Anytime I tell folks that I am going to Hawaii they think this is a vacation. 'Lucky you Luis!' they say. No one can blame them for thinking that way. We see it on TV all the time. Hawaii means beaches, fun, surf and barely clothed people. I am here to tell you that for this guy that is as far from reality and possible. I am going to Hawaii to work. The only fun part for me is the swims on the Ironman course. But perhaps the most difficult and stressful part for me is just getting there. Organizing the team, organizing the booth, arranging the team breakfast and our team activities are all additional tasks on top of my regular coaching. Did I mention our credit card processing company changed software and I have to program the thing by Monday or our web site will not let our athletes purchase training programs? Well that is true, get your programs now while you still can :-). Once I get to Kona the week flies by very fast. Each day I have a full schedule. Then once we get to the condo we have to write our stories for the web site, then hit the sack before midnight hopefully. This year I will bring stories to you from Kona with some photos right here in my blog. One thing is for sure, next year this will be different. There is no way I can do all this and race. It is too stressful for this guy. Are you readig this Mark?

Stress is definitely one of the things that can ruin a race for anyone. Stress raises your heart rate, it also inhibits your ability to burn fat by firing the adrenal system. Stress has also been linked to sodium depletion which leads to cramping. Try to minimize stress in your life. This is a good thing for anyone to practice and more so for an athlete trying to perform during a race. Stress also ages all of us. Look at pictures of our presidents just prior to being president and after. The difference is incredible; they look much older than just the years in office. I should mention that although there are stressful situations in life, that is not the problem. The problem is how we handle the situation creating the stress. 60 minutes (TV show) did a feature where a woman working with handicapped under high stress did not show any aging because of her demeanor. She smiled a lot and was very patient. Then it showed pictures of other people that let their situations get to them. These people looked much older than their chronological years.

So I have been much stressed this week and my training has been very short but consistent. I have done 20 minute runs, 1 hour trainer ride and short swims. I just got back from the pool where I swam 2000 yards. I am basically tapering but trying to stay consistent. Consistency is the key to avoiding injury. Next time I’ll be posting from Kona. Aloha and Mahalo.