PK'S TRI CLUB FINDS SUCCESS AT GULF COAST

Pre- Race: After 6 months of preparation with Coach Nixon and my two training buddies, Jared and Melissa, race week was finally here. I did not feel ready. This was going to be the longest race I had ever done. I knew I had done the work but my nerves were going crazy. I spent my last week of tapering trying to relax, run slow, and adding up my training stats. When I started 6 months ago I had only had one triathlon (a sprint Tri) under my (race) belt. It went well, but it was pretty hard and I breast stroked the entire swim… From November to race week I ran some 640 miles, biked 1630 (half outside, half on the trainer) and swam 81 miles learning how to freestyle.

On Friday, I made my way to Panama City to compete in the Gulf Coast 70.3 Half Ironman. I got there before Athlete Check-In opened and the area around the transition area was full of people biking and running. It made me nervous. Everybody looked so professional. Everybody’s bikes were so nice (I have a good old Jamis road bike… we will get back to that later). I headed to the hotel to wait for Coach Nixon and the rest of my team to arrive and get away from the nervous energy of the Athlete Village. I checked my race gear one last time. Figure 1 - Making sure I have everything I need for the race. We all headed to Check In around 1 pm. The line wasn’t horrible and we spent some time shopping and looking at swag before listening to the Athlete Briefing. After some back and forth between the hotel and transition we got all of our bikes checked in and situated.

Figure 2 - Bike Check. Figure 3 - "There is no turning back now, they have our names on it... just keep on smiling" (left) . Coach Nixon is there every step of the way!! (right) Dinner was lots of carbs and salt. We would need the salt the next day, with temperatures looking to climb into the high 80’s/low 90’s. After a restless night for all of us – I got MAYBE 3 hours of restless sleep and was wide awake at 1:30 am – we got up at 4 am to get ready. Our hotel was only 3 miles away from the race and we left at 4:30 am. There was a big parking lot with easy parking close to the start and transition area and we had plenty of time to set up our gear. We checked our bikes one last time, set up our transition and went to the bathroom just before transition closed. The water had been really close to the wetsuit legal temperature cutoff the previous mornings. Luckily the official temperature was reported to be 75.6F and wetsuit legal. Good! I needed all the help with the swim, that I could get.

The swim start was a rolling start with self-seeding into your expected finish time. I seeded myself at the front of the 43-45 minute group. I figured that it would be better to swim around people then to be overtaken by them. My ideal swim goal was sub-40 min but I would be happy to be sub-45 min. It took 30 min for my group to start but luckily I chatted with some people around me to keep me occupied. You have to understand that I am borderline panicky about the swim. During the Clermont triathlon I basically had a mini - panic attack with my heart rate shooting up, not being able to breath etc. So I was nervous… I knew I could do the distance breaststroking but that is not what I was here for. I have to say I loved the rolling start. Everybody went in with a one second gap. There was not really much fighting for your position or getting kicked. In addition, the water was super calm with no waves. Coach Nixon was there right next to the start (I was the last one of our group to go into the water). I ran in…. and almost face planted into the sand because I tripped (of course Coach caught it on camera…..).

The Swim The plan for the swim was to rest my legs, use it as a warm-up, and get through it efficiently but without wearing myself out.. I found a comfortable speed pretty quickly, and concentrated on my arms and head position, just as Coach Nixon had drilled into me. I kept passing a bunch of people and felt really relaxed and comfortable. I also, surprisingly, had not problem sighting and was swimming so much more straight then I had in Clermont. Of course it helped that the water was beautiful and calm and very clear. The only problem was…. Jellyfish!!! They were everywhere and kept stinging me… yuck… The way out along the first 6 markers was relatively easy without many people in my way. Approaching the first turn, there suddenly was a bit of a congestion of people and it took some nudging and weaving to find a good position to the second turn. After the second turn I encountered another group of people but also managed to swim through them with relative ease. The sun was now in my eyes and reflecting on the water and it took me slightly longer to sight every marker. I still managed to swim pretty straight, which was probably one of my biggest accomplishment for this race! Then there were more JELLYFISH and I fully concentrated on not touching the red ones. And then suddenly I could see the bottom sloping up and coming closer and closer, I passed the last marker and could see the exit funnel. I tried to catch some waves to shore but they weren’t big enough… oh well, I’ll take calm water over waves any day!! During the last couple of yards my foot got caught on something behind me and I felt my left pinky toe pop. It didn’t hurt too bad so I put it out of my mind because at the same time I had completed the swim. I had done it in 37min 37 sec. Now that might not be fast for many people but it is for me, especially without switching to breaststroke and considering how well I had sighted and how easy it felt. I was very happy!!

Swim: 37 min 37 sec 13th F30 – 34 T1 I ran out and saw Coach Nixon by the freshwater showers. We both yelled at the same time “37 minutes!” (of course he has that on video as well ☺ ). I pealed out of my wetsuit (no wetsuit peelers at this event), and rushed into transition. The distance between the beach and transition is super short and my bike was very close to the swim entrance. I saw that Melissa was already on her bike (no surprise! She is a super fast swimmer) and hurried to dry off, get my socks and shoes on, take a quick bite of my banana, some water, sunglasses, helmet and off I went. The run out of transition was a little long. Plus there really wasn’t a path. You have to go in between all the racks and people sitting on the ground getting into their shoes. Outside of transition you still have some distance to the mount line. Right after the mount line is a sharp and very tight right and left turn, so you better make sure you get on your bike fast.

T1: 3:44 Bike: to feel confident The bike for me is where the race begins. However, I was under strict instructions to not go out too fast. Too many people go out super fast and then fall apart at the end of the bike or on the run. My goal was a steady 18.5 mph The first 6 miles of the route was on Front Beach Rd which is the main strip of the beach. Since it was early there weren’t many cars yet, which would change on the way back (more later). After a couple of sharp turns the next 45 or so miles were out and back on a highway. The highway was open to cars, but they only occupied one lane. I really did not find it a problem for that portion of the bike. I kept my speed steady and slowly found my legs and rhythm. I got passed by some of those super tall men with their really expensive bikes but kept myself entertained by wondering why they were behind me in the first place, or memorizing what they looked like to see if I could pass them again later (and I did for a lot of them. Seriously, going out slow is the way to go people!!).

There were some slow uphill stretches (the kind of uphill that you can’t even really see but makes you wonder why biking is suddenly so hard…) and one bridge. Now, I live and train at the coast of Florida where there are zero hills, but I have discovered that I am actually pretty good at hills. This is thanks to Coach Nixon and his workouts on the trainer! Just like in Clermont, I passed big groups of people going uphill… and I loved it. Especially because my bike is not fancy at all. Its not even a Tri bike. I do have aero bars and I love my Jamis road bike but what I love even more is passing people on fancy bikes. Another source of entertainment during the 56 miles.

About 30 miles into the bike I started wondering if maybe my bike had a flat. The back tire felt weird and rough. I didn’t want to stop and get off and it felt alright so I just kept going. You have to realize that I have really bad luck with flats. The entire 6 month of training, I was the only one in our group that kept getting flats. And not just punctures but sliceopen- the-tire-having-to-buy-new-tires-multiple-times kind of flats. We joked at the beginning of the race that I would probably get a flat…. Yeah…. I figured I would ask Melissa to look and tell me if my tire was looking weird when I caught up with her so I just kept going. About 6 miles before the turn around I spotted Melissa on the other side and yelled and waved to her. I couldn’t wait to catch her. Just behind her was Jared. The way back was fast. I realized that there must have been some wind on the way out because all of the sudden I was flying. It felt easy and fun so I just let it happen and averaged almost 1 mph more on the way back. When I caught Melissa, I had forgotten about my potentially flat tire. We chatted for a quick second in which I told her about my toe that I could feel swelling up in my shoe. During the entire ride I had tried to eat my nutrition according to plan. Gels and Gatorade give me stomach cramps so I had bars and other stuff on the bike with me. I could feel my stomach fighting the food and stopped eating for the last hour on the bike because I was afraid I would cramp up on the run. In hindsight, I should have tried to eat a little more but really I just need to experiment with nutrition much more and really find what works best for me. I think I said a loud “Thank GOD” when I saw the 50 mile marker. I wasn’t that tired or hot but I was getting anxious to start the run. The last 6 mile on Front Beach Road where horrible though. There were too many cars and people. At one point a car backed out onto the road and almost hit the guy in front of me and then me. I had to weave around him and ride off the the side of the road into some potholes, almost fell and to have made it out of lost my water. Just a couple miles further down a truck backed out onto the road and completely BLOCKED it!! I managed to not crash into him and go behind him and in front of some cars. That one was a very close call. I was so happy to get off the bike at that point. I came in at 2:53 h, crushing my goal of a sub-3 hour bike time. Bike: 2:53 Speed: 19.32 15th F30-34 T2 As I dismounted I saw Coach just in front of the “Bike In”. As I was awkwardly bouncing pass him he yelled to me that Jared was just about .25 miles in front of me and in transition right now. So I rushed through transition (yelling out to Jared as I ran past) and made it out without incidents. I didn’t even stop to drink or eat… T2: 2:17 Run: Now, the run is the fun part for me. Usually, at least... Biking towards transition I had seen all these people already on the run and they all looked so SO miserable. As soon as I got out there I understood. It was HOT. 89 degrees, no breeze, no shade and about 105 degrees reflecting off the tarmac. I was in for a looooong run. I started out feeling okay. Funny enough, my legs felt alright coming into the run. I managed to run my first two miles on target pace, the third just under 9 min/miles and then struggled through the rest. I kept hoping to see Coach because I was going so slow and just needed to hear him say that it was okay. I crashed and burned on mile 6 but managed to compose myself after a quick bathroom stop. I walked through every aid station grabbing 2 cups of water to drink, 2 to dump over my head, plus ice to put in my tri suit. I would feel better for a little while and then start crashing again just before the next aid station. I managed to stay under 10 min/ miles for mile 7 – 10 but just could not do it until the end. The only thing that made me feel better is that nobody else was running. Everybody was walking. Nobody passed me. There were maybe a handful of people that I saw Figure 6 - This must have been the 1 lap, because I still look pretty happy. running (and struggling just like me) but EVERYBODY else was walking. When I finally saw that bridge to the finish line (how cruel to have a bridge at the end of your run!!!) I was so relieved I almost started crying. After the bridge there was a turn… and then another turn… and another turn… and …. finally the red carpet, the finish, the voice calling my name. I managed to sprint down the finish chute and pump my fist. I did not manage to stay sub-2 hours. Its frustrating, because I know I can go much faster. I was 1.12 min/ mile slower than my target pace! For now I blame the heat but I know it also has to do with the way I ate on the bike and run. My legs just had nothing more to give. Run: 2:06 Pace: 9:42 TOTAL RACE TIME: 5:44:28

Post-Race Seeing the time on my watch 5:44 h, I was beyond happy! I had done it! I had finished in sub-6 hours!! That is all I wanted for my first Half Ironman race. I can worry about a faster swim and crushing my run splits during my next race. After the finish I almost passed out. I was feeling nauseous and sick and my face started tingling. I found Coach in the VIP area and joined him for awhile but had to sit down and concentrate on not passing out. When my arms started tingling I got a little worried. For some reason I figured eating a Mentos might calm down my stomach and I am so glad I had some. Seconds after eating it, the tingling stopped and I felt fine. I realize now that I was very close to passing out because my blood sugar had dropped so much.

Coach and I waited for Jared and Melissa to finish. They both did amazing. Melissa especially crushed her run with an even split. AFTERMATH The heat had definitely gotten to us. We were all not feeling too well. I finally took my shoe off and remembered my toe. It was bruised badly and swollen. We checked out the bikes and sure enough I had a flat tire…. But we had done it! I know I could have NEVER managed to do this race in 5:44 without Coach Nixon. There is just no way. I would have been one of these people out there crashing and burning half way through the bike or on the run. Actually, I would be the person doing a 1.2 mile swim breaststroking. I am so glad he was there every step of the way and during the race and that he agreed to train me. I am so excited to see where this training will lead me in the rest of the season (without broken toes and flat tires).

#DrCraigNixon