Month: September 2012
19Sep

We wanted to share a video (part I from “Got Chocolate Milk”) with good swimming tips and advices from Chris Lieto three-time Ironman champion for the Ironman at Hawaii.   Chris will not be participating this year on the Hawaii Ironman due to injuries, but if you are planning to join it, make sure you follow closely his tips!

This year, the Ironman World Championship Triathlon will be this October 13, 2012.   Don’t miss it!

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Who is Chris Lieto?

Chris Lieto is a professional triathlete and the winner of the 2006 Ironman Japan, 2005 Ironman Canada, and 2002 Ironman Wisconsin triathlons.Wikipedia

Learn more about him here!

10Sep

This Sunday I went with some athlete friends to do mountain biking in Quito.  We went to a close by city named Cumbaya (15 mins from Quito); to a mountain bike trail named “Chaquiñan”  where people can run, walk, and bike at approximately 2,288 meters above sea level.

We started at 7am and we did 34 km in about 3 hours.   Biking along this trail is fun!  you get to see nice views and have hills, down hills, rocks, sand, trees, tunnels, and cliffs (to your side). The trail is not dangerous – meaning you don’t need to be a pro to go with your bicycle there –  just make sure you have a good mountain bicycle and some company (as it is not recommended to go by yourself and definitely go early in the morning).

Approximately 11 km from the starting point in Cumbaya, you get to the best part of the trail!  you are going downhill and you have at your right a beautiful view of the “Chiche canyon”, this nice view at your right lasts about 10 minutes, approximately 2 kilometers.   Then you get to cross several tunnels, the second one being the longest, it has a length of about 100 meters.  You have to have a lighter or you won’t see a thing!  It is a bit of an upper hill, but it is not bad; so make sure you put a lot of strenght on this part to cross the tunnel fast!

When you get to kilometer # 17 (Arrayanes), you have a refreshing point.  Here you can buy fresh fruit juices, energy drinks, fruits, snacks, and water;  there are also restrooms here.   Juices are good, especially because they are 100% natural and no sugar added!   I drank an orange and banana juice and it was very refreshing!  As part of the snacks they sell “chochos” this is one grain that is original from the Andes, it has a lot of nutrients!  So this could be a good snack for you, if you want to try something different and healthy.

Once we reached to the refreshing point (Arrayanes) we rested there like 10 minutes; then we took our bikes to go back to where we started.  The way back is a bit easier because you go most of the time downhill.

We were back at the starting point after 3 hours of biking, and thanks to my Garmin watch I was able to track a map (which I have shared it under Share a Trail:  “Mountain Bike at Chaquiñan”), and gather a lot of useful information.

If you want to do this too, here are some important facts and tips:

 

Information on the trail:

* Starting point:   Km 2 of the Chaquiñan

* Finish point:  Km 17 Arrayanes

* Total distance for this trail:  34.05 km

* Average speed:  11.3 km/hour

* Altitude:  2,288 m

* Elevation gain: 459 m

* Starting time:  7:29 am

* Finishing time: 10:30 am

 

Tips:

* Bring a lighter with you – there are some dark tunnels on the way!

* Use sunblock on face

* Always wear a helmet

* Wear long sleeves, or sleeves because the sun is super strong and you will get sunburned

* Better to use bike pants (to your ankles) because there are trees, dust, and few mosquitos that could bite

* Wear sunglasses

* Wear bike gloves

* Start early in the morning to avoid strong heat at noon, at the latest 7:30 am.

* Bring some cash with you (like $25 US dollars – better to have one or two dollars in coins especially if you want to enjoy a fresh juice and you dont wan’t to wait for change)

 

Hope you enjoy the ride as much as I did!

 

 

4Sep

This was my comeback race in Latam after living for five years in New York, and mostly competing in races organized by the New York Road Runners.

I was a bit hesitant in signing up for the race, since I only have gotten to Bogota two weeks before the race and hardly had time to train (Bogota is the third-highest capital city in South America at 8,612ft or 2,625 meters above sea level); though at the local gym I joined, I was told that it is one of the better organized races in the city, so I decided to give it a shot.

This was the third anniversary of this 10K race, which has historically had Polar as its main sponsor. This year it also counted with Citibank as a sponsor as part of its 200 years celebration. One of the special features the race offered this year was the possibility to participate with a team of 4 people competing in relays (a couple with run 5k, passing the relay to the next couple to compete the 10K course). I haven’t seen this in other races before, but I thought it was interesting to promote a higher number of participants (people seeking only to run a 5K).

I tried to sign up online, but couldn’t do it because as a mandatory field you needed to input a cell phone, which I did not have yet. Instead, I had to go to one of the Polar stores to do it in situ. The process was fairly easy and quick (no issues because of not having a cell phone here), and had to pay the equivalent of approx. $30. Race pack was handed at the stores starting on Thursday until Saturday. No major issues in collecting it, you just had to hand in your receipt of payment.

The race start time was scheduled for 8:30am with runners suggested to get there at 7:30am. The race started at a relatively centric spot in the northern part of the city (Cra 15 and street 97), which is easily accessible by public transportation.

I got there at 8:00am and there was fairly large crowd (approximate 4,000 runners participated). A group warm up led by a personal trainer started 15 minutes prior to the race. I thought this was interesting, since it was a way to motivate the participants -it was aerobic-music-driven exercise moves-, and also prepared you for the coming effort. Five minutes before the start time I decided to go to the corral (one single corral with no pace separation), though there wasn’t any formal announcement, loud music continued playing. There was no horn or indication that the race started, but I saw people moving forward, however, we were slowed down by a partial barricade in the corrals, which I thought might have been to separate elite athletes from other runners. It was not a big issue, but if you had a larger crowd this could be dangerous.

The day offered good running conditions with approximate temperature of 65°F or 17°C under a sunny sky. Through the race, you had 4 hydration points (2 offering water and 2 a sport drink), which felt enough. Turns were announced in advance with hanging banners and you had volunteers through out the race, which played a key role, especially in the second half of the race, since the route interfered with “Ciclovia” (a program by which each Sunday a main avenue in Bogota is closed for car traffic allowing it to be used by runners and cyclers).

The finish line was in the same spot where the race started; once you crossed the line you got a medal (which is always nice), a bottle of sport drink and fruit.

Approximately, four hours after crossing the finish line, I got an email from the race with my time, which I really liked.

I did not broke my PR, but I felt pretty good about my time, considering the lack of training and the altitude, and also gave me an idea of the local running community.