BEACHES FINE ART SERIES SPRINT

Saturday was the second race for the Beaches Fine Art Series.
This is a sprint distance tri, so 1/4 mile ocean swim, 10 mile bike, and 3 mile run.
I signed up for this race as a kick off to my Ironman Fl training.

On the morning of the race as I was driving over to the start, it started to pour down rain.
I was tempted to blow it off and go home, but I figured I might as well get there first and then decide.
By the time I parked my Jeep, the rain had stopped, so there was no going home for me.
I would not have had any excuse for bailing on the race.

I set up my stuff at transition and made my way to the beach.
There were several people I knew and it was nice to chit chat before the start.
The organizers had a multi piece band set up on the beach and they played the National Anthem.
I could not help but think of the movie TITANIC where the band is playing on the deck of the ship as it is sinking. Hah!

The water was a bit choppy at the breaks, so I went head first into the waves to get out to flatter water.
I am happy to report that the swim for me is getting better. Not faster, but better.
I did not have to flip on my back at all.
For me thats improvement!

Out of the water and on to the bike. Smooth sailing on my home turf.
Back to transition and on to the run portion.
I was not sure how my butt (pirformis) muscle was going to do since it has been suffering since Boston, so I just wanted to go smooth and steady on the run. I actually enjoyed the run the most.
Although I did feel a bit rusty.

Came through the finish at 1:13:33 and I felt great with lots of gas left in my tank.
I know for the third race in this series in July, I want to throw the hammer down a bit harder and try to shave off about 3:00 minutes off my time. Maybe more ...

Here are the stats:

Courtney Spratt 38 Ponte Vedra Beach FL 1:13:33 10 11:54 2:55 5 31:37 1:34 5 25:35

finish, place, swim, trans, place, bike, trans, place, run