Resolutions 01/01/11

#1. Keep myself healthy; I'm almost forty, and people are dying around me.

#2. Yoga and run EVERYDAY; same reasons mentioned above.

#3. Keep my weight below 172 lbs; same reasons mentioned above, plus I need to get faster...

#4. FINISH every race I start; even if that means fewer races.

#5. Have a baby before forty;  ... same reasons mentioned above.

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.

Three-Triathlons-Triathlete, second part of three

You can say Nautica Malibu Triathlon (0.5Mi swim, 18Mi bike, 4Mi run) was my A race. This was my first registration, my goal setting and my main event (to support CHLA). That was not exactly a sprint triathlon, but LA Triathlon was a good rehearsal. My realistic predictions did not allow me to consider a time less than two hours, so my goal was to beat 2:10.

Focused on the race, just on the previous day I realized that it was an awesome party, with the huge number of participants and the presence of celebrities. A plus was Jennifer Lopez competing her first triathlon together with us. And everybody on the CHLA team was excited with the upcoming close race day and the numbers of the fundraising.

Because PCH is closed for the race, parking is difficult and participants have to arrive before 5:30 AM. Another day waking up at 4AM, but this time I had a car available. The number of athletes was impressive, increasing the distractions and traffic in the transition area, but outstanding organization made the whole event run smooth and enjoyable.

It was said the ocean was flat on the previous day, but that was not the exact description for that Sunday. As you can see in the pictures (guess who is in the picture?...), the long arm of Nature was heavy, as I felt on the third wave, when I was thrown back and almost lost my goggles. That slap was enough to turn on the adrenaline and make me faster, after few minutes of recovery in slow pace. On the way back, right before the surf, I saw one of the female coast guards who taught me my second open water swim clinic, and saw my panic attack freezing me and making me hold into her surfboard at 50 yards from the beach. In my dreams she recognized me and was admired of my success. Reaching the sand without other surprises, I did not feel as bad as on the previous week, and was surprised with the time. Official swim time was 22:06.

The dizziness of the previous efforts just hit me when I was removing the wetsuit, and that made my T1 last 3:14.5.

The bike leg was smooth, except for the uphills, and I finished in 01:02:07, with the certainty that I have more work to do to improve my bike skills. It was delightful to have a whole lane of PCH to ride.

T2 presented me with the corridors full of people, some throwing up, some bonking, some watching the movement, and with that was a kind of race within the race to be able to rest my bike and leave for the run. T2 time was 1:33.6.

The run started with abdominal cramps, most likely because of the two gels taken on the bike. But my legs continued running in front of my brain until they both got together at the turning point. It was very rewarding to see so many CHLA team members on the run, and to have all spectators cheering for us. Run time: 33:26.8.

With all the energy dispensed, and most likely because of the friendly wave on the swim start, I finished 02:02:28.4, beating my shy prediction of 2:10, but short of less than 2 hours.

Right after the finish, I felt the damage of two weekends in a roll of competition. Mild nausea did not allow me to replenish carbohydrates, and moderate pain on quads and feet requested prompt rest.

Malibu could have been my A race, but right on the night before LA Triathlon I had registered for Long Beach Triathlon. Do you want to know why? Because that was a shorter course (0.5Mi swim, 11Mi bike, 3Mi run), without the pressure for results in front of a lot of people; because my season probably would end that week (due to work issues for the rest of the year); because I still was on my peak; and (again...) because I still had to fight my fear of the open water swim.

Stubbornness, fear and waves can take you very far...

Three-Triathlons-Triathlete, first part of three (say it fast three times...)

I am now very happy to consider myself a triathlete. After five months of preparation, I was able to throw all my energy in three triathlons in three consecutive weekends.

The first race I registered for was Nautica Malibu Triathlon, in benefit of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. With their team, I was able to learn Triathlon 101 and have group training and my first open water swim clinics. My eternal gratitude to coaches Chris Smith and Brian Melekian who showed me the joys of multisport and taught me to always have fun. It was an honor to wear their colors, and now all my pictures will be monotous because of the same uniform , but CHLA is one of the best children's hospitals in the world, and I am proud to declare that in all races.

Since the beggining I knew the swim would be my biggest problem: I could not even swim 50 M without stop, and in all of the open water swim clinics I got panic attacks. Joining the Southern California Aquatics (SCAQ) masters program and daily workouts made me begin to enjoy the swim. It was one of my most remarkable moments of my life when I finally was able to swim 200 M at once.

Because of all the fear of open water, I had to prove to myself that I could do it. That and the short swim course of the Kaiser Permanente LA Triathlon (swim 0.4 Mi, bike 19.5Mi, run 3.1Mi) made me sign up for my first ever race, one week before Malibu. That was a rehearsal, and it could not be done many weeks before simply because I was not ready at all.

It was a feat to wake up at 3:30AM on race day, bike 4Mi to take a bus to Santa Monica , and bike 3Mi more to Venice Beach ( do not ask me why: I do not have a car...). That was when I felt all the joy of multisport ; to see the sunshine at the beach , finishing nutrition tune-up and setting transition , this is divine. And I learned that I needed a headlamp to succeed in this sport.

I needed two swim warm-ups to feel confident enough to line up at the start. Funny how it really feels like you are swimming in a washing machine, with people all around you, grabbing your arms and legs, and suddenly stopping to kick you on the face. It was a good lesson, and I finished 0.4Mi swim in 18:43, mostly because of multiple stops to wait for people to clear my way, and because of bad navigation. But I was happy to survive swimming faster that predicted.

Transition time was 3:33, mostly because I was short of breath after the swim, but my transition was exactly at the exit, so I got it fast for my standards.

The bike leg was fun in the beggining, with me daring to go to aero position (give me a break: I had bought the bike just six months before...), then scary in the middle (hilly course) and exciting end with a huge downhill. Bike time 1:07:48, mostly because I got hypoglycemic on the last quarter of the bike. I have to confess: I can not avoid a smile when going fast downhill or doing a sharp turn. Maybe that will go with time.

T2 went 2:01, mostly because I had to understand where was the exit. My fault: next time I promise I will study the maps better...

The run started with a huge smile, because I realized I could finish in less than two hours (please understand: that was my very first sprint triathlon...). But I had to face the same hill of the bike course, up in the first 1.5Mi, down in the second half. No fluid stops, chasing competing age-groupers, finished in 25:22, happy to finish strong, already worried about recovery for next weekend.

Now I knew I could do it, and I had to improve. More road work ahead.

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

Quote of the week: Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you've had everything to do, and you've done it. Margaret Thatcher

Here to stay!

Did you notice how many triathletes have blogs nowadays?

That is one of the many reasons I decided to start my own. This is a very good way to commit myself to my training, to save some time for rest (out of work, out of training), to make new friends, to talk unlimited hours about what we love, and to pay tribute to all my heroes.

Love; that is the motto of my life, and that is what I will try to write about. We all love multisport and to face challenges on a daily basis, this is written in stone. But I am talking about the feeling that moves all our bodies and minds against water, wind, pain and hunger. We do what we do because we love ourselves, and we love to be happy and healthy for our loved ones, to laugh, smile and cheer with our friends, in the name of all those who can not go out there with us. And that feeling has no limits, and always pushes forward.

That is the reason of the name of this blog: I am constantly preparing myself for the days to come, and does not matter who you are, what you do, where you came from, we all have more road work ahead, no end in sight.

I can finally brag I am a triathlete, after completing three competitions in three weeks: Kaiser Permanente LA Triathlon (09/07/08), Nautica Malibu Triathlon (09/14/08) and Long Beach Triathlon (09/21/08). I am very proud of my achievements, and I will talk about them in another time. To this date, I have ran 16 marathons and one ultramarathon, but nothing was a bigger challenge than to learn how to be a triathlete. Now I am six pounds lighter, eating healthier than ever, and loving this new lifestyle. You can follow my public training log in www.buckeyeoutdoors.com under tripleS.

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

Hero of the week: Brian Melekian. That guy is living the dream. Brain tumor survivor, he spends his days training, preparing for Ironman. You can follow his blog at http://brianmelekian.blogspot.com/. Recently, he showed my newest dream bike: Cervelo P4. You can see pictures and comments at http://www.roadcycling.com/reviews/Cervelo_Debuts_The_P4_at_Interbike_002452_printer.shtml

And video at http://reviews.roadbikereview.com/interbike/2009-cervelo-p4/.

Quote of the week: If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them. When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or Fight Like Hell.

Lance Armstrong

This was my first post of an entire life to come. Please talk to me at tripleStalks@gmail.com.