January Is History

The workouts are becoming really hard lately. After an adaptation period that took approx. 2 weeks, I am now able to perform 100km bike rides with a 31.2 km/h avg., plus a 10km brick training (avg. pace 5’/km) and, on Sunday, to do a 20km long run at 5’19”/km. During February I’ll pursue a higher level: the objective is to complete three 120km bike rides with bricks from 5 to 10 km.

I am getting too hungry and eating all the time. I think it is time to buy one of those Carb Plus supplements to get more energy with less food intake. Last Saturday lunch demanded two completely filled dishes to comply with almost 4,000 calories spent during the four-hour workout. The long runs on Sunday burn something around 1,500 cal.

When I go out with my wife, all I can ask for is pizza and beer! If she follows me every time, she will be fat pretty soon. The truth is: I loose weight easily, and need to take care of my nutrition, watching it closely to avoid problems with the immune system and improper hydration, not to mention “power output”.

My fellow IM trainer Antonio really has the “endurance spirit”. Take a time to read these 3 short stories that took place while we were training:

1 – After almost 1h30’ of hard running through the streets near our houses (which are hilly for the most part) he says to me: “See? Sometimes it’s not good to run too farther way from home because of the psychological effects resulting from the long returning path.” And he continues: “We are running close to our homes for sometime now, and it seems that we have just started running…”

“Really? Puff… puff… No kidding!”

2 – By the end of last year, during a famous running up to Corcovado Monument (a course I had never done until that day), I was completely worn out already, so I asked him:
“Hey, Antonio! Are we close to the finish?” Then he answered: “We’re almost there my friend…It’s only more 30’ of running uphill..”

“30 min ?!!! Damn…”

3 – During one of those Sunday long runs, we had planned to perform a 1h40’ run, finishing near our houses. When we were close to a school known to me, I had the bad idea to do some math with the time and the distance to go, and then I said:
“Hey, man… we are pretty close, but I think we are going to be caught by the cut-off time.”
Antonio then consulted his watch and, after a few moments, said: “I don’t think so; we’ll get there on time.”
Then, after a few minutes he started to increase his running pace, so I asked: “You are going faster…” to which he replied: “No, I’m not. We are on a slope.”

All I remember from that day is that we were not on a slope and I ended the long run with a 1500m all-out sprint!

Keep Moving

Are you injured? Maybe this NY Times article can change your mind when it comes to exercising with pain.

Injured? You better keep moving ... fast.

IM Training: 2007 First Impressions

IM training is being fun, especially because of people. Training locations are packed at this time of the year (approx 4 mo. to IM Brazil), and everybody talks about … Ironman!

Past races, expectations, injuries, DNFs, gear … everything comes into words that end up setting an environment full of energy and camaraderie. And that helps me a lot; in fact, it makes my mind. How can you train alone or indoors for such a challenge?

Sometimes I feel moved by the example of a few boys and girls: some of them come from places that are more than 1:30h from our starting point for bike training on the road; others are relatively old; and some never did a marathon. Nevertheless, everybody is there pursuing their objectives, their pipe dreams, whatever.

Really liked my new Asics Ohana Racer, bought on a sale at Armando’s store in Niterói. Didn’t know I would feel so well running with it! I’ve been using it for a while with no signs of pain in my knees. Now I can run with a slightly faster leg turnover and hit the floor a little better with the ball of my feet.

It’s been a very rainy summer but, fortunately, my beginner’s luck is helping me because my training sessions aren’t been affected.

My friend IM Antonio tells me I am getting adapted to bike training very well. That’s good sign for me but, you know, many things are still been adjusted to perfection, such as: my position on the bike, a better parts selection, nutrition on the run, etc.

I was really tired this Sunday after the long run. Hope will feel better next week. I need to reach higher levels of physical rusticity and organic resistance in order to do a decent IM.

As expected, the swimming pool is always crowded during summer. No matter which time slot I choose, there are always 3 or even 4 persons per lane! It’s been rather difficult to train these days… Sometimes I almost loose my temper when I get there at night (after work), tired and definitely not in the mood …

Did a strong 10K this morning, and the sensation of running at 4’39” / km was a lot better than those slow 5’20”/km of the long run yesterday. Feel good for the day. I have a spinning class at 9 PM today: will spin with little effort.

Fernanda's Birthday - Jan. 6th Party

We all celebrated Fernanda's tenth birthday (Jan. 4th) yesterday in a party house near home. Many friends of her showed up to share 4 hours of fun and cakes. Some grown-ups were there too ...

A Little Laugh

Look what I have found on the Internet:

# 1

A man was out jogging in the forest one day when a frog called out to him and said, "If you kiss me I'll turn into a beautiful princess."He bent over, picked up the frog, and put it in his pocket.The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will tell everyone how smart and brave you are and how you are my hero."The man took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it, and returned it to his pocket. The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I'll stay with you for a year and do ANYTHING you want."Again the man took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it, and put it back into his pocket. Finally the frog asked, "What's the matter? I've told you I'm a beautiful princess, that I'll stay with you for a year and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?"The man replied, "Look, I'm a Triathlete. I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog is cool."

# 2

A triathlete was walking around in town one day when his friend, another triathlete, rode up on an incredible shiny new bike.The first chap was stunned and asked, "Where did you get such a fantastic bike?"The friend replied, "Well, yesterday I was out running in the forest just minding my own business when this beautiful woman rode up tome on this bike. She threw the bike to the ground, took off all her clothes and said, "Take what you want!"The first chap nodded approvingly, "Good choice. The clothes probably wouldn't have fitted you anyway."

# 3

There's a fellow who is an avid runner. Actually, he's a running fanatic.Every Sunday morning he gets up very early and runs for hours.Well, one Sunday morning he gets up early,dresses quietly and goes out to his car.It is raining like a cow pissing on a flat rock!!! Not to mention there was snow mixed with the rain and the wind was blowing 50kph. He goes back into the house and turns the TV to the weather channel and finds that it's supposed to keep it up all day.So he undresses just as quietly, and slips back into bed where he cuddles up to his wife's back and whispers, "The weather out there is terrible."She replies, "Can you believe it, my stupid husband is out running in it?"

ARENA

In the arena of sea sunrise,
The one who believes
Is ready for the fight.

In the arena of endurance,
The one who finishes,
Wins.

In the arena of trust,
Anyone
Can turn himsef
Into an Ironman.