14th January 2019
Ok. So I’m going to try and blog weekly about my season again and hopefully, this goes better than last season where it quickly fizzled out as a lack of training and injuries meant I lost interest in telling people how little I was doing…
Last season finished in October. I completed Ironman Barcelona in 13:10:42 and then pacing parkrun a couple of weeks later I tore my meniscus in my right knee. I’m just back training.
I organised and presented a session on Goal setting back in October and whilst I seemed to be able to motivate some, my own motivation up to Christmas has been severely lacking.
My brief review of my previous year is:
- Too heavy
- Too slow
Which leads into targets for 2019. Other than to be lighter and faster, these are time targets I’ve set based on races entered. Weather conditions or courses could be different so they aren’t hard and fast but will let me know if I’m heading in the right direction.
- Laois Sprint – 1:26 in 2018, sub 1:18 in 2019
- Mallorca 70.3 – 6:31 in 2015, sub 5:30 in 2019
- Athy Olympic – 2:43 in 2018, sub 2:30 in 2019
- Two Provinces – 1:19 in 2018, sub 1:10 in 2019
So, where am I now at the start of training?
Swim – I’ve done pretty much no swimming since October. I’ve planned to get in the pool at least 3 times a week but as of yet, they are just plans and nothing has happened. Ideally, I’ll get in the pool this weekend and do a time trial to set a benchmark. I’d love to be getting close to holding 1:35-1:40 per 100m at Ironman distance (1:00-1:03 swim time for 3800)
Bike – My current biking isn’t great – power is down to around 300w (I’ve done very little since the last test but that’s my estimate). I have a couple of training camps planned to help boost that. I’ll be racing more this year, after doing only 3 club league races last year. The club league is a collection of local bike clubs that race between themselves.
I’ve signed up for the IVCA (Irish Veterans cycling association) and will be racing in their league – it’s for over 40’s. I’ve also an A4 open license for the 6th year in a row so hope to get around the country to do a few races (mainly multiday/stage) and hopefully get promoted to A3. I will also be racing again with Lucan Inter-Club Club League. That hopefully will get me a good bit of quality cycling with 2-3 races per week and will have me hitting my later triathlon races in a much better place than last year.
Aim would be o hold 36kmh over 180km at ironman distance.
Run – Just before New Year I did parkrun in Tyrrelstown. I had no expectations other than it was going to be slow. Of course, I went out like a scalded cat and was averaging a pace way too fast for the first few hundred metres. I eased off and a few went by, it was then just a case of trying to keep a manageable pace for the next 4.5km. Finished in 26:44 which whilst way off my PB was a lot better than I had expected and not too bad a place for me to be starting the year. I also finished injury free so am starting to run again more regularly – taking it easier than normal and increasing load slowly.
I’ll be doing the Dublin marathon in October and hope to be running sub 4:00 hours.
Strength and conditioning – I’ll be honest, I’m vain. I know, being this ugly I’ve no right to be! But I’ve done little in the weight room for a few years and I’m going to try and get back into it. Yes, carrying excess muscle around isn’t ideal – but it looks better the 99% of the time I am not racing. Although I’ve not seen much of it under the layer of fat…
Weight – this is where I struggle every year and have a cycle of putting on weight in the close season and trying to lose it in the race season. Last year was my worst/heaviest year and I raced Barcelona t 110kg and felt every ounce. This year I’m currently sitting at 115kg and hope to get down to <95kg by the end of the season.
Coaching wise I’m self-coached. I don’t fell that I really work well under others and the sense of accountability from a having a coach doesn’t work with me – I’m more accountable when I’ve mates taking the pi** out of the lack of training I’m doing and the competition to get faster.
On top of all of this I’m goign to try and balance the training with work and completing a master’s (It is in Data Analytics for anyone not asleep yet!).
If I can train consistently and injury free I’m confident I’ll have a good year – watch this space…