Gear For Multisport

This weekend is exciting for Tri Clermont community.  We have our big Spring triathlon right here at Lake Minneola.  Once again Gear for Multisport is on board as the swim sponsor for the entire Sommer Sports 2009 Series. http://www.sommersports.com/
Both Kimberly & I will be racing the Olympic distance race as the Best of the U.S. spots are on the line (http://www.bestoftheustriathletes.com).  We both have a chance..but at the same time I am not holding my breathe as these two spots bring out some serious elite competition.

This time of year we also get some good trips in to Disney.  Probably once a week.  Like Kimmie said to me earlier this week..if only the Transportation Station sold lunch, we could just ride the monorail all day and G.G. would be content.

I returned to the East Pasco/Zephryhills YMCA for there Spring Fling triathlon.  Had a good swim-bike but my run was off. I was able to hold off the competition to take the OA win though.  It was a fun race & its nice to see races like this grow.  This was the third year, I had raced and I am proud to say a Grogan has won it every year (me 2 years ago & Kimberly last year).

Will focus on some brick workout to get my bike to run legs back under me.

Tampa Bay News Article..

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/community/article985107.ece 

Results…

http://www.championchiptiming.com/Home/tabid/65/Default.aspx?EventID=342

What happened this weekend.. 02/14/2009-02/15/2009

Saturday:My Valentines Triathlon, Gavin’s Kids Duathlon, Gavins Birthday Party Train ride.

Sunday:  Kimberlys Escape Triathlon, Kimberlys Birthday Celebration @ Disney. 

V.day results..http://results.active.com/pages/displayNonGru.jsp?orgID=216352&rsID=75109 

I went out to Dade City & ran the Michigan based Dances with Dirt 50k run Saturday.  It was chilly so I waited in my car for the start @ 7:30am.  I sat there fueling up, staying warm, and all of a sudden I saw a big group run past me @ 7 am.  I peaked out of the car & asked a spectator “what was that?”  He told me it was my race.  Phuck! Rookie mistake number one.  I stripped quickly and off I went.  I quickly made it thru the field by about mile 10.

I took some wrong turns & spent a lot time back tracking and even passing the same people twice.  I was pretty bitter when I hit the second to last aid station & my garmin had 31 miles showing on it & asked the volunteer how much further I had and he said 3 or 4 miles.  I would then run another four for the longest/toughest run of my life to date. Finished with 35.4 miles on my Garmin.  Ran an additional 4.4 miles. 

The course was well marked and I accept full responsibility for my wrong turns.  It is just very hard to stay focused on a 31 or 50 mile one loop trail for that long.  Also..some of the course was not true trails.  It was running in the woods from hash (tree w/ a pink ribbon) to hash.  I would run-stop-look for next hash-run-stop look for next hash etc.. 

Luckily I held on for the victory so I couldn’t beat myself up too much for all my mistakes.  Here is a picture of my Alligator award I was given; very cool.

http://www.dwdgreenswamp.com/results/50kresults09.htm

Next up…the Valentines triathlon this saturday at Lake Louisa. 

A week back, I went back to Alafia for the Florida Challenge Trail Run.  Things started out ok but I soon realized I was way out of my league running in a group of six guys way out in lactate land in the front of the race.  The first 3.5 is very technical & at the end of the section I had realized I had blown up.  I started damage control at about mile 6 and realized I needed to slow way down. My buddy Tim Johnson passed me about mile 8 & made me feel like I standing still.  Tim ended winning the Masters title & my wife Kimberly placed 3rd overall (women). 

http://www.coolrunning.com/results/09/fl/Jan25_Florid_set1.shtml

Learned a bunch about my fitness level that day.  This next weekend I have a 50k coming up on the Green Swamp Trails out in Dade City.  I am curious to how intense these trails are.  If they are anything like Alafia, I may have to rethink some strategy.  I will keep you posted.

BTW…here is Gavin on my dream toy growing up..The Green Machine.  Notice the foam block on the seat & the legos on the pedals.  

KJG    

Saturday, I went north to run a 5k put on by The Villages up in North Lake County.  At GFM (Gear for Multisport), we get a lot of Village residents that come down to visit us, so it was nice to get up there and support the event.

The race started off pretty fast with a couple of high schoolers from the school there going out pretty quick.  The pace soon settled in and I was able to find my pace.  Came thru in 17:38 which is fine for this time of year.  The temp. at race time was 29 so it was a bit chilly.  The race organizers were kind enough to give me a new DVD player for the win & a nice big ole trophy. 

My buddies on the WindermereRoadie forum have been sure giving me a hard time about hitting this race cause it was in a Senior community.  For a good laugh check this out:

http://www.windermereroadies.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5591 

January 24th - Season 52 - 5.2K run - Orlando

February 8th - 50k run - Dade City http://www.danceswithdirt.com/

February 14th - Lake Louisa Valentines Tri - Clermont http://www.usantc.com/event_list.php?&eventid=345

I raced the State of Mind Sprint Triathlon today.  I choose the shorter distance just to ease my body back into shape with some speed.  I felt like I had a solid effort and was able to take the overall title placing ahead of some Wisconsin college athletes. 

Thanks to Mel Bernstein for letting me borrow a wheel at the last minute too.

As a huge Nole fan, it was also neat to park next to former FSU punter Keith Cottrell who was also racing the sprint.    

The only good looking T2…all empty.

http://www.stateofmindsports.net/results/2009ws1/Short_Distance_Tri.html

To view Kevin’s blog directly go to..

www.KevinGrogan.com