Pescara IM 70.3 a recap

For what is worth it I want to recap this experience and try to fix it in my head... got to learn from mistakes and remember the good overall performance.

The original plan was to get to Vasto ( 1 hour south of Pescara ) to acclimatize, eat healthily, shave few pounds and taper properly following the coach guidance.... as usual the plan changed a bit and the eating/shaving weight combo did not work out as expected... but Sun, Beach, Italian food and super Kimmy were too much to handle.... I did follow one thing my coach told me "go have fun" :-)))

Here it goes the chronicle of this race:

7am
I woke like any other day... way more relaxed than I should be before such an important race. Too bad that the starting will be at 12.10pm... now I need to keep my mind busy and my body relaxed for 5 hours. The goal is to fuel up, avoid de-hydration and hopefully get all the "heavy duty unloading" ( :-P ) done before 11am.

11am
I am off with my whole family to the transition area. My dad is already filming, My mom is so interested in this whole craziness around her... she finally found out there are at least 2000 more weird people like me out there ready to go. Kimmy and my friends kinda know the drill and they are waiting patiently under a palm tree. On my side, I keep checking if everything is in place in the transition area. ( The look of my parents is priceless ).

11.45am
The beach is already packed.... 2000+ athletes, XXXXXX amount of spectators.... YYYYYY amount of random beach people (that are still, as of today, trying to figure out what happened on that Sunday 12th ). I am putting my wetsuit on and this time with the help of K, friends and family ... lol we look like a team :-).

I am a little nervous ... I need to rush in the water and warm up... ( the temperature had been 90F+ since 9am ).

12pm

The PROs are starting ..., I am warm, I need to get quickly to the front of my age group wave ( 400ppl ) to avoid the mass start madness.....It is super hard to even get to the starting line... tons of spectators... and I am burning inside the wetsuit.
Here it comes.... way too many people in front of me... I need to find a way to get in front of the pack... nice I spot a shortcut on the side... I jump a little fence... and here I come, I am in first line. OOps now I will have to outsprint the whole group and make sure to swim the fastes 200yds of my life :-).

12.10pm... Italian anthem .... BOOOOM start... time to eat s*it ( Copyright Chasing Legends movie ).

12.11pm THE SWIM
Swimming in the Adriatico is weird, water is shallow for the first 100yds and waves are pretty ugly when you try to keep a decent body position. I am going as hard as I can to avoid the war behind me... after few minutes the fastest guy are already in front of me and I can't really catch my breath... every time I try to relax my style... I get people jumping on me, grabbing me... oh wait DUDE... you can't just pull my feet like that... LOL... cool you want the war... and war it is... I literally start bumping this guys for 50/100yds.... now let me see if I am still on track.... OOOPS I am way off the swim line I should follow... damn let me let this guy go by and keep racing my own thing.

12.20pm
Uff the swim feels so hard... I want it to be over... I am sweating inside the wetsuit, the water is hot and I am swimming way too hard than usual. Time to relax and get a normal stroke in. Thank God these last minutes are easier, the waves are pushing me to the end.

12.32pm
Swim is done :-), I am running "hella" fast toward my bike and I hear people cheering for me... Kimmy ...YAY... my mom, my friends.... finally I get to my bike and my dad is right there.... I feel so happy to have everybody around. I am in heaven and now on the bike is time to deliver. ( off the swim I am 187th :( ).

12.34pm-3.12pm BIKE
After carrying the bike across the whole transition area ( I was positioned at the very end ) I am ready to start pushing but first I need to be able to put my feet inside the pre-clipped shoes. First time I try this and it is not as easy as I thought... after 2 miles I decide to stop and put my feet inside the shoes without risking a stupid accident.
The ride is awesome, people cheering everywhere, every single little village that we cross has family, kids, bikers and random tourists spectacting along the way. The uphills are long but mellow and my goal of pacing and avoid cramps is working so far. I am going 80% and I keep passing my age groupers... I LIKE.
Here we go, 60Km are gone... 30 to go but now I know that there are no more hills, time to show off what the power house can do on the flat.
I wish I could have done this ride before... there are so many curves, downhills and sudden changes in direction, few riders are passing me downhill... I dont like this... I will see you on the flats.
....Push... Push.... Push... the last 10km coming back to Pescara are flat, super hot and way longer than I thought.... Push Push Push... I see the end. 2h38 minutes I do not have any idea if my pace was right or not but I am definitely happy to be back.

3.12pm T2
I am transitioning to the run and I see my brother and friends with this big banner for me... too bad I am so busy changing clothes that I cant focus on what's written on it.... ( later I read: DAJE VIRGO PORTACE A LAS VEGAS (Go Virgo take us to Las Vegas )).

3.14pm Running through Transition area

I am off with my mom screaming "Vai Virgilio che ce l'hai fatta" (Go V you made it), I would not call being 21km of running from the arrival as "MADE IT".. but I am happy to hear her.

I dont see my father but I am 100% he is filming somewhere and commenting the in his own videos.

3.15pm the RUN

My first 2-3Km are going way to fast... my pace is a little over my expectations and I feel great. Hot, sweaty, salty and smelly as usual ...but great..

second lap ( out of 4 )... and my running is starting to fade, so many people screaming my name ( it was written on my Bib ) too bad my legs cannot react anymore. I hear Alessia, Francesco and friends that I totally did not expect to show up at the race.

Third lap and I see Kimmy... with her astonishing beauty, trying to take pictures while screaming "Cigliaaaa".

These 2 laps are a weird cocktail of emotions, totally miserable on the outside, super happy in the inside. I hit my LOW moment towards the beginning of the 4th lap... I am only 5Km from the end but I need to walk... my hearth is going crazy... ( way too much Coke )...10-20meters and I am back into a slow run... finally back to a 7min pace trying to hang on.

Last 2Km... as usual ... they are sooo damn long... I can barely hear my friends and family... oh here it comes I see the end... the blue carpet

I am done.

30th overall.... 21st among the italians ( including PROs ). 4h47 minutes after a 1h30 half marathon that felt like an ultra.

My mom's hug, my dad's eyes are indescribable... and I feel guilty to not be able to appreciate the moment as much as I would but the low level of sugar in my blood is making me dizzy....

For whomever made it to the end of this eternal post here it comes the Video my dad realized.

Italian comments :-).