Latest News: 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!