2nd race for the kids for 2011 this morning. 150m swim at Siloso Beach and a 1.5km run. Well, they didnt get off to a great start coz they forgot their goggles. I had to walk to Palawan Beach to buy their goggles while they went to bodymark. They still have much to learn. I am to be blamed of course, because I didnt prep them for the race. Anyway, they completed the race safe and sound. Thats going to matter more than anything else. First sea swim too!
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After hammering in 55km of hard bike yesterday, I rested my legs for a few hours more and only started on my run at 4pm. 32km run with 22km rolling was a tough run. Started out quite comfortable but by the time I hit 22km, I was beginning to feel the fatigue setting in but pressed on. As the sun set, the heat dissipated but the body was still not cooling down fast enough. Had to douse myself with water. Good thing that I used a different route so that I have access to the petrol kiosks toilet this time. If I had gone into Mandai. it would be a long stretch without fluids and plus more rolling terrain, it would have completely dehydrated me.
Coach put me on 5:50 pace and I managed just that. Finished the run in 3:06:22. Not in pain when I got home. So that was a very good sign. Now I need to get to my roller and massage the legs or suffer the consequences (and the wrath of my Coach!).
Caught a term on TV, Strawberry Generation, probably synonymous to the current Generation Y people? Essentially, it served as a description of the youths born in 1980 to 1990. Nice looking on the surface, but fragile and cannot withstand stress. The programme went on to discuss about how this generation came about: that they were very well taken care of while they were young, and also, how the schools pamper them and always praising them for all that they did. And how some whom they had interviewed switched 5 jobs within a year, due to poor pay, poor benefits, long working hours. Apparently there was also a study with some corporates and discovered that most of those who joined within a year had already left. While those who were left behind, were in the midst of preparing to leave.
I was looking for an online video of the telecast, but I cant seem to find it. Its with the intention of showing it to my students and hopefully recognise that they may not always get what they want in life. If only life were so easy.
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Wednesday caught a lazy bug. Coach prescribed a spin session of 30km but it rained in the evening. So instead of riding, I went home. Thereafter, the bug took over the order of things.
Thursday was a 6km in 4:45 pace. Usually for such runs, I would do it at the track. That pace was suppose to be 1min 54s per 400m and I stuck to that timing. Not many people that evening because it was drizzling. Empty track, cool weather, the run felt good. Thought could have gone on for another 2km. This meant that last week's 8km tempo could have been done at this pace too. Probably felt tired from the 100km bike perhaps then.
Today's bike was with my running mate, Andrew. Coach put me on 2 sets of 20km sustained HR in high zone 3. But the moment we started, Andrew was pushing really hard. In the end, it was a full 55km of zone 5. The return loop felt like the ENR speed session. Checked my polar data and I was riding above 42kph for that last 7km. Absolutely crazy! There was no way I would be able to sustain this pace in a race! Did a 4km run in 22min but it felt sustainable for a while. How long? I cant say for sure. Felt alright nonetheless.
Now I am all tired. Wonder how I am going to do a 32km run at 5:50 pace tomorrow. Have to start early as the kids have their kids aquathlon (or just biathlon) by Tribob. Oh well, I just have to make do somehow. And crash out at home after their race. Or maybe run in the mid afternoon. I think I may have to do that instead. Rest my legs more.
What a weekend its going to be (and had been so far)!
Just read from local papers, that from 85% of Indonesia covered by forestry in the 1950s, this percentage is now reduced to 47%. Prediction is a total wipeout in 35 years. That will be during my lifetime, or at least my children's lifetime.
I am not a big fan of looking at the forest from afar, after spending my fittest years in the army, running up and down hills, bashing through thorny branches, I have lost affection for the green - just the colour. Which is the same reason I didnt enjoy Milford Sound in New Zealand, while it is a huge tourism spot.
However, that doesnt mean I dont appreciate the nature, the scent the forests bring out. The serene, peace and quiet broken only by the the birds' chirps. The breeze that enters an open canopy and rustles the leaves. The crackling of the dew damp logs and trunks heated by the morning sun. Buzzing of insects, cicadas that signaled the start of a brand new day. It is not everyday that we get to enjoy such natural sounds.
The senseless logging by both the legal and illegal companies will rob us of the natural beauty. And possibly permanently. Besides accelerating the green house effect, we are losing a huge chunk of what God had given us in the natural form. Reforestation may be able to bring back these millennium old foresteries, but will it bring back the lost flora and fauna that started out with them originally?
And yet, we are more concerned with growth of economies, advancement of technologies. If we do not put a stop to destruction, no great economy nor technology may be able to jump start nature again. Bearing in mind, that the sun is a huge hydrogen ball, highly unstable, it is also the giver of life on earth. Read about how recently it had shown more activity compared to the past years. Has it occurred to anyone, what if the sun, being like any other stars out there, one day, stops burning? What next then?
***
Coach has ordered to do an easy bike session today, instead of the planned 100km bike and 6km run and rest well for the upcoming sessions for the rest of the week. This was a result of the bad session from last night at the track. Programme was 200m run, 100m recovery, 300m run, 200m recovery. This was 1 set. We did 8 sets of that.
Sadly, I was trailing Uncle Lim, the 60 year old. By a huge margin - 3 to 4s for the 200m, as huge as 7 to 8s for the 300m. My legs just felt jelly and lungs were breathing heavily. Maybe it was the weekend's heavy sessions, or maybe it was just my weak mind. Likely a combination of both. But was a devastating session, nonetheless.
Monday night was also a hard hitting session, trying to follow Jerry and Julian during the main programme of 200m, 300m, 300m, 200m sets with filppers. But still felt good at the end of it. I suppose the Monday swims dont tire me out as easily as last time. In fact, my lone pool sessions are a much more tiring hit in comparisom, despite it being a lower intensity.
I am so tempted to continue with the 100km ride and 6km run. But I am afraid that it would be a wasted session because I may not be able to do the prescribed sets. I know it is not going to be an easy session today. Perhaps a rest will do me good.
