Ironman Cozumel - TriathlonFull Ironman

Wow...what can I say. I knew this was going to be a tough swim but ~20 mins over normal was hard to take. Swimming upstream was tough. I knew that from the swim the day before. Flew down the backstretch, then got blown right off the end of the course and had to fight my way back. Swimming back seemed like an eternity. It's not like I was tired...it was like I was stuck in an endless pool!


I definitely need to figure out a way to swim better in current.

Heard the next day that ~300 people didn't make the swim cutoff. Didn't feel so bad about my performance.

Found this on slowtwitch

http://vimeo.com/55015129

Transition was good. It was a long run from the exit, but getting a freshwater shower to wash off the salt was nice. Nabbed T1 bag OK and headed to the bike. I was racked in a great spot and headed out quick.

Not much. I scurried along pretty well. It's a looong way from the swim exit to where we mounted the bike.

Yes, the course was 113 miles. I was warned of this before the race. This was my best bike split ever for this distance and I barely pushed it. I had lots of gas in the tank after both the first and 2nd loop. Tailwind for the last 10 miles made it the most enjoyable miles 100-112 in an IM I have ever experienced. I amd usually ready to exit the bike, but this day I was ready for more.

One thing I am really glad I did was wear some white arm coolers. They served two good purposes. Kept me from getting sunburned. Putting cool water on them is a great coolant.

Water stops were great. I fell off my feeding schedule right away on the ride and never really recovered. I think I took in some saltwater and took an appetite hit.

I ran into a guy - iron cowboy?? - at mile 105 who was on his 29th IM this year. Going for some sort of record for silliness by doing 30 IM's in a year. Hate to do the math on the $ outlay he had.

I have never seen so many people in the penalty tents at an IM. Almost every tent had folks in it.

According to a salt water racing expert I spoke with after, he suggested either throwing up the salt water in T1, or consuming just water for 90 minutes on the bike. Live and learn.

Heard the next day that folks were dropping out of the bike all over. Must have been the saltwater intake.

Everything went well here.

Well...what can I say. Guts were never right on the entire run. Splits were pretty good for the first couple of loops, then fell off on the 3rd. I was just out of gas. Finishing felt really, really good....and had a smile on my face the last mile.

Challenging run in a warm, humid climate. Water stops were frequent and well stocked.

Very festive fans in town.

Fuel better on the bike. Pepto bismol in T2 / special needs bags maybe. Sure could have used some broth on the run.

Well, I got my medal at the finish line and had my chip removed. No catchers like normal, which was a little odd. Got a slice of pizza - usually not hungry. Nabbed some 'ramen noodle' type soup and sat down. This is when the fun began.

I started to sweat. Like, really really sweat. Didn't finish my soup. Got a little dizzy so I went and laid down on 'the grasy knoll' - a little mound of grass on the edge of the tent. I laid there a while and didn't feel any better, then realized I hadn't gotten my finisher shirt or photo taken. Located those spots - and were about 50 ft away so I wandered over. Got my shirt, was a bit dizzy. Sat down while in line for a photo. Got the photo and was not feeling great at all. Wandered back to the grassy knoll.....well, when I woke up I was lying about 10 feet short of my destination. I was on my belly, face in the ground. Looked left and had an aid there. Glanced right and had a helper there who had a vital sign deely on my index finger.

The two helpers kept asking - are you alright? I'm like...um obviously not! They'd say 'what can we get you?' I'm like....um an IV would be great. They eventually picked me off the ground and got me to a cot where I laid down and go water in me. I would sit up occasionally and see how dizzy I was, and after a few reps managed to get up and moving on my own.

I found out what the Cozumel 'pre med' tent was like. Not great compared to the US.


Overall a challenging race that lived up to it's reputation for wind, warmth and humidity. Toss in some current and it put a little hurt on a guy. Do not underestimate the flat nature of either the bike or run courses.

I'd recommend this race to anyone. Friendly environment. Good people. Nice fellow competitors.