Alabama State Champion: Felipe Bastos
16 May 2008
Felipe Bastos, originally from Brazil but training in the US since he was 19, won the Alabama State Championship Triathlon despite a rather rough start. His background in endurance sports, combined with the rigorous training plan that he has developed as a professional triathlete, has allowed him to be successful in many races in addition to the State Championship. Find out more below about how Felipe has achieved so much.
After sleeping through an alarm that never went off, Felipe barely made it to the race in time, and when he got there, there was more bad news: "While getting set up, I heard the Race Director state the swim would be canceled due to rough ocean waves and currents. Personally, I believe that it being a State Championship, the race management should have let those in contention for the prize purse or state championship do the 1,000 yd. ocean swim. Instead, we were instructed to ready for a 1 mile run instead, thus effectively turning the race into a Duathlon ( 1 mile run/ 19.5 mile bike /4.5 miles run). The swim is where I can separate myself from the majority of my competition, so I was upset, but only for a second. I knew there was nothing I could do but to begin preparing to the race start."
The rest of the race was a battle, but Felipe fought hard and finished first by 20 seconds, even though he felt it was not one of his best performances. "As a note, my NP at the race was 300watts. Shortly afterwards I did a swim/bike run/session in which I held 336 NP watts on the bike for an hour. It really shows how rough of a day I had at the State Champs, but I was able to come out of it with some positives." For more details on his racing metrics, please follow the links below to Felipe’s power files, as uploaded to his TrainingPeaks site.
Feel free to view and download Felipe’s file by clicking here: For additional analysis in WKO+, pull down the menu at the top right of the file and download it as a free trial by clicking here:
The following data are for the cycling leg of Felipe’s race:
Total Time: 52 min
Distance: 33 km
Average HR: 163 bpm
Average Power: 291 watts
Normalized Power: 300 watts
First Half Average Power: 302 watts
Second Half Average Power: 293 watts
Peak Ten Minute Effort: 310 watts
Felipe has been involved with endurance sports for many years. "I was interested in endurance sports since my teenage years, but only began training triathlons at age 15. I started the day before my birthday. This year I celebrated 12 seasons in the sport. I knew from the start I wanted to become a professional, but had a very hard time at first since I had literally no athletic background. I knew I’d have to work harder than most if I was to succeed, and work hard I did. At age 19 I packed up my belongings and moved to the USA to attempt to make a living in the sport."
He decided to focus on triathlons because of the diverse nature of the race, but he also enjoys the intense challenge. "I really like the combination. I focus on being a triathlete, meaning I want to be even in all 3 sports. If any of the 3 portions of the race is canceled, it is a disadvantage for me. I am not like the guys who want the swim to be canceled, or the bike to be shortened, or the run modified. I thrive in being leveled in all three modalities. But I also enjoy tough conditions, especially tough hills and brutal heat."
"As far as advice, I’d say: Do not look for shortcuts. Do the work, little by little, focusing on the fundamentals. And never, ever, ever, ever give up. Never, ever."
Because of the specific nature of Felipe’s training plan, he trains alone and follows a very detailed schedule. "I train alone, always. I really enjoy company when training, but am very selective about who I train with. The reason being that I follow a very specific regimen, and know that to maximize my efforts I must stick with it. Unfortunately, too often, training with others means it becomes a race - and you have to save your race efforts for race day." He likes to listen to music while he trains, even when swimming, but especially when riding. He also has a few nutrition secrets. "Riding, I need an Mp3 and my super secret custom energy drink blend. I also cannot live without supplementing my diet with a big amount of whey protein. My favorite is Maine Natural Health’s CaveMan with 1/2 Almond milk and 1/2 Hazelnut milk. I take this at least twice daily as part of my recovery plan."
Felipe credits TrainingPeaks with being a great tool for holding him accountable and keeping his training on track. "I started logging my training sessions back in 2001, and am very adamant about logging my sessions properly and with the most amount of data possible. I like being able to go back and see a taper that worked well for me, or specific sessions that were important in my development before a big event, and then mimic them in preparing for similar races. I always make sure to use the ATP and the ATP Wizard. One other thing I like is how accountable it makes me. I can’t just skip a session or I will be able to clearly see it when I look at my totals at the end of each week."
This kind of dedication allows Felipe to win big races. "In 2001, when I had just moved to the USA, I won the World Championship Qualifier at St. Anthony’s. I trained four months thinking about that race every single day, and it was really something that helped launch my career. I focused a lot of improving my run speed off the bike and that race is where it all came together. It really showed me that anything is possible with hard work and obsession-like dedication."
For others interested in getting into the sport, Felipe is enthusiastic about the future. "Triathlon is in its infancy, so I can see a lot of growth as the years go by. There are many high profile celebrities discovering the sport, and that is very helpful overall for its future. As far as advice, I’d say: Do not look for shortcuts. Do the work, little by little, focusing on the fundamentals. And never, ever, ever, ever give up. Never, ever."
One Response to “Alabama State Champion: Felipe Bastos”
June 26th, 2008 at 2:39 am
congratulations Felipe.i guess how you start does not matter.it is how you finish.
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jim dunn
Addiction Recovery Alabama
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