Ironman Cozumel Race Report

My feet were killing me and I couldn't stand it any more. It was hot and humid and I wanted, no needed to get my feet out of my shoes for some relief. Finally, I did it and it felt great. It was at this point I knew...I was 109 miles into my 112 mile ride and still had to run the marathon.

PRE: RACE: Nacho Libre and I arrived in Cozumel on Thurs

day of race week. The race was Sunday. While sitting on the plane waiting to take off from Dallas, we heard some rumblings from the 85% plane full of triathletes (other 15% were probably wondering what was going on) that a few of the bike boxes didn't make it onto the plane. Well, that sucked, but nothing we could do about it then. Upon arrival, we waited for the boxes to come off the plane...Nothing. This was a concern.

We had to have our bikes checked in on Saturday. Planes came from Dallas once a day, so basically it had to come Friday or things would get really interesting. Hammerhead, Dogman and Princess had already arrived and Hammerhead had his bike.

On Friday, Dana (needs a name) arrived. She had a smile on her face (one reason, she'd arrived in Cozumel, secondly because she saw my bike box had made it!). Good to go.

Saturday night, we ate at the hotel (I was eating like a mad man the days leading up, figuring I'd need the calories). Went to be fairly early.

Race Morning: Woke up at 4 and had a bagel with peanut butter, two bananas and some water with electrolytes. Also had a cup of coffee to, well, you know what purpose that serves on race morning. And I don't mean to wake me up. But I digress.

Took a cab at 5 with Nacho Libre and Dana to the transition area. It was still dark and playing disco music. I had a dance off with myself. Obviously no one wanted to challenge me with my moves. Ran into Hammerhead, got the bodyglide applied and transition set up.

The picture on the left shows the room set-up with the bike and all sorts of race gear. I started out with my aero bottle filled with water, one water bottle with electrolytes and one water bottle. I had an extra tube and some tools in case of a flat. Pro triathlete TJ Tollakson let me use one of his wheels, his bike case and some other stuff. He didn't want to let me borrow the stuff, but I won a walk-off against him earlier. He couldn't turn left. (Please say you've seen Zoolander).

Above, one of the keys when you've got to run a long distance. Bandaids. On. Nipples. Great fun at 4 a.m.

Hammerhead and I posed for a quick picture. Thanks to Dana for coming early with us and taking video. I'll try to get that up later. Hammerhead wanted to do the the race in sweatpants and no shirt, but I thought this might not be that good. Obviously you don't want to get our nipples sunburnt. (I noticed he didn't have bandaids. Sweats would do well in the water as well. Some more pictures prior to the swim. Nacho Libre was too busy trying to tell the race director he needed a nap so the race couldn't start until noon, or else he'd be in these pictures.

SWIM (2.4 miles): The pro's started fifteen minutes before us. Hammerhead and I got in the water the same time. We quickly got separated. I wanted to get towards the middle/right (buoy's on the left) and about 2 rows deep. My goal time coming in was around 1hr 5 min. I figured if I had a good swim it'd be around 1:02, bad around 1:08. There was some nervous energy waiting for the mass swim start. I've heard anywhere from 1800 to 2000 people started the race. The gun went off and I took off strong. I got a decent amount of getting kicked in the face, etc. Luckily for us, race morning gave us some fairly calm waters. Previously, it would've been tough with all the waves and current. They canceled the practice swim for two days.

The first 500 meters were into a current. I had previously done a swim into the current the day before (one day swim practice wasn't canceled) and it took me over 13 minutes to get to this buoy and less than 8 to get back. The first buoy on race day was crowded as everyone was fighting to take the quickest route. I got hammered a bunch, but oh well. The water was clear and you could see the bottom easily. Starfish everywhere and a sting ray. Also, the scuba divers were watching people to make sure everyone was ok...First time I saw one, scared the hell out of me. Had no idea what it was.

Back on track...We then had a long straight swim with the current at our backs. Nothing too crazy except one of my goggles leaked and the salt water stung my eye. I swam probably half the swim with one eye closed, but it wasn't that bad and I was enjoying myself. The final turn was around a submarine, which was pretty cool.

Exiting the water, I glanced at my watch and saw 1:01. Perfect.

I saw Hammerhead's brother, sister-in-law and wife. I also saw Dana, Princess and Dogman. The picture above I was yelling when I saw them. What a great feeling. I still had a long day ahead of me, but I was pumped. Had a fairly long run to grab my Swim to bike bag that contained my bike shoes, helmet, etc. They had changing tents, but it was full, so I dropped my bag outside and got my stuff out. Many people change completely into biking shorts, jersey, etc. I wore the same stuff for the bike. I did have a camera in my face for a while (no idea why, probably will get a modeling gig from it though). It was funny at first, cause I was applying body glide everywhere (down there), when the camera guy finally figured out what I was doing, he filmed something else. I also had a french dude ask me to borrow my sunscreen. It took me about a minute to figure out what he wanted.

Bike (112 miles): The bike course was 3 loops (112 miles) around the island. I started out cruising, low heart rate without too much effort and was around 22-23 miles per hour. Great I thought. Then, we hit a little headwind and I dropped to about 19 mph. THEN, the 13 mile stretch of exposed cross/head winds. I saw my speed slow to around 14, 15 and 16 mph on this stretch. It was hard. People were struggling and straining, as if they were riding up steep hills. One guy passed me with way too much effort. I knew I'd see him again and passed him on the second loop as if he was standing still. I wasn't even going that fast. Once we got out of the crosswinds, it was great relief. I was taking about 280 calories per hour on the bike and 4-6 salt tabs per hour. The salt tabs were to avoid cramps in the heat/humidity.

Around mile 70 was bike special needs. What happens here is it's like a mini-transition area. People put all sorts of stuff in these bags in case they drop supplies or just need something new. I had to stop to get more salt tabs. Well, the one negative about the race (other than winds/heat, etc. but I digress), was that this was completely disorganized. It took me 10 minutes to find my bag. I think it took Hammerhead took like 15 or so. Hammerhead said one guy got so pissed off he just started throwing bags. Basically, there were like 6 tables with bags just messed up everywhere.

It really, really sucked starting the 3rd loop knowing I still had to go through that 13 mile windy stretch again. Each loop it got even windier. For those doing this race, treat it like a hilly course. I talked to a guy afterward that had done Lake Placid, Wisconsin, Florida and Canada and he said this course took him 30-40 minutes longer than the other bike courses he's done. That's just one person though. It definitely took me longer than I thought it would.

As mentioned at the beginning, my feet started hurting me at mile 60. At mile 90, it got bad. I'm not sure what it was? Heat/humidity? I also was hoping I had some bodyglide in my special needs bag as my "nether" regions were starting to chafe. No such luck. The people of Cozumel were awesome cheering. I think everyone on the island came out for it. Again, it was great to have our cheering section out there. Believe me...I knew exactly where they were located and it kept me going. You all have no idea how much it meant having everyone there.

The picture above was just after I'd seen Hammerhead's family members. They were about 10 miles from Dogman, Princess and Dana, so that worked great as we had two different groups to look forward to seeing. Thanks again!

I pulled into T2 and saw Nacho Libre, who had an amazing swim and bike. He passed me about 85 or so miles in I think? Not really sure. Also, Hammerhead had an amazing swim as well. We all had similar bikes, but Hammerhead's bike special needs was even more of an adventure than mine.

In bike to run transition, a volunteer takes your bike and racks it for you. Mine was great. He was yelling at me in Spanish and I couldn't figure what he was saying. I was hoping I didn't get a penalty my shorts had a hole in them or something. I stood there for about 30 seconds and finally realized he was cheering "Go!!!." Again, the people and volunteers are great.

This next part is kind of gross...I really needed body glide as my "downtown" was feeling raw from the 112 mile bike and I'm not sure if I got all the saltwater off from the swim (they had outside showers). Anyways, I got some bodyglide and put it everywhere. Problem...it was warming bodyglide. I thought it'd be good for my legs, etc...kind of like icy hot. Well, it burned the absolute hell out of me when I applied it under my shorts. I took a bottle of water, went into the porta-pottie and dumped in down my shorts. Still no relief. I pretty much wanted to quit right there from the burning (don't believe what dsm911 says). Eventually, after about a mile in, it subsided. I averaged 18 mph. for the bike. I thought it'd be higher, but my placing was solid for the race.

Run (26.2 miles):

I was nervous for the run. Since my marathon in March 2008, I'd run longer than 13.1 miles one time. That was about three weeks before race day. I had planned on going out at about 8:50-9 min/pace and see how that felt. It felt great. I hit the first mile at 8:45. The run was three loops. The first loop I averaged 9 min pace. Great. The one down side was the loop turnaround was near the finish line. I didn't know where it was exactly, and the volunteer had to point me to turn around instead of running into the finish. The crowd was great again and they held one finger up for one more loop. I smiled and held 2. At this point, I still was feeling good...obviously looking better.

The second loop I walked the aid stations. I had planned to take Gu's every 30 minutes, but I couldn't stomach the stuff. Or Gatorade. At the aid stations, there were powerbar stuff, oranges, bananas, crackers, gatorade, water, ice and coke. I was taking a couple oranges and banana (or some crackers) every mile at the aid stations. I'd also take two chunks of ice and put one down my shirt in front and one in back. I'd take some water and pour the rest on my face. I was hot. I'd also take about 8 ounces of coke each aid station. The second loop I was closer to 10 minute miles.

The third loop I slowed closer to 11 minute miles. It was still hot and getting dark. I was walking just pass the aid stations. Our cheering section was AWESOME! With about two miles left, my shoes sloshing from water/sweat/coke, my body wanting to quit, I somehow found energy. I started running. The Garmin was telling me I was below 8:30/mile, sometimes at 8. I was running past a ton of people. No one passed me the last two miles. When I saw the crowd, finish line/family and friends, nothing hurt. I was euphoric. It's hard to describe the feeling. I was loving it. I had the finish line to myself. I ended up running around 4 hours and 25 minutes, which was faster than my debut and only marathon in March 08. Total finish time was 11 hours and 53 minutes and some change. I've got some great pictures and will post more of them along with video. I am an Ironman. Nacho Libre is an Ironman. Hammerhead is an Ironman.

What started over a year ago was complete. I couldn't ask for two better guys to do this race with.

The reward is shown in the pictures to the left. What an amazing time. I know I've left out a ton of stuff, but I have to go ball.