# 196 Jax Triathlon at Camp Blanding

Arose at 2:00 AM Saturday morning to drive 139 miles to Starke, Florida, and do my 196th triathlon at Camp Blanding Florida National Guard Training Base. Several previous competitors were racing and I'd never been here before. This race is usually in downtown Jacksonville but road construction forced the move.

The wind rose with the sun and by my 8:07 AM start in Wave 3, had hit 15 mph. Had a good swim but the bike course's rolling hills were a surprise. Headwinds, tailwinds, up and down hills produced some amazingly fast and slow speeds. I was doing 26 mph one minute and 10 mph the next. The 12 mile course was entirely on the military base. At one point we passed a huge paratrooper training area filled with multiple obstacles. Transitioning to the run brought more surprises as this course also had hills. I felt strong though and ran the 5k in 29:12 for 9:42 mile splits. My overall time was 1:29:47 for a Third place out of seven in 70-74.

Nice BBQ Chicken sandwich at the feed table and two Pavehawk helicopters overflew the transition area at the end. I did get my revenge on Michael Chance's beating me at Crystal River by 8 seconds; I was over 24 minutes ahead of him today.

Visited the Post Museum and Military Vehicle Park afterwards and really enjoyed it. Great day!

Transition sunrise

Moulton SST up front

Heading to T1

70-74 Podium

C-47 Dakota (DC-3)

M4 Sherman tank

DUKW aka "Duck"

Road to Germany marker

M-1 Garand rifles

Willy Jeep with .30 machine gun

M-60 Patton tank

CH-47 Chinook

# 195 Clermont Sprint Triathlon in June

Back to Clermont, Florida for the first race in the Sprint Series. Today was my 195th triathlon and my 3rd was here in 1994; photo with Irongent Jim Ward from that race.

Had a solid swim, great bike (max speed was 38 mph on the big downhill), and a quick run. Couldn’t catch Randall in third though so I finished fourth with a 1:19:12. Kevin Simmons, who I finished second to last week, ended up second today with 1:10:59. Kevin Wagner, who is 66, was the OVERALL winner with a 54:54:82; very fast!

My friends Bill Black won Clydesdale and Kelly Burwash Collins won 55-50 Female.

Fellow Hammer athlete Gabrielle Suver was racing in the International distance too. Carrie and David Robinson competed also along with Enrique Mercado. Rob Marens was the Chip man and the bike lead on the run. Well organized race with some tasty wraps at the feed table after the finish; well done Sommer Sports!

June 1994, with Jim Ward

with Kelly Burwash Collins

Me and Bill Black

Very petite Gabby Suver - Hammer Pro Triathlete

Rob Marens

David and Carrie

# 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!

# 193 Crystal River Triathlon #1

 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!

Sunrise over the marshes

David Morrow and I

70-74 Podium

You get the first parking spot when you're early.

# 192 Vero Beach Triathon

I arose at 2:00 AM Sunday morning and drove 2+ hours to the Vero Beach Triathlon, on the Atlantic Coast. Sprint Triathlon with a longer swim; .46 mile. I’ve never done this race before so for my 192nd triathlon, this looked like a good challenge. Only knew a few people there which made it great to make new friends.

Ocean looked nice before sunrise, but a big swell developed by race start. The swim was a bit tough, and the rise and fall made sighting the buoys difficult. Bike ride down Route A1A along the water was fun as I pushed hard, passed a lot of people, and averaged 18.9 mph over the 12+ miles. The 5k run was hot and humid and I definitely need more heat training; time of 31:21 with 10:07 splits.

Final time was 1:38:08 for a fourth place out of seven in 70-74. Long time friend Matt Mahoney passed me at Mile 1 on the run to win 65-69. On to the next race!