Race Result

Racer:	Keith Bohnenberger
Race:	Luray International Triathlon
Date:	Saturday, August 18, 2012
Location:	Luray, VA
Race Type:	Triathlon - International Distance
Age Group:	Male 45 - 49
Time:	3:26:53
Age Group Place:	32 / 42
Comment:	To run or not to run

Race Report:

Results:
Swim: 28:58 (with wetsuit)
T1: 2:28
Bike: 1:23:07
T2: 1:11
Run: 1:31:12
Total: 3:26:53

David Glover put on a great race as always but this year was the best yet. Great race schwag. One of the nicest race shirts I've ever gotten. Well run race. Great volunteers!

Both my achilles are jacked up. I was going to DNF, then I thought about switching to the aquabike category, then I thought about walking the run.

I drove up the morning of the race with Stan and Barbara from the Y swim group. We got to the part around 7:00am. I got in line for packet pick up and the nice lady told me that my USAT card was expired. I'm a dumb butt. The very patient woman dealing with the USAT issues suggested that I find my new card, pay the one day fee or get my smart phone and show her my card online. I didn't have any of those things so I jogged back to my car to get some money and get my phone. That jog was the first time I "ran" in over two months. It didn't feel too bad. Thoughts of actually running entered my head. I rushed back to packet picket, tried to log into USAT but didn't know the password. Clicked on the forget password link and waited for the password to be sent to my email. It was getting late and I was getting stressed. Finally got the email, logged into USAT, showed the USAT woman my temporary card, got my packed and rushed over to get my chip. Leaving the pavilion I step off the concrete slab was shorter than it was and I jarred my back. Then I stepped into a hole and twisted my ankle a bit. Not the way I like to start things out. Finally I got over to T1 and noticed a good amount of people were wearing wetsuits. I asked someone if the race was wetsuit legal and the answer was, "Yes." Next decision: My wetsuit's in the car but it's getting late. I went back and forth about the wetsuit for a few seconds and decided to "run" to my car and get my wetsuit. Just as I get back the volunteers start telling everyone that the transition area was closing. Quickly put my wetsuit on and head down to the lake.

Finally a moment to relax. Chatted with friends, listened to the star spangled banner. Commented on what a beautiful morning it was. I was the 3rd swim wave, including the Dave Scott wave.

Swim:
The swim started off pretty good but sighting was difficult in the corner of the lake. It was a little foggy and I was too far inside when I finally saw the buoy so I had to make my way left. As I went around the buoy I noticed a few others who didn't make it back left and cut the corner. At times I had a hard time finding some open water but other than that my swim felt pretty good. I got a little warm in my wetsuit but was happy with my choice to wear it.

T1:
Standard T1. So far so good.

Bike:
The race within the race. I was one wave behind Brad and I figured I put 4 or 5 minutes on PJ in the swim. Catch Brad and don't let PJ catch me. As always, my breathing was heavy at the start of the bike. The uphill out of the lake didn't help with that. From experience I know that despite having a hard time catching my breath I can push through it and by mile 6 or 7 I'll get into a better rhythm on the bike. I think I caught Brad around mile 10. He was having issues with his bike. One of these years Brad with have a good Luray race. The long downhill of the bike course is so much fun. The best part of flying down the winding hill on the first lap is knowing you have to do it again. Unfortunately the long down hill ends in a hard left turn and is followed up by a long slight incline. I usually don't look forward to the long slight incline on the second lap. I think I made it to about mile 20 or so before PJ came flying past me. He's a monster on his new P3. Perhaps it was PJ passing me or perhaps it was just because I'm a dumb butt, I'm not sure but for the first time in about 5 luray races I spaced on the second lap and turned again instead of going straight. Shortly after I turned I starting hearing the volunteers behind me shouting, "First lap turn, Second lap straight ahead." Damn it man! I turned around and got back on course and went into a bit of a self rage because of my stupidity. The last hill climb slapped that rage out of me. It was a struggle. The final descent back to the lake helped me recover a bit. As I was coming into T2 I saw PJ hitting the street on the run. If I was healthy, it would be fun to try to catch him. Maybe I should try...

T2:
I racked the bike and hustled out of T2. As I approached the timing mat I thought, "Do I go for it and try to catch PJ or do I do the smart thing and walk in hopes I'll have a shot at running at Reston. I crossed the mat and walked my first step of many to come over the next 91 minutes. I was miserable for the first 5 minutes or so but then I switched my mindset from "racer" to "walking spectator/cheerleader" The next 91 minutes were spent encouraging others while explaining to those who were trying to encourage me that I was injured and couldn't run. I still managed to finished with a smile on my face. Of course I'm bummed I couldn't run but I'm happy that I chose to walk and crossed the finish line instead of putting up a DNF

Hanging with friends and racing. It was a good day.