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 Swim
Comments: CANCELLED!  Transition 1
 Bike
Comments: OMG the wind was ridiculous and its to damn cold for FL!!!! With everyone getting out at the same time, there were bikes everywhere. Drafting was almost impossible not to do. Anytime we went north or west the winds were stopping our progress. Once we got over the bridge and headed east the tail wind was welcomed! I did alot of passing and had alot of people pass me. Dotti and I stuck close. The first out and back was brutel. Road was way more rough than I had remembered it being. Before we got off that strech of road we saw a biker that had went down. looked pretty bad and hope that they were OK. Saw the ambulance that was coming to get the biker. Eating and drinking went well. Coming back Rt 20 dotti and I got a bit to close and we were heading into the wind and I didnt hear the motorcycle, so I got a 4 min penelty. Dotti even stopped with me while I had to wait out the 4 min. Then back on our bikes and flew south with a great tailwind!! On Front Beach Road cross winds just about blew me over. What would you do differently?: All in all for the conditions I was very happy for how well I did. in 2011 my bike was 6;24. So with the 4 min penelty and the 35 mph wind gusts and 20mph sustained winds Transition 2
Comments: Volunteers were fantastic trying to help me get all my winter clothes off for this run. Got a long sleeve shirt on and hit the road for a very long run  Run
Comments: Started the run after a quick bathroom stop. Felt really great after getting off the bike. Dotti and I came out of transition together and saw the family waiting for us. Grab a quick hug and kiss from everyone. Feels so good to have them cheer for you! Then we started on our half mile/1 min walk routine. I was feeling FANTASTIC!! I have never felt so good on a long run. Dotti started to get a bad cramp in her lower back and side. I really was trying not to run to fast so we could stay together. Once we got to the park we were loosing daylight and it stated to get chilly again. Got to special needs at the half marathon point and I had to stop and get my gloves and another shirt. Dotti was struggling and told me to go on without her. I was not going to do that since we had said we would finish this together this year. The half mile/1 min was going really great for us and I was not having any bathroom issues this year!! We did have to stop twice but i only had to pee both times. This was so much better than 2011 where I had to stop at every potty. Dotti started to feel a bit better then I started to have a small bit of trouble with my stomach. I could not stop burping! So we walked one of the 1/2 mile seg. Did the trick so we pushed. I realized that our marathon time was going to beat my time from 2011 and was elated! Running into the finishing shot was fantastic because we were together. Came across the line together! Post race
Warm down: Family met me at the line and DOtti and I got finisher pics together!! Grabbed a piece of pizza and headed home!! I felt so much better after this race than I did after my first. Event comments: Was not very impressed by this years finisher medal or tshirt. They both look like a small run medal and shirt. Volunteers were awesome! As for the swim...Well I believe that WTC made the right call. There was no that they could keep everyone safe. I was really hoping that I was gonna kill the swim and better my last IM time by 30 min. Dotti was again a phenominal training partner! Would not have done another IM if it wasnt for her pushing me. Last updated: 2014-05-27 12:00 AM
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United States
World Triathlon Corporation
41F / 5C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 1465/2681
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 39/115
Dotti Porter and I left on Tueasday morning for our drive to FL. We drove to Jacksonville on Tuesday night and had a wonderful Mexican dinner down on the water. Got up Wed morning and drove the rest of the way to Panama City Beach. We rented a very nice house close to the race site. We were about 3 miles west on Front Beach Road. Great location! Easy in and out even on race day. We had a fantastic lunch at Liza's Kitchen then headed over to get ourselves registered and visited the expo. Very surprised on the IMFL backpack that we got. Very nice swag!! Thursday we tested out the bikes on a very short ride, to make sure everything was OK. Decided that we would do a short practice swim on Fri. Finished the day with a nice dinner made by Dotti!. We then headed over for the banquet. My family arrived at 4:45 Fri morning after driving straight through all night. Didnt sleep much because I was very worried about them getting there safe. My Mom surprised me and drove down with hubby and the girls. Ashleys boyfriend Tyler also came to cheer me on! Weather was really nice so we decided to do our practice swim. Water was flat and crytal clear! All we could do is hope the water would be that friendly on Sat!! We took the whole gang with us to drop off our bikes and gear bags. Then we treated my family to the Pineapple Willey's experience. I made a nice pasta dinner for everyone and then we hit the bed early!! Big day in the morning.
Got up at 4:30 to get the big day started. Ate my tradtion 2 bags of oatmal with coffee. Weather isnt looking good at all. Winds are high and its cold as shit! Headed down to the transition area at 5:10 and half way there realized I had forgotten my Garmin watch for the run. So back to the house we went. Once we got back, got body marked and headed to the bikes. Put the water bottles on my bike and then headed into the Boardwalk Hotel to try and stay warm. Put the wetsuit on and headed to the water at 6:35. We got down to the water and thats when I saw just how ANGRY the water looked and heard that it was a double red flag. BIG SWELLS AND BAD RIP CURRENTS!!! With 2700 other people standing on the beach you could almost hear a pin drop! Dotti was scared to death and I could not allow her to see me freaking out! As we waited she was saying that there was NO WAY she could do that swim. I was getting even more nervous as the time went on. Then at 6:55, 5 min before the pro's were to start they announced that they were going to have to cancel the swim.. Both Doti and I were relieved and disappointed. I was ready to kick this IM's ass and not it would not be a full total IM. At least we would survive.
They announced that they would now start the race at 8 am and would sent everyone out in a time trial fashion. Pros going first then everyone else 2 at a time. It was still freezing cold and we headed back to the hotel to stay warm. We figured that we had at least 2 hours before we would head out. went to transition and got all the heavy clothing that I had placed in my bike gear bag. Thanks goodness I was prepared for cold!! Had my biking tights and winter weight biking jersey!! We watched the pros go out and headed to transition to wait our turn. By the time they got to our numbers they were letting 3-4 go at a time. Dotti and I had decided after the cancelled swim that we would do this race together!!