Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Long weekend

After a few consecutive weekends of training prior to A'famosa and many hours away from home, i had decided to spend the extended holiday with family, parents and in-laws. A couple of important family commitments had restricted me from grinding in training, thus, i missed the Malakoff Charity Ride (interstate KL-KT) and NB15km.

I had no qualms at all. Being a family man, I must always put family first before myself. No matter how hard I try, it's still hard to find the right balance between the two and most of the time, i put myself second.

However, I managed to squeeze some light training in the myriad of commitments.

On Saturday, I managed to squeeze two-hours of tennis training and a 30-min run around Damansara Perdana. That's all.

On Sunday, instead of cycling with buddies, i went spinning with my lil' bro, the youngest child of the family. Well, not that lil' per se as he's already in the mid-twenties and much much taller than me... a six footer, he is. However, being a big brother, in my mind - he will always be my little brother.

He'd been asking about cycling a few times already and when I suggested to cycle on that Sunday morning, he'd jump on it and agreed to go cycling. I was elated. Before this, i'd exercised with my younger sis (read here)and now with my lil' bro. What more can i ask, spending time with siblings doing things we like together gether. I wouldnt have traded these two moments with anything else in my life.

Anyway, we cycled from Pekan BT 18 to the T-junction and back. Approx, 22km only. I wouldnt want to take him further as it was suppose to be an introduction ride for him. I remembered my maiden ride (around Bukit Damansara) and i'd bonked after 20km with blister around my thighs. It had killed my motivation totally. Later, I'd avoided cycling for months before i have the courage to mount the sadle again. Well, those were the painful days.

Learning from that experience i tried to 'nurse' the ride and we completed the ride comfortably. I will post the pix in the next posting.

After cycling, we went straight the badminton court for our family's weekly 2-hour badminton session. I booked the court/s on a monthly basis and it is the time when the family members and relatives come and exercise together. My dad, brothers, sister, in-laws, cousin sis, cousin bro, the many grandchildren - three generations converging at one place exercising together. It doesnt get any better than that. Believe me on this.

Later that night, i went for another round of tennis training session. I played four sets or 2-hour solid training concentrating on doubles partnership and tactical play. I have registered to participate in the National Age-group (35-40 yo) tennis competition next week at the National Tennis Center, Jalan Duta. Thus, this preparation is vital and fine tuning my play is a must.

So, five-hours of exercising while burning approx 5,000 calories. Not bad at all.

On Monday/Wesay Day, i went cycling with Chomel in Langat again. A few had cancelled last minute and it was down to just the two of us. Chomel is very knowledgeable in cycling, so, i took the opportunity to learn a few tricks from him. He gave me a few tips on spinning, seat and thighs positioning, gear changing, hill climb techniques and a few others. Kinda personal coaching. I liked it.

On the way back, from the T-junction to pekan Bt18, i'd put some of what i'd learned earlier into practice and cranking up to 38km/h with an averaging speed of around 30-32km/h. My heart rate was consistently hovering around 80% as i was struggling to maintain speed. I certainly need more coaching and practising on cycling techniques. Only though more trainings i will be able to improve further. Anyone got cycling tips for me?

Spent the other half of the day with family and played with my kid. Yeah, total rest. Bessstttt....

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