Guadalajara.

That was not my plan of course, i was counting on being sored from an great racing day in vichy but as i wrote it did not happen. I was totally free of physical stress from finishing the race but during the last days i lost quite a bit of weight despite forcing food down the throat i still have some leftovers from my episode.

Anyway after vichy i decided to race and Guadalajara was just there for me, i registered. I travelled really late on friday, got there (700km) at 3 am slept 5h and ready i was.

Guadalajara, the oldest triathlon in Spain and for that reason a classic race that is one of my most visited events apart the ironman hawaii.

The race started as 1:30pm with a one lap swim, i had a great swim, after 400m i was out alone with 2 guys ahead, Castro and Custodio, knowing those guys well and their swimming capabilities i was happy to be closer than usual to the lead. behind me when i looked back there was one big pack of swimmers.

The bike remains a brutal course this year with quite windy conditions, i felt sluggish at first but soon felt the legs, in that process Gustavo iglesias, a former pro cyclist that became triathlete passed me with such a speed that i didn't even see him disappear in the horizon ;). at 30km i caught David castro and remained 100m back for a while until another climb to pass, that was a good reference for me. the rest was all about going through the rest of hill and wind and see what was the status at t2 where i came 2nd.

10 min was the gap to Gustavo, WOW. i had my powermeter installed for the first time in more than a year and i knew that i didn't had a bad ride but that was a big gap.

Knowing that and since it would take something out of the normal to cut back 10min on an half ironman my first concern was knowing where the competition was, an easy task on the run course since its mainly 3 out and back sections. Almagro was roughly 2 min behind, a comfortable lead that i needed to make sure its kept that way. so first lap i ran comfortably hard, like any half ironman pace and see what happens. i stretched the lead so i assumed that i was safe and started running at a easier pace, i wasn't getting nowhere if i went hard to the finishing other than sored legs. I did 2 laps with a similar pace to a full ironman and actually felt amazingly easy.

2nd place in no more no less the 3rd straight year with the same result. i would be happier with a win but 2nd cant hurt either ;)

Now its all about getting ready for challenge barcelona witch as i see it will be a cracker with a amazing field.

Just after the race it was time for another 700km back home so the 30h math was essencially 14h driving 5h sleeping 3h going through racing procedures, 4h racing 1h eating and 3h of random post race stuff (including shower ;)

needless to say that today, after a 3:30 ride i spent the whole afternoon getting sleep in!!

stay strong

Vini Vidi not vichy

Just a quick updated about my race in vichy.

Its a bitter sweet taste that i have.

Everything, i mean everything went perfectly before the race and i felt great up until the very last meal the day before the race. At 9pm the sad show of vomiting all over the place and again at 1 am leaving me in a destroyed state. Unfortunately Vanessa witnessed this all all night long.

The morning of the race i tryed to put in some calories, went for the swim, swam the best i could with the conditions i had, hoped on the bike and at 30 min roughly breakfast along the first gels (i assume) came out also at the side of the road, expected. frome then on it was all about respecting the "race" and in the process hlep Vanessa establish a new PB and getting 5th overall. I beat my PB as well as the full distance ironman without calories, not even coke lasted long in my stomach.

Anyway, i know i was fitter than in Roth, but couldnt deliver. tough luck, life goes on, i love this and look forward to the next one ;)  This makes the digestion of this race a lot easier, ha literally... digestion !!!

Challenge Roth

Lots of time with no news...well i got a good excuse, I've been more busy than i ever wanted to be...

To sum this a bit Besides working i have been doing some post grad studies. So to 8+4 gives 12 hours, half a day i don't have lately, im glad that the PG in getting done (at least the part where i need to be 4 h at school at night) until the end of this month.YEAAAH. But of course its been non stop weekdays from 5:30 to 23:30 and weekend to try catch up with the lack of good sleep. Ive been doing my best to train as well as i can!! What is your excuse to not do an ironman again??? ;)

I did try to race Nice a few Weeks ago but the race was somewhat destroyed by lack of rest and a presentation i needed to do on Friday before the race. i didn't feel like i was getting anything of the race and with Roth close i decided to pull out with no regrets.

As for Roth, I've been saying through the years that this one is one of the races i most wanted to do. Of course my addiction to Hawaii has been bigger but not this year. I decided i would race this one very early despite knowing that i would have some tough months ahead like i said before.

I got a very nice homestay with Kurt Graf and travelled with my GF that was also doing the race (she was 13th with 10:03) and i travelled early (Wednesday) to have some days of school/work and get some most deserved sleep the days before, it was very easy to close my eyes.

As for the race its impressive the quality of this one, the organization is second to none, unbelievable!! Straight to the start (im glad that nothing wrong happened before the race) the canal swim was amazing, the Pros+ the fastest guys all started at the same time, the routine is essentially the same go hard, try to hang to some feet, deal with the water for the rest of the time. I got into a group where i swam comfortably, i got quite a few kicks and punch through the swim, but i was out with nothing to report and my watch still had the 52min going on as soon as stand up, Nice!! it was good, of course time says nothing, i like to compare my time to the other athletes especially the contenders so at the end i definitely had a good swim with regular times at the lead swimmers.

Nothing to say of T1 other than i was out of there with no problems and still with lots of bikes at the racks, i obviously knew that most of my "swim buddies" where left in the water for a couple minutes. Fast Fast Fast was the first few kms before hitting the first short climbs. At around 20 km i passed Caroline, the women's leader that actually swam just a few seconds faster so she must have smoked those first kms. Massimo Cigana passed me with something like 40km and the big group that included Vabro, Zack, Bernd among others caught me. The next few kms where all about hanging with them the most i could, the pace was not constant at all witch i really wasn't enjoying, Then Came solar Berg, you have to do that one time, that's the only comment i have right now, impressive.
Half way and the group was smaller and the "caos" with lapped athletes and relays was big, we had 2 official tracking us down and ensuring that everyone was at legal distance. the pace was still not to my liking and when we hit the biggest climb, greeding, a couple guys got away at the base of the climb and i didn't notice, at the end of the climb i took of too and was joined by 2 other. till the rest of the ride everything remained the same, i have to say that when i passed the second time by Solar berg i was tired and ready to get out of the bike (still had like 20km to go).

I was really glad that i was out on my feet after 4:38 bike ride. The course indeed isn't slow but it also benefits powerfull riders. The nutrition was good and i had everything under control i tough I(of course)

Into the run, i passed too much time in T2 battling with a sock (how weird is that) so when i started running i already had 2 guys ahead of me a few seconds. I wasn't rushing things, got to a rub 4min/km pace and kept it for 4-5km, with a small downhill at the beginning was somewhere in the 3:50 pace, then came some unexpected problems, diarrhea, i apologize but i really had to stop for like 15times to let something go, i was definitely not feeling bad, when i was running i was running fast and was positive to deal with the Shi$# situation. I was actually more annoyed to be playing yoyo with the guy ahead of me, when i closed him down it was time to stop again ;). Fortunately somewhere in the 20 21km mark it stopped and immediately i started building some momentum and started running at 3:45 3:50 pace, sweet. I wasn't aware of my position as i cant really understand German and it wasn't easy to keep track of everyone, i do know that from km 28 to km 30  i passed 7-8 guys, this never happened to me, what a carnage!! i kept running and hoping for some more casualties, at km 37 i started fading a bit and with the last glimpse of Konstantin Bachor 3-4 min ahead with 2-3 km to go i knew it would be almost impossible to go up in the board one more spot, the day is done... Lets get to the stadium and enjoy the finish line....

I finished 7th and heck I'm happy with this, despite the problems with the first part of the run I'm pretty sure 2-3 min that i lost there wouldn't change my final classification other than a 2:45's run and a slightly faster final time. What matters is that i worked my way around difficulties to be race ready and enjoy another tough day ;)

More sooner that this one 

#3 and me

Well its done, the race that is.

Very far from every expectation i had and that might be entirely my fault.

The prep was absolutely great and race week rolled smothly without any stress or surprise, i was feeling ready and in good shape for my 6th Ironman World Championship in the pro Ranks, something that in the current days is hard as the weather in hawaii. I defenetely wanted to top my great season with a great race in hawaii. It didnt happen.

The swim started at 6:30, men only with women pros 5 min back. i got into the 4th spot of a chasing pack early on, i would assume that around 500m the 3rd in line pulled out of the pace line and then died leaving me suprised and altough i tried to catch up it didnt happen, 3000 meters of front pack swimming as i felt a hand toutching my feet here and there. i was a bit anoyed of missing a group again, it really isnt my cup of tea. i have been swimming without those feet that do so much wonters in open water. Anyway i got out with 1:01, the ladies came out at the same time as me, i felt it was a good thing but would soon be my doom.

T1 flew by quickly, i was out in the bike with the first pack of women and like i said i felt it would be usefull to get advantage of the nervous ladies to stay cool and get into my rithm before the real race starts, the out and back in kuakini was all about that, getting the blood into my legs in that time more ladies got to the group i was leading with Santamaria. Palani hill and away we go, not quite, as soon as the group established into a pace line led by santamaria the nervousness of 7-8 ladies got them into the front, it was quite messy back there. One of them slotted right in front o me while i was in the legal distance of santamaria, and its very easy to control that using the cateyes as instructed in the pro meeting. now if you making a pass in a legal pace line you got to pass all the pace line, is that simple and it is cristal clear at the meeting. not for this fellow girl. she slotted right in front of me and nubmer 3 marshall that i suppose was coming from behind awarded me a red card. this was just too soon. What a disapointment, at first i kept on going without thinking much about this, the penaly tent was a few kms later. in the process i tried to save some energy again in a pace line again Caroline did the same as the other girl and she got a penalty right in front of me, same marshall!!!!! strange.

got to the tent with steffen and after the 4 min chat it really got me, i was out of the race in my head. I was defenetely prepared for everything else but having to serve my first ever penaly in such importat race in a such important part of the race was a bit too much for me and im the first to say that i was weak.

There is nothing more to say about this i went straight to just finish mode until T2 and for the marathon i found a good objective to roll the 42.2km, help my friend and contryman Marcio neves get the better of his race and paced the whole marathon for him and even did some catering for him too ;), i was really happy to do so and even more to see him get the AG 1st place, congrats to him!!!
Vanessa also had a good day shaving her PB and placing 4th in the age group a good day !!

So, after this i would say i am disapointed with my attitude and race BUT and its a big BUT it doesnt change a bit of what i feel about my season, 3 Top 5 finishes, one podium is right there on top in my best seaon board.

Rest time

The classic Guadalajara Triathlon

Classic, for me and for the triathlon scene in this side of europe. One of the oldest races around...

2 weeks after Kalmar and well under my build up for hawaii i couldn't miss this opportunity to race again in my most visited triathlon venue, only hawaii has the same amount of races.

Anyway straight to the race, the goal was to have a solid day and for sure try to be the most competitive as i could. The swim started at 2pm (yes afternoon) and i started on the right side when all the good swimmers where in the middle.


My plan was to have some clear water, avoiding the so famous Spanish ankle grabing, before settling into a rithm and hopefully be in the 2nd group out of the water. I did have clear water but when i tried to get into the middle where the fast guys where i had 2-3 swimmers that really didn't want me to get there so i lost those feet. with 400m i left the group that i was leading but couldn't get closer to the group ahead, so i left the 1900m absolutely alone, looking at the classifications i saw that i was the only one in the 26min mark.

CorriendoVoy.com | Videos de Triatlón de Guadalajara [Guadalajara]

T1 and of to a very challenging course, more climbs that i can now count. I was clear of the 3rd pack of swimmers and never really got to me witch was a good sign. by 15km i got to a pair of cyclists, one spagnot and one Portuguese. I rushed to keep going at my own pace in the flats, wind (very windy), climbs and downhills. In the process i caught everyone except the leader Ivan Tejero. It was a 100% at the front of a pack that got bigger and bigger through the way. i challenge anyone to say otherwise... I got to T2 in second with 3, David castro, Daniel Mujica and Gomez.

CorriendoVoy.com | Videos de Triatlón de Guadalajara [Guadalajara]

The run was eventful in the first kms. I got out first followed by Castro. He immediately got to my heels and tried to go away, i had my usual patience in the first kms. Gomez got to us with around 3 kms and he passed in a truly suicide pace taking Castro with him. Patience normally is a good virtue and after castro blew up i got back to 2nd in the second lap and in the process i shaved roughly a minute from Ivan Tejero but still had 2 to go and Ivan really looked composed. I still went for it during the 3rd lap but it was impossible to get into striking distance so it was time to call it a day and cruise to the finish in second place.

CorriendoVoy.com | Videos de Triatlón de Guadalajara [Guadalajara]

results can be found here

http://www.forevent.es/resultados/triguadalajara12/triguadalajara.html

A good test, i tried to get the best bike split without loosing the run despite having a few guys sitting behind me, i really wasnt paying attention to who was behind. Ivan did in fact a great race to get to another title, i was second to the same guy in consecutive years ;) ill be glad to go back next year!
Sunday was time for a longish bike ride witch isnt a good recovery workout so to speak!

Im now done with races till hawaii

Kalmar

Another new venue for the already huge amount of venues in the world for the WTC Ironman triathlon.

I had no pressure for this race neither i needed points for the ranking as i already qualified for Hawaii but i wanted to do this one, i race a couple times in sweden and i liked it a lot so this was definitely a good one for me.

I arrived very late witch left no time to actually worry too much about the race, it was all about getting it done the best way possible and with just a few days of rest. Being 50 m to the race finish and 100 to the transition area is what it is... amazing.

So race time came very quickly, it was a mass start with the pro category on a better spot. I started well enough for my sprinting abilities and until the 1st buoy i caught a group ahead. sighting was very good and you could really see where you where and i was definitely in the back of the second pack. i slowly moved to the middle/front of it until the 1st lap (rougly 1500 meters) i was feeling fine and strong, at the begining if the second lap the group got smaller and smaller but i was still there. the only thing i regret was to not being abble to navigate through the big AG peloton that i had to pass at the end of the 2nd lap where we started a conection to the transition area. i definitely went through the farther trajectory but it was really really crowded. lost a few seconds but left just behind Bastie witch was very good.
T1 went smoothly and i started with bastie and kept with him for a full hour. I didnt feel like a million dollars (or euro because they worth more) and at the end of the first hour bastie put another gear that i didnt have at that moment so i was left alone for another hour until i cought a group of 3 that included dragsta. After having my time to regain composure and eat well i led the way till the end of the first lap of 105km at that time i was feeling fine, somewhere at km10 of the second part of the course (75km) i was caught by some guys that swam slower and while the group was getting smaller and smaller it basically got to T2 spread out for just a few seconds. i only got one chance to look at the lead pack and that was only with 40 kms to go, somewhere in the 10 min gap witch wasn't bad, the advantage was stable until the end of the bike. The course was actually fun, it could be a lot faster if it had some better asphalt in some parts and if it wasnt the compromise of having a course totally closed to traffic, meaning we had our share of bike paths and narrow roads through the countryside of kalmar that cut momentum for sure but this made the course less boring, i actually liked it.

Run time, I had some physiological problems in the bik as i couldn't get loose enough to loose some weight so i came out ot T2 with too much liquids in me ;) as usual everyone leaves T2 like it was a olimpic distance race, i started slowly to try to finally get loose and get rid of the extra weight. it took a bit (3-4 km) but i made it, at least part of it to i picked up the tempo and ran my way to the guys in front, Teemu was the only one hanging with me for the first lap then i needed to get rid of more weight, same process, slow down a bit, enough for teemu to go his way, led the weight flow and pick up the tempo again, in the process try to eat more. as i got back to teemu i pushed my pace a lot so that he wouldn't come witch happened and that was roughly the half marathon time i was was running fast and still feeling good. Passed Bastie and Karl but i still didnt have an idea of where i was so i just kept my pace. last loop i had to make a few stops for something else than liquid but they where all fast so as i had no idea of my position it was a matter of beating my PB, i ran my way to the finish in 8:16 in 7th place somewhere with 11 minutes from the winner jan raphael that i never seen during the run, don't get me wrong the course was very nice. it turned out to be a very competitive field with very close finishes.

I was happy with the race for sure, i might even say that overall it was the best race of the season physically speaking, i had a good swim good bike and good run so a very solid performance from start to finish, and i never really felt trashed, totally in control, of course someone to actually say where i was would be better but i didnt have one for this race ;)

No time for slackers i want another solid performance in hawaii witch might be the last one

Zurich as a confirmation

Ironman Zurich, my third stop in the European "tour" not much time to rest after a great race in Nice and for sure not feeling great during the 3 weeks that separated this 2 ironman. Im glad i went a week to Herdade da Cortesia to rest while i keep the body pumped for the next one. This was in fact the most time i had as a "pro" triathlete this year ;)

So Zurich, been there last year with a 6th place with the same Ironman Nice in the legs so i was just hoping for another decent day in one of the best cities in the world.
Weather at race day was miserable but i was expecting that with the forecast. i took my bike vest and arm warmers to T1 and wanted to make sure i used them. There was some rain before the start but nothing close to what was next.

Swim was in the Zurich lake, one of the best swim venues in the circuit. I didn't have time to warm up other than some the usual rotation of the arms. But the thing is, i had a good swim, the best of the season in my opinion. I had to bridge the gap to a group in the first km but i really felt a strong stroke and immediately placed myself in somewhere near the lead of the group and hoped as usual that i was in the right place. At the end of lap1 i really didn't have time to see who was there and only had time to understand that i was in the second pack with the leaders 100 (+-) meters ahead, not bad. The second lap things got a bit easier and i surely wouldn't try to lead, i just waited for the end of it.

I was really happy to see that the first two guys that i had a glimpse where Ronnie (that won with an impressive bike ride) and Jose Jeuland. GREAT. i tried to get out of the transition ASAP, vest on, arm warmers and gels already mounted to the frame, i was out of there.

I took my time to dress up properly in the bike and with that Ronnie disappeared, it would be bad company for me anyway ;). a big group got together at the beginning, all very nervous. To be honest for the first time i felt marked. Everything rolled well until the first climb, then it kinda exploded and i tried to break things a bit too. The first time we went to the Beast Jose Jeuland picked up the pace and i followed, we got clear at the top but a few guys got back in the somewhat flat sections afterwards but not all of them. at 60 km Mr Riesen passed and i felt like going with him witch i did until the big downhill where it started to rain there riesen was just flying and i was dropped a few meters, he defenetely knew the downhill well and with rain i was feeling like i was risking a bit too much. I still kept him at sight until the end of the lap but in the process i dropped all the pack that was with me. At that time i was freezing with the cold rain and 3 or 4 athletes got back to me a few kms after. the second lap was a bit more uneventful other than the fact that i felt marked by others and yet another big rain with Hail included while going downhill to the last 20 kms (it was unbelievable), i got to T2 pretty alone.



Same with T2, get out of there, in the process i forgot the gels but that didn't worried me much. 4 Laps in a course that despite being very nice didn't fit me well with all the twists and turns, i defenetely like courses where you just put the 5th gear and go with it as long as i can.
Anyway i felt good legs leaving T2 and started running under 4min/km right from the beginning. I felt Someone getting close but that didn't leave me nervous at all, it was Trevor that marked my heels for the rest of the first lap. I immediately passed a few guys in 2nd lap, Csoke was one of them but i didn't knew where i was in the race. I did noticed Scott a lot closer to me although i had a big cushion. Helder, My coach informed me already in the 3rd lap that he ran 5 min faster than me (WOW) and i was in 4th place. Hecht was 5 min ahead and the distance to scott was rougly the same. I felt safe regarding Scott and felt like i could still get Hecht. I did shave a ton of time in the 3rd lap and it was time to give it all. My pace was constant during the run except those sections that had just an insane amount of turns. The last turnaround i was roughly 35-40 seconds to him and in theory i needed the last 3kms at 4min/km to catch him a bit before the finish, ok just hold the pace till the end and you will get him. WRONG, i hit the wall with 2km to go and actually lost a few seconds to finish 60 seconds from Mathias. Close but i was happy with the day anyway.

Better swim, better ride with very hard conditions, roughly the same run as last year produced a better overall race compared to last year, and i cant be unhappy with this right? Especially when there where quite a few Portuguese atheletes to cheer during the race.

A 3rd a 4th and a 5th during the european tour. Im safe to say that this has been a great season. for now ill wait till the end of the month (KPR) and will race in august neverthless.

A big thanks to everyone that supports me especially Vanessa and my Coach that is a lot more that just that.

Ironman Nice

So far so good, i cant say im no happy with the race, I AM, really happy actually. After a podium in Lanzarote a few weeks ago, placing again in Nice, one of the most prestigious races in Europe is quite something for this old guy ;)

This race had severall atractions for me. Racing again after last year with most of the same guys as last year, Vanessa kicking some butt's at the same time, watching a good sized portuguese group of athletes with diferent goals and racing in this lovely venue are just some.

As with last year everything rolled to race day quite nicelly, i even stayed at the same hotel close to the start, that makes everything quite simple. I had a lot of free time to take naps, something that is missing in my normal day routine.

So without anything in particular to comment the race started at 6:25 and we would have a 5 min lead over the entire field, something that didnt happen last year. And the swim was far inferior than last year. One of the reasons might be the absence of age groups to draft from but the diference is bigger than that, The swim time was around 1 min slower but the actual gap for the lead swimmer was a lot higher, so i didnt have a good swim and i felt that while swimming, period. Left the gorgeous water with 55 and change with a deficit 4 minutes bigger than last year, for the same Frederik Van Lierde. so this is probably the only thing i was upset...

Bike, hilly tough, yes but i have seen lanzarote recently... ;) i was out of the water with Delsaut and Rafael witch competes in portugal of course, and knowing him well i was happy to have swam with him (until my very scientific comparison with last year). I led them until the first climbs until Riesen passed by. I tryied to follow but he is of course very experienced athelete and pushed the tempo more and more until i lost my mojo... It was very caotic around me with guys catching me blowing up others that i didnt have interest in following etc. For me, everything was going alright with nutrition pacing etc. Last 50 km tough i felt hammered by the course and despite being mostly downhill and flat it has a good headwind and i really didnt feel good legs for that. i got to the end in roughly the same time as last year but i think this year the course was slower because of wind orientation (last year we had tail wind in the last 50km.) and that is true to most of the atheletes, same or slower splits. But what can be said about van lierde split? just umbelievable right?

So i got to the T2 feeling smoked by the bike course and left T2 with the feeling that it was going to hurt a lot... it was true till 5km, legs felt heavy altough i was running somewhere close to 4min/km after 5km i started taking 5km splits. and started building some momentum, a pretty good one. I felt fast all the way and the pacing was somewhat perfect, 19:40, 19:18, 19;30, 20:04, 19:20, 19:06, 19:45 where the splits i took after 5km and in that process i ran my way to 5th (i passed 5th with 6 kms to go) and gasping for some sight of the 4th place skater in the middle of the crownd for the last kms, it didnt happen. but 2:45 marathon is always impressive.

5th place makes me happy for sure, i was just insastisfied with my swim split but other than that another great day of racing in a great venue. Awesome. To top it off, Vanessa not only won the AG but was competetive in the AG rants, i love to see her improving every month :D

up next is an event that is not far....

this is one tough race

Lanzarote, my second visit to this venue, this time a more unscheduled one.

Yes, indeed i am a lot better than the Melbourne days (that was mistake) so i was ready to put in another race in my resume...
The plan was simply do the most with the least possible and the rest days where a lot shorter than usual witch i think would benefit me...

Always beautiful this island, i wont need to comment on how the bike course simply destroys everyone with hills, wind bad surface wind wind wind, sun, humidity, heat. this clearly stands out of the rest of the course.

Everything went well before the race, i was feeling healthy and there was nothing to concern about race preparations, i couldn't ask more than this. Race morning i woke up latter and had a huge "wake up evolution" shake topped with a simple toast. this was something that i wanted to try before a race. Took my time to the race site, and spent the least time possible there, but i did pumped my tires with a mini pump, now that's a good warm-up to the swim. Down to the real thing. The swim had virtually no separation between AG and Pros. In fact AG had an advantage since they could really build some momentum with the short beach run. I felt it right from the beginning. I tried to go as fast as i can but i really can sprint on the water (or on the bike or run for that matter) so i was quickly flooded with hands and feet and guys pushing my ankles on purpose (this really pisses me of). First lap was hard for all those factors, i got out with almost 27min and the second lap was EASY, i just enjoyed the ride to T1, i was out in 54 ish minutes.

Long run to T1 and out i went on the island tour. i was riding with Esben and latter vabrousek that caught up on us. I sure didn't want to rush things up and rode with them in sight to go through the first section with a """"easy"""" feeling. The feeling i had was that in the fast parts my effort was a whole lot harder than going uphill, So in the Volcano climb i kept my rithm up and made a short gap on the rest that eventually was bridged. Then Alvaro caught up, and another long climb, same story but this time it was me and alvaro that went away. I was feeling very composed and in control, Mr Vabrousek caught up a few kms afterwards and it was time for the BIG hill to las nieves, this one i decided to save some energy even when there was guys coming from behind and passing. Special needs bag was mandatory for me so i took my time with around 75km to go to have it. Technical downhill was good for me as i got away from alvaro and caught vabro and Agz fro the climb to mirador del rio. Tough cookie this one seems never ending and steep. as soon as we got there the trio i enjoyed the Long and fast downhill, aways good to have some fun. Vabrosek lost my tail and Agz got back to me in the flats down the hill, still a lot to go and a bit of flat roads where a good booster to recovery. Alvaro got back in the mix Agz was trying to get away and i certainly didn't do much to keep him close i just wanted to stay within me, Vabro was always behind and i kinda worried about his race plan...
The last 40km that includes another hill didn't do much, i really didn't care who would try to go away but at the end the gaps where close, i got bonus point the the most artistic fall out of the bike for sure, ouch. I lost some time with it but it could be a lot worse.

Run time, Alvaro got away with my artistic job and my ankle was hurting a bit too much. I started conservative and got caught by Agz, it was a big out and back followed by another shorter 2 lap course. Going out with head wind. as soon as i got caught i clearly tried to keep his pace until the turn around, then we would see how the legs feel. As soon as i got there i pushed the pace to a very fast one. with no time i passed Alvaro with time for a short chat. and then was all about what the other could do, i thought a top6 would be a decent day but half way through i was already in 4th this was where i started having my own problems as all the calorie intake on the run wasn't being absorbed and i was clearly dehydrated, everything was in the stomach and i could really feel/ear it sloshing around. at the beginning of the last lap i was close to 3rd so i hoped i could keep everything inside me, i wasn't forcing calories in for quite a few kms since it would do nothing good to me but my stomach was getting bigger and bigger ;) i was already feeling a bit dizzy due to dehydration but caught a fading Bert just before the last turn around. After that i was a mix of feelings "Im toasted/Im relieved to be in 3rd" got the best of me and just was concerned to get to the line. I felt Very dizzy and am not sure if i was running straight but i got there... just too bed i could go under 9h ;)

I am of course happy with the day, back on the podium always tastes good right.
Quick not to Marcio that won his AG and his brother Valdo that had a nasty crash but still finished in 10:17

More next week....

Melbourne

Here i am at 3 am awake again for a few hours already after a 2h overnight sleep ;)

yesterday was a far from delightful day for me and probably the sum of several things that didn't work very well.
Race morning was cold like anticipated and there was some rain while traveling to T1. But the forecast really promised a decent day for racing, given how things where during the week it turned out to be an awesome day.

The swim Started at night, i really think this was bad organization, i mean how can we spot a buoy 1km away in the dark? its also true that its the same to everyone but obviously there's a lead kayak for the front packs, really poor organization there in my opinion, so getting to the first buoy was a sacrifice, i was in a group of 3 or 4 and we got lost somewhere and if it wasn't a boat with a flashlight that came to us pointing the way we would still be swimming ;)
i don't know how much time i lost there but when we got back to the right direction i was in a back of the group. i really didn't feel strong in the water like i have been feeling during the winter, i had a sluggish stroke but it was enough to stay in that group, with some light it was easier of course to spot the very few buoys that where in the course, i managed to stay in the group till the very end. and ended up leaving the water with the usual suspects, given that i wasn't feeling perfect that was good.

I lost some time in T1 but managed to bridge a gap to the big pack that formed after the swim easily. good bikers like Shortis, Anderson, Aernouts, among several others where there so i only needed to hang with them. i felt decent legs and the pace was within my "limits". i even managed to push the group for several kms, witch wasn't a good idea but everything looked alright, at the turn around we where roughly 8 9 min behind the huge lead pack and that looked good also. Coming back in slight downhill everything was going fine and i really started to think i was doing well on the day. nutrition was coming along perfectly even with several aidstations missed. But at around 130km everything went backwards, really, and all happened very fast, i was first struggling to stay in the group and then dropped with no power on the legs, yes i have experienced this in another races like Frankfurt last year but this was a whole different game. i still tried to keep distance to the group and did so for a long time but i was trashed and coming back was really painful. the bonus of the day was that i led Mr Bennet to T2 ;) and we actually had a chat while changing at transition.
i was really feeling no energy and started running just to finish the darn thing, there was not much fight about. It was all about patience to let the kms pass. couple toilet stop without any rush whatsoever not much to say other after passing half marathon i started naturally running faster and faster without much effort and did quite few kms under 4 min/km, i really don't understand why this happened... i finished 22nd under 9h whohoo ;)

Ok so definitely not a good day, leading to this race i was sure that i have seen fitter days, the build up to the race wasn't good and january/half february where bad months after being sick at the end of the year but i sure was fit enough to have a go tackle a VERY strong field. I had a very tough week particularly with the time difference and barely slept decently other than the first day i arrived, it got worse and worse during the week to the point where i only slept 2h in the nights before the race, and im sure that really didn't helped here. tough i will not make an escuse out of it...

But i sure am disappointed from coming half way through the world to make not such a good impression...