Phuket Target

A decent swim...1,800m in 0:45:00 (2:30 per 100m)
T1 = 0:03:00
An easy ride...55km in 1:58:00 @ 28kph
T2 = 0:02:00
A decent run...12km in 1:24:00 @ 7min/km (a little slower than my current long-distance pace)

TOTAL = 4:12:00

My plan is to really go for it in the swim to see what my best is, then have a leisurely ride, in the hope that I can save myself for a reasonable run (i.e. no walking, and at a reasonable pace).

Fingers crossed. (FUN is top priority though!)

Have Fun!

To everyone I know who's taking part in Riding For Life, Ironman WA, Singapore Marathon or Phuket Triathlon this weekend - have fun and be safe!!!!!

Did you know?

...that IQ is inversely proportional to the diameter of one's car exhaust pipe?

I have formulated this theory after years of careful observation!

Swim Lesson #18

Bukit Jalil, 28/11/07
Peh + me, Jeffrey, Azwar, Michelle

Warm-up: 6 x 100m on 2:30

Main Set: 2 x 500-400-300m (1st set - 10:20-8:08-6:06, 2nd set - 10:40+,8:30+,6:17).

Cool down: 2 x 100m easy + 2 x 100 mixed crawl/b'stroke.

TOTAL: 3,400m.

The longest and most satisfying session since my recent return to action. 2 weeks of arm and shoulder stretching seems to be behind a great improvement in body position. Now I just need to stretch my pecs a bit more.

I did all of the main set at a comfortable pace, focusing on technique in an effort to maintain quality to the end rather than running out of steam. I did tire, but not dramatically. The first 5-4-300m's were all PB's. I now seem able to comfortably average a shade over 2:00 per 100m.

I plan to go all out in the swim in Phuket on Sunday (1,800m)!

You Learn A New Thing Every Day

There are a few things in life that have been familiar to me for years, but I have never actually understood what they mean, or are, despite always wondering.

Once example is "Tote", which I have seen or heard mentioned in relation to horse or greyhound betting for many years. Yesterday I finally found out what it means! I also found out what parimutuel betting is.

The other thing I learned yesterday was what a cardioid is. I am quite interested in Mathematics, so was quite intrigued by this shape.

The red line is a cardioid.

100m Intervals

This week is the start of my "Base 2" training phase. Now's the time to add some force, speed and muscular endurance training, as opposed to the pure endurance of Base 1.

So after work I squeezed in a 30-min run. I warmed up for 15mins by running around all the tracks and paths around the condo, many of which I've never seen before, despite living here since April '05!

Then....

3 x 100m @ 75% effort, with jog back to start point (16.2-16.7s)
3 x 100m @ 90% effort, walk back to start (13.9-14.2s)
3 x 100m @ 75% effort, jog back. (15.8-17.0s)

Cool-down until 30mins came up.

The 2nd set of 75% reps are supposed to be quicker than the first. Mine were about the same, but the effort level was slightly less than the first, so I reckon the theory is correct.

This 30min workout is best for Sprint/Olympic distance. I'll increase the reps and decrease the % effort in future.

Another Full Day

Out 'n about at 6.50am-ish. Jalan Ampang closed, and lots of generally young Indian gentlemen wandering along the KL-Ampang Highway, presumably to avoid the cops on their way to the British High Comm.

7.30am....Centrepoint rendezvous with 24 other PCC riders for a spin along to Guthrie H'way and then Batu Arang. I was keen to get home swiftly so didn't stop there, and headed back into town with Ron via Kundang and Sungai Buloh. 91km @ 26kph.

For lunch we (Jackie, Lucas and I) headed to an almost deserted KLCC and walked straight into Chilli's for lunch. No queue! No waiting list!!

Can HINDRAF please organise a few more rallies on Sundays? If it vastly reduces the KLCC population for the day then I'm all in favour!

Lucas and I then headed to the KL Velodrome in Cheras to watch the Asia Cup track cycling, but the place was deserted. Oh well, back home.

I then did Jackie a MASSIVE favour by agreeing to go to Carrefour Wangsa Maju, which apart from the depths of Hell itself, is the last place I would want to go to on a Sunday.

And hellish it was. Millions of people packed like sardines into a warehouse lit by a million-and-one fluorescent bulbs, with store assistants that couldn't seem to understand English or Bahasa, and massive queues of shoppers standing by with folded arms as the cashiers in this 1-star supermarket gave a 5-star service by packing everything themselves (slowly), causing massive tailbacks. Their insistence on putting no more than 2 items in each plastic bag didn't speed things up either.

Then the guy in front of me had credit card trouble. Then...my cabbage didn't have a bar code. People behind me were complaining about waiting so I paid the sub-total, let them get on with it while I waited. The cabbage came back...RM1.62...I left the cash on the counter and ran away screaming.

Lucky for me I accidentally dropped a 6-pack of Tiger into my shopping, so I could enjoy a beer in the evening.

I'm glad I didn't stay up to watch Spurs draw 1-1 after missing an injury time penalty.

Croatia's BIG Hero

Croatia rose to the occasion in their crucial Euro 2008 defeat of England - after an apparent X-rated gaffe by an English opera singer at Wembley.

Tony Henry belted out a version of the Croat anthem before the 80,000 crowd, but made a blunder at the end.

He should have sung 'Mila kuda si planina' (which roughly means 'You know my dear how we love your mountains').

But he instead sang 'Mila kura si planina' which can be interpreted as 'My dear, my penis is a mountain'.

Now Henry could be one of the few Englishmen at the Euro 2008 finals in Austria and Switzerland as Croatian fans adopt him as a lucky omen. "The Croatians think it's great, and they've invited him to come over and sing at Euro 2008, and asked if he will be their mascot."

They believe his mistake relaxed their chuckling players, who scored an early goal in the 3-2 win that put Croatia top of the group and knocked out England.

Henry is becoming a cult hero in Croatia, but denies he played a part in England's exit.

"I can't take the blame for that. The last thing I would do is brag about my parts like that - especially to make it so public," said Henry.

Eastern Arrows

Fantastic news!

The Red Arrows will be putting on a display in KL and Putrajaya on 29th November (next Thursday)..

I've seen them quite a few times in England and have to say that they are quite a thrilling spectacle!

Sampras v Federer

Jackie and I went to see Swiss Roger and Pistol Pete play an exhibition match at the Malawati Stadium in Shah Alam last night.

The Agong, who overtook us on the way in a nice looking Bentley, was there with the DPM down near the court, whereas we were way up in the RM83 cheap seats! But the view was good enough and I'm glad I didn't buy more expensive tickets.

I've not watched a live tennis match since Wimbledon in the late 80's, so this was quite a novelty. The match was good (Federer won 7-6, 7-6) and Pete was obviously quite relaxed and enjoying himself, indulging in a couple of self-congratulatory boogies when he caught Roger out with drop shots.

But whenever Federer had a bit of time to prepare, he typically sent unplayable shots flying past Pete.

We left a bit early to avoid the mad rush to the Fed. H'way.

Cardio Test Day

I went for my annual heart check-up yesterday and did a treadmill stress test, which is the most intense exercise I will ever do.

Although completing the 15 minutes is not really that important, I was keen to improve on my 11-12 minutes for the last 2 years, where I couldn't go on due to my leg muscles threatening to fail completely.

This time I managed 13:14 and felt that I could have finished the full 15:00 but my HR had already reached 180bpm (out of 184bpm max.) so Doc Dewi pulled the plug. Blood pressure at rest and every 2:00 during the test = ok.

My ECG was "ok" and during the Echo I got a good clear view of my heart valves flapping around nicely on the flashy new digital ultrasound contraption. I'm even going to get a CD of the video - maybe I'll post it here for your viewing pleasure!

I've got the all-clear for continuing training but with the usual 165bpm ceiling. This is 90%HRmax which is fine for me, none of the training I'm interested in requires me to exceed this level.

Run Swim

Bukit Jalil, 21/11/07

Acceleration run. 5 x 1.1km laps around the stadium.

7:06-6:26-6:01-5:45-4:59 in 30:45 @ 5:36/km

After I'd warmed-up I felt good running at above normal pace.

Swim (no lesson)

• 5 x 100m warm-up (1:56-2:05)
• 8 x 50m hard (0:47-0:50) - Despite feeling that I was tiring badly, my times only dropped 2-3s and stayed at around 50s.
• 1 x 100m medium

TOTAL 1,000m (no coach + just did a run = lazy tonight!)

England 2 - 3 Croatia

Lucas has just turned 6 years old. I am sure that if I asked him this question, he would get it right.

1. In the first half of a football match you play a 4-5-1 formation and go 0-2 down. For most of the second half you play 4-4-2 and score 2 goals without reply. What formation should you use for the rest of the match?

a) 4-5-1
b) 4-4-2
c) It doesn't really matter, because we're just going to loop the ball into the penalty box for the last 15 minutes and hope there aren't any opposition players there.

Well, sorry to say that England and their manager got it wrong, and went for a combo of a) and c).

...and to think that I got up at 4am to watch the match.

My suggestion that the game might feature a cock-up by Carson proved to be correct!

Ing-ger-land!!!!!

I don't know about you but I'll be up at 4am tomorrow morning to hopefully see England triumphantly thrash Croatia and qualify for Euro 2008!

or......lose 0-1 to an injury time cock-up by rookie goalie Scott Carson perhaps?

COME ON ENGLAND!!

Common

A musical theme for a change...

When I happen to flick on to MTV, or Channel V, both of which claim to be "music" channels, 99 times out of 100 I am faced with a prolonged network identity video, which I guess is just something "cool" to make everyone who watches those channels think that they are also "cool"...

Anyway....a few weeks ago I flicked onto MTV and they were actually playing a song - Common feat. Lily Allen - Drivin' Me Wild. A rap with a catchy chorus, and unusual in that it's a distinctly American tune but featuring young Londoner Lily Allen on vocals.

Common - he likes caps.

Fast forward to last week. Amazingly, I again flick on to MTV and they're actually playing a song! This time it's Mr Common again, with new single I Want You, with the lovely Alicia Keys and Kerry Washington in the video.

So there you go...that's my new favourite tune.

On the subject of good rap music (it does exist)...I also thoroughly reccommend Jurassic 5...

A Full Day

Run

Despite slight doubts in my mind that I wouldn’t make it, I managed to drag myself from bed at little after 5.30am to be at Bukit Aman for an early run start and my first ever appearance at a regular Sunday morning Pacesetters run since joining them in 2005!

As I drove up Jalan Parlimen at just after 6am I could see a few bunches of runners had set off already.

I was pleased to see many familiar faces, and set off for my first ever “training” run to Sri Hartamas. With company all around, I didn’t feel the need for music so early in the day, so enjoyed the quiet, and the cool air.

I enjoyed a very easy pace, yet still managed to pass a few runners, and made it to Petronas in a satisfactory 1:10+ with a surprisingly low HR. The first 5km on the return leg is mainly downhill so was pretty easy-going. I tired a bit in the last 5km but still managed a respectable 2:16.

Looking rather un-dynamic after about 13km!

That brought my running mileage for 15-18 November to a whopping 49km...without blisters or any knee problems!

Brekkie

Thoroughly pleased with myself for completing my longest ever non-competitive run, I headed home and then back out again with Jackie and Lucas for a spot of brekkie at La Bodega, Bangsar. And so it came to pass that today was the day that Lucas would first discover the joys of Connect 4 (upstairs in La Bodega).

Shopping

Then off to BSC for a spot of Xmas shopping, which didn't last long - hooray!

Bonding

J had some business to attend to, so Lucas and I headed for the pool for 90mins or so. Now that he's tall enough to stand safely in any part of the pool, I feel confident enough to go for an occasional 30m swim while he's playing....so - training and being Daddy at the same time!

Lucas enjoyed soaking me (and an innocent poolside sunbather) and I got 500m of training in.

Pizza

"2 large pizzas for RM40 please Mr Domino" - pizza time!

The Dance

BBC Entertainment was showing the episode of The Office with "The Dance" in it, so I had a good laugh while J & L were doing revision for Lucas' exams. I then had to replay the DVD version of it about 4 times for Lucas' benefit, much to his enjoyment. If you have no idea what I'm on about....for your viewing pleasure... Background - they guy in the 70's suit has just done a rather impressive dance routine to a couple of Bee Gee's numbers, and the goaty-bearded guy thinks he can do better...



CSI

A rarity now - an hour spent watching some crime/drama show, this time - CSI:NY.

And so to bed.

2 weeks 'till Phuket Triathlon!

Run Run Run

I nearly overdosed on cycling last week, so I'm concentrating on running this week.

14km to work yesterday morning. 15km home tonight, and (in a World first for me) I'm planning to do the Bukit Aman to Hartamas 21km on Sunday morning.

Anyone care to join me?

Lever Porn

I went to get new pedals put on my road bike today, and accidentally ordered these...

For the benefit of those to whom it is not obvious - they are aero bar-end brake levers for my Planet-X. The one's I already have are temporary. These Bontrager levers are the best-looking ones I've seen - I hope they work too!

Bicycle Lover

SCOTLAND: A man caught trying to have sex with his bicycle has been sentenced to three years on probation.

Robert Stewart, 51, admitted a sexually aggravated breach of the peace by conducting himself in a disorderly manner and simulating sex.

Sheriff Colin Miller also placed Stewart on the Sex Offenders Register for three years.

Mr Stewart was caught in the act with his bicycle by cleaners in his bedroom at the Aberley House Hostel in Ayr.

Gail Davidson, prosecuting, told Ayr Sheriff Court: "They knocked on the door several times and there was no reply.

"They used a master key to unlock the door and they then observed the accused wearing only a white t-shirt, naked from the waist down.

"The accused was holding the bike and moving his hips back and forth as if to simulate sex."

Both cleaners, who were "extremely shocked", told the hostel manager who called police.

Sheriff Colin Miller told Stewart: "In almost four decades in the law I thought I had come across every perversion known to mankind, but this is a new one on me. I have never heard of a 'cycle-sexualist'."

Stewart had denied the offence, claiming it was caused by a misunderstanding after he had too much to drink.

The bachelor had been living in the hostel since October 2006 after moving from his council house in Girvan.

He now lives in Ayr.

Swim Lesson #17

Bukit Jalil, 14/11/07, 6.30-8.10pm

Coach Peh + Azwar, Michelle, Jeffrey, Jasmine, Christopher

Warm-up 6x100m (1:56 - 2:05)

Main Set

3 x 500m (10:34 - 10:24 (PB) - 11:48) [last 500m slowed due to foot arch cramps.]

3 x [ 5 x 50m ] Each set of 5 = slow medium fast fast fast

My "slow" was a little over 1:00 each, "medium" just under 1:00 and "fast" varied 0:52-0:47, the latter being a new PB!

Cool-down 100m

TOTAL 2,950m

Speed depends on the application of power through a good technique. Even when my arms felt very tired, my speed didn't slow much as I concentrated on maintaining my technique rather than just applying maximum power.