(Courtesy of CK Chew)
Hats of to this lady, RESPECT! Funny too.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Chrissie Wellington: I have got nothing to prove to anyone anymore
(Courtesy of Sofian Ismail, Donald McRae and The Guardian)
Triathlete charts her troubled journey from the despair of eating disorders to becoming the unbeaten ironman world record holder.
Chrissie Wellington, sitting cross-legged on a sofa, does not look like an iron woman on a raw winter afternoon. We've just walked in from a dark and windy park on the outskirts of London and, in a warm house filled by her laughter and animated conversation, the former civil servant seems endearingly ordinary. It's easy to remember that, exactly five years ago, just before she became a professional triathlete in late February 2007 and the most remarkable woman in sport, Wellington still worked for the British government as an adviser in international development with particular expertise in Nepal.
Yet, for all her friendly charm and supple intelligence, it soon becomes obvious that Wellington, who turned 34 last week, is ferociously determined. She describes what would seem like unbearable suffering to most of us as "discomfort" when coolly listing the demands of an Ironman race – in which an athlete completes a 2.4 mile swim and a 112 mile bike ride before running a marathon of 26.2 miles.
Wellington, who has won every single one of her 13 Ironman competitions, holds the women's world record of 8hr 18min 32sec – which is 32 minutes faster than the previous record which had stood for 14 years. Perhaps the simplest way to explain her extraordinary endurance is to underline the fact that, immediately after her draining ordeals in the water and on the bike, Wellington can run a marathon in 2 hours and 44 minutes.
She has won four world championships – but Wellington is even more impressive when revealing the corrosive insecurities of her past. "The times and number of victories I've managed matter less than the continual surprise I feel. It's so empowering to defy your own perceptions of what is possible and to keep on opening doors within yourself that you didn't know even existed. Looking back five years ago this month I would never have predicted anything that has since happened."
Wellington looks at me with an even gaze as, more softly this time, she repeats one word again: "Never."
And then, after a long pause, she opens up the most deeply personal facets of her complex personality to the wider world. "We all have talents that, sometimes, we never quite fulfil. We're all scared, deep down, but maybe we just need to lay it on the line and explore our abilities and just not be afraid of failing. But I know it's hard."
Wellington is about to publish a riveting and often startling biography and the imminent exposure taps into these more complicated emotions. "I'm such a contradictory character" she says. "I can be confident in my ability but at the same time, I can lack so much confidence. I guess I exemplified that when we walked back from the park and you said you liked the book. That made me so happy. I crave that. It's not enough for me to be proud of what I've achieved. I still want the approval of others."
That human need once became, for Wellington, dangerously consuming. "I haven't revealed it before," she says, taking a small breath before talking about her past eating disorders. "There is still a stigma and so I swing between wanting to talk about it and being ashamed because to me it's still tantamount to weakness. But every week I receive letters from women and young girls. They don't know I've suffered from eating disorders but they explain how they're suffering from these same afflictions. I've got a message in my inbox now from an American girl saying: 'I don't know where to turn, can you help me?' She's a triathlete."
Wellington looks moved, if distressed, until she straightens her shoulders and says she is ready for her life to change once people understand the depths from which she emerged. "When I first started in sport I did it for purely selfish reasons – to be as good as I could be. I still have that desire but the more I do it the more I realise I can do something else. Hopefully, I can show people what is possible."
She enjoyed a comfortable middle-class childhood in Norfolk and then achieved a first-class honours degree in geography. And yet, with no knowledge of the sporting greatness within her, Wellington was so beset by insecurity that she went out of her way to change her body-shape – and ended up in the grip of anorexia and bulimia.
"The victims of such illnesses are often very ambitious, outwardly successful young women who pursue these ideas of control and achievement," she says. "We're driven, compulsive, obsessive, competitive, persistent and seek perfection. That can be channelled incredibly negatively."
Wellington was saved by her family. "My parents' reaction got to me," she says, "especially my dad. He is less outwardly emotional but when I saw he was near tears looking at me I understood how worried they were. But it was really my brother who made me face the truth. His tough love really worked."
She has now reached the point where, without vanity, she can talk about "loving" her own body. Rather than focusing on her outward appearance, Wellington can celebrate all her body has achieved – in conjunction with an exceptional mental strength. "Sport has given me a different perception and respect for my body. I cannot judge its success by whether I can fit into a pair of skinny jeans. I look at other women and, yes, they're beautiful with stereotypically wonderful figures but I can think, 'Yeah, but you haven't won what I've won.' I might not be perfect but I can love my body now."
Wellington came to the tortuous world of Ironman as an amateur jogger – who discovered by chance that she loved running. She ran her first marathon at the age of 25, in London in 2002, and surprised herself by finishing in 3hr 8 sec. Five years later, she decided to quit her government job and become a triathlete. Wellington chose to work with the world's most successful but controversial triathlon coach.
Brett Sutton's infamy centres on the fact that he once had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl he trained. In later years, as an adult, she made a formal complaint and Sutton was charged. He argued that the affair had been consensual but the judge still accused Sutton of "abusing [his] role [as Australia's national triathlon coach] to an inexcusable degree." Sutton received a suspended two-year sentence.
"It was unforgiveable at the time," Wellington says of Sutton's behaviour. "But Brett repented. He said to me, 'I despise myself for the suffering others have gone through for what I did.' Some will choose never to forgive him. Others do. But Brett is not the cold mercenary that is usually depicted. He has an incredible emotional intelligence.
"On the first Monday we started working together we went for a swim and he said, 'I can see you've suffered from an eating disorder.' I thought: 'How the bloody hell does this paunchy little man know?' He can read me like a book and developed an understanding very quickly of my personality – my impatience, my inability to rest my mind, my desire for perfection. He summed me up in one sentence. You want to be different, yet you crave to be normal. It's true. I didn't want to be like the other girls. I wanted to be better than them. But I wanted to be one of them."
In some of the book's most gripping pages, Wellington details how she and Sutton fought for control. Recounting his demands that Wellington, a self-confessed "control-freak", become "supine like a slave", there are vague echoes of a sado-masochistic relationship. Does such a description sound overblown to her?
"No," Wellington says. "Some of the problems I had, the worries and fears in the first six months with Brett, were due to the fact I didn't trust him. I was questioning him constantly and that's so draining. It was only when I allowed him to take control that I could feel that sense of liberation."
Sutton shouted at Wellington and treated her cruelly in training. How could she bring herself to trust him? "Away from training he had a warm, caring and sensitive side. But he could be cold and callous and in front of the other athletes he was very harsh. He was either going to make me or break me."
Wellington emits a bleak little laugh. "Those thoughts went through my head when he shouted at me that, 'You're weak, you'll never be successful.' Well, yeah, I was crying into my goggles but the other part of me said, 'I'll show you, you bastard. I'm going to prove to you that I'm not weak.' I needed that but it was so liberating handing the reigns to Brett. It was definitely right at that point and it made me the athlete I am. Could I do it now? Probably not because Brett taught me most of it anyway so I don't need him now – but I've also built on what he taught me and learnt from others.
"Brett was hugely influential in my life. No other coach would have done what he did, in 2007, when he threw a rookie who had never done any long-distance triathlons, into the world championships in Kona. Brett had seen something special in me. He knew long before anyone else that I could do it."
Wellington shocked the Ironman world by winning – and beating her nearest rival by five minutes. Yet her triumph last year, in the same world championships, transcended all expectations. She began the race with a damaged pectoral muscle which she'd torn two weeks earlier. She was grazed and bruised and had been to hospital just a few days before the race. Wellington was told it would be a miracle if she even finished.
She was forced to swim more slowly than usual and, also struggling on her bike, she began the marathon 21 minutes behind the leader. Wellington scrunches up her face. "Normally, I've not suffered much more than discomfort. Maybe my discomfort is someone else's debilitating pain. But, this time, I got it. This was bad pain. Persistent and deep, deep pain."
Wellington still ran the marathon in 2 hours 52 minutes and 41 seconds – and won by almost three minutes. "Around Christmas last year," she remembers, "Brett called me. He hasn't trained me for years but he said, 'You used to doubt if you could win a race under duress. You wondered if you would crumble. Now you know. You've got nothing more to prove.' It's true. That's why I have maybe completed the journey. I'm not retiring but I'm going to take a break for a year or two."
Wellington will work on her charities and in the media, and possibly train exclusively for next year's London marathon where she believes she could run "2.20 something".
But Wellington will also sit back, for once, and savour a new truth. "I'm content," she says as late afternoon gives way to a black and freezing evening. "I'm happy. I've got nothing to prove to anyone anymore – not even to myself."
A Life Without Limits by Chrissie Wellington is published by Constable on Thursday, priced £18.99
Triathlete charts her troubled journey from the despair of eating disorders to becoming the unbeaten ironman world record holder.
 |
| Chrissie Wellington says she is going to take a break for a year or two from triathlon. |
Chrissie Wellington, sitting cross-legged on a sofa, does not look like an iron woman on a raw winter afternoon. We've just walked in from a dark and windy park on the outskirts of London and, in a warm house filled by her laughter and animated conversation, the former civil servant seems endearingly ordinary. It's easy to remember that, exactly five years ago, just before she became a professional triathlete in late February 2007 and the most remarkable woman in sport, Wellington still worked for the British government as an adviser in international development with particular expertise in Nepal.
Yet, for all her friendly charm and supple intelligence, it soon becomes obvious that Wellington, who turned 34 last week, is ferociously determined. She describes what would seem like unbearable suffering to most of us as "discomfort" when coolly listing the demands of an Ironman race – in which an athlete completes a 2.4 mile swim and a 112 mile bike ride before running a marathon of 26.2 miles.
Wellington, who has won every single one of her 13 Ironman competitions, holds the women's world record of 8hr 18min 32sec – which is 32 minutes faster than the previous record which had stood for 14 years. Perhaps the simplest way to explain her extraordinary endurance is to underline the fact that, immediately after her draining ordeals in the water and on the bike, Wellington can run a marathon in 2 hours and 44 minutes.
She has won four world championships – but Wellington is even more impressive when revealing the corrosive insecurities of her past. "The times and number of victories I've managed matter less than the continual surprise I feel. It's so empowering to defy your own perceptions of what is possible and to keep on opening doors within yourself that you didn't know even existed. Looking back five years ago this month I would never have predicted anything that has since happened."
Wellington looks at me with an even gaze as, more softly this time, she repeats one word again: "Never."
And then, after a long pause, she opens up the most deeply personal facets of her complex personality to the wider world. "We all have talents that, sometimes, we never quite fulfil. We're all scared, deep down, but maybe we just need to lay it on the line and explore our abilities and just not be afraid of failing. But I know it's hard."
Wellington is about to publish a riveting and often startling biography and the imminent exposure taps into these more complicated emotions. "I'm such a contradictory character" she says. "I can be confident in my ability but at the same time, I can lack so much confidence. I guess I exemplified that when we walked back from the park and you said you liked the book. That made me so happy. I crave that. It's not enough for me to be proud of what I've achieved. I still want the approval of others."
That human need once became, for Wellington, dangerously consuming. "I haven't revealed it before," she says, taking a small breath before talking about her past eating disorders. "There is still a stigma and so I swing between wanting to talk about it and being ashamed because to me it's still tantamount to weakness. But every week I receive letters from women and young girls. They don't know I've suffered from eating disorders but they explain how they're suffering from these same afflictions. I've got a message in my inbox now from an American girl saying: 'I don't know where to turn, can you help me?' She's a triathlete."
Wellington looks moved, if distressed, until she straightens her shoulders and says she is ready for her life to change once people understand the depths from which she emerged. "When I first started in sport I did it for purely selfish reasons – to be as good as I could be. I still have that desire but the more I do it the more I realise I can do something else. Hopefully, I can show people what is possible."
She enjoyed a comfortable middle-class childhood in Norfolk and then achieved a first-class honours degree in geography. And yet, with no knowledge of the sporting greatness within her, Wellington was so beset by insecurity that she went out of her way to change her body-shape – and ended up in the grip of anorexia and bulimia.
"The victims of such illnesses are often very ambitious, outwardly successful young women who pursue these ideas of control and achievement," she says. "We're driven, compulsive, obsessive, competitive, persistent and seek perfection. That can be channelled incredibly negatively."
Wellington was saved by her family. "My parents' reaction got to me," she says, "especially my dad. He is less outwardly emotional but when I saw he was near tears looking at me I understood how worried they were. But it was really my brother who made me face the truth. His tough love really worked."
She has now reached the point where, without vanity, she can talk about "loving" her own body. Rather than focusing on her outward appearance, Wellington can celebrate all her body has achieved – in conjunction with an exceptional mental strength. "Sport has given me a different perception and respect for my body. I cannot judge its success by whether I can fit into a pair of skinny jeans. I look at other women and, yes, they're beautiful with stereotypically wonderful figures but I can think, 'Yeah, but you haven't won what I've won.' I might not be perfect but I can love my body now."
Wellington came to the tortuous world of Ironman as an amateur jogger – who discovered by chance that she loved running. She ran her first marathon at the age of 25, in London in 2002, and surprised herself by finishing in 3hr 8 sec. Five years later, she decided to quit her government job and become a triathlete. Wellington chose to work with the world's most successful but controversial triathlon coach.
Brett Sutton's infamy centres on the fact that he once had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl he trained. In later years, as an adult, she made a formal complaint and Sutton was charged. He argued that the affair had been consensual but the judge still accused Sutton of "abusing [his] role [as Australia's national triathlon coach] to an inexcusable degree." Sutton received a suspended two-year sentence.
"It was unforgiveable at the time," Wellington says of Sutton's behaviour. "But Brett repented. He said to me, 'I despise myself for the suffering others have gone through for what I did.' Some will choose never to forgive him. Others do. But Brett is not the cold mercenary that is usually depicted. He has an incredible emotional intelligence.
"On the first Monday we started working together we went for a swim and he said, 'I can see you've suffered from an eating disorder.' I thought: 'How the bloody hell does this paunchy little man know?' He can read me like a book and developed an understanding very quickly of my personality – my impatience, my inability to rest my mind, my desire for perfection. He summed me up in one sentence. You want to be different, yet you crave to be normal. It's true. I didn't want to be like the other girls. I wanted to be better than them. But I wanted to be one of them."
In some of the book's most gripping pages, Wellington details how she and Sutton fought for control. Recounting his demands that Wellington, a self-confessed "control-freak", become "supine like a slave", there are vague echoes of a sado-masochistic relationship. Does such a description sound overblown to her?
"No," Wellington says. "Some of the problems I had, the worries and fears in the first six months with Brett, were due to the fact I didn't trust him. I was questioning him constantly and that's so draining. It was only when I allowed him to take control that I could feel that sense of liberation."
Sutton shouted at Wellington and treated her cruelly in training. How could she bring herself to trust him? "Away from training he had a warm, caring and sensitive side. But he could be cold and callous and in front of the other athletes he was very harsh. He was either going to make me or break me."
Wellington emits a bleak little laugh. "Those thoughts went through my head when he shouted at me that, 'You're weak, you'll never be successful.' Well, yeah, I was crying into my goggles but the other part of me said, 'I'll show you, you bastard. I'm going to prove to you that I'm not weak.' I needed that but it was so liberating handing the reigns to Brett. It was definitely right at that point and it made me the athlete I am. Could I do it now? Probably not because Brett taught me most of it anyway so I don't need him now – but I've also built on what he taught me and learnt from others.
"Brett was hugely influential in my life. No other coach would have done what he did, in 2007, when he threw a rookie who had never done any long-distance triathlons, into the world championships in Kona. Brett had seen something special in me. He knew long before anyone else that I could do it."
Wellington shocked the Ironman world by winning – and beating her nearest rival by five minutes. Yet her triumph last year, in the same world championships, transcended all expectations. She began the race with a damaged pectoral muscle which she'd torn two weeks earlier. She was grazed and bruised and had been to hospital just a few days before the race. Wellington was told it would be a miracle if she even finished.
She was forced to swim more slowly than usual and, also struggling on her bike, she began the marathon 21 minutes behind the leader. Wellington scrunches up her face. "Normally, I've not suffered much more than discomfort. Maybe my discomfort is someone else's debilitating pain. But, this time, I got it. This was bad pain. Persistent and deep, deep pain."
Wellington still ran the marathon in 2 hours 52 minutes and 41 seconds – and won by almost three minutes. "Around Christmas last year," she remembers, "Brett called me. He hasn't trained me for years but he said, 'You used to doubt if you could win a race under duress. You wondered if you would crumble. Now you know. You've got nothing more to prove.' It's true. That's why I have maybe completed the journey. I'm not retiring but I'm going to take a break for a year or two."
Wellington will work on her charities and in the media, and possibly train exclusively for next year's London marathon where she believes she could run "2.20 something".
But Wellington will also sit back, for once, and savour a new truth. "I'm content," she says as late afternoon gives way to a black and freezing evening. "I'm happy. I've got nothing to prove to anyone anymore – not even to myself."
A Life Without Limits by Chrissie Wellington is published by Constable on Thursday, priced £18.99
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Nooooooo.....
(Courtesy of Allan Malcolm)
I actually shouted out "Nooooo...." in my office as I watched this, a bit embarrassing but totally justified under the circumstances.
I actually shouted out "Nooooo...." in my office as I watched this, a bit embarrassing but totally justified under the circumstances.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Friday, February 03, 2012
ONLY A MAN WOULD ATTEMPT THIS
(Courtesy of Olga)
Just try reading this without laughing till you cry!!! . . can't be done! Pocket Tazer Stun Gun, a great gift for the wife. A guy who purchased his lovely wife a pocket Tazer for their anniversary submitted this:
"Last weekend I saw something at Larry's Pistol & Pawn Shop that sparked my interest. The occasion was our 15th anniversary and I was looking for a little something extra for my wife Julie. What I came across was a 100,000-volt, pocket/purse-sized Tazer. The effects of the Tazer were supposed to be short lived, with no long term adverse affect on your assailant, allowing her adequate time to retreat to safety...?? WAY TOO COOL!
Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home... I loaded two AAA batteries in the darn thing and pushed the button... Nothing! I was disappointed. I learned, however, that if I pushed the button and pressed it against a metal surface at the same time, I'd get the blue arc of electricity darting back and forth between the prongs. AWESOME!!! Unfortunately, I have yet to explain to Julie what that burn spot is on the face of her microwave.
Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that it couldn't be all that bad with only two AAA batteries, right? There I sat in my recliner, my cat Gracie looking on intently (trusting little soul) while I was reading the directions and thinking that I really needed to try this thing out on a flesh & blood moving target.. I must admit I thought about zapping Gracie (for a fraction of a second) and then thought better of it. She is such a sweet cat. But, if I was going to give this thing to my wife to protect herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that it would work as advertised. Am I wrong?
So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one hand, and Tazer in another. The directions said that: a one-second burst would shock and disorient your assailant; a two-second burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a major loss of bodily control; and a three-second burst would purportedly make your assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water. Any burst longer than three seconds would be wasting the batteries. All the while I'm looking at this little device measuring about 5" long, less than 3/4 inch in circumference (loaded with two itsy, bitsy AAA batteries); pretty cute really, and thinking to myself, 'no possible way!' What happened next is almost beyond description, but I'll do my best.
I'm sitting there alone, Gracie looking on with her head cocked to one side so as to say, 'Don't do it stupid,' reasoning that a one second burst from such a tiny lil ole thing couldn't hurt all that bad.. I decided to give myself a one second burst just for heck of it. I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button, and... HOLY MOTHER OF GOD. WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. WHAT THE... !!! I'm pretty sure Hulk Hogan ran in through the side door, picked me up in the recliner, then body slammed us both on the carpet, over and over and over again. I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, with tears in my eyes, body soaking wet, both nipples on fire, testicles nowhere to be found, with my left arm tucked under my body in the oddest position, and tingling in my legs! The cat was making meowing sounds I had never heard before, clinging to a picture frame hanging above the fireplace, obviously in an attempt to avoid getting slammed by my body flopping all over the living room.
Note: If you ever feel compelled to 'mug' yourself with a Tazer, one note of caution: There is NO such thing as a one second burst when you zap yourself! You will not let go of that thing until it is dislodged from your hand by a violent thrashing about on the floor! A three second burst would be considered conservative! A minute or so later (I can't be sure, as time was a relative thing at that point), I collected my wits (what little I had left), sat up and surveyed the landscape. * My bent reading glasses were on the mantel of the fireplace. * The recliner was upside down and about 8 feet or so from where it originally was. * My triceps, right thigh and both nipples were still twitching. * My face felt like it had been shot up with Novocain, and my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs. * I had no control over the drooling. Apparently I had crapped in my shorts, but was too numb to know for sure, and my sense of smell was gone. * I saw a faint smoke cloud above my head, which I believe came from my hair. * I'm still looking for my testicles and I'm offering a significant reward for their safe return!
PS: My wife can't stop laughing about my experience, loved the gift and now regularly threatens me with it! If you think education is difficult, try being stupid!"
Just try reading this without laughing till you cry!!! . . can't be done! Pocket Tazer Stun Gun, a great gift for the wife. A guy who purchased his lovely wife a pocket Tazer for their anniversary submitted this:
Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home... I loaded two AAA batteries in the darn thing and pushed the button... Nothing! I was disappointed. I learned, however, that if I pushed the button and pressed it against a metal surface at the same time, I'd get the blue arc of electricity darting back and forth between the prongs. AWESOME!!! Unfortunately, I have yet to explain to Julie what that burn spot is on the face of her microwave.
Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that it couldn't be all that bad with only two AAA batteries, right? There I sat in my recliner, my cat Gracie looking on intently (trusting little soul) while I was reading the directions and thinking that I really needed to try this thing out on a flesh & blood moving target.. I must admit I thought about zapping Gracie (for a fraction of a second) and then thought better of it. She is such a sweet cat. But, if I was going to give this thing to my wife to protect herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that it would work as advertised. Am I wrong?
So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one hand, and Tazer in another. The directions said that: a one-second burst would shock and disorient your assailant; a two-second burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a major loss of bodily control; and a three-second burst would purportedly make your assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water. Any burst longer than three seconds would be wasting the batteries. All the while I'm looking at this little device measuring about 5" long, less than 3/4 inch in circumference (loaded with two itsy, bitsy AAA batteries); pretty cute really, and thinking to myself, 'no possible way!' What happened next is almost beyond description, but I'll do my best.
I'm sitting there alone, Gracie looking on with her head cocked to one side so as to say, 'Don't do it stupid,' reasoning that a one second burst from such a tiny lil ole thing couldn't hurt all that bad.. I decided to give myself a one second burst just for heck of it. I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button, and... HOLY MOTHER OF GOD. WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. WHAT THE... !!! I'm pretty sure Hulk Hogan ran in through the side door, picked me up in the recliner, then body slammed us both on the carpet, over and over and over again. I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, with tears in my eyes, body soaking wet, both nipples on fire, testicles nowhere to be found, with my left arm tucked under my body in the oddest position, and tingling in my legs! The cat was making meowing sounds I had never heard before, clinging to a picture frame hanging above the fireplace, obviously in an attempt to avoid getting slammed by my body flopping all over the living room.
Note: If you ever feel compelled to 'mug' yourself with a Tazer, one note of caution: There is NO such thing as a one second burst when you zap yourself! You will not let go of that thing until it is dislodged from your hand by a violent thrashing about on the floor! A three second burst would be considered conservative! A minute or so later (I can't be sure, as time was a relative thing at that point), I collected my wits (what little I had left), sat up and surveyed the landscape. * My bent reading glasses were on the mantel of the fireplace. * The recliner was upside down and about 8 feet or so from where it originally was. * My triceps, right thigh and both nipples were still twitching. * My face felt like it had been shot up with Novocain, and my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs. * I had no control over the drooling. Apparently I had crapped in my shorts, but was too numb to know for sure, and my sense of smell was gone. * I saw a faint smoke cloud above my head, which I believe came from my hair. * I'm still looking for my testicles and I'm offering a significant reward for their safe return!
PS: My wife can't stop laughing about my experience, loved the gift and now regularly threatens me with it! If you think education is difficult, try being stupid!"
Monday, January 30, 2012
Malaysia's First Astronaut
Look who came to visit Sid and Seb's school last week...Malaysia's first astronaut, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor. How cool was this for the boys?!!
Thursday, January 26, 2012
So You Wanna Be a Triathlete?
(By Nick Clark • Clark Endurance Training and courtesy of Active.com)
Fact: You will not become efficient at swimming, biking or running overnight. This is NOT an easy sport.
Check your ego at the door because chances are someone fifty pounds heavier than you will lap you in the pool. Not to mention she will be ten or fifteen years older than you, too.
You will be passed on the bike many times, and you will never be the fastest runner in your town.
You will have early morning workouts. Really early.
You will plan your weekends around your swim, bike and run.
You will be up while others are sleeping.
You will be training while others are sitting.
You will discover others who also follow this blood, sweat and tears cult.
You will eventually get a flat tyre...and have to change it all by yourself.
No matter what you hear, triathlon is NOT an inexpensive sport.
Warning, it is extremely addictive, hence the impulse spending on wetsuits, bikes, running shoes, aero bars, aero helmets, speed suits, power meters, GPS heart-rate monitors and many other “gotta have” items.
You will hate swimming more times than you like it for the first year.
You will suffer through road trips with whiny fellow triathletes.
You will suffer setbacks.
You may experience an injury.
You will develop a love/hate relationship with a foam roller and ice baths.
You will at some point realize you need a coach.
You will hate swimming for the first year.
You will wear tight clothing.
You will not like how this tight clothing fits or looks.
Your age will take on a whole new meaning.
You will discover a whole new meaning for tan lines.
Food will become an extremely important part of your life.
You will learn new words such as GU, cadence and brick.
You will hate swimming for the first year.
You will spend more time on your bike than on your couch.
You may lose a friend or two because you spend too much time swimming, biking and running, and they could care less about your heart rate training, foam rolling pain or 200km bike ride.
You will learn patience.
You will be humbled.
You will start to realize you are paying money to put yourself through pain and suffering, but for some odd reason, you LOVE it.
This sport called triathlon becomes a part of you. You start to plan your entire year around sprint, international, half iron- or full iron-distance races. Your vacations become racing, and you start to realize that this could become a life-long adventure.
Many people settle for things in life. They settle for a crappy job, marriage, friends, food, place to live and overall fitness and health. Those who desire more or those who want more out of life than a drive-thru window and boring sitcom, will choose triathlon or an activity that makes them happy—an activity that will change their life.
Triathlon will change your outlook on life, your career, your marriage, your goals, your friends and many other things you thought you had figured out. It’s not just crossing a finish line or going home with a boring finisher medal. It’s the countless hours that got you to that point—a moment in time that you will NEVER forget, a moment that you will discuss with your family and friends for hours if not days after the event. These discussions will most likely be about how you could have done better. At what point could you have swum faster, biked harder or ran more efficient? This is what will go through your head every day until you get the opportunity to suffer again.
So you wanna be a triathlete? Enjoy the ride and train hard!
Sign up for your first event or your 100th, just sign up.
Check your ego at the door because chances are someone fifty pounds heavier than you will lap you in the pool. Not to mention she will be ten or fifteen years older than you, too.
You will be passed on the bike many times, and you will never be the fastest runner in your town.
You will have early morning workouts. Really early.
You will plan your weekends around your swim, bike and run.
You will be up while others are sleeping.
You will be training while others are sitting.
You will discover others who also follow this blood, sweat and tears cult.
You will eventually get a flat tyre...and have to change it all by yourself.
No matter what you hear, triathlon is NOT an inexpensive sport.
Warning, it is extremely addictive, hence the impulse spending on wetsuits, bikes, running shoes, aero bars, aero helmets, speed suits, power meters, GPS heart-rate monitors and many other “gotta have” items.
You will hate swimming more times than you like it for the first year.
You will suffer through road trips with whiny fellow triathletes.
You will suffer setbacks.
You may experience an injury.
You will develop a love/hate relationship with a foam roller and ice baths.
You will at some point realize you need a coach.
You will hate swimming for the first year.
You will wear tight clothing.
You will not like how this tight clothing fits or looks.
Your age will take on a whole new meaning.
You will discover a whole new meaning for tan lines.
Food will become an extremely important part of your life.
You will learn new words such as GU, cadence and brick.
You will hate swimming for the first year.
You will spend more time on your bike than on your couch.
You may lose a friend or two because you spend too much time swimming, biking and running, and they could care less about your heart rate training, foam rolling pain or 200km bike ride.
You will learn patience.
You will be humbled.
You will start to realize you are paying money to put yourself through pain and suffering, but for some odd reason, you LOVE it.
This sport called triathlon becomes a part of you. You start to plan your entire year around sprint, international, half iron- or full iron-distance races. Your vacations become racing, and you start to realize that this could become a life-long adventure.
Many people settle for things in life. They settle for a crappy job, marriage, friends, food, place to live and overall fitness and health. Those who desire more or those who want more out of life than a drive-thru window and boring sitcom, will choose triathlon or an activity that makes them happy—an activity that will change their life.
Triathlon will change your outlook on life, your career, your marriage, your goals, your friends and many other things you thought you had figured out. It’s not just crossing a finish line or going home with a boring finisher medal. It’s the countless hours that got you to that point—a moment in time that you will NEVER forget, a moment that you will discuss with your family and friends for hours if not days after the event. These discussions will most likely be about how you could have done better. At what point could you have swum faster, biked harder or ran more efficient? This is what will go through your head every day until you get the opportunity to suffer again.
So you wanna be a triathlete? Enjoy the ride and train hard!
Sign up for your first event or your 100th, just sign up.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Inner Peace
(Another corker from Disco Dave's Mum)
I'm passing this on because it worked for
me today.
A Dr. on TV said to have inner peace we should always finish things we start & we all could use more calm in our lives.
I looked around my house to find things I'd started & hadn't finished, so I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of Chardonnay, a bodle of Baileys, a butle of wum, tha mainder of Valiuminun scriptins, an a box a chocletz. Yu haf no idr how fablus I feel rite now. Sned this to all who need inner piss. An telum u luvum!
I'm passing this on because it worked for
me today. A Dr. on TV said to have inner peace we should always finish things we start & we all could use more calm in our lives.
I looked around my house to find things I'd started & hadn't finished, so I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of Chardonnay, a bodle of Baileys, a butle of wum, tha mainder of Valiuminun scriptins, an a box a chocletz. Yu haf no idr how fablus I feel rite now. Sned this to all who need inner piss. An telum u luvum!
Friday, January 06, 2012
The Top 20 Rules for Faster Triathlon Swimming
(By Joel Filliol courtesy of oveindergaard)
The most popular post on this blog is a 2007 post on swimming, which is mainly a link to another blog post from The Triathlon Book. Over on ST there has been a lot of chatter about swimming for triathletes. And Rappstar, Paulo and Coach Daz amongst others have weighed in on the topic.
Without further ado:
The Top 20 Rules for Faster Triathlon Swimming
1. Conditioning trumps drills. Technique matters, but the way most athletes try to improve technique doesn't work. Get fitter, and your ability to hold good technique improves. It takes a lot of work to develop aerobic conditioning in your upper body. If you think you are already swimming a lot but are not improving, swim more and keep at it. There are no shortcuts.
2. Traditional drills don't work. The type of drills and the way that most triathletes do them don't actually have any material effect on swimming technique.
3. Swim more often. Frequency is the best way to improve your swimming. Also see rule #4
4. Do longer main sets. You can't expect to swim fast and be fresh on the bike if you rarely do main sets with the same or higher volume and pace than you expect in the race. For short course these should be at least 2km, for IM 4km, or more. And that looks like 20-50x100, not many short broken sets adding up to 2-5km.
5. Don't over think it. Don't under think it. Be engaged with what you are doing in the water, and use tools to help get a better feel for the water. But don't over think every stroke, and suffer from paralysis by analysis. Swimming fast is about rhythm and flow, when good technique becomes automatic.
6. Increased swim fitness translates to the bike and run. Being able to swim harder, starting the bike both fresher and with faster riders is how that works.
7. Deep swim fitness allows you to swim on the rivet. See rule #6. Most triathletes don't know how to really swim hard for the duration.
8. Include some quality in every swim. If you are swimming less than 5x per week, having easy swims is a waste of time. Always include quality, from band, to paddles, to sprints, in every swim.
9. Don't count strokes. See rule #2. The objective is to get faster, not take fewer strokes.
10. Learn now to use your kick but don't spend a lot of time with kick sets. Kicking is about stroke control and body position, not propulsion for triathlon. Kick fitness doesn't matter.
11. Use a band frequently. The best swimming drill there is. Do short reps with lots of rest at first. Both propulsion and body position will improve.
12. Use paddles with awareness of engaging lats. Paddles are primarily a technical tool to take more strokes with better mechanics, the result of which is learning how to use your prime swimming movers: your lats.
13. Keep head low on breathing and in open water. Head down, feet up. It's a common body position error.
14. Do many short repetitions for stroke quality. It takes fitness to swim with good technique for long durations. Start shorter, and swim faster. 50x50 works wonders. Don't have time to do a 2500m main set? Drop the warm up and warm down.
15. Learn to swim with a higher stroke rate. This takes conditioning. It will pay off on race day, and particularly anytime swimming in a group and in rough conditions.
16. If you need to write your swim session down on the white board or paper, it's too complicated. Keep it simple.
17. Find a good masters programme. Long main sets is a good sign. Swim with others to challenge yourself. These are the exception rather than the norm, unfortunately.
18. Don't use swim tools as a crutch. Paddles and bull buoys are tools with specific uses. Don't reach for them out of simple laziness, because the set is hard.
19. Do use swim tools when you are very fatigued, and will otherwise swim with poor quality. See Rule #18.
20. Dry land and gym can help swimming for some via improved neuromuscular recruitment. Use body weight and tubing not machines.
Bonus: Love swimming if you want to get faster. Embrace the process of getting faster in the water. Chlorine sweat is a good thing.
Follow the rules above to swim faster, and ultimately to be a faster triathlete. Enjoy.
The most popular post on this blog is a 2007 post on swimming, which is mainly a link to another blog post from The Triathlon Book. Over on ST there has been a lot of chatter about swimming for triathletes. And Rappstar, Paulo and Coach Daz amongst others have weighed in on the topic.Without further ado:
The Top 20 Rules for Faster Triathlon Swimming
1. Conditioning trumps drills. Technique matters, but the way most athletes try to improve technique doesn't work. Get fitter, and your ability to hold good technique improves. It takes a lot of work to develop aerobic conditioning in your upper body. If you think you are already swimming a lot but are not improving, swim more and keep at it. There are no shortcuts.
2. Traditional drills don't work. The type of drills and the way that most triathletes do them don't actually have any material effect on swimming technique.
3. Swim more often. Frequency is the best way to improve your swimming. Also see rule #4
4. Do longer main sets. You can't expect to swim fast and be fresh on the bike if you rarely do main sets with the same or higher volume and pace than you expect in the race. For short course these should be at least 2km, for IM 4km, or more. And that looks like 20-50x100, not many short broken sets adding up to 2-5km.
5. Don't over think it. Don't under think it. Be engaged with what you are doing in the water, and use tools to help get a better feel for the water. But don't over think every stroke, and suffer from paralysis by analysis. Swimming fast is about rhythm and flow, when good technique becomes automatic.
6. Increased swim fitness translates to the bike and run. Being able to swim harder, starting the bike both fresher and with faster riders is how that works.
7. Deep swim fitness allows you to swim on the rivet. See rule #6. Most triathletes don't know how to really swim hard for the duration.
8. Include some quality in every swim. If you are swimming less than 5x per week, having easy swims is a waste of time. Always include quality, from band, to paddles, to sprints, in every swim.
9. Don't count strokes. See rule #2. The objective is to get faster, not take fewer strokes.
10. Learn now to use your kick but don't spend a lot of time with kick sets. Kicking is about stroke control and body position, not propulsion for triathlon. Kick fitness doesn't matter.
11. Use a band frequently. The best swimming drill there is. Do short reps with lots of rest at first. Both propulsion and body position will improve.
12. Use paddles with awareness of engaging lats. Paddles are primarily a technical tool to take more strokes with better mechanics, the result of which is learning how to use your prime swimming movers: your lats.
13. Keep head low on breathing and in open water. Head down, feet up. It's a common body position error.
14. Do many short repetitions for stroke quality. It takes fitness to swim with good technique for long durations. Start shorter, and swim faster. 50x50 works wonders. Don't have time to do a 2500m main set? Drop the warm up and warm down.
15. Learn to swim with a higher stroke rate. This takes conditioning. It will pay off on race day, and particularly anytime swimming in a group and in rough conditions.
16. If you need to write your swim session down on the white board or paper, it's too complicated. Keep it simple.
17. Find a good masters programme. Long main sets is a good sign. Swim with others to challenge yourself. These are the exception rather than the norm, unfortunately.
18. Don't use swim tools as a crutch. Paddles and bull buoys are tools with specific uses. Don't reach for them out of simple laziness, because the set is hard.
19. Do use swim tools when you are very fatigued, and will otherwise swim with poor quality. See Rule #18.
20. Dry land and gym can help swimming for some via improved neuromuscular recruitment. Use body weight and tubing not machines.
Bonus: Love swimming if you want to get faster. Embrace the process of getting faster in the water. Chlorine sweat is a good thing.
Follow the rules above to swim faster, and ultimately to be a faster triathlete. Enjoy.
Thursday, January 05, 2012
Swim technique...PAH!! Gimme the toys
(By Brett Sutton courtesy of www.urban-ninja.co.za)
Simon says: - An interesting article...basically what I take away from this is don't over think it, just put in the work.
Of late I have been fielding a barrage of questions by age groupers, who have improved their triathlon swim by using the old put all the swim gear on Sutto principle, but also from coaches asking when do we then transition into more full swimming with out all the swim ‘toys’. Yet, the more I point out to the athletes and coaches that open water swimming is different than pool swimming the more I point out swimming 3.8 km in a wetsuit is different to pool swimming the more I point out that technique is not the major concern the more doubters I seem to create. Most of the enquiries are good nature and just trying to come to grips with getting faster. In addition, most of them, no all of them have said yes they have seen good improvement in their triathlon swims. So, why the wish to change what works?
It’s a tough gig going against the mob or peer group in any thing, and even I fall victim to it myself. As a coach, you always doubt and ask yourself is there a better way. For the coaches, I say the hardest thing in coaching is to find a method that is not recognized by the hordes and stick with it. If I fall prey to the pressure when I invented the method and am an Olympic level swim coach, I acknowledge how tough it is for almost all others.
But the strength of my swim program was rammed home to me while on camp with a few of our true believers, who have improved their swim immensely since ditching the technique method for the toys method. First, Bella and Stephen Bayliss were back in England after the birth of their pride and joy Charlie and were caught in a situation of no pool facilities. The Baylisses took up a plan of attack as they could only swim for 1 hour every 2nd day. In the highlands of Scotland, not a swim hub, only swimming every other day each session would be dive in and go hard. Now this is not very scientific, but sessions might be: one hour of sometimes non-stop swimming or 100s short rest or 4x 1km and all workouts done with gear on for the swim and all these with virtually no warm-up or swim down. Bella’s idea of swimming is starting all out with pull buoy wedged in tight. Don’t try and take it off her! So the Baylisses’ turn up at camp and both are flying versus the other professional triathletes in camp. In the water, Steve was looking like a whirling devil, and Bella bitch slapping the water with her paddles with every stroke showing it and everyone else who’s boss. Their times were as fast as ever, and Bella has just delivered Charlie only three months ago. Meanwhile another 47 min non-wetsuit IM swimmer joined the fray in the form of Mathias Hecht. Now Mathias’ stroke makes Stephen look like Michael Phelps, it is off balance, breathes on the wrong side, gets nearly as many strokes in as Stephen. He is self-taught without a swimming background and has trained on his own for most of his career. But another interesting thing, I think Mathias sleeps with a pull bouy between his legs just as with Stephen and Bella he puts it in before he dives into the pool and it doesn’t come out the whole workout. While on camp, the Spanish coach approached me and remarked to me one day (while theses sluggers were going after it with a Swiss kid called Andreas who lets it fly too),“ coach , they don’t look that good but I been timing them and they been lapping in at 1:10 per 100m.” I said. “yes, not so fast. But he come back with “But, they been doing it straight for near over 1 hour now.“ And there is the rub. While it might not look pretty or fast, over an hour it is deadly effective. Yes, the idealist will say but wouldn’t they go faster with that perfect swimming technique. But the realist in me says, THEY DONT NEED TO GO ANY FASTER in an Ironman triathlon.
Swinging into short course ITU races, well yes then they will need super technique. But actually No that also is a misnomer. Most rave about the Brownlees swim, but again anyone who takes the time to see them swim or train will realize that they are not that fast over 50 meters. Yes, I would bet good money that 40% of the men they beat out the water every race would smash them over 50 meters. But these Yorkshire boys are happy to get into the melee and fight to the front and do swim workouts that mean they keep their stroke-rating the whole 1500. It is about swimming 1500 meters in open water fast not 50m in a pool. The contentious Harry Wiltshire, who also was one of the slowest 50 men in my squad, in open water took every race out on the feet of the leader around the first buoy. It didn’t matter who was at the front whether Ben Sansom, Richard Stanard, Craig Walton, or whoever, Harry would get creamed over 50meters but by the first buoy there he was all over them. Sorry Harry, but I reckon even if Grant Hacket was leading Harry would be all over his arse like glue the whole way. Just ask Gomez, in openwater Harry was and is unstoppable. He too could just put that pull buoy in at the start and I would say, “Harry,1hr strait or 5000 m whichever comes first.” Harry would hit 5km before the hour everytime.
People, I can only tell you the way it is. You race in a wetsuit most of the time. Get the paddles on, pull buoy between your legs and just get after it. As Bella says, “I used to spend an hour and a half fussing about trying to do all the perfect technique contortionist things in the water gliding and stretching. But once I just got in, got on with it, stopped thinking about technique, and just thought about nothing more than putting on the gear and giving it to myself. I improved by 15 minutes over 3.8K.” I try to educate and tell people, but they just don’t listen. So, I say to all the doubters that have done this and improved their swim, hold the line. I say to all the coaches out there stop looking for clues: if they are improving then it is working. If it ain’t broke, don’t try and fix it!
Simon says: - An interesting article...basically what I take away from this is don't over think it, just put in the work.
Of late I have been fielding a barrage of questions by age groupers, who have improved their triathlon swim by using the old put all the swim gear on Sutto principle, but also from coaches asking when do we then transition into more full swimming with out all the swim ‘toys’. Yet, the more I point out to the athletes and coaches that open water swimming is different than pool swimming the more I point out swimming 3.8 km in a wetsuit is different to pool swimming the more I point out that technique is not the major concern the more doubters I seem to create. Most of the enquiries are good nature and just trying to come to grips with getting faster. In addition, most of them, no all of them have said yes they have seen good improvement in their triathlon swims. So, why the wish to change what works?
It’s a tough gig going against the mob or peer group in any thing, and even I fall victim to it myself. As a coach, you always doubt and ask yourself is there a better way. For the coaches, I say the hardest thing in coaching is to find a method that is not recognized by the hordes and stick with it. If I fall prey to the pressure when I invented the method and am an Olympic level swim coach, I acknowledge how tough it is for almost all others.
But the strength of my swim program was rammed home to me while on camp with a few of our true believers, who have improved their swim immensely since ditching the technique method for the toys method. First, Bella and Stephen Bayliss were back in England after the birth of their pride and joy Charlie and were caught in a situation of no pool facilities. The Baylisses took up a plan of attack as they could only swim for 1 hour every 2nd day. In the highlands of Scotland, not a swim hub, only swimming every other day each session would be dive in and go hard. Now this is not very scientific, but sessions might be: one hour of sometimes non-stop swimming or 100s short rest or 4x 1km and all workouts done with gear on for the swim and all these with virtually no warm-up or swim down. Bella’s idea of swimming is starting all out with pull buoy wedged in tight. Don’t try and take it off her! So the Baylisses’ turn up at camp and both are flying versus the other professional triathletes in camp. In the water, Steve was looking like a whirling devil, and Bella bitch slapping the water with her paddles with every stroke showing it and everyone else who’s boss. Their times were as fast as ever, and Bella has just delivered Charlie only three months ago. Meanwhile another 47 min non-wetsuit IM swimmer joined the fray in the form of Mathias Hecht. Now Mathias’ stroke makes Stephen look like Michael Phelps, it is off balance, breathes on the wrong side, gets nearly as many strokes in as Stephen. He is self-taught without a swimming background and has trained on his own for most of his career. But another interesting thing, I think Mathias sleeps with a pull bouy between his legs just as with Stephen and Bella he puts it in before he dives into the pool and it doesn’t come out the whole workout. While on camp, the Spanish coach approached me and remarked to me one day (while theses sluggers were going after it with a Swiss kid called Andreas who lets it fly too),“ coach , they don’t look that good but I been timing them and they been lapping in at 1:10 per 100m.” I said. “yes, not so fast. But he come back with “But, they been doing it straight for near over 1 hour now.“ And there is the rub. While it might not look pretty or fast, over an hour it is deadly effective. Yes, the idealist will say but wouldn’t they go faster with that perfect swimming technique. But the realist in me says, THEY DONT NEED TO GO ANY FASTER in an Ironman triathlon.Swinging into short course ITU races, well yes then they will need super technique. But actually No that also is a misnomer. Most rave about the Brownlees swim, but again anyone who takes the time to see them swim or train will realize that they are not that fast over 50 meters. Yes, I would bet good money that 40% of the men they beat out the water every race would smash them over 50 meters. But these Yorkshire boys are happy to get into the melee and fight to the front and do swim workouts that mean they keep their stroke-rating the whole 1500. It is about swimming 1500 meters in open water fast not 50m in a pool. The contentious Harry Wiltshire, who also was one of the slowest 50 men in my squad, in open water took every race out on the feet of the leader around the first buoy. It didn’t matter who was at the front whether Ben Sansom, Richard Stanard, Craig Walton, or whoever, Harry would get creamed over 50meters but by the first buoy there he was all over them. Sorry Harry, but I reckon even if Grant Hacket was leading Harry would be all over his arse like glue the whole way. Just ask Gomez, in openwater Harry was and is unstoppable. He too could just put that pull buoy in at the start and I would say, “Harry,1hr strait or 5000 m whichever comes first.” Harry would hit 5km before the hour everytime.
People, I can only tell you the way it is. You race in a wetsuit most of the time. Get the paddles on, pull buoy between your legs and just get after it. As Bella says, “I used to spend an hour and a half fussing about trying to do all the perfect technique contortionist things in the water gliding and stretching. But once I just got in, got on with it, stopped thinking about technique, and just thought about nothing more than putting on the gear and giving it to myself. I improved by 15 minutes over 3.8K.” I try to educate and tell people, but they just don’t listen. So, I say to all the doubters that have done this and improved their swim, hold the line. I say to all the coaches out there stop looking for clues: if they are improving then it is working. If it ain’t broke, don’t try and fix it!
Monday, December 19, 2011
Malaysia Boleh!
(Pictures courtesy of TriStupe from Incoherent Ramblings)
Just loved the irony of this picture :)
Then take a 1 minute ride with these guys. You've got to give them credit for being brave if not daft as brushes.
My buddy Bryan in Canada thinks that we're all paupers here in Malaysia, I have no doubt that there are more luxury cars per head in Malaysia than Canada and with them costing 4 times as much here that's a lot of cash. However, as this recent pictures just goes to show, a little more spent on flood control might be nice haha.
As for this picture, it's of my home town here in Malaysia, Kajang. No need to worry about all the rabid dogs, the alligators ate all the dogs. Not sure whether this is true or photoshop but you gotta smile, sort of.
Just loved the irony of this picture :)
Then take a 1 minute ride with these guys. You've got to give them credit for being brave if not daft as brushes.
Friday, December 16, 2011
How deep is her thumb?
Post Phuket 70.3 massageNow this is what massage is supposed to be about. Her thumbs have disappeared into my ribcage and clearly I am expressing my relaxed pleasure.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Two pairs of Zipp 404s for sale
A pair of used (almost like new, very low mileage) Zipp 404 clinchers with tyres & campy body hub (cassettes not included). Selling at $3800 nett.
Contact: marianamohd78@yahoo.com
Watch this - it could save your life
How strange is this? Yesterday I got the test results of my biopsy on a sore on my chest, it was diagnosed as Superficial Basal Cell Carcinoma, a type of skin cancer. Not aggressive and not too dangerous if removed. It's coming off next week once the stitches from the biopsy have properly healed.
So the coincidence, I was watching a series of most watched videos on YouTube and this one came up. I don't have a melanoma which is a far more aggressive and deadly kind of skin cancer but it could have easily been that. I've never believed for a second I'd get skin cancer, never been too worried about sunblock or sunburn, I've never checked carefully for moles or sores - needless to say I am now a huge convert and will be religious about these issues and urge you to consider them carefully too. Skin cancer is not selective, it doesn't care who it gets, just make sure it's not you or a loved one.
I implore you to watch this short video from start to finish, I have no doubt it has saved and will save many people's lives, watch and learn.
So the coincidence, I was watching a series of most watched videos on YouTube and this one came up. I don't have a melanoma which is a far more aggressive and deadly kind of skin cancer but it could have easily been that. I've never believed for a second I'd get skin cancer, never been too worried about sunblock or sunburn, I've never checked carefully for moles or sores - needless to say I am now a huge convert and will be religious about these issues and urge you to consider them carefully too. Skin cancer is not selective, it doesn't care who it gets, just make sure it's not you or a loved one.
I implore you to watch this short video from start to finish, I have no doubt it has saved and will save many people's lives, watch and learn.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Brilliant Christmas Present Idea
This is a brilliant site for Christmas gifts (or any other time for that matter). Basically they take a photo that you send them and transform it into a caricature in a style that you choose. Currently they're doing a Christmas discount promo too so I thought I'd share. http://www.caricaturetoons.com/
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Friday, December 09, 2011
Phuket 70.3 Half Ironman 2011
I had high hopes for the Phuket 70.3, I'd been training hard since September following the Mark Allen Online coaching plan. The volumes weren't as big as I was used to but the intensity greater and two gym sessions a week really knocked me about.
I was very much above my racing weight at 78kg when I began but even by the end of the training I'd only lost 2kg. I pretty much gave up trying to lose weight in the end and focused on staying healthy and sticking to the plan. If I'd forced the weight loss issue I'd have been sick every other week I reckon as my immune system was already struggling.
I turned up quietly confident that I had at least an outside shot at a Kona qualifying place and felt that it would really come down to the run (as it usually does). I'd had an amazing two runs in the Miri races 5 weeks before but a confidence bashing breakdown on the run at Powerman 3 weeks before. However, I had rested well and was hoping for the legs to respond come race day.
I started the swim confidently on the right hand side of the course by the marker buoys. If I got beaten up too much I still had room to move right and come back in line when it all settled down. The swim in this race is unique in half Ironmans, you do 2/3 of the race in the ocean and then run across the beach and do the last 1/3 in the freshwater lagoon. The saltwater part went well but I felt I lost my way a little in the fresh water.
Swim Time 36:14 - pretty disappointing considering the amount of swim training I've been doing. I've clearly got to make some radical changes in how I'm approaching this aspect of the sport.
A good transition and onto Gladys. Time to start pulling people in. The roads were still wet from the downpour the day before but I didn't think much of it until a guy 15m ahead of me sat up to take a corner and at the merest hint of the brake his front wheel slide from under him on the mossy wet road. We were doing a little over 40kph on the flat; the guy behind him sits up to avoid the crash and immediately goes down too. So now I'm doing more than 40kph, I have a narrow, slippery, wet road with two bodies and two bikes sliding down it directly in my path and no place to go. I think quick, there's only one sensible thing to do in the circumstances CLOSE MY EYES AND HOPE haha. It's true but first I aimed at a gap that was starting to open between the bikes and the bodies and then shut my eyes. I got away with it but then I was upon the corner; I cant tell you how much self control it took not to touch the brakes, if I had I was a gonner, as it was I wasn't sure I could get round without the wheels going from under me. Luckily I survived.
That was within the first 5km. I had 85km to go. At least it wasn't raining...no the rain wouldn't join us until half way and then it was a downpour of biblical proportions. In the meantime, I caught Steve Lumley who'd come out the water at the same time as me in both Miri races but had gained a 4 minute lead in the swim today. We hit the first massive hills at about 43km. I had a 27 chain ring on the back but even so I was worried that I couldn't get over the hills they were so steep and slippery. If you went to the side of the road the back wheel would slip on the slime. If you were in the dryer middle and stood on the pedals the back wheel would still slip and lose traction. It was almost impossible. I somehow managed but then had to descend. Certainly the most scared I've been on a road bike. People were sliding off and crashing left, right and centre. Even the great Chris Lieto crashed for example.
Again I survived but then the heavens opened up for a tropical, torrential downpour that didn't abate until the end of the bike. At this point I said to myself that all bets were off and it was just a case of survive. But quite honestly from the first crash I'd narrowly escaped a lot of my usual advantage was wiped away as I was being cautious from that point onwards. I rode the rest of the bike in the same vicinity as Steve. At about 75k we hit the next set of debilitating hills. You had to stand to get over them but if you stood the back wheel just spun out underneath you. I created some weird pulsing leg and body movement to try to keep the pedals turning while staying on the saddle to keep the weight on the back wheel. I made it but now I had to descend, it was crazy madness.
There was a max speed limit of 20kph where you would have massively exceeded 100kph had it been straight and you'd freewheeled. The road were severely twisting, the torrential rain was possibly worse and my brakes were starting to cook themselves. All you could smell was burning carbon. I heard Steve behind me shouting to give him room on the inside. "NO" I thought, he had to overtake on the right, this was a yellow flag zone so no overtaking anyway and if I tried to get out of the way I'd probably crash in the wet. Then I heard "NO BRAKES, NO BRAKES". At which point I thought "OH F@&K". Closing my eyes was not an option this time and somehow he managed to get some traction and I lived to tell the story.
Bike time 2:36:51 Compare that to my Singapore 70.3 of 2:13:54 and you'll get some idea of the challenges of this course and weather conditions. The picture above is me finishing the bike - the picture doesn't lie, I was not a happy bunny.
So a reasonably fast transition and onto the run. I was going well from the off and pulling people in. After about 4k though we hit a muddy section on the golf course with some little rises and dips. I felt the heart rate soar and the legs falter. I pushed on still catching everyone in front and only being taken by the relay runners. The second of two laps started pretty well, I caught a buddy from KL, Damian and cracked on. Then I hit the golf course section again. Uh-ho, I had to walk, I needed to walk, I must walk...NO NO NO NO NO NO... I was blowing up big time. I told myself that the next 2k were going to define my race, I reminded myself that I've been telling Sid that he'll make a superb sportsman but he must get stronger in the mind, how could I tell him that and walk.
I made it through what was the lowest point of the race but I was running with the crowd now, no more pulling past my competitors and I saw a couple of guys in my age-group go past. I now had to walk through the aid stations, I just wanted to get to the end. Kona? Bo!!ox to Kona (for today anyway).
Run time 1:40:41 Not a bad time but not what I should have been capable of.
Total time 4:58:01 and 15th place (the Pros started 6 minutes ahead of our wave). I can't complain, I didn't deliver and it's clear to me how much more I need to do to elevate myself to to next level. I'm not disheartened nor disappointed, the field was total class and quality. I turned up with my A- game when nothing less than an A++ would have done. I just need to make that happen on March 25th for Ironman Melbourne.
On a more successful note, Sam scored a second place in his category for the second year in a row. (Only one slot for Kona but he wasn't chasing that anyway). Brilliant job and as I often say "I want to be like him when I grow up", he's an amazing athlete and an icon of our sport.
A big shout out has to go to team Malaysia, they all finished and peaked when it counted...At the awards banquet. The after race party in Phuket is second to none. There is nothing like it anywhere that I have ever experienced. It's so much fun and my fellow Malaysian's didn't let the side down.
And finally I found my A++ game by midway through the evening and discovered pole dancing skills that I never knew I had. Lesley suggests that I look really gay and I think she's right, I was indeed very "happy" haha.
A brilliant weekend that I then extended and went on to have a three day alcohol fuelled bender in Phuket before limping home and trying to shake the inevitable hangover.
BRING ON MELBOURNE
I was very much above my racing weight at 78kg when I began but even by the end of the training I'd only lost 2kg. I pretty much gave up trying to lose weight in the end and focused on staying healthy and sticking to the plan. If I'd forced the weight loss issue I'd have been sick every other week I reckon as my immune system was already struggling.
I turned up quietly confident that I had at least an outside shot at a Kona qualifying place and felt that it would really come down to the run (as it usually does). I'd had an amazing two runs in the Miri races 5 weeks before but a confidence bashing breakdown on the run at Powerman 3 weeks before. However, I had rested well and was hoping for the legs to respond come race day.
Swim Time 36:14 - pretty disappointing considering the amount of swim training I've been doing. I've clearly got to make some radical changes in how I'm approaching this aspect of the sport.
That was within the first 5km. I had 85km to go. At least it wasn't raining...no the rain wouldn't join us until half way and then it was a downpour of biblical proportions. In the meantime, I caught Steve Lumley who'd come out the water at the same time as me in both Miri races but had gained a 4 minute lead in the swim today. We hit the first massive hills at about 43km. I had a 27 chain ring on the back but even so I was worried that I couldn't get over the hills they were so steep and slippery. If you went to the side of the road the back wheel would slip on the slime. If you were in the dryer middle and stood on the pedals the back wheel would still slip and lose traction. It was almost impossible. I somehow managed but then had to descend. Certainly the most scared I've been on a road bike. People were sliding off and crashing left, right and centre. Even the great Chris Lieto crashed for example.
Again I survived but then the heavens opened up for a tropical, torrential downpour that didn't abate until the end of the bike. At this point I said to myself that all bets were off and it was just a case of survive. But quite honestly from the first crash I'd narrowly escaped a lot of my usual advantage was wiped away as I was being cautious from that point onwards. I rode the rest of the bike in the same vicinity as Steve. At about 75k we hit the next set of debilitating hills. You had to stand to get over them but if you stood the back wheel just spun out underneath you. I created some weird pulsing leg and body movement to try to keep the pedals turning while staying on the saddle to keep the weight on the back wheel. I made it but now I had to descend, it was crazy madness.
There was a max speed limit of 20kph where you would have massively exceeded 100kph had it been straight and you'd freewheeled. The road were severely twisting, the torrential rain was possibly worse and my brakes were starting to cook themselves. All you could smell was burning carbon. I heard Steve behind me shouting to give him room on the inside. "NO" I thought, he had to overtake on the right, this was a yellow flag zone so no overtaking anyway and if I tried to get out of the way I'd probably crash in the wet. Then I heard "NO BRAKES, NO BRAKES". At which point I thought "OH F@&K". Closing my eyes was not an option this time and somehow he managed to get some traction and I lived to tell the story.
Bike time 2:36:51 Compare that to my Singapore 70.3 of 2:13:54 and you'll get some idea of the challenges of this course and weather conditions. The picture above is me finishing the bike - the picture doesn't lie, I was not a happy bunny.
I made it through what was the lowest point of the race but I was running with the crowd now, no more pulling past my competitors and I saw a couple of guys in my age-group go past. I now had to walk through the aid stations, I just wanted to get to the end. Kona? Bo!!ox to Kona (for today anyway).
Run time 1:40:41 Not a bad time but not what I should have been capable of.
Total time 4:58:01 and 15th place (the Pros started 6 minutes ahead of our wave). I can't complain, I didn't deliver and it's clear to me how much more I need to do to elevate myself to to next level. I'm not disheartened nor disappointed, the field was total class and quality. I turned up with my A- game when nothing less than an A++ would have done. I just need to make that happen on March 25th for Ironman Melbourne.
A brilliant weekend that I then extended and went on to have a three day alcohol fuelled bender in Phuket before limping home and trying to shake the inevitable hangover.
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