I left the DC area around 9 with my friends and head down to Augusta.We were flying and we arrive at 5:45 just in time for the last race briefing of the day and packet pick up. This was a smart decision do to the fact base on others reading Saturday in the afternoon was crowded. Went the Augusta Jameson suits which for the $$$ is really nice, is not to expensive. Saturday basically sleep in ate free breakfast from the hotel watched a movie (Rudo y Cursi Which is great!!!!) and head down to transition area around 2. Did a 35 minute ride and a 10 minute run. Then I set up the bike and went for a swim at the river.The problem for the swim was that i forgot the wetsuit at the hotel so I went in without wetsuit to the water. It was 70 degrees and for me that's cold as hell as i was born and raised in the warm waters of the Caribbean. Swam 10 minutes and notice that the current was really strong and that if was going to be like that on race morning we were going to fly. The strongest part of the current was toward the center so I already had my strategy set for Sunday morning. The rest of the afternoon / night I just eat pasta and rested.
Sunday morning woke up around 4:45 ate waffle bread and Peaunut butter and drive to the transition I was there around 5: 50 set up everything went to the port like 2 times and took the shuttle bus to the swim start. Got there went to the port again, put my wetsuit head to the entrance as I was in the third wave.
The Swim: I knew it was going to be fast because of the current They announce that the current was Pushing 1 /2 a knot (more on this later).My strategy was simple get in to the water as soon as possible and go to the middle of the river. It work from there the horn sounded and I went it was a nice swim not many bumps, the water was clean and clear. The only major issue was and idiot try to swim with me or towards me. he hit me twice at the third one I just stopped push him to the left and I continue my way the guy never came back. From there I was just flying. The swim was 27:28.. Super fast in fact 10 seconds faster than the swim at Nations that was 1500 meter remember this was 1.2 mile.
So for those who want to know more of the current speed I did an exercise with my time. knot is a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour, which is equal to exactly 1.852 km/h and approximately 1.151 mph
Knot= 1.151 MPH
1 /2 knot= .575 MPH
I was expecting to swim a 35:30 which is 1:50 per hundred meter and 2.028 MPH
So we have my expected swim time in MPH and speed of the current
Add both of them
.575 + 2.028= 2.603MPH = 27:28 which is 126 per hundred meter which was my time.
What I want to tell is that the make you go fast really fast at least 8 minutes for me and I suspect that slower you swam the more minutes you were going to get. So this in did was a fast swim.
T1 this was the worst part of the race for me because it was long walk on the street and my feet are sensitive to rocks and debris on the street.So if I try to run it's hurt. So I walked slow and got to my bike. Since I knew it was slow already I decided to put my socks on clear that out of the way.
T1 4:13
The bike, was fast my plan was to practice Iron-man pacing and stay in zone 3 as most time as possible and not to go all out. At the beginning of the bike every one was flying and passing me but I stay calm and stick to my plan. There was suppose to be some hills but really the Montgomery county hills are much difficult so really those hills were nothing. This is a fast course on the bike so you have to roll and will be good. I practice nutrition and drink water and accelerate as much as possible and eat 3 power bars the plan was executed perfectly as got almost 800 calories. The bike went great. I hold my self but again the plan was to practice IM pacing.
Time was 2:52:19 for a pace 19.5 MPH
T2 went quick as I just put my running shoes and role.
2:06
The run went great it was flat. Right after transition I went to the ports so that mean that my hydration was great. I knew that I can be around 1:45 time on a good day. for the first 7 miles I paced my self and average 8:18. Then I began to feel the race and started to feel tired but thanks to # 275 the guy has been running with me told me begin pushing and we did that for the next 5 miles we were flying probably around the 7 min mile pace.I hold my self until mile 12 that I got tired the last mile I survived and enjoy the crossing the finish line.
Final time 1:46:05 for an 8:06 minute mile pace.
Total time 5:12:06
This was a great for being a first year event. It has a fast course over all and the city of Augusta is supporting the race really nice. The down part was that I don't think the city and the restaurant were aware about the amount of people that was going to be there. On most pasta restaurant and all others the waiting time for eating was 60 - 90 minutes. Hopefully next year they get more prepare. I recommend this race to any body specially if you are a slow swimmer. I don't know how my 2010 season is going to look but if I have the chance I definitely be back
Happy weekend
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Weekend race 70.3
This weekend I will be heading down to Augusta Georgia for Augusta 70.3.I will be driving in a friends truck/ pick up so I will be the copilot which is good for me that I don't have to be on the wheel. Also It will be my first in the south part of the USA I have been in Miami and Orlando but nothing north of there. I have until Newport in Va but nothing south of there so will be fun to check the Carolina s'. Part of the bike course will be o many south Carolina counties that I have done the mapping process for the flood Areas. So maybe some roads might be close to flood areas that I have mapped. If you are wondering about he floods in Georgia that affected the area it happened in Atlanta or near close too and Augusta is 2 1/2 hours from there so no threat for the race hopefully. I ll be heading down there Friday mourning is an 8 1/2 or drive and be back Monday.
This race my coach told that would be a tune up race for IM Arizona in 2 month. Details is a river swim going in favor of the current basically with 2 turns so it should be fast. The bike have between 1600-1900 of climbing for 56 miles. Based on the video of the course it seems manageable a few inclines but nothing to major. Will see how its looks once there. The run is flat as Hains Point so it should be fun. Coach told me that should be around 5:20's will see .
Goals for the race
A) Have fun and Practice Hydration and Nutrition.
B) Stay areo as much time in the bike and practice IM pacing
C) Swim and Run smooth
D) Hydrate and nutrition
Happy 23 September 2009 because on a day like today 141 years ago the place were I was born try to become free country but an idiot betray Revolutionaries and the spinards were able to counter attack. 141 years later we steel a colony but with a different ruler... Was call the Lares Revolt or El grito de Lares
This race my coach told that would be a tune up race for IM Arizona in 2 month. Details is a river swim going in favor of the current basically with 2 turns so it should be fast. The bike have between 1600-1900 of climbing for 56 miles. Based on the video of the course it seems manageable a few inclines but nothing to major. Will see how its looks once there. The run is flat as Hains Point so it should be fun. Coach told me that should be around 5:20's will see .
Goals for the race
A) Have fun and Practice Hydration and Nutrition.
B) Stay areo as much time in the bike and practice IM pacing
C) Swim and Run smooth
D) Hydrate and nutrition
Happy 23 September 2009 because on a day like today 141 years ago the place were I was born try to become free country but an idiot betray Revolutionaries and the spinards were able to counter attack. 141 years later we steel a colony but with a different ruler... Was call the Lares Revolt or El grito de Lares
Monday, September 21, 2009
Training Training and Work
That's all I have been doing for the past 10 I had Nations and then a lot of Training in preparation for IM Arizona. This Weekend I have a preparation Tri when I head down to Augusta for the IM Augusta 70.3 Goals will come in the next post. This weekend I went out on nice 77 mile ride on the hills of Montgomery County. I went with a fellow blogger and DC Tri member TJ. He rocks on that course as I was always behind him on the hills, we chat a lot about everything and put on some solid hills. Was a great training ride. On Sunday I work and went for a 2 hour run. I did this run on grass and it helped me a lot in terms of recovery from 77 mile bike ride and 15 minutes run the day before. One of the good things about my new area is that is 5 minutes away from the Germantown soccer plex. This a world class soccer practice facility with more than 20 soccer fields driving range pool and a lot of deers. So I am using the soccer fields to loop around them and try to run on grass because is soft surface and helps on recovery.
Also got the newton running shoes and I am learning their Philosophy of running of a more natural form. The shoes are $$$$ but they at least are teaching me how to run efficient. I ran 1 hours with regular shoes and 1 hours with newtons and there is a lot of difference. Go here. if you want more info
So far for me here the Pros
They do make you run smother
all atches, pains or stiffness will go away almost immediately once you start wearing them
They do work if you follow their advices
CONS
$$$$
take time to adapt your body and run form and a lot of concentration
in the beginning you may feel pain in your calf's or upper knees
$$$$$$
The shoe last only 350 to 400 miles not much
If you have the time the $$$$ and the patience to learn the form this would be great for the off season.
I am working a lot because I am in charge of a nice project that requires a lot time but it will elevate my professional live to a new level
Well have a great week and I ll be back with Augusta goals Wednesday or Thursday
And a nice video to end about nice concert that was held at Cuba by juanes in front of almost a millions cuban in " La Plaza de la Revolucion enjoy it was free artist didn't charge and some of the artist were threat to death for doing the concert.
Also got the newton running shoes and I am learning their Philosophy of running of a more natural form. The shoes are $$$$ but they at least are teaching me how to run efficient. I ran 1 hours with regular shoes and 1 hours with newtons and there is a lot of difference. Go here. if you want more info
So far for me here the Pros
They do make you run smother
all atches, pains or stiffness will go away almost immediately once you start wearing them
They do work if you follow their advices
CONS
$$$$
take time to adapt your body and run form and a lot of concentration
in the beginning you may feel pain in your calf's or upper knees
$$$$$$
The shoe last only 350 to 400 miles not much
If you have the time the $$$$ and the patience to learn the form this would be great for the off season.
I am working a lot because I am in charge of a nice project that requires a lot time but it will elevate my professional live to a new level
Well have a great week and I ll be back with Augusta goals Wednesday or Thursday
And a nice video to end about nice concert that was held at Cuba by juanes in front of almost a millions cuban in " La Plaza de la Revolucion enjoy it was free artist didn't charge and some of the artist were threat to death for doing the concert.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
2 of My favorite Artists got nominated for 7 Latin Grammy between them
I don't feel as writing but I leave with 1 of my favorite artist who just got nominated for 5 Latin Grammy and the last got 2 any QUESTION feel free to ask
With Shakira
He also got 2 nomination another 1 of my favorite
With Shakira
He also got 2 nomination another 1 of my favorite
Monday, September 14, 2009
Nations Triathlon Race Report
The logistics for this race are a pain in the ass but on race day you forget about it.
I woke up at 4 AM drice down and at 5 am I was at DC getting a parking everything went pretty quick. I set up the transition say hello to a lot of people chill out and went to swim area to wait. There was a tons of people. I chill out with some DC tri people while waiting. I thought about the amount of bike on the course. Finally time to get in the clean water of the Potomac for the 2nd day in a row. I did the practice swim on Saturday to try figure out the river currents. Was a great Idea.
The swim as I enter the water I knew that I have to go the out side and look for the second tunnel left wall as the current was going to push me to the inside. This turn out to be a great move as I didn't get any body on my way I had a good clear Path. Going to the turn around was nice and smooth but coming back was a little bit of trouble because of people from the front wave the sun and the current pushing you the opposite way. Yes was something like that. The time was 27:39 23 seconds better than the ITU race that have the same swim course.
T1 was long imagine 4500 bike that's a lot. Time 2:59 what I consider not bad considering the size
Bike: The bike course is fast nice not to technical and some unexpected minor climbs. To my bad luck my HR monitor didn't work neither my speed so I was riding base on cadence effort everything went good until the last 7 miles that my cycling legs decide to turn off.I just survived the rest of the bike.I think the missing work outs because of my move had something to do with my turn off. Time a good but not what I was looking for 1:10:43 avg 21 MPH
T2 a lot of bike coming out while I was coming in. A little bit of trouble getting through the bikes coming out but ok shoes and to roll. Time 1:53
The run is mostly flat through Hains Point. My run has not been there the last month and a 1/2 so this was going to be a good test to see where I was. I was rocking for the first 4 1/2 mile as I was on a 7:14 pace but then I hit the wall and the last mile and 1/2 was slower I just enjoy the last 400 meters and enter the finish line dancing to the music of Eminem 8 mile song to pump the crowd. time 45:26 7:20 mile Pace.
Total: 27:39 t1 2:59 bike 1:10:43 T2 1:53 run 45:26 total 2:28:39 51 out of 350+
Overall was a good race to know where I am standing for my 1/2 in 2 weeks. I was a little disappointed on the bike because I was expecting to be around the 1:07's or 1:08's.The run was good I am just 1 minute under what I was on June. So not bad. The swim was ok I improve but came to the conclusion that the river for some reason makes you go slow. Overall was a good race but not great
Finally the race is well run and organize. If you are looking for a city race this one is really good fun and with all levels of competition. The crowds cheering on the swim and the run turn out to be good more than I expected considering the fact that a lot of people in DC only care about drinking and partying in their free time. So thanks for those who came out to volunteer and cheer.
This Race will become a classic so I recommend it to anybody.
Have a great week
I woke up at 4 AM drice down and at 5 am I was at DC getting a parking everything went pretty quick. I set up the transition say hello to a lot of people chill out and went to swim area to wait. There was a tons of people. I chill out with some DC tri people while waiting. I thought about the amount of bike on the course. Finally time to get in the clean water of the Potomac for the 2nd day in a row. I did the practice swim on Saturday to try figure out the river currents. Was a great Idea.
The swim as I enter the water I knew that I have to go the out side and look for the second tunnel left wall as the current was going to push me to the inside. This turn out to be a great move as I didn't get any body on my way I had a good clear Path. Going to the turn around was nice and smooth but coming back was a little bit of trouble because of people from the front wave the sun and the current pushing you the opposite way. Yes was something like that. The time was 27:39 23 seconds better than the ITU race that have the same swim course.
T1 was long imagine 4500 bike that's a lot. Time 2:59 what I consider not bad considering the size
Bike: The bike course is fast nice not to technical and some unexpected minor climbs. To my bad luck my HR monitor didn't work neither my speed so I was riding base on cadence effort everything went good until the last 7 miles that my cycling legs decide to turn off.I just survived the rest of the bike.I think the missing work outs because of my move had something to do with my turn off. Time a good but not what I was looking for 1:10:43 avg 21 MPH
T2 a lot of bike coming out while I was coming in. A little bit of trouble getting through the bikes coming out but ok shoes and to roll. Time 1:53
The run is mostly flat through Hains Point. My run has not been there the last month and a 1/2 so this was going to be a good test to see where I was. I was rocking for the first 4 1/2 mile as I was on a 7:14 pace but then I hit the wall and the last mile and 1/2 was slower I just enjoy the last 400 meters and enter the finish line dancing to the music of Eminem 8 mile song to pump the crowd. time 45:26 7:20 mile Pace.
Total: 27:39 t1 2:59 bike 1:10:43 T2 1:53 run 45:26 total 2:28:39 51 out of 350+
Overall was a good race to know where I am standing for my 1/2 in 2 weeks. I was a little disappointed on the bike because I was expecting to be around the 1:07's or 1:08's.The run was good I am just 1 minute under what I was on June. So not bad. The swim was ok I improve but came to the conclusion that the river for some reason makes you go slow. Overall was a good race but not great
Finally the race is well run and organize. If you are looking for a city race this one is really good fun and with all levels of competition. The crowds cheering on the swim and the run turn out to be good more than I expected considering the fact that a lot of people in DC only care about drinking and partying in their free time. So thanks for those who came out to volunteer and cheer.
This Race will become a classic so I recommend it to anybody.
Have a great week
Friday, September 11, 2009
Nations Triathlon Race Weekend
Ok if you asked me 2 or 3 weeks ago I was looking forward to this race but then something call MOVE came and mess up my training schedule my daily routine and everything. I miss my key work outs last week so my expectations are kind of low right now. I was hopping to break 2:20 but I really don't thing I am there at least mentally.Plus add the fact that there are 6000 people registered, that doesn't mean all 6000 will start I expect around 1500 to be missing due to injury, not training or party all summer long in the DC Area.You add those 4500 to small roads on the bike and you know there is going to be some traffic on the bike will see how we deal with it. In the positive side I am on the first age group wave so that means I shouldn't have the crowded streets, hopefully. This race is well organized so should be fun to be part of it.
So Goals for this weekend are simple,
A)have fun
B)try to improve
C)see were you fitness level is
D)Have fun !!!!
E) get your mind set to IM 70.3 Augusta in 2 weeks
Good luck to every one doing IM Wisconsin and Nations hope to see my bloggers friend over there
So Goals for this weekend are simple,
A)have fun
B)try to improve
C)see were you fitness level is
D)Have fun !!!!
E) get your mind set to IM 70.3 Augusta in 2 weeks
Good luck to every one doing IM Wisconsin and Nations hope to see my bloggers friend over there
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
The weekend
The move is done I am settle in my new place. Now back to focus on training and racing my last 3 triathlons of the year looking forward to all of them.
Here are some pics of the new place how its started and how it ended.
That's how I spend all my weekend
Here are some pics of the new place how its started and how it ended.
That's how I spend all my weekend
Sunday, September 6, 2009
New Home
if you follow me on twitter you know that I was moving. The reasons behind this move were many. So here they are I move to the DC area more than 2 years ago for a job and to live in a true city with a metro (train) and good public transportation system in general and well to try to live with out a car. On March of this year I landed a new job with a good company and better $$everything. The only bad thing was in Gaithersburg MD and me living in Arlington VA was kind of far without a car. I try to do the metro trip and it was 3 hours a day and 10.50 each day not worth it On May I took over the my brother car who was finishing school and began to drive up there. the commute on the mornings was not bad but in the afternoon was horrible, over an hour. On June my building told me that they were rising my my rent 100$ so with a high rent of almost 1200$ a car that's pay 225 plus insurance and gas expenses. I said to my self I needed to move to save a few $$$$. I began looking close to my work because I was not going be driving more the 25 minutes for my job because that goes I against my belief at least for now.I landed a good deal and place in Germantown MD. is only 10 minutes from my job and is close to a nice pool and some good back roads for cycling and many school tracks for running. I will be in the DC area just 20 miles north and living the suburban live. So from Arlington VA to Germantown MD is my new location.
I am really positive about this change in terms of commute and to save some $$$ as for training. The only negative is that there are not to may places to go out so my social live will be worst than what it is already.
about training before today it consisted on packing lifting carrying and climbing stairs. Not good when your next race the week after a move but more on that later.
Happy free Monday
I am really positive about this change in terms of commute and to save some $$$ as for training. The only negative is that there are not to may places to go out so my social live will be worst than what it is already.
about training before today it consisted on packing lifting carrying and climbing stairs. Not good when your next race the week after a move but more on that later.
Happy free Monday
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