Tuesday 26 February 2013

Speed Tips For Running (Part 3)

Three essential run drills.
Running is a case of getting out there and putting in hard miles. Well, not exactly, it may be a big part of it, but there are many drills and exercises that can make you a more efficient, faster and stronger runner. Today I did some research on running drills and found this clip useful. It gives good information on the drill as well as excellent footage showing them clearly. I'm going to use these drills in my run training over the next few months. They will work well with my Speed Tips for Running Part 2 exercises from my last running post. I hope this helps you with you run training.





Sunday 24 February 2013

This Week's Triathlon Training, Feb 25th


Yesterday I missed my Saturday cycle due to some tree's that needed felling. These things happen. I'm not going to try and make it up though, instead I'm going to use it as motivation to do this weeks training as well as I can. I have also included an extra swim in the training plan to improve my feel for the water. Here's what this week's plan looks like.
Monday: Swimming with Activ Multisport in the N.A.C. Swim Sets 2500 m+

Tuesday: Run 50 mins, easy base pace. Once warmed up Include 4 x 2 min intervals at middle to fast pace / Z3, running rest between intervals. 20 mins stretching and foam rolling.
Swim, WU 100 m front crawl, 750 m TT, WD 200m any.

Wednesday: Brick Session: 1 h 30 mins. Bike 60 mins. WU, 10 mins spinning easy gear. Main Set, 5 x 10 mins, gradually build effort through each 10 mins starting very easy and finishing all out. Straight into Run. 25 mins. 5 mins easy, 20 steady. Make sure to control your form. 20 mins stretching and foam rolling.


Thursday: Swim. WU, 250 easy, Main Set, Catch up drill x 200, High elbow/fingertip drag x 200, Swimming with fists x 200. Repeat twice. WD, 250 easy.


Friday: Swim 1500 m TT. Strength work 20 mins.


Sat: Bike 2 hours. WU 15 mins, small gears, easy, Z1. Main Set 1h 30 mins, Phoenix Park with mixed gradients, medium pace, Z2. WD 15 mins, fast cadence 100 RPM+. 15 mins stretching and foam rolling.


Sun: Run 1 hour +, Sunday Morning Run session with Activ Multisport, focusing on speed work. 20 mins stretching and foam rolling.
Swim. 1000 m recovery swim.

Next week is a rest week, Ahhh :-)

Sunday Morning Run with Activ Multisport

Tough run session in the Phoenix Park this morning. Ger put us through our paces focusing on building run speed. The group session is great because you push yourself much harder with others. Ger's also there to make sure you don't cut any corners! See you next week, same bat time, same bat channel. 10 o'clock start at the Magazine Fort car park.

Wednesday 20 February 2013

Ski Italia!



I spent last Week in the Dolomite's in Italy enjoying the fresh snow. The locals reckoned half a metre or more fell on the first night, and that meant fun! We arrived Saturday night and were staying in a small hotel that’s literally ski in/ski out. This is the view from our window. The snow didn't bother us. We were here to ski.  And ski we did.

Once I arrived in the hotel I realised large quantities of lubrication would be essential to my activity on the slopes. I hear this stuff is good for joints etc.

Nutrition was also high on my list of priorities. It was essential to fuel my ski time adequately!

Here it appears Laura is playing with her pretend camera in the bottom of the shot. She breaks a lot of stuff!

8 o'clock ski lift, Jack Frost was still at large.

Some Mid-Day Posing.I have an epic face plant on the slope to the left later that day, serves me right.

From the chair lift.


Looking down on our hotel, The snow is deep and rough, apparently the slope is closed. They always put such small signs though :-)


Here's why. haha!

The aftermath!

Good day, Now to the apre's ski!



Monday 18 February 2013

Speed Tips For Running (Part 2)

In Speed Tips for Running Part 1 I discussed the importance of building a base for running. Here are some exercises that will further benefit your run training. These three exercises are focused on increasing run strength and anaerobic threshold.

HILL TRAINING

Uphill and downhill running strengthens a wider variety of leg muscles than level running. This results in greater power and speed development. The higher knee lift develops increased power in the quads, leading to shorter foot strike time. To help distance runners build up speed you can do hill repeats. Hill repeats involve finding a hill of between 5 and 20 degree incline and doing short 15 - 20 second fast bursts up the hill, walk back down, and then repeat. Start with 5 and build up until you can do 20 to 30. Progress slowly as the IT band and Achilles tendon can be damaged by this training.



FARTLEK
Fartlek is a training method similar to interval training. Fartlek can be performed on any running surface, and distances are determined by what the runner feels like doing. For example, a runner may increase his pace on a road run from a moderate jog to a fast run until he passes the next tree or telephone pole, then slow to a recovery jog. Fartlek raises the anaerobic threshold and helps the runner become more pace conscious


VARIED SURFACES
Various types of running surfaces can be beneficial in speed training. Grass fields add running resistance with less impact than hard surfaces. Dirt trails are beneficial for their gentle surface and variety in inclines and camber. Treadmills offer a Irish-weather option that allows you to set speed and incline. Using different surfaces can also help prevent boredom with your training.

Triathlon Training Plan (18/02/13)


Hi all, I had a great week in Italy skiing but now its back to training. This is what my training plan looks like for the week. It's a full week but Tuesday and Thursday should be easy.  Feel free to follow it or let me know if you have any suggestions.











Monday: Swimming with Activ Multisport in the N.A.C. Swim Sets 2500 m+

Tuesday: Run 50 mins easy, like light recovery. Include some skipping and bounding once warmed up. 20 mins stretching and foam rolling.


Wednesday: Brick Session: 1 h 30 mins. Bike 50 mins. WU, 10 mins spinning easy gear. Main Set, 40 mins moderate to fast pace, focus on high cadence. Straight into Run. 25 mins. 5 mins easy, 20 steady. Make sure to control your form. 20 mins stretching and foam rolling.


Thursday: Swim. WU, 250 easy, Main Set, Catch up drill x 200, High elbow/fingertip drag x 200, Swimming with fists x 200. Repeat twice. WD, 250 easy.


Friday: Swim 1500m TT. Strength work 30 mins.


Sat: Bike 2 hours. WU 20 mins, small gears, easy, Z1. Main Set 1h 25mins, Phoenix Park with mixed gradients, pushing hard pace, Z3. WD 15 mins, fast cadence 100 RPM+. 15 mins stretching and foam rolling.


Sun: Run 1.15mins. WU 5 mins easy, 5 mins steady. Main Set, 60 mins steady aerobic in Z2, include a 1 min pick up every 10th minute. WD 5 mins easy jog. 15 mins stretching and foam rolling.

Friday 8 February 2013

Ski Time :-)

It is time for a bit of R and R, I'm off skiing to Italy tomorrow for a week. Nothing like the slopes with plenty of good food and drink to unwind. I'll be back with inspiration for a few posts next weekend! Chat to you then. Eoghan

Speed Tips for Running (Part 1)

AVOIDING INJURY:

As with all exercise, running carries a risk of injury. Speed running puts additional stress on your body and increases the risk of getting injured. Establishing a good running base before beginning speed training reduces the risk of injury. A running base can be built up over a series of week's, for me it is about 5. This running base helps to ensure that your muscles, joints and bones are in good training condition before you start the intensive work. Here are some tips for building your base.


  • Only run as far as you feel comfortable with for the first two weeks, if you find yourself under pressure it is better to stop and walk for a while than to run with bad from and exhausted weak muscles.
  • Successful base training is adding enough intensity to running to boost your fitness, but not so much that you get exhausted. Remember, this is about preventing injury!
  • Increase your distance by not more than a kilometer a week, no matter how good you feel. Base training is about building strength, not about pushing yourself to your limits. That will come later.
  • Stretch and eat after each run, we want muscles to repair as well as possible. Protein is good for repairing muscle and carbohydrates are good for muscle refueling.
  • Strength training for the glutes, quads, calves, core and back are great during your base training, but think more along the lines of Pilates or a circuit class, not Olympic weight lifting.

Tuesday 5 February 2013

Triathlon Swim Session (Week 2)


My Swim training in the NAC with Activ Multisport this week was tough, especially on the triceps. The session was good for upper body and core strength. I wasn't too good at it myself as my legs sank quite a bit as I tired out. It's a good wake up call though and I'll just have to keep practising to get better. Using the snorkel is really great for focusing on keeping your head still while swimming, this is very important if you want to swim well. Enjoy!







Warm up
200m front crawl using snorkel
200m kicking with arms out in front using snorkel

Main set
Front Crawl with snorkel and legs crossed, 32 x 25m with 5 seconds rest. (Try to concentrate on stretching your body out straight on your glide and then getting a good long arm pull)

Warm down
Back crawl 100m


Sunday 3 February 2013

Triathlon Training Plan For This Week 03/02/13


Great week's training completed last week. The following is my plan for this week, feel free to follow it or take bits from it. The sessions are all around 1 hour or a bit longer to make them practical to do. I'm off skiing on Saturday so the plan isn't heavy on the legs. I might add a 6 k run on Friday if I'm feeling fresh. You can add a brick session or a long cycle for the weekend if you want to finish it off. Enjoy  your week.









Monday: Swimming with Activ Multisport in N.A.C. Swim Sets 2000 m+

Tuesday: Run 45 mins easy, like light recovery. Include some skipping and bounding once warmed up. 25 mins stretching, conditioning and foam rolling.


Wednesday: Brick Session: 1 h 30 mins. Bike 50 mins. WU, 10 mins spinning easy gear. Main Set, 40 mins moderate to fast pace, focus on high cadence. Straight into Run. 25 mins. 5 mins easy, 20 steady. Make sure to control your form. 20 mins stretching, conditioning and foam rolling.


Thursday: Swim. WU, 250 easy, Main Set, Catch up drill x 200, High elbow/fingertip drag x 200, Swimming with fists x 200 Repeat twice. WD, 250 easy. 25 mins stretching, conditioning and foam rolling.


Friday: Swim. 1000 m recovery pace. Include an all out 25 m sprint at 400 m, 500 m, 600 m and 700 m.


Sat: Ski time in Italia!



Sun: :-)

New Shoes! Asics Gel Noosa Tri 8

I Just got my new Asics Gel Noosa Tri 8 running shoes from Elverys on Suffolk St. I don't normally plug shops but I got great service so it's well deserved. I can't wait to bring them for a run and see what they're like. For now, all I can say is they are comfy as hell and very bright! They came with extra elastic laces too which is a nice touch for triathletes. I'll post a full review once they're broken in.


Gotta love the colour!

Saturday 2 February 2013

Weekend Warrior?

Winter is over and it's time to let loose after a great week's training. Well deserved I say. 6 Nations, Ireland v Wales at 1.30 with a few scoops, sounds like a plan. I'll post up my weekly training plan for next week tomorrow. Enjoy the weekend. Come on Ireland!