100 Triathlons
Go to the early blogs to read how I got into triathlons. Click on any picture to enlarge it. "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood...who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly." Theodore Roosevelt 1910

Monday, June 5, 2023

# 194 PineappleMan Triathlon in Melbourne, FL

Great race today at the PineappleMan Triathlon in Melbourne, Florida. This was the 37th Anniversary of the oldest triathlon in Florida with 400+ competitors.
Sandy and I spent Saturday night there and I avoided the long drive on Sunday morning. Big full moon over the swim course at 5:30 AM.

The race begins with a .25-mile swim in the Indian River Lagoon, jumping off the dock for an in-water start, swimming around the pier’s end, and climbing stairs back up to the pier. The shoreline in the river is rock with oyster beds under the water. I really enjoyed the swim, clipping right along, and had no issues with the stairs.

Jumping on the bike for the 12-mile bike ride, I sped a mile through the neighborhoods to get to A1A, the road along the Atlantic shore. Racing along at 19.9 mph, I thought I’m really flying and then I noticed the roadside flags whipping in the wind. My average speed reached 19.1 mph at the 6-mile bike turnaround, and I encountered a stiff headwind on the northerly return. My average speed dropped to 18.5 by the time I hit transition.

Racing out for the 5k run, the cooling headwind felt great, but I knew what was coming. I never saw any of my eight competitors in 70-74 but pushed hard as I could. The run back was downwind, and it got hot quickly. The closer I got to the end, the more wilted people I passed walking. Hearing a distant rumble, we saw that Space X launched a Falcon 9 rocket, so we got to watch it climb to the heavens. I finished the run, averaging 9:35 mile splits with an overall time of 1:24:35.

I only did this race in 2014 and finished at 1:28:18, over 3 minutes slower, so I was quite happy. Kevin Simmons won 70-74 with a 1:13:43, almost 10 minutes ahead of me in 2nd place and six more men were behind us. The trophies are quite unique, a pineapple tagged with your finish place and there was a great breakfast served to all. Got to meet Al and Lois Leon from Miami, both competing in Aquabike. Really wonderful event!

Waiting

Moulton is racked and ready!


Dawn over the Porta-Potty line



Lois and AL Leon

Swim



70-74 Podium

The edible Trophy!









Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)