Well on the last day of a highly eventful year cis upon us and I have a certain mixed feeling about what had transpired in 2009. On the sporting front, I have achieved many first and significant milestones. On the work front I have also had many gratifying moments, firsts. With the family, a renewed and even more wonderful of spending quality time together.
I capped the last day of the year with an open water swim at Tanjung beach, doing 2 km in 1:20 and had a lot of things going through my mind during the workout. I practiced sighting and slow controlled breathing and coordinated slow strokes to maximize glide and efficiency. I have a tendency to get a bit work-upped particularly if the water suddenly change in temperature, there are bubbles which are created by myself which I perceive to be jellyfish so I told myself I will keep calm in the water no matter what. 500 m into the swim i noticed a small yellow fish in my field of view. It was swimming as fast as it tail fin could carry him . There were brown stripes running on its side and I thought for a moment he was actually looking at me. by 1.5 km he was still there and always appeared somewhat on my right field of view and sometimes ahead and occasionally under my chin. I thought it was an apparition or a reflection but unless I was frankly psychotic with schizophrenic elements with vivid visual hallucinations I could not possibly be seeing this as clearly as this. Then it dawned on me. My swimming must have created a small swirl of current that this tiny fish must have be swept in the draft and could not get out!
As I was finally getting accustomed I had the fright of my life as I felt something making contact with the side of my back. I turned around and saw a retriever pawing me. I was almost frantic and he kept coming towards me with his paws raised and clamouring on me. I had to shout at him but he looked confused and continued until another voice boomed to the right of us. The dog turned around and promptly swam towards the direction of the sound.
Relieved, I took a while to adjust my goggles before continuing, determined not to let the episode or anything else stop me from my 2 km swim; and finish I did.
Slow as usual, but hey as Lance Armstrong says, " pain is temporary but quitting is forever' and if this was the last workout of the year, I resolved that it should begin as it started, that I never give up what I start.
happy new year and hear's to another fantastic year ahead with unforgettable experiences.
Carpe Diem!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Maiden Joyriders Ride
I finally did it. I finally joined these guys for a ride this morning. BFG, JN and I met up and then proceeded to LH for the rendevous with the group. There was a bit of confusion with JN and BFG waiting at the bus stop and I was at the petrol kiosk. It was after the 10th chap passed me and hollered( mistaken identity) that I thought I should SMS BFG.
There's this great bubbly girl called Joyce who runs the show( amazing isn't it?) and we have communicated through the email a couple of times in October but I never joined them because of travelling commitments and then there was the training for the SCSM which took me away from cycling for quite a bit.
The joyriders set off at a blistering pace and by junction of yio chu kang and upper thomson road I was falling back fast behind the quick group. Are these chaps newbies?? Joyce pulled up next to me and said we are going by the shorter route which I thought was great. She was great, cracking jokes and generally having a good time while I was nearly cyanosed and panting. I could feel my heart rate climbing. At the edge of seletar reservoir, I expect BFG to zoom past. Right on cue, he powered past me true to script. I started to enjoy the ride at Mandai road and willed my legs to mash down on the pedals. Well, if I were to compare with my level of comfort on the bike at the beginning of this year, I have improved somewhat. I was then averaging 20 km/h and being dropped by 5 Granny's at the park connectors at East Coast with embarassing frequency and occasionnaly forgot I am on clipless pedals and have fallen a few times. Nothing too major in terms of physical injuries but certainly had huge dents in my ego given the high embarassement quotient which I will no doubt one day write about.
We peeled off at bukit timah and then went up RRR again. It had started to drizzle. It was 6 am and the sky was still dark as we started our limb up the road. I practised getting out of my seat to pedal and was wobbling from left to right. Up the road, the road was swathed in pitch darkness; there are at least 2 stretches where there are no street lamps and I could not even see the edge of the road and on the downhill I had to grip the brakes to slow the descent.
It was indeed a new experience for me and I felt great after that.
Ride: 43 km; 1:38.
When all that was done, I still had time to do a short 20 lap swim focussing on drills and some speed(? well RPE 8-9 for me) work at the pool for 30 minutes. All in all, a great day!
Well we will not see BFG for a bit. He is off to the USA to do his marathon( how cool is that?!). All the best friend!
For me, to more climbs and longer distances on the bike
There's this great bubbly girl called Joyce who runs the show( amazing isn't it?) and we have communicated through the email a couple of times in October but I never joined them because of travelling commitments and then there was the training for the SCSM which took me away from cycling for quite a bit.
The joyriders set off at a blistering pace and by junction of yio chu kang and upper thomson road I was falling back fast behind the quick group. Are these chaps newbies?? Joyce pulled up next to me and said we are going by the shorter route which I thought was great. She was great, cracking jokes and generally having a good time while I was nearly cyanosed and panting. I could feel my heart rate climbing. At the edge of seletar reservoir, I expect BFG to zoom past. Right on cue, he powered past me true to script. I started to enjoy the ride at Mandai road and willed my legs to mash down on the pedals. Well, if I were to compare with my level of comfort on the bike at the beginning of this year, I have improved somewhat. I was then averaging 20 km/h and being dropped by 5 Granny's at the park connectors at East Coast with embarassing frequency and occasionnaly forgot I am on clipless pedals and have fallen a few times. Nothing too major in terms of physical injuries but certainly had huge dents in my ego given the high embarassement quotient which I will no doubt one day write about.
We peeled off at bukit timah and then went up RRR again. It had started to drizzle. It was 6 am and the sky was still dark as we started our limb up the road. I practised getting out of my seat to pedal and was wobbling from left to right. Up the road, the road was swathed in pitch darkness; there are at least 2 stretches where there are no street lamps and I could not even see the edge of the road and on the downhill I had to grip the brakes to slow the descent.
It was indeed a new experience for me and I felt great after that.
Ride: 43 km; 1:38.
When all that was done, I still had time to do a short 20 lap swim focussing on drills and some speed(? well RPE 8-9 for me) work at the pool for 30 minutes. All in all, a great day!
Well we will not see BFG for a bit. He is off to the USA to do his marathon( how cool is that?!). All the best friend!
For me, to more climbs and longer distances on the bike
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Cycling with Anaesthetists
28th December was a special treat. I was cajoled into cycling with my anaesthetic colleagues jt and okc Anaethetists are our colleagues on the other side of the screen so to speak. They keep patients sedated and quiet while we work on them. Working well with them is a pre-requisite towards the best desired outcome. We started on my usual route. The mandai route was obviously an old haunt for them too. OKC was able to give me a number of fine pointers on cycling on undulating terrain. I had to work hard to keep from being dropped although I was thankful they actually did wait for me. I did 45 km in 1:45, a little bit more by climbing the overhead bridge at ADam-Bukit timah and Whitley-Steven junctions before heading back round the Newton route. There after I was car-less for the day; had to send my vehicle in for servicing and end up being stranded and instead of going swimming( I dragged my workout bag to 2 different hospitals ), i ended up taking the MRTfrom SGH to NNI. It was quite nice to take the train during the off peak hours. I did not realise that there are a lot of routes now including the North east and east and a whole lot of routes. The trains looked as well kept as ever and in fact looked positively comfortable and decent!
On 29th December, I went down to the Buona Vista pool in the late afternoon and went for my long swim. I resolved to do 48 laps( or 2.4 km) non-stop. I focused on body rotation and slow controlled breathing with an aim to increase my aerobic base. As usual, I was lapped like a gazillion times by many swimmers including a guy swimming breast stroke! Talk about slow, I was reminded of a line I liked to use on my registrars:" Dr xxx, if you close this wound any slower, time would be moving backwards!" I would think in this case, that line would be appropriate on me.I completed it in 1:19 and then headed straight home for a 30 minute spinning session before I called it quits for the day.
I have also started on Accelerade after each work out to reduce my weight loss as I have a tendency to lose too much weight when I am training relatively hard and I hope I will be enough muscle mass for swimming and cycling for the next few weeks. I do not quite like the taste as even the flavored beverages taste a little metallic and I actually feel a bit nauseous after I am done but at least I have upped my weight from 64 to 66 kg so its working.
On 29th December, I went down to the Buona Vista pool in the late afternoon and went for my long swim. I resolved to do 48 laps( or 2.4 km) non-stop. I focused on body rotation and slow controlled breathing with an aim to increase my aerobic base. As usual, I was lapped like a gazillion times by many swimmers including a guy swimming breast stroke! Talk about slow, I was reminded of a line I liked to use on my registrars:" Dr xxx, if you close this wound any slower, time would be moving backwards!" I would think in this case, that line would be appropriate on me.I completed it in 1:19 and then headed straight home for a 30 minute spinning session before I called it quits for the day.
I have also started on Accelerade after each work out to reduce my weight loss as I have a tendency to lose too much weight when I am training relatively hard and I hope I will be enough muscle mass for swimming and cycling for the next few weeks. I do not quite like the taste as even the flavored beverages taste a little metallic and I actually feel a bit nauseous after I am done but at least I have upped my weight from 64 to 66 kg so its working.
Monday, December 28, 2009
27th December 2009
After the FOTR on Saturday, I followed up the afternoon with the second workout of the day. I thought I should do a long run but as usual, rain spoilt the party. By the the time it had settled down to a drizzle I had just about an hour to run before the family comes for a boxing day dinner. I managed a 8 km run in 50 minutes and while it was not quite a struggle, it felt more difficult than usual. I ran my usual Bukit Timah- 6th Avenue-Ulu Pandan route before ducking into the peace and quiet of Coronation road and back home. The 6th Avenue run though short is one of my favourites because of the undulating hills and I did a bit of fartlek usually on this stretch. The weather after the drizzle was humid and cool and becaue the roads were wet from the rain, I felt reluctant to wear my Asics or my NB shoes, but chose my North face shoes which haven't been used much since the TNF race.
Weeks efforts 9:02 hours( 8 exercises)
Run 15.5 km 1:41
Bike 119.5 4:50
Swim 4.9 km 2:32
Weeks efforts 9:02 hours( 8 exercises)
Run 15.5 km 1:41
Bike 119.5 4:50
Swim 4.9 km 2:32
Saturday, December 26, 2009
The Last Ride of the Year...
This morning's ride was dubbed the last ride of the year. It was the Mandai route and the fellowship of the ride as coined by BFG had recommenced after a few weeks hiatus when BFG was in Adelaide for a Sabbatical. Weather was excellent and there were 5 of us. I had just changed the batteries on my bike and cleats and given the dreadful weather the whole week, I was grateful as was the others to have a chance to ride. It was a good ride, just like what we were used to. Apologies JN who had lost some cycle legs after a period off the bike. By Mandai avenue, I had worked out a good sweat and had some difficulty keeping up with PK when BFG came zooming past me as we were making the short climb after the executive Golf course. Just like old times again i thought to myself. We were overtaken by 2 groups of cyclists who went silently past. We then went up RRR. PK and I were determined to exorcise our demons and pedalled up with enthusiasm. After our last attempt as a group up where the both of us gave up and set at the start waiting for the rest of the gang to finish their workout, were determined to go all the way there. Was a good workout. PK exorcise more than a demon, he was a speed demon himself zooming down the hill at probably more than 50 km whooshing past me at ST kinetics.
45 km 2 hours
45 km 2 hours
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
On the turbo trainer
Another rainy day encountered. When the alarm clock rang at a half past four, I hit the snooze button and went back to sleep but thought that I have yet to do an early morning ride this week. A peek from my room window revealed clouds in a reddish sky but no rain. I could hear the fallen dry leaves swooshing down the hill and the rustling of trees. In the backyard joey and jade were fast asleep. Joey reared up his head when a branch fell and then went back to sleep when he did not see anybody to bark at. Jade was her usual customary self, curled in the corner behind the granite pot, her thick white tail showing from where I looked. I shook off the sleep cobwebs and went out to sort the bike out and made sure I have my trusty bike essentials before heading to the kitchen for a Muesli bar and a glass of soy milk.
When I got out, it had started to rain. I was contemplating riding as it wasn't too bad but thought the better of it. As I set waiting for the rain to stop, it did the contrary. It got heavier and heavier and I gave up, went upstairs and changed. Went to work as I couldn't possibly go back to sleep now. Did some paperwork and did some emails before doing a round to make sure all was well and quiet on the patch.
I decided to do some work on the turbo trainer. The gym was quiet and the cyclo trainers were not occupied. I have not done very much work on these trainers but thought something is better than nothing. Did a 7 minute warmup to see how my leg muscles were. When they were well warmed up, I decided to do the random hill program with 6 hills in a 2 hour workout at level 9-10. I thought I did achieve some aerobic base training during the workout and the hills provided some anaerobic training and I worked up a good sweat.
I thought it would be difficult to stay focused but I was pleasantly surprised to note that it wasn't as tiresome as I had envisaged. The gym was putting in some pulsating R & B and I spent the time watching CNN. There was no sound and I had to contend with the newsline at the bottom of the screen which compelled me to concentrate.
I did 60.4 km in 2 hours with average watt output of 101 watts; average RPM of 79; 900 calories burnt and an average speed of 31.1 km/hour. This was way faster than my usual bike rides on the road and I think it is probably a combination of factors: I had no danger elements of road riding to contend with and can pedal aggressively without fear of crashing. The other possibility is that its just darn inaccurate.
When I got out, it had started to rain. I was contemplating riding as it wasn't too bad but thought the better of it. As I set waiting for the rain to stop, it did the contrary. It got heavier and heavier and I gave up, went upstairs and changed. Went to work as I couldn't possibly go back to sleep now. Did some paperwork and did some emails before doing a round to make sure all was well and quiet on the patch.
I decided to do some work on the turbo trainer. The gym was quiet and the cyclo trainers were not occupied. I have not done very much work on these trainers but thought something is better than nothing. Did a 7 minute warmup to see how my leg muscles were. When they were well warmed up, I decided to do the random hill program with 6 hills in a 2 hour workout at level 9-10. I thought I did achieve some aerobic base training during the workout and the hills provided some anaerobic training and I worked up a good sweat.
I thought it would be difficult to stay focused but I was pleasantly surprised to note that it wasn't as tiresome as I had envisaged. The gym was putting in some pulsating R & B and I spent the time watching CNN. There was no sound and I had to contend with the newsline at the bottom of the screen which compelled me to concentrate.
I did 60.4 km in 2 hours with average watt output of 101 watts; average RPM of 79; 900 calories burnt and an average speed of 31.1 km/hour. This was way faster than my usual bike rides on the road and I think it is probably a combination of factors: I had no danger elements of road riding to contend with and can pedal aggressively without fear of crashing. The other possibility is that its just darn inaccurate.
My First RRR foray
Was a quiet day at work before x'mas. Did not think there was a lot to do except I had a visitor from Hong Kong which I had to host and thence to see another patient at SGH. Ah the wonder's of public service which allows me the privilege of treating the downtrodden and help those in true need without for regard of money. How do you convince one of unsound mind that he will need surgery for a tumour that is the cause of his unsound mine and possibly what has caused him to be ostracized from his family and friends because of his less than agreeable character? I tried to speak with him to no avail and then tried to contact his family and received a shouting over the phone about how that no good brother of hers is no longer her concern. But treat him we must; not before we get a psychiatrist to see him first which I am sure will be after christmas.
Having cleared up all my paperwork was the best thing that I did too before driving out to RRR for a ride for the first time. Isn't it amazing that you are always blindsighted to what possible training opportunities at your backyard? I had suggested to SE and PK but never done it myself! Oh there was one feeble attempt for which I aborted on SE's last ride before he went for his Sabbatical. I though PK stopped so that he could hang out with me as all the rest have already raced up the hills. I remembered him telling me I probably had a lot of cycling work to do to prepare for the Aviva which I knew was a spot on assessment. It was drizzling a little and I was quietly contemplating about whether today was a good day to tackle this road. I arrived and with tentative steps mounted my bike and it was drizzling slightly which made the atmosphere nice and cool. There was even a sort of a mist at the carpark reminiscent of my 38 km trail running a few months ago. I managed 3 loops of the RRR and on some of the slopes was riding at 10 km/hr which was quite pathetic. A thought flashed through my mind; was this how the elite cyclists must have felt on the slopes at the tour de France? My moment of pain was probably momentary compared to those guys. I struggled up the first loop and was ready to pack up but thought I wasn't going to improve if I gave up that easily and willed myself for the second loop. The term "quads burning" did come to me as I huffed and puffed and at one stage was possibly audibly panting. With that done completed in 50 minutes(! Gosh talk about snail"s pace!) went to the pool for a decent 32 laps in the pool in 48 minutes where I concentrated on body rotation as a drill to engage my lats and ran through the drills of the perpetual movement(?) technique.
I thought today was a decent workout; a decent days' work( okay, okay it was a light day as far as work is concerned) and I am able to go home to have dinner with the family.
WIth X;mas and the long weekend around the corner, I do have a quiet resolution not to eat of drink too much and try to wake up in the mornings to take advantage of the light traffic to cycle and maybe get a couple of brick runs as well. Ran into YM who did the Bintan triathlon and of course his marathon exploits are the stuff of legend at TTSH now given that he ran the race in sub 4. I congratulated him on his fantastic achievements and enquired if he was ON for the 70.3 . He said something which I will remember: " Ivan I am not sure if I will do the 70.3 as I am crap at swimming and cycling. I probably could complete it in 8 hours but I thought I will not be doing myself justice." I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that as I thought that goal of completing the race within time would be a great achievement for me! I thought it was precisely I was crap at swimming and cycling that I am do the tri rather than running. Doing something you are decent in and doing it well because God gave you a little more is great but what about facing your fears and the journey's about conquering your fear and facing your inadequacies everyday? I think I started doing multi-sports because I swam like a dog in a drain sputtering and splashing and was not very comfortable in the water. Its precisely I am aware of my sorry state that I want to do better. Ditto with cycling. Its the same with work I guess, when you do what I do, you have to be an optimist and see what others do not see; to never give up on your patients no matter how hopeless it may seem because if you stop trying, then the patient has no chance. You do it because you do what you do with your human resolve and God in His divine will will do the rest. So here's to completing and finishing the Aviva 70.3.
23rd December
Swim 1.6 km( 48 min)
Bike 15.52( 50 min)
Having cleared up all my paperwork was the best thing that I did too before driving out to RRR for a ride for the first time. Isn't it amazing that you are always blindsighted to what possible training opportunities at your backyard? I had suggested to SE and PK but never done it myself! Oh there was one feeble attempt for which I aborted on SE's last ride before he went for his Sabbatical. I though PK stopped so that he could hang out with me as all the rest have already raced up the hills. I remembered him telling me I probably had a lot of cycling work to do to prepare for the Aviva which I knew was a spot on assessment. It was drizzling a little and I was quietly contemplating about whether today was a good day to tackle this road. I arrived and with tentative steps mounted my bike and it was drizzling slightly which made the atmosphere nice and cool. There was even a sort of a mist at the carpark reminiscent of my 38 km trail running a few months ago. I managed 3 loops of the RRR and on some of the slopes was riding at 10 km/hr which was quite pathetic. A thought flashed through my mind; was this how the elite cyclists must have felt on the slopes at the tour de France? My moment of pain was probably momentary compared to those guys. I struggled up the first loop and was ready to pack up but thought I wasn't going to improve if I gave up that easily and willed myself for the second loop. The term "quads burning" did come to me as I huffed and puffed and at one stage was possibly audibly panting. With that done completed in 50 minutes(! Gosh talk about snail"s pace!) went to the pool for a decent 32 laps in the pool in 48 minutes where I concentrated on body rotation as a drill to engage my lats and ran through the drills of the perpetual movement(?) technique.
I thought today was a decent workout; a decent days' work( okay, okay it was a light day as far as work is concerned) and I am able to go home to have dinner with the family.
WIth X;mas and the long weekend around the corner, I do have a quiet resolution not to eat of drink too much and try to wake up in the mornings to take advantage of the light traffic to cycle and maybe get a couple of brick runs as well. Ran into YM who did the Bintan triathlon and of course his marathon exploits are the stuff of legend at TTSH now given that he ran the race in sub 4. I congratulated him on his fantastic achievements and enquired if he was ON for the 70.3 . He said something which I will remember: " Ivan I am not sure if I will do the 70.3 as I am crap at swimming and cycling. I probably could complete it in 8 hours but I thought I will not be doing myself justice." I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that as I thought that goal of completing the race within time would be a great achievement for me! I thought it was precisely I was crap at swimming and cycling that I am do the tri rather than running. Doing something you are decent in and doing it well because God gave you a little more is great but what about facing your fears and the journey's about conquering your fear and facing your inadequacies everyday? I think I started doing multi-sports because I swam like a dog in a drain sputtering and splashing and was not very comfortable in the water. Its precisely I am aware of my sorry state that I want to do better. Ditto with cycling. Its the same with work I guess, when you do what I do, you have to be an optimist and see what others do not see; to never give up on your patients no matter how hopeless it may seem because if you stop trying, then the patient has no chance. You do it because you do what you do with your human resolve and God in His divine will will do the rest. So here's to completing and finishing the Aviva 70.3.
23rd December
Swim 1.6 km( 48 min)
Bike 15.52( 50 min)
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Start of Another Week of Intensive Training
Alright I have done one good week and now am launching to week 2 of Aviva training. Started out on Monday a little bit lethargic as I took celebratory efforts to a significant high on Sunday night with a bottle of wine to wash down some spectacular chilly crab that WL cooked. I have to say the savignon blanc- semillion combo went brilliantly with the crabs which were fresh and succulent. Monday proved to be a sluggish start but managed to hit the pool for a 2.2 km swim. Was a bit of struggle as I felt sluggish. The swim which was a continuous 2 km swim turned out to be protracted and laboured and I was convinced by the probably excessive booze input. A quite mental note to take it easy. Finally finished pretty much out of breath. When I got home I was quite pleasantly surprised that after some re-fueling I did manage a slow 7.5 km run on the undulating hills through coronation road, ulu pandan and 6th avenue.
21st December
Swim 2.2 km( 1:12 )
Run 7.6 km( 0:51)
Despite teh earlier quiet resolutions, I unfortunately yielded to temptation at JG's house. WHen you have great Pauilliau's, St Emillion Grand Cru's and Margaux's you could simply not refuse and certainly not I as I thought this was the time of the year that the quality of the wine drunkern was far in excess of quality than all that i drank this year. So it was really today even more sluggish where I did 1.1 km in 31 minutes at the RTC pool. I had to glare at a few kids and mutter threatening rubbish to make sure that some kids do not cross my path again.
22nd December
Swim 1.1( 31 min)
21st December
Swim 2.2 km( 1:12 )
Run 7.6 km( 0:51)
Despite teh earlier quiet resolutions, I unfortunately yielded to temptation at JG's house. WHen you have great Pauilliau's, St Emillion Grand Cru's and Margaux's you could simply not refuse and certainly not I as I thought this was the time of the year that the quality of the wine drunkern was far in excess of quality than all that i drank this year. So it was really today even more sluggish where I did 1.1 km in 31 minutes at the RTC pool. I had to glare at a few kids and mutter threatening rubbish to make sure that some kids do not cross my path again.
22nd December
Swim 1.1( 31 min)
Saturday, December 19, 2009
1st week of training completed
well i have completed my first week of training! On friday I woke up to find that it was raining so cycling was out. Despite a topsy-turvy day which included me not having a car to drive( the ol' volvo was out of coolant1), i managed to run to 2 places to complete off my morning work at breakneck speed, got my car to the workshop and chaired a meeting before hitting the pool for a 40 lap swim for an hour. to tell the truth, it was a personal best from my end to have swum this within an hour so I am on course to the Aviva hopefully!. I followed this with a brick run( almost!i did the run within an hour) of 5 km. Nothing to strenuous and did it at 6min/km so all in all a decent Friday workout.
18th December 2 exercises
swim 2 km 1 hour
run 5 km 32 min
Saturday wasn't too good for me. Woke up to find the weather was awful and could only bike at cali fitness. Did the random hills and managed 45 minutes at 22 km on turbo trainer, I did hope to do some running but never managed it, sorting out computer stuff and other houeshold deeds.
19th December 1 exercise
bike( turbo trainer) 22 km 45 min
Sunday began really brightly metaphorically and meteorologically. Cycling gang reduced from 4 to just me and HC. AW and DB could not make it as they were nursing a flu. Was another 5 am start and did the mandai route again but did 5 km more by continuing on bukit timah road and rounding at Newton circus to get back home. About a 1:50 ride which was to my mind a good workout and keeping it safe. I thought HC enjoyed it too!
20th December 1 exercise
Bike 43.5 km 1:50
So for the whole week i did 8 exercises with
R 5 km( 30 min)
B 140.8 km( 5:45)
S 4.4 km( 2:15)
8:30
Not sure if I will get to do any running this pm but probably do a track workout with EW at the SPE track. Can't imagine it will be much but a good week this week!!
18th December 2 exercises
swim 2 km 1 hour
run 5 km 32 min
Saturday wasn't too good for me. Woke up to find the weather was awful and could only bike at cali fitness. Did the random hills and managed 45 minutes at 22 km on turbo trainer, I did hope to do some running but never managed it, sorting out computer stuff and other houeshold deeds.
19th December 1 exercise
bike( turbo trainer) 22 km 45 min
Sunday began really brightly metaphorically and meteorologically. Cycling gang reduced from 4 to just me and HC. AW and DB could not make it as they were nursing a flu. Was another 5 am start and did the mandai route again but did 5 km more by continuing on bukit timah road and rounding at Newton circus to get back home. About a 1:50 ride which was to my mind a good workout and keeping it safe. I thought HC enjoyed it too!
20th December 1 exercise
Bike 43.5 km 1:50
So for the whole week i did 8 exercises with
R 5 km( 30 min)
B 140.8 km( 5:45)
S 4.4 km( 2:15)
8:30
Not sure if I will get to do any running this pm but probably do a track workout with EW at the SPE track. Can't imagine it will be much but a good week this week!!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
17th December 2009 Enforced Rest Day
The enforcement of rest and a hiatus away from training today came from dreadful weather and work commitments. Woke up at $ then at 5 am and was raining so I gratefully dug deeper into my pillow for more shuteye. K's gentle breathing was evident and comforting and she was contentedly sucking her thumb . She woke up, looked at me sleepily with eyes that do not quite register and promptly lay her head on her mother who as usual was sleeping like a dead log. Well I rationalized I had already done 77 km this week and I could afford a bit more shuteye. Thought I could do with a 90 swim session in the pool to make up. So it was a not so guilty morning!
I reviewed the Aviva 70.3 route again. I would go for a conservative 1 hour swim( with 2 loops of 800 m, it should be imminently do-able; thence the bike lake at an average speed of 27.5 km should take me 3 and a half hours; the run leg at 7 min/ km should take me 2:30 so my time should be a 7 hours time for completion so that should be a time I should aim for.
well assuming I do 2 hours of biking and 1 hour of running, I would have done 7.5 hours and with the weekend beckoning I should surpass 10 hours in my first week of triathlon training!
Well as it transpires, work commitments dictate that I cannot even do the swim nad so my take of today is one big zero! Well no sweat off my beack I think as I will make up for it by doing 3 hours tomorrow.
Exercise 0
I reviewed the Aviva 70.3 route again. I would go for a conservative 1 hour swim( with 2 loops of 800 m, it should be imminently do-able; thence the bike lake at an average speed of 27.5 km should take me 3 and a half hours; the run leg at 7 min/ km should take me 2:30 so my time should be a 7 hours time for completion so that should be a time I should aim for.
well assuming I do 2 hours of biking and 1 hour of running, I would have done 7.5 hours and with the weekend beckoning I should surpass 10 hours in my first week of triathlon training!
Well as it transpires, work commitments dictate that I cannot even do the swim nad so my take of today is one big zero! Well no sweat off my beack I think as I will make up for it by doing 3 hours tomorrow.
Exercise 0
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
95 more days to the Race
Well i sat counting the days to the biggest race i will have ever done and realized I have less than 15 weeks! It should be so bad except that I think my cycling and swimming is really the bottom 5th centile. Running is always my strongest. For the standard chartered marathon I was top 13th centile but for last year"s Osim and Bintan triathlon, I was bottom 15th centile so it obvious where my weak areas are.
The stark realization of this and the slothful act in my last 24 hours stung me into action and I am happy to say I rose to the challenge( no pun intended) this morning. okay, okay i woke up at 5 am instead of 4:50 am but at least this time I hauled myself out of bed. It was the usual Mandai route as I felt I could do with some undulating hills. I was a little concerned it would rain and in fact I felt a number of drops although thankfully the heavens did not open up. I decided I will forego the small chain ring and bit the bullet and go for my usual big chain ring plus 3. The Mandai road bit before the BKE was full of traffic and I was getting a bit concerned but things eased up a bit after the BKE exit and I was able to bike quite uneventfully to upper bukit timah road. The traffic became heavier after Pasir Panjang and in fact I had vehicles running too close to me for comfort. I think this ride was instructive as I stopped pedaling to stabilize myself whenever a heavy vehicle came close to me. My confidence grew by leaps and bounds and I felt today I did wound significantly the monster in my mind which is the fear of biking in heavy traffic. Towards the end, things weren"t unfortunately too good because I was lined up with 6 SBS buses! It was a bit of challenge and I must thank the drivers for being very patient with me. All in all in completed 37 km in 1:30 again and I hope my time will improve over the next few weeks. Yes I realise it is really pathetic but I feel it in my bones that I can so rock bottom the only way I can go is up!
Well it is a whole day of work which included operating on 2 majors but I was done in good time and I thought I should hit the pool. Rain in the early afternoon certainly dampened my spirits but not my resolve and I head to rtc to the 25 m pool for some laps. Did 40 laps( 1 km) pushing realtively hard and overall pretty pleased with day's effort.
When you are rock bottom, the only way you can go is up.
Activities
Bike 37.23 km 1:35
Swim 1 km 0:30:10
The stark realization of this and the slothful act in my last 24 hours stung me into action and I am happy to say I rose to the challenge( no pun intended) this morning. okay, okay i woke up at 5 am instead of 4:50 am but at least this time I hauled myself out of bed. It was the usual Mandai route as I felt I could do with some undulating hills. I was a little concerned it would rain and in fact I felt a number of drops although thankfully the heavens did not open up. I decided I will forego the small chain ring and bit the bullet and go for my usual big chain ring plus 3. The Mandai road bit before the BKE was full of traffic and I was getting a bit concerned but things eased up a bit after the BKE exit and I was able to bike quite uneventfully to upper bukit timah road. The traffic became heavier after Pasir Panjang and in fact I had vehicles running too close to me for comfort. I think this ride was instructive as I stopped pedaling to stabilize myself whenever a heavy vehicle came close to me. My confidence grew by leaps and bounds and I felt today I did wound significantly the monster in my mind which is the fear of biking in heavy traffic. Towards the end, things weren"t unfortunately too good because I was lined up with 6 SBS buses! It was a bit of challenge and I must thank the drivers for being very patient with me. All in all in completed 37 km in 1:30 again and I hope my time will improve over the next few weeks. Yes I realise it is really pathetic but I feel it in my bones that I can so rock bottom the only way I can go is up!
Well it is a whole day of work which included operating on 2 majors but I was done in good time and I thought I should hit the pool. Rain in the early afternoon certainly dampened my spirits but not my resolve and I head to rtc to the 25 m pool for some laps. Did 40 laps( 1 km) pushing realtively hard and overall pretty pleased with day's effort.
When you are rock bottom, the only way you can go is up.
Activities
Bike 37.23 km 1:35
Swim 1 km 0:30:10
Monday, December 14, 2009
Anti-climax day
Well title says it all. I set my alarm to go off at 4:50 am with the aim of doing a 40 km cycle via Mandai but alarm rang and my usual instintive reaction was at it again. Snooz ethe alarm and went back to dreamland. Day's schedule will not allow me any training time today. I wonder if my innate mood is related to my lack of exercise. I am truly in quite foul a mood and have to muster every ounce not to produce negative vibes at work. My 70.3 ambitions are not quite in tatters yet but if more of today happens it sure will be. In my sullen mood, I totaled that I will have probably 53 sessions of biking and swimming if I do a hard 4 sessions of each a week and i wonder if I can cut it. That is not counting my 26 runs of which 13 will be long runs and the equal half intervals.
My lats do ache a bit as are my quads and I hope all these soreness will go away. I do hope I can do tomorrow what I was to slothful to do today.
Summary of today"s activities 0
My lats do ache a bit as are my quads and I hope all these soreness will go away. I do hope I can do tomorrow what I was to slothful to do today.
Summary of today"s activities 0
This is it...
Isn't it amazing, it never rains but when it pours it really pours. I think my blogging could be best descirbed as this. 1 entry every 2 weeks ain't what I would call a prolific chronicler but its the first day of my formal training for the Aviva 70.3 for next year. From here on, I do hope to pen down my progress all the way to 22/3/2010. Objective? Well pretty simple, actually I hope to finish. The cut off time is 8 hours. To give myself some semblance of respectibility I hope to finish it in 7 hours and today was my first day working towards my goal.
The scheme of things are as follows: i will probably run once or twice a week and these will be done in the context of brick sessions, hopefully starting in January.For now, the focus would be on the swim and bike.
Well on day 1 , i got off to a flying start awaking at 5 am and biked the bukit timah- lornie -mandai( 38.32 km). The undulating hills were just what I needed to get the biking muscles alive again. I met jt at Longhouse and then for most of the time I spent my biking time staring at his back. Well that was on the good run. Finished in ! hour 35 minutes which wasn't too bad.
I finished fairly timely and could squeeze in some time for swim laps. I completed 28 laps huffing and puffing in a snail pace 45 minutes at the bn pool.
all in all pretty decent:
Summary
Bike 38.32 km( 1:35)
Swim 1.4 km( 0:46)
The scheme of things are as follows: i will probably run once or twice a week and these will be done in the context of brick sessions, hopefully starting in January.For now, the focus would be on the swim and bike.
Well on day 1 , i got off to a flying start awaking at 5 am and biked the bukit timah- lornie -mandai( 38.32 km). The undulating hills were just what I needed to get the biking muscles alive again. I met jt at Longhouse and then for most of the time I spent my biking time staring at his back. Well that was on the good run. Finished in ! hour 35 minutes which wasn't too bad.
I finished fairly timely and could squeeze in some time for swim laps. I completed 28 laps huffing and puffing in a snail pace 45 minutes at the bn pool.
all in all pretty decent:
Summary
Bike 38.32 km( 1:35)
Swim 1.4 km( 0:46)
Sunday, December 13, 2009
a lot of hard work needed ahead...
after a 3 week hiatus, i returned to cycling with the gang. its a usual 5 am start. i slept early and aimed to be fresh for the ride. i woke up 15 minutes be4 the planned ride, hurriedly putting on my gear we planned to go the bukit-timah-lornie-thomson- old upp thomson-mandai-upp bukit timah route and then finish off with a workout on rifle range route. alas i was busy playing catch-up the whole time and by rrr had used up most of my energy. doing a 22 km run in the sun did not help m y energy levels.
i think it will be a tough 4 months working towards the 70.3 race. not sure if i can do it now...
i will need 4 bike sessions a week from now till the aviva 70.3 race
i think it will be a tough 4 months working towards the 70.3 race. not sure if i can do it now...
i will need 4 bike sessions a week from now till the aviva 70.3 race
Singapore Marathon 6th Dec 2009
You know running is a funny thing. The ramblings of the mind while you are engaged this activity is varied, from true and utter blankness to zen-like pre-occupation of your breathing to what you had for last night's dinner. I have been faithfully running for many years but this year really ramped it up and have competed and completed at the SAFRA marathon , north face and of course the running that comes with triathlons. I would not say i am an elite runner and certainly not one of the Tumerahara runners but within the Singapore running community i have consistently finished within the top 20th centile. After the October sojourn into the bukit timah hill and its neighbouring forests running the race that many would consider teh toughest race in singapore, i thought i will be for the marathon..
The month of november was really not a productive month in terms of training. I had to travel 3 weeks and was only back on the last week of November. Whilst away, I had to run whenever I had a chance. As it was largely late autumn in Europe, I bought myself a winter running top which turned out to be fabulous. I did some decent mileage in Nuremberg for the 3 days I was there clocking up 40 km. In Nagoya, i did better doing 50 km. I think running in the cool weather did me a lot of good and gave me great confidence. In fact I was doing 5:20 min/ km which I thought was really decent.
The eve of the race was just preparation and deciding what I was going to carry with me. Remembering PK's advice of nutrition and electrolyte replacement, I had already work out a strategy of a gel every 40 minutes and a salt tablet every 45 minutes. I did a bit of carbo loading at YJ house the night before and even indulged in 1 glass of red wine. I secretly hoped I will not regret it the next day but the temptation was really too great! I was up at #:#) am and had 2 slices of bread with peanut butter and a glass of Soy Bean milk. I also had a mugful of berroca, Accelerade and to tell the truth I was a bit bloated by all of this.
Getting to Raffles city was quite a breeze. Along the way I saw a chap cycling to the race which I thought was likely only because he was doing the 10 km or he would be a real idiot.
Had to wait a bit for ew and while waiting for him I did a bit of warm up.
The race had 18000 people for the full marathon. I started really conservatively adn did a 6:40 to 7:00 per km for the first 10. Was a 10 km per pee stop which prompted ew to say "for a guy with a big **** you sure have a small bladder!" In the second 10 km we upped our pace and was running at about a 6:30 which was really comfortable. had a chance to chit chat a bit and enjoy the atmosphere.
the 3rd 10 km was still easy for me and I felt strong. Had to put a bit of salonpas on the calves but otherwise I felt really strong. ew was beginning to tire. at 32 km, he was falling behind and by then I had upped by speed to 6:to 6:10 and by then I had overtaken many guys. In fact i overtook( according to the statistics 894 people in the final 10 km and only 5 passed me). i was tired and had to slow down somewhere near the F1 starting grid area and by then with 3 km i really increased my pace. I finished at 4:35, not back for an old geek like me!
The month of november was really not a productive month in terms of training. I had to travel 3 weeks and was only back on the last week of November. Whilst away, I had to run whenever I had a chance. As it was largely late autumn in Europe, I bought myself a winter running top which turned out to be fabulous. I did some decent mileage in Nuremberg for the 3 days I was there clocking up 40 km. In Nagoya, i did better doing 50 km. I think running in the cool weather did me a lot of good and gave me great confidence. In fact I was doing 5:20 min/ km which I thought was really decent.
The eve of the race was just preparation and deciding what I was going to carry with me. Remembering PK's advice of nutrition and electrolyte replacement, I had already work out a strategy of a gel every 40 minutes and a salt tablet every 45 minutes. I did a bit of carbo loading at YJ house the night before and even indulged in 1 glass of red wine. I secretly hoped I will not regret it the next day but the temptation was really too great! I was up at #:#) am and had 2 slices of bread with peanut butter and a glass of Soy Bean milk. I also had a mugful of berroca, Accelerade and to tell the truth I was a bit bloated by all of this.
Getting to Raffles city was quite a breeze. Along the way I saw a chap cycling to the race which I thought was likely only because he was doing the 10 km or he would be a real idiot.
Had to wait a bit for ew and while waiting for him I did a bit of warm up.
The race had 18000 people for the full marathon. I started really conservatively adn did a 6:40 to 7:00 per km for the first 10. Was a 10 km per pee stop which prompted ew to say "for a guy with a big **** you sure have a small bladder!" In the second 10 km we upped our pace and was running at about a 6:30 which was really comfortable. had a chance to chit chat a bit and enjoy the atmosphere.
the 3rd 10 km was still easy for me and I felt strong. Had to put a bit of salonpas on the calves but otherwise I felt really strong. ew was beginning to tire. at 32 km, he was falling behind and by then I had upped by speed to 6:to 6:10 and by then I had overtaken many guys. In fact i overtook( according to the statistics 894 people in the final 10 km and only 5 passed me). i was tired and had to slow down somewhere near the F1 starting grid area and by then with 3 km i really increased my pace. I finished at 4:35, not back for an old geek like me!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Embarrased
I am truly embarrassed that my current entry is a full 2 months almost from the first! not a good start definitely! the truth is i completelty forgot i had created a blog where my idle ramblings were supposed to be placed on "paper" for a lack of a better word.anyway, i have found my way back and hopefully this will serve to be a catalyst for further blog entries.
i think it is wise personally for myselfto take a stock check of 2009 now that it is ending. from a fitness front, i am fitter than ever. my performance in the athletic arena would not be quite what a colleague of mine have described about his forays into endurance sports as " bordering on the threshold of brilliance and arrogance"! Mine is fortunately a little more modest and from the last few races could hardly be called even remotely competitive.
after a hiatus of many years, i decided last year at the grand old age of 42 that i wanted to complete a triathlon. This was all very well except that other than doing a half marathon in 2008, i had done very little other than hitting the gym 3 times a week. To add to the difficulty, i have no idea how to do the front crawl and my only foray into open water swimming had up till then was strictly limited to frolicking at the shallow bits of the sea by the beach. I have never even done anything more than 1 lap in the pool! also i have not been on a bike for gosh 20 years. my last bike was a shimano racer( my prize 18th year old birthday present that cost oll of a princely sum of $150 which i rode everywhere.
to cut to the chase, this year, i participated in a sprint aquathlon, a sprint triathlon; a duothlon and 2 olympic distance races. not bad for a middle aged rookie. oh and i did the northface run. damn near killed me. was the toughest race i ever did but was a fantastic feeling to cross the line!
to wrap up the year i will try to do the marathon, hopefully under 5 hours and next year my target will be 2 70.3's, 1 more TNF 100 and another marathon!
here's to another great year of racing!
i think it is wise personally for myselfto take a stock check of 2009 now that it is ending. from a fitness front, i am fitter than ever. my performance in the athletic arena would not be quite what a colleague of mine have described about his forays into endurance sports as " bordering on the threshold of brilliance and arrogance"! Mine is fortunately a little more modest and from the last few races could hardly be called even remotely competitive.
after a hiatus of many years, i decided last year at the grand old age of 42 that i wanted to complete a triathlon. This was all very well except that other than doing a half marathon in 2008, i had done very little other than hitting the gym 3 times a week. To add to the difficulty, i have no idea how to do the front crawl and my only foray into open water swimming had up till then was strictly limited to frolicking at the shallow bits of the sea by the beach. I have never even done anything more than 1 lap in the pool! also i have not been on a bike for gosh 20 years. my last bike was a shimano racer( my prize 18th year old birthday present that cost oll of a princely sum of $150 which i rode everywhere.
to cut to the chase, this year, i participated in a sprint aquathlon, a sprint triathlon; a duothlon and 2 olympic distance races. not bad for a middle aged rookie. oh and i did the northface run. damn near killed me. was the toughest race i ever did but was a fantastic feeling to cross the line!
to wrap up the year i will try to do the marathon, hopefully under 5 hours and next year my target will be 2 70.3's, 1 more TNF 100 and another marathon!
here's to another great year of racing!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
how difficult issit?!
i have always harbored secret thought of being a writer of sorts and through teh years have dabbled in serious writing of scientific manuscripts and very occasionally light hearted dribble which haven't amounted to anything signifcant in the realm of fiction or non fiction. i suppose my contribution wo9uld be akin to reading the labels of tin can products in the supermarket.
so its high time i started a blog, not because i think everybody would love to read it. gosh i hope very few people will! its really for the idle ramblings of my mind to go off on a tangent to be put in blcak and white. a sort of memory trail which would serve to remind me hopefully years from now what would seem terriblly mundane may assume greater significance in my life or that something so very important to me for which i invest a lot of my waking hours would seem so pitiably trivial.
much like the liberation of your soul from the chains of daily life.does that sound like i hate my current situation? not really, just that the avenues for self expression may allow me to assume a subliminal existence in cyberspace in a cloak of relative anonymity.
so its not too difficult, as i i sit here i have written something to post not that any readers will want to read it!!
there decent idle rambling that means nothing!
so its high time i started a blog, not because i think everybody would love to read it. gosh i hope very few people will! its really for the idle ramblings of my mind to go off on a tangent to be put in blcak and white. a sort of memory trail which would serve to remind me hopefully years from now what would seem terriblly mundane may assume greater significance in my life or that something so very important to me for which i invest a lot of my waking hours would seem so pitiably trivial.
much like the liberation of your soul from the chains of daily life.does that sound like i hate my current situation? not really, just that the avenues for self expression may allow me to assume a subliminal existence in cyberspace in a cloak of relative anonymity.
so its not too difficult, as i i sit here i have written something to post not that any readers will want to read it!!
there decent idle rambling that means nothing!
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