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 Swim
Comments: The first 250 meters were straight out into the wind and the water was pretty choppy. I just kept telling myself to feel the water and go with it. Once we turned left at the first buoy the water got better. My swim started out great. My heart rate was good and my stroke was long and smooth. Got punched and kicked a couple times but nothing major. My plan was to start slow and look for some faster feet I could latch on to. Someone went by me and I jumped right on top of them. I lost them in another pack about half way through the back stretch but when we got to the far end of the swim I couldn't believe I was half done already. I felt great and felt like I could go on forever. Headed back to the start and found some more feet but they were from a previous wave and were going to slow. Blew by them and ended up just finding clean water. Got to the last buoy and turned in where I started to go kick more. I was done the swim and felt great! Executed a perfect swim strategy and didn't blow up for the rest of the race. I'm not a fast swimmer and have never swum this distance before. This may be my best swim ever. I was 38th when I came out of the water which was in the top 40%.  Transition 1
Comments: Transition was about a 400m run along the beach and through the water park. I ran by quite a few people here. My heart rate was still very low and my legs felt great. Grabbed 4 Gu's and 2 Cliff Bars and stuffed them in my shirt. I was ready to hit the bike.  Bike
Comments: I'm not sure what my rank was officially but I think it was somewhere around the 7th fastest. Started out just taking it easy but was averaging 23 or 24 mph. Legs felt great and I had to tell myself it's a long race and slow down. There was an awful lot of drafting going on. To be fair, there were times it was simply unavoidable because of all the riders. But there were definitely times where peletons were riding all by themselves with no one else around. In fact, the report said Chris Leigh quit the race because of all the drafting. Felt great when I got to the turn around point. It had just started raining a little and the guy right in front of me didn't slow down enough and the bike slid out from underneath him. Luckily I was able to avoid him and get going the other way. A few miles out and the heavens opened. It started pouring. And the wind came right along with it. I worked through it and the rain stopped... briefly. It rained hard a couple more times and at one point I figured this is great! I consider myself tough mentally and I figured bring on more wind and rain. I'll just take it and ride. Anyhow, the rest of the bike was uneventful and I just felt really good. I moved from 38th to 18th after the bike. NUTRITION: Every 30 minutes I'd alternate between a GU and a 1/2 Cliff Bar. HYDRATION: 3 Gatorade Endurance bottles and 1/2 a water bottle. Transition 2
Comments: Good transiton. Got out of the shoes easily enough while on the bike and ran to my area. Got rid of the Cliff Bars and grabbed a couple more GU's for the run.  Run
Comments: Not sure of the rank but I believe I was top 6 here. I felt great at the beginning of the run. When I got to the 1 mile marker my watch said 6:53. YIKES! I told myself I had to slow down, but my legs felt great and my heart rate was still very low. The first 5k was great. I took in Gatorade and loved the cold water baggies to pour over my head. Legs were feeling great at the first turnaround and on the way back. I took a GU before the end of the first loop alonog with water. Legs are still feeling very good. Then I get about 1/2 way out on the 2nd loop and my legs start to feel it. I can feel myself slowing down. It's been raining and we're running through puddles so my shoes feel like they weigh 5 pounds each. I take Gatorad at every stop and start sucking down Coke to get a caffeine/sugar boost. Get to the last turnaround and take another GU for the leas 4 miles. Quads are starting to burn and I get to the 11 mile sign. 2.1 miles to go so I'm going to pick it up. I'm extatic because I know I'm going to break 5 hours. Get to the chute and I knew I did it. My first ever HIM in under 5 hours. Post race
Warm down: I was a little dizzy when I crossed the line and had a hard time taking a big breath. Once I got a big breath I felt better. Got the Coke and pizza and started re-fueling. Event comments: I QUALIFIED FOR CLEARWATER! No rolldown, nothin! 12 slots were allocated in my AG and I earned one of em. To say I'm EXTREMELY happy with the result is an understatement. I had no idea what to expect in my first HIM. I had planned on a 5:21 finish and would've been real happy with 5:10. When I came across at 4:55 and change I couldn't believe it. Now it's time to take a couple days off. Easy spin and run on the weekend and start getting ready for Clearwater! If you're considering this race. I'd recommend it. It's a great way to combine a vacation and a race. The volunteers were great. The race wasn't perfect, but few, if any are. If my schedule permits next year I'll be back. Last updated: 2007-09-25 12:00 AM
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Mexico
Ironman
80F / 27C
Precipitation
Overall Rank = 79/
Age Group = M 40-44
Age Group Rank = 10/
Well, I had originally planned on flying in Friday but I decided to see if I could get in Thursday instead. Since I used points there were no flights available so I had to come in Wednesday. Boy am I glad I did. More to come about this.
I woke up Thursday morning and it was beautiful. Sun was shining, water was a beautiful color, sand was white, and water was calm. I have never done an ocean swim tri before so I was a little concerned about the salt water. I went to the beach and saw some other athletes swimming. Started swimming and could not believe how much more buoyancy I had. The water was crystal clear and I could always see the sand on the bottom. I felt great and kept thinking to myself this is going to be great swimming in the Carribean.
OK, back to why I was glad I got in earlier. I rented a bike case and the shop said they'd take the pedals, wheels, seat post, and bars off. When I opened the case I saw everything dismantled. Brakes were off the frame, rear derailer was off, chain was in a bag. Cables were just hanging. Ok, I have absolutely no mechanical skills and figured my Thursday taper ride was out the window because the mechanics wouldn't be at the race site until Friday.
Well, the good news is I got there early and my wife wasn't coming in until Friday. I had nothing to do but hang out on the beach and in my room. After getting somewhat over the anger I started working on the bike and eventually figured out where everything went. It wasn't put back together as it was and shifting was rough, but it allowed me to get out for a warmup ride Thursday.
I went for a 30 mile ride from the hotel and up part of the course. When traffic started getting heavier and cars were all over the place I didn't want to take the chance of getting hit because I figured these guys weren't real used to seeing bikes up here on the road. I turned back and preyed my bike would hold together. I felt much better mentally knowing I had followed my plan and was able to get out and ride.
Got done the bike Thursday and hung out on the beach. I figured this would help me get used to the humidity. The heat didn't bother me since it's warmer in Austin, but it was definitely more humid. I also figured I met get some sun which would help prevent me from major sunburn during the race. Well, as you'll here later, sunburn would not be an issue.
I wanted to make sure I was the first in line to get my bike checked at the Expo Friday morning so I made sure I was there at 10:00. The mechanics spoke no english but worked to get everything working. I rode my bike back to the hotel and worked the gears. As soon as I went to the small ring the chain fell off. Oh, this made me feel real good mentally. They never could get my front brakes working properly. I had to loosen them as much as possible to make sure they didn't rub. I just hoped I wouldn't need them during the race. I thought I'd be fighting my bike the entire race and was worried it would be my downfall. I figured since it was a flat course there's no reason to go into the small ring anyhow so I just had to let it go.
Friday morning was my last workout before the race. I always like to take the day off before a raceso I had nothing planned for Saturday. My plan called for an easy 40 minute run. I decided to run at 11:00am since this would be when I'd be running during the race. Holy sh*# it was humid. After 30 minutes I was ready to be done and get out of the humidity. At this point I figured hydration and nutrition would be even a bigger factor than I thought and I began to wonder if my race plan had enough hydration in it.
My wife came in Friday afternoon and as soon as she got to Cancun it started pouring. It let up and we went out to eat and walked around the plaza. It was a good relaxing day.
It rained all day Saturday which may have been a blessing. No hanging out on the beach getting baked and de-hydrated. We ended up just hannging around the hotel and going to all the pre-race meetings.
Took the bike to tranisition and I was ready to go.
Woke up at 3:30 to eat the dry bagel and jelly I bought the day before along with a banana and my good ol Coke Zero.
Got everything ready in transition and went for a VERY short jog. Maybe 5 minutes at most. Figured I'd be running enough later but just wanted to get a little sweat going.
Tried to find the swim start since they had to move it from the original location and no one could tell me how to get there. Several athletes were walking around trying to figure out how to get there. Got there and stepped into mud and weeds. Swam out a little bit and they went away. It was still dark out so I wasn't sure what the water would actually look like once we got out further.