Bom Dia!!

Another day, it is a Good Day, today start my training for the Singapore Ironman 70.3, every day will be a good day, it does not matter if tired or if it rains or is to hot, every has to be a good day of training !!

"Num dia eu quero mudar tudo
no outro eu morro de rir
Num dia tou cheia de vida
no outro nao sei onde ir
Num dia escapo por pouco
no outro nao sei se me vou livrar
Num dia esqueco de tudo
no outro nao posso deixar de lembrar
Num dia voce me maltrata
no outro me faz muito bem
Num dia eu digo a verdade
no outro engano ninguem
Num dia parece que tudo tem tudo
para ser o que eu sempre sonhei
no outro da tudo errado
e acabo perdendo o que ja ganhei

Logo de manha, Bom Dia!
Logo de manha, Bom Dia!
Logo de manah, Bom Dia!
Logo de manha, Bom Dia!

Num dia eu sou diferente
no outro sou bem comportada
Num dia eu durmo ate tarde
no outro acordo cansada
Num dia te beijo gostoso
no outro nem vem que quero respirar
Num dia eu quero mudar tudo no mundo
no outro eu vou devagar
Num dia eu penso no futuro
no outro eu deixo pra la
Num dia eu acho a saida
no outro e fico no ar
Num dia na vida da gente
um dia sem nada de mais
so sei que eu acordo e gosto da vida
os dias nao sao nunca iguais

Logo de manha, Bom Dia!
Logo de manha, Bom Dia!
Logo de manha, Bom Dia!
Logo de mnaha, Bom Dia!"

Beautiful Monsanto!!

Monsanto is the best running place in the world, the Tejo river view, the 25 Abril bridge, the florest, the hills, the fresh air and most important the silence, I love to run in Monsato!!

Quem por desdem a ti nao quer, nao merece o chao que pisa.

Sinto a terra que treme ao frio, por isso te aconchego.

Perdoa a todos os teus fillhos, perdoa a quem nao ve.

Portugal, por ti eu espero, e so, mas so, por ti eu sonho.

Se a mae das dores e a saudade, que orgulho assim tao triste.

Cantar ao sol e vento em vela, a quem nunca desiste

Perdoa a todos os teus filhos, perdoa a quem nao ve.

Portugal, por ti eu espero, e so, mas so, por ti eu sonho.

PAIN!

Pain, now is done but as expected the Porto Marathon was really tough!!!

Me and my good friends Rupio, Cesar and Calisto join in Porto the Saturday to have lunch in Ribeira, beautiful view through the Douro river to Gaia but the service is really bad. After lunch we went to Calem Porto wine caves to taste a couple of wines, really good!! Some sightseeing, couple of photos here and their, pick up dorsal from my friend Hebil, short chat with my Spanish colleagues and we end up the having dinner in Norte Shopping to have some pasta, how fun is that??

Sunday, 8th of November wake up with sad face, was cloudy, cold and bit rainy, ideal temperature for a Marathon pro runners but not so nice for amateurs as me, specially on the last km's when the pace is that slow :-) Pain, this is pretty much the summary of this marathon, even tough I felt quit strong up to the half (breakfast pasta effect) which I pass with 1h38m (not really sure since I forgot my watch in Lisbon), the second half was not bad until km 33 when i felt the first cramp, then it was pain until the end, the only reason I not gave up was Sandra that I met at km 33 "forced" me to keep going.

Regardless, it was a good preparation for the Bangkok marathon in 2 weeks and Lisboa marathon in 4 weeks.

My friends participated in the 14km race, Rupio and Cesar finish with 1:15 and Calisto with 1:25, overall we all have enjoyed the participation in this event that is getting more and more popular every year thanks to the determination of the organizer Mr. Rui Teixeira.

The first Trophy!!

Today (1st of November) waked up at 2 am, drove 150 km to Pak Chong, small city north east Bangkok, arrive at 4 am and did my registration in the Pak Chong Half-Marathon, my last race before the Porto Marathon.

The race started at 5:30, still deep night, we were about 300-400 people, I assume most of them locals, there is not so many crazy people coming from Bangkok during the night as I did.

Before the start took a chocolate that I bought in sports shop in Tokyo, and it was like a "bomb", felt pretty strong from the beginning, not sure if was the chocolate or the fact that I didn't run for a week, maybe combination of both.

The first half of the race was almost up hill, was about 22-23 degrees and had pretty cold wind during all the race, my calculations is that I've run always below 5 min / km but looking for the final time, not completely sure, anyway I was quit strong almost during all the up hill expect one of the last ones that I had stop to drink some water (hate those plastic glasses), the second half was almost all down hill with 3 or 4 hills only, did my best km in 4:00 min and average at 4:30.

Finish the race with 1:42 but I'm very suspicious about the distance, think I've run at least 1 km more, my average HR was 177.

Surprisingly got 5th in my category, from 30-35, have been running and participating in races since 2001 and this is the first time that I got a trophy, achievement impossible to reach in any race in Europe.

Next Sunday will be at the starting line for the Porto Marathon, my target is to run below 3:45, let's see how it goes.

Porto - 3 weeks to go!!

Porto marathon is getting closer and closer.... uhhhh!!

"Sao os Loucos de Lisboa

que nos fazem duvidar

que a terra gira ao contrario

e os rios nascem no Mar!"

This a little bit how I feel at the moment, no great inspiration and no clear thoughts in my head about the marathon, think Porto will be really a though one, today had 32km race in Chon Buri Zoo (130 Km from Bangkok), was a disaster, after 23 Km was totally destroyed, finishing with 2:47!! Not all was this bad, the first 7km of the race was inside the zoo, so literally I been running with the Girafes, Rinos, etc.. great fun and beutiful scenary.

The marathon preparation has not been very regular, with a lot of up's and down, I've started pretty ok during the hills first weeks but then got quit demotivated with the Lumpini training, it is so boring to go around the park several laps, on top of the humidity and the heat of cource.

Well, so far did 3 * 10 Km, 1*12 km, 1*half and 1*32 km as preparation race, which is quit ok, but during the weeks I've been very lasy and the job has been afecting my motivation as well.

This week will do the 2*6km test and from their will calculate my target time for the marathon, let's see!!

"Vou por aí às escondidas, a espreitar às janelas

Perdido nas avenidas e achado nas vielas

Mãe o meu primeiro amor foi um trapézio sem rede

Sai da frente por favor que estou entre a espada e a parede"

Yes, it looks there are no star in the sky to light my way, looking forward for better days... maybe in Porto :)

River Kwai Half Marathon 2009

Porto - 14 weeks to go!!

As proposed, all my good friends agreed to join Porto marathon as well. It is the first time we are participating in a big sport event all together, wish will be the first of many. We will try to come together with similar equipment, red as Benfica, will be nice for the team photo.

We are at the moment 14 weeks away, we have started our preparations, there has been a big debate about the training programs, but this is always difficult to recommend, it is very personal and depends on individual own goals.

HF, JR: Marathon
RC, CV: 14 Km
HA, PI: 6 Km

From my side I'm following the same program as I have used the last 4 years but this time will also had some cycling and swimming.

But the best part of it will be the weekend. Porto is famous by the Oporto wine, and will be great to visit the caves once again and taste this fantastic Portuguese wine, famous all over the world. Saturday lunch will in Ribeira, for sure cod fish or octopus will be the choice of many of us.

Really looking forward for it, miss my country and my friends!!

Porto Marathon - Next challenge!!

My next challenge will be the Porto Marathon, 8th of Novemeber 2009, my target is to improve my PR done in this same marathon in 2004, 3 hour 18 minutes :)

I've invited all my good friends to participate as well: Calisto, Cesar, Rupio, Humberto, Pedro... in order to come up with team "Os Tesudos".

Let's see if they are men enough!!

Bali Triathlon - June 2009!!

Great fun!!

Me and Sandra had excellent time in Bali, the "peaceful" island, and I had a lot of fun at the triathlon. Definitely place to come back, maybe next year!

Bali is a big island with 3 Million habitants, 95% follow Hindu religion and maybe is the people that make this place so special, they are definitely different to the Buddhists from Thailand. In spite of so many motorbikes and chaotic traffic we could find quit and relax places: the beach at the night or morning, the temples and some of the restaurants.

Regarding the Triathlon, I did improve my time with 3:09 but very disappointed with the swimming, all my training didn't help much, I was almost the last to get out of the water, the bike was good, but very hilly and with the traffic couldn't take much risk and the running was quit good as well, overall I felt much stronger than Bangkok but only improved 5 minutes.

Regardless, we had great time, Sandra says this is much better sport to follow than the marathons and I agree, it is much more technical, all the small details count and we exercise many parts of the body witch make me physically much stronger.

Bali, next year will come back!!

Bali Triathlon - One week to go!!

Only one week away from Bali Triathlon, I'm very excited about it!! I had 2 month preparation, think have improved particulary the swimming, but still not perfect yet, I might take some classes to improve the technique. On the cycling I've bought the equipment that was missing from Bangkok triathlon, this time I will race with proper shoes and pedals. I've not been running as I used to do before, hope my legs are stil in good shape.

Today it was my last training, did 40Km cycling in 1h10m, 1.5Km swimming in 36m30s and 5 Km running in 23:40, couldn't make 10Km, was too tired. Looking at this times I should definetly improve the time I did in the Bankgok triathlon (3h14m) but never know, many things can go wrong. I'm very confident though!!

Training for Bali Triathlon!

Here we go!!

Tomorrow starts my training for Bali Triathlon that will be held the 28th of June. I had quit difficult time to choose the right programme, found many for begineers but since I don't consider myself "begineer", I've pick a tough one.

Well, in 2 month I will know if it was the right choice or not.

Wish me good luck!!

Bangkok Triathlon, 5th of April 2009!

Yes, I did my first Triathlon!

It is amazing how things can happen. One week before the triathlon I was feeling quit bored in Bangkok (Sandra was in Lisboa) and I was in the web trying to find some activities to do on the weekends.

Found this Triathlon and said to myself, this is it. Have made my registration online, having no idea what I was really getting in to. Start searching on the web for more info, equipment, training, etc...

I knew that my weekness was the swimming, so in that same day I had to find 50m swimming pool in Bangkok where I could practice. Not easy to swim 1500 meter without stopping, but in the mean time learn that is all about mind.

Now, I'm register both in the swimming pool and in the stadium track, very convinient close to my home.

The second thing that I had to take care was the bycicle, I knew I had to buy one, but no idea which type, size, etc... so went to several stores in Bangkok and after a lot of investigation, decided to buy one road bycicle "Trek" at Probike shop, which turn to be very convenient for the race.

During the week before I train very hard, trying to cycle and swim as much as I could, I felt pretty ok and was confident that will be able to do it.

At the race day, was bit scared. Around was lot of guys and girls that look really professional, could see from the equipment they used. Met two guys, that gave me some advices and after long cerimony with US embassador and other not interesting people, the race finally started.

We went in a boat through the river to the starting place, jumped in the water and here we go... 1500 meter swim in the river of smiles... Jesus... when finished almost couldn't run, my legs felt strange. Then, run to the transition point, pick up the bycicle and race for 40km... crossing big and hilly bridge for 6 times... and here I think I've pushed to much, when started the 10km running was really tired and had to walk couple of times. Learn from mistakes and for sure will do smarter next time.

I really loved the Triathlon, like the technical part of it and think is less boring than marathon. Definetly, Triathlon is much more fun but tougher in a different way.

Finally, my result:

Total: 3:14:22

Swim: 42:02

Trans1: 5:02

Cycle: 1:31:18

Trans2: 2:06

Run: 53:57

Forced STOP!

Yes, I had to stop running, the injury I is still their and I thought is was better to stop for a while than keep having this small pain that make me unconfortable.

This means that the Brescia marathon that I was supposed to run next weekend have to be postponed for better opportunity, maybe next year, who knows!

In the mean time I feel misarable, have gain a couple of kg, drinking a lot of beer!!

I really hope this injury goes away soon, otherwise...

If I get better soon, maybe next one will be ultra, 80 Km in Singapore, 30th of May!!

Hong Kong Marathon, 8th February 2009

Hong Kong marathon was the 5th consecutive marathon in 5 months, was organize by the Standard Chatered Bank as the Bangkok and Singapore ones. Very well organized as expected, but again the water glasses were pain in...

I had 2 weeks without running between the Khon Kaen and HK in order to cure my muscle injury in the back of my knee, but dind´t really help, after some Km I felt the pain and again the pain killers safed my my race until the end.

I knew it will be tough with no training, at km30 I've start paying the price. I was completely out of energy, so had to walk and run until the end.

It was quit difficult course, with many hills, specially the 2 bridge crossing and the tunels.

Well, no much to say about my performance, it was frustating, I only can compare with this one with Sao Paulo or my first marathon in Madrid where my legs didn´t answer at all, I´ve finished with 3:55!!

Khon Kaen Marathon, 25th January 2009

This was my 4th consecutive marathon from my adventure "12 marathons-12 month". It happened in north east of Thailand, took us almost 6 hour drive to get their, highway almost all the time but not the same type as in Europe.

We lived in a really nice resort, well decorated, calm, peaceful place with a betufiful garden with lots of areas to explore, Sandra loved it (me too)

The marathon itself started at 4am, so another early wake-up, a had a little pain on the back of my right knee, still injured from the Funchal City race. So I started the marathon fearing that it coul get worst and had to stop it. That didn´t happen but had to take couple or equivalent pain killer.

Apart of the water glasses is was well organized, even though was early in the morning they mobilized a lot of people to support the runners along the race.

Finished in 3:35 and took me almost 1 week to get back in good shape, but really enjoyed this one!!!