TCX2HRM Update

A newer version of TCX2HRM has been released.

It now handles PAUSE in exercise, so that the total execise time
is accurate within a second.

It also implement a moving average filter to smooth the
rather "JUMPY" Garmin Speed/Pace Curve, so that the graph is much
smoother showing in Polar Pro Trainer.


Download the new nersion by clicking

TCXHRMv2.



Crank on.

TCX2HRM a Garmin Forerunner to Polar File Converter

For those who owned a Polar HRM long ago and recently just couldn't resist

the temptation and have migrated to Garmin, but still want to keep all

training information with the Polar Pro Trainer,

and

for those who have Garmin Forerunner, but would like to take advantage

of the rich analytical capabilities offered by the Polar Pro Trainer,


below is the tool that could just be the right solution.


Actually someone have already coded a tool and hosted it on the web

http://converter.gps4sport.com/.

But somehow, I am not too keen to go online converting a file and moreover,

I need some extra features, like keeping the lap time after conversion.

So, I ended up coding my own converter.


Click
download tcx2hrm to download the tool.

PLEASE DOWNLOAD THE LATEST RELEASE AS THERE ARE SOME FIXES, PLEASE REFER TO NEWER POST


To use the tool, first unzip the file, edit the tcx2hrm.ini file accordingly.

Basically, you want to edit the parameters like weight, resting HR, MaxHR, and

also the various HR zone so that Polar Pro Trainer can display it according to

your setting.


Copy the tcx2hrm.ini to WINDOWS directory and copy the tcx2hrm.exe to your DESKTOP.

From Garmin Training Center, export the exercise that you want to convert to a

TCX file.

Then, click the tcx2hrm.exe to run it, enter the pathname to your tcx file and the

tool will output the converted data to a file named YYMMDD01.hrm,

where YY is the year, MM is the month and DD is the day.

Copy the hrm file to your Polar Pro Trainer data directory, for example,

C:\Program Files\Polar\Polar ProTrainer\Yourusername\2009, then start Polar Pro

Trainer, click on the appropriate day and add a new exercise, click on the "Attach

an exercise file" to attach your newly converted file and that's it.


Below are screenshots for a workout displayed both in

Polar Pro Trainer and Garmin Training Center .




Polar Pro Trainer



Garmin Training Center




If you encounter any problem or would like to report any bug,

feel free to email to me, but I will be able to work on this

only when I have free time.

Hope this help.

Crank on.

You Will Laugh

You will Laugh.

School Sports Day Part II

Javelin Throw




Hurdle Accident




How not to Hurdle


Crank On.

School Sports Day Part I

For my eldest son, it is school sports day again.

In order to cheer him up a bit for not getting anything out of it,

I thought it is nice to share a few videos.




400m Hurdle





Best Polevault Ever




Ouch! My_Balls.


Hope that you enjoy it.



Crank on.

SHAPE Night Run 2009

This is the first time I ever run an organized night run, kind of different.

Surprisingly, the Shape Night Run attracted qute a large number of runners.


Anyway, I think I still prefer to run in the morning as I would have insomia problem

if running too close to sleeping hours.


Below is the photo taken by me during the event for the Permaisuri Group Runners.

The quality of the photo is really poor as I am not very into photography,

sorry!


Shape Night Run Photo

Crank on.

Speed Zone View of Polar S625X and RS400/800

If you own a Polar S625X, RS400 or RS800 HRM, then

most likely you are using the Polar Precision Performance or

Pro Trainer too.

The Pro Trainer is a great software and I use it daily.

But maybe speed zone view is just one extra feature that

the Pro Trainer doesn't come with.


I have coded a simple tool just for that and you are welcome to

download it.

click
spd download.

First unzip the file, edit the spd.ini with a editor like notepad and change the DIR to point

to your data. Edit the zones as well if you like.

Then copy the spd.ini to your window directory, and the spd.exe to your desktop.

Click the spd.exe to run it. Click File|Open to open your hrm file and you

can view your workout in speed zone defined in spd.ini. You can also use report

to view the speed zone for a period of time. You will most likely

not using the Graph capabilty of spd.exe, and thus, I won't include

the OCX needed for graphing.

Hope this help and Enjoys using the tools.

Crank on.

SCKLM 2009

Check out the following link for some photos

taken by my nephew Siaw Yi and me.

click here

Crank on.

Permaisuri Lake Track SCKLM Circuit Run

The Permaisuri Lake Track circuit run for the SCKLM

last Sunday was a successful one.


Thank to Phoon, Sim, Ah Foo, Fatt, Low in helping carrying the

drinks, and BIG thanks to Har who is kind enough to wake up

wee hour in the morning and helped us manning the water

station.


Most runners dutifully completed at least 21 laps run, while some

achieved the 25laps target. A few even did a 27 laps run yesterday.


Well done and bravo.


While doing the long run on the lake track has some obvious disadvantage,

(like half of the track is in concrete and brick, and after about 20laps or so,

you really can feel that the impact is killing the legs, and after 7:00am,

people start to pouring in and really crowd the track) its pros clearly

out weight its cons.



I seriously considering doing the LONGEST LONG RUN on the lake tack in 7/6/09,

the next next Sunday.

In the mean time, this week is a recovery and easy week.


Rest well and enjoys.


Crank on.

SCKLM Circuit Run, Be there at 4:45am

To all runners who will participate in this

SCLKM Circuit Run on 24/5/09 Sunday, please gather

at the Permaisuri Lake car park near the swimming pool

latest by 4:45am. We will start distributing the iso drink

at 4:45am. The run will be started at 5:00am sharp.



Crank on.

SCKLM Circuit Run

SCKLM Circuit Run 09

Date: 24/5/09 (Sunday)
Time: Starting at 5:00am
Distance: 25 laps of Lake track (32.5K)
Payment: RM5 per person



Iso drinks will be provided as well as bananas.

Noticed that iso drink will only be served after 6:00am
due to no volunteers manning the station.

Help in transporting the iso drinks,
"watching" the iso drinks and bananas is very much needed.

During the previous circuit run, I had encountered
quite a few non-runners who thought that the iso-drinks were
supposed to be some promotion kind of things and
they really help themselves drinking without asking.

This time around, we only planed to purchase 6 cartons of iso drinks
(6X24=144) and assuming each runners drink 4-5 bottles, there are only
enough for 30 runners.


So, everybody please helps out, as I will also need to run
the circuit run myself, so I won't be responsible for
manning the water station this time, sorry...

The purpose of the circuit run is what I called

Marathon Pace Run.

Firstly, the flat course of the lake track is
chosen to stimulate the flat SCKLM route condition.
(You are free to run the hills, but if you like the hills,
why not run in Double hill or Hartamas. You could take the
outside 4k laps too, but you would not be able to pace yourself
as nicely as the 1.3K lap does.)


More importantly, it is a practice for the target marathon
pace. For example, if you shoot at 4:45 for the upcoming
SCKLM, then you should aim at completing the 25laps in
3hr38, which translate to average of 8:43 per laps.


I suggest that you always use a range for your marathon
goal, for example, you should aim at 4:45 to 4:30 intead of
just 4:45 or 4:30.
This means completing the circuit run in anytime between 3:27
and 3:38 is fine.

Always start at the low end of the pacing for the fist 10laps
of so ( which mean 8min43sec or slower per lap) and then speed
up towards the last 10 or 15 laps (trying to push to 8:30 or
even 8:15).

Below is the chart that I prepared for marathon
goal time between 5:30 to 3:15 and the corresponding
32.5K(25laps) target time and the average lap time.

Marathon	32K5(25laps)	Lake Lap Time	Min/K
5:30	4:13	10:07	7:46
5:15	4:02	9:38	7:25
5:00	3:50	9:11	7:04
4:45	3:38	8:43	6:42
4:30	3:27	8:15	6:21
4:15	3:15	7:47	6:00
4:00	3:02	7:18	5:37
3:45	2:52	6:51	5:16
3:30	2:40	6:23	4:55
3:15	2:28	5:56	4:34

Hope this helps.

May we have a successful circuit run this coming Sunday,

see you there.

Crank on.

Ooops, I slipped

Remembered that not long ago I decided to say no to alcohol, well

unfortunately, I slipped.

That was on 11/5/09 and I officially broke a streak of four weeks of

no drinking.

I won't try finding any valid excuse for the slip, and I certainly

won't beat myself up.

I didn't drink on the 12th, neither did I drink on the 13th, and I

am sure I won't today.

Let's just see how long this second streak can last.


Crank on.

Weight Loss 3

Ever wonder what is your ideal weight for running?

Well, Dr. Stillman might have just the right suggestion for you.


Firstly, he fixes the non-active man's average weight for height

with a simple formula.

He allocates 110lbs (56.2kg) for the first five feet (1.524m) in height,

and 5 1/2lbs (2.296kg) for every inch (0.025m) thereafter.

He is a bit harsher with women, though, giving them only 100lbs (45.3kg)

for the first five feet and 5lbs (2.268kg) for every inch thereafter.

Having established the average is not where he stops,

he then speculates on the ideal weight for athletic performance, as follows:

Sprinters (100-400m): 2.5% lighter than average

Middle-distance runners (800m - 10K): 12% lighter than average

Long-distance runners (10 miles onwards): 15% lighter than average


Now, for a person of with height of 5'6" like me, that translates into

143lbs(65Kg) for an average non-active man and if he happens to be a long

distant runner, his weight is best kept to be around 121Lbs(55.25Kg).


Wow, that's a lot deviations in my case,

but at least now I know what I should aim for.


BTW, if you happen to be overweight by a lot more than

an average non-active person(me included),


DON'T DESPAIR!

LOOK THINGS AT THE BRIGHT SIDE,

AT LEAST YOUR RUNNING PERFORMANCE HAS A LOT OF ROOMS TO IMPROVE.



It is always better if one is 15% heavier than an average person

and run a sub 50min 10K than having a long distant

runner's body frame and still run on the same par.

The former will just outdoes the later in no time

once one gets rid of those excess baggage .



It would be interesting to know how much performance gain

can be achieved from the weight drop,though.

If I happen to come across any research relating to this,

it would be nice to be posted in Weight Loss 4.



But until then, Crank on.

Trip to Bidor and Sabak Bernam 2009

On the wee hours of the morning

last Sunday, 38 members of Permaisuri runners

gathered together and traveled to Bidor to

run the half marathon.

The half marathon was surprisingly well organized,

except for the fact that iso drink was being served

only during the late miles.


I think among the plus points are scenic route,

enough distance marker(though I think some

of them were misplaced, some Ks are really short while some

were too long), good road marshaling,

ample food after the run, etc.

After the run, the group traveled to Teluk Arang for a lavish

lunch. Then the group travelled to Sabak Bernam to pay a visit

to Mr Tan, the Sabak Bernam pacesetter group leader, as well as

to Mr Lian's bird net house.


The group then visited the nearby coconut plantation and finally

had dinner near the bay and captured splendid view of sunset there.


It was a very enjoyable trip, there were plenty of laughter, chit-chats,

etc. I hope we could organize more trip like this...


Please visit the following

Bidor Photo Album taken by our most dedicated cameraman, MR Loh Wing Keen(Thanks Loh!)



Crank on.

Weight Loss II

"We are each an experiment of one" --- George Sheehan





An overweight runner said to me once how he hoped

to lose 10 pounds and how that might help him

in the upcoming marathon. While I am not sure

about the boost in race performance from

weight lost, I certainly shared his determination

to shed off some unwanted fat.

But trying to lose weight while training for a marathon

at the same time can be very difficult and frustrating

experience. You need to experiment with lot of

variables and try to find a balance in calorie intake

and expense so that you still have enough energy to train

through all those long runs, tempo runs, interval workout, etc.

that will instill progression in performance while at the same

time lose some pounds.


If you try to do the same, I might be able to give some pointers,

but again, I am no expert whatsoever and you are warned to take this

with a grain of salt.


First of all, never ever lose weight fast.


A single pounds of weight lost in a week is the absolute upper limit.

I seriously doubt that anybody can still maintain a decent

quality training schedule if he lose weight faster than that.

Honestly, I lost 10 lbs in about 12 weeks, and I personally

find that I was not as energetic as before and the quality of my quality

runs like long run, tempo, interval workouts are usually compromised.

Most importantly, I find myself more prone to injury.

I felt that I seriously need to slow down the weight lost progression,

may be losing a pound in every two or three weeks is the

more appropriate formula.



Secondly, you need to weight daily regularly and

log it. You can use a spreadsheet software like Excel to log and

graph it. If you don't like to turn on the PC every time after you

weight yourself in the scale, by all means, use that pencil and

log book graph book. The important thing is that

you log the data and be able to plot a graph to see the trend.


You then have a choice whether you want to log the daily

calorie intake and expense. If you decide to be meticulous

about it, then, you need to have a system to estimate the calorie

content of the food you take as well as your calorie expenses.


First let's talk about the easier of the two, which is daily

calorie expense. You need to estimate you

Basal metabolic rate(BMR) as well as

your daily activity calorie expenditure.

You can visit
BMR Calculator to calculate your estimated BMR.

Then you can visit

Calorie Calculator

to calculate your calorie expense for various training that you do, i.e., running.





Now let's look at the more complex part of the two, the calorie intake.

To be able to estimate your daily calorie intake, you need to do a bit

of research and experiment. You can visit the following site

Food calorie

to get a rough idea of what the calorie content for various kind of food

to begin with. Don't worry that you don't know how to relate how

much is a cup, how much is a portion, etc. Just get a rough idea of

how much calorie each food carry.

What is important is that you slowly developed a system of estimating

the calorie content of the food that you take daily. It doesn't matter

whether the estimate is accurate or not, what is important is that you

employ the same system in estimating the food calorie content throughout.


With the BMR and calorie burnt information, together with your own way/system

of estimating the food calorie content, you can now log daily calorie intake

and expense. You will keep logging these data for an extensive period of

time, then, you will try to analyse the relationship between calorie

deficit(calorie intake - calorie expense) to your weight change and find

a relationship between the two. For example, from 3 months of

data analysis, you can conclude that with your own system of estimation,

your average daily calorie deficit of 400 will lead to a pound of weight loss in

two weeks or something like that.


Forget about what people tell you that to lose a pound of fat you need to

burn 3500 calories, etc. In addtional to the fact that this requires you

to know the exact calorie content of the food together with the exact amount

(could you tell me how much calorie to count for my mum's secret recipe of

Cantonese fried noodle in oster sauce with black pepper that was served at dinner),

your body chemistry and metabolism is much more complex and

complicated than that, and each individual's mileage may varied.


What is important is that you find your own formula that describe yourself

best. And isn't in that sense "We are each an experiment of one"?



Through an extensive period of data gathering, logging

and analysis, fine tune your calorie intake and expense estimation

system so that it will best correlate with your weight gain or loss.

It took me two years of fine tuning and it is still ongoing, though,

I now already developed a fairy accurate estimation system

that can correlate well between my estimated calorie deficit with my weight change.



Once you found that formula, it seems that you are now totally in charge of

the rate of weight gain/loss. Unfortunately, things doesn't always go that way

and you will find you need to revisit the analysis again and again. I

suspect that there are other influential factors involved, like the intensity/

volume of the training, stress level, sleep pattern, etc., that somehow

affect the metabolism rate of the body.


Lastly, losing weight is not as easy as it is said.

We all need a fair amount of discipline and persistence to carry

out the plan. As always, when we find ourselves wondering

why we live a life resemble a great deal to that of a monk's,

let's treat this as we are doing ourselves great favour by adopting a

healthier lifestyle.


Hope this help.

Crank on.

Weight Loss

I have lost 10 pounds in 12 weeks, which

started from 159.3lbs in 28/1/09 and drop to 149.3 as today.




(click to enlarge)


From the graph, I use the 7 day moving average

to smooth and filter out the daily fluctuation of

weight so that I get a more meaningful trend.

This fared quite well as I planned to drop 1 lbs

per week. Surprisingly, the drop in weight doestn't

really make me a faster runner automatically, at least

not until now.

But my BMI certainly drops to a healthy level.

If you are interested in calculating your BMI,

visit this BMI Calculator.

And if you would like to download the tool that

I log and graph my weight, you can get it from

eDiary

which I coded some time ago.


Crank on.

Ease Off

When I woke up last morning, I sensed a sharp pain

on my right medial tibia while I took my steps toward

the bathroom. Ooooop, immediately I knew that spelt

trouble and it seemed that old friend shin splint wanted

to pay me a visit again (I knew that would happen if

I insisted on pushing it after picking up a mild

shin splint issue resulted from the weekend 32ker, in fact,

I already planned for a rest day or an really easy day

on the mill the day before, but that evening weather

turned out to be tooooo pretty to miss an excellent outdoor

run, and .... See, some people are just slow learner).


The pain was severe enough to practically force me into

hobble. While I quickly popped an Ibuprofen, I was pondering

on what would I do to the Q2 tempo run that was scheduled

in the evening.

Needless to say, the effort to "gut through"

the tempo run last evening was not very successful, and in

some way, I was glad that I packed the run after warming up

and while trying to settle into the tempo pace.

Soon after I started running on the tempo pace, I realized that

I would not survive that pace for the whole 10k, at least

not without picking up another injury that would sideline me

for the next six weeks or so. I would be much better off

to called it an easy day and bagged the run (Ah Ha, somehow,

the 'old dog' still learned a thing or two from past

painful lessons).


Thank god that the shin responded very well to the combination

of ice, NSAID, and rest, this morning the pain subsided

significantly though not painless.


While I am happy that I don't have to hobble my way

to the bathroom today, I find myself pondering again on the possibility

of doing back to back hard day training, which means running

the missed tempo run today and the Interval workout tomorrow,

so that I still can have a rest day before I do the weekend

long run again.



Don't you see that obvious obsessive-compulsive

disorder of a silly runner?



On reflection, I had done enough hard works the last two

weeks to justify some easy days, or god forbids, even some

rest days. I had done 2 long runs longer than 30ker, set

a PR in a 10K race, and done a super furious interval

workout that induced DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness)

for days.



While I still have no idea whether I will still pursue the

tempo run today, I know that I will feel much better and not as

guilty as before if I skip that tempo or even tomorrow's interval workout,

as I know that I have enough legitimate excuses of not blindly

following the program.


Sometimes, I think I really have to listen more

to what my body is trying to tell me (pain) before it decides

to force me into being obedient(injury).

In the endeavor of pursuing excellence and maximizing our

potential, we all walk a very very thin fine line between

overreaching and getting injured, and sometimes always,

it is better to be safe than sorry!

Crank on.

ZZZ

To some extent, marathon training is like interval workout,

especially when you are doing three quality runs per week.

The first week is like the first repeat, it felt so easy

that you wonder what is the problem with all those guys who

complaint about marathon training.

The second week, you've got even stronger and you think you

are invincible and could do it forever. Yeah, bring it on

man!


But as you progress through the calendar of the training weeks,

and as the training intensity gets tougher and the volume gets higher,

the training soon take its toll.


It is the sixth week of my marathon training and I already felt

'zapped'. Yesterday's tempo run was no way up to expectation.

It wasn't because I wouldn't push hard, but couldn't.

The pace of the run clearly felt as hard as 5:00min/K, but every time

I looked at the Polar watch, it said 5:30min/K or slower. I willed

my mind and pushed my legs to make the watch said 5:00min/K to me,

but the legs didn't get faster, instead, it got heavier

and even more clumsy. Obviously, the polar watch didn't response too.


Now I am alarmed to get the ZZZ in, or else, not only tomorrow's

interval workout will face similar fate, the weekend long run

together with next week's training will be affected too.


There is a ghost in every marathon training program,

and if you are not careful enough and haunted by it,

you will face the following symptoms. Firstly,

like what aforementioned, your performance drops

even though you have tried harder. And that drop of

performance is usually sudden and without any obvious reason.

Another thing that will be quite noticeable is insomnia.

You will tend to have difficulties in falling asleep,

wake up more often than usual during the night,

and feel awfully tire upon waking up instead of

being refreshed. You also tend to have more

leg soreness, aches and pains here and there

in muscles and joints. You becomes more

moody and irritable, you have decreased appetite,

etc. Generally, you are washed-out and drained out

of energy, worse of all, you might even lose enthusiasm

for the beloved sport of running.

But one thing for sure,

YOU ALWAYS FEEL A COMPULSIVE NEED TO RUN AND TO TRAIN.

and the more you train, the worse it gets, and the worse

it get, the harder you train. Clearly, it is a vicious cycle.

BTW, that ghost's name is OVERTRAIN SYNDROME.


And if you detect any of these aforementioned symptoms,

it is best you back off your training and start the

ZZZ loading.

You will continue taking these prescriptions until

the day when the urge of training hard sparks again

and turns to fire. But until then,


REST WELL.


Crank on.

Say No to Alcohol

Last Sunday's(5/4/09) long run was a total disaster. I knew it the moment

I started the run. The legs were way too slugish than they should have.

The calves were heavy and the hams were tense. Moreover, I could sense

that the breathing was much more labor than I used to when I started

climbing the first hill near the railway station. The 28Ker long run

ended up in lot and lot of walking and suffering.

After the run, I wondered why I did so poorly.

Noop, I didn't catch a flu and yeap, I did get some

sleep before the run.

Heck, I even had the seldom scheduled two days of no

running tapering before that long run.


WHAT THE HELL WENT WRONG?

Then, I rememebered that I did load a whole bottle of red wine followed

by some cans of beer(I didn't remember exactly how many, man, who would

remember that when they were fully intoxicated) on Friday night.


While I didn't drink a drop of alcohol the following day, it seemed

that the Friday's alcohol loading had done enough damage and I didn't quite

recover from that abuse before the long run.


Realizing that, I decided that I have trained too hard to be ruined by

some drinking problem, so I swore not to drink again, well, at least

not until the next time I drink again.


Seriously, I just want to know how much difference does it make

if I skip all those drinks.


While I don't have the full answer at hand yet, I might just have a glimpse

of the truth today.


On Saturday, I did a 30ker long run. I felt good for the whole run

and the finish was strong and fast. I certainly finished

the run with a clear feeling that I could have done better and faster and longer.

Yesterday (Sunday), I raced another pretty good 10Ker. It seemed that I

have recovered substantialy from the previous day's long run and was able

to race hard.


NOW I AM TOTALY SOLD ON THIS NO ALCOHOL PROPOSITION.




I wonder if one week of no drinking can do that much of magic,

how much more it would do if there is a one month,

or better still, one year,

or even better, the rest of my life,

of totally abstaining from it.



But whatever it is, I have to do better than

"swearing no drinking until the next time of drinking".


May my quit smoking experience helps me in achieving this, and

may the mantras


"Not another Sip"

"Take it one day at a time"


strengthened my mind the next time I feel the urge to

raise the mug again.


Crank on.

P/S: Okay, I will post the next time I drink again
and let's see how long that might be ...

Anual Dinner of Permaisuri Runners

Time flies, yet another year passed ...

It is time Permaisuri runners gather together for yet another

Leg Resting Party, only this time, it gets bigger and better.

The food taste good, the wine flow freely, the music and

singing sound louder, and the dance ...


Below is the link of the photos taken

Photo Album for Permaisuri Runner Anual Dinner 2009



Courtesy of Loh Wing Keen.



Crank on.

Standard Chatered KL Marathon 10K

TK,

Good news!

I just checked that the 10K category will also give away finishing medal

if you complete it in 90 mins (yesterday, the web didn't say you

will get any finishing medal for the 10K).

BTW, medal is a very valuable piece of sourvenir and

could also be something you can shows off to your buddies

that you have participated and finished a race.

In smaller race where there is a limit of medals(say

first 100 or so), runners like us would run into the

ground just to get one.


You can check the SCKLM web site on

http://www.kl-marathon.com/

Let the kids visit the site too, so that they will

be looking forward to it, hey, itsn't it the most suitable thing

that qualified as leading by example or family quality time kind

of things.


90min 10K is running at 4.1MPH, 14:30min/mile pace.

So, aim running all your training faster than this pace.

You don't have to do it in the first day of running,

but keep in mind that the 4.1 is something you have to conquer.

Actually 4.1MPH is quite slow, you can even walk with this pace

though it is a bit difficult.

Anyway, try don't stop progress at 4.1MPH, try to build up to

5MPH, you can do that, trust me!



Also, always set at least 1% or 2% of inclination on the

treadmill, it is more gender to your knee plus it gives

you a better workout.


Got to go!


Crank on.

T Kune 10K Training Program

Dear TK,

I have planned a 14 week program for the 10K SCKLMarathon

for you. Take a look and see whther it fit you.

For the first few weeks, you actually do a lot of elliptical

training rather than running. I know that you would have no problem

with the elliptical training; but try to follow the run/walk time

as planned, it is designed to slowly get you to get used to running.

Try not to walk, you can slow down the pace, but try your best not to

walk. Don't get your heart rate over 145 either, the running

pace should be below that HR for all the duration of running.


I know that you have heel pain(plantar fascitis), get a bucket and

filled it with ice cube(I prefer to make blocks of ice with

ICE cream boxes and break it with hammer) and water and soak your

heel(foot) into the ice water. Soak about 20-30 minutes. The first

few minutes feel like burning, but after a while, your foot will

get numb and it is bearable.


Also, go to pharmacy to get over the counter drug call IBUPROFEN, take

them with/after food twice a day. That would heel the pain.

Very importantly, get a pair of motion control shoe, I know you have

flat foot type, so may be try the BROOKS TRANCE 8, pricey, but quite good.


If you ice your foot, take IBUPROFEN, and wear proper shoe,

the heel pain will be resolved in a few weeks; that's why I design

the program that you do mostly elliptical rather than running so that

your heel injury will be recovered.

Noticed that you exercise everyday and it is measured on time

rather than distance for the first few weeks.

That is to get you into the habit of exercising everyday.


When you enter into the second phase of the program, you would do it the

hard-easy approach, that's a hard day is followed by easy and recovery day.

The Sunday is the long run day and most important day, that's why

you have rest day on Saturday and Monday, so that you are fresher in

getting the long run done and recover better after that,

, try sticking with the plan, especially the important 4, 4.5,5 mile runs.

You will do fewer and fewer sessions of elliptical too.


For the rest day, just relax or if you prefer, you

can do some light training of your liking, like elliptical.


There is a week when you travel back to KL, so that's the rest week.

The week before the race is also an easy week and we call it

taper week.



Hope it helps and Good luck.

By the way, is your wife running the 10K too, kids? I

need to register the race for you all.

Do let me know soon.



Crank on.

Scroll way way down to see the program!

Week	Date	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total K/Time per week	Comment
1	23/3	Elliptical 15min	RUN/WALK 15min	Elliptical 30min	RUN/WALK 15min	Elliptical 30min	RUN/WALK 15min	Elliptical 60min	3hrs	Build Base week 1
2	30/3	Elliptical 15min	RUN/WALK 15min	Elliptical 40min	RUN/WALK 15min	Elliptical 40min	RUN/WALK 15min	Elliptical 60min	3hrs 20min	Build Base week 2
3	6/4	RUN/WALK 15min	RUN/WALK 15min	Elliptical 45min	RUN/WALK 15min	Elliptical 45min	RUN/WALK 15min	Elliptical 70min	3hrs 40min	Build Base week 3
4	13/4	RUN/WALK 15min	RUN/WALK 20min	Elliptical 45min	RUN/WALK 15min	Elliptical 45min	RUN/WALK 15min	RUN/WALK 20min Elliptical 40min	3Hour 35min	Build Base week 4
5	20/4	RUN/WALK 15min	RUN/WALK 20min	Elliptical 45min	RUN/WALK 20min	Elliptical 45min	RUN/WALK 20min	RUN/WALK 25min Elliptical 40min	3Hour 50min	Build Base week 5
6	27/4	RUN/WALK 20min	RUN/WALK 15min	Elliptical 45min	RUN/WALK 20min	Elliptical 45min	RUN/WALK 20min	RUN/WALK 30min Elliptical 40min	4Hour 05min	Build Base week 5
7	4/5	Rest	RUN 2 mile	Ellitrical 30min	RUN 2 mile	Elliptical 30min	Rest	RUN 3.5 mile	7.5mile	Race Preparation Week1
8	11/5	Rest	RUN 2 mile	Ellitrical 30min	RUN 2 mile	Elliptical 30min	Rest	RUN 4 mile *important	8mile	Race Preparation Week2
9	18/5	Rest	RUN 2.5 mile	Elliptical 30min	RUN 2 mile	Elliptical 30min	Rest	RUN 4.5mile **important	9mile	Race Preparation Week3 **Hard week
10	25/5	Rest	RUN 2.5mile	Elliptical 35min	RUN 2.5 mile	Elliptical 35min	Rest	RUN 5 mile ***Most important	10mile	Race Preparation Week4 *** Hardest week
11	1/6	Rest	RUN 2 mile	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	2 mile	Travel back to KL
12	8/6	Rest	Rest	Rest	RUN 2 mile	Rest	Rest	RUN 5 mile ***Most important	7 mile	Race Preparation Week5
13	15/6	Rest	RUN 2 mile	Rest	RUN 2 mile	Rest	Rest	RUN 2 mile	6 mile	Taper
14	22/6	Rest	Rest	Rest	RUN 2 mile	Rest	Rest	RACE 10K (6mile)	8 mile	RACE WEEK

SCKLIM Training Program

I am not a big fan in posting the training plan, as

I think everybody train differently, what work for one

might be disastrous to another. Everyone should experiment

what work and what not.




The below plan is a 16 week program for the KLIM, noticed that

this week is supposed to be the second week of the program.

It is based on the concept that we are doing 3 quality runs

per week, with the training marked Q1 being most important,

Q2 the second follow by Q3.


If you would like to skip a run, skip all those that is marked

easy, and if things really are way out of hand, then go ahead

and skip the Q3. Try not to skip Q2, and don't cheat on Q1!



The tempo run is the workbout, you always have to do about

1.5K-2K of warmup and another 1.5K or so for cool down, so for the

run marked "tempo 8K", it means run 2K warmup, then the 8K

tempo, follow by anothr 2K of cool down, and it might be as

well as 12K run for that day.


Similar to tempo run, you also need to do warmup and cool down

for the Interval workout. Roughly the total distance is about

10K-12K for the interval workout except the tapering weeks.


There are a few races listed in the plan, noticed that you actually

train through the race, with the race taking the place of the tempo

run mostly and as in the case of Bidor, it is considered a long run.

You won't be making PR or race your best in those races, simply

there isn't enough taper. But those races aren't your goal race

in the first place.



The weekly milage totals about 55K per week, if that is too high

for you, skip all those easy runs, or slightly cut short the long runs.


If you don't have some base, this program is not easy. Doing 3 Quality

run per week is really tiring and very prone to injury. Back off if

things back fire (this goes to me especially!)


Hope it help, Good luck!

Crank on.

P/S: Somehow, the table shows way way below, you reallly have to
scroll down to see it!

Week	Date	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total K per week	Comment
1	9/3	Rest	Tempo 6K5 Q2	Easy5K	Int 5X600m (1minRI) Q3	Easy5K	Rest	LongRun20K Q1	50
2	16/3	Rest	Tempo 8k Q2	Easy5K	Int 6X600m, (1minRI) Q3	Easy5K	Rest	LongRun22K Q1	55
3	23/3	Rest	Tempo 6K5 Q2	Easy5K	Int 7X600m (1minRI) Q3	Easy5K	Rest	LongRun25K Q1	55
4	30/3	Rest	Tempo 8K Q2	Easy5K	Int 8X600m (1minRI) Q3	Rest	Rest	LongRun27K Q1 *	55
5	6/4	Rest	Tempo 10K Q2	Easy5K	Int 4X800m (1:30minRI) Q3	Easy5K	Rest	LongRun22K Q1	55
6	13/4	Rest	Tempo 8K Q2	Easy5K	Int5X800m (1:30min RI) Q3	Rest	Rest	LongRun30K Q1 **	57
7	20/4	Rest	Tempo 10K Q2	Easy7K	Int6X800m (1min RI) Q3	Rest	Rest	Bidor 21K Q1	50
8	27/4	Rest	Tempo 6K5 Q2	Easy7K	Int 4X1200m (2minRI) Q3	Rest	Rest	LongRun27K Q1 *	57
9	4/5	Rest	Int 4X1200m (1:30minRI) Q3	Easy8K	LongRun20K Q1	Rest	Rest	Bomba 10K Q2	50
10	11/5	Rest	Int 4X1200m (1minRI)Q3	Easy8K	LongRun20K Q1	Rest	Rest	NB 15K Q2	55
11	18/5	Rest	Tempo 8K Q2	Easy5K	Int5X1200m (1minRI) Q3	Rest	Rest	LongRun30K Q1 **	57
12	25/5	Rest	Tempo 15K Q2	Easy7K	Int 4X1600m (1minRI) Q3	Easy5K	Rest	LongRun25K Q1	65
13	1/6	Rest	Tempo 8K Q2	Rest	Int 4X1600m (1minRI)Q3	Rest	Rest	32K longest long Run Q1 ***	55
14	8/6	Rest	Tempo 10K Q2	Rest	Int6X800m (1minRI) Q3	Rest	Rest	LongRun21K Q1	45
15	15/6	Rest	Tempo 5K Q3	Rest	Int6X800m (1minRI) Q1	Rest	Rest	15K Q2	30
16	22/6	Rest	Tempo 3K Q3	Rest	Int4X600m (1minRI) Q2	Rest	Rest	KLIM42K Q1	55

Be a Runner, Be a Better You!

I just talked my elder brother into signing up the 10k

race in the upcoming inaugural Standard Chartered KL Marathon,

which is going to be his first race ever.


For regular runners like most of us, running or racing

a 10Ker doesn't seem to be such a big deal, after all, we do

it all the time. However, we mustn't forget that signing up for the

first 10K or any race, is a huge leap forward in the journey

of SELF REALIZATION to being a runner.



In fact, it might be the very first step that kicks start

the transformation process that will eventually turn

one into a health fanatic from a coach potato, into a runner from a jogger,

or into one's own hero from a zero.


xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx



On reflection on my path of becoming a running, I think that the most

critical period for any success in running is the beginning stage.


This is the period that the habit of running has not been ingrained deeply into

one's life yet. Hence, this is the period that PERSISTENCE and CONSISTENCY
is needed most as one hasn't learned to enjoy running yet, in fact,

at this period, running could be likely a very tortouring act.


At this stage, it is likely that one can't run very far.

Don't worry!

Just run comfortably or take walk break if required.

It doesn't matter how long one could run at this stage, the key point is to run

everyday and slowly build up the duration of the run.

Forget about how far one can run, just concentrate on running for the time.

Be very patient!!!

Unless one is very fit to begin with, everyone else of the normal mortal

is likely to has inflicted some damage through years of abuse to the

body by practising things like smoking, drinking, overeating, etc.,

and it is not unusual that some time (sometime years) is needed

to undone all this damages.


Just go slow and steady! But never stop running!

Once running for a certain time daily becomes easier and more comfortable, increase the

duration of run slowly. Be particularly careful not to increase the duration of

the run too drastically, as it usually will lead to injury.


I couldn't stress more on the importance of PERSISTENCE AND CONSISTENCY.

Forgets about what others are telling, keep running everyday!

At this stage, if one could find an excuse not to run on a particular day,

one will find another reason not to run on the following day too.


The MAGIC bullet is not to make it an exception. Everyday is a running day

no matter what. Even when things are really tough and times are really rough,

force oneself for at least a 15 minutes run.

The point is not about the benefit of that 15 minutes run,

BUT OF NOT MAKING IT AN EXCEPTION OF NOT RUNNING!!!

BE COMPULSIVE!!!

BE OBSESSIVE!!!

xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

If one follows this and keeps running for a long enough period of time,

some strange things usually happen.

One starts ENJOYING the run!!!

Slowly and unconsciously, running will become the CLIMAX of the day.

It becomes something one really looking forward to while working,

attending meetings, doing chores, etc.

It becomes the most enjoyable activity of the day instead of a

punishing act as before.

It becomes one's friend that one relies on whole heartedly.

It gives one cheers and it makes one happy.

It becomes one's best companion as it is something

one can always fall back to when things doesn't seem to go one's way.

It becomes one's refuge when time get rough and things aren't right.

It becomes one's solid reason to refrain and abstain from

damaging substance like smoking and drinking.

It becomes everything that is good ....

All the sudden, one realizes that running is the best thing that happens

and it becomes one of the best attribute of one's characteristic.



xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx


Once one gets into the previous mentioned stage of running, running becomes one's

second nature. The identity of being a runner will slowly and definitely

takes precedence of everyhing else.

One starts relates oneself as a runner more than anything else, be it

a programmer, an engineer, or a chef.

One starts browsing all the running related sites on the web,

at the same time, transferring all those running books stored on the

local book store shelves home. In the process, not only one becomes

more knowledgable about running , but also becomes a far better

learner in all aspect of life.


One starts researching and experimenting on the different runs and workouts

that presumably would train the different exercise physiological systems.

The terminologies such as tempo run, interval, VO2max, lactate threshold,

cruise interval, recovery run, cruise tempo, fartlek, etc.,

that once sounds like a foreign language vocabularies eventually becomes familiar.


One starts eating a certain kind of food while avoiding others, all because one

hopes to shed off a few unwanted pounds, hopefully that will result

in finishing with a shinning PR the next time that one races.


One also starts going to bed early, skipping all those once faithfully followed

soup operas or late night super bowls, so that the body would recover faster

from the weary repititions of the evening's interval workout and thus

better ready for the next two day's grueling marathon pace long run.



One would abstain from any alcohol, sweet, ice cream, soda...

one would train and train endlessly...

one would dedicated a few years of perspiration and inspiration...

in fact, one would do any damn thing on earth just to hope that it

would give the body an slight edge so that the next race will be completed

in a few seconds faster.


xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx


And if one thinks that is all the package that comes together with running,

thinks again!!!


The ripple of changes seem to propagates to all aspect of life...


One tends to be more efficient at work and completes all assignments in

lighting-speed so that one could head out the door and hit the road before

dinner is served.


One becomes calmer and more tactful in dealing with stressful situations,

as one naturally avoids any conflicts and definitely stop creating

any, after all, isn't the marathon training already stressful enough,

who wants more?



Through a two-hour long run, one understands one's running patner far better

than one would from a whole night of dine and wine and bull. One values

and enjoys the commarderie of one's patner and becomes

a far better companion in return. Very soon, one

finds that one is surrounded by a whole gang of friends who share

one's interest and passion of running.


At the last few miles of the marathon, one starts digging deep

down into one's soul, searching for the revital source of energy

to would yet to push just another step, as the glycogen store

is fully depleted and the legs are long dead by then; during those miles,

one learns to be humble and realizes that there are things that are much

bigger, greater and more significant than oneself, and one has to

let go and start believing, as it is the faith in whatever above

oneself that would carry one through the agony of those late miles...



At this stage, one reach out and extends oneself not only on the physical

horizon, but also on the mental, emotional and spiritual dimension.


IT IS AT THIS STAGE THAT A BETTER ONESELF HAS EMERGED!

ONE BECOMES FASTER, STRONGER, FITTER, HEALTHIER, HAPPIER ....

ONE SIMPLY BECOMES A BETTER PERSON!!!!
But until then,


ONE HAS TO TAKE THE VERY FIRST STEP OF STARTING THE RUN OF TODAY.


Every journey of thousand miles begin and continues with the single

step that one takes at this moment.


xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx


Don't just sign up that 10K race and sit back doing nothing!

Let that upcoming race be the motivation to push both the mind and

the body to train hard.

Let that upcoming race be the beacon of light that keep life into perspective

and on the right track.

Let that upcoming race be a goal of today and the benchmark of future performance.

Let that race day becomes the D-DAY that is aimed at today, and let it the

the GLORY day that would be remembered in the distant future.






NOW,


LACE THAT SHOE and

GET your ass ON THAT MILL

or

GET OUT OF that damn DOOR

and


BE A RUNNER! BE A BETTER YOU!




Crank on.

645

Today my magic number is 645.

645!!!

Every moment this number crossed my mind,

or mumbled in my mouth, I broke into a

smile, with sense of pride and deep satisfaction aroused.

645!!!

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx


645 it is! Or rather it is 6:45!

It is the time that I completed my second 1600m time trial on Sunday evening.

Never mind the fact that I know someone out there could do it in

less than 4 minutes, and never mind that some fast runners out there will

burst into thunderous laughter when they read Mill-Runner clocked a 645 mile

and still make it sounds like big deal.

BUT 645 IS MY TIME, and it is darn relevant to me.

And above all, I am proud of it!!!



xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx



If you asked me before how fast I could run a mile, honestly,

I have no idea. I ran 10 marathons, many halfs, 10Kers and 5Kers,

but never had I have a chance to run a 1600m (BTW, a mile is 1609.34m,

or you could think of it as 1.61k, just about 10 meters more than the

distance covered in 4 standard track laps. I know that the .01K isn't

much, but you know how loony an obsessive runner can be about

getting the EXACT distance. Well, if I run the 1600m in 6:45,

then it would have cost me another 2 seconds to cover that extra 10 meters,

and it means I would have run a 6:47mile instead).


This 6:45 1600m was actually my second attempt of the distance.

My first attempt dated few weeks ago when I suddenly decided

to give track running a try. On the first day running on

the oval, I have done a 5K time trial. It was a very hot morning

(frankly, I overslept and was doing that 5Ker at about 10:30am,

and in a tropical country like Malaysia, the sun is blazing hot

by then). That was a really torturing 5ker, and for some moments,

I wasn't even sure I could complete that. I ended up

a 24:45 for the 5ker, somewhat a minute slower than planned.



After the recovery, the obsessive part of me kicked in again, and

I started doing another 4 laps of time trial, and not surprising,

with a disappointing 7:21.


From then onwards, I always wondered if I could break 7:00 if the

weather wasn't that hot and/or I haven't tired myself first with the

5ker time trial before the mile trial.



xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx


Yesterday, while I brought along my sons running on the track,

I decided to give the mile another try. After the warm up( I am

not sure the last lap of the warm up could be classified as warm up,

as I was running it way way faster than a warm up run should

have been, I did it in 1:34), I started the first lap with a goal of

breaking the 7:00.


I knew that I supposed to be able to break that 7:00

as McMillan Calculator predicted 6:50, but I haven't done it before

and I was keen to know whether I could actually do it.


xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx


The first lap didn't feel as easy as it should have been and it was

alarming. I could feel that my legs were heavier than usual

after that stupid 1:34 'warm up' lap. My confidence started shattering.

I was holding back after the second straight of the first lap and

split a 1:47 for the first lap, somewhat 2 seconds slower

than the 1:45 planned split.


Having fall short by 2 seconds, I knew that I needed to give

a harder effort or the 700 was gone forever. I picked up the

pace while held it under control. The second lap was hard alright,

but still comfortable and I split an exact 1:45.


Now came the fierce third lap. This is the lap that make or

break the 700. It is also the lap that the urge to slowdown

or quit altogether raises its ugly head.

This is the lap that testifies the determination, that is

the lap that defines me... THIS IS THE LAP!


I knew it was going to be a TOUGH lap.


From the Polar HRM log, my HR long ago crossed the 175 boarder

line. I started to feel the tightness on my chess. My legs

were dead, and worst of all, I knew I have at least another lap to go.


I mumbled my mantra "IT SUPPOSE TO BE PAINFUL, IT SUPPOSE TO BE HARD ..."


While enduring the fatique, I clocked a 1:41 for the

third and I knew that the 7:00 was secured.


The last lap was always torturing (if it wasn't, then I am

surely not giving my best), but it was also so close to the finish

that I keep telling myself " almost there, almost there ... ".


I could still remember the sprint that I did on the last straight

of the last lap. I was clearly leaving all out on the track and

GIVING MY BEST SHOT.

When I pressed the big RED button on the watch,

it showed 1:32 and a total time of 6:45!!!

YES, I did it!!!

Not only did I broke the 700, but I surpassed McMillan prediction

by 5 seconds. And immediately, the sense of pride, the

bliss of happiness rushed through the vein and lasted even

till now.


xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx


While I was typing this on the PC, I could felt the constant pain of

my right gluteus, and my right plantar were sore as hell while

I walked the first step (obviously, that 645 1600m has aggravated

my nagging injuries, another evidence proving how silly

an obsessive runner can be). But the moment I typed in a 645,

a smile cracked and lingered on my lips...


xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx


Now, while I endure the pain on the butt and heel, I keep wondering how fast

I can run the mile if I haven't run that 1:34 warm up lap, or

I haven't done that 12Ker the morning before the mile time trial.


Better still, how fast I can run the mile if I properly train

for it and successfully getting rid of all nagging

injuries and taper sufficiently.


While I wonder on the possibility of a 630, my eyes gaze far

across the oceans into the 6min mile....


Crank on.