Great photo!

During the Great Clermont Triathlon, Robert Badalucco (BBaction Photos) got a great low-angle photo of me on the New Series with Lake Minneola in the background. He used two strobes to illuminate the riders, otherwise you'd be a silhouette against the sky. Click to enlarge the image.

# 205 Great Clermont Triathlon

Great time at the first Sommer Sports race of the year, The Great Clermont Triathlon. With my shoulder problem (plus the water was cold!), I switched to the Sprint Duathlon instead; 1 mile run, 9-mile hilly bike, and then a 3-mile run. Woke up at 3:15 AM with the time change and thought I could sleep a little more, then realized my alarm was set at 3:30. Got to the park at 5:00 with light rain and wind and prepared for the 7:45 sunrise start. Even though it was 70’f, the wind off the lake was chilling and I wore a shell for the first run. Felt warmer getting on the bike and had a great ride averaging 16.2mph with the hills/wind. 5k run was fast but still cool and I finished 10th out of 27 with a 1:18:06; at 71, I was the oldest by far. My friend Ricardo MiroFlecha was coaching some young people and got some photos of me on the bike. Sommer Sports had the Sprint races go first followed by the Olympic an hour later which really kept the course open; two transition areas worked well too.

The Moultoneer article; Winter 2024

Well, I hit the big time; made the cover of The Moultoneer with my story of the Steve Hed New Series. Here's the article; hope you enjoy it.

Real Florida 5k10k in Wekiwa Springs State Park

37th Annual Real Florida 5k10k this morning; I did the 10k and also set up the HAMMER NUTRITION table. Several friends were there as sponsors and other friends raced. Oddly enough, the 10k was very tough as my training has been off but I really enjoyed the race, ending up 2/4 in 70+ and 58/94 overall. Cool start (55'f) under the full moon but the sun warmed it quickly.

# 204 Super Bowl Duathlon in Clermont

First race of 2024, Super Bowl Duathlon in Clermont (#204). 2-mile run to start, then a 12-mile, hilly, windy bike, concluding with a 2-mile run. This low-key event (no awards) started in 2014 (by Kevin Grogan, in photo) on Super Bowl Sunday but now has grown bigger so Sommer Sports is running it. I took off at the mass start and had to force myself to slow down as I was feeling it at mile 1; 19:24 time. Jumping on the bike, it took me two miles to find my legs but gradually picked up speed and began passing people. Two loop bike course had a lot of rolling hills and the wind was really blowing on the second loop; 15.9 mph average with a 25.1 max. Second run was hotter than the first as full sun now covered the course. I picked up speed on the second mile (19:15) and crossed the line with a 1:24:18. At 71, I was the oldest competitor and finished 51st overall out of 74. Very happy with the results. Checked out Lake Louisa at the end.