On the weekend of Easter, I was so anxious because 3 consecutive days of thunderstorm weathered out my training plan, which I intended to push my endurance limit to see if I was ready for marathon swimming, as I had signed up for a marathon swimming race in July. The anxiety was gone after I knew that I could do 11 km in 2 consecutive days, with 1 of the days in high intensity, which means I could reasonably complete…
I have just finished my longest open water swimming competition in my life today – the DWB. The race was organised by the VRC (Victoria Recreation Club – known for paddling and open water swimming) and this was the 3rd year of the race (the first was in 2017). It was stated as a 5 km race by the organiser. 2 years ago, in 2017, when I saw that the cut-off time was 1 hour and 45 minutes, I thought…
Easter in Hong Kong means 4 days of holidays. I would originally like to use these holidays to push my endurance limit before my final week leading to the DWB race. However, 3 consecutive days of thunderstorm (the day before the holidays, and also the first 2 days of holidays) weathered out my plan so that I could only swim on the last 2 days of holidays. As an Easter tradition, Olivier Baillet invited Edie Hu and some other swimmers…
5 April was a holiday in Hong Kong, and the Sunday group did an extraordinary swim which I joined. The group started off at Stanley Main Beach together, swam to the buoy near To Tei Wan, and split into two. The longer group went round the peninsula and did 9.5 km, while the remaining returned to the beach and did 4 km. However, I couldn’t catch up with the longer group (as they swam at sub 1’40” / 100 m…
The new year of 2019 began. I became a member of Tritons Triathlon Club, which is associated with the triathlon programme at HKU with membership running per calendar year, and increased my training amount. Since January I regularly swim about 12 – 15 km per week, including normally 2 squad sessions, an open water group swim on the weekend, and a few sessions on my own. I originally wanted to increase the training amount further in February then April but…
I love the sea and love open water swimming. By the end of 2014, I discovered that there was a Sunday open water swimming group in Hong Kong, led by Ian Polson. I tried to join but couldn’t catch up with anyone in the group. I then got embarrassed and disappeared. In 2015, I found out that there was a Saturday open water swimming group led by Lloyd Mc Bean (now by Olivier Courret) as well, but I couldn’t catch…
The year of 2018 comes to the end soon, and it’s time for me to review my life and work in this year, and plan and set targets for next year. Starting with orienteering, this year is the first year of TrailO world ranking scheme. I have participated in 8 world ranking races in Africa and Europe, and got 50.19 in the best 6 (0.00 is theoretical best possible score, and 90.00 is the beginner score), ranking at the 94th…
Conclusion During this 22-day trip, I went to a total of 7 museums on Soviet history, 9 beaches on the Baltic Sea, and participated in 11 orienteering competitions. In the museums of the two regions, we can see the different feelings of the people of the two regions in the same period of history. Russia regards the Soviet Union as the most glorious period of its country, as a world superpower at that time. Russian museums display many Soviet leaflets…
August 13th to 14th: the end of the trip The trip finally came to the end. I took number 22 bus from Riga to the airport, then took an Aeroflot Russian Airlines plane back to Moscow. Riga Airport is the largest airport in the Baltic region, but I only see it as a medium-sized airport. I only see narrow-body airliners. The vast majority of the aircraft inside are on domestic lines, and only the two gates in the farthest are…
August 10th to 12th: Last days in Riga After I returned to Riga, there were two Latvia O-Week competitions remaining. On August 10, I went to Mazie Kangari to participate in the middle distance race. On August 12, I went to Turaida near Sigulda to participate in the long distance race. On August 10th, I returned to Riga after the competition and took the Ollex Express to the Hill of Crosses. The crosses originated from the Tsarist period. In order…