Dancing Your Own Dance

The world championship of Ironman triathlon takes place in Kona, Hawaii every year in October. It is considered the holy grail of long-distance triathlon for would-be qualifiers, as well as the Big Dance on the Big Island for those who qualified.

Tomorrow, on 4 December, several key races are taking place in the Asia-Pacific region. There are the Singapore Marathon, Ironman Western Australia, Phuket Triathlon, and Angkor Wat Half-Marathon. We wish all participants a safe and memorable adventure in their personal quest!

Dancing With the Stars is a popular, prime-time, TV competition in the USA. You can watch many episodes on YouTube to appreciate the athleticism behind ballroom dance, salsa, rock & roll, and many more styles. What is salient is that the celebrities have their preferred dance-forms, as well as the ones they struggle with. In any case, they aspire to do their best to qualify for their next round with their partners (who are actual professional dancers).

Dancing teaches us many things, including rhythm, timing, coordination, cooperativeness, and teamwork. This is analogous to sports, be it running, triathlons, or swimming. Movement is one large, coordinated, synchronicity of gross muscle and fine muscle moves. When the body is educated, it has learnt new patterns of movement with respect to specific muscles that engage in these moves. Our brain is one clever organ that learns both good and bad habits quickly and takes shortcuts when it can.

A few tips before your big dance tomorrow:

1)    Do a brief session, rehearsing your event (i.e. short sprints, on-land swimming, short pool session, or quick spin on your bike).

2)    Conduct a final check on your race attire and nutritional support. Lay out your stuff before you pack them into the Transition bags.

3)    Replace faulty equipment and attire immediately; mechanical failure and wardrobe malfunction are killers to one’s mental focus.

4)    Rest your feet for the rest of the day. No shopping if you are overseas (do that the day after the race, as you’ll benefit from the walk).

5)    Stretch if you feel tense, however not too deeply to risk a strain or sprain.

6)    Attempt to sleep early. Have several naps if you have difficulty with long stretches of slumber.

7)    Focus on personal mantras that help you stay focused. Use music to help you relax, but not on race day.

8)    Avoid people who arouse anxiety for you. Just say you need to rest.

9)    Find your space. Respect other people’s space. John Cooke describes his 'quiet before the big dance'.

10) Visualise your completion of the race. Practise your finisher’s pose (Two thumbs up, waving of hands, rolling on the floor Blazeman style, leaping heel click like Crowie).

You have done the preparation. Time to relish in your execution of the race. The test is in managing yourself throughout the race. This may be the toughest examination you may have taken. You have completed two-thirds of it: training, and for showing up at the start-line. If you had your choice of dance, which would you choose? To each his/her own! Sometimes, we just have to dance to the beat of our own drum.

Enjoy your special day. It is another ‘birth-day’ for you. Appreciate every moment in the finisher’s chute. Whatever happens - you are already a winner. Think of two things: get my right-sized t-shirt and medal. Good luck!

Dancing Your Way to Results

‘I dance like a butterfly, but sting like a bee.’ ~ MUHAMMED ALI

Last night’s performance by the Riverdance cast was brilliant! I enjoyed watching it as I did other Broadway musicals. Pure dancing is full of expression and energy! Energetic people are a magnet for others, to indirectly inspire and motivate. Lisa Haneberg, an OD consultant writes about energies and how this attracts others.

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers are unarguably, the most dynamic dance duo that danced their way to Hollywood greatness. ‘I Could Have Danced All Night’ was a song featured in the film ‘My Fair Lady’. Jane Fonda popularized the revolution known as ‘aerobics dance-exercise’; a scientific term misappropriated from Dr Kenneth Cooper in his landmark book ‘The Aerobics Way’ about endurance exercise as preventive medicine.

I love watching dancers. My favourite dance show was ‘So You Think You Can Dance?’ The biggest dance show in the USA is ‘Dancing with the Stars’. Celebrities are paired with processional dancers to qualify to the next rounds; in the former, budding professional dancers dance a myriad of styles either solo or in pairs to progress.

Dancing is more than just an important branch of the performance arts. It is also a metaphor embraced by many, who feel grounded by language patterns that reflect rhythmic movement.

You can dance your way through precision communication. Twitter works on the premise of containing your message within 140 characters. Consider this: the next time you send a text message (SMS), use précis writing and write with precision your memo in a short paragraph. Obey KISS. It is acceptable if it flows through the second text message; it does not work all the time. Let your fingers do the dancing. In negotiations, clients may like to dance around the real issues so that can be a frustrating form of expressed movement. We have to negotiate around bends in intention, expectations, doubt and worry.

For serious triathletes, the Big Dance takes place in Kona, Hawaii in October each year. How many of us would like to make a date with that event? How about dancing your way across the finish line, applauded by thousands of spectators?