2nd - 4:13:12

     swim    26:01  (6th)
     bike    2:18:48 (2nd)
     run    1:25:14 (1st)

The pro men took off for the start of the Cozumel 70.3 with the women following just 1min later. Most races tend to separate the 2 starts by at least a few mins now to avoid the significant impact it has on the outcome of the women's race. I'm not sure why the start times needed to be so close together for this race, but that's what they had decided so I was prepared for it as much as possible.  The siren went off and I followed Daniella Ryf at the start as we flew down stream to the first turn buoy at around 400m. The swim course was clearly marked with red sighting buoys every 100m and then big yellow turn buoys on each corner of the rectangle. This  makes life much easier for me. I went around the two end turn-buoys and began the long stretch of the swim course back up-stream into the current. This swim course is one of the most enjoyable, with the crystal clear waters below like being in a big aquarium. Everything went well in the swim, I felt good and swam well (for me). I swam 1.30min faster than last year and got out of the water only 1.30min behind Daniela Ryf, a strong swimmer and former ITU triathlete so I was pleased with that.

But then as I prepared to mount Ronny Mac, I heard Jared yell '4:15'. What the hell...! Over 4 minutes down on the leaders? I've never been that far down, that cannot be right. It wasn't until after the race I learnt that the 4 lead females managed to come out of the water in the lead mens pack. These girls put a full minute into some of the best male pros (former top ITU swimmers) by the time they exited the water. They must have had an almighty breakfast this morning!

I knew I had my work cut out for me. Not only was I a whopping 4:15 down, but the leaders might now have an opportunity to ride amongst some of the mens packs. This could make things difficult. I got straight into it and pushed hard into the head wind on the straight, flat, dead roads of Cozumel...the one and only road around Cozumel. As I came up on Daniela and passed straight by I knew I was riding well. Daniella is a great rider (she had the fastest bike split at Hy Vee and one of the fastest at Vegas).

After Daniela, I didn't see anymore competitors until the last out-and-back section near the end of the bike course where we head out part-way around the island then u-turn back to T2. As I was heading out I saw the lead men heading back. Not long after, I got my first glimpse of the lead girls heading back. I tried to count how far I was down - it was still a long way. Maybe even more than 4 minutes now.

This year we didn't have bike catchers at T2 like last year and T1 and T2 are in different spots so no-one had seen the transition set up until now...mid-race! We had to rack our bikes under the shopping centre car park. It seemed pitch black after being out in the sun for a couple hours. Sunnies on were not a good idea. The smooth concrete was wet as it'd been raining and it was super slippery. I heard Jared yell out about 3 or 4 times to be careful as almost everyone before me had slipped on it. I was super careful. Even with the warning I slid around but saved it and luckily stayed on my feet.

Jared popped up again as I ran out of T2, this time calling out '5:30'. Whoa, what's going on today, I thought. I just rode my butt off and lost time? I had a really good ride, rode faster than I did last year and the weather this year was nowhere near as kind. I was in third place by now. But the girls ahead were on fire today.

Onto the run I felt pretty ordinary. The weather was starting to get pretty hot and humid by now. Maybe it was the tough ride, strong winds, flat dead roads that all did it. Maybe my motivation wasn't as high coming out of the World Champs being just 2 weeks ago. Or maybe the body had gone into holiday mode from kicking back in beautiful Cozumel. Whatever the case, it didn't feel that great. I kept trudging along in pursuit of girls up the road. I caught Jodie a few k's in just before I passed the Coral Princess Hotel and Resort (our hotel) at about the 4k mark. All the hotel staff were out on the road yelling my name and taking photos. I passed by them four times in total and each time they were all there cheering and screaming "Go Melissa"! It was just what I needed out on the 'quieter' part of the course. I eventually made it to the finish line in second place. I had a good swim and bike but it was not fast enough to get the win today.

After I had finished, Jared and I watched the age groupers get smashed by the crazy thunderstorm that quickly rolled through. The run course was flooded in no time and we watched the timing chip mats float away off the road. The wind was super strong but still volunteers and spectators remained on course standing in ankle deep water to cheer for and help out every single athlete. 

With the rain bucketing down we hailed down a cab to drive us back to our hotel. The little Mexican man was very helpful squishing my bike into is tiny matchbox car. The steering wheel was the size of Stuart Little's. The rear vision mirror looked more like a travel makeup mirror. And the small bucket seats we sat in were like water slides. We we literally sitting in a puddle of water. When we arrived back at our hotel the staff were there to greet us. After a quick shower we were in the hotel restaurant when Pedro and Jose, the managers came down with a congratulations flyer he had printed up for me. Race photos plastered all over it and a voucher for both Jared and I to receive a free couples massage in the hotel day spa. They also gave us a nice bottle of wine.

We stayed a few more days in Cozumel and each time we stepped out of our room it was like we were high rolling celebrities. Everyone would congratulate us. The hotel staff all knew us by name. We had photo shoots with all the staff as well as many of the guests. And the morning we left the entire hotel crew were out the front to see us off. We got a cheer and a clap as we walked down the red carpet... I mean lobby stairs. They were such a friendly and amazing bunch of people. I can't wait to return again next year!

I'm standing on the bank of Lake Las Vegas ready to enter the water. It's the 3rd time I've been in this exact spot. My 3rd World 70.3 Championship. My 3rd year in the sport of triathlon. I have a good idea now of the pain I'm about to put my body through for the next 4 1/2 hrs. This makes me a little nervous as usual, but otherwise I'm excited to be here on start line fit and healthy and ready to go. The sun has just started to make some light for the day. The American national anthem plays as everyone stands in silence while the rains continues to fall. The announcer calls the pros into the water. Here we go.

As I scull on the start line, I psyche myself up for a fast, explosive start. With many of the ITU triathletes switching to Long Course this year I expect the swim to be even faster than usual. The cannon goes off and I go as fast I can. This year, I decided to position myself far left to stay out of the chaos and get a clean start. I'm in clear water for a 100m or so before somehow I'm in the washing machine. It soon thins out and I find myself in clear waters again. Which means the faster packs have already left me behind. Somehow I manage to find myself in clear water for the majority of my races. Maybe I subconsciously really prefer swimming on my own. It's not the fastest way to get through the swim leg and definitely not the most economical either.

I get to the exit ramp, pull myself up onto my wobbly legs, take off my pretty pink Blue Seventy goggles that match my black and pink Blue Seventy speed suit...and try to get running. Along the 600m run to T1 I hear that I'm about 3.20 down on the leader. I stay calm. 2min was the dream but 3min was more what I expected. I get to my bike and throw on my new Specialized Evade helmet with magnetic buckle. Yep, magnetic. You know how ya always struggle to get the clip done up fast when you're in a hurry. Well, not anymore!

There's congestion on the mount line as Shivvy and I approach so I keep running past the girls and mount my bike a bit further down the road. I've got somewhere to be people! The first few k's are uphill, through some roundabouts, and then through some narrow turns under a pedestrian tunnel to the other side of the road so I play it real safe here. This is one of the very few technical parts of the course so I don't wanna stack it. Half way up this first climb out of transition I see Jared and he tells me I'm 3:10 down on the leaders and in 13th position. That's ok for now.

The rain continues to fall, keeping the temps cool. I count down from 13 each time I pass another competitor until I get to 4th position. From here I can occasionally see the lead three together far ahead in the distance. It looks like four of them with a bunch of media bikes around them. Either one of them is a male pro or I've miss-counted somewhere. The bike course rolls up and down long, gradual hills through the National park in the desert so at parts you can see a long way ahead. I really like these type of hills. I can get into a good rhythm, sometimes staying down on my aeros, other times I'll sit up on my hoods and push my weight back and get into a high cadence spin. As I'm approaching the turn around, just over 40km in, I get a chance to see the lead group clearer on their way back. They're not too far ahead. I should catch them soon. 

It wasn't until I exited the National park though, at 68km that I finally caught them. Maybe they had picked up the pace after seeing me go past. There was a male on the front of the group, three girls in the middle and another male on the back. All evenly spaced. This means, according to the rules for me to make a pass I have to pass the lot...all in one go. I cannot slip anywhere into the pack as I'll breach the drafting rules. I don't like sitting in a group as I worry that just a small loss of concentration could mean getting a 4min penalty. I drop back quite a bit just in case and cruise for a little while taking stock of how I feel and deciding what to do. I soon see the male on the back drop back and move far right. He's allowing me to pass him and slip in behind the girls. I make the pass and notice the 3rd girl seems to be dropping off the back of the group much further than the 12m. There are motorcycles all around. Media and I'm guessing/hoping draft busters as well. As I pass the 3rd girl I am not 100% sure how close the 12m zone is to 2nd so to remove the risk I go ahead and make the rest of the passes up to the front to take the lead from the male pro on the front.

It's now just under 20km to go for the bike leg. Mostly slight uphill. I keep powering on, feeling good. Feeling strong. I take a left turn and get a quick glimpse over my shoulder. Annabel is still on but Lisa and Svenja have dropped. 4km to go and I see a sharp right hand turn ahead. Last real turn on the bike course. I can't make up too much more time from here...be safe...get around...get to T2. The media motorcycle is on my left. 3km to go I hit the turn...I mean really 'hit' the turn. In slow motion, my wheels slide away from under me, I hit the deck and slide into the path of the motorcycle.  He manages to stop and swerve enough to miss me but roll up and over the side of my disc wheel. Panic floods my brain and I instinctively yell "Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t... get off". I quickly pick up my bike and jump back on back in pursuit of Annabel again, too afraid to even check if Shivvy's still in working order. A million thoughts start rushing through my head... "do I have a flat, are my brakes jammed on, is my wheel buckled...". And then a minute later "will I be able to run 21km?". I get back behind Annabel and stay there while continually getting in and out of my saddle making sure nothing cramps from the impact of the crash. As I'm approachingT2, Annabel quickly jumps off her bike into the penalty tent to take a stand down penalty (this means you have to get off your bike, put both feet on the ground then you can get back on) so I come into T2 back in the lead.

As I upend my bag and throw on my socks I'd planned to also put on my Compressport calf sleeves (new rules last year say we cannot swim in our calf sleeves anymore) but my legs are still wet from the rain plus I want to minimize the amount of time I stop to avoid my hip cramping up from the crash. I leave them behind and get out of there as quick as possible.

Three nice hilly laps would follow. Down 1mile, u-turn, up 1mile, weave past transition, up another 1mile, u-turn, down 1mile, sharp 180deg turns down a ramp, passed transition then repeat two more times. At least it's spectator friendly. I feel pretty good. I don't seem to be sore from my crash, or at least I'm not allowing my mind to believe that. I'm focused, on a mission to get to the finish line in first place. I don't take in much of the surrounds , I don't want to divert my attention from the job. Each lap I'm extending my lead but I still can't relax until the finish line is in sight. I've crashed before like this and had to DNF after my leg starting tingling, seized up and went numb. I get to the top of the last hill, u-turn and start heading down. Downhill all the way to the finish. Finally, I'm pretty confident at this point I have it in the bag. I begin to acknowledge the cheering spectators, the enthusiastic age group athletes and my lead bicycle who congratulates me before pulling off just before I take the last turn into the finishing straight. The smile on my face goes from ear to ear. The feeling is amazing. World champion! And the first time any female has won two world 70.3 Championships. I'm stoked! I'm so happy! Words cannot describe... I DID IT!

    
     2nd 1:58:30

     Swim  21:20   22nd
     Bike    59:27   2nd
     Run    34:52    1st


As I'm setting up my bike in transition the black and white striped official does his rounds - checking our helmets for the CPSC sticker, meaning it has passed the US safety requirements. European helmets won't suffice. Specialized had just sent me the new Evade aero road helmet. Tested in the wind tunnel to be just as aero as the longer TT specific helmets but a lot lighter and with much more ventilation. I was keen to try it out as were many of my Specialized competitors. The stripy dude looks in my helmet but no sticker found. Damn! I look to my left, Angela Naeth has the exact same helmet, sent from the exact same place, California. How can this be?

Long story short, 20minutes before race start and I'm still in transition trying to get a helmet. The rest of the pros are on the other side of the lake at the final check in tent waiting to be announced one by one to the start line. 15minutes before race start Eric comes running from the Specialized truck, helmet in hand. I quickly show the official, put it on my bike then run towards the water. At this point I no longer have time to run around the lake dodging all the spectators and age group athletes. So I run down the T1 swim exit chute and dive into the water, volunteers/marshals wondering what the hell this girl thinks she's doing diving into the wrong side of the lake minutes before the race is about to begin. I was wondering the same thing. I quickly swim across the lake, run up the sand to race start and make it just in time for the final intro's. My heart is definitely pounding/warmed up!

As I stand on the blue carpet near the waters edge I look to my right then to my left. There are a handful of familiar faces, my usual long course competitors. But the rest...no idea who they are. This is because I'm racing a 5150 - an Olympic distance 'non-drafting' race. A lot of these girls are ITU-type racers, i.e. super fast swimmers. ITU style racing is also known as a wet running race. You need to be a strong swimmer, know how to sit in a pack on the bike, then be a gun runner. Luckily here the bike is non-drafting cos Shivy and I will have some work to do. 

Bang! The gun goes and I run down to the water. Two strokes of slapping people and being slapped then...they're gone :-( I get through the 1500m lonely swim. I run up the swim exit in 23rd place. I'd like to say there were over 100 pro women in the race but there wasn't. 27 started. Emma Moffat and crew were 2:35 ahead already.

40km on the bike goes super fast! I hardly have time to eat or drink. I'm on a mission to catch as many of these girls as possible. I pass one then another then another...until time's up...pencils down! 40km done. Dismount and put Shivy back in his rack. I felt great on the bike, clocking over 40km/hr average. But I also clocked over 40km/hr a few weeks back in the Boulder 70.3 where I rode 90km. Maybe some more work on my Computrainer will help with that top end speed.

I quickly throw on my Adidas runners, ITU style - no socks! But with Vegas just next week I've got fixomull tape all over my feet to avoid blisters. I grab my GU gel and visor, Scody race belt and take off - back on the chase. I start running girls down but I'm a bit nervous - can I hold this pace? I haven't done an Olympic distance race since Nov 2012 in Noosa, but even there I crashed and couldn't really run properly because of it. I decided on 3:30 pace to start. It feels quick, a good 15sec/km quicker than 70.3 pace but it also feels manageable. Every km split almost spot on. I'm reeling more and more girls in but at 6km I'm still only up to 6th place. Jared gives me another split "50seconds to 2nd place". I have to pick it up. My legs are actually feeling really good. I can get 2nd! I pass another girl just as we turn into a strong head wind. She jumps right on my feet. Not like a runner comfortably 'tucking in'. I mean RIGHT on my feet, clipping my every stride. Never had that before. I zig zag trying to get her off so I don't get tripped. A slightly stronger surge and the tripping hazard is gone. Three more to go to get into second place. I see my next target just up ahead. I pass straight by and zero in on the next. Make another pass and look up for the 2nd place girl as my Garmin beeps '9km' done. Only 1 km to go...I'm running out of k's. Emma Moffatt is too far ahead to consider the win, but 2nd place is still within reach. "Please don't be short" I say to myself...thinking of some of the ITU run courses where the women miraculously run 31-flat for '10k'.