Build Up

This is the time of the year when every athlete starts his build up for the next season, and its no different for me. I have been building it up gradually, very gradually since the beginning of November. My target this year is Ironman France which is in the end of June. A long way from now, but the training I am doing at the moment will help me build my engine for the big push which will start at the beginning of April.

To keep motivated in the build up its a good idea to have minor targets which will help you gauge your form and do the required adjustments to your schedule depending on the result and feeling. At the moment I am doing some road / cross country races with rather no so good results but the feeling is good so I know that for this time of year I'm on the right track. My first major target is a half marathon at the end of February, so as you can see the first part of the season is dedicated to my running. I was told that if I don't do 1hr 15mins it wasn't worth the effort..... we shall see.

After that I have the National Duathlon Championships which will be a good test for my transition run. I would be a good idea if we had to change the distances of these championships to more official ones like 10km run / 40km bike / 5km run. After that the build up for Ironman France will start with the possibility of taking part in the Malta / Sicily Tournament depending on selection criteria.

I am still unsure whether to do a Half Ironman distance some weeks before the Ironman. In previous years I have done one 4 - 6 weeks before the big day with very good results but looking back I believe I have lost some of my freshness to the result that I have lost my edge in the longer race. Being that the course in Nice is no joke (21km mountain on the bike course is one of the obstacles) I am starting to think that I should keep the racing in the last few weeks as limited as possible to arrive on the start line as fresh as possible.

Will keep you updated on my training progress. Until then train safe.

Dermot

It all starts again....

It all started back again this morning with a swimming session at 6am. Back to business I should say. I am sitting down in my office at 7am writing this short blog to keep you updated before I start off with my work......and there's a lot to do I'm afraid.

In the last month, after the national championships I just did running to keep moving. Now I am back to business. I have been planning a lot for next season but I had to change some targets so that I arrive fresh for Ironman France. Its not an easy course but should suit my strenghts. Will be doing the Half Marathon in February. The plan was to do the Full Marathon but I'm not sure I will recover in time to put in the hard training needed to do well in the Ironman.

Certainly my target for this winter is to improve my running and swimming, then after the Half Marathon I will shift my focus on cycling. I will need to do some good hilly workouts if I was to survive that bike course and run a good marathon. On that course I'm not after a fast time, as its out of the question, but I'm after my dream, qualifying for Hawaii.

I keep asking myself why I put myself through this punishment year in, year out. Training for an Ironman is not an easy task, and certainly the time commitment is quite heavy. The answer is probably that when I train for an Ironman I feel at home, and when I race an Ironman its like a journey. No other discipline brings out your real self.

Train safe

Yours in Sport,

Dermot

Training Update

Training so far has been going well. Have been putting in some solid miles of running and cycling. I am very pleased with my progress so far. 2009 looks to be a very tough year of racing for me, and I am really looking forward to it. My main target of the season is without doubt Ironman Austria. This is the ultimate race for me. Then I have the Hayle Half Ironman Distance Triathlon in the Uk in May which will be like a pre race warm up for Ironman Austria. There will be also quite a few cycling races since I am helping out in the development of a cycling section for my club, B'Kara St. Joseph.

As for Olympic Distance races there are two very important events for me next year. These are the Small Nations Triathlon Championships in May and the Sicily-Malta Tournament in September. I have never had the opportunity to race in Sicily-Malta Friendly so am looking forward to have a go at the top spot next September. Of course the Small Nations Triathlon Championships are an important target for MTA even more as they are going to be organised on home soil. Looking back at my past participations I was never so lucky at this event. My best results so far have been a second place and 2 third places. I am hoping that our team will manage to get back the gold like two years ago.

So far apart from the Sicily-Malta Friendship Tournament I haven't yet decided how the second part of my season will be. I would like to race another Half Ironman race and possibly another Ironman very late in the season but this will always depend on the finance available.... as usual.

This year it has been a very tough year for sponsorships. I have to say that I doing quite bad, and it is very disappointing after my strong results this season. But as always I am not giving up, and if that means investing more money from my own pocket to reach these targets, then it will be this way.

Keep training hard.

Dermot