Monday, June 28, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
2xu and Shotz
Thanks goes to Sham of Key Power International for helping to obtain sponsorship for some items for my upcoming race at IM Frankfurt!
2xu Elite Compression Tights
Been using my old pair of 2xu compression for almost 3 years now, so about time i got a new one. Thanks so much for the timely gift! It really helps with reducing fatigue and faster recovery after hard trainings, and I wear it to sleep almost every night!
Shotz Nutrition
Shotz Energy Gel - so many flavours! Wild Bean, Cola, Cola Vanilla, Wild Berry, Berry Vanilla, Lemon Lime. At first look I can tell it is going to be quite easy to take down, as it is really smooth, liquid-y, water-y, easily digestible and convenient during a race cause I dun have to wait for a water point. And it has Caffeine in two of the flavours as well!
SHotz Energy Bar - delicious nutritional energy bar with complex carbohydrates, protein and whole grain. Apple Berry and Chocolate Almond flavours. ideal partner when I need something healthy, low fat and low sugar energy packed snack!
Shotz Electrolyte Tablet - no more measuring, no more mixing, no more fuss. Drop one Shotz tablet into 500ml of water and away I go! Very simple, and ideal for me with my insanely high sweat rate to replace the electrolytes i lose during a race to prevent crampings!
this seems a bit show-off-ish, but its just cause im really really happy and grateful for this blessing. Good to know and very heartening to know that there is support for aspiring athletes (especially cash strapped ones) to help achieve their dreams. Thank God for these little blessings along this long journey that has been full of logistical and financial nightmares.
Thank you KPI!
2xu Elite Compression Tights
Been using my old pair of 2xu compression for almost 3 years now, so about time i got a new one. Thanks so much for the timely gift! It really helps with reducing fatigue and faster recovery after hard trainings, and I wear it to sleep almost every night!
Shotz Nutrition
Shotz Energy Gel - so many flavours! Wild Bean, Cola, Cola Vanilla, Wild Berry, Berry Vanilla, Lemon Lime. At first look I can tell it is going to be quite easy to take down, as it is really smooth, liquid-y, water-y, easily digestible and convenient during a race cause I dun have to wait for a water point. And it has Caffeine in two of the flavours as well!
SHotz Energy Bar - delicious nutritional energy bar with complex carbohydrates, protein and whole grain. Apple Berry and Chocolate Almond flavours. ideal partner when I need something healthy, low fat and low sugar energy packed snack!
Shotz Electrolyte Tablet - no more measuring, no more mixing, no more fuss. Drop one Shotz tablet into 500ml of water and away I go! Very simple, and ideal for me with my insanely high sweat rate to replace the electrolytes i lose during a race to prevent crampings!
this seems a bit show-off-ish, but its just cause im really really happy and grateful for this blessing. Good to know and very heartening to know that there is support for aspiring athletes (especially cash strapped ones) to help achieve their dreams. Thank God for these little blessings along this long journey that has been full of logistical and financial nightmares.
Thank you KPI!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Tri-factor Series Tri-bike 2010
The reason why I went back to register for the tri-swim and tri-bike even though I couldnt do the whole series this year, was because I found the tri-factor series really fun, and after last year's positive experience, i wanted to do it again just for fun and for training value.
Last year's tri-bike Josh and I had fun within our pack averaging 36kph before i sprinted my scrawny butt off at the finish. This year, without Josh around, I decided to play it this way: Keep up with the fastest pack that my ability could keep up with.
I got to the race site about 15 mins before my wave's start. And me being the cycling noob i was, put myself in the middle of the start chute. Once the horn was blown, the front group of people went off quickly. All their fresh legs meant that the first lap was already ridiculously fast. I had to ride at 40kph to catch that front group that had quickly broken away. I had to catch on to that pack so that I won't be at a disadvantage just at the start of the race.
The moment I got onto the back of this pack, the front half of this pack attacked. WTH... I jumped out from behind and pumped to catch this new group. The pace was retarded. I was going at 43-44 to close the gap on this new group.
Trust me to have a shit luck. The moment I caught up with this pack, 3 of them decided to break away. WHAT THE HELLLLL!!! It's akin to taking the treat away from your pet dog just as it is about to eat it.
Since I had already committed to chasing down the leaders, I put my head down to catch them again. 43 was the number as I slowly but surely bridged my way up to them. One of the guys looked surprise whn I came up behind them, as if I had just appeared from out of nowhere. I took my time to catch my breath behind them, before the 4 of us took our turns to work at the front, maintaining at about 40kph.
This went on for 3 of the 4 loops. There were 2 roadies, and a fellow tri-biker in our group. One of the roadies was from the geylang riders while the other was a team midpoint guy. The tribiker was on a argon e112. On the 3rd loop, the argon got a gap on the 3 of us, and i wanted to catch back up to him, but the 2 roadies were getting tired by then, and we couldnt close the growing distance, so we let him go.
A huge pack from a later wave had latched onto the 3 of us, but they were pulling at 36-37. I got impatient and went ahead. Bunch of craps just latched onto my rear wheel. Everytime I motioned for them to take over, the pace dropped. I was getting quite annoyed, but there was nothing I could do. So I just worked within the pack to conserve my energy.
At the last turn right with 2km to the finish, I jumped out and went for it. I hit 47kph and kept it around 42-43 after that. With a couple hundred metres more to go I kicked one last time to secure finishing 2nd in the wave, and ultimately 6th overall. huge improvement from last year's 37th place (or somewhere around there) finish. Check the speedo, ave speed was 38.8kph.
I was very pleased because I felt that I had given my best effort. I was not let down by myself but just by riders who didnt want to work.
Thanks must go to Soon Watt for lending me the pair of EC90 Aero Tubular race wheels. They really made a difference. Thank God for keeping me safe during the race too. Saw one guy who had to get his face bandaged (ala Amos) because of a crash.
I was impressed by the guy on the e112. I chatted with him after the race and it turns out he only started riding in Jan this year. This is one sick sick dude.
I went for another 60km with a number of hills in between, then headed out for a run with turned into a run/walk as i melted and dehydrated from the 12 noon heat.
The prep for frankfurt is more or less complete. Tomorrow onwards I will be tapering for the biggest race of my life so far. I pray for strength and protection as I head towards the end of this loooooonnnnnggg journey.
Last year's tri-bike Josh and I had fun within our pack averaging 36kph before i sprinted my scrawny butt off at the finish. This year, without Josh around, I decided to play it this way: Keep up with the fastest pack that my ability could keep up with.
I got to the race site about 15 mins before my wave's start. And me being the cycling noob i was, put myself in the middle of the start chute. Once the horn was blown, the front group of people went off quickly. All their fresh legs meant that the first lap was already ridiculously fast. I had to ride at 40kph to catch that front group that had quickly broken away. I had to catch on to that pack so that I won't be at a disadvantage just at the start of the race.
The moment I got onto the back of this pack, the front half of this pack attacked. WTH... I jumped out from behind and pumped to catch this new group. The pace was retarded. I was going at 43-44 to close the gap on this new group.
Trust me to have a shit luck. The moment I caught up with this pack, 3 of them decided to break away. WHAT THE HELLLLL!!! It's akin to taking the treat away from your pet dog just as it is about to eat it.
Since I had already committed to chasing down the leaders, I put my head down to catch them again. 43 was the number as I slowly but surely bridged my way up to them. One of the guys looked surprise whn I came up behind them, as if I had just appeared from out of nowhere. I took my time to catch my breath behind them, before the 4 of us took our turns to work at the front, maintaining at about 40kph.
This went on for 3 of the 4 loops. There were 2 roadies, and a fellow tri-biker in our group. One of the roadies was from the geylang riders while the other was a team midpoint guy. The tribiker was on a argon e112. On the 3rd loop, the argon got a gap on the 3 of us, and i wanted to catch back up to him, but the 2 roadies were getting tired by then, and we couldnt close the growing distance, so we let him go.
A huge pack from a later wave had latched onto the 3 of us, but they were pulling at 36-37. I got impatient and went ahead. Bunch of craps just latched onto my rear wheel. Everytime I motioned for them to take over, the pace dropped. I was getting quite annoyed, but there was nothing I could do. So I just worked within the pack to conserve my energy.
At the last turn right with 2km to the finish, I jumped out and went for it. I hit 47kph and kept it around 42-43 after that. With a couple hundred metres more to go I kicked one last time to secure finishing 2nd in the wave, and ultimately 6th overall. huge improvement from last year's 37th place (or somewhere around there) finish. Check the speedo, ave speed was 38.8kph.
I was very pleased because I felt that I had given my best effort. I was not let down by myself but just by riders who didnt want to work.
Thanks must go to Soon Watt for lending me the pair of EC90 Aero Tubular race wheels. They really made a difference. Thank God for keeping me safe during the race too. Saw one guy who had to get his face bandaged (ala Amos) because of a crash.
I was impressed by the guy on the e112. I chatted with him after the race and it turns out he only started riding in Jan this year. This is one sick sick dude.
I went for another 60km with a number of hills in between, then headed out for a run with turned into a run/walk as i melted and dehydrated from the 12 noon heat.
The prep for frankfurt is more or less complete. Tomorrow onwards I will be tapering for the biggest race of my life so far. I pray for strength and protection as I head towards the end of this loooooonnnnnggg journey.
Monday, June 14, 2010
getting chicked
Definition: Only applicable to men. Refers to a male athlete being beaten by a female contemporary. Eg; Jon got chicked in the pool today during swim training.
Goodness. i am so smashed from swim training today. Even yesterday's 150km bike ride didnt feel so tiring. For the second week, Christine and Jing from Georgia Tech's swim team joined us for swim training today and just whooped my ass. Or, to put it in simple terms, i got chicked.
Christine is a-m-a-z-i-n-g. She said she was a short-d swimmer, most being 200m. Crapppppp... Her long-d still kicks butt. She did a blazing fast 5:15 during a 400m target, chicking me by a good 14 seconds. I found her player profile here.
http://ramblinwreck.cstv.com/sports/c-swim/mtt/chuang_christine00.html
Scary stuff.
Jing also kept up the pressure behind me so that there was no way i could slack. And this was her being " out of shape " (i know a particular someone who would say that any shape is a shape) and she is still fast! check out her profile here.
http://ramblinwreck.cstv.com/sports/c-swim/mtt/li_jing00.html
holy shite... 16:57 for 1650...
but despite the obvious ego-bruising, i really enjoy swimming with the two of them. its been a while since i had someone who could push me (or pull) during swim trainings. my swim's been stagnating for a while, and these two freakish-ly fast ladies came at the right time to help me peak for IM frankfurt. its really a privilege to be able to swim with them. and with the way things are going, i can only improve! so away with the ego and bring on the "chicking"!
Goodness. i am so smashed from swim training today. Even yesterday's 150km bike ride didnt feel so tiring. For the second week, Christine and Jing from Georgia Tech's swim team joined us for swim training today and just whooped my ass. Or, to put it in simple terms, i got chicked.
Christine is a-m-a-z-i-n-g. She said she was a short-d swimmer, most being 200m. Crapppppp... Her long-d still kicks butt. She did a blazing fast 5:15 during a 400m target, chicking me by a good 14 seconds. I found her player profile here.
http://ramblinwreck.cstv.com/sports/c-swim/mtt/chuang_christine00.html
Scary stuff.
Jing also kept up the pressure behind me so that there was no way i could slack. And this was her being " out of shape " (i know a particular someone who would say that any shape is a shape) and she is still fast! check out her profile here.
http://ramblinwreck.cstv.com/sports/c-swim/mtt/li_jing00.html
holy shite... 16:57 for 1650...
but despite the obvious ego-bruising, i really enjoy swimming with the two of them. its been a while since i had someone who could push me (or pull) during swim trainings. my swim's been stagnating for a while, and these two freakish-ly fast ladies came at the right time to help me peak for IM frankfurt. its really a privilege to be able to swim with them. and with the way things are going, i can only improve! so away with the ego and bring on the "chicking"!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
"in the midst of the pounding of my heart, straining from my lungs, i found peace"
last week, i had a moment where i saw things. clearer, more defined, and perhaps, enlightening.
heck it, make that three moments.
during a trainer hills session, i found a rythmn that comes with the efforts u look for when climbing. it was also amongst this that i found the moment to be peaceful. even as my legs were burning from the lactate, sweat dripping down my face and my chest heaving in and out, i found that part of me that loved this sport, the passion that burned as much as parts of my body did.
then, another session where i went for a 7km run, and i found my tempo. as my feet pound the tarmac along the pitch black pavement, (the street lights were off for some reason) i felt at peace. even if the effort was hard and my mind was prompting me to keep up the pace, i found the joy that i used to have when going out for my long runs. and i loved it.
friday night i went for a long swim session and after i was done with the whole session, i did a backstroke to just swim down. the pool attendants had turned all the lights off, and i was just looking up into the night sky. there was no sound but that of my breathing and my arms splashing. in that i felt peace.
its been a while. maybe i have overlooked them in the recent times, or maybe i was simply not looking for them. but in a week where i was coming back from a week of recovery that was supposedly for the body, i found a mental recovery as well. as if it was a remind of why i was doing this sport. it maybe hard, painful, tiring, excruciating and time consuming (anymore adjectives?)
but like a cigarette to a smoker, or a whiskey to an alcoholic, or even power to a despot, this is what i draw meaning, peace, joy and passion from. triathlon.
thank you Lord for this particular blessing. and to re-post a quote i once put up here.
" When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything You gave me.' " - Erma Bombeck
heck it, make that three moments.
during a trainer hills session, i found a rythmn that comes with the efforts u look for when climbing. it was also amongst this that i found the moment to be peaceful. even as my legs were burning from the lactate, sweat dripping down my face and my chest heaving in and out, i found that part of me that loved this sport, the passion that burned as much as parts of my body did.
then, another session where i went for a 7km run, and i found my tempo. as my feet pound the tarmac along the pitch black pavement, (the street lights were off for some reason) i felt at peace. even if the effort was hard and my mind was prompting me to keep up the pace, i found the joy that i used to have when going out for my long runs. and i loved it.
friday night i went for a long swim session and after i was done with the whole session, i did a backstroke to just swim down. the pool attendants had turned all the lights off, and i was just looking up into the night sky. there was no sound but that of my breathing and my arms splashing. in that i felt peace.
its been a while. maybe i have overlooked them in the recent times, or maybe i was simply not looking for them. but in a week where i was coming back from a week of recovery that was supposedly for the body, i found a mental recovery as well. as if it was a remind of why i was doing this sport. it maybe hard, painful, tiring, excruciating and time consuming (anymore adjectives?)
but like a cigarette to a smoker, or a whiskey to an alcoholic, or even power to a despot, this is what i draw meaning, peace, joy and passion from. triathlon.
thank you Lord for this particular blessing. and to re-post a quote i once put up here.
" When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything You gave me.' " - Erma Bombeck
Friday, June 4, 2010
short notice
shall post a quick one since i manage to wake early and get a short brick session done first thing in the morning...
this week has been good. it maybe saying something that i gauge how good my week has been from the quality and quantity of my training, but it makes me happy, so why not. been putting in some solid workouts this week as compared to the pathetic-ness of last week. run is starting to come back, and im in a good mood cause of it, since i really do like to run (even though its the most painful part hahahahahaha sadist)
i think that there maybe a correlation between my performance and bodyweight. last week i weighed about 67kg (which was about my weight for the past 2 - 3 years) this year i've been at 68-69kg the whole way, so maybe the sudden drop in weight may have affected my training. yay, excuse to eat more =p
sent marianne off for her 10 month africa stint the night before. cant believe that i'll say this, but i think i'll miss her. i've known her as long as i have known my best friend (cause she's his sister. DUH) and even though we dun talk that often, she's always been a cheerful Godly friend that i could look to for some intelligent nonsensical conversations (and the occasional bickering. hahaha) wish her all the best in africa. maybe she'll bring back a pet lion. =D
ok gtg. i did say this was a short update.
this week has been good. it maybe saying something that i gauge how good my week has been from the quality and quantity of my training, but it makes me happy, so why not. been putting in some solid workouts this week as compared to the pathetic-ness of last week. run is starting to come back, and im in a good mood cause of it, since i really do like to run (even though its the most painful part hahahahahaha sadist)
i think that there maybe a correlation between my performance and bodyweight. last week i weighed about 67kg (which was about my weight for the past 2 - 3 years) this year i've been at 68-69kg the whole way, so maybe the sudden drop in weight may have affected my training. yay, excuse to eat more =p
sent marianne off for her 10 month africa stint the night before. cant believe that i'll say this, but i think i'll miss her. i've known her as long as i have known my best friend (cause she's his sister. DUH) and even though we dun talk that often, she's always been a cheerful Godly friend that i could look to for some intelligent nonsensical conversations (and the occasional bickering. hahaha) wish her all the best in africa. maybe she'll bring back a pet lion. =D
ok gtg. i did say this was a short update.
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