jog.Leaving from work and trying to get as near to 10km as I can in a loop.

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-82199634612107608582008-12-04T11:58:00.003Z2008-12-04T12:28:10.133Z

I got 10.2km done last night before heading to the pool to mess around for a bit with some polo and ball throwing drills. 55 minutes including a 5 minute stop at the train tracks to wait while two trains went past.Last night's run brought me from Joeys towards the Halfway House, around through Ashtown and back around to Cabra. From there I went through Cabra to Phibsboro and then back out along

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-59167552700204561032008-12-02T23:38:00.001Z2008-12-03T16:12:59.543Z

A late one this evening. I left around 9pm and did the route I was supposed to do last night. 55 minutes and 11.7km later I was back and ready for a warm shower. Boy it's cold in these parts over the last few days. The first proper frost we've had this year anyway.I managed to keep to an average HR of 153 today which is about 30 below what I would usually have at this pace. Short, quick steps

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-80030061914141649802008-12-01T23:13:00.001Z2008-12-03T16:12:01.708Z

That's right, the December challenge has started. Run 200 miles in December. That's 322km give or take.Went out for a run with Waggers this evening and it turned out to be a bit longer than I expected. I was looking for a nice 10k to try and ease myself into it, but we ended up doing 16km instead. Spent a while stretching and cooling down after and then ate a lot of food :)On with the compression

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-75174235454157610202008-11-26T11:05:00.003Z2008-11-26T11:09:21.200Z

I've recently joined up with athlinks.com after listening to the guys from IMtalk going on about it all the time. I've added in a couple of races and some information on me as well.If you've done any races recently, go join up and keep all your results in one place.I ran into work today too, here's my route mapped out on gmap-pedometer. They have a nice new thing where it automatically follows

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-67917566674182872542008-11-25T22:34:00.005Z2008-11-25T22:45:40.950Z

I was thinking I could put up some photos of my injuries but then I thought that might just be tempting fate to give me worse ones, so I held back on that. Instead, here are a few photos of the small bits of damage that I did to the bike.First up, the grip tapeAnd now the back skewerAnd finally, the saddleLuckily, I seem to have enough grip tape to replace the one that I used as sandpaper. One

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-62708577463681190252008-11-23T18:11:00.001Z2008-11-23T18:11:16.583Z

Finished building up my new bike on Saturday morning and went out for a spin with Peter and Waggers to test it and see if anything needed tweaking. We decided to go up to Howth and all the way up the hill. Then to turn around and head down to Greg's house for coffee. It was all going well until we turned to head up the hill. I had to stop and fix the gears, I couldn't shift into the large cog on

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-44364353392663083992008-11-18T18:13:00.003Z2008-11-18T18:22:46.819Z

Went for a run last night to get back into the mood of exercising again. I'd been feeling a bit lethargic recently. Went out with Louise and ran for about 43 minutes.Then today I found a challenge on slowtwitch.comIt's a challenge to run 200 miles in December. I'm not going to sign up there to do it, but I think I will try it out and keep track of it on here.

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-52131547074714609112008-11-18T18:10:00.002Z2008-11-18T18:10:54.993Z

Greg got some video footage of myself and Junior going hard at it in Manchester last Saturday nightSee it here

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-34208851585006706582008-11-18T17:59:00.003Z2008-11-18T18:09:45.258Z

No, not the communist type, but the track racing type. I went over to the velodrome in Manchester last weekend to watch Revolutions 21. There was a gang of us that went over, Louise, Junior, Waggers, Sparky and myself. We went with a group from the track in Sundrive and met up with Greg, Pauline, Peter and Carys.We arrived over on Saturday on the ferry and didn't get a lot of time to chill out in

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-53543983984696705902008-11-11T23:28:00.001Z2008-11-11T23:28:59.004Z

I jogged into work yesterday morning because I didn't get anything done over the weekend. I only just made it into work. I had a dull throb in my left hip and my left knee was in agony. I could only just hobble around the place but climbing stairs was excruciating. Louise came around and picked me up from work because I couldn't face walking anywhere.I stretched it a bit this morning and after

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-3200417802559504372008-11-04T11:24:00.002Z2008-11-04T11:27:20.537Z

I want to do an Ironman distance race next year but I can't decide what one to do. Switzerland was lovely last year for the half, but I feel like I would like to see somewhere else now.I have kind of narrowed it down to Challenge Roth, Ironman Switzerland, Ironman UK or Ironman France.Help me decide, what do you think would be a good race to do as my first full distance Ironman

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-65353140909178775112008-10-24T15:37:00.003+01:002008-10-24T15:41:22.318+01:00

Here are some pictures from the ING Amsterdam Marathon site. The first one shows where I finished relative to other peopleNext up we have my speed broken down into 5km blocks. This gets slow and nasty around 30 to 35kmAs a comparison, here is the speed graph for the winner

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-88874152916421223282008-10-22T16:17:00.003+01:002008-10-22T16:27:29.255+01:00

Well, it's three days after the marathon in Amsterdam and I'm now able to walk properly again! I went over there with 7 other people, three of us doing the full marathon and the others doing the half. I finished in 3:14 according to my chip time, so I was really pleased, especially as I hit "the wall" at around 33km or so. I managed to get through it and hung on to the 3:15 pacesetter for the

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-21704975739862222442008-09-26T12:35:00.002+01:002008-09-26T12:38:36.588+01:00

I finished up my course of physio/acupuncture last night and to celebrate went out for an hour long run. I went out with Louise and Waggers and we did a lap of Bull island. We went around the golf course and back along the beach before cutting it short and coming back to the house. It was about 11km altogether.My legs were tight after it, but I blame the running on the sand for that. There

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-23949264648835516642008-09-19T10:39:00.002+01:002008-09-19T10:51:08.195+01:00

The last time I updated this I was struggling with blisters and finding it hard to walk. So what did I do? I went and completed a 22 mile hike on the Saturday afterwards! It was the Togher Padraig which is a pilgrimmage from Ballintubber Abbey to Croagh Patrick. It was a great day, the weather held off for most of it and we made it all the way to the top. My feet were in good condition after

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-65297629939887814282008-08-25T22:44:00.001+01:002008-08-25T22:44:21.447+01:00

I got me some insoles last week to try out over the weekend to see if they would alleviate some of the pain I've been having in my legs recently. (Don't you just love it when people self diagnose themselves on the interwebs) The ones I got were supposed to help with flat feet. Now I don't think I suffer from flat feet, but the internet never lies!I had two matches over the weekend and managed to

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-88175598156966754452008-08-10T22:47:00.001+01:002008-08-10T22:47:30.338+01:00

I hate being injured. I've been trying to ignore the pain in my legs for the last few weeks, but it's finally gotten the best of me. After resting last week, and then testing it out over the weekend, I have decided that I need to go and see the physio. I have what I think are shin splints, so it might just be a case of resting and icing and resting some more :(

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-53016156517457558212008-08-04T00:42:00.001+01:002008-08-04T00:42:46.276+01:00

Heh heh heh.There was a very very short triathlon in Glenfarne on Saturday. Glenfarne is a small village down the road from Blacklion, and they were having a festival. So some people decided to organise a triathlon for it. It consisted of a a 2km cycle, 200m swim and 2.5km run, in that order.The cycle started off with all 6 of us (yes only 6) on the start line. I got caught in some traffic, and

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-42406228491958054942008-07-29T18:46:00.001+01:002008-07-29T18:46:55.257+01:00

To train.Went for a run yesterday evening, blowing off the plans to go to the gym and for a swim. 56 minutes or so for the run, felt good throughout and pushed for the last half of it after leaving Ronan, Junior and Gráinne to go home.It rained heavily last night so I thought it was a good thing and I could go to the gym this evening. Woke up this morning and it was still wet. Good stuff :)Then

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-8821711144161572342008-07-28T19:38:00.000+01:002008-07-29T18:42:33.275+01:00

Shannon Gaels got off to a winning start in the championship last Saturday with a 2-14 to 07 win over Maghera. I was playing in midfield for most of the match before I was taken off "to rest me". At least I hope that's why I was taken off!I felt really good throughout, did a good bit of covering off, but maybe wasn't totally at the races when my man had the ball.A challenge match on Thursday

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-82405544914587741252008-07-24T09:59:00.002+01:002008-07-24T10:03:13.918+01:00

Both indirectly and directly.Indirectly first.Don't stop a delivery van in a bus lane right in front of a Garda on a motor bike. He won't be able to ignore you.And directly.Make sure that your pedal is tight enough to hold your cleats before attempting a skid stop at 30km/h! Otherwise panic and frantic attempts to back pedal ensue!

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-73113778269125502142008-07-23T10:18:00.003+01:002008-07-23T10:25:29.278+01:00

On Monday I got home from work and felt in great humour so I decided to go out for a spin on the tri bike. Started off by climbing Howth hill. The gears weren't very happy and the whole way up was a fight between getting a nice gear to climb in and chunking between about three other gears. It was even the same on the way down! I was tempted to just bail home at that stage and cut my losses.

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-20358935513666545212008-07-23T10:11:00.003+01:002008-07-23T10:17:43.105+01:00

I know, as a cyclist, I am probably not in the best position to give out about people not obeying red lights, but at least when I go through them I've let the other cars go through first. On two occasions on the way to work today, cars went through the red lights about five seconds after they had gone red. I'm just lucky I wasn't about to make a break across the junction to get ahead of the

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-25209489002934747352008-07-11T09:23:00.002+01:002008-07-11T09:29:28.530+01:00

Why are there so many potholes on the roads of our capital city? Actual gaping holes that are at least 10cm deep! It does make for an interesting ride in to work though, avoiding potholes, man hole covers that are raised from the road surface, cars, buses and pedestrians that look straight at you before deciding that no, you don't exist and starting to cross the road. On the plus side, I made

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-60971393500336445532008-07-10T21:07:00.000+01:002008-07-11T09:23:15.351+01:00

Tuesday turned into a day of running. After going mountain biking on Monday evening and falling onto a sharp rock with the palm of my hand, I decided that running to work would cause less stress on it. So off I headed, with my new Polar foot pod.I took it nice and easy, 50 minutes for the trip, and the foot pod was pretty accurate, giving the distance as 10.7km. Then after work it was a quick

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-18147319840117192842008-07-07T13:26:00.003+01:002008-07-07T13:30:02.012+01:00

Back to the grind of training :)Last weekend I had two training sessions on the pitch. The first on Saturday was pretty intense. Lots of sprinting and hard ballwork. Then a couple of games at the end. One posession game and another with full rules, though only 9 a side. Sunday was a bit more relaxed and skill based. Still plenty of running but not as much sprinting as Saturday.Today I hope

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-5886602045489279002008-06-27T10:06:00.005+01:002008-06-27T10:14:49.845+01:00

I was looking through some folders and found these. Some photos from Rapperswil.Waggers and myself with the giraffe.Me on the bike leg.The Stairway to Heaven, pure hell!At the end, with my medal.

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-25191818390616987302008-06-22T21:09:00.001+01:002008-06-22T21:12:53.661+01:00

And I'm entered.October 19th. Information here

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-63429500179237309052008-06-22T20:52:00.004+01:002008-06-22T20:58:46.404+01:00

I've been thinking about the HIM and in what ways I can improve if I am going to do a full one next year. One way is to stick to a more structured training program. To this end, I ordered and received Don Fink's book, "Be Iron Fit"It's an interesting read so far, with a lot of it aiming at how to manage your training time effectively. There is a recommendation that all sessions are based on

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-18369805491170282212008-06-10T11:56:00.003+01:002008-06-10T12:01:35.594+01:00

In the days following the race, I was like a zombie. I had to force myself to eat as I was too tired to enjoy it. I was constantly drinking to replenish myself too. Then when we got back to Dublin, we had a tag rugby match to play! It went well, we won pretty easily, with the three new Ironmen doing enough to learn the rules and get some trys.It took until about Saturday before I felt that I

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-36310474771086664672008-06-09T15:20:00.002+01:002008-06-09T15:48:53.569+01:00

The race day arrived. Up early and down for breakfast. We had brought porridge with us, but in the end decided to go for the hotel brekkie and coffee.We got all suited up and put on sunscreen. Then over to the transition area to put on bottles and food and pump up the tyres. With all the gear laid out it was now time to go to the toilet (again and again!)20 minutes to go and no sign of Greg.

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-23501905800176911022008-06-09T15:08:00.003+01:002008-06-09T15:20:48.105+01:00

On the Friday (our second day in Rapperswil) we decided to go out and do a loop on the bike course. We picked up a German guy as we were leaving the hotel and started out nice and slowly. Myself and Waggers hung at the back trying to get used to the distance we would have to keep. After 10km we turned to go up the first hill. It went on for a bit and this was supposed to be the short one!

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-44072723642382985412008-06-06T10:56:00.001+01:002008-06-06T10:57:46.143+01:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/griffinm/Ironman703SwitzerlandSome photos that Pauline took while watching and supporting us in Rapperswil.

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-68630956612007474392008-06-04T10:19:00.003+01:002008-06-04T10:22:24.657+01:00

It's now a few days later, I'm back in work, my brain is starting to come back to life. I'll write up a report over the next few days and post it up here.I finished in 4 hours 58 minutes and 4 seconds. Waggers and Greg finished it as well, so it was happiness all round.

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-31007786142053180072008-05-29T20:13:00.000+01:002008-05-29T21:39:31.151+01:00

We travelled to Switzerland today. Left from Dublin airport at 11:30ish and made it here around 4. It was quite nice out so we went for a wander and got some food. Then a walk over to the start area and transition areas. Saw a few people going out for a canoe polo training session, but we didn't stay to watch them.Came back towards the hotel and got some ice cream before deciding it was time to

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-68470492376274673502008-05-28T22:06:00.000+01:002008-05-28T22:07:04.028+01:00

So, I'm all packed and ready to go. The bike bag is full of all my gear and I only need to remember to get my passport in the morning.This evening I went for a last cycle just to keep a feel for it and to test out the new aero drinks bottle I got last week. I had meant to try it out at home at the weekend, but of course I had to forget something. That time it was my cycling shoes. Silly me. They

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-80826525618280903982008-05-25T17:46:00.001+01:002008-05-25T17:46:10.331+01:00

It's time to take it easy. Ish. I'm not a good one at taking it easy. On Thursday last, I went for an outdoor swim in Malahide with Waggers and with Louise as our lookout in her newly repaired boat.Friday was drinks out with work and then drive home on Saturday to play a league match. We were beaten by two points by Templeport in a lousy match :(The B team were beaten today by Cornafean and after

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-22109749353515933762008-05-20T23:05:00.001+01:002008-05-20T23:05:27.135+01:00

Here's a few pics of me and the others at the Fingal triFingal tri pics

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-29751629231829435642008-05-19T23:43:00.001+01:002008-05-19T23:43:35.373+01:00

For the Fingal tri. I came 25th with a 2 minute penalty for drafting. I've sent the organisers a mail to see where I was drafting so that I can make sure that it doesn't happen again.

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-27953170338809057772008-05-19T10:40:00.003+01:002008-05-19T11:00:18.687+01:00

Woke up good and early and had breakfast of porridge and honey. Packed up the camper and drove around to pick up Greg. Got to the NAC at about 7:40ish and went to register. Got the goodie packs with a large toblerone and powerade and toothpaste. They do put the most random stuff in there!Checked the bikes and then racked them into transition. Got all my gear laid out as I wanted it too.

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-12441533743494089352008-05-17T22:37:00.001+01:002008-05-19T11:01:08.276+01:00

Remember, when you want to swim in the sea to check the tide times!Went out this evening with Gráinne and Waggers to go for a quick dip down by Bull island. When we got there, it dawned on us that this was not going to be all that fruitful! The tide was way out. But we got in anyway and after wading out for a few hundred metres with the water no deeper than out knees, we came back again.Jogged

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-69806572980323412302008-05-15T12:11:00.002+01:002008-05-15T12:15:26.909+01:00

Finally, I have a new set of tri bars. I had to change the delivery address yesterday because we missed a couple of delivery attempts. They said it wouldn't be delivered until tomorrow, but even better it arrived today!A brand spanking new set of bars, so this evening will be spent putting them on the bike and getting it all set up nicely.Happy happy, bounce bounce!

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-44063870355887542662008-05-14T19:09:00.000+01:002008-05-15T12:11:09.559+01:00

Nice little brick session today. I ran from work to Westwood and then went for a quick swim. Just a little 750m at race pace. Then a run from Westwood to Antioch along the coast road.Overall it took just over an hour and a half.

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-9208114908331934462008-05-13T11:53:00.000+01:002008-05-15T12:08:47.260+01:00

We had an early start on Sunday last for the tri. My wave was off at 8:20 with Greg off earlier and Pauline off in the wave after me. The swim went well, I started first in the lane and passed out the two others in my lane. Out onto the cycle, I passed someone on the first corner but then didn't see anyone for about 15 minutes. I wasn't sure if I was on the right track, but kept going and

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-79095803828115017192008-05-08T00:03:00.001+01:002008-05-08T00:03:59.814+01:00

Only a few days to go until the first tri of the year. Wilmslow is on this weekend and while it's only a short one, it should be good. I also get to visit Pauline while I'm there, which will be good.Things are starting to fall into place too, I have the tri suit, the new runners, a new bike bag and my watch all set up and ready to go. The only thing is that I still have no tri bars. Syntace are

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-79553083815727720062008-05-04T00:23:00.001+01:002008-05-04T00:23:20.466+01:00

A good week of swimming. A session on Tuesday and then a better one on Thursday. Feeling good in the water in the run up to Wimslow. I'll have to try and get a session in a 25m pool tomorrow before next weekend, just to get the distance sorted in my head.I'm still waiting for my tri bars from Syntace, they sent them out a couple of weeks ago, but UPS seem to have lost it. I've started a trace,

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-23507527281766297712008-04-24T11:20:00.002+01:002008-04-24T11:24:57.228+01:00

In the mornings, people sleepwalk. On the way to work today, I had to shout a warning at one person and had one other guy jump out of his skin when I went past him as he went to step on to the road. And then, just as I was turning in to work, a guy on a bike was oblivious to me coming the right way down a one way street right at him. Ther must have been something in the air.On the training

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-78188256973743609202008-04-17T16:13:00.002+01:002008-04-17T16:16:06.184+01:00

Wow, it's been running week this week. Went for a run on Monday, last night with Waggers and then ran to work this morning. This has been something that I've toyed with since moving into the new house. It's only 10km door to door, so it seemed like a doable distance to me. In the end it took me 47 minutes to make it in, that's with stopping for traffic and dodging people along Abbey Street.

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-47794849913137356882008-04-09T23:21:00.001+01:002008-04-09T23:21:23.279+01:00

Went for a run this evening, just a nice little one, just 12.3km or so. Took me just over 50 minutes to complete. The weather was nice, a little breezy heading south, but a welcome breeze. I felt really good coming back from Bull Island, I think it was the change in wind direction.Last night I was in the gym doing session two of the Stronglift 5x5 program. Squat, press, deadlift and chins.Oh, I

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-71970800630964767442008-04-07T23:43:00.001+01:002008-04-07T23:43:52.995+01:00

I went for a run at lunchtime today. About 5 minutes into the run, I was bombarded by hailstones for about 30 seconds. Then it stopped and the sun came back out. It got quite warm after that. I did about 9.5km and it took about 40 minutes.On the way home, I decided that it would be a good idea to go for a swim for a change. I spent about an hour in the pool, mostly technique and getting a feel

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-51551613207931027022008-04-06T23:12:00.001+01:002008-04-06T23:12:26.421+01:00

Last week I moved house. Because of that, I didn't get much training in. I only really managed to cycle to work. I had planned to swim a few days, but what with things being moved around and having to tidy up the old house, it didn't happen.Yesterday we had another match, we played Arva in Belcoo. The weather was horrible. It had changed from warm and sunny to cold and windy. We played with the

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-47913165768193559792008-04-01T16:49:00.001+01:002008-04-01T16:49:19.891+01:00

I can't believe it. After buying a bike primarily because it had tri bars on it, one of the extensions broke! I was cycling home after the match on Sunday (which we drew, more on that later) and was about half way through when all of a sudden my right arm was waving about in the air. The bar broke at the exact spot where the hole to allow the gear cable in was. I then had no choice but to go the

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-21411518322290329142008-03-24T13:09:00.000Z2008-03-24T13:10:12.281Z

I went for a cycle yesterday despite the bad weather. A nice long one, about 60km. I ran into some problems with my gears again and was limited to about 4 usable gears, but it worked out okay in the end. I went from my home in Blacklion, across to Belcoo, then out the Garrison road. Here I hit wind, strong wind, right in my face! It didn't stop until I got to Garrison and turned left to head to

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-10031314931527500432008-03-22T22:03:00.001Z2008-03-22T22:03:50.341Z

I had another VO2 max test on Thursday. Greg wanted to make sure that the machines he is using are calibrated properly, so guinea pig Mike came to the rescue!I should get a cape and wear underpants on the outside of my trousers if I get to do another test :)Afterwards, I went into town and got a new pair of runners. It's probably about time seeing as I have the previous pair for about 5 years. I

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-51881226855374014812008-03-13T23:58:00.000Z2008-03-14T00:00:18.686Z

I did a swim session tonight. 300m warm up and it was supposed to be 3x500m descending. It didn't quite turn out like that though. I got the first one done fine, and then on the start of the second, I got one length finished. As I touched the wall, some guy decided that was the time he wanted to start his length. The only problem was that he was a numpty. I managed to pass him out and gave it no

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-81953666317325839532008-03-12T15:14:00.002Z2008-03-12T15:22:40.906Z

Last weekend was the start of the new football league season. We played Corlough away and were beaten by two points. The match was played in strong winds, but luckily now snow! We played pretty well, but just couldn't put the ball over the bar. We had a goal disallowed aswell.Afterwards, I cycled home. I decided that I needed to test out the new bike properly. I also wanted to use my new

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-7190771522838496012008-02-28T13:57:00.003Z2008-02-28T14:01:04.536Z

I can't believe it, I went and did it again! I entered another tri :)This one is in Manchester, near where Pauline is now. So I guess I get to go and pick up my ice cream, eh Pauline? It's happening on the 11th of May.I've done two swim sessions this week and I'll be going to the gym tonight for the second weights session. Tomorrow is DCPL and then football training on SAturday night and a

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982185447571928357.post-19511079676398860532008-02-20T09:44:00.002Z2008-02-20T09:49:24.439Z

I cycled into work this morning and felt good while doing it. I was a little apprehensive as to how I would feel today, being two days after the max test. Last Saturday, I did a great impression of a dead log, so I was hoping it wouldnt be the same today.I went to the gym last night with Louise but didnt do a full session, I just did some light weights and some chin ups. Today, I'll be in the

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13598535957475464543noreply@blogger.com0