It was a very hot day, which felt very different from two years ago when it rained and was very cold. The swim went well, and the bike was fast, about one minute faster than two years ago, but I lost more than a minute on the run. Overall, I was still only 23 seconds slower than my time back then. 140th out 508 and 8th (of 34) in my age group.
The summer weather is back, so I was looking forward to our Friday swim training, although I am on kayak support duty again this week. I decided to do an easy 1000m swim keeping in mind tomorrow’s triathlon race, before I headed out with the swimmers. For this week and the next three, we are doing timed sessions for different distances. I went out with the 1500m group and enjoyed being on the water and taking some pictures.
The last person to come in was Paddy, who had a big surprise for our coach, Laura. He gave her a reward for her being a first-time ironman coach, him being the first-time Ironman!
We had our work summer celebration, which meant a lovely meal out and a few drinks afterwards. Given that half the team lives more than an hour’s drive away from Athlone, we had a reasonably good turnout this year, with most of the department present for the meal at least.
Everyone agrees: the momentum is gone, especially since two out of the five events have been cancelled. Our club's race last week was cancelled because it was too hot and the traffic on the road to Coosan, where we run, would have been crazy. To make matters worse, the weather is dismal again, and the turnout is quite low.
But we are still making the most of it. I finished 15th in the men's section. It is still a beautiful spot, and running between the alpacas is always fun!
I decided to go for a recovery spin today and joined some of my club mates for a 70k social ride. It was another lovely summer's day, only spoiled by a puncture. But Robbie used the opportunity to show some of the newbies how that gets fixed!
It was predicted to be the hottest day of the year, maybe even since recording started in Ireland! I decided to take the day off and re-do that 100 km cycle through Longford from a few weeks back. I had missed a photo opportunity at a nice old stone bridge, and I wanted to see how fast I could do this on my own at race speed. Given the heat, I did build in two stops: one halfway for refreshment, and another at the top of Ardagh hill.
I managed to get up to 31.3 km/h, which is my fastest 100 km+ cycle in four years. After the cycle, I went for a short brick run through the forest and jumped in the river for a swim as a cooldown, which was absolutely pure bliss...
Father’s Day started off with another 100 km cycle, this time with Trevor to Kilbeggan, Mullingar, and back over the greenway at a respectable 29.3 km/h. We treated ourselves to an ice cream when we got back to Athlone.
Back home, I enjoyed the garden where the Californian poppies are in bloom with a cool glass of nice IPA beer at the pond. While choosing a nice spot for 'Harold' the king frog, my kids' Father's Day gift, we put him between the water lilies in the pond. Finally, we all went for hamburgers in the re-opened Coosan Inn.
