Ironman Los Cabos - TriathlonFull Ironman

This swim was very difficult. Right at the start we got hammered with some swells that were over our heads. Many athletes got knocked down and even dragged along the beach. (Youtube: Ironman Los Cabos 2013 Start)

This set the tone for what was to be a fairly tough swim. You went out 500m then turned right for 1500m. Then another left for 300m and a final turn for 1500m back home. Normally I can find a spot within about 300m of an open water swim where I'm not being kicked and punched but because the start beach was so narrow I was over 3000m in before I finally got a spot alone. It was really challenging in that regard. Also, because it was in a bay the waves came from different directions and they never seemed to be the right direction.

At one point I got behind a guy that was kinda dangerous. If his feet got touched he would do 3 crazy karate kicks. They weren't the kind that propelled him ahead to get away, they were intended to hurt and I wasn't cool with that. So I spent about 10 minutes entertaining myself by touching his feet about every 15 seconds and watching him freak out.

I exited the water in 1:25 and wasn't very happy but after discovering a number of my fellow athletes were slower than they expected I was happier.

Swim wider for a more peaceful swim.

Transition was across a loose sand beach about 200m, then up a very steep set of stairs. I took a great deal of time making sure I had plenty of sunscreen and vaseline to try and get me through.

The heat, the wind and the hills were on all day. I usually like the heat but this was a heat that I'd never felt. The sun felt like a lazer on my skin. For the first 60km (36 miles) I felt okay. I was working the hills and then riding them down pretty well. The second half of the course was a loop from San Jose del Cabo out to the airport along the toll road and back. This was where the course went from tough to "kill me." It started out with a long slow slog up an incline that felt like it lasted forever. This was just mentally draining. You're in the middle of the desert literally strewn with cacti and tumbleweeds so there's nothing to look at and all you can think about is the heat. I had been asking for sunscreen for quite some time but none of the aid stations had any. At the turnaround I spotted an ambulancia and the paramedic was good enough to share some of his own and this was so nice. I'm the whitest dude around and I'm from the northern most real city in Canada so I burn and quickly. The descent back into town was fairly long and fast but the wind was most evident on one particular hill. I was doing 34km/hr (21miles/hr) UP the hill and thinking I was a world beater. However, when I came back DOWN the hill at 27km/hr (16mi/hr) I realized it was WINDY.

After finishing the first of 2 loops I knew we were in trouble. It was approaching noon and the hottest parts of the day and we were roasting. Additionally, the organizers made a strange food choice on the bike. Rather than a typical power bar they went with a Quaker cereal bar which crumbled and soaked up the last remaining moisture in your mouth so they were very hard to eat.

At the 140km (87 miles) mark I was completely broken and defeated. I saw someone I know from back home and pulled over to get a hug and just started crying. I was just tapped. I got back on and did the last 40km loop to the airport with a little lighter heart. Sometimes you just need a cry.

T2 was fine. Some vaseline, some sunscreen and a little pep talk and I was off.

I started out the run for the first 11km (7 miles) doing quite well. Turning over the steps and just feeling decent. At this point I made a critical mistake. I ran through a couple of people's hoses that were cooling down athletes and the water SOAKED my shoes. This added weight and made my socks uncomfortable and ultimately lead to blisters. After this I couldn't run. It was like having rocks tied to my feet. I was fortunate enough to find some people to walk with for a number of miles and just chat the race away. With about 500m left (1/4 mile) the guy I was walking with said "go for it" and I started to run but it didn't even feel like my legs. I just turned them over and over and locked my eyes on the finish line. When I crossed and got my medal I went to the med tent to have my blisters looked at and just cried. I knew I had just done the single hardest thing I had ever tried.

Stay away from the sprinklers.

Limped to a local bar where my friends were waiting and downed a cerveza.


Heat, wind, hills.


This race is ok if you live in a city where you can train outdoors year round. Being that I left snow and -26 C (-15 F) and landed in 36 C (96 F) and raced ironman 36 hours later I wasn't exactly acclimated. For me, it was just too tough of a course to perform with any gusto but I was not alone.

I finished in !5:48 and was still 810/1336. Apparently 400+ dropped out due to tough swim and bike conditions.