In the Zone, or In the Moment?

This morning, after an interruptive short burst of appreciated rainfall, I pushed off for a 2-hour ride. The air quality was moderate, PSI around 77, and I made good use of the time. I elected the safer route, save for trick turnarounds at the end of the straight road. About one hour into my ride/drills, I experienced an epiphany. I discerned the difference between being ‘in the zone’ and ‘in the moment’.

Athletes talk often about being in the zone. This is when your actions become almost effortless. Other professionals have described being in the zone when making exquisite presentations, giving inspirational speeches, emanating charisma, and closing serial sales deals. On the other hand, zoning out is a dangerous thing, and that is daydreaming – that’s is when runners and cyclists run into things.

Being in the moment is about enjoying what you do. It is a heightened state of alertness. It is about relishing moments of discovery, intrigue, curiosity and adventure. Friends have lucidly described vivid snapshots of scenery when riding 180K on the Ironman course, and during the marathon.

How often do you enjoy being in the moment? When do you get into the zone? When do you zone out?

Pilot Runs and Flying Solo

Today, I ran a one-day trial program for a corporate client. It is a precursor to the pilot run of a series of leadership workshops. The pilot is the inaugural event before the series is rolled out. It is an opportunity to showcase the complete program and tweak it further should concerns emerge at this virgin attempt. I flew solo, and lead the agenda of activities and learning from start to end. It went reasonably well and looks set to go as planned. Seatbelt fastened, seat in the upright position, and ready for take-off!

I passed over the chance to do the TNF100K Endurance Run Solo. I am impressed and pleased for Terence Ng of Crazy2Tri who completed his first TNF100K Duo. The North Face 100K Duo takes place over a 10K circuit cross-country track at MacRitchie Reservoir – a man-made catchment area for rainwater. His personal journey through the ‘rough’ is well chronicled. Enjoy the read!

Tonight, I ran a leisurely, barefoot 11K on VFF and a gnarled little toe (my failure to fit all toes snugly into the pockets). The PSI of 76-80 indicated a safer haze, and better air quality to go out. Having run yesterday, I decided to exercise both my body and options. It was a slower pace than normal, i.e. 5:50 pace instead of my normal sub-5 minute surge. Tomorrow should be interesting: I hope to do a long ride of at least 100K and brave the suspect air quality. I will brace myself for contingencies and exigencies. Better to play it safe, since I am flying solo. It is interesting to note that climatic dramas like these are occurring six weeks out to IMWA. Life goes on!

Valuing Time with Your Coaches

This evening, despite a PSI of about 90 (unhealthy range), I decided to go for an easy run. Shod in my Vibram VFF, I did an hour of running and walking, and spewed random, un-neighborly, mutterings into the direction of the dreaded Haze. This bad air – born from pyromania caused by shifting cultivation - will affect those of us preparing for Ironman Western Australia. It makes me appreciate good air conditions; seems like indoor-riding on a trainer may be the way to chalking up mundane mileage required for a sustainable 180K road ride.

I spent four valuable days with my Australian teacher/coach. It was part of my annual upgrading for a licensed program I facilitate. My associate from Shanghai joined us in Singapore, and we appreciated [from Coach] new perspectives and potentials on how we could manage our personal values and energy. I learnt more about my leadership personal space and energy, such as activating my leadership charisma.

I don’t see my coaches and mentors often, but I fully immerse myself in our learning experience together. It is important to be fully in the moment, and observe astutely and acutely points of association, and departure. Learning to disagree requires courage and an optimistic composure. Admitting that we don’t know is part of the process of progressing and evolving. Ignorance is merely a starting point, a springboard for future possibilities. I felt energized, invigorated, and renewed in these four days – and the 15K run (and decent results) on Sunday did not dampen my spirits and added to my collective value.

Value your time with your coaches! They can add much value to what we are already doing.

Calibrating Your Performance

I finally got my timing for the Newton 30K Run held on 10/10/10. This time, the results were sorted according to actual timing. I made the top-6 percent cut in the 30K Men’s Challenge category at 79^th position within a field of 1376 finishers. If I include the highly commendable performance of the women (which numbered another 304), I would have been promoted higher. I had a reasonable timing of 2:35:17 while recovering from a marathon.

Comparing how I felt, I believe that it would take less than a month to fully recover from a marathon. I am of the opinion that we can benefit from the secondary gain of a post-marathon peak. You can still register PBs for shorter distances which was what I was attempting during my month-long, evaluation process.

We evaluate and calibrate our performance with others and ourselves. In performance appraisals, both Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and Key Results Areas (KRA) are used to measure our performance. In industries, we call this benchmarking. You can compare your performance with previous results, or contrast it with others. You either measure for similarity or differences. Consider how you integrate your abilities, capabilities, skills, relationships, attitude and mindset into your total value and performance.

As an athlete, you can also calibrate your performance progress through your training. Each training session gives us a sense of how we feel at a certain intensity of effort. Certainly, there are low days as there are highs. It is difficult to stay at the top of the totem pole for a long time.

How are you calibrating your performance?

Can You Be Over-Prepared?

If you train months ahead of a race, will you be over-prepared?

It takes about 16-20 weeks to adequately train for an Ironman triathlon, at least to complete it in decent time. There is a down side to this – and it is plausible – can you over-do the preparation? One danger of training is the period leading to a race. Many athletes have gotten sick before the race (even Chrissy Wellington had a touch of the flu before the race at Kona this year). Perhaps, self-imposed high expectations may lead to this mindset of training just a little more, for it wouldn’t hurt. Or would it?

The recursive pattern of ‘I may not have trained enough’ to reach your goals may be a debilitating one. Instead of building to your peak, you squander it away recklessly because of emotional distractions. Before you can adequately recover before the next training session, you blow the whole lot by depleting your limited resources.

Be aware of your energy. How do you manage it? How do you control anxiety, doubt and worries? How do you harness your energy – emotional, physical and mental – to give you the advantage you seek on race day? Anabolism follows catabolism. Build up after you break down.

Similarly, how do you stay in peak performance for a business presentation? Can you be over-prepared? Do you rehearse until everyone goes home? Do you tweak your script until you give it a salient facelift? Perhaps, under-training is a shade safer than being over-trained?

How Do You Increase Your Value?

I had the privilege to chat with undergraduates and new graduates at endurance races. I am suitably impressed with these bright-eyed athletes who show their commitment to physical training and the rigors of racing – endurance races are hard work, be it a 10K run, 1.5K open-water swim, marathon, or half-Ironman triathlon. Above all, I enjoy the conversations we have about their experiences and learning. It seems that Generation Y is not all about social media tools, apps and gadgetry.

Do all these extreme sports like triathlons and marathons enhance the value of these young adults? They do, if the sportspeople themselves think it adds value to their lives. Value is what you perceive something important to you has. We perceive something as valuable if we believe that it has value to us. The same applies to staff in an organization. If you add value, and continue to build value for your company and yourself, you become valuable. If you enjoy triathlons and appreciate the value that it brings to you, keep doing it. There are secondary benefits beyond training to keep fit, to socializing, to enjoying the emotional shifts of racing and completion.

Staff have promoted extensively, albeit unfairly, that nobody is indispensable. I disagree. I have met people whom I believe who extend and expand their moments of indispensability. They know when to be valuable and dependable, especially during crisis. As a business owner and hirer of talent, I am aware and discerning of the human resources I source for and recruit on my projects.

I look for leadership qualities, including values that I admire and delight in. I appreciate education and educated people, yet it only one aspect of the person’s value proposition. I am more interested in the productive conversations we can engage in, and that add richness and meaning in my interactions. I prefer the person who can communicate with me, face-to-face, and leave me bigger, bolder and brighter at the end of a conversation.

Last Test Race of the Season

This morning at 7.00am, I joined a few thousand runners for a 15K trail and road run. The runners for the 10K set off at 7.30pm.

I ran this time with more preparation: I put on my Avia Avi-Stolz trail-running shoes, two-piece tri-suit, race-belt, and a packet of caffeinated energy gel. I meandered my way through the nervous runners and their vibes, so I could jockey a better position. With a High-5 packet of energy gel and a full bottle of water, I felt hydrated and charged up to race.

I struggled through the 1-killometre stretch (11-12K mark) of sandy beach, which was littered with molehills. I navigated my way near the shore where the sand was flat, although risked getting my shoes wet by the eager waves. This portion took me about 7-8 minutes as I was struggling to run on uneven ground. The time and position I gained earlier was compromised by this challenging stretch. This one kilometre of sandy beach was engineered to fatigue the runners and add variety; annoyingly, it worked splendidly.

I held a 4:55min/K pace overall, although I was zipping along at a 4:25min/K pace till the 11K. I enjoyed a PB until that point (after a 3/4K stretch of trail at the beginning). My final time was 1:12:57, which placed me at about 20^th position in a field of 528 of veteran male runners. Although I was about 90 seconds slower than the previous year, I noticed that this was the pattern of delay for a significant number of the runners. I wonder what was different with the route?

Looking back, I have done since September a half-marathon, 10K run, Berlin Marathon, 30K race and 15K. Enough running! The long rides await me before IMWA on 5 December!

It was great catching up with Ironman finishers Danny, Roger, Chong Mein and David after the race. That’s another 15K to our individual tally for the newly incepted ENR226 challenge. The first person to complete a total of 226K in race running distance (within triathlons, biathlons, or pure run races) wins the award.

Photo credit: Ng Chee Beng

Rest, Recuperate, Perform

I have a busy weekend; I will be attending a workshop, racing and training. I make time for each, so there is no concern about not having enough time. Excuses have a peculiar way of robbing us of our actions and results.

My challenge would be to integrate some training around it. This morning, I slept in, as my body needed it in a good way. After teaching for four days, and riding almost every night, I skipped a planned morning ride as I will race in the New Balance 15K Real Run, which is my second attempt at the dirt trail/road run. I aim to improve my time last year; which was run with low-cut socks. I suffered a heel blister the size of a fifty-cent coin, which nearly crippled my run for its prominent distraction (felt like a large grain of sand was incessantly gnawing at my heel – which was true).

Rest is important; sleep is essential to full recovery. Sleep allows muscles to undergo anabolism, or the build up process. Our muscles get an opportunity to rebuild its stockpile of resources, including muscle glycogen – critical for long-distance activities. You also stay alert in the classroom, and on the roads.

I intend to train in the mornings, and also in the evenings in my last six weeks to Ironman Western Australia. I have a few long rides (150-200K) ahead that I will accomplish in the next three weeks. These long sessions help me build my mental and physical fitness and practise my nutritional plan. I tend to include a solid meal just after I pass the 90K Special Needs aid-station.

I had very little running this week since the 30K race last Sunday. I merely did a barefoot (VFF) run after a two hour ride last Thursday. This brick indicated to me that I am recovering well as the residual soreness has left my legs. I will need to stretch more although I have given myself sports massage to release tight spots and spasms.

All the best to tomorrow’s Real Run runners!

Measured for Performance

I have a friend who has the rare skill of bespoke tailoring. He sews, by hand, high-end gentlemen suits, and each piece takes many dozens of hours. He tells me that accurate measurement is a vital factor in producing these customized clothing that costs in the high hundreds to early thousands of dollars. He studied this craft of exquisite tailoring from English bespoke tailors, who are masters at what they do. Prior to this, my friend did skillful carpentry, and measurement mattered just as much. Patience is a virtue and value appreciated by both tailor and client.

My name and timing was, noticeably, missing from the results page. Yet again in a span of five weeks, I was denied once again the opportunity to identify my relative ranking in this 1,300-strong field of men doing the 30K run. I was not alone, as a few of my registered training buddies suffered the demise of their timings.

I found it strange that, with mechanical (good old, hand-eye) and digital technology, the sensors did not detect a significant number of race-bibs. Perhaps it was a case of human error and judgement. I don’t know, however it does reflect on the level of sports organization. Inaccurate or missing timings leave a sour taste in our mouths. I hope at this Sunday’s 15K trail/road race will yield more optimistic results. On the bright side, I met up with new old friends and new ones.

Seven weeks to Ironman Western Australia. I have started riding, and since Saturday I have cycled four times. Tonight I rode for nearly two hours with another 45 minutes with barefoot run and walk. This is my first of many brick training sessions, and I intend to be fresh off the bike for a strong run. Tomorrow will be a swim-run affair, and I am looking forward to it.

Turning the Ride

Just as I suspected: the strip of road I cycled on tonight, was also shared by another cyclist. He, too, rode it up and down, like a predictable yo-yo. Traffic at the U-turn was somewhat heavier and I had to be acutely alert I was not in the path of an urgent motorist. I did my 35K worth of interval-laps, albeit on a makeshift circuit on the two-lane, linear road. My legs were still slightly sore from Sunday’s three-quarter marathon, but the ride seemed to help flush the lactic acid and toxins out of my quadriceps.

This morning, I met three ex-colleagues; one of them was on home visit. Based in Seattle, he has been enjoying his weekends as he related stories of long, arduous, hikes and his foray into the 70.3 Ironman. Well done, Ed! One other was the founder and editor of popular website, REDSPORTS SINGAPORE. We enjoyed catching up on war stories and regaled at each other’s career. I was happy for their success as unique individuals of distinction. One salient point brought up was how executive advance themselves in their careers: by sheer luck, talent, experience, competencies, guts or riding on the coattails of others.

When was the last time you connected with old friends and colleagues? Do you participate in networking? Are you an active or passive networker? How short is your Six Degrees of Separation? Do you actively engage in conversations? Do you go out of the way to visit a friend or business associate? Have you communicated with them face-to-face (actual meetings, video-conferencing, Skype) instead of electronic mail?

This afternoon, I walked a friend through a presentation he would be making tomorrow. I coached him through a PowerPoint approach, with Guy Kawasaki’s 10-20-30 Rule (from ‘The Art of the Start’). I worked him through his value proposition, his personal branding and design. I believe that he will do well since he is riding on his personal mastery.