Race Report - 2013 Gulf Coast Triathlon 70.3

This was my first Half Ironman race ever. It was also my first race of the year. I decided to do this race since I will be doing Ironman Florida (IMFL) in November. This race course is nearly the same course used during IMFL.

I was nervous for days leading up to the race. I trained hard for this race and all was going well. Then, during the last three weeks of training, I ran very little due to ankle/shin pain in my right leg. I only ran two very short runs the week of the race. I still had pain but it was improving everyday. During the drive to Panama City Beach, Florida, I was not freaking out about the race as I figured I would be. I following my training plan so I was confident I could finish it; including the swim that I hate. I figured I'd be panicking come race morning. Oddly, on race morning, I was fairly calm.

Waiting on the beach for my wave to start, I started to get a little nervous, but not about the swim. I was more concerned about the run. The water too was calmer than I had expected. The water temperature was also cold enough to be a wetsuit legal swim -- YAY!!!! I actually ran into the water with a huge smile on my face. I started swimming and bam, a wave crashed on me as I was sighting and knocked my goggles off. I calmly put my goggles back on and continued to swim in my patent-pending zigzag pattern (yep, my sighting sucks!). My swim time was just under 50 minutes. I was 62nd out of 69 of my age group. Yeah, nice right? I always struggle with the swim and I tend to feel tired coming out of the water. This time, I felt great as I got into transition! You gotta love race days!

In T1, I noticed there were very few bikes in my area. I didn't let it get to me. I just told myself I would catch the bastards on the run! Obviously, I had forgotten about my leg pain! Off on the bike I went with a smile on my face. The hardest part of the race was over for me! I was feeling great. I was passing people like crazy - I was in late wave start. I had planned on keeping my heart rate low but instead I went by feel since I felt so good. I didn't go too hard so that I would not blow up on the run. Rain started falling with about 25 miles to go. It seem as if everyone started to slow down a lot. I passed so many people and a few were telling me I looked strong. I was feeling strong! I was happy with my 19.5 mph average but unhappy that my heart rate was well above planned.

When I arrived at T2, I got excited. I noticed there were still many bikes missing from my age group. I had moved up to 48th place in my age group. Due to the rain, everything was soaked. I started running and water poured out of my shoes! I was surprised that I did not feel tired at all; even 4 hours into the race! I could not get my heart rate down to my planned heart rate. So I decided to just run by feel. My average heart rate was way too high! This will NOT work for Ironman Florida, my "A" race. I felt great for the first 10 miles and, surprisingly, I had no pain in my right leg! At one intersection that was both mile 5 and mile 8 of the run course, there were three cops directing traffic. The first time I crossed, they commented that I looked like I just started the race. On the route back, they laughed again as I ran passed them saying it again.

During the majority of the run, it was raining but it was slacking off about the midway point Since I did not run much in three weeks, I lost some run fitness. I felt the pain coming on around Mile 10. During the last few miles of the race, I had to take four quick walks, both due to the pain and my heart rate being way too high. The rain had stopped falling with about a mile or two to go. The sun finally showed it's face shortly after I crossed the finish line. I was aiming for a sub-2 hour half marathon but I missed it by a few minutes. I passed a ton of people on the run and that really helped me during the last few tough miles as I continued to pass people. I finished 39th of 69 in my age group. Even when I was struggling at the end of the run, I ran with a smile on my face since I knew I would finish under my 6-hour predicted finish time. My final time was 5:53:06.

I'm still a newbie at this triathlon thing.  This was only my third triathlon ever. I had only done two sprint triathlons late summer/early fall in 2012. But I did not follow my race plan at all! I did not stay in my planned heart rate zones! I also failed on my nutrition plan! In both transition, I was nervious and kept dropping items. I had not practiced transitions at all!I learned a lot of things in the race that I know I need to correct for my upcoming races. Overall, I still had good race and a good start to the tri season. Additionally, this race gave me in boost in confidence heading into my Ironman Florida training! I enjoyed this race and plan to do it again next year!