My little "Duathlon" and it's super-daunting !!

Inspired by the chilli race, aka Powerman, I decided to bring out my bike for a workout. Damn. My bike has been in display at the corner of my house since the 40th anniversary Cyclothon ! USM was a convenient choice but also a tough choice with its steep slopes and way-too-many humps during downhills. I also noticed some drivers were not that accomodating and I have to keep looking at the back and side constantly. But that was a great workout nonetheless though I was spewing out the F words as I climbed up the steep slopes. Just felt like I was Lance Armstrong (minus the timing). Nothing great abt the timing but hey, who cares. :D

Distance : 13.45 km
Timing : 21.3km/hr

Well, I did the unthinkable. I decided to run after a bike ride, to simulate the Powerman regime. Running right after a ride is totally a new experience. Weird feeling. Had to run kangkang at the start and still reeling from the numbness at the arse, the thigh and the 2 balls. Felt like my bottom half is separated from my body top ! Well, I ran on and did a round campus run !

Distance : 9km

Time : 51:01

Pace : 5:40min/km

 

Amazing feeling.. What a great Saturday !!

Powerman 2012 - very tempting but...

Powerman 2012 is to be held @ Putrajaya on Nov 4th. Details as follows.

DATE : Sunday, 4th November 2012
VENUE : Perbadanan Putrajaya, Precinct 3, Putrajaya, Malaysia
START : 7.00am (Individual), 7.05am (Team Relay), 7.10am (Sprint)
DISTANCES :
Long Distance Individual & Team Relay
11.4km Run - 64km Bike - 11.4km Run

Sprint Distance
5.7km Run - 32km Bike - 5.7km Run

http://www.powerman.com.my/v13/

Been thinking of doing a Duathlon this or next year to build up for my triathlon. The full (long distance) is super-daunting ! It'll be worse than doing a full marathon ! I took a peek at last year's race result.. Man.. 4-5hrs is the norm.. Thinking of Sprint but then, if I were to do it, I might as well jump straight into the full and use the next 4 months to prepare.. Biking will be my weakness, and there's the post-bike run which is all together a different experience !

OK, So I will have until end of July to think it over to enjoy the early bird fees.. It's super expensive - RM170 for the long distance and RM80 for the sprint. So I better be darn sure I will be around (no business assignment) at that time before I sign up !!  and this is 2 weeks before the PBIM !

Meantime.. Will keep dreaming for a little longer :)

Haze Haze Haze !!

The haze season is back ! Been bad since Monday thru Friday.. Though not as bad to deter running, it's definitely not healthy with long exposure. The incubating heat is also unbearable. Hope SCKLM's is not hazed out !!  The Penang Bridge is hardly visible in the morning !

Garmin Forerunner Watch Battery Replacement...

My Garmin FR 305 has shown signs of battery kaputting.. The first was a month+ ago when it went totally dead. Charging it via my PC didn't help at all. Funnily, it went back to norm a day later. OK, 2nd calling this time. Went dead yesterday and I had to run without a GPS watch this morning's 16km run. Surprisingly, it is ok now, being charged.
But I am sure it's almost time for the battery replacement. Hopefully it can last at least until after my SCKLM in 2 weeks time !  Fingers crossed !!
In the meantime, I found some interesting sites that talks about replacing the battery on our own. Here are 2 which I think is most appropriate.

https://sites.google.com/site/ctorunner/dismantleforerunner205

http://www.jimandkatrin.com/CodeBlog/post/Forerunner-305-Battery-Replacement.aspx

 

Dismantle the Garmin Forerunner 205
 

No tools are required.  Just use your finger-nails to pry off the case along the line (red arrow).  It's amazing that Garmin only used glue to assemble the unit.

 

The display and the bottom are separated.  There are no wires in-between.  They are connected thru some pins. 

I also found no O-ring between two cases.  Well, as I can pry it off easily, you can imagine its capability in water-resistance... 

Indeed, I found water inside the case.  The up/down-arrow keys (the soft-plastic keys) stored some water (not moisture only).   It's not on the circuit board or battery anyway.

The GPS antenna is at the left-hand side, wrapped in silver plate. 

The battery is sticked by 2-sided tape.  It's a 3.7V, 750mAh Li-ion battery.

Does it look like the 4th-generation iPod battery?

Believe it's the SiRFIII chipset under.   Note the golden contacts for connecting to the battery. 

The micro-switches (up/down arrow, and enter). 

I wiped the water and let it dry for a week.  Then I temporary fixed the case with scotch tape.  When I turned it on again, amazingly it worked again (although the up-arrow key didn't work at all).

I used it to have a 20km test run...

Unfortunately, because of the hot/humid weather, my sweat 'melted' the tape and suddenly the cover fell on the ground.  I had 3 pieces... the cover with the display, the attenna, and the remaining battery with the wrist strap.

I thought it was a 'total loss' and packed everything back home.

Then I found all parts weren't broken and it's just the connector loosen between the attenna and the display.

Again, there were plenty of moisture (sweat) inside.  I removed the battery this time and found the speaker (buzzer) was totally eroded.  Ah... that's why I found the level of 'beeping' sound went lower and lower.

The salty water (my sweat) actually went it from the 4 tiny holes at the back, eroded the buzzer and then the micro-switch.

 

I cut the wires of the buzzer and blocked the holes with strong glue. 

To disable the up-arrow key, I used a knife to cut out the switch. 

 Again, I put everything back and tried, haha, it's still working.   This time I carefully cleaned the case and then glued them together with silicone sealant (the one for decoration, usually used in the bathtub, kitchen, etc).

Now the unit is survived.  Without the up-arrow key, most of functions could still be used (navigated with down-arrow instead).  The only problem is that I cannot increase the screen contrast as it requires the use of up-arrow.

Without the beeping sound is not a big deal at all.  At least I can keep using it until the new model is out... 

 

 

Forerunner 305 Battery Replacement

by Jim Aug 15, 2009 1:31 PM

My Garmin popped open on a ride recently. They want $79 to repair it, and I didn’t want to be without it for a while, so I did some research on fixing it myself.
A Look at the Case
Since the Garmin popped open of its own accord (probably because of the swelling battery,) I can’t give any advice on opening one - but you can find some here. There are no screws or clips; the two halves are just attached with some kind of adhesive.
Here is the bottom half of the case. Battery wires are soldered to the little circuit board, which presumably has the charging circuit in it. This board is also attached to the pins which go through the back of the case to the changing cradle, and it doesn’t appear that it can be removed.
 
The Battery
My battery was attached with a spot of some liquid adhesive; others may be attached with double-sided tape. I pried it out with a flat blade screwdriver with little effort, then clipped the wires near the battery, leaving as much as possible in the case.
I don’t think the battery is supposed to look like this :-) It was clearly on the way to exploding, and needed to be replaced.
Finding a battery to replace the original one is the hardest part of this whole process. After much fruitless searching on the internet for an exact match, I gave up on finding anything. These Lithium Ion batteries require special charging circuitry, which is typically packaged with the battery cell. It’s hard to find a battery cell without the circuitry, never mind in this exact size.
In desperation, I decided to take apart the battery in my old Samsung Hue phone, which was sitting around, having been replaced by a Blackberry. Any Lithium Ion battery should work, from an electrical standpoint. They’re all 3.7 volts, because of the chemicals used, and the mAh capacity shouldn’t matter. This Samsung battery is rated at 800mAh, while the original Garmin was 750. So I should get a little more battery life.
It’s a little bigger than the Garmin battery, but it looks like it will fit, so I decide to go for it.
Preparing the Battery
After cutting off the plastic wrapper, we see the charging circuit on the top; the leads are flat metal strips that come around from either side of the battery.

After cutting the metal strips with snips, I determined the polarity with a voltmeter, and soldered a short wire to one side, to get closer to the original wires in the case. The flat lead strips look like steel, but they aren’t – it’s very easy to solder to them.

The case is the positive terminal, and the negative terminal is a pin that goes into the middle of the battery. I was careful with the existing insulation, and wrapped electrical tape around my little creation. There are exposed electronics and foil in the top of the Garmin (see the above picture.) I didn’t want any of this shorting to the battery case.
Installing the Battery
This starts simply enough – just solder the leads to the wires in the case. A short length of heat shrink tubing insulates the wire, and the exposed positive lead is so close to the battery it can’t go anywhere.

At this point I discovered something I hadn’t noticed earlier; there are a couple of little plastic pins molded into the bottom of the case, which prevented the old battery from moving around. I had to cut these with a sharp knife in order for my new battery to fit flush in the case. It’s a little wider than the original.
Red arrows point to the location of the left and right pins, which had to be cut. The green arrow is a bottom pin, for comparison; these can stay.
 
The Moment of Truth
It fits! I pop the top on and power it up, and we’re looking good.

Sealing the Case
Now I just have to put it back together. The original adhesive is some kind yellow, slightly stretchy stuff. I’ve seen it before, but I don’t know what it is. After reading others’ posts, I decided to go with silicone adhesive, which I found at the auto store for a few bucks. We want a watertight seal, but nothing so permanent that we can’t reopen the case.
I applied a little to the edges of both the top and bottom of the case with a toothpick.
The whole thing is wrapped in a cocoon of tightly stretched electrical tape and left for a day. The edge came out looking pretty good.
 
I’ve been for a couple of runs and a bike ride, and it works just fine. The battery I put in it was used, and I haven’t tested the battery life. If or when that becomes an issue I’ll just buy a brand new battery, now that I know I can get one that will fit.
Update - 2010.05.12 
Ciccio and others note in the comments that the problem might be a short, rather than a bad battery. His advice is to check the battery with a voltmeter, which is of course a good idea. It might be good to clean the contacts between the front and back of the case, check for continuity where you can, and then reassemble and see if the battery charges. I like to clean contacts with a pencil eraser (the pink abrasive kind.) Here's a picture of Ciccio's fix for his bad contact:

Tapering week - 2 weeks to go to SCKLM

Tapering time, 2 weeks before SCKLM, my 2nd full marathon..

Here's an article on nutrition for marathon training/tapering/race day..
http://www.runningplanet.com/training/marathon-nutrition.html

Controlling my diet and nutrition has not been easy as I like to eat haphazardly and impulsively. I have to work out a diet plan for the next 2 weeks and see how it work out for my run come June 24th !

Marathon Nutrition – Nutritional Tips for Running Your Best Marathon

By Rick Morris

Imaging a marathon training program in which your run the same distance, at the same pace every day. You obviously would not perform very well with a training routine like that. Marathon nutrition is very similar. Your training program almost certainly follows some sort of periodized schedule where your workouts are modified as you progress though your program. Your nutritional plans should be periodized just like your marathon training program.

There are three basic stages in your marathon nutrition plan. They are: marathon training nutritional plan, marathon taper nutritional plan and marathon race day plan.

Marathon Training Nutritional Plan

Leah is a client who approached me not long ago about training for a marathon. She had attempted a marathon a few years ago and struggled so severely during training that she quit. She said that she was constantly tired and did not have the energy for daily activities, much less marathon training. She thought that she may have been training improperly. I took a look at her training log and found that the program she was following was a basic, but essentially solid training schedule. I discovered her mistake when I asked about the nutritional plan she was following. She told me she was trying to lose weight at the time and was following one of those popular low-carb diets. I placed her on a high carb diet and she went on to successfully complete not only her first marathon several more.

Carbohydrates are the fuel for your body. Marathon training burns a lot of carbs. The exact number of carbohydrates you burn per mile depends upon your fitness level, experience level, pace and running economy, but most marathon runners average around 110 calories per mile with about 75% of those calories coming from carbohydrates. A typical runner can store approximately 1800 calories worth of carbohydrate in their muscles, liver and blood. That amount of carbohydrate will be depleted in about 22 to 23 miles which explains why most marathon runners “hit the wall” at that point in the race.

A training marathon runner should be consuming a diet that is composed of between 65% and 70% carbohydrates. A typical marathon training diet is one that is around 65% carbohydrates – 25% protein – 10% fat. Most runners believe that a carb is a carb. The truth is that all carbs are not created equal. Some supply energy very quickly while others provide a slow, steady stream of energy. Carbohydrates are classified by numbers between 1 and 100.  This is called the glycemic index (GI). Simple carbohydrate is high on the GI and gets into you system very quickly. Complex carbs are generally lower on the GI and filter into your system more slowly.  Foods that are low on the GI list tend to keep your blood glucose level and give you a steady supply of energy. You will be able to maintain your training runs for longer periods of time if your blood glucose is stable. High GI foods cause a roller coaster effect. After eating a high GI food your blood glucose will soar. This causes your body to release insulin which pulls the carbs out of your bloodstream and your blood glucose plummets. For that reason you should be eating low GI carbs during your training periods. Low GI carbs are also best for general health and weight maintenance. See The Glycemic Index for a list of low and high GI foods.

Marathon Taper Nutritional Plan

You will be tapering for your marathon for two to three weeks. Up until the final week of your taper, maintain a diet that is similar to your training diet or about 65 to 70% carbohydrates, but remember to decrease serving sizes during this time. Your training mileage is dropping fast and so does your calorie requirements. You do not want to put on a couple of extra pounds before your race. During the week before your race you should start a super compensation eating plan. Super compensation involves depleting your muscles of carbohydrate followed by a loading period. To carry out this plan follow the guide presented below. Decrease carbohydrate intake gradually from 60% to 40% of your total calories on days 1 through 3. Decrease your running duration from 60 minutes to 30 minutes during that period. On the following three days increase your carbohydrate intake to 70% of total calories and decrease your running duration from 20 minutes to total rest. The result will be muscles that are “maxed out” in their carb storing ability. The best types of carbs to eat during your marathon taper are also low GI carbs so that your blood glucose levels maintain a steady state.

Final Taper Week

• Day 1 – Exercise Duration – 60 minutes, Carb intake – 60%
• Day 2 – Exercise Duration – 40 minutes, Carb intake – 50%
• Day 3 – Exercise Duration - 30 minutes, Carb intake – 40%
• Day 4 – Exercise Duration – 20 minutes, Carb intake – 70%
• Day 5 – Exercise Duration – Rest, Carb intake – 70%
• Day 6 – Exercise Duration – Rest, Carb intake – 70%
• Day 7 – Race Day

Race-Day Plan

Your marathon day eating plan has two phases. Pre-race eating and fueling during your race. Get up early on race morning and eat a light meal of low GI foods. Do not fast. You will need to “top off your tank” and replenish liver glycogen stores before your race. The addition of some fats along with some low GI foods will also help keep your blood glucose stable. An example would be two pieces of whole grain toast with butter and a banana. Avoid high GI foods on race morning because it can cause your blood glucose to fall and you will end up using a very high percentage of liver glucose for energy early in the race. If that happens you will pay the price at mile 20.

During your race it is time to eat high GI foods. The high GI foods quickly release energy and give you a fast energy boost. Good high GI foods that are convenient foods on the run are energy bars, energy gels and sports drinks.

The Wrap Up.

During training eat a high carbohydrate diet composed of low GI foods. During your last taper week decrease your carb intake briefly before increasing it back to 70% of total calories in conjunction with decrease training volume. Eat a light pre race meal of a combination of low GI foods and fat. While running start taking in high GI foods for fast energy replacement.

Penang All Chinese Cross Country - Aug 5th.. I am not gonna miss that this year !

5 Aug - The 55th Penang All Chinese Cross Country, Chung Ling High School Penang - organised by the Chung Ling High School Alumni Association.
- 9km starts at 7:30am
2012年度第55届全槟华人越野赛跑

Dailymile Tracking - W23

Total mileage for W23 = 46.8km running + 1.2km swimming

Sundown - my 10th half marathon !

I completed my first ever Sundown Half Marathon @ Singapore..  5^th edition of the race and they are organizing it for the first time away from the Changi/East Coast area and had it around the City/Bay area. It was an excellent choice in terms of logistics, route and scenery ! The half and full started at 12.30midnite while the 10k was flagged off at 10.30pm. Total participants was 28k with 11k 10km, 9k half and 8k full marathon. Very impressive turn-out as it’s only a 5-year-old event ! This was gonna be my 10^th half marathon (assuming I take into consideration both the 26km Malakoff as half since they are >21k !) and my 3^rd race in Singapore (after SAFRA Sep’11 and SCMS Dec’11) in 8 months.. Well, I just love Singapore and its races, period.. although it gets very expensive !

Had my early dinner with Hizam at around 6pm @ Pastamania North Point. Took a plate of Linguine Carbonara as part of carbo loading (too little too early which I paid for it later on at the race !). We then went to the Nicol Highway area (starting point) as early as 8.30pm to kaypoh with the 10k run and also catching up with Chris who’s doing his first 21k after returning from his injury. Spent time wandering around the large field, watched the 2^nd part of movie “Tower Heist”, no less than 5 toilet visits and lots of hydration – the kiasu me keep draining down water (which I also paid dearly later on). In fact, we got a little bit of tired of waiting. I kept yawning away ! Mistake no 2 - Should have just stayed at home and catch more naps instead of wandering aimlessly !

After the 10k was flagged off, it’s time for the 21k and 42k to gather around the entrance area. In fact, from the time I went into the starting point until the 12.30am flag-off, I spent a total of 1hr 15mins just standing there and waiting. Damn. This is the most boring wait I have ever done in a race. My target is to do a sub-2 to match my PB (Taiping 1:58), if not, at least hit a 2:00. Hence I stayed close to the 2:00 pacer.  Good thing I did that too as I realized there was a 2^nd wave of runners waiting to be flagged off when I made the turn at around 1k later.

I made my customary mistake of running too fast too early. When will I ever learn !! The plan was to keep at 5:50 pace in the first 10k so that I can do a much better negative split later on.. a 5:40 will nicely get me a sub-2. After I started running, I could feel my bladder was near full. Damn ! I didn’t feel it when standing and waiting but as soon as I started running, I could feel it shaking. Bad timing. Though I was tempted to pee at the dark roadside/field, which I would have done had it been in Malaysia but this is Singapore… and I don’t want to get caught !  Had to hold on to it until I could find a mobile toilet at around 8^th km. Lost around 1min at the loo. Despite that, I hit 11km at 1 hr sharp. The best stretch was at Marina Bay Sands. The crowd were appreciative with a guy giving hi-5s to runners, nicely dressed ladies screaming enthusiastically (unfortunately not at me) at a Mat Salleh who was running top-naked in front. Pretty fast and I was confidently I could do the next 10k easily in 60mins, that’s 6min/km.

Distance : 11km
Time : 1:00 hour

Body : Good

Mood : Looking forward to a sub-2 finishing

I spoke too soon and as I started turning into the Barrage, I felt an emptiness in my stomach. I started to get hungry and tired. I could feel an empty tank and nearly hitting the wall. Very soon, I felt dizzy (pitam) and had to stop, walk, stop for about 2mins to stay balanced and not toppled over. By that time, I knew the sub-2 is over. All I need is to complete the race safely. Bad fueling strategy ! I was cursing myself – I should have grabbed that darn Subway sandwich on the way up and I regretted not doing so. I trudged onwards and the stretch along Barrage where the 21k and 42k started to split was pretty dark and uneven road surface. Nonetheless, it was pretty soon a run-walk-jog and I repeated this again and again throughout.

The weather was also unusually hot and humid and for the first time in so many runs, I pour water on my head and body at every water station !  I felt that I have to soak myself in water to keep me going. The final 8k or so were run along some parks and river. Pretty dark and uneventful compared to the first 10k. Soon, I was pacing myself and did around 6:30 and I should be hitting the ‘tape’ at around 2:05. 5k down and met a couple of Mat Salleh runners whom we gave each other an encouragement pat on the back whenever the person passes by. It’s the kind of booster we normally give to runners who are walking and as a sign to say “you are so lazy, run, don’t walk !’ 3k before the end, I saw a middle-aged Japanese runner collapsed by the roadside and 2 medic were frantically calling out his name. He was turning, so I knew he should be alright. Maybe over-exhausted. Man, as soon as I saw that incident, I stopped and started walking. Somehow, such scenario always give me the cringe and that ‘no matter what, I want to end up safely at the finishing point’ ! Some jogs later, 200m before the end, another Mat Salleh was on the side walk, fainted but at least he didn’t look like he had a heart-attack. I could not garner the strength and energy to do my customary last km sprint.. All I could was a slow run towards the finishing point.

Distance : 20.62km (not exactly 21km)

Time : 2:04:31 (6:02’/km pace)

Body : Blah.. empty fuel tank

Mood : Blah. Cursing myself why I did the basic mistake of bad fueling strategy and started off too soon.

Overall : Glad that I ended the race with my 2^nd best time, and more importantly no injuries, no heart-burnt, no muscle aches..

So, another Sunday ended, another race.. I now will look forward to my 2^nd Full Marathon in 2 weeks time (Jun 24^th) !

Note : Heavy downpour and thunderstorm struck around 45mins after I ended my race. Real freaking storm. Salute to the half-marathoners who ended the race slightly later (like Hizam who did his virgin HM) and all the full-marathoners. I thank my lucky stars that I decided to turn my Sundown to a half instead of a full. It could have been a DNF had I do the full !!  Chris completed his HM on the comeback but not too sure what’s the timing – that’s not important though.