Nothing Beats a Good Read

Popped by the library recently and got interested at one of the titles in the endurance sports section. Was browsing for some books on endurance training and i ended up finding a biography of Ray Zahab.

If you think 42K is a long distance for run or ironman is tough, this book very book will make you think again. It'll blow your mind into pieces.

This book talks about one man's humble journey in ultra distance running and adventure racing. Here you will find vivid recollections of famous ultra events like marathon de sables, badwater and some less known but equally tough events like trans333 or amazon race.

You should be able to complete reading this book in a couple of seatings and trust me its a page turner if you like to adventures. My next goal after reading this book is next year's adidas sundown ultramarathon - haha.

Nice Bike Blog

For those who are into beautiful bikes i have a site to recommend. Lots of good quality bike pics to inspire you for your next ride. Enjoy the blink blink http://blinkbikes.blogspot.com/. Above image courtesy of blinkbikes.blospot.com

personally i have started to take a strong interest in singlespeed & vintage frame. Thinking of starting a project soon to built my own for casual riding with my gal.

Balancing Work

sometimes i just wonder why i'm always so eager and enthusiatic to sign up for the events that i do.

a) to motivate myself to keep fit
b) for a sense of achievement
c) to distract myself from work
d) to simply have fun and take life less seriously

i have this regular cycle that i experience, what about you? i get this adrenalin rush whenever i click on the payment icon whilst registering myself for a race (fun!!). then i talk my good buddy (KS) into doing the same. in the next 1-2 weeks i will be planning out my training schedule and print it out and place it in my room (fun!!). i would follow through the program for the initial 2 weeks and think about what gears and stuff i need to buy for race day (fun!!). Next 4-8 weeks my motivation will wane and i start missing traning and make exceptions for my fat free diet plans. Then i will start to feel miserable and not want to do anything about it. 2 weeks leading to the event, i will suddenly 'wake up' and begin my panic training regime.

this is a really funny photo i got from the web. You can view the photo on the blog link here http://www.virgintriathlete.com/my_first_triathlon/2008/09/working-training-either-way-safety-first.html
Lately work has been the reason for my laziness. I must say balancing work and training is a tough act to begin with. its even more difficult if we want to clock a respectable time which demands consistency. recently i have been working longer hours in offices due to work seasonality which gave me good excuses to skip workouts. the added travel required from my work also made it less easy.

i'm quite sure i'm going to say to myself - "why didn't i swim more, bike more or run more before the event". Do such thoughts flash across your mind during your race day too? hmmm...i wonder am i the only one.

So if you ever recognise me or happen to see me riding or running next to you during an event, tell me that you do to make me feel normal.

10 MUST DO ADVENTURES

I'm sure everyone has their own dreams to pursue and desires to satisfy. If you google the similar, you will find a host of people sharing their wishlist or dreams. And now i have my top 10 here to share. If you have you own list, perhaps you can share them in the comments. If you have anything similar to mine and have yet to accomplish them and will like to make a proposal for adventure, email me.

1. Scuba diving at the great barrier reef
   
2. Do norseman
   
3. Rock climbing at ramanagaram rocks, karnataka in india
   
4. Do xterra malaysia
   
5. Bungee jumping off contra dam, ticino in switzerland
   
6. Climb mt kilimanjaro
   
7. See the northen lights in Alaska or Norway
   
8. White water rafting through grand canyon along colorado river
   
9. Sail across a great ocean, north & south pacific, north & south atlantic, artic or Indian
   
10. Do tiberias marathon

Chased By Strays

Above photo is just an illustration of a dog, not the strays that gave chase on me.

It was my first ride out on my B12 out in my territory on my usual 32km route in the late evening: Seng Kang-Jalan Kayu-Seletar Camp-Yishun-Mandai-Zoo-and back. The ride was nice and relaxing as usual until i had my first dog chase encounter at the seletar damp whilst on my way back at the 26km mark.

I was going moderately hard on my pedals and were doing like 30kmh on the way back when i heard a few barks from afar which i instantly recognised the presence of dogs. In a matter of seconds i saw 3 adult brown furred strays dashing straight towards me from about 80m away. I could still hear the barks of the 3 dogs making a dash at me and the nail scratching sounds made by fast moving crawls coming in contact with tarmac.

My natural instinct is to speed up and out ride the buggers but they were making a direct run ito my path which means i could over run one of them and i crash in great pain and end up being bitten and attacked by the 3 dogs. Or i could slow down and hoping that they slow down their chase too. Unfortunately, they did not cut any slack in their pursuit, i was like a magnet to them. In the split second after assessing the situation i decided i go for the break and started mashing hard on the FSA Gossamer cranks & my half broken time pedals.

The dogs came near and found i was really fast and made a turn for its life from being knocked down by my front Felt's in house TTR3 40mm aero wheels. Somehow i managed to swerve my way out of them, and at that moment i held my breath and though i was gong to crash and damage my brand new full carbon body. But once i had a clear path ahead i hammered down like mad and all i could think of was to outride the 3 dogs which were now by my side of my Ultegra SL rear derailluers.

Due to the nervousness, fear and adrenalin rush, my left cavle crammed up and was as hard as stone. By this time i thought i have broken free from the hounds but i was wrong. One of them gave chase and was determined to bring me down for the pack. But i knew it was my life and i had to go on peddaling despite the pain from the crams.

That one dog gave chase for a brief 5 seconds as i could see it running next to my side and started to catch up with me speed. I gritted my teeth and managed to drop that bugger and got out alive to tell this story. What a safe escape and relieve i told my self with the pain in my cavle.

Conclusion Felt B12 2008 is a superbly fast machine under the right condition. lol

My Other Interest

Besides doing tri to keep myself active in physical activities i also have a couple of other interests. One of them is photography which i kind of started to pick up recently. I totally enjoyed it especially when i can capture nice photos and keep them as memories. I began to toy with the idea of taking nice photos for local tri events and created a simple website to share them with ou fellow local tri community.

You can visit my site here = http://shawntayphoto.webs.com/apps/photos/

Here are a few that i like.

Next Goal & Next Reward?

Ok i like to set my first intermediate goal for my triathlon endeavour. Having completed 3 events so far, i can easily say what timing separates a TRIathlete from a TRYathlete. I have no intend in saying having fun in Tri and enjoying the atmosphere and a "feel good" feeling after you cross the finishing line is anything wrong. But for those who really want to enjoy the sports at a more competitive level, its necessary to set certain targets that is of respectable standards.

This is where i think i stand after my last 3 events as of today.
Swim: 1 min 20 sec / 50m [40min for 1.5k Swim]
Bike: 28 km/hr [1hr 26min for 40km Bike]
Run: 6 min/km [60min for 10k Run]
Transisitons: 5min
Total Estimated Time: 3hr 11min

This is where i need to be next as my next goal with OD as my measurement.
Swim: 1 min 10 sec/ 50m [35min for 1.5k Swim]
Bike: 32 km/hr [1hr 15min for 40km Bike]
Run: 5 min/km [50min for 10k Run]
Transitions: 5min
Total Estimated Time: 2hr 45min

I should reward myself with a 2XU trisuit when i can achieve the above stated. Perhaps i shall reward myself with a HED3 or HED Jet if i can achieve 2hr 30min.

Bike Wisdom

If you ever come across an insatiable thrist for the all new fast aero bikes in your LBS, i suggest you chant the below mantra to put yourself back to perspective - reality check.

Here are 5 good reasons to buy a new bike:
1. Your current bike does not fit properly and no stem length/saddle position combination will make it fit.
2. Your current bike is worn out, fatigued or no longer safe to ride.
3. You are serious about racing and your current bike weighs more than you do.
4. A new bike is going to motivate you to get out the door and train.
5. You are an adult and your current bike came with coaster brakes and a kick stand.

Here are 5 bad reasons to buy a new bike:
1. You've got eleven bikes and you want to make it an even dozen.
2. You don't want to be shunned when you take your bike to the local pro shop for a tune up.
3. To knock minutes off of your fastest times.
4. Your current bike color does not match the new spring fashions.
5. Your current bike keeps getting dirty and you want a bike to save for races only.

Source: http://www.jeffdevlin.com/articles/newbike.php

Motivation Needed

It has been a long 3 weeks break for me since i did my last 70.3. It took me less than a week to feel good again for more training but i kept avoiding any swim bike or run for 21 days straight. I must say the motivating to return back to daily training was somewhat missing. My next event is on 12th & 19th, but they are more like fun events for me. However, the next major one for me is my december marathon which requires some serious milage and training.

Yesterday i started to get going on my routine and i must say its quite tough at first when i did the 10km run. But no one says its gonna be easy anyway. Now i'm working towards my target of a sub 5 hour marathon.

What are you Subscribed to?

For those who are into the multisports lifestlye will somehow also have their eyes peeled to the magazine racks for the latest reads. There are quite few titles out there trying to get you interested to their monthly issues. You can find them mainly in Kinokuniya or Borders and sometimes Times Magazine. Here's a run down on the 3 most popular imported mags found on Singapore's rack.

1) 220 Triathlon

this is the first mag i bought since i started browsing the shelfs to get myself more acquainted to my new lifestyle. The reads and content are easy reads and layout is not bad; the balance of ads and write up is acceptable. One complain is that too much focus is given to UK realted events and athletes, but this is a Brit driven tri mag anyhow.

Rating ****

2) Triathlete Mag

Always have very nice attractive cover and liners to get your attention. Its a US mag so has lots of up to date news on US tri scenes. Content quality is rather good. But the main complain is that every issue is Rather thick but this is due to the high ration of ads inserted to squeeze every marketing dollars. If you like ads of fast bikes and gears again and again, this is for you.

Rating ***

3) Inside Triathlon

This is another US mag that comes in a unconventional paper size, somewhat squarish. First look you get is that the magazie is always adorned with very motivating images of athletes. The other detail i notice initially was the thin-ness of the mag. So most people will have doubt about the value of money spent compared to other mags sharing the same shelf. Don't be mistaken my friend. I will advise that you seriously take a good few minutes to browse through the content - its top notch quality. If you are looking for a tri mag that talks about real tri related issues and genuinely want to improve yourself, this is the mag. Anyway, i got myself subscribed to them this month. And after some simple calculation i'm only paying about S$8 per issue - that is more than S$4 cheaper than what you find on our shelves out there.

Rating ***** http://www.insidetri.com/

Lazy week

As you can see i haven't been working out much this week. It was disastrous and i feel i need some motivation. Worse of all is i'm avoiding all my swim sessions cos i suck at swimming and find it a chore.