Ironman Cozumel 2014
So here I am having my best ever start to a race, pb swim,
up there on the bike, and feeling good, then technical problems start. I
thought, this can’t be happening.
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| nervous but feeling ready, with Geoff, race morning. |
I’m not one for writing reports soon after races, but this time I purposely decided to leave it a while and
let some frustration pass. I was a bit down after the experience in Cozumel. The
place itself is pleasant, the people are friendly, but it was the first time I
DNF’d in an Ironman and it felt very strange. I thought I’d get back to London
and back to work and let the negativity leave naturally. My friends Geoff and
Caoimhe were out there and that helped me a lot before and after the race.
Since I got back Sarah and I have been doing normal social stuff, having a few
drinks and catching up with some people. It’s been a nice few weeks.
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| in form, with a pb swim split |
The guy I chased was just slightly faster than me, and
seemed to know where he was going, so I stayed on him like a magnet. A few
times when we were passing earlier waves he surged to get around people, and I almost
lost him, but I always managed to find him again when the bubbles cleared. When
I seen 53:08 coming out of the water I thought I was on for a good day :-)
 |
| fighting big headwinds on east side |
At the start of the bike we were flying along, low power, and
high speed though I was seeing a fairly high hr, maybe the heat was at work.
Anyway I settled in and found a couple of similar pace guys for the head wind.
They knew what they were about, and stayed legal, however I dropped my head a
few times when we were going through some traffic, and lost concentration, next
I knew the 2 guys were gone. I didn’t want to risk the higher watts yet to
chase them down, so thought I’d let them go and find them on the 3rd
lap.
I never would see
them again, because 10k in to the 2nd lap (of 3), the gears started
playing up. I hit a pothole in the road, and the back derailleur froze. This is
protection mode where the rear dr separates the solenoid to avoid damage.
Problem was I couldn’t see the control unit light while moving, I didn’t want
to stop so I was trying to adjust it and reset it at 25mph.
It was a strange experience withdrawing from the race, but
really I had no choice. The last 110k in 1st gear on a flat course
didn’t make any sense, so I handed in my notice and got a ride with the police
back to town. The cop looked at me funny when I told him I wanted a ride to
town, he asked me a lot of questions first: name, country, race number etc,
I assume just in case I was trying to set a very fast 20k split and rejoin the race from
town :-)
I then when to a restaurant for some ‘normal’ food. Sitting
there was quite difficult, it was a bit surreal, hearing the race commentary,
and here I was sitting in a restaurant out of the race. It felt like a bad
dream. Some people seeing me in race gear realised I had withdrawn, they were
kind with words but I was in a different place, my head was in the clouds. Some
other people looked at me funny, I assume they thought I had finished already,
I don’t speak Spanish but I think they were saying ‘look at the head on this
show off eejit’.
I spent a week’s holiday and a fair chunk of cash to get out
there, and it means I have to reschedule my race options for 2015. Not that I
assumed qualification, but looking at the results, it should have been fairly
straight forward to get the slot.
Watching the race was an experience in itself, it was hot
and I seen from the outside just how long and crazy our sport is. A lot of very
fast people looking not very fast as they suffered on the latter stages of the
event.
On reflection I could have done some things different, but it’s
done and I have to move on. The negatives are obvious; but at least one
positive is that I swam well. So considering I ran well in Kona, I just need to
sort out a good bike performance and we’ll be there :-)
As Alan says the fitness built over the past few seasons,
and even with breaks here and there, a good bulk of that fitness (and ability
to get fit) carry’s over. That means I am certainly not starting from scratch,
I will take a short break before hitting it again. At the moment South Africa
is a strong candidate, as I still want to do Roth, but Alan may not be so keen
on that, we have been fighting over that one for 5 years :-)
Reflection on 2014
2014 was a funny year for me, I started out well in January but
then bust my Achilles in Spain. I managed to hold enough fitness to qualify in
Melbourne in March, and then started a long build to Kona. I had to fight along the way
with food intolerances after a stomach bug in February. That battle still goes on, but now I know much more about it, and have learned how to work with it. With
Alan and Kinga keeping me right, I got to Kona with my highest ever fitness figures wrt
CTL and Vo2. Kona itself was an akward day, apart from a crash and puncture, I felt sluggish in the swim and bike sections. Alan’s calculations say I only
reached 80% of my back home power on race day due to heat and time zone acclimation. If I make it back there, I’ll be
going 2 weeks ahead this time.
With 2015 training starting soon through the possibility of South
Africa, I’m hoping to have a better start to the season than last year. My
motivation is still very good, I’m not totally sure why, but I assume it won’t
last forever so in the meantime I’ll be busting myself the best I can for
another year.
I hope everyone is enjoying their winter break and recharging
for another good year. If you’re not sure what to do differently this winter,
here are a few ideas from the boss: http://www.endurancecorner.com/Alan_Couzens/basic_limiters?utm_content=buffer0ae14&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
I have a few things to fix myself, I’m enjoying the break, but the
work starts again soon.
Thanks as always to my great sponsors Kinga, ChampionsSystem, Vita Coco. Good luck to all for 2015!
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