Mexican Vacation with an Ironman

IronTex Athletes ready to take on Cozumel

Part of the reason why we have been so quiet this year in terms of posts other than being busy adjusting to our new place, it was because we have been training for Ironman Cozumel. Two years ago when we volunteered for Arizona and after talking to a couple of friends we knew it was going to be our 2015 A race.  When we came back from Arizona last year, we knew we wanted to sign up. To our surprise a couple of our IronTex teammates had already been talking about it and before we knew it we were having a team meeting at Fuzzy's after a practice morning to talk with our coach about it.  It was so appropriate to talk about Mexico while eating tacos. What started with a handful of us ended with a total of 19 friends racing and total of 35+ counting the cheering crew. It was going to be an epic IronTex Cozumel takeover. Definitely one of the largest groups out there.

Had to have some fun on those long swims

summer riding around NY State

Anyways, the year went by with the typical training. We did our Challenge AC 70.3 and we then got with our coach to set up goals and a plan for Cozumel. We knew we had a tough one since one of the toughest things of Ironman training is the mental training. The physical is doable but it takes your mind to places where you don't even know you could go   We have had a taste of it during our IMAZ training when it was just both of us training since the majority of the team didn't have a late season race like us.  We are happy to report that we manage it quite well. A few things we did differently this year were getting together with our local cycling club. This served a dual purpose. We were able to ride with people and also helped us push a little our limits since we knew we had a group to keep up with. It made us definitely stronger in that department. The swim front we got lucky and a pool opened up 1 mile from our house. This meant no excuses and our focus was to do the prescribed swims. Proof is that we improved a lot on our swim. So our training was just the usual swim, bike, run, eat, rest, work, repeat. We didn't have any major setbacks. No injuries, illnesses or any other issues. It was rather enjoyable for a change. We were seeing good progress each week and our bodies were responding to what the schedule was calling for.

Our trip:

From the beginning a group of us wanted to be in Cozumel but didn't want to do the resort type of racecation. After doing Atlantic City where we stayed at a house we knew we wanted to go that route. We did our homework and found a company through a friend that lives there. Enjoy Cozumel is the name and they rent house/condos at reasonable costs. We had selected a house for 8 people near the center but during the summer the owners sold it. The company gave us a couple of options and we ended up at Villa Lloyd. Couldn't have asked for a better place. Ocean view, 3 bedrooms/3 baths. Everything we wanted and we had access to the ocean too simply by jumping off the dock. On top of that we didn't want to cook for ourselves or each other. We also found a chef service for all of us. Super recommend Emily and her team at Cozumel Chef if you are interested on something like this. Worked out great, they helped us plan our meals and the chef who was a local was awesome. So our trip planning took a few months which were totally worth the effort. 

Amy sending us off... good times

Getting to Cozumel was not a direct flight from NY. We used miles and also had a return from Mexico City which made things a little harder, however we got to see Amy Dixon who was working a gig for United at Newark the morning we were leaving and she sent us off on our trip, she is simply amazing and such an inspiration (you can learn more and support her at the link above).  Then we had a short stop in Miami to visit a friend and we were on our way. The entire flight (at least most of it) was ironman related. Was pretty cool to see the excitement on everyone's face. 

Arrival at Cozumel 
After doing customs and all that stuff we got with our house manager and we followed him to the house. We were then settled. The transportation is tricky but there are vans that take you everywhere. 

Pre-Race

Packet pick up and all that was pretty easy. The convention center is the headquarters, bike transport is a few blocks from it so it works great. By Thursday (thanksgiving) we were set with packets, bikes and all.

Minions and Coach Gru take on Cozumel

Friday morning was the practice swim in Chakanaab. We got to see the swim exit and got to see everyone too. Then we participated in an underwear run. It was a Texas team that put it together and they had gotten together with an organization similar to the humane society so the proceeds were going to them. What better than running in your underwear for a good cause. Our team decided to do a Minions themed run, about 25 minions took over the run that's all you could see. It was a blast. Then we were off to lunch back in the house with our chef :). 

Saturday rolled in and we knew we wanted to keep it slow that day. All activities were done by Friday so Saturday was bike drop off, bag drop off and back to the house to rest. 

Race day

Sunday alarm went off at 3:10. We had a pick up scheduled for 4:00 am. We got our rituals done and off we were. First in transition, only first place of the day. We were mostly calm. Transition opened, check the bikes and everything else, group picture and off to the shuttle to the swim start.

Swim start (by Puli)

I knew I was going to be in the 1:10-1:20 corral (rolling start) I saw some friends from the team and decided to go with them in the 1:00-1:10 swim. I knew I would be in the back of that pack but didn't care I was starting with friends. I ended up swimming for a good chunk with a friend and I ended up with a 1:17 more like 1:13-1:14 because I almost couldn't get up the stairs. So I was was right on target with my swim. Left transition with 2 of the guys that I started the swim with. So it was good to see them leaving too. Transition was quicker than most of my IM transitions. I was able to get a kid and got him to do what I needed. Perks of speaking Spanish I guess. 

The bike.... Windy bike

so happy to be ready to get off the bike

We all knew the bike was going to be windy. The wind forecast was for later in the day so my strategy was try to get as much of it done before it sucked. Lap 1 I felt great, caught one of the guys and 3 of the girls from the team. One of the girls and I leap frogged almost the entire ride with me in the front for a good chunk of it (should've left her lead the way more) I was right on target at 1:54 the first lap. Got into town excited and started the second one. I knew as soon as I passed the bike start that it was starting to pick up, back into the wind and it was blowing. Got to town and I was at 2:15 for that lap. Then by lap 3 the wind started even earlier. Then I knew all I needed was to get through those miles and back into town to get the run going. Head down and put the hammer down as much as I could without blowing and trying to leave some for the run. Well that lap sucked, 2:30 for a total bike of 6:41. Far from my 6:00 goal (yet 2nd overall in our team of 19). All I kept thinking was about Res and her bike. I knew she would be hurting. Back into town the energy takes you in, the locals are awesome and seeing kids tell you "si se puede" (Yes you can) while cheering you gives you what you need to get through the last 6 miles. 

Transition was again faster than usual. I got one kid and he helped me get everything done. 

Run

Oh the run. I left transition and the legs were somewhere between mile 80 and 112. I tried to jog a little but no response. I then started executing our plan to walk to the first station at the first km. I got some water, sunscreen and off I went. Started jogging a little then Will Vargas (brother's ex coach) passed me and I chatted with him for about 2 miles. He was keeping a nice pace but I could not hold it. He was on his 2nd loop. I had 23 more miles. Then I was walking and Jeff went by me. He had been behind me for the entire bike so we started intervaling 

1 mi/1:00. We did the first half in no time 2:40ish I was actually thrilled that I could go 5 hr and then have a 13:00 IM. Well that faded quick. We both started to feel the legs and everything else heavy. He couldn't jog because of his belly. I couldn't jog because the legs simply wouldn't respond. So we said lets just keep a constant 14:30' fast walk. We managed that at times. By mile 23 he was fading so I made him pick up a little jog to wake him up. Mile 24 and 25 were a blur, we saw coach Paul by Señor Frogs and he gave us that last boost to take it home. Then I told Jeff I was going in, I had told him otherwise earlier since he had 179 and was doing the Blazeman roll finish, I just got pumped and went in. Took my flag out, and into the chute. I couldn't believe going sub 15 much less 14:13 on my 4th ironman. I saw Jeff roll in and waited for him to hug him. We had done it!

Waving the flag and hearing my name correctly for the first time!!!! :) 

Seeing Matt at the finish was pretty awesome!

We got our medals and stuff and Bob (another teammate) was there too. We hanged out until almost everyone finished. I was able to wait for Res and gave her her medal. She broke into tears after having a sub15 day too killing it with a 5:30 marathon that I can only dream of at this point. I was super proud of her. She had an amazing day too that I will let her tell you and post of her blog. 

We then went to cheer our last teammates in and saw our last teammate finish at 16:57 which was super impressive. Her first and she managed a tough day like she had done it many times before. We had seen her and her husband do their first tri 2 years ago and now we were cheering her on at the chute of her first ironman, super proud of her too.

While this one was our 4th ironman it holds a special place in our racing, it was our first training alone without our team, learned a lot about ourselves through the months of training and also learned that sometimes having team support is great and we counted with them for our virtual accountability at the end of the day it is up to both of us to get it done. We held each other accountable, helped each other pushed through tough days and breakthrough workouts and also simply as moral support when we needed it. We love our teammates, miss them and wished sometimes we were training with them. Now we are a little more independent and have managed to get our training done, love our training grounds, our bike rides are seldom repeated, and our pool and trails are simply amazing. 2016 is turning to be a great year for both of us in the endurance sports world, more to come out in the next couple of weeks, you might have seen it already on our social media, but there is more to it coming.

Until then... hope you enjoyed it and hope to share more exciting news soon. 

15 days to IMAZ... Bring it!

As I sit here on a flight from Portland to Dallas, what else you do than to start writing blogs or blog topics for future posts. Gotta love the "down" time and airplane wifi. Anyways, we got 15 days to IMAZ, our last race of this 2014. It has been a great year for the two of us, despite the setbacks of my crash earlier in the year, it is amazing how by approaching this season in a total differnt way really helped us get through the daunting task of 2 full long distance tris (read iron-distance since it is an Ironman and Challenge).

This is what you do on a date night

Originally when we set up for this quest of craziness, which was race at Challenge Atlantic City (140.6 No. 1) and Ironman Arizona (140.6 No. 2) we had to sit down and discuss our goals. We had our coach of course bless our decision, however it was ours and we had to own it. For starters, one thing that might be noticed from our blog is that we definitely cut back on racing. 

We had an amazing 2013, it was our second year of Tri-ing and after going a little crazy with 13 races during the year we decided to cut back. Granted last year our A race was a lot earlier in the year so pretty much after Ironman Texas we just didn't want to stop training or racing and simply lose all the gains of the training and endurance we had achieved. We finished the year and we were tired, a couple of injuries were bothering us and we needed to thank our bodies for doing what they had done. 

So for 2014 we only signed up for 4 races and you probably have seen the posts about them. Now that we are reaching the 4th and last one it is just interesting to see how our life has totally transformed. When we set off earlier in the year for Challenge Atlantic City, we knew we were in for a really long year, so we had to be smart during training. One thing we learned last year was that we needed to listen to our bodies. Our bodies had done a lot, but we didn't listen as well and paid the price. To some extend at one point we were just racing to race, without a set goal or simply because others were doing it. This year we were smarter in the sense that we decided that no short races were going to be done. We did a couple of 5Ks but were for fun or for good causes (DFW Lab Rescue 5k) Also it is not news that racing is expensive, and while I didn't really tallied up the total of how much we spent (kinda afraid) in 2013 it is safe to say that it was a lot. So wanted for it to be differnt for 2014, we set up a budget after knowing we were doing 2 out of state races, so it was important we stuck to it. I think not only our bodies are thanking us but our checking account is too. I know racing is exciting, and you see progress and your body is giving you results but don't forget the big picture. Why do yo do this?

For us, at least, this year worked out great. Having a late race, meant we couldn't really slack off at all during the year. We had only a few weeks fully off after Challenge and while it took me a while to get back to it, my body was responding pretty good and Res was also seeing awesome results. While still not extremely fast, it is amazing to see how we can now do a 4-5 hr bike ride and go run errands all day and don't even think about the long ride. Or run 13-15 miles and not even feel sore afterwards. Our coach has been amazing too helping us keep this endurance and also get better. If you would ask me, I think we are better prepared for Ironman Arizona that we've been in any of our previous 70.3s or other 2 140.6s. It just feels like all the parts are falling in the right place. We probably started our tapper a little earlier than what our TrainingPeaks has on schedule, but we feel rested, not stressed, healthy, and more than anything happy. We are happy that our 2014 journey has been amazing and can't wait to close the year with an amazing race at IMAZ. 

For now, we will enjoy our taper, continue to be healthy, dial in the last minute details of our race and setup our trip in 14 days to Tempe to take it all in. You might hear from us before race day... It is a long road trip from Fort Worth to Tempe, so we might have some extra time in our hands. So stay tuned. 

Cheering is fun too

On Labor Day, we had a chance to go cheer on our friends M and G while they were doing their first sprint tri. Looking back a couple of months ago, we got them hooked shortly after we came back from our Ironman. M had mentioned that she had started running but we think they got to consider doing tris after talking more and more about it to us. We helped them go and check out bikes, talked them through the basics, helped them work on a training plan that was doable, and then they signed up for their first tri.

G coming into T2

G after a fast T2, getting on his 5K

Their first tri was the Blackland Sprint Tri. They were a bit nervous that week, asking the normal questions and we helped them plan the race, and help calm their nerves. They were ready and wanted to have fun. We had told them we were going to cheer them on during the race, so we planned to get there for the start, but a storm rolled in so it pushed us back a bit as we had to drive about 30 miles to get to Plano, TX. We had calculated their times and figured we would catch them coming into T2. We actually had a good place as we set up right at the dismount line. We got to see others before them come in and cheer everyone on. We saw G and M and then headed to catch them at the exit of T2. they looked great and seemed to be enjoying the race. We headed to chase them on the run. While we were waiting, we were able to see a few of our Instagram and Twitter friends and that was cool too, to get to cheer so many awesome people on our rest day :)

All smiles from M, it must have been a good ride :)

it wasn't too bad, she was still smiling 

Cheering made us think about our beginnings, also made us think of why we do this, which is one of the big reasons of this blog. We remembered how our first race was, our nerves, excitement and all the different emotions that go along with simply racing. Now, even though we have moved to longer distances and we have gotten more experienced, we haven't forgotten that we do this for other reasons. First and foremost it's to have fun, we push our bodies and want to do well, but we want to have fun. Although at times, pain comes with racing, the feeling of accomplishment at the end is amazing! We also do it because we want to become better individuals and better as a team. Team Res-Puli that is!  We've grown so much as individuals, not only physically through this process, but also mentally. We are tougher mentally, which makes us better on the personal and professional fronts. As a team, being a couple that tris has taught us so much, tri-ing as a couple, being married, pushing each other, building a stronger relationship, and having fun together. 

So while we had a lot of fun cheering and had a great time seeing M and G become part of the triathlete world and being proud of them, we also had a chance to look back and think about our tri life. We think that we'll be triing for a while, we love it, enjoy it and best of all... we still have FUN!!. 

  

That's it for now... our next post will be probably be after we take on Trifecta for the 2nd time. Should be a fun race.

A true test!

It's been two weeks already since we crossed the finish line to what would be our 1st Ironman (note the reference to 1st...). It has been a long road to get to that finish line, but let me tell you... Those 15:00 hours battling the elements out there seemed an eternity :). Needless to say... we were able to do all this after putting in:

• 1869 miles on the bike for a total of 112 hours of saddle time (actually rode further than the distance between our house and New Jersey)
• 340 miles of runs for a total of 61 hours of running time (or the equivalent of almost 13 marathons)
• 96180 yards of swimming time (pool and a few open water swims) for a total of 36 hours in the water (or the equivalent 1923 laps in a 25yd pool)

 Anyways, here is a recap to what went down starting from our road trip, check-ins, pre-race preps and hopefully if you are not bored by then you get to read our race reports. We will try to keep them short, however there is a lot that happens in 15 hours.

Drive down:
Before we start with the drive down, it is important to mention that Puli had the risk of not making to our drive down. He was on his way from Oregon on Wednesday and after a cancelled morning flight and being diverted to Lubbock due to bad weather and ended up on a 15 hour trip back home, making it home at 2 am on Thursday. Now, getting to that morning, he finished packing and changing bags and then packing the car. So it was a pretty unadventurous drive down, we picked up a friend of his from work that was doing it too so after getting him we headed south. We weren't that far behind from the team's caravan, so we met with some of the other ladies from the team doing it and headed to the expo. Something really cook happened while we were driving, Puli got the news that his guest blog on Swim Bike Mom's blog was posted, so he was really excited about it.

The expo and day 1.
We got to the expo at around 1 or so, heat was intense, it was in the 90s, humidity was brutal but we were filled with excitement, nerves were piling up, it is a weird sensation. We have been to other athlete check-ins but this one was different. The energy is intense, looking at everyone who have been probably training as hard as us (if not harder) over the previous 6 months and just trying to take it all in. We know we are all competitors, but for the majority of us, getting to this day was not an easy journey, but yet we were ready and we were going to make the best out of it. After picking up the packages and walking around (more like melting) in the heat we decided we've had enough of it and went to the hotels before going to the Athlete's Dinner. Dinner was actually pretty nice, inspiring, and got us all pumped for the days ahead, funny how being with 2800 of your closest tri friends can get you going.

Day 2.... practice swim and more
Day 2 (Friday) started with a short practice swim. It was Puli's first time in the water in 2 weeks so he was pretty anxious to get in. It was a good swim for Res as she wanted to test how she would feel with the water temp and swimming without her wetsuit. The practice swim confirmed to Puli that he was going without his wetsuit and to Res that she was going with a wetsuit. So back to the hotel for some necessary breakfast, the team was going to IHOP, however we kind of just wanted to stay calm and do our own thing. Nothing against them, it was just something we wanted to do. We then went to do bike check-in and bag check-in, boy that can be complicated... too many things to think about and learned a few things in the process, like do not put your gels or other energy food (call it blasts, blocks, etc.) in your bags when the heat can warm them up to a cozy 100-deg temperature.... THEY MELT!!!!! other than that no other lessons, just wanted to turn the bike in and go back to the shade :). Puli actually had decided he wanted to get a haircut, he had been traveling over the month and didn't get a chance to get one while away, so he was feeling like he needed one, mainly to keep his head cool in the heat (he says it helps). So that was the main thing about day two, just trying to stay calm, hydrated, not too nervous and think about not making any stupid mistakes the next day.



Pre-Practice Swim shot...


Day 3.... According to Res

I can't believe that it's been two weeks from the awesome day in which Puli and I became Ironman!!! Sitting here looking back at the first day that we decided to embark on this journey together. I remember having been all excited and yet nervous to meet the team and get our first workout in with them. Boy, was I out of shape then. I could barely run a half mile before thinking I was about to pass out because I was so out of breath. Fast forward to a year and a half later and we are embracing our Ironman weekend sharing so many emotions together including happiness, nervousness, excitement, tension, and overall sense of pride to have made it this far.

The day arrived quickly and alarms went off at 4am. I knew it was going to be a long day and that we would not make it back to our hotel at least until after midnight!! We went through our morning rituals and got our bags ready. We headed out to T1 to get bikes ready and keep the adrenaline going. No major issues so far and walked almost a mile to swim start. What a way to warm up before swim start!! We saw our support crew and cheering squad which gave us a boost of energy and kept walking to the lake. Puli braved it and started in 7am wave as he chose not to wear his wetsuit. I am not the strongest nor fastest swimmer and decided to use wetsuit for my swim as extra cushion and comfort level. Glad I did although mass swim with or without wetsuits is insane. Arms and legs flying everywhere, people grabbing your feet, toes, gliding over you, crossing in front of you...pure chaos. I was able to find a rhythm about 20 minutes into my swim, before it was interrupted by other athletes with poor sighting skills. Stayed focused on the buoys, on not drowning, and getting to the finish. I made it out of the water in 1:32 and ran up to T1. The volunteers were amazing as they offered help, dumped my bike bag out making it easier for me to see what I needed to get dressed. I had a snack as I was starving and headed out to start 112 miles of my bike ride. I tried not to think about the distance as it seemed surreal that I was about to embark on a century + ride on my own and then return to running a marathon!!


 

Game face ON!!!!

 

Warm up walk.... it was hot and humid already




Non-Wetsuit Start - Chaos, thanks I wasn't there

Breathe Res...you got this and off I went.



Smiles still... rough day out there but glad to be back in 1 piece

The first 5 miles felt great as there were lots of spectators cheering us on. Gradually started to get into areas were there were no spectators, just traffic. And here is where my bike ride became not only a mental, but physical challenge. With no one out there to distract me from the heat, humidity, and my thoughts, I started to hear a rubbing sound on what I thought was my front wheel. It became annoying going into about mile 8. I pulled over to check it out and moved the front brake around and off I went again...well not for long because the rubbing noise was still there. I was happy to see the first aid station! I got some water to drink, pour on me to cool off, and took another stab at checking out my front brake. I moved it some hoping this would do it. For some reason I thought I was riding a unicycle that day because it never dawned on me to check out my rear tire. I figured I don't hear the noise back there I won't mess around with it. Well, as a good friend would say...FAIL!!! My back brake rubbed throughout my entire ride, but I didn't let that get to my head. It made for a tough bike ride as I had to push extra hard and continuously pedal through some rolling hills.  I remember having been close to hitting a mental shut down at mile 70 when I got into an aid station and saw so many cyclists resting under trees looking for shade. The mere thought of me doing the same for couple of minutes crossed my mind, but then said to myself, who am I kidding, if I sit down I will not get back on this bike! Poured water on me and back on the bike I went. The Texas heat and the Woodlands humidity were not my best friends that day and made for a mentally challenging day! The last 12 miles of the bike ride felt like an eternity to finish as one of the aid stations had run out of water and all I had left was warm Infinit. Yuck, but had no other choice. I made it back from the bike ride all in one piece, which had been one of my goals, and I was so happy to see some of our fellow team members cheering us on at the bike finish. I was ecstatic to have gotten off my bike and headed to transition area to get ready for my marathon!  

 

1st lopp of 3, only 26.2 miles left



I had never done a marathon before, but here I was about to get one done after a 2.4 mile swim and 112 miles on the bike.  I was not surprised to feel my legs numb and dragging for the start of my run. I did not pick up my pace until about mile 7 and then alternated between slow jog and fast walk. I wondered and thought about where Puli was during most of my run as I had not seen him since wishing each other luck at the swim start.  It was a three loop run with lots of spectator friendly areas to give us the extra push some of us needed to get to the finish line. I met some awesome people on my run, first timers like me, others who this was not their first rodeo, and others who just inspired me even more to make it the finish. I was able to maintain a fast walking pace on my last loop and I kept thinking, I don't think I've ever walked this fast for so long! It was dark out, glad I had a headlamp, and stopped at the aid stations to fill up with chips, soda, and chicken broth! I was nearing the finish and all I kept telling myself was "Finish strong, You got this!" I saw my teammates and it was a great feeling. I asked them about Puli and they said he had finished and was near the finish line. I honestly don't know where I got legs from at the end, but I felt as if I sprinted to the finish line. I saw Puli about 200 feet from the finish line and my heart was racing! I was ecstatic, relieved, and began to get tears in my eyes as I got closer to the finish. The energy was amazing and I enjoyed the moment as I heard the long awaited words, "You are an IRONMAN!"



 I WAS 200 yds from becoming an IRONMAN

This has definitely been one of the most memorable experiences I've had and could not have asked to share the journey with anyone else than Puli! He encouraged me, pushed me in getting stronger, and motivated me to not give up on myself especially on training days when I felt extremely slow. You are one of a kind Puli, my partner in crime, and glad we became IRONMAN together. This journey couldn't have also been possible with the support from our family, friends, and followers! As we look back on the many emotions we had on May 18, 2013, the next question is which will be our next Ironman race!!! Stay tuned! :)

 Day 3... According to Puli
 As Res said it.. our morning was pretty uneventful, it was our typical morning rituals, something really funny is that we've learned to deal with each other very well on race day. By dealing I mean stay out of each other's way. It makes it easy on both of us, and also it just makes it for a less hectic start of the day. We just make sure we are doing our thing but we don't really talk to each other. It's a silent communication if that makes sense.

So, after the pros went on their way, we said our good-byes and I headed to the water with some of the girls doing the swim without a wetsuit. I looked for the guys but couldn't find them, not that I could keep up with them but at least wanted to have a good group around me, didn't happen. When 7:00 hit, we were off on our way to a very long day. I started about 10 seconds or what I thought was 10 seconds after the gun went off, and had a good uninterrupted swim for like 5 yds, tried to open my way through the masses took a few elbows on the face, slaps on the head, kicks but didn't let that stop me, I'm sure I did some damage on some people too, can't avoid it and if you try to play too nice you simple get railroad out there. I got to the first turn, and negotiated the turn pretty well, I was on a 1:58/100yd pace which is what I wanted for my swim, then got to the second turn and on my way back the wetsuit guys started to pass us and chaos started again. I tried to go on the outside which I knew was going to be the shortest distance to the finish line and that turn into the canal took forever to come by, finally it came and there was only about 1000 mts left, looked at the watch and I was reading 1.8miles or so, and was at about 1:00 hour, I was happy because I was still on pace, however my garmin decided to either play tricks on me or the distance was a bit longer, but final garmin reading was 2.7 miles and 1:40 minutes later. Coming out of the water and going up the stairs i started to feel what I thought were cramps, but I didn't paid attention to them, got my bag and went into the tent. It was more chaos there, tried to look for a chair didn't find one and I just sat on the ground to change. Eat my bar, and got something to drink, off I went to get my bike.

On the bike the exit was easy, was good to see people on the way out, however I just kept an easy speed leaving, the concrete pavement and the concrete joints just brought nightmares and saw a couple crashes due to that and flats on the way out. Kept thinking about Res and praying she was OK. When we started to get into the open I got a good speed, it was averaging 20 mph on the first half, I got on a group which we just kept each other's rear wheel at the distance but pushing each other and pulling each other, it was fun. At the 56 mile mark I looked and I had 2:45 or so, that was my fastest bike 56 mile split, I knew I had to slow down because I couldn't keep that up and then get off the bike and attempt to run. Got to special needs, tossed my old Infinit bottle and changed bottles, kept pouring water on me because the heat was starting to get on us, and couldn't keep cool. Around that time I caught up with one of the girls that I started the swim with chatted with her a bit and then kept on going. I was alone for a while until a couple of guys decided to keep up with me but on my tire, which pissed me off a bit because that's just not fair. At least keep a distance!. So I pushed the pace and they couldn't keep up so I dropped them fairly quick. Then I caught up with one of the guys from the team, was surprised to see him because he is one of the strongest on the bike but he was having a rough day. Then I caught another one that passed me on the swim with his wetsuit light speed and caught him on the bike, chatted with him and he said he pushed to hard on the swim and was paying for it on the bike. Left him behind. At mile 80 or so, I was starting to feel the ride, but a lady came by and chatted with me for a bit, we had the same bike and she was a repeated IMTX customer :) so she told me that it was not that hard, that we should keep pacing each other, we did for about 20 miles, but at mile 100 she said she couldn't do it anymore and told me to finish strong. I pulled into town and was feeling great. My bike split was lower than I had originally planned, I had an official time of 6:12 when I had planned 6:30. Thought it was AWESOME!!!!. I came in and slipped my feet off the shoes to dismount, to my surprise the pavement was so !#$%^ing hot that it burned my feet to the point that by the time I got to the tent I had already blisters. It was great to see one of our teammates who was volunteering at T2 and he got my bike. At the tent i changed, forced myself to eat more, and hydrate. Poured a lot of water on me, to cool myself and went off on the run.

 

Got out of transition and into the run. Saw the cheering squad took a few pictures (note to self, I need to rub the sunscreen next time)

Damn feed burns and I still have my bike gloves :) oopsss

I talked with one our guys and he gave me his words of wisdom, I was on my way to 26.2 miles of run. I made it to about mile 6 on a slow 12:00'/mi run, and the blisters got really bad, felt one popped inside my shoe and I knew it was time to stop to check them out. Got to an aid station that had medical and had them check out, they were bad. Feet were red and blistered. They cleaned them up, put some vaseline and wrapped them up. I was good for another 4 miles, then repeat, by then I had already done the math and I knew if I kept a speed walk/walk pace every mile I would make it in about 6 hours, which was plenty of time. So repeated my blister cleanup routine for about 4 more times, had chips, chicken broth, water, fruit, and actually my belly was doing great!, legs weren't too bad either, just a bit tired because my walking form was all screwed up from the blisters, I was trying not to put too much pressure on them. Met a lot of people on the way, walked with them, heard their stories, their

journeys and it was probably the most mental stage of the day. From mile 13 to mile 26 was hard, I was tired of simply walking, didn't see the miles piling up fast enough and I was getting just anxious to finish. Then at mile 17 it started to get better, I was on the countdown in the single digits and was on my last loop around. By then I hadn't seen Res all day but luckily our cheering squad had given us updates on each other, so we knew we were kicking some ass out there... mile 23 came and I met one guy who really helped me a lot, he walked with me for about 2 miles, he was telling me his IM story and his journey and I thought it was amazing, you can see his story here to Mathew THANK YOU!!!! simply talking to you made those miles go so fast.. probably the fastest of the second half. I then saw some of the cheering squad picking up signs, they were pushing me and I was so close. I then made the turn to the finish line and saw Coach M. He said to me... "go for it.. last 200 meters" that's all i needed, I gave them my bottle, got my flag out and got in the chute, that is the one of most amazing experiences I've had in my life. Having total strangers cheer you, the energy simply makes all pain go away and carries you in. I then heard those words that we waited for 6 months "Juan Felipe Pulido you are an IRONMAN" the adrenaline rush took the pain from the blisters away, I wanted to jump but was afraid I'd just fall, but I simply finished with my arms up holding my flag.

 

Like Res put it on her race report, this Journey that we started last year when we could barely could run 3 miles, has been an awesome Journey. It is for sure not over, the tri itch is still alive and kicking and trying to figure out what is next, of course after getting some ink, but that is for another post. This Journey is just beginning. I wouldn't have done it with anyone else, Res has been hell of a trooper. I would see her frustration after almost every group practice because she wasn't feeling fast enough or she was having doubts of finishing by the cutoff times. But after perseverance, tears, and lots of hard work she made it possible, I'm very proud of her. Also, I wanted to thank everyone that was with us through this journey. Teammates, who were there during our training days, sometimes was sad to see their workouts actually over and done with when ours were only half way, and sometimes they even stayed there to hang out and cheer us on long rides or long days. Family, our families who were glued to their computers, phones and were aware of every update possible, and probably letting everyone and their mother know where we were at any given time. Friends and co-workers who were glued to the live feed to watch us finish and actually took snapshots of our finishing moments. Sorry we kept you up so late.... but thanks!!! you know who you are. To those that we got tired of talking about Ironman... sorry... hope you understand... the days leading to it I know probably were annoying to you... it was my way to cope with anxiety. :).

Anyways... hope you didn't get too bored ready this long post... I'm sure we will be talking more and more about it.. for now we are taking it easy.. little training and aiming to get back to our shorter distance races.

Stay tuned for updates about the ink moments, and also what we decide to do for our next IM... remember I said our 1st at the beginning? well... for more to come!. And remember...Anything is Possible!

Ironman right around the corner

So, this weekend we embark on our last 140.6 miles of our journey to become Ironman (to us IronCouple). I think we have shared with y'all a bit of what we've gone through over the last 5-6 months in terms of training, bit of pain, happiness, moments of joy, tears (good and bad), and all other feelings that are difficult to explain but hope you get an idea from our entries.

When we started our road to tris last February we started with some knowledge of what we were getting into. Could hardly run a 5K, got injured on our first 10K and couldn't even run for 8 weeks, that's how much in bad shape we were. Yes we looked perfectly healthy, eating well, one or two social beers every once in a while but not the crazy partiers but not much in shape. Put us in a pool and after 50 yds we were gasping for air, and probably the only thing we could do somewhat ok was riding the bike perhaps slow but we could.

Fast forward 8 months and we were at the start line of of first 70.3 in Austin, couldn't believe how much progress we had done and how much we had accomplished over those 8 months. We now were able to swim about 2500 yds in the pool without thinking we were drowning half way, we could ride about 60 miles without our butts or legs telling us that we had to stop somewhere and we could run about 10 miles on fresh legs. Back in October we accomplished to do all 3 (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile run and 13.1 mile run) in one day without quitting or giving up. About a week or two before our Austin 70.3 Ironman we got a craziness spurge and decided to sign up to complete what would become our first Iroman. Yes... A whole 140.6 miles of it!

Now we are a mere 2 days of stepping in the waters of Lake Woodlands in Texas to conclude one chapter of this journey that we started over a year ago, with our intro to tris and then with really took a turn when we decided to signup for Ironman Texas 2013. In December of last year we started the training for it. We were entering into the unknown, we knew that our bodies and minds were able to do at least half of it (good start) but really for us was exciting yet scary that we hadn't done any of the distances that our training was starting to call for, much less doing it all in one day.

We then started our new chapter and our journey continued. As mentioned on on of the last entries we have learned a lot on this journey. We have learned what our bodies are capable of now, where our minds can push the bodies but one thing that we have learned is how important is to have each other. I don't know how people do it on their own or how families can resist it. To those, my admiration to all of you. For us, this was taking our relationship as well to new levels, where we would sometimes run together, sometimes not, same with the bike and swims. I say take it to a new level because even though we don't compete with each other, we do try to push different levels and we start our trainings together a lot of times we were separated from each other. This was in part difficult because we knew we needed each other and we wanted to share it all together. On the other hand, it was good because it taught us to be independent, to trust each others abilities, and to make sure we were actually putting an individual effort on it. I think Res can attest to this. Probably was the hardest on her but I honestly think she is a lot stronger due to that. She now even changes her tubes on the bike on her own :). It also grew us stronger as a couple... An ironman couple to be :), we were pretty good at the team part, but now I think we are pretty awesome. While we had trainings that we are apart from each other, we have plenty of hours where we are next to each other, long hours on the trainer while watching tv at the wee hours in the morning, or during our long easy runs where we just went for a 2 or 3 hours jog around the neighborhood. That part is priceless!!! Getting to share that while actually accomplishing something.

Another aspect of our transformation is our social life... Yes it is to some extent inexistent if you ask our non-Tri friends, and also those same non-Tri friends are probably sick and tired of hearing us talk ironman. Hey... Sorry this is a journey and we are living it to the max, we don't have kids to share pics of them on Facebook, or don't party enough to share our drinking outings with friends, so might as well share our Tri experience. We may be crazy, but think we are better persons after this journey. We feel healthy, in our jobs we actually feel we are doing a better job... We are more organized and busier than ever, but I think this training and the fact that finding 20 extra hours a week to train after a 40 hour job is actually something that as doubting as it sounds it is possible so therefore our lives are more structured and as a result our productivities have increased, yes the engineer is talking :).

To those that have followed us on this journey, We want to thank you! Your few comments far in between but good thoughts and vibes have been received and definitely we appreciated them. To our families, thanks!!! It is something never attempted before in either one of our families and we know you all are proud of us. Your calls and support during these months, worrying if we were eating well, sleeping, being cautious on the roads and in the water, and also for putting up with us when we went home to visit and we had to train, luckily we were able to make it family times and we all enjoyed them.

For now, we hope you hear back from us after ironman, if you want to follow us, you can do it on the ironman website at www.ironman.com or if you have an iPhone you can download the IronMobile app and follow us with our bib numbers, and remember "anything is possible... The impossible just takes longer" Dan Brown.