Garmin 310XT: first impressions

After months of waiting, I finally got my hands on the Garmin 310XT. It's smaller but slightly heavier than the Forerunner 305, but the display is clearer with adjustable backlight. The display screen is about the same. A solid feel to it. Comes with the wireless ANT transmitter for synchronizing.

The HRM is different from the non-water proof HRM. It is similar to the newer Polar HRM - the HRM device is a small 2x1" attachment that secures to the belt. Lighter than Polar's HRM, felt rather plasticey.

There is a running activity, three biking activities and one others (with a ski pix, but I use it for swim). Does this mean that I can have three bikes? Perhaps a mountain bike? Each bike can be customized for weight and tracked for mileage. Nice.

I fancy that the satellite tracking is much faster than the 305. And there's a transition when switching screens - like a ppt transition.

So how does it perform in workouts? I only had the chance to bring it out for a ride yesterday (30k), and it performed no differently from the 305. This evening I swam with the 310.

Kinda felt silly with a HRM belt around my chest while doing laps in the pool, but all in the name of fair testing. First, the HRM does not work under water. Pop out of water, and the 310 immediately picks up the heart rate. Go back in, and the blanks come back on.

Second, the distance reading was way off. After one lap (50m), the watch registered 600m. I attribute this to the satellite tracking error. This meant that the auto lap function is useless while swimming in the pool. Other than these two hiccups, the watch worked well ... it IS waterproof, but I have yet to bring it to 50m depth! :) But that would be scuba diving, wouldn't it?

View lap swim on Garmin connect.

Getting the data transfered to Garmin Connect was quite straightforward. But have to first download the Garmin ANT agent program. Plug in the wireless receiver, and as long as the 310 is within 10m, it'll sync.

What else? The other features are pretty standard - virtual partner, location markers, back to start, customizable display fields, auto lap, auto pause, auto scroll, cadence sensor... oh yes, there's a power feature. I guess it is for power taps. Not there yet... too expensive.

Next, to test the multi sport feature on Sunday. Stay tuned. :)

Read my open water test for the 310XT.

TLog: taper week yet again

Actually I kinda like taper week. Recovery weeks as well. They are kinda nice knowing that I am having an easy week. However - and I don't know if this is true for the rest of you folks - this is the week that I start to feel aches and tensions that I didn't notice.

More so with running. After three weeks of running, I'd get all kinds of aches and minor pains from the rest. Perhaps it is my body's way of healing and recovering. Of course, these minor aches and pains go away after stretching and rest.

Anyway, this week is taper week for the OSIM triathlon this Sunday. And I am having tensed shoulders and neck.

Here's what happened and happening:

Tues: 1.5k swim - 500m warm up, 3x100m with 1 min recovery (2.00, 2.02, 2.05), 3x50m with 30s recovery (0.57, 0.58, 0.59), 500m cool down.

Wed: 6k - 1k warm up, 3x1k fast pace runs with 2 min recovery (pace: 5.58, 5.45, 5.19), cool down with two 100m strides.

Thu: bike ride with 2 to 3k intervals, and to check out the race route at East Coast. And to test out my new Garmin 310XT! :)

Expectations for this Sunday's race are modest for the following reasons:
1. Crowded course - 1,200 OD participants
2. 6 loops bike route - going to be congested with short (3k) straightaways.
3. Only 3 weeks of prep due to two bouts of flu in June.
4. Possible rain over the weekend

Just going to enjoy the race, no expectation for PB.

Angkor Wat bike race and half marathon; Hua Hin triathlon

Today's papers featured exotic marathons and races around the world - from Ghobi desert to Antarctica. I am not sure about desert and ice, but the doable race would be Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

Out of curiosity, I googled and found that there's also a bike rally the day before the half marathon, 40k and 80k, starting right outside Angkor Wat entrance.

There's also the family and kids run categories.

The family would be happy with sightseeing in Siem Reap. That's a vacation I look forward to!

More details on the half marathon and bike rally.

Here's another good vacation idea: Hua Hin Thailand. And there's a triathlon to go with it. Read more!

Trail run route for reference

Looks like a good training route. :)

North East bike ride

A number of people mentioned how nice it is to ride in Seletar area. So I persuaded my two bike kakis to try this new route. New because we all don't live in the North East area, and have little clue what to expect.

Did some googling and found a couple of rides in Seletar, Sengkang, etc. So I mapped out this route, motivated by (a) proximity to food, (b) free parking, (c) distance about 40 km, (d) minimal right turns and (e) recommendations. As you'd guessed by now, these reasons do not necessarily make a good route.

Any how, 5 am we met at the car park along Jln Kayu, next to the roti prata shop. The others had difficulty finding the car park (1 down). We set off towards Seletar and Yishun. The dam was surprisingly full of people, mostly young bikers hanging out at 5 am. Not really sure what they were doing. Yishun was pretty nice, along Orchid CC. We had some reservations about Lentor Avenue, primarily heavy and fast traffic. The early hours meant that the traffic was rather light, but the cars were just too fast for our liking. The problem was that two lanes turned into SLE, making it difficult to filter. I almost went up to SLE! We decided unanimously to avoid Lentor Ave in future (two down).

Then it was onto the undulating slopes Yio Chu Kang. Some of these slopes were quite challenging, although not as bad as Mandai Avenue. Here's the bummer. While going up a slope, we were overtaken by a foldable bike with small wheels. Made us feel inadequate! (As it turned out, we met up with the rider later at breakfast, and found out that the rider is elderly :( but a seasoned cyclist).

We found Upper Serangoon Road to possess too many traffic lights; or rather we were stopped by too many red lights (three down). We took a short break (20 km mark) at a petrol station and continued through Hougang (The Florida) and retraced the route I took for my run a few days ago. When we passed Seng Kang over the expressway (PIE), we felt fresh cool air. Not long after, we rode head on to strong winds. Probably the strongest headwind I'd encountered. Around then, we saw lighting flashes. No wonder it was so cool and windy. A storm was in the works.

Good thing the rain did not come while we rode into Punggol Road. Undulating slopes here. We trailed another cyclist, not not fast enough to overtake him. Before we knew it, we were at the jetty and took another break (30km mark). Here's where it got fun. On the way back, I realized why it was so fast on the last slope. This one is quite a long climb that took some work! After 62 km yesterday, I wasn't really thrilled to take on this slope. Maybe another time I would "attack" it.

As we rode into Punggol and unfamiliar territory, it started raining. Light rain enough to make slippery roads. We rode conservatively as we were also not sure about the route (four down). Managed to find our way back to Jln Kayu, by which time the rain had stopped. 38 km. Time for roti prata!

A number of bikers also had the same idea, and we had a nice breakfast. At least we got one right.

TLog: one week's worth

It had been a busy week at work and conference, so less time to blog. Here are the workouts this week:
Tue: 2.3k swim
300 m warmup
6x50m pull .54, .55, .59, .57, .59, .58
4x50m kick
2x50m fast swim 0.48, 0.50
4x100m (1 min recovery) 2.18, 2.13, 2.14, 2.19,
1x800m steady swim 2.26, 2.31, 2.33, 2.33, 2.38, 2.33, 2.25, 2.31
200m cool down

Wed: Stationary bike 5x6 min hard, 3 min recovery; omitted 12k aerobic run due to work dinner.

Fri: 3X1km reps, slightly faster than race pace (<6:00). Recovery 2min; 1X5km rep, race pace (6:30).

Sat: a.m.: 62k bike long intervals at Changi coastal road... went up and down three times, short 1.5k brick run; p.m.: 1.2k swim (8x100m 30 sec recovery)

Sun: Bike 38k North East loop.

Shape Run 2009: Race Report

Second consecutive year, MBH ran the 5 km event at the Shape Run. 8,000 runners, all places taken up within 1.5 days. Hence many of our LG ladies were not able to run this year. But we were glad that D was able to take part.

Being her first competitive run, D was understandably excited and perhaps a little nervous. So MBH ran with her.

For once, I was not there to see the flag off (being in Mandai somewhere), but was able to reach Millenia Walk in time for the return. Met up with Tekko there and chatted some. Also met up and chatted with fellow husbands patiently and lovingly waiting for our spouses.

D and MBH came in about 50 minutes, a decidedly decent time given the large crowd. Our other LG lady PC came in at 1:02 for the 10k run in spite of a stitch! Congratulations to our ladies!



The end point was a little narrow and some congestion built up. The organizers did a good job with water and isotonic drinks lined up right after the runners came in. Long queues for the kit collection. DW had the foresight to get the runners kit tags and collected the kit while the ladies were still out. Nice goodies as usual. Nice bag too.

I kinda like the massage service and the yakult / marigold freebies. And of course, the nike bracelet was nice, handed out by "hunks in bow ties". MBH was impressed, but I wasn't.

I was only impressed with the quotation on the nike box:

"What's amazing isn't that YOU finished. What's amazing is that YOU had the courage to start."

Anyway, we had a nice breakfast at Food Republic and the ladies were basking in their achievement. Nice Sunday morning.

TLog: Fartlek and Mandai loop

8.5 km fartlek run yesterday evening at Hougang and Seng Kang. After 1 km warmup, 1.6 km at faster pace (which turned out to be 5:15 average - faster than my usual tempo pace). 400m recovery and repeat. Went past the flyover that we ran during teh Suburban Run. Ended up at the large field on east side of Seng Kang, before turning back. Many kites and hobby planes there.

Trailed an elderly gentleman on the way back. I was winged after the flyover, but the gentlemen dropped me like a snail. :(

This morning was another ride on the Mandai loop. SY joined us and we met at JN's place. Same route as two weeks ago, but the change this time is that we turned into Mandai Road instead of heading via Mandai Avenue. Was told that this would be an interesting stretch. Indeed it was. Slopes for about 2 km ... nice.

Next up - Kranji and Lim Chu Kang!

Exploring new bike route: 40k eastern loop

It was exactly 6 am as I walked into the Simei coffee shop for some 100 plus and breakfast. Had just completed a 1 km brick run session after almost 40 km on the bike, and felt hungry. So it was a pack of nasi lemak, my first in many months. A reward for waking up at 3:30 am.

Actually I meant to wake up at 4:30 am but made a mistake setting the alarm. Only realized my mistake when I walked into the kitchen for my morning coffee (no food ok, but no coffee not ok). Momentarily thought of going back to sleep, but heck, earlier is better, right?

Really did not expect to see other cyclists on the road at 4 am in the morning, but I was not the only crazy guy. Saw one cyclist on the PCN along Changi coastal road, and a few more along Loyang Ave. Also saw two cars parked by the road side. One car stopped by the coastal road occupying one whole lane and did not even have its lights on. I almost bumped into it. Clearly it was occupied. No, I didn't take a good look inside the car :) I was more upset about the inconsiderateness of the driver.

Took the P2 out this morning and still trying to get used to riding in the aero position. Will be some time before I get comfortable.

The change this time is not to loop back as I had done last week. Instead, went up Loyang Avenue. There's a stretch about 1 km long before the Loyang Link/Pasir Ris Drive 3 junction that provides a good climb. Took a left on Loyang Link into Upper Changi/Selarang. 2 km of undulating (3 short climbs) terrain here before going back to Loyang Ave for a second crack at the slope.

Turned right into Pasir Ris Drive 3, then left on Drive 12 onto Tampines Ave 10. At Bedok Reservoir, I discovered a wonderful route to train for next year's 70.3, The Kaki Bukit Viaduct! A serendipitous discovery.

Tampines Ave 10 led into Bedok North Road after the PIE flyover, and I exited on New Upper Changi Road. Quite on impulse, I turned left into Jalan Tanjong before the Tanah Merah MRT to get another crack at climbing. This one up to Upper Changi road is only half a klick but another good slope to attack.

Then back home for a quick change for the brick workout.


View Larger Map

I wouldn't want to use the Bedok stretch during rush hour, as the traffic would be too heavy. But it was fine so early in the morning.

Ave speed: 23.8; max speed 39.4. Ave HR: 136; max 166

Lance Armstrong's War: a retrospective

This being the Tour de France season, and with my recent interest in cycling, I was really glad to get hold of the book "Lance Armstrong's War" by Daniel Coyle (courtesy of PK!). Fascinating read, and I completed the book within three days.

The book chronicles Lance's attempt for his sixth Tour de France championship in 2004 (he went on to win his seventh the next year, retired and is now unretired). The author provided insights that we won't get from watching TV or from cycling magazines. I went away both enthralled and amazed at the world of pro cycling and the uniqueness of this tour. It is a completely different world. Here're just a few reasons why.

The Tour (grand daddy of the Grand Tours - the other two being Italy and Spain), riders cover more than 3,500 km over three weeks and tackle mountains (not hills, with vertical climbs of several thousand feet). Each day (stage) is equivalent to running a marathon, energy-wise.

These pro riders risk limbs and lives. At speeds above 40 mph, a crash will likely land many in the hospital. Broken ribs, vertebrae, femurs, collarbones, etc. And occasionally, a life or two. And not only from crashes. The most tragic was perhaps the death of British rider Tom Simpson in 1967 at Mt Ventoux. He died after climbing that monster of a mountain, suspected drug usage. This year's race goes back to Mt Ventoux, the penultimate stage.

Amazing tolerance of pain. Great fighting spirit. Tyler Hamilton completed the 2003 Tour de France with a broken collarbone and won a stage in the process. He also ground several of this teeth down to the nerves in the process. Jan Ullrich exemplified the East German sports training school - tough as nails. He rode best when hurting.

Then there were riders from Kazakhstan, Russia, Spain and Italy who were poor underprivileged boys out to make good, by risking their lives and careers. Six digit pay packages maybe a lot of money, but to risk one's life?

Gamemanship and race strategies. Johan Bruyneel, the Belgian race director for US postal team in 2004 and current race director for Astana (Lance's team) is brilliant. It's uncanny reading about Bruyneel and Lance in 2004 and reading about them now as the tour unfolds.

Then there's the inevitable question of doping. Is Lance clean? Is doping ok? There's a lot of science that goes behind EPO, steriods, amphetamines, etc. The doping issue will always be an issue.

The book makes for compelling reading, and I can feel for the various riders featured, so much so that I had to google to find out what happened to Jan, Tyler, Vino, Fandis, etc. Highly recommended reading for the cycling enthusiast.

These are endurance athletes, no less - dedicated, gifted, disciplined and with unbridled portions of indomitable spirit. I came away with new respect - of the highest level - for these atheletes.

TLog: nice night run

It has been a long while since I ran at night. The last time would be the Sundown marathon end May. A little tired this evening, after the morning stationary bike session spinning over 75 minutes and yesterday's swim. And I was thinking of skipping this run. But I am glad I didn't.

It was a nice evening to be out. Cool breeze, not many people at Bedok Reservoir. Supposed to be an easy aerobic run at 145. But all the way to BR and not run up the slope? How to be ready for NF100 come Oct 24? So I thought of PK and Ald (who love running hills!) and picked up the pace for this slope.

Surprisingly, it didn't feel as hard. HR went up to 170+, but that's not as bad as I thought. Perhaps all that climbing on the bike is helping.

Towards the end, I took three strides, again picking it up on the up slopes. Felt strong, not winded. Distance: 10 km.

Quite happy with this evening's run, especially after I struggled with the swims after the lay off. I was really panting and tired in the first two short swim sessions.

Yesterday's 2.3 km swim was an improvement.
pull buoy: 0.55, 0.56, 0.56, 0.57, 0.58, 0.58 (ave: 0.567)
4x100: 1.58, 2.05, 2.07, 2.07 (ave: 2.043)
4x200: 4.32, 4.33, 4.39, 4.44 (ave: 4.37)

I was pleasantly surprised, as I didn't go out hard. Just to get into the swing of things, and practice technique. Must be doing it right.

I was not very enthusiastic about the upcoming OSIM tri. Read the e-brief and found out that the bike route will be over 6 laps, with many sharp corners. With the relatively narrow paths, it'd be very crowded. Not to my liking. I was also unsure if I could be ready in just little under three weeks. I was planning to use it as a training session - brick training? Also contemplating to withdraw (DNS!).

With the past two days, things are looking up a little. Maybe I'll be ready after all.

MBH & Chrissie Wellington

"Come run with me," said MBH last evening after we got back from work. It was my day off. Last weekend, MBH remarked that I had not been working out as hard as before. I was just getting back into the swing of things, I had tried to explain.

MBH's next statement: "Don't be lazy! It's a nice evening to run."

How could I not? So dutifully I changed up, put on my ASCIS and we went out for a nice easy 4 km run/jog. :)

Sometimes, we get a kick in the butt from the least expected source. So be it. And I'm thankful for that.

One of the things we talked about was MBH's goal of doing a half marathon some time. Her logic is that serious runners go beyond 10 km. 5 km is "play-play" distance.

Just the other day, my friend JN mentioned that he went for a short 5 km run. It's a sure tell-tale sign - that the person has gone from recreational running to something more serious.

A tipping point.

Speaking of tipping point, coach told me today about Chrissie Wellington (GBR) setting a new world record for women Ironman. 8:31:59 at the Quelle Roth Challenge, Germany. Truly amazing feat. For a long time, women IM triathletes found it hard to break the 9 hour barrier. Chrissie won the 2007 and 2008 World Ironman Championship (on a Cervelo P2!), with winning times of 9:08 and 9:06. She went under 9 hours only twice previously - 8:51 at 2008 European Championship and 8:57 at Ironman Australia 2009, so the new record is a HUGE leap ahead! Congratulations.

Read more at Chrissie's website.

Races for 2H 2009

Registered for the Yellow Ribbon Prison Run, Sept 6, 2009, 10 km. MBH signed up for 5 km. She also signed up for the Great Eastern women 10k run. Several friends also signed up for the upcoming runs.

Here's my to-do list:

Aug 2: OSIM Tri (OD)
Aug 16: Singapore Bay Run (21k)
Sep 6: Yellow Ribbon Prison Run (10k)
Sep 13: Tri Factor Tri (OD)
Oct 24: North Face 100 (50k)
late Nov: Adelaide Tri (OD)

MBH's to-do list:
Jul 19: Shape run (5k)
Aug 16: Singapore Bay Run (6k)
Sep 6: Yellow Ribbon Prison Run (5k)
Nov 1: Great Easter women (10k)

TLog: getting into the swing of things after lay-off

The past two weeks had not been good training-wise. The only bright spark was last Friday, MBH's birthday - where we spent the entire day together. Went for an easy morning jog (4 km), collected race pack at Marina Square for the upcoming Shape Run, grocery shopping and watched couple of DVDs together.

Other than that, the focus was to get back into shape after two weeks of down time:

Thu: 20 k bike ride along east coast with the new P2
Sat: 32 k bike ride to Changi village, 1.2 k swim in the afternoon
Sun: 32 k bike ride with JN and SY, again to Changi village

North Face 100 Singapore 2009: registered

Signed up with PK for the Singapore installment of North Face 100, scheduled for Oct 24. Each runner are to cover 50 km within 9 hours time limit. This is a trail run with route made known only one week before the actual race.

Our team name: fanaticsRus
Some other names: painmongers, thereasonwerun, weluvP.A.I.N.

And now to train for this race ...

Thomson - Mandai- Bt Timah bike route

Finally, biking the Mandai route!

Met up with JN at 5 am near Raffles Town Club. Headed into Adam Road and two km into the ride, encountered the Lornie Road slope! Survived that and it was better along Thomson and Upper Thomson. Didn't turn into Mandai Road into Executive Golf Club, but had to contend with a slope leading up to Mandai Avenue. It was quite a strain, but not unmanageable.

The Mandai stretch was a delight to ride. About 10 - 11 km of rolling terrain, three lanes wide, little traffic and just the rush of wind against the bike and me! Was glad to keep cadence high about 90. Took a short break at the Shell station at the end of Mandai Road. A number of riders were there waiting for others, I'd expect.

The Woodlands road was patchy and not very nice to ride on, and we took it easy on the remaining 12 km or so.

Averaged just 23 kph, with max ave speed per km of 32.8. Total distance: 36.6 km. Ave HR 147. Nice workout. :)


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TLog: ticks, H1N1 and Tour de France

Missed five days of training due to travel, fever, body ache, sores and swollen feet. Fever started on the last day in Stockholm, and with the prevalence of the H1N1 flu virus, I was pondering the prospects of an extended stay in Scandinavia or Bangkok (transit stop). But got back to SIN I did, only to get a high fever (>38 deg) on Monday night. At the same time, I noticed a couple of sores on my legs, which developed puss. More sores erupted on Tue and Wed, and my feet started ballooning and turning purple.

So is it H1N1 or is it some insect (wood tick?) bite? No way to tell, but my guess is the latter... recall the run in the park/wood? It was no fun reading up about all the diseases that wood tick bites could cause.

The long and short of it all is that I recovered on Thu and the sores healed or were healing. Promptly went out for a 38 km bike ride on Fri. Did a 1.3 km swim today, and looking forward to another ride tomorrow morning.

Today is also the start of 2009 Tour de France. And I borrowed two books from NLB to update myself on why so many people around the world are so fascinated with this. My humble perspective is from the NUS slopes, a gentle slope in comparison to the climb up Mt Ventoux (Stage 20). This is an intimidating 21.1-km ascent at 7.6 percent, with strong winds over the last part of the climb. Mt Ventoux is back in TDF after an absence of several years.

Ok. I think I am getting it.