My very, very SICK Ironman Cozumel Race Report
The only goal I met at Ironman Cozumel was to finish, which now gives me 7 towards the Kona Legacy Lottery. My time was 13:12:13, a full one hour and 20 minutes slower than any I had done before, and that despite a shortened swim. I executed flawlessly, but made one critical mistake. I started. Here’s what happened.
Wed – After checking in, I went for an easy 3 mile run and felt GREAT.
Thur – Rode a full loop of the island at an easy effort to preview the bike course. Felt GREAT.
Fri Morning – Jogged 1.5 miles, biked 10 miles, and swam 7 mins in the pool. Felt GREAT.
Fri Evening – picked up a hack and went to bed early. Thus began my descent into Dantes’ Inferno. First I had chills and was shaking so bad my lower back hurt. Then came the heat and I soaked the sheets completely through. Which made me cold. Repeat.
Sat – woke up in a fog and was hoping it was a 24 hr bug. I’ve been through a lot of those. Ate breakfast, did my T2 bag and went back to bed. Got up, had lunch, made up my T1 bag, and back to bed. I had a late bike turn-in slot and got back to the hotel at 4pm. Had a fig newton and straight to bed. Asked my wife to alert family that I might not be able to start. No dinner, no further snacks, I was out.
Sun 0200 – the alarm goes off and my Iron Sherpa and ever supporting wife hand feeds me a cup and a half of apple sauce, and makes me a protein shake to drink along with some Gatorade. Back to bed for more shakes, chills, and night sweats.
Sun 0415 – I’ve been in bed for over 12 hours and feel like I could easily stay another 12 hours. Got up, hacked up a lung, took a hot shower, and then threw up three times. I did not know it at the time, but I had caught a pneumonia. I knew I was dehydrated from soaking the sheets again so quickly drank a Gatorade, Sprite, Diet Coke, and 20 oz of electrolyte drink on the way to the venue. Had a Powerbar and one gel before the start as well. At a minimum I was going to collect my bike, but I would make a final decision at T1. When we got there I heard the announcement that the swim was shortened from 3800m to 3100m, apparently due to fear of a repeat of last year’s high swim DNF rate. I took it as a sign that I should start! Told my wife that all time goals were out the window. Finishing would be the only objective today.
Swim – 53.48. They bussed everyone up the road to the El Presidente hotel which has a lagoon beach right out the back of the lobby. I got in the water 10 mins before the start and swam out to what appeared to be the starting line and back about 20 yards. This line kept drifting south and if I was racing it would have ticked me off. By the time we started the first folks were nearly 100 yards past the original start and I was about 50 yards behind. With no turns I had a fairly clean swim all the way to the steps where there was a scrum to get out of the water (there are no hand rails, thus no helpers pulling folks up). I was happy to be out and feeling OK.
T1 – 6:34. Slow, but I did not run. I reminded myself that I was just trying to finish, and I took some extra time in the shower to rinse off the salt water. I removed my skinsuit, cap, goggles, and the rest of the day would be in my one piece Kiwami Konami.
Bike – 5:55:52. This is where I really took it easy. I never pushed the watts and just stayed well within my zones the entire time. I followed my nutrition plan flawlessly. I found that I was more likely to cough if I sat up and that forced me to stay aero. I had coughed so much the previous two nights that my side hurt to cough. On the windy side I was passed each loop by blatant, wheel-sucking cheaters. I took advantage by latching 7 meters behind and taking a legal tow at a whopping 15 mph average. November races work well for my training schedule and it is a shame they all happen to be flat. I am already signed up for Florida next year, but after that, I am through with flat course Ironman races.
T2 – 4:25 My legs were in good condition coming into T2. I changed my socks, grabbed my run bag, took a pee, and walked out onto the run course as I pulled nutrition from my bag.
Run – 6:11:34. Yeah, it was that bad. I started out stupid slow which wasn’t any problem because if I started breathing the slightest bit hard, I would launch into a coughing fit. Did I mention that I had a pneumonia? I managed to jog most of the first lap but by about 6 miles I was feeling very tired and just wanted to go to sleep. I steeled myself for the turn onto loop two knowing this was the breaking point on whether I would finish or not. I saw my wife at the turn and told her to prepare for a long day. On lap two of the run, I would jog a couple hundred yards, then walk until I was ready again. And then came the tropical deluge, turning the run course into a puddle fest. Normally, I would have loved this, but when you are not generating heat, it just makes you cold. So the rain just added to my misery. By the end of this loop, I couldn’t jog 50 yards without coughing. The last loop was just a long walk. I was so tired and just wanted to lie down in the grass but I knew if I stopped I could not get started again. I was feeling a little dizzy and at one point, was worried about passing out and freaking out my wife worrying about where I was…so kept pushing. I had lots of time to think…like, dang, the mile marks sure take forever when you are walking. I also have new found respect for those who do walk these routinely. My legs felt great but I was really using my hips, and my feet were hamburger from the wet shoes. Finally, the end was in sight and I crossed, not overjoyed at all, just relieved for it to end.
To add symmetry to my day, I hacked up my other lung after finishing. Took a hot shower in the hotel and threw up several times. After a couple of drinks, I went straight to bed…no food. Mission accomplished – I did not have to spend the next day explaining to everyone why I DNF’d even if I had a great reason. I saw a doctor as soon as I returned to the US and chest x-rays confirmed I have a pneumonia. A week later I still don’t have my appetite back, but I am starting to come out of the fog of deep illness, and looking forward to the outseason after I recover.
Comments
Paul...great effort to finish. Very, very few triathletes have your skill and knowledge to get themselves to the finish line while being so ill. Amazed at your determination. From now on, any time I'm feeling bad in a race, I'm just going to recall how you sucked it up to finish, and my situation won't seem so hard. Thanks for showing us all how to finish when most people wouldn't even have started the race.
And thanks for keeping an eye open for Claudia. She had her best IM ever in 11:44, with a 4:08 marathon.
WTG tough guy!!! Impressive.......
WOW...just WOW. Totally impressed with the mental toughness!
Incredible! OMG! thank goodness you made it out of this alive!
thanks for sharing!