Good News, Bad News

      Pardon me my transient disappearance. I just started a new job one month before my first Ironman distance triathlon on July, and I am still catching up. As a miserable age grouper, I kept following my race schedule without adequate training after recovering from the big race. Happy to say I did not get physically injured. But naturally you can imagine what happened: I had my first Triathlon DNF.

      First the good news: I have completed my first Ironman distance race in less than 16 hours, a lifetime experience that I am sure I will repeat multiple times. In my trainng for it I learned to adjust my metabolism to burn fat, to trust Yoga for all my physical needs and build a stronger body, to disassemble my bike and pack it for flights and to swim longer distances (even though at the same slow speed...). After Vineman I did Malibu Oly and Malibu Sprint Relay, and finished my fastest Sprint race at the Los Angeles Triathlon.

     

      It took me almost two months to feel back to normal after Vineman; I had a skin infection on my right index finger, and then five weeks of diarrhea after taking antibiotics. I felt like a pro when I got diarrhea again on the night before LA Triathlon, sleeping only about four hours, and still being able to achieve a PR. On the week before Magic Mountain Man 70.3 I was working 12-13 hours a day, and started again with gastrointestinal problems on the night before the race. Even without having rushed visits to the port-a-potty on race course, I had to stop after biking 16.6 miles in 1 hour and 58 minutes at 90F degrees, not sweating for about 40 minutes. I would have continued after a break at the first water stop if it was a flat bike course, but that is a very challenging one, and I knew I would not make the time cut-off, not talking about crashing.  

      Talking about good and bad news, my hero Macca became the World Champion again, and Chrissie Wellington got sick and did not continue her championship streak.

      Just a week before I was questioning the value of a finisher's medal, but a DNF makes you relearn your priorities. Maybe I am getting older and recovery is taking many more weeks, maybe I am working too hard, but this is Endurance life...

      I need to schedule my next races, more road work ahead.

Three-Triathlons-Triathlete, third part of three

Happy for reaching my goal at Malibu, achy and tired, I was hungry for more. But then I had to accomplish the most difficult task: pleasing myself with my performance. Long Beach Triathlon (0.5Mi swim, 11Mi bike, 3Mi run) was a perfect race to finish my streak.

Once more I reviewed my bike, setting the bike seat higher, and packed up my triathlon bag. This was my first time at Long Beach, and I have to say: it is beautiful! Even better: it is flat and fast!

Not only the land course was flat that day; the ocean was calm and warm, better than a swimming pool. I did not have any excuses for the swim leg, and I did not need any: my time was 17:11.4, with just few elbow hits and kicks, no surprises.

T1 was awkward, due to a long sand trail at the beach; I ran half of it, until I had cramps on my calves, but no shortness of breath this time. I will include running on sand in my training: my time was a horrible 4:55.4.

Bike leg was exciting, wide and flat streets, with some sharp turns, but not crowded, so I managed to do better: 35:50.9. I have to confess: I need more training time on the aero position... Having a running background, biking always scares me with the possibility of a crash. That is the excuse for the bike leg...

T2 was a satisfactory 1:47.6. I need to train to remove bike shoes on the bike...

Excited with my time, I pushed the run. Basically, I started to chase my age-group competitors, not even breaking the pace for fluids, and felt great: 22:19.9 was my time. The weather helped a lot, low humidity, cool, not windy. The cheers of the spectators was another bonus.

The result was comforting and above expectations: 1:22:04. Now Long Beach is my favorite, and I have plans to repeat this streak every year: LA Triathlon, Malibu and Long Beach. Hard it will be not to go for olympic distances on the first two...

Now I am making plans for half and full-Ironman, if I have the money.

I already know I have the guns and the guts.

Next races: Long Beach International Marathon (10/12/08); ING New York Marathon (11/02/08).

Hero of the week: Chris McCormack. At least until next Saturday, he is The Ironman Champion. But I have to tell you: anybody swimming 0.5Mi in 10:29 (his time in Malibu this year) and finishing an Ironman in 8:15:34 (his time in Kona last year) or less has all my respect and will be my hero.

Quote of the week: "Fear is probably the thing that limits performance more than anything - the fear of not doing well, of what people will say. You've got to acknowledge those fears, then release them." --Mark Allen