Ironman Florida : Official Thread

Don't know about houses but we stayed at a 3 bed 3 bath at The Shores of Panama and it worked out great.  

I loved the Shores of Panama as well, but if I had to do it again, if they keep the finish at Spinnakers, I would stay at the Summit, which is right next door.  You can't go wrong with the condos in that 1 mile stretch.

Shores of Panama all the way - Wonderful place!

360 days away, and I'm already nervous!

And it begins...our own thread!  I too started to get nervous just thinking about signing up.  I'm excited and the anticipation is going to kill me.

The Shores is nice and Laketown Wharf is pretty convenient too.  I'm hearing Boardwalk is having financial issues...but too early to say there will be changes.

Good luck everyone and I look forward to the next year!!

For this year's race, we went on www.vrbo.com and found a spectacular 3 story, 4 bedroom condo about 2.5 miles from the start/finish area (on Thomas Dr.) - and paid very little ($500 for the full weekend, Thur-Sun).  We went with another family, so splitting the cost made the weekend insanely affordable.

If you aren't hooked on the idea of staying RIGHT AT the start/finish, this is the real way to go, IMO.

Good luck to all those training for 2010!

Edited by JPS0135 2009-11-13 10:37 AM

Glad to know I'm not the only one. And I've already had Ironman dreams! What does that say about me? Nothing bad, but dreams about telling everyone I'm doing it and dreams of already being there.

Official training won't start for a while, but will keep the base up over the winter and start looking at next years races and rides (we have a lot of organized pay rides here where I can get in long rides with aid stations, etc. to help simulate race day).

Looking forward to a great year.

I got really nervous just before signing up - was also signing someone else up so felt a bit under pressure to get him in - which I did.

I then had dreams about it on the Sunday night and woke up with the swim part still in my head. Feel much better about it all now, especially knowing that I'm not alone on that front.

I'm currently training for Ironman New Zealand, which is at the beginning of March. Not ideal trying to train through winter but hopefully we don't get a bad one this year.

I think we need our own thread not keep using this one for '09...oh this is a new thread sweet!

First one I was so nervous signing up and most of the year until I had a week of training that I swam the distance, rode 100+ miles, and did a longer run that I felt good at end then I had gained confidence through training I should be able to do the IM. Training on the course helped.

Second IM I wasn't nervous no more like how  much can I improve so motivation was completely different and the fear was gone. Training was more fun as I respected the distance not feared it.

This year feel still different...trying to decide on coaching as well as decide what I want to do with some aspects of training, which other races I want to do. I'm excited for the adventure. I love Ironman training and miss the long stuff. Flat bike course excites me after doing Lake Placid and Canada plus I rode some of the course even with wind , borrowing a bike and being out of IM shape it was fast!

I already posted in my blog yesterday my goal for the race and some of my BT friends teased me like the race is a year away Kathy. I like goals...no time in it just race execution stuff.

I think training for IM is harder than racing as my good friend Socks shared with me. If you first timers can, enjoy the training and try to not be nervous as it takes away some of the joy of the journey. Race day will be what it will be and you can't control the weather, current, surf or any of those things outside of you. We are lucky we have the money, time, desire and energy to do something so amazing and fun.

It's going to be a great year and having others training for same race here on BT makes it all better!

Edited by KathyG 2009-11-13 12:52 PM

Staying closer to the start and finish is so much easier as parking can be a pain and lots of folks got their cars towed this year if you parked on the golf course near Alvins Island. I like Shores of Panama but wonder where start/finish line will be next year.

We are probably staying at Shores which allows cars in and out during the race as my husband and kids walking .4-.8 of a mile is no big deal.

Waiting for a contract for a place..my plan is to arrive Tuesday with kids and husband arriving Thursday into the new PCB terminal flying SWA bringing my bike for $50 each way and flying home Tuesday which means kids will have fun mom time after the race without stress of the race.

oh yeah well I'm staying in a 10 bedroom 15 bath IN the water at the swim start

kidding .. but I do have a contact for the private owner that I used this year if anyone wants the info for next year at the Shores of Panama. Its a 1br 1.5 ba also with a little bunk bed area. Its on the 11th floor and its awesome and very well priced. Good for a couple with or without kiddies.

shoot me a message if you want the info

2 Questions:  How far in advance is it recommended to make a reservation, if you'd like a condo near transition?  And... in the past has there been car in/out capability from the Summitt on race day?  I told my parents they could play a round of golf somewhere while I'm on the bike. 

I just booked at the Shores of Panama. 2 bedroom plus bunkbeds and kitchen for $189 a night. Pretty good deal I thin compared to what I paid this year for a suite for IM Lou.

Edited by tridawg72 2009-11-13 2:16 PM

Nice thing about Panama City Beach is the capacity is huge so you can book last minute and still find a place close by transition.  PCB is a spring break/summer vacation destination so lots of condo building that are 20 stories high along with hotels. I think Shores of Panama was booked 35% full in '08 and 80-85% full this year due to a tour agency from Hawaii booking 75 units for Ironman tour groups they do bringing Europeans to IMFL.

It's not like Lake Placid or Penticton and and maybe some other where race is in a small or smallish town with limited accommodations. For me I can drive to Lake Placid but an equal condo same distance from transition would be 3 to 4 times more expensive.

I'm booking early as the condo I like is one unit per floor and found one at a good price. Plus I just like to have things settled..just my personality.

Yea, I hear you all about being nervous signing up for the event. I was on at the first opportunity just making sure I could secure a spot, then after I signed up I was like, Oh my God, I just signed up for an Ironman. I am super excited about it though. I look forward to the training and have heard all good things about the course/event. I had a friend that did it in 08 and he did very well (9:51), so I have a lot of training ahead of me if I want to come close to that.
I'm currently training for ING Miami Marathon, so Ironman specific training hasn't really started, but i will be logging plenty of miles in all three sports starting soon.
Happy Training to everyone! Can't wait to see you there next year!

I'd call them and they have a 25% off discount so be sure you get that.

It may be that the Hawaiian travel agency booked a bunch of rooms or they aren't booking on line that far out.

Thanks for the info, Kathy, especially about the discount!  My only experience is Eagleman 70.3 and if you don't book the hotel at the same time you sign up for the race (like 10 months in advance), you're not even in the same town.  I can stop worrying now. 

Here's the list from the other IMFL '10 roll call thread...feel free to add or correct your entry. I like those who put their first name next to their BT name. If you may want to update that if you want makes it easier to get to know folks real names instead of screen names it is helpful come IM weekend. In FL we all were standing in the water going for a swim Thursday and everyone introduced themselves by first names which are hard to connect with screen names for some of us.

LG7002
Bschulte
cdhynson
bzvbtc

jccbulldog
KathyG (Kathy)
tridawg72
nats
ballyard7
VolsFan
millco
jcnipper
cwsiii
ras26
chriselam
jaro0606
mandy7741
JackieSBR
mdg2003
F1Longhorn
alicia123
Josh -I think this is real name not screen name?
Nathalie- same real name not screen name?
Doug -same here real name not screen name?
kenj
CAVU9
Lisa F
TriManGA
Thegomer
bar92
marathongirl11 (Stacie)
Mike Ervolina
Catwoman (Renee)
Socks (Sue)
gleser
JashaC
Frosty12 (John)
lhankus (lindsey)
zaichikmiller (Felix)
jldicarlo (Jennifer)
ptmegan

Please add me to the list:  First Name: Clark   Screen Name: Griz

As far as where we are staying I went with a recomendation from my friend that is doing the race with me.  He stayed at Gulf Crest.  When we were down there last weekend. He took me on a tour.  It was very nice.  It is the condo which is basically a few blocks from spinakers.  I will have a lot a family going so I think we will probably stay there.