A letter from Monaco 70.3 Athlete Claudia Abreu!

September 16, 2008

Dear Mitch,

I'm just getting back from Monaco. I did the 70.3 and it was the hardest race I've ever done. The swim was a mass start so as you can imagine I got punched and kicked well into the first 400 meters of the swim...it was bad. In addition to that, helicopters were coming down too close to the water and they made it really choppy. I ended up throwing up twice and swallowing a bunch of water.

The scenery on the bike ride was absolutely amazing. The ride took us through several little beautiful villages and stone tunnels carved out from the mountain. It was awesome but the 3 mountains were gigantic! It felt like 50 of the 56 miles were uphill climbs. I can't believe I made it through it! All I could think about was this race was the one I dreamed of doing when I got sick, and now that I was finally there, quitting was not an option. I was elated to be done with the bike since the run was an easy 4.5 "flat" loops of Monaco. I must have misunderstood because "flat' meant going up this massive hill 5 times. I couldn't believe my eyes! By the fourth time up the hill I had to bend my body forward so my body weight would push me up it.

This race was a monster! I saw so many people drop out and I'm just so happy I finished! It was the hardest/most amazing race. I've attached some photos of the race. Check out the hat I'm wearing on the last picture. :)

Hope you're doing well! See you at my wedding in November!

Claudia

~