Running Strong Off The Bike

Coach has put me on strict training diet of ride-run ‘bricks’. Last Saturday morning, I rode for 4.5 hours and ran 40 minutes after that. Needless to say, my legs were thrashed the next morning after a 2-hour run (with 12X5-minute sets). Tomorrow, I will be doing 5 hours of paced (15-minutes X 6 speed sets) riding with a 40-minute run, immediately after I complete the ride. I am assured of my personal safety, as a few of my triathlon buddies (Chris Smith, Hui Koon, and Vijay) will join me for this extended session. The roads will be busy, as delivery trucks will be making numerous trips to the cargo complex.

Why do bricks? A brick comprises two disciplines, done back-to-back, as individual sessions. The purpose of a ride-run brick is to simulate fatigue of your recently ridden legs, for the marathon that is to follow. Running a stand-alone marathon is easier than running one after an 180K ride. The time differential for a pure marathon and one done during an Ironman is about 20-30 minutes. As my best differential (60 minutes) has a much larger margin, I will need to train specifically for this race to reduce the deficit. A strong runner may not necessarily do well during an Ironman triathlon unless he/she trains as closely to race-day conditions. Therefore, the pre-race training focuses on ‘running on tired legs’. There is a lot of psychological and mental stress on such prolonged sessions, and this is necessary to fully prepare for the actual conditions of competition. Mental preparation is the ‘difference that makes the difference’ between completing and doing a PB.

However, bricks are hard as these sessions increase in duration and intensity. What you consume on the ride determines your energy level for the long run. I will be reviewing my use of nutritional needs, so as to ensure higher energy levels and lowered risk of gastrointestinal (GI) distress during the run leg. Coach has requested I review another brand of sports nutrition by Hammer. I am currently using High-5 supplementation that has served me well for marathons and half-Ironman races.

Strengthening Your Relationships

Sports medicine specialists have long touted the importance of strengthening muscles around a weak joint. For instance, stronger quadriceps help stabilize a weak knee-joint. Developed strength on the muscles surrounding the shoulder joint, lowers its risk of being re-injured or compromised by high intensity movement.

Being aerobically fit is one aspect of developing fitness as an endurance athlete. A strong musculature provides the body with better posture (gait) both during activity, and when resting. Developing core strength has been central to keeping athletes strong enough for sustained physical activity. Weakened muscles due to under-use can lead to muscle imbalance, which exacerbates the lop-sided condition.

Include strengthening exercises at least twice a weak. Swimmers could incorporate pedal/pool-buoy, and sprint workouts. Runners could run up hills, or off-road. Working with weights can help runners balance out their relatively weaker upper-bodies, which enhances their torso posture (avoiding the collapse of their core). Riders can increase the gear-resistance and do time trials, or interval sets at lower cadence. Core strength allows them to stay in the 'aero-position' for longer. Adding resistance encourages the body to adapt to the new workload by becoming stronger, which recruits more power during races. Challenge yourself with at least one speed or strength workout for each discipline each week.

Leadership Lessons: How often do you strengthen your relationships? When did you last audit yourself for weaknesses? How do you address your shortcomings? How critical are you with your prevailing compromised condition and situation? 

Preparing for Personal Bests

This evening, I completed a 90-minute ride, followed immediately with a 30-minute run. Last night, I completed my first (fast) 10K tempo run in two months. Last week, I completed 15 hours worth of triathlon training time. It is six weeks out to my next Ironman triathlon. The total hours of training dedicated to the 226K-triathlon may be deceptive, as consistency matters just as much as pure distance. The ability to complete twice-a-day workouts, or back-to-back disciplines counts towards the final race-day tally. Faster or slower, in daylight or in darkness – your preparation means a lot to your ability to complete or compete.

Last year, I did not take too much of a break after the Singapore Marathon. After completing Ironman Lanzarote (my second time), and canceling Ironman Canada (my first) I focused on running. I earned personal best times in my 10K, 10-mile, 21K, 30K and full marathon. I also earned my first Boston Qualifier (BQ) at the Hong Kong Marathon last February. I also experienced my first bout of foot injuries, despite a successful training regime of 3 weekly run workout that did not exceed 50K in total.

I earned some personal achievements including winning the veteran’s category in a half-marathon, several top-6 placing in duathlons and runs, and a BQ/PB in a marathon. I also maintained my top-1 percent national ranking as a marathoner.

Ironman NZ will be my biggest challenge to date, as I will attempt to earn PBs in all three disciplines, as well as an overall best timing for the full Ironman distance. I trust my Coach, I am committed to my training, and I have faith that the process will work (as it did for others). Six weeks may not seem like much time but every workout, every resting moment and every meal will add to my capability and confidence.

Which will be your next challenge and attempt for a PB?

Drowning in the Dubious Digital Domain

The Third Wave, according to futurist Alvin Toffler, is the Information Age. This has succeeded the Agricultural and Industrial ages. We moved from farming to manufacturing to informing. News is uploaded almost instantaneously with Social Media 2.0, and reputations are varnished or tarnished with relative ease.

Content is still king! Whether you own a blog, website, Facebook or Twitter account your audience is drawn towards newness. Fresh is vital as fast. Print news has suffered from the microwave-ready, fast-food convenience, paint-by-numbers, approach to reporting. Anyone with Internet or Wi-Fi access can play quasi-journalist or pseudo-commentator and attempt to ‘go viral’. The more sleazy, nefarious and notorious the news is, the larger your captive audience. Lace it with clever or deceptive headings, and the legions will home in onto the potential prey. The ‘magic words’ still apply and intensify when you combine them with celebrity names. Shout 'caught on camera' and 'exposed' and the lurkers and voyeurs will have a field day (and night). The city doesn't  sleep... 

It would be interesting to note if a new charismatic guru were to descend from the mountains with his digital tablet with new messages from the cosmos. In the past, leaders would be burdened with stone tablets with laser-etched wisdom. Today, everything is compact including the way the message is contained and presented.

Why do we communicate in code, messages edited to the point of acronym? LOL. LMAO. LMFAO. ROTF. Has these added to clarity of thinking, or density of confusion? Many challenge the need to write in full over text messages (SMS), yet if there is clarity of thought why do they resort to multiple text messages. Unfortunately, many miss the point and fail to communicate effectively. In some ways we have become soft; in other ways, we have gone hard. HTFU.

Are we high technology and high touch? Or, have we failed to connect and communicate as humans once did. Why do we e-mail our lunch invitations to a colleague seated next to us? Have we become isolated in our electronic hardware? Are we becoming xenophobic and afraid of our own shadows? How is the world flatter when we falter on the most basic of connectivity with a human? No more talk – I mean, offline conversations. Just lots of online chat and chatter.

Looking back, we may snigger in private that we used to deploy humungous mobile-phones resembling thermos-flasks. Today, it comes as no surprise when you see a person talk into a tablet-phone that is at least six times the acreage of an android phone. In the past, we consumed rolls of film for those joyous moments. Today, we devour megabytes of digital real estate on a card just for a few high-resolution photographs or video-clips. Tradition is deemed boring and it has made way for Radicalisation.  

As long as there is a full moon, somewhere in the twilight, the lunacy prevails.

Doing What Will Make A Difference

It is one week exactly till the Chinese Lunar New Year begins. In effect, it is 15 days of festivities marked by feasting and renewing friendships in the Year of the Dragon. I will still be training despite the initial two days of public holiday, although I will be scheduling it in the earlier part of the day.

This past week, I clocked 15 hours in total for my spartan Ironman training. It is, after all, six weeks before the Big Dance at Lake Taupo, New Zealand. The last time I committed so much time to triathlon training was in 2006. The subsequent races that followed, I had to compromise total time invested on each race. I managed to successfully get by with minimal allowed time to complete each race in reasonable time (12-13 hours bracket). I also focused on the half-Ironman, or 70.3 format in 2008 and 2009. Those were the last two years I qualified for the world championships in Clearwater, Florida.

Coach ‘Fox’ has been sending me my schedule for Ironman NZ 2012 every Sunday evening. The variations have been subtle, however the riding is increasing by 30 minutes each time. The intervals sets within the long rides are longer, and more intense (higher cadence or higher gear). I need to get stronger on the hills, and be fresh off the 180K ride for a confident marathon. On Saturday, I completed a 130K ride, followed by 40 minutes running. On Sunday, I ran 2 hours (with 12X5-minute intervals at moderate pace) in the morning. I ran 35 minutes in the evening (with 12X90-seconds intervals), followed by 30 minutes of swimming with pool-buoy. I was knackered, to say the least. Just another day in paradise! All would be well after a good night of sleep. Heal and hammer again!

These weekly interventions are designed to lead me towards my race goals, which include a few personal best (PB) times. Race-day nutrition will be a major factor, so I have been experimenting with scientific applications like pre-training meal, type of complex carbohydrates to use, hydration (versus over-hydration) and electrolyte replacement. This is a delicate physiological equation I will have to balance, and that has cost Fox and I in the past with premature fatigue, cramps or gastro-intestinal distress.

Our fund-raising efforts have been positive so far. After one week, Iron-Team Varella (comprising a team of Singaporean endurance buddies) has raised NZ$1,195.00. I am grateful to friends and sponsors for believing in our cause: Breath4CF, which supports sports and physical interventions for New Zealand kids suffering from cystic fibrosis. I have a sense that more sponsorship will come as some have made pledges to our training. Our team of Ironman triathletes will race for the kids and for charity on 3 March; it has spread the word smoothly and subtly.

Read about the ruminations of a focused lawyer and multiple-Ironman finisher, John Cooke. When did you last take the road less travelled?

Leadership Lessons: Take a walk on your wild side. Be outrageous for a moment. Stop taking life too seriously for once. Immerse in, and enjoy the numerous moments that may pass us by. To struggle is also to live. Regal when you breeze through things and events.

Pareto Principle: The 20:80 Rule

Vilfredo Pareto discovered that 20 percent of pea-pods in his garden contained 80 percent of peas; he extrapolated that to his observation that 80 percent of the land was owned in the early-1900’s by 20 percent of the population.

The Law of the Vital Few, also known as the 80:20 Rule (Principle of Factor Sparsity) is an interesting and universal one. Without delving or stirring more contemptuous disregard for the often-maligned and misunderstood Bell Curve theory, suffice it to say it describes how most processes are engaged by a smaller group of action-orientated people. 20 percent of the top salespeople draw in 80 percent of the company’s profits. 20 percent of the giving population donates nearly 80 percent of the total funds in public charity.

The newly rejuvenated Triathlon Family of Singapore will deliver its annual TriFam Sprint event on 5 February. Do spread the word and invite your endurance-minded friends to join. We hope that the concerted efforts of less than 20 percent of the members can activate the participation and involvement of the other 80 percent. Already TriFam has attracted a significant pool of volunteers, many of who raced in the earlier series. Many of these have progressed to longer-distance races like Olympic Distance Triathlon, Half-Ironman, Ironman and ultra-marathons.

Celebrity DJ, Rod Monteiro is now a champion of stroke prevention after his case of acute stroke. The active sports-person is noted for being a very strong cyclist and runner, and a golfer with a low handicap. Perhaps, star-power can be amplified through publicity and positive word-of-mouth marketing to enhance education and active awareness on health and well-being.

Leadership Lessons: How would you apply Pareto’s Law to your favourite cause? How will you engage the other 80 percent on your team to excel? Which processes in your profession and business reflect Pareto’s Principle? How do you harness the social media platform to significantly support your cherished charities? How will you engage the other 80 percent of your performers on your team?

Going Long

I found this week to be a busy one for me. In common parlance, I experienced a ‘long week’. This weekend will be no different for Coach has designed my program to comprise longer sessions, with immediate runs off the ride, and longer running sessions. I have been tossed the ‘bricks’ (two disciplines done back-to-back).

This morning, with minimal sleep for the last 48 hours I rode 4.5 hours (easy/moderate/hard) followed by 45 minutes of running in the pool. I coincided my ride with friends from TriFam (Desmond, Hui Koon, Matthew, Craig, Robert and Conrad). I caught up with them after my late start, and did three loops of Selarang (30K each with some mild hills) and the dreaded Hendon Road hill (a nice spanner to thrown in after hitting Selarang Hill). I was supposed to run on the road, however decided to play it safe as I was not sure of the physical condition of my left heel (residual plantar fasciitis?). By far, in the last two meso-cycles today has to be my longest session I have undertaken. I missed a similar cycle last week as rain wiped out any chance I had for a similar hard ‘hit’.

I have found that riding solo (save for other riders I meet on my ride) develops my sense of independence and alertness. It is also a useful simulation of race-day conditions: no-drafting and keeping to 7-10 metre rule; focus on nutrition and pacing; playing its strategically, as it is all about the marathon, not the ego.

On Sunday, I will have two sessions for running: A two-hour morning run (with intervals), and a shorter afternoon/evening (with short bursts). I look forward to the discipline in my pacing and accessing how my body holds after a 15-hour week (within a tight working schedule). Coach focused me on running stronger off the bike, as that has been my relative weakness within an Ironman race. He believes I can hold a 4:50-5:00 minutes/K pace, and score a sub-4 hour marathon that has eluded me for years. I have my work cut out for me for the remaining 6 weeks till I arrive in Lake Taupo, Auckland.

Leadership Lessons: What is your comfort level about working alone? How well do you take to autonomy? How do you take to prolonged projects? How do you respond to extensions on deadlines? How tolerant are you of delays, distractions and indecisiveness? Endurance, tenacity, persistence and determination are values to latch on when going long and far.

Trust Your Intuition

‘Be still my heart…’

Intuition is a value. It has been referred to as the sixth sense. Researchers have considered it as an amalgamation of all our five senses (synaesthesia). Others have suggested that it is a mixture if foresight and instinct. Whatever it is, it is intangible yet relevant to our sense of direction and purpose.

Sometimes, our head may say ‘yes’ yet our ‘gut feel’ suggests, otherwise. This may be a sign to pause, or even hesitate. If our gut feel tells us to wait, or even procrastinate – do consider it. Impulsiveness may be risky if it leads us to make rash or irrational decisions. If our intuition buys us time, we should heed it. Use the opportunity to explore areas of doubt, worry, and uncertainty.

If you head out for a ride, and the weather looks inclement – you can still ride until it looks unsafe. However, if your intuition tells you that that day may not be a right day to be outdoors, then it may be better to err on the side of caution. It may be perceived as laziness, however you can replace it with a safer activity. If your intuition prods you to do an open-water swim with your buddies, call them up. If you feel like going for a run, then just do it.

Leadership Lessons: Listen to that voice inside. Heed those feelings of discomfort and disquiet. Use your intuition to back up your decisions. Value your intuition as it might just add value to your decisions and actions.

Circa 2012: Leadership Now

‘I love the smell of napalm in the morning!’ ~ Captain Willard, Apocalypse Now

To lead is to influence. When we influence others, we are taking the lead. So, be influential.

With the epic failure of corporate leadership in developed countries, we are responsible for reviewing, rethinking and reconfiguring leadership.

Leadership has succeeded. Leadership has failed. The balance sheet does not look encouraging. Where leadership is expected to be clear, committed and competent, instead we perceive confusion, indifference and incompetency.

Do you question the ludicrousness of corporate leadership where an enticing package awaits those who resign or who are asked to resign? Shame on the promoters and perpetrators of ‘false’ leadership! Resignation is such a cop-out. Real leadership expresses itself with diligence, discernment and decisiveness. Stick to your guns, and not gun the stick!

The values of leaders need to be audited: Not only by others, but also by themselves. Is conscience a static thing? Do moral codes stay the same way? Is character a measure of a leader? Who measures the fibre, values, beliefs, behaviors, pre-judgements, instincts and perceptions of leaders? Certainly not only by the experts or the impertinent.

Questioning leadership is not about being perched on a moral high horse. It is the right and obligation of followers to challenge authority at times. Blind obedience and allegiance may be counterintuitive to support for a leader. Leaders build capability in their people. They support, encourage and engage followers. They do not exploit them for selfish ends.

Leadership Lessons: Be your own leader. Lead with your values. Lead with your head, heart and hands.

Focused On Your Priorities

There are those who still think multi-tasking is a core skill that adds value. Instead, multi-skilling adds more value than juggling numerous tasks. As a manager, you can delegate specific tasks to your staff as long as these tests them adequately and engages their capability. Never delegate to staff work that is yours to do, for that is irresponsible and creates risk of disappointing results.

Steven Covey (author of the ‘Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’) proposed a 2X2 matrix on time management. The axes of ‘Important/Unimportant’ versus ‘Urgent/Not Urgent’ describe tasks that need to be attended to immediately, or later. Your manager (reporting officer) and you decide on the priorities based on their relative importance to you.

You can focus on one thing at a time, in order to do it well. Too many distractions will only shift your focus. The ability to shift focus fast and with purpose will enhance your value as a staff who can manage crisis, as well as interruptions, meetings and time-wasters. As a manager, focus on what matters to your staff, even the small, seemingly unimportant things. Create a happy working environment that enhances the value of every staff.

In sports, focusing on your weakness can be useful in promoting your overall fitness. There are so many facets of fitness including strength, power, agility, endurance, flexibility, and coordination. By focusing on one positive aspect at a time, you can build a more stable, strong and steady body that is injury-free. This will make assist you in performing to your best (and optimally) during races.