Personal Run Training - June 15th

I spent most of the day sleeping, watching TV and being lazy. I decided around evening time, that I needed to get some exercise in, so I ended up heading to the gym to get some running on the elliptical.

The gym was mostly empty with a few souls like myself trying to get some activity in. I picked my usual elliptical spot and started my run.

Surprisingly 2 miles into it, I found myself having difficulty maintaining my pace and rhythm. I was not sure what the problem was, but I suspect it had to do with the fact that I had not been drinking enough water all day and my body was fairly dehydrated. I am planning on doing another run tomorrow to see if that was the case, or if there are some other issues that may have come up.

Group Bike & Run Training - June 14th

I was looking forward to this training since, I had plenty of sleep the night before to support it. I was glad I had put my bike in the car the night before, so it made it easier to get out of bed and get ready to head out.

Todays training was at Kensington, and while its a hike, its a fun bike & run time. Apparently a lot of other people thought so too, because the parking lot where we usually park was packed and I had trouble finding a parking spot. Between all the confusion, half of the group had already left and some of us were still trying to figure out what was going on. Eventually we decided to hit the road, and no sooner had we gotten out of the parking lot that my troubles started with the gearing. I tried to fix it a little, but it just got worse by the time we hit the next traffic light. I got off my bike to adjust it, and told the others to keep going. The problem with fixing it was, that I needed to fix the derailer in front as well as the back to keep the alignment, but with me holding the bike and trying to pedal at the same time required atleast 4 arms.

I just did the best I could and started off again. Unfortuantely I had never paid attention to the route we were going, so I went off in the wrong direction. About a few miles into it, I realized none of this seemed familiar, so I turned around and went another direction. That did not appear to look familiar either, and I had turned back a mile when I though I saw what looked like Ron on the other side pedaling hard. There were a few cars coming that way, so I could not quickly turn around to catch him. By the time I turned around, Ron was already up the hill and out of sight. I did my best to catch up to him, but everytime I started getting close, we would hit a hill, and I would lose my momentum again. At one point, we went up a steep hill to an intersection, and I lost track of which way Ron went. I once again started going down the wrong road, and about two miles in realized this did not seem right either. So I went the other direction and saw signs for Metro Park, and figured this is the best way to go as it should eventually lead me back to the parking lot. My troubles were not over, beacuse as I started going down that road, I found it blocked with construction signs. I ended up jumping on the trail which was shared by runners, and generally not a good thing to do. Eventually I moved back on the road, only to find Nick and Kevin catching up. Between all this confusion, I had biked 20 miles, while the rest of the group had done a little under 25 miles with the proper course, so I did not feel too bad about missing out on that.

We followed up with a short 3 mile run, which just seemed to be giving me trouble, but it was probably because of the temperate than anything else.

I think I am in good condition to tackle the event this weekend, just keep praying for me! :)

Group Swim Training - June 10th

I won't say I had fully recovered from the weekend race, but I was feeling a lot better. Our training was at my least favorite high school, and to make matters worse, the off ramp for the exit I needed to get off at was blocked. I saw a lot of smoke, so I am assuming something was on fire. I was running late, and all this additional aggravation was not helping.

In any case we started out with our usual 200 yd warm up, and the coach informed us the swim training today was going to be a little easier than usual (not that anyone of us believed him)!

We ended up doing sprint drills, going from one side to the next as fast as we could, and then the same thing back. After a few runs, it felt like my heart was going to pop out of my chest, but I do know I was going really fast. If I could race at this pace, I would be done in about 15 mins in the actual race! ;)

We then did 75 yd drills with alternating speeds on each length, and this is where disaster stuck for me. I was in a separate lane, but I was focusing so much on speed, that I drifted out of my lane, into the oncoming lane, and I hit Bora head on!

It won't be the first time we have had a collision, but it sure did not make it any better. My head was still vibrating from the impact, and we both had a bump on our heads to prove it. It took a little while for me to get back into the swim routine, but this time I was much more cautious about what I was doing. Maybe it was an important lesson learnt, but not one I necessarily need to go through again.

I am sure by the time we got done with our swimming, we had done more than a mile, but I think we have quit counting that anymore.

The fun part of the evening was that we were given our tri shorts and singlet we had ordered a couple of months ago. The top seemed to be a little loose, but then again I had probably lost some weight since I last tried them.

Either way, I look forward to wearing them during our upcoming open water swim, should be interesting to see how it feels under the suit.

Personal Run Training - June 9th

I am still in recovery mode after the tri I raced in yesterday, but I did want to get out and get the blood flowing through the body to facilitate muscle regeneration.

I ended up just going to the gym and doing a 3.1 mile run on the elliptical since it would not be hard on the body, and still get the desired effects.

Not a whole lot of excitement on this training day, but the good thing is everything seems operational so far! :)

Ann Arbor Triathlon - June 8th

Click here for Ann Arbor Triathlon Pics!

Total Participants: 650

Distances:

1. Swim - 0.5 mile / 0.8 km
2. Bike - 15.2 mile / 24.46 km
3. Run - 5 mile / 8 km

Total Race Time: 2:14:33
Overall Ranking: 318
Category Rank: 40

Swim Time: 20:43
Overall Swim Rank: 247
Category Rank: 27

Transition 1: 5:31

Bike Time: 46:07
Average Speed: 18.2 miles/hr
Overall Bike Rank: 233
Category Rank: 34

Transition 2: 3:09

Run Time: 59:06
Average Speed: 11:50/mile
Category Rank: 42



I am not really sure where to start on this day, as it seemed to be an extension of yesterday. I went to sleep at 11:00 pm, suffering from insomnia and by system being wired with all that Gatorade I had been having all day. I woke up at 3:30 am and started getting my stuff in order to head out, to pick up Bora around 4:15 am. I could not be any more nervous than I already was. It was raining cats & dogs outside, and I was feeling like I should just stay in. However the committment of picking up Bora was on my mind, and it got me to get in my car and head out to RO. I picked up Bora, and we had a little bit of effort to get his bike in, and organized so it did not damage the other bike or itself in the back.

We got there around 6 am, with plenty of time to spare before the event started. We found ourselves a nice parking spot, unloaded our bikes and ran a through check of all our gear. We helped out Courtney, a random dude (who was extremely appreciative & nervous).

By the time we had gotten our race packets and timing chips, the rest of the gang joined us as we were heading up the hill to the transition area. I was the only one in our group, who was in the first wave, so it was kind of un-nerving. I racked my bike and set up the transition area, and then had the girl mark me on my shoulder and right leg. I had Bora accompany me down to help into my wet suit, and took a quick 50 yd swim in the lake to get over the initial water shock. In retrospect, this lil exercise helped me avoid the panic factor associated with 100 people hitting the water as well as the temperate factor as well.

Group Swim Training - June 7th

This was our first open water swim since we had started training back in Feb, and just in time considering our first real triathlon was tomorrow!!

The team kind looked like a bunch of fantastic four wannabes, except we were more like the fantastic 14, but either way, skin tight wet suits have a a personality of their own. :)

The water temperature was probably in the high 60's, still cold, but the suits helped absorb the initial shock, and also help in retaining heat in the body. It helped to just jump in the water and get yourself all wet so that the initial shock is over. However what was very different from all our usual swim trainings is that, the water was so dark, that you really could not see the bottom. This was totally different and there was definitely hesitation in doing any sort of swim. It was a mix of being in open air, the open water, the smell of the water, even the taste, the visibility in the water, and it was hard to just accept all these changes in one day.

Coach Ray also had some company with Stu being in the water with us, and the extra help was much needed with so many questions and concerns. We started out with a few lengths from one end to the next to get acclimated to the environment, and even though I appeared to be doing good, there was a sense of apprehension about all this. The one good thing is, I atleast know what to expect in tomorrow tri, because had I been doing this for the first time in the race, I would be in serious trouble.

Our session consisted of a number of speed sprints, and some additional lengths, and in my case, even a collision with my good friend Bora. It was funny, because I was in total confusion, rather than being worried about what happened to my head. It felt like I had run into a wall, but what I could not figure out was that there even was a wall. My mind kept racing to rationalize what had happened, and then I started speculating I had some how swam out of the swim area and hit a boat, or maybe the boat some how got into the swim area. When I actually got out of the water and saw Bora, I was atleast relieved that it was not a boat. But I was still prepelexed on how I had a collision with Bora. I know my swim direction was not consistently straight, but I did not imagine it was so bad that I collided with someone head on, when we were both swimming in the same direction!!!

So this is what actually happened...I was finishing my last length and then we were supposed to swim towards the beach. Apparently Bora had just finished before me and he was going in a direction perpendicular to mine towards the beach. Somehow he missed that I was still heading back at full speed, and we timed it so well, that we ran into each other head on. Regardless, he sure knows how to knock some sense into me now! ;)

Ann Arbor Tri.....here I come!!!

Personal Run Training - June 5th

I had been resting my leg most of the week to let it recover for the weekend triathlon. I had missed my swim training due to being occupied at work later than usual, so I was motivated get some training in to remind my body, it was still very much needed. I was not ready for running outside yet, because I am still working with my physical therapist to figure out how exactly to fix my left leg issue. She has advised to ice it couple of times a day, and that seems to be helping some, but not really fixed the problem.

Anyways, I figured I would just go to the gym and run on the elliptical and get my heart rate up this way. I hydrated myself, got my iPod plugged in, filled a bottle of water and started on my training at level 10.

I had targeted to finish the 6.2 mile run at a rate of 10 min/mile, but realized that my training is supposed to be hard, so I shifted into high gear towards a target of 9 min/mile. By about the 3 mile mark, I seemed to be very close to that goal, just shy of 20 seconds on the timer. I increased my strides from 180 to 190 and kept that up till the 5 mile mark, when I realized that I was running 6.2 miles and not just 6....so I increased my stride to 200ish, and when I put my hand on the heart rate monitor, it should be in the low 170's, which is probably pushing it, but then again, what better way to train it! ;)

At last check, I finished the 6.2 miles in 55 minutes on the dot, meeting my 9 min/mile target. Suffice to say, I was drenched in sweat and towel I had to dry me up was also too wet to really absorb anything more. I am sure there were a few awkward stares at me....oh well! :)

Group Bike & Run Training - June 1st

I had plenty of rest from last night, but I still procrastinated about going out for my training. In the end I thought it best, considering I am less than a month away from the actual event. I arrived on time, which was nice for a change.

My original plan was to just do the bike, but I flirted with the idea of running depending on what time it was and how my knee felt, after having run hard yesterday. We started out with Courtney poking some fun at herself about having too much to drink the night before, and then picking on Ron for shaving his legs and making her feel insecure about hers! ;)

Stu, gave us a tutorial on cornering, and had us try it out in the parking lot which was definitely good to know, because these things help avoid accidents in the real race.

We started out with Ron leading the pack and Don close behind. I kicked my gears into to match speed, but I had barely gotten a 1/4 mile out that my rear tube burst. What was worse was I realized I had no extra tube, as it had fallen out of my pouch when the bike was in the car. The other problem was the pump that I had, was fairly useless as I did not know how to make it work, and neither did Stu. Fortunately Stu did have a spare tube that was the same size. It took us about 20 mins to struggle and get the tire up in order and use Stu's gas cartridge to get enough air to get back to the car and use his pump to get my bike in order.

The good news was that my bike was in order, the bad news was I was going to have to follow Stu all the way, considering we were behind and Stu is a fast biker!

However Stu did make sure I was not falling too far behind, and I really appreciated that. I also learnt how to keep my cadence at around the 90 mark, which was something I was not doing in the past. This helped keep my breathing study, and for the most part keep up with Stu. I was not too good at optimally shifting gears, which was where I would keep falling behind, plus the fact I have to let go of the tri position to change my gears because I have a road bike.

At the end of the bike run, I was quite satisified with myself for having doing a very solid run, and felt that I had learnt a few important things today. My legs were not ready enough for the run, besides the fact I was running late to meet up with Bora and Dave.

I will try to get a run in during the week, but I really want to get plenty of rest before I do the tri in Ann Arbor this coming weekend. I have a couple of swim trainings coming up this week, so if I can do the first two parts, I should be able to put some extra will power into the running part and pull it off! :)

Race for the Cure 5K Run - May 31st

I was very excited about my first ever professional event and actually went to sleep early the night before to make sure I got plenty of rest in. I was supposed to pick up Bora for the race too, but unfortunately he took a tumble on his bike and sprained his wrist the night before, so he had to bail. :(

Anyways, after fighting through the construction and traffic, I finally made it to Comerica Park. I called Ron to see where I should park, but after failing to figure out where they parked, I just pulled into the first parking structure I saw.

I was able to follow Rons voice over the phone to finally get to the main gate, where I met up with him, Kimi, Stu and his friend Meredith. Ron had gotten me a belt that I could use to tie around my belt and put my number on it, which he also helped me put on, thanks Ron! ;)

Finally it was race time, so we found ourselves trying to keep up with Stu who was determined to be in front of the pack, so he can do a good time. I tried to keep up with him, but once they fired the shot, I had trouble weaving through the crowd fast enough to follow up him. I did however pick up the pace and was doing well, except that the sun was making me heat up and I found myself sweating pretty hard about a mile into it. I was not ready to start taking water in just yet, which was a bad idea. Also I was not hydrated enough in the morning as much as I should have been, so the water loss was not doing well for my body. Towards the last mile, Ron & Courtney came up behind me and caught up, so it was nice to have some company.

I started to drag a little, but I mustered some strength to keep following them, but towards the last quarter mile stretch, I needed some hydration, so I slowed my pace to drink out of water bottle, and was trailing about a few seconds behind Ron & Courtney. Once somewhat hydrated, I picked up the pace again, but could not see the duo ahead through the crowd of people. I did however hear Stu shouting to "Sprint!" "Sprint!" "Punch It!", and I took whatever energy I had and took off! I passed a good few people as I picked up the pace and did not slow down till I had crossed the finished line. I heard a guy calling out the time at 24 mins 10 secs, which translated to 8 min/mile.....my best time ever!!!

I am feeling very confident that all my training is showing some results, so all you people supporting me, I plan to make you all feel proud! :)

Group Swim Training - May 27th

My bad habit of not referring to my training manual was almost going to get me in trouble, but luckily Bora called and gave me a heads up to be there are 5:45, instead of the usual 6:45 time to try out our wetsuits. I was very excited, because we had ordered these nearly 2 months ago, and they were custom designed for us.

It took me a little while to slide the suit up my legs, and a fair amount of pulling and stretching to get it around my shoulders. I was sweating before my suit was even on, and the coach was also hard at work trying to pull the suit around my shoulders. The idea was that suit should be tight, yet allow full motion of the shoulder to be able to get the stroke right. The suit was absolutely skin tight, and I felt like one of the marvel super heros...."Seal Man"....however I am open to suggestions on names! ;)

It felt really different, although not necessarily weird. When I got in the water, I realized the suit was not water proof, which was good, since it allowed lubrication as well as helping in cooling the body some. We were supposed to do 200 yd warm up and see how the suit felt...and...the suit felt AMAZING!!!!

I was flying through the water, and my strokes as well as the rotation was sooo much better. It was similar to swimming with a pull buoy between the legs, except that it gave better streamlining since it was a full body suit, and helped lift the upper body up as well.

Our excitement was short lived, because the coach wanted us to do a 1650 yds time trial, withou the suit!! :(

I chose to share the lane with Bora, as he is good at keeping count of the number of lengths, as well as keeps me going since he is a fast swimmer. The first half seemed to go well, and Bora seemed to be gaining on me to lap me, but I was determined not to let that happen this time. I focused on my form, and while I increased my speed, it was just enough to keep me going without my breathing getting too heavy. At one point I was gaining on Bora, but I think that was primarily because Bora stopped to adjust his goggles. I had to take a 5 sec break to get rid of my swim cap which was coming off, as well as adjust my goggles, which meant doing a speed length to get back in position to where I was without Bora breathing down my neck.

We did an amazing run, and I clocked in at 33 mins, a full 2 mins better than my last best time!!

This will translate into about 28 mins with the wet suit on, so I am definetly kicking butt!!! :)

Personal Swim Training - May 25th

I had been taking it easy on the leg as well as trying to recover from the allergies/cold issues for most of last week, which is why there has been a gap in my blogging :(

Anyways, I decided to shake some rust of those muscles by going for a mile swim and see how it feels. I started out with 200 yd (4 lap) warm-up, and it kinda felt good to get in the water. I planned on completing the mile, but not at a fast pace, but rather a more regular one. The primary reason for this was to do form correction, to keep me more streamlined during the entire length of time, than focus on making good time.

I did not time myself, but I probably did a little bit slower than how I usually do, by maybe 5 extra mins. I did however keep a consistent form for most of the 66 lengths, and as a matter of fact I sped up on the the last 10 lengths or so.

Overall it felt good, and I did not feel too exhausted by it, and that by itself was a moral booster to see that even though I had taken almost a week off, the body was still responding well to the demands! :)

Personal Swim Training - May 18

I have been sick most of last week, so I have not been trying to get into any serious training lest, it make my condition worse. I had planned to go swimming with Kerem the day before, so we ended up heading to the Troy Community Center. Unfortunately I forgot to bring a towel along with me, since I have been going to Lifetime lately, and they provide the towels. Anyways, not wanting to be deterred, we decided to improvise once we got out of the pool. We started with a 4 lap warm up, and the next step was to do a 1/2 mile run. Considering the pool was smaller, we needed to do 22 laps (44 lengths) of the pool.

While I was not keeping time, the first one seemed to take longer, and we also ended up sharing the lane for a bit with another lady. I sped up towards the last few laps, but I saw Kerem keeping pace with me, which was good for building his stamina, and motivation for me to keep the pace.

The second one seemed to go much faster, and I tried to pick up the pace even more, somewhat alternating with a speed lap, followed by a couple of regular pace laps. I know Kerem was struggling a little behind me, but I give him credit for putting in the effort to keep up. I may have lapped him once, but that did not deter him from picking up the pace. In all fairness, I have been doing a mile so regularly than I do not really even feel it that much. I did 2 speed laps towards the end, and that wrapped up our training for the day. It most definetly felt good, and i did not feel too exhausted.

The next challenge was figuring out how to dry myself without a towel on hand, but thanks to modern science, the hairdryer was there for the rescue! ;)

Personal Run Training - May 15

I was not feeling too great in my legs for some reason, partly because I had stopped taking some of the anti-inflammatory medication that the doc had prescribed for the tendon that was giving me trouble behind my left knee.

I had also bought a fuel belt to aid in hydration during the 6 mile run, and only used two of the bottles of water instead of all 4. I had not used the belt before, so I was not sure how it was going to be turning out, but no time as now to find out. Bora was part of the group too, and one of the guys I ran with last week Chris was out there as well, so it was nice to see some familiar faces. Bora gave me a heads up that he would be picking up the pace, and I was really not in the mood or the condition to try to keep up with him. I started running solo behind the group, and Chris caught up eventually as he had forgotten something in his car. Between stopping at a couple of lights, we ended up being the tail end of the group. I did noticed that the fuel belt made it running a little different and it took a little while to get used to the bouncy feeling of the belt and the bottles. The good thing is, I would rather try this out now, rather than do this during the actual race.

About 3 miles into it, I started having an uncomfortable feeling in my ankle, although generally my left knee starts complaining first. I was not sure what the issue was, but it got progressively worse, and I was just glad when we finally got done, since my paw area was feeling agonizing. We apparently did fairly well with running 6.2 miles in 57 mins, definetly a record time for me by any means. I need to pick up on my pain medication, as well as wear an ankle brace for the next couple of days and see how it feels.

Group Swim Training & Swim Videos - May 13

I took a couple of days of rest to get over the fatigue, but apparently I got zapped by the changing weather and ended up with a cold. My throat had been keeping me up last night, so I figured if I tired myself out in the water, I would be too exhausted to feel my throat and stay asleep.

We all met up at Center Line High School, my least favorite place to swim, because their locker rooms are in terrible shape and we always have to set up the lines in the pool. Anyways, we also had the addition of another member to our team Kevin. He's a nice chap, and got along well with the rest of the group. Today's session consisted of a 300 yd warmup, followed up by 4 x 1/2 mile timed runs.

I was sharing the lane with my regular swim partner Bora, who is good because he is fast and also because he can keep track of the number of laps, while I can try to focus on my stroke and form. The first 12 lengths I went easy and felt good when I got done. We immediately started on our first 1/2 mile run and about halfway through it my stomach started contracting. Apparently the anti-allergy medicine I took was not in the mood to part of this activity. I was having trouble keeping my breathing consistent and keeping a steady pace with Bora. He had a length lead and I kept it steady at that. I had to take a break for the rest room and just walk around because my stomach was cramping up bad. Suffice to say the coach was not too happy about it, but oh well.

The second set of 1/2 mile, I was lapped by Bora once and I picked up the pace after that. We did not take too much of a break on the third set, and set off. I had lost some speed, while Bora had picked it up, so he ended lapping me twice this time around, which brought my overall time down.

We had about 10 mins left for our last 1/2 mile run, so we got at it, and was only able to complete 9 lengths before we were ordered out of the pool. This concluded our swim training for the week, but the coach took videos of how we were doing, so we could gauge it against our videos from earlier during our trainings, as well as the professionals doing in.

My average time for half miles was around 17 mins, which adds up just about right to where I should be.

Here are the links to the videos from our swim training:

Aamir's Swim Link 1

Aamir's Swim Link 2

Group Bike & Run Training - May 10

I took Friday off to get some rest considering I had done all that running yesterday. My legs were still feeling achy, but it was not bad enough not to be able to make it to the group training today. I also went to sleep early last night, so I was well rested in terms of sleep. I had loaded the bike in the car last night, so I just had to get my bag ready to head out. The drive was fairly open, and it took a little over 30 mins to get there, less than the usual 45 mins.

I found the rest of the people had already arrived, and were gearing up for the ride. Stu had invited Mike, a nutritional expert, to give us some background on how we should be eating/drinking before, during & after each training session. Essentially he said he prefers liquid nutrition over solids, with gels being better than beans. Also there should be a 1 to 4 protien/carb mix in the drinks. He handed out some mixtures to us, but I still have not had a chance to try it out yet.

Anyways, Stu had us set up a run transition area before hand, so that we get used to the idea of quickly leaving our bikes, and putting on running shoes. His son was going to watch our bikes while we went on our run. After getting our individual areas ready we headed out of the parking area on our bikes, and passed the marathon group training for their 22 mile run. I figured we would run into them eventually anyways, given we have to run 4 miles after our bike ride as well. Stu changed our bike route due to construction, and we had to do 2 loops in the metro park area to make up for the mileage. On the second one, I also took a detour with Brad & Ron down the big slope right by the canoe launch area, and man was it beautiful or what. There was a bike display event going on, so there were a lot of people testing out bikes, and there was a lot of traffic, so we had to be careful around that area. The second loop was not that bad, and I felt I had gotten into a good rhythm with the biking.

The challenging part was doing those big hill duo, after we got out of the area to head back to the parking. I had to switch to my lowest gear just to keep the bike moving at about 3 mph!!

The good thing is, all this training will come very handy when doing the actual triathlon. We have been told the Philly course is mostly rolling hills with a couple of big hills in between, so this is a good way to practice changing gears and keep the momentum going. Nick & Kevin were the first to finish the course, with Ron close behind. I took a short detour to hit the rest room before I went into the transition area. I decided to make a couple of changes to how I was doing things before. I did not take my ipod this time (besides the fact Christy asked for my earphones), and I added a full bottle of water as well as a packet of sport beans to the mix. I popped a few beans in my mouth before I started, and drank a little bit of water to wash it down. The first mile was not bad, except that I did not have as much speed as I generally do. Part of the fact is the hilly course in Kensington, but from a training perspective, its good for building endurance. I reached the 2 mile mark just about the same time as Carl, and took that oppurtunity to pop the rest of the beans and down it with some water. I was not able to increase my speed significantly, but atleast I was being consistent with my running. While I finished strong, I would have been able to do the full 6 miles if I wanted to today. That's good for me, because I had considered the running as one of my other weakness after swimming. I believe I broke those mental barriers last week, and that has really propelled me in making progress faster and faster! :)

Personal Run Training - May 8

I decided I had done enough of procrastinating, and that I as going to join the TNR (Thursday Night Run) group. I texted Bora to find the time and location, and also texted Stu to find out if he was coming.

I reached the parking lot of farmers market and found 3 souls bearing the chilly breeze by the front door. I went and introduced myself as one of the members with TNT training for the Philly Tri. Just about that time Stu showed up, and I did not feel like a total stranger anymore. A bunch of other people started showing up and before long there were a good group of more than 10 people. We started running with Stu and a couple of others in the lead. I fired up my ipod, oblivious to all the other runners, which I realized much later was somewhat rude, so I will have to keep that in my car next time. I overtook a bunch of people to keep pace with Stu, and was doing good till after about 2 miles, by which time either they had picked up the pace, or I just could not get comfortable with following them. I started trailing them, but trying to keep them in sight. I tried to catch up with a sprint, but that got me even more winded, so I just slowed down and picked a pace that seemed to be in line with the breathing.

Eventually the group behind me caught up wtih Jayanne, and I started running with them. Apparently I was more tried than I thought, so I ended up lagging behind them eventually too, only to have the last group catch up to me. The good thing was I made conversation with a bunch of new people, including Chris who is running the Bayshore marathon in two weeks. He gave me a tip to take shorter steps which is easier on the knee as well as to keep pace. I had originally anticiapated running with the 4 mile group, but I ended up running the entire 6 miles, and eventually Chris informed me, that we actually ran about 6.4 miles, more than a 10K (and my first)!!

I was exhausted, dehydrated, but high in spirits for having accomplished this. I also believe my pace was about 8:30ish/mile, nearly a minute faster than my pace has been in the past. I think I broke multiple barriers with this run, and is a major milestone for me. If I continue the same run over the next few weeks, I will be in great shape for the run!!!

For all of you supporting me, it has really helped me to know people have so much faith in me, and I am trying to deliver on all those expectations! ;)

Personal Swim Training - May 7

I had planned to go work out with Ann tonight, but she was planning on arriving later than I wanted to go. I decided to head out early and do a 1 mile run in the pool and then top it off with a workout.

I started with a 8 length warmup, and took a breather before I started my 1 mile run (66 lengths). I had gotten to 28 laps, when a person by my lane informed me that a masters swim class was starting and that I needed to move over to another lane. I had to break the momentum and switched over to the other lane, but did not want to interrupt the person who was already swimming in it. I waited till he returned the second time around to ask him if I could share his lane. He just said ok, before he dove back in the pool. I carried on around on my side for the remainder of the 38 lengths. I was starting to struggle with my form and breathing, and was not sure what the issue was, but I did try my rotation more consciously to help my form. I think the break in the swim upset my rhythm and now I was having trouble finding it. In any case I finished the remaining laps, and got out of the pool to cool down.

I had barely been sitting on the bench 2 mins, when I saw Anne poking her head out to tell me she had arrived. We decided to meet upstairs in a few minutes, and I went in to change. I did a 5 min warm up on the elliptical, not that I needed a warm up, and started doing some of the workout routine Ann had been dictated by her trainer.

I replaced the lunges with deadlifts on the free motion machine, but I did the rest of the bosu ball, with the shoulder raises and the rest of the abs workout. I decided to do some lat pull down, and did a couple of sets of those till I felt I was about running out of fuel. I did some additional ab workouts, till I felt my abs were gonna break or something. Instead of interrupting Ann, I decided I was going to do my cool down in the pool, and that Anne just grab me when she gets done with her stretching routine.

The idea was to do maybe 8 lengths max, till Anne came around, but apparently she must have been kicking butt upstairs, as I ended up doing 38 lengths in the pool, which is more than 0.5 miles...talk about a cool down!!!

I decided todays workout was more than enough for me, but there was a good sense of accomplishment that my body was able to deal with all the exercise I threw at it today!

Group Swim Training - May 6

Our swim training was at the JCC, which is one of the nicer pools that we have been too. I arrived there on time for a change, and was informed that we were doing 0.9 miles time trial. I was sharing with lane with Bora & Ron, both familiar faces, so it was going to be a fun session.

We started off with a 200 yd warmup, then a 200 yd with pull buoy, and 200 yd kicks (of which I only did 50 yd). We took a short breather for a minute before Bora took the lead for the time trial. Since he had the stopwatch, I asked him to time me as well when he gets done. Another reason I keep behind Bora is because he is able to keep track of the number of laps we are doing. This really helps, since I always screw it up. We started out with a fast pace, but eventually it became steady. Bora was a length ahead of me, and we kept on passing each other during the half pool line, so I knew I was keeping the same pace. I think at some point Bora picked up the pace and lapped me, but I was determined not to be left too far behind, so I picked it up too. By this time I had become fairly comfortable in the water, so it was easier to get my breathing and stroke right. Ron unfortunately was having some trouble tonight, considering he is one of the faster swimmers, not sure what it was, but I am sure he prolly worked out real hard or something earlier.

Anyways, I had a lap more to go when Bora finished, and my final time was 35 mins flat, the best I have ever done. It was better than the Coach Ray 's estimated 37 min time!!

We ended up with a 300 yd warmup and skipping some of the drills, but the coach was really happy to see our progress. I have to admit, I have not seen the coach that nice to us ever, so he must be proud or just woke up on the right side of the bed this time! ;)

Personal Bike Training - May 4

An email had floated around for a bike training in Hines Park for Monday at 6:30 pm, so I had signed up to attend it. I reached the park promptly at 6:30 to find Courtney, Mia and Chrissys car there, but no sign of the people. I figured they arrived early, or never got my email that I was coming. In any case I changed and got on the familiar road that we had just done a day ago. I eventually ran into the trio at the 7 mile mark heading the opposite direction. I waved a hello to them and continued my pace. I tried to keep going at an average of 18 mph, at times hitting sustained 22 mph. I also tried to keep pace with a cycling group that seemed to be in tight formation and going at 22 mph as well. That did not last for long, as I was out of panting and unable to keep up for long.

By the time I turned around and reached the parking lot, I found the trio pulling out, which seemed odd, considering the roundtrip was roughly 18 miles and there was still more to go. I continued ahead with the full course doing about 25 miles in total by the time I got back. I could have gone a little more, but it was getting dark and chilly, and I was not really in the mood to get sick, especially with the big swim training coming up tomorrow evening. The good thing is atleast I got my second bike session in for the week, so I am happy! :)

Personal Swim Training - May 3

I was motivated to get some training in today, and had been thinking about taking one of those fitness classes at Lifetime. I arrived about 25 mins before the class began, so I started with a 15 min warm up on the elliptical. That went well, and I ended up doing 1.5 miles on it...some warm up eh?! ;)

The class was at least 80% women, with only 3 guys (including myself). I originally was like, this should be a breeze. The class was full body conditioning, so it seemed appropriate, given the kind of training I have been doing. Well it started out with some dance kinda moves, and I was totally un-coordinated for it. I tried to keep pace, but I kept on losing the rhythm, but atleast I tried! :)

I did start doing better when they got to the weights part and on the ball, but I tell you, this stuff was hard. I broke out a crazy sweat 20 mins into it, so this was kicking my butt and giving my abs a run for the money!

I walked out of the studio with my abs hurting and my leg muscles fairly sore. Apparently there were still muscles in my legs that I had not hit yet with my training, but this took care of that!

I decided I was going to do a cool down with 0.5 mile swim, so I ended up hitting the pool and doing a race pace swim. At some point in time I remember Kimi by my lane saying hi, but I never saw her when I got done.

Today was a good training session, given that I was not planning on going this hard, but oh well! :)

Group Bike & Run Training - May 3

I personally am not a big fan of the early morning sessions on weekends, but I do understand the value in getting them out of the way so one can enjoy the rest of the day. I ended up arriving 30 mins late, part due to being lazy and the other part because of construction. Luckily Chrissy arrived 15 mins after me, so I did not feel as bad! ;)

I forgot my second bottle of water for my bike, which meant that I had to selectively hydrate myself. We also met one of our team members we don't get to see as often, Herb (the doc from A2). He has done the Philly Tri before, so it was good to have some experience on-board our team.

Well, we started off with Herb and Ron in the lead and I tried to keep pace with them, but after about 4 miles, they just were going too fast for me to keep up. However, I did not let them out of my sight, and eventually Stu also caught up with me. My next target then was keeping pace with Stu which I did for a good 15 mins, before he also sped up and joined the Ron/Herb group. I stayed with my strategy for atleast keeping them in sight, which helped me pedal real hard to do so. It seemed they were just cruising, while I was struggling to keep up. In any case, I lost them at one of the traffic lights, but I know I was going fast because I never really saw anyone else behind me even during the while I was waiting for the light to change. A couple of lights up, I was not sure what the right way was, so I ended up calling Stu to get my bearings right. It ended up I was on the right track, just that Stu was ahead of me.

I was definetly panting most of the way through the rest of it, especially with the rolling hills, which to me sometimes seemed to be a continous climb!

On my way back I saw Don heading the other direction and then the rest of the group followed. I pedaled hard to reach our parking area so maybe I could catch Stu for the run part. They had already left by the time I got there, so I just waited until Kimi and Chrissy came back from the bike run. We had apparently biked 29 miles!!!

I took a little breather and hydrated myself and ate some sport beans, before I hit the road for my run. We were running 4 miles today, so I was trying to keep my pace steady. The first 5 mins into it and my legs were cramping up (thus the brick workout), and just about that time I saw Stu running towards me. I stopped to listen, which really helped my muscles relax a bit. He told me to turn when we see the orange cone with the 1 mile sign on it, as that is our 2 mile mark. After I started back, my legs started to relax and the body seemed to get in the mood for the rest of the run. The run up to the cone seemed short, but ironically the run back to our starting point seemed longer, even though the distance was the same!

In any case, I made it back before the rest of the crowd, so I did not lose my position given the effort I had put into it. Suffice to say, I was fairly exhausted and the bagels & bananas were a pleasant reprise after our ordeal. Ron also informed us, that we had actually run 4.4 miles, 0.4 miles more than our original target distance!

There was definetly a sense of accomplishment, given that I had been worried about the run part, but apparently my body has been adapting to the beating it has been getting lately. :)

Personal Run Training - May 2

I was wanting to take it somewhat easy given that I have the group bike & run training tomorrow morning. Kerem was game to go running on the elliptical instead of outside (easier on the knees).

We ended up walking around the place to check out the crowd, as well as check some class schedules before we jumped on the ellipticals. I started out with a resistance level 10 and kept a pace of about 10 min/mile. I was sweating pretty hard, but I tried to keep my heart rate elevated as this would help build my endurance. My target goal for today session was 4.5 miles on the elliptical which I achieved in 45 mins (give or take 10 secs). I was in a total pool of sweat and feeling fairly fatigued. I should keep in mind to keep a water bottle handy to hydrate myself some every 1.5 miles. What did help however was the sports beans I took before I started the run, so I know they are effective in keeping energy levels consistent.

Anyways, the training was not exciting as some of the others, but its a training session for the triathlon nonetheless! :)

Personal Swim Training - May 1

I was supposed to go biking today with the TNT folks, but I got tied up in a meeting that lasted too long and I did not have enough time to go home, pack and head out there. Fortunately Kerem was a good sport to head out to Lifetime to check out his trial membership, and also get some swimming in.

We took a short tour of the facility (and the members), and did a quick change to get in the pool, as we saw a couple of lanes available. I started out with a 4 length warm up to get acclimated to the cold water, since it seems someone forgot to turn on the heat!

Anyways, we decided that we were going to do four 1/4 mile (16 laps) runs. We did the first one and took a one minute breather, before we started on the second one. Halfway through the second one, I got a pleasant surprise to see Bora standing by my lane. I just had a moment to say hi, and had to get back so as not to break my tempo. By that time Kerem had gotten a half length lead on me, so I thought nothing of it and kept on going. By the time we got done with 16, Kerem had already turned around for another lap, so I figured I must have screwed up a lap somewhere, and followed suit. When he turned around the next lap, I realized that there is no way I lost track of 4 lengths! Eventually Kerem stopped at 24 lengths, and he said he thought I was keeping track of it. We decided since we had come this far, we were just going to go to complete 32 and get the 1/2 mile in together, so we just kept at it. Surpisingly it turned out pretty good, and had I timed myself, I am sure I had done lot better than I have in the past. I just seemed to be in rhythm with my breathing and my strokes seemed stronger than usual.

We took another minute break, and started our last leg, which we decided to bump up to 20 lengths, just to make sure we pushed ourselves hard. Somewhere during the middle, I saw Bora again waving at me to let me know he was leaving. We still had a good 8 lengths to go, so I just did a quick wave back and kept on with our swimming. The last 2 lengths, I did a speed drill, which really elevated my breathing, but it was good to work my body hard.

By the time we got done, the pool was starting to get noticably crowded, and I was glad we were not sharing lanes with any of these people (you would understand if you were there)! ;)

Tomorrow will probably be rest day, unless someone absolutely wants to go out and do something. I may end up hitting some weights to get some strength training in too.

Tha...Tha...Thats all folks! ;)

Personal Run Training - Apr 30

I had originally scheduled with Bora to go running today, so I knew I could not be lazy with a commitment to the Mean Machine! ;)

I ended up a little bit later than when I was supposed to be there, but I got tied up with some stuff at home and did not realize the time. Either way, I got a grand tour of Bora's place when I arrived there, and met his cat, which totally reminded me of Garfield, except this one was white with gray stripes. His basement has been setup as the ultimate party stop, and we will be seeing an event there soon!

We drove out to another part of Royal Oak to use the course generally used by the TNR group. We started out with a 9 min/mile pace and were able to keep roughly around that for the most part. About 3.5 miles into it, Bora asked if I had any juice left in me for more, and surprisingly I was still good to go for atleast another mile if not more. We ended up passing my car to go down another 0.5 mile to a total of 4.5 miles! This is the most I have ever run, and our average was 9:30 min/mile which in my opinion is good, however prolly really slow for Bora. ;)

The interesting thing is, that I could have probably made it all the way to 6 miles if we had run more, but Boras professional advice was not to push it too hard right now, even though the stamina is there to do it, but rather stay with a gradual climb.

Today I felt a sense of accomplishment, because I had considered running to be my weaker sport after swimming, but it appears I have made progress, so keep cheering for me guys!! :)

Group Swim Training - Apr 29

I bet you have all been wondering where I have been hiding the past few days?! Well I was out in Chicago for my cousins wedding, and really having a blast with my friends and the city! It was a well needed vacation and party time that helped calm my nerves from all the training we have been doing (as well as Detroit) ;)

I was feeling quite lazy from a 6 day break, but at least all the soreness in my body from last week was all gone (yayyy!)!! We all met up at Center Line high school, which has to be the shadiest of all the venues we have been going to. This time the turnout was not as large as it generally has been, probably from the varying work schedules and the travel from far out burbs. I started off with a lane to myself but ended up sharing it with Kimi who is always a good sport.

The schedule for today showed us doing 3450 yds, which is more than twice the yardage we will be doing in the actual race. This adds up to nearly 2 miles!!!!

We started with a 200 yd warmup followed by 400 yds of drills, before we got into the main pyramid workout. At this point we have already covered a 1/3rd of the race.

The pyramid workout was 100 yds --> 200 yds --> 300 yds --> 400 yds --> 500 yds --> 400 yds --> 300 yds --> 200 yds --> 100 yds....This in itself was a total of 2400 yds (1.36 miles)!!!

I did this with 10 sec intervals, which frankly does not really do much, other than break your momentum. Earlier Kimi had been complaining about her goggles leaking water, and apparently I got plagued by that issue towards the last leg of the pyramid, and trust me it is very annoying and frustrating.

We had a few minutes left to do our cool down and some drills, and I was quite exhausted from all this, so I kind of winged the last 150 yds...hopefully the coach did not notice! ;)

I am confident that I will be getting out of the water for the bike ride, the only thing I need to practice is treading water before the start, which gave me cramping issues in the past.

Personal Swim Training - Apr 21

The original intent was to go running today, considering I swam yesterday and we have swim training tomorrow; however Kerem was in the mood to go swimming, so I tagged along with him. Since my body was hurting really bad from the strength training yesterday, I was really in the mood to just stretch it out and not push myself too hard today. We started out with a 200yd warmup, and that felt really good.

Then we decided, we were going to go for a 0.5 mile (44 length) straight run (since this was a smaller pool than the usual 25yd). Kerem hesitated for a moment, but then was fair game for it. I started out with a fairly strong stroke, and a streamlined form for atleast the first several lengths. What I noticed was that my form was being affected once I started getting fatigued, so I had to consciously try to keep it right to keep my effeciency up. This proved to be challenging especially, when I also have to try to keep my body rotation & breathing consistent to keep moving forward. I was able to finish a little ahead of Kerem, as he was having some issues with his googles leaking water ( and that can be a very annoying thing!).

All in all, today was a good workout to loosen up the muscles, yet get some yardage in for the week. All I got to look forward to now is the brutal swim training Coach Ray has in store for us tomorrow! ;)

Personal Swim Training - Apr 20

I had planned to go out swimming with Bora today at the Lifetime Fitness out in Troy, so we started the day with a brunch at one of these hole in the wall places that Bora has discovered, which had delicious food!! Those banana pancakes were sooo amazing, that I just could not put my fork down!! :)

Anyways, I wasn't too sure how much swimming I was going to get done with all that food in me, but we headed out nonetheless. The plan was to swim and eventually head out to Kensington for the bike training at 6 pm.

We arrived at Lifetime and started off with a 10 min warmup on the elliptical, which was frankly a good idea to get the pancakes in a reasonable format in my stomach to be able to get past the rest of the session. The warmup was definitely refreshing, and helped gear me up for our strength workout session. While I was feeling very confident about doing weights, I was not quite ready for the kind of training Bora is accustomed to! The session went well for him, with me struggling to keep up, and eventually I just had to call it quits and just watch him do it. I will admit, that my body got quite the workout from what we did do, because I was starting to feel muscles that I was not aware were there in my body lately.

I was wondering how I was going to be able to swim after this session, but Bora seemed firm that we could do it, so sharing his optimism, we changed and started off with a 200 yd warmup to get the blood flowing and body accustomed to the water. The intent was to do a complete 0.9 mile run (66 lengths). This seemed a tall order given the current condition of my system, but then again, "no guts no glory"!

I started out with a steady pace, keeping in mind that wasting too much energy will not help me in the actual race by gaining a couple of minutes. Bora had a slightly faster pace than me and ended up lapping me 5 times before he completed. I was tired, but not cramping during the entire session, so after completing the 5 laps, I was only 4 minutes behind Bora, which in my books is quite an acheivement!!

The toughest part was getting out of the pool, with my legs threatening to cramp up on me, but somehow I managed to kind of slide out and breaking the water tension without the legs taking a beating. I felt like I had accomplished a feat I was not aware I was capable of, and the fact that my time was not too far off from our swim training trials, gave me hope that I was fairly consistent.

You would think that after all this activity, we would be ready to call it quits. Well, you will be sorely disappointed, because we found a few racquetball courts empty, and I just happened to have a couple of racquets in the car handy! Now Bora is a newbie at this sport, but I was quite amazed on how quickly he picked up the game, and we ended up playing for 45 mins, before the place was becoming a pool of sweat. I think combined, we must have burnt a minimum of 2000 calories per person during our entire exercise routine which lasted nearly 3 hours!!!

I know I am going to sleep like a log tonight, and so glad that I will be hitting the bed at 8 pm!! ;)

Group Swim Training - Apr 19

Last start with the night before, which was supposed to be a short time out so I can get plenty of rest. Obviously it all looks good on paper, and I ended up going to bed at 3:30 am! :(

Being a little lazy, I did not bother to look at the schedule to see the exact time and place of our meet today, but I heard someone mention "Cranbrook" & "8:30 am", and just took that as the official word....not exactly my brightest moment....

Since I have had issues in the past with dehydration, I got up at 7 am (after barely 4 hrs of sleep), and had plenty of water to make sure there are no issues. I promptly headed out to Cranbrook at 8:00, and was there at 8:25 am. I found the swimming pool locked up, and no on in sight, not even cars in the parking lot. I called Youngkey ( who I think I woke up), and he informed me training was at 9. I called Bora, and he was just getting ready to head out (again informing me it was 9). Eventually after Bora and Brad showed up, we found out the training was at 9:30, and here I could have gotten an additional hour of much needed sleep!!

Anyways, swim training was fairly uneventful, with us doing a 200 yd warmup, and another 600 yds of drills before, we got into doing five 1/4 mile time trials. I was sharing the lane with Courtney and Youngkey, and it was interesting since Courtney is fast and we kept on trying to keep pace while she was trying to pass us! :)

I started out slower on my 1/4 mile runs, but sped up as I got comfortable in the water. My times were 8:30, 8:30, 7:30, 7:00, 8:00.

The St Anthonys team which is going to be running in the triathlon the following weekend was also training in the same pool, so it was somewhat crowded, but we still did quite well given the amount of time we had.

I felt I had done decent, but still not the feeling of accomplishment that generally follows. I have improved on my technique some, but there is still some progress that needs to be made.

I am planning on going for a swim with Bora tomorrow, so maybe that will go better than how this one did.

Group Bike & Run Training - Apr 17

Apparently our bike & run sessions have been switched around to Thursdays at 6 pm out in the boonies, so I had to leave early from work today. I had to drive back home to Troy at the start of rush hour and then head out to Kensington Park out in Milford area!!

Even though I was rushed and felt I was running late, I actually reached right on time while people were getting their gear together. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and it felt good riding without all the excess gear that we have had to worry about in the past as well as not concerned about the feet freezing.

I had Bora aka Mean Machine, help check my tires for pressure and got my kit together to go. We had a brief pep talk and information on the route. The other tri group that is competing next week was also there for a bike & run, so it was quite crowded.

We headed out fairly shortly after the first group left, and Stu warned us that our riding would depend on how long the sun will be out. The first stretch was nearly 5 miles long and it felt good when we got done with that. The only problem was that I ran out of water about halfway through the bike run. This is cause for concern, because the dehydration has caused me more than a fair share of issues in the past. Unfortunately I could not find any place to replenish my supplies. On top of that, we had to pass through an area of a controlled forest fire, where not only was it toasty, the smoke was making it even worse. If my body had a reason to complain, it was now and I was feeling thirsty. I had also been cycling hard to keep with the couple of lead bikers, so I was sweating quite accordingly too.

When we reached the last leg of our running, I had my clumsy moment and found my foot stuck to the pedal, which I thought I had un-hooked and found myself crashing on my knee and hands. The gravel on the road did wonders for my knee and I find myself all bloodied as if someone had literally torn a gash in it. I was fairly frustrated considering I was not only out of water, but also injured, and the last thing I needed was people wondering if I was going to be ok. Anyways the ordeal did not last long, as since the sun had waned out of the sky, we too a shortcut using the trail and headed back to the parking area.

I had Bora give me a bottle of water to wash the wound and used some of the towels in my car to clean up the gravel some. Stu had some medical supplies, and I used some of the sterilizing fluid to clean up the wound, in case I find my knee mutated the next day. Obviously I did not think I had enough, so we changed to go for a 3 mile run, with Ron and MM as my partners. MM was supportive as always and said he would keep my pace so we make it through. The first 2 miles were not much of an issue, but the lack of water in my body was starting to cramp my quads, and I had to slow my pace down to the point where I found myself move from the head of the group, all the way to the back. I figured, it was just time to focus on getting back and not worry about anything else, so I just tried to keep whatever pace my body was going to let me and kept following Carl and Brad up ahead. At the end of it, I was probably 3o secs behind Bora and Ron, so I really did not feel too heartbroken, considering I was injured and dehydrated.

I still need more discipline in having myself hydrated and more vigilant about what is going on, so I dont make mistakes like these in the race. We did a team celebration at Gus O Connors in Novi, which lasted till nearly 11 pm, so I knew it was going to be another battle getting up in the morning! :(

Personal Swim Training - Apr 16

I called Kerem to see if he was up for some swimming, but apparently his knee had been bothering him from our run yesterday, and he wanted to take a break today. The weather felt really good, so I was really hoping that I could get some company for running, but I guess fate had other plans. I ended up going to the community center for a swim session instead.

I arrived at the pool, to find it busy as usual, seems that everybody is practicing for a triathlon now. I started out with a fast 2 lap (100 yd) warmup, and got myself in the groove to go for a 0.5 mile run. I got the kick boards all lined up this time, but as soon as I started my run, I realized all the traffic was going to hinder my swimming today. I believe there were at least 6-7 people sharing the lane with me today, and since all of them were of varying pace, I had to pretty much stop every now and then. Eventually the lane cleared up and there was some lady who seemed to be a serious swimmer with the same pace as me, and we ended up crossing each other heading in the opposite direction each time. This by itself was motivational enough, since I did not want to break that rhythm, and I almost felt, neither did she, so we kept on going for a while before a bunch of kids jumped right in the middle of the pool and tore that rhythm to bits and pieces.

We did however have a couple of asian girls, not older than 13 or so, really flying through the water, and I had to pick up the pace on my strokes just to keep up with her. The good thing was, it was a great workout, although I had no idea how many laps I ended up doing. I do know I was in the pool almost an hour, so I must have done somewhere close to a mile.

I got out of the water, and it seemed so did a bunch of kids at the same time. I waited to see if this was just a tease, or if they were going to stay out. Apparently they stayed out for 5 mins, so I drived back in for a 4 lap cool down. I did these at race speeds and was literally like a shark in the water and passed a couple of people. I could feel my muscles were tensing up and getting to the point of cramping, so I slowed my pace down in the last lap, but it most definetly gave the body a great workout!

I think I am slowly starting to rebuild the bruise to my ego that I got during the practice tri, so its giving me some hope that I will recover soon. Keep rooting for me, I really need your support right now! :)

Personal Run Training - Apr 15

I was able to coax Kerem to go for a run with me, given the weather felt like heaven on earth! I drove over to his place, and thanks to a little miscommunication, I ended up about 15 mins early, right while Kerem was getting his place in order. Anyways, after a few pokes at each other, we ended up starting our 5 lap (3 mile) run around the complex.

The legs felt good, the weather was great, the music was awesome and the company rocked too. We did a decent pace the first 3.5 laps, and then Kerem suddenly appeared to be moving faster. I was not sure if I was slowing down or he had picked up the pace, but I increased mine to match his. It probably was another 0.3 miles that I realized that he had picked up the pace, because my breathing had become more labored, and we were covering ground really fast. I think I was running at max capacity at that time, because I did not have any energy left to go any faster.

I had originally hoped to convince Kerem to do a couple of additional laps with me, but this sprint had be pooped. We did slow down by our starting point to cool down and maybe walked 100 ft, when we decided to do another lap on our regular pace. This worked great as a cool down and I felt my legs really getting a killer workout today. I stretched out and the legs were not giving me any trouble.

I think the next step is increasing the total mileage, since according to my training guide, I should be running up to atleast 4.5 miles if not more. I think my body has the capacity to do it at this point, but I have not tested it in practice yet. I will attempt to do so in the next couple of days if I get a chance. Stay tuned!

Personal Swim Training - Apr 14

I figured a day of laziness and rest on Sunday was sufficient and I bugged my friend Kerem about doing a run, unfortunately he had another commitment, so I decided I was going to go swimming instead. I drove over to the Troy community center and found the pool to be quite crowded. No matter, I started doing my warm up and for some reason I just felt way too intimidated and I was getting the same sinking feeling I had on the practice tri day. I kept on moving ahead with it and laid out 5 kick boards to start counting my laps and do atleast a 0.5 mile run.

While it seemed hard, it took about 10 mins before I got into my rhythm and that seemed to start helping me out some. It started to feel more natural and I became more comfortable in the water. The traffic has somewhat died down in our lane, so it facilitated in getting into my rhythm. It also felt as if my shoulders were sore, but I kept on going to finish my first run. It felt good wrapping that up and getting a drink to refresh/rehydrate myself. I took a couple of mins break to let the lane traffic get aligned before I started my second run.

The second run was going fairly well, till one of the kids stole my kick board, and it threw off my counting. I think I atleast did the remaining 0.5 miles if not more, but it would have been nice to keep track on how much exactly that was. I felt way more in rhythm in the second run, and it definetly helped boost my spirits. Hopefully I can recover from my practice tri shock soon, or else I will have bigger issues to deal with than some kid running away with my scoring kick board! ;)

Group Practice Triathlon - Apr 12

I was somewhat tense when I woke up in the morning about this, even though I was hoping to be excited about this day. I woke up around 9 am, had a bowl of cereal and then kinda just lazied around the apt. My friend Mic stayed the night over playing Halo 3 so suffice to say we had a late night. I had some green tea to help me feel better and started putting my kit together for the session. I was almost positive I had forgotten something (as usual), but ofcourse I would not find out till I actually needed it! ;)

The drive to the Royal Oak middle school was fairly uneventful, and I felt fairly good, not the usual charged self though. I found myself quite distracted with some things in my head and I was hoping it would go away once we started with the session.

Once at the place, we set up our bikes on trainers and listened to some usual pep talk as well as words of advice for race day. It seemed more simulated for the real thing than it has been in the past, so it was good insight. Once we seemed all set for the task at hand, we filed out to the pool area and the coach had us do a couple of laps warm-up. It all seemed to be going good, till he made the group get together at the deep end of the pool and had us treading water for nearly 4 mins before he blew the whistle. Now I am not good at treading water, and I had to literally go down in the water and come back up to keep myself in one position. This was totally throwing me off balance and it got worse when he blew the whistle because there was absolute chaos, with people splashing water, their hands hitting you, running into you.....I was totally in trouble. I some how made it around the bend to where we had to go back and forth and it just seemed that I was out of breath after 1 lap, which is absurd considering I have been able to swim nearly 1.5 miles and still be able to pull off a little bit more.

The chaos in the pool plus the distraction in my head, just put me in panic mode and it caused my left leg to cramp up. I was not sure if I was more frustrated or more intimidated at that point, but I gave it about 30 secs before I hit the water again. I also realized another mistake I had made earlier in the day was having cereal which had really drained the water in my body and that by itself was compounding my current situation!

I struggled all the way through our 30 min swim, avoiding people, going around them, changing direction, and not once was I able to get my rhythm going where I felt comfortable with my breathing and strokes. I know some of you are probably disappointed to hear on the state of affairs on that day, but it just puts a spot light on the human factor during such an endeavor.

We also had Coach Stu swimming close to us, tapping our feet to simulate a real tri swim, and had Bridget splashing water on us using a kick board everytime we came up to breathe, making it personally more harder for me than the the set of issues I was already trying to struggle with. When I heard the bell go off for the end of the swim, it was my salvation. I could not wait to get out of the water, although this time I left with a heavy heart. :(

The bike session went fairly well, given the start of the day and I got rehydrated and got my body back in working order. I also had Nick give me good company and that helped get my mind off the the things that were bothering me earlier. He also gave me half a bottle of gatorade which helped get my electrolyte balance up, and Stu passed around the gel packs which even though tasted terrible, sure made a difference on my sugar level, and I felt more aware and more energized. The hour went by fairly well and I felt significantly better than I did after the swim. I did a quick change of clothes, but I had to stumble to the restroom for a quick break. This left me as the last person heading out for the run.

It took me about a few mins to get my ipod hooked up and my hoodie to get itself in proper order, but I seemed to be getting the running just fine. It most definetly felt quite heavy on the legs, but I figured I have to get used to this transition (notably one of the most hardest transition, thus the term "brick workout"). I got through the first mile, and my body basically begged me to stop, but I just kept on chugging along, and ironically enough, I gained speed the longer I went on, and at the end of the 3.4 mile run, I had passed atleast 7 people if not more, moving quite a bit up from my spot at the absolute back of the team!

All in all, I would call this a success, but it was also a wake up call that training alone will not support me in this, and I need to have my head on straight before I tackle this event.

Meeting with Noah & Personal Run Training - Apr 9

Today we met with our team hero, who we had only seen and heard about on paper, but today we were going to be meeting him in person for the first time. The team had chipped in and bought him a soccer ball and a complete fishing kit, as these are his two passions. Coach Stu also came to meet our team hero, and it was really nice to see him anyways.

When Noah walked in, he looked like any average 8 yr old, cute and full of energy. He seemed a little shy to begin with, but warmed up to the team very quickly. His mom told us that he has had Leukemia since he was 3 and that he had gone through chemotheraphy several times which had caused issues with his eyesight. He had eye surgery in the past to help him with his vision, and now he required glasses to focus properly. While he was an avid soccer player, the chemo had caused his quads to not function properly. I could not imagine going through these things at my age, let alone deal with it being 3 yrs old!!!

He was such a sweet boy, that he even got us gifts in return. He had hand painted frames with a really cute picture of him alongwith wristbands with his name on it for everyone of us. It was quite moving talking to him and it gave us inspiration on getting through this triathlon, which seems like a walk in the park compared to what Noah has been going through.

I was sooo motivated, that I came home, put on my running gear and just started doing laps around my apt complex for nearly an hour, till I realized it was past 10 pm!!

I am sure I did atleast 3 miles if not more, and it felt good! I was happy about the fact that I could have run some more, so that gives me hope that my running is improving. I have to keep my body in good shape for the mini tri this weekend, so I am not pushing myself too hard on the personal training sessions just yet. In any case my body is constantly in repair mode, so I find myself quite fatigued and hungry most of the time.

Things are going good, and spirits are high..wish me luck!! :)

Group Swim Training - Apr 8

While I was driving out to the JCC for our group swim training, there was a sense of fatigue all over myself, and I kept on yawning pretty much all the way till the pool. I was almost tempted to skip the training to go home and sleep, but I guess this is the part of the training that pushes your body past its level of comfort to increase endurance, and with that spirit in mind, I found myself exchanging hellos with my fellow team mates at the side of the pool.

The coach informed us that today was our second time trial, so do your best! We started out with a 200 yd warmup, and then three 200 yd drills (a total of 800 yds), before we actually got to start our time trial. While I admit I was unable to do the kick drills with the board, because for some reason it causes my legs to cramp. In any case I still did atleast 700 yds, before I began my time trial.

Our lane was being shared between myself, Bora, Charon and Brad aka Flipper! The coach was very specific, that even though we like each, we are supposed to not care for anyone and pass them just as we would in a race. While the thought is tempting, the actual actions involved are much harder to do.

Everyone made a dash for it when we stared, and it was almost if they were doing a 50 yd race. I was in the state of mind of pacing myself for the long haul, and yet be able to have enough energy to make it through to bike afterwards. Well eventually after about 10 lengths, most of the crowd found their pace, although Flipper passed me several times during the course of our swim. I stayed about half a length behind Bora, but I think at some point he lapped me, or so I thought anyways, even though I did not take a break for a moment during the entire run. The coach pointed out to keep my head down some more, which did help, but it also broke the rhythm I was in, so I kinda went back to it. At the end of it I finished at 37:30 secs, a minute behind Bora, which I feel is quite an accomplishment in itself.

I have realized my dominant stroke and breathing is on the left side, which needs to be corrected soon, so I can improve me efficiency. I am hoping to have my colleague help me out on Thursday evening to make some suggestions and course of action to remedy it.

Our next group training is going to be a practice mini-tri, so it should be very interesting to see how it all comes together now. Stay tuned! ;)

Personal Run Training - Apr 7

Considering today is my rest day, I was not supposed to be getting involved in any sort of activity that was too taxing on my body. However the weather was so gorgeous, I just felt that it would be a waste if I did not take advantage of it. I called my buddy Kerem to see if he was up for some running, and he seemed up for it, as soon as he got done with the oil change at the dealership. I took this opportunity to visit the New Balance store down the street from my place and check out a pair of shoes. The lady at the store helped me look at a pair of 767's, not that I really know much about the models to begin with, but I guess you learn something new everyday. ;)

They seemed to fit well and seemed quite comfortable, and I was raring to go out on a run with them. Kerem called me when he got done with his car servicing, and I met up at his apt complex, where he suggested we do laps around his complex, where 5 laps make up 3 miles. He opted to run on the grass, while I ran on the pavement. The run started out as usual feeling a little tough, but as I got into my second lap, things starting normalizing and my body seemed to have adapted to the pace, as well as the breathing. The cool breeze helped dry the sweat and I was starting to have fun doing this. Unfortunately Kerem had eaten something just before the race, which caused his stomach to cramp on the 4th lap, so he had to break away, while I completed the 5th lap. I felt like I could have done more, but I was not wanting to train too hard today, considering we have a time trial lined up tomorrow for swim training. The shoes felt good and the knee did not hurt as bad as it generally does, but I guess I will really find out tomorrow when the muscles have cooled down a little. All in all, this gave me hope that my running was not as bad as I had originally anticipated and that I should be making progress in the next few sessions. The goal is to add atleast a mile or more each week and see how far it goes. I will also try to incorporate some strength training for my quads, which should assist during the transition from biking to running.


Thats all folks!!! :)

Group Bike Training - Apr 6

It was only yesterday that we swam more than 1.5 miles, and here I find myself following Bora towards Kensington Park early afternoon. The day started off with a slight accident, with one of my gatorade bottles top coming off while in the bag, spilling all over not only the bag, but the seat of my car as well. It took about 10 mins to get over that mini-disaster, and I reached about 10 mins late to the meeting point.

It was a good 50 min ride out to Milford, and another 10 mins trying to find where everyone was meeting up. I had originally thought it was going to be only myself, Bora and Courtney, but I was pleasantly surprised to find our coach Stu, Jason & Ron getting ready for the ride too!

I started getting all my equipment out of the car, only to realize I had forgotten one minor thing, my long bike pants. I was wearing my regular track pants, but they were too baggy towards the ankles and would get stuck in the chain. Ofcourse as usual, the Mean Machine was there to the rescue and gave me a couple of leg warmers!

Everything was all set and I was off with the team heading out on the road. Just as we were pulling out, Bora realized he forgot something in his car, and headed back to get it, while the rest of the team headed out. We had barely gone a few yards when I heard some whining from my rear tire. Considering I had just had my bike tuned a couple of days ago, this was somewhat annoying. What was worse was, it turned out to be the brake I had just gotten adjusted!

I just unhooked the brake, and it seemed to get a little better. We had maybe gone up a couple of miles, when we realized Bora had still not caught up. We chilled out by the light at the intersection, while Jason headed back to see what was going on. Both of them eventually made it back, and we started our bike run again. Once again, I had barely gone around the bend that my brake started acting up. Ron and Bora stopped to help and we loosened the bolt to allow the brake to function normally. It seemed to be going ok, except that the brake got stuck next time I pressed it. This time we had Coach Stu take out his tool kit and fix it, enough to get me back on the road. The rest of the ride went fairly without brake issues, but I suddenly seemed to be having issues with the cleats on my shoes clipping on to the pedals. I had Bora looking out for me all through the day, and I felt bad because I was slowing him down. I am not sure whether it was the fatigue from the swimming yesterday, or whether I was just not up to the task yet, but I was unfortunately the last one in the group. One major issues I was having was my sinuses all blocked up which was causing issues with my breathing. In any case, I still did keep up with group, despite the issues, so I am proud of myself for that! :)

At the end of the run, we had done a 27 mile trip which included hilly terrain, pointed out to be significantly harder than the Philly Triathlon. I was really glad that we were not running after this, since I was in no condition to be doing any more activity with my legs. Luckily for me, neither was anybody else, so that was a pleasant surprise! :)

We ended the day with a lunch at Gus O' Connors in Novi, where the Peidmontese burger seemed to be salvation for our bodies. It was much needed reprise from the longest ever bike ride I have done since as long as I can remember.

As I write this, I am slowly falling asleep due to the exhaustion and really looking forward to my rest day tomorrow......so stay tuned!!

Group Swim Training - Apr 5

I am sure you people have been wondering where I have been hiding the last week. Apparently the ever changing weather took a toll on my body , and I was sick as a do all week. :(

I missed group bike training on thursday just to make sure that I was not going to aggravate my condition and be in shape for the swim training today. Even though I went to sleep early, I still felt quite weary and still half asleep while I was getting ready to head out to the Cranbrook in Bloomfield. I googled directions to Cranbrook and set that address up in my GPS.

Apparently I did not realize that the campus was spread across a few blocks, so I had to call Bora to get directions on getting there, and apparently part way through the conversation he handed the phone to Coach Ray, of which I had no idea about, till I was almost at the parking lot and saw Bora waving at me. I was trying to wrack my brains to see if I had said anything in-appropriate, but when I shook hands with the coach, he seemed fine and a PR disaster had been averted! :)

This facility wsa by far the best facility we have been training at, with heated floors, it was absolutely beautiful. The coach gave us his usual motivations speech and we were off with our warmup. Todays swimming session was fairly yardage intensive.

While the total was 2700 yds, I ended up doing only 2500 yds given the time constraints, but this is considerably more than the 1650 yds that we are supposed to do in the actual race. I was pleasantly surprised, that even though this is the most yardage I have done at one time, I was not exhausted by any means, and still could have gone on for a little longer. My muscles were no doubt sore, but the important thing was the mental barrier holding me back seems to have been crossed.

I still desperately need to work on my rotation, and one of my colleagues will be helping me out with that this Thursday, along with a good friend of hers that happens to be a 4X Iron Man participant!

For all of you supporting me, I am trying hard to be ready for the event, and please don't hesitate to provide me feedback or comments regarding my training! :)

Group Bike & Run Training - Mar 29

The great day of on-road biking finally arrives! I had a hard time getting up, considering I was arrogant enough to party up till 3 am the night before, but it was good times. :)

I had blown out a tire tube nozzle trying to get it to work with the pump last night, and had to replace it with a new one. Luckily I had all the tools I needed for that, but I still had one slight problem, the tire had no air, and I know I cant blow 100 psi with my mouth!

After layering up on shorts, track pants and couple of pullovers, I loaded the truck with the bike and the rest of the equipment and set off to Hines Park, which happens to be like 40 some miles away. I started out a little late, since I was being lazy getting all my stuff together and drinking tea, but the tea was worth it. I called Bora aka "Mean Machine" to ask him if he had a pump handy, since I was not going anywhere with my bike without the tires having any air in it. MM was supportive as always, and told me he would help me resolve that issue before we started. I reached there just in time when people were grouping up to leave. Our A2 buddies helped get my bike in order and off we went with our bike run. I was having a little bit of brake issues, and seemed to be pedaling way to hard for the speed I was attaining. After looking into it a lil bit, I figured out that the brake was not aligned properly and needed some tools to fix that, which to be honest I was not in any mood for. The coach and I decided just to unhook the rear brake and use the front break to slow down, just to make things more interesting! ;)

The whole clip-on thingy on the bike did not seem to be going to well for Bora and myself from the start, with Bora taking the lead in falling off, and myself close at his heels for seconds. We slowed down to help a couple of team mates who were having mechanical issues, only to find the curb breaking my fall! :(

After that we decided that our body had just about enough of the beating it could take on falling off the bike, so we focused more on trying to stay on the road, a plan I would rather have stuck with from the start. ;)

We came back in style, not only catching up with the rest of the team, but actually passing them to get a lead, and the 6 mile run with Bora was really fast paced. We took a short breather to hydrate ourselves and lost the lead, but the whole getting into the groove of it was very exhilarating, not to mention a huge confidence booster!

I felt quite on top of the world after our bike run, and my butt did not hurt as much as it generally does after bike training. The cold air however had more or less frozen my toes which I was having trouble feeling, so I had to warm up in the car a little bit before I got ready for my run. I ate some sport beans to tank up on sugar and hydrated myself some more, before I started my run with Bora.

The first mile is almost always very painful for me while the body is in the process of transitioning from bike-mode to run-mode. However it seemed today, my body had decided that all this biking was too much and somewhat gave up on me. It was only Bora's continuous support and motivation that made me get through the 3 miles with a couple of 10 secs stops to let my muscles loosen up from cramping. I had cut out on my running for the last week and a half to let me knee repair itself, so on the bright side, my knee was not hurting, partly to the brace I was wearing and partly to the fact it had a chance to repair itself.

Once we got back to the parking lot where the team was socializing, Bora bought a "stick" (not to beat me with, even though I deserved it some for slowing him down), to use it to roll it on my muscles to let the lactic acid out. This helped significantly to relax my muscles which were constantly tensing up on me, every step I took.

I feel that my swimming and biking skills are up to par for the stage I am at, but my running skills need a lot of work for now. I will start running regularly starting this week, and replace some of my swimming sessions with some leg workouts. On the brighter side, I am still very much motivated and ready to rock'n'roll on my next group workout!! :)

Group Swim Training - Mar 25

I was looking forward to swim training today with the team, and actually felt pretty good, considering I had done a mile yesterday during my own exercise session. Unfortunately Murphys Law have a way of playing themselves into my sessions more often than not! I discovered since the last time I had done my laundry, my swim trunks had a tear in them! What a way to blow fifty bucks! :(

Since those were special tri-shorts, one can only find them at specialty sports shops, so I chose to drive to the nearest one in Sterling Heights. Upon arriving there, Murphy hit me again, since they had all the sizes except the one that I wanted. Reluctantly I drove over to their Royal Oak store, to pick a up a pair that they are had verified was available and then drove to Bloomfield for my training. Suffice to say, I was late and people had already finished their warm ups and were moving on to their main exercises. I did a super fast 200 yd warm up (8 laps), and then we had time trials for doing 1/4 mile stretches with 45 second breaks in between. I was having some trouble breathing properly, for some reason there was water going into my mouth everytime streaming from my head that I came up for air. I could not figure out what was happening, till I finished the warm up and realized that the goggles were somehow off and gathering water which would slide down my face into my mouth everytime I rotated for air. Once I fixed that, things seem to go somewhat smoother. However what I did notice was that the water was really choppy and I had to compensate for shorter breaths than usual.

The second 1/2 mile I timed at 9:30 secs, and the following consecutively at 10:30 & 10:30, which is somewhat slower than last time, but atleast I am consistent. The main reason was that we were taking breaks. Had I kept on going consistently, I would have stayed in rhythm. I also realized I got into a rhythm during the last 1/4 mile, where my breathing was consistent with my rotation and there was no water going into my mouth anymore. I did use my shoulders a lot more because they were sore everytime I finished a set. I still need to work on my form, but I think I am pretty much there with the stamina.

We wrapped up with some drills and a 50 yd cool down that I did lying on my back in the water. I realized I could consistently breathe and keep going, which might be a plan-b if something goes wrong during the race. The 50 yd cool down I did at race speed, but I realized it was not as fast considering I was tired and my strokes felt heavy.

The total yardage covered this week was quite good:

warm up: 1 X 200 yds (8 laps)
sets: 4 X 400 yds (72 laps)
cooldown: 1 x 50 yds (2 laps)
drills: 1 x 200 yds (8 laps)
fast lap: 1x50 yds (2 laps)

Total: 2100 yds (92 laps)

That is significantly more than actual race distance, where I will be doing 1650 yds (0.9 miles or 66 laps), but the idea is to build endurance so that when we exit the water, we have energy in reserve for the rest of the race. The more we practice on our technique, the lower the times will be as well as the amount of energy we spend. I still need to go find a coach to help me out with my technique in the next week or so.

My knee sprain still hurts, but hopefully with the knee brace that I will start using tomorrow while running should help out. Stay tuned to find out what happens! ;)

The idea was to do them at race speed and beat the time I had done last week during the time trials. Since I was so much in a hurry to catch up, I never took the time for the first 1/4 mile stretch that I did.

Personal Swim Training - Mar 24

So after 4 days of R&R, I was not slacking off, merely resting my left leg. However I have realized the sprain will take longer to heal than just a few days. Today I felt well enough to go for a swim, thanks to my good friend Kerem, who totally motivated me by dragging me out there.

We had to share a lane with a couple of frogger kids, who literally swam like frogs, and fast ones too! Their mom was coaching them for what seemed like an Iron Man, given the Hitler attitude she had barking orders at them. I was somewhat intimidated by her, but I figured I had Kerem around to get my back! ;)

This time I started without a warm up and instead used my training fins to do 44 laps (1/2 mile). These actually went surprisingly well, and I did not feel very tired. The next set of 44 laps (1/2 mile), I did without the fins, and I actually was doing fairly well with my legs. I have slowly started to get my rotation and streamlining my body more naturally, however I need some guidance in getting it more regular.

I will have to look into maybe getting a swim coach to help me one-on-one for a few sessions to get my technique right. I do have the stamina training nailed down fairly well for now, so swimming the mile is no longer a problem, swimming through it fast enough is now the new challenge! (Never imagined the day I would be writing this!!)

If any of you guys/gals have any feedback/suggestions....I am all ears (or eyes)! ;)

Trip to the Doc! :(

After having to limp for most of last week, and the leg not showing any signs of permanent recovery, I decided to heed my colleagues, as well as my friends advice, and headed out to see the doc.

After sitting for 45 mins in the waiting area, looking at the best customer service award on the wall, I was literally falling asleep. Finally someone called a butchered version of my name and I limped inside to the examination room, for another 10 min wait, till the doc came around.

I explained that my left leg has been paining fairly consistently for the last week and a half, and it does not seem to be getting to a full recovery. He had his assistant take a couple of x-rays of my left knee, and as I had anticipated there was no broken bones! (whew!)

The doc advised me to rest a couple of days and prescribed a anti-inflammatory medication to help heal the sprain. I will not be doing any running the next few days, or swimming, but I will make it up with some strength training for my upper body. Keep cheering for me guys, I am still very much in the race!! :)