Konichiwa dear readers, hello from Japan! 2016 has been life on the fast lane, and I'm loving it! Japan blew my mind. It was an eye opener, we as humans have a lot to learn with them, it seems like they're ahead of their time. They're so polite, pure, educated and genuinely nice. The race was good. Of course I wanted to do better, always! I arrived in Japan with a mild flu, but thankfully by race day I was 100% healthy...
The Road2Rio has been an absolutely amazing journey. Every season I'm growing stronger and faster in the Paratriathlon world. 2016 has been the best season and the most important of my life, and the hype is building up. There isn't a day that goes by without someone inquiring me about the qualification, so here's an update on how the year is going: It's been intense, with personal battles among some competitors. Sometimes they win the battle, sometimes I do. There has...
Greetings from the Land Down Under! The race in Australia was great, stacked with strong competitors, as most of them have been lately. I finished 4th, and was happy the result. I was on a personal battle with an Aussie and an American. Sometimes they get me, but this race I came in ahead! The Aussie was right behind me on the bike, and even tried passing me but I didn't let him make the move! Well, he came after...
Estimated readers, one more dream got checked off my list, and that was South Africa. It's not like I was on vacation, doing safaris and sightseeing, but still, how many people get this opportunity to compete and see the world?! This is one post I slacked on writing, and it's because I didn't do well in the race. I couldn't wait for that bad feeling to be over and restart fresh again. Nothing like a bad result to get me fired...
Dear readers, I bring good news from my 1st race of the year, from the most important season of my life --the one that will define if I'll make it to the Paralympics or not. The Pan race gives us more points than a regular World race, because it's the "continental cup" of our sport, and I was happy to finish in 3rd! It was a beautiful sunny morning, which was great. We had 40% chances of rain, and every day...
This is a post that my coach blogged on his website bianchicoaching.com: As many of you know I have been coaching Andre’ now for over 2 ½ years to achieve a personal goal of being selected for Brazil’s Paralympic Team for 2016. The Paralympics will be held in Rio September 7-18, just 6 months away so we are in FULL RACE mode as I write. What I would like to achieve with this blog is to give ALL of you an...
Hello dear PossAbilities supporters, I love reminiscing about the previous season, to see where I grew, what I learned, where I can improve. In my athlete's career, 2015 was my best year ever. I was also blessed to marry the love of my life, Karina, at the season's end. Like in any athlete's life, there were highs and lows. I constantly learned, and many experiences humbled me. It can be very frustrating at times, one must be prepared for it. The...
In December PossAbilities held the Annual Celebration Dinner, which always has some surprising events. Speaking about surprises, they reserved a very special one for me on that Sunday night: I was inducted to the Hall of Heroes for Loma Linda University's Team PossAbilities!! From the very first time I saw that wall, I always thought how awesome it would be, to be among those great people, all heroes in their own rights. And suddenly, there I am!! I just didnt see it...
Saturday, November 7th was the final race of the National Circuit of Paratriathlon in Brazil. It happened in a beautiful beach town called Ilhéus, in the picturesque State of Bahia, northeast of the Country. It was so hot at race time, 2pm, that when I was walking en route to prepare my transition, my tire's tube exploded! (I put extra pressure for the race, and with the heat it dilated and pow!) Thankfully that it was an easy fix... I chose to...
October 22nd was a day to remember. After 10 years together Karina and I officially said our "yes" to each other. I did very little to help with the organization, because of all my racing/ training/ travelling. It was almost all her work, and it was beautiful! It was quite simple but phenomenal. The ceremony happened at one of our favorite beaches, during sunset. My Best Man and brother was also the minister, and he had us all in tears with...
