KOTR Brick

It was a little before 3am and as a few drunks staggered on their way home from a night of revelry, I was setting up my trainer for a brick workout at the KOTR.  This was Norman’s idea and am glad the ULTRA buddies, PJ and Julian, were only too eager to join us in our training for WRT.  The plan was to simulate race conditions – nutrition-wise.  3 years into triathlon and I still take nutrition for granted. Kinda stupid really…especially when everyone knows that proper nutrition is crucial and spells the difference between finishing strong and bonking at a triathlon race.

Filled one bottle with 2 cans of Ensure and another with Gatorade and I was set to spin.  Also had 3 GU gels on the side to be consumed every hour henceforth.  One tends to sweat a lot more during stationary biking, thus, the cool breeze that morning was certainly welcome  Chopped up the 2 hours of spinning to 15 minutes warm-up and 7 sets of 10 mins hard/5mins easy.  2 hours on a trainer is less tedious with friends around and soon enough, we heard announcements calling the 21K participants to the starting gate.  Packed up my stuff and I still had one gel to be consumed one hour into the run.  Finished both the Ensure and Gatorade bottles during the spin

I had a simple strategy for the run.  Just run the whole way with a decent push-off for each step.  As far as pace was concerned, I was thinking of doing a 6min/km pace.  And just like it was at the track oval, I was eating Julian and Norman’s dust from the get-go.  They were kind enough to look back and encourage me to pace with them but as Sting said, if you love somebody, set them free  So I told them to go ahead and not worry about me.  Just wanted to stick to my strategy and I was running comfortably and in rhythm.  Took advantage of every hydration station that came my way and appreciated the numerous cheering squads along the route.  There were no kilometer markings early on which made calculating/predicting my pace difficult.  It wasn’t until the 12 kilometer mark inside Fort when I finally had some idea about my running pace.  Up until then, I knew I was doing better than a 6min/km pace.  BTW, I finally have a stopwatch this time and it read 1:04 and change at the 12km mark.  Made some mental calculations and figured that maintaining a 6min/km pace should take me to a sub-2 finish.  Felt quite good about that.  So I kept on running at the same steady pace I had from the beginning and see where it’d take me.

Hills training paid off.  Could really sense the difference in climbing up the Kalayaan Flyover and the hills inside Fort.  Was able to muster a bit of an attack for each incline.  Got an extra jolt of energy when I saw that the 16km turnaround point was nearer than where I expected it to be.  It wasn’t further down the road just before C-5 and we didn’t even reach Heritage Park.  Picked up the pace from then on and see if I can finish strong.

Saw Julian just before the turn towards the finish and I was surprised to see the timer counting 1:49 and change.  But as luck would have it, the timer  turned 1:50 as I crossed the finish.  My watch said 1:49:57 only because I pressed the start button once I crossed the line   What is it with 49:57? Last OctoberRun 2008, I had what I thought was my first sub-50 in a 10K when I finished at 49:57 only to realize that it was 50:02 when the official results came out.  Official results at the KOTR will show I finished 1:50:15 thereabouts. Oh well, I still am gratified that I was able to run better than expected

Nutrition and hydration were adequate.  But I wouldn’t put much stock in my run split here at KOTR. It certainly won’t be the same at WRT for a number of reasons:

-  run course at WRT is hilly.

- the run will start much later.  Thus, it will be hotter come race day.

- there won’t be a 25 minute lag time from the bike leg to the run.

But then, for whatever it’s worth, I’ll take every bit of good news/training day that comes my way between now and November 7.  I’ll need every bit of confidence at WRT.

Cheers!

Hard Rate

This should dispel the myth that the Chinese are inherently good in math.  Ever since I started out working with a Heart Rate Monitor (HRM), I pegged my maximum heart rate at 193.  For those of you who use the standard formula in determining the appropriate heart rate for one’s age (220 – age = maximum heart rate), the setting of 193 means that I am 27 years of age.  Well, that was 10 summers ago.  I am now a 37 year old daddy

I found out about it while I was glossing through statistics of NBA players.  Going through the myriad of numbers got me thinking about heart rates and the number 220.  Subtract two and two together and voila – I should be training using the mid-180’s as my base!  This must be the reason why I never hit 90% capacity that Philip was talking about.  Also, might be the reason why I’m getting a bit tired lately.  

Oh well, good thing I found out about this before off-season training.  Will still use the old settings for tomorrow’s race though.   Look at is as hard rate’s final hurrah

Cheers!

Daddy Duties

While the whole triathlon community was at Whiterock last Saturday, I was at my son’s school for the yearly sportsfest.  Not quite the adrenalin rush found in a triathlon race, but it was fun just the same  For the first time, my son didn’t whine nor cry during the whole event (Yehey!!) even though it was quite hot that morning.  I heard conditions were quite difficult for the Whiterock participants as well  I send my loudest cheers to those who finished WRT!! You guys rock!!

As for me, I did a 14K run last Saturday afternoon.  I tried to simulate the conditions at Whiterock by running at around 1:30pm.  Whew, it was hot.  After 5K, I already knew it was going to be a difficult run even though I was going at a snail’s pace, about 6:30 – 6:45 min/km.  Finished in 1 hour 34 minutes.  And judging from the color of my urine (dark yellow, almost brown) afterwards, I guess I was really dehydrated.

The following day, I did the Ocho-Ocho route again in Alabang.  Like I said in a previous post, training in Alabang is fun because you can start your workout any time of the day.  No traffic, shady trees.  I started to bike around 2:30pm and did 8 loops of the Ocho-Ocho.  Wrapped up the long bike ride in a little less than 3 hours  Good thing, I was able to squeeze in the workouts in between the intermittent rains over the weekend

Cheers!

Ocho Ocho Redux

Last Saturday, I did the ocho-ocho route in Alabang with Marga and Philip.  While this would not erase the fact that we disqualified in the Animo Tri, all of us just wanted to do it right this time  Started off at around half past 6 in the morning from Narra Street.  Philip and I did four loops while Marga did three.  You know what? It was good that we got to bike that morning for a lot of reasons:

• It was my first time to train in Alabang.  Ocho-Ocho turned out to be a fun course when done in the correct sequence  While you may pass certain streets a number of times, the course never gets boring with all the hills and descents along the way. 
• Philip and I chose to do a brick session that morning as well.  I did the same run course used for triathlon races in Alabang that went around the Country Club and it wasn’t too hot as there were a lot of trees that offered the right amount of shade.  I usually do my trainings early in the morning to avoid the heat and the traffic, but I would suspect those who do their training in Alabang can train at any hour of the day.  Wide roads, lots of shade….what more can you ask?
• It was great seeing Jaymie, Annie and Patcon doing their morning runs.  
• After our session, we had breakfast at Narra Park.  The transition area during the Alabang races was converted to a weekend market  Had 2 cups of rice, 2 fried eggs and beef tapa for 100 bucks.  Sarap    

Looks like someone is going to be regular fixture at Alabang during the weekends  

Cheers!

F#@%& Marce…..I’m going out to Bike!!!!

The Metro has been inundated with rains the past few days.  Although typhoon “Marce” did not hit land, its presence was enough to enhance the monsoon rains that wrecked havoc in the training plans of us endurance athletes naks….. As I mentioned before, my deal with the family was that I only get to do one long bike ride a week.  I usually do the ride on a Thursday but Marce screwed that up, so I just swam yesterday.  Well, there comes a point when enough is enough.  I figured come Friday morning Marce should be on its way to Taiwan already and I was gonna ply my usual 80k route out and back Jalajala.  Got to Morong at 5:15 am.  See, I was really dead-set on riding  The sky looked ominous but I didn’t care.  Set off at around quarter to six and finished my set in 2:45  YEEEAAAHHHH!!!!! Just a bit of a shower here and there but I WAS ABLE TO RIIIDDDEEEE.   In fact, I think I was the only one who biked the Rizal countryside this morning.  Didn’t see any other biker  

Them typhoons better think twice before visiting our country, ha! 

Cheers!

Back to Earth…Back to Work

Triathlon helps in keeping me grounded.  It is such a demanding sport in terms of time and effort that you can never get too high or too low after a race.  There is hardly any time to bask in the afterglow of a good race or dwell on the disappointment after a bad one as the demands of training beckon.  

Yup, it’s back to the training grounds for me after Subic

This time though I’m happy that I’ve managed to work my schedule around so that I’ll be able to go to the ULTRA track oval for speed workouts and join a long bike ride during the week.  I’ve been wanting to do incorporate long bike rides in the training regimen, but it was just so difficult to fit it in my schedule.  With the wifey’s blessings, that is no longer a problem now

Thanks to Czar, I was able to visit Morong once again and do the Jalajala route today.  The last time I did it was last year  See, how long ago that was?  80 kms out and back in the beautiful Rizal countryside.  The lowlight of which is that I almost had an accident when dogs that wanted to hump each other came onto the road and I wasn’t able to avoid one of them and I bumped the dog.  Don’t worry, the dog wasn’t hurt bad probably took a blow to the stomach.   I’m sorry dog, but you shouldn’t be humping in the streets,  keep it inside, hehehe.  Here are the stats of this morning’s ride:

Distance: 80kms.; Time: 2:49; Average speed: 28.1km/hr; AHR: 125; Peak: 152

Can’t wait for next week’s ride.

Cheers!

Training Blues

Seems like everyone coming down with something these days.  Each of my children together with the wifey had their own bouts with the flu.  Even the bloggers I frequent had their own ‘flu’ stories to tell.  I guess it’s just a matter of time that I’ll have my own story to share.  Well, lo and behold, I finally did get sick the other day. It’s nothing major really.  Always prided myself being ‘kalabaw’ (beast of burden which never gets sick). But I did experience diarrhea and the occasional urge to vomit every now and then.  I don’t know what caused it.  I doubt if it’s from something I ate because the family would have suffered the same fate as well. Well, I don’t know maybe I got sick by osmosis.  Being around sick people and reading about sickness in the blogs,  I just had to be sick myself.  Needless to say, it did affect my run yesterday.  Instead of doing the mandated 8 sets, I just did 6 of those dreaded 4 x 200m at 5 seconds slower than my regular pace  Does not augur well for Subic, huh?  But then, I did read in loonyrunner’s blog about ‘Bad Runs’ where there are really no bad or good runs, it’s just our attitude that makes a run/race good or bad.  

I know it’s a big weekend for most of us out there.  To Baldrunner, SFRunner, Johnny and those running in the SF Marathon.  To those participating in the Milo Marathon.  To those doing 03, 01 and the relays in Subic,  I send my biggest and loudest cheers to you all.  I’m sure all of us will harken to loonyrunner’s advice and race a GOOD one this weekend.  

Now, excuse me while I go to the ‘john’ once again…….

Rest? Recovery? Are you talking to me?

If there’s one thing multi-sport enthusiasts are accused of, is that they don’t appreciate the benefits of rest and recovery.  There’s always that nagging feeling that the gains reaped with those long, arduous workouts is easily lost if one were to rest.  Not me  I look forward to rest.  By now, you must have guessed that it’s recovery week for me.  There’s tons of literature detailing the benefits of rest for multi-sport athletes.  In fact, it can be just as important as a hard workout.  Allowing the body and muscles sufficient time to heal and recuperate is vital, especially for a demanding sport such as triathlon that puts a lot of strain on the joints, etc.  Recovery week is not all bed rest however  Earlier, I posted a typical week of training for Whiterock, the following is a glimpse of what a typical recovery week for Whiterock looks like:

Monday – Easy Swim/Core Training

Tuesday – Bike 30km; Run 5k moderate

Wednesday – Run 10 minutes medium, 10 minutes moderate, 10 minutes max

Thursday – Bike 60km hills; Easy swim

Friday – Run 12km; Swim speed

Saturday – Bike 30km

Sunday – Brick: 40km Bike 5km run at Zone 3

Aaahhhh, nothing like recovery week to kick back relax and have a good cold one.  

Cheers!  Drinks are on the house

Brick by Brick

In lieu of the LaSalle run which was held yesterday at the Fort, I decided to stick to the program which called for a Brick workout.  Brick is a bike-run workout which is intended to help the body adapt to the stresses of an actual race where the transition from bike to run is arguably the most difficult to do in triathlons.  The program called for me to do 40k bike and 5k run at zone 4.  Just like in Fontana, I biked in the rain once again although it did clear up once I began to run.  Here are the stats:

Bike time: 1:20:30

Average Speed: 29.8km/hr.

Transition: 3:45

Run time: 26:58

Total: 1:51:04

In past races, even my wife noticed that I take a long time in transitions.  Being the observant spectator that she is, she noticed that a lot of triathletes don’t bother to wear socks.  Also, cycling shoes were already attached to the pedals even before the race.  Like what any good husband would do, I listened to the wifey and followed her suggestions.  Already ditched the socks in my long run last thursday and began practicing with the ‘clipped-on’ shoes during my bike training on saturday and yesterday’s brick workout.  Let’s see if it’ll make a difference in O3 Subic.  

Cheers!

Totally Immersed

Last 9 July, I did my swim workout.  I did 20 x 100m.  Time for each 100m was around 1:48 to 1:53 with 30 seconds of rest between 100s.

Before, when I did my swim workouts, I just swam the required mileage straight.  Just thought I’d mention that I didn’t invest in any paddles or any other paraphernalia for swimming (lahat napunta na kasi sa bike:)).  I just swam.  Lately however, I chopped up the distance into manageable portions because I’m trying to incorporate the total immersion technique in my swim.  I found out about total immersion from Bullrunner’s blog where they talked about how total immersion teaches one to swim more efficiently with less drag.  Since triathlon is all about efficiency, I thought, “Hey, where do I sign up?”

Basically, total immersion teaches you balance and to swim using your core.  The net effect of such technique is that instead of ‘fighting’ the water making lots of splashes to propel yourself forward, you find yourself gliding.  Pretty much like a how an ice skater glides forward in every push off.  I remember how I found myself in a eureka moment in the midst of the sessions saying to myself, this was how they should have been teaching swimming all along  

Total Immersion helps in triathlon because there is minimal use of the legs during the swim.  In fact, the kick only comes into play once every stroke.  Thus, after the swim leg, you find yourself fresh to attack in the bike and run portions of the race.  For those interested, check out their website:  www.aqualogicswimco.com  The classes are taught by certified total immersion coaches such as Ria Mackay and Nonoy Basa.  They have classes in Makati Shangri-la, Palms Country Club and Magallanes.  

Cheers!