I arrived at sea swim early, took a ride from Jan this morning. The newbies had their orientation swim at 8am. So I headed off for a short 40min run from F2 towards NSRCC. It was slow going. I was overtaken by an auntie leisure runner, oops...
I rejoined the swim at 9am. There was a very large turnout today. We had many members of public and/or corporate teams who joined us. Many of them were using breast stroke.... and much as I tolerated, I just had to say - damn breast strokers! I was kicked several times by giant-sized swimmers slowing frogging their way and sighting the buoys. Or they would do 2 front crawl, 2 breast stroke, 2 front crawl.... Argh. One kick even landed on my goggles and I had to swim away from the rest, tread water and re-adjust them. Then another forcefully tried to cut my lane and go left as I was heading straight. We stared at each other because she kept hitting my legs, and then she just ploughed her way through. How rude! Reminder to self - no short distance races for me. Too many swimmers body slamming me.
We changed and went for a run. Melvin, Henry and I ran together for exactly 1:00h. It was such a hot day, I was burnt again...
I wonder if there was a term for a run-swim-run event. What sort of ".....thlon" would that be? Hmmm....
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Off-form
We went for a late morning ride, Melvin, Alber and myself. Traffic was relatively ok to Mandai. But somehow my legs were feeling heavy. Just 1km out of my house and I could feel the fatigue up the Bt. Batok slope nearby. Sheesh.
Mandai, and we went about our usual loops. Bad bad, this ride would be a pain. I could just manage to spin at a relaxed speed, it took all of me to get to Seletar reservoir. *groan* And then I would have to spin myself back to Shell. I bought a drink and sat at the petrol kiosk for 30min before deciding to go for another loop. :(
I went on the small chain ring to ease the fatigue on my quads, and did a slow loop. Hmm... the smaller gear felt much better, albeit slow. At least I did not feel like stopping and giving up.
Finally made it back to Shell. The guys were already there waiting for the past half an hour. That was it. Ride killed. Time for lunch.
Mandai, and we went about our usual loops. Bad bad, this ride would be a pain. I could just manage to spin at a relaxed speed, it took all of me to get to Seletar reservoir. *groan* And then I would have to spin myself back to Shell. I bought a drink and sat at the petrol kiosk for 30min before deciding to go for another loop. :(
I went on the small chain ring to ease the fatigue on my quads, and did a slow loop. Hmm... the smaller gear felt much better, albeit slow. At least I did not feel like stopping and giving up.
Finally made it back to Shell. The guys were already there waiting for the past half an hour. That was it. Ride killed. Time for lunch.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Late late late
Late for swim class. Left work about 7pm. I guessed I would only reach the pool at 745pm. :( So I went to Safra club instead for a swim. 30 laps.... I felt so stiff and tired that it was a struggle to get through the laps. :( 39:32min.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
YF Strides Day 3
I was late and only managed a 1.6km (4x 400m) for warmup.
Static drills - today we increased the per set timing to 25sec (from 20sec).
1 set = Drill 25", rest 10", drill 25"
We did 8 sets:
- normal plank
- one-leg squat
- cunch & hold
- push-up & hold
Run drills -
1 set = 3 drills
High-knee 100m, recovery jog back 100m
High cadence 30m (it was more...), recovery jog to 100m mark & back
Horse-kick (almost like a butt-kick, but deliberately landing on entire soles & scooping heels backwards) 100m, recovery jog back 100m
Gaining muscle mass, aka bulk! Eeeeeks!
Static drills - today we increased the per set timing to 25sec (from 20sec).
1 set = Drill 25", rest 10", drill 25"
We did 8 sets:
- normal plank
- one-leg squat
- cunch & hold
- push-up & hold
Run drills -
1 set = 3 drills
High-knee 100m, recovery jog back 100m
High cadence 30m (it was more...), recovery jog to 100m mark & back
Horse-kick (almost like a butt-kick, but deliberately landing on entire soles & scooping heels backwards) 100m, recovery jog back 100m
Gaining muscle mass, aka bulk! Eeeeeks!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Safra Avventura Race
I set off early this morning for Jurong Safra where the Safra adventure race would be held. It was the first time they were using the brand new club and vicinity. After a gear check and registration, we were done and had to wait for an hour before the race flag-off. So I caught a snooze in the car while waiting.
The race began with a 8-9km run from Jurong Safra towards Discovery Centre near SAFTI MI. All the checkpoints would be conducted within the army training compounds. It felt like TNF run, deja vu! We were making good time on the run and were amongst the earlier mixed teams to reach the first checkpoint. The ride in was on tarmac so that was not as worrying for me.
Alas, at one of the checkpoints, we were asked to deflate 2 tires and re-inflate them. We deflated both of KC's tires, and that was when one of the valves broke as we were pumping it. Oops! Change of inner tube. But something was wrong with the tube too, and it burst after a short ride. Darn. Luckily Foo had another spare and gave it to us. So that was time wasted with tube changes and pumping, and we dropped far behind the other teams. What a lame activity...
Next up was the Team Biathlon segment - ie. one to ride, one to run. The organizers made us go many loops, I was totally lost. Thankfully KC was an ace navigator, all I had to do was follow. He was also a very strong runner, and I was hopeless cycling on the trail. In the end, he ran faster than I rode, and was even ahead of my bike! *unbelievable*
We rode to the canoe checkpoint, hauled the boat into the waters and rowed away. I think it was some reservoir that seemed closed to the public. More team biathlon after the canoe, we kept going round and round. The guys flew down the rocky slopes while I pushed the bike. Eeeks! I was still fearful of bashing downslope. There was a lot of cycling this year, some parts felt rather aimless to me. Cycling for the sake of clocking the distance.
Finally, we dropped the bikes and ran to the rope stations. It was held at the SOC area and we literally had to go through some of the army boys' SOC stations! Monkey bar, wooden beam, log steps, ramp, and then finally the jumar and abseil towers. But the bottleneck meant a long wait for our turn at the ropes. We waited more than an hour before getting hooked up onto the ropes. Sheesh. Ropework was my favourite, but unfortunately it was always the bottleneck during races. Reminder to self to get thicker gloves. My palms burnt as I abseiled down. Ouch.
That was the last checkpoint. We had to run all the way back to Jurong Safra. On the way exiting the military grounds, we had to do a few more obstacles. By the time we left, we had only 40min to make it back before the cut-off time. Gosh. We ran and ran, or rather, I chased and chased. We thought we were taking the same 8-9km route back, in which case, we might not meet the time. Argh, mad dash! Luckily, it was a different and shorter route and made it back safely within the time cut-off. Whew!
The race began with a 8-9km run from Jurong Safra towards Discovery Centre near SAFTI MI. All the checkpoints would be conducted within the army training compounds. It felt like TNF run, deja vu! We were making good time on the run and were amongst the earlier mixed teams to reach the first checkpoint. The ride in was on tarmac so that was not as worrying for me.
Alas, at one of the checkpoints, we were asked to deflate 2 tires and re-inflate them. We deflated both of KC's tires, and that was when one of the valves broke as we were pumping it. Oops! Change of inner tube. But something was wrong with the tube too, and it burst after a short ride. Darn. Luckily Foo had another spare and gave it to us. So that was time wasted with tube changes and pumping, and we dropped far behind the other teams. What a lame activity...
Next up was the Team Biathlon segment - ie. one to ride, one to run. The organizers made us go many loops, I was totally lost. Thankfully KC was an ace navigator, all I had to do was follow. He was also a very strong runner, and I was hopeless cycling on the trail. In the end, he ran faster than I rode, and was even ahead of my bike! *unbelievable*
We rode to the canoe checkpoint, hauled the boat into the waters and rowed away. I think it was some reservoir that seemed closed to the public. More team biathlon after the canoe, we kept going round and round. The guys flew down the rocky slopes while I pushed the bike. Eeeks! I was still fearful of bashing downslope. There was a lot of cycling this year, some parts felt rather aimless to me. Cycling for the sake of clocking the distance.
Finally, we dropped the bikes and ran to the rope stations. It was held at the SOC area and we literally had to go through some of the army boys' SOC stations! Monkey bar, wooden beam, log steps, ramp, and then finally the jumar and abseil towers. But the bottleneck meant a long wait for our turn at the ropes. We waited more than an hour before getting hooked up onto the ropes. Sheesh. Ropework was my favourite, but unfortunately it was always the bottleneck during races. Reminder to self to get thicker gloves. My palms burnt as I abseiled down. Ouch.
That was the last checkpoint. We had to run all the way back to Jurong Safra. On the way exiting the military grounds, we had to do a few more obstacles. By the time we left, we had only 40min to make it back before the cut-off time. Gosh. We ran and ran, or rather, I chased and chased. We thought we were taking the same 8-9km route back, in which case, we might not meet the time. Argh, mad dash! Luckily, it was a different and shorter route and made it back safely within the time cut-off. Whew!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Long Swim
Dropped off my bike at Jurong Safra for the adventure race tmrw. Checked out the new clubhouse facilities, and used the pool. Rather decent lap pool.
We did 60 laps. I think I miscounted and did 2 more.
1- 12:56min
2- 13:23
3- 13:39
39:59:59 (wow!)
4- 17:02 (must have swam extra)
5- 14:44
6- 14:12
1:26h
Burnt!
We did 60 laps. I think I miscounted and did 2 more.
1- 12:56min
2- 13:23
3- 13:39
39:59:59 (wow!)
4- 17:02 (must have swam extra)
5- 14:44
6- 14:12
1:26h
Burnt!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Hopeless Merging
Coach put me in Lane 3 tonight. Lanes 2 & 3 were doing the same drills. Gosh, I had a lot of chasing to do, seeing who the swimmers in the lanes were.
We did countless laps of pull drills. Then on to swim. I was the last swimmer in the lane. I gave up timing after a while because the distances were off since I did not end at the wall, or I had to merge along the way.
100m, 200m, x 3 sets
100, 200 x 4 sets
To me, they seemed like 300, 300, 300.... or simply 900 & 1,200m non-stop!
Then 12x 50m sprints. Due to the large number of swimmers, and my slow speed, the first swimmer set off even before I reached the end. Hence a few near-collisions because people were swimming towards me. Argh... super ego-bruising. Darn.
We did countless laps of pull drills. Then on to swim. I was the last swimmer in the lane. I gave up timing after a while because the distances were off since I did not end at the wall, or I had to merge along the way.
100m, 200m, x 3 sets
100, 200 x 4 sets
To me, they seemed like 300, 300, 300.... or simply 900 & 1,200m non-stop!
Then 12x 50m sprints. Due to the large number of swimmers, and my slow speed, the first swimmer set off even before I reached the end. Hence a few near-collisions because people were swimming towards me. Argh... super ego-bruising. Darn.
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