It is going to be my first big race of the year, the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon on march 13th. A new race format: 3 k swimming, 200k biking and 20k running for a new event in a place to discover for myself because I've never been in Abu Dhabi. I am looking forward to race there, the course looks great, we will cycle round the Yas Marina Formula 1 circuit and many other great places in Abu Dhabi, and it is going to be great to get to know a new culture.

I am looking forward to race in Abu Dhabi!!

www.abudhabitriathlon.com

This is my new BH G5 road bike equipped with the Shimano Di2. The frame is amazingly stiff and light, I like the painting very much and the Di2 is sweet and smooth. This G5 was waiting for me to start this new training season and is making my first rides much easier and enjoyable.

I love it!!

The last two weeks have been very good. Taking rest and enjoying my holidays. The season was long and hard so now is time to forget about training and racing. Is time to do those things I can´t do so frecuently during the season: surfing, going to the movies, having a cofee in the downtown... I consider myself and active person, but I also enjoy this days of fisical inactivity, is my rest time, rest for my body and mind.

I am planning my racing season for 2010 in these days, I will let you know what my plans are as soon as me and my coach Iñigo have everything clear.

Enjoy the offseason!!

Photo by Nils Nilsen

What a day! I still can´t believe it. After the disappointment in Kona I wasn´t so confident in myself, I was expecting to do well, have a decent race and get the Hawaiian Double, but as soon as I saw myself leading the race my confidence came back to me, where it should had always stayed, I felt stronger as the race went by and everything went so smoothly.

I swam in the leading pack, we were some time in front of the strongest bikers, wich was good to take it a little bit easier on the first miles of the bike. I was riding well, knowing that sooner or later I was going to be caught by fast bikers. When Conrad, Olivier and Batelier caught me I was holding their peace quite well on the climbs, so I rode with them feeling good and taking care on the downhills, trying not to hurt neither my bike and myself. Having raced an Ironman two weeks ago you could expect to feel tired and lost power as the race goes longer but this wasn't the case for me today, with each mile, each climb of this amazing bike course I was becoming stronger, gaining confidence and feeling better and better. I was third after the bike, but Conrad and Josiah were mere seconds in front of me; just as soon as I left T2 I took the lead, I knew that even if it didn´t show up in Kona my running shape was better than ever; keeping a nice rhythm I got to the top of the big climb, I took a look back and saw Nico Lebrun very close, I had to increse my peace, no problem, my legs were strong and I was feeling good. I didn´t want to be second again in a mayor event... I wanted to win... so I run Makena Beach as fast as I could and when I left the beach I took another glimpse back, Nico was still there but he was not closing the gap, I only had to keep the good rhythm, keep the focus to not hit a tree at Spooky Forest or crash in the lava rocks and the victory would be mine, great!! I enjoyed that last mile like never before, I felt so sad after Kona that I needed something like this, I needed to feel good again, to regain the lost confidence on myself... I crossed the finishline and I kissed Ruth, and I saw the cries in her face but this time her cries were sweat, those were cries of happiness, and I joined her and cried...

This victory doesn´t make me forget about Kona, but confirms me that it was just a bad day and that I'm doing things ok. We will leave Hawai soon, we will be sad for leaving this amazing islands, but happy to flight back home after more than three weeks here. Things turned upside down, I was supposed to do well at the Ironman and not that well at Xterra, but I did my best in both events, and I am very happy and proud of myself for that. I am already looking forward to be back next year and do my best again!

Big Mahalo to everybody for your support, I couldn´t do it without you!

This year Ironman in Kona was one of the hardest races I've ever done. I suffered a lot, I thought about quitting a million of times, but I kept going thinking in how hard I had trained to get here and thinking in all the support I had behind me. Finally I crossed the line in 14th position, not the place I was thinking in before the race. Disappointed with my place at the finish but happy to cross the finish line when throwing the towel was the easiest thing to do...

Things went ok during the swim, I didn´t have the best feelings but I was in the front group just where I wanted to be. The first 50 kms. on the bike I felt good, riding in the first positions of the group, trying to get away with the best cyclists, but from that point to the turnaround in Hawi everything went wrong, I was loosing power, feeling weak and barely been able to hold the pace of the group... after the turnaround in Hawi I could relax a little bit, I started to feel better and I rode the last 40 kms. in front of the group, keeping a good pace to keep the guys in front as close as possible. When I started the run I knew it was going to be a very hard marathon, my stomach was full and I got blisters on my feet. I wasn´t digesting the food I took on the bike, I was really uncomfortable, I stopped at the toilet to see if I could feel a bit better but it didn´t work, I started walking at the aid stations, I was feeling thirsty, all I wanted to have was water. Once I got to the top of Palani and entered the Queen K I thought "that's it, you still have 26 kms. in front of you, you are feeling awfull, you almost can´t even run, time to quit and go home..." but an inner strength kept me going putting one feet in front of the other. I was still walking at the aid stations but slowly feeling better, I managed to get to the Energy Lab, I stopped there for the second time to put some vaseline in my feet, and from there I started feeling much better, I didn´t have to stop in the next aid stations and even if the first places where far in front of me I knew I was going to finish the race. Finally I entered Alii Drive and run the last hundred meters of the marathon, sad with my performance but at the same time happy for finishing the race and for been able to fight and overcome the suffering and the negativity.

I'll be back next year, with a great lesson learned from this year Ironman.

Aloha!

This is a video from the ETB, Basque Tv. Is in spanish, but I hope you like it.

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

Tomorrow is the big day. I am relaxed and happy because everything has gone according to plan. I feel very motivated to go out tomorrow and give all my best. Thank you very much to everybody for yous support messages, each one of this messages has been a big motivation boost. Keep pushing and cheering for me tomorrow!

Mahalo! 

You go for a swim, get to a boat and drink Kona cofee... this things only happen in Kona. And if it happens that Kurt is around with his camera, you can have a cool picture like this taken!

That's me, I am on the cover of Triathlete magazine. You can read the full story and also take a look to the Ironman pre race favorites in this last issue of Triathlete.