The trail to Tor Des Geants - Part 1

Matching my hair to Mt Fuji's ..

2013 has been rather exciting so far, and certainly looks full of promise for the rest of it. Tor Des Geants, a 200 mile, 24,000 D+, 150 hour single-stage 'race' is to be main event of the year, so my current race calendar doesn't look particularly exciting. I have got a lot of travel planned for this year, both work and leisure, and the idea is to get as many hill and mountains in as possible before TDG itself.

Fuelling up with Hammer .. simply the best! :)

I've been working with Matt Cooper on my training since January, and the improvements are starting to show. I've no doubt I'm rather challenging to coach, given my often crazy work schedule and that perpetual problem of not enough hours in the day. Somehow Coops meets all my schedule changes and spanners in the works with a smile and some positive solutions. He's also helped fix my 'falling over' issues .. no crashes since those stitches in Jan!

New friends in HK

So far I've managed to squeeze in a long weekend training in Hong Kong, which I totally loved and we've got a couple more trail trips planned now. A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to train in the Mt Fuji area (yes, in Japan!) with the very lovely Anders Jensen .. the Trail Beast himself. It was also the week leading up to Ultra Trail Mt Fuji (UTMF), and its was lovely meeting so many familiar faces and lots of new ones. I also picked up an addiction to onigiri, a newfound preference for heated toilet seats and a hankering to go back and see more of that beautiful country.

Back to reality in Singers, work has piled up and the stair repeats have increased intensity. It's all systems go then! The North Face 100 in Blue Mountains, Australia kicks off next weekend, and I'll be there at the start as part of my "get them hills in" training program! My last attempt ended in a DNF from hypothermia .. this time I'm prepared with a new stash of ultra-warm kit from the very lovely Camper's Corner.

Relentless forward progress indeed! :)

There's a lot more uphills to come ..

 

SMU Adrace 2013 - done!

Competitors of the SMU AdRace 2013

It's been a long day and an even longer night ... having just completed the SMU Adrace 2013, the only overnight adventure race in Singapore. Organised by the students of Singapore Management University, the event was well orchestrated and full of smiling, enthusiastic crew and volunteers at every station.


The challenges were both physical and mental, with everything from running, biking, skating, rock-climbing and swimming, to memorising tongue twisters, deciphering morse code and navigating the city in the dark.

With fellow Salomon athlete Ford Lim, we formed a team of two for the mixed pairs event. Our wave kicked off at 11pm, starting at the East Coast Parkway (ECP. The first challenge after a short run involved answering some general knowledge questions, I admit I had difficulty with that .. especially that math ones!

We picked up a bike further along, made it to the end of the ECP  and then biked to Marina Barrage for a spot of kite-flying. We had to make our own kites first, though! With the following checkpoints we took the more scenic route (my navigational skills are honed to perfection - in the opposite direction!), but this didn't detract from the fun. We climbed the rock wall, memorising clues along the way (I think i should get an age handicap or something for stuff like this), played a spot of underwater hockey, did laps of the giant stairs (another memory game!) and searched Fort Canning for hidden clues.

Just when we thought the finish was in sight, we get a clue that sends us back out towards Marina Bay Sands to find the 'fans'. Finally locating the fan-like structures, we're faced with the in-line skating challenge - find and memorise (what is this with memory games??!) 5 tongue twisters and report back to the stationmaster. Try memorising and repeating "Imagine and imaginary menagerie manager managing an imaginary menagerie" when it's 4am in the morning and you've been on the go for all night .. hilarious results.

SART Recre and their super speedy finish

Finally, we're headed back to the start. Excellent teamwork and support from Ford, and we were the first team across the line. Kudos to all who competed, more so to those who were out there till the end. It's far tougher having the determination to stick it out for such a long time, well done indeed. Congrats to SART Recrea team who won the Open Team event, and all other teams who made it to the podium or otherwise. Great effort from everyone, and hat's off to a strong Team Yoghurt who came in just behind us.

Mark your calendar's for next year, this is an event that's worth a try.

Some pics here, and updated albums will be uploaded here when they're ready.

SMU Adrace 2013

Ok guys, here's a great way to mix it up in training .. throw in an adventure race or three. The short ones (day-long) are great for a bit of fun, sporting camaraderie and an alternative workout too. Think of it as cross-training .. and your brain usually gets a bit of exercise too as some of the stages involve solving clues to get to the next section.

Check this one out .. the SMU Adrace 2013 - an overnight adventure race. Should be good for some fun and friendly competition, I've been told it's very well organised so we've put our names down and we'll see you at the start on 4th May! :)

Salomon update

For those who have been eargerly awaiting the arrival of Salomon's Spring-Summer 2013 collection, fret not .. the goodies are on their way! The new logo for 2013 looks clean and crisp, and more in line with the ski stuff they do too.

Right now the local Solomon stores have received stock of the following:

Sense Hydro S-Lab Set - this comes in Small or Medium, and is sold in a pair inclusive of one soft flask (237ml). The 500ml flasks are also available for sale :)

Advanced Skin S-Lab Belt Set - One size fits all, this makes Batman's utility belt look outdated. Everything you need for medium to long stashed round your waist instead.

Advanced Skin S-Lab 12 Set - Great fit made better. The larger capacity hydration racing pack is back in store in it's new improved version. The 5L version update is due in around June.

There's more good news though .. Salomon Singapore are now bringing in half sizes from US 6 to 11.

These will be available for the S-Lab Sense 2 and S-Lab XT 6, due in June or thereabouts. Currently, half sizes are also available for the following: 

S-Lab Sense: US 6. 6.5, 7, 8, 9, 9.5, 10, 11, 12

S-Lab Sense Ultra: US 7, 8 , 9, 9.5, 10, 11, 12

S-Lab XT 5: US 7, 8 , 9, 9.5, 10, 11, 12

Sense Mantra: US 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8, 9

Lots of other kit will be coming in soon, so keep your eyes peeled and go get a World of Sports member card .. definitely worth the savings! :) There's a bunch of apparel and other lovely things coming in over the next few months so time to get in the groove! 

Have fun using your new kit out on the trails! :)

Back from the dead!

La Vallee Blanche .. awesome off-piste ski day!

Radio silence is over!!

I realise (again!) my last post was early December .. but really, so much has gone on in since then I've been so busy at work and play that I've neglected to post anything for a while.

This first quarter of 2013 has been pretty awesome so far, with some stressful, hair-tearing moments, but generally good!

Here's the highlights of what's happened since my last post:

1. Work schedule went bonkers again!
2. Back in Europe for Fashion Week in Jan, snow and freezing temperatures ...
3. Matt Coops is now my coach, very glad to be part of the 2013 Ultramade team!
4. Entry for Tor des Geants was accepted ... see point 3. 200 miles and 24,000 D+, better get myself sorted out.
5. A very much needed R&R holiday in Chamonix skiing my legs off, eating too much cheese and being very happy.
6. Work goes crazy again ...
7. Throw in Christmas, New Year, three stitches, a couple of scrapes and a lot of jet-lag, that pretty much sums up the last few months!

Fashion Week in the snow :)

More fun in the snow at altitude

The steepest slope I've skied so far!

Guess who was on the same flight home from Geneva!

Just a little scratch ..

Chilling in the Crossmax and Sense in the snow :)

I'm absolutely delighted with life so far this year, despite the severe lack of sleep and looming mountains of training .. there's so much to look forward to! Even though my racing schedule looks a bit sparse, I'm admitting that I can't do it all the way I expect to .. there's not enough time, money or energy on my part for the moment. In the melee, I often ignore family and friends to cope with all the things I've chosen to put on my very full plate .. and I really don't want that to happen anymore. I want this year to be full of love and laughter, a freedom my heart craves and being with the people I love around me. To share their lives, rather than just sharing mine.

So here's a somewhat belated toast to 2013, may it be full of family, friends and adventures of the very best kind! :)  

Salomon X-Trail 2012

I honestly think the Salomon X-Trail 2012 is the best short trail race in Singapore. Why? Everything about it. Because I'm a Salomon athlete and it's a Salomon event, because the awesome route and race organisation were sorted by the lovely peeps at Basecamp Venture, because it was great to see everyone with a big grin on their face (at least at the start and finish, anyway!) plastered in mud and sand, and mainly because it was a chance to hang out with all the trailheads and meet new ones.

Pic by Lifestyle1881

Staged at Tampines Bike Park again, this year's route was more technical and a whole ton of fun. Narrow trails, lots of obstacles and a few wet crossings certainly kept us on our toes! The last few kilometres took us tantalisingly close to the finish, only to divert away again just when you thought you were so close!

Pic by Lifestyle1881

Smiles all day from the volunteers, who included some of our very own Hammer Athletes, Conrad Yeo and Wilson Low, made for an excellent experience from start to finish. Lots of shoe casualties though .. from getting lost in the muddy 'river' crossing, to having bits fall off .. none of them were Salomon strides of course, haha! The Salomon Sense was the perfect choice for this race, and held up well under a lot of abuse in tricky conditions!

Huge thanks to Salomon for putting on a great race with some very generous prizes that went ten deep in each category, and well done to all who started that morning!

Some fast times this year, results can be found here.

The Men's winner Samson Kiplagat Tenai went under 40 minutes, with the rest of the top 10 men not too far behind and Men's Veterans not looking too shabby either. Vanja Cnops took the Women's title with a steaming run of 44:12, with Itsuko Tanaka, the Women's Veteran winner not far behind her.

Great fun, excellent company, brilliant pics from Running Shots, Sports Snapshots and friends at the race, and second place in the Women's Open race. That's a good day out I'd say! :) Huge thanks to my sponsors Salomon and Hammer Nutrition, great kit and fuelling as always!

Better block the date for next year in your race diary!

Check out some of the pics here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.451690834879194.101127.309422402439372&type=3
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.463778930330171.99581.448815758493155&type=1
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151258928163788.490772.530388787&type=3
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.386292741451388.92630.369289756485020&type=1

Red Bull gives you wiiiings!

It's been an eventful few weeks since TNF100. A bunch of us entered the inaugural Red Bull Flugtag in Singapore, and The Amazing Flying Baboons (that's us! Obviously the result of a whiskey-fuelled night!) had been hard at work building our awesome Baboon Air bi-plane. The boys did most of the building and let me play with the staple gun once in a while, not that I'm complaining .. I'm better off styling the costumes and being bossy with the Red Bull Control Tower team!

Baboon Air? Check!

We were totally stoked and we were all pretty sure our plane would fly. Plane and giant banana? Check. Baboon costumes with big red asses? Check. Very excited pilot with GoPro camera strapped to chest? Check!

Here's the video footage from the GoPro .. I take no responsibility for what I was yelling, adrenaline has a lot to answer for.

A broken spar on the platform trolley (happened on the way up the ramp!) didn't allow us a full speed run-up .. that and we kept veering off to the right! A stop halfway down the runway to re-align didn't help either!

Hamming it up before the day

Time really seemed to stand still when I took off .. it felt like I was flying for a good while before the plane took a rather rude nosedive. The tail had hit the ramp without me knowing and it wasn't till I saw this video playback that I worked out what happened. What a shame! The banana Plane really felt like it was itching to take flight, and I'll bet my last frozen margarita that we would have flown a pretty decent distance if all had gone according to plan!

Post-crash: Sunburnt, knackered and looking forward to a massive jug of margaritas!

We consoled ourselves with cheering the other teams after us, and lots of frozen margaritas at the afterparty though! :)

I'm pretending to be a baboon whilst Colin wears his patented ice-hat

Best bit? being on the front page of The Straits Times on Monday morning, woohoo!

And here's what you would have seen from the beach ...