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.

Five Questions You’re Asked A Lot As A Triathlete

• How many hours?
• Are you mad?
• And you enjoy this?
• You were up at what time?
• So, that’s run, shoot, ski, right?

And...

Five Questions You Ask Yourself A Lot As A Triathlete

• How much?
• I’ll need to be up at what time?
• And I enjoy this?
• Am I mad?
• How can I go faster?

Triathlon Training in Dubai

Clearly, here in Dubai we don’t have the wealth of facilities or groups that tri freaks in big cities in Europe, Australia or the US have access to, but, for a new little city in the desert, we actually don’t do too badly. here's a run down on what's available to the Dubai triathlete in search of training.

Swim

Easy. There’s really only one masters’ swim programme – Dubai Masters Swimming Club – so, fortunately, it’s a good one. Coach Seth puts us through our paces between six and eight times a week (every evening between 7pm and 8pm, and Saturday mornings at…well…I don’t know what time coz I’ve never been). There are also a couple of morning sessions during the week but, unless I’ve had to alter my programme for some reason, I rarely make these. All sorts of levels are spread across the six lanes and quite a few of the local tri crowd tend to train there too – at the upper end, we generally get through around 3200m of mainly threshold work during our hour-long sessions.

Bike

The biggest Dubai bike shop, Wolfi’s, organises a weekly Friday (remember, Friday is our Saturday!) morning ride with the Dubai Roadsters, offering 80km, 100km and 140km. For a relative beginner – like me – the pace is a little fierce. Fortunately, there’s also the Cycle Challenge crew who are organising the Dubai 92km bike race in December and have been running build-up rides steadily increasing in distance. I ride with them on a Friday morning and, when possible, Saturday too, for a 60k run that is a bit faster than Friday and has the added benefit of coffee and a croissant at the lovely Bab Al Shams resort at the halfway mark.

Run

Dubai is blessed with many running clubs, with Abras, The Creek Striders and The Mirdif Milers being the main ones. Unfortunately, they all train when I’m busy doing other things and, between swim/bike/gym/work/the bootcamp I run in winter, I just can’t fit any of their sessions in, so I choose to run alone.

General

I quite like this set-up. The swimming and long weekend group rides give me a social element, and I also very much enjoy some solo training with the MP3 player blurring out tunes or podcasts, so I get that with runs and gym sessions.

There are a couple of triathlon teams in Dubai – the most notable being Tri2Aspire – but I like to think of myself as a freewheeling John Coltrane jazz spirit…ok, in reality, I feel it’s still early in my tri journey and there’s lots I can do and I enjoy being able to pick and choose what I do – if I can’t train one evening, it’s not the end of the world.

Can this approach work – guess I’ll find out tomorrow when I interview triathlon MEGASTAR Craig Alexander, who is currently in Dubai doing a training camp with Tri2Aspire. He’s self-coached, so I’ll be asking for some pointers.

I'll post some titbits from the interview here asap.