Ironman Cozumel Race Report

Wow. I have so many thoughts and feelings about yesterday. This may turn out to be random and long but there are things that I want to remember so I will put them here.

First of all, thank you, Lord for answering every single prayer about not only this event but the entire trip. I prayed continually for physical protection and strength and protection over all of my gear. There are always people on the course that have bike issues and I am so thankful to make it through without having to deal with that.

I will just start at the beginning. I arrived at the race site at 5:30, loaded my nutrition on my bike, checked the tires and then had nothing but time. I made some new friends at our hotel and they totally reinforce my opinion that triathletes are the most friendly people around; so we hung out together sharing each other’s excitement that the weather had turned nice just for us (Wednesday and Thursday were pretty bad).

Just before the pro swim start we made our way to the dock, watched the pros take off and proceeded to file into the beautiful water. They had us climb stairs into the water rather than jump off of the dock as we had during the practice swim. This made us swim under the dock to get out to the starting area. That was COOL! I kept going under water to take in the site of 1900 people treading water. There were quite a few under water photographers and some of us dove down to make sure they took our picture. They were also at each buoy taking shots as we swam by. I wonder if I will ever see those pictures?

We all kind of spread out and had about 5 minutes before our adventure started. My new friend, Louise, and I were talking and laughing and just before the horn blew we realized that we were at the front of the pack. A short panic, brief jokes about how we were about to get pounded and the next thing we knew we were off.

I guess you never really get used to an Ironman swim start. I got real aggressive and tried to hold my position. I was knocked around pretty bad but I did not get kicked in the head and I did not lose my goggles, so that was cool. I stayed in a pretty rough pack until the first turn. At the turn I found myself swimming directly into the buoy and there was a huge crowd trying to get around the right side of it as there was an official on a jet ski that would not let us go around the other side. At this point I tried to push into the group to get around it and got pushed way under and took in a good amount of water. I came up, tried to cough it up and get back into a groove. The rest of the swim was pretty uneventful. It was breath taking; sting rays and star fish were all over the place. I did not lift my head out of the water until I was coming into the finish. I stayed on feet the entire time and if someone faster came by then I would fall in behind them. It was so great.

I climbed onto the dock and saw the timing clock…59 minutes! No way! That is by far the fastest swim I have ever done and it did wonders for my attitude and got me even more pumped about my day.

I took time in T1 to put on sun screen, bike jersey, socks, shoes and helmet and took off on the bike.

Heading out of Chankanaab, we had a slight tail wind, but it was really pretty calm on that side of the island. I was cruising along at about 24 mph knowing that I had 20k before my first challenge. At 20k we rounded a corner and immediately were hit in the face by a brutal head wind. How can it be this windy over here when it is so calm on the other side? At the same time we came along side of the white sand beach and aqua waters of the Caribbean. That was inspiring. It was so different from the calm side. Huge waves crashing and spraying; it helped take your mind off of the fact that you were putting out 85%+ effort and going 17mph on a FLAT! This beautiful, terrible stretch lasted for about 12-13 miles at which point we turned left and headed back into town to do 2 more loops. Heading in I was able to pick the pace back up to 21-22mph without pushing too hard. When I made it back to the bike start I looked at my computer and saw that I had averaged 22 mph so far. I was very excited about that but I could not tell at the time how much effort that had taken.

Loop 2 started a little harder as the sun felt stronger and the wind had picked up some. When I reached the east side I found that this time I was only able to stay at about 15-16 mph instead of 17-18 like the first loop. Coming back into town was more difficult and I could only stay at 19-20, so my overall average dropped from 22 down to 19.5 during that second loop.

Starting loop 3 I prayed for physical strength, mental strength and inspiration to make it up the coast one more time. I found that even though my pace was still dropping, I did not feel overwhelmed or frustrated. I knew that I could do it and overall it was not too bad of a bike time or average for 112 miles. I made it back to the turn toward town and knew that all I had to do was finish those last 10 miles and I could move on the final leg of my race. Total bike time was 6:05, 18.4 mph average.
When I dismounted I nearly fell over. My legs were toast and I had no clue! I knew that I had biked hard but I really thought that I had it all under control. Oops.

I staggered into T2, sat down and rubbed my thighs to wake them up, changed shoes, peed, and hobbled out of the tent. It took a good mile or so before it felt like I had legs on my body. I got to aid station 1, got a drink and decided it was time to find a groove. I decided to try to only stop at every-other aid station as they were only 1k apart. This worked for the first 2 loops pretty well. I did not feel great, and I was not running at the pace that I was hoping for, but I was making steady forward progress.

At the start of loop 3 I was at that point where you are just tired and ready to finish and I thought, maybe I can just run this loop and get it over with. Haha. 8.7 miles never felt so long. I walked every aid station that last loop and made it in with a marathon time of 4:36.

Total race time 11:52. 6th in my age group. Very respectable. I cannot be disappointed with that. I can say that I trained to be able to run a faster marathon after biking at that pace, but that bike pace took a lot more effort than I was expecting.

Sitting around last night talking to other athletes, we all agreed that it was much more difficult than we thought it would be. When you hear that a course is totally flat you think “how hard can it be?” Wind is a crazy thing. It is so mental. I did not stop pedaling my bike for 6 straight hours. If you stopped pedaling then you immediately slowed down by 5 mph (or came to a stop if you were on the east side of the island!) Overall I would say that I am extremely happy with my performance.

That is about it as far as the race report goes. Here are my random thoughts…

I learned that I cannot push that hard on the bike and run very well after.

I learned that maybe a hilly course is not such a bad idea; at least there will be some down hills!

I was reminded that 140.6 miles is a stinkin’ long way to go.

I learned that I can push myself pretty hard and even though it hurts like hell, it feels pretty good.

I learned that I can take a gel! Yes, I took gel for the first time on the marathon. I decided that I would just use what they had on the course rather than carry my own stuff and it was gel or a power bar and I just could not choke the bar down, so I had no choice but to go with the gel. I have tried them before in training and they have always come back up, but this time I was able to take in 5 of them!

I wish I knew how many times I said “agua, por favor” in that 12 hour period.

Mexicans are extremely devoted to each other. They love to cheer on their Mexican athletes by yelling “viva Mexico!” and even though they were not cheering for me, I felt as though they were and it gave me a little push.

Along the entire bike and run course all of the Mexican spectators chanted “vaminos! si se puede!” (not sure if I spelled that correctly). Basically saying “come on! you can do it!” By the time we made it to the run we were saying it to each other anytime we saw an athlete we knew.

I only peed one time all day long. Not good. And I drank A LOT!

When I took off my shoes after the race, the bottom of my feet looked like they belonged in a morgue.

There was no transport back to your hotel after the race and most of the taxis were small cars, so Pete rode my bike back for me.

I went to the med tent to get some fluids via IV and no one spoke English. I showed them what I wanted, some guy stuck me 6 times and managed to miss my GIANT vein, so I told him to quit, and I let Pete give me one back at the hotel. That made me feel so much better. I highly recommend an IV after IM. We smuggled one into Mexico in my bike box

According to preliminary results, almost 30% of the athletes who started the race were not able to finish. That makes me feel better about my run time.

Ironman Mexico is NOT Ironman North America. Very different. Not nearly as organized or professional.

I hope they do not ever announce that the swim was measured short, because I will forever love the fact that I have a sub hour ironman swim.

Our finisher shirts are really great and we also got a cool jacket. Our medals are huge and weigh a ton!

I was 6th out of 62 in my age group. 43rd out of 421 females. 319th out of 1928 total athletes.

Soren and Reese surprised me as I was coming down the finish chute; I heard a familiar voice say “mom!”; I looked over and Soren was holding my left hand with Reese coming up on my right. We were able to cross together for a great picture. Another difference between IM Mexico and IM North America!

I must not be very sweet. Mosquitoes were out in full force on the run, but they did not bother me at all. Many of the athletes were in agony because they were being eaten up by them, but if they sprayed bug spray then they felt like their skin was on fire. The next morning many of them looked like they had chicken pox.

I rode most of loop 2 with my foot out of my bike shoe because of a foot cramp before I realized that I just had my shoe too tight

This morning I went for one more swim in the ocean before we had to leave and as soon as I got in the water I realized that I had rub spots ALL OVER my body! I did not feel them during the race but the salt water made each of them scream at me. Crazy.

Those are all of the random things I can recall as I sit here needing to finish some work and go to bed. Tomorrow I will get all of the great race pictures from Pops and post them along with my training totals, so check back!

Pre-race thoughts...

I AM SO PUMPED!! Just got back from bike and bag check in. Oh my gosh. The race mood is so AWESOME. The weather is absolutely gorgeous. Everyone is positive and and there is so much energy. I was pleasantly surprised by the organization and security at check in; it was well run.


The nutrition/hydration nazi (coach Pete) has been on me like a leach all day making sure I am doing everything I am supposed to do today :) He loves me. After the swim this morning I got a stern coach lecture about siting. Apparently I was not swimming straight enough for him; at least he cares, right?! I mean, really, where would I be without him.

While I am thanking people, I need to thank Pops for the great pictures. Lugging that camera around is not easy and he has sacrificed his beach time all for my benefit.
Grandma Charlotte has been on kid duty almost 24/7 since we got here on Monday. She says she loves it, and I sure hope so, because it is a great, great blessing to Pete and I. It has made for a very relaxing stay for me.

Nana got here Thursday and has taken over kid duty, too, as always. You guys are irreplaceable. I could never thank you enough.

So back to race thoughts...


I feel strong, rested and confident. I feel like tomorrow is going to be so much fun. I feel blessed beyond measure to have been given the opportunity and ability to do this. I feel humbly grateful for the support I have from family and friends. I feel very loved. My excitement is overwhelming!


Pictures from the swim practice this morning:

can you see those orange buoys waaaay out there? that is the swim turn

our new friend, Anthony. He is at our hotel and we have enjoyed his company a lot!

a quick spin to make sure all's well before I turn my bike in for the race

Pictures from the bike and bag check in:

entertainment while we did check in...awesome!

A great swim!

Because Friday's swim practice was cancelled due to high winds, they opened up the course this morning. We woke to much calmer weather, winds only blowing around 10 mph, so we journeyed down to try again. Much better experience! There were lots more people, fewer jelly fish, more buoys, and I made it all the way to the turn buoy! I just needed to know that it was going to be possible. It was so difficult on Thursday that I felt like when (if) I made it to the first turn on the swim then the race was basically over. This place is swarming with athletes. It is so exciting. Tomorrow the island is ours. Can't wait!

Pre-Race Meeting

“Mandatory” Not sure why. They read us the email that they sent to us…word for word. Oh well. It was exciting to see 1500+ racers ready to go. Swim practice was cancelled today due to the crazy high winds and strong current. They changed the swim course a little. The first turn buoy was originally 700 meters out and they shortened it to 500 meters and tacked on the additional 200 meters at the end where they said the current will be a little weaker as we will be closer in to shore. That’s cool. They are planning on having another practice in the morning (Saturday), so if the wind has calmed down we may go try again.

Dad and Pete got their press passes today. It is pretty cool. They can even be driven around on the official motorcycles to take pictures. That is exciting. I hope they get some good footage!

Packet Pick-up!

Athlete #606 is registered and ready to race. Got my packet and bought a shirt today (Thursday). I still have to go back tomorrow for the prerace meeting and to get my transition bags. I figure if we have had time to train then the officials should have had time to organize, but the expo was anything but. There was a very small area, about 12’ X 12’, with official merchandise for sale and a line a mile long to pay for it. At the end of the line there was a non-english speaking person with a calculator and a fanny pack. Nothing was priced and after you handed them your choices they punched a few buttons on the hand-held calculator and quoted a price. I paid $52 for a dry fit t-shirt and 3 bumper stickers. I was a little disappointed in the confusion of the check-in procedure, but I left there with my race number and timing chip with the assurance that my transition bags would be ready when I come to the meeting tomorrow. I guess we’ll see.

Bummer

Well, this morning I had my first negative feelings about the race. Part of the swim course was open for practice in Chankanaab beach so I decided to check it out. There was a big storm yesterday and it seems to have left a strong north wind which creates large waves (apparently when the wind is from a different direction the waves are not so bad). There is a long dock that we will jump off of to start the swim and head north to the first turn buoy. Today the first buoy was 700 meters out; I am not sure if that will be the distance on race day or not. They only had two buoys set up for the practice today and with the large waves they were impossible to see so I tried to site from the bottom of the ocean. With the strong current as you head north, your body wants to head straight out to sea, perpendicular to the buoys so you have to be careful to site well. It felt like I was making absolutely no forward progress as I headed north and I found myself getting frustrated by the current and the jelly fish. I was stung many times and although the stings are not terrible, it caused me to get out of any kind of swim groove.

Once I turned and headed south, I was back to the dock in a matter of minutes. The jelly fish were still a nuisance, but the excitement of making forward progress more than made up for the stings.

It was a good lesson and I am very glad that I learned it today and not on race morning. As of now, the forecast for Sunday does not call for 20mph north winds like we have today and maybe we will have calm seas for our swim, but no matter what the conditions, I will race with all I have and be grateful for the opportunity that I have been blessed with to be here.

First Report from Cozumel

I am SO excited. We have had a day and a half here so far and I could not be more excited about #1 how I am feeling physically for the race and #2 the race venue.

Our first afternoon here I was scheduled to do a short run. I headed out just a few minutes before sundown (couldn't tear myself away from the beach any earlier!) and ran down the road toward downtown. It is humid, there is no getting around that, but the breeze is nice and makes the temperature along with the high humidity bearable. I felt strong and comfortable.

Yesterday I had a 45 minute swim and a 50 minute bike. Wow. The swim is going to go by so fast with the incredible view that we have here. Absolutely beautiful. The salt water makes swimming so much easier. There is a noticeable current, but we will have it at our backs for part of the time, so it should all even out. I take in a decent amount of water when I swim, so when I finished, my tongue was dried up like a piece of jerky. It was pretty funny. I could not wet my mouth to save my life. I will have to drink a lot of water when I get to T1.

I had a nice ride down to Chankanaab Park and back; I am glad the bike course does not go down the main street through downtown because it is a concrete road with decorations stamped in it and it is worse than any chip seal I have ever ridden on. That ends and you are on soft paved roads heading out of town down to the park and on to the South of the island. I don't think I will ride a full circle, but I will check it out either in a car or on a scooter.

I will ride again this morning with a fellow racer that we met here at our hotel. There are many athletes here; it is neat to see so many bikers and runners; lots of great stories, too!

So far, so good. I could not be more encouraged!

Crunch Time

The bike is packed. One more run and swim tomorrow and then I am out of here! Exciting news: Dad got a press pass for the race! Hopefully he will be able to get some great shots!

Competitive season is OVER!

As of today I have officially finished my competitive training; now I have only 2 taper weeks to race day. Crazy!

The new frame is here, the bike is built (with just a few minor hiccups along the way) and I am beginning to feel comfortable on my new ride.

We are a week away from leaving for Cozumel and yesterday was my first time on my new bike; that is kind of scary, but what can you do? I went today and bought the top I will wear at the race so now I need to bike and run in it to make sure nothing rubs me the wrong way :) I have my list made and will start packing this week...I am so excited!

Still to come this week:

taper week 1:
swim: 2:00
bike: 5:30
run: 3:25
total: 10:55

Motivation

I sit here at the computer, 17 days til race day, and I need some motivation to go out to the garage for an hour and fifteen minute swim. I found this...

some progress

We made a quick decision last week after my frame broke and ordered this frame:

It came in on Tuesday and now we are waiting on a few other new parts we ordered before the bike can be built. I should be on the road by Saturday to test it out. I am scheduled for a 4hr 30 minute ride, so that will be a good way to break it in and see if we need to make any adjustments. It is exciting to have a new bike, but it sure was a difficult unexpected expense right at vacation and holiday season.

OH NO!

Do you see that? That is a huge nasty crack in my bike frame. Here we are, 18 days from leaving for Cozumel and I have no bike. Ouch. Help!!!!

I Made it to November!

Race Month! WooHoo! It is here, y'all. The month that I have been training for. The month that was so very far away when I clicked the "submit" button to register for this event. I'm ready. Let's do this.

Last week I rearranged some things and even omitted some things in order to have a weekend at Grandma's house with the girls. I hit it hard Monday through Thursday, swam on Friday morning, and then took the rest of the day, along with Saturday and Sunday off. It was wonderful. I do not feel any guilt over that decision. Now I am fresh and ready to take on these last two weeks before taper.

It was another week of all trainer miles. That makes two full weeks. I was a wind/rain weeny and stayed in doors, but I tried to keep the effort level high as I would outside. The workouts went well, and I enjoyed some runs out in the fall rain.

I got an email this week from IM Cozumel. Some athletes went and did a training session on the official route for the race and had some interesting things to report:

When describing the swim they said you have to see it to believe the beauty. Crystal clear for the entire loop with lots of marine life. There is a current that you face heading out that you have at your back to the finish.

When they started the bike portion, the temperature was 79 degrees with 80% humidity and 5-10 mph winds. At the 20k mark to the 40k mark you are out at the end of the island that is undeveloped and open. The temp had risen to 87 degrees and 90% humidity with a 15 mph "front wind". I was assuming this is a head wind, but they talk about a strict policy of no disc wheels due to frequent strong cross winds, so I guess it is mainly a side wind. For this section of the ride they describe riding side by side with the Caribbean sea and deserted beaches, calling it "very impressive". We will loop through this area 3 times. Heading back into town the wind dies down again and the temp and humidity remained the same.

When they started to talk about the run they began by saying that "physical performance in such challenging weather conditions as in Cozumel is a concern." They go on to stress the importance of nutrition and hydration that include carbohydrates and sodium to avoid excessive blood dilution. By the time they had reached the run portion of the training session, humidity was at 100% with the temp hovering near 90 degrees.

This is very valuable information. I knew that it would be humid, but because our weather has changed here and I am training in cool conditions, I might have been less concerned to plan for such extreme conditions. Now I have made it top priority in planning my nutrition and hydration.

Totals for last week:

Week C10
swim:1:45 6000
bike: 7:30 138 miles
run: 4:35 32.55 miles
total: 13:50

This week's schedule:

swim: 3:00
bike: 8:00
run: 4:30
total: 15:30