Race Result

Racer:	David Carson
Race:	Kinetic Sprint
Date:	Sunday, April 20, 2008
Location:	Spotsylvania, VA
Race Type:	Triathlon - Sprint
Age Group:	Male 30 - 34
Time:	1:40:02
Overall Place:	159 / 371
Age Group Place:	34 / 63

Race Report:

If I had to describe the Kinetic Sprint in one word, it would be: Wet. It rained from the time I left at 6 AM, through arrival at 7:30, only to let up slightly at the event’s 10 AM start time, and then poured buckets until crossing the finish line and then heading home. I loved every minute of it.

There were many new elements to the event this year for me: Wetsuit for the swim, new tri bike & clipless pedals for the bike (naturally), and then (of course) the course itself. Not to mention it’s my second tri. Add in a chilly April morning due to the absolute relentless rain and you have the 2008 Kinetic Sprint.

A Little Philosophy
I’ve always found exercise to be a personal journey, one with hard-fought lessons that apply to various aspects of my life. On the bike in particularly, I was able to contemplate some of these lessons since there were times along the 18 mile course that I needed to think of something other than where I was and what I was doing. In the midst of my ride, somewhere that I estimate was around the mid-point, I asked myself THE question, the one that I think everyone asks themselves when they are neither near the beginning nor the end of a goal: Why do I do this? I had no answer, not at that point anyway. That question is a path to doubt, it falls into the category of “What If” statements. What if I can’t make it? What if it’s too hard? What if…I quickly pushed it out of my head. Doubts have no place in a race just like they have no place in life. What if means nothing and answers even less. The only thing that counts is doing. There is no what if, there is only action and that leads to only one result – the one that occurs. What I try to remind myself is simply this – if I want to know What If, then take action and do. It’s the only thing that matters. The results will take care of themselves.

The Challenge
At one point during the bike, when I was moving along at a fairly speedy pace, the rain acting as tiny pin pricks into any exposed flesh, I thought about what it was that made me enjoy the rain on a day I was to race. I think it’s because it added another element of challenge. It was unexpected and made an already tough course even tougher.

It was a constant reminder that this is supposed to be hard. It’s supposed to be challenging. And that’s part of what I love about it. I like seeing what I can do in the face of something that would attempt to stand in my way. As I like to say, “Life’s not supposed to be easy. If it is, you’re doing it wrong.” But it’s not to say that life is supposed to be difficult to the point that goals are unattainable. Rather it is supposed to be challenging. Challenge = growth. You cannot grow without adversity and this race had it in spades.

The Swim
We started in Wave 3, not sure if there’s supposed to be a pun with Wave and Swim.

I was right with my training partner, Al, at the start. At some point early on we lost each other. Using the wetsuit for the first time was very fun. It’s all upper body and that’s my kind of swim! It was nice to pass actually pass people on the swim, especially blue caps from the wave before me. It was a new experience to swim in a lake versus the ocean. No comparison in terms of control.

At one point, I ran into a buoy. Luckily it was the inflatable kind, so it was more of a “Oh! Why hullo there Mr. Buoy. Mind moving outta my way?” After about the halfway point, I found my stroke and concentrated on my technique. It was tiring to say the least, but I knew that I could push my upper body all I wanted cause after this, it was up to my legs to carry me home. Swim Time: 15:29

T1 (Transition 1)
I hit the beach and saw Al at the transition area just pulling off his wetsuit. I quickly (as I could) changed into bike gear, grabbed a bite of a Powerbar, ran through the mud and the muck (did I mention it rained the whole time?), and was on my way. T1 Time: 3:10

The Bike
A race is different from training. It’s a different mindset and a different demand on the body. It shows you your strengths and slaps your weaknesses right in your face. It’s full of highs and lows just like life. There was one point in particular when I was cruising on a downhill at top speed, passing the occasional rider, feeling absolutely invincible, when it happened. I hit a hill, which has always been my weakness, and didn’t take it how I’m supposed to (which I’m still trying to figure out how that is exactly!). I came to what seemed like a crawl, trying desperately to find the right gear that matched capable resistance with maximum speed. It simply didn’t happen and I trudged up the hill to find the people I had just passed go by me with what seemed like minimal effort. Highs and Lows – in racing and in life, they are synonymous. Obviously that is one of many things to work on before the Reston Sprint.

I got my legs back in the final stretch and made up for some of the hills. I cruised past one girl in green who I had been playing road tag with for the past few miles. Nearing the bike finish, I saw Al on the other side of the road in the run portion. I knew he’d killed the bike and would do more damage on the run. Offering some words of encouragement in the form of “That’s my dog!” I slowed up and entered the transition area to the run. Exchanging a couple of words with the Bike transition volunteer while getting off my bike, I asked “Did I win?” He pointed to his head and said something in the form of “You did up here.” Right you are, sir. Right you are. Bike Time: 53:49

T2
The Transition Area was a mess at this point. Mud everywhere. My partially-eaten PowerBar was a mushy pile of solid and liquid. I changed into running shoes, snapped a bite of it anyway, and took off on what is accurately termed “bike legs.” T2 Time: 1:49

The Run
The first part of the run out of T2 past the cheering crowds was a hill. I hit it feeling like my legs were made of liquid concrete. It’s something I’m accustomed to, but certainly wasn’t ready for. The girl in green that I had passed on the bike leg shot past me like a flash of lightning. Obviously she was a runner or had enough sense to pace herself on the bike. Either way, she was gone and I was not. It took me some time to get my legs back, around the half mile mark, but I knew this was going to be the toughest part of the race.

Running has never been my thing. It’s why I started swimming in the first place, to do a cardio-type exercise for fitness that got me away from running. I pushed myself on the bike because I knew that no matter what I did, whether I paced myself or went all out, the run was going to be tough all the way. For me, it’s a grit-your-teeth-and-suffer-through-it type of thing. I made it past probably the half mile mark and my legs were just not feeling it. It felt like I was running in place like Fred Flintstone in the old Flintstone’s cartoon. So I did the only thing I could – I quit racing.

By quit, I don’t mean I stopped running. My legs were still moving, I was still breathing hard and pushing myself, but mentally I stopped racing. Instead, I just went for a run. I decided to let go off all the expectations that I place on myself in a race, and to just run in the Lake Anna State Park -- not on race day, but on a beautiful, albeit rainy, Sunday morning. It allowed me to let go of the swim and 18 mile biking I had just completed and focus on one thing – running.

And that’s what I did – I didn’t race, I just ran. I enjoyed it. I waved to Al as we passed each other from opposite directions as well as Jeff, a fellow triathlete I recently met at an early morning swim session at Worldgate Sport & Health in which we were the only ones to show up! I ran because at that point, that’s all there was to do.

I was floored when Al told me my pace was equal to what I did at the Goblin Gallop 5K back in October. How I pulled an 8:19 min/mile is beyond me. It felt easily like 9+ and wouldn’t have surprised me to be at a 10 min pace. I’m a bit stupefied to be quite honest. Run Time: 25:49

The Finish
Crossing the finish line felt great for many reasons. One, it was at the end of a nice downhill run through the forest path of the Lake Anna State Park. For another it was the end of the triathlon and I could rest, eat, and dry off.

I learned a lot about what I need to do for the Reston Sprint on June 1. Things I’ll need to work on: Hills. Check. Pacing myself. Yep. Running. Absolutely.

Still sore and with aches and pains that will surely last for a few more days, I’m looking at the next phase of my training in a race where “I can put it all on the line.”

As I like to say, I’m not swimmer, I’m not a biker, and I’m certainly not a runner. I’m just a guy who swims, bikes, and runs -- one who likes to find out what he’s made of in hopes that one day he’ll be made of more.

Until that day…

Train Hard. Live Well.