What I Did for my Winter Vacation
Or
70.3 Ironman World Championships
Kathy and Michelle have already covered a lot of the race. So, I won’t bore you too long with race details.
I had grown a little tired of training and just wanted to be able to enjoy the event in its entirety. And I did!
The Gulf of Mexico was warm but not so warm we were uncomfortable in our wetsuits. Just a few swells out toward the half- mile mark and then all was good. I improved my swim time by two minutes. Please don’t tell me the swim was short…. I will take any improvement in the swim I can get.
I loved the bike! It was nearly all flat and fast with so many cones and volunteers and police officers there is no way anybody could get lost. I tried to thank every one of them. I improved my time by 14 minutes and pedaled an average of 21.5 mph. J
The run was hard for me. Not as much because of the heat (although it was hot) but because of a foot problem I am now determined to solve. Thank goodness for those ice cold sponges and cheering crowds. I think my pace was nine-minute miles, which is pretty slow for me-oh well. My finish time was 5hours 14minutes. An improvement of fourteen minutes.
I would highly recommend this race. Although it is a long time to train the rewards are many. First, the event volunteers, staff and the citizens of Clearwater, treat you as a celebrity. It is only the third year for the race but the people of Clearwater have completely embraced it and the athletes. Everywhere we went we were treated with admiration and friendship. Even when it was evident drivers had sat in traffic for long periods no one honked at us or showed any impatience. Secondly, is weather. The temps averaged around 78 degrees, gentle breezes, sun and warm Gulf ocean water. Third, is the scenery. Out our hotel window was night after night of beautiful sunsets, porpoises, storks, and pelicans and of course boats. Boats of fishermen, para-sailors, pirate boats, speedboats, police boats and yachts. The beautiful white sandy beaches were littered with shells and grassy dunes. And the city is wonderfully landscaped with flowering bushes, palm trees, and architecturally attractively sidewalks and walls that separated the beaches from the inland. There were showers for the beachcombers and swimmers to use every block. What’s not to like? It was such a treat for northwesterners in November. Fourth, it is the most well organized event I think I have ever attended (sorry Toby). You are treated like a pro. We had our own personal tour guides for the transition area, wet suit strippers, bike catchers and people to help us change and re-bag our items in the changing tent and a free massage after the race. Pretty cool for age grouper participants. There was a welcome dinner with a flag procession that represented all fifty-one of the participating countries. I felt like I was in the Olympics and got all choked up. On the last night after the awards ceremony they closed the race with a pretty darn good fireworks show-wow!
We had great support from Patty (via phone and email), Uncle Al (Kathy’s Uncle) and his friends Mona and Mike. And of course, we had our Sherpa (Michelle’s husband Will). He was our chauffeur, Sherpa, photographer and cheerleader. We took a picture of him holding my bike and all our transition bags! What a guy.
A fellow athlete made this statement, which sums it all up. “Chances are most of us won’t ever get to Kona. So, this is the next best thing”. I agree and hope to cheer on several of RTB’s athletes at the 70.3 Ironman World Championships at Clearwater in 2009!
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