Just Keep TRI-ing

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

I was complaining to my coach after a tough tempo run I did on Tuesday evening, here was her response. It was an eye opener. No more excuses. Thanks Sarah. .................................................................................................................. Syafei...brace yourself as you're about to get a rollocking! When did you have a blood lactate test? When did you have body fat composition analysis? You haven't so how do you know you're way off the fitness level you were this time last year?  You are your own worst enemy for talking yourself into not meeting your own potential. You set yourself up with excuses before every race.   You cannot judge fitness by feel. Feel is emotional. Emotions do not determine scientific fitness. Emotions purely give you excuses not to perform. Snap out of it!    Sadly, we do not have the luxury of scientifically testing fitness...and even those athletes who do still don't rely on it. The human body is affected by a mult

23 January 2015 I was not planning to register for Dubai Marathon this year and skip January marathon to focus on RAK Half Marathon next month. But Dubai was so convenient and I needed a good result after a string of poor performances in marathon last year. It was a last minute decision and only had 3 weeks to train. My longest LSD was the half marathon I ran during Ooredoo Marathon two weeks ago. I went to Dubai with 3 others from #PelariStyloYo, Yasir and Latif who ran the marathon and Diba who were there to cheer but ended up running the 4 km fun run herself. Other than members of PelariStyloYo, I also met other Malaysians, Zuki, Izuan, Firdaus and few others who are based in Dubai and off course members of Doha Bay Running Club. I was not at my top form and was at my heaviest (read FATTEST) but I would love to have a PB no mater how small after 3 mediocre results in row at Edinburgh, Kuching and New York.  My plan for the race was to run at an even pace of 5:15/km. I was cruising u