The stupid computer and the fu*#in’ weather, but the pro… July 23, 2006
Posted by clayton in : workout , 3 commentsMan, the computer in my room has been stressing me out for these past 2weeks. Do you know that one antivirus whatever company called Symantec? Well, it’s there popup ad kinda thingy that’s bothering me. It comes up every 30seconds and disappears by itself in like 0.1sec leaving me with that clicking noise you get when you click the mouse. At first, I was just ignoring it but now, it’s getting on my NERVES!!! I’m gonna get the store to fix it.
This week was busy, or was it? Maybe it felt that way because I had a lot going on yesterday. I went over to the university that I’m wanting to go next year to hear what the professors of the university had to say. There were about 100 other students from different schools and I did go with a friend but somehow, I ended up sitting in the middle of a whole bunch of girls, hehe. Ofcourse I didn’t know any of them because they’re from a different school…I probably missed like 10 minutes of the professors speech looking at this one cutie, then I came to myself and got back with the professors speech. Unfortunately, he was saying the same thing that I read on the university’s pamphlet last year, errrr… But then, we were divided into 10groups to meet some other professors and to take a peek at what the classes were like. I guess that was good, and I was in the same group as that cutie, hehe. But later, we were divided into smaller groups and you know what happened:-( They also showed us a video of the campus along with some interviews with the students and professors. I’d love to go there, especially if that cutie’s gonna be there, hehe:-)
After my friends and I left the university, we went out to grab something to eat, and then went home. I probably walked like 15km, my legs felt like I just finished a marathon…BUT the day wasn’t over, I went over to the shopping mall to get myself 4rechargeable batteries and a recharger. Went home, ate dinner and then to the CD store to buy a CD…Isn’t it a mystery? I’m still alive!!!
On Monday, I had a 10km run which I remember, felt pretty darn good;-) 1-13′24(153/162), 2-14′01(156/163), 3-14′20(158/166), 4-14′37(157/166), 5-14′32(159/168). Total of 1:10′57(157/168). The tiredness felt good, my legs were wobbling, hehe.
Tuesday, I had a 20km bike ride before school in the morning which felt refreshing. Kept the pace slow with an avg speed of 28.6kph, no pushing throughout the ride, avg cadence was 72rpm, 43′07(152/177). I had a lot of yawning going on during the ride, hey guys, it was like 5~6 in the morning.
Wednesday, I went out for a 6km run. Didn’t really care whether I ran 10km or 6km or even shorter. It was a sticky morning, humid, like every other summer morning. 1-13′21(151/160), 2-13′38(155/161), 3-13′47(156/164). Total of 40′46(154/164). Just one good morning.
Thursday, I went for a swim in the morning. It felt good but just ruined my day. 50m*6(1′30), 200m*2(4′30), 400m*2(8′00). Total of 1500m, easy pace. It’s more like I finished after I warmed up, hehe. Why did this ruin my day? my nose runs like a faucet after I swim, is there any way I can prevent this? Asking for some advice…any advice.
No workouts on Friday which was the last day of school. I’m officially in summer break without that “hurrrraaay!!!!” feeling. It’s because I have a lot of homework, a lot of studying to do, gotta practice some weird stuff with the class for the school festival and gotta plan for the afternight festival type of thing with the cool gals and guys. They’re the people who like to party, especially the girls. Oh yeah, I have to take some college exam preparation classes too. Which leaves me with…well, not much time to do anything else. Atleast I know I’m not a lazy bum.
Today’s run just sucked. It started to rain right after I went outside and I hated the humidity, hated the puddles, hated the shoes that kept on slipping. So I said, “Fu#* this” and stopped after 4km. 1-13′16(156/166), 2-12′20(162/198). Total of 25′37(159/198). Lost control with 200m or so left and I started pushing but then my shoes kept on slipping everytime I kicked back which kinda aggravated me to push even more.
Felt pretty bad and REALLY hated the computer and weather and all but one little thing kicked it away. I noticed I got a comment on this post from Jenna Shoemaker, a proffesional triathlete, model, and a student of Harvard. Amazing, and I actually saw her race and talked to her a bit while the professional guys were racing. Jenna’s official website
So, pros netsurf too, hehe:-)
The Last “Hairy” Samurai July 16, 2006
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentOn Friday, I went for a 10km run which felt pretty good until the last lap, I gave it my best shot. 1-13′23(avg154/max166), 2-13′38(159/169), 3-13′42(164/172), 4-13′01(170/184), 5-9′29(190/199). Total of 1:03′14(166/199). I thought my body had already recovered from the flu, and it really feels okay, but looking at my times and hrs, it’s still pretty bad.
Saturday, I had an easy swim before my 2day long exam. 50m*12(1′30), 100m*2(2′30), 200m*1(4′00). It was more like a swim without kicking, or a pull without the pull buoy.
Today, I went out for an 8km run. Didn’t go for 10 because I ran out of gatorade and I didn’t feel like buying another one for the 2 left, and it was HOT outside. 1-12′46(161/174), 2-12′09(170/181), 3-12′05(173/187), 4-12′00(173/192). Total of 49′02(169/192). I sprinted through the last 400m or so.
The last hairy samurai…
This is before they get shaved…
This is after they bravely fought against the razor blades…Unfortunately, non of them live to see another sunset…
And this was the last sunset they saw…
I need to get a tan for these legs, really surprised at how white my legs were after I shaved them, hehe. Maybe go out for a ride tomorrow morning, haven’t been on the bike for a while because of the two typhoons that passed by.
Past few days July 12, 2006
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentNothing on Monday, a 1000m swim yesterday and a 6km run in the morning+a 1500m swim in the afternoon.
Yesterday’s swim, I just took everything easy as always, hehe. All in 50s and no particular cycle.
This morning’s run was a real bummer. I decided to go 8km at maxhr
Wha, Wha, What!?!? July 9, 2006
Posted by clayton in : workout , 1 comment so farThe race has been delayed AGAIN!!!! To sometime in August which means I might need a 6week training plan, hehe. Makes me wonder about the struggle I had after the flu, using up all the energy that I didn’t have from the start, oh well. Atleast I got a lot of energy now:-)
I had a hill climb on Friday, a swim on Saturday and a nice long rest today. Haven’t been running lately…
The hill climb I did on Friday was quite a disaster. The wind was strong, my legs were tired and my hr pumped up the second I pushed hard. By the way, the typhoon wasn’t a direct hit but it did leave some small trees on the roads, ewwww. Maxhr 192bpm, avg 165bpm, avg speed 26.6kph, avg cadence 69rpm, 38′20. That’s a pretty darn slow lap time I marked…To make myself feel better, I’ll blame it on the typhoon, hehe;-)
The swim was another simple one, 50m*30. It actually took me 1hr30min to finish that, can’t you just imagine how lazy I am in the pool? Now, my coach has some passion, don’t know if it’s because his BOSS is around, hehe, a really nice guy.
Tomorrow, my “little” training plan for the race starts. Now that I don’t cough at all, I’ll start using the Powerbreathe again, start taking some PROTEIN but my workouts will finish in the morning other than two swims that come in the afternoon. Wish you all good luck!!!
Postponed July 6, 2006
Posted by clayton in : workout , 2 commentsAren’t I just soo lucky? The race has been postponed to July 30th because a typhoon is coming directly towards the island, it’s a pretty darn strong one, too… Extra three weeks to do some kick a$$ training. One thing I’m worried about is that after a typhoon hits, there are gonna be a lot of jellyfishes around the swim course, uhhhhh…
Anyway, I had a 4km run focused on speed but it really didn’t get through well. Then, a swim after school, 1500m total easy.
The run started out pretty well, I was able to give a good burst when I got to the homestretch for the first lap but the second was pretty ugly. 1-10′11(avg172/max198), 2-10′23(181/199). Total of 20′35(177/199). One of the runs where you start to feel sick afterwards, hehe.
The swim was SIMPLE, 50m*30 at whatever pace I wanted to swim at. I went to the pool late and the coach told me to swim in lane3, with one other girl whom I rarely even talk to. She looked like she was doing pretty GREAT!!! Really, she finished kicking 50m*10(1′15), looked at me, smiled and said, “awww, man, 50m*10 with a 40sec cycle?” Damn, I wouldn’t be smiling, hehe. By the way, she did another 50m*10 with a 45sec cycle and then another 50m*10 with a 50sec cycle but this time, it was 25m breast stroke and then freestyle. And she was actually smiling…I wish I could do that…hehe.
Tomorrow, I might start my day with a hill climb on the bike and then maybe a 4km brick, then after school, another 6km jog if I feel up to it, no swimming. It just wears me out swimming 2days in a row, I’ve been swimming for like 2years and finally noticed:-)
Race number July 4, 2006
Posted by clayton in : workout , 2 commentsI didn’t get enough sleep and I overslept…So, no hill climb today, ewwww, and I’m in some deep trouble, aren’t I? I had a 2000m swim and I’ve found some changes that occured to the coach(es). Oh yeah, and a post card came, informing that my race number is 115.
The swim was tiring. My arms didn’t last anymore than 200m, or 50m, I just pushed through the rest, hehe. It’s not me panting but it’s my arms that are weakened, I can’t push hard. Swam a total of 2000m, a good start, I’d say. 50m*4, 100m*8, 200m*1, 50m*6pull with pads, 50m*10 pull sprints. What should I expect? I’m back with the slowness, hehe, seems like I’m gonna have a hard time with the tri this weekend.
Some bad news, there’s a typhoon hitting the island right around the 8th, one day before the race, ewww, now I’m really gonna have a hard time. I looked at the names of the people who signed up and I found one name that I was aware of, he’s in the same AG and he’s the guy who put me in 2nd place for the last race, arrrrgggghhhh!!! My age group is 17~22 or something like that, how often do you see a 17year old beating a 22year old? Well, just hope you’ll see one, or hear about one this weekend:-)
I’m thinking of another swim tomorrow, gotta regain the easiness that I had back in April. I suck at swimming in the ocean, it’ll be nasty if I can’t swim in the pool. Hope to have a hill climb or a short run too.
Almost there, my decision July 3, 2006
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentI went for a hill climb this morning. It was humid and yucky but once I started riding, the wind took away the yuckyness and I was feeling great but tired, I actually got muscle pains from yesterday’s 4km run… Sad but it’s reality, I guess.
I did finish the hill climb at a descent time, 36′28, avg cadence 66rpm, avg speed 28.1kph, avghr 169bpm, max 194bpm. I’m fine with the avghr but looking at the cadence, it’s obvious I just pushed through the whole ride. The only reason I was able to finish with a descent time is because there wasn’t much traffic and I was able to speed down the hills. I had a terrible time climbing them, hehe. One good thing with the climbs was that I was able to shift up one gear around the end of the large hill.
About the race coming up this weekend, there are 153 entries, 16women and the rest are all men. There are about 15 foreigners, most likely Americans and I think most of them are from the US forces which means that they’re big guys with big muscles who are ready to push through any toughness. This is exactly what makes the race exciting. The race is usually like this, for the swim, both Americans and Japanese finish at the same time, then, the Americans kick ass on the bike and then the Japanese try to catch up with them during the run. I wonder where I’ll be in the race. Probably finish the swim with the fast guys and have a lonely ride and run, hehe. BUT I haven’t been swimming for 5weeks already so…
Tomorrow morning, I’ll either have another hill climb or a 6+km run, maybe both(naaa). Study a bunch after I come home from school and then go to the pool if I feel up to it. Haven’t swam in 5weeks and I don’t even miss it, hehe. To be honest, I don’t really like the swimming pool I go to, especially after I went to the other pool that’s 10km away. It’s how the coach acts. With the pool I go to, I really can’t get the feeling that the coach wants any of the swimmers to become faster where as, the coach at the other pool loves to talk and you could actually here him yelling something like, “25m to go, hang in there!!!” Which really gives me a portion of the passion that he’s got in swimming. Here’s another example. The coach at the pool I go to, knows that I started with NOTHING (even had a hard time sticking my head in the water) and when he heard my time and rank(66th) he didn’t have anything to say to me where as the other coach, who I have met after I learned how to swim all four styles and swam 100m in 2′10, panting heard the same thing and actually said, “Wow, and you weren’t even able to swim a sub2min 100m split back then, that’s great progress.”
I know I’m slow, the coaches don’t have to remind me of that. The difference between these two coaches is that one doesn’t have much passion in swimming and he’s the kind of guy who wants to take big steps and the other has a great amount of passion and knows that great progress comes from small steps. I asked the coach at the closer pool about how to swim in the ocean and his answer, believe me, was this, “I don’t know, why don’t you ask that other coach?” That was one reason why I quit the relay, just didn’t want everything to go his way.
So, what’s my point? What am I getting to? Well, I’m gonna quit going to the swimming pool nearby and move back to the other pool starting from September. Twice a week, I’d rather take the quality lessons;-) Maybe the reason why I don’t miss swimming is because of this. I’ll find an open day and visit the other pool and talk to the coach about it. I miss the long 10km*2 runs too, they were really tough, hehe.
Eaten by the germs July 2, 2006
Posted by clayton in : workout , add a commentYesterday, I officially had my first DNF for a hill climb…The flu really got to me and the temp was just rising while I was recovering. I’ve lost a lot of speed&endurance, the last thing a triathlete wants to happen. I managed to finish the small hills but I literally was about to fall off that bike. The plan was to have a 6km brick afterwards. It’s worse than expected.
Today, I went for a planned to be 6km run but ended up finishing after 4km where I really had to drag my legs for the last few hundred meters. After I took a shower and walked out the door to stop by at the store nearby, my legs felt like that day I renewed my 10km PR. Atleast I went out the door knowing my legs wouldn’t last and still tried anyway…I’ll just have to get it back by training harder. And the race coming up next week is starting to freak me out!!! After all, I’m planning to go there with my bike(a 20km ride right there) and ride back home, ewwww. But I do have a feeling that something’s gonna trigger my body and I’ll get most of my energy back, there’s just no way that 1year of training could be destroyed by 10days of sickness. The temp is getting up to 33C these days and IT IS HOT!!!
I really don’t wanna bother even writing down my lap times and hrs for the run and DNF hill climb… So, I won’t.
Tomorrow, I am going to have a revenge match against the hills early in the morning. If I ever DNF again, it won’t be for some small reason. I don’t care if I start vomiting during the ride, I will finish it tomorrow. Wish me luck!!!
Reviews on June, 2006 and goals for July, 2006 June 30, 2006
Posted by clayton in : goals, reviews, schedule... , 2 commentsMan, was my June a disaster. As you all know, I haven’t been posting for quite a while and I do have a terrible reason for this. I got the flu and that wiped about 10days of training off of my schedule+2days after I recovered, the end-term exams started and I bravely fought for 3days against 10 ridiculous exams, hehe. Luckily, it wasn’t any worse than I expected and the exam has finished today:-) Got one back already, Modern Literature, 84%. I consider that well done because I only started studying 1day before the exam.
Reviews on June, 2006
No swim for the month…
Bike:4rides, 92km(3:09,31)+6trainer rides-4hrs. Don’t really have anything to say because well the flu really bothered me and I don’t have much memory of what I did 20days ago, hehe. Just gotta move on.
Run: 6runs, 44km(4:29′20). Again, I don’t remember much…But the total training hours, 13hr30min, absolutely isn’t the training hours I should be looking at for a month review. My training hours before the race were way more than that per week!!!
Goals for July, 2006
Swim: Getting back to it, I’m planning 2swims per week, no more, maybe less. Something like 2hrs per week, putting my focus on technique and swim smooth/quietly.
Bike: Put my focus on hill climbs, maybe 3 per week and then go for group rides on Sunday, maybe Saturday(most likely not…). Longer rides when summer vacation starts but I’m officially starting on my kick ass study plan to get into college.
Run: Haven’t really thought of anything. I guess I’ll go with 6~10km runs at a higher hr for 6km and at 75%hrmax for 10km. Eventually, I know I’ll be wanting to have bricks and I’m not thinking of controlling the hr when it comes to that. 3days a week maybe?
I have a race coming up on July 9th and am far away from ready…It’s an experimental race so they just want a lot of triathletes to participate. I’ll just give it my best shot and see what I have at the moment. Best of luck to all!!!
How to control the mouth June 20, 2006
Posted by clayton in : workout , 2 commentsWas it this hard?? It seems like we’re out of the rainy season, not officially, but the weather’s been nice(?) for the past few days and it looks like this is gonna last for another week. I’m part of the school festival’s committee. Doesn’t it just sound like I’m intelligent or something? Ya know, saying something like, “I’m a part of the whatever committee”…hehe. After the “meeting” I went for a hill climb. The weather? 30C, 70%humidity. And I actually thought of going for a PR.
The ride always starts with a 300m warm up to my imaginary start/finish line. My legs actually felt great from the warm up, something I’ve never experienced before. Oh yeah, the new brakes work just FINE!!! Much better than the old ones, now, I feel safer;-) I blasted through the first straight like every other ride and kept a nice even pace of 23kph for most of the small hills. Yeah, it dropped to 19kph during the last little hill but the legs were spinning pretty well. Blasted down the long hill, again, like every other ride and then the straight came down pretty easily. The biggest hill was pretty nice too, spinned through the first half with a descent 18kph pace and the second half of it at about 13kph. Finishied the climb and I was ready to speed up when I saw TRAFFIC!!! I guess timing is also one big factor of renewing a PR… I was nearly dead after the climb, hehe. Couldn’t carry my bike upstairs and rested for about 10min, hehe. 36′30, avg speed 27.9kph, avg cadence 71rpm, avg hr 160bpm, max hr 191bpm. The max hr is most likely wrong because it was showing 63% when I was at the top of the biggest hill. All in all, a great ride:-)
This is a drink I drank about two days ago and here’s my opinion. First of all, I like the name. It comes from the famous swimmer, Ian Thorpe. I prefer gatorade, to be honest, it doesn’t give me the feeling that I’ve quenched my thirst. It tastes okay, though;-)
I guess I’ll just work out if I want to tomorrow. Definately study a bunch. Tests, tests, tests…