April 14th, 2011
I did it!! I really did it!!
After 7 hours and 43 minutes of grueling muscle strain, I crossed the finish line.
And it felt good. It felt REAL good!
I was definitely far from anything even remotely related to a podium position (hell, even the free pizza was finished by the time I was done), but I did not care at all. I was not there to win. I was there to complete the race!
The lack of proper training was felt throughout the day.
The swim was pretty hard, especially trying to fight the current that was pushing us outwards, but I managed to do a personal best and finished within less than 50 minutes.
The bike was ride was challenging, mainly because of the strong winds, even though the whole course was flat. It's funny, about 10 miles in the ride, I remembered that I had not done a proper, 30+ mile ride for more than a month. The last couple of weeks I had focused on running and swimming, so the bike took its toll, both on my butt and on my back. It took me 3 hours and 40 minutes, which was longer than I wanted, but it was no big deal.
The run was the part I was dreading the most. I hate running, I am not good at it, I do not enjoy it and I have never in my life run more than 6 miles in one go. You can imagine how daunting it seemed to have to run a half marathon after having already exercised for 4 and a half hours. Surprisingly enough, when I started running, I realized that the muscles required for the run were still practically untouched. That increased my self confidence significantly and was ready the last few hours of sweat.
It really did prove to be the hardest part. By about mile 7 I was in pain all over. By mile 10 my chest felt like it was going to explode. The last mile was simply neverending. My legs just did not want to cooperate anymore and I was begging for it to end.
And then, I saw the last stretch. 100 yards to the finish line and suddenly, out of nowhere, this burst of energy pushed me to start sprinting like a mad man and finally bringing me across the other side of the finish line. You can see this actually in the short video below.
April 8th, 2011
Fully equipped!
Swim cap
Swim goggles
Swim ear plugs
Swim ear (in case I do get any water in there)
Biking jersey
Bike shorts
Helmet
Timing watch
Deodorant (I will *definitely* need that!)
Water bottle
Gatorade mix
2 packs of Vitamin C (extra breakfast immune-system boost)
Whey Protein (part of my post-race recovery)
Hand blender (for the lazy ones)
Energy bars (more than enough)
Energy gels (shitloads!)
One band aid (probably worthless)
Spare tube
Tire levers
Micro inflator (did you think I'll carry a whole pump with me?)
2 CO2 canisters (juuust in case...)
Bike computer (gotta know how fast I'm going)
Running shoes
Running socks (yes, special ones)
Baseball cap (haven't worn one for years!)
A pimp cane (in case I am unable to walk afterwards)
And of course, MY BIKE!
The big day is finally here. I am only a few hours away from my 70.3 Ironman race.
After months of grueling training, waking up at 5am almost every day, healthy nutrition...
WHO AM I KIDDING???
Sure, I have been "preparing" for this race since September, but my preparation has been far more mental than anything else. My training has been far from the typical training scheduled recommended for an Ironman challenge. I have not been exercising 15 hours a week. Perhaps closer to 4-5. I have not been depriving myself from the simple pleasures of a chocolate cake or a juicy burger. I have not been keeping a steady sleeping pattern as I supposedly should.
And yet, do I feel ready? ABSOLUTELY!
Just because I have not been training like a mad man, does not mean I've been getting my exercise through watching the Health & Fitness channel. I've been swimming, running, biking (with my new baby) and doing everything within my grasp without putting the rest of my life on hold. At this point, I do have to say that the biggest benefit of my fitness came through boot camps training. I joined a local group called Synergy Fitness thanks to a friend's recommendation and it was the best thing I could have done. I would go as often as possible, to get my arse kicked every afternoon in the park, but a couple of months down the line, I could already see a huge difference!
More than anything though, I've been trying to prepare myself mentally. I remind you, this is something that always seemed to be beyond my reach. I never saw myself capable of even attempting it, yet I am about to make it a reality. The past 2 weeks I have been focusing on nothing but calming down, visualizing the finish line and convincing myself I can do this. I will not fail! If I have to crawl and bleed in order to cross that finish line, I will! I have faith in myself and my abilities and that's all that matters!
Time now to put it all to use! I have all my necessary gear ready and the only thing separating me from the toughest challenge I have ever taken up is a few hours of sleep.
Sunday. 7am. 1.2mile swim, 56mile bike ride, 13.1 mile run.
I've never done anything like this before. It's about to happen!
Wish me luck!
M.
February 13th, 2010
It's been already almost 4 months since my last post here. It's insane, it doesn't feel that long...
I had left you off at the 85-mile ride to San Antonio. Yeap, that went great. 5 hours later, we were at the brewery bash in San Antonio, not as sore and tired as we were expecting! It was a very fun ride!
What I didn't tell you was that that ride was pretty much a self-test. I wanted to see how I would cope with such a long ride and I handled it like a pro! (Well, maybe not quite like a pro, but you get the point...) So now that I have passed that test, I decided to sign up for my first triathlon ever. And not just any triathlon. A half Ironman.
10th of April is the date. 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, 13.1 miles run. For the metric system people, that's 1.93km / 90.1km / 21km respectively. Have I ever done anything like that? NOPE! Am I physically fit enough to do that? NOPE! Do I have any chance of winning? NOPE! Will I finish the race? YES!!! I will most likely be in immense pain and will suffer for a week after the event, but I will cross that damn finish line!
I'm doing this more than anything because I wanted a reason to be exercising a bit more, but I was lacking motivation. I'm not the kind of person who is going to wear running shoes, shorts and a bandana and run 5 miles just for the hell of it. I don't really enjoy it all that much, and especially when it comes to running, I hate it. So I needed a purpose. And even more so, I needed to do something that I don't believe I can actually do. Something to challenge myself with. I always used to watch triathlons on the TV and would think "How in the world are they doing this?!?!?". So here I am, ready (ready. ha. whatever) to do my first (and perhaps only) half ironman challenge. The ones of you that know me well know that I don't half ass things. It's all or nothing and this falls within the all category.
Other than all this fitness stuff, my life has been revolving around my photography and improv theater and that's just about it.
When it comes to photography, I have by now decided that the previous types of work I used to do are simply not fulfilling enough. I love photography. This is what I'm best at and as long as I have a camera in my hand, I don't care how long my work hours are. So I decided to pursue it 100%. All my time and effort goes into that and it's slowly but steadily paying off.
As for improv, I saw a couple of shows, loved it and decided to get into it. At the end of the day, I'm being the same silly, random person I always am, but this time on stage and people actually buy tickets to come and see me! Who would have ever thought?!?!
After about 9 months of classes, I've fallen completely in love with that art form and it really takes up ALL of my free time. I don't really socialize much, I don't go out, I don't spend full days at the park any more. And best part of it all is that I wouldn't change it for anything!!
Most confusing thing is to see how much I have changed since my time in Argentina. Over there, I wouldn't care about anything. It was all about having a good time. People, parties, friends, good food, juggling, more parties, more craziness, shitloads of couchsurfers, gather around and drink and the beat goes on... Now, none of that. And I don't even miss it. It was undoubtably 2 of the best years of my life and I treasure the memories dearly, but that's not me any more. I don't care about hanging out with lots of people right now, I don't meet an army of new faces every day. I will often sit in a cafe and work on my photos, or practice improv in one way or another, or just sit at home and chill a bit. My preferences have changed drastically since I moved to the US! All I want to be doing is to be taking photos and to be on stage. It's a little bit surprising to me too, but this is really what keeps me happy right now and only the next adventure will change it.
You have all probably figured out by now that this blog won't be getting updated quite so often as it used to any more. Or not at all, I guess. I've been focusing all my energy and time into all these aforementioned things, that I have not been able to write anything significant. And let's face it. This is more of a travel blog and the amount of travel I do right now is negligible. I'm a permanent resident of Austin, TX (me. Resident in the USA. I *never* saw that one coming!) and I intend on keeping it that way, because this city rocks much more than any of you could possibly imagine! I've also been working on another project of mine, called Do You Know Austin?. Check it out, you might like it.
So yeah, you won't be hearing much of me through here. Not till I decide again to move on to another continent at least. Every now and then I'll probably be posting something random, but at the end of the day, most of you know how to find me. And if you don't, just ask. :)
See ya around.
M.
September 24th, 2010
I had the genius idea of singing up for a free bike ride called "Bike to the Bash". Ok, so the idea was not mine. A friend suggested it, but I did not hesitate. It's a ride to San Antonio, where the cyclists will end up at the "Bash at the brewery", a live music event organized by the Lone Star brewery.
Being a free event, with free entry to the concert, it was a matter of signing up and hoping you would get selected the day they would pick the names out of the hat. And it seems, I was one of the lucky cyclists who will be joining the ride.
So, here I am, ready to join the ride tomorrow. 
Bike ready CHECK
Camelbak filled with Gatorade CHECK
Clothes ready CHECK
Glasses CHECK
Bandana CHECK
Ride wristband CHECK
Tyre repair tools CHECK
Energy gel shots CHECK
Phone, ID, money CHECK
Timing watch CHECK
iPod CHECK
I think I got everything covered... Now, why all this preparation, you're gonna ask. Well, San Antonio is not exactly down the road. In fact, it is an 80 mile (129km) distance from here to our final destination. All 165 of us will be setting off precisely at 7am, intending to get there some time in the afternoon. So yes, I do need to be prepared.
Am I nuts? Probably! Hell, I don't even like the music they'll be playing at the festival. I'm only going for the fun of it and to see how I'll cope with such a long bike ride. Luckily, another friend is also on the ride, so we'll get some good laughs in.
Time now is 8.30pm and I'm going to bed already, because I got a 5am wake up call ahead of me. I'll keep you posted if I survive this.
M.
10/07/2010
It's been ages since my last post, I know. A lot of things happened in the past 2-3 months, which, to be honest, I am not going to write about. So, if you already know about all the things I've been up to lately, great. If not, then you are probably not even supposed to know.
A bit more than a week ago, D. and I boarded Charlie to embark on a relatively short road trip.
Ultimate destination: Huntsville, Alabama.
Her mom was throwing a surprise party for her dad, so we were going to be part of the surprise.
We set off on Thursday the 1st. To get there, we covered just over 1300 kilometers but before arriving, we stopped at Birmingham for a couple of nights, to see a few friends.
Somewhere in Texas. Agreed, 4th of July was closing in, but still... On cupcakes???
We found this representation of a hanging on the side of a highway. Crazy thing, it was part of the landscaping of a lawyer's office!
Found an Athens in Texas.
And then one in Alabama.
The pig is a local landmark for Alabama.
So is Hooters and its educational events...
Did you know that Birmingham has a beach??
When we made it to Huntsville, the "What The Fuck???" moments kept pouring in... Huntsville is known for many memorable elements.
Big shopping centers.
Delicious beverages.
Life changing questions.
And its rocket and space program history.
Seriously, there are rockets on the side of the interstate.
You don't see that every day!
The welcoming committee?
The party was a great success, her parents were happy to see us, we stayed 2 days and then we went on our way. Now, having plenty of time to get back, we decided to avoid the interstates and drive back through backroads and small towns. Keep in mind, we are talking about some of the most stereotypical "southern" states one can visit. Driving through the small, unknown town of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and East Texas is not something to be taken lightly. Time has indeed stopped in many of those places.
However, that does not mean we digressed from the WTF theme of this trip.
A giant crawfish in Alexandria, Louisiana. Mind you, the whole city seemed to be "closed for remodeling", a sign many stores decided to decorate their fronts with.
Back in Texas. (Making sure nobody misses it.)
A police car in Jasper, Texas! (?!?!?!?)
A choo-choo train in College Station, Texas.
It was a short trip with immense amounts of fun, but I'm happy to be back in Austin. :)
M.
20/04/2010
Some of you may remember of the farewell party I had thrown when I was leaving Austin back in October. It had taken place in TC's lounge, my favorite live music venue.
Now that I am back in Austin, my arrival could not possibly be official without a welcome back party. So, I organised a "fare-welcome back" party, again at TC's. It just so happened that the very same day was the national "Draw a moustache on your finger" day. So, I put on my best enhanced facial hair
and off I was to shake my booty at TC's, along with a bunch of my good friends!
Indeed, there was a lot of sillyness, dancing, jumping (we nearly broke the damn dance floor), laughing and general merry behavior.
It's official! I am now a newly-born Austinite! :D
M.
20/03/2010
March 12th till March 21st is when SXSW takes place in Austin. It is a huge event festival, combining interactive technology, film and music at the same time. We're talking about a festival like no other. The whole city turns into one big venue. People rent out parking lot to turn them into concert halls. Tens of thousands of people start flocking into Austin and we end up living in the middle of a gigantic concert venue. It's terrific and terrifying at the same time.
On the last saturday of the events, I went to shoot some bands playing at a free event downtown. By the time I got there, Andrew W.K. was coming up on stage. Once he began to sing, I immediately got a good idea of what kind of music all bands were gonna be playing, and so will you after seeing a couple of the photos below.
I climbed up a tree to have a perfect clear view of the stage and despite the freak cold that had attacked Austin that day (and that day only), it was well worth it.
After this fella, it was time for the headliners to make their appearance. Now, have you ever heard of the band called "Gwar"? If not, google them and you'll get an idea of who they are.
In brief, it is a rock band that made its appearance during the 80s and immediately took the crowds by surprise with their "intense" and "creative" stage appearance.
What we have here is a group of guys dressed up in huge, sci-fi, horror costumes (one of them was wearing a strap-on that had an amputated turkey leg for a penis) who perform all sorts of obscenities on stage, while singing trash metal and spraying fake blood on the crowd that is going wild!
The show was hilarious. Their music... not quite my cup of tea...
M.
Just hold it right there for 10 minutes or so...
Author: M. / Labels: Austin, figure drawing, Texas, USA10/03/2010
About three weeks ago, D. and I were invited to pose for a figure drawing session. The costume theme was to be along the lines of caveman/cavewoman and Sparta.
Neither of the two of us ever misses out on things like this, so we gladly accepted, we prepared our costumes and off we went.
Within a time frame of two hours, we switched between a number of poses, varying from being one minute long to 10 minutes longs.
Here are some of the ones we did...
And here is one of the sketches done by one of the designers.
We had some good laughs, did our silly thing once again and I learnt something new: G-strings are seriously uncomfortable!!!
M.
14/03/2010
...so I decided to share these thoughts with you.
It's been already a month that I've been back to Austin and my life is slowly taking some sort of shape and form. Everything is working out beautifully and every single day feels new and exciting. I must say, some aspects of life here are not as easy as I would have expected, but all in all, I can't complain.
The weather is beautiful and it's incredibly pleasing to drive down a road amongst nothing but trees, with the windows winded down to allow the breeze on to my face, just to go to a water-front cafe and do some work on my laptop.
I have discovered how accessible the river is to go kayaking on it. Being inside a small kayak on the river, while still located in the heart of the city and gazing up to the tall buildings is absolutely surreal.
I have many new, good friends who constantly introduce me and invite me to new, fascinating activities and help me achieve my goals.
Every day I discover something new about me and explore a new aspect of living.
I am proud to be able to say that I currently live in what seems to be *by far* the most inspiring, alive and joyful city I have ever lived in!
Considering all this, how can I not be happy? :)
You should all come and visit me and see for yourself what I'm talking about.
For now, I will leave you with a photo from last friday's burlesque show, at which my friend M. asked me to participate as a guest appearance. Actually, I was more like one of her stage props...
It is exactly what it looks like! :p
M.
23/02/2010
Yesterday, monday, is was a bright, sunny day. I was walking slowly through the streets, observing the houses around me, squinting all the day due to the sun's powerful rays.
This is how Austin decided to smile at us this morning:
Someone earlier told me:
"we get snow from time to time but it doesn't stick"
Right.......
M.
02/19/2010
During the past 6 months I traveled through 28 of the 50 US states. As you can imagine, I came across a number of signs at times that cracked me up. I now present you with the ones I was able to take a photo of.
Evolution finally explained
They made us do it!
Long gone are the days that we only needed to worry about bird droppings
We focus on your psychological issues, rather than the physical ones
Did I mention I am also tasty?
A friendly reminder, just in case you're forgetting
You'll be part of his personal collection
Not if you're a carrot it ain't!
No exceptions!
As dedicated locksmiths, we provide music and we feed you. Oh yeah, we cut keys too.
Bring your daughter...
Dirty, dirty taco!
Will do, thank you very much!
My mom is gonna show you how it's done!
The 10th one was too hungover to care.
Just in case you needed an excuse.
Proud slags of the world, unite!
This is where snow usually cruises by.
If you have asthma, you are not allowed in this school.
Talk about setting your priorities straight!
To munimetro (for all the greeks out there)
A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do!
...to be mugged by you!
You're not fooling anyone really...
$100 fine for thought of parking here
Wow! This lawn is really great indeed!
Yeap. That's how it usually works.
Because failed actors will always have a job with PETA.
Please respect our local birdies wishes.
M.
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