Is this a Really Bad Year or a Really Good Year?

I started the Year by breaking a Rib while Snowboarding in Vail, I recovered fast and well and went on to the 1st round of the year, I did a few good races like Lavaman and my 1st Ironman in Texas in 10:08 It was not spectacular but also not that bad considering the wheels fell of in the last 20kms of the Run.

Then the 2nd Round didn't go as well as I wanted as I explain in my last Blog Entry, But basically I had this lower back injury while training in Boulder, I was spitting fire and ready to crush my 2nd Ironman! and ended not even making it to the start, then went to Vegas all stressed out and did more or less ok!

Came back to Kona and I was all fired up for Round 3! Had Lots of expectations to get all the cylinders running like a Formula 1 and then release all that stored energy in a race that I had in mind.
One week goes by in Kona and I have a nasty crash! my first in more than 6 years! My front tire exploded while in a corner and going downhill in a place called Hookena, there's not much you can do in this situation. Nothing brake that day besides my Ego, but the road rashes, my wrist and again my back were all messed up. I tried to be positive and carry on....
Ironman week was getting closer and I was feeling all kinds of pains, so many friends to swim bike and run and I was not even feeling like it.

Paola's B-day came and that party was definitely a Highlight! Then a few days later we end up in Japan watching The Suzuka Gp, obviously in that trip all my pains went away, I even picked up new pains from all that SAKE we drink after the Race. Watching the race from the inside view of McLaren Team was one of the Best experiences of my life, I almost came back to sell my bike and go back to Karting (Just Kidding)

Justin Granger, Luke McKenzie, Jano

Kaisa, Cameron Brown, Josh Rix, Renata & Eddie Sturla

Belinda, Crowie, Armando, Paola, Jo Lawn, Jules Webster

Sensei, Paola, Jo Lawn, Jano, Ruth Brito, Eneko Llanos

Back in Kona it was all about watching The 2012 Ironman World Championship from our Scooter, cheering on all of our friends and having a lot of fun. Another few drinks at the K-Swiss party and I was ready to get the ball rolling again...
I was ready for it, I had all that new experience and knowledge to attack my last goal of the Year: Laguna Phuket Triathlon in November 25th and then Ironman 70.3 Thailand the very next week, and close the season with The Honolulu Marathon on the way back to Hawaii.

Watching the Ironman World Championship 2012 up Close

So I started the week slowly and smooth, just getting back onto it and then in a very easy jog on an easy day I start to feel this weird pain in my left calf, it was similar to a cramp but it was not a cramp, I couldn't really tell, because I've never had this pain before. 25 minutes in, and my calf just locked up! COuldn't even walk, and the pain was like the calf was going to Explode! I had to call Paola to pick me up! 4 hrs and the calf was still like that, the leg went numb and then all went away leaving a sore calf behind. My Type A mind went to work in this minute, and for the next 48hrs I has 5 Theories, One of them was pretty darn Scary, a Blood Clot from a mix of Dehydration and Plane Traveling with no Compression Socks. NOTE & FACT 80% of Airplane Blood Clot cases are with Athletes!

In my worst moments I wanted to be a Buddhist Monk!

Food & Sake Time with the boys and the Girls 

Went to the Dr, did the tests, no blood clot, no muscle tear, no pinched nerve, but then the next possible option was something called Compartment Syndrome, that in short a muscle that is surrounded by this membrane or fascia grows to much and compresses the nerves and veins that go through it, this seemed to fit, the problem is that the solution is Surgery!

South Loop Ride:  Kealakekua Bay in Captain Cook

So I've been dealing with this for the last few weeks! It's hard to keep a positive frame of mind, I'm lucky to have my wife Paola always by my side, poor little one, I almost made her loose her mind too.
I gathered as much info I could in this thing too, and opted for and Non Invasive Therapy that seemed to work for some people. REST REST (this was the hardest part) and then start swimming, Chiropractor, Deep Tissue Massage and something called GRASTON! Oh my dear it HurTs! It HuRt like HELL! Bike a few days, and finally a little run on the treadmill, now I'm running 8kms no pain!

I remember being here a lot, but my mind was just too loud!

I've been trying to decide if this is a great year or a crap year..... Why not a normal year? Why not say a year with ups and downs, a year that gave me experience and knowledge and the chance to grow as a Person! But come'on! That sounds to Dalai Lama! Don't get me wrong I love that dude! But I'm not Dalai Lama! It's very easy to be a positive person on Facebook or Twitter! But in real life sometimes  not always you can pull it off like that! I've been really sad when I can't train, I've been in a bad mood and making the effort to think about all the positive things that surround me, sometimes it works sometimes not so much, I realize how much a like to TRAIN, not for the sake of being super fast, just because I like to ride my bike, I like to Run and I like to swim. Before this events, I thought I was more on the competitive side of it, I love to compete too, but now I know that when I get old (Older) I will be happy with just Swim Bike & Run as long as my body enjoys it!

Jenson Button, Jano Soto, Jessica Michibata, Paola Soto at Suzuka Gp 2012

Oh My God! This would be a Pretty nice way to end this Blog!

But I can't :) I decided to go to Thailand anyway, I know I won't be on the shape I would like to, but I can't let go a trip to that Magical Place, the Afterparty with friends, the Sticky Mango Rice and Specially a trip with the Love of my Life!




So I guess it's like every training session, life situations good and bad, "Recover and Get back onto It"

See you in Thailand!

New Website and News Coming Soon

The Boulder files Las Vegas Worlds and The Ironman that never was..

In mid July we landed in Boulder Colorado, the Summer Mecca of Triathlon in the United States. The idea of this 2 month trip was simple:

Early coffee fix At Amante Uptown

1-Go to Boulder

2-Train with our good friends "Team Jomando" And that's Armando Galarraga, the master wicked mind behind his lovely wife Joanna Lawn 7xIronman New Zealand Champion, Challenge Roth Champion and 6xTop10 finisher in Kona, just to name a few.....

3-Do three races, Ironman 70.3 Boulder, Ironman Louisville and finish up with Las Vegas 70.3 Worlds, in the process hopefully come back with my Ticket to Kona.
It was a Bulletproof plan, cause even if I didn't get the Slot for Kona, with all that training/learning at least one of those races should be my best performance of the year! I mean... 3 races! What could possibly go wrong?

Team: Sensei, James Bowstead, me & Joanna Lawn

Well.... a few things went wrong. I didn't do Boulder 70.3, I didn't do Ironman Louisville and I didn't have a good race in Las Vegas 70.3 World Championships.

So What the Hell Happened?

The First day was a 3hr Big Gear Bike Ride, a 4k swim and a 50min Run, that was an "Easy day"
That week we logged 24kms of swimming almost 400k on the Bike and 65k of running. Then we started to step it up, the truth is that I was feeling really good, never felt the altitude and I was hungry for more every week....
The 1st race to "Go' was Boulder 70.3 My "Sensei" Armando who took me under his wing told me:  "Brother, if you really want me to train you properly and do good in Louisville you will have to drop Boulder 70.3" I agreed instantly, is not often that you run into the opportunity to be coached by someone that know so much about Ironman and more than anything train with him every single day for 2 months. And obviously it also made a lot of sense, when the point is to get to your "A" Ironman race in tip top shape you just can't do a Half Ironman race 5 weeks before, not in this case at least.
So after forgetting about Boulder 70.3 (which was not easy) I had 5 weeks to get ready for Louisville.

Peak to Peak Hwy at 9,000ft

Every single ride was simply awesome, going up to the Peak to Peak Hwy at 9,000ft was quite a experience every single day, and we were going up almost 3 times a week, sometimes we went up by  the beautiful and mythic Left Hand Canyon, sometimes by St Vrain Dr, or sometimes by the Epic Estes Park, a loop that just to be able to complete it you can call yourself a fit rider. Not everything was mountain though, easy days we rode around Boulder, The Fruit Loops, The 5 Fingers Loop and Carter Lake. After my Boulder experience I can say this last roads were Semi-Flat but I'm damn sure that in the past I would have said that they were whatever you like to call them "BUT NOT FLAT"
Now I know from experience why I saw so many world class Cyclists on these roads, and why so many call this place home,  it is Cyclist Heaven on Earth!

Pre-Ride Meeting point, Top of Broadway and 36

The Running was actually pretty bad! I say this because I'm totally Spoiled now! I'm damaged goods, a picky runner. Now I just want to run in places like Boulder, I mean on endless trails where you can get totally lost on the scenery. Boulder trails are just the Best! There are hundred of miles to choose, you can find rivers, trees, prairie dogs, deers, etc etc, you can even have the luck of finding a Bear, a Leopard or a Wildcat! I didn't but I saw a Huge Rattlesnake! :)

Switzerland Trail, My Favorite!

The swimming was also pretty cool, we usually went to Scott Carpenter 50 meter Pool, but with pools you also have a lot of options around town, and every single one is pretty cool.

Everything was working out according to plan, some days were pretty damn hard I won't lie, some of them being 8hr training days and 30 to 35 hr weeks, my body was assimilating surprisingly well all that training.

So I was there, feeling extremely good and ready to go, and that's what lead to the 1st of a few mistakes that I made on the way..... Coach Sensei told me: "go easy and always behind, leave always something for the next session or the next day" But on one ride that I was supposed to go easy for 3hrs I rode 5hrs extremely hard, the next day that was a day that was the 1st of a 4 hard days I had a nagging pain on the lower back, I kind of ignored it and tried to just go trough the 4 day block, I thought that in the easy days I could take care of it if it was still there..... How naive I was, now I know that the problem was my hip muscles, they started to get too tight and pull the Vertebral Column, this led to Lower Back Sprain in the middle of a 2hr run, Paola had to pick me up in the car and I ended up in a Chiropractor, L2 and L5 Vertebrae were out of place, the Hips were rotated and the Sacrum was misaligned too.
This was exactly 2 weeks before Louisville, the most important week and I was lying there in a Chiropractor's table like a sac of potatoes.

2nd Mistake: I was told to rest for a "Few" days and then start slowly getting back onto it, but at that point and with Ironman Louisville approaching a "Few" became 1 day, and slowly became a moderately 2 hard days, then I had to take another day off, went to the Chiro another time and started all over it felt like a nightmare or the groundhog day, the week went by with moderated training and I just got 2 Solid long days, Saturday and Sunday...... When I got to the pool after a 20k Run Armando & Joanna tried to put it nicely to me, but the words of reality hit me like a truck, I was devastated when they told me I should pull off the pin on Louisville, I knew I had the engine and the training for a good or not excellent result, I wanted to be able to talk the talk and walk the walk! But I didn't had the Chassis or frame... I pulled the Pin off.

Usually I ended up like this

3rd Mistake: With Louisville out of the picture it was now time to focus on Las Vegas, Monday came and after a 5k swim and a 4hr Hilly Hard ride I was feeling still angry with the world, and when everyone split I just kept riding even harder to the closest mountain and rode like a madman in my Big Gear, came back home and went for a Run, next day it was pretty much the same, an easy 90min run became a 2hr race pace run and I was just in the middle of a 4 day block, my lower back pain started again and before I knew it, I was on the same position as 1 week before, this time for Las Vegas Ironman 70.3 World Championships. Crap!

Last week I tried to get it right, but when I got to Vegas I was pretty much "Done" I knew it since I got out of the plane, I tried to cover it, and I hoped to have a Good Race day, but race day came and It was pretty much the same, I felt flat from the beginning, my swim was terrible, my bike could have been better and my run..... Oh my Run! I was expecting so much for my run!
I remember thinking after the swim "oh that was a bad swim, but 2 minutes is not that much I still have the Bike and my Run" The after the Bike I thought: "Ok i wasn't a stellar bike but let's kill it on the Run" I didn't kill anything, finished 15th in a tough Age Group but my expectations were higher.
Is this a Negative post, No! Don't get me wrong...... I'm just telling the facts of how it went.
I truly had a great time in Boulder and I learned a lot, our time in Boulder also opened new doors for Paola and I, I know I had a few more races in me and I know I want to keep doing this for a long time, I just couldn't do it my way this time.

Here are some pictures of Boulder and Las Vegas

Jano Soto

Important Note:
I know I was capable to train at this level because I kept following my usual nutrition of 40/30/30 That's 40% Carbs, 30% Protein & 30% Fat, I've been working with this diet since I read Dr Barry Sears Book in 2008, it's not a coincidence that from 2009 my Performance took a leap forward compared with what I've done in the past. I usually don't play the "Age" card but I'm 42 years old, in 2008 I lost 10 kilos (22lb) and I've been improving and getting faster since then. Zone Diet and Dr Sears has been Sponsoring and supporting me for almost 4 years now, not only with their products like Omega Oils, Polyphenols, Bars, Shakes and Supplements. But with his knowledge and consulting, I really wish you guys take a minute to check out what Cellular Inflammation is, and what it can mean to you and your overall health, not only athletic performance.
This year I'm super excited to be on the Triathlon Test Team where we will be trying new products and being blood tested for Cellular Inflammation "Find Out More about this by clicking HERE" 

Boulder Trails are The Best!

Recovery with Normatec MVP

Stage 6 of the USA Pro Challenge Cycling Tour

Refueling at Nederland with Craig Alexander

Checking out Boulder from the Sky, thank you Jorge for taking us in your plane!

Las Vegas Swim Start

Recovery

It's been 9 months since I partnered a Sponsorship deal with Normatec MVP Recovery Boots, and here's what I can tell you.
The very first time that I tried them I loved the feeling, it felt like getting fresh legs instantly. But how you can really tell after using them only a few times?
Well....... It was October, and at that time my idea of Racing Ironman was still a long term plan since I've always had issues with injuries when I tried to pack Long Distance running into my Schedule, lets say I had to made it work with not to much running...
The fresh legs after using the boots were 100% real and soon in November I was doing double and triple Run Workouts. My weekly mileage double in just a couple of months, The idea of Ironman now seemed much more realistic.
I started using them after workouts, but now I use then up to 4 times in a day, so many programs & levels to choose from, a 20 minute Recovery Flush is the program I choose to start a hard day of training while I drink my coffee in the morning, then throughout the day I choose accordingly after my workouts, also before going to bed is a good time to slow down the body with it's magic.
The Normatec Sleeves are as amazing as the boots, nothing better after a 7k swim!!
The Proof:


I did my first Ironman in Texas last May 19, where I went 10:08 (58min Swim, 5:08 Bike & 3:55 Run) 2 Weeks later I was racing Ironman 70.3 Honu where I came off the Bike just 35 guys behind Lance and managed to finish 55th Overall, It might not seem impressive at all, but my recovery was pretty damn good, I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to pull it off without Normatec MVP Boots & Sleeves.
They are definitely a weapon against your competition.

Racing with Lance. Ironman 70.3 Honu 2012

Swim Start

What can I say?  Epic Epic Epic in so many different aspects..... By far! the most "Ridiculously Windy" conditions ever! Rain! Heat! And why not say like it is....... Lance was there!
I don't care what People and Haters say But I respect the man. Plus I Hate Haters! haha!
2 Weeks ago I was doing Ironman Texas. My first Full Ironman Distance ever, everyone kept telling me about how bad I was going to feel, how beat up I would be, and that I shouldn't do Ironman 70.3 Honu.

Anyway.. Lets get back to Honu.

I didn't came with great expectations for this one, I knew that even that I was feeling great the following 2 weeks after Ironman Texas. It's not the same to go out for a 2 hr easy ride or swim 1hr a day that to Race a Half Ironman.
7am the Gun goes Off and here we go again, Honu as usual: crazy crazy crazy! But I love it! One time I almost had my Jaw broken in two, but I love the Feeding Frenzy of this Race, every year I've been getting closer to the front lead pack and this time I had no mayor issues with elbows or kicks in the face, I had the lead pack within my sight some 20 meters in front and I felt comfortable where I was, midway through the swim the sun was on our face and the wind started to pick up fast, in a matter of seconds it was impossible to see up front, so when buoys started to get loose and sail away and the guys in the front lost the swim guide, I just followed... Result? A big mess! we had to go back, we lost 3 minutes with that, but seeing the results I think that our lead pack didn't cut the buoy, the ones that I know that can swim 27's made 30's including me.

Helmet on, Kaenon's On, Lets go!

But Hey Organizers! We already went to the Moon! How hard is it to moor a few Air Balloons to the bottom of the Ocean? Really?
T1 was not perfect at all for me, my chain was off I put it back on and got into the Queen K or lets call it the Wind Tunnel this time! Oh My God! The wind was just crazy strong and you could feel it picking up fast! I had my two 85mm Hawk Racing Wheels on and I thought "This is going to be Ugly" But the truth is that I was incredibly "FUN" after 20 miles I got rid of the usual Wheel Suckers, and Drafting was not an Issue after mile 20.

Coming out of T1

Going up to Hawi it started to rain. So there I was... in the craziest windy conditions I've ever seen, raining while going up to Hawi with a Huge RAINBOW to my right. How could I not be Incredibly Happy?
Then I see Lance........ He was storming down from Hawi like a Moto GP! Shooooozzzz There he goes, Lieto 3 and Bennett 5 minutes behind. Later on I know that Lance average speed in those 18 miles back from Hawi was 35mi/hr
I felt I was flying and mine was 29mi/hr so going back from Hawi to Kawaiihae took him 30 minutes while it took me 37 minutes! I finished the Bike 34 places behind Lance and ahead of 1800 Sorry I had to say that :-)
The Run The Run The Run....... This was the real issue here.... I din't have any idea how my legs were going to respond after IMTX. I did swim and bike in the last 2 weeks, but I only did two easy 30 minute runs and let me tell you that it didn't felt awesome, so I started to run with a big ? signs in my legs, but as my friend Armando Galarraga told me once! The game is about Going Fast and sometimes you have to risk everything! Well this time seemed to be the perfect time to Risk it, it's no fun to walk but I took the chance and started Hard with sub 7 minute miles, the idea was to take every mile one by one, without thinking about the next one, first one 6:56, 2nd 7:08 3rd 7:20, 4th 7:28 and then... The Wind Again! Yeah The Wind in the Run was a factor, and a Huge Factor! it's really hard to explain without sounding exaggerated but here are the numbers: in the same downhill mile against the wind I did 8:11, turnaround and with the wind on my back and uphill I clocked 7:42
I'm not gonna lie, I was pushing myself as hard as I could and I was in the Zone, but I was enjoying every single inch of this incredible course and Epic Race! I managed to keep my pace at 7:41 minute miles (4:48min/km) and Finished 55th Overall.

Wind, Wind, Rain and more Wind!

I finally have time to rest since the beginning of 2012, as usual I have to thank my lovely wife Paola that is always by my side, she takes pictures, she screams splits, she takes care of the travel arrangements and also about my nutrition! I couldn't ask for more!
 Now I got to go to my Massage, got to be ready to get back onto it ASAP The season is just starting... More to Come! Keep Tuned!

Gr8 Pict of Lance by Paola

Look at the white caps on the Ocean! It was really Windy!

Halfway through the 21k Run!

Ironman 70.3 Honu 2012

Our Own Award Ceremony ;)

Ironman Texas 2012 Race Report

Getting to the start of an Ironman with the feeling that you've trained well is already an accomplishment, and that's how I felt when I was waist deep into the Lake Woodlands a few minutes before 7am and the sound of the canon. I knew that for the last months I've been crossing the thin line of overtraining and recovery and pushing my body with insane distances that Ironman Racing demands. So in that particular aspect I was calm and confident, I knew that I just couldn't have trained more... I trained practically what my body was capable to handle.

The start of an Ironman is definitely daunting, seeing 2000 Triathletes shredding water as close as possible to the virtual line between to yellow buoys floating in the water can be scary, even if you know that your swim is solid, because between those 2000 overexcited type A Triathletes a good chunk will always start way to fast and then die in the first 200 meters, but those are the ones that can mess up your race with a good elbow or kick into your face. 

To avoid the craze of this mass start, I started as close as possible to the land, and away of the line of buoys that marked the long stretch of the 3.8k swim course, the idea was to start parallel to the craziness and slowly merge into the swim leader pack avoiding the hits and kicks of the first 200 meters. I wasn't the only one thinking about that strategy, I found myself with 3 friendly familiar faces, my two buddies from Mexico Javier and Esteban Rosas, Javier might be the Best triathlete Mexico has ever had, he went to the Olympics in Athens 2004 So I knew that I would be fine if I was able to keep an eye on this two wicked fast brothers, Glynn Turquand my buddy from X-Terra Wetsuits was also there, seeing familiar faces and exchanging words of encouragement was definitely a good start.

(By the way...... Thanks Glynn for the Suits! Both are Awesome! )

The gun went off and there we went, I kept my right eye on the Rosas Brothers, and the other eye on the swim leaders, I remember thinking OMG! I'm glad we started over here.

After 200 meters I lost the Rosas Brothers and merged into the lead pack. The swim went pretty well and without any major issues, after the long stretch there was a left turnaround buoy and then we turned right into a Channel that became narrow as you got closer to the swim exit near the Woodlands Riverwalk, this part was really cool, cause after swimming in the middle of a dark Lake you were able to see and hear the spectators lining in the sides of the channel.

As soon as I get to the exit ramp I hear Paola Screaming out of her lungs like usual, this time it was: "Muy Bien Pelucas Excelente Nadada" (that meant: Doing Great "Nickname" Excellent Swim time" I took a look at my watch and I saw a 58:46 that put me in 8th place in my Age Group and 66 Overall out of the water. (my average Hear rate for the swim was 154bpm)

From T1 I almost came Rasmus Henning Style Kona 2010 (with my X-Terra Speedsuit still on) Lost a few seconds there but still got on my Bike very happy and holding it together.

Already on the bike I was able to Test-Race my New Polar RCX5 with external Miniature GPS which was clipped to my Racing Belt, it proved to be a beauty of a machine as I will later explain...

On the Bike I decided to divide the Bike the course into 4 sectors of 45k each, the first 45k were by far the fastest, my Heart rate was ok and the course was wicked fast, no wind no hills, it was blazing fast, I timed it at 1:12 averaging 37.7km/h and 136bpm.

The second part got a little harder, some rolling hills appeared and before getting halfway point at 90k the wind kicked in, I kept my Hear rate the same and passed the halfway point in 2:32

The 3rd part was Windy, I was actually happy to see the wind picking up since that's the way I train in the Queen K! Lots of wind every single ride... This wind also made it harder that a Big group of "Cheaters" formed behind me :-) so I was ok with that, my Nutrition went "Perfect" More than ever I'm convinced that everyone eat too much Sugar and crap that mess up their Stomach, I drank water, and ate solid bars with enough Protein and not a crazy amount of Carbs... So I don't want to start a discussion here but trust me, if you want to step up your game Just Enter the ZONE! Read the Book! Learn what happens with the different kind of foods when enter your body and then you decide..... I'm not selling anything here :-)

I Finished the 180k in 5:08 7th in my Age group and 62nd Overall. I was Feeling pretty good and ready to Rock it on the Run, I knew I could run a 3:30 Marathon or less, that was my ticket to Kona! And I could almost touch it!

the Idea was to start with a very easy 2k and then 4 sectors of 10k just to keep it interesting and to watch my pace. The Beauty of the RCX5 is that you can change sport on the fly, from swimming to Bike and from Bike to Run and automatically it also records your transition times, all of this with separated splits, distance and even average Heart Rates, it's just a beautiful piece of equipment.

Ok lets get back onto the Run :-) The first 2 K easy and as planned 4:50k/min pace, first 10k also came pretty easy on 50 minutes. I was feeling great and I was pretty darn sure I was going to Run a sub 3:30 Marathon, at the Half Marathon marker my Run Time was 1:43 I could not see why I should have any problem.... But that's exactly what happened, a small mistake became a Huge Problem!

Around 20k onto the run the Heat went Crazy HOT! But the truth is that I usually do well with the heat, training in Kona obviously helps but I've always been like that. But since I was trying to do everything "Perfect" I decided to prepare my body to the Heat that was rising like a BBQ Grill, and decided to put ICE into my always comfortable white Kiwami Konami Racing Suit I grabbed a couple of ice cups and poured the ice in my chest and in my back. I know it may sound weird but I remember feeling cold, after a few kilometers it hit me, I felt like I couldn't breath deeply, just like if they have punched me in the ribs the day before..... then the pain appeared in my lower back... Now after a little research I think I brought into myself a case of Athletic Asthma... Practically the cold shock of the Ice into my Breathing Muscles made a complete mess. 

At that point I think that small percentage of Oxygen that I lost in every breath put my legs into a terrible situation, because the muscle fatigue came right after that. I lost around 30 minutes in the second half of the run, had to walk at some stations and my pace went to hell.

The Run was a 3 loop course with 3 timing mats every 8.5miles plus a last one of 1 mile. My pace in those 8.5mi splits was 7:06min/mi  9:07min/mi 10:33min/mi and the last stretch of 1 mile 10:44.... I know it looks like I started way too fast and maybe I did, but I'm sure that the Ice was the reason of the dramatic drop in my pace.

My finish time was 10:08 13th place in my Age Group and 99th Overall, I didn't get the Kona Slot but I will definitely will get back onto it as soon as possible :-)

I really loved the race! I'm satisfied and Hungry for more. I can't wait for the Next one! 

Now there's nothing more that I want to do than Race in my training grounds, Race Ironman Kona!

Lavaman Waikoloa 2012. First Important Race of the Year.....

Ok, finally I got to race again after Laguna Phuket Triathlon and Ironman 70.3 Asia Pacific Championship in Thailand last November and December of 2011.... it feels like a long time and actually it was a long time, 4 months!
A lot of stuff happened... good and bad... In January I broke a Rib while Snowboarding in Vail trying to impress my son Jonatan, I wanted to show him how fast I could learn and how fast I could go.... At least he saw when I went down in a very impressive way ha ha!
So January was a recovery month and just until February I was able to get some solid work done, by March I was already getting some serious miles for Ironman Texas next May 19th, the idea of racing Lavaman was just take it as a fast day of training without really tapering for it. (That means resting)
But that changed when the previous week to Lavaman I got very sick with stomach flu, I had 2 options, go to the Doctor and get tons of Antibiotics get healthy but surely be all beat up for the race cause of the drugs... Or let my body do the work. I opted for #2 Gladly it was a matter of 5 days and no drugs...

During the week of the race I was able to get some nice solid bike workouts with Thomas J Vonach & Jenson Button and we also had fun swimming the Ironman course and joined by, Jessica Michibata,  Yu Yumoto, Mayu Gamo, Andrea Bess and Mike Collier, it was cool because getting to the race it felt like we all were in a Team ( wanting to beat each other at the race, but still a Team )
My expectations were not that high but I had a positive frame of mind, I knew I had solid weeks but nothing of speed since my focus was IMTX.
Sunday came and there we were, Paola with the camera and the Team all fired up and ready to go.
The swim went by like a swoosh! All of that Ocean Swims and Squad with Coach Steve Borowski paid off, I came out of the water pretty well placed and in front of Thomas, Jenson, and Yu, when on the Bike I was feeling good and relaxed with a good pace, and around km 10 Thomas passed me... a little after him Jenson and Sam Corace passed me, I didn't reacted fast so I lost them for a while, I was having trouble finding a rhythm..... It's hard to be training for months at a pace that you can hold for 180kms and then run a Marathon and now telling my legs to get into the Hurt Locker was not easy at all, I had to remember and remember to push it, I catch Jenson and Sam maybe a km before the turnaround, and then right after that on the way back I lost them again.... It was like if I had a speed control in my legs.
Got to T2 with a bike split of 1hr flat and made the mistake of going out the wrong way, I lost 30 seconds finding the "Run Out" way... (That's for not paying attention before race start)
The first km hurt a lot! again..... I haven't been doing any speed workouts, so when I found my pace was under 4min/km or under 6:25 minute miles I was quite happy.







The Lavaman Waikoloa Run Course is Beautiful, first you run in the Main Street of the Beach resort that has perfectly groomed lawns and a nice shade from the trees, then you go around the Impressive Hilton Waikoloa Hotel, running through the pads and then you get to the coastline! I heard someone calling it the X-Terra part! 100% Accurate!
That's when it gets very interesting, loose rocks, sharp lava rocks, trails in the side of little cliffs where you go totally side inclined, and then loose sand, it's funny because it's when the terrain is so difficult that you kind of forget about the effort you are doing to hold that speed, so in a way it's easier because its so much fun! After the turnaround I saw that if I pushed hard I could get a top ten, so that's what I did... I overtook the 2 guys that were between me and my top ten.

The last km of the run course is around a beautiful lagoon where you can see who's in front of you and also who's behind you for some 500mts... so seeing the finish line while I knew I was not in danger of loosing my place was really cool, I had time to enjoy the moment and see around the people cheering, people that I know from town and it was a really nice experience...
Once I said that usually my favorite race is the last one just because I always try to live the present, and this time it's not only because it's the last one, it really a beautiful race in a beautiful place!

The "Team" did great Thomas J Vonach was 4th Overall, Jenson Button was 6th Overall Yu Yumoto was 16th Overall.
I was 3rd in my AG & 10th Overall Mens, with a Finish Time of 2:05 PB!... Not bad for an Old Bugger in a very Legal & Non Drafting Triathlon.
Jessica Michibata did a PB after doing a Marathon recently and Also Mayu did pretty good too...








Macca won the event and it was really cool to be part of this race, by the way...
Paola shoot great pictures of everyone and we celebrated with a nice Barbie & Beers that evening.
Today is Tuesday and I'm already logging some miles again, but I had now that racing fire in high mode, I love this sport, I love to train for Racing, and I love to Race for training too!
And as I always say....
It's about the Journey... Not the destination!

My Wifey Paola, Always Together Forever & Ever!