Intentional Discipleship & Triathlon Training

I'm Back! And I have moved...

2007-12-12T22:30:00.000+08:00

Yup, after an absence of 4 months I am back on blogger, but I have moved to a new blog which I am calling "Life to the Full" http://life-2-d-full.blogspot.com/

I've been doing a lot of soul-searching in the time I have been away, and I have come to the conclusion that I will focus more on what REALLY matters to me - God's awesome grace and His incredibly wise method to use us to save ourselves.

To be honest, it was also getting depressing talking about my Olympic/International and Sprint distance triathlon training/races amidst the incredible Ironman/Ironwomen/Marathoners here in blogger. :-) You just have to trust me when I say that I am still training and racing when I can (go on to my 1st post in the new blog to see photographic proof). :-)

To my old buddies, please come on over to my new blog and sorry it took me so long to find myself in blogsphere. For the newcomers (and I am praying there will be some new readers) :-), please do swing on over too and please, please be patient with my bungling attempts to record His incredible wisdom and miraculous grace in my life.

Off the Grove...

2007-08-10T14:39:00.001+08:00

Just a quick note to confirm that, Yup, I am definitely off the training and blogging grove. 4 weeks of non-activity since "My Inaugral Olympic Distance Triathlon That Was NOT To Be". Here are 2 pictures from the said event.

Thanks for the well wishes, prayers and encouragement. I am not sure if I will be taking a longer break, or jumping back into the swing of things soon, motivation has gone WAY down. I was toying with the idea of getting myself a set of ZIPP 404 wheels to celebrate my 40th birthday (creeping up in a couple of months), but even that idea can't seem to motivate enough to get back to training.

Until I find my motivation again, train safe and God Speed everyone!

Picture from PAssion Run

2007-08-01T18:22:00.000+08:00

Here's me in the final stretch of the 10km Saucony 100-Plus PAssion Run. Not sure why I look like I am scratching my back, but I do remember feeling (and looking) like a fish out of water, gasping for air in the final sprint.

I'll still feeling kinda bleh about the OSIM Triathlon and about training in general. Work is crazy this week, so I will not have time to do any training, which is just as well, given how I feel about getting back into training right now.

My sis-in-law may be coming again in Dec from New Jersey, so maybe I should go ahead and buy a set of used ZIPP 404s from e-Bay to perk me up and get my training jump started. :-)

Train safe and God Speed y'all!

My Inaugral Olympic Distance Triathlon That Was NOT To Be...

2007-07-29T17:29:00.001+08:00

I collected the finisher's medal but did not do a Olympic Distance Triathlon at the OSIM Triathlon today. There was a Category 1 Thunderstorm (i.e. high chance of lightning) mid-way through the swim start waves, and the organisers had to stop the race and pull everyone out of the swim and bike legs (my wave has not started yet, but some triathletes were actually told to stop the race midway thru the swim and bike). When it re-started, the race got shortened to a 20km bike and 5km run for the rest of us (yup, no swim) due to time constraints. :-( As you can imagine, it was not a popular decision as this was a ITU race where some of the participants were fighting for placement points.

I am feeling kinda bummed myself too - I don't think there is another Olympic Distance Triathlon in Singapore this year, so this may well mean that I have to wait one more year before I get another shot at a Olympic Distance Triathlon. Not good.

Will post more details once I am better able to collect my thoughts...

One Day to Go...

2007-07-28T10:25:00.000+08:00

... Before my 1st ever Olympic Distance Triathlon attempt at the OSIM Tri! So I am afraid this is one of those totally unorganised, "spill-my-guts" type of posts where I try to work thru my insecurities...

1st of all, sorry for not keeping up with my buddies on blogland. I have been too caught up in self-pity for catching a cold so close to the race, having such a late start, work pressures, etc... Yup the race is tomorrow, I guess it is normal to feel a little unprepared? This is all the training I managed to do in my 15 week training plan, sure hope it is enough:As many of you rightly pointed out, "enough" training or not probably depends a lot on my race goals, which are

"C" goal - Finishing my 1st ever Olympic Distance Triathlon
"B" goal - Finishing under 3:30hrs
"A" goal - Finishing under 3:15hrs

Given that I am still snorting/coughing out yucky stuff this morning, I am going to put aside timing ambitions tomorrow and just lean on Him for the strength to complete my 1st ever Olympic Distance Triathlon. It's gonna be a long 3.5 hours or so, but I am going to try to remember that this is my special "dance" for the Lord. No reason, no special sacrifice, no special occasion just something that I enjoy doing, and something that I am able to do only with His awesome blessings and protection. Must admit that I was contemplating not going for this due to my cold, the hot weather, etc... But He has healed me (just about) and He has brought clouds and rain for the entire week now, I guess I better stop whinning and get out there and do it!

And now, to end the pre-race post with a game of "Spot the Difference". Can you tell the difference between this previous picture of my bike (top) and the current (bottom)?Yup, the black plastic disk between the rear casette and the wheel spokes is gone! Affectionately known as the "dork disk" in roadie circles, it is often an indication of a newbie cyclist - "experienced" cyclists usually remove it so the bike looks "cleaner". I have never bothered to remove it, but when the mechanic at the LBS was tightening the spokes on Wed, he also took it out (in case it was contributing to the squeaking noises). So I guess I am finally a "serious" cyclist now. :-)

Okay, I betta go pack my stuff for the race, train safe and God Speed y'all! But before I sign off, I just HAVE to share with you my kids' prayers for me tonight:

R1: "Dear God, please don't let the sharks or anything bite my father tomorrow. Please don't let another swimmer doing the front crawl pull him down and swim over him [Oops, he must have overheard my conversations]. I know it is very hard, but please help him to do [the triathlon]. Please protect him when he is running and cycling because it is raining and it could be slippery."

R2: "Dear God, please accompany my Papa everywhere he goes, until he is very old and dies."

Funny how even though I did not communicate my fears to them, but they seem to know JUST WHAT to pray for! ;-)

Showers with Thunder

2007-07-26T15:31:00.000+08:00

This is what the local Met services guys say, and judging by the weather these few days, I am inclined to believe them.

So, I could whine about:

Flooded transition area.

Extra murky/yucky open water swim (the storm sewers discharge out to the sea, so we have encountered branches, plastic bags and even old rusting buckets in the sea after a storm).

Running in wet, heavy shoes.

Or, I could Praise God for:

Cool weather - I'll rather be wet than be over-heated (race starts at 11:15am!) or dehydrated. Although it says max of 32 C / 90 F, I don't think it has passed 30 C / 86F the last couple of days. It ain't much, but a few degrees make all the difference in hot and humid Singapore.
Prior experience of doing my last Sprint Tri after after a over-night storm - flooded transition area and extra murky/yucky open water swim (so I know what to expect this time).

Recovery from the cold I caught - still snorting out a little yellowish stuff, but I feel much better.

Kewl New Balance race belt that came with the race kit - almost bought the same thing some weeks back. (Yup, I've collected the race pack, the pressure's on!)

Since I could not train (thanks to the cold), I did the next best thing -> I cleaned off all that gunk from my chain & drive train accumulated over the many months, and re-lubed everything. That *HAS* got to count for something.

LBS managed to (FINALLY) locate and eradicate irritating squeak from my rear wheel - it took me a lot of persistence and 3 visits to the LBS, but they finally narrowed it down to the spokes on my rear wheel (GASP! Was I about to break my wheel?). The mechanic tightened the spokes and *hey presto!* no more irritating squeak! Sometimes, it pays to be PERSISTENT.

Hallelujah!

Thanks so much for the prayers and words of encouragement. Train safe and God Speed!

I've caught a cold

2007-07-23T08:51:00.000+08:00

Not sure if it was the day at the zoo in the pouring rain, but I managed to catch myself a cold.

6 days to the OSIM Triathlon.... :-(

"Singapore Zoo Keepers Dissolve in Water" & "Cold Feet"

2007-07-19T08:17:00.000+08:00

Yup, that's the conclusion that I have come to - the Zoo Keepers in Singapore dissolve in water! Ol' nitrox volunteered to be one of 3 parents accompanying R1's teacher and his class of 35 7-year-olds to the zoo yesterday (hurray for taper period) and as you can see, it wasn't exactly a beautiful sunny day. So here we were standing in the rain, the animals were standing in the rain, but they cancel not one, but two animal shows due to the rain, and I cannot fathom why except that the Zoo Keepers are soluble. Some kids were whinning when it was time to go, "But we haven't seen anything yet?!?!"...

On a totally unrelated note, I am starting to get cold feet about the OSIM Triathlon in less than 2 weeks. I found out that my wave starts at 11:15am, which means that I will be swimming, biking and running through the HOTTEST 3.5 hours of the day, and this is no laughing matter in tropical, HOT (80-90F) and HUMID (80-100%) Singapore. Had I known this earlier, I would have spent more time training in the early afternoon to condition myself to the heat. Did I prepare enough for this?? I am 4 days into my 2-week taper, which so far has meant sitting around and getting fat, and I am pretty sure that is not what tapering is about. So I betta get off my (fattening) ass and figure what I am supposed to be doing...

Train safe and God speed everyone!

Week 13 of 15 - Injury, Hot Trot & Open Water Swim

2007-07-14T12:22:00.000+08:00

Hi folks, I am back from Thailand, and just about on track for this week's training. Sorry for anothe long training post, but this is my final training week before taper, so please indulge me. :-)

Mon: Tempo Run - 20mins warm-up, 22 mins tempo (10.3km/hr), 20 mins cool down.
Tues: 550m Warm Up, 6 X (220m sprint, 30s recovery), 110m Cool Down.
Wed: Work was just CRAZY. Could not squeeze in any training before my flight to Bangkok. In fact, I arrived at the airport after the flight has closed but I was able to convince the check-in guy to let me onto the flight! Phew...
Thurs: Strength Training - Leg Press, Seated Row, Bent Elbow Lat Pull Down, Push-ups, Bicycle (Abs). I injured my left shoulder blade (upper back) while I was doing push-ups, of all exercises - and I thought it is the safest exercise of all! I was into my 2nd set of push-ups when I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my left shoulder blade - not good. I could not even lift up my left arm. A prayer and some stretching later, I felt much better and managed to complete the push-ups and bicycle (Abs). Praise God! I'm not too worried about my shoulder given that next week I start to taper, so I will just think of it as a reminder from God to pray for Cliff's shoulder. :-)
Fri: Long Run (15km) - Woke up late to a cloudy day and decided to do a mid-day run. The sun is pretty brutal in my part of the world, so I figure that I should get in at least one hot run before race day. Just realised that I am in one of the last waves, which means flag off is 11:15am or later - I am praying for cloudy skies or it's gonna get REALLY HOT (32 C / 90 F).
Sat: Plan to do a 1.6km open water swim later this evening - we'll make it a family outing to the beach with another buddy (who is doing the Sprint) & his family. The plan is for the dudes to try out open water swim and the missus to watch the kids. My buddy will do 800m and I hope to do double that, which means I will be swimming alone for at least half the time. This may be my 1st and last open water swim before the O.D. Tri in 2 weeks (last month we managed to get to the beach, but I swam all of 10 mins), so I am a little nervous - I have not done any significant open water swim since the Sprint Tri's in 2005. This time, I have fashioned a simple open water floatation device - fancy term for a bit of rope tied on one end to my race belt and the other end to my pull buoy. I hope my feet will not get caught up in the rope - have tied a slip knot on my race belt in case I have to jettison the whole thing mid-swim (it's actually pretty easy to take off the race belt mid-swim if I have to, but better safe than sorry).
Sun: Long Brick - I plan to do 50km bike / 10 km run. I like qcmier's suggestion to do a "tempo" brick, and will do that next weekend as part of week 1 of my 2 week taper. I am thinking that in taper, we reduce volume but increase tempo, right? So maybe a 60mins bike / 40 mins "tempo" run is just the ticket?

Well, that's all folks, 2 weeks before my 1st ever Olympic Distance Tri! Until next time, continue to train safe and God Speed!

Week 12 of 15 - Bubble Baths & TT week

2007-07-09T07:33:00.000+08:00

Something occurred to me while I was giving R1 & R2 a bubble bath this weekend... Like all kids, R1 & R2 loves bubble baths, so once in a while, we fill up the big bath tub in the master bedroom bath and give them one. R1 & R2 love taking baths together, but now that they are getting older (6+ and 4+ respectively), they are starting to want their own space. This time in particular, they were so busy hoarding the bubbles on their respective ends of the bath tub, and fighting with each other over who has more bubbles, that they totally forgot to enjoy the bubble bath. As I was watching them, it occured to me that sometimes, we are like that too. God, in His love, blesses us with good things, but how often are we so busy hoarding them that we forget the simple act of enjoying the very blessings that He has given us? As I watched the bath disintegrate into a fight, I realised that when God blesses us out of His love, it must be incredibly frustrating for Him to see us fighting over the very things that He has blessed us with. When we do that, we take the good things that He has given to us, and turn them from blessings of joy into seeds of enemity. Let's take the time this week to simply appreciate and enjoy the many blessings He has put into our lives - family/children, health, fitness, material well-being, the ability to race, etc...

On the training front, I have decided to call this week a TT week. Some of you already know that I had the 10km race last Sunday, but on top of that, I decided to also do swim and bike TTs this week:

Mon: Tempo Run. 20 mins warm-up, 20 mins @ 10.3km/hr (quit laughing, that's tempo for ol' nitrox), 20 mins cool down.
Tues: Swim Intervals - 550m Warm Up, 5 X (220m sprint, 30s recovery), 550m Cool Down.
Wed: Long Run. 15.1km, 1hr 44 mins. Yups, that's my longest run yet!
Thurs: Strength Training - Leg Press, Seated Row, Bent Elbow Lat Pull Down, Push-ups, Bicycle (Abs).
Fri: Bike TT. 40.2km in 1hr 19mins. (It was a very flat course, but that's as fast as ol' nitrox can go).
Sat: Swim TT. 1.65km in 40 mins. Following Rachel's very informative swim post, I was concentrating on using the top of my head to point ahead, keeping my finger-wrist-elbow straight and using it as a paddle, pulling a full stroke, and it seems I made a breakthrough in the swim! 1.65km in 40mins ain't fast for you ironmen/women out there, but it's 1-2 mins faster than ol' nitrox had ever done it! I'm so hoping that this is not a flash-in-the-pan fluke. (If you are heading over to Rachel's blog, remember to check out her HAWT new Tri Bike.)
Sun: Run TT. Saucony-100Plus Passion Run 2007 - Official results just out - 62mins chip time (my watch says 61mins) which is slower than more than half of the guys in the Men's Open. Either way, I did NOT meet my target time of 60mins. Still, it's 6-8 mins faster than when I was running 10kms as long runs back in March, so I guess I can't complain. I'm lousy with race reports so I'll just say that overall, I'm actually pretty happy with the run, as I managed to meet my secondary objectives of (1) running at a steady rate, (2) getting a negative split, (3) test out my el cheapo racing shoes (they worked great - can't say that I noticed the weight difference when running, but I had no problems with them at all), and (4) being able to get to church on time after the run. :-)

This week (week 13 of 15) is my last training week before tapering for the OSIM Olympic Tri. I will be travelling to Bangkok this week, so again I will have to juggle my training schedule a little. Still can't decide if I should go for a mock O. D. Tri this weekend, or just do a long brick (50km bike / 10 km run). What do you think? Also, do I need to do any swim/bike bricks? Have not done that at all this time.

Until next time, train safe everyone, and God Speed!

Week 11 - Giro D'Italia & Bike Stuff

2007-07-01T18:07:00.000+08:00

Congratulations to the Saunier Duval - Prodir team - for winning the team championship at Giro D'Italia! Must confess that the only reason why I am excited is that they ride Scott USA bikes (just like ol' nitrox).

On a marginally related note, some latest bike stuff:

I finally decided to drop the hammer on the Rotor System Q Ring. I have used Shimano Biopace chainrings before - they were all the rage in the 90's, but frankly I did not notice any significant change between the Biopace and the round ones. Let me tell you this folks, the Q-Rings really work! Going from my current round chain rings to the Q-Rings, there is a noticeable "smoothening" of the pedal stroke - they are supposed to reduce the dead spots in the pedal stroke and I can confirm that they sure do. I certainly do not remember having anything near this "smoothening" effect on my pedal stroke with the Biopace chain rings back in the 90s. In fact, with the Q-Rings my pedal stroke felt so smooth that I was pushing a bigger gear for much of my 50km ride today. This one is definitely worth a try, guys & gals! Alas, it felt so nice and smooth that I simply pushed too hard on the bike and paid the price in the run (had to adandon at the 5km mark - was planning to run 9km). Oh well, it's rest week anyway, so I am not too bothered by it.
While I am on the bike, I thought I will post an update on my clip-on aero bar - Deda Clip One (1st reviewed in Jan '06). I got this bar 18 months ago as I was looking for a clip-on aero bar that was light and minimalist in design. There are now many other sexy choices in the market, but I can't fault my Deda bar. :-) It was a challenge getting comfortable on the bar on my road bike, and having no access to bike fit professionals meant a lot of trial and error, but I finally got myself a zero off-set seatpost (used, off a mountain bike) and managed to sort out my bike fitment. Here's a picture of the seatpost (on the right) showing my current saddle position - almost all the way to the front. Once that was done, it worked great - I have always been a believer that simple things work best, and the Deda Clip One bar is a case example in my books. Here's a couple of pictures showing the current alignment of the bar on my bike ('06 Scott CR1 Team):As you can see, the bar is angled downward (handhold on aero bar slightly lower than the brake hoods), and slightly extended beyond the hoods - approx 2-3" out. Here's a close up (please excuse the cheap looking grips, there are actually zero cost grips - I basically cut out discarded mountain bike grips and slipped them on):

And now, a final picture for the parents out there who have tried taking pictures of their bike when the kids are around. :-)

Tomorrow, I get back into training week, and have a "tune-up" 10km race on Sunday. I will not taper for the 10km, but just take it as a training run.

Train safe and God Speed!

Shaken...

2007-06-28T21:30:00.000+08:00

Last Sunday, Thaddeus Cheong (17) passed away at the national triathlon team selection trial for South East Asia Games after completing the Olympic Distance Triathlon in 2 hours 9 mins. Despite the apparent lack of medical personnel at the event, the family is not blaming anyone. In fact, they continue to have very good things to say about the sport and about TAS (Triathlon Association of Singapore). I think it is a tremendous testimony of God's grace for the family to respond in such a gracious manner.

However, I must admit that I am a little shaken by this incident. In the last couple of months, I have been getting some negative or cautionary feedback about triathlons. More than one person has told me to start saving for a knee replacement surgery, and incidents like this and the deaths in triathlons in Singapore the last 2 years running make those around me nervous about my sport. Are we taking on more risks as triathletes/runners as compared to the inactive? As the sole bread winner, am I being irresponsible to my family? Please tell me it is NOT crazy of me to start triathlons in my middle age. Yes, I am shaken, but He is my strength and shield, and I will continue to train with the freedom that He came 2 thousand years ago to give me.

Train safe and God Speed.

Week 10 - Missed Long Swim & New Running Gear

2007-06-24T17:48:00.000+08:00

Yup, ol' nitrox sure has a lot of New Balance gear and now I have even more. Comes from having a TAS (Triathlon Association of Singapore) membership card which gives me 30% off retail price - hence the fuel belt above at $20 (USD$13) and the Lightning Dry (i.e. NB's version of Dri-Fit) cap at $15 (USD$10). I would've prefered a fuel belt with less bottles, but that's the only model they seem to have, and I can always carry less bottles. Best of all, I work near the New Balance warehouse, which explains this pair of discontinued New Balance RC330MR racing shoes for $35 (USD$23)! I was considering getting the RC1001BW but was put off by the $125.30 price (after discount) for a pair of shoes that I will only wear a few times a year (for races). Not sure if racing shoes will give me any advantage, but for $35, I'll give it a go. ;-)

Quick wrap up on Week 10 of 15 which is another 5/6 week:

Mon: Excursion to Sentosa with sis-in-law, T1 & T2.
Tues: Long Run - 14km. Longest ever! It felt good, no problem finishing.
Wed: Strength Training - Leg Lift, Leg Curl, Seated Row, Bent Elbow Lat Pull Down, Push-ups, Bicycle (Abs). Over-confident from the long run, I over-did the leg curl. OUCH!
Thurs: Tempo Run - 15 mins warm up, 18 mins tempo (10-10.2 km/hr), 15 mins cooldown. Very painful, paying the price for the leg curls.
Fri: Missed the planned swim (more below). :-(
Sat: Long Brick - 53km bike / 9km run. Very, slow and painful - not sure if it was the winds or tired legs, had to walk for 1:30 near the end of the run, but immensely glad that I completed it!
Sun: Swim Intervals (planned) right after the kids are in bed.

On the home front, Sis-in-law and her sons (T1 & T2) left yesterday and the house feels quiet. Funny how I never felt that way before with 2 boys in the house, but having 4 boys in the house has introduced a new level of activity that we have gotten used to. You would have thought that a middle aged guy would be over these things by now, but I miss them terribly. Especially when I know that I will not see them for the next 6-12 months . :-( I must confess that Fri night I got irritated about missing my swim intervals due to the many schedule changes that comes with visiting relatives, but now I am glad that I gave up the long run last week, and the long swim this week in lieu of time with my sis-in-law and T1 & T2. School starts in Singapore tomorrow, so it's life as usual - no more goofing off, late nights, excursions, and ice cream (except for weekends).

Tomorrow I go to India, so see you in a week, train safe and God Speed!

Week 9 of 15

2007-06-21T13:24:00.000+08:00

Sigh... It is already week 10, and I am posting 1 week late again. As mentioned in my last post, my sis-in-law and her two boys (T1 & T2) are in town, so between spending time with them and work, training and blogging has taken a backseat. In case anyone besides Robin is curious about why I call my boys R1 & R2, and their cousins T1 & T2, I must confess to an incredible lack of imagination and watching too much Bananas in Pyjamas when my boys were younger - remember B1 and B2? Just so happens that my boys' names start with R and my nephews' names start with T. ;-)

Okay, back to week 9 - I have to report that I missed my long run (GASP!) and have to score myself 5/6. :-(

Mon: Rest - Time with sis-in-law, T1 & T2 in Malaysia
Tues: Ditto above.
Wed: Run Intervals - 15mins warm up, 5 X (3min @ 11km/hr, 3min @ 8.5km/hr), 15 mins cool down;
Strength Training - Squats, Seated Row, Bent Elbow Lat Pull Down, Push-ups, Bicycle (Abs).
Thurs: Rest - Time with sis-in-law, T1 & T2 in Singapore
Fri: Swim Intervals - 550m Warm Up, 8 X (110m sprint, 30s recovery), 550m Cool Down
Sat: Long Brick - 53km bike / 8.3 km run (longest run off bike!)
Sun: Long Swim - 1.6km (shortening my long swims from 2km to 1.6km to focus a bit more on pace)

I feel kinda bummed about missing the long run last week (which I consider to be a key work-out), but not much I can do about it now except to focus on the training ahead. This week (week 10) is supposed to be a rest week, but next week I have to be in India (which has proven to be a tough place to get any training in), so I will push on and take my rest week in India. I am pretty excited to get the long brick done last Sat - 8.3km is the longest I have run off the bike ever, and it is helping to boost my confidence for completing the coming OSIM (Olympic) Tri. Sneak peak on Week 10: I got my long run (14km) in on Tues, and that is also helping my confidence substantially.

Good news over the weekend is that a friend of mine from church actually took my advice and signed up for the Sprint event at OSIM. ;-) It's so great to see a friend commit to an active lifestyle and I am so happy for him.

Okay, it's back to work for me. It's race season, so God Speed and take care of yourselves!

Long Weekend in Malaysia

2007-06-14T08:39:00.000+08:00

There it is, ladies & gentlemen, I am doubly blessed these 2 weeks - R1 & R2 (yellow hats) has got their cousins T1 & T2 (blue hats) visiting from the States. :-) This is them going up the commando net in one of the nature parks in Malaysia and I am looking forward to a few more excursions in Singapore in the coming week!

On the training side, I managed to get both the long brick and swim in last week, so Week 8 of 15 was another 6/6 week! All thanks to my Father-In-Law, who was kind enough to bring me to his club on Sunday. Can anyone tell me why there is a empty pool in tropical (read: hot) Malaysia on a Sunday morning? I was initially worried that the pool was abandoned - the pumps were not working and there was algae on the bottom and sides. Yuck! But sure enough, halfway thru my swim, other swimmers started appearing and I felt a bit better. Instead of swimming 2km, I decided to do a 1.6km time trial and finished in 40mins, which is a confidence booster, given that the swim cut-off for OSIM Tri seems to be 40 mins (1.5km). I would love to be faster, but will be happy to just make the cut-off this time. :-)

Until next time, train safe and God Speed!

Week 8 of 15

2007-06-08T18:42:00.000+08:00

A very quick update on Week 8 before I head off to Malaysia for a short vacation...

Mon: Run Intervals - 15mins warm up, 4 x (3 mins sprint, 3mins active recovery), 15 mins cool down. This was really painful, coming off 1 week of being sick. Had to slow down in the last set. :-(
Tues: Strength Training - Squats, Seated Row, Bent Elbow Lat Pull Down, Push-ups, Bicylcle (Abs).
Wed: Long run - 13.1km. I finally have my replacement sports headphones (will post about that next time) so I am able to run with workship music again. What a blessing! Would not have been able to finish the run without it. Was so knackered after the run that I started wondering why I am doing the OSIM Tri...
Thurs: Swim Intervals - 550m Warm Up, 7 X (110m sprint, 30s recovery), 550m Cool Down
Fri: Long Swim - 2km (planned) - This will be tricky since I am still stuck in office! :-(
Sat: Long Brick - 50km Bike / 7km Run (planned) - The plan is to head out early in the morning and get the brick done in 2.5-3 hours before driving to Malaysia for our vacation!
Sun: REST

Week 9 will be a bit of a challenge as I am on vacation in Malaysia and may not have access to a proper pool (the only thing the hotel can tell me about the pool is that it is 4 feet deep and has a waterfall). In fact the coming weeks will prove interesting as work is getting pretty intensive and I have quite a few business trips lined up.

Until next time, train safe & God Speed!

Week 7 of 15 - Unscheduled Rest Week

2007-06-03T08:17:00.000+08:00

Sigh... 2 pieces of bad news this week.

Yup, week 7 is officially an unscheduled rest week now, thanks to this runny nose / cough thingy that I caught. Thanks for the prayers, I am actually feeling much better now and even managed a short swim (500m warm up, 500m with paddles) yesterday. Was hoping to go for my weekend long brick today but woke up feeling a little nauseous, so I decided to rest one more day. Either I am pregnant or it's all part of the virus working itself out of my system. :-) I know some of you train through minor sickness, but ol' nitrox usually stops all training once I am sick, with the hope of getting to full recovery sooner. With my first Olympic Distance Triathlon only 8 weeks away, I hope to get back to training starting today, and make some changes to my 15 week training plan - week 8-9 will now be training weeks, week 10 a rest week, week 11-13 training weeks, and then week 14-15 taper. Let's hope that works... Prior to falling sick, I was starting to get comfortable with the distance, so I will repeat my Week 6 training volume/intensity in Week 8 (next week), and start putting a bit more focus on speed.

To make matters worse, any chance of boosting my slow bike leg with a set of 'em sexy FlashPoint FP60s for the OSIM Olympic Distance Triathlon(July 29th) is now officially zilch. My dear sis-in-law coming next week from New Jersey is already carrying too much much stuff for R1 and R2 (we are talking about suitcases of toys, books and clothes here), and confirmed that she cannot bring anything else into Singapore. :-( By the way, since I can't get them in time for the race, any advice on aero wheels (choices) would be much appreciated - e.g. What do you use and do you like 'em? Clinchers/tubulars? Are they sturdy enough to be used also for training rides weekly (instead of just on races)?

Only 8 short weeks before my first ever Olympic Distance Triathlon. Probably laughable to you ironmen/women and marathon runners out there, but I must confess that I am starting to feel nervous...

Until next time, train safe and God Speed ya 'all!

I am NOT a runner...

2007-05-30T20:06:00.000+08:00

... I am NOT a swimmer either... MANY years back I cycled a bit, but I am NOT a cyclist either, as proven by this experience I related in my comments to Robin's post sometime back (by the way Robin is such an accomplished cyclist now that she does NOT clip out going 'em hills anymore):

~~~~
Maybe this will make you feel betta about clipping out in the hills. Singapore is so FLAT that when I was in the university in Vancouver, I went for a leisure ride with the cycle club and was DEAD last. Turns out they went to an island with rolling hills and these Singapore legs just could not cope. There was one particular hill, where I REFUSED to clip out (1st generation LOOK pedals back then), but got into a full on cramp midway and could not move a muscle (literally). I slowly toppled to the side, which thankfully was grass, with my back on the grass and my legs still locked in position above me holding the bike up. To make things worse, I then proceeded to slide ever so slowly all the way down the hill, upside down. Since then, I have had no issue about clipping out when I need to. :-)
~~~~

So why do I train for triathlons? I attempted an answer last year, which is still very valid, but I still get frustrated at comments from my runner friends like "Doesn't EVERYONE run a sub 1 hour 10km?". No, I don't. Not even when I am fresh. Yes, I run 3 times a week now and I train 8 hours a week, but I still do not run 10 km in less than 60 mins. I am also frustrated at the 40 min swim cut-off in Singapore for 1.5km - I can only just make it, barely, but it feels disappointing to know you will be one of the last, and there's always the risk of missing the cut-off... Maybe I am expecting too much too soon, but I get discouraged when my buddies seem to just head out and swim/bike/run so much faster than me when they are not even in training. Sigh... Must be a beginner thing...

Anyways, I have signed up for the OSIM International Triathlon (my 1st ever Olympic Distance Tri) on 29th July and also the 10km Saucony 100Plus Passion Run on 8th July to "blow out the carbon from the pipes" before the OSIM Tri. It should be fun.

Oh and if you are praying for me, please continue to do so. My sore throat has indeed become a runny nose / cough thingy. I am getting depressed from the training and family time that I am missing (don't wanna pass on the germs to my boys). :-(

On the home front, I am incredibly proud of R1. He has been asking for a set of roller blades as a reward for doing well in school, and we finaly got him a pair. He's been on 'em every chance he gets and has perservered despite falling countless times. In just 2 days, without anyone teaching him (besides some advice from the older neighbourhood kids) he is up and skating. I am so proud of him that I feel like I am about to burst! As you can see below, R2 seems a little unimpressed with the fuss we are making about his big brother. Maybe it's time to get R2 some skates too. :-)

Until next time, train safe and God Speed!

Week 6 of 15

2007-05-29T08:11:00.000+08:00

Sorry for another post-dated reported on last week. It's getting tough to keep a balance on work, family and blogging nowadays. Been getting stressed out at work with the merger now at the stage of forming my team - organisation and people. It ain't easy trying to be fair to everyone, setting expectations, conforming to changing HR and global guidelines, AND getting the right people for the new organisation.

Anywayz, the good news is that I had another 6/6 week!

Mon: Swim Intervals - 550m Warm Up, 6 X (110m sprint, 30s recovery), 550m Cool Down.
Tues: Run Intervals (Dreadmill) - 15 mins warm up, 4 X (3min@11km/hr, 3min@8.5km/hr), 15 mins cool down;
Strength Training - Leg Press, Seated Row, Bent Elbow Lat Pull Down, Push-ups, Bicycle (Abs).
Wed: Rest
Thurs: 13.3km @ 8.7km/hr - Longest run ever!
Fri/Sat: Unscheduled Rest - Work & family calls.
Sun: Long Swim - 2km (I have now reached my long swim distance goal and will focus more on speed in the coming weeks);
Brick - 52 km bike / 7km run - Longest brick run ever!

The bad news is that I have developed a sore throat since the long brick on Sunday. :( I have not been sleeping well - too much stress at work and at home (merger at work, and R1 has been getting a little out of control lately) - and I think the lack of sleep and breakthrough workouts may have caught up with me. So Mon and today (Tues) will be rest days for me, and I will get back to strength training and swim intervals the next couple of days and hopefully be able to get back to aerobic training soon. Sore throats are usually the first indication of a coughing/runny nose infection for me, so please pray for speedy recovery!

Until next time, train safe and God Speed everyone!

Week 5 of 15

2007-05-20T15:05:00.000+08:00

Week 5 of my 15 week Olympic Distance Triathlon Training Plan was tough, and I scored myself 5.5/6, but before that... please allow me to take detour thru the "Hill of Foreskins". Yup, that's Gibeath Haaraloth, where Joshua circumcised all the Israelites with flint knives - ouch! (Joshua 5:3). ;-D

Sometimes when I read a Scripture passage, it seems to jump up at me and shows me an immediate application or area of sin/rebellion in my heart. Other times, it just sticks in my mind for weeks/months... This is one of the latter. The situation is this: God has just stopped the Jordan river mid-flow and brought His people over the river into the promised land (Joshua 3:15-17). Only problem is that the promised land was still inhabited with its native population who are not thrilled that a whole army has crossed over to take their land. So imagine the entire Israelite population dressed for battle and hyped up about their God stopping the entire river to bring them over. Victory has been promised, the natives of the land are trembling with fear (Joshua 2:8-11) and the Israelites are ready to kick ass. But then, God reminds them that the entire generation of Israelites has not yet been circumcised! Talk about a let down. Talk about being vulnerable. The people had to literally lay down their armour and arms, and get themselves circumcised - I would imagine that movement alone would be tough for a few days, let alone defending themselves against any sort of attacking forces or wild animals (Exodus 23:29) now that they are literally behind enemy lines.

Has that happened to you before? All ready to go and then there's this soft, persistent voice at the back of your head reminding you that perhaps you might have missed something even more important? It's happened to me too many times now. After a long day of work/family/training, I am all ready for my 8 hours of recovery sleep, only to remember that I had forgotten about my QT (Quiet Time with the Lord) - so what's it to be? Trust in the recovery from 8 hours in bed, or trust God to honour my QT? Another one I face pretty often goes something like this: Back from a week of business travels and missed work-outs, can't wait to head out the door for my run, and R1/R2 says "Can you play with me Papa?". I still struggle with these sort of decisions, but one thing for sure is that AFTER the Israelites were circumcised behind enemy lines, nothing came to attack them, until they have re-committed themselves to the Lord, and we all know that they then went on to capture much of the promised land. Praise God!

Okay, back to week 5:

Mon: Rest (Just too much going on at work, and the office gym is closed for a month due to the merger and re-locations) :-(
Tues: 12km Run - Dark clouds started forming from the point that I left the house for my morning run. As I ran, I was praying hard that God will hold back the rain so I can finish the run. And you know what? God has a sense of hunour - the rain started coming down at exactly the mid-point, where I had no choice but to run all the way back. This was not a drizzle, this was a tropical storm, where the rain goes side ways. It was the first time that I ever felt cold running in Singapore, and I think it helped speed me up, as I was running harder just to get warm!. :-)
Wed: Swim Intervals - 550m warm up, 6 X (110m sprint, 30s recovery), 550m cool down
Thurs: Another unscheduled rest day - work is really getting busy.
Fri: Run Intervals - 15 mins warm up, 3 X (3 mins sprint, 3 mins active recovery), 15 mins cool down
Strength Training - Squats, Seated Row, Bent Elbow Lat Pull-down, Push-ups, Bicycle (Abs).
Sat: 50 km Bike / 6 km Run (Brick). I bonked on the run - had lunch too early and got hungry in the run. Probably pushed too hard on Fri too. Had to walk/run a bit after 4km or so. Terrible cramps when I finally got back. Felt better after I stuffed myself with raisins, almonds and peanuts.
Sun: 1.9km swim.

The sliver lining is that the parent teacher meeting confirmed that R1 is doing well at school (that's my boy the Star Student on the right). He has also discovered some new found interest in sports this week - football (soccer) & badminton, which is encouraging, as I have been starting to worry that he may be a bit too much of a "home body". :-)

Next week I go to Indonesia again, so again the training plan requires some tweaking. Until next time, train safe and God Speed!

Week 4 of 15 (Rest Week)

2007-05-14T08:10:00.000+08:00

The reason why I have this photo of an empty airport lounge is that all the other passengers managed to get on the flight except me and my colleague. :-( That meant another 3 hours in the lounge without even Internet access, and no chance of getting back early on Fri to get some training done. That just about sums up last week for me - I read that we are supposed to keep to the same number of sessions in rest weeks, just reduce the volume/intensity, but I was not able to do that with the travels to both Indonesia and Phils in the same week.

All I could manage the entire week was Swim Intervals (6 X 55m sprint, 30s recovery) and Run Intervals (10 X 1min hill sprint, 2min active recovery). With all the travelling (and probably also the stress of the huge merger and missed financial targets at work), I have not been sleeping well, so despite the lapse in training, I don't particularly feel refreshed, so when it was time to do my weekend bike/run and it was drizzling, I decided to spend my 2.5 hours on this instead...Yup, that is Luke Sykwalker at the front with his light sabre, while Chewbacca, R2D2, Hans Solo and Princess Diana chill out behind him (there's one other character in the cockpit of the X-wing fighter, but I can't figure out who he is). This Lego set was R1's birthday present last year and the poor kid has been waiting 6 months for his negligent papa to fix it with him. Now that R1's exams are over and it's rest week, there really is no excuse for us to put it off any longer, so Voila! We are proud to report that, despite being only 6+, R1 built all of that himself - all ol' nitrox did was to help him find the lego bits from the hundreds in the box. R2 also helped by taking a nap so he wouldn't be tempted to go running off with the tiny Lego bits. :-) As you can see, R2 was a little over-whelmed by how much got done while he was napping. [ BTW, the picture on the right was also taken last weekend when we went shopping for MORE TOYS! :-) ]

So all in all, I can only score myself 2/6 for the rest week (only 2 of 6 training sessions done), but given the work commitments, I think I did well to spend time on what's important - family. :-) Praise God!

Until next time, train safe and God Speed!

Week 3 of 15

2007-05-07T20:52:00.000+08:00

Another 6/6 week! But just barely... My floor pump broke just when I was about to head out for my Sunday bike/run and I had to scramble to get a new one (see picture, I got the Park Tool Home Mechanic Floor Pump, what a beauty!). Thankfully, I managed to squeeze in the bike/run before my flight to Jakarta this week, it was pretty stressful, as I was running scared of missing my flight to Jakarta! ;-)

So here's my training stats this week:

Mon: Swim Intervals - 550m warm up, 10 X (110m sprint, 30s recovery), 550m cool down
Tues: Long Run - 12.2 km
Wed: Rest
Thurs: 15min warm up, 8 X (1min sprint, 2min active recovery), 10min cool down;
Strength Training (Leg Press, Seated Row, Bent Elbow Lat Pull Down, Chin-ups, Ab Crunch with Twist)
Fri: Rest
Sat: Long Swim - 1.95km
Sun: 52.4km bike / 6.4km run

As you can see from the total training hours per week above, this is the most training hours that I have ever logged in 3 consecutive weeks, and probably the most structured training I have undertaken since my Army days more than 20 years ago. The last bike/run I did on Sunday, I actually felt pretty strong and the fear of missing my flight actually pushed me to a 9.4km/hr pace for the 6.4km run, which is BOTH the fastest and longest brick run that I have done so far! I know the speed and distance ain't much to you ironmen/women and marathoners out there, but that's a brick run PR for ol' nitrox! :-) What a great way to go into REST WEEK this week! All in all, I feel tired and a little sore, but satisfied with the 3 weeks, and looking forward to cranking it up against after a week of rest.

This probably falls into the "too much information" category, but I remember that after the 2006 New Balance Real Run, my speedy gonzales friend N was remarking to me how he gets nipple abrasion on long runs, and I was like "erm... No, I don't have that problem. And I don't think I know you well enough for that conversation buddy!" Then last week, I jumped into the shower after my long run and "OUCH" - nipple abrasion. I guess I have arrived as a runner. :-) I already use vaseline on my bike seat (it helps me slide forward in aero position and back when climbing), so maybe... just maybe... Any suggestions welcome from you avid runners out there, and until next time, train safe and God Speed!

Rubbers & Gels

2007-05-04T07:21:00.000+08:00

Somehow, this seems a particularly apt subject while blogging in the Bangkok airport (waiting for my flight home). :-) Yup, boys and girls, you gotta love your rubbers, and ol' nitrox just got myself a pair of lovely white-walled rubbers. My OEM tyres were starting to fray at the side walls, so I picked up these beauties at the LBS last week. Vredestein Fortezza Tricomps are apparently racing clinchers with recommended pressure of 145psi, but my pump can only go to 140psi, and my wheels have a 133psi limit, so I am running them at 140psi (which is still 20 higher than my usual 120psi on the OEM tyres). If these are anything like car tyres, they probably need to be "broken in", but initial impressions are positive (except Mrs Nitrox took a look and pronounced them "Ah Beng", which is Singapore speak for "Bling" - in my defence, the LBS guy picked the colour and I did not know they come in black until I started surfing the 'Net). Coming from OEM tyres, I found the Tricomps to be much grippier - I used to slide on wet cement floors and have my OEM tyres break traction going up steep hills, but did not seem to have this problem with the new tyres. They also seem "tougher" - the 120tpi casing shows itself as feeling thicker and tougher than the old rubbers. I was initially concerned about them being slower due to higher rolling resistance (more grip = higher rolling resistance = lower speed?), but the higher pressure must have helped, as I seem to be ~2km/hr faster on the straights (have yet to quantify the effect on average speed, which really needs a few rides). Will keep you updated if they are indeed faster than the OEM tyres.

Following my questions about Nutrition for Olympic Distance Triathlon, I decided to do some testing and picked up a pack of Hammer Gels (Raspberry). So far I have been just taking 2 bottles of Powerade on my weekend 2.5hr bike/run (approx 35kcal per 100ml, so a total of 350kcal). Don't think I can drink 2 bottles on the bike leg come race day, so I am thinking perhaps a gel (86 kcal) just before the swim, 1 bottle of Powerade (175 kcal) during the bike, another gel in the run leg (86 kcal), and another bottle of Powerade (175kcal) split between quick gulps in T1 and T2. That would give me a total of 522kcal for 3:15-3:30 hours. Think that is enough?

So last Sun, instead of taking 2 bottles of Powerade on the bike for my planned weekend 50km ride / 6km run, I took 1 bottle of Powerade, 1 bottle of water and 1 Hammer gel for the bike. I left out another bottle of Powerade so that I can take quick gulps between the ride and the run (I managed about 3/4 bottle). Just like the pros, I taped the Hammer gel on the top tube of my bike so I can rip it off one handed. In true ol' nitrox style, I managed to get my fingers and glove all sticky in the process - looks like more practice is required. :-) What did it taste like? Well... Kinda like warm, melted candy (except it is less sweet), which is not entirely a bad thing. I was apprehensive reading about how gels make some people hurl, so was relieved that the other 11 gels in the box won't be going to waste. I had naively expected a magical power boost but of course it never came. I guess the fact that I could successfully take in the gel and bottles is good news in itself. The gels should come in handy to keep energy levels up in the O.D. race (3:15-3:30 hrs)when I may not be able to stomach so many bottles.

Oops, almost boarding time, so until next time, train safe and God Speed!

Week 2 of 15

2007-04-30T07:57:00.000+08:00

Week 2 went well, considering I had a business trip to Jakarta. But before that, please allow me to share R1 & R2's latest creations of which I am immensely proud. On the left is R1's attempt at Pop Art, while R2 painted a duck who loves his boots so much that he wears them even on sunny days. :-) (sorry for the formatting, can't get the pictures to aligh properly...)

Mon: Long Run 11km (Yes, that's a long run in my books.) :-)
Tues: Swim Intervals 8 X (110m sprint, 30s recovery) (Yes, it was a pool with a weird length)
Wed: Run Intervals 6 X (1min hill sprint, 2min active recovery)
Thurs: Long Swim 1.8km, Strength Training (Leg Press, Seated Row, Bent Elbow Lat Pull-down, Push-ups, Abs Crunch with Twist)
Fri: Rest (return trip from Jakarta)
Sat: Unscheduled rest day (family commitments)
Sun: 52.2km ride / 6.2km run (Brick)

So in short, I am thankful to report that Week 2 of 15 is again 6/6! :-) I had to take my scheduled rest day last Sunday on Saturday instead - BEFORE my Week 2 bike/run instead of AFTER, which should make this week's training interesting... Also adding to the challenge this week is a 4 day business trip to Bangkok, which will again push my swims, long run and ride to the beginning and end of this week. I will be travelling with my boss, who is recovering from bronchitis, so I will be praying for good health this week!

Thanks for following me on my 15 week journey. I also did a bit of shopping, and got some new rubbers and gels (sorry, no kinky stuff, I am a Singaporean) this week, but more on that next time. Until then, train safe and God Speed!

Olympic Distance Triathlon Nutrition?

2007-04-24T07:26:00.000+08:00

Taking a cue from IronPol, I am reminded to ask if I need any special nutrition plan for an Olympic Distance Triathlon? I am aiming for 3:15-3:30 finish time, which means I will be using good ol' Staminade, but do I need gels and energy bars?

I take Staminade with me on my 2 hour ride - 2 bottles, approx 1 litre which is about 222 Cal (kcal) - because I read that I should take in 150-250 Cal per hour on the bike. But my Polar HRM says that I burn >900 Cal in my 2 hour ride, what's with that? Am I supposed to replenish only a portion of the calories I burn or all of it?

Based on my weight, RunThePlanet says that I am burning 800 Cal per hour when I run (my Polar HRM says approx 650 Cal, close enough I guess). I never take any sports drink or gels during my run because currently I am running less than 80 mins. Should I be?

Recovery drinks - do I need them? This is one area where I am totally confused. I started with Accelerate last year, but found it expensive. Then I read that low fat chocolate milk or even skimmed milk with some sugar works the same. So I started taking low fat chocolate milk / low fat milk after work-outs (I read that the 30mins after work-out is a good time to take in some protein and carbohydrates). After a few weeks, I started suspecting that I may be lactose intolerant (a condition I had in my teens). So now I try to take soy milk (reduced sugar) instead.

Of course on top of all that I am trying to eat right - more veggies and fruits, green tea instead of the 2nd cup of coffee, more fish/chicken, etc... But I am certainly not on any sort of diet. In terms of weight, I am hovering at 80-82kg (1.85m height), which puts me at 23-24 kg/m2 (which puts me just below "overweight" cut off at 25kg/m2 for Asian populations).

While we are on the subject of nutrition, R2 is getting so thin that some neighbours have asked us if he is sick. :( He is a finicky eater, so we are doing what we can to get him to eat MORE - including bribing him with a brownie-on-a-stick. :D

Quick update on training front: Week 1 of 15 was indeed a 6/6! I managed to get the planned bike/run in on Sat. This week I am travelling to Indonesia, so I will push the long run and swim to the start of the week and leave Strength Training and Intervals to the hotel gym. I will be back in time for my weekend bike/run, so God Willing, week 2 looks to be on track too.

Until next time, train safe and God Speed!

Week 1 of 15

2007-04-20T17:35:00.000+08:00

The inaugral week of my 15 week Olympic Distance Triathlon training plan has gone reasonably well, considering that I was off track from day one due to work commitments:

Mon: Plan - Run Intervals. Actual - Unplanned rest day due to work commitments.
Tues: Plan - Swim 1.5km. Actual - Run Intervals (4 X 1km run, 500m recovery).
Wed: Plan - Run 10km. Actual - Swim Intervals (6 X 110m, 30 sec recovery).
Thurs: Plan - Strength Training. Actual - Run 10km (on dreadmill, due to heavy rain), Strength Training.
Fri: Plan - Swim Interval. Actual - Swim 1.65km.
Sat (tomorrow): Plan - Bike 52.5km / Run 4.5km
Sun: Rest

So in short, I managed to catch up on the week's training plan today (Fri) and hope to get in the Bike/Run tomorrow as planned to make it a 6/6 training week. :) I am feeling a bit tired as I have not done so many sessions in a week before, but still hopeful that I will stick to my 15 week plan.

Judging by how much fun R2 had with the neighbour's pedal kart, the need for speed must run in the family. I have been reading about speedwork in Triathlete Magazine and have decided to follow their "ladder system", which means starting with much shorter intervals (100m X 6) and gradually increas the interval durations. Apparently it increases neuromuscular capacity so that this ol' brain can fire off more muscle fibers when fatique sets in... Sounds good to me! :)

Met an ol fren 2 days ago. We have not met in years so he has not seen the new, lean me...

Ol' Fren: What happened to you? You lost so much weight! Are you sick?
Ol' Nitrox: Em... No... I have been exercising.
Ol' Fren: But you LOOK sick. Is everything okay? You can tell me, it's okay.
Ol' Nitrox: I have been doing some triathlon training.
Ol' Fren: I have never seen anyone do triathlons and lose so much weight. They tend to stay the same size and just do triathlons. Are you sure you are healthy?
Ol' Nitrox: Buddy, I assure you that I am very healthy (exasperation made me say it). It's normal to lose weight when you train 5-6 times a week.
Ol' Fren: 5-6 times a WEEK?!?! Is something wrong? It sounds like an obsession. Why are you so obsessed with it?
Ol' Nitrox: I guess I'm just the kind of guy that likes to put 100% in what I do. I think guys that play golf put more hours into golf than I do.
Ol' Fren: Ya, but they don't do it everyday! Are you sure you are okay?

Sigh.... Some people just DON"T GET IT. In hindsight, I could have talked about the freedom and fullness of life that Christ came to give us. Ol' Nitrox has always had blindingly brilliant hindsight. Sigh... Until next time, train safe and God Speed, y'all!

2nd Try...

2007-04-17T08:44:00.000+08:00

Thanks to the last bout of cold, my 17-week Olympic Distance Triathlon Training Plan has become a 15-week O.D. training plan. :-) I am not sure if it was an allergy, but I was coughing out nasty green/yellow stuff and I thought I better stop and recover. Anywayz, I am glad to be finally rid of the cold and able to start training again.

Some of you may have noticed some revisions to the previous plan, my current thoughts are:

Instead of trying to increase the interval distances, I will keep it to 1-1.5km but keep increasing speed and incline. Will also mix in some Strides.
I will gradually increase my long run from 10km to 18km or so in 10% increments.
The weekend brick has also been modified to a more reasonable length to keep my max workout time to below 3.5hrs.
I have put in 2 mock races where I intend to do the full O.D. distance - I think I need that confidence boost, and to practice transitions, nutrition, etc...
Every 4th week is rest week, where training volume is cut by half. If I am feeling tired I won't be too fussed about skipping work-outs.
Strength training is reduced to once a week.
Flexibility is key especially since this is my 1st "serious" training plan - no idea how well my body and my personal schedule will take to this plan, so I will probably modify the plan as I go. E.g. if I feel comfortable about the training volume, I may add one mid-week short bike to work on speed, or if I am feeling tired even after rest week, I may cut down on volume/intensity. Still, I believe it is important to have a plan as a baseline to make sure that key training objectives are met.
I may introduce some "work-up" races as I go along, depending on availability and my own readiness (e.g. there is the Oakley City Duathlon - 1okm run / 40km bike / 5km run - would the 5km run at the end be too much?)
I have yet to figure out what I am going to do in the last few weeks to race day. Right now, I have a rest week, followed by a single training week, and then straight to taper, which is kinda weird. Will sort that out as I get nearer to the race, but once again, would very much appreciate any insights you can share with me.

On the home front, primary one for R1 is getting more "serious" than I thought. There is so much pressure from the school in terms of the coming May and Nov examinations and this is just his 1st year in primary (elementary) school! I can't believe the school actually gave us a manual for how to prepare R1 for his coming Chinese (Mandarin) oral examination. What happened to SLOWLY introducing the kids to the rigours of academia? I am trying hard not to get too caught up by the pressure from school and from other parents, and to make sure that the boys have time to be boys, but sometimes I really wonder if I am doing the right thing to bring up my kids in Singapore... Being the appointed Chinese teacher for R1 & R2 - poor Mrs Nitrox has every other subject, I think I will need to become a morning person and move all the training to the early morn so that I will have more time with them. Something I have planned to do but never done for months now...

Okay, back to the daily grind then.... Until next time, train safe and God Speed!

Be Strong and Courageous...

2007-04-08T17:26:00.000+08:00

... because Jesus Christ is alive!

I've come to realize that it is so easy to fall into the trap of being a hypocrite when writing a blog. I say that because I have a tendency to post about some things happening in my life but not others, and in doing so, I am probably portraying myself to be a better person than I really am. There is a HUGE gap between writing and doing, and ol' nitrox is still struggling mightily with a lot of the things I write about, both in Intentional Discipleship and in Triathlon Training. Suffice it to say that in both areas, I am still sputtering along in a on again, off again fashion, and probably in danger of not finishing the race in both senses (Hebrews 12:1)...

Especially in the area of Intentional Discipleship, I have been consistently allowing the world to come into my heart and steal the unspeakable joy and the unshakable peace that Jesus paid such a high price for. I will spare you the details, but I have been choosing to wallow in self-pity, anger, frustration, even depression, rather than to take hold of the incredible gift of grace from God. I have allowed even the little things in life (e.g. the ol' family mover breaking down when my neighbors are sporting new Mercedes Benz's & Porsche's, falling sick on my 1st week of the new training plan, irrational worries about the merger going on at work, etc...) to displace what should be unshakable and unspeakable.

"Coincidentally" (I am starting to wonder if QT - Quiet Time with the Lord - topics are ever coincidence?) in my QT, I am reading about Moses handing over the reins to Joshua before the Israelites crossed the Jordan over to the promised land. You will remember that Moses was not allowed to cross the Jordan into the promised land, he was allowed only to see it. Why? Because he did not trust God enough (Numbers 20:12) to take control of his emotions. Instead he allowed himself to get angry with the whining of the people, and in anger he struck the stone twice (Numbers 20:11) to get water for the people (when God told him to just speak it, Numbers 20:8).

So when Moses handed over to Joshua, what was the one instruction that was repeated not once, not twice but EIGHT times in the bible's account of Moses and Joshua? You guess it, "Be strong and courageous" - Moses said it to the Israelites (Deuteronomy 31:6), and to Joshua again (Deuteronomy 31:7); God Himself said it to Joshua (Deuteronomy 31:23, Joshua 1:6-7, Joshua 1:9); the Israelites said it to Joshua (Joshua 1:18); and Joshua repeated it to the Israelites (Joshua 10:25). Actually, generations later, even King David encouraged his son King Solomon with the same words (1 Chronicles 22:13, 1 Chronicles 28:20) - we're not even counting these last two occurrences in the eight times. :-) (Just for fun, the phrase "be strong and courageous" is repeated one more time in the bible, anyone know where that is? Hint: Use the search function in BibleGateway.)

I think when a phrase is repeated so many times in the bible, it is probably worth looking at. So why did Moses, Joshua and the Israelites place so much importance on being strong and courageous? And more importantly, how does this exhortation apply today? Well, I think it still takes tremendous courage to choose to keep our eyes on Jesus, and to take hold of the freedom/victory that He gives us by doing the "right" thing despite pressing circumstances. As I look back in the past few weeks (and much beyond) I know that I have chosen in weakness and cowardice to wallow in self-pity, anger, and frustration, instead of being brave enough to to take the high road and do the "right" thing. A current example may be ol' nitrox choosing to worry about my job security/scope, choosing to assume that management is lost in politics and/or empire building, rather than choosing to find my security in Jesus, and trusting Him enough to be the voice of re-assurance and hope in the midst of the merger at work. In doing so, I have lost yet another opportunity God has given me to be a witness at work.

I believe God, in His infinite wisdom and love, has already prepared/supplied everything we need to do the "right" thing everytime. The only uncertainty in the whole equation is our free will - He is gracious enough to respect what we choose, even if it means that sometimes we choose to give up the precious freedom/victory that He has bought for us. So one way to look at it is that all we need to do is be strong and courageous enough to choose His way, and He will do the rest.

Perhaps another way of looking at it is that fear is the anti-thesis of faith. For some who live where there is no religious freedom (and there continues to be many such places right here in Asia), this is the very real fear of reprisals, social exclusion and even grievous bodily harm to family and self in the midst of persecution. For ol' nitrox, it is ultimately the fear that what God has promised just ain't good enough - I know that God has promised unshakable peace and unspeakable joy, but I really don't think I can be happy without my current job/pay, without a shiny new sports car, without "respectable" timings in my 1st O.D. Tri, etc... Crazy but true. My co-leader in Care Group once said that when we sin, we are really choosing to find happiness/peace by our own means. Like the early Israelites who made for themselves a golden calf when Moses was in Mt Sinai talking to God (Exodus 32:1), we are taking things into our own hands, and finding peace and joy in what we can create/control. The end result is always that we find the end point less than fulfilling, because we are trying to fill a "God-shaped" hole in our hearts with something that we fashioned with our hands.

Today, I choose to be strong and courageous. I choose joy and peace, and I hope you do too. Until next time, train safe and God Speed!

Freaking Out

2007-04-05T07:40:00.000+08:00

Sorry for the picture quality - that's a dragon fly on Mrs Nitrox's finger that has R1 & R2 freaking out. Sigh, I am the father of 2 true blue city kids... :-)

Sorry also for freaking about the 17 weeks to my 1st O.D. Triathlon. What can I say? It's been a rough week by all counts... (By the way, if you have any advice for my O.D. Tri Training Plan, I would very much appreciate it!)

One of our pastors (whom I have come to dearly love and respect) had a terrible family tragedy, and all we could do was pray for him and give him a hug...
The HUGE merger at work is now underway, and there is STILL no news about what our roles are in the new company months from the start of planning. As expected, some folks have been busily building "empires" while the new organisation is being formed, and it really ilks me that the rest of us seem to be at the receiving end of their posturing and "land grabbing". I KNOW God is working to prepare the path ahead for me (just as He has always done), but my lack of faith makes the journey more than a little unsettling. What a clear example of the difference between HEAD knowledge and HEART knowledge! Lord, help my unbelief and restore me to the fullness of life in accordance with Your perfect will!
On the training end, I finally had a break through last Sunday in the 50km bike / 5km run - for the 1st time ever, I actually felt strong on the bike AND the run, and got some respectable timings. And then the very next day, the familiar "runny nose, sore throat, cough" feeling came back. Sigh, what a let down! :-( It's been stressful since then trying to toe the fine line between meeting my training commitment and getting enough rest to fend off another full-blown infection. Not a good thing to start my 17 week plan by missing work-outs, but it looks like this is exactly what's gonna happen.

However, in spite of the cloudy skies, I have been totally OVER-WHELMED by the outpouring of love, advice and encouragement from all of you via comments and email in reponse to my shameless plea for help - Thank You RobTheRunner, Tri-Mama, IronPol, PapaLouie, NancyToby, Cliff, Tryathlete, Tammy, IronJenny, Wylee, Tri-Dummy, Lisa, Annette, Commodore, TriFeist, Flatman, and other kind bloggers who have yet to offer wise words to my O.D. Tri Training Plan. Thanks again guys/gals, you really made my week!

Quite a few of you reminded me that I did not state my goal for the OSIM 2007 Triathlon in my last post. Well, it was semi-intentional. ;-) My timing for the last Sprint I did end 2005 was swim 21:36, bike 41:56, run 32:22 (inclusive of transitions) so I figure that I should aim for 2 X my Sprint timing which would take in account the on/off training I did in 2006. So my goal for OSIM 2007 is swim 40mins, bike 1:30, run 1:05 for a total of 3:15, which at this stage looks pretty much like a S-T-R-E-T-C-H target. So there it is, I have publicly declared my time target, now it's SERIOUS BUSINESS. :-)

Some initial thoughts/changes to my training plan after all that great feedback:

My original plan is probably too ambitious, will have to scale down the distances somewhat and accept the fact that I will probably miss some sessions due to travel, family, etc...
TriFeist reminded me that my ambitious Saturday bike/run distances will take a LONG time - I had forgotten to take training time per session into consideration. Duh... So some weeks I'll do 60-70km bike/5km run, and other weeks do 40km bike/10-12km run. I'll probably keep it random based on how I feel. I hear it is good to shock the body sometimes. :)
Will limit run intervals to 1km or so and increase speed and/or number of repeats progressively. Will also introduce some stride work as suggested by IronPol. I also like Tryathlete's idea of running 2.4km time trials (like in the army).
Will try to increase my long run and long swim distances - I think I'll need that extra boost of confidence come race day.
Cliff made time during his vacation in Hong Kong to give me some pretty specific advice. My favourite being to week one in each 3 week training block with a lower volume and progressively add until rest week. I like that idea very much, my previous plan to rack up the mileage from week one was probably a little too unrealistic.
I am also seriously looking at how I can insert a mid-week bike ride, maybe in place of a strength training session. Hmmm....

So it's obvious that the training plan needs more work and I will try to put up a revised plan this weekend. Meanwhile, train safe and God Speed! I will be going for Maundy Thurs service tonight and going to bed straight after, hoping to wake up feeling good enough to go for my missed 12km run.

Happy Easter everyone! Remember that Christ died to buy us fullness of life, so don't let the world rob you of the freedom you already have!

HELP! 17 weeks to My 1st Olympic Distance Triathlon!

2007-04-02T07:46:00.000+08:00

Okay, here's where the rubber hits the road... I have only 17 weeks to my 1st Olympic Distance Triathlon and something akin to panic is just about setting in...

Been trying to put together some sort of training plan, and discovered that I have SO MANY questions! I have been reading Joe Friel's book and also the "12 weeks to a Olympic Distance PR" series of articles in the last 2 issues of Triathlete Magazine, but it seems the more I read, the more confused I become! So I am rather desperately appealing to the collective wisdom of the athelete's in blogsphere to PLEASE give me some pointers.

First my current state:

3-4 kgs above my target race weight of 80kg/176lbs (1.85m/6ft), which shows up in the embarassing bulges above and below my cycling tights. :-(
The "W13" (Week 13) row in the table below shows what I did last week.I am reasonably confident of completing the O.D. Tri, but I think I need to work on both my endurance and speed.
In the area of endurance, I probably need to focus on the run (longest run yet prior to falling sick was only 12km).
In the area of speed, my 1.5km swim is about 40mins, 50km ride (flat course) takes just short of 2 hours, and I need something like 1:10 to run 10km, and we are talking about doing each event FRESH. :-(

My current plan:

Taking into account the training time I have, I will aim for 2 X swim, 3 X run, 1 x bike, 2 x strength training a week.
For the swim and run, I will have a intervals or drills session per week to build speed, and one aerobic session per week to build endurance.
I intend to keep it simple and make a rough weekly plan as follows:
Mon: Run (Intervals), Strength Training
Tues: Swim (Aerobic)
Wed: Run (Aerobic)
Thurs: Strength Training
Fri: Swim (Drills/Intervals - will alternate between the two, drills one week and intervals the next)
Sat: Bike/Run (Brick)
Sun: Rest
With the amount of travelling in my job, there will probably be more than a little shifting and doubling up missed work-outs.

The table below shows my targeted distances:

And now finally, my long list of questions:

Do the Run:Interval distances look right to you? Should I be doing anything longer than 3km x 4 Intervals for an Olympic Distance Tri?
Do the Bike and Run:Brick distances look right to you? Do I need to go beyond 64km rides for an Olympic Distance Tri? How about the run? I was thinking that running 12km after my ride will help boost my confidence to finish the event...
Should I be focusing more on repeating bricks in the last week - i.e. instead of 64km bike / 12 km run, should I be doing 20km bike / 5 km run X 3?
Is it a good idea to do a full mock race (i.e. 1.5km swim / 40km bike / 10km run)? If so, when's a good time to do that?
Do the Run:Aerobic distances look right to you? Should I be doing more than 15km for an Olympic Distance event?
Do the Swim:Aerobic distances look right to you? Should I be doing more than 2km or so for an Okympic Distance event"?
What am I supposed to do in the rest weeks? Do I do the same number of sessions (i.e. 3 runs, 2 swims, 1 bike, 2 strength) and reduce the intensity/distance in each, or do I allow myself to miss a few sessions (e.g. instead of 3 runs, do only 2 but at the same target distances as a training week)?
What am I supposed to do in the taper weeks? Is 2 weeks for taper too much or too little?

Sorry to be inundating you with all these questions, but please forgive the procastinations of this middle-aged Novice Master Triathlete and share some of your valuable insights with me and other would-be triathletes out there!

While I am at it, please allow me one LAST question. :-) This here is ol' nitrox's steed: a Scott CR1 Team, full carbon frame road bike which came standard with Shimano 105 group set and Mavic Ksyrium Equipe wheels. As pictured, I have added a zero off-set seat post, Arione Tri saddle, and a Deda clip-on bar since getting it in Sep 2005. I've been thinking of giving myself some extra motivatin for the O.D. Tri, so here's the question: What is a better investment? Upgrading my 105 group to Ultegra, or getting a pair of 'em sexy Flash-Point FP60 wheels?

Thanks again Guys & Gals, and until next time, train safe and God Speed!

Character Building Week

2007-03-27T07:32:00.000+08:00

Sorry, I am reporting late on the week past again, and yes, it was a "character building" week. You know those weeks where you come back from being away from training and it takes an extra effort to get out the door, and even more effort to finish the tail end of the workout? That's been my week. "Character building" sounds a lot betta than "painful", doesn't it? :-)

Mon: Still recovering from the last virus attack
Tues: I knew it would be ~~painful~~ character building getting back, so decided to jump in the deep end and start with intervals in the office gym - only managed to do 4 of the 5 planned 1km intervals.
Wed: Just in case there is more character building I have to get out of my system, I did a 10km run. Yes, it was slow and uncomfortable, but I got it done.
Thurs: In Indonesia, and I rested.
Fri: In Indonesia, but managed to get in some character building strength training in the hotel gym on Fri morning.
Sat: Family day, so I went for a very easy bike ride with R1 & R2. This time, R2 decided to ride his own bike with training wheels (instead of being ferried on my bike) and got a good workout in the 7km or so ride. R1 claims that he did not even really work up a sweat. :)
Sun: 50km ride / 5km run. This was easily the highlight of the week. I have steadfastly refused to name my bike, but I am starting to understand why many do, because I was so proud of my steed - we caught up with a young guy riding a Cervelo P3C and managed to keep up with him! Sure, he kept pulling away but we kept catching him at the lights. ;-) Not often that I can say that about someone half my age (okay, maybe 2/3) riding a bike that costs twice as much as mine, so I'll take life's little victories as they come. :-D

While on the subject of character building, my car got towed to the workshop for the second time in 7 months. :-( Seems it is the clutch this time as the transmission was slipping very badly. The mechanic was kind enough to let me use a flaming red Mazda 3 in the meantime - it sure is humbling to see the Nitrox clan getting excited to exchange the family mover to the loaner. ;-) I am bracing myself for when I have to tell R2 that we are returning the shiny new car...

In the same vein, I have had to return my flashy test phone as it has now been productised. So there may be no more kewl pics from me for a while until I get my paws on another test phone.

OK, that's probably enough "character building" news for now. Until next time, train safe and God Speed!

So Why Intentional Discipleship?

2007-03-19T21:47:00.000+08:00

When I started this blog in 2005, I wrote long, winding posts like Intentional Discipleships and Triathlon Training, and So What's the Deal with Intentional Discipleships, but I don't think I ever articulated in clear succint terms what is Intentional Discipleship and why it is so important to me. So in the spirit of the "never say die" attitude in triathlon training, here's another go:

I believe that Christianity is a process and not just a point of accepting Christ, because Christianity is about having a relationship with God, and the point of accepting Christ is just the start of this relationship.

In order to have a healthy relationship with God, I believe that we need to have Intentional Discipleship in three crucial disciplines: prayer, reading His Word and honouring Him by how we live- i.e. how we treat ourselves (body and soul) and how we treat those around us. Hence the similarity between Intentional Discipleship with Triathlon Training where we have to constantly balance the three disciplines of swim, bike and run. Which explains my facination with Intentional Discipleship & Triathlon Training, and hence the title of this blog. :)

At this point, some may object and remind me that it is purely by God's grace alone that we are saved. We are not able to do anything to save ourselves. They are absolutely right! In fact, it is a sin to even try to earn our salvation through works because only God can save. The crucial point here is the definition of salvation, and I believe that if we define salvation to be just entry into heaven and eternal life (as astounding as that is), we might have missed the fullness of God's incredible grace. I believe that Jesus came to give us fullness of life as He intended it to be (John 10:10), and the best part is that the offer starts now, not just when we go to heaven! And I believe that to unlock this fullness of life, we have to know Him in a very real and intimate way. We simply cannot learn from someone we do not know, respect and meet with regularly - hence the importance of Intentional Discipleship to get to know Him more and more. So in short, I don't believe that Intentional Discipleship saves my soul, but I believe it to be the key that enables me to start having fullness of life even now when I am still on earth.

And that's why Intentional Discipleship is so important to me. It is my prayer that somehow, we can journey together and learn together, and together unlock the fullness of life that Jesus has designed for you and me.

Train safe and may God Speed our journey of discovering the fullness of life!

Zero Training Week

2007-03-18T21:44:00.000+08:00

Yup, it's been 10 days with ZERO training and counting...

By any measure of the world, this week has been a wash-out. It was the one week mid-term school break, but the entire Nitrox clan has been down with the flu bug all week. (Okay, technically it is a viral attack and not an infection, and hence not the flu as such, but ...) It started on Monday with Mrs Nitrox having high fever and R2 having cough/runny nose, slight fever and vormitting. By mid week, R1 got it bad - high fever off and on for 2 days(despite Panadol and Ibuprofen), totally clogged up (had spells of difficulty breathing - R1 has histroy of asthma), and the runs. My symptoms also got serious enough to warrant two days of medical leave.

BUT, as Mrs Nitrox and I were just musing, if we do NOT use the measure of the world, it actually turned out to be a pretty good week, and we have so much to be thankful for:

If Mrs Nitrox and the kids had to get sick for a week, it's probably better to have happened in the week of school holiday then a school week. It would have been too much hassle and pressure otherwise - re-arranging for car-pool to school, getting medical leave for R1 and then helping him catch up with school work afterwards (yes, we get school work even at Primary/Elementary school in Singapore), stressing out about how much school the boys are missing, etc...
R1 and R2 are blessed with "peds" (doctors) who really love kids, and who are also close friends in church. So quite literally, instead of getting antibiotics for the viral infection, we get good medical advice, prayers and follow-up calls to check out how the kids are doing! Thanks Dr(s) TK & Dawn, you truly are a blessing!
We are blessed with a Care Group who PRAYS, and prayers always help!
I got to spend just about the entire week with the kids, and for someone who travels so much as part of my job, this was a huge bonus. Mrs Nitrox was sick in the initial part of the week, and had a Sunday School retreat over the weekend, so I got the boys ALL TO MYSELF pretty much for the whole week. Yup, it was a little stressful at first coping with 2 grouchy sick boys, but I felt that the 3 of us really BONDED this week. Best part is, I only used up 2 days of Annual Leave (the other 2 days were Medical Leave). :-)
In retrospect, R1 and R2 did get to do most of what they wanted to this week - not much schoolwork at all and lots of play and rest time. :-) We napped a lot, acted silly, flew paper airplanes, rode our bikes, watched "Open Season" & "Happy Feet", played "Battleships", bought some kewl new toys, and generally had loads of fun together.

PRAISE GOD!

Well, it's back to school for the boys and back to work for me tomorrow. I'm praying that we get over the tail end of this virus attack real soon and things get back to normal. For me, this means a "back on the saddle" week after almost 2 weeks of no training at all. From experience, it would be slow and probably quite painful... I'm looking forward to it! :-)

Until next time, train safe ya'all and God Speed!

Hair Spray

2007-03-12T15:55:00.000+08:00

Confession time: Ol' Nitrox is follically challenged, and I have been carrying with me a travel sized pump action hair spray dutifully in all my travels, believing that if I keep at it, one day, beautifully healthy hair would start growing again. (If only we were as consistent with our medication/treatments as our Quiet Time with the Lord - but that's another story.)

A few weeks ago, the hair spray got clogged up somehow. It would work once or twice, and then the whole thing would get clogged out. I would then dutifully take the spray bottle apart, clean out the spray mechanism, assemble the whole thing, only to have it work for one spray and then get clogged all over again. Some nights I do the whole dissemble/clean/assemble process 3 times a night just to get some of that precious fluid on my bald pate. All the while, feeling frustrated with the bottle, and more than a little unhappy that more of the precious fluid is literally going down the drain than onto my head. :-(

Last night, I noticed another similar bottle on the counter top, so I picked it up, and hey presto, the new bottle worked just fine. The sense of satisfaction that I got from having the new bottle freely spray the precious stuff onto my head is simply beyond words - I went to bed with a smile on my face, amazed at how a simple thing like a working spray bottle can make or break my night. (Okay, so I don't have much of a life, but that's also another story.) Just then, it ocurred to me that in a lot of ways, I am like that blasted clogged up spray bottle. As a child of God, I am filled with His love and Spirit, but my efforts to share His love through ministry are like the impotent putterings of the clogged spray bottle!

When I started out as an ursher in church, it was all great and rosey, but after some months, I started dreading my ministry. It came to a point when I contemplated switching church so I would not have to ursher! Then when R1 & R2 were toddlers, I started serving in the Toddler's Playgroup in church. It was great at first, the kids and I had a lot of fun, some of the parents were amazed that a father would bother to come and teach the toddlers (it's still very Asian for the fathers to leave parenting to the moms). But now that R1 & R2 have both "graduated" into the kindergarden classes, I catch myself wishing sometimes that I could stop serving at the Playgroup. Some of you know I lead a Care Group, and when we were doing a structured Intentional Discipleship program last year, it was great - I learnt lots and looked forward to Care Group meetings. But nowadays, I catch myself wishing sometimes that I was just a member...

So in my service, I am like the clogged up spray bottle. Imagine God's frustration that each time He would take the time and effort to "clean" me out, just so that I would work like I should only once or twice before it happens all over again. Wouldn't be long before He finds another spray bottle that is working fine, and I miss out on being used by Him. What a scary thought! I guess the lesson here is really to guard my heart against the euphoria and drudgery of service - both are just as dangerous, because both may be symptoms of serving for the wrong reasons. Just as in Cain and Abel, God looks at the giver and not the gift. When our eyes are not on the Lord, we cannot please Him with our service. Conversely, when our eyes are on Him, we cannot but please Him. It really is as simple as that!

Talking about being clogged up, the Nitrox clan is pretty clogged up with the flu. Mrs Nitrox has got high fever, and R2 is all clogged up and has a bit of difficulty holding his food down. R1 and I are both having some of the runny nose, scratchy throat symptoms ourselves. So the planned 50km ride / 4km run last weekend got canned, and I did what all cyclists do when they cannot ride - I brought my bike for some much needed tuning and then cleaned my bike. (Don't let the WD-40 scare you, I spray it on as a chain cleaner, dry it, and then lubricate with the expensive Teflon chain lubricant.) :)

Tues (6/3): 11.8km run (longest run yet!)
Wed (7/3): Strength Training in office gym - Leg Press, Seated Row, Bent Elbow Lat Pulldown, Push Ups, Ab Crunch with Twist.
Thurs (8/3): Intervals on office gym threadmill - 1 km warm up, 3 X (1km run, 500m jog), 2 X (1.5km run, 500m jog)
Fri (9/3): 1.65km swim
Sat (10/3): 7km fun ride with R1 & R2 (R1 is the grouchy one - R2 is happy as he got to be a passenger on my bike) :-)

This week is school holidays week, so I am taking some time off work to take care of R1 & R2, especially when Mrs Nitrox is down with the flu. Looks like will be a light training week for me then. Until next time, train safe and God Speed!

Dancers Who Dance Upon Injustice

2007-03-05T08:18:00.000+08:00

We were singing this wonderful song in church 2 Sundays ago - "Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble" - and the verse "Dancers Who Dance Upon Injustice" really spoke to me.

Some of you know that I have this romantic notion that our swim/bike/run training is kinda like "dancing" before the Lord because I believe that when we train, we are using our bodies in a way that pleases God. How many of you, when faced with injustice, frustration, and other similar tough times react by heading out the door for a swim, bike or a run? I tend to do that, because there is something about the solitude of training which reminds me of what's really important in life, of how small I am in the overall context, and of how blessed I am to be able to swim, bike or run. There's something about moving (how ever slowly) on my own propulsion that reminds me of the freedom that God has given us, the freedom to choose to do the right thing, the freedom to live life to the fullest ("The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" John 10:10). How kewl is it? That Jesus gives us all the freedom to dance upon injustice?

Last Sunday was my turn to take on the Toddler's playgroup in church. As usual, I procrastinated until Saturday night to start preparing for the lesson, which means, as usual, I was a little less prepared than I would have liked. But, God's plans always work in spite of our weaknesses. It turns out that another parent thought it was her turn, but did not have enough time to prepare either (at least she has a valid excuse - she was moving house on Saturday). And it so happens that she has prepared only worship and bible reading, while I was prepared to do the art & craft - so it all worked out perfectly. The kids were taught a new song, and had a "live" locust to look at when they were told about the plaques God sent to Egypt to free his people, and after all that, they got to make macaroni and cardboard fish necklaces. Praise God! Next week, we swap (I'll do worship and bible reading, and she does the art and craft), so hopefully the kids get another interesting session and learn more about our Lord. :)

On the training end, I didn't get to do much "dancing" in India - just 8km of intervals on the hotel treadmill followed by strength training (squats, lat pull down [back], bent elbow lat pull down, push ups and ab crunch with twist). Got back to Singapore on Friday morning (overnight flight - hardly slept), had a good rest on Friday, and headed out for a 50km ride / 5 km run on Saturday afternoon, but I found the bike to be really tough and even had to walk for 500m towards the end of the run. Can't understand why I felt so sore minutes into the ride even though I only did that one run and strength training (in the same session) while in India?!?! I was so wasted after the gruelling session that I had to stay in the cold shower for 10 mins just to cool down. Even had to lie down for a bit before I could play with R1 & R2. Maybe I am just getting old and all this travelling is finally getting to me... Maybe it is the MacDonalds dinner I had on Thurs before the flight back (it was the most healthy option - I did not dare try a cold sandwitch and I was sick of greasy Indian food from the cafeteria)... Maybe I shouldn't be training in hot humid tropical afternoons anymore... Maybe I should just shut up and head out more! :D

Until next time, "dance" safe and God Speed!

No Skate Scootering...

2007-02-26T07:28:00.000+08:00

... No Skate Scootering?!? (is there even such a word?), No Roller-blading, No Pets, No Skate-boarding, and even No Studying?!?! This sign we found at the Airport (viewing gallery) is a classic - I can't help but take a picture of it because it reminds me of just how "anal" Singapore can get. Good thing it did not say anything about screaming kids playing "A-E-I-O-U". :D (Have you played A-E-I-O-U before? Kewl game - you freeze after the "catcher" shouts "A-E-I-O-U" and run like mad once someone touches the catcher)

On the training end, I almost met my training plans at the bottom of my last post:

Mon: Rest
Tues: 7km Fun Run with R1
Wed: Strength Training - Leg Press, Seated Row, Bent Elbow Lat Pull-Down, Push-ups, Abs Crunch with Twist.
Thurs: 10km Run planned, but ran 9.2km instead (primarily because I got up late) :(
Fri: 2km Swim planned, but skipped in lieu of dinner with friends at the airport (see video above)
Sat: 50km bike / 5km run planned, but did swim drills instead - kicking and Stroke Per Length (SPL) drills
Sun: Fun Run or Ride with R1 planned, but did 53km ride / 4km run instead

I am heading to India tonight for the entire week, so I am aiming to run Intervals on the hotel treadmill and maybe get in a strength training session. Travelling to India always wears me out, so this trip I will try to rest a bit more. Was hoping to get in a swim before I leave, but R2 found some poo in our apartment pool last night, so I am a little apprehensive about getting in the water before the cleaners come tomorrow. Maybe I will drive out to the club pool later...

Until next time, train safe and God Speed!

Year of the Pig

2007-02-21T16:02:00.000+08:00

Have you ever had "leave me alone to wallow in my self-pity" days? That pretty much sums up my Chinese New Year (CNY) holidays. We are having our annual increment rounds at work, and I was stupid enough to muck it up just before the holidays, so two of my guys have had to work during the CNY holidays to help rectify the error. Not exactly the clever thing to do when my boss is trying to figure out my increment for the year. :(

On a brighter note, the kids had a great start to CNY this year, as it fell on a Sunday. A great chance to compare costumes 1st thing in the morning before the visiting began. So happens one of the gals came in a matching costume so I could not resist taking a picture of the lil' ones.

On the training side, my Polar HRM tells me that I have been burning less than 1000 Kcals a week for the last 3 weeks (my target is to burn more than 2000 Kcals a week) and I'm afraid it is showing in my waistline. I discovered to my dismay that I have to loosen my belt by one notch!

Went for a run with R1 on his bike yesterday (3rd day of CNY) which turned out to be a 7km slow run with lots of stops - R1 had to adjust his pants, take a drink, stop to look at stuff, etc - and some climbing (slopes too steep for R1 to bike up/down, and some stairs in between). As you can see from the HRM graph, it was like mixing in a bit of everything - slow running, intervals, climbing and even a little strength training (carrying R1's bike). :) In retrospect, not too much of a workout, but the "quality time" one-on-one with R1 was priceless, so I really can't complain. In fact, I am thinking of making this a regular Sunday afternoon activity. :)

Next week I go to Delhi so I am trying to get as much training into this week as I can:

Mon: Rest
Tues: 7km Fun Run with R1
Wed: Strength Training - Leg Press, Seated Row, Bent Elbow Lat Pull-Down, Push-ups, Abs Crunch with Twist.
Thurs: 10km Run (planned)
Fri: 2km Swim (planned)
Sat: 50km bike / 5km run (planned)
Sun: Fun Run or Ride with R1 (planned)

Pretty ambitious training plans (for me), but I'm hoping that I can stick to 'em. Until next time, train safe and God Speed!

Happy Chinese New Year!

2007-02-17T17:53:00.000+08:00

Yup, Chinese New Year is on 18 Feb (Sunday) this year and this is the year of the PIG! If you were born on 1947, 1957, 1971 or 1983, there's a good chance that you were born in the year of the pig, which is really not a bad thing, as the Chinese associate the pig with being happy and honest (straight forward).

Chinese New Year (CNY) is a huge thing in Singapore. You literally cannot get any of the Chinese race here to work on CNY eve and the 1st two days of CNY. Some local businesses will even take the entire week off as this is the only time of the year that they take a break.

In line with Chinese New Year festivities, R2 made this nice dragon for us in Art Class - a very handy decoration as it is traditional to put up some decorations on our front door, and I really don't like the rather "gaudy" red and gold commercial items. :) The poor boy has got the fever and the runs today - he may have to skip most of the Chinese New Year goodies (sweets & cookies) this year. In fact, we may not be able to do the usual visits to relatives tomorrow unless he gets much better very soon.

R1 made this slightly more sophisticated version (of the dragon) - we're keeping this one indoors. He has got a chesty cough, so may also be missing most of the goodies too this year.

With the kids being sick (and me still having that tiny bit of sorethroat and runny nose), this week has been a rest week. All I did was intervals in the hotel gym on Wed (4 X 1.6km run / .8km recovery), and aiming for some strength training tomorrow. Perhaps the silver lining is that next week (CNY week) could actually be a training week instead of the planned rest week, since we may not be doing too many visits and gatherings this year.

Well, we're off to our CNY eve Reunion Dinner at my parent's place. It's a bit like Thanksgiving, where the entire family comes together for dinner and grandpa/grandma whip up all the family's favourite dishes. A good time is usually had by all and I'm looking forward to it! :)

Until next time, train safe everyone and God Speed in the Year of the Pig!

Why You Should Never Swim with a HRM...

2007-02-14T13:10:00.000+08:00

... at least not on a hot sunny day. And yes, it does go all the way to the front, but that would be indecent exposure. ;)

Quick training update then...

I managed to get in both the swim and the bike/run last Sat and Sun as planned, but the distances were a little shorter than planned - I did 1.6km swim and 53km bike / 4km run against the planned 2km swim and 50km bike / 5km run.

This week may also slip from a training week into a semi-rest week as I am feeling a tiny bit of sore throat and runny nose. My plan is to do run some intervals in the hotel gym and maybe some strength training this evening and see how I feel after that.

Mrs Nitrox and I have always thought of Valentine's Day as an artifical occasion created to boost cards, chocolates and flower sales. :) Well, this Valentine's I will be alone in Manila, but my thoughts will be with those who are dear to me.

Train safe, God Speed and hope you have a great Valentine's with your loved ones.

Faith is so much more than coincidence...

2007-02-09T20:59:00.000+08:00

... It's my evidence!

I've been having these fanciful thoughts in my head about getting the Toddlers (3 years old and below) in the playgroup at church to kick start our worship service with a dance. So last Sunday, I taught them to dance to "You're The One" from Hillsong Kids, Jesus Is My Superhero CD (track 9) and the best part is, some of them actually did pretty good! :)

Come Monday, I sent my fellow teachers an email saying "... There is something very innocent, joyful and powerful when kids worship..." and suggesting that we get the toddlers in front of the congregation. Then Tuesday, I started having doubts - "What was I thinking?!?! That's gonna take a lot of time and practice! I don't have time for this.." - and I started thinking let's put the whole thing off. And that's when it hit.

First, I got word that one of my fellow teacher's kids are down with chicken pox, then shortly after I got word that another of my fellow teacher's 1+ year old son has got a bad case of the stomach flu and is hospitalised and on drips as he cannot hold down any food/water. Then when I got home, R1 started having a fever, and R2 fell while riding his bike (yes, he still has training wheels on so I am not sure how it happened), and got a nasty cut on his head! (Given that there are only four regular teachers for the Toddler's Playgroup, that's a pretty good "hit rate"!)

We rushed R2 to the doctor's, blood dripping from his head onto his T-shirt, Mrs Nitrox and R2 both in some level of shock... Praise God for tissue glue - no stitches needed, the doctor just glued the gaping wound together. We got home to discover the next day that R1's fever has grown to a high fever and a full blown stomach virus attack!

Later I found out that a number of other kids in our extended Care Group were also down with sudden high fever... Wow, what happened there? Coincidence? A bout of nasty stomach flu? (Wouldn't explain the other sick kids and the nasty cut on R2's head.)

Sometimes, you know you are on the right track when things seem to start going bad. Psalm 8:2 says:

"From the lips of children and infants

you have ordained praise

because of your enemies,

to silence the foe and the avenger."

I still don't know if it is my pride talking (please pray for me!), but I reckon that if the foe and the avenger is trying to discourage us or distract us through the little ones that are dear to us, he must be really worried about what we are doing with the Toddlers. :) PRAISE GOD! Not sure if we will go ahead with putting the toddlers in front of the congregation soon, but this Sunday I am "subbing" for the teachers with sick kids, so I will be getting the toddlers to DANCE! HALLELUJAH!

On the training front, I managed to get in both the 10km run and the 50km bike /3.5km run last Fri and Sun as planned. This week, I got a little side tracked by what happened to the kids, so here's what I did:

Mon/Tues: Rest (and frantic rush to doctor's)
Wed: 10.6km run (PR this year - 1:09, ok not fast but a PR is a PR, and I got it while praising and worshiping the Lord as I ran!) :)
Thurs: Rest
Fri: Strength Training - Leg Press, Seated Row, Abdominal Crunch with Twist, Chest Press, Standing Bent Elbow Lat Pull Down
Sat: Swim 2km (Planned)
Sunday: DANCE with the Toddlers, 50km Bike & 5km Run (Planned)

Next week, I travel to Manila and then week after is Chinese New Year, so I will try to push myself a little harder this week and especially the next, and call Chinese New Year a rest week. Train safe and God Speed everyone!

Warp Speed

2007-02-02T08:08:00.000+08:00

Seems like everytime I am away from Blogger, life flies by at Warp Speed (or is it vice versa?). :) So much has happened that I will just give some quick snapshots:

Polar "Resurrection"
Totally unrelated to the latest software upgrade, but my Polar S625x sprang a leak (one of the retaining screws came loose) and died in the midst of a swim. Product-wise, this is not good, especially as this is the second leak I have experienced in about a year. Thankfully, the folks at Polar Singapore continue to be excellent at customer service and I now have a new front case and motherboard (despite having an expired warranty). I simply have to give a shout out to Mr David Loy, service technician at Polar Singapore. His professional and helpful demeanour has restored my confidence in Polar despite the problems I have had with my HRM (2 leaks, 2 motherboards and 1 front case replaced). This is truly a case where customer service makes up for product qualifty - my next HRM will still be a Polar! :)

R1's Missing Front Teeth
Yup, R1 has finally come of (elementary/primary school) age and lost the other front tooth, to make it a complete gap. :) He is reasonably proud of this latest development and is quick in telling everyone about the big news. Poor kid has to go to bed at 7:30pm and wake up at 6am daily - Mrs Nitrox gets him ready for bed while Ol' Nitrox here snoozes on to a more decent hour. Yes, yes, shame on me, the plan was for me to drag myself out of bed, help a little, and get in some training before going to bed. I'm stil working on it... :(

Daily Bible Reading
While I am still in "confession" mode, I am still not consistently reading the Bible daily. I am keeping up with prayer, but still struggling to make bible reading a daily routine. It feels weird that last year I was okay with bible reading but not praying enough, and now it seems to have gone the other way. Sigh... "'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty." Zechariah 4:6
Holy Spirit please help me grow in intimacy with you!

Training Update - Last week
Only managed to get in a 6km run (intervals) at the gym, a 1.6km swim and the usual weekend 50km bike followed by 3km run. :(

Training Update - This week
Monday & Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Run Intervals in Office Gym - 1km warm up, then 3 sets of (1km @ 10.5km/hr, 500m @ 8.5km/hr), and 2 sets of (1km @ 11km/hr, 500m @ 8.5km/hr). I think I might have gone too slow in the 1st 3 sets, so the last 2 sets I sped up abit. Could it be that I am finally running a little faster now? ;)
Thursday: Strength Training (still in Anatomical Adaptation phase) - Squats (with dumb-bells) 20 reps X 3 sets, bent elbow lat pull down 20 reps X 3 sets, leg raise (knee extension) 15 reps X 3 sets, plain old push ups 20 reps X 3 sets, seated pulley rows 20 reps X 3 sets, suspended abs crunches 15 reps X 3 sets
Friday: 1.6km Swim or 10km run (plan)
Saturday: Rest (plan)
Sunday: 50km Bike / 3.5km Run (plan)

That's all folks. Until next time, train safe and God Speed!

Polar Software Update!

2007-01-23T08:07:00.000+08:00

STOP THE PRESS! This just in from Polar and it contains a bug fix that I have been waiting some months for (more on that mysterious bug later)...

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Polar Precision Performance analysis software update

Polar Precision Performance is an extensive training analysis software.

The update file for Polar Precision Performance Software 4 (version 4.03.044, size 3 233 KB) is now available.

Please note that you must have purchased and installed an earlier version of the Polar Precision Performance SW 3 or 4 before you can install the update 4.03.044.

We recommend that the software update is done on all PCs having Windows 98/98SE/ME/2000/XP as operating system and older version of PPP SW 3 or 4. Windows 95 operating system is not supported anymore.

The update contains software fixes.

You can download the software update 4.03.044 free of charge directly from here:
http://support.polar.fi/PKBSupport.nsf/ALLDOCS/42256C2B001E0F6A42256B27003FEA5F?OpenDocument

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There are also updates for the Polar Uplink Tool SW and the Polar WebLink SW but I am most excited about the Polar Precision Performance software because it contains a totally irrelevant bug fix that has kept me waiting for months! You know how the Polar software on your PC dispays different exercises in different colours? (E.g. By default, Run is Green, Bike is Blue and Swim in Grey.) Well, in the previous version, when you have more than one exercise in a day, it just uses the colour of the first exercise in the calendar - something that was observed by this old and vain Novice Master Triathlete within a week of getting his polar HRM. Now, FINALLY, it displays them in a nice soft blend of two or more colours (see picture on the left). Too Kewl! ;)

Train Safe and God Speed!

Foosball Anyone?

2007-01-22T08:00:00.000+08:00

This must be the biggest foosball table that I have ever come across. Saw this in the Munich airport with my colleague, but we were short of maybe 6 other players to get in a game! :)

Otherwise, Munich was pretty much what I expected - too cold for this tropical Novice Master Triathlete to get in any training. :( I did manage to load up on quite a bit of carbo (i.e. beer) and protein (i.e. bavarian food - a lot of pork and very little vegetables, unless you count the sauerkraut), and even had a room in a 3 star hotel with a interesting view. So much for the German sense of humour...

I must say that I found Munich to be a very beautiful city - I had a quick walk around the city centre the day I arrived, and it was very refreshing to see a entire shopping area built into an area with such a strong historical background. Germany being the land of PlayMobil, I was a man on the mission - to carry home as many PlayMobil toys as possible for R1 and R2! :) We are all hooked on the Knight playsets so I was very pleased to find a "Germany only" Knights Playset! Mrs Nitrox thinks I am more excited about PlayMobil than R1 & R2, and I have to agree - I grew up on those toys and I'm still hooked on 'em!

On the training front, it has been a slow two weeks for me in Sydney and Munich. I managed to squeeze in a 6-7km (rolling hills) run in New Castle (Australia) on Friday (2 weeks ago), and a 11km run and 1.6km swim on Monday (last week) before flying off to Munich. I was hoping to do more in the weekend in Singapore between Sydney and Munich, but was "zonked out" from the Sydney trip and decided to apply Joe's rule of "when in doubt, leave it out". Same story when I got back from Munich on Friday evening - I was "zonked out" all weekend (I must be getting old), but pushed myself to go for a 53km bike / 3 km run on Sunday. One thing I have to share is that despite my rather punishing travel schedule, and the fact that I am a light sleeper, I have not had to resort to any sort of medication to get over jet lag, not even melatonin. Not that I don't have difficulties adjusting (my two weekends of feeling "zonked out" testifies to that), but somehow, the Lord just brings me through them and gets me back on track. Praise God!

On the Intentional Discipleship front, last week in Munich was the first disruption since my commitment to daily prayer. Somehow, between the jetlag and the hassle of travelling, I just left prayer out of my daily bedtime routine - how deceitful is the human heart! It was only when I was back in Singapore that I "realised" that I have been missing prayer time, and that as a result I have lost intimacy with God. It's funny how life seems to screw up when prayer goes missing! ;)

Well, I am glad to be back in Singapore this week and look forward to getting "back into the program" where training and Intentional Discipleship are concerned. On the former, I will get back to swim/run and strength training, and on the latter, I get to lead my Care Group this week in our chosen series - Step by Step through the Old Testament. Looks like it will be a good week, and I hope the same for you. :) Train safe and God Speed!

An Ode to a Old Friend...

2007-01-14T17:52:00.000+08:00

Today is a rather heavy day. We had to euthanize Brian the dog, and I was not even there to say good bye - I was home taking care of R1 while Mrs Nitrox napped with R2.

Brian came to our lives almost 14 years ago, and was an almost constant companion of mine for the first half of his life. I remember that when we first got him, he was not yet fully weaned (over-eager seller lied about his age) and we had to get formula milk for puppies which cost more than infant baby milk. That sort of set the tone for the 1st 2 years of his life - a small and thin puppy, prone to skin disease, probably because he was weaned too early.

Thanks to the puppy formula milk, good food and some tender loving care (I remember taking turns with my parents to rub olive oil onto the dry and bare patches on his skin just about every night), he grew a beautiful brindle coat and was indeed a handsome dog. I used to play fetch with him for hours daily (how he loved those old tennis balls), and when I was getting ready for military service, he was a faithful and eager running companion. As a result of all that exercise, Brian grew into a pretty impressive dog - he was quite literarily rippling with muscles. :) He also had an exaggerated underbite, which gave him the look of an almost permanent snarl. I remember that when we walked or ran with him, passers by would sometimes stop and remark how imposing he looked. But we knew better - Brian was just a playful puppy wrapped in the form of a muscular, big dog.

When I got married and moved into an apartment, I had to leave him in the house with my parents, and that began the second half of his life as a guard dog and faithful companion to my parents. I still saw him regularly whenever we visited my parents, but Brian had become "my parent's dog". Being animal lovers themselves, the bond between my parents and Brian deepened very quickly. I remember going over to feed and water him when my parents were out of town, and how much Brian missed them in those occasions. The neighbours used to complain that he would howl at night when my parents were away!

The last 6 months or so has been terrible for Brian. He was diagnosed with heart-worms, and was frequently ill, especially in the last couple of months thanks to the very wet monsoon season. For the last month, he has been persistently coughing/choking, and had difficulty even getting up - my parents had to carry him so he could stand up and pee, and his appetite has been even worse than normal. The vets said he only had a matter of months before expiring as he was getting so old. Before leaving for Sydney, I advised my parents to consider putting Brian to sleep - I didn't think he was comfortable, and I could tell it was getting tough for my parents to continue taking care of him with their aching back and knees. Still, they persisted - they just could not bear to part with their old friend. Last week, while I was away, he got really bad - the vets diagnosed liver failure and fluid in his lungs, and Brian started howling at night and got us really worried that he was in pain. My father decided that if he does not get any better by today, we would euthanize him.

And that's what happened today - we let our dear friend go. My parents seem to be okay, but they have never been public with their grief. Mom admitted that she felt terrible a few days ago when the vet suggested euthanasia, but has come to accept that if he was in pain, we should let him go in peace. Me? I'm glad to know that he is no longer in pain, but feeling lousy that I was not there to say goodbye. Somehow I always pictured that I would be there cradling him as they injected him, but when the time came, I wasn't there. I was too busy.

Brian, you have been more than a dog, more than a friend... You have been a very real and precious part of our family. I thank the Lord for blessing us with you, and hope that as you closed your eyes for the last time today, you were thinking of the balls you chased, the smiles we shared, the warm nights out on the patio, and the butter rolls you loved.

Train safe everyone, and God Speed.

Good News... Bad News...

2007-01-11T19:23:00.000+08:00

Good News...

Function won over Form - we decided on the Giant YJ251 instead of the Schwinn Stingray. That's R1 with his new champagne Giant YR251 and R2 with the rainbow Polygon 16" MTB just taken over from his brother. The YR251 seems to be Giant's "low cost" Asia only model, as opposed to the more popular MTX125 available in the more affluent parts of the world. In comparision, the MTX125 costs twice as much but comes with 7 speed and a ALUXX frame, while the YR251 comes with 6 speed and a steel frame. I decided to let R1 use the heavier bike and grow some leg muscles. :D
The weather in Sydney has been simply beautiful - between 20C to 25C. I managed to finish my work 1/2 day earlier so I get to visit my sis-in-law while I am here. It will be a long train ride (3 hours) but well worth it to see her, her family and the new house!

Bad News...

Too many wonderful muffins, brownies, and coffee in the day, and great food, beer, wine at night. Coupled by NO exercise at all this week means I am starting to feel heavy. :(

Looks like this planned rest week will be followed by another unplanned rest week - I just found out that I am heading to Munich next week. Sigh... I am really not looking forward to the long economy flight, and another week of too much food/beer/wine and too little exercise.

I plan to squeeze in a tough weekend of training (as soon as I get home on Saturday evening)before I have to leave for Germany. Yawn... It's almost midnite here in Sydney, so I'm off to bed. ZZzzzzzzz... Train safe and God Speed!

You know there is headwind when...

2007-01-08T12:11:00.000+08:00

you smell roadkill way before you ever see it
riders passing you in the opposite direction all seem to look smug

you are going slower downhill than when you were on the flats

when you finally pick up some speed on the downhill, you feel your chin strap strangling you because it is keeping your helmet from flying off

you start looking forward to cars and trucks buzzing by because you get to speed up a little

I am sure you can add tons more... :)

Been shopping for a 20" bike for R1 so that R2 can finally go from his 12" to R1's current 16" bike. Is it me or has kid's bike prices doubled in the last couple of years? :( I have my eye set on a StingRay, but Mrs Nitrox is not so sure - says it is too much of a poser's bike. It's either that or a Giant MTB that comes with gears (but no suspension, figure they are just extra weight on a kid's bike). What do you think - hot rod or MTB (no, there aren't any 20" Tri bikes)?

I've had what counts as a good training week (for this oldie Novice Master Triathlete):

Monday - 53km bike, 3km run

Wednesday - 5km run, strength training

Saturday - 1st open water swim in 2007! (55mins, 2km?) Was at Sentosa with the family - there are some kewl beaches/lagoons there, not to mention our favourite pizzaria where the kids get to pretend to make their own pizzas. Took the opportunity to squeeze in a swim - the water was warm (tropical Singapore) and very very cloudy. There was some traffic (tankers and tug boats) out at sea, so I got the chance to swim across some choppy waters - swallowed some sea water when I turned to breath in the direction of the coming waves, so bilateral breathing helped. :)
Sunday - 53km bike, 3km run

Tonight I head to sunny Sydney for the week, so I will sneak in some strength training before my flight and call this my 1st rest week of 2007. Will be bringing my surgical mask for the long red-eye and over-booked plane ride - I've never worn a mason a flight before, but Joe Friel's book says that our immunity drops 24-36 hours after a breakthrough work-out, so this time I will be playing it safe. Will also bring my running shoes and try to fit in a maintenance run at least. It feels fantastic that this rest week was planned for and not ad-hoc for a change!

So until next time, it's "G'day!", train safe and God Speed!

Injury Prevention for the Novice Master Triathlete

2007-01-04T08:00:00.000+08:00

Annette asked about injury prevention in her comment to my ealier post on the Novice Master Triathlete. I am a beginner myself in Triathlon Training, but here are some random observations and learnings from the Triathlete's Training Bible by Joe Friel:

10% Rule - Most of you will already know this, but never increase training volume (i.e. time/distance) by more than 10% at a time.
"When in doubt, leave it out" - Joe mentions this a couple of times in his book and it sticks to my head as it is good "common sense" advice. Triathletes and runners tend to be highly disciplined people who believe in pushing themselves. Hence there is always a point when you ask yourself "Do I have another set in me?", "Can I run another km even though I have reached my 10% increase in distance?", etc... Joe's advice is that if you are unsure, don't do it. The rationale is that there is no point pushing ourselves to the point of injury, which does a lot more damage to our fitness than whatever gains is in the last set/km. The objective should be to train CONSISTENTLY and not to "kill" yourself in every workout.
Keep to rest days - As mentioned in my previous post, us "oldies" need more rest for the body to recuperate after a workout. :) 2 or 3 days rest may be needed after a heavy workout.
Strength training - Also mentioned in my previous post, but Master atheletes may need to do strength training year round to prevent injuries related to losing muscle mass - i.e. less muscle mass means extra strain on ligaments, joints, etc...
Stretching - According to Joe, studies have shown that athletes that only stretch before exercise (and not after) have a higher probability of injury than those who don't. Having said that, he does encourage stretching post workout. I tried going straight to a workout without stretching, but it just did not work for me - I felt "tight" and uncomfortable. I think this is another area where we have to discover our individual perculiarities. I happen to be someone who needs a proper warm-up and stretching before exercise, so I do it. What is universal seems to be that post exercise stretching (after a bit of cool down or at night as a form of speeding recovery) is ALL good. :) We just skip it too often because there is so much else to do, but this is a discipline worth cultivating. One point to note about stretching post exercise is to NEVER stretch a cold muscle - do some light warm-up (e.g. light running in place) to get the blood circulation going if stretching is done hours after the workout.
Warm-up - As opposed to pre-exercise stretching, warm-up is ALL good. :) This could be starting with a light run, swim or bike before the actual work-out. E.g. when I bike, I usually start the first 10 mins spinning a high cadence (90-100 rpm) on a very light load (low gear - small chainring, big cog).
Pray - Since this is a "Intentional Discipleship & Triathlon Training" blog, I thought I should keep things in balance and say that from personal experience, prayer helps a LOT. :) There has been too many instances of nameless aches/pains/strains/sprains and even cold/flu symptons that has gone away overnight thanks to prayer. God is GOOD!

Here's my workout at the office gym yesterday:

5km run (treadmill) - 29min?
Bent Elbow Lat Pull Down - 3 sets of 15 reps (intended to do 20 reps but I picked a weight that is too heavy)
Leg Press - 3 sets of 20 reps
Sitting row - 3 sets of 15 reps (again, I picked a weight that is too heavy)

Had to cut it short to make it to a dinner appointment last night.

Yaaawwwnnn.... I am feeling the effects of getting up at 6am two nights in a row to send R1 to school. Unlike you hardy ironmen/women and marathoners, I am NOT a morning person. Until next time, train safe and God Speed!

Back to Life...

2007-01-02T14:25:00.000+08:00

... Back to reality, Back to the here and now yeah... Those of you old enough will remember the 1st two lines of this song from Soul II Soul. :)

It pretty much sums up this week - time to put away the Christmas decorations and pack up the school bags. R1 goes to a new Primary (i.e. Elementary) School tomorrow (and so this year onwards we start weekdays at 6am), R2 goes back to the kindergarden and I go back to work right smack in the middle of the 2006 financial review.

On the Intentional Discipleship side, I am keeping to my daily prayers, but still struggling to get the bible reading in everyday. I will return to serving at the Toddler's Class at church every 1st Sunday of the month, and will also be leading bible study in the Care Group a lot more often than last year. I'm excited because so far I seem to be keeping to my Intentional Discipleships resolutions for 2007. Praise God!

On the Triathlon Training front, I have started training again. In addition to swimming, cycling and running, I have also started doing some strength training for the first time in my life, and hence have a ton of questions for the experts here. So far, the following is what I am doing, and consistent to the Anatomical Adaptation (AA) Phase in the Triathlete's Training Bible (Joe Friel), I am doing 20-30 reps per set. Everyone I spoke to is telling me that this is WAY too many reps, but I am sticking with Joe on this one, as I am not looking to build mass but to build strength. Being lazy and averse to the risk of injury, I did not try to find out what is my 1RM (1 Rep Maximum) weight for the exercises. Instead I am picking weights that give me some burn in the muscles (and sore muscles the next day), but not so heavy that my arms and legs are shaking at the end of the work-out. Is that heavy enough? Or will I get better results by going heavier??

Squats - I find doing this with a weight bar on my shoulders to be quite tough because I have to lift the weight bar over my head to get it on my shoulders to begin with! ;) So now I am thinking to just do this with dumb bells in both hands, what do you think?
Bent Elbow Lat Pull down - I like these.
Knee Extension
Chest Press Or Push Ups - I actually find that plain old push ups are a better workout for the chest than the machine.
Back Pull Down (replaces the seated row as my gym does not have that machine)
Abdominal Crunches - Again, I find the plain old crunches to be a better workout than pulling on the machine.

Does my strength workouts look about right to you?

I have started running again too, and yes, it was painful and slow. :) I am too embarassed to tell you how long I have stopped cycling, but when I pumped up 'em tyres yesterday for a ride, they were at 40psi! :D

Here's wishing you a BLESSED 2007! Train safe and God Speed!

The Novice Master Triathlete...

2006-12-26T07:10:00.000+08:00

... that's what I am. And by that, I mean someone who comes to triathlons in their 40s (or late 30s) without prior background in swimming, cycling or running. There seems to be a growing number of us, so I thought I will share some learnings/observations (mainly from Joe Friel’s “The Triathlete’s Training Bible” and some personal observations) and hope to draw your valuable comments:

1. Training Time
The biggest challenge the Novice Masters Triathlete has is probably the difficulty of finding training time while trying to balance work, family and social commitments. This is where motivation comes in – only you can decide what you are willing to give up to fit in Triathlon Training. Usually TV time is the first to go, but unless you have been a TV addict, that may not be enough hours yet, so time discipline is crucial. :)
I have found that a good analogy for time management is the act of filling up a bucket with sand, pebbles and rocks – if you start by putting in the pebbles/sand, it is gonna be tough getting all the rocks in. If instead you start by first putting in the “rocks” of your life (in priority of importance to you), at least they get in the bucket before the smaller stuff. There is no way to fit everything in, the trick is to first put in all the important stuff when we plan the day/week/month. So to me, the first step really is deciding what is more important than Triathlon training – for me, it is Intentional Discipleship time (Quiet Time with the Lord, fellowship/service in Church, etc…), family time, and of course, my job (and the frequent traveling it requires). I make sure that my training fits around these 3 “rocks” and not the other way around. Just about everything else, I try to fit around my 4th “rock” – Triathlon Training – and if there is not enough time for everything, I don’t sweat it.

2. Setting Goals
Related to the above is goal setting. While it is good to set challenging goals, it is also important that they are realistic (achievable) and measureable. Without a frame of reference, it is easy to fall into the trap of comparing yourself with the ex-swimmer/cyclist/runner around you. I have often done it and it usually leads to disappointment and demotivation – the killer of the Noice Masters Triathlete. :) I see two ways about it – if you are concerned about whether you are improving in race fitness and want to make sure that you can adapt your training plans to address weakness areas, measure your performance on a on-going basis using objective criteria like time trials or fitness tests (Joe Friel’s book has got a whole chapter on “Accessing Fitness”). On the other hand, most Novice Masters Triathletes will probably be focusing on “going the distance” so the training principles should be rather simple (more on that later). So if you, like me, cannot be bothered to take the time/effort to set up repeatable tests, just don't sweat it! :D
In terms of setting realistic goals, Joe Friel’s book has a useful chart on annual training hours versus target event (e.g. Sprint 300-500hrs, Olympic 400-600hrs, Half Ironman 500-700, Ironman 600-1200), but I suspect these are more for competing in the events rather than for completing the events – two very different goals. To take a more personal example, I have done only Sprints so far, but I am targeting a Olympic Tri in July 2007 with only 6 hours or so a week to train, which works out to be a lot less than the 400-600hrs indicated in the book, however, I have decided not to target a half ironman in 2007, as my available training hours are far short of what is suggested in the book.

3. Training Principles
Joe’s book is all about the “Periodization” of training – i.e. to grow to the full potential of a Multi-Sport athlete, one has to split training into different periods (Prep, Base, Build, Peak, Race, Transition) per year and continue for years for maximal results. If this is all getting too complex, take heart, because he also says that the 1st year of training should be primarily in the Transition and Base periods, with the focus on developing aerobic endurance, force, technique (speed skills), and muscular endurance. There is no reason to build power and anaerobic endurance. So here are some simple training principles as I understand it:

Going the distance – The initial focus should be on being able to complete the distance and the estimated event time. I.e. the initial focus should be on being able to complete the individual distances and then working up the total training time to be somewhere near the estimated total event time. There are loads of sample “Couch to Sprint” or “Couch to Olympic” training plans in the ‘Net like the BeginnerTriathlete website which focuses on going the distance.
Staying healthy (and able to train) –According to Joe’s book, immunity in older folks is also lower than that of the young ‘uns and thus colds/flus may be more prevalent (and I thought it was just me picking them up from the kids). I have been struggling a bit with colds/sore throats/flus, and if you are like me, here are a few pointers:
i) Get a Flu Shot – Will not stop you from getting colds/sore throats/infections, but at least saves you from nasty fevers and the like. Flu shots typically last only a year as the flu bug mutates constantly and hence a new “cocktail” is needed periodically.
ii) Get more protein – Lean meat, egg whites, etc… There is little danger in taking in too much protein – the unused stuff just turns to fat, but a lack of protein is detriment to training and also lowers your immunity system.
iii) Drink lots of water and take vitamin C regularly – Okay, I know this is common sense but I had to sneak in that one. :)
iv) Adequate rest – The 24 to 36 hours following a “breakthrough” workout (i.e. a long, hard training session), your immunity drops, so be extra watchful – avoid public places if possible and wash your hands regularly with soap. Develop good habbits like using your right hand to do stuff (open doors, press elevator buttons, etc) and your left hand if you need to touch your face. I often try to get in a breakthrough workout just before leaving on a business trip to try to get as much training time in as possible, only to wonder why I fall sick when traveling. Moving forward, I will wear a doctor’s mask if I have to fly in the 24-36 hours after a breakthrough training – betta safe than sorry! :)
Rest Days – Stick to them! Joe suggests 2 or even 3 rest days following a breakthrough workout for us oldies. Don’t be tempted to squeeze too much into the weekend, and risk illness and injury (which may wipe out all training benefits).
Strength Training – Especially after 50, we lose muscle mass pretty rapidly. So for the Novice Master Triathlete, strength training is recommended all year.

4. Diet
The Novice Masters Triathlete probably needs to be even more careful about diet than the younger atheletes due to the onset of age-related risk in heart disease. There is much written about diet of the athlete in his/her 40s/50s and beyond, but some quick pointers are:

Protein is good – As mentioned above, protein helps build immunity and aids athletic performance. Vegans, don’t hate me, but Joe says animal sources of protein are better than vegetarian sources of protein.
Fat is not all bad - Accordinfg to Joe, low-fat, high carbohydrate diets don’t work for atheletes – some fats needs to be introduced. Having fats in our diet help build immunity, and also builds long term recovery and capacity to train at a higher level. But before you all rush off for cheese burgers and ice cream, this means leanest cuts of meats (wild game, if possible, and all visible fats removed), seafood and poultry, and low or non fat dairy (in small quantities).
Alkaline foods are good - One of the reasons for losing muscle mass is acidity in our blood, so eating alkaline foods helps. There is a table of acid/alkaline foods in Joe’s book, but the short of it is to eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables – just what Mama said. :) A surprising piece of information is that raisins is the food item with the highest alkaline content in the table – Praise God!

5. Equipment
Triathlon gear, and specifically the budget for it, is generally less of a problem for the Novice Masters triathlete than for the budding Juniors triathlete. In fact, most of us (myself included) seems to over-compensate for poor performance with state-of-the-art gear - afterall, a lot of us are from the "did not have the time & money to do this when I was younger" category. :) Even so, it pays to look at the equipment needed for our specialized and rather expensive sport:
a) Swim – Okay, not quite in the equipment catergory, but if you can find a Master’s swim class, join it. If, like me, you do not attend a Master’s swim class, at least get a friend or a coach to periodically check your stroke.
b) Bike – Comfort is EVERYTHING to us oldies. :) No point having a super aerodynamic position on the bike that requires you to stretch out every 15 mins! :) In general, carbon and titanium frames work best for us as they are more compliant. Yes, they cost a lot more than alloy frames but your back is worth it (plus, it is a great excuse to tell the missus why you need that expensive bike). :) I ride a road bike with clip-on aero bars, but I have been told that a properly fitted Tri bike can be just as comfortable, so if you are using the bike only for Tris, get a Tri bike. At least it will stop you from gazing forlornly at the sexy Tri bikes on the road – okay, maybe I am speaking from personal experience on that one.
c) Shoes – Expensive running shoes do not mean good running shoes, but bargain basement discount running shoes are almost always a bad idea. Proper fit to your running style is key. Pay the premium and get your shoes from a shop that can analyze your gait and recommend shoes that fit.

Well, that’s it from me then. A long post but hopefully one that helps some to avoid the trials and errors that I have been through. Until next time, train safe and God Speed!

A Reason to Live (Part II) - Triathlon Training

2006-12-20T07:40:00.000+08:00

First and foremost, my sincere apologies to RobTheRunner and other friends out there tracking me through bloglines. I was silly enough to switch to blogger beta and apparently there is some issue updating bloglines. Was searching the 'Net for some answers, but there does not seem to be a clear fix, just a lot of unhappy beta bloggers airing their grievances. :(

Also, sorry that Part II to my previous post took so long in the making. It is partly due to an extended break in Triathlon Training (I have run out of excuses - sickness, bad weather, you name it...), and a short get-away with the family in Sentosa (an island resort connected to Singapore by a land-bridge). It didn't occur to me to take a picture of the chairlift (yes, that's how irregular I have become in blogging), so I stole one from the 'Net for ya. Chairlifts in Singapore? What will they think of next? A ski resort?!?! :D

So back to the subject of training plans for 2007. I am the sort of person who reads the ending of novels before I start, so here's the conclusion: there will NOT be a Ironman 70.3 for me in 2007, just Sprint and Olympic Distance Triathlons.

I've been thinking a lot lately about why I am continuing Triathlon Training - so much so that I have had to read my own post on this subject back in January. Reading the Triathlete's Training Bible also helped put things into perspective - there was a quiz in the early part of the book that measures mental attitude, and my score quite literally said that I should seriously think about why I am in Triathlons! :)

So the short of it is that I am still committed to Triathlon Training because my reasons for doing so has not changed, but instead of setting impossible goals and then getting depressed about not being able to meet them, I've decided to set realistic goals based on the amount fo time I have to train. There is a very interesting table in the Triathele's Training Bible that lists the estimated training hours annually for a Sprint, Olympic, Half Ironman, Ironman, etc... I estimate that I would have a maximum of 6 hours a week for training and 4 weeks off a year - that's a total of 288 hours, which according to the table, puts me at only Sprint Distance Triathlons. :) In fact, given that the Olympic Triathlon in Singapore is in July, that translates to less than 150 training hours! Of course, we have to temper what we read with what we know about ourselves, so I sticking to my original target of doing my first Olympic Distance Triathlon in July 2007. Given my current lack of training time, and additional distractions to come in 2007 from R1 going to Primary School (i.e. Elementary School) and the huge merger happening at work, I think I will have to take up qcmier's offer to do the Singapore 70.3 Ironman in a couple of years. :)

So here's my draft race calendar for 2007. Given the difficulty in getting some sort of race calendar for Singapore, this is highly subject to change and probably a little too agressive (it would take a lot to be able to join the overseas events).

Mar '07 - 11 Mar '07 Singapore Duathlon or 17 Mar '07 Singapore Biathlon (1.5km swim, 10km run). Don't think I can do both and the Duathlon details are not out yet.
26/27 May '07 - Aviva Bintan Triathlon (Indonesia) (Olympic - 1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run)
*"A" Race* 7/8th July '07 - Singapore Triathlon (Olympic - 1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run)
*"Stretch" Race* Oct '07 - Pulai Triathlon (Desaru, Malaysia) (Long - 2km swim, 60km ride, 15km run)
3 Nov '07 - Corporate Triathlon (Sprint)
Dec '07 - Half Marathon

So much for planning, now it's time to get off my ass and start training again. ;) Until next time, train safe and God Speed!

A Reason to Live (Part I) - Intentional Discipleships

2006-12-11T15:09:00.000+08:00

Sorry for the ambitious title. It's that time of the year for reflections and direction setting/renewal, and I was very much encouraged by a song we sang in church on Sunday, reminding us that Jesus came to show us the reason to live. Well, 2 of the main reasons Christ has given me to live are are Intentional Discipleship (intentionally being a disciple of Christ) and Triathlon Training. The other being the family of course, but that's not the topic of this blog. ;) As such, I thought I will split this year's reflection and direction into two posts, this one focusing on Intentional Discipleship and Part II focusing more on training plans for 2007.

1st, a confession: 2006 has been a lax year for me in the area of Intentional Discipleship. In 2005, I was leading my Care Group (fellowship/bible study group) in a focused study on the Masterlife series, serving in the Toddlers' Ministry at church, and at the same time reading through the Bible using the Cover to Cover reading plan. It was a busy time, but also a time of growth in the Lord; growth that I missed in 2006 because I quit the Toddlers' Ministry and also had the luxury of having rotating Care Group leadership (thus effectively leading only one month in the entire year). I have also been inconsistent in keeping to my Quiet Time with the Lord. :(

Three significant things happened to me in the last few weeks that is bringing me back on track:

Firstly, I have come to learn that I need to serve not because the Church needs me, but simply because I need to serve. Without an active ministry/service, I cannot be a part of God's blessing for the Church. In His infinite wisdom, God has chosen to use us as the primary channel of blessings to the world, and He has given us gifts to equip us for the work that He calls us to do. However, when we refuse to serve, He respects our decision and uses someone else. The problem is that when He does that, I miss out on the growth and intimacy of relationship with Him. In the end, the one who loses out is not the Church, nor God, but myself.
Action: I will actively look for and pray for areas of service in Church. Rather than wait for some sort of "divine wisdom/inspiration" to descend on me, I will put my hands to the work at hand, and take a more active role in leading my Care Group and in the Toddlers' Ministry.

Secondly, Church Camp last week away in Malaysia has been a wonderful time of spiritual blessing/rejuvenation. To cut a long story short, I have had a few prayer requests/concerns confirmed. Praise God! On the last night of the church camp, the speaker invited us to come forward for a specific prophetic word from the Lord, and I did. When it was finally my turn, I was told to look into the Song of Solomon to find intimacy with the Lord, so that others may look at me and see the presence of the Lord upon me. I must confess that I was initially puzzled by the prophesy and even doubted if the speaker "knew his stuff". :) But as I reflected on it that night, I remembered to humble myself to receive God's word with faith and not to focus on the instrument used (i.e. the speaker) - who am I to judge the instrument that our Lord chooses to use? When I swallowed my pride, the prophesy began to make a lot of sense to me, and in fact agrees with my constant prayers to be "like Daniel/David" - to have the presence of the Lord wherever I go and whatever I do - that my daily life would indeed point others to the goodness of our Lord. It occured to me that this prohecy is indeed a direct reply to my prayers, that God is telling me that the key to have more of His presence in my life is intimacy, and the book of the Song of Solomon will show me show to grow in intimacy with the Lord.
Action: I will receive this prophecy in faith and study the Song of Solomon. I will get back to being consistent with my Quiet Time (QT) with the Lord daily.

Thirdly, prayer has been an area that I have been lacking in 2006 - I am comfortable reading the Bible during QT, but somehow I could not pray consistently. Well, the Lord has confirmed that He has placed a love for children in my heart, and I have somehow been "picking up" prayer items for little children over the last few weeks. But instead of praying for the children, I have been asking God for a "enlightenment" as to what ministry He wants to call me to. I have been thinking in my pride "surely He wants me to do more than just pray queitly in the background". I have been listening to my pride and not to the "still small voice".
Action: I praise the Lord that He has called me to prayer for these children. I commit to spending at least 15mins a day in prayer as part of my daily QT. I will stop asking for "divine revelation" and start being a prayer intercessor in the background.

That's all folks! Sorry for the rather lengthy post, but this is a subject that is very close to my heart. Next post, Triathlon Training plan and a draft race schedule for 2007! Until then, train safe and God Speed!

Triathlete's Training Bible

2006-12-01T17:17:00.000+08:00

Thanks to Mr Sanguine, I finally have my hands on this book. And hopefully just in time to do some serious mugging in the next couple of weeks and work out some sort of training plan for 2007. I have yet to set goals for 2007 - was waiting to read the book first - but I definitely want to do at least one one Olympic Triathlon in 2007, and, if I am feeling ambitious (which I must say currently I am not), maybe even a half ironman.

N, my "speedy Gonzales" buddy who ran the New Balance 10km run with me in August, has kindly volunteered to join me in the Oly Tri in July, and we agreed to decide on Ironman 70.3 Singapore "depending on how we feel after the Oly Tri". While that might be pushing the decision a little too far away, registration is not open yet for Ironman Singapore 70.3 so I think I will take at least a couple of months before I make that decision...

I have been on a training "slump" due to a cold and then a nasty infection in my gums. Next week is church camp away in Malaysia (probably no Internet access), so it looks like it is "maintenance and self-study" mode until week after for me. Until then, train safe my friends and God Speed!

Ironman 70.3 Singapore

2006-11-27T11:40:00.000+08:00

Ironman 70.3 comes to Singapore on 2 Sep 2007! That would explain the rising number of beautiful Tri bikes I see in Singapore lately. :)

Given my DNR (Did Not Register) for the Olympic Tri this year and my off-again-on-again training, it would take tremendous motivation to even consider signing up for a half Ironman.

According to this article on IronMan.com, "The Singapore Ironman 70.3 will consist of a 1.9 km swim, a 90 km bike and a 21 km run." This seems to be yet unconfirmed as the Ironman703Singapore.com site still calls the course "under construction", with only some vague hints like
"1. The Swim will be flat, except there may be some chop on the day.
2. The ride is fast; VERY VERY fast, and very accurate... and it's looking more and more likely that we'll be able to launch with our preferred course...so believe me, that's worth waiting for!
3. The run is superb! It has a little of every thing. It's fast, it's smooth and it has a lot of shade!!!"

Which comes to my current muse of "Do I really want to do this?", "Can I get in shape in time?", and "If not now, when?!?!" Hmmmm.......

On the home front, I still cannot get over how well R1 is doing on his bike without training wheels. Biked 4-5km with the little fella to the club for a swim and then we biked back afterwards. Perhaps he will yet be the Ironman that I never will be. :) Funny how as parents, we tend to project our deepest unfulfilled ambitions onto our kids. I gotta be careful to avoid that. :D

Train safe and God Speed.

Lessons from Parenthood Part II

2006-11-21T07:23:00.000+08:00

That's right, NO TRAINING WHEELS! :D Been trying to teach R1 to ride his bike without training wheels and as you can see, he's finally in the weird, wonderful world of cyclists! :D

More than a year ago, I wrote a post on Lessons from Parenthood. Our kids teach us so much - while teaching R1 to ride without training wheels, it occured to me that there is much in common between teaching him to ride a bike and my bumbling attempts at evangelism. I am sharing this parallelism in the hope that it will help pre-believers better understand our sometimes bumbling attempts at spreading the Good News.

Why do I care whether R1 can ride his bike without his training wheels? I mean he gets on fine with his training wheels and is happy enough. Why do I want to stress him out by encouraging/cajoling him to ride without training wheels? Why do I want to risk his falling and hurting himself?
Well, because I want him to experience the freedom and joy that comes from riding without training wheels. I am hoping that he will discover the same joy that I found in the wierd and wonderful world of cyclists and, God Willing, this would be the first step towards discovering a healthy lifestyle.
In the same way, we evangelise out of our eagerness to share the joy and peace that we have discovered in our Lord. You know that feeling when you find a good restaurant and can't wait to tell others about it? It's pretty much the same deal, except maybe 10 times stronger. :) I know that sometimes out of our over-enthusiasm, we offend the pre-believers and in doing so, perhaps make it even harder to accept Christ. For that, I sincerely apologise.
Did I really "teach" R1 anything? I mean all I did was help him find the God-given ability to ride a bike. If he did not have that in him, there is probably no way I can "teach" him to ride his bike.
In the same way, evangelism is really only helping the pre-believers find what God has already planted in their hearts (Romans 1:19-20). It is probably more like helping someone "connect the dots" than "teaching"...
There is a time and place for everything. I tried teaching R1 to ride without his training wheels months ago, multiple times, but he just wasn't ready. I could tell he has terrified of the idea of riding on two wheels, I can see him thinking "that's impossible". No matter how much I encouraged/cajoled him, there was just no way he was gonna do it. When he did try it (months back), his fear made him fall (repeatedly). It is only with time, when he saw his friends doing it that he made up his own mind that he wants to do it. Once his mind was made, all it took was a few practice runs (and I mean me running behind him, hunched over holding his saddle - Ouch!) for him to get it.
God's timing is always perfect - sometimes He calls us to sow, and other times He calls us to reap where we may not even have sown. If we are not in tune with the Holy Spirit's working/timing, it can get frustrating. When the time is right, all it takes is the courage to try. Praise God!
While running, hunched over, holding R1 up by the saddle, I was trying realy hard to make sure he "got it" before I let go. My aching back soon had other thoughts and I had to let go. But guess what, that's just what it took for R1 to learn to ride.
Sometimes, we just gotta let go and let GOD.
Finally, a quote from R1 when I asked him to describe to R2 how it felt the first time he rode his bike without training wheels. I was expecting him to rave about the sense of freedom/speed, etc, so that R2 will also get enthused about giving up his training wheels, but this is what he said instead:
"It feels like you are going to fall, but if you don't let go of the bike, and just PEDDLE, it's easy peasy, lemon squeezy."
At some point, it takes a leap of faith to discover God. Rationalisation can only take us so far. God cannot be "taught", but He certainly can be "experienced".

Praise God for He shows His wisdom in the innocence of daily life with children. :)

Quick update on the training side:
Thanks for all the encouragement/advice about breaking up the cycle of training/sickness I seem to get myself into - your comments made a lot of sense and I am going to focus a bit more on eating/resting right, and take baby steps back into training (and a little less on how much I weigh). I'm finally getting my hands on The Triathlete's Training Bible end of this month (I hope) which will help tremendously towards figuring out my training and nutrition plan. This week my baby step back into training is a 50km bike - I usually follow up my ride with a short (3km) run, but this time, I could feel cramps setting into my legs at the end of the ride so I skipped the run. Hurray for baby steps! :)

Train safe and God Speed!

Down for the Count

2006-11-16T14:28:00.000+08:00

Sorry I have been missing from the blogsphere - both from posting and from visiting my favourite bloggers. I have caught a cold and have been feeling pretty miserable about not being able to continue training.

What is worrying is that I definitely see a trend developing here over the last year:

Not training enough, gain weight, feel guilty about not training more.
Rack up training volume, reach something like 2 x run, 2 x swim, 1 x bike and some strength training a week, lose weight, fall sick.
Back-off training while recovering, go back to step 1.

What's this about getting healthy and fit? The cycle above seems to be repeating itself every few months. Is the weight gain/loss a sign that I am not eating right? I am 1.85m and my weight fluctuates from 78 to 80kg between steps 1 and 3, so I am not over-weight, but getting worried about being under-weight. (What a amazing turn-around, I was quite a bit over-weight a year ago.) Any tips guys/gals? Just what am I doing wrong?

Until next time, enjoy your training (I am green with envy) and God Speed!

A Long Weekend...

2006-11-04T17:16:00.000+08:00

... in every sense of the word, so be warned that this may be a longish post. ;)

This weekend started on Thurs with R1's kindergarden graduation concert - he goes to primary (i.e. elementary) school year. His class put up a great traditional Chinese dance about humble beginnings as labourers, fishermen and boatmen - he is the second labourer from the left carrying a sack of rice. :)

Following that, we decided to take the boys to the zoo on Friday before the usual rush once school holidays start. For a change, it was just us this time, no other friends, and it gave us ample time to linger over the animal feedings...

Then came Saturday, and time for R1 to go to his new primary school for orientation - he gets introduced to the new school, and we get to buy his new uniform, school books, etc... Uniforms are a big thing in schools here in Singapore, very much in grained into our culture. The orientation turned out to be pretty nostelgic for me, as I put R1 in my old school where I spent a good ten years - 10 years of primary (i.e. elementary) school and 4 years of secondary (i.e. high) school. I even met a couple of schoolmates that I have not met in YEARS. Praise God!

On the training side, I have to first say a big "THANK YOU" for all of you who shared your encouragements and/or advice either thru the comments or via email. I really appreciate the support, and quite frankly, it is what keeps me going sometimes. I have been thinking a lot about training plans - more specifically putting some sort of structure around my training so I am not just doing junk miles. Let's just say it is "work in progress" at this time, as I am still trying to figure out the right balance between structure and flexibility given my unpredictable travel schedule.

Following Tri-Daddy's advice, I have been spending a bit more time at www.beginnertriathele.com, trying to read up more on swim techniques/drills, where I found this article from Terry Laughlin which actually says it all. And I quote:
"A world-class runner is about 90% mechanically efficient, meaning that 90 of every 100 calories expended produce forward motion, while approximately 10 are lost to muscle heat, ground friction, wind resistance, etc.. Because water is 900 times thicker than air and highly unstable as a medium for applying power, a world-class swimmer is only 9% mechanically efficient -- which means the typical Beginner Triathlete probably has energy efficiency of about 3 percent. Thus, the path to swimming-improvement is not to make more energy available through training, it’s to waste less energy by improving your stroke. If you can increase your mechanical efficiency even modestly -- from, say, 3% to 4% -- that will translate into a 33% improvement in your swimming capacity."

Terry Laughlin's experience in college of swimming harder but not faster speaks volumes to me, and reminds me very much of my current state of the swim. :) Inspired, I went to the apartment pool (approx 27.5m - yes, I was "anal" enough to measure it), and started counting my strokes per length (spl). To my dismay, it takes me 25 strokes or more to finish a single length. What's interesting is that without exception, each length when I try to limit my spl to 25 or less, I invariably end up swimming FASTER. When I try forgetting about spl and try to swim fast, I ended up being SLOWER. This man knows what he is talking about! ;) All this while I have been expending needless energy, and not even working out the proper muscles for the swim! Will also check out the Masters Swim class recommended by a very kind Debbie who stumbled onto my blog, but was still kind enough to leave a tip. :)

Given that I have been steadily working on the Olympic Tri distances for the swim, bike and run, I think it's time to start introducing speed work for the run and the swim (I can't fit in more than one ride a week, so I will have to settle for only one longish ride per week with some small hills). For the swim, this means DRILLS, DRILLS, DRILLS, and focusing on spl and swimming silently.

Until next time, train safe and God Speed!

Video Proof...

2006-10-30T07:27:00.000+08:00

... that bad swim strokes are hereditary. :)

Here is R1 doing the front crawl...
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And this is me doing it...
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Sorry for the poor video quality - these were taken on my phone - but I would very much appreciate some swim stroke advice please. It still takes me 40mins to swim 1.5km in the pool, so I am not getting much faster, although I am less exhuasted at the end of the swim. When this video was taken, I could still have a conversation after I finished the 1.5km - maybe I am just not swimming hard enough? There doesn't seem to be any Masters swim classes in Singapore, so any advice that you can give will be much appreciated. E.g. Do you use hand paddles? Do they really help build speed? What sort of swim drills do you do?

Have a great week ahead, train safe and God Speed!

Bring on the Pain!

2006-10-26T18:34:00.000+08:00

I am so stoked by Steven's post that "The Truth Hurts". In this day and age of over-whelming advice against the dangers of over-training, over-stretching, etc..., there is a place for good clean PAIN. As Steven aptly puts it "The truth is...anyone can run faster. But sometimes, the truth hurts."

As you know, my training volume had been dropping, and last week I started cranking up the training volume again (from 1 run the entire week before to 1 swim, 1 run and 1 bike/run brick). On Monday, I did my 1st swim drills in weeks and it hurt. Just last night, I was thinking, "Just what am I doing? I was never an athelete, and here I am almost 40, my body is going South, and I am trying to swim/bike/run faster? Am I deluding myself?!?!" This morning, I went for my 1st 11km run in weeks, and it was slow and painful. But the truth is, coming back from a hiatus will always be painful. While it is wise to train safe and avoid injury, there is also definitely a place for pushing it despite the pain sometimes. Afterall, training is all about over-stressing the body, and then resting to build strength and fitness. There is still some truth left in the old adage "No pain, no gain" - if we are not over-stressing our bodies to begin with, what's there to rest from? :)

On a seperate note, I read on Ironman Live that Team Hoyt did not make the swim cut off in Kona last weekend. It's kinda sad that it was probably their last ironman attempt - at 66, Dick feels it’s time to change his focus to the shorter Ironman 70.3 series. That has got to be painful - swimming 3.8km (2.4 miles) towing his son on a dingy only to miss the swim time cut off - but it does NOT subtract from the awe and inspiration Team Hoyt brings each time we read or watch a video about their indominable spirit. Go Team Hoyt! Way to show us how to live life to the fullest!

So train hard, but train safe, and may the Lord speed your efforts as you push yourselves to the next level!

Coincidence?

2006-10-24T22:00:00.000+08:00

Many of you already know that Singapore has been affected by a haze from the peat forrest burning in Indonesia. This following is the PSI reading (Pollution Standard Index, anything below 50 is good) from the East of Singapore over the last 10 days (you can find the detailed version here):

Sunday (15th Oct '06): 93
Monday (16th Oct '06): 91
Tuesday (17th Oct '06): 86
Wednesday (18th Oct '06): 75
Thursday (19th Oct '06): 73
Friday (20th Oct '06): 96
Saturday (21st Oct '06): 75
Sunday (22nd Oct '06): 67
Monday (23rd Oct '06): 78
Tuesday (24th Oct '06): 45!!!!

Yup, the PSI dropped off a cliff to 45 today! According to this news report today, it is due to "a turnaround in wind directions". Was it a coincedance that today is R1 & R2's outdoors birthday party by the beach and we have been praying against all odds (and weatherman forecasts - this report from Monday 23rd Oct was still calling for haze till the end of the week) that it would be a clear day this morning so the kids can have a safe and fun time outdoors today? You decide.

All I can say is that we did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to deserve this, but God is just THAT GOOD!

I know that a lot of you have races coming and are already into your taper periods. I praise God that He is helping me to build the faith to know that He has kept you safe in training and will continue to speed your efforts!

PRAISE GOD!

60,000 Angels

2006-10-22T20:40:00.000+08:00

For some reason, the number 60,000 sticks in my head...

"Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?" Matthew 26:53 (NIV)

That's what Jesus said when the mob came for him, and Peter rashly drew his sword and cut off the ear of one them (Matthew 26:47-56). I believe a Roman legion in Jesus' time had about 4,000 to 6,000 fighting men (later reduced to 1,000 men in the late part of the Roman empire), let's call it 5,000 - so 12 legions wuold be 60,000! When I read this passage, I imagine that when Jesus was humiliated, tortured and finally crucified, there was 60,000 angels ready to come and rescue Him, and probably lay waste to this world that has done everything to reject its Maker. To me, that's power - Having the ability to stop the torture and punish the world, but having the strength to hold back and take the torture/death because it was the only way to reconcile us to Him. I am ashamed to think of all the times I retaliated at someone else, for no better reason than because I can - that's not power, not strength, in fact, in my case, a lot of times it's just pettiness. Don't get me wrong, Jesus does not expect us to be push-overs. In fact, He taught the apostles to be "as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves" (Matthew 10:16), but too often have I fallen into the trap of reacting/retaliating first, and then trying to rationalize what I did. I don't think that makes God happy. Mental Note to Self: Real power sometimes comes from exercising graceful restraint, not from retaliating just because I am "clever" or "powerful" enough.

OK, on to the review of my new headphones as promised - the Sennheiser OMX 70 - I brought them to the gym for a 7.5km run (intended to do 10km). As with all headphones, sound quality varies very much with positioning of the "speakers" in your ears and thanks to the bridge behind the ears and small rubber rings on the "speakers", they stayed pretty much in the same place. The headphones came with seperate sponge covers and larger size rubber "rings" for a better fit, but I found that I really didn't need them - the standard stuff that it came with worked great. The first time you use these, some positioning/adjustments is needed in front of a mirror (the "behind the ear" bridges are adjustable), but once that is done, it is pretty easy to get them to seat right (I still check myself in the mirror just to be doubly sure the "speakers" are sitting nicely in my ear). Oh, and the bridge behind the ears are made of soft rubber, so they are pretty comfortable. Folks, let me tell you that ol' nitrox sweats buckets - especially in the hot & humit weather in Singapore. I am one of those folks you don't wanna run too close to, because I literally drip from my head, shorts and hands, so if these work for me, chances are they will work for you too. :)

Despite what the weatherman said, it seems to be getting a little less hazy, and I was able to get in a ride/run on Saturday. Praise God! I was starting to feel kinda guilty that the only action my bike saw in the last couple of weeks was as a over-priced catapult - that's R2 in the picture, using my aero bar and a rubber band to shoot folded paper pellets at his brother. I was trying hard not to see the indignant look the bike was giving me! :)

On the training front, I must confess that my training volume has been dropping consistenly for about a month now, culminating in only one 5km run all of last week. No excuses this time, just plain lazy. Of course work and family continue to press for time, but I am just not managing my time dilligently, and giving in far too often to the desire to sleep in or take a nap. :( It's too easy to keep using my travels as an excuse for not having any sort of training schedule. I think I really gotta go get myself a copy of The Triathlete's Training Bible - I've seen it heavily recommended by you guys/gals, more importantly I gotta come up with some sort of training schedule and KEEP IT SIMPLE AND FLEXIBLE. Will start training more in the mornings, and maybe just call my travel weeks speed/interval weeks in the hotel gyms. A plan is hatching... I am just too tired of my "stop and go" attempts in triathlon training! :(

Thanks for all the advice, encouraging comments, and being a sanity check for me. Train safe and God Speed!

New Toy!

2006-10-19T07:57:00.000+08:00

Check out these cool sports (sweat proof) headphones! Just when I had given up on finding water proof headphones, my office had the "one day only" 10% discount off Sennheiser stuff. Praise God! There were a couple of designs, but after trying them on, I decided on these (OMX 70) as they feel the most comfortable and secure (you should have seen me shamelessly running and jumping in the showroom just to make sure they won't pop out). :D I am hoping to bring it for a run today before I post a more detailed review.

The haze has receded somewhat over the last two days. Praise God! The weatherman calls it a freak, but I am calling it God's grace and praying that the clear skies will hold. As you can see, my bike has been sulking in the living room and if I don't take it for a ride this weekend, our relationship could be somewhat strained...

On the Intentional Discipleship side, I was reading Acts 18:24-28, when it occured to that I could very well be like Apollos - someone who seems to know the Scripture, but yet does not know the Holy Spirit. Acts 18:25 describes him this way: "He had been taught the way of the Lord, and he taught others about Jesus with an enthusiastic spirit and with accuracy. However, he knew only about John’s baptism." (New Living Translation). John's baptism was a baptism of repentance from sin, but Jesus' baptism is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, where life is found in faith in Jesus Christ. While I have encountered the Holy Spirit before, and I do feel His presence (sometimes) when I worship, I have not spoken in tongues, and sometimes I wonder if I have actually already received the baptism of the Holy Spirit... I know that some people teach that speaking in tongues may not be an indication of having been baptised in the Holy Spirit, but why do I still try so hard to do things my way, instead of being led by the Spirit (Romans 8:5-8)? And is this why my ministry feels so "stop and go" and not fully "empowered"? Sorry if I have lost the pre-believers reading this, but this is a bit of a tough one for me to get over right now, and I just gotta be the dreamer that I am... ;)

Until next time, train safe one and all, and may God Speed your endeavors!

Polar Opposites... Part III

2006-10-16T07:06:00.000+08:00

Plenty of great comments again. :) In particular, Ellie reminded us that when Jesus said "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", He was praying Psalms 22 - which begins in a desperate cry out to God but ends in Praise. At the risk of exposing myself as someone who re-cycles the stuff in my posts, I will stop going off topic and just point you to a longer version here. ;)

Actually, what got me started on this topic was a personal observation that I made 2 weeks ago in Tokyo. I wasn't having a good week and the funny thing is that often when life presses in, the quality of my worship actually improves. Well, I made a rather simple but yet profound (to me) discovery - when I am immersed in the depths of worship, I become incapable of sinful thoughts/temptations!

Perhaps this is what Paul referred to when he said:
"Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God." Romans 8:5-8 (NIV)

So it seems to me that worship and sin/temptation are polar opposites. Somehow, I cannot praise God and yet habour sinful thoughts. It certainly took no effort on my part to work out that I was not being fair on my senior managers & colleagues who were travelling with me - I simply cannot praise God for His love with a hard heart! Now if only I can be CONSISTENT in worshipping the Lord... ;)

On the training front, today's headlines says it all - "Singapore maintains health advisory over haze". It has been incredibly frustrating that when I am finally back in town and can be away from the kids for a few hours, the haze prevents me from heading out for a swim, bike or run. While it's summer in Singapore all year round, this period of haze effectively brings on a "off-season" for any sort of outdoors training. :(

Thanks for the well-wishes and prayers. R2 is much betta this morning, Praise God, but we kept him from school as he still has a fever.

To you guys/gals that are still able to train, do it safely and God Speed!

Polar Opposites... Part II

2006-10-14T15:33:00.000+08:00

Papa Louie left a very pertinent comment about 2 Corinthians 5:21 - "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (NIV) - which really brings to bear the extent of the sacrifice that Jesus made.

I am guessing that what hurt Jesus the most is probably not the pierced wrists, the thorn of crowns, the whipping/punches/kicks, not even the insults and humiliation, but the fact that as He hung on the cross, He became sin, and felt the full scorn/wrath of God. Perhaps this is why He cried out "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46). I can imagine that as God looked down at Jesus on the cross (His very own incarnation and Son) , for a brief moment, He saw the sin that Jesus represented on the cross, and withdrew His love even from Himself. God is spirit, which is why I guess that is probably the greatest hurt that Jesus felt on that cross.

Another pertinent comment from Papa Louie is how do we share about Christ to those who feel that they are living a good life and don't need God? This is a tough and very worrying one. Even Jesus said "I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent." (Luke 5:32, New Living Translation). I am the most worried about those around me who feel they don't need God. So many people find God in a crisis that sometimes it seems that our God has to bring a crisis into our lives just to bring us back to Him. But, if that's what it takes for my loved ones to be saved, so be it. Better a crisis in this life than to forfeit eternal life in God's kingdom.

R2 is sick with stomach flu - high fever and throwing up just about any food we put in him - so he is quite a miserable lil' camper. Thank God that he is at least able to retain some fluids and is still peeing (a good sign that he is NOT dehydrated). Gave him some good old Staminade so we can get some carbohydrates and salts in him. Hope there's no side effects in kids! Maybe it will make him the Iron Man that I never will be. :)

Oops, got carried away as usual, looks like what I had intended for Part II will now become Part III once I have some time to post. Train safe and God Speed!

Polar Opposites

2006-10-12T18:37:00.000+08:00

What are polar opposites? In my book, it means things that are the anti-thesis of each other. Things that cannot exist together by definition of what they are. A good example is light and darkness. By definition, there is no light in darkness and vice versa. Another example is God and sin. The definition of sin is everything which detracts from God's perfect love and will for us, so there is no sin in God, and there cannot be anything Godly in sin.

This actually helps me understand why God is so hard on sin, and why there is a hell. By definition God abhores sin, just as nature abhores a vacuum (where there is a vacuum, there is no air, and vice versa). Because of that, sin seperates us from God. In spite of His awesome power, God cannot help that, because that is the very definition of sin - the decision to exercise the free will God has given us to choose to not to respond to His perfect love and will for us. Just like I could not help the fact that some of the gals I fancied in my younger life did not quite accept my affections. :) So sin seperates us from God, and each sin we commit pulls us further away from Him. He cannot say "never mind, all is forgiven" without giving up who He is. And frankly, I would not be impressed with a God who is not consistent with who He is - can you imagine the chaos with an unpredictable God who changes His mind? The only way God can get rid of sin and bring us back to Him is to pay the price for sin, all sin. The rest is, literally, history (get it? His Story). :) He stepped out of eternity and into time, suffered physical, mental and spiritual abuse, and He died to pay the full price for sin. I could even say that He did that just for you, because He has no control over who will accept His sacrifice (grace) and come back to him. So technically, He would have done the same if the only person in the world who accepts His grace is you. WOW! Praise God!

So why is there hell? My theory is that hell is simply "where God isn't". At some point (let's call it judgement day), God will have to seperate those who accept Him from those who don't. He will respect the decision of those who choose not to be with Him. I'm not sure if there will be eternally burning fires and other horrors in hell, but I'm willing to bet that life without God for eternity is pretty "hellish". It scares me to think that my parents still do not accept His grace. It REALLY scares me. :(

On a lighter note, I ran naked in Tokyo today. ;) Did not to bring my HRM, not even a digital watch (stopwatch). The weather was great - 72 °F / 22 °C - what a difference from the hot humid weather in Singapore! :) Ran for 30mins and thanks to the weather I did not even feel tired for more than half the way. Praise God!

Until next time, train safe and God Speed!

I'm a Babe

2006-10-07T20:49:00.000+08:00

Sorry, but seriously, I am a spiritual baby, and I am ashamed about it.

"You have been Christians a long time now, and you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things a beginner must learn about the Scriptures. You are like babies who drink only milk and cannot eat solid food."
Hebrews 5:12 (New Living Translation)

For too long now, I have been a spiritual babe. I have not yet truly learnt that life/work is not about fame and riches, but rather it is about love, peace and joy - unspeakable and unshakable joy. Just this week, I have been feeling like I am an order of fries short of a Happy Meal. I have been looking at the senior people I work with, their expensive suits, business class travel, lavish lifestyles, all the "clever" comments and thinking to myself just what is keeping me from reaching that level (it is certainly not ol' nitrox's age - 'em senior management types are getting younger by the day). To make things worse, just when I was consoling myself that at least I have a life outside work, I found out one of them runs 10 km under 45mins DAILY. ;) In short, I have been allowing the riches and the worries of the world (Luke 8:14) to poison my heart against the unspeakable joy of the Lord.

This is where Christian Music Radio comes in. Thanks to my iPOD and a MP3 recording software, I am finally able to listen to recorded segments of Christian Music Radio on the long flights and train/bus rides, and I can tell you it is simply WONDERFUL to be able to blast the music, close my eyes, and let my heart and soul sing/shout to the Lord inside. While God enjoys our worship, I don't think He needs it, but we sure do. Personally, being able to worship Him in song (even though it is listening and silent singing inside) has helped me to stay centred in Him. He has reminded me to think about what Jesus would do in my circumstances - He would not really care that much about the outcome, rather He cares much more about the people we encounter and what we go through. Keeping that in mind, helped me to see the senior managers for who they really are - senior individuals with passion to help us close the deal. It also opened my eyes to the value of the high level relationships and wisdom that they bring. PRAISE GOD!

I got back to Singapore yesterday (Sat) evening to a CHOKING haze. Visibility was about 100m and being outdoors felt like being trapped in a room of smokers. So we prayed, the family and I, so did many other families, I reckon. And Praise God, He swept the haze away - this morning (Sunday) the skys were clear. I cannot call it anything else but a miracle - the PSI (Pollution Standard Index) was 150 (anything above 100 is "unhealthy") and I was choking, this morning it was below 50, and now under 30 - I can't even smell the smoke anymore, so I'll be heading out for my weekly ride/run brick. :) Like what my dear wife said, "God ain't gonna let the haze keep His people away from church". AMEN!

I simply cannot say it enough - GOD IS GOOD! Train safe everyone and God Speed!

God is Good...

2006-10-04T23:12:00.000+08:00

Come on, say it with me, "ALL THE TIME!" :)

Okay this has been a TOUGH week. I am travelling with two senior managers this week, trying to close a deal, and if you have been there, you will know the pressure, follow-up work, "servanthood" that I have to put up with. Worst of all, I will only get back to Singapore Saturday evening, effectively cutting my precious weekend in half. :(

BUT...

God is good! I managed to squeeze in 2km of swim drills before I flew off to Hong Kong:

10 X 27.5m = 275m front crawl warm up
4 X 27.5m X4 = 440m kicking drills (with kick board)
4 X 27.5m X4 = 440m chicken wing (single arm pull/recovery)
4 X 27.5m X4 = 440m catch up (with hand paddles)
20 X 275m = 550m front crawl tempo

God is good! I got my paws on the beautiful black iPOD nano in Hong Kong. I got the exchange rate wrong - it ended up costing about the same as in Singapore. ;) But I am so stoked that I managed to rip a few long segments of my favourite Christian Music Internet Radio segments and they sound fine on the iPOD! Now to get it "water-proofed" so I don't kill it with my sweat.

God is good! I even managed to squeeze in a run this morning at the gym.

God is good! Turned on the TV in the hotel room and managed to catch the 2006 St Croix 70.3 - how cool is that? Ol' Nitox is too cheap to have cable at home so it is indeed a treat to catch some Tri action on TV. :)

Another testimony of God's grace enabling me to get through a trying time. PRAISE GOD!

Until next time, keep those podcast, Internet Radio, streaming/download music tips coming, train safe and God Speed!

Hazy Days are Here Again

2006-10-02T14:00:00.000+08:00

Sigh... it seems the haze is back. Over in Indonesia, forest fires are raging (mostly man-made - to clear the forrest for industrial or agricultural use) and this time of the year, the wind changes and it blows the haze into our sunny island Singapore. Besides the obvious inconvenience and discomfort to any sort of outdoors activity, it is rather sad to know that somewhere in Indonesia, another forrest is dying... :(

On a more positive note, I managed to find a freeware that "rips" Internet Radio into MP3 files. If you would like the link, email me (sorry can't remember it off hand and I probably shouldn't be promoting a software that I have only just tried myself). I hope to get my paws on the iPOD later when I get to Hong Kong, so I can try the sound quality of the ripped Internet Radio segments. The word "rip" actually made me wonder if I am doing the right thing - am I depriving the artists of the royalties that should be going to them? On the other hand, I am not ripping out the songs individually, I am recording the entire Internet Radio broadcast over a couple of hours so I can listen to it again. Is that unethical? I think what I will do is that as I listen to the ripped Internet Radio segments, I will take note of my favourite songs and purchase them on iTunes, so the artists get their royalty and I get my proper CD quality songs. :)

Meanwhile, any "tips"/links to kewl Christian and/or Training podcasts, Internet Radio, sermons, streaming music, etc... that I can download for the iPOD would be very much appreciated. Any kewl Christian contemporary music sites - pop, rock, worship, etc... - is especially appreciated. Thanks in advance!

This week I go to Hong Kong and Japan. Will try to squeeze in a run at the hotel gym. Meanwhile, train safe and God Speed!

iPOD Newbie

2006-09-30T11:17:00.000+08:00

Been thinking of getting this beauty for some time now, and I think I just might do it next week when I am in Hong Kong (seems it is cheaper there than even in Singapore). The plan is to "record" my favourite Christian Music Internet Radio so I have something uplifting to listen to in my flights and runs - hopefully it will help me worship more.

But here's where I need help - how do I record Internet Radio into a MP3 file that the iPOD can play? Do I need special software to do that, and if so are there freeware or shareware that I can use? I am thinking worse case I write down the titles of the songs on the Christian Music Internet Radio that I like and try to buy them off iTunes, but it would be great if I could record and playback the entire radio program since they already have a great mix of songs.

What exactly is a podcast? All I know is that they can be saved as MP3 files and I have tried a few but are they all talk shows? Where can I find music podcasts? More specifically, are there Christian music podcasts?

Thanks all, train safe and God Speed!

17 Minutes..

2006-09-27T14:57:00.001+08:00

That's how long it took me to change my very 1st flat last Sunday, but in mitigation it wasn't my bike. Was out biking along my usual route when I noticed a fellow cyclist "stranded" on the opposite side of the road. I've been in that position before with my old bike, and was amazed at how all the other cyclists seem to just turn a blind eye. Maybe they don't wanna interrupt their training session, or maybe they don't know how to change a flat, who knows? But not a single rider stopped when I last had a flat (and I was too "green" to carry a spare tube then).

I was in a hurry to finish my ride, as the wife and kids were waiting for me to get home so we could send my sis-in-law & family to the airport after the ride (they were visiting from Australia), but I figured no excuses this time, just stop and help. I knew this would delay me, but was thinking that I will skip the run and still be able to make it to the airport. There's a price to pay to being a Samaritan, and Jesus' loving grace frees us to do just that - I ain't gonna sweat about missing the run, He's big enough to "make it up" for me. As I got nearer, I saw that it was a beautiful Orbea tri bike, and the rider sheepishly asked me if I knew how to change a flat - he was trying to change the flat while the wheel was still on the bike, so I figured I knew a little bit more than he did. :D

Turns out he was fully equiped with a spare tube, tyre irons (plastics?) and a mini pump, just never had to change a flat before. Thank God he had one of them Kevlar beaded tyres so it didn't take too much effort to get that tyre off and on again - mental note to self: maybe I should consider tyres with Kevlar beads.

I got home just in time to see my dear wife drive off to send her sister & family to the airport sans the kids and myself, and she didn't look too impressed with ol' Nitrox for arriving late. Yikes, the price for being a Samaritan just went up! Can't do much about it now, so I sent a quick text message begging for forgiveness and went for my run to complete the brick. :D

Happy ending: Got the run in to complete the brick, and my dear wife wasn't too upset with me. Best of all, I had the opportunity to be a blessing to someone else. Praise God!

Until next time, train safe boys and gals, and God Speed!

Yikes!

2006-09-26T01:13:00.000+08:00

Has it been a MONTH already since I last posted?!?! Sorry guys/gals, I resolve to post more regularly henceforth (and perhaps slightly shorter posts). :o)

Well, I actually haven't been up to much - just work, family time and trying to find time to train. I think I have finally come to accept that I am truly an accidental triathlete now - it is really tough trying to keep to some sort of training schedule when I have to prioritize training after work and family, so I have learnt to accept my small goals (just one Sprint Tri this year and a Olympic Distance Tri next year) and to enjoy whatever training time I have.

In the spirit of keeping my posts short and hopefully more regular, I will just jump straight into telling you about my latest bike upgrade - the Fizik Arione Triathlon saddle and a Thompson Elite (zero offset) seat post to replace my Scott CR1 Team stock saddle and seatpost (a rather hard Selle San Marco saddle and the Ritchey Comp seat post). Here's a picture of the new saddle/seat post on my bike. :)

Took it for my usual weekend 60km ride and I must say that compared to the stock saddle, the Arione Tri feels like a sofa. :) I like to scoot to the nose of the saddle when in aero position on the flats and move back a bit to sit on the "bum" of the saddle when climbing (yes, there are the rare few hills in Singapore), and the Arione Tri is very comfortable in both positions.

The Thompson seat post has zero offset so I now sit closer to the handle bars which seems to help me spin easier (been trying to ride in the 90-95 rpm cadence instead of my usual 85-90 rpm). Most importantly, sitting closer to the handle bars seem to help on the run as well. I have been getting a disturbing "popping" sound coming from my right knee when I start running after the bike. No pain or anything, but I found the "popping" sound to be rather alarming all the same. :) Well, I am glad to report that with this new set up, there is no more weird popping noise. Here's hoping it stays that way!

Until next time, take care, train safe and God Speed!

Stuck in a Rut

2006-08-25T18:34:00.000+08:00

Thanks again to PT for inviting me to a run last night! PT is the lightning fast gal who ran the New Balance Real Run (and kicked my ass) on Sunday. I have been a bit of a rut when it comes to training and Intentional Discipleships - getting lazy, missing training sessions and QT - and the run with PT was probably just what the ~~doctor~~ Lord ordered. :)

We ran a brisk 6km or so, but what's great about it was PT's running commentary (literally) on breathing and running techniques. I felt a bit like the young David Carradine in the 1970s TV series "Kung Fu" getting a lesson from his wise old master... "Grasshopper, you have much to learn...". It was great being able to practice breath control and uphill/downhill running techniques. I had a great time, Praise God for bringing me a running guru, perhaps I can do this running thing afterall! :D

While we are on the subject of being in a rut, this is what happened to me yesterday...The fan belt on my trusty ol' Subaru Forrester broke and I had to be towed to the workshop. A few hours and $150 later, I finally got home, feeling thankful that

This happened in Singapore and not 2 weeks later when I intend to drive to Malaysia for a holiday.
This happened while I was driving and not Mrs Nitrox (a fantastic driver but she probably would have been a bit nervous - 1st sign of fan belt failure is power steering failure)
Somehow when I rolled gently to a stop, I was right below the shade of a nice tree. The shade kept me nice and cool while I waited for the tow truck.

PRAISE GOD! Train safe and God Speed everyone. This weekend, I get out of the rut and start getting serious about training and Intentional Discipleship (again).

Race Report: New Balance Real Run 2006

2006-08-21T07:37:00.000+08:00

Despite the rather "agressive" graphics used in by the event organisers, the run (in Sentosa - an island linked by a road bridge to Singapore) was really mainly paved roads. The website says ROAD 6KM, SAND 1.6KM, TRAIL 2.5KM, but the TRAIL is really just a tree covered concrete pavement. So don't worry, nature lovers, I am pretty sure no butterfles were trampled in the race. :)

Results
I might as well start by telling you that I took 68+mins to finish the 10km. :( This is 3 mins SLOWER than the practice run 3 weeks ago on the exact same route. More on the reasons why later, but just about every one I spoke to had a worse timing than the practice run. The only exceptions seem to be my two buddies - PT and N - who actually finished even FASTER than the practice run. Sigh... Is there any reason why slow runners seem to always have fast runner friends?!?!

Pre-Race
The night before the race, the usual pre-race tension set in and I did not sleep well despite good intentions to go to bed a little earlier. Wonder if it was the nap I took in the afternoon that made it harder to fall asleep at night? Finally feel asleep when I forced myself to mentally sing some worship songs to calm my nerves and remind myself Who's really in charge here.

5:45am - Got up before the alarm went off, and I am not even a morning person. Praise God! Drank 1L of water, followed by breakfast - PBJ and warm milk. Drank more water, forgot to eat the two beautiful bananas that Mrs Nitrox hung out for me, and bolted out of the door to meet my ~~chauffer~~ buddy N, a.k.a "Greased Lightning".

7:00am - Turned off the exit on the highway, right smack into a traffic jam on a Sunday morning! Took a close look around and just about every car had at least one very nervous looking guy/gal in running gear. Seems every man and his dog has decided to join this race and everyone's driving. :( We are still about 2kms from the bridge to Sentosa. Looks bad...

7:30am - Still in the middle of the huge jam - made about 100m in the last 30 mins. N starts putting on his race bib and asks me to help lace in his race chip to his (thankfully) rather clean shoe. PT calls, sounds worried, she is a few cars behind us. Given that the race starts in 15 minutes, everyone is getting nervous. I call another two friends, all are stuck in traffic. Taxis are pulling out of the queues as the runners bolt out and start running towards the island.

7:45am (official race start time) - Finally, we are on the bridge linking to Sentosa and making some headway. N and I are amused to find that the two lane bridge has been reduced to one on the Sentosa end due to some road works. Not exactly brilliant planning by the Sentosa chaps then.

7:55am - Marshalls direct us to a parking spot 3km from the start line. Seems the race start has been delayed. The huge car park that was used in the practice run has been converted to a huge event area. Can't understand the logic of removing the largest carpark near the race start when thousands of cars are expected... Having sat in traffic for such a long time, I desperately need to go, so I bid adieu to N, who starts jogging optimistically towards the race start. I managed to locate a toilet just as I see runners filing past - seems the 10km race has just started. :( Fighting the urge to join the race halfway, I quickly off-loaded the excess fluids and start a slow jog to the start line.

The Race
When I finally get to the race start line, it's almost empty. Late-comers like myself are still trickling in. Dutifully chipped in at the start line and off I went...

ROAD 6km - Not sure if it was the nerves, or the 3km jog to the start line, or the heat :o) but the hills seemed a little more steep than the practice run. Not a good start then... Tried to settle into some sort of rhythm, but it quickly got frustrating trying to weave my way between the back-markers. Can't believe how many people are walking the 10km RUN - some couples really looked like they were out for their usual Sunday stroll! The worst of the lot is probably those who decide to walk side by side and take up the entire lane. Felt like I has stopping and starting half the time. Mental note to self: Come earlier next year!
SAND 1.6km - Somewhere in the middle of the 10km, I hit the beach. Given that the bulk of the participants had already run through it meant that it has been churned into soft powdery stuff that would have been perfect for a building sand castles but terrible to run on. I think this is one of them artificially created beaches, which means that it is a rather narrow and hence steep incline to the sea, which kinda makes things worse. It seemed just about anyone who was not already walking decided to walk at this stage, so weaving became even more of a challenge. Let's just say that at some point, I actually ran right into the water - someone had told me that the sand near the water's edge is firmer, and being the novice beach runner that I am, I couldn't stop my side ways momentum down slope and ended up IN the water. Must be pretty amusing to the other participants, but it meant running with wet shoes/socks for the next 5km. :( Oh, and to add insult to injury, PT, who started after me, overtook me in the middle of the beach run - so it seems NOT EVERYONE was walking afterall. She was nice enough not to let me know that she was blowing by me (or was she too embarassed to acknowledge that she knows this slow runner), so at least it did not let the air out of my sails until I met her after the run. :o)
TRAIL 2.4km - As mentioned earlier, this was actually a concrete "trail" under the shady canopy of trees. I knew I should be pushing it once I hit the trail as it is the final 2.4km, but this is a real case of "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak". After the sand, me legs felt like jelly, and it was all I could do to keep running and not walk. The trail is mostly uphill, and at this stage I was pretty much oblivious to what/who is around, gaze fixed on the ground and just wanting to get it over with. A few climbs later, I see the 1km mark and I tell myself to PUSH. I seem to have forgotten that the last 1km is all uphill and after what felt like 1km of pushing, I see a marshall telling us encouragingly "last 500m!". Thankfully it was all downhill and I struggled across the line about 68 minutes after I chipped in at the start line.

Post-Race
N made it in a blistering 56 minutes! PT is not sure of her time, but given that she started after me and passed me mid-point, I would say that she probably did in below 60 minutes. I was so knackered after the run that enroute walking back to the car I managed to trip and sprain my right ankle somehow. :(
I am more than a lil disappointed at my results but more post race reflections next time...

Train Safe boys and gals, and God Speed!

Adventures of the Intrepid Economy Class Traveller...

2006-08-15T12:45:00.000+08:00

[Sorry, have to make a post-publish edit as I forgot to update on the Intentional Discipleship front.]

Some of you may remember that I sometimes joking call myself the travelling salesman. Well the truth of the matter is that it's much worse than that. I am actually the travelling sales SUPPORT man (a.k.a. egghead) so aptly represented by Dilbert in the cartoon above. :D

Sorry for being away from the blogsphere for so long - both posting and reading/commenting. I have been on the road again the last 3 weeks in Indonesia and Japan, where I found this curious contraption in the hotel bathroom. Sorry that the picture is not very clear, but the item I circled is actually a REMOTE CONTROL for the toilet! The Japanese sure take their toilets very seriously, and I seem to have the "deluxe" model which comes with a heated seat and the remote control - makes my home toilet seem rudimentary by comparision! :D

Just in case you are curious about the functions of the toilet, here is a close up of the remote. Can't vouch for all the functions, except that the heated seat is fabulous early in the morning in an air-conditioned hotel room. :)

On the training front, I am getting very nervous that the New Balance Real Run is this coming Sunday. Have not trained much at all in the last 3 weeks thanks to my cattle class travels and a sniffling cold/cough thingy - just one of those things that parents pick up from their kids from time to time. When I did the practice run 3 weeks ago, I found the 1.6km beach run smack in the middle of the 10km run to be a real energy sapper. The usual hot and humid conditions in Singapore did not help either. Here's hoping that I will improve on my practice run time of 65mins.

Until the race report, take care, train safe, and God Bless!

P.S. (Sorry about the post-publish edit!)
On the Intentional Discipleship front, I have a confession to make. I have been meaning to put onto the blog my QT Scripture Readings and prayer items alongside my training log (side bar), but I have been so inconsistent lately with QT that I am now too embarassed to do that. Please pray for me - that I will be dilligent in my daily QT because I really cannot afford to continue missing them!
This month, I am taking on the lively topic of "Pre-Tribulation Rapture - What does the Bible say?" in my Care Group meetings. Pre-Tribulation Rapture is the belief that Jesus will take the Church up to heaven with Him before all the bad stuff starts in the 7 year Tribulation period (described in the book of Revelations). I must admit that I am still sitting on the fence on this one, but if anyone is interested in a set of SIMPLE (and I stress SIMPLE) notes on the subject, please email me and I will be more than happy to share our findings.

Day by Day

2006-07-31T16:50:00.000+08:00

I was reading the Lord's Prayer (Luke 11:1-4) again the other day . This is a familiar prayer to many, and so is the verse "Give us each day our daily bread" (Luke 11:3, NIV). This time I was using the New Living Translation (NLT), which translates this verse as "Give us our food day by day", which I thought gave a better perspective to the term "daily bread". Then later in Luke 12:22-34, I read that when Jesus was teaching about the futility of being anxious about our daily needs/wants, He assured us that He will give us all we need "from day to day" (Luke 12:31, NLT).

There may be an important clue here to help us to better understand our Father and His will for us. I remember reading that when Jesus sent out the twelve Apostles, He gave pretty specific instructions to "Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town." (Luke 9:3-4, NIV) Later, when He sent out the 72 disciples, again He said "Do not take a purse or bag or sandals" (Luke 10:4, NIV), he again told them not to "move around from house to house" (Luke 10:7, NIV). Why travel and minister under such "deprived" conditions? I believe it is God's will that we are given what we need day by day, so that we will continue to lean on Him day by day.

Perhaps this is also why in Luke 11:9 (NLT), Jesus instructed us to "keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened." This is the essence of Intentional Discipleship - that Christianity is a intentional process where we grow day by day by praying and seeking Him day by day. It is not about a sudden enlightenment or enpowerment that comes from above, neither is it about a single act of salvation/redemption, but a day by day process of learning, growing, and even receiving His loving grace day by day to cleanse us from our sinful nature.

Guess what? This is such a strong parallel to training for a Triathlon/Marathon/Half-Marathon /Century ride, etc... It is an intentional process of training and growing stronger and faster day by day. It is also a day by day dependence on the Lord to heal our aches and pains, injuries, colds/flus, whatever gets between us and training. There are simply no short-cuts! :) So now, I am somewhat content to grow a little faster and stronger day by day. It is the process that matters, perhaps even more than the end result!

On the training end, my ego took a big beating in the New Balance practice run last Sunday. I did 10km in 65mins despite running my guts out (I felt like puking when I finished). :( It was rather hilly and the beach run in the middle was pure torture. To add insult to injury, my two buddies (let's call them NL and PT), who both claim to be not quite up to their usual racing form, totally kicked my butt without really trying. Sigh... Looks like it will be plenty of running day by day before I can get any where near being a credible runner. ;) Been feeling a bit "off" after the run - the usual runny nose, itchy throat feeling - so I guess this will continue to be a rest week. :(

Before I sign off, I was pleasantly surprised by the interest in the Black Chicken Soup in my last post so I scrounged around in the Internet and found this recipe for the adventurous. :) The noodles I used were just rice noodles which I guess can be substituted for any noodles. They are cooked seperately and added only after the soup is done to avoid clouding the soup. I have been told that if you cannot find black chicken, you can substitue with free ranging chicken and it would taste just as good. But really, Cliff got it spot on when he said "What does it taste like? It tastes like chicken." :D

Train safe brothers & sisters, and God Bless!

Black Chicken Noodle Soup

2006-07-29T14:20:00.000+08:00

Yup, my friends, this is one of the best kept secrets in Oriental recovery food - the double boiled black chicken soup (noodles optional). :) The infamous black chicken is double boiled with a whole black chicken (more on that later) and other goodies like wolfberries and ginseng, and it is reknown among the Chinese and Korean for its "healing" properties. In fact, it is common for ladies to consume a lot of this in the 3 months after delivering a baby as part of the recovery process. Personally, I can't confirm either way about the "healing" properties, but it sure is a tasty and healthy way to get a whole lot of good carbohydrates and protein. :)

So what is a black chicken anyway? If you have not seen one, they usually come with white feathers, but the skin, fleah and bones look like they have been dyed black. When cooked, it looks like boiled chicken that has been dyed black - not the most apetizing of sights. :) But I find black chicken to be usually more lean and thus has better texture and taste than the normal variety. Oh, and they usually cost quite a bit more too.

The funny thing about them is that they seem to all have white feathers. Go figure!

On the training side, I have been taking it easy this week for three reasons:

Work has been very stressful and as such training time is scarse.
I am doing the practice run for the New Balance Real Run tomorrow (Sunday, 10km) so I did not want to push too hard in the week. The organisers of the run (i.e., New Balance) are nice enough to conduct practice runs in the actual route every Sunday for a few weeks prior to the actual run on 20 Aug. To further sweeten the deal, we get to try out their latest models on the practice runs, so my buddies and I are going to check it out tomorrow.
I managed to pick up an ear infection somehow, so no swimming for me for a few days. :( Been feeling a bit tired after the increasing training volume for the last 3 weeks so I guess I will call this week an inpromptu recovery week. :)

On the Intentional Discipleship side, no earthshaking revelations (although I did experience a small earthquake while in Jakarta - but that's another story), just quiet reassurance that if I focus on doing the right thing, I will emerge victorious from the tricky situation at work. PRAISE GOD!

Until next time, train safe and God Speed!

The Perfect Tri-Blogger Wife

2006-07-25T16:00:00.000+08:00

Would allow her hubby to head straight for a run after getting off the plane, even though he has been away for a week, with absolutely no complaints.
Would prepare double boiled herbal chicken noodle soup for her hubby so that he gets the protein and nutrients to sustain his work and training life. She would even re-heat the soup three times on three different days, just to make sure that forgetful hubby eats it, never once getting mad with her disorganised hubby for skipping meals or just forgetting.
Would encourage hubby to go for a bike ride even though it means she will be stuck with the kids again. Would even wave and be proud of her hubby when he gets home from the two hour bike ride, just to head straight out for a run to complete the inpromptu brick.
Would take the kids swimming with her because her hubby is too busy doing swim drills to watch the kids, even though he is in the same pool.
Would not complain about her hubby travelling 3 weeks in a roll on business, only coming back for the weekends. In fact she would even plan ahead and volunteer to take the kids to church on Sunday early on Sunday so her hubby can go for his practice run with his mates when he is back in town.
Would get her sister to get Staminade from Australia for her hubby (because there ain't any in Singapore).
Skimp and save on her clothes/accessories while her hubby splurges on tri clothes, running shoes, races, etc...

"Does such a perfect woman really exist?!?!" You ask. Yes, she does and she is my sweet wife. :) I am truly blessed. Praise God!

Been quite tied up with work lately, but will try to post some Intentional Discipleship/training updates soon. Meanwhile, train safe and God Speed!

P.S. Sorry but I have had to re-enable "Word Verification" - too many henious attacks by some anonymous comment posting bot. :(

T-Rex

2006-07-17T14:33:00.000+08:00

Everyone, meet T-Rex. T-Rex almost became road kill when Mrs Nitrox found him in the middle of the road many months back - he must have either escaped from his tank or was abandoned. T-Rex seems to be a Amazom Green Turtle a.k.a. Red Eared Slider - these grow from just about the size of a dollar coin to about 1 foot across (the shell), and some live as long as 75 years if cared for properly - T-Rex is about 7" across the shell currently. We are pretty sure T-Rex is a "he" becoz he has long front claws and a long tail, and he is so named for the viciousness with which he attacks the worms we used to feed him.

Well, since finding T-Rex, we have been keeping him in a plastic container, but he has out-grown that, and we have been stressing out about where to keep him, especially given that we did not plan to have a turtle to begin with. :) This weekend we finally have some time to take over a old fish tank from my parents, and thanks to some scrounging around, managed to make T-Rex a comfy new home. Total cost? Absolutely nuthing! That makes Cheapo Nitrox happy and I must say T-Rex looks mighty pleased with his new home too! :)

I'm also pretty pleased that I managed to clean up the bike drive train. No fancy stuff - WD-40 is relatively cheap in Singapore, so I just spray it on the chain as a de-greaser to remove the gunk, wipe off the excess with an old rag, and leave it to air dry - all that while leaving the chain on the bike. A lot of bike gurus would not touch WD-40 as it strips grease, heavy oils and drys up the drive train, but that's exactly what I want. After a couple of days, I will add a proper bike chain oil for lubrication purposes - again spray on and wipe off excess. See how my drive train is shining! ;)

On the training front, I managed to get in a 53km ride and 1.5km of swim drills this weekend - I'm starting to miss the hand paddles, so hopefully I will find a good set soon.

On the Intentional Discipleship front, something embarassing to share. My sister is a Christian but she has not been keen to go to church with us in the past, and over time, I just stopped inviting her. Sunday morning, for some reason, I thought I would send her a text message invitation and amazingly, she accepted! :) Later, she shared that she was thinking about attending church more regularly on Sat night, but did not think much about it since I stopped inviting her. The very next morning, she got my SMS inviting her to church! Best of all, she enjoyed the service and wants to attend regularly now. Yay! Praise God! Lesson learnt here is that persistance pays - it's embarassing that I gave up inviting her, when God clearly hasn't. Not an example of Intentional Discipleship at it's best then. :"( I am calling this incident a divine intercession by the Holy Spirit and it is giving me renewed faith that my parents will be saved yet! PRAISE GOD!

So all in all, a great weekend of training, catching up with some chores and a humbling lesson from the Lord. Tomorrow I travel to Indonesia, so I am hoping to get in a run today before I have to live out of a suitcase again... Train safe and God Speed!

Just call me Aquaman!

2006-07-14T13:41:00.000+08:00

(If you just asked "Who's Aquaman?" I can only say "Young man/lady, this was a popular action hero back in my time...")

First a quick thanksgiving - my back (left shoulder blade) is much better now and I am back to swimming and pull-ups. My toe is also much betta - there seems to be some clear water-like discharge but it doesn't hurt much and I'm back to running too. Thanks for the prayers and praise God for His healings!

OK, I am totally stoked becoz on Wed, I went out and swam 2.2km!! Which is a HUGE distance for me, given that prior to this I have not swam beyond 1.6km or so, EVER. This was made all the more dramatic by the fact that I swam in my dinky little 27.5m apartment pool (yes, I finally measured it) - started at dusk and literally swam till it got dark and the lights came on. :D I focused on staying loose, smooth entry, smooth strokes, slow kicking, just ENJOYING the swim - I think the swim drills are really helping (Thanks Keith and James!). I took 55:26 to finish the swim, but I was not as winded/exhausted as I normally am after a shorter swim! This really boosts my confidence about the O.D. (Olympic Distance) Tri next year, maybe I can even do a Long Course (starts with 2km swim)? :))

On Thurs though, reality came crashing down on me when I went for my 5km "tempo" run. I can do this in 28min on the treadmill so I thought I would go under 30mins out on the road. Well, I ran till I ALMOST puked, and it was still 30mins. :( BTW, I read in the International Triathlon Union site that the professionals run 10km in 30mins in the O.D. Tris!! Oh well, I've never seen Aquaman run much in the cartoons so he can't be a good runner either.

On the Intentional Discipleship front, I learnt today that Jesus knows the value of taking time to rest and re-charge too. :) Just prior to the miracle of feeding 5,000, John the Baptist got beheaded. You can imagine the depression and fear that must have caused to Jesus' followers. In addition, it has been such a busy day that they did not even have time to eat (Mark 6:31). Jesus' response to the apostles was, interestingly, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." Although the people were still coming to Jesus and His apostles with their needs, Jesus called a "time-out" so they could rest and be re-energized - quite literally, the world can wait, because burning out does no one any good.

The plan was thwarted when the crowds followed Jesus and, out of his compassion for them, Jesus decides to teach them and later on even fed the 5,000 (not counting the women and children) with only 2 loaves of bread and 5 small fishes. But what's interesting is the first thing Jesus did when the crowds were fed and presummably His disciples were re-energised by witnessing the great miracle - He went up a mountainside by Himself to pray (Mark 6:46). Even Jesus needs that time of refreshing and re-energizing. How much more do we?

Let's resolve to make time this weekend to rest and re-energize in the midst of training and family/social commitments. Train safe and God Speed!

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

2006-07-12T09:16:00.000+08:00

Well, I'm sure many of you remember that was what Jesus cried out at the nineth hour on the cross, just before he died (Matthew 27:46). This utterance speaks volumes to me, sorry for blogging about old news, but being a "newish" intentional disciple, I get excited when I find out more about Jesus. :)

Firstly, it tells me that when Jesus wore our sins on the cross, He was momentarily wearing God's scorn/wrath on our sins. How painful that must have been for Him, far above the physical, emotional, and mental abuse that He suffered. This is quite literally Spiritual suffering, and I am once again moved by the length and depth that our Lord went to to redeem us.

Secondly, there is actually a cross reference from this verse to Psalm 2 2, which starts exactly with this verse. This tells me that this was not a cry of frustration from Jesus, but actually the start of PRAISE (Psalm 22 is a beautiful Psalm that starts with a lament, but ends in glorious praise)! Praise that came from meditating on scripture even as He hung in extreme discomfort on the cross. I know quite a few of us meditate on His word when we train, but perhaps there is a bigger lesson for us here on how to deal with difficult times?

Sorry for the "sermon". Like I said, I get excited about such things. :)

On to the "mundane" then... I ran 11km on Monday and rested on Tuesday. What has that got to do with the picture of my foot? Well, if you look VERY closely, you may notice that the circled toe nail is a little red - it's sore to touch and I am hoping the nail does not fall off. Okay, I don't care what everyone else thinks - I am following Cliff's example and calling this my first sign of becoming a "real" runner! ;)

So what did I do on my rest day, you ask? I visited my parents after work and brought back a large cardboard box, so I can make a el cheapo "PlayHouse" for R1 & R2. Check out the video evidence below of how much they appreciate my handiwork. [Sorry, I have tried but failed miserably to try to rotate the video so you don't get a kink in your neck viewing it. Any advice/pointers from the blogging experts would be much appreciated.] Move over Little Tikes, there is a new toy maker in town! :D

Until next time, train safe and God Speed!

Calza-who?!?!

2006-07-10T12:46:00.000+08:00

Reading about Sylvain Calzati (AG2R) winning stage 8 of Tour De France brought a smile to my face because...

This is the first stage win via a break away win in Tour De France this year! And if you are into cycling, you know it is all about the break away. :)
He was the under-dog - "It's fabulous!" Calzati enthused, " especially when you think I was the last rider to be picked for the Tour de France team. Last year I crashed out injured, but today I told the team's mechanics that I was going to be at the front."
Yes, he's French, but you can't fault him for that. ;)

Sorry for leaving my last post sort of hanging in mid-air. As TriBoomer said, the answer is right in my heart, and my heart has been telling me it's time to give up my pride at work and take the high road. No surprise nor earth-shaking revelation, just another case of learning to listen to my heart. I guess this is the essence of Christianity here on earth: A process of Intentional Discipleship bringing us from head knowledge to heart knowledge, to actions, and ultimately to a victorious life in His power and grace. Praise God!

Went for a 11km run on Friday after a laspe of more than a week (been doing only 5km runs), and boy, did it HURT. But I am glad I finished, as it does wonders for my confidence for the coming 10km New Balance Real Run. :) Talking about the Real Run, it seems to be organised for the young army boys, so I guess I will be running at the back of the pack and getting passed often - no different from my usual runs then. ;)

Saturday was swim drills again (1.5km total):

6 X 50m front crawl warm up
6 X 50m kicking (with kickboard)
6 X 50m "chicken wing" (to practice arm recovery)
6 X 50m "catch up" (without hand paddles this time) to build some much needed arm power
6 X 50m front crawl tempo

I skipped the Sunday 50km bike ride as it was drizzling and I felt a bit of a sore throat, runny nose coming, so I called it a rest day. Probably a good call, given the recent rise in flu cases in Singapore. I do have a confession to make: I have no problems running in the rain, but if it is even drizzling lightly, I avoid riding my bike - that's how lazy I am about cleaning the bike. :D

Monday morning, crawled out of bed, looked at myself in the mirror and reached to my right for the towel and ... OUCH! I sprained my back (left shoulder blade) somehow! I have NO IDEA where this came from as I did NOT do anything significantly different from any other day. Given that Sunday was a rest day, It's can't be over training either, so I have to chalk this one down to just being a "non training injury", most likely cause - old age. Another case in point of leaning on the Lord for healing while we train - who has time to worry when we can pray? Praise God! :)

Train safe all, and God Speed!

Treasures in Heaven...

2006-07-08T09:38:00.000+08:00

R1 & R2 painted these nice cups (pots?) in their art class - R1 did the pot on the right (those are aeroplanes, by the way) while R2 did the pot on the left with flowers. Amazing what kids get up to in art class nowadays, I'm not sure if I even started using crayons at their age! :)

The beautiful cups and Matthew 23:25 today reminded me to be REAL to myself and to God. To what extent am I like the Pharisees - cups that are washed and clean on the outside, but hiding all kinds of dirt inside?

This week my intentional discipleship challenge is how REAL is it to me that my treasures are supposed to be in heaven?

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21

"And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will have eternal life. But many who seem to be important now will be the least important then, and those who are considered least here will be the greatest then." Matthew 19:29-30

Such a simple concept, yet one that is so difficult to practice in this "real" world (I say "real" becoz I believe the spiritual controls the material, which kinda puts a different spin on what is real - the spiritual or the material world?).

In "real" terms: Do I continue to be obssessed about the promotion at work that I feel really deserve (to be honest, in my pride, I felt I deserved that promotion a year ago, but that's another story)? Do I continue to let the bitterness in me grow and allow the inner voice to keep telling me that I can do a better job than those above me? Or do I truly work with all my heart, as for the Lord and not for men (Colossians 3:23)?

Am I really able to take the high road, which means to STOP TRYING so hard in my own "cleverness" to secure my own job, get the promotion but instead to put my whole heart in contributing to my employers, to accelerate the growth of my team members - even if it means empowering them so they have the chance to learn/grow at my personal expense of extra effort and opportunity cost of fixing their mistakes, even if it means helping them to "catch up" and surpass me? In the uncertainty surrounding the impending merger, do I stop sitting in the seat of mockers (Psalms 1:1) and not allow the negativity to get to me, and instead be a voice of encouragement and hope?

I think the question behind all that is really: DO I TRUST GOD ENOUGH TO LET GO? Indeed do I REALLY believe God when He says that He is a good God who will make it all worthwhile in the end? If I REALLY do, then the answer to the above is YES.

Have a safe training weekend guys & gals, and God Speed your endeavers. I will be swimming and biking this weekend.

YouTube Rocks!

2006-07-06T21:51:00.000+08:00

But before that, thanks for all the helpful advice in response to my last post and please do keep them coming. You all know I need all the help I can get! :)

Like I said, a lot of very wise and encouraging comments, and the general concensus seems to be

Keep the bike shoes - the efficiency gain is worth the hassle.
Keeping the shoes on the pedals for a running start and hop on is tough and probably as painful as it looks. :) So I think I will stick to running around in my cleats for now...
Lot's of good advice about bricks. The intention is to get used to running after the bike, so I can actually just squeeze in a short (15 mins) run after I bike to get my legs used to running after biking. Also, first concentrate on building an aerobic base, then when I am 2-3 months from the event, I start focusing on speedwork (intervals) and strength?
As expected, I need to run MORE, but not to get too obsessed by speed too early on. I particularly like Jessie's reminder that "intervals are my friends". :)

Thanks Guys/Gals, you are a GREAT bunch!

Okay, onto the video... so I decided to try posting a video straight from my phone to YouTube, and hey, it actually works!

Here's a video of R1 and R2 grooving to a hip Korean song courtesy of our number one Korean soap opera fan - Winnie!

(In case you are new to YouTube, click on the play button in the middle of the screen. Sorry about the picture size, it's a small file from my phone so the resolution is pretty poor...)

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And specially for family and friends, click here for the extended version. If you follow this link, you may want to click on the button right next to "Size:" at the right bottom of the player to make the screen smaller and more visible. Enjoy!

That's all folks, that's taken the time for my 10km run tonight, so I guess today is a rest day for me. :) Train safe and God Speed!

The Accidental Triathlete...

2006-07-04T20:01:00.000+08:00

That's how I feel most times - not reading or learning enough, not joining a local tri club, just blundering along and hoping I am not too far off. Well, perhaps it is time I benefited from the collective wisdom of the blogsphere - or at least from my 5 or 6 regular readers. :)

Bike shoes or Running shoes?
I will be doing only Sprint events this year and my first Olympic Tri next year. Last year, in both Sprint Tris I put on my cycling shoes in T1, but they were really awkward for running out and into the transition area, and I just about destroyed my cleats. So my question is: If the bike leg is only 20-40km, do proper bike shoes and cleats really make much of a difference, so should I just use running shoes and save some transition time?

Bike/Tri shoes - leave them on the pedals or put them on in T1?
For those of you who use tri or bike shoes, do you leave them on the pedal or put them on and run with them in the transition area? If you leave your tri/bike shoes on the pedals, is it easy to learn how to jump on the bike and put your feet into the shoes? How about the grit/sand that gets picked up on the run out of the transition - does that become uncomfortable during the bike leg?

When to do what?
OK, so I know I am supposed to build an aerobic base, and then move to strength and speed. Question is, how far before the event do I start working on strength and speed? Some people tell me that I have to do strength training even now to prevent injuries when I run, so should I be doing different types of strength training as the event draws nearer? Oh, while I am on the subject, when do I start doing bricks, and are bricks just bike/run or is it worthwhile to also do swim/bike bricks as well? Do you do the entire swim/bike/run as a extra long brick training before the event?!?!

How do I get faster?
This is a source of frustration for me. Despite best efforts, I can't seem to get any faster in the swim, bike nor run! Perhaps this is just a lack of training volume, but I have read that interval work helps with speed. Should I be doing that, or should I leave it till when the event draws nearer?

Thanks guys/gals, I really needed to get all those questions off my chest. :D On the training front, I did my 1.5km pool swim today. I really must go out and measure the length of the pools I use. There is a difference of abot 4 mins in my 1.5km swims between the 25m pool at home and the 50m pool at the club. Think I will bring out the tape measure tonight and get it over and done with! :)

Oh, and I will probably sign up for the New Balance Real Run on 20 Aug - 10km cross terrain. Hopefully I will be able to get a few good friends to sign up as well. It should be fun!

Train safe everyone, and God Bless!

2006-07-04T15:22:00.000+08:00

An Old Dog...

2006-07-01T15:10:00.000+08:00

That title rather aptly describes both my parent's dog and how I feel this week. ;)

1st, more about "Brian" the dog. 13 years ago, I decided to get a boxer puppy, and Brian came into our lives (I know, weird name, but that's another story). When I got married and moved to an apartment, he stayed with my parents because we felt he would be happier in a house with a garden. He's aged a lot lately, and has recently been diagnosed with heartworms (don't follow the link if you have a weak stomach). Was searching for some old digital pictures of Brian and I found this one from 5 years ago (picture - left, above), which presents a rather striking contrast to how old and gray (white?) he looks now (picture - left, below).

Positive testimony to share about Brian: Some weeks back Brian suddenly went off his food/water, and went so weak in a day that he couldn't even walk properly. Took him to the vet and found out he had some sort of viral attack and early stage of heartworm. While waiting, I felt so sorry for the old, weak dog that I laid my hand on him and prayed for healing, peace and comfort for him - the amazing thing is that as I prayed, I could FEEL him relaxing! It's like God's hand came upon him and then and there I knew he would get betta. While at the vet, he drank up two bowls of water (refused to have any water the entire day/night before), and of course pee'd all over the vet's floor - much to my embarassment. But as I was mopping up all that stinking urine, I had a HUGE smile on my face. PRAISE GOD! He was given some asprin and anitbiotics but the vet did not want to treat the heartworms until he got "a lot stronger". Praise God again, that in the few weeks that followed, he got betta and betta, and last week we brought him back to the vet, who has prescribed HeartGuard and asprin for him - since it is early stage (baby worms) and Brian is really too old to go thru a more extensive treatment. Brian is now eating well and looks like a happy, healthy (albeit old) dog again. Truly our God is a God who loves His creations!

So why do I feel like an old dog myself this week? Well, "exciting" 1st week back at work plus the typical 2nd half year kick-offs means busy days and late nights with too much food, beer and wine. :( Was totally not able to do any training Monday to Thursday, but finally managed to make it to the gym at lunch yesterday. So I did intervals on the treadmill - 1km tempo run, 500m recovery, repeast twice more, then close with 500m sprint - total distance/time 5km/29 minutes. May I ask the expert runners here if this sort of interval work is effective for making me faster on Sprint and Oly Tri distances (5km and 10km)? Should I be adjusting it to longer or shorter interval/recovery?

Train safe this weekend. I know I will be. God Speed! :)

Bonus Daddy Points...

2006-06-26T22:58:00.000+08:00

On Saturday for bringing the kids to the Central Fire Station! In case there are any Singaporeans reading this, this place is a "MUST VISIT" - every Saturday morning, it's open house and the firemen show off all their latest equipment and let the kids climb onto the vehicles, squirt water out of the hoses/water guns,and even bring the kids up on the hydraulic ladders! This is a picture of R1 and R2 pretending to drive the "Red Rhino" or Light Fire Attack Vehicel (LFAV) for the the technically inclined.

And this is what this cool vehicle looks like. It's supposed to be a point vehicle in fighting hard to reach fires - all it carries is 50 litres of water, so there is a very cool water mist gun attached that the kids get to squirt (and adults too if they ask nicely). :)
Sunday morning started with a heavy downpour, which petered into light rain in the afternoon, bringing nice and cool conditions (by tropical Singapore standards) for a 11km even as the kids napped. Praise God!

On the spiritual front, I am sticking to my plan of daily QT - reading and praying - and I am beginning to understand why Paul wrote "it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." (Philippians 2:13) Truly it is the Lord who works in us to draw us near to Him. All we need to do is to make the commitment to be serious about Him. Praise God!

Not much to report on Monday, 1st day back at work is always "exciting", and it looks set to be a busy week, but I am thankful to be in Singapore this week. Until next time, train safe and God Speed!

Prayers Do Work!

2006-06-23T10:49:00.000+08:00

Thanks for the excellent prayer support - did not have time to post yesterday, but R1 woke up yesterday morning WITHOUT a hint of the fever and R2 is perfectly fine too. If you have not been following the posts, R1 started having a nameless high fever on 20th night, and by 22nd morning, he was perfectly fine! In my QT, I came across Matthew 4:23-24, which reminded me that Jesus healed all kinds of illnesses and everyone who came to him for healing. I am not too fussed about what it was that caused the sudden fever, as there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that he is healed. What an awesome God we have - He involves us in prayer to build our faith and delivers us from illnesses. To celebrate, we brought the boys swimming! :)

The whole subject of healing miracles is one of great controvesy, and I know I will not be able to do justice to the subject even if I wrote another 10 posts on it. There are still some very tough questions like what place does medicine have, and why are there still sickness and death in this world, etc... Personally, I think of doctors and medicine as blessings from God - He made us smart enough to help ourselves, so we should make full use of that. What does not get practised enough sometimes is the parallel action of praying for the sick as commanded in James 5:14. Which brings us to the tricky question of if God heals, why is there still so much sickness and death in this world?? I really don't know... I think part of it is probably that we live in a fallen world and there are consequences of that - e.g. if I choose to abuse my body, I need to recognise that there will be consequences to my decisions. This does not explain why a lot of children are still lost to illnesses (especially in this part of the world), I guess some things will just have to wait till we meet our Lord to find out. What I do know is that we prayed, and R1 is healed, and I have been blessed to see enough healings to be convinced that they are not just a random occurences.

Another area of thanksgiving is that after writing an ode to my holiday, my last few days of leave actually turned out beautifully! I have been spending time with the boys in the day, getting my QT and training in, AND even squeezing in time to work at night. :)

Speaking of training, I cut short my run last night (set out to do 10-11km, ended up with 5.7km) as it was getting late, and right after starting out I remembered that I have not done my QT for the day (yes, I am guilty of not being consistent to my stated goal of training only after QT). While I could have prayed/medidated as I ran (which I do sometimes), I did not start the run with that intention and so it felt a bit like offering a stolen sacrifice or a sacrifice with defects (Malachi 1:13-14). I am not saying what I did is right, perhaps just that I am more anal than I thought. :)

God is good, and I am confident that He will keep you safe and speed you in your journey. Amen!

An Ode to My Holiday

2006-06-21T14:29:00.000+08:00

Working parents, you know how it is - doesn't matter if you are still on leave, but the holiday is over when urgent text messages from work start coming, and/or the children start getting sick. In my case it was BOTH - text messages from the boss, and R1 getting a mysterious high fever last night - that told me the holiday was over.

Spent the morning trying to balance work, taking R1 to the doctor (they think it could be a virus), and trying to seperate R1 and R2 (keyword being "try"). But, I am still hopeful to squeeze in some swim drills (which I badly need, judging from my last 1.5km swim time) and of course my QT, so that today will not be a total washout in terms of my stated goals of Intentional Discipleship & Triathlons.

Still, I am very thankful for the short holiday because it gave me much needed time away from work with the family, and also time to do a checkpoint on my journey in Intentional Discipleship & Triathlons. The short on the Spiritual end is that I need to get serious about prayer (un-abridged version in my previous post), and on the Tri end, I am coming to the conclusion that I will focus on training (which I enjoy) and not racing for now.

Not sure if this sudden high fever that R1 has got is a call to prayer, but would appreciate your kind prayer support for healing. Oh, and thanks for the prayers for R2 after his fall. Went to the dentist yesterday and she thinks the tooth is fine and should heal completely in a few more days. The lower lip has also healed beautifully, Praise God, and thanks for your prayers! Prayers DO WORK! :)

Thanks again for the tremendous support and encouragements. Remember to make time to do what your heart tells you to do today, and may the Lord keep you safe and bring you beyond even what you dare to ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20)!

Train Safe and God Speed!

P.S. I did get in the swim drills afterall! I know it ain't much compared to the mega drills of the tri-bloggers out there but I'm rather chuffed with myself. :D Praise God!

25mX10 = 250m Front Crawl Warm-up
3 sets of 25mX4 = 300m Kicking Drills (with Kick Board)
3 sets of 25mX4 = 300m Arm Recovery - "Chicken Wing"
3 sets of 25mX4 = 300m Arm Pull - "Catch Up" (with hand paddles)
25mX10 = 250m Front Crawl Close

Spiritual Checkpoint...

2006-06-19T22:42:00.000+08:00

This is afterall a blog on Intentional Discipleship & Triathlons, so I feel I have the acountability to update you on my Spiritual journey into Intentional Discipleship. :)

I may have shared sometime back that I am (slowly) reading thru the bible (for only the second time ever), and I am happy to report that today I finished going thru the Old Testament! Can't wait to start on the New Testament tomorrow. Just like the last time, I am following this chronological reading plan. I find that having a chronological reading plan makes reading the Old Testament much easier as it presents the events as they actually happen in the course of time. If you have not tried it, I strongly encourage you to do so - there are lots of on-line and published chronological reading plans, and they do make understanding the Old Testament MUCH easier.

However, unlike the last time I used this plan, I am not giving myself the pressure of finishing the reading plan in a year, but taking my time and focusing on letting the passages speak to me. I have found that it helps a lot just to keep a journal of 3 main headings - "What is God Saying to me?", "My Response", and "Lessons Learnt" - as I read. It forces me to think and pray about what God is telling/teaching me thru His Word. Try it, it really works! :) Another thing I am doing differently is that I am using the New Living Translation (NLT) Bible this time, which I find easy to read, while giving an added perspective to the same passages that I read last year in the New International Version (NIV) Bible.

While I have found reading His Word to be very rewarding (especially when I am consistent with it), I have been getting increasing concerned about my (lack of) prayer life. This concern has been bubbling over for sometime now, and I finally gave voice to it at my last Care Group meeting last Friday. The group must have been praying hard for me, because on Sunday we had a surprise visiting pastor (Pastor Benny Ho) who decided that he would give us a sermon on "Prayer that Prevails". How cool is that? Praise God!

It was a simple sermon about praying
PROPHETICALLY - Prayer being a powerful means to birth forth God's will on earth;
PASSIONATELY - Prayer being an intense and passionate communication with God;
PROACTIVELY - Actively looking for God's answer even as we pray;
PERSISTENTLY - Praying till we have an answer;
but the sermon spoke to me in a very personal way as only the Holy Spirit can. Truly our God is an awesome God, and when He speaks, we can't help but to hear Him. :D

The funny thing is, when I sat down and comitted to consistently praying for the 3 most important things in my life - Salvation for my parents, Well-being of my family, Personal Walk with God - neither work nor triathlons came up at all. Go figure!

Until next time, train safe and God Speed!

Starting Over...

2006-06-17T22:49:00.000+08:00

I posted sometime back that I have opted out of the only Olymptic Distance Triathlon in Singapore - The OSIM Triathlon (a.k.a. Singapore Triathlon). Just did not feel I was ready for it with all the interuptions to training that my business travels brought. I will be doing at least one Sprint Tri this year, but that's it for my (depleted) racing calendar this year. :( That's the problem with living in Singapore, I guess, there aren't that many "mass participation" Triathlons in this region.

Been feeling quite frustrated with my training this year. Feels like so far it has been pretty much stop-and-go, and I'm feeling really bummed that I have to pull out from the OSIM. I'm not much of griping sort (I hope, although my wife will probably disagree), so I'm just gonna make use of this holiday at home to put it all behind me and START OVER. I have already reported 2 runs (5km and 10km) and a swim (1.5km) so far this week, and today I decided to go for a bike ride.

As I sat on the floor putting on my shoes, I looked up apprehensively at my bike. It was reminding me of its carbon DNA, bladed fork and racing pedigree, while looking down with disdane upon my soft thighs. I was wondering if this would be a good ride, or if I will find myself wondering why I even bothered, but I've got the bottles filled and the tyres pumped so off I went.

Well, I am happy to report that 2 hours later, I rolled back home a tired but happy camper. And as I took off my shoes, I looked up at my bike (which I have not named and probably never will - but that's another story), and it didn't seem that haughty anymore. It's still a racing stallion, and I am still not much of a rider, but I think we reached a common understanding today out there - as long as we are giving our 100% and having fun, not much else matters. I think I am beginning to like this new attitude. :)

Until next time, take care, train safe, and God Speed!

3 Days Before I Go Back to Work...

2006-06-16T19:01:00.000+08:00

And that's me and the boyz in the zoo this morning! R1 is in the black rain coat while R2 is in yellow, and I am the overgrown kid in the pink child-sized poncho that just happened to be in the car. It was kinda dissappointing at first to arrive at the zoo in the midst of a downpour, but we were soon thankful for the rain as it brought unusually cool weather. It also chased away much of the usual visitors and we had the place to ourselves for the 1st couple of hours which was really nice. Thank you, Lord!

Even the penguins look pleased with the rain, don't you think? In case anyone starts thinking that they may be ill treated in the Singapore heat, they do have their own air conditioned enclosure right next to the pool, so they are usually cooler than the visitors. :D

The weather was so nice and cool that we stayed longer than usual and even squeezed in an elephant ride with our buddies!

On the training front, I am proud to report that I did head out and got in a 1.5km swim yesterday, and a 10km run today. Best of all, I managed to do my QT before my run today. Yay! Praise God! Hope this discipline lasts! ;)

Train safe one and all, and God Speed!

Effects of Business Travel

2006-06-14T23:00:00.000+08:00

Training gets neglected - just look at my training log at the side bar on the right. :( I think my motivation has dropped significantly since deciding against the Singapore Triathlon. At this point, it looks very much like I will not be doing any Oly Tris this year, only Sprints. Sigh... I am getting a lil burnt out from the business travels and have been away from the family so often that I cannot bear to go off and train by myself when I am back. Perhaps I need to get R1 started on a kid's fun tri next year so I have a betta chance of having time for an Oly Tri... No more excuses I simply have to get back on the saddle and start TRAINING!

It seems my absence from the kids on business travels and my resulting eagerness to spend time with them when I am back are a lethal combination - I become an over-eager parent who is not used to taking care of them. So, somehow when I return from business trips to play Dad, accidents happen. The last one was in April when Dad forgot that 3 year olds can't really pull on the brakes on the handlebars. Witness this latest beauty on R2's lower lip - the poor kid fell on his face, almost biting thru his lower lip, this time because Dad was stupid enough to wrap him in a huge towel - impeding his ability to walk - after swimming. Things like this REALLY make me feel like kicking myself. He is a tough lad though - lots of blood and tears at the fall, but now he is eating well and pretty much back to normal. He still complains that one of his front teeth hurts 2 days after the fall, so please pray that his tooth is alrite and do pray for speedy healing for my lil soldier.

Quiet Time (QT) with the Lord takes a beating. Must confess that I have not been consistent with my QT for the last couple of months now. When it is late at night and I have just got back to the hotel after a LONG day, and I know there is an early start the next day, the temptation to skip QT and just unwind is great. Like the missed training, there are no valid excuses here, I just have to get my act together and prioritize what is important. The fact is that I am too busy NOT to do QT - too many things go wrong then I miss my time of re-balancing my life with the Lord. I just got to remember that!

But enough griping from ol' Nitrox. Train safe everyone and God Speed!

Can anyone say...

2006-06-13T23:04:00.000+08:00

"SUN CREAM OVERLOAD"?

When it comes to sun creams, our motto is "Better safe than sorry".

;D

Train safe and God Speed!

World's FASTEST Tri Blogger

2006-06-09T15:19:00.000+08:00

Read them and weep - 857km/hour (532 miles/hours)! ;D

Sorry guys and gals, I had some urgent emails to send out while flying back from Finland and now have some spare Wireless LAN connection time left, so I thought I will pull a fast one (please excuse the poor pun).

My holiday with the family starts tomorrow, so I am REALLY looking forward to getting back home.

Dearest ST, R1 & R2, if you are reading this, I MISS YOU!

Train safe and God Speed, everyone!

I am thankful for...

2006-06-07T03:09:00.000+08:00

This notice in the hotel lift which tells me about the brand spanking new treadmill in the gym just waiting to be tested - was able to get in a 5km run this morning. Praise God!
Fresh fruits at breakfast - the weather in Helsinki makes it tough to get fresh fruits (check out the brown banana - which thankfully was perfect inside). Praise God!
The long days here (the sun rises at about 4:00am and sets at 11:00pm), which allows me to share these nice pictures of Helsinki city centre even at 9pm at night. Praise God!

I am still feeling the effects of jet lag so I will stop and head to bed. Feels really weird going to bed at 11:00pm and the sun is still up! :)

Oh... and if you haven't already, check out how Iron Pol ended up RUNNING the bike leg of his first ever Sprint Triathlon. An epic adventure. :D

Train safe boys and gals, and God Speed!

Global Day of Prayer

2006-06-05T03:12:00.000+08:00

But I spent it on a 20 hour journey to Finland, which started with a 13 hour flight next to a couple that somehow had to go to the toilet every 1-2 hours! As you can imagine I spent much of the flight crawling in and out of my cattle class seat - that's getting in and out TWICE each time they had to go to the toilet. :(

13 hours later, I landed at Frankfurt for my 4 hout transit before the next flight. Couldn't help taking a picture of the shower at the transit lounge - truly God's gift to the weary traveller! A shower has not felt so good in a LONG time. :D

Finally arrived at the hotel 20+ hours after leaving Singapore, and so soon as I got into the room, I knew there was no way I would be heading out for dinner. I usually try not to nap at all the 1st day to get over the jet lag, but as you see from the state of the bed, this time I conceded. (Please excuse the underwear and socks hanging out to dry - although the company pays for laundry, I still can't bear to pay the exorbitant laundry fees for stuff that I can wash in 5 mins.)

So here I am, 28 hours after leaving Singapore, feeling old and tired, missing home terribly, having a bit of a sore throat (which I blame on the dry air in the plane), but very thankful for the free broadband that connects me to two very comforting things - familiar music on www.cmradio.net (my favourite is the "Best Mix" channel) and of course all of you, my blogging buddies. Funny thing is that with the solitude on long business trips, they are sometimes a enforced bonding time with the Lord, and with my work schedule lately, this is probably exactly what I need right now.

I gotta do some emails before hitting the hay, so take care my friends, train safe and God Speed!

My First Swimming Lesson

2006-05-29T22:49:00.000+08:00

Okay, technically this isn't my 1st swimming lesson since I was about 8. That would be the freebie lesson from ~~Keith~~ my mysterious swim guru buddy (don't worry your secret identity is still safe with me) some months back. But this is the first time this ol' cheapo has paid any of my hard earned cash for a swimming lesson. :D Yes, I finally crumbled and asked R1 & R2's swimming coach (James) to give me a "stroke correction" lesson - that's James in the picture on the right teaching R1 to do the "reverse rocket kick" (cool names for swim drills seem to work on kids).

I think I should record the diagnosis before I forget:

My kicking seems ok and I am no longer swimming with "sinking feet". Yay! All the kicking drills prescribed by ~~Keith~~ my mysterious swim guru buddy must have worked!
I am pronating my body well and turning my head to breathe, but when my arms get tired, I revert to the heads up, ass down position. :(
My hands are entering the water too close to my head and hence giving me a short stroke. I need to extend my hands further out to get a longer stroke.
I am already doing the "S" pull under water, but my hands cross over the center line of my body and they should never do that.
I am raising my arms too high in recovery and hence using up unnecessary energy. I should focus on a elbow-led recovery.
I am not putting enough into the last 1/3 of the stroke when pull crosses over to push - i.e. when the pulling hand crosses my chest and turns into a push towards my feet. He says this is the most important part when it comes to propulsion and I am not putting enough into it.

The best part is that James went thru some simple drills with me specifically to fix the problem areas above and promised to write down a set of swim drills for me to follow - nothing fancy, just "old-school" front crawl drills that work on arm extension, elbow-led recovery, and of course kicking. He also suggested hand paddles to improve arm power. Will share more on the drills when I get it from him (may be in a couple of weeks due to my travels). James was even kind enough to suggest that instead of having regular lessons with him, I just do the drills as he suggested and engage him periodically for stroke correction - so either he is a super nice guy or I am a nightmare student! :D

On the biking front, I asked my dear wife to snap a couple of pictures of me in aero position as a check and here is one of them. In case anyone thinks the picture is blurred because I was FLYING, I must confess that it was taken on my 2M pixel camera phone, which is not too good with action shots in dark underground carparks. A couple of interesting observations - (1) I am still pretty stretched out on the aero bar, but if I put the bar any shorter, my weight rests too near my wrists and my fore-arms get uncomfortable; (2) I am sitting rather far back on the saddle - perhaps a proper Tri saddle with more padding up front will help? I was a bit concerned if my saddle was too low, but it seems okay in the picture ya? Any advice/suggestions from the bike gurus out there will be much appreciated!

I'm not sure if I will have time to post while I am on the road, so until next time, thanks for dropping by, train safe and God Speed!