Well friends it is only 6 weeks until Ironman Canada. So, where am I? Well, I feel extremely good. I've had some problems with my left foot but we have figured out that my running shoes were the ones doing the damage. Those were changed and I had my first run on the mew pair just this morning. I must tell you, for me, I was fast and very comfortable. I will by no means brag about my abilities as they are what I consider far off from a seasoned athlete but I must say I no longer have the performance of a heavy guy which is an accomplishment by itself. I tackled today a hilly course I would have avoided with a passion 6 months ago but today I was very comfortable doing it uphill and downhill. My callaway running is working perfectly and this Saturday I go for the big 20 miles on the hills of Jajome in Cayey. Last time I ran there I loved it and had a great run breaking my personal record for the half marathon by more than 1/2 hour. That is a lot. At this point I am no longer afraid of workouts. I just go and period. Last Saturday I climbed 5,800 vertical feet over 60 miles before I truly for the first time blew up. I had to stop and get on the support car. It was good because it will help me avoid it during the event but in the end I missed my mark by 30 miles. I must be careful come race day and I must have my pacing right or I will suffer dearly.
So what is the plan at this point? Simple as always....... I am still shooting for a 9 hour off the bike time which will leave me 8 hours for the marathon. My plan is to finish the half marathon running and then continue on a 1 minute run 1 minute walk for at least 10 more miles. Walking the rest. I must confess that plan is ambitious but we will see. I think everyone that is doing this for the first time must feel the same way. How? Scared!!! I question if I have the distance, if I did my training right, etc. In the end it is not like I have hours to spare because at my best effort still the 17 hour cut off will be very close.
Everything is under rehearsal and scrutiny at this point. Every component of my bike is under evaluation to make sure race day I have the right equipment, every aspect of my nutrition and fluid intake is being tested and all possibilities to protect my feet are being studied. I must say I have some work to do but I am working on it. Specially on the nutrition. I changed the nutrition to more gels and less of the bottles. There has definitely been an improvement and I feel much better. However on both long rides with the new nutrition I have not taken about 1,000 calories each. Bad, bad, bad. I certainly need more "fuel" and I need to discipline myself as not to miss any nutrition while on the bike. So Sunday is yet another rehearsal on the bike.
It's close it is just so very close I can taste it. It will indeed be a struggle but I am so ready it is not funny. 3 more weeks of hard training and then we start our tapper phase as we peek and set on our final leg to the Ironman.
In other matters I have collected all but $800.00 of my contribution to athletes for a cure. Today I have a fund raiser to collect hopefully the rest of the money. I want you all to know and understand that in this fight there are no individual winners. True, I am a winner in all of this because of my personal experience and because of what my training has provided me in terms of character, peace of mind and health. However collectively I think we all have achieved the goal of contributing to the cause of helping to one day find the cure for cancer being prostate or any other form or shape of the decease. 6 weeks to go and I can tell you that I am at peace. I am at peace with what happened to me and at peace of how I have lived a life after surviving cancer. I am by no means ready to die yet as one bad thing about the Ironman is that it has helped me rediscover that being alive is the most wonderful thing there is and that you need to live life like there is no tomorrow. Every day. However I have healed my wounds and became a better person in the process, I have fallen in love even deeper with my family, my kids and life it self. Which in my case most of my family is bracing up for new adventures after they read this. They must be going Oh my God!!!! But seriously, I am in debt with a lot of people that have supported me during this journey and I will for ever be grateful. As for Cancer, despite being at peace and healed I still despise it with all my heart. Then, I was not strong enough to fight the bigger picture but now I am and so I will devote my remaining days fighting to extinguish its miserable existence. Weather thru sports or my kids, it does not matter but the fact remains I want to be involved and I intend to do just that.
Here is to cancer. "I am yet another disappointment for you. 20 years ago you tried to kill me, but failed in your attempt. You are no small enemy but still you are not invincible and I am living proof of it. I am going to celebrate your 20 year invasion by doing something truly extraordinary, to prove you one more time that you are not invincible. There is always a chance I will fail, and I am ready to accept that, because at this point there is no failure as I already won. Cancer, even before I get to the starting line I have already won. The reason for this was not to finish a race, it was to hire someone smart enough to kill you. Yes my friend to kill you. At this point I have done that with the help of all my friends and family. So there is a price on your head and I am very proud to be part of the payers of that sweet bounty. Come the 28th of August, I am just going to celebrate having killed you once already. I just have 140.6 miles to pick a place for the celebration. Maybe it is at mile 140.6 or maybe it is at mile 120, or maybe we move it to mile 2, who knows. I will just leave you thinking about it because after all, you are not invited. So, my friend, buckle up because you are in for a rough ride!!!!" Your day is soon to arrive.
Alberto
