{"id":21908,"date":"2025-11-21T12:16:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T12:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportman.fi\/?p=21908"},"modified":"2025-11-21T12:16:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T12:16:18","slug":"keep-your-guard-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportman.fi\/index.php\/2025\/11\/21\/keep-your-guard-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Keep your guard up!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Riad, Saudi Arabia, vuonna 2014. Ajelemme tiimikaveri Mohammedin kanssa ja juttelemme \u201cpian\u201d (2021) alkavasta aavikkojuoksusta. Yks kaks yll\u00e4tt\u00e4en h\u00e4n sanoo: \u201cJukka, remember, we must always keep our guard up\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

T\u00e4ll\u00e4 h\u00e4n viittasi siihen, ett\u00e4 kun liikumme aavikolla, niin suojaus on pidett\u00e4v\u00e4 aina ylh\u00e4\u00e4ll\u00e4.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On siis oltava valpas ja pyritt\u00e4v\u00e4 ennakoimaan mahdollinen vaaratilanne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harrastin nuorena poikana urheilua laidasta laitaan. Yksi laji, joka koukutti oli nyrkkeily. Kaverit meniv\u00e4t karatetunnille, mutta minua kiinnosti enemm\u00e4n nyrkkeilysalin h\u00e4myinen tunnelma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mik\u00e4li nyrkkeilij\u00e4 tiputtaa suojauksen, niin vastustaja kyll\u00e4 muistuttaa sen t\u00e4rkeydest\u00e4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kerron t\u00e4st\u00e4 tositarinan, jonka kuulin er\u00e4\u00e4lt\u00e4 Saudi-yst\u00e4v\u00e4lt\u00e4 muutama vuosi sitten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Er\u00e4s Saudi-Arabiassa asuva mies innostui aavikosta ja alkoi tehd\u00e4 sinne retki\u00e4 upouudella maastoautollaan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H\u00e4n tankkasi joka kerta tankin t\u00e4yteen ja otti mukaan varakanisterin. Vett\u00e4 oli moneksi p\u00e4iv\u00e4ksi ja my\u00f6s murkinaa, jos nyt sattuisi tapahtumaan jotain ennakoimatonta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuli ensimm\u00e4inen reissu, joka meni hienosti. Samoin toinen, kolmas ja viel\u00e4 nelj\u00e4skin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mies l\u00e4hti viidennelle matkalleen. Koska kaikki edelliset reissut olivat menneet hyvin, niin miksi t\u00e4m\u00e4 viidennes menisi huonommin?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miehen suojaus putosi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ei ollut varakanisteria, kun sille ei n\u00e4emme ollut tarvetta. Sama juttu veden ja muonan kanssa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ja k\u00e4nnyk\u00e4n, sill\u00e4 miksi ladata se tappiin, kun kaikki menee kuitenkin hyvin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, ei mennyt. Yst\u00e4v\u00e4ni, joka toimii Saudeissa pelastusoperaatiojohtajana l\u00f6ysi miehen kuolleena autonsa vierest\u00e4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Auto oli hajonnut. Paahtava aurinko hoiti loput.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*************************************************************************************************<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2014.<\/strong>
I\u2019m driving around with my teammate Mohammed, chatting about the desert run that will start \u201csoon\u201d (in 2021). All of a sudden he says, \u201cJukka, remember, we must always keep our guard up.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was referring to the fact that when we move around in the desert, we must always keep our guard up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have to stay alert and try to anticipate any potential danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was young, I played all kinds of sports. One that really hooked me was boxing. My friends went to karate lessons, but I was more drawn to the dim, gritty atmosphere of the boxing gym.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If a boxer lets his guard drop, the opponent will certainly remind him why that\u2019s a bad idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a true story I heard from a Saudi friend a few years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A man living in Saudi Arabia became fascinated with the desert and started taking trips there with his brand-new off-road vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every time, he filled up the tank and brought along an extra jerrycan. He carried enough water for several days and food as well, just in case something unexpected happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His first trip went great. So did the second, the third, and even the fourth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man set out on his fifth trip. Since all the previous ones had gone well, why would this one be any different?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His guard dropped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He didn\u2019t bring the extra jerrycan\u2014apparently, he felt there was no need. Same with the water and the food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And his phone\u2014why fully charge it, when everything always goes fine?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, it didn\u2019t.
My friend, who works as a rescue operations director in Saudi Arabia, found the man dead next to his car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vehicle had broken down. The scorching sun did the rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Riad, Saudi Arabia, vuonna 2014. Ajelemme tiimikaveri Mohammedin kanssa ja juttelemme \u201cpian\u201d (2021) alkavasta aavikkojuoksusta. Yks kaks yll\u00e4tt\u00e4en h\u00e4n sanoo: \u201cJukka, remember, we must always keep our guard up\u201d. T\u00e4ll\u00e4 h\u00e4n viittasi siihen, ett\u00e4 kun liikumme aavikolla, niin suojaus on pidett\u00e4v\u00e4 aina ylh\u00e4\u00e4ll\u00e4. On siis oltava valpas ja pyritt\u00e4v\u00e4 ennakoimaan mahdollinen vaaratilanne. Harrastin nuorena poikana urheilua […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportman.fi\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportman.fi\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportman.fi\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportman.fi\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportman.fi\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21908"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sportman.fi\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21909,"href":"https:\/\/sportman.fi\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21908\/revisions\/21909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportman.fi\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportman.fi\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportman.fi\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}