Overall, it was a pretty awesome day for me. I was able to put together a well executed race, got a PR of 10:32, finished 2nd in my AG and most importantly got 1 of the 2 Kona slots for the 2013 race.
Here are the details:
Prerace — arrived in Panama City Beach on Thursday afternoon. Weather was nice and cool, not too humid. Sea was pretty rough but not unusual for the afternoon. The beaches are pretty nice in PCB, white sand like powder, clear water, water temp about 70. We stayed in a Condo about .5 mile from the race start. On Thursday and Friday Greg and I did our pre-race final workouts and swims to make sure we were not flat. While we were practicing dolphin dives into the surf on Thursday morning, I jammed my big toe into the sand and it was very painful and swollen. I iced it and then taped it up hoping it would be ok for the race. I was pretty worried about it for the next two days but it ended up not being an issue during the race.
On race morning we woke up to some pretty warm weather and very humid. I was glad we had trained in some heat in the summer and felt we could deal with it. The surf on race morning was still pretty choppy and wavy. We got our bikes/nutrition ready and did our 10 minute run and then got our wetsuits on for a quick swim. It was all pretty rushed and wished I had a bit more time to relax for just a couple of minutes before the start. Luckily we saw our wives about 6 minutes before the start and got some good pictures, hugs and well wishes. I could not believe how many people were in this race as we walked down to the beach. We headed down to the surf and we were able to wade out into the water up to our chests and then the gun went off.
SWIM: We started on the far right and I got a pretty clean start out to the first buoy and then it was pretty crowded. I could not sight very well due to the swells so I just followed everyone else. I tried to keep it relaxed and not too hard an effort. On the way back to the beach I started to feel some cramping in my calves, which has been a problem for me. I hit the beach and looked at my watch and I was 32:47 which I felt really good about. I made my way through the beach and grabbed a couple of glasses of water to help with the cramping. Second loop had more traffic for me on the outbound section and I had to stop a couple of times to find a path out of the crowds of swimmers. I started kicking more and the cramping seemed to subside. I got a really good draft off someone on the way back and then I was back on the beach. When I stood up I was at 1:08 and change so I thought that was competitive. Actual swim time was 1:09:33 which was 11th in my AG. Not great but still ok.
T1/BIKE: – the swim to bike transition in Florida is really long but my time was actually not that bad…about 6 min. Foot was holding up while running on the carpet and asphalt through transition. I was pretty happy about that. Got on the bike and barely saw the wives cheering us on before heading out on the road. I was not sure where Greg was but found out later he was just a couple of minutes behind me. My goal was to ride about 5:10. I figured that would put in in a good place going into the run. I felt really good for the first 50 miles and it was really fun. The roads are very smooth and flat. I was averaging 21-22 mph with very little effort. On the bike I had the feeling it was going to be a good day. I poured water to keep cool, ate and drank every 15 minutes to keep fueled. Draft packs would come by and I would stay off the back just enough to get the legal draft. One guy got busted by an official while drafting off me. Miles 70, 80 and 90 ticked by pretty quickly and I still felt good. I saw Greg around mile 95 and he was not far behind me. The 5-6 miles coming into town had a pretty good head wind but I was able to push through it without too much trouble and then the turn to home had a nice tailwind. I had been pushing the last 30-40 miles pretty hard and started to wonder how the legs would feel as I started the run….did I go too hard like in St. George?? Final bike time was 5:13:43 (21.42 mph avg).
T2/RUN: – Felt pretty good running through transition…..took about 3 min then I was out on the course. Saw Vicki and Demi just after T2 and they told me I was 3rd in my AG. I felt really good out on the run. I kept looking down at my pace on my watch and then telling myself to slow down….be patient. My goal was to run 3:45 to 3:50 for the marathon which was about 8:40 pace. When I got to mile 13, Vicki told me I was in 1st. I later learned that I had passed the first and second place guys in the first couple of miles. One more 13 mile loop to go and I said to myself that it was mine to lose so just be patient and keep a steady pace. It was hot out and the heat started to take it’s toll on me. About mile 18-19 I started to really struggle with my pace, all I could think about was getting to the turn around and heading back. The last six miles were a total sufferfest (as they are in every race). I saw Greg on the way back in and he told me he was really sick and had been throwing up. We high-fived and moved on. My stomach started to get a little queasy around miles 20-22 so I stopped eating and just drank water. At mile 23 I started taking glucose tablets for quick energy and a little water. The stomach was feeling better by now but the legs were really hurting. Pace was just barely 10 min miles by now. Once I hit miles 24-25 I knew it would be over soon. Just as I was closing in on the turn to the finish a guy in my AG went by me. I was not sure if he was on his first loop or second loop. It didn’t matter much, there was no way I could match his pace at that point. As it turned out he was on his second loop and beat me to the finish by about 40 seconds. Coming thru the finish chute was pretty cool. I still thought I had finished 1st. Vicki came and found me and told me I was second. Either way I was pretty happy cause I knew I had to be 1st or 2nd for the Kona slot. My final time was 10:32:15. My marathon time was 3:59:45.
Overall had a good time. For those of you that want a PR course, this is the one. Hard to get into but worth it if you do. Thanks for all the support from home……long bike rides, swim coaching, etc. It would be no fun at all to do this without the rest of you. Looking forward to next year. We have some great races on the calendar.
Mike