MICHAEL LOVATO | Professional Triathlete

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In an effort to do things differently in 2009, and with the ultimate goal of improving on my consecutive 9th-place finishes at Kona the past two years, my aim for the season has been to get faster: to work on my high-end speed, and to improve my swimming, biking and running, so I could compete with the fastest half Ironman athletes in the world. Part of that plan has entailed skipping an early-season Ironman—my favorite, IM Coeur d’Alene—so I would be fresher, faster, and fitter when the time comes to build for Hawaii.

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race report coming soon.

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Rev3 Tri was one GREAT event; you would never know it was a first-year race! Get out there and train for it in 2010; it is a TOUGH course! www.rev3tri.com

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How did I manage to wait this long to write the report?!? Not sure, but it must have had something to do with the long travel home from STX, the packing of the Austin apartment, the driving to Boulder, and the stops in Lubbock and Albuquerque along the way! Or I'm just slow. On to the Islands!

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Columbia Triathlon (Olympic distance triathlon)

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It's almost so late that it's irrelevant, but not quite. I figure I had better post a report prior to the next race, or it will be too late. Although I'm a big believer in the saying mas vale tarde que nunca! California 70.3 has been the unofficial season opener for Team Lovato for several years now. I raced the Ironman back in '01, and we have ventured out for the half five or six times. The race has become a favorite of mine, in part due to its challenging bike course, and in part due to its competitive field. My goals for the race were to blast out the cobwebs, as my last race was in October.

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Post-Underpants Run, I was feeling relaxed and ready to rumble. I had confidence in my build-up, and I knew I was ready to improve upon my 2007 Ironman. I had decided to implement a few new nutritional tricks to my routine, based on my, um, evacuation problems in the last three Ironmans I have done. This time around, my goal was to minimize time lost to porto-stops and poopy pants.

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Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon

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I went up to Idaho with an incredibly relaxed and confident attitude. I had forsaken the temptation of racing an early season Ironman for the first time in four years; I had trained well in Austin for four months, before doing a shorter Ironman build in Boulder; I was rested, I was fit, and I was motivated to race. The perfect storm was brewing for my best ever race.

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The week and a half prior to the event went very smoothly. Amanda and I established a great routine of getting up early every day, going to bed early every night, and eating very well for each meal. I'd say the preparation was perfect.

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I traveled to New Hampshire with Simon and his friend Alan. We had a pretty uneventful trip to Boston, and the drive up to Gilford was fairly painless. Both Simon and I were slated to talk at the "Dinner of Champions", along with a few other atheltes. We showed up at the Gunstock Ski Area with just enough time to register for the race, and get in line for some food. For those of you who have never raced this event, you owe it to youselves to someday make the trip.

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About five days have passed since the race up in Idaho, and I thank you all for tuning in for my report. I apologize for the delay, but I decided to take a bit of a step back before writing the report. I know I'm not the most prompt and timely person, but this was a calculated move, as I thought it would be fun to let things sink in even further, prior to summing up the details.

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The race at Disney has changed elements of its course each of the last four years, since its inception. The swim has remained the same, the bike has changed from year to year, and there have been three different run courses. In my opinion, this year's bike course was the best it's been, and the run was probably the toughest. I was very excited to try out my new blueseventy pointzero3 skinsuit for the race. I received it two days before the race, so I was able to swim in it one time on Saturday. It felt great, and I figured it was going to be a nice little aid for a faster swim. Even if most of the other pros are using the same suit, it still seemed like it would give me an edge!

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The race at Disney has changed elements of its course each of the last four years, since its inception. The swim has remained the same, the bike has changed from year to year, and there have been three different run courses. In my opinion, this year's bike course was the best it's been, and the run was probably the toughest. I was very excited to try out my new blueseventy pointzero3 skinsuit for the race. I received it two days before the race, so I was able to swim in it one time on Saturday. It felt great, and I figured it was going to be a nice little aid for a faster swim. Even if most of the other pros are using the same suit, it still seemed like it would give me an edge! The swim start went off pretty smoothly.

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The 2007 season is officially underway! Amanda and I traveled out to Oceanside, CA last week for the sixth running of the half ironman in the San Diego area. Having done the Ironman back in 2001, and having raced all but the 2002 version of the half, I have become very familiar with this race course.

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I'm finally back home in Boulder, and I've finally found my way to the computer, so I thought I'd send out the initial race report... who am I kidding? As long as I'm reporting, I might as well give the blow-by-blow version. Sit back and grab some popcorn, 'cause here I go:

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The "to race, or not to race" question was answered on Friday morning, when I finally realized I should get off the fence, and race the local event. I had been deliberating for a while, as I wasn't sure I'd be rested enough to race, or if I'd be smart racing back-to-back weekends (with Vineman coming up).

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Report: The "to race, or not to race" question was answered on Friday morning, when I finally realized I should get off the fence, and race the local event. I had been deliberating for a while, as I wasn't sure I'd be rested enough to race, or if I'd be smart racing back-to-back weekends (with Vineman coming up).

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BSLT! Those race initials always remind me of a sandwich. But what would the "S" be? As promised, I'm getting to the Lubbock race report, and only a week late. Normally I'd be two weeks late, so this is progress. Depending on how long this takes, I might even offer up a second race report, which would be nearly same-day coverage!

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Amanda and I had quite the adventure last weekend, as we traveled to Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. We thought it'd be a fun trip, and a good race to jumpstart us both with the racing. I had been feeling a bit stale from sitting around post-Arizona (I sure did take the resting on my laurels seriously!), and Amanda was just ramping up her training for the year.

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I never have understood how most folks seem capable of putting together race reports within hours of finishing their events. I never even understand how they get them done within a day or two. I always find that I need a few days to let it all sink in, to process things, and to sift through the interesting and non-interesting, the essential info and the nonsense. Who am I kidding: I don't ever know how to filter out the non-essential info, and that's why my race reports are so long.

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The race season is officially under way. I raced the California Ironman 70.3 race yesterday, also known as a half ironman. Not sure why they can't call it a half ironman; it's supposed to be about not making finishers feel less adequate than the finishers of a 140.6 Ironman.

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As opposed to my standard long-winded approach, I'll offer just the brief re-cap of my race...as the travel to the race was the truly exciting adventure! (And it is perhaps the story of the travel that will find its way here in the future.)

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This year's trip to Disney World in Florida was bound to be very different than last year's visit. For one thing, I was making the trip solo, as Amanda opted out of racing this year's event. Her training was going well, and she felt it best to stick around Boulder, and to continue preparing for IM Lake Placid. A second change was that my sister Stephanie, who has been watching me race for the last twelve years, was to be competing in her first Half Ironman. Therefore, when the race was finished, I would make a third transition: to spectator!

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Another Trip To the Islands Very early in my professional racing career I was introduced to a phenomenon of triathlon that amazed and impressed me. The phenomenon: homestays. At that point I had been traveling all over the world, racing in fun places, meeting new people, but all the while staying in hotels. At my second race as a pro, the St. Croix Triathlon, my then girlfriend Amanda and I were introduced to the World’s Greatest Homestay Family: the Isherwoods. Since that day back in May of 2000, my now wife Amanda and I have returned each year to the Islands for one of our favorite triathlon experiences. A very big part of why we go back every year is to check in with our second family.

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Wasn't it supposed to be hot and dry in the desert? That's what I thought, and that's just what told me I was doing the right thing in racing the inaugural Ironman in Tempe, AZ on April 9th. My last race had told me that my body wasn’t all that reliable in the cold weather, and my race history had told me that I tended to fare better than some in the hotter, more extreme conditions. I was beginning to see some summer-like temperatures on the Phoenix area weather reports. I liked the sound of upper eighties and sunny. After all, it appeared that there were many Northern-types on the start list; surely they would suffer in the heat, right?

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I’ve always claimed that harsh weather conditions are best dealt with by using Jedi Mind Tricks and other methods of Mind over Matter. I’ve always hoped for the worst conditions, knowing that I’d tough it out better than my competition could. I’ve always thought that I could handle anything Mother Nature threw my way. After my race on March 19th in Oceanside, I’ve changed my attitude a bit.

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