As part of my own sprint series, I did the GFT Super Sprint this past Sat. Julie didn't join me like she did last year since she's training for Ironman Arizona so I went solo. The race is a 1/4 mi. swim, 8 mi. bike, and 2 mi. run.
I got to the race site early since there were half and full iron distance races that started at 7:30 AM. I bummed around in the dark trying to spot my friend Adam who was doing the half until it started raining a bit. I moved under a tree until is started raining even harder so I found shelter near the restrooms under an overhang.
The race started about 30-40 mins. late since we had to wait for the last swimmer from the iron distance race that started at 7:30 AM to get out of the water. We ended up starting a bit after 10:00 AM.
The water is so low in Lake Minneola that the first bouy that is about 20 yards past the swim area was probably only in head deep water and the edge of the swim area was waist deep. This meant you had about 60 guys running to within about 20 yards of the buoy and trying to start swimming and make the turn. Total chaos. Luckily, I got a bit ahead after that and had a straight shot to the final buoy and the finish.
This year, the transition from the beach was better since we went in the transition area at the end near the beach and didn't have to run on pavement but had nice, soft grass. I spent too much time in T1 and hopped on the bike.
I don't know why I don't remember how much the first few hills at the beginning and end of the course take it out of your legs, but they do. I passed a bunch of people on the bike but didn't see anyone in my age group that remembered. Only one guy passed me toward the end and he was in a higher age group so I hung on for a bit but let him go.
Since the run is so short, I tried to go all out and keep it up as long as I could. I slowed down a bit toward the last half mile but ended up at a 6:50 pace so I was happy. The run course was a bit different and definitely better than last year and bit flatter.
I ended up 2nd in my age group and had a good time at the race talking w/people doing the half and full prior to their race and with a bunch of people doing my race in the transition and swim area before the race. I didn't hang out for the awards since they didn't even have the preliminary results posted after I had packed my stuff up and put it back in my car. Hunger won out over pride :-)
My stats:
Finish time: 49:19
AG Place: 2nd out of 9
Swim Time: 5:13 (calculated off finish time since posted time was 2:35)
Swim AG Place: 2nd
T1 Time: 2:53
T1 AG Place: 6th
Bike Time: 26:08
Bike Pace: 18.4 MPH
Bike AG Place: 9th
T2 Time: 1:25
T2 AG Place: 2nd
Run Time: 13:40
Run Pace: 6:50 min./mile
Run AG Place: 2nd
