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I guess I had a good weekend January 31, 2006

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I wasn't able to blog because I couldn't access to my blog for 2days and I don't know why. So here's what I did.

Saturday: I woke up at 5:30am in the morning and went for a swim around 7am. Got to the pool at 7:25am and ran 3km for warm up(15min) and then swam. Did a total of 3800m, all I remember is that it was some medley practice. Went to a party kinda thing at night and met some friends.

Sunday: The group ride!!! But only four people(me included) came due to bad weather and other reasons. I rode to the park in the rain hoping that some people will come and I got lucky. Had a 20km run(2hrs) and a 60km bike ride(2hrs+20km to the park and back, 40min) One thing I learned is that I'm a slow runner/biker. Especially after going to the pool every day, I haven't been on the bike that often. After all that, I went to watch the race which happened to be at the swimming pool in the park. Walked around watching until 5:30pm or so and biked home.

Today: I cleaned my bike and went to the pool. 200m warm up and I got out of the pool. Why? I wasn't able to focus on swimming, kept on thinking about how slow I was yesterday and just ran out of motivation. Though, I told my coach that I had a back ache. Told the other coach the truth though. He asked me, "Feeling sick?" and I answered, "No, just can't focus on swimming." He had a weird look on his face and I'm not suprised because that is a weird reason. Just needed the time to think of how to swim, bike, run and study every day. 15days till the exam so I need to get my priorities straight, study first. The training will come after that. I decided to use my trainer and run short distances on weekdays. Have the outdoor rides/long runs on the weekends.

Tomorrow: Now, I won't say I'll start on the trainer tomorrow because I don't really know the best way to use it. It'll be a test ride, possibly in the morning but most likely after school for, maybe about 30min and then some Japanese History. After that, I'll have to swim my butt off just to cover up what I didn't do today. I wonder if my coach is disappointed because I'm gonna swim relay with 3other guys in May. Well, it's not really my decision…Since these two swimmers are gonna come to the same high school I go to, there's gonna be 3people in the swimming club and ofcourse they need 4people to participate in the relay and I'm the only guy left who knows how to swim. Other than this one guy in 10th grade who only swims once a week with the grown ups. Now, he really looks old, in fact, the first time I saw him, I thought he was in his 40s. And to be honest, I know I could beat him, hehe. So, I don't have any other decision than to participate with the 3swimmers(they're all the top few fast swimmers on island, yikes!!!).

This isn't what I expected January 28, 2006

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After school, I had a short 5km run and focused on form. Then, my right knee(some muscle right next to my knee) hurted and I had a hard time walking to the pool. Swam anyways and I think it got a bit better.

The run: I focused on widening my strides a little bit. I usually take small steps, especially on uphills but just thought I would need more muscles and power. My right leg started slacking out after just 4km and I was shocked, this is what I get for not running…I guess I'll just have to accept it and start again, atleast I wasn't panting. 1st lap: 9'32, 2nd lap: 10'00. Total of 19'33, not that bad after all but I obviously had a huge fall.

The swim: I went to the swimming pool, 5min early, hehe. I wonder if the coach wanted me to come 1hr early after what happened yesterday. 200m warm up, 50m*16 IM kick(2:00), 50m*16 IM pull(2:00, 1:15 for freestyle) and 100m*4 swim(kick, right hand&kick, left hand&kick, swim) I forgot the cycle. So that's 2200m. I really had a tough time butterflying at first but after the coach gave me a few advices, I was able to go 50m easier. You know what? it's actually the first time for me to swim butterfly 50m straight without stopping…So, I'd say I had a nice swim today.

Tomorrow: I couldn't pick which to go, a swim or the group ride that I'm not really sure if they'll do tomorrow. Since I can't go for a swim in the afternoon tomorrow, I picked to go to the pool in the morning. I have to take my run shorts too, seems like the swimmers are gonna run…it'll be a little embarrasing if I can't catch up, wouldn't it? But I'm a bit worried about my right leg…Well, it'l hold for 6km, I hope. Maybe a bike ride after that.

Naps take too much time January 27, 2006

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I again had a headache just like yesterday but it's most likely for a different reason. Thursday is always tough at school, especially the 5th and 6th period, home economics. The teacher is nice but a bit out of her mind. Everything is just sooo fast, today too, ofcourse. We had to make this one bag and the deadline was today but since HALF of the class was far from done, she finally understood what's really going on and postponed the deadline. Luckily, I wasn't part of the half, got it done right on time so I get to study whatever I want next week, relieved…I took a nap to get rid of my headache and then went for a late swim.

The swim: Guess what? I was ONE hour LATE for the swim. I woke up, looked at the clock and it said 30 so I went out the door in 5minutes and thought I got to the pool right on time but I guess the clock said 7:30pm. The coach had a weird look on his face but still let me swim. 200m warm up, 100m*8 kick(3:00), 400m*1 pull with pads(8:00). So, 1400m and I was done for the day…Not tired at all. Is it weird if I said, "I got a kick out of the kicks? Because I really did. I think I got the hang of kicking less and still be able to elevate my legs. First, I thought it was kick sprints so I went at a descent pace but then the coach told me to kick less and so I looked at today's menu and it didn't say sprint, hehe, lucky me. Here's what I learned when I used the pads, I can't turn with them. So, I tried a new technique, turning with my elbow… What a stupid technique, it's hard to do and it takes a lot of time. Finished with that and I was done for the day. Felt more like an actice rest day or something.

Tomorrow: School, run, study, swim, eat, sleep. I've been writing down, "run" for the past few days and haven't done it, not once!!! I better get my lazy a** out there.

Started out as a bummer day but got better January 26, 2006

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This morning, it looked like it was gonna rain so I was looking for my umbrella at home, I forgot it at school yesterday and darn it!!! I forgot it today too… When I got home, I ate some curry rice and looked around for bike shorts but they were in the laundry, no bike ride. Then I got this one headache so I ended up taking a nap in my run shorts. Luckily, I was able to go for a swim.

The swim: Swam a total of 1900m today and it felt soooo easy!!! 200m warm up, 50m making the streamline, 50m one hand pull, 50m scarling(is that what it's called??), and then the intervals. 100m*5 easy(2:00), 50m*5 hard(1:00) and did two sets of that. I didn't push myself at all with the 100s but I finished it in like 1min45sec every time. I finally learned how to turn quicker and I guess that wiped off a good 5seconds. Every coach I ever met said, "You take too much time turning." atleast once. I bet I could've done 1500m in 25min today…honestly think so:-)

Tomorrow: I better go for a run, I'd say atleast 6km. Now, I could do that because I have a 2km course;-) After that, I'll have a swim, definately speed training…I just can't get enough out of speed training, not swimming any more than 1500m just feels weird.

Battle against time January 25, 2006

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Yesterday, I said that I'll have a bike ride IF I had the time. I didn't, but still went anyway. 40km and then a swim right after that.

The ride: I went for my usual course which is now starting to become boring after that group ride but still did it anyway so I could someday, stay in the group. I noticed I have a lot of traffic lights that stop me and also a lot of traffic compared to the course I rode on Sunday. I was frightened by the traffic today, there were so many cars on the other side of the road. Made me worry if I could get to the swimming pool on time. I need to find a new course, that's probably all that I was thinking about during the ride. 1st half: 43'00, average speed 28.3kph, average cadence 77rpm. 2nd half: 44'48, average speed 26.9kph, average cadence 74rpm.

The swim: I was late by one minute!!! But was suprised by the amount of people, I got to have one lane for myself for half of the time. The other half, another guy came in but it still seemed like I had my own lane. Since the other guys have a race this weekend again, they did some speed training, something like 1000m total. Somehow, the coach read my mind, he knew I didn't wanna do this, hehe;-) So instead, this is what I did. 200m warm up, 100*10 pull with pads(2:30), 100*10 swim(2:30), 100m cool down. Nothing hard, I had a 30~40second rest for every interval. I even felt cold after waiting that long. A total of 2300m.

Tomorrow: School finishes early again!!! It better not rain this time, or I'll have to take a NAP!!! hehe. I'm planning to do all three tomorrow. Now, the run will be on my 2km course, slow.

No muscle aches January 24, 2006

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After yesterday's ride, I was sure that I was gonna get some kind of a pain on some part of my body but I woke up and felt just fine. I guess I'm a bit used to tiredness now?? I had a swim today.

The swim: Did a total of 2700m, all medley practice. 400m warm up, 25*4(kick, right hand pull with kick, left hand pull with kick, swim) 4sets of that for each style(0:40) 25*4 pull(0:40), 4sets of that too for each style. 50*4 individual medley(1:10), another 4sets of that, 25*4 individual medley(0:40) 4sets, 100*2 IM sprints, 100m cool down. Couldn't count how many times I had to stop during the butterfly…One thing I know is that I didn't stop with the 25s and the sprints. After the swim, the fastest guy came up to me and asked if I wanted to join the school's swimming club(we go to the same highschool). Hmmm, why did he ask me that? Well, it seems like 2other fast guys are coming to our highschool this year and if I join the swimming club, we could enter in the relays. I told him I don't mind but also told him to keep in mind that I'm a SLOW swimmer, hehe. Which he already knows because we swim in the same pool…

Tomorrow: Let me check the weather…It was raining this morning and I walked to school holding my umbrella and my uniform that I just got from the cleaners got a bit wet. Why does it always rain when school finishes early?? Since it's a normal school day tomorrow, I'm guessing the weather will be fine. Have a bike ride if I have the time but if not, a run and then a swim.

Learned something, I need more muscles!!! January 23, 2006

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Today was the exciting day, a group ride!!! Woke up at 5am and got out at 6:30am. It was soooo cold outside and I had these bike shorts on, so that's why I was shivering. So cold that I had a hard time speeding up. When I was waiting for one of the triathletes to come over to show me the way to the park where we're supposed to gather up, it started raining a bit and I was sooo worried if we'll still be able to ride but fortunately, it stopped in a minute or so. When I got to the park, I saw the "p-com" bus (my pool's bus) come in to the parking lot and I was like, 'whaaa?' then I noticed they had a race today. Saw the coach waving at me, waved back and off to the ride…

The group ride: At first, we were going at a slow pace, 24kph, while chatting and stuff. Now this relieved me…If it's this pace throughout the ride, I'll be able to follow with no problem. How stupid am I to think that? hehe. Ofcourse it was just a warm up. Then the pace went up to a steady 30kph, still, no problem with it. I was pretty much okay with the first half of the ride, tried my best to stick to the fastest climber on the uphills but the distance between this guy and me either stood the same or got longer. I tried though, hehe. But the only reason why I tried was because one of the other triathletes said, "try chasing that guy in the blue jersey." At first, I said, "No, no, no…" but then I changed my mind. Here's what I learned when I chased after "blue jersey." I NEED MORE MUSCLES on my legs. I was totally fine, no panting going on and I was a bit relaxed too but my legs didn't move. I need to get used to spinning with lactic acid. After a bit more climbing, we came to a small hill where the front few people turn back to see how the people in the back are doing and then stick to them to make a group again. So, I turned back and tried to go back in the group but I guess I went too far and I just couldn't catch up. Ended up riding alone for a fairly long time which takes away a lot of energy after riding behind a group…So for the rest of the ride I ran out of gas and rode alone. Since it was my first time, I missed a turn and ended up detouring to the parking lot where we're supposed to meet. Total of 100km with the ride to the parking lot and back included. After I got home, I had a short 5km run just to check how slow I got after the slacking out. I told the other triathletes my 10km PR, 35:40 now, that happened back in November when I was addicted to running.

The run: Thought about going for 10km but I chickened out. 1st lap 10:16, 2nd lap 10:13, a total of 20:29.62…If I run at this pace, none of those triathletes are gonna belive that I did 10km in 35min…I've gotta start some intervals. But I was happy with the pace being steady, can't believe I did one lap in 8:20 or so back in November…I think I'll find a shorter course for intervals.

Guess where I found my timex…

I usually look around the most unexpected places but this definately got me, hehe.

Tomorrow: School ends early so I'll have a run and a swim, not thinking of a ride. Oh yeah, I'm gonna sign up for the triathlon tomorrow!!!

This week's training: swim: 12200m(7hrs) mostly speed. bike: 159.5km(7:31'37) run: 10km(45'29). Total of 15:17'06. I did every swim!!! But need to run more…

A little bit of speed work January 22, 2006

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Today, I woke up at 5am and sat around. After 30minutes of sleep-sitting, I finally got my lazy a** off the bed and decided to go for a ride. By the time I went out the door, it was like 7:10am or so. Really have a problem waking up in the morning. I had a swim in the afternoon.

The ride: Not a LSD ride, I went short just to see how fast I could go without giving it my best shot. My plan was to keep my average speed above 30kph by keeping my cadence high too. I went out the door and it was still a bit dark outside. I had a hard time checking the condition of the road so just rode safe and slow until I got to a bright place, the road was a bit damp at some places but mostly dry. The first half is a slight uphill most of the way and my average speed is usually around 25kph even on the flats I only go 28kph. Today, I went at 35kph and really freaked myself out. Compared to every other ride, it's obviously over pace but this is when high cadence comes in, I was no where near tired. I guess comparing isn't much to think about. The way back was just the usual ride. 1st half: 40'43, average speed 29.2kph, average cadence 84rpm. 2nd half: 40'54, average speed 29.7kph, average cadence 86rpm. I forgot to push the lap button for the first half.

The swim: Swam a total of 3500m. 200m warm up, 50m*8 kick sprints (1:30), 25m*8 individual medley kick sprints (0:40), 50m*8 pull with pads (1:00), 25m*12 individual medley pull (0:40) 50m*8 swim (1:00) and then a 1500m time trial (31:00, horrible!!! PLEASE keep in mind that it happened after the speed training, hehe). I got two cramps on the same leg during the swim and after, I had one cramp for each arm, the back of my shoulder, hehe, it was a crampy swim. 100m cool down after all that.

Tomorrow: Ride with the triathletes, yay!!! Gotta go to bed, I'll think about what I'll do after that when the time comes…Good night!!!

Did he catch his cool? January 21, 2006

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So I had a test at school today although we weren't able to finish early because of the stupid math test, it lasted 2hours!!! And you know what? It's so difficult that after 15minutes, nobody seems to move their pencil, hehe. After school, I went for just a short swim. I wore my run shorts and ended up not running but instead, searched around for my timex for an hour or so. Where can it possibly be? Since it wasn't in the little shelf that I always leave it in, I think it's somewhere in the living room which is literally a jungle. All kinds of things laying around. I really need to find it soon…

The swim: It was supposed to be a 2+ hour swim but I didn't feel like swimming so I just told the coach that I'll finish at 8pm. 200m warm up, 50m*7 kick sprints(1:15), 50m*8 pull(1:00), 50m*10 swim sprints(0:55) and some turn practices that I don't think was necessary for me. The coach told me, "it has nothing to do with you but you'll be disqualified with that turn." hehe, that's when I went from butterfly to butterfly and all the other turns too. So that's a total of 1650m with the turns included. I guess the coach was in a better mood than yesterday, still can't say he was in a good mood though.

Tomorrow: I'll have a bike ride if it doesn't rain, run even if it rains and swim at night. Then, go to bed early because I have a bike ride to attend on Sunday!!! YES, a group ride;-)

Is this what I went for? January 20, 2006

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Terrible day today. Well, maybe I'm just making it sound bad. I had a nice day at school(just the usual day) and we finished early, just around noon. The forecast predicted rain but just like every other day, they got it wrong and it was a nice sunny day. The problem was that my nose was running all day long and I just couldn't go out for a ride, atleast until I did something with my little faucet. But, I really wanted to go for a swim because I'm finally catching up with everything. So, I decided to rest in the afternoon and go to for a swim at night, which absolutely went fine. Took some medicine, drank some water, slept for 2hours and my runny nose was gone!!! Great news, I was ready for a swim although I was gonna get out of the pool early because I didn't wanna push myself too hard and get the cold tomorrow too.

The swim: You know what? I only swam 550m. 200m warm up, 50*7 kick sprints. Then the coach was all angry and stuff because we weren't able to go to the next set, the pull, on time. At first, I didn't know what the hel* was going on because I'm a slow kicker (I really tried) and I was the last person to start. The coach told us to get out of the pool. Now, at this point, I was thinking we're gonna do some sprints but then he said we're done for the day. So, I put the kickboards away and the coach started off with the scolding whatever with the other kids. I was like, 'huh?' and thought I should get back to hear what the coach needed to say. What did he say? Well, the guys I swim with are having a race this weekend and I guess the coach didn't like the way they acted, not taking the swims serious enough, I guess. At this point, I was just standing in line listening to the rest of his speech and he said, "go home." The other guys didn't seem like they wanted to go home but I wasn't gonna waste my time just standing by the pool with the "please coach, let us swim" look on my face. So, I was the first one out, walked home like nothing happened, met some friends on the way and talked with them a bit. See, I could've gone for a ride and take a break from swimming but no, I decided to do it the other way around. REALLY wasted a valuable sunny day for a bummer swim. I felt like taking the rest of the month off. Ofcourse the coach doesn't know what I went through today but still, not letting us swim?? I don't understand, or maybe just don't want to… One of "those" days. c'mon, me, I aint gonna take the whole month off, people get angry, I don't know what the coach went through these days, maybe he had a bummer day too. But here's one thing, I really wanted that ride…hehe.

Tomorrow: Since I slept a lot today, I think I'll wake up early and go for a run, if I have the time, a ride and then a run after school. Then, a swim. But speed training just doesn't fulfill my shoulder's needs, they wanna move more, I guess.