Today I discovered the new way to win a triathlon; smash the 2 small toes on your right foot the evening before the race.
The previous week we spent in heaven on Captiva Island, Florida, at our timeshare condo on the Gulf beach. I used the "rest" week to kick up my training and posted 3 long bike rides and 3 long runs. We had a garage sale on Saturday so by Sunday I was well acclimated to the 90' heat too. Saturday evening however, rushing through the garage barefoot, I "found" the 4''x4" we use as a car curbstop with my right foot. After several well chosen words, I limped off to dinner. Tylenol and ice eased the pain/swelling so off I went to the race early Sunday morning. (Nice color purple though!)
Baldwin Park is an upscale "new urban" community created with the closing of the Orlando Navy Base several years ago. The entire race is conducted inside the community with the swim in Lake Baldwin (site of the Navy's Sonar Research Lab), an unusual 5 lap bike course of 13.4 miles total, followed by a 4.5K around Lake Baldwin. All my spring swim training paid off with a great swim, getting me a 2nd in the swim (I'm usually last). I had one of my fastest bike rides ever, averaging 22.1 mph on the flat course. The 5 laps result in lots of passing and yelling "on your left!". The run around Lake Baldwin was fabulous as I warmed up within the first 500 meters and then really took off. I "felt" my foot the whole race but it never bothered me and I picked up a 29 year old guy with 1 mile to go who stayed with me to the finish. My final time was 1:15:09, good for 1st out of the 5 guys in my age group.
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