# 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.

Year's end 50 Mile Trail Run

Sunday was the long awaited 50 Mile Run in Wekiwa Springs State Park.  Rick, Bernandette, and I planned this several months ago as part of Bernadette's training program for the Iron Horse 100 in Plataka in February.  Bernadette did the Croom 50 Mile Run (Brooksville) in April and Rick did the 50 Kilometer race the same day.

Even though I have kept my run training mileage high, between 15-18 miles every Saturday, I was a bit leary of signing up for the 50 Mile race at Iron Horse.  This was a great opportunity to test my fitness for ultramarathon events.

We had planned to run on Saturday but a cold front pushed through early Saturday morning with rain and thunderstorms so Sunday looked better even with the cold.  It was 38' under a clear, full moon sky when we started our run at 6:00 AM.  Even with the headlamps, we proceeded slowly at first until the sky lightened at 7:00 AM, before a spectacular sunrise appeared.  Using the Sand Lake parking lot (with restrooms) as our starting point, I had laid out a 7 mile trail loop that featured both service road and singletrack followed by a 4 mile asphalt road loop.

We all ran steadily throughout the day with occasional walking breaks and the miles ticked away.  We'd see deer now and then and after noon the trails began to see day-hikers out for a stroll, something extremely rare.  With the temps hovering around 55', it was comfortable in the woods running or hiking.  I started hurting a bit around mile 22 but oddly enough, it never got any worse.  I passed my previous distance mark of 26.2 miles (4 Disney Marathons) and kept going with a new goal of reaching 50 kilometers (31 miles).  Upon reaching that point, I felt good and kept going as we were into the third road loop by then.  Around mile 33, I realized that I was near my limits and eased back, arriving back in the parking lot with 35.01 miles under my belt (56.33 kilometers).  As I had started at 6:00 AM, my total time was 9 hours and 14 minutes which included food and bathroom breaks.  That would have given me a mile pace of 15:49.  My Garmin GPS, which only activates when it detects me moving, showed 35 miles over a time of 7hours and 41 minutes for a mile pace of 13:10.  The 9:14 time, though, reflect more of an actual race time but rest stops would not be so leisurely.  During an actual race, breaks are grab and go.

I stayed well fed during this experiment, using four 250 calorie bottles of Hammer Perpeteum, one 330 calorie bottle of Hammer Sustained Energy, 4 Hammer Gels (90 calories each), including a Espresso near the end with 50 mg of caffeine, and a Clif Builder's Bar that contained 20 g of protein along with 230 calories.  I also took Endurolytes and Anti-Fatigue caps all day. 
Post event was my usual bottle of Hammer Recoverite and a light meal with lots of water.  The Garmin, which tracks not only speed and distance but also elevation changes, showed I burned 4,210 calories while consuming 1,920.

Rick and Bernadette continued on after I left with Rick finishing at mile 40 and Bernadette reaching her goal of 50 miles in the dark at 7:30 for a total time of 13.5 hours.  Her Garmin showed her 50 mile run time at 11 hours and 58 minutes resulting in a 14:10 mile split.  Well done Bern and  a great day for all.

The 11-28 Experiment on Sugarloaf Mountain

For several years, the hills have gotten a little higher and harder and as I want to continue riding as long as possible, I needed some help.  While my Trek 1500 road bike, the Burley tandem,  and the Softride 360 hybrid bikes all have triple chainrings, the bike I ride the most (and the farthest), the Litespeed Tachyon tri-bike, has a double.  When I built the bike, I had the foresight to swap the stock crank to a FSA compact crank.  I felt the change from 52 and 39 chainrings to the compact 50 and 34 would definitely help my climbing.  While the bike has a 10 speed cassette, I was using the original 12-25.  Shimano offers an 11-28 and I finally purchased one last month and Phil at David's World swapped it out.  Shimano also makes a 12-30 but it requires a new long-cage derailleur.

I rode several times with the new gearing and liked the wider range of gears but the real test would come out in Lake County.  I passed on doing the Great Floridian Intemediate Tri last Saturday (which was combined with the Great Floridian Ultra Tri the same day).  So today, I decided ride the 39 mile bike leg starting in Clermont.  To simulate race conditions, I ran 17.4 offroad in Wekiwa Springs with Bernadette on Saturday, then washed and waxed both cars to boot.  This meant I was not the freshest when I arose at 5:00 on Sunday morning.  Plus, Hurricane Sandy was stirring up the Atlantic Ocean about 100 miles offshore, pulling winds across the Florida penisula at 15 to 20 mph.

  Sugarloaf Mountain, at 345' above sea level, is the highest point in penisular Florida.  It climbs about 274' from the base to the top.  On a clear day, you can see the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico from the summit.  The picture above is near the top looking back down the road.

Arriving in Clermont at 6:30 AM, it was still dark and conditions were a bit fresh, with a stiff wind blowing across the swim course at Lake Minneola.  I headed out and as dawn broke I got lost for the first time at mile 6.  The bike course map I had to guide me did not have all the streets marked and I missed a turn at Cherry Lake Road.  However, I hit State Route 19 and headed north, eventually passing Cherry Lake Road.  There were plenty of hills but my real goal was to climb Sugarloaf Mountain, which is famous for it's steep grade uphill.  I reached the base at mile 23 and began the climb.  It's deceptive as it doesn't look steep from the bottom; the fooler is that it gets steeper as you climb.  I stood for a bit but quickly shifted down and began pedaling in my new super low 34 x 28 combo.  My speed dropped to 6.1 mph which I held for a while, dropping to 5.9 for a few seconds.  I kept on cranking though and made it to the top without stopping or walking which is a first for all the times I've climbed it!  I stopped to chat with a few cyclists at the water stop provided by the Fenstads  at their home at the top.  My downhill speed peaked at 39.7 mph coming off the mountain and I headed home, happy that my experiment had worked out fine.