It’s been 7 months since I last posted here and man those months have passed incredibly quickly. I’ve mainly been using that time to build my new website NewToTri.com which has been going really well. The website is set up for anyone who’s new to Triathlon and also those who are stepping up in Triathlon distance!

Athletically it’s been a pretty quiet year. Between an incredibly busy work period and a number of niggly injuries I’ve mainly been ticking over re: Training. From June – August I did a fair bit getting in some great spins in the Wicklow mountains and 21Km runs down by Dublin Bay. I also ran a 5 mile road race about 7 weeks ago and 3 weeks ago myself a friend took our bikes to Northern France and cycled around Normandy for a week which was EPIC. We’d a brilliant time and i’ll be following this post with details of the trip for anyone who might be interested in doing similar!

I was toying with the idea of running the Dublin Marathon again this year but instead I’ve decided to focus on two short term goals:

• Try to get a decent 10Km road race time this side of Xmass
• Try to get a solid Half Marathon time in Spring

I’ll still be swimming and cycling but with my current work demands my focus for now will be on speed. That way my workouts will be shorter (if not more intense).

Watch this space for more!

I was toying with the idea

The blog was a great motivator throughout my year of training and through it i’ve been lucky enough to get to know some great people with shared interests! But at the end of the day it’s www.OneYearToIronman.com and that year was successfully completed.

I’ll be continuing to train for Triathlons, Adventure Races and maybe an Ultra Marathon and will be starting a new blog to keep track of my training (i’ll post the link here). I’ll also be reorganising this blog and making it easier to navigate for anyone looking for info!

The very best of luck to all of you training for an Ironman, it’s an incredible journey to undertake

Bye for now

Went down to the running track last night only to discover it’s still covered in hard to see black ice. Ended up doing 5 x 100ms @ maximum effort

Ice, snow and my shoulder have made training very difficult. Not much other than a few short and Icy runs to report!! ( although i did slip and hurt my shoulder again). Hopefully the ice will begin to thaw soon!

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It’s been a manic couple of weeks so here’s a quick update.

Last week I ran about 40Km and did about 6 weights and core sessions.

This week I was up the walls in work so I just got in 20Km of running and 2 weights sessions (pretty lame I know). In the last 24 hours Ireland has been hit with arctic winds, temperatures of -7c and heavy snow which made todays run a bit more interesting than normal. I’ll post a proper update later this week but here are a few snaps from my 12Km run route this evening in the suburbs of Dublin! Brrrr!

Sunday:

• 5Km run @ 4:50pk

Saturday:

• 15Km run
• Weights & Core session

Friday:

• Off – busy

We’ve been having pretty bad weather so far this week so there hasn’t been alot of outdoor training going on! The rehab on my shoulder has been going well and i’ve been able to increase both the length and intensity of the exercises i’ve been doing on it. As I can’t swim or bike for long I’ve been focusing on short runs and some gym work.

The week so far:

Today (Thursday):

• AM: 8km run

Wednesday:

• PM: Gym & weights session
• PM: 7km run

Tuesday:

• PM: Gym & Weights session
• PM: 8Km run

Monday:

• AM: Bike Commute – 8km
• AM: Gym & Weights session

Here’s a handy list of tips for anyone tackling a winter commute on their bike – enjoy!

Link: http://www.newtotri.com/#/top-ten-winter-cycling-tips/4545539598

There’s a hurricane blowing in the Atlantic and tonight Ireland is getting whipped by it’s tail!

 I headed out for a quick run earlier only to discover that the temperature had dropped dramatically and a blustery wind, married with freezing rain was dragging the last of the Autumn leaves from the bending trees. Due to the weather conditions I only did 5km and was grateful for the hot shower I had when I got back home! Before heading out for my run I also began my shoulder rehab programme. Up until today i’ve mainly just been resting my right shoulder and it felt great to finally do the rehab exercises that my physio perscribed. Thankfully it seemed to go very well.

The programme is made up of a simple short circuit of:

• 12 Incline press ups
• Supermans / planks: 20 sec font and then 10 sec each side x 2
• Bicep curl: 20kg x 12
• Ab crunches x 30

Superman - Core exercises

I’m to do the above circuit 3 times per session and play it by ear to see how the shoulder responds. It feels strange to be doing such light weights and such a short training session but I’ll stick with it for the week and increase the duration and resistance if things seem to be going well!

Yesterday I headed out for an 11km run down by the sea-front in Dublin  and it was strange to think back on all of the long runs I did there over the last year. What to do next year is still a big question!

A few weeks ago I returned to where my commuting bike had been, only to discover that it was gone! Unbelievably some scumbag had stolen it while I was working!

 Thankfully the bike that was stolen was my Giant SCR4 which was my commuting bike and not my main Tri bike. All the same it doesn’t take the sting out of the theft. The SCR4 was the first road bike I ever bought and was the bike I used for my first few Triathlons. I spent many hours cycling around Wicklow and then in and out of work in Dublin on that bike so it really ticks me off to think of someone else having it now. I’ve spoken to the police and made a report etc.. but ultimately thats probably all that I can ever do.

My Bike was locked but there are a few other simple things which you can do to avoid my fate:

• Double lock your bike with two different types of locks – Most thieves carry tools to open one particular type of lock (i.e: a U-lock etc) but not two, so mixing it up can save your bike.
• Only leave your bike unattended (and locked) when you absolutely have to
• When you leave your bike alone, make sure it’s somewhere in plain view
• Only leave your bike somewhere secure (i.e: not in a bad part of town etc)
• No matter what you get up to, try to never, ever leave your bike locked in public overnight

The above may seem like pretty straight forward tips but you’d be surprised how many decent bikes you see locked with flimsy locks down side streets in Dublin. Once upon a time I wasn’t into bikes but this theft has taught me that you can become quite attached to the idea as well as the bike. The hundreds of hours you spend cycling on them, fixing punctures, cleaning the frame and wondering about the break pads can create an affinity between you and your bike. It becomes an extension of your physical abilities and a channel to new achievements and adventures.

 As crazy as it sounds i’m more sorry to have the memories stolen than just the bike itself!

I hope the thief crashes