Gulf Coast Triathlon Race Report

Friday morning I got up at 2:30, got dressed, and picked up Amy, Tracy and Wendy. We met Mary Beth, Sage, and Wendy at the Golden Gallon. We got on the road at about 3:15 and arrived at the condo about noon. We packed up coolers and headed down to the beach. After enjoying a few cold drinks, Tracy, Amy, Mary Beth and I wondered over to the expo. I was the only person drinking beer. Go figure!!! We did some shopping then I went back to the condo to get my ID. I went back to the expo and got checked in. We sat on the beach a little longer then I went and checked my bike in. I got to transition only to realize I forgot the bike stickers in the room. So back to the room I went. Found the stickers on the counter and went back to transition to drop off my bike.


When I got back, I got cleaned up and we all went to dinner.
We were all sitting at dinner and everyone kept telling me to eat. I just couldn’t get anything down. I was just sitting there looking at my plate with everyone looking at me. Then I hit me. I am attempting a HALF IRONMAN tomorrow. What the hell am I thinking? I can’t do this. Then I started to cry. Now everyone was really looking at me and this made it worse. I was having serious doubts about the race.
I managed to get down one bite.
We left the restaurant and they dropped me back at the condo. I think I was asleep within seconds of my head hitting the pillow.
I woke up one time at 3:30 to potty but fell right back to sleep until the alarm went off at 4:30.
I got up feeling great. No more nerves. I was here to have fun and that was what I was going to do.
Amy got up with me. We made it to body marking by 5:15. I was marked quickly and got my transition set up. They made the announcement that water temperature was 75 and wetsuits would be legal for age groupers. Great news!!!
I realized I had left my pump in my car so we went back to the room and got the car keys to get the pump. I got my tires pumped and met up with Patrick before transition closed at 6:00.
Amy and I walked up to the boardwalk. She went to put the pump away and I squeezed into my wetsuit.
I was standing there waiting on Amy when a camera man walked up to me and said “Your numbers are all smudged, does that mean you are really fast?” I felt like a bumbling idiot and could not come up with any good responses to his questions. Great, now I get to look like a fool on TV too. Lucky for me, we never caught any race coverage on TV.
When Amy got back, unable to get back to the room with the pump, we walked to the beach and found Tracy and Mary Beth.
Age does have some benefits. I got to be in the 3rd age group to go out.
They called my age group into the chute. Tracy, Amy and Mary Beth got right up front and cheered me on. While waiting for the gun, I got the best advice. This lady next to me said to take the race in small pieces. Focus on the first green buoy. Once there think about getting to the next one. So that is what I did for the whole race. The gun fired, I jumped, and then it was into the water. It was a mass of bodies. I found some water and just swam. All the swim classes went right out the window. I just kept the first green buoy in sight and fought to get there. Once there, I fought to get to the next and the next… Finally the buoys became orange and it was time to turn. I got a leg cramp and had to stop and rub my leg. Then I kept hearing this man talking and thought someone was trying to tell me I was off course so I would stop and look around. I didn’t see anyone. Then I would hear him again, stopped again, saw no one, and then started again. Turns out it was the announcer starting the other waves. Then I saw something that I thought was a leaf. No there is another one. Hey those are jellyfish. There were bunches of them and I was terrified of getting stung. I shortened my stroke trying not to touch them. Once I was past the jellyfish, I was almost to shore.
Getting out of the water I tripped. Amy assures me lots of people did. Tracy, Mary Beth and Amy were right there cheering me on.

Swim time 41:28

In T1, I got out of my wetsuit and got my bike. I was out in 3:31

As I came out of transition, my girls were right there cheering for me again.
The first part of the bike was a short out and back and as I passed the transition, my girls were there again cheering. I was on top of the world.
I used my swim advice and focused on each 5 mile marker. At mile 30 we had to do a 180. I HATE 180’s and have always tried to get to them alone. There was no way I was going to make the turn alone so I Just hoped for the best. I saw this guy in front of me unclipping both his feet and wondered what he was doing. Just after the turn he came to a complete stop. I almost ran right into him. I managed to get my foot unclipped and catch myself before falling over. It wasn’t long and he flew right by me again.
I had tried to call my friend Leslie Friday night to find out about this whole bottle drop thing but never got in touch with her. So I just watched the first couple. At the next water stop I decided to give it a try. I yelled water as I approached and a guy ran along side of me and I grabbed it. Success. I drank some and poured some over my head. So at the next drop I got Gatorade. It was so good to have something cold.
On the bike, I kept thinking about how great my friends are. They were spending the whole day running back and forth from the beach. Timing each leg and being there for me. I told myself they might not make the bike run transition. I was doing better then I had told them I would. But as I approached T2, there they were. Tracy, Mary Beth, Amy and Wendy all yelling and telling me how awesome my bike was. “Right at 3 hours, you are doing awesome, keep it up. It is hot take the run slow” They were outside the fence at transition talking to me the whole time.

Total bike 3:03:27

I got changed, took a gel and headed out, with my friends right there cheering me on.
T2 time 1:47


There was a water stop right away and I got something cold to drink.
It was HOT, but they had stops every mile and I walk through each one getting water, ice sponges, and oranges. I dropped the ice in my bra and it would make a jingling noise. I am sure people wondered what the noise was as we passed.
I had to stop 3 times during the run to get rocks out of my shoes. I tried to ignore one for too long at first and now I have a very sore foot.
At one point, I was walking and this guy walks up next to me and says “I will race you to that sign.” The sign was about 5 steps away so I jogged to it. He laughed and told me I won and he didn’t think I had it in me. I continued to press on.
In the mean time Tracy was getting worried. She knew how long a half marathon took me and I was gone too long. She set out walking. When she spotted me, she ran along beside me, in her flip flops. She kept telling me “You are almost there” I would ask “How far?” She would say “Almost” “I don’t see the chute” “Almost”. Finally I saw the chute and picked up the pace. I had a strong finish with all my girls there to cheer me on.

Total run time 2:19:07

I got my medal.
Tracy, Mary Beth, Amy, Wendy, Wendy and Sage all came running over yelling and screaming.
I gave big sweaty hugs to everyone (except Sage, she passed).
I dumped a bottle of water over my head while we talked about the race.
They told me that they had all my stuff at the beach, all I had to do was get my body down there.
We stopped by transition, but it wasn’t open until 1:00. I was allowed to get everything but my bike.
Amy and I went to the room. I mixed up a drink, showered, got on my swimsuit and spent the afternoon on the beach.When I got to the beach, I discovered that not only had they hauled all my stuff to the beach but Amy, Tracy, and Mary Beth had bought me a cool Gulf Coast Triathlon beach towel. Aren’t they great???
We went to dinner. I had planned to go out dancing but fell asleep waiting.

Official race time 6:09:18