Boxing Day 999!

With all the turkey and ham you could possibly eat in a day, the only cure to help make some room for more on boxing day would be a run! So, John, Eddie and myself, organised a boxing day 999 run. It would be 9 am, 9miles at 9 min/mile pace.

With our fellow club mates in Springwell running club and Triangle triathlon club taking part, it was a great mornings craic. We kept the route flat as possible so everyone would enjoy it. A total of 22 people took part, we were delighted with the turn out, maybe next year we can get bigger and better and we might even make some boxing day 999 T shirts.

Here’s a few pics taken on the day…..

 

The group

 

The Organisers

 

John and I 

 

Kevin and I. 

Sundays Cycle.

As I had planned to make to most of my free weekend for training, I decided to get back out on the bike on Sunday for some decent miles. I sent out the usual message on whatsapp to the MAMILs asking for some company, thankfully Chris was free, and said he would join me for a bit.

It was a very sharp morning for sure, the frost was just about gone, as the clear sky allowed the sun to shine all morning. We arranged our meeting point, and it worked out perfectly as we arrive around the corner at the exact same time, resulting in neither of us even having to stop to meet up. We cycled cautiously enough down the coast road if truth be told, there were still some frosty patches that the sun hadn’t managed to shine on, and the last thing we needed was a fall or worse still, an injury!

Having a good ‘ole’ chat and a catch up as we pedalled along was good, it had been a while since I was cycling with Chris so we had plenty to chat about. We made our way up the hill at Downhill, and stopped as usual for a quick pit stop at the picnic area at the top. We decided that we would make our way over the back roads from Articlave, towards the main Coleraine mountain road, onto the Shinny Road and then the Cam Road, which is a tough enough climb for sure. As we made our way to the top of the frost still hadn’t thawed at all, and the road was white with frost, pace reduced to about 8mph to save ourselves from disaster lol.

The good thing about climbing on the bike, is the fact that what goes up, must go down. The run down the Ringsend Road to Limavady again, is always fast and fun, I love getting as fast as possible. Chris on the other hand isn’t a fan 🙂

Once back in Limavady, Chris peeled off for home, giving him a decent 32 mile total, he hasn’t been out much so he was pleased with that for sure. I headed on home to Ballykelly, ya know, the big smoke haha 😉 My final mileage was 40, and I was more than pleased. My total miles for the week came to 85, which for this time of year, I was delighted with.

I’m purposely trying to keep my training going well till the end of the month, because as we all know, December is a month filled with eating, drinking and party nights. The bike will have to take a back seat for a few weekends then 🙂

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

Cycling, Running & Booking Flights For Ironman :)

Sunday mornings cycle, didn’t seem to be appealing enough to get me out of my bed early, and get the job done. I chose to have a lie in instead. Obviously, this was great at the time, but in the afternoon I knew I still had to go, even just for an hour or 2!

Luckily, Archie sent out a message to the MAMILs, saying he was looking to go for a 30 mile spin, in about an hour’s time. Perfect, I would have company, and even better that it’s Archie, because the pace will be good, and the craic is always mighty, haha.

Time and place arranged, and off we went, Ballykelly, Limavady, Ballyspallen, Myroe, The Bridges, Limavady, The Country Park and back to Ballykelly. A good speedy route too which was good, my distance was 25 miles at the end, with an average pace of 17.5mph. Cheers Archie, it was a pleasure as always.

Yesterday evening I went for a jog, nothing crazy, just a nice comfortable pace for 3mile. It was very wet, and windy, but for the sake of 20 odd minutes it was no big deal. I’ve got to be sensible with my running this week, as I have a 5K parkrun to do on Saturday. This time I’m going to be taking part in the parkrun in ‘South Manchester’ where there are usually 300/350 runners participating. With a lot of fast 5K runners at this event, I hope they can pull me along for a PB, I intend to ‘empty the tank’ for sure! 😉

Also, yesterday got a few things tied up for next year’s Ironman Barcelona trip. I got our hotel, and flights booked for mum, dad and I. As its 11 months away, the prices are so ridiculously cheap it would be mad not to get on the ball early. Plus, as there are loads of us going from here, I want to make sure there isn’t an issue getting my bike over there. Each flight can only take 6 bikes at a time apparently?! So, it’s all happy days, all I have to do now, is make sure I’m as fit, and as ready as possible, with 11 good months training 🙂 The joys eh?!

Aaron

Swim Time Trial & Run Repeats!

With 1 thing or another, I’ve only had 2 training sessions this week. Though, I must say, both were tests, and the results were pleasing to say the least.

The 1^st test I had, was a 750m time trial in the pool, with the Tri club. A few good sprint triathletes as usual, were keen to take the lead. I certainly wasn’t complaining, as I’ve done very little swimming worth talking about, so to hang on at the back, was about all I could manage anyways. Pace seemed comfortable enough thankfully, and I hung in there the very best. My time was 12mins 30 secs (give or take) so I was happy with this for sure, not a million miles away from my PB to be honest.

We also had a set to do afterwards, which was a struggle to say the least, shoulders were burning from the time trial. The sprinters had had enough mid way, which left Mark and I to carry on, and work hard to finish off the 2K. A tough session for sure, but it definitely gave me a little confidence about my swimming again thankfully.

Next up, was the dreaded 6x800m intervals, with 90seconds rest in between. I hadn’t done this session for a few months, as I worked hard on tempo runs and 400m sprints recently. From what I remember, my times a few months ago were between 3mins and 3mins 6secs. So realistically, if I’ve progressed at all, I’d need to better those times.

From work, the running track I use, is literally about a mile away, so it’s a pretty perfect situation to be honest. The usual run there at about 7:30 min/mile pace, a few stretches, and that has me ready to go as soon as I’m there.

1. 2:55 felt great, but sure, I always do on the 1^st Haha
2. 2:54 not bad, still strong.
3. 2:56 having to work hard.
4. 2:56 again, this was tight going, but happy enough.
5. 2:59 really hard work, pushed hard to keep it under 3 mins, felt sick.
6. 2:59 this almost made me pass out never mind sick, had to bust myself to stay under 3 mins.

Keeping all of them under 3 minutes was really tough, but, beating all my times from my previous 800s pleased me big time. I literally plodded my way back to work, just about managing my 1mile cool down at 9min mile pace lol. I was delighted with the session though, and I have a feeling a 5k PB won’t be far away 😉

Aaron

Weekend Walks, Cycles & Runs!

I was lucky enough to have a few days off at the end of last week. Thursday was filled with a lot of touristy walks with Andrea, along the Antrim coast, taking in Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, the giants causeway, and a wee visit to the old Bushmills distillery. As much as it was a chilled out day, and I mean, walking is so simple, but when you go for long enough, it tires you out as much as anything else haha I think running would be easier 🙂

Friday was then my only chance for a cycle, I sent the message out on ‘whatsapp’ to the MAMILs, and luckily Shane was also off, and fancied going for a spin. Meeting point was as usual, Tesco express, this is literally bang in the middle for us, each having 5 miles to cycle from either end which works out well.

We kept it handy, and went around the bridges to start with, adding in a loop of Myroe, towards Ballykelly, bridges again (in reverse), Aghanloo and back to Limavady. The wind was tough enough at times, but it’s expected at this time of year I guess. No doubt we have 6 months of wind with rain ahead of us! We made our way up the Ballyquin road where we split, Shane headed home in the Drumsurn direction, and I made my way through the Roe Valley Country Park, to the Largy.

I then went across to the Baranailt road, and a speedy 3 mile(ish) run down to Limavady with the wind on my back, this was enjoyable for sure. From Limavady I had a tough cross wind to deal with on my way home, thankfully 4 mile was all I had left to do at this point. A total of 40 miles cycled, with a 15.5 mph average, tough enough day to be honest, but with good company in Big Shane, it went in quick, cheers lad.

Sunday morning was gorgeous, the sun shone, and it was screaming out for a run. As usual, I sent a message to the lads to see if anyone fancied it, and yip, I would again have the company of Shane. It was such a good day it would be rude not to go to the Roe Valley Country Park for our run, it’s beautiful up there. We met up and jogged our way around, a lap is 2.2 miles long, a few laps is just perfect for Shane to maintain his fitness at the minute, I on the other hand, wanted a little more. I kept going until I had a total distance of 8 miles, at an average of 8:26 min/mile pace, all Zone 2 which I was happy with.

Andrea had also come for a run, doing her own thing though, which was good, as I didn’t want her showing Shane up 😉 haha! I tagged along with her at the end, and her pace is much better than she gives herself credit for, good work you, keep it going.

Andrea and I, are hoping to do a few Parkruns in South Manchester, close to where she lives, in the next few weeks, I’d better watch my back eh? Also, having recently signed up for her 1^st ever half marathon in March next year, this is just the start, a new journey lies ahead, and I can’t wait to help her along the way. 🙂  All very exciting stuff…….

Aaron

Training Catch Up.

Time for a catch up on what training I’ve been up to, last week I got 2 runs, 1 swim and 1 cycle squeezed in, to what turned out a busy week.

Run1:

The 1^st of my runs was an interval session, 8x400m sprints with 1 minute rest in between. I really enjoy this session as the 400m sprints just aren’t as much of a killer as the 800m.

As always, I done just over a mile warm up, around 7:30 minute mile pace, plenty of strides, stretches etc before the sprints actually start. What I was faced with was the tail of end of hurricane Bertha/Martha/Sheeba/Mildred or whatever the hell it was called, lol so out and back 400m were very different as far as pace/effort was concerned.

1. 1:40 Felt good of course but the wind was insane.
2. 1:26 Great to have the wind on my back.
3. 1.38 Again, the gusts of wind made it very tough.
4. 1.29 The rain had now started also, not pleasant at all.
5. 1.39 Another really really tough head wind, gust were stronger now I thought.
6. 1.27 Felt good again, but purely as the wind was helping.
7. 1.35 Hardest yet, pushed the best I could. Head wind was just a killer.
8. 1.26 Final push on the last, felt great, wind assisted of course.

Once the sprints were finished, I got my breath back, and jogged home a nice easy 1 mile for my cool down. It was tough with the conditions, but it is my favourite session so I was happy, I felt relatively strong too, so I’m looking forward to my 8x400m again this week, hopefully without the wind so I can get some decent times!

Swim:

Later in the week I went swimming, I had missed the session with my usual training buddies so I was on my Jack tod, or so I thought! Kevin, 1 of the MAMILs, who had swum 100 lengths the day before and ran 10 mile that morning said he wouldn’t mind coming in for a relaxed swim and would keep me company. Happy days for me as this took away the boredom of swimming.

Usual warm up, nice and steady, leg buoy in and keeping it relaxed. Then of course as we swim in Roe Valley Leisure Centre where I work part time, there is always someone there giving their opinion on sets. Do this, do that, or in this case, it was, oh I done sets of 75m sprints today, got some decent times, can you match it bla bla bla…..

Of course, what was I meant to do, back away from the challenge? No, of course not! Johns best time was 60 seconds, not to brag on too much, my best was 54 seconds. So John, keep at the training mate 😉

Kevin and I kept things going fairly well, and we had build up the lengths till almost 2K. Happy with that, and cheers Kev for the company.

Run2:

Friday afternoon saw me meet up with another MAMIL for a good 10K tempo run. Andy has some amazing times from races in the past and his knowledge about running and training is 1^st class. We went along the River Foyle and along the bottom path at St. Columbs Park, the paths along here are great for running.

We chatted away, had a good catch up, which made time tick away well. Before we knew it we had the 10K done and dusted, a good pacey final 1.2 mile felt really good too, I felt really strong at the end which I’m very happy about. Our average was 7:30 minute mile pace, it seems my training is coming along well and the speed is coming back. I’m really looking forward to my next 5K ‘Parkrun’ to see my improvement. Cheers for the run Andy, and I’m sure there will be many more to come.

Cycle:

Saturday morning was cycle time, the wind was howling outside, but it was dry, so I was keen to get going. Keeping things as flat as possible around the Roe Valley area is great, the only problem being, it also means it’s very exposed. The wind was really tough, and it always seemed like I had a head wind no matter what direction I was going!

The 1^st time I realised just how bad the gusts of wind were, was when I peeled my banana, and the wind blew the top half of it off. Haha I was annoyed at losing my banana for sure, I was looking forward to it! This was at mile 12, and 5 miles later things got worse.

Turning down Farlow Road I felt the bike go a little heavy, then a bit wobbly, and I knew it was obviously a puncture. Believe it or not, this is my very 1^st puncture, and typically it had to happen when I hadn’t any help with me. Not to worry though, I had the tube out, changed and fixed in no time at all. This was also my 1^st time to use the little CO2 cartridges, thankfully it didn’t cause me any trouble, and it worked out perfect.

My time did run away with me a little, and I hadn’t much time left as I wanted home to watch the football at lunch time. I managed 25 miles with an average speed of 16.5 mph. It was an eventful cycle, but glad I got the miles in.

The off season is fun when a weeks training is only about 5 hours. Haha I could get used to this! 🙂

Aaron

Yoga, Cycling & Awards!

On Friday, I again went to yoga. I’m really enjoying it for sure, although Fridays class was tough going. The poses and stretches are certainly helping my hamstrings and groins. They’re always tight, which is annoying, but I deal with it ok. I do find the back stretches, and core twists, etc, a little strange though, and to be honest, I question whether it’s helpful to me or not. All in all though, the class was great and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Saturday morning, early doors, was my only opportunity all weekend to fit in some bike time. It’s never a good sign when you wake up and hear the wind howling outside, but, it was dry, and the autumn sunshine was breaking through.

Off I went, happy as Larry. The wind was on my back at the beginning, so I was unsure just how tough it was going to be when it would eventually be in my face! From the big smoke of Ballykelly, I looped around Myroe, which was speedy enough, I then made my way into Limavady, which had me going against the wind for the 1^st time. My pace dropped a fair bit, which was to be expected.

I made my way around the outskirts of Limavady, the pace was reduced here too, as traffic and junctions in town were busy enough considering I was there quite early, I had around 15 mile completed at this point. My next loop was the very well known lap of ‘the bridges’. A good tail wind on the way out along the Aghanloo Road was pleasing, sitting at 25mph+ for most of 4 mile with very little effort was great.

I took a wee pit stop at Swans Bridge for the usual necessary reasons, and also took a picture for my blog (as we do) 😉  My knees and lower back were also a little sore, I then had the questionning doubt about yoga the day before, was it a help or a hindrance!?!?!

I knew the next section was a head wind, more or less all the way home. I got on my tri bars and plodded on, nothing else for it, and I hadn’t ‘big Shane’ out in front to hide behind this time haha! I managed to get 30 miles done in total, with my average speed just over 16mph. For what it was, I was happy enough.

Saturday evening was then an awards night for our Triangle Triathlon Club. This was a night to recognise the efforts of the ‘Best All Rounders’ in the club. Anyone who completed sprint, Olympic, half iron and ironman distance races were all in attendance. Banter was flying around within the group as always. We had a great meal at the Alexander Arms in Limavady, and a good few drinks to go with it 😉 My times were decent enough, but unfortunately not good enough to mix it at the very top, there is always next year I guess! 😉

That terrible Monday morning feeling is now here. On the plus side, I get to update my blog, but more importantly, I’ll now sit down and plan my training for the week ahead, that will cheer me up, I love it.

Aaron

 

Heavy, Bloated & Old! ;)

Having not ran, or in fact, trained at all since Saturday’s park run, I was eager as ever to get my Asics on, and get out there. The past few days had been fairly busy, and to top that off, it was my birthday on Tuesday.

So, not only were my legs going to be recovering from the park run, I also had to deal with the effects of loads of food, even more cake than you can imagine, and the fact I had now left my youthful years, and joined the 30 club. Not cool at all I’ll have you know!  I was feeling heavy, bloated, and old! haha.

It was wet and windy last night, but nothing would do me, but to get out and get at it. I don’t mind the rain if I’m honest, there’s something quite refreshing about it which is cool. The wind is a different matter, it knocks you back a good 20 seconds per mile, which is annoying to say the least.

As I was leaving Roe Valley Leisure Centre where I was starting from, I saw 2 of my mates, Archie and Merv, I asked them to join me, but of course I got a million and 1 excuses haha. Only joking lads, valid reasons they were aye 😉

On mile 1 I took it steady as usual, feeling 100%.

Mile 2 was straight into the wind which was tough, I was totally soaked by now too.

Miles 3 & 4 were just ok, legs certainly still heavy from Saturdays race I presumed, or was it the amount of cake I had the day before? Or even worse, was this the effect of being 30??? I hope not haha

Miles 5 & 6 seemed to drag, and the last 0.20 to complete the 10K, was done with a good wee burst as I always do at the end of my runs.

All in all, I got my 10K finished with an average of 8:03 min/mile pace. Soaked, and battered with the wind, happy enough though, as it was just a run out, and wasn’t really geared towards anything. I popped into the gym afterwards, gave my legs a good stretch, using the V-plate, and a play around on the foam roller, fun times eh?! 🙂

Aaron

A Round Up Of My Weeks Training.

I’ve had a decent week as far as training is concerned. On Monday I went for a 4 mile run in Limavady, with some core in the gym straight afterwards. I felt really good and my pace was an average of 7 min 5 seconds a mile. I need to thank my mate Lee for the loan of his Garmin, I left mine at my backside at home, but not to worry! Lee usually runs 6 min mile pace, so the watch must have thought it was a recovery run he was on haha

Tuesday was a bit mad, as you know I signed up for Ironman Barcelona with my training buddies ‘the MAMILs’. Of course this made Tuesdays swim session interesting, we could barely swim for the chat of Barca this, and Barca that. We were like school kids on the day of signing up for a school holiday! LOL

The swim was decent in the end, getting back into it wasn’t as bad as I thought. We managed the usual warm up, few drills, fins and paddle work, and a good main set, around 2K in total.

On Thursday, on my way home from work, the sun was shining and I thought it was too good not to take the Kuota out for a spin. Quickly on with my cycling gear before I changed my mind then. haha. I went for a flat easy spin around the bridges with an extra loop added of Myroe. From mine, this route is 22 miles exactly, I felt really good, and managed an average speed of 18.3 mph. Very pleased with that considering I’ve done little cycling since July.

This afternoon, I’ve just completed my 2^nd week at Yoga. Something I always considered doing but never bit the bullet to actually go and do it. But that’s changed and I’m really enjoying it, the stretches and poses are helping for sure. Hopefully if I keep at it, it will help me a lot for next season.

My final training for the week will be tomorrow morning, I haven’t run a 5K race in 6 weeks, so I’m going to race at ‘Parkrun’ Derry and see if there has been any progression as far as finding my speeds concerned. Time will tell I guess, here’s hoping.

Aaron