Liam Ball Sprint Triathlon!

The first triathlon of the year can go either one of two ways. Fantastic as your pre season training was perfect, or shocking as your pre season training clearly just hasn’t been good enough, time would tell as the saying goes! First race as always, on the Mayday bank holiday weekend, was the Liam Ball sprint triathlon in Templemore Sports Complex, where all the eager triathletes from our neck of the woods would finally get the race season underway.
Signed in, transition prepped, and ready to go, my start time was here. Everyone in my swim lane seemed to be on the same wave length, in and around 12 minutes was the thought from each of us and this suited me for sure. Pace was steady and nothing mental, resulting in a 12 minute swim on the dot, the lead man paced it really well, so cheers for that! T1 is long at the Liam Ball which is annoying, but it is what it is, it’s the same for everyone I suppose, what’s more annoying is the fact transition is on an all weather pitch, so when you put your cycling shoes on there’s a high possibility of a stone or two in your shoe, haha!
Onto the bike leg, and for the first 2 miles it is flat and fast, I was feeling fresh and sitting comfortably around 24 mph. Then the first drag of a hill, it’s not that tough but it just requires that extra push and it’s a little taxing of energy really just to hold something around 16-18mph. I’m a decent climber on the bike though, and here I got past a few NWTC guys who are our local rivals, this is always a pleasure 😉
My average was still really good at the turning point, I knew things felt good and I kept it going all the way back, again, a fast flat 2 mile at the end gave me a rewarding average of 20.8mph. My time was around 36 minutes which is a full minute quicker than my PB on the bike. Very happy!
T2 was just ok, I felt this was a tad slow in comparison to my usual quick T2’s. Still, I was out in under a minute, the last challenge was the 5K run, I was a bit worried about this as my legs are still in recovery mode from the marathon just two weeks ago. Running is normally my strongest of the three disciplines, so I’m sure you can imagine I’m slightly frustrated at the minute. I tried to keep things steady and it seemed to work out well enough considering. I ran a 21min 23sec time, which, is ok, but nothing spectacular, for sure this is now the area I need to focus on again.
All in all, when the finish line was crossed, I managed a new PB of 1hour 12minutes 12seconds! I finished 4th in my age category and 44th overall. I was delighted with this for sure, even with the recovering marathon legs it all went really well, this has gave me a great start to the season and hopefully I can kick on from here for more great results as the races come thick and fast.
Aaron

Session After Session.

Session after session, day after day, it all makes for a busy lifestyle, while trying to fit in a social life, and that annoying thing called work! It really does get in the way sometimes lol

The weather had finally decided to warm up with some sunshine last week, this called for some decent bike miles. I cycled to work on Thursday with Davey, another keen triathlete from Limavady, the company was good at 7am, as we made the 15 mile trip to the maiden city at an average of 18.1 mph. Once quitting time came, it was back on the bike and I added a good detour on the way home to build on extra miles. I opted for Claudy and some hills, meeting Big G for a few miles was good too. It’s been a long time since we had a cycle and a good catch up, and it made the miles go in very quickly indeed. I made it back to Ballykelly with a good round figure of 50 miles, more than happy, and it was a pleasure to cycle in the sunshine for a change.

Saturday was a double day, and Andrea was joining me for both sessions which was cool. We set off for a run to start our day, and as we made our way around the country roads of Myroe we could see a very threatening dark cloud head our way. It came in fast and at mile 2 we literally got battered by hail stones which was far from enjoyable!! Hail in April, that’s not normal surely? We did try getting some shelter till it cleared but we were fairly unsuccessful if I’m honest. Haha! It did clear in no time though, and by the end of my 8 mile I almost needed sun cream it was that good 😉

Our next session in the afternoon was an endurance swim, steady does it and we completed 100 lengths (2.5K) in 49 minutes, all relaxed zone 2 work, perfect. Andrea’s stroke is soo much neater and efficient than mine, really nice to watch in comparison to my ‘over working’ stroke lol Maybe I’ll manage it someday haha.

Sunday was a relaxed spin on the bike, nothing too heavy and short on the miles. Again the sun was out and it was enjoyable to cycle along knowing it was just a recovery cycle, I like them the best lol

Just 1 week to go till the marathon then, so this week needs to be relaxed and carefully planned. The plan is a small run, a decent swim and a zone 2 bike ride, all early in the week with a few mile jog on Friday. Last night was the 1st of these sessions, and Andrea and I went to the gorgeous Roe Valley country Park for a 5K jog. Just over 1 lap done at a cruising pace which was good, and to top it off, Andrea relived her youth with a gymnastics session on the grass lol Amazing what she can do, just at the drop of a hat, I even managed a few well executed cart wheels too haha 😉

Aaron

Getting A Shock In The Pool!?! ;)

Pancake Tuesday is 1 of my most favourite days of the year, and Andrea and I lost count of how many we ate at lunch time lol. Nothing else for it than to work them off then eh?
First of all it was a 5K run for me, nothing crazy, just around 9 min mile pace to get myself back into the way of going for the weeks training that lay ahead.
The pool was then calling me, and Andrea joined for my swim training. Now I know she was in the local swimming club for a good few years as a teenager, but I thought her pace would be long gone to be honest. Wasn’t I in for a shock.
We started off with a gentle 250m warm up, followed by some drill sets and then a build set. Keeping up well at this stage wasn’t surprising, and I thought once I get into some 50m and 100m speed sets I might shake her off.
The first 50m sprint was swum in 40 seconds, and low and behold Andrea was right there on my toes at the end of the length, as they went along my worst 50 was about 44seconds, and sure enough, there she was, swimming steady as ever. The 100m sprints would get to her maybe, my first was 1:34 and there she was on my toes right to the end. We kept going and my last 100m sprint was 1:42, and Andrea matched that too. We ended with a 2K total which was more than enough, I wanted out before I was shown up anymore hahaha.
Any speed I have comes from hard work and strong shoulders, but for Andrea, her stroke is soso good from her swimming club days, she can swim so much more efficiently in the water, maybe I’ll swallow my pride and ask for a few tips next time!! 😉
Aaron

Another week, another mile (or2)!

What a week of weather it’s been, the snow came and the training suffered ever so slightly, all because I’m such a kid and can’t stop playing in it. haha On Tuesday all I managed was my 1 hour roller session. I couldn’t make it to our Tri Club swim as I was too busy building a snowman with my nephews, I mean come on, it has to be done when the snow comes doesn’t it?

I did make up for it on Wednesday though, as the overnight snowfall was great, it called for a day off work. Pulling 3 boys on a sleigh up and down a hill was great training I thought. I had my Garmin on for curiosity, and just for an hour before lunch I managed 3.5 mile. Later that evening when the boys had had enough, the thaw had started and I managed a wee jog and a swim. My swim was decent, with the time I had, I managed a 1 mile swim in just over 30minutes, happy with that considering it’s only January.

Thursday is my ‘brick session’ of the week. The wind has settled and I went out for an hour on the MTB, head torch on with my wee flashing lights on the bike I headed along the back roads to a few lane ways I know, it’s not the craziest of MTBing but it done my job for an hour. Once home it was straight on with my Asics and out I went for a 5K run, again this wasn’t anything to write home about but it done the job.

As I write this, I sit sipping my recovery drink and eating a flapjack as I’m literally just out of the pool in Templemore. Friday mornings are going to be our endurance swim for a few of us MAMILs. Today I was joined by Gerard and Chris, who are keen to get some form back in the pool. I’ve maintained a bit of pool work this winter, so for the 1^st time ever, I think I was the lead swimmer among us, yehaa! We had a good swim for an hour, and our pace was under 1:50 per 100m. I’ll enjoy it for a week or two, because both of these guys are great swimmers, and will no doubt kick my ass in no time! I must also add, they owe me £5 each for biggin’ them up right now! lol

Roll on the weekend, were (if the weather allows) I hope to get a good few miles on the bike tomorrow, and a long run on Sunday, exciting stuff eh?

Aaron

A 10K Date :)

Seriously over eager to get back into the swing of things, saw Andrea and I take a risky run in the frost last night. For sure it was chancy, but as always with me, optimism was high.

Our plan was 10K, which pretty much is the perimeter of Limavady, using the bypass and as far up as Whitehill. We started at Roe Valley Leisure Centre, and assessed the frosty paths as we went along for the 1^st half mile. Fair enough, it was a bit dodgy but nothing we couldn’t cope with, on we went. Steady does it, and we had a laugh as we went along. We chatted more on a 10K jog than we would have if we went for dinner haha. Perfect date night I thought (bet Andrea doesn’t agree) 😉

We both ran comfortably enough, we kept the pace down to make sure we didn’t take any risks of hitting black ice, and ultimately resulting in injury.

Today is a relaxed day, with a little swim later this evening. Mervyn and I have organised a teamed 5K run tomorrow morning for our Triathlon Club, and I don’t want to be tired for that, lol. Big performance will be needed, you’ll hear all about it soon 🙂

Aaron

Rollers, Swim, Squash!

Coming up to Christmas and between shopping, eating and drinking, it’s hard to fit in proper training.
Monday was a roller session, literally couldn’t find the energy for anything else. I pulled up the rollers in front of the TV and watch ‘The Chase’ for an hour. Time went in quickly thankfully, and once finish I slipped on my asics and went for 5k to just give me a little extra out of the session.
Tuesday was fun, our swim session with the Tri club was over shadowed with the thoughts of food and drink which were to follow. Though I must say it actually turned out a tough enough swim. We completed 10x100m swims off 1min 55secs. Tougher than you think, and this was before the fun and games started.
We picked two teams, Drew and Peter were the captains, and I was on Peters team, along with Mark, Thomas, Bridgeen and Mary. We had a strong team, but with the amount of banter and cheating it was hard to know who actually won the races. I was happy with my 25m front craw sprints but I can assure you I soon found out my butterfly looked like I was drowning instead of going forward! Haha We managed about 2K swim in total so it was still a good session considering.
We then went to 55 Degrees North for dinner which was top notch to say the least, followed by karaoke in the Anchor. Every one of us made it up for a song or two and I’m unsure who got carried away the most, Peter or Thomas! Lol! I must thank Peter for being the designated driver for the evening, cheers big man, a great night had by all that’s for sure.
Thursday was wet and windy, but luckily enough I was training inside instead of out running. Darrel fancied a game of squash, and that seemed much better than getting soaked in the rain. We hadn’t played in ages and it showed, the craic was still good though,and the score line went my way so I was happy. Darrel knows how competitive I am, so he probably thought it would be easier to let me win, than to have to listen to me! haha
Aaron

3 Days, 3 Sessions!

The 1^st of my midweek training was a swim session. I was nervous enough about it to be honest, because of my neck injury I couldn’t swim for 5 weeks. All seemed fine to get stuck back in though, and that’s exactly what I done.

Tuesdays TTC session was filled with the usual club members, which results in good craic while the lengths pass by. Mervyn always comes up with great sets and Tuesday was no different, it was the 1^st time I’d ever done the 50m intervals for as long as my body could make it, within the time of course. It seemed like I was literally back in at the deep end, but I held on well and loved it.

Wednesdays was run time, and again lunch time was my opportunity to get something done. Time was limited though and all I could do was a wee 5K blast. The ‘weather bomb’ had arrived which was a bit annoying to say the least, but it’s December, we have to accept the wind and rain don’t we! Haha. My route was quite simply along the quay till I hit 2.5K and then turn. Pace was decent and I ended my run with a 6 min 40 sec average per mile, so I was happy for sure.

Thursday was bike night, and as usual for this time of year it consists of sitting indoors on the rollers. I’m really getting the hang of them now and I love it. I had a good 45min interval session with a good mixture of speed/time/resistance. I even managed to get over 40mph, so anyone that tells you rollers aren’t as good as turbo trainers for interval sets is either chatting rubbish or they’re scared! Take your pick 😉

Aaron

Running In Chorlton & Didsbury :)

The excitement of running somewhere new was exactly what I experienced at the weekend. On Friday I had planned around 8 miles, along the river Mersey in south Manchester. According to my map, I would run across the bottom of Chorlton golf course, past the Chorlton water park, and my turning point would be a loop of Sale water park, all seemed fine so off I went.

On the 1^st mile I came across my 1^st problem, the paths were literally mud paths and it turned out that 80% of my run was cross county. Would make for a great spin out on the mountain bikes I thought. I plodded on regardless, just about saw the golf course through the trees and for some reason I totally missed the 1^st lake haha.

After a little misjudgement on what bridge I was supposed to cross, I was soon back on the right track. Sale water park was great to run around, the view of the lake with the ducks etc made a mile or 2 pass very quickly. On my way back I realised my miles were more than planned (as I missed the bridge on my way out) lol. This meant I would finish on 9.3ish miles, and anyone that knows me will know that I just can’t let that happen. A little OCD means I hate odd numbers, so I ran past the house to make sure I’d complete 10miles in total. My average was just over 8 min/mile pace, so considering the terrain I was happy for sure.

Sunday morning was again, run time. This time, Andrea was joining me for 5K around Didsbury. We started off (eventually) 😉 nice and steady for the 1^st half mile or so, gradually building a little pace as we went along. Andrea’s 5K race pace is just over 9min/miles, but as I had the Garmin on today she had no idea what pace we were running and I didn’t tell her either 😉

On our 2^nd mile running strong at 8:30 pace I asked how she was feeling, good was the reply, and I knew at this point a 5K PB would happen for sure. Mile 3 was a tad annoying though, as we had to deal with a few busy junctions and traffic lights, we kept our pace as best we could though. Once we hit 3 miles it was a final push on the 0.1, we managed to increase our pace a lot. I think I was maybe in the bad books for pushing her so hard, but when I told her she took 1minute 35seconds off her PB she was delighted, her PB is now 27:32.

Now for the start of a new week, with new training plans. December is a difficult month as the relentless amount of parties, food and drink take control of what training can be done. I’ll struggle through with a bit of both I hope 😉

Aaron

Cycling To Parkrun :)

Well, when you’re not out for drinks on either a Friday or Saturday night, it can mean either 1 of 2 things. 1. your boring, 2. because you’ve training early doors the next day. I suppose on Friday, both summed me up quite well, lol

I was going to ‘parkrun’ in Derry to help my mate Chris get his time down a little, and keep him motivated throughout the 5k as he chased his PB. I thought to myself, as I’m not going to bust a time myself, it would be cool to cycle there and back. It’s 14 miles away from my house, so this would make for a decent 28mile round trip with a 5k run in the middle. A bit of a back to front duathlon I suppose haha

I needed to be there for around 9:15 am, and to be honest I was a bit scared cycling along a dual carriageway in what was still a little dark for cycling if I’m honest. Not to worry I thought and before I arrived at parkrun it was well and truly daylight and everyone was ready for the 5k. I made a quick change into my Asics and joined Chris for a ‘wee’ warm up. It basically consisted of walking to the start line lol

I meet a few others from Limavady, Darren and Stevie, who had also made it up for the 5K, they were wise and used the car though 😉

The ever growing crowd at parkrun is brilliant to see I must say. The effort made by Ciaran and Tommy (and many more I’m sure) to make parkrun Derry a success is 2nd to none. Well done again lads.

Off we went with the crowd of enthusiastic runners, eager as ever. Mile 1 was grand and mile 2 much the same, then the small hill coming back up onto the peace bridge took its toll on Chris, and killed our time a little. This ended the chance of a PB pretty much there and then, not to worry though as I’m sure there will be many many more occasions for Chris to smash his time. After chatting to the Limavady lads at the end, I realised it was their 1^st 5k, so it was PBs all round for them, again, I’m certain those times set on Saturday will be beat easily next time out.

The sun was well and truly out now, and as I changed back into my cycling gear I had to leave a few layers off. There’s nothing better than that crisp winter sun, I cruised back down the road to Ballykelly happy as Larry. I had 28 miles cycling and a 5K run done and dusted by 11am, sure you couldn’t beat it eh?

Aaron

Running & Rollers!

This week I decided to give the 400m and 800m intervals a miss, Instead I went for a 10K tempo run. I hadn’t done this in a few weeks, so I was looking forward to it for sure. My opportunity this week, would again be lunch time on Wednesday. So, from work, off I went along the river Foyle, over the Peace Bridge, and across the bottom of St. Columbs park beside the railway line. The path here is perfect for running, I felt good and my pace was around 7:30 min/mile pace. I did however, have to go over the Foyle Bridge to complete my 5K before I could turn, the bridge is higher than you think, and my pace died a little.

Just as I turned to go back, I saw 4 runners turn onto the path just ahead of me, I set myself the goal of tracking them down and passing them, this would be my motivation to up my pace right to the finish. I was running well but at 1 point I thought I’d never catch them, luckily with 1 mile to go, I had them reeled in and ran past, I was running sub 7 min/mile pace when I checked. Chasing them down worked well and my overall average for the 10K was 7:24. I was happy for sure, and felt really good!

 

Turbo V Rollers:

I was going to go for a Turbo Trainer for the winter, then 1 of the MAMILs suggested trying out rollers instead. If it’s good enough for the pro’s, surly it would be good enough for me I thought. All I needed to see was whether I could actually go on the dam things, lol. Of course, after 1 trial run at my mates, I knew I’d manage just fine.

So, on Thursday, my Christmas present from mum and dad arrived early, and I couldn’t wait to get using them, you didn’t expect me to wait till 25^th December did you lol. Out of the box and within 2 or 3 minutes there were ready to go, a little unsteady to begin with, but the secret is to keep a good steady cadence and you’re grand 🙂

I must admit, the 1^st time I needed to reach for my water bottle I was more than nervous, and it was touch and go at 1 stage lol. Mixing it up with different intervals and wee timed sections made the time fly in. I done 17 miles within the 45 minute session, I was more than pleased, I felt great and there were no crashes, all is good, and I’m really glad I made the bold move for the Rollers over the Turbo.

It seems the weather is going to be good over the weekend, fresh sunny mornings will make perfect for some cycling, happy days.

Aaron