First in a wile!

I think it has been over a year since I last blogged...il do a whizz through of what I have been up to over the past year. Hope its not to boring..

Last year winter went awesome I was getting serious training done and had massively improved on the bike. This was due to the sunday morning sessions with a great club Omagh Wheelers racing group (a bunch or seriously strong guys who can dish out serious pain). The craic here was always 90 even when the irish winter decided to bucket down on us and great us with gale force winds. I say the craic was 90 MOST of the time but when we hit the gentle bump in the road Sion Finn Mountain the craic suddenly dropped to -10. Usually a result of Mr Stevie McKenna putting on the hurt! Always a great session and looking forward to the same sessions this winter!

Aw the swim the glorious swim...Here i decided to just swim 3 times a week with a max of 3.5km each session. In my opinion people get to caught up on the swim. I decided to work harder on the bike and run and gain more time here. To really improve massively I believe you need a good swim analysis and a coach on poolside at nearly all sessions. I have seen people get a swim analysis then sent away to work on specific points on their stroke for 3 weeks or so. The swim being so technical you need constant feedback (coach on poolside). If you dont have a swim coach present where does the feedback come from and how do you know you are improving your stroke? . In my opinion if your a good enough swimmer in your age group work harder on the bike and run to gain back them few seconds lost in the swim. Dont bog yourself down with the swim!

My running took care of itself. I have been running for a long time now and know what works for me and what sessions get me in shape pretty quick.

After winter i did the Tour of the North tour race…..It was a disaster....You dont understand how strong some of them guys are until you have raced against them. The wheelers team did a great job #savages and the support was first class. We lived like pro cyclists for four days.

BOOM! Niggle…..Injury…...niggle...injury….This was the story for the next few months!!

One month of consistent training under my belt I entered Belfast titanic triathlon.

Swim - Out in 5th place.

Bike - 5 mile in I was leading...kept the head down and pushed the pace. Look behind me at a few points..bloody drafter glued to my rear wheel. A few polite words exchanged for him to please leave my wheel didnt seem to help. #draftingsuck

Run - First out onto run. See ye later ye drafter ye..4 lap run..people telling me I was leading by a big margin. Last lap people were shouting to me I had a huge gap. Slow down and enjoy the glory I thought.

Finish line - 1st place I thought!!!!! What? European age group champion was in wave 2! I didnt know this. Sadly he was getting time checks on the run and beat me by 6 seconds….I have never been so mad after a race!! But It was my fault not checking the race entry list.

Took the positives from the race in that my run was top notch and i had taken 2nd in a pretty prestigious race.

DAM them bloody niggles!!!They were back in style! At this point I had already entered Ironman Dublin 70.3.

After a bumpy period of preparation I took to the starting line. I would give it a rip and hoped the legs showed up. Looking back my head wasnt in it as I knew my preparation hadnt been great but aw well time to see what I could do.

Swim - Went well felt good and we were blessed with sea that looked glass!

Bike - Dam where are my legs!! The first thought that entered my head!! That was pretty much the story for the whole bike!

Run - Woop! My legs are back!! Running 6 min/ 6.10min mile pace feeling good, i decided to miss a gel and power through. I payed for that as the last 5km felt like 25km. It was good to see the finishing line.

Overall a poor performance. But a lot of positives taken from Dublin in that I can still run fast even on tired legs. Also my Achilles heal was my nutrition plan which i must get right, if i had not been racing as a pro I would have won my age group, and most importantly i enjoyed every bit of it in a strange kind of way.

Awesome race and a must do to anyone looking a great Half Ironman race.

It was great to head back to the finish line and see everyone finishing. I have so much respect to those people still going after 6/7hours of racing!!

After dublin things began to look good but I will include this in my next  blog.

Thanks for reading guys hope it wasnt boring. Look forward to a more positive blog in the next few days.

Lorcan