BIG News! Training Full Time(ish)

This is it! After many years in the world of finance, I have decided to make the jump and go back to a more active lifestyle; maybe even a bit more active than my years as a diving instructor! So, from the 20th of March 2013, I shall not be following the financial markets or talking to investors for some time! I shall, instead, be focusing on sport and being around more for Lisa and the kids. Am I happy about this? HELL YES!!!

Newly Built Bike

It's finally here! The build is done, and, after taking her out for an hour and a half ride, I'm happy! :) Still a couple of things to fix, such as the low seat and the upside down stem, but these are minor issues. I've been building this bike since Christmas bit by bit. I bought the frame second hand, but I have been collecting all the other parts new as I went along. I'll be adding the details in my gear section some time in the next couple of days.

My upgraded ride

Snow, food, bike build and training adjustments

In the past 10 days, temperatures have significantly dropped, and I've had to cycle in sub zero, snowy and icy conditions. When there is thick snow or it is very icy, the choice is usually simple, since changing the session to doing it on the turbo trainer doesn't take long. But, when it's "just" cold, without the visible painful conditions, this is when my head doesn't get it, and I would end up sick with a bad cold, like I've been for the past few days.

It is cold!

Training and gear

Today, Monday 31 December, marks the start of my main training programme for 2013. My initial training stretch is 22 weeks, which is the time until my first planned "A" race in Madrid. I have included a "B" race 12 weeks down the line, just to make sure I get into the swing of things and into the competitive mind frame. It's a short sprint triathlon, but I see it as a good opportunity to test a few bits, including gear and race strategy.

My before, during and after

In this post, I am listing the things I do and the nutrition regime I follow day-to-day and on races. Over the months and years, I have made a lot of adjustments and I am now very happy with the way things are going. Thanks to a lot of research and even more trial and error, I'm now very comfortable with sharing this. Of course, all comments and feedback on this subject are more than welcome!

Targets & Plans for 2013

So, my training is now all geared towards my racing goals for 2013. As a minimum, I am aiming for participating in 3 ITU World Triathlon Series races:

• 1-2 June 2013: ITU World Triathlon Madrid, Spain
• 6-7 July 2013: ITU World Triathlon Kitzbühel, Austria
• 11-16 September 2013: ITU World Triathlon Grand Final London, UK

Racing for Team Egypt in 2013!

Welcome to my triathlon pages! This blog will be about my quest to reaching my triathlon dreams, as well as try to get feedback from anyone who feels like it. It will mainly include everything that has to do with the parts of my life that revolve around triathlon, starting with training, down to nutrition, recovery, objectives along the way and, of course, racing.

After I have stopped triathlon training for many years, I have decided during the summer of 2011 to get back into it. My first goal (after losing 20kgs of weight) was to train towards the Nice Ironman*, which was going to be held in June 2012. 14 weeks down my training, my bones started to give me the message that I should stop! It seemed to be that my body just didn’t like it when I ran beyond half-marathon distance. So, after stopping to recover for a couple of weeks, I have decided that I was going to resume training, but this time for Olympic distance**.