Jan 28: Swim - 25m pool, 10:10-10:50pm

Today I don't have much time but going to reduce the break time and swim more than 1km. And this is going to be the target.

Since it's late today, I had a single lane all to myself.
First 300m was warm up swim, then adjusted the form (which is to swim in 14 strokes), but then after 300m I got out of breath. After a quick break, without thinking the number of strokes I swam 600m. It took 2'15'' for 100m. My target is 2 minutes but I'll need to strengthen my energy first.

Result: 300m, 300m, 600m, Total: 1.2km

Jan 23: Swim - 25m pool, 8-8:50pm

I ran yesterday so today I just observed how my knees are. As I thought, I can feel something around the front of my knees. It hasn't developed as pain just yet but feels like it's just before that. The doctor at the lecture yesterday recommended to do some stretch since the rectus muslce of thigh is so hard. I tried the stretch but it's so painful, I learnt that it's not stretched at all. So perhaps it gets painful before the muscles gets hard. I took the pain and continued with the stretch but the result is not there yet. (or the result is there, but perhaps haven't developed as a pain just yet).

Today, I focused on adjusting form and swam very slowly. When it's going well, I only need 14 strokes but when I relax it immediately raises to 17 or 19 strokes. To be able to swim long distance, you'll have to swim very slowly, but at first it's so cold (the water feels cold anyway) I ended up swimming fast and therefore after 300m, my breathing control gets tough. I'll need to improve my breath control as well.

Result: 300m, 100m, 100m, 100m, 100m, 400m,  Total: 1.1km

Jan 22: Run - 5:40-5:45pm

Today, I went to the lecture that focused on how to strengthen knee joint which was hosted by Health Improvement Centre in the neighbourhood. I learnt that shrinking muscles makes ankles wobble, and when the balance of left/right muscles fall apart it connects to the pains in the knees. Then we learnt how to strengthen the weak muscles. This is very good and I decided to do it at home everyday.






















The roller base for bicycle arrived so I've used it and ran 6km in 17 minutes (20km/h speed). I ended up sweating a lot by starting the top load to 3rd level. I've decided that when my knees have warmed up after the indoor cycling, then I go running.

Today, I ran 1km in 5 minute pace. After 800m, I felt something around my knees but I ran until the end. also, I purchased a core body running book by Tetsuhiko Kane and I'm going to combine my knee training as well as core body muscle training.

Jan 20: Swim - 50m pool, 6:15 - 6:45pm

Today is also a cold day, and when I arrived to Sendagaya, I didn't want to even think about getting into the pool, but from previous experiences I know it'll improve after swimming so I pushed myself to the swimming pool reception. Today, one of the lane is booked so the slow lane is busy. After 300m I got stuck. And I was a little tired at this point since I swam fast to get rid of the cold. For 200m afterwards, I adjusted the form and tried to swim for 500m but after 300m, my front left thigh muscle was about to have cramp so I stopped there. In the past, I ended up having a cramp in the same place but on the right side. This happened since it was after cycling so perhaps my muscles were tired. Come to think about it, it might be because I did some training at home with the cycling kit which arrived yesterday. Normal weekdays after work, I usually can't train cycling outside since it's too cold. So I bought this training roller kit and now I can practice indoors! It seems to take more time to recover muscle tiredness due to aging. That's probably why I almost had a cramp today.

As for cycling, I'm going to train 15minutes with uphill (indoors). This is the level which I'm just about to start sweating.

Result: 300m, 200m, 300m, Total: 800m (the least amount recorded)

Jan 16: Swim - 25m pool, 8-8:50pm

There are many new year parties and it's difficult to make time for exercising. I couldn't even get to my bike during the weekend. I can't stop swimming while my body strength is decreasing, so headed to the near pool. It's empty so the lane is all to myself :) First after 300m, the breath control was hard, so I adjusted my form, swam slowly and somehow managed to swim 500m. Outside is cold but my body is roasting and it feels great.

Result: 300m, 200m,100m,100m,500m, Total: 1.2km

Jan 13: Swim - 50m pool, 4:15-4:50pm

Today feels like the coldest in this winter, and I'd like to warm my cold fingers and toes before getting into the pool. The shower before getting into pool feels warm enough but it's cold afterward during warm up so dashed with that and swam desperately for 300m to warm my body. After 300m, I was already catching my breath so took a break.

There's a less slow lane today (usually there are 3 slow lanes) due to someone booking the other lane so it feels busier and after 200m, I ended up catching up with this breastroke person. Although today is cold so the pool itself is empty. When it's busy, there are about 15 people in a single lane, but today is about 7 people.

At one point, I ended up meeting with a westerner and after exchanging some greetings, I found out that he is an Italian who is heading back to Rome tomorrow. Then we swam separately but when I was changing clothes after shower, he came in so we chatted and it turns out that he is a pilot (first officer) with Alitalia airline who used to be in a military. After I mentioned that I fly every year in Europe we kind of hooked up so ended up chatting until Shinjuku where his hotel was located. It seems like Alitalia is having time with their business.

Result: 300m, 200m, 200m, 300m, 200m, Total: 1.2km

I should conduct further training to reach this month's goal which is to swim 500m without a break.

Jan 10: Cycle - 6.3km Hill course, 2:52-3:08pm, 4℃

I aimed for a warm temperature time, which is this afternoon, but it was 4 degrees with the north wind, so it felt like 0 degree. I use cycling gloves so the fingers are cold and after 16 minutes they lost their senses. At first the wind was facing me so it was tough and my feet is getting colder.

Starting point. The opposite wind is very strong. First part is flat and mild right curve.(map 1)

Since the wind is so strong, I couldn't speed up much. And I had to stop at the signal.
First up hill, around mid-point.(map 12-13)

When I checked the pulse, it was 202. I think the sensor is not working properly due to the dry weather.

After going through the long up hill, turning left as this part (map 14).

At this point my legs are dead and the pulse is at peak. However, when I turn left, there'll be a light curve and downhill, which is very nice.

The last steep downhill is the place I usually record the fastest speed (map 52).

The downhill is steep but also it's a big curve so it's hard to see long way ahead and I can't speed too much.

I've purchased GPS Recorder for cycling, with the attached software I'm able to find out distance and altitude by adding the course.

There's a slight difference in data from measuring with Pressure Altitude Measurement, but with this information, the altitude difference is around 90m.

The recording somehow got shut down in the middle so I won't be able to fix this, but will check it next time. It may well be due to the low temperature, it was impossible to measure this.

Result: It took 15'57'', the fastest speed was 59.2km/h. This is due to the strong wind and stopping at the signals.

The pulse had some margin of errors, so I'm not recording it this time. After a while I started sweating and it worked so next time, I'm going to wet the contact point and use it then.

Jan 9: Run - 1km, 4:30-4:36pm

I ran again to check my knees. Last time I jogged slowly and softly. This time, I'll jog slightly faster. During running, I can feel something right under the knee area, so tried to reduce the shock by running with short steps.

Before jogging, I did some stretch and step practice for about 5 minutes so that my knees would warm up. After jogging, I've done the stretch and massage as well.

After 500m, due to the lack of muscles the pace drops. I will need to exercise much harder to train my legs. Tomororw, if there's no pain, I'll run 3 times a week to gain stamina. The final target is to run 5km in 25minutes, but this will be after cycling for 20km so that will be a tough target.

Result: 1km in 5'22''

Jan 8: Swim - 18m pool, 7:15-8:35pm

Today I also went to the swimming pool in Kumagaya. It sounds far when I say Kumagaya, but not too bad from here in Higashimatsuyama. And thankfully the traffic is very smooth. The pool is relatively empty and the fact that they have both bath and sauna is probably why I end up going there.

Today the pool was again empty, almost monopolising it by myself. Sometimes there are 2 guards. At first I swam 10 laps which is about 360m, then adjusted the front crawl form. Water is warm and even I don't move much it doesn't feel like my body is getting cold. I swam another 10 laps, then 14 laps to finish (500m). When the pool is small,  you get to turn (and kick) so frequently so it feels much easier than 50m pool. I jumped in to the bath afterwards which what I was looking forward to do, and relaxed my muscles. Then moved to the sauna.

Result: 360m, 100m, 360m, 100m, 500m, Total:1.4km

Jan 6: Swim - 50m pool, 4:20-4:50

I''m very busy but to regain my body strength, I went to the pool on the way home. The wind is chilly, it's probably the coldest day in the winter, and the body feels like 0 degrees. The water in the pool feels farm. Although the body temperature is low so the first 200m I swam very fast, and took a break after 300m. Everyone seem to swim pretty fast in this pool, so I ended up thinking about the speed and puts pressure in my arms. Resulting that I'm needing a break every 300m. It was a short time, but managed to swim for 1.1km. On the way home the body is warm, and the cold wind feels very nice.

Result: 300m, 100m, 300m, 100m, 300m, total: 1.1km

Jan 4: Swim - 18m pool, 7:50-8:40pm

This is the only place where it's open. And there was nobody there. Just the guard and myself. After a while, a woman swam a little, and left before me.

I practiced the quick turn but the water keeps coming in to my nose. Anyway I swam for 360m twice, then adjusted underswitch form and swam 1km in total. This month, I'm going to make my target as 600m non-stop swimming, then next month is 800m, and March will be 1km.

Jan 4: Run - 1km, 7:30-7:38am

It has been a long while since I felt the pain in my knee. I feel it when I give a little pressue like on stairs but it's not a massive pain. For several times, I've ran 100m just to check how my knee is but the next day, usually it comes with pain. So I've stopped running for a while, but this month is a start of registration for the triathlon, so I better give my answer soon therefore decided to run today.

First I did the radio-exercise, then walked for 2km for a warm-up, followed by a light exercise, and then I started running. It was extremely slow pace, 40cm for each step, and ran for 1km. It took me about 7 mintues. There wa snot pain afterwards. If I don't feel the pain tomorrow, I'll run again this weekend.

Jan 3: Cycle - 6.3km Hill course

I've finished the end-of-the-year-cleaning, and starting the new year's training!

This time, I'm going to cycle with my son who is visiting us for the New Year. Due to his old bicycle's gear being old and the chain keeps falling apart, we took it slow.

It took us 16'54'' to do a lap. The temperature is so low the sweat only came in the end and didn't bother me at all.