1/24/11 Tri Training: Swim at Santa Clara

After Saturday's swim I was feeling a little better about getting into the pool tonight but after the session, yikes, I'm back to feeling worried that I won't be able to make it. The good news, there was only a few bits of my workout that I didn't complete but overall it was still 1,850 yards!! I really have to work on my pace and my breathing rhythm. 68 days until Lavaman...

The Workout:
100yd warm-up
6x50yd drill/swim - drill was side kicking with fins but I was missing my fins tonight. I felt like I was drowning. Fortunately, Martin found some fins for me to use so I could finish up this set. I only did 5 of 6.
4x100yds kick set - 25 easy, 25 hard & 50 moderate. Kicking from the hips...very difficult. Legs were burning!
Main set:
2x400yds - yes, 400yds...that's 16 lengths nonstop... twice! It started off okay but then when I got tired I felt like my legs were dragging me and my breathing was off. The good news is my upper body is strong and that's what I'm going to have to rely on the most.
4x50yds pull buoy - This was such a relief to use my trusty friend. I really wish I could hide it inside my tri shorts!
100yds cool down

Bottom line: I made it... 1,850yds later. Doesn't really matter how but I did. Maybe that's my new motto for the season.

Aloha,
L

1-22-11 Calaveras Ride and a Visit From an Honoree!



Ricky Sharing His Story



The Calaveras ride is such a fun ride.  And today, the weather could not be more perfect.  But to be honest, today was not about the riding, but about the Cause!  Today, we were reminded why we do what we do!  I for one, realize how fortunate I am to live the healthy life that I do and have the ability to "choose" what I want to do.  For others, like my good friend Ricky, they don't have a choice when it comes to cancer! 



Recovery Meal!



Ricky was gracious enough to visit with the cycling team this afternoon. He arrived at around 12 noon to greet all of us after a tough 59 mile ride.  Some of us didn't get in until close to 3pm!  But not only did Ricky stay to greet us, he decided to have lunch with us at El Toritos in Milpitas.

This guys is truly an inspiration!  When I think back at what I was doing at 23 years old (which by the way was not tooo long ago), I remember partying my butt off and really enjoying my new career with my CPA firm! But for Ricky, he was fighting cancer! I could not imagine.  But he not only fought and beat cancer, but he did so much more for others as he participated in several endurance events himself. He is truly and IRONMAN!  I hope you'll go check out Ricky's story here (video interview):  http://www.beoga.net/tnt/interviews/ricky.html

This guys outlook on life is truly amazing and an inspiration to all!  Everytime I talk to this guy, he motivates me to do more...like maybe even do an Ironman myself one day!



Thanks Ricky!



1/22/11 Tri Training: Burgess Swim/Bike Workout

I was not feeling up to the workout today, mainly because of the swim but I forced myself. Good thing because the swim ended up not being so bad. It was a coached session so hearing the specific pointers and working on them seemed to help. It was a bit somber at the beginning of practice from one of our honorees, Dawn's talk and also of news that Natalie tested positive for leukemia again. Very tearful morning but this is exactly why we are doing this event!! Darn cancer!!

Swim workout:
200yd warm-up
50yd - fast sprint
50yd - all 5 swimmers start at same time
50yd - practice keeping head down
50yd - practice with pull buoy, keeping head down, rotating hips
100yd - pull buoy work

Snake Swim

2x275yds - Snake swim- this was a really fun part surprisingly. There was 11 lanes in the entire pool and we had to swim across one lane at a time. I was pretty comfortable and I managed to do it twice. But I still kept looking for that wall.

Bike workout:
I decided to do the hill repeat option. From Burgess we rode to Huddart Park and Coach Keith had us do 5 hill repeats. I only did 4 since I had to leave. The repeats were pretty hard. 2min on a hard gear, 3min on an easy gear, 4min on a hard gear & 5 min on an easy gear. There was a 15% grade for a short incline but with me in a hard gear I had to stand and even standing I thought I was going to fall off my bike. It was crazy! Total miles: 20.64 miles

I'm glad I went to practice today!

Aloha,
L

1/18/11 Tri Training: Foothill College Track

Natalie

Track started off tearful. Kevin Parrish gave the honoree speech but Kevin isn't an honoree. His wife, Natalie is. I met Natalie pretty early on in the season during swim practice and she was very encouraging. Then I found out that she just finished chemo so I felt more inspired knowing that I'm a healthy individual and realize that I'm just plain whining! I finally got to hear Natalie's story and the reason Kevin is also our teammate, raising money for this awful disease so he can hopefully be able to give the right answer when his kids ask, "is Mommy going to die?" or when Natalie asks, "am I going to die?" I was in tears after his talk but hearing it gives me more inspiration and the great feeling that I'm also doing a good thing!   

So after the talk, it was time to get busy and workout! Tonight we had an interesting workout planned. We were to run a total of 6 miles but a shared effort with a partner. We had turned in our estimated times prior so we were paired up with someone with a similar time. I got paired up with Corinne. We had to keep our pace and run every other lap. We could tell that we were starting off too fast so we started to slow down which was actually a good thing. It was tiring! Luckily, we did slow down a bit... we came in 3rd!! We were only :45 off of our estimated time.

Aloha, L



1/17/11 Tri Training: Santa Clara Swim

I really struggled tonight for some reason. Maybe it was my cold that I'm still trying to shake but I didn't feel good at all. I felt like I was moving backwards rather than progressing ahead like I should. Pretty discouraging but I have to keep swimming whenever I can. I can only hope that it will all click... eventually!

Swim workout:
50yd warm-up (I was running late so I only had time for this)
4x50yds: kick/drill/swim (drill was side kick... super hard even with fins)
3x50yds: timed interval swim - I started off at the 12 o'clock position & I was supposed to start again at that same point next interval but I came back when the clock read :56 which meant I would have to go out right away. This is when my discouragement began but Martin sat with us and gave us a little longer to complete the interval. I barely rested (it was only a 10 sec rest) and I had to go back out but my breathing was off that I had to stop at the 25yd point and I let my teammates pass. I didn't do the next 50.
4x50yds: pull buoy (back to my trusty friend... it was nice to use this device tonight to build my confidence again)
100yds cool down

Total: 650yds (that's it?? Seemed like I was in the pool forever. I hung on the wall alot. I'm sure there was more that I must've forgotten, like the main set!! I was obviously not clear headed tonight!)

There will definitely be more opportunities too swim...

Aloha
L

1/15/11 Tri Training: Edgewood/Canada Bike/Run

We met at Edgewood/Canada today for our bike/run practice. I opted for doing a 19ish mile ride. I still wasn't feeling 100% so I didn't want to push myself too hard. But when I got on the bike, it was just a natural tendency to see how quickly I can do the ride. I finished in 1:15. Not too bad since I wasn't 100% but once again, it was just another lonely ride. I was riding with some folks but then they pulled away and I never caught up. At least I finally got the chance to see some of these roads that I've heard so much about that I've never ridden and it was a fairly nice day for a ride. Total miles: 19.19 miles.

I got back to the car and got ready for the run. We were supposed to run 1.5 miles out and back for a total of 3 miles. I didn't have a way to track my run so I ended up following these 2 guys who turned around sooner than they should've so I probably only ran 2 miles. It was a good thing since I pushed myself a little too hard on the bike.

Aloha,
L

1/10/11 Cause For Celebration

Normally there's swim at Santa Clara but tonight all Silicon Valley teams were to meet at the Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto for the Cause For Celebration. We listened to a speaker, a volunteer for LLS, discuss his role with LLS and how he feels he has helped those who just recently were diagnosed with cancer. Part of the funds we raise goes towards patient services and having a live person to speak to as well as receiving flyers explaining about the type of cancer you were diagnosed with goes a long way for these patients and helps them have hope that they could fight their disease.

Debra, Mike, Tralynn and I

The kids came with us and for the most part just stayed as quiet as they could, playing their game consoles. Hana is starting to understand more about what we are doing and she listens to the speakers and takes it all in. She seems to be interested in the cause and being proud that her family supports it!!

Aloha,
L

Half Moon Bay Ride - 1/2 Century!

It was cold, cold, cold.  We started at around 8am, but as the day went on, it seemed to get even colder.  But at least it was a dry ride.  We went down the coast towards the peninsula and road some hills like Pescadero and Stage.  It was a total of 50 miles with about 3,800 ft of elevation. 

Unfortunately, we only had 1 participant from our group show up for this ride as 2 of our participants were sick, 1 was on vacation, and the other had to work.  The distances that we'll be riding are starting to get higher in miles so let's hope they won't suffer too much when the get back in a couple of weeks.

Next weekend is a "buddy ride" weekend, which means it's not a team ride, but all participants are encouraged to go.  Let's hope we get a good showing next Saturday.  Our next team ride is Saturday 1/22 and it's got some good climbing and about 58 miles!

Did I mention it was cold at today's ride?  :)

1/8/11 Tri Training: Swim/Bike at Burgess Pool

Back in the pool at Burgess. I think I may have pushed myself over the edge today. Although I did finish my swim and bike workout, I wasn't feeling well. My coaches recommended that I should bail on the bike ride. I did the swim and I was really congested so I was having trouble with my breathing rhythm again. What was even more difficult was the workout that Coach Mike had us do. I was so out of it that I can't even detail the workout as I normally do. The only thing that I could remember was having to do a 400yd "easy" swim. Yes, 400yds should be nothing compared to the 1,600 yds that we'll be doing in Hawaii but I still cannot do that without stopping. And it's funny that they use the word "easy." They do so to distinguish the pace that you could sustain during the race. I feel I only swim one pace... SLOW! And even that slow pace, still not feeling like I could sustain.

Transition time... the moment that I could've bailed. I was so looking forward to biking... So, I didn't listen. There were 3 options for the rides and a few days ao I would've opted for the harder option but today, I decided to take it easy and do the 19mile Portola/Alpine loop. I was looking forward to it since I had never ridden in this area before so it was a nice change.

Here are some teammates and I at the corner of Portola and Alpine.

Overall, it was a nice ride but I was cold! Right here where we stopped, we joked because of the espresso bar on the corner that we were all tempted to stop and have a warm drink! I felt I had enough layers and kept my core warm but in the end, my toes and fingertips were numb. It was so nice to get in the warm car and eventually the warm shower at home!

Aloha,

L



1st Spin Class In the New Year!

Laarni's parents were still in town from the holidays so Laarni decided to join me tonight for spin class.  It must be the New Year, because not only was Equinox (Fitness Center where we Spin) crowded, we also had a full house in the actual class.

It was a great workout and Coach Patrick really worked us tonight. We did seated climbs, standing climbs, and some interval training.  There are plenty of mirrors in the studio that we spin in.  Well, as you could tell from the picture below, we had a pretty good workout!

Check out the mirrors in the background!!                              

1/4/11 Tri Training: Foothill Track

I missed the last coached track workout so it seemed like I haven't been at Foothill in a long time. Luckily, on vacation I did get in a run so I didn't feel completely out of it. The problem was I had the worst cramps going into training which I thought would prevent me from working out tonight. But as the honorees spoke before our training, the cold was starting to become unbearable that the thought of running was the only hope of getting that blood flowing!

It was a bit heard to hear the honorees from the back of the pack with all the surrounding noises that was going on at the track but one thing that stuck in my mind as Doug was telling his story. He said that in 2006 he had been through 3 unsuccessful remissions with his cancer back. His doctor told him to get his affairs in order and even wrote him a letter that he was terminally ill. Since there was no hope at that time, his doctor suggested that he be part of a clinical trial at Stanford so he agreed. He took well to the drugs given and actually went into remission again which he wasn't going to get excited about since he had been through that before unsuccessfully. He constantly gets PET scans and so far, no sign of the cancer!! This is exactly why I'm so excited about being a part of LLS. Stories like this just gives me hope that one day a cancer diagnosis will not be such terrible news and we can continue to live just like when we get the flu.

So back to my cramps... I was officially frozen by the end so I did do a warm up jog (2 laps). And after Doug's story, I can't feel too sorry for myself even if I felt like I was going to keel over!

We did a pyramid tonight:
1 lap
2 laps
4 laps
2 laps
1 lap

I was finally warm until we stopped! It was 45 degrees outside! Brrr!! Great workout and glad to see my teammates together again.

Aloha,
L

New Years Day Ride - January 1, 2011

Happy New Year!!  I knew that I would not be able to do hill repeats on Sunday (1/2/11) so I decided to get out on the bike on New Years Day.  What better way to ring in the new year but to be on the bike!  I have a lot of hills in the area where I live in South San Jose so why not do some climbing.

I started out going up Hassler, which is close to the Ranch Golf Club.  It was an afternoon ride so I was worried that it could start raining, but it stayed dry.  I headed towards Bernal and Santa Teresa and started the climb up Bernal to the entrance to IBM.  Another tough climb, but it felt good.  It was still early so hmmm...ok, let's do it, let's go for Metcalf!  Metcalf is a steep hill, even though it's not that long. 

The View From the Bottom of Metcalf

I started the climb at around 4:45pm so I knew it would be getting dark soon.  I got to the top in about 25 minutes and it was already dark.  I had to still get to San Felipe and one more small hill to get up...but going through there was a little tough and a bit nerve-racking! I learned on this ride that I don't like riding in the dark!  :)

I got home after 35 miles and about 3,800 feet of climbing.  Like I said earlier, what better way to ring in the new year!!

H

1/3/11 Tri Training: Happy New Year... Back to the Pool!

1st Monday of the New Year and right away Martin had us back in the pool  to get our training back on track after the holidays. We're officially 3 months away until the event!

After swimming the 50 meters distance, going back to the 25yds should be a piece of cake... so I thought. Sigh! The good thing is I am feeling like I can bear the endurance a bit more but swimming easier is not quite clicking. I tried breathing on both sides again and I ended up swallowing a bunch of water so I stuck to my usual right side breathing. I think the problem tonight was that there were more people sharing the lane so I also had to figure out how to slow my pace (haha, did I just say that??) and learn how to deal with coming up on a swimmer ahead of me. Obviously good practice going into an event where there will be lots of people swimming at the same time. I did actually do the entire swim set even though I did take a few breaks here and there.

200yd warm-up
Drill:
6x75 kick set (kick, drill, swim) = 450
5-4-3-2-1-0 fingertip drill pyramid= 300
Main set:
(100yd easy & 50yd hard) x3 = 450
25yd x8 easy = 200
Interval training:
50ydx4 with the rest break decreasing = 200
200yd cool down

Total swim= 2,000yds (Whoa! The yds add up!)

Aloha,
L