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.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
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! ;)
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! ;)
Monday, April 21, 2008
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!! ;)
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!! ;)
Sunday, April 20, 2008
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.
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.
Friday, April 18, 2008
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! :(
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! :)
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!
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! ;)
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! ;)
Sunday, April 13, 2008
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.
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.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
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! ;)
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! ;)
Monday, April 7, 2008
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!!! :)
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!!! :)
Sunday, April 6, 2008
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!!
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!!
Saturday, April 5, 2008
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! :)
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! :)
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