Let It Lose, Let It Ride

This week, I gave myself permission and leeway to rest. Rest from triathlon training. Rest from work. Rest from socializing heavily. I decided to take a spontaneous, short vacation to Bangkok when I found out I had a cancelled class. Being optimistic even from lost income, I reframed my thinking and energies towards taking a proper break from two weeks of racing consecutive half-Ironman, over two continents, across two vastly opposing weather systems. I sleep fully and only afforded one hour of gym-work, and attaining full nourishment from my favourite Thai foods.

In tandem with the post-race evaluation, here is a well-written piece by Kevin Siah of Perth. He was both measuring and being measured for this fast race – all in the name of science and friendship.

Committee members of IBM 115, Singapore

Upon my return, I enjoyed dinner with Auckland’s professional magician and magic-inventor, Wayne ‘Chicane’ Rogers (and his wife, Elizabeth). He performed from his repertoire of stage illusions to the delight of my magic club committee (Ring 115 of the International Brotherhood of Magicians) as well as grateful restaurant staff.

A 'live' performance for patrons and restaurant staff.

This morning, having slept in another two hours I rode for two hours. I managed on mega-loop, with mini-loops complete with rolling terrain, and capped with the infamous ‘beast’, Hendon Hill. Surprisingly, my legs held together where it would normally be thrashed. Perhaps, it was residual fitness from 12 weeks of Ironman preparation, and a fortnight of racing two half-Ironman distances. Whatever it is attributed to, Ironman Switzerland 2012 beckons, and my 14-week cycle begins. I predict lots of strength and endurance work on the bike leg, so I will be muscling up my efforts with core-stability and weight-bearing exercises.

The Team from Singapore who completed.

Congratulations to my Coach, FOX for completing yet another Ironman triathlon – this time in the inaugural IM Melbourne. Crowie won in under-8 hours, with a close finish by Cameron Brown. Congratulations to our friends of Triathlon Family – Lap Huan, Conrad, and the Team – for completing the race in splendid times. Enjoy your post-race party and recovery. The fun begins...

High Performance Standards

Our standards reflect on how well we tend to do things. Being thorough, comprehensive, paying attention to details, and being nit-picking are part of the process of delivering good or better work. Perfectionists may appear to be a pain in the *** as times, however they are usually well intentioned. Perfectionists only have difficulty accepting more people into their perceived inner circle of performers since they live up to a higher personal set of standards and rules. You tend to hear: ‘If you can’t do a better job, I’ll do it myself!’

High standards of performance are also a part of our discipline. In the last two years in this blog, we covered the topic of discipline and interviewed highly disciplined athletes. This discipline and diligence to adhering to personal discipline (and that of others) has been translated into actual performance and record-breaking performance.

When you race – why do you race? Is it to collect yet another medal to that over-flowing shoebox of stained ribbons? Is it because you want to add another certificate into your resume of sporting achievements? Or, do you enjoy collecting race tees so that you can one day form a quilt that becomes your requiem for physical redemption? We must have a shelf-life for intense competition and racing for we do get injured, and our joints get worn down and out.

Perhaps standards are variable measurements. Numbers can be altered. Performance standards can vary, and we can use other variables to measure our performance. Hear these words from managers during a performance interview and you may shake your head in displeasure:


‘I gave you a B because I would not give myself anything higher than a B!’

‘It is what it is.’

‘It is enough to get you through another year.’

‘I am not agreeing. I am NOT disagreeing.’

‘Whatever you ask me to, Drill-Sergeant!’ (Sorry – that was from Forest Gump, the film).

Here is a review of professional magician, Nique Tan on his recent one-night-only, one-person performance at the Raffle Jubilee Theatre. Look out for more of Nique’s high standards in his work; he is great for international corporate engagements.

Race hard. Train safely. Rest more. Recover well. May you perform to your expectations often.

Mesmerised by a Magician’s Mystical Ways

‘Perhaps there is truth, and there is illusion!’

Perception is reality! In The illusionist, that reality is created on-stage by the mysterious magician, Eisenheim who returns to Vienna after his disappearance for 15 years.

First screened in Europe and scheduled for limited release in the U.S., The Illusionist was welcome proof that art-house quality need not be limited to art-houses. Set in turn-of-the-century Vienna, this stately, elegant period film benefitted from a crossover release in mainstream cinemas, and showed considerable box-office staying power. It may have also been helped through the allure of Seventh Heaven alumnus Jessica Biel, who rose to the occasion with a fine performance.

Certainly, with the acting tour-de-force of Edward Norton (Primal Fear; Incredible Hulk) and Paul Giamatti (Sideways), this film is a heavyweight for this genre. This is an intriguing story about a celebrated magician, Eisenheim (Norton) whose private parlour performance offends the Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell), a vindictive (and suspected spousal abuser) lout who aims to marry Duchess Sophie (Biel), Eisenheim's childhood friend. With this backdrop of romantic rivalry and Eisenheim's increasingly enigmatic craft of illusion, he is investigated by Chief Inspector Uhl (Giamatti), who is under Leopold's command; The latter is not to be trusted, as Eisenheim and Sophie draw closer to their inevitable reunion. The twist at the end is like a carefully crafted chess game, where the audience is also checkmate in the process.

Cleverly adapted by director Neil Burger from Steven Millhauser's short story Eisenheim the Illusionist, and boasting exquisite production values and a fine musical score by Philip Glass, The Illusionist is a very well made film. The illusions were consistent with the era, and associated superstitions: ghostly apparitions, mind reading, stage illusions, and spiritualism. My favourite re-enactment of a classic of illusion: Celebrated French magician, Jean Robert-Houdin’s The Orange Tree. Rating: A-.


Photo-credits: Amazon.com