Reviews on May, 2006 and goals for June, 2006 May 31, 2006
Posted by clayton in : goals, reviews, schedule... , 3 commentsBefore I start with the reviews and stuff, here’s what I did today…
60min trainer ride, I tried guys, I tried…Couldn’t keep the maxhr below 75%((158bpm). Instead, it was a good(bad?) solid 94%(197bpm) and that’s on the bike. My body wasn’t in good condition but I still think I could’ve gone 95%(200bpm). But hey, the avg was at 72%(152bpm) and I lived through the 60min of pain, boredom and some good music;-) I bet this was what my cat was doing while I was kickin’ my own a$$ trying to get the hr higher…
Well, May just isn’t the best month we have here in Okinawa. It’s the start of the rainy season and everyone seems to get tired, including me:-) This is what the last half of the month looked like.
Swim: Swam a total of 18600m in 9hr05min. I’ve totally lost motivation over this part of the tri. My goal was to strengthen my pull which is really hard to tell if I did or not. That probably means I didn’t because there was no drastic change in anything, hehe. Oh well, just the normal month.
Bike: Rode a total of 242km in 8:05′48. I wonder why I swam longer hours…Not much in distance but that’s mostly because I did a lot of hill climbs. Renewed my PR and achieved my long term goal of finishing within 35min. All in all, it was a nice month….Just need to put in the hours.
Run: Ran a total of 150km in 14:18′57. Far from the 200km goals but hey, I did have some small knee issues(I know you’re thinking, “yeah, excuses, excuses…”). Although, I was able to run the same 10km holding the same time with the avg hr 10bpm lower before I started the base training. It was an “okay” month.
Goals for June, 2006
Swim: I’m taking this whole month off, it’s the last thing I wanted to happen but I just don’t have the passion I had during/before spring break. Swimming in that small 25m for 2hrs just seems stupid. Now, after I take a month off, it’ll probably feel new…I hope. Let me take this positively, it’s the perfect month to come up with a plan that works and to balance out my workouts with my studying. By the way, I’m thinking of doing all the weekday workouts in the morning and study the whole afternoon.
Bike: This month will mainly be about riding more hours although I don’t have much time. The majority of time will be spent on the indoor trainer, it’ll be raining outside anyway. I’ve made plans for what I’ll do when it’s sunny and another one for when it rains. I’ll be riding longer if it rains.
Run: Here’s the perfect word for this weather, hopeless, hehe. I’ll just shorten the trainer rides and go for a run when it doesn’t rain. No particular goal but the runs will be hrmax
And here are the little extra workouts I plan to do. Strengthen the upper body on Monday&Thursday, lower body on Tuesday&Friday 30min for each workout. Ofcourse it comes with a 10min stretch, which I’ll do everyday. 30breaths*2 a day with the Powerbreathe I’ve bought recently. No planned rest day but I may take a few days off before the end term exam and when my legs hurt in a weird way. Good luck to all!!!
Yesterday May 28, 2006
Posted by clayton in : workout , 2 commentsI wasn’t able to connect to the internet last night for some reason…I did do some training though. No workouts for today.
I had a 1hr15min trainer ride while watching part of the movie, “Ronin.” A little old but I had a nice time watching it. Focused on keeping the hr low and forgetting about time. Maxhr 149bpm(71%) and avghr 140bpm(67%). Other than my butt hurting after 20min, everything went fine. I’d like to do more of these to build up my base and stuff.
After the trainer ride, I went out with my mtb to go get myself a new mouse for the computer. My old one doesn’t work at all…Very stressful. Rode a total of 10km and I’m pretty sure my hr went way above 71%, there are a whole bunch of hills on the way back, good training;-)
I hope I could start with my runs again tomorrow. I’ll just take this week as a rest week and start again with the normal week. Hopefully a short trainer ride and a short run, maybe 6km~10km.
Last sunny day for a while? May 26, 2006
Posted by clayton in : workout , 2 commentsI’m guessing that…the weather forecast predicted rain throughout the day and you know these people, it was sunny/cloudy the whole day!!! Thought it might be the last day I’ll see the sun for a few days/weeks so I went out for a quick 40km ride in the stormy winds.
And the ride? Well the first 20km I was getting some major crosswinds and it got even worse for the last 20km, headwinds, hehe. For the first half of the ride, there are only two places that are tough. One’s the long straight at about 10~12km which the road is right next to the ocean and the crosswinds are MIGHTY STRONG. It’s best not to take aero position over there, hehe. And the other one is the short steep hill. The worst part of it, is that there’s a traffic light in the middle of it. You could probably guess if I got caught or not by my time, it affects the whole ride. On the way back home, there are another two places that are tough. One’s the same straight where the major crosswinds hit and the other is the long hill that gets a bit steeper around the end, best to go with high cadence. Push through and you’ll be dead, hehe. First 20km- 36′26, avg speed 32.8kph, avg cadence 76rpm. Last 20km- 43′05, avg speed 27.7kph, avg cadence 83rpm. Total of 1:19′31. The ride was in 28C temp and 83%humidity. 7secs better than my last ride. I’ve gotta start getting minutes off of that!!!
I’ll take it easy tomorrow. Go for a swim if I feel up to it(which I’m pretty sure, isn’t gonna happen). Hopefully a trainer ride and if I’m lucky, a run. The weather forecast predicted rain through the whole week but who knows? Another sunny day like today may come;-) Good luck to all!!!
Power breathing May 25, 2006
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentFirst of all, no training was done today but I just felt like writing. The weather was nasty and it got my school uniform drenched on the way home, hehe. For some reason, the shoes were fine;-)
Here’s my newest gadget, Power breathe (”The Turbocharger for your lungs” they say) and I personally think it will work. There are three different types of this tool, one’s for sport performance, one’s for fitness and the other one’s for wellness.
This is used to breathe “right” and perhaps, better. It…
-Drug free training tool
-Improve performance in 4weeks
-Ideal warm-up tool
-Make every breath count
Atleast that’s what it said on the box. They’ve proven that an “elite” cyclist has improven his 40kTT by 4.6%, don’t really know what that 4.6% means though, hehe. Anyway, the cyclist has made some progress, they say. I’ve started using this a few days ago and it’s hard. You put the mouth piece in your mouth and plug your nose with another little tool which means you can only inhale with your mouth and this little red thing makes it hard. You could take that little handle that I’m holding on the pic and pick a level from 1to8, 8 is the hardest and 1 feels like nothing. I’ve started at 4. Hope this thing works, it better, I’m only using it to cover up my training time which I won’t have due to studying.
Using the proven POWERbreathe training system of 30breaths twice daily can rapidly increase your breathing strength, power and endurance.
That’s what it said on the back of the box. Increase in breathing strength and endurance, I really think it’ll happen. But strength? I wonder what strength they’re talking about. hehe, wouldn’t it be cool if you do this 30breaths twice a day and start getting those big muscles that the body builders have? Anyway, I feel it’s a nice tool for those who don’t have much time to workout. But don’t buy it yet, I’ll let you guys know how this thing makes progress…IF you can wait for 4weeks, hehe. Best of luck training!!!
A rest day May 24, 2006
Posted by clayton in : workout , 3 commentsI went out for a ride after school, hehe. I know I’m supposed to rest but the weather was too nice, not even close to the rainy season that I’m aware of. It was a nice and easy going 40km ride.
40km felt pretty quick. Is it all the running that’s giving me the energy? I don’t know but it was easy. The hrm died on me around 5km but it revived in a minute or so…My hr might not be quite accurate but I went with an avg of 153bpm and with a max of 182bpm. 1st 20km-38′57, avg speed 30.7kph, avg cadence 72rpm. 2nd 20km- 40′41, avg speed 29.4kph, avg cadence 73rpm. Total of 1:19′38. Don’t know if that time is good or not because I usually don’t analyze any rides other than my hill climbs, hehe. I rode in 26C, 70% humidity, not too hot, not too humid.
I’ll probably ride again if everything goes okay. Gotta discuss some stuff for running with my legs though. If everything feels normal, I’ll be running.
Breaking down May 23, 2006
Posted by clayton in : workout , 2 commentsI woke up for a 10km morning run but finished earlier than planned, 6km and my knees were hurting. I really don’t wanna push through pain when it comes to the joints, it just scares me. I guess I’ll change some plans and start on the bike a little early. I went for a short 25min swim at night.
The run wasn’t all that good from the start. My legs were already tired and heavy before I even started. 1-12′14(avg145/max158), 2-11′54(153/162), 3-11′14(161/173). Overall 35′24(153/173).
The swim was also short too. 50m*6&100m*1 warm up, 200m*3(4′00) swim and I was done. The other swimmers came in, which totally surprised me because they usually don’t on Tuesdays… That really messed up my workout. I was gonna do 200m*10(4′00) and then a few 100ms and 50ms for the time left. The “sprinty” 50m*?? workouts that the coach plans just doesn’t work for me. The whole workout is some sort of speed training. I’ll stay away from the swimming pool for quite a while. Maybe once/twice a week, 30min or so.
Tomorrow’s a rest day which I really don’t think I deserve due to slacking out on a lot of workouts… Thinking of decreasing my runs from 6days a week to 3~5 a week. The weather is predicted to be baad throughout the week so I guess I’ll start on the indoor trainer, which I’ve been saying for the past few days…
Nice weather May 22, 2006
Posted by clayton in : workout , 3 commentsI didn’t go for the 10km slow pace run in the morning but I did manage to do it after school. Well, I had a bit of a headache after school, so it came after the nap. Then, I went for a swim but things get out of control sometimes.
The run was at a really slow pace, hehe. And yet, I couldn’t keep the maxhr below 170bpm. It’s okay, I wasn’t expecting myself to be able to do it in a day in the first place. The legs weren’t tired at all and the runs are still getting easier. 1-12′08(avg149/max160), 2-12′04(153/165), 3-11′37(160/170), 4-12′02(161/170), 5-11′59(162/171). Overall 59′52(157/171). So, my first lap is what I should be sticking to, I guess. All in all, a nice run.
I felt fine until I went to the pool and talked to the coach, not the coach who coaches me though. Yeah, he is a fast swimmer but I just don’t like the way he talks. He knows I’m a triathlete and I finish my swims a bit earlier than all the swimmers and yet he says stuff like, “you’ll never become a good swimmer or a triathlete if you keep on going home early.” Felt like beating the FU%& out of him but I like to stay cool so I just smile and head home. Today, I went to the pool and the first thing he said to me was, “You know? marathon runners run like 10km*5 a day?” And then he starts talking about triathletes and how they train. Then he comes with the conclusion, triathletes do everything halfway. I was like ‘What the fu**?’ He’s talking to me about professional marathon runners and I’m only a high school student. Even if I ran 10km*5 a day, I’m only gonna be left with bad knees. The funny part is, he smokes and drinks and he’s talking to me about endurance and stuff. I guess I’ll ignore him for a while, really starting to get on my nerves.
Tomorrow, I’ll have a run, ride and a swim. The run will be in the morning, the ride will be after I come back from school and the swim will be at night. And for your information, I’m really gonna ignore that coach, hehe;-) It’s just really unpleasant listening to what he has to say. He used to be a “nice guy” until I ran the half marathon with him, he started talking bad about other coaches and his boss and stuff…Like I care, hehe.
Something to think about May 21, 2006
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentAfter reading Libor’s comment, I decided to make my 10km slow pace run a slower one. I have a problem keeping my hr under 175bpm but I’ll gradually take my maxhr down to 160bpm. Now this will be a hardship, hehe. So, I’ll start with keeping my maxhr below 170bpm tomorrow. Okay, I’ll be honest…I tried today but it didn’t go very well. Absolutely lost control for the last two laps. Today, all I had was a 10km slow pace run.
Well, we’re now officially in the rainy season and the weather isn’t too hot and luckily, it wasn’t too humid either. I ran in 26C, 70% humidity. So, my “nike dri-fit” t-shirt wasn’t drenched like some of the other deadly hot days I’ve had but they weren’t really dry, ofcourse;-) The legs were as light as feathers (yes, I took yesterday off…) and the run was only “okay” because it didn’t go as planned. Lost control of the hr, hehe. I tried…and triathletes “tri” don’t they? I guess I’ve gotta start “du”ing more. 1-11′09(avg157/max170), 2-11′29(160/175), 3-11′29(161/170), 4-11′12(163/173), 5-10′52(165/175). Overall 56′13(161/175). uhhhh, tomorrow’s a new day, I hope.
Oh yeah, I had a 1hr swim yesterday morning. 400m warm up, 50m*4(1′10), 50m*4(1′00), 50m*4(0′55), 50m*6 kick sprints(2′30), 50m*5 pull(1′00). And then school. I can’t believe I spent one whole hour just for 1550m. That, I could do within 30min, very regretful, especially because I wasn’t really in a bad condition or anything. I’ve gotta better it next time I jump in the pool.
You know what? I think I’ll start planning my workouts every week rather than every month. It just doesn’t seem to workout when things happen in short notice. And some motivational problems may occur too, hehe. My week starts on Monday:-)
Starting tomorrow, school finishes 1hr early for two weeks, YAY!!! But I’m thinking of using the extra hour for studying, mainly Math. 10km slow pace run(maxhr 170bpm) in the morning, maybe a trainer ride, study and then a 1hr30min swim. I’ve been slacking out on the bike rides for a while. Most likely, June is gonna be a bike month, mainly on the indoor trainer though.
Snacks are important May 19, 2006
Posted by clayton in : workout , 1 comment so farThis morning, I went out for my 10km slow pace run without eating anything. It’s the second time I did this since I’ve started building up my base. And yeah, the first time I did it, I felt wiped out after the run but wasn’t really sure if it was because I didn’t eat. So, I learned a good lesson, it IS necessary to eat before running. No swim tonight, I didn’t really feel up to it. Probably because I didn’t have that “THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY!!!” known as “that one” TGIF feeling. Why? because I have school tomorrow…
The beginning of today’s run just couldn’t be any better. My hr didn’t pump up and yet, my pace was a solid 5′10/km, I’m beginning to love this low effort 10km slow pace runs, hehe. I woke up this morning saying, “damn, I’m sleepy!!! don’t think, don’t think.” Somehow I got myself out the door 10min earlier than usual. The wind was strong and there is a typhoon, the first one this year, nearby. It’s not gonna come though, according to those inaccurate predictions I get from the tv. But still, it was hot and humid. The breeze was nowhere near cool, I’d say it felt pretty sticky out there. 1-10′26(avg158/max173), 2-10′19(166/175), 3-10′33(167/174), 4-10′49(166/173), 5-10′52(165/172). Overall 53′01(165/175). Can’t you just visualize me running out of energy? But I look back in my little training diary, where I only write my workout info to analyze it later on, I do see some kind of progress taking place. I was out of energy and yet, my slowest lap time is still at a 5′26/km pace. Just a week ago, my fastest lap was at a 5′27/km pace. Wouldn’t say the progress came in a week but I used to have a 5′30+/km pace at the same hr. So far, so good, just hope it lasts a little bit longer;-)
Tomorrow, maybe go for a short 50min swim in the morning and head straight to school, it’s like a 5min walk, lucky me. 10km run in the afternoon and a trainer ride to finish the day. I’ll have the 10km run before the ride because the info wouldn’t be very useful if it comes in a brick…Not saying that I hate bricks but my May’s theme is to build up just my run base.
Never too early, IM dreams May 18, 2006
Posted by clayton in : workout , 3 commentsToday’s a rest day. I got two tests back, Math(95%) and English reading(84%). Wonder what happened with the English exam, was I too tired or something? Well, today wasn’t much but we are officially in the rainy season!!! Sad…hope it doesn’t effect my run workouts. After school, I came home and studied Math for quite a while. It’s fun when I get the answers right but on the other hand, it’s REALLY stressful when I get them wrong, hehe.
IM Kona…The fastest guy to finish in my AG(M18-24) was something like 9hrs20min, now that is FAST!!! Now this French guy has great balance in all three sports. sub1hr swim, sub5hr bike and a solid 3hr20min run. The guy who qualified from Japan in my AG had a sub1hr swim, 5hr30min bike and a 3hr50min run at IM Japan. Total of 10hrs20min. I heard the bike was a tough part, coming along with the hot weather. If I could get myself a sub1hr swim, which I think is totally possible, get on the bike and stay cool and then get myself to start the run fresh, a 3hr30min run isn’t a dream. What I need to get myself on, is some quality bike training and a whole lot of base training on the run. Bricks too, ofcourse;-) 2slots for Kona in my AG. Hmmm…I’ll have to train a LOTS!!!
I’ll have the usual 10km slow pace run early in the morning and then a swim at night. The bike will come on the weekends…