survive your first half
They were days of sacrifice (the reality is that they have never left), of a lot of work alone and with the Team, of giving up some things and gritting our teeth. But it was worth it. Wow yes. The feeling of crossing the finish line after months of work and that everything goes well is priceless. Hug your wife and your daughter and read the messages of the people who love you after getting your first half is complete happiness. There is no pain there. You are Finisher forever and everything doesn't matter.
I chose to debut in the Infinitri Half Triathlon of Peñiscola running away from the heat. My friend Álex Requena made his debut there and told me that it was the best option. He's a smart guy. It never fails. April 2nd, the perfect temperature for cycling and running, but first you had to swim… and the water was freezing. But it was my premiere, there was no pain.
The wind forced to change the swimming circuit. Half an hour late at the start and I had already warmed up, good to warm up… I had jumped into the water and completed 400 meters. The feet took the brunt of that liquid that awaited me at 16 degrees. But it was my premiere, there was no pain.
I swim badly. Nerves, cold, bad position at the start... I don't know the reason, but I know that I can swim better. But it was my premiere, there was no pain, and I was already heading into the first transition. The bike, my thing, arrived, the segment where Mr. Marcos Greus had insisted so much: "Don't feed yourself, regulate, then you have to run." We left Peñiscola and the headwind was brutal. Gusts of 60km/h. It was war, everyone was trying to save themselves however they could, but I was fine. The sensations were good. In fact, he was pulling a couple of cheaters who, it seems, were not clear about the issue of drafting. Despite the wind, I signed a decent average of 30.7 km/h, 165 beats on average. It hadn't primed me. The thing works. Pain What is that?
Yes I'm already running, I only have 21 km left to run, I try to find my rhythm, I try to go with someone who goes at the same pace as me, and there I am running at 5min/km (the pace I had in mind that I was going to run) . Not even a technical stop to empty the tank affects me.
I felt good, strong… my body was responding positively despite the unevenness of the circuit.
In the second lap the wall arrives. I knew it was there. It was already 4 hours of effort and things start to get uphill (pun intended). It's time to caste. Thinking about the working hours, about your family that is waiting for you at the finish line, about the Team… And so the kilometers go by. The stretch of sand arrives for the second time. There you congratulate yourself on the commitment to good footwear and the Sporcks. You come out of the arena. Last kilometers. You enter the town and people cheer you on, your competition rhythm returns and you know you already have it. There is Mireia and the girl. You are a finisher. Nothing hurts, there is only peace, joy, beer... and the desire for the Ironman 70.3 Mallorca to arrive.
TEXT: M.A. Rodriguez
