Last weekend i raced my home race, the Lisbon international triathlon (70.3 distance) and i felt A LOT faster than in california witch made me really happy (duuh). I finished in 4:02 around 7 min off the winner and in 9th place. REally strong field in the race including some that will be in lanzarote too…

I was the fastest portuguese too witch is always good :D

this is a stilish photo of the race and here is an oficial video of the race

Finally,one of my dreams came true, I went to Japan. After Ironman Florida last year I was invited to Japan to do the race, Strongman. I heard about this event from our team mate in past, Andrey Yastrebov several years ago and since when I wanted to do this race one year. So, I was really excited about this coming opurtunity.

A first race of the season always makes me nervous. 3 months of winter preparation are back and I went to Japan, still couldn’t beleive in it. But I was there and I’ve done the first race of my 2009 season. It was a wonderful week on a beautiful Island, Miyako, which reminded me a bit of Kona with it’s green plants and tropical climate. Even with a rainy and windy, most of the time, weather I’ve got just warm memories about nice and welcome people, unbeleivably tasty Japanese food and of course about an atmosphere of the this, very importent for Miyako people event.

I think Strongman triathlon is in my Top 5 best organised triathlons. That just describes one more time how well Japanese people work.

The weather at the race morning was windy and worm with some clouds, but the water was flat. It was one loop swim course, one and a half loop bike course around Miyako (Miyako is a small Island) and one loop for marathon run, not really a loop, just the way out and back. The swim came out as I planed, time wise, I plan to do it around 45 min (it’s 3 km), I felt pretty good on the bike, espacially first 40 km with a tail wind;) But at the beginning of marathon I felt that wind took some energy from me on the bike. I was confused in bike-run transition area about my place, so I thought I have to catch girls ahead of me: 5 and 10 min (it’s a big gap).
But I was ready to chase them. I didn’t know that I am already leading after 70th km on the bike and I have a gap on them 5 and 10 min. I have to learn some Japanese words if I want to come back again :)
All way out on the run was a head wind and first 10 km I thought that I am not going to make it, but I started feel better after turn around and I save my lead till the finish line. Even with all attention to me and inteviews after finish I still wasn’t sure that I won, so I kept asking a translator: What place am I? They thought it’s a joke. :)

It was a good beginning of 2009 season. Hope to continue as I started.

Where’s the swim? As I’m walking towards the transition area I hear the announcer state that they’ve decided to cancel the swim for all of the amateur athletes. The wind is blowing @ 30mph and they can’t launch the kayakers into the water to monitor all of the competitors. The race has been adjusted for the first time in its 26yr history. The new format will be that each athlete will go off in 2 second intervals running from the swim exit into T2 to start the bike leg followed by the run. The swim report from the pros was mixed following the race, with some including Andy Potts stating that it was the hardest swim of their careers, while others didn’t think it was that bad. Fellow Timex teammate and friend, Andrew Hodges, had a great quote regarding the swim, “I spent the entire time either trying to swim or trying not to drown…”. I fully respect the decision of the race organizer as he’s responsible for 3,800+ athletes’ lives. It was still a bit disappointing as its very rare to get an elite amateur wave of 78 in 1 place and it would have been fun to swim, bike, and run, but it wasn’t in the cards.
I had the orders from the coach to let it go on the bike and reach for a new power output level. It was an interesting ride, but I had held the average of 300watts thru mile 21 that my coach Paul had prescribed, then the pack rolled up. It’s a tough setup when there’s no swim to break up things and the level of talent is pretty similiar. It was what it was, unfortunately. I came into the bike to run transition feeling like I had biked extremely hard and I had managed to put out a PR power output that was over 20watts higher then I’ve ever done for that distance. I was pleased but I knew the run was going to be a drag race with guys like Eric Bell and Vinnie Monseau ready to rip it up. They ran 32:47 and 32:51 respectively! Not bad for a 30 and 40yr old. These dudes can run. I was second body out of transition, but due to the timetrial format, I had no idea where I stood. I was able to attain 1st body for approximately .25m before Eric went blasting by. I had no chance of holding him and I was just trying to focus on keeping him in sight. About a .5 mile later Javier Beuzeville went galloping by. I could have sworn this 21yr old speedster was going to catch and surpass Eric, but as he ran up along side, they settled in stride for stride until mile 3. I had the best seat in the house to witness this duel. It always fascinates me to watch really good runners battle. At mile mile 3, Eric put in a surge and it was over. He had broken him. He ended up running :40 seconds faster then Javier on the day and was 1st body over the finish line. I was just trying to find a rythm and keep a decent cadence going. Coach Paul had instructed me to run with the runners, but the individuals that had gone past me were just too fast for me to hold. I saw friend and teammate, Ian Ray, a little after the turnaround and he yelled that I had 50 meters on the guy behind me. At mile 4, Vinnie Monseau ran up along side. We chatted for a few seconds, then he continued his push. I jumped on his shoulder for all of 10secs before the gap formed. I tried to regain my own rythm and focus for the last 2 miles. As I approached mile 5, I started looking down at the road and focusing on the next 10feet in front of me. This was the first time I have had to resort to that strategy since my Ironman racing. I was hurting and just trying to keep some sort of form. Finally, I was able to will my sorry butt across the finish line. I ended up running a personal best 10k of 34:05 and due to the timetrial format I was the overall winner, even though I was 4th body across the line. I’m happy with my effort, but it’s really unfortunate that the race format was modified.
I want to put out a special Thank You to Timex Team Manager Tristan. He’s first class all around and it was fantastic to have him and the truck at the event. Thanks for reading.

As disappointing as it was to have to miss the first race of the season – Oceanside 70.3 – it was the right choice.  A strained ligament in your toe sounds awfully pathetic to boot, but ligaments are stubborn little buggers and they like to take their own sweet time in the healing process.  It’s interesting the stages you go through as an injured athlete as well.  For me, this time, it went something like this:

Stage 1 – Pure Denial:  Oh it’s FINE…just tweaked it…I’ll be fine with a day or two of rest (while I’m meanwhile sweating buckets.)

Stage 2 - Panic:  Okay, it’s been a week and it still hurts to put weight on it, I better go see the podiatrist.  Crap….is this a stress fracture?  Will I ever run again????????  HELP!!!!! Serious panic mode.

Stage 3 – Positive Outlook: All righteee then, podiatrist says it’s just a strain and that I should be good to go in about 4 weeks time.  That’s not so bad.  4 weeks….I can do this.  Water running will be fine.  It will give my body a good rest and I’ll be fine in no time.

Stage 4 - The BLAAAAAS… I am SOOOO not having a good time with this.  Water running is about as exhilarating as getting kicked in the teeth and with my first race coming up I just won’t be ready. 

Stage 5 – Seriously disappointed:  Nope, I won’t be ready for my first race which I so very badly wanted to do.  Maybe I can just do a DNF and do the swim and bike for early season training and not even bring my running shoes.  Nope, not happening.  Can’t bring myself to going to the start line knowing I won’t finish.  Not possible.

Stage 6 – Fear:  Okay, I think I’m almost better now, but what if I push too hard too soon?  What if I re-injure?  What if….what if….what if……

Stage 7 – Get your head out of your butt and start running again….slowly.  With wise advice from my coach I was literally ordered to start running again.  I was resisting, scared I would re-injure – now THAT’S an interesting concept.  Resisting running?  Who knew????  Walk/Run ratio running is a SUPER way to come back - or pseudo running.  It’s WORKING!!!!!

Stage 8 – YESSSSSS!!!!!!!  Back at it, and with that, each and every run just gets better and better.  Legs stop being sore after runs, the fluidity comes back, it’s all good.  Serious runner’s high during each run and training set that I complete pain free.

PATIENCE….not one of my virtues!!

Seriously though, being injured is one of those things, but when you come out the other side you realize how much you learned.  How much being able to train/race really means to you and how grateful you are for every step (or pedal stroke or swim stroke) you can make – a renewed vision and motivation!  I also realized that starting the season a bit later was truly not the end of the world.  It will be a long season, and there are many more races to come!!  An injury also gives your body some well deserved rest.  This injury had me on the sidelines with ZERO running for 8 weeks.  Not too bad….but felt like a lifetime.   And to be honest….I really do believe I will be stronger for it.  Those other little nagging aches and pains are gone and I can run more ‘freely’ than I have in a very long time. 

Survived the injury….if I can do it…so can anyone!!!  Onwards and upwards!

One Bad Run

I really despise bad training runs, and it can be one hard pill to swallow when they fall on a key track workout day. I’m not talking about the kind of day where you feel slightly off , you might have to work a little harder to achieve your goal, or at worse, your pace is a tad slower than goal pace…nope, I’m talking about the kind of day where even the coach says let’s stop this workout.

The road back from injury is usually slow (and seems to get slower with age) and requires a LOT of patience. Up until this past weekend, I had not raced since August 2008 and I missed the competition! The fact that I have recently been able to introduce some speed sessions into my training has been awesome and I truly love being out on the track. I am an athlete for many reasons, one of which is the joy and satisfaction I receive in testing my limits as I pursue my goals. These quality run days are in essence one way for me to fill the void of not being able to compete for the past 8 months. So when coach told me to stop my workout after only 1 interval, I was initially a bit dejected.

I knew when I started my interval that it was going to be a tough day. I expect tough days, but this workout was a little different. There was that internal struggle between YOU HAVE TO GUT THIS OUT versus You are not on today so let’s back it off because the risk outweighs the reward, and thankfully, I had another pair of eyes watching me. Honestly, had my coach not been at the track I probably would have completed the workout, been disappointed with the pace, and not gained one thing by doing so! Every workout has a purpose and when that purpose is compromised, adjustments need to be made, or at least expectations need to be reset. However, this is always easier said that done.

As athletes we are often our own worst critic. We condition our mind and body to handle pain, to block things out, and focus on the task ahead of us. Weakness is not tolerated. Stubbornness can get us to the finish line, but can also lead to our downfall. There are several articles and books written about what it takes to have a champions mentality and often one of the recurring themes is being able to adapt to adversity and rebound from failures. While my body was physically healing over the past several months, I focused my attention on reading such books as In Pursuit of Excellence by Terry Orlick, PhD. Today’s run was a test…would I obsess over the failed workout or embrace the day for what it was…just another training run? On that day, I chose the latter (with some help from Coach!) and decided to save the work for a better day.