After this past weekend, I can finally say that triathlon season has begun! Going into this race weekend, I had laid down a very high volume block of cycling, slightly neglecting swimming and running. Can you blame me though? I love riding my CEEPO Viper!
On Friday (the 13th, AHH!), Christina and I went out for a shakeout ride
in Arlington and did a quick loop at Hains Point in Washington D.C. We tried to avoid the rain and headed out as early as possible, but still got rained on halfway into the ride. No worries – I had planned on completely cleaning and tuning up the bikes after the ride anyway. This was the first time we went out on our matching CEEP
O Vipers.
After the ride, we headed down to Spotsylvania, and after 2.5 hour of traffic on the I-95, we arrived. The house we were staying at was next to Lake Anna, so we did a swim before dinner. Good news – my wetsuit still fits!
Race Day – Saturday, May 14th, 2016
Virginia-Maryland Triathlon Series, the organizers of the Kinetic Half, offered all athletes the option of race-day packet pickup, which is an excellent selling point for their race series.
We arrived at Lake Anna State Park by 6am, grabbed our packets and set up our spot in transition. By 6:30am, everything was ready to go!
At 7am, I started with about 95 other guys in the first wave. 36 minutes later, and swimming very comfortably, I entered transition with a couple of other guys. With the swim done, I quickly mounted my CEEPO and went to work!
The bike course was rolling terrain throughout. We went out 10 miles, before doing two, twenty mile loops. Overall, I felt very comfortable on the bike. Power output was roughly 3.5 watts/kg, which was right on target. The ride was my favorite part of the day, especially since I was able to sneak under the 2 hr 20 min mark at 2:19:26, giving me the 3rd fastest bike split on the day.
A 60 second transition and I was off on the run. The course was 3 loops of rolling hills, totaling to just under 800 feet of climbing. On the first loop of the run, I was able to manage a 6:45 average mile pace. I was content was that pace
but my legs would disagree, as my second and final loops were significantly slower, as I dropped to 7:04 average mile pace for the 13.1 miles (1:32:45 run split).
I crossed the finishers line at 4:31:42, setting a half ironman triathlon personal best.
On the day, I finished 11th overall and 3rd in the Men’s 25-29 age group.
Post finish, I quickly headed back to transition to grab my phone (not to make a call, but to take photos!) Knowing that Christina was going to finish soon, I briefly rinsed off in the lake – the 65 degree water was super refreshing! And shortly after, Christina crossed the finishers line in
4 hrs 51 min, claiming the top women’s spot with her first win of the season (and personal best!)
The Kinetic Half was an eye opening experience since it clearly showcases my strengths and weaknesses at this point in the season.
Next Up: Rev3 Quassy Olympic (June 4th)
Thank you to all my sponsors and everyone out cheering at Lake Anna State Park!