After a couple of years of not keeping my blog up to date, I’m back. In the missing period I’ve done IM Australia (5th – missed 4th place by going wrong on the bike leg and eded up in a car park, lost a valuable 5 or 6 minutes and lost 4th place by about one minute) I also did Kona again in 2019 (23rd I think) and I qualified for Kona agin in 2020 but that was cancelled due to the C word. I qualified at IM Cozumel (2nd place) in 2019. I also had the worst race ever at Barcelona 70.3 coming 13th, I just didn’t bring my legs to the party. I can’t remember when it was as I’ve erased it from my memory. I’ve missed some races out but on the Ironman merry go round they all blend into one and I can’t be bothered to look up the info as life moves on.
So I’ll just start off agin with my last race which was IM Cozumel 2020. (Which I remember very well) This was the only race I got to do in 2020. I was out in Puerto Rico ready for the 70.3 in March 2020 when the race was cancelled and thus began the annus horribilis of ‘The Year that Never Was” with event after event being cancelled.
So I’m hoping that things start to happen later on this year and I’m still qualified for Kona after it being rolled over from last year. So fingers crossed that goes ahead in October.
IM Cozumel – Nov 2020 – First Place
So my IM Cozumel race last year resulted in my first ever age group win. My swimming had been a little up and down and slightly discombobulated so I was pleased to get in just under the hour.
I started on the bike and got the info that I was in second place. The bike leg is three laps of the island so I was counting females as I passed them and trying to scrutinise their faces when I passed to see if they looked relatively the same age as me. I counted passing about 20 females in the first lap so when I got round to my informant on the second lap I was waiting to hear ‘first’ but I got ‘second’ again. Arghh where the hell was she? Then I heard ‘about 10 seconds ahead’ being shouted after me. I rode on and bang, there she was. I passed and continued very happily knowing I was leading my age group for the first time ever in my life.
The wind was getting up and making heavy work of it. I saw the time I wanted go out the window after the first lap knowing that each lap gets slower as the wind rises through the day but I was happy I was in the lead.
I finished the bike and changed my shoes quickly doing the disjointed jelly legged run through transition and onto the three laps of 14 km marathon. I got the info I was about 15 mins ahead. As I was running the wind on the outward part of the lap was pretty horrendous, my desired time wasn’t just out the window now, It had left the parking lot. But I was running with a smile although inside I was deeply worried. My run speed was not at all what I wanted, it was really a lot slower with the wind and having had to push the bike so hard in the wind as well. Im thinking, she’s gotta be catching me. So I ran the first lap trying to keep calm until I got back into town and was informed I was now 25 mins ahead. Phew, so she’s as fucked as I am!
I thought the wheels have really got to fall off to lose the lead now so I ran the last lap really enjoying myself through the grimace of effort and pain into the wind but with a lilt in my heart knowing this was pretty much in the bag. I finished the third and final lap, 42km done and I was about 35 mins ahead of second so I ran the last 200m down the finish chute with a great big cracking smile on my face.
When I finished It was a rather sombre affair, no crowds due to the Covid and there was also not going to be any awards ceremony. I waited to have my win verified (they took my chip and race bib) and I hobbled down to the trophy tent and picked up my trophy. That was pretty much it. I have to say my legs this time were the most smashed up they’ve ever been, even though the time was slow. (10 hrs 54)
