Saturday, September 12, was the final triathlon of the 4 race series put on by Sommer Sports. My training was slightly compromised by my taking 3 different prescription medications so I approached the race with a bit of trepidation. I'm always happy getting to Clermont early and get set up so with registration opening at 5:45, I left the house at 4:45. Sommer Sports was organized as usual and everything was effortless. I set up my bike in transition and then met my friend Kevin Casey who was also competing. The eastern sky began to brighten and we headed over to Lake Mineola for the start. There was a big crowd as usual but the start went off on time, with me being in the third wave. My swim went well, taking 10:29 before the long run to the bike. I again rode my Moulton SPEED, enjoying zipping along the lakeshore and then hitting the hills. Averaging 17.40 mph over the course, I returned to transition to start my run. At the beginning, I was following a guy who's leg/age was either 53 or 63. He was pulling ahead of me and I didn't want to blow up in the first mile, so I ran my own pace. I gathered speed after the turnaround but didn't see anyone ahead or behind that I was concerned about. However, just before the finish, Mike Pettis passed me and I surged hard down the chute, beating him by one second. My 1:16:46 was good for a 7th place out of 13 but I know if I was feeling better, I would have gotten 6th.
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| Quietly waiting |
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| Jack and Kevin |
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| Big field! |
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| Kevin at the finish! |
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| The Moulton and I. |
