The dirty deed is done. I finished the Static Triathlon (Ironman distance). My time was 11hs 44min.
For the purists my (approx) splits were
3.8km Swim 1hr 12min
T1 8mins
180km Cycle 6hrs (I did a little bit extra – I turned off my speedo by accident at one point)
T2 8mins
42km Run 4 hours and 7 mins
(There are 5 or so toilet stops mixed in there somewhere. I should have got a portaloo – especially since the toilet was up two flights of staires!!)
Would like to say thanks to all the people who came up to support me and put a few bob into the buckets. I was never short of company all day. Even in ‘the zone’ I was completely aware of the support I had and buzzed off it. The well wishes that I got really spurred me on.
Speaking of thanks there are a few acknowledgements I should make in no particular order:
Neil O’Brien – The main man.
Noel Tonche – Also kept me in check
3D triathlon club
Piranha triathlon club
Triathlon Ireland
Wheelworx (Rob)
Andy Ewing – for his expertise and guidance
Dublin City Council
An Garda Siochana
SwimGym
Sponsors
Red Bull
Roma Pasta & Sauces
Brennans Bread
I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone. Apols if I have. You know who you are.
That’s a wrap on what has been a hell of an experience. Everyone keeps asking me ‘what next?’ I have an idea that I’m looking at. Just like this one I won’t be revealing it until I’ve got some level of certainty that it will be a runner….Till then.
Adios amigos
Eoin Ryan
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
‘Tired and Emotional’. I hear ya Mr Dunphy. I hear ya.
Can i make a quick point. If people wish to donate some moola click on the icon over there. Tnx ->
The training is done. Maybe it was done a long time ago and I was just toying with myself. It was hard to know. I’d like to think I’ve made the best of maintaining my fitness since Austria. It hasn’t been smooth from a running point of view. That’s now in the past. I’ve moved on. It’s Tapering time. I’ve been gagging to say that for a long while. Training had stopped being fun a few weeks ago. I’m absolutely jaded!
Sunday - The second leg of Tour Tailteann took us through 100km’s of Donegal’s fine landscape.
That capped off two days cycling up there.
Thursday – 1hour 30 mins of running in my favourite running circuit. If you are ever down in Wexford town check out Cullitan’s Gap (beside Curracloe Beach) – the run through the forest towards Raven Point that eventually takes you onto the beach. On a sunny day it can’t be equalled. Beautiful.
Saturday – 2hour 40 min cycle. That’s the session that told me the training is over. I limped home. I could do no more.
In summary it’s R+R time from training. So much organising still to do its not even close to being funny. Last minute dot com forward slash why can’t people be more helpful dot ie should be a website for charity workers! I feel your pain.
One more big swim and some short bikes and runs will see me to the start line. Time to get into the zone - I can’t wait.
Payback
On a completly seperate note and for a different charity i'd like to say a word of thanks to 3 Restaurents that got me (a complete stranger off the street) out of a hole one time when i needed prizes for a table quiz. This was 4 years ago and i haven't forgotton. Maybe people are reading this? so its payback time by way of mentioning them.... Eliza Blues, Salamanca & The Bank Pub. Keep them in mind if yor going out for a bite. They raised the bar on generosity!
The training is done. Maybe it was done a long time ago and I was just toying with myself. It was hard to know. I’d like to think I’ve made the best of maintaining my fitness since Austria. It hasn’t been smooth from a running point of view. That’s now in the past. I’ve moved on. It’s Tapering time. I’ve been gagging to say that for a long while. Training had stopped being fun a few weeks ago. I’m absolutely jaded!
Sunday - The second leg of Tour Tailteann took us through 100km’s of Donegal’s fine landscape.
That capped off two days cycling up there.
Thursday – 1hour 30 mins of running in my favourite running circuit. If you are ever down in Wexford town check out Cullitan’s Gap (beside Curracloe Beach) – the run through the forest towards Raven Point that eventually takes you onto the beach. On a sunny day it can’t be equalled. Beautiful.
Saturday – 2hour 40 min cycle. That’s the session that told me the training is over. I limped home. I could do no more.
In summary it’s R+R time from training. So much organising still to do its not even close to being funny. Last minute dot com forward slash why can’t people be more helpful dot ie should be a website for charity workers! I feel your pain.
One more big swim and some short bikes and runs will see me to the start line. Time to get into the zone - I can’t wait.
Payback
On a completly seperate note and for a different charity i'd like to say a word of thanks to 3 Restaurents that got me (a complete stranger off the street) out of a hole one time when i needed prizes for a table quiz. This was 4 years ago and i haven't forgotton. Maybe people are reading this? so its payback time by way of mentioning them.... Eliza Blues, Salamanca & The Bank Pub. Keep them in mind if yor going out for a bite. They raised the bar on generosity!
Friday, October 12, 2007
Short and sweet
I’m gonna be real brief this week. Time is not on my side to sit down and muse over training and blogs. Most of my time is taken up on the organisation side of things – Sponsors, Event Management, Celebrity Hunting and Dublin City Council. Painstaking but necessary for the success of the event.
Tuesday – 1.5 hour run
Thursday – Half hour swim
Friday – Filming for RTE. Bit of everything…..
Saturday – 140km cycle in Donegal. Tour Tailteann. Great views. Great group. Happy days
Tuesday – 1.5 hour run
Thursday – Half hour swim
Friday – Filming for RTE. Bit of everything…..
Saturday – 140km cycle in Donegal. Tour Tailteann. Great views. Great group. Happy days
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
‘May the Force be with me... ‘
Wouldn’t be nice to skip the run part of the IronMan? It would be all over in 7.5 hours. It’s still a good day’s effort for charity. That would save me 4 hours running. Super! Maybe nobody would notice….?! But to become an IronMan you have to finish the 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42km run. I wonder what class of earthly mineral would I be if I just swam and cycled? Would I be a ZincMan…. Maybe GraphiteMan… Or could I be SulphurMan. Well after a feed of Gels, Bars, Bananas, Ensure and Energy Drinks I (like many others I hasten to add) would be a strong candidates for that title regardless. The farts do be bad. So there I am cycling around the country to try and stay healthy and at the same token reduce my carbon footprint. Meanwhile I’m inadvertently adding to the hole in the ozone layer. You just can’t win! Environmental economics – the debate has only started!! (Sorry, but it was inevitable that I would eventually bring down the tone of this blog thing. I’m just surprised it took me so long! I’ll stop now. I’ve had my moment).
That piece of surmising about taking out the run was just a bit of blaggarding. I’ve no doubts that I will be able to complete the run. Things may not be going as smoothly as I’d like in terms of my injury but I know the mind is strong even if the body might be a bit ragged. There will be highs and there will be lows on the stage. Most people, in the know, have pointed out that the boredom factor will be difficult to deal with on the day. I thought I had this covered. People watching - that was going to be my vice. 12 hours of people watching. Extreme Facebook if you like. Or failing that, I could talk to the invited Celeb’s. Either way I was going to be entertained.
Please note I haven’t dismissed their point - in fact I’ve developed it. So how do I get physiqued up for something like this? (Remember IronMan is tough. It wasn’t originally intended to be put on a stage in a busy shopping street for people to gawk at perhaps nonchalantly). The answer is easy. Start visualising it. Know my limits and stick to my plan. I’ve already begun working it through in my head. I’m not going to be robotic or anal about this (it’s not in my nature). I’ll smile and chat when I can and I’ll be distant when I need to Shepard myself through any black periods. I also have to remind myself why I’m doing this. People in Need – the name says it all. The money raised on the day, perhaps with the help of my sideshow may make a difference in somebody else’s life. That’s good enough for me.
Sunday – My first run in two weeks. I was advised to do a 40min steady run on grass. I must say I was tired going to the Park. It had been a long week of training so today wasn’t going to be the best barometer as to how my calf muscle would cope. The main positive I took from the run was there was no adverse pain. The combination of the physio, the stretches and the time off running seemed to be paying dividends. Happy days!
Monday - Back into the resistance pool for a splash about. I did half an hour. That was plenty. I turned the dial up to near max power (I couldn’t help myself…) and swam for my life so I didn’t get washed over the side of the pool onto the floor. Something different.
Tuesday – A scheduled trip to the Physio to see how things were progressing. Calf is still tight (both are) but we are making progress.
Wednesday – Time for a one hour run. It’s easy to know there is a Marathon coming up. The volume of people running the Park has dramatically increased. I didn’t get there until 7.45pm. Daylight is not an issue for all these hardcore runners. Despite the fact that the Park is badly lit, the gas lamps act more like beacons than streetlights – runners are all around. I stuck to the grass running track between the trees which is set back from the road. It’s navigable in the dark except when facing cars have their full headlights on. Then you have to rely on your Jedi skills. It’s a leap of faith trying to avoid tree roots, the trees, other joggers, reindeer. May the force be with you…..
Thursday – Turned up for another dose of 100’s with my swim group. I was the slow guy in the back making it look hard. I think I had the Jacuzzi in my sights. Half an hour.
Friday - One hour straight front crawl in the pool. I had the lane to myself for virtually the whole hour. I was never so lonely in all my life!!! Bring back the boy racers, the learner drivers and the road workers all is forgiven….
Saturday - Needed to get on the bike. Did a 3 hour cycle. Dropped in to visit nephews and nieces along the way. Who says men can’t multitask?! Got home straight out for a 20 min run. This sequence is commonly known as a ‘brick’ session. Why? I’ve no idea. There’s one for Ray Darcy on Fix it Friday.
Total time spent training 7 hours - Slack!
That piece of surmising about taking out the run was just a bit of blaggarding. I’ve no doubts that I will be able to complete the run. Things may not be going as smoothly as I’d like in terms of my injury but I know the mind is strong even if the body might be a bit ragged. There will be highs and there will be lows on the stage. Most people, in the know, have pointed out that the boredom factor will be difficult to deal with on the day. I thought I had this covered. People watching - that was going to be my vice. 12 hours of people watching. Extreme Facebook if you like. Or failing that, I could talk to the invited Celeb’s. Either way I was going to be entertained.
Please note I haven’t dismissed their point - in fact I’ve developed it. So how do I get physiqued up for something like this? (Remember IronMan is tough. It wasn’t originally intended to be put on a stage in a busy shopping street for people to gawk at perhaps nonchalantly). The answer is easy. Start visualising it. Know my limits and stick to my plan. I’ve already begun working it through in my head. I’m not going to be robotic or anal about this (it’s not in my nature). I’ll smile and chat when I can and I’ll be distant when I need to Shepard myself through any black periods. I also have to remind myself why I’m doing this. People in Need – the name says it all. The money raised on the day, perhaps with the help of my sideshow may make a difference in somebody else’s life. That’s good enough for me.
Sunday – My first run in two weeks. I was advised to do a 40min steady run on grass. I must say I was tired going to the Park. It had been a long week of training so today wasn’t going to be the best barometer as to how my calf muscle would cope. The main positive I took from the run was there was no adverse pain. The combination of the physio, the stretches and the time off running seemed to be paying dividends. Happy days!
Monday - Back into the resistance pool for a splash about. I did half an hour. That was plenty. I turned the dial up to near max power (I couldn’t help myself…) and swam for my life so I didn’t get washed over the side of the pool onto the floor. Something different.
Tuesday – A scheduled trip to the Physio to see how things were progressing. Calf is still tight (both are) but we are making progress.
Wednesday – Time for a one hour run. It’s easy to know there is a Marathon coming up. The volume of people running the Park has dramatically increased. I didn’t get there until 7.45pm. Daylight is not an issue for all these hardcore runners. Despite the fact that the Park is badly lit, the gas lamps act more like beacons than streetlights – runners are all around. I stuck to the grass running track between the trees which is set back from the road. It’s navigable in the dark except when facing cars have their full headlights on. Then you have to rely on your Jedi skills. It’s a leap of faith trying to avoid tree roots, the trees, other joggers, reindeer. May the force be with you…..
Thursday – Turned up for another dose of 100’s with my swim group. I was the slow guy in the back making it look hard. I think I had the Jacuzzi in my sights. Half an hour.
Friday - One hour straight front crawl in the pool. I had the lane to myself for virtually the whole hour. I was never so lonely in all my life!!! Bring back the boy racers, the learner drivers and the road workers all is forgiven….
Saturday - Needed to get on the bike. Did a 3 hour cycle. Dropped in to visit nephews and nieces along the way. Who says men can’t multitask?! Got home straight out for a 20 min run. This sequence is commonly known as a ‘brick’ session. Why? I’ve no idea. There’s one for Ray Darcy on Fix it Friday.
Total time spent training 7 hours - Slack!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
"Swim 2.4 miles! Bike 112 miles! Run 26.2 miles! Brag for the rest of your life", now a registered trademark.
Somebody told me this week that they were enjoying reading my accounts of Ironman training. I was very flattered. Thanks! Then they started to elaborate. They said its ‘interesting reading but I’m failing to stress one significant fundamental of Ironman… Ironman is not easy!’ Fair point Amanda. You are 100% correct – Ironman is a high endurance event that pushes the limits of competitors.
Rather than me trying to describe the ins and outs of Ironman its probably best if I let you guys check it out for yourselves (I’ve been living this wacky life for months now so I’m finding it difficult to step back from it)
The wikipedia definition of Ironman opens up a fountain of knowledge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironman_Triathlon
Monday – First swim in a week. Half hour steady pace. Just getting back into it after a week out of the water.
Tuesday – Another visit to the Physio today.
Later that evening I lined up another go in the resistance pool. This was a watershed of a night. And this time I was prepared. My intention was to do a solid hour. I needed this. My confidence took a turn on my last visit. I’m delighted to say I got the hour in (non stop – sans wetsuit). That was the biggest buzz I’ve got out of training in a long time!! Psychologically I’m back on track. I now know I can do it. That’s important.
Thursday – Rejoined my swim group this morning. It was a buzz to do the 100’s again rather than a long trawl. Well, not quite. To avoid going into complete withdrawl… I did do a half hour afterwards of lengths. One hour swimming.
Later that night I did an hour and a half on the bike Turbo trainer. Boring!
Saturday – A proper long cycle has been blatantly missing from my training schedule. It was time to rectify this. Thankfully the Gods were smiling on us today. The day turned into a scorcher (for September that is). Mind you we set off at 7am so we had frost to deal with first. It was chilly! We set a course for the Wicklow mountains. The higher we cycled the colder it became. Scant reward for ascending some steep hills. Eventually the sun broke through, we thawed out and life was good. Thanks Noel for your company. We did 6hours 20mins cycling.
Full marks to those of you who noticed there is still a lack of running on my training plan. I’m still on the physio table. My calf is getting better, but not as quickly as I’d like. I may need to continue getting physio right up to the event on Friday 26th. My legs are knackered. The next few weeks will be critical. If I don’t get the miles in – I will face a tougher test on the treadmill than maybe I’d anticipated. Fingers crossed!!!
A lot of people have also been asking me about the swim element of the Static Ironman.
How are you going to swim 3.8km on Grafton Street? A very reasonable question if you think about it. I’m going to use a resistance pool called a SwimGym. A picture tells a thousand words – so check out
http://www.swimgym.ie/
Total time spent training 10 hrs 20min
Rather than me trying to describe the ins and outs of Ironman its probably best if I let you guys check it out for yourselves (I’ve been living this wacky life for months now so I’m finding it difficult to step back from it)
The wikipedia definition of Ironman opens up a fountain of knowledge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironman_Triathlon
Monday – First swim in a week. Half hour steady pace. Just getting back into it after a week out of the water.
Tuesday – Another visit to the Physio today.
Later that evening I lined up another go in the resistance pool. This was a watershed of a night. And this time I was prepared. My intention was to do a solid hour. I needed this. My confidence took a turn on my last visit. I’m delighted to say I got the hour in (non stop – sans wetsuit). That was the biggest buzz I’ve got out of training in a long time!! Psychologically I’m back on track. I now know I can do it. That’s important.
Thursday – Rejoined my swim group this morning. It was a buzz to do the 100’s again rather than a long trawl. Well, not quite. To avoid going into complete withdrawl… I did do a half hour afterwards of lengths. One hour swimming.
Later that night I did an hour and a half on the bike Turbo trainer. Boring!
Saturday – A proper long cycle has been blatantly missing from my training schedule. It was time to rectify this. Thankfully the Gods were smiling on us today. The day turned into a scorcher (for September that is). Mind you we set off at 7am so we had frost to deal with first. It was chilly! We set a course for the Wicklow mountains. The higher we cycled the colder it became. Scant reward for ascending some steep hills. Eventually the sun broke through, we thawed out and life was good. Thanks Noel for your company. We did 6hours 20mins cycling.
Full marks to those of you who noticed there is still a lack of running on my training plan. I’m still on the physio table. My calf is getting better, but not as quickly as I’d like. I may need to continue getting physio right up to the event on Friday 26th. My legs are knackered. The next few weeks will be critical. If I don’t get the miles in – I will face a tougher test on the treadmill than maybe I’d anticipated. Fingers crossed!!!
A lot of people have also been asking me about the swim element of the Static Ironman.
How are you going to swim 3.8km on Grafton Street? A very reasonable question if you think about it. I’m going to use a resistance pool called a SwimGym. A picture tells a thousand words – so check out
http://www.swimgym.ie/
Total time spent training 10 hrs 20min
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
My left foot…
It’s hard to believe I have only 4 weeks of training to go in advance of Telethon day on 26th. Seems like if got my dates wrong here – but I haven’t. I’ll consider a two-week taper before the big day. A taper is a time to cut down on long distances and just keep the muscles ticking over. That was the plan.
Unfortunately the niggle in my leg, picked up on Saturday, has forced an early taper type week.
Monday – 9am I phone the physio for an appointment. This needed treatment asap and thankfully they could oblige. I was on the physio’s table at 4pm. The verdict wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good either. In a nutshell my legs are overworked, tight and tired. Damm! It didn’t come as a surprise. I struggled at the beginning of the run in Kenmare. My left ankle would not bend for 4km’s. It was painful stuff. I made the decision to continue – although I had a feeling I might not get away with it. You may recall I had a target in mind for finishing in under 5 hours!! It was hard to let that go in the midst of a race. Normally I run these things off. I also had a severe pain down the right hand side of my back to deal with. Great craic this triathlon thing eh..?! I completely ignored it because I had the same pain in my back last year and it went away. Mind over matter I guess. Enough moaning man - back to my left foot. The stiffness is a culmination of months of constant training. Not just one race! The advice from the Physio was to keep weight and pressure off my feet.
Did a light 1.5 hour cycle in the phoenix park.
Tuesday - I did a 2 hour easy cycle in the phoenix park.
Wednesday – Another session with the physio. When I’m lying there on the bench and my face is turning purple I keep reminding myself as I hold my breath so I don’t shout obscenities
‘Its good pain!! The pain is good’
The recommendation was not to run for a week. That’s fine except I can’t swim either this week. To avoid infection on the Tattoo I have to skip swimming pools for one week. I’ve gone from a triathlete to a monoathlete. This week is now all about cycling. Thanks Neil for massage that night.
By the end of that day I was completely tenderised.
Thursday – Time to dust off the turbo trainer. Each evening I was getting caught in the darkness cycling in the park. When the lights go down its not just the Reindeer that you have to look out for in the park… We’ll say no more! I set the bike up in front of the TV and put on a DVD. This probably sounds ridiculous but I purposely watched a DVD I’d seen before. I didn’t want to be overly stimulated by the DVD – this had to be more about the cycling. A bit strange? Obsessive? Compulsive? Not at all. Just too lazy to go to DVD shop! There will be no DVD’s on Telethon day – just people watching. That’s why all support from people on the day will be much appreciated.
I did two hours on the turbo. The film was called Deja Vue. The irony was not lost on me.
Saturday - I needed to do a long cycle. Happily the weather was bang on. To make things interesting and show a bit of support I decided to cycle to Mullingar to the Caroline Kearney Memorial triathlon. It took me 4 hours to get there. Slow pace on me tod - nothing special. I should have got there sooner except for dodgy directions. It would appear that no one in Mullingar has heard of Lake Ennell or how to get there. That’s ok except its only 6 miles from the town centre! My fault really, I could have brought directions with me. I shouldn’t be putting people on the spot like that…
Total time spent training 9.5hours
Unfortunately the niggle in my leg, picked up on Saturday, has forced an early taper type week.
Monday – 9am I phone the physio for an appointment. This needed treatment asap and thankfully they could oblige. I was on the physio’s table at 4pm. The verdict wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good either. In a nutshell my legs are overworked, tight and tired. Damm! It didn’t come as a surprise. I struggled at the beginning of the run in Kenmare. My left ankle would not bend for 4km’s. It was painful stuff. I made the decision to continue – although I had a feeling I might not get away with it. You may recall I had a target in mind for finishing in under 5 hours!! It was hard to let that go in the midst of a race. Normally I run these things off. I also had a severe pain down the right hand side of my back to deal with. Great craic this triathlon thing eh..?! I completely ignored it because I had the same pain in my back last year and it went away. Mind over matter I guess. Enough moaning man - back to my left foot. The stiffness is a culmination of months of constant training. Not just one race! The advice from the Physio was to keep weight and pressure off my feet.
Did a light 1.5 hour cycle in the phoenix park.
Tuesday - I did a 2 hour easy cycle in the phoenix park.
Wednesday – Another session with the physio. When I’m lying there on the bench and my face is turning purple I keep reminding myself as I hold my breath so I don’t shout obscenities
‘Its good pain!! The pain is good’
The recommendation was not to run for a week. That’s fine except I can’t swim either this week. To avoid infection on the Tattoo I have to skip swimming pools for one week. I’ve gone from a triathlete to a monoathlete. This week is now all about cycling. Thanks Neil for massage that night.
By the end of that day I was completely tenderised.
Thursday – Time to dust off the turbo trainer. Each evening I was getting caught in the darkness cycling in the park. When the lights go down its not just the Reindeer that you have to look out for in the park… We’ll say no more! I set the bike up in front of the TV and put on a DVD. This probably sounds ridiculous but I purposely watched a DVD I’d seen before. I didn’t want to be overly stimulated by the DVD – this had to be more about the cycling. A bit strange? Obsessive? Compulsive? Not at all. Just too lazy to go to DVD shop! There will be no DVD’s on Telethon day – just people watching. That’s why all support from people on the day will be much appreciated.
I did two hours on the turbo. The film was called Deja Vue. The irony was not lost on me.
Saturday - I needed to do a long cycle. Happily the weather was bang on. To make things interesting and show a bit of support I decided to cycle to Mullingar to the Caroline Kearney Memorial triathlon. It took me 4 hours to get there. Slow pace on me tod - nothing special. I should have got there sooner except for dodgy directions. It would appear that no one in Mullingar has heard of Lake Ennell or how to get there. That’s ok except its only 6 miles from the town centre! My fault really, I could have brought directions with me. I shouldn’t be putting people on the spot like that…
Total time spent training 9.5hours
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
“Its not you, it’s me”.
Family first: Congratulations to my sister Siobhan and Brendan on the birth of baby Cathal on Sunday. A future Ironman no doubt!
Back to the unreal world….
This week would be considered a rest week in triathlon speak. After one almost half Ironman and one proper half Ironman races over back to back weekends it was time to pull back and take a break. Monday night and Tuesday night were spent on the computer refining the Event Management Plan for Dublin City Council. As you can appreciate we can’t just turn up on the day and erect a SwimGym Pool and stage on Grafton St. Permission has to be granted from all quarters and this being a unique event adds to the complexities. The level of detail expected has been an eye opener for me. I can fully appreciate how people make their living writing up such plans – they are a science in themselves.
Wednesday – One hour front crawl swim in the Pool. I count the time as opposed to the distance. Maybe that’s not the best way to approach this but I struggle to keep count of the lengths. In fact I would say it’s next to impossible in a 25 metre pool! For what its worth I say the NAC is probably the place to go for this type of swim. Doing a long swim in a Gym Pool is a perilous experience. Hands up who hasn’t experienced Pool Rage? Yes, good auld fashioned ‘I want to kill that idiot who just knocked my off my rhythm anger’. We all have. It’s no different to Road Rage. There are 4 kinds that I’ve sussed out in the swimming lanes from my own experience.
1) The Boy Racer. In for a few quick laps, big splash, no style to the stroke. It’s all about getting attention!
2) The Sunday Driver. They can’t, won’t, shan’t or will never get out of the way.
3) The Road Worker. They look the part but generally do feck all. Mostly to be found leaning against the pool wall chatting. Generally give unclear signals as to which side of the wall they will let you turn from until the last second. The M50 comes to mind here….
4) The Learner. Waits until the coast is clear before they set off. Completely oblivious to the fact that you are doing lengths and take off just as you reach the wall. Aaarrrggh! They are the worst.
Thursday - 45mins front crawl in open water. Got a proper fright as I was swimming. I was pottering along at a nice old pace; wide open space all to myself when BANG! My fingers hit off something solid. I got a big shock! In light of where I was swimming - that milli second spent stopping allowed some seriously unpleasant images shoot through my head. I was relieved to see it was just a big plank of wood. Still it was a bit unnerving.
Saturday – The plan for Saturday, concocted on Wednesday, changed by the hour on Friday afternoon. Originally it was a 6 hour cycle starting Saturday at 6pm. Then it turned into a 4 hour cycle. Then it turned into a run. This sounds like ridiculous planning. That’s probably stating the obvious! The changing goalpost’s was not my doing. I’ll explain why shortly.
Taking up from where I left off last week I decided to do 2hrs 15min. I set off at 8.30am knowing that a few 3D tri guys were starting a run at 9.30am. That would do nicely for a bit of company. Thanks to Martin and Mick. The last couple of km’s I did start to feel a pain in both calves. I put it down to stiffness. Normally it’s my right calf that gives up the ghost if at all. I slowed down. Normally I run these things off. I think both calves were slowly deciding. On the last lap of the Polo Grounds my left calf made the decision - its not you, it’s me. Trouble! Luckily it was the end of my run.
Quick shower and onto the Tattoo parlour… Where else!
This was closure on Ironman Austria. I’d made up my mind early on in the year that if I finished Austria I’d get the M dot Tat. The Tattoo parlour had to re-juggle their schedule for various reasons and that’s why I had to change my training plan. Ordinarily I’d have given it a skip in favour of my training but the waiting list for Tattoos on a Saturday is weeks. So there you go. Sore, quick, swollen but happy. Job done. I’m now branded merchandise. If lost, please return to Ironman Inc…..
Total time spent training – 4 hours
PS – Don’t tell my mum I got a Tattoo
Back to the unreal world….
This week would be considered a rest week in triathlon speak. After one almost half Ironman and one proper half Ironman races over back to back weekends it was time to pull back and take a break. Monday night and Tuesday night were spent on the computer refining the Event Management Plan for Dublin City Council. As you can appreciate we can’t just turn up on the day and erect a SwimGym Pool and stage on Grafton St. Permission has to be granted from all quarters and this being a unique event adds to the complexities. The level of detail expected has been an eye opener for me. I can fully appreciate how people make their living writing up such plans – they are a science in themselves.
Wednesday – One hour front crawl swim in the Pool. I count the time as opposed to the distance. Maybe that’s not the best way to approach this but I struggle to keep count of the lengths. In fact I would say it’s next to impossible in a 25 metre pool! For what its worth I say the NAC is probably the place to go for this type of swim. Doing a long swim in a Gym Pool is a perilous experience. Hands up who hasn’t experienced Pool Rage? Yes, good auld fashioned ‘I want to kill that idiot who just knocked my off my rhythm anger’. We all have. It’s no different to Road Rage. There are 4 kinds that I’ve sussed out in the swimming lanes from my own experience.
1) The Boy Racer. In for a few quick laps, big splash, no style to the stroke. It’s all about getting attention!
2) The Sunday Driver. They can’t, won’t, shan’t or will never get out of the way.
3) The Road Worker. They look the part but generally do feck all. Mostly to be found leaning against the pool wall chatting. Generally give unclear signals as to which side of the wall they will let you turn from until the last second. The M50 comes to mind here….
4) The Learner. Waits until the coast is clear before they set off. Completely oblivious to the fact that you are doing lengths and take off just as you reach the wall. Aaarrrggh! They are the worst.
Thursday - 45mins front crawl in open water. Got a proper fright as I was swimming. I was pottering along at a nice old pace; wide open space all to myself when BANG! My fingers hit off something solid. I got a big shock! In light of where I was swimming - that milli second spent stopping allowed some seriously unpleasant images shoot through my head. I was relieved to see it was just a big plank of wood. Still it was a bit unnerving.
Saturday – The plan for Saturday, concocted on Wednesday, changed by the hour on Friday afternoon. Originally it was a 6 hour cycle starting Saturday at 6pm. Then it turned into a 4 hour cycle. Then it turned into a run. This sounds like ridiculous planning. That’s probably stating the obvious! The changing goalpost’s was not my doing. I’ll explain why shortly.
Taking up from where I left off last week I decided to do 2hrs 15min. I set off at 8.30am knowing that a few 3D tri guys were starting a run at 9.30am. That would do nicely for a bit of company. Thanks to Martin and Mick. The last couple of km’s I did start to feel a pain in both calves. I put it down to stiffness. Normally it’s my right calf that gives up the ghost if at all. I slowed down. Normally I run these things off. I think both calves were slowly deciding. On the last lap of the Polo Grounds my left calf made the decision - its not you, it’s me. Trouble! Luckily it was the end of my run.
Quick shower and onto the Tattoo parlour… Where else!
This was closure on Ironman Austria. I’d made up my mind early on in the year that if I finished Austria I’d get the M dot Tat. The Tattoo parlour had to re-juggle their schedule for various reasons and that’s why I had to change my training plan. Ordinarily I’d have given it a skip in favour of my training but the waiting list for Tattoos on a Saturday is weeks. So there you go. Sore, quick, swollen but happy. Job done. I’m now branded merchandise. If lost, please return to Ironman Inc…..
Total time spent training – 4 hours
PS – Don’t tell my mum I got a Tattoo
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
‘Two roads diverged on a grey grid locked motorway, and I took the road least busy and that may help make all the difference on Tele
One of the hardest things to do when you are in serious endurance training mode is to not train at all. Yep, you read it correctly and your eyes are not deceiving you. Doing nothing is tough. Taking a rest or Active Recovery as it is known, is just as important as going out and doing a physical session. The body needs time to adapt and condition itself. Bombard it with constant physical exertion and your looking for trouble – namely injury. So R+R is not to be scoffed at. In fact I’m all for it. Only problem is I’m slightly hyperactive. I don’t do sitting down very well. Upon reflection for this week, I made things hard for myself. I never really gave myself a chance to recover and paid the price on Saturday’s race.
Sunday – I had too many drinks at the après Dublin Triathlon do. Slow day. Ideal for relaxing. Not Active Recovery in the classic sense but a chance to vegetate. A no brainer! Not for me. I got up and spent most of the day cleaning the house. Idiot! Not for having a clean house but for being overly active on my day off. I’d done a long day yesterday and now I was prolonging the recovery process.
Monday – Not surprisingly I went into work tired.
I asked Neil if he’d oblige and give me a massage that night. It had been a few weeks since I’d had one so it was good timing (and also an attempt to make amends for yesterday) at least I was doing something proactive. I will freely admit I wasn’t looking forward to this. My misconstrued idea of a massage is: A slender blond Swedish girl (wearing very little naturally…) with small hands, gently rubbing my tired muscles. The reality couldn’t be further from this illusion of my mind. Neil is an ex heavyweight Boxer!! (and an accomplished Triathlete at that). This is a sports massage. I am a wuss when it comes to sports massages. There could only be tears! Say no more….
Tuesday – I designed this week to be hard at the beginning, easy in the middle and then bust a gut at the end. Tuesday was chalked in as a long run in the Phoenix Park. I had a notion of doing 1.5 hours. This wasn’t any improvement on last week. In reality I should have been adding another 15 mins to this minimum. I was still tired tho. Best to stay on the side of caution.
Traffic was exceptionally heavy so I decided to start from home instead of driving to the Park. Driving would have given me the option of using the car as an aid station (somewhere to house food and drink). I did bring some liquid but it was minimal. I was also under pressure to be somewhere afterwards. And, what’s worse – to be on time too! The joys of it all eh...?!
Maybe it was the nice evening or the afterglow of the massage, but I felt great. So I decided to go for the extra 15min. It was roughly an hour into the run when I had this brain wave. I ran to a point where there was no opt out. I anticipated this run home to bring me up to 1 ¾ hours. I made a pig’s ear out of gauging the distance. I got home in two hours. I was badly dehydrated, starving and suffered the last two kilometres. This was ridiculous. What was I doing?? I know better than this. I hit the wall due to lack of nutrition. Bad call Eoin.
To make matters worse I was late
Wednesday - One hour swim in open water. Front crawl - moderate pace. The water is getting colder. The hole in my wetsuit is getting bigger. Note to self: buy new wetsuit.
Triathlon Blog timeout: I had a lucky escape today. A tipper truck reversed up onto my car while I was sitting in it. Front of car badly damaged. Glad he decided to stop when he did or it could have been a lot different. Scary experience!
Thursday - This was a milestone for Telethon Day on Oct 26th. I had my first swim in a resistance pool similar to the SwimGym pool that will be constructed on Grafton Street. I was quietly apprehensive. I’d have to swim 3.8km in this pool. I’d committed to this without even seeing one. Good move or bad move? We’d soon find out.
I must first of all thank Ger for the usage of the pool then and going forward. It was cool to finally see one. First impressions were good - the water was warm! It was a strange sensation getting into position. Ger turned up the power and off I went. It was grand for the fist few strokes and then my goggles gave up. The pressure of the water was exposing a weak point in the rubber. My right eye was taking a pounding. Change of goggles and then back to it. I lasted about 10 mins. Second goggles started leaking. I was not having much luck.
Verdict: Its gonna be harder than I anticipated. I will be using a wetsuit on the day that should help. I’ll need to practice.
By the time I got home for Ger’s gaff it was after 10pm. When I was in the bathroom I noticed my right eye had burst a blood vessel. 1/3 of my eye was dark red. Shit – that wasn’t part of the plan.
Friday – Got out of work early to make the registration for the Cork Tri Half Ironman in Kenmare. Looking down the barrel of a 5 hour drive really didn’t appeal to me. In fact I was anything but enthusiastic. Love the race, hate the drive. I took solace from the fact that I was making my best early escape down the road to date. I still laugh at my first drive to Kenmare 3 years ago. I arrived down at 1 in the morning having had a chicken snack box on the way as my main meal of the day. That great race preparation for a Half Ironman that starts at 7am!!!
Anyhoo – that was then this is now. I was making good time until I came upon the Electric Picnic traffic. Total gridlock on the motorway. I was so tempted to pull into the left hand lane and catch up with mates at the Picnic. Instead I took the road least busy…. (ah! says you... suddenly the above Title is making sense. I haven’t lost it!! yet)
Saturday - Early rise at 5pm for race. I’d set my sights on finishing the race under 5hours. That would be a 17 min improvement on last year. A tall order but achievable.
Great buzz around the transition and start of race. Thanks to Eamonn for the loan of the gear. It raised a few eyebrows and wise cracks - all part of the banter. At 7am 250 of us kicked into life and stated the 1.9km swim.
Next step was a 90km bike which took us over the Healy pass, the Caha pass and beyond. The scenery was majestic. The conditions were perfect. It was great to be out there. Could the Electric Picnic top this? Hmmm…..who knows
Lastly we had the half marathon to run. A lot of pro Picnic feelings ran through my mind during the course of the run. It was probably this lack of focus that cost me the extra 9 mins. I finished the race in 5hrs 9mins. I was a little disappointed but it’s still a great achievement to finish. The bottom line is the training would be very beneficial for the Static Triathlon. This was another helpful training session and a most enjoyable race. Fair play to Cork Tri Club.
A mighty booze up that night more than made up for everything…
Total time spent training (incl massage) 9 hours
Sunday – I had too many drinks at the après Dublin Triathlon do. Slow day. Ideal for relaxing. Not Active Recovery in the classic sense but a chance to vegetate. A no brainer! Not for me. I got up and spent most of the day cleaning the house. Idiot! Not for having a clean house but for being overly active on my day off. I’d done a long day yesterday and now I was prolonging the recovery process.
Monday – Not surprisingly I went into work tired.
I asked Neil if he’d oblige and give me a massage that night. It had been a few weeks since I’d had one so it was good timing (and also an attempt to make amends for yesterday) at least I was doing something proactive. I will freely admit I wasn’t looking forward to this. My misconstrued idea of a massage is: A slender blond Swedish girl (wearing very little naturally…) with small hands, gently rubbing my tired muscles. The reality couldn’t be further from this illusion of my mind. Neil is an ex heavyweight Boxer!! (and an accomplished Triathlete at that). This is a sports massage. I am a wuss when it comes to sports massages. There could only be tears! Say no more….
Tuesday – I designed this week to be hard at the beginning, easy in the middle and then bust a gut at the end. Tuesday was chalked in as a long run in the Phoenix Park. I had a notion of doing 1.5 hours. This wasn’t any improvement on last week. In reality I should have been adding another 15 mins to this minimum. I was still tired tho. Best to stay on the side of caution.
Traffic was exceptionally heavy so I decided to start from home instead of driving to the Park. Driving would have given me the option of using the car as an aid station (somewhere to house food and drink). I did bring some liquid but it was minimal. I was also under pressure to be somewhere afterwards. And, what’s worse – to be on time too! The joys of it all eh...?!
Maybe it was the nice evening or the afterglow of the massage, but I felt great. So I decided to go for the extra 15min. It was roughly an hour into the run when I had this brain wave. I ran to a point where there was no opt out. I anticipated this run home to bring me up to 1 ¾ hours. I made a pig’s ear out of gauging the distance. I got home in two hours. I was badly dehydrated, starving and suffered the last two kilometres. This was ridiculous. What was I doing?? I know better than this. I hit the wall due to lack of nutrition. Bad call Eoin.
To make matters worse I was late
Wednesday - One hour swim in open water. Front crawl - moderate pace. The water is getting colder. The hole in my wetsuit is getting bigger. Note to self: buy new wetsuit.
Triathlon Blog timeout: I had a lucky escape today. A tipper truck reversed up onto my car while I was sitting in it. Front of car badly damaged. Glad he decided to stop when he did or it could have been a lot different. Scary experience!
Thursday - This was a milestone for Telethon Day on Oct 26th. I had my first swim in a resistance pool similar to the SwimGym pool that will be constructed on Grafton Street. I was quietly apprehensive. I’d have to swim 3.8km in this pool. I’d committed to this without even seeing one. Good move or bad move? We’d soon find out.
I must first of all thank Ger for the usage of the pool then and going forward. It was cool to finally see one. First impressions were good - the water was warm! It was a strange sensation getting into position. Ger turned up the power and off I went. It was grand for the fist few strokes and then my goggles gave up. The pressure of the water was exposing a weak point in the rubber. My right eye was taking a pounding. Change of goggles and then back to it. I lasted about 10 mins. Second goggles started leaking. I was not having much luck.
Verdict: Its gonna be harder than I anticipated. I will be using a wetsuit on the day that should help. I’ll need to practice.
By the time I got home for Ger’s gaff it was after 10pm. When I was in the bathroom I noticed my right eye had burst a blood vessel. 1/3 of my eye was dark red. Shit – that wasn’t part of the plan.
Friday – Got out of work early to make the registration for the Cork Tri Half Ironman in Kenmare. Looking down the barrel of a 5 hour drive really didn’t appeal to me. In fact I was anything but enthusiastic. Love the race, hate the drive. I took solace from the fact that I was making my best early escape down the road to date. I still laugh at my first drive to Kenmare 3 years ago. I arrived down at 1 in the morning having had a chicken snack box on the way as my main meal of the day. That great race preparation for a Half Ironman that starts at 7am!!!
Anyhoo – that was then this is now. I was making good time until I came upon the Electric Picnic traffic. Total gridlock on the motorway. I was so tempted to pull into the left hand lane and catch up with mates at the Picnic. Instead I took the road least busy…. (ah! says you... suddenly the above Title is making sense. I haven’t lost it!! yet)
Saturday - Early rise at 5pm for race. I’d set my sights on finishing the race under 5hours. That would be a 17 min improvement on last year. A tall order but achievable.
Great buzz around the transition and start of race. Thanks to Eamonn for the loan of the gear. It raised a few eyebrows and wise cracks - all part of the banter. At 7am 250 of us kicked into life and stated the 1.9km swim.
Next step was a 90km bike which took us over the Healy pass, the Caha pass and beyond. The scenery was majestic. The conditions were perfect. It was great to be out there. Could the Electric Picnic top this? Hmmm…..who knows
Lastly we had the half marathon to run. A lot of pro Picnic feelings ran through my mind during the course of the run. It was probably this lack of focus that cost me the extra 9 mins. I finished the race in 5hrs 9mins. I was a little disappointed but it’s still a great achievement to finish. The bottom line is the training would be very beneficial for the Static Triathlon. This was another helpful training session and a most enjoyable race. Fair play to Cork Tri Club.
A mighty booze up that night more than made up for everything…
Total time spent training (incl massage) 9 hours
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
This weeks Title – ‘Come on and start me up…..’
I guess there is no point in having a Blog unless your gonna write something…. Being new to this public diary lark you’ll forgive me (or maybe thank me) if I keep this to all things related to the Static Triathon event. Ironically in the height of training for an Ironman there really isn’t much else to talk about. Life virtually stops due to the all-encompassing commitment. So for the next 8 weeks or so I’m gonna record the fun and games that will get me ready for Telethon day on October 26th
Bit of quick background. By no means am I beginning from a standing start. I’ve been dabbling in the dark art of triathlon for 3 years. This year, starting in March, I began the proper training for my first Ironman – Ironman Austria. Won’t dwell on that, there is a video and a few pictures I’ve you’d like to have a goo. That was in July 8th. Since then I’ve been trying to recover, trying to keep training and trying to stay out of the pub. Can’t say I’ve succeeded in any.
For weeks I’ve been saying “next week the training starts…” The thoughts of getting back into the groove wasn’t appealing. For Ironman Austria there were lots of people to train with (60 in total from Ireland). For Ironman Grafton St – it’s just me. That’s the price you pay when you organise an event that only one can enter! I guess if you can’t win the regular races - what better way to be the Champ than to create your own race and let no one else play.
So between the jigs and the reals I did mark an official start to the Static Triathlon. When Mick Jagger said “good nite Dublin” in Slane, little did he know what he was really saying was “get your arse in gear Eoin. Get focused”. Time to crank it up again!
So you’d think with all this positive hypothesising I would have been rearing to go on Sunday. Not so! I got too wasted at the concert and had a slow moving hangover for 2 days. Fast forward to Tuesday.
Tuesday: Out for a 1.5hr run in Phoenix Park. We (Neil and I) got going at 19.40 – Neil had to bail after 40 mins so I had the remainder to tackle by myself in the dark. Looks like our “summer” is fading. Gonna have to get used to this as my running distances increase.
Wednesday: I was gonna make this a long swim. But the weather was too good to pass up on. I got out of work at a reasonable hour and headed from Ballyfermot to Malahide on the bike. Might as well call out to see my niece and double up on a few km’s. That was a 2hr 20min round trip.
Thursday: That skipped swim needed to be boxed off. I did a one hour non stop front crawl in the swimming pool. Considering this is my soap box I might as well get this off my chest… Could people keep an eye on the swimming direction posted at the swim lanes please! I had a head on collision with a guy in the swim lane. It wasn’t fun for him or me. Thanks for the apology and the lump on my head whoever you were…
Saturday: The Dublin City triathlon was on in the Phoenix Park. I’d entered this race months ago. It’s close to home and always a well run race. Swimming in the Liffey might not appeal to everyone or anyone but it’s a luxury to know at the end of the race I’m only 5mins from my own bed! No planes, trains and automobiles like Austria. I decided Friday evening to throw the race and make it a training session. So once the swim was over I was on my own agenda. The swim was a tough but enjoyable 1.5km, the bike was 5 laps or 40km of the Phoenix Park and the run was 2 laps or 10km. I decided to do 10 laps of the bike and 3 laps of the run. Why? I maintained that I’d benefit by covering more ground. Right now it’s not about speed – it’s about build up. Building up the miles so the body is prepared for October 26th. I prepared myself with extra water bottles and food for the bike leg. It made for an interesting day! 4hrs & 40 mins of interest to be exact. My Premier League position in triathlon has taken a nosedive. No stress – its been a different kind of year for me race wise. The priority now is to get the head and the body right so I can complete the Static Ironman distance and raise a wad of cash for People in Need.
Total time spent training: 9.5hrs
Bit of quick background. By no means am I beginning from a standing start. I’ve been dabbling in the dark art of triathlon for 3 years. This year, starting in March, I began the proper training for my first Ironman – Ironman Austria. Won’t dwell on that, there is a video and a few pictures I’ve you’d like to have a goo. That was in July 8th. Since then I’ve been trying to recover, trying to keep training and trying to stay out of the pub. Can’t say I’ve succeeded in any.
For weeks I’ve been saying “next week the training starts…” The thoughts of getting back into the groove wasn’t appealing. For Ironman Austria there were lots of people to train with (60 in total from Ireland). For Ironman Grafton St – it’s just me. That’s the price you pay when you organise an event that only one can enter! I guess if you can’t win the regular races - what better way to be the Champ than to create your own race and let no one else play.
So between the jigs and the reals I did mark an official start to the Static Triathlon. When Mick Jagger said “good nite Dublin” in Slane, little did he know what he was really saying was “get your arse in gear Eoin. Get focused”. Time to crank it up again!
So you’d think with all this positive hypothesising I would have been rearing to go on Sunday. Not so! I got too wasted at the concert and had a slow moving hangover for 2 days. Fast forward to Tuesday.
Tuesday: Out for a 1.5hr run in Phoenix Park. We (Neil and I) got going at 19.40 – Neil had to bail after 40 mins so I had the remainder to tackle by myself in the dark. Looks like our “summer” is fading. Gonna have to get used to this as my running distances increase.
Wednesday: I was gonna make this a long swim. But the weather was too good to pass up on. I got out of work at a reasonable hour and headed from Ballyfermot to Malahide on the bike. Might as well call out to see my niece and double up on a few km’s. That was a 2hr 20min round trip.
Thursday: That skipped swim needed to be boxed off. I did a one hour non stop front crawl in the swimming pool. Considering this is my soap box I might as well get this off my chest… Could people keep an eye on the swimming direction posted at the swim lanes please! I had a head on collision with a guy in the swim lane. It wasn’t fun for him or me. Thanks for the apology and the lump on my head whoever you were…
Saturday: The Dublin City triathlon was on in the Phoenix Park. I’d entered this race months ago. It’s close to home and always a well run race. Swimming in the Liffey might not appeal to everyone or anyone but it’s a luxury to know at the end of the race I’m only 5mins from my own bed! No planes, trains and automobiles like Austria. I decided Friday evening to throw the race and make it a training session. So once the swim was over I was on my own agenda. The swim was a tough but enjoyable 1.5km, the bike was 5 laps or 40km of the Phoenix Park and the run was 2 laps or 10km. I decided to do 10 laps of the bike and 3 laps of the run. Why? I maintained that I’d benefit by covering more ground. Right now it’s not about speed – it’s about build up. Building up the miles so the body is prepared for October 26th. I prepared myself with extra water bottles and food for the bike leg. It made for an interesting day! 4hrs & 40 mins of interest to be exact. My Premier League position in triathlon has taken a nosedive. No stress – its been a different kind of year for me race wise. The priority now is to get the head and the body right so I can complete the Static Ironman distance and raise a wad of cash for People in Need.
Total time spent training: 9.5hrs
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
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