Epic 5, day 1

Hello dear friends!

First of all, please let me thank you for taking your time to read this entry. If you think that some aspect of my experience and/or history may be useful for you, please do not hesitate to contact me, I will happily share it with you. 


It has been a while since my last post in the Blog, this last time has been a time of looking inside, searching and re-defining my motivations and new challenges. The conditions also gave me a great oportunity of learning from the importance of recovery process and to practice patience. 
As Many of you may know, last year we started an amazing journey. Together we gave our best and because of that the dream of running the EPIC 5 in Hawaii was accomplished, where I met amazing athletes and now friends, Pep Sánchez, Carlos Llanos, Michael Flartey, Jason P. Lester, Alika Hoomana, Colin Cross, Chris Holzner, Diana Trevino, Jen McVeay, Kelly Lewi, Lisa Kaili Ledesma, Rebecca Morgan, Kawika Carlson. Iam sorry if I am not sharing all the names of the amazing people that I met but for me it is much easier to remember faces and situations than names and even if your name is not on the list, I have the best and most beautiful memories from the time that we spend together.

Kaua'i, day 1, before the start, just happy!

Before starting to give you some of the details of this amazing adventurem I would like to thank you all for joining me in this journey, special thanks to the ones that, from a log time, have been a very important part of my crew. Thanks to Susana Soto (my mom) and Reinaldo Hermann, it is just thank to them that my sportive performance is possible, they are taking the hardest part each day and even so, they have always a beautiful smile to share with me and with every other team, you are the best!

With the best crew, Susana and Reinaldo

We arrived to Hawaii one day before of the expected date. With the difference of time zone, the hours that we spent traveling and the fact of making all the reservation many month before, I made a mistake and we found our selves in Kaua'i without care or hotel for the first night. This first difficulty was solved very fast thanks to the kindness of hawaian  people. Even before getting on the plane you start to feel the Aloha spirit, this commitment of doing things "with love" and the will of showing it to the world is just wonderful. Kaua'i is a very beautiful place. Many film has taken shots on the island, for example Jurasic Park, and it is something natural because the nature just grow naturally in perfect armony with hawaiian people. Seeing and feeling this powerful nature like that made me to fall in love with the island, reason why I really expect to be able tocome back some day. The hotels, which has great rates, are just amazing. They have everything you need to be comfortable and much more. Our hotel was just beside a big supermarket opened 24/24 so it was easy to get fruits and vegetables from the first day. The pineapples are for sure the best that I have ever tried and for that reason they became my main source of energy during the whole  stay.

Time to run the next day with my mother and Reinaldo, followed by some swimming and beach time. Jen (a kind and amazing girl which participates as volunteer for the event), joined us at the hotel to give us some cute hawaian made necklaces. It was a very expected meeting, I have to say that it was just thank to Jen that we were able to buy the plane tickets for Susana and Reinaldo, to reserve some of the cars and hotels. Thank you Jen! We had a great time with her that day, sharing smiles, experience, landscapes. The races was closer each day and we started to feel more clearly the ambiance. 

Three very good friends, Jen, Jason y Colin

The days were passing by and the other warriors arrived. If felt and I feel so lucky to have the chance to share with them, to be able to listen their histories and experience. Just a boy between giants, plain of attention to try to learn the most that I can from everything that I heard  from each one of this Ultradistance monsters.

Colin and Chris were giving their best to have our bicycles in the best possible shape. I have to say that I've never seen a work like that before, they are really two artist which share their geniality with us every day before and after every challenge.

The formalities started. Fortunately my broken and poor english skills allowed me to do an approximate translation to spanish. Each one motivates the others by giving a speech, we received our kits, and profited to talk and know each other more deeply. The plan was to got to sleep early, a very unusual IRONMAN waited for us the next day, starting very early with the marathon. At least for me, and having to prepare everything the day before, in this type of events, I never sleep enas much as planned!

Day 1: Kauai

Day 1, before start

Getting up really early to start the adventure. Running, swimming and cycling, ending directly in the airport to be able to take the plane to the next island in time. When we arrive to the start, first problem, the GPS did not work. Nothing to be worried about but I risked to start to fast. In this kind of challenges the success depends directly on the capacity to manage the intensity and starting to fast at the beginning may affect the performance the other days. Everything was ready, with the Aloha spirit in the air and in our hearts, we were managing the anxiety and the small stress that you always feel before clock's start. It was night. I want to thank NATURALSHINE, by far the best light for sports, very comfortable and powerful. We started and from the very beginning I was feeling great. I was just enjoying the run. Susana and Reinaldo share with me some juicy and very tasty pineapples, papayas and coconut water. Everything I needed to be able to keep me running in a good pace, smiling and plenty of energy. First marathon in 3h02min, fast transition to the swimming feeling great in the water. The small amount of wind did not allow the flag to flame and as expected I did not see the turn point. I swam "some meters" more but swimming is a great way to recover your legs after a good run and under that though I came out from the water to start the bike. A lot of wind, hard road and a red light that make me wait for at least 15min, were not enough to change the effect that Aloha made in our hearts. Each time that my mind started to think in fatigue, the wind, my mother was there to tell me "go Sobi, you can do it!" and draw a smile in my face, most than enough to turn mi mind into happiness and joy.  We met many of the athletes during the day, each time supponrt messages flew from one side of the road to the other. We arrived at the airport in 10h40min, maybe a little bit fast than the plan, with Jen telling "stupid Sebastian", but sure that the good feeling of that day will repeat in every island.

Running to change the tickets, after a short flight, arrived to Oahu a little bit early than expected, thanking the earned time that will allow us to rest and prepare everything properly for next day.

The crew, an amazing performance