Broken Chain at Thousand Islands Lake spoils my race

The race at Thousand Islands Lake was supposed to be my first taste of elite road racing in China. With so many former professional athletes taking part in the 150Km long road race, the race was surely to be one of difficulty. Indeed, teams from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan flew in to HangZhou to make the start of the race.

On Saturday, the day before the race, I drove my car 5 hours from my home in ChangZhou to the race hotel in QianDaoHu town. The nicest part of the drive was the QianDaoHu highway, where the wide highway along with beautiful scenery and rolling hills surely made for a nice drive to and from the race venue.

The race kicked off rather fast, with the initial road tarmac being rather slippery, especially patches that included water on the ground. Once out of the city, the race pace rose even further and with the large number of racers (150+), crashes seemed inevitable. We had to ride through 14 dark tunnels, cross several sleeping police bumps on the road and cross many bridges that offered such beautiful scenery, but during the race we obviously had no time to admire the natural landscape of Thousand Islands Lake.

Just after the first few kilometres I decided that the rear end of the group was too dangerous to stay in. I moved to the front as soon as we crossed the first major bridge just around 5Km into the race. I was later informed that at that precise moment, there was a large crash at the back end of the group.

Nevertheless, I was to be unlucky once again for the second consecutive time. Firstly, I lost two water bottles as we passed a small toll gate (the road bumps made my bottles jump out of my bike and out of my rear jersey pocket). Then, when I was riding at the front of the group just at the top of the first major climb, my bike chain snapped!

I stood at the side of the road, motionless, thinking that this cannot be true. As soon as all the bike racers passed, the neutral service car stopped and came to my aid. They fixed the chain. While they did so, I had something to eat, stretched my muscles and visited the bathroom. I got back into the race and time-trialled 15Km as fast as I could, trying to catch the main group. Having lost 5 to 7 minutes while the neutral service car fixed my chain meant that I would have to ride faster than the group itself. This was unlikely, so there was only one fair solution: hope that the main group would slow down a little.

25 minutes after time-trialling on my own, a race official motorbike stopped me from racing. I was more than 10 minutes behind the race lead and according to the race regulations, those racers which were 10 minutes behind the race leader, were forced to retire. In fact, only around 30 starters made it to the finish of the race!

With 2 'Did Not Finish' from my latter 2 road races, I really surely hope for some good luck and some good race results! To add salt to the wound, I am also suffering from a cold as I write this right now.

It's been just about six weeks since I returned from Malta and started training for the second phase of my 2009 racing season.

Considering the three weeks I spent off my bike, I was not expecting my race performances to be very good this month since race performance is usually correllated directly to training efficiently, regularly and effectively. Hence, the races this month were done for training and were considered as training races since my race form is quite far from its best.

The NanJing mountain bike race at Island River Park ­originally planned for the 9th of August was postponed to the 15th of August due to the disturbing typhoon weather. The narrow circuit at NanJing Island River Park ­was short, but equally tough. Each of the 8 laps required riders to dismount and carry their bikes over large logs, run with their bikes up several stairs, manage their way through a deep mud hole as well as ride carefully close to the river on slippery wet marble.

I got off to a good start and was in the top four before a race marshall signalled race cancellation (or so I thought) due to some cars on the race course. So, I immediately braked hard and slowed down, only to lose positions and realise that the race marshall's signal meant 'be careful'.

The narrow race course at Island River Park ­ meant that once I started the race in around eighth position, it was hard to overtake riders. Eventually, I treated the race as a training race and focused on getting a good workout from the race. I ended the race in 8th position.

Double training races in NanJing & ChangZhou

The following day, Sunday 16th August 2009, ChangZhou's HengShanQiao hosted its second mountain bike Bridgestone Cup. The race organisation was awesome, with around 140 competitors and another 300 spectators coming from all over JiangSu province! The race turnout was very good for ChangZhou's standards since it was the second time in two years that ChangZhou hosted a bicycle race!

After my average performance the day before in NanJing, I decided to ride to the race venue from my home in HuTang. I rode 30Km and I was then ready to make a good workout out of the race at HengShanQiao. Focusing on races in August would mean forgoing potential better race form later on in the year. Hence, considering the timing of the race in ChangZhou, it is difficult for myself to be in very good race form in August since my end of season goals are focused on the month of October.

I had a good start, only to have to press the brake whilst sprinting the first uphill in order to avoid a potential crash with another rider. From then on, I rode a consistent race, putting safely first, especially in the treacherous downhill sections.

The elite race included some high profile riders from the South of JiangSu province. Us local ChangZhou racers all knew that they would give us a hard time. Indeed, the top 4 positions of the race consisted of non-ChangZhou racers, with last year's winner taking fifth and myself finishing the tough race in 6th position.

After the race, I rode back home. Considering the stress I have been through in the past few days, the races' performances can be considered as acceptable albeit, God willing, I hope to perform better in ChangZhou's mountain bike race next year!

Another puncture spoils my race in AnTing

On Saturday 5th September 2009 I made my way to ShangHai's AnTing circuit for the 72Km road race. Saturday races usually mean I won't be fully rested since I would have worked the day before. Albeit, it does not really matter since ShangHai races are usually held on Saturdays.



The last time I raced in AnTing was 3 months ago. On that occassion, my road race was spoilt by a front puncture with less than a quarter of the race remaining. Before Saturday's race start, I kept my fingers crossed hoping no puncture would ruin my race again.



The circuit at AnTing is interesting and one which I like because there are no slow corners. In fact, it is oval in shape and suits my large physique. Early in the race, there were quite a few racers who punctured. Each time I saw someone puncture, I hoped I would not be one of them. I was racing relatively well until just after an hour of racing my rear tyre punctured! I could not continue the race and was actually rather demoralised.



In fact, in view of the bad quality of the tubular tyres I am racing on, I have decided to change my tubular racing tyres. In the meantime, I will race on different carbon rims using clincher tyres until the new tubular racing tyres arrive from overseas.



Before and after the road bike race, I also had some sort of race. Attending the AnTing road race also meant it was the first time I drove my own car in China to a bicycle race. Fortunately, after driving for 2 hours from my home in ChangZhou, I managed to find the race venue without any major problems.



A significant problem arose on my way to ShangHai after the race. I got confused driving on the ShangHai highways and ended up driving most of the A30 ShangHai highway most Saturday afternoon. Fortunately, most ShangHai bicycle races are held on outskirt towns in ShangHai. Next time, I will avoid driving into ShangHai city centre in view of the hassles imposed.

8th June 2009:

No luck in ShangHai and TaiCang Races

This past weekend saw my last two races before I have a short break from racing in order to re-build my physical and mental base.

The first road race was held in ShangHai in AnTing town. The circuit was perfect for my characteristics- no slow corners and mostly oval shaped. The 72Km race was tough in view of numerous speed surges by several race win contenders. For the first 60Km, the pace was either averaging around 35Km/h; otherwise we were dragged out in a single line averaging over 50Km/h! In fact, my maximum speed recorded during that race was 57.1Km/h and that was not at the end of the race, since I did not make it to the finish.

I timed my attack perfectly with 14Km to go until the end of the race. I surged ahead of the group and rode hard to chase down the two riders ahead. Within seconds, another 4 racers joined me and with our mix of abilities, it seemed like this was going to be the decisive race break. I was racing on new Zipp404 Tubular wheels for the first time. To my shock, 9Km before the finish, my front tyre punctured and I was unable to finish the race. Eventually, the main group finished over 2 minutes behind the winner of the race, who happened to be my team mate and was one of the racers who had joined me after my solo attack.

On Sunday, there was a 60Km race in TaiCang. The circuit location was changed completely and considering I was racing on my still new Zipp404 tubular wheels, the slippery and damaged concrete road did not appeal to me much. In fact, in view of the dangers posed by staying in the main group of riders, I decided to break away early in the race. I soon joined another rider who was ahead of myself and we worked together for a few kilometres.

However, it was to no avail as the main group caught up with us soon after. This time again, luck was not on my side. After 44Km, while riding at over 40Km/h in a single line in the main group chasing 4 breakaway riders, a man driving an electric bike suddently came out of nowhere. The racer in the front of our group crashed on to the electric bike head on. I saw the crash from a distance and it was definately not nice to see. I was fortunate not to be at the front of the group and avoided falling.

As the racer lay unconscious on the ground and other riders were picking up their bikes from the ground, I called upon the remaining racers to stop the race out of safety concerns and respect for the racer. Within a few minutes, the race was stopped and all attention turned towards the terrible accident.

Despite puncturing in the Saturday road race and Sunday's road race being stopped after 45Km, the races proved that my race form was quite good and augurs well for the future races.

25th May 2009:

Shimano Bikers Festival - Tears, pain and cramps

Another year has passed, another Shimano Bikers Festival has arrived. Fortunately, unlike the 2007 and 2008 races, there was no rain on the day. I was registered for the 15Km Elite category individual mountain bike race and for the 3 hours mountain bike endurance race.

Right from the start, it did not seem to be a day of luck. When I arrived at the race venue, I had problems collecting my race numbers. With only 30 minutes to go until race start and so many pre-race procedures to be done, the tension was getting to me.

I managed to get everything sorted with ten minutes to go until the start of my first 15Km mountain bike race, albeit I had little time for a race specific warm-up! With hundreds of bike racers already lined up for the race, I finally made my way to the race start area.

The race start was extremely fast and with the introduction of the 3 minute rule meant that after 2 of five laps, most racers were eliminated from the race, myself included. The 3 minute rule dictates that should racers be three minutes after the race leader, that would mean that they cannot continue the race. With so many racers contesting the 15Km race based on a 3Km race circuit and so much traffic going up the first tough 12.5% offroad section, I understand the imposition of such a rule, albeit by race end there were only 9 finishers from around 50 starters!

The purpose of participation in the first cross country race was mostly to warm up my legs for the tough 3 hour individual endurance event in the afternoon.

After the first race, I wanted to ride back to the hotel I was staying at. However, instead of riding back Westwards for 20 minutes, I rode Eastwards for 20 minutes and by the time I arrived at my hotel, I only had 90 minutes left until the start of the important afternoon endurance race! To make matters worse, I removed my contact lenses with the intention of putting them back on after having a shower, but my left contact lens got lost somewhere in my left eye. I was lucky to have another pair of contact lenses with me, and I took the risk of wearing another contact lens in my left eye, albeit having another contact lens somewhere in my left eye.

With all this going on, I was also worried I would not start the race on time. Nevertheless, thanks to a good friend of mine, I managed to get a drive to the race venue from the hotel. Just when I thought my problems were over, just as I joined the hundreds of mountain bike racers taking part in the 3 hour endurance race both as individuals (just as myself) and as team relays, the contact lens in my right eye got displaced. As I waited on the start line, I played with my right eye for several minutes. Thankfully, with 3 minutes to go, I removed the contact lens and placed it back into my eye carefully. Then, I was ready to finally start my race, albeit with little warm-up!

The race itself was long, tough, hot, bumpy and painful. The race circuit was slightly shorter than the morning race's circuit, but it still featured most of the same tortuous 12.5% offroad climb that, on most occassions, forced most riders off their bikes. I had one aim in this race: to climb this hill on my bike (as opposed to walking with the bike up the hill) on each and every lap until the end of the 3 hours race duration.

I set off at a conservative race pace. As the race progressed, my race position improved. Riders were either quitting due to fatigue or due to cramps. With an hour to go, I was still climbing well, albeit being tired. I was averaging 7 minutes per lap until then. Just when I thought my chances of making it into the top 5 were getting realistic, my left leg starting having a small cramp. I had done 22 laps until then and climbed each hill of all the 22 laps on my bike. Next time around, I had a terrible cramp and I couldn't move my left leg. I was sidelined for two minutes with a race marshall helping me rest.

From then on, my cramps became worse and worse. I could not put any pressure riding uphill and I started doing 9 and 10 minute lap times. Most of the racers I overtook in the previous hour had caught up with me once again and I lost many positions. I had no option but to try and make it to the finish without any cramps pain, which I eventually did.

Besides a day of bad luck and frustration, it was a good learning experience. I would also like to thank some friends who supported me during the race, both for hydration purposes and for verbal and moral support.

4th May 2009:

A victim of bad luck

After my 2nd place in the NanJing Individual Time-Trial, things have not been going my way.

I was scheduled to race a short but fast race at TianMu Lake last Wednesday, April 29th. I did race, but only after succumbing to many hindrances that affected my race performance.

Besides arriving too late to carry out an adequate warm-up, I was also under stress from personal non-cycling related issues. Even though I tried my best to prepare for the race, I raced well until two-thirds into the race, only to lose my energy in the final third of the race. Frankly, I was baffled at my poor race form when it should have been quite good!

Nevertheless, I took a couple of days off and resumed training for a tough mountain bike endurance race later this month. Ironically, my race form in the last three days was better than it was last Wednesday, despite no specific recovery in between training sessions.

I unfortunately suffered quite a bad fall while training on my road bike yesterday. 13 is many foreigners' unlucky number. It had to be that 13 minutes after leaving my home yesterday noon, I did not do something which I should have done - look at the road ahead!

With the wind coming from the East, I decided to pace behind an electric scooter for the first few kilometres until the road turned Southwards. Even though I was managing about 30Km/h without any substantial effort, I was not feeling fresh. As a result, I was not completely focused on the road ahead. Just when I thought it was about time to stop pacing behind the electric scooter, I suddenly felt my front wheel hit something on the ground and found myself falling down on my right elbow and right knee.

As I picked myself up from the ground, I saw a piece of wood lying in the middle of the road. I hated myself for not paying attention on the road ahead. Just then, I looked at my bike computer. It read 13 minutes since the commencement of my training ride. It had to be that unlucky number again!

I looked at my road bike. The front wheel was badly damaged, the handlebar ends needed adjustment and the chain was in a strange position.

Then I looked at myself. My cycling clothing got torn with the impact. My right side arm warmer and the right side knee area of my cycling shorts were fully stripped apart. The clothing helped relieve some of the impact on the ground, albeit a significant amount of blood and road rash is present on the right side of my body.

Now, all my body aches from the fall. My left knee is swollen due to hitting my bike frame while falling, while my back aches from the impact. To make it worse, the pain from the wounds did not let me sleep all night.

With quite a few negative things happening recently, I really wish for some luck in the weeks ahead.

17th April 2009:

2nd place at NanJing Individual Time-Trial

Last Sunday, I raced my third race of the 2009 Racing Season.

Early Sunday morning, on a day when the temperature was comfortable, two racing friends and I, drove to NanJing to participate in the first race of the NanJing bicycle racing series. The race was held in the JiangNing district of NanJing.

I was registered to race a 30 kilometres individual time-trial and later an 18 kilometres mountain bike time-trial in the A category.

I was one of the few not racing on a time-trial road bike, albeit racing on my new carbon racing road bike. This was not to say I was comfortable racing on the bike. My carbon bike has two glitches, which I must fix in the coming weeks by sending my frame and fork to the factory in the South of China. Hence, my mind was also tense, fearing my racing bike would have a mechanical fault! Worst of all, no one at the race site had any tools to help me fix the problem.

As I set off on my 30 kilometres individual road bike time-trial, I could feel my race form was quite good! I had been sick the week before and until mid-week I was still on medicine and recovering from my sore throat. All I could do the days before the race was rest and hope for the best.

Due to my fast and aerodynamic race pace, I immediately started overtaking riders and as the race progressed I felt I would be on the podium at the end of the race. As I crossed the finish line, someone uttered that I was leading the race standings. At that moment, I thought my first race win in China could be a possibility, but with my second race due in half an hour, I did not have time to think about my race result.

My legs were in pain from the road bike individual time-trial effort. I immediately cooled down on my racing mountain bike and even considered not racing the second race.

Nevertheless, I was on the start line at the start of the mountain bike A category individual time-trial. As I started the race, I could feel much more relaxed than in the previous road bike individual time-trial race because I knew I did very well in the previous race. So, a good finishing position in the mountain bike individual time-trial would be the icing on the cake.

I gave my utmost during the second race, albeit not being used to racing a mountain bike individual time-trial on flat roads.

At the end of the races, the results were announced and the top 5 racers in each race were called to the podium.

I placed 2nd in the 30 kilometres road bike individual time-trial with a time of 42 minutes and 36 seconds, just two minutes slower than the winner of the race. I was later informed that he is actually a cyclist by profession, unlike myself, who is an amateur bike rider!

I finished 4th in the 18 kilometres mountain bike individual time trial with a time of 29 minutes 10 seconds.

Overall, I am pleased with my race results. It has been a long time since I was a major contender for winning races. I hope my 2009 racing season will continue to unfold better and better.

23rd May 2008:

Early Season Racing Reveals Significant Weakness

Living in China means that my racing season starts three months later than it used to do in Europe because the first races only start in April and end around October or November, unlike in Europe when I used to start racing in the middle of January and race until September.

My early season was characterised by 4 tough races in a space of 4 weeks- an international half ironman race in HaiKou, a fast road criterium in ShangHai and two international endurance mountain bike races in HuangShan and NanJing.

Whilst my half ironman race performance was quite good (I finished in 88th position overall), the latter three races reflected a very frustrating weakness - I am overweight and this weakness is a significant limiter to my race performance.

The race in TianMa racing circuit in ShangHai was a good test of my anaerobic capacity. I was pleased to finish with the main group, albeit struggling to carry my excess body weight during the tough parts of the race.

In HuangShan, things did not go as I expected. I was sick with a cold a few days before the race, China's largest international mountain bike race. We drove eight hours to HuangShan the day before the race and besides the beautiful scenery, the weather was cold and rainy. Moreover, due to specific HuangShan government regulations governing the safety of foreign participants in the race, I was forced to change hotel accomodation the night before the race, resulting in a major disruption to my sleep.

The day of the race was nice weather but the effects of the cold medicine I had taken days before the race, the cold itself, the hassle during the night before the race and the muddy sections of the race made my legs feel empty whilst climbing the long hills of the race. I finished the 50Km endurance race in 55th position overall.

Last Sunday, I got up at 3.30am to race in NanJing. We left ChangZhou at 5am and drove to the race venue. The 2 hours one man endurance race was scheduled to start at 10:45am. At 8am it started raining heavier and heavier. To make things even more complicated, we waited 45 minutes in the rain until our race eventually got started!

The amount of rain coupled with the terrain of the race course made some hilly sections so muddy that most riders had to get off and push their mountain bike up and down the hills. There was a moment half way during the race when the rain stopped and the mud dried up a little, thus making the hills ride-able. However, the rain started again after 20 minutes and made us suffer like soldiers in a war.

To add to the mess, just after an hour of racing, one of my front disc brake pads got loose and fell somewhere in the race course, probably due to the heavy amount of mud that accumulated around the braking area of my mountain bike. That meant that my front brake was not working until the end of the race. I finished the 2 hours one man endurance race in 33rd position overall, partly pleased because 500 metres before the finish, I realised I had a front puncture and was lucky it did not happen earlier in the race. Needless to mention, the rain stopped immediately after the race ended!

I am scheduled to resume racing in the middle of June. Right now, I am undergoing intense training aiming to reduce my body weight as well as improve my race endurance and race performance.

14th February 2008:

Running injury still lingering

Happy Chinese New Year to you all! Hope you had a good holiday!

The recent cold weather that hit China also affected my training plans. After being sick for 5 days and after recovering for another 5 days, I resumed training on the bike.

Albeit feeling well, training in this cold weather means wearing 2 pairs of socks and 2 over shoes besides the cycling shoes. Additionally, in order to reduce the risk of catching a cold, I wear three to four upper body cycling clothing layers and one or two lower body cycling clothing layers. Moreover, besides wearing 2 pairs of gloves while riding, I wear a hat, a scarf, my usual cycling helmet and something that covers my mouth and reduces the effect of wind chill on my breathing. As you can see, it takes quite an amount of motivation to go out and fight the cold weather on the bike!

On a separate note, it has been nearly 6 weeks since I succumbed my first running injury. After not running for nearly a month, I decided to try my running legs yesterday. All went well for the first 4Km until halfway into the fifth kilometre my right calf started aching. I stopped at the 5Km mark, stretched my right calf and decided to take a shortcut back home.

The last 3Km back home were a drag! I ran for 150 metres but then had to stop due to pain. I stretched my right calf for a minute and resumed running, only to stop after another 150 metres due to my right calf tendon pain once again. I once more stretched my muscles and once again resumed running. It took me exactly 20 stops with approximately 150 metre intervals until I made it back home!

Right now, as I write this blog entry, my right knee and right calf ache a little. Ensuring muscle recovery has become a top priority. This means increasing protein intake to repair the damage muscles and tendons, increasing massage to the injured area, keeping the injured area warm as well as eating the mineral magnesium in tablet and food form.

Now, I see that running is indeed a tough sport! A running injury can take weeks or months to heal completely.

My concern is quite worrisome. Why is that? In 6 weeks I am scheduled to take part in the Malta Duathlon National Championships (Run-Bike-Run) and even more intense is the fact that in 9 weeks I am scheduled to participate in my first half ironman race in HaiKou, HaiNan province! I cannot see myself running a half-marathon with my current running injury. Even more specific is that I have already paid my 1700RMB half ironman race entry fee and have already made the necessary logistical preparations for the event.

Any prayers and kind thoughts from your side would be appreciated...

14th January 2008:

My first running injury

I came back from SanYa, HaiNan province a couple of weeks ago feeling strong and ready to continue resuming regular training after a few days of rest.

Despite work, weather and other disruptions, I resumed training as usual after several days of planned rest.

In doing so, 9 days ago, I realised I am suffering from a serious running injury in my right sole. The pain, which starts after just a few minutes of easy jogging, moves all the way up to my right calf and sometimes does not allow me to walk well, let alone run!

I rested for a week and went for a short, easy run last Saturday. Despite my rest, the pain came back quickly and I had to head back home after less than 2 kilometres of running at a very easy pace.

The injury is not serious, but it is such that I cannot run until it disappears and my muscles and tendons heal.

Several years ago, I came across many ex-runners that moved into cycling due to succumbing running injuries as well as cycling in order to help the running injury and cross-train. Furthermore, the saying that running brings with it many injuries did make its presence in my ears many times. Back then, I could not understand this concept. Now that I am suffering from my first running injury, I can understand runners' frustrations.

Now, there is nothing else I can do except massage my right leg and right foot, rest and hope for the best.

Moreover, the cold weather does not help recovery, since muscles require warmth. In addition to this, the recent snow and frozen ice coupled with the current cold weather and sometimes rain, makes outdoor training conditions rather gutsy. Keep in mind that water loses heat many times faster than air. Hence, getting wet can make your body temperature fall quite fast; thereby making you feel cold.

1st January 2008:

SanYa Triathlon Training Camp –Objectives Accomplished

I am writing this blog entry while waiting for my return flight to ShangHai late Monday evening.

I have never been on a plane at midnight between the end of one year and the start of another year. So, I guess the feeling I have right now is a little different, considering that one can look at New Year’s Eve just like any other evening, whilst at the same time one might grant some kind of special attention to the evening. In my case, travel, sport and work objectives had priority over such a special evening. Nevertheless, I wish you all a prosperous New Year 2008!

Back to the serious matters. My SanYa Triathlon training camp went quite well indeed! Apart from the insects, which I found in my SanYa apartment, that sometimes did indeed not allow me to sleep deeply, I achieved all my planned training objectives.

I am returning back to ChangZhou with three sun tans. One is due from my Triathlon suit, another comes from my cycling clothing and the latter is from my regular clothing.

Just for those interested in the details of my Triathlon training camp, half of the training time was spent cycling, just under a quarter of the time was spent swimming and just over a quarter of the time was spent running.

One of the main reasons I visited SanYa was indeed to swim in the South China Sea. It was quite a daily sight, to admire the nice blue sea, just as I did when I was in my home country, Malta, last year. The weather in SanYa is similar to Malta’s late Spring, Summer and early Autumn and is indeed good for Triathlon training! Hence, I made sure to include a swim everyday, be it a swim workout or just a simple swim. In the morning, the sea swell was calm, whilst there were times in the afternoon when the swell was a little rough. Nevertheless, swimming in both conditions should prepare me well for China’s first ever Half Ironman race in HaiNan province, HaiKou city, on April 20th 2008, since, once again, the race will require swimming in the open South China Sea and will be performed in similar climate temperatures to SanYa’s current environment.

Frankly, once I arrived in SanYa, it took me a couple of days to get accustomed to the warm weather and I did not welcome the trip too well. Presently, the feeling is quite the opposite. It will feel strange going from 30 degrees to 0 degrees once I arrive in ShangHai, and later, the even colder climate of ChangZhou.

I uploaded photos from my stay in SanYa in my photo album. Please feel free to have a look and enjoy the moments.

24th December 2007:

Training in SanYa

I am currently reporting this blog from the warm city of SanYa in HaiNan province.

I arrived here the night between last Saturday and Sunday, after over half a day of travelling by car, train, bus and plane. I brought my training road bike with me in order to train here in SanYa, as well as run and swim whenever possible.

Upon arrival at SanYa airport, warm, cool weather greeted me, as well as relatively dark skinned humans, that made me wonder whether they were really Chinese!

So far, things have not been going well for me. I came to SanYa recovering from a bad cold as well as from considerable lack of sleep. Moreover, my apartment, which is conveniently located less than 5 minutes walk from DaDongHai Bay, is not so clean and contains many insects, which make it very inconvenient, if you know what I mean!

Training-wise, I had to rest all day on Sunday due to being tired. I went for a swim in the nice, blue sea on Sunday afternoon and I felt like I did not know how to swim due to being so tired.

Today, Monday, I went for short bike ride to YaLong Bay, but I had to return back to my apartment ahead of time because of problems in my bicycle chain and because I required additional rest. Later in the afternoon, I went for a kilometre swim in the sea at DaDongHai Bay. My swimming was better than my cycling, but still a long way from the usual me.

I came to SanYa with expectation of enjoying the warm weather and focusing on building up training volume. Nevertheless, all I have been feeling until now is missing ChangZhou and wondering why things are not going as planned.

8th November 2007:

More about 2008

My 2007 racing season has been pretty much abnormal. I came to China at the end of January 2007 after having just completed my M.B.A. thesis in mid-January, over three months before the official deadline. Before that, I was on holiday in Germany (Frankfurt, Mainz, Wiesbaden, Koblenz, Heidelberg & Berlin), the Czech Republic (Prague) and Austria (Vienna) for 3 weeks, but it was more like a half-holiday since I ended up trying to finish my M.B.A. thesis on my laptop before the March 31st deadline so as to come to China as soon as I could.

Looking at my 2007 racing season from a training theoretical point of view, one can see that my base training was rather limited. As the saying goes, the bigger the pyramid base, the higher the pyramid can go. That same saying applies to any type of sports training and racing. The more foundation work done in the off-season non-racing months, the greater the benefits later on in the racing season. Of course, it is easier said than done. So, anyone who needs advice on this please let me know.

This week, the Tour of Hainan is on in the South of China. For details and race photos, you can click here:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2007/nov07/hainan07/default

I am also posting a photo of myself and my Polish friend back in Malta, which was taken after I completed my first Triathlon (Sprint Distance: 750m swim, 20Km Cycle and 5Km Run) on 17th September 2006 (Gosh, over a year has passed since my first Triathlon race!). As you can see, I chose to have my chest and back waxed in order to glide faster through the swim portion of the race and to be more aerodynamic during the cycle and run. I have been shaving my legs since I started competitive cycling in 2001. So, shaving my legs is not an issue.

The reason why I am talking about Triathlon is that I hope to compete in China's first ever Half Ironman race on April 20th, 2008. This race distance is known as the 70.3 Ironman. The distances are as follows:
1.9Km Swim, 90Km Cycle and 21Km Run.

More details can be found at:
http://www.ironmanchina.com/

Whilst the distances seem mind-boggling, the greatest worry would be keeping one's energy levels and hydration high. I've covered all the distances individually. I've done a 2Km swim, I've cycled much more than 90Km whilst last Sunday I ran 22Km for the first time in my life. The Ironman race distances are approximately double the half Ironman ones but the Ironman race fees ($470 USD) are more than double the half Ironman race ($200USD).

Today, I should participate in a 1,500m running race on the track, which should serve as good speedwork for the Shanghai Marathon race on November 25th, which should in turn serve as good build-up for the half Ironman race next year.

Right now, the half Ironman race seems to be my first target of 2008. After that, I'll participate in long road bicycle races and a few mountain bike races. The training needed to build up for the half Ironman race should come in handy for long bicycle races and mountain bike races since, besides strong legs, a certain amount of strength in the upper body is also needed during road bicycle races and mountain bike races.

I'll keep you posted with respect to my training and racing activities as they unfold.

27th November 2007:

Shanghai Half Marathon–Raising My Confidence Level

My three month preparation for completing my first-ever half marathon (21.0975 Km) by participating in the Shanghai Half Marathon did finally serve its fruits.

My running confidence was not high in view of the fact that I did not feel I am a fast runner, since I never really practiced leisure running, let alone competitive running. Hence, actually registering and paying for my participation in Shanghai’s Half Marathon did prove to help me set a target with the aim of achieving the Shanghai Half Marathon completion goal.

In the days before the event, I was keeping a close eye on race day weather, since I did not want to run my first half marathon in wet and cold weather. The weather was turning out to be getting warmer and warmer, with the warmest day being race day. The day after, the temperature fell from a high of 24 degrees Celsius in the shade, to a high of 15 degrees Celsius in the shade the next day.

Indeed, as I stood at the start line amongst the 10,000 other starters just before 07:30, my heart rate monitor read an outside temperature of 23 degrees Celsius. The temperature was to later reach a high of 29 degrees Celsius two hours later. I was so happy it just turned out to be a great day for running!

I arrived in Shanghai on Saturday afternoon and selected lodging one kilometre from the race start. Saturday night was indeed a difficult night to sleep. I was in bed early since I had to get up at 04:00 the next day to cook Italian pasta as my pre-race meal. Yet, as I lay in bed, I could hear several party-goers enjoying themselves at a nearby pub. Such a temptation could either make or break an athlete, depending on his mental strength.

I rose as scheduled at 04:00. As I was preparing my pre-race meal, many others were just going to bed after a good night’s out. Little did I know that within metres of my bed, there were quite a good number of marathon runners sleeping! To my surprise, as I ate, I saw various men and women, of various ages and nationalities, preparing for their running participation!

In view of various factors, including my running limitations, I aimed for a finishing time between 1 hour 40 minutes and 1 hour 50 minutes.

The first kilometre was slow since all the participants wanted to get away from Nanjing East Road, the starting road of the event. As the runners spaced out, I could see quite a few who were running so fast and I wondered whether they would even last 5 kilometres!

The great number of participating foreigners was indeed impressive. I reckon a fifth of the participants were foreign. I was the only Maltese participating athlete though.

As the race progressed, I was setting an average of 5 minutes per kilometre kilometers. If I kept my running pace constant and accelerated a little bit in the final few kilometers, then, I reckoned I would reach my half marathon time objective.

The number of runners that stopped running and walked increased as the race progressed. It was a difficult sight indeed – The last thing one would want to see while running and suffering are runners walking! It does no good to one’s confidence level.

Nevertheless, my drawbacks came after the 16th kilometre. My lower back started hurting and I could not keep my 5 minute per kilometre pace, a sign that I need to work on my long distance muscular endurance.

With 2 kilometres to go, I upped the pace but found little feedback from my legs.

The final kilometre was long. As I saw that I needed to set a sub 4:00 minute per kilometre in the final 1.0975 kilometres in order to achieve a finishing time within 1 hour 50 minutes, I increased the pace and felt the pain all the way through the finish. However, it was to no avail.

My running ‘Champion Chip’ clocked a time of 1 hour 51 minutes 34 seconds; not bad for my first participation in a half marathon race.

I was knackered, yet pleased I achieved my goal. Such a feat raises my running confidence level to a new level, albeit I have much fat to shed should I want to run competitively!

Three hours later, after I boarded a coach to the nearest Metro subway station, we waited in traffic for the roads to clear up. Looking out of the window, I could see an endless trail of runners; a few were running, a few were about to stop and walk, and a good number were walking towards the finish. They were less than 2 kilometres away from completing their full marathon distance (42.195 Km).

I admired them not only their physical ability, but also for their mental strength and prayed they made it to the end, for I did indeed know what it felt like to be so close to home, yet not be able to run anymore.

20th November 2007:

All set for the war on Sunday

Preparation for my first half-marathon competitive run in Shanghai this Sunday is going well. This is not a very important race in my racing calendar, albeit it has some importance since I have never raced a distance so long (21.0975 Km). Hence, it requires the need of a taper, whereby training volume is cut down to allow for muscle soreness and sore joints to heal, the mind to refresh and the immune system to strengthen up.

Over the past few days, I have also been fighting with trying not to get sick. The cold weather in China is different from that in Central or Southern Europe. This so called Chinese 'mild' Winter was also the reason many Jews could not survive in Shanghai during the Second World War when they fled to Shanghai from Europe. The extreme heat and cold played havoc with their health since they were not used to it.

In a similar way, everyday I struggle to keep myself warm and prevent any training disruption that might not only ruin training but also competitions! I have lived in Central and Southern Europe during all seasons of the year but have never had this feeling. I sleep with three blankets and two layers of clothing while I usually wear three to four layers of Winter clothing during the day right now. So, if you are about to tell me to wear more clothing, think again.

Just to give an idea of my ten day taper to the keen sports person, my ten day taper involves the following found hereunder. Please note that running is not my only sports. Triathlon is my main objective; hence, the inclusion of cycling. I will start swimming regularly after the Shanghai half-marathon. Furthermore, I have to see how my legs feel after Sunday's hard race pace run and adjust my plans if necessary.

My 10 day taper is as follows:

Day 1 and Day 2: Complete rest (Coincidentally on Day 1, I was about to get sick; so the rest timing was good);

Day 3: A moderate run of 12Km with three-quarters of the run just below race pace as well as practising eating and drinking at race pace (Yes, large people would usually need to eat at moderate intervals to avoid carbohydrate levels depleting and maintain race performance during long training and races);

Day 4: Easy short recovery ride on the bike.

Day 5: Short easy ride on the bike, slightly longer than the previous day.

Day 6: Moderate bicycle ride at easy to moderate intensity.

Day 7: Easy recovery ride on the bike.

Day 8: Easy recovery ride on the bike.

Day 9: Complete rest (ideally a short warm-up run would do good, but I'm not that experienced in running. So, running the day before the race would do me more damage than good at this stage of my running experience).

Day 10: D-Day - Go to WAR. Complete Half-Marathon within my planned time target.
Besides the above, good sleep and healthy eating several days prior to the race is fundamental to ensuring good race performance.

The race starts at 7:30 am Sunday morning. Here is the planned race route should you be interested:
Century Square Nanjing Road Pedestrian Walk ( starting line)→Nanjing Road Pedestrian Walk → Shanxi Road（S）→Jiujiang Road→Nanjing Road (W)→Yanan Road (W)→Zhongshan Road (W)→Hongjiao Road→Songyuan Road→Quilin Road→Qinzhou Road (N)→Quiping Road→Pubei Road→Guijiang Road（return）→Jianan Road→Gudai Road→Xingzhen Road→Minhang Stadium (finishing line).

Well, this is all for now. I will write a complete race report a few days after the race. I hope the weather will not be too cold or rainy and I hope I will be able to have a good race!

12th November 2007:

2nd in Teachers 1500m running race

Last Thursday, I participated in my school's 24th sport meeting.

I took part in shot put, just for the fun of it (it's been 10 years since I last tried shot put!). Even more important was my participation in the 1500m running race on the track, which was my first ever running race on the track.

Its significance lies in my preparation for my first half-marathon debut in Shanghai on November 25th. The race was fast and made me really suffer. The start was delayed by one hour, making me feel a little cold and anxious. Nevertheless, before the start I kept my eyes on one particular competitor who I guessed was a serious runner and planned to stick to his race pace.

I started overtaking running after 200m and went from last to 2nd before settling down at a fast pace behind the race leader. I was thinking: "Why is this bastard making us suffer so early in the race?" My initial plans to follow the competitor who I thought was serious were put aside when he decided to stay towards the back of the field.

I did not want to lose too much ground from the front, knowing it will take much effort to make that up later, especially with tired legs! So, after a 10 metre gap, In opened throttle and stayed at the front controlling the pace.

To my surprise, the initial pace setter faded after 800 metres and I was running first suffering like a dog. I was doing it for my uncle, that passed away peacefully in 1994, at the age of 34, who was a basketball player and would have be of so much encouragement to my sport activities.

Nevertheless, with 20 metres to go, the athlete who I eyed as a serious runner before the race, suddenly came out from nowhere and beat me to the line by a few metres. I ended up 2nd, yet disappointed that I lost the race win in the final 20 metres.

I've got a lot of fat to shed off. Hence, that will require hours and hours of training as well as good rest, healthy eating and additional sleeping.

20th September 2007:

Still injured from Sunday's falls

The four falls sustained on Sunday before my mountain bike race in YangZhou are still being felt. My upper body aches all over. Worst off is my left shoulder, which is a little swollen. My left arm feels like someone punched me twenty times on the same area, while my right side ribs are also sore. My right shin and left elbow also have a few bruises.

Due to this pain, I have been very tired everyday. The injuries require rest, thus making me go to bed early. Every morning I've been waking up a little better but the pain is still there. I foresee that it will need another several days to heal completely.

In addition to body injuries, my mountain bike also sustained damages to its handlebar, the front derailleur and a few scratches on the frame.

Meanwhile, the weather has not been good recently. Typhoon Wipha, which was set to pass through Changzhou, fortunately lost its force and turned into strong wind and rain.    

17th September 2007:

YangZhou ShuGang Park Mountain Bike Race

It has been over 8 months that I had not ridden my mountain bike until last week, when my parents were kind enough to bring one of my mountain bikes with them when they came to visit me recently. Furthermore, it had been over 15 months since my last mountain bike race. So, it was quite a feeling to be back racing on my mountain bike!

Departing from ChangZhou at 7o'clock with ChangZhou 0519 Cycling Club, we drove to YangZhou and arrived there just before the start of the first race. I must say that races organised by Shimano here in China depict substantial professionalism in their organisation.

I honestly knew that I should not expect an excellent result especially in view of my limited technical skills since I have only been riding on the road for the past 8 months.

The hardest and longest mountain bike race was scheduled mid-afternoon; so I had ample time to try the race track. The mountain bike race course was quite interesting indeed, apart from a dangerous section (triple downward arrows) that reminded me of the professional mountain bike races I used to participate in a couple of years ago.

Many riders dismounted from their bikes and did not attend the dangerous drop-off, while a few managed to accomplish the feat. In my case, the results of my attempts were various. In my first attempt, I flew over my handle bars and landed in the scrubs. The second attempt was worse, with me landing one of the race photographers; fortunately not injuring him. The third attempt was successful but due to the narrow race course I could not keep my balance. I attempted a final time and fell quite badly before I decided I'd have to run down this drop-off section during the race just as most of the other riders. So, in the attempts that followed, I ran down this section with my bike.

Well, I must say, most of the action happened before the race when I was practising the race track. Once the race started, it was all about putting my training skills into action and using my body's engine. Nevertheless, we also had to run up about 50 steps, which really took their toll on the heavy riders like me.

In the end, myself and a young rider from Henan province were racing for 6th place. He rode behind me for most of the race, conserving his energy. I wanted to have a clear road when tackling the single-track and other fast downhill sections of the course. So, I rode in front most of the time.

The end was an uphill sprint for 6th place just after a fast downhill section. I emerged first out of the downhill section, but knew my capability was limited. In the end, he overtook me just 5 metres before the line. I placed 7th. It's not bad considering that I had not touched a mountain bike for over 8 months.

The race result and race feeling of this race had to give me an indication as to whether I will end my bike racing during this season and focus on next season. In fact, I will not be attending the Suzhou mountain bike race next month and neither will I be attempting any road races until 2008.

Bruised in my muscles, joints and skin sustained during yesterday's falls, I hope to report some excellent race results in 2008!