Triathlon #193 today at Crystal River, Florida! Cool start, with 62’f and 15 mph winds at dawn. I’ve done this race before, so I was looking forward to a good time. After last week’s race in the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico was a welcome change with the water temp at 82’f.
All Males were the first wave, and the light chop and strong tidal current made it interesting. I got pushed off the swim line and worked hard to get back. OK swim time, so I pushed hard on the 15-mile bike. The twisty course was made tougher by the headwind I kept encountering during the direction changes. I knew I was in Third on the bike and wanted to catch Michael Chance before T2.
Despite my averaging 18.16 mph, I spotted Michael putting on his shoes as I racked my bike, and he got out of transition about 1.5 minutes ahead of me. I focused on him, determined to chase him down. I could see I was closing so I kept pushing and caught him with a mile to go. AT that moment, my right hamstring cramped slightly so I backed off. I caught him again about 200 yards from the finish and felt the pain again. I stayed with him but couldn’t catch him and I was 8 seconds behind at the line. I did post a faster 5k run time than him; 27:33 with 8:51 splits.
My final time of 1:32:03 was over 17 MINUTES behind the 70-74 winner, David Morrow (USA ranked #1 and 4th in the world), who was 20th Overall. Happy with Third and really enjoyed the challenge today!
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| Sunrise over the marshes |
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| David Morrow and I |
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| 70-74 Podium |
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| You get the first parking spot when you're early. |
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