After a five week block of training, I was very excited about the ITU World Cup in Cancun (results) on November 2. I was really looking forward to having the chance to race again and to test my fitness. My training had been going very well , so I felt confident about my ability to race well. I was, however, a little concerned about the hot temperature that I would face on race day. Since I have had some poor races in the heat in the past, I wanted to use the Cancun World Cup to work on my hydration and salt intake and thus figure out how to start racing well in the heat!

I was fortunate to have my good friend and Ironman Lake Placid Age Group winner (4th female overall), Carole Sharpless, accompany me to Cancun. Not only was she a huge help as far as carrying my bags and making sure that I had everything I needed on race day, but she also kept me entertained with her funny comments and hilarious antics all weekend long. Carole had me laughing from the moment we arrived at the Atlanta airport on Friday morning, until we got picked up at the airport Monday afternoon.

I am not sure that they will ever forget us at either the Atlanta or Cancun airports. I guess seeing two girls trying to maneuver a huge bike box (that looks like a large coffin and has a wheel that won’t roll the right way) along with two large suitcases, a wheel box, and some smaller carry on luggage must be pretty amusing because we definitely got some questioning stares as we made our way to the check in counter Friday morning. Of course, Carole did not help matters by frequently knocking on my bike box and saying loud enough for everyone around us to hear, "are you okay in there Aunt Marge?" At that point we usually got a few horrified looks and Carole would then say, " this is much cheaper than buying another ticket." Carole also tried to tell everyone that we were only traveling for one day. After seeing all of our luggage, I am still not sure if anyone believed her, but they did laugh.

Once we arrived in Cancun, we had to collect all of our luggage and then continue on through Customs and Immigration. Carole was ahead of me in line, so she was the first to go to the Immigration Official’s window. Carole had no sooner gotten up to the window when I heard her calling for my help. Apparently, the official, Rober, was speaking sternly to her in Spanish and she had no idea what he was saying. Since I know a good bit of Spanish, I rushed over to translate only to find that I could not understand him either. Rober did not look the slightest bit happy with either of us! I carefully tried to tell him in Spanish that I did not understand what he was saying. I was about to ask if they had any English speaking officials, when out of the blue Rober started speaking perfect English to us. At that point, Carole gives him a swat on the arm and tells them that he sucks! Terrified, I tried to apologize for Carole’s behavior (after all she had just slapped an immigration official), when I saw that Rober was laughing. Thankfully, Rober had a great sense of humor and had found Carole to be pretty funny. Realizing that we were not going to be hauled off by the Mexican Immigration Officials, I gave a huge sigh of relief.

Before I knew it, Carole and I were actually getting to be friends with Rober. He asked us why we were both single and Carole replied, "we have been asking ourselves that." Rober then said that someone had told him that if he went to work that day that he would meet his future wife. Carole said "well I guess you now have two for the price of one." He laughed and asked Carole how many children she wanted because apparently he wanted lots of children. Carole then told him that she had wide hips which would make her great for breeding! Only Carole would tell an Immigration official that she had great hips for breeding! I think she even shocked herself with that comment.

By the time we got through the Customs/Immigration process, Rober had given us his personal phone number and told us to call if we needed anything during our stay in Cancun. According to Rober, "what happens in Cancun, stays in Cancun!"

While Carole continued to make me laugh throughout the rest of the weekend, I felt like I was able to focus well and get ready for my race – the real reason I was in Cancun. It was great traveling with another triathlete because Carole knew that I needed to prepare for my race. She basically let me do my own thing, but I really enjoyed having the company on my 15 minute swim the day before the race. It was during that swim, that I realized that the water was going to be extremely choppy. Carole and I were being thrown all over the place!

I was also glad to have the company when two strange men came into our room in the middle of the night claiming that they were checking all of the hotel rooms. All they did was poke their heads in , but the fact that they had a key and did not explain why they were checking the rooms was frightening. The next day, the people at the front desk could not even tell us why the men had been in our room.

Race morning finally arrived and I felt ready to go. The swim consisted of two loops in the ocean. We had a waist deep in the water start. At the beginning, I got out very well and got into what I thought was a really good position. However, things got pretty rough and by the first buoy , I noticed that a group of girls were breaking away and there did not seem to be much I could do about it. I tried to get on the feet in front of me, but I kept getting pushed aside. To make matters worse, the water was really rough and I had trouble finding a rhythm. I managed to get through the swim, but I could tell that it was not a great swim for me. It turned out that all the swims were slow due to a long swim course and to the wavy conditions. I think the leaders swam it in 24 minutes; about 5-6 minutes slower than usual.

I rushed on to the bike to head out on the flat eight loop course! I quickly formed a group with about five to six other girls. We soon caught another three girls in front of us. At the first turn around I could see that four girls were still out front and a huge pack of ten or more was chasing strongly behind us. I felt great on the bike, but I guess our group did not push hard enough because we were caught by the girls behind us and we did not catch the four girls in the lead.

On every lap I could hear Carole cheering madly. She later told me that she had recruited some Mexican guys to cheer for me. The guys had raced in the age group race the day before and they were kind enough to translate for Carole what the race announcer was saying. In return, Carole was teaching them English slang. I guess she had one of her Mexican friends saying in his heavy Mexican accent "I am down with that dog!"

As we came in to the transition to start the run, there was a huge traffic jam in which I got caught at the back. I had not positioned myself well as we approached the transition and it definitely hurt me. I was mad at myself because my mistake cost me. I had a very slow transition. I tried to make up for it by starting out fast on the run, but I quickly realized that it was not going to be a great run day for me. I felt sluggish from the start and it only got worse as I continued to push in the heat. I was careful to pour water on my head throughout the run, but by the fourth and final loop I was feeling really dehydrated and could only manage an 19th place finish. I was, however, the first American.

I was disappointed in my race mainly because my training had been going so well and I was expecting a really good race performance. I was also frustrated that I had gotten so dehydrated. I truly thought I had done a good job of drinking and taking in salt on the bike. I must not have done as good of a job as I thought because the heat really got to me. I guess it is back to the drawing board to figure out how I can perform better in the heat!

All season, I have been working on trying to focus on the positive aspects of my race since it is always easy to obsess over the negative parts. I guess when I try to come up with a positive thing about the Cancun World Cup, it would have to be that I earned some more points. The race also showed me that I still have work to do to with the hydration issue. I would rather know that now, so I can work on it before the Olympic Trials. Hawaii in April is not going to be cool!

All and all, I had a fun weekend in Cancun and I accomplished my goal of earning more points. I am very grateful to Carole for keeping me company on the trip and for providing me with lots of laughs as well as funny stories to think back on.

Now off to Brazil next week for the Rio World Cup!