Boldly Bald

       Now I can say the 2011 season has started. And I started head first. Last Saturday I shaved my head at a local St.Baldrick's Foundation event, in my way to become a hero.            

        It feels like Triathlon season again!!!

     

Half-racing

      I am officially declared out-of-shape for this rest of the year. Today I just ran the inaugural Dodge Rock'n'Roll Los Angeles (you know, this is the first, I had to do it...), and suffered as much as in a marathon, running a half-marathon AT MARATHON PACE. Not just that, but I had to walk few hills, felt sick and hit the wall at Mile 6, and, for the third race finish in a row, medical volunteers came to ask me if I was OK.

     

       Emergency measures are required, specially because I have a marathon in three weeks, the year still has two months to go, my training was jeopardized by my new job, and I want to have big endurance plans for 2011.

      First Step is start including my training on my written daily schedule. Even if it is a 30-minute run or a 15-minute Yoga session, something EVERYDAY, of course alternating intensity and listening to my body. Anything is better than nothing (current status).

      Second Step is to go for a medical check-up, as now my gastrointestinal problems got me to believe I may have Irritable Bowel Syndrome: my frequent toilet visits start now the day before the races, and not only on race morning, causing me to become dehydrated even before the races start.

      Third Step is to start again taking better care of myself; my weight is still the same, but I've been drinking way too much coffee, eating erratically, delaying Yoga for more than a week long, and sleeping poorly.

      After my DNF disaster two weeks ago, I thought an easy half-marathon in less than two hours would be a nice workout. I am happy I had this wake-up call just in time for Thanksgiving.

      By the way, my unofficial time was 2h07min; and I am working on Thanksgiving.

Malibu International Marathon

A

     Zuma Beach, in Malibu, CA, has a very special place in my heart. It is a beautiful place where I had planned my first A race, where I first got panic at open water swim, where I first noticed my bike strength was not enough, where I will always be able to watch the ocean without people interrupting my view.

     That is essentially why I was mesmerized by the idea of running a marathon through PCH finishing at Zuma Beach. I knew there would be hills at the last half, and without proper training this would not be a race to get a personal best. But as usual, being this the first event there was a special attraction. And I had to run another marathon for 2009.

     It was a chilly morning (43-45F), and parking was available near the finish line, with shuttles to take the runners to the start. My wife was running the half, and would start at the middle of the full course, two hours later, so we had to go separate ways. There was a small number of racers for the full marathon (331 finishers), and the sun came out right before the start.
      Following my training on forefoot running, I decided to make this my first marathon on flat lightweight shoes, my old pair of Asics DS Gel Racer that I used on my sprint triathlons throughout 2009. Addionally to that, I was three weeks on my low carb diet, lighter and feeling more energetic. My watch battery had died, so there would be no time monitoring, what contributed to decrease my anxiety.

       I felt really good at start, and decided to leave behind the 4:30 pace group, as I was able to run confortably at 9 min/mile pace. When we reached the Pacific Coast Highway there was a strong headwind for about two miles, what required extra energy spenditure. But I kept the 9 min/mile until mile 15, when everything came down, as I started to climb the hills. Probably I had muscle fatigue resulting from the current diet mixed with the different running technique. I had to do walk breaks, mostly on the hills, as I did not have a watch to rigorously follow a schedule. At that point, it became a fun run, and I started to chase the other marathon maniacs and interesting people.

      To help me finish the last three miles, I met a runner training with Galloway using an interesting device to time the run/walk/run schedule. That tiny box with loud beeper really pushed me forward, and we finished the marathon few minutes after 4:30, without being passed by the pace group (that or I was really short of oxygen).

       I ran Malibu more than two months after my last marathon (Kauai Marathon, 09/06/09), and a month after I burned out after Magic Mountain Man (10/10/09), so it was my secret pleasure to finish it. I was finally reclaiming my running form back, in time for Baton Rouge Beach Marathon in 12/05/09, and a happy 2009 closure.
      To have the same result as previous marathons was reassuring, with the new diet, the new technique and the new year to come. I was finally going back to my roots, becoming a better runner and triathlete.

Vineman 70.3: Lessons to Learn

Going for bigger challenges, I had on Vineman 70.3 my second half-ironman triathlon. It was my first registration, my A race, while Wildflower was to be my rehearsal. Vineman was special because of the M-dot logo, I should say.

It taught me a lot of lessons, I am happy and proud to say. First lesson was never to travel on the previous day of a long distance race. Trying to save time and money, I went from LA to San Francisco on the morning of the previous day, spent hours driving and dehydrating, wasted my lunch time at the expo, and ended having lunch at a supermarket at 4PM, about fifteen hours from the race start. Bad plan.

Driving back and forth along the bike course, still made to have dinner with colleagues from LA TRI, at a place to have a pizza "to die for", with an old ambulance for deliveries (see picture).

Slept well, but worried through the hot night for have forgotten to check again the race course, with no Internet or IPhone access to do so at bedtime. That was my second lesson: study carefully the race course, months and weeks before.

Transition area and swimming start were crowded, with many colorful distractions and loudspeakers, and I almost missed the start of my wave. The Russian River is a beautiful place, and its warm calm and shallow waters were a pleasure to swimmers of all levels. At mid-course I regretted to wear full wetsuit, sweating while touching the bottom with my hands. At the end, I regretted not to have trained better: 57:32, in such ideal conditions. Of course, transition area was half empty. Little problems packing everything, and T1 was 4:19.

Best bike ever was followed by my worst run ever; cooking under the hot sun, I had foot cramps over the first four miles, followed by excessive fluid intake up to mile 6 and consequent abdominal cramps and nausea over the last six miles: 2:44:20. Last three miles were
a slow long nightmare, watching the minutes fly over my tired legs and dizzy head.

Packing everything under the hot sun and my burning rage, recovering from nausea and abdominal cramps, I felt the bitter taste of dissatisfaction. 7:16:50 was my time.

One last lesson was still to be learnt from Coach Brian Melekian, at the exit of transition area.

"Hey, are you OK?"-he asked.
"I am upset because I did not break seven hours."- I said.

"DID YOU have FUN?"- he returned.

Yes, ideed. It was fun, probably even when I was hurting.

That's why I love Triathlon. And that's why I will come back to Sonoma.

"A person who aims at nothing is sure to hit it." - Anonymous.

Fresh start for 2009

First marathon of 2009, overt triathlon training, my wife running the half-marathon, and completion of the California Dreamin‘ Series. Surf City USA Marathon (02/01/09) started with multiple commitments, and I was eager to face the challenge. To be able to continue my marathon addiction without interruption of my Half Ironman training, I decided to use the Galloway’s run-walk-run method for the first time in an official marathon. Actually, with my busy schedule I have Sarasota Marathon two weeks after Surf City.

It was still dark and cold (48 degrees F) when we got to the beach start, at 5:30AM. There was a lot of people, mostly running the half-marathon with wave starts about an hour and a half later. Because of all that, this was my very first car-in-the-parking-lot-start. About twenty minutes from the start I left the car and ran about a mile to the start line, just in time for the gun.

I ran straight for the first four miles, in order to warm-up, then able to remove gloves, arm warmers and headband. My run-walk-run technique was then to run for four minutes and walk for one, targeting pace between nine and ten minutes. My ambitious goal time for Surf City was 4:15, realistic 4:20 and acceptable 4:30. I tried to use the iPhone and iMapmyrun to get GPS documentation of the whole marathon, but the cell battery finished before the end, creating unreliable data.

The course plan was excellent, avoiding a crowded course diverging the half marathon start times. As promised, we had a glance of the ocean in more than 60% of the course. It was a nice pleasure to run again in Huntington Beach Central Park, where I did 21 laps last December 27 running the Big Cat Challenge. In fact once more I felt how comfortable it is trail running for me, running at the park and on dirt path at the beach.

Nutrition went well, with a gel every 30 minutes, and sports drink for most of the run. Usually I run marathons with a water bottle in my hand, so I have freedom of choice of when to drink, avoiding the crowds. I can say I never really hit the wall, but at mile 20 my pace was a little slower, mostly feeling the heat (72 degrees F) and I had to pick up a little over the last four miles. Finish time was 4:28:50, making up a pace of 10:16.

I got two medals this time, with the completion with the California Dreamin’ Series (San Francisco Marathon, Long Beach Marathon and Surf City), a nice running jacket, and reassured a new running technique.

Next day I was able to hit the bike trainer for a nice hour.

Precious assets

I have never been faster and more dedicated. Since I got my Iphone on January 1st I earned an exceptional personal trainer. In the midst of training and planning for 2009 season, this device has made me a better athlete, all by allowing me to follow training principles that I have neglected in the past.

Time. It all starts with better time management. More organized, I am finally able to plan my days and save more time for training and rest. Now I do not have to choose between my different activities. I even have more time to watch tv!

Training Journal. I have kept an account at Buckeye Outdoors for the last few years, mostly to keep track of my races. Now I can log my workouts instantly and analyze my week from anywhere. During my rest I can compare my performance and engage on challenges with other athletes in the website.

The third training principle I have met this month is "what can be measured can be improved". I can use GPS technology through Imapmyrun and Imapmyride apps and have detailed and reliable info about my outdoor workouts, even for walks. I can even send a Twitter update of those activities.

Nutrition. I can finally keep real-time track of my food intake, using the app from livestrong. I am still making daily mistakes, but at least I can control my calorie intake and my weight pattern.

Dedication. I recently found many friends who care about the same goals and ideas, with whom I can talk endlessly about running, triathlon and endurance sports, joining Runcast.TV and Racenation online communities. They help me to stick to training, and give me energy to push forward, by telling their stories or challenging me. Twitter keeps me online with my friends, during training or rest. To keep this blog has also helped me to organize my ideas and goals, at least once a week.

It was really a good resolution to have started listening to my body, my mind and my friends at the dawn of 2009. Those are my most precious assets.

Hero of the week:

Lance Armstrong, putting public his life and sweat, defending a noble cause.

Quote of the week:
“Don't feel entitled to anything you didn't sweat and struggle for.” Marian Wright Edelman.

Happiness

This week I took a day off training because I felt tired, and the next morning I was very upset to myself after seeing somebody running on the sidewalk. In a stessful week at work, the question came to my mind: What makes us happy?

With so many people not able to swim, bike or run, for health problems, money or time constraints or psych blockage, should we be happy on being able to finish a race, or be ready at the start?

Always moved by adrenaline and endorphines, we push ourselves week after week, collecting miles and hours in training logs, worn off shoes and race bibs. Many times we loose the focus, because of tiredness, hunger or pain. My reaction to work stress invariably throws me to find new challenges, the crazier the better. Is happiness the absence of injuries, or a busy race schedule?

Permanently planning for the next race, days, months and years go by with stubborn preparation. We chase results, racing our peers. Can we train to be happy? If results matter, is an elite athlete happier than an age-grouper?

Science and Medicine more and more bring evidence that physical activity and wellness are intrinsically related and dependent on each other.

To be an athlete is not a profession, a badge, or a status; it is a state and a way of life. It takes dedication, sweat and pain, but so it is life and all pleasures.

Are we happy because we're athletes, or we are athletes because we're happy?

Hero of the week: Haile Gebrselassie won the Dubai Marathon yesterday in 2:05:29. Because of the rain, he could not break his own current world record of 2:03:59. “I’m really pleased with this performance,” he said at the press conference, “this is my best time in this sort of weather. (...) This is better than Dubai last year (2:04:53) for me, so I’m happy.”

Quote of the week: "If you want to be happy, be." Leo Tolstoy

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Movie Break

After watching "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" a lightning struck me. Unnecessary to say, the movies that become our favorites always bring reflections of our inner truths or beliefs, but I could not avoid another opportunity to learn to live with myself: what are the favorite movies of an endurance athlete?

I could not avoid its resemblance to Coppola's Youth Without Youth, and ancient Greek tragedies, showing men and women fighting against predetermination of their destinies. That is one of the reasons we cannot forget them. You can choose fictional characters (Birdy, 1984) or real people (Bird, 1988), journeys of self-discovery and life-changing stories are always inspiring, pushing us to our limits (if there are limits...).

Talking about life stories, we cannot forget epic movies like Gone with the Wind, Doctor Zhivago, The English Patient, endurance tests on themselves for time seated on hard chairs. I always think of them when I am swimming, running or biking large numbers.

Because of its obvious action appeal, all Indiana Jones, James Bond and Mission: Impossible series are always fun, even after the twentieth replay, but unconscious action is always dangerous, as depicted in A Clockwork Orange and Minority Report.

Looking beautiful in the picture (like The Matrix series), or dirty and dehydrated (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) we all try to be the heroes finishing our endurance tests, official or private, outdoors or indoors. We seek for our inner truths, challenging predetermination of limits, making our lifes a gift to our loved ones (if you did not watch it, Run for your Life).

It is not just about fun.

Learning to live with myself, part 1

It has been a while since my last post because I was on a trip, so I will divide my news in two parts. I have learned a lot about myself playing hard over these last weeks, and this actually came adequately as end-of-year reflection.

On 11/30/08 I raced the Turkey Tri (0.5M swim, 14M bike, 4.5M run), in commemoration of Thanksgiving and Triathlon season finale. I neglected swimming and cycling for a while, and I knew I would pay a price for that. My prediction was a finish in 1h50min, without knowing the course.

Bonelli Park is a beautiful place, with mountains at sight, a big central lake, and a lot of green. But the water was dark and cold, the bike course is moderately hilly, and the run path is narrow. That together with my unpreparedness brought a weird result to a beautiful day and a beautiful course. If you can believe, the race organization did not track transition times, even using chips. So my times were: swim 28:31, bike 56:35, run 40:31, finish 2:05:37.

During the swim I had shortness of breath, probably a mix of cold water, bad technique and panic, and I needed to float for about three minutes.
The first buoy was very far from the start, and all swimmers had navigation problems. On top of that, many experienced triathletes had the impression that the course was longer than 0.5 mile. At T1 I checked my time, and then I started a personal race against the clock. The bike leg was exciting, with many turns and rolling hills, my first using cyclocomputer. From that I know my bike time was 49 min, with probably T1 5:35min and T2 2 min. My legs complained a little on the run course, but I still could have a relative catch-up. I placed overall 318/601, and age group 54/76.

I paid the price for not being prepared, and I will have to live with that. But within a context of Half-Ironman training for next season, this showed me this is the time to stop racing for fun and curiosity, to know courses and have experience, and start objectively racing, with defined training plan, goals and purpose. I already know I can do it and finish it, even without preparation, but it is time to train against myself. I am always very enthusiastic and hungry for new experiences, bright characteristics of Aries natives, but hard-headed and hard to adhere to hard long and steady plans.

Now it is time to be a grown-up triathlete and focus my time and energy.

Next races: Big Cat Challenge 12-hour Ultramarathon (12/27/08), Surf City USA Marathon (02/01/09), 27th Annual Avia Wildflower Triathlon Long Course (05/02/09), Vineman Ironman 70.3 (07/19/09).

Hero of the week: Manny Pacquiao, who won against the odds and the media, making history starting a new era in boxing.

Quote of the week: “The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect, he becomes an adolescent; the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult; the day he forgives himself, he becomes wise.” Alden Nowlan.