13/100's of a second... BFAST #1

This past weekend I did the first Beaches Fine Arts Series Triathlon, stop number one of three. This is a sprint triathlon and consisted of a 1/4 mile swim, 10-11 mile bike, and about a 3.25 mile run. Danny Domingo has won this so many times I've lost count. Other speedsters have also won over the years, like Will Pearce, Greg Carr, Steve Pettit, Brian Fleischmann and a host of others. I decided to give it a go this year, but knew that my legs would still be pretty burnt from the last two weekends of racing...especially Gulf Coast the week before.

This race is held using Wave starts, which means that different ages and categories are sent off at different time intervals. I started in Wave 1, which was 39 and under (yep, my last year in this wave). The water temperature was 74 degrees, so you could use a wetsuit if you wanted...but I didn't think I could get it off fast enough to make it worth while.

The horn blasted signaling the start of our Wave...I started my watch and ran for the water...BIG mistake. I SHOULD have started my watch early, and been ultra aggressive getting to the first buoy...instead I was locked in a water based wrestling match that made the Ironman swim start feel like I was alone in the lake! This reminded me of a criterium start...110% aggression trying to get to the first buoy and turn left. I was scratched, hit, and one guy even grabbed my head on the downstroke and pushed me under and back...ouch! I think I drank 1/2 a gallon of Atlantic Ocean water...would this negate my need for salt tablets...hmmm, probably not. As I fought around the first buoy, I was stuck behind a bunch of guys going slower than I wanted...but I couldn't get around since there were people behind, in front, at each side...and sometimes on top of my back...so I just kept going. The swim was fairly short, but when I got out I was a little nauseated.

We ran up the beach to the parking lot in some pretty thick sand...and then made our way to the bikes. Heading out of transition 1 I was dodging guys trying to get into their shoes...and even had to go into the other lane to avoid a possible pileup. Once on the open road I could see the lead motorcycle way up ahead...so I started reeling people in and making up time. I caught the leader about a 1/2 mile before the first turn. I had to pass some cars that were at a stop sign in my lane...that was fun. I kept going fairly hard to try and get a lead for the run. I came up on the transition area so quick I didn't have time to get my feet out of my shoes, so had to run through transition with my bike shoes on...clop, clop, clop...for some reason I always think about horses trotting on the road when I hear that sound. Anyhow, I changed into my running shoes and was misdirected...then I had to turn around and go out the correct way...more time lost.

I ran out of transition hearing the beeping sound of the timing mats...which meant riders were starting to pour into the transition area to begin chasing me down. I followed Double D's advise, and went out hard...but holding back slightly, my first mile was about 6:10-6:12. It's amazing how far the turn-around point seemed! I started the return trip and the guy in second was about 40 seconds behind me, so I started pouring it on with what I had left. Near the end I kept turning around to make sure I was not getting run down...AGAIN, and let up slightly. I crossed the line first in my Wave. One funny note, on the run I had several people yelling, "Go Lyndon"...I guess all us bald guys look alike!

At this point I was pretty happy with my effort...until the final results were posted. In the Men's division I got second...by 13/100's of a second, yes, that would look like this: 00:00:00.13 ... ouch! Steve Pettit, who is an excellent triathlete...especially at the sprints, beat me. I don't mind being beat, but come on... 13/100's of a second! Also, we were both beat by Sara McLarty, who decided to stop here on her way to the World Championships and the Olympic Trials!

Well, I've learned a lesson...and hopefully won't make the same mistake again. I'm still in the hunt for the overall series, so will try to do better next time.

Here are the full results.


My bike hangs out in transition...


Former UF swimmer...current national triathlon team member...and slayer of the BFAST's Jaxavillian males...Sara McLarty...


Me losing the race by 13/100's of a second because I raised my arm!


Collecting my award, while Sara McLarty consoles me by saying, "It's ok Sween, everybody's a winner..."

Gulf Coast Triathlon...pictures...

Everyone into the water! A couple pictures of the Pro's and an age group wave heading to the surf...


Double D after crushing the swim starts to hurt on the bike and run...



Greg "Gills" Carr has a great swim, rips the bike...and hits some trouble on the run...


Me on the swim, bike and run...ouch!

Fleischmann getting ready for Des Moines

Brian sent an email saying he's traded in a swim day for another run day. He's concentrating on a strong running leg for the last stop of the Olympic Trials at the Hy-Vee Triathlon on June 22nd.

Also, catch Fleischmann in action on May 18th when they air the Alabama Olympic Trials race.

Here's an interview with Chris Lieto...he mentions beating Fleischmann down in Miami...Brian has Lieto running scared and hoping he doesn't move up to long course triathlons after the trials :-)

Here's a link to a video of Fleischmann making a move on the bike in South Africa (select the men's race).

Gulf Coast Triathlon - Part 2

The Gulf Coast Triathlon gives out awards to the top 10 in each category, so I would squeak onto the stage. This was good, and would continue my streak of getting an award since I was 3rd back in 1985. The awards party was at Spinnaker on the beach, so it was pretty nice. They also had free beer (although in a can)...and I may have drank a few...

Danny and I drank what was free, while the girls drank bottle beer and fruity drinks. There were a LOT of people there, and it got pretty crowded for the awards. We had fun and hung out with other Jacksonville folks. Below are some pictures of me picking up my acrylic memorabilia...


Maybe Danny and Greg dropped out so I could make the podium?


Me with Sister Madonna Buder who uses her famous line, "I train religiously". If you think your too old, too tired, too out of shape to exercise or train...try taking that "wine" to Sister Buder. You may recognize her from one of the many Ironman Hawaii specials. Here's a long video about her.



Here are the results from the Gulf Coast Triathlon. Oh, and by the way...the two guys who finished in front of me in 1985 were in the race (Richard Wilson and Justin Phillpott)...and I beat them :-)

And one sad note...during the swim portion of the race Patrick Kane, a 38 year old competitor from Roswell, Georgia died. Life is pretty fragile, even in what would be thought of as a safe environment...with thousands of people around. You never know when it is your time, so make sure what your doing in the present is something you enjoy.

Gulf Coast Triathlon - Part 1

Double D taking in the view
This was a 1/2 Ironman distance race (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) held in Panama City, Florida. This race has been around for 26 years which is pretty amazing for such a "young" sport. Many of the triathlon greats have won, and participated in this race including Mark Allen, Dave Scott, Scott Molina and many more!

This was a bit of a homecoming for me since I did this race in 1985, which was the year Mark Allen won...oh brother, that was a long time ago. Myself and Richard Wilson, with whom I ran cross country, decided we should do the race. Richard was 17 and I was 15 at the time, and we swam a couple times in a pool along with a few bike rides before the "big event". Richard won our age group, a good swimmer from a local rival high school who was 17 took 2nd, and I limped past the 4th place finisher in the last mile to take 3rd. I ended up laying on the ground with heat sickness dry heaving all day long...that was fun. I must have looked pretty bad during the race, all the volunteers kept asking me my name and where I was from to see if I was still coherent.

Danny and I arrived on Friday and did a quick swim, run, and bike to make sure everything was working correctly. We stayed at the race hotel/condo complex, and it was really convenient and very nice accommodations. Jennifer and Clair arrived later that day.

The wives arrive...


Twenty three years later I never would have guessed that I would be back to the race labeled the Gulf "Roast" Triathlon due to the heat and high winds...but, there I was with Danny "Double D" Domingo and Greg "Gills" Carr getting ready to run into the Gulf of Mexico, in what turned out to be a choppy swim with some nice swells. The water temperature allowed wetsuits and the race started in age group waves...both of which were much better than the mass start non-wetsuit pummeling I received oh so long ago.

Since our age group was so large we were split into two waves based on our last names. "Carr and Domingo" were in the wave ahead of me, and mine would start 5 minutes later. The swim was a little rough, and it was a bit difficult sighting the buoy's...you would have to wait until you were on top of a swell and then look up to find the next one. It was an out and back swim, and on the way back sighting wasn't difficult if you just used the race condo as a sighting point...for some reason I swam over all kinds of people who didn't grasp this concept. I didn't push too hard on the swim so felt good running out of the water into transition 1. I ran to my bike, which was packed in like a sardine, and threw my wetsuit, goggles, and cap on the grass next to the bike rack...then put on the bike stuff and headed out onto the course. I didn't know at the time, but my swim time was 32:59 (33rd in age group, 152nd overall)...not great, but not bad for the conditions...and my transition 1 time was slow, as usual (3:38, 468th overall!)...I've gotta work on my T1!

I headed out on the course and started going through all the people...which is actually a pretty dangerous process when you start way back in wave 10! There was a tailwind on the way out, and I was doing 27-28 mph, and passing people doing 18-20 mph. I had to keep my head up at all times so I didn't crash into the back of someone! Going into the turn-around I saw Danny about 7 or so minutes up on me, and Greg was about 30 seconds behind him...Danny didn't look like he was feeling good, and normally he would have been further ahead of Greg. There were a lot less people on the way back, and it was a stiff head wind. I passed mile 50 at about 2 hours flat, so knew I was averaging 25 mph which was my target...I had also been holding myself back the whole ride to stay in my target heart rate zones, so was very happy with the speed.

Heading into transition 2 I felt pretty good, changed quickly, and then headed out onto the hot run. I ended the bike with a 2:14:58 (2nd age group, 9th overall) and left T2 5th in our age group and 17th overall. My first mile was 6:40, so I slowed it down and was doing a little over 7:00 for the next couple. At this point I felt great and had visions of a great run and good finish...oh how things can change quickly in this sport! I learned later that Danny and Greg up ahead of me were having some major issues. They had great swim and bike splits heading out onto the run in 5th and 6th overall, but were experiencing major issues on the run. Danny didn't feel that great on the bike, so slowed down quite a bit towards the end, and eventually dropped out between mile 1 and 2 on the run...he was having a bad day compacted by the flair up of his foot injury. Greg mis-judged the nutrition a bit and started throwing up sometime around mile 4...he would also DNF. I kept rolling along, and after mile 5 I started having some issues. I stopped sweating and started getting nauseous, so I had to start dumping water on myself to cool down...I hate doing this because it soaks your shoes, and also starts the blister making process. As I continued to slow down I was getting passed by everyone I passed on the run earlier. I decided just to try and stay within myself as much as possible and finish up the best I could. I started dumping ice down my shorts (thanks for the tip Shawn Burke) to help the cooling process.

I finished in 4:37:19 (10th age group, 36th overall)...and let me tell you, it hurt! Besides the blisters on the bottom of my feet, my body was pretty wrecked. I was happy to finish, but disappointed I lost between 7-10 minutes on the run split (1:44:26, 21st age group, 84th overall). In retrospect the race finished ok, just a bit outside of my expectations...and I learned a few things. One of those is that the 35-39 age group is the toughest of any group outside of the Pro category! With my time, I would have ended up third in the 40-44 age group, which I will be in next year...but only 10th in the 35-39.

(End Part 1)

Turtle Crawl...pictures

Thanks to Gray Quetti for these actions shots!

Here I am, headed out to dance with the spiny jellyfish...


Trying to make up time on Greg and Danny...


Doing my version of the "Turtle Crawl" on the run...

Fleishmann in the race action at South Africa

Here's an article Double D sent me that mentions Fleishmann doing a race in South Africa (Man that guy gets around!)...he was right in the thick of things during the swim and bike. If he emails me an update I'll post the details.

Turtle Crawl...jellyfish haul...

Greggy "I'm running like a freak" Carr, Danny "I own the bike and swim" Domingo, and Myself ("Come on guys, wait for me!") went up to Jekyll Island to do the Turtle Crawl Triathlon. It is Olympic distance, and would be a great workout...and it's a good cause.

The weather was great, but got a little hot on the run portion...but overall a great day. The swim was a time trial start, where they started two swimmers every 5 or 10 seconds...then you would sprint into the water and head for the first buoy. Your start order was based on the time you submitted as your approximate finish. I started 21st, with Danny and Greg starting up further.

Going around the first buoy something bumped into me, I thought it was just another swimmer...it turned out to be jellyfish, and they felt pretty big. I guess they weren't the kind that stung because about every other stroke I was grabbing a jellyfish, or swimming over one...it was kind of creepy. Anyhow I was glad to get out of the water. I felt pretty good during the whole thing and only 1 or 2 people passed me, and with the time trial start it was nice and spread out without swimming over anyone.

Danny had the second fastest time...some ex-swimmer from Georgia Tech beat him by a couple seconds, but Danny smoked him out of transition 1 by over a minute. Greg was about a minute behind, and I came in 3 minutes down on Danny and 2 down on Greg...although they both put another minute into me during the transition...I've gotta work on that. My T1 is always slow, and I don't attach my shoes to the bike like those guys do, so I clop-clop clop-clop down to the mount line for the bike.

Out on the bike I try to make up some time, and after the first loop I see Greg at a turn-around point, and he has 1 1/2 - 2 minutes on me...but I don't see Danny. I assume he is WAY up the road. It turns out that the volunteers weren't setup for the turn-around when Danny got there, so he went straight...adding 2+ miles to his bike!

I headed into transition 2 and didn't see any bikes, so knew I was doing ok. I knew Greg was in front of me, and heading out of T2 some guy tells me that "he's 35 seconds ahead of you". My legs weren't feeling too spunky, and I was really pounding my feet. It was starting to get hot, so I was dumping water on myself...and my shoes absorbed all the extra water...squish, squish, squish...

I saw Greg in the lead coming back from the run turn-around...and he was going FAST! He ended up running a 36:22 for the 10k. I hit the turn-around in second, but there were runners closing fast, one of them being Danny. As I was blowing up on the return, three people passed me including Danny. I was hoping to be right around/under 40 minutes, but slogged home in 42:59.

Greg won, Danny was 4th and I was 5th overall. I'm not sure what was wrong with my legs on the run, but hopefully they'll come around for the Gulf Coast triathlon next weekend. The good part is that I was happy with the bike split, and pleased that I didn't lose tons of time in the water.

Here's the results.

I'll post some pictures when I get them.

Sween