I felt good until English class November 30, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentIt's one day till the test starts and that means most of the teachers give us free time to study on our own. I really needed to focus on Math because of the complexity so I took my English folder and Math texts to the next class, English. Then the teacher says, "You could study on your own but English only" by the way, he said that in "Japanese Engrish" hehe… So, I studied Math anyway and he noticed, came up to me and said, "What did I say?" Again, in Japanese Engrish. I answered, "To study on my own." He says, "No, after that." I answered, "uhhh, I don't know". Then he says, "No more Math, study English." Damn, does he know I speaks Engrish? (Now, that's more arranged in his language) Most likely better than him? hehe… Here's my conclusion, he's just a bit jealous or something. I mean, he knows I speak English…What's wrong with trying to make better the stuff I have trouble dealing with such as MATH? Well anyway, after that invisible "mental" warfare, or the barrage of looking into each other's eyes letting out that lighting stuff going back and forth, I ended up studying Math, who gives a damn.
Tomorrow: The test starts, three subjects to fight against and the question is, will I win? The first round (first day) I think I'll win but the second round is a tough one. I'll probably win the third round though;-) Wish me luck!!
The reason why I have trouble stuyding November 29, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a comment It's simple, I'm excited 
Scared too but can't wait till Friday, the first day with the "big" guys in the swimming pool. I talked to my coach about it today and he had this one evil smile on his face and said, "I'll torture you with the kickboard, hehe…" Whatever man, try me 
Wait, try me only with freestyle, that's what I meant… Spooky, I wonder which class I'm gonna be in. It seems like the lower class is too slow for me and the higher class is too fast, he said all the coaches are having a debate or something on which course I should go to… I guess I'm a big problem, eh?
I swam about 1400m today and it was tough. Well, only a few of the swims, the coach made us swim 150m breast stroke, 100m back stroke and a 50m butterfly to end the whole thing. What did I feel? I felt I was alive with all that pain, the first 250m I was capable of doing but that last 50m was just impossible, one of those times when you could count your heartbeat in your head… I'm getting better at breathing on both sides so that's good, now I need to work on balance. Had the usual 6km mtb ride too.
Tomorrow: I'd love to go for a swim but just gotta get the studying thingy whatever put in my head, which my brain has no more room for that stuff :-O
A different type of motivation November 28, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentIt used to be tough making myself go out for a swim/bike/run because of the lack of motivation but now, I need motivation to stop…I just noticed this today, I didn't run. I wanted to but I have a little problem with the exam coming up.
And the problem? First of all, the teachers are suppose to tell us which pages/ lessons we're gonna have to study but when I asked the biology teacher he said, "uhhh, I don't know yet…I'll tell the whole class on Monday." WTF!?!? The test starts on Wednesday!!! Is it that hard to pick which lessons are gonna be on the exam? The second problem, the same thing is going on with home economics and calligraphy. Yes, the questions come from the lessons we learned but it's all mixed up, especially home economics and calligraphy.
I'm craving for a bike ride…I was gonna have one this coming Friday because school finishes early but it seems like we're gonna have a stupid volleyball tournament. Why not just let the guys who wanna participate do it and let others go home? No offence on the guys who love these things but it's just a waste of MY precious time. I'm not into ball games, maybe that's another reason… Last year, we had the same thing and it was pretty damn boring, if you lose you get to go home early. It does sound like I'm self-centered but it IS my time, right? Why not just do it during school? I have no problem with that. It so stresses me out when I have my time taken away, especially when I have a workout scheduled.
Tomorrow: No run, I'll just have a swim.
The beauty of music, a renewed 10km PR!!! November 27, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentI almost forgot I had 2runs today, one in the morning just to wake me up, a nice and easy 5km. The second run was planned to be a refresh run from all the studying but I still felt like I was flying, I went for a PR. I was suppose to go only 14km today but what's the difference? I have a hard time trying to calculate 14km with my 2.5km running course. I studied the whole afternoon today, maybe 5 or 6 hours? and I was glad I had the 5km in the morning, it really woke me up. Maybe I should start running in the morning? I might get better grades in school. Unfortunately, no bike though…Unfortunately?? The weather was perfect outside, just didn't get enough sleep so I was in lazy mode this morning.
The first run: I said I ran in the morning but to tell the truth, it was 11:30am, that's still morning, right? Came back just a little before 12pm. It was HOT outside, 25C. Well, that feels hot after all those 20C days. I was kinda wiped out by the heat but was able to focus on studying afterwards. My lap times were 1st 11:13, 2nd 11:05. Total 22:18.95. Kinda like a pace/tempo run.
The second run: Now this was a disaster. The lap record I renewed yesterday…Well, in today's run, ALL of my laps were faster than that. The lap times? 1st 9:06.58, 2nd 8:55.90, 3rd 9:03.18, 4th 8:34.85, a total of 35:40.51!!! Will I brag to my swim coach? Naaa, I think I'll keep it a secret for a while, maybe tell him about it after the marathon. The 1st lap was a REALLY fast one ofcourse because I've just renewed a lap record and that REALLY made the 4th lap a real challenge. It was a nice steady lap. The 2nd lap…The usual "stab" feeling came to me but I was able to run it off, and this was the first time running the lap within 9min. The 3rd lap, my legs were starting to lose energy but I just couldn't give up a new PR so I again, ran it off. The 4th lap was the toughest of all, I literally could feel my heartbeat in my head, running out of gas but couldn't slow down now that I'm one (or a few hundred) step away from renewing my PR, I mean, it was obvious but 35min is better than 36min, isn't it? It was so tough…I didn't even have the ease to check my time. I come home and look at my gatorade bottle and it says, "I won't lose to feeling tired, because I know the great feeling of victory that follows." ~Vince Carter, professional basketball player. What a coincidence, I was feeling tired (before the run) and I felt that feeling of victory that followed. I listened to the radio (internet radio) as usual and they were playing some good jazz, the kinda music where you imagine the sun going down into the ocean and makes you feel like you had another nice day;-) How relaxing!!!
Tomorrow: I'll think about having a hill climb tomorrow, might just run and then study all day.
Another fine run…and a little about the marathon November 26, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentIt was a nice day today, the sun was out with some friendly, puffy clouds. I had a good night sleep ofcourse because I did all that biking and running yesterday. My body is in perfect condition for studying and having long distance running, biking and swimming. I really felt good. Except for the time I was playing volley ball during PE, my body was in perfect condition for endurance sports but not quite for non-endurance sports, didn't feel like playing either and yes, it was kinda boring me out.
When I got back home from school, I took everything slow and easy. I'm guessing I started my 10km run around 6pm and it was dark already, this is when I miss summer most. But the breeze wasn't exactly cold, I'll say it was chilly and was the perfect weather for a run. So this is what I get after that down going portion of my life and all that BAD weather. It's a good thing I didn't quit this sport during that period Didn't even think about it either.
The run: As usual, I my pace was fast for the first lap, actually, it was quite fast that I was worried if I could accomplish my challenge today. I'm into my second lap and my body feels like it's floating a bit. So, I didn't really think of bringing my pace back down, I had a steady second lap. The third lap was also steady a bit fast because I had in mind this one weird little goal, I wanted to make my last 5km faster than my first 5km which was quite fast, 19:35. I blast through my fourth lap, or atleast it looks like I did looking back at the timex. 1st 9:44, 2nd 9:50, 3rd 9:46, 4th 9:06. I was really suprised by my 4th lap, 9:06.91? Is this a new record? I'm not sure but I'm too tired to check right now…I knew the 4th lap was gonna be a fast one because, well, I was the one running and I wasn't floating anymore, flying maybe. And the best part of it, my legs didn't have a problem with it, I took my pace up and BAM!! It felt like someone stabbed me…I stretched a muscle and it really HURT everytime I inhaled, tried my best to cover the pain by kicking strong with my left leg and let my right leg rest. The home stretch was hell, exhale, ouch, exhale, ouch and so on…FINISH. Total time 38:28.46. I had a swim, 1400m, after that and a 6km bike ride that was relaxing.
A little about the marathon: oooooo, now my coach wants to run. Monday, he said, "I don't think I'll feel up to running a marathon after the other marathon that I'll be running in December." Today, he said, "It's just a marathon, I could run it whenever I want to." Whaaa? changes in feelings, eh? hehe…So I guess I'll be running too 
Tomorrow: I'll have a short bike ride, maybe a hill climb and then a run all in the morning. After that, I have the rest of the day for studying!!! Hope I do good on the tests, wish me luck!!!!
Is it the motivation? or is it the change in feelings… November 25, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentAnother "today" starts, I wake up at 7am, I have this awful headache which most likely came from sleeplessness. I only slept for what? 4hours? My cat kept on moving around making noises and I couldn't get him to go back to bed. I was expecting another day of awful weather with some "forcing myself to study" just because it's test week. I need to get used to this so-called "study" thing. I know I won't use most of the "crap" once I get a job or something but I need it just to get in college. Anyway, it was planned to be another day in the dark and guess what? Plans were changed 180degrees (I wanna add another 180 but then I'll go back to the beginning so…) The sun was out!!! How long has it been since I last saw the sun? 2weeks?(exaggerating) awwww, how nice Had a GREAT 26km mtb ride and a GREAT 16km run to end the day.
The best part of heading to the theater was that my friends and I decided to go with our bikes. There were only about 10 people who went with their bikes out of the 1320 students and they thought we were stupid or something. Ofcourse we think they're stupid…hehe. Most of them took either a taxi or a bus to the theater that's about 13km away from school. And yes, the school gave each student about $5 to get there which my friends and I were able to keep in our pockets…have a nice bike ride and earn money!!!! I wish I could have this as my lifetime job or something. The other students don't know the fun of cycling, that's just an opinion ofcourse…I don't wanna get the whole school against me But I think that they worry too much about time. Why do they wanna get there so early? I don't have the answer and am pretty sure that even if someone tells me it, I wouldn't understand.
The fun of cycling: Communication!!! I mean it, my friends and I were talking and laughing the whole way to the theater, taking our time. We got there in an hour or so and had plenty of time to eat lunch while the other students got there in 20minutes and most of them were in front of the entrance, waiting for the doors to open. Hey, why so early? Well, to tell the truth, my friends were thinking about taking a bus or a taxi too but I kinda "dragged" them on the bike but guess what? They said it was a good thing that we went with our bike. While most of the students asked, "how were the hills?" Yes, it is hilly but see, we're talking and riding, hills aren't a tough thing to get over if you take it easy, forgetting about time. That's why cycling is fun, right?
The run: This was also cool!!! I ran 15km in 59min!!!! I ran the first lap at a high pace as usual and the reason that I do this is because there's a bit of a challenge waiting at the end. I like to test myself to see how much I could resist. And my challenge is to beat my first lap time on the last lap. Am I weird? It's not like I thought hard about training to get to this test but it came naturally to my mind. I did run 16km, 15km run + 1km cool down. I think this was the best run I've had in my life. Everything just went so smooth, didn't run out of breath even when I attacked my imaginary self whom always runs in front of me. My lap times were 1st 9:39, 2nd 10:18, 3rd 10:10, 4th 10:05, 5th 9:57, 6th 9:39, total time 59:52.08+1km cool down (6min?). To be exact, my 1st lap was 9:39.73 and my 6th lap was 9:39.93, darn it!!! I was sooo close!!!! But all in all, it was a GREAT run Looking back at yesterday's run, I just wonder what in the world brought me to this great run in a day, especially with the sleeplessness.
Tomorrow: I'll have a 10km run, should I try for a PR? I'll see how it goes. After that, I'll study a whole bunch and then go for a swim which reminds me…I have 7days and a few hours till I get into the swimming pool with the "big" guys. I'm more excited than nervous because I know it'll do a lot of good to me.
Finally ran November 24, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentI did the least that I said I'll do, a 10km…and the weather was awful. Windy, rainy and COLD!!! The temp was 21C but the rain and wind that came with it made me feel like I was one step away from freezing. I felt like stopping at 2.5km but I didn't wanna come back out because it's obviously gonna rain more later, so I dragged myself.
The run: More like a jog today, couldn't stand the coldness!!! It's one of those days where you just wanna stay in bed (oh, how warm!!!) and spend the day. I didn't really feel like I was warmed up after the first lap and went into the second lap where I gotta cramp (ouch!!!) in the stomach for some reason. Into the 3rd lap, I didn't bring my pace back up because…Well, I was scared of getting another cramp. The fourth lap, I took the first 1km at the same pace as every other lap and gave it my best shot on the home stretch. My lap times: 1st 11:28, 2nd 12:20, 3rd 11:21, 4th 10:34. It's the slowest 10km this month but I'm satisfied with my 4th lap. I switched to long strides at the home stretch and I guess it worked. By the way, I was still cold right after the run…
Other than the run, not much happened. I studied, studied and did a little bit of bike maintenance. Suprised by the 2-3years worth of dirt I had on my mtb, never really cleaned anything other than the tires before.
Tomorrow: I'd love to have a 16km run and then study but I'll see how things go. I have to go to a theater and watch some cultural dances, and the theater, it's 15km away from home. Most likely, I'm taking my mtb to go there and it'll take time to get back home. I'd love to take the bus if the weather looks bad.
Forgot November 23, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentToday, I'm pretty depressed having to say this but I didn't have my 10km. Forgot about the college introduction whatever that I had to go to. So I went…it was cold outside the gym but hot inside…I guess I should've tried staying at the door? hehe… I was able to go for a swim afterwards so that was good.
The swim: I swam about 1000m focused breathing on both sides and then started practicing flip turns which I thought would be easy…Nope, it didn't go as planned. I'll take my time and practice next Tuesday again.
Bad news: My coach isn't gonna participate in the marathon!!!! Should I participate? I mean it's only a month before the triathlon and I don't really have anyone to compete with. I'll take my time to think about that after the test…
Tomorrow: I WILL GO FOR ATLEAST 10KM…now that's in big letters, this means I will go…. that's ATLEAST so it might be longer. I was thinking of having a 16km run in the morning and a 10km refresh run in the afternoon and I'll use the interval for studying. Maybe go for a hill climb if I wake up early enough and if the weather is clear…or atleast not raining. I gotta get these runs out of the way or else I can't focus on studying…Hope everything goes fine…Oh yeah, I will run even if it rains a bit, if it's stormy, maybe not;-)
I have some bad news…and some great news too November 22, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentWell the bad news is that I didn't have my run today but I could cover that up by running tomorrow. One more bad news, I might not be able to follow the ultramarathon schedule next week due to tests, gotta focus!!!
And the great news: I get to try out for the athlete course starting December 2nd, for two weeks. My coach said the lower class might be too easy but the higher class might be too hard…hehe, why not make a middle class? hmmm…December 2nd…that's freakin next week!!! WTF!?!? time flies, doesn't it…and it all started from a joke…but then something went wrong (right?) and I get to try…interesting:-)
Tomorrow: I'll do the 10km that I didn't do today, ofcourse I have an excuse for that but I decided not to post it. I'll have some time to study and then swim;-)
Heavy…Weird weather November 21, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentI didn't have the 16km run or the short bike ride and I'm not feeling so well. Today was just one of "those" days. It was raining all day? not so hard but it gave me a weird feeling that really bothered me. I decided to study but couldn't really focus on that either…Why? Just wanna know why these days happen. I woke up around 9am and my head was feeling sooo heavy, kinda like the headaches I get but there was something different…it didn't hurt, just felt bad. I tried taking a nap, which usually works fine with the headaches but the heaviness still exists.
So what did I do…? I was sitting in front of my desk the whole day trying to study but just couldn't. I didn't even feel like reading the triathlon magazines either…Ended up spending a lot of time listening to music and using my imagination…Of course I imagined a nice hill climb on a perfect sunny day. I need to figure out a way to make the best out of a rainy day. I'm thinking of doing the 16km run on Wednesday because it's a holiday, just hope the weather gets better. Days like today are the days that I miss summer the most, it's hot, sticky and feels crappy outside but I love it…Winter is just so dull. I could manage all the hotness but NO, not the coldness. I was freezing during the ride to the bike store yesterday, probably because the traffic kept on stopping me…When will this end…Ok, I'll do my best to manage the coldness but hey, I want to meet the bright sun…Atleast let me have some workouts…
Tomorrow: I'll run 10km and go for a swim. Just want the good weather back.