I'm back on the blog!

So, after an extended leave of absence for which which I can only apologize, I am back to the blogging. Hopefully from now on I will be able to be more diligent about this...

It has been a whirlwind month since my last blog and I couldn't possibly cover it all in the time I have to type right now, but will get to it all in good time. A brief synopsis though:

I arrived back from Philippines and raced Double Century less than 24hrs after touching South African soil. Our team came 6th ouut of 194 teams. Good days work.

Then back to PE and a brand acquaintance evening for The Bike Boutique, including a speach by yours truly.

I am not sure what happened to the three weeks between... but this last weekend I headed to Worcester in the Western Cape for the JailBreak Ultra Tri (2.2km swim/100km cycle/25km run). I have come 3rd and 2nd in the previous two years, so first was the only option really! I got that result comfortably by 10mins and felt great throughout (although the last run lap did hurt a bit!). Race report to follow...

48hours later and I was back in action in PE showing my support for the great work of Atlas and EPTA in putting together the Summer Series. It was just a sprint tri, but 48hours after the 2nd-longest tri in SA, I was not expecting much. Turns out I was to be surprised! I felt incredible! It was one of those 'in the zone' races where you wish it would go on forever... I have been feeling like this more often lately, including a long stretch of the JailBreak cycle. Fitness is a great feeling!

I won the Summer Series race too, by aboout 6mins (a massive margin in a sprint tri, and probably a major contributing factor to my good emotions!).

These wins (and some promotion by my good friend, Alec) got me some nice coverage in the local media and my status in the tri-scene is certainly rising.

To round off a superb week, yesterday saw the launch of my website, http://www.jamescunnama.com/.

I am really happy with the site and a big thank you must go to Online Innovations for their help. We are still ironing out a few glitches, but check it out and let me know what you think...

More news soon...

Cheese-flavoured ice-cream

So it turns out that I could get onto the net with my laptop in Singapore airport, it just took a bit of admin with subscribing to the free service, so now instead of 15mins of standing internet, I have two hours of battery to use at my leisure...

So where to start...

I am on my way home now after an excellent experience all-round. I could not have hoped for this trip to have gone any better.

The last few days, with the group of athletes dwindling substantially, we got a bit more adventurous and found some interesting sights. One which stood out was the cheese-flavoured ice-cream. I kid you not! We went to our usual ice-cream stop, the Mini-Stop (it's like a garage convenience store, without the garage) for our (almost) daily P15 (R3) soft-serve sugar-cone ice-cream and they had swapped the chocolate flavour for cheese. Cheddar cheese flavoured ice-cream. I'll try anything once and I have to say, not being a huge fan of chocolate ice-cream to begin with, I was pleasantly surprised. Certainly the combination of flavours is odd, but not unpleasant at all. What will they think of next?!

Last night we went into the 'carnival' in Olongapo City which is like a massive fair with hundreds of stalls and a stage which hosts entertainment of some sort every evening. We ate 'local fare' from one of the food outlets where you are (very enthusiastically) waited upon by three 'ladyboys'. It turns out was a good night to see the 'culture' last night as it turns out that the stage was hosting the Miss Gay Philippines Universe pageant. Culture shock, or shock culture?! Words cannot describe it, so I'll leave it to your imagination...

I ended off the training really well, with a tough double-run day on the final day. All three disciplines have certainly improved noticeably in the last three weeks of 'training camp' and it is great to see such dramatic improvements. It fills me with confidence for the future...

Speaking of the future, that has just taken a massive leap in the right direction. teamTBB have offered me a Pro contract for 2009, which I am obviously going to accept - it's a dream coming true. It will provide me the opportunity to work with one of the best (or the best!) coaches in triathlon and train with some of the best athletes in various training camps throughout 2009. The team will also help support me in various ways to allow me to focus on the important stuff - training and racing. If that doesn't lift my game to the next level, then nothing will!

I will write more on the whole situation once the deal is signed and sealed and I can confirm more details, but for the moment just know that I am super-excited by the opportunity. It is what I have wanted for a while and certainly needed if I am to reach my goals. I am looking forward to great things in the months and years to come... :D

Sorry I am so quiet...

I apologize for being so slack with putting up the latest news, but, as I am sure is the case with all blogs, just when lots of things are happening so you have lots to write about... you can't seem to find the time!

Lots has certainly been happening, and I promise to post a full update as soon as I can. I am currently in Singapore Airport on my way back to SA. They have free internet, but it is standing only and limited to 15min at a time, so I'm afraid all the news will have to wait a little longer...
On my return I head straight down to Cape Town for the Double Century on Saturday, so I will only be back in PE on Sunday.

A full update soon, I promise... I have seen some interesting things in my last few days in the Philippines, like cheese-flavoured soft-serve ice-cream, Miss Gay Philippines Universe and many more... Intrigued yet? :)

The Bike Boutique Grand Opening Today

Today we have the Grand Opening of The Bike Boutique here in Subic Bay. The shop is just a kiosk shop and is very small, but it serves the needs of the cyclists and triathletes in the area well. Subic is about 120km from Manila and, due to the traffic, many cyclists and triathletes from Manila come out here on the weekends and holidays to do their riding.
Today, after an early swim, we rode a 50km ride with a bunch of local athletes and then had lunch with the group and Alex Bok, the team manager. It was good to chat to him and get to know him a little better.
The last few days we have been training well, although the group has shrunk quite a bit. THe Japanese couple, Hiro and Maki, have gone home and Manny is off in Hong Kong racing an ITU event this weekend. That leaves only 5 of us here training and the difference is noticeable. However we have been joined by a group of Filipinos who like to test themselves against us in pretty much every session. They aren't much competition in the swim and bike, but a few can run really well and I have had to push myself a few times due to their enthusiam.
It is a great experience for them to train with Pro's and it is cool to be able to give back simply by training with them.

This afternoon we have a talk by Brett Sutton and then a buffet dinner (all still part of the grand opening). I am sure it will be interesting and informative to listen to Brett's lecture... although we do get regular lectures after our sessions on a wide variety of topics, but they are more informal and often involve personal critiques and some colourful language. ;)
Tomorrow we have a longer group ride with the locals followed by a brick run of some sort (we're not sure what yet, but it may be a track session).

The last 2 weeks has gone really quickly. The days tend to merge into one another as you train, eat and sleep - and do no activities that have any relevance to the day of the week. It is often difficult to keep track of the time of day (due to midday sleeps) nevermind the day of the week!
I only have 4 more full days here as I leave on Thursday. I am looking forward to being home and not living in a hotel, but will miss the training here. And I am really not looking forward to the trip and jetlag!!

HO HO HO!!

Apparently Christmas comes early here in the Philippines! As of 1 November it seems everything here is geared towards Christmas. At first we suspected it was just our over-enthusiastic hotel manager, but now there are decorations everywhere - and I mean everywhere! The streets, shops, hotels, resturaunts and everywhere. The only music you hear now is Christmas carols... and we are still over 6 weeks from christmas! Commercialism at its best.

Training is still going really well. I am certainly more tired now than I was last week, but still able to put out good effort in the sessions which is great.
One thing we have had to deal with in the last few days is rain. Lots and lots of rain! It has pretty much rained constantly for two days. It is manageable as it is not too cold, but it wears on you when you ride in the rain in the morning, then an hour later get back on your wet bike with wet helmet and bike shoes (arghh!) to ride to the pool, and then a few hours later you must get on the bike again in the rain for another session! My bike is filthy, creaky and my shoes are still wet! And they're beginning to smell - eewww!
Luckily today we did not have to ride (Coach even sprung for a taxi to the pool - yeah!), but we still had a very wet run this morning, and will have another run later - again in the rain as there is no promise of it letting up any time soon. It also makes laundry an issue when all your clothes are wet - but when your biggest issue in your day is laundry, things could be worse!

The Bike Boutique officially opens its doors here this weekend so we are in for a busy one with our training being shuffled a bit to allow us time to be present at the opening and the associated lecture by Brett Sutton. Should be an interesting talk and an interesting weekend. It will be my last weekend here - time flies!

Day off...

This pic is of one of the local taxi's, called a 'Jeepney'. In the back they have two bench seats facing eachother and they function much like the kombi's back home picking up and dropping people everywhere and anywhere. Unlike the taxi's at home though they are very courteous drivers (like all the drivers here) and will give you a comfortably wide berth when on your bike.

Today we were back into training after yesterdays complete day off. I didn't do much with my day off except work on getting over the jetlag once and for all. I slept until about 10h30 and woke up feeling like I had actually rested for the first time since I got here. Today I feel much better and think I am finally over the time difference. We walked the streets of Olongapo for a while (see pic) in the morning. Olongapo is the 'town' part of town across the river from the Subic Bay base. It is everything you would expect from an asian town with small side shops and markets hidden down alleys. We bought fruit at a market vendor and she asked wehre I was from. I said South Africa, and she said, 'Ah, my oranges are also from South Africa!'. Outspan export quality oranges in the Philippines. Nice one!
To fill the rest of the day off we went to watch the latest James Bond movie. It is quite a good movie, on of the better Bond's I think. Unfortunately the movie theatre was not quite as good. I didn't expect much and was actually impressed when we first entered, but when we sat down we knew it would be a long movie - the seats were very narrow, didn't compensate for the sloping floor (meaning they also leant forward) and were well worn. We all needed some good stretching after 2hrs in there! After the movie we went and had pizza and a beer to round off a pretty good and relaxing day off.

Today's training was not too hectic, something like active recovery with short sessions in each discipline. Tomorrow we are doing a long run (for the first time since I got here) and beyond that, who knows?! We never know what is coming more than a session or two in advance - and it is quite refreshing being able to focus simply on the task at hand, not the bigger picture. Having a coach certainly makes training easier, although I am actually training much harder... if that makes sense... :)

Tropical Training

First up, let me apologise for the lack of blogging lately. But I promise to try and be a more active blogger from now on...
So I have been here for almost a week and the training has been going really well. Brett (Sutton) arrived back on Tuesday and things started to pick up a bit. I welcomed the increase in training and focus having recovered from the trip (or so I thought).
We pretty quickly got into the routine of training. Generally the routine is a 2-3hour session at 7am, a short break, then a 20min ride to the pool for a 3-4km swim session at 10h30 after which we head back to rest and eat for a few hours. In the afternoon we head out for another session of 2-3hrs before finding some dinner and going to bed. And then we wake up the next day and repeat it all again. What we do in the sessions varies depending on the focus for the day, but Brett is not shy to give us two hard sessions in one day, and often in the same discipline (cycle or run). It is great to be able to test yourself and see how quickly you recover when all you do is lie around (and watch TV) between sessions. I have been able to handle much more than I would have guessed, and at much higher intensities.

As for the location, it is great! There is never weather which prevents training (although I am not sure Brett believes that exists!) as even when it rains, and it does almost daily, it is warm enough to be quite comfortable and the wind is minimal. I have gotten used to the heat quite quickly so that is no longer a shock when I leave the aircon. The roads are smooth, the track is decent (we run on the track often), the pool is suitable (and outdoors so I am getting a tan) and the general living is comfortable.

As you can see from the photo above, as soon as you leave the bay you are very much in tropical jungle, complete with banana trees, bamboo, massive trees, monkeys and fruit bats the size of hadedas! The roads are quite scenic and I have really enjoyed exploring them, even though they are so few that I know them all well after only 5 days!

So after 5 days of hard training tomorrow we have the day off. Yay! I have made no plans, but the first order of business is to sleep in! I have not been able to sleep in the evenings and only fall asleep around midnight (6pm in SA) and then when my alarm goes off at 6am it feels like midnight (which it is in SA!!). Jetlag sucks. This leaves me very tired for the rest of the day. So tomorrow, I sleep. Then I will explore the area and check in again with some photos of the interesting local sights.

Getting into it...

Day 2 here and I am beginning to settle down and get comfortable. It is really easy to click in with all the like-minded athletes around and the Philipinos are a really relaxed people.
Yesterday was two rides, which were both easy for me so I could recover and avoid the lurgy which is going around. So far so good... The first ride I went with Caroline and got the grand tour of the routes and the base (Subic is an ex-US military base, which still hosts battleships regularly) and in the afternoon I went with the boys and we explored a few tiny jungle roads - fun. The place is small and if you wanted a six-hour ride you would need to loop a few times, but big enough. It was cloudy and spitting all day yesterday so comfortable...

Today we got up to run and the sun was blazing... at 7am it was already scorching! This is the heat they were talking about. I managed it okay though. At lunch-time we rode 20mins to a nearby beach to go for a sea swim. New Zealander, Keegan and I swam about 3km to a tiny island with a fort on it and back. The water is a comfy 25 degrees and clear. Didn't see many fish but got stung by some sort of sea creature. They must be jelly-fish of some sort, but they burn/sting for 30secs then itch for a couple of mins and then are gone. Bearable, but not comfortable.

The boss gets back the day after tomorrow and it seems everyone is taking the opportunity for a deep breath and some recovery before his return. I'm looking forward to getting down to business.
At the moment there are three guys, Keegan (NZ), Blake(US) and Manny(US). Apparently there are two others, a Jap and Aussie(?) here too but I haven't seen them yet. On the ladies side there is Rebecca Preston, Caroline Koll (leaving tues), Jocelyn Wong (leaving today) and Maki (JPN). Not sure if anyone else is arriving or whether it's just us, but it's good to have some training partners.

I was going to put up photos but realized that I didn't bring my camera cable. Sorry. Will try find one... Anyway, still running on batteries due to lack of adapter, but Caroline will give me hers when she leaves...

Got to head out for another run this afternoon so I'm gonna go put my feet up...

Here safe and sound... eventually.

Well the trip was mostly uneventful but long and tiring. I flew JHB to Singapore then had a three hour layover there before the final leg to Manila. The Singapore airport rocks! I couldn't see why anyone would rave about Dubai airport when I went there, but Singapore! There are twice as many great shops (I didn't buy anything - I don't shop!), plenty of quiet, comfortable spaces to sit and chill, gardens inside the airport, a theatre showing free movies, a free 1-2hr tour of the city from the airport (maybe next time) and like 300 PC's connected to the internet for free scattered around the airport. If I have to do a long layover I would choose that over Dubai anyday!
From there it was supposed to be a short 3h30 flight to Manila and then a ~2hr, 120km taxi ride to Subic. Turns out Manila is as bad as 3rd world congestion gets and Friday afternoon traffic was ridiculus! 120km = 5 HOURS!!! Amazing. Anyway, I made it.
I met a few of the team and went for a quick bite with Caroline Koll and Jocelyn Wong, who have been here 1 and 2 months respectively. They gave me the scoop on what to expect. No big surprises. Bring it on.
Turns out Brett is away for the next three days (until Tuesday) so I will be tagging along with the others for whatever they do while I recover from my trip and try no tto get sick. Seems everyone here is getting sick cos the hotel windows don't open and you cannot turn off the aircon. Recycled bad air. Beautiful.
I must get my bike built and shower (for the first time in over 36hours!). Riding an easy ride at 7am tomorrow (BTW, the time difference is 6hours) and it is already 9pm and I haven't slept in over 36 hours either! And battery is low cos I don't have a plug that fits these sockets yet either so more news later...
J :)

The journey begins

Just a short note to say goodbye.
I am sitting in JHB airport all checked in and waiting for the bording gates to open. THe flight up from PE was painless enough. I managed to sit next to fellow triathlete Russell Meyer so at tleast there was someone to talk to. SAA rushed me R178 for excess backage - but some fat 120kg guy didn't have to pay a cent extra... don't get me started!
Check-in in JHB was painless though with no excess baggage charges. My bike box only weighs 25kg which is under the limit - cardboard is the way forward!

Will blog again as soon as possible, but may only be in a few days.
Philippines, here I come!
J :)

So begins the blog...

Welcome to my blog! Soon this will be situated on my personal website, but until then you can track it here. I aim to fill it in regularly so you can track my progress and travels as I chase my dreams (and achieve them hopefully).