30th May 2007
I did a 34 miles bike ride with my friend Jeff after work today. Jeff is a pure road race cyclist; riding with him really helps me to push myself up to a higher level.
Our main goal today was to improve my climbing technique; therefore we did lots of hills with the focus on gear timing, sitting position, and when to ride out of the saddle…etc.
According to him the 3 essential keys to a good cyclist are, a person’s overall fitness, gear shifting, and the level of suffering a person can withstand. The third part sounds a little crazy but at the same time I’m a strong believer in No Pain No Gain.Cutthroat Island ipod
30th May 2007
I had my last swim lesson today. It was good; it was indeed very very good. We started out with some drills to warm up, and then spent the rest of the session to covert all the drills that I’ve learned into actual swimming.
3 months ago it took me about 23-25 strokes to swim across a 25-yard pool feeling all out of breath, today it took me 15 strokes to swim across the pool in a complete relax state of mind.
Let’s do the math here, 1 mile = 1 760 yards = 70.4 laps. If I swim 8 less strokes in each lap, I will be saving myself 563.2 strokes over the course of a 1-mile swim. Gotta efficiency.
Photo by Bidulos
Broken English hd
28th May 2007
Sorry for the lack of updates. It’s the long weekend; my body felt a little burn out, so I gave myself a little mental/physical break (AKA alone time) and drank some of my favorite beers. Ahhhhh
24th May 2007
Finally after 4+ years, my company finally got me a new computer. Compared to what I had before, this Pentium Dual Core 3.4GHz Processor with 1GB of ram feels like a rocket engine.
23rd May 2007
I talked to my good friend Jill (A Kona finisher) last night to complaint about how I don’t have time for anything anymore and some of my training frustrations. Her first response was “Alex I will forward you the perfect email first thing tomorrow morning.â€
This email was written by Dave Willcox to all the future IM finisher in 2007 (In my case 2008)
YES…That is what all of you will be at the end of 2007. An Ironman finisher. WOW!!!!! It is such a wonderful feeling and an awesome accomplishment all of you will be achieveing.
With your training starting up, enjoy every swim stroke, every pedal stroke and every stride you take in training. When that alarm goes off at 4:15am, and it’s cold outside and your body does NOT feel like getting up to jump in the pool, think about all those people that wish that they could just have the opportunity to make a decision to swim or not. When you don’t think you can climb another hill, think of the strength you are gaining from the pain you will suffer when you go up that hill. AND when you get to the top, let out a scream of jubilation to let the world know that overcoming obstacles that seem like one obstacle too much is what life is all about.
Then when you complete your longest run, remember you are blessed enough not to be running away from something but you are running towards one of the greatest athletic achievements in the world. Then when Mike Reiley calls your name and tells you you’re an Ironman, stop and thank GOD and remember the awesome journey you just finished.
Finishing Ironman is not about the finishing of the race. It’s the culmination and reward for your sacrifice, your determination, your emotional up and downs, the knowledge you gained by sticking to it!!!!!! When you felt like quitting you didn’t…..YOU FINISHED….not just the race but the Ironman journey!
I think I feel better now : )
20th May 2007
Rochester Spring Classic Duathlon
Bittersweet is probably the best way to describe my performance on Saturday. I struggled a lot in the run because of my inexperience in trail running. It was impossible to keep an even pace with all the hills going up and down. I felt like I was just dragging myself through the trail instead of running it. Overall I suck at trail running, but then we all got to start somewhere right?
Bike was where I regained my confidence, as I was exiting the transition area towards to the main road; I shifted into the big chain spinning at about 90-100 rpm averaging around 23-25mph on flat, and 65-80 rpm on hills averaging about 10-15 mph. It took me about 35 mins to ride each of 10 miles loop. I was pretty happy about that.
The final result for the 2 mile Run/10 mile Bike/1 mile Run/10 mile Bike/2 mile Run was 2hrs13mins
I want to give a special thank you to Paul Barrows for all his help and Laura Barrows for the wonderful “Go Soup Go†sign on Pittsford Mendon Rd.
Lilac 10k The Plague Dogs movie
My legs were a little stiff from Saturday, I warmed up for about a mile and did some stretching before the race to loosen things up. I had a 9 min mile goal in mind, I was doing pretty well until I hit mile mark 4, my body just decided to hate me, I slowed down a little and crossed the finish line in 59 mins.
Well that’s it; next race will be the Keuka Lake Tri. It is time to put some more Icy Hot on the legs now ahhhhh.
18th May 2007
The Rochester Spring Classic Duathlon will begin at 8:30 tomorrow morning in Mendon Ponds Park. It will be my first event this season, so I’m indeed a little nervous about it.
While I’m pretty confident on the bike part, however the run part will be an interesting experience, since it is all trails will some steep hills. So if you feel like getting up bright and early on a Saturday morning to cheer me on, I will be at the park huffing and puffing my 2 mile Run/10 mile Bike/1 mile Run/10 mile Bike/2 mile Run.
Oh I will also be doing the lilac 10k Sunday morningWalk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story dvdripGoofy's Glider psp