2013 Ironman Cozumel Race Report

I wanted to write this with the race still fresh in my head and the pain still in my body for the most clarity. With two toenails already black and my muscles aching with every movement, I'll try to present Ironman Cozumel to those who are thinking about doing it, as well as to those who have no desire to do it but are curious about the beast known as Ironman. The Ironman is a three-sport race starting with a 2.4 mile swim, immediately onto the bicycle for 112 miles, change shoes for a 26.2 mile marathon. I'll break this up into Pre-race, Race, and Post-race. This is not about me or my goals, but about the venue, conditions, and organization (or lack thereof) that I observed.

Pre-Race

We arrived on Wednesday before the December 1st Sunday event. The variable that most triathletes fret over is the weather and Cozumel didn't disappoint. Being an island in the Caribbean, it was hot and humid. With clear skies the wind blew very hard that day, about 25 mph out of the north. This brought very high seas. The Cozumel Port Authority issued a small craft advisory, no boats on the water. No scuba diving. No fishing. The forecast was for more of the same over the next few days. The anxiety level went off the charts. With high winds and a white capped ocean, at least there was no rain...yet.

Thursday was more of the exact same shit. No swimming and fewer cyclists than I have ever seen before an Ironman, this being my 5th one. Sightseeing day with one eye constantly on the ocean and the other on the wind. Thursday afternoon it was announced that the swim practice for Friday morning had been cancelled due to conditions. Not good.

Friday weather was more of the same: viscous winds and high seas. With only two days before the event, it was also the day of the Mandatory Athlete meeting which included the usual highlights of the race. At the end they talked about contingency plans if the wind and seas didn't calm down: A duathlon (bike and run but no swim), a modified course, etc. Friday afternoon it was announced that Saturday's swim practice was cancelled. Three days of small craft advisories. I decided to do a loop of the bike course, nice and easy, 40 miles. The wind was going to be a factor, it was clear. It blew very, very hard. 8-10 miles was crosswind Another 10 was downwind. 10-11 miles directly into a 25 mph headwind, and another 10 miles into a crosswind.

Saturday morning arrived with slightly less wind, it was blowing about 15-20 mph. A glimmer of hope. The seas were still quite high but I had to get in the ocean to feel the current and the waves, and to just get the feel. After a short 300-400 yard swim I was much less worried about the conditions. It looked worse than it really was. And at about 80 degrees it was the perfect temperature for swimming. No wetsuits of course. Saturday afternoon it was announced that the swim course had been modified due to safety concerns. Although the predictions were for further declining winds, officials had no choice but to err on the side of safety. I get this. Instead of a 2.4 mile loop they changed it to a point to point 1.96 mile swim along the shore, down current. Saturday afternoon is also the bike check-in and take note of where to find it after exiting the water. Next we took a shuttle to the second transition area which was about 3-4 miles north to downtown and check in our running shoes, etc.

Race

The Big Day arrived and of course the seas were calm and the sky clear. The wind was the lowest it had been since I arrived, blowing at a manageable 15 mph or so. After about eight months of training six days a week for seemingly countless hours, it all came down to treading water, waiting for the start. That is nerves beyond description. BOOM! 2,000 of us are off in a thrashing, violent start. A sight to behold for sure and the beginning of a long day. The two mile swim in such beautiful water was too damn short. I don't think we were ever in water more than 50-60 feet deep and the coral and fish were beautiful. The water was crystal clear. The end of the swim funnels us to wooden steps and onto a small pier of a dolphin resort and water park. Our bikes were spread all throughout several parking lots of the park. Some people had to run through several parking areas to get their bikes. My GPS registered 1/4 mile of ground covered in that first transition before I got to the bike course.

I already touched on the bike course. It is flat and beautiful with very well maintained pavement, nearly new. Just that wind to deal with. 30 miles of harsh headwinds out of 112 total. It also rained very, very hard on me for each of the three bike loops. It never got cold but each downpour lasted about 15-20 minutes. I chalked it up to tropical weather, small micro climates all around the island. BTW, the course ended up being 112.9 miles. Doesn't seem like much of a difference after so long, but trust me it is.

The second transition was much shorter and smoother than the chaos of the first. Arriving at the end of the bike course, a volunteer takes your bike and whisks it away for you to pick up after the race. Within about 3 minutes after getting off the bike, it's off to the run course.

The run course is pretty flat with only two or three very small hills on each of the three 8.73 mile loops. More rain. It poured in sheets several times throughout the run. The drains clogged up and we slogged through ankle deep water in places. Between relentless sunshine and the rain and the wind, it was in interesting race. My feet were absolutely soaked, wrinkled, and water logged after the race. But it was oh so worth it. Would I do this race again? Hell yes. It was awesome.

Post-race area and notes

As always, an event of this magnitude does not happen without many hundreds, if not thousands of volunteers. I made a point to thank as many as I could. Roughly 1/2 of them understood what I was saying. Nonetheless, I always appreciate their help whether it's just handing me a water bottle or offering words of encouragement. Having said that, there were more children (roughly 9-12 year olds) volunteers at Ironman Cozumel than I've ever noticed, maybe 50 percent. As such, many were playing around instead of tending to the matters at hand, especially on the run course. A couple of aid stations on the run course were completely abandoned. Fortunately there was an aid station at nearly every 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile so safety wasn't an issue.

After the finish line food, aid, and water abounded. Organization and transportation was abundant. It was a great end to a day that offered more tests than I anticipated. Any questions, don't hesitate to ask. For those who care about such things, I swam the distance in 51 minutes, rode the bike in 6 hours, and ran the marathon in 4 hours 29 minutes. Total time: 11:31 with transitions.

Have a Fit Day, Y'all!!