|
QUALITY OR QUANTITY
by Luis Alvarez
Winner at Ironman
Honolulu - World Record Holder -
First and only person to compete at every Ironman venue in the world.
"Master Amino Acid Pattern (MAP) has helped me so much, not just in competing and qualifying for the Hawaii world Championship, but has helped me to recover to compete in an IRONMAN averaging every 3 weeks and to win this IRONMAN Honolulu." - Luis Alvarez
--------
I am currently 44 years old, during this year I competed in four Ironman, in three of which I made a PR below 10:30.
I started my sport career 22 years ago doing races, but I was always a middle or back packer, what you could call a recreational, average, slow athlete. When I started doing marathons I used to make 4 to 4½ hours. No matter how much I trained or the effort I made, I could never improve my PR. Since I was not a fast racer, I tried to get quantity instead of quality. In 1984 the sport club I belonged called “Roadrunners” in Monterrey offered a trophy for the record of doing the higher quantity of marathons in a year, I made 13.
I achieved my goal and got my trophy, but I also got injured and during a whole year I couldn’t compete in any race, I had tendonitis and bursitis among others. After that, I started doing more Ironman competitions, but due to the excessive work out, I got condromalasia, which was more severe. I also had two knee surgeries and I could not run for three years though I still participated in Ironman competitions but walking the marathon instead of running it.
Later on I understood that over training and not having enough rest after a race caused those injuries. Nowadays, I have been five years, “thank God”, without going to the doctor and no surgery, no injury despite I have gone to more competitions, done longer distances and more frequently than ever.
Almost all my life I tried to get quantity instead of quality. Since five years ago my speed and recovery have increased dramatically. Thanks to MAP, I have been breaking my records each year and improving my PR. In the beginning my objective was to compete in only one or two races and just “participate” in the others, but this year has been different, I have “competed” in all the Ironmans and I have made less than 10:29 and my PR is now 10:06, in Austria, and I will still go to Florida in November, where I will try to keep it under 10:30. Thinking of what I have done different the last 5 years I have developed these secret weapons:
Three years ago I began using “the power cranks” (http://powercranks.com) these cranks are independent from one another, at first I used them to improve my performance on the bike, but the results surprised me because I also improved my running every year and now, a month ago I made a PR of 3:32 on an Ironman marathon.
- Another technology blessing is a device called Compex (www.compex.com.mx) an electro stimulator like the ones we see every now and then on TV to reduce body fat, this one with Swiss technology that helps relax the muscles and maximize trainings.
- And as a nutrition supplement, MAP helped me recover the muscles faster and keeps them healthy so I can go faster and further. MAP makes a great difference on long trainings and in hard competitions.
- One of the worst mistakes of the triathletes and much more of us competing on Ironmans is that after the hardest trainings especially on weekends after 130 miles we don’t supply the muscles with the right amount of carbs and proteins to assimilate all that training.
- I also have a personal trainer that not only gives me my training schedule but is always letting me know my pace, my rpm, speed, distance, all this on real time. My trainer’s name is Body Link from TIMEX. Due to my job and the Ironmans I travel some 50,000 to 100,000 miles a year, I don’t always run on roads I know so there is no way I can measure if I am improving my pace or speed so the Body Link is very important, it is a GPS that some other time has helped me go back to my hotel in countries where the language is a bit of a problem like China where even the street signs cannot be read.
Articles from Luis:
Nutrition Tips for an Ironman -
The heart rate monitor as a daily tool -
Competions in cold weather -
How to do 10 IRONMAN in a year without injuries -
250 MILES BIKE RIDE IN EXTREME CONDITIONS -
Health or Fitness -
Thanks to MAP I broke my PR 4 years in a row -
Quality or Quantity -
Three Òfamilies" of Injuries -
Mountain Training for Triathlon -
How I have been able to really increase my IRONMAN racing speed - What's my training pulse? The Maffetone Method -
Lesson in Overcoming -
Lesson in Overcoming -
Luis Alvarez does it again! Amazing! -
MAP not only for athletes -
RUNNING WITH THE POSE METHOD -
MAP Team Member Luis Alvarez does it again -
Ironman Pre-Season -
An spectacular New Years Eve
MAP. It is not only for training
Order MAP
| 
