I won’t do a review of my race, rather a review of the entire IM experience.
Swim – I read the many threads about physical contact, but I was still surprised by the violence. I learned early on how to block kicks to the head, but I unfortunately did not learn how to avoid the punches/elbows. I got hit in both eyes of the goggles early in the swim, which gave me a splitting headache, which made the swim miserable. Even with that my first loop was much faster than I expected, probably because of the mass of humanity and the inability to swim off course. The second loop had much less physical contact, but it also allowed me to swim way off course. The swells on the time parallel to the beach and the trip back in were tough. Much tougher than Gulf Coast where the wind was non-existant.
Bike – A lot of threads talked about draft packs, but I just did not see it. I moved up 760 spots from the swim to the bike and I am sure I was passed by near 100 people so I saw near half the field. The wind was brutal in sections so drafting would have made a lot of sense. The worst I saw was from a top of a rise where there was a single line of 100 bikes, which weren’t all properly spaced. Drafting yes, but not roving draft packs, nor was it aggregious. After mile 50 it spread out nicely and I saw very little of this “unintentional” drafting.
Run – The run is probably the worst part of the race. It is boring, mostly through neighborhoods and there is quite a bit of poor pavement(chip seal).
Volunteers/Spectators – Excellent throughout. I did not miss a bike pass and that definitely was not due to my skill. There were enough spectators on the run to break up the drudgery. A big shout out to a group of spectators from Milwaukee wearing velvet “pimp” hats.
Other Triathletes – I met a bunch of nice people, but I also realize why I don’t hang out with triathletes. This is a group where every conversation is a competition to either get the last word or one-up the other. I have been known to be guilty of this, but I tried to keep it simple with a few conversational questions. Where are you from? How many IMs have you done? Which is your favorite? Nothing about times or past race results – basically nothing that could lead to a pi**ing contest. I did mock a few northerners for being overdressed in such warm weather. Tights and mutliple top layers when it is over 50 is just sick and that was guy from Toronto. He must wrap himself in insulation for January runs.
Panama City Beach – PCB gets a bad reputation and I don’t understand it. The locals are friendly and supportive of the race. It was described as a dining wasteland, but as a picky diner I found some good selections including very inexpensive oysters. I also ate rare blackened ahi tuna, which as an entree was comparable in taste to Bob Chin’s Crabhouse in Chicago, which is quite a testimonial if you know the restaurant. I knew I would not find fine French food, nor would I find Afghani, Nepalese, or Ethiopian, but you have to eat that which is local. For example in Miami I eat Nicaraguan, not Pakistani. Everything is inexpensive – I stayed in a hotel for 4 days for less than what it will cost me for a single night at IMLP and no 5-night minimums. The weather was perfect vs. heat at CDA, cold at IMMOO, and rain at IMLP. The course overall gets a bad reputation, but it is tough to beat an ocean swim and a bike ride with miles of ocean views. About the only thing I can say bad about PCB is the construction, which will probably be resolved in a few years.
Ironman Experience – This was my first IM so I had high expectations and I was disappointed in many aspects. I thought it would be a unique/lifestyle experience, but it did not seem much different than another over-crowded triathlon. Gulf Coast in May was run almost exactly the same, but I did not have to stand in lines nor feel cramped. I tried to listen for “Marc Linhardt you are an Ironman” as I crossed the finish line, but I missed it, which was unforunate. About the biggest positive experiences were the novelty of the mass swim start and coming back at midnight to cheer on the last finishers. Both of those memories will live on.
Overall I am looking forward to Placid, but I almost think that a lot of the IM experience is lost with over-crowded fields. When more races are added the field size of all other events should be reduced proportionally.
Btw 1:23:39/0:6:38/5:42:46/0:3:04/4:29:08 – 11:45:15
