T93 - Exercising the Ghosts of Panama City - Bike/Run Brick

Panama City Beach

Trevor, and many others, have told me it's a good idea to go and bike your Ironman course before you do it. So I took off Thursday afternoon for Panama City Beach, about 4.5 hours from home, to do the bike ride on Friday. The last time I was in Panama City, it was when I went to sign up for last year's race. And I have a lot of significant memories associated with that trip. I don't talk much about my last girlfriend here, because though about 5 people read this, it is still not the forum for that. But that trip was when we went form just fucking to more than just fucking. And nice as those memories are, that is not something I need to be concerning myself with when I'm there for the race.

So while the overwhelming primary purpose of the trip was to ride the course, I also wanted to be able to get all the nostalgia out of the way now. To look at the beach by the finish line and the Mellow Mushroom on the run course and the Origin at Seahaven and the Wal Mart and remember how it had been last year. And then get that out of my head and create some new memories. The first of which was one of the physically hardest days of my life.

Bike - 112 Miles

2 Lipodrene
3 Advil
1 Salt Tab

Note I put mileage today instead of just time. Becasue this was a set course. I drove the course the night before to get it down, marking the mileage on a piece of paper from turn to turn, then laminating and taping the directions to my aero bars, so I knew where I was going, and how far I had to go. I parked at the Boardwalk Beach resort, right at where transition would be, and headed off.

The first miles are on the beachfront, which is very pretty. I did nicely there with the bike lane and crosswind. Then I turned north and just flew. Yeah, I knew there was some tailwind, but it didn't look like much. So I was going a solid 24-25 for about 19 miles, even maintaining a speed over 30 for about half a mile on a downhill and straightaway. Yeah, that was fun. I stopped at a Shell station to buy some more water, as it was probably about 87 degrees outside, and found I had forgotten my phone and cash. Only time I've ever done that is on the most important ride I ever do. fortunately, the gas station people are very nice in the panhandle and let me fill my bottles in the bathroom for free.

Do I turned East onto Hwy 20 for a 28 miles stretch, which featured a water stop at mile 33. There were seom rolling hills from miles 38-45, which I took well. I had a crosswind, so it wasn't much of a factor, and by the time I hit the turn from 20 to Hwy. 231 South, I was averaging 20 over the first 50 miles. I was very encouraged. Then I turned south.

So that wind, it feels a lot harder when you're going the other way. I got some water at the Hardees at the 51-mile mark, knowing there was no more water for almost 40 miles. This was not fun. First, the wind started kicking my ass as I headed south, struggling to get over 18. When I finally got to the end of it, I turned onto a road that looked like packed dirt. It was not. It was almost sand. And that shit is hard to bike in. Like I almost ate it about 6 times, and could not get over 12 on the dirt. This only lasted about 3/4 of a mile, but I was not happy.I later found out I turned early, and the real course is paved. Thank fuck.

The next stretch of the ride was ok, and I headed up to the one turnaround on the course at about mile 73. At this point, I was almost out of water, and had 16 miles to go to the next water break.. I was also starting to fade. I stopped the bike at the turnaround, and just took a break. I needed the rest to get up to the next water stop.

It didn't get much better. I didn't have to fight a whole lot of wind, but I just kept going slower and slower. I'm not sure if I nuked the village on those first 50 miles, but I was going in the same gears, putting forth the same effort, and not getting over 18. At all. I was dying all the way to mile 87, where there was a Gulf Power and Electric office in the middle of nowhere, where they let me use the water fountain. Nicest power company ever.

I got to mile 92, and felt like I was about done. I stopped leaned my bike on a fence, and sat on a tree stump. This was gut check time. I had 20 miles to go and really felt like I had nothing left. But I took a gel, had a little water, and just decided to grind out this last hour and a half. Yes, at the speed I was going, that's what it was going to be.

Well, the wind got frustrating, but never more than when I hit the turn at mile 100 and the giant bridge that greets you there. That north-blowing wind is just brutal, and I struggled to get over 15 that whole stretch, It just seemed to go on forever. I hit the beach road with 7 miles to go, and that wind only let up when a condo blocked it. I have never been more grateful for Florida's rampant overdevelopment. I even biked by the Origin at Seahaven and looked up at the balcony where I had eaten breakfast naked the year before. I gave it a little smile, then went back into aero and actualyl managed to push out at about 18 for the rest of the ride.

As it was, I made it back in 6:28 of road time, averaging about 17.2 for the ride. Not stellar. Especially when you consider my water breaks and stoplights and everything else borught my total time to around 7 hours. So my goal of breaking 13 hours may not be as legit as I had though. On a course this long, I can't fight the wind too much, because I need those legs for the next 50 miles of biking and that marathon thing at the end. Energy must be conserved. I may just not be as fast as I'd hoped.

I took gels at chows 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7. Cliff Bars at 3 and 6. I didn't finish the third. I only took 2 lipodrene and 6 Advil, probably not enough. Also went thorugh 4 salt tabs. Didn't come close to cramping, even with the lack of water, so I guess that was enough.

Run - 30 minutes

I put my bike away, put on some shorts, and headed out for a brief half hour run. I did not look particualrly good, but I felt ok. I took maybe 5 minutes between the bike and the run, though I'm gonna guess my transition will be longer. My legs felt ok, different muscles I guess. And I ran back up to the Beach Road, then back down to Mellow Mushroom. I remembered seeing all those miserable people running the marathon as I ate pizza and watched the UF/UGA game last year. Again, gave it a small smile, turned around and ran back to my car. My legs started to feel the tinyest bit sore at the end, but I know that marathon is going to be ten times longer.

So all in all, an ok trip. I didn't do as well on the bike as I'd hoped, but then again it was my first ever ride of that length. I'll know it better next time and hopefully improve. There will also be more water. The run was short, not much to say there. When it was done I finished my 3 slices of leftover Mellow Mushroom, downed a Powerade and a litre of Diet 7-Up, and got in the car. I drove back and when I arrived in Gainesville, I realized if I'd kepy running, I'd have just been getting done then. That's a long day.

But I did what I set out to do. I even saw my Cosmo article for the first time at Wal Mart. The ride was so tough, that has replaced most of my associations with the city. Mellow Mushroom was my pre-ride dinner and my 2nd turnaround on the Run. Seahaven is the 5-mile to go mark on the bike. The beach by the finish line, is, well, the finish line. So as not-awesome as the bike ride was, I still feel like this trip was definitely a success.