On May 19th I am doing the SPARTAN race near Montreal, Quebec. A day before, I’ve got scheduled a long bike ride which I planned to do in Mont Tremblant. Why there? This is where one of the most popular IRONMAN races take place in June. I am not doing that particular race, but since I’m in Quebec, it’s a great opportunity to ride along the bike course. Mont Tremblant bike course (100 km).
IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant
Arrived to the Mont Tremblant at 8 am. Had no specific agenda for the ride. The only plan I had is that the ride had to be no longer than 3.5 hours. Studied the map, packed the pockets with protein bars and headed out on the course by myself.
Leaving the parking lot I noticed two guys with fancy TREK bikes, getting ready to head out. I started the conversation by asking if they’re going to ride to IRONMAN course and what should I be aware of, going into such a long ride.
I learned that they came to Mont Tremblant for a training camp. And they, along with the group of other athletes are going to ride the full course. They also said that the group will be heading out in an hour and invited me to join them for the ride. I was hesitant to agree for two reasons:
I haven’t payed for the training camp;
One hour wait seemed like forever.
However since I haven’t done the course before and wasn’t familiar with it I decided it will be a good idea to follow the group so I don’t get lost and it’s always more fun to ride together. I agreed to wait and I am glad I did.
One hour later I met the rest of the team on the main square. There were about 20-30 athletes all excited and ready to roll. Everyone seemed to be talking French – the foreign language to me. I introduced myself to the coaches and asked for permission to join on which I got a positive response. Great!
Athletes were really nice and welcomed me into the group. I met a lot of cool guys and made new connections. Thank you for being so nice and accepting a random guy off the street to your group.
At the beginning I got assigned to the slower group, however after the first 10 km I was suggested that I go ahead with 3 other faster riders. Christopher and me went ahead and were cycling side by side for the most of the time. Two other guys couldn’t keep up so we just dropped them. Sorry folks =)
At the beginning I was worried it will take me much longer than 3:15 hr, but now I am really surprised to see how perfectly the time aligned.
How me being here at that exact time, that exact parking lot allowed me to meet all this people and cycle with the group for free. WOW!
It took me 3hr 16 minutes to do the full IRONMAN course. Have no idea of how good or bad, slow or fast this is. Moreover I don’t give a crap.
The question that matter is: Did you ENJOY THE RIDE? Yes I did!
Could I’ve done it faster? You bet I could, but this was not the day and time to give my all. Hawaii 70.3 will give me the chance to push the pedal to the metal.
FUELING
We had a support vehicle and a mid way fueling station with bananas, oranges, Gatorade and this “Fruit” bar:
They are 25g pure sugar in a form of jelly worth of 100 calories. I loved it. And what a boost I felt after just taking one. Felt the warmth in my stomach and the power in my already pretty fatigued legs. Rocket Fuel! Unbelievable!
Note: Don’t be afraid of sugar while racing or training.
Fuel: 145g Carbs 30g Protein 21g Fat Total: 822 Calories
I don’t think I am consuming enough calories.
The nature at Mont Tremblant is so beautiful! Woods, lakes, mountains… Being an outdoorsy guy, I can’t stop enjoying the scenery along the course.
There are IRONMAN signs along the course, which makes it easy to follow and not get lost. They look like this:
It was a great ride! A challenging one.
Training 95% solo I made a new discovery and learned the lesson: it’s much safer and enjoyable to ride in a group of like-minded people.
1hr’ ride holding 180-200 watts At the top of the 20th min put in an 8′ effort as follows… 2′ at 210W at 90rpms 2′ at 210W at 100rpms 2′ at 210W at 110rpms 2′ at 210W at 90rpms
2′ soft pedal then go directly into the following bout
2′ at 225-250W at 90rpms 2′ at 225-250W at 100rpms 2′ at 225-250W at 110rpms 2′ at 225-250W at 90rpms
At the top of the 50th min put in the following… 2′ at 225 at 90rpms 2′ at 210 at 90rpms 2′ at 200 at 90rpms 2′ at 190 at 90rpms 2′ at 180 at 90rpms
5′ easy spin
Afraid that I’ll fail to complete the workout again. Afraid it will hurt a lot. Not looking forward to it.
Fueling (380 Cal: 58C/11F/21P): Questbar Cliff energy shot Gatorade G2
Pre-weight: 66.8 kg Post- weight: 66.4 kg Consumed: 2240 mL (2.24kg) Loss: 2.64 kg (4%)
200 W – somewhat ok to hold. Stay focused, you can do it. 210 W – didn’t feel the difference 250 W – RPE 8-9 was able to hold for 5 minutes, then switched from “erg” to “standard” mode. Can’t hold anymore. 200 W – RPE 8-9. HR is really high (163). 225-210-200 W – pulled as prescribed (RPE 9). Barely held cadence of 85-90. That’s all I’ve got…
55 minutes into the workout. 35 to go Can’t hold 200 W Completed remaining part of training to the best of my ability: 180 W – HR 156 (unusually high for this wattage) – Cad 80
Overall performed better than expected, however not as prescribed.
IRONMAN Marbella 70.3 is over and Kona race is in 2 weeks. I took about 10 days of recovery and this is the first somewhat serious bike workout.
Since Hawaii race will be done in much warmer climate than I’m used to, I need to train for that. To do so, I implement the “heat training“. I am not using fan + wearing warm cycling pants, windbreaker, long-sleeved shirt underneath and a heat.
10′ easy spin
Complete 75′ ride holding 150-175 At the top of the 20th min put in 5×5′ bouts at 205-210W on 3′ soft pedal
5′ easy spin
FUEL No fueling. Workout performed in PM. Properly hydrated and eaten.
I totally failed to complete this workout as prescribed. Again… I am beyond being disappointed with my bike performance over the past 2.5 months. I’ve been steadily declining up to this point, where I can barely hold 140 Watts… I try so hard, I put so much effort, but I keep on failing and failing. I am not enjoying the workouts. With so manny failures I am afraid of bike. I don’t even want to touch it. My confidence on the bike is below the ground. I absolutely HATED this workout.
What is wrong? I can’t find the answer. What am I doing wrong? What is missing? I need help, I can’t figure it out on my own.
Lessons Learned:
Didn’t learn anything… Besides that next time use the “standart mode” instead of “erg” on the trainer.
Since the Paris marathon which I did on January 6th this year I decided to focus entirely on triathlons. Despite my coach’s concerns in regards to racing frequency, I set myself ambitious goal to do 5 IRONMAN Races this year. Four of them are 70.3 and one full distance, to close the season.
4 months I’ve been training specifically for the first race of the season – IRONMAN 70.3 Marbella. It’s also my very first IRONMAN Race.
NUTRITION
Pre race 1-2 days:
This crazy trip didn’t allow me properly eat prior to the race. However I am really happy that I was thoughtful enough to bring three lunch boxes with food. No problems with security checks at the airports. Just make sure there is no meat and it’s secure in transparent container.
Night before the race I went nuts and really overate going to bed stuffed like a pig. The reason of such overeating is partially due to my exhaustion from the trip. It was really, really stressful and I used the food to comfort myself. Guilty of that.
I had a lot of oatmeal (250-300g) + 1/2 cantaloupe +3 bananas + 2 sweet potatoes. 1 scoop of protein and some BCAAs to sprinkle onto the oats. Listening to my friend’s suggestion, I totally eliminated any sort of meat or fish.
Oatmeal before the race is a good choice. You can find it at any grocery store around the world. I actually like the way it tastes. It doesn’t spike your blood sugar; slow burning carbs. It fuels you with glycogen and does not cause diarrhea or any GI problems. The only issue I see with it is that because of high fiber concentration it takes a while to leave the body. Don’t eat too much of it right before the race or exercise.
Try not to overeat, especially before the bed, especially the night before the race.
Have a gel 10-15 minutes before the swim.
Take at least 2-3 lunch boxes with you on a trip. Plane and airport foods are horrible. You will thank yourself later.
Don’t leave your nutrition in transition area, you will have access to it in the morning. You can then throw all extra stuff into transition bags and setup bike water bottles.
Coke might cause the liver to spasm. Drink, but be careful. Not a bad choice for the last 5 km.
SWIM
15 Minutes before the swim found 1 gel laying on the sand. Ate it =)
Overall pretty happy with the swim.
Right from the beginning felt strong, however remembered Renee’s guidelines and pulled myself back from going too hard.
The crowd was crazy. Got hit in the head 3-4 times. Some people were literally pulling me back by the ankles. Drank a bit of salty water, however didn’t panic and stayed calm throughout the entire swim. Didn’t sight at all on the beginning, however began to close to the end. The ocean was cold, so my feet almost cramped 2-3 times… reduced kicking, focused more on a stroke. I found it to be really hard to keep good technique in such crazy environment.
Came out of water feeling strong. Got pleasantly surprised with the time. No dizziness or fatigue.
Lessons Learned:
Don’t swim in the middle, stick to one of the outer sides.
Blue Nike googles are good, don’t switch them. Wear them under the swim cap.
Have a gel 10-15 minutes before.
Don’t underestimate your swim time and instead of 40, go into 30 minutes swim wave.
If the water is cold – less kicking, so you don’t cramp.
BIKE
The course was absolutely amazing. Views from the top are outstanding.
A lot of climbing. A LOT. In addition, strong head facing and side winds made the bike part a real challenge.
Dropped one of my water bottles right on the beginning. I was surprised of myself that didn’t get upset or mad and simply let it go a second later. In fact, loosing a bottle was not such a bad thing. Isotonic drinks at the aid stations were pretty good and I had an empty bottle holder to carry them in. Also they didn’t taste like they had any calories in them.
Found myself being pretty good climbing the hills. I was rarely passed while going up, however I felt like I could’ve used a higher gear on the downhills and flat segments. Fighting the hills I was constantly passing guys on fancy aero bikes, catching their eyes on me. However when the downhill time came they would fly by, leaving me in th dust.
I didn’t eat as much as planned, however it didn’t affect the performance. I stopped once just to pee. I also saw some guys pee on a bike, right in front of me. Because of the winds urine would fly right on the people behind. Disgusting.
Last 20 km were really fast, all downhill. Trying to be as aero as possible I was even passing folks of carbon bikes. Strong side winds and sharp turns made it pretty dangerous to ride at such high speeds. By the end of the ride I felt pretty fatigued, however not too much.
Lessons Learned:
Expensive, carbon/aero bikes are worthless on a hilly course. Hold on to buying a new bike.
Take only one bottle on the bike. Keep the room for on course hydration.
Adjust the speeds on your bike so you can switch the highest gear.
Wear the race belt right away, underneath the wetsuit. Less hustle putting it on while transitioning into the run.
Bike position felt good. No need to change anything.
RUN
Right off the bike felt a bit dizzy.
First 5-7 km were a struggle. Wasn’t feeling strong and the distance ahead of me set the fascination in my mind. I did not feel like I could do it.
I was surprised that I didn’t have any GI problems up until half way through. Even when I did stop to use the bathroom, it wasn’t bad. It’s just the amount of food I ate days prior. Right after the bathroom use, the second breath opened up. I felt stronger and wasn’t struggling that much anymore. In fact 30-40 minutes into the run is when I began feeling better. Remaining half of the run I got to truly enjoy it. Loved it! Towards the end had some liver spasms, but nothing too painful.
Increased my pace for the last 4-5 km. Finished strong.
The course along the beach was fantastic. It was really, really cool and I got a lot of joy running through it.
Lessons Learned:
Right off the bike you might feel dizzy. That’s normal.
First 30-40 minutes you will feel like crap. Push through, you will feel better as the time goes on. Focus on technique and pace. Visualize the finish and appreciate a chance to do what you do and to be where you are.
RESULTS
Update (May 13):
I’ve had some time to think and this are the thoughts & conclusions I came up with…
Is it so much about the race and accomplishment or about the experience? Is it about the medal 🏅 or the person you’ve become to get the medal?
It’s about the lifestyle you’ve created to achieve your goal.
Training for triathlon makes me better not just in one but three spots: swimming, running and cycling. What other sport develops the athletes so broadly? How about the mental training I get during the process? How about invaluable lessons I learn from this sport that applicable to my work, business, life and relationships? Only so many people gained access to this knowledge and you can connect with them through the sport.
I know I won’t be doing triathlons for the rest of my life. However, when I decide no longer continue with the sport I will have a solid foundation of endurance, strength and health to bring into another pursuits I will choose to follow in future. Just think of all the adventures you can go on with your skills and fitness. You can follow a swimming path, and challenge yourself to do a cross lakes swimming or something that makes you excited.
You can go on multi days or weeks of ultra endurance running trough the beautiful forests of Canada or USA. You’ve got cycling fitness that will allow you to become professional cyclist or go on a crazy adventurous cycling trip across the state or country.
Essentially, triathlon opened up a lot of doors and opportunities for me. It give me options to choose from.
You are doing triathlons because YOU CHOSE TO, not because you have to. Don’t forget that.
No one forces you to train every damn day. No one, besides your ego or whatever motivation you have. You do it because you chose to do it.
You can quit anytime you want. No one gives a fuck!
It’s your life, it’s your decisions. Don’t forget that!
I sit on steps of my house, tighten laces on my sneakers. A big trip is ahead of me and it begins right now. The phone buzzes in my pocket – a message from Airbnb. The owner is asking me where am I and how soon will I arrive to his place today. Wait, today?!
I realized the mistake I made: I didn’t encounter the time zone difference and the fact that it’s overnight flight ✈️. I reserved my stay from 25th, however I won’t arrive to Spain till noon of 26th. Overpaid for extra day at hotel.
Lesson Learned: Pay more attention to the dates when booking hotel. Lesson Price: $33
Instant Karma or How I saved and lost $100 within one minute
Saving $100
Take out extra weight from your oversized luggage right before checking it in.
Put it somewhere to the side, where no one will steal it.
Put your suitcase (bike box) on check-in scales ⚖️. (most airlines limit is 23 kg). See 1 kg overweigh.
Smile and be extra nice to airline employee behind the desk.
She allows you to get away with it, which saves you $100.
Window of opportunity: Airline employee checks you in, prints the boarding pass and sends you to oversized luggage department. This is you window of opportunity. On a way there you have a chance to sneak the stuff you previously took out, back in. Oversized luggage guy does not re-weight your bag. His job is to make sure you don’t have a bomb in it, so he only scans it through x-ray machine. (Note: If your box/luggage doesn’t fit into the scanner, you have to open it for inspection).
Loosing $100
Pre story: Plane tickets I purchased through “AirLingus” were the cheapest economy and did not allow any luggage besides the carry on. Few weeks before departure I called the travel agent and requested a quote for adding an extra piece of luggage: “sports equipment”. The quote was $140 for round trip. Rip off! I thought to myself. I’ll risk at try to check my bike box at the airport as a regular piece of luggage. I bet it would be cheaper. Wrong.
Since I purchased the cheapest ticket, adding just one piece of luggage costed me $100.
“How are you going to pay, Sir?”
Ughhh I am mad… Travel agent quoted me for spots equipment $140. I thought it’s too much and decided to try my luck. I tried, I lost.
Lesson Learned: Don’t mess with airline baggage policies. Play by the rules and pay the price. Check in your luggage online, prior to departure. Check the weight requirements to make sure you don’t overweight. Lesson Price: CAD $600
Now that I payed the money, lady at the register looks at my Ukrainian passport and with expression of confusion on her face asks me:
“Sir, where is your VISA to Spain?” You must be kidding me, I thought to myself.
“Ukraine is part of European Union, as well as Spain. I don’t need a VISA to travel within EU countries.”
15 minutes later she confirmed my statement and printed the boarding pass. This is all good mental training Sasha…
Called the travel agent to get a refund. No luck. Also the agent kindly notified me that I have only two hours layover in Dublin, before my second flight to a final destination. If I miss it, I won’t get reimbursed. Okay…
What’s on a line if I miss my flight:
I loose the money I payed for the ticket. I don’t get reimbursed. I loose the money buying another plane ticket.
I get late to the race expo which closes at 5 pm. I don’t race the IRONMAN, which is the whole purpose of this trip. I loose a shit load of money.
This is all good mental training. Stay calm…
Question: I’m flying back the same way I got here. Where am I supposed to get Irish VISA and can I get it in 2 days? Fuck I’m so mad and tired…
How surprised I was to discover at the Dublin airport that I am not permitted to Ireland without VISA. The officer told me that neither Russians or Ukrainians can travel to Ireland without a VISA. And he has the right to refuse me from entering and send me back to Toronto. Instead I’ve been give a warning and a stamp in my passport. The stamp gives me the right to legally be on a land of Ireland for 24 hours so I can catch my connecting flight to Spain. He said this is on my file now and if next time I come to Ireland without VISA, I will be sent back to where I came from.
With my oversized luggage I’ve been sent to the back of the terminal. It’s dead silent there. Me and one more guy are the only two guys how are brave enough to fly with our bikes internationally. Looking at the watch – 6:08 am. The gate closes at 7:10 am.
In this one hour I need to:
Collect my luggage.
Go through the customs 🛃.
Find my way to another terminal.
Check myself and the bike in. Get the boarding pass.
Drop off my oversized luggage at the special place at the airport.
Go through security check in again
Locate and get to departure gate before it closes.
Even if I already got my bike, I highly doubt I could make it… Baggage carousel doesn’t move, the guy that was waiting with me left. I’m standing there by myself thinking of how deeply in shit I am. I’m desperate.
Can I do anything right now to change my circumstances? No I can’t make my bike box suddenly appear here. I can’t claim express line to the plane. At this point I can only control myself. Watch your breath Sasha. Deep breath in, slow breath out. You have the tools, you know what to do, you’ve been training for this.
It’s all good mental training…
Carousel make a horrible noise and began moving. Please, let it be my bike, please. I turned away from the carousel so I don’t die from burning anticipation. Baaam! something heavy landed. That’s my bike. Now, RUN!
Made it to the check in. Only few people are in the line, I’m second. Young girl at the desk, good. This time I’m not going to mess around, trying to save myself some euros 💶. I was ready to pay almost any money to just get to Spain. Approaching the scale I put a stupid smile on my face.
“What’s this?”, she asked.
“Sports equipment”. Saying it felt like pleading guilty in front of the judge, who’s about to announce the price I have to pay.
“Put on scales ⚖️” 25.5 kg = 75 euros 💶
“Sir. How are you going to pay?”
Paid the price, but didn’t feel bad. I was ready for it. She looks at my passport, flips few pages, turn around to her coworker and shouts:
“Nina, Ukraine to Spain ok?”,my heart dropped.
“Yes…”, Nina responded.
Thank fucking God!
The girl hangs me over the passport with boarding pass and with a cute smile on her face says:
“The Gate closes in 20 minutes. You better hurry up if you don’t want to miss your flight ✈️.”
And I run, again.
Dropped my luggage at oversized luggage area in 2 minutes. The guy was nice enough to help me lift it up. Ran up to security check. Dammit! The line is huge! Came up to security guy:
“Pardon Sir. I’ve got a flight in 15 minutes”, pointing to my boarding pass. Without any extra questions he said: “Follow me”. He let me through priority line, cutting in front of all the people. I felt myself like a rock star 🌟
Made it through security in 5 minutes. Made it to the gate in another 10. Breathe out Sasha. Great job!
Car Rental
Shuttle bus took me straight to the car rental place. It’s a 15 minutes drive from the airport. The line was huge… waited for an hour for sure. Starting to get worried if I can make it to the race expo before registration closes at 5 pm.
Lady at the register looked at my drivers license and notified me that they can’t rent me the car with this license. It has to be international.
You must be kidding!
Eva Marquez is the girls name looked at me and said to wait. She went to her boss and few minutes later came back with great news. They will make an exception and allow me to rent the car even without having a proper license. Thank God!! However she repeated few times that if the Polizei stops me, and checks my documents – I’m in deep shit.
I also mentioned to her that I’ve got a huge piece of luggage that I would try to fit into the car before I sign the docs. We headed to the parking lot and without even opening the trunk it became clear that there is no way that my “Thule” bike box will fit into Fiat 500cc (if you know what I’m talking about =))
Icing on the cake was that Eva upgraded with with a bigger car (4 door Toyota Yaris) for no extra cost. Am I a lucky one?
Exhausted but grateful I’m on my way to Marbella (50 km driving)…
Lesson Learned: to rent the car in Europe you need to have International DL. Regardless to how tired you are, smile and be nice to the people you interact with. Being a dushbag won’t help you at all, but being nice can make your life easier.
Highlights of the Trip
The race is officially over, however my mind and body are still racing. Trying to slow down, however the brake pedal fell through the floor. Maybe I can’t slow down, but I can stir, so I get out the house for an easy ride on my bike. I need to keep my body moving, otherwise I’ll just fall apart by the evening.
Marbella
Sun rise began around 7:30, just at the time I left the hotel. Streets are empty, all tourists are still asleep – perfect!
Mornings in Marbella are chill. It’s 13 Celsius, however cold breezy winds from the sea make make me shiver every time the wind blows. Keeping the cadence high to stay warm.
I didn’t have any particular route in mind so the sea line was my only guidance. Riding towards the sea I could not stop enjoying all smells and sounds. Every block and every neighborhood has its own smell and set of colors. So many flowers and trees… Absolutely gorgeous place to be in.
The walking/cycling path goes along the beach line. The sand is clean and the water is clear. Hundreds of fancy restaurants stretch along the path making my eyes wonder through the windows. I got so much joy from this early ride. I think I am falling in love with this place.
Old Town, Marbella
Later in a day I headed off to the “Old Town”. Got myself a cute German guide who took me around the best places in the city center. I was already amazed by the beauty I’ve seen in the morning. I would be hard to impress me now… wrong.
I got aesthetically overdosed just after first 10 minutes walking around the Old Town. Every corner, every building, every shop or restaurant is unbelievably beautiful. Where are the filming crews? I felt myself as I’m in some sort of movie. Unbelievable! I couldn’t stop taking pictures… Beautiful place, beautiful people!
Málaga
Today I am headed to Malaga, which is about an hour drive east from Marbella. Parked the car, grabbed my backpack and went on to adventure.
Bazar. Mercado Central de Atarazanas
I love farmers markets and this is the place I had to go to. Loved it! Everything is fresh, everything is clean and nicely decorated. Perfectionist in me was amazed and fulfilled joy from seeing how fruits and vegetables are not just stacked on the shelves, but perfectly aligned one to another. How much time does it take the seller to setup his shop in the morning, handpicking each strawberry. Bravo!
Payed 3.50 euro for a can of olives and headed towards the beach. I got so much joy from just walking through the street. I realized how few words I operate with to describe the beauty around. Magnificent! Manifique! That is for sure now – I am in love.
Cathedral de la Encarnación de Málaga
Certainly a beautiful sight-seen, but nothing more than that. Maybe because I am not a religious person, I didn’t have any butterflies in my stomach or experienced feeling blessed from being there. At such places I usually like to meditate, which is what I did and shortly left the cathedral.
There are two admission tickets options: just the inside: 6 euro (4 student) or the inside + tour around the roof 10 euro (7 student). I explored both the roof and the interior and did not regret. If you find yourself in Malaga, it’s one of the places you must see.
Fortress Alcazaba
It is located right on top of the mountain, at the city center. The word “alcazaba” means “citadel,” and the one in Málaga is best preserved example of a Moorish citadel in Spain. It’s about 15 minutes walk up the stairs which will bring your heart rate up quite a bit. Once on top, you will have to pay the admission fee of 3.50 euro per person and it’s CASH ONLY. I didn’t have any cash on me. Lady at the gate apologized and with regret told me that they don’t accept cards and I would have to go all the way down stair and find ATM. I went through all of my pockets, however all I’ve found was 75 cents. I turned around to exit the line… A second later, girl that was standing behind me in line handed over the ticket. It was really nice of her and I could not be more grateful for such a gift at that moment. Gracias Madam!
The views from the fortress are outstanding. There is also a cute little cafeteria inside, where you can enjoy some coffee or a drink, hiding in a shadows of the trees.
Oh, almost forgot! All beaches are nude beaches =) I’ve been to the beaches in Marbella and Malaga and found that so many girls sunbathe top less. Absolutely with no shame or the slightest sign of concern they take off their bra and let the boobs free. Kids, teenagers, young and old people around get a chance to witness what the nature gifted the girls with.
Puerto Banús
Do you want to get rich?
What is it that makes one man rich and another barely survive from paycheck to paycheck? It’s all about mindset.
How is the mindset of the the owner of this McLaren or any of the yachts parked in the port different from mine?
What does he think about when he wakes up in the morning or goes to bed?
What’s does he talk about with himself, his wife or friends?
What is he afraid of?
What makes him excited and happy?
How does it feel to be standing on your own multimillion dollar yacht and finding absolutely no one else around in the opened ocean?
How does it feel to have your Lamborghini parked right by the entrance to the most expensive restaurant in the city?
What is it like to be welcomed as the most important person in the world anywhere you go?
What does people wish you on your birthday? How they look at you?
So many questions running through my head…
Since the childhood I’ve been raised to hate rich people. I’ve been programmed to believe that the only way to acquire wealth is to steal, to jump over other people’s heads. That’s not true.
It made me feel bad every time I desired more money. It automatically put me into the “asshole” category of people. I felt embarrassed to tell people what I truly wanted, I even felt ashamed to think about getting rich.
That’s a total bullshit!
I want to get rich! I want to see what’s on the other side. I want make so much money that I won’t be able to spend through my lifetime. I want to be respected by the most impactful and wealthy man of this world. I to be the founder of one of the richest families in the world, the dynasty of Tereshchuk. I want to leave my kids with a legacy. I want my reputation to go ahead of me and my name to be recognized all over the world.
I want…. shut the fuck up and go back to work! You’re not that kind of breed. Forgot where you’re coming from, village boy?
The way back home
The trip back home promise to be as fun as it was flying to Spain. Getting back is the entire process that consists of a lot of steps and variables that I don’t have influence on. The fact that I’m flying to Ireland without VISA makes me feel nervous.
Stay calm Sasha…
First, I need to return the rental car. If I do it before 7 am I’ll be charged €40 because it’s outside of opened hours. The gate closes at 7:10 am and the flight departs at 7:40 am. I am not going to pay!!! Let’s see if I can return the car at 7 and make it to my flight on time. Airport is 15 away from car rental place by shuttle bus.
To make it happen I went to the airport at 6 am to check in my bike and print my boarding pass.
Second, I need to get permission from airline stuff to get on board to fly to Dublin. Airlines are being penalized for letting people fly without visas and the penalty is $30,000 per person. Because of that they can easily refuse to print my boarding pass as I don’t have any documents that would allow me to enter the Ireland.
Checking in with Ryanair was a nightmare. Come here, go there. Show me your boarding pass. You need to check in online. You don’t need to check in online. Pay €75 for your bike. Show me your passport, show me your tickets, show me your Canadian documents. You don’t have VISA. Bring your bike there, go back pay here…
I’m getting angry 😡 Stay calm Sasha.
7 am – returned the car. Can’t believe it costed €5.60 to rent the car for 5 days.
7:10 am – the gate has closed
7:15 am – arrived to the airport. RUN !🏃
7:20 am – security check. Problems with the lunch I packed 🥗. Take everything out; put it all back in. RUN !🏃
7:25 am – passport control. Passed😁 RUN !🏃
7:30 am – in the plane ✈️
Holly smokes I can’t believe I MADE IT!
In fact the bike saved me. Arriving to the gate the first question I was asked if I am the one who have the bike checked in?
“YES! That’s me!”
“Ok let him in”, lady at the desk told security person to open the door and escort me to the plane.
Being greedy, proactive and fast saved me €40. While running to the gate I lost my jacket with headphones in the pocket. I would appraise this loss in €20. Plus it costed me a hell of a stress which is hard to quantify.
Net gain €20. Did it worth it? No sure.
Notes: Self-awareness I developed with meditation allows me to recognize the moment I get angry or frustrated. It gives me a chance to choose my responses to situations and people. Self-confidence helps me to stay calm under pressure. I know that no matter what happens I’ll find a way, I always did. In tough situations my brain fires up on all cylinders and it will take me out of the craziest places with minimal losses.
My fears in regards to not being permitted to enter to Ireland 🇮🇪 did not come true. Visa officers in Dublin were really nice flying in and out. My passport got another hit with the stamp and I crossed the border.
“Just make sure you have the visa next time you come. Safe travels Sir!”
I felt relieved. Last push and I’m back in Canada 🇨🇦.
This was a hell of a trip. Few days worth a lifetime… There are so many things I am grateful for, that I feel the need to list each of them.
I am Grateful for:
My buddy Kelly, who was nice enough to host mr. Blake for a week.
Airline employee at Toronto airport that let me board the plane without Irish VISA. Without her mistake my journey would end without starting.
The money that bought me the experience of traveling and racing in Spain.
Irish immigration officers that let me into the county without VISA twice. They had the legal right to turn me around, so my trip would end very short.
Making it to the connecting flight to Spain on time and all the airport stuff that helped me to cut the lines and make it happen.
Getting to the race expo on time, before the registration closed.
Eva Marquez, the rental car employee who not only let me rent the car without international drivers license, but also upgraded me with a bigger car for the same price.
A great deal on car rental. It costed me 5.60 euro to rent the car for a week plus 35 euro for gas. Up until I dropped the car, I couldn’t believe I would actually be charged 5.60 total haha.
Airlines not loosing or damaging my luggage and having my bike in proper working condition for the race.
The opportunity to stay comfortably at the really nice hotel and not a shithole.
Completing the race safe and without injury.
Extremely grateful for MY BODY that allow me to experience the Ironman. It didn’t fail on me during the race and took all the beating.
My coach Renee, who not only prepared me for this challenge, but was always supporting me mentally along the way.
All those few people who expressed their support and words of encouragement.
Endlessly grateful for my father. The support I got from himand his wife Nadia. I am also grateful for the support from my brother Stepan.
Meeting Kira. And a chance to explore the city together. Grateful to have like minded person next to me and a chance to share thoughts and emotions with one another.
All the free parking spots I have found while traveling by car.
For the girl that payed my admission fee at the Fortress Alcazaba.
Being a good driver and not getting into the car accident or scratching the vehicle as I opted to insurance.
For making it back to the airport on time and catching the flight.
For all the people that gifted me their smiles and helped me along the way.
Last but not least.
Money Lessons Learned:
Luggage fees ate 95% of my money. By taking the risk and trying to save I lost €300. If you fly with extra piece of luggage, check it in before the trip. Don’t do it at the airport.
Withdraw enough cash while at home, from your bank to avoid ATM fees.
Shopping at the grocery stores and cooking your own foods saves A LOT of money.
Parking in big cities is expensive. I would rather get myself a coffee instead of paying the parking fee. Make yourself a rule: free parking spot = cup of coffee.
As you already know, during exercise you lost a portion of electrolytes along with sweat. As you drink after the training, you increase the fluid levels in your body, which will lower electrolyte concentration even more. Natural foods, like fruits will replace nearly all the electrolytes, except sodium. Add two-three pinches of salt to your post-exercise recovery drink for sodium replenishment. The table below lists great fruits and juices for your recovery drink to replenish electrolytes in your body.
Notes: Liquid protein consumed within 30 minutes after exercise improves muscle repair. Including fruits and greens will deliver extra antioxidants. Stay aways from added sugars.
To fully restore the fluid and electrolyte losses after the workout, aim to drink around 24 oz (700 mL) of liquids for every pound lost. Don’t drink too fast, but instead consume your solution or water slowly over a 60-minutes period and later throughout the day. Listen to your body and use the thirst as an indicator of your hydration status. Doesn’t matter if you replaced all the fluids lost, forcing it down if you’re not thirsty is not a good idea. As a general guideline: if you urinate more often than 10 times in a 24-hour period and your urine is clear – you’re drinking too much.
Better Hydration = Better Performance
References:
Karel, L. (1948). Gastric Absorption. Physical Reviews, 28(4), 433-450.
Cordain, L., & Friel, J. (2012). The Paleo diet for athletes: The ancient nutritional formula for peak athletic performance. Emmaus, PA: Rodale.
Land, S. (2018, March 18). Everything About Getting Enough Electrolytes While Fasting [Digital image]. Retrieved February 3, 2019, from https://i0.wp.com/www.wildfirex.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2013/08/Electrolytes.png?zoom=2&w=700&ssl=1
What we are trying to achieve here is to prevent more than a 2% drop in body weight caused by fluid loss (about 3 lbs (1.4 kg) of weight loss for 150 (68 kg) pound athlete). The two main goals of performance hydration is to:
Improve calorie absorption by utilizing performance hydration as a “transporter”
Maintain blood volume.
Don’t wait until you get thirsty! Remember: better hydration = better performance. Now pull out your calculator, I’ll teach you how to create your ideal hydration solution:
Carbohydrates: 4-8% solution. To calculate it, divide the grams of carbs (sugar) per serving size by the volume of the serving size (in mL), then multiply by 100 . So let’s say you want to fill your bicycle flask of 500 mL with a 6% solution we will need 30 grams of carbs (sugars).
Electrolytes. Calculations are easier here: 0.5-0.7 grams of sodium per 1 liter (34 oz) of water. So in the same 500 mL cycling water bottle you will need to add 250-350 milligrams of sodium.
The chart below describes carbohydrates and electrolytes needs for optimal hydration during exercise, based on time. Athletes don’t always need to take extra electrolytes during training or racing. Anything under 75 minutes doesn’t require extra supplementation with sodium pills or salt tablets.
Notes: Glucose can be absorbed around 1g/min and fructose has been shown (when combined with glucose/maltodextrin) to be absorbed at 1.5g/min.
The reason is why you should include calories into your hydration solution is to improve fluid absorption rate. “Fueling” and hydration should be separate from one another, so you’re not trying to get your fuel from your hydration solution. A little bit of sugar works as a transporter to pull the sodium across the intestinal barrier to keep your blood plasma volume up.
Hydration guidelines:
When creating your ideal performance drink strive for 2:1 ratio of glucose:fructose as it has been shown to improve absorption rate.
Drink 5-8 oz (150-250 mL) of your solution every 10-15 minutes.
Train yourself to get used to drink fluids on a schedule while exercising.
If exercising at higher temperatures or humidity, reduce the intensity to improve the gastric emptying.
Go with sports drinks over the plain water to minimize the risk of hyponatremia.
Your body stores much more energy in form of fat than as carbohydrate. Some athletes strive to change their metabolism so that their bodies rely more on fat to fuel exercise which in turn allows them to spare the carbohydrate that’s stored in muscle and liver and improve your endurance capacity. In theory, training when carbohydrate availability is low, may force your metabolism toward a greater reliance on fat as a fuel for exercise.
There are two approaches to creating a state of Low Carbohydrate Availability:
1. Exercising after an overnight fast. Stores of carbohydrates are used while you sleep and not replaced before a workout in the morning. 2. Exercising after a prior heavy, high intensity exercise. In this case carbohydrate is used up during an exercise bout and not replaced before the second workout.
These two approaches are different in their bio energetics and will lead to different adaptations.
At night, while we sleep the liver secretes glucose to maintain blood glucose levels and supply the body with carbohydrates. This is very important for the brain because it relies almost entirely on blood glucose to function. By morning 60 to 80 percent of the liver glycogen has been used by your body. However muscle glycogen levels remain high throughout the night and are high when you wake up for your morning run, because it isn’t secreted from or consumed by skeletal muscle cells while you sleep.
In summary, you go to sleep with high glycogen levels in both muscle and liver and you wake up with no change in muscle but with low levels in liver.
As you begin your workout in the morning skeletal muscle prefers its own fat and glycogen stores but gets some of its energy from fats and glucose in the blood. The liver breaks down glycogen to ensure that blood glucose levels are maintained to support all the cells of your body. During exercise a person hits the wall or bonks when they run so low on liver glycogen that the blood glucose levels drop. Muscle glycogen levels will also be low at this point because the muscle has been preferentially consuming it.
In endurance community the concept of exercising when the body is low in available carbohydrate (“training low“, meaning low in glycogen and glucose), has been adapted by athletes to encourage adaptations that favor the use of fats for fuel. In theory, improving fat utilization will lead to a sparing of limited glycogen stores and reduce the need to consume as many calories while exercising. Some recent research has shown that fat utilization can be enhanced by depleting muscle and liver of glycogen through high intensity interval training in the evening and then stressing the muscle in a prolonged moderate exercise about the next morning without eating any carbohydrate in between. With that goal in mind there are two approaches commonly used by athletes for training on low glycogen:
1. Exercise first thing in the morning without eating breakfast. 2. Exercise after depleting stores through a prior workout. In this case athlete would perform a high intensity workout then not eat carbohydrate until after a second workout. The two workouts would be performed approximately 10 to 12 hours apart. For example: early morning and then late evening or late evening and then the following morning.
These two methods are very different with respect to the bio energetics.
THE FIRST METHOD
Exercise first thing in the morning after an overnight fast and without breakfast. This method stresses your liver glycogen stores because only the liver uses its glycogen stores overnight. Skeletal muscle will rely on its own stores of glycogen during the morning training which it prefers anyway. The glycogen that is stored in muscles is for “locals only”. In other words, once it’s stored in muscle, it’s not capable of being transported to other areas of the body to provide fuel. Instead, it must be used at the site. When your body can’t push for one more rep, this likely means that the glycogen has been depleted in those muscles. While you exercise, your muscles may run out of their stored glycogen sooner than if the liver was supplementing them with additional glucose but muscle won’t be very compromised energetically and any stress for adaptations in fat metabolism will be small at best. Exercising in this manner you primarily stressing the liver because it can’t maintain blood glucose once it runs out of what it has left from your overnight fast. A rough estimate would be 5 to 10 miles run, depending on bed time and duration of sleep. After that you may feel the bonk because your brain isn’t getting the glucose it needs but your active muscles aren’t very stressed.
THE SECOND METHOD
Complete a high intensity workout or long run to deplete muscle of glycogen followed by a near zero carbohydrate diet for ten to twelve hours. Depleting workout forces both muscle and liver to use up their glycogen stores. During the 10 to 12 hours without carbohydrate the liver will metabolize any remaining glycogen to maintain blood glucose levels as best it can. When you start a second workout 10 to 12 hours later muscle and liver will be low in glycogen reserves. You’ll feel the same level of bunk but in this case it’s not just your brain bonking, it’s your muscle to muscle too. The muscles will be forced to rely much more on fat for fueling your exercise and they may adapt so that you rely a little more on fat in the future if you do this regularly.
CAUTION
It may seem that depleting muscle glycogen through prior exercise (second method) is the way to go if you want to really force muscle into a greater fat utilization, but be careful and consider the fact that the first workout places a substantial stress on muscles, it’s a depleting workout after all. Following such workout your immune system works hard to repair your muscles and it needs carbohydrate to do so. By depleting carbohydrate and not replacing it, these repair and adaptation systems are unable to function optimally. The second exercise, where the goal is to stress fat utilization, comes with consideration that the muscle is functionally compromised. Therefore the second bout should be of low or moderate intensity. Carbohydrate feeding should begin immediately upon completion of the second workout.
Endurance events are typically performed at average
intensities at roughly 60 to 70 percent of maximum heart rate. At such
intensities fat utilization is highest in most all athletes and nearly 60
percent of total energy expenditure progressing to 65 plus percent after
exercising longer than 2 hours.
A study was conducted, where after 12 hours of running at 60 to 70 percent max during a 100 km race, glycogen levels were measured to decrease by 64 percent in the thigh muscle and it was still very high in the calf muscle. These observations led to question practicality of doing anything extreme in an attempt to influence fat utilization in athletes competing in endurance events. Any shifts in fat utilization will have very little impact on performance, when compared with the many other factors, such as temperature regulation, hydration, fueling and especially mindset.
Overall exercising while carbohydrate stores are low may be something you choose to experiment with but it’s unlikely that it will lead to a large impact on your performance. Because exercising in glycogen depleted state makes it very hard to keep the intensity high, and places additional stress on your body and nervous system, you may compromise the quality of your trainings while you try to figure out what works for you. If you choose to train in a glycogen depleted state the biggest take home recommendation is to make sure that you’re actually depleting the tissue you’re trying to stress. If you want to stress skeletal muscles fat burning, exercising in the morning without breakfast won’t do it. To do so, you need to deplete your muscles with a bout of high intensity or long duration exercise and then not replace the carbs until after the next workout.
Past 4-5 weeks were hell. The taper began 5 days ago and my training volume has been decreased. Having failed so many times I am not looking forward to this workout. The race is in one weeks, but I am not excited, I am not confident. Not in a right place mentally or physically. I made an effort to eat more carbohydrates than usual two days prior to this workout. Staffed myself with oatmeal and quinoa right before bed on Thursday night, continued eating quinoa and oatmeal the entire day on Friday. Little to no fat or protein, carbs only.
Lessons Learned Last Workout:
Reduce fiber intake 1-2 days before
Two water bottles (1400 mL) on the bike last only for about 1 hour (30 km). During the race I will need to make 2stops to refuel at aid stations (First at 33 km; Second at 58 km)
Highway 1 that goes north has nothing besides hills… and more hills. Good to work on hill climbing; Not good for speed work. Maybe riding West to East or vise-versa will have less hills.
BRICK
A brick workout is any workout that combines swimming, biking and/or running into a single session. The most common example is the bike to run brick, where you go for a run immediately after finishing a bike ride.
Fueling
Formula: min 0.25 – max 0.33 grams carbs per hour x body weight (lbs) Or min 1 calorie/hour x body weight (lbs)
The main focus is to maintain adequate glycogen levels in muscles and liver to delay fatigue and prevent “bonking“.
No FRUCTOSE!
0.33 g/h x 150 lb x 2.25 (2hr 15min) = 111 grams of carbs required.
Hydration
TheGOAL: prevent loosing more than 2% (1.5 kg) of body weight in fluids.
What I got
What do I need? Sweat Rate: 1400 mL x 2.25 = 3150 mL Sodium: 0.5 x 3150 = 1575 mg Carbs: (X / 4125) x 100 = 5% -> X=0.05 x 4125= 206 g of carbs!?
Results
Pre-weight: 69.9 kg Post-weight: 68.7 kg Liquids consumed: 1950mL (Left one bottle) Weight lost: 3.150 kg Sweat Rate: 1260 mL/hour
Total weigh loss: 3.150 kg (4%)
Not good 2% is maximum loss allowed
BIKE
Felt Strong! Holding 210 Watts felt easy. 300 Watts for a minute were easy as well. Even knowing I was planning on fueling with protein bars, it felt too easy to inject extra carbs to fuel the workout. Therefore I did not eat anything and completed the ride purely on very little sugar from isotonic drinks.
RUN
Felt Strong! Experiencing really bad digestive issues previously. I was going into the run worried they will come back. However I did not have diarrhea or even the slightest symptoms of it. Thats a Win!
Lessons Learned:
I reduced fiber intake two days before workout (starting Thursday evening) this helped to prevent GI issues. Also, NO FRUCTOSE and supplements or foods containing high concentrations on VITAMIN C.
“Carb Loading”worked. Making emphasis on eating more complex carbs such as quinoa, sweet potatoes and oats, two days before filled up my glycogen stores and made me feel strong. I even didn’t need to fuel during the ride. Also glycogen do not get filled up overnight. It took me about 36-48 hours to begin feeling better.
