© 2019 Thomas Brackmann
Printed in Germany
Herstellung und Verlag: BoD – Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt
ISBN 978-3-7494-3923-2
I love to travel the world.
Usually I only spend a couple of days in each place, but I like to live it to the maximum and try to do as much as possible.
Once you have seen a lot, and captured nice views of the landscape and scenery you can easily adapt to the local environment. It’s always interesting to meet new people, be friendly, invite them for a beer, and listen to their views and experiences.
Luckily I discovered another hobby that you can easily combine with travelling and sight-seeing: Sport. Especially running, you can do it wherever you travel. Later I learned swimming, and also got a bike. So, quickly, I started participating in the infamous triathlon sport. Even as an average person with average stamina, but some craziness, passion, listening to advises and reading books you can get quickly good results.
For some years I have always tried to combine my travelling with running or doing a Triathlon. Wherever possible I swim, cycle and run the countries I visit. That gives a deeper meaning and touch to each place. Swimming in the currents and watching the colorful fishes in crystal clear water in Mauritius, climbing high peaks in the Swiss Alps, or running a marathon in the heat of the dessert of Saudi Arabia, gives a great feeling of self-satisfaction. You don’t need to be a professional athlete to do these things, but if you are talented and ambitious, you can become one.
Now! I am also writing about my experiences. You might think! Oh, another book about triathlon? Really? Do we need it? Yes! The most triathlon stories are about maximum threshold, low carb diets, best training tips, train on empty stomach, keto diet, best swim techniques and so on. But what about partying? Drinking alcohol? Having fun? And more importantly, what about travelling and training in combination? Does this work? Oh, no! “Sorry I cannot go out tonight, I am training for an Ironman!” or Oh damn, I gained three kilograms again when I was on vacation. Too much drinking.” Or the family issue: “If I do another Ironman my wife will divorce me”. I heard that a lot. No excuses. With the right planning, spirit and positive attitude you can combine it all. Let’s do this!
And why is it me? I might not be the Kona tri-athlete, or a Pulitzer Prize winner in writing, nor the most traveled person. But in that mix of all three, I should be rather unique: Double Ironman Finisher, 2 times book publisher, and traveler to more than 200 countries and territories, while working full time 40 hours a week. So I like to take my readers on my journey through my travels and races since I started doing Triathlons some years ago. I hope I can encourage people to do more sports, and don’t take the triathlon as serious as it might be.
Therefore this book isn’t a serious training hand book, or an advice on how to get the best nutrition, or whatever power meter to use. It is more an inspiration on how to combine endurance sports with fun. Train to the max, travel to the max, and party to the max. If you plan it all in style you will be able to finish Ironman triathlons in a descent time (12hrs or so) and go even further (Double or Triple Iron Distance), have fun seeing some of the country during the race, being able to party hard, and relax after a grueling competition. Train hard, race easy, and don’t forget to smile at least for the finisher picture. Facebook and Instagram are waiting.
“Triathlon is a sport for those that one sport is not hard enough”, some people say. Others think: “Triathlon is a sport where you neither swim nor bike, nor run appropriately”. The truth is maybe somewhere in between. But nearly for granted: This sport is for people with kind of midlife crisis or in their midlife period. Why? The most nonprofessionals or so called Age groupers are in their 30ies and 40ies. Usually happily divorced, or married again, got kids, the job is sorted, career is done or no career possible anymore. So these guys need to prove themselves. 40 is the new 20. In that age you realize: “Hey its half time. Now I can continue drinking and smoking and the story is over in in a couple of years, or I can make a cut”. I can start over. Trend sport in these days is bodybuilding, calisthenics, yoga or Triathlon. All these sports are also good for posing in social media: Half naked of course to show the six-packs, biceps, and in triathlon the bike. It’s bike porn time. Since you got the money to spend 5000 bucks for a nice ride and you aren’t in your 20ies where you studied and any penny counted. You can afford. You deserve it. Period!
Functional Vegetarian
And so it started as well for me: Mid 30, overweight, happily divorced. It was time for a new beginning. Summer break done. I had 88 Kilogram. I was definitely too heavy. We need always a diet. That is business as usual. But now a new challenge has to be accepted. Marathon Dubai in 5 months. Why not? Training books here, travelling there, half pro talks as well. Then training started. I did it in the past. So I can do it again. When starting it all, I had to change my complete nutrition. I became a functional vegetarian by trying not to buy meat proactively. I consumed only collateral meat such as chicken salad, when eating food on board of a plane or when I am in a weird country. Salad is no option, because of food poisoning. Functional vegetarian, what is that, and why? Is it because of the animals? No! No! No! Just because of me. Meat is bad for the metabolism, makes you feel heavier, plus especially red one supports creating inflammation. Downside: Veggie meals need to be bigger in size since low calories per size. Ok. Pizza, Pasta, Rice is also vegetarian food but in training always go low with the carbs because your body gets used to carb intake during the day and then on any race day you cannot fuel as much as you need. But instead trying to go with low carb diet and use the boost effect of carbs in Marathons, Ultras, or whatever. BAM! Losing weight is essential. Somewhere I read 1 kilogram body weight less saves you 1 % of the finishing time of a marathon. That’s why. Easy! Piece of cake!
No party is no solution
What if you have been a party animal? And, you should start stopping drinking, eating crap, and having 8 hours for sleep – even at the weekend? What will happen too all the friends, the wingman socializing and the party peeps that names you will have forgotten after one minute? They still remain on the dancefloor but you see them with different eyes - with clear eyes, since you are not drinking anymore. Now you are into sports. Alcohol has too much calories, carbs, is a cell gift and slows the recovery. Anyone telling different stories (1 glas per day is ok) is a liar and could be faster. No alcohol of course since it will slow down metabolism, is a cell poison, and has too many calories. Other effect: Slows down recovery. Ok. Positive: Calms you down. But the truth is: Everything in moderation and listen to your body.
Shape up your life
Another positive effect is when you lower the volume of partying you get better in shape and you see better shapes - especially in races. The opposite sexes and possible targets for coupling or training partners look fit and you can spot them with a clear mind – without dark light or increased beauty look by intoxications caused by alcohol. So dating as it should be. Good thing: When you mate with another triathlete you are not going on their nerves by talking about triathlon because the half of the time triathletes talk about their sport. The other half they talk about swimming, biking, running. That is a usual clichés. Kind of true since they can also talk nonstop about nutrition, race gear, race around the world, injuries, recovery, full program. Best is to be with a partner who likes to get up at silly times in the night, even at weekends for a long run. Only those guys can understand why doing all that shit. Yes, for a finisher medal where you rank only 1200 out of 2000 competitors after 13 hours racing in an Ironman. And you are proud of yourself. In Olympia only the top 3 receive a medal. Yeah. No normal person would spend thousands of Dollars to travel around the world, suffer for half a day to finish average and be happy about such a medal. But we all are. Once during my first date with a non-triathlete she asked me: What’s more important the bike or me. Guess what my answer was. Guess who is ‘Single’ very often.
Lessons learnt: Live the dream!
They say happiness is the state’s doctrine in Bhutan. It is mentioned in several tourist guide books or you can also find it in different articles. Before arrival I believed it to be more spiritual than Nepal, and more happily smiling people than in Thailand. In addition the photographs from the so called tiger nest, a monks house high up in the mountains promised very special moments of consciousness – being closer to God and endless happiness. I planned to visit this special spot during my 4 days journey to Bhutan. Of course: I had in my mind doing 1 arm pushup videos with the background of this culture highlight. Core training people would call it. I call it sight training.
Hot, hot, hot: The food is on fire!
The landscape of this tiny country was tremendous, a bit like Switzerland: High trees and mountains. Different artists would have liked to come here to bring these sights to paper. The people are very friendly, having usually a little smile on their faces. But the Thai people smile more – from German perspective, always complaining. They look a bit like Japanese. Additionally, I missed the spirituality and the overwhelming happiness. All marketing gags. Nevertheless I was positively surprised by the kitchen they have. Nearly every dish is made together with spicy chilly. All lovers of hot Indian or Mexican food will fall in love with Bhutan cuisine. Rice, meat, veggie – always hot, spicy with chili! Yummi! The food is on fire!
Running up to the tiger nest
The highlight of this trip is the excursion to the tiger nest: 5 kilometers hiking up a hill. I asked my tour guide if I could run up and we just meet on the top. Luckily there was only 1 way up. So we wouldn’t miss each other or better, I wouldn’t get lost. Since I was in training for my first marathon in ten years I wanted to do some hill training. As I am not the greatest endurance performer that is still into travelling I tried to use every piece of opportunity to do some exercise. The guide was a bit surprised when I kicked off and left him behind. On top I got a great view above the valley. An unique experience. Light sunshine, 20 degrees Celsius! It was a perfect light and temperature. I decided to do a headstand with the tiger nest in background. After that I rushed through the building of the monks place. I took some pictures and inhaled the spirit, the thin air and some happiness as well.
The heat of the guest family
Then we had to walk down. Next stop: Dinner with a local family. On arrival the family waited for me already with a so called ‘Stone Bath’. After this little hill run it was a bombastic feeling sitting in the heat of the traditional bath. The bath tub was made out of wood. The water was at a decent temperature. At the end of the tube there was a mobile little wall with some holes. Behind this one the hosts put hot, really hot stones. These came directly from an open fire that was burning outside the house. The heat of the stones heated up the water. Since I was a bit tired but still having enough energy to read I enjoyed having a bath for around one hour. My tour guide took his bath right next to me but after nearly ten minutes he got bored, or it was too hot for him. The following dinner was like this: Chili with rice and meat. The kids of the house sang in the local language some songs for my entertainment. This reminded me of my home stay in a village in Kirgizstan where I also got a mini concert. Again, I thought for little money exploring strange, new worlds can be so easy and satisfying. The German writer Goethe once said a line like that: “Here I am. Here I am human. Here I can enjoy life” or something similar, he mentioned it in one of his writings. While a lot of other friends and colleagues I know usually spend their vacation in five star hotels I believed travelling in this way gives me at least a deeper approach to the countries and places I visit. Finally I found the happiness the people talk about when speaking about Bhutan!
Lessons learnt: There is always a way
Training: Check. Carbo Load: Check. Watch: Check! Race Gear: Check! Dubai Marathon let’s go! Very excited. Already 3 visits to the toilet before leaving the hotel. On arrival again. And again. What’s wrong here? The heat, the stomach, the mind? Too much water it was. Hydration is good, but too much is too much. Tried to implement all training and nutritional advice I had read before. So it came: After 2 kilometers I needed the first pit stop again. Of course no toilet available. Ha! What’s that? I spotted ladies in the squat position right behind some bushes. Uh-oh! I believed the Religious Police or some referees will interfere. We are in Dubai not in Berlin! But then I thought hey let’s do it. Same same. No problem. All good.
Increasing intervals for stronger finish
Then marathon, business as usual. Kept my estimated running pace, gels and bars in regular frequency, water as well from the aid stations. Felt like flying through the last 5 kilometers. Now I know what negative splits are. Great! Sub 4 hours as planned. Ok. My favorite training routine worked: Increasing intervals: 500 meters with 10 km/h followed by 500 meters with 12 km/h then fall back to 10.5km/h. Then up to 12.5km/h. I used to continue that procedure until I couldn’t increase anymore, but falling back to 11km/h or 11.5km/h. The body and mind have got used to relaxing at a higher pace than the one I started with. Brilliant! So I could easily complete the Dubai Run. But now off to a festive brunch. Around 20 runners from Riyadh Road Runners club met in a fancy hotel at the beach for a celebration. Champagne brunch it is. 80 Dollars all you can eat and drink. For a Middle Eastern celebration, it’s business as usual at weekends.
Champagne brunch
“If you cannot run faster, go further”, my table-neighbor at the brunch said. In the middle of the year she aims for a multistage race somewhere in South America. I believed she might be crazy. No advantage to that. That made no sense to me. Just the thought of that encouraged me to drink another glass of champagne. But here it comes; if you think other people’s goals are too crazy – maybe they are just more ambitious? Surround yourself by people who shoot for the stars. If you fail, you still might reach the sky. Those people lift you up and you can achieve great things in life. Keep a safe distance from the people who drag you down.
Above in the sky of Dubai
Aside from running and brunching, there are so many attractions in Dubai: Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. Great view above Dubai. If people want to go even higher they can go skydiving or bungee jumping! Even in January it’s still hot enough to swim. If temperatures are not cold enough at this time of year there’s even an indoor skiing option: Ski Dubai! For mountain kids it’s not fun of course, but for people from the flat areas, they may be pleasantly surprised.
After the marathon it comes the next one
In the past I never thought of running 2 marathons within 3 weeks. But once the running virus caught me, it carried me through and through. So the home Marathon race in Riyadh was calling. I could even remember a half professional 10 km runner who said to me some time ago, it’s not healthy to run more than 2 or 3 marathons per year. But who listens to other people when you didn’t ask for advice? Right! No one! And for Germans it is like that: They don’t know everything… They know everything better. Still, I was worried of course. But hey he was only a 10 kilometer finisher. Never completed a marathon. What’s the worst that will happen? I won’t die. Just more pain. But as long you have pain you are still alive. Feeling pleasure and pain is all part of the journey of our existence. Isn’t it? Yes it is!
Locker room talk
I finished Riyadh Marathon 5 minutes faster than 3 weeks before. Happy and I knew it, since it was very hot already. 35 degrees Celsius. I missed my PB by 3 minutes. And this PB was when I was 10 years younger at the Berlin marathon, a fast and cold run back then. Not now in the heat of the Saudi Arabian desert. After the hot run, off to shower. Normally not worth mentioning, but a chance meeting with JP makes it so. Old French running chap. 50+ years old. Old enough to be my dad. Strong finish in the harsh conditions of Riyadh with 3.17 hours. Top 5 or podium. Something like that. “How can you run that fast, you are not the youngest?” I wanted to know. “Hard training, and back to back, boy!” Indeed the next day he planned to run another 15k on tired, painful legs. I couldn’t even imagine walking another meter. “That gives me the strength to go hard”, he added. OMG! But he was faster than me, and among Riyadh’s top running mates. “Grab the legs by the pain”, Donald Trump would have said, maybe. I wanted to remember that for the future.
Ice, ice baby
Resting time now. At home legs in ice cold water to prevent the onset of inflammation. In Judo we would use ice spray on our sore muscles, in little hits. I read in some books the cooling effect directly afterwards should aid in recovery. In fact some months later, German soccer player Per Mertesacker said in an interview that he would lie in an ice box for consecutive days before the Quarter Final of the World Cup against France. It looks like I’m using the right strategy, same as the German players back in 2014 when they won the World Cup.
Lesson learnt: Grab the legs by the pain (recommendations from French ultra-runner “JP”