Training Log Archive: Dooby

Looking outside it's dull and maybe even a bit on the damp side but still must go cycling. According to the forecast it's due to brighten up later but i've got tv to watch then, Cork hopefully beating Roscommon. Decided on a new route to try as well this morning.

Tralee-Ballyroe-Abbeydorney-Lixnaw-Finuge-Tralee

Decided that this route met my distance requirements for the day so decided to attempt it. Pleased with it and will do it again. Was dry when I set off but a bit on the cloudy side. Up the hill to Ballyroe I definitely tried harder than the last time I was up here last Sunday. After that I pushed it towards Abbeydorney. Once beyond Abbeydorney I was into unknown territory. The road surface and its good quality surprised me, one bit of new tarmac near Lixnaw was particularly nice, not the usual bumpy stuff. Road was generally flat and I did push things, decided to use my lesson learned from running yesterday and attack it. After Lixnaw it dawned on me that the route out was the flat bit, there were going to be hills on the way back to Tralee so that was a bit of a downer. Also there were a few drops of rain going but they weren't heavy and didn't last long.

Had some raisins in Finuge and kept on going towards the junction with the N69. There were a few slight rises along the R556 but nothing of note, so pace was generally quick. Once onto the main road back to Tralee the first part was straight and fast, but then there was the first climb. It was generally speaking uphill then to the "Day at the Bog" experience, closed though. At one point the legs and head really decided that they didn't like being here. Had a few more raisins for a boost and then there was a downhill. This helped sort out the head and get the body working again. After that it was back onto familiar roads. Was happy with pace before last big climb up to Leith Cross. I was looking forward to here as I knew it was downhill from there to Tralee. Downhill was fun today.

Into Tralee and back west towards home on the Bracker O'Regan Road. Spotted someone on a bike so that helped keep things moving, but they turned off so I didn't have the satisfaction of chasing them and passing them at speed!

When I got home and looked at the time on my watch I was very surprised. I knew the distance was similar to the last long cycle on Monday but around 15mins faster today. I thought I'd be slower today as I think I cycle faster on bigger roads as the surface is good. So definitely happy with this cycle. Max speed today was 51.6kph which was of course on the descent into Tralee.

The Reeks tomorrow for a hill walk...

Tonevane (out and back plus loop)

First decision when I parked was whether to wear a jacket or not, sky looked a bit grey. Decided to wear it and it paid off within seconds of leaving the car as the rain started. So I got fairly wet before I even started running. Rain eased after a few minutes and it dried up to just being windy. Running into the wind heading out. I think both my calves aren't the best at the moment, physio maybe at the end of the week might be an idea. Legs felt ok heading out, didn't feel too much tired.

Turned and headed back. I kinda felt that I wasn't attacking the run like it needed to be due to the rocky nature of the path, felt like I was taking too easy. So on the way back I tried to increase my intensity over the rougher areas. Not sure I succeeded but recognised something that I can work on. Legs did feel a bit more heavy at this stage but I don't think that's a bad thing, means they are doing something.

Increased the pace on the easier sections, but I remember that I did that last time too. Up the hill on the loop felt tough, but got up ok, and actually liked the speed I approached the first downhill. Once I got to the highest part and started the descent I really increased my pace for the first part, flew down.

I ran this route in 41mins today, which is better than what I was doing last year, yet I didn't feel that I was running particularly well, so that's a positive.

Tralee-Farranfore-Castleisland-Tralee

After a gloomy day, rain and cloud, it turned out to be a nice evening as the forecast predicted, but I did think that it would have brightened up earlier. After running last night the plan was cycling today.

Got through town handily enough, bit of traffic to dodge at times, especially at the railway station where I had to cut across in front of a car before the oncoming Garda jeep with its siren going came through the junction. Still here to tell the story! Traffic all the way out to the edge of town but made good time compared to the cars.

Increased the pace once out of town all the way to Farranfore. Wind was behind me which helped keep things moving. Didn't feel too stressed although wind seemed to be into my face on the way into Farranfore for some reason. Then the road to Castleisland was ok, got a bit peckish early so tucked into my raisins. Wanted to have them eaten before Castleisland anyway, and my body needed the boost.

Once out of Castleisland it was into a strong headwind all the way back to Tralee, not nice. Was keeping a steady enough pace, I was happy enough with it. Went past O'Riadas (pub) and they'd marquees out the back, I knew there was a BBQ on there this evening but no smell of cooking meat to distract me, thankfully. After that I happened to glance behind me and I noticed a cyclist around 20m behind me. Not sure how long he was there, but that kicked in the competitive gene. Started pushing then but the lad behind stayed with me. Pace didn't increase my a whole lot but the effort into the wind certainly did. HR went up to match. Legs did feel a bit tired but still kept it going. Guy stayed with me for around 8km. I went to change to big ring around Ballygarry but chain went too far so had to ease off to correct it. Man went past me then but I tucked in behind him.

Got a bit more than I bargained for coming back in from Ballymac with the extra effort, so that was a positive. Otherwise I would have just been cruising. I was 4.30 slower this evening than last time. Hard to be consistent over such a long distance when there are so many factors to take into consideration, biggest factor is that time includes going through Tralee so traffic lights influence things. Looking at HR graph I need to maintain effort in last section before Castleisland, dropped a bit this evening for a while, so need to keep pushing.

I had a very distracting start too this evening, leaving the estate there was a nice smell of food coming from a house so that made me a bit hungry, also got another smell later which again raised hunger issues.

For the part outside of Tralee, I covered 38.4km at an avg speed of 30.1kph.

Blennerville + The Spa bit

Put the pace back up from the 3.30min/km that it was for the race last Saturday to 4.55min/km. Thought about 4.50 but didn't feel too energetic. Calf is still not right and by the way things went tonight the left one isn't too happy either, but at least my achilles is quiet at the moment.

Humid evening, sunny to start, but didn't really need the sun glasses. Felt ok heading out towards The Spa, but after I turned and got back through the fields I was 11 seconds behind the pace. Don't know how I ended up in that position but legs hadn't much in them this evening. Struggled back along the path and then onto the grass alongside the canal. I started to claw back a few seconds at this stage but not very quickly. Did the bit into the Basin and back to the car. Tired afterwards, but thought I wouldn't be that bad since I rested yesterday. Next planned rest day is next Tuesday:-(

Legs are tired after 2 tough runs in last quick, not physically tough, but fast. So cycling tomorrow before running again on Saturday, then more cycling on Sunday before a possible long hill-walk on Monday. Reckon i'll get more training done in Kerry so won't go home for the long weekend.

Resting today after a few days of training, 2 intensive runs, a recovery cycle and a longish cycle, well longest in a good while. Back training tomorrow, plan is to run. Havn't decided yet what I'm going to do Friday-Sunday, if weather is good it'll be hill walking on Monday for the bank holiday.
Legs needed today off, definitely tired.

Jog from car-park to start for Ballincollig Fun Relay.

Ballincollig Sprint/Fun Relay

Got paired up with Norah O'Brien and she ran first. There were 14 controls and each person got 7 controls plus the last control. Norah ran first and came back after a while. Got false hope when she was spotted in the field but she went away to get some more controls before finishing. Meant I'd a few people to try and catch when I started.

First off I checked the control card to see which controls she got. Blank boxes for 1,2,3,4, 14 and 14. That meant that Norah had gotten 8 controls! The controls she left were the westmost and eastmost, meaning i'd to go one direction and then all the way back to the far end before finishing in the middle. Went west first to get the group of 4. First 2 controls went ok, and then i'd to climb a big wall, that I was able to pull myself up and over actually surprised me. Then onto get the next one after bashing across a gully and through some vegetation. Then only 1 more to get in this cluster which was in a gully on the far side of the river. No real attackpoint to help getting into the control so took a chance and went in, and spotted the control just to my left but had to climb over some rubbish to get to it.

Then back out onto the track and push hard to the other side of the map. Going to the first control I checked the punches and 12 was the same as another control so I reckoned on getting 12 too, would be on the way back after 13 and 14. Read my control descriptions for 13 and it said inside building. There was green all around the building but yellow all the way to one corner so I aimed for that. Got to the building to find no way in! So back out and around the adjacent building to fight my way into the control through jungle along with a few more people. Cillin and Ailbhe found slightly better routes in so I was just behind them going to 14. Went across the dry canal and onto the path next to the wall but I didn't check my description. Went a few metres down the path but no control, then checked descriptions to read control was on the gate, south side, and I was on the north side. So back to the canal and in the other side, again a bit of vegetation to fight through. Back out and went to 12, easy, and the run to the finish.

We finished in 4th place, so I brought us up a couple of places. Pleased with my pace for when I was running considering it was a bit rough in places and the training i'd been doing last few days. Also race preparation wasn't ideal as there was too much hanging around as things got organised, etc, at the start.

Collected 4 controls after the event, none of which I went to the in the event. Only had trouble with one of them, wrong side of a fence! Also took some time tieing up the controls so I could run with them which is included. Controls were all close together so got at least over 1km of a jog back at a steady pace.

Tralee-Castleisland-Farranfore-Castlemaine-Tralee

This was my plan for today, and I stuck to it. Humid day and was dry. First part out to Castleisland was fine, no trouble, but was starting to think that i'd a long way to go yet.

Trouble started after Castleisland as it was a change in direction, meant I was cycling into a headwind all the way to Castlemaine. Really wasn't enjoying this, found it tough going trying to motivate myself to push harder. For the record, the road is rough before the airport. Once I got to Farranfore I started to feel better and was enjoying the cycling more so I think the effort increased.

After Castlemaine was the Ballygamboon Hill, a nice end before the downhill into Tralee which I was looking forward to. At the start of the climbing I was using the middle ring. This was a bit of a struggle and after a km or so I decided to save some energy and drop down to the small ring. Glad I made the change as the speed I was doing didn't drop much for less effort. Enjoyed the cycling more with the easier cycling. Dropped a gear in the last km before the top to push a bit harder.

Made the summit and changed down the gears to go fast down the hill. Didn't get very far very fast, they'd resurfaced the road and it was covered in very loose chippings. On went the brakes as I was scared of falling. I reckon at this stage I cycled up the hill faster than I was going down. Felt very scared at the first big hairpin type bend, didn't want to turn the bike, happy going in a straight line for fear of falling. At the least the surfacing stopped after a while, and once it did I put the hammer down for the last bit.

Definitely tired when I got home. Made myself a huge dinner too, but Garmin says I burned 2172 calories, so I figure I need it.

Outside of Tralee I covered 49.8km at an avg speed of 28kph. Might have increased this a few tenths if the descent had been more favourable, but happy with that sort of pace.