Sept 14, Friday. I went to Philippine Center for Sports Medicine in Rizal Memorial Complex to have a medical exam for the SEAGames in December. All athletes from different events that will participate in SEAG were required to undergo a series of physical examinations and answer questionaires. During my younger years, tinatago ko kung ano man ang mga masasakit sa akin kapag physical examinations. Dinedeny ko pag may nahawakan na masakit o makitang problema. Ayoko kasing malaman o ma-confirm na may injury na pala ako. Parang hindi pa ako handa noon na tanggapin ang mga weaknesses ko. At ayoko rin na magpabalik-balik pa para sa mga follow up procedures na gagawin. Medyo matagal kasi ang exam at inaabot ng maghapon. Kung minalas-malas pa at may nakitang problem sa dental examination, balik at pila pa sa scheduled date para sa kung ano man ang gagawin. Pero ngayon, sinasabi ko na lahat kung ano talaga ang masakit at ang problema ko. (more…)

I will start this post with a disclaimer : Tao lang po ako at hindi ko kayang manalo sa lahat ng karerang sinasalihan ko. Ang series ng posts about training ay based sa mga experiences ko, pagbabasa, at mga natutunan ko mula sa mga dating foreign coaches and teammates. These are my personal ways and may be different or not applicable to others.

Dahil sa bumababa ang resistance habang nagiging ensayado, mas nagiging prone sa sakit ang well-trained pero mas lalo na ang over trained. Mayroon akong mga indicators ng over trained na ako: di makatulog o balisa matulog sa gabi at mataas na heart rate pagkagising, mataas ang heart rate at matagal ang recovery, muscle soreness,  possibleng magka rashes, blood clot, lagnat, ubo at sipon, at panlalata ng katawan. (more…)

September 9, Sunday. A day after the punishing itt. I had a 40km recovery ride. I was atill tired and wasted so I slept all afternoon to recover for the massed start event the following day. (more…)

I would like to acknowledge my recent guests from our South East Asian neighbors - Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Vietnam. It is a great honor to be visited by Datuk Naim Mohamad of Malaysia.

• 42-km individual time trial completed in 57 minutes 55 seconds
• Average speed - 43.8 kph
• Maximum heart rate - 203 bpm
• Average heart rate - 193 bpm
• placed 7th out of 17 participants from all over Asia
• Route - 1 round in a windy and  hi-way like the SEAG itt route in Vietnam 

Just a few days before going to ACC in Thailand, I made the decision to use Sixto, a Cannondale Six13. I decided to bring Sixto based on the results of the two performance trials the team had in Trece Martires, Cavite. On the first trial (second this year), I used an itt bike a coach asked me to use. I have been using it for only a few days before the trial. I admit I am hesitant in using the bike because I have really bad experiences with my own bike of the same brand and color. But, I gave it a chance. I challenged myself to prove that my bad experiences on that particular brand are just a big coincidence. So I rode it in the itt performance trial. My speedometer read 51′37″ after completing the 34.5 km uphill route. It was a lot slower than my previous itt using Sixto where I registered the best time of just a little over 51 minutes. So I stopped using the itt bike and started using Sixto again. After a week, I completed the same route at 51′28. My results on a standard Cannondale six 13 was a lot better than a full carbon itt bike. I decided to use Sixto in both itt and massed start event. I then asked the team mechanic to set it up as an itt bike. Saka ko na lang ituloy ang challenge ko with the itt bike. Not in this race. (more…)