2013 Kinetic 1/2 Race Report: I'll Be Back...

I'd been looking forward to this race for a couple months now  - as last year it was a great PR for me and boost in my confidence for my Ironman training.  It has a fast bike course, a challenging 3 loop run course and a somewhat standard swim course.  I really loved the bike course in 2012, but even more so in 2013 as they changed to 1 loop - of fast rolling hills.  Pretty much my favorite.  On Thursday night I wrote out my race plan, packed my bags, and double checked everything insuring I'd be ready to leave Friday afternoon.  I was hopeful of a potential PR if executed almost perfectly - but not every race can go as planned.


PRE-RACE: Saturday AM

Kinetic 1/2 has a 7am start time, which meant a 4:45am wake-up.  This was followed by my usual breakfast loading bikes in/on the car and heading to the race site.  The weather turned out to be pretty great as compared to the thunderstorms that were predicted for Saturday morning all week leading up to race day.  We had a few drops of rain fall while setting up transition, but nothing substantial.  Just enough to make me want to put a garbage bag over my run and bike shoes before heading off to check out the lake, National Anthem, and swim start.

**SetUp events had a snafu or 2 in their timing system so I guesstimated my T1 and T2 based on last years times.  Our 2013 results or posted with T1 included in swim time, and T2 included in the run time**

THE SWIM - 41:55 (AG Rank 11)

Looking at swim rank and not time, this was a much better swim for me than last year.  The course seemed to be a bit long, possibly due to the buoy's drifting as the swim got underway.  As my wave was waiting for the start of the race we were given a 2 minute warning which in past experience would by followed by a possibly a 1 min or 30 sec warning but most definitely and 10 second countdown.  Pink caps got no love this  year, all we got was a random air horn.  Good thing everyone else was just as surprised as I was.  The water was choppy and there was a bit of a breeze coming across the lake.  The swim is a triangular course, but the first leg out seemed to take forever - it may be a bit longer than the other 2 legs.  After making the first turn I felt in my grove and pretty strong, though I seemed to be swimming mostly alone.  The occasional male from the wave behind me would swim past but I didn't see many other pink caps near me.  About 1/2 way I caught up to another pink cap and attempted to pass her but soon realized I was better off just drafting off her. I definitely saved a ton of energy and  probably swam  a bit fast on the 3rd leg thanks to her draft!

T1 - 2:18

As a ran out of the water and ran past the nice girl who pulled me in I thought about thanking her for the pull but decided it'd be better to keep that to myself.  I ran into transition, grabbed my helmet, sun glasses, and pulled on bike shoes before running out with Mr.  I had an awesome transition spot basically right at the corning of bike in/bike out.  No running all the way through transition in bike shoes, yay!

THE BIKE - 2:44:07 (AG rank 3rd)

I left it in an easy gear spun up the nice hill right out of transition.  I kept it relatively easy heading out of the state park to give my legs a chance to warm up.  Just as I turned out of the state park I got a huge tailwind and I was off - only to start be poured on by the rain!  All I could think of was how I didn't leave the

garbage bag over my run shoes/socks and what I would do with soaking wet shoes once I got back.  That thought quickly faded as I was loving the tailwind and basically had "on your left" running on repeat.  The rain was short lived and the sun decided to come out, but not 2 annoying tractor trailers passed way to close and sprayed nasty road/rain water all over me - not once but 2x!  Apparently the drivers decided to pass some bikers (me included) then basically stop for the next ones - which led to us passing them again and getting doused with grossness all over again.  No big deal once the trucks were long gone.  The sun was out, the bike course was awesome, and I was eating, drinking, and having a blast.  I hit mile 10 with about a 21mph average - I was pleasantly surprised considering how easy I took it for the first couple miles heading out of the park, but the tail wind helped me out.  I know the course would only get faster from here on out and was looking forward to a fast bike split.   I was through mile 40 with a near 21.5 bike avg and was estimating I'd be back in T2 around 2:32 - 2:35 depending on the winds and how hard I could push on the last leg back before the park.  Just after mile 40 we seemed to turn into a head wind and my bike just felt slow.  I was trying to look at the brakes to see if something had started rubbing, it sounded like something was rubbing.  Didn't seem to be either brake.  Then I thought my rear tire was flat.  At this point I was pushing really hard and not going very fast, and the group of guys I had just flown past a couple  miles back was now flying past me!  There was no way a head wind was killing me this much.  I didn't know what else to do so I kept riding.  In hindsight, I should have gotten off the bike and checked it out, lesson learned.  I made it to, albeit slower than preferred (about 18.5mph) to mile 46, 47....48......and just where you turn left off of Post Oak, where I knew I could drop the hammer and try to get back in 2:32:??....I turned Left, Mr. slid right and I hit the pavement hard.  Slip 'n Slide on the pavement = no fun.  Since this was at a turn in the course there was a cop and volunteers right there, the cop ran over as he radio'd about a biker down and started asking me if I was ok.  My helmet was the first thing to hit the ground and lucky for me it did it's job perfectly.  I hopped to my feet walked a few steps and despite wanting to cry and check out my road rash I dragged Mr to the side of the road and felt the front tire - completely flat.  Oi, I was in no place to try and change the tube, especially 7-ish miles from T2.  I took out my CO2, said a small prayer, and inflated the flat tire.  Picked up the piece of my helmet that had fallen off (a removable aero cover under the back side) and continued on my

Showing off our battle wounds - a knocked out tooth on the
swim and some road rash that didn't get wrapped up.

way to T2 hoping my tire would hold enough air to get me there.  I wanted to hammer, as I knew this road could be fast (it was last weekend) but I was a nervous nelly and my left side hurt.  I rode steady, took the turns super cautiously, skipped the flying dismount, and rolled into T2 frustrated, upset, and thankful to be feeling well enough to start the run.

T2 - 2:05

It may have actually been a tad slower than this, as I when I got back from the bike I had no idea what my bike split was - my computer crapped out after the fall.  I was convinced I had probably taken >3 hours between the slow riding leading up to the crash, the crash/remedy, and slow riding back into T2.  I questioned whether or not I should even run, slipped my shoes and socks on and grabbed my nutrition, race belt, and visor.


THE RUN: 2:00:54 (Ag rank 8th)

Not a bad run for the way I was feeling - would have liked this to be at least 5 minutes faster.  The first loop was a mental struggle for me.  I was in shock of what had happened on the bike, doubted my ability to run 13.1 hilly miles with my hip, back, and shoulder hurting and didn't have a lot of motivation to try and run fast as I was convinced my bike time was most likely very slow.  After the first loop of the run I started to feel better.  I took 3 Powergels with me to take at mile 3.5, 6.5, and 9.5 -  or so I thought.  Only 2 gels made it into my pockets.  Luckily the water, Heed, and Coke on course seemed to be just fine.  They changed the direction of the loop around the cabins on the run course and oh my for some reason running that hilly circle the other way seemed way harder this year. I'm all for changing it back and dealing a bit with the crossover of athletes.  The one positive about 3 loops on the run is you get to see everyone - multiple times.  I had multiple people run past me and ask me if I had crashed on my bike since they could obviously see my road rash.  By the time the 3rd loop came around I was feeling pretty good on the run but ready to be done with the hills.  As I neared the finish line I was pleasantly surprised that the race clock was still in the 5:30's.

FINISH TIME: 5:31:21 (5th AG, 17th Female OA)

THANKS RUDY!

Obviously this race didn't go as planned.  I think I was on track for a great race when I crashed on the bike and though it's frustrating and upsetting that it happened I'm thankful I was still able to finish as I know too many people who haven't been able to walk away or continue racing.  Looking back I would have done a few things differently - one being gotten off my bike and just checked the darn tire for a slow leak - eliminating the crash and two not let it affect my run as much.  The entire first loop of the run I was not into it and it shows in my run time, as I know I am capable of much better than that.  My Pink Rudy Project
Wingspan needs to be replaced - which is a good thing as it means it did its job perfectly!  My head feels great, thanks Rudy!  My bike needs new handlebar tape and a frame inspection and the wheel needs ( a new tube, obviously) to be filed down on the aluminum braking surface, it got scuffed up and has some sharp edges.  Other than that I walked away with some rode rash, soreness, and burnt/blistered fingers (maybe from sliding on the pavement?).  All in all, it was still a pretty decent day partly because the crew I was with had some awesome PR's!

5k Friday Fun

This year was my first year signing up for the Crystal City 5k Fridays...and I was painfully reintroduced to short and fast.  I did 3 of the 4 races (race 2, 3, 4 of the series) due to Cherry Blossom 10-miler being the weekend after the race #1 of the series.

Race #2 April 12, 2013

This was the first race of the series I was registered for.  I had a good group of friends also running including Adam, my brother, Meghan and Chris, and others from DC Tri and DCCRC.  I had no idea really what pace I would try to run, so I planned on running hard and beating my previous 5k time from Tri Mania - which was in fact pretty disappointing.  I got caught up saying hi to Adam and some other fasties with my brother just minutes before the start.  So...naturally I stayed at the front.  This led to not so good things - which may have been exacerbated by the Bonk Breaker bar I ate on the way to the race.  I hit the ground running and of course went out too fast as did almost everyone.  Mile one came quickly but mile 2 seemed to take forever to get to.  Between miles 1.5 and 2 I started having some severe stomach pains (this is what happens apparently when I eat peanut butter, almond butter and such before working out).  Mile 2 finally passed and all I could think to myself was just don't walk you've only got about a mile left.  I was being passed left and right and I knew my pace was falling off considerably.  I was thankful to see Chris and Meghan during an out and back as I was on my way to the finish - it made me smile a bit.  I couldn't have been more happy to be done with this painful race.  I wasn't happy with my result and I was definitely not feeling well.  Not cool Almond butter and honey bonk breaker!  This was a good race to get reacquainted with the 5k and we had an awesome bro/sis and friend's dinner post race in Crystal City.

FINISH TIME: 23:56

Race #3 April, 19th, 2013

The sky and the the forecast for this evening weren't great.  Severe storms were expected along with strong wind gusts.  I caught a ride to the race start with Adam.  Since you use the same bib every race it's relatively

easy to just show up and race without having to go through any checkin process.  I purposely put myself
back a bit in the starting field to try and control my pace for the first mile.  My tactic worked  a bit...I still went out too fast, but slower than the week before.  This allowed me to not slow down as much at mile 2 and thanks to better and more conscious food choices I was home free with stomach discomfort.  We started running mile 1 into a bit of a headwind - but this made for a great feeling mile 2 with a tail wind for almost the entire mile and as well as most of mile 3.  As I neared mile 3 the sky was growing darker and the wind was picking up...just as I passed the beginning of the outback they began re-routing runners directly to the finish.  I was happy that I did not get re routed but oi was it frustrating dodging through considerably slower runners for the final kick to the finish.  I felt good finishing this race, I was passing people even up until the end and I felt as though I had pushed myself.  After I finished I found Adam right away and after a brief thought of hanging around to say hi to friends we decided to escape the storm and head straight to the car as we had a big weekend ahead of us (putting on DC Tri Duathlon #2 and racing our first tri of the season on Sunday).  As we headed out of the area a torrential downpour started, I'm glad I didn't run any slower!

FINISH TIME: 22:59

Race #4 April 26, 2013

This race was a pretty last minute decision for me. I knew I'd wanted to run it after the big improvement between my 1st and 2nd CC5k but I waited until Thursday night to actually register.  As my friends were on vacation, my brother was out of town, and Adam didn't want to race I was off to this final CC5k on my lonesome.  I was fairly confident I would see some friends there but didn't know who planned on racing.  As it was the last race of the series and super nice out - this race was packed!  I seeded myself a little bit farther back once again in an attempt to slow myself down at the start.  Well all I have to say is epic fail - mile 1 was the fastest timed mile I've run in any recent year (perhaps since college soccer fitness days).  With the significantly larger field of runners at this race I was unaware of my pace and not looking at my Garmin at all during the race.  I was pushing myself but felt it wasn't going as well as the previous week.  I continued to push on - grabbing a water cup at the aid station - and for the first time felt like I may drown, during a running race!  As I tilted the cup up to take a sip someone ran right into my elbow - I inhaled water up the nose, mouth and oi - all I could think was don't slow down, just cough it up! As I neared the last 1/2 mile or so I could tell I was slowing but tried to push as hard as I could.  I was definitely feeling it as I made the final U-turn and was nervous that I may not have improved from the previous weeks time.  I crossed the finish line and stopped my watch.  I took a few moments to settle down and then checked out my time -- it was a good day!  I grabbed a cookie, ran into a couple friends who crushed the course and jumped back on the metro a sweaty, stinky mess - and somewhat sad there would be no more CC5k Friday's.

FINISH TIME: 22:33

After the first one I thought I hated the 5k - I thought to myself give me a 10 miler any day, this 5k business just hurts too much.  By the final race I was loving it and was reminded of how much I enjoy shorter, harder, efforts and seeing just how hard I can push.  I also learned that when I pace or at least attempt to pace myself I perform better - though I still didn't get the hang of it and I managed to positive split every race of the series.  Next year I may sign up for the series - even if I sit the first one out for Cherry Blossom it will still be the same cost or I could just run it easy.  I may find some more 5ks and 10ks for the year but I am definitely looking forward to the Oly and Sprint Tri's I have on the schedule this year as well.  The improvements in just the course of 3 weeks seems to be promising and motivating though I feel a bit addicted to running a 5k every Friday now.

I Beat the Chicken

The 2013 Tri Season has now officially begun.  Adam and I headed down to Richmond (Tuckahoe to be exact) for the 2013 Richmond Multisport Triathlon season opener - the Chasing Chicken Sprint Triathlon.  With some longer races (1/2 Iron distance right around the corner in May) we wanted to get in some racing, shake out some cobwebs, and have some fun going short, fast, and hard before a season of long days of training and racing picks up.

SATURDAY: PACKET PICK-UP

The only downfall (if considered that) of this race is that they require Saturday packet pick-up between the hours of 11-3.  I was frustrated that after an early morning of putting on the DC Tri Club Duathlon we weren't able to get in a mid-long distance ride of our own.  By the time we got to Richmond we went straight to packet pickup at 3Sports and picked up some clearance items.  The 2 new pairs of Zoot running shoes I

snagged will hopefully be worth missing a ride.  We were able to steal away for about an hour and do some course recon/discovery of the bike course.  I'm very glad we were able to do this as the course had a little bit of an interesting transition to the mount line as well as a couple turns to get out to the 2 main roads most of the course took place on.

PRE RACE DINNER

If you've ever traveled to a race with me you know I'm pretty gung ho about my pre race meal.  On occasion I make my own dinner, pack it up in tupperware, and voila have my trusty pasta, marinara, zuchinni, squash and onion.  If that's not really an option I go to Olive Garden - and get the same thing every time.  I've learned that on a Saturday night you can sit, order, and eat at the Bar in Olive Garden in about 40 minutes, the same amount of time you might wait for a table.  Our hotel was nicely located down the road from an OG - but not so fast.  Adam (the man with friends everywhere) has an old friend in Richmond who was nice enough to have us over for dinner.  Apps, drinks, homemade bread, and pasta with homemade pesto - it was definitely not my usual but it was tasty and carb loading perfection.

Post dinner consisted of readying the bikes - bike frame #, helmet #, and bib # all set and ready to go.  Transition bag packed, race clothes out for the AM, and breakfast items out and ready.

SUNDAY: PRE RACE

Breakfast was the old standby with a slight twist - Special K Chocolatey Red Berries, banana, and almond milk.  Peanut butter will no longer be making an appearance on race day or any other day really as I've started having pretty bad cramping every time I consume peanut butter (this really is a story for another day).  Getting out of the hotel and on the road to the race site was smooth.  We arrived at the race site with plenty of time to set up transition, get timing chips and take Mr (that's my bike) to the mechanic for a check in and get in a warm up swim.  After our ride the day before I noticed the shifting was off and some gears had a
sluggish feel to them.  The mechanic made some real derailleur adjustment but just couldn't get it right - he asked me about the chain which I recently had replaced and after a few more adjustments asked me about the cassette...oi.  I had no idea, I bought the wheel used a year ago, they came with the cassette and for all I know that cassette could have been on them since 2009.  He did the best he could - which was a big improvement compared to what it felt like the day before and I promptly ordered a new cassette once I had access to Amazon.

THE SWIM - 300m Pool Swim - 6:06

This time does include a few seconds of transition time to get in and out of the pool and such but I'm still not thrilled with my splits for a pool swim and considering the lessons I've been doing this year.  On a good note I felt strong and much more efficient than an probably almost any race before.  It was a time trial start and apparently the women around me had pretty accurate predicted swim times - I didn't pass anyone and no one passed me either.  I'll be working hard to get improve this time over the season - especially in the open water.

T1 - 2:40

Once pulling myself out of the pool I had to run through two sets of double doors, up some stars, up the drive way to the soccer field where transition was located and finally to my transition area.  Once there I pulled on my Gore cycling jacket, helmet, sunglasses, shoes, and gloves before heading out to the road with Mr.  Forgoing the jacket and gloves would have made for a much faster transition but a much less comfortable and more frozen bike ride.

THE BIKE - 13 Miles - 37:54 - 20.58mph

The bike was fun - but frustrating at times.  I was passed by 2 guys on the bike course - not super happy - but passed a whole lot of women.  While checking out the course the day before when we got out to the long stretch back to the YMCA on the back side of the loop we had a slight tail wind and we were sailing back in.  Making us excited for the last 1/2 of the bike segment for the race.  It was a whole different story on race day - hello headwing and crosswind!! Oi, at least everyone had the same conditions to deal with.

I took 1 PowerGel on the bike, about 9 miles in.  More to help me mentally and for the run than anything else.  I also rode with water/Ironman perform in my aerobottle.  Ironman perform still sits heavy just like it did last year - I don't know if I'll ever be able to dilute that stuff enough.  The bike is usually by far my favorite part of the race - and I definitely enjoyed this bike course but could have used a few more miles to catch and put some time into my main competition!  I'm all for short swims and long bikes :)

T2 - 1:25

I dismounted old school style and ran into T2 in my bike shoes.  I haven't been out to practice my flying dismounts and I wasn't about to try it on a slight uphill with another cyclist coming in right behind me.  It would have saved me a few seconds but no big deal.  I ditched the helmet, jacket, and gloves.  Donned my visor, Kinvara's, and grabbed my race belt and another gel for insurance before heading out for the run.

THE RUN - 5k - 23:07

I was clueless as to my position in the field, my pace, where Adam was, basically everything.  I was happy to be out of the headwind, my legs were warming up on the run, and the sun was out - though there was still a chill in the air!  I picked a comfortable pace and got to it, picking off people as I could.  I was passed by a collegiate female about 1.5 miles in but noticed her age group was different and her bib was much lower than mine - which meant I'd already made up a few minutes on her on the bike - it wasn't worth chasing her down - it wouldn't effect my AG place.  The run was a lollipop shape so I was hoping to see Adam on the out and back section - but no such luck - and I never saw the Chicken!  Oi!  Where is this guy?  Once I hit mile 2 I picked up my pace and picked off a few more women and a couple guys.  I noticed at bib 117 I seemed to be running with and passing a lot of people with bibs in the 50s and 60s.  What happened to everyone that started near me (we TT started in numerical order).  At this point I started to think that I might be doing fairly well.  As I ran it in to the finish line the chicken was handing out high 5's at the final turn to the home stretch!  Oi, I guess the chicken was donezo and I never saw him, he must have kicked my butt.  As I crossed the finish I didn't hear Adam or see him.  Unusual....

FINISH 1:11:11

I hung out near the finish line for another minute pondering where Adam might be - not long after I noticed him walking towards me.  I was greeted with a, "What are you doing here already?"  Um, I finished the race - are you just finishing?  Yes, the answer was Yes...I beat him across the finish line (which we made a bet based on this as well as finish time).  I will enjoy my glory for the day as it may not happen again anytime soon as I almost always start in a wave (or 20) behind him.  We took a nice cool down together and then headed back to get some warm clothes, pick up transitions, and get some grub and get stretched out.

We had to hang out for awhile for the awards to start.  While I was getting stretched out Adam peaked at the results and broke the news to me.  Apparently I did well, really well.  Hmmm....did I win my Age group?  No, ok then what did I do?  2nd Age group....2nd Overall Female! Woo that was good news for the first tri of the season.  We went back and checked the awards to see if we beat the chicken...and yes we both did...easily.  Adam also podiumed with an AG award - we need ideas for barbecue sauce...2 full jars of it. Adam finished with a 1:07:02 and the Chicken finished in 1:14:55...I guess that's fast for a chicken.


Finally awards started - we collected our hardware/barbecue sauce and attempted to wait to see if those that beat the chicken would take home anything else.  But time was ticking away and we were eager to get back to DC so we snuck out during the collegiate
awards.

POST RACE THOUGHTS

This was great early season tune up race.  It was fun, low pressure, and at least the swim was warm.  If it fits I'd do it again.  Definitely was reminded of some things to practice before the bigger races during race set up and the race itself.  And as I've insisted before - I'm a better runner off the bike than in a stand alone running race.