One year older..not necessarily wiser..

Today is actually my b-day :). The past weekend I had done some normal stuff which in training we don't usually enjoy:

- hanging with the boys on thurs night having beer n wings
- dinner with friends after fellowship
- eating dark chocolate which my mom got from Hong Kong (good stuff)

I am going to keep this short as my right eye is hurting quite a bit. It is all red and I see a little white dot on the pupil. There is a story that some ppl got blind b/c of a contact lens cleaner (check it out here). I don't want to be paranoid but i will keep an eye on my eye. If it get worst, time to see my eye doctor. My eye sometimes get red and hurts before. But it passes away a day or so later. Well..it is better be safe than sorry right?

Here are some things that have happened lately:

- a brother from my Fellowship got Baptised yesterday. It was really great to hear his testimonial. It reminded of my Baptism last year. His story is really amazing. He came to Canda by himself and don't even know a word of English. An elderly couple brought him to Church and took care of him. The couple was there yesterday as well. There were other getting Baptised and I really felt their faith in God.

- yesterday was a gorgeous day. I really want to ride some more. But no. Need to clean room. I added some shelves, clean some junk in the basement. I want to clean up before I go into another training phase.

I still feel my aerobic base is not well establish yet (despite my bike ride on Sat). I want to build up my second run so it becomes a long run as well. I also need to work on my technical skills (bike handling, turning, aerobars, running cadence, right form, strides, swim techniques etc.).

I might do a semi-Base (Base 4?) phase with focus on building technique (which should require not a lot of physical energy, keeping me fresh) and at the same time work on building the aerobic base (especially the run). Lastly, I will slowly get my body use to hill climbing (which will help me run/bike faster) by adding one run hill session and one bike hill session. That should ease me into a Build Phase. This might be a bit too much. If that's the case..perhaps I will focus on getting my fundamentals, aerobic base and technical skills, develop instead.

Then I do a 2 week Build phase, taper for a week and do the Muskoka Long Course.

This race I ain't going all out. It is for my body and mind use to longer distance course (nutrition, hydration, focus on actual race day). Right...who doesn't go all out on race. Well i intend to keep discipline and go easy on the swim and bike leg.

The strategy is pretty much save my legs for the run. Especially the last half of the run. Gordo or Joe did mentioned that there is no racing on Ironman for beginners. The only time you race is when you are in the run.

After Muskoka, I will re-evaluate where I do well and do poorly. My guess is that my bike hill climbing skills and swimming is weak.

I thought this is a short post..I guess not. This week I need to get back into the pool. I haven't swim since last Wed. I might lose some technique. I hope I lost the bad techniques instead.....:)

Before I head out..I had a good conversation with my sis on Sat...

Me - How come I don't get a cake for my b-day..where is my cake? I want a cake
Sis - All you getting for your b-day is a tofu...
Me - What...
Sis - Yeah, you are on a diet. No cake for you. All you get is a tufo..


It's nice to know that your family supports you in your training :). Seriously though...I have 10 weeks to my first race. Diet is going back up and so is training. Last week recovery week was good. The next few months will be even better :).