5th place at Florida 70.3!

In Haines City, last Sunday I achieved my first podium finish in Ironman!

I had a good race, I was happy. It could have been better, well, it always can be better... :-S

I had a nice swim, felt strong, but I failed to recognize some of the Ironman rules.
Coming from ITU Olympic races, I thought that if you started the race with a suit, you would have to finish the race with it. This rule avoids taking advantage of the buoyancy suits, at the time that no one likes to ride or run in, because they get really hot when outside the water.

I was surprised when almost everyone was wearing one of the "authorized neoprene", like Lance's in the pic above, which according to Triathlete Magazine, can give you an advantage of 2.5sec per 100 yards. (read the article here)

I felt very strong on the bike course, and could finaly hold a fast and steady pace for the full 56miles. With the exception of a 30 sec "stop and go" penalty (because on a turn, I crossed the double yellow line dividing the road), the bike was my best discipline.

I still have a lot to improve and beat my personal best of 2h09min, but 2h15min was really good! It is ok that the 7 time Tour de France Champion rode it in 2h01min, and passed by me like a rocket, but we will have another races together!! :-D

The Run...
This was the first time that I finished the bike without a limp, so I was sure that I would run under 1h10min, also because the course was almost 0.6 mile shorter.
I started strong but suddenly my quads and adductors were cramping slowing significantly my pace, so I went peppered the run with some walking and stretching, at some points I was worried I would not be able even to finish the race.

At the end, everything was fine! Despite this not being an ideal race, I had fun the whole time, even with the difficulty running. Plus I got my first Ironman podium, which gave me some important points to qualify for the World Championship at Vegas, in September.

Ahh!! Returning to the last post... I like to compare athletes and artists, because both professions need attitude, courage, and of course, enthusiasm!! So while I was hanging out with my friends in Orlando, I read this quote from Carlos Santana, at Hard Rock Café, and for me it makes total sense!!