Ironman Florida 2009

I'm back in Jackson after a long weekend in Panama City Beach, Florida, for the 2009 Ironman Florida triathlon.

Lori flew to Jackson on Tuesday of race week and we headed down to PCB on Wednesday. We picked up Justin Daerr at the Pensacola airport on the way and we were glad that he decided to stay with us at the Creswell family headquarters, as he called it. We lucked out with a great 10th floor penthouse condo with a huge balcony and great views of the gulf. We enjoyed dinner at Carrabas Grill and a shopping trip to Publix and called it a day.

On Thursday, I went for a short ride with Justin, registered for the race, and visited the expo. The family went to the pro press conference to hear Justin and the other men and women pros talk about the upcoming race. Justin and I went for a short afternoon swim in the beautiful Gulf water. The family and I went to the Welcome Dinner and hooked up with Nicholas Whipple, one of our medical students who was doing his first Ironman race. We enjoyed the videos, the music, and the pasta dinner. And we let Justin have some quiet time!

Friday was a pretty uneventful day. Went on another short ride with Justin, did a short EZ run, and then another swim with Justin. We checked in the gear and lounged. Justin's girlfriend, Brooke, arrived in the afternoon and it was great to meet the (better) half of Team JD. She turned out to be lots of fun. Lori and I made a quick trip to visit Alisha, Brandon, Charlie, Mel, and Brandon's parents at their condo at the Shores of Panama. We enjoyed the well-wishing. We had dinner back at the condo and turned in early.

The race had both good and bad. I swam well in rough water and biked steadily (if not fast). But once again, I struggled with the run. It took a rather spirited effort in the last mile to reach the finish line just shy of 14 hours. As always, it was great to arrive to the cheers of family and friends. Justin and Brooke also came back to cheer and it was great to be able to celebrate with them, too.

I think my fondest memories of my two tries at IM Florida came in the same place in 2007 and again this year.....the family and friends cheering at the 13-mile mark of the run.

I thought that training had gone well and so, at this point, I'm not sure what I could have done differently. I'll have to think hard about this before giving it another go. You can't help but be inspired at these IM races.

On Monday, we headed home, bringing Justin for his first real visit to Mississippi. I had the Mississippi Heat Triathlon Team over to my house for dinner and a talk by Justin. Justin offered up suggestions for how to approach the offseason, how to get organized for next year, and how to find and work with a coach. There were plenty of questions and answers to follow....and I think that people had a good time. We all agreed that we should do things like this more often.

It's time for some rest now.....catch up on some things that have been on back burner for a while, holidays with the family, etc. I've been thinking a lot about next year, though, and I'm thinking now about doing the Blues Half Marathon here in Jackson in January, the Hilton Head Island Half Marathon in February, making a repeat trip to the Endurance Corner training camp in Tucson in March, and racing in the N. Orleans 70.3 in April. That's a start....

One Week to Go!

One week to go 'til Ironman Florida!

I see that it's been a while since I've written anything here at the blog. Since the Great Natchez Ride, I've been busy at work, busy finishing up training, and working to get some content up at my other blog, the Athlete's Heart Blog.

I had a good time yesterday morning at the Du It For Heather Duathlon here in Ridgeland. This is the 2nd annual running of this event, albeit with a different name this year. Once again, we had clear, sunny skies and ideal cool temperatures for the race. I was on hand to cheer for George and Stephanie this year....and a handful of others that I knew who were doing the race. Both Stephanie and George had a good race....and Stephanie came from behind to win the overall women's race! Good for her. And on her new bike!

I stood for a long while with Darryl, who is also racing at Ironman Florida next weekend. We shared stories about training and thoughts about the upcoming race. Training has gone well. No significant injuries and pretty consistent efforts, I'd say. There are several people from town who are headed to Panama City Beach for the race next weekend....me, Darryl, Brandon, Mike, Toby, Jim, and Nicholas, I think. And some people to cheer as well, including Charlie, Mel, Alisha, George, Stephanie, and my family.

Lori's traveling to Jackson on Tuesday evening and we'll be driving down to PCB on Wednesday. We're stopping in Pensacola to pick up Coach Justin (and say hello to the parents who are also traveling to Pensacola), then it's on to PCB! We're staying once again at the Grandview condos....this was a great home base for the 2007 race.

After the race, Coach Justin is coming back to Jackson for a short stay. We've planned a dinner and evening of TriTalk with Justin on Monday, Nov. 9th at my place, for the Mississippi Heat tri club. I think this will lots of fun....and probably educational, too. I really appreciate Justin's willingness to do this.

That's it for now. More in the coming days from Panama City Beach!