Life in the world of Nuno Costa

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Trip down under

This has been quite an interesting trip so far...
I'll write some highlights tomorrow with details, but for now all is well- I arrived in new Zealand and I have a feeling this is going to be an amazing place to spend the next 9 days :)

How fast time flies - it's been over a week since I have been gone, and I haven't been very good about updating the world on what i have been up to.

Here's the highlights so far: left San Diego last Tuesday night, jet to LA and direct to Auckland, NZ where I had a 6 hour layover, I didn't realize this until the week I was leaving which is when I got into action.  I remembered Darren from CF games last year and touched base with him via facebook. Let's just say this was the best layover ever.   He was awesome to pick me up from the airport, we went to CF NZ right away and I felt right at home and within a few minutes of being there we were already plotting a workout.   A great met-con of front squats and ring push ups later we were both feeling pretty good about getting that done!  If that wasn't the best thing, just wait- we then jumping into the ocean and since it's summer here in this part of the world it was a very special treat.  It gets better though- before heading back to the airport went to darren's pad and he made a super delicious gigantic paleo omelette - what a treat!!!!!  Before you know it we were headed back to the airport - I really couldn't have imagined a better way to spend my 6 hour layover than this - completely unexpected, and totally a kick ass way to start this amazing trip.

From auckland to Perth it's another 7 hour flight - and if you are doing the math the total travel time is now up to 30 hours by the time I arrived in Perth.  The weather here was incredible, and I was picked up at the airport by Jason from 'the cell' which is the original Crossfit in Perth.  It was super nice of him to come and pick me up and drop me off at the hotel I had booked which was about 45 minutes away- more on this later :)

I lost a day in the traveling, not literally but considering the time difference, perth is 16 hours of SD which meant I arrived at my hotel early evening on Thursday.  I was staying in Scarborough Beach at a place about 5 minute walk to the water.  This was definitely one of the perks, but the place I stayed was not the nicest in the world - let's just say that I made due with what I had :)

The plan was to stay until Wednesday the 26th in Perth, and I'd be coaching all day saturday and Sunday, which left me with Friday and Monday and Tuesday to get settled and explore.  Jason & Carol were absolutely amazing incredible during my stay in Perth, they came and picked me up every day and took me anywhere I wanted to go - super outstanding individuals that showed me some great hospitality.  I ended up working out at the cell everyday I wasn't coaching which was a blast since I got to meet a lot of their community and it's no wonder why they've been so successful -  they really care about their members and quality is preached across the board in all they do!

The course over the weekend went really well- had people from all over, including someone from japan!   I love the international courses because everyone is super eager to learn.  The course was held at SF Gym (West Coast Crossfit), and it was a great space for it.  We had a parking garage we could use without interruptions, which made it fantastic for the drills and such.  

Notable about Perth - city is very expensive, I came thinking it'd be cheaper than US and was shocked the average meal eating out was somewhere between $25-$35 I suppose that's what happens when you are isolated from the rest of the world, you have to import everything and it drives up the prices for everything. The beaches are incredible, I went for a great run on Monday morning up the coast only to be greeted by the super strong winds on the way back, which made the run very mentally challenging - great training for my ironman:) Perth as a city can get very windy, but the warm temperatures made it very nice.

that about does it in terms of highlights so far, aside from everything I decided to buy myself an iPad before I left which I had been considering for quite sometime.  Before the trip I debated whether to bring my laptop or not, I decided to keep it at home.  It's been an adjustment so far but totally able to manage without laptop, there have been a few instances where it would have certainly been convenient, but I have made due without and it's much lighter on my backpack carryon :)

One of the best things about taking a trip is having time to reflect about where I am at in life, but that's another post in itself - let's just say that I have been reading 'the four hour workweek' and super inspired and dreaming big like I never have before!!!!!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Bumble Bee 5K

My last race of 2010 - I ran the Bumble Bee 5k yesterday and here's how it went...

My garmin said that I finished in 18:13, and i think the official time was 18:15, not sure yet as the results have yet to post.

This is a pretty good time, about where I have been running for the past couple of years, but I was disappointed with my performance and here's why....

The morning was nice, a bit cold, but the sun was out - not bad racing conditions, i think temperature at the time of the race was low 50s.  Gun went off and I was near the front - I was wearing my garmin and set my pace zones for 5:31 - 5:54  - last year I ran this race and finally broke the 18 minute mark with a blazing 17:55  - I was pretty stoked with this performance.  That was the first race I used the garmin and it really helped me be more consistent in the race instead of going out too fast during the first mile.

So what happened yesterday - I went out at a pretty good pace, my first mile was 5:29, my second mile a bit slower which is typical at 5:55 and my last mile was 6:05.  Normally my 2nd mile is slower and I am able to pick up the last mile and finish strong - yesterday this was not the case.

I could say that the wind was a factor, at the turn around point it was definitely notable on the way back.  The sun was also starting to get real hot at that point and I definitely felt my system overheating believe it or not, but the truth is that I gave up.  Something happened, not sure exactly what it was - but mentally I found it difficult to stay dialed in during the last mile, as a few runners were going by my I had no drive to want to stay with them, which is highly unusual and unlike me.

Could it have been because I wasn't completely rested - maybe, I worked out hard sunday-tuesday with a couple of double days, took wednesday off and had a great massage in the morning, so was I properly rested?  Maybe, maybe not...This was not an A race for me, but it was certainly a race I was looking to run fast and potentially PR - could I have run under 18 minutes again - most definitely, I am super confident that if I would have picked up the last 400-800 meters I could have easily done so, but I didn't want to.   As I saw the finish line I was beat, mentally and physically - I couldn't recruit the energy to get into that extra gear I've been known to get before, oh well.  I was mentally defeated too - I could tell this was happening and the frustration/disapointment came on fast.  I knew when I passed the 3 mile marker I could go into a super fast sprint and potentially gotten under 18 minutes - but it just didn't happen yesterday.

I started this post yesterday, and just now finishing it - i looked up the official times and here they are:

http://www.y-events.com/10bumble5k.htm

It turns out my official time was 18:11 and I finished in 6th place in my age group and 35th overall in a race close to 1500 people.  No place to be disappointed, but this is what I call a character building day.