Xterra and I

Move along now....

2011-03-04T15:59:00.003Z

Time for a move to Wordpress.

if you've been reading, and still feel like reading;

Here

Is where it'll be at from now on.

The Benefits of Cycling for Long Term Health and Fitness.

2011-02-21T15:40:00.003Z

I got asked to give an addition to the BikeHub.ie website a while back. I faffed and faffed due to being away, and frankly not knowing what to write about. Should i aim it to be more performance oriented as my interests lie, should it be more general, should i just accuse everyone of being fat and needing a bike to get fitter.

I think i managed to find a common ground, drawing from my own experience of being a fat, unhealthy, angry person and what cycling and exercise did for me in many ways. Somehow i think i made it sound not to much of a rant....but well....one has to rant when you see how fat the country is getting and where it is going to take us in the future.

Hopefully Paul won't rip this to shreds and will at least let it be posted like this....

First draft, probably lots of errors, blah blah blah Mike.

~~~

The Benefits of Cycling for Long Term Health and Fitness.

The impact that cycling can have on a persons long term health and wellness are well known within medical and scientific community. Yet among many it is still seen as an activity for the elite few requiring hours of dedication. For many during the 70's and 80's names such as Kelly, Roche and Elliot followed the peak of cycling interest for many households in Ireland. Cycling was a popular sport and for many still the only manner of transport.

Bicycles bought and ridden with so much love now remain rusting in a shed unused, unloved and unridden. We forgot what was amazing about cycling, we left it behind, and moved into the modern transportation age. We left the bike at home and we drove, rode the bus, or DARTed to work. We became apathetic.

Every year more people are diagnosed with conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes (adult onset diabetes), and atherosclerosis. All of these conditions are directly related to living a sedate, inactive, lifestyle and sadly our country is following a similar trend to the United States ten years ago. Current medical guidelines from the ACSM for exercise advocate the following as minimum as targets for exercise, yet how many of us actually reach them:

Do moderately intense cardio 30 minutes a day, five days a week
Or
Do vigorously intense cardio 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week
And
Do eight to 10 strength-training exercises, eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise twice a week.

One of the defining moments for me that brought a realisation of the long term health of cycling was while training in the Alps 2 summers ago. Half way thorough a long training cycle, with the Col de la Madaline as the main climb for the day, we'd just reached the summit and were waiting for the rest of the group. A man in his early 60's rode towards us on a touring bike with panniers full of food. We got chatting to him and discovered that every day he rode over the Col, 1993 meters high, every day to a village on the far side, bought his bread, and rode home. On asking 'why?' in confused tones, the reply 'Bien sur, pourquoi pas?' - 'Sure, why not?'

To advocate anyone going from zero to hero and cycling such vertical distances every day from no training would be foolish, and unreasonable. However a little reassessment of what is possible day to day to meet the MINIMUM requirements for exercise would allow for an improvement in your life as you age. With cycling as a non impact sport it is one of the easiest sports to undertake. You have an initial investment for sure, but you are free from gym fee's, free from a singular location to be allowed to exercise, and free to exercise when you want.

Honestly ask yourself.
- Do I meet the minimum requirements for exercise?
- Why do I not make these requirements?
- What can I do to meet them?
Look at where you work.
- Can you shower when you get in?
- Can you leave clothes in to change into?
- Can I ride into work?
Assess the time requirements.
- Is it faster to ride in, or sit in traffic for an hour?
- Can I ride with my family or partner?
Assess the benefits.
- How much will you save on petrol or public transport?
- Will you be calmer after riding in, or sitting in traffic staring at the learner driver stalling at every light on the way into work?
- What opportunities could this open for me?
  
  ~~~

Gregory May, B. Sc: Greg is a post graduate research student in the Department of Health and Human Performance in Dublin City University and a member of the Applied Sports Performance Research Group. His primary area of research deals with understanding the factors that effect energy expenditure in different activities. As a member of the CLARITY: Centre for Sensor Web Technologies he is able to investigate aspects of real world cycling with novel technologies not previously available to coaches, athletes or scientists outside of a laboratory setting. In addition to a diverse coaching background in cycling, triathlon and other sports he is also a competitive mountain biker and triathlete. Someday he hopes to finish his Ph.D. but cycling keeps getting in the way.

Lanza Training Camp Recap

2011-02-18T10:47:00.004Z

Ok it's been a while since the camp. Body has sucked up the workload and I'm well back into my 'routine' of training, aka getting it in where i can. No excuses for feeling tired, but I always manage to find them somewhere.

The camp was excellent. I didn't realise that it was going to be of so much of a benefit to train with triathlete again, ride and run hard, and get more swimming in a week than i did in the 3 months prior.

The week took the normal tone of;

Wake up, eat, get changed into kit, do exercise, get changed, eat, get changed, exercise, get changed, shower, eat, sleep.

Somewhat monotonous, but at the same time easy to focus on what needed to be done, do it, enjoy it, eat, and recover. Nothing else. It was nice to unplug, back off and just get on with it.

Was a pretty heavy week training load wise. Over 28 hours in total in the 7 days on the island. Broke down as the follows:

Cycling: 17.5 hours
Running: 3 hours
Swimming: 7 hours

Within each of these we had some key sessions, and i had a session or two of my own that i treated key within the bike session. Highlights for the week were definitely the IM ride on the bike route ride, the triathlon that turned into an aquathon due to the wind(I HATE aquathons), and the hill rep session with Nick on the last day.

Overall we got huge volume in and some huge intensity on some days, i pussied out of a few sessions, namly the half marathon in the storm (well done Pauline) and TBH i think it was worth the trip. Already planning next years return to the song of my dreams:

ACSM 2011

2011-02-03T15:27:00.000Z

Just got word i have an oral presentation at ACSM in Denver this summer:

Abstract Submitted:

An Analysis of the Impact of Acute Sleep Deprivation on Repeat Cycling Time Trial Performance

Author Block Gregory C. May, Paula A. Fitzpatrick, Sarah Jane Cullen, Lauren Kelly, Anna O'Hagan, Giles D. Warrington, FACSM. Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland.

Email: gregory.c.may@gmail.com

Abstract:

Ultra-endurance cycling events, such as the Race Around Ireland (RAI), involve performing periods of intermittent high intensity cycling for extended durations. The ability to maintain a consistently high mean power output whilst in a sleep deprived state is a critical factor in optimising performance. Purpose: To evaluate the effects of acute sleep deprivation, over 24 hours, on a repeat cycling time trial performance. Methods: Six trained male cyclists (mean ± SD: age 33 ± 4 years; height 1.82 ± 0.03 m; mass 79.3 ± 8 kg) were tested on 3 occasions; each testing bout was separated by 7 days, within a 21 day period. During the first test, subjects performed a maximal incremental test on an electromagnetically braked cycle ergometer. Following a standardised recovery period, each subject then completed a baseline 20 minute self-paced maximal performance test (MPT). The subjects subsequently returned on two further occasions to perform two 24 hour trials. During the course of each 24 hour trial the subjects performed a total of 4 MPT's at set time points in either a sleep deprived (SDep) and or sleep normal (SNorm) state using a randomised crossover design. The MPT’s were undertaken at 0 (T1); 8 (T2); 17 (T3); and 24 hours (T4). During the SDep trial subjects accrued no sleep, while during the SNorm trial they were allocated an 8 hour sleep period between T2 and T3. Results: SNorm resulted in a mean sleep duration of 365 ± 38 minutes. No significant differences were found across baseline trials for each of the 3 tests or for the mean cumulative distance covered over the 4 MPT’s (T1-T4) for SDep compared to SNorm. Further analysis of the data revealed a significant decrease in the total distance covered during the MPT at T3 when compared with T2 (13331m ± 1139m vs. 13867m ± 1234m, p<0.05)>

This work is supported by Science Foundation Ireland under grant 07/CE/I1147

Must work on my ranting voice....

Week in Lanza

2011-01-31T10:15:00.001Z

Back to the real world with a massive CRASH.

Had a great week training in Lanzarote with the Manchester Triathlon Club. Clocked up some amazing hours between bike, run and, swim.

Have to catch up on real world work before i can stick up stats. But to say i've put a block in is an understatement.

28hours in 6 days....oh yes

Irish Cyclocross National Championships

2011-01-10T12:30:00.006Z

So long 2010, roll on 2011. national championships were yesterday, and a major focus for me all season.

Not the greatest turnout with the defending champion not turning up for reasons known to some of us, an injury for others. Got a nice gridding spot on the 3rd row on the outside and the UCI commissar refused to let anyone slot into missing spaces so the grid was safe for the first few corners.

Tough course with most of the corners either sheet ice, mud over ice, or leaves over ice. All in all a very fast course, but one that could drop you at any stage. Frist lap saw me on the ground for a brief period not loosing any places though was a benefit, getting gapped to the first 10 was not.

Hard for the first lap, hard for the second lap, see where the gaps were, then ride from there. Ended in a bunch with a lad i knew from many races this season, and another roadie who was incapable of staying upright. 4th lap and i just had to go ride away as i'd nearly been in two crashes because of him so power on and ride off.

Yesterday was all about riding solid, staying on the bike, getting in as third rider for the club, getting the team prize. Nothing else. That was all that mattered to me. Ride smart, ride strong, don't get a mechanical.

55mins later we crossed the finish line. Team prize secured, personal goal of top 15 finish attained (14th overall, 12th senior). Season over. Standing on a podium is something ive not done in a few years, and man it felt good.

Also beards make you faster. FACT.

Big thanks to the guys from BikeHub in Howth for pitting for me, Dave and Paul. Bikehub sorted me with a bike for this seasons racing at a great price and have fixed it a few times after ive ruined it. Real help when it comes to not having to think about my kit.

Twas The Night Before Cross Nats

2011-01-08T20:18:00.002Z

Twas The Night Before Cross Nats,

Not a rider was stirring, except in one house;

The skinsuit was hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that cold weather soon would be there;

The tubs were nestled all snug on their rims,

While visions of mud rut danced in their heads;

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my lid,

Had just settled down for a long summers kip,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen rain

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature rider, and 9 massive gears,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St. Slick.

More rapid than Sven his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, Seymour! now, Ryan! now, McCall and Campbell!

On, Convil ! on Newman! on, McDonald and Ahern!

To the top of the steps! to the top of the hill!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As wet muds that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With the bike full of carbon, and St. Slick too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and posing of each little hoof.*

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Slick came with a bound.

He was dressed all in lycra , from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with blood dirt and muck;

A bundle of tubs he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were so gaunt, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the stubble on his chin was as cool as the snow;

The stump of a Torq bar he held tight in his teeth,

And the smell it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was skinny and ripper , a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the kit bags ; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his bike, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

"No Sherlock, no Ferguson, we're in for a fight!"

*you try find something that rhymes with hoof....good luck tomorrow all

Specialised Crux Review

2011-01-05T17:58:00.005Z

First off i have to give a HUGE thanks to the guys at BikeHub in Howth. They have been a huge help to me this year after i smashed up my bike a few times this season. Paul sorted me with some great racing kit bike wise this year and i cannot recommend the shop enough. They keep buying me coffee and lunch too...

Earlier in the season I realised it was getting to double bike time. I've managed to race 3 seasons on only one bike, but was starting to get to the point where i was crashing out enough to warrant having a spare. That and some of the other kids are at it now as well ;)

Spent weeks searching the net, as you do, and pretty much decided on the Crux. Fills all the blanks about weight, fit, and colour. It was also a pretty damn close match for my UJC which I've ridden the past 2 seasons on.

Changes from stock were pretty simple; Ultegra rear mech, and a set of Frogleg canti's. (Didn't get on with the Avid brakes, and getting carbon pads for less than 45 Euro was near impossible). The Zipps and tubs were my own...more on tyre choices for the year later.

Pro's:

Internal cables on a cross bike. What more can i say. Makes it easier to shoulder, keeps the gunk out, and makes the bike look much much better.
Fork, its so stiff. No flex, no straying off line. Stick it where you want and it goes there. Braver than me.
Chainstay clearance is much much MUCH better for my heals than the last two bikes ive had. Probably not going to need to constantly apply helitape.
Looks like a carbon frame :) The amount of people who have done a double take when they realise its not..priceless.

Con's:

When i was looking at the bike the first time i noticed the open end to the tubing on the downtube. OK..water does not tend to go to much upwards into the tube..but...when you are washing the bike and water gets into the tube it can flow down towards the headtube, where it then flows into the toptube...and wont come out. Pain in the ass.
Fork break brace thingy. Pretty much makes it impossible to carry with your arm across the headtube...as i do. So either i learn to carry under the downtube or i deal with the bruises on my forearms for the near future.
Brakes, the stock Avid brakes are terrible. No modulation, but lots of power...so kinda ok..but impossible to get carbon brake pads for in Ireland. So pointless. Swapped them out for Froglegs.

Would I advise someone to buy one? Yes. Would i buy one as a second bike for next season? Yes.

Christmas & BikePure GP 2

2011-01-05T17:39:00.004Z

Being over in Bradford for the National Trophy meant i missed the first instalment of this race. Based on how i rode that weekend it probably would have gone pear-shaped anyway so no issue.

The week before was the happy festive eating period and a time of busyness getting things done before the college closed. But the snow of the weeks leading into it left me with more time than usual as most parties were cancelled, people couldn't get about, and in general the country slowed down. Honeslty it was the nicest lead into Christmas i can remember.

Training was minimal on the bike as it was pretty hairy most days, the turbo got some use, but i got out for a few longer rides on the MTB with lads from Team WORC. All in all a bit less intensity, but a good bit of a base prep to ward off the beer and cheer that was going to follow.

Pauline finally managed to get over to Ireland after taking 4 trains, a bus, ferry, and a bus so i could drive her home over the mental roads. Honestly it was great to just get away from Dublin for the whole of Christmas. I'm not one for it, or the historical BS that has come with it in my life and it was a fresh blast of air akin to all this Vit D that I've been taking when dealing with issues.

After braving the frozen lake and roads we had to head home to Dublin to catch yet another ferry to the UK. On the way it was decided that i was racing as the roads were clear and everyone was going to be there. Awesome elite field with pretty much the entire club turning up. So at least the racing was going to be fast.

Sub 5minute lap was on the cards, plan was to hammer it, see what happens, but not fall over for a change. Was happy with the outcome of the race, even though the field was small, 9th, muddy, tired. What more could you ask for TBH. had some good racing with Andy and Philip until I dropped the bike and lost a place to Andy. Starts are still weak though. going to have to get the aggression I had in Lurgan back. Think that fall did more to me than hurt my elbow.

It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

2010-12-22T22:27:00.002Z

> what is a grue?
The grue is a sinister, lurking presence in the dark places of the earth. Its favorite diet is adventurers, but its insatiable appetite is tempered by its fear of light. No grue has ever been seen by the light of day, and few have survived its fearsome jaws to tell the tale

Night time is upon us. We wake up in the dark. We go to bed in the dark. In between i live in a basement.

Running at night, riding at night, training at night. If it wasn't so damn quiet it'd be depressing.

On my own running on my local trails with nothing to entertain me. Turn my brain off. Listen to my breathing and foot falls. Just run.

There are some benefits to winter.

Bradford National Series

2010-12-16T09:34:00.007Z

Taken from Heidi Swifts blog:

As bike racers we sometimes confuse approval of our successes for love. I remember the first time I got anywhere near the front of a race – the way people reacted differently as I came around course. More intense. More earnest. More approving. It felt good. I wanted to feel that way all the time.

It can get confusing. You have to sort that shit out and remember that you

are not your results. You are a human being who happens to pedal – amazing at so many other things, important for so many other reasons.

Bike racing can fuck you up, man. Don’t let it.

Stay in control. It’s ok, you’re ok.

Bradford was to host a round of the British National Trophy in Peel Park. Hoping to get some faster races in before Nationals this year, and to take a chance to race my first elite race outside Ireland i aranged to meet Alan Dorrington and steal his food and accommodation for a few days prior to the race. A quick ferry over, training session in the ice with Dave Haygarth and a trip to the Chirstmas markets in Manchester with Pauline sorted the first few days. Saturday was spent preparing bikes, getting all the little bits done and just waiting to race.

Sunday morning up early and inserting food into me, bikes into car, and extracting the contents of my bowls. Normal pre race roulette at the moment of if a toilet is close enough at any point in time. A quick drive out to Bradford saw us arrive with plenty of time to pre-ride the course before Alans race in the Vet's group.

Initial feelings on the course were: Hard, iced up, and rideable...even the off camber wall of death was doable. Then it happened. It started to warm up, the ground thawed and then they let 3 races go before us. It was never going to be a pretty race, but at the same time it was never going to be an easy race.

After the break we got a chance to re ride the course again. My previous tire choice went out the window, Fango's off, Rhinos and Mud's to try. Then it happened having ridden 'the descent' in warm up i was confident of both line options. But i wanted to try them both in the mud. I tried the left line and dropped the bike. Ok...not the end of the world go again...dropped it again....broke my shifter....felt like an idiot...the beginning of the end.

Lined up, last min on the line pee and waited to get gridded. Middle slot 4th row. Not ideal, but not the back either. Commissars checking wheels, brakes and all the bits they like too do. No issues with the wheels i was running which was nice. 1 minute to go call. Check HRM, check brain, check gear. 30 seconds. Hooter and rolling, working to clip in as fast as possible.

OK start, coming into the first corner where i wanted to be, take a few places in the first section, and get into the line-out going into the first fast descent and manage to get away with it by running hard and fast. Go as hard as i can for the first lap until the off camber mud traverse section, opt to run this on the first lap and see how it goes on the way. Approach the run up and realise just how many people have crowded around to watch the race. Very different than home. Cross the line and bypass the pit on the first lap. Bike still ok at this time. Hit the descent running and get a 'good option lad' from a local Yorkshireman as i pass 3 guys trying to ride the drop. Hill running experience paying off there again.

Then the wheels came off. I started dropping wheels, thinking about changing bikes to a bike that I'd borrowed from Alan. Thinking about THAT run-up again, THAT descent, and all the other things that cause you to ride like a dog on tiles. HR dropped, breathing increased, RPE went up, a shitstorm hit my body and i could not cope. I'd love to say that i kept it together, i'd love to say that i clawed it back from the brink and chased down the places i lost, i'd love to say that i fought on and was able to overcome my daemons.

No.

I failed on all accounts to deal with my brain and put it in its place. I went backwards, worse than i think i have ever done. Last place, lapped on the 4th lap, looked at by the commissar and given the option to bail. Hit the pits, jumped out of the plane and didn't pull the cord. Race over. Disappointment, apologies to Alan and Pauline who did an amazing job pitting for me, clean bikes when i needed them, no complaints from them at any stage.

Experiences like this need to be learnt from. Nationals are 4 weeks away. I have to look at what i want to do there and see if it is possible. I have to work on my technical skills again. I need to sort my brain out so i can claw it back when it goes into spiral mode.

Ulster Cyclocross Championships

2010-12-01T10:15:00.004Z

Friday through Saturday and the snow started to fall. Not only were we being given small craft warnings (bikes are small crafts aren't they?) but the temperature was due to plummet. Safe in the knowledge that the Irish road system would fail with even the slightest hint of snow i opened a beer late on Saturday night and settled into a night of relaxing before a race that i assumed would be cancelled. However not to be outdone i did ease off after the second beer, pack the kit bags, set the alarm for 8am, and get to bed by 11:30pm. Just in case.

8am alarm call and I've been away for an hour anyway. Body is adjusted to winter time now and tries to get as much sunlight as it can in the morning. Open the curtains to find 10cm of snow in the back garden and the car under the same in the front. Wander to the loo and send people some texts. Mostly no commital answers until one back from Andy saying 'Robin is on his way up, slowly'. Bugger..... if he is going there is a reason. Text Robin to hear that its slow but he's not hit the M1 yet. Living only 10mins from the main road to the north has its benefits...and if it was clear...even vaugly... Text back at 9:10am 'M1 clear, slow going, get move on'

9:15am, car packed, two bikes, 3 wheelsets, kit, water, ski pants and jacket. 9:17am rolling/sliding to the M1. 10:00am hit the M1 after witnessing some terrible drivers trying to drive at 60kph on sheet ice. One lane open on the main motorway, 40kph until Balbriggan when it opens out fully and can get up to 80. Once past Drogheda there is no snow, frost yes, but its like a different world. Dublin got hit bad for a change but the North was fine. very very weird. Rest of the way to Rostrevor as fast as the limits allow sitting in the car park for the race at 11:15am. Perfect.

Kilbroney park in Rostervor is one of those CX venues that I love and hate. A DNF there last year saw me fall from a top 10 place to a pile of vomiting hell for a week or two.Met up with Robin, Evan, Dave and Andy after sign on and a quick lap of two. The course is great but you need to be fit, very fit. Freezing conditions had left the course like a road race. The MTB races before did nothing to cut the ground up and it was perfect for us. Gridded on the second row had me in a good position for the first section but the first two corners were going to sort it out quick enough. Sure enough after the gun Glen Kinning dropped it in the second corner and a bunch of 12 us managed to get away.

the first lap had us all together until a fracture saw Robin and Matt Adier get away. Shortly afer that another move saw me in a group of 4 hanging off the back of an 8 behind the lads. Matt wrecked his derauiler and that was that for the day. Scrapping would ensue among these groups. Andy Newman from WORC worked his way up and past me and replaced Dave O'Neil (WORC) in the pain train. Glen made his way back up to help his team mate and we played cat and mouse for the next 6 laps. With the course running hard and fast average speed for the race was 21.3kph. Second last lap and i binned it trying to attack out of the group i was in. Glen was smart enough and attacked the second he got past my flailing corpse and i had to work as hard as i could to get back to him. At the exact point again on the last lap where i caught him Glen attacked again. Couldn't get onto his wheel, totally spent but had to defend from the two guys on my wheel. Luckily into the last section of single track i could pull back, ease off and recover. The final climb would be where the attacks came from and i needed to go with them. James McMaster from Curran Racing attacked on the last hill and i went with him before he got to my hip. With an on coming bush in his way he backed off and i went again. Jack from East Antrim CC managed to get past James and that was the end of that.

Video, Photos, and results from the day. 10th place overall, a good attack from Glen left me dead for 9th place. Great move and recovery from the crash on the first lap. Happy with the result overall, happy with how i rode, just not 100% smart on some sections. Good feelings before the National Trophy race in Bradford on the 12th of December.

CX racing

2010-11-22T17:28:00.001Z

Few races in the last few weeks and a few other things:

Sickness:

Week off the bike bar a single day MTBing in COrk with Enda. On some killer antibiotics to try and kill whatever has been getting me down. Appears to have worked. At the same time i concentrated on some work and got myself in a better position in coaching and work circles so double plus good.

New bike:

It happened, i have been crashing way way to much and a double bike opportunity came about. Will post later about it but HUGE thanks to Paul at the Bike Hub in Howth for sorting me out.

Super Cross Cup - Rnd 4: Tymon

Much much muddier than last time. Felt ok going in. Rode hard as i could as i was gridded pretty badly. Got into top 15 after the first lap then pushed up to outside the top 10. Crashed out following Andy Newman into the off camber on lap 3. Buggered up the bike, so hit the pits for the other bike. But eneded up in 30th. 20 places in 30seconds on the deck. CX has become compeditive now... Pushed as hard as i could but the ribs were killing me. Managed a 26th place but honestly spent the last 3 laps just riding and restraining myself for Sunday. Beers on Sat night were good though :)

Ulster CX - Belfast, Ormeau Park:

After crashing on Sat i wasn't sure how id race today, decided to call it on the morning of the race. Woke up, hurt, but not enough not to go up. Freezing cold day. Horrible course (only cause i felt intimidated by 90% of it) and i was close to not racing. MTFU after i watched Pauline ride well (to 3rd, well done that girl). Course raced well, can't deny that, it just was on the border of what i can ride. All my time was made up on the lower CX section where i could go 100%. One crash resulted in 5 places lots, of which i caught back up 3 to finish 9th. Rode the UJC and switched to the new bike when i realised i needed tubs that were attached. First race this year i am actually happy with my result.

Lisburn Cyclocross, Ulster CX Rnd3

2010-11-08T10:34:00.003Z

Ok, for the first time this season a positive race report. First off to the race orginiers...what a course. Chapeau. You stepped up and it was excellent, fast, flowing, slow where it needed to be, painfull everywhere.

Have been sick for weeks with some sort of viral thing, cant get rid of it, been to docs, have stuff to go on as of tomorrow. Turned up to the Lisburn of the Ulster CX league just to ride, not to race.

Surprised that i got gridded as i'd missed the last round, but always a nice feeling to get called up, sat on the third row. Sitting in a bunch of guys i know but am used to being ahead of was a bit odd, but so be it.

Easy fast start saw a quick stretch of fireroad into a 100m section of grass. This had got boards on, which are a stong point of mine, but they were removed at the last minute and we ended up riding a quagmire. All i can say is thank you tubs and 30PSI. Short fast sections of gravel which rode like mini Belgian sand pits lead to a quick tarmac/carpet climb up to the return section.

Fast rolling descents with some tight off camber corners meant that you were trusting your tires to grip at huge speeds sometimes. Underlying rocks were there to punish those running clinchers, but it turned out that rear mechs were the food of the day. 9 mechs...9 ...were counted as being off bikes by the end of the race. Mud, gravel and speed do not combine well. Personally no chain suck. WD-40 the bike the day before, it works.

Had a few great laps racing Jason Henry until i managed to drop him. Then got dropped by my own team mate and spent 5 laps racing on my own (out of 9). Slowly made my way up from 16th on the grid and first lap, to 11th overall. Two places due to mechanicals, the rest...they just were not willing to suffer.

Positives: No mechanicals, no crashes, never even a single sketchy moment
Negatives: I could go harder, i can push the corners.

Injury Free?

2010-10-29T15:33:00.001+01:00

It's been a while since ive been injured. Quite a while and it's been great to be honest. Getting told i'd managed to incur a stress fracture and a trapped nerve was a pain in the nuts to put it mildly. Coming at the same time as rolling 2 tubs at one race, crashing 4 times hard in a week, and then puncturing a tub in the next race...well i was in a bad place.

The last week has been recovery, mental and physical.

Went to the physio last night and got the all clear to run again. Not for long, 15mins, and not fast or hard. Somehow i've managed to keep my weight in check with no running. Sitting below 81kg at the moment and i can be happy with 3 months until nationals.

Tonight i will run for the first time in 6 weeks. It will be slow. I may even put some music on. It will be slow, and my feet will get soaked in the grass. But i cannot explain how much i am looking forward to it.

6min/km here i come.

Weekend away, roads and more roads

2010-10-26T11:43:00.001+01:00

Long weekend was on the cards. I've somehow managed to miss the other Bankholidays this summer by forgetting they were about to happen. Not this time, a plan needed to be hatched.

Was working on Friday night at the St Pats vs Bray Wanderers game (it was terrible) so couldn't get away super early. Plan was to head off to Cavan early on Saturday morning, but i didn't get home until 12:30pm as someone did not want to do the business, and i got to bed sometime after 1am as i'd not eaten dinner. Slept through and woke up at 10:30am....fail. I was supposed to be on the road at 10am. OOps. 1pm rolling out of the house with 100km to head to get to Virginia. Must get to Pumpkin Festival!

Mostly the ride was flat with some small kickers along the way. Section out of Kells nearly bored me to death, thankfully music kept me alive. Nearly died twice within 10m of entering Virginia, but 3hrs 45mins later and a good ride was in the bank. Changed, coffee'd, and then dinner with Paulines folks.

Plan for the rest of the weekend was vague. Hotel booked in Achill Island for the Sunday night, get there at some point, get home. Sin e. Drove to Enniskillen that evening and I managed not to kill anyone and watched a good film. I'd no clothes with me so dressed in Mikes clothing for the weekend. Baggy and woollen mostly!

Woke up the next morning to some awesome frost and ice. Inversion on the lake and perfect skys. Drive to Achill was going to be great! Coffee stops and a few other stops on the way and we got to the island in time to enjoy the great weather in a picnic at the Sound. Met a few friends then went for a drive on the island for a few hours to see bits we'd never seen. No surf so not much else to do. Dinner and a few beers that evening before bed, then another long drive back to Dublin. Popped into cinema to see The Social Network (its rather good) then bed.

In total i think i've doubled or tripled the entire amount of time i have ever driven a car in this one weekend. Simple as TBH...

Supercross Rnd 2: Tymon Park IMBRC

2010-10-19T14:19:00.005+01:00

Tymon Park was where i popped my cyclocross cherry all those years ago. I'd done a race or two on a mountain bike but had never raced proper on a CX bike. I managed to scrounge together a beater of a bike in the form of an old Flanders CX frame. It was heavy, i was heavy, and the course was a nationals that went down in history for being over within 20m when a crash occurred into the first section of singletrack. Suffice to say i got my ass handed to me and finished +3 laps. It was a birth by fire for me.

4 years on and allot has changed. Gone are the singletrack sections, gone is the crazy start, and gone is the mud and tears of being a fat bloke carting a 12kg bike about the course. 3 years later and this is a course i love returning to and this year it was perfection. 3m wide the whole way round, UCI standard for 99%, and fast as you could make it.

Race was going to be stacked from the start, all the big names were out and looked like a great race with was in store. Personally i was feeling ok. Had just recovered from a chest cold, but after being struck with a case of the 'stop training Greg' in the form of a trapped ulnar nerve and a stress fracture in my leg i pretty much should have just hung up the wheels. However being gridded always has a bit more behind it and its great to get called up to a race. Makes you feel like you've achieved something...or such.

Either way i opted to race, for good or bad i don't know. First few laps were ok, then it all went wrong. The course was a top end course, you needed raw V02 power and mine was still covered in phlegm and it made its way up on more than one occasion. 4 laps in and i started to realise i was going to be lucky to get through this in the top 20 let alone 30. Recovery mode and just ride to maintain places. 3 laps later and it wasn't getting better. Keith from Sundrive passed me noting that i looked like shit and should pull over. In a nice way. But Karma had other ideas and i punctured my front tub. Right before the techy off camber bits. Cock.

Ran a bit, realised this was bad for my leg, then just finished the lap and pulled in. Pissed off, but then i found out that 15 people suffered the same. Me thinks that people in the UK will be getting muchos money from Irish riders looking for new tubs!

Supercross Rnd 1: Swords CC

2010-10-15T16:41:00.007+01:00

The Stevens Supercross Cup. Alwyas good racing. Always a deep field at the front end. Always hard. Always fast. Always excellent. This year we are back in Leinster for the 4 round series. Back and bigger than ever. With 34-40 people turning up at training and this the first race in the South all year it was going to be a big one. 50 people presigned. 15 more signed on at the startline. This was going to be epic.

The course designed by Dave O'Neil was a definite Dave course. Fast corners, fast straights, no uber tech, but forced running that paid well for cross riders, and corners that you could only just maintain grip at high speed on. A crew from Team-WORC arrived to help set the course and clean as much of the grass and cans off as we could.

Starting grid was stacked in the front two rows. Robin, Giller, Dave O, Evan, Gormo, Aiden, Peter, Myles, Niall...i knew everyone on the front two rows by name and new this was going to be a very fast start. Some random roadies tried to slot in at the front and were promptly run through when the whitle went. 10 laps flat out. Bring it on.

Straight line it from the gun into the first corner, 3 wide with Stu on the right and Niall on the left, pull away from Niall but he's all over me on the next corner. Avoid the corner we all assumed would cause a crash and hit the speed dip to bypass the river. Up onto the dirt corner like a supermoto course and Niall is trying to undertake, quick flick into his line and he's forced to go high, i go low and make the run up before him.

Massive attack out of the run up and try to gap him Latch onto Stu and Noel from WORC and we work like hounds to gap the group. Hit the ride up fast and have got 5-10m's on the Rocky Mtn boys. Down the straight, first time over the boards (385mm of UCI goodness). Down the grassy edge of the GAA pitch and into the funnel to the 'drop'.

Ride the drop and realise this is a great spot to attack. Pull ahead of Stu and Noel as they are suffering a bit and spot Myles in his Bikepure kit ahead. Target sighted. Attack. Cross the finish line and 200m later I'm on the back of the group with Myles, Colm and Sean. Sit in for half a lap until I decide to make my presence known. Track riding taught me to control from the front like a good kirin rider so i move past them on the boards and get to the front. Also allows for blocking if its needed.

3rd lap and I'm getting pissed off with the guy from Tiernans on my wheel. I made an attempt to bridge to the next group and you are wheel sucking. Shouted 'Either work, or i will drop your sorry ass'. He didn't so i went harder. Myles was smarter than that and half a lap later he is all over me again. Ease off. This guy can ride and we still have 6 laps to go.

And so it went until lap 8. I'd attack, drop Myles, he'd work his balls off to get back onto me and drag the Tiernans rider up to us. Colm had punctured somewhere around lap 7 so was gone, and Sean was off the back and suffering....i hoped. Start of lap 9 and i had to go. As i was winding up to go the lad from Tiernans goes. Let him go, hop on his wheel and get ready to spring board after the run up. This has to be hard as i can no sticking around to see if they chase.

Big right hander. Fast. To fast for my confort. Tub goes off the rim. Rim catches. I highside and end up on the ground, the same place i rolled in warmup. Curse as Myles and co ride past. Throw a massive Millar time and then cop on. Roll the tub back on. Get running kid. Run the section to the corners as Stu comes back to me. Tell him to ride on as i cant corner. Eventually get to the pit, change the front wheel and start again. This is going to be hard. I'd gone from 10th to 21st in a matter of seconds. Chase as hard as i can, corner way to ragged, hold it, get a place. Get another one at the boards and bridge to Asa and another lad.

Holding on as Asa leads into the drop. I know he is going to attack, and he does, just manage to get to his wheel again. 100m to go and a series of 90' corners and a big 180' corner. Skills need to work. Think of it as a match sprint. Hold my line behind Asa sitting on his wheel. Final corner, he jumps the Newry rider, 50m to go and I'm already in the drops while Asa is still on the tops. Leverage will win. Drafting till 30m and i have to go. Out of the saddle. Full gas, head down, death or glory.

17th place. Two rolled tubs. Less points than i needed, but a good performance let down by a mechanical. Myles finished 10th. In my position. Tomorrow will be different.

Thanks to Waggers for the photos.

Lurgan Race File

2010-10-05T12:55:00.003+01:00

Bit late i know but may as well stick up race file from the weekend in Lurgan last week.

Looking through the file I was probably a little too hyped at the start line. HR was very very high and that probbably didn't help with trying to chase back onto the bunch after I crashed.

Lap times (bar first one) were pretty consistant, but you can see my HR dropping the whole way through. Just wasn't pushing near the end as i had nothing to chase for. Need to sort out the head for the race tomorrow. No matter where i am, treat it as a race, treat every place as if it was first place.

Last lap was a bit off due to 2 chain drops, hopefully new chain retainer arrives today. CRC be kind to me!

Ulster Cyclocross League Round 1: Lurgan Park

2010-10-04T10:49:00.005+01:00

Edited since posted:

First race of the year. Always nervous, always apprehensive, always a big start to a long season. THe course was big, the course was long, the course was more akin to a mountain bike race than a cyclocross course.

I was not impressed at first.

Lurgan has held some fantastic races in the past. This year its to be the national championships so they are aiming to step up to a race that needs to be run well or they will receive abuse. The location is excellent, huge area of land with a tennis pavillion at the start, food, playgrounds and a massive amount of mixed parkland to work with. But suffice to say the water jump raised its head again....arrghghg. I don't mind it, it just takes one twat to cream him/her self on it and they are screwed.

The warm up was odd. With a 12-13 minute lap (told you it was long) only 3 laps were done in warm up. very little time to learn the course and by the 3rd racing lap i had maybe got it sorted in my head. Not a good sign!

The MTB support race ripped up the ground less than expected and to top it off Pauline got 3rd place. Well done that girl...now to get her a cross bike. Lining up on the start line you could tell that it was going to be a hard start. All the fast boys up the front and not very much space.

Race kicked off and 50m in Matt Aider bumps me on the left and then he's on the ground. 3 other riders went down on the fast tarmac start, but this happens every now and again. Fair dues to the guy he chased back on and won the race! But...100m down the road a bunch of 7 of us had got away. At the first turn a rider went down taking myself and another rider with him. Straight to ground in a heap. Picked up bike and ran to notice chain was off. 6th -last in a split second. Myself and Rob from WORC started to chase back, but at that point it was race over.

First lap saw me get back up to 16th position but i'd spent any energy i'd have used for later in the race. Havent had to go so hard for so long in a while, good to know i can do it, but not the time to use it. A stupid mistake on the last lap saw me drop from 12th - 16th as i missed a gear change and hopped my chain again. Suffice to say i was angry crossing the line. Course ran better in racing than warmup, bike and rider are ok if a little bruised, but not the best start.

But hey, thats racing.

Youtube video*

*I am thinking of changing my name to Theo Bos....

Photos to come later:

http://picasaweb.google.com/paulineg/LurganCX2010#

Cross Session Review

2010-09-29T12:16:00.004+01:00

Every Tuesday during the cross season for the last 4 years a group of misfits has congregated in a field in Knocklyon. Riding in the dark beside a motorway under the residual light and flashing bike lights makes for interesting training. In the dark you learn to feel the bike better, learn when your tires are about to give way, and learn when you can and cannot go hard.

This year I've been busy for the first 3 sessions, last night was the first of many for the season in the run up to national championships in Lurgan this year. The sessions follow a mix of short laps with lots of tight corners looking at maintaining speed. Then normally a few fast hot laps with some mini racing, a bit of start work, and then if all goes well a bit of racing at the end.

This is where the magic happens, 1hr 15mins into a fairly intense session and you try to hold race pace for 15 or so minutes. This is where we find out who is going well, and who is going home.

This was last nights race. 15mins on a 8 lap course with a gradual climb each lap that tried to suck the tires off your wheels. One dismount and some super slithery corners may not have made for a fast course, but what it lacked in speed it made up for in pain. Two falls, a near crash into another rider and 3/4 of a lap gap between us and the scratch group meant that getting 18th out of 30 was harder than expected. Not to add that my Vittoria CX at 20PSI were not up to the level of grip.

But whatever doesnt kill you makes you stronger. 180bpm is a target i haven't hit in a while. For the last year or so i've not been able to hit any higher than 176bpm in a max test in the lab, or during simulated 20mins time trials of any sort. Working at 95% of max for 15mins is something I am happy with. Strength may be lacking, but at least the heart is coming back.

Cross Season Looming.

2010-09-28T12:51:00.002+01:00

Busy season this year, lots of races, lots of weekends, and a few double headers between southern races and up north. Going to be hard to pace for the whole season. Calendar is at : www.irishCX.com for those of you who haven't had a look yet.

I've been thinking about the year and what races I'm going to aim to go well at. Obviously we are going to aim to do our best at nationals in Lurgan this year, and a least get a place on the team prize. Supercross Cup is a biggie, but missing one round means that i need to make sure that i perform in the other 3 (maybe 4...shhhh). Ulster League, not a focus, but one or two of the courses suit me and i know i can top 10, maybe top 5 on them.

Training tonight should give me an idea where i am in relation to the Dublin crowd. Opening up the lungs and legs for the first time in a bunch of peers is always hard for me, for some reason I've always been paranoid about this, don't know why, but I'm sure I'm not the only person.

Bike ready. Rider ready. Courses....we will see.

Science Nerding again

2010-09-24T15:24:00.002+01:00

Interesting week, more and more people preparing for the cross season and some late season Ironmans. Helping out a few different riders and triathletes at the moment and really starting to understand how years of study actually relate to some thing.

Got some nice data to play with off Russell Cox , full timer in the IM game, and had a play with it looking at his rates of carbohydrate usage and fat oxidation. About two years ago Rich Brady came to me with the magic number. 2.5g of CHO/min. At the time i didn't know where he'd gotten it from but turns out years of training and racing as a pro had given him the idea. Figure i better credit the guy/coach/my ex coach.

Of late in the labs, and through some pretty hefty reading, ive looked into where this number may come from and how it will relate to performance not on the bike leg of the IM split, but more so on its effects on the running leg.

Starting to think more about not only the rate of CHO oxidation but perhaps the ratio of CHO:Fat oxidation as a better predictor. Obviously having more fat being oxidised at a given intensity as well as carbohydrate is ideal, but hitting the max fat burning intensity for racing is not exactly the ideal situation as it may result in super maximal/sub maximal burning of CHO at that point. Which in turn may not be optimal for the run.

More of a stream oc conciousness idea here, but what if we were to look at improving the ratio fo CHO:Fat not as a more CHO to Fat or more Fat to CHO but as an optimisation of the fat oxidation with minimal CHO utilisation at intensity that may not traditionally be fuelled this way. Possibly a dynamic pacing approach to the bike that initially up regulates fat oxidation and CHO consumption but allows for a throttling off of CHO usage and higher ability to oxidise fat could be used.

I could also be wrong.

It happened once.

Weekend of stickyness

2010-09-20T12:29:00.003+01:00

Cross season is looming. Way way way over weight myself but its coming down slowly. Just need to start ramping up the training again. Main thing is that nationals arent until January, so a good time to drop down to sub 80kg again. Mixed bag of a weekend, but overall pretty awesome.

Weekend riding:

Pauline was up for the weekend and looking to get into the idea of IM training. End of a good season for her racing Oly distance so we decided on a nice early long ride on Saturday. 7:30am clock went off....9:30am got up (FAIL). 11:45 rolled out of the house in the rain. TBH it was one of those days where we knew it was going to be a slow one, so didn't mind too much!

80km ride up and around north count Dublin, getting some nice hills in, some flat headwinds and some back country lanes that the cross bike would have been more suited to than the TT bike. Easy out pace (more here) and just a nice day out, albeit in the rain for the whole thing.

Weekend shopping:

Mostly we went shopping for food. However on Friday we made a detour to the Cycle Superstore to check out the end of year tri kit sale. This was both a bad and good idea at the same time. Managed to pick up some UBER deals. Total spent <€500, total worth ~€2,000! Picked up a set of 48mm carbon tubular race wheels that were €1,250 for €400. Unreal, can't believe the price. Credit card took the brunt of it, i'll figure out how to pay for it later. All i know is that i now won't be using my 404's during the cross season!

Also picked up a pair of those funky Zoot shoes that are in fashion, some tri shorts, swim shorts, and a nice pair of leggings. All good.

Weekend resting:

Other than shopping for tri stuff we spent it mostly shopping for food. One of those weekends where we decided that we wanted to eat good food. Made some key lime pie, made some other nice food, and ate well. Only had 4 beers this week (small ones too!) so getting back to the normal levels.

Plans for the week:

Train consistently

Eat well

4 units of alcohol MAX

Early season weigh in.

2010-09-13T09:29:00.002+01:00

Contenders READY. Cross bikes READY. 3. 2. 1. GO!

Currently sitting at 9.2kg without being anal yet.

Changes to last year already include a different seat (snapped the old one), new SPDs instead of egg beaters (snapped the old ones, 2 pairs), and tubs!

Clinchers are still good for training (and the 25km ride each way on tues) so have the two sets of them sitting about. Now added to the stable are two sets of tubs. the 404's and a pair of Alan aluminium rims.

Few bits to get done; Glue tubs, new rear derauiler, new gear cables, new straddle cables with adjuster bits! :O

Then i can start getting anal again about weight. Main thing is i've decreased the rotational weight on the bike, gained a bit at the pedals, but its low down so ok. Now to scour the web for light bits! Lightest 42 tooth ring?

Long rides into the north

2010-09-06T15:11:00.003+01:00

Missed out on riding Da Cooley Thriller last weekend due to Dublin City Triathlon. Managed to grab a .gpx file off a friend and decided to try out the courses setting on my 405 to see how it worked (never used it in over 2 years!). Surprised by how easy it was to use, just stick it onto compass mode and use it as a , this turn or that one option. Only got a bit lost once, and that was at the same point that Rob did!

Its a big old loop i have to say. 50km and pretty much 85% on singletrack and some double track. Nice mixture of tech and fast flowing Irish peaty awesomness. Great day out altogether. But...well it was moist when we arrived, and it only got worse. Much much worse.

That was probably the only time it became visable enough to take some actual biking footage. I'll throw the rest up later at some stage. but suffice to say 6 hours in the rain and headwind made for a hard day biking. Even more so when you have a nose full of sheep poo.

Dublin City Triathlon 2010

2010-09-02T13:04:00.003+01:00

5 years ago i took my pluge into the triathlon world. It all started with a gateway race at the Fingal triathlon as part of a team relay for the sprint race. A race which we won by miles, and still stands as the crowning moment in my triathlon career. Depresing ehy?

To say the least i loved the race. Enjoyed the atmosphere, loved the pain, and then food after? What the hell we never get this at the track or at road races! I'm in. A few weeks later i had purchased a time trial frame and built up my first triathlon bike. A few days later i decided to enter my first ever race. Dublin City Triathlon, Olympic distance, closed roads, just a few km from the house.

Needless to say i trained like a muppet. Had an ok swim, SMASHED the bike (1:04) and then blew up in spectacular style on the run. The year after followed a similar pattern, with an even worse run and a massive digestive track explosion. Year after i took a break from the race as i was away at the TransWales MTB race.

THe last 3 episodes have gone well, 2:32; 2:30. Times coming down, but the bike times going up resulted in much faster run splits. This year however things had been set to go well. A bit of an up and down season, combined with some mental blowups, led to this turning into an event not a race. No PB;s were to be set even before the race started. I was here to have some fun.

Ok swim at 34mins out and into transition, even paced, not fast but i've not been swimming well this year in the least. Maybe not swimming has done that....Then the rains came, and down went the triathletes. Always amazes me how badly they can ride. Held back a little on the bike, for a 274W normalised power over 40km (1:15) felt great going onto the run, and just ran by feel for a bit. Smashed the first km in 4:17, then had to back down. The ghosts of HOTW past were there and i hadn't properly tested my legs since BOTE. Felt good on the run, but only posted a 45mins 10km as i did hold back.

Saying that i was tired crossing the line, i felt i'd given it the best i could, and was happy with my result. FIrst time this year since Portmarnock triathlon. Feels good to end the season on a high, abiet a failure in goals.

More science waffle: Blood Lactate

2010-08-19T17:45:00.000+01:00

Blood Lactate

Lactate production especially when expressed as a function of power output is the single most important physiological determinant of cycling performance as lactate production is an individual response (McLellan &Jacobs, 1989; Stegman & Kinderman, 1982). Both lactate threshold (1mmol rise in blood lactate above baseline) and onset of blood lactate accumulation (when blood lactate reaches 4mmol) have been shown to be valid predictors of cycling economy in a range of events (Faria et al., 2005). A relationship has been shown to exist between average power output during a 90 minute time trial and the lactate threshold, as calculated by the D-max method (Bentley, 2001). This study also showed a correlation between the average power during a 90 minute time trial and peak aerobic power output. This relationship between the lactate threshold and maximal aerobic power output over longer durations leads us to believe that both peak and sub-maximal measures of blood lactate are possible predictors of cycling performance.

These lactate thresholds becomes ever more important during individual time trials where athletes are working at or just above the lactate threshold (Mujika & Padilla, 2001). In ultra endurance races extended efforts (55-60% of VO2max) are performed at or above the lactate threshold by solo riders (Laursen, 1999). The ability to predict performance over extended durations at this intensity can be of great benefit to a cyclist. The lactate threshold is the level at which a cyclist is able too hold a given intensity for ‘a very long time’ before they start to feel the effects of fatigue. A solo cyclist will aim to remain at this level for as much as possible allowing them to exercise predominantly aerobically utilising both carbohydrate and fat stores to produce ATP. In effect is the steady state that most of a road racing is performed (Muijka & Padilla, 2001). Unlike road racing this effort must be maintained for much longer periods. The greater the percentage of heart rate max or VO2max that the lactate threshold occurs at the more economical a cyclist is said to be. By having a lactate threshold that occurs later a cyclist will be able to produce more mechanical power with less of a metabolic cost. An understanding of the lactate threshold response can allow a cap to be placed on the intensity that they may cycle at in order to complete these events solo while lowering the chance of unnecessary fatigue or glycogen depletion over the duration of the event.

During high intensity ultra endurance the riders are able to recover between bouts of cycling. This results in cyclists racing at or above OBLA (Laursen P., 1999). OBLA is the level at which a cyclist has started to work nearly entirely anaerobically. They are not able to supply enough oxygen to return to aerobic glycolysis and are now producing lactate at a much higher rate. This anaerobic threshold is the level above which a cyclist can only maintain a maximal effort for very short periods of time. A cyclist can only maintain this effort for very short periods of time. If they are able to raise the point at which OBLA occurs it stands to reason that they would be able to prolong the effects of fatigue and hold this intensity for longer. With a cyclist understanding the intensity they are capable of sustaining for these relatively short durations, and its impact on recovery, it is possible to work near maximally to gain the greatest possible result. Unlike solo cyclists a boundary can be placed at a much higher intensity (75-85% VO2max) and result in much higher power outputs and speeds.

For cycling describing the lactate threshold as a heart-rate can lead to problems. As heart rate is a response to an input, a hill or sprint, it lags behind. Consequently measuring the changes in power output at these different blood lactate responses may lead to a much better determinant of cycling performance (Muijka & Padilla, 2001). By giving a cyclist a measure of their lactate threshold expressed in Watts an athlete can pace efforts by this measure. Depending on the demands of an event or session they can attempt to stay as close or far away from their lactate threshold so as to maximise performance.

Split of ideas

2010-08-17T13:06:00.002+01:00

I've decided to split my day to day ramblings from my training focused on IM Lanzarote.

Normal stuff will stay here where you are.

Other stuff here

Other site will be more of a progress report and ripping apart my own power files and running stats. This will remain the stream of conciousness that it is.

Science Nerding

2010-08-12T18:18:00.001+01:00

Maybe of help to anyone thinking about a power system. Quick chunk nabbed from my Lit Review I'm working on:

The SRM (Schoberer Rad Messtechnik, Welldorf, Germany) crankset was one of the first portable power measuring tools available to the cycling community as a large, albeit at a high price. The SRM system calculates power output from the torque and angular velocity generated at the bottom bracket of the bicycle (E. Farria et al, 2005). This is achieved through a system of strain gauges located between the cranks and the chainrings which measures the deformation between the two. This is proportional to the torque being generated during each pedal rotation. Several studies have validated the crankset and its test to test repeatability (A. Gardner et al., 2004; W. Bertucci et al., 2005; S. Duc et al., 2007;A Juekendrup et al, 2003) and it has been shown to be a valid system in both laboratory and field conditions. Variations of the crankset now exist for both scientific measurement (accuracy +/- 0.5%, weight 827g), Professional (accuracy +/- 2.5%, weight 560g), and amateur (accuracy +/- 5%, weight 640).

The PowerTap (Saris Cycling Group, Madison, U.S.A) is a power measuring device which is located within the rear hub of the bicycle. It calculates power in a similar manner to the SRM system with 4 strain gauges located within the rear hub. The advantage being that it measures the power that is transferred to the rear hub; this takes into account any power loss through the drivetrain of the bicycle. This gives an accurate measure of the power being applied to propel the cyclist. Like the SRM the Powertap has been validated and shown to be a reliable and repeatable source of power measurement (Gardner et al., 2004; Bertucci et al., 2005; Duc et al., 2007). However the price of the PowerTap is over €1,000 cheaper than the base model SRM, has a reported accuracy of 2.5%, and weighs 579g at the most basic model making it a more appealing option for amateur cyclists who want consistent power measurement.

The Ergomo Pro (SG Sensortechnik GmbH & Co, KG, Mörfeldn-Walldorf, Germany) is a system that is located in the bottom bracket of the cyclist bicycle. It measures power generated through a photo-interrupter system which measures the torque generated in the bottom bracket (Coggan, 2006; Duc et al., 2007). This system does not use a strain gauge system like the SRM and PowerTap and is free from any temperature related problems (Duc et al., 2007). However, the sensors that measure the torque generated are only located in the left hand side of the bottom bracket. In order to generate a total score for the torque the figures gained are simply doubled and then recorded by the system (Duc et al., 2007; Coggan, 2006). Although the Ergomo Pro has a purported accuracy of +/- 1% this calculation system inherently introduces a large measure of error as cyclists rarely generate the exact same force through both legs (Burke, 1996; Daly, 1976). This has been shown in studies comparing the Ergomo Pro to both the SRM and PowerTap systems (Duc et al., 2007). The next generation Ergomo Pro, due for release in autumn 2010, further reduces the weight below 344g, while aiming to increase the accuracy through new algorithms and design. Unlike the SRM and PowerTap the Ergomo suffers from no temperature related issues and is not affected by electronic or radio interference.

First Cross Ride

2010-08-06T11:36:00.002+01:00

Got out on the first cross ride of the season last week. IT felt good. Slow to mount, slow to corner hard, but it will come with time. Feeling fit, if a little fat.

Work is working for a change. The brain has started to fire again, and coffee in no longer results in nothing out. Few late nights this week in the lab but by choice rather than guilt.

Late night tonight, going to reward myself with an early morning cross ride tomorrow, then maybe a curry!

Cyclocross Preparation

2010-08-04T10:57:00.004+01:00

This the season to get skinny, and muddy, and wrecked.

Tonight the CX bike will be re constructed. During the summer Uncle John is a mild mannered bike that has seen me to the top of some of the highest Cols in the French Alps, spent numerous hours preparing me for the triathlon season, and has suffered the indignity of being locked beside lower class bike in college.

Come August Uncle John gets and ictch. He needs to feel the grit in his chain, the mud under his tires, and needs to go sideways in corners rather than straight through. Gears get stripped from 50.39 to a single 42 on the front. Rear ratios change. Tires are shed for some grip and the tubs need to get attention.

Tonight the cross bits come out of the attic. The clinchers go on for some training. Tire marks on the 2009 nationals course is the plan. Hopefully i can remember how to corner and remount.

Beast of the East Triathlon

2010-07-28T11:14:00.004+01:00

Beast of the East is one of those races that chew you up and spit you out the other end. Unfortunatly this happened.

I had a terrible race and i don't want to think about it to much. Swim was apalling at 37mins for 1,500m. No idea what happened i must have just switched off at some point and forgotten that i was supposed to be racing.

The bike was fine at 1:15 on a very hilly course. But dropping my bottle off my bike 1km in and loosing all but 2 mouthfulls of water was not a great place to be in for a 40km TT in the heat. Paced it well and did a 257W average for a very hilly course. But was already considering a DNF on the run as i knew i'd be dehydrated.

The run was the usual spectacularly hilly affair that this race brings. Hard running from the off and no let up as it drops you back down into the valley on a 3km descent at the end. Lung and thigh busting. However with 3 water stations i got to drink for the first time in nearly 2 hours, so all was looking up if i'm honest.

To your right is a broken man, one who was tired, dizzy and sore. i've not dug so deep in a long time and yet finished so far down. It was hard, and i didn't appreciate it at all.

Thanks to Ollie for letting me steal his photos.

Remake Remodel Reuse.

2010-07-28T09:29:00.007+01:00

Over the years I've had a few people come and go and make impressions on my life. During my more haphazard early college years i did alot of soul and bottle searching. If i wasn't drinking i was probably hung over, i sure as hell wasn't in lectures. Over the coming months i started rock climbing more and more, and eventually managed to go on a trip to the French Alps and bag my first few big peaks. Our first trip was slow, cumbersome, and i ended going home early with a screwed up knee and some ideas. Over the next few years i managed several more trips to the Alps, summer and winter. A few to Scotland and then culminating with a 6month trip to climb and mountain bike in Canada. During this time two books came to me. The first, Extreme Alpinisim, was a revelation into the idea of 'light is right' and 'measured danger', a kind of punk rock attitude to big mountain climbing that still resounds with me today. The second, Kiss or Kill: Confessions of a Serial Climber, struck me deeper. A collection of Marks writings from several sources, and a pure insight into another mind that in some way paralleled some of the thoughts going through mine. Over the past few years the books have gathered dust on my shelves. Occasionally being rubbed clean as i pass the climbing topo's that dominate one shelf.

A while back I re-watched The 300 and remembered that the gym Mark had set up was involved in the training. A quick Google later and i was at the Gym Jones site. A click on the knowledge tab and i was back in a place i had not been in a long time. Introspection is not something i do well. I have always tried to portray myself in a manner that is open, happy, and comfortable where i am. Of late this face has been coming down. A PhD is a place that forces me to think internally and it's been a hard process. Riding a bike, running , or swimming alone is the key. Being solo for a long period gives me that time to think, gives me a place to be, gives me a time to break it all down. I've come to the conclusion that things need to change. Change is good, change re-enforces what is good in our lives, and takes what is not and discards it. Once again i found explanation in a mentor long forgotten:

You have to be willing to bite off more than you can chew, to overdose, and to fail. If you won't risk the answer you won't ask the question. If you lack the will to ask then consciousness will not unite with muscle and bone. I criticize such a lack of will (especially in myself) and ask, "What's the worst that can happen?" The fearful part of me replies, "I may fall short of my expectations. I may not be who I pretend to others. My perception of self may be proven wrong, very wrong." The confident part of me says, "So what ... only after breaking myself apart may rebuilding begin." So go ahead, break stuff. Break yourself on the once-hard edges of yourself. And recycle the debris into the foundation of your future.

Mark Twight; Remake Remodel

Holla holla holidays!

2010-07-27T14:45:00.004+01:00

Post Hit the North was dedicated holiday time. I pretty much don't know what happened to Saturday other than i rode around a track flat out and then drank some beers and woke up on Sunday feeling tired but happy that it was raining and i could wuss out of a ride in Cragg Quarry. A long drive up to the lakes (not as long as we thought) and arrived at Sarahs for a bit of realxing and seeing the lakes. Apparently the lakes were mostly falling from the sky all over the ground for the whole time we were there. So we didn't get to see much. I was wrecked for the whole time and was pretty much happy to

just chill out and do nothing!

Morning after a great dinner and evening in watching the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy with some local beers we drove on to Grizdale trail centre. Not a place i'd heard of until i'd picked up MBUK and they had a short piece on it. The North Face Trail sounded kinda cool, and in the end didn't disappoint. Not an uber technical trail at any stretch of the imagination, but 20km of fast flowing singletrack with little to know fire-road or road on the whole thing. Exactly what a trail centre should be aiming to be. Great little spot even though it rained for the whole time and made the board sections into uber death traps that felt i still had to ride as fast as they came at me! Tea and food in the cafe after in the torrential rain pretty much ended the ride and we hopped in the car for the drive down to Manchester to meet Odile.

Curry trip had to be done and then we grabbed some floor space in Odiles after we decided not to drive to Wales in the pissing rain with no camp site booked. Passed out as soon as i hit the floor and woke up feeling much much better (albiet at 7am). Hopped in the van and pointed it south. Arrived in Betwys Y Coed a few hours later and set up Chateaux del Awesome. Both of us were wrecked so went for a wander about the village, ate some food, and hit the bed early. Plan was to ride for the next few days so may as well ride while rested!

Marin trail. Still a favorate of mine despite its amounts of fireroad. Always a good way to get a 30km ride in while in the area. The weather cleared up and we were treated to shorts and T-shirts the whole way around. 3hrs later sitting in Betwys realising that we only stopped once for a bar and a few pee's by me on the way. Good day, legs were starting to come around again. Time to polish it off with some food then bed.

Next day saw some shocking weather

and a decision to skip down to Coed to try and see if the weather was better in the next valley. Twar (Red Bull) in Coed Y Brenin is a great trail. Mixture of evil fire road climbs, hard technical singletrack, and stunning cakes make CYB one of the best places to ride in Wales. Its about 2 years since i rode Twar and my brain was jumbling it up with MBR and Beast. Forgot how some of the lines change in the wet and damp that always hide away in the forrests. While in CYB you cannot leave with out 2 things. Cake and riding Dream-time. Such a good trail, fast, flowing, and always always tempting you to go faster. I still think this is one of the best sections of trail in the UK.

After a MASSIVE dinner at the Dragon restaurant in Betwys (eat here if you enjoy real asian food) and an early night to bed we woke up early to pack down the Chateaux and hit the road. A quick bite to eat and then up to Ogwen. Run up to the slabs, take the steep route to the walking trail and up onto Tryffan. Enjoy the view and then drop down again. Changed by the side of the road and straight to Llanberis to get breakfast in Petes Eats. Best breakfast establishment in Wales and an institution that needs to be visited at least once if you are in the area. Pop into Joe Browns and buy some kit i don't need, but liked the look of, then into the van for the quick drive to Hollyhead and the ferry home.

Hit the North 8hr

2010-07-26T19:45:00.005+01:00

First up a big congrats to the guys and gals over at Hit the North. Again one of the great races of the season, and a real highlight. Nothing quite like ragging a bike around a course with other fast people to give you a great feeling of being alive. After a week away from the computer its time to get my words down on how the race went.

Head has been wrecked over the past month, no two ways to put it, i needed some time off to get my head sorted, get some big miles in, and have a few beers. Luckily enough a week and a bit in the Uk had been arranged with Pauline, and we headed off.

Rolling onto the early 8am ferry on Friday i turned my phone to silent, switched off the 3G connection and vowed not to check my emails until the following Monday week(today). This was going to be a proper holiday. The normal quick spin to Hollyhead took a bit longer as the boat was delayed, so we ended up about 2 hrs behind schedule. However with the only plan for the day being to get to Decathlon, and then put up the tent i was planning to buy at the race venue, we weren't exactly stuck for time. Tent up, bit of a wander on the course, cram some food in, meet Jason before bed and laugh at the obvious crash points, and generally just chill.

Up early on Saturday as normal, however with a late start of 11am, i ended up being able to pootle about and get a much longer warmup than i'd normally get. Which was nice. Big shout out to Jason who pretty much saved me a long walk back on the warm up as i'd wedged my chain between my wheel and cassette. Simple as, the chain was wedged in good and proper and it took the two of us to get it out. Needless to say if he'd not given me a hand (thanks to the 3 riders who rode past me without even a 'are you ok', wankers) i'd not have been racing. Good when the organisers give a shit ehy??

So warm up done, last bits of food in, pit bunny given final amounts of attention before i crack on with racing (thanks love), and chain lubed with some free lube from the folks at Squirt. Took a toilet break while Pauline racked my bike beside Dave's and got back to the bunch just as it was time to ditch outer layers. The 500m Le Mans style run suited me perfect. Tight fast running and nice ups and downs gave me 5th place out onto the bike for the first lap. Plan was to ride HARD for the first lap, little less so for #2 then settle in for the next X laps.

Grab the bike, quick run out until the end of transition zone. Quick pedal into the first set of single track, down the sloppy descent off camber section, over the lump that sent Ali into the river, left into the bomb hole, over the river and run up the progressively getting muddier, into some muddy ST, then onto the first section of flat. Gun it to the un-ridable climb, sip down the other side, back onto the long flat section and onto the side of the motorway. Up the piece of hatred that was the dry single track that destroyed my back every lap, i hated this part more than anything. Into the trail centre section and hammer again, enjoy the techy corners, and play the 'don't touch the brakes' game. Up the first bridle way section and onto the berms, hammer down, trying to resist launching into the sky, carbon race bikes don't like to fly. Bit more single track, and then some more bridleway, lots of cobbles and the first proper section to eat the contents of my pockets. Into the gravel swoop-track that i rode with Jason at the start apres fixing my bike, great bit of the trail where most people were riding way way to easy. More fast and flat to the drop into the river again (avoiding the chicken chute) and then up the steps to get a bottle and food from Pauline.

Repeat by 12.

Get lapped by Dave TWICE. Dude was on fire. 14laps. 2 more than me. Unreal.

Came 6th....happy with that as i was aiming for top 10, and not being on form it was a big booster for me that i can race hard when i have too.

The usual afters were excellent. Great food (3 dinners), great beers, and some tunes. All in all the way racing should be. The course was great, if a little lonley, and i am so psyched over the winter race next year already. The more and more i ride in the Northern parts of the Uk the more i could see myself living there. The racing sceen is so different to Ireland with people realising that you are not mental for wanting to spend 8hrs and 18mins straight on your mountain bike....or maybe its just the ones i know.

Itchiness fading, altitude increasing!

2010-07-12T14:10:00.004+01:00

What a weekend. All plans of training thrown out the window due to a last minute decision to go biking in the rain on Friday. Next time when i get the idea to go out in the bad weather to train, i'm just going to get onto the turbo. I blame the weather, as i think its just cruel to blame the pretty flowers.

Saturday was hell, falling asslee watching the tour, trying to fettle bikes and genearllay just being a mope. Went to the shops at least and bought lots of good healthy food (mostly veg so i can feel like i'm getting revenge). Felt down so decided that i'd get myself a bottle of Duvel for dinner, then decided i deserved curry, and had another bottle of Duvel. At about 10pm sleepiness took over and i just had to crash and burn.

So Sunday, more of the same, caught up on some reading, drank coffee, and watched the tour. On the plus side my chili plant needed harvesting as its growing a load more peppers. So looks like tasty food for dinner tonight! 11hours sleep had done me well, but i still felt lethargic, and was scratching like mad, so more drugs.

Monday and the itch has subsided, still there a bit, but no where near as much. Spent the morning constructing out hypoxic tent, and am currently running tests to make sure its holding its values. Fun and games that i may get to use in my work!

It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

2010-07-10T06:08:00.002+01:00

This post could also be entitled: Can't sleep tigers gonna get me.

Every now and again i suffer from insomnia. Used to it at this stage. Normally manifests itself during periods of high stress, high alcohol consumption, or HIGH workload when training.

At the moment i am scoring low on all of those. Stress from work/life is low (Bound to rise next week before holidays), I've cut my alcohol consumption back to pretty low by normal peoples standards (not athletic standards, still on >4 units a week), and I'm in a flux period of large hours training, but little to know intensity.

I went out for a 2 hour MTB ride in the rain last night. It's a long time since i have trained in the rain as its been so dry, and i wanted to make sure if it craps out for next weeks HTN that i can ride well.

There were nettles, lots of nettles. I also came off my bike (clipped my bars in a narrow channel) and landed in a lovely soft over head high thicket of Foxgloves.

Turns out i am allergic to them and my legs are covered in hives. Thankfully i was wearing long sleeves and landed on my back and helmet as my face is not!

Pretty much spent the entire night awake as my legs are super sensitive to touch. Waiting for the chemist to open so i can get some anti histamines.

This sucks.

Howth Aquathon Mk2- run fatty run

2010-07-08T10:50:00.002+01:00

I will re utter this; i HATE aquathons. But this is one of the reason i've made sure to do this series. Bike has always been my strong point, swim used to be ok for me but not swimming for 6months bar in races has changed that somewhat, my run used to be very weak, now its just not fast, pretty middle pack TBH.

The lead into Mondays nights race was not ideal, never was going to be with the Euro's the weekend before, and a long ride 2 days before. But as the book of Gordo says 'get used to training and racing tired'. Very little sleep was not the way to go in tired, i think its supposed to be from training isn't it?

At about 3pm i was still feeling rotten, had been on and off the toilet all day. Probably a combination of long ride on Saturday and eating all the food i could find, mostly sugar, and the bottles of Lucozade sport i sculled in Kildare. i'd forgotten that it turns my stomach to glue for a day. The combination of this, and a few beers to many on Sunday meant that Monday was a write off. Quick hours kip between 4 and 5pm helped so much. Woke up feeling better and managed to get a bit of proper food in before the race.

Met up with Becks and Roger (two of GB age groupers from Man Tri Club) before the race. Got lucky number 1 for some reason at registration, D'oh. Thankfully the tide was in today, but was still going to be a bit of a wade to the first bouy. Maybe an open water start would be good, but who cares, its all part of the sport. Swim was ok, mid pack for the first 500m or so, then a bit of missighting sent me off course and i found myself on my own. Stupid mistake, cost me allot of time.

Had to run hard out of the water (after i ran back to pick up my goggles and hat). Didn't have a great T1 (going to need to change the Brooks runners, not that easy to get into unfortunately- back to the Newtons) so running hard to catch slots on the way out. Ran the first Km hard (3:40 mins/km>

All in all an ok race, 2 mins faster than the last time, but probably lost another 2-4mins (100m in the swim and T1) at least through mistakes. Fresh legs for the next one is the plan, see what i can do in it, hopefully get another 2-3 minutes off the time at least.

Long ride to insanity & Euro Tris

2010-07-07T11:56:00.004+01:00

Last weekend was the ETU Champs and the Age Group Champs in Athlone. Pauline was racing, some of the AG people from Manchester Tri Club, as well as loads of other Irish racers that i've known for a few years now. After last year in Athlone i pretty much did not want to race on the course again. I'd also assumed that Ireland would actually want a quality field in Athlone...which it turns out they didn't. There were some people who should not have been racing, but i digress.

So in my own way i decided i wanted to do a big weekend training ride. Easy plan, ride to Athlone. Sure its only 140km, not to far, and its summer, it'll be grand. WRONG. Headwind the whole way which i could deal with. However popping the sidewall on my front tire, having to ride back to Dublin to buy a new one as i was 30km into my ride, and bringing the total length of the ride up to 200km was not part of the plan.

On the plus side it did allow me to do a proper long IM distance pace, unlike the M3 cycle where i just binned myself into the wind, then tootled home. Felt terrible during the ride as i'd not brought enough food so had to swing over to get some food in Kildare. I dislike Kildare. But needs may and i had to stop. 5hrs 45mins total time, 5:08:49 ride time for the 140km from Dublin (the second time) to Athlone. Held 235W normalised power for the ride, and average HR of 134 bpm. So pretty good IM pace with a nice low HR.

Actually quite happy with the ride when i look back on it. Sure it wasn't going to get me a 5:30IM split (would have done a 6:30 IM bike if this was the course) as my average speed was 27.5kmph. But i was into a head wind the whole way, had an extra 60km of crap at the the start, and TBH i mentally blew up about 100km into the ride and nearly sat down for a cry. But it can't get much worse than this can it?

So got to Athlone, got very little sleep due to some noisy bastards outside, and up again early to wander to transition. Pissing rain at 6:30am and pretty much kept it up until the last lap of the run. I have allot of respect for the people who raced in this. Hard conditions, but still some excellent times posted. Great race to watch and then the elite race even better (they even got the sun!).

A good evening in Seans pub saw a few to many beers drank before dinner, followed by a huge dinner which stopped me drinking much more (always good). Stomach had been squiffy all day long, probably from eating the contents of my pockets on the ride up when i got to Moate, and the next morning i felt rotten. Nothing to do with getthing to bet at 1am and getting woken 70million times. No not at all.

Good times.

Hell of the West Kilkee

2010-06-28T14:23:00.002+01:00

A race i've wanted to do for years. Missed a few entries in the past, forgot other years, and then other reasons as well. Race has a reputation for being a hard race, i do like a hard race, but i also like a good party, which the race has a reputation for too! With the Europeans next week Pauline wasn't going to race, so a bit of persuasion had me a driver for the day. Thanks Pauline! Nice drive down on Friday pretty relaxed evening and off to tent city early enough.

Nice late start (10am) ment that i could take my time with food and prep. Signed on the night before so rolled into transition at 9:15 to set up and then wait about for 30mins as they faff. 10:30am and we are in the 'chest high' water (aka deep water start as we all sneak forward) in brilliant skys, clear water, and a massive first wave. Good swim, felt fine in the water, pushed hard at the start to get to clear water, settleed in after about 100m, bit of fistycuffs over first bouy, ok otherwise. Found some fast feet at the turn around and just sat in. More aggression leaving the water and exited with a club mate (Archie) who i'd been swimming with all the way round! Happy with the swim, wasnt the fastest though.

Nice quick T1, lid on, shoes on, run out. Hop in, aim for upwards. Felt great on the bike, looking at HR i didnt push enough, felt as though i could have held that pace for the day so interesting to look at the power output later. Probably close to IM pace for me at the moment. New position on the bike is fine for Sprint and Oly, not sure for IM though. Wheel covers worked wonders with only one or two moments on what is a windy course. Not to much drafting that i saw, and some excellent course marshalling and markings.

T2, same old same old, in - out, run. Run, felt great leaving T2, running hard, about 700m in something went twang in my left leg, lost all power, on a 5km uphill run to the turn i thought about jacking it in, didnt. I have NEVER DNF'd and i wasn't about to. Thoughts of a 43min 10km went out the window. Gutted at myself, pushed through, not happy at restult overall.

Crossed the line and just walked off to go sit in the sea and have a bit of a sulk. Thankfully the post race cake and drinks and then more drinks and chippie made it a little better. Body was not happy the day after but we just did some tourist stuff and had a fun day. Today i feel like i have been through a mangler, body is in bits. Time to go stretch.

Planning a nice holiday

2010-06-21T10:46:00.002+01:00

Good week last week training wise. Work wise, not so much. Still trying to find that focus that i need. Lists are going to be the way, write a list, complete the list. At least that way i'll feel as though i've achieved something with my working days.

Weekends training was heavier than i expected. 2hrs of interval work on the MTB on Friday evening on the local trails working on the hills and descents. Another 2 hours 30 on the MTB on Saturday, working hard for the first hour then a steady pace for the last hour half working on some technical stuff. Very hot weather had me in shorts and shirt for the day, excellent riding, but stuck to the woods mostly as the trails on the head would be covered in walkers. Sunday was planned asa 3-4 hour ride on the TT bike with a run off the back.

The plan failed, an hour in and i felt like muck, no power in the legs and mentally in the wrong place. Sat down for 5 mins, ate some food, figured i'd push on for 10mins and see if legs came round. No such luck. Turned for home and rolled back, putting in efforts where i could. Nice to be in the sun, but an example of a perfectly bad session. Wipe the slate, start again, all hours in the bank.

In between work today i have a plan to be hatched. Holiday plans, well i say holiday i do mean week of training. A week in the UK trying to get in as much training as we can between some mountain biking, some running, and some open water swimming.

Assuming it goes ahead (some issues with people not signing up!) Hit the North summers race is the main focus of the weekend. Trails, fun, racing, and beers. Then thinking a spot of riding in Lee Quarry and Crag Quarry followed by a spin North to meet some friends of Pauline, and a spin about Gisburn early on Monday morning before hitting the ferry to the Isle of Man.

Once there, who knows, maybe sit on a beach all week, maybe do something with our time :) Probably the latter. Haven't been there in years, but some internetting and some research has given me a few ideas for trails and some excellent running options. Add to the fact that the place is an island and you have a near perfect swimming location. Maybe get a point to point swim in somewhere, that'd be cool!

But i digress. Back to work.

Focus

2010-06-14T13:20:00.003+01:00

If you can find my work one please return it. Currently i feel like this pup. Playing chase the tail is much easier than actually doing things i should be doing.

Training is happening albeit not very structured. Had a very good run week while over in the US clocking up 50km before i succumbed to air conditioning endued sickness. A few days of travel and planes put an end to any chance of recovering fast from that so i just sucked it up and got on with it. Few short rides on the fixie to work at low intensities and one hard ish 2 hour ride on the MTB last week at least let me get my legs back into bike mode.

The UK last weekend was a good chance to catch up with some swimming as i got a session in a pool for the first time in a few months (need to go pay my pool fee's), gotta love the pay and swim attitude in the national training centre in the UK. God knows why we try to rape people when they want to train at the NAC, and if they want to use the 50m pool....oh that'll be a leg sir. Saturday was mostly reading, sun and thinking. Work never leaves my brain (Which is unfortunate) so when it decideds it wants to work i try to let it. Just need to figure out how to get it to work on que.

Sunday was post curry dinner run after a few hours of faffing. Think the US jet lag had not totally gone away and a sleep until 11am pretty much proved that. So much for our early run in the mountains. Eventually rocked up in Settle at about 3pm, crammed some coffee and cake in at 'Ye Olde Naked Man Cafe' and then headed up to Whernside.

14km run in 1hr 40mins at a nice easy pace. Just tipping along for most of the run. Taking the ups hard but not to hard, then easy on the downs and flats. Even rain as we hit the top wouldn't turn my first proper long hill run in a while into a bad day. Running in a singlet and shorts in the rain on top of a mountain has a perverse effect in me. I love it, mood goes from good to great every time it happens. Something special when you run past hill walkers and they look at you without understanding and a bit of shock.

Eventually back to Settle looking like drowned rats, into the chipper for some healthy recovery food, then into the car back to Manky. Usual early morning farce of a flight (why do i get these stupid early flights) then off to work to sleep for the day. Legs still hadn't come right last night so 3hrs 30mins on the bike appeared to be the thing to do.....this whole IM training is going to be interesting.

Viva las Baltimore

2010-05-28T10:43:00.002+01:00

Time for my annual trip to the States, and a nice block of run training in warmer climates. The annual trip normally coincides with the ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) conference, which this year was being held in Baltimore Maryland.

Took a few days before the event and saw the sights, took the Amtrak up to DC the day before memorial day, long runs to see the sights of Baltimore, and wandering about lots looking for places to entertain myself. Nice to have two days before ACSM to see everything that i wanted to see, no point flying across the world then seeing the inside of a hotel room.

Conference was good, went to some interesting lectures on carbohydrate utilisation and fat usage during longer distance events, and for fuelling considerations for IM racing and the like. Some of the usual talkers spouting the same old drivel, and some of the big hitters throwing some major curve balls into the mix. Galactose for fuel anyone? Lets just say the old 0.8g/min absorption rate of carbohydrates has pretty much been thrown out of the window with guys showing uptakes of 1.79g/min ( 107g/hour vs 48g/hour). This has a profound impact on fuelling for IM distance racing, and something i am going to start keeping an eye out for when data gets published.

Couple of other talks sparked ideas in my heads, which is always the point of these meetings i suppose. there was also a lot of useless crap, some stuff that i went to that boded well but was let down by poor presenters, and useless research projects. But thats always the way i suppose.

Running was good while i was over there, did my normal 7am of the day after i fly in run to loosen the legs out, sure its slow, and sure i feel like crap doing it, but it works. Pretty much allows me to slot onto US time straight away. Few other long ish runs in the heat and humidity of MD let me assess how i am in the heat at the moment. Simply put, when it goes over 34' C i suffer big time. Over 90% humidity and i cease to function running wise. Blew up on two runs and it was not pleasant. Saying that i was running well, consistently 4:30/km even though it felt like 4mins. Sadly picked up a chest infection due to the aircon in the room drying my lungs out every night, cant stand the stuff.

Missed my bike so much while i was over there, all i wanted to do was a few days even hours on the bike. But alas it was not to be.

Oh and Delta screwed me over and left me in Atlanta to rot for a day. Don't go to Atlanta ever. Its a horrible place.

M3 Cyclo-Sportive + there and back again.

2010-05-17T11:14:00.004+01:00

Everyone loves a trier, but hates a failure. However, every one loves the people who come along to partake, but when they start acting like idiots most people tend to get cranky.In a sportive everyone is out to have a bit of fun, go as fast as they want to go, and work as a group to get where they want to go. However the M3 cycle was something a bit different. Lots of people along for the 100km option, lots of bling bikes and wheels, lots of dark shades with taut faces and sunken eyes under them.....then you notice the hairy legs, the black see through shorts, the and the Fred mark of glory, the right leg chain ring imprint.

Sure it takes all sorts, but why do i always attract them.

The M3 cycle was going to be a fast day from the start. Closed roads, on a motorway, on a route that didn't have a huge amount of height gain in it (404m of climbing over 110km). Riding on a motorway was never going to be the most amazing of sight seeing tours. With that in mind i had planned to TT the race from start to finish at IM pace wattage, throw in a few efforts where they were demanded, and generally just push. I had no plans to work in a group bigger than 4 riders, and was going to go with that plan.

Come race day things change. 10km in and i'd left most of the 700 or so riders behind, had picked up a very strong female triathlete and we were working well together, could see a large group of maybe 60 riders a few mins ahead and figured they'd splinter and i could work my way up to them over time. Riding a TT bike in a sportive is always going to be cheating on the flats, what i didn't realise is that it would attract idiots like flys to a dog turd.

Flying along for the first 20km alternating turns between the two of us, sitting at 260W into the wind - 240W out of the wind, alternating efforts ment that we could keep the pace high and steady. About 25km in Mike and Waggers (TT bikes also) popped up....and apparently brought a huge fred-fest with them. Then it started getting hairy. Working with Karen we were taking equal turns on the front, ride/recover, ride/recover. Always peeling to the right, staying away from cateyes, and riding in the best place to avoid the cross winds. However, when 20 or so people try to do this (most of whom never even ride in groups) it gets messy. Peeling left and right, undertaking, jumping up the group leaving gaps, dropping wheels, grabbing brakes, just riding like idiots. To clinch it all in a heavy crosswind from the right sticking the group into the gutter on the left hand side so no one has shelter.

ITS A SPORTIVE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING.

After sitting in the gutter for a few min's recovering at the tail of the group i'd had enough. Rode away from the group on the right, swung back onto the front and just rode hard for 5min's, 350W on the flat getting low and narrow, taking 3 riders who could ride with me. I have no problem riding in a group on a TT bike, however this was getting sketchy as people were getting tired into the headwind and making stupid mistakes. I'd dropped Mike but was pretty confident he'd get back to us as he was riding very well.

The hill to the turn at 55km, dropped another rider, and Karen (momentary) as we crested the hill. Turned and was rewarded with a tail wind. 260W changed to 230W and yet still getting a 7kph speed increase. Time to eat, drink, and roll it home. Karen picked back on and we worked back to a group having a nice chat most of the way there. Soon after Mike popped on to say hi and work with a good group of 6 roadies from Navan most of the way back. Unfortunately we picked up two wheel suckers from that group at the start and i decided i wasnt going to work for them.

At about 90km in I pulled off, answered the call of nature IM style, and then realised i was a little confused. Shit, that is the sign for me, ate everything in my pockets and bento box (2 Torq gels, one bar, one ZipVit gel) threw in all my fluids and started to pray it'd get there first. I've experienced that feeling badly a few times to many to want to happen again (last bad time at cross training over the winter, and then France after a 187km in the mountains which resulted in crying). About 2km later it'd cleared up, but that 2km dragged, the 'hill' i was on turned out to be only 1.5%, but felt like 15%.

A much needed water-bottle at the last station (only bottle/food i took on) polished up the water situation and then i was good to go. Plan for the last 10km had alwasy been to gun it, so i did. Holding just under 250W with a tail wind. Passed the group i'd dropped out of/been dropped from, and just rode on past. Food and fluid at the end, filled up, and rode home with Sully.

3hr 12mins of riding for 110km at 250W NP
262W NP out into headwind[31kph avg], 231W NP return [37kph avg]
150bpm avg heart rate. Reckon i could have held that for 180km.
So the whole total for the day was 178km, 241W NP (normalised power) for 5hr 46mins
Avg hr was 155bpm.

Overall a fun day out bar the muppets. Nice to ride on closed roads at high ish speeds. Very happy with the ride, felt strong, HR was low for the wattage i was putting out, could have done it for longer, but not sure how i'd have lasted into that headwind on my own if I'm honest. There are some things that need to be done:

Bars need to be moved up one spacer on the front.
Stem needs to be shortened
I need to find out what was whistling in the wind!

Nice day out, good to do as it was a one off.

Velvet Strand Triathlon

2010-05-11T18:06:00.006+01:00

First race of the season, always a shocker. See where I am, what i need to do, what i have been omitting. This race was also on home turf, well where i grew up anyway. All but 10mins cycle from where i live now. First year of the race too, and years since a race has been held in Portmarnock.

Arrived nice and early, 8:10am, for sign on which was due to close at 8:30. 9:15 i was still in the line despite the fact that the race was supposed to start at 9am, then pushed back to 9:30, then back to 10am. Lucky i managed to get a slot in transition while waiting in the line. Not ideal, but every race will have its teething problems. While getting ready in transition i did notice at one point that my wetsuit went missing. My nice, fast, expensive Blue Seventy suit. While getting confused i looked up to see a guy on the other side of the transition rack having issues getting into his suit. At this point we both kinda clicked that he was a)a bit to big for my suit b)going to get out of it pretty fast or i'd get angry.

So 10am standing on the water side getting ready to get in for the shortened swim. This was a bit annoying. The water was choppy. CHOPPY not mind blowing crazy. Add to that a wave start...i'll just stop ranting. So 650m ish swim later and im out of the water, first OW swim of the season (tick) first swim in nearly 2 months (tick). Wasnt expecting much time wise, looked at the watch leaving T1 and saw 14mins. Mild surprise, turns out a 11:33 swim, with the 500m ish jog to transition. Hmm 28th on the swim split. Interesting, must have been my suit, the other bloke was way back ;)

Dizzy was not a word to describe how i felt getting on the bike. Nearly fell over twice and this has happened before, longer jog to transition normally sorts it out, but not this race. Had major issues getting into shoes. MAJOR ones. Basicly had to stop, look up, try not to get sick, think about what i was doing, then do it.

Got out on the bike eventually and hit the first turn point. Bike leg was a 3 lap affair for 21km over a nice rolling course with very good roads and a nice side wind for most of it. Traffic of both rider and car sort was a huge issue. No way around it, it was always going to be messy and with the faster riders coming at the tail of the race there was no getting around it. Buses, cars, slow riders and drafting were the main things. Most you can avoid, but buses...that was a new one for me. 263W for 21km, average HR 165bpm, sitting below threshold all the way. Could have pushed out 270-275W and still run hard off it, could have rode more aggressive, could have done lots, didn't so 34:57 was bike time. Still good for 12th overall (8 ppl within 30's of each other).

The run up to T2 was quick as i was racing another lad from Pulse Tri the whole way from the first lap. Fucked up T2 as i've not been practising it at all this year. Lost a good 30 seconds and then ran out onto the run. Legs felt great. Started down the hill pushing out 3:40 km's, realised this was a bit ambitious and reeled it back into 4:20 km's. Stuck with this as the Pulse lad was only 50m or so ahead of me for the run, that'd be that 30 seconds. No matter what i did though i just didn't catch up to him. At the same time i realised about 3km in that the run wasn't sucking. I was feeling good. This was wrong, i should have been dead. 1km to go and i realised i'd blown it, was running way to slow, should have pushed harder and i'd have been home at least 2 mins faster. Reckon next race, if a similar run, 4:10 - 4:00 km's are in order. End result 98th on the run split, 23mins. Stupid. I've run 18mins for 4.5km last season, just fell asleep on the run.

Overall the result was a positive one. 1:13:34, 34th overall from a field of 400 ish. Not sure on AG place yet as they haven't done them up. But for my first race, after 2 months not swimming, after thinking about jacking this whole racing stuff in, I'm happy. First year in a new AG 30-34 (even though I'm 29) and a good start to it. I've even gone and entered some races! Now to drop the useless weight I've put on, and get back in the pool.*

*Hahahahahah so not going to happen

The un-pronounceable volcano

2010-05-04T10:05:00.003+01:00

Well its happened to me. I'd pretend to be angry, but there is no point. Mother nature has once again raised her head and shown us all that she is in fact the boss, and those little things you keep flying around my head are pissing me off. Viva La Revolution. Welcome to Costa del Manchester, your new home for the next X days.

Its a funny thing how the world can one day seem like a normal easy place to live and the next second it all comes tumbling down. We've become so reliant on flying buses that we don't stop to think how long it actually takes to travel between places, that, up until recently were very far away. Flying back and forth from Manchester allot in the past few years i have come to treat air travel as just another extension of public transport. No longer does it hold any joy for me, no more than getting on a bus does, or any panic, more-so than getting a train. Yet every time i get a plane i become more and more amazed at how much we take it for granted.

Businessmen fly from meeting to meeting, never stopping to realise they have travelled to another country on the way. Athletes travel hundreds of kilometres to race, and then return never stopping to experience some of the country they have landed in. I'm guilty of both, maybe not in those contexts but for forgetting how far i have travelled for so little effort.

This weekend saw a social visit to Manchester. Some food, some beers, watching some racing, getting some running in, and spending money i don't have. All in all a pretty good weekend. Pauline raced Lymm triathlon (results STILL not up) and we think did pretty well. Race was cold, grim and generally Manchester-esque. Saying that Lymm was a nice place! Had a nice run on the run course, did a bit on the tow path by the canal, and generally just enjoyed the race atmosphere...of which there was little. On the plus side; Bacon Butties. YES.

Well I'm off for a volcano induced run. Who knows where it'll go. But i bet i get there faster than flying.

Long Ride Fail

2010-04-26T12:39:00.006+01:00

So last Saturday i decided to attempt a long ride. 168km was the planned distance and i was thinking in and about the 10-11 hour mark. Plan was to ride solo, no assistance, all the food and water i needed with me. Mixture of a bit of training and some stress free miles after the last 5 weekends of torture in the basement.

Simple way to put this is as FAIL. I decided to start off with some music, easy miles on the road an just ticking over until i hit 3 Rock. By the time i got there i was in road mode. Fine for mile after mile on the road but unable to actually ride on trails. 2 hours in and i was in no mood to be on a mountain. I sat down ate some CARBOCAKE and then just had a wee mope to myself and shouted at the antennas on the top of 3 Rock for being C*%ts. No idea why but i needed to vent.

Up and over the back trail to Glencullen then onto the Wicklow Way as far as Crone had me second guessing myself all the way. Fair enough i had a big week of running and bike miles in my legs but still this should not be a hard ride. Basicly my mind decided to fuck me over.

Other times i would have rode home, but not today, this was a day to just ride, to battle the beasts to do what cannot be done and to make sure it stuck. Sure i failed on the ride, but at the same time i still did my 100km ride in 6:55mims can;t give out about that too much i suppose.....

Aim for the summer? WW in one ride. Simple.

They call me 'Le Marmot'

2010-04-22T15:16:00.007+01:00

As in i'm fat, can be found on the side of mountains, pretty much eat any sort of shit and go squeek when provoked. That's where the similarity's end.

Above was me racing last night in Howth at the IMRA Leinster league race. Last week Bray head, then pretty much every week now for the next 13 weeks. Fell running/ hill running/ trail running/ mountain running (delete depending what country you are from) used to be a big passion of mine when i was back in Scouts. I loved the freedom. One man, some runners, shorts and a singlet. Run to the top, run back down. Its so simple, so fun, and yet fraught with danger. Although i came back from the race with a sprained ankle (saw at least 3 others) one lad decided to headbutt a rock and ended up in hospital with 6 stitches for his trouble. Many many years ago on an open mountain run i got hypothermia....snow and singlet do not mix. But it is great fun.

Last week saw a respectable 50th place out of a field of 255, this week an injured 82nd out of 235. Still a good run (43mins for 9km) but not fast enough. Hopefully i'll get to do 7 races for the league this year, and get my two volounteer slots in as well. Might even get a new T-shirt too ;)

Other than that its been a quiet few weeks. Work on the sleep deprivation data collection has eased off for now, 4th years are all done more or less, just need to give them last bits of help, and projects for CLARITY will be kicking off soon. Training is coming back, 8.5 hours so far this week, so just going to smash the rest of the week to see how i am feeling.

There may be cake

2010-04-11T21:16:00.002+01:00

Portal, best game ever? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ljFaKRTrI

This was a triumph.
I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS.
It's hard to overstate my satisfaction.
Aperture Science
We do what we must
because we can.
For the good of all of us.
Except the ones who are dead.
But there's no sense crying over every mistake.
You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.
And the Science gets done.
And you make a neat gun.
For the people who are still alive.
I'm not even angry.
I'm being so sincere right now.
Even though you broke my heart.
And killed me.
And tore me to pieces.
And threw every piece into a fire.
As they burned it hurt because I was so happy for you!
Now these points of data make a beautiful line.
And we're out of beta.
We're releasing on time.
So I'm GLaD. I got burned.
Think of all the things we learned
for the people who are still alive.
Go ahead and leave me.
I think I prefer to stay inside.
Maybe you'll find someone else to help you.
Maybe Black Mesa
THAT WAS A JOKE.
HAHA. FAT CHANCE.
Anyway, this cake is great.
It's so delicious and moist.
Look at me still talking
when there's Science to do.
When I look out there, it makes me GLaD I'm not you.
I've experiments to run.
There is research to be done.
On the people who are still alive.
And believe me I am still alive.
I'm doing Science and I'm still alive.
I feel FANTASTIC and I'm still alive.
While you're dying I'll be still alive.
And when you're dead I will be still alive.
STILL ALIVE

Roubaix is near

2010-04-09T09:36:00.002+01:00

This weekend will be a busy one. From today - Sunday at 6pm i will be in college 24 hours a day getting our last 4 riders through the 24 hour sleep trials. Next weekend will be the same. It will suck, it will be boring, and this time i dont get to actually do any riding. However i will get to spend all of Sunday with a friend watching the Paris-Roubaix.

Nothing i will endure over the next 48hours will suck quite as much as what the guys in the pelothon are going to put themselves through. Roubaix has always had a place in my heart as what cycling should be. Suffering, hard racing, tough conditions and a true 'best man wins' race. In Roubaix you can sit in for a while, but once it hits Carrefour de L'Arbre you need to be on the front to win.

Bring it home Tom.

New Kit Post

2010-03-29T11:39:00.009+01:00

I buy way to many bike bits. Mostly though its small things like brakepads, chains, the bits that need replacing on a regular (sadly) basis. Of late though ive been making a concerned effort to get some more light weight and race oriented kit in the lead up to the race season rather than at the last moment, however even more so that than is the fact that it needs to be CHEAP. College PhD's dont pay much at all....not that they ever have.

2x9 Chainring Setup:

While back i started thinking about this. Cait Elliot from UCD was selling off some TA rings as she didnt want them so i picked them up. Stuck a Sram block on the back and a nice new Mavic chain. €100 for the pair of rings and a rear block. SCORE! Quite like how it rides, only time will tell though, and a few races when i put it on the XTC

Ekoi Diablo Helmet:

€79 for a 220g lid....ok this was either going to be awesome or the worse buy ever. Tried it on when it arrived, no issues, did the bounce about the place with the chin strap undone and it wont move. First ride in it last night. Awesome. Lighter than my Atmos, more air getting in, and looks better. Have worn it for a few rides and i have to say its great. lots of venting, light as a feather and the retention system is great. Only issue is my glasses don't seem to fit the best with it

24 hours of science

2010-03-28T11:46:00.002+01:00

Well more like 26. A while back i stuck up some info on my next research project: here. The project basically involves 20mins TT's every 8 hours (ish) at the max power output you can sustain for the 20mins. So in real world you are trying to cover as much distance as you can.

Being the scientist i am i hate getting subjects to do a study/protocol i wouldn't do myself. Being a cyclist who wants to race 24hours better i of course want the data i can get. Funny how these studies work out isn't it....ahhem.

So we started yesterday @3pm. Blood, saliva, resting lactate; HR, blood pressure, core temp, tympanic temp, USG: all taken to see what my body was doing. Then an hour of cognitive tests to get a baseline for me at normal levels, and at that time point. 10mins self selected warm up on the cycle erg, off and stretch for a min, then 20mins of pain.

Self selected time trials are hard. I feel that i can be biased from using a power meter sometimes, but it helps me pace my best efforts. Out hard for 2mins, pull in a bit, then build up to 16mins, then bin myself for 2, then step it up again. 305W for 20mins, 14.46km (42.8kph avg??). Not a bad baseline.

So 4:30 and all finished up. 11pm it starts again (296W avg). Then i was allocated an 8 hour sleep window from 1am. Managed to get 5hrs 21mins according to the Senseware armband we had to measure sleep. Not bad i suppose. Up again t 9am to start again (294W avg) for the worlds most horrible TT. Felt terrible for the warm-up, then the first 4mins i just wanted to pull the test, values lower that 280W avg. Uuugh glycogen depletion. Happy i clawed it back.

Breakfast was epic, felt so good after it. Easy afternoon, stretching, drinking, talking shite with Waggers (other subject in) and just relaxing. 3pm last bout of testing. Knew i had to get this one on the head. Cognitive tests felt slower, couldn't concentrate (lack of sleep). Felt great on the WU. Hit the first 4mins over 306W, next 4mins still at 306W, feeling very good. BOOM, power dropping very very fast, held on until 16mins to sit at 280W avg. Build up over the last 4 mins pushing as hard as i could with over 400W for the last 2 mins. 299W average. RAGING. So close.

Next week i repeat, but with no sleep. Should be fun.

Death of an Ergometer

2010-03-09T09:35:00.002Z

Bit of an issue in the lab last week. The cycle erg we use for all the performance testing in the lab died a sad and painful death at the hands of a rugby player.

Bad news; over 5 projects including my own research are now on long term hold. Not so worried about my own, but the 4th years who were hoping to graduate this summer...well they are in a different state of affairs.

Good news; well there has to be something...i have some time to think??

Hopefully we can get this resolved, although i fear Racermate won't believe us.

What will it take?

2010-03-03T23:37:00.004Z

Always a good start to the week:

'How does it feel, to treat me like you do, when you laid your hands upon me an told me who you are'

Wise words. Just not sure why, but they have always made me think that my bike calls to me. Cross is gone. MTB is back (not that it ever went away). But triathlon has raised from its winter slumber and its calling again. The TT bike looks sad, why have i neglected it. 'I'm so fast' she says, 'so narrow, so light'. Normally i can ignore the temptress, but not now, not when its bright in the morning and the birds are calling me.

What this means is time, more time than i can probably give, more time than i should give to any one thing that's not human.

'Tell me how do i feel? Tell me how, how do i feel?'

Obsession is not a word i use, but there is something to be had from the utter pain you get at the end of a cross race. It feels like nothing i can describe. Your lungs are trying to crawl out your eyes, your brain gave up hours ago and is lying in a rut crying to itself, and yet you want to know why they wont let you get in just one more lap. 6 more minutes of pain, 3 km more of torture, one more tenth of hell for your brain to get away from it all.

The summer equivalent for me is tri, the last kilometre in a race, all out sprinting on my feet as hard as i can. Ignore the last 2 hours of racing. There will be people. They will judge you. You must look strong. You must impress. All thoughts of a misguided green and black suit that i will not be wearing this summer. A Phoenix from the ashes.

140km it took to savage the beast, 140km on a bike i haven't ridden since August last. 140km in a position that will try to make your eyes leave your knees cause its the closest way out. The carbon tubs look at me even as i write. 'Use us, make us make you fast. Love us, treat us well.'

Worst of all. The power is calling. The Powertap has awoken. It calls me. Shouting for the excess weight i've put on. '5kg over race weight, tut tut, how will that impact your FTP fattie.'

Not for long. I want you. I need you. You can make me strong for 24 hours. I just need to tame the beast and it will be mine.

Hit the North, CX or MTB??

2010-02-23T18:34:00.005Z

Cyclocross or mountain bike, the eternal question. Which is better? Which is more fun? Which do i prefer?

I've been a mountain biker since i first heard of it as a wee lad climbing in Glendalough. Watching the old boys of Irish mountain biking descending the zig-zags wondering where they had come from and where they were going. All i knew at that time was that i had at least an hour walk out from the crags, and they would be drinking a beer in my name.

Several years later i had been mountain biking for a few hours when i saw a few lads (Robin Seymore, Joe McCall, Dave Gill) descending off the top of 3 rock down a run called Bone-shaker on what looked like road bikes. This route i considered a DH run, and used to hit it dressed head to toe in armour and donning a full face to save my gorgeous looks.

Three years ago i got my first cross bike after doing a few races on my MTB. An old Flanders beater i bought for €100 off a mate. I loved it, i thought i was Sven Nys.... albeit it 94kg and couldn't run up hill to save my life. This also corresponded with the lowest point in my personal life. I was in my final year and i pretty much opted to drop training for a year

Cross in a way was a saviour, an eye opener to a new world of potential and what i could do on a MTB. Along with triathlon and a fair dose of help from Pauline, i ditched most of the weight by the start of the next season. A summer of MTB and track, and 7 or 8 triathlons (god knows how many duathlons) left me eager for cross.

Roll on the Team WORC club cross sessions on Tuesday nights. Hard training, with the best, no bullshit, no place to hide, but more help than i ever imagined. The cross season rolled by, did the 3 peaks, i did ok, had a few top 30 races finishes, and a 24th in the national champs. This cross thing was addictive. The summer spent typing Dugast/tubular/Tuffo into ebay looking for that ever elusive deal, and yet roll on 3 peaks 2009 and i still hadn't coped on to how to train for cross. Still training like a MTBer who likes to run and swim.

Another cross season rolled past, entered more races, got a 6th place, ran a national champs and finished 15th. Getting better, nearly getting money in races. But alas all things have to come to an end. HTN it was to be. The race, the challenge, which is better? Race the 2 hour hilly course on a MTB, or do it on the CX bike. 'll take the CX. The bike that i'd done well on, the one i knew how it handled better than any other.

Was taking a leak when the riders were called up, buggerit, managed to get in about 4 rows back, not my normal starting position by any means but sure its a long race. Starters orders, clipped and ready to roll. Shivering in my skinsuit with anticipation and cold. Usual hammer for the first section, people who have no idea how to race in front of me get barged, sorry lads, but if you dont like it get out of my way. Elbows, knees whatever it takes. Running the sections people are trying to ride at the start gets me into the first 20 riders. OK, keep it down, draw a gap then settle in.

lap round and i see Jason standing at a corner marshalling and shouting at me. Glare at him, i currently want to kill him as its taking all i have to stop my stomach contents erupting. Must keep precious fluid in! Few laps later and its all settled, not going to loose any places unless i mess up. Every lap i get a cheer from locals and a few comments along the lines of 'go token Irish bloke' and 'you've come along way' also the kind words of Ed to another rider 'GET OUT OF THE WAY OF THE FAST BLOKE!' Precious.

One crash later, that has cost me quite a few Euro it looks like, and the race ended with me in 16th. I'd wanted top 20 as i'd heard there was a better list of riders this year. Happy with my result, not ecstatic, but happy. Unfortunately now the cross bike goes back into road mode, the TT bike come out for the long rides, and the MTB comes out for the even longer rides.

24 season is on the way. Take HTN, repeat by 12.

The Race

2010-02-08T23:50:00.002Z

*turn off organising brain, turn on race brain*

Ok why am i at the back? This sucks, normally second row. This start is going to suck. Ok, roll with it, you can make time up you're ready to rock. No wait you didn't get a warm up. What gear am i in? Whistle? WTF where is the god damned warning!

Clip in, clunk clunk clunk, sprinting hard, on the brakes again. Ok that's 10 places easy. Left, tight right cut it wide, grip on the grass sprint again. Cut the corner at the bush, go in high to the tree, tight cut back left. Ok that's another 5 places. Into the tunnel, watch number XX shoulder a guy into the wall, give out shit to him as i ride past. Bad sportsmanship makes me sick.

Sprint along the banking up and over getting another place as i take the alternate root behind the tree after the descent. Tunnel, left turn (watch for snakebites, hit the little gap), sprint uphill, tight right with massive cheering crowd, right into the trees cut it high cut it tight. Singletrack, bermed right hander, rutted left (slippery over roots, high on the right), tight slippy left powersliding both wheels as you hit the tarmac, onto the main straight to recover.

More singletrack, grass exit, down the steep, into the tight RH over the very slippery grass. Into the crux of the course, mud alley, two rutted sections about 5m long with a break in between, followed by a bumpy mud exit. Stay central, stay loose, the tubs will take care of grip. Exit to fast downhill, RH turn to long uphill (watch the stones on the right, stay left its harder ground), over the bridge (RHS will snakebite), up to LH turn, tighter LH turn, mud section off camber grass, through tunnel, over roots (Gonna get slippery later), tunnel, tight RH, (use the berm to exit), tighter LH, super tight right (try to keep speed) onto slip sliding hell and sprint up to the steps.

36 steps to my bike again, run them run fast, split after the tunnel to the right, over take, back on bike long straight to RH turn into singletrack again, up/down/left/right onto the main straight.

Repeat x 9, puke, wonder why i do this sport. Pat people on back. Collapse.

Memories of the race: Flanders flags, BBQ, Shouting crowds, playing tag with Niall, Dave and Will.

Stress level: 0

I love to race my bike.

Cyclocross National Championships (In the manner of 24)

2010-02-08T22:34:00.003Z

*intake of breath*

Yesterday was probably one of the most stressful days in my life. Trying to run a national championships and compete in one on the same day. In my head in the lead up i thought; 'Sure if Robin can do it, so can I'. Suffice to say i was wrong.

The weeks leading up to the event were hard, postponing an event like this did not go down well, either with me or the cycling community as a whole. Not much could be done with the country under snow. But i digress.... The rescheduled dates clashed with another event that meant i lost half the marshals that said they would work on the day. Stress level 1.

Rock on the week before and people start dropping like flies , random statements coming out in the press about licence conditions that had no grounding in the truth, and the park still frozen in ice. Stress level 4

Day before, have scrounged enough marshals through emails/twitter/beer promises. Getting all the last bits sorted, meet the park, walk the course, de-flood the section 2 foot under water (bet you cant guess where that was). Everything was in place except my head. Stress level 5

2am, before the race, up in 5 hours to start marking the course. Cant sleep, cant eat, stomach in bits. Stress level 7.

7am Breakfast time...ooh food. Stress level 5. 7:30am arrive at the park and start taping out in the dark. Stress level 4.

9am marshals and helpers arrive, keep taping; stress level 5.

10am Phone call from Ollie, timing computer is not working. Ring Dave for spare. Stress level 7.5 ish. 11am, timing still shagged. underage race to start in 30mins, only 2 but gotta get them out. Stress 8.

11:45am underage race goes, only 2 riders. Get sent the wrong way by the 'leader'. Bodes well.....

12pm Timing is still down, tell the MTB race we are going to be at least 15 mins late. 12:30pm MTB race starts....god i feel bad. Stress level 8.

12:45 i leave my race radio down, and ride over to the room where my kit is. Race is starting in 15mins. No time for warmup time to get into kit, cram a gel in, grab a glass of water, get Stu to pin on my number and 'race'. Stress 3, this was the calmest moment of the whole day and at this point i almost thought about just leaving and going home.

1:10pm On the start line with people i thought i knew acting like idiots. This moment goes into my mental trove of times i will remember for the rest of my life, and one that has changed opinions of people for me for ever. You know who you are.

1:15pm Race starts, gridded at the back with no stress.

8 laps later race over. I'll write about that later.

The Night before Cross Nats, by me

2010-02-06T23:56:00.000Z

Twas The Night Before Cross Nats,

Not a rider was stirring, except in one house;

The skinsuit was hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that cold weather soon would be there;

The tubs were nestled all snug on their rims,

While visions of mud rut danced in their heads;

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled down for a long summers nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen rain

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature rider, and 9 tiny gears,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St. Slick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, O'Neil! now, Ryan! now, Delahey and Ferguson!

On, Convil ! on Boyd! on, Galloway and Clougher!

To the top of the steps! to the top of the hill!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As wet muds that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With the bike full of carbon, and St. Slick too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and posing of each little hoof.*

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Slick came with a bound.

He was dressed all in lycra , from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with blood dannk muck;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were so gaunt, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard on his chin was as cool as the snow;

The stump of a Torq bar he held tight in his teeth,

And the smell it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was skinny and ripper , a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the kit bags ; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his bike, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

"No Seymore, no Aitken, we're in for a fight!"

*you try find something that rhymes with hoof....good luck tomorrow all

Research Subjects needed!

2010-02-04T18:29:00.000Z

The Effect of Acute Sleep Deprivation on Cycling Performance.

The School of Health and Human Performance at DCU are conducting a research study to investigate the effects of acute sleep deprivation on physiological and psychological function of endurance trained cyclists. The purpose of this study is to investigate how sleep deprivation and quality of sleep affects endurance cyclists during longer duration cycling events such as the Race Across America, Race Around Ireland, and 24 hour mountain bike racing.

We are looking for healthy physically active male cyclists who have been training for a minimum of the past 6 months and have raced within the past year. The testing will involve a minimum of four trips to the Health and Human Performance laboratories’ based in Dublin City University. This will include an initial visit for maximal fitness testing (via a VO2max test), two over night stays, and a final visit to measure recovery. During one of the overnight stays participants will remain awake for 24 hours with intermittent monitoring of physiological and cognitive measures, the other overnight stay will involve the participants following normal sleep and diet patterns.

During these trips to the performance labs in DCU you will undergo monitoring of cycling performance via a 20 minute time trial (via a cycle ergometer), physiological performance (via heart rate, respiration, lactate and sleep quality measurement), cognitive performance (via four computerized cognitive function tests), and have blood taken via a venous blood sample for analysis in DCU laboratories. You will be tested in a similar fashion 4 times throughout the 24 hour period. For another of the visits you will be allowed to sleep for a maximum of 8 hours and will be tested 4 times (as above) over the 24 hour period.

After the tests have been performed you will be given information relating to your current level of fitness, as well as the influence of sleep deprivation on you. You will also receive feedback based your fitness during the VO2max trial which can be used to set training zones and targets for the summers racing.

If you would like to hear more about this study or would consider participating, please contact Gregory May (Ph: O1-7OO8214 (office) 10am- 5:30pm Mon-Fri, O87-9O83684 (mobile) or email: gregory.c.may(at)gmail.com).

Ups and downs along the way

2010-02-02T18:16:00.003Z

Its been an odd week or two since i posted last. Pay cheque arrived, payments went out, another month of scrimping starts, and its still not to bad a thing. once i remember to actually buy food and cook dinners rather than reverting to the cheap and easy options it normally helps get back to race ish weight. Just need to start avoiding the cake and beer isle again.

February the last two years has been the month where i've been eager to get going again after a nice bit of time off from the cyclocross season. Sure i've never taken it anywhere as serious as i did this year, but the self imposed extension of the nationals has left me in a mental state of fatigue. A month off that i don't get to have would sort me out for some exploratory racing in Feb, but now i have to push back further. Thankfully i had already sort of scheduled March as a no racing month. It'll be good for me to get a hard block of work in, and still catch up on friends.

At this point i just want to get it over with. All the love, all the excitement i had for hosting a race at my home venue has gone. I just want Sunday to roll over, happen, then die so i can get back on with my life and not have to deal with everyone else's.

The last cross race i actually raced was in November,the final round of the Super-cross. 6 weeks ago. I have done lots of aerobic work, am lighter than i was, bike skills have been honed on the MTB. But i fear the top end is gone. Only racing will tell.

Why do i get worked up and stressed over training for a race that i will do average in, why do i stress over work, over every little facet of every little thing that i can control, yet if i mentally declare something that i cant control, i don't stress. I don't know why, if you do answers on a postcard please.

All i know is that i need to get some time off, time to myself, time with wheels under me and blue sky's above. Time to be solitary and hurt the daemons in my head. Once the CX nationals are over, and the dust (hangover) has settled this will happen.

Regression

2010-01-25T11:47:00.002Z

There are a few things that work well when i have less money.

I train more, i eat less bad food, and i tend to get focused a bit better on what matters. I sort of regress to the place i should never leave as an 'athletic person'. However at the same time for some reason i tend to always want a new frame/computer/whatever when this happens.

That time of the year is approaching when the last of the pay cheque from December that arrived early due to the festive eating period is running out. Happens every year, and i know i'm not the only person it happens too. However for once i've really blown my budget.

Motorbike needs servicing, the car needs insuring/NCT/service and to top it off i have to think about what i'm going to do with both my race frames that are screwed (MTB and tri-bike). Not to mention the credit card .

February i fear will be a very frugal month. Good time to loose a kilo off me with less cake and beer, and a good time to get my training on. In a way its fun to regress back into a near cocooned state of work,training, and healthy eating, but at the same time its always my social connections that fail first. This time i'm going to try to keep them alive, but i still don't like going out on Fridays. Its my time.

Race ready?

2010-01-19T13:23:00.004Z

Well its done, ive sat down and made my list of races for the year.

Nice mixture of XC, Running and Tri events. With two 24hour MTB races in there too. Wallet may be thin this year so most are in Ireland, only trips abroad are either conference based, or supporting Pauline at the Worlds. Should be a good summer i hope! But not giving everything away just yet on what i want to do in races.

Power meter is coming out of hibernation tonight for the first test of the season, will post up details later. Feeling confidant, but we will see how it goes. TT bike will be coming down as well for a make over, hopefully getting a long ride in this weekend will get be back in the triathlon grove.

Then a nice hill run and MTB brick on Sunday :)

Planning and preparing

2010-01-13T12:04:00.003Z

It was a hard month, compounding the fact that im not one for the festive period and the pressure of trying to run a national championships it lead to a break down in training, focus and decision making.

On the plus side it has put some things into perspective for me as well.

Goals are important, just training for cross has put me no where after the supercross cup ended for me
Injuries repeat, i should know this by now.
Consistency, i have not been , need to get it drilled back into me again both in work and training

So to resolve this I've sat down, wrote a list, checked it twice, and found out which races looked naughty and nice. A mixture of the two have left me looking at A races in August with DCT and Kenmare featuring as well as two 24hour MTB races seperated by 6 weeks.

Not sure if i can afford Xterra racing this year, so I'm just going to stay close to home, race the XC circuit and hill runs when i can. I'll fit in two off road tri's anyway and if Xterra Uk happens....well we can wait and see.

So the way to overcome these points:

Race plan developed, emailed to Rich, training system is go now
First day back in gym yesterday, S&C program is back, access to high performance gym is sorted again. Shoulder, your mine again.
Week plans, going to get printed out with what is happening, using gCal more now, updates with what i need to do. No more getting into office at 11am

Lets see how it goes, and as ever, adapt or die.

Christmas makes me think of family

2010-01-07T21:27:00.002Z

It also makes me think of all that i dislike about it. However, this festive eating period was different to others. First off i felt better going into it. Normaly i'm tired, sick of life, and not wanting to train. This year i was none.

I wanted to work, sure ive been under pressure but ive actually had some targets that ive wanted to hit

Life for once is good, i have allot going on that i love and more that i want to do.

Training has been good, at race weight before christmas, vo2 over 70ml, bring it.

But as per normal i lost the plot over christmas and managed to pretty much go on a two week bender, although i think technically i drank every day for 3 weeks. So weight has crept up.

Back to the grind is normaly Jan. Do the CX nationals, then back to base. This year im running the natioinals, and its been snowy, very very snowy. unreal.

Ive had to postpone it for 3 weeks min. This hurts me, more than you can imagine. I pride myself on few things, but one is not breaking a promise. I feel like i have.

Saying that, if i can get back to race weight... maybe i might get that team slot.

Half way to the middle of nowhere

2009-12-08T16:21:00.002Z

Trail running. You either love it or hate it. It pretty much is Marmite both in consistency and the dread that people have over it.

Unlike Marmite, i love it. Nothing quite beats the feeling you get running downhill out of control just on the edge of balance in the middle of winter in t-shirt and shorts. A few months back Pauline suggested that we all go do a nice little run in Wales. As I've been more and more inclined to enjoy my running of late i decided what the hell lets go for it. Signed up and promptly forgot about the fact that i hadn't run a half marathon off road in a few years.

The tri season rolled on past and then the cross season rolled in. Running was put on a shelf bar a few short efforts with the bike on my shoulder during training. An early season max test on the lab treadmill showed i was running well about 2 weeks before the race (71ml/kg/min[5.45L/min] @ 14kph on 8% grade) so i knew at least i had the fitness to race.

What i didn't think of doing was any mileage...at all, i think i did maybe 2 20mins rungs in the lead up to it. Sod it, its the cross season, top end work will do me fine......ehhhh no.

Saying that the first 4.5km of the race were great, 23mins across a beach on sand, up and over some steep trails and down some narrow slithery boards. Felt great and was happy with my pace over that distance considering how bloody soft the beach was. Settled on it on the first climb at 5km as i had looked at the map and knew it was going to be a long one. Pauline drifted off ahead of me and i just sat on in with a group and breathed away to myself.

2.2km at an average of 8% takes it out of the leg, wasn't fast, but it was consistent. This lead onto a great 3km descent, let the legs open up, close up the jacket and just go for it. Caught Pauline about 2km in and talked for a while. Ran on together for a while and hit the next climb to a section of moorland where we got split up and ended up about 100m apart for the whole thing. Memories of TransWales came flooding back as we trudged across this section. Wet is one way to describe it ....just a tad.

Descent off the moor was a bit boring to be honest but led to a great section on the coast line of Gower out by Worm's Head. Just great rolling trail like the coastal path i ride and run on most weeks. However at this point (16km or so in) i started getting the initial twangs of my right calf starting to bunch when i went up onto my toes. I'd pretty much forgotten to drink much during the race, and at this point i started to regret that. Had to ease off for about 3km on the relative flat pace heading up to 6:15mins/km.

Thankfully as we hit the last climb i was getting my legs under control, heal running (shudder) and not going onto my toes on climbs were letting me stretch my calves on each step. The last climb is epic, 20% average gradient (sections @ 35%) but less than half a km long, with another little kicker about half way through. Was surprised how i felt when we hit it, kept the HR down and just went on up picking people off on the way up. One guy on my shoulder all the way up groaned as we hit the top and had to keep it going on the rolls top, personally i loved it, chance to pick it up and see what was left in the tank.

Not much as it turned out, got HR back up to 170's for a bit and just pushed it to see what would happen, what happened was i fell on my ass on the final descent :) 1km at 30% average. Just excellent.

2hrs 18mins, avg.HR 166bpm, pace avg. 6:23mins/km, 837m of total climbing over 21.1km.

Great race and well done to the folks at Endurancelife.com, i will be back for another one of your events. This time i might even train...

The little penguin that couldn't cross. (Supercross Rnd3 report)

2009-11-29T19:29:00.001Z

Story time!!! there was a little penguin called Greg

He didnt have a Ferrari, but he did have a nice red cross bike instead!

He was really happy cause it was VERY cold and wet and kinda reminded him of home, he didnt like the hot months in Ireland and all the fish tasted a bit off too.

So he decided that it might be fun to ride the red cross bike around a field up north

So he did, he rode it round and round and it turned out that there was a race on! Penguins like to race, LOTS, so he decided to enter

He met some guys (he thought they were penguines as they were wearing black white and orange too!) and asked them if he could ride with them

SO he lined up with all these HUMANS! and then they started to race

it was very muddy, which was kinda slippy like ice so he was happy, but very wet like the sea

HE rode around with 5 of the other penguins and then 7 mins later he was at the start again! But they were still going, it turned out they had to do it 7 times!

The second time around he was cycling up a very icey part of 'snow' and racing some other HUMAN, and then WHAM he fell over on his beak!

he hopped back up, squalked at the man who had knocked him over, then gave chase.

Then his chain snapped and his race was over.

he did a little puke and went home as he couldnt cool down.

The ENd

Phlegm and darkness

2009-11-26T22:01:00.002Z

About this time of the year, every year, i get sick. I think its a combo of SAD and generaly trying to get away with wearling as little kit on the bike as possible. But i get into a period of poor eating, following poor moods, then sickness of the green phlegm kind.

Normally i catch it when its too late but for a change i appear to have got it a little earlier than normal. However it still necessitated 3 days off 'work' and doing shag all. Trying to get my head back in order, and get the body to follow suit.

However something did come along to brighten the week up. My new Inbred frame! Waiting about 2 months for it from On-One due to the fact that its a special limited edition or something. All i know is that it ROCKS. I haven't had a steel hardtail in years, forgot how good they can look, skinny tubes and loverly welds.

So i built it up mixed with coughing and grease and just looked at it until i could go no further. Had to go for a ride this evening, needed to see if the legs were there. Up to Howth, onto the local run.....WOW. Slack head angle, short stem, risers and long travel...i forgot how fast i can ride. Hitting all the sections flat out, in the slithery mud....and in the dark.

Gotta love winter, empty trails and rabbits. Time to get new lights me thinks.

The Pig of Happiness

2009-11-26T13:46:00.001Z

Hipsters make me angry...

2009-11-18T15:05:00.002Z

They just do. Get a helmet, get some bloody proper riding kit, stop buying useless shite for your shittly looking bikes and actually race some real bloody races.

I've been riding and racing track bikes for the last 6 years and now it just makes me cringe when i see a total dullard sitting on a cross bar in town posing at lights.

First they ruined my MTB back in the late 90's, now they have ruined my commuter, next its going to be cross, you know i'm right. This just sums it up.

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/5684963/

Manchester sweet Manchester

2009-11-16T11:50:00.003Z

Its been a while since i have had an actual weekend off training and racing. Decided a long while back that 4 weekends in a row racing was enough and booked tickets to go over to Pauline in Manchester, see some track racing, and have some fun with the lads. It also nicely corresponded with my birthday weekend.

Late on Thursday night i got a ring from the UK to hear that Pauline had had a run in with a car. Great! So Friday was spent wondering if she was broken or not. In order to distract myself from that I went mountain biking with Waggers for the morning, went shopping for a new MTB for him in the afternoon then headed to the airport. Arrived in the UK to find that all was well and that Pauline had tried to eat an entire SUV....she failed and mostly just hit it with her face.

Good nights racing at the track after a trip to Decathlon for some new kit, and Rusholme for some curry. Few beers at the velodrome then off to Fallowfield for a few beers before bed, pretty relaxed weekend as i think we were all tired anyway.

Sunday saw a lie in (first for me in months) and then a real sunday of reading, shop for milk, then off to the pub to watch the Ireland vs Australia rugby match. Mmmm english mixed grill for dinner. Total lazy Sunday, havent done that in a long time eiter. Saw what remains of Paulines front wheel and the rest of the bike was OK, some bits writen off some not so.

Late back to Dublin, then off to bed. Lazy day today, but going to spend most of it catching up on work i fear. Back to the real world for me it seams :(

Supercross Cup Round 2: Tymon North.

2009-11-08T22:47:00.007Z

Another race another chance to clean my bike.

About this time every year i get sorta sick of cross, mostly because of the amount of time it takes to clean the bike, then me, then my kit after a race. Then when its done I'm happy again and looking for new parts to get for the bike that are going to hold less mud, yet take more effort to keep working. Its a circle that keeps happening and i don't think will ever stop.

Now last week i broke another set of Eggbeaters. Cranky yes, but at the same time they were over 7 years old and had only ever had one rebuild. So not that pissed off if i am honest. However this is now 3 pairs in 6 months....so getting disillusioned at this stage. So in a rush i just grabbed a set of the cheap MXR's that they do to get me through the race yesterday.....what a bad idea.

Good warm up, few laps of the course and i had it nailed, nice and fast and a great usage of the hill compared to other years. Big success for IMBRC, seriously good course. Fast but wet, grip but slippery, all that cross is supposed to be.

Lined up on the grid, stepped back to let Roger Aiken in on the front row, no chance i was going to beat him, felt better letting him get to the front. Clipped in, 5 secs to go, GO, pushed off second foot clipped in went to pull on right foot, BANG, foot blows out of pedal. 'FUCKIT', clip in, pull on left, BANG, second foot blows out....these springs are pure shite. Rest of the race every time i went to pull hard they popped or just stopped short of popping. Teach me for buying cheap again.

So after working my way back up from the back of the group i got onto the front half. Few laps tussling with Rob from IMBRC and Mark from 3D-Tri gave me a real going over in the first 5 laps. Mark binned it into a tree and Rob and i kept trading places. Eventually Rob pulled away and i couldn't get back onto him no matter what i did. Total blow up. Had to try to keep away from Mark but he'd disappeared (turn out a tree ate him and his brakes).

Kept on keeping on and felt good for the last two laps, took a few places back but nevewr came through like up in Carrickfergus. No idea why, course suited me , but obviusly not enough. Gutted for the start though, pretty much lost any chance of racing there and then. Don't have the power to bridge groups, but if i'm in i can stay in. Ahh well.

Photos stolen from the race thanks to Ollie from MAD MTB at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ollietrex/8112009TymonSupercross

Belgium, beers and prison?

2009-11-02T21:29:00.002Z

What a roller coaster week i had last week. Monday i was wasted, race the day before had taken allot out of me so i just recovered, two easy spins on the bike, nothing in the legs though.

Tuesday saw the usual cross session in Knocklyon. Felt dog awful on the way into college, nothing in the legs still. Figured it was going to be a bad bad session. Rode on out with Mick and Katie expecting a good deal of personal suffering. Felt good on the way out and by the time we got there legs were feeling great. Tough session focusing on sprints and physical cornering in bunches and i was on fire, really felt on for a change. Last race of the evening i was on fire, starting near the end and held off the big boys (Robin) until the end, didn't get caught, but at the same time Mark got away from me. Focus for this week :)

Great ride home, no bonkage, and great ride on Wed in and out of work. Legs were still going well. Perfect for the two days off that were coming up. Treated myself to a beer that evening too! Next morning up stupid early to head to the airport to fly to Belgium. Decided to ride over, lock the bike, then get the plane. It lashed. Cock. Got to airport very early though as i had a HUGE tail wind, so settled in with Catch-22 and a massive coffee.

Met Ryan and hit the plane, good natter on the way over, nice bit of talk about training and whatnot. Off the plane talking away, off to the check in....cock no passport. Wander up to the nice Belgian man; 'ive got no passport its on the plane' .. 'this is not good for you'.... ' i know, could you ring ryanair?'... ' yes, we will try'.... and so on. Suffice to say the plane took off and ryanair did fuck all. To be fair i would expect nothing less from the flying bus that is a ryanair flight.

Calls to the forign office ensued, escoreted into the police station, put under 'administrative arrest', ringing the Irish embasy, trying to prove im Irish, etc etc. 3 hours later and i get a get out of jail free card and get to leave the airport, under the assumption that i'm a very good boy and dont try to steal Belgium. Or drink all their tasty beer and make a fool of myself. Bit of banter with the police if im honest, a sound bunch of blokes, the whole talking about cyclocross and having my kit with me kinda helped i reckon.

Bus to Brussles, then taxi to the hotel, and manage to catch the last hour of the course. Meet the lads and get a quick de brief then head to get showered and tidyied up. Good dinner, talking about cycling and so on, then a few drinks on the Belgian cycling federation. By the time 10pm local came round i was wrecked, hit the bed and crashed out with the TV still on. Second day more of the same, some more talk, more food (man they like leeks) and more coffee. Picked up by the national team car and dropped back to the airport with 4 hours to kill.....uugh....oh look Leffe....got on the plane and passed out. Wake up, slow ish ride home, telly for 30mins then off to bed again.

Looks like im back on early time folks! Its good to wake up at 7:30am and not be confused. Now to start using this time to train!!!

Another race and a result of sorts

2009-10-27T15:26:00.000Z

Another weekend another cross race. Season is kicking off fully now with most people having dusted their bikes off and getting them covered in mud all over again.

Sunday saw a long drive up to Carrickfergus for the second round of the Ulster Cyclocross League, first round also being the Supercross Cup the weekend before in Lurgan. 2 hours 45 mins later we finally arrived in a field in the middle of nowhere. Wind blowing, rain tanking down, and what looked like a sodden field beside the playing pitches. Thankfully we found out that we were going to get showers after the event so the mood was cheered up a little....despite the obvious standing water in the field.

Only 34 riders turned up due to weather, roadworks, and general apathy. On top of that only 5 riders from down South, poor show lads. Gridding up after a pointless two lap warmup, which ment that 30 mins were spent cleaning the bike before warming up on the road again, had me sitting on the second row with a direct line at the holeshot.

10 seconds, clip in, check the gearing. GO. Gun it up the hill and get into the first corner in 6th place. Hold it through the first few corners until the second hill. Drop a place to Fergus and so the fight began. 5 laps back and forth each of us fighting for every inch in the corners and hills. Every descent I'd take him, only to loose it on the hill. 5th lap and I put in a big effort, get a gap of 4m going into the hill and just kept going, needed to drop him! Top of the hill and he's blown, keep it going on the descent and by the end of the lap I have maybe 10seconds on him and he's slowing.

7th lap and disaster; chain pops off as i hit it with my heel pedaling through a tight right hand corner. By the time i have it back on and get moving again Fergus has caught me and gone past. Doing my best for a lap to get back onto him but not a chance, he's motoring and i cant get back.

7th place, just outside the prize money. But good points in the league non the less.

Lots of photos from Andy Potts at : http://mitzelphoto.fotopic.net/c1773205.html

Strip strip strip the weight.

2009-10-24T17:23:00.005+01:00

Made some changes to the cross bike during the week and got it down to a nice 9.4kg ish just before the race in Lurgan last weekend. So more fettling insued this weekend to strip it down even further for as cheap as i can!

Off:
XT rear derauiler : 260g
XT front deraulier : 160g
Truvativ Cranks & Rings: 655g
Truvative BB: 120g
XT cassette: 345g
Bolts n bits: 50g

On:
105 rear deraulier: 240g
Biopace ring(40): 100g (uurrrrgh heavy)
Truvative cranks & BB (Elita): 692g
Chain plate: 26g
Ultegra 12-27 (9s) cassette: 200g

Weight loss:
332g net profit! A few other grammes from changing tires but forgot to weigh them :( Now down to a more respectable 8.9kg.

Just like Iaranrod Eirean, we're getting there.

NERD ALERT NERD ALERT: STATS AHOY!

2009-10-21T23:32:00.005+01:00

Man that session was crazy after all.

Session time total: 1hr 40mins
Distance : 19.5km
Climbing height: 116m - wouldn't of thought we did that much climbing!
Avg Hr: 157bpm for the session - that included all those breaks we had
Max Hr: 181bpm - my max Hr about 193 at the moment*

NERD ALERT NERD ALERT: STATS AHOY!

Man that session was crazy after all.

Session time total: 1hr 40mins
Distance : 19.5km
Climbing height: 116m - wouldn't of thought we did that much climbing!
Avg Hr: 157bpm for the session - that included all those breaks we had
Max Hr: 181bpm - my max Hr about 193 at the moment*

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_S2vw-e1b6qM/St-HxMzPiEI/AAAAAAAAA7I/NNeU9I1kCj0/s800/tues%20session.jpg

For the last drill we did i'm just stunned with how hard we were all going!

11 times in total up and down that hill, race distance of5.5km and took 20mins, so 2 mins average lap like we said at the end!

Max HR: 181bpm - surprising...no...still suppressed from Sunday.
Avg HR: 170bpm - ouch... 94% of session max Hr, 88% of MAX Hr..wow
Max Speed: 34kph...on grass...wow that's faster than expected on that course

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_S2vw-e1b6qM/St-I4HnGZDI/AAAAAAAAA78/_aB1ZRZqfL4/s800/last%20race.jpg

Now real interesting bit...ok interesting to me....maybe Ryan....

Look at run number 6 up the hill, Bob was behind me and told me to go as hard as possible...so i did.....as you do. Heart rate through the roof...but then slowly slowly starts to drops, then boom through the floor.

Total decoupling of HR and effort, i was in bits at this point. Binned it once, then 3 laps later and Luke passed me.

Moral of the story, my session was over there, no top end sprint work, and racing on a flat out course like that means one hard attack and I'm binned. So need to do some recovery work.

Man im a nerd...but its my job!

*yes i can work harder Bob

Supercross Cup Round 1

2009-10-19T17:57:00.003+01:00

Up early to meet the lads from WORC and to scab a lift to lovely lovely Lurgan. Racing up North always has a different feel to it, you dont know who's going to line up and it makes for better racing as you dont know just how hard the others can go. Add to that first race of the season and you have a perfect recipie for a good race.

Last years nationals were hosted in Lurgan and it proved to be a mixed bag, good but not great, not a race i'd rank as A1 but not a B class race. Yesterday the Apollo boys pulled all the stops out and the course was as good as any UCI cat race you are going to get in the UK.....not as good as the St Anne's round mind you ;)

Warmed up with the WORC boys (my other club) which felt good, all 5 of us trucking around, checking out the roots and lines and generally looking professional. I'm sure we looked like cocks but sure thats just the way. 5 laps warm up, then told the race is 30mins late, 2 more slow paced laps and we're lining up. Very warm day by cross standards so shorts and jerseys were the order of the day, long finger gloves still though.

30 seconds to start, clip in right foot, look for a line through the mess that's about to occur. GO, hard out, hitting max HR in about 30 seconds, into the first 15 and hitting the first bend, get a few places here and push push push. Boards, flat, boards, uphill and corneres, singletrack, straightaway, start finish area. 9 more times around this...this is going to suck.

Ollie on left, Arek on the right, Polish Ultra Man!

Got dropped by the bunch on lap 3 and ended up in no mans land. Stuck it out for a lap then let Arek and Ollie from MAD get up onto me, hid behind Arek into the wind section, passed him on all the tech stuff. Ollie was there 2 seconds ago..where's he gone! Good hard racing, needed to stay alert as Arek was bound to attack me. Laps 6-7 i recovered, watched Arek and figured i could beat him on the last straight and all the runs, on the singletracks i needed to get ahead of him, he owned me there. Must work on my twisty stuff.

Lap 8 it all kicked off, we had picked up another northern rider and they started rotating attacks on me into all the single track sections. Had to dig in hard so as to not get beaten to them. Every time we got in i eased up and tried to get the breathing under control while checking every 5 seconds. Mind was getting tired but the body was even worse, cramping, needing to puke, usual joys of cross.

Massive attack from Arek, tried to go around me on the straight. out of the saddle 50*14 trying to get ahead of him, massively late breaking into a corner nearly puts me in the spectators but he didn't get past. Suffering, need to recover. Northern lad attacks, cant get his wheel, he's into the singletrack before me, riding fast need to catch him. Cant get him, flat section, Arek goes past. Boards, the boards will save me, these guys cant run. Hit the boards section flat out, in between the lads and running hard, quick mount and back on the gas, ahead, now recover on the twisty climb. Second boards, 5m's on them. Into the single track Arek right on my wheel, can hear him breathing hard, he's on the edge. Must attack early.

Last section of single track i'm clicking up the gears, hitting the exit onto the fast section i'm in 50*15 and still going faster, click, out of the saddle, click, sprinting, 100m to go, quick glance, he's blown! Click click click down, squeal go the brakes, right, left 180 turn, roll over the line. Roll around catching my breath, shake hands with the lads, roll off and try to keep the vomit down, i need a drink bad. Stomach and thighs cramping. Best feeling in the world.

All this for 22nd place. You gotta love cross.

Operation Lightificate cross bike

2009-10-17T12:04:00.004+01:00

Season offically starts tomorrow. Round 1 of the Supercross Cup. Lurgan Park, a technical course with some sloppy slide moments on it and some odd bits, apparently the water feature has been removed though!

So in order to get the bike ready for the nationals in Jan I've started to tweak.....not myself, but the bike. Geometry is all dialled in now with the switch to a 90mm stem and a rise of the bars, we know how we will be riding. Now to sort what ill be riding.

I'll not be changing frames for this year, just updating what i have. So a list is in order and a few pics:

Frame: Planet X: Uncle John Cross
Fork: Planet X: Carbon Cross fork, alu steerer
Cranks: Truvative Rouler compact 50/39
Pedals: Eggbeaters, cro-mo basic ones
Drivetrain: Shimano XT F/R
Cassette: XT MTB one, 11-32
Shifters: Shimano 105
Brakes: TRP EuroX
Stem: Some Deda brick of a thing I've borrowed of Mick
Bars: FSA Carbon Pro
Headset: FSA Orbit CX (knackered, new ones on way from On-one)
Bartape: Eastons finest
Saddle: Planet X Team Ti
Seatpost: Planet X superlight (??)
Cables: Mix of DA and XTR cables
Tire options: Vitorria Cross XG pro, 700 x 32, Continental Twister Pro 700 x 32 (345g per)

Wheel option 1: Shimano Ultegra Fr/Mavic Open Pro with Powertap SL 2.4 hub (3,200g with cassette + skewers)
Wheel option 2: Shimano Ultegra Fr/Rr (3,200g with cassette + skewers)
Option 3: Zipp 404's with...nothing yet as i haven't decided on what tubs to use yet.

Total Weight : 10.1kg

Time to start the lightificating procedures

My First Motorbike

2009-10-12T23:25:00.000+01:00

Just saw this flick up in the side bar on my computer. I'd nearly forgotten how the bike that i learnt to ride on looked like. 1987 Honda Transalp, 600cc and my first bike.

I remember when i learnt to ride i started at the 'school' on a Virago 125cc, horrible piece of shit, hard to steer and hard to even get comfy on. After 30 mins the instructor moved me onto a BMW F650. Hopped on, and within 10 mins was whizzing about. Reason why? Cause it was just a big MTB.

Now i have beastly, my lovely Africa Twin. 750cc of pure Japanease lovely. But this is where it started, on a bike JUST under the legal limit....when it was full of petrol. Good old power to weight.

More on that tomorrow though

End of season review

2009-10-12T10:54:00.003+01:00

I do hate this part of the year, but at the same time it forces me to think and re-assess my training and look towards what i want to do next year. The 'season' or training period starts for me each year in November, i like to take a few weeks off in October, turn off, drink some beers and catch up on TV. Training tends to be nice and un structured and just keeps me going. Last year i had just started working with Rich so October was not a month off, it was a month to tweak running and start me up for the cross season. So info for the last season is 13 months.

This will take a few posts to get thorough i think....

Volume:

Bike: MTB & CX 73hrs / 810km

Not a huge amount of MTB distance compared to last year, not enough if im honest! However i tweaked my wrist at the start of the march , and i did decide the i was going to focus more on the triathlon side of things this year, so all in all not to bad. Probably missing another 100km in there from fatty spins with the DCU lot, but not worrying to much

Bike: Road: 176.4hrs / 3,079km

Time here is not totally correct, i don't always include my spin into and from college unless it is an actual training session. On top of that, a large skew for me this year was the focused week in france riding. Great training, great hill work and i will be back next year. Happy enough with the road mileage but on years previous this is quite down. I do feel this also showed in my on bike work during the year, and i didn't bike as hard as i could during races, however i did bike more sensibly.

Racing 19hrs / 285km

General idea between MTB race, CX races, running, and tri. Not a whole heap of racing hours when i look at it. Not including some things like 3 peaks and some MTB challenge races, but actual focused race time. Not that much when i look at it this way.

Run: Road 32hrs / 232km

Massive volume increase for me here, untold increases in my running have been gained this year. Only way i can say this happened was through a long slow process of refining a poorly developed running cyclist into a slightly less poor one :) Happy that i can now run 20min 5k's off the bike in sprint races, can go under 1:45 for a half marathon and am in and around the 44mins for 10km on the flat.

Swim erm not sure yet

I dont tend to track my swim volume and time. I probably should, its now my weakest area. Somewhere to focus on for the next few months.

Two weeks post and allot of cake

2009-10-10T11:47:00.002+01:00

I do like the off season. Three peaks was to be the defined end of the season. I only actually noticed that i'd made this decision over a year ago when i went to play with WKO+ and noticed that it'd rest to 2008 :)

So what have i been at, very little. Random un-organised training, blowing in and out of exercise for the last two weeks and i have to be honest its been good. Getting my brain on track, catching up with old friends, making new ones, and getting a better focus in work.

Backing off all things competitive, not even thinking about it has felt good, i'm even feeling the focus coming back. Albeit slowly.

Had a good weekend out in west of Ireland with Waggers. Headed off to ride the Derroura trails near Galway. I'd been there a few months back with Pauline and thought of them as Ballinstowe with Soul...yes capital S. First lap around was fraught with Wag's having some major drivetrain issues,thankfully great weather and a 'couldn't care less' attitude meant that the 2 hour lap for 17km was not annoying. Fixed the issues back at the van, donned lights to the bike and headed back out for a second lap, much more respectable 1hr 3mins. Have to say i love those trails, rocky and slippy in the right way, with all the height gained on proper single track climbs.

That night we we drove to Clifden for dinner and beers as i had to test in Westport with the An Post boys the day after, plan was to get some of the western way in on the way up. Great night out after we found the local old mans pub and settled in for the night. Few scoops, couple of games of pool, and some good talk. Great evening, first time i've switched off in a long time.

However Waggers decided falling out of his hammock and landing on the large storage boxes was s good idea in the middle of the night. Long story short, he walked like and old man for a day, drove home, and now he has broken ribs. Off the bike for X weeks :( Funny as hell at the time! So as he was broken i went for a run on Croagh Patrick. From the back side, ohh er, i summited in 28 mins, great time up, dodgy on the way down, 21 but took a longer route.

This week i have done nowt, few spins on the bike, light running and a cross session on the nationals course yesterday. Was supposed to go for a ride with Ollie today...but he was hungover...and im feeling lazy. Run later, going to work on bikes for a few hours and get all greasy!

3 Peaks 2009

2009-09-29T00:17:00.006+01:00

In true Pulp Fiction style lets start at the end, that's me tapping down Pen-y-Ghent after the nice American chap i met at the top. Rode most of they way home together in a mixture of cramp and smiles. So i may as well do it the right way round....

The last month has been hell. No training, work pressure, research pressure, life pressure and just general feelings of malaise have meant that i am in absolute terrible condition. Light, but in no good shape.

Saturday morning, packing, packing, realising my bike is not race ready, but its in UK ahead of me. Balls. Last minute lift to the airport (thanks Andy) and getting ready to go when the phone rings, PhD supervisor on the phone...not a happy camper...instantly i'm in no mood to travel. Don't want to do anything, want to just crawl under a rock and hide. But i'm past security and they ain't going to let me out are they. It's almost as if the race is trying to mess with my head before i'm even in the country.

Hop on the plane, Simon Burnley's Cyclocross is on my lap as if i'm going to get any last minute tips to win, and mp3 player blaring Skinny Puppy in my ears, just daring a flight attendant to tell me to take them off. Plane goes up, plane goes down, spits me out of the flying bus. Meet Pauline in a total mood and head off to Decathlon to get last minute nutrition and tubes. The drive up and banter get my mood raised, find the lovely camp-site in Austwick after some food in Settle, a pint of local in Helwith Bridge and a quick scout of the drivers route for Pauline who was doing crew for me, and settle in for the night (pun 100% intended).

Sleep. Wake. Urinate. Sleep. Wake. Insert food. Drive to start of race and register. Just get my warm-up in and i'm lined up, 30 seconds later after spotting Trio the race is go. I love the road section at the start, fast, technical, and scares the crap out of the pure MTB heads. No crashes this year, even spot Twinklydave at one point on his nice new Rodwell, me likey. Nice easy average power at 280W, not to hard, but staying to the right of the pack to avoid the wind from the left side. No issues on the way to the bottom of Whernside, hit the bottom and am walking earlier than last year due to the hoards of people who cant ride up a hill, and are puncturing all over the place. Kids, cmmon, basic one, don't run 20PSI, its not actually a CX race! Shoulder and run time. Gain a few places by the time it gets seriously steep. Damn i'd forgotten just how steep Simon fell actually is. Oh well, get on with it and move. Short fast steps allow me to keep my place and move on up the hill.

Onto the moonscape that is the top in a total fog out. Bleep, and turn for the descent, see the first crash of the day guy in the boulder field below the steps off the top, looks nasty, but people are tending to him. Then the daemons arrived. No idea why, partially because i've not been on the CX bike much this year compared to last year, and partially due to nerves, but i rode the descent like a granny. Felt tight, sloppy and scared. Got to the feed grabbed my bottle off Pauline, and had to stop to put it in the pocket. 'Are you ok?' Pauline shouted, 'No' was the simple response as i pulled off onto the road section. Time down, felling low, only a third into the race.

Missed the tail of a group and ended up solo. Ok triathlon boy, lets see what you can do. TT time. Tucked up, head down and gunned it, caught the group and kept going, picked up one guy who did nothing, dropped him on the steep hill. Looks like France paid off anyway! TT...TT...TT...drink..TT...TT...eat...TT...TT Ingleborough. Rode as far as the little legs could go then hit the climb, not stopping ever was today's plan. Peak at the watch let me know i was on time for last years ride, hmm ok, well once i'm not slower. Got to the top of the never-ending staircase and started the lovely ridge ride, oh how i love this section. Descent time, no punctures are allowed, ride clean, ride fast, ride smart. Quicker than i know it i'm off the slabs and on the flatter section, passing people and descending like i am supposed to. Better, but not best. Feeling strong as we ride to the via-duct. Just about hear Pauline to get the bottle and shout a happy 'Thanks!' back. Feeling good as i hit the road, no cramps, not issues, and a big ring that works this year. TT time all the way to Horton. Hard as i can, pass a lot of riders i know will get me on the climb so i need to make as much time as i can.

Pen-Y-Ghent lane and i have issues. I nearly gave up at this point last year, due to a combination of cramping; tiredness; and hatred off all things vertical. Rode the whole section up to the gate. Stunned. i have no idea how i did but i did. I am taking this as my shining point from the day. Up up up we go, all the way to the top, once again the people who give us water half way up are gods among men and cyclists. I love you guys so much for not making me drink sweet carbo drink. On the final section my head started to calculate for the first time. 20 mins from the top to Helwith bridge to go under 4:30.....doable...but realistic i dont know. Descend like a daemon for the first time, feeling good, but wait is that....crap left calf starts to cramp. Ok, no jumping re-mounts. 5 mins later and the right starts to go. Damn it...descend, worry about it at the bottom.

Hit the road in a bunch of 3 look at the other lads and make the obvious statement. 'Want to go for this lads?' A resounding YES and i hit the front giving it all i have which proves to be a pathetic 290W. Turn it over to the American, and the pace stays high, not looking at the clock, keep gunning it. We drop rider number 3 and i take the front again. On the edge now as i spot the bridge and bring it home, avoid the gravel face plant add cross the line for a respectable 4:35. 5 mins outside what i wanted, but 10 mins faster than last year.

I've only toyed with the power data from the Powertap, although not the lightest option, it should give me some interesting data to look at. I'll do a post about it tomorrow if i get time.

Am i happy, yes. Will i be back, yes. But am i disappointed, yes more so. I had a terrible lead up, no specific training, and little to know enthusiasm. But next year, it will be different.

Also have to give a big thanks to Amy who without i would have not got an entry this year. I owe you something large and pink.....ehh ok...that sounds very very bad....erm....oh well.

Race around ireland 2009 Day 1

2009-09-29T00:15:00.006+01:00

If you don't like needles....maybe not the best to look at all the photos.

What an event. The concept of it boggles the mind. Teams of 4 riding 2,131km around the country in under 96 hours. Then add in the solo's doing it in under 120 hours. Crazy. Totally so.

So to make it a little crazier it was decided that one team of cyclists would lend me their bodies, blood, saliva and urine for the name of science. This team was the wonderful lads in An Post Connaught.

What can i say about the race from an outsiders point of view. Controlled chaos. Riders would wait for a while until everything was about to explode and then jump into action, bikes set, gear on and in 2 mins the new riders would have arrived and the recovered riders would be on the road. Every 4 hours this rotated between resting and riding. Day and night, luckily through near perfect weather.

But my side of the race is what i want to talk about and how i experienced the event. This is going to be a bit like 24, but not as many explosions, but very similar amounts of blood.

-12 hours to race:
Navan, god how i hate Navan, something about the place. Sitting at the local sports partnership at 7:30am waiting for the boys to turn up and the sensors van to rear its head, please god let it turn up of 15mins penalty even before we start. 7:59:50 they turn up and Colm sprints in to sign on. Oh dear.....this is how its going to be then. Sign up, get the vans ready, accelerometers on the bikes and riders. Off to the main town centre to get the van accredited, done, happy out. Get my blood, psych, saliva and urine samples. Say my good lucks the the lads, turn all the kit on, bail back to my lab. Run my samples, pack the van, hit the road.

-1hour to race:
Phone wont stop ringing, ive just driven to the other end of the country and people want me to sort shit out. Get over it and deal with it!! I'm tired and i want dinner.

-10mins to race:
FUCK OFF, i don't care about it. MAKE SURE ITS ON. Simple strokes as Niall would say.

4 hours RT (00:00am):
Cant sleep, totaly shitting the first night, no idea if this is going to work, really not enjoying this not knowing whats going on.

11 hours RT(07:00am):
Phone on, P just rang. Van has blown all its circuits, fuse fucked, no power, but got it sorted. To make things worse, total blow out on the van. Stress building, people not happy, no idea if they are going to let me sample them. So so nervous.

14 hours RT(10:00am):
Met the lads....everyone is actually chilled...quite confused. WTF happened and why aren't they annoyed! Waiting for the lads to arrive for the switch over and every one is just lolling about, drinking coffee kicking heals. I'm very very confused, yet chilled.

15 hours RT(11:00am):
Riders here, switch done, Mick and Padraig in, Noel and Daire out. What a total anti climax! So fast, saw everything, which was nothing. Time to take samples off the lads. Have the van in a nice corner of the carpark away from everyone, however sticking needles into cyclists in the public's eye is something i need to keep quiet!

15:30 hours RT(11:30am):
Shit the wheel with the puncture is still in the follow vehicle, chase time! Got it an hour later, then had to skip on ahead onto Sligo to get it fixed. This is a puncture kids.

19.5 hours RT(3:30pm):
Sligo, another petrol station, new tire fitted in record time in Grange. Time to stab the lads and get more blood in another dodgy spot. Lads are holding up very very well. Local area now so they are happy out, playing up for the people and just talking easily to everyone.

29 hours RT(11:00pm):
Just arrived in Tralee, drinving from Sligo to Tralee in one go sucks so much. Wrecked, lads are still riding, apparenlty ok. Will see in the morning. hope i can get more than 5 hours sleep tonight.

This gives an idea of the first day. Seriously hectic moments and other not so hectic moments. I'll do some more tomorrow, to tired now! All leading up to this:

End of season race's

2009-09-01T22:02:00.003+01:00

Ireland can be a great place, one minute its sun, the next its rain. The last two races i've done have reminded me of this more than ever.

K-Capital Round 2: Carrick Mountain
Second race of the WORC league was always going to be a biggie. Long course at 40km, but on the day we had to shut it down to 30km due to the weather...have a guess what....it was raining. But not just rain....torrents from the sky in the days leading up to the race. Was so worried that it was going to totally wash out the course.

Luckily it was not as bad, no the weather was still crap, but it was soaking. More to the point i wasn't actually racing i was sweeping. *sigh* long long day in the saddle on my own. Lost my water bottle 5km in, no water until about 12km. Add into that a race at the Bray Aquathon and a long run session the day before and my legs were shot. Felt so lonely for the whole ride until i caught the back markers. Saying that i enjoyed the day out, but it's made my mind up that i am not marshalling any more races this year.
Dublin City Triathlon
Week later and a week less training. Horrible week in work, stress, stress and more stress. 3 weeks before the main data collection for your PhD is NOT the time to try to do an A race. Once again i blame Xterra France for sucking SO BAD at getting themselves sorted. grrrrrrr. Anyway..

Great race as usual, cant fault the Piranha folks on this. Pure excellence. As normal not a hitch and the had transition sorted perfect for this one. Very little flow and the water was not smelling as bad as normal. Cold swim, but more or less uneventful bar nearly loosing a tooth when i got an elbow about 500m into the swim. Need to get FASTER to stay AHEAD of the pack. Left with a slight bitterness to the swim 00:30:15... wanted under 30. Welcome to the trend of the day.

Bike was good, aiming for a 1:10 split and did a 1:10:32, just outside again, i probably could have paced better, but the efforts were euqal on each lap, all the times within 30 seconds of each other, cant argue with that for 5 laps..

As for the run...wow...first 3km, felt great, hammered it, going to go under 2:3o, no issue, might might do a 2:20..then kaboom, legs toast, down to 5:20km's, shit shit shit, head fell out, and then it happened, pace dropped and couldnt do nowt, even had a bit of a walk....how sad is that.

2:32:ish

2 mins outside of my season goal. Result. Bitter. But.... im fitter, faster, lighter and more motivated than ever. The cross season is on the horizon and im looking forward to it. Life i good, i have a job, and relationship. Lets be honest. Its just a race.

For now

A week of climbing: part 3

2009-08-24T18:11:00.006+01:00

Took a while to get back to writing this!

Next few days of the holiday were pretty memorable. Epic ride out to Annecy. head wind all the way ment that Pauline had a mini bonk about 5km from the lake...however we didn't know how far we actually were. 73km in the wind took its toll but a bit of a push, and an omelette and chips, made her alive. Pauline went off for a swim with Paul, but taking the 'sensible' option i decided to ride home.... erm bad call Greg. Wind had turned in the valley and i had another 73km of head wind. This time though the descents on the way out were all climbs. The last 17km of the ride saw me climbing up the valley just wanting it to end. Gels in, water in, nothing appeared to want to make my legs work. Felt crap, but soldiered on. Nearly collapsed when i got back to the house. Beer, massage then dinner made me feel better. Off early to bed and i slept like a log shaped Greg.

Next day was Col de la Madaline. Apparently going to be a 101km round trip, with the main climb being the 26km up to 2000m.Two epic days in a row ehy? Sure why not. Felt ok leaving the house, legs were slow to warm up but not that bad. Took it cheesy on the flat acting as a wind break for Pauline on some sections, but as we reached the base of the climb i just eased off as the others decided it was go time. I figure in a 26km climb with sections off continuous 10-11% you don't want to leave all your rubber on the tarmac in the first 10km. Surprisingly enough i was right.

Great evening meal as usual and off to bed, tomorrow was to be the last day and i wanted a big day. Cormet du Roseland was the pain of choice and i wanted to be on form. Woke up the next day feeling perky and got the food in and the legs in order. Ride out was probably a bit faster than the group wanted but i wanted to be warmed up by the time we got to Bourg. Picked up Paul and rocked up to the base of the climb. Stuck with the group for the first km to get the legs going again and then in the finest tradition of Cervelo Test Team decided i was Thor and went for it. 19km climb on my wn, balls out, no easing up. Power over 270W for the whole thing, do not ease off, do not stop pushing, fast as i can. First 9km hurt like hell, next 9km hurt more, the last km was both terrible and gratifying at the same time. Hit the top and rolled around to stop my legs cramping. Parked the bike, quick puke (not intended), lay down and started the clock.

10mins later the first of the group rolled in, 5mins later Pauline, then the last rider 25mins later. Thankfully it was pretty warm at the top or i'd have frozen! Best ride of the week by far and i felt strong all the way bar a 1km section about 8km in where my mind was sure i was cashing a cheque i could not pay. WRONG. Rolled down slowly to enjoy the view i missed on the way up. Going to miss those mountains, such a fantastic place.

A week of climbing: part 2

2009-08-08T22:22:00.010+01:00

Had a great dinner the day after Petit San Bernard and retired nice and early.Unfortunately the local cockrel and peacock decided that i was not to sleep, add that the the church bell that decided it needed to toll twice and hour and freak out at 7am and 7pm each day.....well lets just say i got little to no sleep....and Pauline got attacked by the sneeze daemons and kept us both up! Short story long, i pretty much got no sleep for the first two nights. I unfortunately am a light sleeper...need to change this....i did find a way though. Wine.

The next day was very very hot (35' in the shade) so we just chilled out, i wasn't feeling to good for a change in the heat and pretty much. Woke up early and got a 6km run in before breakfast. Got in two 15km rides and a swim. Think i didn't drink enough the day before so spent the day drinking and getting hydrated again. Hit the beds early that evening after a few glasses of the house red, ZZZZZZ when combined with earplugs.

Local lake and swimming spot

RAIN, alpine rain, and lots of it. An 8am breakfast turns into the most leisurely chill out to wait for the rain to pass. At about 10am it lets up so we prep and head out at 10:30. Along the main road, through the tunnel, and off towards Moutier. Right turn after a few km and we arrive at the base of Notre Dame Du Pris. a 10km climb with sections of 9%, nothing to hard, nice and short but fun... apparently. Went out nice and hard as we were warmed up and kept up the pace, held off at to get our breath half way up, and found une petit petit lapin.

Met some random cars blaring out Europop and shouting 'Allez' at us through the speakers on top of the car. Something was afoot we thinks. As we get to the top it turns out there is a local fete on! Welcomed in with cheers from the lashing rain we get free coffee, pizza and snacks. Pauline even gets her own cheer as she gets to the top 'la femme! Allez'.Paul tries to pay and the woman just waves us away. Gotta love the French. Long cold wet descent in the slithery rain and we get back to Mascot. Great ride albeit kinda wet.

Had some food back in the pizzeria after spending 2 hours trying to get food...i HATE when French towns shut down and don't feed me. That evening we went out for a second spin up to La Plange. Long hard ride straight up from the village. Decided to drive it with Paul for the first 9km and we just rode each other into the ground until one of us gave up. Paul broke first....but only just, very much on the edge when he said 'enough' and we recovered for a section or two. Picked up Pauline as we recovered in the shade, and we rode on towards the top. 13km in and my legs were shot, and Pauline wasn't doing much better so we turned for home and had a descending masterclass for Pauline on the steeper 10% sections. Good ride, but needed fooooooood!!!!

Bob sleigh course near the top

A week of climbing: part 1

2009-08-07T15:31:00.013+01:00

Ok, this is going to be a long one so i may as well split it up. A while back i became a bit disillusioned about the whole training thing. Life, work and Xterra France getting cancelled basicly ment that i pretty much jacked it in for a week or 4. Still trained but it was a bit haphazard and kinda pointless. So with that in mind i had suggested to Pauline that we go to France for a week of focused training/relaxing/time together. This is the story of that holiday:

Last minute breakage of my tri bike on Tuesday meant that the cross bike was being called into action. Flap flaps from Dublin to Geneva, minor delay at Dublin as they couldn't close the plane door....getting scared now. Hour 40 jump and we landed in Switzerland. Ok...its hot out...very hot, late 20's kinda hot. Met Toni and Paul and the other 3 Irish people who were on the same flight as us! Hopped in the car for a nice long scenic drive to Mascot la Plange...wherever that was. Arrived at the most idilic little French village, which turned out to be our home for the next 8 days. Beer in hand i went about putting the bike together.

Home for the week

The evening was spent talking to guests who were just leaving over dinner and meeting the people we'd be riding with for the next week. 3 dentists; one IM/HIM distance tri-athlete and partner, and a sportive rider. Mixed bag of ideas on riding so we all agreed to let Paul decide the ride for the day after and Col du Petit St. Bernard it was. Nice easy 15km on the flat, 30km climb and descent after, then 15km flat home. 90km in total on the first day with a 30km climb with sections of 6%...up to 2,180m....WFT am i doing here, i can't climb for shit!

Rolled out after the soon to be traditional breakfast of porridge, bread, coffee ,boiled egg, bread, coffee, juice, coffee and bread. I do like breakfast. 15km easy enough to Bourg St Moritz and got the legs warmed up for the 30km climb up to Petit San Bernard. Sections of 6% but mostly rolling 4 and 5%. Took it handy after realising that there was no point gunning it from the get go. Talked most of the way up with nice low HR then chilled at 9km to go waiting for the group. Last 5km Paul decided it was time to gun it so hung on for all i could. Lungs and legs were burning but i would not get dropped. Hit the top and caught my breath in the sunshine waiting for the others to catch up.

View from Half way up

The top and Pauline's new friend.

Coffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffee

Poser...

Descent was fun on my CX bike, breaks of cheese make for silly lines around hairpins. More or less a sprint recovery session on the way; break hard into corner, sprint out x lots. Great ride and nice cool down after coffee in Bourg. Only after did i figure that Paul might be testing myself and Pauline to see where we were, as the others had been here before! Dinner that night outside was worth it and talk of tomorrows ride in the heat made me a little sceptical...a run was planned and a bit of a swim. Slowly slowly catchy monkey....but not this monkey.

Athlone Triathlon

2009-07-20T13:57:00.005+01:00

Not bothered typing a separate report on the race; Here is what i wrote to Rich, my lovely coach type person. Anyone wants the powerfile i'll mail it to them.

Evenin monkey man,

Man Athlone is one well yet poorly orginised race... 2,500 people on some very very narrow roads. very very busy course on both bike and end of my run. Happy i can bike well or i'd have wanted to punch all the people who tried to draft on my wheel. I actually passed 3 guys from the same club doing up and over together. Pointless. Also shredded my feet on the roads for T1, lads, its pretty simple brush the ground and take up the glass FFS its not that complex.

Anyway...

49th Gregory May IRL - Belpark
Swim: 0:12:27 AG Pos:85 (load of horse shite this time is)
T1: 5:32 76
Bike: 0:37:56 AG Pos:31
T2: 5:09
Run: 0:20:02 AG Pos:104
Overall 1:21:05
Time from Leader: 0:17:04

Swim time is well wrong, everyone i talked to in my AG said the same thing, time on my watch was 11:18, not fast but at least it's coming down from earlier in the year. They changed the out and back to a down river swim, so i just sat in and relaxed, wasnt here to get thrashed wanted to do a hard bike/run so just chilled.

Transitions; no i did not stop and have a coffee, it was nearly a kilometer in and out on shite roadsurface and just a joke. Total disgrace in comparison to the 45 ITU racers, lets be honest 2,500 ppl, you'd expect a semi descent surface so you can actually run to your bike.

Bike was good, uphill and head wind out, then back at high speeds. Pushed hard ish, but well sub threshold on the way out, focused on steady, no spikes for a change. 244W avg way out, 238W back. Pushed hard on the way back on the hills. Constant gradual decrease in my HR which was odd, didnt pay attention to it, just kept power constant but no increase. May be time to re assess HR power in the lab again, if i get a chance i might try do it before i go to France. I'll stick up the .wko file later. (20km TT on Sat should give me an idea if FTP has changed)

Run: Another stupid transtion, then onto my legs. 20mins...watch said 18 something...but sure we wont argue. First off. Came onto my feet and felt strong, no jelly legs, nothing, hopped on a setanta lad and went for it. Felt good. about 3km in i started to not be able to breath (memories of childhood asthma) and started to panic, couldnt get a full breath in, so just eased off. Didnt go away but was bearable. First time i've been on for a fast run split and had to hold back, pissed off. I dont think i went to hard on the bike, but i have changed the position a bit and may not be used to it. Going to do some tweaking on the turbo tomorrow and see.

For a race that i kinda entered to go see my mate i'm happy enough, it was an experience, and good to get on the course just incase by some miracle i managed to qualify for it for next year. Saying that...if not i probs would avoid doing it again.

Anyway, enough typing, bored in work and just killing time.

Greg

Mid Season review and renew

2009-07-06T14:40:00.002+01:00

Back into the grove this week, swim tonight, then back to it. If i train hard i can race hard. If i can think hard i can work hard. This is the plan, and this will happen. I've now resolved to do the following things:

Bed by 10:30pm Sunday-Thursday - Fridays and Sat's i can go to 12 if a good film is on. Need to get my sleep cycle back in gear
Up at 8am Monday - Friday - Sat and Sun depends on if i'm racing, or doing long sessions. Flexible but not stupid. Bed no later than 10am.
Focus on my work and read 1 journal paper a day
Reply to emails on the same day if they need doing
Train with focus and dedication
Make a little me time every week, but at the same time make time for others

Think that's it.... hopefully it'll actuall happen this time!

Overall not to happy with this summer so far, but things have been busy, and not everything has gone to plan. So i'll aim to rescue the season by turning out a PB in DCT (under 2:28) and 3 Peaks (under 4:45) so if i can do this i'll be happy. But more on that later :)

Feeling a little more motivated

2009-07-03T12:25:00.004+01:00

The last 3 weeks have been hard. I've been about as motivated as a fish to leave water, i know i need to do it eventually, but lets be honest it takes allot of work.

Had a bit of a down week on training last week, just do what i wanted when i wanted to. Got some runs in, a few bike rides, even got out on my MTB. Hit the pool once, but should have done two anyway....

Saturday was spent standing around looking like a penguin at Andy and Aileen's wedding out in Celbridge. Great day for all, first time for me as part of the Bridal party and felt pretty important for the day. Nice chance to catch up with old friends, but didn't go to overboard with drinks, think i had less than 5 drinks in the whole day. Surprisingly easy to drink Coke and pretend there is something in it :)

Great day on Sunday, up late ish, off to a huge breakfast and then escape the hangover people and go to Wicklow for some trail running. Lashing rain, we first decided to go for a walk in our waterproofs...then i kinda cleared up...then just as we got changed it lashed. But we went out anyway. 6km run in 32mins on some very very wet rooty trails. Great day, nice easy pace but just loving being out with walkers clad head to toe in layers and us in shorts and t-shirts. Light is most definitly right.

Auron and beyond

2009-06-30T10:50:00.002+01:00

So Xterra this year is out. Pity but we need to move on and deal with it. In my head i am still sorry, but at the same time it makes me want to do it even more. Maybe even try to get in two next year.

Since the cancellation i've decided i need a holiday even more, what better way than to do a holiday than to do a weeks training/riding/eating/relaxing in the French alps. So we decided to go here with these lovely folks: http://www.triathlonholidays.co.uk/triathlontraining.asp

Some HC climbs, bit of running, some swimming and eating and resting. Just what i need in the run up to Dublin City Triathlon. Since Auron is over, this is focal race for the season. Bring on the biff. At least i can get out and practice on the course.

Wedding at the weekend coming up, so kinda just taking a week of unstructured training as Rich puts it...doing what i like. Hour on the bike last night with 2x20mins at FTP. Tonight not sure yet, but may go for a run for an hour, or may go to local airsoft venue. Will have to see.

This is what happens....

2009-06-25T10:24:00.006+01:00

...when your wetsuit falls off your shoulder and goes into your wheel.

Dunmore East Triathlon and other annoyances

2009-06-23T15:53:00.003+01:00

Well we were down in Dunmore East for a lovely weekend of sun and sand. unfortunatly not everything lived up to this. Drove down on the friday and camped in a nice we place about 30 mins from the race start. Wandered out to see if we could register, but the website had less than no information so we only had a look about Dunmore East and looked at the start area. Lovely place.

Sat morning it started, first off no lactose free milk for me, so yogurt it was, bring on the burps and farts, but i need to eat. Arrived at registration, i got to skip the que (go being male and under 40!) but Pauline had to stand there for 30 mins, bit shite in my opinion and not very well orginised. But anyway..i went and sussed out the start and got myself and the bikes ready for the time she got back. Dressed up all sexy like in the Belpark kit and we started to roll towards the start. KABOOM, Pauline goes over her bars hard and lands on her back. Couple of panicky minuites checking to see if she'd broken anything then moved her off the road onto the path. thanks to the WTC guys for the help and getting Pauline sorted off to hospital and letting me race! Thanks also to pauline for not breaking herself to bad.

Turns out he wetsuit slipped off her shoulder where she was carrying it, went inbetween her brakes and front wheel, locked up the wheel and threw her over. Thankfully wearing her lid, and was not clipped in at the time. Could have been alot worse, but sure any crash you can walk away from...well hobble anyway.

Needless to say my head was gone for the whole race and i did poor. Not just bad but super poor. I know its a hard course and so on, and blah blah blah, but i did shite. 151st. Ok swim, felt weak on the bike, did crap in the run, couldnt focus at all. Anyway enough about that, so to top it off Xterra France has been cancelled....not going to rant...suffice to say i am not impressed.

Have to go find another race now i suppose. Or save and just do some local races, dunno yet and am not in the mood to think about it at all.

Back to reality and random other bits

2009-06-14T20:21:00.002+01:00

Well the jet lag is gone. Was a hard week and to be honest training didn't go exactly as planned. Got a good few sessions in but no where near what i needed to get in. Just could not train the body was drained.

Back coaching with the track guys last week as im taking over for Terry who is away for 3 weeks in France (lucky man). So did a sprint session with the group getting them to work on their skills. Think some people thought it was to advanced, but i've always gone with the idea that you wont improve if you dont put work in, and technique is nearly 100% about repetition, something we dont give out junior riders a chance to do.

Few meetings during the week, then nipped over to the Uk on Wed evening. Savage open water session on Thursday night in an OW venue, £4 for the session in a lovely lake with about 200 ppl rocking out over 2 hours. Few drinks after dinner with some of the Manchester Tri club and late night to bed. Packed the van and legged it to the ferry in Hollyhead on Friday, thought we were going to miss it so lets just say a Irl reg in Uk is a handy thing sometimes. About half way there figured we were fine, but could have been close!

Jet and lagged

2009-06-10T16:37:00.002+01:00

Man i thought i'd got away with it. Pushed out on arrival and hit the bed about 3:30 in the afternoon, but by mistake slept for 16 hours...7:30 the next morning, god i was sore after that.

Since then i've been all over the place with my sleep patterns, just cant get back into a groove where i can go assleep and wake up early. Was talking to someone about possible Fe issues, better look into this some more, as well as it looks like i may be getting more lactose intollerent. Not even funny at this stage, had a pint of mil after the wicklow 200 on sunday, stomach and body have just been in bits since then. I am pratically showing stink lines like a cartoon charachter, i am making smells i did not know were possible. Now this may also be linked to the lack of good food in the states. Not sure yet soe going to have to look into this a bit more.

Wicklow 200 was Sunday. Being the clever sort i slept out, sorry lads. Woke up abruptly and got on the road with the lads, out of the gates at UCD at 8:30 and on the road. What lay ahead, a nice 200km route with allot of climbing, 2,000m or so not sure. Long story short one of the lads bonked maybe 2 hours in, no idea how or why. SO a longer day insued. Kinda happy in one way as i felt dead from the flying and lack of sleep, but at the same time 8hrs in i just wanted to stab everyone in the eyes and watch them scream......i was so so bored. At more than one point i just had to drop off the lads and talk to myself so i would'nt go nuts.

Breath in....breath out....breath in...breath out. Anyway felt fine after, little tired on Monday but no pains bar the one in my shoulder from Whistler. Training has been ok this week but im still all over the shop sleep wise. Not sure why, can never remember jetlag this bad, its not normal, im just sleeping and sleeping and not getting back to normal. Annoying it is.

Off to the UK today, help Pauline pack up and come home on Friday, time off will be nice, dont think i'll even take the laptop, i just want to dissappear for a day or two.

Whistler how i love thee

2009-06-05T09:44:00.005+01:00

So biking in Whistler ehy? By far one of the best places i have ever ridden, i am biased due to the fact i lived there, but still. Saying that when i lived there i was not as good a rider as i am now. Not by any means. Picked up my DH bike for the day from Summit cycles and waited for lifts to open, hangover abated by a muffin and LARGE coffee. Big kick as beast of a Rocky Mountain Flatline Park edition...yeah words and so on. No idea how it'd ride as i hadnt been on a full on DH rig since my RM9....5 years ago. Saying that it was nice...but so so heavy...and flats....how do i ride on flats again?

Rode on over and got my lift pass for a paltry $46 CN. However i didn't figure how dehydrated i was and nearly passed out on the first lift...that an my HR was through the roof as i looked at the trails on the way up. I'd forgotten just how big Whistler forced you to go. Warmed up on Ez-does it to get the feel of the bike, forgot how shite a trail it was.

Second up lift went straight to B-line, yes yes yes, fast flowy and non technical. 3rd hit B-line again and then added in Heart Of Darkness which has two new big tables on it and a HUGE drop off, nearly spanked myself on it the first time, but god its good when you nail it.

Quick water stop after 4th run to get some fluids in as i was close on passing out, 1l in and two croissants and i was starting to feel the love, 1:30 down in the park, 5:30hrs to go.

Simply put Crank It Up is the best trail i rode out there, huge options from step-ups,wall rides, drops and massive tables all over the place. Best combo Schleyer - Karate monkey - ninja cougar - samuri pizza cat - devils club - H.O.D. narrow and technical with one pedal pushes to drops. Great just great. man DH is so different, fitness was there but not my muscles, XC now need to get more techincal for me, but first i need to get back in the gym :(

Met a sound American dude called Mike, had a good day riding with him till i had a big one and nearly took him down, was retaded on my part, caught my pedal switching into a berm and landed face and shoulder first. Full faces are the best invention ever...as is definite. Great night out with Mike on Monday even if the others decided to take it easy...slackers. Few beers in Longhorns then up to Citta until they kicked us out about 1am. Bed and passed out.

Lost lake the day after so the others could see it and enjoy some sunshine, i just chilled out with them, but in my head i was just looking for an excuse not to go home. I had one or two in my head that were there but one main reason. Saying that i know that unlike other reasons this one i can take with me to BC at some stage.

Its ironic last time i was here i was lonely on my own, this time i was lonley but with people.

Seattle 2 Canada....and Keiths

2009-06-05T08:30:00.009+01:00

Good conference is what i will say for ACSM. Big trend on the performance side was the train low recover low glycogen idea. I understand the train low, something i do for longer spins, but not the recover low. I like food, i like to insert it pretty damn quick after a session. Sure i don't aim to super compensate but im not waiting 4 hours to eat after a session. Simple as.

Other good talks across various topics over the week and some interesting posters in my own area. Many questions asked and received and many emails to be sent. But i have to be honest by Friday afternoon and my poster i was all scienced out and just wanted to leave, i even had to go buy a shirt in The Gap to fit in for my presentation. Apparently pit shirts don't quite cut it. Whooda thunk it.

Seattle is a kick ass town, loved the area we were in. Liberal is a word to describe it but it felt relaxed, some of the group found the whole LGB thing a bit wierd but i thought it was kinda cool. PPl were friendly and i even spent a night just drinking with locals. But over all the atmos in Seattle is great. Relaxed, fit and happy. No heckling while out running in the city and people wanted to ask you about your training while you stopped to stretch. Never get that at home. Makes me once again realise how detached i feel from the irish population.

Good night out on Friday with the group in a super pub with 160 draft beers, yum yum. Nice to get out with Giles to see a different side of him, spent most of the night talking to Caron, new head med officer for Australian Horse racing, lovely woman, gave me some new ideas for my training and lack of sleeping. Sat morning we went to some outlet mall just south of the border...well we eventually went...i HATE waiting for people. Wandered about and got some stuff but nothing much, not one for shops that dont have bikes, let alone Abercrombie and Fitch...

Did the usual tourist things in Seattle aswell; tour on lake Union, Dinner in the Space Needle, and Science museaum. Others did more but i decided to clock up miles on my legs. Lovely running there, hilly and constant. Legs feel strong but they took a beating.

Crossed the border with no issues, bar the hot Canadian girl in the booth making the males in the car speak 5 year old, then drove on up to Vancouver to get some foods and meet Colm for a few drinks. Well more than a few TBH.....Alexander Kieths how i have missed thee. God i love that beer, and so i decided i need to attempt to drink all of the stocks in BC.

Next day saw us off to Whistler via Squamish and some other gorgeous sites along the way. The drive up was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster of 'OH MY GOD' and 'god i miss this'. Forgotton how much of an impression BC and Canada made on me (those who know me well will want o abuse my store and abooting next). Rocking up in Whistler i ditched my bags and got ready to bomb out to town...others wanted to kick about the hotel...WTF kids WTF. Got them out and went for a wander, sure it was warm but its Canada its not always like this! Let them do there own thing and went out for a run to lost lake, went for a sneaky swim at the same time ;)

Bombed back, and hit Citta for dinner, such a good spot, best onion rings in Whistler bar none. Few brews and then off to Longhorns for a few more....well ok many more. Bad bad idea....so hungover the next morning. Woke up and knew i was going to have a rough day in the park...just like old times really TBH.

From Fingal to Seattle

2009-05-29T04:36:00.002+01:00

Over a week now since the Fingal Triathlon out in the national aquatic centre. Haven't written about it beacause well, i didn't take it to seriously. Strange to even say that but it was a race that we used to probe and prod and see how i am going. Funnily enough quite well.... Came 36th overall with a new PB to boot a 1:13:38 or something. Carp swim, but a good solid bike and run kept me in place. Went out to hold a wattage on the bike and it worked well, held a 248W normalised power, then ran a nice 22min 5km. Felt good on the run, tired from the wind on the bike but ran good. Head kicked in a bit at the same point i cramped last year but i managed to kick my own ass and ignored it. Happy with the day, new 404's were out in force, good time, and 9th in the Intervarsities's...but i have to say i cared not in the end.

Over in Seattle at a conference now, weather is cracking, food is plentiful (to much so) and i've been relaxing a bit on my alcohol consumption, ive actually been out twice since i got here on Sunday and it's been good to relax. Saying that i've logged some miles on my feet, good long hilly miles, but i'll write about that later. Just back from a fasted 10km and getting hungry. Time to ignore mr Jack Daniels (not the whisky) and get the glycogen back in.

Eireman-X

2009-05-11T10:07:00.003+01:00

Well it was bound to come sooner or later, i would actually have to step up to all this training and actually race. Boo-urns to that i say!

First off a big thanks to Andrew Cahil who gave me a lift down to the race. Made for a good day out he got some photos which i'll stick up when i get the chance.

Race was the usual triathlon affair with a bit of a tweak, all off road and with the emphasis on overall fitness rather than the brute speed that tri normally has at these distances. Shorter races are not normally my thing, but as it was early in the season i decided to give it a bash. That and Rich told me to :) This race was a prep for Xterra France, simple as, however i will be back if they do another one. Read on

Swim: 20:20 (44th)
Pissed off here, now in saying that, my swim training has been sporadic at best. First 100m were tough affair as normal, few punches (nose is sore today) but took me about 400m to settle. in At that point i'd lost the lead group and had no one to draft on. Settled in and tried to hold back for the bike. Mid pack out of the water, and got a few places in T1 as i'd worked on my transition, had it laid out and knew what was going on. 1:20 for T1 and out on the bike.

Bike: 47:43 (13th)
This is my strong point...until i burped my rear tire. Do'h. Gas or not gas...just about had enough to ride and it was shlompy so left it, half way through the lap realised i needed to gas it as it was still leaking. Gas in, back on the pedals. Course was a mixture of techyish roots, sand (uugh memories of Moab), and un-rideable obstacles. Most of it was fine but the sand started to eat my drive train and i was getting serious chain suck for most of the second lap, so bad i could not ride the bike for certain sections. I reckon i lost 4mins between this and the burp....and the fact i got sent the wrong way at one point...not going to bitch about it as most of the top 20 got sent the wrong way. Kept it steady and just rode my tits off. Didn't hold back as i knew i could make some time here that i'd lost in the water. Came off the bike in about 26th position and hit T2. 52seconds later out running.

Run: 23:58 (23rd)
Of recent years i have been let down by my running. No other way to put it than its been shite. Only had one or two brick sessions in my legs so was interested in how i would feel doing it 'for real' come race day. Out of T2 with a quick think of 'body forward, light on the feet, fast short strides' and bang straight onto the forefoot running style Rich has had me working on. Felt good, real good, strong and ready to push. Spotted two guys 200m ahead of me and started to chase. Picked them both off about 500m later and hammered past them....uphill. Wow. Was getting eager to see what i could do. half way into the course still no sign of the leaders...how far ahead are they went through my head...no...how far ahead am i needed to replace that. 3.5km in and i see a runner coming towards me 'Holy crap...i'm close to the front'. Look behind, 2 guys giving chase, upped the pace. Counting the runners coming towards me, Art in 3rd place...ok he looks tired....Micheal in 7th....10th place runner coming in from my left WTF??...hang on....catch a guy...blast past him...next runner...hey you're only 2 places up on me....there's the turn. Hit the turn. Running back marshal shouts '1km to go!' Counted that i was in 18th place. With someone on my heals and its all uphill from here.

Over the river, up to the cross...750m to go of which 500m is a long steady climb, footsteps behind me...have maybe 10m on this guy...one ahead...go for it. Stepped up and 'body forward, light on the feet, fast short strides' mantra in my head, drown out the pains in my feet and shoulders 'body forward, light on the feet, fast short strides'. Quick look over the shoulder.. no-one... getting flat step up again...flat out over the bridge into the finishing area. Finish..still no sign of chaser...5seconds....10seconds there he is...over the line.

Aftermath: 1:43:33 (17th place, 7th in AG)
With a burped tire, mis-direction on the bike, and the worst chain suck i have ever experienced i think maybe 4 mins could come off this time for just plain unluckiness. But racing is racing and these things happen. If i'd not had this, i would have made my top 10 aim and i'd have been 3rd in my age group.

I felt i did well, run was strong, not the fastest but its early days yet. Need to get my swim sorted, combination of being a lazy ass and first open water of the season meant that it was slow. I want to be out of the water in Auron in the top 20 in my AG if i can. Simple as. If i want to go to Maui i need to step my game up.

Still...happy out ;)