My Boston Marathon Journey: Qualifier (BQ) For 2014

I qualified for the Boston Marathon 2014 at the Gold Coast Airport Marathon (GCAM) 2013. My first Boston Qualifying (BQ) time was at the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2011. I came in at 3:29:59, one minute the qualifying time for my age group (45-49 years). My second BQ was 3:16:49, earned while preparing for the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

I was running then on a meagre diet of 3-4 sessions per week, with my short runs averaging 10km and my longest from 15-21km. On a long week, I hit about 51km (or 3X10km plus 21km), supplemented with the pool swimming and long indoor-cycling sessions.

I chose GCAM as I attempted a BQ there but missed my BQ narrowly there. It is, generally, a flat course and the weather in July is cool but not too chilly. Plus, many Singaporeans preferred this course and I had familiar faces I could pace.

My nutrition was adequate although I exceeded my caloric need when I went harder than I should. Thus, I struggled on my return leg, passing the start-line and the last 8km became a complete haul. I began slowing down and I knew I was losing precious minutes, earned from a potential sub-3:10 performance. I was fortunate to go under-3:17:00 by sprinting my guts out (as can be seen in the accompanying video).

Lessons Learnt from my BQ: 
1) I should have arrived earlier to tail the 3:15 pacer. By the time, I caught up I was winded.
2) I should have given my body more time to warm up, instead of meeting the anaerobic zone earlier.
3) I could have spent more time building my base at a lower heart-rate, sticking to less than 135bpm instead of 150bpm.
4) I could have done some interval work (zero) and included some hill-work (zero).
5) My training was all tempo, and moderate to high-intensity. I was not training my aerobic engine enough.
6) My 'no guts no glory' approach served me well, as I improved my time by more than 13 minutes. Having said that, I could have made a 3:09 if I had been patient and not fatigued at the last 8km.
7) I could have a stronger core, more confident arm-swings, and not overtake the 3:15 pacer too early. The pacer (and, thus, pacing) is key to one's BQ success.
8) I lost my 'pacer' friend early as he dropped out due to injury. I should have stuck to the official pacers as they were reliable, and verbally encouraging.
9) I could have integrated some trail or off-road sessions, to strengthen my legs more.

The finishing 'kick'.

Lessons Learnt From Parents

There are absolute ‘rights and wrongs’ in life, and there is an even wider range of grey areas. Even laws and legislation change. The disparity in opinions engages unpleasant emotions, resentment and hatred. Opinions are far and wide; everybody has one. The Generation Gap (perceived or real) exists.

Parents want to be helpful. They, too, want to feel useful. In practice, many feel impotent when they face defiant teenagers and the Black Sheep of the family. They then panic, and seek advice from a wide variety of sources, and resources. This can add to the confusion, and accelerate the tensions.

When do you begin to formulate your wisdom? How do you know what you teach will be of value? Intention is powerful. It is a motivator of truth and relevance. How will you connect your wisdom with contemporary needs of a Generation Y, or Strawberry Generation? DEspite the dramas associated with parents and siblings, family is still Family!

Leadership Lessons: How would you teach Life Lessons to your children? How would you ensure that these lessons are heard? How would you attend to your children’s mistakes?

The Critical Post-Race Self-Evaluation

Photo-credit: Fireviewer

A race is a test, of sorts. It is an event that allows us to measure our performance both physically and mentally. Most coaches, including mine, strongly advise that we review what we have discovered and learnt after our race. Upon reflection, we can discover useful things that can assist us in our future training and racing plans. These insights and hindsight can certainly benefit us, when we apply them with purpose. Here are questions you can ask yourself:

1)    What went well during the race? Why?

2)    What could have been better during my race? Why not?

3)    How did my nutrition plan go? Did I experience abdominal discomforts? What would I do differently the next time? What would I not change?

4)    How sharp were my transitions? Which ways did I delay myself? How could I slice seconds off the next time?

5)    Which mechanical issues did I face? Where and why? How able was I to solve these problems?

6)    What was my mindset during the race? Which was my lowest point, and how did I deal with it?

7)    What was my sense of awareness during the race? How alert was I? Was I ‘in the zone’ or ‘zoned out’?

8)    How did I show my appreciation and recognition to the volunteers and spectators? Did I recall thanking them?

9)    Which is my area of focus for most improvement? How would I approach it?

10) How would I tweak my preparation for my next A-race? What can I learn from others?

By reviewing your performance, you can earn valuable lessons from your challenging event. Triathlons and endurance races are no walk in the park – until you experience the ‘bonk’ or fatigue. Our investment in the sport is high in terms of physical effort, emotional stress, and social impact. Make each attempt at a race count. Be accountable for your actions, so make the post-race review a strategic part of your long-term strategy to sustain yourself happily (and for as long) through your active lifestyle.

Expertly Evaluating Our Opinions

The study of knowledge is known as epistemology. Certainly, a larger body of study about the knowledge about knowledge itself has been established – however, it is a ‘meta-‘ description it. Knowledge can be out-dated, so we need to up-date it. Applied knowledge works better when our information is current and timely. Failure to act on timely information can lead to disastrous implications, whereas a stitch in time saves nine.

Facts can be corrected; people will correct your facts. Even indisputable laws of physics are only facts, until proven otherwise (as outliers, aberrations and abnormalities are wont to do). Once a wrong assumption has been made, it triggers off a spate of false logic that consumes knowledge to back it up. You may have heard of anecdotal evidence about researchers changing their data to fit their hypotheses. Factual inaccuracies are poor sources of facts. Thus, journalism serves to seek out the truth without impinging on privacy like hacking into private phone conversations and text messages. Another corollary could be the direction that Wiki-Leaks took. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction – or more.

With the operative language of distortion, deletion and generalisation in communication, how much of the news can we trust without being cynical or paranoid?

When you evaluate a process or appraise a staff’s performance, do you do it as a pre-mortem or post-mortem? It is so easy to criticize without adequate facts, and more so when the person does not have a chance to defend their case. Be cautious and mindful when you use Social Media as a platform to air your grievances, air dirty laundry and articulate your thoughts. Some thoughts and opinions are best left to our own privacy. Digital imprints of our ‘verbal sharing’ during our emotional highs and lows can be traced back, and used as weapons of mass manipulation by others.

Instead, be thankful for small mercies. Give feedback and assert your influence when it falls on deaf ears. Catch people doing right, instead of merely ‘in the wrong’!

Your public persona and personality is also measured by how you evaluate others. Are you a fair manager? Do you treat others fairly? How impartial are you when you facilitate conflict at your workplace? Jumping the gun, or making a premature judgement reflects on your lack of observation, interpretation and prejudices.

Mind your head, heart and hands!

Leadership Lessons: When was the last time that you audited your knowledge? How often do you admit it when you are proven wrong? How do you respond to feedback that your facts are wrong?

*****

Congratulations to all the runners who completed the 10K and 21K races of the Marina21K Run! I hoped that you enjoyed your first experience at completing such a distance. I was pleased to see participants at our run clinic show up and run the race. I look forward to seeing you in-person again at other races. Continue to race, when you can and feel you want to, and enjoy this lifestyle that you have designed for yourself!

I enjoyed my stint as a volunteer, mainly escorting the Guest-of-Honour and flagging off the runners. I coordinated the release and withdrawal of the start-off banner, which was a new experience for me – seven times. It was particularly more stressful during the first wave of the half-marathon when the professional runners were inches away from the banner, raring to go. Several Kenyan runners were standing alongside Singapore’s top 5,000m runner and SEA Games 2007 gold-medalist in triathlon, Mok Ying Ren. Even though the prize purse was small for a pro, the air of competition was so thick that you could cleave it with a butter knife. One of these Kenyan pro-runners was interviewed at the start-line by charismatic emcee, Ross who asked him his timing for the 21K. His reply of ‘1:02!’ led to a short burst of awed silence before a resounding and appreciative applause. Somebody uttered in shock: ‘That’s how long it take for me to complete 12K!’ Well put – I concur.

Dennis Quek - my swim-buddy with an infectious positive attitude towards life..

A big shout out to runners from Team Fatbird, Boston Uncle Kor, and friends from Triathlon Family and our armed forces for your positive energy and participation. Tribes and sneezers of the world unite.

Clever wordsmith and endurance buddy, Munn (a few hours fresh from his vacation)

Photo-credits: Marathon Mohan (over-130 marathons completed!) & KK Chin - both from Team Fatbird

Give More Ka-Pow With the Power of Wow!

Conventional wisdom and practice suggests that we ‘catch people doing wrong’. That’s right – pounce on them when they commit errors, err, and live their erroneous ways. Right?

There are ways. Seek the road that leads to your results, or take the road less travelled. Blame and shame, are two ways; proclaim and name, are another two ways. One empowers, while the other robs you of your enthusiasm, motivation and eagerness to perform better.

How do we empower people? Empower means ‘to give power’. How much empowerment have you given lately? Empowerment requires that we give up part of our authority and still retain the responsibility. We do not absolve ourselves of the responsibility – comes with the title and role.

Do like what two-time cancer survivor, Sean Swarner did – empower yourself through others!

Perhaps, encourage others through their performance may be just as useful. Here are several ways to do it:

1)    Write a recognition note with a specific example (evidence of feedback).

2)    Post a story of what your team did well on your company’s intranet. Most intranet portals are under-utilised and, predictably, become digital white horses through time. Apply positive Facebook enthusiasm when you post.

3)    Submit a report of the success story in your corporate newsletter; twist your editor’s arm to get the story in. Make a pitch for space. Print newsletters have a certain permanence that online versions don’t.

4)    Spread a success story over the social media platform: tweet, blog, or submit a Facebook announcement.

5)    Give a WOW-cher (voucher) today! That is a special note that announces to the person what you appreciate about them. Allow them to trade that note for a gift.

6)    Re-gift. Give somebody a present of an unused item (not things you intend to toss out). Avoid returning them their gift to you.

The downside of a lack of recognition extends to former-champions and national sports athletes who have been ignored after injury prematurely ended their career.

Leadership Lesson: Take care of others who have provided and assisted, in our past. Be grateful for small things. No small gesture of kindness is too small to be ignored. Demonstrate your sense of gratitude to another person.

Lessons Learnt From GCAM 2011

Night scene of Gold Coast beach.

1)    Enjoy the day when plans do not fall entirely into place.

2)    Appreciate the little victories won – break the race into segments where/when things went well.

3)    Be fully prepared and respond to changes and emergencies [my cramps at the 35K mark, attended by a few oral squirts of Stop Cramp, and continuing].

4)    Take time to focus outside of yourself [focus within and without].

5)    Show recognition around you [for volunteers, pacers, unofficial pacers, spectators and encouragers].

6)    Measure, measure and measure [read your watch, heart-rate, and Perceived Rate of Exertion].

7)    Perceive the shifts, or changes around you [environmental temperature, humidity, core temperature].

8)    Monitor progress of your strategy [and adjust accordingly].

9)    Say ‘hello’ to your supporters, friends and fellow participants [nobody is actually a stranger, since they have a traceable bib number].

10) Integrate your holiday around your race, and remember to enjoy the remainder of your vacation [stop brooding over spilt seconds, or splits in seconds].

10 Lessons Learnt from Hong Kong Marathon 2011

Location: Kowloon, Hong Kong

Day: Sunday, 20 February 2011

Flag-off time: 6:20am

Destination: Causeway Bay

Total time taken: 3:29:59

1)    Patience is necessary: Start slow to end fast (and get a negative split!).

2)    Aim for small improvements. Small victories add up.

3)    Adapt (and modify) to the situation. Watch how other experienced runners take the course.

4)    Prepare thoroughly (dress adequately, and have enough to eat and drink).

5)    Stay alert, and be aware and lucid. You are in some kind of trouble if you lose track of your surroundings.

6)    Enjoy the moments and smile to yourself (it lessens the discomfort).

7)    Appreciate and acknowledge those around you, including your friends.

8)    Stay warm, and fully warm-up (get your heart-rate and core temperature up).

9)    Enjoy the total experience.

10) Your PB is your PB (never allow anyone to deny you that) at whichever distance (official, or not).

Wet and Wild, But Whatever!

‘One day it started to rain, and didn’t quit for four months! There was a little bit of stinging rain…and big old fat rain…rain that fell sideways…and rain that seemed to come up from upside down! Shoot – it even rained at night!’ ~ FORREST GUMP.

We could have stayed in bed, and found solace and excuse in the rain. Yet, we chose to commit to our plan to ride in Desaru, Malaysia – a boat-ride away. The weather held, gingerly, in the early morning when we enthusiastically met up at the immigration checkpoint of Changi Jetty.

Over at Desaru, the main group splintered away early, with a 6:3 split. Andy, his friend Alev and I decided to wait out the sudden downpour. After some preamble, including a quick breakfast (as it rained mercilessly with minimal visibility), we met up with the rest about one hour out from the town – with pelting rain, persistent headwinds and wantonly speeding traffic. Once again, the group connected, and then disbanded as quickly – headed for the jetty.

Hui Koon described his experience in our wettest ride ever. It pretty much sums it up. I am glad we did this trip, despite the challenging conditions. I also adored my relatively new bike, and the latest finer fits to my aero-bars. My ride was smooth and comfortable in spite of the numerous pockmarks on the foreign roads.

It was a cold day, which reminded me of the cold races I had to bear: Berlin Marathon, IM New Zealand, and IM Western Australia. I prefer my races and training hot, as I am consciously hydrating my body with fluids. Today was exactly one year since I did my last Desaru ride, where I was unfortunate to be hit by a taxi on home soil, after a satisfying long ride. I had to face my demons, and overcome my residual anxiety with riding.

Leadership lessons learnt today: Never let up on an opportunity to test myself. Keep my sense of adventure. Manage the variables. Stick stubbornly to the plan. Adapt and adjust your plan when risk factors surface and accumulate. Above all, engage my values of persistence, patience and sense of purpose.

Lessons Learnt Crossing The Finisher Chute

IMWA 2010 was one of my significant milestones in my personal sporting history. Despite timing-chip issues, I did finish legally and with videotaped evidence this race. My timing-chip stopped registering my running pace after the 20^th mile, which led to many text messages about my racing status. THANK YOU my friends for checking on my health!

Although I did not secure the PBs I wanted, I earned the following lessons:

1)    This being my 10^th Ironman finisher, it was no easier than my first of fifth. I look forward to my next two Ironman races in 2011 (number 11 and 12 sounds very good on the scorecard).

2)    I enjoyed and remembered most details of my run down the finishing chute. I was giving the lovely spectators high-fives and applauding them.

3)    I had a good, strong run equally my best in 2006 (same race).

4)    Immersing myself in the energy of first-time finishers of Ironman. There were more than 400 making their attempt at the 226K-format. Well done, Ironman finishers!

5)    The event is run mostly by volunteers, so thank them whenever we can. It is a shared experience for a very long day, and days of preparation.

6)    I hate to quit; DNF is not computed in my DNA. I’d rather do damage control than take my allotted time, or give up and give in.

7)    This is only a result; we have our good days and better days. This was my good day. I will apply my lessons to my next race, and hopefully, earn my next PB.

Photo-credit: FinisherPix (which reminds me to make my order from them)

The Spooky Art of Writing

One learns much from the process of writing, and thinking about writing. Eleven months after starting this three-year personal challenge of continuous blogging, I have learnt much about the craft of writing. Having written fulltime and freelance, I can attest that writing professionally can be very challenging. You have to be very organised and clear in the business, and passion can only carry you so far. Your tools are your words and your stories – two reliable anchors that can get you started on your journey on this quirky and creative profession.

The late-Norman Mailer wrote in ‘The Spooky Art’ on his trial and tribulations of writing. He drew upon his fifty years of writing experience and writes about the writer’s craft. Mailer explored, among other topics, the attractions and limitations of non-fiction, the relevance of work habits and discipline, the pitfalls of early success, and the dire business of coping with bad reviews. But perhaps the most enthralling parts of this readable book is when he takes on his fellow writers, living and dead: Melville, Faulkner, Hemingway, Henry Miller, Updike, Roth, Vonnegut, Garcia Marquez, Bellow, Styron, Beckett, and a host of others including Mark Twain, D.H. Lawrence, and Toni Morrison.

Mailer wrote, 'I believe I could end up as a good critic because I know so much about novel writing by now. I can always tell when someone is drawing sustenance out of his or her best vein and when the needle missed.'

I hope I have not missed too many of my intravenous attempts to hit the spot, with you – dear readers! What are the lessons you learnt as you write? We send hundreds of e-mails and text messages every month, respond to blogs, and give our opinions and critiques. The message is in your communication.

A quick survey of some participants at last weekend’s race yielded the following facts about their objectives:

1) To race for the experience

2) To race first-time in a lengthened format

3) To race for a personal best time

4) To assess how their body holds up after a recent race

5) To seriously qualify for a podium finish

6) To qualify for the world championships

Each objective has a story to tell. Interview the participants. Write about it. There may be more than meets the eye and ears, and our sensibilities.

INTERVIEW WITH A SERIAL IRONMAN & ENTREPRENEUR - MITCH THROWER (Part 2)

What’s the connection between physical activity and mental and emotional health?

Since the beginning of human history, our bodies were designed for movement. And if we are not moving

our bodies, then they are deteriorating, they are degenerating. The process of aging accelerates this. Just by going on a long walk, it's been proven that millions of neurons are created in our brain, making us more intelligent, more alive. So plugging in the sport of triathlon or any physical activity into your day is a win/win decision. I really enjoy being active, and it enhances the enjoyment I feel writing, studying, reading, and meeting with friends, family and my business associates.

You have written some books. Is writing one of your passions?

Absolutely, I love to write and writing helps me in my teaching, which is also a big passion of mine. It allows me to put a kind of structure what I’ve been learning all along and share it with other. Lyons Press published one of my first books, The Attention Deficit Workplace: Winning Strategies for Success in Today’s Fast-Paced Business Environment and I’m currently working on another.

You are an entrepreneur. What lessons from triathlons have you brought into your profession as an entrepreneur and self-directed leader?

If you model your business career after the sport of triathlon, there really are four critical things you should think about.

The first is preparation - in a business situation you need to be able to pull a file, work with information, and know how to use the data. Getting organized in life is worth a solid 10% gain in what you can achieve.

The second is transitions - you need to know when to make the transition from something that didn't work and wasn't generating revenue to creating something that does. Too many times people throw good money after bad, or chase losses with time and resources.

The third is training and learning - You have to stay on the cutting edge of technology, in sport and in business. With the knowledge base for almost anything becoming deeper and more universally available, staying on the cutting edge becomes more important.

Number four is networking - You become like the people you surround yourself with. We need to align ourselves with people who have sought success, made mistakes along the way and learned from them. Hang out with triathletes who know how to set goals and achieve them, and voila! You will too.

What made you do Ironman? How many years did you train before you qualified for Kona?

I qualified the first year I tried to do Kona, in 1994, and I've qualified a few times after that. Every now and then I am honored to get one of the rare Willy Wonka's Golden Tickets because after writing hundreds of thousands of words about Ironman for the media over the last two decades, the WTC would sometimes invite me to come cover the event from the inside. I was the first photojournalist to photograph the Ironman from within the event in 1997, and I shot it again with a still digital camera in 2005. In 2007, I was also the first videographer to video the Ironman while doing the event. Ironman published these videos on Ironman.com's YouTube channel. Holding a camera, even with the safety strap for 10-12 hours is not as easy as it seems, but reading the comments from the inspired viewers made it all worth it. Inspiring and teaching others is one of the best feelings in the world.

Tell us more about your 18 Ironman finishes. What has inspired you to complete so many?

I've had a lot of time to analyze my motivation to engage in this sport. In every triathlon, your body and soul asks you why?

Nearing the end of every Ironman, when the pain is most intense, my answer's always been, "Okay, never again, I promise." And then, after I finish, and cross that magic pavement on Alii Drive, it's always, "I have to race again!" because the race, the journey and the people I meet along the way are so amazing.

But perhaps the driving force came from the death of my sister Stacey, who passed away at age 16. From that moment, that aching loss fueled my passion for fitness and living healthy. Part of it was not wanting to die, which I think we all share at some level - that fierce desire to stay on this amazing journey called life as long as possible, and be fit enough to really enjoy it.

What did your sister Stacey mean to you?

The more I think about it, the more I can see that she was probably the prime source of my triathlon motivation. Stacey and I were very close and when she got bone cancer at the age of 14, I identified with her struggle intently. The cancer spread to her lungs, ultimately filling them with fluid.

Luckily I was right there and I came running in the door just as she was losing consciousness – she couldn't get any air in her lungs because they were filling up with fluid. This was terrifying. I tried everything I knew and the emergency crews came but none of us were able to revive her. She died in my arms. I was 14 years old. And it had a dramatic impact on my determination to live every day to the fullest and to cherish every single breath. Every day, I'm so thankful that I'm alive.

When you're closely connected to someone, as Stacey and I were, you can see the world through their eyes. While I continued to be active during those two years she was ill and she could not, I felt things from her perspective. When she was heading to the hospital for chemo or coming home suffering with nausea from the chemotherapy, and I was just coming home from running track in junior high, I could sense her joy for me and her sadness that her gift of movement, that joy, was taken from her.

Because this was my sister, I could feel this in my soul and it multiplied my understanding how important and vital these simple, lovely pleasures of running, swimming, riding and breathing that children happily take for granted.

What happened with Triathlete Magazine?

I got involved thanks to the encouragement Triathlete magazine founder Bill Katovsky and the then owner, Jean Claude Garot. As I analyzed the company, I started peeling away what turned out to be the tangled layers of the magazine's ownership. This was something I tackled in a very bold and perhaps naive way. I didn't have the money to buy Triathlete magazine so I asked the owner if he would sell the magazine to me over time - because the people who bought my first business, The College Connection, which sold Eurail passes to college students and distributed a travel guide, paid for it over time as well. Since I didn’t have all the money up front, I had to find other sources of capital. So I entered into a partnership with Scott Kyle to do a leveraged buyout over the magazine. Eight years later, I bought out Scott Kyle and a year after I led another group of investors to buy out the Belgian owner Jean Claude Garot. The year after we purchased the other 50%, we resold the magazine to the current majority owners, Competitor Group Inc., which is owned by the private equity group Falconhead Capital. I made an investment in this group because I really believe in the company.

To what degree did you actually take over the management of Triathlete?

Now, there was a tornado that swept me away from the actual triathlete activity! Scott Kyle and I took it through a one year transition, which included moving the office and changing personnel. Then we hired John Duke as a sales representative and later made him publisher. Through his involvement with the Multisport School of Champions and as a rep for several top triathletes, he really was the most connected guy in the sport, and had a strong publishing background.

At this time, (1997) I came up with the then-crazy notion to create a company which would provide online registration for all these athletic events. The idea hit me when I came to realize that filling out an Ironman application took forever. It was like a hundred pages. I'm kidding, but it felt like that. Every time you did an event, you had to fill out this long paper form. So I started the process of creating a company that was initially called Race Interaction, then Race Planner, then Race Gate, and then - via a 50/50 merger - Active USA and ultimately we bought the domain Active.com from this guy who was using it as a mail server. I remember staying up for 8 days straight to write a business plan before our investor presentation. A few weeks ago, Dave Alberga, the current CEO of Active, pulled out my business plan at a sales meeting and said, "Hey, this is the original business plan. We get it out and dust it off every now and then because it's pretty much exactly what happened in the last 10 years." I remember the process of hiring Dave. He came in actually a couple of years after the start but at a very good time in the early stage of the company, for sure. He's a good friend and a rock star CEO.

Evidently I had outlined a vision of Active back then that came to reality. Which really is a neat thing to see. Online registration was bound to happen, and many people had the idea and similar businesses. People were going to register online for their events, despite the initial resistance from event directors and credit-card-on-the-internet-shy participants. We luckily did the right thing by merging and partnering with as many people and companies and raising enough capital to make it happen in a big way, in one central place.

Next (Part 3): Business Startups, The La Jolla Foundation and Project Active.

Photo Credits: Triathlete magazine