Ironman Cozumel, my second Ironman in 2018, was a pivotal one. It was my 12th Ironman which satisfies the major criteria for the Ironman Legacy Program and the path to participation to the World Championships in Kona. We arrived 8 days pre race to acclimatize and enjoy Cozumel. The race was the reason for the trip down but we also planned on having a vacation as well.
Sara was enjoying herself of course and liked that I was behaving myself because I could do Happy Hour runs for her and my daughter Emily.
All racked and ready to go. The race is unique in that there are 2 transitions. The swim is a point to point along the coast in the tropical waters - so clear and beautiful. The bike is 2.75 laps around the island and ends downtown then finally 3 out n back laps for the run through the town with all the nightlife.
Swim went really well. Although it was choppy I ended up with a PB of 1:07:30. It was odd because the buoys were not numbered and it was difficult to know where I was in the swim. I was pleased with the result.
Onto the bike I felt great. I thought the ride would have drafting but I was pleasantly surprised to see virtually no drafting whatsoever. The ride had pretty strong headwinds on the back side of the island but it was only for about 18k but 3 times. I was going along nicely til 60k when I flatted. I unfortunately had the wrong CO2 for the wheel size and had to wait for support to properly change it. Once I had a pump in hand it was all good but I lost 25 minutes and all momentum.
It took me about 30 minutes to get back into a rhythm but the rest of the ride was just hot and windy.
More heat on the run! I didn't feel great on the run. The accumulation of fatigue from Ironman Mont Tremblant and the 34C heat caught up with me. I developed a blister that impacted my run but I ran as best as I could. Sara enjoyed her margaritas road side while cheering though!
Finally number 12 is official in a time of 12:51. My 2018 season ended with one 70.3 and two Ironmans. My Ironman All World ranking for my 50-54 age group ended up with a 11th place ranking in Canada and ranked 381 in the world.
Now on to Hawaii....
Cheers!
