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