Florida's Great Escape Race Report

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Florida's Great Escape
March 9, 2008
6th Overall 1:13:38
Swim: 13:20 Bike: 41:07 Run: 16:51
This last weekend I spent my last weekend in Clermont out at Lake Louisa State Park for the annual Florida's Great Escape triathlon. There is always a strong field that shows, and this year was no exception. Some of the Canadian National Team was is attendance, in addition to a few other elites from around the country.
On race morning, we were greeted by temps in the low 40's and a stiff north wind. NOT the typical early March weather. I have logged 30hrs of training in the 7 days prior to the race, but felt that I could make a good run, if things went well.
After a long warm-up, I got the start line for a the dreaded beach start. Lots of running and dolphining into the white-cap waves. I had the new Blue Seventy TST Wetsuit, which was a huge help. The flexibility in the newly designed shoulders is great. Unfortunately, me dolphining skills are not great and lost contact in the rough water. I did find my rhythm at the turn and managed to swim through the second group, which contained some good swimmers, so I was pleased.
Onto the bike, I knew I would be able to make up a bit of time, but I wasn't sure how much. With the cold temps I never was able to find my legs, despite riding my way up into third place off the bike. This was only my 3rd ride on my new Trek TTX SSL and it was great. All I can say is to go check out these bikes if you are looking for a great all around tri-bike.
Once in T2, my feet were FROZEN and I could not get my feet in my shoes....in fact, I could barely control what was going on with my feet. I finally came out onto the run in 5th or 6th and tried to push was hard as I could. I managed to run 16:51 for the 5k, which I was pleased with, considering I don't do much running over half ironman pace.
I crossed the line in 6th, but less than a minute off of 2nd. Seconds counted today.
Here is what I learned at this race:
#1 - ITU guys can run REALLY fast.
#2 - Transitions are REALLY important. Had I been able to have the speedy transitions that the first few guys did, I would have finished 3rd. Oh well, lesson learned.
Results can be found here
Photo's can be found here
+++++++++++
I am now training out in Phoenix, Arizona and am in my final preps for Ironman California 70.3 on March 29th and Ironman Arizona on April 13th.
I will post more updates, including some pics of my new ride, when I get a chance!

Comments

Zach Winchester said…
Guess who's started a blog? No, not Bob Hope...me! I've linked you on my page, so hopefully someone who wants to read something of substance will check yours out too. Be good amigo.
10:28 PM
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