FELIZ AÑO NUEVO from Ecuador!

Which means (for the ones who don't know): Happy New Year!
I am having a fabulous time in my home time Cuenca. :)

Been running a few times and man, it's a lot harder here (at about 9,000 feet sea-level). My nephew became my running partner. We did a litle 4.5 mile race and he kicked my arse....lol
He trains track and field and he has a lot of potential.
We're doing a 10K race tomorrow morning and I bet he'll place in his age group.

I just wanna take this opportunity to wish you all a fantastic 2009 and best luck training and racing!

PC

Quick update

Training has been going real nice. Lifting has been good, spinning always is fun, picked up on running as well and I swam this week... it was the first time I went swimming since September (Cancun 70.3)!! Felt awesome though.

Can't believe I'm leaving to Ecuador a week from tomorrow... I can't hardly wait!

This weekend my wife and I are running a 5K race, it's called "Fun in the Freeway". They closed one of the highways here to fix it and before they re-open it (this Monday) they let them have a 5k race. Should be good times, and according to accuweather.com it'll be in high 40s.

Not a whole lot more to report at the moment.

PC

So I did it!

I am officially registered for the Ford Ironman Louisville - Aug. 30, 2009!

I thought a lot about it... initially I was gonna shoot for IM Tempe, AZ but it got sold out in minutes, and the only IM event in the US still accepting applications was Louisville so it was either that one or wait until 2010. I registered a little over a week ago and yesterday I received one of those Ironman Top Stories email (newsletter) stating: "Ford Ironman Louisville Sells Out for 2009. Ironman announces that Ford Ironman Louisville, taking place on August 30, 2009, has reached capacity.", so I did it right on time.

This is very exciting and scary at the same time... it's hard to believe that in 2007 when I did my very first tri (sprint) I used to hear, read and watch all about Ironman and used to think: "yeah, it'll be a long long time until I start thinking about that". Several sprint, about 5 oly and 2 Half Ironman races I signed for Ironman.

So obviously I started training right away. Started going to the gym and doing some weights to get some strength back, started taking spinning and also started running.

Before registering for IM Lou I thought I'd do some training in Ecuador, you know a little running... maybe going to the gym I used to go when I lived there, nothing too serious. Now, with this race 8 months away I need to train hard and often. It'll be interesting running in Cuenca (my home town) which is in the mountains at around 8,500 feet sea-level.

A little bit about Cuenca:

http://www.ecuador.us/cuenca.htm

Below is my possible race schedule for 2009:

DATE & EVENT

03/14 St. Patrick's Day Parade 5M Run (STL, MO)

04/18 GO! St. Louis Half Marathon (STL, MO)

05/? Race For Sight Triathlon Sprint (Columbia, MO)

05/17 Memphis in May Triathlon Oly (Memphis, TN)

06/06 Ultramax Triathlon Oly (Innsbrook, MO)

06/21 High Cliff Triathlon Half (Sherwood, WI)

07/? Joker's Wild Half Marathon (STL, MO)

07/? Tour de Kirkwood Sprint Triathlon (STL, MO)

07/? Ballwin Sprint Triathlon (STL, MO)

08/30 Ford Ironman Louisville (Louisville, KY)

Stay warm!

PC

NOTHING...

...I got nothing! Haven't been doing much ever since the Chicago marathon on Oct/12. I've only ran ONCE and have done spinning at the gym 3 times I think. In one hand it's kind of nice to take a break, and not only from swim/bike/run but healthy food and not drinking break. On the other hand I am starting to miss it and I feel like my body is like: "uh... what's wrong??" Been wanting to get out and do something but I guess since I am not officially training for any race I don't have that urge/motivation or that pre-set schedule...

It's been busy though. Work has been not only busy but hectic busy and more than anything scary. Thanks to the economy right now just like many other companies we have been having layoffs. Not good. Even though so far I'm ok but nobody is safe. Hopefully things will get better... and over soon!

One of my sisters (I have two older sisters) came to visit from Ecuador for about 10 days. She came with her husband and little baby girl (almost 2 yrs old). They came during a fun time, elections - even though I was DONE with the campaign ads and all - and Halloween, which I love. It's so much fun. We did the typical touristic stuff, went out to eat, shopping, etc. We had a fantastic time.

I just finished watching an awesome movie I'd like to recommend. It's called "Into the Wild" directed by Sean Penn and based on a true story. It was excellent! Definitely on my 20 top list.

My next big, or HUGE event is next month. On Dec 20 the familia and I are going to CUENCA, Ecuador for almost a month. I can't wait. My whole family is down there. It's going to be so great to spend the holidays there with them. I hardly can't wait. This year is extra especial because, number one: since I came to the States (9 yrs ago) I have never been back for Christmas. I've been back, in fact we try to make it down there every year but we usually go in the summer or any other month. And secondly, and in fact more importantly because dad has been sick and I want to go see him and spend time with him. Of course I want to see mom and everybody else too :)

ART is great. I like it a lot. Have done 3 sessions so far and Heather - the Chiro - wants me to go once a week. To be honest I don't know if it is helping because it only hurts when I run long distances at race pace which of course I haven't done. But I really like the way it feels.

Ok my friends, for those who live in the Midwest and northern areas, stay warm. For the rest, I hate you guys! Just kidding! Enjoy your off season, let the body recover and more than anything have fun!

PC

BofA Chicago Marathon.. a week later.

It's been way too long since I last wrote here.... I know, I'm a lazy bastardo. Yup, that's me... laziness at its best. I guess with the end of tri season, change of weather and my horrible 2nd marathon ever, the last thing I wanted to do was write about it.

I can avoid it for a while but not for-evah. On the other hand when I read some blogs (the ones listen on the right) I do want to say something too.

Ok, so the Chi mara. It simply went aweful. Ok, that's all I'm writing about it.

No, j/k... I know I didn't trained properly but I wasn't expecting getting an old injury back! Arrived in Chicago on Sat 10/11. Went to the Expo which was fantastic, they had a ton of really cool things big stands, every single running brand you can think of, games, prizes, Bart Yasso signing his book, etc. On Sun 10/12 at 7:15ish am I got to the starting line, got situated with the 8:45 pace group. It was really cool to be around so many people. We started right on time 8am and off we went. Absolutely loved the crowds, they were cheering pretty much the whole 26.2 miles.

I was going at about 9min/mile pace, very comfortable, feeling great and by mile 12 the outside of my right knee started to hurt. "Oh please not again!!!" I had the same problem last year in Memphis when I ran my 1st marathon, it was at mile 17/18.. had to walk and run for a while (2 miles) until the Aleve I took kicked in and finished running it (slower but I was able to run it). Back in April this year it happened again when I ran the GO St. Louis Half Marathon at mile 9. I remember crossing the finish line limping and in so much pain.

Going back to Chicago. I had some pain killers which I took but I am not sure if they didn't work as well as they did in Memphis but the pain never went away, maybe a little bit but not enough to keep running. My split 13.1 was 2hrs 1min and from then on it all went down hill. I walked, stopped to strech and tried to run but it was too painful. I finished in 2hrs 43min (Last year in Memphis I finished at 4hrs 2min)

On top of that, for the first time ever I got a black toenail. It's my big right toenail. I'm pretty sure it will fall off... great! At least this happened at the end of the season. I had planned to run a couple of local 5Ks and maybe a 10K but it all depends on the freaking nail. LOL

This past Friday I went to see a Chiropractor who does ART (Active Release Techniques). She adjusted my back and I am going back on Monday for my knees issues... I hear ART is a bit painful but very effective. I am willing to try it. Last year I did PT and I think it helped some but obviously it did not get fixed...

Hope everyone is enjoying the fall and getting ready for: (evil voice) H A L L O W E E N!!!

PC

IRONMAN 70.3 Cancun, Mexico pics - Sept 21, 2008

Back from Mex & CUN 70.3 RR

Can't believe I'm back... Mexico was so cool. Came back this past Sunday night and Mon had to go back to work... don't you hate that?

So we left STL on Fri the 19th, arrived in Cancun at around 3pm, there were quite a few other athletes arriving with their bike boxes, wheel bags and that. Then we went to the hotel (Fiesta Americana - the race host hotel). As soon as we got out of the airport we felt it... toasty weather!

Checked-in, got to the room, changed and after while the familia went to the pool to chill and I went to check out the Expo. Got my goodie bag and joined the fam at the pool. Later we had dinner, went back to the room and I put the bike together. Sat woke up at 7am, grabbed a shuttle bus the hotel/race had available for the racers that took us to the swim practice. Swam for about 25min and went back. Had breakfast and went for a ride to make sure the bike was ok, especially since tat was the first time I put the whole thing together by myself (wheels, handle bar, pedals, seat and derailleur). Bike felt great, went back, went to the pool for a while, ate, went to the race update meeting, took the bike to race site to leave it in TA, came back, ate and went to bed.

Woke up at 4:15am, got changed and left. Got to race site, set up TA and waited. We started right on time. My wave was at 7:07am. We started right on time. Saw the pros go first (Chris Legh , Oscar Galindez, LukeMcKenzie, Pip Taylor, Michellie Jones, etc)

1.2 mile swim: 37min 29sec 51:35/100meters - The swim went fine, started a little too conservative I think, but since it was my first time racing in the ocean I just wanted to take my time. It was crowded and rough too. Weather-wise great!

T1: s..l..o..w... 6min 22sec it was a long 300 - 350 meter run from the beach to TA plus, I had to stop to pee... hee hee. Oh well!

56 mile bike: 2hrs 52min 49sec 19.2mph avg - The bike went really good. Totally flat, a bit windy at times but in general really good. Agua, Perpetuem and Hammer gel worked great. This time I added 1 salt pill (Endurolytes) each hour and Nuun caps to the water. No problems there, all good! Weather-wise it felt pretty good... it even rained for a bit, nice breeze too.

T2: 2min 39sec BAU

(here comes the 'fun' part)
13.1 mile run: 2hrs 10min 17sec - The run simply SUCKED. Started pretty ok but by mile 5 the sun came out, and OMG I could feel it and badly. It was unbelievably hot and humid. I had to walk a ton. Later I learned it was in the 100s (around 112 and 100% humidity) ouch... very ouch! I walked during several water stations, and they had them every km (0.62 miles) and it almost felt not enough! But it was, it was just crazy, nasty and stupid hot. The volunteers were really nice. They had small bags of agua which you'd grab, bit a corner and drink it and/our pour it all over. They also had ice cubes, Gatorade, Power gels, oranges, bananas and Coke.

Crossed the line at 5hrs 51min 16sec. It was such a great feeling finishing and seeing the familia cheering... Finally I did a 70.3 (Kansas doesn't count!)
They had food, drinks, cold towels, the medal and finisher t-shirts. There was also a medical tent packed with athletes laying with a horrible and painful look in their faces with IVs hooked in their arms... thank God I wasn't one of them.

Had a couple of Gatorades and went to hang out with the fam. Later I went to get my stuff and we went back to the hotel to celebrate the mexican way... TEQUILA BABY! :) Ate a ton and drank some too..... that night I slept like a baby... like a drunk baby... lol

In other news... I am doing my last tri (sprint: 500yS/21MB/5MR) of the season this Sunday and sadly, like Sam, a fellow blogger said for us Midwesterners tri season is over now.
And on 10/11 I'm travelling to Chicago to run the Bank of America Marathon (formerly known as La Salle Marathon)

Andrea - I promise I am posting at least 5 pics soon! :)

EL FIN!

PC

6 more days...

...until Ironman 70.3 Cancun. My -almost- last tri of the season. I say almost because I MIGHT do one more, the St. Peters Rec-Plex Fall Tri on Oct 5th. It's a sprint one: 500yS/21MB/5MR. I did it last year and it's a nice way to end the season. But we'll see, kind of undecided yet.

I see some of the bloggers I read have been working on their 2009 race schedule, which makes me think I should as well, even though I have been thinking about 1 or 2 here and there. I will come up with a list soon.

I also see some bloggers write less and less....(including me) as the tri season ends I can tell triathletes are fading out. On one hand I feel I need a break, months and months of training feel heavy and our bodies are asking for some rest, some bad food and some beer :)

I miss waking up in the morning, looking outside and see daylight, you know?

On the other hand I know after a couple of weeks I will be missing the tri season big time.

My plan right now is to focus on Cancun, have a good race, enjoy it and have fun. We're staying in Mexico for about a week after the race... BUT... things are not over yet for me. I still have the Chicago Marathon... and it's only 3 weeks after 70.3! Wait, before you say how crazy (or dumb) this guy is for registering for these 2 races, let me explain how this happened. Last year, after my first full marathon (December 08 - Memphis, TN) I decided to do one marathon a year, so after Chicago opened registration I went ahead and registered. A few months later, the familia and I were looking to do a vacation, we wanted to go to some beach. Initially we thought FL, looked for prices, they were kind of high so I decided to check Mexico thinking 'what if'... well... I was right. I ended up finding cheaper flights. So in the process of buying the tix it hit me.

PC's brain: "Dude, there's a 70.3 in Cancun!!!" Checked with the wife and the cool, supportive and understanding wife she is, she said: "do it, might as well!" YES!!!!!!

Wait.... the tri is 3 weeks after Chicago... D'oh! But I thought, I could do Chicago any other year (I'm about 5 hrs drive away) and I don't know when I would be able to go to Cancun again, so I registered. And after months of training and some of those months I have been working with Coach, we (Coach and I) decided I still should and could do Chicago even though my priority is Cancun. Obviously I won't be PR'ing in Chicago, still it'll be great to run with so many people.

I've checking the weather for Cancun and man oh man, it's gonna be H O T !

For race day Sun Sept 21 it says: "Very humid with periods of clouds and sunshine. High 88 - Heat index: 105" Wow... it's gonna be interesting.

Good luck to all of you racing next weekend!

PC

Lake Saint Louis Oly triathlon race report and more...

This past weekend (Saturday) I raced LSL (Lake St. Louis) Oly tri.... and allow me to say it went GREAT.. better than expected.... this was supposed to be a B race but I ended up PR'ing :)

Fantastic weather.... in the low 70s.... excellent day for a tri - even though later in the day it got hot.... and humid.

The swim - 0.9 miles
Started feeling a bit tired.... I've been thinking about maybe all the 2008 (and part of 07) training has been building up and I was starting to get tired... and I realized it was more mental than physical. My last swim I felt tired.. heavy arms.. etc... I remember telling one of my friend's right before we started: "I feel like I'm not ready for this tri"
The siren went off and we started.... felt really good and very relaxed.... after probably the first 300 meters I found this guy and I drafted him.. almost the whole swim... AGAIN! I did the exact same thing the previous weekend at the Chicago Oly tri. Felt strong and towards the end I passed that guy and finished hard.
- Swim time: 26min 06sec Swim pace: 1:48/100m (2nd fastest swim in my AG)

T1 time: 1min 52sec

The bike - 24.8 miles
The bike went great. Felt awesome so I decided to hammer it.
Everything worked out perfect... this time the bike shoes on the pedals were fine.
- Bike time: 1hr 11min 38sec Avg MPH: 20.8! My fastest evah!! :)

T2 time: 1min 2sec

The run - 6.2 miles
I was a bit more tired than usual after the bike because I went faster than usual but I thought what the heck.... I grabbed water at each water station and kept going. Close to the finish line I heard all the people, a few people I knew started cheering and I sprinted to the finish line, which was up hill - ouch!
Run time: 47min 24sec Run pace: 7:38min/mile

Hats off to the organizers and race director, who I actually know. He did an amazing job. This year's race was even better than last's.

Total time: 2hrs 28min 2sec (My last year's time was 2hrs 44min)

AG: 7/34 - OA: 63/327

In other news... Today Coach had me doing an 1hr 15min run in HR zone 1!!!! The whole 1hr 15min! It was cra-zy! Never done it before.... she's so funny, she said: "Embarrassingly slow"
I came home after work got ready and started to pour... bad! Lightning and all. Decided to go to the gym and do it on a treadmill.... the first 30min I was at 15min/mile! LOL and my HR zone was still reaching zone 2, so I had to SLOW DOWN.... it was actually kind of funny. I did it, done.. finished... no mas!!!

(with announcer's voice): Aaaaaaaaand now.. iiiiiiiiit's time to think about IM 70.3!
18 days and counting!

PC

Back in STL

The Chicago race was pretty cool.

Left St. Louis on Fri afternoon - a lot later than expected - and arrived in Chicago after midnight. Went to our friend's place and straight to bed.. exhausted!

Sat am headed to the Expo at the Hilton in downtown Chicago. Awesome Expo, loved it, lots of cool stuff.

Gave my race number, got my bib, got the chip, confirmed it, got my goodie bag and swimming cap. Got body marked. They wrote my wave number on my calf: 46, and the lady told me to go check my wave time on a chart... my start time was 9:21AM! D'oh! Bummer... because they opened TA from 4:15AM until 5:45AM, meaning every single athlete needed to be there in between that time and then out of there.

Sun morning was nice, in the low 70s and no humidity, and it stayed like that pretty much the whole day.

I got there just a bit before 5AM, got all my stuff ready in the biggest transition area I have ever seen.... sadly I don't have any pics of it, I didn't have my cam with me... I know, what was I thinking?!?... sorry! Anyway, done with TA setup and I was like: uh... ok.. now what?!?!? Walked around, saw the sprinters start... walked some more... laid down on the grass, took a 15 min nap.... I tell ya.. it sucked! I was there just walking around for about 5 hrs!

The family got there about 30 min before my start, thank God because I had a bag on me - and even thought they had a check-in bag area, I felt better leaving all my stuff with them. Got ready got on line with my group.

We started right on time, and for the first time I drafted in the swim.... the whole swim! It was awesome! Got behind this girl who pretty much lead me until the end.

- 1,500 meters (.9 miles) Swim time: 26min 15sec

Got our of Lake Michigan and jogged a quarter of a mile to TA!!

Took wetsuit off, grabbed my stuff and took off.

- T1 time: 3min 30sec!!!

I made a very bad/dumb/stupid/rookie mistake on the bike. I left my shoes (on the pedals) but... with the velcro on! So after a few min I was pedaling I reached to get my feet in the shoes and I realized the velcro was on.... I of tried to opened them up but couldn't.. HAD TO STOP!! I was so mad... quite frustrating. Stopped, got off the bike, took the shoes off the pedals with my hands, got the shoes on, clipped them and took off again. Surprisingly enough I had a great ride, in fact my best race ride ever. I ended up with an average of 20.1 MPH, really fast for me considering the bike is my weakest leg. The bike course was pretty flat though, and bumpy too.

- 40Km (24.8 miles) Bike time: 1hr 13min 44sec

Got back to TA, got my running shoes, bib and visor and I was gone.

- T2 time: 2min 35sec

Needless to say my legs were tired for the run and I could tell... I obviously went too hard on the bike... still I felt ok and just ran!

- 10Km (6.2 miles) Run time: 48min 46sec (7:51min/mile)

AG: 64/499

OA: 470/4089

It was a fun race, great experience racing with that many athletes and all but don't know if I would go back. To me it was one of those 'had to do' kinda race.

This weekend I got Lake St. Louis Oly tri. Last year my time was 2hrs 44min. And even though this is not an A race for me I am still curious to see what time would I have.

PC

accenture Chicago Triathlon

Tomorrow I am heading to Chi-town for the accenture Chicago oly tri. Can't believe it's already here.. can't believe we are almost done with August!!

This race should be fun and interesting. I read there are over 8,500 athletes registered and probably about 6,500 or so will race. I've been wondering how TA is going to look... it's gonna be massive! I understand the Expo is huge as well and they have a ton of cool stuff... it's gonna be hard not to spend a lot of $$.

Even though it's an Oly distance race they have this feature called: "Accenture Triathlon Alert System" where you registered for free, provide a cell number and/or an email address and a message it's sent each time the registered athlete passes a mat to the cell or email you gave. I just registered so my familia knows where and when to look for me. It's a useful tool since there will be so many people racing.

The weather here in St. Louis has been rainy with temps of 70s - 80s... which is not bad... I would be happier with out the rain though. AccuWeather says this Sun will be in the 80s and no rain in Chicago, I hope it stays that way.

Good luck to the all athletes who are racing this weekend as well and if you are not racing, have fun training! :)

PC

Miscellaneous

Can't believe it's mid August already... 4 more months and 2008 is over! And after that I move to the 35 - 39 age group LOL.... funny how we think about our age like that now.

Aug 24 I have the 'accenture Chicago triatlhon'. And next month my second 70.3 in Cancun, Mexico... can't wait!

Training has been great. Last weekend I had an awesome work out. Sat I did the Ghisallo Scorcher 4 mile race. For the first time ever I felt pukey before the finish... the last .5 mile or so... weird. Time: 27min 34 sec.

Sun met with Coach and some people she knew to do a brick. It was 7 of us, we rode 80 miles and then we ran 2 miles. It was the perfect day for it.
I bought a new saddle for Diabla and tried it on Sun, loved it. It's the Blackwell ISM Adamo Racing/Tri Saddle, very cool!

I haven't been able to swim ever since my tri at Innsbrook (Aug 2). The following Tue after that race I had a mole taken out of my back and got 3 stitches. The doc told me to not swim for at least a week. This past was a week and today I'm going back to the pool for a 1,700 meter swim.
The mole results came back negative, it was just a normal mole.... The stitches need to come off next Tue.

Weather has been excellent. Low to mid 80s and very low % of humidity... Even though I was supposed to be training in the super hot and humid Midwest August weather in preparation for Ironman Cancun 70.3, oh well.

PC

Who Tri's Harder Quartermax - Priority B

I had a pretty good race last Saturday at the "Who Tri's Harder Quartermax" tri. Considering I almost didn't do it. Last Wed I was in bed at 7pm with a fever! Thu felt a bit better and had to go to work since I had some mandatory training I couldn't miss... I was considering not doing the tri by then. Fri I took off work and tried to rest as much as I can and ended up going to Innsbrook, MO (about 50 - 60 mile drive west from St. Louis)

Sat morning I got there at 6:30ish and did the BAU stuff.... set up TA, got body marked, got chip, etc.

Saw and talked to some STL Tri Club peeps and then got with a couple of friends and waited until a pre-race meeting they called right at the lake beach. The race director provided the last updates and we had a minute of silence for the guy who died last year during this triathlon. He had a heart attack during the swim and drawn. It was pretty weird to think it was only a year ago and we were about to get in the same lake....

The Octomaxers went first... guys wave, then ladies wave. Then it was our turn, Quartermaxers.... ladies and then guys, plus relay teams. Great mass start practice. Got kicked and pushed a bit but nothing major. Started pretty relaxed.. stretching and focusing on staying straight towards the buoys. Half way I felt really good so I decided to go a bit faster. Out of the lake and run up hill to TA. It was a long jog.... Grabbed bike and all and took off.... the ride went fine with no issues. Came back, and took off for the hilly run... I could feel the sun by then as well.... and the worst part was the horse flies..... they were everywhere and were chasing me!! Got bitten 5 - 8 times... bastards! - I know what you meant Sam when you ran at WyCo -

1000 yard swim: 16min 31sec - 1:39min/100y

T1: 1:39

28 mile bike: 1hr 21min 20sec - 19.9mph avg

T2: 1:29

6.5 mile run: 48min 42 sec - min/mile: 8:07

Total time: 2hrs 29min 43sec

AG: 7/25 - OA: 60/238

Had a great time and enjoyed it a ton!

Last week I sold my Fuji bike to this guy from work.... I liked my Fuji and it was the bike I start doing tris with but I was never fitted to it, so it was big for me. It was time to let go... I needed a different bike anyway to take the familia for rides (My wife and I pull the kiddos in our bikes). The Fuji's gone and yesterday I bought a hybrid: The Trek 7000

Here's a pic of me and my new addition: "Lola" :)

It's been real and it's been fun...

Actually, it's been real fun! :)

Ok, I know I've been slacking here but it's been super busy... familia, training, work, etc... but it's all good.

BALLWIN TRIATHLON (07/20) .-
Ok, so last week I did a sprint tri, very short one: 300 yard swim, 7.4 mile bike, and a 3 mile run. It went great, had a lot of fun and it was excellent transition practice. This was my first time running (in a tri race) with no socks. I was pretty shocked how smooth it went; I only got a tiny blister in the back of my left heel at the very end... and this was with no bodyglide, vaseline, nothing. Surprisingly enough I finished 4th in my age group... that was cool since I didn't really race it 100% Later, looking at the results I saw the guy who got third beat me by exactly 30sec... D'oh! Oh well... no biggie.
It was very hot and humid too!

Men 30 - 34
Place Name Bib No Age Overall Time
4 P CORDERO 203 34 22 53:38
(AG: 4/14 - OA: 26/248)


Yesterday afternoon I decided to learn and practice leaving the shoes on the pedals and putting them on and off while on the bike. I watched a couple of videos on youtube and iTunes (podcasts) about this and went out to try. I probably did it 25 - 30 times and it worked really well. So I decided to do it in today's race. Worked just fine!


TOUR de KIRKWOOD (07/27).-
Today's race was another sprint one, quite similar as the one I did last week. TdK was 400 yard swim, 12 mile bike, and 3 mile run. This tri is a non-competitive race, so basically you get timed but there is no awards; the race lets new athletes experience the thrill of a triathlon. Another cool thing about this tri is that they donate 100% of all registration fees to charities. This was my very first tri last year.

Had a really good race, everything went just as planned.... with the exception of me getting lost..... TWICE!! I'm an idiot. Ok, the first time one volunteer goes: "Right!" and the other one a few feet away from her waves like, go straight... so I went straight.... about a block and a half I was getting close to a highway, yeah so.. wrong way! Turned around and saw the guy getting in his car to go get me...LOL.... too funny! The second one, was after the 2nd and last loop. I go: "which way to transition area". Lady volunteer: "yeah, 2 loops". Me: (kept going). So I'm like, OMG! I need to get baaaaaaack!!! Turned around and found my way to TA. I know, I know... you're probably thinking: "dude, get familiar with the course!!" and you my friends, are absolutely right. I need to be better that and avoid stupid mistakes like those.

Crazy thing is, after all that: 3rd place! First time I place evah (and of course, it had to be in a non-competitive race.. so no awards...LOL) Still... I take 3rd proudly dammit!
Weather-wise: perfect!

Men 30 - 34
PL No Name Swim min/100yds Bike MPH Run min/m Total Time
3 43 CORDERO, P 6:00.4 1:30.1 43:22.2 16.6 21:58.2 7:19.4 1:11:20
(AG: 3/16 - OA: 14/224)


And this coming weekend I have my third olympic distance tri ever. It's the Ultramax: "Who Tri's Harder Quartermax Triathlon" in Innsbrook, MO. We'll see how that one goes.

PC

Not a whole lot to say...

... other than training has been hard work. Coach has been kicking my arse big time but I'm loving it.

Since I started running (a little over 2 years ago) and then with the tris (last year) I always trained by distance and by pace. Coach has me doing everything by time and heart rate zones. It's actually really interesting and I'm learning a lot about it. I've always read about HR zones and that in tri magazines and books but never really applied it to my training, until now. My swims are usually by distance and sometimes by time.

Another new thing is I don't or haven't gotten a day off since I started working with Coach, which is fine... so far! I guess she goes by my resting HR which I need to get every morning before I get out of bed... that lets her know my level of energy and fatigue.

It's been really awesome, she's fantastic. We've been emailing each other quite often and she checks on me and make sure things are going fine. We've talked on the phone a couple of times and we're actually having lunch tomorrow, I'm looking forward to that.

This weekend I have a SUPER short sprint tri: 300 yard S, 7.4 mile B and 3 mile R, never done a tri this short, it'll be good transition practice. I've been biking with no socks on thinking I'll start taking my shoes off in the bike and leave then clipped on the pedals but I haven't gotten there yet, one step at the time. Next weekend I have another sprint tri 400 yard S, 12 mile B, and 3 mile R.

Happy training to all!

PC

The Tri-phabet

It's so interesting how you learn all these new terms, acronyms, expressions, and slang. At least in my case, before I started training I had no idea what a few of these meant.

I bet you I can find 3 (for sure there are more) terms, acronyms, slang or expressions for every single letter of the alphabet. Let's see what we find in the Tri Lingo:


A - AHR, Aero bars, Age grouper

B - Bonk, Brick, BQ

C - Cadence, Carbo loading, CD

D - Drafting, Drill, DNF (hate this one!)

E - Endurance, Expo, Electrolytes

F - Fartlek, Finish line, Family

G - Goal, Glucose, Goggles

H - HIM, HR, Helmet

I - Intervals, IM, ITU

J - Jammers, Jersey, Junk miles

K - Kona, Kick board, Keel tube

L - Lactate threshold, Ladder, Lottery

M - Main set, Mdot, Mary

N - Negative split, Nutrition, Natatorium

O - Overpronate, Oly, Over training

P - Pace, Peak phase, PR

Q - Qualify, QR, Quick-release wheels

R - Racing flats, RR, Registration

S - Sprint distance, Split, Strides

T - Tempo-run, T1/T2, Taper

U - USAT, Ultegra, Ultra marathon

V - VO2 max, Volume, Vélo

W - Wave, Wetsuit, WU

X - Xterra, X tool, X-treme....lol.... sorry, I ran out of ideas for this letter.

Y - Yoga, Yards, Y tool

Z - Zone, Zipp, Zip Tie

..... the list is endless.

PC

Coach

Yup... PC has a Coach. I finally decided to go with one. Thought it'd be a great chance to learn a lot and obviously improve.

Went with the Training Bible (TB), they are one of the St. Louis Tri Club sponsors and I got a discount. Plus I met Coach way back in Feb or Mar when she came and gave a presentation on TB to the Club members.

Coach is really cool... she's done a few Ironman races (need to ask her exactly how many). She just did IM Idaho and did awesome. She's also done some HIM and she's placed in her age group in some. She's also a Level 1 USAT coach, Level 3 USA Cycling coach, certified personal trainer, and certified spinning instructor... and of course she is in the St. Louis area so that makes it easier. Pretty awesome eh?

I am very excited to be honest. This is going to help me get better and learn about training and racing. We started officially last Thu and Coach immediately gave me a work-out calendar for the next 2 weeks. She based on a few forms she gave me, I filled them out, then she made my training program. It looks harder than I thought - harder meaning longer work-outs.... longer distances, etc.... I guess harder to what I've been doing.

My 2 "A" races are getting close: accenture Chicago Triathlon (Olympic) is in less than 2 months and Ironman 70.3 Cancun is in less than 3 months...

PC

Ironman 70.3 Kansas

(This pic was taking while I was starting my 2nd loop)

I've been dreading writing my race report.... but here it goes:

Sunday, June 15 (Father's day) I woke up at 4:30am in Lawrence, KS and got ready to go to Clinton Lake. My friends from STL picked me up at the hotel and we drove the 25ish min ride.

Parked and walked to race site to get body marked and set up transition area.

Got my 995 number on both arms and legs and 34 on my right calf.

Went to see Diabla (my bike) and started getting all my stuff together.... I was a bit nervous, anxious and excited. Got it all set up and ready, grabbed my wetsuit and walked towards the lake. I missed the professionals start (6:45am) because I stopped at the bathroom... D'oh!

Put my wetsuit on and got in the water, swam for a bit and peed again... :)

The announcer went: 30 seconds... later: 15... then: 10.... and: 5... 4... 3... 2... (horn) the M 30-34 age group wearing PINK swimming caps started the 1.2 miles swim at 7:06am.

Swim was pretty good, no problems at all. Tried to draft a couple of times... but there were too many people so I did my own thing. - Swim time: 38min 14sec -

Got out of the lake, took goggles and PINK cap off and started taking wetsuit off while I jogged to transition area. A soon as I got there, turned my Garmin on, took wetsuit off, put socks, shoes, helmet, sunglasses and Garmin on and headed towards the bike exit area. - T1 time: 3min 30sec -

Started the HILLY 56 mile bike course.... but when I say hilly I mean H.I.L.L.Y. I'm just going to quote event co-director Ryan Robinson: "we did the elevation chart on it, (the bike course)it's actually one of the hilliest courses in North America that Ironman offers." Thank God I did some hill training because it paid off. The bike is my weakest leg but it went better than expected. I felt great the whole time, nutrition worked excellent. I trained with Perpetuem by Hammer Nutrition. It took me a bit to get used to the flavor/taste but on race day I had no problems. I set my Garmin to beep every 25 min and will have 1-2 sips each time. - Bike time: 3hrs 10min -

Returned to transition, got off Diabla and jogged to get my running stuff. Pretty easy and simple... got my shoes and visor on and off I went. - T2 time: 1min 45sec -

Started the 2 loop run and here's when the craziness started. I was still feeling pretty good.. a couple of minor aches here and there but nothing huge, normal stuff. Walked through the water stations... had either H2O or Gatorade and I poured some water on my head and back each time. They had sponges as well which I grabbed to cool down. By mile 8-9 the sky started to get grey and then almost black.... the wind started to pick up and then it was hard and strong.... and then lightning started. When I was in my second loop, running by transition and the finish area (around mile 11) suddenly three volunteers stood in front of us and started routing us towards the finish chute going: "sorry guys but the course has been closed due to bad weather"

It happened so fast.... totally unexpected..... I followed these two other guys and we crossed the finish line... I heard my name, this girl gave me a medal, this other guy gave me water and some other made me stop to get the chip.... I was like... What just happened?!??!? It took me a bit to realize it... I did not do 70.3? I saw my wife and kids coming towards me all happy and proud, taking pictures and that... I was still confused... in disbelieve..... I kept having this thought: OMG, I did not do 70.3! I had about 2 miles to go..... 2 more miles!!! Even now as I type I pause and think over and over again.... I did not do 70.3!! How disappointing eh?

I was standing there with my wife and kids.... looking at other athletes going through similar frustration as I was.... a girl grabbed the medal and threw it on the floor... another girl was crying, a guy started yelling at the volunteers.... it was aweful!

I thought: I am going to go and run 2 more miles! - but I didn't think it was fair on my family.. they have been waiting there for a little over 5 hrs and a half and it was going to start raining in any minute. I just told them: let me go grab my bike and let's go... went and took all my gear, started to rain and we walked to the car. While I walked to the car the "what if" thoughts kept coming to my head... I saw all these other athletes walking to the parking lot upset... sad... mad...

- Run time: 1hr 42min... NOT! that is with out the last 2 miles I still had to go. -

So my "official" posted time is: 5:36:36 I would add 18 minutes to that, so I guess I could say my time was (or could have been) 5 hours and 54 minutes. I think I would have done it under 6 hrs.

In a nutshell:

I know they did what they did for our own safety but then again, while I was leaving there were people still running.... go figure!

The Expo... eh! Small and unimpressive for an Ironman event.

The race t-shirt... a size - or two - bigger than what they truly were.... for $200+ registration fee? not impressed.

The volunteers were very nice, I personally did not have any problems. They were very supportive.

Would I go back to Lawrence again for this race? NO FREAKING WAY!

PC

Europe Trip - Part 3

- The pic above is the famous "Manneken Pis" in Brussels... cool eh? :)

Ok....so Sun I go back to from Escheden (Holland) to Brussels (Belgium), which took about 4 hrs by train. Arrived at Brussels South station and walked to the hotel I was staying (5 min walk). Grabbed my suitcase and went to a different hotel , the one my company was paying for. Then I basically worked from Mon to Fri... bunch of lunches and dinners - great food by the way - and I would go to bed at 11 - 12 at night... that plus the 7 hrs time difference killed me.

My plan was to hit the gym at the hotel, and when I asked where the gym was the receptionist tells me it was downstairs and it was 25 euros to use it.... A DAY!!!! That's about 40 bucks each time.... You kidding me??? I couldn't believe it. That whole week I only ran ONE day... 4.5 miles.... that was it! So in 10 days I only ran once!

Came back and had only 2 more weeks before race day, and speaking of coming back... the flight back was the worst flight ever. Brussels - Newark was fine, but Newark - St. Louis... OMG! It's way too long to type it plus just remembering it makes me mad.... in a nutshell: I was at Newark airport for 12 hours! Our flight kept getting delayed and after 12 hrs (and being in the airplane for 30 min and back to the pre-boarding area) they told us the flight was cancelled. Stayed in Newark and came back on Sun at 7am.... It was so tiring.

The next day (Monday) I went back to my training routine and followed my training plan (last week):

Mon: Weights (legs and biceps)

Tue: 2,400 meters swim

Wed: 1.5 hrs ride + 4 mile run brick

Thu: 5 mile run

Fri: 45 mile ride + 3 mile run brick

Sat: 30 min OWS + 50 mile (very windy) ride brick

Sun: 5 mile run

And this has been my last / taper week:

Mon: Off

Tue: easy 4 mile run

Wed: 45 min ride (Today - used the gym spinning bike)

Thu: will do 700 - 800 meters swim

Fri: Off

Sat: Off (I'll do an easy work out)

SUN: IRONMAN 70.3 KANSAS

So that's that.... can't believe it's time....

PC

Europe Trip - Part deux

....So Fri morning woke up a bit before 6am and got ready to go to the train station in Brussels to catch my 7:51am train to Amsterdam.

After about a 2 hrs train ride I arrived to Amsterdam Central Station. Isn't crazy? in 2 days I saw 3 countries! Here in the States you drive 2 hrs and you are still in the same county.... or maybe state... still though!

Anyway, walked to DeBijenkorf, a mall where a friend from Ecuador works at. He gave me a map and a metro pass for the day and suggested a few places to go see... Walked all over the place (I guess that could count as a work out.... I did walk a ton)

Amsterdam is a really great city, you go from the flower markets to Ann Frank house to the coffee shops to the canals to the Heineken brewery to the thousands of bikes to the famous red light district... so much to see in so little time.

I absolutely loved how everybody there rides their bikes everywhere.... no matter their age, their sex, their size.... girls all dressed up with high heels, older people, families even... saw this lady on a bike with one kid in the front, another one in the back, she had one hand on the handle bar and the other one was carrying a big painting!

After walking for a long long time.... did a boat-tour which takes you around the canals in the city all the way to the Amstel river and back. Really cool and interesting.

Went to bed at around 1am completely tired and sore!

Sat woke up, took the metro to the train station and grab the Escheden train to go visit my friend from Ecuador Alex, her husband and their little girl. I had a fantastic time with them, the baby is the cutest ever and they were super nice. Sun morning headed to the train station once again to return to Brussels. Still... no training at all....

To be continued...

Europe Trip - Part I

Wow.... I haven't written my blog for a while.... missed it!

Back from the trip... came back last Sun, June 1st. Training-wise things didn't go as expected.. AT ALL!, in fact... I might be f'ed!

Went there thinking I'll use the hotel gym... run in the city... swim at the hotel's pool.. etc. Yeah, none of that happened!!

Arrived in Brussels on Thu, May 22 - after a 7+ hrs flight. Went to the hotel, dropped luggage and drove to Cologne, Germany. 2 hrs drive and we were in another country (gotta love Europe). The city is really nice, it's the 4th most important city in Germany and it was bigger than I thought. The city has a very impressive cathedral, it took over 600 years to complete it! Crazy eh? Also, inside the Cathedral they have The Shrine of the Three Kings, where the Three Wise Men are buried.

Went back to Brussels on Thu night, got stuff ready for another trip the next day and went to bed at past 1am.... training? NADA

To be continued....

Active Recovery

Last week it was Active Recovery week which consisted of:

Mon: Off
Tue: 60 min easy swim
Wed: 60 min easy run
Thu: Weight training (shoulders and back)
Fri: Off
Sat: 60 min easy ride
Sun: Off

And this week I am supposed to start my Competitive Stage. 3 weeks of it and my last week will be taper... so yeah, 4 more weeks until my first 70.3 race.

It's only Monday and I'd have to say this is a crazy week already! I should have done a long swim today but unfortunately I couldn't make it, dammit! According to my training plan tomorrow should be 'day off' but I am going to run at lunch a 6.6 loop near work.

This Wed my two co-workers Ana, Kim and I are flying out from STL to Atlanta and then to Belgium. Our plane lands in Brussels at 8:05AM (local time) on Thu. There is 7 hrs time difference between STL (central time) and Brussels... hopefully it won't be too hard to adjust to it. We are taking a couple of days off to travel a bit and we'll be working from Mon 26 until Fri 29. Returning to the States on Sat the 31st.

The plan is, a friend from work in Brussels is picking us up at the airport, we'll go to the hotel and drop our luggage, get ready and head to Cologne, Germany for the day. Fri morning my friends are actually going to London. I decided to pass that trip and make different plans; I have been there several times since I lived in the UK (Bristol) a while back. I mean, the thought of going back to London was tempting but at the end I decided to go see other places I've never been to. So I am taking a train to Amsterdam... I'll stay there over night and Sat I'll go to Enschede which is still in the Netherlands, east of Amsterdam, right on the border with Germany. I have an old friend from Ecuador who lives there. She just had a baby so it'll be nice to see her, meet her husband and baby. Later, on Sat I'll be going back to Brussels and get ready for the work week... fun.... NOT!.... no, it should be cool. I am actually looking forward to it.

Going back to the 4 more week until my first 70.3 race... hmmm... when am I gonna be able to train?!?!?! I have no idea.... I am hoping I'll be able to somehow manage it. One thing's for sure... it's going to be hard as hell to follow my training plan the way I have all this time.
I'll keep you posted.

Anyway, like my speaking Russian friend Bob says: PAKA! (I guess I should say something in French or Dutch since I'll be going there... oh well.. next time maybe)

PC

Ironman Cancun 70.3

Ok, it's official. Today I registered: Ironman Cancun 70.3 - September 21st '08.

http://www.ironmancancun.com/

Should be nice... arriving to Cancun on Fri the 19th, racing on Sun the 21st and taking the following week to hang out at the beach, enjoy the sun, drink a Negra Modelo or two... and simply have a great time there.

Haven't even done my first HIM (Kansas 70.3 on June 15... crap, almost a month away) and I already go and register for another HIM... I know... crazy!

It's just so addictive!!! Gotta love it.

El Adicto :)

Belgium

So I was told at work I am going to Brussels at the end of this month.... awesome! Never been to that part of Europe. Even though it's work it should be good times. I am going with 2 of my co-workers. We leave on May 21st, taking a couple of days to travel a bit and work from Mon the 26th until Fri the 30th, flying back on Sat the 31st.

Of course I ask myself.... how is this going to affect my 5+ months of training for Ironman 70.3 Kansas? I mean, don't get me wrong, I am really excited about going to Europe but at the same time I really hope this won't mess the whole thing up.... I am coming back on the 31st, exactly 2 weeks before the event. Man... I have put a ton of time and money on this...

This is my last Endurance Stage week:

Mon: Day Off
Tue: Swim 2,350 meters
Wed: 6.6 mile run
Thu: Bike - 28 miles - hill repeats... lots of hills!
Fri: 13 mile run

Sat: My wife is doing her 2nd 5K and I'll be running with her. Later I'm scheduled to go to the pool and swim 3,000 meters.
Sun: Brick - 20 mile bike ride immediately followed by a 3 mile run, repeat 3 x.

Next week is Active Recovery week and then I have weeks 15 - 17 of Competitive Stage and I finish the training plan with week 18: Taper.

So I'll be in Europe for a week and a half of my Competitive Stage. Of course I am planning on doing as much as I can there... been looking on the internet for running routes and the hotel I am staying at has a nice pool where I can swim. The gym looks pretty decent as well. What I'm worried about is the bike, and yes... the bike is my weakest leg.... great! Hopefully I can find a gym where they have spinning plus whatever I can do at the hotel gym. It'll work out. It always does, right?

Happy Mother's Day to all the madres! :)

PC

Race for Sight Sprint Tri

Had a pretty good week...

Mon: Off
Tue: Swam 2,000 meters
Wed: Weight training - Triceps and Chest
Thu: Rode outside almost 20 miles then came home and rode for an hour on the trainer.
Fri: Did a 5 mile tempo run
Sat: Was supposed to do 3,500 meters but had to skip it
Sun: Race a sprint tri

Not too bad...

Ultramax Race for Sight Sprint Tri: 440 yard swim – 14 mile bike – 3 mile run

Saturday we drove to Columbia, MO at around noon. In the morning we finished packing and were getting ready to go. I had to take my dog Inti to a friend's house who kindly offered to -last minute - dog-sit. Left to Columbia, got there at around 2, checked in at the Stoney Creek Inn and went to get my packet at a local running store. After that we went back to the hotel, laid around for a bit and left at 6 to the Olive Garden restaurant to meet some guys from the St. Louis Triathlon Club. Ate there and in about an hour we left since we promised the girls we'll go to the pool. Swam for a bit , returned to our room and got ready for bed. Checked the weather for the next day and they said it is going to be between 40 - 45 degrees....brrr!

Woke up at 5am... got ready and left to the Missouri University Campus (Stankowski Field). Got there, head to the transition area and got on line for body marking... got my number 306 and went to a number designated area... got all set up and waited with a couple of people I knew. It was pretty chilly... wasn't really looking forward to the bike part all wet....

At 6:45 waked to the pool, a brand new competition olympic sized pool at MU, very nice. The elite group started at bit later than scheduled and then we all went in. We did the typical pool "snake-style". The run from the pool to the TA was pretty long.. stairs....a path.... and finally the turf, which was nice and soft. Got all my stuff and and went out.... nice and hilly 2 loop bike course. Thank God the sun was out and it felt pretty nice actually. Came back to the TA, changed shoes, took helmet off, grabbed a visor and ran the last 3 miles in the MU Campus.

Just got an email from Ultramax with the official results as I was typing this. Here's what I got:

- 440 yards swim: 8min 21sec
- T1: 1min 48sec
- 14 mile bike: 43min 46sec
- T2: 1min 49sec
- 3 mile run: 21min 07sec
- TOTAL TIME: 1:16:52

I REALLY need to work on my transitions... I was comparing my T times with other people and man, mine s.u.c.k. I take way too much time. Still... happy with my time!

41 days and counting for my first HIM....

PC

Decisions, decisions!

Just finished my Endurance Stage week 2 of 4. Here's what I got:

Mon: Day Off
Tue: 1,850 meters swim
Wed: Weight training - Legs and Biceps
Thu: 1 hr spinning class
Fri: 5 mile tempo run
Sat: Was supposed to do a 3,000 swim but did a 5k race instead (details below)
Sun: Was supposed to do a brick work out 1.5-2 hrs ride followed by a 4-5 mile run. I rode my trainer for 1.5 hrs.

Kinda stinks I had to modify it a bit but sometimes we gotta do it, right?

My wife decided she wanted to run her first 5K on Sat, the: March of Dimes 5k run/walk at Forest Park (St. Louis, MO). We went and ran it together. Me and my 2 daughters ran with her, I had them in my double running stroller. It ended up being a perfect day, awesome weather, lots of people, a well organized race and a great cause. My wife did fantastic, she handled the couple of hills the course had really well, never stopped to walk (not that walking is a bad thing) and crossed the finish line at 30min 40secs! We were so happy and proud of her. As you can imagine she's hooked and the first thing she did when we got back home was get online to look for her next race. We're doing the Race for Miracles 5K in 2 more weeks :)

I know I could have gone to the gym after the race but we had a ton of things to do before 5, when we had a gathering to attend to. We were invited over to our friends' house, The Olmedos for some food, drinks and good company. We celebrated Byron's 35th birthday.

And today we had to go to Illinois to visit some of my wife's family. So instead of doing the brick my training plan had, I quickly installed my CycleOps Fluid 2 Trainer and rode it for 1.5 hrs. I had the trainer for about a week and a half all boxed up since I've been able to ride outside. I liked it and it was a really good work out.

We (the familia) will be going to Cancun, Mexico in Sept. There is a big tri there the weekend we arrive, the Ironman Cancun 70.3 and I am pretty sure I'll do it (or at least I want to). Only thing I'm trying to figure out is the whole bike transportation deal. Thing is, we arrive in Cancun on Fri.... so that part is pretty straight forward, I'll rent a box at my local bike shop, pay the fee for the extra big luggage and take it with me. Now here comes the crappy part... after the race we are staying in Cancun until Wed. and then we are flying from Cancun to a city called Puebla; one of my best friends, Mau who is from Puebla, he is meeting us in Cancun to show us around and hang out with him and his girlfriend. We are going to Puebla to visit his familia and to see the city. The following weekend we are driving from Puebla to Mexico City and flying out from Mexico City back to St. Louis.
I was thinking after the HIM I could ship the bike back to St. Louis (to the local bike shop... at the end there is where I bought the bike and rented the box, they could have the bike put together when I return), so I emailed the Ironman Cancun 70.3 organizers to ask what they suggest I should do, and this guy replied saying that unfortunately they don't have any type of bike shipping companies in Mexico and suggested I should use either DHL, UPS or Fedex.... but man, I think that will cost me mucho dinero... So... should I carry the bike with me the whole trip? how much would that be? decisions, decisions!! I checked a couple of bike shipping websites but none work with Mexico.... I'll see what I can do.

Next weekend I have my first tri of the season.. YES!! and in less than 2 months I have the Kansas HIM... it's approaching fast.

Keep up the hard training everyone, it's finally time to be outside!
Be safe out in the roads.
Later,

PC

Endurance Stage

This past Monday I started my endurance stage training. Here's what I have done so far:

Mon: weight training (shoulders and back)
Tue: 2,000 meter swim
Wed: Rode 32 miles... ON THE NEW BIKE!*
Thu: Ran 5 miles

And for the weekend:

Fri: Day Off
Sat: Swim 2,100 meters and Bike 35 - 40 miles
Sun: Brick 15 mile bike ride immediately followed by a 2 mile run - repeat 3 x

So it's definitely increasing time, longer rides, harder work outs, but it feels good! (so far) The Kansas 70.3 Ironman is in only 58 days!

*So I was finally able to get the new bike out for a ride.... Bought it last Thu and was planning on riding during the weekend but guess what? we had snow this past weekend! -no comment-
But yesterday I went out with a friend from work and we got 32 miles in. It was windy but that was the last thing I was thinking about... I absolute love the bike... it feels just right, it's comfortable.... smooth... fast.... great stuff!

I have my first tri of the year in about 2 weeks, May 4th. It's the Merrill Lynch Race For Sight Triathlon in Columbia, MO. 440 yard swim – 14 mile bike – 3 mile run
Can't wait!

Cheers,
P

Finally!!!

It's been a while but I finally got my new tri bike. Say hello to Patricio's Quintana Roo Seduza:




I still don't have a name for 'her' :) I do have a couple we (the familia) have talked about: Seduza Meduza, Marge, Ruby Red Royal Rider II.... but can't decide yet, so please help. Also, if you have any suggestions, go right ahead!

See, the thing is initially I was going to buy the Cervelo P2C. Over a month ago (03/04) I went to one of the local bike shops in St Louis and left paying half of the full price for the Cervelo. They told me they will need to order it and that it'll take 1 - 2 weeks. Didn't hear from them after 2 weeks so I called.... they said, Cervelo hasn't shipped it but it'll be 1 - 2 weeks. Nobody called me after 2 weeks. Called again and they said Cervelo is taking forever.. that hopefully it will be 1 - 2 weeks. 2 weeks later the St. Louis Tri Club had its meeting at this bike shop. Talked to the guys there and guess what they said? yup, you guessed it.... 1 - 2 more weeks and the bike should be there. O M G ! ! !

Last weekend after I went to the expo for the GO! STL race, I decided to stop at a different local bike shop. Went in and told them the whole story. They said Cervelo is really bad with this type of problems and that is why they dropped them and don't carry Cervelo anymore. They have some QRs, Treks, Litespeeds among others. I saw the QR Seduza.... she looked at me back and it was....love at first sight?? lol hmmm.. well, not sure what it was but I sure liked it.

Anyway, so I told them I'll call the other shop to cancel my order. When I called they told me the bike's been shipped on Monday (this past Mon), I asked how long is it going to take.... they said, the guy who gets the emails with the tracking numbers wasn't there at that moment. I was supposed to get a call from that guy so I can get the tracking number.... never got the freaking call!
I understand Cervelo is bad with shipping bikes... but the bike shop NEVER called me.... if I wouldn't have called, I bet you anything they wouldn't have called me. They never tried to work with me suggesting a different bike (they carry other brands too, i.e. Felt)... nothing, I got nothing. So as a customer I feel like they didn't give a sh*t! Simply as that. And I mean, it's not like I was buying a pair of socks...I mean c'mon, I'm spending a lot money here. That's why I cancelled... don't wanna do business with them.. don't wanna give them my business... and today, this afternoon I bought the QR from my good friends at the other shop: Maplewood Bicycle. Went, got fitted and another happy customer!

I can't wait to get on the QR and ride it.... my first tri (sprint) is in less than a month and the HIM is in about 2 months!!! Can't believe how close it is.

Ok, you must be tired reading all this crap... but it was crap man..... Well, I won't bore you any more, I just needed to vent.

Pace out,

PC

13.1 Race Report

Sun 04/06.- Woke up at 5am, got ready, my friend Elliot picked me up at 5:40am and off we went to downtown St. Louis for the GO! St. Louis race. Got there at around 6:40am, parked at the Union Station parking lot, stopped at the bathroom and literally ran towards the starting line.

I was supposed to meet another friend, Steve, since we had planned to run it under 1 hour 40 minutes. We agreed to meet where the 3:20 pacer will be... I made it there and the race started so I couldn't look for him. Elliot stayed in the back.

The race started right at 7am. Felt absolutely amazing... the weather couldn't be better (upper 40s and sunny) and everything seem to be just right.

Here's my split times (mile/pace)

Mile Pace
1 7:36
2 7:29
3 7:28
4 7:12
5 7:31
6 7:40
7 7:33
8 7:43
9 7:34
10 7:53
11 7:46
12 8:26 -WTF!
13 8:40
14 1:49

Ok... so you're probably thinking: 'nice sprint at the end!'.... I was so mad!!!
As you can see I was doing pretty good towards my under 1:40 goal, I remember checking my Garmin at mile 9 and my avg. pace was 7:34... I though: Great, if I pick up at 11.5ish I'll do awesome.
But right after that, the side of my right knee started to hurt and a few minutes later so did the left one - this is an old injury I developed a little over a year ago. They said I have lateral hamstring tendonitis. Did PT and all, a bunch of hamstring stretching. Stretched religious everyday for a while and then less and less. The freaking thing came back last December while I was running my first marathon in Memphis, TN.... and... it came back again today. So at mile 12 I slowed down and at mile 13 I was even slower... I was pretty disappointed because I was so close but my legs wouldn't go fast no matter how hard I tried. I was running/limping, probably looking like an 88 year old person... I guess the way I ran plus my face could tell it all.... the spectators will go: 'C'mon man, you can finish, it's just a cramp' - 'You're almost there, shake it off!' and I even heard: 'that guy's in serious pain'... and I was!

Crossed the finish line, got my medal, a space blanket, some agua and walked towards the volunteers who were getting the chip of the shoes. Official chip time: 1:42:20.
Stretched a little bit while I waited for my friend and later we came back home.
A recovery drink/smoothie, a couple of fish oil pills, 2 ibuprofens and a nap later I went for a walk with the familia. Then ate and now here I am writing this.

Gonna try to get a 30 min massage tomorrow. It's my rest day too. Plus my training plan has me on an active rest week, perfect timing!

That's all folks!

PC

Almost a year ago...

After last weekend's nasty weather I got pretty sick... stomach bug... yuck! Was out of commission for a couple of days.

Tue I ran 5 miles; Wed was weight training: legs and biceps; yesterday I did the 1 hour spinning class at the gym, then stayed spinning for an extra 25 minutes. Today I swam at the gym (1,500 meters).
Tomorrow I am hoping I'll be able to ride but I don't know if the weather will allow. According to weather.com we'll have temperatures in the low 30s and maybe some rain.
Sunday I have a local 5K race... it'll be cold... great!

My bike.... can't believe I still don't have it! I bought it on March 2!! They told me they need to order it and that it usually takes 1 - 2 weeks. It's been almost a month. Was at the shop on Wed night and they said it's going to be shipped it from Canada in 1 or 2 weeks... hmmm... I've heard that before... we'll see. Hopefully it'll be here soon, can't wait!!

I did get my wetsuit... LOVE IT! It feels just right....perfect! Now I need to find a lake where I can do a few swim practices. I also need to practice taking it off; it'll be interesting doing that during T1.

Next weekend it's my GO! St. Louis Half Marathon... I can't believe it's already here. Last year this was my very first half marathon and big race. It was called Spirit of St. Louis; they changed the name this year. I can remember the whole preparation for it. I did it with Team in Training. Trained and ran it in memory of my mother-in-law Lloyd. I also remember my goal was to run it under 2 hours and I crossed the finish line at 1 hour and 57 minutes. It was such an amazing feeling finishing it, very emotional. I wore a pin with Lloyd’s picture on it; she was with me the whole time. Seeing my wife, my two beautiful girls and my father-in-law at the end cheering for me was just incredible... wow....

I will never forget that first race. Here’s a pic of that day:


This year my goal is to beat my last time (1:41 on Jan 26), so I'm hoping to finish it under 1:40. It'll be hard but I'll do my best. At this point this race is not my A race anyway.... The race I'm focused on and the one I'm training for is in 78 days. It's my first Half Ironman (IRONMAN 70.3 Kansas)... Can't believe I'm doing a half Ironman.... who would have thought?! Would I dare to say maybe I'll try a full Ironman in 2009???? Wait a minute! See? That’s my problem.. I get all excited and start thinking way ahead. Let's go through this race in Kansas first and go from there.

Hope everybody's training hard and smart.
Later,

PC

Where did this come from?!?!

Is that crazy or what? I just took these pictures like 5 min ago.

It snowed in the morning too but after an hour or so it stopped. I had planned on going for a ride with my fiend Shawn. Woke up, walked towards our deck to let my dog Inti out and I was like.. "what the!"

It wasn't expected at all!

Needless to say there was no riding... I was going to hit the gym but I haven't been feeling that great today so I am taking ANOTHER day off. Oh well.. it'll be good for my body to recover and start again.

Tomorrow we are having high of mid 50s.... we'll see.

Anyway, just wanted to share this crazy snowy day...

P

Over training?

Hmmm... I think I might be over training.... dang! I have been so tired, exhausted really. I guess I got too excited about training and waiting racing season too impatiently with out paying attention to the 'too much'. Even though I have been taking a day off, and sometimes 2, on the other hand there were days I was doing 2 or even 3 work outs... I know.... probably a bit too much. Worse part is I should know better, like all the books, videos, forums, etc say: 'you body will let you know'.... and it did. At least I am not injured... simply feel done! So today and tomorrow will be rest days. Gonna try to run 12 - 13 miles on Sat and hopefully I'll be able to ride on Sun.

Speaking of riding... I still haven't gotten the super tri bike... Bought it at a local bike/tri store called Big Shark, they told me it'll be a couple of weeks until they order it and put it together. If I don't hear from them by next week I'll call.

In the meantime I went ahead and bought some pedals. The Shimano PD-5610:

Pretty cool eh? :)

I also bought a wetsuit, the Quintana Roo Ultrafull Wetsuit - 2008, got the 'Special Deal: Wetsuit Maintenance Kit'. Only thing is the day after I placed the order I got an email from them saying it's back ordered and it'll be 7 - 10 business days. I really hope it fits fine, so I can take it to the pool and try it out... even though I wonder if taking it to the pool the chlorine (and other chemicals) will hurt the material... hmmm.. I'll post that question in the Runnersworld.com tri forum. If you know, please let me know.

Weather.... (course have to talk a bit about it) It's been raining a whole lot, actually it's been pretty bad especially in the south of Missouri. President Bush declared a major disaster in the State, seventy counties including the city of St. Louis are affected by floods... scary stuff! (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/missouri) We have "Flood Warning" which is in effect until tomorrow I believe.

Hope you all are doing good and training and life is good... or better yet: great! :)

And have a wonderful Spring Season!

Cheers,

PC

It's Spring time!

Yup... it's finally here (not officially but, pretty much).... the pool at the gym and spinning classes are getting more crowded. I see more people running and riding outside. The athletes are back in business.... it's racing time!!!

Can't wait to get my new bike and take it out... but I haven't heard from the store. They are putting it together and will let me know when it's ready. So what kind of bike is it? Do I have a name for her? (it's a her, yes)... soon my friends... soon!!!

So finally we have great running weather (50s - 60s)... but of course, tomorrow when I have a race (St. Pat's 5 mile race) the weather is going to be pretty bad. Between 35 - 40 and rain... oh well... it could be worse.

Sunday a friend and I are planning on doing a 40ish mile ride, no rain is expected. Looking forward to it.

Last but not least, there is a tiny chance we (the familia) might go to Cancun in Sept. and yes Dave, if I do I will definitely do the Half Ironman, I know you are training for it. Hope it happens, we'll see.

Ok amigos..... El Fin :)

P

Brick

So yesterday I did weight training (triceps and chest) during my lunch hour and at night I ran 6.2 on the treadmill at the gym, not too bad. The compression sleeves have helped a ton with the shin-splints, thank God!

Today I did 1 hour spinning class and right after that I got on the treadmill and ran 3 miles. Initially I was going to either swim or do weight training (shoulders and back) but at the last minute I changed my mind. I'm glad I did, it felt like a really good work out. I am going to incorporate a brick work out every other week and see how that goes.

So...... I am getting a tri bike after all. Let me tell ya, I have the best wife everrrr! :) I'll give more details on the bike soon.... stay tuned!

Can't believe tomorrow is Friday already, sweet! The weekend should be an easy one. Sunday is my wife's birthday; I think we're going somewhere for lunch. She'll decide where, it's her day.

OMG get this, today I went to register my 5 yr old in Kindergarten!! My baby.... wow... can't believe it. I'm excited for her though, she's looking forward to it. It'll be good for her. It's just kind of weird... in a good way weird.

Later!

PC

Weather...

Yup, I know... haven't been written.... I've been a bit lazy and busy... busy actually! :)

So last week I ran Thursday, Friday and on Saturday I did my long run (14 miles) on a great sunny in the 60s day - for a change. In the afternoon my wife and I went for a 3.1 run in preparation for her 5K race on 03/30, she did great!
Sunday I took my bike out for the first time this year. Did a 17 miler around the area and man, it was WIN-DY! Still felt great to be out there; even though it was really windy the temperature was in the mid 70s.... you can't beat that. You should have seen all the people out: walkers, runners, bikers... everybody enjoying the nice weather.... but not for long...

Here comes the 'funny' thing. After a great mid 70s day yesterday, today the temperature drops down about 40 degrees! I mean, in a matter of hours... and now we have a winter storm warning. We're getting snow over night and we might have up to 10 inches of snow! Crap!!!

So back to indoor working out (at least for me) Today it was 1 hour spinning class... why would the weather be such a teaser??
I am fed up with this.... so, so ready for warm, or at least less cold weather.
I know I talk a lot about the weather but with all this drastic changes and all, wouldn't you too? oh well... enough of that.

I had a good time reading other bloggers’ 7 random/weird facts. I thought it was a cool way to find out more about them... thank you guys for playing!

Have a great week!

PC

Training

Two more days and adios February.... wow, time is sure flying. Spring is just around the corner...finally! that means time to run and ride and do any outdoor activity (at least with out freezing your butt off)

Training has been going pretty good. Last weekend I ran 11.20 miles on Sunday on a not very nice and/or even terrain. There was snow and it was melting, so it was splashy, wet and cold. I went out shooting for a 15 miler but I just couldn't take it anymore and went back home. Still 11 was good.

Monday had spinning at night and then swam 2,100 meters... nice work out. Yesterday I did weight training: triceps and chest. It's interesting how your body works. Before I used to lift 4 - 5 times a week, now I am down to 1 - 2 times every other week! Definitely had to go down on weight.. which is fine, because at this point I'm not really focusing on building muscle but endurance.

Today I took off. I just got back from our St. Louis Triathlon Club monthly meeting. This is my first year as a member. The meetings are pretty cool.... you meet a lot of other triathletes, from beginner to elite guys. The Club people bring water, food and snacks and we talk about up coming races, training sessions and they usually have a guest speaker. Today, there was a coach from Training Bible (which is one of the Club's sponsors) who gave information about their services and up coming events and clinics. Interesting stuff.

Tomorrow I'm planning to do a 5 miler run at lunch and spinning class at night. Friday a 6.2 run again at lunch and probably a 2,000 meter swim at night. The plan for the weekend is Sat 15 mile run and Sun bike ride!! If weather.com is right (crossing fingers) this weekend is going to be nice, Sat high of 50 and Sun high of 59! So, time to get the bike and go out. Can't wait!

Cheers,

PC

The Tagging Game...

I got tagged by 2 of the bloggers I enjoy:
Tracie http://traciestriadventures.blogspot.com/
And, Monica http://trainingtotri.blogspot.com/
Thanks? :Þ

So for the ones who don't know when you get tagged you are suppose to write 7 weird/random things about you and share with other bloggers. Let's see...

1.- A lot of times people spell my name PatrciA or even worse, on the phone and after they hear my voice they go: hello PatriciA.... I swear I have a masculine voice! (by the way it's pronounced like: pah-tree-syo

2.- Speaking of my name... Patrick in English. Patricio is a Roman (Patricius) name and it means "nobleman" in Latin.

3.- In 1993 I met Brazilian: Pelé (Edson Arantes Do Nascimento), the greatest soccer in the history of history.

4.- I have obvserved an autopsy.

5.- In 91 I was in a bad car accident and broke two lower back/lumbar vertebrae (the wings of them aka: transverse process)

6.- My grandfather’s grandfather was the president of Ecuador (South America)

7.- You ready for this one?? I have eaten guinea-pig. Yup, you heard it, or read it well.. guinea-pig. In Ecuador they are called 'cuy' and they are certainly not a pet. In fact they are raised in farms just as cows, pigs and chickens. What does cuy taste like? it's very good actually. If you have ever tried rabbit let me tell you guinea-pig is kind of similar but better. You're probably thinking, THAT is a weird fact..... I see it more as a cultural difference, I mean some people here eat squirrels?? hmmm...

The lucky ones I am tagging are:

- Ellie http://runningandserendipity.blogspot.com/
- Runnergirl http://13point1milejourney.blogspot.com/
- Sarah http://pbj.typepad.com/
- Donald: http://www.runningandrambling.com/
- Sara: http://tri-nyc.blogspot.com/
- Dave: http://tri4freedom.blogspot.com/
- Carrie: http://tritobefunny.blogspot.com/

The rules of the game:

# Link to the person who tagged you.
# Post the rules on your blog.
# Share seven random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
# Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
# Leave a comment on their blogs so that they know they have been tagged.

Thanks and enjoy!!

PC

Better weather this weekend?

The winter storm was pretty bad. A lot of people worked from home (including myself) on Thursday... The roads were bad, I watched on the news and heard on the radio there were a lot of accidents. It's crazy how people go wild with the snow here... I mean, we get snow every year, people should know hot to drive in it... it's not like it only snows once every 2 - 3 years!

Thursday night I was supposed to go see "Spirit of the Marathon" and unfortunately that never happened. I can't believe this was the second time they were showing it and I missed.... bummer! I wish they will show it like any other movie so I could go see it whenever. I wonder when the DVD is coming out. I went to the gym instead and did 1 hour spinning class.

Yesterday it snowed in the morning until almost lunch time. It was also my rest day. After work Rachael (my wife) and I went to Fleet Feet to get her running shoes. The winner: Mizuno Wave Creation 9. They are pretty cool looking and she loved the way they felt. She also tried the Asics Cumulus 9 (which are the ones I wear and love) and the Saucony, I think they were the Trigon 5s... not so sure to be honest.

This morning we went to the gym and she tried them on the treadmill and apparently they worked. Even though she still had some shin-splint pain, it was less. I think the rest and of course the new shoes helped. We'll see how it goes.
I took the 1 hour spinning class. Carrie, the teacher: rocks! I personally think she is the best out of the 4 instructors... or are there 5? either way, love taking Carrie's class.

This afternoon I'm going to a bike store to get cleats for my bike shoes. I bought a pair of tri bike shoes a couple of months ago and haven't wore them yet, needed the cleats. I have another pair so it wasn't that I needed them right away but I do want to try the new shoes. Hopefully I'll have them ready for Monday for the next spinning class.

The weather is getting better this weekend. It's 37 right now and the sun is out, the snow is melting away and I hope most of it is gone by tomorrow morning when I'm suppose to do a 12 - 15 miler.

That's all folks!

P