It's been a while

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 bus. I got in with no problems, it was a lovely day for it, sunny, cold and not too windy. The wind will probably be stronger later on but I'll deal with that then.

Oh, also as it's Movember, why not sponsor my mo for charity

Wicklow 200 - The aftermath

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 fine, chilly but dry. We met some other groups on the road and said hi to them. I noticed that my HRM wasn't working properly and stopped to fix it, then TT'd my way back to the lads, nice to go fast, even if it was a little early.

I don't remember much of the order of how things went, but we climbed Sally Gap, Glenmalure, Slieve na Mann and Djouce over the day. The uphills were a struggle for Waggers who just didn't have it in his legs to push on the hills in any way. I found the descents the worst because I wasn't entirely comfortable on the tri bike at such speeds without knowing the roads.

Overall it took us about 8 hours of riding and 10 hours in total to get around. I reckon we could have done it about an hour and a half quicker if Waggers wasn't so weak on the hills and had actually done some training for it. The funny thing is that he was the one that talked me into doing it :)

I really enjoyed the day in a weird way, the uphills were long and hard, and the weather stayed dry all day long. The marshalls and the volunteers were brilliant and even in the wind at the top of Slieve na Mann were in great spirits. That was the longest I had ever ridden and now that I know I can do it, it's another step on the road to putting that back to back with a 3.9km swim and a marathon.

I have no other races or anything planned for the summer, I might try and get an entry into some longish race at some stage, or else do some long days on my own. But for now it'll be back to football next weekend with a challenge match on Friday evening in preparation for the Championship.

A busy weekend

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 half and went in at half time 3 points down due to a flukey goal just on half time.
Second half went the way of the first for the first ten minutes and then we somehow managed to start winning everything at midfield. From then on we were almost unstoppable. Only our shooting let us down but we still managed to score 17 points. Final score, Shannon Gaels 17 points, Kildallon 1-9.

The pitch was very slippy and wet on top but at least the rain held off for the match. The wind, however, didn't and played a large part in the goalkeeper's kickouts.

Today I went for a cycle on my Planet-X Stealth. Only the third time I have been out on it, I think. I went up as far as Glenfarne and back and then to the Cladagh Glen and back home. 28km in 57 minutes with a pit stop to fix up my handlebars. Got caught in a heavy rain shower and the wind wanted to be in my face in both directions, but it was enjoyable. I'll have to do another couple of rides before the Wicklow 200 in June though!

Hard football training and a cycle

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 Enniskillen to see the new boat quay place that is being built by the Round O. It looks like it's the perfect size to fit in polo pitches and with walkways on both sides to let the referee walk along. Now all we need to do is to get the Fermanagh District Council and Waterways Ireland to let us use it for a competition. There is loads of parking, and even a coffee shop as well. Perfect.

The cycle took me around an hour and a half for 46km in nice cold and dry conditions, not much wind to speak of either.

Later on that evening, I had the second training session, this time in Loughan House. Yes, the prison! Training on the astroturf pitch is different to grass and it tends to burn more if you try to slide on it! More running after some short passing games and it was all over. Everyone was glad to get out of the heavy rain and the cold.

I took yesterday off as a rest day and today I plan to get back into the pool for a session.

New bike

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 the front. After 5 minutes or so, I figured out it was because the cranks were slipping apart. Got them fixed and then headed off. Had to push it a bit to try and catch Peter who had gone on ahead.

Then disaster struck. I ended up on my head with the bike skidding down the road. Waggers was right behind me and he came off too after running over my back wheel. I was pretty shook up and it took another couple of minutes before I could go on. Made it to the top of the hill with no more problems. On the way down I took it easy for the first section and then decided to push it a bit for the last part. It felt good to be able to cut loose, hopefully I can do it properly next time without falling off!

We headed over to Greg's for coffee and stayed to watch the Ireland rugby match before going back to Antioch. I brought Peter back to his house and helped him to fix up his kitchen. Some more people came over and we watched videos for a bit before I headed out to the van to go to sleep. And to top off the day, I had been clamped! I had one wheel on the double yellow lines because I couldn't go back any further. Gits!!!

It turned out that if I had driven into the spot, instead of reversing in, I would have been fine even though the van would have been in the exact same position!

Revolutions

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 the hotel before we had to go to the velodrome. Got the tickets and in we went. When we got in, there were a load of people warming up on the track before it all started. The most organised chaos I have ever seen! Some people were running pacelines and others were sprinting around and others were just moseying around having a chat and not a crash in sight!

There were 19 or 20 races over the course of the night and an expo type thing in the middle of the track. In there they had set up some bikes on rollers where you could go head to head over 500m. Most of us tried it out and I finished in 22.17 seconds for 15th place overall. Greg came 5th, Waggers 10th and Junior 19th.

After the track we went out to town where a small plastic snake entertained us for a number of hours. Then it was food and back to the hotel to sleep before the long journey home on Sunday.

Overall it was a good weekend, great to see the racers at the track and it was Bradley McGee's last competitive outing, so it was good to see that too.

A run

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 the sleep as well it was good enough to cycle to work on. It was still a little tender but I could move around. I stretched my legs out a few times during the day and it seemed to have made it feel better. I'll try it out in the pool tomorrow evening and see how it fares to some paddling and lepping around.

Congrats to Greg on graduating yesterday from DCU as well!

Things I learned on my commute today

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!

Cycley spin

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. But no, it was too nice an evening to think about giving up.

I went straight on from the bottom of Howth hill out towards Potmarnock and through to Malahide. Along by the estuary and out to the roundabout near the M1. On the stretch to the roundabout I was really tearing along, felt really strong and jus kept pushing. After the turn I kept up the pace all the way back to Malahide. Then it was in through Portmarnock where only one car pulled out in front of me!

Uneventful for the rest of the ride, made it home in 1hr 22mins. My speedo said it was nearly 43km, but I still think it's a little off. I have no idea though how Pauline managed to compete in the Beast of the East tri at the weekend with the gears in such a bad way! Oh and congrats to her for finishing in third place!

Dublin roads suck!

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 it in before the rain started!

Looking back at Switzerland

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! Once at the top, we regrouped and went gingerly down the other side. I lost the yellow spongy bit from my aero bottle and had to go back for it. This led me to tying it in with cable ties for the race.

We weren't quite sure where to go after that and after going up an even worse hill, and down the other side, we realised that we had skipped a good bit of the loop including "the Beast". But seeing as we had two hills under us, we decided that going back to the hotel was a good idea. It was also quite hot at this stage and we didnt want to be out for too long. We said farewell to the German guy and another girl that we picked up on the way in the next town. They continued around to find "the Beast" and we headed back. An uneventful trip back, no thunder storms or punctures or anything.

We went through the registration process on Friday too. It was quick if a bit confusing as to where we were supposed to go.

After food and resting for a while, Greg and I decided it was time to test the water. A quick 20 minute dip in the lake ensued. The water was cold, but once you got moving it wasn't too bad at all. There was great visibility too. That cleared out the butterflies a little bit for me anyway.


Saturday came quickly and dragged on for days! It was the day for doing nothing. We watched TV and movies and then Pauline arrived. Louise arrived later on before we went to the pasta party. Free food and Erdinger for all! Fantastic :)

First day in Rapperswil

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 put the bikes together. After that it was time to test them out. So out on the road (remembering to stay on the right hand side) I had some small problems with gears skipping but sorta got them fixed. We got a little bit lost and then a lightning storm started! So we quickly found the right road and stormed back to the hotel just in time. Time now to relax and have a quiet beer.

The results are out

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.

Fingal Sprint Triathlon

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. Then back to the camper for 40 minutes before the race briefing. Drinking a lightly dilutable drink and snacking on a few pieces of chocolate to keep my energy levels up. I watched the first wave go off and then went and got changed. I was in wave 2, lane 3. We got given swim hats and then into the pool. One length of a warm up and then 750 metres of a swim. I started off in front but got passed after 3 lengths by three people who were close together. I picked off two of them over the next few lengths and the last guy on the last one. So that meant that I was first out of the pool in my lane. I got whooshed out by the guy at the end and trotted out to T1.

Everything went smoothly coming out of T1 and onto the road. the Gardaí were out in force with the marshalls, stopping traffic and directing us around roundabouts. I got passed by a few lads but kept them in my sights. At the turn around, I had passed them again and they seemed to miss the cones. I powered out from the turn and kept the lead until near the end of a long straight. Two guys passed me there, but seemed to slow on the small incline after it, so back I went again past them. I kept pushing hard until the end of the bike and got in first.

Another decent transition despite throwing my glasses off when I took off the helmet and I was out in front. I pushed hard for the first few hundred metres and then got into my stride. Kept up a good cadence and felt really good. At the turn around, I got confused by the marshall asking me was in wave 2 and slowed a bit. I saw the next few lads behind me, so I pushed again up the hill to the corner. Then I eased back into my stride for the next bit. Turning the last corner and heding downhill to the NAC, I pushed up the pace again. I was starting to feel it now but pushed on. I didn't want to look behind me just in case I was being caught, this was about my race for me. Got in to the finish and across the line with no problems, all done in 1:08.

Overall, I was happy with what I managed, did a little bit of stretching and had a shower. Put on the compression tights and lived in them for the rest of the day.

We hung around for the prize giving and then headed home. Had tea and cake and watched the Cavan and Antrim match. Everyone was tired, some went for a snooze.

Went out later to get food for a pasta bake, ended up making three and salad and garlic bread. Got an early night too, it was well needed!

Up this morning at 5 to drop Pauline to the airport, no pains or stiffness.

They arrived!

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!

Wilmslow tri

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 eventually saw some signs showing me the way. I passed out some more people and kept tapping along at a nice pace, not too fast, but keeping my legs going.

On the way back to transition, I nearly missed the turn off the main road. I recovered and got back feeling fresh. As I went into drop the bike off, I heard Greg and Sarah shouting for me. Nice to hear someone cheer you on!

I spent a few seconds trying to take out the spare tyre and repair kit from my pocket, but then gave up and decided to run with them. The run was getting warm with no breeze and running through a nice little park before heading out through a housing estate. There was a great family out passing out water and hosing us down as we went past. Very nice!

The rest of the run was quite uneventful, passed out some people and kept a good cadence up. I felt like I could have run for a lot longer at that pace. Coming in to the finish line, I had to up the pace and sprint over the line :)

At the end of the race, Edinburgh Cycle Co-operative had a stand of free drinks and power bars, so myself and Greg fed and filled water bottles with as much free stuff as we could.

Pauline came through shortly after and got interviewed by the guy with the microphone and then he spent the next five minutes asking if the Dublin people would be having a beer or two that evening :)

After it was all over, we had a few hours to wait until we got the final results. Pauline came third overall in the women's section and first in her age group.
I finished in about 1:14 according to the official results, but I thought I was about 3 minutes slower than that. Not going to argue though!
After we got home, it was time for a trip to Decathlon and then off to the Curry Mile for dinner.

Greg and I went home on Monday, getting to the airport one minute before check in closed, being given priority boarding passes and getting to the gate as they opened up. Perfect!

Countdown

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 sending them out again as UPS sent them back to them for some reason. No official word from UPS on where they are yet either, so I wonder do they even know what they've done with them.

Greg is lending me a set for the weekend, except he still has to pick them up from one of the other guys who has them at the moment. I hope he gets them!

This week we had some great weather so it was a pleasure to get out and do stuff. Spent Monday in Bray at the beach, just chilling out and relaxing. Tuesday was a swim and then cycling home the long way along the Coast Road. Then a race back into town for a dancing lesson before dinner. Today was the long way home and then a 40 minute run with Waggers.

Tomorrow I'll probably take as an easy day, I might head to the pool in the evening just to splash about and do a few lengths. I still want to figure out the tumble turn as it keeps confusing me :)

Disaster

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 rest of the way on the other side bars, and unable to change the back gears as I needed to.

After examining the bar when I got home, I saw that there seemed to be some sort of damage from before, so I wasn't as strong as I thought I was! I'm going to take some pictures and send them into Syntace and see if they can cut me any sort of deal.

So far this Ironman has cost me a new watch, new bike and now new tri bars!

As for the match, it didn't look like it would be our day again. We were 10 points down with 15 minutes to go before we decided that it would be nice to play. We ended up drawing level and even had a slim chance to win it right at the end. A draw was all we probably deserved, but it was a weird match.

More cycling

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 Rossinver. Then the wind was coming from the side, through the trees.

After a long climb up the hill outside Rossinver, I had the best part of the cycle, a long fast downhill on decent roads. I got up as far as 57km/h. It was hair raising in parts because I didn't know the road. Into Manorhamilton and I had to slow down going through the town, then take a left by the Bee Park and out the Glenfarne road. I turned off onto the Kiltyclogher road to stay off the main and windy road and turned off here after about 2km. Then over to Glenfarne school and off left up a small country road. Another long hard hill and then down the other side. I couldn't let go here because the road was only wide enough for one car to drive on. I got to the Ballroom of Romance in Glenfarne and turned left towards Blacklion. I had the wind behind me and flew along for the rest of the way home.

Over all it took me just over 2 hours and with the wind and hills I was pretty happy with the time. No real stiffness today, so that's another bonus.

More training

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 did a gait analysis before hand and found out that I have a neutral stride and a heel strike. I got to try out 5 or 6 pairs of runners and eventually decided on a pair of Sauconys.

Then on Friday, I went out for a run, 12.75km according to www.gmap-pedometer.com. It took just over an hour and I took it as a recovery session. I thought I had training in the evening in Cavan, so I headed off from Dublin at about 4:30. Made it home for 7:30 and got to Loughan. Then I decided to check the message again and found it was sent on Thursday, who's the goose?

I had a match today against Kildallen in Ballyconnell. We were beaten by a point after being up 1-5 to 0-2 at half time. We just didn't get any breaks in the second half. As a team we need to work on starting the second half of matches stronger.

Tomorrow I hope to go for a nice long cycle, but I have some stuff to do around the house for Mum while I am here too