20m shuttle stage Beep Test (24 Nov)

Went for a beep test http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beep_test this morning (24 Nov) to test out and also know where my fitness level is.

Reached National Stadium carpark C and saw BoSe, BabuMouse, Eijaij etc but did not talk to them until before / during and after the test , we introduced ourself.

Philip briefed on how the test works and Wildcat demonstrated.

We started with 2 levels of warming up. I was set to hit level 12 and did not think that it would be too difficult until I hit level 11 shuttle 3 and started to feel exhausted (damn!). Decided to stop at level 11 shuttle 5.

Philip gave an AAR of the results and I got 51.6 % (which is not too bad though) for my age. He also shared alot of info on carbo loading which is esp useful for SCSM this sunday. If all else fails, just remember to drink more Sarsi...

another 6 days to SCSM.... here i come....

MR 35 km (4th Nov)

It's a nice sunday morning while most people are still sleeping, I was on my way to MacRitchie Reservior for the 35km run which would be the longest run I have done for SCSM 07 training.

Though I know my own condition and mileage, I have decided to give it a go at it.

Reaching the destination, was surprised to see so many people. Only to know that the Nike Runaholic participants were there too. Got a BIB no 835 (but can't keep it) went off with the first 10km quite comfortably. The scenary was very nice and it kept me going and going. The route was indeed undulating and full of slopes. Managed to kept pace until the 18km, thereafter was feeling fatigue. Was on my way to the rifle range u-turn point and met the front few runners heading back, damn they were fast! Finally reached the rifle range u-turn point, another 11km to go.

Decided to adopt the walk/run strategy, though it was slow but it ensured that my cramps did not occur (though there were tingling feeling).

Finally after 3 hrs 44 mins , I reached the end point without cramps ! though my legs were aching. Felt very satisfied after the run ... SCSM here I come.

New Balance Real Run 2007 (15km)

Another run done. Though it's only 15km (with 1km sand + 1km trail + 1 km runway), I felt satisfied with not much training done due to work commitment for the past 2 weeks.

The first 3km was quite comfortable pace except for running around the walking party. There was this particular X-men suited guy who overtook me whilst I was also overtaking and cliped my legs. He still has the cheek to say : I was following behind you and you just overtake like that !" I was thinking : Do I need to give signal and why can't you slow down since there are not much space to overtake." I felt so ashame being a singaporean , so what if you can run fast but your ethics are not there.

This being aside, I was telling myself to keep at 5 min /km pace and I managed to do it till the 11km. When I reached the sand , I could feel myself slowing down and those that I have overtaken , started to run past me.

When I was on the road back to the runway, it seemed never-ending which proves to be demoralising. Then I saw this boy (around 15 yo) who ran past me walking, I ran up to him and say: Let's go" and he said : ok". with that , I ran the last 2km with this young boy and started to chat with him. When I reached the 14km mark , I was very tempted to walk , at the same time, the fact that I told the young boy to keep running, I should not stop to walk and this kept me going and going.

Another 200-300 m to go, I picked up the speed and sprint to the end pt with a timing of 1 hr 17 min 53 sec. Not too bad I thought.

(Results : 158 out of 2441 who completed.
1st CP : 29.34
2nd CP: 57.12
Finish : 1 hr 17 m 53 s)

Now back to my SCSM training. Set a target of finishing by 4 hour 15 min. With the kind of timing for 15km , I have lotsa of catch up to do.

My First Ten Laps !

It's been inactive for me after Aviva though I am still swimming every week.

Has been learning front crawl since April and was not able to use it during Aviva, so I have targetted to use front crawl during my next triathlon or ironman race...

To give some background : Before the learning, I know nuts about front crawl and has never swamed more than 10 laps even using breaststroke ( the most was 8 laps )
I was always feeling breathless at half a lap of the pool, and was always demoralised by it.

Finally last week, I realised it was due to the "air time " that I have . I did not get enough air before my head goes into the water again. I was also stroking too fast (thinking that it would help me swim faster which was actually a false perception , the correct way should be using lesser strokes and glide further with each strokes)

Today I did not only managed to finish a lap but 16 laps... though i need to do 30 laps. I believe the next time, i would be able to achieve more laps... More training.

Aviva 70.3

Finally after few months of training, I managed to complete the inaugural Spore Aviva 70.3. It all began 6 months back when I wanted to participate in a triathlon, Hansen told me about Aviva 70.3 and I said : Why not ! .
Being someone who only started biking and serious swimming some 4 months back. It was not easy and I kept on with my believe and pushed on. That's why I also found out from Hansen that SAFSA is sponsoring a team for this event. I am glad that I am part of this great team. Even though during the training , I was always the last few or rather last :P . It spurred me to do my best of meeting the 6hr 30 min target set for the team. Being a normal being, there were definitely times when I kept wondering if I could meet the target or even complete the race , luckily my determination kept me going. Enough said about the pre-race events, now to the event actual.
It was drizzling and cold at 5am, however our spirit were high. We reached the Transition Area 1 (T1) at 615hrs, preparing our stuff for the bike leg, including putting the numbers on our arms. I must say the organisation over at T1 was well done and the officials /volunteers were very friendly.
At 0655hrs, we gathered at the start point for the swim leg for the brief and introduction of the elite triathletes.
At 0715hrs, the elite wave started followed by the female wave at 0717hrs. The wave for my age group started at 0725hrs. As a slow swimmer, not wanting to be tramped by other strong swimmers, I chose to stand at the back. I kept my focus on every stroke till I reached the first buoy. During the swim to the 2nd buoy, I could not see the buoy as the sun was shining straight into my eyes, I followed the rest of the swimmers to realise that they too have steered off the course and I have to make a 45 degree turn and swim towards the buoy. At this time, some of the later wave participants started to overtake me, I just focused on my strokes and count every seconds towards the next buoy. Finally after 1hr 2 mins , I reached the finishing line for the swim and proceed to T1 for th bike leg.
I took a gel, few gulps of energy drink , wore my helmet , unracked my bike and went to the bike mounting line. After a few pedals, my bike chain dropped off the gear, luckily i could still fix it back within seconds and went off. Then I realised my meter was not working, after 2 press on the meter, it flew off (WTF!) . I kept going and all the way , I do not know my speed. Finally I was out of ECP service rd and went to AYE to conquer my first slope on Sheares Bridge. (This is the first ever race that biking can be done on Sheares Bridge!) Due to some slope training prior to this race, I was able to maintain my candence during the ascend. then my bike chain came off again and have to spend some time to fix it. During the bike leg, I was feeling quite comfortable and was enjoying the scenary. The volunteers at the aid station were very spontaneous at giving out the water and energy drink bidons. Some participants were less fortunate when they encountered tyre punctured and some even met with crashes, I counted myself lucky with only a few hiccups here and there. Finally after 4 laps, I dismounted at the bike dismount line where a volunteer took over my bike and I proceed to change my gears for my run leg. My watch read 4 hrs 05 mins when I sat down to wear my running shoes.
At approx 4hrs 09 mins, I started running , the first 9.8km was the most enduring one for me. My outer sole for both feet was very painful and my stitch started again ( since AHM). I went really slow to recover from the post bike leg fatigue. The sun was scorching and I had to use alot of sponge to cool my body. To make things worse, my left thigh started to have the cramp syndrome, I was on the verge of walking and give up. However, the supporters and volunteers were very encouraging and I kept running until I finished my first lap at 5hr 20mins. Another 9.8km to go, by now, i was feeling better on the run and picked up my speed. It started to rain at the 15km mark and was very cooling. By now my legs were aching and I knew the moment I start walking, it would cramp and not meet the target. i kept going until the last 1km when I just could not take it and started to walk for 50 metres before I started running again till the finishing line.
Finally I reached the finishing mark and took my time so that the officials could put up the finishing line for me to cross ( first time mah ...hehe) then a AngMoh just went pass and cross it, so i waited for a few seconds to cross it. Yes! I made it in 6 hrs 22mins and 44 secs. It's a mixture of exhaustion, satisfaction and greater satisfaction. (My first ever Triathlon) .Hope to can get a decent finishing photo ( Thanks to fennel for these great pictures). It took me about 5 mins of resting before I could get back to my normal self.
What's next ? Full Ironman ......

Brain Principle No 4 - The Brain craves completeness

I've seen this phenomenon many times when what was expected of someone wasn't carefully spelled out. What I wanted them to do and what they thought I wanted them to do often didn't match.

To show them how easy it was to misunderstand, I held a coin in front of me and told people to describe it. Then I described it from my perspective. Even though we were looking at the same coin, my description ws different from theirs because I was looking at the back and they were looking at the front.

Sometimes we leave too much to the imagination. If you want specific things done in a specific way, you have to be specific and require those under you to tell you what you just told them. If you don't do this, people will come up with 1001 excuses why is wasn't done right or wasn't done on time.

We have to be careful to communicate our thoughtswith completeness. Too often people used what is called the assumption communication. This communication pattern usually relies on the wrong assumption that the other person knows what I am talking about. When I am relaying an idea, I used words to paint a picture in the mind of the listener.

What is dangerous is that the more uncomfortable the topic is, the more we rely on the assumption communication. Unfortunately, the more uncomfortable or sensitive the topic is , the more important clarity and completeness is.

Prep for Triathlon

It's being almost a month since my last post.... Oh my goodness... Was I so busy ?

Nevertheless , I am back with my blogging ways.

Yes, as the title suggested , I am now finding everything about Triathlon and preparing for it.
Last Sat , I met up with my sec sch fren who was a bike lover since then . We went to this bike shop called "The Bike Boutique" at Tanjong Pagar, Tra St. (Just what I wanted to do all the while)

It gave me an opportunity to learn more about bikes. There are many different kind of bikes varying from road bikes, mountain bikes and Tri-bikes (meant for competition / countries which has lesser traffic lights) to decide with.

The salesperson , Grace was very helpful and imparted alot of knowledge about bikes.
She mentioned that bike fitting is very important for triathletes as you will spend half of your time on biking during TRI-ing. This will prevent back injuries and uncomfortness in your legs and hands if the frame is too big or too small. Hence , the bike needs to be one that fits your body nicely in order to enjoy the race.

She also shared about the importance of getting good parts so that you would not need to upgrade so many times if you get hooked to TRI-ing (trust me you will get hooked! Alvin will vouched for this)

I will be learning more about bikes before deciding whether to rent or buy one... To be able to start my first TRI, I must be committed.