This race was a pure feeler opportunity and a chance to drown in lactic acid at the starting run pace.   Safe to say Paul Carroll is a favourite for any duathlon he enters and rightfully so being our National Champion.  Again my Pulse and B2R stablemate Mark Horan was also in it so I knew those 2 were highly likely to be the 2 markers up front.

Race kicked off and I’m beside Paul with Mark just hovering behind me. I match Paul to the first gate and then he starts to pull away.  What Pace you ask?  Well I started at 2:30/km pace, that had slowed to 3min/km pace after the first minute or so of mayhem.  Through the first km in 3:11 (I didn’t look at pace at all for this first run).  Mark was beside Paul just ahead and I dropped to 4th place as a Naas tri guy came past me.  I clawed back and retook 3rd place with Mark and Paul still 10-20seconds ahead.   2nd km in 3:21 and 3rd in 3:32. Damn that’s poor pacing and a shock to the system!   Run course was 3.2km for first run and same pace held for the 200m to transition.

Into t1 in 3rd, Mark and Paul are 30secs ahead and just at their bikes getting gone as I’m entering transition. A relatively smooth transition and I’m out with the Naas tri guy beside me.   We start bike together and I get ahead then and start to look for the 2 lads up the road.

Out onto the bike course and I can see them and set about reeling them in.  I can see Paul has moved into the lead but Mark appears to be maintaining the gap.  I’m putting in the effort here and close to them as we approach Blessington roundabout at the half way mark.  Paul has gone around and back, Mark has just left the roundabout as I approach it so have clawed back some time.

I manage to close up a bit more before the road becomes a bit congested. Mark is getting held up in front as cars can’t pass due to the amount of bikers coming against them.  Paul appears to be ahead of the cars but may be getting held up also.   I close and pass Mark and motion at the cars to at least move out a bit and let us up the inside.  No joy.  Steady pace here until the last left hand turn and push it then up the hill. Both Mark and I gain on Paul and I’m into T2 right beside him so nice to have fastest bike and recovered my run deficit.   

Into t2, helmet off and right runner is slow to fit on so precious seconds lost. Cian from B2R had a right laugh video’ing this and asking was there something wrong with my right foot??? J  Paul is out and gone as Mark and I leave transition at the same time.  A few encouraging words from Coach as we chase Paul up the first incline.  Mark moves ahead of me here and edges a bit more over the remaining run.  Across the line for 3rd place, 50 odd seconds behind Paul and 30 behind Mark. 

I’d probably class this as my best result to date, purely from a performance perspective being so close to 2 top athletes, especially over this format with run strengths.    What is evident is that my run still needs a bit more to match their pace, and whilst this will be tough, I do intend to at least bridge the gap some more.  I need to be closer to their pace come race season if I’m to be competitive.   How do I do this? Well, Coach Eanna will have to work his magic and he has a cunning plan, one that will see me with a heavy load meaning the March Naas duathlon may not be an option but will see closer to the end of the month if I feel up to it.

Man it’s good to be back racing. There is nothing like it!   

I have to say I enjoyed the course and race a lot.  It was marshalled well, is a nice honest course and whilst it was cold the weather was dry and with little wind.  I will try to race this again in 4 weeks if I’m not too fatigued from trying to bridge the run speed differential.  Don’t worry, I’ll be working on my bike as well as it’s all very close which is encouraging all round really for February.

We are now into March and the National Duathlon Champs are just 5 weeks away. In my language that’s 1 block of work, just 1 block!  Can you believe how fast race season is approaching. Love it. Safe to say that Paul Carroll is the Benchmark performer and that the longer distance will be more of a pure pain exercise.  Excited? Me too...

Finally making time to put a few updates down on type and review my last few weeks or so.  Shane Scully is putting any blogger to shame (www.shanescully.com) with his weekly and regular musings and training updates..... not to mention his rants.. :-)   Put down the chocolate bar Shane, you’ve a bike race to focus on!  No, I’m not buying his diet of chocolate and crisps washed down with ice cream either but am enjoying his regular posts and updates so if you're reading then keep up the good work Shane.

Training has been going well, no injuries and very consistent.  They say consistency is one of the keys to this game so it’s my aim to remain injury free and stay healthy.    Volume wise there is a marginal increase this year but not a lot. I’m still a good bit below the weekly hours of other more regular updater’s but I am noticing steady progress and being consistent which is working well for me.

I don’t really get sick at all fortunately and again, have been lucky with injuries so I don’t miss training sessions or get run down. 

Swim:

Regarding the training sessions themselves, it’s been the usual 3 morning swims a week but with less rest/recovery/chat and as a result coach has managed to sneak up the volume and work effort.  That’s absolutely fine with me, with the odd added swim at the weekend it all helps in my attempts at improving my swim technique to get the elusive “feel for the water”.   
I am noticing performance improvements slightly and on a slow but consistent basis. In particular endurance and effort levels seem to have benefited.  Recent Swim TT’s of 22:55 for 1,500m and 30:24 for 2k indicate I’m close to cracking the 1:30 barrier per 100m for endurance efforts.   One of my swim goals this year is to swim a sub 28:30 1.9km and on paper I’m close to this in the pool.  I’d really be hoping for this in open water but it’s too hard to track really – both currents/conditions and also accurate distances but as long as I’m not giving away too much time to the fish compared to previous years I’ll be happy.

Bike:

 I’ve done a bit of research recently and know where I want to be in terms of watts over the 90km 70.3 bike split.   Taking the one 70.3 bike file I have from Miami, I averaged 244 watts which works out around the 3.65 watts per kg.   For a competitive Age Group bike split at 70.3, that number needs to be closer to 4.1 watts per kg or so at Vegas.   Indeed to be competitive here in Ireland you’ll require the same numbers over a 70.3 bike split if you want to even get close to a Bryan McCrystal bike split.   

So what does that translate to?  Well for me it will mean increasing my previous 244 watts to 270 watts average over the 90km.  Just 26 watts.  Doesn’t sound too unrealistic in the space of off season does it?  I’m under no illusions, an extra 26 watts over that duration will be hard to achieve. That’s my coach’s job though. I’ll do the work, remain injury free and healthy so on we go.  
As a side note, my research suggests FTP of around the 4.75/4.8 watts per kg to be a competitive Age Grouper level so that’s the goal.   That will mean a 20min test of 325/330 watts for me.  Not there yet but hopefully closer to race season I will be.

Biking has again been regular and consistent. Hard to track performance gains really without doing repeat tests but we did a 70km TT last weekend as a tester.

I was on a recovery week so had no excuses and felt I paced it well and happy with my result. I improved on m time 6 months ago by 10minutes in similar conditions, and my Power numbers appear to be considerably increased also so positive outcome all round.  There’s a couple variables as to whether to take avg power or normalised power etc. It appears normalised power is the predicted power for the distance if bursts were removed.  In Miami this was just a 4 watts diff however for my 70k it was more due to the hilly course.  Taking the lower number of avg watts, I averaged just over 4 watts/kg for the 70k so signs are good and positive towards improvements. Very much more to come in the next couple months I think so looking forward to race season.          
7 weeks now before the duathlon champs which will be the first real tester to see where I’m at.

Run

Running has been interesting.  I spent much of the first 8 weeks or so thinking am I doing enough? Shouldn’t I be running more? Should I be running harder? Are my easy runs too easy?   I’m confident of saying Coach was sick of me and my concerns as much as I tried to hold back on questioning or asking I just couldn’t at times. But coach, McMillan running calculator says my easy pace should be this but sometimes I’m going a good bit easier than this? FREAK OUT!  Be patient. Be Patient. Patience.  Yes coach....   Then I finally got to run a race. The Dungarvan 10 mile and with one of the group training buddies and club mate Mark Horan.  I was back to my trusty (but perhaps not bible like) McMillan calculator. Previous run PB’s – well, that would be my last run race in March’12 of 37:05 for a rolling 10km. What’s that McMillan? 10 miles in 1:01:59. Really, 62 minutes? Assuming no run improvements other than endurance. Hmmm. Ok then let’s aim for 60.  That would be a 36 minute 10km equivalent.  It is early in January but be great to show some progress for my run?

Dungarvan 10 Mile run race

Happily I had a great run, with no taper and in the middle of a nice block of training.  I started too many rows back from the front and it was too late as I realised, a slightly slow congested start but I went around the outside and up to pace early. Through the first few km's in 3:35 pace and feeling good. Reeling in people and using them as targets. There are marshals at every turn and even marshals at every mile with stop watches coordinated to start time and reading out your mile split as you pass! now that's impressive organisation and effort.  Wouldn't it be great at tri races to have marshals updating you on position or time gaps to leader at races. 

Course slows around half way and we were up a slight incline into head wind. Slowest km splits here but still around the 3:50 pace. I'm racing via perceived effort level, but also tracking via my Garmin to ensure avg pace in order and on track for sub 60. 

About half way I realised this is comfortable, I’m on track for sub 60 and feel good.  I know there’s a slight incline around the 8mile and up the pace on this to maintain speed, then push the last 2 km’s though they were mainly downhill/flat also.  Over the line in 59:14 and I’m happy with that feeling I could have carried on.   McMillan now thinks I should be capable of a mid 35min 10km, and still thinks I should be running my easy runs faster than I do....!

I’m happy with that, on paper I’ve improved my 10km by 1.5mins and managed to slowly claw into the gap to podium athletes hopefully.  I’d class Mark as one of these, and he ran a 57:07 10 mile or on paper a low 34min 10km capability  - again going on McMillan’s rough calcs so he's in great shape.

So, coming away from Dungarvan I’ve left my run concerns in Co Waterford and very much to Coach’s relief! McMillan is no longer a regular checker and I’m confident of making more improvements ahead of race season.   Mark has always been a very fast runner and is likely to be close to heading up run splits at domestic races this season in my opinion so to have closed up compared to last March is already some good progress for me.  I’ve more to come before season start so I’m aiming to close that gap more all going well.  
Our race calendars are similar and Mark knows I’m going to do all I can to beat him this year!  In fact I reminded him of this near the end of a Sunday long bike recently, it was barely 5 minutes later as I’m in cruise mode and moving for traffic that he launches an attack up a hill and pedals off into the distance!!  Classic stuff, when I did catch up after he waited I said sorry Mark, I didn’t realise you were launching an attack up that hill there....  His reply.... – "What attack???"   We’re not a competitive bunch at all I swear...

We’re the second week into February now, I’ve 7 weeks to the Duathlon Champs which would be the first real race of the season.  I will do a sprint duathlon (Naas) 2 weeks before this to dust off the cobwebs and open up the lungs and transition practice ahead of it.

In other news, the Base 2 Race Academy (Group) are setting up a website/blog for anyone interested to have a read of.   We’ve a pretty damn great group of athletes and a brill mad scientist coach so it may make for some light reading over coffee – I believe the mad scientist himself may even make an appearance though he’s a bit of a technophobe so don’t hold your breath! This will be on the B2R main website doon so keep an eye... Www.base2race.ie

Race Calendar Updates:

I’ve entered the Naas sprint duathlon in March, the Ashford Duathlon Champs in April and the Tri an Mhi National Middle Distance Champs in May.

Kilkee is next on the list and followed by a change of plans.  I want to race Humbert Challenge Half Ironman in July now.  I had this on my original calendar, removed it, regretted it and now it’s back on and staying on!  
There’s not many half ironman races in Ireland (my preferred distance) so this is a main factor however I would also like to pay tribute to the race organisers at Swinford.  I first heard about this race on www.boards.ie where some good race reports were flowing in.  Lots of positive feedback and overall enjoyment. 

A bit more research saw Swinford’s preview and race reports.  A race preview with the key competitors and to me that kinda effort generates a buzz and atmosphere – something that came across in some of the other race reports and feedback I’d found.   I also spoke with another B2R training buddy Tamara who won the female race last year and she also had nothing but positive things to say.   
So that’s now added to the list and I’m glad to be doing another 70.3 distance ahead of Vegas in Sept to iron out any pacing/nutrition plans and learning’s from Tri an Mhi.

That brings my latest update to a conclusion.  I will try to be a bit more regular and will be adding a review of my Quarq power meter soon as well. 


Fazz

Well....

That was a different kettle of fish altogether really wasn't it!

First half ironman raced yesterday and it was a hard hard race. 

Headed up to Groomsport on the Saturday and got a practice swim in. 
Coach Eanna from Base 2 Race had made the trip also along with fellow B2R Coached Athlete Jennifer Duffy.  We did some sighting and couple in and outs on the beach to familiarise for the race which was a 2 lap affair starting from the beach out to 3 buoys and back in over timing mat and around again. 
We had a drive around the bike course and looked nice - mainly rolling and a couple of junctions but decent overall.  Shame to have a couple of traffic lights that we had to obey but what can you do on an open road bike course. 
We then had a look at half the run course which was primarily trail and twists and rough surface. Nothing that you don't find in Wicklow training sessions so went in knowing it would be a hard race but one I was prepared for. 
Grabbed some grub in Pier 36 - owned by a triathlete also and busy place with nice food - recommended. 

Back to check in to B & B then in Holywood which was about 20 mins away so grand. 

Up at race morning and first down for breakfast.  I met with Matt Molloy and his Dad as I was leaving - both very nice men and good to talk to. 
Matt was hands down favourite for this race in my opinion but we all had to try challenge him anyway! 

So into transition, set up on numbered rack and set off on warm up run to look at second part of run course - again trail surface with more beach before doubling back on road for a few km. 
Met up with Eoin McManus here who had the same idea but we both soon realised we underestimated the route a little. 
Ended up being over 5.5km but we got back with 30 mins to spare and knew the course fully so grand. 

Race start then after a short swim warm up and we were all called out of the water to the beach start.  
First mistake - I had encountered a couple rocks going into the water - so came out more to the left where it was clear but the faster line was on the right of the beach.  
I should have ran over but didn't and certainly missed the front bunch so not the best start.  
It was a long day ahead though so no need to panic. 

Swam very much within my limits here I'd say.  
I got a few drafts that were perhaps a little slow than I was capable of and didn't really push the swim. 
This being my first half I was conscious to pace it but do think I can push the swim more for next time.  I got my hand caught in the net at 2 buoy's as well just to add to the amateur hour!  Bridged back up to the same feet each time though which said it all so I'll be pushing harder next time. 

Swim - 30:40 - 29/166

So out of the water some 6 mins down on Matt Molloy with some chasing to do. 
Goggles up, wetsuit down to waist as I ran into transition. 
Had to pull the legs of wetsuit off as usual but seemed to do this quick enough and was out in no time. 
My best T1 time ranking yet! 


T1 - 1:27 - 3/166 (exc relays!)

Out onto the bike - did a standard mount and had feet in shoes for the short climb onto main road. 
Strapped in then and set about the work. 
Now this is where it get's interesting.  Normally my bike is out hard and sustain to the end. 
With this being 93.5km, a long day at the office and needing a half marathon in the legs at the end the plan was easy first lap, try negative split for second and then match for 3rd lap. 
So I set out easy, passed maybe 5-10 bikes before coming up to what can only be described as pelotons!  Groups of 4-6 with no care and cruising behind each other! 
I stayed well back, and actually more by cause as had cars in between me which couldn't get past the group.  I took this opportunity to get my nutriition in early. 
First up was a Powerbar maybe 15 mins from start of bike.   Had 3/4's of this and couldn't get god damn wrapper down so stuffed it in back pocket for later. 
Maybe 20 mins later as I was in traffic of cars again behind group of bikes I started into my 2nd nutrition which was a Kinetica Cola Gel. mmmm. Delicious! 
So that's around 60g of carbs and combined this with my Hi 5 in the Shiv's Bladder to make around 100g for the first hour.  Sorted. Felt good and no issues. 

Passed the groups heading up the drags as I made a couple pushes so as not to lose anymore time. 
Considered pointing at wheels saying ah lads but figured no point and preferred to push to avoid any latching on to mine! 
It's here I go over an almighty bump that wasn't clear on the road.  Despite it looking like a good surface there were a lot of divots and hidden bumps for bikes.  I hit a hard one and my saddle actually dips down so it's angled down.  I try to adjust but can't be done. Very strange and just one of those things.   It's not affecting my position much and not causing an issue so on we go. 

Now as I'm nearing end of first lap there's a right hand turn that turns into Groomsport village where we started.  
I read the course map, I knew the route, it clearly stated Turn Right into Groomsport at end of each lap, past the Village for commencement of each lap or take another turn right again down into transition if finishing at end of 3rd lap. 

I have it here in front of me and it says complete lap in centre of village with straight on for next lap or turn right into car park/transition if 3rd lap. 

Did I miss a change of bike course at race briefing in transition?  I don't think so. 
Does the online bike course printed say 2007 Bike Course - yes and this is the only one still available right now on the Half Ireman website. 
Am I expected to know the course is different - was it different last year as well?  Should I have reacted faster seeing spectators and aid station ahead and assumed course print out wrong and I was to go straight also?  

So as I said, at end of first lap I'm turning right into Groomsport, look ahead at an aid station if I had gone straight thinking is that for the full ironman course or what?  
Friendly spectators were shouting at me, I said is it straight then and apparently so.  
So that's all too late, I've made my right so onto brakes and u turn and back out to junction, car stops on other side to let me out thankfully and I'm back on my way. 

Time lost estimated 30-40 seconds. I repass the ironman athlete over the hill and set on. 
This aid station had timing mats set up so clearly was the planned route.  
Be nice to highlight this in the Bike Course online which folk print out and go through in their heads. It obviously wasn't a last minute change and I didn't hear any mention at all during race briefing other than be careful at the staggered junctions and stop at red lights or be DQ'd and motorbike marshals would have video camera's for drafting violations etc.  Drafting was a 5 min penalty under middle distance rules  - See, I was listening to Race Briefing so a bit annoyed at this simple mistake from them in my opinion. 

It was a 4.5 hour race though so didn't let it get to me, continued on and left at next roundabout to head down the dual carriageways and on again. 
I pass Peter Kern on the left here who shouts 5th place (I think) so I had made up some decent ground. 

So I try to up the pace a bit now on second lap, however the wind has picked up substantially and we face a strong headwind for most of that lap.  It didn't turn to a tailwind either on way back unfortunately. 
Back to nutrition, I had my 3rd energy shot courtesy of Powerbar Ride Shots - cola flavour thanks. 
These provide more carbs than a normal gel and I like them so managed to open the pack and stuff a bunch into the gob!  I also stuffed remaining pack into my other back pocket now for later. 
I continued drinking as planned - had high 5 in both bladder and bottle and was fine with these. 

Around to end of lap and straight on this time... clock my split and it's pretty much bang on the exact same as first lap.  Ok so good pacing so far, wind had affected that lap and I knew it would have been faster otherwise.  
Onto Lap 3 and pass Peter Kern again, this time it's 4th place and 2nd and 3rd just ahead I think. Matt Molloy is 8 mins ahead is the split!  Ouch he's taken 2 mins on my bike for a very nice lead. 

Eanna is out on course and also giving me splits. 
I like to get feedback and know what's happening if at all possible. 
I pass 2nd and 3rd on the last lap and try to make a push to get a gap.  I don't look back but feel I've made enough effort to have a little gap into T2.  
I take a fruit punch kinetica gel - one of the new super dooper ones with more carbs than normal.  
Man does it taste disgusting! Almost has an alcoholic twinge off it and really not nice at all!  
Back to a couple cola bottles and bottle of hi 5 to wash that away thanks!  
My bottle is nearly empty now and I'm around 5-10k from finish so all has gone to plan. 
I feel strong, very much a controlled bike split which I could have pushed harder but conscious of the run. 

I will say that due to taking in energy and food etc, you naturally ease off a little when opening packs and consuming gels etc.   This for me breaks up the bike split and almost provides recovery etc. 
This makes me wonder if I gave away too much time, particularly on the first lap as I stayed well back from groups and got caught in traffic of cars. 
I'll learn this with experience, but think perhaps a small bit of extra effort on bike whilst staying controlled may be the way to go. 

Near end of 3rd lap now and I get passed by Rory Maguire and Conan Gibney.  
They obviously made a little push and I must not have got enough of a gap so I paced off them into T2. 
The 3 of us arrived into T2 at the same time to be told we were 8 mins down on Matt Molloy and let's see if any of these guys are runnners!  

Bike - 2:33:26 - 3/166


So into Transition 2, bike racked, helmet off, shoes on grab gels (3) and off I go. 
I made this pretty fast and again had another great transition split. 

T2 - :48 - 2/166 (ex Relays)


Run


Now, the race starts! 
I exit ahead of Rory and Conan, and head out putting my gels into back pockets and running with 3rd gel in hand. 
Rory closes on me within first km and we're running out hard. 
First km in 3:46 with a slight incline, Rory is trying to edge away and I'm trying to hold with him. 
Left into Caravan park and onto gravel, around park and onto trail. 
Rory is maybe 20-30 yards ahead and I'm pacing him as close as possible. 
We run across beach and around transition - 2nd km in 4:09 and 3rd km in 3:51. 
4th km in around transition and we get time splits - we've clawed back 4mins on Matt Molloy in the first 4km.  Eek! 

Onto second part of run which is more challenging, more trail, more beach and just tougher all round. 
Rory edges a little up to 50 yards on me as we approach an aid station before the loop back.  
I notice Rory slow here and seemed to cramp.  I was aware he had issues recently in Challenge Roth and so had hopes of something similar (Sorry Rory!).  I approached aid station and slowed the pace to get a cup of coke and high 5 here.  I had called for water and considered the high 5 over the head but said that may not be best!  Drank the 2/tried to nom some gulps as much as possible :-) 

Set after Rory now and he had pulled back to 50-60yards on me god damn it.  
Kept pushing and had a chance to look down at 4th place.  I had a slight gap of maybe 1minute so that helped and I tried to keep pushing.  

Around to lap 2 now and Rory is getting away from me comfortably, I'm suffering but keeping up the cadence and taking gels every 25 minutes and feel in good shape. 
I get another split passing transition and another 2 mins has been shaved off Matt Molloy.  
Through the hard section to aid station and I look up to see Matt just being caught by Rory - they are approx 2-3 mins ahead of me roughly.  
I get through aid station and see that 4th place is closing on me also! 
Ok, let's push now last 5km, anything could happen ahead or behind so I stay in the zone.
Try to push it up, and manage to increase pace for remaining 5km but not by enough. 

With 1.5-2km to go I get passed by Peter Savage, he asks me am I on 1st or 2nd lap!  2nd how about you!  same, is Matt ahead he asks?  Yes and Rory.  
He cruises past me and I try to push more to go with him.  
Not enough but I keep pushing to the end. 

Across the finish line 30 seconds after him and the 4 of us are flat on our backs panned out. 

Run - 1:28:39 - 7/166 (exc relay) 


Total - 4:33:33 - 4th Place Overall


A hard hard run for a long day in the office. 
I'll be honest, 4th place is one of the worst places to finish surely!!  
It's more the way it came about though, getting passed in the last 2km was just vicious. 
Peter ran 1:30 faster than me so obviously paced it well and fair play to him. 

One relief was the race went well, my first half ironman and I felt I got nutrition right. 

Without a doubt the main lesson is I went out too hard on the run.  
I didn't really know what pace to expect on that course and it was tough but rewarding all the same. 
I did bag 2nd in my Age Group which I'm told will get me a medal at the TI awards due to it being National Championships so happy with this also. 

So back for showers and into pub upstairs for prize giving and food. 
The food was sausage rolls, chicken goujons and sandwiches.  
I took my fill and started to feel better. The shower definitely helped also. 

Prize giving started and just the top 3 in male, female and full ironman announced. 

I had hoped for an Age Group prize also as I believe this is part of TI's National Series rules but nothing was mentioned by the organisers. 

Big Congrats to B2R Athlete Jennifer Duffy on winning the Female National Middle Distance Championships and having a great race altogether. She nailed it. Well deserved. 
Also to Aoife Lynch from Pulse on her 2nd place - and congratulated Jen on a fantastic race. 
That's one of the things I love about triathlon - everyone is so down to earth and has no airs or graces about them. We all do this for the love of the sport and everyone goes through the suffering no matter what time or speed is put down. 
On that note I must say great racing to Rory Maguire, Matt Molloy and Peter Savage.  It was great being amongst you guys for a little bit of the race anyway and hopefully we'll do battle again in the future - with different results clearly!  
I remember crossing the finish line in 4th and seeing the 3 lads collapsed on their backs on the grass. What did I do?  The exact same.  Great racing guys and nice to meet you. 

No photo's taken of the top 3 at the prize giving which also seemed a bit of a boo boo by organiser's. 


So I come away with mixed feelings towards Groomsport. 

Positives:
 - Nice place
 - Nice course - hard run by any standards but hey same for everyone.
 - Race went smoothly and transition/aid stations seemed organised etc. 
 - Police were at staggered junction to guide us safely through 
 - Race Medal for all finishers
 - Nice hoodie in goodie bag

Negatives/improvements:
 - Having to stop at red lights/no marshal to see us through
 - No photo's at prize giving
 - No Age Group prizes
 - No cash prizes even for the winners (stated on their site). Seems a bit harsh in my opinion considering their income of around €17k from the half alone.

For a National Championships Race I think these areas should be improved.

So the above are just my opinion based on my experience. 
I do think that TI are recognizing these issues in other races also based on the athlete feedback recently completed and also the Athlete Consultation meeting on this week. 


So roll on Galway 70.3 in 2 weeks.  Very much looking forward to it and now have some experience to relate to for the distance. 

I'll be mostly recovering before going for broke for an Age Group slot for Vegas World Champs next season. 

Ok, the social media hype had spread rumours like no other in the Friday before this race. 
Being a big McLaren fan and knowing Jenson's passion for triathlons also it did make sense he could be in for it. 
Seeing the twitter feed pics of a swim in Athy, a Bike Fit on his Specialized Shiv Tri and general hanging around with the TI Elite squad suggested that yes, he was surely going to race. 
So a nice novelty to start off, and let's get the standard photo shoot out of the way! 
Thanks to Jenson for what must be pretty tough getting swamped everywhere for photo's here and there etc. A down to earth decent guy with a love for triathlons is how I'd describe him.  
He was with a few of his friends - I recognised Mikey Muscles his trainer at McLaren and spoke to him after the race also - he did a PB of 2:27 and is obviously loving it. 
He rides a McLaren Specialized Venge as his choice of weapon... NICE.  I'm sure he got a company discount there...  

So, with that out of the way it was time to zone in on race mode. 
Did a shorter than normal warm up and got the wetsuit on. 
Weather was pretty much exact same as last year, so very similar conditions. 

I was in Wave 5, with a few fish of the names Bjorn Ludick and Stephen Early (2 of the favourites), along with a few others I know from similar positions at previous races.
So some good markers, and attempts to draft for a short period anyway! 

Swim: 22:29 - 25/541

Started off around 2nd line back from the fish hoping to get some draft at the start.
I started well, drafted in behind one faster swimmer and felt in control of my stroke. 
A little snaking and I lost a little bit, but not much and obv being a river swim was easy to correct line etc. 
Noticed fish had a gap from early on but kept plowing away. 
Got a bit more draft here and there, but mainly on my own up to turnaround. 
Around the buoy and there were 2 white caps ahead of me from my wave. 
I made a push and got on their feet for more drafts, but they were snaking a little also. 
I ended up passing these by a back marker from green hat wave and carried on at a decent pace. 
Mainly on own downstream, but latched onto another white hat near the end and drafted him into the finish. Passed a couple more white hats here through his help  

I got out of the water and saw 22:xx... ! Delighted. Exact same swim as last year, in what felt similar current conditions and I was over 8 mins faster. 
I'll take that. 


Wifey was down as photographer and though she didn't get me coming out of the water.... she did manage to get someone else.... ! :-) 

T1 - 1:16 - 66/541


Not much to report, I lose a little time removing my quick release garmin from wrist and mounting on bike, as well as feet were a little slow to get out of wetsuit (again). 
Out and onto bike course. 

Bike - 1:01:46 - 10/541


As I was running out, I copped my left tri shoe had unhooked itself from the elastic... Ok, just stay on the pedals please.
It was bumpy by the mount line but I carried on and attempted the flying mount.... 
It was here things went bad...  
As I jumped on, my left foot missed the loose pedal and I lost balance and fell to my right. 
My right leg jerked out to prevent fall, and bike went down but only on aerobars hitting ground and foot holding me up. 
Can't wait to see the picture of this as there were plenty of camera's around! 
Anyway, picking myself back up and the crowd are shouting your chain, your chain. 
Look down and it's off the front derailleur... 
Ok, marshal says calm down and I am just fixing it normally, get the chain back on and a slow start to head out. 
I lost over 1 minute here, seen by others who were 1min down on my swim catching up straight away as I was still sorting my bike so hence I lost massive time at the start! Doh! 
Thanks to the crowd for their shouts. I think I did try to get on and pedal before realising the chain was off and listening to them. Never mind! 
Now, the bad part here was when my right leg jerked out to stop me falling my calf obv took some kinda shock and tightened up quite a bit. 
First thing I noticed straight away but headed out anyway. 
So, as if that wasn't enough I'm 100m out the road, and something is rubbing. Look down and my garmin cadence arm has been knocked onto disc cover. 
Stop again and fix that before starting away. 
My calf is tight, and I'm spinning a bit easier instead of hammering away. 
I don't want to stress it further this early, and hope by starting easy I can keep it ok. 
Thought crossed my mind that it may be hard to run, but I continue and will cross that bridge later! 

So, start passing people, take a drink, and get the head down. 
Still spinning easier for a while in light of calf which I can constantly feel. 

Out to the 15k turnaround and I clock Bjorn and Stephen coming against me. 
I take a note of the time and make it to the turnaround. 
Double the time and oh dear, I'm 6 minutes down already! 
That can't have been just swim, did I really lose that much extra on bike already? Maybe... 
OK, head down and I start to put a bit more effort in now that legs warmed up. Calf still tight but not affecting my cycling really now in fairness. 

I see Mr McCrystal and his Yellow Boots hammering it and try to gauge time gap. He started in swim wave behind so 10mins give or take. 
I track and reckon he's 6 mins behind at most, so has made up unreal time already. 
The man is a legend on the bike, and run for that matter and with my bike being my strength he's someone who's bike strength footsteps I'd like to follow shall we say! 

I only noticed 1 or 2 drafters, but didn't bother saying anything. What's the point, if they want to race like that they can. 

Around the 25k mark I take my first gel. I pass a guy in the process as didn't realise I was approaching him that quick. He repasses me straight away and no chance did he allow the 10m gap first. 
Not to worry, I finish my gel and pass him again before the turnaround. 
I did clock Bjorn again and timed it around 5-5.5mins ahead now. 
Clocked BMC again and just put the head down as I didn't want to be caught by him! 

It's an honest bike course, rolling, turns, drags, flats, country roads, nice normal roads. Pretty good in fairness and I liked it. 
I saw Stephen around 1km plus out on the run as i was still approaching transition. 

Into T2 for the business end.  

T2 - 1:08 - 51/545


I struggle to get my slightly numb feet into runners, but not the worst. 
Out into Run course and got a shout out from Elvis. Cheers man  

Run - 39:22 - 24/541

Headed out on the run with gel in hand and legs were good. 
Calf didn't act up at all, and I was straight into target pace and running 3:40's. 
KM 1 through in 3:42, followed by the incline KM2 in 3:49.
I pick up a panter behind me who latches on and provides company from here on in.
KM 3 in 3:46 followed by KM 4 in 3:48
I'm running fine, try to surge a couple times but it's hard to maintain momentum when passing traffic in the rough stuff. 
Course is busy now and passing folk every 50m or so. 
Still have my buddy for company. 
KM 5 in 3:53, turnaround, and KM6 in 3:56. 
I'm starting to fade here and really want to keep below 4min...
KM 7 in 3:58 and I through some water over the head. 
I haven't had my gel as felt ok, but possibly should have. 
KM8 in 4:08 and I'm fading here. 
I get passed by Patrick Quinn and he's running strong. Try to hold on and up pace but not happening. 
KM 9 in 4:08 and my buddy has also passed me now too. 
KM 10 in 4:02, and final sprint of 120 m in :21 for a strong finish. 

So, I finished strong and have a sprint in me, but suffered in back half of run and couldn't up tempo. 
I feel I need to learn to suffer more at race pace, and perhaps even just psychological to push through that barrier and deliver a better run. 

Overall - 2:06:04 - 13th Place 

I'm happy with overall result. I swam well and my best yet, I biked well after my poor start, and I ran well at start but suffered near end, as did most from talking to them and that run course contributes to that. 

I'm thinking ok, gotta be close to a Top 10 with that time... 
Over to the timing tent and 13th... Really?  
Ouch! Harsh! 
I would have been 3rd in last years times and felt similar conditions. 
Standards are really improving so much all round. 

Looking at the results, 7th Place was just 1 minute 10 seconds ahead of me. 
Yes, 6 places in just 1minute! My bike issues, Doh! 

I enjoyed the day, headed onto my niece's birthday then and was late back to Dublin. 

Calf is tight today, defo needs a proper massage.  

So, recover, back to training and try sort my run race pace out. 
Next up is Athlone in 4 weeks, my first A race and a course I love. 
Swim should suit me, Bike the same and Run whilst plenty of turns it's same for us all and on roads so at least consistent. 

I want to finish with a note on the top class event and standards of the race yesterday. 
Basically the whole of Top 5 beat the winning time last year. 
I don't think there was any wind last year so it's a reasonable comparison.

Russell White's times are top quality, as are all the Sub 2 guys and most of top 10. Obv his swim and run stands out as head and shoulders above others. 
Assume we will be seeing him compete in ITU soon hopefully! 
He's gotta be on course for Olympics in 4 years with that swim and run capability at his age! Fair play, that's top bombing. 

Anyone that ran 37 or lower yesterday has really got to have a 35min 10k off the bike in them in my opinion on a nicer course. 

BMC's bike split is sick  to recover 4 minutes to leaders like that is just class. I can't wait for Athlone to try and be better than 5 minutes 46 seconds behind his bike split!  And to follow with a sub 36 run, just a couple weeks after IM Lanza. Hoping he has some strong Pro races ahead it's great to see. 



There was one bad thing from the day with my bike having cracked at the top tube from the fall when aerobars hit the ground.  Didn't expect that but what can you do. 
Centre of top tubes are the weakest parts of carbon frames apparently. And I know a club mate who had same bike and had his repaired a good while ago and said it's actually stronger now and no issues.
I have 2 options, repair and get the frame strengthened and cover up with a sticker or else upgrade anyway.  

I had been toying with the idea of changing at the end of the season as I really like 1 or 2 of the new bikes and am spending enough time in triathlons to justify it in my mind anyway! I don't drink nor smoke obviously and this sport is my main luxury at the moment so it's easier to justify some spending here and there!  Heck I even have wifey's approval...! 
I haven't quite decided just yet, and am looking and researching a bit more to see fit and if I'm happy to spend the kinda cash for the bike I have in mind. Either way, I'll have repair or replacement sorted in the next couple weeks and ahead of next race in Athlone...

Watch this space.... 

Ridley Dean only a hairline crack forming but needs repair to be used again.  May be for sale once done at a good price, or else back on the road for Athlone! 

So I took the trip same as last year and made the 4 odd hour drive down for this. 

National Series along with the National Sprint Championship race so it was due to be a high quality field, and much larger entry field also. 

I did the race last year in the wet, wind, and cold conditions. Everyone said it gets great weather every other year and sure enough that worked out well this year thankfully! 

Had a bit of an eventful practice bike on the Friday when I arrived. 
Set up bike, went out up the road at an easy ish pace just to get the course in the head. 
Firstly the good part, I practised a few flying mounts and found them easy. 
Was left wondering why the heck I hadn't been doing these forever, and said right defo doing this tomorrow. 

Up the course now and it was windy and I was being blown a little, but not too much. 
Had the Disc cover on and was determined to go full Aero for the race so wanted to be sure the winds up top weren't too bad. 
First moment - picked up a bit of speed on decent around the 7k mark by rolling section, and suddenly got a tank slapper! Doing about 40 down a hill and steering going left/right/left/right as I fight for control. 
Managed to get it and slowed to a stop. 
What the hell was that. 
Checked over bike and the wheel wasn't as tight as it should be, and this was the only explanation I could find. 
Back up the hill to repeat and be sure this time as I didn't want any faffing on race day. 
Down the hill at same speed and no such issue. Grand, prob a bit of wind combined with slightly loose wheel so. 

On we go, around the 10km mark and I shift to granny ring too fast up an incline, chain goes off lower end and somehow does a double knot beside itself and frame and crank. 
Grind to a halt, flick bike upsidedown and proceed to get paws filthy. 
No joy, she's stuck savage. 
I have a quick release chain, but can't get that loose with the paws neither as can't get enough slack. 
Feck it. 
Clubmate calls me as I'm walking back and has just arrived, he comes up to collect me and we drive the course, and back to the gaff for bike repairs. 
Manage to sort chain and all hunky dorey. Front derailleur was shifting slightly too low and that combined with me changing rear at same time gave too much slack in chain and it just went hop skip jump from there. 

Back out for bike 2. Rub, Rub, Rub, what now. 
My Garmin Cadence sensor arm is hitting the disc cover at the air valve opening. Grand, try to open the arm but it's all loose. The screw holding it in place has worked loose somehow  so I tighten it with fingers and it steadies. Away we go part 3 and all is now sorted. 
Do an easy 12k or so with couple pickups and catch up with clubmate. 

OK, Back and tighten that screw with a knife properly and now I'm happy bike is ready for race! 
These are the reasons one should always take bike for a spin after travelling with it as little things easily happen in transportation!  

Race Day. 

Up at 6:30, breakie shower and gear ready. 
Down to transition to a pleasant surprise of numbered racking. Great, decent space too so all sorted. 
Weather is perfect, no wind at all and water is calm. 

Ferry over to the mainland has to make 4 trips to accommodate everyone.

I do a swim warm up and it's not cold at all. Rumours if it being 1.5-2degrees warmer than Dublin are confirmed. Lovely. 

Swim: 11:42 (61/516)

I started near front, got some nice draft for first 150m or so but then proceeded to hang right for no reason. 
Not sighting enough, and not correcting line frequently enough results in me losing draft and way out right. 
I correct this a few times but not enough and I proceed to do rest of race with no draft on my own. 
I felt I swam well, comfortable and with good technique. 
Looked at watch getting out of water to see 11:30 and think grand, I'm happy with that. 

T1 - 2:20 (84/516)

It's on my way up to T1 that I realise I've lost good time to the leaders as there's quite a lot ahead of me. 
Transition is same as last year, a run all the way to bottom of transition and back up - catering for 500odd bikes makes it a bigger transition this time also. 
I had wetsuit down to waist, but struggled to get it over my ankles and lost a little time here. I haven't cut it yet so that may be a solution if I need it. 
Anyway, out the gap we go. 

Bike - 28:41 (3/516)


Flying mount and on, great much faster than normal, must have gained 4-5 seconds there easy and 3 places  

There's a load ahead of me, I start passing straight away and get the head down. Look at Garmin and see RUN mode.. Feck, pressed lap too many times. 
Reset it and restart multisport (not easy trying to pass at same time!) 
OK here we go, up the hill on the right hand side passing anyone and everyone. 
I knew this was where I needed to make most places as it's a narrow course and not too hilly after this initial climb. 
Passed a few familiar faces, and make up xx places up the hill. 
No point counting, but probably 20-30. 
Onto the rolling section and I'm still passing comfortably. 
Reel in David Cahill here and think oh that's early. He beat me in Joey so I know he's strong and can't be too far off the leaders. 
Rolling sections done, Aero the whole way and passing more and more. 
I catch up with Mìcheàl Gaffey around the 8-9km mark and pass him on a slight incline before the S bends. 
Head down and I close in on a Waterford man, pass him and now a group of 4 or so with a couple of faster lads. 
Noelie Kavanagh is in this batch so I pass them and think ok, can't be too far off top 10-15 now. 
Road opens to a straight section and I can see no one! 
Feck, more work and I get a glimpse of someone in the distance. 
Closing into Transition now so feet out and ready. 
A long ass run in bare feet at speed into transition, as I sit here typing this is the only sore part - my soles of my feet! 
Wouldn't carpeted transitions be awesome!!! 

Anyway, Bike done, and later turns out I'm in 9th place coming into T2. 
So I passed somewhere in the region of 52 places. Man I need to sort my swim drafting/sighting/transitions! 

T2 - 01:04 (102/516)

OK, sounds shocking but wasn't really. 
I struggled to get runners on a bit but that was all. most of top guys were around the .50 mark so 14 seconds faster give or take. 

Run - 18:18 (25/516)

I set out here as hard as I can, running 3:30/km pace up the hill, feet behind me and it's Noelie Kavanagh. 
He passes me with ease (4th fastest run and sub 17mins), and I try to hold onto him. 
We pass Brian Harris who waltzed the swim altogether, and there's a few bodies ahead to try chase. 
Noelie pulls away further and I just try to keep pushing. 
Pace slows to 4min/km as expected on the hill. 
Up to the wooded area and I'm yet to see anyone coming down the hill. 
Oh, this is a good sign, I've gotta be closing in on the 2km mark at this stage and not far from turnaround. 
Bang on 2km beeper and Mark Nolan comes into sight and is flying. 
Has a good gap of 100+ metres before a bunch of 3 behind him - Stephen Early, Trevor Woods, Bjorn Ludick all beside each other. 
Next is Mark Horan, and then Shane Scully and Neal O'Grady. 
Noelie then maybe 250m on me now and turnaround we go. 
I'm being chased by a number of folk, and try to up the pace. 
With around 1.5k to go I get passed by a Waterford man Emmet Kelly, I hold on for a bit but not enough here. - turns out he ran 16:47 and second fastest run of the day so not surprised I couldn't hold on! Savage! 
He crosses the line 12 seconds ahead of me and I'm 11th home. 
Shame not to bag a top 10, but I had a good race so am quite happy. 

Overall - 1:02:06 - 11th (11/516)

A stacked field in fairness, I lost time missing swim draft and other than that I went hard and performed to my current ability so was happy.
Also felt I swam well considering little draft so was happy to have done that too. 

Just over 4 minutes down on the winner and 2 mins down on top 5. 
I can account for a bit of that time lost through around 1min in swim (sighting/missing draft), some in T1 (wetsuit) and 1 min in run speed not up to top guys level yet. Mark Nolan was in a different league today though so he's a fair bit ahead that's for sure. 
Plan is to try close in on the guys ahead first over next few races obviously. 
So I'm happy with the result, it's an honest course and couldn't have been a better day. Really enjoyable race in those weather conditions.

2011 - 85th Place and not as high quality an entry field. 
2012 - 11th Place and higher standard all round. 

Happy with my progress and with more race experience hopefully I can draft swim more and sight better, and also get transitions improved a bit too. 
Run speed will be worked on along with all others of course too! 

Back to training to try build more pace! 

Next up is Athy Olympic in 3 weeks time. 

Sunday 29th April finally saw the National Series Triathlon season kick off. 
I was in for the Olympic distance, and looking forward to it. 
I drove down with wifey on the Saturday afternoon, took a drive of the bike course and was pretty happy - smooth quality roads, incline on way out and nice out and back route with a turnaround to track against others as you see them coming against you. 


Checked into Hotel - Carlton Castletroy chosen primarily for location, decent price for an advertised 4 star (€89).  No I wouldn't stay there again, old school, showers either v hot or v cold (hard to get taps right), no minibar, fridge in room didn't work... I'll stop now but will finish by saying food was top quality - €30 a head for 3 course and delicious, nicest I've had in a while!

So into UL to register and get number pack etc - above technical t shirt included in the goodie bag - decent one I like it good job Limerick Tri Club. 
Goodie bag also contained Kelloggs Nutrigrain oats and honey bars, pack of brown bread and usual pamphlet paraphernalia. 

So off to the hotel for dinner, relax and prep race gear/bag for the morning. 
Transition opened at 7am and closed at 8:30am.  I arrived around 7:30 and met with clubmate John Connolly to provide some track pump assistance. Fail to prepare John.... ;-) 
Set up bike half way along Transition and it was very windy. Couldn't do anything about that so met up with a few friends and then had a listen to race briefing before getting out of there. 
I was Olympic wave 2 so not due till 11:25 so 2.5 hours to wait. Headed back to hotel for breakfast and a chill out, met up with wifey and checked out and back to UL then for 10:30ish.  
Did a 15min warm up run with a few strides, stretched and then got poolside for start. 
We had a few debates about order of swim, but I ended up going 3rd in our lane and we had a few of similar ability anyway it seemed.  My projected time was 23ish, 22 if very good, 24 at worst. 

Race Start

Lane took off quite slow - I nearly went to pass at 50m but thought it was just the draft feeling easy.  
Wifey has a few pics of start and the fish beside us in lane 5 had a good 20secs ahead after 100-125metres.  This means we must have been 1:30-1:35 for first 100m which would be a slow start really. 
Anyway, feet tapping going on by everyone ahead and behind for first 200-300m, settled a bit then but I wasn't turning well at all. With hindsight (and wifey's notes) I was kicking off wall from top of water instead of kicking underneath. Basically just rushing everything and my stroke was choppy instead of controlled. So the anxiety/anticipation got the better of me it seems and swim was below what I'm capable of. 
I had my feet tapped a few times and held on as obliged to at ends and let folk past. It was easier back in draft 4-5 positions and I just matched pace then.  No one was making serious ground and I didn't feel up to making bursts so that was about the height of it. 
Until the end, I had a count and thought we had finished, but saw Eugene in front of me kick off and so I followed. Neither of us received a tap on the head at any stage as briefing said we would so we carried on. It was at the next turn (1,550m) I realised we did more, there was no one ahead at all as they had all got out ahead before Eugene could see them! So we swam an extra 100m and then got out. 

I looked down at my watch to see 25:30 and think wtf... defo swam too long. So would have been 23:55 give or take a few seconds - the slower end of target time but hey, not my strongest discipline. 
A shuffle out the back door over timing mat (26:07) and into T1 following Eugene - shouted the time and mentioned long but he was busy getting ahead!
Anyway, that could be dealt with later, on we go into transition. 
Swim would have been circa 25th with adjustment to be confirmed later...

T1 - bad to worse...

Entered T1 and had decided to put on socks, why? Because I tried running earlier in the week sockless and the sole of runners were getting stuck/moving so not ideal. This could prob have been fixed with talc and I'll try this before next race, but anyway, what's another 15 seconds or so... 
Helmet on, sunglasses on and away...  I'm following Eugene still out of transition and he turns back to grab something, as I'm almost at exit I realise I've forgotten my number belt!  
a DQ'able offence I believe so no choice but to go around transition again and put it on!  
2 laps, the number ripped anyway and I'm finally out of transition. Must be the longest of the lot...  Quick check and some ladies take that honour, but at 2:07 I've given another  1 min to most of the competition! 

Bike - Progress made, further issues arise...

Out the gap, contemplate a flying mount for kicks and giggles for all of 0.5sec but just jump on and start my merry way. 
Must practise flying mounts before next race. Ok so flying mounts and talc in runners....

Now, out onto bike course I go, reeling in those ahead straight away and putting the power down where I'm at my strongest. 
Onto main road and there's a hard shoulder/cycle lane full of grit and bumps, a road of cars beside me and a queue of bikes ahead distinctly out of cycle lane avoiding the crap. 
I make up another place or two and then we're turning right onto the main out and back road to cappamore (I think). 
It's windy, I've a disc cover but man up and roll with it. A lot of ground to make up and folk to catch. 
I'm passing a lot but no sign of Eugene still, nor club mate John Connolly (he got out of our swim lane on time, and had a lightning fast transition!! top marks!). 
around the 14-15k mark I catch Eugene, pass him and carry on up the road. 
It's a couple k later that Mike Yelverton comes flying past in the opposite away. Damn he must be 3-5k ahead at this stage. Dave Richardson follows, and Mariusz Olenicjak in 3rd then. 
I do manage to catch John Connolly before the turnaround and a quick count of bikes makes me around the 10th-11th place at half way mark. 
So, around the turnaround and time for gel 1.  I look down to my stem and see nothing... not even the tape!  Schoolboy error I failed to tape my 2 gels on properly. 
I use 1 at half way, and 1 about 2-3k to go which seems to suit me. 
Not today, so I still have some drink and continue putting the hard work in.  
A few mins later and I start to feel my bars loose!  A moment of freak out as I contemplate what, a DQ in case or I'll fall and do damage, but I look down for a crack and see nothing. It's here I realise my right extension bar is way out in front, but bars are fine and not moving. 
So I try to secure the right extension bar and wind it back into place, no Joy it won't budge... 

OK, I'm back into TT position and holding the bar back the way for fear it comes loose. 
It moves again and I'm not comfortable, but carry on regardless. 
A few hairy moments later and I'm swapping from hoods to bars to keep secure and ensure I don't have a mishap.. 
No one ahead, and around 5k later I get passed for the first time. 
This is when I realise I've lost time faffing and trying to fix bar.  I back off the required 10m to avoid draft, we go over the railway tracks and up to lights then. 
I shoot off after the lights and repass him, staying in hoods mostly then to transition 2. 

Bike finishes at 59:55, 5th fastest, short though at around 37.5k

Transition 2 - where's my stuff? 
Into transition and I'm in 10th, my runners are moved and spare gel under the barrier. It was very windy and stuff was all over the place! 
I remove helmet, get runners on, down on knees to reach for gel and I'm off. 
Not the fastest but not bad. 

Run - ugh...

I leave T2 and start the run, feel ok and check watch for 3:35/km pace - on target now to maintain it. 
I know I'll need a gel so take it straight away. That was my last mistake. 
Stomach tightens and cramps straight away and I can't get going at all...  Pace drops to 4min/km's and I'm not comfortable. Finally eases after 2km and I try to up pace but still not comfortable and can't push into the red zone at all. 
The rest of the run continues like this, it's a windy, lot of turns and open to winds course so not a fast one, but nonetheless I'm capable of running faster and dissappointed not to push into the red at least. 
I think I may have lost a place here at some stage also at start, but continue on and don't get passed again, nor do I catch anyone. 
Hard to explain, but I just couldn't push enough, not from tiredness or soreness, but what seemed like a lack of energy. Possibly caused by lack of gels on time, possibly by gel on run upsetting me or else just a bad run day. 
Run is long at 10.3km and I'm done in 41:07. 
So avg just over 4min/km pace.  

Wifey is straight up to me saying we did an extra swim lap, she's already complained to officials and I've to go into tent to confirm also.  
So in I go, make it official and the Race Director acknowledges and says it will be amended on times and placings. These things happen, apparently lane marshal missed Eugene's head and then just let me and someone else carry on...  I tell Eugene who also gets negative penalty so no harm done. 

So negative penalty added - moves me up to 9th overall and 3rd in AG so a prize. 

Total - 2:08:50 and just under 8 mins behind Mike Yelverton who retains his title. 

I come away from the race miffed.  I had issues in each discipline and for me it was a bad race. However relatively happy to bag a top 10 at first race considering all that went wrong. 

I didn't swim well but came out around top 25. 
I biked well, but had issues and lost time - still 5th fastest split. 
I didn't run at all, but held on and maybe 30-35th fastest split. 
Transitions were so slow I'm not even checking them! 

Realistically, I can account for 1min lost in t1, 30-60secs lost on bike and somewhere around 3+ mins lost on run hopefully.  Guesswork but still, would bring me right into contention if all went well. 
That's racing though, and you don't know what issues others had too so I can't claim anything higher than my 9th place. 
I'm happy with the result considering how the race went. I enjoyed it and quite liked the course. 
Pool swims are awkward, between lane allocation, place starting, feet tapping and obliging to stop it can be disruptive. But in fairness you're not going to lose much time really anyway due to draft benefits too. 

So, learning's from this race:
 - Control swim/approach to stroke
 - improve transitions/concentrate
 - always check bike 
 - practice flying mounts 
 - practice talc in runners 
 - secure gels to bike properly next time...

Hopefully I can address all or at least many of these for next race! 

Next up is Valentia in 2 weeks time.  This has another quality field, a larger field too and is the National Sprint Championship race. 
I've a few targets in mind, couple more added from finishing ahead of me on Sunday :-) and hope to have a good race and enjoy it down there! 

All healthy competition!  Roll on Valentia lads! 

Final note on the trisuit - this was a Blue Seventy number and hoped to help swim well - my Pulse one can be a bit tight on neck area and not ideal for this so chose otherwise. 

Results: http://www.triathlonireland.com/index.php?id=107&nid=738 

Just a short update after my first duathlon of the season. 
I don't have any others planned actually but who knows, may do a Phoenix Park one if suits training. 

Headed up to Dundalk this morning for a bit of race pace fun. 
I did this course back in Oct'11 as part of the Chase the Brownlee Duathlon and enjoyed it a lot. 
Distance is a 3.2km Run, 17km Bike and 3.2km Run to finish. 

Did a little bike with bursts and similar run to warm up. 

Race Start and we're off.  I positioned myself around the 2nd row or so and there was around 12 in front of me.  A quick scan of the Garmin to see pace around the 2:45/km... Ok a bit more and another check to see again 2:50/km pace.  I ease back a little - it is a little bit of a downhill start so there is time to be banked, but I wasn't going to last at that pace so let the 12 or so carry on and followed around 10-15 feet behind. 
First KM done in 3:05, strong pace and I'm around 12th-15th position!  Harsh eh! 
Balls to the wall stuff but pace did ease a little - second KM done in 3:26 and still on for a decent run split. 
Turn left onto a slight incline along a windy country lane, I start to reel in those that had gone out too hard here and make up a few places..  Third KM done in 3:45 - not a bad pace for the incline. 
Last 200m done in 3:44 pace and I'm around 12th coming into T1. 

So Run 1 done in 10:59 with an average pace of 3:27 for the 3.2km. 
This puts me into 9th place. 

Into T1 and I went to grab my bike, some shouting later I realise I shouldn't have missed that part of race briefing!  Around a cone first and then collect bike. 10 seconds lost, no biggie. 
May have lost a place or two here but only seconds anyway. 

Onto the Bike then and time to start clawing back some positions! 
No flying mount today, I haven't practised them and wasn't going arse over head for the sake of a couple seconds! So a normal mount, well, slow really but onto the bike and then I get overtaken straight away by a guy flying on a road bike.  I mean flying, I was thinking how did he pick up so much speed so fast!  No matter, buckle shoes in and down to aero. 
I start to reel him in straight away, and pick up some solid speed heading to roundabout 1. 
Approaching the roundabout and I'm pleasantly surprised to see Paul Carroll just leaving as I approach, so not much time gained on me just yet.  I make a mental note of the point we pass to compare on the next lap as a tracker also. 
Around the roundabout and up the slight hill and into the head wind.  I had experienced this on the warm up and knew it was where time could be gained. 
I reeled in another few places up to the Sportsman's and by the next roundabout I'm in 4th place and Paul Carroll still a similar gap to me as we approach roundabout. 
Bill McCormack is chasing hard - I know he's an uber biker and he seems to be gaining on him. 
Around the roundabout and the easy part with a slight tail wind and fast section.  
Down to roundabout No 3 and I don't seem to have gained much on 3rd place. He has a gap on me but on a positive side the leaders are in a similar place as I approach the roundabout so haven't gained too much on me. 
Around and into the wind again and more hard work.  I start to gain a bit on 3rd but not close enough. 
As I approach final roundabout 4, I see Bill pushing hard and into 1st place so he's overtaken Paul Carroll. 
Impressive stuff, I start to gain a bit more and am maybe 10 seconds down on 3rd heading into T2. 

Bike - 27:14 for 17km, Avg Pace 37.3kph. 
3rd Fastest Bike split, 1min off Bill, 24 seconds off Paul Carroll
So I've gained a few places and am in 4th. 

T2 is a non affair really, rack bike, helmet off, squeeze shoes on and run out! 
Saying that, I did manage to lose 6-7 seconds on the 3 lads ahead of me so some work to be done there too! 

Run 2

So out and the legs are moving ok, 3rd place is maybe 25 feet ahead of me and he is running good. 
I try to push but don't quite have the speed to reel him in.  Curse the short bike course anyway! 
I'm not looking at pace, have no interest in HR and am just trying to chase down that podium place! 
He turns a couple times and I'm hopeful he'll tail off.  But no! He's a strong runner and starts to pull away from me. 
I carry on pushing, KM1 done in 3:28, KM2 in 3:39 and I'm suffering a little. 
Onto the incline then and I start to hear some feet behind me.  No I'm not losing this place, start to push a bit more and KM3 is a slow 4:00 but it's an incline. Levels a little then for final burst which I manage at 3:40 pace to hold off 5th by a mere 6 seconds! 

Run 2 - 11:49, Avg Pace 3:41/km.

Overall - 51:19 and 4th place. 
Managed to bag €50 Age Group Prize also which was nice. 
Enjoyed this race a lot, a nice bit of race pace fun, some speed to be gained particularly on run but that will come as I progress.  

Comparison time:
Oct'11 - 54:11 
Apr'12 - 51:19
Nice 3 minute gain. 

I was 2.5mins behind Paul Carroll the winner, mainly on both runs and under 30secs behind on Bike. 

Solid progress, more time to gain and I'm confident of improving in the next weeks and months ahead. 
I don't have a priority race until end of July so that will be when I'll hope to have gained some more speed all round and particularly run hopefully. 

Next race - 2 weeks in Joey Hannan Olympic.