F.u.z.y... B.u.z.y... Dammit! So H.a.z.y...

The last we were hit badly by the haze was a couple of years back. Something like over 100 points. I remembered I brought my kids out and had to put on masks for them. And they thought it was very fun. Well, when things are out of the norm, there would always be some sense of adventure for the kids? Absolutely no understanding of how dangerous the haze could be, for personal health, as well as how hazardous it can be for all forms of transportation. It got so bad that even tourism was badly affected during that period. It was for quite a long time even.

Now the damn haze is back. PSI of 84 today. In the early morning, the surrounding buildings around the college were hazed up in the distance. In the evening now, I could smell the foul air just by standing at the windows of my flat.

In the midst of this bad air, however, I still went out for a 120km bike and 6km run bricks session yesterday. Not that I was oblivious to the bad air that was getting into my lungs, but thought it was not too bad. Just yet. It was a good session. Made my way to coastal to tackle the flat terrain and managed them reasonably well. The run was done at pace of 6:13/km for 1st km and 5:30/km for subsequent 5km. And good thing was that I still felt good on the run.


When I got back to rest however, I could feel my lungs felt constricted. As if it was all bunched up inside. But after the shower and 15min later, all was clear again. Yes, I think it was the haze and yes, it was a good thing I do not have any respiratory disorder just yet. I have 5 more weeks including taper. Really hope this haze will lift in the next few days. Otherwise my outdoor training will be badly affected. I cant imagine riding 180km on the trainer... And I dont have a treadmill...

In the evening today, I spent like almost 3 hours in the pool, thereabouts?! 400m warm up, 400m kicks, 3x400m (3min break), 6x200m (2min break), 9x100m (1min break), 12x50m (15s break), 100m warm down. Yes, that worked out to be 4.7km swim! I was feeling very, very tired out! Came out of pool feeling so hungry and wolfed down so much carb when I got back! 200m average of 3:38, 100m average of 1:45, 50m average 51s. I think I am making good timing with my swim. It was a stark improvement over my swim times in the beginning of the year. I really think that the breakthrough came from the Monday swim sessions. I started swimming with them since June and that was when my timings started to come down, strokes and gliding got much better. Basically, efficiency improved as well. So Coach was right to get me to go through with them even if it were just a short 1hr. Great stuff!

***

Newton 30km run updated their timing sheet and my result was up. Time was as expected, 3:09:58. But ranking dropped to 417 out of 1376. Still top 31%, but I suppose it can still be better? Will try again next year to go under 3hours then - if the event will still be held?

This year, I have moved up in terms of timings for all the repeated events done. All were PBs compared to last year. That's really a confidence booster. It just meant my training is on the right track. Perhaps slowly, but surely. And I dont want to rush it, I want the fitness to be sustained and to remain injury free as well. Triathlon is a lifestyle and I would like to keep it that way for a long time to come.