eimear Mullan
  
 Professional Triathlete
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Coaching
  • Results
  • Sponsors
  • Contact
  • gallery
  • About

2 Races In 6 Days, Daily Diary

9/10/2013

3 Comments

 
From Ironman 70.3 Zell Am See, Austria on Sunday the 1st of September to the tough Half Ironman at Gerardmer, France on Saturday the 6th of September 

Day 1 MONDAY

Usually I sleep quite well after a race but this time I didn't sleep much at all and woke up with some very sore legs and an extremely sore foot (from the injury I have been dealing with for some time). Packed up had breakfast which was a great hotel buffet breakfast (with lots of eggs) and headed off on my 8 hour drive back to Leysin. The journey actually took a total of 10 hours with a lunch stop and a lot of traffic. I wore some Compressport compression socks and For Quads for the whole drive and used my Firefly devices any time I was stopped or in traffic and when I got back home. I arrived in Leysin late in the evening, had a light dinner, got a fairly early night and slept really well.

Day 2 TUESDAY

When the alarm went off at 6.45 I really didn’t want to get up but I dragged myself out of bed and headed to the pool for the  usual 7.30 swim start.  I swam for just over an hour with a few sprints to loosen up the body.  My legs are not as stiff and sore as yesterday but they are still much more painful than usual after a race though this time it’s just muscle soreness which is much better than the muscle fatigue you  sometimes feel after an Ironman. I set up the bike that I will be racing on at the weekend (a road bike) and headed off for a short bike session to see how the feel on the bike. My legs felt a little sore and tired then in the evening I went for an easy recovery ride to spin the legs out and got another early night.

Day 3 WEDNESDAY

Up for swimming as usual this time around 4k of mostly 400’s then out on the bike around one of our regular loops from Leysin which is around 3 hours and has a few decent climbs. I rode easy, my legs didn’t feel too bad but I didn’t want to test them too much. There is still a lot of muscle soreness so just getting up the climbs was enough for them. In the afternoon I went for a 30 minute water run (I run in the shallow end of the pool with shoes on). This didn’t feel  great, my calves ached and my quads were screaming with fatigue but this eased a little and in the evening I went for a massage which really helped.  Right now I am wondering how I am going to do a tough half ironman at the weekend!

Day 4 Thursday

Last night was a really bad night, I woke up with bad stomach cramps and feeling very sick. I went to swimming as usual hoping I would feel OK but this didn’t help and I had to get out after a very short time in the water. I was going to do a water run before heading to Gerardmer but fell asleep instead and when I woke it was time to get on the road. I think my sleep helped as I felt a little better on the drive. I arrived early evening, didn’t make it out for dinner as I didn’t feel like eating so had and Ignite Naturals shake instead and went to bed but again didn’t sleep well.

Day 5 Friday

Pre-race day suffering a little with the same symptoms as yesterday but managed to eat a decent breakfast and went to the expo to pick up a few gels for the race. Spoke to the Sailfish Wetsuits guys who recognised me from Ironman Zell am See and lent me a wetsuit for the race as I haven’t been feeling comfortable in my own wetsuit lately.  I did a short bike and swim, my legs are actually feeling ok but I am still wondering whether I will be able to start tomorrow as I’m am having a lot of problems with my stomach and don’t seem to be keeping much nutrition in me. Fingers crossed I’ll be on the startline tomorrow. I managed to eat normally at dinner which is a good sign.

Day 6 Saturday (race day)

Woke up feeling the same as I have for the past two days so wasn’t feeling very up for racing. Went to breakfast and managed 2 scrambled eggs a black coffee and a cup of tea.  Had a lay down after breakfast which helped me to feel a little better. Started to feel a better on the way to the swim start.

RACE

Swim- a battering session at the start to first bouy, found feet but lost them when I got dunked by another female athlete.  The trial Sailfish Attack wetsuit felt pretty good!

Bike- it felt like the whole world was coming past on the first lap, I kept trucking on by myself. Alexandra Louison (and a friend of hers, a man who she seemed to be biking with for the whole race) came past me at the start of the second lap, I bike with her for a while and tried to get away a few times but her and her friend just kept catching back up so it was wasted effort for me. It began to rain on one of the last climbs of the last lap and it seemed to revitilise me. I got a gap, passed another girl and got to transition in 3rd.

Run – I began running at my normal pace and was instantly catching the leaders. Before the end of lap 2 I had the lead and soon after the wheels came off and I was struggling to keep it going. I pushed but had nothing, Louison passed me near the end and Tamsin sprinted to catch me right on the line… we have the same chip time but she got 2nd.  Very frustrating for me as running is usually my strength and today it’s where I lost the race. Feeling quite disappointed but I guess after the week I have had its not that bad. 


NEXT

Gerardmer was my last race in Europe for this season. The plan is to pack up in Leysin, drive back home to Ireland (where I will finally get my TT bike which has kindly been built up by Wheelworx bike shop) and go out to Cozumel to train hard on the swim and bike while my foot injury recovers. I have been told to bring 2 pairs of bike shoes because I will be biking so much I will need them!! 

Picture
crazy swim start
3 Comments
Richard
9/16/2013 07:18:52 pm

Hi, nice to such detail on how you cope between races. When water running do you have any structure or is the reason you generally do it being that you're battered from racing and it's just to keep the movement and get the blood flowing without introducing injury risk with impact?

Reply
jeremygould link
10/22/2013 08:06:00 pm

Awesome man!!!!!I This race seems to be very tricky and exhaustive, but you have participated really well in these races. I feel it requires a tough mental and physical trauma to have a perfect performance such kind of events.

Reply
Cameron N link
6/22/2022 12:53:59 am

This iss a great blog

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    December 2018
    August 2018
    March 2018
    November 2017
    July 2017
    February 2017
    August 2016
    December 2015
    September 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.