H Bay

Winter is getting to its end and it is time for more intense training sessions. Goal is to boost VO2 max and running speed.

Here is the 8-week program I have found on the web on www.endurancetraining.com.au. It perfectly covers all the aspects I need to improve my breathing and freediving performance.

I chose the 40min plan (with times and speed for the 45min goal) for the 10km as it corresponds best my current training status. So here is my individual training plan inspired by the one mentioned above.

Week 1

• Mo 30-45min easy run or relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Th Cruise intervals: 2x5min (12.7-13-1 km/h or 4:35-4:44 min/km) with 4min recovery
• We Relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Th Speed/VO2max: 4x200m (15.3 km/h or 47 sec) / 3x600m (14.4 km/h or 2:30 min) with 2min recovery / 4min between sets
• Fr 30-45min easy run or relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Sa Long run: 60min (10.5-11.0 km/h or 5:28-5:43 min/km)

Week 2

• Mo 30-45min easy run or relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Th Cruise intervals: 2x7min(12.7-13-1 km/h or 4:35-4:44 min/km) with 4min recovery
• We Relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Th Speed/VO2max: 4x200m (15.3 km/h or 47 sec) / 3x1000m (14.1 km/h or 4:15 min) with 2min recovery / 4min between sets
• Fr 30-45min easy run or relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Sa Long run: 65min (10.5-11.0 km/h or 5:28-5:43 min/km)

Week 3

• Mo 30-45min easy run or relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Th Cruise intervals: 3x6min(12.7-13-1 km/h or 4:35-4:44 min/km) with 3min recovery
• We Relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Th Speed/VO2max: 4x300m (15.0 km/h or 1:12 sec) / 3x800m (14.2 km/h or 3:23 min) with 2min recovery / 4min between sets
• Fr 30-45min easy run or relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Sa Long run: 70min (10.5-11.0 km/h or 5:28-5:43 min/km)

Week 4

• Mo 30-45min easy run or relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Th Cruise intervals: 3x5min (12.7-13-1 km/h or 4:35-4:44 min/km) with 4min recovery
• We Relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Th Speed/VO2max: 3x200m (15.3 km/h or 47 sec) / 4x600m (14.4 km/h or 2:30 min) with 2min recovery / 4min between sets
• Fr 30-45min easy run or relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Sa Long run: 60min (10.5-11.0 km/h or 5:28-5:43 min/km)

Week 5

• Mo 30-45min easy run or relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Th Cruise intervals: 5x4min (12.7-13-1 km/h or 4:35-4:44 min/km) with 2:30min recovery
• We Relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Th Speed/VO2max: 3x300m (15.0 km/h or 1:12 sec) / 4x1000m (14.1 km/h or 4:15 min) with 1min recovery / 4min between sets
• Fr 30-45min easy run or relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Sa Long run: 80min (10.5-11.0 km/h or 5:28-5:43 min/km)

Week 6

• Mo 30-45min easy run or relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Th Cruise intervals: 3x5min (12.7-13-1 km/h or 4:35-4:44 min/km) with 4min recovery
• We Relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Th Speed/VO2max: 6x600m (14.4 km/h or 2:30 min) with 2min recovery
• Fr 30-45min easy run or relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Sa Long run: 60min (10.5-11.0 km/h or 5:28-5:43 min/km)

Week 7

• Mo 30-45min easy run or relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Th Cruise intervals: 4x4min(12.7-13-1 km/h or 4:35-4:44 min/km) with 2min recovery
• We Relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Th Speed/VO2max: 5x1000m (14.1 km/h or 4:15 min) with 1:30min recovery
• Fr 30-45min easy run or relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Sa Long run: 60min(10.5-11.0 km/h or 5:28-5:43 min/km)

Week 8 (potential race week)

• Mo 30-45min easy run or relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Th VO2max: 4x600m (14.4 km/h or 2:30 min) with 2min recovery
• We Relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Th 30min run 4x30sec at race pace with 2min recovery
• Fr relaxation (stretching, yoga, breath holding)
• Sa race

Already some time ago (August 11th 2011) I met the author of “The 4-Hour Workweek” Tim Ferriss in San Francisco at the Evernote trunk conference (the kooaba team thinks that he is my secret Idol, which is of course not true ). Alex Pachikov from Evernote was so kind to make the introduction.

Tim Ferriss and me at Evernote Trunk Conference

Tim loves wine and takes photos of wine labels to remember. I showed him our app kooaba Déjà Vu, which we launched that very day. Déjà Vu recognizes wine labels automatically from a photo of the label and adds direct links to the wine on Vivino. Tim was very impressed.

I am still very impressed by Tim and his book “The 4-Hour Workweek”. It is a good read and I can recommend it to any marketer, entrepreneur, Internet startup company, and life hacker.

However, I didn’t read his new book “The 4-Hour Body” yet. I wonder the name of his next book. Maybe something like “The 4-Hour Company”?

Today is the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. The sun is at its lowest point. From today on, days will again become longer. Above the arctic circle, there is no day. Below the antarctic circle, however, there is only day. Find out more about winter solstice on Wikipedia.

The last couple of days, I was studying several sources in order to find out how to make my training plan for December until February to improve VO2 max. High VO2 max results in good freediving performance and breath holding. Today, I stumbled upon this website that summarizes it quite well.

Here the link.

In summary, one should do some short high-intensity interval trainings, but also some regular interval trainings during 4 minutes with 2 minutes recovery break (slow jogging). I hear already two questions araising.

1. How many intervals?
2. At what pace?
3. how long are the breaks?

Of what I figured out in the last couple of days was that in order to improve VO2 max, high-intensity interval training is required. This boils down to my traditional 10x 200m sprints with 2 minutes recovery (walking). here, sprint means really going to almost maximum possible speed.

In order to push the lactatic threshold, however, a more moderate interval training is required. In fact the 5x 4 minutes at or a bit above the lactatic threshold and 2 minutes break (walking).

Also, one long run is still advisable in order to recover the muscles.

How does this translate into a training plan?

So, in practice, this is difficult to translate without over-training.

I suggest the following

• Monday 5x 4 minutes with 2 minutes break
• Tuesday weight lifting
• Wednesday 10x 200m with 2 minutes break
• Thursday weight lifting, wellness
• Friday 5x 4 minutes with 2 minutes break
• Saturday long run 90-120 minutes

During my times as a sprinter, once per week 10x 200m was enough. Every week, we got better. In the beginning, we were not able to sustain the 10x. Only about 7-8 times. But quickly, we got used to the effort.

Let’s see in December.

In an article about methods of getting organized, the newspaper Ouest France (print and online) cited a quote from me. see here.

La méthode GTD. C’est l’abréviation de l’anglais Getting things done (pour que les choses soient faites), leitmotiv du gourou américain de l’organisation : David Allen. « J’ai fait la liste de tous mes projets professionnels et privés, même si leur réalisation me semble lointaine, confie le bloggeur Herbert Bay. Je les ai classés, ce qui libère mon esprit, puis je les décompose. Faire le tour du monde en voilier peut sembler un rêve inaccessible. Mais si je divise ce projet en petites taches réalisables, petit à petit, j’avance. » La méthode conseille aussi de classer les choses à faire selon les endroits où l’on se trouve (au téléphone, devant l’ordinateur ), puis de s’acquitter tout de suite des tâches qui prennent moins de trois minutes.

Even if the address of this blog was not mentioned, I noticed increased traffic (see screenshot)

In the overview, I presented the long-term plan, which serves as an overview and the basis for the monthly planning.

September

During September, I did a lot of running, but without any structure at all. I just went for a run when I felt like it. In average, I trained about 3 times per week (often on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday). After waking up, I did some push ups and weight lifting (biceps).

October

During October, I start with a more structured training plan.

Week 1, 3-9 Oct. 2011

• Mo 3×12 push ups
• Tu 3×12 push ups
• We 45min run 140-160, relaxation
• Su long walks

Week 2, 10-16 Oct. 2011

• Mo 30min run 140-160, relaxation
• We 30min run 140-160, relaxation
• Th 3×12 push ups, 3×40 sit-ups, stabilization, 3×12 leg press, 3×12 biceps, 3×12 triceps, 3×12 shoulders, relaxation
• Fr 45min run 140-160, relaxation
• Sa 70min longrun 140-160, relaxation

Week 3, 17-23 Oct. 2011

• Mo 30min run 140-160, relaxation
• Th 3×12 push ups, 3×40 sit-ups, stabilization, 3×12 leg press, 3×12 biceps, 3×12 triceps, 3×12 shoulders, relaxation
• We 45min run 140-160, relaxation
• Th 3×12 push ups, 3×40 sit-ups, stabilization, 3×12 leg press, 3×12 biceps, 3×12 triceps, 3×12 shoulders, relaxation
• Fr 50min run 140-160, relaxation
• Sa 90min longrun 140-160, relaxation

Week 4, 24-30 Oct. 2011

• Mo 45min run 140-160, relaxation
• Th 3×12 push ups, 3×40 sit-ups, stabilization, 3×12 leg press, 3×12 biceps, 3×12 triceps, 3×12 shoulders, relaxation
• We 45min run 140-160, relaxation
• Th 3×12 push ups, 3×40 sit-ups, stabilization, 3×12 leg press, 3×12 biceps, 3×12 triceps, 3×12 shoulders, relaxation
• Fr 50min run 140-160, relaxation
• Sa 90-120min longrun 140-160, relaxation

During week 2, I started with some initial Yoga exercises after wake up at 5AM with the following content according Yoga for freediving.

• Jala Neti – nose cleaning
• Warm ups
• Anuloma Krama – breathe in intervals (up to 10 cycles)
• Nadi Shodhana – alternate nostril breathing (5 – 10 min)
• Kumbhaka – breath holding 4-16-8 (5 – 10 min)
• Ujjayi – ocean breathing (3 – 10 min)
• Bhastrika – fast breathing (10 breaths 15 sec pause 3 – 4 cycles)
• Savasana – relaxation

November

In November I add some interval trainings and more Yoga (every day before sleeping). In the morning, I start the day with some static apnea (just for the fun of it, no measuring). Moreover, for the work outs I go to the gym and make maximal weight 9 repetitions each exercise.

Week 1, 31 Oct. – 6 Nov. 2011

• Mo 45min run 155-165, relaxation
• Th 1h whole body workout, pectoral, shoulders, latisimus, hamstring, squads, biceps, triceps, sit-ups, lower back, relaxation
• We 45min Fartlek with Intervals up to 172, relaxation
• Th 1h whole body workout, pectoral, shoulders, latisimus, hamstring, squads, biceps, triceps, sit-ups, lower back, relaxation
• Fr 45min run 150-163, relaxation
• Sa 90min longrun 140-160, relaxation

Week 2, 7-13 Nov. 2011

• Mo 45min run 155-168 some 5x2min intervals, relaxation
• Th 1h whole body workout, pectoral, shoulders, latisimus, hamstring, squads, biceps, triceps, sit-ups, lower back, relaxation
• We 45min Fartlek with Intervals up to 172, relaxation
• Th 1h whole body workout, pectoral, shoulders, latisimus, hamstring, squads, biceps, triceps, sit-ups, lower back, relaxation
• Fr 45min run 150-16, relaxation
• Sa 90min longrun 140-160, relaxation

Week 3, 14-20 Nov. 2011

• Mo 45min run 155-168 some 5x2min intervals, relaxation
• Th 1h whole body workout, pectoral, shoulders, latisimus, hamstring, squads, biceps, triceps, sit-ups, lower back, relaxation
• We 45min Fartlek with Intervals up to 172, relaxation
• Th 1h whole body workout, pectoral, shoulders, latisimus, hamstring, squads, biceps, triceps, sit-ups, lower back, relaxation
• Fr 45min run 150-173 some sprint intervals for the fun on it, relaxation
• Sa 90min longrun 140-160, relaxation

Week 4, 21-27 Nov. 2011

(relaxing week)

• Mo 30min slow run max 155, relaxation
• Th 1h whole body workout, pectoral, shoulders, latisimus, hamstring, squads, biceps, triceps, sit-ups, lower back, relaxation
• We 30min easy with some sprints for the fun of it
• Th 1h whole body workout, pectoral, shoulders, latisimus, hamstring, squads, biceps, triceps, sit-ups, lower back, relaxation
• Fr nothing
• Sa 90min longrun 140-160, relaxation

This post is not a real blog post, but my personal training plan to improving general fitness, well being, and to boost my freediving performance.

So, why do I write a blog post about it then?

Because I want to remember it, to find it whenever I need it, to have it safely stored, and to have it neatly written in electronic form. I can always access it from my iPhone, iPad, print it, cache it, etc. A secondary reason also is the fact that if I openly share it, the pressure raises to actually execute it. Colleagues and workmates might ask me about my progress. So I have to be prepared. Last but not least, it could be some kind of inspiration for anybody wanting to get in shape again.

What are the goals of this training plan?

The main goal is to improve my freediving capability. For this I want to achieve the following

1. Better overall fitness to feel well in my skin
2. Lower resting heart rate and blood pressure
3. Be more resistant against stress
4. Improve capability to relax and control muscle tension
5. Get more flexible (muscular flexibility)
6. Improve lung performance
7. Hold my breath longer (at least 7 minutes)

Current performance

In order to have a first impression about my current fitness, I was testing my current performance during the month of September 2011. Here the numbers.

Notice that I never participated at any competition or real training. The time for static apnea was measured without competitive mindset. I just stopped when 5 minutes were over and when I started to feel uncomfortable. Also, the constant weight personal best was measured at a recreational wreck dive in Bonaire. I didn’t have any diving watch to measure depth, but it is known that the wreck lies at about 30 meters. I promise that next year I will take it a bit more seriously.

Long-term planning

In order to be most efficient, a long-term planning needs to be established. This is to make sure to make best use of time. I plan as follows.

Training Plan

Before I do the entire training plan for all phases without adapting to my needs and progress, I start with the first phase and the first month. I already started in September with long runs, some basic strength training, some stretching (not enough) and some relaxation (not enough), but nothing structured. I will update for every month and will report changes during progress. Feedback, input, and training ideas are highly appreciated.

Every month will start with an easy week and will get harder until the end of the month. Also the week starts with easy trainings and then gets harder until friday. On Saturday, there will be always a long run. This is a bit of what I have learned during my active athletic times.

Start-up phase

This is the first phase, which started in September and continues until end of November. The goal of this phase is to build a basic endurance and prepare the body for some high-intensity interval trainings during the upcoming phases.

Also, some Yoga execises will help to get into more body conciousness, better flexibility, and first breathing exercises (Pranayamas).

• September and October gentle warm-up

Source: kooaba

Do you use your iPhone to remember things by taking pictures of stuff? For instance wine labels, furniture, book covers, newspaper articles, food, recipes, receipts …? Congratulations: you use your iPhone as a visual memory! This reduces information overflow and keeps your brain free for more important stuff.

You understand how efficient it is just to snap a picture in order to remember something visually.

But you may have noticed that your camera roll quickly turns into a mess. Everything is mixed (holiday pictures between wine labels, and newspaper articles). Furthermore, these collections can become increasingly large, holding thousands or even tens of thousands of pictures. Think of how many photos you took with your iPhone in the last 3 years and extrapolate that to the next 30 years. Overwhelming.

kooaba Déjà Vu is your visual memory

Just as you, we needed a better solution. We imagined a mobile camera app, which was specifically tailored for serving you as a visual memory. Which brings order to the chaos in your camera roll. Which lets you easily search and organize your visual memos and even creates a safe backup for you if your iPhone falls in a lake . This is exactly what our new product kooaba Déjà Vu aspires to do for you.

How does this work? Watch the video below for a short intro.

Convinced? vote here). Alternatively, you can also register for just the web account.

Not convinced yet? To sum it up, the features of Déjà Vu as of today are

1. A better mobile camera. Déjà Vu is specifically designed to snap photos of things you want to remember on the go. It allows for fast picture taking and easy navigation through your visual memos.
2. Image recognition integrated. Image recognition technology identifies many things (Books, DVDs, Music, Wine Labels, etc.) in your visual memos and automatically categorizes and labels them. This saves you time and effort.
3. Cloud syncing. All visual memos are synchronized with your personal account in the cloud. There, they are stored safely forever and you can always access them from any device.
4. Effortless organization. The intuitive interface makes it easy to label, tag, and organize your visual memos. On the web and on your mobile device. Of course, all of your changes are synced automatically.
5. Easy search and find. You can search your visual memos by keywords and tags, browse them by category and view them on a map. These features are available both on your mobile device and on your desktop.
6. Grows with you. Our free plan includes 30 visual memos per month and access to all features. You can upgrade to unlimited usage for only $19.99 per year.

Ok, we think you should really Paperboy and Vivino. The goal of these apps is to respond to user needs where image recognition is key element to solving the problem. This is driven by the notion that just offering visual general visual search just doesn’t cut it.

Throughout the last five years, we had the chance to talk to many of our users and collect their feedback. One thing that constantly came up was the fact that many of them use our apps to remember things, rather than to interact with them. For example, when people used kooaba Visual Search to take a picture of a book, it was often to remember it for buying it later, rather than having instant access to reviews or shopping options. The same holds for kooaba Paperboy, where from the three benefits (Share, Explore, Remember), the one that’s consistently reported as the most popular by users is Remember.

In fact, even when talking to people that do not use any kooaba app about how they use their mobile camera, many of them mention the fact that they use it as their visual memory. Why is that? Having a camera integrated in your mobile phone has changed the way we take pictures. First, of course, the pictures are digital, so taking one doesn’t cost you a dime. Second, you have your mobile phone always with you. Third, snapping a picture is probably the simplest, fastest, and most intuitive way to remember anything.

These are the reasons that led us to create kooaba Déjà Vu.

What’s next?

Of course, we have many more useful features for Déjà Vu in mind than the ones we offer in this first release – some of them will launch as early as this month. Also, the use-case of a visual memory in general opens a whole bunch of new possibilities for image recognition. This is still our core competence and we do not plan on retiring from innovating here.

Speaking of which: what will happen to our visual search apps? We will continue focussing on covering verticals for visual search with our platform, and Paperboy as our main product. kooaba Visual search will be discontinued in the midterm (we will offer tools for migrating your data to Déjà Vu).

We are still only at the beginning of what’s possible for image recognition. Dealing with digital pictures in a smarter way will pose a growing challenge and will lead to lots of new applications. For the time being, we are really excited about Déjà Vu and eager to hear what you think about it. Try it. And let us know your ideas and thoughts here.

Herbert and Till,

and the whole kooaba team.

P.S. Shhhh, did you

Source: kooaba


Giorgio Armani (together with Manor) offers a price reduction of 20 Swiss Francs on any of its perfumes or cosmetic products. To get the reduction, consumers have to take a picture of one of the corresponding billboard ads (also working for fragrances for men). This Smart Ad was set up by our partners APG (JCDecaux) and Vanija.

Try it with the image below. Download PosterPlus or kooaba Paperboy on your iPhone (or Android) and take a picture of the interactive billboard ad.

Interactive billboard ad - kooaba Smart Ad

This Smart Ad is great because of the following five reasons.

1. Good Communication. It starts with the title Shoot & Win, which tells consumers that there is something in the game for them. The title alone even implicitly explains the required action. The subtitle reveals the details in a short and clear way “Take a picture of the Giorgio Armani billboard and get a coupon for 20 Swiss Francs at Manor”. It is visible and well communicated.




2. Efficient Howto. If consumers are interested in getting the coupon, they can find out how in a blink of an eye. The directions are both in written and graphical form. A three-step instruction leads consumers to the coupon. (1) Download the app on your Smartphone, (2) take a picture of the billboard, (3) get the coupon. There is no simpler way of explaining it.




3. Interesting Incentive. Consumers love coupons and it is great to get one that easily. Consumers expect a 20-Francs coupon when they read the text on the billboard. And that’s exactly what they will get. It sounds obvious, but there are not many of such exemplary interactive campaigns around. Often, all they say is “find out more” – What the heck. No idea what’s in it for me. Here, it is clear to anybody. There is a coupon and all I need to do is shoot a picture of the ad to get it. Period. No mysterious “find out more” crap .




4. The Result. The picture leads consumers to a simple and well-designed mobile landing page. There is just one thing that could be improved. In order to get to the coupon, consumers need (besides taking the picture with one click) to press on a tab. This step could be left out by directly displaying the result. Why? In many stores, Internet connection is quite bad. When the coupon is the first thing that appears, the app stores it in the cache of the Smartphone. Therefore, the coupon will be available even if there is no Internet connection. Furthermore, it saves an additional click.




5. Great Service. The campaign even helps consumers to find the nearest Manor store using a store-finder. This is great service to consumers and it rounds up the campaign and makes it really user friendly from A to Z.

Here, a picture is literally worth 20 Francs, but the campaign is probably worth much more than a thousand times its price.

The newly released text editor iA Writer is using a minimum amount of features in order to make writers focus on the essential and being more productive in what really matters… writing. iA Writer re-invents the text editor. Watch the video.

Icons and menu tool boxes are OUT, shortcuts (which are faster and therefore increase productivity) are IN again. It reminds me of the old days when I was using the simplistic text editor vim in order to write C++ code. However, with iAWriter there are much less shortcuts to learn than with vim as the main task of iA Writer is not to code, but to write. I was a great fan of vim as it is one of the most powerful text editors for coders while being extremely simple. Now, I am a great fan of iA Writer for similar reasons. Simplicity and focus, which both increase productivity.

What I also like is the courage of the inventor Oliver Reichenstein (Twitter: @iA) to underdo his competition. He was aware that with the given resources he could never beat Microsoft Word by building a software with even more features. Therefore, he built a really simple tool with almost no features, stripped down to the essential, but still extremely powerful.

iA Writer is not the only tool I like because of its siplicity. The productivity tool Things is probably the most used app I have. I use it for Desktop and on my iPhone where I use it more than phone calls, or text messages. It is just great.
I am not paid by iA Writer, and I don’t know Oliver personally even if we are both Swiss and Switzerland is small . I write this because I like iA Writer and because I want to test my new gadget. Meaning that this post is obviously written with iA Writer . There is one thing missing. A shortcut for links. I am tired of writing href=”http://…