A Tri Update Special - an  interetsing and motivational story.

The story below was written for Fortune Magazine about one of the TNT
teammates who did Ironman Canada in 1999.
If you have a couple minutes, it is a good read.

TNT is Leukemia Society's Team in Training Program. (In return for raising
money, Team in Training members get to participate in a big athletic event,
with TNT providing a training program with coaching, workout partners, and
travel to the race.)

ASIMBA ARTICLE
[http://www.asimba.com/cgi/go.to?ac=951111&ed=121725]

It happened near the rooftop of the world, at 20,000 feet on a snowy,
wind-whipped mountain in the Himalayas. Scott Hublou was trekking with a
group, taking an active vacation from the 70-hour workweeks of his Web-based
consulting business. One evening, as the group camped on the frozen ground,
his tent-mate told him a story that would ultimately lead Hublou up two more
mountains-one called Ironman and one called Asimba.

MAKE TIME FOR THE BIG ROCKS

The story was about a professor Hublou's tent-mate had in business school.
One day the professor filled a glass container with several large rocks. "Is
it full?" he asked the class. "Yes," everyone replied. Then the professor
dropped in several smaller rocks. "Now it's full," they said. Then he poured
in sand. "Definitely full," the students declared. Finally he poured in
water. The lesson? You have to put the big rocks-life's important stuff-in
first. If you first fill your life with the little things, there's no room
for what really counts.

The anecdote hit Hublou like "a hammer coming down." He'd had his own
big-rock idea but hadn't pursued it because he'd been too busy helping his
clients with their big rocks. His concept was simple-and derived from
personal experience. Busy people need help getting and staying fit. Most
can't afford a personal trainer, but what if you had the next best thing-a
Web site that would act as your electronic trainer? You pick a goal-anything
from walking around the block to running a marathon-and the e-trainer helps
you achieve it. You'd get a customized training program prepared by experts,
delivered in daily emails. You'd also get personalized nutritional
information, tips, articles, a training log, you name it-all for free.

WALKING THE TALK

Back home, Hublou and two partners formed Asimba in January, 1998, naming
the fledgling company for a part of Kenya that has produced many great
runners. The concept took off. Investors had to be wooed, employees hired,
deals made, office space secured. The business began expanding rapidly along
with Hublou's waistline. "After four or five months of no exercise, I felt
horrible," he says. "And my work product wasn't as great." He was falling
out of shape because he'd been too busy building a business designed to help
busy people stay fit. How could he talk the talk and not walk the walk?

Hublou needed a sports goal. He'd always been a good athlete-track,
cross-county and wrestling in high school; gymnastics in college-but wasn't
what you'd call gifted. He'd done a few short, low-key triathlons back in
the 1980s and remembered how much fun they were. Why not go for the whole
enchilada? He signed up for the gruelling Ironman Canada triathlon in British
Columbia-a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26-mile run-as part of the
Leukemia Society's Team in Training Program. (In return for raising money,
Team in Training members get to participate in a big athletic event, with
TNT providing a training program with coaching, workout partners, and travel
to the race.)

"I've always been very goal-oriented," he says. "And my goals have always
been just outside my comfort zone. When I realize I have a shortcoming, I go
after it hard."

TIME TO GET FIT

But how to train and run a company? Hublou quickly determined that the key
to training while working 70-hour weeks was to treat workouts like business
appointments. He entered his workout appointments in his weekly calendar and
made sure nothing interfered. Business associates proved surprisingly
understanding. "People respected the fact that I was doing an Ironman," he
recalls. "I'd say, 'I need to train this morning at 8:30. If it doesn't
impact you, could we meet at 9:30 instead?'"

Hublou also found creative ways to combine work and workouts. "He told us he
would get on his indoor trainer and put his laptop on the aerobar so he
could work and send email while riding," recalls Susie Grant, one of
Hublou's TNT teammates. "A few times he would get really busy, and we
wouldn't see him at workouts, but he did a good job of balancing everything.
Even during all this, he was always there for us. He was always helping me
up hills on bike rides. It wasn't like he was wrapped up in his own world."

HUBLOU HITS THE WALL AND CLIMBS RIGHT OVER IT

By summer of '99, though, his training had increased to 15 to 20 hours a
week just as work demands intensified. One Sunday in July, he almost had
enough.

He was 90 miles into a hilly 105-mile bike ride around Mt. Tamalpais near
San Francisco. The temperature matched the mileage: 105 degrees. On
Saturday, he'd run 16 miles and swum more than three miles. On Friday, he'd
gotten home late from a four-day business trip with nonstop meetings in
Chicago, Boston and New York. He'd been averaging five hours of sleep per
night. Now, at mile 90, he was exhausted, broiling-hot, delusional. Ten
minutes after stopping to get ice cubes for his waterbottles, his energy
drink was so warm it tasted like Gatorade tea.

"Oh my God," thought Hublou, "what the hell am I doing?" What had possessed
him to think he could simultaneously start an Internet company and train for
an Ironman triathlon? Worse, this was barely the beginning. Weeks of killer
workouts and intense business commitments loomed.

Somehow Hublou limped home that day. Fighting off panic, he decided to do
what he'd always done when faced with challenges: take stock, reach out for
support and expertise, make some adjustments, and keep driving toward his
goals.

"EXTRA HARD AND EXTRA SMART"

After his meltdown on that 105-mile ride, Hublou knew something had to give.
He went to his TNT coach, who helped devise a strategy. The coach told
Hublou to take it easy for a few days, even threatening to send him home if
he showed up for the group's next long ride. From now on, the coach said,
he'd have to listen to his body and back off from the regimen when
necessary. Before a big training weekend, he'd have to work "extra hard and
extra smart" on the job during the week so he could focus on exercising come
Saturday. If he had to travel over a weekend, he was to set aside time
during the week for a longer workout.

"Scott's a pretty amazing guy," says Tim Farris, his TNT coach. "He's very
disciplined and motivational. I saw him as the glue of our group. That he
was able to balance his huge commitment to Asimba and his training was
impressive and inspirational."

This revised training approach worked. His fatigue declined and his fitness
increased. The work got done, and so did the workouts. By August, he was
ready.

THE BIG DAY MAKING ROOMS FOR THE BIG ROCKS PAYS OFF

On race day, all went according to plan. Hublou took each leg as it came-one
buoy, one hill, one corner at a time. "Don't push too hard," he kept telling
himself. "It's not a sprint." His goal was to finish and be injury-free;
whether it took 11 hours or 17 didn't matter. He and his TNT partners rooted
for each other throughout the race. His girlfriend, Amy Faunce, pedaled out
to the run course to cheer him on. His sister Rani, who had surprised him by
coming to Canada to watch, ran with him for part of the marathon.

In the end, it proved easier than he expected. As planned, he crossed the
finish line feeling good, and recovered quickly. His time: 14 hours, 17
minutes. "I had prepared myself for it," he says. "I understood the
distances and didn't rush it. I cruised the entire race. If you break it
into individual components, it's very doable."

What could have been a disastrous quest had turned out to be a great
experience. "The Ironman was so incredible," Hublou says. "I was where I
wanted to be, with people I care for and love. There was nowhere else I
wanted to be."

Asimba was in great shape, and so was he. He'd made room for the big rocks.

******************************************
SIDEBAR 1
HEAD: Finding Time to Train

Even if your goals are more modest than training for an Ironman triathlon
while running a start-up company, you still can profit from the lessons
Scott Hublou learned while pursuing these dual objectives. Some of his
hard-earned advice on preparing for an event:

--Schedule workouts. Make workouts as important as any commitment. Put them
on your weekly calendar and don't let other responsibilities get in the way.
"Treat them like meetings and schedule around them," says Hublou.
--Establish structure. It's easier to stay motivated if you get on a
training program. Plus, you don't waste time thinking about what you should
do each day. And you can plan your daily life better. Hublou recalls: "I
needed my training to be brainless. It had to be like waiting for a bus."
--Find training partners. It's more fun working out together and you push
each other to perform better. Also, it's harder to skip workouts when your
partner's waiting for you. Hublou, who joined the Leukemia Society's Team in
Training program, says, "My training group was great."
--Treat your body right. "Pamper yourself," says Hublou. "Eat good food. Get
a massage. Don't worry about spending money on yourself."
--Get support. Tell family and friends you need to be a bit selfish for a
few weeks before your big event. Let them know that you also may be more
stressed. Ask for their help and explain that it's only temporary. "Doing an
Ironman and running a start-up are not individual efforts," Hublou says.
"They're team efforts. I had my team-my girlfriend, Team in Training, people
at work."

******************************************
SIDEBAR 2
HEAD: View from the Office

For months, Scott Hublou's fellow Asimba-ites watched him train for an
Ironman triathlon while running the start-up company. Their perspective:

--"Scott and I built this company because we believe that a balanced life is
the way to go-heck, we even created a Web company that actually encourages
you to step away from your computer and go exercise. Scott talks the talk
and walks the walk."
-Andrew Wong, Chief Creative Officer.

--"Although Scott made it clear that the Ironman was a top priority, he
didn't seem too stressed about the training and the inordinate amount of
time it was taking out of his burgeoning, increasingly successful start-up
company, or his personal life. It was clear that the Ironman was playing an
important role, but he never seemed frustrated or overwhelmed about it."
-Joanna Belkin, Customer Support.

--"Early in May, Scott did the Wildflower Half Ironman Triathlon as a
training race. Scott had just gotten back from a week of business travel and
hadn't been able to work out. He was also dealing with a running injury. I
asked if he was looking forward to Wildflower. 'I'm a little nervous about
it,' he admitted. Back in the office next Monday, he seemed upbeat and
energized. He'd had a great race despite everything, and you could tell he
felt really good."
-Karin Jeffery, Customer Support.

--"Stating an Internet company, managing a team of 20 employees and raising
the necessary funds to ensure success is enough of a challenge.  Throw in
training for an event that takes most people between 10 and 17 hours to
complete, while maintaining a personal life, and you're talking about a
whole different undertaking. Through the five months I witnessed this
undertaking, I never once thought he couldn't do it."
-Robert Kidwell, Director of Business Development

*****************************************
SIDEBAR 3
HEAD: A Week in the Life

What's it like to run a start-up Internet company while training for an
Ironman triathlon? Here's a peek a Scott Hublou's weekly calendar, for
August 9 through 15, 1999:

Monday
9 am-6:30 p.m.: meetings (for upcoming trade show; with potential business
partners)

Tuesday
7-8:30 a.m.: swim 3,500 meters
9 am-4:30 p.m.: meetings (staff; operations; Xoom.com project kick-off)

Wednesday
9 am-6 p.m.: meetings (personnel; race-directors project; board of
directors)

Thursday
6:30-8 am: bike ride
8:15-9:30 am: swim 3,000 meters
10-11:30 am: operations meetings
11:30 am-12:30 p.m.: media interviews
2-6 p.m.: meetings with potential investors

Friday
7:30-4 p.m.: meetings (staff; business partnerships)

Saturday
Ride 115 miles

Sunday
Swim 2.4 miles
Run 10 miles


This article is brought to you by Asimba, Inc.
Copyright 1999 Asimba, Inc. All rights reserved.
See this article at http://www.asimba.com/cgi/go.to?ac=951111&ed=121725
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