Tracing the new route!

If there is one thing that I have learned with so many travels around the world in 2011, it is that there are infinite new horizons!!

Without the Olympic Games, working-out harder (and faster!) than ever before, plus new partnerships for the 2012 season, I will start racing already next week. I am motivated to trace this new path!

*January 29th - Fiss San Cristóvão Festival ...
This is the most traditional race in Venezuela, it is a commemorative event, like the carnival of that city! Olympic distance with legal draft (1500m - swim, 40km - bike, 10km - run).
The curiosity on this race is that the swim happens on a 50m swimming pool!

* February 12th - Fast Triathlon World Championship...
One of the events of the Brazilian Summer Games; it will be broadcast live for all Brazil on the #1 TV Channel - TV Globo. It is a race where all athletes do this very short and "balls to the wall" course three times: (250m - swim, 4km - bike and 1km - run). The 5 invited countries for the 2012 edition are Germany, Colômbia, South Africa, Chile, and England.

*March 04th - Sesc Triathlon Caiobá...
It is so great to compete at home!! This is one of the most traditional Brazilian races, and my favorite!
This year the 1000 registration spots sold out in less than 10minutes.
It is a draft legal Olympic Distance.

*March 17th - South American Championship...
Despite this being an official ITU race, I think the Brazilian Federation will let me race, as it does not count for  Olympic points. I have never raced before in Santiago, Chile, but I am very excited about this one!!

*Dia 30/03/2012 - 70.3 Ocean Side...
The start of the long distance races will be in Califórnia, and it could not be a better place! Forty give minutes from where I love to live and train with Siri's Team!!
Half Ironman distance is 1,2 mi swimming, 56 mi biking and 13.1 mi running, which together sums 70.3 miles!

After that, I intend to stay another couple of months training with my coach, Siri Lindley, in LA, and pick some other 70.3's and non draft races like the LifeTime Series, Toyota Cup, Revolution3. I am also thinking about racing the Brazilian full Ironman, which is scheduled for May!!

Here I go!!!

Changing the focus!

It is nothing new for politics and sports to collide.
This has already happened in other countries, and the Brazilian federation is no exception.
The lack of rules allows politics to bias their favorites, especially when those employing politics are also the coaches of athletes in the contest for the national team...

After fighting to compete in almost every World Cup in 2011, this year my Federation said I will not race anyone for Olympic points. The justification (and I am not joking...) was that as were other Brazilians with more points than me, their positions should be preserved without the risk that I might take points away by coming in before them. (Seems like a joke, because if I can really beat the other Brazilians, it just indicates I would be a better contender for a Olympic spot.)

Luckily triathlon offers many possibilities with different races, which do not involves federations.
Although disappointed that I will not being able to compete in the Olympic Games, I am very optimistic to start a new season with several non-draft cups and also the Ironman series.

I could not be on a better team or in a better place to tread this new path!! Training with Siri Lindley in Santa Monica, CA.  has brought back the pleasure of working hard. She really knows how to make us give it our all, each and every day!!

I can't wait to start racing on 2012!!
Ironman, Here I come!!!