"HIELO!" "HIELO!"

Ironman Cancun 70.3

word for the day......"HIELO" (means "ice"). I think i yelled this 100 times on the run. ice was my best friend today. i had it everywhere. even in my shorts! it was cold, but that was the idea...!

Holy crap was it hot out there. I was having flashbacks to when I did this race 2 years ago and remembered exactly how it felt on that miserable run - VERY UNCOMFORTABLE and UNPLESANT! :-)

Now, mind you, every run is "uncomfortable" to me (hehe), but this race takes the cake and wins the prize again for the hottest race I have ever done. it´s officially a tie - Cancun 2008 #1, Cancun 2006 #1! There is something to that pure mexican heat.

So how did the race unfold? interestingly enough, it seems like patience and slow paid off in the end. It´s all on a relative scale, I know. Slow to me is wicked fast to others, and scary slow for the super fast. I just tried to stay in my zone and watched the race unfold before my eyes. it all all seemed to happen on the run..... although there was plenty of drama on the bike, i will refrain from getting into it right now.

the swim was ok. i have no idea what my splits were, but i wasn´t very fast, i know. BUT, I kept all anxiety to a minimum, and just tooled along. the first loop was totally uneventful, but the second loop was little to be desired since as soon as we rounded the buoy it was straight into the second wave of AG men in a holy mess of flaling bodies! from there, the swim was a bit more stressful and much more crowded, but in the end it turned out fine.
The marathon barefoot run down the beach and through Wet and Wild to the transition area was FOREVER. It hurt my foot a bit to trek along there and was passed my a few foreign women on the way, but i made it to my bike eventually only to be completely out of breath and fumble with my helmet that didn´t seem to want to cooperate. but...as always...i got it on and was off on the bike. now i had to catch those girls who passed me on the T1 run!
I passed them 5k in...only to see them BOTH in a pack behind me at the turn around 20 miles in. I was pretty peeved.....but tried to stay in my own zone and focused only on the rider in front of me who was in blue..I had her # for the time being....!
at about mile 40....after i passed the blue girl...I had a queezy feeling come over me and I puked some of my carbo-pro-Gu20 up. yuck! I started to feel pretty bad and decided to lay up a bit, and get some water down. I guess it worked. i was able to burp a few times without hurling before the bike ended, so that was a good thing i thought. the brief shower on the bike was nice....but the headwind that followed it was ugly. the final 10 miles on the bike were slow into the wind....peaks and valleys.....I was not feeling too optimistic about how i was going to feel on the run...but you never know...
so it was into T2 and off onto the run. oh man, rough. but I kept telling myself..." just keep moving. sometimes it takes you time to get going." re-assuring myslef i can be top 5 if i just stay steady. . .she was done. i was 4th headed out on the run. then 5th about 1k in. then i saw MJ (michellie jones) on the side of the road. 4th again! then 5th by mile 5 again. ok, 5th. just hang on, i thought. then, the heat began to take its toll. by mile 7 i was 4th again. then soon after that I was 3rd. whoa. they were dropping like flies. where was 2nd i thought....? i saw her at the turn around. not too far, but by this time, i was cramping, and was trying not to push too hard. ok, so i didnt have to try to go slow. i couldnt go any faster! my body kept me in line...finishing at this point was most important. i was happy with 3rd, but cramping and pulling out towards the end was unacceptable to me. the final 4 miles were tough. mentally and physically. i was crapming in my calves and i felt my quads twitching. would i make it? focus. picture the finish. i as good as there. man it´s hot. then at mile 11 or so, i needed gatorade. anything with electrolytes. somewhere around this time i hit the pavement. some guy after the race told me he saw me fall as i hit the leg of the table with my foot. i went down and totally cramped up in my leg. yes, i let the 4 letter words roll out in my very own true-to-form-fashion. oh, it hurts to lock up. how would i get up? no idea. i had to. i peeled myself up and leaned on the table to calmly stretch for a bit....(yeah, if you know me at all....there was nothing calm about me inside, but i didnt want to contract any muscle at all so i was forced to move slowly) then i looked to my right and there was the 4th place girl coming ....time to go, i thought!! so i began to walk, then hit a semi stride...and just ran home. then low and behold....ahead and around the corner - there was 2nd place. could i catch her? no way. yes. and did she sprint to the finish line. yes. did I? yes, but it was more like a wobble. so she beat me to the finish...BUT....did I mention she got a penalty for running off course? yes! VOILA! 2ND PLACE! There you have it. what a day. I´m as red as a lobster.
Now it´s time for that margharita I´ve been dreaming of....