Just Keep TRI-ing

2 November 2014 New York, the concrete jungle where dreams are made of, so they say. I was accepted and supposed to run the New York Marathon in 2012 as my first marathon (Read past entry Here ). However fate got in a way and my plan has been postponed twice. I cannot postpone it anymore or I will lose my place in the ballot. I was lucky this year that my employer is willing to sponsor my trip to participate in the world's largest marathon in ORYX GTL's shirt.   I was not actually 100% race ready for New York Marathon because my trainings were customized to prepare me for both the marathon and my first half ironman distance triathlon, Challenge Bahrain next month. I did not have enough running mileage coming into this race as I have to spend the bulk of my trainings for cycling and swimming, the two disciplines that are new to me. Having said that, a sub 3:45 should be a reasonable target. I was actually hoping to break the 3:30 barrier or at least go for a personal best. I hav

I had an opportunity to participate in three duathlon races this summer. The races were part of the summer series organized by the Filipino International Triathlete Qatar (FiT-Q). Other than providing us with some motivation to keep on active during the summer months, it also provides the big contingent from FiT-Q to Ironman70.3 race in Cebu with race pace simulation trainings. Few friends from PelariStyloYo and my wife were also took part in the races and thoroughly enjoyed it. The organization was outstanding and the support received from the participants and volunteers was amazing considering the scorching heat at this time of the year. Being a weak swimmer, I can say I was totally hooked up with the Run-Bike-Run format of duathlon. Well the bike portion was harder in duathlon as the run was harder than a swim in a triathlon, but at least it works to my advantage. Maybe I should look into participating in a Powerman race in 2016 as part of my preparation for Ironman race at the end

25 April 2015 I was only able to participate in 1 of the races in this year's GMC Tri Series due to my hectic racing schedule. It was the Season finale race for us here in Qatar. Part of me was happy that the season is over so I can rest and do something else other than training and racing, but part of me was not ready to let go the best racing season I ever had. I did New York Marathon, Challenge Bahrain, Dubai Marathon, RAK Half Marathon, WTS Abu Dhabi, Nissan Triathlon Festival plus some local events this season. I was still recovering from a flu and was not feeling 100% , but I cannot afford to miss the last race of the season by sitting at home and feeling miserable. It was also a farewell race for my running buddy from DBRC, Alicia Mc Lennan who will be leaving Qatar for good the following day. Swim It is unique to the GMC tri series that the swim was held in a pool instead of open water.  I felt good during the swim. I just maintained a nice steady rhythm. I was still slow a

I was not planning to participate in this race. It was a last minute decision as a substitute for Rotterdam Marathon after my leave was not approved. The race was orrigionally scheduled on 3rd April but was postponed to 17th April following a massive sandstorm that engulfed the whole GCC region a day prior to the race. I was supposed to go with Dave Walsh and Alan Sawyer, my buddies from Triclub Doha but they weren't able to join the race on 17th as they all have made prior arrangements. So I was left 'Billy no mates' going to Dubai. The event was held at The Atlantis resort Palm Jumeirah. I only realized how big the Palm was when I took a taxi ride on Thursday evening to check on the venue. Swim I put a lot of time in the last month to practice my swim with my coaches Ben Laferty and Michael Simpson from Hamilton Aquatics knowing it is my weakest sport. I have improved from 2:30/100m to around 2:05/100m average over a 1500m distance in a pool. So I was pretty confident to

I was excited to participate in the ITT held yesterday to see how far have I improved since the last ITT in September last year. After some trainings and few upgrades done to my Roubaix I was expecting a good result. I was not alone this time, as Hani was also took part for the very first time. She just bought a Specialized Amira three days ago and rode just twice before the race. The race was held around Losail sports complex and it was a better venue than Ceremonial road as it was flat and closed to traffic. I forgot my bike computer and without it I was clueless and just rode by feel and the windy condition was not helping either. When the result came out, I was a little disappointed to see myself ranked 20th of the 22 finishers in the Open Male category even though my average speed was 32.8km/h which was a lot better than my current record for that course segment in Strava which was 30.2km/h. Hani did very well finishing at 14th of 18 finishers in her category considering she only

Oh my GOD! The World Triathlon Series (WTS) is coming to the Middle East, and it is open to the Age Grouper to participate!That was my first reaction when it was announced by the ITU last year. I have not missed following the WTS race last season on OSN Sports, So I was looking forward to see Javier Gomez-Noya, Jonathan and Alistair Brownlee, Henri Schoeman, Aaron Royle, Vincent Luis, Gwen Jorgensen, Sarah True (Groff), Emma Jackson et.al. I wasted no time to register when the registration open and I had to give Challenge Dubai (half distance) a miss. I went to Abu Dhabi with the Triclub Doha contingent. They were the coolest group of people I have travelled with (other than DBRC and PelariStyloYo! off course). It was great when you feel a part of a team rather than going to an international race solo.  Other than Jilly, Lucy, Ewan, Sofian, Stu Hart, Kim Crawford, Alfons and Alan Sawyer who I already knew from Doha, I also made friends with Kathryn, Dave Walsh, Brian Sullivan, Lindis a

10 August 2014 I can  finally call myself a triathlete after competing in my first Olympic Distance triathlon at the Port Dickson International Triathlon (PDIT). My biggest worry before the race was the open water swim and I have never swim 1500m continuously. The longest continuous swim I did before coming to PD was probably the 500m during Aspire Aquathon series and I was really bad at it. I haven't done much swimming at all to be honest and I hate swimming. My short and stubby body was not designed to be an efficient swimmer anyway. I only swim once a week with Hamilton Aquatics from December last year and for PDIT, I swam twice or three times a week for 2 months. It was not nearly enough but my goal was just to finish the 1500m swim and not drowning. The advice I received from Phil Emslie during Splash and Dash sessions at Aspire pool and the coaches at Hamilton really helped to transform me from a 'boleh blah'  into a 'boleh lah'  kind of swimmer. I also recei

It is less than a week for my second Olympic Distance triathlon in Abu Dhabi. Though I was not prepared for the race specifically and only doing it for the experience and cross training, it should be a good experience racing the WTS race. I would also got the chance to see the likes of Gomez the Browlees, Mola, Vincent Luis and Jorgensen belting each other in the season opener. How I felt after the long open water swim and run this morning

RAKHM134 that was the password for my desktop at work. Everyday I told myself that I want to run RAK Half Marathon this year in 1:34. I believe I am mentally stronger and armed with a better endurance level from my long triathlon and marathon trainings coming into the race. I will also have great supports from my DBRC and PelariStyloYo (PSY) mates. There will be JC who will lead the charge at 1:20ish. Joost will run 1:25ish with Paul Smith if he managed to recover from his fever. If not he can pace me. Then I will have Gareth Stride probably running around 1:35 ish and Davy who is about my pace. So I will catch the sights of JC, Joost and other faster DBRC runners at every turn around to boost my morale, then I will use Gareth as my target to hunt and make sure I wont be overtaken by the lanky Belgian Davy who I have lost to by few minutes last year. If he beats me again then it will be all over. Another positive for this year is, I am going to RAK with 7 others from PSY (Yusry, Sham,

It was a windy and dusty morning, clearly not a perfect day to be spending outside during this annual Qatar National Sports day. luckily my wife and I just registered for a 3km fun run at Aspire. We were planning for a quick registration, race, come home and spend the rest of the day in doors. We left home at 8:15 and parked the car at Villagio Mall. It was close enough from the start line that we didn't even need to checked our bags. The registration was simple and very organized. By 8.30 we were all set. We even had time to warm up for 20 minutes before taking our starting place at the front of the mass. Before the race I told Hani that my target was to be in the top 10, such a lofty target I know. 20 minutes from the start I saw there were a lot of 'professional' looking runners warming up, then I told Hani, OK not top 10 but maybe top 20. 10 minutes from the start, there were more pro looking runners. I was wondering where they came from. Don't they know this is a f

I did my last interval training for RAK last evening. It was a 4 x 800 at a sustainable pace of 4:20/km. Running with me last night was my coach Sarah Whittington and my friend Nawar from Saudi who happened to be in town to watch the ongoing Tour of Qatar cycling race. By the way Nawar just ran his debut marathon two days ago where he came 2nd overall in Bahrain Half Marathon. That was pure talent. The session was good and I was glad that Sarah and Nawar were there to keep me at the target pace. With the training concluded for RAK, I will now take it easier and taper properly before RAK this Friday. Happy faces at the end of the Interval session Knowing how much I tend to over eat, Sarah was quick to write me a pre race meal plan this morning. ......................... Good training last night. You have the speed - you just need to tap into it on race day.  Right, you need to limit your carbs tomorrow. Run your 3km pretty hard and then 'no carbs' - well very few carbs until lun