2005 Gulf Coast Triathlon
May 7, 2005
By: Ben H.

The 2005 version of the Gulf Coast Triathlon (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) was my third consecutive.  For the first time ever I went to an out of town race and didn't drive the whole way over and back, a pretty big step for a control freak like me.  Kyle, Mark, Tanya, Jody and I made the trip from Lafayette to Panama City Beach in record time.  Kyle had it at 80 the whole way, and with five different bladders in the car, I was impressed that we kept the bathroom stops down to, I think, three.  The Suburban was unbelievable, holding three bikes and gear for five and still with an abundance of leg room with that third row bench seat.  I'd make the same trip again in a heartbeat.  Six plus hours of driving is tiring, but I found that same time in a smooth-riding SUV, talking, joking, and reading to be quite relaxing.

Race day dawned with the best weather I've ever seen in my four trips to race in PCB.  Low 60's, calm seas, no wind.  They kicked us out of transition at 6:00, and our wave was the 14th out of 15, and didn't go off until 7:20.   A bit of a drag, having to kill over an hour like that but we went to Smitty's room in the host hotel, where we could watch the race from the balcony and have access to bathroom facilities, etc.

At 70 degrees, the Gulf of Mexico felt a little chilly when you first got in, but with a wetsuit, not an issue.  With only 120 or so in our wave, there was no serious body contact, at least in the back where I was.  My swim felt good by my low standards, and I hit the timing mat in 45:59, about two minutes better than the year before, but still a pretty weak 109 out of 124 in my age group.  I have been trying to improve my swim, but obviously still have a helluva long way to go.  On the bright side, I was comfortable and relaxed throughout the swim and that has not always been the case.  I didn't see any jellyfish, but others did.  Post race, Smitty told me he saw a 6' shark while swimming.  Considering he is a marine biologist and pro fisherman, I think he knows a 6' shark when he sees one.

After that late start, slow swim, and longer than average transition I was one of the last 50 or so people on the course starting the bike.  I began to pass people fairly regularly.  Over the course of the bike, one relay guy, one roadie type and one regular racer went past me, though I got the roadie guy a few miles down the road.  I ended up averaging 20.3 mph for the bike, which was just okay, not great, but probably as good as I could have expected given my level of conditioning.  I have not been getting enough bike miles.  The easy way for me to tell this is that I can't stay in the aero position for the whole ride.  My ass and lower back aren't conditioned to that point yet.  They were last year, so I expect I can get back there with some more time in the saddle.  I just had to work harder than I would have liked to average 20.3.  Conditions were outstanding for a fast ride - good roads, pleasant temperatures, and just a few very slight winds from time to time.  The results show that a lot of people had strong rides.  My nutrition on the bike was two bottles of a Perpetuem/Hammer Gel combo, at about 450 calories each.  It was perfect - no stomach issues whatsoever.

I got off the bike and into transition and had a major meltdown: no socks.  Unbelievable.  I typically bike without socks (unless the ride is very long), but I put socks on for runs longer than 5k.  Without those socks with the reinforced heel, my foot moves around too much in my size 14's.  I don't know how I messed this up, but I did, and now I had to pay the price.  Obviously I would at least attempt the run, but I had visions of blisters that would keep me off my feet for weeks after the race.  So, still in a panic, I put my shoes on.  Oh, did I mention I had to take a leak for the entire bike ride?  I still have not learned how to do it on the bike, and I wasn't about to get off and go in a portalet or the woods, so I just held it.  As I laced the shoes up, my thought process went something like this:  "Don't lace up shoes to final tension - if I do, and then go into that presumably disgusting portalet over there, I'll get piss and God know what else all over the ends of the laces.  Can't have that".  So I just tied the laces in a loose knot without even pulling any of the slack out of the eyelets.  And these were brand new, virgin Kayanos, so they had plenty of slack, nothing but slack actually.  Grabbed hat and race number, saw a line for the portalet, and decided to skip it.  I'll just go on the run. So I took off. Ran the first couple in the 8:20 range, feeling pretty good, but acutely focused on my feet inside the shoes.  They were moving around way more than I was comfortable with.  It wasn't until mile 3 or so I realized: "Shit! Not only are these babies too big without socks, they are barely laced up. I forgot to tighten them up after I skipped the bathroom visit."  Plus, the urge to go was getting pretty overpowering by now.  I knew of a couple of woodsy areas where I had relieved myself in previous years, but for some reason they didn't look as inviting this time around. I really didn't want to break stride, as I have a theory that for me anyway, that first walk break destroys my running rhythm and makes it too easy to stop and walk later.  But if I keep running, I can play mental games and make myself keep going.  One of my hopes this year was to break 2:00, but more than that, to run the whole thing, no walking at all, not even the aid stations.  But I decided that once I hit the state park at mile 5.5, I would go, portalet or not.  Well, once I got to the state park, I found I was in such a good running groove, I just didn't want to stop.  I decided that maybe I could hold it until the finish.  But about three quarters of the way around the loop in the park, I couldn't hold it anymore.  I was pissed off at myself for forgetting the socks, and still preoccupied with visions of blisters all over both feet post-race.  Anyway, as I was running, I began to go, and well, I just let it continue.  Never broke stride, just kept it up until my bladder was empty or close to it.  Took a couple of minutes for sure.  This was in a fairly secluded area of the park, and there were a few but not too many other runners around so it seemed a reasonable move. In the end, I was able to run the whole 13.1 in 1:58, though I could feel my form deteriorate badly by mile 11.  I crossed the line in 5:38, a PR by 8 minutes, all of which was probably attributable to the favorable weather.  While it was nowhere near as hot as usual by the mid-May PCB standard, it was still not "cool" on the run.  Somewhere between 78 and 80 degrees with no shade, though I will admit there was an occasional refreshing breeze.  During the swim starts, I heard the announcer say a max UV index was expected for the day.  All I know is that my shoulders are a bright red a day after the race, and I typically don't burn or tan easily at all.  Run nutrition was three E-gels at 150 calories each, which I took with water, plus some Gatorade and Pepsi from the stations.

Looking at the results, it seems attendance was down 20% or so this year.  That is hard to figure, as I think this race used to sell out.  As a whole, I thought triathlon was getting more and more popular, and this is one of the best-run races I've ever done.  You've have to look really hard to find something to complain about.  All the little things are covered - every drink I got from a run aid station was cold, and had ice in it, for example.

If you're looking for a half IronMan distance race within driving range of Lafayette, with a variety of accommodations, and miles of beautiful beaches for the family to entertain themselves at, this is the race I recommend "unreservedly", as John Cleese would say.