Motivation II

Perhaps I was never in a strong position,
Or the ball of my foot got hurt, or I had some weakness
Where I had least expected. But I think I see the point.
While awaiting a proper issue, we must learn the lesson
Of the ever-important question of the human balance.
It is courage that counts.

Things may be the same again; and we must fight
Not in the hope of winning but rather of keeping
Something alive: so that when we meet our end,
It may be said that we tackled wherever we could,
That battle-fit we lived, and though defeated,
Not without glory fought.

~Henry Reed (1914-1986)

A Short Poem to my Daughters

Sorry, but it is still impossible to me to write poems in English.

Exemplo

Eu me lembro de como, ao me achar, você sorria
Por se ver em meu cartaz na chegada, ao fim da batalha.
Oh! pequena filha...!
Pensas que ganhei mais importante medalha!
Hoje corro, fiel ao seu empenho
E à essência de sua mensagem;
Por isso estampo, no que visto, aquele mesmo desenho
Para que todos vejam sua imagem.

Bible Day

For the Roman Catholics, today is the Bible Day. There were special activities in Fernanda’s Sunday school to celebrate this important date.

The temple in the pictures is devoted to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, where a number of Carmelite Friars worship their faith. I’ve got married in this temple, and soon Fernanda will have her first communion in a Mass, which is due on Dec 2nd .

The “Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel” dates from the late 12th century. In the Middle Ages Carmelite theologians were among the earliest defenders of the Immaculate Conception. The Carmelite family today consists of three orders of men; the Carmelite Friars, the Discalced Carmelite Friars, and the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate.

Itaipu Beach 2.5 km (1.55 mi) Open-Water Crossing

The weather conditions were not good for this crossing that took place at 10AM: light rain, 18 mph cold winds and very rough waters.

Based on my previous results, I was expecting to spend 65’ to complete the course, but ended with 70’. The main difficulty was navigation. I also had problems to establish and maintain a smooth pace because the waves were always imposing an uneven rhythm for breathing and strokes.

Anyway, it was a fertile, maturing experience.

IM Brazil 2007

That's it! I am in! I will be there, May 27th, 2007.

My BIB # is 188 ... Hope it is a lucky number.

Ouch...! Welcome to The Club!

Someday it always happens. It is simply a question of when, most people say. Bike accidents are inevitable.

And yesterday was the day. I was doing approximately 35 km/h, 1 km short of the end of my ~60 km ride, when I ran over a “Portuguese stone” (a 6 cm-edge cube of granite used for paving sidewalks in mosaic style) nastily lying on the roadside of BR-040 road. I lost control and fell: first with the right side of the hip, then with my back and the head. All I could see was the bike flying over me and hitting the asphalt only to stop 2m ahead.

Creepy.

Coming +/- 500m behind me, two unknown fellow bike riders gently stopped and helped me to put the chain back in place, cheered me up, and followed through. I had the chance to and did thank them at the gas station, a common base for approx. 15 riders that morning.

Keep your eyes wide open!

Later on, comfortably seated and sipping a Gatorade along with Antonio and Bruno, I praised the Lord for the luck when I ascertained that my helmet was broken (!), had scratched my back in 3 points, and also the right elbow. Gloves and shirt were tattered. Later, in the supreme test of bathing, I felt sharp pain on two other points: the right heel and wrist.

My bike? Only a few scratches on the frame and saddle; the stem and the rear rim were also a little misaligned. The helmet went to the trash can.

Anyway, the most important thing is to learn from the experience I lived:

1 – Watch out for everything, all the time. Things happen very fast; and
2 – Always use your protection equipment.

I have a 1h20’ run scheduled for today. I’ll try to do it, if I just can bear the pain in the right hip.

Tri Way of Life

While surfing the web last night I came across this very funny site. It shows some feature designs for T-shirts, and triathlon is the main theme! You got to take a look at them. Laughs guaranteed! Here I posted three of the most amusing to me.

Lfe's Blog is now written in English!

This blog is being translated into the English language, so I can reach more people. However, some Brazilian Portuguese posts may still appear sporadically for very specific reasons.

Anyway, be prepared for a little mess for a while. I will do my best to write everything correctly.

Alquimia de Água, Vento e Chão

Ontem à tarde fui no BarraShopping pegar minha bike da manutenção para treinar. Eles ainda não terminaram o serviço, mas eu precisava dela para treinar no sábado. Depois passei com a Fernanda onde a Rafaela faz fono e dei uma passada na Praia do Pepê. Como ventava!! O pessoal do kitesurf estava adorando...

Às 18:00 cheguei na piscina para nadar. A água estava muito fria e vento bastante forte. Depois daquela ducha fria que aumenta até a adrenalina, entrei na raia. O instrutor então perguntou: Vai treinar ou só soltar hoje? Bem, depois de uma semana de chuva e frio, não posso me dar ao luxo de “soltar”... respondi. Já tenho a seqüência programada e a piscina só para mim (só eu estava lá naquela hora que, normalmente, é com todas as raias cheias!). Depois das primeiras braçadas me veio à cabeça que se tivesse respondido que ia apenas soltar, talvez o instrutor não ficaria ali pelas bordas da piscina!

Hoje o vento continuou – dessa vez no treino de estrada. Foram 62 km com vento de moderado a forte na Rio-Teresópolis, com mais 4 km de brick. Depois do banho em casa vi que minha pele está um pouco enrugada e descascando toda nas pernas, braços e ombros. O bronzeado que peguei na meia-maratona não resistiu ao cloro e ao vento. Minha esposa diz que tenho que passar algum creme hidratante, mas eu não gosto de me lambuzar com essas coisas.

Algumas fotos desses dias de feriado.

Fotos da X Meia Maratona do RJ

Fotos do Ironman 70.3 Brasília

X Meia Maratona do Rio de Janeiro

Muita gente nessa décima edição! Foi complicado subir a Niemeyer devagar por causa do tráfego. Como as filas dos banheiros da largada estavam enormes, fiz um pit stop junto às pedras ainda no segundo quilômetro para aliviar.
Só vi a primeira placa aos 7km, quando vi que estava mais ou menos dentro do ritmo que esperava fazer. Os postos de água estavam bem distribuídos e bem abastecidos durante todo o percurso e o sol não pegou tanto com os 25 graus.
Mantive bem o ritmo durante toda a prova. Senti mais do km 19 ao 20, mas acabei com um recorde pessoal de 1:42:23 (4'51"/km). Já é o terceiro este ano: 10km, 21km e 42km! A grande verdade é que o triathlon está me tornando um corredor mais veloz.
Em breve fotos da corrida. Sei que ainda não coloquei as fotos do Ironman 70.3, mas o problema é que fui sozinho para os eventos e dependo das fotos publicadas na web. Depois de encomendadas, elas levam um tempinho para chegar.