Training Log Archive: Dooby

Beaufort Loop with Mangerton KOM to finish off

Lovely morning after what was a rubbish Saturday evening weather wise. So nice to get out on the bike in the sun.

Plan was to keep a decent pace keeping the HR up. Wanted HR around the 150 mark but it was up around 160 at times, particularly on the way out to Fossa but there was a headwind so was working harder as a result. It was back around the 150 coming back in.

Passed a few groups of cyclists out, on the 2nd day of the Kingdom Alliance Tour. At least 3 groups. Not a massive crowd taking part but they'd a nice day for it after a windy day out Dingle direction yesterday.

Mangerton Road KOM was definitely on the agenda today after a good time up Ladies View last week. Felt cycling legs were in good shape so last chance for a go at getting it back off Conor. Early in the cycle legs were feeling a bit tired so bit of a conversation going on in my head whether I really wanted to put in the effort. Thankfully that resolved itself on the way back in to Killarney as legs were feeling better.

Didn't push too hard out the Muckross Road, relaxed ahead of the assault on the KOM. Emptied what was left in the water bottle, save a few grams of weight, and it was ready to go.

Attacked the first ramp and didn't drop gears and got up, this was a positive start as I knew that this would've been faster than my previous attempts, kept it in the same gear for the 2nd ramp and was going well. Then got chased by a sheep dog at the top of the 2nd ramp so had to do a bit of shouting to keep him away. Distracted me from my efforts but being chased by a dog doesn't I suppose have a negative affect on speed as you are inclined to go faster. Then onto the flatter section and got the speed up nicely. Did drop a couple of gears for the ramp up by the turn off to my house. Took a bit of effort to get the speed up on the flat section after the Mangerton Road junction. Was definitely puffing now, breathing was difficult. Got around the tight bend and then had an oncoming car across the section of mountain. No delay though.

Then tried to carry as much speed into the last ramp as I could before the top. Breathing very heavily at the top as I was turning the bike to come home. Unsure of how I did but hoping for the best.

After uploading to Strava I got the KOM and have 11 seconds to spare. And an 18 second improvement over my previous best. So very happy with the effort, especially as the avg HR for today is the same as my previous best.

Muckross

Down from the house to the National Park. Got up at work time and had breakfast, easier to run fed than not fed.

Met Niamh who was doing the parkrun and did a couple of km with her warming up. Had to run by a couple of Jaunting Cars after the abbey, then they passed us out, before we passed them again. The German tourists on board taking plenty of pictures! They clearly recognised who the (in)famous orienteers they were photographing were!

Then watched Niamh start, jogged a small bit over to the course, then watched Niamh come by in 2nd place after the 1st lap. Close to 1st.

After that jogged home again. Achilles ok this morning so will see how it feels later to decide whether it survived 2 runs on consecutive days.

Run around Muckross with Killian

Went for a random enough route. Did some measuring at work and thought the loop would be around 6.5km. It wasn't so had to do some extra running on the Muckross house side of the road.

Legs feeling ok this evening. Could feel achilles a few times, more a general issue as opposed to specific pain.

Nice evening to be out running.

Took the sharp climb easy enough, Killian put the brakes on. Another sharp climb in Blue Pool but he didn't slow there.

Pace was similar to Tuesday but increased climb today means overall there was some faster running today. Plan is to run in the morning but not sure what i'll do exactly, just that it'll be early, maybe before breakfast.

Dodgy looking GPS track!!!

C • Track 1

Have used Purple Pen for the first time. Getting training maps ready for WOC training, using the pdfs of the maps and then putting courses found online, thanks to a number of Doma sources and Routegadget.

Makes sense for sprint training to have a proper map with a course on it, drawing by hand wouldn't be the same.

Walking from St Brendans down to the Racecourse and back to town.

Successful day for once racing, had 2 bets that won money, so definitely made a profit of a few € for the day. All down to luck.

Legs survived with no orthotics in the shoes. Sore feet afterwards though from the shoes. All in the name of looking good for Ladies Day!

Sun out today for a change but didn't see much sun cycling, a bit on the cloudy side. Threw jacket in the pocket as the clouds looked grey. For 2nd cycle in a row I forgot cycling gloves.

Legs felt alright starting off, so that was a positive sign. Was hoping for some bikes on the road this evening to help with motivation, didn't really get them on the way up, passed 3 coming up on my way down, typical. Did pass a fella in a HTC jersey when I was about 600m from the top so that fella turned into a target for the trip home.

On the climb I started in a big enough gear and changed down after a while, so strong start. Then just kept it going from there. Found the middle section tough, between the bridge and the shop, but was moving better towards the end. And the effort resulted in a sub 10 time, so climbing legs are definitely in situ. Must try Mangerton Road again next week before WOC, legs won't be the same in August.

So onto the descent I pushed as much as I could, nice speed on the technical section. Then pushed through the uphill parts. Started to catch up again with the NI car that I caught at Galweys Bridge after the tunnel, a few cars slowed by a different bike.

Finally got my HTC man just after Torc.

Then still moving fast past Muckross House but at the Upper Torc road a bike seemed to turn in front of me so tried to catch him. No joy as this guy was motoring. Would've made the trip into Killarney interesting if I was going that way. Nothing on Strava Flyby yet so will check that later.

Plenty of stretching done at work so we'll see what a run does. Not so much interested in how the achilles will feel after, more what it'll feel like tomorrow.

Kept the pace nice and easy. Felt like I was going nowhere in a hurry. Have gotten used to running this route faster.

Felt achilles a bit starting off, improved once warmed up, and then could feel calves a bit later in the run. So overall not too bad. But this sort of run isn't much good to me at the moment. Would prefer to be running faster.

Damp evening again, summer, hasn't happened yet!
Still plenty of tourists around.

Bacon & Cabbage postponed by a day, so have it to look forward to tomorrow :-)

Still not 100% sure what to do with myself this week training wise. Achilles isn't suffering too much today after running yesterday. Will do plenty of stretches during the day and then heat/ice in the evening.

Will try and go with this plan with plan for the week.

Monday - Bike (ladies view)
Tuesday - Run (Knockreer)
Wednesday - Bike
Thursday - Rest (going to Killarney Races, although will train if not at the Races)
Friday - Run (lap of the park)
Saturday - Run (maybe Park Run)
Sunday - Bike

If Thursday is a training day then i'll run and then bike Friday.

Avg Cadence = 93rpm

Focused on keeping the cadence high and average isn't too bad. Looking at the graph it improved as the session went on, with the average helped by a strong finish.

Plan was cycling but due to shite weather I had to stay indoors.

Another episode of Ripper Street, not much left in the 2nd Series now i'd say.