It was a rehearsal, 49 days before the real thing, Ironman
BRA in Florianopolis.
I knew my swim was so-so, my biking was back in the game
(but not for too long), and my run meant trouble. Still trying to make up for
the lack of running for many months.
Weather was great, the Manocchio Triathlon Team came as a
full house, more than 10 people racing + even more supporters. Sandy and boys
stayed in Curitiba, the boys were doing a mud-race (military obstacle course at
the same time).
Swim – 2 laps
Not sure how many people are at the start line, we were
squeezed up and I can´t make it to the front line. 3 or 4th row,
behind Todinho, our young prodigy (turning pro any time soon).
We´re off and everybody seems in a big hurry to get in the
water. I let them sprint and to the right side. The sea has drift right to
left, it will carry me back to the buoy. Many people sprinting already quite
far on my left. And then there is a
single guy on my right. He´s catching me. Fast.
It looks like he set the same strategy. He flies by, and I
jump in his feet, knowing quite quickly that I won´t be able to keep up. Rrrh.
He´s too fast for me.
The sprint feels like an eternity, and I´m now quite alone,
checking the guys on my left. I do the assessment: I suck! Not enough swim
training, not enough core training. My stroke sucks, my arms hurt.
Almost in the red, it´s important to be in the right group
at the first turn. And that´s what happens. Crazy swimmer is long gone, may be
with a couple other guys I don´t know.
I jump in some feet at the turn, passing a pro lady whom had
started 2mn before us… Long straight, the guy in the front is working hard.
It´s all easy now. I´m in a small group + 1 guy on the left side, by himself.
I don´t do assessment again, but I don´t hurt anymore, I can
breathe every 3 stroke, insuring to stay close without touching too much.
Turn again, “piece of cake” (means easy). The stand alone is
still there, on the left. As we come closer to the beach, his position is more
favorable : more direct to the beach. So I jump in his feet with 100 m to go
before the short run.
I love swim drafting, it makes it easier (effort) and you
don´t have to do all the navigation which is a big energy consumer.
Sand! Means land, need to stand up and run. Well, it´s not
all the energetic but I soon realized that the stand-alone swimmer is Todinho.
I don´t suck all that much after all (he´s a good swimmer).
He runs faster to get started for the second loop. My hard
working friend is back with us again. He goes more right than Todinho. So I
leave Todinho alone.
The pace is even easier now. I don´t even consider going up
front. There is enough work in front of me!
Turn, Todinho joins us. We´re side by side now. And he
decides to drift back to swim in my feet. Recovery time for him too.
Last turn. The front apparently wants to make a break. Pace
accelerate. Not an issue, I´m nowhere near the red zone now.
So our small group stretched until we reach shore.
Up and go now.
I start running at a decent pace (I hate that transition)
while undoing my wetsuit. Always a struggle with the hands. Manocchio team
(torcida in Portuguese) is cheering us as Todinho runs by before reach the bike
park.
2000m (included the run to T1)26:37 è 1:20 average, no HR
Very average time, but not so intense in the end. Good point:
same pace as Luis.
Bike – 3 laps
Transition went smoothly. Now is time to leave town and its
articifial cobblestones + speed bumps.
I´m behind 2 or 3 guys. At the first speed bump, the water
bottle of the guy in front of me is ejected! 2 thoughts: he should have it
secured better, sorry for him. He has 20 km before the first water station.
I finally manage to put my shoes on, another speed bump.
AHH, I manage to catch my water bottle that got ejected!
That was close. I NEED TO SECURE IS BETTER! I look down, to my little panier
(basket) where I put all my gels, bars and even bread to compensate for the
sweet taste of all the nutrition: it´s wide open and almost empty. Everything
flew away! I have 1 gel and 1 bar left to complete 90 km biking. I´m in
trouble!
Ok, how to adapt?
That´s 200 to 300 Kcal, I need 3 times that I think. (I had
4 gels).
While the guys in front takes off - they are WAY too fast
for me - I try to rethink the strategy. I´ll go easier on the bike, refuel from
the start of the run and I´ll be ok. And I´ll use very little water (contrary
my habit) but use only sport drink to take some calories in.
I´m alone, checking on the power. Gui told I could push it
up to 230W. Well, I´m between 210 and 220, and I feel the burn already!
No wind, not a cloud at sight. This is fun now that we are
on the main road.
Some guys fly by. Uber bikers!!
I´m alone, doing my own pace. I´m doing ok so far. Drinking
a little water in the meantime, I decide the timing for the food
rationalization. 1/3 of the bar before 20 km, 1/3 at 37 km, etc…
It´s gonna be a mess I think.
Soon, I reach the 1st turn around, taking 2 sport
drinks, and 1 water bottle. I´m keeping with a guy now, 10m behind. Referees
come and go, no comments made.
I drink – calories! Yuke, it´s grape flavor – I hate it! Out
of all the flavor, they manage to give to give me grape. No choice, I have to
drink it!
I haven´t been paying attention about the leaders, or
friends : too busy about my nutrition (mess).
Mid-way, some Manocchio people are cheering – didn´t see who
though.
By the end I close the first loop – I´m slightly under 210W
average - our duo is caught up by a small group. They go up front and start
increasing the pace. I´m doing fine, it´s not outrageous.
I look back, PhiPhi the French is in the mix. Patient, he´s
waiting for his hour…
Turn around, the group stretches, but no one gives in, we´re
back into the rhythm. So, it´s a couple of uber bikers that reaches us. Closely
packed! There isn´t 10m between them. I jump into the trail: I can increase my
pace. I don´t know if Philippe will join.
But in fact, they don´t take off. They remain with the lead
group. Pace is now faster.
I´m almost done with the bar, before the halfway mark. So I
figured, messed up for messed, I might just go for it. So I´m determined to
stay with the lead group, from a distance.
I start consuming some of the single gel I have.
Hi Manocchio torcida!
Some of the guys who raced last week are doing their long
run along the bike course. Neat!
Again, turn around and drink station: I ask for orange
flavor, but they – again – only have grape: yuke x 2!
They are 4 guys up-front, quite close together. Definitely
not 10 m apart. As pace seems to increase further, referees come to spread the
guys.
When we reach the end of the second loop, I´m starting to
feel the burn!
We turn around, and the group explodes. 2 guys takeoff, 1
remain alone, I´m tagging him. Others “blow” up, or are simply more
reasonable!!
My guy keeps looking back (at me), and every time he does,
he seems to press down harder. Again, messed up for messed up, I don´t want to
give him that pleasure. I press on forward, really hurting the muscles, and
starting to feel uncomfortable in aero position (it´s way too early I thought).
I manage to keep up. Boy it hurts. And when it does, 15 km
feels like an eternity.
I´m almost finished with the gel.
Turn around, I manage to get Orange flavor drink – life is
beautiful!!
But my guy has no mercy. I can see too that the power average
is increasing, above 210W now. It means I´m riding above my average of the
first 2 laps. And I confirm, it hurts!!
There is no way I can pass him and go up-front. But I see
he´s cooked too, but he´s still notch above me…
End of the third loop! At last.
Back into town, I keep the pace up until the last couple of
km. I need to prepare for the transition, and my muscles (buttocks) are killing
me. A bit of relief feels good.
Almost at the transition, speed bumps again. And here goes
(flies) one of the water bottles: ejected.
Finally done with the bike, let´s see how I´ll cope with the
run, on an empty belly!
91 km 2h30 à
36,4km/h @ 138 bpm, 87 cad, and power 212W avg & 219W N
Great effort (pain), but concerned about having trouble
staying in aero position.
Run – 3 laps
Transition is difficult. I struggle with the calf “socks”,
very tight to put on, and quite sweaty… I drink one of the gel right away. To
try to reload asap.
Socks and shoes go smoothly. Off I go.
I have 3 gels left, for 3 laps. I´ll drink ½ after each ½ lap.
Easy.
I trot out of transition, and keep the same pace. It´s gonna
be a long way – I rather take it easy at first.
It´s ok now, but it´s gonna get HOT.
I´m struggling a bit with run technique. It´s a bit messy at
the moment.
I feel like a turtle already. Especially when guys fly by.
Crazy fast.
But the first km is covered quickly: 4:30. That´s very fast:
not so turtle... Let´s see how fast I´ll go back to a decent (5:00/km) pace.
Drinking feels good now. They have water mid-way, and also
coke and sport drink at the turn around. So you can drink something every 1,7km
approx. This is good.
2nd km is ALSO 4:30. Wow, this is amazing.
Trying to focus on technique, on nutrition and hydration, the
first loop goes by very quickly. And we have some more Manocchio people at
different places. That´s really enjoyable.
The next 2 were 4:40/km. Then 4:50/km for the next 2
(perfect progression). So I start the 2nd loop at around 5:00/km. But
it´s getting tough. Starting to feel empty, and feeling empty in the head too:
I´m not ready to hurt now. Plus I need to stop to relief myself. When I do
stop, I feel my heart pounding (didn´t feel that way while running), it´s
extremely hot, and I wonder if I´ll resume running. Or if I´ll just stay there
for a while…
Better not think too much, I resume running. I won´t watch
the pace, because of the “pause”…
Legs are heavy now, technique is gone. It´s ok. Keep moving,
keep moving. I go above 5:00 now, 5:08…
It´s ok, keep moving I tell myself. I resist, so far.
I see the hunters, Philippe and Luiz, I have a good lead on
them. But if I don´t pick up the pace, they´ll soon be on me.
Turn around for the second lap. Mauro hands me an extra gel –
thanks.
That´s when I hit the wall. Pace slows down, 5:30, and then
6:00. Ouch!
Philippe passes me. He cheers me, allez allez. But I´m not
there. Nor are my legs. He flies off. The mind wonders into unwanted ground:
everything hurts, I´m not trained enough, I suck, … I want to stop. But I try
not to listen, just keep moving. Each km takes an eternity to complete. Survival
mode.
As I finish the 2nd lap, the fighting spirit
comes back, a little.
My pace sucks. That´s a fact. I get passed a bunch, that´s a
fact.
But I start to pass people (they are a lap behind or so), it
feels good.
But the struggle / pain I´m now will be the same in 7 weeks
from now, in the Ironman. So I better get used to it!!!
Pace goes back down to 5:40. Still slow, but not as bad as
6:00 (trying to stay positive here).
I manage the reach the halfway point with that, barely faster
than walking pace. Luiz already passed me too. Good job guys.
Drinking some coke, and finishing my last gel. Time to give
it all: 3.5 km to go.
I´m trying to catch up a lady who started running a lap
after me. I couldn´t keep up with her at first. But now, she´s at sight!
I try to bring back some technique into the running. But it
stays ugly.
So I focus on tempo and that lady. Slowly, very slowly, I´m
closing in on her.
I finally pass her before the last drink station. Water on
the head is a relief every time.
Pace is back done to 5:15, or a bit better. But it feels like
I´m running 4:00 it hurts so much!!
Almost at the finish, I look back – no one catching me up.
No sprint needed.
I go in front of the team tent, with many cheers again.
4h44 at the finish line. I feel dizzy.
Not great, but I´m happy with my heart rate – it stayed
high. Good training.
I put some ice where I hurt, refuel with coke and fruits and
then head for the beach. 10mn in the water, nothing before to cool down and
recover.
And now, it´s time to fix that running… 48 days to go (yes,
I´m in trouble!!).
