Last weekend, I competed in a triathlon like no other. The tri was “The White Sands Triathlon,” in Panama City Beach, FL. I’ve always loved racing in Panama City Beach, with their beautiful white sand beaches and beautiful weather. This triathlon wasn’t in my original schedule, but the whole concept of the race really had me interested. White Sands Tri is a sprint distance triathlon, 600 meter ocean swim, 16 mile bike, and a 5k run. Sounds pretty normal, right? Well, the organizers of the race decided to make the race a bit more competitive. When registering, you had the option of putting $5 in the pot to start 6 minutes ahead of the guys. Now the guys who wanted to try to catch the girls, also had to put $5 in the pot to participate. Whoever came across the finishline first, male or female, won the cash. The pot was over $200 and I couldn’t wait to fight for that money! So, knowing that the swim was not my strongest, I had to really put effort into it. Taking in that saltwater and trying to avoid jellyfish, didn’t help my swim stroke. I got back to the beach and was happy that no men were in sight. Got onto my bike and started hammering it. The bike course was a 3 loop course, so you could see who was in front of you and who was behind. I was 1:30 back from the lead girl, which is no surprise, since I’m swim challenged. Still no sight of guys. Yahoo! With every lap, I was closing the gap on the lead girl, but by the 2nd lap of the bike, I see two Navy guys about 2 miles from me. Darn! They looked like they were riding strong too! The last lap of the bike, those two Navy guys caught me. I still had hope that they weren’t good runners, since that is my strength. I caught the lead girl in the last 2 miles of the bike, but my focus was on the 2 guys ahead of me. Practically flying out of T2, I ran after the Navy guys. Saw the guys at the turnaround point of the run. They still looked strong, but I wasn’t too far away and was still hoping for them to slow down. No luck! Yep, I got beat by 2 boys, but I did come in 3rd Overall and 1st Female. And even better, I actually got a small piece of the pot for coming in 3rd Overall, so that was icing on the cake for a wonderful time.
Would I do this race again? Heck, yeah! It was a lot of fun and a fantastic course.
1 comment:
That was a great race! Glad you came down!
Those Navy guys where nuts...and also drafting off of each other! But the 6 min lead swim was SO NICE! I loved the way we didn't have to run over the stragglers from the lead waves! Making it out of the swim with out bruises is always a plus!
See you at St. Anthonys!
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