Ironman Lanza 2014.

Race Week.

I'm not like the typical triathlete in that I won't have a plan written down of what needs to be done leading up towards the race. If I had my own way and didn't have to rely on lifts I'd be down 5 minutes before the start of the race, instead of heading down with Liam a full hour before it started.

So we were flying out on the Thursday, Liam Rang me on Tuesday to tell me to tell Aer Lingus I was bringing a bike instead of a surf board. I've always booked it online and it only gives you an option of surfboard to book a bike on I think you have to ring up. I told Liam I don't want to ring them up and ruin the surprise when I arrive on the morning with a bike. Anyway I had bigger problems like where the hell was my wetsuit. I decided to swim sans wetsuit all last year in an attempt to impress Lisa Howley (it didn't work she still thinks i'm soft).

I had half an idea to swim the channel at some point and thought I'd start building up my body for the cold. Lisa got wind of the idea and sat me down and basically said "you can bluff and Ironman with training and get away with it but you'll be screwed if you continue this approach to swim the channel". Anyway I digress, my wetsuit was last seen in May 2013. So the night before I was due to fly there were some phone calls made to see where it was. Eventually it was recovered in a ball and was duly left in that same ball at the bottom of the bike Bag.

Arrived in Lanza, got out with Liam and Jan to club le Santa to register kept getting asked by officials were we here for the all you can eat buffet or the Ironman because we looked like we had come out for the all you can eat Buffet but were in the wrong que.

Registered no dramas. Headed up met all the Wicklow Tri Crew. Bike drop off was between 3-6 so John C and the others were going through their plans. I said to Liam we'll drop the bikes down around 7 it'll be much quieter. Ended up been a mix up. Forgot to bring Run Bag and Bike Bag and also race number. They let me leave the bike there but told me I had to come back tomorrow morning as we wouldn't have access to the Run bags tomorrow. I was a bit wrecked to be honest so decided not to go back down till the morning of the race. Then told them I found these two bags lying around transition. It was a real surprise when I got in off the swim to find my bag in the correct position.

The Swim.
1:11
I did 1:05 last year and although I hadn't trained as hard this year (was swimming three times a week last year) I felt I'd do around the same time. Last year I had a great swim in terms of free space, this year I couldn't get any. Not even on the second lap could I find space. My legs came out cut to shreds I might have had Edward Scicorshands swimming behind me or something. I was very slow in transition too. Was worried the cuts I had on my feet were going to come back to haunt me on the bike or the run, thankfully they didn't.

The Bike
7:48
Again last year was much quicker 7:35. I actually felt good for most of the bike. I thought despite my very poor swim it must have been the same for everyone so assumed Conor MacGowan, Liamo, Jan might have been behind me. I didn't see anyone I knew until about 50k. I caught Rose going up some poxy hill. Had a good chat with her and she said everyone was ahead of her, I gasped what even Conor MacGowan? Caught up with Lisa who was literally only 100 meters ahead of Rose didn't get to talk to her for long. Kept losing time on descents as I was still nervous from a fall I had a few weeks prior. I did feel like I was climbing ok. I struggled to get the gears moved at the front from the hard to easy, generally had to do it manually so had to get off the bike and move it back on. I didn't go into the easy one at the front that much though maybe four or five times. Rose caught me on a descent and we cycled along together for a while. So told me Liam had come down the other side of Haria. I was delighted for him but was also concious of the fact that he'll be hunting me down and he'll be on a huge high once he gets off the bike. The run is his thing and he'd fancy his chances of chasing me down. So came off the bike in a much slower time than last year but felt more confident going into the run.

The Run
5:05
Transition here wasn't as slow as the first one. Got out on the course and saw Adam very early on. Assumed I'd see him again didn't realsie he was finishing. It's almost like a different race he was doing. As I started to run I was formulating a bit of a run plan in my head. If I can do the first half in under 2 hours that's be my goal for the moment. It's run out 8k back 8k twice (32k) then a shorter loop of 5k out and 5k back. So I got out there and starting hitting sub 6mins per kilometer. Decided early on I would walk the aid stations. When I got out to the first turn around I saw Conor MacGowan, I was delighted to see a familar face and been in the same club there was always going to be a bit of banter so shouted at him I was coming for him. He seemed pretty broken and resigned to the fact I was going to catch him. Eventually caught Conor after about 4k. I tried to get him to run with me for a while as he was just walking at this stage but he'd burried himself on that bike course. So went past Conor and tried to keep going. As the run goes on more and more people start walking it becomes harder and harder to keep it going. I had Mark Franney in front of me from the club but he was miles ahead and couldn't be caught. Behind me Conor was flagging and Liam was starting to walk too. I was trying to limit the walking as much as possible but you had to set yourself a goal of some sort. Towards the end of my last big lap I was working out what I needed to do to get a sub 5 hour marathon. At the current pace I was running/walking it's taking me 8-9 mins to make a kilometer. If I can get the next two k's done in under 8 mins then I'd be going out on the last lap only need 8 min kilometers to get me home in 4 hour something marathon. So pushed it hard and got to the turnaround on target. Now all I had to do was 10k in 1hour 20mins sounds easy?. Got to the turnaround point on target just hitting sub 8's all the way, turned around and started hitting 9mins couldn't go any faster and towards the end was afraid of not making it at all. Happy to cross the line, it may not be a great time but considering all the balancing of life business, family i'm very happy to have done it in that time. Ideally we'd all love more time to do it better but i'm happy with what I got.

Talking to people afterwards there were some amazing stories from loads of people got overtaken by a guy with one leg. There was a blind guy who we passed about 7 times. In our own group though there really were some pretty amazing performances. Adam flew along what was a really difficult course. Lisa Sterrit had a heart operation only last year and suffered a bit when her heart rate was elavated it was amazing to see her come through. Rose Leith had signed up last year but thought she would have gotten over her plantar Facistics injury (she hadn't) she still came out and swam and cycled. Big performance from Jane Evans who was coming on strong on the run for someone who only recently broke their leg.

Then there was the Big Man. 6 years ago this island broke him he came over with a training group and couldn't complete the course. He suffers from Vertigo and basically the drops off the side of the cliffs scares the shit out of him. He came back last year but couldn't do Haria it's particularly hard for him with the drop offs. No one had the guts to tell him that the climb after that was way worse (rio). I was delighted when I saw him coming in off the bike. He needed to complete this course for his head and he did it.

So on to something else now, maybe Greystones 10k swim enjoyed that last year.

Damo.

Bike Spill

So training had been going ok. I'd eased off the swimming a good bit and got out on the bike a bit this week with the good weather. Was going to round it off on Sunday with a long cycle with Wicklow Tri getting over the two gaps (sally and Wicklow). I was a bit late getting up so instead of adding 40 k to the 116k cycle I was just going to be doing the 114k spin. 

Felt pretty comfortable for most of the climbs then got to the top of the sally gap. I was descending the gap at a pretty fast pace. Was doing 47kph according to the garmin, when I went over a bit of  gravel and lost control of the bike. The bike literally went from underneath me and for those few seconds I knew I was coming off the bike. There was a car coming the other direction and I remember seeing a big rock at the ditch that was closer to me. As I was coming down I made a bit of a dive for the ditch to my left which seemed softer. Luckily it was softer and I bounced around the bog a bit and then landed in a small pool of water. The initial contact was with my head so think I was out of it for a little while. For what seemed like minutes I sat up and checked everything. I remember looking at my hand and thinking it was going to be broken as it was all discoloured (thought it was early bruising). It turned out it was a bit of floral I had hit on the way down and it brushed off. Amazing I stood up with just a sore neck. My bike is pretty wrecked the gears and brakes are broken right off and I think the frame is cracked.

It wouldn't be an Ironman for me if there wasn't some drama!!

My neck and now my knee is a bit too sore to do any training at the moment. I'll gauge it through the week and see how I feel.

So four weeks out from the Race of the century and people keep asking me " how's Liamo going?". Well I'm about to tell you how everyone is going. Everyone I know going from Ireland except the Girls. It's too close a race to call with the girls so going to hold off on that one, well that and I don't really understand women so not sure if they'll take offence if I write something.

So first off we'll have the non runners.

Ronan O'Bric

Ronan did this event back in 2007 and had a storming event. He has since concentrated on Crossfit where he is hoping to represent Ireland in the under 20 stone category he's another 2 stone to shift before he can get down to his category.

Rob Moran

Rob Signed up for this event back in August 2013 and swore he was going to do a better time than last year. He trained hard over the winter and got the winter miles in but when he arrived on the Island and was reminded of the pain from last year he decided after 3 weeks of warm weather training that he hadn't done enough. It's a massive blow to the Southern Irish team and the Northern Irish team, as a huge rift has now developed between the two as to who is going to fund the free bar in route 66 this year.

The actual runners.

Adam Kelly

Odds 2/1 favourite.

Don't be fooled by the belly in this photo. This was taken back in December he's since shaved off the weight and is the pride of the southern team. A strong swimmer and great biker he has no real weakness. It'll be hard to see the nordies deal with his pace.

Kevin Healy and kids.

Odds 3/1. 

Kevin has already gone the distance on this course in an impressive Ironman debut. He's the southern teams wild card. He's a teacher so he'll be out training all Easter break for 2 weeks it'll be like a warm weather training camp for Kevin. Question marks over his Commitment to the team as he hasn't been on any of the team spins. The nordies have been looking for a granny or something to get him onto their team.

John Connaghton

Odds 5/1

There have been fights over who John should be representing as he's been living on some Island off Donegal coastline no one is really sure what jurisdiction it falls under. He's an endurance animal and only completed his first Ironman last year where I think he finished in top 3 places. Although to be fair it was up north where the competition is known to be weak. He knows the island better than anyone as himself and Rose train there the whole time. 

Damian McKeever been led away be police.

10/1

Damian McKeever

It's been a very busy year for Damian. He was heavily involved in the McDonalds campagin trying to bring it to the people of Kilcoole. His sponsors have pulled the plug on him this year and he is going with the happy pear as nutritional sponsors. This is taking his body time to adjust to the hippy food. However thankfully he's still got Coca cola on board so there is still good posion going into this body. Not expected to feature in the main bunch but his race will be against McGowan and Dillon.

Liam Dillon missing a finishers t-shirt last year.

10/1

Liam Dillon had to return to the Marshall islands with nothing. Not even a finishers t-shirt to give to one of the kids. Last year was a heartbreaking experience for him, he was delighted when the Marshall islands spend their last 400 euros to send him back to compete this year. He's due a big performance and has got Fernando fuentes back on board. In the fuentes stable Dillon has always produced his best form. They'll have the blinkers on him going up haria this year that was identified as a mistake last year. The other major mistake was the nutrional sponsorship of Ma Baker. I can report that Ma Baker has been given the boot this year. He's bringing in the more traditional sponsor of Powerbar. His swimming has come on leaps and bounds but is still struggling on the bike. 

If he can climb Haria this year.

If he gets his nutrition right this year.

If he gets enough hours in on the bike.

If he gets off the bike within an hour of McKeever or McGowan.

If all this happens he might just have a chance.

Conor struggling again on the run.

Conor McGowan 10/1

He's put the training in this year and has lost weight to get down and compete, but has he lost enough. A very strong swimmer he'll look to get out of the water ahead of McKeever and Dillon and drive his lead home on the bike. The run is where it could unravel. Had a good time out in France in 2010 where he got the better of McKeever. He's also beaten Dillon before in the Brittas Bay clash of the titans in 2012. It's going to be close out there heat might be a factor for the fair Red head.

It's going to be close but we think we can get the better of whatever McGale and his nordies can come up with!

Entering the home stretch 6 weeks out to Ironman lanza.

So we are getting there slowly but surely. I've a tough 4 weeks ahead of me and then two weeks of taking it fairly handy and then Race.........well take part.

My training partner Liam Dillon has put a big emphasis on this 4 week, himself and his coach Fernando Feuntes are going with a new training plan called zero to hero in 4 weeks. I would like to take this oppurtunity to wish him the very best of luck with that.

I've been very losely following a plan. To be honest I think you'd have to be unemployed to follow it to the letter there just isn't enough time in the day. I have been pretty consistent with my long bikes though getting out the last three sunday mornings for at least 4 hours. I've missed one or two long runs on the Saturday just with the shop been busy it hasn't always been possible to get out.

Swimming- Is down on last year big time. I was looking at my training log and last year I averaged about 8-12k a week in the pool at the moment i'm hovering around 6-8k a week. It doesn't seem to have made that much of a difference though to my times. I still seem to be able to hit close to the same times in the pool which is good and I feel like i'm the same as last year. It might all catch up on me.

Bike- I've been doing a similar amount of biking to last year. In fact in March 2013 I did 820k on the bike March just gone I did 860k on the bike so very close. My only worry on the bike is that since I've come off the turbo I seem to be struggling getting my average power high during a ride. Last year 200 watts was the figure I kept. So I'd let it go 20 watts up or down of that and usually averaged out at 200 by the end of the cycle. Now it's only at about 180 watts even on the shorter ones. My average speed is also a bit lower on some of the same loops as last year. So I have to conclude that the bike is in a worse state even though the training has been more specific and same volume.

Run- Last year my run like every year in the Ironman I was reduced to a walk. I'm still not sure if this is due to my biking ability or my running ability. I have jumped up the run mileage this year getting out three times a week (only ran long once a week last year). So I'm hoping to knock a bit of time off the marathon leg. I'd be happy if I could hold the swim at the same time as last year and the bike and to be able to knock an hour off my run I'd be coming back from lanza a happy man.

So only 9 weeks to go!!

So start off the blog with an update from life! Went for a swim on Wednesday night in Westwood leopardstown. The jeep I drive has been broken into many times so I generally don't leave anything in it but I was coming back from work and had my laptop with me. I thought it was safer in the secured carpark than bringing it in to the changing room with me. Unfortunatley not. Some Bastids got in and took the laptop. I had a lot of useful information on it as well which makes it even more frustrating. However life goes on. Anyone offers you a macbook Air with 13" screen let me know.

Training wise the last 10 days have been pretty good. Following this program gives me a real insight into how those guys who are pretty serious train. I'm not really 100% sure my body would be able to hold up to this volume of training on a regular basis. I feel pretty wrecked but I suppose it's a bit like cramming for the leaving cert at this stage. It probably explains why a lot of people tend to come into the sport of Triathlon for 3-6 years then leave often coming back again. I feel you lose the enjoyment out of it if you train 10+ hours a week. Maybe that's just me.

Comparing figures to last year since I started this program I have already this month only on 20th over reached my running totals for last March. I've almost hit my bike totals and will by the time the month is out. The only thing i'm actually down on last month is my swimming but that's to be expected last year I was in the pool 4-5 times a week coming towards the end of it.

Starting to look forward to lanza now as the chances of finishing it are getting better. I think last month if you had of dropped me onto the course i would have quit around 120k into the bike. Now I think I might get a bit further and i've still 9 weeks to get a bit fitter again.

10 Weeks out from Ironman.

So I did my first week of the training plan. Again first time actually following a plan. It made training a bit more interesting. Most of my runs would be for example 50 minute run and i'd do it at my own pace not too hard not too easy. This time I had to do 6 5minute hill repeats, I really enjoyed it. Of course it was hard but the time flew by and it was great crack. I did them up in Glen Of The Downs woods where I used to train years ago during off season in Rugby when I was actually pretty fit, so it was great to be back up there.

Didn't do a huge amount of swimming this week. I suppose I'm not really too worried about the swim this year. I'm not going to chase sub 60 as I gave that a real crack last year and didn't do it so I reckon with a little bit of training I'll still get out of the water in under 75 minutes. The big difference that i'm hoping to make this year is to knock at least an hour off my overall time. The obvious target is the run at it took me 5hours 50mins there's a lot of room for improvement there. I'm not sure I can go much faster on the bike course it's not made for someone as big as me!!

So I managed 4 runs this week and 3 bikes it's possibly been my best week ever. I was supposed to run for 2:30 on Sunday but I got back to the car after 2 hours and couldn't get going again once I stopped. This week I'm supposed to do an "Ironman Day". It involves a 3k swim and then stay off your feet for at least 90 minutes get on the bike for 5 hours then off your feet for 90 minutes and a 2 hour 30minute run. It might break me.

11 Weeks out from Ironman lanza

I had hoped I'd be in a much better place this time around. However training has really taken a backward step the last few weeks as Life has gotten in the way. In general Feb wasn't a good month training wise. I wouldn't call it a right off but it wasn't great.

Last weekend we got out to Bohermeen to do a stand at the event and it was great to meet so many people and loads of the guys all got pb's on what was a very tough day for it. Miserable conditions at the start and it did ease off a little through the race but was tough starting a race with a serious wind in your face and rain belting down. Our own Mark Horan from the Ashtown store managed a PB and came home in the top 10.

So what have I been doing since I last updated the blog just prior to Christmas. Well I lost focus a little in January as I signed up with Lisa Howley and a few others to run 2014 Kilometers in 2014. It only works out at 5.5k a day. However I went on a bit of a running streak in January. This then ended when I signed up for "The Tour of Sufferlandia" on trainer road. You had 6 days of cycling sometimes it was only an hour or two but it was so intense that I really found it hard to recover the next day. It started on the Sunday and ran for a week. I actually got to the Saturday but I would have had to do one 2 hour session in the morning and then a 2 hour in the evening to have it completed so ended up pulling out a day early.

I sort of drifted through Feb. Then got to March and realised that I was way off where I needed to be. The running was prob the one thing I thought was going ok however when I tested myself over 21k I thought I'd do an easy enough pace and come in at 1:45 feeling pretty fresh however I came in at 1:48 feeling like I had given it everything.

So hit the panic button and decided for the first time in my stellar Ironman career to download a training plan. So had a look at a few different options lots of them didn't appeal to me because they were 34 weeks long. I eventually found one that was only 12 weeks in length (i'd have to start on week 2), the other major problem was it said sub 9:30 training plan. Now seeing as I've never broken 14hours in 5 attempts going sub 9:30 seemed a bit fanciful. I thought if I'm going to pay for something I might as well see what sort of training these guys do. The answer is a lot. There's no real rest day as such and when I usually consider a balanced week is if I did two sessions of each discipline there are many days when you are doing all three in one day. In fact I think most days on the program involve all three at some point. I'll give it a go I can't see myself sticking to this level of training. It works out at between 15 and 20 hours a week I think i'd be too wrecked to stay with that.

I'll report back next week.

Damo.