Ironman Brasil Recap

Well it has been a really busy couple of weeks here at Endurance Traveler. It started out on May 21st with my passport debacle getting down to Brasil. Once that was sorted and I actually made it to Floripa, the real work and fun began. The biggest obstacle we had to overcome during the last 19 days of travel and filming was sickness. I was already a little under the weather before heading down to Brasil and ended up spending the last 3 weeks in a constant battle to get healthy while traveling, filming and racing.

The bad news was that my physical performances were seriously impacted, but on a better note, we got all the filming done and I'm sure that it will make for great episodes anyway. After all, if it's easy every time, then where is the personal challenge.

Brasil:

Filming in and around Florianopoilis included Surfing (see the prior Blog post), White water Kayaking,

a visit to an Oyster Farm,

along with 3 restaurants. During the race we followed 2 feature athletes, Marc Tendler and Davide Murdocca.

Both were great and I look forward to presenting their stories. Filming in a foreign country with a language barrier can always be a little challenging, and this time was no exception. My camera operator Sydney was the consummate professional and I only wish that I spoke Portuguese or he spoke better English so that we could have communicated better. Regardless he was great. My other operator Wes, was the better English speaker and therefore took on the roll of lead camera. He also did a good job, but was in a little over his head with the physical capabilities required in a job like this. The first day of filming almost wiped him out in the surf, and there were a few other issues along the way, but he survived and so did the camera he was using.


Not as much can be said for the little Sanyo waterproof camera we were also using. That poor little thing didn't survive Kayaking in St. Amaro. Also, our stills photographer, Giovanni was a local guy that now lives in South Africa. He was a hidden gem, and I hope to work with him again someday. This guy was super nice, his English was great, and he was just an all around cool person.

As for the race itself...it was a wet and cool day. The swim was a little tougher than anyone expected for two reasons. First, the water was rough. Second, 2 of the buoy's got loose and we all chased them down!

Me giving an interview during the swim mid-point

The bike course is a two looper with several climbs and plenty of opportunities to see your friends on the out and back portions.

A view from the out and back portion of the bike

Once on the run, the weather started to really clear up, leaving cooler temps and plenty of spectators cheering on the sidelines!

Now, after getting back from Brasil on the 3rd, I actually caught something new and even worse on the flight back to Miami. That's the problem with being sick and still doing massive amounts of exercise, your immunity is crap. On Thursday, I was so worried about my sickness, I went to the doctor and had them test me for Swine flu!!! It was negative.

We will try to get some footage up in the next few days. in the meantime please check back when you get a chance and we will also work on getting som Swim Around Key West pics and video up also!!!

Till then...keep training and traveling!