Setup Events Kinetic Half - Race Report

Greg and my 3rd 70.3 is in the books.  Saturday, May 10th, was the Kinetic Half, put on by Setup Events, in lovely Spotsylvania, VA.  A simple, one-loop 1.2 mile swim, one-loop 56 mile bike, and grueling three-loop 13.1 mile run.  Overall, it was a great day for me and possibly my best executed race to date.

The day started at 3AM.  That's right, 3AM.  Going down race morning IS the right thing to do.  (1) We saved money and hassle not having to board Islay for the night. (2) No expense of a crappy hotel in the middle of nowhere...got to wake up (albeit at 3AM) in our own beds. (3) Don't have to fight the inevitable bumper-to-bumper I-95 traffic on Friday evening to get down to the race site.  1:30 drive at 4AM on Saturday = 3:00 drive on Friday afternoon.  BUT this does not diminish the pain of the alarm going off when it feels like you've been asleep for 10 minutes.  Even Islay, with all of her unbridled enthusiasm, didn't want to get up.  Once we were up and had some coffee, the adrenaline kicked in and we were good to go.

The drive down was smooth sailing.  We woke up to Outlaw Country tunes but switched over to our favorite pre-race/workout 80s on the 8s.  This is when I would typically start getting very nervous.  Not this time.  I felt calm, collected, prepared.  Going into this race, my base goal was to finish smart, smooth and strong...no crashes, no bonking.  A sub 6 hour would be nice, and was honestly expected.  The dream goal was a PR and sub 5:40, but I was going to let it, not make it, happen.  After all, this race is just a building block for Zurich, nothing more. 

Per usual, we arrived right on time, 5:30AM, when check-in and the transition area opened.  Unlike Timberman, which had 2,000 competitors, the Kinetic Half is capped at 600, so it had a much more mellow vibe.  I had a fantastic rack position in the transition area, right near the bike start and finish.  It was going to be a good day.  Greg and I set up, got marked, and put on our wetsuits so we could get a little warm up in the water before the race.  Fortunately, the water temps were in the upper 60s, so not bad at all.

I was in the last wave.  The first wave went off at 7AM.  Greg was off at 7:12 (bye babe!) and I was off eight minutes later.  I lined up on the far left, my usual MO, so that I could ease my way into the pack.  The swim should have been easy - a lake swim with just two turns - but for some reason I was having a lot of trouble sighting the first turn buoy.  The guiding buoys weren't lined up properly.  I took the bumble bee route and felt like I was all over the place until I got to the first turn.  The chop was coming towards the shore so every time I went to sight I got smacked with water in my face.  Once I made the first turn I was cooking.  I was sighting easily and got my rhythm.  After the second turn, getting to the shore was a snap.  I had the "waves" rolling me in.  It was in the bag.  It wasn't fast, but it was solid.

SWIM: 37:15 5th/13 in AG, 1:46/100 YDS

I flew through T1.  Fortunately I had practiced my wetsuit removal ahead of time.  Lots of spray-lube before the race on my legs, feet, and wetsuit + sitting down to remove it = had it off lickety split.  This combined with my optimal positioning made for a fast transition.

T1: 2:37 1st/13 in AG

As is typical for me, I started out too hard on the bike.  This always happens and I find it very hard to control.  I don't know why but after bobbing along in the water it's like I get this new-found freedom on the bike.  I got in that tuck position and went for it.  For the first 30 minutes I was passing all the slowpokes from the earlier swim waves.  Some newbs, some slow cyclists...but I saw people doing some crazy (illegal) things - like slow riders that wouldn't get right so lines of cars would pile up behind them, making it impossible for me to pass.  Other faster riders got fed up and actually crossed the double-yellow line to pass slow moving cars!  Since a far less blatant (accidental) version of this violation got me DQ'd from my very first triathlon, another Setup Events race, I opted to be patient.

Smiling.  Good sign.

After the first 20 miles, I looked at my watch and I had been pedaling for an hour.  Oops.  This was when I realized I had to pull it back.  Recalling my ultimate goal of finishing smooth and strong, I had to slow it down.  I focused extra hard on my cadence and made sure I was never grinding too big a gear.  I also forced myself to enjoy the ride.  Crazy, I know.  I looked around at the scenery and made myself smile and thank all the volunteers.  It actually worked!  It calmed me down and kept me focused on the bigger picture.  As I pulled into the park drive, the final stretch, I thought I could see Greg's kit in the distance.

BIKE: 2:52:15 3rd/13 in AG, 19.5MPH

As I entered transition...yep, it was him!  That felt good because I must have had a strong bike.  A quick hello put a spring in my step.  Greg set off on the run and I hustled to get my run gear on.  Another quick transition.  I was feeling strong.

T2: 1:35 1st/13 in AG

The run is the toughest part of this course, bar none.  Not only is it 3 laps, but there are a couple of steep ups that are soul-crushers.  Each lap starts off with the steepest of the hills, so right off the bat, I am walking.  I had it in my head that I was going to walk this hill every time and have a GU as I walked.  At my level, it simply expends too much energy to run it...no matter how psychologically hard it is to walk my first steps of the course.  This strategy paid off.  When I got to the flats and down-hill sections, I felt strong and could really push.

Start of lap 2.

By the third lap, the fatigue was starting to set in.  It was humid as all hell.  All week I had been praying that it wouldn't rain but on that run I prayed for the opposite.  I wanted those skies to open up and give us some relief.  No such luck.  I walked that same hill again, and even had to walk a couple of the other hills that lap.  But a quick eye on my watch told me that if I remained patient, I could still finish strong with a PR.  At mile 11ish I knew the hills were behind me and I gave it all I had into the finish.  The final mile is a long downhill and I just let my legs fall down to the finish.

RUN: 2:01:31, 4th/13 in AG, 9:17/mi

OVERALL: 5:35:11 3rd/13 in AG, 25th/104 women

Yahoo!  Mission accomplished.  Bring it, Zurich!

Sharing proud moment with Coach T.