Blow the middle ground

A long boring day in Auckland, made the decision not to go training in the morning, as the weather what $hit. That bought me some time to finish with all the chores and the study... and finally get to blog what I'd though since the race in Welli.
A couple of days after the race it was the Abu Dabi Tri, a different race format with a gruelling 200km bike ride. That kept me thinking about how sometimes we are constrained in our training in order to have a great race in a set distance. I then investigated a bit about fun tri distances and found about some crazy races out there with overly long swims, or bikes or runs, something we don't have a lot here in NZ.

Anyway, what I thought is that over the off season, besides doing all those stupid miles sessions that I like so much, it is a good idea to lift the ceiling of what can be achieved in any of the three disciplines. Why not going for an all out swim PB? why not going for a 50km run? why not going for a 12secs 100m sprint? or up the biggest hill in the town or the region? or the country? there is many sporting ventures that we think we can't do but yet we can. Say, for example, our average pace... whatever that number it is, it is the result of the middle ground between our fastest pace and the slower pace. My theory is, that we don't loose much by lifting that fastest pace a notch for one time.
What happens if we realize that given we did it for once, we try again? and again? I guess that sometimes we have to throw everything out the window, find out a whole new world and move the middle ground up, or down, but shake it for the sake of it and put some spice to the training.

I've made my objective this season to have a few of those epic fun times. Don't have them mapped yet, but I'll make sure it's noted.

Tomorrow is the last race of the season, National Aquathlon Champs. The weather outlook is a bit dim, and we may not have great numbers, but there's still a bit of speed left on the old legs to fire through the race. A full report due tomorrow nite.

Enjoy your weekend

The bucket list

Last weekend Richard Usher took the Coast to Coast in the South island of New Zealand. A training buddy of our, Julia, was the third female vet across the line in over 15 hours 50 min of racing… WOW!

As we got more and more involved in the endurance sports thing, more and more events start to get into our bucket list. I am not a purist in any kind, and therefore my bucket list is varied and spread along the globe, the order is arbitrary, there’s no preference, only the idea of doing the event some time.

1 – Race a Marathon swim: It was on my plans for mid January this year and it didn’t pan out. I may try to get into the event next year. The idea of a 10km plus open water swim is appealing in many senses, the main one is to investigate my endurance and nutrition tactics for such a long event.

2 –IMNZ: if all goes to plan, this will be a tick in the box next year. I never got the IM bug, but the event is so well run and set in such a nice location that it would be a shame not to do it. Besides, IM training will help me step up the bike legs a notch.

3 – Triathlon de La Paz, Entre Rios, Argentina: this is the most famous event in my homeland. It’s been going on for close to 30 years, and the atmosphere is incredible (I’ve only watched videos, but I can tell you wanna be there)

4 – Do the Coast to Coast one day race: This iconic kiwi multisport race is the dream of many multisporters and most people that has done it loves it. I have never raced a multisport race involving kayak or mountain running, but I’d like to think I can manage to do this race one day. The downside is the cost of the C2C campaign.

5 – race a long distance trail run in NZ and Argentina on the same year: the K42 series is a website I started checking more and more often, again, this may take time and patience.

6 – Wellington to Auckland bike tour: or any other 7 to 10 days tour for amateurs: I loved doing a 3 day tour, but I’d love to go further with a good group of mates.


Speaking of bucket lists. What about trying to become the oldest swimmer swim between the south and north islands of new Zealand? … my mate Geoff is doing just that, go and check his blog and give him a few words of support, he’s on a waiting list and if the weather holds he’ll be dipping in the cook straight waters soon.
http://geoffswim.blogspot.com/

Race day today, so I shall have some news tomorrow.

My Favourite metrics

My favourite quote is from Galileo Galiei "measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so", the hard headed determination of a man of science contained in those 10 words (funny, the spanish translation is also 10words long) stuck to me since the first time I found it while doin an essay at uni. In a way, that motto underpins the history science and technology over the last centuries. It has been great way to bring the illusion of order into situations that sometimes are beyond comprehension.
Brought into the sporty world, there was a whole new world of metrics that I discovered as I got more into triathlons and cycling; from the basics like speed, perceived effort and cadence to more specific like heart rate, stride cadence, power, altitude, pace, and all the combinations that come to play like power to weight ratio,  drag coeficient and blah blah blah. I've learned that there is a huge basket of metrics that one can produce, monitor and record. Coache's job would be to make smart use of those metrics in planning the best possible programme to get us in A shape for our A race.
A self coached athlete will find a way to organize a training schedule makin use of a series of metrics and in most cases it will be a great way to get from day 1 to race day in a better, fitter state.
In my case I work mostly on HR and perceived effort. Cadence and pace come to play a secondary role in the more specific workouts and the rest has been trial and error. I'm a good boy and I do as I'm told. So far the system has worked and I trust it will keep going the same way.


Panmure pool, a great discovery



But when I look back into my diary and check the best days out I've had in the year, most of the sessions have been run paying attention to one specific metric, it is that one that won't allow my mates to get too far away (on the swim, or the bike or the run) and vice versa. the work for it is HONEST, whenever I wrote down in my diary that it was an HONEST session it means that we went in a solid pace, and making sure everybody stays in that zone where you can go hard OK for a good period of time. It's a pity I don't have a honestymetre to use in every workout. I'll have to ensure I do find a way to make it measurable, and pass that information to the boss, It may be the breakthrough metric of 2011 and it may even get me a placing.

On the training front I had to think on my feet to make sure the weekend was put to good use. The brick session of Saturday got cancelled due to rough weather but I didn't get the message. As I was already on the venue with the customary champion's brekkie inside my guts I decided to do a solo brick. I went to a nearby pool, set my bike on the trainer and got to work, picking the session from the pre-Budapest days. It turned out to be a great day, the swim ticked along nicely, the legs felt great on the bike (I made sure I gave them a contained hammering) and the running was just neat, in a stunning volcanick lagoon track. I guess coach did it on purpose (to forget me on the cancellation text) to get me angry and make me use all that anger and aggression in my training day and it worked, thanks G!  (ha ha ... I don't think my theory is true, tho.

champion's brekkie: muesli and beer

Sunday ride was an HONEST ride with my mate Jeremy, I just love doing this. You all keep smiling, and be safe out there.

The week that was

pheeew.... it's been busy times. Both, training and work have geared up and I found myself more ready for bed than for a 1/2 blogging session.

A grey day in September

On the training front it was a moderate/easy week (easy on the pool, moderate everywhere else) with the race las Tuesday, TT (which saw me going to 95% of my HR by mistake) and a new breed of brick sessions that made a great impression in the squad.
How to become a better time triallist.
The TT business went like this; we have a set TT course for 16 or 25km with repetitions of a big and a small lap depending on your distance. I know that my big lap takes me between 14.45 and 15min, if I'm there after the first lap I know I am on track. This time around I did it on 14.30, which meant I was either going too hard too soon or I was in line for a season't best, the second lap was just 4 seconds slower, things were looking groovy!  Just a couple of days before coach and I  agreed that doing more and more TT's is the only way to get better at time trials. So, there I am, in line for a PB and trying to hang on to it... I didn't look to the HR monitor often enough, and after finishing and doing the run off the bike I check the data and it turned out I was flat out the entire way, with the average being 91% and the max 96%. I thought that would be a NO NO, but it wasn't and I got a season's best that I must crush in the upcoming weeks.


A new kind of bricks
Saturdays bricks were different this time around. We're all at a level where most of our improvement on the fitness side has been made. There is room to get better, but that will be only after a new base period during the autumm and winter months. Now it is time to get smarter and race smarter. With that in mind, our brick session was changed from the usual swim-bike-run to 3 mini triathlons with proper transitions and 2min rest in between each rep. It was as closest you can get to a race situation. Coach came up with bike stands that we set up as if it was a transition area and we had a proper run from the sea to the transition and from there to the road. The distances were 600m - 6.6km - 1.3km approx. the bike was hilly and the run was flat. We had a group going with Jeremy and Martin and we ended up doing similar times, our transitions were OK, then better and for the last one I think I nailed them in flash times. There's a video that I have to get my hands on and will put in the blog soon.
this is the first time that I do three little triathlons one after the other almost nonstop. It was good to work on the higher intensities, and great race simulation because the transitions were the exact environment you have in a race. Being a short bike, it also helped for me not to loose so much ground against better cyclist. Now I want more, so we'll see.
Saturday afternoon the weather got greyer and greyer and it rained for most of the night and morning. Non stop. No long Sunday ride, trainer instead.

I hope your weekend rocked as well.

a big lot of fluf about categories

Any categorization is arbitrary and I am not going to write a new chapter in the book of triathlon in this post. But it doesn’t cease to puzzle me where a lot of athletes place or are placed in when it comes to racing at home, abroad and at world champs. Someone once told me that there could be three categories of athletes: social/completive; competitive and professional athletes. That same person described herself as a completive athlete, however she finished in the top 5% of his age-group on race day. But I’ll take that categorization as the start point.


What are the features of each category?
One could say that the social/completive athlete is not a top spot getter on a race, mostly middle-to-back of the pack men and women that don’t have the drive/time/talent/aspirations to be on the top.
But that is sooo wrong… many people underestimate their talents and some over estimates them

The competitive athletes have the drive/time/aspirations to be on the top, and probably will be middle-to-top of the pack on race day. In addition, a certain element of passion (in the form of a harmless mania) for the sport. WRONG AGAIN!  there are many of us that spend a lot of time and money (harmless mania) but are not front of the packers.

The pro athlete shares the same characteristics than the competitive athlete, but a lot more of training/support and access to resources allows them to develop more fitness/skills/exposure to racing and therefore improving their overall preparedness come race day.

The conclusion?
Keep it simple, there’s pro athletes and recreational/age groupers. The pro’s make a living or intend to make a living out of it. The rest of us does it for fun/fitness/lifestyle (insert what you want)

Blurry vision from doing hill reps.

That was only the starters, where I wanted to go is to that grey area where people is undecided for either or.

In most big races there are age group athletes that kick some of the pro’s butt and end up scooping into the top 10 or 20 of the field. In NZ the division between pro and age grouper is constantly shifted depending on the event, the event organizer and the general politics of triathlon.

There are guys that race age group but have a stint of professional or semi-professional racing in Europe or the States, and there are guys that race pro that have been ducking in the miles winter after winter to get to a peak year and try to make the most of it.

The other reality is that we live in a super small country and don’t have sellouts in every race, so it makes sense that there is only one category in some races.

But I guess that when it comes to National Champs there should be a fair distinction between pro and age groupers and if you’ve raced as an elite in any race during the year, that’s it, race as an elite on the championship… what doesn’t kill you…

As I keep writing I realize that all this whinging comes as a way to enquiry in myself about what I can do in terms of preparation to a race, what can I expect to be faced against on the start line and what can I do about it. Every athlete at the start line of the sprint champs will bring a heavy pack of experiences on their back, they will be good, bad or mediocre, and they will be from racing for fun, for medals or for money. There is only one way for me to beat them, and that is by going faster than them during the race. I am privileged enough to have access to a coach and a plan. And I’ll make the most of it.

the big limiter

yesterday was a day of races, two big triathlons on the same day, one in Auckland, the other in Mt Maunganui, I've never raced any of them in the oly distance, and I hope to do so next year. 

Anyway, a day of races and many guys in the squad were stoked to have achieved more than they hoped for at this time of the year. They were not big races in the national calendar, but for these guys they were either the first one of the season, of the first one ever or a good hit out before a big race in the next month or so. That got me thinking on how good it is to have great results, and how important it is to discover that most of our boundaries are locked from the neck up. 

Our mind is the biggest limiter, and our ability to whithstand pain on the third place I'd put flexibility. But there's no doubt a great deal of our training and racing is played in the head. I had my doubts about being able to run below 40 when I first entered triathlon, I wondered if it was at all possible to run under 40 after biking for a good 70 minutes. And then it happened. 

The same thing during training, every now and then coach will throw a crazy number for a swim or run interval. There are two types of answer, the first one is to start thinking about how feasible it is to go for it, this is the mind trying to avoid the body getting yet another trashing by going hard. The other answer is to duck down and see what happens. I never know which one I am gonna give, but I am trying to marshall my thoughts towards b. 

As the months go through we all get to know more and more about our body, its strengths and weaknesses, and at times we may take other people's word on what they think is one weakness of ours. This can be rather toxic if it stays in the back of our mind. For example, someone could say that I am not great getting off the saddle in the bike. If it comes from someone that I respect, I'll take it, but I need to be strong and proud enough to know that this is an observation of my fitness on one particular time, not an observation of my cycling skills in general. If I can't get to isolate or contextualize the observation, there's the risk that I'd believe and live by that opinion, which will increase my limitations in getting my arse off the seat when I'm racing. (by the way, I am not famous for jumping off the seat of my bike)

 How could I become a smarter racer? I wondered, and although I don't have an answer to that, I am taking this year to explore and be as good as I can in remembering every little thing that goes through my head during training and racing, and how many times I focus on what I think I won't be able to achieve.

I hope to find the triggers and work through them. I have enough experience and more important, I've seen a lot of my mates do what they believed was not possible, that should be able to counter balance the limits the mind tries to put so the body doesn't hurt. 

On the training front, I'm still spitting the last bits of the flu, I'd say that I am 90% there, and in good spirits for a moderate/hard week ahead. 

Stay tuned for more on the upcoming race, miles, and hopefully some fresh photos. 

good coach / bad coach

between racing and coaching, i will always take racing. Being a coached athlete, i think, it's easier than being the coach himself. You have to wear the good coach/bad coach hats at all times and some of us are a real pain in the neck at times. 

In my particular case, I have a good relationship with my coach, and I tend to keep him up to date to the smallest details. I like to try new things and sometimes works gets in the middle, so I make sure the alternatives are discussed and it all moves forward nicely. Some other times I tend to step out of the programme just for fun and do a little sprint that was not meant to be and the training run becomes a little race for 2 or 3 minutes, that seems to annoy him pretty good. 

Anyway, where I am going is that besides the odd incident our partnership works well, I get the results and when it doesnt work, we figure alternatives. 

This afternoon I went to put up a tri club tent on a race venue. The race is tomorrow and we're making sure the club is there to support its athletes. Being on the race environment I felt like I could do one tomorrow, to make up for the one I missed last Sunday. I was going through all the motions and all and I even convinced Nat to OK it. But then I thought I better check with the big boss, and he didn't even think about it, he just said no and that it would not be a good idea to race so soon after the flu. 

I'm gutted, there was no option to do it easy or do the sprint distance, it was just NO, he he he. I guess he was wearing the bad coach hat, or the good one, who knows. 

It'll be 4 hours ride instead, 

why bother

During last week's HIM I got some time to myself and besides the obvious nerves of the race, I started asking myself some questions.
It is not strange, I s'posse, that we ask ourselves questions before, during and after the race. What I am doing here? Can I finish this race? Am I going to hard/slow? where's my gels? why on earth did I pay $xyz to get here if I'm not feeling 100%? and the list goes on.
Those are the types of questios that often times come, showing that the mind is still the most powerful determinant to the result of our race. If you give yourself the wrong answer, you're cooked, you're off the zone and the race is no longer your race, or a race, but something else much more negative than it was intended to be.
Karapiro was not high in my list of races, but after the dissapointment of Budapest, I guess the result came as a good pat in the back. Back to the questions, I was on my bike and had this plan of being conservative for the first hour or so. More than a few went past me and at some point I questioned if I was being too conservative and letting go more than it should be. The answer was not, or better, not at this early point of my training and with little strength on the legs.

The other questions came on the run, I was running fresh and happy, with my chin up and not thinking 'bout the time. As I was passing through a boring part of the course I questioned why bother coming to a place 3 hours from home, without Nat to do a race that would mean little to my season and without throught a little day out afterwards. I said I was happy, so, in a happy mood I said to myself that it is not the destination what matters sometimes, what matter is the trip.

My destinations for this season are three, both Nationals after Feb, and a Half in a month's time. There's little chance that I'll be in peak form for the Half, but at least I'll be setting a benchmark for what it was the base block of the training. There are other races mixed in between, and I am sure the questions will come to me at some point. But, as I said, what matters is the trip. Training and racing takes me to a bunch of beautiful places. Been out on the bike, or swimming in the ocean or doing a running trail, I get to see this country in a way I never thought of. Many training sessions are not just that, but a trip to the outdoors and the chance to see those great places. That's what matters to me.
So, why bother? I guess that I bother because each time I am out there I am doing one of the things I like the most, and I am very humbled that I have the chance to do it and proud to be doing it. Giving up would be stabbing myself in the back.

no more excuses

I realize that sometimes I am full of them. But it's about time the break from blog-oh-land is over. Interesting things happened between last tuesday and today.
Fatigue caught up with me on Wednesday (my long run day) after the big miles ride. I enforced a day break for Thursday, which turned out OK because there was a bike ride planned but I found myself with no bike.

I had my bike on Trademe for some time and finally got to sell it. Whoever bought it got a very good deal because the old Avanti Quantum was a really good bike with nothing to envy to more famous and expensive models. And I took reasonable care of it.
So I'm bike hunting, I've gone to all the bike shops of the city and the suburbs. I think I may have some more new on that front tomorrow.
We got Nat a new bike as well (we're no longer going to go to the same swim squad so she can't car pull with me any more)
We had the tri club AGM and my mate Gordon was elected president. Gordo and I are fairly new to the sport and fairly new to the club commitee as well, but he's very good networking guy, hard worker and with enough dedication for sports.
Im gonna extend a bit on that topic. for the ones of you that haven't attended an Annual General Meeting, it is quite a formal exercise due to regulatory requirements. One gets the impression to be living in the dark ages, however it is important to have them to check the health of the club. In my opinion we are now 50/50. With many challenges ahead and decisions to be made about what can be done to engage more and more guys to dedicate a bit more time to the club and make us GREAT.
Why should they make us GREAT? because in less than 2 years we'll be the centre of the triathlon world for a week or so. Auckland will be holding the olympic, paralympic, and sprint distance world champs as well as the aquathlon worlds. Even though the event will be managed by the national body and probably a private event managing company there is a chance for us to leave a mark in a lot of people's mind.

On another note, the official start of the season is tomorrow Thursday, the pure blonde swim-run series is gonna be the first race for many of us, but not the only one, there is the Kohi swim series, the traditional stroke and stride and a few others. All of them short events, but really good opportunities to socialize, make an impression, beat your mates and get beaten. I'd love to have a bigger wallet and support all these events, but I may have to content myself with doing a pic and mix for the next three months.

Lists time

Less than a week to fly, lots of things to finalize and lots of lists to make:
-Triathlon gear list
-travel stuff list
-Contacts list for people in Budapest and in the UK
-List of thing that may be a problem for my boss @ work
-list of documents, copies and emails confirming bookings here and there

I also checked the list of the competition, we're a field of about 120 people, which is pretty interesting heading into the first turn on the swim.

And among all the prepping, there is also some serious training still to be done. Today was a killer swim and another superset where we reached the mile in the 5xruns. I cracked a season PB of 2.29 for 200m in the first of 4 all out sprints. Coach told me to back off a bit and I am not sure I would have held that time for the 4 repeats. The evening set was long and tiring, here's what my polar tells me for the run laps (the first 2 are 1200m, the following 3 are 1550m).

1: HRAv 78% HRMx 84%
2: HRAv 87% HRMx 89%
3: HRAv 88% HrMx 92%
4: HRAv 90% HRMx 93%
5: HRAv 90% HRMx 92%
In between each of them there was about 3.15min of excercise where the HR got down to about 75%.
Tomorrow we have the last blast on the bike. We do indoor training with a guy that rode two olympic games and knows a fair bit about training peaks. He reckons tomorrow and Wed are the key days for some serious VO2 session. I am not looking forward to that : )

Hope your training is going well as well,

stay tuned, the best is still to come,

The spirit of triathlon

Another three days gone!,
it is really amazing how time flies when you're having fun. And I have had lots lately, mostly from the triathlon world.
Thursday marked the end of the retreat in the last phase of my training, Friday would mark the start of the last charge. We had a Superset in the midday that knocked me out for good. I was in bed by half eight and Saturday I was a new man.
Another brick session on the Sat. Being the final weekend to go and do things I didn't have a lot of time for a powernap. We also got invited to a good friend and triathlete's wedding. He's a regular appearance in all sorts of distances and I also found he is an accomplished sportsman in many other disciplines. The sad part of this is that I had to stick to a diet coke regime and was unable to take Nat to the dance floor in order to save my legs for today's last TT, whic didn't bring me any brownie points.


This Sunday we weren't blessed by the weather and coach decided to cance the TT due to wetter than normal conditions. The alternative was not an easy one. We did bike/run repeats for over 2 hours!, my HR monitor gave me readings I didn't know I was able to sustain over such a period of time, and it hurts.
8 workouts more between now and my fly to Europe. None of them will be easy, but all of them count and should confirm things are good.
While doing the bike/run reps today my mind started drifting towards tactics for race day. I've already spoken about the swim and how we're planning to do it. Once I'm out I expect to be in a pretty high HR band and to fly through transition with a higher HR. After I've mounted the bike the innevitable will happen. I'll be among the 10 to 20 athletes in the race, and we'll be all in a big group trying to ride off the gross of the field.
The spirit of triathlon is of individual achievement and racing solo, even on the bike. Rules ban drafting and I've seen and been penalized for breaches to these rules.
In the real world my experience is that the bigger the race, the more chances are to be cought in a drafting situation. It is up to the individual to try and not to break the rules because there's never enough marshalls to police the entire lenght of a bike leg.
In my opinion one must never race below their potential to comply with a rule. However, many times I've seen that as soon as I ride next to someone, that someone starts accelerating not to let me pass or to hang on to me.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that drafting in standard distance and sprint triathlon is a reality, specially in popular races where you've got over 600 riders over 10km of road. One can always do so much, then is a matter of luck.

So, after thinking about it over the bike repeats I've made clear that there have at least 2 plans for race day (bike):

Plan A: be a good boy, obbey the rules, do not draft and tell people off when I see them drafting. Conserve energy as much as I can and go hard.

Plan B: be a bad boy, go hard and take advantage of any drafting situation that is beyond my control. Take care of the draftbusters and see what happens.

what shall I do?

Spesh for a day

According to the cheap HR Max calculator, today my HR Max has gone one beat slower. It's a real shame that by being one year older I probably jeopardized my goals in the world champs race. LOL


Same as last year, I kind of celebrated and kind of not. Last night was not a really late one. We had to finish our essays for uni, update blogs and diaries and then get ready for today. We skipped the swim in the morning (birthday treat= lay in) and off to work a couple of hours later. To be fair, I'd like to have a big feed, a decent couple of glasses of red and go to bed late. But I can't afford any of the above at this time of training so it will all wait for a month. And comes Sept 23rd we'll all pretend it is still August.

Work has been indredibly busy, so I've been sitting my arse in front of the computer for most of the day. I managed to do a make up swim at midday and that's pretty much it.

we've got just over two weeks of training left. The next 5 days are an "easy week" today's swim was cruizy and I treated myself with 3 tries to get a 50m PB on the pool. Back in the day in the pre triathlon era I did a 29secs. That's over 3 years ago and it still persists as my 50m pb. Even though I was "spesh for a day" I failed in my endeavours. the first try was a decent 33, the second was a 35 and the last one a 31. No doubut I'm older and slower.

I redeemed myself in tonight's coopers' test. Cooper's tests are good on an easy week because it's a lot of hard work, but it's done and dusted in 12 minutes. Today I tried the red bull shots again and I'm not 100% sure to give the energy drink a credit. But I got a big time PB. My advances in Cooper's tests are usually in the 10 to 20 metres field. Today I got 50m over my best ever PB. I'm over the moon!. Unfortunately I didn't have my good mate Reado to push each other, otherwise I'm sure we'd broken the 3700m mark.

Over and out, it's time for cake and three wishes

Date: 23 Aug
Sport: Swimming/Running
Time: 45min/55min (12min)
Dist: 2km/8.5km (3685m)
Comment: for the 12 min: HR Av. 89% HR Max 95%. There's still room for improvement!

Banana deal

As I said on my previous post. I’m eating ALL GOOD BANANAS at all times now, I’ve forgotten about the rest and managed to get my local supermarket to bring them in.

There are many benefits from eating bananas, but the most important one is that the ALL GOOD BANANAS are great tasting, environmentally responsible and socially just, giving back a lot more than your ordinary banana.

So, as they are such a good bunch, I decided they would surely want to make a deal with me and we got to the following:

ALL GOOD BANANAS is making a donation to the Kids Can (stand tall) foundation. In exchange I’ll make sure they are in my photo finish in Budapest, and I’ll spread the message.

I’m name printing my uniform in the next week and I believe they are sooooo nice that they will be displayed prominently in my uniform and other gear.

So, help me, help others and be good by giving them a try. And let me know how you go!,



They’re really good

Perfect day

I came accross Chrissie Wellington's report from her record breaking Roth of race a couple of weeks ago. I like the way she put thoughts into words and how she's not afraid of speaking up whatever goes trough her mind.

She goes on about her race and how much pride it is to be a beacon for many other athletes. And at the end she is grateful for having experienced the perfect day in Roth.
If we all have the chance to have a perfect day I would prefer mine to be in the next race in Budapest. I'd love to have a sub 20 swim, a sub 60 ride and a sub 34 run. Independently of how I finish that would be a perfect day of racing. I am putting a great deal of effort for it to happen, but a great deal of luck needs to come my way.

And then I kept thinking... what happens after?, how many other perfect days do we have in our racing life?. Say there's only one perfect day, when will I use it?.
Chrissie Wellington is both very proud of herself and very humble. She doesn't say that on the report, but she does have a talent that not many of us do, and she is very determined. I believe determination does help to get more perfect days. I believe putting one's heart (rate) and soul does help bringing perfect days one's way.

Looking back onto the races I've raced, there is only one race I thought it was perfect. And it wasn't a triathlon, it was a minor swim-run race at the start of the season. The conditions were good and I was midway through prepping my first HIM. 500m swim and 5km run, a short and intense day at the office, and I managed to suprise quite a few. But what I remember the most is that I was in joy the whole time, I didn't know what pace I was running, but I was superhappy.

Truth to be told, I was sore the following day, but no one can take that day off me.

Today we had a swim TT. The official time says I'm 20secs off my pace, but I felt great throughout knowing I have it on me for at least half a minute less. It was busy traffic at times (4 people on a 25m lane) and we all kind of got lazy on the leader's feet. I wish we have some of the sessions that make me go from good to great (long reps of 100's, some more butterfly).

Date: 28 July
Sport: Swim /// Run
Time: 60min /// 70min
Dist: 2.9km /// 16km
Comment: 99 posts!, I didn't know I can write that much : )

thinking on your feet

I have to post an assignment to uni tomorrow, and yoga at 6am. So this is going to be quick as I need a bed right now.
There's always a time that for some reason or another, the plan needs to be tweaked. Some days are too cold to be out on the road, other times life gets in the middle of training (how you dare, work, to get in the middle of MY training?) and so on.
For me this time it has been the tender tights (I may have to talk to KFC for sponsorship on this one). The past week I had to go with an adjusted plan and it looks like I may have to do the rest of my training with little or no hills.
Today I went for a longer run again, after 2 weeks of short runs. I needed to test how much the legs can endure and communicate to coach so we can project the next five weeks.
I had good company in the form of the two best runners in the training squad, so I knew it would be testing but not challenging.
The legs responded well to the little hills and short efforts. At some point I have to put the brakes as there were some signals coming from my quads saying PAIN PAIN PAIN!.  I listened to them and here I am, reporting another happy day out.
Two years back or even last year, I may have carried on through the pain and let it go away with time, and do what the programme says. But I've learned that the smart athletes are always thinking on their feet.

I will probably miss having some serious strength endurance training. But I'll have the legs to run another day.

Date: 21 July
Sport: Swim / Run
Time: 60min / 75min
Dist: 3.2km / 15km
Comment: and it was bloody wet and cold

Honouring my word

Thanks to all the ones who voted me, we’re a month away and I need to collect 3000 more votes to have a chance… It’s gonna be an uphill battle (but only to the top, then is all downhill).


I said I would give triathlon advise to whoever voted me and let me know. And today I’m honouring my word. As there was only three of you I’m not going to spill all my worth of sports knowledge. Besides, there’s plenty of people that had said wiser things before, so here’s my contribution:

Three things I didn’t know you need for your triathlon races

Killer instinct: often left aside by coaches and athletes outside the elites, this is one mighty weapon that can turn your performance on or off. Combined with good fitness, this is the best way to make an A race your race, always.
Killer instinct drives you to get in amongst the washing machine in the swim, keep tailing that guys that just passed you and sprint to your max in the run.
The only counter indication is that killer instinct can drive you to hit big walls at time. It’ll always work better in combination with good athletic state.

Running legs: I’ve seen this time and time again, and I’ve suffered it myself: triathletes don’t pack their running legs for races, and end up going at the same pace as when they trained hard. The running legs can’t be purchased online. They have to be grown. A pair of 35min10km running legs take a good year or two, a pair of 30min10km running legs take a five year period to grow, and only on some types.
The key here is to make do with whatever is there in your genetic wardrobe, and MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE you pack them for your next race. All my run pb’s are triathlon races. And I never go more than 10% close to them at any one time during training.

Racing experience: the more I race, the more I like it. Same as the running legs, racing experience does not retail on bike shops. I find this blogs a good source of second hand experience, and of course many time I pick things that may apply to my races. But each race I learn more and more.

Happy training!

Date: 30 – 1 July
Sport: swim / cycling
Time: 60min / 60min
Dist: 3.6 km / n/a
Comment: I was beaten by my wife in the 10x100 free with fins set (shame!)

I'm not retiring

I doubt there was any rumours about it, but just in case I want to say it. I'm not retiring after worlds, specially now that Auckland has secured the grand finale of the 2012 triathlon world championship.

Yes.. a tiny island of less than 5million people managed to get one of the biggest triathlon events in the market in the real world (sorry US, you are the magazine/movies world for me) for the second time. It speaks very good of the national triathlon body (triNZ) and it's also a good reflection of how over-represented we are in the world of triathlon (New Zealand was apparently the first ironman race outside the US, and has 3 of the 9 triathlon olympic medals in the male race).

I hope this gives all the triathletes (and wannabe triathletes) a good reason to join a tri club. And a good reason to all the clubs to start getting "out there" and doing things. And a good reason for TriNZ to start working more closely with the clubs. I loved the club atmosphere during the aussie World Champs final last year. I'd love to see something similar or better.

And I'm not bitchig about people's participation here, I know the sport hasn't stopped growing in the last 3 years. I'm just hopeful that each and every one of us does their part to make 2012 a great year for triathlon in New Zealand, and (unfortunately for you, southeners) Auckland.

Back to this post's topic. I'm not retiring, I was considering a move to longer distance after Budapest (you know.. the big miles...the ugly tatoo in the ankle that I'm not gonna get... the big talk). But, dammit!, no way I'm moving out when I have the chance to kick ass in my own back yard!. I might do one or two, but the focust will still be to get out fast in the races.

We do our speed runs in the site where the world champs are going to be happening, We know each bit of the bike course, and the waitemata harbour has no place where I havent swam... retiring? NO WAY.
I'm gonna have to keep training, and hardert his time because each 30-34 male will be an obstacle for my qualification first, and a mate later.

Disclaimer: this post may be subjet to changes by the editor/boss/wife she has not stamped her approval yet.


On another note, Thanks for the votes, to DRog and Patrick who identified their votes. Nat has done a lot of work in the PR side and got all sorts of family and friends to log in and vote. It doesn't stop here. stay tuned.

Date: 29 June
Sport: Cycling
Time: 55min
Dist: n/a (own WT session)
Comment: it wasn't boring!

Vote for Valen

I bidded to get funding through an initiative called do your thing. This company has 100 grand to give away to different people (or one only) and I thought it could help me go to Budapest and past.

I need the two readers of this blog (that's including you, Nat) to vote for me and pass the message on, I need you to help me on this one.

http://doyourthing.co.nz/2010-00690/valentino-luna-hernandez

so.. what's in it for me? you may think,

Well, first of all there's the pleasure of reading this lines day and day again and finding how good a choice it was to pick the triathlete way of life.
Then I can offer one triathlon tip per each of you (two) that votes for me and lets me know.

And I am open to any offers as well... it's a two way thing.

so, get ready, go voting and THANK YOU... sincerely.

On another note, I've got the programme running from next sunday (why do coaches start programmes on the Sunday?). there's 3 days off in the next 6 weeks, so don't be surprised if I skip the odd post. I;m under strict orders of resting, recovering, and eating well.
I'm giving it the best shot... I shall prevail

Date: 28 june
Sport: Swimming /// Running
Time: 65min /// 50min
Dist: 3.5km /// 9km
Comment: dark, cold and wet, running doens't get any worst.

the racers

It happened on one of the nights at the infamous Taranaki accomodation lodge. We were battered after a day of racing, ready for dinner, telly and bed. The communal kitchen was used by a family group and the conversation looped around racing techniques, wheel sizes, motors, laps and transponders.

Gordo and I cooked and ate dinner and overheard the group and after a good 20 minutes we were still wondering what sort of racing they were talking about, my guess was that it was some rowing sport, Gordo thought it was kart racing.

After diner we moved to the TV sofa and chatted with the group. It turned out they were pilots of radio controlled vehicles, participating in a 4up national championship: a team of 4 vehicles races round the track. The world of radio controlled vehicle racing as told by this guys sounded pretty interesting and after half an hour I was ready to swich to it and sell my bike and other toys.

I guess they may have had the same feeling of the world of cycling and triathlon according to Valentino. In brief (I need to go to bed soon), the rc pilots family and us shared something, we were all very much into our races and so passionate about it to the point of choosing to spend a long weekend devoted to the sport.

Although is not my whole life, triathlon does occupy a big chunk of it, and it has never ever been a burden (even today, with my stiff legs). I always hope that I can transmit that feeling of achievement that guides my training to others as these guys did with me when talking about their racing cars. I'm back in full training schedule till the weekend (two days offs!, yay!) and starting to wind up for the football world cup, here's a lil' video about teamwork that may make you smile.



Date: 8 June
Sport: Swim /// Run
Time: 60min /// 100min
Dist: 3.4km /// 16.4km
Comment: I loved going back into the water

Cranking it up

We're now in week 7 of my training. Still doing base training, moderate to low intensity and as many long sessions as I can.
However, every week things change. May be 5 minutes more on the run, or another bike session, or a different speed workout on the monday, or running off the bike. I've also introduced 2x gym sessions starting this week.
I've never been a great fan of gyms, I don't have the mental toughness to be exercising indoor for over an hour and the couple of times I tried it didn't last long. When I started triathlons I thought I would never be in a gym again. I WAS WRONG, the word of mouth first, the blogs later and obviously my coach, tought me of the benefits of core strength and conditioning during base training.
I didn't believe it at first, but after a couple of months I realized they were right, my back and core muscles were always letting me down on the hard races and with time and patience I've won a few battles.

The way it works for me is a 1hr tops session that includes core, strentgh and stretching of different muscle groups and a final 15 min in my new toy (not mine, though, the gym's) the rowing machine.

I never tried one before, but I can tell that is a very cool thing to do.

Going to the gym adds to the constant juggling of my spare time allocation, but I am sure it will be OK.

Date: 27 May

Sport: Cycling /// Gym?

Time: 100min /// 60min

Dist: 52km /// n/a
Comment: looking forward to the weekend!