Ironman 70.3 Los Cabos Race Report

tl:dr version:
Swim: Ocean swim, 33:43 - good for ocean swim!
Bike: 2:51:45 - climb, descend, repeat, did not go great (power output low)
Run: 1:58:16 - terrible time, but actually super proud of this half with the heat
Overall - 5:29:59 for my hottest race ever - not a PR but not my worst day!

Longer version: I signed up for Cabo hoping to get a slot to the WC's in NZ. You never know who else will show up to race or what kind of day you'll have - so instead of only focusing on a slot I tried to focus on having a fun racecation with friends, keeping some post IM MT fitness and getting to race somewhere new! 

The Sunday leading into race week I caught a nasty cold. I then had a work trip the first half of the week to Minneapolis which did not help things! It never went into my lungs thank goodness, but definitely zapped my energy all week. By the time we got to Cabo, I would say I was at 75% and on the mend for sure, but going into race morning I felt about 80-85%. I was thankful that if I was going to be sick going into a race that it was this one and not my full Ironman earlier this year!

Cabo is definitely a smaller race, but it felt like they pulled out all the stops for us! Everything was super convenient, well setup, and well organized. The hospitality was fantastic. I felt super welcomed and the whole race experience was awesome.

Race morning:

Multiple bus options from various host hotels. You didn't need to stay at the host hotel to take a bus, and spectators were also welcome on buses. Very easy setup! When I woke up I felt mostly like I'd gotten over my cold which was a relief. We had a ton of time to warm up/hit the porta potties *which do NOT have toilet paper in Mexico!!!* but thankfully athletes were passing rolls of TP around. 

Isaac and I went for a warmup jog on the beach which was gorgeous. I was a little anxious because we didn't do the practice swim and I had literally never done an ocean swim or tried to SWIM swim in salt water. 

Swim: We lined up in the under 30min swim corral. None of the corrals in the front had many people so we started pretty much at the front of the race. They released us 1 by 1. Isaac went and I immediately followed him. I kept looking for him on the swim but couldn't pick him out (which is funny, we must have spent most of the swim pretty close to each other because we both swam 33 min). The whole swim I felt calm, fit, and like I was cruising. There were definitely some swells coming in but nothing too bad. I kept thinking about how thankful I was that I had swam with my friend Daniel so much out at Madison Beach Park before AND after Mont Tremblant. These minor swells were NOTHING compared to the washing machine we swam in out there multiple times. My goal was to swim 33min. I assumed I would be slower in the ocean, but as I ran in I saw my watch was around 33min something and was STOKED. 

T1: Isaac and I were the first two bikes when you entered transition and I could see from a ways away that he was sitting get his socks on. I shouted at him asking how long till he'd head out and rushed SO hard to throw on my socks and helmet and sunglasses so I could leave transition with him. Isaac and I always race our own races and support each other on course, but I had NEVER been in transition with him before and I was just beyond excited we could leave transition together! We rolled our bikes out together to the mount line and started the uphill climb out to the highway!

Bike: Of course, Isaac instantly dropped me but that was to be expected. I was worried about the roads and knew there'd be some climbing on the bike but I felt SOLID the first 10 miles. Like, PR solid, by a lot! I saw Isaac go by me and I could tell he was surprised he didn't have more of a gap on me - at which point I realized I was at the first turnaround! Then, my legs started aching and all I could feel was fatigue all over my body. Oh, right, I might still be sick? UGH. My power seemed to drop about 20 watts at that point despite my efforts to push harder. The WHOLE bike course felt like up, down, up, down, up, down. I don't think I mentally was prepared for hills - probably should do course recon before the race? Then I started to think "maybe this isn't two loops, I haven't seen Lionel pass again" but as I saw Rinny ride by on the other side of the road on her second loop I realized I probably just missed him flying by me.
Kept seeing Isaac, his gap on me grew but not as much as I would have thought it would. Started to worry about him - he also had been sick all week.
In case you didn't know, Cabo is kind of hot. I know it's been 40 degrees in Seattle so I wasn't prepared for the heat - but F*CK it felt like I was cooking on parts of the bike course. There was some wind, which I was thankful for because any time the wind died down, I felt like I was on fire. Every aid station I grabbed one water bottle for my bike and one to dump ALL over myself. I will say - ALL the water bottles were filled with ice water which was a gift.
Eventually, I finished the bike course. I didn't feel awesome about my ride. I actually got a bike PR by a couple minutes, but if I had hit my watts goal I think I would have been quite a bit faster. My legs felt super fatigued, but I had eaten all my nutrition and I felt like I'd taken in a good amount of liquid so hit transition feeling ready to have a solid half marathon.

T2: Isaac and I again had the worst spot at the very end of a long and skinny transition. Panic set in as I couldn't find my run bag - they moved everyone's bags which caused some chaos but I found mine and took some time prepping - once I wasn't on the bike anymore I realized how hot it ACTUALLY was. Rosanne was right there by my bike and shouted at me "Everyone is cramping - be conservative and take as much salt as you can". 

Run: And off I went. My goal pace was an 8-8:15 pace. I really want to do sub 1:45 IN a 70.3 (PR 1:48). I wasn't sure Cabo would be the right place to accomplish that but at least wanted to give it a try. I felt pretty good for a few minutes as I was taking a "conservative" pace to start. About 1.5 miles in I got very flustered. It was seriously so hot. I started to wonder how I'd finish a half in this heat. It was too hot to run, I was sure of it. I was sick, I'm not used to the heat, blah blah blah. Then I reminded myself that everyone was suffering in the same conditions and I was NOT going to fall apart like I did in Mont Tremblant with a shitty run. I just stared at the pavement and kept trudging along. I don't know why this was what was on repeat in my head but it was - "DO NOT QUIT - DO NOT FUCKING GIVE UP" and "it's hot and that's ok". There were TONS of aid stations on the run. I was dumping all the ice water on myself, holding ice in my hands and dumping it all in my kit. I took in liquid at each aid station. They really did a phenomenal job at aid stations. I did not watch my pace AT ALL. I just vowed to keep shuffling. 

I saw Isaac a few times on the run course - he was clearly struggling. I felt really bad for him. I kept trudging along - I figured most people would unravel on the run and did not want to be one of them. Tons of people were walking. Generally, despite feeling like my skin was on fire and I might die of heat stroke, my body felt pretty good. My legs didn't feel fatigued like they did on the bike, everything felt decent. As I kept seeing Isaac on the run course, I realized I might catch him. That did fire me up a bit. I've never beaten Isaac in a triathlon, ever. On Isaac's best/medium/average day I would never get close to him, so he clearly was having a terrible day. At mile 9, I realized I would for sure pass him. On the bridge (anyone who's done Cabo knows this desolate part of the course) I finally passed Isaac, somewhere around mile 10. He knew it was coming, he cheered me on and I kept going. I had NO CLUE what place I was in all day - I just wanted to get this horribly hot race over with. It felt like SUCH a long day but it was barely noon. As I climbed the last little hill to the short finish line shoot, my whole left leg cramped up. Thank goodness I didn't cramp badly until then! I came through the finishers shoot and waited for Isaac! When Isaac came through I was so relieved, and I don't think I've ever seen him so happy for me/proud of me (actually maybe mont tremblant this year... tie). He knew how hot that day was and couldn't believe I kept it up like I did. We went straight to the ice baths (which were AMAZING and I am SO thankful they had!!)

I found out later, I had spent most of the day in 4th place in my AG! Unfortunately, got passed by a few fast ladies on the run but ended up in 7th place! buuuuuut....

I GOT A SLOT TO THE 2020 70.3 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN NEW ZEALAND (thanks for Women for Tri!)! I am so pumped. Next year is going to be full of lots of racing, and an awesome trip with friends and racing the World Champs! (first for me!)

It was an awesome note to end my 2019 race season on. I PR'ed my 70.3 time this year by 6 or some minutes, PR'ed my Ironman time by 17 minutes (on a way harder course), and got a coin for WC's next year. Overall, pretty awesome year. 

I have to give a super massive shoutout to my Wattie Fam - Rosanne, Allen, Doris, Marc, and obviously especially Isaac (as always) as well as others on my wattie team. Triathlon feels so isolating at times. This year I felt so incredibly supported through training and racing, and it means so much to me to have this crew backing me. Being "on season" February through November is not easy and is certainly emotionally draining. I am thankful to have had them there to lift me up when I needed it, cheer me on as I pushed on tough days, and also to vent with over wine. Love you all.