At a glance.......
I was sick for 4 days last week and needless to say, mileage went down south to zero, nothing. During the 2 days mc, I glued myself to the TV watching TVB series and I ended up feeling even sicker the next day because of the number of hours I spent on the TV that lasted me till 3.30am. Serve me right. Luckily I'm not based in HK, will probably go insane with all the sleepless night.
Then, I'm finally back to swim class after 2 week of silence. I'm prepared to get hammered, drown. Did a 10 x 50m pull buoy with paddle and 10 x 50m with pull buoy. The day ended with a highlight of 15 x 100m which almost killed me towards the end. Supposedly to go at 80% effort, after the 10th lap, coach asked if I'm at the right effort level. I pondered and think I'm not quite there cuz I'm not panting as hard as I should. Very conservative considering the 2 week absense and aftraid I won't be able to last for 15 sets. He said I doesn't look like I'm swimming, so relax!!! ALAMAK!!!! He asked me to use some strength during the hand entry and compress certain part of the body (sorry..dunno how to explain well here) to increase the heart rate. And so, I started the 11th set reflecting on his instruction. At the end of 12th lap, he finally came to me and say "That's the way, now you're swimming, don't know what you're doing just now" ^__________^ Sweat lah...panting like no tomorrow now. 15 set I'm finally done. Another swimmer completed abt the same time as me happily announce that we've done 2.7k on that day....Now my arms is protesting...I'm done for the day......
13 Sept - marked my first Olympic Distance Triathlon event...It was the first event that drive me anxious the entire week, mainly due to some bad experience during the last Osim sprint event. I was praying for good weather, praying that I'll be able to get out of the swim safely.
Miraculously, I was getting calmer as days passes. As I made my way to get the body marking done and setup the bike at transition, I had a peep at the swim layout. Nothing can described how thankful I was seeing the calm sea and the setup itself, is so much better than Osim. 200m out shore, 350m parallel to shore and 200m back. That 350m parallel is a lot nearer to shore than I expect it to be (again..in comparison with Osim which is way way out). I felt a lot more in peace..no more feeling gan cheong. Was chatting a long with Roonz, Charmaine and Gen as we do some dipping and testing the water.
9:50am, 2 laps of 750m, I started at the back of the pack, remained calm as I move along. The aggresive man has all gone in the earlier waves, so I'm safe from getting hit (again..from Osim). The first 200m out shore was not bad at all, very soon turned into the 350m that seems to take forever to reach. Still feeling good although I did went 'holland', zig zagging a few times. Reach the next buoy finally and was supposed to turn left back to shore. There is this smaller green buiy with rope tied to it. I wasn't thinking properly and was wondering what to do with it. It's sort of blocking my way. It was floating, it wasn't low either. Silly me.....held on to the rope and swim underneath it which of course, requires some efforts and stunt underneath water. Yah...I'm such a joker!!! Obviously causing the heart rate to shoot up unnecessarily..bugger!!! 1 loop done...Still feeling good...Great....Time checked: 22mins
2nd loop - Saw this small white buoy and rope floating out of no where, I thought I went holland again. Stronger waves this time round and I think I zig zag again. Froggie not fast enough, so gotta stick to front crawl with very frequent sighting which is rather disturbing. Here comes the green buoy again. What am I going to do this time?? I'm out of my mind again. Thread water for a good 10 seconds I think...before I realized I can actually swim over it!! Joker right??!?! Finally 1.5k done. Time checked: 47mins. Haa....not fast but a lot better than what I expect. Still feeling fresh and make my way to transition
Bike - 6 laps of 6.6km. Warming up in the first 2 laps momentum is up by the time I start the 3rd lap. Very strong wind on the 4th lap and it started to rain on the 5th. The wind did slow me down a little but the rain was a welcome gift. It wasn't pouring heavily, just good enough to soothe the burning hot skin. Not much of a drama during bike which is good...6 laps done! Time checked: 1:3xhr
Run - 2 laps of 5km. Hmm...Mentally prepared, this is going to be tough. Took me close to half an hour before I can find my legs. Then Mr.Headache greeted me under the hot sun. No cold water at water point, it took forever to reach the next water point, found out they only give out plain water :( Walk and jog all the way till the 2nd lap until about the last 1km. As usual, enery naturally flows in nearing the end point. 100m towards finishing point, I think that's the moment I enjoyed the most...like what Xiao Di says..it's exhausting and frustrating but the ending is going to be sweet... you wouldn't regret doing it...
A bit overwhelmed that I can complete this distance, I forgot to stop my watch.... I think I had a worst 10km record..Overall timing should be around 3:4xhr
But...provisional results out today..I had a little suprised....
TBC
This...is what I see during my free time - by the window side of my office. Checking out on different kind of swimmers :) From novice, to intermediate, to expert. From froggie, to front crawl to butterflies to all sort of stunts....I wonder how I'd look like from a top angle like this......
It is one of the most well organized race I've participated in. From route - marshall - supporters - post race carnival. Even the weather is superb! Except for the ups and down terrain which can be a nuisance for some. I kinda like it though- probably because I'm in the short fun run non-competitive cat. Also happen to be my first time doing a 5km.
goodies/souveniers/food!!! Let's see... from the goodies, we have a Finisher paper weight, cap, towel, paper fan, vouchers. And the free food.......Anderson ice-cream, banana,orange,drinks,polar cakes/puff andddd unlimited supply of self service MILO VAN!!!! 
**Oh...did I forgot to say this is the Yellow Ribbon Prison Run? A run to show our supports to the ex-offenders and giving them a second chance to start afresh, conveying the message that what matters most is not about the fall, but how one gets up that counts. How nice is that........
Over dosage on endorphin again during Tues CBD short but high intensity run, had a hard time getting to bed and all I could think of while tossing around is what to eat for breakie the next day. So as expected, didn’t get to sleep on my usual sleeping hour, I was depriving for more the next day. Body also feeling tired from CBD run.
And so….it was Trifactor time trial in the evening at Queenstown pool to qualify for the tri event. Heart rate unnecessary gone up because we almost lost our way and the navigator sitting next to me admit that she is slow in navigating the map :(. We registered, get the swim cap and I was so “LUCKY” to be put on a lane with 6 big size aggressive man, 1 aggressive ang moh lady and 1 gentleman. That is nine of us in 1 lane to cover 1.5k within 45mins. Actually, was hoping that it is 40mins so my chances of failing is higher…..:)
Off we went, it kind of simulate a mild open water condition. The aggressive man!!!!! Created turbulence in the water as soon as they jump in!!! These swimmers doesn’t look like amateur to me, why are they in a TT I wonder. And for goodness sake, why can’t they just follow simple swimming etiquette and rules. As simple as swim in counter clock wise, overtaking on the left. Ya… I got hit hard on the head, I got block by ppl who swim blindly and crash on me, I got ppl overtaking me on my RIGHT with just a space as big as my arm size. So freaking irritated, I think I shouted to two of them then switch to froggie and give a good kick when I'm being 'attacked' by them. Don’t they know swimming blindly crashing on ppl will break their momentum too??? These ppl should be DQ of not following rules!!!! Sigh…reminds me that open water condition will not be anything better than this. The only gentleman, who is about my pace (he finished 2 laps ahead of me), ask me to “hang on we’re almost there “ when I catch a few sec breathe at the end of the lap.
Kick hard from the wall to save a few seconds, XZ said. That would save a min or two over 30 laps. Sadly, the other side of the pool is so deep I gotta tip toe to touch the ground. Difficult to kick, I only managed to do the hard kicking on one side of the pool…..The most relaxing part was during the last 8 laps or so where the aggressive completes their laps..Just a couple of us remains… I finally managed to do some decent laps…..Very soon….left me and gentleman. I didn’t bother to go fast as I reckon I still have time to meet the 45mins. Gentleman finished, I have 2 more laps to go.
Ya..I’m the last to finish in the group but can’t be bothered about it at all…I passed the time trial… Time taken 43m 25s
As far as possible, I will never ever going to take consecutive leave without any proper plan. Never again!!! The first two day did went pretty well having completed a list of errands that I need to settled. Come the third day I'm bored to death. With the wet weather day in day out, I don't have much of an options too. For once, I'm just so glad to be back at work!!!!
To make sure I keep my sanity instead of rotting at home, I did a mini biathlon session in the late afternoon. Much to my suprise, the parking at the sports hall is full!!! These ppl no need to work? Thankfully, the pool was pretty empty I managed to clock in some decent laps without much of a disturbance except for this man whom I reckon he's trying to overtake me....haha..
30 laps followed by a few more with paddles - still trying to get used to it, I'm off to the track next door. Maybe it's the 10mins transition, the legs is still functioning alright. 15 laps before I call it a day - Sanity still intact :)
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For the past 2 weeks, there's quite a fair bit of varieties given during swim class. So much so that I tend to forget what I've done. I think all in all, my observation tells me that coach will come out with a 2.5k swim on each session - with various combinations of drills. All I could remember is, I'll definitely go home with a breaking arms and a hungry stomach. Next time...I'll make sure I quickly pen down to keep track.....