An Abu Dhabi Life

For those of you wondering what life is like over here in Abu Dhabi…this should give you a little insight into mine for the last 2 weeks…..

Home….

Home for me these days is a studio apartment in a 5 star hotel…this is where Etihad are basing their contractors these days.  Pool, gym, daily servicing….one cant complain!!!  Tho I am looking forward to getting to the top of the waitlist for the 1 bedroom apartment.  Theres only so much of a kitchen with a hotplate, microwave and minifridge one can take!  As you know I love a bit of cooking!

My studio

The pool

My studio

Mine is the silver building on the left

Work…

Well like any new job in any country, everyones clueless as to what im meant to be doing for the first week, but its all coming together now, and Im pretty excited bout my role   Basically, Etihad are improving their website, so Ill be working with their developers in Copenhagen to get it done.  Up against the clock, so there will be some long hours…but Im gonna try to wrangle a trip to Copenhagen to visit  the developers….can only ask!  Haha!  Working in an office that resembles a bunker in the middle of the desert….they ran out of room for our project at Head Office.  Not as bad as it looks, have my own personal airconditioner, and the food at the canteen is awesome!

The "bunker"

Horatio

Driving....

Works about 20 mins away along freeways.  I bit the bullet in the first week, and hired a car.  Meet Horatio the Hyundai.  Little put-put with no guts, he and I have been on some adventures!  Basically, everywhere Ive driven, Ive gotten lost.  This place is full of one way systems, and freeway interchanges.  In order to get home after work I have to drive past my hotel 3 times to actually get here!!!  Im pretty proud of how ive grasped driving on the wrong side of the road though, and im just like a local now, I don’t indicate when I turn, and change lanes abruptly…sometimes I even straddle lanes…generally cause I have no clue where I am going!!  Tho I am missing Boris my x-trail….he would fit perfect over here, as every man and his dog drives a 4x4!

No caption required

Food and Shopping...

Man, I tell u what…supermarkets here are amazing!!!  Firstly they sell everything from computers to cherries.  And secondly they are MAHOOOSIVE!  Soo much fresh fruit and veg from all over the world, and delis with meats and cheeses and antipasto as far at the eye can see!  They even have tim tams and BBQ shapes!  And the tim tams are cheaper than home!  WTF!!??  Just a pity I don’t have a fridge big enough to store anything!

Ive checked out a couple of shopping malls, and decided the best one is the closest to home!  GAP, Next, New Look, Novo, Matalan, Marks & Spencers, Jones the Grocer….spoilt for choice!!  New bikini from Matalan today for $18…wooo!

Weather.....

Weather here at present is hot..yes.  Max of around 42, min around 30.  Middle of the day it swelters, but morning and late arvo, its actually quite nice.  Im rather enjoying it, laying by the pool after work at night, sunset, little breeze, shade if needed.  Im told its going to get stupid hot soon….I may change my mind then!!

Training...

Given the heat, and the lack of mtb trails, I figured id make the most of my hotel gym.  Now considering I find gyms boring as bat shit, Ive signed up to the Michelle Bridges 12 week challenge.  Its 6 days a week, she tells me what to do everyday, and keeps me challenged.  She also makes every single muscle in my body HURT!  Im loving it!!

Ive also done the Tues night run around the Yas Island F1 Grand Prix race track, and I joined the local tri club ocean swim at 6am Sat morning for a 1.6km lap.  Nice to get out there with others in 32 degree, super salty water!!  Planning on joining them for some early morning/late night runs too.

Running at F1 Race track

F1 track

Swim training

Random Local Stuff....

Work here is a fashion parade, designer dresses, chic capri pants, French rolls and chignon hairstyles, and if nothing else, its all about the shoes…im no fashionista, but man, some spectacular shoes, attached to some spectacular heels.

The local women dressed in the long flowing black gowns called “Abayas”, with headscarves…wow!!  These women are stunning, strutting around in their oversized black sunnies, only to remove them to reveal breathtaking smoky black eyes, and perfect makeup.  I couldn’t keep my eyes off them!  These chicks didn’t need to show any skin to look awesome, and they walked around like they owned the joint!

One woman in an beautifully adorned abaya had a meeting with another equally stunning woman, but the first brought along what must have been her maid/assistant.  The assistant looked phillipino…and was made to stand to the side of her mistress, holding her bags, looking so awkward.  It was weird to witness.

Its not just the women who are stunning.  Some of the local men, with flowing white robes (dishdash), and the red and white checked headscarf “guthra”, cut a mean swarth through the lobby, with their immaculate 3 day stubble, shaved into sharp lines, and their mirrored aviator sunnies.

Its all about cash to splash here…roads are filled with Hummers and Range Rovers, and randomly Camaros.  And some of the bikes I saw at the F1 track night were worth  more than most of our cars!

Weekends here are Fri and Sat, still getting my head around that one!  Tho nice to finish on a Thursday!!

a random camaro

Adventures......

Jess and I

The Burj in Dubai

So far Ive had some awesome opportunities…jess was in Dubai on a stopover for my first weekend here, was super stoked to see her so soon!  Had an amazing all you could eat Thai brunch overlooking the famous Burj in Dubai, sooo much fun!  We were with Lex and Carl, who live in Dubai…its so nice to have friends in this country!!

And the old saying goes that its not what you know, its who you know…..Lex happened to have a spare ticket to Madonna in Abu Dhabi for my first week!  Super fun!!

Madonna with Lex

So that’s my life over here in a nutshell.  I think im starting to enjoy it, have met a few lovely people, and am getting a routine together.  Missing Shane like crazy, thank goodness for Skype!!  Super jealous of all his camping and mountain biking, but only 2 months today till I see him in Colorado, so getting super excited!!!  Not counting or anything!

Ill get some more adventures up my sleeve, and share them soon!

Kathmandu Adventure Race - Nov 2011

What is it?

- an off road adventure race – rough and hilly terrain
- teams of 2
- mountain biking
- trail running
- kayaking
- navigation
- course and distances for each leg are unknown until the morning of the race
- expected race time – 3-6hrs

With a forecast 30 degrees, everyone in Melbourne was getting excited....me? I was getting hydrated!

And for once, the weatherman was right, dammit. No one wants an adventure race in the heat!But alas, the sun was out, and everyone was buzzing as the Lysterfield carpark filled up with a sea of cars with bikes on roofs. I was quietly crapping myself, first adventure race and all, and to top it off, I had my race buddy meleah who i didn’t want to let down! But at the same time I came to a sudden realisation, 9 times out of 10 i come to these off road events by myself, but this was different, I had Meleah, and i also had my own personal cheer squad and cameraman, Shane. Hang on....I think this is gonna be fun!!

After racking the bikes in transition, and checking out the lake (flat as a pancake!), we could finally register and get our hands on a map, and a listing of all the checkpoints. Wooo hoooo! It was time to mark up the map. Now as Id spent so much time training, and getting lost in the park, I reckoned i had the trails down pat. Lots of scribbled trail names, trail numbers, highlighter overdoses and i was done....map covered in contact, with all the bubbles that go with it.....it was time to race!!






The race started with a flattish 5k run, with about 5 checkpoints successfully checked! Smoking hot, had to be at least 25 degrees at 10am...I knew I was in for a loooong hot day. But gold comment from Meleah...”We cant be seen walking, Shane could pop up anywhere with the camera, hes just like “Wheres Wally”!”

Back to transition, placed 122 out of 129.....oh dear....least we weren’t last!







Then a 10km mountain bike. Somehow we missed the first bike checkpoint....those pesky ribbons tend to hide in the trees!! After some backtracking, we found it, and were off again – up Blair Witch and Hug tracks. Nailed another 7 checkpoints. But seriously who rides UP those trails? Uphill is no fun! Comment for the day from Meleah – “Im not letting someone with a bike stand on their mtb beat us!!”

Bike to run transition at the top of the Comm Games track, placed 112. Oh and we had passed the dude with the bike stand....

5k run up and down the crazy rollercoaster trails behind the comm games track...actually to call it a “run” is a bit of a stretch. Was there checkpoints involved? Who knows, it was all a bit of a blur. Hot and exposed it was hard yakka. And the tactic of walk the ups, run the flats and downs....ahhhhuuummm.....sorry Meleah, i have 3 stitches stabbing into my belly everytime I try pick up the pace, as well as both calves cramping.....definition of FRUSTRATION! And far too hot bothered and grumpy to consider eating....was all i could do to keep sipping on the water.




Calf cramp!



Boy oh boy was i glad to get back to the bike!! Placed 111 overall...how on earth did we pass someone on the run? Did they die in the bushes?

Ride time again baby! This time another 10k. I had actually managed to somehow down a gross sticky gel with 80mg of caffeine on that hellish run, and oh baby, it kicked in! Maybe a bit to do with the fact I had dropped all caffeine from my diet for the last 3 weeks...i was buzzing! We positively FLEW down the wallaby track....wide downhill fire trail, wind in the hair...just what we needed. Passing teams left right and centre. Up and around Upper and Lower Buckle, this was my territory, and whilst other teams were um-ing and ah-ing on the route to take, they were left in our dust. We had places to be, and weren’t stopping for anyone! Well almost.....50m out of transition, Meleah decided that clearly she wasn’t looking hardcore enough, falling off in a not so spectacular, slow motion fashion, resulting in a stream of blood all the way down her leg. Ive always said that if you don’t come home with bruises or blood, you haven’t gone hard enough. Meleah had it sorted, not sure that my excuse was!

Flying into transition for the final time, we were placed 102 overall. But more notably, on that final bike ride as a standalone, we were 61st fastest, and that was against all the blokes and hardcore racers...Wooo hooo!



Final leg found us donning lifejackets for the 2.5km kayak. Standing on the shore, squinting into the sun trying to pick out the small jetty in amongst the brush on the other side. The eyes aren’t what they used to be...well on the map it looks like we veer off to the left.....but for some stupid reason Shane kept yelling out “Make sure you go the RIGHT way, not the wrong way, go the RIGHT way”, huh? What was he on about?? Looked at the map again, then turned the map around like most women do with the Melways (admit it you know you all do!).....ahhhhhhh, we saw the light...and headed off veering right!








I must admit it was a welcome relief from the heat to be out on the water, copping little splashes with each paddle. As a result of my intensive kayak training (refer previous blog)....ie. one time on the kayak, and twice on a fit ball with a broomstick (!!!), 500m in I was convinced my arms were going to fall off. But funnily enough, they stayed intact, but i have to thank my lucky stars that Meleah was a gun paddler, and was tolerant of my little “rests” here and there! Im so glad we were sharing a kayak! Id still be on that lake otherwise!

Back on shore, time to pinch myself, that was it! Not even bothering to remove the lifejackets, we sprinted over the line in a time of 4hrs 16 mins...WOOOOO HOOOOO! We had done it! Final result was 11th out of 18 female teams, and 93rd out of 129 teams overall (after missed checkpoint penalties had been applied to other teams). OVER THE MOON!!




Lessons learnt...

• Runners are much more practical in your backpack than left at the start/finish line!
• If you carry 3.5L of fluid on a hot day, drink more than half of it!
• Thinking carefully about where to rack your bike in transition is time wasted when theres only about 10 bikes left by the time you get there!
• Eat every half hour even if its the grossest thing you can imagine! And even if you are buzzing bout passing other teams. I ate 1 packet of powerbar shotz, 1 gel, and 2 bites of a bar for the whole race. WRONG WRONG WRONG! What have you learnt over the years Richelle!
• A chocolate Big M after the race is appropriate...but not if its the only food you eat for the rest of the day! Not the ideal recovery!

To date the toughest race Ive done thus far...but ohhhh the satisfaction!

Special thanks to Meleah for your amazing patience on the run and the kayak, and my whining in general.  And thanks to Shane for the awesome pics, and your cheering at random spots on the course!

My crack at training for an Adventure Race

Pre Adult Onset Athleticism...