Te falta poco // It won't be long!
Viene Pucón // Pucón is coming!
Recently I've been hearing these phrases, and even telling them to myself, often. In August I signed up for the Ironman 70.3 in Pucón, a triathlon billed as the "carrera más linda del mundo" (most beautiful race in the world). There were many reasons I signed up, or maybe there were no real reasons just a whim, but on January 13th I can't think of a better way to celebrate almost 1 year living in Chile.
Really, this triathlon has encompassed so much of what Chile means to me, and it has become so much more. To begin, I have explored Santiago and its surroundings. My default was Cerro San Cristobal in the heart of Santiago, where pedestrians and cyclists of all levels converge on the weekends, and I could get in a convenient hill workout with several circuits of about 10 km. A little farther was Chicureo, a community north of Santiago with a suitably flat 30 km circuit popular amongst serious cyclists. But the treasure was Cajón del Maipo, where the scenery of the valley distracted me from the 40 km, hilly out-and-backs, and I felt beautiful on my beautiful bike in this beautiful place.
Embarking on a challenge I knew very little about, I have come to rely very much on the people around me, who fortunately are more experienced in all-things-triathlon. Even more fortunate for me, they have become new friends. Silvia taught me the swim workouts, and even invited me to Christmas dinner with her family. Felipe and Claudio took me on group bike rides (and this morning, they took me to my first Chilean triathlon, see below), and they introduced me to the RPM Team. Also on the RPM Team is Julieta, who helped me with all the logistics of travel and lodging in Pucón, and is basically the best all-around supportive team-mate you want to have during training and races. Coach Tito and the "Runners de Providencia" (our running group, yes "runners" is spanish for "runners" in Chile) pushed me to run a sub-4:00 kilometer, and most importantly put up with my out-of-breath exhausted spanish.
Finally, I have challenged myself at the limits of my comfort zone. At first everyone, myself included, seemed unsure of whether I could or should do this. No one recommends that the first triathlon (not counting the "For Kids Only" races when I was 6- and 7-years old) be a half-Ironman. Still, Coach Tito reminds me to ride my bike at least once each week, as if I might have forgotten about an important component of the race. But, I think my commitment to training showed that I was serious about this goal. Or, maybe it was the expensive, beautiful gear that gave me some respect.
Most importantly, I tried new things. When I showed up to my first group ride that was supposed to be "usually about 60 km", only to hear I had arrived the week of peak training and the plan was 100+ km, I showed myself that I can ride 100+ km. And, in doing so, I validated the possibility to explore Puerto Varas on bike, a Christmas-Day Farellones ascent, and who knows what adventures are yet to come.
With one week to go, the training is spent, and I can taper towards the big race. In the meantime, today I had one more exciting challenge, the Triatlon de Viña del Mar (photos here). It turns out Pucón won't be my first triathlon, rather I thought I'd test the waters at this sprint-distance triathlon, not necessarily "racing" it but using it as a learning experience. I took these notes on the trip home: Remember to start my watch at the beginning of the race, remember to tie my shoes before taking off on the run. Breathe. Things you don't consciously remember to do, until you forget them in the excitement of the moment.
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| Even the dog wanted to try the triathlon. |
Today, I learned a lot about the transitions, and it was a good experience to make some mistakes, and do some things well, in Viña before Pucón. But, the best experience was realizing that I had fun today. Swimming in a mob out in the ocean, riding and running along the sea-coast. Placing second in my age group, which consisted of two of us, but at least I got a medal! So, I've validated my commitment to triathlon, and I vow to have fun next Sunday just as I had fun today.
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| 2nd place, and you can tell I'm happy. |
With the big race next week comes a big race report, so get ready. As an introduction to what will come, here is some information about the race and my goals for next week. A half-Ironman triathlon entails a 1.9 km (1.2 miles) swim, 90 km (56 miles) bike, and 21.1 km (13.1 miles, half marathon) run, 70.3 miles in total. The big Kahuna of triathlons is a (full-) Ironman, with the famous championships occurring in Hawaii each year. Other triathlons are shorter, called sprint- or olympic-distance, which I tested this weekend.
Since this is my first half-Ironman, as you already can tell, I don't know what to expect. But, for the record, I have made the following tiered-goals for the race. Wish me luck!
1. Goal: Finish (7 hours)
swim 00:55
bike 3:45 (50 min per 20 km, a warm-up pace in training)
run 2:10 (9:55 per mile pace)
T1+T2 00:10
2. Goal: Keep a good pace (6:25)
swim 00:50
bike 3:25 (~45 min per 20 km)
run 2:00 (9:10 per mile pace)
T1+T2 00:10
2b. Goal: Keep a good pace, then pick it up on the bike and still feel good for the run (6:05, or under 6 hours)
swim 00:50
bike 3:15 (~45 min per 20 km, negative splits in final kms)
run 1:50 (8:24 per mile pace)
T1+T2 00:10
3. Goal: Win! or not, but do my best in each event (5:40)
swim 00:45
bike 3:00 (~40 min per 20 km)
run 1:45 (8:00 per mile pace)
T1+T2 00:10
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