My Father was a below the knee amputee (left Leg) and he had
had an early technology hip replacement in the "good leg".
He was a typical over achieving challenged athlete for his
day. Swimming was his best sport
but he could also deliver quite a fastball playing the sport he adopted and
loved from living 15 years in Canada.
He was very dismissive of any complaints I had about pain when I was a
child. I heard his words many times racing in Cabo. I am sure I still
don't know what "real pain", his words, is like but I came close
enough thank you.
Three weeks before the race my left knee started giving me
trouble. It has before and Doc Andy Pruitt suggested almost ten years ago
(ironically another below the knee amputee) that I might consider sticking to
shorter races. But the stubborn streak in my Father had rubbed off on me
and I am still at it.
Acupuncture has been my cure in the past combined with visco
supplementation and it will be at least part of the cure this time.
However four sessions of a acupuncture developed by a good friend Whitt
Reeves, and applied by Lindsay Long (Modern Point Acupuncture) was not enough
this time. I thought it was working but Tuesday before the race proved it
had been helped but far from fixed the problem. I think I might have a
meniscus tear this time. I skipped my usual race week taper after that
both running and biking. It even hurt a bit while swimming.
The Race Venue and Course:
I would have loved the course under different circumstances.
It would be described as hard by many. I don't think there is such
a thing. All IM races are hard; some are just slower than others.
That assumes you know what you are doing and adjust your pacing and
fueling and hydration accordingly.
 |
| Swim Venue: Start is in the first cove from the top finish in the second |
The swim is one loop with a beach start. It can be
rough but the start is in a somewhat protective cove. Hurricane Philippe had just come assure to our south so surf
was up but not terrible. There is
a current along the shore. The
only way to learn which way it is running and if it is a factor is to ask a
local swimmer. If they keep this
race at the end of October this race will never allow wet suits if you want to
podium or get a Kona Slot. Most of
the time it will not be wetsuit legal for anyone. The race organizers claimed it was 82 this year, I know 82,
my pool temp. It was at least 86 and the local fishing forecast had it at
87.
The bike is hilly, Cabo has just under 7000ft of climbing
but the highest elevation is just 750ft (a point on the road to the Airport
just after you pass thru a toll booth on your way to town). You need to adjust your target power,
HR or perceived effort to match the extra time you are out there riding.
You also need to be careful you don't burn too many matches trying to
crest the short hills. If you
don't it will be hard, if not at the end of the bike certainly on the run.
But do it right and it won't be any harder than any other race. The climb to 750ft is at the end of
each loop, two, means you make that climb at the end (you do go back down to
T2). It did not help to have a light wind in Sunday blowing up the hill.
There was no cooling breeze in the 90F heat. I was prepared for this
having reviewed the forecast the night before.
I think it would be an accurate statement that there is no
flat piece of road on this course, if there is it is very short. Having
electronic shifting is a huge advantage; you need to shift constantly on the
aerobars and the hoods. There is no traffic, other than bikes, on the
course. Much of it is one side of
the Peninsular Highway, two lanes and the shoulder; the rest is on the closed
road to the Airport and in San Jose. In general the road is in good condition although the surface is rough in places. The last 1/2 mile downhill to T2 is an ugly road with potholes and
serious speed bumps. There are
other speed bumps along the course but nothing like those on that last
bit.
 |
T2 and Finish are at the junction of the bridge over the
dried up river and the main road to the south. The big hill
on the run is the ramp up to the bridge. |
In contrast the run is quite flat, there are a few short ups
and downs but you would not notice them on a training run. Aide stations
were well stocked with ice and seemed to be set up no more than a mile apart. It is an out and back
One other topic about the race itself. Two transition
locations and you don't get to go to T2 race morning. This means any food
or liquids in your T2 bag sit in the afternoon sun on Saturday and Sunday until
you finish the bike. The solution is child's soft lunch cooler if you
want to put food or fluids in there.
There was much confusion before the race about the total
altitude gain. Two weeks before the race they told us in an email that it
was 3800ft. That by itself was odd as they had the first loop at more than
half the total. I created a Computrainer course, which came out at over
6000ft. Finally at the race meeting they admitted that it was 3800+
meters, that's over 7000ft that was a bit too much but much closer to reality.
Then there was the miss info about the water temps. They were
telling us to bring our wet suits right up to race week. Ave temp for the
water here is 84 in October and as noted before was higher than that this
year.
So on to my day.
Walking down to the hill to the beach on the road we would
soon climb back up the sky was clear. My Dad was fascinated by astronomy
(his uncle was a famous British astronomer). Mars and Venus were almost
in an embrace. All the stars in Orion were clear, I have not seen so many
stars since my sailing days, usually too much background light. I thought
of him getting quite emotional. He would have been doing IM races if they
had been around and the carbon blades invented before he died. My knee
was hurting going down hill but I remembered his words.
This race is not the best organized but I don't blame the
volunteers. They were doing their best but be aware of this if you race
here. I went thru a modified warm up, no running and got introduced again
to the bathtub water.
You always make some kind of mistake in a race you just need
to keep them to a minimum and not fret over them. Mine was not self
seeding myself at the 1 min/100 mark I lined up beside the 1:30 sign, I swim
closer to 2 min. It did have its benefits. The only other owner of a Dimond
introduced himself. What are those odds, good karma.
I did not run thru the sand in deference to my knee. I
did not time the waves right and got knocked off my feet. That happened
to several people around me so it was not just me. Quickly I discovered
my seeding mistake, I was passing everyone.
Two weeks before the race i decided that the latest bit of
Triathlon tech would be useful in an open ocean race with the possibility of
big rolling swells making navigation hard. I bought the Iolite GPS device
for swimming, more in the side bar.
I was still regretting my seeding choice at the second turn
2/3 the way thru the swim. I felt good progress was being made; little
did I know how well. We may have had a current carrying us back to the beach;
I got knocked off my feet again and crawled ashore. More memories of my
Dad, that is how he got into the 60F water in Ireland.
For the first time I did not cramp in an IM event.
I have historical always cramped in any swim event much over 1900 meters
and often in training. A major factor was a new anti cramping product
called ItstheNerve that I used, more in sidebar. It has not been 100%
successful for me but I will not leave home without it in the future. I
have gone 3800 meters enough times cramp free since getting samples to convince
me it works. Thanks guys and Amy.
Transition was slow. Changing went quickly but no
running in the sand. I knew
I was in a small race (about 800) looking at the bike racks, a throwback to the
old days. All went well until a volunteer made me look up. I had
forgotten to fasten my helmet strap. That broke my concentration on the
uneven sand and carpet, I tripped and my knee made it clear that it needed TLC
for the entire race.
I did not find out my swim split until the race was
over. When I got to my bike my
Garmin read 8:48 and I thought OMG slow, I had forgotten that my start was
sometime after 7:30 not the usual 7am. (Post race I discovered it was fast,
1:10, best ever. Combination of
ItstheNerve, possible current, and training)
The bike course starts on what is probably the steepest hill
of the course. The knee would not let me climb out of the saddle so it
was slow. It was the only place I was in my granny gear. The on
ramp to the Peninsular Highway was a short down and then it was up again for a
bit of a slog. I worried about the slow swim for a bit and then
remembered that we did not start at 7am.
That seemed impossible and I focused in the task at hand. Up down up down and so on to Cabo San
Lucas, about 15 miles. One of the few flat bits of the bike are down near
the turnaround. And it is not really flat.
I did well for the first 25 miles. My new, in May, Dimond
bike wanted to go faster but the connecting rod in the engine was creaky.
Gradually I backed off the power to compensate. Power goal when
healthy is in the low 170 range. I held right at 170 for those first
miles but over the next 80 odd miles it fell to 130.
The bike is certainly a challenge. Hottest part of the
day, 90 on Sunday. On the two climbs up to the airport a tail wind
matched our speed, man that was hot. For the first time ever I started
dousing myself with cold water on the bike (lots of logistics problems with
this race but they got the most important things right including aide stations).
On the second climb in the heat an Eagle swooped low over my head. I
thought of Natasha Badman's comment after the windiest Kona event ever, my
first, "you need to think you are soaring with Eagles when it is
windy". Class lady, still racing. I was inspired.
The downhill back to town and T2 was nice but I was very
worried about the run. I knew to be careful the last 1/2 mile, two speed
bumps that would launch a car and several ugly potholes. Getting off the
bike my worries were justified. I walked into the changing tent and after a
slow change walked out. I had cut a deal with my knee that if he got me
thru the run I promised to get him the best medical attention when I got home.
The idea came from a very special friend Barry Siff. Barry was on
my mind for the next five hours along with my Dad, Mum, and two old close
friends who died way before their time, Connor and Ralph. Connor loaned
me his bike when I was 10. Our town was on a hill; the Main Street averaged
over 10% grade, no brakes. It almost ended my life. Ralph watched
me race in my hometown in Ireland just before we both hit 50. He died on his birthday.
I tried running, no go. Took three Tylenol and kept
walking, fast. The math said I would finish at this pace so I was now happy.
After two miles I was wondering if the pills would work. Running
was still impossible. I took a fourth pill and hoped my stomach would not
rebel. Then I found my big fan, squeeze, Ingrid. She was very
worried about me and I was worried about her. I told her to go back to
the hotel and wait for me to come back, around midnight.
Seeing her must have convinced my knee that I was going to
go the distance and he might as well get it over with as quick as possible.
As I approached the changing tents at T2 I tried running again, this time
it was a go. Shortly later a voice beside me said, "How are you
traveling". I asked for a translation and now realized my traveling
partner was from Oz. We hung out for the next 12 miles, I got to meet his
family and our conversation took my mind off my knee. He was a good bit
younger and having a tough race. There is no question being friendly pays
dividends, I don't remember this often enough.
So Garth arrived at his hotel earlier in the week on his
own. He has three grown children living all over the USA and they were
waiting for him with his wife. A plan she had hatched and never told him.
I will never forget this story. It lightened my load again.
Warning, this paragraph is a bit gross but in keeping with
Tri tradition I have to tell the story. I lightened things up some more
and lost Garth around mile 16, the Tylenol, I had now taken 6 kicked in, just
made it to the next aide station. No toilet paper. I won't go
further.
I was having feelings that my Quaker schoolteachers would
not approve, I was felling proud that I had pushed thru my troubles.
Things still hurt a bit but I was thinking that maybe by now I had
polished up my knee joint and I might not need and treatment, no such luck I
know now. But I eased on down the road starting my third loop. My
biggest worry now was not tripping on the uneven parts of the road in the dark;
some of the course was on dirt roads and some just very badly maintained roads.
The last loop went fast, I was not going fast but was in a
very happy place. I have now finished two IM events were I get the
emotions of someone who struggles to finish. I am thinking of friends and
athletes I coached like Susan McNamee doing her first IM seconds under the cut
offs for all three events, watching people do the same thing in Kona, listening
to Mindy describe finishing her first Race. "Only a Sprint". She said
but you could have been mistaken if you thought she had just climbed Everest.
And my latest coaching success, Ann Robinson finishing her first 70.3
this summer.
No Kona slot for me and I don't think I would have beaten a
new friend Andrew Loeb even if healthy. I would have pushed him
though. Andrew and I have raced in
Kona several times and he has always finished just ahead of me. This time
we stayed in the same hotel and got to know each other. I was the second older competitor
I the race, I had hoped that would happen someday but not quite this soon.
I was second out of 4 in my AG.
There was a lot of carnage in this race. I guess in one-way
it is fair to call this a hard race. Getting things right is harder and
if you don't the pain is much harder. The heat in the water, air and the
hills means you have to have things figured out and adjusted for this race.
I think a lot of people did not do so. They were not helped with
some critical misinformation about the race mentioned earlier.
Don't let all this
discourage your from coming to race here. The course is great even if
hilly. The Mexican spectators are great, I learned that in Cozumel.
And I learned a much better way to express your admiration for athletes
than "Nice Job". Or "your almost home" always shouted when
you on the first of multiple loops. Its "You are an Animal". I
am going to learn to say it in Spanish. It really sounds great that way.
