Constricted by the Predator 2.

I think the Orca Predator wetsuit was designed with the boa constrictor in mind. I tried the wetsuit on and - true to what newbies experience - it was an extremely labourous effort to put the darn thing on.

I was already perspiring by the time my legs got in, and I still had to wriggle my torso and arms into the human condom.

I took a good 10 minutes and I seriously could pass off as a walking prophylactic. I could feel the springy sensation at the arms and legs. Is this what the manufacturers meant by freedom of movement in open water swims?

I tried it out at the pool downstairs.

WHOA! It was awesome! Boy could I glide! It was really effortless. Ah.. but I.... couldn't..... breathe... properly. No doubt the suit was tight. It also restricted my chest expansions when I breathed. It literally took the wind out of me at every breathing stroke.

I now have second thoughts about using Ser Luck's Orca. I have to kick in Plan B.

The Road to Napa Valley

I woke up early this morning and was determined to get to the gym to do some workouts. Not only did I manage to get to FF George St by 8am, but along the way, I also managed to have a good breakfast with mom and dad in the kitchen. It must have been quite a while since we had 'quality' time. Otherwise normally I would have missed them when we all leave for work at different times, and I would come back so late at night that I don't get a chance to have a decent conversation with my folks.

So there you go - another plus point in being determined to do these races. I get to wake up early to train AND talk to my folks.

I need a better alarm clock now since my hands are now automatically conditioned to do routine stretches to reach the Snooze button every 9 minutes. I seriously have eyes on the tips of my fingers. Either that, or some of my smarter brain cells have moved to my digital tips.

Anyway I reached the gym at 8am. This means I have a total of one hour to change, workout, cooldown, shower, change again, grab a sandwich, and walk to Club St.

I tried on my new De Soto Power Tri shorts.... Cool.... looked as if i got a tight butt. But that's besides the point.

I did my bike cadence training. Wanted to aim for 20 minutes at 100rpm but decided on 15 min instead. I managed 7.5km for distance and maintained 98rpm on average.

Then it was running on the threadmill. I wasn't too concerned about the distance so I tried 10 minutes continuous just to see if any cramps kicked in. Nothing happened. I ended up with 1.5km at about 9km/hr pace.

Since I was short of time, I left it as it is. By the way, before the cardio workout, I did some lunges and back exercises too. Well, at least I did some training today. It was really agonising not being able to find the time to train the past 2 days.

I also got the Orca Predator 2 wetsuit from Ser Luck today. Can't wait to try it on tomorrow morning. I hope it fits.

The Road to Napa Valley

Whew. Just got back from the gym. Today's workout included 5.5km (5k run, 0.5k recovery) on the treadmill, and then a 1000m swim. I wasn't too concerned about the timing as I wanted to just get on with working on my stamina (actually, I think the stamina is already there but I have this funny feeling I'm getting a little lazy to put in more effort).

I also worked on the upper and lower back exercises. On the upper back one (the low row), I tried to simulate frontcrawl conditions by alternating my pulls. The machine gave me resistance on each pull although the cable weights were not moving. DUH! It's not moving because I'm resisting the movement. Get it? Well, this hunky (classic brawn-but-no-brains) personal trainer came up to me and said, "Oi, you cannot do that."

I said,"Why? I'm trying to simulate swimming conditions."

He replied, "Cannot. See, the weights not moving. No resistance. Cannot build up."

"It's not moving because I'm resisting the movements on every alternate pull"

He was quite adament. I didn't want to give him a primary 4 science lecture on pulleys and Newton's Law. Yes, the action-reaction one. I just gave him the respect that his biceps are bigger than my brain, so I left it as that and just worked on single rows. I could still live with it.

BTW, I'm getting quite sick with the 2nd-hand smoke I'm breathing in the office. It's pissing me off.

The Road to Napa Valley

Napa Valley will be my first international triathlon. It'll be a sprint race though (800m S, 20k C, 6k R). I'm really looking forward to it. I've been training almost everyday and clocking up big mileage. I know I should be clocking more mileage but it's kinda difficult with work and everything else. Nevertheless finding time to train is in itself a discipline. I'm trying to slot in some 'free' time for training.

I should be putting a training log inside this blog. I've been religiously entering my training inputs into the log provided by beginnertriathlete.com. Let's see what I've clocked so far:

From April 1 to April 17, here's my mileage:
Bike: 29.52 Miles (47.50 km)
Run: 19.03 Miles (30.62 km)
Swim: 7217.85 Yds (6.6 km)
Strength Training

In the same timeframe last month (March 1 to March 17):
Bike: 74.56 Miles (120.0 km)
Run: 16.60 km
Swim: 6.93 km

Analysis: The higher bike distance in March was due to training and participating in the 40km Duathlon. April's bike training is mainly done on the gym bikes. I personally don't like it for the posture AND you sweat a whole lot more in the gym.
The run has been doubled. In fact, I just did a 12km MacRitchie yesterday. The swim is about the same distance. I've added the fourth component - strength training - into my schedules. After the Navy Biathlon, I figured it would be best to work on speed. Hence I'm working out on my rows to strengthen my back and my pulls. Also working on my thighs and calves. I'm not forgetting the abs for general core strength.

There's definitely more to go. KEEP IT UP!

The Longest Run (so far)

12km MacRitchie Reservoir.

With Uncle Richard and Uncle Philip.

They're damn good lah. They have the stamina. I had to keep up. No choice. Only time I stopped was to pee halfway through the run. I think some girls saw me peeing. *blush*

Quite tiring. Worse part was not so much the undulating terrain but the rocky paths. Still managed to pull through.

Verdict: Will go agaiN!