Columbus weekend

Well, like Christopher Columbus, I made some discoveries by accident.

Saturday agenda-Publix duathlon

This was the final race of the series, both triathlon & duathlon. The championship race was held at Cypress gardens in Winter Haven, Fl. The day prior, I discovered that we (George & I) were heading into a severe thunderstorm, where many bolts struck to close we jumped out of instinctive fear. The light was so bright that for 1-2 seconds, I literally could not see. Fortunately, God was my co-pilot & we arrived safely. Due to conditions, the race director decided that anyone less than 20 years old would not be allowed to swim (forced to be duathletes). Therefore, instead of being 3rd overall, I had to settle for 5th. The 1st run was cut short, the opposite of the Ft. Lauderdale, the bike was competitive enough (rolling hills) but add the wind factor to it & then the closeout (5k run)! After finishing, I discovered that George did not get an award for this race (battle) because he was penalized for cutting the course due to poor signage. In fact, 10 others were DQ'd under the same pretense. However, we both did well & won in our respective divisions, in regards to the series (war). 4 star flash race (1 star removed due to lack of hot food this year).

Sunday agenda-Dunns run 5k

I discovered that after a long drive & sleeping at a friend's house (big help), I was not race ready to do this one. If that friend hadn't helped, I would have been much worse because after dropping off George late, I'd have to drive back home, then back up north in just a few hours. Plus, she surprised me with a nice meal. Part of the fatigue was having to go against high crosswinds, near category 1 force & over a bridge & a hill in the last mile versus the wind! I, unfortunately, logged in a similar bad time as last week, but much like last week, I discovered that I could still win despite that. Lucky for me,most of the heavy weights did the 5 miler, increasing my odds. I was able to win the master title thanks to Luiz Souza, a master so fast he won the race. Jon got 2nd overall but no such title was awarded. By the grace of God, the guy who beat me by 3 seconds was a submaster, allowing me to finish in 4th, despite all odds.

So, Chris discovered America & I discovered a lot about the mystery of racing!