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!

Stoked to be part of the Polar Family

Kiwami International Catalog (Wearing a Polar RS800 PTE)

I'm truly honored to announce that I will be working with Polar USA from now on.... I started using Polar back in the day... And It's been a long and gratifying relationship. Now I can say that I belong to the Polar family! This couldn't be cooler!

Triathlon Training is a beautiful Science and Polar brought us one of the greatest tools to train our bodies to the Best. 

3rd place at Abu Dhabi 2010, Weapon of Choice "POLAR"

 I don't know why...... but I kept my very first Polar Heart Rate Monitor, maybe because I bought 2 just in case one failed, I was already reading about Hear Rate Training and I felt I couldn't go out and run not even 1 kilometer without my Polar.....

Polar Accurex II

My other Polar never failed, so I kept this one in it's original box since 1990! Since that time I've trained myself and others with this marvelous tool, and I will continue doing it.. Polar started creating Heart Rate Monitors in 1977 and since then, it's been leading the way in technological innovations, just check out my old Polar Accurex II and the New RCX5, they've come a long long way..........

POLAR RCX5

My First Time in a Surf Ski!

Asia Pacific Ironman 70.3 Championship in Phuket, Thailand.

After being for almost 2 Weeks in Thailand and having raced last Sunday, I couldn't be happier, Thailand is such a magical place, I couldn't write this race report without writing about Thailand and also posting a couple of Pictures.... After Laguna Phuket Triathlon Sunday last week, there was no rest time, I know that's not ideal but hey, how could you miss one of the most Mythical After-parties in the Triathlon World? so right after the race there we were Jumping and Dancing like maniacs at the Rhythm of AC-DC or Black Eyed Peas! This time the party started to slow down right at midnight because most of us were racing in just 7 days.....

Next Day Monday at 7am we were on a Speedboat trip to Phi Phi Islands, we visited the Island where the Movie "The Beach" by Leonaldo li Caplio (As Thai People call him  ha ha) We also visited an Island that you can walk around the whole island in less than 10 minutes, and if you stand up in a Big rock in one of the tips of the island you can see the whole Island.... Note: It's not a sandbar! But it has a few very cool Bars ha ha!

Next dat Tuesday after a couple of hrs on the bike and an easy swim we headed to Patong for one of the weirdest nights I've ever experienced.... Let's just say that is a rated XXX Night out, Night Ladies, Ladies who do weird shows with ping pong balls amongst ohter things, and another genre called Ladyboys!


Wednesday we went to another Speedboat trip to more islands, this time we saw the place where the Movie "The Man with the Golden Gun" a 1974 James Bond 007 was filmed...
It was only until Thursday that I started to Focus a little more for the upcoming Ironman 70.3 race...........
It was my first time racing 2 weekends straight so the plan was just what I did, take it really easy a few days and then light training for the rest with just a few bursts of intensity Thursday & Friday....
One of the reasons I choose this 2 races is because of my new training weapon, The  Normatec Boots are simply "AMAZING" I know I couldn't have made it without them.

Ok Lets go back to Race day....
The Whole Week it was Sunny and Hot, just as Thailand should be, or at least as I thought it should be, Saturday the skies closed in and the rain started, when I planned to take my bike to Check in into Transition it was raining cats and dogs! So I waited until the  last minute, when I finally went there was a Foot of water flooding the Transition, and the Weather Forecast for Sunday was even worse.....
Race day appeared to be much better, we lined on the Beach start and got ready to go, the gun went off and I tried to do the same as last week, find a fast feet and get on with it..... This time it didn't worked, I lost the faster guys in the craze of the swim start, I could see 3 or 4 green caps up front, but I was never able to catch their feet.....I hate that slow guys start from the line! Why do they do that? Do they like to be passed all over, hit and elbowed?

Pros started 6 minutes ahead of us, and the first wave of Yellow swim caps started 5 minutes ahed, I started passing slow Yellows "Before" the first Ocean turnaround buoy, and that meant that it was going to be a slow swim due to the Yellow caps TRAFFIC, passing and passing people was the rest of the swim, and with every pass it came danger, cause even if they know they are slower and are about to be passed, they try everything.... So it was pretty rough, I finished the Ocean swim run over the beach part and jumped into the Lagoon, that after swimming in the Ocean it feels terrible, cause it's Hot and Frech water! So you feel more tired and you feel like you're sinking, but I tried to focus on how cool is that swim and got into my rhythm again....

I exited the water in 30 minutes and got on my Bike, the first 15kms were flat but not fast, to many corners, then there's the BRIDGE where you have to dismount a go over it running for about 300mts, it's all well carpeted so no issues there, around km 45 we hit the first set of hills, these are NASTY hills, this is the reason I had a 27 cogset in my rear cassette, by this time it was just starting to rain and some of this hills are 22% steep, so it was tricky to maintain the balance between cadence and strength, too much and your rear wheel slipped! Yeah it Slipped Uphill, every thing that goes up, must come down, so there were also NASTY downhills with sharp corners, the torrential rain was imminent, and I just wanted to get out of those hills before the skies opened and let it pour down! I was really concentrated in one of those downhills, maybe too mucho, cause when the road turned up, I had the wrong gear, and for the first time ever I completely lost my chain and got stuck in the rear wheel/frame! I think I lost a few of valuable minutes trying to fix it on the fly, until I realized I had to stop and do it by hand, then. starting in that kind of steep uphill is no easy task, the truth is that I felt like an idiot! I would regret those minutes in the end, I knew it!

As soon as I left the hilly section the Heavens came down, and they came down HARD! It was raining cats and dogs, I've never ridden in this kind of rain! 40-45km/hr and you could see nothing! NOTHING! it was pretty scary, cause there were flooded sections, it was like crossing rivers! I'm glad that the bike wheels are so thin and when you hit the water it only slows you down, so now I know my bike is Hydrodynamic too!

I crossed the bridge again, by then the rain was now normal, passed the plantation area, the airport and hit the second section of hills, by this time the road was very very slippery and I remember seeing more than a few guys go down, it's not encouraging to see a guy that you are closing in fast to go down...... makes you slow down... When I got to Transition I had no idea how I was in my Age Group, so I started in the dark, hoping Paola was there to tell me, but with that such first wave that started 5 minutes ahead it was almost impossible, the first few kms I tried not to look at my watch and just run at a comfortable pace, I had 21kms ahead of me, and those hills even that I was prepared they were going to ask for payment at some point of the run.... I looked at my watch at km 3 and I was in a 4min/km  pace, too fast.. so I tried to slow down a bit, more like a 4:20/km but then around km 7 when I heard my name I had to bang a sub 4min km, It's a boost hearing Chris Lieto Cheering on you! He had to drop out of the race after crashing a few kms into the Bike.

When I started my second lap, Paola gave me the "Look" and that meant I was not doing great, so I tried to pay attention to the numbers from my Age Group I saw at the turnarounds, It was difficult to know where I was, but I was aware of 2 guys closing in fast on me, one of them really fast, I was also closing in a few guys and I ended up passing them, But that guy number 495 was getting closer and closer, I didn't knew if we were fighting a podium finish or a top ten, but I knew he was going to catch me real close to the end, and that't exactly what happened, this guy who then I learned lives in Singapore, James Middleditch passed me around km 20.8, my plan from the last 15kms since I saw him was very simple, run as fast as possible leaving something for the end, and thats what I did, even that the last 3 kms were close to 4min pace (6:24/mile) when he passed me, I let him go a few meters hoping he let his guard down, and then I just sprinted in the corner to the finish line, I didn't knew I had that kick at the end, so at least I was very happy for the next few hrs, I saw the numbers and I thought I was 3rd place.. how wrong I was!

When I saw the list I couldn't believe that I was 9th! 6 minutes from that 3rd place, and a whole 11 minutes from 1st and 2nd! I want my revenge! I know my swim could have been better, but my Bike Split Time is that one that bothers me..... It difficult to say "I should have done this or that" cause probably I could have not run a 1:30 for the Half Marathon that at the end it was Faster than all the guys but one, that finished ahead of me!

This Race is now my Favorite and I want to come back next year, it's not a fast race, and it's by no means an easy one, it might be one of the toughest races around but is so much fun!
Thank You Thailand for one of the Best Trips EVER!

Kob Kun Kaa Thailand.... Kob Kun Kaa.