Last November 2.. I turned a year older again..
Man I'm getting old.. hehe 29 years old to be exact.
Yep.. 1 more year before I hit to big 3-0.
Who wouldve thought I'd get this old fast? ;)
Since I slacked off from my triathlon training...
I had plenty of time to relax.. and get away from the very stressful tri life.
Right now, my goal and focus is to defend our gold medal at the 2nd Asian Underwater Hockey Championships this november.
Team Philippines won it at Singapore last year.
Been training and playing a lot of underwater hockey lately.
So far so good..
But of course.. I still squeeze in a little training from our triathlon program as much as I can.
I know what I'm facing this february 2009.. and its not a walk in the park.
I'm not stupid.. you must give it its due.. and must train for it..
You swim 4k.. then bike for 180kms.. and then to top it off.. you do a full 42k marathon..
All within 17 hours or less.
For some people.. finishing a 42k alone is an achievement of a lifetime..
Thats how tough Ironman is.. I know that.. and I.M. ready.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
29..
Posted by ca®lo at 9:58 PM 0 comments
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Redemption..
A chance redeem myself..
A chance to improve my time last year..
A chance to prove that given the proper training... I can do it.
I DID IT!
I promised to myself that I wouldnt talk about this anymore.. and I'm gonna keep that promise.
Except for this moment.. hehehe..
I left my old team simply because, some people on that team, said I didnt deserve to be on the team because I havent proven anything yet. That I didnt have what it takes.. unlike them. Even went as far as saying they will leave if I stay on the team. There were other issues but, those we're really petty.
Weird huh? Isnt a team supposed to develop and help their weaker players? As soon as I heard that, I left immediately. I joined that team because I wanted to get better. I dont want to be associated (hehehe..) with a team that has elitists.
Ok enough about that.. thats over and done with. Besides, I already blogged about it.. its just set in private ;)
I sacrificed 4 months of my life training for this 1 event.. The Whiterock Triathlon (WRT)... the most famous and mecca of all long-distance triathlon races in the country.
Last year, I think I raced around 10 major races. For 2008... I raced only two. The Subit Tri and the WRT. My whole "tri-career" revolved around WRT.. which became my "A" race.
My social life has definitely taken a pounding because of this. There were countless times when I was asked to go out on a weekend and I said no because we have an early bike ride or run the next day. Date with someone? Well it better be on a sunday because thats the only time that I could stay up late because the next day is our rest day. :) Hehehe..
Now for the million $ question... Why am I doing this? I think thats the question every triathlete asks himself... shouldnt I be out partying? shouldnt I be just relaxing and working? Enjoying the perks of life?
Your entire household is already sleeping... and you're out there.. in the living room.. biking and cranking your trainer. Sweating it out with nothing but the boring nightly news to entertain you..
While everyone is thinking where to have dinner or where to go after work.. you're thinking about what time you'll be able to sneak in your "1 1/2 hour moderate" run..
While everyone is preparing to go to work or have breakfast.. you wake up earlier than them because your 4 hour ride starts just when everyone in your family is "about to leave the house". And what happens if its raining? You can't call it a day and go back to sleep.. you cringe everytime you wake up on a long biking weekend and its raining because you know its gonna be you, your bike, the turbo, and the boring tv all over again.. FOR 4 HOURS. Not to mention you still have to do a 4k swim afterwards.
Missed your morning swim? Well prepare to suffer under the glaring heat of the sun.. You must swim now because you still have work to do for the rest of the day... your face gets vandalized by the tan marks left by your goggles... Sunburned? Who cares? After that you still have to go to the gym or do an easy 1 hour bike. I got so dark I already stopped using sunblock. :) No use anyway. Besides.. I'm starting to dig this whole new dark thing. hehe
So... was it worth it?
I dont know.. maybe I just liked the pain our training brought. Masochist? maybe... Motivated? You bet. Knowing that this could probably take me to the promised land.. the place that would vindicate everything.. the place where I'd find my "bulalakaw".. my friends term for a medal.
Or maybe.... I really just wanted to prove something.
This year though, I got my target and upped my time by over an hour. I finished with a 5:43 time which was enough to get me 3rd place in my age-group. The biggest achievement of my so-called multisport career so far. Back then I was just racing to finish... now I cant believe I'm even thinking of racing for the podium.
It was a weird feeling really.. knowing that as you were on your way to the finish line.. you may have just made it... you may just have gotten your wish. You trained hard for this.. did it really pay off?
Its just something I wasnt really used to.... yet.. and I think I like it. :)
I'm also really happy for my team. The Gold's Gym Triathlon Team, now called Gold's Gym Multisport :). This team went thru hell and high water in those four grueling training months. Not only in training but also in a lot of other nasty stuff as well. Which I'd rather not talk about. I'd rather focus on making this team fly. The 2009 season will definitely be a good year for the team.
Our road to the WRT race was the best part.. all our training sessions... our crazy antics just to keep us sane.. the wild Iba, Zambales rides.. our wacky swim time trials.. the long 2 1/2 hour runs! The race itself for me.. was really just an icing on the cake.. baked to perfection :).
Whats important for me is that.. we all had an amazing finish! Everyone on the team completely destroyed their time last year by an average of 45 mins to over an hour! A fantastic result if you ask me. I guess MAO really knows what he's talking about. :)
This group always believed in me since day 1. They never doubted me.. nor questioned my abilities. They kept on telling me, I'm getting fast, getting better, etc etc.. yeah its true at first I thought its just part of the whole camaraderie thing. See coming in this whole multisport world, I always just wanted to finish the damn races... of course in my mind I dreamed of what it would be like to climb the podium but... back then.. I was really doing it simply because I wanted to... lose weight. hehehe.
This team will push you hard in training.. no question about that.. but they will also never hesitate to lift you up if you go down. Team first before everything. Isnt that what its supposed to be all about?
I got injured 1 month prior to the race. Its tough because its the same injury I got when I did whiterock last year. Same ankle.. same injury.
I've been kicking myself 'till now because I havent missed a single training session before I got injured. I was able to do everything on the program.. and was feeling really, really strong.
I managed to survive two nasty bike crashes.. got battered and bruised but still managed to do the training... and then just because of a simple "slip".. its over.. I couldnt run or even bike really hard.
Good thing I was still able to swim with the injury.. even if it meant kicking with just one foot :(. Its tough but what are you gonna do? You're already 3 months deep into the training.. you sacrificed a lot already.. are you going to let it all go down the drain? I wont. I'd rather let my ankle snap during the race... at least I tried. Thats better than doubting myself for the rest of my life. Like what the great Lance Armstrong said.. "Pain is temporary... Quitting is forever".
I missed around 3 good weeks training because of that.. just when the training was peaking and was focusing more on speed work. I could run yes... but I'll definitely be in a lot of pain afterwards. It was really a tough situation... your mind and heart is willing.. but your body just cant take it anymore.
Kudos once again to my therapist... Butch Ong and the whole Sante clinic crew.. who never gave up on my ankle.. who urged me to go on and run and dont mind my ankle because they'll take care of it. You're a miracle worker doc! and I'm happy to say that we made it!
Now on to the race...
We arrived in subic a day before the event... we checked in at our favorite place.. Playa Papagayo owned by a triathlete and a good friend, Frank Lacson. Staying in a resort managed by a triathlete has its own perks.. aside from getting triathlon designed meals.. you'll also get the benefit of having an early breakfast (restaurant opens at 4am) plus they wouldnt mind if you check out late the next day.
The Swim - I had a lot of mixed feelings before the start of the swim.. knowing that this is it... the moment we have all been waiting for... after doing my warm ups and my pre-race/training stretching routine.. I just took a deep breath and then prepared for the gun to fire. Theres no turning back. I was restless but some reason.. I was also calm. I just kept on thinking to myself.. 2k swim?? Heck, I swim an average of 10kms+ a week. How hard could this be?
At gunfire, I made the mistake of trying to draft with some of the fast-but-not-that-fast guys.. thinking I could draft off them and save some energy. But I was dead wrong. The moment we got into the water, it was like hell. I got stuck in the middle of the washing machine and lost a couple of minutes just to get my bearings straight. After the 1st lap I made a concious effort to stay on the outer lane.. where the water was calmer and I could do the last 2 laps faster. I ended up with a 43 mins swim. 3 minutes short off my target which is 40 minutes.
T1 went smoothly this time.. compared to my previous WRT.. this time I had a battle plan.. so everything went... well... normal to say the least. :)
The bike - the moment I've been waiting for... because I knew this is my strongest discipline and could really gain ground if I push hard enough.
Days before the race though, I've been bothered about the elbow pads on my aerobar.. it just keeps on getting loose everytime I hit a bump or a hole in the road. I decided not to adjust it anymore and ended up paying for it. I think I lost a clear 2-4 minutes on the bike because of that. Everytime it'll go down I'll try and force it back up. Which sometimes, almost caused me to crash.
For most of the time on the bike.. my arm was resting on the basebar itself.. instead of the elbow pads.. which was really uncomfortable.
As for my gameplan, I just stuck to it the whole way.. making sure that I was properly hydrated and was getting my nutrition. I maintained my target RPM and I managed to execute my gel and liquid plan to a T. The powerbars though were another story. See for the whole ride, we were supposed to finish 3 powerbars.. ok I thought.. I practiced this.. no problem. That was until I started chewing it! It was really tough to swallow.. especially when you're biking at race pace. I almost puked a couple of times because of it. That's probably the last time I'll eat a powerbar. I finished the bike with a time of 2h42m :) Just the time I hoping to get. Actually I didnt set a target time on the bike. I just want maintain my target RPM and let it take me to wherever. If it makes me do a 3h plus bike.. Its ok. In the end, it worked and I ended up with a very good bike split. So I guess it really works afterall. Hehehe.. Whats the magic rpm you ask? Ask TeamBB :)
During T2.. lets just put it this way.. last year.. I think I wasted almost 8 minutes here! Hehehe! After my bike last year.. I was so wasted already. So tired that I didnt know how the heck I'd be able to finish the 20k run. Hehe.. T2 was a breeze this time.. simply racked my bike.. got my t2 gear and changed. :) I blazed off t2 still feeling strong... that is until....
The Run - hehehe... yup... the run... the famous WRT run course.. where the heartbreak hills and the microwave awaits... a stretch of really tough hill climbs and a very long path of open road.. Honestly, I was feeling really good coming out of t2... I was feeling really strong.. I was feeling a slight pain on my ankles but adrenaline is taking good care of it.
I have a target pace in mind already.. which I was doing until I reached the 2.5k mark... suddenly my calves started to cramp.. uh oh.. Not again! I tried to rest and stretch it for a bit.. which worked.. for just a very short time.
I still managed to run a bit.. up to the foot of the heartbreak hills.. I really wanted to conquer it but I guess I still have a lot of dues to pay.. I almost walked the entire uphill section because of cramps and just made time on the downhills. I got second wind when I entered the base. I was able to run most of it.. that is until it was time once again to conquer the damn uphills on my way back. It was the same story.. walk.. ok brisk.. walk the entire uphill section.. and then make up for it on the downhills. This time.. even my quads were cramping. It was becoming really hard to run and stretch because if I stretch this muscle group.. the other one would cramp up because of the slack.
Frank of Playa Papagayo was right.. the remaining 2.5k left when you cross his resort would be the toughest, hardest, and most painful 2.5k of your life... I was really starting to cramp up so bad... I just kept on telling and psyching myself that this 2.5k is NOTHING... It almost just 1 loop at the UP acad oval.. how hard could this be?? 1 loop there is just our warm-up!
When I saw the Total gas station.. I just gathered everything I had and gave it a final burst.. just enough to make sure that I get to the finish line still running. :)
I'd like to take this opportunity to say big THANK YOU to everyone who supported us... to my friends who screamed their lungs out and gave me the motivation to finish the race strong... to my family who really surprised me by being there.. it was the first time they ever supported me in a race. Their presence and the fact that they're waiting for me at the finish line kept me going. When I was suffering on the run.. I just thought about my two nieces.. I wanna cross the finish line towing both of them.. should I carry them? I could but I'm afraid I'll cramp up, fall, and humiliate myself in front of everyone! Should I carry just one? Its gonna be World War 3 if I do that. Good thing when I got inside the resort.. I didnt see any of the two rascals. Turns out they got tired and went to sleep. Problem solved. :)
Now... again.... for the infamous question... was it worth it?
Given the chance.. would you do it all over again?
For those who didnt know...
When we started this mini training group of ours for WRT...
We had a slogan...
Which goes...
"One Target. Whiterock Podium. Nothing Else. "
Now.. let me add this teenie weenie bit...
Mission Accomplished. :)
Posted by ca®lo at 10:34 PM 2 comments
Monday, September 8, 2008
Was It Worth It?
The 4 month journey is almost over... and during this whole triathlon mumbo jumbo..
I lost some friends (or who I thought to be), gained new ones, maintained respect for those who stuck by their decision, saw people crack under pressure, but most importantly.. I saw who my true friends are.
Which leads me to this blogs title.. a question I've asked myself a couple of times throught this journey... Was it worth it?
Was it worth it, seeing who will stick with you no matter what?
Was it worth it, that you stuck to your principles and did what you think was right?
Was it worth it, seeing a bunch of people despise you when youre on your back, then suck up you like a candybar when youre in front of them?
Was it worth it, leaving your old team? (i blogged about this already, its just set in private)
Was it worth it, seeing the various persona's of a human being?
Of all the times that I asked myself that question, my answer still remains the same.. and that it YES.. It IS worth it. Every damn second of it.
I had a blast throught this whole experience. It made me tougher, it centered my life, and let me know how to set my priorities straight.
When it comes to sports.. underwater hockey is still my # 1 priority. Had I not been injured, I couldve gone back sooner. Triathlon comes next.
Work is still important... and because of this training, I managed to learn how to organize my job better. Got lots of work to do? Train early to you can start working earlier and finish early. Why? So you can rest and train again the next day.
Family still comes first before everything.. even fitness.
There are far more better things in life than training and racing.
When this journey is all over.. I'll try not to look back.. and just charge everything to experience.
You got pissed on, but you survived, you built your own rock, and now its time to reap the rewards.
The next endeavour will be longer and tougher, and I'm glad I'm with the people who I want to take that journey with.
More prepared this time around.
Armed with a better program.
And most importantly, the camaraderie is stronger than ever.
We're growing steadily. With new enthusiastic people coming in and showing how they could help.
The future looks bright.
Its time to lay the foundation.. and make sure there wont be any cracks.
We have survived a lot of trials and hardships. Theres no reason we cant make this one fly.
A friend of mine once said, the stars have aligned.
And yes it has, in due time, everything will fall into place.
We just have to take that journey... one step at a time.
Posted by ca®lo at 3:33 PM 1 comments
Friday, July 18, 2008
Subit 2008!
Dont want to start my latest post again with this...
its been awhile!
hmm its been what? almost 4 months!
Ive been wanting to write again for the longest time but I just cant seem to get my groove going..
writers block? maybe.. but i'm not a writer so how can that happen to me? :)
The past 4 months maybe the most busiest, activity filled, emotionally draining months of my life.
A lot has happened to me in that very short amount of time.
Hmm where should I begin?
Lets kick this off with last months Subic Olympic Distance Triathlon (Subit).
As usual, my time wasnt good enough for a podium finish or anything but my target prior to the race is to simply just OBLITERATE my time last year.
I clocked 3h:22mins last year and Im happy to say that I accomplished my goal and obliterated my personal record! I finished this years Subit race with a time of 2h:46mins J Not bad.. It wasn’t enough for a podium but its more than enough for me. J
Before the race start though, I made a mistake and underestimated my training buddy Julian’s knack for snoring. Ever since, he’s had a reputation of being a really loud snorer. I’ve been with him for a couple of pre race sleepovers before and found nothing wrong with it so I thought it’ll be just fine with me.
Also, prior to the day before the race, I barely got any sleep because of work. So I was thinking that sleeping before raceday wouldn’t be a problem because I assumed I already would be sleepy as hell come bed time.
But to my surprise, KABOOM! It fucking backfired! I dunno if its pre-race jitters or my buddy’s snoring or the coffee that I drank before bedtime but I couldn’t sleep!
I know it wasn’t jitters because I never had those before. So its either the coffee or the snoring. Haha.
Anyways, that totally messed up my preparation for the race. I hate to admit it but I think it DID affect my race in such a way that I didn’t get to fully recharge my batteries.
The end result? I ended up sleeping only for 1 hour prior to the race L Add the fact that I didn’t get enough sleep the other day.
I was literally feeling like a zombie before the start of the swim. I couldn’t concentrate. Deep in my mind I was pissed because I trained quite hard for this only for me to fuck it up come raceday.
When the gun was fired and we started swimming already, I was slowly losing it in the water.
I was literally dazed all throught the swim, thoughts about the fact that I didn’t get enough sleep just kept on popping in my head. Give me a floating bed and I’ll be more than happy to stop and finally get some sleep. I tried to block the negativity off a couple of times but its just didn’t work.
I ended up a full minute behind my p.r. in the swim compared to my 07 Subit swim time… and to think I barely even trained last year compared to this race. That says it all.
The bike was a totally different story though.. after I exited T1 and hopped on my bike, everything just seemed to get back in gear. I finally managed to get in a zone and pound those cranks away.
The bike seemed like a blur cause I felt really good all throught. I really think my tires made all the difference! My Argon-18 made me faster too of course.
As for the run, I think I did a 55 minute 10k run.. still a P.R. compared to my previous SubiT time but I’m still not happy with it. After feeling really well on the bike split, my legs were toast on the run stage. I wasn’t tired, I knew I could go faster, but I just couldn’t. I came to the finish line still feeling really well and good. Far from my target to cross the finish line really drained and washed up. Meaning I gave it “my all”.
But heck, its over now. Just have to pick up the lessons here and start all over again J
I totally didnt train last year and just "winged" it.. this year though, lets just say I “kinda” trained. Hehe.. hence the improvement J.
Im also very happy because I’m finally injury free! It felt really good racing without feeling any pain. Starting from my injury prone ankles, knees, and shoulders! So thank God for that.
Thanks also to my Physical Therapist who’s been very patient with me throught the whole process. Youre the best doc! Your clinic rocks!
If you’re injured or youre feeling any pain, give my P.T. a try. He’s the best. Send me a message for his info J
Posted by ca®lo at 9:37 PM 1 comments
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Phew its been awhile.
Havent posted for the longest time..
Been REALLY busy.. trying to cramp everything I can.
My triathlon training, my so-called work, and other personal matters.
Actually I'm just enjoying everything that I have and everything thats happening to me right now.
Its all been very good actually.
Really happy with my family right now. We've always been really close but right now I think it got kicked up a notch.
Didnt even bother planning anything during the holy week at all.. I just decided to stay at home and spend some time with them. Ended up doing a major room cleanup. Fixed my moms room as well. I guess my interior design frustrations kicked in.
My triathlon training is doing really well. I got this major race on May and I'm really preparing for it. Taking my training seriously as well. I just hope it pays dividends on race day.
As far as my injuries go.. My knee is pretty much ok already.. my ankle I think is 100% already. Thank you Adidas Supernova Control! I liked this shoe so much that I got myself a custom MI Adidas pair. Right now I'm having my shoulder therapied. I strained a shoulder during my last hockey game.. it also didnt help that I worked out the following day. The pain got so bad during my inclined dumbell press that I dropped one of the dumbells. Good thing it didnt hit me.
Because of that my arm was in a sling for 2 weeks! Thats gotta be my worst injury. It was so painful I couldnt even lift my arm. Well if I'll put everything into perspective and look at the bright side, that injury taught me to take these stuff very seriously.. which I did.
Even if my shoulder is ok now I still dont wanna risk injuring it again because of hockey. The Cons clearly outweighs the Pros this time. I couldnt bike (cant reach the handlebar), couldnt run as well (it hurts because of the pounding), plus I couldnt swim! For obvious reasons.
I also finally got myself a tri-bike. Its an Argon 18 Mercury decked out with my dream groupset.. Dura-Ace! Thank God for that one.
I had it fitted with a standard size cranks and 11-23 cogs. It was a move that up to now, I'm still making if its the right move or not. The size of the cranks are ok.. but I think I may have over estimated myself with those 11-23 cogs!
I'm having trouble adjusting to it. See I can from a Giant Roadbike fitted with compact cranks and 12-25 cogs. With that bike climbing the hills of sierra madre, tagaytay and bugarin was a breeze. That bike of mine (Cory) rocks!
So far I've done two long rides with my tri-bike already. All with MAJOR UPHILL sections!
I struggled a lot when I used it in one of my rides going up sierra madre. I was in uphill hell the entire time. I still finished the ride so its ok. Its just that I was WASTED after our training.
But I can see it paying dividents already. I can feel my legs now getting stronger. I think I'm gonna stick with my 11-23's for now. Besides, thats what all the pros use :) I'll try my best to train really hard and make myself worthy of those bad ass cogs size!
In other news... I got pretty pissed off when I noticed that the BELL Sweep-r helmet that I bought at this bike shop in Cartimar only last december has a CRACK! Theres this thin crack on one of the aero fins(?) at the back of the helmet.
I returned it to Velo to have it checked and do a warranty claim. The guy who talked to me (one of the sales staff) was a complete Tool! Instead of just helping me with my warranty that idiot was looking for possible REASONS and LOOPHOLES as to how the crack got there. He even told me this STUPID idea that maybe the helmet fell on the ground thats why it cracked. I told him that if it did fall on the ground it would LEAVE A MARK! I took great care of that helmet and cleaned it really well all the time. Thats why I got PISSED when I saw the crack. See i have this cheapo but really great Trek Helmet which I used for my entire 2007 training and triathlon races and up to now, IT DOESNT HAVE A SINGLE CRACK IN IT. I'll call the shop this tuesday and hopefully everything will work out fine.
Been running a lot lately as well.. I'm trying to follow my training schedule as much as possible. So far everythings going exactly as planned. I ran 15k this morning at the Mizuno Infinity marathon held at the Fort. Which turned out to be a BIG DISAPPOINTMENT.
Being sponsored by Mizuno you would think that this race will almost certainly be 100% glitch free. But the race was a disaster. Especially at the aid stations. THEY RAN OUT OF WATER! I was literally dehydrated when I crossed the finish line. Everyone was really angry because of it too. Who can blame them? I feel sorry for the first time runners. Thank God I didnt let my MOM join this race! Because a couple of weeks ago I got her to agree to join the 5k distance. Good thing she changed her mind and backed off. It wouldve been HELL for her I'm sure.
The race lacked marshalls as well, I heard a lot of runners got lost. The route was EXCELLENT though, that for me was the only redeeming factor of this race. I think this is the first time somebody used that route for a marathon.
I finished with a dismal 1:27 time. I simply didnt have the energy this morning. My form was terrible and I just couldnt find my groove. I was also stressed when I started the race because I woke up late. Something happened to my alarm clock because it didnt go off. I woke up almost 5:30am already. Good thing I made it at the start line with 3 minutes to spare. It also didnt help that I fell asleep around 4:30am already.
Its ok though because the race was just part of my training for the big camoola at subic this may. The Subit olympic distance tri.
Time to rest.
:)
Posted by ca®lo at 10:09 PM 0 comments
Saturday, February 23, 2008
PUHC Battle of the Elements Aftermath!
Posted by ca®lo at 1:32 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Being Patriotic
1) yung first one was the arrogant mindset - yung mindset of
inaction. ksi daw eto yung mga tao na natatakot to lose the little that they
have. eto daw yung mga nagsasabi ng eh wala rin namang mangyayari eh.2) tapos yung second is the insulting mindset - eto yung mga
nagsasabi ng eh pare-pareho naman yang mga yan eh. so ito daw yung mga tao
na
ang tingin ay wala nang mabuti na pilipino.3) tapos yung third is the untrustworthy mindset - eto yung
mga
nagsasabi ng two years nalang naman eh. eto yung mga maghihintay nalang
kahit na
alam nila na may mga tao na kaya naman maglead...pwede rin na sila
yung tao na
may kakayahan maglead pero they're scared that we might demand
the same moral
rectitude from them kaya sya untrustworthy.
Posted by ca®lo at 12:21 AM 2 comments
Monday, February 4, 2008
Woohoo another P.R.!
Posted by ca®lo at 3:36 PM 0 comments