Kinetic Half (70.3
miles)
11 May 2013
Wake Up Race Report
(Larry Bowers)
4 hr 59 min 50 sec, 2nd
AG, 66th OA
http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=event_detail&eventID=2307
http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=event_detail&eventID=2307
It was a dark and stormy night. Wait, that was the lead line for the Shamrock
Marathon race report except that one also included the term “cold” in it. Well, it was a dark and stormy night before
the Kinetic Half. The lightening lit up
the skies and the rain ponded the tin roof of the bed and breakfast that my
wife and I were staying in at Mineral, Virginia, just a mere 7 miles from where
the Kinetic Half would start. As
expected, I did not sleep worth a flip that night but managed to toss and turn
and develop a nice head ache by time the 445AM alarm went off. I departed for the race while my wife slept
in. The bike course would go right by
the bed and breakfast so she would have a front seat view starting at 0835 when
the hot dogs would come blasting by at about mile 22. I told her to expect me by 0850 to 0905. I surprised her by coming by at 0847 or so …
it was all uphill then, to mile 32 or so.
So why a “wake up” race report? Well, this has been the season that
hasn’t. It’s been cold, and wet, and
cold, and wet and just endless. By this
time last year, I have been able to log a bunch of bike miles but not so this
year. Heck, I rode more in January (when
it was in the high 60’s) then I was able to ride all Spring, plus my Kinetic
Half training buddies Rob and Shawn were bowing out of this year’s race. So … the “wake up” is the transition from
completing two sprint races this season (Smithfield and Richmond) and rolling
smack dab into a Half. Yeah, it was a wake
up call alright. Hello 5 hour event,
good bye 1 hour event.
Setting
Gorgeous. Short of
being in Colorado or northern New Mexico, the setting around Lake Anna in Spotsylvania
VA (half way between Richmond and Fredericksburg) is stunning. Think rural and think lake house. No hustle and bustle of the big city, just
the opposite. And not flat, but lots of
rolling hills and lots of green lush fields on each side, or hardwood forests. Road surfaces are very nice also (no heavy
traffic beating them up like in Hampton Roads).
There are lots of tri’s at this location and after you go there once,
you quickly know why.
Note About Timing
Setup Events hosed something up (timing chips 400 to 600
were missing), so the times below do not include separate T times. They are combined. Darn.
I can’t quite compare my results to last year’s results. I have to assume my T times were about 1 min
40 sec to 2 min.
Swim (including T1 –
39 min 57 sec, 5th in AG) – 1.2 miles
Ok, how about this for a wake up call? Go from 300 and 400 meters (past spring) to
1.2 miles (Half) which is about 1,931 meters.
Amen, alas something I could stick my teeth into. On the way to the swim, I just happen to hear
someone comment about their timing chip.
Ding, a light goes off. Guess who
forgot to get their timing chip?
Me. That was close. A first for me, and hopefully a last. I take a practice swim in the lake and yes,
it is cold. At 0712 after 3 or 4 other
waves have departed, my AG is up and ready to go. I take off and settle into a nice easy pace
and continue buoy sighting every 50 meters or so. No major problems but I do note this is one
very long swim. And we are heading into
the wind with some good surface chop. Half
way through it, I slam into some swimmer who was treading water. Sort of woke both of us up but I doubt I am
the only one that hit that same swimmer.
After the second turn buoy (triangle pattern). The wind was behind us and it was time to do
some wave surfing (Daytona style) and go all out for the last 0.4 mile to the
shore. I keep looking up to see where
the green caps are (my AG) and I don’t see many, which means either I am doing
fairly well or I am so far in the back of the pack than I can no longer see
them. Later I find out that I cleared
out of the water at number 5 of 40 in my AG … yeah. So I hit the beach and this is where I really
like to launch. I have a mission and
want to get in and out of T1 fast but I have at least 3 guys in front of me and
blocking most of the running path into T1.
I think, for about 1 nanosecond and yell at each one to move right
because I am taking the left side.
Suprisingly, they yielded and I then floored it to T1 to tangle with a
wet suit and get my bike gear on.
Bike (2 hr 36 min 17
sec, 3rd in AG) – 56 miles
Coming out of T1, I run into the same problem I had getting
into T1, I was being blocked by at least 3 more slow moving guys trotting with
their bikes. We had to stay on a path to
the mount area and this time there was no way to get around them so I held my
yelling. I mounted the bike and I knew
what was waiting for me, 2.5 miles all up hill road until I got out of the Lake
Anna State Park. So as I was climbing,
down dumped the rain. This is what
worried me the night before – rain and possibly cancellation of the swim or the
bike or the entire race. So I guess it
was time to get thoroughly wet on the bike, not fun but manageable though you
do have to throttle back a bit due to the slick road. From that point the rain would come and go
until about mile 40 when it traded places with a strong head wind. More joy but at least we had a level playing
field. The bike course, like the setting
is stunning. And this year, the bike
course was different; it circled the entire lake and actually crossed it 4
times. For each crossing, you would come
descending down it at very high rate of speed, hit a bridge and prep for a cross
wind, scan the amazing view left and right and then get ready to climb back
above lake level on the other side. This
was repeated 4 times and it was way cool.
As stated previously, from mile 20 to 32 it was all uphill and there
were a lot of “small ring” hills out there.
As soon as I drop below 20 mph (and certainly 18 mph), I quickly add two
gears on the back and drop to the little ring up front to keep the cadence on a
roll … plus to keep a straight chain tension and minimize wasted watts. And there were a few 8 mph uphill portions
that would really get your attention. I
got blocked by vehicles a few times and my options were limited – draft them (a
no no), pass them on the right (could be dangerous), pass them on the left AND
cross a double yellow line (another no no) or chill and hope they get the heck
out of the way eventually. I decided to
chill (this time) but it almost cost me a sub 5 hr Half (details soon). At mile 45 the roads finally dry up but now I
have a strong head wind as the route heads south back to the lake. As I enter the park it is 2.5 miles down and
its brake burning time (now that is a waste of energy). I check my watch and calculate that I should
be off the bike at 3 hr 15 min which gives my 1 hr 45 min to T2 it and run 13.1
miles. I might be able to break 5 hrs
was my thought but I recall doing this race last year and having the run kick
my buttocks so I decided to chill and get on with the run and gauge things later.
Run (including T2 – 1
hr 43 min 37 sec, 2nd in AG) – 13.1 miles
Shawn and Rob both know what waits you as soon as you get
off your bike at lake level. It’s
nothing but uphill on the run, for the first full mile. How about that for another wake up call? But at least this time I knew what to expect
and my mantra was “baby steps dude, baby steps” … or high cadence short choppy
steps and lean forward. It worked
apparently because by time I hit the plateau at mile 1, I was able to take
off. The run then goes up “and” down for
the next few miles, and then goes around a circle drive (camp sites) that drops
steeply in the back, which means it rises steeply in the front. It is just one challenging run anyway you
dice it. By the way, it repeats THREE
times. The last 2 miles of the loop is
downhill and the last half mile is deep in the woods on a very narrow paved and
winding path. You pop out at the beach
where you started (T1 and T2) and then re-start the loop all over again. Same dreaded uphill for the first mile, same
up and down throughout the next 2 miles and the same downhill pounding for the
last mile or so. It is a very humbling
run course. So I forget to check my run
times because I just want to make sure I don’t choke/cramp, etc. Everything is firing well, no quad cramps
like last year. By mile 11, I check my
watch and run some mental numbers in my head.
And this time, unlike last year when I was 4 minutes beyond the 5 hr
window, I saw the numbers and said I can do this. It’s time to go sub 5 hours but it is going
to be very close. I have to pee and
quickly surmise that a pee break is not a good choice. Time is the essence now. Am I going to lose this mission because of my
mediocre T1 and T2’s? Who knows, it’s
all up to last 2 miles now. Chilling
behind the vehicles on the bike course cost me precious time. Being careful on wet roads also cost me precious
time. Having to pee now was not an
option. I assume “some” people have pee’d
while running to save time but I absolutely was not going there. I keep a good pace and ramp it up when the
slope starts heading down, yeah. By time
I hit the narrow running trail in the woods for the final half mile, I recheck
my watch and see that this is going to be an all-out battle to go sub 5
hours. Shockingly, there are no cramps
(or twitches) kicking back when I ramp it up, it’s just overall fatigue that is
starting to kick my butt. The last 400
yards is on the same narrow trail that is wet with leaves and it is winding. And then a side walk with stupid rails that I
thought I would flip over because it was also winding. There was no straight shot to the finish line
so I gun every corner I can find and also dodge other runners who are on lap 1
or 2. I go for the finish line and check
my watch after I cross what I think is the timing line/mat. It appears that I missed it by 8 or 9
seconds. Crap. But I forgot that I started my watch 10
seconds earlier then the swim wave gun so that I could overlap my wet suit on
my watch. With all the math I have taken
in my engineering career you would think I would get the numbers right. Your watch is 10 seconds FAST Larry, not 10
seconds SLOW Larry. So the margin was in
my favor, and when the dust settled, another 10 seconds came out of somewhere (time warp?) which gave me a final time of 4 hr 59 min and
50 seconds. Nine dad gum seconds to
spare … that was close but it put a big smile on my face.
Best Part
Obviously, the best part was that my wife finally was able
to attend a race with me. Attached are
the fotos to prove it. She was present
at the check in process the day prior to the race and she saw the awards
ceremony. She also was able to cheer on
a lot of cyclists at mile 22 in front of the inn. We enjoyed the bed and breakfast (though
there was no breakfast for either of us – I got up to early, and she can’t eat
gluten products … we did bring chow though) and I would recommend it for
anyone. Other triathletes were present
at the same inn. It’s called the
Littlepage Inn. Check it out at:
The entire Lake Anna setting is just plain nice and peaceful;
I will certainly be back there again.
PS1 – I was loaded with Hammer Nutrition products the entire
way including prep 4 days in advance and recovery. You have seen the nutrition plan before so no
need to repeat it. Zero GI issues,
plenty of energy, no cramps, I am a believer.
PS2 – I had a long email exchange with the race director on
this issue. The catered post-race food
of last year (excellent and healthy wraps, and bean salads) were replaced by,
yep, pizza. That was my only major
disappointment. At least he forewarned
me that pizza will again be served at the Patriot Half (yes, I asked) this
year. So much for the wraps, and even
the great meals provided at the two earlier sprints. Oh well.
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