One thing with the turn of the year is to plan out different aspects of your life. It is like a Monday morning war room for the week. The jog this morning reminded me that I had not yet booked my sports calendar – the 2012 is going to be a huge year for our foreign payments startup and more importantly need to allocate time to stay fit and sane.
Half Ironman – 2 Sep Ireland
A few years back when I did not do any sports, I secretly admired ultimate endurance guys. On the second day after moving to London I signed up for the London Triathlon – worlds biggest olympic distance (1.5 swim + 40 bike +10 run ) event. Have competed 4 times in London now with 2:38:00 being my personal best.
The olympic distance is a sprint. Last time we started 7am in the Thames docks and were done by 9:30, racing mad except the first 20 minutes of the run where my mind is never on the race but rather how to avoid throwing up. Changing from bike to run is hard for me.
I am not ready yet to compete in a full ironman (3.8 swim + 180 bike + 42 run). I would barely survive the swim and the bike, but there is no chance on earth that I would be able to run a marathon. Sitting on my butt does not get me closer to this goal, so half it is in 2012.
Preparation: cycling and running as usual, morning 40 min swims once or twice in the open air London Fields Lido. Once the summer kicks in then the ponds in Hampsted Heath are fantastic for open air swims. Todo – sign up for a long-distance swimming competition, e.g. to Isle of Wight.
Etape du Tour – La Toussuire 8th Jul 2012
Big thanks to the Deloitte cycling activists, who convinced me in 2008 that riding one stage of the Tour de France with 8000 amateurs is a great thing to do. That stage was Col du Tourmalet, followed by Mont Ventoux, Col du Tourmalet again in 2010 and Alpe d’Huez in 2011. In the first year I got two of my fitter cycling buddies to ride the Etape with me, they loved it and got more of their friends involved in 2009, so that last year we had a group of 15 Estonian amateur cyclists camping out near the start line. Some are really good – Indrek finished 452 of 10 000 competitive cyclistas.
It is going to be another mental stage this year, including 3 hors-category climbs and one first category climb over 140km.
Preparation: a training week with buddies in Italy in early April, the annual dragon ride of Wales, Rapha’s Hell of the North semi-cyclocross north of London and weekend outings to south downs near Dorking, Edenbridge, Sevenoaks.
Marathon – 06 May Kiev
Running is my weakest discipline. I get tired, out of breath and I am slow. In 2011 I did two half-marathons, the Semi de Paris and the Windsor Half. I sucked, clocking 1:45 in Paris and 2:04 in Windsor. I blame my size and weight.
Last year I had huge amount of running inspiration from the book Born to Run and started running with Vibrams, as close to barefoot as you can get on the trashy streets of London. My stride has certainly improved a lot since the last 12 months of no cushioned footwear and there have been no injuries or pains.
Preparation: morning runs twice per week 11km before breakfast along the Regent’s canal and once around Victoria park.
Adventure Racing – 29 Apr, 2-3 Jun, 29 Jul Estonia
Our Estonian forefathers did not emerge from the forests a long time ago, therefore no surprise the entire nation is mad for adventure races, where a team of 3 cross the terrain orienteering on foot, bikes, canoes, etc. We attempted the grueling 36-hour adventure challenge in 2008, but had to step off on the 31st hour due to teammate’s blisters.
This year will try the shorter one-day XDream races and hope to put out the full TransferWise team.
Sailing – undecided
In previous years my Deloitte friends planned out the sailing season nicely with the company regatta, the Industry Sailing Challenge that takes you twice around the Isle of White and races on Cowes Week. Give me a shout if you need crew for your club’s spring/summer series!
Olympic spectating – August
I did get hold of tickets for two events in the London 2012. Gotta see this close up and first hand.
Related articles
- 2012 Decision – Ironman or Half Ironman? (practicaltriathlon.wordpress.com)
