I put together a solid race given the wacky curve-balls this event offered.
This was the first year the (2015) Ironman Los Cabos 70.3 distance was offered for this race, the organizers have some kinks to work out for sure! I had a few issues but I was pretty happy with my overall performance given the situations.
Logistics:
This was a nightmare! The information, times, and locations changed up to the very last minute! Meeting times changed, shuttle locations moved, and critical information was updated as late as morning of the race!
We had to walk back to the main expo 3 times on 3 different days just to pick up all my transition bags, time chip, and registration packet.
The Swim:
On race day they made a last minute change to make this a NON WET SUIT SWIM! I did all my open water swimming in a wet suit, So that was a big change
But, I managed to swim 1:50 per 100m splits in the open ocean so I was really happy with that.
The swim during Ironman Los Cabos seemed a bit more violent than usual, perhaps more people panicking in open water without their suits but there were many more elbows and aggressive kicks than any other race I have swam.
I swam about 200m extra from sun glare and poor buoy sighting though, definitely something to work on for next time.
Overall, the swim went fast and was fun being out in the ocean watching schools of fish swim beneath us.
Swim transition had a problem with the showers so I had to sprint through the sand and just brush off with a small towel.
I stayed nice and salty as I put my socks and shoes on over sandy wet feet and took off. Total time in transition was about 4 minutes.
I could have gone faster through T1 but I was pretty efficient in gearing up for the bike and didn’t loose too much time to the field.
The Bike:
All those long hours finally paid off!
I felt so strong on the bike, I made up a ton of time and quickly caught up to my age group leaders (top 15’s).
I settled into a good hard but manageable pace, staying deep in aero on the downs and flats and sitting up to climb strong.
I tried to keep my form strong and focus on not letting power drop under 200 watts to make sure I was always working
Ironman Los Cabos was a tough hilly course with about 3000 feet of climbing under the hot Mexican sun.
I stayed focused the entire time and made up a good amount of time, I made up 22 spots going from 40th out of the water to 18th off the bike in 2:46!
My climbing really has improved and I passed many lighter bikers on the rolling hills.
The Run:
This is where things went wrong!
I transitioned well, about 2 minutes, there were no English speaking volunteers to tell me where to put bags so I lost a bit of time but no big deal.
There was no shade on the entire Ironman Los Cabos course, the heat was over 90 F / 32 C and the humidity was crazy high
My heart rate jumped over my limit 170 in the very first few kilometers so I had to slow way down.
The first 8km were good on pace and strong form, then I really started breaking down
The heat made it hard to keep my legs moving and I switched to a 4 min jog 1 min walk format
I was upset that I didn’t have the strength to power through but my body wouldn’t do what I wanted it to
I ended up running a 2:13 1/2 marathon and losing a few places to drop to 22nd, but only losing 3 places while having to walk / jog shows just how brutal the heat was for everybody!
Overall:
I took 22nd place in my age group, 157 out of 950 overall. So I am getting much better. Given that this was my 2nd long distance Tri and 4th Tri ever… I am happy with the performance. I learned a ton and I am excited to focus on my strength and speed off the bike over the off season. It was a great way to celebrate my 34th birthday!
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