Ironman San Juan 70.3 Race report (6 month later)

I decided to do this race back in November 2010. There were many reasons 1st it was my bday 2nd it was in my country 3rd to keep me motivated to train during the winter. I knew training on the 40’s for 3 to 4 months will not help on warm weather especially on the 80’s with high humidity. I knew I was not going to pr and the heat was going to be an issue.

Pre race
I got to SJ on Wednesday (the race was Saturday) my mom place where I was staying didn’t was completed so here my troubles began. I stayed 2 nights at my friends house and on the race night at my moms boy friends place. Sleeping was an issue and or my pre race plan was screw up. My mom place is 5 minutes to transition. I did packet Pick up on Thursday and rack my bike on Friday. Did a practice swim and felt good, ran and bike and felt good. If you ever do this race use Tribiketransport
Race morning
Was relax 1 as I knew were to go and what to do since it was m home town. I new transition perfectly. I racked my stuff. I had a friend staying at the host hotel we went to his room and waited a lot as both of our waves were late. At his room we notice how windy it was so we knew that the bike was going to be windy so we had to deal with it.
I head to the swim start with 30 minutes ahead. Was feeling good but the long wait really annoyed me.

Swim Goal, It was no wetsuit swim and I knew this since day 1 because water temp is 78 to 84 all year around. The way I has been swimming I knew I should be around 37 or 38. Swimming in salty water is always good as it help with flotation

Swim=36:33
The Swim was ok not to many bumps. I struggle to get my rhythm going at the beginning. Then I settled and got going. The last 200 meters you have a nice wave pushing you towards the end. It was like rollers lifting you from side to side. I thought it was fun.

T1= 4:57
This was a long run around 600 meters to get to the bike so that’s why the long time.


Bike Goal= this bike curse 46 out of the 56 miles are flat the problem is the wind. On a none windy day it has the potential to be very fast. But that doesn’t happen very often. Also the weather might not help as it might turn hot and humid towards the end. I thought I might pull a 2:45 but with most of training being indoors I knew it will be hard.

Bike = 2:47:02
I knew the course well as I did my first bike ride when I was newbie back in the day. For the first 20 miles there was a nice head wind so you have to control your self not to hammer much. There was a loop before turning back of 16 miles on that you get a good taste of the head wind for 8 miles and then you turn around for the headwind. I passed a lot of people during most of the bike. The last 16 miles were totally in to the headwind with the last being bridges to climb with the wind against. This was the hardest part of the bike as the temperature began to rise up by this time it was 11 AM and in the Caribbean is the sun is out you know is a hot day.

T2= 3:01
It was hot and I knew the run was going to be carnage

Run goal knowing the course and the conditions was Survive and avoid walking
Run = 1:57:04
I had run this course before probably more than 50 times. I am not joking, the problem none of them before riding 56 miles. I knew it will be tough because of the small but steep hills. I began running well but once you get to run near El Morro fort were there is no shadow no people, only you the bay the sun and athletes. After this part you climb back up in what I consider is the most difficult part of the course this 400 meter steep hill kills you. From there is all survival mode and do the loop again. This is a tough run course that is all what I can say is hard and you have to be ready for it. I thought I was ready for it but I wasn’t.




Total Time = 5:28:37 Total 266 of 1195 AG 38 of 138

Nutrition
Honestly I don’t remember much as did race was 6 month ago. On the bike I used Infinit but do not remember the amounts. On the run I took water Gatorade and some gels but I struggle on the course. So may be the coke indeed work.

Post Race Lessons
This was a good early season race. The weather will be tough because you are training for 4 moths on the 40’s. In my opinion this is a most do race the bike course next to the beach. Then with mix colors of the houses is amazing. In terms of performance I guess I might do more training runs on the tread mill to simulate the course especially on the bricks workout. On the bike practice more the aero position on the trainer and focus on power.

With Geoffrey Kennedy who is triathlete and qualified for Kona and is heading over there in 6 weeks. Really great guy and super athelete

The 2010 Season recap part Deux

With IM 2010 champ

On August I had to do a last minute trip to Boston to visit my brother. I was able to get in on sprint race up there. It was ½ mile swim (14:56) 12.4 mile bike (35:53) and a 4.4 mile run (31:26) Total 1:25:08. I had a great time up there like the race site and loved the weather.

On October I went to Myrtle beach SC to do the HalfMax –Myrtle Beach tri. I was hoping to see if I can qualify for the ITU long distance champs in Vegas. How wrong I was. The swim got cancel in the mooring due to high bacteria count on the intercostal. In my mind I said ok another disaster is approaching. The make a TT start straight to the bike. After being sit for almost over an hour I went on the bike and you can imagine how my legs felt. It took a while to get my legs going and finally when my legs felt ok boom!!! Flat tire!!! There I was totally out of the race I blew up 2 CO 2 cartridges. After almost 40 minutes a lot of debate in my mind to continue or to call it a day decided to continue and do it as training. I finished the bike on 3:34:04. I went to the run and did it as a good training. I finished 1:51:18. After this I was really frustrated. Everything went wrong but at least I finished and had a good time. Side note the field turn out to be really competitive on all Age Group so if it would have turn in to a great day for me I probably would not have make it or maybe on the last spot but I would never know.

Late October I was heading south to do the Miami 70.3. I sign to this race back in December 2009, I was wasted post IM celebrations and to do it with one of my best Friend. I was looking forward to take revenge after the disaster on Myrtle Beach earlier on the month. How wrong I was again. The Miami venue was great but on the day of checking the bike they didn’t have enough bike racks so you could smell something was wrong. They told to leave the bike on the corners.

The next day bike was in proper place. My wave was one of the last 1’s so I was able to watch the pros swim. The pros began coming out of the water around 30 minutes so I knew it was another long swim just as eagleman. I began the swim and mentally was prepare to pass people up to 5 wave ahead of me. I came out of the water in 42:52. The bike was flat and fast but after mile 15 the rest of the water station ran out of water and everything. Normally I put my own sport drink with me on the bike and I get water at the aid stations. The Aid stations ran out of water and everything before I got there. After mile 40 I began to struggle because I couldn’t take my sport drink any more because was to concentrate. I normally use the water of the aid station for that but without water I had a huge problem. So the last 16 miles was battle to survive and avoid the drafting packs. My bike split 2:43:46 considering the conditions I was ok with it. In T2 I left a full water bottle that was like an oasis in the desert. I drank it completely. The run began with the joke that the first water station was without water again. From there I knew getting water in the run will be tough. I manage to get water through the course thanks to my special some 1. The run was brutal. It was climbing a bridge 8 times yes a nice big bridge that was open to the traffic. It was bad really bad. Finally I finished that tough run in 2:02:14 for a total time of 5:34:57. This race was consider 1 of the top races in the world as it attracted people from all South America and Europe. It was bad run period really bad. At least WTC was aware of this and gave a free entry to any 70.3 race in North America that the participant wanted which actually was ok.


If something the 2010 season taught me is that be prepare for any situation outside your control and have a plan A, B or C.

Giant Acorn/ Army 10 miler report

I did a sprint on Saturday and 20.22 miles on Sunday. Here is how it went.
As I stayed here before that my goal was to make it to the start. I barley make it as the drive took more time than expected. So the race was schedule to start at 10. It was 9:30 and I was on the parking. So I ran took the race packet and set up everything as quick as possible. I put my wetsuit and make it to the water 2 minutes before the swim start. I didn’t warm up enough and with 2 minutes there is not much you can warm up in 2 minutes. The swim started and it was crowded in the first 300 meter. After that I began passing a lot of swimmers. The swim went ok but seems that it was more than 750 meters. The way you come out of the water was hard since it was like coming out of a pool it was hard this should improve in future races. My time was 16:08, 12th on my age group. T1 went smoothly it was 2:06 slow but was because my bike was at the end of the racks and I have to run with my bike in the messy terrain. The bike ride went good. I felt great but on the small hills I have to admit I didn’t have it may be 2 weeks with out riding have to do with that. My time was 37:08 15th on my age group. T2 went fast as usual 1:17. The run went great since I have been running a lot lately. My time was 22:57 15th on my age a group. My total time was 1:19:42. Add me a 2 minutes of a drafting penalty that they say I did but honestly I know I didn’t do it. I finished 11th on my age group.
So the race went ok I had fun but I don’t like the penalty I got so I was upset. We left and drive really fast to pick up the bib # for the army 10 miler.

On Sunday I ran the army 10 miler. As I said I was running 10 miles before the actual race. I left home at 6:25 and started my run to the race site. The run went smoothly. In the first 8 miles I had 1:08:07. The next 2 miles were in the race site so I was looping around at a slow pace. When the race started I had 9.75 miles. My girl friend ran with me the first mile and then went on her own to finish with a time 1:18:12. Congratulations to her. To me I just try keep the pace steady and my heart rate low. The first 5 miles I had 41 minutes. So I decided to try to do a negative split. But for my body I think it was too much I guess. I pushed hard but on mile 9 I was on survived mode it was the hardest part of the race that last mile. I just keep my concentration to finish strong. I arrived to the finish line in 1:22:08 and then keep running on a side to make sure I ran 20 miles. The total time for my 20.22 mile run was 2:49 so I was happy with that.

After my 2 races I was sore and today I am feeling it

But indeed it was a great training/race weekend in preparation for the NYC Marathon. This week a lot of running and the Baltimore ½ marathon in preparation for NYC marathon.

Have a great week

Weekend gone, Butt bump gone, Wall street crash

The weekend went by resting and relaxing. I clean (with help of my girl friend) a lot and got ready for the fall. I rest and waste a lot on the computer wondering about the next move in every aspect of my life. On Sunday I went to the Naylor beach Olympic triathlon and watch my girlfriend compete. Over there I met a fellow blogger the Rainmaker. We chatted about some interesting triathlons topics. He is cool guy and great athlete. The race site is beautiful and the organization great I recommend this race foe anybody who wants a late Olympic triathlon. My girl friend had a great being this her first Olympic race she finish with a great 2:53:56. Congratulations to her. My bump is almost gone so hopefully this week I am back to training to NYC marathon.

Wall street is in edge of a collapse may be we are back to the 30's. Will see stay tuned. My only question is if this crisis was in another country and ther government would try to do what the us government is trying to do it be called Socialism. And the US government will threat them about what ever they can. Is the US government get what they want. Who will tell them that they are socialist and who will threat them about being SOCIALISM !!!!!

Luray Olympic distance race

This weekend I am racing at Luray VA. This race is a tune up race for my ½ iron man distance in 3 weeks. So I have low expectations. The swim is on a lake and apparently it will be wetsuit because on mild temperature that hit the region the last few days. So if it wetsuit aloud I would like to swim under 30 minutes the 1500. If not a second lower than NJ tri. The bike is my weakest leg and the course is hilly and I am not a good climber either. So between 1:19 and 1:25 I’ll be extremely happy. The run is a 10 k. So just going faster than NJ will be ok. Less than 48 will be great.

My girl friend and I will be camping on the area so it should be a fun weekend.

As for the Olympics of course I am watching. As for the China’s gymnastic team they look young. But they beat the US period the better team won. Tonight the USA faces Bulgaria on NBC at 9. I f you look for a great volleyball game watch that game tonight.

Track & Field begins tomorrow and Phelps quest for perfection continues tonight.

Enjoy your weekend.

Weekend and Olympics

After a great training weekend and of course the Olympics the week has began with more training and work.

The weekend training consisted of Friday watch the Olympics opening ceremonies (recorded) in the trainer. At night I started watching the cycling competition. Saturday mourning I went for a 13 mile run the hang out with some friends from the DC tri club at a BBQ. Went home took a nap and swam 2800 mts at the pool. On Sunday watch the Olympics early and then went to bike ride to skyline drive and put 32 miles. This training was for my up coming race this weekend at the Luray Olympic distance tri. Its hilly on the bike and I am not good hill climber. After the climb I went to my girlfriend house and helped her mom do the front yard by cutting the butches. After this modified training I was ready for some pizza and beer. Yesterday I went for 2600 mts of swimming and short but hard 2 mile run. As for the rest of the week my training will be “lighter” as I get ready for Luray on Saturday.

The Olympics are amazing what Michael Phelps is doing it just out of this world, the relay, the records it just great. Enjoy it why it’s last. In other sports the cycling competition was good and was amazing how to watch the city of Beijing from the sky. The video quality of NBC it’s really good. Well that the only good thing bout them. Because the commentators are bad. The volleyball competition on both sexes is at high a level if you have the chance to watch it you should. The same for beach volleyball, soccer and basketball. Track & Field begins on Friday

Peace between Georgia and Russia.

Back on track

It has been a while since I write anything. After completing my face ½ iron distance event in a time of 6:11:11 at the spirit of Morgantown in West VA. The race was great I recommend to everyone. It is hard because of the hills in the bike and the run. I have to admit the bike course was harder than I expected and I wasn’t ready for it, specially the second loop, next time more hill training. The run was 2 loops of 6.5 mile. The first 5 miles were flat then the last mile and a ½ was really hilly. Overall I am happy with my performance because it was my first 1/2. On September 6th the second one will come and Ill be ready.

The next week I took 4 days off. I went back to the pool Friday and Saturday for 2000 meters and 2500 meter in each day. I bike 25 miles son Saturday too. Sunday I took off too because of stomach problems. On Monday I was training full force. On Wednesday I decide to register for the Montclair triathlon that it is a little more than a sprint but much less than an Olympic. Let see how its goes. Montclair will be the first triathlon of my girlfriend and we are both really excited.

After this Montclair I have on agenda NJ triathlon, Luray triathlon weekend Olympic and sprint Annapolis 10 miler, Patriots ½ ironman at Williamsburg VA, Baltimore ½ marathon and the closing the year and season New York City marathon that by the way training begins next week.

I might be getting the new I phone this weekend let see if I finally decide.

My best friend is in town for the weekend so I ll be having fun with him plus going to the dc United vs. Chivas from Mexico. So the weekend looks good.

I will keep you posted about how everything goes.

Training, Euro cup, Triathlon

Training this week has been really bad because I have been tire. This is because I haven’t recovered from my trip over the weekend to Puerto Rico and because on Wednesday I watch Argentina vs Brazil soccer game. Yesterday I went to bed around 8 read my book and passed out. Hopefully I can get some rest this weekend in order to be fully ready for my first ½ half iron men next weekend. My training this weekend will consist of biking today, Run the Baltimore 10 miler tomorrow, swim in the afternoon and bike 50 to 60 miles on Sunday easy.

In other stuff the Euro cup quarterfinals are in full force so If you so if you have a chance to watch the games on ABC and ESPN do IT. ON Saturday the Netherland goes against Russia and on Sunday the big game between Spain and Italy. Remember I picked the Netherlands to win it all. Hopefully Spain beat Italy.

In the triathlon world the ITU des monies world cup is this weekend. Watch the broadcast live at the ITU site. Also Ford Ironman USA Coeur d'Alene, Ironman Japan Triathlon, and Ironman France will be held. So there is a lot of action.

AVP volleyball is also around.

So be aware I ll be back with more.

Im back

Hopefully no more trips ....
I went this weekend to Puerto Rico and I only ran 12 miles on Friday and swim a mile on Sunday ..other than that I visited family and friends and went out. Training last week was great until the trip that I bearly did nothing. Yesterday I was suposed to bike but I was to tier and just went to bed really early. Today I will resume training the last stage in order for my first 1/2 iron man on Sunday the 29 th. I will keep you posted. I will try blog everyday from now on.

back with more later.

Yorktown pics

Huge weekend in triathlon

There are a lot of tri this weekend
The world Championship at Vancouver British Columbia
It will be broadcasted live on the ITU site www.triathlon.org
In the Iron man circuit the famous Eagle man 70.3 on MD
Plus the Yorktown sprint tri.

If you are a Futbol (Soccer) fan the Eurocup 2008 begins Saturday in Austria and Switzerland the games will be broadcasted live on the Espn network.
I like the Netherlands but be aware of the Chez Republic, they always play good at this tournament.



Enjoy your weekend.

Weight loss issues

So I am struggling to lose 6 pounds. Yes I stand 6’ 1”, 173 pounds 11.5 % body fat. Yes sound like crazy but by race time in a month and a ½ I need to be between 165 -167 and less than 10% body of fat. 9.5% body of fat will be ideally. But I don’t know why this time is harder for me to get over there. So I am cutting the sugars and being really careful on what I am eating or I should say extremely more than I am normally do.

Having talk about my weight issues training is intensifying for my big test the west VA ½ ironman. Yesterday I swam 2000 mts was suppose to be 3000 but I was helping my girl friend with the swim. She is having her firs triathlon on July.

Today I am doing some KM intervals at the track. 4:30 KM repeats. And I would try to spin for 30 minutes

Tomorrow Ill try to get up early to swim plus Boca plays in the quarter finals of the Liberatodres Cup. It is technically my resting day.


So will see how its goes.

Enjoy your week

Kinetic Sprint race report

Kinetic sprint report
Official results for me.
Swim= 15:59 T1 = 2:54 Bike = 56:20 T2= 3:35 Run= 24:38 Total time 1:43:24

When I wake up I and saw the weather I said to my self survival mode forget about times today. The race site looks really nice. The weather was a mess. Heavy rain all mourning until 15 minutes before the race. Race started at 10:00. I was in wave 2 so I started at 10:03. I started warming up around 9:45 but I felt that my swimming wasn’t there. So I gave my watch to my gril friend and said to her forget about time in anticipation of what was coming. I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be good.


Swim, I have swim in beaches with choppy conditions, I have surf on 10 foot waves, Surf Board leech have broke on those condition and I have survived that. I have swim for ½ hour in open water looking for wave spots. I have swim in dirty lagoons, polluted rivers, ponds, you name it. This was the hardest swim of my life. I couldn’t breath correctly, I didn’t find a rhythm was really bad I try everything and couldn’t breathe appropriately. When I came out of the water I look like I was drunk or wasted. I couldn’t manage to start running out of the water like I normally do I was exhausted.

Walking and running to T 1 I recover my air and took the wet suit off pretty quickly and took bike and went out.

The bike was a rolling hills course and with a lot rain. I knew I needed to be really cautious. I think I started cautious or slow so my time was that slow. By the time I tried to put some power I didn’t have it I try to follow people that pass me around mile 13 or 14 but I am honest I didn’t have it, No excuses. Not a great bike ride for me. The bike watch marked 19 so maybe I want exactly 18 as they said I got to t2 and have trouble putting the bike in. Then I had trouble putting my running shoes because, I decided to switch the night before from shoes and they don’t have the marvelous yanks on them. I had 1 of the slowest transition in my life.


I went out for the run it started with huge hill of about 800 meters or something like that and then it was flat. The run went ok I just try to enjoy the course with the rain. I started pushing at the end and enjoy the finish. Over all it was a great race well organized free food at the end I give them 9 out of 10. The weather was brutal and messy. So I congratulate any body who finished that race because of the extreme weather condition on the lake, bike and running course. Next stop the Duathlon national championship next weekend at Richmond VA.

off day "vamos United

So after a crazy Tuesday I'm back. On Tuesday I ran for 40 minutes with some accelerations. To day I went for 50 minutes bike ride, around 12 or 13 miles. I am getting for Sunday.

Tomorrow is off day because DC United plays and I am going to the game at Estadio RFK.

The POPE was in DC today. MY only comments are when the catholic church begins doing something to stop the hungryness and the death of kids in Africa,please let me know.