Off on another adventure - this time to Panama City Beach, FL! My first visit to the panhandle - and I really enjoyed it. Warm weather, sunny skies, and beautiful beaches always increase the enjoyment factor too :)
We flew to FL to do the Gulf Coast Triathlon - 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. We did a practice swim on Friday (race was Saturday), and the water was flat, warm, and perfect.
It looked like this the day of the race... My swim wave went off at 6:25 am, and the waves were 3 feet. It was not easy to get past the surf & out into the ocean. But I thought once I got past the surf, the ocean would settle down. Not so much. It was a hard day at the office. I love swimming in the ocean, so was never scared. It just took a long time to get anywhere, as the ocean just pushed you around. HIGHLIGHT: Just as I passed the last buoy & was heading to shore - 2 dolphins swam right under me (were probably 6-8 feet below me) Coolest triathlon moment ever!!
Once again - Red flag day of the race (warming swimmers of high surf & dangerous conditions)
Beautiful, calm waters the day before. Shoot! Oh well, it was definitely an experience.
We did finish the race! The bike was flat & windy. The wind was manageable until the final turn down Front Beach Road. And then all he## broke loose. Not kidding - 30 mph winds were blowing you all over the road. A storm squall came through - high winds & rain. Those last 6 miles on the bike felt like a life time. I was never that scared on a bike before. Chris saw a couple guys get blown completely off their bikes - yowzah! Glad it wasn't me.
The run was flat, with a lot of turns, so pretty good. My feet felt like cement blocks for the first mile. Fortunately, that wore off, but I didn't pick up much speed. I just trucked along. They had aid stations every mile - the volunteers were so awesome. So I would walk those - drinking gatorade & dumping water over my head (the storm had passed; the sun was in & out)
Medal & Race # (felt like a pro - with such a low number :)) There were around 900 competitors.
Chris had a great race too. His swim was longer, since he started 40 minutes after me. His waves were 5 footers - the water got progressively worse as the day went along. His bike was good & run was about like mine. He now has a horrible cold, so he was harboring that during the race. He was wondering why he couldn't run any faster...
Highly recommend the Gulf Coast Triathlon! They fed us breakfast on Friday morning; fed us lunch after the race; and had a huge party (can anyone say free beer) on Saturday night! Wowzer! Definitely our favorite race of any that we have done (and we raced a lot of different races - west & east coasts) This race is really racer friendly. This is also the Ironman Florida course, with some changes: 2 loop swim instead of 1; bike course goes out the same way, then meanders through the countryside - flat flat flat (and somewhat boring); 2 loop run instead of the 1 that we did.
Chris at the Spinnaker beach club after party
The beach club. We unknowingly had dinner here on Thursday night. No idea that our race party would be here after. Guess we picked a good spot :)
Awards went 10 deep, so I actually won something (7th out of 48 in my age group) That doesn't happen very often, so a pleasant surprise. If I had known I was that close, I would have pushed it on the run, instead of just my usual IM pace. Oh well, lesson learned. (I'm the short one in the middle )
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