so ive been training pretty hard over the past two months or so, trying to get fit for many things ive got planned over the next 12 months.

ive been running a few times a week, doing gym and skipping, some weights and strength work and cycling for cardio and low impact.

as much as i love swimming i have virtually stopping swimming because of a shoulder injury i got playing rugby, hoping that it'd settle down before i got back into swimming again on a daily basis.

my first goal was to play in the rugby world sevens here in dubai. we've been playing touch rugby for a good part of a year now and have won several competitions. tackle rugby is a different story and needs more training and toughening up, but still requires the agility needed because its half the number of players with the same size field.

ive ignored the niggling injuries that are part and parcel of playing sport and have accepted that they will always be a part of...

So im back in one piece..

flew into dubai at 1:30am this morning and was at work at 8am.

was a whirlwind tour of Istanbul. did all the touristy stuff as well as visit Pammukale which was a 10 hr night bus ride away each way. took lots of pics and will be posting them soon

istanbul was an amazing city. i'd do turkey again some day no doubt... a place filled with history, architecture and natural beauty.

the weather was perfect, the people were friendly mostly, streets were clean, public transport was great, plenty of tourists and a big mix of people intermingly from all over the world. couldnt have asked for more..except for more time. 4 days cannot do istanbul Justice

so im going away for a few days. im not sure if ill be TFP accessible, so i may not be around for a few days.. relief for some maybe.. but if i dont come back by sunday then come looking for me.

im going to istanbul for a few days with she-lish. im a little concerned since there was a terorist bombing that killed 16 there yesterday. i wasnt this concerened when i went to yemen for goodness sake!

anyways, i plan to enjoy myself and have a relaxing few days. im back in dubai early sunday morning.

ill try and log on when i can..but we'll see when we get there.

will miss tfp!

so ive decided that im going to start training seriously for the upcoming triathlon/biathlon competition here. My best leg being the swimming leg. i like running but its definely not my strongest. i dont mind mid/long distance running since i used to be a middle runner in my younger days, although these days most of my running comes from running a few km usually between 3-5km a run or from touch rugby competition i play on a weekly basis. id estimate a typical rugby game with 20 min halves would be at least 5km run. sometimes we play two games a night.

my weakest leg is the cycling. ive never really cycled competitively before and i dont own a bike, so i dont know what to expect. i may stick to the biathlons first and then ease into the triathlons.

ive decided that im going to log all my training to monitor my training levels and see my improvements.


so im starting from todays swim.

26/7/08
1200m non stop freestyle...

i went to the beach last night with she-lish. although it was a little humid, its a far cry from last years horrid humidity at this time of year. a nice westerly was coming in from the persian gulf which made it bearable.

i wasnt really in the mood to swim so we just lay on the beach for a few hours falling in and out of conciousness.

finally headed home coming up to midnight - a short 2 minute drive and we were home. although i was mentally tired i couldnt sleep. so i spent the next few hours online not doing much. finally decided to watch pulp fiction for the FIRST time.

bad move

usually i fall straight away at the sight of a movie, but i was bright eyed till 3pm. i didnt get to sleep till 4am and i was up at 7.30 this morning.

im not sure why im not sleeping well. my stress levels have abated a little, so i really dont know whats not letting me sleep.

because of my sleeplessness i missed the...