Power Based Indoor Training for Cycling

I have always been a firm believer of indoor cycling and its benefits way back during my first few years of cycling. Being able to ride consistently in a controlled environment helps you dial into the specific workouts. It's also easier to compare one workout to another because there are less variables to think off.

This is me on my magenetic trainer some time 2013

Fast forward to 2016 I've equipped myself with the knowledge of power based training by the use of a power meter and measuring efforts via watts.  I had my first dive at this when I took my lactate test with Don Velasco and we created a baseline of my fitness. From there it opened a new world of appreciation for me on how train and race smart.

With this, I eventually got myself a Wahoo Kickr, which is a smart trainer that can electronically lock you into a specific target wattage. It can also mimic elevation terrain of real live courses, but I think we will leave that part of the story for a later blog. I've been confident I can bring my cycling training a notch higher with these specific types of training.

Currently, I have been working out using an app called Trainer Road on my Kickr. Trainer Road provides me with a structured program that lasts for 28 weeks going from base --> build --> specialty. This ensure I get to have a solid foundation of fitness before getting on race specific type of workouts one phase at a time.

Results for the first 6 weeks of training have given me a 9.5% increase in my FTP and also led me to shed 3lbs, this too gave me an extra bump on my power to weight ratio.

 

A typical workout on Trainer Road working on VO2 max intervals

As mentioned earlier, this is one of the beauties of indoor cycling. You are able to properly measure changes in a controlled environment and thus you see where improvements can happen, or where weaknesses can be found. Unlike when you ride outdoors, variables such as heat, wind, traffic, elevation and alike can create changes in the results of a workout even though you ride the same course each time. A truly equal comparisons can't be made from one workout to another.

A few cycling studios are applying the training methodology in the Philippines and it will be quite interesting for anyone to give it a try.

Don't get me wrong though, I love riding outdoors too! But for all other more structured and specific workouts, you will always find me indoors for these.

21 Days of Hot Yoga - A Mind Battle

Session 14-15 - Forgetfull
I am sorry but I have been quite busy and have just been working back on what has been happening to me the past few days. I seriously do not remember what happen during these last two sessions. Talk about yoga brain right? Anyways will work on keeping up the posting for the next few days. I am pretty sure I did them since I have checks at the board haha

Session 16 - Personal Sorrow
My mind was elsewhere today. Been having some personal issues and it was just bothering me through my day. Its hard to breath out these kind of thing. I feel that I've overcome the physical part of this practice, my body can take the practice but its always so eye opening how much my mind is being the real leader if it will be a good or bad day. My mind chose to be a bad day because I got some issues bla bla bla. The thing about this is that I let it be that way, I let it overcome me and had it take control.

Session 17 - Kicking it Ninja Style
"Yesterday was crap to today has to be awesome" I told myself. I was up early for the 6am class cause I was asleep by 8:30pm the night before. Had lots of energy and I put it all out there today in the hot room. Was sweating and kicking my face off and I left a happy boy ready for work.

Session 18 - Keep Struggling
Woke up quite lazy today and was actually counting in my head the number of days I had before if I chose not to go class this early morning. It was probably in those split few minutes that I just said ok "lets do it little by little" get up first, have some bread, and find your way to get in the car and drive to the studio.

I was crazy lazy today cause maybe I'm just tired of it all right now. 18 days of yoga come on! Who wouldn't be right? But we are nearing the end here and I gotta just hold on a little more.

Session 19 - Anything else but Yoga
It's coming to a point that time becomes quite an issue for the last few practices. I begin to see how much of my time its really eating up and I do get these urges to defer practices because I want to do this or that. We are so near the end but it is still a struggle in a lot different ways.

Today's practice was strong, I haven't seen Frank for the past few days and I really enjoyed my practice with him today. It was exactly what my body was looking for. A strong fast hard practice :D

Session 20 - Barely Moving
I  felt stiff and weak today. I'm looking at it as a nutritional issue cause I ate some pretty nasty bacon this morning. I did not feel and strength today even though I was raring to go at the start of the class. I tried my best to stay in it but I felt like a car with nothing in the tank. The whole practice felt like a torture to be honest and I don't enjoy being and feeling this way.

After class I spoke with Frank about it and he pepped me up with how to give it my all these last few days of the challenge. His exact words were "you gotta kill yourself". I think he wants to see me REALLY push to the point where I discover something new about myself.

This whole 30 day challenge has been about me seeing up to where my body can go. I've honestly thought this was already it, but after speaking with Frank, he believes I can go even more. Gotta get my game face on for the next few days cause I'm ready to show him and myself what else I've got.

14 Days of Hot Yoga at Bikram Yoga Alabang

Session 7 & 8 - Time Lapse
This was the day I knew I had to tough it out as much as I can. I did my practice at 6am had a meeting the whole day and did my second practice at 8pm. I remember going on autopilot by the 8pm class, I wasn't even thinking anymore. Postures were just happening one after the other, it's like I was just jumping through snippets of pictures in my mind. I was feeling dead by the time I came home, I had my dinner at 11pm and eventually dozed off.

This I think returns to what I was looking for in day 1. We're in the midst of it now and this is where I will see changes and where I will need to dig deep in searching for what my body can do. This has to be the most exciting part right?

Session 9 - A Whiff of Coolness
I'm beginning to do odd things in the hot room just to see what happens. Today I went to see what the big fuzz is about in being by the door during your practice. Let me tell your right now its COOOOLLDD there! It wasn't even open and my legs and mat were cool. In any case, I don't think its for me. Heck yeah its cold but I think its way much more fun ducking it out with the heat.

Anyways on to my practice, today was a good day in my book. I'm not sure if I'm just not doing it that hard anymore but the triangle pose has began to get more bearable for me. My heart rate isn't all over the place anymore. Let's see what my teacher says tonight.

My head to knee is another nice pose I've been happy to learn something new on. I've been focusing on the PULL phase of this posture which Frank was saying would be the best place to go since I can't really lock my leg yet when its pulled up. So I'm happy I can find something else to work on now.

Session 10 - Way Out of Wack
I was very blank before entering the hot room today. I felt no emotion, no feeling, just nothing.  In some sense my body just had to drag itself to yoga. I remember even yawning during the first few postures and had my mind everywhere. So as  I started, I already set my mind to fail.

Thus it was such a tasking 90 minutes. Bikram yoga is tough in itself, but doing it the way I did makes it a pain fest of its own. I constantly kept telling myself mentally to shake it off but the mindset I instilled at the start of the class was such a virus that it kept tugging me down.

More than anything the last few days have been very mental. I'm quite confident I can handle the daily workout since that's exactly what happens during triathlon trainings. But the mental aspect of this practice is really something. If there is something I will learn, it will definitely be mental toughness.

Session 11 - A Whisk of Motivation
The mind is a powerful tool. I came in today with soaring motivation as I just saw a new race I got so excited to train for and do. I just went on and rode with it this evening in the studio, and had a very strong practice. My mind brings my body to places where it simply amazes me. Yesterday I had one hell of crazy day and today it was just a total 180. I'm excited to learn more on this.

Session 12 - Breath
Ginger mentioned the other day that "The mind is the king of the body" and "The breath is the king of the mind" and thus here I was today working on breathing EVERY little pain, hardship, and drama I would be having in the hot room. I kept a calm face and focused on breathing in every little way that I can. It's amazing really with what sort of sorcery this can do for your practice.

Everyone always has those moments when they are holding a posture and are thinking to themselves "ooh this is tough, I can't hold it anymore. I'm slipping, ow ow ow" Yeah we've all been there. But just like what Frank once said "Don't think! It's painful to think. Focus on your breath instead" Trust me guys, try it out in your next practice and see how much of a change it can give to you

Session 13 - Pulling Through
I had such a good sleep this morning getting about 11hours in. I kept waking up mid sleep thinking "what time is it?", then I doze off again til I just realized it was already time for lunch. I felt very refreshed and lazy at the same time thinking I should just do a make up class another day. But I said to myself, what am I gonna do here just laying around all afternoon so I brought myself to class anyways.

At first feeling a little lazy I went through the postures and remembered how good my last few days were. So I snapped myself into gear and again just kept on breathing. I may not feel 100% today but heck lets just do the best I can and forget the rest. Some postures were tough while others didn't feel so bad.

So hey that's session 13 done and were almost half way! I'm feeling really strong in my practice physically and mentally so lets get it on and keep the ball rolling.

My first 7 days of the Bikram Yoga Alabang Challenge

Session #1 - I know I can!
First day has all the hype and excitement plus I know I'm coming in fresh, so I knew I wouldn't really be having too much of a tough day. Really weird though cause most people are shying away from the pain, I am came in today looking for it. I'm raring for that challenge that will make me tumble, fall and fail. Quite funny when I think I about it, but maybe failure these days are something I enjoy and accept cause that way I know I'm learning something and getting better.

Session #2&3 Going doubles
I'm having to sneak in a two yoga classes today since I had to miss yesterday for unforeseen circumstances. Had the 6am in the morning and I am really toughing it out on that triangle pose. Who the heck thought of it!?!? Anyways because of how totally uncool that posture makes me feel now I feel like I gotta get my revenge on it and knock it down haha Well, lets see!

On a good note though, my toe stand has become AWESOME (that's what I think anyways) Ginger was right when she pointed out that such a small adjustment makes a world of difference in your posture. In this case I just needed to change where I was looking and *tada* I was there looking all cool for everyone to see =D

During my second class I was in no man's land since this would be the first time I would be doing doubles. I had no idea how my body would be reacting and it was quite an experience. During my practice I began creeping in thoughts in my head like "oh crap, I still have how many days of this to go? Can I really do it or did I just get myself into this?" These are the exact sames words that come up too when I train for triathlons. Self-doubt is my mortal enemy and this is where I will be tested again. Thankfully I was able to pull through this second class and I would go as far to say that I had a better practice than this morning.

Session# 4 - Creeping Voices
I'm feeling a little tense having the idea in the back of my head I am missing one day as compared to the other challengers. I have this personality of mine to always have things I need to do done, before things tend to pile up.

So today was day 4 for me but day 5 for everyone else. I felt quite woozy today but strong in the other postures. I'm not really sure how my body was feeling but it wasn't that good today, that's for sure. Frankie mentioned in class today about taking it easy and maybe I do need to pace myself a little better. We are at the start of the challenge and I do need to keep it together and strong.

Voices have been creeping up again in my brain, shouting out doubts here and there. I tend to falter more today, so I need to block them out. I need more focus to keep my mind clear and just release everything with the breath. It actually really does work!

Anyways I've gotten through today and will be doing an afternoon practice tom.

Session #5 - Learning a lesson
This was that session that I felt lost from the start off. I'm not that sure if it's because of my lack of sleep, the food I ate, or my mindset. Things were not just clicking today. It felt disappointing at first seeing myself just whisk through the postures not even pushing but at the end of the day I still felt an appreciation to myself for trying. I felt thankful to my body and mind for giving it a try and working with what it had for the day.

Session # 6 - Forgetfulness
I remembered how bad I felt the day before I would like to come in today with a forgetful mind of what happen the day before. History is something to learn from but I having it dictate your fears and emotions would not do me any good. I kicked the thought out of my head and pushed on. Well it was good today. Feeling a little tired but it was good. Time to watch a movie now with my girlfriend!

Starting Point

I think an important part before having the 30 day challenge come Monday will be for me to set my expectations and the goals I hope to achieve from all this.

This morning I took a weight and body fat test and got the results as follows:

Weight: 139lbs
Body fat: 15.1%

I've never been this light even during the time of my heavy training back then for triathlon events, so I begin to ask the question on why. But in any case I think that whole discussion will be for another post. For now this will at least be my physical data which I will use as my starting point.

For my goals, physically I'm looking to really loosen up a lot of parts of my body especially my hamstrings which by far has to be the tightest muscle I've got. I am also hoping to have a more well rounded physical ability in a sense of building strength. Yoga has a really sneaky way of pointing out your weaknesses and smacking you in the face with it. Thus my absurdly dying snail like form when doing the locust pose, cobra pose, or any other pose which needs lower back strength

In terms of expectations, by far the biggest obstacle I see would be time management mixed with lazy days and stress full days. I know there will be times that plans don't go too well or my whole practice could come crumbling down while in the hot room. It will be a toughie as I would call it, but I gotta be tougher.

Anyways, I'm quite excited for it and don't really know how my body and my mind will react to this and I suppose that's what will make it so much more fun!

Bikram Yoga 30 Day Challenge

I remember reading once that it takes 30 days to create a new habit. This span of time is when your mind and body adapts this new stimulus and later on eventually gets used to it and thus becomes a habit.

In the coming July I am seeking to create this new habit and even more make it as a challenge. Our local bikram yoga studio will be having its 30 day challenge where in a student would have to finish 30 bikram classes of yoga in 30 days.

I've always had the fantasy of doing this challenge when I first heard of it but never really had the time to do so. But now I think is just the right moment for me to do this. After taking what I may call as a brief hiatus from a square life of training purely for triathlon, this would be a very welcoming challenge to see how else I can push myself.

I can already feel that this July will be on for the books as I will be juggling the 30 day challenge, my commitment to training in my triathlon discipline, a day job, and also a social life with my girl friend. It will be quite an effort not only for me but also the people around me whom I think will have my back for this one.

Anyways I am planning to do a day to day log if you will for this whole challenge and well lets see, how things come about. Til then!

I think I've learned a little more along the way

Change happens and I've felt a big leap of maturity after a hiatus in the sport. For the first two years I came in eager, excited and in such a rush with things. I wanted to do a lot of big things and make them happen as fast as possible. I was seeking to achieve such thing that I forget to be patient and get put down when they don't  come.

Lately I have learned and have been looking at the sport in a little more laid back manner. I have no races I am really looking at this year but I am getting my butt to train as much as I can. The feeling this time around is that I am enjoying what I am doing for what it is and not because I have pressured myself into needing to do certain things. The enjoyment of the sport is again very much alive in my heart and am looking at this whole thing as a beautiful process.

They said triathlon is a lifestyle. It really is, for you to do it day in and day out. The training is more of a daily routine much like breathing that it comes naturally. But really, importance is in the enjoyment of it everyday. I believe you should be happy and keep doing what has been making you happy.

Anyways, I think this could be a return of my blogging but it is something for us to see first I suppose.

Are you ready to be a triathlete’s girlfriend?

Ladies, are you sure you really want an Iron Boy of your own? Here are a few things you may want to consider, enjoy! =)

- Most of your quality time with him will be while he's carbo-loading.

- You will be privy to more information about his bodily functions than you ever cared to know.

- He can spend 10 hours on his bike. Don't be jealous ok?

- Be prepared to consider doing a long run followed by a yoga session as a "date"

- His legs will often be smoother than yours.

- You'll have to at least pretend to like swimming, biking or running if you ever want to see him on the weekends.

- He'll only be able to take you dancing on one of his "rest weeks."

- We either smell like sweat or smell like chlorine

- If you can't beat him, JOIN him!

- Tights... hahaha Yeah

- The fastest way to a triathlete's heart is through his stomach. Thus race day breakfast!

- You'll have to start sex early or settle for a "quickie,' so that he can get to bed by 10pm.

- The correlations between regular exercise and sex are true.

Endurance.

- Dates are usually done in between lunch and early dinner til 9pm.

- Don't make it such a big issue if he has a smaller waist line than you.

- Don't worry about saddle issues - if he gets numb, you get numb. (numb, numb, numb)

- No matter how much you or he wants to snuggle in the morning, you'll have to kick him out of bed by 5:45am.

- You'll have to learn all the words to Eye of The Tiger.

- Rest Days.

- Yes. His body will have stripes like a zebra!!

- You'l have to learn how to make a protein shake.

- If he say's he's tired. He probably really is.

- Start learning the jargons. T1, intervals, long ride, GU, etc.

- You'll help him choose his race calendar based on where you'll get to travel ("You should definitely race in Monaco!")

- On race day, you'll have to get up early, stand out in the chilly morning to watch his wave start, keep your eyes peeled to see him exit the water and cheer your head off for him, take actions shots of him leaving transition on the bike, then find something to do for 2-3 hours before any stores are open, but get back in time to get more pictures of him running out of transition and wait another couple hours before you get to watch him finish. AKA Personal Assistant!

- Sunscreen, Sunscreen, Sunscreen.

- Long weekends = Longer training days

- No matter how fast or how slow he is, ALWAYS make him feel like a Champion.

- Be prepared to get hooked on the sport yourself...

AND

-When the going gets tough, the race is long and digging deep for that last push of energy is at it's hardest, know that the thing that keeps him going is the thought of you waiting for him at the finish line.

Training Log # 23 - Learning from a Team Mate - The Cobra 70.3 Ironman Experience

After having my wall blasted full of people's congratulations, the hype and the feeling of the 70.3 Ironman has now settled. It's now the perfect moment  that I begin to finally contemplate on the experience that may shape me to becoming a much more focused and persevering athlete.

I'd like to finally say that I am dissapointed. At who? Well the only person I can point the finger is at me. I finished with a time of 5:38, but this was for from an ideal time. As I had a feeling of shame and discontent for the few days I kept thinking back over and over again where things may have gone wrong.

I was telling myself I did the training, so why did I not hit my mark? What could have gone wrong? Looking back, I have realized that I have been the laziest athlete during this whole training season. Some people would say, but you did the training! How could you be lazy? The truth is, at times it got tough I paused, when it got really tough I just stopped and thought to myself "ehh maybe next workout will be better lets call it a day". This mentality kept playing in my head and it went on from one workout to another til it somehow developed into a habit.

Then I look at one my team mates "Mamita". Now this woman nailed everything she was told to. If we were told to bike 3hr and run 2hrs, she would do it to the very last milisecond and even sometimes go for more saying "ehh sayang 13.89km gawin na nating 14k" When she had to do two heavy workouts in a day, she still went on and did it. Never did I hear her say, I'm too tired I'll just rest.. And now look at the fruits of her labor, she just won 2nd place in her age group during her first 70.3 taking down veterans of the sport. Impossible? Nothing seems to be as long as you keep the work ethic. Now I'd like to say that I am honored to have trained right side by her learning what it takes to reach for something you really want to achieve.

People begin to think all this comes easy and we just go out there with our happy faces on and don't feel pain. But no, its hard, every single day its hard. It hurts, we're tired, and want to just go home. But each day we choose to push.

As with this "failure", it may have just refueled my intensity to bring it to a higher level. Let me put it on record now,

"Be ready for next year's Ironman 70.3 cause I will make something special happen on that day!"

Training Log # 22 - 92 Days & 2580kms - The Road I paved for the 70.3 Ironman

Today marks the last day of heavy workouts and I officially enter taper week for the upcoming 70.3 Ironman Philippines. Its such an accomplishing feeling just knowing I am here right now and am ready to do this battle.

The journey though to this point has been tough. On average I was knocking down 220kms of training mileage per week, a mixture of swim, bike, and run. Not everyday was such an easy day, or should I say most days just felt really hard. There were days where in you just felt lazy and tired but knew you had to get a workout in. On other days things just don't seem to fall into place and you feel like your struggling so much through out the set. But each time I finish these tough sessions I know it always brings me one step closer to my goal.

The drama though did not stop there, other challenges like injuries, work responsibilities, and alike were a few of the things that you need to handle each and everyday and it does get stressful and tiring at times. One of my normal days would usually look like this, wake up at 5am to run - eat right after - then rush to work for my 7AM class - work work work - go to the pool to swim - eat - sleep. It seems monotonic and repetitive at times but well that's what you gotta do.

Sacrifices too were one of the biggest things I had to make in preparation for this event. Countless night outs passed me by, just so that I had the strength to wake up early next morning in order to train, train, and train some more. Through out this whole experience I always did ask myself why over and over again? Why am I doing this right now? Why should I keep going? Why is it so hard? For each time, I always reminded myself of THE DREAM I promised myself I would do, and from there I am able to quiet my thoughts.

Today I would like say I am very proud just being here and I am ready for the last task ahead and this will be the race. I wish everyone the best of luck and see you all on the starting line!

Training Log # 21- Burn Out and Recovery

As of the moment I am almost at the end of my 70.3 Iron Man training and the word TIRED has been something that has been on my mind for the past few days. Fatigue has been something I have been carrying from workout to workout due to the high volume and loading we have been doing. I can somehow already feel the difference between being plain lazy and the need to for some recovery. I have finally learned to read and listen to my body.

During workouts you can already feel that you have no focus or power to be backing up your activity and this I think is the biggest sign for me that I should take a few steps back. Usually swimming laps for example, feels like a normal lap one after the other, while yesterday I was just struggling to do 50 meters. (its really funny when I think about it)

To be honest my last workout was already practically a 70.3 Iron Man distance bike and run cause I just finished off a 93km bike then went onwards for a 15km run. In the next two weeks I'm looking to surpass that and then finally start tapering. Our swim workouts on the other hand are already averaging a minimum of 5kms per sessions, and this is mixed with intervals and paddles which are not the easiest things to do in the world.

Overall I'm not depressed or anything that at this point that I'm starting to bonk. I see it as a positive sign that my body is taking in all the training. Once I get some rest and then taper properly this will only make me much stronger for race day.

Wuhoooo! 2 days off!

Training Log # 20 - 6 weeks out from IM 70.3 Philippines

I've got to say that I hate the position I am in right now. Injury six weeks out, from my biggest race in the year. Lets give a moment and let me shout.

AAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

I'm currently suffering from a "weird" tendinitis on my iliotibial band. I termed it weird cause it has the symptoms of the ITBS but it only seems to come out during my bike rides and is totally gone when I start running. Anyways what ever it is, it's been really bothering me a lot psychologically. I consider myself a workaholic in terms of the training I put in, and when I miss workouts or I'm not able to perform properly during them I really hate it. My mind set is that these workouts are essential to pulling off a great performance on race day, missing them will jeopardize that.

Thankfully though I am still able to train somehow by working on the lighter gears on my bike. Hopefully it does get better soon, race day is so close and i can't help but feel really nervous right now if this does not get any better soon.

Training Log # 19 - The Present and The Future

As of the moment, I am a month and a half away from my first 70.3 Iron Man. My training has been good and quite frankly been really long. I take pride in saying that I have been working 18-20 hours per week in preparation for this event. Over the course of these last few months I have recognized and realized how much time, dedication and heart it takes to train for one of these events properly. You can enter the 70.3 with improper training and heck maybe even finish it, but your only hurting yourself in doing so.When I do this, I wanna do this the right way and give myself what I deserve.

Looking through this though, its quite funny that I don't see myself doing this type of long distance races again for a while after this event. I've come to the realization that I want to focus on short-middle distance races and from there build up again to long distance after a  few years or so. For one thing, I get bored easily when training for endurance. Its just way too long! Another thing is that when training for long distances, I feel that my speed is suffering a lot because I'm not able to train it as much anymore. At this early age I believe I should focus on building a solid speed base and then later in my life I can work on endurance. As science has it, it would be much harder for me to gain more speed when I hit my 30's.

This has still all still been a very rough idea for me as of late but we'll see what happens after this 70.3.

Triathlon, a rich man's sport with a poor man's mentality.

As a spectator, you've heard it or probably have seen it for yourself. Triathlon as an expensive type of sport. From spending on pool fees every week, buying an inexplicably light bike, and wearing and tearing running shoes every few hundred of kilometers, it can't be denied that it does take a bit of green to get into the sport. Heck its three sports rolled into one! But this I believe could be the wrong co-notion for this growing sport. You don't need a 150,000 peso super bike nor 10,000 peso shades which glisters in the sun while you run. Simplicity may have been lost in this once uncomplicated sport that I love.

What does it really mean to do a triathlon? For me it has always been a test on what my limits are and how much dedication I can be able to put into one certain thing in hopes that I achieve my goal. I'm not out there to win. Don't get me wrong, I would be the happiest person in winning the race, but what can I do if another guy is faster than me? It's not like this is basketball and I can play defense to stop him from passing me. Triathlon is always about you and nobody else. It's about surpassing your own limits and pushing yourself to reaching the best that you can be. If that leads you to winning the race then its great and all the better!

If there is one thing I've learned through all this. It must have been simplicity. Life could not be any simpler and happier in finishing a triathlon event. Material things which seem to be the basis of happiness these days don't come close to the feeling of finishing this event. It lasts even longer than most possessions. These are the real intangible experiences and joys that makes me feel alive.

Which brings me to do most important lesson I may have for the rest of my life. I don't need any of these so called "things" like expensive phones, designer wear, nice cars, and what not. All I need are things that work, things that can get me to where I wanna be and things that will help me do the things I need to do. At the end of the day they still get me what I need and that's what matters. Have the simplest life so you can live it to the fullest.

So is triathlon a rich man's sport? Well yes and no! It's up to you if you want to be spending on these unnecessary things which aren't anything more than fashion statements and sometimes not even really the basis if you will go any faster in the sport or not. Live your life and attack triathlon with the poor man's mentality. Simplicity is the key and use and only buy the things that you utmost need to reach your full potential.

Training Log # 18 - Base Building

23 Kilometers. If you asked me to run this a two months ago, it would have been a breeze and I would have gladly done the mileage with a smile on my face. Today though is a different story. During my run I simply felt like HELL. The first 13kms were a good strong pace, but after that I found myself struggling with heavy legs and foot pain. Thankfully though I was still able to finish my workout, but still I was left questioning what could be wrong.

Last months workouts were low volume to high intensity, meaning 13-14km runs were termed as "long runs" but then these would usually be done at 5:00min/km pac. Other than that, short distance intervals and tempo workouts were the main stay of the run workouts.

Two months ago, long runs and rides where there main focus of our workouts. Having 15kms be barely the warm up of our workouts.

Looking back I begin to see how the transition of condition has changed, moving from the base and speeding up things to peak performance. Now though as we begin to return to the base it feels kinda hard cause our body became somehow accustomed to the fast painful, but short spurts. I think by this week though we'll probably be able to fully transition back into these long distances.

Well I just hope it does workout like that cause the mileage from here on just keeps getting higher and higher.

Training Log # 17 - Returning back to the training grounds

Coming off training for the standard distance triathlon, I already felt the training to have been quite long and strenuous. We were averaging 230kms weeks mixed with high intensity for four weeks. Now that base building has returned, and now having it be for a half ironman, the distance has now increased to almost double. It's just plain out scary.

But after seeing how much the training has paid off during the last race. I think I'm more motivated to work harder during these next three months. I'm trying to get mentally prepared as I know this will be a tough three months for me. I know I'll be lazy, I'll sometimes want to cut my workouts short. But focus and discipline have to be the first things on my mind.

I know what I want and I know how to get it. It's now all a matter of putting in the work.

Pit Stop #1 Road To Camsur Half Iron Man - Subic International Triathlon

The Subic International Triathlon (SUBIT) was a major race scheduled for the year. This was basically an assessment race to see where we were in terms of training and preparation for the upcoming Cobra Half Iroman. Truthfully, I was quite nervous for this race. I had big expectations for myself, I've put in the workload doing about 220kms of training mileage per week. And not reaching the goals I had for myself may leave me discouraged and broken.

Race day was on Sunday and we've had a lot of rest since we were there since Friday.

During this time we took the chance to do the swim leg of the race since it was infamous for having a "deep abyss" which can scare swimmers if you weren't ready for it.

At first I was confident swimming out to the booey thinking,

"hey now where is that abyss their talking about? is this it? all i can see if the floor moving away. This is easy!"

Then out of now where like a swift wind, the floor went black. PITCH BLACK. You could not see anything and you were left to your imagination. At this point I first stopped and had hold on to the booey as if to ask my team mates  

"are we really doing this?"

But then of course we ended up doing it. It's time to MAN UP! Eventually we finished the swim and finished off our day with a sumptuous dinner.

Race Day

As it always is, I had the hardest time sleeping the night before the race and waking up even before the alarm goes off. Talk about the adrenaline right? That morning I was trying to keep calm as much as possible. Solemnity was the only thing in my mind. All I kept telling myself was,

"you've done all the work and the only one who seems to be doubting you is you"


As we started to make our way on to the starting line I positioned myself at the very left side. This way I wouldn't get eaten up by the faster swimmers since I knew whole heartedly that I'm a pretty terrible swimmer. Through the swim I was pacing quite alright, problem was I forgot to sight and I kept losing track on where I was. For two laps this kept happening so I eventually exited the water at 35 minutes. Taking into account, this wasn't too bad but I think I wasted way too much time sight seeing the under water wild life. haha

Coming up into transition one, I was shocked to see that there were no more bikes by my side. I was second to the last to finish the swim leg in our age group. DAMN was I heck a slow! I told myself though, hey this is a triathlon and not a swimming race, so lets focus on executing the bike and run stages properly now.

As I began my ascent through the hilly bike course I found myself passing biker after biker. I think this is where my weekly hill rides have started to pay off. Through out this part of the bike no one was able to overtake me and that helped boost my confidence a bit. Although, as we reached the flat part of the course three tri bikes were able to pass me. I was at awe at the majestic speed of these bikes in the flat (which really makes me want to start saving up for one).

Overall I think I had a really good ride. I finished off the 40km bike course at 1:16 minutes.

Once I started with the run. My legs felt a little heavy but I told myself to trust in them and they will turn themselves around. After about 400 meters I found myself swiftly running with a pretty good pace and bouncy legs. I was  averaging about 4:44min/km. At this point I knew I was home bound and just enjoyed the run. It was all smiles especially as I passed through the cheering crowds.My 10km time was at 46 minutes.

My final time was 2:41:35. I'm pretty happy with my finish time, taking into consideration that this way my first Olympic distance triathlon and barely my third official triathlon race. But as it always is, I know I can do much much better. There is still a lot of room for improvement and these will be the things I will focus on in preparation for next year's subit race.

Race Less. PR More!

Reading through my Facebook Feed I tend to read about people's cries on missing out on a PR (personal record) or not being able to to establish one during a certain race that they did. Weirdly though this seems to become a trend and that same cry is being shouted out every week or every month. Question now is ,why? Why is it so hard to have a better PR? Here are my two cents on this subject:

1. Preparation - Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.


- Remember how when we first started running or training, we usually had this online program that we would follow to help us achieve that goal? Some of you may be familiar with the couch to 5k program, this is a 9 week program to help beginners run their first 5k. Imagine that , 9 weeks preparation to run a 5k! Why so long? Well because the body needs to gradually be prepared for the distance or the intensity that it will be undertaking during the run.

Now as we become more atoned to running these distances we sometimes become reliant and think, oh hey I can practically run a 5k or a 10k any day. So why can't I just go and race one then hope to PR. See, that would be our first mistake. Yes we can run a 10k but don't hope to PR cause you were not able to prepare properly for that certain race. What I suggest is go back to the basics, follow a program and stick with it. There are programs out there which you can search for which are for more advanced runners seeking to get a better PR. Set a date to race and only race on that day. This way you not only prepare for a specific race and save your energy for it, but you actually save more money on registration fees.

2. Quality Training - Quality over Quantity


- For all you know you can be killing yourself running everyday and you still in no way don't get any faster. Quality is the key to getting the results you want. I've talked about this in a previous entry, so you can check it out here:

Training Log #11 - Training Quantity vs. Training Quality

3. Research - Knowledge is Power

- How many times have you asked yourself the following:

• Why do I keep getting a side stitch?
• How should I pace during my runs?
• What should I be eating before a race?
• I get so hungry and weak while running, why?
• My knee hurts when I go downhill, why?

There a lot of factors which can happen during the run. Things can get unpredictable and it can mess up your race. So when these things happen what do you do? Some people just suck it up while others give up. Both of which aren't the wisest things to do, thats why you have to research. Read running articles, search for questions you may have or ask other friends who run. With the knowledge in hand, you will know what to do the next time something happens.

Training Log # 16 - Falling off the Wagon

I didn't fall off a wagon perse but I did fall off the nutritional band wagon. I sometimes get stuck with this notion that:

"hey, I workout a lot. I'm out there doing my training for hours on end, so that should probably equalize to me being able to eat anything I want" 

During lunch today I ate 4 slices of pizza, 2 pieces of fried chicken, 1 serving of spaghetti, and few dozen pieces of mojos.While, last Sunday, I ate everything from lumpia, lechon, chicharon, tuna, pork barbeque, rice and chicken. This was all in one sitting if I may add.

Everyday, I burn about 1,800 - 2,000 calories cumulatively during just my workouts. This makes my calorie needs at about 3000 calories  per day or even more. Now you'd think, so why all this  mumbo jumbo then? You burn alot so why not eat alot too? Yes I think eat a lot is correct. But in part, eat the a lot of the right food is even better.

Food is the fuel that we burn during our workouts. Now just imagine putting in this type of garbage into your system and using that to fuel you during your workouts? It would most likely not give you the optimum performance that you would want.

So this is me promising to eat wiser and better.

Training Log # 15 - Coming into Terms with Strengths and Weaknesses

Within the three sports in triathlon I think it would be easy to say that running is my strength. Although in my journey to reaching better race times and in my overall dream to possibly win as an age grouper, I have come to terms that this will not be enough. 

I have been working both on swimming and cycling for past six months and I will have to say that I am terrible at swimming. For one reason or another I struggle and I have the hardest time during training in this sport. I'm not sure if its because I've only learned how to swim last year or maybe I'm just not for the water. What ever the case may be, I don't think that swimming will be my next strongest point.

Cycling on the other hand feels a lot more comfortable for me. I am not at all the fastest cyclist but I feel that I have an easier time pushing and digging deeper during training days for this sport.

I am not one to give up on a weakness, but I think at this early into the sport it would be best to help enhance another possible strength that I can hopefully have one day. So next up on my agenda is to try and become a better cyclist!