Thunderstorm August 31, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentI was lucky today. I got ready for a hill climb around 3pm but it started raining so I almost gave up my hope for going to a hill climb. The rain stopped and the sun came back for a little while and luckily, the road got dry. I got ready for the hill climb and went. Average speed 23.1km, cadence 64rpm, lap time 44:32. This time it was really slow. The wind was strong cuz another typhoon is right next to the island and it's a big one this time. Most likely the typhoon isn't gonna hit so I'll be looking for a workout maybe around Friday. When I came back from the climb, it started raining really hard and the thunder was so loud. I was really lucky today. I'll probably have to work on my homework tomorrow so not really thinking of having any workouts unless it's cloudy or something.
Best condition, tough ride August 29, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentI went for a hill climb like every other day except I was in a good condition today. I had a hard time keeping my pace on flat roads today…it's usually the hills that are tough. I'm pretty much getting used to the hills, now I need to climb them faster. There wasn't much sun so it wasn't as hot as usual, actually, the breeze felt pretty cold. I have a little problem about my feelings to the sun. When the sun is out, I wish there were clouds that cover it but when the clouds really do cover the sun, I feel like I'm deceiving myself. It's not that challenging without the heat is it? I couldn't time myself today and I figured out why. I already had 50laps in my little computer and it couldn't hold anymore. So, I erased the memory and I'll get back to timing myself tomorrow.
The documentary about Ai Shibata that I watched last night was interesting. She swims 17km in one day…awesome, I wish I could swim that much in a day. In a race, she's one of the slowest swimmers to jump in the pool and she's not really good at the flip turns but she still wins. I had a fun time watching it.
Coca-Cola vs bad weather
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentToday's weather forecast was wrong…It was supposed to be sunny but I just couldn't believe how much it rained today. I didn't run 5km but went for a short 2.5km. Maybe I'll go 5km tomorrow. I really need to get my homework finished soon. I'm almost done with my math and japanese but I still have to write a 5page report and draw some pictures of plants and stuff like that.
The weather forecast…I wish they could make some more accurate predictions. It's just depressing when I'm imagining a nice sunny day and it starts to rain hard. I sometimes get headaches when the humidity rises, the best cure for the headache, Coca-Cola or sometimes Pepsi. I had a headache today too, I went out to buy a can of coke and I drank it sip by sip. The first hour…the bad weather was winning, I still had the headache and couldn't really focus on getting my homework done. The second hour…The coke came for some counterattack, the headache got a little better. I still couldn't say I was able to focus on homework so the coke wasn't winning at all. Third hour…The coke won, my headache is completely gone and I'm going back to homework in a few minutes. At 11pm, I'm gonna watch some TV cuz there's gonna be a documentary kinda show about one of the fastest swimmers in Japan, Ai Shibata, she's a gold medalist in Athens, she won the women's 800M freestyle. Hope I could swim like that some day. The title of the show is "Passion Continent" it sounds sooo stupid in English. After watching that, I'll get some sleep for tomorrow's run.
Getting started soon August 28, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentI'm thinking of having a morning run tomorrow, which I haven't had for 2weeks or so. I don't know what it is, I can't get myself to run. My most important workout is biking, second, swimming, third, running. It's gonna have to be either 1.running 2.biking 3.swimming or 1.running 2.swimming 3.biking before the half marathon. I think I'll be running after school from now on. Tomorrow, atleast 5km and I'll probably be too tired to go for a ride. If I'm not, I'll go for a ride and then get back to my homework which I'm far away from finishing…Not even a week left, I wonder how I dealed with homework last summer? When I noticed, I was done. That's probably because I didn't really have anything else to do.
My August goals weren't achieved…Well, the swim was fine but the bike and run were horrible. Especially the run, my goal was something like running 10km in 40:00 but I didn't even have a 10km run this month. The bike, I could say, "atleast I tried…" and I did. My fastest lap was 44:17 at the end of July and right now, it's 41:04, a good 4:13 cut off. I think I'll keep the goal at the same place, 35:00 until I achieve it. I will achieve it some day, maybe when the construction finishes, there's this one little emergency traffic light kinda thing because the road needs to be fixed and there's only one lane available for cars going both ways. I get so exhausted when I stop at traffic lights…there's no wind coming and I could REALLY feel the hotness. No shade either.
Swimming and walking August 27, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentI noticed something while swimming in the pool today. I was just swimming without thinking about my strokes or anything. I usually count one, two, one, two and always breathe on two but today, I wasn't doing that. I didn't really feel any difference between swimming and walking. I didn't need to count to breathe anymore. It felt so weird…When the swim coach says go, my body automatically reacts and I'm already in the water without even noticing it. At first, I was worried about me not exhaling all the air that I have before I inhale but I didn't really have any problems with that. Was I just relaxed?? I don't know, I don't know what it was but I'm happy with it.
What did I do during the day? I went to go learn karate in the morning and in the afternoon, I went to my best buddy's house. It was raining outside so I wasn't gonna have any workouts anyway…I had some fun, haven't met him in awhile so it was great to see him. He picked the same thing in PE, karate. It's the easiest thing once you learn the moves but it takes a little time to learn them. I learned half of the whole thing in 2hours so I'll probably be fine by the time school starts again…Summer is almost over, do NOT forget to have fun, and good luck working out.
Oops, now I have to do it August 26, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentToday, I didn't have any workouts but I had a big thing going on in me. A little before 3pm, I went out to the post office with an application form in my hand, I got there around 2:55pm. Then, I came out with a smile on my face exactly at 3:05pm. What did I do? I signed up for a half marathon. But HEY!!! the longest distance that I've ever ran…6km. The only reason why I signed up for it, is cuz my swim coach said he's gonna participate in it too. He's a 27yr old guy, looks 20, and is a super-athletic guy (one of those guys who make things look sooo easy and make you feel depressed unless you're one of them). He could swim REALLY fast ofcourse, cuz he's a swim coach but he could also run REALLY fast too. When I told him about some other triathletes participating, he said, "As a runner, I can't lose against triathletes". He refers to himself as a runner?? I was like, 'then what am I?' I don't really have a strongness in any of the three sports… in other words, I'm weak in all of them. I wonder why this gave me the motivation to participate in the same event. I told him he should try out for a triathlon race but he was like, "ummm… maybe next year?" Anyway, I'll train for it and try to be STRONG in atleast one of the sports before my first triathlon race. Good luck to all 
A nice day August 25, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentYesterday's swim went pretty slow but okay. The total of the length that I swam was 1000meters in one hour. It was enough to get me a little tired and go to bed easily. Didn't really see any progress, it was just a normal swim.
Today's swim was much better than yesterday. Swam somewhere around 1500m and 2000m. I used to think I was pretty fast swimming but I noticed I was wrong when I started going to a different pool. All the triathletes at that pool are fast. I wonder when I'll be able to swim in the same lane, hope that it comes soon. I also had a nice 20km bike ride to the pool and back home. Couldn't believe how slow a mountain bike goes. I was pedaling alot but the bike doesn't go faster…I could actually see all the small rocks that are on the road. It feels weird…I didn't even care about rocks before I started riding my road bike but now, I have a habit, I look for rocks wherever I go. I also spent a lot of time cleaning the living room, I would never do that unless it's homework. I have to write a 5page report about cleaning up. Gotta get it done in a week. Anyway, I had a nice day…hope you have a nice day too:)
What happened to my lap time? August 23, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentI went out for a hill climb and my plan was to go 2laps and give it my best shot on the second lap. So I went out a little after 3pm and it was hot. What did I do? Ofcourse I worked on my plans. I changed it to 1lap and just gave it my best shot on the first and only lap. I was climbing the first two hills at a fast pace and thought that I just might be able to cut a few seconds off of my fastest lap. BUT the third hill got me pretty bad. I tried to keep my pace fast but that only lasted halfway. I began to slow down at the last half. I was cooling down from the finish line to my house as usual and just couldn't wait to check my lap time. I got home and noticed that I forgot to push the LAP button when I started. That pretty much got me knocked out…I'd like to go for my fastest lap tomorrow but there are just too many things to do tomorrow. Going for a hill climb is one of them but I wouldn't last the whole day without a nap so I'll keep it for Thursday. I will NOT make that mistake again. I'm gonna go to the pool again and have a nice swim. See you again.
Two little embarrasing moments August 22, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentI tried my new sunglasses outside today and it was also my second time trying my shoes out on the road. I bet I look faster with those sunglasses. And the embarrasing moment…It was like 10seconds from when I started riding my bike. I was looking to see if any cars were coming towards me because I wanted to make a turn. There were no cars so I tried to click my shoes on to the pedals and my left shoe just slipped off the pedal. I wasn't really about to fall but I had to make a stop to get back on the road. The guy in the car behind me was like huh?? That's probably because I got off the bike and started walking right after I made my turn. It was fun looking at his eyes. He looked so puzzled. The second one was like 2minutes after I started riding. I heard my keys jingling, which really confused me because I usually put them in my saddle porch and it doesn't make any noise. The traffic light turned red so I digged in my pocket and I found my keys. I looked at my saddle porch and it was OPEN. I made a second stop and got my keys in the porch and closed it. By the time I got back on the bike, I felt like going home…
Todays climb: average speed 23.6 average cadence 61rpm and my lap time was 43:25. I kinda knew it'll be something like that because I was going so slow on the downhills. The sunglasses made me bike-sick, or is there such thing? I don't know, it just didn't feel right because of the darkness. I'll try to get used to it soon. Looking for a nice swim in about 2hrs.
Tomorrow: I'll do the hill climb again. Maybe run in the morning if I'm able to wake up. If not, I might just go 2laps on the bike. Either that or go for a swim at night. Good luck training!!!
New sunglasses
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentNope, I didn't do any of the workouts that I said I was gonna do…Instead, I went out to get some sunglasses. I thought I might need them when I go for a ride because the last time I went down one of the hills nearby, a bee hit my chin. I thought it stung me but I guess the bee didn't notice me coming..lucky me!!! but if that was in the eye, I'd probably fall off my bike. Plus a lot of garbage flies in my eyes every time I go for a ride. So, I got some new sunglasses. Haven't had sunny days lately…I wonder when I'll have the chance to use these outside. Looking at the skies today, it's most likely gonna be homework day tomorrow. Not much rain but I'm seeing some lightning these days. I need to go to bed soon, just in case it gets sunny tomorrow morning. It's only 9pm right now…