This Long-Course Triathlon Is Mighty Tempting!

Faris Al-Sultan was runner-up this year, and he leads Team Abu Dhabi. Remus Henning won this race, about half a minute ahead of the 2005 Hawaii Ironman World Champion. The prize purse is one of the largest in triathlon, and is an attractive feature for professionals. The wetsuit sea-swim, and 200K ride (that traverses the Grand Prix circuit) is the other allure. Held in March this year (around the time of IMNZ), this could be the next Big Thing in long-course triathlons. Architect, David Chambers raced there in the hot (and sometimes, dusty sandstorm conditions) and provided us with lots of first-hand news. Watch the race video and enjoy the highlights. 

Tempting, isn't it?

Sponsoring My Charity As Part of Ironman

Hello, Friends! It is that time of the year where I race another Ironman triathlon and raise funds for charity. I am supporting the same charity as 2010, and it is for kids stricken with cystic fibrosis. This charity provides resources for these brave and positive children to exercise and breathe better and naturally. I certainly hope that you can assist us in our collective cause. Breathe Life Fully! 

My fund-raising page ‘Iron-Team Varella’ is up. I am supporting Breath4CF, part of the New Zealand Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. My mathematics is simple: 100 multiplied by $30 each or 300 times $10, will do the delightful and meaningful deed. Or will Pareto Law persist? Let us see if we can budge paradigms and social phenomenon.

Thanks to David Chambers, from NZ, who reminded me to consider this initiative we did in 2010. Back then I closed with a whopping NZ$2,083.00, and David did better. Both of us got to meet the charity organizers and the kids after the race – it was a touching moment to meet both parents and children of CF. My target this year is NZ$3,000.00. I hope to raise funds as close to this amount. I would deeply appreciate your participation and involvement in this cause. I than YOU in advance for donating or spreading the word!

It feels good to do something helpful and useful for others. I am fortunate that I can enjoy a lifestyle that includes endurance sports. Children stricken by cystic fibrosis have difficulty in breathing because the experience large buildup of phlegm in their lungs. Exercise discharges this fluid and allows the kids to enjoy their childhood and stay alive. In this case, exercise can sustain lives!

*****

After a tumultuous week wrestling with a second bout of flu, and a sprained lower back I managed to complete my sessions. I skipped Thursday as I was quite knackered and my lumbar region was making it hard for me to ride the double sessions. Yesterday, I swam with my group in the open-water lagoon, followed by a short run. After Friday evening’s 2-hour long run intervals in the evening, I crossed the 'imaginary finish-line' in third after two tough-working veteran runners, Jimmy and Vincent. It was a fun way to cap the week's training commitment.

Total training time this week: 11.0 hours (3 sessions for each discipline)

Pushing Lazy

The quirky, macabre and touching story of star-crossed lovers, Pushing Daisies is available on Amazon.com

Congratulations to my TNF100 Duo buddy, Hui Koon for completing seven loops on Sunday’s MR25 Ultra-marathon! Each lap of the Macritchie Reservoir was 10.2K of trail with slopes and uneven surface. The seasonal downpour made it challenging for the later part of the 12-hour, beat-the-clock, and do-as-many-loops-as-you-can. Each lap of this popular year-end ultra-marathon was as hyphenated as my previous sentence, for it was a 5-loop sentence you subject your body to. Five loops spell the minimum for an exclusive t-shirt. I recall earning my first ultra-marathon badge of honour from MR25 and I still value it, as it holds deep memories of my self-directed, assault of my feet.

With the persistent rain and gloomy skies, it would be so easy to succumb to the sin of sloth. We tend to make excuses to be lazy when nature decides on the collective mood of the day. When you have a plan, it makes veering from it a less than easy decision. Miss a day of training, and you may forfeit on your body’s ability to engage its resources on race-day. Train as you race, we are taught.

Steven Covey, author and perpetrator of the highly lauded ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ and ‘The Eight Habit’ proposed his time management matrix. It is based on the axes/variables of Urgent and Important. If it is not urgent and unimportant, it has to be a time-waster. Crises fall under urgent and import tasks. During a marathon, treating a mild abrasion can be not urgent and but important, as a grain of miscreant sand can cause you to suffer a painful and bloody situation down the road. Taking unduly long for a bathroom break, or spending too much time enjoying the smorgasbord of snacks during the marathon phase of an Ironman triathlon can add up into a disappointing timing for your overall race.

You can ward off unnecessary laziness by focusing on the more important tasks at hand. Even celebration need not be a passive process. Engaging in enjoyable conversation, when interest in another person is expressed builds on your relationship. Engage others. Be engaging. Learn from another: just this morning, my buddy David Chambers sent me his IMNZ 2010 preparation strategy (he posted a sub-12-hour completion). He was stoked thinking about my mild question, whereby he spent the whole night writing out his pre-race and post-race thoughts for me. Thanks, mate!

Leadership Lessons: How do you deal with your procrastination? How much time do you waste each day? How much do you squeeze out of your waking hours? How do you push your laziness away? When is being lazy vital to your well-being? How much time do you put aside to learn? Make first things, first.

Biking Tips For Riding Long

This is a long week of endurance training for me. My short rides are strength/power-based while my long ones will be about 4.5 hours (with specific, short intervals woven in). Some of these rides will be followed with a run of about 10K, thus I need my legs to be fresh enough for the pounding of pavement. The following is a contribution on riding considerations from my Dubai-based, architect friend David Chambers. He and I completed Ironman New Zealand last year. Thanks, mate for this!

TIP OF THE WEEK: Tips For the Long Ride Ahead.

Change your hand and body position frequently. That will change the angle of your back, neck, and arms, so that different muscles are stressed and pressure is put on different nerves.

When going uphill, shift gears to maintain normal cadence. On a long hill, conserve energy by staying in your seat (not too big a problem in Dubai, but worth a mention).

Brake right. To exert optimal pressure, brake with your hands at the ends of the levers. For a quick stop, as you press the brakes firmly, slide your buttocks to the very back of the saddle. This will keep the rear of the bike down so that you don't flip over the handlebars.

Don't wear headphones. They can block out the street sounds you need to hear in order to ride defensively.

Use hand signals to alert drivers to your intentions.

Try to make eye contact with drivers as you pull into an intersection or make a turn, so they know your intentions and you know that they've seen you.

Drink sufficient fluids even if the weather is cold. You will still need to replenish lost body fluids, and keep your energy levels optimal for the long ride.

Don't pedal in high gear for long periods. This can increase the pressure on your knees and lead to overuse injuries such as biker's knee. Shift to lower gears, and faster revolutions to get more exercise with less stress on your knees. The best cadence for most cyclists is 60-80 revolutions per minute (rpm), though racers pedal in the range of 80-100 rpm.

Race Report on the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon

By David Chambers (an Expatriate and Ironman Triathlon Finisher)

I drove up from Dubai, a 1.5-hour trip. So I left home at 5.30am armed with coffee, bursting to see all the professionals. I haven't been a spectator in ages so was looking forward to it - hoping to learn.

It was beautiful conditions at the start, with a flat warm sea (why some wore wetsuits was only for a faster swim-time, I think). A nice two-loop rectangular course, nice sandy beach start, extremely well organized transition area. The transition changing-area was in tents with hangers for all bags (bloody good); nice mist-showers as you came up out of the water before transition. It seemed all very well thought through in an idyllic setting next to the Emirates Palace (7-star hotel costing a billion dollars and 1km long).

Good swim course for spectators, excellent toilet facilities, etc. A family of 5, mum dad and 3 kids did the sprint - all competing for bragging rights, no doubt.

The bike mount – boy, its great to watch and learn what NOT to do! It’s amazing how good we all think we are, then, even mounting the bike it looks like our first time. I noticed we all try to be too fancy, have the shoes fixed to the pedals and then can’t get them in. Dear, oh dear. Of course the girls do it so much better, nice and slow, enjoying the event and far less competitive than the lads. Go girls!

Oh, and everyone just gets to the mount-line and stops to mount - jam. A few thought it through and walked a bit further out, then mounted in clear space. Nice.

All traffic was closed for the bikes on super flat roads with a slight wind. Macca was well down the pecking order when exiting the water, unlike in Kona...

The transition from bike to run was about 3km away, up along the corniche, again fantastic facilities, cafes, toilets, food and toilets. A bit of a walk from spectators but a good time to mix with other supporters! I met Germans, Brits, Aussies, and the usual suspects. By about 9.00am, it started getting hot, perhaps 25-28 degrees Celcius: Nice breeze, low humidity.

The press! Wow. They were all out for a shot of the professionals, complete with helicopter and massive zoom lenses.

Now the excellent thing about this event was that the professionals started first, then the short course and the sprint, but they were all rocked into the bike transition together at about the same time. How’s this, running into transition with the pros? How cool, it was plenty big enough, and what an experience for the athletes. Plus with all the hype, every one gets out of the way and just watches in amazement.

The run course was dead flat, nice, but it was getting damn hot by mid day, they were saying 35 degrees. I met Brownie at a drinks station - What a great polite guy. Standing there - talking to those volunteers handing out the drinks. They asked, 'What would you like?' He said 'Oh, I'm just looking for some iced drink please.' - Yes, he said please. Professionals, sometimes, get a bad rap. Well, he was terrific! I congratulated him on his recent NZ triumph, figured he dropped out, and left him too it. He was way down off the bike, about 9 minutes, I think. At least he made it to the bike transition, unlike Macca. Go Kiwi!

I was most disappointed to miss Macca riding into transition - not sure what happened. A bloody legend! [Apparently, Macca had problems with one of his cleats – Editor]

This is truly an international race, extremely professionally run from what I could tell. I do believe some organizers can’t see the trees from the woods at events like these. T-shirts were 150AED, or about $US45 - from the cost of the whole event, its peanuts and they should work it out with 2XU to give them away! Is that not going to be great publicity? Certainly a drop in the bucket and excellent advertising!

Oh, and it was just dandy to see Faris Al Sultan hopping off the bike and almost pulling his swimming trunks out of his bum! Yuck.

Well next year I'll be up there racing, so will be able to give you a better report from an athlete’s perspective. But a great day, great event!

Train safe.

Photo credit: David Chambers, Canon EOS 550D