After an anticlimactic IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship at the end of August, I set my sights on IRONMAN 70.3 Cozumel three weeks later. I flew to my southern training base in The Woodlands, Texas where I channeled my frustration from 70.3 Worlds into one of my most focused training blocks ever. The hellish heat and humidity of southern Texas made it an ideal proving ground for the notoriously brutal conditions in Cozumel.

I toiled alongside my training partners Matt Hanson and Balazs Csoke under the watchful eyes of our coach David Tilbury-Davis and swim coach Tim Floyd. There’s a satisfying symmetry to training with those two since we each bring complementary strengths to the group. Matt is one of the most dominant runners in Ironman, Balazs can lead any swim pack, and I can make them hurt on the bike. We’ve all benefited from our friendly rivalry in training (we rarely race each other), open knowledge sharing and mutual support.

I had to settle for a bittersweet second place in Cozumel after a long chase brought me within seconds of the win. It stung to lose that way but, for once, I wasn’t left second guessing my effort. Here’s my video recap:

The top ten are below and full results are here. I also did a pre-race interview with TRS and race recaps can be found on Slowtwitch and TRS.

Thank you to…

• Randy Stanfield for flying me to Cozumel.
• Eric Neguelouart for hosting me in Cozumel in high style.
• My other sponsors: Keystone Communications, Skechers Canada, 3SIXTY5 Cycling, CompuTrainer, Nineteen Wetsuits, Klean Athlete and Vorgee Canada.
• My coach David Tilbury-Davis and swim coach Tim Floyd (Magnolia Masters).
• Bryan Alsdorf and Jennifer Schkade Alsdorf, my home away from home in The Woodlands.

Post-race lounging with Canadian pro Taylor Reid (and an awesome fan). Photo: Marianka VC