This past weekend was the Gulf Coast Half Ironman in Panama City Beach, FL. I decided that this would be a good one to do in preparation for Louisville because it can be hot...very hot.
Julie and I headed south to Florida early on Thursday morning. The weather was crazy around Montgomery, AL so we got stuck in traffic, saw cars stuck in a flooded lake, and almost got in two car accidents. Finally once we got into Florida the skies cleared and we were at the beach! We had traveled down with this year's TNT team so once everyone arrived and checked in to the condos we all went down to the beach for a quick swim.
When I did this race two years ago the Thursday night swim was choppy. This year was no different. The waves were about 5 feet and it was not an easy swim especially because I was overheating in my wetsuit. Decision...no wetsuit for Friday's practice swim to see how that goes. Surely the water will be like glass in the morning....ha.
I stayed in a condo with Rolf, Lisa, and Rob. Compared to where we stayed last time this was like the Taj Mahal. It had a great ocean view, two bedrooms, full kitchen...very nice!
Rolf, Lisa, Julie, and I went to dinner Thursday night with the TNT group at the Boat Yard. It was an ok meal. I think I learned that I shouldn't get a hamburger at a seafood place. Friday morning we woke up early to swim, bike, and run. The ocean wasn't cooperating and was still very choppy. I swam without my wetsuit though and was much more comfortable than with it. Surely the water would calm down for Saturday's race....ha. After our swim we had a great pancake breakfast from a local Baptist Church. A nice old man told me "these are pancakes from the Lord." They were quite tasty!
After carbo-loading was done we biked the run course where I found out that my rear brake was completely rusted in the front housing. Awesome. Brakes? Who needs them!? Luckily my front brakes worked so I wasn't too worried but still it wasn't something I wanted to deal with the day before a race. AND I paid $150 to have all of my cabling fixed this winter...seems like they missed one. Bah! After a quick run a couple stopped me in the lobby and asked me if I had swam that morning and seen the large 5 foot bull shark in the water. UMMMM.....no. Not only did I not see it, I really did not need her to tell me about it. Great....seasickness-worthy waves and bull sharks.
A bunch of us went to Spinakers for lunch after the run. The beach view was great and it was just nice to relax! Julie and I checked in for the race and did a quick walk through the expo after lunch. We picked up all of our numbers, bought some race merch that I probably didn't need, got a great deal on socks (woo hoo!), and took care of a Father's Day present for Dad (love that he's into this sport now!). I went back up to the condo and got all of my race stuff together. This is my favorite part of the sport besides crossing the finishline. Organizing! By then it was dinnertime so Rolf, Lisa, Bert, Kathleen, and I checked our bikes into the transition area and went to Carraba's for takeout.
Rob arrived while we were out so when we got back he and Rolf went down to check in for their relay. After a lot of drama that is too long to include here they finally found "Chrissy the runner" in Panama City Beach to round out their relay. Rob was swimming, Rolf was biking, and Chrissy was running. Saturday morning was race day! I expected to wake up to those calm seas that I swam in two years ago but again....no luck. It was choppy...and windy....and sunny....and hot. It was going to be a tough day. I went downstairs and setup my transition area thinking that seasickness was in my future. I know that I'm not supposed to think those thoughts and that I'm supposed to stay positive but I know myself. I can get seasick in the stupidest ways. I headed down to the beach to get ready for the start. 6:35am was my start time.
I hit the water and immediatley felt like I was in a salad spinner. Not that I've actually been in a large salad spinner but I can imagine that it feels much like I did on Saturday morning. The waves were about 6 feet and we had two riptides and a strong current. We had to swim 950 yards out, 200 yards across, and 950 yards back to shore. It was awful. I am a strong swimmer but when waves are involved I kinda suck. The waves would pick people up and throw them back on you. Then on the way back to shore I just kept seeing the buoys and buildings go in and out of view because the waves were so large. I just wanted to get out of there but obviously my only way was to swim. Coming back in was much faster but that's when I really got motion sick. Once my tiptoes could hit the sand I was up on my feet. I needed stable ground! I immediatley saw Coach Kathleen and she asked me if I was sick...ha...yes...yes I was. I never throw up when I get motion sick but it's almost like it would be better if I would get it out of my system.
The bad thing is that then I had to get on another moving object...my bike...and ride for 56 miles so I still couldn't "get over" being sick. I spent most of the windy bike trying to get my stomach to settle and trying to take in whatever fuel I could. The last thing you want to do is eat Hammer Gel and solid food when you feel gross. I had pretty much decided that I was going to DNF at about mile 35 on the bike. I was ok with that. I would just finish the bike, put on my run shoes, turn in my chip, and spend the rest of the day by the pool or hanging out with Rob and other relay people.
When I got back to the transition area I doused myself with a waterbottle full of water but it wasn't water...it was Gatorade. Disgusting. Sticky. I put on my run shoes and as I exited the run area and again there was Coach Kathleen. I started to breakdown and she said to smile...I wasn't smiling....I was tired of feeling gross. I was 4 hours into this thing and I had 13.1 miles to run in 95 degree heat with no shade. I was sunburned and just over it. The reason Coach K is great is that she got me going and told me to keep moving and I would feel better. She was right and by mile 4 I felt good. Not great...but good. Kathleen said this would be good training for Louisville...EEK!
The most miserable part of the run was feeling like my skin was boiling...I was so sunburned. I put 50 on before the swim and after the bike and then tried to cake myself in it at several waterstops along the run. I did everything to just cover it up. The run wasn't too bad but I definitley took my time. I crossed the finish line in 6:40 which isn't great but the conditions were tough. I immediately went to the medical tent and got a nice cold towel and 2 IV's. IV's are awesome....I felt so better almost immediatley! I need to figure out how to do IV's at home.
We all survived the race (even though there were sharks lingering not far from the race site) and had a great party afterwards at Spinnakers. Several Nashvillians placed in their age groups so that was great to see. Another great thing to see was Rob after he'd been drinking since his swim on the relay team that morning...hysterical by midnight! I actually had a Miller Lite at Spinnakers and it was the best beer I've had...probably because I was so exhausted and dehydrated but oh well...it was all fun nonetheless!
On the way home on Sunday Rolf, Lisa, Julie, Rob, and I caravaned through Seaside for lunch.
It was a long 8 hour drive home but it was fun. Dinner was at Whataburger which isn't the best thing I've ever eaten but not the worst. I rolled home to the East side at about 10:00 and ended our Panama City Beach adventure. It was a great trip overall...minus the race...next year we're all doing relays so we can have more beach and pool time. I'm taking suggestions for team names now. 
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