Cross Training!

2 squash games this week, two short quick runs and a pool session. Only about 4 hours training in total but I'm winding down now anyway. The Olympic race is next weekend and the half 2 weeks later so resting up is starting to become more important than squeezing extra hours in - well, that's what I tell myself anyway. The runs were both organized ones - Saturday a routine 4 mile NYRRC marathon qualifier race and Sunday the "Komen Race for the Cure". The latter was a huge event for which Kate had skillfully organized a big team and a busy team schedule for the weekend which revolved primary around eating and drinking lots as all good team sports should! I paced about 7:40 per mile in both events which I think is pretty decent for a big old unit like myself. Roll on race day baby...

Getting back after a 2 week layoff

Until today I hadn't done any training for 2 weeks. The first week was a planned rest week but I've been having a lot of trouble with my right knee and this prevented me from training the second week also. It's actually the muscle or the ligaments behind the right knee rather than the knee joint that is sore but either way 6 weeks from race day it wasn't ideal to be out of action. Anyway today it felt better and I decided to get back on the horse. Rather than ease back in gently I put in my biggest BRICK so far - 40 miles on the bike followed by a 12 mile run. All in all I'm pretty happy with it; only the last couple of miles on the run were a bit of a drag otherwise I felt pretty strong and enjoyed the workout. I did use Rich Shannon's bike instead of mine and the difference with the larger frame was night and day - much more comfortable and also faster. New bike next season for me!!!

Light Run

Light 4 mile run to stretch out the legs before hitting the beach for the afternoon!!

Montauk Brick

We spent the weekend out in Montauk with Jackie and Arturo which is always a good time. Before cooking up a lovely BBQ dinner and tucking into the vino on Saturday night I put in single 28 mile circuit of the mighty man bike loop (the bike leg of the actual race consists of 2 circuits of this loop) followed by a 3 mile run. I was very slow on the bike today; last time I cycled this course it took 1:45 mins but today it took nearly 2 hours. There were very strong winds which are partly responsible but I think accumulated fatigue in the legs from a big week of training is really to blame!

Double Squash & Swim

A double squash game today plus some pool work. First match 7:30am (!). The legs were still a little sore from the BRICK on Monday but they warmed up ok. After an hour on court I hit the pool for a 1 mile (80 lap) set incorporating my usual drills. Then this evening another hour on court. This second game was a tough fight right down to the final point. I don't think I've played a match quite that hard in a long time and I suspect I'm gonna be feeling it tomorrow morning!!

Jumbo Brick!

My biggest BRICK so far! I put in 50 miles on the bike followed by a 7 mile extended double bridges loop. The bike route was basically loops around central park (plus the travel there and back) so a good mix of gradient and flat road. It felt pretty good although towards the latter stages of the ride I started to feel cramped (as in cramped for space not muscle cramps) and my right little toe and left little finger were starting to go numb! I was glad to get off the bike and into the run. I stuck to a moderate pace and it was only the last mile or so that the legs started to feel a little sore and I wanted it to be over but I think that was more psychological than physical! Feeling pretty good afterwards - ready for a big dinner!! Sweet!

Extended Double (again)

What a great run this evening! After the storms hit New York and nearly flooded the city, the temperature dropped from the nineties to low sixties. I put in the same extended double bridges loop as Wednesday but I absolutely flew it completing the loop in 64 mins including traffic stops (probably around 62 mins running time). It felt great - fast, fluid and relatively easy until the last mile or so crossing the Manhattan bridge when I had to dig in for the finish. I wish every run were like that!!

Squash and Swim

Played an early morning squash match against Becca at the HR mid-town starting at 7:30am. Not my usual style to get up and active so early but it wasn't actually as bad as I expected! We had a good 1 hour on court and a decent game. It's funny how the Triathlon fitness creeps up on you; she was by no means unfit, but by the end of the hour she was pretty much done and could be easily beaten with simple drop shots because she didn't have the energy to run whereas I honestly could have kept going for another hour!! After the game I hit the pool and put in a solid 1 hour set - warm up, drills, builds and cool down.

Extended Double Bridges

Ran a slow 7 mile extended double bridges loop. Insanely hot, temperature in the mid 90s. I must have lost around half a stone on this run despite drinking 2 water bottles of Gatorade on route!!

Coombe Hill Loop

Another late night drinking wine and singing songs courtesy of the Burns family of Skibbereen made for a tough run today but I managed a decent 5 mile loop up and over coombe hill, through the local farmlands and along the country back roads. It's a great circuit, and run late afternoon it worked up a perfect thirst for a sunset pint down in Baltimore followed by boat ride to Turkhead and a fab evening BBQ

Swimming Loche Ine

Training was somewhat interrupted this week by a trip to West Cork, Ireland for a family wedding. Naturally such occasions involve copious amounts of food, drink and late night revelry, none of which is conducive to quality exercise. Nonetheless we did manage to shake off the post-wedding hangover on the Sunday with a 0.5 mile swim in Loch Hyne (Ine) and followed by a 5k run home. The swim was lovely although the loch was COLD. At first I didn't think I was going to be able to swim a proper crawl because after each set of around a dozen swim strokes my head was frozen so much it felt like it was being crushed and I couldn't breath properly!! However after a little while my entire face went numb and after that I was incapable of feeling any pain... The run was short and sharp. From the loch you climb up a pretty steep country road for around a mile and half back to the main Baltimore road where you hang a right and continue another mile and half back to the legendary town of Skibbereen.

Bike & Squash

Out early this morning to put in a couple of hours on the bike around prospect park before breakfast - a nice way to start the day! Then this evening another squash match - this one only marginally easier than last night. Sore legs this evening!

Swim & Squash

45 mins in the pool. Swam around a mile but mostly in 10 lap sets of repeated drills. Followed this with an hour on the squash court - a tough match too!

Prospect Park

Couple of hours on the bike early evening doing laps around prospect park.

Bike Run Brick (4 hours)

It takes about 35 mins to get from Dumbo to Central Park on the bike. It is only around 6 or 7 miles but the traffic, lights, people and general crowds make getting across Chambers street and mid-town slow going. I put in 5 laps of the park, so by the time I got back to Dumbo the total bike course would have been a little over 40 miles. I then added on my usual 4 mile double bridges running loop. Although the bike was fine the run was quite tough and the legs felt fairly heavy at the end. It was a very hot and humid day which didn't help!

6 mile loop

Slow 6 mile run. Looped out and back over Brooklyn bridge and followed the outline of lower Manhattan. See here for the route map. Very slow pace, 1 hour elapsed, average HR around 142 but a very hot day today though.

Spin cycle

1 hour spin today. A 15 mins easy warm-up plus a 45 min class. The class was tough - the majority of the time was spent out of the saddle with a mixture of sprints and long climbs. Max HR topped out at 180 with an average of 149.

Swimming benchmarks

I've been doing mostly drill work in the pool so today thought I'd mix it up and do a straight time trial at a sustainable pace to benchmark my swim. I put in a 2k swim (20 meter pool) in around 45 mins which I'm pretty happy with although my technique was getting a little clumsy during the last third so I need to focus on keeping things smooth and easy. By these benchmarks my race time would be a little over 30 mins for the Olympic and 45 mins for the half. It would be cool to bring that down to 25 and 40 respectively for race day!!

10 weeks to go!!

So 10 weeks left until the big one - the Mighty Man Montauk 0.5 Iron man !! Training up until this point in the year has been pretty solid but a little fragmented. Overall I'm probably in pretty good shape but need ramp things up and be a little more structured over the next couple of months in preparation for the half at the end of September. Last night I set out on a long run looping out over the Brooklyn bridge and back over the Williamsburg bridge but I managed to get thoroughly lost on the Brooklyn side and ended up taking a very long, convoluted route home through the Orthodox Jewish quarter and then into some dodgy section of Bed-Stuy where I was encouraged to keep up my pace by some fairly aggressive heckling from the local home boys! I ended up putting in a half marathon by the time I got home!! You can check out the final route map here