Kinetic Sprint: short race, long race report

I feel like I have been racing for ages, with 6 running races since the beginning of March, 6 races in 10 weeks, but Sunday was my first triathlon of 2013, so I was excited and nervous. On Saturday I learned that all 7 of the members of my tri team, Ignite Endurance, who traveled down to do the Kinetic Half that day had stood on the podium (and gotten awards, just to be clear). When I have done this race before, I got an age group 3rd in 2007 and an age group 2nd in 2010, but last year I missed the podium by two spots. So a spot in the medals wasn't out of the question, but the Igniters had thrown down the gauntlet to be sure. 

Kinetic is a 1:30-2:00 drive, depending on traffic and all that, but race start wasn't until 9am, so I was driving down Mother's Day morning. Although I severely missed seeing the family on the course, we decided that subjecting the kiddos to the early departure (5:30 am) and all that driving didn't make sense when it was unlikely Dave would even get quality cheering done with both of them sure to run in opposite directions as soon as we got to the race site. I travelled alone.

If you have never gone to a triathlon with two small kids in tow, you have no idea how relaxing race day can be when you go solo. Maybe relaxing isn't the right word, but I think it is. Lonely, but relaxing. I discovered this in the past few years about flying as well.

I got to the race site in plenty of time for getting all my things in order, warming up, rearranging all my things, sending a photo back to the homestead, and getting into my wet suit. Twice. Because I didn't like how it went on the first time.

Now that I am in the "older" cohort of women, I guess I have to get used to starting in a late wave. We were 6th yesterday, behind the men 55+ and in front of only the novice racers. I don't care for starting that far back. It makes the swim and the bike uncomfortably crowded as you have a lot of passing to do. We were 4 abreast at times on the road passing and there were times I had to slow down to avoid drafting when the road was too busy for me to make a pass. I guess I have to file it under things out of my control, but I don't have to like it. On  the plus side, we didn't have to wear pink caps - that was for the wave of younger women.

Swim: 750 m/ 14:04
I had been worried about the water temperature all week, but it turned out to be beautiful to race in. High 60s, warmer than the air at the start, and my sleeveless wetsuit was the perfect choice.

I felt bold and started near the front of the wave and on the inside. Open water swimming has never made me anxious so I don't mind being in the middle of everything. Plus, I wanted to podium, so I didn't want to give up any unnecessary time to anyone. Physically I felt alright on the swim, but I got run off course a couple of times and was never able to grab onto a pair of feet ahead of me. It felt like an ordinary swim, one might say, and looking at the time confirms that feeling.

In addition, the swim itself was pretty choppy and the word at the start was that the second turn buoy was loose and being held in place with a rope by the boats. This didn't slow down the winner of my age group who swam 11:48 or the overall winner for the woman, who swam sub-10, however, so I can hardly blame it for my slowish swim. The culprit could be the fact that I am currently self-trained on the swim and probably don't do enough. That sounds more reasonable. I wish I could do a Master's program but I can't figure out a way to make it work right now, so I have to muddle along for now and hope not to lose too much time on the first leg.

T1: 2:26  (battle with my left wetsuit leg and my left shoe- boo)

Bike: 15.5 mi/ 45:18
I love bike commuting, which I do the two days a week I go into the office, but more of my training than I would like takes place during those hours. I don't ride my race bike as my commuter and the miles are not always quality ones, though I often do intervals to make them more so. However, I had a confidence-building weekend workout a few weeks ago on which I held 20 mph for 40 miles and had a solid run afterwards, so that speed was my goal for this race.

They changed the bike course for this year, cutting about 3 miles off and making it flatter, so I made a point to drive it before going to the race site in the morning (you can do that when there are only 9 miles outside the park). I made note of the hills and pavement conditions and noticed that except for the ride out of the state park, there was only one longish hill on the run back towards transition.

I wanted to take the bike course as hard as I possibly could without destroying my run but this level of effort can be hard to find, can't it? As I mentioned, the crowds on the road were big, especially heading out of T1 and up the hill out of the park. Between not having my glasses on yet, the crowds, and the fact that the race apparently decided to use washable pens for body marking, I didn't have a sense of whether any of the women I passed were in my age group or not, but looking at the results it appears I was 4th out of transition. My best guess is that I passed two of them at this point in the ride. As I went on, there seemed to be lots of women 34 and under from the previous swim wave and quite a few 40-44 out there, but not a soul in my age group. I was at a loss about whether this meant I was near the front or whether the fast swimmers were fast bikers as well and long gone, but all I could do was try to catch whoever was out there.

On the way out the stem, the leaders were on their way home already, having started 16 minutes ahead of us. I saw 2 of my teammates, Seb and Andy, zoom by and made an effort to cheer, but I am sure they heard nothing. I was glad to see them near the front of the pack. 

In the end, I guess starting in wave 6 is good if you like to pass. I passed a lot on the bike course and was passed by just one or two guys and one woman, 40-44. She was pretty serious looking, aero-helmet and all, and I made an effort to stay near her, but it was in vain. I passed her once as she fiddled with something, but after she passed me again, she was gone. Near the end of the bike I did spot one 35-39er and made the pass. Finally!

All in all, I am very happy with the bike. I kept it just above 20 mph and rode comfortably in the aero bars the whole time. I was working near my limit but not over it. And it was pretty fun.

T2: 1:05 (I know I shouldn't be complacent, but this is a really nice quick transition for me!)

Run: 3.1 mile (my watch said 3.2, but whatever)/ 23:00

Oh, the run in a sprint tri. I actually had to remind myself halfway through it, "This isn't supposed to feel good!"

The run out of T2 on this course is hard. The hill is steep and although it isn't that long, it is almost immediately after you leave transition. They route the course around so you get about 150 meters to find your legs before you start it. On the plus side, all the crowds for the race are right there and the Team Zers are amazing at cheering on one and all.

So as I headed up the hill, I felt awful. Burning burning legs. I am not sure what force was causing them to move, but with each step I wasn't sure I could make the next one. If you had asked, and I had been able to answer, I would have sworn I was running 10 minute miles. I thought briefly about the hoards of fast women behind me who were sure to pass as I struggled up the hill. You might say my head was not in a great place.

I was able to manage to pass a few people though, so that felt good, and then a woman in her late 20s, who looked like she should be fast passed me, but not going that much faster, so I determined to stay as close as I could. She pulled away steadily but slowly and keeping her in sight gave me a goal. And I was pleasantly surprised to find at the top of the hill, at the end of the first mile, that it had been a 7:44. Thank goodness for muscle memory - that's the only way that happened.

The next two miles were both even faster, though mile 2 averages out flat and 3 is downhill. They were also sufferfests. But shouldn't the 5k of a sprint be exactly that? My legs burned and I was huffing and puffing terribly, but I was still headed toward the finish line.

As we went down the final hill through the woods, .4 mile from the finish, I risked a look over my shoulder and didn't think I could see any women. I didn't want to let up, but that gave me a measure of relief. Imagine my surprise then .3 miles later, with the Finish arch in sight, when a slight figure with flouncy hair came into my peripheral vision on the left. Oh no you don't! I searched for another gear and found one, but after a little skirmish as the passer tried to go by but got caught up in the cones, I lost that race. Luckily for my placement, the offender turned out to be a teenage boy. Whoops. I would had laughed if I had had any extra breath.

In the end, the run was 7:25s (7:11s, if the course was really 3.2) and I am really pleased with that. It always seems like a success just to be able to tack a solid run onto bike where you push yourself, so that makes me happy. 

Final: 1:25:50 - 2nd age group/ 11 overall

I was really happy with this race and was happy to find some friends to chat with after. It was a gorgeous morning to sit and wait for the awards. And I even had some fun on the ride home, opening the windows on the winding country roads, listening to music of my own choosing, and singing along. Can't do that every day.

Just a quick shout out to my teammates at Ignite for inspiring me, even though I don't get out to train with the group as much as I would like. In addition, our sponsor store, Tri360 is a great local triathlon shop in the area, less than a year old and filled with great people and great gear. This shop is easily rideable AND runnable from my house - now that is what I call local. Also Skratch makes a great nutrition drink and I also depended on Gu and my prescription Rudy Project glasses in this race. I run and ride in those glasses rain and shine (and get some looks when I wear them in the rain, believe me) - so glad not to have to wear contacts! Thanks to all these companies that make triathlon even more enjoyable.

Next up: ?  I am currently registered for no races. This feels weird. I am going to try to give my husband a chance to race some. I am leaning toward an Oly in NJ in July and one of the nearby VA tris in August though. Time to start making some goals, I guess.