Only one week until we get to tell Santy what our wish list is! Make sure to be in Una’s for 9pm next Saturday to be first in line! Clever has kindly offered pre-Unas drinks and nibbles so please let him know if you will be attending his house.
We only have 2 weeks of training left before turkey day so make sure to get out while you physically can! And don’t forget the savings you put away for membership! Thank you to everyone who has paid already.
Dublin City Marathon
For anyone interested in doing the Dublin city marathon next year Nenagh triathlon club will be running a training plan program. The plan will be a 16 week program following a 4 hour marathon pace. This will be suitable for anyone planning on running a time between 3hr 40min and 4hr 20min. If you have never ran this distance before and are wondering how to gauge if this plan is suitable for you, you would need to be able to run a 10k comfortably in 55 minutes.
The plan will consist of between 4 and 5 runs a week with the long run on Sunday mornings. The Sunday run will be between 10 and 20 miles. The weekday runs will be between 6 and 9 miles. The reason why we are giving so much notice is because entry for DCM is filling up fast. Last year it sold out in June but as this is the 40th anniversary it is expected to sell out in the early part of the New Year.
If you are interested in doing this event next year all you need to do now is register and attend the club running sessions. They will give you a good base for when the real training starts. If anyone wants to know more information about the plans for the marathon training just ask John Meagher at any of the club runs.
Masters Gala
The masters have their Gala on Tuesday at 8pm. This was great fun last year so please try and support it. With 50 and 100m sprints the pain will be over quickly!
Still looking for the Christmas ready body?? Then you have 4 weeks of running the roads, swimming lengths and cycling hills to get it! Speaking of said silly season, the club Christmas party is booked for December 15th. The venue is Una’s, specifically the kitchen, from 9 till 11 with finger food included. There is word of pre-drinks in Millersbrook but you need to contact the club social secretary for the secret password to gain entry!
The usual schedule continues until the break. Monday run at 7pm meeting on Dromin Rd where we do a few loops of the 3K so its suited for all abilities.
Tuesday has the morning swim at 6:30. That evening we still have spinning at 7 with a run off the bikes. All spin bikes are gone but you can bring your own bike and turbo. The masters swim is after that at 8.
Thursdays run at 7 on Dromin Rd is still on that 1k stretch.
Saturdays cycle is getting rave reviews, mainly restaurant and coffee shop reviews!! Worth a few torturous hills either way especially going by the brunches that are seen as a reward after the spin!
Sundays hill run up Coum has been supported by god as the weather has been picture perfect since it started. Well worth a trot up the hill on a clear sunny morning.
Membership: Thanks to everyone that has signed up for the club membership. For anyone that signs up as a couple please let me (Mary) know so I can manually add the second person. For the remainder of people who have yet to sign up, please make this a priority. We are over 6 weeks into training so its only fair to everyone that you are signed up and covered from an insurance perspective. Also, all our training sets are given to us by Darren, and now that he is a grown up, he isn’t free!
Dare I say it but…… its only 7 weeks until the man in red falls down our chimney! And I don’t mean a drunk Keith Butler! This means you could have 7 weeks of swimming, running and cycling if you are just new to the club or have been quietly watching our viber messages and facebook posts from afar! The weather has been more or less on our side so don’t let that scare you off.
Our runs continue to get good numbers on Mondays and Thursdays. Remember, these suit all levels as they involve loops on Mondays and then the 1k stretch on Dromin Rd on Thursdays.
I think people need louder alarms for the morning swims at 6:30am! Remember that the masters swim has changed to a Tuesday night at 8pm. Our spin and run session will remain on a Tuesday evening at 7pm. Keep an eye out on viber for updates about the second set of 5 weeks on this.
Saturday morning cycles have had a very important common denominator…… coffee stops! We do encourage everyone to give it a go. Even if you only stay with the main bunch for a little while, its something to improve on every week.
Party time: Our social secretary Clever Ryan will be in touch with the Christmas party date and location as soon as he has sourced his santa outfit! Get your wish list ready for his knee!
Membership: I don’t want to be hounding people but I cant stress the importance of membership enough. Not only is it for your safety but its for the clubs too. This insurance covers us all. We have a total of 9 members signed up. I know we usually have 10 times that so please try and allocate some of you Christmas bonus cheque to it!
Well Done: Huge well done to all our members who completed the Dublin City Marathon. There were whispers of an ambulance buggy and nurses kicking fellas out of the tent, but I’m sure that’s not true! If anyone knows of any local road races coming up let us know and we will try and get a group to go.
NTS: We have been approved for the North Tipp Sprint to host the Intervarsity National Championships on Saturday May 4th 2019 along side our normal sprint race. This will be great to get the NTS back on everyone’s “to-do” list and being on a bank holiday will make for a great weekend.
Best of luck to all our members who are taking part in Sundays Dublin City Marathon. There has been significant training put in over the last few months, not to mention the hearty breakfasts on a Sunday morning in Dromineer!
If you would like to track of the lads or ladies doing it click on the below link.
https://track.rtrt.me/e/TDL-DUBLINM-2018#/tracker
One of our bravest members, Majella Moyles, took on the challenge of walking the full Camino in 2011 and recently completed that journey this year. Below is her inspiring report that is worth a read with a glass of red!
Buen Camino
In September 2011 I started my Camino de Santiago. This is by tradition a pilgrim walk. There are a number of Caminos on mainland Europe. The most popular ones are in France, Spain and Portugal. I choose to do the French Way, which meant I started my walk in St. Jean Pied-de-Port, France. This route is 796km from St. Jean to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, plus a further 86km to Finisterre (for those who wish to finish out the Camino to the coast). The French Way route I believe is the most popular and therefore the busiest.
To put this report together, I feel it is necessary to cover all aspects of doing the Camino, from luggage to accommodation, from terrains to weather, and of course why I decided to do it. Also in this report I will focus on my last visit, which was the finishing section, from Leon to Finisterre.
So firstly I will start with my luggage. I choose to do this with a rucksack on my back. The size of my rucksack was no bigger than what Ryanair allow on as cabin luggage. Believe me, it was a challenge in itself to pack a bag to cover 12 days of walking. But I managed, because I had to. My luggage consisted of a pair of flip flops, 3 vest tops, 3 shorts, 1 fleece, 1 long sleeve top, 2 pairs of socks (each pair washed every day), 2 t-shirts, poncho, 1 mini skirt (could have left at home!), sleeping bag, camping towel, toiletries and my hiking boots. My bag weighed approximately 8kgs every day. It suited me perfectly, rested well on my hips and shoulders. An alternative to carrying your luggage, is to get it picked up and dropped off at your next accommodation. This I would think involves a lot more organisation, and for a lot of reasons, it may be the only way for walkers to do the Camino. Each to their own!!
One can only do the Camino from April to the end of October. I had covered sections of the Camino during September/October when the days are dry and hot (37 degrees on my last trip). I also covered a section back in April 2012 when it was so cold, windy and wet, that I can remember putting on my pyjamas under my clothes.
The most essential purchase before starting the Camino is the Pilgrim Passport. To receive your Certificate in Santiago you need to show the distance you have covered on the Camino. To do this, you have to get a stamp from each hostel you stay in. Most cafes also give stamps for your Pilgrim Passport. Then from the city of Sarria, it is obligatory to get 2 stamps per day. And believe me, when you go to the Pilgrim Office in Santiago (and queue for over 1.5hrs) to pick up your certificate, they will go through it, study the dates to see did you cover the full distance. Not an easy way to qualify for a Certificate but a lovely decorated piece of paper for a big achievement.
I started my days between 6 – 6.30am. My aim was to cover as many kilometres as I could before the sun would get high and really hot. For about 1.5 hours in the morning I would walk in the dark, with the torch on my mobile to guide me. If breakfast was being served in the hostel before I left, I’d have it, but the majority of time there was no breakfast. I normally had to walk 8kms before I would come across a café to have something to eat. I would have a few short stops during the day for food & beverages…fuel to keep me going. On this trip I covered over 40km’s a day for eight days, and the last two days, I covered 35km’s a day. It took me between 10 – 11 hours each day to cover this distance. I must add, that on my last day of walking, I came across a café only about 3 km’s into our walk. At this stage I was walking with my friend Goretti, she said there would be a café a few km’s on, as she thought she saw it in her book. We walked, and walked and walked. We learnt that morning that there was a sign back at the café we passed, it said ‘next café 15km’s’. We walked 18.5 km’s that morning before we had breakfast.
The terrain I walked varied from day to day. There were days I walked through what I could only describe as the wild west. They were dry dusty sandy roads. No trees to offer shade from the hot sun searing down, and no water fountains to top up my water bottles. Other terrains were the spongy, bouncy forest trails. These were my favourite. The ground was soft, the trees offered shade and I felt so much cooler. And just the smell of the forest itself was refreshing. Without fail, some part of the day I’d have to walk on roads themselves, tarmac and sometimes concrete ones. These terrains I found very hard on the soles of my feet. I think a combination of heat from the roads, the hot day itself and my heavy boots, didn’t help…..my feet would be crying out. Other days I climbed and descended through dried river beds. These could be tricky, with loose stones, and big boulder rocks, it was necessary to keep focused and safe. There were also stone pavements and cobble stone roads to cross. These were mostly evident in and around towns. As the towns were a welcoming distraction, I was able to put up with the stony terrains a lot better.
Now not everyone doing the Camino, does it on foot. You can choose to do it by bike or on horseback also. I didn’t meet anyone on horseback, but came across enough horse dung on a number of trails to know there were a number of people doing it this way. I did however come across a large number of cyclists. These all varied also. The tougher cyclists did the Camino on mountain bikes. You could meet them on forest trails, river beds or sandy roads. I admired them, as I knew it was so tough for them. Remember, they too were carrying their luggage on their bikes. Others did it on what I could make out were fold up bikes. Of course I only met these cyclists on the roads. These bikes were a lot lighter to use. Other cyclists did it the very easy way with a small engine on their bikes. They pedalled loosely but travelled at an easy fast enough pace. I did talk to a few cyclists along the way. Different groups covered different distances. I concluded the hard core cyclists covered a distance of 60 – 80km a day, whereas the road cyclists covered a max of 50km a day.
It is very common on the Camino to come across water fountains. These are normally within town or village centres, sometimes a few km’s out from a town, but not very often. It was necessary to always ensure I had water on me, and thankfully I never ran out of it. Mind you, the water might have been on the warm side, but at least I stayed hydrated.
The symbols of the Camino are the shell and the yellow arrow. The whole route from St Jean to Finisterre is marked out with shells on pillars, roadside signs, yellow arrows on paths & curbs, sides of houses and in towns you would see shells engraved into the path. These all guide and direct walkers to Santiago, and then to Finisterre. At about the 190 km mark, the Camino pillars started showing the count down in kilometres to Finisterre. The kilometres got very long all of a sudden.
My accommodation every night was in a hostel or albergue. The norm was to arrive at a hostel and pray there would be a free bed. When learning there was a free bed, it was then a quick prayer that I would be lucky enough to get a bottom bunk. You would think that by the time I’d reach a hostel after a long day walking that any kind of bed would do….not for me! All rooms were packed with bunk beds. Rooms could vary in size from sleeping 8 to 18. I choose not to pre-book my accommodation, as there may have been days I might walk further than planned or cut it short if necessary. Thankfully I was always lucky to get a bed, I heard from fellow walkers that on a few occasions they were unlucky to arrive at a hostel to be told no beds for them. The difference was, there was a few of them, but only one of me. Rooms were mixed, and so men and women shared.
Hostels could be private (fee) or municipal (donation). Fees would vary from €6 – €10 per night. For this fee you got a bed and a shower. I have to say the standard of hostels have improved hugely over the last 7 years. When I started this journey, I could honestly say that a lot of hostels were pretty grubby. Now you get a clean bottom sheet and pillow case for your bed upon arrival. These small simple luxuries were much appreciated.
Every night, we the pilgrim walkers had a pilgrim meal. This meal could be hosted by the hostel itself, or a café/restaurant near the hostel. This meal consisted of a starter, main course and dessert (normally there is a few choices for each course) plus a large glass of wine and water for €10 pp. Let me add, the wine was just divine….no chemicals added, and no sore head the next morning!
There were a big number of different nationalities on the Camino and ages varied from early twenties who were mostly young college students to grandparents in their late seventies. I met Australians, Americans, Canadians, Germans, Dutch, Danish, French, Italians, Russians, Chinese, Japanese, English, Hawaiians, Lithuanians, Chilean and Spanish people themselves. I heard about other Irish people from fellow walkers, but never met one on this leg. Those who travelled from Australia, America, and China etc. were doing the whole Camino in one trip. They were all spending at least 6 weeks in Spain. On one of my walks I met a group of Japanese guys who told me they love Irish coffee, I explained to them how to make one and they were delighted as it is so simple.
(At Finisterre, Goretti and myself….Goretti started the Camino with me in 2011, we did different sections ourselves, but always said we’d finish it out together)
On Sunday 30th Sept at exactly midday when the Cathedrals bells were ringing, I arrived at the square of the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. It was such a lovely and moving moment. As I said in my first paragraph, I choose to finish my Camino out to Finisterre, commonly known as The End of the World, so there were a few photos taken in front of the Cathedral and without delay we started walking towards Finisterre. It was noticeable on the last few days the temperatures dropped and a wind picked up. A very welcoming breeze. On Tuesday afternoon, I completed my Camino at Finisterre light house. I was exhausted, injured foot, sore feet and cut toes, but the pain was so worth the feeling of achievement when I stood beside the last pillar showing 0,000 km’s……I had made it.
Why did I decide to do the Camino?? I asked myself this very question one day while walking the Camino, and that same night, it was the question asked around the pilgrim meal. To be honest, seven years ago I took it on as a challenge. To walk over 880 km’s, what a distance to cover on foot, with a bag on my back. I had over 415 km’s still to walk to finish the Camino on this trip. However, this time, I didn’t take it on as a challenge to complete. I took it on, because I was able to. I was grateful every day to be strong, healthy and fit to walk it.
Roll on the next challenge…….
Membership is now live on Triathlon Ireland website so once you log into your account you select the “renew membership” option. Please make this a priority so none of us end up in court, or worse……. need treatment from Doctor Paul!!!
Swimming on a Wednesday night is now at 9pm and not 8pm. It will remain like this for the rest of October. Then in November it will change to Tuesday at 8pm and remain like that.
Well done to everyone that attended any training session last week. First week back is always the hardest, mainly because with this weather you don’t know whether you will be running in tropical sun or thunderous rain!
Monday nights run at 7pm consisted of some people doing the 3K loop 3 times or the 2.5K loop twice. No record lung bursting speeds were introduced so its open to all who can run/walk/jog.
Tuesday mornings swim was still a little quiet so don’t be shy to a 6:30am dip in the pool! Great way to start the day and with a spin and run in the evening you have defo earned ownership of the remote in the evening! Tuesday evening had a full house with the spin bikes at 7pm, but plenty of room for people to bring a turbo and their own bike. There was a short 2K run after it.
Wednesday evening we joined the masters for their swim set at 8pm. They are getting great numbers but low on the tri side. This is a coached session and you get a huge bang for your buck! €7 and that includes entry into the pool.
Thursday morning started with the 6:30am swim and whatever hope we had of getting ye out of the bed on Tuesday morning, Thursday suffered more with just 4 in the pool! In the evening we had the run set on Dromin Rd at 7pm. Good numbers here again and with it all set on that one stretch of road no one is left behind.
Friday morning we joined the masters for their 6:30am swim set so Friday evening was a well earned rest with nothing on!
Saturdays cycle was cancelled as the weather was a total wash out, but it looks good for this coming Saturday so pump up those wheels!
Sunday there was a hill run up Coum. A small few completed different distances here from 5K to 13 miles!!! Look out on viber for meet times on this. We tend to meet at yellow bridge around 9:40 in case people don’t know where to go.
We are still working on setting up the membership on TI, we just need some documentation to show the committee are all safe citizens!! Could take a while with Clever on board!
Its Monday so now it all starts again. Get your training plan sorted for the week and try and make as many as you can.
Straight from the biography called “the life of James” comes the below excerpt which we believe could lead into an amazing life story book! James, Yvonne and Noel have added themselves to the club board of “IM achievers” so enjoy the report from James below.
Pour some tea folks, this is laborious!
So after 6 months of training and 2 weeks of meandering our way through France (beautiful, may I add) we arrive in Calella on Monday evening to our humble abode for the next 8 days (Hotel Haromar). They definitely know how to put a guy to test here anyhow, like who’s idea is it to have a beer fest and Ironman on at the same time? No doubt it will make more sense next Monday!
We had already decided that we would do our sightseeing these next 2days. 2 reasons, we might not be able to next week and plus, it’s done in time to give the legs the rest before Sunday. Barcelona open top bus tour highly recommended (wont bore ye with it but Nou Camp and Gaudi to name just a few highlights), but first up is a 2k swim in the blue warm waters of the med. Choppy but very manageable, followed by Hotel buffet brekkie, which to say the least is interesting. Toast, plum jam and hard boiled eggs after a feed of bacon and beans! Off to Barca on the train to do our touristy duties! Dinner, courtesy of our half-board which we decided on after a warning or two from Sean Gleeson, was again interesting, but a meat feast all the same. So, I did what he told me to do, “I stuffed myself”. Happy out here!
Next day is pretty much the same except it was a 10k run, followed by some more delicate breakfast cuisine. There was then a trip to Barcelona, grub n good night.
Thursday saw a lot more lycra clad people around and my detective skills deduced that they were not here for Octoberfest! Handy cycle planned for today, out to Matarò and back. Roughly about 50k. Big kudos to young Keith Butler for the Nenagh-Limerick road repeats idea for our training, similar cycling terrain but much better surface here. A reality check though, if it was ever needed, is “you know you won’t win when u are going downhill at 28mph and get overtaken”. Registration opened this evening so over we popped and its then you realise that this shit just got real! Your bright orange wristband tells everyone the real reason you’ve landed in Calella and it isn’t to just top up the tan! There’s also a green wristband given to first timers or Ironvirgins which is a nice touch for being able to pick out fellow newbies! Of course the expo tent got paid a visit coz if there’s one part of this whole IM experience that my wife has excelled at, its buying shit! 6 months of “we’ll need this, we’ll need that”, just ask Noel!
Friday kicks off with a 4 mile run. A hell of a lot more wetsuits and caps bobbing up and down in the sea this morning too! Getting exciting now. Seeing as this is a relaxing day we opt to treat ourselves to a massage in the Crol Centre (fabulous place, 50m outdoor pool, full Thalasso spa), highly recommend pre or post-race or both. Our third musketeer arrived tonight with our entourage of supporters. After 6 months training together I’ll admit, I had started to miss that ugly mug!
Saturday morning with Team IM Capparoe fully reunited, we head on down to get Noel registered! If ever there was a remedy for any nerves, it’s listening to young Oisín telling his tales of airports, flights and putting the shits up nervous flyers like Josie (a gas young fella). He may have taken the slagging over their superior hotel a little too far though! Briefing attended, lunch eaten and off we trot to sort our gear into red and blue bags. Bikes and bags checked, double checked and just to be sure checked again, off we go to rack them in transition. Timing chips picked up and its then you realise, I have to do this, even if its just to get my bike back. Fine dining this evening was courtesy of the Hotel President (Oisín had a point, it was a far superior hotel). Bed for 10pm.
So D-Day arrives! Breakfast of Champions (weetabix) eaten by 6am. Little did I know that I’d be seeing it again not long after! We met Noel at 6:45 and headed on down to transition for our date with destiny! It absolutely bucketed rain half way down (Barcelona my arse, should of waited for the fine day in Cork!).
Swim : only thing I can say is that it was brutal. No swimming at home could of prepared me for it. The swells were ridiculous. I think I was in the water about 4minutes and realised I was possibly further from the first turn then than when we were standing on the beach! The halfway turn was where I gave the weetabix to the jellyfish! Not an attractive image I grant you but it happened 5 more times before the final turn for land. Turns out I wasn’t the only one (even of the 3 of us!) Cursed Butler a few times, thinking back to him pointing at the pool and saying “friend, the swim is the very same as that”. Well pal, I know you are working there a long time but I didn’t realise you were there before it had a feckin roof!
Transition 1 was a little elongated to try and compose myself, not even sure Dr. Paul’s coca-cola trick could remedy this.
Bike: Now this was a different story. Limerick to Nenagh 3 times was how I approached it. I even had my Dalys Cross croissants. Kept it as close as I could to a constant 30km/hr, so I was happy enough. Nutrition was 6 x 750ml bidons of iso energy/carb drink, 2 x croissants, 8 x figrolls, 2 x bars of chocolate, 5 x salt stix. It rained for a fair share of the bike section.
Transition 2: Uneventful. I had planned on taking my time so I could get my heart rate as low as possible and away then for the run.
Run: Im at my happiest running, even marathons, but this isn’t a marathon! You can talk about your strategies etc. and how you’ll approach the run, as I did myself, all you like but you won’t know how the run will go until you’ve taken your leg back out over that saddle! I tipped away at a roughly 8:45min/mile, walking the aid stations. Happy out with my time, was around and about what I’d have hoped. Nutrition was 4 x Gels, banana segments, orange segments, water and coke.
The most important thing was the 3 of us finished! Its been a great 6 months where we all had a bit of craic training together. 2 of us off now to do some active recovery on the Camino! The help and support from all club members has been priceless. Long cycles and runs are made shorter by good company and the odd legend or two. I always say there’s strength in numbers! Thanks a mill to each and every one of you guys and gals. Just so ye know its mucho mucho appreciado!
A question I will no doubt ask myself:
Will I do another Ironman ? Hell yeah!
A Question we’ve all probably asked ourselves :
Can I do Ironman ? My reply is “You can’t Not”
Just a quick update to the below post. For the Saturday cycle it will start on Saturday October 13th at 8:30am outside the leisure centre. The route will be decided on the morning.
And a big best of luck shout out to James and Yvonne Sheehan and Noel O’Meara taking on an Ironman Barcelona in Calella on Sunday. Looking forward to reading that race report!!
