I had a great Olympic tri at Lake Powell, without really tapering. I was feeling ready for the race at the start of my taper three weeks out. However, the next week my hamstring started bothering me on the bike. Probably just tweaked it. Anyway, I was nervous about it. I had a massage, active release therapy, taped my hamstring, and lowered my seat the week before the race. Besides my hamstring I was also nervous about getting sick. My two roommates were sick and so I took a ton of EmergenC and zicam, to prevent any illness, and stayed at a friends house for a few days. Thankfully I ended up staying healthy.
I arrived to Cozumel on November 24th with my friends Curry, Moka, and Tori. The most stressful part of the trip was having to put my bike together, which the mechancics ended up doing for me. The Cozumel Palace was amazing! An all inclusive hotel meant 24 hr room service and all you can eat food! I was in heaven. There was a hot tub in our room and a hammock on the porch overlooking the beach. We went swimming in the ocean and it was easy to be distracted with all the fish. The hotel was near the finish of the ironman which was convenient also. On race morning they had food set up for the athletes at 3 am. After enjoying pancakes, waffles, and fruit. We headed to the buses and headed to the Chankanaab park.
Before the race, I pumped up my tires, lubricated my chain, used the portapoties, applied lots of body glide, and took some Ibuprofen for my hamstring. I also drank some gatorade, had a honey stinger waffle and gu. I often have GI problems during the races and so immodium seemed to cure those issues for all the half ironmans I did this summer, so I took some immodium too. I was all set and started to the docs to watch the pros start.
The Swim
There were dolphins jumping near the start of the race. The water looked calm. I jumped off the doc and swam to the start, to warm up. The visibility in the water is awesome in Cozumel! The mass start seemed to start before the big horn went off. There was a ton of contact!! The swim felt more like a maze through people rather than a swim. The first turn was a brutal wrestling match. My hips bothered me a little. It is weird that in open water swims my hips ache, but they never do in a swim pool. Near the end of the swim it thinned out a little. The last few hundred feet my foot cramped, which is a first time for me. There were jelly fish that felt like annoying mosquitoes. I kept telling myself to just keep moving...I love swimming without a wetsuit! A PR swim 1:00:40. I was thankful that I had gum in T1 to help get rid of the salt water. I think I am more sensitive to the jellyfish than the other athletes, because when I got back to the USA, I had a huge rash on my feet legs, arms, neck...
The Bike
During training, I biked a bunch of centuries, so I felt I knew I could push the bike. However, the last lap I ended up hitting a small brick wall, and had to dig deep to keep pushing myself. The lowered bike seat, seemed to put more pressure on my quads, than I was used to. The bike was a three loop course around the island, with no traffic! From the park we had 12 miles of headwind. From that point we had 12 miles of brutal cross wind. This was my favorite part of the ride, along the oceanside, being mesmerized by the waves. Then there was a tail wind for about 10 miles, and a mix down to the park. It was my first time on a flat course. And there was a ton of drafting going on. For the most part I did not draft. However the last loop, I was passed by a huge pack of like 40 cyclists that I got caught up in for a little...(Somebody caught a picture of them). It was really annoying. There were people in my age group. Anyway, I was thinking about it and decided to draft to try to catch up with the group-which I should not have done-...So anyway, I got caught and had a 4 minute penalty, near mile 100. Anyway, I am not proud of my bike, and wish I could do it all over again. Nutrition wise, I had a gu about every 45 minutes, and alternated a honey almond butter bonk buster with a honey stinger waffle about every mile. I also had some endurolytes every hour. I felt dehydrated on the bike, and only urinated near the end of the course. I think part of the dehydration may have been the immodium and ibuprofen, prior to the swim start. It was my first bike under 6 hours- PR bike 5:38:53The Run
The run was a flat, three time out and back course finishing in the City hall inside the main plaza. I felt great on the first half of the run and ran a 1:45, despite stopping three times. Twice to use the porta potties, and to tear off the wet flapping KT tape. Once to check to see if there were rocks in my shoes-which ended up being blisters. During the run it poured! It was nice because it cooled down the temps. However it destroyed my feet, with my thin light weight shoes, and uncut toenails. One street turned into a river and waded through water that was half way up to my knee. It was fun like an adventure race. The last out and back, I was in survival mode, and kept trying to calculate each mile to see if I would be under 4 hours. Nutrition for the run included alternating gu and coke, with occasional gatorade. The spectators were rock stars!! Everybody was out cheering, dancing and singing. Love the spectators and volunteers! It was great to see all my friends on the run Barb, Tori, Moka, Curry, Cowboy Ironman, and Ryan. Ended up with a PR run, despite the rain 3:50:51. My Total overall time was 10:37:52. Psyched to be under 10:40. I was seventh in my age group, and 20th overall (excluding the pros). Overall it was a great event and a very fun trip.
Not sure yet what races I will do next year...Thanks to all my friends and family support training and racing this season! Loved the good luck postcard from my friend Rachel Strate! Thanks Wes Johnson for the great coaching! Thanks Tom Fletcher for the active release therapy!
