IronMan Cozumel : Official Thread (Page 6)

Tomato, to-mah-to.

I need some help from the Texas people. I have a long layover 6:55 PM-  11:55 AM in Dallas. I am too cheap to pay the extra $1,000 it would take to avoid the lay over. My wife is very unhappy with me at the moment but I promised her a nice dinner in Dallas and hotel room. I need a restaurant recommendation since it is Thanksgiving and I'm sure I will need reservations. Her minimal standards are a waiter and a wine list.

I'll ask the evil question: you going to rent a car?  Because otherwise you're talking about either an expensive taxi fare to Dallas or a cheaper taxi fare picking from things near the airport(which limits your choices).

Hello all,

I did cozumel last year as my first and plan on doing it again in 2011. I thought I would share my experience and maybe it would help anyone doing it this year. We stay at the El cozumeleno in the hotel district. I think that is the correct spelling. Anyhow it was a great hotel and great beach for swimming. There are a few things we did not like, too far from the down town area. Taxi rides add up on an already expensive trip. Second is the food. It was really americanized. We were looking for a little more authentic mexican food. In 2011 we will be staying near the town in a hotel or maybe rent a condo.

As far as the race goes, I think it is a great race and the perfect 1st race for me. I was really worried about the swim because there can be a good current. Luckly for race day it was good. I place my self in the middle of the pack on the swim. I did this because I thought I would have a better chance of finding a group on swimmer around my same speed and we could work together to finish the swim. This worked out great and I finished the swim alot faster than I thought. The bike portion was also great. There is plenty of support and no need to carry more than two water bottles. They had a special needs bag area on the back side of the island. It was really unorganized and a pain. I lost about 15 min trying to find my bag. Next time I would do without the special needs bag on the bike. The back side of the island was the toughest portion of the bike. It is really narrow and has a good amount of wind. But the views are really awesome on that side. I would highly suggest monitoring your salt intake because of the heat and humidity. The transition was great with all the bags organized with plenty of direction from official showing where your bag is.

I thought the run was the toughest portion. It is really flat just like the rest of the island. This is where the heat and humidity really took its toll in me. Salt really becomes important on the run. The part you really cant get away from are the mosquito's. They are fine while in town but get really bad in the upper hotel district. The crowd had plenty of bug spray to help you out. They are still just annoying.

The race provided transportation is for all athetes. You just have to get to where the buses pick up. In some case they even dropped people off at non host hotels. I would highly suggest a speed suit for the swim. Try to get down there a week early or so to acclimate to the weather. The heat and humidity is something I could never simulate in training.

Lastly, enjoy the race. It is absolutely wonderful from beginning to end. You also cant forget the locals. They make the race what it is. They are super friendly and very accommodating. They were out they cheering from start to finish.

I was hoping for something close to the airport.

I'm not sure what you'll find outside of chain restaurants, but guidelive.com is a good starting point for DFW food.

Thank you so much for all of that information!! I have been trying to gather as much first-hand knowledge about the race as I can, so this is very helpful

Not sure if it will fit your needs, but there is a nice Hyatt hotel (I think) on the airport grounds itself (there are actually 2, make sure you look into which is nicer). It has a nice restaurant and bar in there. I didn't eat at the restaurant but had room service, everything I ordered was delicious and they took special requests. Then we hung out at the bar at night drinking wine, so I know they have wine and good food

Thanks for the info drw. I wish I could say something about the heat but living in SWFl we get our share of all of that and the mosquitos. Looking forward to seeing everybody there. I am staying at the Palace for just what you said being close to the start finish for the wife. Margaritas should taste the same but a little sweeter after the race. 4 months out can't wait.

I signed up last month and I am into my 8th week of IM training.  This will be my first IM!  I'm nervous and excited at the same time.  I figure if I can make it out of the swim I can survive the rest of the course. I have been doing Oly training since February with base rides of 40 miles, and now the last 8 weeks I have ramped up my rides to 50-60 miles.  I figure in late Sept. and during October I will get in a couple of century rides and a couple of 20 milers.  I'm trying to gauge how my training is going? What distances are people doing, or are you training by time?  Glad to see some fellow Texans on here.    

Eeek! I am trying not to think about how close it is! My bike is coming along nicely. Swim I'm not too concerned about. However, my run is seriously suffering. Anyone else already slightly nervous?

Very nervous!!!
In a training is going well, but wow, I have a lot more to do, sort of way. 

Nope.  Give me a couple months & I'll be right there with you, though.

Absolutely!

I was in a fairly serious bike crash about 4 weeks ago and I still can't swim because of a sprained shoulder. Everyone says that we have plenty of time but you could say I'm a little nervous!

Nervous and tired already. Wish it wasnt so hot lets see the list can go on. Just be glad when Nov gets here.

I am in too! It will be my first IM and surely not my last as I have my eyes on South Africa in April.

Wow, looks like we've had a few injuries / setbacks already! I'm right there too, calf issues Just getting back into the running which makes me nervous - the race seems so close! Hopefully we all heal up in plenty of time to get the training in

I got a really strange email about my registration to asdeporte.com. It's some sort of Mexican race site! Everything's in Spanish so I figured out what I could and asked my coworker for help with the rest. My best guess is this is from registering from Cozumel so I'm wondering if anyone else got this?

I got the same thing.

Thanks! Mystery solved then! I figured it was from IM Coz but wanted to make sure since it was so random.