Monthly Archives: August 2010
Workouts – W32-W33-W34
Here are the workouts I’ve had over the past three weeks. I haven’t been explaining it every week because I’ve been traveling for a few days, I have been a bit disconnected, and some laziness was present too.
But hey, better late than never, even in a summarized way and without explaining in detail each workout, only some key data when it happened.
These are my workouts for the week 32. The weekend I was travelling, so little action.
- Monday 9th: Resting
- Tuesday 10th: 2500 m – 1h 30 min – Swimming + 19.99 km – 1h 20 min – Cycling
Double session. The cycling part wasn’t very hard itself but having done it after the swim, it was a bit complicated. I got some pain in my right knee doing the breaststroke kick, it almost doesn’t bother during normal activities, but I can’t swim breaststroke with the normal kick.
- Wednesday 11th: 2500 m – 1h 30 min – Swimming
- Thursday 12th: 2500 m -1h 30 min – Swimming
- Friday 13 th: Resting
- Saturday 14th: Resting
- Sunday 15th: Resting
Total week 32: Swimming: 7.5 km – Cycling: 19.99 km – Running: 0 km
These are my workouts for the week 33. In the place where I have been is really hot all day, so the workouts are very short. But at least I was a bit active. Also, I got about 1 kg of weight during this week.
- Monday 16th: 1.94km – 16 min – Running
Yeah, very easy workout. The excuse is that my brother-in-law was with me and it was his first time.
- Tuesday 17th: 2.78km – 16 min – Running + 11.70 km – 1h 28 min – Cycling
Easy workouts too. But I biked with a bike similar to the one in the photo. Cool eh?
- Wednesday 18th: 4.68 km – 28 min – Running
No periostitis even running three days in a row. I know that the first two days it was short runs, but something is something.
- Thursday 19th: Resting
- Friday 20th: 1400 m – 55 min – Swimming
- Saturday 21th: Resting
- Sunday 22th: I was to the swimming pool to play mainly, and I didn’t do any workout, but I took some times for some distances. For example, I did 1:45 in 100m breaststroke, it is not a bad time considering the few workouts that I have had. Not knee pain today.
Total week 33: Swimming: 1.4 km – Cycling: 11.70 km – Running: 9.40 km
These are my workouts for the week 34. The swimming pool is closed until September 1th so no-swimming until then. I’m doing some weightlifting with my arms to gain some strength when I swim again.
- Monday 23th: Resting
- Tuesday 24th: Resting
- Wednesday 25th: 8.91 km – 54 min – Running
Well, it has been my longest run ever. I thought in running about 45 minutes, but finally I changed the route, and then I kept running until the end of the route. The pace was good for me, 6:06 min/km. Later, resting, I had some pain in both knees, I think they were a bit overcharged, because the pain was over the next day. The periostitis didn’t appear, good thing after this long run, hopefully it won’t appear again. My legs are more muscled than before, and my weight is lower too. Also, now I only run about 1 day a week, it can be a determinant factor. I will be running more days every week when the weather will be worse and it will be difficult go with the bike, so let’s see if then the periostitis is back or is over forever.
- Thursday 26th: 39.32 km -2h 40 min – Cycling
It has been my longest run with the bike. I climbed La Reigada, good roads except the last kilometers of the climb. I had good sensations, even after my longest run from yesterday. The knee pain was almost over, and practically I didn’t note anything during the way.
- Friday 27th: 14.46 km – 56 min – Cycling
It was a very windy day, and it was very difficult to move forward with the bike, so I did a simpler route than planned. Something is better than nothing.
- Saturday 28th: Resting
- Sunday 29th: Resting
Total week 34: Swimming: 0 m – Cycling: 53.78 km – Running: 8.91 km
Next week I will return to the normal routine with biking, swimming and running. Let’s see how it goes.
My next developments (for MeeGo)
After two months that I’ve taken a break from software development world, the new season is coming, and today I have written some code again so it seemed like a good idea to write the future plans. I will not have as much time as in previous years to devote to software development (I’ll begin to study a Master degree in September), but I will try to ensure as much time as I can because my goals are quite demanding. I hope to meet my expectations.
At first, just comment that I am not going to continue supporting the software I have written for Maemo. All this software was written in Hildon whose future is uncertain in MeeGo, and after several months there seems to be no one interested for change this future, even if Nokia donated $50,000 to Gnome, but apparently they still have not even decided what to do with this money. Cornelius did a very good suggestion here.
I am sorry for the users of my Maemo 5 applications, but you must understand that I can not keep spending time on something that is not going to have a future.
In other topic, my knowledge of Qt and C++ are increasing little by little, I’m writting working software, but surely the code is not as optimized as possible, something I hope to fix over time.
The main reason why I am writing software in C++ now is because I want it to be available at sites such as Ovi Store for Meego. The Ovi Store does not support applications written in Python, there is a request made by the Maemo Community for that possibility, but I doubt that Ovi supports it soon.
My plan is to market some of these applications, ie sell some applications, therefore the source code will not be available. I would love to sell an application and open the code, but if I open the code anyone can distribute the application for free. If anyone has an idea of how to do both without losing sales, I’m all ears.
Of course there will be free copies (and beta versions, etc.) for friends 
and people who help me to improve the software, testing it, reporting bugs, etc. and if the business goes well I will be able to give better gifts to these people and even create my own company (Yerga Mobile Solutions) 
Without further ado, I will list the applications I’m developing so far with Qt and C++. There are more planned applications but those news will come when necessary.
Periodic Table
When I have to learn to program in a new UI platform, I always write a periodic table (I’m a chemist), and in the case of Qt has been the same way. If I fulfil the plans I have for this application it will be the most complete periodic table ever written for a mobile device.
Features working so far
- The Periodic Table itself, with data for the elements.
- Graphics of the properties of the elements.
Some TODO items
- 3D molecules from PDB files (with online search)
- Amino acids data
- Molecular mass calculator
- Hundred of small things
GTD app
This is the killer application I’m writing right now. It is a task management application using the GTD method (method I’ve been following for months). The application is written taking many ideas of Things for iPhone application, but in the end it will be different with different features.
Features working so far
- All task management (add, move, delete, complete, etc.)
- GTD *lists* (inbox, scheduled, next, someday, etc.).
- Projects support
Some TODO items
- Repeating tasks
- Improve landscape UI
- Attach files (audio, photos) to tasks.
- Desktop application (for Linux, MeeGo netbook, Windows and MacOS).
- Notifications.
- Search tasks.
- Synchronize with Remember The Milk, Tooedlo, Outlook, iCal, Evolution, etc. (yay, complicated).
- GPS integration (localized task).
- New, nicer icons.
Of course, I will continue writing open source software for Meego, for these cases the applications will be written in Python with MeeGoTouch libraries (when available). MaStory and CasualServices are the first applications that I will be porting to MeeGoTouch libraries.
PS. That are desktop screenshots for the Qt applications because launching a Qt app in the MeeGo Handset SDK it becomes a blank screen.
Workout – W31
Week in which I have done swimming again after so many years, thinking now I should have done some amateur swimming during these years and not quitting completely. Actually I really enjoy swimming, and even when you are exhausted after a swim, it is like a recuperative session in which you feel like new, with more vitality.
These are my workouts for the past week:
- Monday: 1000 m – 1h – Swimming
Well, after 10 years without swimming more or less seriously, today I have done it again. I have been to the pool sometimes in the last 10 years but never to swim, just to have fun with friends, and at most I did about 100 m in total in all this years.
I have done series of 50 m, stopping to rest between them, I still can not do many more meters without stopping, and I preferred to do more total distance with good rests, rather than do 200 m continuously, and be unable to move my arms more time. The feelings were pretty good, and finally I have done more meters than I had thought. In these series of 50 m, the first 25 meters I felt pretty comfortable and I could check the technique, in the second 25 m, I was only trying to raise my arms because they weighed a lot, and I could hardly with them and let them fall like a dead weight. But this is normal, and I know that in a few days I will be able to do better things. Most series have been in crawl, but I did some in backstroke, and some also in breaststroke. I felt particularly good swimming backstroke.
Talking about the kick, though I have stronger legs than the arms at the moment, I failed to be consistent with them, and there were times when I did a pretty good kicking, but at other times it was practically nothing. Breathing I felt better than I expected, I can do 25 m almost without breathing, which is a pleasant surprise.
On the other hand, the goggles I bought are really bad, and I am going to buy some Swedish goggles when I can, even if at first it takes time getting used to them, I know that eventually will be the best.
In summary, it has not been bad for the first day after so many years (and especially, taking into account that have been very unhealthy years).
- Tuesday: 29.34 km – 2h 45 min – Mountain Biking
The day dawned cloudy but it was opening, and eventually I had enough sun and hot most of the route. It did not affect me very much, just the water you lose with the hot (as sweat). I went to Gorfolí again, this time I climbed until the antennas (higher point). I went very well, perfectly controlling the pulse and breathing, so I had not to stop at any time because of this, my body is starting to take shape. Although I had soreness in the arms because of the swimming yesterday, practically it did not bother me on the bike.
The fact that this route I am doing now to go to Gorfolí is very interesting because it has the first part with nice roads and a couple of long climbs but widespread, then the final climb is a way with soil and stones, which becomes hard, but quite bearable. The last part of the route is almost all downhill or flat, good to recover.
- Wednesday: 1500 m – 1h 12 min – Swimming
Another day of swimming. I had enough stiffness in the arms, which complicates a little the mobility and technique these early days. The distance was not bad, 1500 m, which have been about 1200 m in crawl and 300 m backstrocke and breaststroke. It was in series of 50 m, except for the first 100 m that were continuous.
My feelings were a bit like the first day, the first 25 m of each series have been quite acceptable, taking care of the technique, but the last 25 I was happy to reach the wall and the arms had almost no strength to push the water. But I hope that eventually I will improve, and as I get better of the soreness of the first days, sure I can do better than now.
- Thursday: Resting
- Friday: 2000 m – 1h 19 min – Swimming
Much better today, almost no soreness in the arms, bringing the total meters more than the previous days doing just a little more time. I did most series of 50 m, but I also did about 500 m in series of 100 m. The distribution of strokes was about 1500 m in crawl, and the rest backstroke and breaststroke. Today I brought a watch to check the time of some of the series I have done, and yes, the times are pretty bad, as expected, the most important data it is that I did better times swimming breaststroke than backstroke, that means that my awesome breaststroke technique is perfectly, and when I can do all the meters with a stable force, I can do more interesting times.
- Saturday: 4.42 km – 35 min – Running
Running day. In principle, the periostitis do not bother me very much now, so running a day a week I do not think that it can reappear, and may be useful to further strengthen those muscles and have less problems in the future. The feelings I had were mixed, soon to start, I had some discomfort in the legs, and thought it was shin splints again, but it passed and I have not had any more trouble. When I was more time running, I had some discomfort in a knee and ankle, so I stopped running. I have not had any more trouble since that moment. At the end I ran 35 minutes at a lower pace than other times, and if not for these small pains I would have gone a little longer.
- Sunday: Resting
Many beers mean a bad hangover the next day, so you can not do very much.
Total week 31: Swimming: 4.5 km – Cycling: 29.34 km – Running: 4.42 km
The next week I expect to do further progress in swimming, which is the sport that I will devote more time now. I expect to do three sessions during the week and in the weekend I will be on vacation, but I expect to do at least another swim workout there. I have planned going for a run one day, and the rest of the days I will bike. I could even do a double session, for example, swimming, then bike on the same day.
September is very close yet, I will have less time, so I have to improve in sports as much as possible now.
Entrenamiento – W30
Me desperté temprano, alrededor de las 7:30, y me levanté sobre 15 minutos más tarde, gracias a la fuerza de voluntad que estoy teniendo últimamente para levantarme a estas horas sin tener la obligación de hacerlo. Después de desayunar y prepararme, etc., abrí el Google Earth para ver donde podía ir hoy (tengo algunas rutas preparadas), y digo, pues voy a subir al Gorfolí.
Hay varios caminos para subirlo, y al final elegí un camino un poco complicado. No sabía que iba a estar en esas condiciones, al principio mucho barro y agua, y había sitios donde sólo había piedras grandes y era imposible ir montado en la bici, más arriba el camino estaba más seco, pero había tramos que eran bastante difíciles también. Así que me lo tomé con calma, sin prisa, haciendo unas cuantas fotos, y mirando el GPS cada poco, para no perderme por el monte. Al final no subí hasta las antenas pero estuve cerca, otro día que vaya por un camino más fácil subiré hasta allí. Bajé por Taborneda, hay un camino asfaltado y en buenas condiciones, con pendientes bastante interesantes, tengo que probarlo subiendo.
Un buen día de real Mountain Bike. Llegué con las piernas bastante embarradas y con mil picaduras de mosquitos, pero fue muy divertido.
Un día de transición activa, haciendo menos kilómetros que las últimas salidas, y también con un recorrido un poco más fácil, con algunas subidas importantes también, aunque más cortas. Al principio me he encontrado bastante cargado del día antes, pero poco a poco me he ido soltando y he acabado la segunda parte del recorrido bastante bien, con un buen rendimiento en las subidas de la segunda parte del recorrido.
Ha hecho bastante viento, y con tanta mala suerte que me ha dado en contra en gran parte del recorrido, con el desgaste que ello supone.
Más tarde, ya en reposo, me ha empezado a doler (un pequeño dolor agudo) la rodilla izquierda cuando la flexionaba. Esperemos que no sea nada.
- Miércoles: descanso
El cuerpo me estaba pidiendo un descanso, así que se lo ofrecí gentilmente. Afortunadamente, el dolor de la rodilla se ha ido casi por completo.
- Jueves: descanso
Otro día de descanso, pero ha sido uno importante respecto al futuro de mi entrenamiento. Esto es debido a que he ido a comprar material para ir a la piscina, como ejemplo más significativos un bañador y unas gafas.
Cuando yo dejé la natación hace 10 años no había los bañadores que hay ahora, bueno sí que los había, pero no eran tan populares como son ahora. Y ahora lo menos normal es usar los que usábamos en aquella época, llámese bañadores de tipo slip. Obvíamente, ya no tengo los bañadores que usaba antes, aunque tampoco creo que me valieran, tampoco quería un bañador completo, buscaba algo de media pierna (jammer) o de tipo boxer. En la tienda que estuve no había bañadores de media pierna, por lo que me hice con uno de tipo boxer. Para lo que voy a hacer, por lo menos al principio, me basta y me sobra. El bañador que compré es muy parecido a éste, marca Adidas.
El tema gafas es más complicado, ya que es algo muy particular de cada uno, hay que sentirse bien con ellas, que no te molesten en la zona de los ojos y nariz y que su rendimiento sea el adecuado, como por ejemplo que no entre agua dentro, o que no se empañen demasiado. Al final elegí unas gafas arena, que eran de lo mejorcito que había y parecían cómodas. Veremos como funcionan en el agua. Son las de la imagen. En el futuro me gustaría volver a usar gafas suecas, como usé los últimos años de nadador, pero son bastante más incómodas en los ojos, así que esperaré a acostumbrarme de nuevo a llevar algo puesto en esa zona, y luego ya podremos mejorar el equipamiento 
Quedan dos días de entrenamiento, así hay que forzar un poco para llegar a esos 100 km totales en la semana, una cifra mágica. Por lo que estos dos días serán salidas largas de más de 30 km.
Hoy la ruta fue hasta Pulide otra vez, la verdad que me gusta mucho esta ruta, ya que hay tereno de todo tipo, y la subida final es muy guapa entre árboles, en medio de la hermosa naturaleza asturiana. La mañana estuvo bastante nublada, algo menos de 20 ºC, y con algo de orbayu en algunos momentos pero que venían muy bien, especialmente cuando la carretera picaba hacía arriba. Estrenaba coulotte que también compré ayer, antes usaba unas simples bermudas, pero la verdad que cuando estás más de 2 horas en bici las bermudas te empiezan a rozar en todos los sitios y son muy incómodas. Además el coulotte con la protección que tienen, ayudan bastante a que la dureza del sillín no sea tan importante, y acabes con el culo dolorido por tanto tiempo encima de la bicicleta.
El recorrido me llevó unos 15 minutos menos que la anterior vez que hice esta misma ruta (el día 20), de ellos sobre 12 de esos minutos fueron en la subida, que hice mucho mejor, aunque por supuesto que sigo sufriendo con este tipo de subidas, y todavía tengo que parar en algunos momentos a bajar pulsaciones (hoy sólo paré dos veces).
El dolor en la rodilla izquierda volvió a aparecer al estar en reposo.
De nuevo subida al Gorfolí, pero por una ruta distinta que la que hice el lunes, también de tierra y con piedras pero el camino estaba en mejores condiciones que por la otra zona. El dolor de la rodilla estuvo presente desde casi el principio, parece que no le dió tiempo a recuperar desde ayer, aunque en mitad de la subida el dolor fue a menos y pude hacer más de lo que pensaba. Quizás es que haya aumentado mucho el kilometraje en poco tiempo, y la rodilla se resienta.
A parte de eso, las sensaciones que tuve han sido muy buenas durante gran parte del recorrido, ya que he ido controlando las pulsaciones muy bien en las subidas (y especialmente en la subida final al Gorfolí), y nunca se han pasado de la cuenta, por lo que no he tenido que parar en ningún momento por esa razón. Yo pienso que el desgaste (y la quema de grasas) es mucho mayor de esta manera que si haces un esfuerzo muy intenso durante menos tiempo y luego bajas el ritmo o te paras. Ha sido la primera vez que me ha entrado hambre durante el ejercicio, y eso contando con el desayuno que hago es, por lo menos, sorprendente.
En otro tipo de asuntos, es estupenda la corporatividad que hay entre la gente que hace MTB, y la educación que existe entre este colectivo, ya puede ser que alguien esté casi sin poder respirar subiendo y tenga capacidad para saludarte de todas maneras
En reposo continuó el dolor en la rodilla izquierda, pero tampoco es una molestia muy grande
- Domingo: descanso
Total semana 30: Cycling: 101.30 km
La próxima semana se presenta bastante apasionante ya que voy a volver a la piscina (a nadar en serio) después de tantos años, sé que los primeros días me va a costar muchísimo y el ácido láctico va a aparecer en forma de agujetas, pero ya tengo ganas de que eso llegue. He pensado medir algunos tiempos y así ver en que estado de forma me encuentro y poder diseñar un entrenamiento a medida de estas condiciones.
En principio, esta semana de entrenamiento será de 3 días de piscina, 2 días de bici, y 1 día que voy a intentar correr un poco. Ya no tengo dolor en las tibias de la periostitis, y sé que forzando me volvería a aparecer, pero creo que 1 día a la semana de carrera me puede venir bien para seguir fortaleciendo los músculos de esa zona, y no tener problemas de periostitis.
