The night before Ironman Cozumel 2019 I went to bed at about 9 p.m. after eating a large pasta dinner. I swear I woke up about every 2 hours that night, checking on the time see it was early and kept going back to sleep.
I had four alarms set for 3:45 and 4am, to really give myself all of the time I needed to get a big breakfast in before making my way down to the transition. I felt great that morning! I got up and got dressed while playing music from my workout playlist, I was focused and excited, but also calm. I live about a mile from the transition area so I was really happy to walk there under the stars. It was still dark out on the highway, and I walked against traffic and had a headlamp on. I looked up at the sky and was so grateful it was finally race day. The nerves didn’t come. I felt prepared.
Outside of the transition area I crossed the road to get into the line of traffic heading into T1. I was only about a hundred meters from all the other cars and shuttles that were there, and I hear a noise behind me.
The next thing I know I am on the ground and my head is hitting the pavement. A motorcycle had come up behind me on the far shoulder going way too fast for the area that we were in, and hit me from behind. I’m still not sure how he didn’t see me, it was relatively well lit and I had a headlamp on. I think he tried to miss me last minute and ended up clipping the strap on my backpack which was hanging off of one of my shoulders. As far as I can tell, I spun and hit the ground and got dragged just a little bit, and of course he fell into the trees that lined the road. Behind us two other Mexican guys came running, they saw the whole thing. They spoke some English and asked if I was okay, and if he was okay, and we kind of just sat in shock for a few minutes.
I took note of the things around me. My headphones were pulled out of my phone, and my headlamp was in pieces with batteries all over the road. I recollected my things and figured I should get some paperwork just in case. I asked the guy a few times for his ID, since I wasn’t sure how how bad the accident was. It’s hard to tell when you’re kind of in shock from everything. Also I knew I had hit my head, and didn’t think it was that hard, but you never know.
My backpack ripped apart from the motorcycle hitting me
I asked 4 more times for his ID and he got on the motorcycle, started it, and took off. I really wasn’t in a condition to be chasing him and the other Mexican guys behind me told me it wasn’t a big deal and not to worry about it. Their exact words were, “No you’re okay, he’s okay, it’s okay.”
I kept saying “I just want to do my race, I just want to do my race.” I didn’t come all the way to the start to DNS (Did not start)
When I got inside transition, I couldn’t find any paramedics. I kept asking where they were, and was told they were at the swim start, which I’d have to take a shuttle to. I took a video for the instagram stories and it was at that point I realized I was bleeding. I stopped and asked two guys in the transition area if I was bleeding. I had blood all over my bag and couldn’t figure out where it was coming from, so they helped me find my scrapes and tried to calm me down a little bit.
During this time I still had tasks to complete so I had to stay focused. I still had to:
- Put my cycling shoes on my bike
- Put my cooling sleeves on my bike
- Check my brakes and both tires for pressure
- Drop off my Bike special needs bag
- Drop off my Running special needs bag
- Find the body marking place and get marked for my age group
- Find and put on sunscreen
- Find a restroom
- Keep an eye on my time so that I could eat my last 100 calories 45 mins before the swim start
- Find the shuttles and get up to swim start
About 20 minutes after I got hit by the motorcycle, I was in transition looking for the bathroom, and a guy collapses on the other side of the bathrooms. A woman came running past me screaming “Call 911 we need a paramedic! We need a paramedic!”
He didn’t look like he was racing, so I’m not sure if he was a volunteer, family member, or spectator, but assistance came running and a crowed gathered. I decided to stay out of the way.
I still felt mentally pretty beat up, and could not pull myself together. I was a walking mess getting to the shuttles and up to the swim start. I found my friend Coco and told him what happened and showed him the road rash on my back. He told me it was’t bad. After the race he admitted it was worse than he had expected, but he wasn’t going to let me know that at the time.
Everyone I spoke to that morning was very encouraging, and kept telling me as soon as I get into the water I’d be more focused on the race. I sent one last text off to my friends just let them know I was in a bit of an accident, and was going to take the day easy. My mom laughed at that when I told her. “I’ll take the day easy.” Then started an Ironman.
I ate my last banana and walked up to the swim corrals right as the gun went off. I probably had about 15 or 20 minutes of actually waiting before I got into the water. I kept trying to refocus on the day ahead and everything I needed to know for nutrition that day. Trying to warm up at that point was nearly impossible. I didn’t want to move. I did a few arm stretches and decided to take the start of the swim extra easy.
A few minutes into the swim I hear a woman next to me start screaming. I looked over at her and she’s holding a man face up in the water who was completely unconscious. I stopped and put my arm in the air and try to help wave the rescue kayaks over. So once they got to us I kept going. We did find out later that he passed away. Paulo Pereyra was the Brazilian man, he also was an AWA which stands for All-World Athlete, meaning he placed in the top 10% of his age group in the previous calendar year. With the knowledge I have of triathlon, I knew right away how unfortunate the situation at hand was.
Looking into this a bit further, Training Peaks has a wonderful article written about unexpected deaths in triathlon assuring,
“The health and emotional benefits of swimming, cycling, and running continue to far outweigh the potential risk of sudden, unexpected death.”
Some statistics also in that article also include
“In the general population, the risk of sudden cardiac death is 40 to 100 deaths per 100,000 people per year. In athletes, that number is one to two per 100,000 per year. However, if we reduce that to the risk of sudden cardiac death on any given day, for the general population the risk is 0.1 to 0.27 per 100,000 per day, while for athletes in a marathon it is one per 100,000 and for triathletes it is 1.7 per 100,000.
As well as having almost twice as many deaths as marathons, triathlons differ in another respect—the timing of those deaths. In marathons, deaths usually occur late in the race or just after the finish, whereas for triathlons the vast majority of deaths happen early, often in the first minutes of the race. This difference can be attributed to the presence of a swim in triathlons and all of the stresses that places on the heart right at the beginning of the race.
This is an important distinction and worth spending some time on. ”
You can find that article here
https://www.trainingpeaks.com/coach-blog/athlete-deaths-in-triathlon-and-how-to-prevent-them/
Still trying to push though the chaos of the morning, I had to keep reminding myself the 3 incidents were all unique and rare. The only thing I could do was keep myself calm and continue with my day.
It didn’t take me too long to regroup as I’ve always found my stride in the water. I remember thinking at one point that I was really surprised that there weren’t many people around me in the swim. Being a point to point swim, there wasn’t much of an opportunity to feel bottle necked around turning buoys, and there was plenty of ocean out there for all of us. I stayed the left side close to the shore. I was actually surprised by how great the swim was. (minus the obvious) I thought it was going to be a lot saltier than it was, and it is really a truly beautiful swim.
We also had a little bit of current with us, but it certainly wasn’t as strong, or as big of a help as we all thought it was going to be. The wildlife in the water had mostly been scared off except for a few fish in the reef below, and of course the small jellyfish that stung me a few times. They were annoying but could have been much much worse.
The view of the swim from the transition area looking towards the start
I pulled over at one point just to take a little rest on the kayak. I took a breather and looked around to try to get an idea of where I was in the swim. I also like to just take the day in for a little while.
One of the lifeguards asked me if I spoke Spanish, I told her a little bit, and she told me in Spanish that there was another woman who lost her goggles and could she have my extra pair. I asked her where is the woman? And she said she’s down a ways, and she can paddle the goggles to her. So I gave her my spare pair, and showed her my number on my arm and was hoping that she would remember it so I could probably get the goggles back.
I always swim with 2 pairs in case one gets kicked off of my face and I can’t grab them. Especially in the “Water Judo” that is the mess of bodies in the beginning of each triathlon. The key to dealing with this is practice. Open water is a totally different animal than in the pool, the more calm you can stay, the better your swim will be.
So many people are so hyped up for the day that they want to get in and get going. This puts a lot of stress on the body and mind, and it’s not healthy to start out aggressively without a proper warm up.
We were even more fortunate that the swim was not “Wetsuit Legal.” Some races still allow “Wetsuit Optional” in warmer water, and that decision really isn’t doing anyone any favors. Many new triathletes like the buoyancy the wetsuit provides, and it helps to keep them afloat. They try to rely on the wetsuit to help them swim even in high 70 or 80 degree water. This can be very dangerous and cause overheating and further exacerbate dehydration, especially in loner distances.
Athletes need to be comfortable dealing with all variables for the particular race they’re in. On the flip side if the water is cold, and a wetsuit is needed, athletes need to be comfortable with the chest compression felt in the wetsuit, as well as acclimating to breathing in cold water, and managing all of that mentally while in the washing machine of people starting at the same time as them. There can be a bit of a learning curve for the inexperienced, but with a little practice it’s not all so bad, and having the ability to calm the mind in this type of situation proves to be valuable outside of endurance sports as well.
It doesn’t look like it here, but I promise, I enjoyed *Most* of that swim
I took my time going through transition and getting everything I needed for the bike. I put some vinegar on for the jellyfish stings, and I got everything together, found my bike, and was on the road.
The hardest part about the bike aside from my neck and shoulders being really sore was the heat. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky that day and being on the highway, we missed a lot of the shade that I was able to ride in on the bike path that goes around the island.
The map of Cozumel. Bike the island almost 3 times at 40 miles each
The roadkill on the highway seemed to be worse than what I remember in training. I rolled my eyes at the carnage of the day as I passed a turkey vulture that was dead on the road. — You know, the thing that usually eats the road kill.
At about mile 28.5 on the bike I had started to lose vision. This is something that happens when I’m low blood sugar if I’ve been working out or if I go for a long run, sometimes it goes in and out. I usually just stop for a coke or eat some candy and am good to go. Today I didn’t want to chance anything after the accident, and the worst always creeps into our heads. I knew I had hit my head during my spill this morning, so I stopped at the next aid station and found the paramedics.
At this point I just really wanted to hear that I was okay. Paramedics tested my blood sugar, blood pressure, tested my reflexes, my eye dilation, they asked if I was nauseous which can be a sign of brain trauma. I wasn’t. Everything checked out okay, I drank some gatorade and waited about 10 minutes before continuing.
I was barely finished my first out of 3 loops on the bike.
Coming back into town I saw my friends at every loop! All of the noise and commotion and yelling gave me a burst of energy. I always feel good coming back through town.
Tara and the big yellow sign I kept looking for
Soon I was half way through the 2nd loop on the bike. I was really looking forward to that special needs bag at mile 60. I had packed a peanut butter and banana sandwich and stopped off for a quick break.
It’s really interesting if you mess up your nutrition rhythm, how bad you feel when you’re low on carbs. Having a solid hydration and nutrition plan really kept my spirits and my body going throughout the day.
Seeing my friends again at the end of my 2nd loop I was really hurting. I yelled at them, “Guys I’m really hurting!” Which I gather from their videos that they didn’t hear what I said. I felt some whiplash in my neck and shoulders, which get sore in that position anyway. I took another gel and drank some more water.
Hurting but happy through town! 1 more loop to go
At the next aid station, I asked for ice and they were all out. The next thing I know, this woman is dumping ice cold water on my head. What a treat that was! I did that at every aid station for the rest of the 3rd loop. That really helped wake me up and cool down in the heat of the day. Energy from my sandwich started to kick in and I finished the rest of the 3rd loop feeling really strong
I took my time again in transition, and put some Vaseline on my arms in case of chafing. I don’t usually have that problem in this kit anymore since cutting the bra out of it. Thats part of the problem of being a “Small” in shorts and a “Medium” up top… The one piece doesn’t fit well.
Before my 70.3 in September my mom and I cut the built-in sports bra out of my kit, and I decided just to wear a normal sports bra instead. This made it WAYYY easier to use the bathroom and roll down the top of my kit on the run, but with the benefits of having a 1 piece suit that’s not hiking up on me in the swim. So far this is my favorite “Best of both worlds” hack.
I felt really good for the first half of the marathon. Thought I might even be able to run it in 5 or 5.5 hours!
This is, in fact, a good sign
At mile 16 I started getting a cramp in the left side of my chest. “Oh great, my hearts exploding now” was what went through my mind. I told myself it probably wasn’t that, and decided it was a diaphragm cramp. When you’re not used to your lungs working that hard to breath and expand properly for that long, I decided that was probably a more reasonable explanation. I took 1 last gel, chugged some water, and some gatorade.
Then at about mile 18 my legs nearly gave out. I wasn’t going to come this far to quit now. I knew if I sat to stretch them out I probably wouldn’t get back up. I still had 8 miles left to go
I kept trying to do the math over and over in my head and figured even if I walked a fast walk, 15 min per mile pace I would still make it. I wanted that 5.5 hour marathon so bad, but at a certain point while falling apart, you just kinda decide you’ll take what you can get.
I power walked with a few others who were feeling the same way I was. With 4 miles left my watch died. I was walking blind. I had to keep telling myself it didn’t matter, just keep moving and you’ll be fine. 4 miles left at 15 min miles meant I still had to suffer through this for another hour.
At one point with 4 miles left I thought I started drifting off to sleep… WHILE still walking. I was really low energy at that point and talked myself into staying awake…. Just don’t pass out for 4 more miles….Was I sleeping or passing out? What if I actually collapsed right here and slept? *Queue Eminem song*
I also thought I saw a woman bend over and vomit on the side walk, and when I looked again, it was just a bush. Ohhh now I’m seeing things!! I had a few more little misinterpretations out of my peripheral sight that was nearly entertaining.
One of the aid stations had Pepsi and I took in my last caffeine before finishing.
2 miles left and I felt good again. Still 30 more minutes to endure. with 1/4 of a mile left of the race, my friend Terrence came strutting up behind me. I hadn’t seen him all race, I was super excited that we would cross the finish line together. My energy soured and I did everything I could to finish strong.
Finish line energy!!
Coming through that finish line is usually an experience that you want to take slowly and remember. Looking at my photos I feel like I rushed through it. I just couldn’t wait to be done and sit down. The pain in my legs had gone away at that point, but they still didn’t work.
Trying to end this day– byeeee
I’m really impressed with our bodies ability to adapt not only to heat, humidity, malnourishment, and all of the other amazing things it does, but also to adapt to pain or discomfort. There’s a really fine balance between taking in electrolytes and flushing your system with water to clear the lactic acid. The longer in the day, the harder that is to manage, but without fail, the pain always went away.
I’m so so happy with my first full distance Ironman. The support of my friends, my nutrition plan, and confidence on the course got me through the day.
Still happy!!
I know intimately now what I can do better, and how all of my studying relates in real time. I have so much respect for this sport, and the people who build themselves and others up over years and years of training and racing. Though the day started out extremely difficult, I had the knowledge and tools to make good judgement calls, and consider options I didn’t want to hear or think about.
First full Ironman Medal!
I was MASSIVELY surprised to see the goggles that I lent to the lifeguard for the swimmer in my bags when I got home and cleaned up. Both the lifeguard and woman racing would have had to remember my bib number 1394, then make some effort to get them back in the bag. Not an easy task while focused on the day ahead.
I feel for the family of the athlete that passed in the swim. I’ll be thinking of him a lot in the future. One of his family members made a comment in a group that he went out doing what he loved. There are risks involved in every aspect of our lives, and a life lived in fear is not a life at all. I promise the benefits of this athletic life outweighs the potential risks.