Confucius, the most well known scholar in China, once said: "Do not intend
to be too quick. And do not fix eyes on small benefits. Intending to be
quicker, you won't get where you want. Fixing your eyes on small benefits,
you won't be able to handle a big task."
"无欲速，无见小利。欲速则不达，见小利则大事不成."
---------------------------------
Practice your breathing, fully inhaling, fully exhaling in water
Practice your elongated body position
Practice not wiggling and engaging your core
Practice anchoring onto the water with an early catch
Practice pulling slow, then accelerating through the pull
Practice pulling with your back muscles and core
Practice kicking small
Practice body rotation from hip
Practice keeping the wrist and forearm firm
Practice keeping a weightless, effortless and fully extended arm in front.
Practice smooth transition from pull to pull
Practice relaxed recovery
Practice cutting a hole as you recover the hand into the water again
Practice coordinating your 2 beat kicks with each pull and rotation
Practice swimming slow.
Practice moving through the water quickly and effortlessly.
Practice to be like a whale.
Practice practicing.
Cheers
KK
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Training, our direction.
Dear Team,
Our training is finally set off again, after a crazy short race season of Singapore Biathlon, Osim Triathlon, then Tribob Triathlon!
As far as I'm concerned, I believe we've toned down quite enough and instilled quite a fair bit of intellectual stuffs into our training. I firmly believe this is what base training/off season is about.. picking up new techniques and polishing rusty tools and minds.. :)
Am really glad to have new people joining, slowly the group is growing and I believe in time to come, its going to get large! Then we're gonna have sub coaches and also dfferent training squads! It is something I'd hope for but don't wish to purposely advertise for. Reason is I'd rather let those interested come to me than to drag people's feet to our training. Reason is simple, those who're truly interested will come, And stay.. those who're not will leave no matter the cost, no matter the value of the training can bring. :)
As you can see from last training session, we're slowly migrating from pure drills teaching to what we'd call drill-swims... I'd call them Practices, not really training. At this instance, base mileage is a by product of our drills and drill-swim execution... not the primary concern at all.
And the least important thing to think of, will be your timing.
We take timing of laps now to see how well you can maintain your stroke integrity, not how fast you can swim. We take timing to have a feel of how it is like to push the stroke integrity to its limit before it breaks, and then see how fast you can do without allowing the breakdown to occur. All these are good pointers and guidance for oneself..
I personally find that Time Trial of 1.5km swims or even 100m is rather useless at this point of time that our strokes are not mature.
We have to look much further in front to realize that we'll eventually venture into the anaerobic region of swims and there'll be time when you'd feel that you can't feel your arms anymore, the lungs are bursting and your heart is raging like the beats in a digital techno dance mix, the sound of the heartbeat literally blasting in your ears as you swim on.
If we don't take the time now to make swimming correctly automatic, I'd bet 1 million bucks that you won't be thinking about straightening your body straight with pukes near your throat as you wack that 12th x 100m in Race pace.
Solution? You need to practice them now, and make them AUTOMATIC.
Yes, some fish like pple trains up to 4 or 5km ALL season, for EVERYONE, and its definitely ego boosting to say to your mate "Hey, I did 20x 100, and then 500m TT, and then a pyramid of 100-200-300-400-500-400-300-200-100 etc... Cool down was 1000m!".. Gosh.. big numbers. But really, how many times are you wielding those arms through the water with no efficiency? Its scary to think abt how the stroke rate can increase as the mileage adds up with no primary drilling of good stroke technique.
The time comes when during the race, people clocks 33mins for swim and came out huffing and puffing whilst I clock 33mins too and came up feeling ready to go for another 3km swim.
The time comes when people like marianne, lawrence and sam came out of water and do their first biathlon finishing with a smile despite not training much for the run unlike me and ryan.
I'd anytime give that ego and pride to anyone who wants and tell them "I did 8x50m last night in training and none of them are speed work." if that is what it takes to feel strong out of water. That is what multisport is about, or rather, specifically, multisport with swim as the start is about.".
With that, I beg of all of you to be patient with me. I will help each and everyone of US (me included) to be the best triathlon swimmer that we can be.
Cheers
KK
PS - Can you please comment in this post what is the next race you intend to do? And the date. I need to know, so I can plan the future training program direction.
Thanks.
Our training is finally set off again, after a crazy short race season of Singapore Biathlon, Osim Triathlon, then Tribob Triathlon!
As far as I'm concerned, I believe we've toned down quite enough and instilled quite a fair bit of intellectual stuffs into our training. I firmly believe this is what base training/off season is about.. picking up new techniques and polishing rusty tools and minds.. :)
Am really glad to have new people joining, slowly the group is growing and I believe in time to come, its going to get large! Then we're gonna have sub coaches and also dfferent training squads! It is something I'd hope for but don't wish to purposely advertise for. Reason is I'd rather let those interested come to me than to drag people's feet to our training. Reason is simple, those who're truly interested will come, And stay.. those who're not will leave no matter the cost, no matter the value of the training can bring. :)
As you can see from last training session, we're slowly migrating from pure drills teaching to what we'd call drill-swims... I'd call them Practices, not really training. At this instance, base mileage is a by product of our drills and drill-swim execution... not the primary concern at all.
And the least important thing to think of, will be your timing.
We take timing of laps now to see how well you can maintain your stroke integrity, not how fast you can swim. We take timing to have a feel of how it is like to push the stroke integrity to its limit before it breaks, and then see how fast you can do without allowing the breakdown to occur. All these are good pointers and guidance for oneself..
I personally find that Time Trial of 1.5km swims or even 100m is rather useless at this point of time that our strokes are not mature.
We have to look much further in front to realize that we'll eventually venture into the anaerobic region of swims and there'll be time when you'd feel that you can't feel your arms anymore, the lungs are bursting and your heart is raging like the beats in a digital techno dance mix, the sound of the heartbeat literally blasting in your ears as you swim on.
If we don't take the time now to make swimming correctly automatic, I'd bet 1 million bucks that you won't be thinking about straightening your body straight with pukes near your throat as you wack that 12th x 100m in Race pace.
Solution? You need to practice them now, and make them AUTOMATIC.
Yes, some fish like pple trains up to 4 or 5km ALL season, for EVERYONE, and its definitely ego boosting to say to your mate "Hey, I did 20x 100, and then 500m TT, and then a pyramid of 100-200-300-400-500-400-300-200-100 etc... Cool down was 1000m!".. Gosh.. big numbers. But really, how many times are you wielding those arms through the water with no efficiency? Its scary to think abt how the stroke rate can increase as the mileage adds up with no primary drilling of good stroke technique.
The time comes when during the race, people clocks 33mins for swim and came out huffing and puffing whilst I clock 33mins too and came up feeling ready to go for another 3km swim.
The time comes when people like marianne, lawrence and sam came out of water and do their first biathlon finishing with a smile despite not training much for the run unlike me and ryan.
I'd anytime give that ego and pride to anyone who wants and tell them "I did 8x50m last night in training and none of them are speed work." if that is what it takes to feel strong out of water. That is what multisport is about, or rather, specifically, multisport with swim as the start is about.".
With that, I beg of all of you to be patient with me. I will help each and everyone of US (me included) to be the best triathlon swimmer that we can be.
Cheers
KK
PS - Can you please comment in this post what is the next race you intend to do? And the date. I need to know, so I can plan the future training program direction.
Thanks.
A post for the parents and "old" ppl who thinks swimming are for the young guns.
Swim Safer:
Achievement Based versus Skill set based training.
Fitness training is the adaptation of one's physical body to a training over time.
Skill mastery is the mastery of a practice that allows the body to perform an act with minimum energy used, and thus ability to efficiently utilize the energy reserves of one self.
Training for an achievement, i.e. to cover long distance swim (400m to 1.5km), is possible even for someone with bad techniques, it is just a matter of energy cost.
Remember the initial reason of sending your kids to a swim class?
Is it to gain the skill of swimming and thus ability to survive in times of a water emergency?
Or is it really about the awards?
Those of you who said both, which is more important? No matter what the replies are, I've met enough parents who cares only about how many certificates the kids have and can get. As if the certificates can help you to float when you're drowning.
A skill set based program provides the flexibility and advantage of the child not being laden by the urge to get a certificate for the sake of getting it.. It dismissed the idea of swimming endless laps just to "clock base mileage" in order to swim fast enough in the 100m pyjamas swim (really, what's the point in this? Are you going to race in it?).. I understand that one has to swim out of the radius from a sunken ship to prevent oneself from being sucked into the whirlpool created by it.. but really, you go to cruise in pyjamas? Even a 6 yrs old boy asked me that.
It refocused the idea of a swim class to one that allows the kid to have fun, and really understand and learn what is of good use in times of emergency.
It teaches the kid to learn how to effectively use his own energy to the fullest potential to survive in times of emergency.. through the focal point of mastering effective swim strokes with good techniques.
The older people who swam 30 laps in the morning and still yak away happily will honestly tell you that swimming is an effortless business. Those who don't know how to swim would tell you they can run 42km but can't swim 50m of freestyle.. is it about the numbers (42<50) or is it really they're missing some magic?
Firstly, we need to acknowledge that resistance in water increases exponentially to the Force Applied By You! And since every single movement in the water is against resistance, we have to know how to apply the force in the correct direction so that the result of the force applied will be causing you to move in your desired direction!
Secondly, we have to acknowledge swimming is really about the body positioning, not about how strong one is (again, the energy cost issue).. I've seen small boys and girls doing 60seconds freestyle laps effortlessly.. but they can't even carry the 10kg rice bag the daddy could.. oh, and the daddy swims more than 2mins a lap. Magical?
The position of the body of a person in the water, determines the direction of the force applied by the limbs of that person. Imagine doing a breast stroke kick with the body upright in the water.. you'd be pushing the water down.. so how can you be moving forward when you're pushing the water down? Angle the body diagonally to the surface and continue doing breast stroke kick, and you'd be bobbing up and moving forward slowly..
Try to place the body to a levelled position in the water, horizontal and parallel to the floor, and kick backwards... Now, the kick will be pushing backwards and you will be moving forward without bobbing up or down!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Honestly, who brought your kids to swim lesson and see that the teacher shares about deep breathing and exhaling completely? Or does the teacher just say "Do 50 bubbles, 100 bubbles, or even just "Go Do Your Bubbling" ?
Even for adults, without explanation on how to perform breathing properly, one would often hyperventilate, hold breathes in the water and exhale/inhale in an explosive manner. All of which causes a tension in the chest (known as thoracic pressure) and thus causes the whole swimming deal to be superbly tiring as the distance/effort increases.
How can we expect something not explained to the kids but asked to perform, to be realized through endless practice of struggles?
All in all, i believe that swimming should be tireless. As coaches, we Need to realize that as the child grow up, the size of the child increases, so does the strength. So if we do not instill a good body posture and reasoning of why a good level position is needed right now when he's a small child, then when he grows up, the amount of resistance and difficulty he's going to face is going to multiple folds (remember that resistance in water increases exponentially with the force applied by Oneself. Resistance also increases as you grow bigger in terms of surface area).
Now we remember that some adults will say "i can swim 30laps last time when i'm like 6 to 10 yrs old ok!.. but now Old already la.. cannot even swim 3 laps continuously..".. then they'd dismiss the thought as
1) they're not fit enough
2) theyr'e Old already
It is true that one's fitness has parts to do with the distance swimmable.. but it is only minute. With proper stroke techniques, breathing techniques and relaxation techniques, even 60 yrs old uncle can do a 7.5km swim (Mr Chong is my friend.) and emerge from the water smiling and feeling like he can do another round.
I hope this post intrigues parents and adults to realize what is good for their child and also that swimming can indeed be effortless.
Cheers
KK
Achievement Based versus Skill set based training.
Fitness training is the adaptation of one's physical body to a training over time.
Skill mastery is the mastery of a practice that allows the body to perform an act with minimum energy used, and thus ability to efficiently utilize the energy reserves of one self.
Training for an achievement, i.e. to cover long distance swim (400m to 1.5km), is possible even for someone with bad techniques, it is just a matter of energy cost.
Remember the initial reason of sending your kids to a swim class?
Is it to gain the skill of swimming and thus ability to survive in times of a water emergency?
Or is it really about the awards?
Those of you who said both, which is more important? No matter what the replies are, I've met enough parents who cares only about how many certificates the kids have and can get. As if the certificates can help you to float when you're drowning.
A skill set based program provides the flexibility and advantage of the child not being laden by the urge to get a certificate for the sake of getting it.. It dismissed the idea of swimming endless laps just to "clock base mileage" in order to swim fast enough in the 100m pyjamas swim (really, what's the point in this? Are you going to race in it?).. I understand that one has to swim out of the radius from a sunken ship to prevent oneself from being sucked into the whirlpool created by it.. but really, you go to cruise in pyjamas? Even a 6 yrs old boy asked me that.
It refocused the idea of a swim class to one that allows the kid to have fun, and really understand and learn what is of good use in times of emergency.
It teaches the kid to learn how to effectively use his own energy to the fullest potential to survive in times of emergency.. through the focal point of mastering effective swim strokes with good techniques.
The older people who swam 30 laps in the morning and still yak away happily will honestly tell you that swimming is an effortless business. Those who don't know how to swim would tell you they can run 42km but can't swim 50m of freestyle.. is it about the numbers (42<50) or is it really they're missing some magic?
Firstly, we need to acknowledge that resistance in water increases exponentially to the Force Applied By You! And since every single movement in the water is against resistance, we have to know how to apply the force in the correct direction so that the result of the force applied will be causing you to move in your desired direction!
Secondly, we have to acknowledge swimming is really about the body positioning, not about how strong one is (again, the energy cost issue).. I've seen small boys and girls doing 60seconds freestyle laps effortlessly.. but they can't even carry the 10kg rice bag the daddy could.. oh, and the daddy swims more than 2mins a lap. Magical?
The position of the body of a person in the water, determines the direction of the force applied by the limbs of that person. Imagine doing a breast stroke kick with the body upright in the water.. you'd be pushing the water down.. so how can you be moving forward when you're pushing the water down? Angle the body diagonally to the surface and continue doing breast stroke kick, and you'd be bobbing up and moving forward slowly..
Try to place the body to a levelled position in the water, horizontal and parallel to the floor, and kick backwards... Now, the kick will be pushing backwards and you will be moving forward without bobbing up or down!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Honestly, who brought your kids to swim lesson and see that the teacher shares about deep breathing and exhaling completely? Or does the teacher just say "Do 50 bubbles, 100 bubbles, or even just "Go Do Your Bubbling" ?
Even for adults, without explanation on how to perform breathing properly, one would often hyperventilate, hold breathes in the water and exhale/inhale in an explosive manner. All of which causes a tension in the chest (known as thoracic pressure) and thus causes the whole swimming deal to be superbly tiring as the distance/effort increases.
How can we expect something not explained to the kids but asked to perform, to be realized through endless practice of struggles?
All in all, i believe that swimming should be tireless. As coaches, we Need to realize that as the child grow up, the size of the child increases, so does the strength. So if we do not instill a good body posture and reasoning of why a good level position is needed right now when he's a small child, then when he grows up, the amount of resistance and difficulty he's going to face is going to multiple folds (remember that resistance in water increases exponentially with the force applied by Oneself. Resistance also increases as you grow bigger in terms of surface area).
Now we remember that some adults will say "i can swim 30laps last time when i'm like 6 to 10 yrs old ok!.. but now Old already la.. cannot even swim 3 laps continuously..".. then they'd dismiss the thought as
1) they're not fit enough
2) theyr'e Old already
It is true that one's fitness has parts to do with the distance swimmable.. but it is only minute. With proper stroke techniques, breathing techniques and relaxation techniques, even 60 yrs old uncle can do a 7.5km swim (Mr Chong is my friend.) and emerge from the water smiling and feeling like he can do another round.
I hope this post intrigues parents and adults to realize what is good for their child and also that swimming can indeed be effortless.
Cheers
KK
Thursday, May 13, 2010
THOUGHTS, LOTS OF THEM.
The focus on drills.
I'm sure some of you will be having these thoughts in your mind. Especally those who never started right at the beginning and whom I never shared the focal point of training in my perspective before.
1) Looking at "Dear Fish"'s training and also other swim squad, why am I doing WAY lower mileage than them? They're doing like 5km?! Tonight's training is only 0.7km!
2) Why the heck am I doing all the kicking when I should be using arm pulls to move myself through the water?
3) Speed work, speed work, SPEED WORK?! WHERE ARE THEY?!?!?!?!
4) Can these hundred meters worth of drills really bring me through 1.5km of swim, or even 750?!----------------------------
Firstly allow me to explain:
Theoretically, swimming is a type of cardio workout. Which means it has to be done _Continuously, in a rhythmic manner. JUst like walking, running and cycling.
When we look at the motion of swimming from as general a point as it can be as a form of workout. It is just moving the arms, legs and body continuously and breathing continuously to facilitate the production of energy so that the movement of arms and legs and body can be continued.
SO WHY? Why are most people finding that swimming a lap of 50m is more difficult than running 50minutes when 50m is at most (even for the guy with lousiest techniques) a 5minutes affair?
Reason 1:
Movement in water comes with resistance. Resistance increases in cubic form against the amount of force applied BY YOU.
IE: Those of you who're feeling like you can't even finish 1 lap of kicking, you're kicking too hard. Note that the AMOUNT OF FORCE is applied by YOU. And there IS a minimum amount of force you can apply to help you move in the direction you desired.. Who are really focusing on using really THE BARE MINIMUM.. and who are focusing on "HOW COME I'M NOT MOVING? KICK HARDER! PULL HARDER!"...
Without the ability to consciously control the amount of force you apply means you tense up different parts of your body that aren't needed and thus causing the amount of oxygen consumed to be way above minimum with regards to the amount of force you ought to be using to solely move yourself forward.
Also, without the ability to control how much force you are applying, means you are probably always applying more force than you thought you really are to move yourself forward.
Reason 2:
When you run, and cycle, you can adopt a rhythmic breathing and increase/decrease the frequency AND volume of breathes for anytime and anywhere you need/want to. During a run and cycle, that can be done WITHOUT THE NEED OF A CHANGE IN BODY POSITION.
- Stay in that fucking aerobar position and wack til you puke your lungs out, you can still breathe without moving your arms or body.
- Run til you puke your heart out, your head is still upright and there is NO rotation of any sort from your face direction to disrupt/help your breathing.
But in swim, you can Only breathe when you turn your face up and out of water.
Reason 3:
Drag in water.
Please refer to:
3 forms of drag in water
-------------------------
With the above said, let me answer those queries with further explanation below:
Why aren't we doing 5km of FREESTYLE swim?
1) All of us (yes myself included) have flaws in our swim stroke.
2) Swimming is a habit based exercise. If you build good habits, every stroke you take is good, if you build bad habits, every stroke you take is slogging.
3) Drills are repetition of a small portion of a good stroke.
Now with the above 3 points. Lets take my own stroke count for example. Each lap I take 50 strokes, and inevitably when I tire out, I will be using more and more. Lets be generous and optimistic that I am SUPERB in my stroke integrity and I never increase any stroke count throughout the whole swim (My dream.).
So in 5km of swim, there is 100 laps.
Thus stroke counts in total for that practice session of 5km will be: 50x100 = 5000 strokes.
In order to prove that we humans are creature of habit, you can try saying "milk" for 5000 times, then ask your son or friend to ask you "what does cow drink?"
Answer immediately without more than 2 seconds of thinking. You'll definitely reply "milk".
You can try "shit" too. It'll still work.
That test proves that when you do one thing repetitively for so many times at one go, you'll remember it and whether you can apply it in the correct situation or not, it is not guaranteed.
That also means, whether you're practicing the correct stroke, great, you got a 5000x practice of correct FREESTYLE SWIM STROKE. But if you flip the table over and you'll soon notice that IF you're practicing the WRONG STROKE then GREAT, you'd have practiced 5000x of WRONG technique and according to a physiological research, it takes 300 strict, perfect practice continuously to build a new habit, it takes 3000 to correct a bad one.
Look at yourself when you swim, and think how efficient you are with the timing you get for the 10 laps swim and also the stroke counts you're doing. Then think about what I've just mentioned above, I hope that answers the first question as to why aren't we doing 5km swim right now at this moment.
If you need a even more exaggerating example, try 100cad/min for cycling. Do that for 3hrs straight with BAD revolution (toes pointed at the end, only mashing the pedal down with no up pulls from alternate legs...).. So by the end of 3 hrs, you'd have done 3x60x100 which is 18000 Rev of bad practice! WOW. :)
--------------------------
Next question:
Why are we doing all the kicks with no arm pulls? -- Tips: wanna swim like the pros? learn from the pros. Phelps? Thorpes? Nope. Learn from the Whales.
Again, refer to the efficiency of swimming defined.
So streamlining is THE SOLE KEY to moving more effortlessly through water. Being streamline is like being aerodynamic. To maintain a fixed front cross section as you punch a hole through the water/air so that there is lesser disruption AROUND you.
They're similar in the way you should achieve that result, just that the significance in water is amplified 1000x since water is 1000x more dense than air. You can pedal at 45kph and allow the bike to sway from side to side when you stand up and pump the sprint on a bike and you'll still be able to hit above watever the speed you're doing before you stand and pump the bike side to side.
In water, once you break out of that streamline position, you'd be slowed down IMMEDIATELY and the lost of momentum will cause the hips to sink and then the legs will sink even more. And with the frontal resistance coming from the legs moving through the water in a sunken manner, you'd be left with 2 options:
1) Kick harder to get your legs up --- but, how long can you last with those crazy kicks?
2) Use your technique/finesse. Press the chest down and relax to help the hip to float up to the surface again.
----------> Side track, let us review the body shape of a fish.
It has NO ARMS/LEGS/NECK. It only has ONE PIECE of body. And it moves via side undulation of the body (similar to side butterfly kick).
Small fishes are like that and they move fast, large ones like whales too, are like that. So does that mean that whales (BIG SPERM WHALES) need to generate A LOT OF POWER/TORQUE to move forward?
Scientist actually found that the whales generate very very little power to move forward. In fact, they are well known to be able to dive for 2hrs flat without breathing. FYI, Whales (as mammals) need to breathe outside of water, like us with our nose, so they can't breathe underwater. How can that be possible? Only through very very little effort and thus minimized usage of oxygen and also the forward movement is only possible with a streamlined body that causes minimum drag in ratio to minimum power generated.
Click for information about whales
So, with that said, we humans have so many joints (neck, arms x 2, hips x 2, knees x 2). Control the hips and knees to be constantly behind our shoulder width is already a problem when you swim without the arms. Just imagine when you add the arms in front of your body to disrupt the streamline position even more. The amount of power generated with your arms will no doubt make you feel strong because we're always working with our arms. However, the amount of drag that you can possible create with the addition of arms are just way too much in the exchange.
Last but not least, remember that the whales can move by using minimum amount of oxygen.. so we must learn too to conserve our energy.. and use the minimum amount of energy to move our body. And in order for that to happen, we must first learn to keep the head to toes (without our arms in front) as one piece just like a fish.
Once you know how to do that, you'll be able to swim much more easily when you add your arm strokes in slowly. I can do a session of 2km of the drills i taught you without ANY stops. Thats both a testament to how strong my kick is and also more importantly, how I can already control my exertion when I'm tired to recover from the hard kicks and continue in the session without stopping. And when I conserve my energy in my kick (ie kick gently) I can still move forward with ease.. because of my streamlining.
------------------------------
Next... Why no speed work?
If you haven't noticed, I've already introduced speedwork into tonight's training. The Power Butterfly vertical kicks are Plyometric exercises. Which means they redlines your heart. 100% heart rate. They're anaerobic. If not, how come you can run 2 hrs but you pant like a small kid running a marathon the first time after 5 power fly kicks?
Like I've explained, swimming is not about using the arms to wield yourself forward. The arms are merely anchors that hold on to a point in water and allow you to rotate your body forward through the water. The rotation comes from your hip and core muscles. Which is why I ask of you to do fly kicks and rotation drills.
If you've paid attention and see the sharp rotation movements I did in the water.. That is the source of power I tap from when I swim, whatever the distance, whatever the effort.
Remember, in swim, Power must come with Control. If you can rotate your upper torso quickly but your legs are still dangling in the opposite direction then you'd be better off turning a little slower and maintaining the streamlining position.
The velocity of your swim will come when the control of your body heightens. The speed at which you're able to move your arms/legs/body separately through the water has absolutely no significance to how fast you will actually move through the water. It is how fast you can move your arms, legs AND body together as one piece through the water that counts.
With that, I answer the qn with: "Speed is relative here. And irrelevant to a certain context. Be aware of how fast your body move through the water, not how fast you flail your legs and arms because they might just be getting ZERO work done. I.E pushing against a wall."
-------------------------------
Last question, can these 100m of drills bring me through 750m or swim?!
Lets go back to the previous general definition of swim. What is a swim again?
Yes Vincent, that's right, a Cardio workout. ALL of you in the swim are definitely able to run non stop for at least 1hr.
So, a 750m swim can take like 30 minutes (i've never had a student went for any competition clocking more than 25minutes for 750 by the way.) at MAX? So lets be generous BUT PESSIMISTIC THIS TIME ROUND... 1.5KM should be abt 1 hr (double of 750 la?) if you're DAMN FUCKING JIALAT.
So, giving that equivalent aspect of swim as a cardio workout, can you do a 1hr, 1.5km swim?
The heart and lungs already said yes.
What about the physical muscle aspect? Yes you can. If you master the Control over your exertion and also your body positioning.
More importantly, without the concern over how fast you want to complete the swim... You will be able to do a 1hr swim as long as you can control the amount of force you exert and when you need to relax, you can do so without tensing up.
Remember: Resistance is cubic times the amount of force YOU APPLY. So if you go through the swim applying VERY VERY little amount of force.. you'd be pushing against very very little resistance (for your arms) and thus technically, you'll be able to do that for an hr...
Need a proof? Since the amount of force applied is very very small, it ought to be smaller than the power used for pushing off your 60kg body off the floor for (90cad/min for an hr) 3600 times right? So if you can do the latter, why can't the swim?
------> So jokes and examples aside..
With those drills, you'll be able to learn how to control your body properly And with short and small portions, you'll be able to practice only the purest form of correct technique** and with only one aspect to think of per lap, you'll be able to focus and get it done right quickly. If you can spare 1 hr of time swimming aimless ly in the pool doing 1000strokes of practice, why can't you put your mind into practice for the same number of strokes or lesser?
**That sentence applies differently for individuals. It all depends on how strict you are to yourself.. if you don't pay attention and are just there to clock mileage, then expect even my 10yr old kids to swim faster than you even if you can pedal 50kph for 1 hr.. I have this national cyclist boy but he can't swim for nuts.. am still waiting for his return to training.)..
Ask sam if its a truth that my 10 yr olds are swimming way better than most of you in the squad.. she see them every week when she teach with me. Its ALL about technique at this level.. not the strength or speed.
--------------------------------
Finally, I know the way I write here is a lot like boasting and its fucking straight "IN YOUR FACE" kind.. but put hard feelings aside and notice that I am merely stating facts that occurs and can knock us out of our comfort zone to REALIZE what is going on in the world of swimming. I am facing MEN right here and I myself too know how ego and pride can hurt my performance when it just shut the ears and eyes of an advice that goes against my common practice. Not good at all for optimum performance.
The only way to improvement is to humble ourselves and learn continuously even if you're a coach. Because before you become a coach, the knowledge all comes from the coach before you.. and the knowledge of THAT coach comes from HIS coach. Thus all in all, it is a very limited range of discussion... Always have an open mind even if you're the best cyclist in the world. Even though what you said make sense.. but it doesn't mean that what other pple say are all nonsense. there's always a way to apply something whether in a good way or bad way... I hope with this post, we open our perception to greater heights and also the understanding to swimming to a different level.
Cheers
Coach KK
I'm sure some of you will be having these thoughts in your mind. Especally those who never started right at the beginning and whom I never shared the focal point of training in my perspective before.
1) Looking at "Dear Fish"'s training and also other swim squad, why am I doing WAY lower mileage than them? They're doing like 5km?! Tonight's training is only 0.7km!
2) Why the heck am I doing all the kicking when I should be using arm pulls to move myself through the water?
3) Speed work, speed work, SPEED WORK?! WHERE ARE THEY?!?!?!?!
4) Can these hundred meters worth of drills really bring me through 1.5km of swim, or even 750?!----------------------------
Firstly allow me to explain:
Theoretically, swimming is a type of cardio workout. Which means it has to be done _Continuously, in a rhythmic manner. JUst like walking, running and cycling.
When we look at the motion of swimming from as general a point as it can be as a form of workout. It is just moving the arms, legs and body continuously and breathing continuously to facilitate the production of energy so that the movement of arms and legs and body can be continued.
SO WHY? Why are most people finding that swimming a lap of 50m is more difficult than running 50minutes when 50m is at most (even for the guy with lousiest techniques) a 5minutes affair?
Reason 1:
Movement in water comes with resistance. Resistance increases in cubic form against the amount of force applied BY YOU.
IE: Those of you who're feeling like you can't even finish 1 lap of kicking, you're kicking too hard. Note that the AMOUNT OF FORCE is applied by YOU. And there IS a minimum amount of force you can apply to help you move in the direction you desired.. Who are really focusing on using really THE BARE MINIMUM.. and who are focusing on "HOW COME I'M NOT MOVING? KICK HARDER! PULL HARDER!"...
Without the ability to consciously control the amount of force you apply means you tense up different parts of your body that aren't needed and thus causing the amount of oxygen consumed to be way above minimum with regards to the amount of force you ought to be using to solely move yourself forward.
Also, without the ability to control how much force you are applying, means you are probably always applying more force than you thought you really are to move yourself forward.
Reason 2:
When you run, and cycle, you can adopt a rhythmic breathing and increase/decrease the frequency AND volume of breathes for anytime and anywhere you need/want to. During a run and cycle, that can be done WITHOUT THE NEED OF A CHANGE IN BODY POSITION.
- Stay in that fucking aerobar position and wack til you puke your lungs out, you can still breathe without moving your arms or body.
- Run til you puke your heart out, your head is still upright and there is NO rotation of any sort from your face direction to disrupt/help your breathing.
But in swim, you can Only breathe when you turn your face up and out of water.
Reason 3:
Drag in water.
Please refer to:
3 forms of drag in water
-------------------------
With the above said, let me answer those queries with further explanation below:
Why aren't we doing 5km of FREESTYLE swim?
1) All of us (yes myself included) have flaws in our swim stroke.
2) Swimming is a habit based exercise. If you build good habits, every stroke you take is good, if you build bad habits, every stroke you take is slogging.
3) Drills are repetition of a small portion of a good stroke.
Now with the above 3 points. Lets take my own stroke count for example. Each lap I take 50 strokes, and inevitably when I tire out, I will be using more and more. Lets be generous and optimistic that I am SUPERB in my stroke integrity and I never increase any stroke count throughout the whole swim (My dream.).
So in 5km of swim, there is 100 laps.
Thus stroke counts in total for that practice session of 5km will be: 50x100 = 5000 strokes.
In order to prove that we humans are creature of habit, you can try saying "milk" for 5000 times, then ask your son or friend to ask you "what does cow drink?"
Answer immediately without more than 2 seconds of thinking. You'll definitely reply "milk".
You can try "shit" too. It'll still work.
That test proves that when you do one thing repetitively for so many times at one go, you'll remember it and whether you can apply it in the correct situation or not, it is not guaranteed.
That also means, whether you're practicing the correct stroke, great, you got a 5000x practice of correct FREESTYLE SWIM STROKE. But if you flip the table over and you'll soon notice that IF you're practicing the WRONG STROKE then GREAT, you'd have practiced 5000x of WRONG technique and according to a physiological research, it takes 300 strict, perfect practice continuously to build a new habit, it takes 3000 to correct a bad one.
Look at yourself when you swim, and think how efficient you are with the timing you get for the 10 laps swim and also the stroke counts you're doing. Then think about what I've just mentioned above, I hope that answers the first question as to why aren't we doing 5km swim right now at this moment.
If you need a even more exaggerating example, try 100cad/min for cycling. Do that for 3hrs straight with BAD revolution (toes pointed at the end, only mashing the pedal down with no up pulls from alternate legs...).. So by the end of 3 hrs, you'd have done 3x60x100 which is 18000 Rev of bad practice! WOW. :)
--------------------------
Next question:
Why are we doing all the kicks with no arm pulls? -- Tips: wanna swim like the pros? learn from the pros. Phelps? Thorpes? Nope. Learn from the Whales.
Again, refer to the efficiency of swimming defined.
So streamlining is THE SOLE KEY to moving more effortlessly through water. Being streamline is like being aerodynamic. To maintain a fixed front cross section as you punch a hole through the water/air so that there is lesser disruption AROUND you.
They're similar in the way you should achieve that result, just that the significance in water is amplified 1000x since water is 1000x more dense than air. You can pedal at 45kph and allow the bike to sway from side to side when you stand up and pump the sprint on a bike and you'll still be able to hit above watever the speed you're doing before you stand and pump the bike side to side.
In water, once you break out of that streamline position, you'd be slowed down IMMEDIATELY and the lost of momentum will cause the hips to sink and then the legs will sink even more. And with the frontal resistance coming from the legs moving through the water in a sunken manner, you'd be left with 2 options:
1) Kick harder to get your legs up --- but, how long can you last with those crazy kicks?
2) Use your technique/finesse. Press the chest down and relax to help the hip to float up to the surface again.
----------> Side track, let us review the body shape of a fish.
It has NO ARMS/LEGS/NECK. It only has ONE PIECE of body. And it moves via side undulation of the body (similar to side butterfly kick).
Small fishes are like that and they move fast, large ones like whales too, are like that. So does that mean that whales (BIG SPERM WHALES) need to generate A LOT OF POWER/TORQUE to move forward?
Scientist actually found that the whales generate very very little power to move forward. In fact, they are well known to be able to dive for 2hrs flat without breathing. FYI, Whales (as mammals) need to breathe outside of water, like us with our nose, so they can't breathe underwater. How can that be possible? Only through very very little effort and thus minimized usage of oxygen and also the forward movement is only possible with a streamlined body that causes minimum drag in ratio to minimum power generated.
Click for information about whales
So, with that said, we humans have so many joints (neck, arms x 2, hips x 2, knees x 2). Control the hips and knees to be constantly behind our shoulder width is already a problem when you swim without the arms. Just imagine when you add the arms in front of your body to disrupt the streamline position even more. The amount of power generated with your arms will no doubt make you feel strong because we're always working with our arms. However, the amount of drag that you can possible create with the addition of arms are just way too much in the exchange.
Last but not least, remember that the whales can move by using minimum amount of oxygen.. so we must learn too to conserve our energy.. and use the minimum amount of energy to move our body. And in order for that to happen, we must first learn to keep the head to toes (without our arms in front) as one piece just like a fish.
Once you know how to do that, you'll be able to swim much more easily when you add your arm strokes in slowly. I can do a session of 2km of the drills i taught you without ANY stops. Thats both a testament to how strong my kick is and also more importantly, how I can already control my exertion when I'm tired to recover from the hard kicks and continue in the session without stopping. And when I conserve my energy in my kick (ie kick gently) I can still move forward with ease.. because of my streamlining.
------------------------------
Next... Why no speed work?
If you haven't noticed, I've already introduced speedwork into tonight's training. The Power Butterfly vertical kicks are Plyometric exercises. Which means they redlines your heart. 100% heart rate. They're anaerobic. If not, how come you can run 2 hrs but you pant like a small kid running a marathon the first time after 5 power fly kicks?
Like I've explained, swimming is not about using the arms to wield yourself forward. The arms are merely anchors that hold on to a point in water and allow you to rotate your body forward through the water. The rotation comes from your hip and core muscles. Which is why I ask of you to do fly kicks and rotation drills.
If you've paid attention and see the sharp rotation movements I did in the water.. That is the source of power I tap from when I swim, whatever the distance, whatever the effort.
Remember, in swim, Power must come with Control. If you can rotate your upper torso quickly but your legs are still dangling in the opposite direction then you'd be better off turning a little slower and maintaining the streamlining position.
The velocity of your swim will come when the control of your body heightens. The speed at which you're able to move your arms/legs/body separately through the water has absolutely no significance to how fast you will actually move through the water. It is how fast you can move your arms, legs AND body together as one piece through the water that counts.
With that, I answer the qn with: "Speed is relative here. And irrelevant to a certain context. Be aware of how fast your body move through the water, not how fast you flail your legs and arms because they might just be getting ZERO work done. I.E pushing against a wall."
-------------------------------
Last question, can these 100m of drills bring me through 750m or swim?!
Lets go back to the previous general definition of swim. What is a swim again?
Yes Vincent, that's right, a Cardio workout. ALL of you in the swim are definitely able to run non stop for at least 1hr.
So, a 750m swim can take like 30 minutes (i've never had a student went for any competition clocking more than 25minutes for 750 by the way.) at MAX? So lets be generous BUT PESSIMISTIC THIS TIME ROUND... 1.5KM should be abt 1 hr (double of 750 la?) if you're DAMN FUCKING JIALAT.
So, giving that equivalent aspect of swim as a cardio workout, can you do a 1hr, 1.5km swim?
The heart and lungs already said yes.
What about the physical muscle aspect? Yes you can. If you master the Control over your exertion and also your body positioning.
More importantly, without the concern over how fast you want to complete the swim... You will be able to do a 1hr swim as long as you can control the amount of force you exert and when you need to relax, you can do so without tensing up.
Remember: Resistance is cubic times the amount of force YOU APPLY. So if you go through the swim applying VERY VERY little amount of force.. you'd be pushing against very very little resistance (for your arms) and thus technically, you'll be able to do that for an hr...
Need a proof? Since the amount of force applied is very very small, it ought to be smaller than the power used for pushing off your 60kg body off the floor for (90cad/min for an hr) 3600 times right? So if you can do the latter, why can't the swim?
------> So jokes and examples aside..
With those drills, you'll be able to learn how to control your body properly And with short and small portions, you'll be able to practice only the purest form of correct technique** and with only one aspect to think of per lap, you'll be able to focus and get it done right quickly. If you can spare 1 hr of time swimming aimless ly in the pool doing 1000strokes of practice, why can't you put your mind into practice for the same number of strokes or lesser?
**That sentence applies differently for individuals. It all depends on how strict you are to yourself.. if you don't pay attention and are just there to clock mileage, then expect even my 10yr old kids to swim faster than you even if you can pedal 50kph for 1 hr.. I have this national cyclist boy but he can't swim for nuts.. am still waiting for his return to training.)..
Ask sam if its a truth that my 10 yr olds are swimming way better than most of you in the squad.. she see them every week when she teach with me. Its ALL about technique at this level.. not the strength or speed.
--------------------------------
Finally, I know the way I write here is a lot like boasting and its fucking straight "IN YOUR FACE" kind.. but put hard feelings aside and notice that I am merely stating facts that occurs and can knock us out of our comfort zone to REALIZE what is going on in the world of swimming. I am facing MEN right here and I myself too know how ego and pride can hurt my performance when it just shut the ears and eyes of an advice that goes against my common practice. Not good at all for optimum performance.
The only way to improvement is to humble ourselves and learn continuously even if you're a coach. Because before you become a coach, the knowledge all comes from the coach before you.. and the knowledge of THAT coach comes from HIS coach. Thus all in all, it is a very limited range of discussion... Always have an open mind even if you're the best cyclist in the world. Even though what you said make sense.. but it doesn't mean that what other pple say are all nonsense. there's always a way to apply something whether in a good way or bad way... I hope with this post, we open our perception to greater heights and also the understanding to swimming to a different level.
Cheers
Coach KK
Friday, May 7, 2010
Lawlaw run!
Pointers for Lawlaw's run
- Stand/run tall and stretched out just like swimming
- Neutral spine position
- Shoulder back and down
- No arching of back
- Keep TA (Transverse Abdominis) activated, imagine pulling the inverted triangle below naval up and inwards into the body. It is Different from sucking in the stomach.
- Swing the elbows back and front like a pendulum, NOT right to left.....
- Keep elbow close to body and not flared out. Remember the action of legs and arms are coordinated naturally by your psychomotor mechanism in the body.
- When running, think about bringing heels up to beside the opposite knee and leaving the foot behind instead of striking in front
- lean forward from the ankle, keeping the body from ankle to head long and in neutral alignment
- maintain 90 cadence (google a metronome to listen how is the beat like)
- to check and maintain a neutral posture, place a stick/pole behind your back. Longer than head to thigh length..
The stick/pole should touch 3 places. Head, middle back (scapula slightly retracted) and hip bone. There Should be 2 slight arches - between neck and he stick, also between lower back and the stick. The arch should be Just enough for a palm to go thru flat, anything more is arching/hyper extending and no good for spinal health.
note: you're suppose to maintain this posture in EvERYTHING you do in Everyday life. :)
At this moment, u have to swing back more. Think more about the back muscles and not the front. It may seem counter-intuitive when u're trying so hard to think abt going in front... But the back muscles are the ones that are keeping your posture right and thus allows u to maintain a good and efficient running form.
Exercise to do to help with posture correction
1)Scapula(Shoulder Blades) Retraction - Prone down with hands by your hips side. Let the shoulder drop to the floor. Breathe in, and then do the following while breathing out thru the motion..
- think about keeping body long from head to toes, TA activated..
- imagine I put a finger at the middle back, spinal area
- squeeze my finger with your shoulder blades
The above exercise helps you to learn how to activate the shoulder stabilizer muscles and thus keep your shoulder in correct alignment when you activate it during workouts
2) Bridges
- prone, resting on elbow and forearm which are at chest level
- legs closed for more stability training, opened hip width for easier stability
- get the hip and tummy off the floor whole resting on elbow and forearms and toes
- AT ALL TIMES, maintain neutral spine, no rounding of back
- Gently suck in stomach (the gravity is pulling your intestines down towards the floor) to hold the intestine up and in your guts
- hold 30secs and rest 30secs. Do every alternate days if possible.
As for the pointers for run, do them in 50m short runs focusing on one point only at each time, repeat as per drills in swim.:)
Let me know if got question!
Cheers
KK
Cheers,
KK
- Stand/run tall and stretched out just like swimming
- Neutral spine position
- Shoulder back and down
- No arching of back
- Keep TA (Transverse Abdominis) activated, imagine pulling the inverted triangle below naval up and inwards into the body. It is Different from sucking in the stomach.
- Swing the elbows back and front like a pendulum, NOT right to left.....
- Keep elbow close to body and not flared out. Remember the action of legs and arms are coordinated naturally by your psychomotor mechanism in the body.
- When running, think about bringing heels up to beside the opposite knee and leaving the foot behind instead of striking in front
- lean forward from the ankle, keeping the body from ankle to head long and in neutral alignment
- maintain 90 cadence (google a metronome to listen how is the beat like)
- to check and maintain a neutral posture, place a stick/pole behind your back. Longer than head to thigh length..
The stick/pole should touch 3 places. Head, middle back (scapula slightly retracted) and hip bone. There Should be 2 slight arches - between neck and he stick, also between lower back and the stick. The arch should be Just enough for a palm to go thru flat, anything more is arching/hyper extending and no good for spinal health.
note: you're suppose to maintain this posture in EvERYTHING you do in Everyday life. :)
At this moment, u have to swing back more. Think more about the back muscles and not the front. It may seem counter-intuitive when u're trying so hard to think abt going in front... But the back muscles are the ones that are keeping your posture right and thus allows u to maintain a good and efficient running form.
Exercise to do to help with posture correction
1)Scapula(Shoulder Blades) Retraction - Prone down with hands by your hips side. Let the shoulder drop to the floor. Breathe in, and then do the following while breathing out thru the motion..
- think about keeping body long from head to toes, TA activated..
- imagine I put a finger at the middle back, spinal area
- squeeze my finger with your shoulder blades
The above exercise helps you to learn how to activate the shoulder stabilizer muscles and thus keep your shoulder in correct alignment when you activate it during workouts
2) Bridges
- prone, resting on elbow and forearm which are at chest level
- legs closed for more stability training, opened hip width for easier stability
- get the hip and tummy off the floor whole resting on elbow and forearms and toes
- AT ALL TIMES, maintain neutral spine, no rounding of back
- Gently suck in stomach (the gravity is pulling your intestines down towards the floor) to hold the intestine up and in your guts
- hold 30secs and rest 30secs. Do every alternate days if possible.
As for the pointers for run, do them in 50m short runs focusing on one point only at each time, repeat as per drills in swim.:)
Let me know if got question!
Cheers
KK
Cheers,
KK
Something to share.
Team,
This is a quote that I've live by since I met competitive sports in my life.
It has brought me from a couch potato to what I am right now in front of you, and still improving everyday of my life.
How bad do you wanna do well for the next race? I want it, BAD.
Cheers,
KK
This is a quote that I've live by since I met competitive sports in my life.
It has brought me from a couch potato to what I am right now in front of you, and still improving everyday of my life.
How bad do you wanna do well for the next race? I want it, BAD.
Cheers,
KK
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
TEAM SAPPHIRE!
For those who don't have facebook! haha.. alot more pictures la.. but i waiting for pauline to pass me the photos then i can upload to my server and let u download....
For those who have facebook but haven't add me, please do so @ rukawa_koh@hotmail.com
!!!
Cheers
KK
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Race result, and an "Inspirational" Video.
PLEASE CLICK TO ENLARGE THE TABLE....
Apologies that as a leader, I should and I knew I could have done much better.. I blame this all on my mental race readiness... No more next time.. I will prove myself to be a more worthy leader result wise in the next coming race.
Congrats to everybody who did well once again! Hope you enjoy the results table! TYPE UNTIL I CROSS EYE LA.. SO MANY NUMBERS.... Robert didn't have your timing recorded leg by leg.. very funny.. i think tribob screw up big time this time round. :(
Gen, KH and Andy, you're ALWAYS THE WINNERS IN OUR HEART!
----------------------------------------
Without further ado....
----------------------------------------
Drum rolls please...
:
:
Yes Wilson, this is the Long Waited, LEGENDARY VIDEO of myself.
:
:
Pauline, Robert, Andy, KH and everyone else.. If you think your swim is bad... look at this.
THIS VIDEO IS ALSO PROOF TO THOSE WHO STILL DOUBT THAT I STARTED FROM SCRATCH 4 YEARS AGO. The video dated november 2006.:)
Laugh all you want at it.. I myself couldn't bare watching past 5 seconds of it. Just make sure you outdo me after you enjoyed laughing. :)
Cheers
Coach KK
Some speech to do after watching you guys race.
Well done for the race guys! The energy level of the team is a record high! So happy and proud of you guys! :)
Especially applausible was for Pauline's Podium finish on her maiden Triathlon! Robert and her deeply inspire us as veterans above 50 yrs of age and picked up swimming just 6 months back to finish with OUTSTANDING results. Just look at how effortless they look in their race when THEY pass YOU and all of us should know its time to buckle down and train harder so we don't disgrace the mere number that dictates our physiological age.
Thousand and one thanks to Lawrence who helped us out at pre race preparation, you're one of the kindest soul I've ever seen in my entire life! Great thanks also goes to Benjamin who lent me his dear Reynolds and also Leon who lent me his Zipp front wheel.. I'm sorry I did not do well for the bike race but it is a good wake up call to do better next time round. I will pick it up a notch right after this. :)
Gen, KH and Andy, your hardwork should have awarded you a Podium finish. No doubts about that, I Respect you guys deeply for your accomplishments and the due diligence of effort put into the race in the name of our team and your pride. And Bro, as much as I hate to admit that I had a bad day that day, You came in just couple of minutes behind me.. according to scale of training, you've outdone me already. :)*Salutes!* to all of you!
Sam and Marianne, the inseparable pair.. I find that this healthy dose of racing element is damn hard to find in anyone's life. I particularly find it very hard to find one in my social circle of triathletes to constantly outdo me and for me to outdo in return. I rose to "fame" in bukit batok basketball courts also because I found one nepali friend whom we fought throughout his stay and we found ourselves standing on top of everyone who wasn't competitive enough. Well done sam, for catching up on the run part but the bike part definitely needs more mileage.. Mari is a superb biker for a lady but I think the running technique needs some polishing.. So is sam's. :P Lets meet up for track soon. Good job on the ~20minutes Personal BESTS. :)
Wilson, I can't say much more than I tip my hat to you as your commitment to the training program and relentless trying to improve has proven you can outdo even yourself on the race. After the track session with you, I find that there is a lot of fine points to polish but that is good news... because with those points to polish, you'd know what to improve and with that knowledge, you WILL improve, HEAPS! I look forward to the coming years to having you as one of my close competitors (same goes to Andy, and Gu Man, age group wise. :P).
Teck Beng, your courage and enthusiasm is unparred by anyone in the team. Gen should look up to you for your decisiveness on picking up the sport. I've posted in my facebook before the following:
As a coach, I've seen 2 types of ppl:
1) Those who forever stayed in the phase of "I want to do this. and I'm gonna do it!!!"
2) Those who DO IT.
I'm number 2. and Teck Beng, you're definitely number (2), and with that, I believe you'll do well in life in everything you do.:)
Last but not least, Mr Gu, I know drinking makes you a little slower.. but did you notice you finished MUCH stronger and could complain to me that "IT MAKES ME SLOWER LEH!" compared to that "chui" state at the end of OSIM? As an athlete, we have to know what is good and healthy for the body in the long runs and not think abt just that very moment unless it is a matter of seconds before a difference of world champion finishes. :) You have a strong bike leg and I believe you'll do much better with more training! Hope that you ride out your busy periods and come for training more often!!! :)
-------------------------------
Team Sapphire, this is not the end of our journey as a Triathlete but the beginning of our new found passion! I hope I've pulled enough strings to let you see the fun side of this but to commit to a healthy lifestyle, it is only possible via one's own choice. :)
Cheers
Coach KK
ps: With the above, I am committing myself to a 5hr flat Aviva Half IM next yr march. I will work hard to achieve that.. I lay my name and pride on it and also on this team I shall stand to the test. :)
Especially applausible was for Pauline's Podium finish on her maiden Triathlon! Robert and her deeply inspire us as veterans above 50 yrs of age and picked up swimming just 6 months back to finish with OUTSTANDING results. Just look at how effortless they look in their race when THEY pass YOU and all of us should know its time to buckle down and train harder so we don't disgrace the mere number that dictates our physiological age.
Thousand and one thanks to Lawrence who helped us out at pre race preparation, you're one of the kindest soul I've ever seen in my entire life! Great thanks also goes to Benjamin who lent me his dear Reynolds and also Leon who lent me his Zipp front wheel.. I'm sorry I did not do well for the bike race but it is a good wake up call to do better next time round. I will pick it up a notch right after this. :)
Gen, KH and Andy, your hardwork should have awarded you a Podium finish. No doubts about that, I Respect you guys deeply for your accomplishments and the due diligence of effort put into the race in the name of our team and your pride. And Bro, as much as I hate to admit that I had a bad day that day, You came in just couple of minutes behind me.. according to scale of training, you've outdone me already. :)*Salutes!* to all of you!
Sam and Marianne, the inseparable pair.. I find that this healthy dose of racing element is damn hard to find in anyone's life. I particularly find it very hard to find one in my social circle of triathletes to constantly outdo me and for me to outdo in return. I rose to "fame" in bukit batok basketball courts also because I found one nepali friend whom we fought throughout his stay and we found ourselves standing on top of everyone who wasn't competitive enough. Well done sam, for catching up on the run part but the bike part definitely needs more mileage.. Mari is a superb biker for a lady but I think the running technique needs some polishing.. So is sam's. :P Lets meet up for track soon. Good job on the ~20minutes Personal BESTS. :)
Wilson, I can't say much more than I tip my hat to you as your commitment to the training program and relentless trying to improve has proven you can outdo even yourself on the race. After the track session with you, I find that there is a lot of fine points to polish but that is good news... because with those points to polish, you'd know what to improve and with that knowledge, you WILL improve, HEAPS! I look forward to the coming years to having you as one of my close competitors (same goes to Andy, and Gu Man, age group wise. :P).
Teck Beng, your courage and enthusiasm is unparred by anyone in the team. Gen should look up to you for your decisiveness on picking up the sport. I've posted in my facebook before the following:
As a coach, I've seen 2 types of ppl:
1) Those who forever stayed in the phase of "I want to do this. and I'm gonna do it!!!"
2) Those who DO IT.
I'm number 2. and Teck Beng, you're definitely number (2), and with that, I believe you'll do well in life in everything you do.:)
Last but not least, Mr Gu, I know drinking makes you a little slower.. but did you notice you finished MUCH stronger and could complain to me that "IT MAKES ME SLOWER LEH!" compared to that "chui" state at the end of OSIM? As an athlete, we have to know what is good and healthy for the body in the long runs and not think abt just that very moment unless it is a matter of seconds before a difference of world champion finishes. :) You have a strong bike leg and I believe you'll do much better with more training! Hope that you ride out your busy periods and come for training more often!!! :)
-------------------------------
Team Sapphire, this is not the end of our journey as a Triathlete but the beginning of our new found passion! I hope I've pulled enough strings to let you see the fun side of this but to commit to a healthy lifestyle, it is only possible via one's own choice. :)
Cheers
Coach KK
ps: With the above, I am committing myself to a 5hr flat Aviva Half IM next yr march. I will work hard to achieve that.. I lay my name and pride on it and also on this team I shall stand to the test. :)
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