Tunney's Blog

Its a bit difficult to maintain focus for long periods of time so I like to have pre-Christmas goals and then ones for the summer. I also enjoy doing different training this side of Christmas. I think this year, like last year, will involve alot more running than usual.

Running is something I really enjoy. Its easy to do, time efficient, doesn’t require aload of kit and can be done anywhere. Its also a great way to see a city and I love going for runs in new places and new cities – a great way to see bits of the city that the Lonely Planet wouldn’t take you too. I always bring my runners on holiday and in fact the only holiday I can remember that I didn’t run on was my honeymoon. I think though that that was fair enough. Running in the Serengeti wouldn’t have been the brightest

Anyways I digress. This side of Christmas I want to give a 5km and a 10km a good bash. Thats going to me getting over my present aversion to training and attraction to Haribo. I was in 34:20 10km shape last year (going my the Aware 9km ) and I’d like to get into better shape for this ear. Some tought work to get there but it will be fun trying. If I can ever get started back properly.

Since Austria people have asked me – “What next? What are you going to do next year?”. My reply has generally been “Nothing planned” and left it at that. Recently I was chatting to some good friends and when asked I replied with the usual. Then I realised – “Why lie?”

I always said that if I did another IM it would have to be in a location easy to get to. No more long drives. The less hassle the better. Fly in, fly out. No fvcking about. I started thinking about this probably in February and IM Frankfurt was the only race that met the no hassle criteria so I started dropping hints that it would be a race I some day wanted to do. Then around April some friends started talking about IMs in 2011, I started thinking “Maybe, just maybe I could squeez one more in if I asked Glenda really nicely”.

A friend that lives in Oz said he was on for doing Frankfurt in 2011 and that pretty much sealed it. Given this decision was made in the middle of the IM Austria training I decided that to ask could I do another IM next year would be suicide. Given there is a generous refund policy in IMde I decided to enter, then wait until October or November and then ask could I do it. If I was shot down I was shot down and would be able to get most of my money back. Part of me thought of not mentioning it and just “heading for with the lads” for a weekend next July. But it was all miles in the future and I didn’t need to think about it. So I entered and kept quiet and hid the credit card bills so the entry didn’t get found out.

I have to admit to feeling like a total pr!ck when we were in Austria as I swore blind that this was it, that I’d do something easy and not time consuming next year – “like marathon running”. Two nights before race day I got a text from a friend of mine and Glenda’s who was doing IM Frankfurt that IM Frankfurt was to be a non-wetsuit swim. Being a brutal brutal swimmer this was terrible news for him and I told Glenda the bad news and explained that Frankfurt was more often than not a non-wetsuit swim. She asked “Why do you say its a race that you want to do then?” I had it said before I realised “Oh is doing it and Eoin is doing it too, he’s flying home from Oz for it”. The fork went down and the face went serious. “You’ve entered it, haven’t it”. Caught – I had no choice but to come clean.

Nothing more was said and I did IM Austria. Pretty much straight after the race Glenda said “You can do Frankfurt but we’re not flying in until the Saturday, you can go the Wednesday and no bloody walking – you better do a good time, 9:15 at least, we’re not dragging Aoibhe to Germany to see you walk”.

So 2011 will involve a trip to Frankfurt and an IM. My approach will be the same as this year. Do what I can, when I can. No pressure. No expectations (Glenda was joking , I hope). Just enjoying it.

I think a good turbo is an essential piece of kit and a solids winters training needs to be built around regular focused turbos adhering to a specific plan. Personally I love the turbo and possibly overuse it.

Anyways I was looking at turbos recently, not for myself, I have two – a very very much used Elite Hydroforce that has seen many years action, and a year old Computrainer that I am loving – I was helping a friend oneand one of the turbos that I thought he should look was the Tacx Flow. Its a nice turbo that has been used for a few years by a few lads I know with no issue. Its repeatedly inaccurate with its power readings as long as you get the tyre pressures consistent. A great tool, it would make alot more difference to times than a load of fancy bling. When I went looking for one I found HUGE price differences.

Most expensive was a Dublin shop at €435

Surprisingly ChainRactionCycles and Wiggle were next, both at €378

Then another Dublin shop at a much more competitive €341 – a big surprise for me

But none even close to Bike24.net and €255 – a huge 42% cheaper than the most expensive place I found.  Over the years I’ve found Bike24 worth checking – for some things its the same or slightly worse than Irish and UK prices. But sometimes, like this time, its stupidly cheaper.

A week that started well but went downhill towards the end with no training Friday, Saturday or Sunday.. A combination of weddings, hangovers, laziness and sick tots.

Swim Distance: 3900m
Swim Time: 1:32
Bike Distance: 15.3km
Bike Time: 0:47
Run Distance: 26.2km
Run Time: 2:04
Overall Time: 4:28

I’ve curly fuzzy hair, I’ve always hated it and it always annoyed me when it gets to be longer than a certain length. It drives me nuts and I look like a sheep, or some would say a microphone. When I was 17 and working in the kitchen of the Shelbourne hotel, one of the head chefs came up to me, got him in a headlock and tapped on my head. “Testing, testing” Hil-fvcking-arious everyone thought. Didn’t *really* annoy me, but my hair does.

So does carrying extra weight but I don’t notice the weight every minute of every day (unless I’m wearing clothes that no longer fit me ) but my hair does. So once again this year in an effort to shift the extra weight that I have piled on during my end of season weight I won’t cut my hair until I hit a certain weight. That way when I feel like some junk I’ll remember that I’ll be fuzzy until I hit that weight. I think 73kg sounds about right, I’m still 76kg at the minute.

The lovely uncongested cycle routes that I used to take into work on a winters morning, or at least a cold wet morning are now wedged with POBs everywhere. Cycling slowly is no sin but pulling out without looking, assuming that other cyclists know what they are going to do.

The running routes I spent ages nailing down are now packed with “runners” in preparation for annual runs in the park criss-crossing across paths and not holding lines. “Robust” women power walking everyway, walking side by side, talking up all the footpath and most of the road. Dozy kids on skateboards that don’t look up.

Bring the rain, bring the cold and banish these people back to sofas, malteasers and their cars, and leave me in peace.

I always hate this time of year. Just after the end of serious break. Its only so recently that I could run fast and long and now I struggle to waddle for 30 minutes at 5 minutes a km. More disturbing is that its only on average I am going forward. With each step bits of the belly go to the left, part of my fat ass go to the right, and bits just go up and down. Its only on average that I go forward. Its always a horrendous few weeks to get back into feel like I can run again. Until then its just feeling awkward, lardy and slow with pains in joints and in places I never usually get them. Oh well! The weight has to go at some stage and the lifestyle has to improve. Probably not this week though

Over the last year I’ve been fitted three times for suits. Each time was at a different point in my training cycle and its had wildly different outcomes.

Last November was the first and I was at my leanest of the year and I was a 34-36 chest and a 28 waist. This was when I was running a stupid amount.

The next was June, late June and pretty much when I was going to Austria I was a 36 chest and a 30 waist. Not as slight as November but probably alot healthier.

Yesterday I could measured again. A shocking 38 chest and32 waist. Time to put down the Haribo and watch my diet and train more! Just goes to show how much my weight and shape changes over a year.

I ahd high hopes for this week, my first week doing something. However things didn’t go to plan. I did nothing on Wednesday despite not being in work as I took the day off for my birthday and spent the day eating cake Saturday I did nothing as well as I had alot of other things but I was looking forward to a nice long spin on Saturday. However Saturday night saw me at a leaving do for a friend who is heading back to Australia New Zealand. I left relatively early but ended up getting caught up in an “incident” on Grafton street that involved waiting for an Ambulance and then the Guards (who never showed). Then the Nitelink home got diverted due to a road being shut down by the Guards. I managed about two hours sleep and then up. Not a chance of getting on the bike, would have cycled straight into a bus or something.. Oh well.

Swim Dist: 1.9km
Swim Time: 0:50:00

Bike Dist: 16.5km
Bike Time: 0:45:00

Run Dist: 37.5km
Run Time: 3:01:00

Total time: 4:41:00

First week back, full of the best of intentions.

Missed half my swims (one), a turbo and didn’t do so well with the “no mid week drinking” bit either, wine consumed 3 out of the 5 days. Slightly less than ideal.
Next week, next week.