Are you ready to be a triathlete’s girlfriend?

Ladies, are you sure you really want an Iron Boy of your own? Here are a few things you may want to consider, enjoy! =)

- Most of your quality time with him will be while he's carbo-loading.

- You will be privy to more information about his bodily functions than you ever cared to know.

- He can spend 10 hours on his bike. Don't be jealous ok?

- Be prepared to consider doing a long run followed by a yoga session as a "date"

- His legs will often be smoother than yours.

- You'll have to at least pretend to like swimming, biking or running if you ever want to see him on the weekends.

- He'll only be able to take you dancing on one of his "rest weeks."

- We either smell like sweat or smell like chlorine

- If you can't beat him, JOIN him!

- Tights... hahaha Yeah

- The fastest way to a triathlete's heart is through his stomach. Thus race day breakfast!

- You'll have to start sex early or settle for a "quickie,' so that he can get to bed by 10pm.

- The correlations between regular exercise and sex are true.

Endurance.

- Dates are usually done in between lunch and early dinner til 9pm.

- Don't make it such a big issue if he has a smaller waist line than you.

- Don't worry about saddle issues - if he gets numb, you get numb. (numb, numb, numb)

- No matter how much you or he wants to snuggle in the morning, you'll have to kick him out of bed by 5:45am.

- You'll have to learn all the words to Eye of The Tiger.

- Rest Days.

- Yes. His body will have stripes like a zebra!!

- You'l have to learn how to make a protein shake.

- If he say's he's tired. He probably really is.

- Start learning the jargons. T1, intervals, long ride, GU, etc.

- You'll help him choose his race calendar based on where you'll get to travel ("You should definitely race in Monaco!")

- On race day, you'll have to get up early, stand out in the chilly morning to watch his wave start, keep your eyes peeled to see him exit the water and cheer your head off for him, take actions shots of him leaving transition on the bike, then find something to do for 2-3 hours before any stores are open, but get back in time to get more pictures of him running out of transition and wait another couple hours before you get to watch him finish. AKA Personal Assistant!

- Sunscreen, Sunscreen, Sunscreen.

- Long weekends = Longer training days

- No matter how fast or how slow he is, ALWAYS make him feel like a Champion.

- Be prepared to get hooked on the sport yourself...

AND

-When the going gets tough, the race is long and digging deep for that last push of energy is at it's hardest, know that the thing that keeps him going is the thought of you waiting for him at the finish line.

Training Log # 23 - Learning from a Team Mate - The Cobra 70.3 Ironman Experience

After having my wall blasted full of people's congratulations, the hype and the feeling of the 70.3 Ironman has now settled. It's now the perfect moment  that I begin to finally contemplate on the experience that may shape me to becoming a much more focused and persevering athlete.

I'd like to finally say that I am dissapointed. At who? Well the only person I can point the finger is at me. I finished with a time of 5:38, but this was for from an ideal time. As I had a feeling of shame and discontent for the few days I kept thinking back over and over again where things may have gone wrong.

I was telling myself I did the training, so why did I not hit my mark? What could have gone wrong? Looking back, I have realized that I have been the laziest athlete during this whole training season. Some people would say, but you did the training! How could you be lazy? The truth is, at times it got tough I paused, when it got really tough I just stopped and thought to myself "ehh maybe next workout will be better lets call it a day". This mentality kept playing in my head and it went on from one workout to another til it somehow developed into a habit.

Then I look at one my team mates "Mamita". Now this woman nailed everything she was told to. If we were told to bike 3hr and run 2hrs, she would do it to the very last milisecond and even sometimes go for more saying "ehh sayang 13.89km gawin na nating 14k" When she had to do two heavy workouts in a day, she still went on and did it. Never did I hear her say, I'm too tired I'll just rest.. And now look at the fruits of her labor, she just won 2nd place in her age group during her first 70.3 taking down veterans of the sport. Impossible? Nothing seems to be as long as you keep the work ethic. Now I'd like to say that I am honored to have trained right side by her learning what it takes to reach for something you really want to achieve.

People begin to think all this comes easy and we just go out there with our happy faces on and don't feel pain. But no, its hard, every single day its hard. It hurts, we're tired, and want to just go home. But each day we choose to push.

As with this "failure", it may have just refueled my intensity to bring it to a higher level. Let me put it on record now,

"Be ready for next year's Ironman 70.3 cause I will make something special happen on that day!"

Training Log # 22 - 92 Days & 2580kms - The Road I paved for the 70.3 Ironman

Today marks the last day of heavy workouts and I officially enter taper week for the upcoming 70.3 Ironman Philippines. Its such an accomplishing feeling just knowing I am here right now and am ready to do this battle.

The journey though to this point has been tough. On average I was knocking down 220kms of training mileage per week, a mixture of swim, bike, and run. Not everyday was such an easy day, or should I say most days just felt really hard. There were days where in you just felt lazy and tired but knew you had to get a workout in. On other days things just don't seem to fall into place and you feel like your struggling so much through out the set. But each time I finish these tough sessions I know it always brings me one step closer to my goal.

The drama though did not stop there, other challenges like injuries, work responsibilities, and alike were a few of the things that you need to handle each and everyday and it does get stressful and tiring at times. One of my normal days would usually look like this, wake up at 5am to run - eat right after - then rush to work for my 7AM class - work work work - go to the pool to swim - eat - sleep. It seems monotonic and repetitive at times but well that's what you gotta do.

Sacrifices too were one of the biggest things I had to make in preparation for this event. Countless night outs passed me by, just so that I had the strength to wake up early next morning in order to train, train, and train some more. Through out this whole experience I always did ask myself why over and over again? Why am I doing this right now? Why should I keep going? Why is it so hard? For each time, I always reminded myself of THE DREAM I promised myself I would do, and from there I am able to quiet my thoughts.

Today I would like say I am very proud just being here and I am ready for the last task ahead and this will be the race. I wish everyone the best of luck and see you all on the starting line!

Training Log # 21- Burn Out and Recovery

As of the moment I am almost at the end of my 70.3 Iron Man training and the word TIRED has been something that has been on my mind for the past few days. Fatigue has been something I have been carrying from workout to workout due to the high volume and loading we have been doing. I can somehow already feel the difference between being plain lazy and the need to for some recovery. I have finally learned to read and listen to my body.

During workouts you can already feel that you have no focus or power to be backing up your activity and this I think is the biggest sign for me that I should take a few steps back. Usually swimming laps for example, feels like a normal lap one after the other, while yesterday I was just struggling to do 50 meters. (its really funny when I think about it)

To be honest my last workout was already practically a 70.3 Iron Man distance bike and run cause I just finished off a 93km bike then went onwards for a 15km run. In the next two weeks I'm looking to surpass that and then finally start tapering. Our swim workouts on the other hand are already averaging a minimum of 5kms per sessions, and this is mixed with intervals and paddles which are not the easiest things to do in the world.

Overall I'm not depressed or anything that at this point that I'm starting to bonk. I see it as a positive sign that my body is taking in all the training. Once I get some rest and then taper properly this will only make me much stronger for race day.

Wuhoooo! 2 days off!

Training Log # 20 - 6 weeks out from IM 70.3 Philippines

I've got to say that I hate the position I am in right now. Injury six weeks out, from my biggest race in the year. Lets give a moment and let me shout.

AAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

I'm currently suffering from a "weird" tendinitis on my iliotibial band. I termed it weird cause it has the symptoms of the ITBS but it only seems to come out during my bike rides and is totally gone when I start running. Anyways what ever it is, it's been really bothering me a lot psychologically. I consider myself a workaholic in terms of the training I put in, and when I miss workouts or I'm not able to perform properly during them I really hate it. My mind set is that these workouts are essential to pulling off a great performance on race day, missing them will jeopardize that.

Thankfully though I am still able to train somehow by working on the lighter gears on my bike. Hopefully it does get better soon, race day is so close and i can't help but feel really nervous right now if this does not get any better soon.

Training Log # 19 - The Present and The Future

As of the moment, I am a month and a half away from my first 70.3 Iron Man. My training has been good and quite frankly been really long. I take pride in saying that I have been working 18-20 hours per week in preparation for this event. Over the course of these last few months I have recognized and realized how much time, dedication and heart it takes to train for one of these events properly. You can enter the 70.3 with improper training and heck maybe even finish it, but your only hurting yourself in doing so.When I do this, I wanna do this the right way and give myself what I deserve.

Looking through this though, its quite funny that I don't see myself doing this type of long distance races again for a while after this event. I've come to the realization that I want to focus on short-middle distance races and from there build up again to long distance after a  few years or so. For one thing, I get bored easily when training for endurance. Its just way too long! Another thing is that when training for long distances, I feel that my speed is suffering a lot because I'm not able to train it as much anymore. At this early age I believe I should focus on building a solid speed base and then later in my life I can work on endurance. As science has it, it would be much harder for me to gain more speed when I hit my 30's.

This has still all still been a very rough idea for me as of late but we'll see what happens after this 70.3.

Triathlon, a rich man's sport with a poor man's mentality.

As a spectator, you've heard it or probably have seen it for yourself. Triathlon as an expensive type of sport. From spending on pool fees every week, buying an inexplicably light bike, and wearing and tearing running shoes every few hundred of kilometers, it can't be denied that it does take a bit of green to get into the sport. Heck its three sports rolled into one! But this I believe could be the wrong co-notion for this growing sport. You don't need a 150,000 peso super bike nor 10,000 peso shades which glisters in the sun while you run. Simplicity may have been lost in this once uncomplicated sport that I love.

What does it really mean to do a triathlon? For me it has always been a test on what my limits are and how much dedication I can be able to put into one certain thing in hopes that I achieve my goal. I'm not out there to win. Don't get me wrong, I would be the happiest person in winning the race, but what can I do if another guy is faster than me? It's not like this is basketball and I can play defense to stop him from passing me. Triathlon is always about you and nobody else. It's about surpassing your own limits and pushing yourself to reaching the best that you can be. If that leads you to winning the race then its great and all the better!

If there is one thing I've learned through all this. It must have been simplicity. Life could not be any simpler and happier in finishing a triathlon event. Material things which seem to be the basis of happiness these days don't come close to the feeling of finishing this event. It lasts even longer than most possessions. These are the real intangible experiences and joys that makes me feel alive.

Which brings me to do most important lesson I may have for the rest of my life. I don't need any of these so called "things" like expensive phones, designer wear, nice cars, and what not. All I need are things that work, things that can get me to where I wanna be and things that will help me do the things I need to do. At the end of the day they still get me what I need and that's what matters. Have the simplest life so you can live it to the fullest.

So is triathlon a rich man's sport? Well yes and no! It's up to you if you want to be spending on these unnecessary things which aren't anything more than fashion statements and sometimes not even really the basis if you will go any faster in the sport or not. Live your life and attack triathlon with the poor man's mentality. Simplicity is the key and use and only buy the things that you utmost need to reach your full potential.