Vineman 70.3 ( when random becomes FAST )

Pre-race looooong preamble.... and yes reporting about a race happened 1 month ago.

Pretty much after my trip to Italy, where everything was planned months ahead and did not go as well as I thought, I tried to take some time off and rest up my mind from all this Triathlon craziness.

I have to admit I did really struggle on following my coach advises and I did find joy only on my bike rides. Cheetah was fabulous, waiting for me every morning and taking me around the bay area to get ready for the Death ride 2011. I rode with the Espresso crew, the HTFU crew, solo, indoor, with Pa and GranPa ( Dario&Diego ),

Proud to be a cyclist for one day... ( Kimmy thinks I look like a dork...I have to admit... she is right! )

Death ride went surprisingly well, 129 miles and 15000ft of climbing where smooth and fast (7h50). Osvaldo, Stefan and Jim... great companionship and hilarious regroups on top of the different mountain passes where the food feast was the theme of the day.

At the end of this monster ride I started a new tapering week leading to Vineman 70.3. Another qualifying race for the world championship but with a super competitive field.

Vineman 70.3 THE RACE REPORT:

The race of the first times!!

11pm-5am

First time I managed to sleep right where the race starts ( right behind a gas station in the crappiest motel of my life )

6am

First time I am not in a rush to get down to the transition area, Dario spent the night awake and he still using the bathroom

7am

First time I completely enjoy the start of the swim for a friend of mine. Dario's wave starts about 45 minutes early than mine. After his start I even have time to go to Starbucks, get one last shot of caffeine and sand bag with Kimmy one more time....( ya ya ya I am fat ya ya ya I am not ready..ya ya ya .. I am just going to have fun... ya ya ya... I will take it easy and enjoy the journey... etc. etc )

7.41am

4 minutes from my start. I got my wetsuit one, swim cap, all ready to go....OH wait a minute where are my Goggles?????... Shut... cant find my goggles... First time I forget such an important race component.... and I am only 4 minutes from my start... damn.... I am sweating cold blood in my wetsuit... what do I do now..

7.41.05am

5 seconds and here it comes, my brain is pessimistic but my body reacts differently... I am sprinting without shoes back to the hotel hoping to find my goggles on the bed or something.

Running with your wetsuit on, the swimcap and no shoes... AINT FUN... I get to the hotel in less than 2 minutes... Nada, niet, no, nessun, goggles in the room... oh well.. I will swim without... the race is "effe"d up... I am running back to the start line on the russian river.... OH wait a minute... what is that black object in the middle of the street?? My goggles!!!! Damn I am lucky! I basically grab them on the fly ... sprint to the river start, wave one more time to Kimmy and friends, step on the Timing Mat and jump in the water.

30seconds to the start... 29, 28, 27.... I here the voice from Michael: "...yay ya the italian stallion over there... ya ya .... 4h40 target...". I am happy to hear its optimism and I am glad to start after this first incident. 10, 9, 8 , 7.... Oh no... My mind is switching...from let's enjoy the sunny day to RACE mode... oh no... this is going to be a painful day.

7.45am-8.15am THE SWIM

First time I race in a river. 3 major differences: 1) You swim against the current for half the way, 2) water is shallow... sometimes people standup and I have got to pass people standing around me, 3) water is warm and savorless... Almost drinkable... BLEAHHH :-)

8.15am

First time I swim the 1.9Km in 30minutes sharp... this is the fastest swim I have ever done in my life ( the river conditions were ideal ).

8.15am-8.17am TRANSITION 1 (Swim->Bike)

First time I get my wetsuit off without incidents, I hear Kimmy screaming and looking at the number of bikes around me... I should be in the first 20 for my age group... not bad for a non-swimmer.

8.17am-10.46am THE BIKE

First time I am riding a bike course I had the opportunity to try before. I am going as fast as it gets from the start. I drink every 15 minutes, I pass people every 30seconds ( a lot of age groupers that started before me ) this is fun. I feel strong, positive and looking at my watch I seem cruising at a pace I would have never thought I could stay at.

I have to admit, 2-3 faster rider pass me... and they do have my age .... but this time I don't have any pressure and I dont feel like pushing more ( not that I really can )...40miles in and my legs are doing very good. Drinking a lot despite a foggy weather... I might be drinking a little too much, I feel like peeing... never happened before in a race.... oh well better too much water that not enough.
The infamous hill at mile 40 something is gone in few pedal strokes and I feel very good...awwww wait a minute I recognize a guy on the side of the street.... oh no... he is Dario.... he just had a flat and he is working on his wheel.... I feel bad for him... but I cant stop... I will understand.... I know he will.
Not even a word between us... just a look.

Shouldnt I look in front of me?

Few miles to the end, I can see Windsor and the pavement is getting cleaner and faster..... Woooow one guy passes me and he is 55yrs old!... This time I am almost close to the end and my instinct tells me I can push the bike a little faster. I end up battling with a 55yrs older monster biker for the last 5 miles.... 26/27mph on the flat.. It feels good when I see the transition area... time to run! 2h29 minutes for a rolling 56miler... not bad... NEW PR

10.46am-10.47am Transition 2 Bike-Run

This transition in the Windsor High School parking lot is absolutely smooth and perfect. I am in and out in a minute and my legs are not dead after all. Temperature is ideal it has not been too sunny and hot so far. I pop a GU and gooo

10.47am-11.00am Run ( part1 )
13 miles to run, I have got my coach's voice in my head ("take it easy at the beginning ... the race starts after mile 6..."), looking at my watch... I am not really following his plan... but I am not suffering this 6.30/mile pace... I just have something ... something that hurts ... damn.. I need to peeeee.
Almost 3 miles done ... and I cant take it anymore. First time I have to stop in a race. I disappear in the bush for what it seems to be the longest bathroom stop of my life.

11.01am-12.13pm Run ( part2 )
I am a lot lighter now, I feel like running again and looking at the watch again... I cant believe myself I am back in the groove... 6.30 pace. The run is gorgeous, I do remember the course from last year marathon, most of it I am protected by shades, the road is rolling, hills are not aggressive and flats .... are not really flats. For few miles I get to share the run with Dan Ross (my age group), a new Tri-acquaintance. I feel great to be able to share the pain for a while with someone else... but It seems like the 6.30pace is killing me more than him. I give up and I let him go..... Mile 6, I see the GGTC crew cheering on the street.. they recognize me.... and I do feel their support.. adrenaline is going through in a rush and while I hear Tommy screaming I look at my pace and I am sub 6..... eaaaasy dude... take it easy or you will die.... Mile 7... turn around point in the vineyards...I can feel the pain now... I am focusing to the next time I will cross the GGTC tent.. one goal at a time.... here they are mile 9 and their support is stronger than ever. This time the adrenaline rush is contained and I am stuck on my 6.30sh pace...

Flat means I can still bounce a bit

Big flat portion in front of me ... mile 10 is gone 3 to go... push push push push.... hey wait a minute... I see Dan ( the guy the went past  before... ) he is few hundreds yards in front of me and we are kinda running at the same speed...who knows maybe I can catch him. First time I am actually RACING
11miles... and he is close.... 12 miles and I can hear the crowd... he is 200 yards in front of me... I am racing as hard as I can.. I have been doing it for the whole day and my legs are still there... 5.55/mile is my pace... the running style is terrible but I am racing for my last mile... I am passing Dan 500yards from the end... I am alone now... no one around me... just the crowd.. and few hundred yards.... I see the end... WOW so many people, the big Vineman arrival stage and NICEE.... Kimmy, Diego, Katie, Marco are there few yards from the end...13.1 miles in 1h26minutes... I touch their hands while I am flying to the fastest Ironman 70.3 of my life. 4h30m04secs.

Team Triple Espresso...aka my best italian training buddies

What a race, what a perfect amount of conditions and random events... what a great Sunday... speechless.

This was one of those days where you are blessed and you have to enjoy the ride ( literally ).

In a few hours I got to hear I was 8th in my age group and qualified for the World Championships by just 30 seconds ( 9th spot was Dan ... 30secs from me ).. thank God I did not know how close I was to this awesome result while I was running ... or I would have screwed it.

I know I promised Kimmy this was the last Tri for the season... but now the Worlds are there... 6 weeks from this race and I have to go for it :-). She is so proud of me... She does not know there are other 2000 in the world that qualified with similar performances.... we ll see how it goes!!!

Stay tuned

The awesomest cheerleader ever ( Hawaiian version )