BFAST #3...last call for alcohol...

(I look sleepy in this picture...probably depicts how bad I felt during the race!)
This past Saturday was the final race in the Beaches Fine Arts Series. I had the lead in the series by about 1:30 over second place...that was the good news. The bad news was that I was still getting over being sick, and having the worst form since the end of 2007...ouch. Also, the guy in second place overall was a good swimmer, and a very good runner (16 minute 5k guy)...holding the series lead would be touch-and-go.

Thanks to Hurricane Bertha out in the Atlantic, there were some pretty big sets of waves coming in on Saturday morning. Also, for some reason the water was much colder than normal (I've got shrinkage!)...and the swim turned out to be wetsuit legal. I had my wetsuit, but decided in the end not to wear it...the time gained during the swim could have been negated by having to wear it during the long run through the sand into transition, and then trying to peel it off in a speedy fashion.

Will "Willy the kid" Pearce, last years runaway winner of the series, decided to take part in this last race. He's an incredible swimmer (used to swim at Bolles), and runs for the University of North Florida. His only weak spot is the bike, and he's not even slow in that event...so, unless he got swept out to sea...we would most likely be racing for second.

Willy, using his wetsuit, blasted through the water in 6:35...I had an ok swim, and stumbled out in 8:00. Getting out of the water in a sprint triathlon is always a very painful transition, at least for me it is...you've been going 100%, and now you have to switch to sprinting through ankle thick sand...heart rate through the roof...hyperventilating...and then have to put on the helmet, glasses, shoes and start drilling to try and catch people. Let's just say it hurts...but, the more I think about it...the transition onto the run isn't any sort of picnic either...

(Look at this great tri-geek transition 2 form!)
Onto the bike I passed through everyone pretty easily...and was barely able to spy Willy waaaayyyy up the road...and only because I saw the lights on the lead motorcycle. I felt pretty weak, and tried to push for as much time as possible. To win the series I needed a good lead off the bike, especially since the guys in second and third place in the series are normally 2+ minutes faster than me on the run...AND I knew with how I felt, that I would be even slower this time. I wasn't really intent on catching Willy, just trying to put some time into anyone behind me.

(I love this picture...the look of shock on Willy's face is hilarious!)
I caught Willy coming into the second transition, and we exchanged pleasantries (our bikes were racked next to each other)...we quickly changed into our running shoes. I had a fast transition, but before I could get around the corner...Willy had sprinted up the road, and was gone. For some reason my right calf was cramping really bad, and my heart rate and breathing were through the roof.
I just concentrated on maintaining form, and holding off the runners behind me as long as possible. My first mile was 20 seconds slower than normal...oh boy, this is going to hurt...so I just kept moving forward. I saw Willy coming back from the turn around, and he joked with me...not sure what he said, by this point I was cross eyed! I made it to the last mile still in second place and running like a snail. With about 1/2 mile to go I was passed by two guys...but knew that by that time I had the series locked up. I was very happy to cross the finish and stop!

The good thing is that I know I couldn't have gone any faster that day...my bike was 30 seconds slower than usual, and my run was 90 seconds slower. But, I finished fourth on the day, and won the series. Willy crushed it to win by almost 3 minutes!

Here are the results.

(Collecting the hardware...thanks to Danny "Double D" Domingo deciding not to do the series...)

Well, my training for Ironman Florida is supposed to start this week...I may take a few days easy, and start the build up this coming weekend. Since I'm starting to get serious, I'll have to lose some weight...and the first thing to go is alcohol. So, I helped myself to a few cold ones on Saturday and Sunday...now I'm done...I think...

Sween