After a 19 hour flight, a stop off in Sau Paulo, I finally arrived in Santiago. With my bike bag that thankfully made it safely and in one piece, I caught a taxi to my apartment in Las Condes (the exclusive area of Santiago). My apartment was on the 17th floor and the view was outstanding. Looking to my left I could see all of Santiago and to my right, the snow cover Andes - a perfect where to relax before the first race.
With the race routine out the way (signing in, number collection, race briefing etc), I was all set to race. Race morning came and we had to take a coach to the venue. This obviously caused a few problems with about 60 men trying to fit their race bikes on the coach, but anyway, everything was sorted by our very relaxed coach driver! The course was hilly and technical and a non-wetsuit swim into lake. My swim felt very strong and I was able to relax and power through the 1500m swim to get out the water in a comfortable position to set me up for an exciting race. Once on to the bike and things got very tough. The lack of food and preparation cost me, and I found it very hard work from then on. After the race I was exhausted and knew I had to recover well to ensure a confident performance in Valparasio the following week.
Once in Valparasio, my aim was to recover, to carb load and to get my energies up. So after a lot of research into carb loading, my body type and how many grams of carbs needed to fuel my weight after x amount of hours of training, I was ready to go. The week was very successful. I found a 50m pool to continue my swimming in, one road that had no pot holes in to ride on, and a flat piece of road to run on. As tedious as it may seem, it was incredibly refreshing to be training and feeling good again alongside constant re-fuelling and making my diet paramount over my training. For example, I am 73kg and after 3 hours of training I need approximately 600grams of carbs to sufficiently replenish all my glycogen stores. After a few days I was feeling alive and full of energy and could not believe something so simple was costing me my potential! One of the crucial things I have learnt is that when exercising longer than 90mins at a high intensity, your carbo stores will become severely depleted and the waste product of this are H+ ions, or lactic acid. If your glycogen levels are not topped up to their maximum capacity, then you will start producing lactic acid much earlier and thus, resulting in a decline in your performance.
Next stop was Valparaiso for the second race: A seaside town stuck in the 80's that is still recovering from Pinochet's rule of terror and the damaging effects of the Panama Canal, meant that I was going to have some sort of cultural experience after all! With all bases covered, race day was here. I woke up to a beautiful morning and leisurely rode to race avoiding the many stray dogs that roam around the sea side town trying find food. One of the distinguishing features of Valparasio were the hills. They were enormous and were so steep. I have never experienced hills like this with gradients at least 40%, which go on up for ages. I did attempt to run up, but my effort was in vain and I began walking to find that a struggle also.
The race started and about 60 athletes sprinted into the sea. A choppy and rough swim played into my hands and I came out the water as one of leading guys and was on the lead pack. The tough, hilly course caused no problems for me and I felt great. Riding up the climb with confidence and with ease; I was a different athlete. The descent cost me dearly, but practising my bike skills will solve this issue and I will be a much more competent cyclist very quickly. On to the run for the first time, in a long time - I felt great! Pushing all the way to the line and overtaking numerous amounts of athletes on my 10 km destruction path; I ended the race feeing incredibly confident. The 400m hill each lapped only aided my run and I knew, after the week I have had since my first race, I was back and now is the time that things will start happening.
Travelling to these races have taught me many valuable lessons: expensive as they are, but most valuable and needed. I am leaving Chile more confident, motivated and determined to succeed and it is now a matter of time before this happens.
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