Smith Mountain Lake Sprint and Kinetic Half
Two weekends, two sweet races. The first was Smith Mountain Lake Sprint Triathlon (SML) at Smith Mountain Lake State Park. Since it was only an hour and a half from Blacksburg and a 9am start, we decided to drive out that morning. It seems like no matter how early I get to a race, I'm always rushing around at the last minute to get down to the beach. Today wasn't any different, but I did get in a 20 minute or so warm-up on the bike first.One thing I really like about Set Up Events races is that they always start Men 34 & Under or Men 39 & Under in the first wave, so you're usually competing directly against the fastest people in the race (though it isn't unheard of for 40+ year-olds to win some of these smaller races) and you have a really good idea of where you are compared to them the whole time.At SML, right from the start I was at the front of the 750 yard swim, and after the turn at the first bouy, it was myself and one other guy (eventual race winner Lewis Jackson) side-by-side in the lead. He dropped to draft for the middle portion of the swim, but I felt good and kept pushing the pace. At the final turn to head to shore, he came back around and we were side-by-side the last several hundred yards. We hit the beach together, and I beat him to the timing mat to record the fastest swim in the wave. (This was the 4th fastest swim overall, two old guys had faster splits. This is the down-side of wave starts, who knows if I could have pushed hard enough to keep up if anyone had been in front of us.)
The 12.5 mile bike was relatively uneventful. I was a couple steps behind my swimming partner coming out of T1, but he stayed ahead of me and I lost sight of him after the first couple miles. I held 2nd until the very end of the bike, when I was passed just before T2 by a guy in a Navy uniform, Sam Dannenbring.I felt strong on the 5k run, and pushed harder than I had in a very long time. I held on to be third to cross the finish line. A couple minutes later a 39-year-old crossed the line to edge me off the podium, giving me 4th overall, which I was quite happy with. They gave me the 1st in the 20-24 age group too, since Dannenbring, who beat me in the age group, was given an overall award.Kinetic Half played out quite differently for a very similar outcome, fifth overall. From the start of the swim, two guys went off the front and I knew I couldn't keep pace with them. I hung with two others who were strong swimmers for most of the first lap of the 1.2 mile swim, but lost them at the end. I swam the second lap by myself, dodging swimmers from the other age groups along the way, and heard the announcer call my name and say I was fifth out of the water as I entered T1.After a quick T1, I was still in fifth but could see the two riders ahead of me as we climbed through the park (Lake Anna State Park) and out to the country roads that made up the two-loop, 56 mile bike course. I passed one of the riders ahead of me, Kevin Walton, another VT Triathlon member, and kept the other in sight as we got out on the main roads. The sun had come out for the first loop which made for a beautiful bike course. At the first water hand off around 15 miles in (speed and distance on my computer were working only sporadically, so no idea where anything actually was on the course) I missed getting a water bottle, and had run out completely by about 3/4 of the first loop. I was a bit concerned, but I made the other two at miles ~27 and ~40 so I hoped that I had caught up enough for the run. I don't recall how exactly the placing worked out during the bike, but I know I was in fifth again coming in to T2, and came out of T2 right at the 3 hours.Though I didn't have a goal time, I would have been pretty happy with a 4:45, and I figured that a 1:45 half marathon was definitely within reason. The run was definitely tough, but mostly overcast, and went by quickly. It was a three-loop course, so I knew how I was doing time-wise finishing each loop. My first was around 31 minutes, my second around 33 minutes, and my final was around 33 minutes, giving me a 1:37 half marathon, which was pretty slow for how well I did overall. I was only passed once, by a familiar face from SML, Dannenbring. I'm not sure how many I passed, but I think I was in fifth or so coming into the finishing chute.There were a bunch penalties with the top guys (results), and Dannenbring was pushed behind me in the general classification. The first 10 or so of us out of the water apparently missed a 1-mile jig at the very beginning of the bike that wasn't on any of the course maps or even manned by a volunteer when we came through, so we were given 3-minute penalties. I was happy with the final shake-up though, and was given a bottle of Lake Anna Winery merlot as my 1st in age group prize (along with a a Newton's Cradle, which they must have found a few dozen real cheap on eBay or something).
Above is my good friend Doran Bosso (3rd in men 25-29, @doranbosso on twitter) and I with our local wine prizes. Two awesome weekends, two great races in two beautiful locations. Now a couple months or so of training in Blacksburg, with just Montclair Triathlon June 28 and maybe Colonial Beach on July 11/12.From Blacksburg, thanks.
The 12.5 mile bike was relatively uneventful. I was a couple steps behind my swimming partner coming out of T1, but he stayed ahead of me and I lost sight of him after the first couple miles. I held 2nd until the very end of the bike, when I was passed just before T2 by a guy in a Navy uniform, Sam Dannenbring.I felt strong on the 5k run, and pushed harder than I had in a very long time. I held on to be third to cross the finish line. A couple minutes later a 39-year-old crossed the line to edge me off the podium, giving me 4th overall, which I was quite happy with. They gave me the 1st in the 20-24 age group too, since Dannenbring, who beat me in the age group, was given an overall award.Kinetic Half played out quite differently for a very similar outcome, fifth overall. From the start of the swim, two guys went off the front and I knew I couldn't keep pace with them. I hung with two others who were strong swimmers for most of the first lap of the 1.2 mile swim, but lost them at the end. I swam the second lap by myself, dodging swimmers from the other age groups along the way, and heard the announcer call my name and say I was fifth out of the water as I entered T1.After a quick T1, I was still in fifth but could see the two riders ahead of me as we climbed through the park (Lake Anna State Park) and out to the country roads that made up the two-loop, 56 mile bike course. I passed one of the riders ahead of me, Kevin Walton, another VT Triathlon member, and kept the other in sight as we got out on the main roads. The sun had come out for the first loop which made for a beautiful bike course. At the first water hand off around 15 miles in (speed and distance on my computer were working only sporadically, so no idea where anything actually was on the course) I missed getting a water bottle, and had run out completely by about 3/4 of the first loop. I was a bit concerned, but I made the other two at miles ~27 and ~40 so I hoped that I had caught up enough for the run. I don't recall how exactly the placing worked out during the bike, but I know I was in fifth again coming in to T2, and came out of T2 right at the 3 hours.Though I didn't have a goal time, I would have been pretty happy with a 4:45, and I figured that a 1:45 half marathon was definitely within reason. The run was definitely tough, but mostly overcast, and went by quickly. It was a three-loop course, so I knew how I was doing time-wise finishing each loop. My first was around 31 minutes, my second around 33 minutes, and my final was around 33 minutes, giving me a 1:37 half marathon, which was pretty slow for how well I did overall. I was only passed once, by a familiar face from SML, Dannenbring. I'm not sure how many I passed, but I think I was in fifth or so coming into the finishing chute.There were a bunch penalties with the top guys (results), and Dannenbring was pushed behind me in the general classification. The first 10 or so of us out of the water apparently missed a 1-mile jig at the very beginning of the bike that wasn't on any of the course maps or even manned by a volunteer when we came through, so we were given 3-minute penalties. I was happy with the final shake-up though, and was given a bottle of Lake Anna Winery merlot as my 1st in age group prize (along with a a Newton's Cradle, which they must have found a few dozen real cheap on eBay or something).
Above is my good friend Doran Bosso (3rd in men 25-29, @doranbosso on twitter) and I with our local wine prizes. Two awesome weekends, two great races in two beautiful locations. Now a couple months or so of training in Blacksburg, with just Montclair Triathlon June 28 and maybe Colonial Beach on July 11/12.From Blacksburg, thanks.
