TRIATHLON TRAINING IN NICARAGUA

Posted on 1st February 2012 in CAREER BREAKS - MINI RETIREMENTS, TRIATHLON

Riding down a stretch of freshly paved asphalt I see the sun rising, while overlooking local farmers working in their peanut, yucca, and sugar cane fields. Glancing to the left I see a series of eight volcanoes, none more ominous than the one of the largest and most active volcanoes in Central America and its smoldering, gaseous fumes, San Cristobal.

What’s a guy from Winnipeg, Canada doing riding a bike in Nicaragua in January?  Well, it all started as a rough idea about six months ago.  I travel each year to a different continent to explore different countries and cultures, and what they have to offer.

Training in the midst of an active volcano, San Cristobal

As a triathlete I am an active person, so my travel plans always include some sort of active adventure. For instance, in 2011 I rode a mountain bike 1000 kilometers across Tanzania, followed up a few weeks later with summiting the tallest mountain in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro. In 2010, I mountain biked and trekked into the ruins of Machu Pichu, Peru, and in 2009 I trekked into the Everest Base Camp in Nepal.

My plan this year was to somehow combine two of my greatest passions, which are traveling and triathlon.  I had few parameters other than my preference to avoid as much of the cold Canadian winter as possible by traveling during the winter months.

An online search for half-Ironman races led me to quickly conclude that the half-Ironman (1.9 km swim, 90 km cycle, and 21km half marathon) triathlon in Panama City, Panama on February 12, 2012 was going to be the one. I have long been interested in Central America and thus a plan was born. There were logistics that needed to be figured out (time away from my career, support from family, developing a training plan, pre-training) but I was convinced this could work out.

A few month later and here I am, basking on the beautiful beach of Las Penitas, Nicaragua after a terrific training ride of 120 km. Las Penitas is about 110 kilometers northwest of Nicaragua’s capital city, Managua.  I have been training (swimming, cycling, and running) on the beaches and roads of this sleepy little fishing village for almost two weeks and it has been a terrific experience to say the least.

I feel like I have found a little slice of triathlon training heaven; who would have thought that something like this was possible in Nicaragua? Click here to read more.. »

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HOW TO CREATE CAREER BREAKS (Sabbaticals)

Posted on 20th January 2012 in CAREER BREAKS - MINI RETIREMENTS

Career breaks or “mini-retirements” are gaps in a persons work career which last between 6-12 weeks, multiple months in some cases, or even up to a year and beyond.

They differ from routine vacations or holidays for several reasons. The duration of most vacations usually last from 1 to 3 weeks and has the intention of “recharging your batteries” and escaping ones routine life for a short period of time.  Saving money and looking forward to a 1-3 week holiday each year just didn’t cut it for me.

I was not willing to forego the freedom of “retirement”-type experiences until I was 60 years old.  To me, the idea of deferring freedom and fun for 30-40 years of work was too limiting.

I have many passions I want to pursue and I know how much the world has to offer, and I wasn’t content with putting all these off until later. I made the decision to do what I could to incorporate my passions into my career years, and not too see work and freedom as a matter of either-or.

Since I embarked on my first career break of 5 weeks in Australia in 2005, I have been taking at least one “mini-retirement” per year (sometimes 3 in 2 years) to travel the world for several weeks.  Earlier this year I spent 7 weeks in Africa and I am about leave on my next adventure on what I call “mini-retirement # 8” for an 8 week hiatus in Central America.

 

I consider myself a self-made career-break specialist.  Becoming one did not happen over night.  It took me several years to learn and understand the intricacies about travel, planning, purpose, and how to get away from my career for extended periods.  The question I asked most often is “how do you manage to get the time off from your career?”  My answer is usually something like “I make it happen”. Click here to read more.. »

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TOUR d’AFRIQUE EXPERIENCE

Posted on 20th December 2011 in CAREER BREAKS - MINI RETIREMENTS

Earlier this year I was on my way to Africa with a vague plan.  Each year I pick a different continent to explore and focus on doing things which excite me.  My travel usually involves adventure type stuff as I enjoy both physical and mental challenges.

I had about 6 weeks to spend in Africa and I wanted to become certified in SCUBA, climb to the summit of the tallest mountain in Africa, Kilimanjaro, experience a wildlife safari on the Serengeti and take in the culture of Africa.  I was able to enjoy each of those experiences, and a few more adventures, but in a completely different order than I had envisioned.

While in the Switzerland at the Zurich airport I met a wonderful person named Prisca Oluoch as I waited for my connecting flight to Nairobi, Kenya.   Prisca is a university professor at Strathmore College in Nairobi who was returning home to Nairobi from a speaking engagement in Spain.  We got to talking about her speech and soon
discovered that we had a lot of things in common and while sharing many similar values and perspectives.

Once our flight arrived in Nairobi Prisca had me set up with a taxi and gave me her contact info suggesting she might be available to show me around her city in the coming days.

I got situated in downtown Nairobi and was so excited to be in the heart of Africa for the first time (second time in Africa as I travelled to Morocco a few years ago).  It had been a very long day of flights and connections from Canada (about 30 hours) so I was happy to get some rest.

As it turned out Prisca and I were able to reconnect the following day as she agreed to meet me for a meal and then show me around.  At some point during our meal we began discussing her passion in cycling and my passion in triathlon.  Prisca shared that she loved to ride with friends in a group and that cycling was less common in Africa due to lack of money, bikes, bike shops, mechanics, parts etc…

Prisca explained that she was part of Wheels For Africa Kenya which is a group that is attempting to grow the sport of cycling in Kenya. One of the initiatives Prisca was coordinating is the attainment of bikes from North America and Europe. Prisca was in the midst of a partnership with a bicycle tour company named Tour D’Afrique; a company that provides supported rides across the globe.

It just so happened that Tour D’Afrique had a group of cyclists arrive in Nairobi that day.

Prisca asked if I minded joining her as she needed to meet some people to discuss their initiative; I agreed.  As we arrived at the fenced camp I noticed over 90 tents set up on the grounds and several huge trucks out back.  It occurred to me that a group of people were actually on this epic 4 month voyage riding 12,000 km’s diagonally across 10 countries of Africa from Cairo, Egypt to Cape Town, South Africa on a bicycle.
Click here to read more.. »

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