Race with the roadie December 21, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentFirst of all, I didn't know how to spell roadie (is that right?) so I looked it up.
Roadie- a person who works with musicians, especially pop bands, when they are on tour, and helps move and set up their equipment.
Hmmm…isn't something missing or is it just my poor spelling. A person who rides on road bikes, Oxford should add that to their next dictionary.
Anyway, I had a 45km ride which was planned to be 40km but I missed a turn and ended up skipping one of the hills but hit the "fairly big" hill. It's obviously tougher than the usual hill but I don't ride there because I have to change lanes to get to my house and I find that to be dangerous. After that, I went for a 2.5km run just to get my legs used to transitioning from bike to run. Is this the so called, "brick?" Somebody teach me…
The ride: The first 20km was suppose to be LSD but it was more like a GDHU ride. Don't worry if you don't know what GDHU is, I made it up. It stands for Getting Dark Hurry Up. It get's pretty damn dark a bit after 5pm…Do I need a better light? The new one doesn't seem to work well. The 20km back was a TT, really think I'm getting the speed. After riding 5km or so, I caught up to this one muscle man, a roadie. I gave the head nod and said, "good afternoon." The roadie smiled back and said, "good afternoon." Ummm…when's the last time I actually caught up to a roadie from the back…Summer break? It's my second time catching up and ofcourse we raced:-) The roadie speeds to get the guy behind (me) away and the guy behind tries to stick, kinda like those track races.
The race: Without having enough time to talk at all, the traffic light turns green, off we go. Damn this guy is obviously better than me with the technique stuff (shifting, clicking shoes on, etc…). He also had meat legs, kinda like Libor's but smaller and sprinted away in five seconds. I was shocked…I did all this training and this happens…The road happened to be a 5km straight, flat at first and a bit of a climb starting around the 4th km. Not so many traffic lights and some cars but enough lanes to cover them up. I kept my pace up and after a few minutes, I caught up with the guy…hmmm, was he trying to finish me? He looked pretty tired and I was pushing with low cadence, something like 90rpm. After that, we were riding together and he'll just sometimes try to sprint away, I was able to handle it though. He really has the technique but in my opinion, I think he should shift 1or2 gears up because he was spinning at something like 120rpm the whole time, only going at 34kph or so. I was spinning at 100rpm. Here's how I change gears, if I'm spinning over 110rpm, I shift one up, if I'm at 85rpm(on flats) I shift one down. In conclusion (damn my writing is poor…sorry!!) I was able to stick with the guy, wouldn't say it was a victory but obviously didn't lose, thanks for the speed training, roadie!!!
The rest of the ride: I noticed that I missed my turn and ended up taking the hill that's a bit dangerous. Since I didn't feel like getting hit by any cars, I took another longcut (cut?) and kinda detoured towards my house. I stopped my lap a bit before the hill because it would be 25km if I didn't. So, the first 17.68km (I forgot to push the button, again) ave speed 26.9kph, ave cadence 71rpm, time 39'26. The next 18.12km, ave speed 31.7km, ave cadence 76rpm, time 34'14. and a little bit of hills after those…
The short run after: I thought of running 5km but decided not to, just have something against running in the dark. My lap time was 9'15, again, faster than expected. I tried to finish it in 9'30 without peeking at my watch…Sorry, I peeked 2times:-( Anyway, gotta get the mind in control of the body.
Tomorrow: Another bike ride and then if I have time, a short run. After all that, the usual Wednesday swim. 2more days and winter break starts!!!
Shifting technique December 20, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentToday, instead of swimming after school, I went for a 34km bike ride and a short 2.5km run (don't laugh, atleast I tried…). School finished unbelievably fast but when I saw the clock, it was the usual time, 4pm. At home, everything just feels right because I cleaned my room last night. By the way, you guys are aware of how I can't wake up in the morning, aren't you? Well, I used to have 2 alarm clocks, now, I have 3!!! And this new one REALLY could wake me up. A good 1980yen spent, it was absolutely worth it;-)
Bike ride: I went half LSD and half TT, just like last time. One thing with today's ride, I was shocked on how slow I was…With last time's TT, I was able to hold my speed above 50km for like 5min (Remember, I ride safe…I only do that where there aren't much traffic and traffic lights) but today, I wasn't able to go above 50km. I'm thinking it's because I was trying this one new shifting technique. While pedaling, there seems to be a "dead point", a point where you can't really put your strength in to move forward, I think it was when your foot's at 11 o'clock. That's the timing to shift gears. This one was a bit easy to achieve and was very useful but shifting both front and back at the same time was hard. My chain fell off 2 times. The LSD part of the ride: 16.88km, ave speed 25.8kph, ave cadence 69rpm, time 39'14. The TT part of the ride: 16.38km, ave speed 27.9kph (whaaa!?!?), ave cadence 66rpm, time 35'10. I wonder why my TT speed was that slow, I had a perfect climb in one of the three hills. I was able to keep my speed above 30kph when usually it goes down to 24kph. This is where the shifting technique worked. I shifted up one gear during the climb and when I did this a while ago, my chain made a weird noise, made me think it broke off or something. But today, I got the timing right and switched to dancing.
The short run: I didn't focus on anything, just needed to get out there with my running shoes on. 9'46, faster than I thought. I was expecting 10'30..Not happy with this because it means I'm not able to control my speed…yet. It's inevitable though, first run in two weeks.
Tomorrow: I'll go to the bike store to check my cycle computer. Is it running out of batteries? I'm afraid if I try to change the batteries, the whole memory might disappear and I'll be disqualified. 655km left to go in 21days. No swim until Wednesday.
Some laziness December 19, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentToday, I woke up at 10:30am and ate breakfast and watched tv for a fairly long time. 2hrs? When was the last time I focused on tv that much? Other than that, I was thinking of what kind of training I'll do after the race in April. When I'm done with that, I have to get ready for the college entrance exam so it'll be an awful lot of base training.
I bought a magazine, Triathlon Japan. Found a lot of good information plus it came with a "2006 training diary" YES!!! I need that. All I did was think about what changes I'll need to make in order to keep training and studying enough at the same time. One thing I know is that I'll have to wake up early in the morning and sleep at 10pm or so. Right now, I sleep at 12am so I've got to fix that as soon as possible.
Tomorrow: After school, I'll do some research on training programs for indoor trainers, maybe have a short run and then go to the swimming pool.
Oops, I made a mistake December 18, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentI slept in until 11am this morning because…I don't know why, guess I was just tired. So, no morning ride but instead, I had it in the afternoon. I switched the LSD to a bit of a speed training. After that, I thought about running but instead, left some energy for the upcoming swim which I didn't do because of a stupid mistake. I thought the swim was suppose to start at 7pm and end at 9pm but it started at 5:30pm and ended at 7:30pm. So, that means I had a 5km walk just to get my gloves that I forgot on Monday, hehe.
The ride: I rode 40km today. It was kind of a mixture of LSD and speed training. The first 20km was LSD and damn wind was strong, blowing in every direction. Perfect weather to learn how to control the bike though…It was too dangerous to get myself in aero position. The toughest part was that I had to pedal hard on downhills too, can you imagine that? I was suprised when this one blast came and slowed me down from 33kph to 27kph in 2seconds. The next 20km was the speed training, simple as it is…a 20km TT. It took me 39:45, I think I did pretty well because I just recovered from a cold plus the stormy weather. Average speed was 29.1km and average cadence was 69rpm. Here's one excuse for the average speed: I was in some traffic for about 3km and had to drop my speed to 20kph, 0 at one point. Did better than I imagined on the four hills, three were a bit steep and the other one was a slight long one. My slowest speed on the three hills was 24kph, very unusual, it's usually something like 17kph. I assume it's because I read an article about the technique of shifting gears, it worked fine with me;-) I'll post it sometime later, maybe tomorrow.
Tomorrow: I'm planning a LSD ride and then a run if I have energy left. 4more school days till winter break!!!
Am I recovering already? December 17, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentI don't have a runny nose anymore, it's just a little sore in the throat. But wait, I haven't recovered this fast before…There's gotta be something wrong.
Today, I knew I wasn't gonna go for a swim or anything so I stayed at school until 6pm playing/watching Japanese chess. Guess what? I won against my friend who's 3rd in the prefecture!!! I've been challenging him since last year (we were in the same class last year too) and this is my first win:-) But, this game left a question behind for chess, do you have to say check when one of your men is able to take the king? That question came up because we don't have to say it in Japanese chess. I won because my friend didn't notice it and he put one of his men in front of my king and said, "check." I smiled and took his king!!! HA!!! I've been waiting for this for 1 1/2 years. From this, I learned that no matter how close to perfect a person is, a person will always make a mistake. I mean, I knew it but it was just so unreal. So, I have a chance to win on anything, right? Should I challenge Lance, I'll have to wait till he gets old or something…hehe. Or maybe give him a tricycle….see if that'll work.
Tomorrow: I think I'll go for a swim at night. Last time I went, it was pretty easy so just to get used to the water, I'll go. But that's only if my cold (cold?) doesn't get any worse. Also planning a LSD ride in the morning.
So, is it the mind that's in control? December 16, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentBefore getting anywhere near my topic, I have some bad news…I think I'm catching a cold. No ride, no run and no swim for the day. Pretty sure that it'll be tough getting back to everything. I'm kinda happy because it didn't happen during winter vacation or during exams. Winter vacation is still ahead but I'm sure I'll be better by then.
Since I have nothing to write about for today, I'll write about something that happened last night on the way to the swimming pool. I took it easy the whole way just to figure out how long it'll take me to get there and also because I wasn't getting enough rest. Half of the way is pretty bright and I have no need to switch my light on. So, I was having the usual once a week ride to the far pool and made a right turn to the dark half of the ride. It was dark as usual and I noticed that my batteries were low but had no problem seeing everything, just the usual flash. Figured out I should go buy some on Saturday or something but then, a red light stops me, I reach out to switch my light off and then, it gets brighter…'Huh?' I thought and again reached out to check the light, it was on. That means, I was riding the whole way without my light on without having any problem due to darkness. I assume it's because I thought the light was on. Turned the light back off and had a little test ride just to see if my eyes are used to the darkness, now this time I know it's off and I can't see the road. Is this happening because I'm tired or is it the mind that's in control? IF the mind is in control, I should start riding uphills at 40kph and "think" that it isn't painful, will that work? It's a complete mystery for me, how does the mind work?
Tomorrow: No planned workouts, I'll fight against my cold. Drink a lot of water, possibly some medicine and plenty of sleep. Hope you guys stay healthy, good luck;-)
Those fog-ers December 15, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentIt was my first time seeing a foggy swimming pool today. I went to the pool and had a bunch of question marks above my head. "What happened?" I jumped in the pool and it was warm so that gave me the answer. The ride to the pool was freezing and yup, I saw some self centered, idiotic, CRAZY drivers. I hate the people who go pass me and make a turn right after they do so, they can't even wait a good little 5seconds, can they…I get depressed seeing these kinda adults and I KNOW I won't be one of them, wait, did I call them adults? I take that back, they're just sooo immature. Now this reminds me of Monday when I had a headache and still went to the pool. There was this one driver that tried to run over me or something and stopped all of a sudden so I was like, 'oh, how sweet, thanks for not running over me you fu%$in moron' so I started pedaling again when the driver again tried to run me over, so I stopped and then the car stopped again. It gets longer but to make a long story short, the same thing went on 3times. Why is it that these kinda drivers get to drive on public roads? It scares the shi& outta me. Come on, government, don't just give those morons their license, test them!!! Now, I'm not saying all drivers are morons but it's just a handfull of them that's bothering me. Maybe I'm just pissed off because I'm not doing very well with everything.
Swim: I probably swam about 1200m and it felt tough, my shoulders started getting tired after 50m…
Bike: I rode my mtb 19.5km and by the way, I have 725km to go in 26days. I'm really gonna give it my best shot during winter vacation so keep reading, guys!!! hehe…wonder if that motivation will change, I have a really wavy change in motivations all the time.
Tomorrow: I won't go for a bike ride, instead, a run…I need to run. Haven't been running for 2weeks? only 5km is okay, I just need it. After that, I'll swim.
Who made socks? December 14, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentWho made up socks? Do I need to wear them when I bike? I usually don't…is that sick? Today, I wore one, for my second time. Why? It was just too cold to go out there barefoot plus my shoes have excellent ventilation. Should I tape half of it up? Now that's one brilliant idea I came up with while riding, my feet were shivering.
I went for a good little 40km, not satisfied with it, I had the time and wanted to go more but the STUPID weather!!! It started raining a bit after 3km and I came up with the perfect phrase that fit the situation, "F&%# YOU!!!" any other nice phrases? Yup, a lot more but don't feel like typing it down cause you guys already know, right? So I decided to take it easy just to see how long it'll take to ride 40km with the traffic lights. It took me 1hr50min and yes, I saw some idiot drivers. Especially this one truck driver who tried to drive me off or something. Wait till the next time he does that, I'll give him a nice punch in the face, smashing his nose so that he'll have to learn how to breathe from his ears. Take that back, hehe. I mean, what's the hurry? There was only one lane due to construction and whatever and it was only about 200m and he just HAD to pass me…Patience buddy, patience. Besides if he has to be in that kinda hurry, isn't it because he left home late or something? I don't wanna be the one getting hurt because of someone else's laziness. And the idiotic drivers behind him, they were like, 'ummm, if that big truck could pass, then we could too, right?' Are they crazy? Really, I bet they're just sooo mind controlled by their work that they can't even step in other's shoes and give some consideration. And damn!!! my shoes are stuck to the bike, it'll be a disaster if one of them crashes into me. Unfortunately, it was a bit of an uphill and I was only able to speed up to 46kph, wait a minute, the speed limit's 60km. Boy I had a terrible ride…
Tomorrow: I'll have a swim and maybe a bike ride. The weather's crazy nowadays. In my opinion, it's because of those stupid cars making a lot of CO2, causing some massive global warming that changed the weather…a chain reaction? People just love convenience don't they, and I don't mind that but polluting the planet is another problem.
Just another one of those days December 13, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentI was feeling okay until school finished today. Well, everything hasn't been going right since Friday, after I smelt that weird smell of my bike's back tire melting??
I came back from school, didn't feel very well but got my bike clothes on and stepped outside. Is someone trying to mess with me? It started raining like 5seconds after I stepped out. I said 'forget it' and went back inside, checking the weather every few seconds. The clouds were still out but it stopped raining in about 10minutes so I went out with my mtb to look for a new running course now that I have a new cycle computer. Unfortunately, nothing good was found, not even one little hill that I might be able to use…Got back home and for some reason I got a headache, assuming it's from the rain(I get headaches when the weather changes suddenly) I went to the swimming pool. Then, it got worse, who cares…I'm already at the pool, I don't feel like going home without a swim. So I jump in, give myself a warm up of 200m…My head still hurts plus I have another weird pain in my left leg so I asked my coach, "Can I take it easy today? I'm not feeling well." He said yes so I got back to swimming but after 650m I just couldn't resist. I got out and went home.
Tomorrow: I'll just take it easy. What's the use of working out when you're not in the mood. I have the motivation, just need the rest…I will not go for a swim no matter how good I feel but I'll think about having a LSD ride if I feel up to it and if the weather's friendly. Don't worry, when there's a downhill, an uphill will follow. Besides, most of my PR's on my runs are after a downhill. Just keep on going down, man, I'll only feel much better later. Hope tomorrow's gonna be an "okay" day.
Ice cream still in season December 12, 2005
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentFirst, the bad news, it was raining outside. I set my alarm at 4am but for some reason woke up at 7am…This usually happens when I'm wiped out the day before, but…I didn't feel wiped out yesterday, guess my body was. No ride today, dang it!!! I lost a good opportunity to ride 100km, gonna have to cover it up with weekday rides and next week's LSD.
So, I spent most of today either thinking, reading or sleeping. There was this one interesting book that I bought, "Ichiro's 262 messages". I read the first few pages and it got me into reading, which rarely happens:-)
Hmmm…Other thoughts; I gotta get back to running. I just don't have time…NO, that's only an excuse, I've gotta make the time. "When?" is the question. I thought a bit and came up with, "In the morning." Which means, I'm gonna have to sleep earlier. I want atleast 7hours of sleep every day. I wake up at 7am on every school day and if I want a 10km run, I need to get up at 6am. So, I have to sleep at 11pm which absolutely will not happen on Wednesday because the swimming pool is 1hour away and the swim finishes at 9pm, add up the time to change clothes and I'll be back at 10:20pm or so. Then, eat, brush my teeth, blog and sleep. Nope, that's impossible. So, I will have Thursday as my rest day for running. I'll run on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and weekends. That's just a test for this week. I'm finallly understanding the complexity of training for a triathlon, 24hours a day just isn't enough…
I also went out to get some toys for my bike:-) It felt weird watching 4people eating ice cream at the entrance of the store. It's December and people are still eating it. Even on the way to the store, there were like 3people holding little tents to sell ice cream. Well anyway, I bought a thing that looks just like one of those "Bento box"es but the difference is, it's made by Topeak. Also bought a handy tool from Minoura and some long finger gloves from Giant.
The left pic is my new gloves with my cat and the right one is the computer I bought for my mtb just the other day.
Tomorrow: Gotta go for a ride after school and get those kilos in…After that will be the torturing swim, don't worry, I'll get used to it soon…I hope:-)