Ring Around the Roses, A Pocket Full of Poses

I always wanted to watch Lord of the Dance, however multi-million dollar legs Michael Flatley retired before I had a chance to. This evening, I watched the last performance of the touring show, Riverdance - the next best thing to Irish dancing at the Marina Bay Sands. Flatley choregraphed the original Riverdance that made its debut at the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. The performance was brilliant! The two-act show featured a Flamenco dancer, two American tap-dancers, and a troupe of Irish/ballet dancers. The male and female leads were very skillful, and stole the show. The accompanying female lead singer (beautiful falsetto voice), and the four-piece band (comprising a female fiddler, two male percussionists, and a male drummer balanced the show’s dance-song format. This was our first time attending a world-class show at the 1,600-seat, Sands Theatre in the spanking new integrated resort.

I visited Dublin and Cork in 2004, and I certainly made the Guinness Brewery one of my highlights of my trip; I failed to kiss the Blarney Stone as I was not comfortable lying on my back at the edge of the precipice. True to my expectations, the taste was exquisite. Having spent my formative corporate years working at a renowned brewing company, I have been hooked on the distinct, sweet-sour, taste of a pint of ice-cold Guinness Stout. Earlier this week, I had a pint of Guinness Stout with my lunch at the Margaret River in Busselton, Western Australia. It was part of my passive recovery approach, less than 24 hours after my last Ironman triathlon. 

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I rode about 60K this morning along Coastal Road. I merely cycled on the flat 15K loop. Interestingly, at about 10.00am there were still roadies and triathletes grinding away on their large chain-rings. My legs felt better, and I was able to churn out 30kph loops despite the ubiquitous headwinds ever-present along the airport runway. I wonder what happened to my race-legs last weekend in Busselton? Perhaps, I wasn’t fully recovered, or I was experiencing post-race peaking this morning. Whatever the case, I will be focusing on increasing my leg strength and power. Lanzarote will demand, endurance and strength to drive my bike up a maximum elevation of 2,500 metres. 26 May marks my second attempt at the Ironman triathlon in the Canary Islands. I look forward to improving my previous performance. 

Credit: Riverdance logo trademarked to Riverdance