They said it: Jackson Laundry and Taylor Reid on their top-10s in Cozumel

Despite the hot and humid conditions (with temperatures into the 30s and the humidex reaching 38), Canadians Jackson Laundry and Taylor Reid both managed top-10 finishes at today’s Ironman 70.3 Cozumel triathlon in Mexico.

It’s been a busy few weeks for Laundry and Reid – they were key organizers of the recent Canadian Pro Triathlon Championship, which Laundry won, then left just over a week after that race for Cozumel. The two will return to Canada tomorrow, then spend two weeks in quarantine. The plan is to take some well-deserved time off, then start the build towards Challenge Daytona in December, provided they each can get a spot in that race.

We caught up with them a few hours after the race:

Jackson Laundry:

I had a pretty OK swim, although I’m still feeling like I haven’t quite got my swim back yet. I haven’t swum in a pool for seven months, so I was pretty happy to get out with Matt Hanson.

He (Hanson) and I worked pretty hard on the bike – we worked our way up to a huge group of about 10 guys. Sam Long was off the front. We rode through the group, but couldn’t drop them until the end.

I was a bit worried that we pushed a bit too hard on the bike. I started the run up there in third or fourth, but Hanson and (Tyler) Butterfield pulled away from me.

In the end I was happy to grind it out for sixth on what I would consider to be an off day. I learned a lesson – to trust my instincts on the bike.

Related: Inspiration in action – Jackson Laundry bounces back from bike crash

After finishing second at Ironman 70.3 Campeche, I’ve shifted the focus from my shoulder injury. It’s time to move on. I don’t use it as an excuse any more. I am happy to be back racing and being able to do what I do. I feel like my shoulder isn’t a factor any more

I’ll have to do a lot of indoor training over the next few months, but I’ll possibly head to Utah for some altitude and outdoor training. I really need to focus on my swim training – today I was too far back out of the water, which can’t happen in a championship race like Daytona.

Taylor Reid

I was pretty happy with the race today – it was probably one of my best races in Mexico.

They did a really good job organizing the event. They took people’s temperatures before we could get in, people wore masks and there was hand sanitizer everywhere.

During the swim I got a weird cramp in my stomach, which set me up for a day of chasing.

I was really happy that I was able to negative split both the bike and the run. During the first loop of the run it took a while to get my legs.

Daytona will be my next race if I can get in – I have had good results there, finishing fourth and ninth. The distance of the race -2 km swim/ 78 km bike/ 20km run – seem to work well for me.

I can’t thank the PTO enough for the opportunity to race.