Long time, lots happened

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 it but I was quite tired.

The week after we played the Quarter Final of the Championship against Mountnugent. We were beaten by 5 points in the end, but we were never really in the match. It was a huge disappointment as we thought we had put in enough work to get through that stage. It had been six weeks since our first match in the championship but that's no excuse really. I was playing wing back and thought I did alright. My man didn't score as far as I can remember and I set up a few scoring moves during the match.

Since then, I've been at the physio getting acupuncture on my shins. After 5 sessions the swelling has finally gone down enough that i am looking at sets of insoles to try out. I've been doing loads of stretching to try and get my calves and feet loosened out. That seems to be the problem, my legs are too tight. I have to remember to stretch at every opportunity and eventually they will start to loosen out. That will be hard to do, I have tended in the past to stretch, start to see some improvement and then stop, thinking I had done enough. Now is the time to go farther than that and keep the stretching going.

I've also been doing some running, light training runs with Louise, Junior, Waggers and Grainne. I am going to go out and do a long run on Saturday in Achill. Louise is doing the run part of a triathlon over there. I'm going to take some photos and then head off for a nice long slow run.

Looking forward to heading to Amsterdam next month, my aim is probably quite ambitious with a 3 hour marathon. But if you don't make goals, you can't beat them :)

First ever triathlon win

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 had to wait for a few hundred metres until one guy tired out. Then I shot past Pauline and caught up closer to Greg. No more fun on the cycle until it was time to get out of the shoes. I saw Greg unshod himself and followed suit, it was a little hairy, I think the forks on my bike are loose!

Then the swim, nice out and back. I passed Greg shortly after the turn and just managed to stay in front of Pauline. On with the shoes and bam! I was away. Nice run course through the forest and up some hills. Then back down them and around to the finish. Finished in a total of 25:43.

Pauline came in second with Greg in third, coincidentally also the order of our entry numbers.

I had training then in the evening, but was a little bit tired and full of food, so it was quite hard.

Went into Enniskillen to watch some of the polo tournament and then back home before heading to Bawnboy to play a tournament match against Templeport. We were beaten by a point in the end. My legs were starting to seize up at the end after being moved from midfield to full back. I'll have to find some ice for the rest of the week and probably give the physio a ring on Monday.

All packed

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 are of course packed this time :)

Pics from the weekend

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

Fingal tri pics

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.

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!