NO RISK NO FUCKING REWARD
I toed the start line of IRONMAN Cozumel, only 8 weeks after racing in IRONMAN Maryland. I had never done two back to back IRONMAN races so close to each other before. That was a thrill and gamble all to itself. The trip was also compounded with extra emotions since I traveled to Mexico solo, aka no sherpa.
I signed up for IRONMAN Cozumel only 5 weeks before race day with two goal. Qualify for Kona 2025 and one final hurrah racing with the 40 year old female athletes! You see, next year, I start a new chapter of my life. I move up to the 50-54 Age Group.
As a woman, turning 50, that’s a big fucking deal!
My goal as I age, is not about getting faster. I know slowing down as you age is inevitable. My goal instead is to get stronger, train smartly, and maintain a high level of performance into my 50s, 60s and beyond!
Cozumel has always been a special island for me. Nine years ago, I toed the start line of my very first Half IRONMAN here. Since than I have raced in 18 half IRONMANs and 8 full IRONMANs. Traveling to Mexico was my personal gift to my body, to thank it for caring for my soul for past 49 years allowing me to experience life to the fullest.
That was worth celebrating during my birthday month of November!
RACE RECAP
SWIM 2.4 MILES (TIME: 1:00:14)
My highlight of IRONMAN Cozumel was by far the swim. I didn’t want the swim to end! I felt so strong and happy in the ocean.
This was my 3rd time racing in Cozumel.
In my opinion Cozumel’s swim is one of the most spectacular swims in the IRONMAN and Half IRONMAN circuit. Water visibility is 100% and for the entire swim you are swimming over marine life.
Water temperature on race day was 80.6F which is ideal for me as it’s a wetsuit illegal race in the ocean. This combo of wetsuit illegal and ocean swim is by far my favorite type of racing as it puts me at an advantage being a strong open water swimmer.
On race day, I arrived at 5am to Transition 1 in Chankanaab Park with a very early taxi drive from my Airbnb in downtown Cozumel. I arrived early in order to set up my bike by pumping tires and arranging my fuel and hydration on my bike. I then took the bus to the swim start at Marina Fonatur. I wanted to get to the swim start early to seed myself in the under 1 hour swim wave which is at the very front of the pack.
My goal was to swim under 59 minutes to beat my swim PR I set at this race in 2020. I wasn’t able to beat my PR as we didn’t have much of a strong assisted tide as in 2020 but I paced myself well in the pack, I sighted often, I fought for the straight line buoy to buoy, and was unfaced by the jellyfish stings. Got a couple of good stings on my face and arms by what we all believe were Thumble Jellyfish.
Came out of the swim 3rd in my Age Group.
T1 TRANSITION FROM SWIM-TO-BIKE (TIME: 5:55)
The transition for this year’s race was a bit longer than usual, about 0.40 mile run. You exit the swim at the concrete dock of the dolphinarium at Chankanaab Park. You then run through the dolphin center and out their main entrance to the parking lot. Grab your bike gear and run to the changing tents and then run to your racked bike inside the gravel parking lot. I never saw the fresh water showers listed on the transition map. Therefore, I got to my racked bike with my feet covered in sand and wished I had a water bottle to rinse my feet and face. Slipping my tri-cycle shoes on sandy feet was not ideal knowing I had 112 miles to bike like this!
BIKE 112 MILES (TIME: 6:31:54)
Cozumel’s bike course is known for its wicked winds. Disc wheels are prohibited due to strong cross winds coming off the ocean on the south side of the island (Punta Sur). You lap the island 3 times counter clockwise direction starting from Chankanaab parking lot in T1 and finish in T2 next to Cozumel City Hall in downtown.
My goal on the bike was to nail my fueling and hydration plan in a hot & humid race. I thought I was staying on top of my hydration when I realized coming off the bike to grab my bike special needs bag at mile 66 that I hadn’t yet peed since T1!!! I took extra time here to drink a bottle of water, pee, and hose down my feet and cycle shoes from all the sand from T1.
I was definitely feeling overheated on the 3rd lap of the bike. I was unable to hit my normalized IRONMAN power numbers and opted to slow it down which opened the invite for female cyclists to start passing me. I knew that I needed to ride conservatively if I wanted a fighting chance to hunt down a Kona slot in the run.
I came off the bike 20th in my Age Group.
T2 TRANSITION FROM BIKE-TO-RUN (TIME: 6:24)
It is here where I missed my Sherpa the most! Coming off the bike it is always so nice to see a familiar face encouraging you and giving you your race stats after hours of riding solo. I missed Jimmie a lot! I pushed my thoughts aside, grabbed my run gear bag and entered the female changing tent. I quickly changed from my trikit to running shorts and took a little extra time to use the porta pots in the female transition area.
RUN 26.2 MILES (TIME 5:34:32)
Cozumel marathon is a 3 lap out and back run course. Each lap is 8.7 miles. I felt dizzy in the 1st lap. I didn’t know if it was from dehydration or lack of fuel so I started to drink Gatorade and ingested extra gels and bananas like crazy.
Starting the 2nd lap, I didn’t feel any better. I started walking a lot to make sure I didn’t faint or black out. I became hyper aware that if I go down, faint or black out, I would be alone and my bike safety would be at risk. After 1:20am the area where our bikes and gear bags were stored would become unsupervised.
Since I came to this race alone it meant I had to finish the race and grab all my gear and bike before 1:20am. Jimmie couldn’t travel with me this time as he had just traveled the day prior to my trip from Central Asia and had work obligations back in the office. Racing solo certainly added an element of anxiety I had not anticipated.
Each time I would attempt to run, the dizzy feelings would return instantly. At this stage I decided to modify my goal for a Kona slot and instead focused on “finish healthy”. It was a hard decision to make but no Kona slot is worth my health and getting my Pinarello Bolide tri bike stolen.
I know what I am capable of and I will be back. I will persevere as only one year ago, I was told I would never race another IRONMAN and here I am, racing 2 IRONMAN only 8 weeks apart placing 10th in IM Maryland and 21st at IM Cozumel.
I crossed my 8th IRONMAN with a time of 13:18:56, disappointed in not achieving my goals. I took a risk in racing IRONMAN Cozumel yet I have zero regrets! This was a gift to self. An empowerment solo adventure.
Plus in my books, no risk, no fucking reward!
