Paul May

I’m in Berlin putting in some serious “training” hours…not really. I’ve taken the weekend off to come and visit the World Cup in Berlin. We may not actually be playing this time around, but the atmosphere is still great. Later on we’re off to the FanFest in the middle of the city; a massive, mile-long, all singing, all dancing, big-screen, beer and food festival for all the people not lucky enough to have tickets for the matches (now going for many multiples of their face value).

Anyway, I’m going to dash. I’ll try to get a swim in one of the local schwimmbad’s today or tomorrow. Don’t be too hard on me if I don’t though. All the best.

I went for a swim last night, and then went swimming this morning as usual. Nothing too exciting to report.

The results for the Blackrock Sprint are up. My times were:

Swim (inc Transition 1): 00:14:01
Cycle: 00:29:59
Run (inc Transition 2): 00:32:08

Total time was 01:16:06. Pretty Happy with that.

What a great day; I finished my first Triathlon in one piece!

We left Dublin at 9am, and got to Blackrock (near Dundalk) well before the start at 11.30am. By the time we got there the transition area was teeming with people, with nearly 200 competitors setting up their transition areas and bikes and getting ready for the swim. I got a good spot on the racks, and set up my drinks and gear ready for later with plenty of help from Cliona who came along for the support (thank you!).

The first wave waded into the shallow swim course at 11.25, and at 11.30 they were off. The swim was a triangular course out into the sea, then a right turn at the first marker, then another right turn back towards the shore. I was in the second wave, we had five minutes to get to the start buoy, and on the sound of the horn we set off. It was a bit like swimming in a washing machine, arms and legs everywhere - but I settled into a rhythm; trying not to swim too quickly in the first 100m. The water was so shallow that it would have been possible to walk the course, but I made an effort not to put my feet down too many times - only once as the pack rounded the buoy (I should have gone wider at the buoy to avoid the crowd), and then about 50 metres from the shore when swimming became a bit pointless in 2 feet of water. So, that was the swim.

We got out of the sea and ran two paralells of the beach, then into the transition area (14 minutes in at this stage). I wasn’t too bothered about doing a quick transition, so I took my time, getting out of the wetsuit, washing the salt off my face, having a drink, then I grabbed my bike and ran out of transition, then onto the bike and away down the road. The cycle was great, a 9km course out of Blackrock towards Castlebellingham, then back again; 18km in total. There’s not too much to say about the cycle - I made it back in a little over 30 mins - not a time that’ll set the world alight, but not too bad.

The transition off the bike was fine, more drinks and a few struggles to put on my socks and runners, then off at a slow pace down the road. I was really worried about the run; my training for the running has been non-existent because of injuries, but I wanted to give it a go, on the condition that I’d stop if there was any pain. The great news is that there wasn’t - I really stuggled to catch my breath in the first 2K, then I ran slowly and steadily for the rest of the 6K course. I ran *really* slowly, my time was terrible - but I don’t care. I got to the finish line at around the 1 hour 16 mark.

It was a great feeling crossing the line. Ed and Aoife who went in the first wave were there ahead of me, along with the other 130 people who finished ahead of me :) A big hug from Cliona was really welcome after the run. The race wrapped up with a barbecue and prizes for the front runners, many of whom got home in under 1 hour.

So, that’s it. Well done to all the organisers who made the day run like clockwork. Well done to Ed, Aoife and Pras also from the Crumlin Children’s Hospital team who made it through their first triathlon as well today. Thanks to Orla my physio, all the coaches with Piranha for the training so far, and special thanks to Cliona for the support and patience.

Onwards to Chicago, 2 months to go.

The nerves are jangling - only two days away from the Blackrock Sprint Triathlon. I’m resting up in advance of the race, so no swimming tomorrow. I had a physio session last night, again focusing on my left side and a twinge in my left shoulder I picked up at swimming on Tuesday.

All in all I think I’m ready for Saturday, but I’d be surprised if I run the whole 5K - the priority needs to be getting experience of being in a race, swimming in a group, but not killing myself in the process to prove a point.

Anyway, I’ll write an update before and after the race. I hope you’re all well.

Swimming this morning focused on getting my body rotation correct, and it’s a pesky technique to master. Basically, rotating your body when you swim means that you’re only pushing one side of your torso through the water, as oppsed to two. Rotating also helps reach the arms out further before pulling through the water; meaning more power. This site explains more about the technique, and has an excellent video example showing swimming with/without rotation.

In other news I met up with the rest of the team from work who are doing the triathlon last night to take team photos and talk about fundraising. Everybody is excited, and training well. 5 of us are 1 week away from our first Triathlon, a sprint-distance (500m swim, 20k bike, 5k run) event. I will definitely try the swim and cycle parts, but the run will depend on whether i get the go ahead from my physio on Monday. Fingers crossed, and good luck to the rest of the team.

My cuts and bruises are healing well after the bike tumble. The swelling has gone down in my leg, and I was able to go to physio last night for a check up and to work on my (still) troublesome left side. Swimming this morning was a huge struggle, but I really pushed it and covered 2000m, which I’m really happy with. That’s the longest I’ve swam (swum?) so far, and with a banjaxed leg. I left my bike into be fixed, so hopefully we’ll both be back on the road by the weekend. Just keep going.

…It was going to happen. I fell off my bike today while out on the usual Sunday cycle, taking another rider with me. My left arm and leg took the brunt of the fall and I have some fairly juicy cuts and bruises. My bike also came off a bit worse for wear; torn grip tapes, torn saddle, a few scratches and bends here and there. Alan, the other rider ended up in the middle of the road, and it’s just lucky that there wasn’t a car coming at that particular moment. It was a bit scary, one minute flying along, the next minute in a tangle of bikes and gravel on the road.

Anyway, these things happen. No serious harm done, and nothing that’ll keep me off the bike for more than a day or two.

Myself and Ed went swimming at Seapoint on Saturday in some windy conditions. We covered a few hundred metres, but the conditions weren’t really too friendly, so we didnt’ stay too long.

That’s the update for now, physio tomorrow and swimming on Tuesday.

It was a bank holiday weekend here this weekend, so I took it a little bit easier than usual. I had my feet measured and scanned on Saturday for insoles, which will hopefully put an end to the knee, back and leg pains that have been plaguing me.

Later on Saturday I met up with Ed, Pras and some of the other piranhas for a sea swim. I was dreading it a bit because of the bad swim at the 40 Foot the previous week, but it was much better this time. For a start, the sea was only about 5 feet deep, so I knew that I could stop if I got too tired. It was also a sunny day with no wind, so the water was a lot less choppy. I’m not sure what distance we covered, but it was probably about 500 metres, which we were all happy with. Swimming in the suit is something I’m still not used to, but the breathing was easier than before. Hopefully we can get out again next week and cover some greater distances.

On Sunday I was a marshall at the Dublin City Duathlon which was good fun (though I got a bit burned). It was good to see the way that the race and transition area worked. Well done to Ed who marshalled and then competed in the Supersprint event.

The cycling was moved to Monday, which would have meant I was cycling on Monday and swimming on Tuesday - which I don’t really like to do; Monday being my usual day off training. So, no long cycle this weekend, but I got around on the bike a lot in the great weather, which kept me active.

Swimming this morning was good, I think we covered about 1800m again, which is pretty good going.

See title. Pretty happy with my swimming this week!

Last night I did my physio exercises for the first time this week, then did a 20 minute warm up in the park, then a light jog and 20 minutes cycling. This morning there was no soreness in my left leg, and it looks like I’m back on track. I’m going to keep the level of the running very light for the next week, then get back to ramping up the distance. The good news is that I’m a bit ahead of my schedule with the swimming and cycling, so integrating the running back into the schedule should be possible in time for August.

The weather today is amazing, so hopefully the weekend will be good too.