PB in first race of the season
Just back from Italy where I’ve opened my season over 35km in the Italian Winter Road Championships near Rome. My time of 2.37.33 is a pb for the distance and almost 4 minutes faster than what I did in the very same race this time last year. I finished 4th behind Alex Schwazer who set the fastest time in the world with 2.26.16. My blood lactate reading straight after the race was 1.8mml/l, so I was working very comfortable and controlled. A lactate reading of 1.6 or less is what can be sustained for 50km with sufficient work done, so this looks very promising. Another positive was I had no real problems with the judges, just a warning for contact at about the 5km mark.
At the start of January, I went to Monte Gordo in Portugal for the Athletics Ireland High Performance training camp. After been snowed in over the whole of Christmas and having my training disrupted, it was the perfect time to get away. I did spend a few days in Belfast with Clare over New Years, where the roads were clear and managed to train fully. The camp in Portugal went very well, despite the damp and dull weather. Just to be able to train at full capacity and have a Kyle our massage therapist there to get treatment every day, ensured that I was able to recover fully and back up my strong work. These two weeks were about building my aerobic base with a lot of work over 30-35km and some steady-state work in or around 4.30-4.35 per km.
I also enrolled this month for a part time course in Physical Fitness and Conditioning for Sport with Setanta College. I felt that this was the perfect time in between Olympic cycles to have the opportunity to top up my academic qualifications and gain some practical experience. This course will be the equivalent of a diploma and will complement my degree and coaching knowlege perfectly. Most of the work is online, with some day long practical workshops every few weeks.
My next race should hopefully the Irish Indoor Championships, eventhough it is not important in terms of my training an preparation, I still like to compete at home when I can and support my national championships. So once I am happy with my training over the next 10 days, I will compete and see what I can do over 5km. Then it’s off to South Africa for a months altitude training with the other Irish walkers, which is been supported by the Irish Sports Council.
