RunKeeper dropped me an email yesterday, and I realised I am inching closer to my 1000km goal. I am just 100km away from my goal, but unless I can resume my 3 times a week running regiment, it is unlikely I can hit the goal before end of this year.
Exercise Statistics Dashboard (as of 18th October 2012)
| Activity Type | Activity Counts | Activity Distance (km) |
|---|---|---|
| Running | 125 | 902.62 |
| Cycling | 8 | 220.5 |
| Swimming | 31 | 60.6 |
How much is 500g
Me while my virtual race partner is far in front of me, out of sight.
This has been a rather intense week as far as exercising is concerned. I ran 60 minutes of steadfast pace (6.52min/km) in the mid-week, with daily 2 km swim daily in between. The virtual race partner feature in Garmin Forerunner 910xt is interesting. It gives me a sense of how far behind (or ahead) I am from my virtual running partner as I run. A good feature for people like me who runs alone but need some pacer to keep me from slacking away. The Garmin’s lap swimming feature went through a stress test last week, having swam a total of 320 laps over 4 swimming sessions. While it is not 100% accurate, with an average of 1-2.5% miscount rate, I can now concentrate fully on my swim, rather than getting distracted by the tracking of the rubber bands. My main gripe now is the device has problem identifying my breast strokes, as it frequently detects them as backstroke instead. No problem with freestyle swim though.
Exercise Statistics Dashboard (as of 10th October 2012)
| Activity Type | Activity Counts | Activity Distance (km) |
|---|---|---|
| Running | 124 | 892.68 |
| Cycling | 8 | 220.5 |
| Swimming | 26 | 51.6 |
I mentioned previously that I like RunKeeper for its dashboard reporting feature. While Garmin tracks and reports all the possible details at activity level, it does not summarize all the activities like what RunKeeper does, such as the one below. Thankfully, RunKeeper is more than just a activity logging website with its strong social networking capability, particularly its support for third party app. With GarminSync, I am able to sync and post my Garmin activities to RunKeeper automatically. To the sports enthusiasts, RunKeeper is the Facebook of fitness.
Total distance and calories spent so far
Rubber band as lap tracker
Garmin Forerunner 910XT
I went ahead to purchase one with quick release belt from GPS-Are-Us. Having used the fitness watch thrice in the last 3 days, once during a 60 min run, and twice on a swim, I have mixed feeling about my new gadget.
910XT mounted on my Brompton
I love the fact that now the watch can automatically count my swimming laps. When in lap swimming mode, the watch makes use of accelerometer to count the lap, determine and measure the swimming strokes (up to 4 different types of swimming stroke). There were inaccuracies in my first swim, where some laps were miscounted but a firmware upgrade (from 2.5 to 2.6) seemed to have corrected the bugs. Coming from a GPS company, the Forerunner is also far more accurate than RunKeeper in measuring the running distance. With 5 different switch-able display screens (each capable of displaying up to 4 data fields), there are plenty of information for reference as I run. There is even a virtual pacer mode although I have not tried the feature yet. I love the quick release feature and it works just as expected. Having said that, I have not tried the watch on a cycling session yet, but I am looking forward to its rich data capturing and analysis just as I have experienced for running and swimming.
Watch needs frequent charging
Firstly, huge disappointment creep in when I discovered that the device will not track heartbeat during swimming. I was hoping that I had misinterpreted, or a firmware upgrade could fix it. Unfortunately, the reality set in when I learnt that the inability to track heartbeat is due to the frequency used by Garmin. In contrast, Polar uses dual frequency (one for land use and one for submerging in water) and therefore I have no problem using it to track my heartbeat in the last few weeks. Forerunner 910xt is also not a watch for daily wear; The watch gets too bulky when fitted with the quick release catch and belt system. The watch also needs to be recharged, as frequent as daily especially if I do not turn off the GPS. Last but not least, it can only display time of the day, no date.
Data sync or firmware upgrade are done via the USB ANT.
Exercise Statistics Dashboard (as of 28th September 2012)
| Activity Type | Activity Counts | Activity Distance (km) |
|---|---|---|
| Running | 122 | 879.02 |
| Cycling | 8 | 220.5 |
| Swimming | 21 | 42.6 |
Ever since I had started swimming 3 weeks ago, I had observed my body is responding to the exercise much better than before. This is despite after reading about swimming burns less calories, or how it is less effective than running in achieving weight loss.
Apart from feeling the ache of my body muscles all round after a swim, versus the feeling of ligament strains after a run, I thought I have become leaner after 3 weeks if daily swim, at least psychologically.
Here’s my reasoning; It is an established fact that exercising burns different source of our body “fuel” (fat, carbohydrates, protein, etc), depending on the zone that our heart is exercising. At aerobic zone, our body burns more calories than exercising at fitness zone, while consuming a more balance percentage of energy source between fat and carbohydrates. Unless I am on low carbohydrates diet, aerobic zone is the most effective weight loss zone. Having run for 9 months, I know it is not an easy to keep to aerobic zone throughout the one hour of running, probably due to the loss of body fluid. On the other hand, I noticed that I can keep to the aerobic zone consistently regardless of whether I stick to a 30 mins or 1 hour swimming session.
Back on swimming, I am never been a natural swimmer from the onset. I do not feel comfortable when in the water, even when I could stay a float or swim. For a long while, I would have struggled to complete a 100m freestyle, let alone a long distance freestyle swim. In the last 3 weeks of swimming, I have been doing one lap of freestyle with one lap of breast stroke routine for my swim. The breast stroke is more like a rest stroke for me to catch my breathing before doing the next freestyle lap. But 2.5 weeks of consecutive swimming seems to have paid off.
Me Swimming
On 12th September, I managed to stretch my swimming distance to 2.5km, albeit with the alternate strokes method. Despite four consecutive days of 2km (with one of them being 2.5km) swims, I did not feel any more fatigue, unlike a week ago. While I only completed a 1.5km distance on the 5th swim day (I had originally planned for a 1km swim) I actually completed a 40 continuous laps (or 1km) of freestyle swim. It is simply amazing that after 40 years, I have finally achieved this feat.
With all said, I figure that I should try and improve my strokes so that I can breathe on the alternate sides. That would probably be my next goal while continuing to stretch my freestyle swimming distance. In the meantime, I am looking forward for my next run (target to be a week later), as I am confident that 4 weeks of daily swimming should bring some positive impact to my running sessions.
Exercise Statistics Dashboard (as of 14th September 2012)
| Activity Type | Activity Counts | Activity Distance (km) |
|---|---|---|
| Running | 120 | 862.12 |
| Cycling | 8 | 220.5 |
| Swimming | 11 | 26.1 |
I made my own diffuser earlier on, and had brought it out for field trips a few times already. Here are some of the results, taken using the DIY diffuser.
Counting back, it has been almost 9 months since I started taking the first step to re-exercise my heart. The momentum to stay fit continues with new addition forms of exercising, including the recent swimming regiment. Statistically, I have shaved to a near 15kg and trimmed 7 inches of waistline. I have thought I would achieve more than that, but I guess my passion for sinful food has kept me honest. I have no complains though, because I think its such foods that have kept me going, ironically. Incidentally, I have started another blog, irun4food recently, to blog about the yummy calories hoggers that I cannot resist to.
Beyond statistics, I do feel much healthier. I have hardly fallen sick since I started my exercise regiment, and when I did, I recovered within a day or two. It could also be attributed to the adoption of a more sane working hours, as I recently moved from a worldwide to region role. Beside feeling healthier, I do feel more confident with a leaner body. It has been an amazing journey, to say the least.
For two weeks I have not been running due to the recent foot injury. The daily swimming not only helps to tone my body muscles, it also serves as a physiotherapy to my strained feet and knees. As a matter of fact, i thought swimming is a good fat burning exercisr but only if you have achieved a certain level of fitness and maintain the needex discipline.
Yesterday I decided to try a light run to see how my legs respond to the therapy. There was less strain felt on both feet, probably even lesser than before my foot injury. I did feel a sense of tightness on my right knee cap. While my feet and knees looked like they had lubricated after 1.5km, I was still uneasy for every foot landing, and could anticipate a relapse if I mis-step again. I had started with just a 60 min light jog in mind, but ended with a 10km jog with a comfortable time of 1 hr 14 min. That said, I thought the “swim-o-therapy” will need to continue, and would probably go easy with running, perhaps with just a 5km run a week.
Till now, I have completed 862.12km, 120 running activities, together with 11 swimming activities covering a distance of 16.1km. I do need to reinstate my cycling regiment though, so that’ll be something to work on next.
Ever since I injured my foot a couple of weeks ago, I have been struggling in my recovery. In trying to avoid putting too much physical stress on the foot, I have decided to go for a swim routine instead. The fact is I am not a natural swimmer. If not for the latest injury, I would have chosen running over swimming any time. Plus, it has been years since I did a leisure swimming, let alone a more regimental swimming exercise.
New gear for new exercise. A TYR corrective optical goggle
With all said, it is still a boring exercise (as compared to running or cycling), especially given the short pool lap. I am not sure if I will continue a daily swim routine on a longer basis, and am already looking forward for a full recovery of my foot so that I can reinstate my running session. But the last 6 days of swimming did a great deal to my body, probably because the swimming activities train nearly all major muscle groups in the entire body. There is a significant difference in how my body reacts after a week of swimming, vis-a-vis a week of running. Perhaps I should do a more balance exercising involving running, cycling and swimming (no I’m not doing a tri). For now, as long as the food is motivating to move my butt, I’m happy.
First swimming week
As of now, I have completed 119 running activities with a distance coverage of 852.12km, and 6 swimming activities with a distance of 7.5km in total.
I have thought I would be too tired for a run today, after going through a 7km TreeTop trail walk at Venus drive yesterday. But I feel my muscles are relaxed, and I can go for my routine 10km interval workout, instead of just having a short one. The run starts very well, for the first time I no longer feels my calf muscles being too tight (especially my left calf), and the ankles (again specifically my left ankle) do not act up as I finish my 5 minutes warm up run, and complete the first leg of the interval training (which is 2km steady pace run and 500m of brisk walk).
All is well until I am at my last leg of the training. I trip over as I am running along Joo Chiat Road, fumble and almost fall flat on the ground. But I still end up with some abrasions on my legs and palms, and soreness on my left ankle as I finish the route. If not for my knee guard, it might be more than just abrasion though.
The pain on the ankle does not go away on second day, despite some “DIY” medical ointment rub I have earlier. Someone recommends me to see a “跌打” master at Haig road, and with the help of Google, I manage to locate the place and go on to seek treatment. As suspected, the inner ankle ligament is sprained. The master commented that my exterior ligaments are not in good condition as well, which explains the constant swellness on the left outer ankle area. With a cold ice pack treatment, then follow by some herbal medical plastering and casting, I hope I can be up and running again in 3 days time.
116 running activities to date and 826.69km running distance covered. Still no cycling activities yet this month, and perhaps I would reinstate it given my foot injury.
I have recently picked up the interest in macro photography. It is always amazing to find out the details you can uncover from the small little subjects vis-a-vis what you see with your naked eyes.
Tiger beetle “wearing a pair of spectacles”
My main issue right now (other than focusing) is lighting. I got a ring flash but it creates undesirable light artifacts like the one above. The two white ring reflection on the tiger beetle’s eyes make them look like a pair of spectacles! So I figure that if I intend to further pursue macro photograghy, I need to fix the lighting issue. DIY flash diffuser came to my mind, and I went google for ideas.
I started with aluminium disposable containers (as the diffuser hood) but realise later its a bad idea, since they are filmsy and would not be friendly to my camera lens body, especially if I were to rest it on the lens. I decide to build a diffuser using cardboard. So I take a piece of paper, start drawing out the dimension of the diffuser hood and the angle it should be tilting downward.
The end product of my DIY diffuser
The drawing is straight forward, it is really the piecing all the puzzles together that took me some time. Here’s a quick summary of my DIY steps for anybody who’s interested to follow;
Step 1. Draw out your diffuser dimension on a piece of paper. Take note of the length of your lens that you will be using, and the position of your flashgun. You don’t want your diffuser to point at your lens instead of your photography subject, do you?
Step 2. Map the drawing onto the cardboard. In this step, I am only designing the top and side of the diffuser hood.
Step 3. Cut out the cardboard with your pen knife.
Step 4. Use an adhesive tape to secure the edges of the cut cardboard as illustrated. Would suggest that you tap the top and under side for more secure holding.
Step 5. Tape the top side of the holder as explained earlier.
Step 6. The underside of the diffuser hood will need to be shiny for better light transfer from the flashgun to the subject. To do that, I first apply an even patch of craft glue over the cardboard.
Step 7. Overlay a sheet of aluminium foil (those you use for barbecue or oven cooking) on the cardboard. Lightly press the foil on the cardboard so that it sticks on it permanently. Be careful not to press too hard as the thin foil may break. Trim off the residue sheet.
Step 8. Once you trim off the aluminium foil, the top diffuser section will look like this. Now it’s time to make the bottom section of the diffuser to complete the work.
Step 9. Cut out the shape of the bottom section and pply the aluminium foil over it like you have done in previous step. Stick it to the top diffuser hood with the help of adhesive tape again.
Step 10. Before you do a black tape over the diffuser, try out your DIY hood on your flashgun to make sure it can fit properly.
Step 11. Put the black duct tape around the diffuser so that it’s all covered up. This is purely cosmetic so you can skip this step if you just want a functional diffuser.
The last two steps is to put a diffuser screen on it. I plan to cut out the milk bottle (which is translucent and colour-less casting) but found out that the one I have is too small to be fitted on this diffuser. So I am using a temporary one (using a file folder inserted with two sheet of papers I use kitchen paper towel instead). Will post the result of the DIY diffuser once I have taken some test shots indoor and outdoor.
Update: There’s no insect for me to experiment, so I use the 福禄寿 as my model to try out my DIY diffuser. Top one with the DIY diffuser, and bottom without.
Result of the experimenting with DIY diffuser
It’s been a while since I last blogged about my running ritual. I am still running regularly, averaging about 25km a week. However, I have stopped cycling for exercise, mostly because of my new job. Having moved from a worldwide to a region role, I have lost the time flexibility as a result. As I would usually cycle for 2 hours in the evening before dusk sets, I will always end up running instead. Nevertheless, I still cycle, albeit to train station en-route to my workplace, occasionally.
All Exercise 1000km milestone
Today, I carry on with my usual run routine. I have planned for a light 60 minutes running, after running 10km two days ago. But it turns out to be a disaster run, with my left calf muscle remains tight throughout the run. It usually loosens up by the time I run 20 minutes or 2-3km, but not today. I have to slow down, or even stop for a few minutes just to stretch my muscle. By the time I completed the 60 minutes running session, I have only covered 7.66km.
But the surprising news is, I have achieved 1000km milestone. Specifically, I have run 776.48km (over 111 running activities), cycled 220.5km (over 8 cycling activities) and walked 5.5km. What I like is how RunKeeper put the accomplishment in perspective; That it’s equivalent to 2487 laps round a track, 10,000 soccer field lengths, or 20,000 Olympic pool lengths. It’s amazing how the number can be inspiring when you contextualise it.
My next milestone is 1000km of running coverage. With 224km more to go, and based on my current weekly running mileage, it means I am just 9 weeks away from my next goal.
I need to start thinking what I shall feast when that day come. Run for Food at its best!
zen online journal 