I called my cousins in Jacksonville, FL, and asked if they were open to my visiting them and doing this triathlon Sunday morning. I suggested I arrive either Friday or Saturday, and they said Saturday would be more convenient with their schedule. So I packed up Scooter, and we headed to Jacksonville with an arrival planned for 3:30 PM. They live about 15 minutes north of Ponte Vedra, so driving to the race would be very quick and easy.
I went through Micklers Landing, thinking that packet pick-up was there because the race website had a link that said directions on the packet pick-up page. However, this set of directions did not send me to packet pickup but to the race site itself. It turned out the packet pick up was 9 miles north at a Trek shop. That wasn't a big deal because it was on the way to my cousins' house so I stopped and got my bib, stickers, and t-shirt. I had to use my own swim cap because they did not have non-latex caps. I was supposed to have a red cap but had left that one back in Winter Haven. As it turned out, I had also left a critical piece of tri gear there as well, but more on that later.
I arrived at 3:10 at my cousins' house and had a great visit with them and pizza for dinner with a salad. They have a wonderful home with a boat dock on the water, so it's always a pleasant place to visit.
The next morning I got up at 5 AM, got my coffee and some oatmeal, and after chatting with my cousins, who decided to get up with me and feeding Scooter, I headed out. I told them I should be back between 10 and 11 AM.
I arrived at the race site. There were 200-300 competitors in this race. The transition area was small, and I did a tour noting bike in and out and run in and out and walking the swim in and out. Susan Haag had posted about this race, and I might have missed it had she not made that post. I had checked out tri-find but this race hadn't come up, probably because of the filter I put on it for my search. Anyway, I was able to sign up on Friday afternoon.
I parked and started collecting my gear. Normally I leave my helmet and bike shoes in the car. But after Clermont, my bike shoes had gotten muddy and I had removed them to clean them and not replaced them in the car, and I did not realize this until I started collecting my gear from the car to head to transition. Oh Well. I knew I could ride with my tennis shoes but likely I'd be somewhat slower on the ride because of this. I shrugged, filled up my tires with air, collected everything else and headed to transition. I got my body marked and asked where the chips were. This group puts your chip on your bike spot so you collect your chip with the number on it at your marked bike slot. That was pretty nice. I set up my transition and started doing reconnaissance of the area. I hung out and saw Susan as she arrived. We took a couple of photos and she introduced me to several of her friends that she'd raced with over the years. Several of them were men over 70.
I was in the Over 60 wave with these guys, so we stood about and chatted for nearly an hour as we waited for the Olympic race (only 88 competitors) to begin. Our waves began at 7:40, and I think we didn't actually get in until 7:50 because it was a two by two entry.
The swim entry was, ahem, interesting. The waves were crashing pretty hard for about 50 feet so you had to forge through that to get to smooth water for the swim. One particular wave during my entry was about 10 feet tall and pounded me so long that I wondered if I'd get through it. DAMN! I said after that one. Then I was through and able to start my swim. I started easy, and it felt pretty good. I love swimming in salt water. It was too warm for wetsuit legal, so no one had a wetsuit. Fine by me!
I really enjoyed the swim. I passed quite a few folks. Got kicked in the face by a breaststroker...sort of pulled up short on that one, then managed to get around her and continue. I was pretty happy with my time when I got out, something like 13 minutes which I felt was reasonable with the long walk dodging waves on the entry. I had left my flip-flops at the edge of the sand again because the asphalt was rough, and this neuropathy makes my feet very tender. I was glad I had them. I got my tennis shoes on, my helmet and headed out.
The bike course is an out-and-back, 12.5 miles ride. It's on an open course with some crossovers, but it's on the A1A, so the traffic is mostly beach traffic, and early on, this is fairly light. I had one time when a pedestrian was crossing in front of me, and I hollered, and he let me pass. I was doing 22 MPH at that point, so didn't want to lose my speed. My ride was 45 minutes, not my best, but still not terrible for me. I was doing 15-16 Mph through most of the ride. There were several long slow hills on the ride, but they were nice to ride back down. There was some shade. I passed a few folks and had a few pass me. But remember, the Olympic folks went out first, so it wasn't clear who was doing what race, and passing someone wasn't terribly meaningful.
The old folks wave was last, so I figured I'd end up on the course completely alone, but it didn't work out that way. With all the Olympic competitors, the bike and run course had a lot of folks on them, so I was middle of the pack a lot.
Since I rode in my tennis shoes, my bike-to-run transition was very short. I racked my bike, grabbed my hat, race belt, and water bottle, and headed out. That was nice. I had to walk nearly the whole first mile. I was a bit frustrated by this, but with my HR at 156-188 just walking, I was unable to do anything else. Finally after mile one and some Gatorade diluted with water, my HR started to slow to the 144 range. I managed to run a bit on mile 2. Not a lot but more. By mile 3, I was running even more and did a negative split. Mile 1 was like 16 minutes. Mile 2 was 15, and mile 3 was 14. I managed a nice run up the finisher chute and got my medal. I was pretty pleased with my finish.
Waiting for the awards (I had figured out I might podium) I chatted with Crown and his wife Corey from Kenya. He was a duathlon-er who had just tried doing this race on a whim. He's interested in training for a triathlon and I offered my coaching services to him. He has my number if he wants to follow up.
The whole race was nearly 2 hours, 1:59 but even so I felt like I had accomplished a lot.
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| Medals earned April 15-May 22, 2023 |
It turned out that I was one of 2 competitors in my age group so I also picked up a 2nd place podium slot. I commented to the 1st place finisher that "we outlived them all!" and we had a good laugh.
Next race is probably the Fort De Soto triathlon in June. I think that may be all the racing I do down here this summer.
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