My very own training (b)log

Endurance Planet: Get to Know Pro Pedro Gomes

2012-10-17T21:27:00.003+01:00

From enduranceplanet.com:

"Our week of Kona coverage continues, as we sit down to chat with Pedro Gomes, who made his first appearance in the Ironman World Championships this year, and had a great showing finishing 26th in 8:56:10. On the show find out what Pedro did differently to make it to Kona this year, his thoughts on the race, his nutrition plan, race strategies, the advice he got from his coach Jesse Kropelnicki, what he did when his HR monitor failed, what he likes about Kona itself, and much more."

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Post Kona '12 blog

2012-10-15T03:22:00.000+01:00

My first Ironman Hawaii is done and dusted. It was a day worth of a World Championship, with the cross winds in Queen K and up to Hawi blowing pretty hard. I only felt the heat bloating off the ground out of the Energy Lab but the report is that it was hot all day.

On the night prior to the race I got a good 7 hours of sleep which was enough to make me ok with being up at 3am for breakfast. Going into and thru transition procedures was uneventful and before I knew it, the cannon blasted of for the pro men. Right from the start I got knocked out pretty hard and could barely see a thing so I just kept bumping into everyone around me. I got a hold of Eneko's feet for a while and then onto the wave of Lovato and Viktor Zyemtsev. Sighting buoys at a distance was simply not worth it as I had only one eye working and that was to keep going on a straight line. The swim felt pretty comfortable and I was out with a good pack of athletes that include the likes of Raelert, Amey and Ronnie. Kienle was not far behind as I saw him coming out when I was running into my bike.

Immediately on the bike, the HR monitor was not working. I tried to move it around a little but somehow it never worked. Eventually I just gave up and decided to go by feel. Of course the uber-bikers went straight to the front and following Jesse's plan I got out of town as fast as possible still with them before settling down on the Queen K. I had been on the island for 22 days prior to race day and the wind was never as it was on race day. From the airport on, and back to it, felt like it was always headwind with an INSANE cross wind going up to Hawi. Again, I did exactly what Jesse told me to.. ride steady and conservative. Maybe too conservative as soon the germans dropped my butt and I was on my own. I had seen Rapp and Major go by on the first turn around in town so I knew they would storm by me eventually. That didn't happen until mile ~56, when Rapp and Lovato caugh back up. That was also when I saw Macca going slow, clearly having an off day but still trying to embrace the suck. He would eventually DNF but it is what it is. Still one of the dudes I look up for. On the way down, Andreas and Kienle had already caught up with everyone ahead and were trailing Marino by just a few seconds. I tried to do my own descent and soon Rapp and Lovato dropped me too. Trying to go with them felt too hard and I kept hearing Jesse on the back of my head saying: take caution, be conservative until the turn to the Queen K again. With no HR and looking back at it now, I feel like I could have gone for it and try to follow Rapp's pace. It was however a risk I was not willing to take. Once we hit the Queen K again I was - again - on my own. The cross winds made up for a hard come back into town but they would gradually get better (I mean.. not as bad) and I was glad to see someone ahead before the airport. Some of the pre-race favorites were fading and it was about then as well that Joszef Major made his pass. Back into T2.

The run. Jesse was serious when he said "give me until the turn around on Alii Drive to chill". So I did just that, enjoyed the jog until the first turn around and started to pick it up back into town. By that time, Matt Russell, Tom Lowe and Bruno Clerbout had already gone by me and gain a lot of ground. Again, with no HR I had no idea how fast I was going so I may have gone to slow. It's funny how I used to race always by feel when I first started to do long distance triathlons and on this race, I felt so "undressed". I'd said it was more like "fear" that the race would own me and the heat in the Queen K was unbearable. It was actually not the case and it even felt relatively cool until the Energy Lab. Or I did a great job showering in every aid stations. When you get to the Energy Lab you have around 7-8miles to go and it was about then that really started to heat up. We had a head wind coming back into town which didn't make things any easier. I had still a few people that I could spot on the horizont but not a lot of miles left. It was about then that I felt like I had taken too easy all day. I had this thought of "keep it cool, steady and comfortable" all day and it was kinda like my day. Although I felt in control, at that point of the race you just can't speed up that much. It's like having 4th gear for so long and all of the sudden stepping up to 5th gear. It takes a huge amount of energy that I wouldn't have that far into the race. I would still catch up with Michael Lovato celebrating at the finish line but I was not going to sprint him to the line. Instead, I got into the vibe and also enjoyed my first finish here. First of many I hope. I was 26th across the line in a time of 8h56.

Looking back at it now, I do feel like I didn't take any risks and I endured a tough day. I always felt like if I asked myself "can I go faster?" the answer would always be yes. It was a slow day overall but I don't come out of it too depleted or beaten up. To top the day and celebrate Cait's 9th place finish, we went for some big fatass burgers and enjoyed some of the night finishers crossing the line. It was a joyful day, I loved the race and will want to come back for more.

Massive thanks to all my sponsors and you guys out there that were cheering and calling out my name. You guys make me feel like a rockstar all day. Congrats to my training buddies on this journey to the World Champs, Matt Russell (20th) and Cait Snow, who topped this trip with great results.

After two days of paddle surfing and junk food, I will be good (heavy) to go back to Portugal and think of what is next!

EDIT: along with coach Jesse, we decided to call it a season. It's not worth doing a 5th Ironman this year. Instead, it is my goal to rest up until December and kick off the season with an early Ironman. I'm yet to decide which one but I'll keep the blog up-to-date.

Pre Kona '12 blog

2012-10-11T22:40:00.001+01:00

Can't believe we are just 48 hours from the start of Ironman Hawaii World Championships. Time flies.

Since I arrived in Kona, 20 days ago, training has been flowing smoothly. Coming this early to the race was a goal that Coach Jesse and I had set up leading to what is definitely the most important race of my season, if not career. Being away from home has permited me to focus entirely on the race with very few side distractions, which made up for great training sessions along fellow pros Matt Russell and Cait Snow. Applying The Core Diet in the US is also fairly more easy which got me to race week with the desired weight and health. It's amazing how people spend hundreds, thousands of dollares with top of the line bikes and gear, when they can boost their performances by applying simple rules to their way of eating and that will eventually shave off a few pounds on race day and get you there on the best shape possible.

My main sponsors have been very supportive for this race. Words of appreciation to Zoot, Vision and Kestrel for the gear they have supplied me with this entire season, and of course to Fuel Belt, Powerbar and Normatec, sponsors of the QT2 Systems team, that have also been truly helpful on the prep for this sathurday's race.

There's not much more to report from the Big Island. Sathurday's race will surely be thrilling to watch and a joy for me to compete on. I hope everyone can lay it all down on race day, all the sweat and blood from the training you've done and above all enjoy the melt (another way of putting the "embrace the suck"'s quote from Macca) out there on the Queen K.

Thank you for following and good luck!

Putting Golegã on the map

2012-09-14T18:01:00.001+01:00

It's been over a month since I last updated the blog but not much went on. After Ironman New York I struggled a little to bounce back from it, probably due to the blazing hot day we all endured but after a couple of weeks of "just solid" training, I felt ready to tackle a challenging week. I headed towards Golegã, a village up about 100K north of Lisbon, where João Mascarenhas and the Quintela's (includes 2 kids and 1 big, massive, 70kg dog) were kind enough to get me a roof. Pedro and Sónia are both triathletes who already made a name for themselves in the country and their kids are following their steps, so the sport is present on their routine.

Golegã is known in Portugal for it's very famous festivities in November, where they celebrate the village as the horse capital. To sum it all, a weekend of beer, chestnuts and good times.. along horses. For real. However, ever since João Mascarenhas took charge as the lead coach of the regional club (Núcleo Sportinguista do Concelho da Golegã), results and the name has been spread out as one of the top triathlon birth places of our nation with athletes beeing selected for the national team and racing all across the World both in Ironman and Xterra events. The region offers a 25 indoor pool, endless trails and roads to navigate either by foot or on a bike and the weather is perfect during this time of the year. More if you are getting ready for a race where heat is served from dawn to dusk. Reaching Golegã is easy by car or train as one of the main train stations of the country (Entrocamento) is less than 10 Km away. Living expenses (read food) is also much cheaper than the big cities in Portugal and whenever you really need the buzz, you can just go to Santarém or Torres Novas for shopping malls and night life. Trying to find a downside of this place as I was writing this report but I can only find the extreme peace of this place too.. extreme. For a big city kid as myself, I need the noise every once in a while but will definitely go back in the future for a few more weeks of training.

The days spent in Golegã bleeded one into the next one but training was awesome. It included some long workouts, runs, bricks and having someone to tackle along every time, made up for a really solid week. I settled into the tri-zombie mode of eat, train, sleep thanks in part for the kindness of the locals who made my journey in Golegã very easy. Time up in Golegã flew by. I also finally got some company to hit the pool hard and managing solid sets which will definitely help on this build up for Kona.

To find out more about the tri-club there, please visit: http://www.facebook.com/trigolega

The Coach and QT2 Systems

2012-08-16T16:06:00.004+01:00

Jesse Kropelnicki is the founder of QT2 Systems, a fast-growing provider of personal triathlon coaching, and TheCoreDiet.com, leading provider of sports nutrition. He is certified as a USAT level III coach, a regular contributor on USAT seminars and LAVA magazine; a graduated from NorthEastern U as a Structural and Civil Engineer, recently completed his MBA and still works as a lead engineer at Parsons Bricnkerhoff in Boston, MA. All this resume impresses the newbies for sure but someone that wants to take triathlon serious, can't just rely on resumes.

At the end of the day, there aren't any secrets to the basics of training/coaching. No secret training session, no secret program, no secret formula. If you are a super talented triathlete, is likely you get success even if you are with the worst coach in earth. However, hard quality work will always have success over just talent. Racing at your full potential and laying it all down on race day is what you seek. So if you are paying $400 a month for coaching, you want to make sure your coach will get you to that point.

Since I've started my career as a professional triathlete (read, racing as a professional athlete) in 2006, I've worked with two other coaches and came across many, mostly in Portugal. I can't judge my coaches by my own results. My results are MY results, what I do on race day and I'm the only one responsible for them. The coach's job is to get me to race day fit, both mentally and physically, so I can produce something special on that given day. With that in mind, I need to judge a coach by how I feel on race day considering all the training I went thru, the challenge I've signed up for, my state of mind going into it and I knowing what is the "job to be done". It's not totally uncommon to meet athletes that are super fit, super talented but they have no idea of what to do on race day. They have the tools they just don't know what to do with them. I'm not saying I do also, I'm saying I need to get there. Only then you will pop up consistency and solid back to back results

Jesse Kropelnicki is - what I like to call - a "full-time coach": he's present on almost every aspect of training, racing and nutrition. Don't get it wrong, it's always a business for coaches, they also need to pay bills but you will have the coach that comes up with a software that just pops up training program and you will have the coach that plans it all out week by week, day by day, session by session. Because, as I said, there's no secrets when it comes to training, it's what you make prior and after and how you face the training sessions that makes a huge difference. Programs are basically all the same. How you recover from every training session (and I mean EVERY), how you eat, how you get to race day mentally healthy, how you execute your race and fueling plan, how you sit on the bike or steep on your feet, now that's the coach's job. What I'm getting from Jesse is all that advice. He prescribes workouts based on technology, science and logic and everything around is put in place following the same line. He's so committed to each of his athletes - he currently has about 12 athletes under his guidance - that you will be fooled to believe that he only works for you. For me as a triathlete living in Portugal, the only downside is that he's based overseas, in Boston, MA, but even so he goes into the trouble of leaving his wife and kids on hold, while supporting his athletes compete in IMNY. The same will happen this weekend at Timberman.

Along side being a coach, Jesse has surrounded himself with individuals that lean on the same philosophies and share the same passion for this sport, bringing them to the coaching program of QT2 Systems, teaching and supervising most of their work as coaches. Tim Snow, Chrissie Kropelnicki, Cait Snow and Pat Wheeler are some you probably are familiar with.

QT2 Systems is becaming a reference in our sport but not only for their coaching team. QT2 Systems athletes reach their goals and have become the best marketers amongst the US. Team QT2 Systems is currently present on almost every single race in the US and includes both professional and amateur athletes.

To know more about Jesse, follow his blog at kropelnicki.com
To know more about QT2 Systems, surf into qt2systems.com

Hell and back, report from Ironman NYC

2012-08-14T10:43:00.001+01:00

The first ever Ironman triathlon in New York city is done and dusted. I’m pleased that I was part of it and I’ve done it once. The City is a great destination but most of the race happens in New Jersey and logistics are a nightmare. Although all efforts were made to make life easier for athletes and their families, truth is everything is so spread out that you have to hop on a ferry to transition (twice as bike check-in is mandatory on the day before) and swim start. The location for the IM village, race check-in, banquet and awards – Pier 92 – although it seems cool, it was dirty, old and sober. Coach Jesse had chosen a hotel in Manhattan (on 52th) and it was definitely a good option. If life wasn’t easy for athletes, for spectators it was even worse as they weren’t allowed to go basically anywhere – unless they had a special bracelet or could get on a heli to follow the race without missing a portion - which made up for a very lonely Ironman race. Again, I’m sure WTC and the race director did the best they could with what they had. Free ferries and a lot of information was given away to help us out but if it stays like this for the following years, it’s a race to do only once in your life just because it’s New York.

Enough with the boring stuff and onwards to the race report of my 8^th place finish:

The swim start was on a platform on the middle of the Hudson. You could only get there on a ferry with it being a pontoon start for pro men and women and time trial start for age groups. The 2.4mile swim is on a straight line heading downstream and current aided towards the GW bridge, starting north. Its a pretty easy swim to navigate and the water is fine, even though we were swimming on one of the worst waters in the planet. It was however a non-wetsuit swim so we wore our skinsuits, which got me in trouble. I don’t like swimming in a skinsuit and right on one of the first buoys, the string that allows you to unzip the skinsuit got hooked on the buoy. A few precious seconds that allowed the guys ahead of me to get a gap and I couldn’t bridge back. I completed the swim in 42 minutes, 2 minutes slower than the leading female which usually is where I can be and more than 3 min of the front.

Immediately out of T1 you have a steep uphill on the New Jersey’s cliffs. Jesse was there screaming so I would take it easy. Maybe too easy as Mcdonald, Major and Brader caught me right there, less than 5 minutes into the 112mile ride. Knowing that I didn’t have an awesome swim, I figured they were too close out of the wet which ruined my plan of hanging out with them later on the race. I was feeling awful and my quads were killing me. Looking back at it now I made a few “recovery” mistakes on the two days prior to the race. I may have also had too much to eat on the day prior as I felt too bloated (more than usual) and like I didn’t left enough of me on the restroom. So on the bike I could only hang on to Chris McDonald at that point. Not soon afterwards Trevor Wurtele caught us. Considering how the race started, it wasn’t a bad scenario as they are both solid riders. The bike course was stupid hard, going on an out and back, on a highway over rolling hills and over 4000-feet of total climbing for the entire ride. Nothing much went on during that ride and in the back of my mind I had my own plan of just running hard and being patient on the bike. I would have helped both Chris and Trevor but I was not feeling at my best. In fact, I had to suffer a lot to keep up with them as I knew they would be my last chance to have someone pace me. Up front, we could see Paul Ambrose had put about 10 minutes into us on the first 30 miles while TJ was fighting for the top position with Rapp cruising behind just ahead of a large pack of riders . Eventually Rapp bridged up to the lead and got to T2 ahead of Paul while we didn’t lose more time to the lead on the remaining 80 miles. At that point for me it was about making it to transition. It was getting hot and humid and drinking A LOT was in order as I must have had at least 12 sports drink bottles. Never-the-less it was a good training day for Kona.

In and out T2 as the legs took a while to get back to me. Trevor and Chris soon passed me. I knew in advanced that the run would be hard with the course being half over the cliffs and half on a long stretch, unshaded, on Riverside Park but I surely didn’t expect it to be THAT hard. It was by far the hardest run I ever done and let alone the course as the heat and humidity were making things harder. With a few miles in I FINALLY picked up the pace. A few stops to get some extra pounds off and I caught Chris McDonald – who, after working hard on the bike was now fading – and I should have been running at about the same pace as Trevor, give or take who didn’t gain much after the first out and back. I soon passed Twelsiek, Brader, Bell and Ambrose and they all seemed to be struggling. I was running faster than most of the guys in front but not that much faster. A few moments after I passed him, Luke Bell regained his momentum and caught back to me. We ran side by side for a while before I had to stop one more time for some sightseeing - another sign that things went wrong with the carbo loading. This happened right before mile 14, a tough uphill before going up GW Bridge. To go over the bridge – if you know it, you know how high it is – you need to go over stairs something that felt like going over the top of the Empire State Building. I couldn’t believe how many stairs there was and how hard it felt. Up and down, bridge, up and down overpass and finally a steep hill down to the riverside path. It was super exciting to run over the GW bridge, the view to the City was amazing but between passing Tim Marr and enjoying the moment there, the final 12 mles would be HARD. I had dropped Luke Bell once again and was running in 8^th but although it was mostly flat and across the park, I definitely started to struggle. All the going up and down stairs, the heat, the magic that I did NOT feel on Saturday and all, the race finally broke me. I had done a great job with hydration and fueling as at least my body was still moving forward but I had to slow down a ton. I think that the sun started to take it’s toll there. Leslie – who came all the way to NY to watch the race – was there screaming for my life but I couldn’t even reply or make signs. All I was think at that point was that I REALLY need 8^thplace. Between miles 20 and 24 you had to run thru another park on a few out and backs where you could see who was running behind (and ahead). I could see that Trevor was the only one moving at a decent speed and away but everyone else in front was struggling. I could also see that Bell was again moving faster. The park included some stairs as well and some short ramps at least as high as the Everest – or so they seemed – and it was honestly the most I ever suffered on a race. There wasn’t a place in hell I had rather be than right there, giving all I had on that moment and moving at 8’ mile pace. Lets make it clear: I’m being ironic.

On the final mile I think I ran another marathon. I was asking everyone how much futher I had left until the finish line. Finally relief… I couldn’t even celebrate; I was running for my life. I had no idea if Luke was 100-feet or a mile behind but I made it home. The finish line was disappointing. I was expecting at least a statue of liberty welcoming home but I guess Mike is not into dressing like a woman.

I think I won 8^th place on Saturday. I didn’t lose to those 7 guys ahead of me. It was the hardest Ironman of my life and I conquered that spot with what I had on the day and with all the race happenings. I earned enough points to make it to Kona and moved up to 30^th place in the World. I usually wouldn’t be happy with 8^th place. I like to win but I honestly respect everyone who finish on Saturday. It was a brutal day and race. 2500 athletes took part of it and I’m sure people won’t forget.

Thanks to Jesse Kropelnicki and Jacqui Gordon for the great weekend, Leslie who was my #1 cheerleader and all my sponsors and friends who follow my racing and career. Now it’s Kona time!

(photo caption: me, Jesse, Jacqui's family and friends, all in NY for the race)

Ironman NY preview: expect nothing

2012-08-08T20:40:00.002+01:00

Expections. Every professional athlete deals with it and I'd say it's the #1 reason why some can't perform on race day - or at least, not at the level they are worth it. There's always pressure to perform, it's in the athlete to know how to deal with it. I think most really want it bad, bad enough that they given up on everything in life to do the sport they love. However pressure and what they 'think' people expect is keeping them from performing. If you ever did any kind of sport at a professional level, you are familiar with this.

First off, what athletes 'think' other people expectations are, most of the times, it's way more than it actually is. And second, it doesn't matter as long as you give it your best shot. I'm sure everyone has thought of "what will people think?" during a race. You are probably over-thinking instead of swimming, running, riding stronger but even if it has gone thru your mind, I'm pretty sure it won't matter if you finish the race with the feeling you did all you could. You should be doing what you love, push hard as balls because you love the pain, not doing what you think you're supposed to do or people say to you. The World's best failed a ton of times before succeeding but they sucked it up for years and achieved their dreams because they loved what they did and continued to pursue it.

All this cheap talk comes prior to my race in New York (Ironman, next saturday) because it's familiar to me. Ever since I stormed through the Ironman ranks with a 8h25 debut followed up with 8h19 PR just a month afterwards in late 2010, it seems I've been sucked into this shadow of my own performances. This' the evil side of getting too high, too soon, on any sport, where you think of what everyone want or expect instead of what you want. I always thought of myself as bullet proof on race day. I always have an extra gear and I know I can always overcome my training performances but specially on big races such as the one this upcoming weekend, I get swallowed by this thoughts prior to the race and that eventually haunt me on race day. It's not about what my friends, family, sponsors expect, it should be about me. I'm doing the race, I'm the one that should expect anything and do the very best I can on race day. I know that even if I finish last but did everything in my power given the race conditions/situations, I know I will still come home happy.

Expect nothing, just wish me luck.

Ironman New York minus 18 days

2012-07-23T16:11:00.001+01:00

Ironman New York is just 18 days away. Time flew by since I was last in the US (for IM Texas). After Ironman Austria, coach Jesse prescribed an pretty easy week but it was followed by one extremely hard. Not in terms of intensity but considering I was just a week off an Ironman, it felt like it was a ton of training. However, I'm still young and fresh and paying attention to little details as sleeping at least 8 hours per day and eating well, the week went by smoothly and I was up for the fight everyday.

Considering between Ironman Austria and New York there will only be 5 weeks, there's not much training you can add up. It's more of a matter of doing good workouts, skip the junk miles and recover well. Also, looking at the pic above, you can easily notice I need to improve my aero position.. For that, I've added a inverted stem as I had the stem already as low as I could.

Despite the changes I'm slowly making to my position, I can only hope all the work I've been doing on the run side pays off in New York. The run portion there is expected to be hot & humid, just like Kona, just like Austria, which means I can't expect to run a 2h45 marathon. Still if I stay injury free for the next couple of weeks, I'm sure a solid run will pop up. Just need to follow the plan. One of the things I know it works - as Richie mentioned on his last ST interview - is running with runners. You base running speed will increase as they simply run faster than the average triathlete. You get beat up in every training session but you learn to hold on. And one that you will hold on for the entire run.

In the meantime, I've came across the Raising an Olympian series. Inspiring stories, inspiring athletes (well.. the clips are mostly abour their moms). Amongst many things, I was surprised I share the same mentally as most of them. They are all perfectionists but they KNOW that perfection doesn't exist. Having perfect training sessions, perfect performances won't ever happen. It's not about you being perfect, is about you being able and willing to do the best you can on any given day with whatever tools you have/need and, afterwards, knowing that you did the best you could. Prior to the competition you need to know your best will be enough. Forget expectations, you can't let yourself hold.. you back.

Ironman Austria 2012 recap!

2012-07-02T06:03:00.001+01:00

Yesterday I was back on the podium of a WTC event, getting 3rd place at Ironman Austria in a time of 8h26m30s, behind Faris Al-Sultan and Daniel Fontana. Here's a quick recap of the key moments.

A few weeks ago I registered for IM Austria but the plan wasn't exactly to focus on it too much. Coach Jesse got me on a three week block of training which took a huge toll on me. Still with a week to go we decided to have a go and get to the race on the best shape possible.

Once I got to Austria I was surprised by the heat. The few days leading to the event were super hot and on race day temperatures ended up rising up to 40ºC. The crowds were amazing all day cheering athletes but if they were melting you can imagine how we felt running our guts off over the Ironman distance. The lake where the swim takes place felt like a jacuzzi and the 25ºC water meant it was to be a non-wetsuit swim.

Onto the race, pro athletes had a pontoon start. I settled on a group that had Thomas Hellriegel and Markus Fachbach. I still can't swim with guys like Fontana and Al-Sultan so they were, amongst a few others, up about 200 meters when we exited the water. I had lost about 3' to the leaders but had some of the main figures still under the radar.

Once on the bike, Markus Fachbach immedietaly took the front and I had to hang tough with him. We would catch back with Dominik Berger and Franz Hofer almost after T1. Although the pace at that time wasn't extremely tough to deal with, I had my monumental bonk at IM Texas in my head so I just stuck with it. Tom Lowe and Michael Gohner flew by at the 50km mark. They both hit the front and were setting the pace for most of the ride - to be honest, mostly Tom. 80km into the bike, we caught Balazs Csoke, Kent Horner, Adam Molnar. Following my race plan, I stayed conservative for most of the ride, focusing on sipping as much fluids as I could and just keeping the HR as low as possible while riding with these fellas. On the second lap things started to get really hot and the pace suffered with that. The bike course in Austria isn't as flat as people may think after Marino's record-smashing performance last year. It's pretty rolling although temperatures this year were making things slower than other years. With 25km to go, we hit the final ascent of the day and after riding conservative for most of the bike, I had the power to drop the pack and set my own pace up front. I ended up gaining about 90seconds on that pack which allowed me a clear and "relaxed" T2, without freaking out about others around.

I started to run in 5th place and wasn't exactly feeling like Bekele. The heat was getting to me and the first aid-station was due to show up! Tom and Michael caught back to me soon on the marathon. I was trying to keep cool and just staying relaxed. I thought to myself - "hell must be near and there's still 35km to go" when they went by. However, I regained my momentum and re-passed them still on the first half of the marathon and also caught a fading Philip Graves just before the 21km sign. From then on, in third place already, was survival mode in a sauna. There were no stairways to heaven, it was a matter of keeping the body cool and the guy behind about a minute back - Franz Hofer. I wasn't gaining a hing on the guy in front - Fontana - but I felt in control of most of the run. I knew I would be better not to over-heat and first secure third place before even thinking of the guy in front than just giving it an all out approach to the thing. It was, after all, a bloody marathon, 42km of running that is. With about 8 kms to go I missed coke/isodrink on one of the aid-stations as the course was getting crowded with age groupers which was like missing the last coke on the desert. I hit the wall not long after and it was then when I thought I was not going to bring some flowers home on that podium. I stopped and walked for second in a hope I could get myself back together. With Franz Hofer hot on my crawling feet, I thought I wouldn't power-walk the rest of the marathon and so had to HTFU. I eventually made it to the next aid-station. I took my time to drink a ton of coke and drop ice on my race suit, a move that didn't get me any points on the fashion side but got my legs back. In fact, I embraced the pain and focused on what was left of the run - and actually running - always with my head down and the heat of the crowds pumping blood into my vains. I was going to make it. With 4kms to go I felt amazing. I even managed to put another minute on the guy behind and shave off 3' on the guy in front on that final stretch.

With 200 meters to go, that was when all the pain went way. After my breakthrough performance in Florida in 2010 and almost two years of injuries, bad racing and a lot of trouble getting motivated, I was going to get on a podium again of a WTC event. I could hear the noise of the thousands that gathered at the finish line and was super happy with my day. I was expecting some strong moves from the cheerleaders and I was going to enjoy it. More than the podium, I felt truly thankful to all of those who keep supporting and cheering for me on my worst days. They made it possible.

Quoting again my dear Emily, nobody said it was going to be easy and all said it was going to be worth it.

Thank you for reading.

Keeping balance and growing.

2012-06-19T22:44:00.004+01:00

I've been neglecting this blog lately mostly due to the lack of news. Since IM Texas, I've been back home in Portugal training consistently and focused on tackling Ironman Austria and Ironman New York in full fitness mode.

The good news is that the hip flexor is not letting me down and dealing well with the increase of run volume. I guess that as long as I keep it oiled and stretched, it won't bother me again.

It was not easy for myself to bounce back into the routine. The first run workouts and "tests" were not looking good. I was limping for most of my runs which led to other aches surges. Still, I'm glad that I'm over it and so I'm now lock and.. loading.

It's true that real growth happens in moments of weakness but I can't thank enough the friends that surround me everyday with their own (different) lifestyles that don't let triathlon consume me as a whole. Positive attitude has power and I'm growing mentally stronger surrounding myself by people that have it. I know who my true friends are and they know what I do. They know I can't go out late at night - most of the times, that is - but they also know sometimes I NEED to. Albert was right: Life is like riding a bicycle – in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving

Ironman Austria is next July 1st! Wish me luck.

The time is now

2012-05-26T17:41:00.002+01:00

A week after, I'm still digesting my last race in Texas and all the emotions I went thru that few days spent under the lovely hosting of Leslie LaMacchia. The race in Texas hit me as a milestone. I need to get lean, I need to work on my running. Forget what wasn't done before, focus on what I need to do now. I need to chase that points to qualify to Kona and with that in mind I'm heading towards Ironman New York on August 11th.

Without further ado, thank you Emily for this post:

So stop waiting; until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you die, until you are born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy. Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

- Alfred D'Souza

It's not luck.

2012-05-21T20:03:00.001+01:00

After my race in Texas, I sat with coach Jesse and we went over my day. He shared a few thoughts that although they may even be common sense, not everyone really stops to think about it. Often athletes talk about luck on race day (or the lack of it) but forget about that. Luck has nothing to do with it.

So guys like Jordan Rapp and Cait Snow are two of the best Ironman triathletes in the World and they surely get that reputation from all their previous wins and glories. However, very few remember their bad races and that's because they had VERY few. What is really behind their success is their attention to details. The race in Texas would always feel like a sauna once the sun was out. They both knew that and came to Texas lean as hell. No one knows what they are capable of better that: 1) their coach; 2) themselves, so they came up with a race plan that totally sneaks every little bit of sweat out of their bodies with a purpose and nothing, absolutely nothing is taken out without a thought. You have a million talented athletes out there but only a hand full of athletes don't let luck be a factor on race day to be consistent top finishers.

For instance, myself. I finished my first ever Ironman in 8h25 and a month later I would breakthrough in Ironman Florida, finishing second in 8h19. Looking back at it now, I was lucky. I was lucky how the race unfold, I was lucky I survived both and come out in what many classified as good performances considering the circunstances (only a month apart). The only and real truth is that I had no idea what I was doing, got lucky and since then I've been living on the shadow of those results.

Back to the race in Texas. Considering the field of athletes, I'm sure neither Jordan or Cait expected to be out of the water with the lead pack and just "take it from there". And in fact they didn't. However, they had the ability to shut down their competition and just follow the race plan. I'm 100% sure they were meticulous with their preparation on months prior to the race - nutrition, recovery, training, etc - and executed what they had planned. If you look closely to their splits, both Jordan and Cait were stable all the way. They knew what they had in themselves and they layed it all down on that day. I'm pretty sure none had the perfect race but slight adjustments must be made and they still crushed it. Jordan would eventually win the race even though he was trailling by 12 minutes into T2, and toped that of with a 2h46 marathon. Cait finished second (to Mary Beth Ellis who is clearly on top of her game right now) with a closing marathon of 2h51. I'm sure they would both do the same exact race tomorrow, the next day and the next. No one does this without attention to detail and meticulous preparation. That's why people like Craig Alexander runs a 2h40 marathon every day.

Guys like Jordan, gals like Cait (with all respect to MBE who I don't know) are inspiring and role models. And most likely two athletes you will see winning Kona one day.

Ironman Texas 2012 - Race Report

2012-05-20T08:51:00.002+01:00

Yesterday I finished 10th at Ironman Texas in 8 hours and 45 min. I won't write a novel about how I could have won it in a world record time if everything went to perfection. Races are races, you give your best on that day and take it home. That's just the way it is.

Before the race itself, I must give a shout out to Leslie LaMacchia who - again - was a bloody awesome host, sherpa and friend during this week. She often goes out of her way to help others and not often gets total appreciation for that, so thank you Leslie. Then I have to thank Jim LaMastra and Emily Kratz for making all the race happenings so enjoyable and fun. This' a sport and before enjoying winning or finishing you must enjoy what you are doing. Then during the race I will not forget Ian Mikelson, Andrea LaMastra, Tim Snow, Chrissie Kropelnicki, Moly Kline and Moxie Multisport crew for shouting out so loud during that sufferfest I was on. People who were cheering and day long from Portugal and at least but not the last, coach Jesse Kropelnicki who is patient enough to set up a race plan that I always like to mess up.

Anyways, the race. Non-wetsuit swims are always tricky (and hard). We went off at 6:50am and I immediately positioned myself behind guys I thought I could take some advantage off. I swam the first 100/200 meters surfing of Torsten Abel, which meant I got out clean of the washing machine. Of course I couldn't hold on much futher than that and I settled in with Jim LaMastra and Jordan Rapp all the way out. The way out felt hard, I was giving all I had but back and facing the sun I enjoyed a nice draft of the pack while they navigated. We came out in 53' and things were about to get funky.

Rapp took of on a mission. He would eventually win the race. I went through the emotion (and inside envy) of letting him go with no struggle. The race plan was simple: tackle the first 56 miles with caution. I was pleased to feel stronger than usual and settle in a rythm I thought it would work for the entire race. First 28 miles in 1:06 and I was right on. Second 28 miles in 1:06. Cool. However, I had been caught by Joszef Major just before half-way and we were hitting some pretty nasty headwind. Joszef quickly surged a few times to get away and that was when my race plan went out the window. I just couldn't get let him go without a fight. That fight meant I was matching the speed (and surges) and that blew up everything for me. On a final surge, Major got away and I was left alone with my pain. The second half of the bike course felt slow. Justin Daer would go by at mile 80 or so and I had no ace on my sleeve. I faded too much and came back to T2 with Christian Brader. It was hot, windy and the effort felt super hard coming back but at least I nailed nutrition and went thru 10 bottles, 12 gels and three bars for the ride.

The run. Leading to this race, this was the part of the race I most feared. I'm still trying to get back to my run fitness and strenght but Jesse was confident on a solid marathon and had planned a strategy that could have worked.. if I'd done it right. "Give me three miles" - he said - "three miles to just go slow". I surely gave him three miles and but thought it would be cool to turn down some fast miles. Too fast, too soon and it didn't take long to realise it was not to be my day at the Woodlands. I hit the 13 mile mark and both my mind and body were ready to shut down for maintenance. There were some funny posters out on the course that made me keep going with a smile. One said: "Don't walk, people are watching". And another one "HTFU, you are NOT almost there". Who ever put those out there, thank you. It kept me rolling, one foot at a time.

I crossed the line in 8h45 and crawled at the finish line. I didn't execute my race plan and when on a Ironman race you pay for your emotional decisions. I was in so much pain during that last miles of the marathon that I felt like laying down on the fetal position a couple of times but.. people were watching.

To finish off, I would like to send a special thanks to Zoot Sports, Vision, Kestrel and QT2 Systems for putting me on that line with the best tools possible to do my job! I can't blame the material and coaching, that's for sure!

Lisboa International Triathlon (Half-Ironman)

2012-05-05T18:10:00.001+01:00

Today I finished 3rd at Lisboa International Triathlon, the largest triathlon in my home country and definitely the one that gets the most exposure from the media here since it is held at Parque das Nações, a mark in modern Lisboa.

I felt under control as the horn buzzed, but definitely felt like a slow swim. I could recognized most of the guys in the bunch but missed one guy up front - Vasco Pessoa, who ended up getting a minute on us out of the 1900 meters swim. I just sat with the main group and hit the front on the last lap to have a clean transition.

Onto the bike, I worked to pull back my deficit to the leader. Within 30 Km I had him in sight but sat a bit behind for a while to get a few fluids and nutrition back on schedule. After 45 Km I thought it was my time to pull away so I took charge at the front. I felt like the decision of riding the Vision Metron 90's wheelset instead of the disk - lets just say I have "mental issues" with using disk - was just plain stupid as such a rolling course demands one. Anyways, I hit the front for the final Km's and somewhere in the process of getting to T2 I had put over a minute on the next guy. I rode about 2' faster than last year but as the bike fitness is there, it didn't take a toll and I felt great running off transition.

Onto the run I had a goal of showcasing my efforts over the last two weeks after being without running for so long prior to Marbella. I took a glimpse at my nearest pursuers on the first opportunity and they all look like they weren't ready to throw the towel right away. The spaniard Jose Almagro was the one who was gaining the most and although I was running steady and relatively fast for the first lap (of four), Jose caught me at around the 7 Km mark. I hung tough for a km or so and clawed back to the lead as we both entered the final 10 Km separated by few meters. However, that effort took a huge chunk of credits and I hit the wall right there. Nutrition and pace were on track but my current running fitness was letting me down. I've been running for more than a week now with no pain and was expecting that I had regain some of my fitness. I was wrong and even though I feel like I let it all on the field today, I'm sad that my run is so fragile and weak right now. From that point on was survival mode and a very disappointing 3rd place in 4 hours 04 and change.

Overall I love the pain of racing and although I'm disapointed that my run fitness isn't where I want it to be, I embraced the suck and it's always motivating to get smashed - once again - in Portugal. I'm thankful for all the support during the race from the crowd and general public that was cheering along the run course. If there was a God, I'd say I'm very blessed for having such an huge entourage in Portugal, that backups my hardest and darkest days and keeps me motivated to work harder. I'll never deny a fight and will keep coming back for the next battle. Big thumbs up to the smoothness and stiffness of my Kestrel 4000 and Vision's ceramic hub, that have played an huge roll on the latest bike splits and was again up for the fight!

For me now is time to lower the training load a bit and get ready to Ironman Texas in two weeks!
Thank y'all

I CAN Marbella 2012

2012-04-16T16:43:00.006+01:00

Yesterday I won I CAN Marbella, a half-ironman distance race held in Puerto Banús (Marbella, Spain) that gathered over 1200 athletes from different countries.

First off, I’ve got to say a big thanks to everyone who made the weekend a success:
all the ICAN organization for the sympathy and of course for putting such a great event with so low resources (compared to other big events). The portuguese crew - Ricardo, Carolina, Sérgio and Rita - for the confortable road trip and awesome weekend playing Daytona USA. The spaniards who never stop cheering me and other athletes racing, independent of their color, age, nationallity or sex. I love racing in Spain and this race didn't let me down. Truly humbled by the backing of all the extraordinary people that support me.

And then on sunday, the race..

Coming off a 5 week period where running has been a joke due to my injury, I really needed a miraculous swim and ride to arrive at T2 with a gap that would allow me to jog/walk the run. With the Kestrel dialed in for another great ride, first I had to swim. I felt under control as the cannon fired, but that was definitely one of the rougher swims I have experienced in a while. Big swell hitting athletes but I got out clean with the leading trio and onto the ride.

I took charge from the moment I got my helmet on and shoes tight. Due to last minute changes, the bike course was tough. Up and down the climb to Ojén twice. Still, the clear road ahead, my downhill skills and a true amazing performance from Vision's Metron 90, didn't let me down and I could go up and down as fast as I was capable of and recorded the fastest bike split of the day coming to T2 with a 4'30 lead.

Still, no miracle happened and with some strong runners hunting me down, I actually had to do some sort of running for the remaining 21k. I thought, okay, now it’s time to do another miracle. Run the longest I've run for the past month and an half and to do so I even put my short course shoes on - Zoot's Speed racers - so I was sure nothing was slowing me down. So I hit it a little hard the first way out and wait for the back way to see who had game to run me down. 2nd and 3rd place runners were not gaining much on the first lap but when I hit the half-mark of the half-marathon, I could tell it wasn't actually my day on the run. My move on lap 1 seemed to backfired as I started to loose momentum. I know it would be a long shot for me to actually run 21k at a decent pace but still disappointing to have the legs not operate like usual.

I hung tough and clawed back my nutrition and focus on getting to the finish line. It wasn't going to be a fast run but ended up being enough to win. I crossed the line in first, in a time of 4 hours, 17 minutes and 36 seconds, which translates the toughness of the course. I enjoyed and saluted the home crowd and although I only won by a minute, I'm optimistic and happy that it seems as I'm finally over my injury. All systems - read muscles - seem to be now on a go for Ironman Texas.

António Miguel Jourdan 1971 - 2012

2012-04-02T00:51:00.005+01:00

I could write about how the portuguese shined down in Quarteira at the ITU cup this weekend, complain about how bloody worse my psoas gets with every run or how much did it rain in Portugal for the past 48 hours. But today we were all saddened to see the sudden loss with a heart attack of Antonio Miguel Jourdan, former national high performance coach, husband, father of three girls, Ironman finisher. 41 years old. One of the men who - along Sergio Santos - brought me to the high performance center and was a mentor for two years of success and joy. Rest in peace Coach Jourdan.

2nd place @ National LC Championship race #1

2012-03-25T23:44:00.006+01:00

First race of the season is in the books. I finished 2nd to José Estrangeiro, on a very exciting long distance triathlon race held in Vila Real de Sto António, Algarve. A few spaniards but - above all - the finest in Portugal showed up for the first long distance race of the season.

I came to this race feeling really confident of my training but not discarding some of the ITU young guns who are stepping up to longer terms: José Estrangeiro and Vasco Pessoa. With was with no surprise I came out of the water trailing the leaders by over a minute. They are are definitely better swimmers and since my broken collarbone, my swim is yet to be tunned. Vasco Pessoa and José Estrangeiro lead it out of the wet in 26 minutes on what was a mix of swimming with surfing.

Once the bike started, I had the leaders on the horizont but as Jesse instructed me to, I tried to settle down the HR and not rush things up. The bike lenght was divided in 5 laps where you had to go thru a 1,5km cobblestone section TWICE each lap (total of ~15km for the entire ride) which would be the only major difficulty of the bike. Other than that, pancake flat. The first approach to the coblestone was slow has neither of us - I guess - really knew how the it would "damage" our bikes and legs. Vasco clearly was taking it easier and José Estrangeiro took the lead just there. On that same first approach I lost both my water bottles and bars, being left only with my gels. But adversity comes with racing and I decided to not to carry any bottles for the ride and just have water on the aid stations. Not ideal but at least both the Kestrel and Vision components held on pretty stiff and true. I was also afraid of the Challenge Tubular to came off as I had glue them the day before but they hold on pretty steady.

So José Estrangeiro took the lead on lap 1 of 5 on the bike as I sat back for the first laps as I wanted to put down a solid effort on the final laps. Even so and to my surprise, José started to put some time on me. I had underestimated the pace he could put down and although he wasn't gaining too much, it was enough to make me wonder about my race plan. On lap 3 I was a minute twenty back. I was feeling good on the bike and both me and José were just moving away from the rest of the field but José was showing a really awesome bike fitness that it caught me by surprise. I had sat back for too long and could only play the element of surprise on the final lap and hope it could play in my favor. And so on the final lap I pushed the pace a bit and got to T2 just ahead of José.

The run had four laps with a really long stretch on the concrete and then the rest on dirt trails with a bit of an up and down. José immediately took the lead on the run and got a 1-minute lead in a flash. I didn't even see it coming. I kept the pace high but I was never able to catch back with José who put down a tremendous performance yesterday and won it with total credit.

Overall I came 2nd but was really happy with the way things unfolded. As I said on the previous post, I wasn't pumped to race but came out of V. R. Sto António satisfied with the effort I was able to produce, losing to a better athlete and surely a rising start in long distance events. I'm on the right path and performances will rise as the season progresses. The only bad news from this weekend is that my psoas inflamation got a lot worse with this race. Running up and down dirt trails didn't help at all and it looks like I will have to take a few weeks to heal this before restarting to run normally.

The bike file shows a true unsteady riding. Well, with 10 turn around points and another 10 "slow-down" sections of coblestone, it was impossible to keep it steady! The file: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/161658407

Huge thanks for all the cheers down on the course. Next stop is Marbella in three weeks!

To close this chapter, allow me to share this awesome clip. What a race it was.

Past few weeks

2012-03-19T17:26:00.001+01:00

Winter training is coming to an end as I approach my first race of the season in a few days. I'm pleased to report that training has been consistent and my body has been responding well to the load. Since I left the Sergio Santos & Antonio Jourdan's coaching in mid-2010 and then the high performance training center in late 2010, I left behind the best training scenario/entourage in Portugal but I'm slowly catching back. It's all part of the process and it surely took a bit longer than I expected but I think I'm over it now with the guidance of Jesse Kropelnicki.

To kick off 2012 I'm doing the National Championship race in Vila Real de Sto António on the 25 of March. Half-Ironman distance. I also have my sights set on racing I CAN Marbella in April and then tackling Ironman Texas in May, so it's been important to ramp up miles on the bike during the winter. I'm really glad with all the bike workouts I've done over the past weeks as I'm sure I come out of this period with a stronger bike lenght and with the support of Vision and Kestrel, I have top of the line components in hand. Reflecting on the month of February and March, I can say without a doubt that I am ahead of where I was last year.

As I approach a easier week before the home race next weekend, I've also been cursed with a slight inflamation on my psoas which kept me from running for a few days. However, I'm beginning to see some of the benefits from the miles I've logged on the bike and I'm sure I can catch up with my run sometime on the next few weeks. I don't feel really excited to race just yet as I'd prefer to be 100% physically to start off. But I have a mind set on hitting this first race focusing on my strenght sport at this time and make the training pay its dues. Hopefully the psoas won't bother me during the race.

The weather in Portugal has been a blessing this winter with hardly any rain. I've been really excited with the 4000 LTD that Kestrel hooked me up for long course racing. The bike is pimped up with Vision components and I believe my position on the bike has improved to a more narrow, confortable and efficient one.

But not only from riding lives a triathlete. Despite the recent injury, running has been the sport where I still see the most potential for improvement right now. The test runs I've done this winter came as a surprise and I know I will be up for some fast splits over the long term in 2012. I do need to work on injury prevention as the diagnosis from the psoas said it got worse from the lack of stretching. Lazy me.

So one week to go for the season opener. It has been over a year since I was really challenged in home events and with some young guns stepping up the distance and having a go at this race, I'm sure it will be one tough and very competitive race where I hope I can go for a solo ride and take it from T2. The beauty of this sport is that you can't just be a good swimmer, cyclist or runner. You need to be good at pacing each one to come out with the best out of the three.

Training wise

2012-02-21T23:14:00.003+01:00

The past few weeks have been quite messy with a few issues in life taking sleep away. Still with the weather being so lovely in Portugal, I couldn't ask for greater training conditions.

The past month had an average of 25 hours / week of real-time training. Along with some web-work to do, it has been enough to keep me busy and without much free time. However, a balanced life also demands some time with friends and on off-triathlon events which is one of the advantages of being in Portugal for winter training.

Jesse has been prescribing some really cool workouts. The BST's on the bike - repeats of 10 minutes - really make you work and the Jesse's special of hill repeats surely will pay it's dues later on the season. I'm confident that winter training has been good and I'm sure of a greater year in 2012. I will just trust the training, give my best on race day and accept the results.

More once the season kicks-off!

He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.

2012-02-12T16:15:00.002+01:00

Muhammad Ali.

That time of the year

2012-02-03T16:41:00.003+01:00

It happens to me a lot but more often during the off-season (read, time of the year with none or very few races). Training doesn't go as plan for a few days, life gets a bit in the way and you start to doubt your own will to be sacrificing your life in pursuit of excellency in this sport. I'm also pretty sure every professional triathlete goes through this moments during winter training and it will all go away once you start to nail a few days of training in a row. On my case, I think it happens quite more often because I have a second career I can opt by, where I would just do websites for a living and still enjoy all the crazyness of travel around the World plus the social side of life with friends not related to triathlon. However the joy of racing - not just doing - triathlons is something that will always have an expiration date and I can have the rest later in my life.

This one is worth a post!

2012-01-22T18:16:00.001+01:00

News & First race!

2012-01-16T14:33:00.005+01:00

2012 is in full throttle. The weather continues to help training and routine is just easy when you are 5 minutes away from the pool and you can ride and run from the house. Coach Jesse has been prescribing weeks of no more than 25 hours so it's not like the volume has been crazy high.

The big news from last week is that I won't be able to travel all the way to Clermont in Febuary for the three months of training I had scheduled. Some personal and professional issues emerged and I'm spending most of my winter at home. On this new scenario, Ironman Texas will be my first race in the US.

Futher on training, yesterday I traveled to Benavente for the National Road Running Championship. Coach Jesse wrote me a race plan that I executed perfectly finishing in 52:50 (15 Km) which was exactly what Jesse had predicted based only on my training log from the past weeks. This' the kind of stuff that really makes you thrust your coach.

Yesterday I also welcomed Chris Coble to Lisbon. Chris Coble was one of the guys I first met in the US last year. We were roomates in Las Cruces and Tucson and so it was kinda of a surprise to have him come to Lisbon. We had a snack at the very famous Portuguese "Pasteis de Belem" (named after very special custard tart pastry) followed by a tradicional fresh-fish and portuguese sausage dinner with live Fado acting at Bairro Alto. A nice evening to catch up with Chris and his lovely lady friend which topped another week of training in the books.

I will try to get a update on my racing schedule as soon as I figure all things out.

Full Speed Ahead / Vision Tech

2011-12-10T13:52:00.006+01:00

It's a great honour to announce that I've signned a two-year agreement with Full Speed Ahead and will be pimping my bike with their World reknown components. FSA is the main company that makes road and Mtn components. It also has 3 other brands under the FSA umbrella: Gravity - for huckers and chuckers, crazy kids jumping off things whilst doing tricks; Metropolis - the cool crowd riding city bikes; Vision - for the screamingly fast triathletes and TTers.

Since its birth in Kona in the ‘90’s, Vision has been synonymous with a no-expense spared assault on wind resistance. Recent years saw the innovative application of carbon fiber and the creation of dream-like shapes to enhance performance. Perhaps no aerobar line has been so imitated, but usually with little success. Following yet another triumphant season in triathlon and TT, Vision is again the brand to beat.

In Ironman competition, Vision has led the way by innovating slippery-fast aero products that actually function properly in race conditions. Aerodynamics combined with adjustability and fit take years to combine correctly.

2012 continues the quest for speed WITH the new Metron TFA aerobar. The TFA is UCI legal, exceptionally light, and rigorously tested with Computational Fluid Dynamics and wind tunnel testing. Along with the TFA, Vision continues to lead the industry with adjustment friendly semi-integrated, clip-on, and UCI legal bar options, as well as the revolutionary Metron groupset.

Introducing TRX!

2011-12-08T01:57:00.003+01:00

It is my pleasure to announce on board TRX. I made a commitment to myself to work on my core this winter and TRX will get the job done! TRX designs and sells original physical training products of innovative design and premium quality construction, including Suspension Training and Rip Training equipment, education and exercise programs that are changing the way athletes train for sport, soldiers train for combat, physical therapists rehabilitate patients and exercise instructors train their clients.