IMFL Training ....

Lots of pictures in this one....

Friday morning I met up with Stephanie to head down to Panama City Beach to participate in an IMFL Triathlon Camp led by LifeSport Coaching. We were off to a great start when both bikes fit perfectly on the bike rack.

The trip was easy and time flew by. After we checked in I did a quick assessment to make sure I had everything I needed to ride on Saturday and run on Sunday.

We had dinner with the early crew. How could we not have fun with this group of crazies?!?

After dinner I very quickly found my way waist deep in the Gulf. Sand + Surf = My Happy Place!

Then it was time for introductions, a quick overview of what the weekend would entail, and some door prizes. My name was actually pulled and I grabbed a nice pair of paddles.

We were going wheels down at 6:20 on Saturday so it was an early to bed night. Bright and early (or at least early) we met up with everyone to get the ride going.

This is also the moment I realized my Garmin was going to be almost useless. Not this moment per se, but when I rolled up, it wouldn't load properly. It still won't.

A rare picture of Nadya in front of the camera instead of behind it.

How this ride was different than the MACC Century: It was flat. Okay, there were some rolling hills in the middle, but this course is flat! What I never mentioned in the blog about the MACC Century was my pace. Well this one: MUCH FASTER! I think we may have resolved my saddle issues. Curtis at Cannon Cyclery had me give the Cobb SHC a shot and Megan at All3Sports suggested I invest in a pair of Castelli tri shorts. MP continues to live up to his name and I haven't even purchased the saddle yet, OMG were those shorts expensive! Some chafing still to resolve, but nothing like the issues I have had in the past. I am still having trouble with my feet, specifically my toes. They go numb. Then they go to pain. Extreme intolerable pain. Huge gains this weekend: I rode straight through to mile 50. I then stopped twice in the second half: once to go to the bathroom (I don't squat nor pee on my bike) and a second time because I just couldn't tolerate the pain in my toes anymore.

Straight from the ride I went to our hotel pool.

There I discovered I had had company for my ride, I'm not really sure how long, but he was there for a bit.

After rinsing in the pool (don't judge!) I was able to relax and ended up cat napping before heading out to practice getting in and out of the Gulf for the swim. Unfortunately our time was cut short due to approaching electrical storms that were rolling in.

After the swim we gathered up for some informational sessions on nutrition, transition/special needs bags, and injury prevention.

Dinner with some friends from Texas and another early to bed as we were running at 5:45 on Sunday.

I think Stephanie and I may have been the only ones with CamelBacks and we had to answer multiple times: Yes, I ran with this before. No, it doesn't bother me. We agreed, we loved having it. We could sip on our drinks whenever we wanted and had additional nutrition with us if needed.

I bounced around on the run. I started with a few people who were running 1 mile and walking 30 seconds. Then I ran on  my own. Then to finish with company I met up with the awesome crew below doing a 2:30/30 interval. I finished 14.5 miles and most importantly, I felt GREAT and could have run more.

All done with the official part of camp, Stephanie and I headed back to the Gulf to get more swim practice in.

Everything was going great. We had gotten some solid advice from Lori yesterday. We practiced that. We were floating about, chit-chatting on our last practice run when something bumped my arm. And then it bumped me again. I looked down in the beautiful clear water to see a HUGE jellyfish! I mean huge solid gelatinous thing. I swear it looked something like this:

I turned to Stephanie, who I'm not sure had ever been that far out in the Gulf or an ocean and told her it was time to swim. It was a jellyfish. I managed not to get stung and according to Stephanie I also swam the fastest she'd ever seen! I was totally freaked out! The thing's head was easily the sized of my hand spread out.

After our last swim being a speed interval out of my sheer panic, we cleaned up and headed to breakfast. Waffle House was our preference but there was no place to park. We ended up at a diner and right after we got there Alan, Carla and Les walked in. So we all over indulged in the breakfast buffet together.

I keep saying the best part of training for IMFL has been the people I have come in contact with. This weekend I got to meet many people I had been chatting with on Facebook. I got to meet many more I will start to chat with.

I got to meet Anne and Bill:

And Ron who blogs at I'mRONMAN

I got to spend a lot of fun time with Stephanie and Nadya.

Thank you Chuck Kemeny for a great camp! I have been telling people this was a really important weekend for me. A test if you will. I think I passed with flying colors.

The next big test is HIM Augusta when I get to practice putting it all together.

Thankfully the weekend was great because right now, all my dirty clothes are soaking in soapy water because my washer decided to quick working (full of water, detergent, and dirty clothes). How lucky am I?

I'm sure there is a joke somewhere about everything I touch this weekend breaking.....

To the woman who rolled her eyes at me when she found out that not only have I never done a full before, but my first half will be HIM Augusta just 5 weeks before IMFL.... I'll see you at the finish line!

Thank you Stephanie for a great weekend!

I really didn't want to come home. I have really missed the beach. I propose an IMFL meet up in Augusta in 2 weeks. Who's in?