IRONMAN 70.3 Panama

 

PANAMA CITY, PANAMA

I met up with Erik in Houston Texas. We had lunch and boarded the plane for Panama. We got a meal on the plane which I haven’t had since my flight back from Brazil in 1989. We had a choice of a Cheeseburger or a burrito. The sun was setting as we hit land in Panama. I could still see below and immediately was struck by how the difference between land and water is blurred in Panama. There are pieces of land and bodies of water scattered to the point where you do not know if you are looking at a body of water with islands or land with lakes. Then there was the jungle appearing through the mist of clouds.

 

The pool is located on the 13^th floor. There is one 25 yard pool on each side of the center beam in this picture. Also depending on the time of day and the tide there would be ocean or land out there. The restaurants are at the bottom. This hotel has Great views.

 

I boarded the shuttle from the hotel at about 4:30 a.m. We had to take our bikes down the afternoon before. I had let some air out of my tires because conventional wisdom is that they can expand and blow in the hot tropical sun. When I arrived in the morning I felt my tires. The front one was completely flat. Damn . . . I thought. Not more tire problems. At least it was a front tire. I decided to fill it anyways and see what happened. It was then I noticed I had forgotten to screw the valve down, so maybe it just slowly leaked all night and my tire was fine. I filled the tire and then went down to the stairs where we would exit the canal. I walked down the Amador Causeway alone in the dark and sat on a bench. I looked out at the Panama Canal and thought of my brother Mark and how he would have done this race with me and jumped at the chance to swim the Panama Canal. I miss him. I thought about how grateful I was to be in this place with my brother Erik. This place reminded both of us of our missions and I know that it was something we will always remember doing together already.  I knew that for many reasons I had not been able to get the training in that I would have liked. Injuries, crashes, illness and schedules had cut into my preparation. I knew that resting on my left arm in the aero bars was going to be a very painful experience during the bike. I knew long before I arrived in a Panama that I was only going to finish this race with help from above.

There is always fear that comes over you at this point. Fear of the pain that you will have to endure. Fear of the unknown challenge. Fear of failing. My thoughts turned to my brother mark and how when the doctor revealed his race course there was no pulling out. No matter how bad the pain, he would have to endure it to the very end. I prayed for a while and felt a peace come over me. It would be a hard day but I felt assured my father would be with me. I also knew that my brothers would be cheering me on. Erik here in this world and Mark from next. I was ready. I often tell myself, “Come what may.”

The swim starts on a pier north of the transition area and close to the Bridge of the Americas. Even though we got delayed about an hour I felt very relaxed. The water was much colder than I thought it would be, but perfect for hard swimming. I found excellent people to draft almost the entire swim and just felt like I had a good swim. As it turned out, I was only two minutes slower than the guy who won the race and 6 minutes faster than I had ever swam the distance before. Now there is a current that helps you, but I had a good swim on top of the current and swam a 00:24:35.

 

The Bike course goes over the Bridge of the Americas which officially connects North and South America. So technically we start from South America and then spent most of the bike ride in North America. The last part of the bike leg crosses back over the bridge and then goes right down Avenita Balboa, which is Panama City’s major coastal road. I was actually shocked by the roads that were closed for us. Panama truly rolled out the red carpet for us. No city in the States would have ever closed the roads that Panama closed for this race. The course is beautiful and diverse, complete with jungle, hills, and metropolitan city ways. It is a difficult but incredible bike course. One of the most interesting I have had the privilege to experience.

 

The biggest challenge of the bike course is the hills. Usually you have anywhere from 15 mph - 20 mph of wind from your own propulsion to help cool your body. When you are struggling up a hill in the humidity and heat of Panama it is like doing a stair master in a sauna. I was glad I spent all those hours in the garage cycling in the manufactured heat and humidity. I haven’t had the fan on in the garage in months. I don’t know that it was adequate, but it sure helped. I spent a great majority of the race in the small ring. As usual this elevation map does not do the course justice. The hills were relentless. I have got to lose weight to be effective on courses like this one. I still had ten miles to go when I felt like my body was done. I was just trying to make it through the last miles. I usually end up humbled and often praying for help on the run of a 70.3. In this race that started very early on in the bike.

 I felt so spent by the end of the bike that I was really concerned about my ability to run 13.1 miles. I decided to take it one mile at a time. My brother Erik had missed the last shuttle to the race and ended up walking for two hours through some very rough neighborhoods to get to the race site. Is there any better friend than a brother? After hours of suffering, it truly does help you to hear your brother’s voice cheering you on. I wanted to finish strong, I wanted him to be proud of me. I did not know at the time the sacrifice he had made to be there.
 

I could feel my brothers with me and with a mile to go I passed this guy and patted him of the back and said, “Can you feel it? It is the finish line pulling us forward.” I smiled and ran faster. My split times say that I ran that last half mile at a 00:06:01 minute mile pace which I don’t even think is possible. I must have been running on pure joy of finishing such a difficult race. Erik was there yelling encouragement. He managed to run across this circle and cheer me twice. I was glad he was there. Honestly that was the best part of this whole trip, was having my brother with me.

I wrote this review for Alejandro because I thought he and his team did a great job. He was even there to high five each and every athlete as they head down for the swim.

The host hotel was great. The rooms, service were excellent. I brought my brother and he couldn’t believe the rate that you secured for us. I especially liked the two negative edge pools that were perfect for real swimming every day. The breakfast buffet at the hotel was fantastic. The swim course was wonderful. Getting to swim in the Panama Canal was a dream of mine. The water temperature was perfect for hard swimming and I loved every minute of it. The bike course is difficult, but one of the most diverse and interesting courses I have had the privilege of doing. I can’t believe you were able to close Balboa. I felt like Panama really rolled out the red carpet for us athletes. No city in the United States would have ever prioritized us in such a way. Everyone was so supportive and energetic. Great job in securing those permits and establishing that course. Great bike course! I am a big guy for a triathlete and the bike course certainly left me a bit spent and I wasn’t looking forward the run, but what a great run course! Thank you so much for making sure there was plenty of ice. I never wanted for ice or water. Job well done! I really enjoyed the run course and all the support. It really helped and I was shocked to determine afterwards that it was my fastest run leg ever in a 70.3. I attribute that to the support, so thank you. What a great race. Thank you for your efforts. I will tell everyone they need to do this race. I certainly want to come back. My only complaint is that I wasn’t able to get my hands on an x-large jersey or pair tri shorts so I could advertise this great race for you.