14th place at CapTexTri!!

From Orlando, I made a strategic stopover in Texas, where I spent a week and raced the Toyota Cup.

I was penalized 1 minute for a stagger line violation.  I had no idea that there was no distance for which two bicycles could be following the same line.  I thought that being 15 bikes behind the other cyclist would be enough...

Despite being penalized, I felt good on the bike and ran without any cramps! I am finally getting used to the TT position!

Many thanks to Jim and Michele Ryan, my hosts who showed me some hot spots in Austin, including this donut factory (pictured), where we tasted free donuts just out of the oven!! :-D

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!!

Enthusiastic!!

Wow! almost a month without any blog updates!
It was not for a lack of ideas, but to many thoughts!!
My poor friends. Magali had to listen to my philosophies during our 5 hour drive to Wildflower and Carl had no escape, as we live together! lol

(Wildflower)

This week, while flying to Florida, I read another Paulo Coelho book.  He explains many of life's mysteries as if they were part of magic. After reading it, my own ideas started to make more sense!

Although my national flat (Brazil) says, "Order and Progress", I noticed that is impossible to have progress without disorder and confrontation. It is this was that brings you the expected progress, so be ready to stand the storm. Sooner or later the calmness will come!

I got goosebumps after reading in Valkiria's book that Paulo Coelho began his journey to meet his Guardian Angel in the desert of Borrego Springs. It was where I met Siri Lindley and her lemme "love it". And gradualy, Siri taught me to enjoy triathlon like I used to do years ago, when each race was an adventure and independent of the result, I would be happy if I had raced my best. There were no worries about sponsors or the Federation; no obligation to win or show results to anyone. The only concern was to have fun challenging myself and my opponents to see who could persist with that speed!

"Somethings are so difficult that you need to learn by yourself..."
Paulo Coelho

My revolution was to forget all about that perfectionist science to reach my peak performance. And instead of science I learned to be conscious experiencing each workout with enthusiasm and trusting that the results would come as a consequence.

"Enthusiasm (From Greek, en+theos, literally 'in God') originally meant inspiration or possession by a divine afflatus or by the presence of a god. Currently, it can be understood as a state of excitement and joy, reflecting a  consequent courage. An enthusiastic person is willing to face difficulties and challenges, not allowing himself down and transmitting confidence for all people around. Therefore the enthusiasm can be considered as an optimistic mood." (from Portuguese Wikipedia)

"Don´t you know you better run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run...
Cause finally the tables are starting to turn; Talking about a revolution..."

Tracy Chapman

In my last event, while racing Wildflower, I had a flat tire and lost out on the best experience of the race, running the trails in the beautiful mountains.

I also had the opportunity to meet two of the big names of triathlon, Chris McCormack and Lance Armstrong, they join us on a swim workout at Culver City Plunge.

Right now I am at Kissimee/FL, practicing my Portuguese with my Brazilian friends! Next Sunday I will race the Half-Ironman. Today I was surprised to find my name in the press as one of the threats which might prevent Lance from having his first victory in a 70.3!!
"Qui Sait!?"

"Out to challenge Armstrong, Maxim Kriat of the Ukraine is no stranger to the top step. Winner of Ironman 70.3 Augusta in 2010, he was second in Florida 70.3 last year. Strong on the bike, he has been known to have some fast run legs too (1:13 at best, compared to Armstrong’s 1:17). Also watch out for young Brazilian, Mauro Cavanha. The run is his strength and, if he can hold on during the bike, we could be in for a very exciting foot race." (Originally from: www.ironman.com) 

With enthusiasm, here I go!! :-D

18th place at New Orleans 70.3 Ironman

Due to strong winds, the race became a Duathlon.

Ok, the winds were not as strong as the picture shows! For those who did not notice my Pinocchio nose, I morphed the trees in the photo! lol
With 5 inch waves, the swim portion could have been done without difficulty!! But the organizers were concerned about problems with the the boats and life-guards ability to keep the race safe.  So we went for a 2 mile run, 51 mile bike and another 13.1 mile run.

I really enjoyed the race.  After so much stress chasing a spot in the Olympic Games, nowadays I am having fun every minute; without pressure or Federative enemies to deal with.

I have been riding in the time trial position for four weeks, but am still not comfortable with it yet, so I suffered on the bike course. Before running I had a 4 minute penalty for drafting and then I went for the half marathon, where I ran 1h13min56sec.

Afterwards, I went to explore the Jazz city with my team-mate, Mighty Mags. The city is really cool and the French Quarter is filled with night clubs and bars where the main theme is Mardi Gras, which resembles Brazilian Carnival!!

Arriving back in Los Angeles, I made some adjustments to the bike, and now I am focusing on Wildflower Half-Ironman, which takes place May 5th, here in California!

Hollywood Half Marathon!

Once more maintaining the numerical regularity of 2012, I placed 12th!! lol

The field was strong and included Kenyan runners! 

I started well and passed the first mile with the leaders.  When I got to the first uphill, my legs started burning! That effect was from a hard week of training...

As this was another hard session for the week, I did not take it any easier. Even after seeing the Kenyans pull further away with each second, I held a strong pace til the end.  The last 3 miles were a long and hard up hill, where I almost collapsed!  I arrived at the end with two stones where my calves were supposed to be! haha

70.3 California!!

In 2012 I always placed #1 or #2, so to maintain number regularity, with my Ironman debut, I finished at #21!!

It was a great race, my only problem was the lack of experience with this distance race.

I arrived at the transition area 1 hour prior to the start.  I thought that this was plenty of time, but suddenly I was lost in the 2.500 bikes looking for the boxes to leave my bag of morning clothes and worrying that I still needed to find the starting line!

I entered in the water, and got a nice position, in less the 2 minutes, the cannon fired and the race was on ...

I had a good swim, leaving the water at 8th. On the bike I felt really uncomfortable with the new time trial position, which in the end cost a lot of time. I started the run frozen, but soon I caught a nice rhythm and  chased down my competitors, gaining many positions!

The worst part of the race were the transitions!  Wet with an average temperature of 54°F, I froze.  T1 was not bad, but at T2 when I left the bike on the rack my hands were numb so it took forever to take my helmet off and put my shoes on. 

I am pretty happy with the result.  I knew I couldn't expect that much especially because of the new bike position, but I think was a good way to kick off my long distance season!

Here it is a video with a bit for the Californian 70.3!!
Have Fun!!

2nd place at the South American Championship!!

Consolidating the good phase, yesterday I got the silver medal on the South American Championship, held in Santiago, Chile.

The race was perfect! Which does not mean comfort. I believe that the unpredictability adds much more value on any race!!

I swam pretty well, but did not positioned myself well on the pack, I rode badly, even though this was my highlights, I ran more consistently but switched several positions!

On the whole race I went through ups and downs and while sometimes I thought I could win, on some moments I thought I would not reach the top 10!

The goal was to get a top 3 on the South American Champioship, where I got 2nd!!
Yet on the Panamerican Cup, I got 3rd, while a Mexican athlete arrived a position in front of me.

Not being supported by the Brazilian Confederation, this race ends my Olympic distance period.

And here I go!! Its time to kick off the long distance season!
The debut in the longer distances is already scheduled and takes place on March 31th, in Oceanside, CA.