Missing Links sign up for IM 70.3 Cebu

2018 was a tough year for the Missing Links. Of course there was some great triumphs though! With all that said and 2018 almost over we are looking strong into 2019! Anthony was the first followed by myself and then Brandon to sign up for the IM 70.3 Cebu. Matt may go and try his hand for a first time IM 70.3 there as well. So What we hope to see is this crew in Cebu come August 11, 2019!

Missing Links visit EmmaWash for Breakfast

It was a terribly humid Saturday morning. All the wives were out shopping the sales and the Dads of the Missing Links had the kiddos. What to do, What to do?? Breakfast of course! Being dialed into the Bahrain Cycling and Triathlon community it was an easy choice....its off to EmmaWash for the best traditional breakfast. Traditional for who you ask? Well the Bahraini's of course. All I can say is what a treat! We had a complete table full of delicious food. I cant even begin to tell you what everything was called. The kids filled them selves up with eggs, tomatoes, and bread. What a time they had. If you want to try something special and you enjoy all kinds of food, EmmaWash folks!

  

IronMan 70.3 Subic Bay 2018

It seems my story has yet to reach its full eb and flow cycle. On a quick whim I signed up for the 2018 IM 70.3 in Subic Bay. There was several reason that this happened. The first reason was Anthony was actually doing the first ever full distance IronMan Subic Bay. This is the first full distance ever held in the Philippines. The second was it was my wife's native country and a lovely location. The last was to try and reclaim some glory from my Phuket flop. Glory was not meant to be quite yet I am afraid. Even though Anthony and I busted hump training, the hills proved to be to much for me in the end and I completed the bike course in 4h50m. Here is a break down of the IronMan and IronMan 70.3 Subic Bay 2018.

The wife and son flew over a few weeks earlier for her brothers wedding. It was a simple wedding but very emotional. That left the girl and I on our own! Yes I know, what a scary thought.

Turns out Anthony and his family flew on the same flight and that made the 9 hour flight time seem like nothing. Cailee and Ayelle played and slept.










Once we landed in Manila the first obstacle for the race presented itself...the Heat and Humidity. YOWZZZZA. At the airport I met up with the wife and boy. From there we got a rental van and headed north to Subic Bay. The traffic was almost unbearable. After a short run in with the local traffic police we were well on our way on the NLEX. Once out of the city we pulled over for some fuel and Jolibee of course. My favorite coffee shop is also in the PI, so I grabbed a nice vanilla latte and back on the open road. Now you may think all was well but it wasnt. Once we transitioned onto the SCTEX I knew about where the bike course was. You all know I like to be prepared. So once we reached the Floridablanca exit I knew we were on the bike course. Folks that course had more hills then Phuket. I was near panic buy the time we got to Subic Bay and our resort. Yikes. The following day Narl's family showed up and that settled me down a bit.

The following day Anthony showed up and we headed out for a quick swim practice in the swim course. Unfortunately for me I got mixed up at a buoy and swam the whole course. The good thing was my time was great!

After that it was off to the EXPO! Well done Sunrise events, so much better then the IM 70.3 Phuket. We wandered around and picked up the race kits and took in all the ambiance. There is just something special about being at the expo. Everybody is friendly and I have never had a bad conversation.

Anthony checking in. Since this was Anthonys first full distance IM, it was important for me to help capture his moment!

Anthony was sporting his new FIT Bahrain running shirt. One of the shirts he would later use on the very long run.

 Cheese! Got that Bahrain Triathlon Club gear going strong!

Yeah I wont lie, I was excited to be in my wifes home country racing a course that would be my greatest challenge.

Again, well done Sunrise the bag and gear was very nice and worth taking home!

 You know one thing they added to the gear bag was a bike cover, good thing as it rained the day before. It was laid out nicely but it was quite a run to get to my bike from the water exit.

A little bit uphill but not bad at all.

 Lets get those bags dropped off and all signed in! Not to stressful for the 70.3 veteran.

 Anthony on the other hand a tough time. Since this was his first Full IM, there was so much to consider. How many of this and that. Special needs bags were a new thing to him as well. After stressing about it for 20-30 minutes, everything was sorted and we took off!










Got those T1 bags dropped off!

One final picture before we headed back to be with the family and settle in for the big day! Subic Bay was an amazing venue the scenery was fabulous all around.










I wont lie I have a huge and amazing support crew!

 Here is a little action photo taken by the Fit Bahrain support team!

After this climb I didnt have enough time and I was pulled from the race while in T2.

Anthony however rock this race!!!!!! What an accomplishment! Wel done buddy. Glad I was there with you on your journey.













Until next time.....keep moving forward.

My American Summer Sprints!

Over the summer of 2017 the family and I went home for vacation and I was able to squeeze in two Sprints. I had to sign up for a US Triathlon membership then register. The website I used was www.trifind.com. It has a fairly large list of triathlons and events around the US. Anyways I completed both but each had a few issues. The first was at Alum Creek passed Polaris north of Columbus called the Columbus TriFest.

The location was very nice and the water was great but very chilly. I chose to wear a wet suit. Yeah that caused me to hyperventilate about 50 meters from the start. So that really hurt my swim time.

Once I got the wet suit un zipped a bit I found my pace and was off.



















The bike course was nice and well laid out. Easy rollers and just a nice pace.

















The run was slow but cool and well thought out.






Always moving forward!

IronMan 70.3 Thailand debacle

Well it has been quite some time since my last post. The other Missing Links seem to have forgotten how to type. As we all have day jobs it is quite tough to break away for such luxuries as writing about triathlon. Moving forward we will discuss the IM70.3 Thailand.

















Brandon and I left 4 days early and made it to Phuket without any issues. The villa we rented was really nice and close to the venue. Anthony showed up the next morning and the my good friend Gene Watson came down from Germany. Once all four of us was in Phuket the fun began!

The resort and surround town was very nice. The food was amazing. Something to note. Two days before the triathlon Brandon and Anthony tried to get me to eat friday market street food. Now for a weaker person this might sounds like a warm friendly gesture however I am a seasoned traveller and have had food poisoning before. To be clear I was not going to take any chances before a IM70.3.





We did have a chance to do some swimming before the event and the water was great!!!!

Well after the fun and games it was time to collect our packs and get registered. The Expo was small and not very well organized. The vendors were limited and the service lines got crazy long. Not to mention not have many items in my size, meaning anything at all actually. The bag that was given was lets say not very representative of my previous IronMan events.































So after the registration was over it was time to get the bags ready for transition. We all had some work to do as it was going to be hot and humid. We got lucky with some light rain in the morning during the start of the bike ride.

I am not going to go into great detail of my event as it really all amounted to my lack of prep. What is important is that Gene and Brandon was able to power through and complete there first IM70.3! Anthony nailed his third and unfortunately I got a DNF. No worries though we are all looking at the next event and cant wait. Move Forward!!!!!

Abu Dhabi XDubai SPARTAN Super and Sprint

This all started with a few foolish "if you do it then I will do it" statements. So there has bee a wave of Spartan events. These folks have done to many to list. This blog is about the two I did back to back as a result of a bet that went sideways quickly. So I spent about 4 weeks doing boot camps and training for obstacles at the local JFC gym. They have a great program and I recommend it for anyone wanting to start doing these types of events. The group was over 20 people that made the trip. The majority completed both the Sprint (5-7 km) and the Super (12-15 km). It was an easy race compared to some of the European events but challenging enough for this first timer.

Cycle Safe Bahrain

What a pleasant surprise! There is a new organization in Bahrain.....Cycle Safe Bahrain. They will be having there official Launch today in the Westin City Center at 4pm. Lots of great thing will come from a cycling safety campaign for Bahrain. This is great and exciting news and hope you all can make it!