# 121 Orlando Triathlon at Baldwin Park

Today was my 9th time competing in the Orlando Triathlon at Baldwin Park.  The location is a new urban center located on the old Orlando Navy base, just east of downtown.  Located around the town center, this venue is unusual for 2 things: the weedy lake swim and the 4 lap bicycle course.  Over the years, the schedule has been modified to let the Elites start 20 minutes ahead of everyone else.  This cuts down on passing issues on the crowded. multi-lap bike ride.  I met 2 ladies,  Kim Fitzgerald & Leslie Adams, in transition before the race as Leslie had a flat tire and I helped her with it.

I had a great swim (19:54) but was surprised when Bob Weller, who I've met before, passed me on the long swim exit to transition area run.  Bob then exited transition 20 seconds ahead of me.  I caught him on the bike inside the first mile and pushed hard, averaging 20.5 for the 12 miles.  I finished my 4th lap over 3 minutes ahead of him and added a bit more through a fast transition.  While his run time was a little faster than me, I finished 1:23 ahead of him with a final time of 1:15:16 for 1st place.  After two 2nds in my first two races, I was ready for my first win of 2013, which was also my first for the 60-64 age group.  Mike Johnson finished 3rd and we all posed for a picture at the awards

Bob Weller 2nd, Jack 1st, Mike Johnson 3rd

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# 120 Cape Coral Sprint Triathlon

Whenever we travel, I try to find a race to do but usually discover the event is the week before or the week after we're there.  This year, however, the Cape Coral Sprint Triathlon was on a Saturday morning after our Friday arrival.  I arose early as it was an hour drive plus I wasn't too sure of it's location.  It was not a USA Triathlon sanctioned event so everything was more casual than usual.

I wore my new Central Florida Tri Club top which really stands out in a crowd; see the swim start pic.  The organizers did a mass start so the swim (which took me 6:30) was a bit wild.  The 12 mile bike course was 2 loops through local neighborhoods with lots of traffic control (and drafting); I averaged 21mph.  Conditions were still pleasant for the 5K run  which had a surprise twist at the end onto the beach.  My run time of 26:54 resulted in a 1:06:54 finish time, good for 2nd place out of 6. 

I was aiming at the 60-64 course record of 1:07:34 (which I beat) except that 1st Place finished in 1:02:02!  The overall trophies were cool LED blocks of Lucite which changed colors.

# 119 Florida Challenge Half-iron Triathlon

For 19 years, I have been doing triathlons out in Clermont, run by Fred Sommers.  However, I have never done any of his long races, The Florida Challenge Half-iron or the Great Floridian Full-iron Triathlons.  Two years ago, Fred moved the Florida Challenge to cool April from hot September and I signed up for today's race last Halloween (it was on sale!).  Well, today I discovered the race is as tough as it's reputation!  This would be my first triathlon in the 60-64 age group too.

I awoke at 4:00 AM to leave by 5:00 as registration opened at 6.  It poured rain all the way there and I thought, "this should be interesting".  However, by 6:30 it had stopped so transition filled very quickly.  The day dawned with an overcast and a light breeze so Lake Minneola didn't look particularly inviting.  The water temps were around 76'F so I made the decision to use my wetsuit.  As we all stood by the water for the National Anthem, the flag began to fill and stand out in the breeze.  I took off at the gun and settled down to a nice easy rhythm.  It took me 38:40 to finish the 1.2 mile swim and I stripped off the wetsuit and put on my bike clothes.  This time was faster than my 41:33 swim in the Atlantic for the Atlantic Coast Tri in October 2010.

I promised myself to take it easy the first few miles so I was warmed up when the first hills loomed up at mile 5.  Riding uphill into a stiff headwind was countered after a turn by very quiet downhill with a strong tailwind.  Thus began the day of hills and wind.  I was ready for Sugarloaf at mile 26 (having ridden the course in January; see previous post) and was very happy to climb all the way without putting a foot down.  At mile 30, my right hamstring cramped and I stopped to stretch it out.  The rest of the 56 miles were hills and wind with some blistering 35-40mph downhills.  On-course support was excellent with the odd omission of any porta-pottis.  I rolled into transition with a time of 3:39; AVS 15.3mph.  On the very flat and windless  Atlantic Coast bike, I finished with a 2:55:55; AVS 19.3mph.

I felt a bit fatigued as I began the half-marathon so I ran/walked the first mile.  My left hamstring started to get sore early and stayed sore all through the run.  I began passing and getting passed by Jamie Myers from Sarasota so we began running together until one or the other walked a bit.  The Minneola bike trail  out-and-back course worked well  and had a bit of shade.  The field was a bit thin when I finally headed into the finishing chute for a final time of 7:16:22.  The 13.1 mile run took me 2:43, for mile splits of 12:27.

I placed 2nd out of 4 in the 60-64 age group so I was pleased with the result.  The skies finally opened and it poured about an hour after the finish.  It was a good day.

Mike's First 10K!

My friend, Mike O'Leary, did his first 10K today in Winter Park.  If you recall previous posts, Mike caught the running bug when he arose early on a Saturday morning in 2008 to drive me to a 10K in Dublin, Ireland.  He's trained hard, going from 5Ks to a 5 Miler last fall to today's 10K.  A heavy downpour ended just as the race began on Park Avenue in downtown Winter Park, soaking everyone.  I wanted to surprise him but we failed to connect before the start due to the huge crowd of 2,500 runners.  I found him at Mile 5 and we ran to the finish together.  Mike finished with a great time of 1:06:09 with 10:38 mile splits.  Well done Mike!

Also racing were 2 co-workers from Ernst & Young, Kevin Casey and Paula Yeomans along with Sarah Buchanan, an ex-EY co-worker.

Long Play Ultra Run in Brookesville, FL

On Sunday I ran the first Long Play Ultra Run in Brookesville, Florida.  Based in the Withlacoochee River Wilderness Area, this is the site of the Croom 50 Mile Run in April.  Today's distance was 33 1/3 miles, as the date was 3-3-13.  The 6:30 start saw temps at 38' and overcast, pretty cold for Florida in the winter.  As long as there is no rain, I can handle the cold.  The race was a single, full loop, billed as a "fully runnable" course.  Also, there was a 5 mile and 13.1 mile race too.  About 100 runners faced the 33.3 mile challenge.

We started just as it got light and ran on asphalt trail for the first 1.5 miles.  I ran my own pace and hung back while everyone else took off.  The first surprise was running through a fire area with a few fires still burning.  Several big hills loomed up ahead which were a tough climb and then I encountered the first of 3 sinkholes.  The trail ran steeply down and up the sinkhole, which covered about 10 acres.  It was soon evident that this course was turning out a lot tougher than my runs in Wekiwa.  My speed slowed to about 12:30 miles and I walked up some of the big hills.  As I went deeper into the forest, it seemed if I wasn't climbing, I was descending; no flat areas at all.  After the water stop at 17.5, I headed toward the river, getting slightly off course for a bit.  Along the river, much of the trail had been under water and was heavily rooted, making running very hazardous so I reverted to a careful walk. See pic below; blue blaze indicates trail.

 My times here dropped to 15:00 miles and I almost tripped 4 times.  It was a pleasure to climb away from this at mile 23.5.  Two more sinkholes and many more hills awaited me including a very large hill that I skirted for awhile.  I remember thinking "Glad I'm not climbing that!".  Just ahead, however, the trail turned sharp left and I began the climb; nice view at the top!  After mile 28, it just became a painful slog to the finish.  I had hoped to finish between 6 and 7 hours but ended the race with a 7:53:55 for a 13:38 mile split.  This placed me at 33rd overall out of 45 finishers with a 4th of 5 in my Age Group.  My Garmin showed 34.75 miles (since I went off course) but the Race Director said the course turned out to be 34 miles so I didn't do much extra.  Several other people got lost a bit but one guy finished with 40 miles. 
 My Garmin also showed Calories Burned: 4,306.  But the biggest surprise was the readout for altitude; 8,414' climbed and 8,638' descended; a lot more than I'm used to.  I had no problems with nutrition, using 4 bottles of Caffe Latte flavored Hammer Perpeteum; about 350 calories each.  Also, 1 Hammer Gel shot (100 calories) every hour and a Clif soy protein bar (275 calories) at mile 20.  I also took Hammer Endurolytes and Anti-Fatigue Caps once an hour through the day.  It was 48' and still overcast at the finish; I would have enjoyed a sunny day more.

Real Florida 10K at Wekiwa Springs

This morning was the Real Florida 5K & 10K at Wekiwa Springs State Park.  This is a fund raiser for the CSO I belong to, Wekiva Wilderness Trust, so I got up early to help out before the race.  I was very surprised when I checked the temps; 68' F and quite humid due to a few passing showers.  This is February in Florida?  Over 250 pre-registered and we expected about 100 walk-ups.

I did an easy warm up 30 minutes before the race because I wanted to best my time of 58:00 in 2012.  The 10K starts at 8:30 with the 5K at 8:45.  There were 103 starters when the horn blew and I took off like a shot and was booking 7:30 minute miles during the 2 kilometers.  Dry weather had made the trails quite sandy in places and it's alway a challenge to climb a sand hill.  I felt strong throughout the race and did a final surge at the finish.  I finished 21st overall and 2nd out of 5 in my age group by 4.5 seconds to a guy from Illinois with a time of 56:32, a personal best by 1:28.  That gave me an overall mile split of 8:56.  I would have pushed harder if I'd known the win was that close.  As usual, the Garmin GPS I carried showed the course was 6.33, a little long.  Next weekend is the Long Play 33 1/3 mile Run so I feel I'm primed for that.

Fogbow on 26.2 in Wekiwa Springs

I had not intended to write anything about today's long run with Bernadette and Rick but the amazing appearance of a fogbow at the end of the first loop at mile 11 prompted this.  The temps were a warm 60' at the 5:45 start and it was quite foggy all through the park.  The sky was clear though and as the sun rose it created a fogbow of water droplets in the sky near the horse corral.  Just amazing!

The run was hard as the temps rose from 60' to 80' and sunny by the noon finish.  We ran the 26.2 miles in 5:29:09, averaging 12:42 mile splits.  Total time was 6:15 with bathroom and photo breaks.