Well its been about 1 month after the Singapore 70.3. I had to nurse a bad case of road rash; daily dressings on my ever increasing scars on my shoulders and hip; i ruefully noted i had fallen on the same spot 2 times in 2 years! Thereafter it was the frozen shoulder as a result of reduced mobility that took 1 week to sort out. I also made the ill-advised attempt to switch to barefoot running and after running twice at a grand total of 5 km at true worm pace of 8min/km, i developed a tendo archilles strain that wouldn't go away. Finally I was all ready to go and then I came down with the flu for a whole week. At the start of the week, I was all raring to go and then suddenly I had a heck of lot of cases to clear at work, including a near all-nighter of a case. Thankfully I fixed the problem by midnight but the die has been cast, no training the next day as I was dead tired from the surgery.
Lost opportunities or part and parcel of the game. My good friend CH and I always remind ourselves in our pursuit of triathletic passions that we remain grounded and not be deluded into the possibility of being podium finishers. In short, we are the Ironman journeymen, the guys who go out to race because we enjoy it; the sure act of endurance training day in and day out( ok, not quite daily) justifies and makes up for the numbers on race day. Personal victories in dealing with what we initially thought to be insurmountable odds; the pursuit of excellence other than our vocations which for the greater parts of our lives was an all- consuming passion.
But in pursuing this hobby, we end up with adopting attitudes akin almost to "resenting our occupation getting in the way of our past times" and gasp God forbid, family time eating up our training time because of our obsession and we view them as lost opportunities for training. That is what I thought would be a sentiment which requires thoughtful rejection.
As such, I am grateful for the opportunity to train and engage in what I enjoy when time permits and numero uno is family time and work time: maybe that's why I am crap at triathlons!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
IMWA 2011
Well i have signed up for the IMWA; was supposed to have done it last year but procrastination, stories of shark sightings all culminated to a belated registration which of course closed a lot earlier than i had anticipated. Just as well as i would have been really unprepared for it.
Well, this year i hope i should be. After having done 3 70.3's and some O.D's and sprints, I should be ready. Its still sometime more and I should use this"off season" to do some strength training. with renewed responsibilities at work and the prospect of being called now at ungodly hours, i worry about whether i can keep to a reasonable training program. Well all in due time.
The skin loss has re-epithelialised so i am back to some light training. Down with a slight flu I caught over the weekend so will go slow first.
Well, this year i hope i should be. After having done 3 70.3's and some O.D's and sprints, I should be ready. Its still sometime more and I should use this"off season" to do some strength training. with renewed responsibilities at work and the prospect of being called now at ungodly hours, i worry about whether i can keep to a reasonable training program. Well all in due time.
The skin loss has re-epithelialised so i am back to some light training. Down with a slight flu I caught over the weekend so will go slow first.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Singapore Aviva 70.3 2011 race report
in truth, this erace was very different from last year's race. For one, I came into this with another race under my belt( the Asia-Pacific 70.3 in Phuket 3 months ago). I had trained and swam further than i did last year coming into the race, my bike has been upgraded to a 1080 set of wheels. i am also in an older age group!
The swim was tough this year, and with the strong currents, we kept being pushed closer towards shore. In the end i think i swam probably 500 metres more! i got out of the water on the first lap and was surprised that i took 30 minutes. the second lap was any better and i finished the swim at 1:03, a PW( even worse than the Phuket race!). KL who was 2 waves behind me came out of the water about the same time as me; but i was comfortable out of the water and in fact felt good, certainly better than last year!
The bike route was a fast course and once on the coastal road, i went aero and was averaging 33 km/hr comfortably; there was a bit of a headwind but nothing that was too tough. I finished the first lap at an average of 30 km/hour and realised the last 3 km leading into transition and out the speeds could not be more than 27 km/hr because it was narrow. i pushed a little harder and got behid kc. this time, we were averaging 35-36 km/h and going faster all the time, no doubt with a tailwind! kc pushed forward and i rode a little more conservatively; and then it happened.. as i reached aviation house, my gaze landed on an athlete on the ground. i hit the vertical grrove on the road which was a rut from the interface between tarmac and cement and went down heavily on my right; i was still in an aero position on the ground. my right shoulder hit the ground at speed and i slid for about 2 meters. i tried to get up and a sharp pain emanated from my shoulder.My first thought was i had probably fractured my clavicle . As i stood up and bore weight, i experienced another sharp stab of pain in my right hip. Skins come off i reckon and visually confirmed it. I was in amazement my zoot ultra shorts was not torn and tattered like my orca when i fell last year. Race is over for me nad i sat there forlorn waiting for the ambulance. after awhile; i felt better and a few shoulder rotations later, i thought i have what it takes to complete the race still. I hopped onto my bike and amidst protests from the well meaning stewards and promply got off the saddle again. the drivechain had been dislodged so i had to get off again and re-fixed it. As i rode on i glanced at my speedo and realised despite that 15 minutes enforced stop, i still averaged 31 km/hr. I rode a little more conservatively on the 3rd loop and because of my injuries all raw and burning averaged about 29km/hr. I got into transition at 2:55 and had some cramps building up on my left leg. I must thank all my fellow athletes who encouraged me during the race! Met CH at transition and i actually took my time to make sure i had my nutrition and all the gear on before i started the run. I got out and was doing a 5:45 pace till the 5 km mark when i developed cramps on my left side. spasms started over my intercostals( a first!) and left leg, no doubt i have paid the price of pushing on the bike leg utilising my left muscles a bit too much. i slowed to a 7/km pace and walked some stretches. My shoulder was killing me and i couldn't move it very much as any of that will send an electric shot into it. i was feeling a bit sick in the stomach and threw up when i downed a gel. that was a truly down in the boots moment. at the 12 km point i was feeling better and trotted a bit and then i saw my two princessess shouting out at me and carrying a banner that says " Quitting is forever!" how poignant it was. I managed a big grin and the girls ran with me for a little while. they had alos picked up some powergels from the ground that some athletes have dropped. i took it but i couldn't stomach another gel. the last 9 km i picked up my pace again to a 5:30 and finished the race at 6:25. a pb for me and under these circumstance i was happy with my performance and grateful once again that i had great support from my family.
The swim was tough this year, and with the strong currents, we kept being pushed closer towards shore. In the end i think i swam probably 500 metres more! i got out of the water on the first lap and was surprised that i took 30 minutes. the second lap was any better and i finished the swim at 1:03, a PW( even worse than the Phuket race!). KL who was 2 waves behind me came out of the water about the same time as me; but i was comfortable out of the water and in fact felt good, certainly better than last year!
The bike route was a fast course and once on the coastal road, i went aero and was averaging 33 km/hr comfortably; there was a bit of a headwind but nothing that was too tough. I finished the first lap at an average of 30 km/hour and realised the last 3 km leading into transition and out the speeds could not be more than 27 km/hr because it was narrow. i pushed a little harder and got behid kc. this time, we were averaging 35-36 km/h and going faster all the time, no doubt with a tailwind! kc pushed forward and i rode a little more conservatively; and then it happened.. as i reached aviation house, my gaze landed on an athlete on the ground. i hit the vertical grrove on the road which was a rut from the interface between tarmac and cement and went down heavily on my right; i was still in an aero position on the ground. my right shoulder hit the ground at speed and i slid for about 2 meters. i tried to get up and a sharp pain emanated from my shoulder.My first thought was i had probably fractured my clavicle . As i stood up and bore weight, i experienced another sharp stab of pain in my right hip. Skins come off i reckon and visually confirmed it. I was in amazement my zoot ultra shorts was not torn and tattered like my orca when i fell last year. Race is over for me nad i sat there forlorn waiting for the ambulance. after awhile; i felt better and a few shoulder rotations later, i thought i have what it takes to complete the race still. I hopped onto my bike and amidst protests from the well meaning stewards and promply got off the saddle again. the drivechain had been dislodged so i had to get off again and re-fixed it. As i rode on i glanced at my speedo and realised despite that 15 minutes enforced stop, i still averaged 31 km/hr. I rode a little more conservatively on the 3rd loop and because of my injuries all raw and burning averaged about 29km/hr. I got into transition at 2:55 and had some cramps building up on my left leg. I must thank all my fellow athletes who encouraged me during the race! Met CH at transition and i actually took my time to make sure i had my nutrition and all the gear on before i started the run. I got out and was doing a 5:45 pace till the 5 km mark when i developed cramps on my left side. spasms started over my intercostals( a first!) and left leg, no doubt i have paid the price of pushing on the bike leg utilising my left muscles a bit too much. i slowed to a 7/km pace and walked some stretches. My shoulder was killing me and i couldn't move it very much as any of that will send an electric shot into it. i was feeling a bit sick in the stomach and threw up when i downed a gel. that was a truly down in the boots moment. at the 12 km point i was feeling better and trotted a bit and then i saw my two princessess shouting out at me and carrying a banner that says " Quitting is forever!" how poignant it was. I managed a big grin and the girls ran with me for a little while. they had alos picked up some powergels from the ground that some athletes have dropped. i took it but i couldn't stomach another gel. the last 9 km i picked up my pace again to a 5:30 and finished the race at 6:25. a pb for me and under these circumstance i was happy with my performance and grateful once again that i had great support from my family.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
No Sweat Chicken Feed Haha all the way! TNF 100 report 2010
In case you are thinking that I sailed through the race, you are mistaken. Far from it. For months, the spectre of doing the toughest race in SIngapore dogged myself and EW. we had taken a blind leap of faith; actually it was through my constant egging that we signed up for the 100 km duo and over the months we asked ourselves whether trail running would be "any sweat?". The SAF correct answer when your superior asked you was to spew out the spinal answer " No Sweat Chicken Feed Haha all the way". A kind of SAF trainee vernacular. That became my mantra, a sort of false bravado.
The training began in earnest sometime in July but it was never followed according to plan, not least because trail running required daylight and a decent 2 hours or more to cover the distance which realistically meant the weekends, something which was taken up by cycling.
Well the mileage was not really enough and the most I had covered was a 40 km distance( over the week 0 one month before the race and the longest run was 25 km in early september.
My race strategy was to run at 8 minutes/ km and try to reach Lorong Asmara( 22 km) and then push and to 32 km and if I was really down and out i would bail out of the race at 32 km which would be the most I have ran at least on the trail.
We started at 7 am and i found that highly agreeable because when we did the 25 km, it was blazing by the time we started and in 3 minutes your heart rate would hit 160; we ran through the same route as last year, took it easy and the 4 of us ran together. at the 2-3 km mark EW had gone ahead and with the large throng of runners, I thought it best to keep aerobic and a HR of less than 140 and kept it comfortable. We chatted about chek's new dogma and was doing a decent pace of 7:30/km.
We got out to RRR soon enough and the weather was still agreeable. We got to the satellite station and stopped to refill and me to clear my bladder. we resumed at that point and i realised when we got into the kampong trail i had lost cheks and mh. we turned towards Hindhede road and entered the MBT. i had not ventured there before. MH caught up with me and i learnt that cheks had taken a tumble and slowed down. we ran together through the Mandai PCN and caught up with EW at Mandai road and then stopped to refill at Lor Asmara at 21 km. One of the volunteers told us it was 2 km up and EW and MH contemplated re-filling only when we are out. I was out of water for the last 5 km and thought it prudent to put in about 400 ml of water and downed some more isotonics before we went on. As it turned out this was where the race began. This was where the mind games started. There was little cover( i knew that); it was pretty hilly( i knew that too) and it was 13 km!!( i didn't know that). At one point we were on all fours climbing a steep slope. the promise was the checkpoint at 32 km which took forever to reach. I was over-heating, my last drop of water in the hydration bag long gone. My toes were beginning to hurt and I felt out of breath when i climb yet another knoll.
i caught up with MH at the lorong asmara CP, got some deep heat on the legs, drank some more and doused my over heated body with ice cold water. I told MH to go ahead as i wanted to wait for my buddy. By 15 minutes, he had still not appeared and i was getting stiff so i pushed on.
The sufferfest was truly on and once you clear 32 km and left the CP at 1045, you were always in with a decent chance. I walked and ran with a fellow dude called ray and we chatted a bit till Zhenghua park. I had a second wind and started running slowly. a trot that took me all the way back to finish at 7:10. It felt great to finish the 50 km and i was pleased that i could do it with the amount of training. It was definitely a tough race. Psychologically you always had to dig deep. Being mentally prepared was half the battle worn.
will i be back for another race? i am not sure. my memory for pain is short...
The training began in earnest sometime in July but it was never followed according to plan, not least because trail running required daylight and a decent 2 hours or more to cover the distance which realistically meant the weekends, something which was taken up by cycling.
Well the mileage was not really enough and the most I had covered was a 40 km distance( over the week 0 one month before the race and the longest run was 25 km in early september.
My race strategy was to run at 8 minutes/ km and try to reach Lorong Asmara( 22 km) and then push and to 32 km and if I was really down and out i would bail out of the race at 32 km which would be the most I have ran at least on the trail.
We started at 7 am and i found that highly agreeable because when we did the 25 km, it was blazing by the time we started and in 3 minutes your heart rate would hit 160; we ran through the same route as last year, took it easy and the 4 of us ran together. at the 2-3 km mark EW had gone ahead and with the large throng of runners, I thought it best to keep aerobic and a HR of less than 140 and kept it comfortable. We chatted about chek's new dogma and was doing a decent pace of 7:30/km.
We got out to RRR soon enough and the weather was still agreeable. We got to the satellite station and stopped to refill and me to clear my bladder. we resumed at that point and i realised when we got into the kampong trail i had lost cheks and mh. we turned towards Hindhede road and entered the MBT. i had not ventured there before. MH caught up with me and i learnt that cheks had taken a tumble and slowed down. we ran together through the Mandai PCN and caught up with EW at Mandai road and then stopped to refill at Lor Asmara at 21 km. One of the volunteers told us it was 2 km up and EW and MH contemplated re-filling only when we are out. I was out of water for the last 5 km and thought it prudent to put in about 400 ml of water and downed some more isotonics before we went on. As it turned out this was where the race began. This was where the mind games started. There was little cover( i knew that); it was pretty hilly( i knew that too) and it was 13 km!!( i didn't know that). At one point we were on all fours climbing a steep slope. the promise was the checkpoint at 32 km which took forever to reach. I was over-heating, my last drop of water in the hydration bag long gone. My toes were beginning to hurt and I felt out of breath when i climb yet another knoll.
i caught up with MH at the lorong asmara CP, got some deep heat on the legs, drank some more and doused my over heated body with ice cold water. I told MH to go ahead as i wanted to wait for my buddy. By 15 minutes, he had still not appeared and i was getting stiff so i pushed on.
The sufferfest was truly on and once you clear 32 km and left the CP at 1045, you were always in with a decent chance. I walked and ran with a fellow dude called ray and we chatted a bit till Zhenghua park. I had a second wind and started running slowly. a trot that took me all the way back to finish at 7:10. It felt great to finish the 50 km and i was pleased that i could do it with the amount of training. It was definitely a tough race. Psychologically you always had to dig deep. Being mentally prepared was half the battle worn.
will i be back for another race? i am not sure. my memory for pain is short...
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Kota Tinggi to Rompin 4th-5th September:
I have always been encouraged by an article shared with me by PK on my birthday by Kristin Armstrong entitled " The Wall". Here it is:
Marathoners know the proverbial wall.
The wall is typically located someplace between miles 20 and 23, but it can sprout up anywhere. It can even begin as a simple, unassuming speed bump, but can grow up faster than kudzu in Atlanta. Suddenly you find something massive, directly in front of you, blocking the path between right here and the finish line.
The wall is constructed of many bricks; things like fear, pain, loneliness, hopelessness, burdens, doubt, guilt, exhaustion – physical, exhaustion-mental, exhaustion-emotional, exhaustion-spiritual. It is a black hole in our psyche, a gap in our fence, a riptide in our reservoir with the potential to carry us away. The wall becomes nearly physically tangible to a runner, but the same wall exists in other areas whether we choose to recognize it or not.
Maybe part of why I run is to get a good, hard look at that sucker. There is a part of me that likes to know, every once in a while, what I am up against on the inside. If we get up close enough, we might spot some loose bricks, wedge our fingers in and yank them out, revealing a rectangular shaft of light from the other side. Other times, we get up close enough and spot some handholds, footholds, a way up and over. How much time and mileage do we waste each time we try to go around our wall, instead of facing it head on?
There is even an expression which has become somewhat cliched, "hit the wall." People use this all the time in a non-running context, signifying reaching the end of the rope, an empty tank, a point of frustration, no return, giving up, turning back.
What does it mean to you to hit the wall? What kind of bricks are you stacking?
When you reach your limit, your wall, the end of yourself – what happens next for you? What do you find there? Release? Relief? Grace? Do you have a breakdown or do you break it down? Do you make a plan or an excuse? What gives – the terrain, or you?
I wonder if it's possible to imagine drawing a new starting line just when we think we can't muster another step. Some experienced runners say the race doesn't even begin until mile 20…until the wall. That's when you really find out what you are up against, and in that same sweet moment, what you are really made of.The truth is I fully expected to feel the 320 km. I had trained but in fits and starts and was not altogether
I fully expected to meet this entity on this ride. It would be my longest ride, plus it will be back to back. My preparations would not be what i would call adequate or for that matter something I would be happy about. Having fallen off the bike, i took a whole week off and then rode a bit before presenting my for the ride. Beneath my brave front was one of uncertainties.
It was eventful to say the least. I rode the first 15 km with my brakes against my back wheel. I was labouring and was uneasy and then frankly alarmed to see everybody passing me. By 10 km, my heart rate was 166 bpm and I was ready to give up. I was half thinking I may have been significantly deconditioned by the 2 weeks of recuperation. I finally stopped and discovered the problem, but not before wasting dollops of energy.
I managed to rendevous with my mates and for the rest of the way rode toegther for as much as possible. GL and CH rode fast and furious and we weer split before long. JN and SE was behind; GL and CH was ahead so JT and i took terms to pull each other. We RVed for lunch and then rode together after Mersing into the Forest which was a fabulous area with rolling hills. I had a puncture there and was relieved we could get the tire fixed before being on our way. CH then had a flat so we pit stopped again. By 130 km, my bottom was positively sore and I was only too glad to see the hotel.
After a night's rest, we re-assembled again and I could feel my heavy legs and was dreading the ride. Many a times I was tempted to not go on the road but hop instead into the bus. It did not help that at 6oo m out of the hotel, I had unbelieavbly another flat. By the time I was done, We were left waya behind and had to pretty much play catch up. I was suffering badly. My back was really hurting and by 20 km i had slowed to a crawl. It was 140 km to go and I saw that wall pretty early. It was everything as Kristin had said. When you are in that position, exhausted and hurting, you think of giving up. Your mind tells you all sorts of neagtive things." you are where u are becasue your training is inadequate; you should stop and what on earth are you tring to prove anyways). Many a point, I had to grit my teeth and looked like I was ansarling because I was cycling through the pain. If the forests were bad, the part from Mersing to Kota Tinggi was even worse. The hills that we did not seem to notice was towering and positively harder on the legs and the lungs now. I struggled with SE . A little later, JN remarked that at that point, I was back in the early days when I joined them: positively slow!
After enduring hours of back pain, I glaned at the speedo and was pleased we were only 30 km from the end. I stopped one last time; to wait for SE and then refueled before riding in together.
In this, I dug deep; really deep and I thought given the circumstances, I did decent. I was pleased not with my time or that I was behind and struggled whilst my friends were in front. I was pleased, I had the good sense to help other cyclists after I had fought my emotions and physical pain and a sense of personal triumph that I finished not because I was physically capable, but I was temperamentally and psychologically quite unwilling to give up; severe backpain not withstanding. I was bouyed by camaderie and esprit de corps of mates waiting up front for me whilst I was slow and kind of encouragement from fellow cycliss when my tank was long empty.
Marathoners know the proverbial wall.
The wall is typically located someplace between miles 20 and 23, but it can sprout up anywhere. It can even begin as a simple, unassuming speed bump, but can grow up faster than kudzu in Atlanta. Suddenly you find something massive, directly in front of you, blocking the path between right here and the finish line.
The wall is constructed of many bricks; things like fear, pain, loneliness, hopelessness, burdens, doubt, guilt, exhaustion – physical, exhaustion-mental, exhaustion-emotional, exhaustion-spiritual. It is a black hole in our psyche, a gap in our fence, a riptide in our reservoir with the potential to carry us away. The wall becomes nearly physically tangible to a runner, but the same wall exists in other areas whether we choose to recognize it or not.
Maybe part of why I run is to get a good, hard look at that sucker. There is a part of me that likes to know, every once in a while, what I am up against on the inside. If we get up close enough, we might spot some loose bricks, wedge our fingers in and yank them out, revealing a rectangular shaft of light from the other side. Other times, we get up close enough and spot some handholds, footholds, a way up and over. How much time and mileage do we waste each time we try to go around our wall, instead of facing it head on?
There is even an expression which has become somewhat cliched, "hit the wall." People use this all the time in a non-running context, signifying reaching the end of the rope, an empty tank, a point of frustration, no return, giving up, turning back.
What does it mean to you to hit the wall? What kind of bricks are you stacking?
When you reach your limit, your wall, the end of yourself – what happens next for you? What do you find there? Release? Relief? Grace? Do you have a breakdown or do you break it down? Do you make a plan or an excuse? What gives – the terrain, or you?
I wonder if it's possible to imagine drawing a new starting line just when we think we can't muster another step. Some experienced runners say the race doesn't even begin until mile 20…until the wall. That's when you really find out what you are up against, and in that same sweet moment, what you are really made of.The truth is I fully expected to feel the 320 km. I had trained but in fits and starts and was not altogether
I fully expected to meet this entity on this ride. It would be my longest ride, plus it will be back to back. My preparations would not be what i would call adequate or for that matter something I would be happy about. Having fallen off the bike, i took a whole week off and then rode a bit before presenting my for the ride. Beneath my brave front was one of uncertainties.
It was eventful to say the least. I rode the first 15 km with my brakes against my back wheel. I was labouring and was uneasy and then frankly alarmed to see everybody passing me. By 10 km, my heart rate was 166 bpm and I was ready to give up. I was half thinking I may have been significantly deconditioned by the 2 weeks of recuperation. I finally stopped and discovered the problem, but not before wasting dollops of energy.
I managed to rendevous with my mates and for the rest of the way rode toegther for as much as possible. GL and CH rode fast and furious and we weer split before long. JN and SE was behind; GL and CH was ahead so JT and i took terms to pull each other. We RVed for lunch and then rode together after Mersing into the Forest which was a fabulous area with rolling hills. I had a puncture there and was relieved we could get the tire fixed before being on our way. CH then had a flat so we pit stopped again. By 130 km, my bottom was positively sore and I was only too glad to see the hotel.
After a night's rest, we re-assembled again and I could feel my heavy legs and was dreading the ride. Many a times I was tempted to not go on the road but hop instead into the bus. It did not help that at 6oo m out of the hotel, I had unbelieavbly another flat. By the time I was done, We were left waya behind and had to pretty much play catch up. I was suffering badly. My back was really hurting and by 20 km i had slowed to a crawl. It was 140 km to go and I saw that wall pretty early. It was everything as Kristin had said. When you are in that position, exhausted and hurting, you think of giving up. Your mind tells you all sorts of neagtive things." you are where u are becasue your training is inadequate; you should stop and what on earth are you tring to prove anyways). Many a point, I had to grit my teeth and looked like I was ansarling because I was cycling through the pain. If the forests were bad, the part from Mersing to Kota Tinggi was even worse. The hills that we did not seem to notice was towering and positively harder on the legs and the lungs now. I struggled with SE . A little later, JN remarked that at that point, I was back in the early days when I joined them: positively slow!
After enduring hours of back pain, I glaned at the speedo and was pleased we were only 30 km from the end. I stopped one last time; to wait for SE and then refueled before riding in together.
In this, I dug deep; really deep and I thought given the circumstances, I did decent. I was pleased not with my time or that I was behind and struggled whilst my friends were in front. I was pleased, I had the good sense to help other cyclists after I had fought my emotions and physical pain and a sense of personal triumph that I finished not because I was physically capable, but I was temperamentally and psychologically quite unwilling to give up; severe backpain not withstanding. I was bouyed by camaderie and esprit de corps of mates waiting up front for me whilst I was slow and kind of encouragement from fellow cycliss when my tank was long empty.
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