Happy Birthday to me!

Once again -and it seems every year a little bit faster- December 21 comes around and its time to get “officially” one year older (the day before you are still one year older but you don’t tell anyone the truth). This year everything lined up pretty nicely: a) my birthday landed on a Monday so Sunday was prefect to get together with friends, b) I am still here as usually I am gone for holidays with my parents somewhere warm, c) mom is visiting for a couple of weeks, d) I was in very good spirits. All this things combined together and after many many years I decided to have most of my closes friends over to celebrate my birthday, just like when we were 10 or so. I was telling my mom that I could not remember last time we put out a birthday party like that, but we were glad we did as I had a really great time.

Anyone that knows my mom knows that she loves cooking, especially for us and friends, and when I told her about inviting people over she was instantly into “cooking mode”. I wanted to make it simple, just because I did not want her to work like crazy, but sometimes with mom it does not work that way. She pulled out quesadillas to start, home made pizzas, and 2 cakes (yes, 1 was not enough). Needless to say I was stuffed at the end. Food was great, I love my moms cooking and I think everyone really liked it as well, THANKS MOM! And obviously thanks to all the people that came, great times!

That was Sunday, but my birthday was Monday, how could I not celebrate again Monday? To start off the day I woke up at 5:00 to have a 5:45 Monday swim, nice way to start the birthday with 2x400, 3x300, 4x200 and 5x500 with different torture instruments. Then 5x100 on 2:00, and when you see that you know its going to hurt… Swim was good and I got to work after. At work once again I had ridiculous amounts of cheesecake, banana bread, and all sort of goodies that came as a Christmas/Birthday Package Deal. I was stuffed once again and the 50 min run in the afternoon was less than pleasant, but still had to get that done. I did not give a second thought when I was eating like there was no tomorrow (weak of my part) and therefore I did not deserve a birthday “off the hook” pass either.

Aside from that everything is going well. Starting to run again after a while very slowly ~5/km to test out the waters for a week or 2. I think the plantar faciitis is very slowly going away but I am being very careful and aware of it at all times while jogging to make sure I can feel any changes, major discomfort, or whatever. Swimming is going very well and cycling as well. I am getting more and more workouts in using the power meter and I am loving them.

The next 2/3 days will be very busy and I will be heading off to Mexico on the 24th. In between now and then I have to fit 3 days of work (until Thursday), 9 hrs of training, one trip to MEC, a birthday party, 16 hrs of sleep, and packing for the trip amongst others. Basically, no time to waste… Ohh well, I think I will very much enjoy 16 days in Mexico so all the cramming will be well worth it =)

Facundo

Warm Mexico!

Well, warmer than Vancouver that is for sure. The last 2 weeks (ignoring yesterday and today) have been dry dry dry and sunny, but COLD. Still not nearly as bad as last year (yet) when it was -13 and felt like -19 at 5am while riding my MTB to the pool in 10cm of snow… Yesterday we were supposed to get a big dump of snow ~15cm but did not happen. Now its 5 degrees so its probably not happening soon either and in 9 days I am off to Mexico so maybe this year I skip the whole deal.

2 weeks in Mexico will be great to recharge. Although I still feel pretty energized from my trip to Australia (I better be after 2 months of “slacking around”), its always nice to get a break. My mom is coming over here, getting into Vancouver today at 9pm, and staying over the holidays with my brother. He will get his wisdom teeth removed so mom will take care of “her little boy”. I instead leave to Mexico to take care of the not so little dad, but who would really appreciate to eat food that has not been overcooked/dried or at least was not his fault =P (I am just kidding dad, I know I know… you would manage just fine, only if you really really haddd to =)

Training is going pretty well except for running. Long story short, Plantar Fasciitis. I am slowly getting into running again and this week is the “testing” week, it took 3 weeks to go away (will see if completely gone pretty soon) and I do not want it to come back. Very very hard to get rid of, I tried everything.

So, that was the not so good part of training, biking, swimming and gym are going very very good. Last week I did a bunch of tests on the powermeter to establish some training zones, threshold power, etc and this week I have been training based on the results. Easy rides easy, hard rides close to threshold power, some intervals, big gear, everything. I really like it and being an engineer I really like to see data, graphs, numbers, understand what they mean, adjust, repeat, and so on.

Swimming is also going really good, the 2 new coaches are great and their workouts are absolutely great. This week is speed week and everyone is out there hammering, we are going to get fast, no doubt about it. They are also working with most of us on technique and that will also make a huge difference, even if we are not “stronger” than last year.

Gym is helping lots I think; I am following a 3 month strength training plan and then their “maintenance” plan will kick in February. I feel is making a big difference in swimming, even though I might be tired and sore some practices, when I am not I can really swim harder (and its only been 1 month…). Last year I did not run for 6 weeks in a row pretty much because of a weird lower leg injury. During that time I went to the gym to do leg/hip/core strengthening and everything that would not bother the injury. After that it took me a while to get my HR under control when running, but I was much much stronger and I could feel that right away. Hopefully this year the same happens with swimming and running after the strength program and I can take both to the next level.

Anyways, that is it for now. Tomorrow home made food mmmmmmmm…

Vince: I am still on stage 6... getting through them at a pace that would leave some for nasty january/february

New Toy / Acknowledgments

Yesterday after work I went to Speed Theory to pick up a new addition to my training/racing tools/repertoire. Hopefully the last expensive one in a while (and by a while I really mean a whillleeeee). 2009 was an expensive year: new bike, new wheels, new trainer, Australia, annnnndddd yes, a Powertap.

Most of you know me well and know that I don’t spend money easily. It takes me a year to decide if I should spend money on a racing bike or I should keep racing on my 1200$ stock bike, I have a low end wetsuit, haven’t replaced my googles in 5 years (very true), use tires until they are square (and then I keep them and destroy them happily in the trainer during winter), and so on. But this year was different… I realized that I really really enjoy the sport, I am making lots of friendships, I spend 12 hours a week on a hard piece of plastic called “saddle” and I am into this for a good while. That, combined with a great sponsorship from Speed Theory is how I ended up with all this. Murray, Jeremy, Doug, Mike and company have really helped me out a lot with advice, service, and above all friendship.

Now that the emotional section is over, let talk about POWER hehe – I wanted to say that for a while-. I have been in the sport for about 4 seasons (my very first tri was the UBC sprint in 2006 in 1:18 ooohhh yeahhhh) and have come a long way. Every year I have improved a lot making 2009 my best year so far (couple of sub 2 hour Olympic Tris) Despite all that I have never done a VO2 max, lactate threshold, any sort of power measurements. What average power am I able to hold? How hard should I go on the 40x1min intervals on the bike? How easy is easy? Am I really struggling or I think I am but I am doing just fine? How long will it take me to blow up at 400W? Actually, how do 400W feel? Up until now I have no idea about anything. If I want to make it to the next level, I think it will really help to know and be able to train better.

Over the last couple of years I have made my own workouts, training schedules, volume, intensity, you name it. It has worked pretty well so far -actually sometimes I can’t believe how far it has got me- but I am not sure for how long it will keep working. There is where good swim coaches (Dale and Dario) at VAC, Alan and the LETC squad for running and cycling, the support from the Speed Theory crew, and the Powertap all come into play. This year/season (2010) I am relying on them, as well as myself and my dedication and hard work, to take me to the next level. I would like to mention that there is lots of other people that support me as well and all contribute to my continuous improvement. Ryan and his company on long rides is key, my brother taking care of most groceries during the week amongst other things, my parents supporting me at all times, my friends for understanding when I am busy/tired/training and despite my business still being my friends.

Crap, I said no more emotions already… Lets try that again. So, I installed the Powertap yesterday and got 3 mins on it just to play with the 50.000 screens that are operated with 2 (yes, only 2) buttons. Today I will get the first decent ride, and start gathering information for future training adjustments. Needless to say, I am a happy camper right now =)

Facundo

Friday to Sunday

Friday afternoon I left work early to go to the famous Sugoi Warehouse sale. I got there around 2:30pm (started at 1pm) and there was already 100 people lined up waiting to get into the warehouse. It was not raining and it was not that cold so I did not mind the 30 min wait, the line was moving quite quickly. Once I got in the zoo -I might use zoo or warehouse but I mean the same thing- I grabbed a box and started piling up stuff for me. After a quick message to my dad I started piling up stuff for him and my mom as well. Alica also called me and ended up getting a jacket for her. 2.5 hrs after I got in I was purchasing 23 pieces of clothing for 178$ including taxes. Alica got her waterproof and windproof jacket, mom and dad got trisuits, cycling shorts, jerseys, I got shorts, a thick everything-proof vest, long sleeve cycling jersey, and so much more. Just crazy.

After that I was pretty tired, believe it or not was quite draining to go through the racks, try out lots of stuff, find your size, etc. Still I rode for 1.5 hrs and 20 minutes later I was in bed sleeping after a quick shower and food.

Saturday went for the usual swim and then run in the UBC trails with Leading Edge. We had 4 hill repeats from the last parking lot of Spanish banks. It’s the first time I do this hill in the trails, but I will remember next time the dreadful “yellow post to yellow post” under 3 minutes… It was hard but we were all pushing to the max, and suffering with someone else it’s not as bad as on your own. Ohh yeah, there was a lady that told us 1.5 minutes into the hill that we were showing off, RRiiiiigghhhttt… that’s exactly what we were all there for. I just laughed (inside my head, couldn’t really waste any oxygen).

On the way back it started raining and was ridiculously cold, which set me up for a good lunch and a 2hr powernap. When I woke up I though about riding again at night in the trails (I bought a light!) but the ride was cancelled and the weather was miserable. I ended up watching 2 hrs of 2 ½ men while pushing a heavy gear at 60-80 cadence on the trainer. Shower, stretch, computer, dinnertime, bed.

Sunday I smashed myself in the gym for 3 hrs. I did not feel like swimming, I did not want to do a long ride on the trainer (3hrs), Plantar Fasciitis is starting to really bother me (so no running), so I ended up busting my arms, core and legs in the gym. After that I still rode 1.5 hrs on the trainer watching the Tour. Squats+Theraband exercises+Intervals on the Trainer+Tough/hard saddle have all combined to cause a deep “pain in the ass”. Today it hurts, lets just leave it at that. In the afternoon Alica came over and we had fish and chips (the Spanish version with chips replaced by “pinchos de patata”) and watched Slumdog millionaire which was really good.

Today the weather was nasty and riding to the pool was an adventure: 50kph gusts, pouring rain, very sore “glutes”, plus a truck driver who sprayed me from head to toe on the Burrard Bridge. After that happened I just smiled, seriously, I felt like in a “funny movie” or something like that. What else could happen? I just smiled all the way (downhill) until I got to the pool. Then I saw the workout, remembered the 3 hours in the gym and the sore glutes and realized it was not going to be an easy one. I just got through it.

Today an ez spin at home or in the forest. The weather is nasty but it makes me want to ride outside (on the trails) even more, is that sense of adventure... (plus a bike with full suspension that will hopefully help for my quick recovery…)

Off to lunch, I am starving

Facundo

My weekly dose of crazy stuff

Saturday was supposed to be a regular day: swim in the morning with a ride/run after that, food, nap, and the afternoon free to do stuff around the house, see people, etc. However, the day started as follows: swim, and ride up cypress for a run with the LETC squad in the XC trails. Half way up the mountain the unexpected: snow. The 5 of us in the car thought that was pretty, and it was, but that was not part of the plan. Once at the top the snow was about 20cm deep in the trails, hence, there was no trail. The plan was to do 4min up, 3min down ez until we got to the top (~40min total). The workout was hard, it was definitely cold, stepped into a paddle 25min into the workout (you could never know what was under the fresh snow), but we had a blast! (which includes digging for 5 minutes to find a lost shoe)

After that I was dropped off at the pool again, and rode back home with sort of wet clothes, cold and pretty hungry. Arrived home, hot shower, lunch and might 2hr nap! Me, nap? Yes, pretty tired… When I woke up I ate again (nothing out of the ordinary) and then headed to Speed Theory to chat with the guys and drop off my bike. When I arrived at the store I saw 4 downhill bikes and 1 cross bike all ready to go and the guys were playing with the very cool NiteRider lights. So first questions was: whats up with all this? The answer was cooler than I expected, they were planning to ride in the UBC Endownment Lands Trails from 6pm (when the store closes) until whenever, probably around 2 hrs. It was 5pm and they offered me to come along; I have a full suspension bike, but I don’t have a kick ass light so I turned it down. At 5:15 I left the store walking and before I made it home (3 blocks away) I was jogging back to get all ready to go.

I set up my commuter light, filled bottles, pumped the tires, checked the brakes, greased the suspension and got rolling. At 6 I showed up in the store; it was now 7 of us, awesome! We rode all the way to UBC (and in the hill the 2 cross bikes kicked the full suspension bikes). We got into the trails and quickly realized that my light was the same as walking with a match in the forest... My options at this point were to either turn around and go back home and come back another time with a better light, or literally draft one of the other 6 guys (no more than 2 meters behind) to be able to see rocks, turns and trees in real time. I went for the second option and I don’t regret it at all! I told Murray that this was 80% his fault, just to make sure he knew it… It was a blast once again, that is provided that the person ahead or behind me did not go more than 2m away. Otherwise I had to stop and wait for the following guy behind because I could not see anything at all, not 2 meters, nada (trees will cover moonlight, pitch black). Towards the end I found a pretty sweet spot with Jeremy in front and Murray on my right shoulder that made things wayyyy better, thanks guys.

After 2 hours of fun I was once again wet, hungry, and tired, but this time I was also completely covered in mud =) What a crazy/different Saturday than usual! I think I got a pretty good “outdoors” dose for the week and recharged the batteries for training by doing something very different. Looking forward to repeating both experiences in the near future, especially if I end up putting cyclocross tires to my Trek.

Here are some pictures after the ride, hopefully I can get the ones in the forest and before from Jeremy.

What a day!

Muddy face

Muddy Bike and Shoes

xcuse me, may I get an overhaul please?

Wipe it down or just hose it...

Shower or food first?

mmm... I think shower. I dont want mud in the fridge...

NiteRider 200 light (Available at Speed Theory)

NiteRider Helmet mount, way better than in the handlebars...

Facundo

Cycleops SuperMagneto Pro

Its been a week since I got my new trainer and I really really like it. I am not sure how much more quiet it is than my previous trainer, but it is definitely smoother, more adjustable, stiffer and more stable.

So far I have only used 2 of the 4 settings, the road setting and intervals setting. I think I will never use the easy spin setting as the road setting is easy enough for any sort of high cadence workouts. The fourth and last setting is the hill climbing, and I probably will not use that one for a while. I think it requires something like 600W to ride at 30kph... Don’t think I have that sort of power (for now =P)

Setting the bike on the trainer is very easy and does not require to turn a knob 2 hundred 56 times until it comes in contact with the skewer. That means that I will not think twice before freeing my bike to go for a ride on the road! And setting it up when its pouring outside.

First workout => spinning at the speed of light =)

* Picture courtesy of my brother who is getting into photography. Hopefully his skills come to play next season and I end up with some awesome shots at very low cost (maybe dinner or something!)

Thanks to the guys at Speed Theory for getting a hold of one for me before they were all gone! 3 came in and went out in a day...

Facundo

Back Home

I am home! Finally a bed with the springs shielded properly so they dont poke your back, a stove that actually has a range from low to high instead of being on or off, an internet connection that allows for uploading 10mb of pictures in a matter of seconds and not a matter of hours =)

I arrived in Vancouver just over a week now and I dont know how it happened but the day I got here was sunny, just like I wanted! Then well... some Vancouver weather, but Saturday and Sunday was nice and sunny again! Not so bad after all, but definitely a change from 25C weather and sunny pretty much every day.

On Tuesday afternoon I was not feeling very well, you know, this flu/H1N1 going around everywhere. In the afternoon I skipped my ride and decided to go to bed at 6pm turning off all alarms and phones around. The night was not smooth, but I got 12 hours of sleep. If you know me well enough, you know that I have not done this in years and there is probably something very very wrong with me. Needless to say, I stayed home all day watching tv, sending emails, organizing stuff in my room (still from the trip) and so on. I think yesterdays rest served its purpose and today I was feeling much better (still not 100%). Hopefully I managed to avoid going sick sick with fever and all that.

Today the weather is not looking very good and it does not look good for the weekend either.

I guess we have to put up with that so from time to time we can enjoy some of this (Pictures from Saturday Long Ride around Richmond and River Road)

Marine Drive - UBC Area

Beautiful British Columbia - University Endowment Lands

Marine Drive

Happy Halloween!! - Richmond

Fraser River - Richmond

Pumpkin Field - Richmond

Pick your Pumpkin - Richmond

River Road - Richmond

Cool Field Irrigation - Richmond

Arthur Lang Bridge - East View

Arthur Lang Bridge - West View (mmm windy?? Look at that plane landing...)

Facundo

Spontaneity

After a couple of days with lots of running (60km in 4 days), swimming and gym I decided that yesterday was going to be a break for the upper body, and calves/lower legs. The plan was to ride about 4 hours...

In the morning while having breakfast (a big one) I was contemplating the map and looking where to go. 4 hrs is a long long time and I did not feel like going over the same places a bunch of times. Going west was not an option, about 40 minutes into the ride it starts getting hillier and hillier by the minute. I did not want to end up Mount Tambourine or Springbrook (again). Going east I will get about 1 block before I drown. North...mmmm... the super GP is on, streets blocked everywhere with crazy car race fans, and I have gone north many many times. Lets go south and see where 2 hours gets me.

I pack 2 powerbars, 1 super nasty concentrated gatorade (it tasted like orange powergel almost), 1 water bottle, digital camera, VISA, and my riding map. I leave the house at about 10 am and start heading south. About 1 hr into the ride I am past Tweed Heads and start thinking it looks like I will get "pretty close" to Mooball, a relatively larger "city" on my way. Maybe I can make that my destination and ride with a purpose. Half an hour later (1.5 hours into the ride) I see a sign that says Byron Bay 52km. Reaallllyy?? uuhhhmmm, everyone always talks about Byron Bay and I am leaving in 5 days. No way I am going to go there unless is a day trip with a tour that will cost about 80$ at least.

The internal debate: Well, how about if I just add 1 hr to my ride and I just get there, have lunch, and come back? Shit, should have packed more powerbars if that was the plan. Well, 1 bar 1.5hrs into the ride, lunch 3hrs, bar 1.5 hrs into the ride back, home. Yeah, that works, but I am riding at 34kph average with a tail wind. Its about 100km to get there, so to come back at 27-28kph on a nasty straight headwind its going to hurt and take 3.5hrs. Does that mean I am riding 200km? I only have one tubular spare and the most I have ever ridden its 130km. Shit, I am going to be out in the sun from 10am to 5 or 6pm. ohhh boy, this is risky and its really going to hurt no matter which way you look at it. I guess this is what I do for fun huh??? well... just keep riding just keep riding...

3 hrs later I do make it to Byron Bay, small hippy town. I make it all the way out and up the light house (the most easterly point in Australia) before I go into town looking for carbs. A large pizza sounded pretty good despite the massive amounts of unhealthy fats. At 2:30pm I was on the way out of town, and could taste the pain of the headwind (about 25kph with nasty gusts). I blocked my mind and rode for 1 hr without internal mental complaints, keeping the legs smooth and "fresh". 1hr into the way back I started complaining, after all when I left the house I was only doing 4hrs =) I had my bar and filled my water bottles at the rest area on the side of the highway. The night was coming down, I was going to make it with daylight but my face and arms could feel the burn. 30C with the sun above my head between 10 and 6 plus 170km riding was doing it, but I was only about 1 hr away.

Finally I make it home. Surprisingly my legs were not in any more pain than if I climbed up Cypress or Seymour, but I guess it was all a matter of keeping it under control at all times and not redlining or going hard at any moment. I deserved a monster size Australian Meat Pie with mashed potatoes that I had in the fridge (after I showered I was not going anywhere...)

8 Bottles of water
1 Bottle of gatorade
2 Powerbars (Protein Plus)
1 Large Hawaian Dominos Pizza
200 km on the workhorse

Here are some pictures

Made it!


Next Stop: Food


mmm thats better...


I had no problems to crush that in a matter of minutes


The workhorse - 6pm


The sore right hand - 7pm


The overall numbers from door to door


My GPS =)

Back at home on Tuesday!

Facundo

World Master Games - 3K Open Water

I dont really feel like ranting about it, we had enough of that today at 9:00am (1hr before our wave "start") when the following happened:

http://www.2009worldmasters.com/Open-Water-Swim-cancelled-for-competitor-safety/default.aspx

Facundo

PS: I mean I dont feel like ranting at the fact that the water was 16 and not 18, but at the fact that there was no contingency plan even though on wednesday the water was already 15C, or the fact that they made us go and waste 1/2 day in a "remote" location even though the water was too cold all week (and there was no heads up anywhere, so today we were all fired up and very very ready to go)... CRAP, I AM RANTING AGAIN. GOODBYE.

Sydney and World Master Games

Sydney is so far the best city in Australia! It is a large city with a LOT of character: The harbour, the Rocks, chinatown, Paddys Markets, the HUGE parks (Centennial and Botanical Gardens), pedestrian streets, busy Central station and Railway Square, etc... Really really like it!

All competitors of the games got a backpack and ID tag with picture and free access to all transport and games events, so it it nice and very easy to spot people all around the city that are here for the games (30,000 people!) Everyone around is pretty friendly, some come to compete, some come to have fun, some come to prove that they can (see picture above), some come on holidays and find that swimming 800m is the way to relax and get stress out (weird).

As for the Games, I am pleased to say that I have a bronze medal on the 800 free (Saturday) and today 4th in the 400 free, and bad bad bad bad on the 50 fly. The 800 was a tough race, as painful as I remembered last time I swam 800 in a swim meet (age 15), but for some reason now I seem to enjoy pain a lot more =) I beat my time from when I was 15 by 5 seconds. The time was 10:03.33, average of 1:15.4/100m. I must say that I was pretty happy.

The 400 today was not as good. I went 4:52.60 I think, which sucks as my 400m split on the 800 was 4:55.xx. I went out hard and paid the price: 1:06, 1:14, 1:17, 1:16. I was not pleased at all, I did not beat my time from where I was 15, and got 4th place. 4:47 would have got me 3rd again and in a good day (and a smarter race strategy) think that might have been possible. Anyways, now I have something to gauge myself against in the next couple of months.

Ahh, the 50 fly. mmm... let just forget about th 50 fly shall we? To be honest I was tired, sore (from being out all day yesterday + openinig ceremonies + 400 2 hours before). I knew coming into the games that I have lots of endurance and not lots speed, so longer events are the ones I had more chance. 50 fly:terrible, 400 free:4th, 800 free:3rd. Next Saturday is the 3km Open water. Hopefully I do well on that one, I will make sure I rest in Melbourne the next 3 days.

Here are some pictures. Until Melborne or back in Sydney next weekend.


Bronze Medal Back


Bronze Medal Front


Youngest and Oldest Competitor of the Games (24yr+10months and 101yr+6months = 76yr+8months different "a lifetime")


Friends from Paraguay I met at the Opening Ceremonies


Darryl works in the same building in Vancouver! (I knew he was coming, we always chat in the change room as he also rides to work every day)


Downtown Sydney


Sydney Olympic Pool


The Harbour, ohh so pretty...

Facundo

New Swimsuit

Today I went for a swim in the morning and I found out that the speedo I was using for the last month in Australia is already wearing out! Chlorine levels are insane in the pools around here and have managed to go through my tri shorts and now my speedo. No wonder why the Speedo shop at the mall was all crazy about their Chlorine Resistant stuff and almost nothing of the regular old stuff...

Anyways, so today I had to make a decision as I am leaving for the World Master Games on Thursday (less than 2 days away here). I could either race with the slip I have (still in decent conditions) for the pool events, and maybe the open water or get something new (depending on what I found on the store). So I headed out to Harbour Town Outlet straight into the Speedo store. It was a relatively big store, and there was plenty of options. Jammers were about 45, drag shorts 40, speedos about 35, non chlorine resistant speedos 15! (I would almost say they are disposable...) Prices were not bad, and I was going to get a speedo with a pretty cool design, one that its not available in Canada for sure. I was about to make my decision and when I turn around I see the aisle with the Fastskins and LZR suits. Pretty cool, I had never seen the famous LZR before... Anyways, I looked at the price of the LZR and was 50% off, I guess since they are banning them starting January they just want to get rid of them ASAP. 50%off means it still costs 250$ for the full body, no way. They I turn into the FastSkin (FSII to be precise) which is the second best suit (used before the LZR came out). Surprise surprise, the price was down from 250$ to 59$ and until Saturday there was a 20% discount of the lowest marked price.

Right away I go to the sales lady and I ask:
q: aheemm, excuse me miss, is this really 59$ minus 20%?
a: yes, it works out to be 47.20 with taxes...

Result: We found the size, I squished myself into it, liked it, bought it.

The suit will be banned in January 2010 (the list has not come out yet, but pretty sure). Unlike the LZR, the material of the FSII is approved by FINA, however starting in 2010 mens suits are only allowed to be below the belly button and above the knees (ie: jammers. And yes, I asked in the store for jammers but there was nothing!) Anyways, I dont really care. I had to buy something and it was going to cost me the same as a speedo, so I got it. I am dying to try it in the water! Here is what I got:


FSII Full


This is exactly the model I got, just the male version =)

Another advantage I see is that for the open water race we are not allowed wetsuits (well, we are but then we dont qualify for medals) so I was going to have to suck it up and race in my speedo no matter what temperature Sydney water decides to be on the 18th. Now with this I will at least have a "second skin" which might (or might nor) keep me warmer and still qualify for medals. Great!

Anyways, that is it for now. Last 2 days I was on the egde of getting sick but today I am feeling much better. Taking it easy tomorrow and then off to Sydney Thursday. I will probably post from there next.

Facundo

PS: ohhh yeahh... one more advantage of the full suit, I am not shaving!!! Once again, I manage to evade the razor.

Cairns

A picture is worth 1000 words, and at this moment I am way too tired to write something consistent so here are the pics! (maybe I will write on it later - maybe not =P )


Tour Breakfast


In the falls


Tour Bus full of Crazy Irish


Cape Tribulation - Daintree Forest (the oldest in the world - World Heritage Site)


Stefano and I (met him on the plane and ended hanging out for 4 days)


A very cheap version of Tarzan


Great Barrier Reef 1


Great Barrier Reef 2


Great Barrier Reef 3


Great Barrier Reef 4


Great Barrier Reef 5 (yes, that is me - awesome!)


Great Barrier Reef 6


Great Barrier Reef 7


Great Barrier Reef 8

Facundo