No more heels...

I am back on my healthy eating bandwagon. This weekend, I spent hours scrubbing my deck. It was back breaking work as I had to get down on all fours to scrub off all the mold. All the wet days in Seattle make it really hard to keep the stuff from growing on my deck. I know that having a clean deck will make we want to grill my dinner more often. So the past few days that was what I have been doing - cooking at home BBQ style.

This month I have signed up for Triathlon swim class with my tri coach Michael. Unfortunately, this is on Tuesday and Thursday mornings which means I am typically too tired to also attend Master Swim class in the evening. I wish we had a Monday and Wednesday class as well.

Anyways, since I am injured still there's not much to write about. All I can do is sit on the sidelines to watch my friends race. It's tough because I really want to be out there to participate as well. Getting through injuries is so hard for me. I have obviously not made the right choices the past few months. Over exerting myself on many occasions, not icing or stretching every night and wearing high heel shoes. This has GOT to change...starting now.

Too busy partying, no time to workout

Last weekend was my birthday a bunch of us celebrated all weekend. There was a club thing on Saturday night, then a Beach party with volleyball on Sunday. Needless to say, my workout schedule sucked because I was too busy partying. On Thursday we went to see Jerry Seinfeld, Friday went to a party, tonight we went clubbing. Tomorrow we're going to Skagitt Valley to see the tulips. I will make it up later in the evening, I swear!

Anyways, today I went shopping. I purched a new pair of Cole Haan Nike Air sling backs on sale from $275 to under $90. My biggest purchase was a BCBG dress for my friend and cousin's wedding later this year. Here is a picture of it, it is super cute.

Adamo Peloton

So last year I purchased an Adamo ISM Road Saddle for my Cervelo. This saddle is quite unique as it alleviates pressure from your groin area while riding. I've been spinning on my tri bike indoors and riding on occasion on my road bike outdoors. I really notice a lot more discomfort when using the more conventional saddle on my road bike. So I've decided that I need to upgrade my road bike saddle to an Adamo ISM saddle as well. Looking at their website, they seem to have some new models this year that I would be interested in. The Adamo Peloton is very attractive to me as it is narrower than my current one and a little lighter.

Waterproof Garmin

Garmin is releasing a new GPS watch...and it's waterproof! Geez, I just bought the 305 less than half a year ago. I shoulda known that they were on clearance for a reason. Anyways, luckily I bought it at Costco, so if I want to shell out another $200 I can return my 305 and upgrade to the 310xt.

Anyways, today Jill and I exchanged some email and she mentioned that she had plantar faciitis not too long ago and it "KILLED, KILLED, KILLED" her when she got up in the morning. She instructed me to use the TriggerPoint kit and dig my calves into the block with the ball. She said she spent couple of hours a night massaging her calves.

Anyone want counterfeit luggage?

So it has been 3 weeks since I got back from my Asia trip and I have finally found some time to put things away. I had luggage all over the place. It was then that I remembered a carry on I bought since I had purchased one too many things on my trip. It's China right? Things are cheap so you wanna buy because there's no way you would find such a deal in the USA. Well, you get what you pay for...quite literally. My carry on luggage said "Samsomite" on it and I didn't realize this when I bought it. Luckily I didn't pay "Samsonite" prices for it. So anyone want any counterfeit luggage?

Anyways, my "forever" plantar fasciitis is still not healed yet. So all I have been able to do is weight training and pulling in the pool. Easy spinning for a short period of time. I don't feel comfortable doing anything else. It seems like if I stay off them for a while, the the pain will go away, but my feet remain volatile so it comes back after moderate activity. So to keep myself busy when I cannot train, I have been hanging out with my friends and working on my other hobbies. Here's a photo I took at Chapel this weekend. I cannot wait until my 35mm 1.8 arrives!

Back to reality

Hello I am back from vacation. Well, technically I got back last Sunday, but I was inflicted with a serious case of jetlag as Tokyo is 16 hours ahead. I went into the office on Monday morning after my 6am swim and my manager greeted me with some work that she wanted to be priority 1...AKA look at it ASAP and report back to me by noon which is how I interpreted it. I only surived until 1pm that day as I had not slept the night before. Pretty much the entire rest of the week I had really strange hours. I would either come in really late and work until 11pm or come in really early and leave a little early. Since we are on some deadlines right now, it was really hectic and stressful. Anyways, enough about work, let's talk about my two favorite hobbies: triathlon and photography. Since I was gone the past 3 weeks, here is some photography for your enjoyment.

Here I am standing in front of the Forbidden City in Beijing

Here I am at the Summer Palace in Beijing

Great Wall of China

Inside the WaterCube where Michael Phelps won 8 gold medals

Shanghai's famous skyline at night

The famous district in Toyko called Shibuya at night
I also went to Tokyo disney and the Tsukiji fish market where I watched the blue fin tuna auction. It was an amazing trip!

Busy bee...

So I tested out my feet on the bike trainer last weekend..OK, "tested" is probably not the correct, does 3 hours of spinning sound like "testing" to you? Well, my feet despite going on a very easy gear were sore. So back to chilling with swimming and aqua jogging. Luckily, I've been busy planning my trip to Asia and getting all my Beta 1 deliverables done to feel sad about my physical condition. Last night, I worked until midnight.

Tonight Lily, James and I went to see The Watchmen. Let me just say that it is definitely not suitable for kids, there is a lot of violence, sex and a big blue radioactive penis. But it was good entertainment, a perfect way to end a stressful and busy week. This weekend I have 2 birthdays, both starting around noon. I need to figure out how to fit my workouts around them.

So, more details about my trip to Asia. First city will be Beijing, there we will stay at my friend David's place. The big sites we plan to visit there are the Great Wall, the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City, Wa Fu Jing market, the Central Square and some Olympic sites. From Beijing we will take the over night train to Shanghai where we will stay in a nice hotel in the Bund district. We will be meeting up with Roland, a former coworker. In Shanghai we plan to see some gardens, temples and night markets. Finally, we hit Tokyo where we will stay at a hotel across the street from the Shinjuku station. There are many things to do in Tokyo, including the famous fish market, electronics district, Shibuya and Shinjuku. While I am there, I will be doing a great deal of walking, but no swimming or cycling, so my feet should get good amount of rest as I won't be pounding them as hard.

Splish makes a Splash

As some of your know, I've been working with Jill to design new swim suit for the team. I went a little overboard and started designing a whole bunch of suits for me and the team. I really like them and would love to order all of them. I swim a lot, but not enough to get 5 new swim suits. Here's what I came up with, which one should I get? I think my favourite non team suit is the one with the Canada flag or the shark.

A lesson to be learned

After taking a break from cycling and swimming, I attempted to swim last night without the pull buoy and today my feet are archy. So no more kicking for me...dammit, this is so disappointing. This evening, I went to Masters class, luckily there were only 2 people in my lane...me and Lilia. So we split the lane and I pulled the entire time, and worked on my breast stroke with coach Justin. "Pull, Kick, Glide!" I got the pull and the kick, but not the glide.

As I am writing this, I noticed that I don't have much to blog about since I have not been able to train. I really messed up my feet and now it is taking forever to heal. I appologize to all my readers. I wonder if there is a lesson to be learned here? It would probably be something like, don't push yourself too hard and listen to your body. Focus on healing first...triathlons will always be around.

JFT swim suit

I've been playing around with Splish.com to help the team design a new swim suit. Here is what I came up with:


Bikini versions:

Crash landing

The Yuppie Triathlete has crash landed. After seeing a specialist in active release technique, Dr Neno about my feet, he said that I needed to stop all my activities that are aggrevating it, which means no cycling, running or swimming. My feet are actually getting worse.

He said that he has a Masters in orthodics and doesn't like them. He suggested that I not wear mine....come to think about it, my feet have gotten worse since wearing them. I took them out of my shoes today and they actually feel more comfortable since the arch part is not poking into my plantar fascia.

So this weekend, I got creative and modified my workouts. On Saturday, I did weights, swim with pull buoy and aqua jogged in the deep water pool. Today, I swam again with the pull buoy and jogged in the deep water pool. To make sure I stay nice and fit, I will be eating healthy.

I'll be heading to China in 1 month, so I'd better get these feet under control.

Water cube here I come!

So big news, my coworker Eric and I are headed to China and Japan next month for vacation! Yeah! Does anyone have a bong I could borrow? I found us the cheapest flights ever! Seattle --> Beijing --> Shanghai --> Tokyo back to Seattle for $1075! W00t! Between us, we now have a mountain of guide books to sort through. I also just bought myself a netbook, the Lenovo S10. I can't live without internet and I needed a place to upload my photos during the trip. Getting a netbook made a lot of sense, they are very affordable computers, not to mention really tiny...perfect for backpacking around Asia.

Anyways, after my swim yesturday morning it left my feet feeling really sore - even with duct tape. So I decided to stop swimming (pulling is OK) for a couple of weeks and seek treatment called ART (Active Release Technique). I just realized that the root of my plantar fasciitis is tight calves. Thus, I have been stretching and rolling out of my foam roller. I've contacted Jill to see if she has an extra TriggerPoint kit for me so that I can use it after my workouts. TriggerPoint is a great way to release tension and improve blood flow to your muscles. At work I now have a water bottle in the freezer at work that I use to roll out my foot while I sit at my desk. I am determined to get better now. Also, I wear this Strassburg sock at night.

Tonight in swim class we focused on power. Luckily I was able to do the drills with the pull buoy so that I didn't have to kick. We discussed the mechanics of the pull and catch. All your power comes from your upper body. You drive with your hips in combination with your catch to give you more power. If you're doing it right, you will see your elbows pop out and feel that snap as you are moving through the water. Kim suggested that before we do our swim that we need to adjust our body to the water. So start with floating - head down in the water, arms like a "Y" above your head. If you are doing it correctly, your legs will be right on the surface of the water...the key to this is head position. If your head is sticking out, your legs will sink. Next is a modified doggie paddle drill...the difference being that you are stretched out a little more and extending with your arms while not lifting your shoulders. This technique will work your core and engage those muscles.

Window Office or one step closer to the outside?

So I've been a busy beaver this past week. I completed & efiled my tax return and it was accepted by the IRS. I will be getting a decent refund because of my mortgage, itemization of my receipts and donation of my clothes that are loose. I also shopped around for home owners insurance and got that setup...now in case something bad happens like fire or theft I will be covered.

I got some good news today. To my surprise, I will be getting a window office. Window offices are tough to come by in my building because there are so few of them and they go by seniority. I'm so happy that I will be getting some natural light now. This should improve my overall productivity.

3600 Microsoft Shoes waiting to drop

Well, as I'm sure you have heard...like everyone around the world was talking about the layoffs at Microsoft. I luckily am not part of the initial 1400 people that got laid off last week, but some of my friends did not escape unscathed. There will be more layoffs over the next 18 months. An additional 3600 jobs are planned to be axed. That's a lot of shoes to dodge for our CEO. He better seek out Bush to get some shoe dodging lessons.

Anyways, back to tri talk, that's why I have this blog right? I finally found a way to swim without irritating my foot. It's called duct tape! Yes, that's right. I tape up my feet to give it stability and it works! I can kick now! This weekend my diet was blown to pieces. What I mean to say is, I ate very unhealthy as there were parties and stuff. On Saturday, I did strength training, indoor cycling and swimming. On Sunday I did 2 hours on my bike trainer. Tonight, I will do some cardio and some strength. Tues-Thurs are my heavy swim days. I sure hope my foot gets better now that I am taping them.

Going Long

I was hoping to find "Going Long" by Joe Friel at Barnes and Noble but was disappointed...twice. I ended up purchasing it on Amazon along with The Triathlete Training Bible also by Joe Friel.

Today I took advantage of the rare sunshine and went for a 25 mile bike. At first, I was worried that what I was wearing would not keep me warm, but I was sweating like crazy...only my toes were frozen. I live not too far from the Red Hook Brewery, so from my place I rode along the Lake Sammammish River trail until I hit Marymore park then did a portion of Lake Sammammish. As always, I had to climb Juanita Woodinville Way hill (nasty) to get back to my place. While I was riding I realized how much triathlon has changed my life. Race day is only small part of the journey...because there were so many times I just wanted to stay in bed or head home instead of training. But I persist on and I grow stronger because of it.

Researching...

So today my idea of getting a coach was put into jeopordy. After speaking with Rhae about getting a coach for my first Ironman 70.3, she suggested that for my first 70.3 to not waste money on a coach, but to go online to research training plans and find a mentor. Hiring a coach really comes in handy when you train for a full Ironman.

I this weekend I will sit down at a coffee shop and do more researching on training plans. Ideally, I would like a 20 week program to build my base a bit more. Next week, my office will be taking us to Barnes & Noble for an event where will we get a $25 gift card. I will purchase the Triathlete's Training Bible with this.

Triathlon season training as begun...

OK, So Chilly Hilly is coming up in February and from what folks tell me, it is very hilly...hence the name. My friend Su wants to do two loops (66 miles)...thus this means that I need to hit the Lemond trainer hard and get as much weekend outdoor riding as I can. Here's my current schedule:

Monday: Lemond bike 1 hour + strength training
Tuesday: Tri swim class (morning) + Masters swim (evening) OR Lemond bike 1 hour
Wednesday: Swim coaching with Kim Lorton
Thursday: Tri swim class (morning) + Masters swim (evening) OR Lemomd bike 1 hour
Friday: Lemond bike 1 hour + strength training
Saturday: Outdoor bike 2-3 hours
Sunday: Lemond bike 2 hours

Wednesday is sort of a rest day, as the class is only 45 minutes and focus on technique only.

Happy New year plus 12 days....

Jason finally posted the pictures for New Years. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun. I popped my first bottle of champagned, pole danced and breathed fire all in one night!

Stomach Flu

Well, the 2009 training season has officially started. I will be hiring a coach this year so that I can get more customized training. After speaking to Coach Michael about my cycling watts, he recommended that I do the Strong and Steady program on the Lemonde indoor cycling bikes. On those machines, I can average about 110 watts. So still need to improve by 40 watts which is approximately 3 watts/kg. Over the next few years, he would like to see me get as strong as 3.5-4.5 watts/kg.

Anyways, I'm starting off the new year with the stomach flu. This totally sucks, as I've been puking my brains out. Couldn't even keep water down. After seeing the doctor today, he prescribed me some serious anti-nausea meds. I was finally able to eat a little bit of oatmeal. Unfortunately, I still don't have much of an appetite.

Watts up? Not anytime soon...

This weekend I had a chance to train with my team indoors on 8 computrainers. The numbers don't look good, as over the course of a 90 minute tempo ride (3 hills and 2 sets of bursts) I only managed to average 90-100 watts. My max watts/Kg was 4.56. My average watts/Kg was 1.61. I really need to work on my power over the next few months. Must get a computrainer. Maybe my friend Rusty will lend me his.

Merry Christmas

Today I got a chance to round up all my clothing to make a donation to Goodwill. Let's just say with all the weight I have lost, this years donation is huge...over $2500 worth of used or new clothing. God, I have to stop shopping! I'm going to return 2 pairs of shoes I bought last weekend...buyers remorse I suppose.

Actually, I just heard a rumour that MS will be laying off 10% of their workforce. I read it on a blog http://minimsft.blogspot.com/. While I do believe that Microsoft needs to trim down a bit, a massive layoff would be a huge wake up call for those that work there. I had always believed that we were immune to all of this stuff that is going on in the economy since we have 40B in the bank and bring in a lot of money. I guess we shall find out on January 15th.

Dear Santa, for xmas Seattle needs more snow ploughs

This is probably the most amount of snow I have ever seen here in Seattle. I guess my attempts to avoid the white stuff this year didn't quite happen. Seattle is ill equipt at handling a lot of snow. 5-6 inches is peanuts back in Ottawa, but it's quite a big deal here since they do not have enough snow ploughs to clear the freeways. So there's a lot more snow on the roads here than what we're use to.

With all the snow, I've been working out on my bike trainer with my new Cervelo. I've blown through 10 episodes of CSI so far. Coach Michael wanted me to get use to riding in aero position indoors. When the weather gets better I am to practice on a flat surface. It that still doesn't work, then he needs to do a private lesson with me.

Lastly, I've spending a lot of time on my feet Christmas shopping too. Lori and I did 7 hours of shopping yesturday and both of us blew a combo of over $1000. I purchase 3 pairs of shoes and 1 Burberry wool coat. I'm doing my part to improve the economy. So Merry Christmas everyone?

I suck at swimming

Lord knows I have been working really hard to learn how to swim more effectively and efficiently. After 11 months of swimming, I have concluded that I still suck. I do triathlon swim class 2 times a week and have Master swim class 2 times a week. I do get a lot of coaching, maybe a little too much. I'm a little overwhelmed...thinking too much instead of "feeling" it. Anyways, to add to my already overwhelmed swim training, I have agreed to take a group less on Wednesday evenings with some fellow triathletes with a swim specialist. Maybe, she will induce some sort of breakthrough in me.

Cycling indoors

I have survived all my holiday parties so far. With all this holiday eating, forunately, I have been working out on a regular basis. It has been super cold around here lately so biking outdoors was out of the question. And with my plantar fascitis, running was also out of the question. So instead, I've been swimming at least 4 times a week and cycling indoors on my trainer. I really hope my feet get better soon so that I can start training for Ironman 70.3 after the holidays.

My office Christmas party was at the Seattle Space Needle this year. My organization rented out the entire thing on Saturday night. The food was amazing, especially the desserts!

Whistler

For thanks giving I did not have any turkey, instead I went up to Whistler with my friends for a weekend of early season skiing. The snow on Friday was great, however there were so many people crowded onto the few runs that were open. On Saturday, it was raining so we decided to now ski. Instead we eat at Crepe Montagne, did a snowboard factory tour with Prior and ate at the Cinnamon Bear restaurant in the Hilton. I ate really well...too well...and too much.

Motion Based

It was a beautiful day in Seattle today so I took advantage of it by pumping my bike with air and going out for a recreational ride around Lake Sammamish. I had not done this ride since the week of my last triathlon. Today I decided to take my new Garmin Forerunner 305 out for a spin. I had configured it the night before with my personal data like weight, sex and max heart rate.

After my ride, I uploaded the data to MotionBased - it's an online activity tracker owned by Garmin available for you to upload all your training data to. The above is a summary page of my ride today, other information such as elevation gain, loss, ascent and descent grade are also tracked. So today, I learned that 1 loop around Lake Sammamish is 22.17 miles, 67% flat, 15% uphill and 18% downhill. Pretty neat huh?

Plantar Faciitis

This morning I went to see the one of the run doctor to get a diagnosis for my foot pain. After examining my feet for locations of pain and my leg anatomy, I was diagnosed with plantar faciitis. He looked at my current pair of orthodics and felt that they did not support me enough. It was too soft so my foot would break it down while running. Also, the heel was too narrow so it was unstable. He also did an analysis of my walking on a treadmill with video analysis. We watched the replay and he told me that my left foot arch is alright, but my right foot completely flattens out. Also my legs are a little more curved than most people - thus I have to compensate a little. So I was casted for a new set of orthodics and I got a foot splint to wear while sleeping. No running, swimming and biking are OK though.

I had brought 3 pairs of running shoes as well to be examined. My Brooke Ariel, Brooke Adrenalin and my New Balance 457s. I also had Mizunos at home that I didn't bring. He told me that once I get my orthodic, I should use a more neutral shoe. I don't weigh enough to wear the Brooke Ariels - also they were too controling and heavy. The New Balance and Mizunos were good.

Yeah Garmin!

OK, so I caved and ended up purchasing the Garmin 305 GPS with heart rate monitor. It was on sale at Costco for $159, retails for $299. It'll be nice to be able to download all your data and view your run, bike and swim courses.

I guess I will just return my Timex, although I've been pretty happy with it.

Back to my happy weight

After my parents had left, I noticed that I had gained 3 pounds since completing my last triathlon. This of course left me feeling icky so I decided to be more aware of what I was putting into my mouth. I had worked so hard the past year I was not going to get out of shape. Anyways, I jumped onto the scale this weekend (I always weigh myself in the morning) and I was back to my happy weight of 115 pounds or less. I would love to get to 110 pounds or less before xmas holidays since I know that eating healthy and working out will be harder. At 5 2", five pounds makes a noticeable difference on me.

Anyways, this weekend my friend Kat was up from So Cal. But I did get a chance to go on a couple of runs. This week, I have 3 swims and weight training in my plans. I love schedules as they keep me on track.

No Garmin for me

I had been doing quite a bit of research and trying out a bunch of heart rate monitors lately. I had the Polar F4, but returned it and got a Timex Ironman Triathlon, then I started eyeing the Garmin 405. Our team is actually sponsored by Garmin, so I could get this thing on sale. But then it turns out that Lori was trying to sell hers, she thinks it's too big. I was so close to getting it, when I found out that it was NOT waterproof! Bummer, what a deal breaker.

On another swimming note, Michael Covey said that I have been making phenominal progress this year with my swim. I couldn't swim to save my life in March and now I am averaging about 1:45 100s, which is really good progress for me. This morning, I actually felt like I was moving through the water instead of ploughing through it. Anyways, according to my Timex HRM I burned 485 calories during the swim. But I ate a pizza and a piece of cake today so that pretty much negates my workout. I am thinking about doing Masters tonight because my punch card is about to expire.