# 111 Masters Championship Olympic Tri @ Moss Park

Today was my last race of the year, the 5th Annual Masters Championship Olympic Tri.  I've kept my training level up after my July injury and even ran 12.2 miles with Bernadette last Sunday.  I've won this race twice before but was unsure what to expect having done only 1 race since July.

What was not expected was a cold snap, pushing temperatures 10-15' below normal, almost January conditions.  Saturday morning was in the high 40s so the air temp of 52' at Sunday's race start combined with a 70' water temp brought out the wetsuits.  The sun was just peeking up over Lake MaryJane when we hit the water for the 2 lap swim.  The field spread out well and I exited the water at 26:55, my 2nd quickest time at Moss Park.  Transition was a bit slow as I still struggle with removing the wetsuit no matter how much Astro Glide and Suit Juice lubricant I use.  I took off on the bike and after covering the 23 mile bike course, I finished with a 1:11:23, averaging 19.1, making this one of my slowest bike time at these races (20.5 was my fastest).  I headed out on the run feeling better and pushed harder.  My mile splits for the 5.6 mile run were 8:36 giving me a run finishing time of 48:14.  My final time was 2:33:59, good enough for 1st place out of 3.  My friend Bill Floyd from Tampa won his 60-64 age group and a new friend, Chuck Callahan, from College Park won 50-54.  Chuck "ages up" next year into my age group so I better watch out.  A great finish to a great year.  Number 112 will be in 2012!