Category Archives: training updates

25km, as big a fan as possible and a bottle filled with Viper by Maxifuel

The website seems a little neglected. My sincere apologies. Getting in more mileage is proving a tougher task than I expected it to be. The main challenge is managing heat fatigue and humidity. There is no way I can manage to replace enough fluids during a session to be 100% sure that training adaptations have come in play before the effects of heat and humidity set in. You do the best you can. I’m getting the hang of it as I go along, sorting out the timing of each session during the day and stocking up on fluids.

Over the weekend, the Singapore Gaelic Lions & St. Patricks Society organized a Charity Pub Quiz, to help the resident Doctor raise funds for the 2 nominated charities for Race the Ras Charity Cycle, The Irish Cancer Society and GOAL. He will be attempting to ride 1260km over 8 days. Read more about it here. The night was great fun and $8000 was raised. Excellent stuff. If you wish to donate, you can do so at

http://www.mycharity.ie/event/cormac_o_muircheartaigh_race_the_ras/

I must say it’s been quite the past few weeks. Testing always gets on my nerves. With the lack of racing or any form of competition, it really is the only way to keep me in check. It might just be 4 days, but when spread over 2 weeks, it’s the perfect way of simulating week long regattas, when maintain optimal performance levels is vital. That was followed by the dreaded 7x4min step test, which provides much more detail, important for a situation which I am. I have to rely a lot on whatever information I can get my hands on, to make sure I always aim to be fitter and faster.

My last 7×4 was more than a year ago. 4min efforts are challenging to manage. On paper it’s just slightly over a 1000m. Half the race distance yes, but if you’re not up for it, it’s when most people die off. Some say races are won in the 1000 – 1500m. There’s some truth, but ultimately it depends on how you’re built and the strategy you’ve been working on. But majority would agree it’s mentally the hardest part of the race. I was more concern about my lactates throughout the stages than my absolute VO2max. I’ll be sitting down to look through those numbers in detail, but at first glance it’s looking more like an endurance athlete. The importance of a super strong aerobic base is something many here do not understand and refuse to grasp, even those who claim they are in high performance sport. Yes it’s a long tedious path, but it’s sustainable and it’s showing in my times. Maybe it’s because of the ‘shortcut for success’, ‘no room for error’, the desire for ‘ready backed cakes’ culture and attitude in Singapore sports. And I thought corporate loves the word sustainability.

The athletes who understand the importance are sticking it out, along with me, knowing they WILL succeed, like the cyclists. It’s amazing to be around these people. Not only because they love what they are doing, but also because they are actually putting in the hard and smart yards to get there. There are some who will only talk the talk, unfortunately.

It’s more or less done with the erg battery tests. Turned out to be one hell of a hard 6k, and only an average 2k. Same lactates for both the 6k and 2k indicates lots more mileage and aerobic work to be done. The end of the 6k on monday took alot out of me, and it showed when my left lower back tightened up real bad after 1 bad rep of the power clean. Bummer. Rolling out of bed the next morning wasn’t pleasant. Put me out of action on Tuesday, but I managed to come together today to finish up the 2000m piece. Plenty of trigger ball work and some yoko yoko. A lot more to learn on how to perform on a 2k.

Committed to seriously ramping up the mileage but the weather gods seem to be acting against it. Afternoon storms nearly everyday single day this week meant I haven’t hit the waters this week, yet. 60min bike work this afternoon. Going to have to be more versatile with my program.

Rowing time trial and Cycling VO2 happening at the same time. It’s been a while since the lab has seen some action. Thanks Lem for the snapshot.

It’s coming up to another week of erg battery tests. The past week has been pretty solid despite the erratic weather patterns. Singapore is too tropical to even try to predict weather patterns. I’ve learn that you just have to be ready to switch it up whenever and I think it helps a great deal if that there’s a huge element of cross training to supplement the rowing. Firstly, I’m always prepared if I need to hop onto the bike for some HIIT, or an LSD run, if necessary. Secondly, it ramps up aerobic hours. I believe we can never have enough of aerobic training because it’s simply a fundamental aspect. I’ve had a coach bitch and complain about how a storm comes out of no where all the time and runs out of ideas of what to for training. Needless to say he didn’t last very long. Too comfortable and has never been in a changing environment and clearly refused to adapt to change.

It was my first time doing some Faber reps and I was pleasantly surprised at the end of it, that it wasn’t as intimidating as I had initially expected. It’s great for doing intervals or over-gearing, but doesn’t really work out to be any good if you’re thinking of doing some climbing.

Today was a start of a series of time trials I will be putting together in the build up for this year. I need more racing, and if I’m going to be stuck here, I have to do something about it. Not the best of starts. Didn’t quite reach max HR as quickly as I needed to. Race strategy went well and as planned. Need to sort out some videos the next time to analyze the technique work as that’s really my main concern. Consistency was what I was looking for down the course, and I felt I had that, which I’m pleased about. I will gradually be able to take the intensity up as I keep working on the high intensity training pieces.

Let’s see what happens next week as I tackle the battery tests again.

Last week was pretty solid on the training front. The past 2 weeks has been a roller coaster ride. At the end of the day, the pursuit for sports excellence is what identifies me. I had to dig really deep this time round to regain my bearings as I didn’t expect myself to fall into a slump which I nearly could not get out of. The struggles of having to battle it out alone all these years came together and it didn’t occur to me how tough it has been until it caught me off guard.

I couldn’t let the people who believe in me down. My famliy, Gay, AB, Lizzi, Al, Dan, An. But this time, what really helped me get back into the game, is that I follow Drew Ginn’s blog. I was fortunate enough to meet the man himself briefly and the feeling was extraordinary. His struggles, the ups and downs, reading about his ideas on rowing and life, made me realize that  knowing who I really am and the love for sports can overcome all obstacles. Things will never always go as plan. But it is up to me to focus on what matters the most.

Looking forward to another ergo battery test and the 7x4min step test the week after. In the meantime, there’s been some serious mileage happening. The last thing I want to do is become a deluded athlete. And there are plenty around

I’ve yet to hear any good news on the academics, and I have made just little progress in looking for a corporate. In the middle of everything, I owe it to myself and my coaches, to keep the momentum going. One high intensity erg session on tuesday and another one on the bike yesterday, made me miss being in the boat. There’s nothing quite like it. An unparalleled alternative.

It all goes back to taking control of what I have control over. With so much distraction going on around us, we sometimes forget what we set out to do. If you are fortunate to have someone there to smack you on the back of the head when you start to look around, appreciate it. My sometimes see-saw nature of the pace of my progress is partly due to sometimes losing sight of my goals. Precious time wasted before I realize it myself and more precious time wasted to get back on track. I should be glad that I have usually managed to stick my head back into the game.

For now, it’s going to be back to the usual grind. Worlds is coming up in August. Still have not been given the green light, but I have to prepare for it to the best of my ability. If I don’t give myself the fighting chance, how can I expect others to put their faith in me.

Fighting the odds, Drew Ginn is gunning for this fourth Olympic, hopefully gold medal.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/drew-ginns-tilt-at-fouth-olympic-games/story-e6frf9if-1226023637518

I have a lot to learn.

Stumbled across these posts from The Singapore Sports Fan.

“What Shana’s AYG withdrawal says about Singapore sport” – posted on June 5, 2009

Here’s a more recent one

Straits Times letter writer criticises SBA’s move to kick out young national shuttlers – posted on January 25, 2011

Both very relevant topics at heart and certainly experiencing both issues head on. I’ve had people at work put me down for my age plenty of times, and of course let’s not forget about choosing sports over a ‘proper’ career.

At the end of the day, who here actually really cares about what I’ve learn or achieve in sport? People are probably more interested to know how someone my age can earn a 5-digit monthly income

Did a really nice 84km ride with Jason this morning. A few instances where it seemed like we were going to get rained on, but fortunately the weather stayed cool and partially cloudy. It usually is just a steady state ride. But this time we just went out riding. Didn’t check for speed throughout but my watch read 2hr 43min, which was inclusive of the waiting time at out meeting point at the petrol station. I love grinding it out when there’s a slight incline. It lets me build some rhythm and at the same time the work load on my legs feels quite like rowing, which I’m certainly better at. I suppose learning to tap it out at a high cadence comes with practice. Might get myself a set of rollers.

Lunch time was some overspeed work on the treadmill. As the sports institute only had ONE treadmill, I had to wait close to 40min for this staff to finish her ‘power’ walk. I was starting to get annoyed by 30min. Theoretically, I could have gotten her off with the 20min limit per user. But I didn’t want to cause trouble as there is clear segregation of rights between the full time staff and part-timers. When I did get my chance, 10min warm up and then 10 x 30 sec at overspeed, with 1min rest in between. Experienced some instability in the left foot at around the 4th or 5th set, so I had to pay extra attention to keep the pressure even onto both feet. There’s definitely a slight twinge in my upper shin now.