¡Una semana antes!

Ya solo faltan 6 días para el Ironman, y la verdad que ya quisiera estar haciéndolo. Estas ultimas 2 o 3 semanas en las que el entrenamiento ha bajado un poco de ritmo, he tenido muchísima ansiedad por que esta competencia ya termine. Fueron 3 meses de entrenamiento intenso, y un mes bastante más flojo, pero igual de entrenamiento constante.

Hay muchos de mis compañeros del club de triatlón que han estado entrenando desde hace unos 6 o 7 meses, y la verdad no se como han aguantado tanto tiempo. La recta final ha sido dura, y un poco fastidiosa se podría decir. Las temperaturas han bajado y ya oscurece más temprano, si a esto agregas que en mi caso, estuve entrenando solo, te cuesta mucho mas el pararte y hacer 2 horas de bicicleta, o salir a correr por dos horas, o nadar. Mi compañero de entrenamiento, que me ayudo mucho durante el verano, termino su temporada antes que yo, y por supuesto se dedico al descanso, muy merecido por todos los triatlonistas después de la temporada.

Ahora solo pienso en el esfuerzo y dedicación que hice, y en estos 6 días me dedicare a terminar el entrenamiento y enfocarme en prepararme física y mentalmente para el día final. Aun queda camino por recorrer, pero eso si los 224.96Km=140.6Millas son seguro, ya que lo haré el día de la competencia. Para los que viven en Washington DC es como ir de DC a Filadelfia, para los que viven en Venezuela es como ir de Caracas a Puerto Píritu.

Creo que es muy importante en este período, buscar otro tipo de entrenamiento (cross-trainning) que te permita descansar un poco mentalmente del monótono entrenamiento de bicicleta, correr y nadar. Durante estos últimos días, hice yoga, kayak, corrí otros caminos, entrené un poco más en el gimnasio y hasta hice una clase de escalar en roca, así logre hacer otro tipo de ejercicio que a la vez me ayudaban a fortalecer los músculos. Como comente antes, ahora hay que dedicarse a la nutrición, esta semana comeré muchos carbohidratos para así tener energía suficiente.

Gracias a todos los que han estado interesados estos últimos momentos, y les mantendré al tanto. Salgo para mi destino Panamá City Beach, Florida el Miércoles 1ro de Noviembre, la competencia es el día 4. Ya estaré escribiendo otras notas y publicándolas, gracias de nuevo y espero continúen leyendo.

BIB number, RACE Number, or IMFL number I just got it!!!! I’m number 791

I don’t know why I was so exited about getting my number for the Ironman Florida, but I think it was just a confirmation that I’m in and that I’m doing it. Also, I could send or post the number here, so that family and friends check my split times while I’m doing the race.

The day of the race in the Ironman Florida (http://www.ironmanflorida.com/) or Ironman (http://www.ironman.com/events/ironman/florida) websites (not sure which one will be in life coverage of the race), you will be able to track me and where am I in the race. The page should have a link to a life camera in Panama City Florida, and also an option to track athletes, you just have to write down the bib number and they will be posting my split times.

Hope you could find the options, so you would be able to track me.

Race day is as of today officially.

TAPER

This is the best part of the training… TAPER we as runners, bikers, and swimmers never learn to rest, and it’s very important. I have been reading a lot and the way our muscles recover from extreme exercises is to allow them to properly rest/recover. It has been a long way to be in this moment now, 10 days away from my first Ironman, and I have to tell you that tapering has been a great part of my training. It doesn’t mean that you don’t exercise more, it means that instead of doing 2-3hrs of daily training and 10-12hrs of weekend training, you allow your body to do 1hr-2hrs of weekday training and perhaps 7hr-10hrs of weekend training. The closer the event November 4th, the less you do. But it is always less than the peek weeks of training. By the way, I recover part of my social life, I’m able to stay a little late since I don’t have to wake up at 5-5:30AM anymore.

Other important par here is nutrition, I have been eating like crazy and trying to keep my weight, which has been hard. I’m still loosing pounds and I shouldn’t be, but I think is just a matter of being nervous. I had to practice a full day of no solid food, since that is what is really going to happen in the Ironman. You don’t eat steak, chicken, rice salad, etc. instead I drink high protein/carbohydrate drinks, drink/swallow power gels, and nothing more nothing less. Of course, Gatorade and water for electrolytes and hydration. In case you feel that you are loosing a lot of salt, I might have to have a pill of salt (sodium), but never happen during my training, hopefully won’t need it.

This past weekend, I also tried cross training since I was getting tired of biking, swimming (always tired of it) and running long sessions. I went kayaking foe 6 miles, like 3hrs. It was great and I change a little the monotony of my weekend trainings. I also went to an advance yoga class that almost killed me, I was doing some posses that never did before and they were hard.

My recommendation for all of you that are interested in doing an Ironman, is that of TAPER when needed, it is better to make it to the race than been out due to overtraining, which always end up in one or more injuries.

Race number. Número para el Ironman.

I just received and e-mail message that says: "We will be assigning race numbers to the 2006 Ford Ironman Florida on Friday, October 20 ". I'm so anxious; it's a weird feeling... The day is closer and closer!!!!

I'll be posting the number so that you are able (if you like it) to track me on-line on race day, and see me finishing it.

Acabo de recibir un correo electrónico que dice: "Estaremos asignando los números para la carrera 2006 Ford Ironman Florida el Viernes, 20 de Octubre". Estoy súper ansioso, es un sentimiento raro... ¡El día esta cada vez más cerca!!!

Estaré publicando el número para que puedas (si quieres) seguirme por Internet el día de la competencia, y para que me vean terminándola.

Comenzó el frío y la lluvia. The cold and the rain began.

Comenzó el frío y la lluvia. (English continues...)

Ya la época del verano se nos fue y comienza el otoño, así que entrenar es cada vez más difícil y precisa de más dedicación, disciplina y concentración. Esta semana comenzó a 4º C, así que decidí hacer el entrenamiento de la bicicleta dentro de la casa, aprovechando que puedo colocar la bicicleta en un aparato que me permite entrenar sobre mi propia bici. Pedalee por 1hora aproximadamente, entre las 6:30am-7:30am pasadas.

En la tarde, salí a correr casi de noche, mas o menos las 6:00pm y me conseguí con unos amigos del club de triatlón, la idea era ir suave, pero como que no entendí lo que era suave para ellos. Uno clasificó para el World Championship 70.3 (Medio-Ironman) en Florida y por su puesto que estaba corriendo como gacela. El otro, esta por terminar su temporada con dos maratones mas, en lo que queda de año. Corrimos por 1hr 30min (incluye ida al lugar de reunión y vuelta a casa). En distancia, calculo que fueron unas 12 millas (casi 20Kms). Después me toco descanso, ya que el paso de correr fue bastante rápido, y no debería estar corriendo a este paso. Pero en general, me sentí bastante bien y listo para continuar esta semana de entrenamiento.

Tuve una cena muy balanceada con unos amigos que nunca se cansas de oír me hablar de triatlones, etc. Y si se cansan no me lo dicen – Gracias.

Mañana seguro me tocara correr bajo la lluvia, la verdad me gusta ya que nadie esta en la calle, lo único malo es que el olor de los zapatos que si no se secan bien pueden matar a cualquiera.

... The cold and the rain began.

The summer season is gone, and the autumn begins, so training is increasingly more difficult and it needs more dedication, discipline and concentration. This week started at 40º F, so I decided to do the bike portion of the training inside the house, taking advantage of the bike trainer I bought long time ago, which allows me to train on my own bike. I biked for almost one hour, between 6:30am-7:30am, more or less.

In the afternoon, I started running almost at night, around 6:00pm to meet with some friends from the DC Triathlon club. The idea was to go smooth, but it looks like I didn’t understand what was smooth for them. One classified for the World Championship 70.3 (Half-Ironman) in Florida and of course, he was running like a gazelle. The other guy is finishing his season with two more marathons, for the remaining of the year. We ran for 1hr 30min (includes going to the meeting place and return home). I think the distance was like 12 miles (almost 20Kms). Then I rested, very much deserved, since the running pace was fast, and should not be running at this pace. But in general, I felt well enough to continue the training in tapering mode for this week.

I had a very balanced dinner with some friends that are never tired from listening to me talking about triathlons, etc. And if they are tired they do not they say anything – Thanks.

I’m sure tomorrow I will run under the rain, but the truth is that I like it, since nobody is on the street; the only bad thing is that the smell of the shoes. If they don’t dry well the smell could kill anybody.

Trainings

Versión en Español más abajo

During the months of July until the end of September (3 months) I have been training desperately to try to complete the Ironman Florida. The ideal was or is to have a training of some 23 weeks but due to some injuries (tendonitis right knee and stress fracture in my tibia) I couldn’t begin before. Now, I’m in the process of tapering and it’s a matter of lowering the quantity of exercise to maintain the form until the day of the competition, November 4. Up to now the best part.

I always wanted to post the weekly training that I was incurring, but because of time I never wrote. I regretted now since it could have been a good memory, but I will use this post for at least mentioning a typical week of training.

They were difficult months, but the summer in the United States helped a lot. The day had light and good temperatures since 5:30AM until 9:00PM, and thus, I could take advantage of long sessions of exercise. In general, I trained some 2 or 3 hours during the weekdays, and some 10 or 12 hours during weekends. These times varied depending on my body, state of mind, work, and parties (not many), I tried that this doesn’t happens often, since the weekend was the most important training, and always I read, that it was better to lose a day of the week than a day of the weekend.

I’m very lucky that I never slept a lot to recover from a hangover, or simply from the day by day, so I believe that helps me a lot. But, after I began to see my acupuncturist, and having needles everywhere, in order to recover from my injuries and also to get some more sleep, I started to need more that 6 hours of rest, if not I felt/feel tired. The truth is that it works, and in fact I rest a lot better.

The best from the training is to begin to create the base, and later to increase the distances in order to have or create the resistance. This also depends on each person, on how you recover from one day to the other, and from the competitions that are done during the training.

Well, it is time to comment the typical week. I could never use a heart rate monitor to train, since I was always excited, so I wasn’t able to continue those trainings that tell you to maintain a rhythm or to be at a specific zone X or Y.

Entrenamientos

Durante los meses de Julio hasta finales de Septiembre (3 meses) he estado entrenando como desesperado para tratar de completar el Ironman de Florida. Lo ideal era o es tener un entrenamiento de unas 23 semanas pero debido a unas lesiones (tendonitis rodilla derecha y fisura en la tibia) no pude empezar antes. Ahora estoy en el proceso de “descanso” que se llama ‘tapering’ y se trata de rebajar la cantidad de ejercicio para mantenerse en forma hasta el día de la competencia, que es el 4 de Noviembre. Hasta ahora la mejor parte.

Siempre quise poner semanalmente los entrenamientos a los cuales estaba incurriendo, pero por cuestión de tiempo nunca escribí nada, de lo cual me arrepiento ahora ya que hubiese sido un buen recuerdo, pero usare este mensaje para por lo menos mencionar una semana típica de cómo entrenaba.

Fueron meses difíciles, pero el verano en los Estados Unidos ayudo mucho ya que el día tenía luz y buenas temperaturas desde las 5:30AM como hasta las 9:00PM, y así pude aprovechar sesiones largas de ejercicio. En general entrenaba unas 2 o 3 horas diarias durante el día, y unas 10 o 12 horas durante el fin de semana, esto a veces variaba dependiendo de mi cuerpo, estado de animo, trabajo, fiestas (no muchas) Intentaba que no ocurriese, ya que el fin de semana era el entrenamiento mas importante, y siempre leí, que era mejor perder un día de la semana que un día del fin de semana.

Tuve mucha suerte de que nunca dormí mucho para recuperarme de una resaca, o simplemente del día a día, así que creo que me ayudo mucho. Eso si, después que empecé a ver a mi acupunturista, la que me comenzó a ponerme agujas por todos lados, para recuperarme de las lesiones y para tratar de dormir mas, ya comencé a necesitar mas de 6 horas de sueño. La verdad funciono, y de hecho descanso mucho mejor.

Lo ideal del entrenamiento es empezar a crear la base y después incrementar las distancias para así tener o crear la resistencia. Esto también depende de las personas, de cómo te recuperas de un día para el otro, y de las competencias que haces en el intermedio.

Bueno, es hora de comentar la semana típica, eso si, nunca pude usar un monitor de corazón para entrenar, ya que siempre estaba alterado, así que nunca pude seguir esos entrenamientos que te dicen que te mantengas a un ritmo especifico en una zona X o Y.

16Km – 10 Millas Nuevo Record Personal

Este Domingo 8 de Octubre, corrí como parte de mi entrenamiento el “Army 10 Miler” (10 millas de la Armada) una de las carreras mas famosas de Washington DC. Se inscribieron unos 24.000 corredores de los cuales solo participaron unos 17.000, que es un número bastante grande también. En estos momentos de mi entrenamiento, no debo hacer más largas distancias (en preparación para el maratón del Ironman) pero si se pueden incluir este tipo de distancias, no muy cortas, a paso de carrera, lo cual permiten el desarrollo de los músculos y a demás el descanso de los mismos.

A diferencia de la carrera anterior (leer 20-Mile Run (32Km) training and Swimming Clinic), para esta pude descansar un poco mas. Me desperté como a las 6:15am, para conseguirme con un amigo del club de triatlón, y otro amigo de él, cerca de casa. Nos fuimos en Metro, ya que estacionar con tanta gente cerca del Pentágono iba a ser una pesadilla. Llegamos casi a la hora de empezar nuestro grupo 7:45am y la carrera empezaba a las 8:00am, ya que el Metro se demoro un poco.

Antes de salir de casa, se me ocurrió desayunarme un cambur (banana), y café con leche, no fue muy buena idea. Ya verán por que. Bueno, eran las 8:00AM y disparan un cañonazo, para dar inicio a la primera ola de corredores, donde yo me encontraba. Desde un principio quería correr a paso de carrera, siempre y cuando mis lesiones no me advirtiesen de lo contrario. Comencé bien, a un paso de 7 minutos la milla, o sea 1.6Km. Me di cuenta que podía esforzarme mas para hacer un tiempo por debajo de 1 hora: 10 minutos, y así mejorar mi tiempo de 1 hora 13 minutos, y en lo persona, estar por debajo de 1hr:10min, no se por que pero es como que se reconoce la diferencia entre corredores, ya que el paso es por debajo de los 7min la milla y eso es bastante.

Bueno la carrera empieza, yo sigo y me siento bien, así que empecé a apurar el paso y así logre mantenerme por debajo de los 7min la milla. Durante el recorrido la asistencia de agua, Gatorade y médica fue una maravilla, cada dos millas. Hubo unas bandas de música que alegraban la mañana. A lo largo del recorrido había mucha gente, aupando y aplaudiendo a todo el mundo, por su puesto mas a sus familiares o amigos, pero vale la intención, y mucho.

También se encontraba entre el publico, José, que es nuestro presidente del club de corredores del BID (Banco Inter-Americano de Desarrollo). Siempre esta apoyándonos, es lo máximo. Siempre tiene mucha energía y te la logra trasmitir, ayudándote a mantenerte siempre positivo en las carreras.

Me di cuenta hacia el final, que estaba un poco más lento y que a lo mejor no iba a lograr mi meta, así que decidí apurar el paso, o mejor dicho mantenerlo, pero fue cuando el desayuno decidió tomar acciones de protesta. El sistema digestivo casi logra imponerse al sistema locomotor, pero entre un poco de concentración y charlas internas, logre que el desayuno se mantuviera en mi cuerpo sin mucha protesta.

Estaba practicando una nueva técnica para correr que requiere más de los abdominales y postura que de los muslos como tal, así que creo que fue un poco del uso de esos músculos por primera vez. La técnica se llama Chi-Running que es una mezcla de Taichi aplicada a las carreras. Bueno, ya veré si funciona a largo plazo.

El final de la carrera, unos 3Km mas o menos, se pasa por el un puente que al principio es subida (no muy inclinada) y luego viento, es medio desgraciado para el final, pero que se le hace.
Chequeando con mi reloj me di cuenta que iba bien, así que seguí y logre mi cometido, termine la carrera en un tiempo oficial de 1hr:09min:16seg. Esto implica que corrí a 6min 55.6seg la milla (1.6Km), quede en el puesto 745 de los 17.000 corredores que aproximadamente empezaron la carrera. Dentro de mi grupo de edad quede en el puesto 116 de 1698, y en el grupo de hombres ocupe la posición 676 de 8970.

Por fin le estoy viendo resultados al entrenamiento del Ironman de Florida!!!!!!!! Hasta el próximo record. Pronto…

Dating a triathlete. It's not only training.

This will help to understand better a triathete, and his/her dates.

"I am an outdoors type of person." Really means: I train in any type of weather. If it is raining, snowing, 90 degrees w/100% humidity, or winds gusting at 30 mph, I don't want to hear any complaints because I will still train in it and you’re just a big wussy for complaining about it.
"I enjoy riding my bike." Really means: With or w/o aero bars, alone or in a peloton, I don't care. If you can't do a spur of the moment 30 miler then you’re not my type. I will let you draft, but if you can't hang and I drop you - I will see you later. I am a capable mechanic, but don't expect me to change your flats or tune your bike. You need to learn that on your own.
"I enjoy jogging." Really means: Lets run hills until we puke. I have just as many shoes as you only mine are better because they are functional and all look the same.
"I enjoy dining out." Really means: I enjoy eating out, in or anywhere else I can find food. Don't be shy because with the amount of food I eat, you can have that main entree instead of a salad and you will still look as though you eat like a rabbit in comparison. Don't get your limbs too close though as I may take a bite out of you. Most importantly don't expect any taste off my plate unless you can bring something to the party like more food. Eventually though if your not burning 4,000+calories a day your going to plump up and have a terrible complex due to watching me eat deserts and not gain any weight. Friends and family will eventually decide not to dine with us any more due to my horrid table manners. Oh, and don't ask me any questions during breakfast, mid-morning lunch, lunch, afternoon lunch, dinner or recovery dinner as it does not lend to efficient food intake.
"I enjoy quiet walks on the beach." Really means: Walks on the beach warming up into an 8-mile run and then plunging myself in the ocean for a 2 miler. If you get in my way you’re going to find out what mass start is and let me assure you that you don't want to find out.
"I find fulfillment in charitable work." Really means: If I am not racing, I am volunteering and I expect you to be there along side me as I stand out in 90 degree weather for 8 hours handing out sports drink to cyclists going 20 mph. Just stick the whole arm out there and hope it doesn't get taken off.
"I enjoy sharing quiet moments together." Really means: It's taper time. Just back off because I am strategizing and in a pissy mood because I am worried about my "A" race and can't workout.
"I am an active person." Really means: Aside from my 40-hour job, and the 8 mandatory hours of sleep a night. 10-hour a week is devoted tome during the off-season and 20 during race season leaving us 4 hours. 2 of which are spent inhaling food and you not talking to me, so lets make the best of the 2 hours we will spend together on average each day. If you are a licensed message therapist or doctor this would make the most optimal use of our time together. Nutritionist is also acceptable, but I probably already know just as much as you.
"I enjoy road trips and leisurely drives." Really means: You have your choice of Wisconsin, Idaho, Florida, California, Arizona, and New York, but don't expect to do much site seeing. If I get enough support from you we might be able to include Hawaii in there.
"I enjoy site seeing." Really means: Lets grab a mountain bike and get our heart rate's up to 90%. There's plenty of time to look around on the descent as trees and bushes whiz by you at 40 mph.
"I like stimulating conversation." Really means: While we are running, we can talk about food. Then we can talk about how we decided what to wear on this run based on the temperature at start time versus the temperature at the time we expect to finish, how horribly out of shape we are, how many miles we did last week, and how many we will do this week and next week. Then we can talk about food.
"I enjoy relaxing soaks in the tub." Really Means: I'm going to stop on the way home and buy two bags of ice, throw them in the tub with some water, and sit in this torture chamber for 30 minutes.
"I'm interested in photography." Really Means: My camera is permanently perched a tripod in front of my trainer. I obsess over taking photos of my bike position and analyzing them to get the perfect setup.
"I'm into in technology." Really Means: My heart rate monitor and bike computer are my best friends. Until you can give me some hard data that can improve my training, don't bother trying to buddy up to me. You could one day break into the top three if I find you as entertaining on long runs and rides as my mp3 player.

A little joke makes a big smile!!!

20-Mile Run (32Km) training and Swimming Clinic

In my training for the marathon that I have to run at the Ironman, I have to do a long run a month before the race. I registered for a 20-Mile run in Virginia, to have support during the race and motivation. But, one of my best friends decided to celebrate his Birthday throwing a party the day before my race. Of course, I can always run 20-mile so being a supportive friend I went to his party. Leo (turning almost 40, see his blog) set up the house perfect for a great Sushi-Noodle dinner for more than 30 people (Thanks, Tulio, Mary and Michi for the cooking) and a good music mix. The party extends for me until 3:45AM something like that, and of course I spent most of the night awake, drinking water (few beers) and an apple plus other munchies. I got home around 4:00AM and went bed at 4:15AM, but before set the alarm clock at 5:45AM because a friend was picking me up around 6:00AM. I woke up a little tired, just 1hr:30min of sleep, and I knew the race was not going to be a personal record for me, in fact I was thinking at that time if I would be able to finish it.

Here we were, my friend and I, heading towards the race start, we stretched and fueled with gel before the race. I started feeling not good after mile 6; my stomach was a little upset and felt bad. I had to stop 3 times to go to the bathroom since I was full of liquid and my pace wasn’t my race pace, of course taking into consideration the party, the drinks, the sleep time, etc, wasn’t that bad. I was able to finish the race in place 76 of 256 general, and 14 of 59 in the male age group. My total time was 2h:49min:41sec.

We stretched after the race, and drove back home. But I have a swimming clinic at 1:00pm. Since you already know, my swim style sucks, so I need the help. I decided to have a cup of coffee, and go to the swimming class. I did, and it was great. We started the clinic, with a few good members of the DC TRICLUB that generously gave their time to help others, we were like 20 people there trying to improve our techniques. To my surprise, we started drills with out using the hands, so here I am after a 20-mile run kicking like crazy, I thought I was going to drawn, my legs were exhausted. After 30min more or less, I think more, we started using the arms, a little of rest. The clinic last for almost 2 hrs, and I felt my body was kind of tired from a full day of race/exercise. I went back home, but passed by my gym and got in the sauna for 30min to relax. Finally I was home around 6pm in the afternoon, LONG DAY!!!

I had a 2 hrs nap, I woke up thinking that I was not going to be able to sleep more. I had dinner, and went back to bed and slept until next day 7:00AM, good deal, around 10 hrs of sleep. Monday was a resting day, and I started on Tuesday with a 5-mile recovery run with my group at the office, the IDB Runner’s Club.

By the way, all this happens on Sunday September 24th 2006.

Diamondman Triathlon - Half-Ironman distance 70.3 miles

Diamondman Triathlon - Half Ironman

1.2mile/1.92Km swiming

56mile/89.6Km biking

13.1mile/21Km running

This was my first long distance triathlon attemp after my injures. During the training progress for my Ironman, I decided to do two half-ironman distances, but due to my injuries I had to quit Eagleman 70.3 in June 2006, focusing on recovering for the Ironman.

I was 152/367 athletes that finished the race.

Swim: 44:23, rank 256 (I'm a bad swimmer, but getting better)

T1: 4:16 (takes time to put on my one-toe socks)

Bike: 2:56:29, average of 19.0 miles/hr rank 218 (not fast enought)

T2: 2:03 (I don't know what I did)

Run: 1:47:43, pace 8:14 per mile, rank 59 (my best leg)

Total: 5:34:53

A little long, but couldn’t handle the excitement of writing the report.

Here I am, preparing myself to an Ironman, which I signed last year looking for a challenge (sure it’s more than a challenge, there are 3 together). I spent most of the tri-season recovering and going to physiotherapy + acupuncture. My concerns with Dimondman were my injuries and if I could cope with the distance without problems. Now, I have to say I did, slow but done!!!!!!

Sure non of these would have been possible with the support of people at the DC Tri Club, which were always encouraging, helping and supporting me with my training and goals. There are many of you that always give advice, time, etc. to help others, and to myself. I just want to thanks all for that, especially Chad, which is always planning along something… Paul for the bike rides at 5:30am and swim talks, Kirsten for not beating me that bad in training ;-), Hermes, Gary, and other for the help during this past 2 month of hard training in my way to the Ironman!!!!

The race started for me on Friday, just thinking that everything was close, it made me a little nervous. So I decided to go for a short swim with another tri pal and have a nice dinner (carbo-load), before heading to Delaware on Saturday morning. By the way, a party 2 days before is not good at all.

My friend Paul and I, drove to Bear, Delaware on Saturday morning. Arriving there was great, I felt that I was doing something important for me and something I was looking forward since last year when I registered at Ironman Florida (what I was thinking!!!!). But here I am, waiting to do my first Half Ironman.

Great weather on Saturday, Paul and I checked bikes, got packages and went to check the lake. After that we had a nice dinner at the Sinner’s place (I don’t think anybody there was a Saint). We decided to camp at the Park, so we were closer to the event. We went to sleep, I woke up several times during camping night, but all because of being anxious for everything to start. Alarm set at 5am, Race Day!!!!!! There were already people awake and you feel the movement around. The people, their bikes, the volunteers, music, etc started the day very early. Took my bike and transition bag (looks like a suitcase), and went towards the last minute checks (chip, re-mark my numbers, and set up transition area).

Now wait until start time… I had my wet suit on and started to walk to the lake with everybody. I put on the cap, which I think that for bald people is very very big (too much extra latex there). Now, waiting to jump in the water (Chad thank for the zipper help), which I don’t like it at all (just for shower and basic cleaning LOL). I was on the second wave.

My swim IS NOT my best part of the tri, so I just wanted to be out of the water as soon as possible, and that’s something I repeated to myself all the time (helps me to swim and swim and swim), even though I’m not a good swimmer. Well race started, I was passed by the third wave and part of the fourth wave (I told I’m not a good swimmer), and of course I got hands in my back, legs, etc., people almost passing over me, but well I tried to be as far to the right possible not to bother anybody, and I got a little out of the buoys at the end, almost run into a kayaker.

Took my goggles off to see where I was and try to set up my path again. Finally I WAS OUT OF THE WATER. Run the ¼ mile and heads to T1. I saw Kirsten there almost leaving, doing great. I think my T1 was long, so I just have to work a little more when changing to bike clothes, and probably avoid using my running socks that needs to be fit on each of my toes (great for running but not for transition time).

Took the bike and headed out. Bike was flat, but hate the front wind that we have for almost half of the race, then side wind and finally back wind (this help). My biking is getting better; I was able to pass people but not many since I think I was in the back group due to my nice swimming time. But well, I had to repeat myself that this was a training race for the big thing, and I just needed to enjoy it since I didn’t want to get injured again. Felt great after mile 40, them I was by myself for a while, which made me think about what the hell I was doing, easy answer…Half-Ironman, nothing new, nothing else. Soon saw somebody in front of me, which made me happy, just thinking that I was able to catch somebody. I got energy from somewhere and caught another biker.

Feeling great. When closer to the park again, people cheering made me to pedal faster (which remains me at the moment that I should be spinning close to T2 for the muscle to get ready to run). I saw Kirsten again, almost leaving the park. Now, I started to worry about my knee and tibia injuries, since the run was going to start. At this moment, I didn’t feel any pain during the bike (just the normal pain of 56 miles).

Started my run, I felt good, so I decided that I need to give my best for this particular run, and I did. I started with a nice pace, and increase it a little later and soon started to pass people, my legs still feeling good, and no pain in the horizon yet, making the run enjoyable. I talked to people (not much), and sometimes stay with them for a few seconds just giving a Hi, or asking how they feel, sharing the need for a beer at that moment (it was hot and a beer was my motto @ that time). I continued running for a while until turning into the paved road, and I felt the need of finishing, so I pushed myself a little more and increased my pace, and finally got into the park.

Again people cheering help me to cope with last minute effort, seeing DC Tri club faces close to the end was great GO DCTRI!!!! I looked at the time, but I didn’t register in my brain, so here One challenge passed and felt great!!!! Again thank to all that makes this tri a great experience for me. Looking forward to sharing other reports, season not yet finished

NO PAIN NO GAIN !!!!!!! IronGuille