WEEK 21 & 22 IRONMAN TRAINING

Sorry but this is a double post as i’m slacking this week. Well we all recovered from Lanzarote & the days after were more about putting bikes back together & getting back into work mode. We were all down to do Tri Athy on the Saturday & i was really looking forward to doing a actual race instead of all the training i’ve been doing. On the night before Tri Athy i did a 3000m set & it was nice to get the feel of the water again. 

I decided to head to Athy on the Friday night to register for the race as last year was mayhem on the morning of the race trying to register. The rest of Friday night was spent getting my gear ready & putting my new wheels on the bike. Saturday was a beautiful day & perfect race conditions. The race for me went well i had a great swim (helped by the strong current) & did a 20min 55sec swim & that for me was a PB.

The bike was not so good & it’s hard to get up to sprinting when i’m used to long steady cycles, anyway that did go well enough & did a 1hr 7min bike split (Not as good as Eddie lynch’s 1hr 6min & i know your reading this so i’ll be watching you in the future YOUNG MAN..) & finally onto the run where i was being HUNTED down by John & we ended up running together & doing a 46min 10k run split & a PB for this distance of 2hr’s 16mins. So for me a very good day & good to see some improvement overall. And finally well done to Eddie who got a PB & NOT a T.V. like some people thought…….!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday was recovery day on the bike & did an easy 2hr spin with Leila. Monday i did a recovery swim in the 40ft & it was great to get the weary bones in the salt water.. Tuesday was back at it again & did a good paced 15k run & felt really good running & i hope my running is coming together. Wednesday was another long swim set & managed 4000m even if i did not want to be in the water. Rested up on the Thursday.

The weekend was a going to be my last long session before Germany & on the Friday i did an easy 2hr spin & it was good to get back on the bike again as Sunday was going to be a long day. Saturday i had my Pre-marraige course & of course the weather was fab & i was stuck in doors.. Anyway the day went well & when i got home i did a easy 8k run.

Sunday was going to be my longest (Brick) day so far & i headed off at 7a.m.. I had gotten a good route from John & decided to do it & the route was Tallaght, Blessington, Baltinglass, Tullow, Castledermot, Kilcullen, Naas, Clane, Celbridge & finally home. Approx 160k & 5hr’s 15min in the saddle at race pace. I threw on my running gear & was done & transition in the bedroom in 15mins & off i was on my run, felt ok & slowly settled into my run & did 20k in 2hr & was very happy overall. I was a little tired & sore at the 20k mark but i’ll be doing more walking on race day but a good 7hr 30min session & after that session i now know i can finish IRONMAN….

Anyway not sure of my overall training times & distances but it was long….. 3 weeks to go & now i move into TAPER mode so i’ll keep you updated as to how i get on…