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One day after the marathon February 28, 2006

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I was expecting some severe pain, not being able to get out of bed and not wanting to go to school. None of that really happened though, got out of bed the usual time with a little pain that I was able to handle and I went to school like every other day. After school, I came home, took a nap and went for a swim.

The swim: I was expecting a tough swim because of leg pains and so and so but the hardest part of it was that I forgot my goggles…The coach let me use an extra pair of goggles and DAMN my eyes hurt so bad. I had to stop during the 200m warm up, hehe. Didn't swim the whole warm up, only 100m. Then 100m scarling+100m pull*2. I only did 50m scarling+50m pull for the first set. Kick drills, 25m*2 kick, 25m*2 kick+right hand pull, 25m*2 kick+left hand pull, 25m*2 swim, 40sec cycle, 2sets. I was freaked out by the next one, 50m*20 sprints, easier than expected 1min30sec cycle. 25m*8 kick sprints 1min cycle, 25m*4 sprints and then 100m cool down. So that's a total of 2200m, no problem with the legs.

After the swim, I was at the door getting ready to go home and one of the girls opened the door(I was outside), smiled and said bye. I guess she really had a nice day, hehe, it's nice of her to share her smile;-) But one of the guys, he seems to be unhappy lately. I asked him what's the problem and he said he was tired, didn't see him smile today. I wonder if that girl shared her smile to him too…

Tomorrow: Come home, trainer ride(this time, it's for real) and then a swim, the "Speedy Tuesday." Wonder when I'll make a new PR…

Since when do bananas taste this good!?!?!? February 27, 2006

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I was able to finish the marathon, alive, ofcourse. Woke up at 6am ate breakfast, took a quick shower and went to the park where the start/finish is. Wandered around the place for about 20min or so because it's a pretty damn huge park and finally, I found a triathlete that I know. Wasn't nervous at all, in fact, I didn't even think of it as a race until I passed 10km…

My first marathon: I didn't notice the race started until everyone ran, hehe, that's how relaxed I was. I ran the race in a fairly slow time. 10km-55'29, 20km-58'47, 30km-1:08'17, 40km-1:12'40, 42.195-13'21. A total of 4:28'36, my official time is 4:28'56, don't really know what happened. 1st half was 2:01'32. A lot of people told me that my knees will hurt after 30km but I had no problem with the knees, although I had some problem with muscles, I guess my legs don't last that long…YET, it will some day. I finished 1361 out of 8526(number of people who signed up). Don't know how many people finished until tomorrow. It wasn't as tough as I thought it'll be but the pain I had since Wednesday on my right foot(I thought it was healed) came back at 40km. Good thing it wasn't 30km, hehe. Oh yeah, I was getting hungry around 30km and luckily, I was able to get a banana at the aid station. You know what? I was suprised by how GOOD the banana tasted. Is it because I was running or is it the quality? Maybe I should start eating veggies that I hate after running 30km, will it taste good? I guess I'll do some extra stretching before bed. All in all, it was a nice, slow race.

Tomorrow: I'll have the usual day at school and if my legs feel okay, I'll get on the trainer which I haven't been doing for a while and then go for a swim.

Wish it was sunny February 26, 2006

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Hey guys, my first marathon is tomorrow!!! BUT here's what happened today. I had my first Saturday morning swim in bad weather. The best part of the morning swim is that the sunlight comes through the windows and it just feels soooo good swimming in a cold pool and getting hit by the warm sun at the same time.

The morning swim: Before the swim, I went for a 3km warm up run and at this point, I thought I'd be alone…Which I'm not very happy being alone sometimes. But then I saw a pink person waving at me walking the other way and it was one of the girls, good, now I'm not alone. She must have good eyes, I was pretty far and didn't notice her until she talked to me. 2800m swim after the run. I don't remember the whole workout but I remember that I did a lot of kicks and fast swims.

I was supposed to have the trainer intervals but I had some major nose problems, just couldn't stop the faucet. Ended up buying some medicine after I went to get the racing number. Luckily, this medicine works VERY well. The running faucet was fixed in no time. Then, I headed for the afternoon swim.

The swim: Swam a total of 3800m. The first quarter or so were all kick drills. Now, the fins are annoying…It's not that my quads hurt or anything but last week, it gave me 2blisters from all the friction. I got lucky today, it only hurted, hehe. The second quarter was pulling with pads, tiring… And then, speed training. The 50s are really tough, 25s just finish really fast. I'm pretty much wiped out, finally.

Tomorrow: The marathon!!!! I hope I get through it alive. I don't care how slow I run as long as I get through the finish line. After that, I'll take a good long rest in the afternoon and do some studying if I have the guts.

The unpredictable February 25, 2006

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The normal day at school other than I had a small headache in the afternoon but it was better by the end of school. I came back home at 4:30pm and while I was daydreaming, it was already 6pm and I washed my swim shorts and headed to the swimming pool. Yeah, it was a bit tough but not like a month ago…

The swim: It was some speed training. 400m warm up, 25m*4 sprints(PR+1.2sec), 50m*8 kick sprints(1:30), 3sets of 100m sprint(2:30)&25m*4 sprint without diving(0:40). 50m easy then, another 25m*4 faster than the first sprint. 12.5m*4 start sprints, 25m*4 turn sprints, 100m cool down. The PR+1.2sec sprint was fairly easy and the second 25m*4 sprints were pretty easy too. I'm not getting enough out of swimming these days. Not really tired right now either, maybe it was yesterday's nap. The kick sprints were just fine, I was suprised because I was able to go 1min10sec and not pant. The hardest part was the turn sprints, I was told to do flip turns, and as you know, I suck at it. Barely kicked the wall… I know I'm not pushing myself enough when the flip turns are the hardest part of the workout, hehe. Swam a total of 1900m.

Tomorrow: Go for a morning swim, hope it kills me this time. After that, get on the trainer and do three sets of the 30~40min interval menu and then eat lunch. After that, go get my racing number for Sunday's marathon and then go back to the pool to swim my butt off.

Sleepy head February 24, 2006

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I wasted another day…Did go for a swim but I wouldn't really call it a workout. The coach was busy so we had to swim with the little kids, I was looking for a killer Thursday swim but everything was so easy. I took a 3hour nap!!! What a waste…

The swim: It's just so sad when I go to the pool with a descent amount of motivation and not be able to swim that much. We finished at 8pm when the usual Thursday finishes at 9pm. So, I stood in the pool and practiced my flip turns. The coach said I'm getting better at it but I'm having a hard time kicking the wall with my left foot. Talked to some of the big guy/gals, there was only one guy and he went home pretty early… The two girls were talking about the technique of cheating on exams, hehe. Not a subject I know about…;-) Oh yeah, I did pretty well on the exams. So far, I've got 6 out of 7 subjects back and my average score is 84%, lowest was 76% on math and the highest was a 95% on English.

Tomorrow: Either a easy run or trainer ride after school and then a swim. When will I be able to catch up with those two girls…They're really fast, it looks like they work on motors or something.

The long way home, 99%dead February 23, 2006

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Had the usual day at school and came home at 4:30pm. Put some songs into my mp3 player so I could listen to them while running to the swimming pool. The plan was to run to the pool, swim and run back but the toughness wasn't what I imagined.

Run to the pool: 10km it is. I was worried if I'd get thirsty on the way, and I did but was able to hold it. I left home at 6:20pm because I don't know how long it'll take me and I got to the pool a little before 7:20pm, still have 40min!!! Sat down and quenched my thirst. This part was still the toughness that I imagined. 54'08.

The swim: It was a tough one for a Wednesday swim. Swam 2700m. 200m warm up, 50m*1scarling+100m*1forming 2sets, 50m*2 headup halfway and pull the way back. Then, the intervals. 400m*1 form(8:00), 200m*1 form(4:00), 200m*1 speed(3:30), 200m*1 form(4:00), 200m*1 speed(3:30), 200m*4 speed(3:45). That was a tough one for me. After that, 100m cool down.

The way back: This was a killer, absolutely the unexpected. I was okay until 6km but that last 4km really took the guts out of me. Probably because there were a lot of updowns. I drank 500ml of lemon tea after the run and was still thirsty. 1:02'25, that's a total of 1:56'33. Made me worry about the marathon coming up this weekend.

Tomorrow: School finishes early tomorrow so I'll jump on the trainer and do a brick or two. After that, comes the "Thursday killer swim." Damn, I've been having a lot of "killer" workouts these days…Amazingly, I'm still alive!!!

Speed workout February 22, 2006

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I was a bit disappointed after school because yesterday, we were told that we could go home earlier but we ended up staying at school. I did have a short run in the morning and a swim in the afternoon which were both pretty good. BUT the point is, we finished cleaning up our classroom and helped other places and still finished like 1hr30min early and so we all went back to our classroom waiting for the teacher to come back. Ended up waiting for the whole 1hr30min and were dismissed at the usual time. No time for the brick workout because I got home a little past 5pm.

Morning run: I went for 4km, planned to go 6 but I was worried about the time, it's my first morning run on a school day after all. 1st-11:56, 2nd-11:53. Slow LSD pace jog and it felt pretty good other than the humidity. I was suprised by today's high, 26C, summer's starting… Focused on form, keeping my back straight.

Swim: 200m warm up, 150m(kick, pull, swim)*6(3:00), 50m*8(2:30) at best average time, I renewed my best average by 0.3sec. Some of the other swimmers had to swim extra because they weren't able to keep their best average time. If they're late by 0.1sec, they were told to swim an extra 50m, 0.2sec=50m*2 and so on. 100m cool down. I was totally out of breath after the 7th one which took me 47sec, oops!!!

Tomorrow: Either run in the morning or do some muscle training instead. When I come back from school I'll get ready for my first run to the other pool. Total of 20km, this way, I'm gonna have to force myself to run. It's gonna be a battle against time.

Horrible weather but still feeling good February 21, 2006

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Damn, it's been raining for how long? I don't know…I'm starting to get sick of the weather but swimming in the pool loosens me up. Yeah, it's tough but that's why I'm able to forget about other things and focus. I was in the pool for 1hr30min and when we were done, I wasn't really satisfied. A guy like me actually wanted to swim more, unbelievable, especially after IM practice. I did some chin ups and balanced on the yoga ball before I went for the swim.

The swim: 200m warm up, 25m*16(0:40) kick, right pull, left pull, swim, 4for each style. 25m*40(0:40) 10sprints for each style. 25m*4 one of each, 100m cool down. It was my first time to do that "backstroke start." I thought I'll drown and stop but amazingly, no problem. I'm getting used to everything!!! Which was actually last month's goal, hehe. Better late than never!!!

Tomorrow: Wake up, run, school, bike+run brick, muscle training and then a swim. School finishes early due to cleaning the classrooms and waxing the floors which our class finished it all today!!! Yipeee;-)

Is today really Sunday? February 20, 2006

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Today was the busiest Sunday I've ever had. My plan was to wake up around 9am, clean my room, take the cat to the vet, come home and run or bike if it rains. Unfortunately, nothing really went as planned. I woke up at 8am(good!!!), cleaned my room, took the cat to the vet and then went to a store to get a stretching machine and it was already 3pm when I got home. I ate lunch at 4pm and started assembling the stretch machine BUT there was a problem with it. There was one part that was missing and one extra part that I didn't need. So, back to the store at 5:30pm and got home at 7pm. Reassembled the stretch machine and finally finished it at 8:30pm. I was a bit pissed at the store but oh well, they're human beings and we're never perfect, are we? Plus it was raining all day anyway, probably didn't go out even if I had the time.

Did I tell you this? I ordered a HRM!!! and it's a nice one, Polar rs200sd. It shows speed and distance along with the HR!!! Cool, aint it? Got it on ebay for $200 with shipping included, if I bought it in Japan, it would've costed 35,000yen($340) without the footpod 10,000yen($95). Can't wait till it comes…

Tomorrow: Come home, clean my room and run, if not, muscle training with the stretch machine and yoga ball. Then, a swim which is starting to become fun. I have the motivation, all I need is time and weather conditions;-) I'm gonna start dropping my body fat % tomorrow, I checked it yesterday and the results were, 54.6kg, 12.9%. Maybe drop it down to 6% if I could but atleast under 10%. It's not like I'm gonna skip meals or anything so don't worry;-)

Done with the freakin exam and I'm back!!! February 19, 2006

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Back with a cold though. My throat's been hurting since Thursday night and I wasn't able to focus on studying. So, what have I been doing for these past few days? I did NO training but studied my head off instead. The exams ended on Friday but as I said I have this one throat pain, I haven't been in the mood of training. What else happened? Well…

I received two racing numbers. no80 for the triathlon and no1935 for the marathon. I was suprised by the no80…It's a wave start and I start in the first wave…yikes!!! I'm gonna get killed in there!!! And the marathon, I only have one week left to train. The problem is that I haven't been running AT ALL. Now, I have an even bigger problem, I still think I could get through the finish line. I have no idea where the confidence comes from but I just don't feel the pressure, hehe.

Today, I still had my cold but drank some medicine and went to the swimming pool. Ran 3km for warm up or just to wake myself up. I'm beginning to have a hard time remembering what kind of training I did in the pool because there's just waaaay too much to remember. Here's one thing I know I did, I swam 7200m today. 3600m in the morning and another 3600m in the afternoon. It was IM practice, not ironman but individual medley. I'm getting the hang of swimming butterfly. I used to be half dead at 12.5m and completely dead at 25m but I was just fine today. To be honest, today was the first time that I ever had fun with IM practice. I'm usually like, "awww, damn it!!! do I really need to do this?" maybe being away from the pool for a few days helped.

One miracle happened today, the coach actually jumped in the pool, hehe. Haven't seen that ever since I joined the big guys but it's cool. He taught me how to "kick but not kick" while butterflying/breast stroking with the pull buoy. He also helped me to start on my journey to achieve the perfect flip turn. The first step, spin and land on the black line. Second step, do it after a few strokes. Third step, do it while swimming into a wall. Fourth step, do it and kick. I had a hard time kicking, just couldn't go straight after kicking. Today was a nice, valuable day.

Tomorrow: I hope my cold gets better. I hope it doesn't rain. I hope I run. I hope I bike. If it rains, I'll hop on the trainer and maybe play with the yoga ball, do some stretches/muscle training. I'm getting the hang of balancing on the ball without touching anything. Wait for the rain to stop and RUN!!!!