Boulder Peak Triathlon 2013

Not much to tell about my last race in the Boulder Peak Triathlon held on this last Sunday.
The idea was to do it more like a race test, to see where my performance was after such a long time without racing due to a hip injury.
I didn't know what to expect, also because I was still not 100% adapted with the altitude effect. And I did feel breathless just after a couple meters of the swim start.

(chilling a while before the start!)

By the end of the mile 24 on bike course I was not even hitting my worse expectations, and some days you just need to accept defeat. One of my favorite authors, Paulo Coelho, has a brilliant description for it:

“Defeat is for the valiant. Only they will know the honor of losing and the joy of winning
I am not here to tell you that defeat is a part of life: we all know that.
Only the defeated know Love.
Because it is in the realm of love that we fight our first battles – and generally lose.
I am here to tell you that there are people who have never been defeated.
They are the ones who never fought.
They managed to avoid scars, humiliations, feelings of helplessness, as well as those moments when even warriors doubt the existence of God.’’
Manuscript Found In Accra – Paulo Coelho”

Therefore being defeat as part of victory, on that day I was far from any good result and I was nothing excited to start those 10k run. And also motivated by the recent injury to not push that run.
I stopped at the end of the bike course, and right there was Siri, my amazing coach, who didn't let me look down, and pointed out some important details for my next races. The new goal is to have my body 100%, injury free, and ready to load it with wkouts and next races!

If defeat is necessary, this was the first time I considered myself out of dispute. Before I could be happy just by doing my best and would considerate some facts as a lack of luck. But on this time I didn't see any advantage of giving my best effort to reach maybe 60% of potential. The goal now is to reach those 100%!

When facing major defeats, beyond the lessons sometimes you also get rewards from fantastic friends!! lol
Thanks Sara!! I loved the note and fancy beer!! #surprise :)

Working out in Boulder!

Two weeks of acclimating and the workouts are almost like in the NTP pattern!!
Actually we are suppose to crave for Oxygen while doing any workout, the difference here is that the breathless sensation starts way before any sign of muscle fatigue, what it makes it kinda funny!

(Ward, CO - @ 9.440ft, pic: coach Siri)

The good news is that I'm already running 50k's per week, and adios to that hip injury! So the expectations are getting bigger (not much tho!) for Boulder Peak Triathlon in a few days.

(Heading to wkout at 5:15am)

Well deserved day-off yesterday, for the reason of two days ago... It was tense:

From bed to swimming pool, starting at 5:30;

Swim done, ate and took a nap;
Woke up, ate and went for a bike ride;
120km's later I was like trash!
The plan became short and clear: food and sleep. I didn't even have time to shower, and so, to keep the sheets clean I slept on the floor!
I blacked out, drooled, dreamed, and woke up thinking that someone was calling my name! Lol. It was already 5pm and I made a huge effort to wake up, as I had made plans with some friends, to explore a bit of Boulder that night.

(At Downtown with Gui, Pati and Alexandre!)

Today I am feeling way better! Just smashed another 5k swim at 5:30am again! And later Im going to do a run at the Reservoir, where the race is going to be held at July 14th!!
Can't wait!!

PS: Thanks Valerie for reviewing my grammar!!

Going Up!! From CA to CO...

Los Angeles became one of my favorite cities, not only because of the eternal sunny days and the awesome bike rides at Malibu and Santa Monica Mountains, but also because of the great and numerous friends!!

In this pic, Valerie and Anvar, my "American family" whom I lived with for the last 4 months.
Valerie was really kind, always helping me by correcting my English and would create "muy sabrosos" turkey dishes, when was not my favorite Mexican ones!! Anvar, from Kazakhstan, is a soccer fanatic and even made me play a fun soccer match at Playa Vista! He also introduced me to the Russian language and the funny Cyrillic alphabet!  "очень хорошая" (very good!)

This last week I have packed my bags, bike and boxes, threw it all on my new/old car and headed to Boulder, CO, following Siri's team!!
Known, at least by athletes, as the new "Mecca" of triathlon, this city has awesome bike paths and trails, along with the added benefits of the altitude training.

Hitting the road!! Crossing the desert was the hardest part of the drive, the heat was so intense that to avoid the engine overheating, signs were posted alerting drivers to turn off the air conditioning... So basically you or the car that would get fried!! lol

(crossing Mojave Desert)

I drove 1050 miles from California to Colorado in two days. I seems like a lot, but the time really flew by! While I tried to take pictures of every new amazing view, the colorful mountains and canyons!
Leaving behind the beaches of the Pacific, I passed through deserts and saw the beautiful colors of the Jurassic and Cretaceous exposed terrains of Arizona and Utah. Arriving in Colorado I saw the vistas change to a greenish tone covered by some white spots of snow! #Fantastic!

(San Rafael Swell)

(Castle Valley)

Here in Boulder I am trying to get used to the altitude (5430ft). Sometimes my lungs can't find Oxygen enough and I still having a constant head ache. Hoping to get used to it in about 3 weeks, soon I will be posting more about wkouts and races!! 

My next competition will be the Boulder Peak Triathlon, Olympic distance, happening on July 14th! 

#GoVanya!! 

Spinning the Pedals!

I missed sharing the news on my blog!

I have been doing a lot of micro-blogging throught twitter, instagram and facebook, but nothing like my own space in the blogosphere!! 

Maybe my lack of motivation to write was due to a bad injury that has persisted for more than 6 months now, alternating between right knee and hip. I missed a couple races and still not a 100% yet.

Actually I was surprised when I first noticed that it was already 6 months. I am being pretty good on keeping myself optimistic and motivated in training (maybe more than I should), always adding new goals and plans for the season. And while some days I could barely walk, on others I feel like ready to race a full Ironman!

I like this quote: "Life is like riding a bike, to be in balance you need to keep moving!"

Recently I signed a new partnership deal with Xterra Wetsuits, so I will be training and racing powered by all the awesome Xterra gear!!

Im very excited and this week I had the opportunity to meet and work with the Xterra crew while doing a photo shoot in San Diego.

While in San Diego I could see some family members and had a great time exploring the area. My favorite spot was the La Jolla Cove, where I enjoyed a rad ocean swim with a pod of seals passing just a few centimeters from me!!

Siri's team is moving to Boulder and I will soon be heading to the Colorado Rockies...

Feeling better each day, I hope to be at full speed, and train like never before for the races of the second semester. Hopefully this blog will be on fire soon!! :)

(La Jolla Cove)

#13 at 70.3 Ironman Panama

One of those plan b that makes you glad your plan a hadn't work at all!

A beautiful country, where I met nice people and really enjoyed the whole trip... Cafés, bbq, the city, Panamá Channel, Gamboa, Casco Viejo, the old American military base, the infinite pool and the Amador Causeway (an artificial terrain which links two islands to the shore, the Americans have built it with the left over stuff from digging process of the Panamá Channel).

The race wasn't the best one in performance, but was a great test to point out what I should be focus in for the season...

On that warm weather I was not expecting the cold water, and once I jumped in it was like a fright!

Instantaneously I thought would not be a good idea trying to warm up in that icy water, so I did some quick arm strokes and went out to wait for the start. And we really waited for the start, as it has delayed 50 minutes. 

Out of the water wasn’t cold, but on the soaked suits many athletes were already shivering. Luckily I found this elegant yellow jacket to keep myself warmer! 

I was cold on the whole swimming course, by the last meters I couldn’t feel my hands. It was not a good swim for me and I got in T1 close to a minute from the leaders. 

The bike was my best discipline, in a hilly and windy route. I was pretty competitive which made me happy as my bike leg was always the weakest on all the 12 races of last season! 

I suffered on the run… After recovering from a knee tendinitis, I haven’t had enough time to build up a proper training volume, so I paid the price on the last 10k. I have suffered all that pain I wanted to have had on Ironman Cozumel! 

At that moment I was placing 12th, and I could do some important points on the rank just by holding that position, so I gave all I had to hold that pace. I finished 13th with two athletes arriving right behind me. I was so exhausted that I could barely walk to the rest area, where I stayed for more than one hour lied down! 

A blessed soul offered me an advil, later a beer and soon I could move around with steps bigger than 10 centimeters!

Runner-up at South American Champioship 2013

Like a triathlete would say: "We do it 3 times!". 
And this was my third 2nd place at the South American Championship!
(2008,2012,2013)

Even though I was so close to be the winner on 3 opportunities, I can't complain! 
Each race unfolded in a particular way, where at none of them the 1st or 3rd places could get a top 5 again!

The La Paz Triathlon is one of my favorites! 

I had already done it for 5 times and my best placing was 4th.

On the previous one, I was devastated by not making the podium, they do an awesome awards party that on that day I watched as an expectator.
I have told to myself that on the next one I would be up there, celebrating it from the up high view of the podium. To not forget this will, I collected some small pieces of paper that were flying during the winners celebration, and I save them in my wallet. I carried it with me for 3 years (as the Brazilian National Federation postpone my participation, read about it here).

Well, it was 3 long years with those small pieces of party that I did not enjoyed, at sight on every purchase I made. I wanted to make sure to find daily motivation and not be afraid to suffer while training, as the loser feeling would be worse.

The day has arrived!! January 13th of 2013, my revange!!

For the happiness of those who don't like the heat, the 3k swim start delayed for almost 2 hours. We took off at 6pm and going down the river, we finished that portion in a bit more than 20 minutes, matching the 1.5k swim time for the Olympic distance.

The river was quite choppy and I didn't swim well, I finished leading the second pack close to a minute behind the leaders. Followed by a strong bike ride, where I felt great, but the guy to watch was Oscar Galindez, who is recognized as one of the best cyclists in the world, and end up to put together all the favorites in one big bike pack.

The race verdict was on the run! I left the transition as fast as I could, and by the mark of two kilometers I was already in the position I would cross the finish line. But was not easy to hold that second place, right on my back was running the hero and Argentinian idol Galindez!! I could measure how far he was just by the loud noise people were cheering!! A lot of them were cheering on me, but the cheers to Galindez was causing goosebumps even 20 secs ahead, where was me!

On the last stretch there was fellows almost closing the street with straight hands to greet the competitors, I've never seen so passionate triathlon fans before, the T-Rex could easily reach to clap all the hands on both sides!! There is no other triathlon like this! I was imagining how impossible would be a finish sprint with that many people wanting to celebrate with the top finishers!
Well, afraid of losing my position I finished strong, even running sideways for a while trying to pass through those many folks!

I assured my placing! The 3rd athlete came 16 secs behind! I assured my place! Where I wanted to be.

Right up there!! On the VIP area of that party, did not bother me at all, those many pieces of paper sticking on my champagne sticky body!! Goal reached!!

I couldn't forget to mention that I met some really nice friends!
We have made some workouts together, and also had a good time enjoying the city!
They all raced on Saturday, the age-group race. As we had agreeded, the barbecue post race had some of the awards champagne, and ferne with choripan (traditional drink and food in Argentina)!
Besides a great race, I also had a great stay!!

Hasta el próximo año!!

Know Pain, Know Gain!!

Posting some images of 2012 season!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!!!