Month 1 complete

So, I've finished my first month of triathlon training. I have to say though I haven't stuck completely to the schedule (seen below).

It's usually those Sunday long-swims that suffered. I just wouldn't make the time for them. Or on the double days I'd only bike or only swim because of time constraints with work. Oh well. Next week is my last week for my summer job, so I should be able to switch the work outs around. I think I may work-out for five days straight and just take the weekends off. We'll see. I can run for about 35-40min straight now, but I'm not sure on the distance. I just go by time. I can't recommend enough those Vibram barefoot running shoes. I know they look weird, but running on the balls of your feet with those shoes is completely different to running in thick-heeling classic running shoes. It makes a huge difference, and you feel more springy. Try them out if you get the chance. I biked about 17km in 36min last week, but honestly I don't know how accurate stationary bikes are for distances. I need to work on my time AND I need a real bike to train on. We'll see what happens. If that doesn't work out I'll just rent one for the race.

It's going to be a busy next two weeks. I've got my last week of summer-work and a research paper to write the first week, and a couple of conferences that I'll be working at the next. At least it'll be interesting. I also just starting using Speedo's "Pace Club" website. It looks like they provide a lot of solid work-outs with video explanations, for free. Hopefully it'll get my swimming up to par...still can't swim 750m non-stop. Which I'll have to be able to do in a month and a half.

Also, it looks like Jared and Jenn are gonna be doing the triathlon too. So that should be cool, although seeing how competitive they can be in the pool, I have a feeling come the actual day it's going to become a competition between us three. Even though they insist that it isn't.

Registered!

I sent in my registration for the triathlon today. I also realized while I was getting the stuff together at the post office that this kind of blogging really requires a phone with a camera on it. Just one little picture of the envelope to tie a post together. Oh well.

Week 2

Things are going good!

Monday: 30min run

Tuesday: 30min bike work out, 600m swim

Wednesday: Rested

Thursday: 30min bike work out, 700m swim

Friday: Should be a 20-25min run

Saturday: Rest/beach

Sunday: 1000m swim

And Jared may even do the half-triathlon as well. We'll see. He may chicken out again.

Triathlon Training: Days 1 & 2

Hello people who read this blog, long time no see.

I've started training for a triathlon that'll be in Taidong (台東) on October 2nd. I'm gonna do the half marathon since I don't think my swimming is very strong right now. SO, the distances are 750m swimming, then bike 20km (12.4 miles), and then run 5km (3.1 miles).

Unfortunately there's not really going to be anything to look at as I bike and run in Taidong, because as you can see below it's terribly ugly and boring.

So on Monday (7/18) I ran for half an hour without much complaint. Unfortunately when I got back I found I had a rather sizable blister on the ball of my left foot...so off to a good start!

Yeah. That is my foot and its blister. You're welcome.

Then today, Tuesday (7/19) I swam 800m. I know that's not much, but my orginal plan was to get on a bike machine for 20min and then to swim a short swim work-out. Sadly I had forgotten covered shoes and so I couldn't go to the part of the gym with the biking machines. That, plus the pool was packed with elderly and children apparently all getting swim lessons in how to splash around in water. Which left everyone else to do the breaststroke as slowly as humanly possible in front of my while I tried to swim. I think I need to just stick to the nearly always empty pool at Zhengda (my university).

Right, so here's my schedule for Week 1 & 2, I'm trying to build up a base level the first two weeks, so they'll be the same:
Monday: Run 30min
Tuesday: Bike 20min; swim 800m
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Bike 30min; swim 800m (pending change, I'll have to see how going from biking to swimming will feel)
Friday: Run 20min
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Swim 1000m

So that's my base level work-out. I kind of modeled it off a routine I found on Beginner Triathlete. Basically you're supposed to have two rest days (or just one, if you work out 6 days a week), and increase the length by 10% each week with one week at the end of the month as a rest week where you scale stuff back. The routine suggested I make a work-out like this:
1 Short swim
1 Short run
1 Short bike
1 Long swim
1 Long run
1 Long bike

How you space it out is up to your schedule, but you should keep the long work-outs near to rest days and so on. Anyway, I'll try to keep this up to date so that I keep myself on schedule and motivated. I'm thinking maybe I'll take pictures of places I run to, and hopefully once I've bought a bike, places that I bike to. If anyone has done triathlon before and has some advice I'm open to it. Wish me luck!

The Chairs.

I was waiting for a student at a Starbucks recently, and while she didn't show up because of a miscommunication it did yield some hilarious results. For the record, I tutor English on the side to make some extra money. Anyway, while waiting there a tall, mid-thirties Taiwanese man with long hair walks in and sits at the table next to me. Almost immediately after sitting down at the table(which had three chairs around it) he got up, walked away from the table, turned around, placed his hand to his chin (clearly considering the situation deeply) and stared. Now clearly me and the other people around him were curious, because I was not the only one taking repeated glances at him, and then to his bag which he had placed to the side of his chair. Now apparently he concluded that his bag was in a very dubious position indeed because he returned to his chair, picked up the bag, placed it on the other side of the chair, and then promptly sat down on the chair opposite his original seat.

He didn't do anything strange again for a few minutes or so. I had thought he was just waiting for someone like I was. Just moving things around for the, albeit odd, optimal greeting position. I was wrong. Sometime later he again he arouse to consider the apparently deeply troubling furniture. Except this time, it wasn't his table. Nay, for his had been "fixed", rather it was the dastardly, foul position of the chairs behind his table! The plot thickens.

He quickly seized a chair from the no doubt frequented-by-scoundrels table, and placed it away from it, with the seat facing towards the wall. After much consideration, he then placed another chair in the same position immediately next to it. Crisis averted, he returned to his chair. He also turned his chair towards the wall except this time he sat. Alas, something was amiss. He looked from the chairs to his table, table to his chairs. Moving his head to see the chairs at different angles. Thankfully, he thought better of his choice in tables and left. Now I know this sounds quick, but this actually went on for five whole minutes or so. Clearly he couldn't handle the stress of the situation anymore, and neither could I. I broke down and undoubtedly from stress induced hysteria I began to laugh for some time to myself.

Things became less interesting. He stood partially behind a wall waiting to use the bathroom, so I again became aware of my situation. I soon after decided that there must have been some miscommunication and I was not meeting with my student that night. So I got up to leave, only to find that the man had not been waiting for the bathroom at all, but rather had just been staring into the other part of Starbucks. Danger was afoot. Just as I came up to pass him, though, he began to walk towards the back part of the room. He had found sanctuary: a large, plush chair in the corner near the window. Perhaps the battle was over, perhaps it had just begun. I do not know, I wanted to leave. Godspeed.

In other news, my picasa account is apparently all filled up and I can't put more media on my account so until it's resolved I can't really make posts with media in them (apparently?) I'll figure it out eventually.

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天燈

Lantern festival at Ping Xi, about an hour or so outside of Taipei. Amazing festival, followed by three hours of waiting for a bus because there was so many people. Remind me not to go on the day everyone goes again.

Song:
David Bowie - Five Years

I mean really.

"Another earth quake and a tsunami on its way...what is going on. Anyone else feel like God is trying to tell us something...?"

That was someone's status update on Facebook. I find it kind-of difficult to not find that offensive. What, pray-tell, is god trying to tell us then? "I hate Chileans"? or perhaps "I hate poor people"?, or more accurately "I hate not-white impoverished people!". Now that may not necessarily go for Chile but it most certainly goes for Haiti, and hell while we're at it the tsunami in 2004. Perhaps it was because of the dreaded gays again. We all know how god likes to punish all of us for tolerating gay people by destroying the lives of poor people (see Katrina). You better listen to me (or clean up your act, or pray more, or make more virgin sacrifices), or else the poor, economically vulnerable, generally not-white folks will get it! Mnah, seeeee?

I know that was almost certainly not the person's intent with that kind of a comment, but I mean really. What exactly are you saying when you say something like that?

Maybe god was just saying "Fear me world, for I am a petulant god!"

Hell, lets just chalk it up to bad aim.