Week 1 & 2

Monday 17  I was in Galway for Paddy’s weekend, and had a great time.  Last week was  a recovery week, so I took the opportunity to do some socialising over the weekend.  Going to stay with Mel one of my closest friends and another friend Grainne.

 

Tuesday 18 my usual daily commute on the bike and in the evening a run  I decided to get my long run in as early in the week as possible, so did 15k in 1:40 hr.  On Wednesday I didn’t do any training apart from my commute, as my calves were a bit tight after the run.   I had arranged to meet Derek (Flipper) McCabe for a swim at ten past 6 in the am on Thursday morning!  This was new to both of us, and I think we both felt weird swimming at that time and found it difficult to get moving through the water.  Though having said that we swam 4,200m and felt great for the rest of the day.

Training up to now

My training for the ironman started back last October.  Initally the first month was just to get back to regular training following a month of doing nothing.  I started well during the week, but was not training regularly at the weekend.  In November the training got more planned.  Working on swim technique, slow bikes and some slow runs.  December the typical Christmas month, It was very hard to string some good training together.  I did as much as I could around the usual drinks and Christmas parties.  Christmas week’s bad weather made training even harder.  But the new year brought new commitment.

About Me

My name is Mark Kelly.  I am 32 years of age, and attempting my first ironman.  This blog is about the training I do, and whatever I am thinking about as I prepare for the longest race I have ever done. My background for triathlon is Swimming, I swam with Terenure swimming club from the age of about 7 to 12.  I decided at that stage to concentrate more on Rugby, and ended up playing for 20 years, before a neck injury forced me to retire. This is my fourth season in triathlon, and what started as a bet has become a great hobby though most people would say it is closer to an obsession rather than a pastime.  I originally started triathlon as a bet.  Someone challenged me to do a marathon ( something I had no interest in at the time).  My response was I would do a triathlon before I would do a marathon.  Shortly later I was downloading a sprint triathlon taining program off the internet.  Next thing I know I am a member of Pulse Triathlon club with a new group of friends with the same love of sport as me. I suppose when I started triathlon I always had doing an ironman in the back of my mind. I actually entered Ironman Austria last year, but ended up not doing it.  I realised that I hadn’t everything I needed to give it my best shot.  Now a year later I feel I am ready to at least do it justice.  If I can finish and have a beer after, it will be a success.