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

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

The Best Sprint Finish In Triathlon!

We all love the thought of saving that wee bit of energy for that last explosion of pace for a strong finish. I came across this clip today which I do believe to be the best finish in recent years. Check it out…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBgzMgob5Gw

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

My Season In Pictures.

 

As the season is over, and races are done and dusted, I’ve decided to go through my season with pictures for something different.

It all started in January when I bought my new bike. Happy as Larry that day 🙂

I went to inspired cycling for a bike set up which was fantastic.

 

All winter/spring, it was cyle, cycle, cycle with Chris and Shane mostly.

The 1st race of the year was the Omagh half marathon. 1hr 35mins. Happy concidering we cycled 40 miles before hand to get there. haha

Took part in a few parkruns in portrush and derry. My 5k PB still stands at 19mins 58 seconds.

The 1st tri of the season was the Liam Ball. Finish time was 1hr 14mins.

Mad as this may sound, I ran the Belfast marathon the very next day, finishing in 3hrs 35mins. Very happy with that! Heres me and my ‘wee’ 😉 cousin Eddie and our proud mums.

Next up was the Roe Valley tri, I finished with a time of 1hr 13mins. Again, very pleased.

Outdoor swimming then started, the creggan ressie was visited on many occasions.

Evening cycling was also starting as the summer nights came in, Darrel and Keith even made it out a few times 😉

The half Ironman distance was next, 5hrs 10mins for the correct distance. Stupidly they had an extra mile to ruin at the end which pissed me off, A LOT.

The Olympic distance tri in Portrush was next, Here are 3 happy men at the finish line, me, Tommy and Roger. My time was 2hrs 22mins, over the moon.

The summer had finally arrived and I got many many long cycles (with buns and coffee stops) in with Gerard, good times!

Then the big 1, the Ironman distance in July. Here me and Stevie checkout transition, and many happy faces welcomed me at the finish. My finished time was 12hrs 18mins, this was such a good race, I was a very happy man that day!

A night time swim was then next bit of fun I had. Here are a few MAMILs eager as ever.

Then I got to give something back to the sport and helped out with our clubs junior tri.

The Belfast half marathon was my last race of the year, PB 1hr 34mins. Very very happy. Here I am with Darrel and Aine who were also delighted with their 1st half marathon finish times.

Then its finally time to train for enjoyment and just tick over, a few pics from the runs I’ve had at the Roe Valley Country Park, a wee cycling selfie 😉 and my 1st ever puncture! haha

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

Parkrun Race Report.

Saturday morning was Parkrun time. It was 6 weeks since I last tested myself with a 5K race, so I felt the time was right to see if I had found anymore speed within that time. It was perfect as far as weather was concerned, dry, crisp, bright, sunny autumn morning. No sign of any rain clouds and not a breeze to be had. I felt decent if I’m honest, and the thought of a PB had crossed my mind.

As usual, around the start area, everyone was doing their own little warm up routines, and I was no different. With my hamstrings and groins typically tight, I know how important it is for a decent warm up, especially for these very fast, eyeballs out 5K races. Once warmed up, I had a quick catch up with 1 of the organisers, Ciaran. He puts great effort and pride into ‘parkrun derry’, brings a great friendly atmosphere to the race, which is class, top man!

Garmin at the ready, and we were off. I sat in the front pack for the 1^st 200m and realised they were going out way to quickly, I backed off to a more comfortable 6:15/6:20 min mile pace, and by the time mile 1 was completed, I had reeled them in, and was running unchallenged in 2^nd place.

I felt really good, and was starting to get excited about times, which I shouldn’t have I guess. Mile 2 is tough enough with a few small climbs, which certainly knocks the pace back a little, still though, my time was looking good.

Then the dreaded mile 3, I seem to get caught out here all the time. I tried to hold my pace, but started to struggle a little for breathe. Annoyingly, I choked up and ended up being sick, 3^rd and 4^th place passed me, which really pissed me off. I then had to start running at an even faster pace to catch up on time that I’d lost.

Just when my watch beeped 3 miles, I had gone into 2^nd again, totally busted, but thought I had done enough, but no, 1 of the lads hit the red button and got me with 0.05 to go! Fair play to him, I was more than happy coming 3^rd place out of 91. My finish time was 20mins 21seconds. I had reduced my time by 31seconds in 6 weeks, although I’m still 23seconds off my PB. Hopefully when I test myself again in another 4/5 weeks, I’ll have it down even more. Here’s hoping!

Here’s the link for the results….

http://www.parkrun.org.uk/derrycity/results/latestresults/

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