The long way back

How nice is to get completely disconnected with one’s daily routines, schedules, foods, wake-up times, regimes and general comfort? And do all that and still have an amazing time?

Answer: Really nice, cool as, sweet as, choice, great Amazing!, buenisimo!


This was a good as a holiday as it can get, and even with the odd incursion into sport (a couple of runs and a badly raced race) it was absolute disengagement.

We didn’t need to be 15.000km apart from our home to get all that, but the distance certainly helped, and it’s as much physical as it is mental.

We arrived back two days ago after a 13 hours flight and straight into work and uni. Day 2 was back to the pool at the usual 6am time and a long run chatting with mates. It is a timely comeback as the body is holding well together, but one can tell it is more on the way down to hibernation mode.

I realize now that this is the first proper break since 1 Jan 2010, a good 16 months of back to back training regimes. I could possibly do it again, but only if there is enough at stake in terms of qualifying for world champs in a wonderful location, or competing at a high level.

What is to come?

Back to basics, and a good couple of months of base training, long runs, rides and polishing the freestyle technique and kicks to shave a second or two of my hundred metres times. Gym and core. And all of that on wet winter condition, it does not get any better.


The racing will be cut off for good, I don’t plan to do anything competitive until November, so the adrenaline packs, the killer instinct and the aggression will be saved in the bank for hotter times.

XC land, and some racing

The first week of holiday was certainly one of the busiest. Between greetings and meetings with friends and loved ones I scooped a few runs, and even managed to ride a good old tractor (with the latest 7 speed shimano tourney) courtesy of one of my friends. One of my findings is that training in the early morning is somewhat of an unknown thing on my homeland.


I´ve been coping with the effects of the new body clock and waking up at the usual 5.30 am even when going to bed at 1.30 after a couple of vinos. Anyway, going out for a run at 6.30 or 7 in the morning I came across only one early morning walker in one of my 4 days out. most people, it seems, like doing the sporty bits in the evening hours.
Me, I prefer the morning. Dawn in the pampas have a different kind of drama when compared to the coastal NZ sunrises. there´s nothing but plain uninterrupted flat land for thousand of kilometers to east, west, north and south.
It was a good week on the weather front and it was my second time training in a mtb. I can´t say I loved it, but it wasn´t bad either. I think that with a better fitted bike (this one was too big and it hurt my back) it will be a great experience. The temperatures are around the 6 to 9 degrees celcius.

my mate guille and I 

What was not part of the holiday was the Duathlon I raced yesterday. It just happened that the provincial duathlon circuit was being raced in my home town. A friend of mine told me and I said why not. It is not often that you can race with home crew, and not very often at all that there is a big race coming to town. The distances were 5km run 20km mtb (rural bike, as there is no mountains around) and 2.5km run. Only tiny problem was that the race was at 11am and I had a family reunion/b-day party starting at 10pm the night before. Luckily I got my priorities right and went to bed at 6am after having had the best 80th birthdays party of my all times and enjoying every bit of the organization that my mum and untie had put so much effort in (my  untie/godmother baked all sort of pastries for a whole week). I woke up happy, and that is very important when you´re going to race for fun.

first out of T1

suffering on the run

As I was the first one up I did little noise and left to register myself for the duathlon. I downed a whole bottle of sports drink to replenish and hydrate, and ate one banana. The body was badly slept, badly stretched and a couple of kilos over race fitness, but I was determined to have a great day out. We started last after the teams and women, and as the race started I knew my running was not going to let me down. The first run was  two laps on an off road circuit, I was in the group of 5 heading the field. After the first 2km a guy surged and I stuck on. After that we hit a head wind section and my legs seemed to be better, I told the guy to draft off me and I tried to make some more distance between us and the second group. He was happy to stay there and I had no problems either. He told me we could work together in the bike and I said we´ll see what my legs have to say about that.
I was first off T1 thanks to not having to change shoes. The second guy cougth me 500m into the bike leg and I stayed with him for 1km or two. Then we hit a headwind and he put 150m on me with no sweat. I was happy tailing for another 5km until I started to note a niggle in what scientifically we know as ass. The niggle became pain by km 6 and I started to slow down big time and stand on my pedals to try and loosen up the area. nothing seemed to work, but I kept going and by the turnaround at 10km I was passed by a group containing 2nd 3rd and 4th, as well as another group right after. It did not go, but I felt better by km15 and managed to stay in touch with the last group passing me. I think I went from 2nd to 12th in that period. The group I rode with for the last 5km contained the first woman, who was waaaay lot better mtbiker than I am. I hit T2 wondering how the big knot of muscles in my gluteus would react to running.

Happily the molesty was not bad and I was running at a decent pace in no time. Unfortunately the damage was already done and I ran out of real estate to try and get any better. I finished a honourable 7th and got given crap by my dear wife, who said that next time I take her out to the races during holiday I better get a podium.

training the day after, 

When I woke up before the race, the bike I was going to use broke, and I had to go and ask for someone else´s at the race venue. It took only 1 minute between the anouncer telling everybody of my case and me getting a new bike for my race. The guy even lubed it and cleaned it for me. That is confirmation that the triathlon fraternity is the same here than it is in all the other places we´ve raced.

going back home in my sister´s bike

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.

Two good news: a comeback and a victory

The comeback

Ian Thorpe announced he is back. The photo on the Australian papers is not very encouraging (apparently he’s been eating some pies lately). He’s one of those guys I admire and I hope he makes it to the 2012 games, it will make good TV watching. Speaking of.. here’s a great 400m race against another great long distance swimmer.



The Victory – PURE BLONDE Aquathlon series – Race 1 Report

The Pure Blonde series is divided into 4 swim-run events and 4 Aquathlon events, with the Aquathlon national champs in the end. This was the first of them and it was the first ever for many of us. We’ve never had done one before, not even for training.

The conditions at Point Chev. Beach were outstanding, great golden sun drenched beach, light sea breeze and a lot of people at the beach. Can’t ask for more for a race. The field was not big, but I think it did set a precedent and next time we’ll be busier.

The race was laps of 1.5km, a 1km swim and another 2 1.5km run laps on the same circuit. Elevation was a bit of an issue because we went from the beach up 10 metres in a 40m hill, two times each run lap. The swim was against the current on the way in and with the current on the way back. 2 500m laps. We started a bit conservative, the front group was 4 or 5 of us, and I know for sure that three of us were new to the combined run-swim of the first half. I made sure to stick behind my mate Reado, who knocked a sub 17min 5km last week. He was on tired legs, so the pace was punishing, but not that bad. After drafting for the first lap I moved to the front and did a cheeky escape going on the second lap. The idea was to get into the water by myself and swim on my own. In the works case scenario a group would catch me and I’ll draft of them for the remainder of the swim. In a perfect world, I would extend my lead. I got 10 seconds into the swim and none of the scenarios panned out. I did maintain a lead, and it was the same that I had going into the water.

The final run was hard, I went full throttle for the first 1500m and by the start of the second lap I knew I had a healthy 20 seconds to spare. The rest was a matter of keeping a steady pace and looking back every now and then to avoid surprises.

I ended up wining the first aquathlon I entered and although I didn’t get the prize money (yet), I’ll have to celebrate taking my wife for fish and chips.

What’s next?

Kinloch triathlon – National Champs for sprint distance. Sunday 6 feb.
Pre race thoughts soon, watch this space

Che Guevara, chickens crossing and mate



The track on a Friday morning



It was the end of a hard week of training. Although it was not hard week as as a hard week would be, the increase in intensity of the workouts and coming back to double shifts after the long TT of 10 days ago did take a toll. I had a sore lower back for three days, something that I do get every now and then and I just noticed it coincides with these transition periods.



I was glad to see the weekend and had no plans other than train and be at home reading and watching some movies. Saturday was time for brick sessions and we started to polish specific skills for the upcoming races, the weather was just perfect and made for an ejoyable experience in the water and on the roads as well.

the rest of the day was a bit of housework and Argentine chorizo for a friends B-Day

Diego, the asador

Sunday was a long solid ride with Martin, he and I did a two person TT a few months back, and this time around I proved to be a good hanger-on, taining him on is scheduled 3x20min TT efforts. I didn't have a free ride, though, I covered two two minutes shifts, on the head wind. On the top of the Twilight hill (that's a proper name for a hill) we had to stop at a chicken crossing.







Argentina: Mate rules



The rest of the day I laid on the sofa, resolving an Inspector Montalbano case and watching the movie about Che Guevara. The movie triggered a homesey feeling and I made myself a full kettle of Mate. Mate is a hot drink that is cooler than tea or coffee to many people in Argentina, paraguay, Uruguay and south of Brasil. There is no better laxative than a cold mate, and no better companion for a long afternoon of nothing much. The downside is that I got swollen tummy and felt pretty average for the rest of the night.



that's my 2005 model



it proved to be good rest and I am back 100% we'll have to see what the HR data shows for the week ahead.

Speaking of the week ahead. Tomorrow is the last of the swim-run part of the Pure Blonde series, if you're in Auckland c'mon in, it's your chance to swim while a tropical cyclone sweeps the country!

Big ticks

There it was another week and little time for blogging. On the positive side, I managed to keep track of the final races for many, and the comebacks of another few athletes.


In my plate there is still some uni stuff to sort out and that has eaten a rather big chunk of time. There was space for training and I’m back into training mode. There will be no programme for the next couple of weeks, because I prefer it that way, just training and taking every day as it comes.

On the weekend it was time to do long stuff, so I re connected with some old good swimming mates that have done another back to back season of swimming. One of them is training for the swim of his life, a 26km trek joining the north and south islands of New Zealand. When he finishes that he’ll be the older person to have done it at age 60.

I figured he would be starting to do some serious mileage now that the water is a warm 15 degrees. Indeed, when I emailed him on Friday he said he would be doing 3 3km laps. I said I’d commit to go with him on one of them, because the first one was too early for my liking (7am). I ended up going for a second lap and was surprised at how much of a difference it makes to keep swimming in the open water once a week. The second lap left me wanting for more, but there was stuff to do. And another big day ahead.

Sunday was time to cycle, this is the third year in a row that right before the start of all the swim-run, triathlons and other running and swimming races we get together with colleagues, training buddies and other mates and cycle from Auckland to the Coromandel, about 200km.

It is a social thing and the pace is a controlled, we stop at several points for pies and coke, and the only big hills of the ride are at the very end just when we had enough of cycling for the day.

It all ends with a ferry ride to town, and a quiet beer. I made my mind that from now on it will be tied up to the big race @ Kona. I’m not gonna name it yet, but I’ll think of a good way to blend both events in the naming.

The logic would dictate a big running day for Monday, but I am not such a kamikaze as to put a marathon in the mix just for the sake of it. So Monday was back to normal and a moderate/hard week of training ahead.

Congrats to you all racing out there, and keep training!

Between two tides

I wish I had 6 more hours each day. That would allow me to get some extra training, and also some extra “us” and “me” time. The sad true is that there is plenty of catching up that I’ve been doing and I’ve also found myself trapped between two tides.

On the one side there’s 4 to 8 more weeks where I could really benefit of putting big slow-ish miles on the log and working on strengthening my shoulders and core for the harder part of the season after the Xmas break. On the other side, I’m more prone to get sleep-ins and not to take the training sessions too seriously for the rest of the month. This happens naturally and it has happened in the past as well, it’s the body and mind going on a “sleep” mode for a bit to re charge the batteries and start again.

But with a half IM in 5 weeks time, there’s a lot to juggle in trying to get it right while being conscious of not over doing it. It is a fine line and everyday I have to think on my feet to make each session count in a positive way

The first thing is not to do anything anaerobic for the month of October. I’ve used all my “level 5” miles for the term and it will be wise to start collecting some more for when they count (i.e. Nationals). That doesn’t mean that I cannot be one inch below the anaerobic threshold and train in there for the more demanding intervals or strength/endurance sessions.

The second matter is to start the new season diary and keep some content up, which I have been neglecting.

The past week was an adjustment week, I came back to doing two sessions a day for some days but I also took extra days off when needed. The highlight was a 4hr ride on the hills of the waitakere ranges in preparation for our next adventure (this coming Sunday). The start of the season road trip to Coromandel (180km of riding on a Sunday morning and a ferry ride back to Auckland).

back to business

Well... not quite.

We had a nice holiday and my legs were certainly glad that I gave them a rest. I went for a swim and a run on the friday and that was my last workout for the weekend.

Wellington is the capital city, the city of arts and dirty streets, and they said a weather that drive you crazy. I've been lucky that all times I went there the gods were nice to us. This weekend was no exception and I walked up and down those nice streets for the whole day and night.
The way back was suppossed to be a 12 hour train ride through beautiful countryside but that didn't happen, instead I drove 9 hours from A to B so we could make it home.
The result: legs tired, mind tired, heart full of joy, went to bed after 11pm... missed swimming in the morning.
But I didn't feel guilty. As coach says, there is no such a thing as a make up workout. Today I decided to listen and play safe.
Out for a pm run and I could only warm up when a strange kind of cramp (see attached explanatory figure) started giving me a hard time. I thought I could run through it but it only got worst, so after 10 minutes I was out of the track. wondering what the hell it is that happened.

I am not worried as I know tomorrow I will feel nothing and could run the session by myself, and it also ment that the weekend was 3 days instead of 2. These little weekends out are important in many senses, specially to accumulate brownie points, but also to let the mind off the day to day stuff and sleep in.

Tomorrow is the start of the second phase of my programme. It has already been popping out in some of the swims with faster tempo sets and lil' time trials, and it will surely start to show up on the run as well. The bike, I think, will wait for a couple of weeks. Phase 2 is about strength endurance, which means a faster  pace all around and some high intensity swim/run. It should be all good and the miles I've put in the last two months shouldn't have taken any of my fitness, on the contrary, it should be up.
I also changed the design of the blog, out of boredom.

Date: 14 June
Sport: run
Time: 10min
Dist: 1.5km
Comment: unescheduled pit stop... to be continued

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!

Endurance dog

Continuing with my weatherman reports I am not very happy to announce that winter is looking very wintry in Auckland. Although we are luckier thatn many other guyst in NZ that have been battered by the weather gods.
So, I had to endure a bit of the bad weather in order to tick the box on my workouts for the week. Wednesday is long run and I had planned to go a new route. I went out later than usual after a power nap with Nat (15 minutes for me, dunno for her) to wait for the rain to ease.

3km into the run I get this walker and her dog on a narrow part of the footpath, I slowed down and continued doing my thing. I realized after some time that the dog was following me, and we got to a part of the road where you have to change footpaths due to some roadworks I crossed and took the dog with me as the owner was not on sight. We waited for some time and the girl told me that it was not her dog, that it had followed her all the way along for some time.
I wasn't carrying my phone, so I discounted calling the animal control services. There were 15km of running still to go, and the girl carried on walking leaving me not many options. I decided not to go back, but to shorten my workout to 10 more km and call from home. I kept running at a comfy 4.30 pace and was escorted by this big brown beast who was keeping the pace quite well. I named him endurance dog.
There's a bit of ondulation on the final 5km and I made sure endurance dog got hydrated and we hit the hills to get back home.
Nat was happily surprised to see me arrive with my new friend and after a call and 30 minutes wait we got someone to pick endurance dog and take him back to the owners, 5km down the road from my place.

The funny thing is that this guy is pretty well known among the animal control people, as he has escaped so many times. I was the 5th person to report him today, and it had already been and broken out of someone else's home.

Date: 26 May
Sport: Swim /// Run
Time: 60min /// 65min
Dist: 3.3km /// 14km
Comment: I think I found a new running partner.

200 years

Today it was my country's aniversary and I wished I was there for the celebrations. It's a strange tie, the one that still makes me be with one foot in one island and the other in the pampas. Over the years it has been a constant to read the news from both places, follow the fubol league and triathlon races when I'm here. And to check the rugby, the tri races coverage when I am there. I'm not sure I would have got into triathlon if I stayed there, so I'm happy I ended up in NZ, but always mindful of setting a "kiwi tri squad" once I am back home for good.
I did one race close to my home town in 2008, my third triathlon. It was a local race and the best of the region were suppossed to be there. The main aim to do the race was to show mum and dad what it is that got me hooked while in NZ and get them to experience one race first hand. I'm from a lil' farming town where the only elevation is the cow pies. And we don't do a lot of road riding, so it was me on a borrowed MTB doing a "rural triathlon"   (that's how we call them).
The swim was five laps of 100m on a 50m pool, then 20km on the flat dirt roads and a 5k bolt. My parents were quite happy to see me among the top 5 out of the water, and a bit worried that I didn't come as fast on the bike, but happy to see me finish top 10 overall.

I chatted with a few guys and I got a bit of a tease for being an international athlete (ha ha ha), it was good fun. I'm looking forward to race there again, and hopefully do better.

the weather bomb is here, so training is being confined to interior spaces,
Date: 25 May
Sport: cycle /// gym
Time: 45min /// 45min
Dist: n/a /// n/a
Comment: viva la revolucion!

Kick ass bars - or the self sustainable athlete -

So today I'm bringing my Nutrition 1.01 module. I'm gonna try to sell them as as a proper salesman:

Do you know the meaning of BONK??

have you ever had the cravings just before heading to the pool at 5.30 in the morning?

you tired of giving your money away to big corporates like Nestle and the like?

you suffer from 3.30itis?

wanna do reduce your carbon footprint by saving that trip to the bike shop just to buy the same old bars?

Suffer no more!, from the creators of the 3minutes cake, comes the healthy alternative, the biggest breakthrough in sports nutrition. Try the new HOME MADE NUTRITION BARS. Make it happen, suprise your partner with your skills!

Wat you need:

2 Bananas

1 Cup of instant rolled oats

2 teaspoons of olive oil (yes, olive oil, it wont smell it wont taste)

6 teaspons of honey

1 pinch of salt

1/2 cup of nuts, dried fruit, coconut or whatever you think OK

Theny you:

mash the bananas into a puree, add the rest of the stuff and mix for a minute with a wooden spoon

Finally, you form the bars and bake for about 40 minutes or until brow and crispy

The finished product

And don't forget the packaging

I also managed to do some training

Date: 12 April

Sport: Swim /// Xtraining (football)

Time: 60min /// 60min

Dist: 3.2km /// bout 6km

Comment: changed the focus to bilateral breathing instead of the high elbow catch /// first game in over a year.. I need a doctor

Are you a triathlete?

It feels quite strange telling people: "I am a triathlete" the same way I would say "I am from Argentina" or "I want that T –shirt". Yesterday I was chatting with this gentleman that was doing the same tramp Nat and I were doing and I said the said phrase. The reaction on the other side was normal, but I felt quite not.

So… in what circumstances shall I say that I am a triathlete? Am I entitled to say so even though I don’t do it professionally? What allows me to say that I am indeed one of the triathlete class?

I like the sport pretty much the same way I like other things, like movies, or books or going hiking, but strangely enough I don’t go saying people that I am a moviegoer, or a booklover or a hiker. So, for a start I may have triathlon as part of what defines me (d’oh!) and that may be the case, I don’t know. If that premise is true, then I can say that I am indeed a triathlete, if it is not, It may just be a pose, with its good and bad things.

To be fair, I am not at all worried about this, but thought it would be a good topic to share.

Here’s Quixotte, Triathlon NZ member xxxxx, also member of the Auckland City Tri club, from now on bestowed with the powers to use the word “triathlete” when referring to himself.

We hiked the Tongariro Northern Circuit, a 3 to 4 days tramp that goes around some marvellous places from this marvellous country. When I’m hiking I switch completely off and the mind wanders. You just witnessed a bit of what goes through my head on days like today.

So, on day two of the road to Buda I did

 

Date: 5-Apr

Sport: Hiking

Time: 5 hours

Dist: 19km

Comment: I had 15 kgs on my back the whole trip!

Starting over

Why blog? Why now? Why me?, well…. I don’t have the answers to these questions. But a few days back it kind of grew in me the need to come back and start this sort of chronicle.

Not that I am new to this, but the publicity (just the fact that this could be read by anyone) of this venture changes things, I think, for good. The idea is to have between 150 and 300 daily words about the campaign, the sport, myself and other things that happen and I hope that it does someone some good (it will to me)

So here I am, Valen, 30, married, triathlete in the dark hours, investigator by day, adopted aucklander and wannabe wellingtonian.

It all officially started yesterday, the first Sunday of April marks the start of my campaign to achieve the best possible placing in the triathlon race to happen in Budapest, on September 12th. It is the Age Group (AG) world championships, which is the reason it’s so important for some of us. It happens once a year on a different place in the world.

I said this trip started yesterday, but in actual facts the trip started the day after the similar race I did last year in the AG world champs in Goldie, Australia and continued by earning qualification in the national champs, in Wellington, last March

So… besides the chat, here’s my training for the day.

Date 4-Apr

Sport Hiking
Time 3hr
Dist 9km
Comment Cross training doesn’t get any better than this