# 115 Moss Park July 14 Olympic Triathlon

Today was the 2nd Olympic tri of the season at Moss Park in Orlando.  Upon arriving in transition, I met 2 fellow St. Pete Maddogs, Bobbie & Glen Gullickson.  She was doing her first Olympic distance and he was doing the Aquabike. (Bobbie eventually won her age group and Glen got a 3rd OA) 

A few minutes later, I ran into my co-worker at Ernst & Young, Chris Louthan and his girlfriend Amy.  Both had done the June tri here but Amy "touched the floor' on her bike last weekend, so she was sitting this one out.  I gave her my camera and she took some great photos.

The sun in front of us rose in a crystal blue sky and we were off on the swim.  I had a great swim, taking 4+ minutes off my previous time last month.  Heading out on the bike, a surprise was waiting for us.  A large dark cloud was looming up in the east, and around mile 8, the sky opened and it poured.  It actually felt good and I negotiated the corners slowly in the wet.  I passed 1st and 2nd place on the bike and increased my lead as the race continued.  I was cheered on when a tremendous rainbow arched over the road near the end of the first lap.  The showers moved away by mile 15 and I concentrated on putting on some speed, finishing with an average of 20.2 mph.

I had a quick transition and headed out on the run course, passing a yoga-in-the-park class in session near the west boat ramp.  The shaded trails are nice in spite of the heat and I averaged 8.17 mile splits over the 5.8 mile course.  I finished 1st out of 4 with a time of 2:24:15, much better than my 2:30:23 in June.  Chris also had a great 12th overall finish, taking 1st in his age group, with a 2:07:38, nearly 9 minutes faster than his June time.  Afterwards, I headed home to my wife Sandy to celebrate our 33rd wedding anniversary.

# 114 Father's Day Olympic Triathlon

Today was the first of the summer Olympic-distance tri's out at Moss Park, just southeast of Orlando Airport.  The day promised to be perfect after a week of heavy rains.  A co-worker at Ernst & Young, Chris Louthan and his girlfriend, Amy Bailey, joined me for their first triathlon at Moss Park.  Epic Sports' more casual approach is a welcome change after the congestion at St. Anthony's.  I arrived at 6:00 AM just as the sun was beginning to show itself.  Setting up in transition was a snap and I headed down to the water to warm up.  Chris was in the first wave, I was in the second, and Amy started in the third.  Amy blew by both Chris and I on the swim with a blistering 22:06  for the 1.5 kilometers.  Next, on the 2 loop bike course, I managed to average a respectable 20.1 mph over the 40K distance.  It was starting to get warm at the run start but I was able to post a 46:39 for the 5.6 miles, translated into 8:19 mile splits.  Thanks for the shade on the run!  My final time was 2:30:23, good for 2nd out of the 5 in my Age-Group.  Chris, however, vanquished the 25-29 competitors with a 2:16:11 and Amy (Awesome Amy!) finished 3rd Female Overall with a very quick 2:12:22!  Chris informed me afterwards that "I've been chicked" is an expression used when your girlfriend beats you in a race.  A great day for all.

#113 Baldwin Park Sprint Triathlon

Today was the 8th Annual Baldwin Park Triathlon.  Held in Baldwin Park, the former U.S. Navy base near downtown Orlando, I've done this race every year since it's beginning.  This morning was clear and 70', perfect for an short urban race.  Besides the close-by location, it's known for the hydrilla (weeds)  in your face during the swim and the five lap bike course, reduced to four for 2012.  One change that was welcomed on the bike was allowing the first wave elites to almost complete their bike laps, eliminating the high speed passes that occured earlier years.  Somehow, I ended up with race number #59, which is my current age.

I saw a number of familar faces there including David and Yvette Sanborn, owners of David's World Cycle.

After my week's vacation with lots of intense training, I felt primed for this race.  I had a great swim followed by a quick transition to the bike.

  I averaged 21 mph for the bike leg and had another fast transition to the run.  I felt great coming off the bike so I pushed hard for the entire run.  I was amazed to see my mile splits were 6:56 per mile for the short 2.8 mile run.  My final time of 1:07:28 was good enough for a first place in 55-59.  I have now won this race 4 times and finished 2nd twice; I'll do this race again next year (when I turn 60).
I did meet Donna and George, some new residents to Orlando, transplanted from San Diego, the birthplace of triathlon.  Here's a photo of them with Kurt, who moved back to Orlando from California.

David Sanborn won the Corporate Challenge and I grabbed a photo of him with Z and Kim Buttar, the race directors.

While I was doing this race, Lance Armstrong won the Florida Half Ironman in Haines City, just southwest of Disney World!  His bike split for the 56 miles was 2:02 and half-marathon time was 1:15!  Very fast!

# 112 St. Anthony's Triathlon

Today was my first tri of 2012 and my 11th time at St. Anthony's since my first in 1995.  Much has changed through the years.  When I first competed in 1995, there were 1,500 triathletes; now the race is capped at 4,000.  We stayed at Dickens House Bed & Breakfast on 8th Street, just a few blocks from the Start/Finish, Expo, and the Transition Area.  Very nice place (though a bit pricey) and Ed is a great host.  We arrived on Friday afternoon to be able to go to the St. Pete Maddog's party in the evening.

We had a great time at the party and met a nice tri-couple, Jack & Tina.  Also, 18 Pro-triathletes from around the world were there, talking to everyone.  The Maddogs offer homestays to all the pros which is a great way to share your love of the sport.

Saturday morning, I went over to watch the Meek & Mighty Mini-tri at the North Shore Pool a block away.  The race consists of 10 laps of the pool, a 2 mile bike, and a 1 mile run.  Very inspiring seeing all the children competing along with a number of adults.  Some of the kids had expensive bikes; our future pro's.  In the afternoon, we went to Clearwater to eat at Columbia's on the bay and then I put my bike in transition.  Close by the Expo was the first portable wind tunnel; really cool!  You could rent time in it to improve your speed.

Sunday morning I arose at 4:45 and went down to transition to get body marked, lay out my gear, and look at the water.  While wetsuits were legal with a temp of 76.4', there was a debate by guests at Dickens House if they were really necessary.  I thought about it and half an hour before my wave start, I decided to wear mine, a decision I regretted a few minutes later.  As I was struggling pulling it on, despite liberal applications of Suit Juice, I felt a sharp pain in my lower back.  I discovered I couldn't bend over without more pain.  I could stand and walk though, so Sandy and I headed toward the beach start.  The gun went off at 7:45 and I began swimming the 1.5K/.9 mile course, surprisingly free of pain.  This is a new swim course for 2012 and the first half was great, then we turned left out into Tampa Bay.  It got quite choppy quickly but not really rough and I finished the swim in 36:51, not bad considering.  I climbed up the stairs (ow, ow, ow) and headed towards my bike. 

It hurt a lot to put on my shoes and climb on the bike but once I settled in the aero position (after the cobblestones), I was fine.  The 40K/24 mile bike course stretched out in front of me and I began a very steady effort of chasing riders down from previous waves.  The course was crowded in spots but having a target ahead always spurs me on.  I rolled into transition at 1:14:05 with an average speed of 20.1 mph; the 2nd fastest bike split in my 11 times here.  Leaving transition for the 10K/6.2 mile run, I quickly settled into an easy warm-up pace, happy there was no pain while running.  The run course is always fun, with lots of spectators and great vistas along the waterfront.  Crossing the little bridge to Snell Island always means the warm-up is over and I began concentrating at reeling people in.  I passed a lot of people and got passed a few times too.  After the turn-around, I saw a friend, Kent Richardson from the Bahamas, behind me.  Then at the mile 4 waterstop I caught up with Sister Madonna Buder (82 years young), who started several waves ahead of me.  Sandy and I had met "The Iron Nun" years before at a Maddog party and I had given Sandy her book, "The Grace to Race" for Christmas.  We chatted briefly and then I pulled ahead.  Near the finish, I saw a series of signs on the left side of the road, laid out as a poem expressing a marriage proposal (it turned out to be a song lyric).  After the race I found it is was from one Seminole County Triathlete to another; Walter Choroco proposed marriage to Tracey Stein at the finish line and she accepted.  You can watch the cool video here: http://vimeo.com/41381290

I finished the 10K run (56:28 with 9:05 mile splits) and crossed the finish line at 2:53:09, my 3rd fastest time at St. Anthony's. Sandy met me there after chasing me around all morning and a few minutes later Sister Madonna crossed the line too. Sandy got her to autograph her book and we chatted a bit before heading over to the food tent. I finished 38th out of 83 in my age group; happy my injury didn't slow me down much.

Orlando Corporate 5K

This was my 7th year as our company's team captain for the Corporate 5K and the 2012 group was awesome.  We had a record 30 people participate, almost half the office, and picked up a 2nd in Male, a 2nd in Female and a 4th in Mixed in our industry class, Accounting.  Almost 14,000 people ran, making for a very jammed race course.  The event was in downtown Orlando and was only 4 blocks from our office.  I turned in a mediocre 26:59, having started way back and spending nearly 2 miles breaking free of the crowds.  Our 2 standouts were Chris Louthan with a 19:55 and Christina Vega with a 25:06.  Several others, Brett Finley and Nicholas Lucas finished under 22:00.

Easter sunrise @ Lucky's Lake

This Easter morning was the 2nd Annual Easter Service/Swim/Pancake breakfast at Lucky's Lake. Last year 175 people showed up; this year was over 200! Perfect weather and a perfect time was had by all. I tried out the new Seminole County Triathletes kit for the swim.  I did 2 of the one kilometer crossings to start the season right. Pancakes were great too!

Real Florida 5K & 10K @ Wekiwa Springs State Park

This morning was the 25th running of the Real Florida 5K & 10K at Wekiwa Springs State Park.  This year featured the first 10K in the event.  As a member of the Wekiva Wilderness Trust, I volunteered to help at registration before the race, so I biked in at 6:30 AM.  We had a record crowd with 340 signed up; finishers totaled 105 for the 10K and 192 for the 5K.  I did the 10K, my first race since my ITB problem at the Disney Marathon seven weeks ago.  The weather was perfect, 60s, light breeze, with a bit of overcast and packed trails due to the rain earlier in the week.

We took off quickly at the gun and I hung back, doing a 10:30 mile split to warm up.  I was surprised how quickly the pack strung out and by mile 2, everyone was fairly scattered.  The course started out flat and got hillier on the return, alternating between fire roads and single track.  I really felt great and picked up the pace, dropping to 8:39 for a long time.  The last 1/2 mile got a bit tougher but I finished strong with a final time of 58:00 with 9:15 mile splits average.  This was good enough for fourth out of seven in my age group.  No injury problems at all which was partly due to my stretching and cycling warm up before the start.  I did run into Laura, my therapist from Florida Hospital, and her husband Jim.