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Bitter Sweet 70.3 Symphony
8 years ago
I was not sure to write this journal about how the competition went, but some friends insisted because they wanted to know how it went, so I can asume other guys want to know how did it went.
As many of you know I'm a Triathlete and my first goal for this year was to compete at a 70.3 Ironman and do it under 5 hrs (it's called 70.3 because its the total distance of the event 1.2 miles swimming, 56 cycling and 13.1 running) I choose to do it at Galveston Texas, because it's an event that it is highly recommend, besides, it's similar to where I live, it's flat and windy and the airline that doesn't charge me for the bike, if not the airplane fees for traveling with the bike, is like traveling with someone else, they go up to $250 USD per way, so I would have had to pay $500 USD to go with the bike.
The adventure began on Thursday March 30th, I left from Merida, Mexico to Houston making a layover at Mexico City. I arrived to Houston without any problem. Got to the car and went to the hotel. A while later my friend Kurtt came to visit me, we had dinner and he stayed with me.
On Friday March 31st, I woke up a bit later than usual, reported to the couch, and went to have breakfast with Kurtt before going to Galveston to pick up my racing kit and to listen to the mandatory briefing, explaining the rules, the time cuts.....
I arrived at Galveston, and I was on line to pick up my kit, and I was listening to everybody around me and they were talking about the weather on Sunday, I knew how was the weather, I knew it might be a storm/ lighting storm and a lot of wind, but I start to listen it might get cancelled or one of the legs might be cancelled, and I was trying not to get worried, so much, training for this event going down the drain? I tried no to think about it. I picked up my kit, did some shopping, some gifts and things I needed, and went to the briefing.
The briefing started on time and the first word of the speaker said were "Don't worry about the weather, it's something out of our control, so come to race normally..." Those words calmed me down, and I listened to all the instructions and advices they gave us in case it rained a lot, like bring plastic bags for the running shoes, use common sense if there are lightnings...
After that I headed back to Houston, because my parents had arrived there, and came to cheer me up, so I had to pick them up, and we will stay there for the night. That day was their 33rd wedding anniversary. So when I arrived my dad went to rest and my mother and I went to the mall, and later with some friends to dinner.
On Saturday April 1st (April's Fool) we woke up late, and my father had some plans to get some stuff that he wanted to get, but I needed to be at Galveston at 2 pm so I could get the bike ready and leave it at the transition before 5 pm. I tried to get ready as much as I could, but it I saw my watch and I was feeling the time was going faster and that I would not be ready. I was very angry about everything, and specially with my self because I didn't start doing things earlier or before, so I was really stressed, and angry, I promise is the last time I travel with my parents to a competition. On the way to Galveston there were repairing the road, so there was a lot of traffic, it was 1pm, and I was thinking of the worst. We arrived at Galveston and directly to the hotel to assemble the bike, and I was really worried, working like crazy to finish on time. Finally I finished but the handlebar was loose and I didn't had the tools, and my back shifter was not working properly and I thought that it all was a very bad joke. So we went to Moody Gardens where the event was taking place, and I looked for a mechanic that could help me, fortunately I found one. I left my bike on the assigned place and could breath for a while.
After that we went for dinner/ lunch, I didn't eat properly that day, but I rested for a while. A lot of people that were competing the next day were at the restaurant, this events helps a lot this city, and people are happy about it. After dinner I went to Walmart to get my breakfast and hydration for the next day. When I got back to the hotel, my parents were already there, so I started to prepare my stuff for the next day, doble checking I wouldn't forget anything and everything was ready.
Sunday April 2nd. The big day had arrived, I woke up at 4 am, so I could have breakfast, and start getting ready. I did everything at the Bathroom, so I wouldn't wake up my parents. After having breakfast, getting dressed, and ready I left to Moody Gardens. It was a really windy day, and I was thinking about how tough the bike leg was going to be.
I arrived to Moody Gardens/ Transition zone on time, and took my time to get my things ready for the event. They were announcing that it was legal to wear wetsuit and that we couldn't leave the bike shoes on the pedals due the strong winds so they wouldn't get hooked to the bike next to ours.
I finished fast and checked and double checked that everything was ready. I went to the car to send my last messages to my teammates and couch. I was calm and exited and a bit nervous, I didn't know what to expect. Left my morning cloths where they told us to, putted my wetsuit and I was ready to rock and roll. I went the dock where the line started and looked for my start group. Fortunately it was the 7th group on starting. As the sun raised we could see it was a bit cloudy and very windy, it didn't looked as it was going to rain. Our start was at 7:26 am, and as the time was approaching, we were moving closer to the dock and jump to the water. Water was not that cold, and I just hoped that the wetsuit was not going to affect me. There was a clock on the dock we could see to know how much time left we had. And finally we just heard "ATHLETES ON YOUR MAKRS......."horn sound" And so it began, all the hours of training came down to this, the fight for the under 5 hours event was there, I was competing agains me only, I didn't care about the other guys, even I was looking at them.
The swimming leg was fine but I got desperate, so fast, I'm not used to wear wetsuit, even I have trained with it. I was on front of the group, but I was seeing the guys behind me and faster than I thought I was overtaking the groups in front of us, so I had to deal with some traffic avoiding some of them. I tried to keep my head focused and concentrated, but I was struggling with it. Part of me was, I'm tired, I'm not feeling well... But I tried and tried to keep focus, I thought I was not doing well and I was getting tired.
When I was finishing the leg and got out of the water, I looked at my watch and saw 30 min, and my mood changed, and what I didn't know at the moment, that the course was longer than 1.2 miles.
I ran to transition to get my bike and I saw the volunteers helping everybody to take out the wetsuit, so I went with some of them and they took it out in a matter of seconds, they gave it to me and I ran to where my bike was. I put on my shoes, my helmet and ran to the zone where I could mount my bike.
Wind was strong and the first miles, and I tried everything to start overtaking and being careful not to commit a foul by drafting. After a couple of miles, finally the wind was on my back pushing me forward, and later on my side, that it didn't help me but it didn't hurt me much either or that is what i thought. I was feeling strong, doing great, having my nutrition according to plan, having good thoughts, and still fighting against myself. I didn't mind if someone passed me, I was focused and doing what I came for and keep a strong mind, to expect anything along the course. It was flat course, it went parallel to the coast, so it was nice, but nothing stopped the wind. There where places the wind was so strong I couldn't keep my aero position, I needed to grab to the handle bar so I wouldn't fall. Returning was harder than expected and I was ridding strong, I was doing a great time, but because of the wind something happened I didn't count on, and that made pay a really high cost later.
As I was approaching to the transition, the wind was in front of me, thing that just made it harder. I struggled a lot the las 4 miles. And as I was getting close to transition, I heard my dad shout at me, I was really happy to hear him. All the time on the bike I thought a lot of everybody, my teammates, my friends, everybody that was following me on internet, and cheering me, I was really happy. And I tried to keep it that way.
3:03 was the time that had passed since I began, everything was according to plan, everything came down to the 13.1 miles of the running leg. It was cloudy not so hot, it looked like the perfect scenario. I began to run, keeping my pace, trying to go as fast as I could, keeping my nutrition, but also the running leg was affected by the wind. The first miles was great, great pace, feeling good, but suddenly my pace began to slow down, my legs were very tired because of the effort on the bike course, even though I felt great before, and them my mind started to do the dirty work, I started to feel bad as I saw on my watch the pace going up. I was thinking on my teammates, couch, and everyone seeing that I was not as fast as before. The 1st and 2nd lap went ok, the last one I fought as hard as I could, and at some point of mile 12, I looked at my watch and saw 5:02, and I said to myself, well fought, you did good, lets finish what we started.
My parents where near the finish line, I knew that because I saw both of them when I was beginning the final lap. I don't know what happens but when even when you are exhausted, when you know the final meters are coming you get an extra boost and you feel great. As I crossed the finish line I was really happy, because I did a good time and I fought as hard as I could, even it was not the time I expected. I was happy but I was thinking about the feedback I was going to tell my couch. A lot feeling came to my mind, I was so happy but at the same time I felt that I had disappointed so much people, I knew the result was good, but at the same time I felt I didn't do enough, so many emotions went through my head. Some minutes after crossing the finish line my parents came to congratulate me and to see how I was doing and later they went to the hotel to get all the things out, because we were going back to Houston. It was good and a very competitive event.
Later I went to the athlete tent, to eat some pizza, cookies and other things they offered and for a massage and talk to the other athletes. It was fun talking to the different athletes and hear about their experience. I had to wait until 2 pm so I could get my things from the transition zone. So I went for my morning clothes, and got to clean and warm clothes, looked at the messages I received specially one, from Drew Otter, that made my day. Since it was 1:30 pm I went for more pizza and when it was 2 pm I rushed to the transition zone, got everything out, rushed to the hotel to get my parents and to our way to Houston. On the way back we stopped for lunch at Crack and Barrel, a place my dad likes. I was not hungry and I was waiting for dinner, because I wanted to go to the Cheesecake Factory for a giant pice of Cheesecake.
Monday April 3rd. It went normal, I kept company to my parents, who were shopping and visiting the different malls and having some fun. It was really nice spending time with them, I missed that quality time with them. Since I had to go early to the airport I started packing everything, my cloths, the bike, that took some time... And for the rest of the day, relax and enjoy the day.
Tuesday April 4th. Time to go back, to Merida. My flight was scheduled to live at 6:00 am and arrive around 8 am to Mexico where I was going to make a 6 hrs layover, and spend some time with Drew The Otter. I woke up at 3 am to get ready left the room and got the car to return it. I put the gps but it was a disaster, the gps, sent me to other address and I was nervous I was about to miss my flight, I rushed as fast as I could, to the car rental, returned the car, took the shuttle I was on the limit and as I arrived to the counter they told me the flight was cancelled and I was like WTF!!!!! And they offered me to stay, but I couldn't do that, they told me there was another flight today but they couldn't cover the expenses for that night, anyways I decided to take that plane (I still need to send a letter to them to ask for a refund) and take my connexion the next day. When I finished with all this, I called Drew and told him I was not going to make it on time, I was sad, because we had a nice day planned. He thought I was messing with him, I wished I was, but unfortunately I wasn't.
After the bad news, I got an Uber to the hotel, rested for a while had breakfast with my parents and booked a room for the night. I helped my mother with some things and later went to the airport and finally got to Mexico City. When I finished costume and Migration I went out and found someone with a big balloon and a sign for me, and it was Drew Otter, who had patiently waited all day for me to arrive. I just saw him and hugged him tight. He took me to the hotel, which was near the airport, so I could leave them and we could go have dinner. It was so nice seeing him again and catching up with him.
Since it was late, he staid for a couple of hours at the hotel so he could rest and drive safely back to Queretaro. But i messed up and forgot to put the alarm on for him, and he was late, but it didn't matter, since for a while the road was closed and he stayed without moving for a couple of hours.
I woke up, had breakfast and went to the airport. My flight was delayed an hour. There was nothing I could do, so I started giving orders at the office. I arrived to Merida and went directly to the office.
It was fun, it's always a big experience this kind of competitions. What's next? I don't know, I'm tired, not of training or competing, mentally I'm exhausted. But I will not stop, I need to improve a lot. if things go well I would like to go to Miami to another 70.3.
As many of you know I'm a Triathlete and my first goal for this year was to compete at a 70.3 Ironman and do it under 5 hrs (it's called 70.3 because its the total distance of the event 1.2 miles swimming, 56 cycling and 13.1 running) I choose to do it at Galveston Texas, because it's an event that it is highly recommend, besides, it's similar to where I live, it's flat and windy and the airline that doesn't charge me for the bike, if not the airplane fees for traveling with the bike, is like traveling with someone else, they go up to $250 USD per way, so I would have had to pay $500 USD to go with the bike.
The adventure began on Thursday March 30th, I left from Merida, Mexico to Houston making a layover at Mexico City. I arrived to Houston without any problem. Got to the car and went to the hotel. A while later my friend Kurtt came to visit me, we had dinner and he stayed with me.
On Friday March 31st, I woke up a bit later than usual, reported to the couch, and went to have breakfast with Kurtt before going to Galveston to pick up my racing kit and to listen to the mandatory briefing, explaining the rules, the time cuts.....
I arrived at Galveston, and I was on line to pick up my kit, and I was listening to everybody around me and they were talking about the weather on Sunday, I knew how was the weather, I knew it might be a storm/ lighting storm and a lot of wind, but I start to listen it might get cancelled or one of the legs might be cancelled, and I was trying not to get worried, so much, training for this event going down the drain? I tried no to think about it. I picked up my kit, did some shopping, some gifts and things I needed, and went to the briefing.
The briefing started on time and the first word of the speaker said were "Don't worry about the weather, it's something out of our control, so come to race normally..." Those words calmed me down, and I listened to all the instructions and advices they gave us in case it rained a lot, like bring plastic bags for the running shoes, use common sense if there are lightnings...
After that I headed back to Houston, because my parents had arrived there, and came to cheer me up, so I had to pick them up, and we will stay there for the night. That day was their 33rd wedding anniversary. So when I arrived my dad went to rest and my mother and I went to the mall, and later with some friends to dinner.
On Saturday April 1st (April's Fool) we woke up late, and my father had some plans to get some stuff that he wanted to get, but I needed to be at Galveston at 2 pm so I could get the bike ready and leave it at the transition before 5 pm. I tried to get ready as much as I could, but it I saw my watch and I was feeling the time was going faster and that I would not be ready. I was very angry about everything, and specially with my self because I didn't start doing things earlier or before, so I was really stressed, and angry, I promise is the last time I travel with my parents to a competition. On the way to Galveston there were repairing the road, so there was a lot of traffic, it was 1pm, and I was thinking of the worst. We arrived at Galveston and directly to the hotel to assemble the bike, and I was really worried, working like crazy to finish on time. Finally I finished but the handlebar was loose and I didn't had the tools, and my back shifter was not working properly and I thought that it all was a very bad joke. So we went to Moody Gardens where the event was taking place, and I looked for a mechanic that could help me, fortunately I found one. I left my bike on the assigned place and could breath for a while.
After that we went for dinner/ lunch, I didn't eat properly that day, but I rested for a while. A lot of people that were competing the next day were at the restaurant, this events helps a lot this city, and people are happy about it. After dinner I went to Walmart to get my breakfast and hydration for the next day. When I got back to the hotel, my parents were already there, so I started to prepare my stuff for the next day, doble checking I wouldn't forget anything and everything was ready.
Sunday April 2nd. The big day had arrived, I woke up at 4 am, so I could have breakfast, and start getting ready. I did everything at the Bathroom, so I wouldn't wake up my parents. After having breakfast, getting dressed, and ready I left to Moody Gardens. It was a really windy day, and I was thinking about how tough the bike leg was going to be.
I arrived to Moody Gardens/ Transition zone on time, and took my time to get my things ready for the event. They were announcing that it was legal to wear wetsuit and that we couldn't leave the bike shoes on the pedals due the strong winds so they wouldn't get hooked to the bike next to ours.
I finished fast and checked and double checked that everything was ready. I went to the car to send my last messages to my teammates and couch. I was calm and exited and a bit nervous, I didn't know what to expect. Left my morning cloths where they told us to, putted my wetsuit and I was ready to rock and roll. I went the dock where the line started and looked for my start group. Fortunately it was the 7th group on starting. As the sun raised we could see it was a bit cloudy and very windy, it didn't looked as it was going to rain. Our start was at 7:26 am, and as the time was approaching, we were moving closer to the dock and jump to the water. Water was not that cold, and I just hoped that the wetsuit was not going to affect me. There was a clock on the dock we could see to know how much time left we had. And finally we just heard "ATHLETES ON YOUR MAKRS......."horn sound" And so it began, all the hours of training came down to this, the fight for the under 5 hours event was there, I was competing agains me only, I didn't care about the other guys, even I was looking at them.
The swimming leg was fine but I got desperate, so fast, I'm not used to wear wetsuit, even I have trained with it. I was on front of the group, but I was seeing the guys behind me and faster than I thought I was overtaking the groups in front of us, so I had to deal with some traffic avoiding some of them. I tried to keep my head focused and concentrated, but I was struggling with it. Part of me was, I'm tired, I'm not feeling well... But I tried and tried to keep focus, I thought I was not doing well and I was getting tired.
When I was finishing the leg and got out of the water, I looked at my watch and saw 30 min, and my mood changed, and what I didn't know at the moment, that the course was longer than 1.2 miles.
I ran to transition to get my bike and I saw the volunteers helping everybody to take out the wetsuit, so I went with some of them and they took it out in a matter of seconds, they gave it to me and I ran to where my bike was. I put on my shoes, my helmet and ran to the zone where I could mount my bike.
Wind was strong and the first miles, and I tried everything to start overtaking and being careful not to commit a foul by drafting. After a couple of miles, finally the wind was on my back pushing me forward, and later on my side, that it didn't help me but it didn't hurt me much either or that is what i thought. I was feeling strong, doing great, having my nutrition according to plan, having good thoughts, and still fighting against myself. I didn't mind if someone passed me, I was focused and doing what I came for and keep a strong mind, to expect anything along the course. It was flat course, it went parallel to the coast, so it was nice, but nothing stopped the wind. There where places the wind was so strong I couldn't keep my aero position, I needed to grab to the handle bar so I wouldn't fall. Returning was harder than expected and I was ridding strong, I was doing a great time, but because of the wind something happened I didn't count on, and that made pay a really high cost later.
As I was approaching to the transition, the wind was in front of me, thing that just made it harder. I struggled a lot the las 4 miles. And as I was getting close to transition, I heard my dad shout at me, I was really happy to hear him. All the time on the bike I thought a lot of everybody, my teammates, my friends, everybody that was following me on internet, and cheering me, I was really happy. And I tried to keep it that way.
3:03 was the time that had passed since I began, everything was according to plan, everything came down to the 13.1 miles of the running leg. It was cloudy not so hot, it looked like the perfect scenario. I began to run, keeping my pace, trying to go as fast as I could, keeping my nutrition, but also the running leg was affected by the wind. The first miles was great, great pace, feeling good, but suddenly my pace began to slow down, my legs were very tired because of the effort on the bike course, even though I felt great before, and them my mind started to do the dirty work, I started to feel bad as I saw on my watch the pace going up. I was thinking on my teammates, couch, and everyone seeing that I was not as fast as before. The 1st and 2nd lap went ok, the last one I fought as hard as I could, and at some point of mile 12, I looked at my watch and saw 5:02, and I said to myself, well fought, you did good, lets finish what we started.
My parents where near the finish line, I knew that because I saw both of them when I was beginning the final lap. I don't know what happens but when even when you are exhausted, when you know the final meters are coming you get an extra boost and you feel great. As I crossed the finish line I was really happy, because I did a good time and I fought as hard as I could, even it was not the time I expected. I was happy but I was thinking about the feedback I was going to tell my couch. A lot feeling came to my mind, I was so happy but at the same time I felt that I had disappointed so much people, I knew the result was good, but at the same time I felt I didn't do enough, so many emotions went through my head. Some minutes after crossing the finish line my parents came to congratulate me and to see how I was doing and later they went to the hotel to get all the things out, because we were going back to Houston. It was good and a very competitive event.
Later I went to the athlete tent, to eat some pizza, cookies and other things they offered and for a massage and talk to the other athletes. It was fun talking to the different athletes and hear about their experience. I had to wait until 2 pm so I could get my things from the transition zone. So I went for my morning clothes, and got to clean and warm clothes, looked at the messages I received specially one, from Drew Otter, that made my day. Since it was 1:30 pm I went for more pizza and when it was 2 pm I rushed to the transition zone, got everything out, rushed to the hotel to get my parents and to our way to Houston. On the way back we stopped for lunch at Crack and Barrel, a place my dad likes. I was not hungry and I was waiting for dinner, because I wanted to go to the Cheesecake Factory for a giant pice of Cheesecake.
Monday April 3rd. It went normal, I kept company to my parents, who were shopping and visiting the different malls and having some fun. It was really nice spending time with them, I missed that quality time with them. Since I had to go early to the airport I started packing everything, my cloths, the bike, that took some time... And for the rest of the day, relax and enjoy the day.
Tuesday April 4th. Time to go back, to Merida. My flight was scheduled to live at 6:00 am and arrive around 8 am to Mexico where I was going to make a 6 hrs layover, and spend some time with Drew The Otter. I woke up at 3 am to get ready left the room and got the car to return it. I put the gps but it was a disaster, the gps, sent me to other address and I was nervous I was about to miss my flight, I rushed as fast as I could, to the car rental, returned the car, took the shuttle I was on the limit and as I arrived to the counter they told me the flight was cancelled and I was like WTF!!!!! And they offered me to stay, but I couldn't do that, they told me there was another flight today but they couldn't cover the expenses for that night, anyways I decided to take that plane (I still need to send a letter to them to ask for a refund) and take my connexion the next day. When I finished with all this, I called Drew and told him I was not going to make it on time, I was sad, because we had a nice day planned. He thought I was messing with him, I wished I was, but unfortunately I wasn't.
After the bad news, I got an Uber to the hotel, rested for a while had breakfast with my parents and booked a room for the night. I helped my mother with some things and later went to the airport and finally got to Mexico City. When I finished costume and Migration I went out and found someone with a big balloon and a sign for me, and it was Drew Otter, who had patiently waited all day for me to arrive. I just saw him and hugged him tight. He took me to the hotel, which was near the airport, so I could leave them and we could go have dinner. It was so nice seeing him again and catching up with him.
Since it was late, he staid for a couple of hours at the hotel so he could rest and drive safely back to Queretaro. But i messed up and forgot to put the alarm on for him, and he was late, but it didn't matter, since for a while the road was closed and he stayed without moving for a couple of hours.
I woke up, had breakfast and went to the airport. My flight was delayed an hour. There was nothing I could do, so I started giving orders at the office. I arrived to Merida and went directly to the office.
It was fun, it's always a big experience this kind of competitions. What's next? I don't know, I'm tired, not of training or competing, mentally I'm exhausted. But I will not stop, I need to improve a lot. if things go well I would like to go to Miami to another 70.3.
Outstanding!! Hopefully as I begin adding more load to my rebuilt knee, I can get back to being a big strong cat again! Exercises every day! :)