What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

9th April, my second day in Johannesburg. I decided to explore the neighbourhood by running to the nearby Neighbourhood Square which was about 3.5km away. An easy 7km run, or so I thought...

I was barely in to my first 2km when I felt immensely out of breath. My heart was racing, I was gasping. Attributing it to a lack of fitness, I decided to head back. The walk back was sobering; if one does not keep working at something, the decline will begin, and this can make starting again very hard. I have made a promise to my sons that I will use this time away from them to become a healthier version of myself, and I was going to attempt at least 3 runs a week. Therefore, no matter how hard it seemed, I needed to get my first run in.

12th April, post 24hr call, I decided to get that 7km run out of the way. The run was uneventful, and I felt better after it, crashing into a deep sleep until the evening. I then discovered a function on my Garmin app which allowed me to plot out a course and upload it onto my watch for use during my run. I immediately set out to find a 10km course, and uploaded it onto my Garmin Instinct 2 Solar. I was excited about this function, and could not wait to test it out on the run.

16th April, after work. This was the day for me to attempt the 10km course. I started it on my watch and off I went. The GPS guidance was amazing, directing me throughout the entirety of the 10km route. However, I realised the difference in plotting out a course on the app and actually running it. The route was killer with many climbs and descends, the craziest was a sustained 3km uphill segment that killed me. I was reduced to walking up a portion of the route and catching my breath, with my heart threatening to pop out of my chest. It was a very difficult run for me, and as I was approaching the final kilometre, looking out into the horizon, it dawned upon me that I could be way above the sea level!

Similar view as I gazed into the horizon

Reaching home, I immediately checked my suspicion - this returned: Johannesburg is located in the Eastern plateau area of South Africa known as the Highveld, at an elevation of 1,753 metres (5,751 ft). It all made sense now, I was not that unfit to have felt breathless a week ago on my first run, it was just the altitude. Knowing this now, everything became more exciting for me. Not only do I benefit from training myself medically, I can also benefit physically with altitude training! 

19th April, after work. After settling my laundry for the week, I headed out for that same 10km course. This time, the course felt shorter, I felt a little stronger. I did not walk, willing my legs to go one in front of the other, I powered through the course. Phrased succinctly by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, “Out of life's school of war—what doesn't kill me, makes me stronger." I will overcome this course, it is only a matter of time. 

Everything will be alright once I start running

75km in 3 days over breathtaking trails in Sweden. I signed up for it without a second thought. What a way to kickstart my 6-week of time off from work! To prepare for it, I ran a total of 3 x 10km trails in MacRitchie reservoir (one time even when I was post-call!).

I packed light for my trip as usual, bringing just 1 running vest, running shorts, dri-fit t-shirt (in case it got cold), arm warmers, gloves, full length compression tights and my Vibram Fivefingers shoes. I will discover how grossly inadequate my packing list was in the days to come...

Friday: Stage 1 (24km)
Everyone was decked in their hydration vests and had windbreakers stashed away. There I was in my 2-Iayers, arm warmers, compressor tights and shorts. I felt sorely under-dressed for the cold and what lay ahead.

The run started off well with my Vibram gripping onto every surface with ease. I felt like a mountain goat skipping across the terrain. Trail running works your mind in a way conventional city running does not. One has to at all times plan one's footing, watch for danger and continuously reassess one's plan of advance. Furthermore, trail running utilises more muscle groups compared to city running and this somehow makes it less tiring (maybe it is just the exposure to nature that excites and invigorates me).

At the finish of stage 1, my feet were so sore that walking was almost unbearable. It was then that I realised I did not have enough mileage on my Vibrams prior to this event; my feet were unprepared for the punishment that was metted out. In order to survive stage 2, I decided against the old adage of not wearing a pair of untested shoes on race day - I borrowed a pair of Icebug Acceleritas 7.

Saturday: Stage 2 (29km)
Sleep does wonders. I woke the next day with renewed vigour and less sore legs. The first 10km was amazing, my legs were firing and the shoes provided excellent grip on various surfaces which made running carefree. Things went downhill after that though. However perfect those shoes were, the fact was that I had never broken them in before; my feet ended up broken by them instead. At the 24km mark, I was in so much pain that I decided to walk the last 5km bearing in mind that there was another day of running in stage 3 the next day.

Sunday: Stage 3 (22km)
I woke to a rude shock that ALL my running paraphernalia was soaked from the rain overnight. I left them out to air, using the same attire for all 3 days (I know, I can be digusting). It was 3hrs to the start, there was still time. I wrung my clothing and started to look for tips online for quick drying. To my surprise, there were many lifehacks available! Placing my semi-dry clothing into a dry towel, i wrapped it up and stepped on it to remove excess moisture. I then left them out to air dry.

By the time it was to get dressed, my clothes were damp but almost fully dried. It is an experience to wear damp clothing and socks on a cold day prior to a race. I was at my lowest in terms of morale. My foot was taped up a various pressure points to prevent blistering in a shoe that I was not used to. It was the worst possible way to start a race.

Once we started running though, all my concerns went out the window. Which brings me to my point: everything will be alright once I start running.

1. The cold sorted itself out once I ran and generated heat.

2. My tired legs went into motion after 4-5km once my muscles warmed up.

3. Blisters and pain somehow disappeared when I ran possibly secondary to the release of endorphins or the scenery that was around me.

I played back the last 3 days of running as I was dragging myself to the finish line. Life parallels trail running: you never know what to expect, and have to adapt to the situation and terrain as needed. Furthermore, there are times when you are too tired to go on, but somehow find it deep within yourself to eke out just that little more, placing one foot before another. Repeatedly. You will get there as long as you keep moving. I find this deeply sobering when extrapolated to life.

I will get there as long as I keep at it and persevere. Until then, keep running as everything will be alright once I start running.

Rush not, young one...

One reason why I enjoy running so much, or doing endurance sports for that matter, is because it attunes me to that still small voice of God. This morning, I learnt something new.

In the past few weeks, I have been struggling with the issue of impatience. I found great difficulty in fully surrendering this issue to God even though I chose to believe I have done so. This was not something new to me, I have been a pretty impatient chap all my life. Whatever I set out to do, I will get it done as soon as possible. Many times at the end, I question myself whether what I did was right. I went ahead doing things before thinking about the consequences and inevitably it led to many bad decisions. It is not right to say that I had not at least gleaned some lessons from all my past experiences, but I think I still have a long way to go and God is still moulding me.

I set out to do 16km this morning with a background of 3 10km runs 2 weeks ago and a 12km run a month ago. I thought I was able to handle the distance, but I thought wrong. At the 8km U-turn point, I was feeling really good. I was truly surprised at my level of fitness! However, it was not meant to be when at the 11km mark my right knee started to hurt. I have not experienced such pain before and attributed it to my right ilio-tibial band (ITB). Throughout my years of running, I have never strained my ITB before; when it acted up this morning, I decided to take it easy for the remaining 5km. The first thing that came into my mind then was 'learn to walk before you run'.

How apt. I have been trying to 'run' in my day to day life before I had fully mastered how to 'walk'! I stopped to stretch my ITB and tried to continue albeit at a slower pace. After 1km, it acted up again. This time I decided to walk instead. During that short walk, many thoughts jostled for attention in my mind. However, I was only interested with what God was trying to teach me. I finished the 16km run with a slow jog in the last 2km.

My conclusion at the end is that His plans are always greater and better than what we think is best for us. Therefore, is it not better if we left everything in His hands and let Him map out everything for us in due time?

'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.' - Isaiah 55:8-9

Therefore, I am to focus on my 'walking' before thinking about 'running'.

'But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.' - Galatians 5:16

'...so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.' - Colossians 1:10

'...holding fast to the Word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labour in vain.' - Philippians 2:16

This summarises everything: 'but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.' - Isaiah 40:31

Simple joys in life

He chased the darkness down until the goblet of fire rose from within the abyss to bleach the navy blue canvas cerulean.

Sweet dreams are made of these

The choice is yours...

Every morning you have two choices: continue your sleep with dreaming, or wake up and chase your dreams.

Today, I did the chasing, and boy did it feel good.

All of me

This was the tune that kept playing over and over in my mind today while conquering hills after hills...

The uphill crazy course of NUS biathlon this year really gave me the opportunity to test my courage. Was I brave enough to conquer the hills or let them overcome me instead? As I ran up with burning legs and laboured breathing, each breath trying to take in more oxygen than my lungs permitted, I found my answer...

I felt really renewed after running through this tough course, and it really took all of me =]

It feels good to be back..

Cold water shot through my system like electricity; I struggled to breathe. My arms felt like lead, disobeying my command to move. Invisible creatures welcomed me with sharp stinging pains; the sodium felt nice in my mouth. I was at peace in the water...

It felt really good to be back training with the team after being out for so long. I knew this week was going to be tough, but I paced myself and tried to ease back into training slowly.

Something I never shared regarding my Ironman experience was the emotion I had when I crossed the finish line in July 2009. I had no emotion. I had visualised that moment prior to the race so many times in my mind; Would I cry? Would I be too overwhelmed for words? There was nothing of that sort that day. Blank.

Until now, I still cannot understand what happened back there in Zurich. I am hoping to find an answer and I know there is something to be learnt. Time will tell. For now, I am happy to be able to do the things I love to do and once again feel the sensation of sand rubbing against an abraded ankle =]

Week 9 round-up

Monday: 2.5km wetsuit swim (morning), 14km pace run (afternoon) and 1.8km easy swim (evening)
Tuesday: Rest day
Wednesday: 2km wetsuit swim (morning)
Thursday: 35.5km long run (evening)
Friday: Rest day
Saturday: 80km bike ride and 5km run (evening)
Sunday: Rest day

Total Swim Mileage: 6.3km
Total Bike Mileage: 80km
Total Run Mileage: 49.5km

This week has seen the effects of the large amount of training slowing starting to show. Physically completing a workout is no longer the question; the problem was more toward the mental side. More often than not, Nic and I dread the workout even before embarking on it, and these are sure signs of over-training.. Therefore, we both decided to take it easy from now on to fully get the mental faculty back to its optimal performance for the Ironman in 2 weeks time.

I did my last killer training on Thursday. It was a mileage run and I decided to try the 30km coastal route that we usually cycle for our trainings as the running route in East Coast Park has become really very boring. I brought along 2 gels with me as I started off from carpark F2. The plan was to hydrate whenever I see a petrol kiosk or foodcourt along the way.

I did not bring money and that was a mistake! There were so many times during the run that I wanted to just stop and take a cab back to F2, but I held on. It was also pathetic to be at a petrol kiosk with no money to buy drinks and having to hydrate from the toilet's sink. Lesson learnt: always bring money. =]

Anyways, I was dying entering the last 8-10km, and the sky was dark already. My legs were dead weight and I decided to just stop and walk back figuring that the distance was already more than my intended 30km. I walked out to the main road to see where I was in relation to PK (pang kang) bend, and to my surprise, it was right ahead staring at me! I had given up when I was already so close to the end! Freaking heck.

I went back to running and finished the run with a time of 3hrs 35mins. After that, I seat down as my legs were really tired and I proceeded to lying down to rest before walking back to F2. It was quite a good workout, but I hope I will not feel such pain after my Ironman in Switzerland..

Here is a poem infront of my table that I always read when I feel like giving up. The author is unknown..

Don't Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
when the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
when the funds are low and the debts are high,
and you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
when care is pressing you down a bit-rest, if you must, but do not quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
as every one of us sometimes learns,
and many a failure turns about,
when he might have won had he stuck it out;
don’t give up though the pace seems slow—
you may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
it seems to a faint and faltering man,
often the struggler has given up,
when he might have captured the victor’s cup,
and he learned too late when the night slipped down,
how close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out—
the silver tint of the clouds of doubt,and you never can tell how close you are,
it may be near when it seems so far,
so stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit—
it’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

Week 8 round-up

Monday: 14km pace run (afternoon) and 1.2km easy swim (evening)
Tuesday: Rest day
Wednesday: 2km wetsuit swim (morning) and 28km long run (afternoon)
Thursday: Rest day
Friday: 55km bike training [15km hill intervals] (morning)
Saturday: Desaru bike ride [20km-15km-35km-35km-15km-20km intervals]
Sunday: Rest day

Total Swim Mileage: 3.2km
Total Bike Mileage: 195km
Total Run Mileage: 42km

This week has been a pretty tough week for me. However, I am very happy with all the progress made in my training! =] I also learnt that rest is as important as the hardcore training itself..On Monday's pace run, I managed to hit 1hr 07mins! However, the 28km long run on Wednesday took more out of me. On the whole it felt better than the previous 28km and I completed it in 2hrs 51mins.

I begin to realise that the event in Switzerland is merely something that you just do, the real fun is in the process leading up to it. This realisation was reinforced by Jason during one of our long runs, and I felt it to be very true. On Wednesday's 28km, Lemin, Jiajie and Michelle joined Nicolas and I on our 2nd 14km. Their encouragement and support really made the last 14km more enjoyable even though I was silently dying inside..This was similar to the previous long bike ride where many of our friends cycled with us throughout the 180km, coming and going off, accompanying us through the long journey..This is why I do what I'm doing, this is why I love triathlon. The support you get from the community is insane! =]

Friday's hillslayer training was prematurely ended because Nicolas and I felt really weak. We decided to rest instead for the long ride the next day at Desaru. This was my 2nd time going up, and there were altogether 23 of us who went up this time. Coach David organised and we merely tagged along. Although my initial intention was to relax and spin down, I found myself caught in the thick of the action.

I was once again glad that all the trainings in Singapore has served me well against the killer headwinds in Desaru. The only downside to this trip was that some people just do not have draft ethics. In cycling, especially when the winds are ultimate killer, it is only courteous to take turns fighting nature. Jon Ma was the usual mad ass right smack infront fighting on his own, thus I decided to help him out. However, when I am drained and he took over, nobody except Alvin allowed me to slot back into the pack. I felt quite disturbed but said nothing. It is ok if you are just resting on someone else's wheel, but try to keep in line! I had a very hard time trying to get the draft because of some amateur's weird drafting antics..This once again prompted me to take the lead until I could not pull the pack on anymore, repeating the cycle. It was quite a bad 30km ride back to the sugarcane oasis in terms of experience, but the training was superb!

The highlight of the trip was definitely in the last 17km back to the jetty. Ling Er reminded me of the drafting formation which I mentioned earlier, and we decided to try it out once more, having failed 2 times before. Nicolas, Alvin, Ling Er and I each took turns at the front for about 10s before pulling over to the left and slowly taking position at the end of the draft line. The 2nd in line is now in front pulling the pack for 10s, and the cycle repeats itself. We started out abit rusty but got better as each rider got more and more accustomed to the plan. The 4 of us were riding easily at 36-38km/h! This was a really cool technique (something I saw on TV while the Tour of Turkey was aired). It was super fun and energy saving too! =]

It is now time to rest for next week's killer training! I have now less than 3 weeks before I fly off to Zurich..how time flies..

Week 7 round-up

Monday: Church camp
Tuesday: Church camp
Wednesday: Church camp
Thursday: Church camp
Friday: Rest
Saturday: IPPT
Sunday: 140km bike and 5km run (5km warm up and 5km cool down ride)

Total Swim Mileage: 0km
Total Bike Mileage: 140km
Total Run Mileage: 5km

This week has been pretty chill, a good time to rest and recover for the final burst of training in the last month leading up to Ironman Switzerland. It was a good time to rest not only the physical man, but the spiritual one also. I think I over-rested the physical dude because after my IPPT, I was aching all over today! =] I am still trying to figure out the reason why..

Anyways, Nic and I decided to kill ourselves in the next 2 weeks. Therefore, we started with today. The "cursed" long bike ride followed by a 5km run was completed today! The curse has been utterly shattered...The pace for the 130km was very good I thought, maintaining in the region of 30-35km/h. Our quadriceps muscles were like rock solid after the ride. The run felt good and we both felt pretty strong. This is a good sign; now to look forward to the next 2 weeks' training. =]

Week 6 round-up

Monday: Rest (cough)
Tuesday: Rest (cough)
Wednesday: Long swim (4km)
Thursday: 5 x 2.5km hill run intervals (morning)
Friday: 70km bike ride + 5km run (morning)
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Long run (21km)

Total Swim Mileage: 4km
Total Bike Mileage: 70km
Total Run Mileage: 37.5km

This week has been quite a chill week for me, and next week is not going to be any tougher as I will be attending church camp. =] So far, I think all the training has been logged in with less than a month before I fly off to Zurich for the long awaited Ironman Switzerland. Just 4 more weeks to go!

Week 5 round-up

Monday: 28km long run (afternoon); easy swim (evening)
Tuesday: 50km bike ride
Wednesday: Rest (flu)
Thursday: 16km pace run (night)
Friday: Rest day
Saturday: 165km bike ride
Sunday: Rest (cough)

Total Swim Mileage: 0km
Total Bike Mileage: 215km
Total Run Mileage: 44km

This week has been quite a relax week for me. After Monday's long run in the 3pm heat, Nicolas and I almost died on the next morning's bike ride at 5.30am (which explains why the mileage covered was only 50km). After the bike ride, I was down with sore throat and then subsequently flu. I decided to make this week an easy week since Nicolas was also going to Thailand to chill out with his Dad. Training proper will resume next Wednesday =]

In the next few days, I caught up with loads of lost sleep and rested pretty well. On Thursday, Jason and I went on what he believes is the first and last time he will ever do it long run. He picked me up at my place and we headed to F2 carpark at East Coast to begin our run. My aim was to do a long relax run as I was still recuperating, but the pace picked up quite abit as we U-turned at Fort Road. It was a good run, not because of the training value, but because of the things we talked about during the run. HTHT, as what Junyang will call it. Heart To Heart Talk. =]

On Friday, a few of us met up to watch Terminator Salvation. It was a pretty good time of fellowship I would say, but a pity that I could not stay for dinner as I had other stuffs to attend to. Tonight, Jason is organising another movie outing to watch Night at the Museam 2. He is on a movie-going high!

The bike ride yesterday was one that was planned at the start of the week. A 180km ride followed by a 5km run. I prepared my nutrition plan the night before and made sure everything was settled for the ride the next morning. I woke up the next day feeling abit sick, but I decided to go ahead with the ride as I wanted to test out my nutrition plan consisting of dried fruits and nuts, jelly beans and M&Ms. The previous nutrition plan failed and hence I was determined to make this a success.

The ride seemed to be plagued with a lot of problems for Jason, Jiajie and I who are participating in the Ironman in about a month's time. None of us completed the 180km ride, much less the 5km run..Jason, as usual, was beaten by the Zzz monster and failed to meet us at E2 carpark. Therefore, Jiajie, Serene, Junyang and I started off first while he joined in later. Throughout the entire bike ride, our friends joined us to motivate and push us on. Serene and Junyang were there from the start, then Yu Qiang joined in after our 1st loop followed by Yong Sheng aka Bear Bay who joined us after our 3rd loop.

Yu Qiang, as he was riding the next day, dropped off after about 40km with us. Next, Serene dropped off to call it a day after the 100km mark. Jiajie then had pain radiating down the lateral aspect of his left thigh which originated from his knee. He decided to stop and rest while Jason and I continued. Yong Sheng dropped off after the 130km mark, and Junyang left us after the 155km mark. Jason and I were left on our own from the 155km mark. There was another 25km to go.

As I was feeling a little jaded and tired from the 5hr+ ride already, I decided to take Jason's draft (something I don't believe in doing during training). It proved to be a bad decision. My front wheel clipped onto his back wheel and I was out of control. I was falling to the right but then suddenly I steadied the bike and was moving into the other lane of the coastal stretch into oncoming traffic then I fell to my left and skidded into the paths of oncoming vehicles. It was another fall for me again, or should I say, another dumb fall again.

Jason then helped me to the side of the road and helped me check my bike while I did checks on my body. I felt the world slowing down and felt dizzy, so decided to lie down to rest for awhile. Thoughts of the incident went through my head and I chastised myself for the once again lacking focus while biking.

Jason and I then shared the packet of M&Ms that I brought for the ride which exploded in my back pocket during the fall. Thankfully, I escaped with just minor cuts on my palms and a mis-aligned STI shifter. It could have been much much worst with the heavy traffic on the opposite side of the road, I could have been hit by a vehicle! I knew that God is always watching over me, protecting me. Jason also agreed that it was a miracle that I escaped unharmed.

I hailed a cab and was on my way home after 165km on my bike computer. Jiajie, Jason and I then met up again at 2pm at our favourite eatery, Fei Fei Wanton Mee, for lunch. We sat there for 3hrs talking about almost everything under the sun. I could not agree more with Jason when he said that the real fun is not in completing the Ironman, but in the process the leads up to it. =]

Week 4 round-up

This week marked the start of my full time training for the Switzerland Ironman. It was killer fun! =]

Monday: 19km long run (morning); 4km long swim (evening)
Tuesday: 100km bike ride
Wednesday: 12.5km hill run intervals (morning); easy swim (evening)
Thursday: 85km bike ride (43km flats, 42km NUS + Mount Faber hills)
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 10km run (Bintan Triathlon)
Sunday: Rest

Total Swim Mileage: 4km
Total Bike Mileage: 185km
Total Run Mileage: 41.5km

The trip up to Bintan for the event over the weekend was super fun! =] We did pretty well, especially Orlanda and Serene who were first-timers. Both of them clinched 3rd position in their respective races (Sprint and Olympic Distance). Lemin did very well too, a super strong swim time and the best transition time in T1 and T2! He came in 4th. Junyang and Angela who were also first-timers did well in their races too, coming in 6th and 11th respectively. Our relay team consisting of Dong Xiang, Jiajie and myself came in 2nd.

It was a very beautiful sight to see everyone enjoying themselves, and to see so many people taking their first steps into a journey of a lifetime - triathlon. I hope we all still enjoy what we love doing. =]

Week 3 round-up

This week was one of the toughest weeks of my life..I have never studied so hard for an examination before in my entire life! Medicine is really in a league of its own..

Monday: 1st Professional MBBS Paper 1
Tuesday: 1st Professional MBBS Paper 2A
Wednesday: 1st Professional MBBS Paper 2B
Thursday: 1st Professional MBBS Paper 3; 4.5km swim
Friday: 1st Professional MBBS Paper 4
Saturday: 180km bike
Sunday: 20km run (2km warm-up, 18km pace run)

Total Swim Mileage: 4.5km
Total Bike Mileage: 180km
Total Run Mileage: 20km

Anyway, I am even more motivated to train harder for the Switzerland Ironman as Lemin and Michelle are both coming up to support us! Whoots! After which, we will travel Europe together. Super killer rocks sia..

Good day

Today, I sent my sister off in the morning as she is going to attend summer school at UC Berkeley for 2 months. In doing so, I missed Sentosa training with the team and the early morning run with Nicolas. My plan for the day was to go on an easy 80km ride to get myself ready for what is to come next week when I resume my micro-cycles. I started my ride at 10.24am.

Prior to that, I checked the weather forecast and it was all clear =] The ride started out really good, I felt really fresh even though the last time I cycled it was 40km (heavy rain) 11days ago. I planned to cruise through training today for there was a 38km run waiting for me the next day. The 38km run was Coach David and his friends' training programme, but he asked me along =]

Knowing clearly I was going to die tomorrow, I wanted to ensure that I live today. However, after 2 loops of coastal, I felt really good; hence I went for another round. This will take my mileage up to 110km..The deciding factor to turn insane came went Nicolas called me to indicate that he was not going to turn up for the 38km tomorrow. This set me thinking...

So far, my run mileage has been a consistent 21km. A 38km run will be a huge jump for an increment! Hence, I decided that I will do a 16-20km run tomorrow, and another 26km run on Monday morning (my micro-cycle starts with a morning run on Mondays). If I did the 38km, I think it will leave me dead for at least a week, destroying my training programme. Therefore, I decided to go for it, a full 180km mileage for bike today.

I completed the 3rd and 4th loop in good time and started on my 5th loop. Initially, I felt really drained, adding insult to injury was the headwind. It started to get more forceful now..Also, the sun has been up in the skies throughout my ride; I started to feel its effects..

I struggled to maintain my speed at 30km/h. It was then, the skies took pity on me and rain fell.. It was weird because throughout the entire 30km loop, some parts were raining and some parts not..hahas..but I'm not complaining, the rain somehow boosted me and I was hitting 30-33km/h all the way to the finish.

All in all, I completed the 180km in 6hrs 17mins. It was 4.41pm. I will recover for tomorrow's run at 4.30am, and then start the week fresh on Monday. =]

Attempt the difficult; attain the impossible.

Week 2 round-up

This week was pretty disappointing for me in view of how much I have achieved last week..Well, something's gotta give. I focused more on my run mileage this week. It is just 5 more days to pure training.. I can do it!

Monday: 3km swim followed by 21km run (evening)
Tuesday: 40km bike ride (ended prematurely due to rain)
Wednesday: Mug
Thursday: Mug
Friday: 21km run (evening)
Saturday: Mug
Sunday: Mug

Total Swim Mileage: 3km
Total Bike Mileage: 40km
Total Run Mileage: 42km
Total Mug Mileage: insanely high

I think I'm getting sadistic...

Today, Joshua cycled over from school to join me in my 3km swim followed by 21km run training. The plan was to complete the entire session in 3hrs. After mugging for hours, I really needed an outlet! =] The entire session was pretty much uneventful with us feeling super tired towards the end!

After the swim, we realised that we did not bring out any gels or food to snack along the run, hence we did a pit stop at MacDonalds'! This is really my 1st time doing such a 'transition'...after getting a box of McNuggets, we proceeded with the run, snacking on the nuggets! It was really hilarious!

Thanks Josh for the company today and for doing the sick sets with me. I really can't fathom how it would have turned out had you not come..Ok, back to the books..bleh!

Week 1 round-up

This week marked the start of my intensive training and studying. It was really very fruitful, although there are some areas which can still be improved on.. =] So here are the workouts that I did:

Monday: 16km pace run (morning) and 4km long swim (evening)
Tuesday: 80km bike ride [at 30km/h] (evening)
Wednesday: 21km long run in 2hrs (morning) and 3km swim [1km-easy, 1km-pulling, 1km-swim] (evening)
Thursday: 2km swim [pulling] (evening)
Friday: Desaru bike ride [20km-15km-35km-35km-15km-20km intervals]
Saturday: Rest/Mug day
Sunday: 110km bike ride (afternoon)

Total Swim Mileage: 9km
Total Bike Mileage: 335km
Total Run Mileage: 37km

There needs to be more work put in for the run.. I hope that all these training will aid me in Switzerland.. =] Now, let's look forward to the new week! =] 2 more weeks to freedom!

Carpe Diem!

Today, I started my 9 trainings per week micro-cycle. The day begun at 5.30am with a 16km pace run. As I approached the turning point, I spotted Coach David! We completed the run together and had a little chat afterwards. The run was pretty good, averaging about 5min/km.

The bulk of the day was spent mugging in school for my 1st Professional MBBS. It was a pretty productive session. I then went for my 4km long and easy swim at 7.15pm. Dinner was 'da-baoed' and eaten as I completed my final wrap up on renal physiology. The day ended at 11pm with not only my brain being fried, but also my body hinting to me that sleep beckons =]

I hope to be able to do this for 2 more weeks and perhaps do some maintenance during the examination period and enter full throttle after it. A 70km bike ride awaits me tomorrow =] Till then, hang in there people! A week more to freedom, 3 weeks more for me! =]