12/29/10 Tri Training: 2,100 meter swim???

Yes, 2,100 meters! This is by far the longest distance that I've swam this season!! Again, it's not without stopping as I still rely on the wall but I think I'm feeling a little more comfortable in the water. Tonight, was the 2nd time that the swim center was set up as the "long course" and I felt more at ease going to practice this evening. I even learned how to breathe on my left hand side. It's not great but at least I'm getting used to having my left side as another breath option. I also tried to remember to reach and glide but that's not clicking in yet. A work in progress...

100 warm up
4x150 kick/drill/swim (our drill of choice)
Main set:
1x300
1x200
3x100
8x50 pull buoy (still my favorite!)
200  cool down

Total swim = 2,100 meters

Aloha,
L

12/27/10 Tri Training: Swimming the Long Course

Back to swimming at the Santa Clara swim center but the difference... the pool was set up for 50 meters.

Okay, I could barely manage the 25yd distance and what makes this worse is a friend of mine tells me that she thought meters are actually longer than doubling the 25yds. Yikes! It's no wonder that my stomach was in knots as I was driving to practice.

I eventually got in the water as the pool deck was quite cold in a bathing suit but I may have considered standing there all night if it meant I could skip the swim. Luckily my wonderful captains would not hear more of it and even threatened to push me in! :o) So, I got in and made my first way across the pool. Whoa was it a long way and was I happy to feel that wall! I shared the lane with Kai who seemed to share the same feeling of the distance so we pushed each other all night.

200 warm-up
Drill:
6x50 kick set
6x50 5-4-3-2-1-0 (this was an interesting drill as these numbers represent the fingers you use when you swim. It became much harder to swim the less fingers I had.)
2x50 stroke count (it took me 55 strokes & then 54 strokes)
2x50 stroke count but trying to reduce the numbers from before (I was able to reduce to 50 but then it was back to my ways and then I was back up to 55. The gliding technique is not clicking yet)
Main set:
1x200
2x200
4x50 (didn't do since I ran out of time)
200 cool down (used a pull buoy)

Total swim: 1,600 meters (The distance adds up very quickly but I was also in the pool for 90 minutes instead of the usual 60min) There were moments that I didn't think I would make it. I got that scared/panic feeling once again and my breathing got all messed up. I notice everytime I panic, I feel the need to take breaths more often. I need to work on calming myself down as it's not going to be good to panic in the ocean.

Aloha,
L

Hill Climbs after Christmas

40% chance of rain today?  Glad the weather forecasters were wrong today.  It was actually sunny and only on the chilly side when we left the park for Mt. Eden.  But the sun was shining and after a few climbs, it was starting to warm up for me.

Only 2 participants showed up at first, and then a third one showed up after we did our first 2 hill repeats.  I guess it was to be expected since it's the day after Christmas.

Coach Patrick was there and he asked us to go up 5 times today.  I got a long break between hill repeat #4 and #5 since I helped fix a flat for one of the participants.  It was a brand new bike so not sure if that made it difficult to get the tire off the rim and then back on again. I am usually pretty good at changing tubes, but this one was a b#$tch!  I know it wasn't just me since Coach Patrick gave it a shot and even broke a tire iron!  :)

Anyway, it was a good day of riding, after a week off for the holidays.  The last training we did was last Saturday but I was starting to feel like it was longer since my last workout.  I even ran 3 miles one day during the week, but being off the bike for a week didn't feel right for me so I was glad to do the hill repeats today!

Happy Holidays!!

H

Saturday 12/18/10 - Rain, and More Rain - Almaden Ride

Ready for the Rain!

The forecast all week was for rain over this weekend.  But, the team always meets rain or shine and if it's not coming down hard at the start, we ride.  The cool thing for yesterday's ride (Saturday 12/18) was that Laarni's Tri team also started their training day at the Almaden VTA station, which is where the Cycle Team met.  Thanks to our wonderful babysitter, Laarni and I were able to go out and train at the same time today.

I'm sure the rain forecast had something to do with it, but we only had one participant from our ride group show up today. The other groups were fairly small as well, but not a bad turnout all in all!  It wasn't raining very hard, in fact, there were only little sprinkles here and there when we got started.

Trudy was our only rider for the day.  So, she got a lot of attention from Coach Colin.  Trudy was telling me how hard she was pushing it at last weekend's ride in Los Gatos.  She said she had never ridden at a pace like ours before.  Well Trudy, you ain't seen nothing yet!  :)



Jean and Linda Supporting
the Team at Rest Stop 2



Today's ride took us along Almaden Expressway through McKean/Uvas and around the reservoir.  Our first rest stop was at mile 18.  One of the nice things about TNT are the volunteers.  Our support at the first rest stop was actually provided by some folks that were on my team my first season last winter.  Cheers to Diane (who was at the first rest stop) and to Linda and Jean (who were at the second rest stop).  They provided some good grub for us! 

Maria, Ruth, Nicole (Drivers)
Braving the Rain

We also can't forget to thank the drivers who are out there supporting us in case of emergencies.  They drive the roads to make sure they are there for us to help us with flats or any other types of mechanicals.  Thanks to Ruth (our SAG - Support and Gear Captain), Nicole (our Team Captain), and to Maria (a Summer participant and volunteer). Luckily the drivers had an "uneventful" day!  That's how we like it!





Trudy and Colin after a wet and dirty ride!

Coach Colin really pushed Trudy today Colin has a great way of giving participants technical advice but at the same time encourages them so that they push themselves a little to become better cyclists.  As the ride went on, we definitely got rained on big time!  We were pretty wet when we were done, not to mention pretty dirty!  The dirt really showed up on Trudy's yellow jacket!  What was so satisfying for me was to watch Trudy ride through the rain, get totally soaked, get totally dirty, but still have a great big smile on her face!  We even got a few "woo-hoo's" from her. She was pretty pumped up after she did this ride.  She was proud of herself as she should be!  She road great and had a great attitude!  GO TRUDY!!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

H





12/18/10 Tri Training: Almaden Ride and Run

The team met at the Almaden VTA station, same place where Harold's cycle team met. We had a choice of a 20 or 30 mile ride but I opted for the shorter 20 mile ride since the weather didn't look to be on our side. The 20 mile ride took us onto Santa Teresa Blvd, to Bailey, to McKean and then to Almaden Expressway. It started to rain on us towards the end of the ride but it came down pretty hard at one point, that I could barely see. I got back to the car and did a quick change of clothes but then it started raining again. I decided against the run because I was already feeling chilled even after I changed.  I'm a wimp when it comes to being cold and wet!!

Aloha,
L

12/13/10 Tri training: Swim at Santa Clara

I left the pool very lightheaded! I wanted to cry during tonight's session. I may have swam a bunch of yards but the quality of my swimming was not good at all. There were moments where I seemed to close my eyes and hoped to get to the other side. Again, my reliance on the wall is not helping my confidence. I started over thinking about being in the middle of the ocean with that sinking feeling. Yikes!

Warm-up:
200 yds
Drills: CatchUp and 6-3-6
6x75yds (kick, drill & swim)
Main set: Pyramid
150-200-250-150 (although I didn't do the last 150 since I didn't have time because I hung on the wall way too many times!)
Cool down:
100yds (should've been 200yds)

Total yards= 1,650 yds

Martin said I should try and push myself to not stop so much during the set. I tried doing that tonight. I think I managed 75yds without stopping long but my lung capacity couldn't handle it and I kept feeling like I was gasping for air. There is just way too many things to remember for proper swim mechanics.

I think I read our coaches post that there's 111 days until race day. Gulp! (Literally, as I swallow pool water)

Aloha,
L

Sunday 12/12/10 - Hill Repeats in the Fog!

Well, we never did see the sun this weekend.  But at least the rain stayed away.  Although, the roads were a bit wet and slick.  In fact, while climbing today, I felt my rear wheel spin a few times.  Definitely a weird feeling, almost like my tire was flat. There were a few times that I was lucky that I didn't go down.

I knew that Coach Patrick couldn't go light on us two weeks in a row. Today was 5 times up and down Mt. Eden.  First was a warm-up, second was a low gear with fast cadence, third time was a higher gear standing up as long as possible, fourth time was whatever we wanted, and then fifth time was let it all hang out and get to the top as fast as you can!  I was usually the 4th one to the top each time as there were two participants and Coach Patrick who would usually get to the top of the hill faster than me. 

But on the last one, I got a head start and really tried to let it all hang out!  A new participant, Peter, is just incredibly fast and caught up to me when we only had about 100 yards left...I clicked it up a gear and tried to race him to the top, but I couldn't stay ahead of him.  Man, he went by me like I was standing still. But I was second to the top right after Peter!  He's in a whole different league from me!  Oh well, still fun trying to run with him.

We got a great picture at the top of Mt. Eden...check out how foggy it is.  Definitely a good workout...a bunch of us decided to go to Chipotle afterwards to get a good recovery meal.  Can't wait til next week!

L-R Casey, Mike, Coach George, Jaime, Wendy, Coach Patrick, Peter, Greg, Warren, Scott, Jean (Harold - taking picture)

H

Saturday 12/11/10 - Los Gatos Ride and Nutrition Clinic



Coach Patrick talking about "gas"

 On today's schedule was about a 32 mile ride in Los Gatos. It was the team's first real ride together in our individual ride groups.  But first, we started the morning with a little nutrition clinic.  As Coach Patrick told us, it's important that you have enough "gas"...after a little bit of ribbing from the group and after a ton of laughs, Coach Patrick changed his wording to "fuel".

As training rides begin to be longer, participants are going to need to figure out what types of "fuel" work best for them.  Bottom line, as we train, our bodies need water, calories, and salt.  There are so many ways to getting that from plain water, to Gatorade, to Heed, to Cytomax, to Clif Bars, to PB&J sandwiches, to all kinds of stuff on the market.  This was the time to experiment and to figure out what works best for each person. I remember last year going through a bunch of stuff before finding what tasted right and what my body responded well to.  I know use Heed in my water, Shotblocks for Electrolytes, and PB&J for protein and calories.  I'll also eat bananas to help keep the potassium.

On to the ride...we had 3 of our group's 6 participants show up for today's ride.  But we had some special guests join Coach Colin and I as well.  Ruth, our SAG (Support and Gear) Captain, joined us for today's ride.  As a SAG Captain, Ruth is responsible for ensuring that we have volunteer drivers on the road to follow each of the groups to ensure their safety. They are only used for emergencies and not to take a participant back because they need to try and make it back early for any other reasons...like a date or something!  :)  Then our very own Mike Wu joined us as well.  Mike is one of the team's Honorees.  An Honoree is someone who is fighting or has fought a blood cancer and is there to keep the participants inspired.



Here's Mike having a blast as usual!

 Mike is an amazing man. He tells us all the time how because of our fundraising efforts, we have helped to keep him alive.  In fact, his story is truly amazing as he was near death at one time and because of shear hope, grit, fight, determination, and of course some good medical care, Mike is riding with us today...and he's a strong rider by the way!  Every time Mike decides to ride with our group, I am so inspired since here is a man who I know really appreciates the meaning of life!

At the top of Pierce Road at Mt. Winery

Our ride brought us from Los Gatos to Cupertino, up and over Mt. Eden and then we had an "optional" route.  After going up Mt. Eden, we could make a left on Pierce to head back towards Cupertino, or we could make a right turn, which meant a climb on Pierce and then over to Hwy 9.  Coach Colin said our team was ready to make the right turn.  It was tough but the participants made it up!  Here's a picture right in front of the driveway to Mt. Winery to prove it. 


Our descent took us down Hwy 9 into Saratoga.  We headed back towards Cupertino and then made our way back to Los Gatos.  The participants said that they were definitely tired, but felt good.  I love seeing the participants not only challenge themselves, but have a lot of fun doing something that they've never done before.  A lot of these folks have never ridden this many miles before...and the fun has just begun!  Congrats to all!



Team "C" (temporary name until the team comes up with its real name)

 H

12/11/10 Tri Training: Ride n Tie at Bayfront Park

Our team had the annual Ride n Tie event today. I had no idea what to expect with this training except that we were told that we had to pair up with someone, have a mountain bike between us and dress in costume! Costume?? Yes, this team really likes dress up! I was paired up with Angela who also has the same mentor as I do. We decided in honor of Lavaman and Hawaii, we'd go polynesian style! We were Team Aloha!

The object of Ride n Tie is to do 3-4 laps around a 3 mile trail with your teammate by biking or running. This was new to both Angela and I so we had no idea how to strategize the course. So, during the first lap we sort of followed what others were doing. Also, we only had one bike between us so the person riding had to ride and leave the bike along the course for the next person to find. The next person had to be aware so they don't run past the bike. Once a lap is finished, there's a transition point which entailed arriving there together with your teammate and doing a particular task assigned by the coaches.

What we decided to do is run with our helmets on so we didn't have to keep switching helmets. It's really awkward to run with a bike helmet... oh, and I forgot to mention that we stayed in costume during the bike/run! You can only imagine the strange looks we got from the non Team in Training folks walking or running along the trailhead.

The team gathered together at the end and Coach Mike said that besides this event being a fun bonding experience with teammates, it also provides a learning experience on how to transition from the bike to a run. It was fun but it was a very tiring workout even though we only did 9 miles total. As we felt exhausted afterwards, we came back to reality as we were able to hear Vanessa Ingardia, an honoree and Lavaman teammate speak about her experience with cancer. I mentioned her in an earlier post so I've heard her story before but hearing it again, made me teary eyed again. It's cancer survivors, like her who are so thankful to us for raising money to help provide funds for support and research. She said that she should've been gone 16 years ago if it weren't for the research and clinical trial drugs that were made available to her. So, seeing her biking and running alongside me is another reminder how important this mission is and why we do what we do! We want more people to have as much life in them as Vanessa does!

Aloha,
L

Wednesday 12/8/10 - SPIN CLASS

Ok, Coach Patrick must have read my post about last Sunday's hill repeats!  This was one of the hardest spin classes we've done!!  Enough said!  I'm going to bed! 

12/7/10 Tri Training: Coached Track at Foothill College

There were lots of colors present at tonight's workout. We had "Color Wars" between the mentor groups.

When we got to the "training" portion, we started off with drills and then we had to run as many laps around the track within 10 minutes to give us a base pace. Then we did some core training and had to give an estimated time it would take to do 8 laps (2miles) and you could not use watches or timers. My estimate was 21:15. Coach Mike saw that I had my Ipod and broke the sad news to me that Ipods are not allowed during the event. OMG! I hate running as it is and the only way I can get through it is with music. Wow... 6.2 miles with no music. It was a sad moment for me! So, I proceeded with the 8 laps with no music and I finished at 21:07! 8 seconds off my estimate! People are really in tune with their pace because I was tied for 3rd. The gal who won was 1 second off her time!! Maybe I should improve my pace so it'll take me less time to do the event! LOL!

Aloha,
L

12/6/10 Tri Training: Captain Swim at Santa Clara

Tonight was a little different as we started the evening off with a swim theory session with Martin. It was very interesting and helpful since my swim mechanics are not correct. However, as I tried to put the "theory" into practice, it's much harder than it looks.

200 yd warm-up
Drills:
6x50 kick set
3x50 catch up
3x50 drag
2x50 thumb to thigh
Main set:
25yds fast 25yds slow (2 times)
50yds fast 50yds slow (2 times)
100yds fast 50yds slow (2 times)
Cool down:
50yds

Total swim = 1,550 yds

Impressive swim totals, right?? Don't really be too impressed because it's easy for the distances to add up. Trust me, when I am in the pool, I don't feel strong enough to continue. I force myself down the swim lane knowing there is a wall at the end of 25yds and I take alot of breaks! For example, when I'm supposed to be doing a 100yds, at the 50yd point I take a break. So far, I seem okay with swimming a 50yd distance without stopping but not the point when you're supposed to be doing 100yds! Again, I still have a few months to go.

Aloha ,
L

Sunday - 12/5/10 - Hill Repeats - Too Easy or Good Call?



Ready for the Hills?

I hope Coach Patrick doesn't read this post, but man, I think he's going easy on us this season!  :o)  He only made us go up Mt. Eden 4 times today, the same as last week.  He adds 1 time up each time we meet.  But not this morning.  The guy must be dating mother nature though!  As soon as we got back to the parking lot after the 4th hill repeat, it started pouring rain!  Good call coach, that's why you're the boss!  :o)
Good workout today and great to get a ride in with no rain!

H

12/4/10 Tri Training: Coached Swim/Bike at Burgess

Had a great training session today! Swam with Coach Chris watching on and giving us pointers. He really empasized making our bodies longer in the water so that we are using less strokes during the race. So, he did a variety of drills to help us work on the technique. He also introduced swimming alongside other people so our group of 5, had to start swimming at the same time. Really interesting since I do tend to have issues when I can see or feel someone next to me. We probably swam around 700yds.

For the last part of the swim training, the coaches had all the participants go into one lane and we made two lines. Everyone in the pool had to start splashing and causing waves while the participants swam across. I tried my best to keep my same form and swim calmly. All the splashing made it hard to see the bottom so it was hard to know when the wall was coming so it forced me to actually look up to see where I was going. I guess that is the beginning of "sighting" since in an open body of water that is what you need to do to make sure you are going in the right direction. It was a really interesting drill to help train us to stay focused.

Then we were told to transition into our biking gear... Normally this would be easy but considering the weather, there was no way any of us was going out on a bike in wet clothes! So, we all had to change and head out on the bike. The coaches told us that we had 6 minutes for transition. That's a laugh since trying to peel off a wet bathing suit and then putting on spandex cycling clothes while damp is not that easy. I think I took 11-12minutes. Then it was out onto the bike for a 90minute ride. In that time I rode almost 18 miles. It was dry when we started and then started to rain. Luckily, the rain stopped but we were very wet & dirty once we got back!

The kids were with Delia and Lupe (Nana and Papa) today. They loved spending time with them and the older kids, really miss them. Delia made them their favorites, pancakes for breakfast and sopita for lunch. She even took them to the park. They had a great time! Thank you Delia and Lupe for helping us as we train. Without our weekend sitters, we couldn't do what we do!!

Aloha,
L

Saturday 12/4/10 - Paceline Clinic Take 2

Today was a make up for the paceline clinic that we started a few weeks back, but had to stop due to some strong rain and wind. This is such an important part of cycling and will help a lot of people cross the finish line strong after 100 miles.  It's amazing how much energy you could save if you simply paceline. But easier said than done of course.  Pacelining takes confidence and trust.  You have to be confident enough to have your front wheel be only inches away from the back wheel of your teammate in front of you. At the same time, you have to trust that your teammate in front of you will not do anything unpredictable that may cause either of you to go down.

The team members in our group did great today.  We went up and down Canada Road 3 times. Understandably, the first time down and back was a little nerve racking for some of the participants.  We got rained on a little bit, but nothing significant.  Our ride group coach, Colin, gave some pointers after each trip and by the end of the training day, the team was not only picking up the pace, but everyone started to feel comfortable getting closer to the person in front of them.

All in all, a fun day! Today was not a day of endurance but more of a day of learning and practicing paceline techniques.  But, it was also a day of smiles!  Great job everyone!

H

Wednesday 12/1/10 - Spin Class - Endurance and Power

"Endurance and Power" was the theme of tonight's spin class.  It was a hard class tonight! It didn't help that my neck was really killing me. I woke up this morning with a sharp pain in my neck. It doesn't feel like it's sore, but more of a sharp pain, like a pinched nerve or something.  It kicked my butt all day long!  Oh well, didn't want to skip out on spin class tonight.

Coach Patrick had us train for endurance by doing a bunch of climbs, both sitting and standing.  Then he had us train for power by doing what he calls "jumps".  That is sit for 7 counts, stand for 8 counts.  We did this for at least 10 minutes straight, while turning up the tension on the bikes each minute.

Needless to say, it was a tough night.

Ice...I need ice!  Can't wait until the next workout!

H

11/29/10 Tri Training: Swim at Santa Clara

Brrrr... It was 48 degrees leaving my car to head to the pool. It's going to be a long season!

It was the usual swim practice...
150yd warm up (I didn't finish the full 200yds)

Drills:
150yd catchup
100yd drag
100yd thumb to thigh

Main set: Pyramid style
25yds (2 times)
50yds (2 times)
100 yds (2 times)
100yds (2 times)
50yds (2 times)
25yds (2 times)

100yd cool down

Total swim: 1,300 yds

When I was heading back to the car, I was chatting with one of my teammates that I recently met and as I was whining about the difficulties of swimming she patted me on the back to tell me that I was actually doing well at this stage of training and the best thing is to keep coming to practice. Then she threw in how she just ended chemo 2 weeks ago.. Huh?? 2 weeks ago?? So, here I am complaining about not being able to swim and this gal just finished chemo and here she is training for Lavaman. These cancer survivors are just amazing and give me more purpose to "just keep swimming" and to remember why I've joined in to fight for this cause to cure cancer!

Good night!
Aloha,
L

Sunday - 11/28/10 Hill Repeats - Finally!

The forecast for this Sunday was cold, but sunny!  Yeah, finally, I get to do a hill repeat this season!  We had 9 people show up for this morning's hill repeats.  These workouts are held at Mt. Eden in Cupertino.  It's only about 7/10 of a mile long, but there are some 8 - 9% grades.  Doesn't sound like a lot, but do it 4, 5, or even 6 times...it's definitely a good workout.  Plus, our coach always has us working on something when going up the hill each time.

Today, we climbed the hill 4 times. It sounded like a few of the participants had the toughest time when the coach asked us to try and stand all the way up!

Here's a pic of everyone enjoying the sun at the top of the hill on our last climb!

So, this was a pretty good week for me as far as workouts go.  Last Wednesday was Spin Class, Thursday (Thanksgiving day), I got out on the bike for a little leisure ride while Laarni, our two older kids (Hana and Marcus) and my niece and nephew (Halie and Daniel) went on a 4.5 mile run.  Friday, I did a 42 mile ride with some past TNT folks, Saturday was the buddy ride, and then this morning was our hill repeats.  Yeah, I'm pretty tired!  :o)  Can't wait to get back out on the bike again!  Goodnight!

H

11/28/10 Tri Training: Captain's Bike/Run

After eating, laying around, eating and more laying around these last 2 days it was about time to get back in the saddle (literally) and get some exercise in! We didn't have our usual Saturday training due to the holiday but it was back to Edgewood/Canada for this "brick" workout. It was cold once again but thank goodness we had no rain! We started out on the bike and rode north on Canada Rd to Highway 92 and back. The loop is about 6ish miles.  Martin, our captain told us to try and focus on keeping cadence high which will help with speed. We were to ride for 60-75 minutes in the loop.  I managed to get in almost 4 roundtrips but I had to cut my last one short because my maximum time on the bike was coming up.

I headed back to the car for a quick change to my running gear. I had no idea where I was supposed to run so luckily a couple of teammates were running ahead so I just followed. We ran along this dirt pathway along Canada Rd. I almost turned my ankle a couple of times due to the terrible terrain. It was also still wet and muddy from the rain so the conditions were not good. Once we got back, I realized that we did 3.5 miles! It was a great feeling to finish my first "brick" workout of the season!

Aloha
L

Saturday 11/27/10 - "Winter" Buddy Ride

This morning was Coach Kristy's buddy ride. Buddy rides are non-supported training rides where participants can show up and ride with whomever they choose to ride with (ie: pick a buddy and ride).

I got to McKenzie Park in Los Altos about 30 minutes early and of course it was raining!  Even though the forecast was for showers on Saturday, the rule of thumb is we always show up for a training ride rain or shine and then the coach makes the final call.  When Coach Kristy arrived, it had stopped raining but clouds were definitely looming.  She decided that she was not going to ride but that it was up to the rest of us to decide if we wanted to go.  A few participants still wanted to go for it so I thought I'd better go to make sure that everyone would be ok.

We got a lot of rain, there were a lot of puddles, but we did get a tiny bit of sun as well.  By the time we finished the 32 miles, we were soaked!  I was also put to the test as I decided to hook up with two fast guys.  My legs were pretty worked by the time we were done.

The cool thing though was watching 3 participants finish the entire ride.  Even though they were soaked, they were still all smiles and pretty pumped up for completing the ride! Here they are celebrating with some chocolate milk!  Congrats to Susan, Sharon, and Stephanie!

11/25/10 Tri training: Thanksgiving Day Run

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Since we had family in town and preparing for the Thanksgiving Day festivities, I skipped out on our coached track training last Tuesday. To makeup for that training, I decided to go for a run before beginning the eating fest for the day. My niece, Halie, my nephew, Daniel, and our two older kids, Hana and Marcus joined me on this very cold and crisp morning around the community where we live. Harold also joined in but on his bike to help me out in case the kids straggled behind. The boys and I stayed together during the run. They did awesome especially with all the hills! We made it back home in 55 minutes and did 4.24 miles. Bring on the turkey!!

Aloha,
L

Pre-Thanksgiving Spin Class

Wednesday evening spin class was still on for this week even though it was the day before Thanksgiving.  Thank goodness it still happend since our last two training rides were washed up.  But then again, Coach Patrick really made us work this evening!  He had us climbing much of the class and then we did "jumps".  That is, stand up, sit, stand, sit, stand sit...etc...

My legs are sore, but glad we did it so I don't feel guilty indulging in some Turkey with the family tomorrow!

I have a lot to be thankful for. Laarni and I are lucky to be surrounded by loving family members to share the holidays with. We are also very lucky that we can train as much as we do as we know some people are not as fortunate.  Finally, we never forget how fortunate we are to have such wonderful friends and family who have supported us in the fight against cancer.  As of today, we are about 30% to our fundraising goal.  See http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/lavatri11/teamdeguzman

Again, thanks to those who have helped us so far.  Happy Thanksgiving to all!

H

11/22/10 Tri Training: Swim at Santa Clara

The Santa Clara Swim Center is a really nice place if you must swim and tonight is yet another Captain's swim workout. This time I was prepared to get into the pool as soon as we were able. The water temp was very nice!!

Workout summary:

200 yd warm-up

Drills:

4x50yds kick using a kickboard (fins ok)

3x50yds catch-up

3x50yds drag

3x50yds thumb to thigh

Main set:

6x25yds

3x50yds

1x150yds

100yd cool down (used pull buoy)

Total swim: 1400 yds! 

I'm still relying on the wall to be there and my breathing is all out of whack. I am able to swim nice and slow which is helping me not be so out of breath after every 25yds but I still have moments of panic which really doesn't help the breathing. This facility helps me since I'm swimming in deep water and can't just stand up when I want to. I'm really trying not to stay holding on to the wall for very long but the continuous swim is one that I really need to work on. I joked with Martin (our captain in charge of this swim workout) and asked if I can hold onto something every 25yds in the ocean. He joked back by saying, "if you swim out deep enough there may coral you can grab onto." Yikes! But I will give myself some credit to be in week 2 of swimming and no longer having my fins and my pull buoy attached to me the entire time!

Aloha

L 

Sunday - 11/21/10 Hill Repeats - Another Win for Mother Nature

Several of us showed up on Sunday morning (10/21) to do hill repeats on Mt. Eden. The morning started out a bit cold but it was sunny and dry.  Unfortunately, by the time it was ready to roll (10:30am), the rain started coming down...again!  The group had to huddle up and stay dry!



After about 20 minutes, it started to clear up but the coaches still contemplated whether to go out or not.  Hmmm.....what does mother nature have in store for us?  After some consideration and since we were already out there, Coach Patrick decided to give it a shot.  We made it to base of Mt. Eden (about 3 miles from our starting point of Monta Vista Park in Cupertino) but we definitely were not dry.  Yes, it poured on us while riding to Mt. Eden.  Well, if anything, a lot of the new riders got to experience and practice riding in the rain.  But, it was too dangerous to try and do hill repeats so we called it a day.

This cannot continue all season long, it just can't and I know it won't!  :o)

H



11/20/10 Tri Training: Bike/Run...

The tri team also had practice at Edgewood/Canada so it was nice to be able to carpool with Harold to practice. It wasn't raining when we got there but then it started to lightly sprinkle. Since this was the first official bike training, we had a meeting to discuss bike safety. During the meeting, it started to rain harder so Coach Mike gave everyone the option to bike or run.

Many folks still opted to bike and mentioned that they would run after, so I joined them. I'm not very comfortable in the rain so I took it slow. The rain didn't let up so we got very wet and it was pretty cold. I couldn't feel my fingertips or my toes and I was having a hard time seeing where I was going. I didn't feel safe at all! I finished the 8 mile loop and decided to call it a day, mainly because I couldn't see and I was shivering. The run will have to wait another day.



Coach Denise & Coach Chris trying
to keep the signout sheets dry

 











Aloha,
L

Saturday 11/20/10 - Pacelining Clinic...Almost!

Even though the forecast for this past Saturday 11/20 was for rain, rain, and more rain, the cycling team still met up at the corner of Canada and Edgewood to do a clinic on pacelining. If it's too bad, then we will not start. But as of gametime, around 8:30am, the weather was actually pretty nice.

Coach Kristy showing us how to rotate
out of the front of the paceline

A lot of new folks to cycling don't know what pacelining is and why we do it, so several of the coaches did an off-bike demonstration.

After that, we broke up into groups and headed out.  Unfortunately, after about 3 miles in, the weather really turned bad and it started to pour.  The head coach, Patrick caught up to the individual teams and cancelled the rest of the training day.

Looks like we will have to reschedule the pacelining clinic since it's such an important part of riding efficiently, especially on a century!

Tri Training: Week 1 of Swim

Monday, 11/15:
Our first captain's swim workout at the Santa Clara Swim Center. Martin, who runs the practice announced that we only had 7 lanes to swim in so that everyone would have to share and from left to right it would be swimmers fast to fastest. It was quite cold on the pool deck so I didn't take my clothes off right away. That was a mistake because by the time I got lane choice, I was in a middle lane. Martin tells me not to worry as they would reshuffle later. So, I jump in the pool and OMG, it was deep! Most pools I swim in you can stand, this one you cannot. So, Martin then tells us to do a 200yd warm up. There were 5 of us in the lane and the 3 gals had obviously done this before. That left me and another guy who struggled for these first laps. We only managed to do 100yds before we were told to do drills.

There were 4 drills:
Drag - 100 yds of dragging your fingertips along the top of the water (this one I didn't understand)
Catch up - 100 yds of touching fingertips at the top before finishing the stroke
Thumb to thigh - 100 yds of finishing the stoke by brushing your thumb against your thigh
6-3-6 - 100 yds of side kicking (6 kicks), face in for 3 kicks, side kicking (6 kicks) **never got to this drill because we were moving on**

Next the pyramid. Our group had to do 25-50-75-100(yards) and back down with a 15 second interval between each set. For all of you thinking that's crazy... yes, it was! Oh, and I wouldn't have done any of this if it weren't for my fins and my trusty pull buoy. Apparently, I need to slow down when I swim so the pull buoy definitely helps to slow me down. After finishing with the pyramid we had to do a 200yd cool down.

Swim total 1,100 yds!! Didn't I say this was the first day?? And the lanes were not reshuffled... Thank goodness we have 4 months to train because unfortunately in the ocean I can't stop every 25yds to hold the pool edge.

Wednesday, 11/17:
Coached swim at Burgess Pool in Menlo Park. The practice began with some stretching and core exercises. This pool was indoor in "the bubble" which is what the dome is referred to. Again, we got into the lanes based on swim ability so thankfully I was able to get into the proper lane this time. We were told that the warmup would be 5 min so we should swim as much as we can in that time. I was able to get in 150yds.

Coach Keith led our group and explained how your body should be in the water in order to have the best efficiency without any drag. So, in order to help train our bodies to do that, he had us do 3 drills:

Catchup for 200 yds
Head down looking at bottom of pool with the rotation of your body from side to side for 200 yds
Side kicks for 200 yds

All of these drills I only managed to do 150yds each. I continue to have difficulty with my breathing. Again, 4 months of training. Hopefully it'll click eventually.

Swim total: 600yds (but no fins and no pull buoy)

Aloha
L

Cycle Training - 70 miles!

What?  70 miles already?  Well, not really.  Earlier in the year, Laarni and I had signed up for a metric century before we knew we would team up and do TNT.  So, although we both missed formal trainings with our respective teams this weekend, we definitely got our workouts in by riding 70 miles through Solvang and included about 4,000 feet of climbing.  It was a beautiful ride and although it is a different ride than what the TNT Cycle Team plans to ride in March 2011, we will ride some of the same roads!

Cheers!

H

Tri Training: First Swim (Unofficial)

With Monday, 11/15/10 being the first official swim practice I figured I should at least get some practice laps in so I can reacquaint myself with the pool. I have not swam ever since my last tri event at the end of September. To me, the event was over so I had no reason to swim again. Until now... Even though I was swimming prior to the event, I still cringe everytime I think about swimming. It actually makes me nauseous. So, I forced myself over to the Silver Creek pool.

Team in Training (TNT) provides a detailed training schedule for the week to give the participants an idea of what you should be working on and what distances based on three levels. You can also be a different levels for each sport. In the pool, I am not confident and so I categorize myself in between the lower to middle level for swim. Based on this, I should be swimming between 400-500 yds. If this was truly my first time ever back into swimming, I would say "you're crazy!" Swimming one length of the pool which is 25 yds is a feat in itself. Luckily, I had all my gear: my googles, swim cap, fins, kickboard and pull buoy. Prior to me swimming, I had no idea you need all these things to develop strength and endurance.

Swim practice always begins with a warmup. TNT's recommended warmup is 200yds in freestyle. So, that's what I started with and my first 50 yds of my swim, I was out of breath and all I could think about was "what did I get myself into?" But I tried to remain calm and realized that I swam that first 50 like I was racing. My wonderful swim instructor, Mrs. T was the one who said "swim nice and easy." So, I tried to remember that and I headed out for my next 50 but again, I felt out of breath and even sucked in some water. My breathing was not good! So, I decided to get my friend the pull buoy (and for you non swimmers, this device forces you to use your arms only when you swim). Many people don't like it but my main reason for liking the device is that I only concentrate on moving my arms, keeping my head down and breathing. For some reason, when I add the kicking, I overtire myself. I finished my warmup with 100yds using the pull buoy.

Now for the main set... I alternated between freestyle, kickboard and the pull buoy. This is what I ended up doing.

2 x 50yds freestyle
4 x 50yds pull buoy
2 x 50yds kickboard
1 x 50yds freestyle

My final swim total was 650yds. I would've attempted to swim additional yards but my last 50yds was done in what I would call my best freestyle so I wanted to end on a good note. Still not confident but I have 5 months...

Aloha
Laarni

First Spin Class - Equinox in Palo Alto

For the second year in a row, the TNT Winter Cycling team is lucky enough to have the opportunity to go to a beautiful fitness center, Equinox in Palo Alto, for indoor cycling (Spin) classes each week.  Coach Patrick is also a certified Spin instructor so he put us to work right away.

It was a great turnout...we must have had over 20 people from our team.  Coack Patrick did not take it easy either. He let us warm up for a little bit but we started on both seated and standing climbs. We also did a lot if interval training.  It was hot in the room too so we were all sweating bullets! No better way than to get a great workout in the middle of the week!  Coach Patrick not only is generous with his time as he volunteers to teach the class, let alone head coach of our cycle team, but he also promised $100 to any fundraiser who makes it to each and every Spin class over the course of our 4 month season.  I hope he has to pay up a lot of dough!

Both Laarni and I will be missing our trainings with our respective teams this weekend, but we'll be definitely working out as we will be doing a metric century (about 65 miles) this weekend with some friends in beautiful Solvang, CA.

H

Tri Training: Intro, Day 1 and 2

I'm officially part of the Silicon Valley TNT tri team! Lavaman, here I come! Yay! It took me quite some time to register. Besides figuring out the logistics of babysitting since Harold is also training this season, I am also terrified of this event. Yeah yeah, the event is in Kona but swimming in the ocean... now that's a different story.

It was only this past July when my wonderful friends who will remain nameless but knows who they are, got me on this kick of doing a triathlon. So, I entered and finished my first tri last September. It was called a sprint tri where you swim 400 yds, bike 11 miles and run 3.1miles. As Harold mentioned earlier, I'm not water friendly. I'm the one who will literally scream if you splash me in the pool and will only be in the pool or a body of water if I can stand. So, in order to complete this event I had some serious training to do. I took swim lessons and joined a masters swim program. You can all do the math, this was all in a 2 month time period. By the time I was faced to do the open water swim portion (which was in a lake in Pleasanton), I freaked out and did the entire swim in backstroke since I could not put my face in the water. My description to anyone who asks is "it looked like a scene from the Titanic where everyone is just swimming to survive." It took everything in me to calm myself down and talk myself through until I could finally get to a point in the lake where I could stand. As much as I was thankful for not drowning that day, I wasn't very thrilled of my performance.

Ever since Harold joined TNT a year ago, I look at every season's brochure to see where the events are being held. I kept saying if I ever do an Olympic tri I want it to be in Hawaii. So, here I am... I joined a wonderful group of people who will be doing the same thing I am. We will swim .93 miles (4 times what I did my last tri), bike 24.8 miles and run 6.2 miles. Some have done it before but there are others even in worse situations than myself, no swim, bike or run training. Yes, TNT will train you to do all those things!! What inspired me even more to do this event was at the Info meeting, a woman named Vanessa spoke to us about her experience with cancer. She was diagnosed with cancer right as she was graduating from college and if it weren't for the clinical trial drugs at the time she wouldn't be standing telling her story. That was in the early 90's. Some of the drug protocols she received are actually now part of the chemotherapy drugs today. But because of those drugs, she continues to have medical issues related to those drugs. She is also a participant in the Lavaman event so now my teammate.






Vanessa is just one of the many people we have met or heard their story about how the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has helped them.

Day 1:

Our first official training was last Saturday, Nov 6th. After the busy morning, getting our babysitter all situated... (Shout out to Kristine btw who without her I probably wouldn't be doing this!! Thank you!) I finally made it to the Sports Basement in Sunnyvale. After doing a quick, get to know your fellow team members, we split up into our mentor groups and rotated around to 4 stations;  bike fitting, 1 mile run, tire changing and core work. Here we are headed out to do our 1 mile run (that's me in the front)...Afterwards, there was a gear clinic where they talked about all the required items needed for this event and all the luxury items. Being on the tri team can get quite expensive if you don't already have gear.

Day 2:

Marci Hanisch's mentor group

Last night, we had our first track workout at Foothill College. I thought for sure we'd end up running since we had a fairly easy practice on Sat but again we broke up into 4 groups and rotated around different stretching activities. While doing our stretches, we were able to get to know our fellow teammates once again. The coaches stressed how important your core and stretching will be for this event. This is a good reminder because I have a weak core (I'll blame that on being pregnant 4 times!) and I never remember to stretch. After we did our stretching exercises, we did a scavenger hunt with our mentor group and had to make up a team cheer.It was all in good fun and a good way to get to know more people!

The night ended with HWTG (Hang With the Gang) at the Boardwalk in Los Altos for some well deserved dinner. Once again, more social time with the teammates. This is all fine and dandy now as I'm sure the training will start to get more intense...

Missing next practice due to our 65 mile ride in Solvang this weekend. But the next practice I'll be attending next Monday will be swim! Yikes!

Until next time.... Aloha!

Laarni

First Day of Hill Repeats - Not a Good Day of Learning!

Warren, Coach Patrick, Peter, and Harold
by Rick's van in an attempt to stay dry!

Sundays will bring hill repeats at Mt. Eden.  The cycle team meets at Monta Vista park in Cupertino and then will ride a 3 mile warmup to Mt. Eden.  Unfortunately, the first day was a washout. We had 2 participants actually show up!  It reminded me of me last year when I showed up to every training ride rain or shine.  Not one ride last year was cancelled due to rain so this was a first for me.  But, like Coach Patrick said, it's not a good day of learning.  If this were week 2 or 3, or if this was a regular training ride and did not involve hills, we would have still road our bikes!  Yeah!  I love it!  Cheers to Warren and Peter for still showing up!  Also pictured is coach Patrick.  And of course our great web captain Rick showed up...he's taking the picture! 

Next up, Spin Class this Wednesday at Equinox!

H

First Training Day for the Winter 2011 Cycle Team

Just like last year (my first season with TNT), I was totally excited about the new season.  But this time, unlike last year, I had almost 3,000 cycling miles under my belt.  Yup, in just one year, I logged in almost 3,000 miles.  I remember that first day last year when the 15 mile orientation ride felt like I would never be able to do a full century.  Now, I'm mentoring for TNT and having a blast!  Our first team ride was this past Saturday 11/6/10 at 9am.  That's way too late to start riding!  :o)

I got to our meeting place, McKenzie Park in Los Altos, at 6:30am.  It was dark and cold as could be but I got my bike prepped, put on some layers, turned on the lights on the bike and started to roll on my own at 7AM on the nose.  I did a 20 mile loop from Foothill to Page Mill to Aratradero to Alpine and back down to Foothill.  Got be back to McKenzie Park at 8:30am with plenty of time to spare before the actual team ride at 9AM!  Great warm-up!

Here's a picture of a new participant, Dori (thumbs up), with two other mentors around her, Wendy and Mark, and then there's me!  We are just filling her with information and what a fantastic time she is about to have this season!  She is ready!

The first ride was simply an orientation ride, about 15 miles.  We had folks out on road bikes, as well as mountain bikes. Some in full on kits (bike uniform talk) and some in simple gym attire.  At the end of the ride, our Coach, Patrick, asked for a show of hands if this was the longest ride they had been on. There were around 8 or 9 people who raised their hands!  Awesome!  I was one of thoses who raised my hand a year ago! I still remember how excited I felt and how awesome it felt to be with this team!  I can only hope that the new participants feel the same way!

We can't forget why we are here doing what we are doing, so we had two Honorees speak during our breakfast after the ride.  Honorees are those who are fighting or who have battled cancer and are willing to tell their story.  Not only have both of these gentlemen fought Lymphoma, but they are in remission and are riding/training with us today. In fact, one of them, Tom (the guy on the left) was a TNT coach during the Summer season!  These guys were sitting there telling us how it was because of people like us that have helped them stay alive.  The drugs that cured both of them, called Rituxan, was brought about because of the help of LLS and the funding that it provided. It's because of the research and support that helped both of these awesome men stay alive.  Now, they share their story so that we could continue raising money for new medicines.  We've heard time and time again, how sometimes medicines that are around today don't work for some people so they have to try new things. With new things, you never know what the side effects are.  That's why we have to continue to research and find a cure!  That's why we do this!  Thanks to both Tom and Gene for sharing their stories with us!  They are very inspirational!

Until next time! 

H



Let's Do This Again!!

Ok, so it's been about a year to the day that I created this blog to share with everyone my TNT experience. For those of you just joining us, TNT is Team in Training and is part of the Lukemia and Lymphoma Society. Their mission is to abolish all blood cancers! I joined TNT to help fight the cause! You may think, wow, that's cool that you're doing that Harold. What a great guy you are for doing this. Well, as you all know, I couldn't have done it alone! My wife and teammate, Laarni, was a huge part of my team and helped me accomplish everything I wanted to this past year!

Let's see, she not only supported me in my adventure of training for and actually accomplishing the 100 mile ride back in February 2010, but she also supported the team a few times by volunteering to work at a rest stop. With all this, she still managed to keep things in order at the house, help with the homework, get to plays, baseball games, dance classes, and even found time to scrapbook for her own well being.

Well, this time, Laarni is doing even more! She's decided to fundraise with me and do an event on her own. Yup, we both will be training to do an endurance event. We just kicked off our seasons this past Saturday 11/6/10. I will do another 100 mile ride, but this time as a mentor with TNT. That means, I have the opportunity to help out new participants who are just starting out. My event takes place on March 12, 2011 and will be held in Solvang, CA.

Laarni on the other hand is going to try something really courageous! That is, an Olympic Distance Triathlon. This entails a 1.5K swim (about a mile), a 40K bike ride (about 25 miles), and a 10K run (about 6 miles). It hasn't even been a year since Laarni got her first road bike and her first running shoes. It was even more recent than that when Laarni got her first pair of goggles. If anyone knows her, she never wanted to get her hair or face wet when entering a pool! Now she's going for the open water swim! Oh, did I mention that her event would be taking place on April 3, 2011 in Kona, HI? Yeah, I know, I know, paradise, right? Hey, but it's still a Triathlon and it will take everything she has to train for it. I am very proud of her for taking on this challenge!

Not only will we have the challenge of training as we both have a training schedule that will require 2 - 3 days of training each week until our events (sometimes on the same days as each other), but we'll also need to juggle taking care of and spending time with our kids...all 4 of them! Hana (10), Marcus(7), Zachary (5), and Kailie (4) are our little angels and we are so glad that they have come to enjoy our new found family...TNT!  That also means a lot of babysitting expenses for us!  But it's all worth it when we think about why we are doing this!

So, this blog has now officially become the blog of Team DeGuzman. Both Laarni and I will be posting our experiences throughout the season here. Oh, by the way, remember why we are doing this? Well, go check it out here:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/lavatri11/teamdeguzman

I know it can sometimes be an imposition to ask for money, but it never hurts to ask is our motto. It's not like the money is filling our pockets, but is going to a very good cause. Again, please consider donating to this worthy cause and help us find a cure. Together - We Can Fight!!

On behalf of Team DeGuzman, ALLLLLOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHAAAAAA! 

Team DeGuzman Fighting Cancer Together!

We Did It!!

What a fantastic feeling! We did it! You, me, and the rest of my teammates! That's right, you guys did it too since so may of you helped me through this great experience! One of the best experiences of my life! Thanks so much to all of you who supported my efforts! I was recognized on Friday evening as the top fundraiser at $8,000 even between both the Silicon Valley team and the Orange County team, which was the only other TNT team at the event! Again, many thanks to you all!

I have a lot of other details to post, as well as a ton of pictures, but the family and I are taking some more time off to do some other fun things (short trip to Santa Barbara and to San Francisco) so I'll get back to you all later! Lots more to share!!Time to go to the celebration dinner!

It's Almost that Time!!

We got in last night at around 9pm. Drive time was just under 8 hours! I was able to pack my bike in the van, along with all the other stuff! :) Packing with 4 kids is quite the chore! Laarni is great at trying to pack everything to make sure the kids feel at home!

Got up this morning to a nice bright day. The two boys, Marcus and Zachary got up really early (around 6am) so I decided to get up too and get them ready to go, especially since they were making all kinds of noise and the girls were still sleeping! :)

We headed out for a walk towards downtown on the search for a Starbucks so I could go on-line and get some work done! (Hear that Craig and Lisa) :) I got a few pics on the way here! :)

The sun is shining and the weather is supposed to get to 79 degrees by today and tomorrow. Right on! Wish me luck!