Brick la sgt.

Today I had an offshore training, which started at 12 noon for registration, and had me going Yabedabedu nuggets! in the office yesterday when I found out. Ever since I decided I'm going to try to do a triathlon, my mind is working 24/7 trying to find time into an already packed day. I once wrote a lengthy piece about completely re-setting the concept of time - wouldn't it be great if a day consists of 48 hours and nighttime is only for 12 hours?

Anyway I woke up early today to go for the pool. I arrived just ten minutes after the opening hour - and walking towards the pool I was deliriously happy. An empty pool, just to myself! But when I walked in I saw there were about 3-4 swimmers, but they were doing laps themselves. My swimming goal this morning was to either swim for 1 hour or do 1.7km, whichever come first. Of course I was hoping to do 2km but I do not want to overwork myself.

Warm up: 2x50m
Set: 3x100m, 1x800m, 1x200m
Cool Down: 1x200m

Total distance and time: 1.5km, 60 minutes.

My right shoulder has this recurring - but not all the time - pain when I swim. It feels like a jolt, or a stab of pain, and I was super paranoid. I DO NOT want to get injured - a swimmer's shoulder on top of my runner's knees. What's next - a biker's thigh? At the rate I am going, collecting injury after injury, the next thing I know I'm reduced to no exercise and gorging my heart out and with my injury prone self I might get Foodie's Stomach. Haha not funny I know.

So I restrained myself from going further and settled on a one-hour swim. To shake things up a little bit I made myself breathe after 7 strokes, which had me gasping a little bit but I managed nevertheless.

Evening, I decided to take my bike out for a ride. We're still strangers, and to be honest I am actually... scared of my bike. It's funny -I've jumped off a suspended platform and went cave spelunking but show me my yellow bike and I tremble at the sight of it. Riding with my boyfriend proved to be no good either. He barks instruction and I could feel him snicker inside whenever I nearly topple off the bike. He is amazed at how wimpy I was the first time I tried out my bike.

I think the issue was pure intimidation. You were supposed to enjoy biking enough to buy one but I did it the other way around; buy a bike first, figure out the bike later. In result, the mechanics of the bike intimidate me - fork, tyres, gears, shifters, etc. Then taking out and putting the tires back in. I still have a hard time putting back the rear tire I was sweating like a good aerobic workout by the time I'm done. Man, that was tiring! Oh wait, what? I have to ride on it?!

I haven't been riding a bicycle for quite some time - that is, riding on a road shared with cars and motorcycles and sometimes moving lorries. And seriously, I thought the function of a bicycle is that you have to pedal them, but apparently not for my bike. It goes on Faassst.. so fasstt... exactly HOW FAST is a normal road bike supposed to go? I tried downshifting (or maybe it was upshifting - never really got the hang of the jargon) to no avail. I ended up half of the ride crouching down and squeezing the brakes. My palms ache in the most horrible way ever. People complain about sore butts when going cycling the first time but for me it was sore palms.

So the whole 30 minutes of riding was spent like this: pedal for 5 seconds, crouch, brake, brake, brake, release brakes, BRAAAKEEE, cruise, brake. I did ride up one uphill which had me going all perky for a while but it ended way too soon and I would want to do it again, except that I had to go downhill first to go uphill and that would mean... more braking. No thanks.

I think I also have to get myself gloves.

Oh well, my foray into this scary multisport ensues...

Chick with Speed

Today I welcomed my pre-loved, 9kg aluminum monster into my life alongside my worn swimming suit and resting running shoes. Picked it up at the owner's house around lunchtime.

When you buy secondhand, the phrase, "you get what you paid for," could be a reprimand you do not need. But I have anticipated all the shortcomings - I know I'm definitely going to get what I paid for - except that my boyfriend thinks I probably paid too much. I have to admit, it stretched my budget a little bit, but it is still below 1 grand.

The frame looks ok, but the paintjob has weathered and flecks of rust could be seen. The tyres look ok, and the owner did mention that I should replace the back tyre. We tested the brakes, no complaints there. Changed the gears, ok as well.

In the evening I decided to try it out. Earlier at the owner's house, I couldn't even ride on it as I was having a hard time getting my feet in the pedals - my experience with bicycle pedals was all the normal flat ones - these were curved upwards, like an encased shoe space.

After a few tries I managed to ride on it. Tested the gears and spent about half an hour cruising around the neighborhood.

What I found out:

1) The gear rings make a periodic clicking sound, especially when I switch into the first gear. I tried going to higher gear and down again, and the same noise appears. Have to get it checked.

2) The saddle feels uncomfortable, but I know that would happen.

3) The brakes are far apart from my fingers to fully grasp them. It hurts when going downhill and I have to brake continuously. My wrists hurt too! At the fleshy part of the palm.

Going to ride them tomorrow and tomorrow until the bike and I feel acquainted. Right now we're like wary strangers.

Anyway today went for a swim. Wanted to do a longer distance but had errands to do. My time is noticeably slower this time and I think it's due to the 800m. I probably swam slower.

Warm-up: 1x100m
Set: 1x100m, 1x800m, 2x100m (fast paced)
Cool-down: 1x100m

Total distance and time: 1.3km, 50 mins

Stretching and strengthening classes tomorrow! Back to back for 2 hours oh yeah.

(yes, I'm on annual leave until the weekends heheh)

Long Easy Swim

Went for a long easy swim:

warm up - 2x50m
set - 3x100m, 3x400m
cool down - 1x100m, fast.

total distance and time - 1.7km, 60 minutes.

The pool was basically empty when I arrived, there were about 3 other people. My timing couldn't be better; it is Christmas weekend and early in the morning. I was practically lapping the water the moment I jumped in, excited like a dog. The empty pool looked so inviting!

I hate the first lap. I always do. I would worry too much about my stroke and my form and my breathing that I would end up dragging. I usually focus after the end of 100m laps. That's when my subconscious takes over and I'm swimming in a trance. Exhale, breathe, exhale, breathe.

One thing I realized about swimming is that, you really need to be okay with the water if you want to be a somewhat good swimmer. A lot of my friends would tell me that they like to swim, but, "I cepat panic je."

The panic is the issue. If you are nervous about having water over your head and around you you're going to have a hard time. Swimming consists of being submerged underwater and slicing through it. That means water is going to be around your face, getting into your ears, splashing into your mouth, sucked accidentally into your nostrils. The feeling is not nice if you've never felt it before. If you panic and sputter the moment water gets into your mouth when you breathe, you're going to waste a lot of energy fighting to stay afloat.

It's just like any other sports. When you first started to play futsal, your toes are going to ache, or turn black, your calves will hurt, your ankles are tender from body contact. But after a while, you barely feel them as you get accustomed to all the aches and pain. Every sport, swimming included, have some sort of an additional baggage you have to endure. And in swimming, if you get over the fear of water, you're going to be okay.

One thing I always tell my friends who are nervous around water is to completely 'drown' themselves. Go to the deep end, try to jump up and down in the water, try to touch the bottom of the pool, play underwater games, get used to the feeling of water all around you. Over time, the water won't intimidate you so much.

Anyway. The weekend is going to be spent bike hunting, and probably some muscle stretching/strengthening classes. Hope all of you will enjoy the long weekend as well.

Swim Fan

I went for a swim tonight: and I had FUN.

I always hated the first few laps of a swim. It's not like running where your form instantly falls into motion; swimming takes some time to feel like it's natural. I tend to struggle with my form and stroke and only smoothened out after I've warmed up. Reading too deep into the mechanics and dynamics of swimming strokes have turned me into a hopeless novice swimmer. I just didn't know what I was doing, and whether it was the right thing.

Anyway, I did some sort of a pyramid.

Warm up: 2x50m.
Set: 3x100m, 2x400m. The last 50m a fast speedy one.
Cool Down: 1x100m.

Total km and time: 1.3km, 37 minutes.

Tuesday I went for my muscle stretching and strengthening class, otherwise known as Yoga. I do not call it Yoga because Yoga means a mind and body workout, and to truly practice it your body has to be aligned to your mind. This does not happen to me in the classes. I enjoyed these classes simply because they were hard, challenging, and really really worked my muscles. They remind me of the strenous stretching session after my karate class.

Yesterday was no different. The instructor is my favorite, simply because her classes are ALWAYS tough. The first one I went to, I sweated buckets. My thighs ached for one week. Yesterday, after some realllly tough poses, my heart was pumping hard like I just did a fast sprint. I was almost relieved when she said we could rest for 2-3 breaths. I have never felt so mislead my whole life. I thought Yoga was nothing bun a zen dopey workout. This one was TOUGH!

Great Swim

You know how runners always get that high? It doesn't happen often, but we are all lucky enough to have felt it. Your body seems to respond. Your legs feels springy and light and your heart doesn't hurt and you just feel awesome. I've felt it enough to know that I love running. And today is no exception, except I felt it during swimming.

 I've felt it before in a swim. After struggling in the water suddenly it's like entering this 'zone' where you're just gliding through water. I was struggling the past few swimming sessions because I was so determined to 'correct' my swimming form to no avail, and today after struggling for the first 2 100m, I just, glided. Everything worked in unison; my strokes, my bodyroll, my balance were in sync and I stopped caring about my overturn and anything else. I just swam. And swam. It felt wonderful... like falling in love. hahahah it's true!

 I was so psyched that I continued till I did 1km. 

 10x100m of bilateral 5 strokes each.

2 more days!

I was realllly nervous the weeks before, but right now I'm a mixture of really nervous and totally excited. I have no idea what to expect but at the same time I know what I would be facing.

 I've gotten over the fact that I have not been doing any sort of training since I came back from Nepal. The only running I did was for the Mizuno Waverun and the Great Eastern Women. Other than that, the only form of exercise I did was a couple of slow walk around the vicinity of my neighbourhood and a lot of swimming. But although swimming is as good a cardio as running, it is not running. It is not going to help me mentally in terms of carrying myself for 21km.

 I keep telling my friends who know I am going to PBIM, "I cannot even imagine 21km. I have no idea how far it is and can't gauge the distance." The longest distance I ever did ever since I started competing was... 12km. And that was in a race. I have never attempted anything longer than that.

 But you know what? It doesn't matter. When I first started entering races, my target was simple: to finish a race. Well, my actual real target was to finish a race running, but for this one I'll go easy. I'm going to walk as much as I could and run as long as I could without seriously injuring my knees again. I know at some point I would suffer, my ankles would hurt and my feet would ache and my knees probably would be singing. I know my shoulders would be heavy and my lower back hurting and I would feel like stopping. but I'm just going to take it easy, enjoy the whole race, and say hi to people that I know or want to meet (hello fellow bloggers!).

 Two days back I was nervously googling about the things you should have when you run a half marathon. I always go to a race with just myself and my shoes. No water, no nothing. But 21km is a long distance. I'm thinking that maybe I should equip myself with some tiny muscle rub, and OSR packets to drink at the water stations.

 

 Also, the biggest misconception I had for half-marathon was that you don't really stop unless you want to drink. And you definitely don't stop to eat either. But the blogs have all these suggestions on food to bring, and some even suggest a 2-3 minutes break. I never knew you could stop and sit and relax! I always thought you'd.. well, just run non-stop! 

 Also, I thought that you had to hold in your pee too. It never occurred to me that you could actually wander to the nearest petrol station and do your business. I guess the race mentality in high school and uni is deeply embedded in my mind. You certainly don't stop mid-run during a 1500 race. And going to the nearby 7-11 during cross country felt more like a rebellious thing to do than a normal thing.

 I'm going to Penang with my sister who'd be sleeping as I am waking up to go for the run. I hope I get to meet some of the people whose blogs I've been reading. In case you don't recognize me, my bib number is E25121. Say hello!

 And Good Luck everybody!

 BTW, I swam today. 8x50m, 2x100m, 1x300m. Total 900m. Awesome session! I love.

Swimming 3k

I spent lunchtime at work going through the SwimSmooth website and staring at the animation for long minutes. According to Mr Smooth and the site, I have horrible swimming style. As I mentioned in the earlier post, I overturn when taking air, my strokes cross the midline and I do not have the 'catch'.  I was determined to at least correct my bodyroll today.

 The attempt was horrible. Obviously, a self-taught swimmer's not going to get any better with her form if she's the one teaching herself, and have no idea how she looks like in the water. I had to idea what I was doing. Somewhere in my 4th lap, I actually breathed in water through my nose and I was at the 25m mark. I had to struggle to the end, swimming short strokes and trying not to choke and cough. My breathing was awful because I was concentrating on too many things: my strokes to go straight, to 'catch' and to breathe with one goggle underwater. When catching a breather I noticed that all swimmers overturn. Finally after trying in vain to breathe properly, I chucked them all off and swam just the way I know how. I mean, I'm not going to the Olympic or even competing. I was just going to swim for as long and as much as I could for my fitness.

 I did 1000m of easy freestyle with maybe 2 laps of side drills. Can't wait to swim on Wednesday. No, I can't wait to RUN.

Easy Light Swim

Yesterday went for a swim after 2 days of being stuck at some work meeting in Cyberjaya till late. I went with a friend this time, and we decided to go to the nearest, 3k, because it is an indoor pool (it was raining). 

 I've always liked 3k pool. Maybe because I'm just so used to it, but swimming there feels so much smoother than any other pools I've tried since. Of course, in my opinion, nothing beats Shah Alam Aquatic pool yet - it's amazingly deserted even during peak hours. I think that would be one of my main criteria in choosing a good public pool. Others include:

1.  warm water
   
2.  even 10 ft depth
   
3.  proper swim lanes
   
4.  DESERTED
   
5.  separated for women and men
   
6.  open till 10 pm
   

I have yet to find one that has at least 3 or 4 of the above. UITM pool has no 5 and 6, but is cold as ice and is gradually sloping instead of being even 10ft. Shah alam aquatic center has no 2 and 3. Which I like cause you just feel professional. Kelana Jaya has no 1, a great surprise and a pleasure during these cold nights. 3k has... well to tell you the truth 3k has none but I still like it anyway. I'm such a creature of habit!

 I also realized that when it comes to sports or working out, I'm the solitary type. Bringing a friend yesterday was not exactly a bad idea, but it disturbed my swimming goal (to do 1km) because I sort of feel guilty leaving her hanging at the pool sides. She is starting to swim regularly but since she smokes so much she could only do a short breaststroke before getting winded. I usually charged ahead with my laps without talking to anyone but yesterday I had to stop in between laps so that we could talk for a while. I realized then how I enjoyed going to the pool alone and having nothing but myself and the water around. What a great release to be focusing on just your swimming. We planned to go swimming regularly but I hope she gains fitness soon so that she could join me in doing laps. I don't want to make her feel bored waiting for me to finish my laps.

 so yesterday was an easy 600m, left and right (or bilateral? or whatever), 5 strokes each. Planned to go swimming today but felt extra tired so probably Sunday morning would be great. I need to work on my form - found out that my stroke is bad: i sliced using my thumb, my catch is awful, my stroke crosses the midline, and I overturn too much when exhaling. Urgh, what a downer!