Timberman - Half Iron - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

AWEFUL SWIM! I began pretty good setting into a fast pace for around 200-300 YD and then I easy up on my rhythm. I was doing a good drafting job and even though the water was very choppy and visibility was hard I was setting a nice swim. I round the first buoy with a group of 15-20 guys. At that point we were swimming against the tide and it was getting hard to breath without getting slap by the waves. I kept moving and I took a pick at my watch at what I thought was around the half pint and I read 13:5x:xx something which meant I was doing a great job. I felt strong and not tired at all. THEN I screwed up! I was having trouble navigating and a couple of times I was following a couple of guys and we were going off course so I decided to drop’em and do my thing. I could really see the buoys but I saw a big orange thing in front of me and I began swimming towards that at a steady pace. After 3-4 min I looked at my watch and I was getting close to the 20 min mark and by then I was supposed to be rounding the last turn around and heading to the beach so I stop completely to find my way and it was then when I realized I was swimming towards the WRONG BOUY! Instead of heading towards the turn around I was heading to the last buoy on the way back to the beach, F*CK! So I had to get back in course and swim back to the turn around to avoid a DQ. That made me temporarily disappointed and to add to my frustration and already bad time the way back was the rougher part because the waves kept pushing us off course.

I am going to do TWO open water swims every week if not I won't be competitive at all

slow but it was rainy and cold.

After the swim I was down almost 5 min from my goal time and I figured the bike was the time to settle into a rhythm and to push a bit harder from what I did at Florida 70.3 and use it as a test to fine tune my power and test how much I can push without affecting my run too much. Exiting T1 I had to stop because I could not put my shoes on. (I forgot my tri shoes at home and I bought new ones at the expo and the straps are different). I lost some time there and then I was finally off. My HR was very high and began to settle into bringing it down and drinking a bit of Gatorade. I was shooting to settle into my 190-200 watts avg goal but with 5 min into the bike DISASTER (for me). Due to the heavy rain my Power Tap stop working and I had no data to gauge my effort. I obviously had no power, no speed, no cadence, no distance, no HR, no NOTHING! I kept asking any person around me for speed but it was very frustrating to be riding sort of blind. Eventually a group of 4 maybe 6 riders got close (no drafting of course and the proof is that we got visits by marshals more than a few times and no one got penalties) but we kept pushing passing and dropping back changing places. I had a feeling I wasn’t pushing to hard but since PE can be very misleading in the 1st half of the bike and particularly on that course I sat and spin as much as possible. I also had a moment in which I realized I have yet to get comfortable with my tri-bike because even though the fit is comfortable, I couldn’t feel the same power transfer from legs to pedals as I do with my road bike. (I guess due to the aggressive position) On our way back I realized I was falling behind my goal time but I wasn’t sure if it was because of the road conditions (rain most of the time, wet floor and VERY windy on the way back) or because I was below my power goal. On the final stretch I began to have negative thoughts because of this. I felt disappointed with myself and like I was letting my parents down. (Who came up to the US to cheer for me) I was so f*cking pissed that my PT was working, that I had to ride 56 miles blind. Good thing is that I followed my nutrition plan and that paid off on my run. On the last 5 miles this guy came next to me and began shouting at me bad words and claiming how I was drafting and blocking him most of the way back and bla bla bla! I was so confused because I had no idea what he was talking about I was just laughing in his face and he kept getting pissed. A marshal came next to us and warned HIM to drop back as he was drafting (LOL). He then passed me and said yet more bad words and that pissed me off. I passed him but first I told him: “Do you think you have enough left to hold onto my wheel?”. We pushed hard for the last miles on our way home and he was holding me close and of course he was feeling good, but what he didn’t know was that I was trying to making him burn energy because I knew I could smoke him on the run ;-)

sell my stupid PT and get an ergo, SRM or PT SL.

all wet yet again and been already behing my goal time by like 14 min I took my time. I was feeling negative and even thinking about quitting.

I exit T2 and I wasn’t sure what to hold on to. I was behind my goal, I was unmotivated and I knew I was out of my other goal (to finish top 30). Then I heard my Mom screaming my name, I turned my head and saw my parents cheering for me and I got goose bumps. The screaming was only done by two people, my parents, but their cheers meant so much for me that it felt that I was in a full stadium and the all the crowd was cheering for me. That’s how powerful it felt, and it was like a switch got tuned on in my head and I began to move fast. I then realized that the guy who was coursing at me on the bike was AHEAD of me! Oh my, oh my, I pressed on the pace and catch up with him within a few yards. He looked at me and STILL he was pissed, WTF? I told to myself: “Ok buddy I know how to be a smart ass as well!” I smiled, wished him luck and told him that he had NO chance to stay with me but he was more than welcome to try! I know that’s not very cool and all but I had enough of “Mr bad mouth” there. Anyway I kept moving and drinking coke/water every aid station and apparently peeing on myself, (YES on myself ;)) every 2 miles LMAO! I looked at my run splits and I was very consistent considering the hills on that course. At the turn around I figured I could easy up the pace a bit to meet my 1:25 half marathon goal. I was passing a lot of people and kept making some guys very frustrated as they kept asking me if I was on my 1st loop which of course I wasn’t. (I think I passed like 140 guys on the run) I was hoping to go under 4:40hrs at least at that point but after a quick calculation I realized that was out and for my slow bike and swim rimes so I could shoot for a sub 4:45hrs. I was just running trying to pass as many guys as possible to improve my overall place and only one guy came and passed me but I re-passed him again. By mile 10 I increased the pace and the last 1.1 I felt rejuvenated and ran all out for a whooping 5:38 or a 5:07 pace per mile.
Mile 1 0:06:39
Mile 2 0:06:20
Mile 3 0:06:20
Mile 4 0:06:22
Mile 5 0:06:43
Mile 6 0:06:41
Mile 7 0:07:43
Mile 8 0:06:39
Mile 9 0:06:37
Mile 10 0:06:22
Mile 11 0:06:57
Mile 12 0:06:42
Mile 13.1 0:05:38

Stretch and hugs from the parents ;-) I couldn't thank them enough for been such a good troopers and staying out there on ugly weather cheering for me. Spectating at a HIM is NOT fun as it is a long day and doing it when the weather is rainy and cold (for folks who live in Cancun) well it is just great. Thank you to my parents, they are the best!


bad swim navigation and no data for the bike


I improved my time from last year by 12 min even though my swim time was slower (rougher conditions and poor navigation) my bike pretty much the same which I am sure I could have improved by AT LEAST 5 min and my run which improved by 12 min (1:37 last year and 1:25 this year) 99% done at low intensity training (Z1-Z2.)
Best advice I can give you to improve your running speed: BE PATIENT, work on building your base, be consistent and even though you should work at different intensities avoid spending a lot of time on high intensity training (Z4-Z5) and spent most of your time at Z1, Z2 and Z3. That mix will allow you to do it over and over and reduce your chances of injuries!
That and of course having a coach! I have a great relation and communication with him and I trust him 100% even though sometimes I act impatiently. I can’t imagine achieving this level without him. Thanks Kurt!