Tarmonbarry Aquathlon

It was time for our second aquathlon of the Midland series, this time in Tarmonbarry and organized by the Longford club. Yet again, it was a beautiful evening with a very good showing from my club. Although I swam and ran a bit faster than last week, I wasted some time in transition taking off my swimsuit, and I finished a few places down in 26th out of 79.

(for once, I was able to single myself out at the swim start: golden cap, top middle, arm going up!)

Nice view over the area when I drove home: 

Study Refresh

It took some time, but we finally got the new curtains and blinds for the study. It looks good now, and it is very close to the AI-generated mock-up.

Reality:

AI Generated (in March)

A Spin Through Longford and Roscommon

The weather is still very nice for an Irish summer, so I planned a decent 100 km cycle from our home and invited some club members to join me for a bit of a different route. We headed north and stayed mainly in counties Longford and Roscommon. The group all agreed it was a nice route. It turned out to be a beautiful day, and we stopped for some snacks and drinks in Drumlish, and then had an ice cream at the pond back home.

Training in Zone 2

I am using AI as my coach now, and it advised me to slow down on the longer runs at the weekend by staying in Zone 2. I found it quite hard to keep the pace back, and I ended up running very slowly, over 7 minutes per kilometer. The idea is that this should help prevent injuries and that the speed will build up over time. We will see how it goes.

In the meantime, it was a gorgeous day, and I really enjoyed being out in the forest and by the river.

Getting Back in the Groove

After some training on the turbo earlier this week, I decided to test the bike out on the road again. I just wanted to make sure everything was still running smoothly and see how the body felt back in the saddle. It all felt good, and I am feeling ready for a long spin this weekend!

Back in Action at Lough Key

The aquathlon in Lanesboro was unfortunately cancelled this year due to the bad weather. So, today in Lough Key was my first race back. I was lucky to have recovered enough to put in a decent swim and run,  felt great to be back on the start line and pushing myself again.

Finished 19th out of 72 overall...

A Tough Day in the Saddle

It was a miserable day, plenty of rain and overall crappy weather. Most of my club mates were away racing: some at smaller events here in Ireland, others tackling half-Ironmans, and a few of my best friends were in Hamburg for a full Ironman, where the conditions were looking just as grim. I figured I should get out anyway and at least knock out my usual 40 km loop. Well, I probably should have stayed indoors.

Just about 10 km in, I was daydreaming a bit and suddenly realized I was too close to the edge of the tarmac. By the time I tried to correct it, it was too late, and I ended up crashing onto the road. Irene reminded me later that my last serious bike accident was on the exact same day 13 years ago, a strange coincidence.

Luckily, there were no cars nearby, so I was able to get up and limp off the road to check myself and the bike. I’ve got some nasty cuts on my elbow and knee, but thankfully the bike seems okay. A friendly driver who had seen me limping off the road came back to offer me a lift home. I’ve spent the rest of the day licking my wounds and following my teammates' progress on the Ironman app instead.

Deers

 Always nice to see a few deer during my run in the forest:

Coosan Jetty

As I was on kayak support for the club's Friday swim session at Coosan, I had the opportunity to take some images while on the water. Here is a quick monotone edit of an old jetty.

Sophie and Paddy

Always nice to have cousins visiting for Giselle and Douwe, especially when they bring the next generation of second cousins! 😁 Emmett was going with his family to Center Parcs for a few days, so they dropped in to see us first. As you can see Giselle was delight to see Sophie and her latest second cousin Paddy!