Morton Plant Meese

Just a little update for YOU, the reader - this Morton Plant Meese is quite possibly the hardest sprint Tri I've ever done. Partially because I'm so far out of shape and mostly because of the extra 40 I have around my waist. This race takes the bike up 3 gnarly bridges in the Clearwater area - you know those climbers you see on the Tour De France? Yea, I'm not looking like any of them. Well, maybe two of them.

So I made the mistake of looking at the last time I did this race. The course was identical, and I'll bet it was just as hot in '07 as it was this year.

Swim: 12:03 vs 14:02 this year. Two minutes over 600 yards is 20 seconds per hundred. Yuck.

Bike: 37:04 vs 43:42 this year. That's 20.24 mph vs. 17.15 mph. Losing 3mph is pretty huge on a 12.5 mile course.

Run: 27:46 vs 39:41 this year. Add 12 minutes to 3.1 miles - oh yea, that's like 4 min per mile! I think I just threw up in my mouth a little. I walked the first .6 mile of this course - I was really feeling sick when I got off the bike. That Steak the night before was not a great idea, as great as it tasted.

So when you look at it that way, why, there's a ton of room for improvement. Next Tri on the schedule is the Sand Key Tri - the bike is a bit shorter, but still has the bridge work. Run is in the same place. It's about 8 weeks out- so I have 2 good training cycles to improve for it.

The guys at work here are starting to really enjoy doing these races as well. I think we'll have me and 4 others from work here participating in Sand Key. Makes it fun, although I haven't been real sociable after the past two races. When you are out of shape, even these sprints smoke you good for the rest of the day.

Maybe by Sand Key I'll be able to get into my XL Sugoi shorts and top that I got to test out. I hope so... I feel kinda bad, and I see them still sitting there with the tags on, calling me - "Bigun.....Bigun.... lose weight!!!!"