Alu Friday!

One of the toughest challenges of being a triathlete is keeping training fresh and interesting, but also challenging. You’d think that, with three sports to choose from, variety would come naturally but, in my experience, it’s the opposite. In order to make sure we pay the right amount of attention to each discipline, and then focus correctly on speed, strength, endurance, technique, tempo – the list goes on – it becomes easier to unquestioningly follow a plan that differs little from week to week.

I always try to consider my week and, before sessions, decide what it is that I want from them but, even so, some weeks pass and I can’t remember what I did when.

One way I like to mix things up is by entering lots of events – runs, bike time trials, open water swims – which, as well as providing good training, help you prepare for race environments and nerves.

But I’ve decided to go one step further and really push myself – both physically and mentally. Next Friday (November 26^th), I’m doing the Spinney’s 80km bike tt, followed quickly by the Zoggs Mina Mile 1650m sea swim. I’ve decided to make this into Alu Friday.

Basically, that means completing a Half Ironman (according to the Mohs Scale, Aluminium is half as ‘hard’ as iron…) over the course of the day. By parking up short and cycling to and from the Spinney’s TT, I should be able to easily add on the extra 10k I need to complete the HIM’s 90km cycle segment.

Alu Man?

On to the 1.65k swim – a couple of hundred metres warm-up and swim down should see me reach the HIM distance of 1.9k. This should take me through till about midday, so I’ll then get a few hours rest until the sun cools a little and, around 4ish, I’ll head up to Arabian Ranches, where two laps of the 10k loop with an extra little section around a lake thrown in on the second lap, will see me come home for the 21k run section.

I’ll be doing my best to keep time for the whole thing (some parts will obviously be done for me – I’ll add the rest on to those times) with sub-5.30 being my goal…I’ll be taking Saturday off but I need to bear in mind that I’ve an Oly just over a week later.

Over the past few months, I’ve experimented with different nutrition a little – I know that all different varieties and flavours of Gu do the job up to a point, I like jelly sweets, Farley’s rusks, cookies and bananas all seem to work…as do fruit punch Gatorade, water and flat coke.

I’ve not really tried much by way of savoury food tho, which may not be a problem for a HIM but I think needs sorting by next September, ready for my first full IM. There’s plenty of time to get that right but I’ll try to incorporate it into the Alu Friday during the afternoon break - paninis, I hear, are the way to go.

In the meantime, it’s a big week or work and, possibly, moving house – all the while trying to fit in some sprint work ready for the GT tri this weekend.

A Chain Reaction

A fairly easy, nothing extraordinary weekend, with the exception of a couple of restaurant reviews for work.

I swam with my master's squad on Thursday night, and then got up bright and early on Friday morning for the Medecins Sans Frontiere swim around the Burj Al Arab. It was a terrific, fun, family event that was really well organised – plus, I got a great new transition towel out of the whole deal purely for entering!

Although swimming is definitely my strength in triathlon, I've still very little experience in open water swimming, which I find quite tough. This may sound like a bit of moaning - especially to any new triathletes who are struggling just to get up and down a few lengths without dying – but as it is my strongest discipline, it's an opportunity for me to get out ahead and get a lead on all the faster cyclists and runners and, therefore, I'd love to get my OW swims up to speed with my pool swimming.

The MSF Burj Swim is, at it says, out and around the big man-made island that the Burj Al Arab – Dubai's giant, sail-shaped hotel – stands on. I came 12^th overall – out of the 544 total number of swimmers – which is good, but I was disappointed to come out the water a little short of some of the swimmers I can just about beat in our squad sessions. My goggles leaked a little and I opted for the clear lenses, not realising that the way back was straight into the sun. On the whole, tho, it was a fun race and I learnt some lessons...always the most important thing. I always have to keep reminding myself that I'm a triathlete, not a swimmer. I'd love to be in the water more often but, realistically, I can only dedicate 2 hours a week to swimming as riding, running and gym take up 12+ hours too.

After the swim, my mate Joe (still over on business from Spain) and I headed for Ghantoot for a spot of cycling. It's where the local tris are held and, being exceptionally quiet, offers the perfect 13km loop for cycling on. However, as it was a bit later in the day, the wind was really up, making 6 of that 13k really hellishly tough. We did a couple of laps before heading off seperately on a single 13k time trial, with the other person remaining in the aircon of the car and keeping the time.

I headed off first and gave it some down the 'out' part of the loop – I wanted to impress my mate, of course, while also knowing that I had a big week of training leading up to another sprint tri next weekend...I aimed to give 80% but think that crept up closer to 85%!

The way back in was murderous and, on several occasions, I mentally quit cycling and, thus, triathlon. Even tucked low and aero, there were parts where I felt like I was hardly moving at all. I came through in 20:15, which is a good effort and gives me hope for a quick (for me, at least) bike split next week.

While Joe was doing his TT, I practised heading across/around roundabouts, which is a weakness of mine. Every tri I've done so far, I've lost loads on corners and turnarounds. I feel the practice helped and it was nice, waiting for Joe, just to cycle around near the car like a kid playing on their bike in the stree...something, I realised, we never do as we're always riding our bikes a certain distance to somewhere or out and back. I'm really going to try to spend 10 minutes a week just riding my bike nowhere, as I feel it helped me get to know her and manoeuvre her more easily...just those basic bike handling skills that can make a real difference.

Joe rode bravely on my very old and fifth-hand Olmo race bike to a 22:34 finish...to me, the spoils, but I was reallly impressed with Joe's riding and look forward to getting beaten next time! After that, we did a few sprints and a spin down...just 52kms in total, but it felt like a tough bike workout. To add a extra layer of pain, we then went and did an hour of upperbody and abs in the gym

I got in late last night after driving to Abu Dhabi to watch Kanye West perform and, in spite of my best intentions, was way too tired to make the Saturday Bab Al Shams ride, so I subsitituted that with 90 minutes on the turbo with a couple of 1-minute simulated climbs and sprints, while later in the day, I managed 10kms of fartleks on the road.

I also went to Wolfi's and got a nut to remove the cassette on my Planet X TT and one of those fancy chain cleaner machines, and I gave both my bikes a damn good clean...something I don't enjoy doing but am happy that I've done. That chain cleaner thingy is a little box of miracles...I'm a lazy chain cleaner but it makes the job much easier and quicker and, so, my chains will be better kept from now on it...I promise!

A mad, bad January

It’s been a couple of busy days since I last posted…although probably a little less busy than my cousin Zoe, who gave birth to a baby she-giant a couple of days ago…well done Zo!

In order to make it through some heavy days of work and some sporadic but decent workouts, I’ve been reduced to filling up my events calendar by coughing up for a few more races. I’ve already posted on here about training here in Dubai, but I thought I’d share my schedule with cyberspace, so you get an idea of the small but growing endurance sports community here in the UAE…you can also let me know whether my January is manageable or a bit too mental!

This weekend: Burj Al Arab 1k swim for Medecins Sans Frontiere

Nov 19: Race 3 – Golden Tulip sprint tri series

Nov 26: Spinneys 80k bike time trial, followed an hour or two later by the Zoggs Mina Mile 1.6k swim

Dec 4: Eleven – Sea Dubai International Olympic Triathlon

Dec 10: Spinneys Dubai 92k Cycle Challenge

Jan 14: Tri Yas – Oly distance

Jan 21: Dubai Marathon

Later on Jan 21: Fly out to Thailand for 18 days and 1500kms of mountain biking through Laos and northern Thailand

Feb 18: RAK Half Marathon

Feb 25: Dubai Roadsters Coats-to-Coast ride (220kms)

March 12: Abu Dhabi International Tri (short course: 1500m, 100kms, 10km)

March 18: Zoggs Mina Mile Swim (a whopping 6.5km marathon swim!)

March 25: Race 6 – Golden Tulip sprint tri series

There’s a couple of other aquathlons/duathlons and 10kms here and there that I may add, but this is basically the rest of my race season.

I have to confess, I’m both excited and a little concerned about that January. With my first Ironman next September, I’d love to get a sub-4hr marathon in as this would give me loads of confidence that I could manage a 5hr marathon (needed for my 12hr IM target) later in the year.

Dubai Marathon

However, due to the Oly on Dec 4 which is one of my main events, I’ll probably not have the chance to shift towards more run training till about 5 weeks before the marathon…which isn’t very much. Add to that an Oly the week before the marathon and then heading straight off on a cycling holiday (averaging 90kms a day every day on MTBs)…hmmmm…should be interesting!

As I said to one of my tri buddies, James, by the time the Abu Dhabi International comes on March 12 (I feel this event is going to give me a decent indicator as to how my IM prep is coming along) I’m either going to be in the greatest shape of my life or in a whole world of pain.

Abu Dhabi International Triathlon

The idea is that a month of fairly intensive marathon training over Xmas will help my running come on leaps and bounds, as will the experience of simply spending 5 hours a day in the saddle for more than two weeks. Then I put that all together for Abu Dhabi.

I look at this events calendar and I know it’s going to be tough but I’m almost drooling – I can’t wait to get my teeth into some of these events and, I think, it’s that attitude and enthusiasm which will help me through. Attitude and determination are 90% of the battle, right? Right?

Rant #1 – governments love drivers

Anyone who has known me for a little while will be more than aware of my ability to get a bee in my bonnet about, well, just about anything, often leading to long, expletive-laden and overly aggressive monologues of epic proportions.

Time then for my first blog-rant.

I just came across THIS story on EverymanTri.com (great website), about a wealthy, Merc-driving fund manager who hit and run a cyclist in the US, leaving him almost for dead, and the ludicrously light punishment that has been doled out.

As someone who not only does longish, early morning training sessions at the weekends, but also enjoys commuting the 10k or so to work/swimming/gym during the week on Dubai’s notoriously crazy roads (Indian driving test: “go forwards, go backwards…don’t worry, you only clipped it…good, here’s your licence.” Emirati driving test: “Where were you born? Dubai? Good, here’s your licence), I guess these stories resonate with me a little.

This decision is an absolute disgrace but, frankly, these incidents are going to happen again and again and again. Erzinger receiving little more than slapped wrists simply reaffirms the fact that the powers-that-be see cyclists as second-class citizens on the roads. If authorities see us that way, then can we really blame motorists for doing so, as well?

This in spite of the fact that cyclists take all manner of precautions to be safe and seen, almost always riding sensibly and considerately and, most significantly, employing a device that increases fitness and has zero, yes zero, adverse effects on the environment.

But no, let's go easy on the fella in the gas-guzzling business-wank-mobile.

If authorities are genuinely serious about a) encouraging a fitter and more active population and b) protecting the environment, then it's time to put their money where their mouth is. Throw the book at this guy – the hit is bad enough, the run is unforgivable and, let’s face it, had the cyclist died (he only suffered spinal cord injuries, bleeding from his brain, damage to his knee and scapula...he how suffers disabling spinal headaches and faces multiple surgeries for a herniated disc and plastic surgery to fix the scars he suffered in the accident) then it's manslaughter, no less…cyclists need to be protected by more than helmets.

Phew...and breathe out...rant over.

Things Dubai is great at...

In my two years living in Dubai, I’ve discovered that there are two things that the UAE does amazingly well: a. builds truly impressive things and then opens them before they’re actually ready (Burj Khalifa, The Palm etc); b. spoils things that should be fun with petty bureaucracy.

Actually, there’s a third: keeping whites white. Seriously, the Dazz Doorstep Challenge needs to get its ass over here – Emiratis must be the world’s greatest cleaners, it’s just insane how blindingly white they keep their dishdashas. I don’t know about you, but if I even wear a white t-shirt, I can guarantee spilling something down it within seconds, and then managing to dye it a strange greyish off-white while trying to get the stain out. But here, it’s a real artform.

Where are Shane Ritchie or Danny Baker when you need them?

Back to the first two points, though. Last weekend’s swim meet at the brand new Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex (HbMbRSC, as I’m trying to make stick!) was the perfect manifestation of both of these. In a show of tardiness that even the builders of the new Wembley would be proud of, the car park was a building site, the foyer non-existent, the corridors unpainted and tiles were missing in the changing rooms…but what was finished was truly impressive. There was a 50m Olympic pool (made into a 25m short-course pool thanks to the pontoon across the middle), there was a giant, deep diving pool which also doubled as a 23m warm-up pool, triple decking football stadium style seating and one of the hugest digital scoreboards right in the middle of it all…instantly bringing up not only splits, final times and positions, but reaction time off the blocks. Apparently, the other side of the diving pool and as yet unfinished (I know, shocker, right?), another 50m pool is being constructed. I’ve swum at some venues in my time, but the BhMbRSC is really world class…adding a little more substance to the claim that Dubai/UAE will soon be going after the Olympics.

On the flipside, however, relay teams were disqualified for standing close to the pool and cheering on the swimmer in the water. In fact, teams being poolside at all seemed a minor inconvenience to all officials. ‘Sit down and shut up’ was the message – which led to a complete lack of atmosphere. Lessons need to be learned.

Have a fairly standard week of training this week, leading up to the exciting Burj Al Arab Wild Wadi swim next weekend…it’s a 1km open water race around the island which supports the Burj Al Arab…surely now one of the world’s most iconic buildings. 

It’s all in aid of Medecins Sans Frontiere but it’s a race nonetheless, with prizes including hotel stays, gym passes, waterpark passes etc. It’s split into age groups, so I’m hoping to give a decent performance being at the bottom end of the 30-40 age group and away from all those young teenage dolphin types….they make me feel so old!

Bike rides, guinea pigs, drinks and weddings

Busy weekend coming up, folks.

Firstly, I have my first swimming gala in, oooooh, around 14 years! The snappily titled H.H UAE Presidents Championship is the first meet to be held at the equally tongue-tripping Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex. The HbMbRSC, as I like to call it, will be the venue for the FINA World Short Course Champs in December, so this is effectively a dry-run (but with water, one hopes) for that with all us UAE-based maters swimmers acting as guinea pigs.

Will it look anything like this artist's impression..?

 Anyways, I’ll be swimming 200IM, 50 free, 50 fly and 100 fly, as well as 100 back and 200 free in the relays – two sessions on Friday and another on Saturday morning. Should be fun, at least…

Also, one of my very best mates, Joe, is over here for work at the moment. Another keen relative newbie biker, we’re going to try to get a couple of long rides in over the next couple of weekends. That means joining the Cycle Challenge Friday crew at 6.30 tomorrow morning and aiming for the full 80kms that they’ll be doing. As I have to be at the pool (very nearby, which is a stroke of luck) by 9.30 latest (and the Friday crew is a nice and leisurely pace), we’ll just have to see how far we get…either turn around early or go out the full distance and break away up front for a quicker ride back in. Should make for a slightly unconventional warm-up for the swim meet, anyway.

Also, socially torn tomorrow night…a good mate, Pete, is celebrating his 25^th birthday (young whippersnapper) but, as that’s likely to get massively out of hand and debauched, I’m heading to my colleagues wedding party at the Yacht Club. Going to try to keep it tight and relatively well-behaved, as I’d like to either get a bit of the Bab Al Shams ride in before Saturday’s swim meet starts, or head down to Ghantoot for an hour to watch Crowie put the Tri2Aspire guys through their paces.

Most importantly, there’s a Everton v Blackpool game that’ll need watching…

Although it can get a bit manic and, often, these events throw scheduled training plans all off kilter, I’m loving this time of year – every weekend is likely to be similar between now and Christmas. I just try to think of it all as fun and different racing (swim meet = sprint training, going straight from the bike ride = brick session…) and, after all, what’s the point of all this training if you don’t get to race now and then?

World exclusive – Crowie could race Abu Dhabi 2011

Are you ready for my world exclusive – well, sort of world exclusive, as far as these things go?

I just interviewed double World Ironman Champ Craig Alexander who is in Dubai for a training camp with the Tri2Aspire guys, and we chatted about a whole range of things – from the relative disappointment of his fourth place finish in Kona, to his plans to extend his season into December, when he’ll race the Asia-Pacific 70.3 in Phuket, Thailand.

He also revealed that he could well be back in the UAE in March to race in the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon. A deal, he said, was almost ironed out for him to race last year but, with the commitments of being Ironman World Champ etc, it never quite panned out.

He seemed genuinely excited about the possibility of racing although admitted that he’d not be able to commit until after Christmas, once he’d worked out his schedule for the season ahead.

Other highlights were his call for more top-class Iron and 70.3 distance racing here in the UAE, with Dubai in particular being a great location, and his excitement about next year’s Half Ironman World Champs being moved up to come before Kona…worryingly for the rest of the field, Crowie still considers 70.3 to be his strongest distance!

Anyway, the interview will appear in a longer format in the Dec/Jan issue of Live Work Explore magazine, while I’ll likely try to push it elsewhere too – I’ll be sure to post links in the weeks to come.