WAYNE'S WORDS
May 22, 2005
TOPIC: Road Trip to Gulf Coast Triathlon

I traveled to Panama City Florida with Steve Ryan, John Conners, Ryan Barr and Tim McAllister for the 23rd. Annual Gulf Coast Triathlon.
The reasons I go are to get out of town for a while, road trips are fun, I've had a shitty past few weeks at school, it's a relatively cheap vacation, and I don't have to do the Triathlon.

Thursday: Clear skies temps. 40s -70s. We're suppose to roll out of Chesterfield by 6:00, but we're walking out of Starbucks in Chesterfield at 7:00. Not much to say about driving through Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky. In Montgomery, Alabama we got stuck in a traffic jam because some escaped convict from Florida shot a cop and 30 cop cars are blocking the interstate. After a few rest stops, a little rain, and dinner at Lonestar in Alabama somewhere we're still 80 miles from our condo. We finally pull into Gulf Gate Condo's at around 11:30. It's cheap and small but it's on the beach and about a mile from the start/finish of the race. I always have to go down to the ocean and stick my feet in as soon as we get here. We unload and I get to sleep on the floor, which isn't a bad deal because I have the door open to the balcony and get that sea breeze all night long.

Friday: Clear skies, sunny, temps. 50s-80s. Got up early and went down to the beach and just stared. I really love the ocean and the beach. I always want to move here every time we come down. Had some breakfast and while the guys were cleaning their bikes I caught a few rays. They did a mini triathlon, 20 minutes at each event, I ran and swam with them. After we got cleaned up, we went to the expo. The expo is where you pickup your stuff, get a wristband and then go into a big room where vendors try to sell you all last year's tri-gear.
I was impressed with how great all the triathletes looked. Tan, fit and pretty relaxed.
I got to meet the race director, Shelly Bramblett, who also was pretty relaxed the day before a major race.
We went back to the beach, worked on my tan, took a long walk on the beach and then like every year before (triathletes, have traditions they follow, from how they pack their stuff to where they ALWAYS eat) went to Olive Garden to carbo-load. One thing I notice on these trips is how much food these guys eat. I guess when you're going to be burning 4000-5000 calories racing you can eat almost anything you want. I'm on vacation so I eat what I want but about 1/10 of the amount of what Conners eats. Head back to what we now call Gulf Gate Prison because of the bars on the balcony, probably placed there to keep the spring breakers from launching themselves off into the parking lot. Watch some bad TV and everyone goes to bed early.

Saturday: Perfect weather clear, and sunny, temps. 50s to low 80s. Race day, up at 5:00, drive the guys to the race and come home and go back to sleep. They start at 7:00, which is about the time I go down to the beach with my wetsuit and do a 40 minute swim parallel to the beach. Swimming in the ocean is probably the coolest and scariest way to swim. You always wonder what those things moving around on the bottom are.
After my swim and breakfast, I rent a moped that goes 42 miles per hour and go out and try to find the guys racing. I see Steve and Ryan at mile six on the run, and they both look good. It was fun weaving in and out of the racers. With the moped and my tri-shirt on I think most people thought I was part of the race. I caught John about a mile from the finish and road with him to the finish.
John and Steve had PRs, Ryan and Tim had great races too.
John 4:48
Ryan 5:06
Steve 5:11
Tim 5:15
At the post race tent, we met some finishers. We talked to Josh who raced on a team in a wheel chair. I told him he was an inspiration to be out there training and racing. Again I was impressed with how GOOD the triathletes looked, especially a lot of the females. I was in heaven, sitting in the shade, drinking beer, eating pizza talking to my buddies and scoping out all the tri-gals.
We went back to prison. I road around on the moped for a while and got some pictures. The guys went to the awards ceremony but I missed my ride and was too lazy to walk down to the center. People were still on the course eight hours after the start, that's dedication!
As tradition would dictate, we had dinner at Captain Andersen, with Shelly. Everyone was relaxed and enjoying the meal and the drinks, to say the least. After about two hours of drinking and eating and drinking we pay our $400+ tab. Ask me sometime about the T-bone story.

Sunday: Another perfect day clear skies, sunny, temps 50s-70s. Laid Back Day. AS with tradition we went to Waffle house. We went down to the beach and just laid around all day enjoyed the ocean and the sun and drank some beer. I did get a 30 minute swim in without a wetsuit. We went to Schooners right on the beach, had Margaritas and watched the wildlife of Panama City Beach. You see the best of America, the families and the gals that are tan and fit. You also get to see the worst of America, the overweight, out of shape, tattooed folks with little regard for personal appearance. When you try to eat in Panama City on a Sunday evening at 9:00, the only place open was Pompano's, another great meal. Again I ate about 1/10 of what these guys eat. A little bad TV again and to bed early.

Monday: Foggy, temps. 50s to 70s. Up early on the road by 6:00. Luckily there's a Starbucks in Panama City and we're on the road again. Listening to music, reading, talking, napping, and making rest stops. We make good time until we get into Tennessee where we get held up for an hour because they're blasting out the rocks by the highway.
Get back to Chesterfield by 8:00.

Tuesday: Cloudy, snowing, 30s, just kidding, It's always hard to shift gears and get back into a routine after being away for a while. It's fun not having any responsibility but it's good to get back into the routine and pattern of living. You get back and haven't had to read e-mails(900+) or pay bills for five days which is why getting away is so relaxing. Eventually you have to get back to reality and be responsible.
A lot of other stuff happened on this road trip to PC, but you don't have to know everything, you'll just have to do your own road trip to Gulf Coast someday.

Train Smart, Live Right.
Until Next Time,

Wayne
whuckshold@yahoo.com