Preparing For Your First Ironman Triathlon (IMWA), Part 1

Leadership Lessons From: Clifford Lee, Kona-Finisher (Ironman World Championships) 2012 & 14-time Ironman finisher

Mahalo Enrico!!!

The theme for this year's Kona is 'Aa Na Maka O Na Aa'. It means 'The Sparkling Eyes of My Roots'. It's a meaningful theme to remind us of our roots! No matter how successful you are, think back on how you started...think about your roots.

The Voice of Ironman, Mike Riley.

On 2 December, this will be my third Ironman Western Australia. I completed the first two in 2006 and 2008. Initially, this was a standby race if I didn't make it to Kona this year. Since I had to suffer a DNF (Did Not Finish) in Ironman Texas 2012, due to an accident on the bike leg, I will be doing this race. This would be my 20th time at the start-line. On successful completion, it will be my 15th Ironman; a goal I set for myself back in 2006, i.e. to complete 15 IMs by age 45. I am on-target.

As you would have known by now, I take my sweet time for each IM except for those with 16-hours cutoff times. *Laughs* I do swim in my office, on alternate days, to cushion bike and run sessions. I joined my colleagues in the SAF healthy lifestyle runs every week, except when I have to cover longer distances.

For bike training, I rely on Mandai-LCK loops and my Desaru, long-haul, rides. I must say those Desaru rides contributed to many of my IM successes, including the recent Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. As an average-man-on-the-street, this is what I can do for my IM adventure, bearing in mind that I am a single parent with two great kids to focus on. Ironman Western Australia 2012 will mark a temporary end to these endurance adventures. There will be no more races in 2013, as my son is having his PSLE examinations. But then again, I do have some urge to do one more IM, say end-2013, when my children’s exams are over.

To me, race day is really just a day of experience. The experience you get is really how much preparation you have put in: Setting aside organisation efficiencies. Great experiences from an Ironman race are absorbed only by a clear and steady mind. A good and clear steady mind comes from good race preparations. I do a lot of mental rehearsals before each race. I familiarized myself to the race location and course, via satellite pictures and street pictures. I study weather (temperature, and wind directions) and course elevations prior to each race. These are useful tips to prepare your race in the right direction.

Do not listen to people who scare you about the course. Trust your Inner-Self. Trust your training preparations. It will be a fair ending, if you have put in the requirements. Good luck!!!

Integrity Matters Everywhere

‘Honesty is the best policy, until you are married.’ ~ Anonymous

Do honesty, truthfulness and trust matter to you? How much so?

Can we be too honest? Honesty is an analogous process: it is measured from 0-100 percent. ‘Darling, what do you think of my new hair-style?’ Lest you venture a response, think through thoroughly your response. She may not be expecting your total honesty. This is not Simon Cowell at his controversial and critical best. The truth may hurt, but at what expense? Even if it is not intended to be malicious, the damage criticism creates can be psychologically and emotionally permanent.

Trust is digital: all or nothing. If you have been betrayed before, how willing are you to trust that person again. Integrity combines trust and honesty, yet it is also about the amalgam and structural stability of these values combined.

Here, on this blog we aim to report on what is accurate as possible. Although the truth is out there, we are responsible for sourcing it out. Seeking our resources is part of being resourceful*.

I just completed reading the biography ‘Sweet Revenge: The Intimate Life of Simon Cowell’, who is the producer of ‘X-Factor’ and was the lead-judge in ‘American Idol’. An investigative reporter wrote the book that proposes penetrating insight and frankness. Cowell’s rise from failed recording company executive to television celebrity and media icon, is fodder for tabloids and mainstream news. There is more than meets the eye on television. I leave you to be judge over his style and approach to business.

*Once I gain copyright permission from a few photographers, I will post some pictures from Sunday's TRI-Factor Cycling race.

Cheaters Never Prosper?

I was reading the last chapter of Chris Macca McCormack’s book ‘I’m Here To Win’ where he discusses his experiences with cheats in professional triathlon and other sports. He describes his disappointment on how the best, natural athletes lose out financially and on recognition.

So, when a cheat is tested and not found ‘positive’ in the results, did they still cheat? This calls to mind the allegory of ‘If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one to see or hear it, did the tree fall?’ I have confirmed in races that I have participated that age-groupers and professionals have been seen drafting behind others - without the drafting officials' notice - and get away with it. Did cheating or some form of dishonest behavior occur?

Some of the major sports that are fraught with rampant doping or drug use is include competitive bodybuilding and cycling. One is a subjective sport, while the other is more objective in measure. In 1990-1993, I competed actively in bodybuilding earning one runner-up and three 3^rd place wins. I was never the largest guy (on-stage, as well as on the reserved national team) as I was a natural ectomorph, that is, I tend to be muscular on the skinny side.

After realizing – much to my chagrin and naivety – that many of my competitors were using anabolic steroids (muscle-enhancing pharmaceuticals) to gain an unfair advantage, I quit the sport entirely. Consider this: you either see used syringes in the locker-room, or a personal trainer administer an intravenous shot to a member - you got to see it to believe it! On hindsight, I think the sport is silly, and definitely questionable as a real sport when it is an open secret that the top guys were ‘on the juice’. The competitive amateurs (there were no professional bodybuilders) cleverly used ‘cycle’ and ‘stacking’ techniques to build unnaturally large volumes of muscles. The whole sport is a circus when drug use and the fear of getting caught surrounds athletes like a somnambulistic haze. At least the performers in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) – formerly WWF – are entertaining us with their steroid-inflated bodies. Several big names wrestlers have died due to prolonged steroid-related complications. A few Hollywood action stars have used steroids as part of their onscreen preparation; one suffered a heart-attack (and survived, but not his scandal) and the other was charged for transport of banned pharmaceuticals.

I have met cheaters in gambling who resort to ‘invisible’ methods of deception to make financial gains. What they do is certainly wrong for they create an unfair advantage. When caught, historically, they suffered painful and even permanent consequences. You cannot fool the 'house' (casino) for the house usually wins. With sports cheats, I wonder if they can look at all their lacklustre trophies today and say, honestly, that they earned it? With magicians, at least, they have a disclaimer that states that they are ‘honest liars’ or ‘charming cheats’. Heard the saying before? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Who does this apply to?

The issue becomes a concern when amateurs resort to chemical assistance to earn podium places. Even if they trained very hard, how would you distinguish between the success from your training and drug use? If going to the world championships in Kona, Hawaii is the epitome of athleticism then what does using drugs spell? Tactics? Strategies? Being smart?

There are other creative ways to earn advantages in racing: working on each of the disciplines, faster transitions, scientific training, selecting the races that suit your body and fitness, nutrition, rest, rehabilitation, using coaches, and investing in the hard work. Cheating is best left to cheats. They gain from somebody’s loss, and that is unfair to the athletes, officials, the supporters and the entire sport.

For updates, look at the man in the mirror.

Leadership Lessons: How do you uphold the value of integrity? What is it about your integrity that matters most? How do you deliver fully on integrity when corporate office demands your absolute obeisance and obedience? What do you do when your integrity is questioned? How do you build trust in your relationships?