Filing Taxes and Taxing Your Body

I have filed my taxes online for the tax-man! My first quarter of the financial year passed by eventfully. Filing my taxes online has been my ritual for the last few years; I have filed my own taxes for the past decade. It has been 10 years of being self-employed and running my consulting business.

This morning, I intended to ride 150K, however I was struggling to wipe my moist nose. I was clearing the annoying seepage after every 15K, and then decided not to push it. I was sniffing from a cold when I was in teaching in Guangzhou, PRC the whole week. Viral infections and intense physical activity do not pair well. I was fortunate to ride with Aristol for one 30K loop and with Desmond for two. After an earlier and hearty Japanese teppanyaki lunch, I headed to the pharmacy to buy my supply of vitamin C (with zinc). Upon consuming 1000mg with 10mg zinc, I took a nap and felt much better.

Sustained endurance training suppresses our immune system, making us susceptible to colds and flu. Many athletes tend to fall ill prior to a major race, because we tax our spleen, kidneys, liver and adrenal glands - endocrine system.  My ad hoc surveys with friends revealed that upon the onset of the flu, they would increase their vitamin C intake and take Echinacea. Physical training causes inflammation of our muscles and these can take time to heal. Alternative medicine and natural therapy may be relevant options if we intend to veer away from the toxic side effects of Western medicines and medication. Feeling and being well is part of our total well-being. Consider alternative medicine as an alternative to medicine.

I finally purchased the Garmin Forerunner 310XT, and used it this morning as a replacement for my lost speedometer/odometer. All the data from my morning's ride has been downloaded and I am quite pleased with its ease and effectiveness. I enjoy digital and electronic technology that empowers me with new confidence. The software is not complex, however it takes some regular use to full appreciate its capabilities. I enjoyed the applications, integrated with Google Earth maps. Triathlete and blogger, John Cooke updates his training log online with Garmin, so that his readers can visually chart his pre-race training schedule.

Clifford Lee’s successfully completed his 11^th Ironman attempt. Unofficially, he is the first Singaporean that we know in the local triathlon community to have achieved this personal record. We congratulate him! Watch his race-day video (taken during the ride and run legs) to gain a sense of his endurance challenge at Ironman South Africa in Port Elizabeth. Now, we know why his transitions are long.

Bricks: This Isn’t About Construction!

I did an unusual ‘brick session’ this morning. A brick session is a physical training session that combines any two activities back-to-back, with a mild pause between (swim followed by run; run after a ride). After substituting my tempo running session with a 12K race (2XU Compression Run) that flagged 7,000 people off at 7.00am, I reached for a recovery breakfast, a well-needed bath, fresh set of attire, and cranked out a 3-hour ride along Coastal Road. This run-ride brick session was certainly different from the reverse – more a norm at triathlons – in that it pre-exhausted different muscles of my legs (mainly hamstrings and calves).

I, gratefully, scored a PB in the 12K run – an unorthodox distance – and returned home an unofficial 53:50. Because the race was determined on gun-time instead of Nett time (which takes longer to calculate, I suppose) I had to squeeze my way to the front of the competitive pack. The non-competitive wave was flagged off 15 minutes after the main wave, which frenetically shot off upon the blare of the starter’s siren. As it was a mixed field, there were many faster younger males and females, including some veteran runners. Very impressive!

The post-race, recovery time was interesting for me. I collected my race medal (differentiated male from female) and two bottles of Pocari Sweat (electrolyte replacement sports drink). It was good to see many of my Facebook connections, including regular triathlon training buddies. I enjoyed watching them run through the end-point. There is something both exhaustive yet deeply rewarding about completing a race.

Racing or competing holds many intangible benefits. Prior to an A-race, racing in B-races (secondary priority) of shorter distances can help us:

1)    Build personal courage for future racing

2)    Boost our confidence when we earn personal best times

3)    Apply refinement to our nutritional strategies when racing

4)    Develop muscle memory and muscle fitness

5)    Work at a higher threshold of fitness

After some mild stretching and walking around, I leaned over the barricade (with Matthew who was setting a blistering pace up to the 3K mark) to locate familiar faces. I was successful and this led to nice conversations and several photo opportunities. I saw rarely seen friends like Adrian, Kenneth, Lloyd, Ben Swee (who is off to his second Boston Marathon next weekend), and Crazy2Tri friends. Deca-Ironman Kua Harn Wei as there, to lend support to runners and promote his inaugural mega-triathlon (a half-Ironman-plus triathlon).

Today is Ironman South Africa: Singaporean Clifford Lee will be attempting his 11^th Ironman finish – all the best to him!

Chrissie Wellington won in a new record time of 8:33:56. Raynard Tissink won the Men’s Pro field in 8:05:36.


Photo-credit: Triathlon coach, Lloyd Ngoh

Lessons From Comic Book Heroes & Real-Life Sports Heroes

‘Thor’ – the Norse god of thunder - will be the next comic book character to be brought to life via Hollywood. Once again, Natalie Portman appears; she was the lead actress in ‘V For Vendetta’, about an underground, anti-establishment, renegade-terrorist. Shot in noir style, it was artsy yet believable in its Orwellian plot and premise. If there is a cause worth believing in, believers will uphold it. A Cause becomes a call for action – like the myriad of charities aimed at assisting a post-quake struck Japan.

This week, I watched a re-run of M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Unbreakable’ which focused on superheroes. What if there was a man who was born so fragile that his bones break at the slightest movement? What if, he believed that there was another person – his antithesis – that was indestructible? This comic-book premise is about heroes and anti-heroes. 

*****

Tomorrow will be the 2XU 12K Compression Run. After the sudden strong downpour this evening, I expect an interesting morning. I hope to hold a 4:30 pace for the whole race; it is my time trial for the week (part of my Ironman and Gold Coast Marathon goals). That would be an assuring pace to work on (54:00 for 12K), as we make our way past iconic landmarks like the Singapore Flyer, Marina Bay Sands’s Helix Bridge, and F1 pit-stop/grandstand. The last time I ran there was at Pete Jacobs’s running session. I am looking forward to a tactically sound race, focused on clever and disciplined pacing.

Clifford Lee reported that he witness Zola Budd win the Iron Girl Race today at Nelson Mandela Bay – site of tomorrow’s Ironman South Africa. She was the famous barefoot runner, unfairly accused of tripping Mary Decker during a major race. Decker admitted, subsequently, that she was at fault. However, I was disappointed that silence on her part may have compromised Budd’s career, and more importantly, the desire to run to her potential. The  Budd-Decker Olympic, 3000-metre race was the race-of-the-year, yet yielded tragic results. Enjoy the Runner's World interview from 2009 - it is a very well written piece.

Captivated By Challenges

Singaporean climber, Khoo Swee Chiow will attempt his biggest challenge yet. He will complete all eight major summits in the world, beginning with his third attempt at climbing Mt. Everest on 15 April. He is sponsored Air Asia, which covers all the destinations to his mountains of choice. One of interviewees, Steven Novick climbed Everest successfully after a mano a mano battle with cancer.

There is a certain allure of danger that appeals to people. The danger is usually entrenched in some degree of risk and potential loss, or possibility of injury. It is no different when we travel on a plane, train or automobile; raising a child; mentoring a high-potential staff; trying out a new recipe. There are recipes for disaster around us, and we need to be aware and cognizant of them.

We wish Clifford Lee of Singapore the very best in his 11^th attempt for an Ironman triathlon finish. He will aim to complete Ironman South Africa this weekend. His recent report indicates choppy water conditions for the swim; we hope that the sea will calm down to present a good swim for him. Clifford completed, arguably, the toughest Ironman course in the world, Ironman St. George in Utah last year. He will be the first Singaporean to complete 11 226K races. I am, one month and one race, behind him and I can’t wait to complete my 11^th Ironman next month in Lanzarote, The Canary Islands. The game is afoot!

If IM St George and IM Lanzarote lay claim to being two of the toughest Ironman routes in the word, then is this the most dangerous bike tour in the world?

How do you identify future leaders in the company? Do you relish identifying high potentials? How do you know if your choice of future corporate champions was the right decision? What if you made a mistake by making a counter-intuitive selection?

Leadership Lessons: What captivates you? What would you consider as challenging? Would you attempt something just for the sheer heck of it?