Ironman Cozumel

Yeahhh!! I did it!! 11h01min46sec to cross the finish line here at Cozumel!!

List of goals:

Swim in the first pack:  (felt good, but bad positioning) 

Go all out on the bike (fearless):  (died on the last 14miles!) pretty happy with bike split though!
Marathon under 3h:  no
Finish in top 8: no
Finish sub 9h:  no
Have Fun:  oww yeahh!! (more than planned - 11h!)

Finish:  Yea!! I did it!! 

Except for the last 14 miles on the bike, I felt good on the whole course.

The swim had a huge current against us for the first 0.6 mile, and I was on the further possible point from the shore, I mean the worst spot someone could be! :( I managed to get some positions back after the first buoy, but I have lost the 1st pack, which was my goal...

I had a terrible start on the bike. I got scared starting 112 miles like that, my legs were in pain since the first effort!! Luckily my quads warmed up in time to ride with the group that just caught me on the second mile...
In a three lap circuit, we started passing many age-groupers, and with a big rhythm variation I was a couple times very close to the next athlete, so ended up getting a draft penalty...

(Two days before on the race start!!)

2 minutes at the tent and I came back flying on the course, I was angry and felt strong!! On the next 30 miles I thought I could catch those guys again... Then I broke!! I was crawling with my bike for the last 14 miles!! And thats when everything annoys you: my feet were hurting, the bike seat was uncomfortable, I was getting hungry, the wind was against me, the heat was coming up and even the legs were getting tired!! :)
Soon another group passed by me, but I couldn't push it anymore, I was looking forward to get my special needs bike bag and get some treats!! Weew, so glad I filled that bag!!

That happened before on training days and I was prepared to fight it! So after agonizing for those 14 miles, I couldn't wait to put my feet on the ground, I knew I would feel better on the run, and I was right! I got really easy at the beginning, first 5km was sub 21min, I was going to finish easily sub 9hours!!

But then my knee yelled louder...  I have been injured since a month ago. It messed up quite a bit my training schedule, but it was over control on last days and I thought it would be gone on the race day. No, still there! And I alternated run with walking until half marathon, on 13 miles to go I had to decide if I would quit or finish the whole thing walking, because hurting my knee was not on the plan...

(With coach Siri!)

I had time to finish that! I had 8 hours to walk a half marathon!
Would be worth just to finish it!??

Ironman is an Ironman!! So many people walk, cry, craw and do whatever they can to make those 140.6 miles!! I had to complete that journey!! Plus quitting on the first Ironman would not be a good karma...

I thought for a while: When I was on the army, I did a 32k march, carrying 20kg of equipment, with no food, stopping every 3 hours just for a 15min nap, and cheering for the soldier in front of me doesn't fall, otherwise I would have to carry his equipment if not him till the end!
Yeahhh this walk was becoming really easy! Water, coke and gatorade at will, with music every 2 miles, people cheering me up everywhere, and the only thing I had to carry was as much chocolate bars I could hold in my hands!! :)

With no doubts I finished the mission!!
That was super cool!! When I crossed the line was already dark, and the finish line had so many lights that seemed I was entering in another dimension... "You are an Ironman" I heard from the speakers!! hahaha

It was great! Very happy with my performance until the sore knee...
Not satisfied... Im looking forward to the next one!!