Category Archives: Cycling

The road to recovery is marked by two scars

Back at the beginning of March I had an arthroscopy done on my knee in the Sport Surgery Clinic. This was to address all the knee problems I’ve had and have referenced previously. In short, it worked.

Step back a little

After the marathon, I waited a while before heading back to see the consultant. After a little back and forth we agreed on get an injection into my knee to try sort the muscles. He wasn’t sure if this would really help things, something that was going to become a common theme. A few weeks later when I was in to get the injection, that consultant didn’t want to give me the injection as he thought he saw a bone spur that may be causing the problem but needed to confer with the original consultant. Roll on another two weeks and they wanted to see the surgeon. After two years of back and forth of working leg, non working leg, I wasn’t one to argue.

The consultant ran through the MRI and ruled out the bone spur. The original meniscus tear was likely the cause and resulting in the other related issues, however I didn’t have the other symptoms that would fit with these things. In medical speak, my condition was A-Typical. However the surgeon did feel that cleaning up the tear was the best option. It could fix things, but he was honest and said that it wasn’t certain and I may be back in the office in a few months still with the same problem. Main thing, it was unlikely to make it worse, so surgery it was.

The big day

I had never experienced a full general anaesthetic before, but it was just like the sedative they give in other procedures. A nice easy sleep with groggy times afterwards. Only difference this time is my head really remaining groggy for the rest of the day. Its funny, you say things, then shortly after realise that it wasn’t right. Definitely strange.

Anyway I was out from one I entered the pre-op room outside of the OR. I remember getting first the injection and my heart fluttering, then returning to normal. Talked to the anaesthesiologist for a bit and was watching the clock. Next thing I remember, I was out in the bed in the waiting room again. A few hours later I had seen the physio and surgeon and was on my way home again with a stop at the pharmacy to collect the prescription. Really no major fuss.

Pain, what pain?

Before the op the most pain I had really experienced in my need was a very occasional dull pain, but mostly it was like hitting the funny bone. They warned that the op could cause stiffness, swelling and lots of pain. The prescription included 100 pain killers and they said don’t be skimping in the first few days if you need them, and call back if it gets too much.

During the following two weeks I took the anti inflammatory meds, but no pain killers. In fact bar sleeping, my knee was in less pain than before. Sleep just required a pillow between my knees as contact was sore. Walking up and down stairs also had its moments. The worst day was after returning to work. While at home I could stop every hour and do the stretching and other exercises, but in work it wasn’t suitable. That evening was the first time I experienced proper pain, struggling to move my leg properly for a while. Lesson learnt.

Where we are now

Primarily for me, I’ve been able to cycle again. It isn’t perfect, and the rides aren’t even pain free, but I can go out and don’t experience sudden loss of power. I do need to be extremely careful turning as that has caused pain quite a few times, but otherwise it is getting back on track.

Unfortunately my powertap on my training bike is broken so I can only compare times. The dates are nearly a year off and do show things where fairly far off. My weight was within 3lbs of the same period too, so it really was about power and cardio.

27/03/2012    10:53:00
30/03/2013    16:05:00

Over the weeks I did manage to get down to 12:56:00, but that is still nearly 20% off in basic maths, and as any cyclist will tell you, speed vs power is far from linear, so it is most likely more.

Am I happy with the results?

Hell yes. While things are still way off my pre-injury times, I was lighter and had a much better cardio base then. For the first time in the last two years I do actually see myself being able to start training again. Yes I do have pain in the knee, but its consistent and I can ignore it. It is getting less with the exercises from the physio visits, and hopefully will go away completely in time.

Maybe before the year it out we’ll even have a race report or two.

Dublin Marathon 2012 – Race Day Review

Yesterday was The Marathon. A year of working towards it, with all the training and pain that goes with it. Coupled with picking up the flu (not man flu, but real flu, the kind that takes four weeks to clear properly) and my knee giving out a few weeks back, it was a day that really could have gone either way. But here we are.

A Giant Thank You!

I don’t think I said enough when thanking everyone for the previous run events. Given this was my first marathon, maybe I’m being overly generous, but the only thing I can fault the organisers on is the lack of jellies in my goodie bag at the end. Like come on, they were there for every other event.

In all seriousness, the event was fantastically run. I’ve taken part in some large scale events in the past with thousands of participants, but this is a different scale due to the shorter distance. Everything was very well laid out and there were crowds and people lining the streets all along the route. I really don’t remember many sections without people, and usually these were directly after the Spar Cheering Zones. Big up to Spar too. You could tell a cheering zone was coming up well in advance. Large crowds cheering and guys beating the drums, and of course the dancing Spar red thing. I can only assume that Spar played a part in getting some of the sweets around the course as well. While I didn’t take any, just having people standing with them, supporting, it does help push you onwards.

To the supporters, thank you. While not there for me directly, you were supporting the event and adding to the atmosphere. Even to you kid who made fun of my jogging pace just before the turn at the UCD flyover, thank you. That level of support is really something missing for most of the cycling events, partly due to the distances being orders of magnitude longer, although the Tour of Meath does manage to continually have the best atmosphere.

Race Day minus 4 weeks

Why am I starting here? Well as I alluded above, my problems started about 6 weeks before the marathon. During one of my LSRs, I pretty much fell apart. My knee gave out just before the half way point resulting in a near death march home. And given the route was an out and back style route, the shortest way home was the route. A day or two after I ended up with the flu which knocked me right off my feet. Sick enough that I took my first sick day from work in a long time. Long enough that I can’t remember the last sick day I took.

It was a whole week before I got out to do any exercise again, a 14km run at a whooping 6:22min/km, and I was like the walking dead afterwards. The runs did pick up a little the following week but I was still a mess and mostly struggling.

Race Day minus 5 days

Being somewhat smart I decided to take time off work around the marathon, although admittedly was more to use the days I had than anything else. But it didn’t start well. Even before finishing up in work I had stomach pain. Since I’m no stranger to stomach pain, I really didn’t pay much attention to it until later that night. It didn’t let up and just continued to get worse, right up to the point where standing up straight was difficult. Eventually by close to 1am it had let up enough that I could get some sleep. Let up, but not gone away.

The pain continued into the next day and led to constipation of sorts. Needless to say, my mindset changed to one of wondering if I’d actually make it to the start line, let alone finish.

Race Day

With the big day upon me, I was incredibly lucky that my stomach had decided to settle somewhat. All systems were go as they say and it was onward into town for 8am.

If I was running the marathon and had an unlimited amount of money, one thing I’d change is a heated start area. Few giant heaters warming the air while standing around. I’m sure Tony Stark could invent something eco friendly too.

3, 2, 1 and they are off

As the hour inched forward I eventually dispensed with my base layer, dropped the bag off, and started on the way around to my pen. 3:45 – 4:15 finish time, which on normal day would be perfect. 5:30min/km is my safe fallback speed that I seem to end up if I slow down. On a good day it’d be open roads due to the minute gap to the front group. I even managed to get into the pen maybe 5 metres back from the start, although somehow huge numbers ended up ahead by the real start line. Still it wasn’t overly congested and I was jogging along pretty quickly.

The cold played a huge part. For the first time in a long time, km1 came and went and I wasn’t warmed up. km 2 too, followed by km 3 and 4. Even at 6km in I was still feeling the cold. Unusual to say the least and I’ll partly put it down to getting so cold at the start. Yes I wore an extra top to keep some heat while standing around, but it was quite cold.

And here comes the midway point

Skipping ahead perhaps, but once I warmed up things became uneventful. Exactly what you want in a marathon. Just plodding along. I was holding a nice solid pace near 5min/km, a bit higher than previous runs, but overall I was happy with it given my last few weeks.

This is when the problems began. Going into the event, I really wasn’t sure how I’d hold up liquid wise. I’d taken to running with a bottle of sports drink and it it was working pretty well. I somehow go confused while running thinking that there was a sportdrink stop at 15 miles, confusing the original map since it had miles. I’m not sure why, but I ran through the one before the half way point without picking up a bottle, presumably since I had some still left in mine. When it ran out around around 19km, I began to realise my mistake. It didn’t dawn on my until the halfway banner came and went, then followed by mile 14.

By the time the water stop came at mile 15, the damage was done. My pace has really dropped off and my knee was starting to hurt quite a bit. Muscles in my hamstrings and calves followed, I’d say shortly, but then everything in a marathon seems longer while you are experiencing it.

18.5, a magic number

Why a magic number? Some Spar Sport drink, that is why.

The graphs don’t tell the full story, but I most definitely started to improve from then on, at least subjectively. Ok my speed went down, but I wasn’t feeling like a zombie anymore and the marathon switched to a purely mental exercise. One I knew I could win. Words from a friend a few day prior were rattling around in my head pushing me on.

I've known you long enough to know that no matter how bad you feel,
in events like this, you are indestructible.

How could I give up with words like that?

There goes the wall, what wall?

I guess anyone who has talked about marathons has heard of this mythical wall. The point when your body runs out energy and it feels like you’ve just had an elephant dropped on your shoulders. I had always thought of the wall as similar to bonking in cycling, where you run out of energy from not eating and drinking enough. Cycling is definitely different to running in that events are longer time wise, and pretty much impossible without eating on the go. The body just doesn’t enough energy reserves for eight and half hours of non-stop, near the limit physical activity, without some refuelling.

There still reaches a point that you muscles raise the white flag and say enough is enough, so perhaps that is a better analogue to the runners wall. Given I’d experienced this too back shortly after I took up cycling, I knew just how bad it could get, and with the UCD flyover being at mile 22, the hill was perfectly posed to mark the wall, maybe being a hill too far?

Yet nothing. It came and went without much impact. Ok I was going slower than just about everyone on the road around me, but I had been since I slowed after the half way point. Maybe the wall comes later for some?

Spots, red spots, oh…

One thing I used to suffer from is nose bleeds. Few times I’d wake up in the night with one, although mostly I’d get that feeling that as soon as I blew my nose, it’d be a nose bleed. This last year hadn’t resulted in one, until now. 24 miles into a marathon.

Those aren’t dirt marks on the number. Lucky it wasn’t as bad as some previous ones and stopped quick enough. I can only assume it was caused by blowing my nose so often from having the tail end of the flu.

The worst part was covering my face anytime I saw a yellow jacket. St. John Ambulance were everywhere near the end and I really didn’t want them to try pulling me for the nose bleed. (An aside, those guys are great. Luckily I’ve never had to part-take of their services, but I know of more than one person who owes their life to them from other events.)

Here comes the noise

With Dublin City Centre getting closer foot step by foot step, the roads got more and more familiar. All along from before UCD when the 3:45 pace group passed me, I had started trying to do the maths to see just how much time I could lose and still get home in time. Needless to say, my brain wasn’t working all too well.

When we came to the back of Trinity and my average had only dropped to 5:31, I began to think that yes, yes I can do this. My defining memory is switching my GPS to the screen with the overall time and it reading 3:47. At that point it hit home, that yes, short of something completely catastrophic, I was going to make it under the 4hr mark. The elephant disappeared and running became almost easy again. Knowing that even at a near walking pace I’d make it, I didn’t push, but just continued, smiling along as much as I do.

Enter the Green Zone

That last 500 meters really is the longest 500 meters you’ll ever run. You know the finish is just ahead. You can hear the crowds. You can hear the announcer calling out as people cross over. But you can’t see it as it is just behind that building.

And then you see it. The banners. The mats. The boxes. The clocks. Time slows down for those last few steps.

I remember crossing the line and slowing to a walking pace, raising my arms and just feeling amazing. I’d done it. First and only marathon over. Yes it had been painful and the training had fallen apart at the end, but I’d made my medium goal time. I also remember my name being called out by the announcer, something which makes you feel surprisingly special, even though you know you are just another anon in a sea of anons.

The hard figures

My official time was 3:56:34 with a chip time of 3:56:06. I was a little worried that if they used the first wave start time, I wouldn’t have made it under 4 hours as I went along at Trinity, by I knew no amount of speed would have gotten me around in 3 minutes. Overall position of 5050 and a category position of 1544.  Not as high as some of the previous runs, but definitely respectable.

I do wish I took a better picture too.

An aftermath

Well I had said long before this marathon that this was my first and only marathon. And short of getting a shot at the New York Marathon, that is true. I might run some of the shorter events, but I can’t see myself going through the marathon again. Running just isn’t all that much fun. Best described as hitting yourself with a hammer for 4 hours. Yes there are some huge upsides to the running events, but they don’t really counter act the fact that running is quite boring.

Like most others, I have felt quite stiff afterwards. My legs didn’t feel too bad the day of the marathon although my feet were, especially my big toes. The day after was a different story with the muscles being tight and painful that even made it difficult to sleep. Today has been solely determined by knee and its pain of sorts. Mainly its funny bone style pain resulting in a weakness that makes it hard to stand. And this is likely to be the defining factor for the future months.

I’ll hopefully see Mr Knee Doctor Specialist next week to get a proper opinion, but my knee problems have gone on long enough that I need to go back and find a better solution. I someone how doubt that running for cross training to build up other stabilising muscles will work this time around.

In Closing

I must apologise for the rambling nature of the post. The marathon really was the result of years goal and I know I’ll look back on it, presumably fondly due to the lovely nature of the human memory. 100% I’m glad I took to the start and finish the marathon. It has been something I’ve wanted to do for as long as I can remember.

If you were to do a marathon, then the Dublin Marathon is definitely a good candidate, just remember to train.

Dublin Marathon Series 2012 – Half Marathon

Another day, another milestone along the path during the year of the marathon. And while I had failed more than one training session in the preceding week, I wasn’t feeling all too bad, physically at least. I woke up to that feeling you get, the one when you know you should just roll back over and write-off the day.

The Weather

This race really did confirm the difference the weather makes. It was dull, overcast day, with a fair bit of wind chill; enough to make me regret my lack of arm warmers within a minute of leaving the apartment. Overall throughout the race, it was a comfortable temperature. Not too warm, and the wind wasn’t too cold.

The Baby Bottle

Having learnt my lesson on a recent LSR, this marked my first event with carrying a bottle. As stupid as it sounds, it made more of a difference than I expected. My LSRs are all about doing the distance and surviving. The rules are just to cover the distance, no matter what the speed.

Racing is different, although try as I do, and despite what my splits look like, I really am unable to pace myself. I start the run and try to find a rhythm. In every race so far, this has been faster than just about every training run I’ve done.  At times I look at my watch and see the pace, it is nearly impossible to speed up or slow down. Usually I can get small increments, but definitely not a full on pace change.

This hit home more so in this race as I wasn’t physically tired during it, at least until the back hill for miles 11 and 12. I remember running along the road outside the park, not feeling tired, but just feeling bored and wondering why I was continuing. Except that I’d have to stop and still walk the same distance, it almost felt like I could have stopped there. Physically it did hit me a little during the uphill section on miles 11/12, and I did slow down more than usual, but once we levelled out I was back up to the 4:40 splits. I even crossed the line not far out of breath, with water still in the bottle, and not all that thirsty.

Rinse and Repeat

My official time was 01:44:57, Pos 1448, Chip Time 01:40:41, Chip Position 1317. My GPS records confirm I even beat my 10 Mile time, and by a sizeable margin too. I do have to put it down to the bottle/weather, and not training. A category position of 569 has me a bit down position wise, and its further off my 10km position which had me in the top 20%.

Given this was my first and last half marathon, I’m happy its over. The big day is almost here and at this point I’m pretty sure I’ll be able for it physically. Mentally is another story and will definitely be the determining factor on the day.

Dublin Marathon Series 2012 – Frank Duffy 10 Mile

You know those days when you wake up and you know you won’t enjoy something? Today was one of those days. For whatever reason I knew things would be off. Perhaps it is just a combination of the long build up in training, pushing too far on the last LSR with no water, or giving blood last week that did it. Who knows? It probably didn’t help to feel this way before the race.

Going into the race I wasn’t sure where to aim time wise. The 10 mile does seem a bit strange that way at the pace I’m running right now. There is no easy round goals to shot for. Right now I’m hitting between 5 and 5:30 most days in training with the LSRs being much slower. In fact these last 2 weeks or so have had the pace all over the place, no way consistent, and usually dropping way off as the distance goes on. I was expecting as much during today’s race.

The Race

Once again I went into the race with my usual level of preparedness, i.e. none. I knew it was in the park, but that is where it ended. As it turned out we were to run down the main straight away, and we were to do it twice. Then onwards around the usual back part that all the other races take to the finish.

I started in the second pen today, 80 to -95 minutes I think. A good round goal of 90 minutes seemed doable since that only required a 5:35 split. With the watch set at 5:30km/min off we went. There is definitely a difference in starting at the front of a pen and at the back. Things don’t space out anywhere near as quickly. Luckily some people had the great idea of moving onto the grass verge on the side which meant a much clearer path as I followed. My goal of 5:30km/min quickly went out the window as my pace was sitting around 4:30km/min during the straight. Worse still, even though I felt bad and tried to slow down I just couldn’t.

At this pace I did end up passing quite a few people and even found myself doing those little sprints to get by as others slowed, but it was taking its toll, mentally more than anything. As we were completing KM6 and coming back onto the main straightaway, my stomach decided it was wanted in on the action as started its usual pain. Really not the place to start thinking Why the hell am I doing this? I’m not even enjoying it! But since I don’t really understand the concept of giving up, I kept going. Sure I had time to burn until the cycle home so I might as well keep running.

Water water everywhere, so let’s all have a drink!

Giving my level of preparedness, I was slightly counting on the water stops. It didn’t help when the first one was before the 3mile mark, much too early, for me at least. The second one was after 7miles which is probably about right, but it is very, very hard to drink from cups while running. More ends up on your face than in your mouth unless you stop, or perhaps I need some lessons? The water probably hurt more than it helped as well given than my pace dropped off quite a bit after I drank. More and more often in future as I’ll carry a bottle for sure.

The last few KM really were a slog. Funnily there were two or three people who kept the same pace as me from early on and kept appearing, falling back, appearing, falling back, or most likely it was me being inconsistent, but it provided some amusement.

Nearing the last corner I could hear the guy doing the commentary. An aside, that guy definitely adds to the atmosphere and it is amazing just how he keeps talking throughout. But as I was coming home he was announcing that the first group had just under two minutes to cross to break the 80 minute mark. Immediately my head starts racing thinking oh no, how long is left and do I need to speed up. It wasn’t my target but it’s a round boundary. Luckily I remembered that there was a 3 minute gap between the two groups, and that would easily give me ample time to finish without speeding up or worse, sprinting the finish.

The aftermath

Once over the line, so begins the death march to collect a t-shirt and the goodie bag. I was looking forward to the sports drink more than anything; the whole zombie mode isn’t enjoyable. Disappointingly the t-shirt was white today which means it’ll have chocolate on it. Every white tee I’ve owned has ended up that way the first day so perhaps if we don’t touch this one it’ll remain safe.

The journey home on the bike was a slow drag. With very little in the legs it proceeded at a pace I haven’t experienced in a long while, bad enough to question the smartness of cycling in the first place. However given that I don’t feel as bad as I have after the LSRs of recent, perhaps it did help.

For the record

My official time was 1:21:17, Pos 1224. Chip time of 1:18:26 Rank 1134 which matches very closely to my gps record. A Category position of 458. Definitely down on the last race but I’m happy with it, much better than I expected going into it, but I’m glad its over. Only one more stepping stone to go before the big day.

Dublin Marathon Series 2012 – Fingal 10km

Three weeks on from the 5 mile, today was the next step along the path. The weather meant it was a beautiful day with some sun and >15C. Actually this was a run so not so much.

I had intended on doing some speed training between the five mile today, and I did manage to get a few different ones in. Hill Repeats, great for cycling, a little painful when running, some sprints of sorts, even some humpty dumpties (called that way for the pace up and downs), and all that only in the first week.

Things were looking up.

So in week 2 decided to go for it and see what kind of speed I could hit. I went all out for 5km and got a respectable 4:23min/km. One of the harder runs I’d done for sure, but given I just needed a sub 4:30min/km to get a sub 45minute finish, it was a bit positive. Unfortunately the rest of the week didn’t work out so well and the training didn’t go exactly as planned. It ended with an LSR run that had a pretty slow pace. Worst was how it dropped off throughout.

The final week leading to the race went mostly ok. Not setting training before hand played a part and I didn’t do as much as I should. And I missed Fridays session due to a complete lack of energy which meant a run on Saturday. Not ideal for running so I’m told, but then perhaps I do better with some training stress before an event.

The Race Itself

At the start line I was wondering which way I’d target things. I had already agreed with myself that a sub 45min finish was out of the question. Really it wasn’t going to happen, especially since how tired I felt. The course was meant to finish up a steep hill with a tight road, an obvious bottleneck if there ever was one, so my goal became be 49:10. (Yes my memory was a little off given that one was a PB of 49:40).

So off we went and this time I had learnt how to use my GPS. i.e. I started it without stopping it again. This was one area where I will fault the event somewhere. Yes there were pens, but they weren’t marked, at least not at them. Down on the back main street had signs for which pens were which, but I honestly couldn’t fault people for being in the wrong ones. (Well expect for the walker at very front in the middle of the road. That was just rude). Anyway this setup meant the first km was spent wiggling around people while things tried to settle.

There must have been more people doing this event (timing company says 3229) than the 5 mile run as the roads were wider, but it was harder to move through people. Running down the by-pass it did start to thin out and there was enough room to move. But already by this point I was feeling the heat. For whatever rest my gps seemed like it was getting heat stroke too showing a 3:23 min/km when I looked at it. I took this as a sign to ease back a bit and the averages started to fix themselves.

I believe there were course changes as we didn’t go through Applewood, and instead of going straight along the pitches, we first turned back up north street, down by the castle, then around by the water treatment plant. It wasn’t the only change, as the final cut up by the old ESB shop was changed to take the longer way up towards the Lord Mayors. Given that road was wider and not as steep, perhaps a good thing. I do have a weakness running downhill and was passed quite a bit on the decent, but I’m pretty sure I re-passed everyone on the way back up. Cycling technique at is best.

Annoyingly I took the point at the bottom as a good enough place to switch onto the timer function. The watch read 43 minutes and something, and we were already into km 9. Could it be possible? Could I do it? Thoughts raced and I just had to try.

Onward I went, pushing hard but not hard enough that I’d blow up. By the time I was passing the ESB building it was already reading 44 minutes on the GPS. Given the finish sign was only at the lights it’d be an easy run to get there.

But no!

The finish was actually at the bottom of the main street. Hard as I could I pushed. But it was a long run that seemed so far. 45 minutes showed on the clock and I was still a ways to go. Given it was only 300-400meters, it really felt longer, watching those seconds tick by, but all the while seeing the finish just there.

In the end I came in with a time of 45:56. Really not bad given that I felt quite sick before heading out in the morning. Timing people gave me a chip position of 531, and a category position of 235 which is top 20%. Not something I can complain about, more so since this really is my first year of running.

Go big or stay at home

A fitting title for a fitting event, but not with the outcome you’d expect from some of my previous exploits. This time, I really am staying at home.

Well sort of anyway.

Rewind a little

2010 with the marmotte, hitting my weight goal, winning my first race, well it was a year to remember. In no small part, my performance was helped by the National Champion himself, Ryan Sherlock, and for that I’m grateful. Who knew were it would all end up.

Shortly after writing the year review, I developed some knee pain. At the time we put it down to the hard year. I had lost over 20kg by this point as well as having trained (hard) through the previous winter including some pretty insane mornings on 3 Rock in dense fog and ice. So after the month break it was left for another week or two to try get back into it. A physio trip helped things and it looked like that was it until the first week of training again and bam! Gone again.

That marked the end of the real training as I really couldn’t muster anything consistent. Trips to the physio helped and I would get a week or two without issue before it’d start going down hill again, but each time I’d never be back to the level of consistency I had before.

2011 Race Season

With the knee problem sort of bouncing around, the year started uneventful to say the least. Ok my first race was plagued by two punctures meaning I only got 7km or so, but otherwise the races I did do had me placing 7th or 8th, always just behind where I knew I could be. I did place 3rd in the Swords GP but that was about it. I’d missed quite a few races from waking up on the morning with a sore or weak knee too, and even more training than I could count.

An answer to the question you don’t want to ask

Eventually enough was enough, I’d done a few physio sessions, rested for longer periods, even done directed knee strengthening exercises without improvement. It was time for an MRI. I didn’t bother to self diagnose as I’d gotten it so well with my previous consultant visit on an unrelated matter.

Long story short, a visit to the sports clinic and a referral for the MRI revealed the issue. Micro tears in the meniscus above my patella. In short, I’d damaged the connectors of the muscles into my knee. But here was the real kicker. It wasn’t enough to warrant an operation, and I’d need to stay away from pain shots or I’d risk damaging enough to warrant an operation. Worse still, I was advised to go back training but strict instructions to watch the intensity level and pain. Pushing too hard would cause pain and possibly rip more. But if I do it right, it’ll heal by itself and come back to the normal level.

What it all means

In short, my training sucks. It is really difficult to get anything consistent out. Planning in advance doesn’t happen as I’m forever worried about damaging my knee further. I bounce between being perfectly fine somedays – to having pain while cycling which disappears when off the bike, to days like today where I’ve pain while not moving but none on the bike.

Admittedly this is a post I’ve written in many forms over the last year but never published. Probably because things change so quickly. I regularly switch between the days of great training and days were sitting around is a sore knee, and others when the knee is sore but I feel great after training. Really, a total mind jerk.

I’m still cycling, just not as much, often, or anywhere close to as hard as before. In reality, no racing up hills and no interval training, especially no interval training on hills. Normal people may think something like this is a god send however I strangely enjoy interval training on hills. Yes it is a painful, but the measured goals seem to work.

A day of new goals – aka What next

One thing I had been instructed to do was cross train and get my other muscles to build up. Strange as it may seem, this has meant running to improve a knee injury. Well it was that or swimming and I’d get a bit too wet while swimming.

With previous small steps in goals, I’ve signed up to the Dublin Marathon Series including the full Dublin Marathon. All after completing only a short 5 mile christmas run and some short training runs otherwise. Ok so that is a bit of an understatement, but then not really. It does mean upping the distance considerably but even starting a marathon training plan too.

Will I get back cycling? Yes hopefully. I do really intend that the increased endurance will help building on the longer cycles and I’ve a few 100km+ rides without knee pain completed as well. Time will tell.

Race Report – Swords GP [2011-06-05]

Given that the previous day, the Saturday had lovely warm weather, waking up to drizzly rain and greasy roads really was an unpleasant feeling. Immediately my mind turned to the turn at the top of the climb – the one I know I need to keep speed up through just to hang on in the group. Maybe this would slow things down, or maybe I’d cook it. Who knows.

The PreRace Fun

Surprisingly this year, there was little information about the race available before the day. The usual stuff started to appear on boards and the circuit was known since it was the same on we do in the club league. There was the start time of 12pm with sign-0n from 11:30am so knowing this, I arrived around 11:30am – enough time for a quick warm up but short enough not to get cold before the race.

That all changed at 11:55am when it surfaced that the start was at 1pm. Oh well. Luckly another rider was around and we went off on a easy pace for a warm-up lap. A good idea since I could properly determine the wind direction as something from the North would definitely suit me and help stop any breakaway just before the turn. Remembering my mistake from last year, I was determined not to have a repeat.

On the main road, we continued along chatting away at a nice 32km/h, side by side, so no drafting. Possibly a little faster than I’d hoped but bring on the race.

The Race

We all grouped together near the gate and got ready. For us, A4, it was to be 3 and half laps with the finish on the fourth time up. So off went the A1/A2. Few minutes later, off went the A3. Numbers were down, probably due to a combination of the weather and the bank holiday weekend which left 25 riders starting the A4.

Initially things were un-organised. But then how is that any different than a normal A4 race? Only when a pace car rolls out does the start stay orderly. It took a few guys to ramp to the front to get us moving at something beyond what would be considered a slow commute speed. But even then, it never really got organised and pacey. One of the downsides of A4 racing – some people just like sitting in the outside line and not moving up.

Lap 1 stayed together and we continued up the hill at a decent enough speed. Nothing too hard and I stayed in behind two others to slow myself down. Apparently some people did drop off this time up the hill but I couldn’t tell from where I was.

Lap 2

This is where some racing began. One guy decided to jump from the front himself and try move things along. Our main group was being led by one other rider at this point who seemed content on letting him head off into the distance. After a few minutes and walking the time gap grow, I moved up and asked what the plan was – let him go, or wait and see. While discussing what to do and when to go, two or three other lads jumped and the chase was on. Immediately the speed was up and people started working together.

Unfortunately this really didn’t last for long and when on the main road, it dropped to about 3 or 4 of us working to pull in the gap. Knowing my weakness on the flats, I was careful when to pull and when to sit in, and the others seemed happy enough to have slow up and overs we some very fast pulls through to rope in distance.

With this we brought him back about half way along the road and things slowed again. Not what was hoped but what can you do.

Around the corner and again the same guy goes off again. On the first little bump, I sped up and chased to catch on. Now I don’t know if it was just I was feeling good, or plain insanity, but once I reached him, I pulled through and kept the pace up. And we started pulling out a gap. The other guy did say to work together and keep going right at the exact moments I was starting to slow down which probably helped, but we pushed hard up the hill. Even near the top, he shouted to keep pushing – that he’d work on the flats to get the break. Really that did and away I went. By the time I crossed the top, I had 3-5 seconds on him, and he another 5 on the riders behind if not more. But I knew what had to happen and I slowed to let him come back.

Slow through the corner as it was so slippy but start back on the gas. By this point there was a few of us and worked together keeping the pace very high to try pull some gap. It didn’t stick and it looked like the bunch came back together by the village again. I later found out that the effort up the hill tore things apart and less than half the group was left by this point. Such is racing.

Lap 3

Lap 3 was uneventful beyond the fact that we went slow. Ridiculously slow at times. On the main road we dropped to 27km/h at one point (remember that I did 32km/h on an easy warmup lap here) meaning it remained a simple lap. Even the hill climb wasn’t all that stressful.

Lap 4 – The final run cycle

Things did move along fairly ok on this lap strangely enough, more so that you usually expect some people to sit in. Perhaps because I sat as rider 3 for quite a while until I started dropping wheels during the fast accelerations on the main road. I really couldn’t pull through fast enough when the wheels jumped.

Around the corner from the main road and some people started jumping as usual. Nothing fast and no one followed through with it much. Once again through the last bump I went to jump a wheel, and once again I pulled all the way. Not withstanding that I had planned to sit in until the cross roads, it just happened. I put the head down and just rode. A quick glance back at one point put one rider on my wheel and the bunch a fair bit back.

Disaster pongs

At the cross roads my left hamstring decided it wasn’t having this and started giving out to me. Enough that it caused a few cries of pain. It was then that I knew any hope of winning was lost as I wouldn’t be able to jump near the top when the guys came through.

With a full km to go, I’d be lucky to stay consistent and hold the gap to the top. Even within 200km my pace was already dropping and becoming shabby. But push on you must and so I did.

The 200m marker at the top came and shortly after I decided it was now or never. Up I stood to try up the pace and break what was left. A feeble attempt as my leg really didn’t want to. The rider behind took that as a sign and jumped by me. Then another one. I pushed a little but really was disappointed with myself and rolled across the line for 3rd stopping the GPS as I went.

A look back

Overall, third place wasn’t too bad. I really should have done better and I paid for the effort on lap 2, but who knows, the race could have been different if I didn’t. The stats from this year to last year do say a lot however. Only 3 minutes slower and power was similar. Memory is a great thing.

The Stats

Distance: 72.16km
Time: 2:00:18
Avg Speed: 36km/h
Calories: 1746
Avg Power: 242watts
Normalised Power: 291watts

Race Report – Stamullen GP

This circuit was one of the first race circuits that I have ever cycled. I remember it popped up on boards way back when I was beginning cycling and we decided to cycle it, see what all the rage was about. Little did we know the difference a bit of speed makes. Back then I probably averages 20km/h if even on the run around compared to the race.

So was it all that was expected? Well … no. I only realised where we were cycling during the race and remembered then, something which will hopefully push me to check the course route a little better in future.

The day began with the usual half organised me packing up and heading off. In the car on the way I realised I’d forgotten something, not as bad as the previous week, but still not good. Basically I’d forgotten lunch. While I had some made, I didn’t eat it or bring it with. This resulted in my stopping off at a garage to grab a sandwich. It’d probably have fine if I ate it then, however I didn’t. I left it until after I arrived, and signed. All in all, less than 20 minutes before the start.

The Race

Since there is a hill of sorts in this race, I did say I’d do something stupid with the hills and see how it goes. With the hill only half way around the lap and a long descent after, I knew I’d need to get across the top in front, preferably far ahead. On the first lap everything stayed together. Not working too much, but definitely together.

During the second lap, one or two guys started off the front. Knowing about the hill, I tried to get people to work a little on the front and tried to pull it along. For a number of reasons, this resulted in my getting a few metres off the front, something that wasn’t helped by another rider I know following me up. Since he wasn’t in Swords gear, we went for it thinking they’d let us out. At this stage, we were still almost 2km from the base of the hill and on a slight descent. What was I thinking?

Up up and away

We rolled along taking turns to the base of the hill and began up. Knowing from previous days, I decided to pop a gel and latched back on. We continued up but at the first big corner, he said look behind – and there was the group catching us. We let it roll into us but right when they did there was an attach. Something I should have expected but didn’t.

This bit is a slight blur but I know I tried to go with and my legs couldn’t muster. At some point on the hill I partly threw up into my mouth. Lets just say that I’ll not be eating any chicken/stuffing/mayo sandwiches for a while.

This was enough to push me out the back and not wanting to throw up more, I clicked down the big ring and rolled up with the stragglers. Over the top and down the long descent were about 6 of use grouped up. Some of them were left overs from the U16 race but we mostly worked and kept it going to the finish.

While waiting on the finish, some other A4 riders rolled through, so the main group must have splintered on the hill. And people in the lead group also clocked a time of 1h3min so maybe we weren’t as far off as I thought. Overall I was disappointed with my result. However it was Wednesday before my stomach recovered from getting sick.

Live and learn.

The Stats:

Distance: 38.78km
Time: 1:03:58
Avg Speed: 36.4km/h
Calories: 994
Avg Power: 264.1watts
Normalised Power: 324watts

Race Report – Swords CC Hill TT [2011-04-10]

To open the Swords league was a time trial, and a hill time trial at that. Perfect in all respects. The hill is short and steep with a kick up in the middle.

Then I found out that the finish was up top after a flatish section.

Luckily the first rec of the course on the night revealed that the top only has a very short flat section before beginning uphill, abit at a slight grade. Enough to keep me happy and result in my speed going up again on the uphill. I probably would trade some of my uphill speed for flat speed but that is just as it is. More training required.

Due to a combination of being a little late and being placed on the second sheet, I was off near the end which was both good and bad. It left enough time to get properly warmed up and enough time to relax before the start. The road however was slippy enough, and as the night went on it became more so with the tractors going up and down from a field.

I had decided to really make a go of the climb, at least get a respectable enough time. This resulted in removing bottles and the saddle bag, something I didn’t do on the previous hill TT. Being perfectly honest, I really didn’t expect much before I arrived and based on previous times was aiming for a sub 5 minutes. My rec had me believing I’d do a 4 minute something, possibly even a low 4.

At the lineup. Off comes the Gilet. Down goes the bottle. Move into position and the bike is held. Some joking about still being on a compact. I clip in my left foot. Shortly after my right foot. Rotate the pedals into position as the time clicks down. Control the breathing. Get ready.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 …… Go!

Immediately there was a problem. A car had passed around and moved in from of me on the hill. For the first second or two things seemed ok. It looked like they were going to move fast enough to get out of the way and then they began slowing down. Disaster. I actually shouted at the car to go I got so frustrated at the corner since I’d slowed down and almost stopped pedalling. I do find it crazy just how much the mind plays tricks though as my memory of it and how I slowed down seems different to Garmin, but then Garmin does show are really noticeable drop.

Once the car moved on I began up the hill. A slight adjustment to my climbing style was required due to the rear slipping somewhat, but either way I did feel alright. The usual leg burn but I managed to only drop off in one section so my fitness hasn’t dropped off too much. However the belly still shows.

All in all, a good night out and next weeks race will be interesting to say the least.

The Stats:

Distance: 1.83km
Time: 0:04:11 (Official time 4:13)
Avg Speed: 26.2km/h
Calories: 116
Avg Power: 466.6watts
Normalised Power: 493watts

Coombes Connor Memorial Race Report [2011-04-10]

Owing to yesterdays race, I had decided to go along and just enjoy the lovely weather and see how the race went. It was to be another 70+km route, 5 laps, however I only found out on the morning that it’d be a combined A3/A4 race. Very quickly it became apparent that the course was a flat one too so it was going to be fast.

Having learnt from the mistakes of yesterday, I donned my short sleeved Swords CC top and no overshoes for the first time this year. Oh and a good helping of sun cream.

The numbers for the race were high, 150 riders or there abouts, enough to really get the accordion effect going through the corners. And while you could live with that, the numbers (and stupidity) meant the group spread across both lanes until a car was seen, then it was a quick move left with hard braking. This brought about sharp stops while going along flat straight roads. Everytime I’d take a drink, I’ll leave a gap out just in case, and I was most definitely not the only one doing similar.

On the last lap a breakaway started. By the first corner it was only 3 riders. Since I had no intention of doing anything really, I didn’t pay much attention. Somewhere along the next road, the group expanded out and was let sit. Our pace didn’t drop however, it maybe it did and I didn’t notice because of the constant start/stop up/down with the main bunch. One of the Swords lads Dave got into the break and mentioned it expanded out to 8 at one point but dropped off down to 6 by the finish.

Overall a good days cycling with some lovely weather. The speed was up there and since speed is my weak point, it is probably the kind of racing I need to search out more off. Definitely I do need to spend more time up the front of the group, and possible off the front for some sort of a break. Lets see.

The Stats:

Distance: 71.49km
Time: 1:42:39
Avg Speed: 41.8km/h
Calories: 1307
Avg Power: 216.3watts
Normalised Power: 270watts