Monday, February 19, 2007
Ironman vs. Coast to Coast - Epilogue
Epilogue – Comparisons, Reflections, and Acknowledgements
Coast to Coast boasts of itself as the World Championship for multisport; and while the same can be said for Kona where triathlon is concerned, I admittedly have yet to experience first-hand the madness that is racing the Ironman distance on ‘The Big Island’ where the whole ‘multisport’ scene was said to have begun. Will I qualify for that on my next Ironman race? Only the future will tell.
For what it is worth, determining which is the tougher race is like comparing apples and oranges. The demands of Ironman triathlon are quite set apart from the demands of a race like the Longest Day. The Ironman has a global appeal and reach, with a deeply talented pool of international athletes that knows no peer, while the Coast to Coast has a niche following and a more exclusive circle of top athletes in the Longest Day category. I would say the Ironman requires a higher threshold of mental focus due to the monotony of the repetitive movement it demands, but the Longest Day requires more situational awareness and alertness due to the dynamic and unpredictable nature of its setting. Coast to Coast is by far more logistically complex than the Ironman. Still, the appeal of Ironman lies in its ease of transferability across myriad race locations the world over, many of them beautiful and exotic. Ironman, in fact triathlon in general, has an established global authority that has seen huge success bringing its race into the international consciousness. Yet, in comparison, the Coast to Coast and the myriad multisport races of similar ilk retain their own special brand of grassroots involvement at no disadvantage whatsoever. Each race is beautiful in its own mode of appeal to its captive audience.
Both triathlon and multisport have seen huge advances in equipment technology, nutrition, and sports racing/coaching trends over the past two decades. The pinnacle of these developments can be seen year-to-year when the top athletes and the big brands they represent go head-to-head in their respective marquee events: Time trial bikes and racing kayaks utilizing the latest composite materials; the latest in fabric technology for wetsuits and racing apparel; innovative paraphernalia from shoelaces to helmets to hydration systems designed to shave weight, save time, and improve comfort & efficiency. Truly, the modern athlete is spoilt for choice - compared to the pioneers of yesteryear - as far as equipment is concerned.
With all my snazzy sports equipment now lying largely un-used and in need of servicing at the end of my season, and upon taking up a personal retrospection, I realize that finishing an Ironman/Coast to Coast double was not all smooth sailing. The race themselves were not as hard as the training I had to devote to them. Many a time I found myself unmotivated and reluctant to kick myself out of bed for the early morning sessions. Or I would hold off starting the day’s training to the point that when I did start a session in the afternoon, it dragged on into the night. And the perennial mind games would manifest themselves in a different form, and the voices in the head would be saying: you need your rest, don’t overdo yourself, you can take it easy to come back stronger next time.
Sometimes the voices were right, but only sometimes. I could take comfort in the fact that I would never have such an opportunity to train back in Singapore; that I was very fortunate to be training with athletes who were consistently more experienced, fitter and skilled than myself (and yet also very friendly and down-to-earth); and that while others were enjoying a period of ‘off’ during the year-end holiday season, I was pushing the envelope just a little more. I’m sure more than a few of my friends thought I was living like a hermit at the peak of my training.
Injuries (plus all the niggling strains, over-reaching, and ‘under-the-weather’ periods that come with the sport) were thankfully non-permanent. I realized that I stood to learn more from failure than success, and there were plenty of times where I had to adjust my approach to subsequent trainings, based on past shortcomings or deficiencies. Even the fact that the Ironman was before Coast to Coast meant that my lead-up to the latter could have been much better in terms of specificity and conditioning if the former was not on the cards… but then there is always next time, eh? It would be healthier to concentrate on one race only next season, and not squeeze in two within a couple of months, as I just did.
Every mistake made is a chance to not repeat it in future, as far as self-improvement goes. I felt blunt and groveled on certain parts of both races, but extremely good at other points – essentially, an emotional roller-coaster ride into the unknown, something inevitably experienced when undertaking any intense endeavour for the first time. As a relative novice to triathlon and multisport, management of these aspects would be learned only through conditioning and consistent exposure.
I believe I never lost sight of the big picture. There is always the next race, season, or year to aim for – longevity of interest and all of that. There is more to come for my adventure racing career. As they say, the journey has only just begun.
There are many people to whom I owe huge amounts of gratitude for their support.
Firstly, my coach Simon Knowles: without his guidance, advice, and drive, I’d still be a drowned rat (literally, in the swim; and figuratively, across the other key disciplines). Mentorship is such an important part of athletic development, and nowhere was that more apparent than throughout the past season under ‘Knowlesy’.
To my support crews on both races: Aunty Mui Lai (Ironman) and the Cameron family of Christchurch (Coast to Coast). My sincerest thanks for selflessly putting up with all the food woes, transport hassles, logistical nightmares, and general rushing around on otherwise peaceful weekends. I still feel I have not made it up to you sufficiently.
The Melbourne Adventure Club has been as good as family to me. I would especially like to thank the following people: Rachael Hutchins and Gill Hillton as superb INSPIRATIONS for Ironman and Coast to Coast respectively; Mark Bubner and Brendan Hills for the lessons in having a FAIR GO; Paul Simpson for CONCENTRATION ON THE RUN; Keith Falconer in keeping me HONEST; Pete Lockett, Kelly Linden and Delyth Lloyd for the laughs and BOUNDLESS enthusiasm; Kyle Naish and Jacqui Hickey for encouraging me to GO hard on the roadie sessions; Alex Kiendl in demonstrating what it takes to be TOUGH; Jarad Kohlar as a shining example on how to LOVE the trails; and Kath Copland for reminding me about my ROOTS in AR.
To my numerous team mates, friends, and competitors back home in Singapore: you guys provided the spark and stoked the fire, and keep me going still. I miss you lot, but I have been thinking about you always - even when dragging myself out of bed at 4 am to begin training on cold, wet winter mornings; picking the dirt and torn skin from fresh wounds after a mountain bike stack; or getting hammered mid-way through an AT/VO2max set. My cheers and congratulations go out to the fellow competitors I was lucky enough to make friends with in Busselton as well as in Christchurch. You guys are true inspirations, and tough as nails too.
I am indebted to Mum, Dad, and my sister Amanda – without your support and encouragement from afar, I would not have been able to get going in the first place. Finally, to all the people I have forgotten to mention: you know who you are.
I believe no one gets anywhere just by chance or coincidence. It has been a privilege to have you contribute – however seemingly short the time or insignificant the interaction - in one way or another, to the happy achievement of my Ironman and Coast to Coast double.
Coast to Coast boasts of itself as the World Championship for multisport; and while the same can be said for Kona where triathlon is concerned, I admittedly have yet to experience first-hand the madness that is racing the Ironman distance on ‘The Big Island’ where the whole ‘multisport’ scene was said to have begun. Will I qualify for that on my next Ironman race? Only the future will tell.
For what it is worth, determining which is the tougher race is like comparing apples and oranges. The demands of Ironman triathlon are quite set apart from the demands of a race like the Longest Day. The Ironman has a global appeal and reach, with a deeply talented pool of international athletes that knows no peer, while the Coast to Coast has a niche following and a more exclusive circle of top athletes in the Longest Day category. I would say the Ironman requires a higher threshold of mental focus due to the monotony of the repetitive movement it demands, but the Longest Day requires more situational awareness and alertness due to the dynamic and unpredictable nature of its setting. Coast to Coast is by far more logistically complex than the Ironman. Still, the appeal of Ironman lies in its ease of transferability across myriad race locations the world over, many of them beautiful and exotic. Ironman, in fact triathlon in general, has an established global authority that has seen huge success bringing its race into the international consciousness. Yet, in comparison, the Coast to Coast and the myriad multisport races of similar ilk retain their own special brand of grassroots involvement at no disadvantage whatsoever. Each race is beautiful in its own mode of appeal to its captive audience.
Both triathlon and multisport have seen huge advances in equipment technology, nutrition, and sports racing/coaching trends over the past two decades. The pinnacle of these developments can be seen year-to-year when the top athletes and the big brands they represent go head-to-head in their respective marquee events: Time trial bikes and racing kayaks utilizing the latest composite materials; the latest in fabric technology for wetsuits and racing apparel; innovative paraphernalia from shoelaces to helmets to hydration systems designed to shave weight, save time, and improve comfort & efficiency. Truly, the modern athlete is spoilt for choice - compared to the pioneers of yesteryear - as far as equipment is concerned.
With all my snazzy sports equipment now lying largely un-used and in need of servicing at the end of my season, and upon taking up a personal retrospection, I realize that finishing an Ironman/Coast to Coast double was not all smooth sailing. The race themselves were not as hard as the training I had to devote to them. Many a time I found myself unmotivated and reluctant to kick myself out of bed for the early morning sessions. Or I would hold off starting the day’s training to the point that when I did start a session in the afternoon, it dragged on into the night. And the perennial mind games would manifest themselves in a different form, and the voices in the head would be saying: you need your rest, don’t overdo yourself, you can take it easy to come back stronger next time.
Sometimes the voices were right, but only sometimes. I could take comfort in the fact that I would never have such an opportunity to train back in Singapore; that I was very fortunate to be training with athletes who were consistently more experienced, fitter and skilled than myself (and yet also very friendly and down-to-earth); and that while others were enjoying a period of ‘off’ during the year-end holiday season, I was pushing the envelope just a little more. I’m sure more than a few of my friends thought I was living like a hermit at the peak of my training.
Injuries (plus all the niggling strains, over-reaching, and ‘under-the-weather’ periods that come with the sport) were thankfully non-permanent. I realized that I stood to learn more from failure than success, and there were plenty of times where I had to adjust my approach to subsequent trainings, based on past shortcomings or deficiencies. Even the fact that the Ironman was before Coast to Coast meant that my lead-up to the latter could have been much better in terms of specificity and conditioning if the former was not on the cards… but then there is always next time, eh? It would be healthier to concentrate on one race only next season, and not squeeze in two within a couple of months, as I just did.
Every mistake made is a chance to not repeat it in future, as far as self-improvement goes. I felt blunt and groveled on certain parts of both races, but extremely good at other points – essentially, an emotional roller-coaster ride into the unknown, something inevitably experienced when undertaking any intense endeavour for the first time. As a relative novice to triathlon and multisport, management of these aspects would be learned only through conditioning and consistent exposure.
I believe I never lost sight of the big picture. There is always the next race, season, or year to aim for – longevity of interest and all of that. There is more to come for my adventure racing career. As they say, the journey has only just begun.
There are many people to whom I owe huge amounts of gratitude for their support.
Firstly, my coach Simon Knowles: without his guidance, advice, and drive, I’d still be a drowned rat (literally, in the swim; and figuratively, across the other key disciplines). Mentorship is such an important part of athletic development, and nowhere was that more apparent than throughout the past season under ‘Knowlesy’.
To my support crews on both races: Aunty Mui Lai (Ironman) and the Cameron family of Christchurch (Coast to Coast). My sincerest thanks for selflessly putting up with all the food woes, transport hassles, logistical nightmares, and general rushing around on otherwise peaceful weekends. I still feel I have not made it up to you sufficiently.
The Melbourne Adventure Club has been as good as family to me. I would especially like to thank the following people: Rachael Hutchins and Gill Hillton as superb INSPIRATIONS for Ironman and Coast to Coast respectively; Mark Bubner and Brendan Hills for the lessons in having a FAIR GO; Paul Simpson for CONCENTRATION ON THE RUN; Keith Falconer in keeping me HONEST; Pete Lockett, Kelly Linden and Delyth Lloyd for the laughs and BOUNDLESS enthusiasm; Kyle Naish and Jacqui Hickey for encouraging me to GO hard on the roadie sessions; Alex Kiendl in demonstrating what it takes to be TOUGH; Jarad Kohlar as a shining example on how to LOVE the trails; and Kath Copland for reminding me about my ROOTS in AR.
To my numerous team mates, friends, and competitors back home in Singapore: you guys provided the spark and stoked the fire, and keep me going still. I miss you lot, but I have been thinking about you always - even when dragging myself out of bed at 4 am to begin training on cold, wet winter mornings; picking the dirt and torn skin from fresh wounds after a mountain bike stack; or getting hammered mid-way through an AT/VO2max set. My cheers and congratulations go out to the fellow competitors I was lucky enough to make friends with in Busselton as well as in Christchurch. You guys are true inspirations, and tough as nails too.
I am indebted to Mum, Dad, and my sister Amanda – without your support and encouragement from afar, I would not have been able to get going in the first place. Finally, to all the people I have forgotten to mention: you know who you are.
I believe no one gets anywhere just by chance or coincidence. It has been a privilege to have you contribute – however seemingly short the time or insignificant the interaction - in one way or another, to the happy achievement of my Ironman and Coast to Coast double.
