Triathlon Internazionale 1/2 Iron di Barzanò

Tempo da veri Iron ieri a Barzanò, sotto un acqua pazzesca e con temperature più da mese di febbraio che fine aprile ero li a difendere i colori del Varese Triathlon in questo appuntamento d'inizio stagione.

quello che segue è un riassuntino della mia prima gara in territorio Italiano

sveglia ore 5, la zona cambio chiude alle 6.30 e bisogna fare presto. le 76 vasche in piscina mi mettono un po d'ansia, mi guardo intorno e vedo mega atleti ovunque tra i quali Emilio D'Aquino e mi spiegano che il pareterre è di livello abbastanza alto, c'è anche Martina Dogana e altri atleti venuti da varie nazioni. si nuota 4 per corsia (bene) uno degli altri 3 della mia corsia annuncia di aver fatto 9h30 a Klagenfurt, gli dico di andare avanti che poi gli do il cambio. sono le 7 il mio corpo è ancora addormentato, ma 3 - 2 - 1 bum, partiti, l'ironman davanti a me prende un ritmo blando che stimo sull' 1'35 ai 100, ho deciso di nuotare tranquillo, spingere in bici e tenere a piedi, quindi lascio fare. alla virata del km però lo passo, mi sono scaldato e le braccia girano bene, penso al cazziatone che mi farà Nino se esco in più di mezz'ora e alle battute di Maurizio, prendo un ritmo sugli 1'30 ed esco in 30' fuori diluvia, ho nuotato in costume, quindi m'infilo nel gazebo, metto il body da gara la maglia a maniche lunghe calze fine, un paio di guanti lunghi ed esco veloce dalla zona transizione, le gambe sono infreddolite ma girano bene decidoo di dare tutto in bici e vedere che succede, nonostante il livello dei miei avversari comincio a superare un po di gente, piove forte e fa freddo, le discese sono tremende a causa del wind chill e dell'asfalto bagnato, si vede poco ma ho l'adrenalina a mille e tutto va bene. il percorso ha molta salita a tratti molto dura, dopo un ora di corsa le gambe girano ancora bene ma sono zuppo d'acqua, ho freddo ed il ricordo del w-end nizzardo è ancora vivo, ho paura che mi rivengano le convulsioni e che devo fermarmi, tengo duro, la strada sale ancora, e ancora, alla fine ci saranno 1.465 mt di dislivello, considerando che a Nizza ce ne sono 2000 mi sembrano un po tanti per un 1/2 Iron, comunque si va. Sull'ultima salita a pochi km dalla fine della parte in bici non ce la faccio più salgo in piedi sui pedali a 9km/h, sono un po svuotato, ho i piedi congelati, la mani peggio ancora e le gambe tetanizzate, penso alla corsa, sarà dura. finalmente mi butto nell'ultima discesa, chiudo in 2h47, alla media di 30km/h saprò dopo che ho fatto il 14° tempo assoluto in bici, non male considerando che il giorno prima ho fatto in buona compagnia 95 km: Entro in zona cambio, resto con il body, ho le mani gelate e non riesco a mettermi le scarpe, guardo i piedi, so che sono li perchè li vedo ma non li sento più, le calze sono zuppe, non c'è tempo per cambiarle, infilo come posso le scarpe e mi lancio sulla mezza, sono 4 giri su un percorso abbastanza ondulato, vado a sensazioni, non ho idea su che ritmo corro, guardo solo il cardio, ho le gambe dure dal freddo e dalla fatica ma poco a poco si riscaldano, i piedi invece no quando toccano per terra sento il rumore della scarpa sull'asfalto ma non sento niente, sono duri dal freddo e non è piacevole. stringo i denti, molti atleti mi superano anche se mi sembra di correre bene, ma quelli corrono meglio, D'Aquino mi doppia, è bellissimo vederlo correre, sembra volare sull'asfalto. Uno che mi sembra un M1 mi passa, so che posso dire ciao ciao al podio di categoria ma ha un ritmo diverso e non ho la forza di agganciarlo. Il secondo giro sto decisamente meglio, le gambe girano felici, vengo assalito dal buon'umore nonostante la pioggia e la fatica, penso che essere un triathleta è una cosa stupenda e che siamo fortunati a praticare uno sport cosi bello che unisce sport cosi diversi ma anche tanta trascendenza e misticismo, l'ultimo giro è duro, la fatica si fa sentire ed ho voglia di fermarmi per tirare i polpacci, stringo i denti non posso mollare adesso, penso che a Nizza sarà 2 volte più dura e a voi che andrete a controllare i tempi sul web, non esiste fermarsi. finalmente vedo la fine, tiro su la cerniera che si legga bene Varese Triathlon sul petto e taglio il traguardo in 4h56, sotto le 5h come speravo e con 1h38 sulla mezza (secondo me erano 20km) sono svuotato, bevo 4 the caldi e mi infilo sotto la doccia quando esco dagli spogliatoi, realizzo: finisco 23° e 4 di categoria (e soprattutto nessuno del Busto davanti per far conteno il presidente) un bell'inizio mi sembra....

triathletamente vostro

fabrizio

A Beautiful Run

I still can't believe I run the Paris Marathon..... I told to myself several times never run a marathon when preparing for an Ironman.... and....... never say never!


this was totally unespected as after my tendinitis I started running very progressively with a longest run of 18 km the same week of the marathon(!). yes the week of the marathon I run 18km on monday, swim for 1h and interval training on the bike on tuesday, run easy 1 hour and interval training swimming on wednsday, bike easy 1h and swim 1h on Thursday, bike 3h with a climb up to 900 mt on friday, not exactly a taper for a marathon on sunday.


That's because I only decided on Saturday I would run the marathon when my wife Katja asked me if I could run few miles of the marathon with our friend and "groupie" Maeve that was running her first marathon. I could not say no, and of course I could stop when I wanted, the plan was to run 25 km maximum 30 and then let Maeve go to the end as for me my IM training plan continued next monday.


I was totally unprepared, I did not carboload, or anything else the days before, the only thing I did was to buy and bake an energy cake for the sunday morning breakfast.

With Maeve we meet for the prerace on sunday, we start in the last group, it was a beautiful day with so many runners, the temperature is ideal for running, we are looking forward to start.

We decide to run on the basis of a 4h marathon and see how it goes.

Maeve had also a tendinitis the last 2 weeks before the race and she is worried, so I'm I as I think it will hurt a lot for her. but for the moment everything is great and as the first groups have started we are still walking towards the start line, there are so many people.



Finally we start and after 500mt down the champs elisèes we see Katja and Nina, Katja encourages us with a "go guys, looking great!!" good to know after 500 mt! she tells us they are going to be at km 30




We run well, keeping to our pace, the km go "fast"and I feel great I'm at 70% of my max, running at 10.5km/h in great company in a great city, I really enjoy the run, sometimes Maeve accellerates, I ask her to stay with me as the race is long, she keeps the pace, there are so many people that passing is pretty difficult. We pass the 20 km in 1h 56 min, Maeve just set her personal record as last year she run the 20km of brussels in a little more than 2h. we pass the 1/2 marathon mark in 2h01 very much in schedule.


we drink and eat bananas, gels, dry fruits, I feel great!





We finally get to the 30st km, I can see from our time at every km that we are getting slower, Maeve is in pain with her leg and started to have cramps, we meet Katja that encourages us like only her can encourage somebody she cares for, I start feeling my legs a bit but I cant quit now, I cant let Maeve continue alone, the marathon starts now.


the km start to get longer and longer and our pace goes down to 9.5 km/h Maeve is really in pain, but she is very strong in her mental and we dont walk. we just stop few times for her cramps. km 36-37- 38-39 are very tough for her but she keeps going, I'm feeling ok and try to encourage her to keep going and put positive thoughts in her mind, but at this point the only person that can finish the race for maeve is maeve. she show me some carachter when at the aid station of km 40 she let me take the drinks for both of us and keep running, I dont know how she did that as stopping few seconds for a last sip of teasty beverage and a piece of banana was so easy to do......


Finally the last mile, if we got there we can get to the end, I tell Maeve to enjoy these last minutes because they are the best ones, the ones where all the training, the sacrifices the things she missed or she could not do, came to a meaning. everybody has his own feeling when it comes to the end of a long endurance race, I don't know what Maeve was thinking but from her look I could see she was happy and proud. I was also proud of her, she run her first marathon in less than 4h30 with an injured ankle, she run through the whole marathon without walking and she showed some great and tough carachter when the legs dont want to run anymore and all the body is acking, she did not quit one second!
as far as I'm concerned I had a great running day, I enjoyed running with Maeve, I enjoyed running a marathon finally taking pleasure without suffering and overdoing, I was in my aerobic zone the whole time, burn a lot of fat, built up some endurance and understood a lot of this long distance running. it was also great as a triathlete (normally focused on MY training, on MY racing) to do this for a good friend and for Katja.
and on tuesday I was back on the bike for my IM training plan

4 weeks of stop....... sh.....t!!

Well well well

I dont know what caused it, may be a run longer than needes, maybe the old shoes, may be because I'm too old and my body needs a rest but the fact remains that this thing is bloody painful.

Fortunately doctor Varinelli is taking good care of me, he diagnosed an inflammation of the Nervo Peroniero in my right foot. X-rays excluded fracture de stress or pointe calcarienne, thanks god, but the pain is still there, I had a cortisone shot last thu. still 2 to go and according to the doc I'll be ready again to bike and run.....

my question is will this 1 month stop compromise my preparation for Ironman Nice?

It's a bit depressing but at least I can still swim

NY Marathon 2008: what a great day!!

It seems so long time ago when with my wife Katja we decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary running a marathon, and what marathon to remember could we pick ? New york City Marathon!! it is important to note that not me not Katja ever run a marathon before, I run the marathon in Nice IM but, as I could easily notice during my run, this was a complete different kind of effort.

I followed a 12 weeks training plan, due to a twisted anckle and a bad flu I could not train the last 3 weeks. Katja did even better, due to lack of time and injuries she followed a 7 weeks programme (!)

We arrived in NY the wednsday night before the race. NY is so beautiful, incredible and full of things to see and do that we did not exaxtly "taper" the way we should had... In the morning we went for a jog in central park and during the rest of the day it was sightseeing and powershopping!!

on Saturday before the race we participated in the International frienship run, it was fun to see all this runners from around the world running together wearing their respective country colours, I decided that if I go there again I will bring the EU flag with me....

After struggling quite a bit to bake the energy cake (thanks to an italian restaurant not far from the hotel I could bake it in time) Saturday night we go early to bed as the big day is starting soon.

Sunday 2 November: Race day

we wake up at 3h30 and both eat some energy cake, we check that everything we need is in our bag and we go to the lobby were hundreds of runners are waiting to go to the national library to take the bus to Staten Island. there will be 50.000 runners starting the marathon and to take everybody there you need a great organisation. our bus is at 4.30, we all look like zombies when we board the bus and we are worried about those 4-5 hours we have to wait in the cold before the start.

with Katja we go to the orange start, we find a spot and start waiting, some fall asleep (see picture) even if the air is pretty cold! no matter how many clothes and blankets you bring with you, you are going to be cold anyway. everything is well organised, we meet other runners, everybody has a story to tell, and the time goes fast.

45min before my start we jog a little with Katja (she will start 45 min after me) then we say goodbye wishing each other a great race....... we are both mega excited and eager to start.

finally I get to the Varazzano bridge, we have waited for this moment so long and finally I'm there at the start of the NYC marathon, the speakers play the American national himn, it is a powerful moment and bang we are off for 42km195mt. the first miles on the bridge are amazing, you can feel the bridge coming to life with all those feet moving on it, on the left side you can see the skyline in manhattan and on the water many boats shoot water giving us incredible rainbows with the sun and the cold air it looks great. I feel good at the start, too god even, as I'm way to high with my heart, but I cannot care less, I'm running the NYC marathon I dont care about pace, heart rate and the 40 km in front of me (I'll pay this bold attitude later....). I look around, we are now off the Varazzano, cruising at 13km/h in brooklin, there are so many people encouraging and many bands playing all kind of music that you find yourself running on the beats of the notes. I pass the half marathon in 1h37, way to fast,! we are going up the Queensborough bridge, it is hard and so silent (no spectators allowed) I start feel strange, like my legs getting heavy. when we get out of the bridge there are so many people scxreeming and encouranging that you start realising how much of great people New yorkers are, they all tell you you look great, you look strong, you are going to make it, my legs are probably not listening as at km 25 is the total black out! the effort feels the same but the speed goes so much down that it's unbelievable. the legs are in pain as well. I start telling myself that I'm a healthy triathlete, that I competed in the Ironman and that I can handle pain, that it will pass but I still slow down although trying not to walk. at an aid station I walk a bit, than start runing again, we are running up 1st avenue, man it is so long and going so much in the opposit direction of the finish line that it is so hard for the mind, I start looking for metro station to go back to the hotel, dive on the bed and put my legs up, eat some pasta and watch TV...... it is now 10 km that I'm in this state of pain and willingness to quit. at km 35 it all comes back again, the pain is still there, but I feel like running again and start enjoing the course and the people around. We are in bronks tourning south again towards 5th avenue and central park, I start passing people again, the last miles in Central park are great, many people cheering (there were 2 million along the course!!) we turn columbus circle and head straight to the end, all my plans to finish in less than 3h30 are gone but I'm happy to finish, I think I did all possible mistakes one can do in a marathon but nobody will ever be albe to take away the emotion of crossing that finish line..... it was simply magic!

It took me 3h39minutes, a marathon is bloody long and bloody hard and it is such an accomplishment to finish. I only think about Katja now, if I suffered like that with all my triathlon training I can't imagine what she is going through,I know she has a strong mind and she will finish no matter what, but I'm still worried.

I collect my medal, my bag and put up some warm clothes, I then go to the finish line and wait for Katja. It is amzing to look at the people finishing the marathon I found myself clapping and encouraging people of all kind, all nationalities, finishing with a sprint of walking in pain, on a wheel chair or without legs running the whole marathon on crouches....

finally I see Katja coming, she is running, looking great, I screem her name she comes to hug me and we start crying I'm so happy to see her finishing and to celebrate our 10th anniversary in such a unique way.

We missed each other after the finish and it was hard to walk back to the hotel without her.

But when we meet again it is a whole evening of resting, eating, telling stories and emotions about the marathon it was like we lived it again sharing our race experiences

what a great day of sport till Paris in April!

Season 2008 PODIUMs

4 podiums in this first Triathlon season, order cronologically they are:

• Sprint distance Triathlon at NATO: 2nd place M40


• Sprint distance triathlon at Hollola Finland: First place scrach


• Olimpic Distance Supercoupe Triathlon Chièvres: 2nd place M40


• Sprint Distance Ligue championship per team Oupeye: 3rd place scrach

Crazy enough that I have been training for long distance triathlon the whole year and I got the best results in short distance ones. Is there something wrong somewhere?

for the details.

Ironmanneke de l'Otan 8 May 2008

This was my first "solo"competition of the year as one week before I participated at the belgian championship per team in Landen (official opening of the season) with the great guys of RCBT. I was nervous as it was also my first race with all the RCBT club watching and because in landen I understood that my speed was not exactly "the" speed needed for a certain level of triathlon success. I also noticed in Landen that transitions are very important and that I had to change few things (like no socks, no drink or eat, no looking around...) if I wanted to get faster in and out of T1 and T2. So the race! The swim was in the pool 500mt @ full speed. I started with the M40, got out of the water in7'14 in second place and managed to pass the 1st during the transition. i could then start the bike in first position and that was a tremendous kick as I had a motorbike in front of me opening the road, like at the tour the France. I pushed as hard as I could on the bike knowing my weakenesses in the run and managed to close the bike leg in 29'06 still in first position but with the others very close behind. I start the run and Luc Husseine passed me at the double of my speed, no first place today I tought, the worst was that I could not go and get him or just run with himb as he was too fast. The run was tough as I was at my max but still not fast enough as other 2 people passed me, fortunately they were M50 so at the end I managed to keep the second place. The best part was the after race as I could get to know better the other athlets of RCBT, lots of jokes lots of fun and lots of great advice on triathlon racing and training. Agreat day of sport and perfect weather!!!!!

Teramies Hollola 2 August 2008

This was the most allucinating triathlon experience. Here is the story: my parents in law have a hause close to a lake in Hollola Finland were we go for holidays. It was already 2 yers that the first saturday of August I saw a bunch of people getting together at the beach and start swimming than take the bike and disappear with quite a large crowed watching. So the told me that every year the have the local pub (!) organises the Teramies triathlon on a rearranged sprint distance. I decided to give it a try this year being there for holidays. The start is at 11am so I start preparing my transition (no transition area existing) everyone just put his stuff on the beach and the biké somewere were the road starts.... 11 people are participating, 1 looks very fit and younger, another arrived at the start with a sigaret in his mouth and a beer (large) in his hand, another one told me he placed 5th in his category at the Finnish half ironman championship a month earlier, another one was last year winner and his bike was Hawaii championship like. My children, wife, parents in lawand people that normally you see at the beach are all there, and with all the triathlon talking and training I've been doing and an Ironman in my CV, I cant do less than 1st place, that's clear! so we start for a 800 mt swim in a beautiful lake, I get first out of the water with almost 4 minutes lead. I hit the road for 22 km bike on a far from flat road course with perfect smooth asfalt and a motorbike in front of me opening the road. I cruise at 36 - 37 km/h average speed and close the bike with 5 minutes lead over the second. at T2 I cant find my running shoes as Katja and the children are not there, somebody after a wile point me my runnig flats and hop we go for a relaxed run of 4 km, I finish my 3 lap and cross the line hand in hand with my children, even if it was not world class level it felt good to win. The after race is nice as well because you can see that everyone did their best effort in racing and everybody is very friendly with the italian "numero uno". after the podium we are are invited at the "gala" party at the pub in the evening, were after lots of beer, free makkara (famous finnish sausages) for the athlets and some aquavite shots, rumor says that I went on stage to sing "Like a Vergin" to celebrate the victory. Great atmosphere and mega fun!!

Olimpic Distance Supercoupe LBFTD Chievres 31 Août 2008

This has been a great podium first because it was a Supercoupe competition and second because I could compare with last year results. With a 2h21' I was 12 minutes faster than last year.

summary in french taken from what I wrote for the club:

Au départ de cette dernière épreuve de 1/4 de la saison on est beaucoup du club à être la, c'est chouette de se retrouver aux inscriptions, dans le zones de transition, de s'aider à mettre la combi et de se donner les dernières conseils et encouragements. 5' avant le départ je rentre dans l'eau avec un plongeon olympique pour impressionner mes concurrents, je perds me lunettes et je bois beaucoup d'eau..... ok je fais comme si riens était, je remets me lunettes et je m'échauffe un peu. au départ je cherche JC (pour prendre ses pieds) mais il est un peu trop vers la droite et je n'arrive pas à me rapprocher, je suis à coté de Manu du Bin (de très bon pieds aussi) le plan d'eau n'est pas très large, ça va bousculer beaucoup, les bouées sont mise suivant la géométrie d'un traceur soul, il faudra aussi naviguer pas mal. 3-2-1 bum partis je suis en premier file et on accélère vite je nage à coté d'en gars pendant tout le premier tour côte à côte, à 2 cm, je respire à droite il respire à gauche et on à le même rythme et on rigole quand on prend de l'aire presque en bouche à bouche, la natation est rapide je suis dans le premier group, je m'accroche. je sors 15eme de l'eau je monte le raidillon pour aller à T1 en apnée et j'ai la tête qui tourne quand je me baisse pour mettre mes chaussures. je commence le vélo et je sens toute suite que j'ai de super jambes, je pousse sur les pédales et j'essaye de rattraper du monde. j'aime beaucoup le parcours vélo à Chièvres avec les virages serrés beaucoup de relances et surtout pas de longues côtes. je commence à remonter des coureurs, dans un passage ou un peu voir devant je vois un casque rouge sur un tri fonction noir et blanche..... . JC!... ahi ahi ahi, je ne peux pas laisser filer cette occasion, je sais qu'il est à sa 22ème heure d'entrainement cette semaine, je peux le dépasser. je commence à pousser plus fort et petit à petit je récupère. finalement j'arrive dans son groupe ils sont trois, je passe sans dire un mot, sa se joue aussi psychologiquement, JC me regarde et BIEN SUR il va jamais me laisser filer..... c'est une guerre des nerfs il me repasse, je le repasse, j'essaye de m'échapper il est toujours la. je sais que si je veux arriver devant lui je dois mettre au moins 5 minutes.... ah ah ah.... je me sens des mieux en mieux en vélo me le Président ne lâche pas, j'arrive à T2 en 10eme position JC est derrière de......quelque secondes, je traine un peu à la transition car je mets des chaussettes. .... JC et les deux autres du groupe me dépasse, je commence la course à pieds en 13ème position, il fait chaud, le parcours est vallonné mais je dois m'accrocher. Je ne pense même pas aller chercher ceux devant mais j'essaye au moins de ne me pas faire dépasser. le première tour se passe bien je dépasse même un jeune, on se croise avec les autres coureurs au turning point, je vois JC courir très bien et très vite il remonte sur les autres on s'encourage très fort, je croise aussi les autres du club et les encouragements font vraiment du bien car je suis à fond et je sens la fatigue. je croise Yves qui cours vraiment bien avec un style impec, il faudrait que tu me donne des cours de rattrapage. Un TGV me passe, c'est la championne de Belgique, elle coure vite, un V2 me passe aussi, c'est Alain Bronchart, c'est impressionnant comme il cour.... deuxième tour et je suis toujours en bonne position je crois 3ème en V1 et dans le 15 scratch. le dernier tour est dur mais je retrouve un peux mes jambes et pousse encor un peu, il y a un autre V1 10 secondes derrière moi, je croise JC une dernier fois il va fort il me crie "merde je suis 6ème" avec une énergie incroyable, il me motive à fond. je suis près de l'arrivée maintenant, toujours en bonne position, je monte les escaliers avant l'arrivée et j'ai comme l'impression que mon cœur sort des mes oreilles, je suis encore en apnée et je passe la ligne d'arrivée au bout des forces.
je suis très content car je sens j'ai fait un très belle course, on se retrouve avec JC et on attend les autres athlètes du club, je suis vraiment content de le voir arriver, aussi au bout de forces, c'est magnifique de voir quand on donne vraiment tout jusqu'au bout. Philippe nous régale un sprint magnifique car il jouait le podium sur la somme des temps avec les 3 épreuves du w-end. on s'encourage et on se félicite, on exchange nos impression de la course, on blague on rigole on est vraiment content d'être la ensemble profiter de cette belle journée de triathlon. Le RCBT est vraiment un club très bien avec une ambiance sincère et génuine.
L'after race est aussi très bien, on "s'hydrate", on attend les résultats officiel, il va y avoir des podiums marqué RCBT. on discute, on se connait mieux.
Dommage que c'était une des dernières courses cette année

LFBTD Championship Sprint distance per Teams 14 Septembre 2008

This was the last race of the season and a great occasion to celebrate as 3 RCBT teams were present at the start: the one going for the podium Eric Huyghebaert; JC Paquet; James Pirnay and myself; the one going for the performance and our joungsters going for the experience.

The swim 500 mt in the pool Eric our best swimmer is in front leading us to a 7'29 swim split, the transition is fast (and good I'm not the last one to leave T1 for once), the bike leg is fast with many sharp turns and no hills, we try to stay one behind the other not always managing it and we loos time especially after the sharp turns, we end up with the 6th time in 30'16 (we all thought we were faster!!). the run is very very fast, too fast for me as James has to push me in several occasion I give all I have and still I cant run as fast as my team members, the encouragements and support is great and we cross the finishline in 17'59 (my fastest 5k ever) 2nd time overall and we take a beautiful 3rd place!! We wait now for the other RCBT teams that we crossed and encouraged strongly during the run, it is great to see how everybody is totally into the race and want to finish good! we ran the last meters with the other RCBT teams and make a lot of noise celebrating, i'm really happyto be part of this club as the athlets + our supporters are great ;-)

too bad it was the last one I think we will all miss competing till next spring

place now to new objectives and training plan

Season 2008, how it all started and results

2008 was my first Triathlon season. I was Mountainbiking before, enjoing this sport very much.

It is when I decided to diversify my training that I started to go swimming again and, due to lack of snow on christmans 2006 in Finland I also bought a pair of runing shoes and start running (never stopped since). When going swimming at the Calypso pool, I was noticing a group of people swimming with penguin like suits and talking about triathlons, fast transitions, ironman.... I was fascinated by their swimming and by the stories thet were telling. finally I could talk to Jak Waimes, he explained me about the RCBT club, about short distance, olimpic distance and long Ironman distance Triathlons.

He introduced me to Jean Cristhophe Paquet, the President of RCBT and Hawaii competitor and finisher. After few swimming sessions (fast) with him and a "I asked a lot of questions" lunch I was hooked!! I signd up with RCBT and registered for Ironman Nice...... how crazy is that? I only did one olimpic distance triathlon (in Chievres) before.

So, I found a 30 weeks training programme, shaved my legs and started training for the ultimate TRI experience. That was hard at the beginning but the programme was very progressive and well done (except for the lack of hill training that I discoverd too late it would be helpful for a race like Nice) it was still pretty hard but a pure pleasure to get fir for a demanding sport like triathlon

in 2008 I competed in the following triathlons:

- Belgian champ.ship per team in Landen (sprint Distance)-18th position in 1h

- Ironmanneke de l'Otan (SD) 15th position overall and 2nd M40 in 1h01'

- Eau d'Heure SC LBFTD (OD) 72nd scratch and 20th M40 in 2h18

- IronMan Nice (3.8; 180; 42) 535 scrach and 100 M40 in 11h36

- IronMies Hollola Finland (0.800; 22; 4 - ricreational level) 1° scratch in 1h13'

- La Gileppe Supercoupe LBFTD (OD) 32nd scrach and 10th M40 in 2h11'

- Chievres Supercoupe LFBTD (OD) 16th scratch and 2nd M40 in 2h21'

- Oupeye Championnat inter-equipes LFBTD (SD) 3rd in 55'44"

A great season!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

all this thanks to a great team the RCBT: way to go guys cant wait for next season!!

A post will follow on the 2008 podiums

Gérardmer triathlon longue distance par equipe RCBT

Le RCBT à Gérardmer

Ce W-end une équipe du RCBT (Fabrizio en natation; Arnaud Martin en vélo et James Pirnai an CAP) était à Gérardmer pour le Triathlon longue distance en équipe, c'est difficile à expliquer mais vous ne pouvez pas nous trouver sur le nom RCBT mais sous celui de Orca attitude 3 (le tout n'était pas organisé par nous…..)

C'était un w-end avec une météo pourri et une désillusion coté résultat mais c'était comme si un rayon de soleil nous accompagné tout au long des deux jours car on c'est amusé comme des fou (peut être pas Arnaud aux sommets des cols) et l'ambiance était incroyable, je vais vous raconter…..

Vendredi 13h James et Arnaud viens me chercher au travail, on va manger à la cantine et on est près à partir pour 430 km de route. Arnaud conduit, il nous explique qu'il a fait bien ses calcules pour mettre de l'essence au Luxembourg ou sa coute beaucoup moins cher, on approuve et on commence à parler de sport, de voyages, de nos histoires personnelles, on rigole beaucoup, les km défilent rapidement. Pas à 5km, pas à 10 km pas à 30 km mais a 60 km du Luxembourg on a presque plus d'essence et on doit s'arrêter. On quitte l'autoroute et on prend la belle route qui mène à Gérardmer, on à besoin d'une pause technique, au sommet d'une colline on s'arrête pour faire pipi on est au croisement d'au moins 6 routes assez trafiqués, des champs partout, pas un arbre, je crois que même ma mère de l'Italie a pu nous voir…. La discrétion totale!

Finalement on arrive à Gérardmer il est 18h30 nôtre hôtel est en face du lac, on nous donne une suite avec vu sur le lac on se croyait en lune de miel. On rencontre Philippe (l'organisateur de nôtre séjour) et les autres participants des teams Orca attitude (3 au total) plus un nombre de participant au 1/4 de dimanche. Katja (ma femme) et une copine on aussi fait le déplacement pour nous encourager elles sont encore sur la route car elles sont parti plus tard à cause du travail. À 21h Katja et Mave arrivent, elle sont hype et pleine d'adrénaline à cause des 5 heures de conduite, elles mettent une ambiance de fou à table on rigole beaucoup et les blagues sort sans arrêts, Katja annonce que je vais faire 55' en natation (ça va être la blague du w-end) et qu'on va être sur le podium, James dans un élan de confiance promet le fleures du podium à nos supportrices, Arnaud est inquiet à cause de son état de santé mais il est confiant et il nous promet maximum 4h, on est gonflé à bloc et on rêve d'un podium!
Après une promenade au lac (il fait doux) on va se coucher, vous pouvez vous imaginer l'ambiance avec 3 mec dans la même chambre, James se colle un patch voltaren sur la hanche et il stress à cause du control antidopage si on termine sur le podium. La nuit se passe bien, à 5h on se réveil tout le trois pour une petite discussion stratégie de course au toilette, on n'est pas stressé du tout mais c'est vrai qu'on sent tous un peu la course, le départ est à 9h30 on retourne se coucher.
A 7h on se réveille on ouvre la fenêtre on arrive à peine à voir le lac, il fait froids et il pleut des cordes avec du vent. Au petit déjeuneur je suis tendu, les courses en équipe son chouettes mais la pression est forte car la course des tes coéquipiers dépends beaucoup de la tienne.

Je sors de l'hôtel avec mes brésiliennes, ma combi, mon bonnet jaune et mes lunettes sur moi car il pleut très fort. James et nos supportrices sont au départ natation, elles vont rester debout sous la pluie toute la journée, elles sont été magnifiques et elles nous ont encouragé sans cesse.

À 9.30 le départ est donné pour 4km de natation dans un lac superbe, les pros, les groups d'âge et la course open sont parti depuis 50', on est une 40aine d'équipes.

Sa démarre très fort, je suis en troisième position, les deux devant on un rythme des fous et je n'arrive pas à prendre leur pieds, le groupe de chasse se forme, on est 5. Au passage au 1er km je laisse passer deux nageur devant moi car je n'arrive pas à mes détacher, je regarde mon cardio je suis à 90%. Dans le groupe sa bagarre ferme je reçois beaucoup de coup car on est tous au même rythme et personne veut lâcher la position, il y à du vent de face et des vague, de temps en temps je bois une tasse ma sa glisse et sa nage très bien. Au passage au 2.5 km on accélère, il y a des changements de rythme tout le temps, je m'accroche, 93% au cardio. Au 3eme km je commence à sentir mal aux épaules et au bras, sa bouscule toujours beaucoup, c'est une vrai course de natation en eaux libre, je commence à utiliser plus les jambes, ce n'est pas question de lâcher ce groupe, à 800 mt de la fin sa accélère ferme et le groupe explose, j'accélère aussi car la troisième place est la tout prés de moi, j'en peut plus car sa va vraiment vite mais je m'accroche, je sort de l'au en 6ème position en 1h1min. mais à quelque second de la 3ème

Je dépasse un nageur en courant vers T1 ou Arnaud m'attends, je suis en apnée et j'ais la tête qui tourne, Arnaud enlève le chip de ma cheville et pars pour 120 bornes à vélo en 5ème position, il pleut toujours et il fait froids. Le parcours vélo est dur en 3 boucles de 40 km avec deux ascension à 900 mt chaque tour. Arnaud se remets de son accident d'il y a deux semaines mais il est enrhumé et il a eu de la fièvre pendant la semaine, on espère que tout se passe bien. Il boucle le premier tour en 1h 20 min il passe devant nous il à l'aire bien on l'encourage beaucoup, surtout Katja et Mave. On va manger quelque chose on se dit qu'il doit faire vraiment froids au sommet des cols et surtout dans les descentes, il pleut toujours. On retourne sur le parcours vélo, pas de traces d'Arnaud après 2h50 de course, on est inquiet, il boucle son deuxième tour en plus 1h45 il est pâle, il a froid et il nous fait signe qu'il vas pas bien, on l'encourage fort, il aurait du abandonner car avec sa grippe c'était dangereux, mais il ne veux pas laisser tomber le team, il s'accroche et il arrive frigorifié avec le 27ème temps vélo en 4h 38, il tremble et il n'arrive pas à marcher car ses jambes crampes tout le temps je lui masse les cuisses pour chercher de le réchauffer. Philippe trouve une chambre avec un bain car nous, on avait laissé la chambre. Le couple dans la chambre fait couler un bain chaud pour Arnaud, je l'accompagne, Arnaud est vraiment au bout. Finalement il rentre dans le bain ou il arrive à se réchauffer.
Sur le parcours CAP c'est le James-show!!! Même si le podium est impossible à réaliser maintenant, James nous montre qu'il est un vrai homme de sport et sort toute sa générosité en réalisant une course à pied incroyable. Il nous organise très bien pour ses ravitaillements heureusement qu'on était 4 pour l'aider par ce que c'était complique: alors, moi je l'attendais avec un gel a chaque tour (4 au total) après 50 mt Mave lui passait un bidon d'eau, Katja était placé après 100 mt pour récupérer le bidon et prendre les photos quand Arnaud est revenu pour aider avec le bidon et les gels. On était tellement concentré sur nos taches qu'on oublié d'encourager notre coureur. Les tours s'enchaine et James passe avec la précision d'une montre suisse chaque 30 min. il cour bien et il dépasse beaucoup de monde, sa foulé parfaite et puissante est remarqué même par les autres coureurs qui lui font les compliments quand il les dépasse. On sait toujours pas ce que le coureuses lui disent quand il les passe mais bon ça cette une autre histoire.

C'est le dernière tour et on va tous sur la ligne d'arrivé pour attendre James, il arrive sur le tapis, Arnaud et moi on cour les dernier mètres avec lui (et on est presque lâché) pour passer la ligne ensemble, James termine le 30 km en 2h….. avec le 2eme temps en CAP!!!!!!!!!!!!! On remonte beaucoup de places et on est 12emes
Après la ligne d'arrivé on est félicité par le speaker et aussi par nos groupies maintenant complètement trempées, Il y a un méga ravitaillement à la fin.

Finalement on se retrouve à l'hôtel, Arnaud vas mieux, on a tous le sourire car on a passé une belle journée de sport, on avait le niveau pour allez sur le podium mais ça c'est le triathlon, tout peux se passer sur une course. On ramène une belle 12eme place et surtout on termine en équipe.