Monday, March 29, 2010

Post-Race

What have I done since my race? The answer - Picked up one nasty stomach upset that pretty much put every exercise-related activity on the backseat and any toilet-related one right up front. It's been a pretty miserable last week. But I did manage to squeeze in a short short swim the weekend before last before being a pathetic mess for the next few days.

Last Friday I thought the worst was over and went out for food with two of my best girls for dinner....and drinks. Bad idea. Well, the drinks, not the company. Obviously we played till too late, which meant everything I planned to do Saturday morning went to the dogs. I did climb in the afternoon, but then my tummy acted up again.

I didn't learn my lesson and went out again on Saturday night for Mongolian food and more drink. Now my stomach is just all messed up and I'm not a happy bunny. That said, I did manage a 24k bike ride from the windsurfing club to SAF Ferry Terminal! Okay, it's not THAT far but what the hell, I'm happy with it and that's all that matters.

Meanwhile, I'm taking a break from alcohol, oily food, dairy products and anything that could potentially send me rushing to the toilet again! And this mission starts after I finish my last latte for a while...sigh.....

What I've done:
Saturday:1.5hr Rockclimbing
Sunday: 24k Bike ride

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Tri-bob Singapore Sprint Series: Mini Duathlon Race Report

G bailed on me for this race. Boo to her. Technically it wasn't really her fault since her bike couldn't fit into the cab and she couldn't get to the race...BUT seeing as I was all by my miserable self in Seng Kang while she got back into bed and probably had a good day's sleep, I don't feel particularly sympathetic!

The race started at 9.30am and it was already bleeding hot then. *If you realise that I keep complaining about the weather, it's really because it is so darn hot in Singapore!* I started off slowly for the 1.5k run leg (I mentioned before that G and I decided to go the wimp way and signing up for only mini categories in the Sprint Series this year) but people started dropping in the heat so I overtook a number of people here and there. I tried to pace myself knowing I still had to do a 12k bike ride followed by another 1.5k run after.

I was slow in transition. Kind of forgot where I put my bike so had to backtrack and find it. Then I slowly wheeled it out of the transition area. I think the heat had gotten to me by then.

The bike leg was...well...okay. I don't think I was super speedy, but I don't think I was THAT slow either. There were times when I was tired and there were times I got my second wind. I really don't think I thought much about it either way actually!

The next transition was when it really really started sucking. I got off my bike and wheeled it back into transition and realised my legs were as heavy as stone. That wasn't too good seeing as I was going to start my run soon. Anyhow, chucked the bike back, tried to shake off the lactic acid and started on the last run leg.

The last 1.5k was a nightmare. My brain was screaming at my legs and my legs just had a life of their own. Or rather they didn't. I couldn't move them as fast as I was pumping my arms...which of course made me look completely stupid. So I stopped and walked. And walked. And walked. I tried to trot a little, but ended up walking to the water stop. I just had nothing left in me. Grabbed an isotonic drink and thought I'd run the last 200m. Yes it's sad, that's all the distance I ran in the final 1.5k run leg.

So I checked my average time and it was (surprise surprise) below average. Overall I finished 25th out of 47 people in the category.

Race Results:
1.5k Run: 09:01mins (15th in category)
12k Bike: 32:18mins (22nd in category)
1.5k Run: 13:33mins (37th in category)
Total: 57:39mins

After the race, I went down to the windsurfing club and met up with the rest of the gang and had a couple of wines before Merle and I decided to go for a bike ride. I walked with her to bike rentals to get a bike and then both of us did a comfortable 20k ride in our flip flops.

So now my ankles hurt and I'm pretty sure that it's from doing 20k in flip flops. But it could well be that I'm so damn unfit a small little mini duathlon just floored me.

What I've done:
Last Tuesday: 1hr Spin then ran 800m on treadmill
Last Wednesday: 1hr PT class
Sunday: 20k bike ride

Monday, March 8, 2010

A Half Eventful Weekend

Essentially Saturday was good and Sunday was bad.

Saturday:
Woke up early after a good night's sleep and brought my new bike down to East Coast Park for a ride. Didn't know how to take the front wheel off in the morning so loaded it into the cab precariously. Got it to East Coast all the same and did a nice 20 over KM ride from the windsurfing club to Changi Beach and back. I managed to get a couple of the windsurfing guys to teach me what to do with my wheels so managed to get the front wheel off the bike on the cab ride home. Legs ached but it was all good. I then rushed for my best gal's birthday party and proceeded to stuff my face. Fantastic party in a really rustic restaurant in the middle of nowhere. Happy Birthday Jenny!

Then it all turned pear-shape. I met a friend who was leaving Singapore for her farewell around 5.30pm. And that was also when I started the drinkies. I finished the drinkies at 1am. Not good.

Sunday:
Struggled to get up for church. Went to church massively hungover and sleepy and (sorry God!) found it really difficult following the sermon. In fact, I don't any part of the sermon except that it was about the gift of prophesy. Headed off to visit an aunt we hadn't seen in a while - also as a sort of very very late Chinese New Year visiting...I stuffed my face (for the second time in two days) and then made it for what was probably the most pointless rockclimbing session I've ever had. I achieved absolutely nothing with that class. I was tired, my arms/legs weren't listening to my brain, my brain was fried....it was just so very very pointless. I feel bad even getting my instructor to go down to give me such a lame lesson since I was pretty hopeless.

So there you are. A half eventful weekend. One day packed and the other wasted. Moral of the story: STAY OFF THE DRINKIES!...or just not drink for as long as I did. To the next weekend then!

What I did:
Saturday - 20k cycling
Sunday - 1.5hr of "rockclimbing"

On a last note, I need a name for my new bike! It's not been christianed yet!

Friday, March 5, 2010

Bad Swimming Day

So I figure if I get bad days at running, I probably should get bad days at swimming and last night was it for me. To begin with my muscles were pretty much shot even before swim training. And then the coach had some crazy ass plan scheduled out which involved a lot of finning and paddle work (I HATE paddle work!). The thing is, when I do the pull drills, instinctively I start kicking like a crazy person. It could just be me just not being comfortable breathing on my left pulls. But it made me pretty damn tired kicking with legs that could barely work. It was a sluggish session and I felt like I was doing everything wrong. Obviously I couldn't finish the entire session because I was taking so long doing the drills. Ah well. Just a bad day, I guess. My consolation though is a bad swimming day is still much better than a bad running day. Those are the worst!

What I did yesterday:
1hr swim training

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Schleeepy and Achy

I haven't been sleeping well lately. My body clock's been all over the place since the race and has been exacerbated by the fact I had to wake up at some godforsaken hour on Monday to get to the office early and finish some work (my own fault for procrastinating).

I think the alcohol nights since Saturday haven't helped too. On Saturday (yes, that's the night before my race - in hindsight it probably wasn't the brightest idea) I had wines at Caitriona's. On Sunday...on Sunday I actually didn't drink much because I was so wiped out. Monday was drinks with Chereen after Ling Long's birthday and yesterday R and I polished off a bottle of wine between us two. Tonight might actually turn out to be an exception drinks-wise and I might just go back home in an alcohol-free state.

So I'm sleepy now especially since I've just had a very tough PT session and I can barely feel my arms/legs/stomach. Hopefully this carries on till tonight and I'll sleep like a baby!

What I've done:
Yesterday - Spin class for 1hr
Today - 1hr PT class

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Tri-bob Singapore Sprint Series: Mini Aquathlon Race Report

I came in 9th in my category for the swim leg! How awesome am I! Of course I failed at my run and managed a very sad 32nd place. I finished 21st overall which meant that at least 12 people overtook me in the run!

The swim leg this year started in the middle of nowhere. Unlike last year, the event was moved to Siloso beach this year and the start point was shifted to the middle of the lagoon. So essentially you crossed a bridge to a little beach where you had to swim to the start point and tread water till the race actually starts. I'm sure someone thought it was a splendid idea. They were wrong. I'm pretty alright with treading water and swimming in the sea, but it just wasn't fair to other people who didn't feel as comfortable drifting around. Maybe that's why I got 9th! (I feel this need to constantly bring this up somehow!)

There was a pretty strong current in our favour when we started and I really didn't feel like I expended much energy in the entire swim leg. Somehow the 250m didn't feel any bit like 250m. And I really don't think it's because I've trained a lot in the past month and was so well-prepared that 250m felt like nothing. I think they measured wrong.

The run leg was a nightmare. The first 100m went well. I was pretty darn proud of myself. I was giving myself mental back pats, gloating in the fact that I was near the front end of a race for a change. It very rapidly went downhill after. I had a stitch on one side. So I tried breathing different. Then I had a stitch on the other side as well. I thought I'd run a little slower, but my legs stopped listening to me and happily ran their own merry way until I had to come to a complete stop. Drank some water. Waved at G as she was heading to her run. Trotted slowly to water stop. Got told off by a volunteer that I wasn't taking the race seriously (What was it to him anyway how I was taking the race). Near the end I figured I should dig in my heels and run madly to the finish line. So that's what I did. And I overtook 1 person. Woo hoo.

I wanted to throw up after the entire experience. I knew my swim went well, but the run just took everything out of me. Especially since I've been avoiding running training in the past few weeks/months. It's 2 days after the race and my legs are still a bit sore. Boohoo.

Race results:
Swim leg: 200m in 2min 46s (I think the distance/time is wrong, there's no way I swam that fast)
Transition: 1min 11s
Run leg: 2.5k in 16min 15s
Total: 20min 14s

Incidentally what I have since the last post:
Wednesday: Swam 300m
Thursday: Swim training 1 hr
Saturday: Pilates 1 hr