Bikers, retired people, and families with fat kids all come together and somehow create this tourist-trap strip of beach with high-rise hotels and buffet-style restaurants featuring giant crabs crawling over their entry way. That being said, I love Myrtle Beach! Every time I have come it has been a blast, and I fully anticipate coming back next year (although this time I will be doing the ITU cup race!)
The amateur race was on Saturday, and it was run in conjunction with USAT Halfmax National Championships. "Halfmax" is a half-Ironman by another (slightly less popular, if more amateur-friendly) name. Per USAT regulations, an amateur, Olympic-distance race run alongside an ITU cup pro-race will be a pro-qualifying race under F-criteria. Basically, top 3 amateurs are qualified for a pro license.
With that in mind, I had chosen to do the International distance, hoping to acquire a pro license, even though I had done the Halfmax last year. I was expecting some stout competition, and was not disappointed.
Last year, the swim was cancelled due to high levels of bacteria in the water. This sucked for me (being a swimmer), but this year the swim was on! The water was pretty murky (I couldn't see my hands at the bottom of my stroke!) but it was warm and I felt good, so at the horn I took off. I broke away from the main group before the first turn, but by the straightaway someone had bridged the gap and was slapping my feet. Your Turn! I literally stopped and cleared my goggles, and then drafted off of them for the rest of the swim... it is nice to have enough confidence in my bike/run now that I can do this...
... and yet I made a rookie mistake. I didn't check my entry/exit points and got a bit lost... probably added a good 20 seconds. Oh well!
On the bike I felt like a champion. I had rested my legs off of the bike for close to a week, so they felt fresh as daisies! I've gotta give a shout-out to my bike, Sara. She may be pretty, but she is a cold, calculating death machine who eats headwinds for breakfast and $#!+'s them out in fireballs as we pass the competition. We basically made sweet love for 28 miles (one lap of the halfmax course, so a little longer than an olympic) and it was effortless.
T2 went a lot more smoothly. The run was 2 laps of a 5k, and on the first lap I was all alone... but then, close to the turnaround point, I saw the leader! (James Haycraft, who had a helluva bike and was definitely looking better than I felt at this point...)
Its always funny when you see each other at the turnaround point like that... you both obviously know the position the other is in, and so its a semi-friendly stare down to size the other guy up... Today was no different, I tried to smooth my stride and pull on a poker face, but he was a good distance ahead and looked like a Kalahari bushman running down a deer, so I wasn't so sure about catching him.
Coming across the finish line, I asked my mom if I had done it, but I already knew... My legs burned, my mind was exhausted, but I was absolutely buzzing. I thought of the funny ways I could text my friends about my success and laughed out loud. I thought about how far I had come, and about David and cried a little (I hope you're proud buddy, I knew you were out there running alongside me). Then I thought about my future. While this was a great start, it was just that... a start.
Watching these guys taught me more about the work I am going to have to do in order to race with them than any person or book could have ever demonstrated. I've got a long road ahead of me, but if I've come this far I know I can go farther. Although, I do feel like the badass 8th grade quarterback who went to watch the varsity boys play right before he starts his freshman year.
Next year, I will be racing here, with these guys, on Sunday, and getting my ass kicked instead of beating up on the amateurs. Keep givin' me love and I'll keep makin' you proud! Follow the PaceRabbit!
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