Let's approach Singapore Half Ironman strategically, my weakest link is obviously cycling. I found it quite taxing to cycle a road bike despite having some experience on a mountain bike; and during the Sundays' Brick trainings, I found it impossible to run even at a normal pace after being on the bike for an hour. I begin looking up resource on how to cycle more efficiently and was delighted to found that just like swimming, there is an art to cycle efficiency, I am probably applying the wrong force and ended up straining my hamstring too much. The most insightful article I read can be found in Coachseiji.com. Read on for my summary.
I used to think of cycling as an up & down motion like a piston, but if I am applying force vertically up and down, then only at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock would my force be at a tangent to the circle that the pedal is traveling at. Compare to a efficient cycling technique, I am also loading up my hamstring in both the up and down cycle leaving no room for it to relax. Since the hamstring is involved in both hip extension (down) and knee flexion (up). Instead you should be thinking of moving your foot around a circle in 3 phase.
#1 The downstroke beings at 11 o'clock of the cycle, you should used your quadricep to kick your feet forward and down to 4 o'clock without relying on the hamstring to extend the hip too much.
#2 The backstroke begins at 3 o'clock, overlaping the previous phase, use your hamstring to flex your knee like kicking backward on sands, this takes you pass 6 o'clock to 7 o'clock, providing your other foot power to move forward while it is at 12 o'clock.
#3 The upstroke begins at 7 o'clock, the aim is to take the weight of your foot off the pedal by lifting it up. The hip flexor will be used to bringing your knee up in running. The writer of the articule emphasis to "lift" the foot but not to "pull" the pedal up at this phase as that will involve the hamstring muscle which should be relaxing at this stage. It would be an in efficient use of energy to pull up the pedal anyway.
Doing it right, your cycle stroke is more horizontally than vertically, the power output will be more evenly distributed from 11 o'clock to 7 o'clock of the cycle.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Cycling Pedal Efficiency
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Singapore Ironman 70.3
The ruthless me is back! Singapore Ironman 70.3 - I have just signed up for it. It will be on 2nd September 1.9km swim+90km bike+21km run. Not much time left really for the training, so it will be another dive in and see what happen episode on Freeyasoul Adventure. I suspect this is what you guys want to see on this blog, right!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Shek O Challenge
I can't wait to tell the world, the weather finally turn out to be superb on a race day, no red tide and no thunderstorm. I signed up for a Shek O Challenge, a 2.2km swim from Big Water Bay to Rocky Beach. It was a small party, I think only 60-80 people were there. After the baptism of Scottish Winpipe and Afro drums, the whistle was blew and finally launched myself to my first open water race (need reminder of my disappointment last year, read this). I tried everything I have learned recently, the total immersion streamlining tricks, the trianthlon sighting technique and drafting behind people but I just slam into everyone that I tried to draft, so I just overtook them. Finally after racing pass two floats, I can see the orange flags and finishing arch on the beach. I found that I still have an extra gear to put on. The result was a mere 48mins!!! If I was to do the same last year, it would be over an hour. I took a beer and drank to my improvement.
....With a solid 2.2km experience under my belt, I suddenly thought, "I might as well go and do the Singapore Half Ironman. It is only 90km bike ride and a half marathon to go from here." The story will be continued next time.....
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Body Roll in Swimming
After hearing the success of Alex, I've been spending a lot of time in the small pool practising the total immersion drills, still not quite there yet but I am now paddling at a much more leisure pace yet still being able to keep up with the faster guys in my lane during the club's pool sessions. The total immersion theory really emphasis on body roll but this week I heard from the "Tri-Talk" podcast that body roll may not necessarily mean faster speed. In this week's episode, David Warden, the host, talk about research done on 6 competitve swimmer by analysing their swimming stroke and speed. One of the interesting finding is that when the velocity of the swimmers increases, the degree of body rolls actually decrease. Quite in contrary to what was taugh in total immersion. The swimmers maintain a total body roll of 118 degree at a fast pace while 133 degree at a slower pace when doing a 1500m swim; at 50m sprint pace, the body roll was only 114 degree. Since picking up the TI swimming, I have been really trying hard to exaggerate the body roll maybe I should just be doing what it feels right.
If the weather holds this weekend, I have signed up for a open water swim, the distance is 2.2km from Shek O beach to Big Wave Beach. Let's see how much I have improved.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Same Jeans - The View
But don't care about names, just press play and sing along.... I've had the same jeans on for four days now, I’m gonna go to a disco in the middle of the town. Everybody’s dressing up I’m dressing down .....
Friday, May 25, 2007
Action Asia Photos
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Al Petra
"Been somewhere exotic lately?" No, this is just a very authentic arabic cafe opened in the middle of Tsim Sha Tsui. As you probably know that I am fond of exotic cusine and have even famously cooked a middle eastern feast for 12 people all by myself in those days in England. There is a little Arabic grocery in the seedy district of Nottingham which equipped with all the strange spice I needed then. Back in Hong Kong, I have never found satisfying middle eastern food, the up market restaurants in Soho just doesn't really feel right. My shish kebab should be down to earth, straight forwardly delivered with a street food touch. That is before the arrival of Al Petra, opened by two Jordanian and cooked by a former five star hotel Jordanian chef. The tiny cafe occupied the last shop on a dead end street and the knock down front wall layout enhance the ambiance of a street cafe from Marrakesh. The night I was there, a group of Indian youth were smoking sheesha and playing card around a table on the pavement. What about the food, it was simply like the best of the best I get from anywhere around the Arabian Sea. The best bit was the chicken kebab, they've marinated the chicken for 2 days and the taste of the spice fused with the meat was astounding. And can't go without mentioning that one of the owner is a DJ and no doubt the Arabian pop music also help fooling my brain to imagine that I have just taken a little trip half way around the world.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Total Immersion Swimming
As ecommended by Alex, I bought a book called “Total Immersion – by Terry Laughlin”, and learn this revolutionary swimming technique. Under the Total Immersion (TI) system, 70% of swimming is done by the core, the limps merely provide the remaining 30% of the propulsion.
When you can balance, you can reducing body drag by maintaining a body shape that “swim through a hole”.
Hence the legs only kicks to help balancing the body and to hide themselves in the “shadow” of your body down the slipstream. As for the arms, their main function should be to lengthen your body, to turn yourselves into a torpedo (more hydrodynamic). In the pull cycle of a swimming stroke the arm and shoulder is surprisingly not the source of power but merely an extension of an action that originated in the turning of the hip, an analogy is like hitting a backhand in tennis, the power comes from the turning of your waist, not the arm. Of course this makes perfect sense so far, you probably know that when you were a kid.
What I found radical is the drill in the TI system; the drills are all emphasizing body balance. When you can balance, you can reducing body drag by maintaining a body shape that “swim through a hole”. The drill also emphasis the hip turning, not only as the power source but also to bring your side out of the water at each stroke, again to reduce drag. None of the TI drills will build stronger kicks nor improve shoulder endurance, the idea is when you can glide through the water like a knife, you will become strong at the right muscle (which happen to be the muscle below the armpit, not the shoulder.) Strange huh?
I’ve been visitng the pool in the gym the last 2 days to try out the first few drills on my own, hard to tell if I am doing it right. Though being able to flow on my back and move forward is not something I can do easily before, it is definitely new insight to find that delicate body balance of neither sinking my legs nor drowning my face.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
AA Sprint - Discovery Bay
Action Asia Sprint 2007 Race 5 - Discovery Bay
Date: 29-April-2007
Time: 1:47
Overall: 139 / 295 Finishers
Men's Team: 11/17 Finsishers
Andy's Album
Action Asia's Album
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
2007 Freeyasoul Adventure - Japan Alps
We are now planning the long awaited Japan Alps trip in mid-July, you might have already got my invitation already, here some more pictures to temp you to this 6 days hike. Our trip will begin in Murodo and ends in Kamikochi. Reserve your holidays now!
Tatayama - 立山
Gosikigahara - 五色ヶ原
Kurobegara-dake - 黒部五郎岳
Yari-ga-take - 槍ヶ岳
Oku-Hotaka-dake - 穂高岳
Kamikochi - 上高地
