Ironman 70.3 Zell am See–Kaprun Race Report

Where do I start? Maybe by saying that it was great day for me. Back in March I wasn’t able to participate in IM 70.3 Singapore due to an unexpected leg surgery one week before the race. This would have been my first Half Ironman ever, so being able to complete this one has a special meaning, and racing in postcard location like Zell am See was simply amazing.

Pre-race

I am extremely happy to have it completed, and happy with the 5:35:58 time, but at the same time I know I can do significantly better. The fact that that the three weeks before the race I travelled to 3 different locations with long-haul flights, did 2 night flights with no proper sleep, and in between I managed to move house, didn’t make my preparation easy. And not to mention that in the previous two months I had an intense travel schedule too. All the missed trainings were making me feel guilty until 3-4 days before the race.

I’m on my first year of triathlon, and this would be my first ever IM 70.3. But I have forgotten something very important: the main goal of doing all this is to have fun. Also to stay healthy, travel a bit, and of course challenge myself. After resetting my priorities,I can tell you that I started to have lots of fun, and the smile on my face in the pics that were taken of me during the run can prove that.

TIP : There’s no point doing an Ironman race if you don’t have fun along the way.

The days before the race were hectic. On Wednesday I worked till 6pm, and I still had to collect a borrowed bike case (Thanks Venny ), disassemble the bike and pack everything for a 8:30am flight on Thursday morning. Packing started at 10:30pm and I was done by 2:00am. Next morning taxi didn’t show up, and we had to drive to the airport with 2 bike cases in the back, drop them at check-in, park the car and come back, to find out that our flight was delayed by 2 hours.

TIP: There’s never too much preparation and it helps a lot, but don’t use the lack of it as an excuse to give up.

After arriving to Munich, we still had some challenges with the rental car, but after all was sorted, we started our journey towards Zell am See, and I don’t have words to describe the scenery we’ve seen. The green mountains and valleys when we entered Austria were breath-taking. We passed for a little town called Walschee where Challenge Tyrol 70.3 will take place on September 9th. Simply amazing too, worth considering for next year.

The other great thing about this race was that I wasn’t alone, there was 7 of us racing: myself, Anne Petersen, Chris McVickars (Chief), Jo Edwards, Marie O’Neill, Ian Jones , and my cousin Nuno Fernandes from Portugal. On top of that, we had “Swim around the world” Kate as our amazing supporter, photographer, bag carrier, motivator, etc., my mom and my Aunt. Having training buddies, family and friends around is quite good. It doesn’t mean that we always have to be with each other, but we know we have each other to count on and get support.

Friday we all went for a swim on the lake and it was a pleasant surprise, as me being a person that lived most of its life by the sea, and still being a rookie swimmer, swimming in a lake is not my favorite thing. But it turned out to be extremely pleasant: the water was very clear and clean, even safe to drink (not that I wanted to drink, but I involuntarily  still drink it a lot while swimming).

After that, we jumped into a 9 seater van and we went for a drive along the bike course. We were able to see most of it, and helped us understand that there were some narrow roads and bike paths, tight bends, wooden bridges, cobble stone segments that we would need to be careful with. Other than that, just a beautiful scenery all along. We were just hoping that there wouldn’t be rain (at least I was hoping that). We have done the race registration and we (I did) spend some (a lot) of money on the Ironman merchandise store and Expo area.

TIP: (1) If possible, always check the race course the days before the race, and (2)take a fixed amount of money and don’t take credit card to the merchandise area.

On Saturday we went out for a 15mins swim, 15 mins bike and 15 mins run. We rode our bikes to the swim start with rug sack on our backs with wetsuit and goggles. The swim felt pretty nice, but when I was coming off the water and practicing how to take the wetsuit off before the transition, without noticing, my Garmin 910XT fell off from the quick release kit after having stopped the timer when coming off the water. I was really p#$%"%d off after not being able to find it and I forgot all about the “having fun” part that I mentioned before. I took all my frustration on the wetsuit, and I found out afterwards that Anne and Nuno were afraid that they would get the same treatment and just stepped back .

So, how the hell was I going to the race without being able to pace myself based on the heartrate?!

TIP: Gadgets are great, but being so dependent on them can be a bad thing.

Moving on, race briefing was at 10am, and we would have a wave bike check-in, which would give me till 4pm to get everything ready to take to transition area. I’m not good at packing, and doing the RUN and BIKE bags is even a bigger nightmare for me. All in all, it went pretty well and I took a minimum amount of items, which I used them all and they were no excessive. The only part which I was not quite happy about it, was my pink lock laces, the only pair available at the Expo area, as I’ve forgot to buy them back in Dubai when I got my new runners. So, pink laces on a flashy green Newton’s … perfect combination (all comes down to preparation).

The only concern I had left was the weather forecast. We had 25ºC on Friday and blue sky, 22ºC on Saturday with a blue sky, and forecast for Sunday was 15ºC with 80% of precipitation. How could that be possible? The bike would be a bit challenging with rain, and the low temperature wouldn’t help. I packed a rain/wind jacket on the bag, but also the wet course wouldn’t help in terms of safety. Bike checked-in, off for a dinner with family and a good night sleep.

Race Day

Race would start at 10am (10:20am for my wave), so no need to wake up at stupid o’clock for having a decent breakfast. I was in a very good mood, and the weather wasn’t that bad, a bit grey but no rain. We walked as a group to the race start, and we went to transition area for the final preparations. I’ve taped the GU gels to the bike, then to realize that I forgot to attach first the bag with energy bars, so I attached it next to the seatpost rather than the handlebar. I then asked someone around to use their pump to re-fill my tires. It was a super duper accurate German pump, but every time I would try to detach the hose the tire would get completely flat. I was getting a bit nervous, but with the help of the owner, after the 4th or 5th attempt we ended up getting the tires filled.

TIP: Never change what you are used to do close to/on the race day, and try to use only the equipment you are used too

Bike done and ready, time to go to the changing tent to get  wetsuit on. I was so worried about the chaffing I had in my neck during sea swims in the summer (I would come out of the water bleeding), that I completely forgot to use body glide on other sensitive parts of my body, which would suffer a bit during the bike. All done, the rest of the gang was disperse getting their things sorted, time to go race.

Swim

I was on the third and last wave. I found myself alone on the spectator area where I met Ian, who was also waiting for the time to get to the starting area.

After we’ve seen the first and second wave taking off, we went to the start area. I wasn’t nervous (so I thought), but I had a lot of energy. I couldn’t stop jumping around, like a super excited kid. I found my mom and aunt between the spectators and it was time to pose for the pictures. It was time to get into the water, and we didn’t have the chance to do a warm-up swim, as we couldn’t find a way through. In the water, we’ve met Chris, and we wish good luck to each other, and we were ready to go.

Swim started, and everything seamed fine. I was swimming comfortably, breathing seamed normal. After a couple of minutes, I started struggling … I don’t know what was going on, but breathing was getting difficult, arms were getting heavy and tired, and people were coming over me all the time. I think these are the times where the mind plays us some tricks, so I tried to say to myself to keep calm, slow down, and try to find a comfortable pace and breath rhythm. But I couldn’t. I was half way to the first buoy, which was about 800m from the starting line, and I was nervous and uncomfortable. I stopped, took a few breaths and kept going. I wasn’t ok still, and I stopped again, and decided to swim breaststroke instead. I’ve come all this way, so there was no way I was going to quit there. I struggled a bit till half way, with a few stops and a couple of minutes swimming breaststroke. After the second buoy (more than halfway), I finally found my rhythm and I could breath normally. I was a bit disappointed, and expecting to have done about 45 minutes on the swim.

I got off the water a bit tired, but I immediately started taking the wetsuit off. Off to the transition area, picked my bag and got into the transition tent. In there, the help of the volunteers was great. They took everything out of the bag for me and helped me put everything on. I had helmet, race belt and number, sun (water) glasses and rain jacket. Shoes were clipped on the bike, so here we go running to the bike at the same time I put the jacket on.

Bike

After finding my bike, I started running on the transition area, which was a football pitch, followed by a running track around it. I saw the guy ahead of me jumping into the bike fore the red line, and immediately the referee started shouting in a very “assertive” way in German, and I thought to myself that I should really focus on following the rules because they take it seriously. Finally on the bike, I started pedalling.  I took the bike computer, and when I first started looking at speed and heartrate (a workaround for the lost Garmin), I saw that my speed was around 38-40 kph, and heartrate was around 160bpm. I thought how could I go that fast, and how could I feel so strong and fresh. I guess I only had time to look at it when it was clear rode and downhill, as my average speed was below that. Nevertheless, I was thinking if I should slowdown or not, but at the same time I felt quite good and I assumed it was the adrenaline that would give me the extra strength all the way. In the meantime, it started raining, but I was prepared with the rain jacket.

I kept going, the rain started to get more intense, but still quite manageable. About half way of the first 43km loop, I’ve catch Chief and I asked if he was ok, which he replied affirmatively. I was a bit surprised to catch him as I know he is better on the bike than, so there were only two options: either he was not well, or I was pushing too hard. I kept my pace, which was comfortable at the time. After a few minutes he took me over, and then I thought that I was really taking it too hard, and he had been saving his legs. Nevertheless, as he was not going to hard, I decided to stay behind him. We passed Zell am See, and after that it really started pouring. It was hard to see, there was extra water coming out of the wheels of whoever was ahead of me, and started to be a little bit more complicated.

I kept on Chief’s tail, but there were many people taking me over, and there were several people that I was taking over, which made it difficult to keep close. I then decided to slow down to save my legs a bit and also to be more careful, as there were segments that we were going at about 50kph with wet roads.

The bike course was two 43km loops, that would go through lovely towns (Zell am See, Kaprun, Piesendorf Maishofen, …), and where the spectators wouldn’t stop cheering us even with all the rain,, by shouting “hop, hop, hop, …” or using their big bells. As much as possible, I kept thanking them and waving back, which made it fun. Can’t thank them enough for all the cheering and support they gave us.

Loop one was done and I still felt good, but not as fast as in the first one. I was wet, but during all the race I never felt cold, thanks to the jacket, even though it wasn’t completely waterproof. The only big challenge I had during the bike was with my hands. They were so wet and cold, that using them was though. First, I struggled to take the energy bars from the box that was next to the seat post. Then I couldn’t open the energy bars. I couldn’t hold the plastic between my fingers, even when trying to use them with my teeth. I struggled a bit to get the food in, and I guess that I was a bit worried with loosing focus of the road while trying to sort this out. The other challenge with the hands was that while standing up for climbing a hill, my hand slipped and I almost bumped into another athlete. My hands were wet, cold, slippery and my fingers were numb.

TIP: (1) Make all your nutrition easily accessible for the races, even opening the energy bars before hand. (2) Check the weather forecast before you travel and take several options of equipment with you. The rain jacket made my race more confortable, and some gloves could have helped too.

Run

Back to the transition area, my legs were a bit wobbly when I jumped off the bike and run to the bike rack. Took the bike computer and attached to the quick release kit (looks really nice), picked my run bag and got into the transition tent where I was helped by one of the volunteers. After she dropped everything in the bag and put my bike stuff in there, she took off and I was left alone with the simple task of putting my socks and shoes on. Simple if my hands would work properly!!! It took me a couple of minutes to get the socks and the shoes on, but I finally managed. I took off from the tent and I started running. I reset the repurposed bike computer for trying to control the heartrate and pace during the run. I felt quite good, heartrate was under control, and I seemed to be going at around 6:00/km (it only display speed, not pace and it was up and down all the time), which was in my planned range. After 1km into the run, I started feeling cramps in my quads, which was the toll from the “strong” bike in the beginning. I slowed a bit down, and I kept going. The run was a three 6km loop, after the initial 3km from the transition area into the town centre. In the town there were these small uphills that felt like mountains during the race, but it was amazing to see again the amount of people cheering us. The loops in the town were the toughest, but then we would go 3km north around the lake and back.

The run was hard, but I don’t think I ever lost the smile on my face I walked a few times, specially when I was drinking coke, and I had to stop another time to take my shoe off as it seemed that I had a small pebble inside, but ended up just being the show too much tight maybe ?! The cramps didn’t stop me, and I could never really figure out what was my pace. I thought I was going to finish around 6:00:00 time, but as long as it would be below I would be happy for my first time.

I got into the final 100 meters and there was a crowed cheering. I kept looking for any familiar faces so that I could do high five, but I couldn’t find any. I kept going, and as soon as I crossed the finish line there was my mom and aunt, and I could see a happy smile on their face. A few seconds later, I spotted Anne who was waiting for me with the camera on her hands. It was time to celebrate.

My Mom told me at the end that she was worried that I had quit, as she couldn’t see me on the run. She knew what I went through before Singapore and the disappointment I had, but I was determined to finish this race even if I had to walk. It meant a lot to me that she came with my aunt, from a little town called Sagres in a lost corner of Portugal just to see me racing and spend a few days with me.  Also a big thanks to my aunt, who always gave me a big support, not to mention my 22 years old cousin Nuno Fernandes.

A special mention to Nuno who raced with me on race 5 of the Ghantoot series last year (his first triathlon ever) followed by the short distance in Abu Dhabi International Triathlon one week later. We were suppose to race together in Singapore, but I ended up flying just to see him and support him, on a race where he finished 8th in is age group. When he found out that I was racing Salzburg, he decided to join me to make it up for Singapore. He ended up 8th again on his age group with a 4:36 time (an impressive 2:15 on the bike or 40kph average and 1:36 half marathon). I can’t thank him enough for all his support, and for being such a great example of discipline and hard work that make him a great athlete. I still have hopes that he becomes a professional athlete, and I can retire to become his manager and coach

I never can’t thank enough Miss Petersen for all her support, far before the race started, specially when I was frustrated because of missing my trainings and she always kept saying that I was going to do great.

For my other partners in crime, Chris, Marie, Jo and Ian, a big thanks and congrats. It was great to be there with you guys, and congratulations all for your achievement.

Kate, thanks for all you support and taking the pics. It was great to have you around, and if my travel schedule permits, I’ll pay you back when you are doing your swim.

A big thanks too to my training buddies and coach in Tri2Aspire. My performance has improved significantly since I joined the team back in April, and watching 18 of them crossing the finish line this summer in Challenge Roth was a massive inspiration.

Next big races to come: Phuket on December 2nd, and Challenge Roth in July. If you think this report was long and lame, wait until July if I get to the finish line

Running tips for beginners …

 

NOTE: I’m not a coach and I don’t have any degree on sports science. This is not a scientific article of any kind, just me sharing some tips and suggestions for people that want to start running or do it more regularly.

Three months ago, an ex-colleague and friend asked me for some tips and guidance for start running again. This hasn’t been the first person, and I’m happy (and flattered) to say that several friends have come to me and told me that my “spam” on Facebook with my sports activities have inspired them to start exercising or doing it more frequently.

I’m not an expert and I’m very far away from being an outstanding athlete, but I do have a big passion for running, I am extremely curious and I do a lot of research to understand and know more about things that interest me, which combined with all the miles I’ve run, the races I’ve done, the injuries I went through, gives me some knowledge that I think might be useful and worth sharing.

Based on my experience, the 3 tips below are helpful for you to prevent injuries and take the most benefit out of your running:

1. Buy proper running shoes
   Not having proper running shoes can cause you some serious injuries. You should go to a specialized sports/running store, and find which kind of strike you do so that you avoid injuries. Some people pronate (they roll their feet inwards and touch their knees), others supinate (they roll their feet outwards and arch their legs) and others they are neutral. There are also some “special” people (like me ) that have one foot that pronates and other that supinates, and these are complicated. Also, people have different feet arches: some have low arch (or flat feet), others medium arch and others high arch. Depending on your feet type, different type of shoes are adequate for you. A specialized sports store will be able to do a brief gait analysis and recommend you the adequate shoes type. Do your own research about this, but I find that this article explains it quite well.
   
   Personally, I’m using Newton shoes which promote forefoot running (check this video if you want to know more), and these have worked great for me, and since then I haven’t had any injuries.
   
2. Buy a Heartrate monitor, preferably with GPS
   This is the best device/gadget you can buy for your training. I consider that controlling your heartrate is extremely important, not only to prevent any health issue, but also to take the most benefit out of your training.
   First of all, you should consult your doctor so that he can assess if you can do exercise. Then, you should find what is your maximum heart rate, and try to keep yours between 70-80% of the maximum, as this is the most beneficial for improving your fitness level on an initial stage, and also for fat burning. There’s probably entire books about this, but for a starting point, this is enough.
   
   But definitely, I suggest you buy a GPS enabled device. This allow you to map your runs, track speed, distance, elevation. It is a wonderful gadget that might give you extra motivation (it sure did to me) and allows you to monitor your progress. I personally use a Garmin Forerunner 910XT, but just for running I would recommend  the 210 or 610 (depending on your budget/features you would like to get). Other alternatives are the Polar models.
   
3. Get your Core strength and Flexibility right
   Most of injuries I had were due to poor flexibility and core strength. The way we walk, the way we run are very much dependant on our strength on our core muscles, because at the end of the day the legs are supported and controlled by the core muscles. If we don’t have the right strength and flexibility, then our motion range might not be ideal and we might end up doing “incorrect” movements, that might cause some injuries.
   I’m now having one yoga class and one personal trainer session a week just to work on my core strength and general flexibility. This, allied with the right shoes, might prevent you from having the most common injuries (ITB, Plantar Fasciitis, Shin Splints, and a few more). So my recommendation is that you do some kind of exercise that strengthens your core muscles and improves your flexibility. Either it is Yoga or Pilates, Personal Trainer, bootcamps, one session a week will do wonders for you, not only for the running but for everything.

These three are the ones I consider that anyone running should do, as they can help prevent injuries and improve your results. Other than this, there many other tips that I could give, and some of the ones that come to my mind are:

• If you haven’t done anything for a long time (more than 6 months?!), start with 30 mins every other day, and try to do a longer run during the week (maybe Saturday or Sunday morning for 1h?!) 3-4 runs a week should be a great way to keep you fit and loose weight.
• Sign up for a race, maybe a 5k or 10k. Having a target helps a lot and boost your motivation.
• Find some other people that run where you live and try to run with them once a week. Maybe a running club?! since I joined a local triathlon team, my motivation and consistency on the trainings increased dramatically, and it is normally a very pleasant social activity. Strongly recommend if you have the chance.
• Sign up on a running website like www.dailymile.com (site I use to track my runs and post on facebook). You don’t need to post on facebook,, but you can add friends and find other people that are running close to you. It is an added motivation, finding like minded people, getting a lot of tips, etc. It did add a lot of value for me and I recommend.

 

And that’s it for now. Let me know if you have any comments, corrections or suggestions about this post, and I’ll be glad to review it..

Giving Back

 

In the past 3 1/2 years I have completely changed my lifestyle. I’ve started being more careful with the food I eat, I’ve started doing regular exercise, by running and participating in several races, including a Marathon, and last summer I’ve started doing triathlons. Since then, life has been giving me a lot of good things, a lot of “Gifts”: new friends, more health, more knowledge, more patience, more peace, more joy … and a lot of other good things.

A few months back I’ve felt that was time to give something back. I really believe the more you give, the more you get in return. Following examples of a few colleagues that started raising money for charities when they were racing, I started looking for charities that I would relate to, on the websites http://www.justgiving.co.uk or http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/giving. I was looking for something related with children’s education, in some African or Asian countries, where access to education is very difficult. One year back, I was exposed to an organization called Room to Read that envisions that every child should have access to education. This organization was founded by John Wood, who wrote the book “Leaving Microsoft to Change the World”.

Whilst this charity was listed on both websites, I felt that I wouldn’t see the results of my fundraising and the contributions would go to the UK section and not the Dubai one.

A few weeks later I joined a local triathlon team in Dubai, Team T2A, and I’ve found out that one of the team members, Miss AnnieP, has been running a Charity on her own, where the vision to Improve Children’s Lives Through Education and Sports Initiatives. Not only it fits the type end goal that I had in mind (children's education) it also adds Sports which is a passion that I have, and I could actually get involved on the field.

So far, this Charity has raised about USD 24,000 which will be used to build a library for a school in Uganda. A good portion of the money has been raised selling unwanted items that are donated by friends, and friends of friends of Miss AnnieP, and then sold at the monthly Safa Flea Market in Dubai. Wouter Kingma, a friend of Miss AnnieP, raced Gobi Desert Ultramarathon in China (250km in 7 days) for the charity, and raised by himself USD 6,800. Inspiring!

 

What am I doing to help?

So far, I have participated in one of the Safa Flea Markets. It was an amazing experience that started at 4:30am to collect and transport the items to Safa Park, getting the tables ready for the sale at around 6am, spending a few hours selling amazing stuff at ridiculous prices, and finalizing everything by 2pm. It was a very rewarding and fun morning, while contributing to a great cause (I have even improved my lousy sale skills).

But I want to do more and contribute more. I’m currently helping create a Facebook page and a website to promote this charity and its projects. I think there’s a much bigger audience to reach and I feel I can help with that. I also want to promote this charity and raise money during my races, starting with the Ironman 70.3 Salzburg that I’ll do on August 26. Additionally, I have signed up for a trip to Uganda on Jun 5-9, to help on the follow-up with the local promoters and constructors for the first phase of the library. Last week I had 6 vaccines so that I can travel safely, and I have to say that I am extremely excited (at the same time nervous) about it.

Why am I sharing this?

First because I want to create awareness and promote this charity. Second, because I need your help to make this and other projects even more successful. There are many ways to contribute, by giving some of your time, sharing your knowledge, using your connections, giving your unwanted and unused stuff. It doesn’t have to always be by giving money, but it is welcome too .

How can you help?

• Do you participate in races or sports events? Then perhaps raise money for this charity for your race.
• Are you one of my IT Geek friends? Then help me maintain the website and support the people that are going to contribute with the content.
• Do you live in Dubai? De-clutter your house of unwanted items for the Safa Flea Market, and maybe even come to help on the market days.
• Do you have a lot of Emirates Airmiles? Donate some miles so that we can send qualified resources to monitor and audit the construction of the Library.
• Do you have any other ideas? Send them to me.

Why?

Because this is a great initiative, created by someone that I know, supported by a group of people that want to make a difference, in which I am personally involved in the field.

I’ll keep you posted on the Facebook page, the website, and the trip to Uganda. Stay tuned.

Ironman 70.3 Salzburg bike course

 

This is the bike course map and profile for Ironman 70.3 Salzburg, which I’m planning to participate on Aug 26th. It is pretty flat, and the surroundings are suppose to be amazing.

Joining a team

 

After 3 years of doing exercise on my own, I have joined a local triathlon team, Team Tri2Aspire. Why? I think mainly because of two reasons: It gives me more motivation and commitment to follow a training program, and second because I feel I have join a team of like minded people.

Back in February/March, I had my cousin Nuno around for 4 weeks. He came to race Abu Dhabi and Singapore with me, so we trained together everyday, and raced together. This was a great experience, making it much easier to get out of bed at 5am to go cycling or running, or just making it to the pool at 7pm instead of slacking and saying to myself “I’ll do it tomorrow”.

I still love and need to run on my own. My relationship with running is much more than just a sport, it is my way of relaxing, distressing, solving problems or shutting down from work. Nevertheless, I don’t think I would ever do 5 hours on the bike like I did this Friday if I was just training on my own, specially when it isn’t part of my training program.

On the other hand, in many of the races I’ve done I’ve seen this group of people, using their green Jersey’s with their nicknames on their short, looking fit, happy and always having fun together. They looked great, but I always thought that my lifestyle (work and travel) wouldn’t allow me to take great benefit of it.

After my cousin left, and talking with a fellow athlete that was already part of the team, I immediately felt that I had to join, and I wasn’t mistaken. I’ve joined an amazing group of people that form a great team. The spirit is amazing, and the collective knowledge of the entire group is something that I can’t describe. And there’s athlete’s of all levels and ages. There’s people that are qualifying for Kona Ironman, the top of the top Ironman events held in Hawaii or people competing in world championships, and there’s people doing their first triathlon or half-ironman races (like me).

I’m sure I will benefit a lot from joining this team. Hope I can contribute back. My advice to anyone would be that if you have the change to join or even create your own team, do it. Triathlon or running are individual sports, but training as a team it will help you grow faster and stay more committed and motivated.

The Triathlon Rules

 

The triathlon rules by someone that I don’t know (just received it on e-mail and thought it was funny to share)

The Rules:

#1. Not everyone thinks what you do is awesome. Most think you’re a bit nuts, and they’re right. Remember that at your next cocktail party.

#2. No race jerseys of races you haven’t raced in, especially if the distance is longer than you’ve been. T-shirts are exempt. If you roll up in an Ironman France jersey, be prepared to explain how you handled the Cole de I’Ecre.

#3. Only refer to courses/segments/people by their nicknames. Highway 19 is unacceptable. It’s called the Queen K, and Crowie owned it. And Macca before him. Don’t let this happen again. Pay ‘N Save Hill. Look it up.

#4. Training in rough conditions makes you tough. A little rain or heat won’t make you melt, buttercup.

#5. A reality check should be performed once per year. MIT is not going to test the effectiveness of brick workouts. The rolling resistance “expert” uses a 100 pound sac in his garage for testing. Not all wind tunnels can even record data at the slow speeds we ride. Not everything that glitters is gold.

#6. Gadgets are strongly encouraged. An old pair of shorts and some Keds are not our gig. You absolutely need every item that is out there. Afterall, we invented aerobars. If we stop with the gadgets, who the hell would cyclists copy?

#7. Feelings are for Oprah, use your data. If you own a heart rate monitor and/or a powermeter, yet train just by RPE, then you either don’t know how to use it or you’re embarrassed by what it’s telling you.

#8. If you’ve raced the distance, it counts. If you’ve trained the distance, it doesn’t. Nailing a training day is one thing, nailing a racing day is quite another. Please don’t confuse the two. Ironman/marathon/etc. only counts if you are in there mixing it up. I’m the heavyweight champion of the world if we don’t have to actually compete.

#9. The number of logos allowed on a race kit are equal to that of NASCAR. In other words, go nuts. Only Wimbledon and the ITU restrict logos to the point of communism.

#10. Ironman tattoos are perfectly acceptable. You just finished one of the toughest days of your life. A bit of ink is just fine. Don’t let douche bags rain on your accomplishment.

#11. No buckets. It’s doesn’t matter how well thought out your transition is, don’t bring a bucket unless you plan to paint parking lines on the concrete or are going fishing after the race.

#12. Shave. You’re representing a group of people generally regarded as some of the fittest in the world. It’s a hot, sweaty, sometimes muddy sport, that keeps clothes to a minimum. Hanging out all day with gorilla legs and a hairy back does not make you a good steward of the sport. Clean it up.

#13. Learn who the pros are. In this sport everyone likes to think they’re the next big deal. Do yourself a favor and learn the names of those who actually make a living at being a badass.

#14. Support the sponsors. They pay money so you can have a great time. Don’t spend 45 minutes picking their brain and then head to the ‘net so you can save 3 bucks. That will get you flogged.

#15. Exaggeration of training is perfectly fine. Just keep in mind that Rule #39 is still in effect at all times.

#16. Drinking and triathlon are first cousins. Embrace your first cousin. There’s a reason beer is offered at 9 am at the race. Because we love it. Science has actually shown that a buzz and runner’s high is very similar, and endurance athletes drink more than your average bear.

#17. It’s a transition area, not your hotel room. Spreading out all your stuff for transition beyond 1 small towel is not acceptable. 1 bag limit.

#18. White race kits are only allowed if you know your body well. Really well. If you’ve ever worried about poo leg on a long run, then white is not for you. Ladies, if you are expecting a visit from your “Aunt Flow” then white is not for you. I don’t think I need to say anymore.

#19. Qualifying for Kona and your local “wellness” or “anti aging” clinic do not go together. If by some coincidence you decide your wanker doesn’t work right the exact same time you’re trying to get to Kona, stop everything and look for a new sport. Getting HGH, Testosterone and EPO shots in the name of ‘aging’ or wiener health won’t fly here. There are sports where cheating seem to be acceptable like here and here, so try those sports. This isn’t one of em.

#20. This sport has a history, learn some it. If you don’t know who the Big Four are, unfamiliar with the ’82 Moss Crawl, or think the Ironwar has something to do with the Industrial Age, then you got some reading to do.

#21. No “trunks” in the pool. Look, we get it that you’re a little self conscious wearing a skin tight swimsuit. Get over it. I promise you that you will get 10X more comments trying to swim laps in basketball shorts than you will a jammer.

#22. It’s OK to hate swimming, but you still have to do it. It’s not OK to use your wetsuit as a life preserver. Learn to swim. If you don’t there’s a sport called duathlon just waiting for you.

#23. Learn to circle swim. You really don’t need the whole lane to yourself. Stay to the right.

#24. Complaining about the water makes you look like a sissy. This is a tough sport. The distances are tough, the conditions are tough and the people are tough. Whining that the water isn’t as clear as your last trip to Grand Cayman isn’t winning you any cool points there Nancy.

#25. Learn Flipturns. You can pick the person out racing in high-tops right away. You get the idea.

#26. Obey the law – Nothing gives us a worse reputation than someone blowing through a red light like he’s above it all. The law applies to vehicles. You’re on a vehicle. Don’t be a douche. Obey the law.

#27. Don’t ride with headphones. Save the Rocky Soundtrack for your run. Your ears are needed to help keep you alive on the bike. Plus, depending on your state, it’s illegal. See Rule #26

#28. Support yourself. Others should not be obligated to babysit you on your ride. Flat tires should not take a village to fix.

#29. No aero helmets in training. While you might ride a whopping .2 mph faster, you will look like an absolute dork.

#30. Save the race wheels for the race. Yes, the bike does look cooler with $2,000 wheels, but your wallet will be thinner when a pot hole or rock crack that carbon. Leave some sizzle for the race.

#31. Learn to ride in a group. Wobbling down the road being afraid of anything around you is no way to go through life.

#32. Hold your line. Erratic movements in a group ride will take everyone out. Tighten it up.

#33. Don’t make accordions. Taking a turn up front is expected and appreciated, but not if you floor it the moment you take the reins, The guy 20 people back is going to get dropped by moves like that. Accelerate slowly so everyone can play.

#34. No shorts over your cycling shorts. Sister to Rule #21. Dress like you know what you’re doing.

#35. Learn to pee on yourself. You’ll spend $5,000 dollars to shave 55 seconds but won’t pee down your leg to save 3 minutes?

#36. The engine always trumps the rig. Always.

#37. Be on time, but don’t leave early. If the group ride or run is scheduled for 7 am, courtesy allows for 5 minutes. That means that sometime between 7 and 7:05 the wheels start rolling. If you roll up in your car at 7am and think everyone should wait for you to assemble your bike and pump up your tires, think again. Likewise, convincing the group to leave at 6:54 because you have a t-ball game is just bad form.

#38. No tan-lines allowed. This is not cycling. A farmer’s tan doesn’t make you look cool in anyway. The only exception is cycling short lines. Those are permitted, but need to be laser sharp.

#39. If you decide to talk the talk, be prepared to walk the walk. See also Rule #15. If you claim 3 hours at 300 watts, you’ll be expected to prove it.

#40. Crawling is an acceptable mode of transportation. It’s not pretty, but it gets the job done, and this sport is about getting the job done.

Huge Respect

 

Many people come to me or comment on my Facebook activities, saying that they are impressed with my sports activities, that I inspire them or motivate them to do some exercise. This is the single reason I keep posting so many of them, as I hope to keep contributing for other people to start/doing more exercise.

Sometimes is not easy to get out there to do a run, a bike ride or a swim, specially when it means waking up at 5am, before a full day of work. Sometimes is not easy to complete weekly training program that adds up to 10 or 12 hours of exercise (and all time on preparation, driving, stretching, etc.), but it surely pays off at the end, mentally and physically.

Last weekend I attended an Ironman 70.3 from the outside, and I have a lot of respect for everyone that participates and finishes one. I saw 1600 people, swimming 1.9, cycling 90and running 21.1 kilometres. While seeing it from the outside, and looking at some of the people that were doing it, there was one things that kept coming to my mind:

“Anyone can do an Ironman”

I saw a one armed man, paraplegics, men and women over 70 years old, overweight people, swimming 1.9, cycling 90 and running 21.1 kilometres, under 30ºC temperature and 80% humidity. I have a profound admiration and respect for all athletes, but in special for these people that don’t give up despite their physical challenges, age or level of fitness. And most of the times, you can see a smile on their faces.

For this I would say, Anyone can do an Ironman.

 

 

“Doing an Ironman isn’t hard, Life is”

Attending Ironman 70.3 from the other side

I’m in Singapore, but not to race this time. With the leg infection and small surgery, I’ve decided to leave the bike at home and not to race, despite the fact the doctor told me I should go for it.

A small pimple on Friday evening that evolved to a leg infection, got me into hospital on Saturday night shivering with fever, and into a small surgery on Tuesday afternoon. I have a hole in my leg where I can put my finger in. If you are a curious person and want to see the pics, you can see them here, but be aware that they are gross .

I think most of my friends, knowing me, wouldn’t be surprised if I was doing the IM anyway, but they still would call me crazy, stupid, stubborn, all things that don’t have any foundation . And to be honest, I decided to leave the bike at home 30 minutes before leaving to the airport.

Interestingly, I was only asking the doctor if I could fly to Singapore, because I wanted to come with my cousin, has he came just to race with me, and he was counting on me to travel with me, as this is his first trip on his own. On the other side, I had non-refundable and non-changeable flights and hotel reservations. When I was telling the doctor that I had a Ironman in Singapore in 5 days, and before I could finish my question he told me “Go for it”. What ?! Was he telling me that I could race? Yes. But what about the swim, the water into the wound? Waterproof dressing should take care of everything, and as it is an open wound, there will not be any more infection, as long as I stay on antibiotics for the 7 days.

So why did I leave the bike at home? Well … I really wanted to do the Ironman, I’ve registered back in May, 10 months in advance. I’ve been practicing since August, participated in many races, paid a coach, booked flights, hotel room, everything. But I’ve set myself some goals that I use for every race: 1) Staying Healthy 2) Have Fun 3) Learn. On the day of the flight (1 day after the surgery) I went to the hospital to change the dressing, and I’ve rechecked the doctors affirmations from the day before, which he confirmed. He just told me “Listen to your body and you’ll know if you can do it”. Around 9pm when I was finalizing my bag, my leg was swollen around the ankle, but not only. I got preoccupied, and went to a ambulatory centre, to reconfirm if I could fly under this conditions. Again I got green light to fly, no risk whatsoever. But this worrying, the pain was not being fun, and worrying during the race about my health wouldn't be either.

Doing a Ironman 70.3 is a challenge, and for my first one, I want to be as healthy and fit as possible, not having to worry about additional stress factors. So I decided to leave all the equipment at home, and just bring my camera and be here to support, cheer and be the un-official photographer for my cousin Nuno and the other gang from Dubai.

So here I am, sitting in my hotel room, with a great view and with my leg raised, looking at pictures that I took this morning during the swimming practice and athlete registration. I feel jealous, and this morning I wished I was out there with them swimming, but it is great to be here to support people and take pictures, which I also love.

I’m sure I’ll have fun, and hopefully I’ll stay healthy and get better.

The pre-race injury and illness Saga

I seem to be running out of luck … or maybe I’ve pushed my luck too much. My body seems to be failing in the last two weeks. Nevertheless, I’m taking this as extra challenges, or learning opportunities. Once again I don’t know if I will be able to finish the race (or even start it), but it is ok. I’ve come a long way, and I don’t think I’ll stop here. But let describe what has been going on.

The Calf/Achilles

First I got a cut on my heel that left me limping for 3-4 days, and caused me problems on my right calf/Achilles tendon. This one got me thinking that I wouldn’t be able to do Abu Dhabi race. At the end, with some treatment and massages, I ended up finishing the race, which felt amazing.

The Headache

After the Saturday race on, on Sunday I’ve started with a mild headache, but I decided to go swimming at the end of day. After the swim, the headache was a bit worst, but I thought it was nothing serious. Monday I decided to skip the bike ride early morning, as the headache was worst. It seemed like the pain was coming from the back of the neck, just below the skull. Nevertheless, after doing a self massage and taking a Panadol, I felt a bit better, so I swam in the evening, and I went cycling on Tuesday morning (40km). After lunch time, I was toasted. I had to leave the office and rush home while I could still drive.

Wednesday morning I booked an appointment with my usual chiropractic, which normally does wonders for me. I was seen at lunch time, my back cracked a few times, my neck too, a short physio massage, and I felt much more lose and relieved. I still felt my head weird, and that my back would benefit from a relaxation massage, specially around the upper back and neck, so I did it.

Thursday I was still feeling pretty bad. Looking at a laptop screen or a book would made tears come out of my eyes. A friend suggested me a Osteopath, a specialty which I had excellent results during the summer with problems with my upper back. I’ve managed to get an appointment for the same day, and I didn’t regret.

His explanation was that due to the bike position for 3 hours during the race (just look at a triathlete bike picture and see how is head is raised), adding the intensity and amount of effort that I’ve put into during the race (for an inexperienced and old bloke and like me), it caused a high compression on the neck and all the nerves. And the truth is that I was feeling high pressure in my sinus, even though I normally don’t have this type of problems, and also on my jaw, my eyes …

I felt a lot better after the session, and I got permission to keep training, but to take it easy (like I can take it easy ).

That evening I went swimming, and I pushed a little bit, but I still felt ok, though some dizziness was still there, and Friday I did a 80km bike ride and 7km run. I felt quite ok, though not fully recovered, so I decided to schedule a follow-up appointment for Sunday. Some reminiscence of the headache is still there, but I guess is just because I have not been giving the proper (or full) rest to my body.

 

The Cellulitis

Friday evening I noticed a very painful pimple on my lower leg next to the shin, that had that usual white tip. Of course, I’ve squeezed it and cleaned it. Not a big deal, happens all the time. Saturday morning … it was swollen, and quite painful. Let’s give it another squeeze to make sure all pus comes out. Interesting … nothing comes out. Lunch time I’ve asked my cousin Nuno to squeeze it again, as it was very painful and I don’t think I could inflict that amount of pain to myself. Again, nothing comes out and the pain and the swollen area is even worst. Nevertheless, I went for a BBQ at a friends house, and by 4pm I almost couldn’t walk or even stand up. By 8pm I was shivering with fever in bed, and I decided to go to the hospital. I found out that I had cellulitis (never heard of this infection before and always thought I was related for something that women hate).

Outcome: Tetanus injection, antibiotics for 7 days, anti-inflammatory, getting around in the hospital in a wheelchair, and I have to stay 2 days in bed with a raised leg. Nice.

Bottom line

It can be all coincidence, or maybe not, but I feel like my body needs some rest. I really want to make the race next Sunday in Singapore, and I want to finish it, but not sure if I will be able to make it. I don’t think doing an Ironman is hard, neither its preparation. Life is Hard, and trying to prepare for one while trying to juggle other parts of your life that are a mess makes it difficult. Something’s got to give, and I guess I have been having some sleep depravation, which makes me more tired and less resistant to stuff. In the past 4 or 5 days I have slept more than probably in the last 2 to 3 weeks before. In average I think I’ve been sleeping something around 5:30 per night, which is too short.

I strongly believe that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and hopefully smarter. I have been learning a lot in the journey, and hopefully I’ll keep learning and using what I’ve learned. I’ve been getting a lot of fun and sense of achievement on this journey since September, on my first Sprint Triathlon, till Abu Dhabi one week ago, and I hope I can still do Singapore. But if I’m not, there will be other opportunities.

Doing an Ironman (70.3) isn’t difficult, Life is.

Abu Dhabi Race Report

Now that the euphoria is gone, it is time to look back.

It was an amazing day for me. I set myself the targets I’ve been setting for my “big” events: 1) Stay Healthy 2) Have Fun 3) Learn Something 4) Reach to the End 5) If possible in less than x time.

In this case, I wasn’t sure if I was going to reach to the end. A deep cut on my right heel on the race the weekend before, had made me limp when walking (I could cycle and run without any problem, but not walk). This changed my biomechanics and caused enough stress in the calf and Achilles to provoke an acute pain after 1-2kms in 2 training run sessions a few days after.

After visiting the physio on Thursday, on top of having a very painful and needed massage, I’ve found out that there wasn’t a major injury in the Achilles, was just that both the Achilles and calf were very tight, and there were some lumps. I’ve decided that I was going to do the race anyway, but not take any risks: if I would feel any pain during the run I would stop, as an injury in the Achilles would mean somewhere between 2 to 6 months of recovery. And 2 weeks after Abu Dhabi, there’s the half-ironman in Singapore, which is my current main goal.

So the day before the race, I went to Abu Dhabi early morning with the goal of doing the swimming practice between 7 and 9am. Soon I realized that my plan of driving there on the race day was a bad idea. We didn’t reach on time for the swimming practice, even though we left around 6:30am. We went to the hotel where the registration was taking place, and we had breakfast there. It was great to see some of the stars, their bikes, and all the atmosphere of an event like this. My cousin Nuno even took a picture with Faris Al Sultan . We bumped into Andy Veall, a fellow beginner triathlete that I’ve met at Dubai Masters, and the weekend before we chatted in Ghantoot triathlon. We ended up hanging out with him the rest of the weekend, which was great. And of course, there were so many familiar faces from other triathlons in Dubai, or Dubai Masters. I ended up getting to know a few more people, which is something I love about sports events: the social environment.

Change of plans: finding a room in Abu Dhabi, driving back to Dubai to get our stuff and drive back to attend the race briefing, that in the meantime had been changed from 1pm to 6:30pm. We did the bike check-in, and than we started the driving saga. I think I’ve drove about 6-7 hours just on Friday, including the driving around in Abu Dhabi. Nevertheless, it was a wise choice to stay there the night before.

Race day, all set, everything prepared the night before, and here we go. It seemed like everything was perfect. I didn’t forget anything (so I thought), we could see the stars taking off, and it was a nice day, without wind, unlike the night before. When the race started, it felt good. There was still some “traffic” on the swim, but it was enjoyable. I had fun swimming, and I could feel myself gliding and being faster. When I got off the water, I was tired and it seemed that the wetsuit was too tight, but I wasn’t really worried. I was convinced that I was not going to be able to reach to the end (at least running), so no need to rush. I ended up taking almost 7 minutes on T1, which is a lot. Most of the people took between 3:30 to 5 minutes.

A few things that I could have done better: 1) use the compression sleeves and socks under the wetsuit 2) leave the helmet and sunglasses in the transition area 3) put the bike shoes on transition area (I don’t have tri shoes and I haven’t practiced putting them on while on the bike).

Throughout the bike ride (3 hours), I had lots of food , chatted with a lot of people, and had a lot of time to think. One of the things I was thinking was on the money I’ve spent buying bike gadgets, bottle holders behind the seat so that it reduces attrition, smaller toolset and bag so that it reduces the weight, etc., etc. The night before Andy said that he was thinking of not spending any money till he would lose 5kgs. How much impact would that have on his performance? What about on mine, if I would get below 80kgs (lose 3 kilos)? Probably a lot more than buying a new expensive set of wheels or a bike computer. Ok, so here we go, I’m not going to spend money on improving the bike until I’ve done 80 or 90% of what I can do on the rider. It will be cheaper and healthier for sure .

So, after the 4 GU gels, 2 energy bars, 2 half bananas, 2 energy drinks and about 2-3 litters of water, I’ve reached to the bike end after 3:04 and an average of 31.5km/h. Not bad, and I was feeling good, and having fun.

Transition 2 was fast enough, I just took the shoes and the helmet off, put on the running shoes and off I went. Started too fast (when you get off the bike it seems you’re not going that fast), so after the 1st kilometre I started slowing down. At that point in time, I decided that I was going to complete the triathlon, even if I had to walk. I didn’t want to hurt myself, but I wanted to reach to the end of the race. So I slowed down, and kept running. Along the way I’ve met Bronwen, who’s also doing Singapore 70.3, so we chatted a little bit, and when I noticed I had done 4 kilometres and no pain.

I kept chatting with other athletes, from Russia, from Argentina, from everywhere, and thanking the people that were cheering along the way. It feels great to have people cheering, and I like to thank them.

When I noticed, there was 2kms to go, I was almost there, though feeling a bit tired. But it was almost done. I remember that when I was reaching the finish line there was classical music playing, and I was striding to the sound of the music and waving my arms.

I’ve reached to the end and I felt euphoric. Not because I didn’t think I could do the distance, but because of the calf/Achilles condition. At the end, I’ve achieved all my goals, even more I’ve done 4:33, while I thought I could do around 5 hours. I couldn’t believe it.

I’ve celebrated. Not by going out, because training isn’t over, body was tired, and used to go to bed at 10pm and wake up at 5am, but by watching over and over the pictures, and publishing every new one on Facebook. Looking back, I think I’ve over done it . But who cares, I was/am happy, and I wanted to share with the world.

Post Race Analysis

Now that the race is over, some things to think of. First, don’t forget to put sun cream !!!!! That was the only thing that didn’t went so well during the race, though I only really felt it when I got home.

The second thing is that I don’t need to share that much pictures. Think it is good to share with friends and celebrate, but not that much.

The third thing is that stretching – before and specially after - is extremely important. The calf/Achilles could have had less impact if I would be more disciplined on the stretching. For the past 2 days I have been having a very strong headache and dizziness that, possibly comes from the “closed” position that I’ve spent on the bike on the last few weeks, with multiple rides of 3-4 fours. Not stretching properly, not opening the body (even when swimming you only open your body when doing backstroke) might cause locking and nerve compression. Learned this the hard way, and hopefully I’ll be recovered soon and back on track to Singapore.

At the end of the day, I’ve stayed healthy during the race, I had huge amounts of fun, I learned several things, and I’ve reached to the end in 4 hours and 33 minutes. What an amazing day.

AeroFit Triathlon – Race 5

This was my third AeroFit triathlon, a sprint distance (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run) that takes place at Golden Tulip Al Jazira Hotel and Resort in Ghantoot, a 30 minutes drive from Dubai Marina.

This time I had a special guest with me, my cousin Nuno who came from Portugal to race with me in Abu Dhabi and Singapore. This was his first triathlon, so it was an excitement for both of us.

At the end, the feeling of satisfaction was amazing, but throughout the race many thoughts came to my mind.

The swim was awful because I’ve not paced myself (was going too fast for my fitness level), I had my new wetsuit which I haven’t tried before, and there was people all over the place.

At half way in the first lap, I thought I was going to quit. I was feeling exhausted, no strength, everybody was coming over me, and it was not going well at all. When I got out of the water to go for the second loop, I walked to recover my breath. Second loop was a little bit better. I paced myself, tried to relax and do an easy swim. At the end, the goal is to enjoy it and have fun. Of course that we always want to improve our time and get a personal best, but if you don’t enjoy it, what’s the point?

Then there was the transition, where I was aspiring to save a couple of minutes. I’ve mentally rehearsed this in my mind several times, and even did a couple of times the night before. Basically, no socks, gloves, anything. Just me, the bike, helmet, shoes and race bib. I even tried to close the shoes strap in the bike, which ended up being a mistake. Soon I’ll get my triathlon bike shoes, and that should improve a lot. Nevertheless, I managed to reduce around 3 minutes in the 2 transitions.

Next came the bike, and the run, and in both I’ve managed to reduce significant time compared to the first and second race. Here’s my progress since first race:

1. Sep 30 – Race 1: 1:21:35
2. Nov 18 – Race 3: 1:22:38 (improved times, but changes in swim course make it longer)
3. Feb 24 – Race 5: 1:15:43

At the end, I’ve done a great progress and I feel very happy with my new PB, due to a great improvement on fitness level, and also on the transition times. I do feel that I need/can/should improve a lot on my swimming performance. Need to find a swimming coach that can take me to the next level (from basic to basic+ ) so that I can get out of the water much ahead than I’m currently getting.

My cousin … he was flying (though he need to improve on the swim like me, and he finished so ahead of me that he had time to take breakfast, pick the camera from the transition area and take a picture of me crossing the finish line .

At the end of the day, I’m not expecting to get any podiums, and I just want to have fun and exceed myself, and I’m doing that. Next stop is Abu Dhabi International Triathlon with the “short” distance race (1.5k, 100km, 10km) and then Aviva Ironman 70.3 in Singapore (1.9k swim, 90km bike, 21km run). Goals for the next two races? Have fun, learn, and get to the finish line.

3rd Anniversary

Tomorrow is the 3rd anniversary of my first half-marathon. Believe it or not, it is a very memorable date for me, so I’m very happy to go back to Ras Al Khaimah and run again the RAK Half Marathon.

I still remember how I felt exhausted but with an extreme sense of achievement after completing it in 2h19m, despite the fact that there were men and women with 50 and 60+ years old, people in funny and heavy customs running much faster than me.

I’ve “run” a long journey till this day, and I couldn’t have done it with a lot of people that helped me. Vas Modinos was my buddy during this first half marathon. He could have run it faster, but he decided to stay with me all the way to make sure I would reach to the end.

But all started with Mr. Rainer Strassner  and Véronique, both colleagues at Microsoft, who took me for a run in Prague and I almost crawled back to the hotel. I felt challenged, and after buying a GPS enabled watch (thanks again to Mr. Strassner), I started taking running more seriously.

Then I started using Dailymile, a wonderful social website for athletes, thanks to a tip from Dan Grady,  and friends like Tatyana, Miruna came along. Ben Walton was another one, that on top of being a fantastic athlete and a great inspiration, gave me amazing tips when I got injured, and this was an amazing benefit and retribution of using Dailymile.

Of course I can’t forget Roland, who back in April 2010 used to smoke 1 pack of cigarettes a day and struggled to run 5km with the MS gang that would run early morning before the meetings, and 6 months later was running the Dublin marathon and challenging me on the total kms run in the year.

After running Dubai marathon the injuries came, and most of the people above helped me by motivating me or giving me tips and advice. Thanks to Tatyana, Relu and Miruna, I’ve started swimming and cycling, and now I’m doing triathlons. Then I’ve started meeting other like minded people, who also started doing triathlons, like Alistair, or even a little bit more hardcore people like Matt Warnock, who did this year his first Ironman in Wales, and also inspired me today with his blog.

I can’t finish these thoughts without referring my cousin Nuno who apart from being a young athlete with a huge potential, has been a great source of inspiration and a great motivator.

The most amazing thing for me in this journey is to see how influence from other people is so important, either for good things or/and bad things. I can feel how I get so motivated and inspired when surrounded by these people, in the same way that I felt in high school when I started smoking because my friends were also smoking. This is one of the reason that I try to take my kids as much as possible to these type events, so that they also feel inspired and motivated to do sports, and hopefully get addicted for the rest of their life to these healthy habits.

I’m definitely addicted to sports now, specially running which I consider like my “meditation”, and take a piece of advice and stay way from me when I’m more than a week without exercising, because I become grumpy.

Amazing journey that I’ve done in these last 3 years in many facets of my life. Back in 2009 in RAK I’ve done 2h19m, 2 years later in the Creek Striders Half Marathon I’ve done 1h58m, and this year 1:46m. Whatever is the result tomorrow, or even if I don’t reach the finish line, I’ve already won. I’ll do my best, even if it is a training race but doesn’t stop being a very special one, but I’ve been missing trainings, getting lots of cramps, and not too much sleep. Nevertheless, I know I’ve already won.

Looking back, I could say that the guy in the picture above is “somebody that I use to know”, the title of the song I’ve heard more than 20 times only this week.

 

Happy Anniversary, and I wish for all my friends running tomorrow that they have a great race, and most important, have fun!