Your Finishing Pose

Chrissy Wellington completes her win with the Blazeman Roll (in memory of the brave Ironman John Blaise who was stricken with Lou Gehrig Disease). Greg Welch did a high heel click when he crossed the line for his Kona championship win. Craig ‘Crowie’ Alexander celebrated like-wise with a similar diamond-legged jump this year. Macca stabbed the air with both his index-fingers when he won his first Ironman world championships in 2007.

Wilson embraces a familiar milestone (Courtesy: PhotoPix).

Your pose when you cross the line matters only to you. Whether you smile, grin, grimace or wince you made it. To go so far, for so long, indicates your true grit. Even if you did not complete in your attempt (due to injury and bodily dysfunction), the weeks of lonely, pain-staking workouts must account for something. Nobody has a right to wrest it away from your calloused hands. If you have to compete for it, so be it. It is a privilege you earned and you have every right to will yourself through the line, with or without assistance.

Vijay pumps his fist in his first IM finish (Courtesy: PhotoPix).

Register for your event. Train hard for it. Show up for race day. Be steadfast and resolute. Keep your eye on the prize. Jog. Walk. Crawl on your belly if you must. Just do what you need to do. Just focus on the end-point and reel yourself in. Your dream to complete is your magnet, that attracts you there with your plans and preparation. The suffering that you undergo is part of your journey, that adds to your character development and perspective of your world.

Soak in the sun. Bathe in your joy. Shower in your moments! Immerse yourself in your freedom. Plunge into your future. That is your destiny.

The runner in the background is headed for his dream.

Aloha Days in Kona in October: The Ironman World Championships

Since it has been a day after the exciting World Triathlon Championships in Kona, Hawaii I decided to write about the energy of the Big Island. What attracts 25,000 spectators to line the streets and 5,000 volunteers to help out in what can be described as the ‘Toughest Day On Earth’?

In September, I met the elite runners of the US Armed Forces who were here for the Singapore Bay Run/Army Half-Marathon. I found out, intuitively, that denizens of Hawaii tend to have a glow about them. Perhaps, it is the magic of the Big Island that engulfs them, as intensely as the strong winds and stifling heat of the historically, luxuriant, volcanic island. The mystique of the island revived the popular television series ‘Hawaii Five-O’ and was the location for ‘Lost’. 6-time Ironman champion, Mark Allen was a convert to the ‘spiritual homeland of Ironman triathlon’ and works with a modern-day Shaman on a mind-body renewal retreat/workshop each year. Peter Reid used to live for weeks in Spartan conditions, training and winning his championship Ironman titles.

We interviewed Wilson Low late last year. Since he graduated from Australia with a degree in journalism, he has been busy with online reviews, active in coaching adventure-racing endurance athletes, and racing. I asked him about his experience competing with 1,800 other elite age-groupers a few years ago. Even as a wordsmith, he had difficulty describing it.

‘It is too easy to get lost in the hype of the Race Exposition, or the throng of the visor-Oakley-compression-clad crowds. It is a feel-good atmosphere where everyone sizes you up without a word being said. You feel small and unimportant, but you also feel that you have a point to prove to yourself, if not your friends, family, and fellow athletes back home - that you deserve to have that shot on the World Championship course. Everyone looks SUPER FIT; no one breaststrokes during swim practice off the pier; perfunctory 'hellos' inevitably drift to the topic of where/how/what position/race timing you achieved for qualification. Every visitor that week, it seems, worked their arse off to qualify to be there, and is not afraid to share the story of their Ironman journey with you - so you do the same.’

He added, ‘In spite of that, I feel that my Ironman journey was an introspective one; one that was purely focused on delivering the best I could give of myself on race day. I certainly made lots of friends and acquaintances during the trip, but as part of the itinerary of the tour group (I traveled with Tri-Travel, the Australian-based company for M-Dot athletes), there were times when I just had to break away and execute my own program.

‘No one expects you to know them or acknowledge them, least of all, the professional athletes. You know that everyone who is there is there on a mission - to race the biggest and most important race of their triathlon season, if not career. I rode behind a tapering Chris McCormack one day on Ali'i Drive on the way to get some snacks at the ABS Store, and did not even bat an eyelid.

‘The best focus is being unemotional during the race. I saved the gushing and adoration for post-race, where I managed to get Craig ‘Crowie’ Alexander at the finish-line to autograph a visor; I also ambushed Chrissie (Wellington) after midnight on Ali'i to autograph my Cervelo P2C (she was riding the same frame then). More photo opportunities the next day at the Oakley truck with Chrissie and Crowie again. During the race, I posted my PB timing for the Iron-distance, and really appreciated the fact that I could stay aware to achieve that.’

Ng Yong Feng was there as a spectator about two years ago. He was staying near the transition area, so was limited in his travel outside. He described his experience as: ‘The energy there was high! I will re-visit Kona again, just to view the race and take photographs. There were many awesome moments!’

There you have it. Two perspectives as to why we may consider visiting Kona, Hawaii in October each year.

Living Up to Expectations

Service fails when we do not meet our customer’s expectations. Thus, we learn about how to ‘under-promise, and over-deliver’. I believe that most customers (including ourselves) already know of this strategy, where we are short-changed as a customer, so that we can we be over-charged eventually. Talk about uneven compromises!

After watching the Ironman Triathlon World Championships two days ago, I was thinking about what goes through the minds of the professional and amateur athletes after the race.

For the defending champion, Craig ‘Crowie’ Alexander (AUS) winning twice in a row must be heady with excitement and euphoria (as far as I can imagine). Chrissy Wellington (UK), not only successfully defended her title for the second time, she also broke the long-standing course record (by one minute) set by her predecessor, Paula Newby-Fraser. Interestingly, several male professionals did not expect the superlative English triathlete to overtake them during the race. Chrissy needed a boost of motivation, so she went after the boys. I am sure that they were not expecting that!

For those professional who did not win, or make it to the top-3 positions, how do they feel? Do you think that they felt that they had disappointed their fans? Did they feel terrible because they did not meet expectations? I believe that to some extent, they did as professionals have a degree of obligation to their sponsors, family, fans, and themselves. This included former-world champions who wanted another shot at glory. To win once at Kona makes you a great athlete; to win twice, that makes you a legend. Some legends attempted a hat trick, and who can fault them for their enormous efforts on mercilessly hot day.

20-year-old, Rudy Garcia-Tolson (of Bloomington, California) did not meet the 9.5 hours deadline to complete his ride. To be fair, he is a double-amputee, above the knees, and he ran purely on his gluteal muscles (buttocks). He was severely disadvantaged, yet he made enormous ground by completing the 180km of sheer heat and harsh side-winds of Kona-Kailua, Hawaii. Kudos to Rudy for showing courage and true grit! In 2007, Scott Rigsby became the first double leg amputee to finish the Ironman. Both Rudy and Rudy have relentless determination and fiery willpower to attempt such a challenge, and boldy defy expectation. They defied (the odds) and defined who they are.

Congratulations to entrepreneur, Mitch Thrower for his 18th Ironman finish! [Sigh]. I have my work cut out for me.