Back on The REV3 Podium!!!!

The Podium

Hola Pura Vida!!!
For the 2nd year in a row I finished 2nd, this time behind Cam Dye from Boulder. I dove to Guanacaste on friday from my home here in Cartago, I'm about 300 km but it took me 6hrs to get there. I stayed at the Flamingo Marina Resort, very nice place but if you are planning on staying there in the future please ask for a room as far as possible from the monkey bar, the live band plays until pretty late and they are good but not what you want to listen the night before your race. This hotel is about 6-8km from race site. I woke up at 4am on race morning and drove to the race site, once again REV had a great set up and transition was easy to get to.

At the Briefing keeping the Ordu close by at all times

On your marks

The race started at 6am and having quick swimmers in the field meant I needed a quick start or the race would have been over. A pack of about 5-6 of us form in the front and we stayed together for the entire swim with Fleishmann and Dye pushing in the front.

T1

 Once we got to the bike we had about 300 meters to get our shoes on until you get to a gravel section of about 200 meters and then the mile long climb.  At this climb the pack broke  and to the top only 3 of us were together, Dye, Chacon and myself.  Once we got to the top Dye broke away solo and put the hammer down. I stayed behind with chacon in 3rd for pretty much the entire bike. We got caught by 3 other riders by the end of the bike and we got off the bike pretty close to each other but by then Dye had already a 3 minute lead and was out of reach.

Running with Leo Chacon on the Beach

I got to the run and started to make a lot of ground, ran with chacon and then foster for a while and I got myself back into 2nd place at this point, I knew that I couldn't catch Dye and that 3rd place was still a bit behind so I slowed down and enjoyed the running on the sand.  Im happy with my performance this time of year this is a tough course and I was able to stay strong all the way through. Now back to Puerto Rico for a bit before I head to Sydney.

Girlfriend showing her bling

My Girlfriend also had a good day winning the Half Rev !!!!!


check out the race recap video here:

https://vimeo.com/38729194


my post race interview here :

https://vimeo.com/38732013

Taking out the Ordu for a ride with my Shimano's

At the Monkey Bar in my hotel

Breakfast!!!!

Going Swimming

The Piscina

The Other Piscina

Team Argentina

Teletica Interview

Here is a link from the national tv station here in Costa Rica that interview me prior to the REV3 :

Entrevista en teletica antes de la carrera:

http://www.teletica.com/teleticadeportes/detalle.php?id=124598

The Countdown to REV3 Costa Rica

 I arrived about a week ago to Costa Rica and getting used to the altitude training has been a lot better this time around. I left Costa Rica back in november to go home and I'm now back here to prepare the Olympic trials and hopefully the Olympic Games as well and some of the major US non drafting races that I plan to do this season. The first one will be the REV 3 Costa Rica in the Guanacaste province about 3.5hr drive from where I live and last year I had a good race finishing 2nd behind local hero and training partner Leo Chacon. This time around there will be a higher level of pro field  and Im looking forward to get back there and race. My Orbea Ordu with my shimano components and wheels are ready to rock the costa rican hills. Being one of the biggest sporting events in the country this past weekend we were invited to a press conference  and here are some of the photos.

Elite Athlete of the Year!!!!!

Today I got the great news that I was named the Athlete of the year by USAT. I will like to thank my family, friends , coach and sponsors who supported me last season and I know that 2012 will be even better. Im heading to Costa Rica on tuesday where I will start my altitude training until May.  I have the REV 3 Costa Rica in a couple of weeks and then the Sydney World Series in April.

Ill keep you posted on how training is going.

ciao

here is USAT's Link :

http://www.usatriathlon.org/news/articles/2012/3/030112-elite-aoy.aspx

Barbados ITU

Just got back from the caribbean from my 2nd race of the year. This was my first time in Barbados but felt just like where I was born. The weather, ocean swim  and the breeze on the beach was similar to the one in Cuba. I was impress with the Barbados race organization,  the race set up  was excellent. Sometimes traveling to small places or first year events, you can find many obstacles but that was not the case here they did an excellent job on hosting a good and safe event. To summarize my race, a small pack of 12-13 guys form after the one lap swim and we rode together for the entire bike. Once we got to the run small group of us four (unger, polyansky, chacon and myself) set the pace in front, running the first mile quick but then it clearly became a tactical run, I knew that it would come down to a sprint  since the wind picked up and none of us really wanted to set a strong or steady pace up front anymore.  The Russian surge a couple of times but could not get away and with about 100 meters to go we started sprinting. Unger won and Leo came in second, I finished 3rd and Polyansky 4th all of us within 5 seconds of each other. Over all Im happy with this podium, got the points I needed to secure a spot for Olympic Trials and also got to test my body again. Training is going well I'm healthy and ready to increase the milage. I will be traveling to Costa Rica very soon to start training with Chacon again at the volcano and also I will be racing the REV 3 Guanacaste in 4 weeks.

Ciao

Almost Home

Well its been 3 weeks since I left Puerto Rico and I'm heading back there next week for a couples of weeks,  before I go to Barbados for my second race of the season. I wasn't planning on racing there but because I did not perform well in La Paz and I want to keep my ranking high enough to get into San Diego WCS and be able to put a good block of training afterwards in Costa Rica without having to travel or to chase points  around I will race in this small Caribbean island on February the 12th. Then I will get ready for the REV3 Costa Rica on March 18th a non drafting Olympic where I place 2nd last year and start an altitude camp all the way until San Diego.  Training here in Argentina has been tough, its very hot (30-36 C) and windy but I love it here. Ive been watching a lot of soccer  and eating tons of gluten as well :)

anyways hope your training is going excellent as well    ciao :)

PATCO Champs

Just arrived to Bahia Blanca in the Argentinean Patagonia where I'll be staying for the next couple of weeks for some warm weather training. After a disappointing finish at la paz (14th) I now will resume my training back again to get ready for the next races. Showing up half fit due to a break I took in November-December was the reason of this performance. A few months ago I was able to hang with the guys that podium but that was not the case now, my priority now is the big race in San Diego and by then I'll be ready to race the best guys in the US again. I'm very happy with the organization, the town and all my friends from la paz it was great being there and I enjoy this race a lot.  Soon ill be posting some photos and videos that my girl friend Piri took while there.

also you can read two interviews they made about me and the race prior to the event one from the New York Times in English and another one from the local Parana newspaper in Spanish:

NEW YORK TIMES

El Diario PARANA


here is a a video from a camera that the Triamax crew set up on my bike:

www.triamax.com

One Week to Go/ Se viene La PAZ!!!!

In about a week I will be heading back to Argentina. This year La Paz ITU will be the Pan American Championships and it will score double points crucial for a 3rd US Olympic Spot. Some of the best athletes from South America will be racing there and since its summer time down there it will be very hot. I'm excited to be back there to race and to meet again many of my Argentinians friends. After that I will travel back to Puerto Rico.

Click Here to read about it on Triathlon.org

Ill keep you posted on how it goes.


later

some photos of my 2008 victory there !!!!!

New Year= New Website

Hi all

Check out my new website, Im still working on a couple of things it but its almost finished.

here is the link www.manuelhuerta.com

Happy new year to all of you

Kids Tri Clinic

Two days ago I was invited to the Jewish Community Center in North Miami Beach to give out a presentation/ triathlon clinic to two 8-10 years olds afternoon classes. It reminded me a lot of when I was a swimming coach back in college and I enjoyed a lot  teaching them some drills for their near future kids Triathlon.  We also talked about the challenges you have to overcome to be one of the best athletes in country/world or even if you want to take on another type of professional career how they will need full commitment. After that we had some fun relay races at the community pool where i did loose to all of them :)

enjoy the photos courtesy of sandra and her husband mike.

The Swim Band

Hi All

In this post I'm going to talk a bit about an inexpensive piece of equipment that I use a lot in my swimming. I started using it back when I was training with Sutton and every time I feel like I get weak in the water I put it on and use it for a couple of swim sessions. Its very simple, if you have a bike inner tube that you flatted just cut it small enough so that you can tie it around around ankles.

A couple of sets that I like to do  are :

2x(10x100 with paddles and band and a 500 easy) with a short rest in between 100's

another set is

3x( 8x50's  band only with a 200 easy)  with 20 seconds rest in between 50's  but all out.

this of course after a good warm up, if you are a beginner and feel like you cant do it try it first with a pull buoy around your legs and once your arms/shoulders get stronger then you can move on without the pull buoy.  The trick here so that your legs don't sink is to do a dolphin kick every time you breath, sink your head into the water more than you are use to and pick up your stroke cadence, this will be great strength workout that you can keep using it all season long.

Guatape World Cup

Hi all

here is a late race report from the Guatape World Cup, this race was in the mountains outside Medellin Colombia, this was the first time for me racing at altitude (2000 meters high). After Pan Ams games my left knee got swollen and i wasn't able to run for those 2 weeks prior to the race but because we needed the points to secure a 3rd spot I gave it a go and tried my best. The days leading to the race  the weather was perfect and the bike was very hilly something that i could had used to my advantage due to my weight. The night before the race everything changed, as it started to rain really hard causing mudslides and ITU had to change the course to sprint distance. The wetsuit swim and the short and now flat bike course kept us together except on the last lap when some of the guys crash and the peloton broke up. I had a good T2  and took off on the run sitting in 4-5 place for most of the run, with a mile to go I felt that I wasn't as strong as two weeks ago due to my lack of running and ended up in 9th. Overall this was an ok race, I got back home and rested for two weeks. Guatape was a pretty small town and hopefully I'll get to race there again someday.

 photos courtesy of ITU

coming soon

coming soon my off season report!!!!

We recently moved to Puerto Rico, where my wife and I decided to live. So far so good in the caribbean!!!!

Pan American Games!!!!!!

After a two day trip to Puerto Vallarta ,one day to go to houston for USOC stuff and then down to mexico we arrived to the tourist mexican city. USAT had a very good set up, with the best staff members that anyone could ask for and in a sweet condo with a great ocean view. I stayed with my two roomies Mark and Matt and other than training the days prior to the race we just hang out and watch TV.

 Race day came and to be honest I wasn't nervous at all I kept my cool as i knew that i could rely on my two team mates if anything went wrong. I kept towards the front during the swim and on the last 300 meters a little gap opened up.

quick T1 and we chase for about a lap with matt and mark doing most of the job as the canadians and brazilians had a guy each up in the 5 man break. once we caught up it was a chess game no one got away and the race was controlled by canada, brasil and us. the last km was the quickest as i got on marks wheel and he lay down a 53km an hour sprint to get to T2 first and that turned out very good.

Brent from canada went out very quick and Rei the brazilian and I just followed him the temperature was rising very high and humidity was in the 80-90%. Once we pretty much knew that the medals would come out from the 3 of us I decided to start surging to see how they react brent drop off a bit but Rei was sharp and stay on. with about 300 meter to go Rei was stronger and pulled away and won.

 well Pan American Games have been one of my greatest achievements in my athletic career. Earning the silver medal was a pretty cool experience!!!!

.
here is a link to the race highlights video:

http://esportes.terra.com.br/rumo-a-2012/videos/0,,386547.html


some race articles:

http://www.usatriathlon.org/news/articles/2011/10/102311-pan-am-games-recap.aspx

http://triathlon.competitor.com/2011/10/news/manny-huerta-earns-silver-at-pan-am-games_42319

photos:

http://www.usatriathlon.org/multimedia/media-center/pan-american-games-gallery.aspx

photos by: ITU/ rich cruse,  trimexico.com & brad carlson

Pan Am Games Silver Medal

 photo from ITU/ rich cruse

Race report coming soon!!!

Huatulco World Cup race report

 photos from ITU/ rich cruse

Hola !!!!

Huatulco has been one of the toughest races Ive done in my entire career. I arrived there on thursday with an ear infection that was giving me bad headaches and some ear pain . By sunday morning I felt a lot better  and was ready to go. The temperatures was in the 100's F and humidity was very high. The swim was in the ocean and the bike had a 20% hill that we climbed 8 times. So pretty much a survival race rather than a fast one. I knew that the pack in the bike would break up after every hill so i decided to stay towards the front of the pack the entire time. We came to T2 with about 50 seconds from the chasers and the front group was reduced to about 15 guys by the end of the bike. Once on the run I felt horrible very dizzy and legs were gone. I had to dig very deep to stay on it and moved myself to 6th by the end of the survival run. Overall Im happy with the race, two years ago I DNF here but this time I had my best result of the year so far in a World Cup. Im back in Costa Rica and I will be getting ready for the Pan American Games in two weeks this will be my first time representing my country at a major games and Im looking forward to it.

Huatulco World Cup

Hola a todos

In about a week I will be going back to Mexico for the Huatulco World Cup, a very tough race, hilly bike a really hot and humid run. Im back to 100% now and training is going well for this time of the season when my body is tired from the almost 10 month straight of training and racing around the world without resting. I wasnt able to go to nationals due to sickness at the last minute so opted for staying at home and train. Some of the guys that my coach Roberto coaches also arrived, Omar from Puerto Rico and the Guatemalans so we will have a good group for training for the next couple of weeks. All of them are preparing the Panamerican Championships.

This week my training was a bit less since I wasnt feeling well last week and I wanted to get the body back to full racing mode and do less quantity.

so on monday :

Easy 4.5k swim with easy run 45 min

tuesday
Swim race pace intervals (main set 400, 2x200, 6 x100) total 4k
build up run 1hr

wednesday
Swim 4.5km
Bike hilly 2hrs

thursday
Swim Speed day ( main set 2 times 5x75 hard /25 easy and some 25's all out) 4km total
Ran 45 min

Friday
Track, 2(1x1600, 2x1km, 2 x800) all at 5km speed  (miles at 4.44, 1k's at 2.55, 800 at 2.20)
spin a bit on the bike and 4km swim

Saturday
bike in the mountains 2.5hrs and easy swim afterwards

Sunday
brick bike/run
intervals for the bike after warm up 4x8min at 290 watts  and a run building up every 10 min

Huatulco's Beach

Ciao

Resting and Racing

Hola

This week I will be racing in Buffalo, NY for Elite Nationals. I never been there so it will be a new place to see. This will be my 3rd event of USAT's draft legal elite race series and probably my last one this year since I have to do two more World Cups and the finale of the 5150 in Clearwater. The week prior to an event I belive its one of the most important ones, you need to rest, hydrate and eat well. The travel is the most tricky one and it changes with every athlete, some like to arrive very early and some others the day before. I like to arrive early if the race is in another continent but for nationals i will be arriving on thursday for a saturday race. This week prior to a race i like to lower my training volume but keeping a high intensity in most of my workouts. Here are some of my key workouts this week:
Tomorrow Swim
total 4km  with main set 10x100 at race pace with short rest in between.

Bike
total 90 minutes
with a workout of 2x10 minutes. 1min on at race pace 1min off

For wednesday a 3.5km total swim with drills and some pulling and some sprints

and a run in the track total about 50 minutes with a workout of 3-4 x 1200 meters with 200 meters jog in between

thursday travel with a 30 min jog

friday just check out the race course and sunday race.

Whats for dinner ??

I would like to use this post to blog about one of my favorite and healthy meal that my girl friend Pieri makes around the house. I think you will like them so give it a try and let me know how it goes.

Quinoa with Chickpeas and Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 1 cup canned garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 pinch salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Place the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer, and rinse under cold, running water until the water no longer foams. Bring the quinoa, salt, and water to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Once done, stir in the garbanzo beans, tomatoes, garlic, lime juice, and olive oil. Season with cumin, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley to serve.               

should take less than 30 min to prep and cook we also added some pita bread