Cabo Ironman 2015 and the Beet Juice Incident
First off it’s been a rough year. Most of May was spent with back issues and pain, and trying to work through that. I got that sorted out with a membership at the Joint and some Bodywork. I also did some of the stretches that my coach recommended. He’s got them on Youtube and it’s easy to follow,
Target BMI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjaoMzUcQ-Q
But before all that last winter I really let myself go.
I did a marathon in Sacramento with what I call a 4 month taper from Boulder IM. It helped bring a pain in the knee joint I was unfamiliar with.
Part of my issue stemmed from a bike crash during last year’s Boulder IM at mile 85
It late showed up again after runs around the Boulder Rez in the crusty snow.
I thought I had strained some ligaments running on an uneven surface.
After a few months of not really doing anything because of the pain it seemed to point more and more to my IT band.
So I needed a bit of a rest. I did some work on a foam roller and such.
By March it seemed to be healed. I started my own training plan after my coach from last year left town.
At the beginning of April I asked Shane if he could coach me for Ironman Cabo and I had signed up for Ironman Boulder in January
But the next 2 months I was dealing with back issues and it took a while to sort that out.
Boulder IM went by the wayside, I didn’t have the volume.
June-Aug went a lot better than I thought it would be.
The last 2 months I got all my workouts in
Last year a big factor in my cardio was Beet Juicing
Doctor Lim had something here that worked.
I didn’t keep up on it that well this year.
In the morning right before I left I wanted to juice up.
I had 3 big beets and didn’t have time to add carrot or oranges
I drank about 6 ounces of the stuff.
After about 15 minutes I felt really, really ill
For the next 2 hours I spent my time cleansing and rehydrating.
It reminded me of the time I drank a bottle of Slo Gin on a camping trip
I googled that something called a “Beet Detox” could be caused by pure beet juice.
It can have a nauseating effect due to the toxins it draws out of the liver
So I’m glad I got that over with.
My biggest struggle was getting to Cabo, I didn't realize the issues with a connecting flight.
With the weather and logistics I spent way too much time on my feet before the race.
Once I got to San Jose I drove to the host hotel for packet pick-up. I missed the pre-race meeting because I was held up at the airport. Someone had mistakenly switched bikes with me.
Anyway I needed to rest because the night before I got to the hotel at 230 AM and had a car alarm going off in the parking lot all night. I slept about 9 hours but I was still tired.
I packed up my gear and headed to T1. I took the bus, I was worried about driving because I put a large deposit on my card to cover it for a reasonable price. Everybody drives crazy in Cabo.
Nice Cabo Car
I went back to the hotel and packed my run gear. I took the event buses but I had to walk a bit. Later it seemed that I needed to have an alarm clock as a backup.
I walked about another mile or 2 to the Mega store (Mexican Walmart).
I picked up a small cooler for T1. I had a nice salad for lunch, I packed my special needs bag and was off my feet by 6.
I set the alarm for 530 even though it was 430 because of daylight saving that weekend. I tried to go to sleep @ nine. It was probably more like 11.
I was lucky to get 5 hours of sleep that night. I left on one of the first busses out. At T1 I filled up my tires and water bottles.
I got my stuff together, got remarked drooped off my AM bag. Then I went to the beach to watch the 70.3 start.
Drank water and found out are race didn't start for an hour after the pros and the 70.3 (this is the first time they ran a 70.3 the same day.
I went in for a dip around 7 and got my skin suit on. At 730 I was one of the last swimmers in the water. I tried to stay out of everyone's way.
I had good tape for my bad finger but I left it at the hotel. The tape they put on would only last half the swim.
I tried to keep a normal pace and not wear myself out. I wasn't very efficient on finishing my strokes. The swell did mess with me from time to time.
It was a bit rough and hard to see the buoys. I should have worn my blue tints.
The first turn buoy came off its moorings and they shouted at us to just turn. I felt good the whole swim, the water was pleasant
I had heard about the shore break at the beach. It did pull me back a bit.
People keep talking about the Playa, I never saw him
My swim was slow compared to Cozemel, about 1:50 I think.
Happy Bike Course
At T1 I had the place to myself, almost.
They didn’t have water showers like they said. But they brought me ice to help take off the sand.
I geared up and drank a couple cups of blue gooey Gatorade.
Started my computer and put sunscreen on by my bike. At the start of the bike it goes up a hill, I noticed that my watts were zero.
All gooped up (top and bottom)
I set it up the night before but didn’t confirm readings due to the battery being at 69%.
I tried to keep it easy on the hills and coast when I could, the first loop was going good.
I slowed a few times to get a water bottle. I noticed they didn't have much else.
So I had a couple gels in my front box. I was in pretty good shape most of the first lap.
I had studied the route on Garmin and knew that the Airport road would be a bitch.
The Horns of Diablo
The Black arrow is 100 feet Elevation, the yellow arrow is 800 feet and the green arrow is the turnaround at the airport (13 miles up the road)
Before that road I geared up with the gels at that station. Not all aid stations had gels.
I know I had some food in my needs bag after I did the airport loop.
My needs bag was trashed, I didn't seal the bag and ice melted and turned my stuff to goo. I did drink the red bull. I tried to keep gels and bananas every hour.
I was drinking a lot. I stopped once for the Bano.
The second lap was fine except the airport hill were brutal. I was wearing a black kit because my white kit had I busted zipper.
I should have stayed with the white. I poured water on my back wherever I could.
I took 4 S caps from my tube during the bike. I was having a lot of issues with hot feet. The bike ended up being around 7 hours.
Going into T2 I felt pretty good. I had some right hamstring issues on the bike but I kept the tempo up and the grinding to a minimum.
Not any hard food around, bananas and gels. I looked and saw I was running too fast and slowed it down.
I thought maybe I could stay around 5.7 for mph on the second lap my leg started cramping.
I was taking a lot of water and Gatorade and gels. I was hitting my base salts too.
At mile 9 my quads and hamstrings cramped at the same time. I stretched out and slowed it down, I tried to shorten my stride and pick up my tempo.
But it seemed I was going slower and slower. Towards the end I was seeing 15 and 16 minute miles.
I was just glad it was almost over drink water and take base salt. I think I peed behind every bush in San Jose.
Pee Breaks
Non Glamor Shots 
Happy Run Map
The rest of the trip was spent hobbling to the Buffets and hobbling back to the lounge chair.
Packing Ice on my Quads and walking to the Mega Store for Electrolit
(Mexican crack in a bottle)
I’m having issues finding this stateside.
Someone door dinged my car in the parking lot (even though I parked away from everything)
I think the rental companies pay them to hit cars.
I had to buff it out with Toothpaste and a hotel wash cloth.
They gave me back my 1400 USD deposit on my CC
