Thursday, February 24, 2011

SWIMMING

Friday, 18 February 2011

Menu for the evening:

12x100 @ 2:00 with Paddles & Fin + 300 Kickboard + 1x1500 in 30:51; total 3,000m. First 1 x 1,500 since Port Dickson Triathlon in July 2010.

Can't wait to race another triathlon...next stop Kenyir Lake, 10 April 2011.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

8 x PRECINT 1, PUTRAJAYA

Tuesday, 15 February 2011 (Public Holiday)
Another of my favorite workouts revisited.
I used to go 12 x Precint 1 "massive round-about", which measures 3.5km each (i.e. 42km) in 2005/ 2006, while embarking on my journey to Ironman Langkawi 2006 & 2007.
Target for the day was to run 6 rounds in slightly under 2 hours with negative splits (i.e. going faster each lap). That would be 21km in the bag. Started at 7.45 a.m. and would get pretty hot by the time I finish.
By the time I got to the 4th lap, I started thinking of adding another 2 rounds as "bonus". Had a packet of Power Gel in the 4th lap and another at the end of the 6th. Went on to redeem my "bonus" laps to wrap up the day's work with a satisfying 28km run in 2:35:32.
Splits:-
Lap1 20:33
Lap 2 20:15
Lap 3 19:46
Lap 4 19:16
Lap 5 19:15
Lap 6 18:56
Lap 7 18:53
Lap 8 18:35

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

60km Time Trial At Putrajaya

Sunday, 13/2/11

One of my favourite workouts, solo time trial on the bike. Used to do 90km and 100km time trial back in 2006/ 2007 while training for Ironman Malaysia.
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With a lower fitness level and not having an Ironman race coming up, a 60km time trial would be good enough for me. Target was to average a mere 30km/h over the distance, a piece of cake for most cyclists but quite a challenge for me.
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Had a go few weeks back but gave up after 40km. Attempted again today with PowerGels, which must have helped in keeping up my energy levels thru the workout.


Started with a 12km warm up at easy pace, riding from home to Lim Kok Wing in Cyberjaya.
Started the 60km workout (after the warm up) in moderate intensity, being careful not to tire myself out too early and quiting. The route chosen was mainly a 20km loop around Putrajaya and I had to go around it at least 3 times to cover the distance.
Posted a split of 0:59:49 at 30km, just within target speed. Had a PowerGel at 40km and pushed harder in the 2nd 30km. Was up by more than a minute at 50km but realised that there would be a long 2km hill at the end of the 60km distance, at which I would lose all the time gained thus far. So, I rode harder to gain as much time as possible before the last 2 km.
My calculations were spot on. I was down to the last 2km by the time I got to the base of the long hill. Average speed was reduced to 18-20km/h, which meant that I could have easily ended the 2nd 30km outside the hour mark. Gave all I had and posted 0:59:47 in the 2nd 30km or 1:59:36 over the 60km.
Was very happy with that altho' still a long shot from my peak in 2006/2007. Love such workouts. While at it, it was just me, my bike and the open road. Everything else, especially unfinished business at the office, was irrelevant.
Rode another 42km in moderate to high intensity and ran a 5km off the bike under a scorching mid-day sun.

8x50 @ 1:00

11/2/11

Read as 8 times 50 meters on 1 minute. Piece of cake for a swimmer but was quite a tall order for a hopeless one in me.
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My short term target since returning to the pool is to nail this set of workout. The session for the evening started with strenght training - 8x150 (Paddles & Fin) + 12x50 (Pull Buoy) + 400 (Kick Board).
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I was hoping that coach would prescribe a 8x50 set as I was feeling quite good in the water that day for reasons unknown to me. After a short rest, came the big test. Have been trying in vain to complete such a set in the last few weeks but was only good enough for 3 reps of 50m continuously before skipping a rep.
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Think I logged 50 seconds in the 1st 50m and averaged 55 seconds per 50m for the entire set, which meant I had a good 5 seconds to catch my breath in between reps. Lost count after the 3rd 50m and set seemed to have continued forever. Had to check with coach that it was just 8x50 after the session (as it felt something like 12x50)
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Swam another 200m easy and called it a day. Next immediate target is to swim 8x50 without feeling like 12x50.