Alarmed By What You’ve Read?

Will Ironman return to Asia?

Just because it is linked or shared via social media, does it mean that it is reliable? Many links are made with little regard for reading the article and being critical about its contents. Sharing material online still requires a sense of responsibility. Remember: you can still ignore the posting, if it contains drivel and dumbfounding data and descriptions.

Fear drives action. Action drives sales. I am openly annoyed with salespeople who attempt to make sales, by introducing dated literature and anecdotal evidence. Most claims made by the manufacturers (of these over-priced nutritional products) have not been validated by the FDA or similar national body. So, we should not be bamboozled by misleading advertising. Buyer beware, but use your head. Advertorials are also cleverly and thinly disguised reports on advertised products, and heavily tout their benefits. Consider slimming and beauty centres/chains, as well as product launches.

Many consumers have no idea what the numbers means: mg, mcg, and IUs. How do you what is the recommended daily rate? What happens if you are engaged in regular strenuous activities? Are you expected to consume more antioxidants if you engage in regular aerobic activities?

Perhaps, we should insist on more empirical research and less anecdotal reliance? If it is in the news, there is a higher degree of credibility, objectivity and believability if it is based on facts. Opinion pieces are more subjective. For instance, a leading online magazine reported that Macca will not be going to the Olympics, nor is Emma Snowsill who was an Olympian before. Because they were interviewed, and gave their perspectives the news is more worthy of our attention. If it is based on results, you cannot dispute the official results, unless there was a glaring typological error.

If this report was true and accurate, it may upset millions due to the implications and ramifications of secrecy/secret formula. It also suggests that labeling has been deceitful, or national authorities on food & drug control have been careless.

Making A Graceful Exit (Part 3/3)

‘The first generation makes the money.

The second generation fights over it.

The third generations squanders it all.’ ~ Asian business saying

When participants of a race decide to stop, they would earn a abbreviations against their published results such disqualification (DQ), Did Not Finish (DNF) or Did Not Show (DNS). There are ramifications for such outcomes if you are a professional athlete, and certainly less if you a weekend warrior. Living with your eventual decision is imperative to your sustained or future success. It has been said, almost as a truism, that you quit once too often, it may become a destructive pattern.

When competitors fall out of a race, it could be due to a myriad of reasons including injury, accident, fatigue, safety, physical risk, or crippling medical conditions. Surely, no sporting event is worth sacrificing your life for? Were they eliminated because they failed to meet the cutoff time? Did they pose a hazard to other competitors? Were they unfit for the race?

When being interviewed for a job internally or externally, how do you turn down a job offer respectfully? Have you ever opted not to participate in a tender? Why? When do you turn down an offer for assistance? What were the implications when you refused help from a kind person?

When you start a business, you will need to consider your exit strategy. When will you sell off your business? What will be your legacy? Will you grow your business through a merger or alliance? When you pass your business on? Many small businesses die a natural (or unnatural) death when the founder passes on. It could have been passed on and over to a worthy successor, yet it languished and, subsequently, perished due to neglect. How could that have been prevented if a family member did not wished to receive the baton? How do you build continuity and sustainability?

Are you employed in your company for the long haul? How truthful are you when pursued about your interests and career plans? A staff leaves a company for many reasons, and what would yours be? Every staff is a worthwhile addition and costly loss upon their departure. What was your reason for leaving your last employ? Why did you end your business partnership? Was it a healthy dissolve of your company and relationship?

Leadership Lessons: What are your exit strategies in business? How do you bow down gracefully when you know that persistence may not secure you your results? How do you respond to failure? When do you know when to call it quits?

Congratulations Ironman Cairns Finishers!

We congratulate the finishers of the new, M-Dot branded Ironman triathlon in Cairns! Team Singapore faired relatively well on a tough, hot day. Adrian Mok was the fastest in the group, despite gastrointestinal issues. Top lady triathlete and Kona finisher, Choo Ling Er bested her own with a new personal best time.

We present their achievements in a pictorial fashion.

Congratulations to Perth-based Malaysian, Kevin Siah who scored a PB! He worked smartly for this A-race.

Chris ‘Macca’ McCormack’s comments on Ironman Cairns: always real, honest and never a dull moment. Unfortunately, Macca did not make it to the London Olympics 2012; he comments about the ‘drawn out’ process, of ‘not knowing’. We are hoping for a Lance Armstrong-Macca showdown in Kona in October. Lance Armstrong won his second half-Ironman in Hawaii. Pete Jacobs recovered from his injuries and won Ironman 70.3 Cairns. Congrats, Petey!

Running Free: Barefoot Running Redux

This morning, after our swim group was requested to vacate the lagoon in Sentosa Island (after three laps of 400-450m), we opted for a short 4K-plus run. Since a few of the runners were keen to explore barefoot running, Vijay, Kumar, Dennis and I chose to run barefoot. Dennis was comfortable in his cool-looking Vibrams Five Fingers (VFF) running shoes, and he demonstrated how he has embraced the natural style of running light. This generous man was part of an entourage that recently ran alongside Kirsten in her 10-hour, road-to-recovery Sundown Marathon.

In my private sharing with a small group during Saturday’s lagoon swim, I showed how running light was possible and made more comfortable. I also demonstrated how high-cadence tempo running (of unshod runners) could match that of shod runners. Here are some key points for your edification:

1)    Pool running (between chest and groin level) can be a safe substitute for barefoot running. No shoes.

2)    With pool running, you can vary your cadence (feet turnover) while running on the spot. I have generated up to 130 footfalls per foot per minute. Also, running at groin-level water simulates running on hills/shoreline (upon your entry/exit from the water). Chest-high water allows you to pump your arms harder while earning higher-cadence steps.

3)    In barefoot running, land as naturally as you feel. Keep low. You will rarely land on your heels, as this can hurt.

4)    When running barefoot, avoid running on your toes. Physical therapists, Nate Carlson shared with me that fractured toes are the common injury he has treated with barefoot runners. Instead, run at the ball of your toes (foot-bed, where you pedal off) or mid-sole.

5)    It is alright to land on your heels, provided that your feet roll forwards onto the forefeet.

6)    Lean forward slightly to gain more advantage with gravity and its accompanying increase in cadence.

7)    Increase cadence slightly, and you increase speed and intensity.

8)    Shoes are necessary as a means of handling both physical impacts on the feet, as well as protecting them from injury (through punctures and open wounds).

When you study the running gait of Ironman world champions, Chrissy Wellington & Rinnie Carfrae; the former takes smaller steps with higher cadence, while the latter takes wider strides and lower cadence. Top female Singaporean runners, Vivien and Anne parallel Wellington and Carfare. What I have observed about world-class marathoners from Kenya and Ethiopia is that they may have begun their running careers with barefoot and light running, however progressed towards a more bouncy and wider strides. That is where the role of running shoes comes into serious play. Running as rapidly (3 minutes/K) pace is just hard on the pure barefoot runner.

Sustaining Your Interest (Part 2/3)

After making your entry, you will proceed to the second phase called Sustaining. What will you do to stay interested? How do you keep your business running? Many people progress to a certain point, and then begin to experience diminishing gains. Generative leaps become incremental gains, or even stasis. They reach a stalemate before getting a checkmate. Distractions and disruptions usurp their sense of direction. What started off as a sprint, now, has to be paced like a marathon. Large strides have to make way for smaller, high-cadence footsteps.

From research and observation, we realize that enthusiasm begins to wane after the start of a new pursuit, position, hobby, lifestyle shift, or business. This is when engaging and activating your motivational strategies become crucial. When you begin to lose track of the bigger picture, or falter due to new challenges, then you will need to sustain your interest. How would you assure that?

1)    Fix your eyes on your expected results (eye on the achievement and accomplishment).

2)    Focus on enhancing your performance (don’t fire them, fire them up!).

3)    Earn your results through your team.

4)    Engage the your core values to help sustain you (endurance, persistence, purpose, patience, determination, optimism)

5)    Review your sense of purpose (what and why did I choose this?).

6)    Review your motivation.

7)    Monitor your energy, and notice when it begins to fade (use EFT, change your physiology, eat well and natural foods).

8)    Seek inspiration and encouragement from your mentors, teachers and guides.

9)    Encourage and assure others, especially when they are beginning to slide.

When running a race, how do you continue to feed your body, as you keep moving? Malnutrition can severely affect your physiology (mental, emotional and physical condition). It can also affect your position and business. How do you stay engaged, engaging, and engage others in the process?

Read this article by HBR about the Seven Seismic Shifts that can affect the performance of an emerging leader.

Leadership Lessons: what are your contingency plans? How do stay motivated? How are you driven by your purpose? If the expected outcome differs from your original, what will you do to continue in your quest? How will you overcome obstacles, curve balls and unpleasant surprises? What are you doing to nourish your mind and body?

There should be no dead-ends at this point of the process. Keep moving. Stop being assimilated by the environment of negativity and naysayers.

Making Your Entry

Drawing up initiatives is about taking the first steps. Every business or social process involves an entry strategy. How do you join? How will you get in? How will you get close to people of influence? You may not be able to entertain the idea of new connections until you enter into a relationship, and formalize it.

The desire to be fit involves an entry strategy, with multiple tactics:

1)    Questioning the importance of your wanting to get fit (to look younger, be more attractive to your partner, to fit into your wedding clothes, to feel more energetic)

2)    Joining a gym (paying the hefty joining fee, and monthly membership fees)

3)    Seeking and engaging a personal fitness coach

4)    Writing a list of races/activities to do (walk, run, biathlon, swim, triathlon, marathon)

5)    Signing up for these activities (e.g. Singapore Biathlon, Singapore Marathon, Yellow Ribbon Project Run, Army Half-Marathon, Gold Coast Marathon, half-Ironman)

6)    Showing up and completing your first workout

How do you gain entry into a club? Does it require a sponsor? Do you have the qualities the club is seeking? Do you possess the requisite professional qualifications in order to be considered for the public tender? How extensive is your track record? Some clubs make entry stringent, and value the exclusivity that comes with the commitment. ‘Membership by accomplishment’ may be the key to unlocking the door to possibilities. The timings for qualifying into the world’s oldest marathon – the Boston Marathon – makes it tough but a worthwhile challenge to the global ‘club’ of ‘finishers’. The international society for high-IQ individuals and geniuses, Mensa requires at least a 140-point score on their test. As the challenge becomes more physically demanding and risky, the smaller is the size of that club (e.g. Seven Summits finishers; those who climbed Mt. Everest, Four Desert Challenges).

In starting up a new business initiative, you will need to do the following:

1)    Register your business (under the correct category)

2)    Create a new business/corporate bank account

3)    Begin the process of seeking business (making pitches and presentations, drawing up proposals)

In change management, after all the consideration and preparation, you will have to take the plunge. Wade into the deep end, and assess your ability to stay afloat or swim. You are beyond the conceptualizing, and now into the exploration process.

Leadership Lessons: What are the entry requirements of your new business? How comfortable are you with ceremonies and social rituals? How do you earn inclusion into exclusive memberships? 

Are You the Hunter of the Hunted?

In 2009, Craig ‘Crowie’ Alexander chased the lead pack during the marathon leg of the Ironman World Championships in Kona and found his victory. He patiently ran as he sliced of 40 seconds per mile, as he found his true place in the race. In 2010, Andreas Raelert, finally, caught up with Macca during the last few miles of the marathon, only to be spent. Chris ‘Macca’ McCormack applied mind games with him, and beat him up the hill and won his second world title in Kona. My friend, Tobias Frenz overtook a former-professional rider at the 300K mark of the double-Ironman race in Abu Dhabi. Tobias won, back-to-back, the single and double-Ironman races held on two days!

There are both positive and negative connotations of being a hunter. If you are the hunter, you will be managing your pace so as to overtake any stragglers or competitors? In running, you make your pass, increase the lead, and hold it. Unless the overtaken runner challenges you, it means that they have conceded the pass to you (until the next opportunity). A hunter can also be perceived as combative, militant or threatening as he is seeking the bounty. Legal bounty-hunters assist the law with search-and-arrest of criminals. Sales professionals and top legal-eagles focus on the ‘closer’. To be able to ‘close’ is to be able to successfully influence the panel of decision-maker to ‘buy’ into the concept or contract.

The hunted, is pursued by the relentless. They will be eyed as a 'prize', and the fitter and faster runner will make his move upon closing in on you. You can prevent it from happening, by increasing your pace, and applying tactical interventions that are offensive or defensive in nature. Last Saturday night, for the first two kilometres of the 21K of the Sundown Marathon, a female runner ran closely with me. As I shifted ground, she followed opting to run side-by-side with me. Instead of shrugging with mild annoyance, I elected to shrug her off by increasing my pace. My watch showed 9:30 for the first 2K's, which exceeded my initial pace. Thankfully, I held this pace for most of the remaining 19K's in case I was further hunted. In my second-half of the race, I overtook 32 runners and was overtaken by three others. Pretty good returns on my investment, if I may say so.

To be hunter or the hunted requires values of patience, persistence, endurance and tenacity. If you surrender too soon, the game is over. If you insist in chasing, the game is afoot. Set your values alight, and trail-blaze your way to the finish-line.

Other times, what is hunted is not the position, it is the timing or ranking. Beating your personal best time may mean qualifying for the Boston Marathon or the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. Whatever your intellectual, physical and emotional investments, your holy grail may be worth the price of purposeful pursuit.

Leadership Lessons: How are you making yourself sought after as a valuable resource? How often do executive search professionals (headhunters) call on you? How do you make yourself the hunted in your field of pursuit? How enduring are you when chasing your dream, or dream job?

Working the List

I almost completed all my tasks for my ‘To-Do’ list for the day. I attended an online/audio-conference, trainer’s session on 360 Degree Feedback System (360DFS). I followed this up with a productive conversation with Melbourne-based trainer/consultant Keith De La Rue who is off to London to deliver a conference session, and then on a 3-month tour of Europe. He introduced me to Twitter and blogging, so is an important person in my online presence. This, was after I ensured that he spent some tourist dollars on the Apple Pad 3 he wanted to buy.

I am completing my preparation for my half-day workshop for administrators and operational staff tomorrow. I will be collaborating with an expert on this brand-new teaching design, and I look forward to our results. The list that I have drawn up includes materials to bring, PowerPoint slides, and activities to conduct. My racing list for the year is almost complete. After last Sunday’s 3K swim and the half-marathon a few days ago, I will have a 60K riding time-trial, a 10K hilly run, and another half-marathon before I depart for Ironman Switzerland. I will integrate a ride or two in Malaysia, too. A list in time, saves nine!

Thank you Sundown Marathon Pacers for leading the way for first-time racers as well as seasoned competitors! You led with courageous commitment through the early-morning torrential downpour. You suffered as much as the other 28,000 midnight runners in a scenic route, so we recognize you for your performance.

Congratulations to Justin Chua for co-authoring his first book – a compilation of successful entrepreneurs.

Monday Is The Day To Draw Up The Lists

To list, or not to list – that is the question.

Lists are points of attention, or contention. If you write a Pros/Cons list, you are weighing the benefits/risks or advantages/disadvantages. It gives us a balance sheet of how we can audit our lives for actions to take. As written some time ago, you can design lists for ‘To-Do’, Traveling list, or a Bucket List. Most of our lists revolve around things/tasks to do. We merely tick off (de-list) upon completion of each challenge or mundane activity. Whatever remains on our lists should be completed or we invite procrastination. You can draw lists as a mind map, or a traditional left/right column listing. Just remember to activate it with a dateline and priority of action. As endurance athletes, we also draw up a list of the races we would like to do, then assign a ranking of ‘A-race’ for the most important ones, and regress with a ‘B’ and ‘C’ rating.

Our organised lives revolve around lists, and this is unavoidable. This article from the Harvard Business Review suggests designing two lists to help you operate in your landscape of your lifestyle

*****

I ran hard home for the last three kilometres. Reckon I should buy this photograph? It seems to show off my white-hair well. (Credit: Marathon-Photos.com)

On another note, the official results of my Saturday past-midnight race can best be described in pictures. As my Coach, ‘Fox’ predicted I did earn a sub-1 hour 40 minutes completion time. In fact, my timing for the 10K mark was slightly faster than my tempo run with Fox the day before the race. Despite running on slightly ‘spent’ legs, I was still fit enough to do my trial run/speed training within 30 hours of recovery, and bag a top-1 percent ranking. I assure you that my thighs are now noticeably sore; a remindful testament to Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), or the badge of honour of racing hard. A few more long runs, and tempo sets should give me the legs I need for Ironman Switzerland in July (second and last Ironman on my 2012 list). Dr Kua Harn Wei has offered to guide me through to a 3:50 marathon in Zurich, although I will need to be holistic in my approach within the next six weeks. I was dressed in my two-piece, triathlon race-attire as I always simulate racing in Ironman conditions. Thankfully, this reliable set yielded minimal abrasions.

Charted results of my Sundown Marathon performance.

A Very Wet Sundown Marathon 2012

This morning, I completed my 21K race at the Sundown Marathon. The day before, I ran a tempo run with my coach Craig ‘Fox’ Holland, who was in town on business. He advised me to treat it as a training session, taking it easy for 10K, cranking it up slightly for 6K more, and then winding it up for the last 5K. I am pleased to announce that my plan was executed closely, and I returned a 1:38:55 (nett timing), far better than the 1:45 I was aiming for. My negative split was a bonus as it is hard to do so, unless you pay close attention to your pacing and racing tactics. Dr Phil Maffetone categorises racing as anaerobic workouts, which requires slight more recovery time.

Preliminary Results.

Due to lightning and the eventual heavy rain (torrential downpour), the music and announcements were, momentarily, discontinued. The international emcee and ‘Voice of Ironman Asia’, Whit Raymond apologized for not calling me in. I appreciated his presence, as also that of Adrian Mok, co-organiser (Hi-Velocity) and uber-triathlete/marathoner. The race met Category 1 conditions (meaning highest lightning-risk) and urged participants to seek shelter where possible. Participants were sent a thoughtful but serious text message to seek shelter.

My Garmin data for the entire half-marathon. On-target for my Ironman marathon.

I spent the next hour chatting, firstly, with Terrence D'Silva and then with Singapore Blade Runner (and coterie). Shariff, who is physically-challenged on one leg did his 10K in a commendable one hour. He recently completed the prestigious Boston Marathon. I noticed many new faces in the refreshment tent, and it is suggestive of the growth of endurance sports among the masses. The Singapore Sports Council’s initiative of ‘Sports For All’ seems successful in the past decade, with large subscriptions for local-branded races like the Singapore Marathon, Sundown Marathon, Army Half-Marathon, Yellow Ribbon Run, Mount Faber Run, and the wide mix of triathlons including the Ironman 70.3.

Published results of actual winners on that rainy morning. This time, I am still behind Lim Baoying (Dr) and Rachel See (21K Women's Open).

Congratulations to Ironman Chris Smith for completing the marathon. That means he has completed his last longest run before our Ironman Switzerland challenge. I still have my work cut out for me in the next six weeks, and need to be smart in my workouts. My nutritional plan seems reliable, with no gastro-intestinal (GI) distress. This morning, I subsisted on water and electrolytes at the aid-stations, with a pre-race protein drink (breakfast) and Hammer Nutrition’s Perpeteum Solids (tablets).

Additional considerations for runners doing a night race include:

1)    Take smaller steps in dim lighting conditions.

2)    Walk, if the terrain is grassy, wet or bumpy.

3)    Be cognizant and aware of other runners when you race with musical devices.

Have yourself a very happy Sunday!