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Dec 29, 2010    |      1 comment

I’d Rather Take The Stairs

I made an interesting observation was made at the Las Vegas Marathon Expo earlier this month. Almost all of the attendees who had the goodie bag (meaning they were registered for the race) were taking the stairs. People who didn’t (possibly spectators, friends & family) took the escalator. Hmm… well, well. What do you think about that? I also find myself not really minding parking really far at the grocery store, or the mall. I’ve pretty much made it my routine every morning, to park on the 4th floor of my work parking structure, and use the stairs. I’m not talking a slow leisurely walk down the stairs either. I try to go down as fast as I can, making sure my heart rate is up by the time I’m done. Why? It wakes me up. It’s a great start to a workday. Also, on my way home, there’s another way, using the rooftop access, then taking the stairs down the parking structure. You know, after have trained for hundreds of miles, and ran a few 26.2s, what’s a flight of some stairs?

Dec 28, 2010    |      0 comments

Just In Case

You see, there’s a HUGE opportunities in the endurance sports world for products because most of us are willing to try just about anything from weird balance bracelets, organic energy bars, shoe inserts that make you run faster, and so on. We love to use trial and error until something sticks. Believe me, I’m one of those people. I’ve got tons of running watches, water belts, and sunglasses. I never get tired of marathon health expos because most of the stuff in there are so entertaining. Some funny, some interesting, some… well, I end up buying. What you see above was something I saw a few years ago, but never thought of even buying because I would always carry my ID anyway. The risk of me getting hurt on a jog, I felt very unlikely, because to tell you the truth, I always ran in groups anyway. I hardly went on any midweek runs on my own, and if it was too dark, I’d just skip it (oops! don’t tell my coaches!). Now, there’s more of a risk because it’s easy to fall behind or stray off course on a bike route, especially if there’s no sweepers, or support staff following stragglers in their car.

It’s better to be safe than sorry, so I bought a RoadID Anklet. They also sell bracelets, but since I already wear my running watch, I didn’t want to get any more arm band tans! It’s a “Just In Case” bracelet that contains my name and emergency numbers, and precautionary info (I don’t have any allergies or anything). I even put my Twitter name just for fun. It is made of durable components that will withstand training, and it was highly recommended by my IronTeam coaches as well. I hope that I never really use this, but it’s good to know that the right people will be contacted if anything happens.

Dec 27, 2010    |      0 comments

24Hr Dirty Fitness

Being a member of Equinox seriously spoiled me in terms of gym standards. Of course, I get what I pay for, and because the membership is so high, I get it, I get all these extras (cleaner lockers, workout towels, all the toiletries, more classes). I mainly picked Equinox because it was the most convenient to my workplace. It’s a no nonsense turn to the parking lot to and from work. Easy peasy. The main reason why I have my 24 membership is that I signed a contract years and years ago that I’m locked into a pretty cheap annual rate. It’s a good gym backup, plus I like the convenience of having an option if I ever needed to go to the gym at 11pm.

Today, I went to the new 24Hr Fitness closest to my parents house. I haven’t been to a 24 in forever, so coming back to this one was a huge improvement! Really clean machines, nicely lit interior, ample room. The pool is indoors and heated. I guess since I went on a busy hour, obviously, the pool was busy too. Usually, I get the privacy in the Equinox pool because hardly anyone can brave the cold (since it’s on the roof) before entering the water. The pool here started off at 3ft, then gets to 5ft towards the end. You see the photo above? Well, when I went the water was not clear at all. I don’t even remember seeing those lane lines. I went underwater and I could barely see the other end of the pool! I don’t know if it’s dirty, or the way their chlorine is, but it felt really dirty to me.

Sure, I guess you can call it part of triathlon training, because in an actual tri event, there’s no way I’m going to get ideal pool conditions anyway. It was the closest pool I could get to, so I shouldn’t complain. I was able to work on some drills, plus practice some breathing and turning skills my UCLA instructor told me to practice.

Dec 26, 2010    |      0 comments

Old Stomping Grounds

Christmas weekend, family parties galore, food, food, and more food. Saturday’s practice was an optional bike ride, but since I was out of town (and didn’t have my bike with me), I skipped that session since it was a holiday. Sunday was scheduled a 30 minute run, so I went on GMaps Pedometer and found a 4.25 mile loop around my old hometown of Walnut, CA. It came out to be a 45 minute run, but I kept it at an easy pace, especially since it’s been a while on this route. It started at a nice mile downhill to help warm up my muscles, but as soon as I turned on the next major street, it was pretty much a 2 mile uphill climb. The final mile consisted of rolling hills, but net downwards.

Growing up, I never noticed the beautiful scenery Walnut had. I used to always bike this route with my BMX style bike with friends, going through unexplored (to us) terrain, trying to figure out shortcuts, or places with cool ramps. Nowadays I’m used to running on city sidewalks or the beaches in Santa Monica, but today’s run had some birds chirping, air seemed cleaner, not so many cars. It really felt like I was somewhere remote for the holidays. The weather was crisp and cold, mainly because it was the day after the rain.

Dec 25, 2010    |      0 comments

Endurance Sports Christmas!

Merry Christmas! It’s crazy how a few years ago all I ever wanted was some kind of electronics geeky gadget, or video game. That was before I did any kind of sport, or any physical activity at least. This year all I wanted were the necessities for my triathlon training, or marathon events. I’d be happy getting just running socks! Endurance sports accessories are expensive and they can add up!

My parents got me a Profile Design Water Bottle Holder for my seat post (for those longer training rides), a new Specialized bike seat for comfort for those long rides (I coudln’t even handle a one hour ride, so I was seeking for something more comfortable). I love it, and I couldn’t be happier! My sister and new brother-in-law’s gift was a huge surprise because I didn’t tell them I even needed it (let alone I even knew it exists), a pretty sweet TYR Elite Transition Bag for my triathlon! They got help from their triathlete roommate who wanted the same bag, but I love it too! I can’t compare it to another transition bag because I’ve never had to use one, but I love all the features. So much to write, so the best way is to show you a video:

Dec 23, 2010    |      0 comments

Back to Basics

There’s only so much the coaches can do on group swim sessions to beginner swimmers, because there’s usually 20 of us (participants) and only a few of them at a given time. It’s pretty amazing what they have to done to me these past 8 weeks in the pool when I had ZERO swim experience. I can float, glide, do a few strokes, and the rest of the drills, but what I’m missing, is quite the most important part, are the swim basics & fundamentals. Yes, like breathing underwater, and treading water. I really need to get private swim lessons to focus on what really needs to happen before I move on. Even my coaches suggested I do so. By the end of January I think we will be doing open water swims, so I really need to step up my swim game to continue. My friend Petty, from the Westside TNT Tri Team is going through the same challenges (I found out when I tweeted seeking for swim coach suggestions). She reached out to her current coach for lessons, but is unavailable, so we were referred to a swim coach in UCLA.

This morning we met up at the Spieker Pool over in the north side of campus at 6:15am. Whoa! That was super early for my taste, but I gotta do what I gotta do! This pool was probably the nicest pool I’ve ever seen, as it had a modern design, super clean, seemed like professionals were in the pool, coaches on the sidelines – pretty much what you’d see on TV. Of course, it’s funded by some UCLA alums, so it has to be that state of the art. Petty and I met with Julia, our new swim instructor. We were both surprised that there was no shallow end of this pool! I think 8ft was the most shallow. Oh uh! We were so hesitant to get in that pool. “What? How do we… umm… where do I… what… where?!” hahaha! She had us put on some fins to help us float and navigate, but she had us go through some breathing drills by just having us submerge in water, blowing out air bubbles and go up for 1 second to grab air. We pretty much did that for a good 20 minutes, from stationary, to spanning the side of the pool. We also used the kick board moving across the lane, but also focusing on getting that breathing down. We had fins the whole time, with her sometimes testing us to see if we could go in the middle without having to grab something for support. We did a few rotation exercises, and flutter kicks as well. Being this is the first class, I haven’t been more comfortable in the water. She was really good at making us relax in the water, and to get rid of our deep end fears. We will meet again next week at 6am, but she wants us to get as much pool time as we can, so I bet she will make us take off those fins and do some basic swims.

Dec 21, 2010    |      0 comments

Body Rolls in the Rain

No, not THAT kind of body roll (above), but body rolls & rotation in relation to swimming. Tonight was another coached practice at the Culver City Plunge. It was raining, but it didn’t matter because we were going to get wet in the pool anyway. As long as it wasn’t a lightning storm, we should be ok. Again, it was a huge challenge, but it was actually the best one yet. I was actually able to do a freestyle swim (although sloppy) across the pool! I still had issues breathing, but like I mentioned earlier, it was mainly due to my body position. That’s exactly what I need to focus on. I know it’s tough to manage 20 or so participants in the pool, let alone help a super beginner, so the coaches suggested I seek outside help to get me up to speed. Understandable, and yes, I really need it. Ultimate deadline to get swimming is at the end of January, where I think the first open water swim will occur. I’m determined, so I’ll start to look for options and do whatever it will take to get swimming!

Dec 20, 2010    |      0 comments

Swimming Infants

Today’s a training rest day, so I spent some time looking up videos on YouTube for swimming tips & basics. I came across this video where an infant is SWIMMING. If an infant can do it, I can do it!

Dec 18, 2010    |      0 comments

Running in the Rain

I don’t know how I got past four years of running without having to run in the rain. The closest I ever got was in Alaska, where it started to sprinkle just a little before the race. All the other times I rained for practice, I was probably out of town. This morning, I finally got to run in the rain. Yes, another first. It was quite refreshing though. Splish splashing around, occasional mud, cars driving by splashing water. Good times. Brought back memories again of childhood just playing in the rain after school, having to walk home.

We met at Ocean & San Vicente again, then we ran up 15 minutes and back, for a total of an hour. Going up San Vicente was a little more challenging because it was slightly uphill, but I enjoyed the way back, downhill. Wearing my rain jacket kept the rain out, but it also kept the heat in. I felt really good most of the time as I only had to stop for walks early with intervals, and a few stoplights, but I was able to stick to a constant pace throughout. I’m thinking it’s the cross training with swimming & biking that is definitely helping my run, much more than just doing other runs in between.

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