I didn't die today.

Nor did my daughter - Maya - Age 3

But it was close.

We were cycling to school and had to cross the last round about. A woman came in from the side and hit us.

Fortunately we managed to stay upright and no harm was done.

Some shakes.

 We survived because:

• I cycle aggressively. I try to block cars from doing stupid things that may hurt me. I had one behind me on the two lanes approaching the round about - so I moved into the central lane to stop him cutting me up on the round about. That gave me more time and space with the new line round the roundabout to react to the car that hit me.
• I cycle defensively - I'm always scanning for risks. I saw the car  that hit us - and knew it was moving too fast and I was in trouble 3 - 4 seconds before it happened. That gave me time to take action to protect us.
• I was signalling - the driver didn't see me or my signal - but it meant that my arm was in a position to give a warning wave. That I think was seen and got the driver to start braking.
• I shouted - Yep full on Braveheart war cry! Again I'm not sure that it was heard by the car that hit us - but it had two effects - it got people looking at the round about - great to have witnesses. And it released lots of stress hormones into my blood. Great for faster reflexes, strength and pain management
• I swerved and braked - With a child seat and 12 kg of child in the back evasive actions are difficult. No point being missed by the car - only to be run over as we've lost control!
• I do lots of core exercise - Big thigh muscles absorbed the impact. Core strength and stability meant that I stayed in control of the bike and didn't go over.
• God was graceful. Thank you.

As I cycled home I thought about what I should have done to the driver. The most attractive option - which was considered at the time - was to have dragged her out of the car and and started kicking and beating her to death. Carbon bike shoes I thought would do an excellent job in inflicting maximum damage on her face. This would have ended with police pulling me off her and my daughter screaming as she saw her dad being so terribly nasty.

The other option was to respond to it with love. 

And that is what I did. I told the driver off - with a focus on her actions - and the consequences that they had almost had to my daughter - then sent her on her way.

In life we must be grateful for the good things - but not vengeful for the bad ones. Today will change that woman's life. My actions in forgiving her will change her life.

I will not let her make me someone I despise because she has hurt and scared me.

I give good back to the world and hope to make a change 

Today God was compassionate and merciful. 

I didn't die

My daughter didn't die

I made the world a better place

Thank you 

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A long time since I posted here. I moved to another platform, and discontinued this one. That didn't work because I was so busy and the site expired. Such is life.

I've been busy building my Triathlon website - BeyondTransition.com which focuses on providing the best information on triathlon races around the world. Unlike many other sites we provide loads of detailed information about each racer - including route maps, course details, accomodation and tactics. All pretty cool.

How has this affected my triathlon training?

I'm working harder and smarter now. My sessions are more intense and I do a lot more home based triathlon training. I get up earlier - around 0500 - and I go to bed at 2200 (or earlier if I'm tired).

I've been off with injury but I'm slowly starting to pick myself back up and am looking for a bunch of HIM races over the next year.

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I'll be moving the blog in the near future to http://theslowgingerbreadman.com/.

This is partly so I do better in search results and partly to tie up with what we are doing with GoTriathlete

We're not there yet - but it will happen. I don't want to lose you so will give plenty of warning before it happens

Thanks

Denis

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Since I got back from Everest I have barely managed to do any training. First of all I had a recovery week to cope with the damage the race did to my muscles - then a week of taking it easy getting ready for the new training cycle. Last week was wrecked by my chest infection and I took the latter part of it off. AND I'M STILL COUGHING.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!


I just want to get out and train and get back into a proper routine.

Off to HK tomorrow so no training then and then hopefully a run on Hong Kong Island on wednesday morning.

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Yesterday (Friday) I picked up my race t-shirt for the Damansara Perdana 7k run and bumped into Don Khor. I wasn't feeling totally great and kept on putting off my swim in the hope that I'd feel better. It didn't happen.

I was thinking about the 7k. Perfect race for me. It runs from the new development on the hill behind Damansara Perdana out to Flora Damansara (by the toll on the LDP) and back. Every section of it I could viualise running it really fast and how well I was doing relative to the other runners. I must have run it 50 times or more.

So I got all my race kit out last night ready for the off at 0800 this morning. The course is very with a steep descent followed by 2 short sharp ascents and then a long descent followed by a slight uphill. Then reversed. Hard on the legs and lungs. Great if you've just spent 3 weeks running at altitude over worse terrain.

I got up got dressed and started coughing. I coughed up big blobs of green stuff about the size of a 50 sen piece. Definitely chewable. Kept on coughing. OK. Lets cycle up to the start and watch. Kept on coughing. In the end I stayed at home and watched from the balcony.

Miserable.

I'm canning tomorrow's run as well and am now on antibiotics. Need to get well soon but better to hold off and get better faster. KL Marathon at the end of the week.

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Tuesday was a study in endurance - keeping on going - whilst minimising the energy cost to get through the day. I did it but by the time evening came I was just lying on the sofa with my eyes close. We had a pow wow about my new company and the only way that I could energise myself was through beer. Not the bext choice but it did mean that I was able to make a contribution or two.

I also promised to check out with Vinnie, my coach, about whether I should continue training through, or not. His advice:

1. Stop training but not exercise. Exercise for 20-30 minutes each day to stimulate the immune system
2. If no improvement take the weekend off

"But light exercise (i didn say training) and short, doesnt stress your immune system and increases your metabolism, it also helps with sleep and diet, which helps you to recover"

So yesterday was a rest day as there was no way I could do anything and Shen wouldn't have let me anyway. I didn't even do any work or touch my e-mail.

This morning the snot and the lethargy are reduced and I woke up at 0630 - not ready to rock and roll - but better. So downstairs and onto the bike for 20 minutes of gentle cycling. Think of how your mum cycles. Not even a sweat.

Got to take it easy though and time off now will pay dividends in clearing it all out and getting back to top form.

Finally thanks to this fan who like the new blog look - and who has a great new look for team trihard.

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I felt very rough this morning. I'd woken up in the middle of the night again with a sore throat and when I woke up at 0600 I felt like shit. I'd got to take a friend to the LCCT so a quick shower and into the car with a half drunk can of coke from yesterday yum.

The drive down was uneventful and I killed off my second coke before 0700. How well is the day going to go with this start. OK - I felt, still feel, really rough - but I'm pretty happy. Feel bad and being unhappy don't necessarily go together - it's something that we need to remember more.

Got home and I felt appalling - so got on the bike for a turbo session.

Just before I headed off to Nepal for the Everest Marathon I'd gone into KSH in TTDI for a Camelbak and on the off chance I asked if they had a 56 chain ring. They actually did - so I bought it - and it's its been sitting on the side for the last month.

Yesterday Wong at Bike Boutique fitted it for me (I now have a spare 55-42 with less than 500k on it if anyone is interested) and this morning I tried it out.

3 minute hard sessions followed by 90s of rest. The 55 chain ring was OK. The 56 is a lot harder. I had a bunch of spare gears and it's going to take some time before I have the strength to push the biggest. Which is kind of the point.

As I worked through the intervals the pain cave metaphor was brilliant - I saw myself cycling hard into it. Pushed myself to get further inside. An excellent session - but my legs need a lot of work.

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