I’m lucky! I’m grateful!
I couldn’t find any way to start off this post other than by saying how much I appreciate my life and the people around me, whether family, friends, colleagues or the supporters I know and don’t know. One of the reasons this has hit home more than ever was because I was able to go to Kona, Hawaii, to watch the legendary Ironman World Championships and be part of that atmosphere. And, if this past year I have had my excuses not to train, the inspiration I got from being in Kona was just the thing I needed to get back into triathlons for myself.
This shorter than usual post is a very brief recap of my year and my personal sports goals from now on.
With a team of amazing people, I have spent this past year creating a triathlon team, developing a sports distribution business, and working on several triathlon-related projects which we should start rolling out very soon. With just a dream and a few people believing in my crazy ideas and getting on board, we have jumped in head first at the deep end of trying to create a set-up by which we could inspire generations of people to take on a healthy lifestyle, participate in triathlon, create some future role models, and facilitate all aspects we could for people to take part. With some ridiculous travel schedules, and trying to juggle what feels like about 200 balls at the same time, the downside is that my own personal sports goals had to be put on hold.
Part of my travels for the team took me and some of the team members to Kona, Hawaii during the second week of October, partly to support an athlete on our team, Leanda Cave, and also to meet some people regarding some of the projects we're working on.
For those who are not familiar with Kona, it is where one of the most iconic triathlon races happens every year, which is the Ironman World Championships. This is the race that almost any triathlete dreams of doing one day; I believe even more so than the Olympics! You can just type in Ironman Kona in YouTube search, and you can see a lot of videos describing it, following it, etc. and I bet you anything that you'll be inspired, whether you're a triathlete or not! The qualification for it is not easy, either for amateurs or professionals, the conditions there are harsh (high temperature, high humidity, high winds), and the competition is fierce.
The atmosphere there was just really amazing! The population of the island more than quadruples during race week, with most people just gathering on one narrow street on the western side of the island (called Ali’i Drive), and everyone is there for the triathlon; whether to participate, to support participants, or to do one thing or another related to triathlon.
During that week, I had the chance to meet and talk to a lot of people as well as see some phenomenal athletes, and this ambiance was just the spark that re-ignited the fire in my belly and I wanted a piece of that! I didn’t just want to get back to triathlon training, but I wanted to be part of that iconic race!
So, I have new goals, the biggest of which is that I want to qualify for Kona! If not for 2016, then hopefully for 2017! I have never done a full Ironman before (only done halves), so it is a very nice big challenge for me. To start my planning, I looked into which races I could do next year that could lead to qualification, and I could see a couple of races which seem to fit my general schedule as well as not being too early, so I should have enough time to build up to one of them (or both?). I am registered to do the Half Ironman in Bahrain on 5th December, so I’ll keep this as is. I have very limited time left to train for it, so it is a good motivation for me to get back into training as soon as possible, otherwise I won’t be able to even finish it! Then, I have pencilled in a few more races in the first half of 2016 to gauge my progress as well as try a few things, so that when I get to do the full distance race, I should hopefully be ready!
I am lucky that I get to travel to a lot of the races for work, so most of the races won't be any extra time off (just the few hours of actual racing). And, although I still don’t have loads of time to train around work, I am incorporating some of my training within my working week, in addition to some before and after work training sessions. After all, triathlon is my job, and, even though my job is not actually being a triathlete, I see that my actual participation is very important in a lot of ways, least of which is that I can’t preach what I don’t practice. I just hope that I can do it in a way that won’t negatively affect family time or work, because if it does, I know that it will have to take a backseat again. But, I'll do my best to fit it all in and still make everyone around me happy...
Coming times are exciting (and a bit scary), but I am really looking forward to going through this journey and sharing it with everyone.
Here is to a new page in my triathlon story! Training starts early morning! :)
I couldn’t find any way to start off this post other than by saying how much I appreciate my life and the people around me, whether family, friends, colleagues or the supporters I know and don’t know. One of the reasons this has hit home more than ever was because I was able to go to Kona, Hawaii, to watch the legendary Ironman World Championships and be part of that atmosphere. And, if this past year I have had my excuses not to train, the inspiration I got from being in Kona was just the thing I needed to get back into triathlons for myself.
This shorter than usual post is a very brief recap of my year and my personal sports goals from now on.
 |
| Kona 2015. Top: Sign on the road of where the finish line is. Bottom left: Kona sunset with a turtle on the beach. Bottom right: people lining up everywhere before 6am to watch the start of the race. |
Part of my travels for the team took me and some of the team members to Kona, Hawaii during the second week of October, partly to support an athlete on our team, Leanda Cave, and also to meet some people regarding some of the projects we're working on.
For those who are not familiar with Kona, it is where one of the most iconic triathlon races happens every year, which is the Ironman World Championships. This is the race that almost any triathlete dreams of doing one day; I believe even more so than the Olympics! You can just type in Ironman Kona in YouTube search, and you can see a lot of videos describing it, following it, etc. and I bet you anything that you'll be inspired, whether you're a triathlete or not! The qualification for it is not easy, either for amateurs or professionals, the conditions there are harsh (high temperature, high humidity, high winds), and the competition is fierce.
The atmosphere there was just really amazing! The population of the island more than quadruples during race week, with most people just gathering on one narrow street on the western side of the island (called Ali’i Drive), and everyone is there for the triathlon; whether to participate, to support participants, or to do one thing or another related to triathlon.
During that week, I had the chance to meet and talk to a lot of people as well as see some phenomenal athletes, and this ambiance was just the spark that re-ignited the fire in my belly and I wanted a piece of that! I didn’t just want to get back to triathlon training, but I wanted to be part of that iconic race!
So, I have new goals, the biggest of which is that I want to qualify for Kona! If not for 2016, then hopefully for 2017! I have never done a full Ironman before (only done halves), so it is a very nice big challenge for me. To start my planning, I looked into which races I could do next year that could lead to qualification, and I could see a couple of races which seem to fit my general schedule as well as not being too early, so I should have enough time to build up to one of them (or both?). I am registered to do the Half Ironman in Bahrain on 5th December, so I’ll keep this as is. I have very limited time left to train for it, so it is a good motivation for me to get back into training as soon as possible, otherwise I won’t be able to even finish it! Then, I have pencilled in a few more races in the first half of 2016 to gauge my progress as well as try a few things, so that when I get to do the full distance race, I should hopefully be ready!
I am lucky that I get to travel to a lot of the races for work, so most of the races won't be any extra time off (just the few hours of actual racing). And, although I still don’t have loads of time to train around work, I am incorporating some of my training within my working week, in addition to some before and after work training sessions. After all, triathlon is my job, and, even though my job is not actually being a triathlete, I see that my actual participation is very important in a lot of ways, least of which is that I can’t preach what I don’t practice. I just hope that I can do it in a way that won’t negatively affect family time or work, because if it does, I know that it will have to take a backseat again. But, I'll do my best to fit it all in and still make everyone around me happy...
Coming times are exciting (and a bit scary), but I am really looking forward to going through this journey and sharing it with everyone.
Here is to a new page in my triathlon story! Training starts early morning! :)
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