Improvement Is In The Blood

A few posts back, I have written about how I have gone through some blood tests to see what I have been lacking in and how I could improve. This is an update about how this has gone, from what markers I had to work on and how they look now, a couple of months after implementing the changes that were recommended to me by the brilliant Dr Tamsin Lewis (aka SportieDoc) via her specialised practice, CuroSeven.

Turning Weaknesses Into Strengths

After a few posts about nutrition, this one is almost all about training and progression. I thought I'd share with you how things have been going, where I am now, and where I want to be heading from here.

Since I have made the decision to step up to the Half Ironman (70.3) distance, I have been focusing on building up my endurance and strength, especially on the bike and in my running. This "foundation" period has now lasted for 12 weeks, which ended just before mid January. What I'm writing about here is a brief account of how I have trained during this period, and reflect on what I have achieved so far and what still needs to be done until my first main race in May.

Diets, Sugar, Calories, & Natural Sports Nutrition

Food and nutrition have become a kind of an obsession to me in the last few months. Being the control freak that I am, I couldn't accept putting things in my body that I didn't know or, worse, didn't want. Wanting my family to have the best and most suitable nutrition, as well as my training sessions becoming longer and more intense, I spent a lot of time researching and experimenting with everything to do with food and drink. In this post I share with you how I have changed from buying all kinds of powders, gels and drinks to making everything I need for my sports in my own kitchen, and how not all calories are created equal, and not all sugars are created equal either!

I realise that if I start to go technical, I might lose half of you, so I’ll just keep it very simple.

Health, nutrition, blood and sport

In this post, I am focusing particularly on very important aspects I have recently learned and changes I have made (or still trying to make) in order to stay healthy, and not just fit. After all, the most important reasons for me doing what I do are to stay healthy for the sake of my kids, teaching them through leading by example, and helping as many people as I can to get healthy and stay healthy. And, as I approach everything in life through a mixture of science, experience and passion, this one is no different.

Going Long! New Triathlon Targets For 2014!

After completing what I consider a very successful year in terms of my triathlon goals, I have had time to reflect on what passed and what lies ahead. While looking at 2014 races, talking to family and friends, and looking objectively at my own training and what I can and can't achieve, I have now taken the decision to start aiming for longer distances, rather than focusing my efforts on just getting faster in standard distance triathlons. In this post, I talk about some of the reasons behind the decision, as well as the alterations in my plans for 2014 and beyond.

2013 & 2014 - Roundup & Plans

Looking back at my year and taking stock, I am generally happy that I have reached most of what I have set out to achieve during 2013. Countless lessons have been learned, and I am now looking forward to tackling the 2014 challenges I have set myself. This post is a reflection on the year past and a description of what I have in mind for 2014.

First, I cannot proceed with this post without having to say thank you! The support I got throughout 2013 from family and friends cannot be described in any other terms than just sensational! I feel so blessed that I have such a fantastic network of people around me with such amazing positive energy, which has driven me forward leaps and bounds beyond anything I could imagine. So, a HUGE thank you to all of you, family, friends and blog followers! Now, on with the post...

World Triathlon Championships Race Report

It has taken me a long 5 days to look at my race last week in London objectively an to analyse what went right and what went wrong. In this post, I am writing an account of what happened on the day. The main purpose of these posts, in addition to your reading pleasure of course, is to make sure I learn from my experiences for the future, and hopefully help some of you along the way as well. (Photos at end of post)

Egyptians & South Africans (Opening Ceremony)

Final Preparations For London!

The World Triathlon Grand Final is just a couple of weeks away! I have one more full on training week before I cut down on my workouts. I have done a dry run of a triathlon this week, testing equipment, nutrition, race strategy, etc. and seeing how far I am from my goals. The main conclusion was that I was almost on track in terms of times, but I'm not completely satisfied. There is still a lot more work to do. I'm detailing here how I'm getting ready for my big race, as well as my training plans post 15 September.

Certified Coach, A Few Tweaks, & Looking For Sponsors!

I have finally become a Certified Triathlon Coach. After a few months of studying everything anatomy, nutrition and training, I can now coach myself and others, backed by formal scientific knowledge, and not just experience. I should be launching my coaching website very soon on www.hassan-afifi.com.

WTS Madrid Race Report (Coughing Up Blood)

Friday 31st of May, I did my last training session and went on to the course of the World Triathlon Madrid to check out the bike course, register and get some CO2 cartridges. I went back to the hotel feeling amazing and had no doubt in my mind that I was going to beat the 2:20 time I had set myself. Boy was I wrong! It's a long post explaining the details, but I end up with some conclusions and some exciting news.

Trial Race Report (Buckingham Triathlon)

Over the weekend, I participated in a sprint race (Buckingham Triathlon) to use it more as a “live” test of different aspects, including race strategy, equipment, nutrition, etc. All I can say is, I’m glad I did it, since I found that I still needed to fine-tune a few parts of my race, and that I would rather find this out during such a race than in a World championship race. After all, Madrid is only less than 3 weeks away!!!

Training Test & Kids’ Eating

It has been a month since I have started training almost full-time. I have to say that I generally feel that, surprisingly, both my fitness and speed have improved quite a bit more than I thought they would in just this short period. I put it down not only to the increase in the actual training, but also to the major improvement in my recovery routine. I have made quite a few improvements to my nutrition, and I get some decent sleep and down times. An even much bigger achievement is the kids starting to eat their greens every evening! In this post, I’m talking about the changes in nutrition I have made over the past few weeks, as well as the recent time trial I’ve done and changes to my training.

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**.