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.

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