Race Result

Racer:	Keith Bohnenberger
Race:	Reston Triathlon
Date:	Sunday, September 10, 2006
Location:	Reston, VA
Race Type:	Triathlon - International Distance
Age Group:	Male 35 - 39
Time:	2:46:25
Age Group Place:	42 / 66
Comment:	Sometimes it's not pretty

Race Report:

Splits:
Swim 36:57
T1 2:30
Bike 1:12:01
T2 1:34
Run 53:24
Total 2:46:25

Pre-race:
On Saturday I felt pretty good. Packet pick-up was fun. Kevin and Will were hooking people up with the fit kit. Dave was signing books. The Reston premiums were nice. The weather was good. I felt like I finally kicked the head cold that knocked me out after Ratman.

I was having some minor stomach issues but I didn't think about it too much at the time. Saturday night my wife made plans with another family to go out for Mexican. I knew that wouldn't make for a good pre-race dinner but what's a husband to do?

Race Morning:
I woke up at 3:30am with some pretty intense stomach pain. I spent the next two hours trying to alleviate myself of that pain. Due to the stomach issues, I didn't eat much at all for breakfast which concerned me a bit. I left my house hoping there was nothing left in my stomach but I was still having some sharp pains.
I parked in the south lakes high school parking lot. For some reason I picked a spot under a tree. Not a good idea when your bike is on your roof. I set up my T2, got my chip, went back to the car and untangled my bike from the tree it was stuck in. I gathered up all my swim and T1 stuff and headed to the lake. This is my favorite part of the Reston race. I love riding over to the lake before the sun comes up.

I got to the lake and was directed to a sweet rack spot. I set up T1 and walked around and chatted with a bunch of rats. This is also one of my favorite race times. The sun comes up. Races are walking around chatting. There is so much energy waiting to be unleashed. Several people asked me how I felt. I complained about my stomach issues and blamed my wife for making me go out for Mexican. At that point I wasn't feeling great but I was feeling much better than I did earlier in the morning so I was hoping I could keep it together.

Race:
My swim went pretty much as expected. I haven't been working to hard on the swim thing so I was figuring I would do about 36 minutes or so. During the swim it felt like it was taking me a long time. For the most part I found some space out there and wasn't caught up in the mix to much. I was working hard and at times I actually felt like I had a few good strokes but I came out of the water at almost 37. It was great to see James and Mike Smith. My stomach wasn't feeling to good and I briefly thought about heading to the port-o-potty but I didn't think wetsuits and port-o-pottys went well together. I decided to hop on the bike and hope for the best. I got out of T1 with one of my fastest T1 times. I'm getting better at taking off that pesky wetsuit.

My swim to bike transitions are typically quite painful. I usually feel like I'm out of breath and need to throw up for the first part of the bike. This time was no different. I started feeling a bit better when I was coming down south lakes but when I down shifted for the turn onto twin branches my chain popped off the front. I had this same problem at Luray and I didn't get my bike looked at so I was cursing myself. I put the chain back on, got on my bike, took one pedal and it popped back off. I put it on again, this time I spun the cranks around a few times before I got back on. It felt like tons of people passed me. I finally got back on and headed up the little twin branches hill. On my way down I got a little confused with the cones and I went to the outside which was the "car lane." The volunteers were yelling at me, I realized what I did and was able to duck back into the correct lane. I felt a bit better on the second lap. Coming down south lakes I kept it in the small chain ring in the front because I didnt want to repeat my chain problem. Once again I turned up the twin branches hill. I started blasting down the other side of the hill towards the swim area when the motorcycle guy started bitching at me. After a few "I can't hear you" gestures, he yelled louder that I needed to move to the right because I blocked "that guy" from passing. I guess legally he was correct but I didn't see anyone behind me and nobody just passed me so I was a little confused. I was on the left because I was trying to pass someone on my right and because the swim area was coming up. The third lap my legs felt pretty good and I settled into a good pace. My stomach was hurting a bit but I was hoping I could hang in there. I was a bit bummed about the time I lost because of the chain problem but I thought if I could kick out a good run I could salvage my race.

I got through T2 with some encouragement from Gwen. I passed a few runners behind the high school but right about that time I felt some serious stomach pressure. I knew I was in trouble. I started walking in hopes it would go away but it didn't. I came walking up to the first volunteer spot on the run course but before I got there I turned off on a side trail and ducked behind the building. I took care of some very unpleasant business and stayed there a bit to see if I would feel any better. I was hoping there was nothing left in my stomach. The stomach pressure was mostly gone so I started walking again. I came back on the main trail and the volunteer said, "I thought we lost you there for a while." I'm not sure how long I was back there but it felt like a really long time. After walking for a bit I thought I felt good enough to try to start running. I got to the first water stop. My wife and the girl scouts were cheering for me and trying to make me feel better but I was still realing a bit from my "experience." I took a small sip of water and dumped the rest down the back of my shorts and started running again.(I know, not a very pretty visual) I started feeling better and was passing a decent amount of people(benefits of being a slow swimmer and biker). I pretty much repeated the same routine at every water stop. If anyone was paying attention I'm sure they thought I was pretty strange. I saw some familiar faces after the turn-around point and was able to somewhat enjoy the rest of my run. I was very happy to cross the finished line. Mike Gillete asked me how it was and I simply said, "It wasn't pretty out there"

I packed up my T2 stuff and took it all back to my car. I got a change of clothes and went into the high school to clean up. I went to get a bottle of water and tried to take a couple bites of a piece of pizza but my stomach was not very happy with that so I tossed the rest. Other than my run detour, this was the biggest bummer. All this food and I couldn't eat any of it.

I enjoyed the rest of the race sitting with some rats folks and watching the other people finish. We watched the awards and were amazed at many of the times. After the awards Mike Smith, Stuart, Jeroen and I walked up the path hoping to give Jamie some encouragement. We saw a volunteer on a bike who told us that two racers were still about a mile away. We waited for a bit but then I started having some sharp stomach pains. It was time to go home. I couldn't comfortably eat or drink anything until late sunday night. Hopefully I'm on the tail end of the stomach bug.

The race directors put on a good race once again. I thought it was really well run. The volunteers were great. My wife and kids had a good time at the water stop. Many Rats had good races and several of them brought back some hardware. Dispite my issues it was a pretty good day. I was about 3 minutes slower than last year but with all the issues I had I'm proud I finished and pretty proud of my time. With that said, I need to fit at least one more race in to end my season on a better note.