Autumn and Winter and Training

Haven't blogged in a while so here is a very quick summary of the last couple of month.
I finished another Half Marathon in a ridiculously slow time but was still very happy with that since my plan had been just to enjoy that race and have a bit of fun and that worked out pretty well.
So now I'm back from a short holiday, OK it was not really a holiday more of running around and sorting out stuff but that also meant that I couldn't train for nearly 2 Weeks, suboptimal for my half Ironman Preparation but that was unavoidable. On the other site, I'm now extremely keen on training which is good since I have now also an official Coach.
Having a coach is a very weird feeling because I have to trust what he puts together for me, it will take some time to get used to that.I will try to post about this in the next couple of weeks.

2 mile sign from my last half Marathon

Olympic Distance Tri a Race Report - yippeee I did it

Firstly and most importantly I have done it, I have finished a Olympic Distance Triathlon , which means I swam for 1.5km, I cycled for 40km ( Hilly Course ) and I ran 10km ( Trail ) and I did not puke.


 The last bit ( the puking part ) was a close reality during the Run part of the Race but lets start at the beginning which is Race morning :

I have done that Triathlon twice before, both times before I did the Super Sprint Distance and I absolutely loved it. Since that  was my first ever Triathlon I have a special affinity to that Race and I thought this is a good Race to start my Olympic Distance Triathlon Career.

I knew before the Race that I had not trained sufficiently and that my training is not organised well enough to finish such a Race anywhere in the front, but I hoped it would be good enough to finish it.

The Day had started pretty grey and dark and getting into the Car and at time it did not look like it would clear up but I decided to ignore that ,I had other things to worry about for example finished a 1.5km swim.

My Swimming has improved over the last couple of Month’s quite a bit and even though I did do far fewer sessions in the  pool than I should have done, I still felt I could do the Swim in a descent enough time. Still I was rather nervous about that.

Thankfully I did not have much time to think about that, because all the Girls were in the second Wave. So finishing up transition, listening to the Race briefing and getting into Wetsuit was happening in a very short space of time and suddenly I jumped into the Water and started to swim.

The Sun suddenly came out after half of the Swim, which I took for a positive sign but it also meant I could not see a thing anymore, so just swam in the general direction, which was probably all over the place.

This tactic worked, I finished the Swim and that was all that had mattered, I did a descent T1 and was off onto the Bike, I had trained a couple of times on that course and that paid now of, I had already decided that I would cycle as hard I could.

I would not care if I would completely and utterly blow on the Run, cycling is one of my better disciplines and therefor I cycled fast and furious (according to me, not according to the time).

The  Cycle consists out of five loops, not four and not six Loops, it is five loops.

Counting to five can be very complicated  ….

Loop one to three were great, I really felt good , but then on loop four that hill started to hurt and I just was glad when I passed it for the last time on the last Lap.

Back into T2 where I took my time to lace my Runners (yes still have normal Laces in my runners)

And then onto the Running course, my legs actually felt kind of ok, until I turned into the Park and had to run uphill, my knee suddenly screamed at me. I couldn't get the leg straight and I knew immediately why this was happening, on the Bike I had realized that my clips on one of my shoes were not 100 % aligned and now I was paying for that.

 That did hurt for the first 2-3 km badly, but I was able to shake that.

 I guess because general fatigue just kicked in and I just trotted along the course as fast as I could.

Fatigued I was running towards the finish line, but I knew I only had done 4-5 km so far I really thought I had missed the exit for the second loop  , panic was really rising by then.

 I was practically in front of the Finish line when the turn for the second loop came (rather cruel I have to say).

So another 5 km to go which were quite a bit of torture, I had completely blown by this time , I could not get a drink into me at the water station and I knew I could not tolerate a Gel . So just trotted on and tried to enjoy the Day.

 I was a very happy person when I finished that Race, which I really enjoyed except for the last 2 km where I just was sick.

I have finished at the back of the pack but I finished it and more importantly I really enjoyed it and I think that is what should matter.

Now I will slowly start my Winter Training which then should bring me to my Half Iron in May 2014, there is no chance that I can't take it in any way likely  

VO2 max and upcoming Olympic Race

Yesterday I did do a VO2 Max test, I'm very lucky that my Health Insurance actually covers those tests. I'm far from being a serious Athlete who really needs those tests, but since I had the chance to take one, I thought why not, additionally this test should show if I have a hidden lung problem.

So even though I didn't expect much from this test I was still nervous, getting the breathing mask strapped on and stepping on the treadmill.
The guy who tested me told me later, he thought I wouldn't last longer then 4 min.
If he would have told me that before the test I probably would have agreed, but to his surprise and my complete and utter amazement I stepped 10 min later from that Treadmill and the result was "Superior Fitness level".
I still can't believe this and I can't even tell how happy I'm about this result. With that in mind we went through the results and that got better by the minutes, the results indicate that I can do long distance events without breaking down ( Mallorca 70.3 , I'm so getting ready now ) and we also found my Problem area, I feel running is causing me trouble and never could really improve, now I know why.
I forget to breath during my run's, I actually breath in, but then I hold my breath and that is causing all the problems.
So now I need to learn to run with continuous breathing. Guess that will take awhile but I will get there. So happy that I took that test.
Another thing, in not even 2 Weeks time is my first Olympic Distance Triathlon, as usual with me I have not trained enough but a realistic goal for that race should be three hours to finish, of course only possible if I don't fall apart on the run.

time to pack the Tri Bag again

Tomorrow I'm going to do another sprint Tri, this one I'm actually going to do as a relay, I'm doing the swim and the bike section and a friend of mine is doing the run. This Triathlon is a Charity tri and the Atmosphere will be a bit different to the ones where it is all about National Series and points. Looking forward to it, should be a lot of fun and the day after tomorrow I'm going to do a half Marathon, not that I have trained for it so I'm not really taking it seriously.  If can  finish the half marathon before cut off time then I'm happy enough.
Soon enough the Triathlon Season is done and dusted maybe 2-3 more races after tomorrow, one of them of course my first ever Olympic Distance Tri, again I know I have not enough trained but still look really forward to it.
Can't believe how quickly the Triathlon Season is passing and that should give me a fair warning for next Year. May 2014 is not that far away and I know one thing for sure, I can manage a half Marathon not having trained enough, I really hope I can manage a Olympic Distance Tri not having fully trained but I CAN'T get through a half Iron Triathlon without proper  Training . I have 280 Days until I plan to be at the start line of the IM 70.3 Mallorca race. But I'm actually really looking forward to the Training, for example since I have a long racing weekend ahead of mine the "only" thing I did exercise wise yesterday was a pool swim, nothing today and I'm bored to death. I'm watching movies on Netflix and eat Fast food, that is not something I can keep up. I have done this in the past really all the time, no wonder I was 30 Kg heavier then I'm  today. The only thing I'm a bit worried about is my Winter blues Problem, I will start extremely early with Vitamin D supplements and I hope of course that my changed eating habits help as well.

Anyway I plan to use this Blog in the Winter as a weekly Training's checker , I think I will put upfront 4 weeks training's plan up and at the end of each Week I will post what I have archived. This should start middle of September or more likely first Week of October ( probably take a short holiday in September )

I have done it , i have started a long though but hopefully rewarding Journey

a Couple of Weeks ago I did read in a Blog about Ironman 70.3 Mallorca and for some reason that didn't leave me alone, IM70.3 Mallorca is is happening in May of each Year and this was just filed in my head under "might be a useful information".
Than a couple of Weeks later I was lucky enough to have some spare Cash available and it just happened I decided I would do it - I would sign up for that Race, never mind that I have so far only Sprint Triathlons.
And that's what I did , I signed up and paid for the IM 70.3 Mallorca 2014 and the next thing I did I told everyone , best Way not to be able to bail out of the event.
Why did I choose a IM event and on top of it abroad ? I have here in my Country quite a few and very probably very good Half Iron Distance Races , which are just not branded IRONMAN , those Races have very likely the same quality organisation as any type of Ironman , the reason I did this one was I had to hand over quite a bit of Money and most of that is not refundable , that's a incentive to get going , also I wanted to have my first half iron Distance foreign environment and combine it with a couple of Days Holiday .
I'm scared to bits, but at the same time I'm looking forward to it, I just have once again to get my training organised ( no news there ).
So those are the big news , otherwise I'm doing still 10k Races and Sprint Triathlons and Hiking on a rather regular Basis ( Some would say nearly every weekend a event ) , does it help to loose weight , no probably not but I'm still on a Low Carb / Paleo kind of diet and that really helps , I'm not loosing weight according to the Scale but I'm loosing inches everywhere and that's even more important for me . The other real big advantage of taking the Crap out of my Food is how I feel , i feel quite a bit better and if I have a day where I eat crap food the next day is usually not good , I get headache and nausea quite baldy , that shows to me very clearly that my body thinks at this stage that fast food is pretty much the same as food poisoning

And the Journey has begun 

Racing a Sprint Triathlon a race Report

Yesterday I did finish another sprint triathlon so here comes what I experienced.
Before I go into the details of  swimming, cycling and running I want to say a big thank you to the Triathlon community, you Guys are great. Here are the reasons, go to a triathlon doesn't matter if it's your first or if you have done dozens of them, feel the Atmosphere around you, the buzz is fabulous. Then there is the support, for example I was yesterday really struggling through the run and a huge amount of fellow Triathletes gave me shouts of encouragement while they were running past me. Or another example while I was setting up my Transition area I had beside me some newbies, such a great feeling to give them some tips and tricks.

How did the race go for me, honestly still not sure about that, I have to say I'm very disappointed with my own finish time. But let's start with the beginning, it was yesterday a very sunny nice day,so when I was getting into my Wetsuit , which was for the first time in my life not mandatory, I hoped to get into the Water as soon as possible but I had to wait for easily 15 main in the sun. I was boiled through by the time I got into the water, it was a beautiful River swim with practically no current and for the first time I swam kind of with the crowd which meant I got kicked once or twice, which actually did not bother me but since I had not done much swimming lately I still was struggling, the swim took me 21 minutes a bit too slow for my taste.

Then came transition, I had to run Barefeet roughly 400 meter to get to my bike ( longest Transition ever ) , of with the Wetsuit onto my bike and for the first 10km I had a rather strong headwind and again I was struggling and I'm not too sure that I was struggling because of the headwind or because my legs just didn't want to move, anyway turning point came and I cycled as fast as I could back, this took me 48 minutes , really disappointed with that time, so the run came, not actually sure if I could call it a run, it was kind of a shuffle not really a run but here is whee I received all the great support from my fellow Triathletes . I was boiling through the Run, I was  really aware that I was cooking, at the water station I didn't drink the water, I poured it all over my body to cool down, finish line couldn't come fast enough and it came after 33min which is strangely enough a good time for me.
Bottom line is I still learn new things with every triathlon I'm doing.

Swim

What is harder getting fit or loosing weight ?

When I started my weight loss journey a couple of years ago I kind of thought with loosing weight I automatically get fitter, unfortunately that's not the way it works, at least for me.
I always thought getting fit would mean just running around the House once or twice a week would get me to such a fitness level that I easily could do a 10km race or even a half Marathon
How wrong I was, looking back at my journey so far I have to say , loosing weight is certainly not easy but in comparison of getting to my dream fitness level it's child's play.
I have learned that I will have to fight for every bit of improving my fitness.
I still have to loose 10-12 kilos of weight but I'm sure I will get there slowly but surely.
I'm very curious to see how far I can get my body to go in regards of getting fitter.
Last weekend I did do a 28 km Charity hike and even though the last couple of km did really hurt ( not only from my blisters) I never doubted that I would be able to finish that hike, that is something that would have been impossible 3 Years ago.
Anyway to finish this off, for me loosing weight and getting really fit are two very separate journeys which are still somehow connected to each other, with that in mind I'm looking forward to my next sprint Triathlon next weekend

Pictures from the Charity Hike

Did I already mention that I love Hiking ?

Yesterday I did the third annual Charity Hike for our local mountain Rescue Team , it was a 28 km Hike through a rather well known Area here in Ireland called Glendalough. In previous Years this Hike was a night Hike which was along the Dublin Wicklow County Border, very though very mucky but the sense of Achievement tremendous.
Since I don't have any sense of orientation I'm really happy that the Wicklow Mountain Rescue organizes this Event once a Year. They get some really needed funding and I can safely Walk during the Night with an experienced Guide .
Something I would never do on my own.
This Year they had to change the Format into a Day Hike and it had to be done on sustainable Trail , I was not very happy about that, when I heard this.
Actually I was really disappointed because this would mean I would miss out on my Night Hike but I also would Hike in an Area which I thought I knew extremely well and therefor it would be rather boring.
Anyway  I still singed up ,  I kind of felt obliged because I'm really grateful that these Guys are out there and when I do my Hikes on my own it is a very good to know that if I get in trouble I can call them to get me out.
So with not too high expectations I started that event and as usual with me I was very wrong, I Hiked in Area's in Glendalough that I might have glimpsed at some stage or more often I never had seen before, the Organisation was again perfect and even though the Weather was as usual a mix out of Sun and pretty heavy Rain it was just really good fun.
It took me just under 8 hrs to do the Hike which included a couple of nice Breaks where the Rescue Guys showed us bits and pieces of their Work and how the Rescue people from the Mountains.
I also managed again to get really bad Blisters on my heels which I will have to nurse today quite a bit
This was also probably the longest Hike I ever did but not the thoroughest one , when  we did this charity Hike in 2011 the first time , i firstly was defiantly not at the fitness level I'm today and i had to be pulled out of Bog holes more than once.
So whatever the Route for Charity Hike 2014 will be I want to take part again since every time I think I know it all , I get the big reminder No I don't , which brings me nicely back to earth ;o)

Triathlon just rocks ....

It finally had arrived again on Saturday , this Beautiful and Amazing Season called Triathlon Season, ok strictly speaking I was on a Triathlon Event a couple of Weeks ago but since that had turned into a Duathlon it doesn't really count.

So on Saturday , it was time to Swim ( 750m ) to Cycle ( 20km ) and to run ( 5km ) and I enjoyed every single meter of it, I can't even remotely describe the buzz I felt when I did put on my Wetsuit, I so much had missed this feeling, it was like meeting a very good old friend again.

I couldn't wait to get into the Water ( River Swim by the Way ) and I'm not even a really good swimmer but this Time I didn't just want to  get the swim done and dusted, I wanted  to do it well and I think I did do it well ( first Personal best of the Day ) . I still was not in the strong front group of Swimmers but I was defiantly not last in my group and no one from the next Wave did pass me on the swim ( that was a first as well ).

I did really put  Work into the Swim and was so existed to finish it in style , then the hardest part of the Race started , getting the flipping Wetsuit off, where I once again did get a leg cramp, really have to sort that out. 

After I finally managed to get the Wetsuit off ,I jumped practically on my bike and I was taking over people , me slowpoke Rodriguez for the second time of that day I took over other Competitors ( had done the same in the swim ) . Ok many passed me as well but that was ok with me. 

For some reason I decided to work really hard on the bike and I fully knew I might risk that I would need to walk on the Running part but I was willing to risk it ,so the second personal best of the day happened .

So the last part started Racking the bike , trying to get my Garmin from the Bike getting the runners on  ( felt like it took ages ) and off to the run , I was hoping to do the 5km in under 40 minutes but that was the realistic Goal , the dream goal was doing the run in 35 minutes . The Run was a mix out of Trail and street run which is not easy to navigate but i like Trail running so really enjoyed it , did I mention already that the Weather was gorgeous  as well ? The Sun was shining and i was running along a beautiful River , It did hurt but at the same time I was the happiest person on the planet. At around the 3rd km of the Run I realized that I would be finishing this Race in about 15 minutes and I didn't want it to be over so soon. I gave it all on the run and I huffing and puffing like a old Steam Train but I was really competitive against myself I wanted to do this one in a good time and bang 3rd personal best of the Day which was 35min and 35 seconds.

To put in perspective I'm still in the back of the pack but I shaved 15 minutes off the Time I did this Triathlon last Year and as mentioned before it was the best fun I could imagine.

If I compare last Saturday ( Triathlon ) and the Saturday before that ( Adventure Race ) It couldn't have been more different , I know now that I'm a Triathlete with all my soul and my goal will be to be as good as possible in that. 

When I'm doing these Events I'm not thinking about my possible Alpha1 complications which might come one Day or my thyroids which keep on growing into my Lungs , I'm just a very happy triathlete doing what I love to do, so in 2 weeks time is the next Sprint Triathlon just that one with a  difference , it's a open Water Swim and a 7km run and I can't wait for it to start.

City of Athy, amazing Crowd amazing Event 

Is Adventure Racing my Type of Sport ?

today i finished my second ever Adventure Race , which meant doing a 1.5km of Kayaking, 12Km of cycling then 8km of Hill running or rather crawling and finishing off with another 19km of Cycling, I did  finish it even though i did finish last. It's not the first time I finished a race last and it will not be the last race where I will be in that position but honestly I did not truly and really enjoy this Race , I had the same feeling last Year when I did a even smaller Adventure Race but back then I did put it down to the bad Weather. The Weather we had today couldn't have been any better, the Sun was out but not too warm at the same time.
I had dreaded the Kayak since this was my really bad discipline last Year, last Year i got cramps in the Kayak, not something to recommend in a flimsy Plastic Kayak, this was fin today and my Kayak time was actually pretty good but my legs were Dead , utterly Dead from the beginning.
This could be down to 2 Reasons, firstly I might have done to little Training and too many Races or because i just have changed my eating habits 2 weeks ago , trying at the moment a mix out of low GI / Paleo Diet. For the Weight it works like a charm but it might not be the best to do this shortly before Races. Since I don't plan on winning Races I decided I rather try to loose the Weight and see what happens next.
Anyway my legs were dead, I kind of could cover this up on the Bike but there was no escape on the Run which happens to be in the pure Irish wilderness, the ground was mostly boggy, wet, slippery and uphill.
So yes that was just a seriously though.
When I came back to bike transition my Bike was the only one left there but I knew a another Girl could only be a couple of minutes in front of me, so I decided to get a bit competitive and try to catch her, I didn't catch her, but I passed another bloke who had a Race number on his Shirt, I didn't even had the strength to give him an encouraging Thumbs up, something I usually never ever miss otherwise.
While I was cycling  to the finish I was cramping like crazy, when I had managed to ease of the cramp in one leg the other one started and vice versa.
The whole Time I was fighting rather hard and here comes my stubborn Head pretty handy, I knew I would finish this somehow, and I did but the enjoyment Part was somehow missing and I can't really put down why.
The Atmosphere on my Triathlons is somehow different and whatever that difference is the Reason why I love my Triathlons but have decided to leave Adventure Races alone for the foreseeable future.
I have to concentrate on Triathlons anyway , end of August is my first ever Olympic distance Triathlon and it would be nice to have a descent amount of training under the Belly for it.
But next weekend is first another Sprint Triathlon , on that one the Swim should not be cancelled since it is a river swim and the Temperatures should be OK.
 I need to recover for that one, at the moment my legs are jut a Mess but that with a bit of luck forgotten in a couple of Days time.

And most importantly : HAPPY TOWEL DAY EVERYONE !

First Triathlon of the Season ? not quite

Saturday was the Big Day ,it should have been the first Triathlon of the Season and more importantly a Sprint Triathlon with a Open Water Swim , my first ever competitive  Open Water Swim. I was nervous in fact I was a Nervous wreck, I arrived on Friday evening and looked at the Sea and amazingly the Water was quite calm, so I told myself I can do this, had to tell myself this very often.

I knew I could expect bad Weather , forecast was not very pretty.

But I told myself that I don't mind the Rain as long as the Sea would be calm enough. So Saturday morning arrived and I had to force myself to eat breakfast, very unlike me I usually like my Food but on Saturday morning I actually had to force every bite down. The Weather at this time was not too bad  and by the time I left the Hotel to get to the Race area I had calmed down a bit and thought "OK the first 20-25 minutes of this are the though part, after that it's cycling and running". With that in mind I really calmed down and then I arrived at the Race and was informed : Due to the Weather Condition we had to cancel the Swim , we will do a Duathlon instead.

Part of me was delighted, the other part bitterly disappointed , no Swim and that after I had fought with myself so badly.

So we started with a 3km Flat run, where I gave everything, I was not completely last when I arrived back in Transition  but nearly last, got onto the Bike and this was a rather steep climb from the beginning, a uphill climb for the first 4-5km and then the Rain came and the Wind, the Race organizer had warned us upfront that on the other site of the Island that there would be a fierce Wind, I had not really believed them but wow that was scary I slowed down nearly to a crawl but I didn't want to take any risks. Triathletes with Disk Wheels on their Bike had actually to give up , they were not able to control the Bikes.

Anyway I managed to finish the Cycle, put my Bike back into transition and the next run started, however this time uphill , the first 2.5km followed the Cycle Route steep uphill , I had to walk for most of that stretch only on the way home the downhill section I was able to run.

I was pretty much out of steam by then, showed very clearly my lack of proper training, but I finished it  and that's the important part.I finished pretty much at the back of the pack but that's something I'm used too and the encouragement I did get from my fellow Competitors was just amazing.

I know I will be more ready for the next Triathlon, and I will be very ready for my First open Water Triathlon which is very likely now only in June.

 I will try to find a Aquathon before that so that I can get rid of my fear of open Water swim and I also would like to get rid of this constant cough but that is something I just have to be patient about 

T -2 and counting

Just over two days left until I should start my first ever open Water Sprint Triathlon , to say my nerves are on the edge would be a understatement. It did not really help that I have been battling a cold for the last Week, I have a really bad cough which doesn't really want to go away, which means my preparation for Saturday were  "Sub optimal" ( that is  how Chrissie Wellington would word it ) .
So I only managed to do a Open Swim twice and it was both times not pleasant , second time the Water was a bit choppy and I was absolutely unable to swim straight or even swim in any shape or Form.
I know if I have similar conditions on Saturday then I will not be able to finish the swim, but not because of the Water Conditions just because I did not prep correctly, I left it all too late.
In the Past I probably would have taken my Cold , my Alpha1 etc all as an excuse ,that doesn't really work like that anymore.
 I just didn't want to get out in bad Weather to train properly, for a change I can't blame anything else.

Anyway part of me hopes for descent Weather ( looking at the moment out of the Windows and seeing Rain and gust Winds ) and just to get through this Swim , the Rest will not be easy either, but I can manage the Cycle and the Run.
Good thing, doing a Sprint Triathlon this early in the Season is that it has been already a major Wake up call ,I'm not competitive but I know that I struggle at the moment with a Sprint then a Olympic Distance Tri in a couple of Month is a big Challenge which I can't fool around with.

So in any Case it will an eventful couple of Days head of me, first Weekends Tri and on Monday I will learn if I can keep my Thyroids, I had my CT Scan yesterday and on Monday they will tell me how much they are growing and if they impact my Breathing , judging from the effects of the Cold I had,
 I believe they are causing a problem since I feel there is an obstruction on the left site of my throat.

Anyway Time to Tri again ......

last 10k done before the real fun starts

Yesterday night I did the Samsung night run in Dublin, a 10km Race through the City. I knew beforehand that this would be a very flat course and if I do the run right then I could possibly run a personal best, which in my Case means sub 70 main.I know this is very slow for loads of runners, but for me that is lighting fast and I'm very happy to say I did it.I ran 10k in just under 70 main, very happy with that but also very tired today.I gave it yesterday evening everything,so pretty exhausted today.
Anyway this was probably my last single sporting event for some time, in 2 weeks time is a Sprint Triathlon and then 2 weeks after that a small adventure Race ( Kayaking, running and cycling ).
Also I finally have signed up for my first Olympic Distance Triathlon for the end of August. I see a lot of training in my future but I think it will be worth it. Lastly I have my CT Scan in just over a weeks time to see if my Thyroids are growing too badly but whatever the Result is, I will not let this interfere with my sport Events. I love racing far too much, even though I probably will continue to race at the back of the Pack and I don't care about that at all.

Lung function Test , Running Races and Triathlons

last Week I finally had my annual lung Function Test, to say I was nervous about that would have been an understatement. The Day came i did the Test and I'm really happy about the results, my lung function is still on the increase, not very common for a 41 Year old Person.

So with that result I asked my Doctor , why am I slower then more or less any other person in any kind of running Race, he explained to me that if there is a medical Reason for it only a VO2 Max Test would show this , so that is one of the next steps , I'm fortunate that my Health Insurance will also finances a Test so I will book myself into this in the early Summer time.

But in general I'm really happy that my Results were so good, next stop Thyroids and  CT Scan and then the Health stuff should be sorted for a while.

More importantly  Spring is finally looming  and I have booked myself into a Sprint Triathlon in early May, which has done wonders to my Training.

 I'm nearly every morning in the pool and I have managed to do one big nice cycle Ride in and a bit of running ( including another 10k Trailrace ), not enough yet but I'm getting there.

So glad that I have my Butterflies back in my Stomach, I have Race fever. 

On one Site I'm really nervous about the Triathlon on the other site I can't wait for it.

That feeling is just great so much enjoy this feeling , it gives me the feeling to be alive. So this weekend is another short Trail Race , I'm actually considering to move from the 10km down to the 5 Km option because I want to train on Speed, rather then the Distance which I know I can do. I still have a day or two to make a final decision on it.

One last thing, I have to go for an Open Water swim, problem is that the Water here is really cold, something like 7-8 Degrees Celcius, a bit too cold for my taste but for the Triathlon in May I have to get used to the cold Water. My Triathlon club will do a open Water swim on the 1st of May but I think I need to jump into the cold a bit earlier 

and another 10k in the Bag, high time to start planning Triathlon and Co.

So today I did another 10km race, a Race which I really did not look forward too. This had several Reasons one of them was the Weather it has been now really cold windy and Wet here now for quite some time. it seems that all over Europe the Weather is playing up quite a bit and here in my Part of Ireland it is Cold and Wet. The second Reason was my experiences at last weekends 8km Trail race , to that one I was actually really looking forward,have done that one in the past and had really enjoyed it, this time I could not enjoy it because I literally was not able to breath properly.
I believe now this was caused by my Cat Hair allergy, until a couple of Days before i was together with Cats and beside getting a nasty rash on the skin it seems that it also had impacted my Airways.
I really like cats and would love to have one as a pet but guess that will not happen.
Anyway those Reasons and the also the fact that this 10k would be quite hilly was not encouraging, so rather grumpily this morning I drove to the Event and just wanted to get it done .
Here came the surprise, firstly I was glad that I was able to breath properly and secondly I realized I rather enjoyed the Race, yes it was still bitterly cold but it was not raining , so at the end i finished the 10k with my 2nd best finisher time over 10k , I'm still very slow but as said before don't really care about that.
I have in 2 weeks time my next Pulmonary Lung function Test and a month later a CT Scan to see if my Thyroids are still growing against my windpipe, I have the feeling they do, but I have to be patient now and see whats going on.
I have decided that this will not impact my Event Calendar 2013 , so now I really have to get my Triathlon Training together, not really easy in those Weather Condition's but at my first Sprint Triathlon of the Season could already be mid May and I'm seriously behind Training Schedule, nothing like a good old fright to get the Training going , works for me every time, also in the plan is a nice Adventure Race and taking part in several Cycling events.
And in August , 10th of August is the big Event , Olympic Distance Triathlon , will have to do a lot of work to do that one but the Training for that Event should help me to finally drop my Weight below 70 Kg /below 11 Stone ,I'm happy enough that i only have gained 1-2 kg over the last couple of weeks which is amazing considering that no Chocolate and no sweets are save when I'm around also I my Carb Portion of eating is far too high, I think the amount of sugary Carbs I'm eating is causing me some problems but it is really hard for me to reduce those Carbs in the current Weather, I just love far too much my Comfy food when the Wind is howling out there.
So next post will probably after my lung function test and after i have spoken again to the Alpha1 specialist, have some questions, curious about the answers ....

13miles/21k done and dusted, a race Report or .....

It's done it's dusted, I have finished a 21km/13mile Half Marathon and I got my finisher Medal to proof it.
That makes me actually really happy, my internal Couch potato was once again proven wrong, I was able to do it and I did it.
So how was it? Tough , really tough, I knew upfront that I had not trained enough and had hoped that I could hold it together at least until km 16/17 and it kind of worked out like that, at least that was my feeling. The last 4-5 km was just about getting through and that's what I did. I did fight my way to the end, I felt quite lightheaded the last couple of km's and I realized that my Body was desperately looking for food which I did not have.
So had to walk for most of the last bit's or when I tried to run it was more like a shuffling the feet along.
After I finally had passed the finish line, somebody did put a Medal around my Neck and gave me water  and a Banana , I did not need the Water but the Banana was in that moment the most important thing on this Planet ,I think I inhaled that Banana, I was ravenous.
Anyway did I mention already that I did finish last ? If not then here it is again I finished it , yes last position but I did not give up.
So today I dutifully uploaded my Tracking Data up to Endomondo and was very surprised when I saw the results, firstly I had done 2 personal Bests , one for 10km and one for 21 km , secondly I had a quick look at my heart rate Data, I know my Heart Rate is still a bit too high because of the lack of training but in general it stays stable, this Heart Rate Graph from the Race is actually amazing ,it shows a stable Heart rate until roughly 12km but then it completely is jumping up ad down, clearly a sign for me of lack of distance Training.
That explains why I felt light headed and ravenous later on.
So the last finisher is a very happy finisher right now, I finished it and I know that I need to train on distance and a bit more speed.
 I never will be speedy Gonzales, I don't even plan to be, but I hope the next Half Marathon will be a bit faster and easier.
Yep next Half is already in the planning , plus loads of other running, Triathlon and Cycling events

Nervous about upcoming Half

I'm really nervous about the upcoming half Marathon in just over a Weeks time . I did last Weekend a 15K Trail  Training's run and thought I would die , it did hurt, actually it really did hurt and my Hamstring nearly gave out.
I had on purpose chosen to run a Trail because I wanted to run slow and steady, but also because I like the Scenery of that particular trail run , it goes along the Cliff path and it is just stunningly beautiful, but on the other site when I had finished the 15K I was very disappointed with the time I had done it and also I was not sure if I could add on to this another 6 km for the Half Marathon.

My mind keeps on telling me that the Day before I did this Trail run I did a really intensive 40K Bike Trip through the Wicklows and the Trail I had chosen for the run was really tricky and boggy , so my mind knows I should not judge this Training's run to harshly , another small voice in my Head calls me looser and tells me that I will not be able to finish this Half marathon.

Had not heard that Voice for a while ,so took me a couple of Days to recognize  that Voice, it was my good old Couch potato, the small Voice which was once quite a big and loud Voice that kept telling me I can't do this and can't do that.
So now I have recognized this Voice I need to be firm with myself, I can't listen to that Voice so my plan is to start and finish this Half marathon , and if I finish it last, that does not matter at all .
I have on Saturday another small Trail Race , it's a 8km in a local park , i have done this Race over the last 2 Years and I really love these Events , just hope now it will not start to snow on Saturday otherwise I plan just to enjoy it and see how it goes.

So last Words to my Couch Potato : Keep quiet , don't need you !!!

First 10k Fun Run/Race of 2013 done and ......

Yesterday finally the Racing Season of 2013 had started, I really had looked forward to this , for several reasons first of all I really enjoy these Events secondly I wanted to see where I'am for my Half Marathon in not even 3 weeks time. I know that I don't have enough Mileage under my Belt to make the Half Marathon pretty but I'm rather stubborn as well.
So what have I learned from yesterdays Event, firstly that I don't really like to run on a Beach at 5 Degrees Celsius in the Rain, secondly that those 10km did hurt quite a bit more than I thought it would.
I did run those 10km hard , I wanted to do these even in those bad conditions in 70 min, it took me 75 min and I don't think I can blame the bad Weather for it.
 Also today my Legs are pretty much in bits, which they shouldn't,  it was "only" 10 km. Lets face it I see a lot of pain in my near future , especially on the Day of my Half Marathon

Guess have to adapt my Half Marathon Goal and get away from the Idea that I can do it in 2:30 hrs, I know this is really slow for loads of People for me that would be flying. I have to change my mindset, I still want to do the Race as fast as I can, but at the same time as safe as I can. I don't want to get injured the Season of 2013 just has started and I'm positively drooling looking at my upcoming Triathlon Races and there is also one Adventure Race in May and before that a Cycle around Ireland where I plan to do a couple of stages .
I want to those these things because I love to do them not to win anything.
Which reminds me, I need to get more cycling Kilometers into my legs, which is really tricky because the Weather has been bad for a while now.

Rather Bleak looking Beach for our 10k Race 

hope Phil is right and Spring comes early

So the other Day was Groundhog Day and Phil the Groundhog apparently promises a early Spring. I don't think i usually listen to Groundhogs for a Weather Forecast bu still would be nice if he is right.

So what has been happening, have done a couple of my TRX / Circuit Classes and they are absolutely  great, ok I nearly crawl out of the class but  this is fun and effective exercise and I also have done my first spinning class in over 8 month.
 I kind of expected that I would start to cramp during the class and yes it did happen. No surprise there  next time it will be better.
Lastly I finally was able to get out onto my Bicycle again for a spin around the Wicklow's , somehow they seem to go only uphill, but at least I only had to get off the bike once and push it up the hill.
All this is pretty good stuff, considered that my stomach went completely ballistic with cramps Nausea etc.   the Doctor thinks the cause of it was Stress, which could be true. It has been a bit too crazy at work lately. Personally I think the type of food could be a cause of the Problem as well.
Got some pills to fix the symptoms, but will have to make sure to fix the source ( stress or Food, or both ).
and really lastly now really looking forward to the first Race of the Season next Sunday, a 10 km Valentines fun Run . I just plan to enjoy it, have actually a bit of cabin fever, really missing my races , the Buzz on these Events is just great.
So more stuff to write after next Sunday

Long run's short runs and TRX

I really shouldn't have mentioned the Weather in my last Blog, I REALLY Shouldn't have, now the Irish Winter has arrived, ok we don't get much or any snow except in the Higher parts, down here  we usually get Rain instead and that's exactly what we got last Week, cold windy icy Rain and loads of it .

So I couldn't get out onto my bicycle, at least not safely and since I do not have a turbo Trainer that means I haven't been on my Bike now for over 2 weeks.
I really miss that part and it is kind of a logistical Nightmare for me to get to the Gym ( Complicated story ) that means I haven't been to the Gym since before Christmas, however except for really bad Rain I did not have an excuse for not going running and that's what I did , not as much as I would have wished for but 2-3 runs a week is not bad.

I'm writing this now before I plan to go out for a "long" run today. So I will stop writing this Blog and continue after the run.

So it's now a couple of hrs later and I have done my 12km / 7.5 miles slow long run,have to say the last 3km really did hurt and one of my Knees was flaring up a bit but that was to be expected since I can't really remember last time I went this kind of distance and on top of it i was also out for a run yesterday.
I know that I have to do more cross Training to avoid injury, especially I need to look after my back and knees. My Gym is just now starting TRX Fitness classes and  I have heard good things about these classes so guess need to sort out my logistical problems an get into that class.
So lets see how the Weather turns out over the next couple of Days , I really hope to be back on my bicycle soon and lets not forget the swimming , might have a chance to do lunch time Swims and put this all together should mean amazing Triathlons, can't wait for the Season to start.

Here is link to a Video from last Years Dublin city Triathlon , so can't wait to do these again :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAc6BmV1ltI

First week of January which included swimming , cycling and running

I have taken full advantage of the mild Weather that we have here currently in Ireland, there was no snow or Ice and even little Rain , so I took the Chance to start to cycle to work again and usually after Work I tried to do a 30 min Run , I did 2 interval Session with the Audiofuel / Chrissie Wellington Sessions. Those Session are really though but I have seen already the improvements.
I hope that I will manage a 7 min/ km for the Half Marathon which is just 55 Days away .
I'm at the moment roughly at 7:30 min/km but if everything goes well then I should be able to archive the 7 min somehow . I also enjoyed yesterday a nearly 30 km Cycle ride through the Hills, those Hills are though had I had to push the Bike twice, if the Weather keeps up like this then I should be able to do every weekend a long ride, I also can't wait until the Days finally get longer then I can finally take longer rides before and after work.
Plan for next week will be :

Monday Lunchtime Swim ( will try out a new pool not far away from my Workplace )
Tuesday , running home from Work , direct route 7 km , if the Legs are ok, then I should extend this to 9-10 km
Wednesday Cycle to and from Work , and if legs are ok short run in the Evening or Gym
Thursday ; interval run , 40 min session
Friday swim
Saturday long cycle ride
Sunday long run

Result of one Week of though Training , legs a tired but happy