Peavine Falls 4th of July Run

Yesterday I decided to mix it up with the road runners at the Peavine Falls 8.2 mile Run. The race has a rolling first mile, then a 2.5 mile climb to the top of Peavine Falls, a 2.5 mile downhill run, and a 1.2 mile single track to the finish line.

I had a good start with a group of about 15 other runners. At the 1/2 mile mark I realized the pace was a bit too quick ( 2:37 at 1/2 mile) so I slowed it down, as the pack ahead started to get strung out. My decision proved smart as slowly the group started to thin out. Although I was passed by a couple of runners in the next mile, the looooong uphill to Peavine gave me plenty of opportunity to get them back, plus some others.

I was running strong up the climbs and pushing the downhills, so right after the turn around I was in 11th place, with 10th within 16 seconds. I tried and tried to get him back, but we seemed to be running nearly the same speed. In the last mile, after a long surge, I was able to get within 3 seconds of 10th, but as soon as he saw me, he turned on his jets and sprinted out of sight. I crossed the line in 11th, in 49:54, averaging 6:05 min/mile, in one of the toughest run courses around, and surely the toughest one I've ever done. This same time would have put me in 3rd place last year. It was a very competitive field.

I will definitely be back next year to try to break the top 10 and the 6 min/mile barrier.

Leland's dad was there as well, and ran a super strong 1:05, averaging under 8 minute miles. he has been on a awesome running grove lately and it showed in the race. Leland and her mom and sister were there also, but had a slow start and missed my finish, arriving just in time to see David's strong finish.

Afterwards, we went for a short swim, and I rode my bike home. When we got home, we grilled out. It was a great wa\y to celebrate America's birthday, as well as our independence and freedom.

Alabama State Games - 2x Gold Medalist

Yesterday I celebrated my 34th overall career win ( second this season) in successfully defending my title at the Alabama State Games. It was a brutally hot day with index temperatures reaching over 102ºF but much better to race in an oven-of-a-day like today than in monsoon like conditions when I raced the Buster Britton Triathlon (finishing 7th) last week. After such a disappointing result, it was nice to redeem myself and be on top once again.

After exiting the water in 4th place a few seconds behind the lead group of 3, I had a fast first transition and by the half mile mark on the bike I had the lead. I am fairly familiar with the 21k rolling bike course, and played it to my advantage to start the bike with a 2 1/2 minute advantage.

Onto the run I started off fast but quickly realized the heat would take the best out of my legs on the day. I was able to play around with my lead, and even slightly increase it as everyone else also succumbed to the scorching heat. I am now a 2x State Games Gold Medalist!!!

Next on my calendar will be a 7 week long "training camp" at my own home, focusing on the upcoming 1/2 Ironman events I am currently scheduling for the summer. I am still unsure which exact races I will attend, but should have decisions soon.

Twitting...

I decided to finally give in to the wave of the future and get a twitter account. Now you can follow my racing, training, career, injuries, ups and downs on my website, blow, and Twitter! Wow, it may just be a little too much Felipe Bastos for one to handle.
:-)

www.twitter.com/felipebastos1

Some news:

I just got a pair of Profile Design's CX3 yesterday for the race bike. Will install it this week. This will get me lower and int a tighter cockpit - hopefully resulting in faster times.

Also got a shipment of Brooks running shoes, bags, hats, etc... Very nice stuff, and my feet are thankful. I even got a pair of XC running flats for the off road events I plan on doing this year ( first one done, and a surprising win).

The Beast of the East Half is only a few weeks away. I feel underprepared, but I felt the same way before the Brookside Off Road Duathlon and somehow pulled off a win. Will keep my fingers crossed for the same.

I am 2 1/2 weeks away from being done with my 1L year at Alabama Law. Word is that is really levels out from here. I can't wait. This semester has killed me. So kuch so that I have already schedukd 2 training camps for this summer. One in Alabama, the other in Florida. Can you handle the heat? :-)

Kiwami race kits should be here within the week. Can't wait. Their stuff is out of this world. Check them out at www.kiwami.fr.

'Til next time,

Felipe

First Race, First Win

This weekend I was finally able to remove all of the cobwebs from my racing legs for the season.

It was a day of many firsts for me: first overall, first ever off-road race, first race of the season, and first win in a Duathlon. The race consisted of a 5k trail run, a 9.6 mile MTB ride through muddy trails, followed by another 5k run. I went back and forth between 1st and 3rd place through the entire race, but through the adversity of my competitors ( one crashed out, and another went off course), I was able to clench my first win of the season, as well as my first win in an off-road event and a Duathlon.

The Brookside Off-Road Duathlon was my first ever race in a mountain bike, and at times it showed through my lack of skills clearing obstacles, riding through creeks, or waist deep puddles. I was able to overcome that with pure power of the road or the packed dirt sections.I started the 2nd run a full minute off the lead, but was able to run a first of 2 laps in 7:45, and begin the last lap with a 5 sec lead, which eventually grew to a 35 second winning margin, crossing in 1:23:50.

I will be racing a local Aquathlon in 2 weeks, and then the Scenic City Triathlon on April 26.

Race Fitness

My body usually takes a while to reach 'race fitness' each season. I usually end up doing events in early March that turn out being reality checks for me.

This season has been particularly bad in regards to reaching race fitness. It is important to distinguish fit from race fit - and know I am fit, for many recent individual sessions tell me so.

However, putting it all together from a number of sessions into one successful event is more difficult. As an example: recently, I did a workout that consisted of a bike warm up, a steady aerobic session, then 15 x 1k running, on the road. I use a 1k, not flat, stretch of road inside my neighborhood. do a km out, then a km back. It starts right from my house, goes downhill a little, turns right, slight uphill, turn right, uphill slightly, then downhill slightly, left turn, then flat the remainder of the 500m. the average rest was 30 seconds, and each k was just under 3:30 average. Nothing earth shattering, but an ok pace for a half ironman.

The first race of the season should happen shortly though, so I can see where the fitness currently stands putting all 3 sports together.

Spring is here

The past few days have been nothing short of gorgeous. Flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, the sun is shining. But every year around the same time I get taken over by the pollen in the air. I am terribly allergic and suffer with the amount of these particles in the air. I am sneezy, my eyes and nose itch, and I feel a bit lethargic.

But I will take the warm weathr over the cold anytime, so I am very much looking forward to training in the heat - I do far better in warmer races, even hot ones, than the ones where the temps dip below 50F. I guess being Brazilian my body is just more used to hot, humid, more tropical conditions.

Long time no update!

I know it has been quite some time since I last updated. I am usually good about posting, but life has been so hectic that I've been stretched thin since the beggining of the year amd the end of my first training camp of the year.

Everything is going quite well. I am only a few short weeks from being done with my 1L year at Alabama Law. I antecipate the next 2 years being far less difficult and time consuming, which means I will once again be able to devote a reasonable amount of hours of my week to training.

Because of this change, I have adapted my training to take less time. As such, I had to up the intensity quite a bit, and it has been rough to recover from many of the sessions. As an example, on Thurday I went out for a 8 x 3 min hard/2min spin, followed immediately by ( running) 2 min hard/ 30 sec. walk. Afterwards, I rode home. I just did the repeats on a flat, out and back section of road 10 miles from my apartment in Tuscaloosa ( where I spend my week days), and did the run intervals on the dirt roads nearby. It really reminded me of my long gone ITU days - I just put my running flats on my Hydrotail and off I was. This is definitely a session I will be doing weekly.

This Saturday ( Mar 14) I will race my first event of the season - the Camp Partlow Duathlon. I have only done a few Duathlons in my life - they hurt a lot! - and am quietly looking forward to pushing myself over a run/bike/run event once again.

I will update soon about it. Don't want this first post back to get too long!

FB