Monday’s Musings

I met up with the mildly jet-lagged, Dr Kua Harn Wei this afternoon. We chatted about ultra-endurance races and how he trained for them. I clarified that his longest indoor session on his bike was 12 hours! He did it while preparing for his Quadruple Ironman assault; he rode from 7.00am-7.00pm with brief pauses for bathroom breaks. He also shared his success (running the Twilight Ultra-marathon and Sundown race) with the Akuna range of sports supplements including the amino acid blend comprising L-carnitine and taurine. The good news is that Mega-Tri series of triathlons are back in November.

My longest session, so far, on the turbo-trainer has been three hours and I did that last weekend. Last week, I did a split session where I rode two hours in the morning and rode (one hour) and ran a 10K tempo run – a two-hour ride-run brick. This was a personal achievement for me, as I accumulated a large puddle of sweat on my Ironman Western Australia beach-towel. Those humungous towels that the volunteers wrap you up in, after you cross the finish-line, are great for both sun-worshipping and turbo-training.

I also completed my maiden experience as a subject in a sports science study. I had my blood lactate and lactate threshold measured, in both compression and non-compression attire. I realized that the h/p/cosmos treadmill could also be used for a bicycle-test. This treadmill is wired up to a computer that measures a battery of indicators that can be useful for training athletes.

Dex Tai completed Ironman Austria successfully in 11:48. By my guesstimates, he is racing conservatively as he has two more triathlons to go. However, I know for a fact that he completed Ironman France and Ironman Austria in 2009 within a week. We wish him a splendid recovery and all the best for this weekend. I look forward to racing with him next weekend in Zurich.

Got washed out by the rain this evening, so wasted an hour commuting. Thankfully, I rode for an hour this morning and got a deep sports massage this afternoon. My legs feel battered and lack the tonus I am used to. Today is recovery day, and tomorrow is a day of rest. 12 days to go to the Big Dance!

Have a good week!