Race Coverage

"I Can't Wait for What's Next"...

Friday, 12 February 2016 00:10

By Heather Lendway (heatherlendway.com)

Ironman 70.3 Pan American Championships Race Report - My Dad and I flew into Panama City Wednesday evening, arriving at the hotel late we went right to bed. Thursday and Friday I was working remotely so I parked myself at breakfast for a few hours each morning and then my hotel room desk. It was a nice distraction from the race ahead and kept me off my feet and my mind occupied.

Thursday I was trying to figure out where to swim because the roof top ‘pool’ was more like a large hot tub and you can’t swim in the ocean in Panama City. Biking was also...

going to be a challenge since my hotel wasn’t near the coast and it’s definitely not safe to ride the city streets with the cars in Panama City.  At this point my best option was going to be taking a cab with my bike to ride along the coastal walking trail. Luckily when I went to scope out the treadmills in the exercise room low and behold there was another triathlete setting up his bike on a trainer. I immediately offered him money to borrow his trainer and asked him where he was planning to swim. He had no objections to me using his trainer (free of charge) and my dad and I were able to tag along with him and his dad to the nearest pool.   Huge thanks to fellow pro Jeff Symonds (2015 Ironman Melbourne Champion) and his dad Brian for helping us out!  I was at least able to loan Jeff my disc adapter to pump up his rear tire in return for their help, but I probably still owe them!

Saturday we took a cab to the race site to drop off my bike and took the shuttle back to the host hotel for the pro meeting. There were a few changes to the course. The first being that you did not have to follow the buoys on the swim, the race officials decided they would just be used for sighting. The second being a huge change to the bike course, last minute they were no longer able to use any of the roads outside the city. They changed the two loop bike course to three loops with two out and backs, making for a very compact course. READ MORE