Merry Christmas!

Christmas 2009 has gone by, and also with this year I completed my first ever! One Year Training Cycle.

I can't say I didn't knew that if trained consistently I could achieve good or better results, but after those "good" results came, Now I know I can do much better, and that those good results might be not that good. It's amazing how the body is able to be better and better if you keep pushing it.

At the beginning of 2009 my goal was just to Qualify for Clearwater Worlds. I really didn't hoped to finish at the Podium 4 times, win the AG in an Ironman 70.3 event and cross the finish line at Clearwater in 4:23 (with a 4 minute penalty ) It's funny......... but at the same time I'm satisfied with this season, I'm more certain than ever that there's a long long way to go.

We are close to the end of the Year, and I'm already in the Starting List for my First Ironman 140 event, A distance I've always said that I will never do if it was only for finishing.

It's been a good year but the most important thing that I learned is that "I can Learn" So many things have changed in the last few years, and my frame of mind have changed with those things.

Actually, I learned "Because" of that frame of mind......... It's hard to explain without boring you to death with so many words, but I can say that I'm in my best shape of mind ever!

After the 70.3 in Hawaii, I was riding in the Queen K with Benjamin Sanson, and we were talking about training methods and that kind of stuff, but the conversation then took a deeper insight, and we ended talking about FEAR, we both got to the conclusion that the hardest obstacle in our way, is always FEAR, again it's a little hard to explain what kind of fear we were talking about, but let's just say it's the FEAR of the unknown, the FEAR of getting out of what we are used to, and most important, the FEAR of really listening to that inner ME that never stops saying what he wants, but we are so used so not listen, because this or that reason that "Learning" to listen again like when we were kids, might take some effort.

So what the hell I'm talking about?

I think It might not be all about the Bike, It might not be all about training or even results, it's something else, and without FEAR we all might find out what that "Something else" is for everyone.

Destination: Ali'i Drive

I guess that I knew it since mt first year as a triathlete, Ali'i Drive will be, sooner or later, my final destination.

In 2005 I was there for the first time in Ironman week, but I wasn't racing IM, the previous week, I competed in the ITU Worlds in Honolulu, so the jump to the Big Island was a must.

It was really exciting to see the most important Triathlon in the world, Since I was also writing an article for a Sports Magazine, I was privileged to carry a Media Pass, the result was a great article and great pictures. Even with that, I really didn't catch the bug of racing at Kona.

It was until this year "2009" and after riding the Queen K plenty of times, racing at Ironman Honu 70.3 in May, and once doing the whole 180kms starting from the Lava Java, Hawi, and back to Kona, when I started thinking seriously to qualify and then come back to Race the "Ironman World Championship"

I've just signed for Ironman Louisville, Kentucky, it's still a long time away from this day, but I can already feel the difference, every Ironman is tough, and Louisville is not an exception, I know that first, I have to qualify against the best of the world, but I already have the "Bug"

So the switch is ON!

Even that I will be training for every race I enter, this 2010 the main goal IS KONA!

is Ali'i Drive!

Zone Diet Sponsorship

Today I received an excellent news. I'm officially sponsored by ZONE DIET http://www.zonediet.com.mx/ I've always said that I will never sponsor something that I don't really believe in, and Zone Diet couldn't be a better example.

I'm a true believer in the 40-30-30 Carbohydrate, Protein, and Fat ratio and how's related to your body composition and performance. Since I read the book of "Enter the Zone" by Dr Barry Sears, I became a follower, it literally changed my body, and took my performance to another level, and now with their support, I will be able to reach deeper in the Zone, and get the most out of their really good products like the ones that I currently use, like Eico-Pro (omega oil) Sea Health (antioxidants) protein and energy bars.

I know it sound like an Ad for my new Sponsor, but the Zone Diet program is much more, than just supplements and a type of Diet.

For example........Today they will test my blood for a full profile of cellular inflammation and Omega Oils Blood Profile, with those lab results a Dr Gustavo Orozco, from Zone Diet and Nutrasource Diagnostics "NDI" will elaborate a Diet, and Supplement plan tailored just for me, it's really exciting!

The lab itself is impressive www.ndimexico.com/home.html NDI Mexico is part of NDI based in The University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

Ok........... Got to go to the Lab appointment......

(Funny this sponsorship came right after my 3 kilos post, and by the way.....Those kilos are gone........ In just 5 days into my 2010 Training Pre-Season)

3 Kilos in 1 week

It's scary how fast you can gain weight if you stop training, and at the same time stop taking care of your food intake, and that's exactly what I did last week. Sure I enjoyed some desserts, a couple of beers, and more than one Breakfast "a la" Michael Phelps Style. But after a week I was already feeling like a Fat Person, I didn't weight myself until yesterday, my first day of training for Abu Dhabi and the 2010 Season, and the scale just confirmed my feelings, I was up by 2 kilos! And I felt them in today's run...... So the break is officially off. Now it's time to train.

Race week & Race Recap

I'm still reflecting of what happened in Clearwater last saturday, there are hundred of thing to learn from, and as I said, I still have to find out what went wrong or right, because it was a bittersweet race, a couple of bad things and also some nice things occurred that day.

First it was race week, my last post was on Tuesday morning, & the day before was an off day with a well deserved massage, Tuesday I was preparing to do a couple of things that I was postponing due to training all year, they ended up being more time consuming and a little bit more stressful than I thought, being one of them finding a new house to live.....

So the previous week was not what I wished it to be.

Then....... here comes the first mistake that ended up having an influence in the outcome of my race, for some reason I thought that the race was Sunday, so we had our flight scheduled for Thursday, too close to the race, but I bought these plane tickets months ago and they were non refundable, so in the back of my mind I knew that it was a little bit dangerous to have only one day to prep for a World Championship, anyway I tried not to think to much about it, but that ended as soon as we were on the counter of Mexicana Airlines.

The flight plan was Mexico City/Miami, Miami/Tampa, not ideal but it was ok, so it was a surprise when the lady of Mexicana tell us that first the plane was going to Cancun! I couldn't believe that just like that! they can change the flight schedule, I had in my hands the online ticket and it clearly didn't have a stop in Cancun, in that second I knew there will be problems with my bike, it's not that I can predict the future, but surely I can recognize Disorder when I see it., and what happened next just confirmed it, they sent us to the other side of Mexico City's Airport because now...we were departing "Domestic" but after a long walk and once inside the domestic gates, we had to walk back to the "International" gates, it was just dumb.

When we arrived to Miami after a 60 minute stop in Cancun, my worst and every other Triathletes nightmare came true, My Bike didn't arrived.

They told me to continue my trip to Tampa and that the bike will come 3 hours later in another plane, they even gave me the plane number, so we spent 3 hours at the Tampa Airport just to find out that again, my bike didn't arrived, I tried to talk to the same person who assured me that in 3 hours I will have my bike, but we was already gone, so there was no ones fault.

Again they told me that it will arrive to my hotel in Clearwater at midnight, so I couldn't sleep well, waiting for the Bike that never arrived!

Friday was pretty much the same, they kept telling me that it should arrive in the next "few" hours and that I should stay in my hotel, so there I was.... making phone calls, trying to rent another bike just in case, and having to register.

When I had a rental bike ready and with just one hour left for the mandatory bike check in, my bike arrived, so I didn't even had time to ride it more than the 800 meters from my hotel to transition.

After I left my bike at T1, I realized that I haven't hydrated or eaten properly, so we went to the first place to eat and to the hotel to get some sleep.

At morning race I found out that they changed the swim to a canal, just because Friday the sea was a little rough, very disappointing because I like swimming at the sea, and if it's choppy, better.

The swim start was supposed to be on waves, so it really took my by surprise when we got to a little dock and everyone was already entering the water one by one, so before I knew what the hell was going on, I was already racing, I didn't even had a chance to start my watch.

(I missed the compulsory race meeting due to the bike issue)

My swim was a disaster, I couldn't see the buoys because the sun was hitting right in our faces, and I didn't really knew where they were supposed to be, in fewer words, I didn't knew where we were going, but I knew I wasn't swimming straight, as I found out later after the finish, the swim course was not a rectangle, it had a few non straight lines in the middle.

I also didn't got into a rhythm at any point of the swim, so when I saw my slow swim split in 32 minutes, it really wasn't a surprise. I was very UN-concentrated, at the point that I couldn't find my transition bag!

Once in the Bike I screamed to myself " Jano, just get it together! " So I did, I found my focus, and started passing people, I was flying, there was always someone in front to pass, so I even thought that a slow swim was a good thing, that coming late out of the water gave me the chanceway to pass slower riders and avoid drafting issues with guys with the same physical abilities.

It all went "Perfect" until the 65km mark, I was on my way to a 2:07 bike split and suddenly here comes a " drafting group" and absorbs me, almost at the same time the Marshall comes in a motorcycle screaming the numbers he could see, and there was my number and my first drafting penalty in my life. Even worse is that I slowed down my pace! Because I couldn't break out from the group, It was very stressful.

I got into T2 in 2:10 and headed to the penalty box, after 4 minutes of waiting and seeing people passing by, I headed into the 21km run.

At this point I knew that even if I had a lousy run I would still break my 4:34 pb for a Half Ironman distance.

But still I set my mind to no matter what, I had to run like never before, and hold a 7 minute a mile pace for the 13 miles, that's the pace I've been training, and I was on mode of succeed or blow up!

First mile 6:50, last mile 7:00. There was a bridge that we had to climb 4 times, and in those miles was where I pushed it the most, so at the end the pace was exactly 7 minutes per mile. Right On!

My placing is not even worth mention it, but the time was ok, 4:23 with a 4 minute penalty is not so bad, at the end I had a good year and I'm very excited to start the 2010 racing season with the Abu Dhabi Triathlon in March.

I still don't know if I will come back to Clearwater next year, focus in Kona, 70.3s or 140's but I will have time to think about it later next week.

Right now I have more important things to decide on, I have to enjoy my rest week in Vegas, and I still don't know if I will have the Cheesecake, or the Brownie Chocolate Delight for dessert.

Clearwater in 4 days, Abu Dhabi in 123 days.

I know I'm not too much of a Blogger, but I promise to do better in the future. My last hard week just finished and I'm already into the hardest week of all, the Taper week, I don't know but for me is easier to go out and train like a maniac than train with certain limits, I really feel like an animal in a zoo. I guess that must be a good sign..... Ha Ha....

I was about to sign up for IM Langkawi, and Paola was about to start the travel arrangements to our trip to Malaysia and also to Bangkok, so there we were with our laptops on, and our index fingers ready to start clicking when we find out about this new Triathlon in Abu Dhabi, and we just couldn't resist.

The Abu Dhabi International Triathlon http://www.abudhabitriathlon.com/

Abu Dhabi seem "fantastique" just like Ben says, the race course is irresistible, and Dubai another place that we were planning on visiting soon, is just an hour by car, so after a couple of minutes I was already signed in, and Paola was taking care of the travel itinerary.

The Race date is March 13, 2010 and the unique distance of the main race will be a 3km swim, 200km bike ride and 20km run, all around of one of the most amazing cities in the world, so this race, as they say it's already an Instant Classic and a "must" for my 2010 season.

The presentation of the race was set up at the Abu Dhabi Shangri-La Hotel, where we will be staying, it was presented by Faisal Al Sheik, head of the ADTA (Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority) Faris Al-Sultan 2005 Ironman world Champion, and John Hazan, race director of the Inaugural Abu Dhabi International Triathlon.

As for the "Amazing course" the opening swim leg takes place in the lagoon of the Grandiose Emirates Palace Hotel http://www.emiratespalace.com/ one of the most luxurious Hotels in the World.

The Bike passes many of Abu Dhabi's iconic sights including The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, before moving onto Yas Island, home of the recent F1 Grand Prix, and yes, the bike course takes in the impressive Grand Prix course, so imagine just riding onto that same ground where just a week ago Sebastian Vettel in his RBR Renault won the last F1 race of the 2009 season.

After the 200kms bike ride in a course that will be completely cosed off to traffic and thus setting the stage for a very safe event.

"The race will be quite flat and fast, but it'll be windy and hot" said Faris Al-Sultan at the press conference.

So Yes! I can repeat like in my last post that 2010 is already here, I guess that if you want to be competitive it's not only about training, resting and eating right, there's also planning, marketing and all the stuff managers do, so I guess I can say I already have a manager, Paola.

Well........ I will go back to my taper day ( I have a massage appointment soon ) and then start to focus for Clearwater that's just 4 days from today!

2010 Already?

With so many races around the world we could think that it's just a matter of choosing where to race, but it's much more complicated than that. You have to plan your training months ahead and then, there's the registration to the event.
I've been thinking in my 2010 season and if I don't decide and register almost right now, I might find the events "sold out" in a couple of months.
Next year I will do my first Full Ironman in Langkawi, this race doesn't fills out that fast, but there's also the flight prices, here it's the same, if you wait to buy the tickets and hotels you will be paying more as the date gets closer.
So... I guess that 2010 is already here, I already decided to race Langkawi, and Ironman 70.3 Hawaii, but it seems that I will have to keep going till the end of the year if I don't want to find myself left out of other races.
After 70.3 Hawaii in June, Paola and I want to rent a Motorhome or RV, and drive from Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Niagara Falls, and in the way race at Ironman 70.3 Muskoka and a week later Ironman 70.3 Syracuse, that's in September but again, If we don't decide (and pay) now, we might have problems either with the planes, the RV, or with the registration to the events.
I reckon that soon I will have to register to a 2011 Ironman Distance event.
(I want to do IM Western Australia, and IM Canada)
How crazy is that?