Posted by: Becca

Ironman requires that you pick up your packet and attend a mandatory race meeting TWO days prior to the actual race. Kyle had to teach on Thursday, so that was impossible. We headed to packet pick-up as soon as we got to Panama City Beach of Friday morning - a little worried they were going to tell us 'No dice, we said mandatory pick-up yesterday. Sorry you flew all that way, but you can't race.' Instead we were greeted by ultra pleasant volunteers who happily gave Kyle his packet. Phew.

Next, it was time to pick up Kyle's bike. When we got there, his bike had a flat tire. It was the 3rd time that tire had a flat in the past week AND it was a brand new tire. We decided to put an old tire on with a new tube. Kyle did the repairs and we dropped his bike and other stuff off at transition. I spent the remainder of the day and night worrying we would show up in the morning and have a flat tire (and about cockroaches, but that's a side story). Walking around town was fairly comical. I have never seen so much spandex in my life. There were amped up athletes running, biking, and flexing everywhere you looked. And then there was Kyle...

Dropping off the bike.

Bags full of bike clothes, shoes, and helmets.

So many fancy bikes...

With the race stuff taken care of, we headed to the beach. It was absolutely beautiful! There were miles of white sand beaches and crystal clear water (and high rise hotels but you could ignore those). The weather was perfect with full sun and temps in the upper 70's.

Sunset

There are an awful lot of Waffle Shops in Panama City Beach, and it was pretty hard to find a pasta place. We looked around for a while and finally found Sweet Basil. It was loaded with people from the race.

On cockroaches - we rented a small beachside condo via the internet. It was $50 a night, so Kyle started told me we were staying at the Roach Motel. Combine that with the story a friend from Florida told me about cockroaches walking on her face while she was sleeping, and I was on high bug alert!