Strength Training

Hello in this post I would like to let you know some of the strength training Ive been doing lately. Usually 2-3 times per week and about 30 minutes long after a run that way I already have my muscle warmed up.  Back in February I bought a TRX for my girlfriend and after watching her doing some of the exercises I decided to give it a try. The first couple of times it was very hard and the following day I would feel very sore witch meant that it actually works. Because its simple to carry and to work with, its very convenient to have it and all you need is a door or some thing where you can hang it from. Since I live right in front of a soccer field I usually hang it from the goalie post. Here are some photos of the exercises I do to work my core. You can youtube for some videos and a detail explanation on how to use it properly or just go to their website. I think is a great tool for triathletes with a tight schedule since all you really need is about 20-30 minutes per session and it will keep you FIT ;)

Chest and arms

one leg squads

side to side 

push ups

one leg lunges

Hope you give it a try at your local gym or at home and that it works for you.

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