it is done

3 IM in 4 weeks. ive done some silly stuff, this places very close of the top if not up there.

Ironman Frankfurt is of course one of the biggest races in the world and for some the last chance to get in the cut off for hawaii for so many people. Despite having held of in Zurich to help recovery, it didn't happend that way. First week after Zurich i felt good especially at the end of the week but in the week leading to Frankfurt i really didn't feel that good, needless to say i have an excuse for that ;)

Weather wasn't fantastic during the days i was here looked more like a winter day in Portugal but according to some forecasts it should hold on to dry conditions on race day witch clearly didn't happend.

The day started with clear skies indeed when everyone was preparing the T1. i got there a bit late so i really didn't have much time other getting the things done  and get into the water, no time to freak out... The swim course was quite nice, well marked and not boring. i didn't felt good and powerful in the water, a consequence of how my swim form is going downhill since IM france 1 month ago. from a great swim in Nice loosing a couple minutes to the lead i got a decent but not awesome swim in Zurich and now i got a slower swim, not terrible but you get my point. basically and since i didn't felt any good i got into a group and let thing flow. but i was surprised to know that Riesen that had the bike right at my side in T1 was 1 minute ahead when 2 weeks earlier in zurich he was 2 minutes behind (he eventually DNF in both races) anyway i swimming is the part where i most felt the fatigue of the last month... i thought.

Time to ride. I remember being at the water and while breading and spotting a BIG cloud was closing by and in one of those occasions where you just think in something else other than rotation your arms i thought that those clouds didnt look any good. It took about 10 minutes of riding to get all (or stay) wet. I hate this was my thought. I rode steadily but wanted to catch guys in front of me instead of being caught. Everything seemed to be OK, i was feeling OK eating well but the temperature dropped a lot with the rain and i was suffering with that a lot and loosing my concentration in just pedaling. at around 40km i spotted a big group in one of the twists and turns. Dealsaut was there (his bike is quite flashy) and i spent around 60 km about 20 30 seconds from them, i was getting really annoyed for not getting there, closer some times but them their pace picked up and i really didn't want to get into those games. at the end of the first lap, around 105km, i was shivering hard and saw my life going backwards at that time. i was 1 min behind that group and had the chance to warmup a bit with a few minutes of time out from the rain and some tailwind. i was so relieved to start feeling my body again!!! even so i went through 110km with something close to a 4:40 bike split pace witch sounded great.
Soon enough i passed delsaut, that group riding in front of me seemed to have exploded and not so far ahead I exploded! WOW i really blew up really hard like i never did in an Ironman Ride ;) i was "caput" and all happened in a very short period of time. the last 40 50 km took forever to go by especially as i had the company of rain and cold again, i couldn't even get my powermeter above 200w more close to 170 or so. Nice

I came out of the bike in such a bad shape that i almost couldn't run...really. But i really wanted to get through it and finish my own craziness of 3 IM in one month but i was really struggling this day. i started running so slow and it was hurting so much that i was thinking that this would be the day i would walk in a marathon. I stopped in the toilet to loose some weight (didnt really needed to) but mostly to get my body together. after that it was all about doing my best to stay in one piece through the run. Not sure but i believe that the first lap was by far the slowest of the 4. that because i got into some decent rithm after the first lap, decent considering how blown and melted i was, to say the truth i would never imagine running as "fast" after T2. I really didn't care much about the position i was, i only knew about it at the end of the race. it was all about letting the kms pass. witch eventually happened ;)
finished 16th but for me that not really important. i can now brag of doing 3 IM in 4 weeks. stupidity i know but arent we all? and the first 2 where really solid performances i only regret of helding back in Zurich for some damage control that really didnt help in Frankfurt. Im definetely an ironman But im not made of iron...

It was too bad that the weather sucked in frankfurt its a great venue (yeah another one) but the rain really took people out of the streets, even so there was tons. And of course its so hard for me to race in the cold and rain, i just hate it.

so now its time to rest a bit. i really miss those blocks of training where you just...uuuh, train for something up ahead.