Partnership with 26 Coaching

I am happy to announce a new and exciting official partnership with successful Hong Kong coaching outfit 26 Coaching. I have been working closely with them for the past 2 years as well as travelling to Hong Kong for racing/training for a number of years and now look forward to becoming part of the 26 team.

With the heading of ex-HK Professional athlete Andrew Wright and the expertise of the experienced Kate Rutherford they have become a strong force within the Hong Kong Triathlon scene over the past few years and have already shown some top results on both the local and world stage. At both elite and Age-Group levels. They also cater for children just starting out in triathlon and have a great Youth Development Programme; but also for adults looking just to get fit and get into endurance sport, whether it be swimming, cycling, running or triathlon.

They are now looking to expand their operations due to such high demand. So I will be joining them by offering my past experience and knowledge in triathlon and multi-sport racing and coaching to further their already strong record; as well as offering on-line coaching to those looking for structured endurance sport training.

Check out their website www.26coaching.com for more info and to meet the coaches see the "meet the coaches" section athttp://www.26coaching.com/meet-the-coaches.html

Also like the Facebook page 26 Coaching for regular updates and info on the latest training methods and interesting articles.

Dreaming of Rio at Beach Games دورة الألعاب الأولمبية "ريو2016 " حلم وفرصة لن تتكرر

http://www.joc.jo/more.php?id=1272-6

Jordan has uncovered a new sporting star this year who has quite literally come in from the cold!

Lawrence Fanous has spent most of his life living in London. But he came onto the Jordan radar this year when the delegation was being selected for the Asian Games that took place in Incheon, South Korea.

The triathlete placed seventh in a quality field there, and went on to win in Japan and finish fourth in another Asian Cup event in Hong Kong to show he is in fine form ahead of tomorrow’s triathlon at the Asian Beach Games in Phuket, Thailand.

"It is a huge honour to represent Jordan, especially to carry the3 flag at the Opening Ceremony,” said the 29-year-old. "Although I have spent most of my life in England, I have always wanted to represent my country and I cannot wait to compete tomorrow.”

Fanous has set himself a tough target of finishing in the top five, and says it will be another stepping stone towards his goal of qualifying for the Rio Olympics in two years.

But it could have been a lot different had Fanous not been picked up by Jordan. Growing up in England, he started as a swimmer and always had strong running skills. It was his teacher at Nottingham School who encouraged him to combine those skills with cycling to become a triathlete.

The rest, as they say, is history as he went on to make the British schools team.

His career hasn’t been plain sailing though and a leg break set him back. His current form though shows he has made a full recovery.

"I have just been following my dreams which are coming true by competing in events like this,” he said. "I will give it my all tomorrow and hopefully that will be enough for me to finish in a great position.”

http://www.joc.jo/arb/more.php?id=1273-6

يأمل بتحقيق ميدالية للاردن في الالعاب الشاطئية الاسيوية وان يكون بين الخمسة الاوائل على اقل تقدير ، وعينيه وهدفه الاسمى ان يمثل الاردن في اولمبياد ريو دي جانيرو ، وان يساهم في نشر رياضة اترايثلون في الشرق الاوسط والوطن العربي "هذا ماقاله لنا لورانس فانوس او لورانس العرب كما يحب ان يسميه معجبوه .

لورانس فانوس المقيم في انكلترا بدأ سباحا وكان يمتلك مهارات الجري وفي سن 13 سنة لفت انتباه مدرسه في مدرسة نونينغ هام والذي كان ممارسا لرياضة الترايثلون ،ليتوجه لورانس لهذه الرياضة وبعدها بسنتين اختير ليكون ضمن الفريق البريطاني للترايثلون .

ويعتبر لورانس ان اهم اللحظات في حياته كلاعب ترايثلون هي اختياره لتمثيل الاردن في الالعاب الشاطئية ورفع علم الاردن في حفل الافتتاح ، واحرازه اولى القابه العالمية خلال بطولة اليابان الشهر الماضي .ويشكر والداه اللذان يقدمان له اللدعم ويعتبرهما ملهمان له حتى عندما تعرض لكسر في قدمه قدما اللدعم و دفعاه لمواصلة التمرين على رياضته المفضلة .

ويعتبر بطلنا العداء الكيني هايلي كبري سلاسي مثله الاعلى كرياضي وعن اطرف شئ حصل معه خلال عمره الرياضي انه كان يسافر كثيرا خلال الاعوام الماضية لتأهل للاولمبياد واحد الرحلات لخوض سباق في كينيا ومطار مومباسا وصل في ساعة متأخرة ولم يجد احد من اللجنة المنظمة في انتظاره فاضطر لطلب ان يوصله شخص غريب وكان من اكثر التجارب رعبا له لكنه وصل الى الفندق وخاض السباق واحرز المركز الثالث .

" اتبع احلامك وآمن بها ومع بذل الجهد المناسب ستحقق ما تصبوا اليه "

Proud flag-bearer for the Jordan team at the Asian Beach Games in Phuket, Thailand

Recent successes in Asia

Little article in the Alghad newspaper in Jordan about my recent successes on the Asian triathlon circuit. For those non-Arabic readers out there it basically runs through my recent results in South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong and tells of my up-coming plan to race in the Asian Beach Games in Phuket, Thailand next month:

http://alghad.com/articles/833045-فانوس-رابعا-في-سباق-هونغ-كونغ-للترايثلون

عمان -الغد- فاز اللاعب الأردني لورنس فانوس، بالمركز الرابع في سباق هونغ كونغ للترايثلون (سباحة، دراجات، جري) "إحدى جولات كأس آسيا للعام 2014"، التي أقيمت بمشاركة عالمية مفتوحة.
وحل لورانس خلف الأميركي جورجي بلنجتون، والايطالي أندريا سيشيرو والتشيكي يان سيلوتزكا.
وتأتي مشاركة اللاعب الأردني فانوس ضمن سعية للتأهل إلى أولمبياد ريو في البرازيل 2016، حيث اختاره الاتحاد الدولي للترايثلون ليكون أحد أعضاء فريق الاتحاد الدولي الذي يتم إعداده والإشراف عليه في الطريق إلى التأهل إلى ريو 2016.
يذكر أن لورانس فانوس قد فاز بالمركز الأول في سباق موراكامي للترايثلون في اليابان "إحدى جولات كأس آسيا للعام 2014".
إلى ذلك، يشارك المنتخب الأردني للترايثلون في بطولة آسيا الرابعة للشواطئ التي ستقام منتصف الشهر المقبل في تايلند، حيث يشارك باللاعبين لورانس فانوس وفراس الحمود وعبدالعزيز الشعيبي وبإشراف المدرب الوطني عمار السطري.
وكان اللاعب لورنس فانوس قد حقق مركزا مشرفا في بطولة الألعاب الآسيوية حيث حل في المركز السابع.
وعلى هامش البطولة يشارك رئيس رابطة الترايثلون الأردنية الدكتور طارق الخياط في اجتماعات الاتحاد الآسيوي للترايثلون.

Lawrence wins the Murakami Asia Cup in Japan

 في الثامن والعشرين من سبتمبر ٢٠١٤ حقق بطل الترياثلون العربي الأردني لورنس فانوس أحد أكبر انتصاراته إلى الوقت الحالي، حيث فاز ببطولة كأس آسيا الدولية المقامة في موراكامي في اليابان. وأتى هذا الفوز بعد  أيام قليلة فقط من حصول لورنس الملقب بلورنس العرب على المركز السابع في الألعاب الآسيوية (الآسياد) التي أقيمت في إنشيون في كوريا الجنوبية. ويُعَدّ هذا انتصاراً تاريخياً إذ هو الأول لرياضي ترياثلون عربي في بطولة كأس آسيا المقامة من قِبَل إتحاد الترياثلون الدولي.    

وأنهى لورنس سباق الكيلومتر والنصف سباحة متبوعين بأربعين كيلومتر دراجة ومختومين بعشرة كيلومتر جري في وقت قدره ساعة و٤٤ دقيقة و ٥١ ثانية ليصل ٢٤ ثانية قبل ملاحقه الياباني فوتويا ودقيقة قبل الثالث، الياباني تانيجوتشي. 

وكما هو الحال في بطولات المسافات الأولمبية الحديثة فإن الجري كان هو الحاسم. فأهمية السباحة هي أن تتيح لرياضي الترياثلون الخروج من الماء مع الأوائل ليكون من ضمن دفعة الدراجات الأولى مما يسنح بدوره الفرصة للتعاون مع الرياضيين الآخرين في هذه الدفعة والتبادل في الركوب في ظل البعض الأمر الذي يوفر ما يقارب من ٢٠٪ من الطاقة. وتحاول هذه الدفعة الركوب بسرعة كافية للحيال دون وصول أية دفعة لاحقة إليهم آملين أن يحسم السباق بين أفراد دفعتهم في مرحلة الجري. وهذا ما حصل بالظبط حيث حسم لورنس العرب السباق في مرحلة الجري التي أكملها في ٣٢ دقيقة و ٧ ثواني كاسباً ٢٦ ثانية على ملاحقه الياباني.

المائتين نقطة التي حصل عليها لورنس من خلال فوزه سيكونون مهمين جداً في سعيه للتأهل للألعاب الأولمبية وتمثيل بلده الأردن في ريو دي جانيرو عام ٢٠١٦.

إذا احببتم المشاركة في هذا النجاح عن طريق دعم لورنس نرجوا التواصل معنا من خلال معلومات التواصل على هذه الصفحة وسنكون فخورين بإضافة إسم شركتكم إلى صفحة الشركات الداعمة.  

On September 28th, 2014, Arab Jordanian triathlete Lawrence Fanous achieved his biggest ever victory to date by winning the Murakami Asia Cup in Japan. This victory came only a few days following a race at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, where Lawrence finished 7th. This is a historical victory as it is the first ever win of an Arab triathlete in an Asia Cup organised by the International Triathlon Union.

Lawrence, also known as Lawrence of Arabia, finished the 1.5k swim, 40k bike, and 10k run in 1 hour, 44 minutes and 51 seconds, 24 seconds ahead of his follower, second-placed Futuya and 1 minute ahead of third-placed Tanigochi, also from Japan.

As it is the case in modern Olympic distance triathlon races, the run leg was decisive. The importance of the swim lies in that it enables the triathlete to exit the water among the first in order to be in the lead group on the bike. Once on the bike, the athletes of the lead group support each other taking turns as leaders and allowing others to draft off them. This makes them faster as a group while saving up to 20% energy. The lead group tries to be sufficiently fast to prevent any followers from catching up, hoping that they will keep the competition for the final win among themselves. This was precisely what happened as Lawrence decided the run in his favour, finishing the 10k run in 32 minutes and 7 seconds, 26 seconds faster than his Japanese follower.

The 200 points Lawrence gained in this race will be crucial in his pursuit of qualifying for the Olympic Games and representing Jordan in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

If you want to be part of this success by sponsoring Lawrence Fanous, feel free to contact us using the contact information in this website. We shall be more than proud to add your name to our sponsors page.

لورنس فانوس في شيكاجو Lawrence in Chicago

شارك بطل الترياثلون العربي الأردني لورنس فانوس يوم الأحد الماضي الموافق ٢٩ من يونيو في سباق سلسلة الترياثلون العالمية في شيكاجو حيث انهى السباق في المركز التاسع والثلاثين بين نخبة من اقوى رياضيي الترياثلون في العالم ومن ضمنهم الإسباني خافيير جوميز المصنف أولاً في العالم.

ويعتبر المركز هذا جيد جداً ولا سيّما أن الفارق بينه وبين المراكز الأولى لا يزيد عن أربعة دقائق تقريباً. فبعد سباحة ١,٥ كم تطلّب مسار الدراجة (٤٠ كيلومتر) مهارة ركوب لكونه مليئ بمنعطفات ٩٠ درجة و١٨٠ درجة. وأنهى لورنس، الملقب بلورنس العرب، مرحلة الدراجة مع المجموعة الرائدة. وبهذا فقد كانت مرحلة الجري مرة أخرى هي الحاسمة.

وقال لورنس فانوس بعد السباق في جو حارٍّ ورطوبة عالية: "تحسّن آخر في سلسلة الترياثلون العالمية وارتفاع خطوة على سلّم هذه الرياضة. مرحلتي السباحة والدراجة ممتازتين ومع المجموعة الرائدة منذ بداية السباق. للأسف فإن تمرينات الجري الجيدة لم تُظهِر أثرها وآمل ان يأتي ذلك قريباً. أهم شيء هو أني جمّعت نقطاً أولمبية جديدة واقتربت خطوة من ريو. ولكن مازال أمامي طريق طويل".

Jordanian Arab triathlon champ Lawrence Fanous participated last Sunday, 29^th of June, in the World Triathlon Series (WTS) race in Chicago where he finished 39^th among a selection of the world’s best elite triathletes, including first-ranked Javier Gomez.

39^th is a very good place, especially considering that the gap between Lawrence and the first places is around 4 minutes only. After the 1.5k swim, a technical bike course full of 90 and 180 degree turns required good biking skills. Lawrence, aka Lawrence of Arabia, finished the bike leg with the lead group. Once again, the run was the decisive leg.

After the race in hot and humid conditions, Lawrence said: ”Another improvement in WTS and another step up the ladder in the sport. Great swim and bike and in the front pack from the very start. Shame my good run training form didn't show but hopefully that will come. Most importantly though, more Olympic ranking points and another step closer to Rio. Still a long way to go!”

Muscat Festival Triathlon

See this article that was published on Oman Observer a day before the race in Muscat.

http://main.omanobserver.om/?p=56379

2014 kicks off with a bang

Training in Spain, where the rain falls mainly… no… no rain! J

My pre-season training started quite late this year due to a late race season in 2013, which only finished in Hong Kong on October 27th. Training started officially at the end of November after about 3 weeks off. My plan was to keep things pretty low key and not really pick it up much until after Christmas. The main reason for this was that my race season is going to go very long into 2014 and I wanted to delay getting super-fit until a bit later than last season so that my body (and mind) could carry on racing all the way into November.

The main aim this season is to improve my running as that has been consistently the part of my race that has been letting me down after strong swim and bikes. The approach my coach and I decided to take was the high-mileage approach. This is something that I have never really touched much on as I never felt that my body could cope with the stress of high mileage running on top of the rest of my tri training. But after 2 years of consistent running mileage and pretty much no injuries we decided it would be time to start to really lift the mileage on my run. So while my running picked up quickly in terms of hours/week I kept cycling mileage relatively low with just 3 rides per week to give running a chance to increase without any injury problems.

So after being asked if I wanted to join many of the British national team athletes in Spain on the 6th of January by one of the coaches, I decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to get my training bumped up to where it really needs to be going into the next Olympic cycle!

The camp base for the British squad this year, as it has been for many years, is a sleepy little Spanish fishing and farming town called Aguilas, just south of Cartagena and Murcia. This part of Spain has 300 days of sunshine per year on average so the likelihood of rain is low and the average temperature is around 10degrees warmer than in Loughborough. It makes for perfect training conditions and Aguilas has everything the pro triathlete needs to get a good winter’s training in.

The town is super quiet at this time of year, which makes the roads in the mountains around the town very quiet and safe for cycling. The town is also surrounded by huge lettuce fields and orange, grapefruit and lemon groves, which all have great dirt tracks running around almost every border – these make amazing terrain for run sessions because you can keep the impact lower by staying off the tarmac or the track. There is also of course the sea just 5 minutes from our apartment, which conveniently has buoys out for swim sessions and a great coastal trail, which is amazing to run on! Probably one of my top 5 ever runs when the sun is setting in the evening! The pool is also just a short drive away (or a 10min run if you’re feeling spritely after swimming!)

The apartment I’m staying in is perfect, very comfortable and is a great place to relax and recover in between sessions and in the evenings. It has a small pool, which while not good for swimming due to the size and temperature IS good for icing my legs after hard sessions! Having some great flat mates to share with (Joel and Cat Jameson and Iestyn Harrett), who are also some of my training partners from Loughborough, as well as some of the other guys from the Loughborough training centre (Adam Bowden, Morgan Davies, Sophie Coldwell and Aaron Harris) Aguilas has been a great place to train for the last 2 weeks.

With regard to the training, my cycling mileage has been hiked up a lot, with some 4 and 5 hour rides and the run mileage is still high, with no niggles and I have been doing 2 hard sessions per week within that. Swimming is also going great and so I am starting to feel in good shape all round – it seems that it doesn't take very long to get fit these days!

Here are some pictures of the camp.

Gym with a view

Coffee with Conor Murphy. What a tough life!

Icing the legs after the Friday session

Orange trees galore!

Incredible views on our 5 hour epic ride in the mountains!

We actually got to 1980m. Climbed up to there from 750m!

Sunrise out of the apartment window

Starting out on the 5 hour ride

Some of the crew on camp: Sophie Coldwell, Aaron Harris and Conor Murphy the Irishman!

First race of the season in Oman

I'm off to Oman next month to do the Muscat Triathlon. Looking forward to seeing other Arab triathletes in action at my first race of the season. Also looking forward to taking a 5 day training camp before the race for people doing the race or anyone who want to do a camp and race in Oman. Get in contact if interested.

Snow in the Middle East ثلج في الشرق الأوسط

A few pics from my time in Jordan last month. It was meant to be a part-training part-business trip but due to the crazy weather both got put on hold, especially the training! I managed to run almost every day while I was there but due to the fact that the infrastructure in Amman just isn’t designed to cope with such heavy snow, some days you could hardly leave the house!

I did manage to make a few contacts however as the second reason for travelling out there was to try to find new sponsors to help me on my quest to race at the Olympic Games in Rio.

I met some people and emails have been sent and other contact made and now it’s the waiting game – so we’ll have to wait and see.

Aside from the triathlon I met lots of my Jordanian family who I haven’t seen for a few years.

It was great to catch up with cousins who I haven’t seen for years and others I had never met!

Here are a few pictures of the trip.

 

Snow up to my knees!

 

Emergency Hummus

 

Riding on the shores of the dead sea with Rami and Firas

On the way to the dead sea

My 2013 Report

2013 was a very good year. I made big advances, both in terms of physical performance and growing exposure.

I started the year with 4th at the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon, racing the great Alistair Brownlee and Alexander Bruhykankov. Shortly after this I went on to become the Arab Champion at the first Arab Championships and this set my season up very well.

The main aim of the season was to qualify for the 5150 World Championships in Des Moines, USA – a change of focus from my usual ITU drafting racing. This required a lot of work on the bike and a change of race strategy. I coped well with this change and recorded top-10 finishes in all qualifying races and qualified for the World Champs. Unfortunately, the World Championships itself was spoiled by a number of problems including a puncture and crash on the bike.

I also competed in my first World Triathlon Series event – the ITU WTS Grand Final in London. This was the pinnacle of my career, racing on the same course as the Olympics the year before and finishing in a respectable 51st position, beating many of the top British athletes. My season was finished with some strong ITU performances in Asia to regain my world ranking in anticipation of my pending Olympic qualification cycle, which would start in mid-2014.

Away from purely performance, my long term goal of increasing awareness of triathlon in the Middle East was kicked off by my win at the Arab Champs in Egypt, becoming known as ‘Lawrence of Arabia’! After this race, I gained a lot of Arab fans and also started working with an Arab representative to try to set up more activities that would promote the sport more in the region, such as coaching and appearances in local races around the Middle East.

Top Results of 2013:

· Gold at Arab Championships in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.

· 4th Abu Dhabi International Triathlon – Short course (Racing Alistair Brownlee)

· 6th Singapore ITU Asian Cup

· 2nd at Nouatre International Triathlon, France, beating many notables such as Stephane Poulat, Stephane Bignet, Yohan Vincent and Anton Chuchko.

· 5th Klagenfurt 5150 Triathlon, Austria.

Ranking

ITU World Ranking 1st December 2013: 149

Asian Ranking from Asian Championships 2013: 11

Objectives for 2014:

· To medal at the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon

· To win a medal in the Asian Games Triathlon

· Regain my Arab Champion title

· To continue competing in the World Triathlon Series

· Podium in an ITU Continental Cup race

· At least one top-10 ITU World Cup result

· Promotion to Division 1 in French Grand Prix

My long term objectives remain:

· Qualify for Rio 2016 Olympic Games

· To win Pan-Arab Games in 2015

· To attain ranking of at least top-75 in ITU Ranking by the end of 2014

· To attain ranking of at least top-50 in ITU Ranking by the end of 2015

· To promote and develop triathlon more in Jordan and the Middle East

· To help form a Jordanian Team to compete in the new Team Triathlon format.