Jaizki Fontaneda's photos and Borja Lazkano's text, make this great article about myself, describing how is one of my training days and talking about different aspects of my preparation. It is in spanish, but I hope you like it, at least take a look to the nice pictures.

http://www.noticiasdealava.com/2010/06/23/deportes/otros-deportes/asi-se-forja-un-hombre-de-hierro-solo-una-lesion-en-diez-anos

Eighth txapela in Zarautz, I got the first one in 98, oh! I'm getting old ...

This year the field was deeper than ever, thanks to the race been included in the TriGrandPrix series, and the good prize money, a good amount of elite triathletes came to Zarautz. The swim was fun, with some waves on our way from Getaria to Zarauz; getting close to the beach I lost contact with the leading group and I wasn´t able to catch any wave, so I started the bike with some seconds lost. I went out on the bike with the idea of catching the head of the race as soon as possible but the Swiss Matias Hetch was riding strong and would not let me get close. It was at the 50 km mark when I found my best feelings, until then I was riding at Ironman pace, a bit sleep, it took me sometime to start the engine, but little by little I was getting a good pace and picking the right tone. At the top of Aia I was 30 seconds behind Matias and Mikel was getting very close, we started the run this way. By the third kilometer of the run I took the lead and after running a strong first lap I got a good gap and took it easier running at a more conservative pace and  keeping my lead safe in the two remaining laps. Clemente was running very fast, but the turnaround on the Malecon let me take the necessary references to keep the race under control.

The finish line was exciting and spectacular as always, like the rest of the race, the ambience is always incredible in Zarautz, can be sunny, rainy, cold, hot... the public affection is felt throughout the race. The cheers at the climb to Aia, running along the Malecon or passing through the human corridor that forms on the Main Street is without doubt some of the most amazing experiences I've ever lived in my career as a triathlete, and all this makes this triathlon always to be marked with red in my calendar. Thanks to Zarautz Triatloi Elkartea, the people that make this race possible, and above all: Eskerrik asko Zarautz!

Our video from Ironman Lanzarote is here at last, I hope you enjoy it!!

Reproductor de Flash no instalado o version instalada es anterior a 9.0.115!

Fotos © jamesmitchell.eu | Club La Santa

90 kilometers into the bike, riding in fourth place, loosing time, my mind filled with negative thoughts: I am not doing well, I'll miss the slot to Hawaii, why I wrote in my website that today would be a great day... Shut up! I scream, stop the chain of negativity, take a deep breath, focus on my rhythm, my heartrate tells me I'm riding at a good pace ... I have to do my race, the Ironman has only just begun, lot of work remains ahead...

Never, never, never have to throw the towel in an Ironman. The greatest virtue one can have in a long distance race is patience, something I'm learning day by day, race by race. You have to keep fighting and fighting even when everything is uphill, just ask female winner Catriona Morrison who spent half an hour waiting at the roadside for a mechanic to fix her bike chain...

My problems were not that extreme but I had problems from the first kilometers of bike where because of a big hole on the road I lost both my bottles with liquid food. The truth is that I did not give much importance to this fact, nothing could be done to get my bottles back so I survived on bananas and chunks of energy bars I picked up in the aid stations. My legs were feeling well, the day was perfect, no wind and cloudy sky in the first part of the bike. I tried to follow Graves and Twelsiek but their pace was superior to mine, that would result in a psychological slump I had to solve, but I had to do my race. At the Mirador de Haria I picked up my special needs bag, not without another little scare because the bottle I had left in the bag slipped from my hands and I saw it rolling through a culvert, this time I could not do without it, so I stopped, got off the bike and I rescued the bottle from the hole where it had fallen, well, this seemed not my day. I had the bag of special needs well stocked, cautious man... and after eating a candy bar in two bites and taking two big gulps of my liquid food I regained some energy and afronted the climb to Mirador del Río with renewed energy. Time differences to the front continued to rise but they stopped affecting me, total concentration, riding at my own pace, reorganizing my consciousness. Near the end of the bike I managed to pass Graves who wasn´t looking very well, that encouraged me a little bit more, it was clear that the pace the front riders had taken was excessive and they would end up paying for it. In the few miles I had left to Puerto del Carmen I did my calculations and came to the conclusion that to catch Twelsiek I would have to run a 2:45 marathon. I repeated it to myself 2:45, 2:45, 2:45...

Fotos © jamesmitchell.eu | Club La Santa

Certainly it was an ambitious goal but as soon as I put on my running shoes I went for it, running the first kilometers of the marathon as never before, I passed the 10km in 35 ', 1h12 for the 20 Km. High rhythms but I was comfortable. Soon I caught Bert Jammaer who had left the bike three minutes before me and the 13 minutes to Twelsiek were soon reduced to less than half, I slowed down the pace a bit, there was no need to risk more, I was back in the race and with serious choices to get the victory, the public was pushing and encouraging me a lot, lots of friends and many people that I didn´t know but that they were cheering me and giving me their support screams. Many thanks to all those who during the weekend have encouraged and supported me, without your help this would have been impossible. It was a very emotional race final, a few hours before I had almost given up all for lost and now I was facing the finish line in first place, all the effort, suffering and the work had paid off, immense joy exploded when I crossed the finish line and hugged Ruth... I don´t cry easily but this time I did. It is for sure the Ironman that more has made me cry. And that`s because in Ironman Lanzarote "Anything is possible."

Fotos © jamesmitchell.eu | Club La Santa

Three years have passed since this picture was taken in the Ironman Lanzarote 2007. That was a great day for me, one of the best races I've ever done and where best feelings I've had. Tomorrow we will climb again to the Mirador del Rio and every corner of the island, it sure will make us suffer again, but also enjoy it, we only have to raise our heads from the aerobars to realize how privileged we are to be able to do what we love doing in an environment like this.

Almost everything ready for tomorrow, just bring the bikes to the transition zone, get things ready for tomorrow, ingest the last dinner and go to bed early. The last few days here have been good, my body responds and I feel ready, I expect again a big day tomorrow. Good luck to all participants, see you at the finish line, smiling from ear to ear and with the finisher's medal around our necks.

At last everything packed and ready to travel to my favorite island, Lanzarote, I hope Maui and Hawai'i don´t get jelous... The last workouts were very good, great feelings, I am hungry to race. I will keep you informed about how everything is going in Lanzarote in the next days and the Ironman through my Facebook, Twitter and website. Stay tuned!!

As you can see we have introduced some changes in my website image updating to the new colors I am using this season. Also at the same time we have available at our shop 3BAT (www.hirubat.com) a limited edition of this Spiuk top and short, the same Hektor and I are using specially designed for long distance racing and with our new design. There also cycling jerseys available and we will have soon more clothes in the shop with this design. There are not many available so, hurry up if you want one!!

I wanted to reach the end of this week, several things affected me these last days: the long trip back from Wildflower, the jetlag, the recovery from the race in Wildflower, the bad weather of these days and the hard workouts for Lanzarote. It’s been hard, I struggled a bit more than usual to go through the training and I had to cut a bit on some of the workouts. At first I thought I had recovered well from Wildflower, I had a good first days, on Thursday I was running and doing very good intervals but then it took me a lot to recover from the quality workouts and a lot to get to the end of the week. But these things were in the plan and we have been able to adapt to circumstances, which is important in training...

There are less than two weeks remaining for Lanzarote, the days will be easier from now, a bit of rest at last! I start the tapering, I will be gradually feeling better, getting back the power and recovering the feelings and the strength necessary to be in the best shape for the 22nd of may.

Good training to everybody.

I am back from Wildflower without the desired victory, but I consider the third place as a good result, although one always wants a bit more...

I started swimming a bit slow, I did a good warm up but I lacked some spark in the first strokes, adding to this that someone jumped on me when I approached the first buoy and things got a bit complicated since I was cut and from there I had to push all the way jumping from one group to another until the end of the swim when I caught the first group. Hence at the end of the 1900 meters of swimming I tried to catch my breath for the first transition. The change I made was good, gained some places but still left somewhat delayed compared to the first triathletes.

In "Beach Hill" I was slowly gaining positions on the bike so that out of the Lake San Antonio park I was riding with the first triathletes. The eventually winner Michael Raelert had already put the turbo and going solo. The rythm was fast and Wildflower is a demanding course, the race was beginning to stretch and everybody put in place. The final thrust was that known as the "Nasty Grade" a climb of about 5 kilometers with quite steep sections, my legs were a bit tired and I lost time with the guys in front of me.

I left the bike in fifth place, knowing that at least two of the guys I had ahead could be caught. I had good sensations in the early running and in the first steep climbs of the circuit I overtook Conrad Stolz who had made a very powerful bike, I kept my steady pace, I was in fourth, the win was clear for Raelert and Joe Gambles in second was looking very solid, so I focused on hunting down Phil Graves, what I did with 4 kilometers to go. From there until the finishline I tried to secure my third place and not crush my legs too much in the last downhill.

Overall it was a tough race physically and psychologically, fighting hard to maintain the concentration and not give up, giving all from the beginning till the end. Maybe I miss some freshness or a more specific preparation for this Wildflower, but having the Lanzarote Ironman in three weeks I had to come to this race on the fly, so I believe that in these circumstances the result is very positive.

And best of all is the experience of these days on the shores of Lake San Antonio with all the people of AVIA and all triathletes and friends that were there. Undoubtedly the Wildlfower triathlon has a special magic, an atmosphere that can´t be found anywhere else, and that rewards everybody that experiences it. See you soon Wildflower!!

It’s 8 pm and we are going to bed, tomorrow is the big day. Exactly in 12 hours, at 8am, I will be taking the start in my third AVIA Wildflower Triathlon. Today we had an easy day, swiming and biking in the morning and in the afternoon race number pickup, race briefing and we took a look to the expo. My feelings are good and I am looking forward to tomorrow’s race. I had two second places here, will be the third the good one? We will see it tomorrow.