2023 Smithfield Sprint Triathlon

Race Report

56:05

 1/10 AG     20/345 Overall

April 1, 2023 – My 2022 race season ended in Williamsburg in September at the Patriot’s Olympic Triathlon. I did nothing but sprint and Olympic distance triathlons in 2022, and it was my lowest training volume since 2015. Even so, I finished the season totally burned out and unmotivated. One hour long runs on Sundays felt like eternities, even though those would have been recovery week long runs in years past. While I did go 4/4 in age group podiums in triathlons in 2022, there were no first place finishes, and my fitness – particularly my run fitness – wasn’t where it needed to be.

To be clear, this was 100% on me, not my coaches. Between work and kids’ activities, I was typically burning the candle at both ends before even factoring in training. Its hard to get home at 9 p.m. from Boy Scouts or soccer practice and then climb out of bed at 4:30 – 5:00 a.m. to get in a workout before having to get the kids up for school at 6 a.m. I’ve done it before, but its much easier to stay motivated and resist the urge to re-set the alarm when I have a goal race on my calendar. After the One City Marathon in March of 2022, none of the races I’d signed up for were giving me that level of motivation. I really love long course racing, but hadn’t done a 70.3 or 140.6 since Ironman Louisville in October of 2019. My schedule still won’t allow me to train properly for a 140.6, so motivation for 2023 came in the form of making it the year of the 70.3.

After the Patriot’s race in September 2022, I took about five weeks of doing very little training-wise to reset. I’d always had my eye on Ironman North Carolina 70.3 in Wilmington, and signed up for it when registration opened in the Fall. I also targeted the Rev3 70.3 in Williamsburg in July, but Wilmington is the real goal for the year.

In addition, I was invited to join the Flo Factory Competition Team for 2023, which was exciting in and of itself. I’ve ridden Flo wheels for years, so it was a good fit. I’m still training with Karen and Erin, the only real change is the color of my tri-suit on race day. So, with a little rest and change at the end of 2022, I headed into 2023 with a renewed sense of purpose.

The first race on the 2023 itinerary was the Smithfield Sprint Triathlon. Which, if I must say, has one of the greatest trophies in sport. The green jacket at The Masters has nothing on a golden pig perched atop a tower of marble and plastic. A prize pig indeed. In any event, I’d won two third place AG trophies at Smithfield in the past, and I was determined to bring home a first place hog this time around.

The forecast for race morning was calling for insane amounts of wind, with gusts up to 50 mph. Thankfully it wasn’t quite as bad as forecasted, but it was a pretty steady 20+ mph with some gusts in the 30s and 40s. I chose not to ride with a disc wheel for fear of getting blown over. It was so windy, that my bike would only stay on the rack if I put my transition bag on the downwind side of the bike to keep it from swaying. Temperature-wise though, it was fine.

Swim- 5:12  (1:44/100m)    2/10 AG

The 300 meter swim takes place in the YMCA pool. Athletes are supposed to self-seed themselves based upon their projected swim time, with faster swimmers going off first. In years past, they’ve had us lined up for 10-15 minutes before starting, which gives everyone a fair amount of time to self-seed. For whatever reason, we only had a few minutes to line up, which caused the swim to be a jumbled mess.

I self seeded a little under 5:00 minutes, knowing that it takes about 10-15 seconds to get out of the pool, to exit the building and to finally hit the timing mat that formally ends your swim. Unfortunately, I began overtaking swimmers in front of me by the second lap. It can be hard to pass people in a pool swim, particularly if they don’t stop at the wall once you catch them. Due to the backup, I felt like I lost 20-30 seconds on my time.

T1 – 1:08  1/10 AG

T1 is a long sprint along the side of the transition area down towards the finish line, then you take a hard left and head inside the barricades to the bikes. Its a bit painful to run on the asphalt in bare feet, but I managed to get to my bike without incident. I really try to hustle in transition, particularly in shorter races when every second matters, so I was pleased to be 1/10 in my age group in T1.

Bike – 26:46  (22.4 mph)    2/10 AG

The bike course is an out-and-back “lollipop” course, with one major hill at the turnaround point. The wind was generally against me from my left going out and with me from my right coming back in. For the most part, I didn’t have too many issues controlling the bike, even in aero. There were a few gusts that made things a bit squirrelly though, and I was glad that I chose to leave the disc wheel in my car. I only saw one person riding a disc, but he made it through without incident. Incidentally, he is another member of the Flo team.

I pushed hard on the bike, but didn’t really have anyone to work with out on the course. Oddly, my bike split of 26:46 was the fastest time in my four or five years of racing at Smithfield – even with the wind. That was pretty surprising, but I was happy to take it.

T2 – 1:03 1/10AG

T2 was uneventful, and after racking my bike, I put on my running shoes, and grabbed my hat and race belt with my bib. I snapped on the race belt as I headed out of the transition area and was first in my age group again in T2. I often lose time to faster people on the run, so I need all the “free” time I can get.

Run – 21:57 (7:04 min/mile) 1/10 AG

My goal for the run was to average as close to 7-minute miles as possible. I’d gotten some Hoka Mach 5’s recently, which were much lighter than the Hoka Bondis that I’d been training and racing in for several years. I was anxious to see if they’d help my run. They definitely felt lighter.

Mile 1 (7:24)

There was crosswind for most of the run. It was coming from my right on the way out, and my legs felt really heavy out of transition. I couldn’t make the pace I wanted, but I knew from prior experience that I should get faster as I went on. That kept me from worrying too much, and by the end of the first mile, I was feeling pretty good.

Mile 2 (7:13)

There was a little uphill portion at the start of the second mile, and the wind was still coming from my right, so it wasn’t too much of a factor. I took a left turn to head towards the turnaround cone, which put the wind at my back. All of a sudden, I was rolling, but I knew that it was only temporary. I hit the turnaround cone and headed directly back into the wind. It was so strong that I had to hold on to my hat so it didn’t fly off my head, and it felt like I was running into a wall. I finally took a right turn, and headed back down the hill, with the wind at my left. I finished the second mile in 7:13, and was still feeling OK. I definitely had some juice left in the tank for the last mile.

Mile 3 (6:51)

The final mile is mostly, flat, and thankfully, the wind was mostly coming from my left, so it wasn’t a huge deal. I sped up as much as I could, but I was sucking a lot of wind at that point. There’s a long straightaway that leads to the finish line, and it just seemed to go on forever. Eventually I got there, and finished the run in 21:57, which was a 7:04 pace. I was very happy with that effort.

Post-Race

Ultimately I learned that I finished 1/10 in my age group, so I had finally captured the long-coveted first place pig trophy. it was also my first race in the Flo blue tri-suit, so it felt good to represent the team and to make the podium.

2022 Patriot’s Olympic Triathlon

Race Report

2:29:09

 2/19 AG     30/220 Overall

September 10, 2022- My final triathlon of 2022 was the Patriot’s Olympic in Williamsburg. I’ve raced Patriot’s nearly every year since 2015 at all of the distances they offer – Sprint, Olympic and Half. I didn’t train for long course triathlon this year (by design), so I settled on the Olympic distance race. Honestly though, I wasn’t as trained up as I would have liked to have been, mostly due to a completely hectic schedule at work and with the kids’ activities. There were a lot of nights getting home late from various games or practices. I generally do my best training in the morning before work, but its hard to burn the candle at both ends. It seems to be getting harder every year. I got in enough training to stay relatively fit, but definitely not where I wanted to be.

The Olympic and Half races were on Saturday morning, and I got up at 3:50 a.m. to make sure that I was at the race site by 5:30 a.m. when race day check in began. Leigh Anne was nice enough to ride along with me, and since my friend/neighbor Clay Westbay was doing the Half, she’d be able to hang out with his wife Michelle while we raced.

I’d gotten my bike loaded on the bike rack on my car Friday night, but when I checked it on race morning my front tire was flat. I pumped it up before leaving and it seemed to be holding air, but I grabbed my backup wheels just in case. Good thing, because when I got to Williamsburg the front tire was flat again. I didn’t have time to mess around with changing the tube, so I swapped out my Flo wheels for my Zipps. I preferred the Flos since I had a 90/disc combo, which was perfect for the Patriot’s course, but the Zipps would have to do.

I got set up in transition and found Clay, and then did a short warmup jog. By then, it was time to head down to the river for the start. The Half went first at 7:00 a.m., so I saw Clay off and then had a long, boring 30 minute wait before the Olympic start at 7:30 a.m.. It was finally go time, so I seeded myself in the first 25% – 33% of field for the time trial swim start.

Swim: 29:24     (1:58/100 m)    (3/19)

The swim is a roughly rectangular course in the river, which begins and ends on the beach. Due to the warm water temperature, it wasn’t wetsuit legal. The river had been super rough the last three times I’d raced at this venue, but it was surprisingly calm on race morning. I felt oddly confident about the swim prior to starting, and for some reason, I just knew that I was going to have a good swim. My gut was correct, and I felt good from start to finish. I never looked at my watch until I crossed the timing mat on the beach, and I was pleased to see that I came in under 30 minutes. A good start, but I knew I had work to do to make the age group podium.

T1: 2:29 (1/19)

T1 takes forever since there’s a very long run from the beach up to transition. I make it a point to run very hard since most people take it easy. I figure that its free time on the field, and my effort paid off this time since I was 1/19 in my age group in T1.

Bike: 1:05:11     (22.9 mph)    (3/19)

The bike course is pretty fast and flat, with the exception of the Route 5 bridge, which has a decent climb, and is generally fairly windy. There’s actually a decent run to the bike mounting line after you cross the timing mat to start the bike course, which hurts your official bike pace a bit. Then you have a relatively slow section and a couple of turns to exit the park and to get on the main road. Once on the road though, its pretty fast.

Since I didn’t seed myself at the front of the swim, I had some bikers in front of me to pick off and get a little slingshot effect as I went by. I also passed some of the people at the tail end of the the Half bike course. Unfortunately though, I really couldn’t find anyone to ride with to get a sustained (legal following distance) draft effect. I rode hard over the Route 5 bridge and was able to stay in the big chain ring over the top. I then flew down the backside. A few miles past the bridge, there was a right turn which led to a turnaround cone after about a mile or so. I went around the cone in a 180, then headed back towards transition. 12 miles to go.

I was thinking that the wind would be at my back on the way back in, but it seemed like a slight headwind. I did have a guy pass me just after crossing the Route 5 bridge again, so I went along with him for a few miles, riding about 4-6 bike lengths behind him. I got caught up behind some vehicular traffic near a turn though, and he was able to pull away from me and leave me behind. There were only a couple of miles to transition at that point, and they were uneventful.

I turned back into the park, but there were a couple of turns to make on iffy roads, which slow you down quite a bit. There was also some loose gravel in some spots, and I was hoping not to flat so close to transition, If I had, I would have just run my bike back in. On the last stretch of road to the dismount line I heard Michelle calling my name, but I didn’t see her. Apparently, she and Leigh Anne were in Michelle’s van in the parking area to my right, but I missed them completely. I dismounted just before the line, and was happy to see that I finished in about 1 hour and 5 minutes. Pretty spot-on for what I expected, and good enough for 3/19 in my age group. Time to run.

T2: 1:10 (2/19)

I ran my bike back to my transition spot and got it racked pretty quickly. My helmet was swapped out for my ProK hat and I put on my running shoes. I grabbed my race belt with my bib, and snapped it on as I headed out of T2. It hadn’t felt too warm on the bike, but as I went to start my run I started noticing the heat. It wasn’t unreasonably hot for for early September in Williamsburg, but hot enough that I knew that it was going to be an unpleasant run.

Run: 50:55     (8:12/mile)    (5/19)

My goal for the run was anything sub-50 minutes. The Patriot’s Olympic run course is pretty flat, but its mostly in direct sunlight. Maybe 25% is shaded, and it can be a pretty hot run. As soon as I came out of transition I began feeling thirsty, but it felt like my stomach was already sloshing – not a good sign. Sometimes the run feels better after the first mile, but this time I was feeling worse. I felt like my heartrate was jacked up and as much as I was trying to take in fluids at the aid station, the more I took in the worse my stomach felt. I struggled through the first half of the run and was over my goal pace.

By the time I got to mile 4 I was feeling really bad and thought that my run was about to blow up. Somewhere during that mile I hit an aid station and tried to take in some fluids. As soon as I did so, the nausea hit me hard and I ran off the side of the trail and puked up a bunch of liquid in the bushes. As gross as that was, my stomach immediately felt better and less sloshy. I was able to rally a little bit for the finish.

With about a mile to go a guy in my age group ran by me – I could tell by the age Sharpied onto his right calf. I knew that I couldn’t re-pass him, but that I couldn’t let him get too far ahead of me. Due to the time trial start, I might have been ahead of him in total time, even if he was ahead of me on the course. I picked up the pace as much as I could, trying not to let him get away. The last mile really sucked, but I was able to keep him in my sights. When I made the final turn to the finishing chute, I sprinted with everything I had left since I knew that every second counted for the podium.

After crossing the finish line, I got my medal and a bottle of water and collapsed on the ground for a bit. I was pretty overheated and definitely dehydrated. When I checked the results I saw that I was 2/19 in my age group. Most importantly, the guy who passed me in the last mile actually finished nine seconds behind me and took third in the age group. If I hadn’t tried to maintain contact with him after he passed me, he would have beaten me for sure. After suffering through the run and puking in the bushes, that made me very happy. First place beat me by almost four minutes, so first probably wouldn’t have been in the cards for me unless I really crushed the run.

And with that result, my 2022 tri season came to an end. It was a solid year, with two seconds and two thirds in my age group (in four races), but no firsts. For a variety of reasons, I trained less in 2022 than any year since 2015, so I couldn’t really complain too much. After the Patriot’s, I took about six weeks to recover and clear my head. 2023 was set to bring some changes, including a return to long course triathlon, which had been absent since 2019.

Results Link

2021 Rumpus in Bumpass Olympic Triathlon

Race Report

2:25:52

 5/16 AG     30/144 Overall

April 24, 2021 – The Rumpus in Bumpass Olympic distance triathlon was my second tri of 2021. I’d done the race back in 2016, and I knew from that experience that there’d be a lot of fast athletes from northern Virginia and D.C. The race takes place at the Pleasant’s Landing Marina at Lake Anna, with a nice swim in the lake. The bike course is pretty much all rolling hills, as is the run. Its not the type of course to shoot for a PR, but its fun nonetheless.

There’s no direct route from my house to Pleasants Landing, and it seems like there are dozens of turns on backroads to get there. I drove up on the morning of the race, which meant that I left home well before dawn. When I finally arrived it was chilly outside, but it was supposed to be a nice day. I checked in and grabbed my race packet, and then got setup in transition. The water temperature was about 63 degrees, which doesn’t sound terrible, but that’s pretty chilly. Almost everyone had a wetsuit, including me.

After getting situated, I did a short run up to the main road and back, followed by some light stretching. I then checked in with my friend Jill, who was doing the race announcing and told her that I’d need some good shout outs during the race. She doesn’t disappoint. By then, it was time to line up for the self-seeded swim start. The Olympic racers were starting first, followed by the Sprint racers.

GPS Data

Swim- 28:15 (1:53/100 m) 4/16 AG                            

The swim was a self-seeded time trial start, with someone starting about every three seconds or so. There was a timing mat to cross just before entering the water, followed by a 50 yard swim from the boat ramp to a right turn buoy to begin the “out” leg of the course. I knew the water would be cold, but I didn’t think it was going to be a problem since I was wearing a wetsuit. I was wrong. As soon as I put my head in the water my lungs contracted and I had an “oh shit” reflex. My heartrate spiked and I couldn’t catch my breath. I pulled up, and after a few strokes of breast stroke, I stuck my head in again, only to have the same reaction.

The cold water was literally taking my breath away. I tried to keep my head in the water, but I just couldn’t breathe. I’d swim some breast stroke, try again, and kept repeating the cycle. It must have gone that way for about the first two to three minutes before I finally adjusted and was able to get going. I don’t know if other people were having the same problem, but I felt pretty embarrassed and could just feel the time slipping away from me.

Once I got accustomed to the water temperature things were fine. I tried to tell myself that it was a long race and not to dwell on the lost time, but it was hard to do that. Thankfully, the water was pretty calm, so the swimming was pretty easy once I got going. I prefer to breathe to my right, and the wind and waves were coming from that direction. It was still calm enough for me to breathe to the right going out, so I was happy about that.

By the time I rounded the final buoy to come back in I was feeling really well. I picked it up a bit to try to make up some time, and I resisted the urge to look at my GPS. I was shooting for a 27-minute swim, and saw it turn to 28 minutes as I was climbing out of the water. I was a little disappointed, but felt like I did pretty well, considering the dreadful start that probably cost me a couple of minutes. In any event, it was still about 1:40 faster than my swim time in 2016.

T1- 2:35 1/16

I knew that the transitions at this race are pretty long. My first order of business after getting out of the water was to shed the wetsuit, which isn’t easy by yourself. I ran to my rack, and had the wetsuit down to my waist by that point. I sat down and tried to pull it off my lower half, and struggled a bit with that. Once the wetsuit was off, I got on my biking gear and started the long run to the mounting line. That was all the way through transition, and then down and through a long grassy area, followed by a run up a hill. I guess I was motivated by my poor swim start, because I was 1/16 in my age group in T1.

Bike – 1:06:45 (21.6 mph)  5/16 AG

The Rumpus bike course is two loops, and barely has any flat sections. To be fair, none of the hills are terribly difficult, but its pretty much just rolling hills the entire time, other than the bridge crossing near the end of each loop. The bike mounting line is at the bottom of the hill leading up to the main road, so there is a slow slog up that hill at the beginning. There’s then a quick downhill on the main road, then the course takes a hard right almost immediately, followed by one of the steeper climbs on the course. I tried to carry as much speed through the hard right turn as I could, and then got out of my seat to climb the hill. I wasn’t going to go easy on the first loop since I knew that I had to go full bore in order to have any chance of making my age group podium.

As I expected, the bike course was pretty sparsely populated on the first loop, but I passed a few people who’d started the swim ahead of me. I actually started pretty far back in the swim line, so there were some people to pass. One or two guys passed me on the first loop, but not many. I pushed the pace as hard as I could on the first loop, and came back past the marina a little tired, but feeling decent.

I quickly noticed the increased bike traffic on loop two since the Sprint racers were now out on the bike course, and I passed a lot of people on the climb after the hard right turn just past the marina. The bike traffic wasn’t really too much of a problem though, and I was happy to get a little bit of a draft benefit was I went past other bikers.

The only real problem of the day on the bike came on the back side of loop 2 around mile 20. Vehicular traffic had backed up some bikers ahead of me due to the winding 2-lane road. I wanted no part of getting caught behind a truck pulling a boat, and as I came up behind it (and the bikers riding in its wake), I made a quick move to pass it on the left near the center line of the roadway. Of course, as soon as I committed to the pass, I saw a vehicle approaching in the opposite direction, so I had to be quick about it and cut back over to the right. It wasn’t a near-miss by any means, but it was pretty dangerous and definitely got my blood pumping a little more.

There was a headwind when I got back to the bridge, but thankfully, I was able to tuck in behind another rider (at a legal distance) to save some energy. The last climb of the day followed the bridge, and I out climbed the guy who’d helped me across the bridge and then turned left into the marina to complete the bike. I’d done the bike course in 1:07:55 back in 2016, so my time of 1:06:45 was 50 seconds faster.

T2- 1:58 2/16 AG

T2 is a long run down the hill from the dismount line, through the long grass chute, and finally into the transition area. You then have to run out the back side of transition and wind around the outside back in the direction you just came from. Its not a quick process, but I didn’t have any trouble and was 2/16 in my age group.

Run- 46:18 (7:27 min/mile)   4/16 AG

Like the bike course, the Rumpus run course is nothing but ups and downs. You run up a muddy trail to start the race, and then you finally get dumped out onto a gravel road, which connects to the main road. There’s two loops of that, and then back down the muddy trail to the finish.

Miles 1-3 (7:42)(7:51)(8:03)

My primary goal for any Olympic distance run is to go sub-50 minutes. From there, I just want to go as far under 50 minutes as possible. I decided to shoot for 7:45 – 7:50 miles and then see what the day gave me. The first mile was actually pretty fast given the muddy trail, and I was feeling good as I got out onto the paved surface. Before I knew it, I was at the turnaround point of the first loop, and was then headed back towards the gravel road. I felt really good. So good in fact, that I thought I was going to overrun it and explode at the end. I felt like I could speed up, but was afraid to do so. I kept telling myself that I had a second loop to run, and not to blow it by going out too fast.

Miles 4-6 (7:33)(7:45)(7:41)

I was still feeling good at the turnaround cone to start the second loop, so I did pick up the pace a bit. Things were still going well, but I was still concerned about the wheels coming off in the last couple of miles. Its mostly uphill from the far end of the run course back to the gravel road, so I needed to save something in reserve for that. When I hit the turnaround to come back in, the hills did kick my butt a bit, but not as bad as I was thinking. I kept telling myself, “just make it to the gravel road and then you can run down the muddy trail to the finish.”

There were a lot more runners on my second loop, and I was glad to be headed back in, when so many people were just starting their first loop. I got to the gravel road, and then took a left onto the trail to head back down towards the lake and the finish. It was pretty wet and there were lots of roots, so I had so watch my step a bit. I finally made it off the trail, and took the last right turn to head to the finish.

I tried to throw on as much speed as I had left, but running through the damp grass was tough on tired legs. I got a nice shoutout from Jill as I finished – final time – 2:25:52. Sadly, that was only good enough for 5/16 in my age group – two and a half minutes off the podium. Even if I’d had a perfect swim, I probably still wouldn’t have made the podium. I’d been weighed, measured and found wanting. Still, I was almost five minutes faster overall than I was in 2016, so that was something positive to take from the race.

Next up for me was the Jamestown Olympic Triathlon in June, which was almost derailed by a soccer injury that knocked me out of commission for several weeks.

2021 Smithfield Sprint Triathlon

Race Report

57:18

 2/15 AG     24/209 Overall

April 10, 2021 – Thanks to Covid, it had been 18 months since I’d toed the starting line of a triathlon at Ironman Louisville in October of 2019. Since that time, I’d undergone a lymphadenectomy surgery due to melanoma, followed by a year of social distancing and virtual “races.” I’m not getting any younger, so I was chomping at the bit to get back to an in-person multisport race, and the Smithfield Sprint was the first one in what felt like forever. I’d raced it back in 2019 and had a decent showing…going home with a nice pig trophy for getting third in my age group. Of course, I wanted to do better this time around, and hopefully earn a larger pig trophy to put on conspicuous display in my office. Nothing proves you’re a top notch attorney to clients better than swine paraphernalia.

Training had gone pretty well over the winter, and I’d run a marathon in November 2020, followed by a half marathon in March 2021. Thus, I had a fair amount of running miles under my belt, but sprint tri’s are all about speed. Hot, nasty, badass speed – as Eleanor Roosevelt said in 1936. I was hoping to beat my time from two years prior, but I’d have been happy with something pretty close.

The race was held at the YMCA in Smithfield, and I drove down alone on race morning and got set up. After snagging a spot at the end of the rack, I took the bike out for a spin and did a quick warm up run. Soon enough, it was time to line up for a self-seeded swim start. After not racing for so long, I did have some nerves, and wondered how rusty I might be in an actual race setting.

Swim- 5:15  (1:45/100m)    5/15 AG

The 300 meter swim takes place in the YMCA pool. Athletes were supposed to seed themselves based on their expected swim times, and sometimes that works out fine. Sometimes not. I got in line near the 5-minute swimmers, and then had a long wait in line, which snaked inside and then around the pool. It was chilly outside, and then it felt like a sauna indoors.

When my time came, I jumped in the pool and took off. I was probably over-swimming the first 100-200 meters, and got tired a little sooner than I expected. I also noticed that I was very anxious about the gobs of other swimmers in the pool. I typically train alone in my own lap lane, so I’m not used to sharing a lane. Since it’d been so long since I’d been in a lane (and a pool) with so many people, I did get a little stressed. The self-seeding worked out pretty well though, I passed one person and got passed by one other.

I was running pretty low on O2 for the last 100 meters, but ultimately, the swim went ok even though I was out of practice in a race setting. I made it to the end of the pool, and then there was a climb up some steps, and then a run outside of the building before I got to the timing mat that marked the official end of the swim. I finished in 5:15 (I was probably done swimming right at 5:00), but I was still 7 seconds slower than in 2019. Good enough though.

T1 – 1:16  3/15 AG

I sprinted past the timing mat and it was a pretty long run from there into transition and to my spot. I threw on my biking shoes and then flipped on my helmet. All I had to do from there was to buckle it, and then I could run to the Bike Out exit. For the life of me though, I couldn’t get my chin strap clipped. I practice it a few times before every race, and it can still trip me up a bit, but this time was the worst. It felt like it took forever, but in reality it was probably 10-15 seconds. Once I got situated, I ran as fast as I could to exit T1. I made it in 1:16, which was still 4 seconds faster than 2019! Not sure how I pulled that off, but I could have been faster for sure.

Bike – 27:50  (21.6 mph)    1/15 AG

The Smithfield Sprint bike course is a 10 mile out-and-back, which is mostly flat and fast. The biggest hills are actually right out of T1 and going back into T2. I was mentally kicking myself for my helmet snafu, but I told myself just to forget it and to focus on not crashing on the bike. Since most of my bike training is indoors (particularly from late Fall to early Spring), I knew that I’d be rusty in the aerobars on the road.

I took off and got as aero as I could, and pushed the pace to the point where my legs were just beginning to “load” with the effort. There are a lot of younger racers in the field who are super swimmers and who started ahead of me, and I began to pick them off one by one, which felt good. In addition to the mental boost, there’s also the slight slingshot aero boost you get as you pass then. I don’t know how many other racers I passed on the bike, but it was a fair amount. I only recall getting passed by one or two.

I had no issues on the “out” section of the course, and went around the turnaround cone and headed back in. I picked up a tailwind on the return trip, so that made the final few miles nice. Once I got back to the last hill before transition, I caught some people who were easing up it. I pushed hard up the hill, passing most of them. I then took a left back into the YMCA parking lot, dismounted and ran across the timing mat. Total time – 27:50 – good enough for first in my age group. The bike course had changed slightly from 2019 due to a bridge being out, so I really couldn’t compare my two splits, but I was happy with my ride.

T2 – 1:02 1/15 AG

Thankfully, T2 was uneventful, and I was able to rack my bike and head out onto the run with no issues. I was 1/15 in my age group for the transition, which I view as getting “free” time on the field. I need it, since I often see top age group placings slip through my grasp on the run course.

Run – 21:54 (7:03 min/mile) 2/15 AG

Mile 1 – 7:18

The run course hadn’t changed, and was the same out-and-back from 2019. I’d run a 7:08 pace in 2019, and measuring myself against that pace was my real litmus test for my 2021 fitness level. When I took off out of T2 my legs felt heavy, but not really any different from any other time. Still, after I got out of the downtown area (probably about .4 -.5 miles in), my GPS was still showing a pace around 7:45. Way off of where I wanted to be. I thought to myself, “its going to be one of THOSE runs,” and figured that I’d end up around 7:20 – 7:30. Nothing to do though, but keep moving forward, and somehow I got it down to 7:18 by the end of mile 1.

Mile 2 – 7:03

Even though my pace had started to come around, things still didn’t feel quite right, but my overall pace on the GPS kept trickling down. I was concerned about mile 2 though, since there was a nice climb prior to the turnaround near the halfway point. I tried to keep my pace up on the uphill, and kept the legs turning over quickly on the way down in the other direction. I was remembering how much a sprint race could hurt, but turned in 7:03 for the second mile. Things were looking up.

Mile 3 – 6:57

The final mile of the 5k run is tough at Smithfield since its got a little climb to it, coupled with some speed-killing turns through local vehicular traffic. I was determined to keep the party going though, and just kept pressing on. The home stretch to the finishing chute goes on for what seems like forever, but I tried to feed on the ever-growing finish line music and the crowd support. I was hovering just over a 7-minute pace for mile 3, so I told myself that I was going sub-7 for mile 3come hell or high water. I picked it up and turned in a 6:57 – followed by a 6:20 pace for the final .1 miles. Final run time was 21:54 – 17 seconds faster than my 2019 time of 22:11. That made me very happy.

Post Race

Ultimately, my race time of 57:18 was good enough for 2/15 in my age group – missing first place by about 50 seconds. Sadly, my excitement of earning another (larger) pig trophy was doused by the fact that wooden medals were given out for the awards this time around. There was no post-race awards ceremony due to Covid, so the awards had to be mailed. I suspect that the cost of mailing a bunch of pig trophies was cost prohibitive, but I was disappointed nonetheless.

Overall though, I was happy to see that surgery, Covid and two additional trips around the sun hadn’t slowed me down. I wasn’t bringing home any actual bacon from the race, but I was still pretty high on the hog. 2021 was going to be the year of the Sprint and Olympic distance races, and it had started off pretty well.

2021 Sportsbackers Half Marathon

Race Report

1:43:22    (7:53 min/mile) 

4/22AG     25/372 Overall

March 19, 2021 – After my regrettable performance at the Richmond Marathon in November of 2020, I was reeling and my confidence was somewhat shattered. I’d started wondering if that race had been a one-off or whether my best racing days were behind me. Objectively, there were many reasons why things went to shit during that marathon, which are outlined here, but once the pain faded away, I started to question whether I could’ve or should’ve been able to push through it. Funny how that works, and my psyche is always messing with me. When I race well, then I’m only as good as my next race. When I race poorly, I’m only as good as my last race.

In any event, I learned about the Sportsbackers Half Marathon sometime over the winter. I knew that I wouldn’t be as prepared as I’d have liked to take on another full distance marathon by March, so I decided to seek redemption at the half distance. I had enough recent mileage under my belt thanks to the marathon in November, so I really just needed to focus on some speedwork for the shorter distance. My training wasn’t ideal thanks to some bad winter weather, but I was able to get in some quality miles, while still prepping for the upcoming triathlon season at the same time.

The race was on a Saturday, and would take place on the Capital Trail, starting and finishing in Dorey Park. This was almost the same course as the full marathon in November, and that race got quite lonely out on the trail with no crowd support – even with Coach Karen riding along beside me. I knew that this race would be much of the same, but at least it’d only be half the distance. Even so, I’d be pretty much alone since I wasn’t bringing anyone with me for support.

The weather on race morning was cool (around 52 degrees) with a little bit of wind. Overall, good running weather. I arrived at Dorey Park and picked up my packet, and had flashbacks to the marathon in November – where dry heaving and run-walking compromised the last 10k. I kind of felt like Bill Buckner walking back into Shea Stadium for game 7 of the ’86 World Series. After getting my packet and hitting the portapotty one last time, it was time to seek redemption.

Race

My half marathon PR was 1:44:30 at the Richmond Half Marathon in 2017, when I was four years younger and fresh off of completing Ironman Chattanooga that September. That was probably when I was in the best shape of my life for longer distance events. Nevertheless, my goal was to beat that time, so I’d need to average about 7:57 miles or better. My plan was to run slower for the first three miles and then to pick it up from there. Hopefully I could hang on until the finish.

Miles 1-3 (8:14)(8:08)(8:06)

The first three miles were a short out and back on the Capital Trail towards Richmond, which was opposite of the marathon (which finished with that out and back after initially heading away from Richmond). I planned to make the first mile my slowest of the day, and was fine with my 8:14 pace. The course doubled back around mile 1.5, and then I was running back east towards Dorey park. Somewhere around mile 2 I started feeling bad. It was nothing in particular, I just didn’t feel well and was breathing too hard and thought that I was going to have a rough day. I tried to think positive thoughts and just kept running, hoping that it would work itself out. Thankfully, after about the third mile I started feeling better and got into a groove.

Miles 4-6 (7:50)(7:54)(8:00)

I passed the entrance to Dorey Park just before the end of mile 3, and set out onto the eastern portion of the course. It was time to pick up the pace, and I dropped to a 7:50 mile in mile 4. I was feeling pretty good and hit 7:54, but ballooned a bit up to 8:00 in mile 6 for some reason. No major cause for concern though, because I was still feeling ok and was almost halfway done with the race. Still, I knew that the really tough miles were coming in the mail soon.

Miles 7-9 (7:54)(8:05)(7:52)

I got back on pace in mile 7, but mile 8 was a bit slower due to a net elevation gain. I hit the turnaround point just before the mile 8 marker, and that gave me a bit of a mental boost since I was headed back towards Dorey Park. At that point, I was on pace to PR if I could maintain my pacing plan. Unfortunately though, I was near the “bottom” of the course profile, so it was going to be an uphill run to the finish. I had barely been making my pace up to that point, and I’d had the benefit of a net elevation loss. I knew that the last few miles were going to suck.

Miles 10-12 (7:52)(8:02)(7:40)

The course had been sparsely populated with racers, but around mile 10, another guy passed me on my left. He was breathing much harder than I was, but was overtaking me. That motivated me, so I sped up and got beside him. We didn’t really speak, but pretty much agreed to run together with a couple of nods. It helped to have someone to suffer with, and I was able to turn in a 7:52 mile, even though the course was going uphill. Mile 11 was a bit slower, but had an even worse hill to climb. By the time we got to mile 12, the other runner had fallen off behind me. I knew that I was at or just below a PR pace (my brain was a bit slow with the calculations) and that motivated me to run even faster. I did mile 12 at a 7:40 pace – my fastest of the day – even with the net uphill.

Mile 13 (7:47)

By the time I got to the 12 mile marker I knew that a PR was in hand unless something catastrophic happened. I wanted to keep accelerating, but I was on the verge of blowing up and was barely keeping things together. I also remembered that there was a nice little hill to get back into Dorey Park. Eventually, I made the right hand turn in the park, and then made my way to the finish line. The final time was 1:43:22, which was a PR by over a minute.

Post-Race

Due to Covid, the race itself wasn’t all that exciting. No spectators on the course and no post-race food or beers. That’s ok though, I went there looking for a little bit of redemption and was able to find it alone with my thoughts on the Capital Trail. In a way, that made it even more satisfying since I was only really racing myself, the clock and Father Time. Father Time always wins in the end, but I’d held him off for a little bit longer. More importantly, I was able to get my head on straight for the upcoming tri season, which was only weeks away. There was some redemption needed there too, since my last triathlon (thanks to Covid cancelling 2020) had been at Ironman Louisville in 2019, which had been a monumental disaster, as described here. The 2021 tri season was beginning for me in early April at the Smithfield Sprint Triathlon, and I was determined to exorcise the Louisville demons and to win some more pig bling!

2020 Richmond Marathon Race Report

4:13:12     (9:40 min/mile)

36/61 AG     317/912 Overall

November 21, 2020 – Thanks to Covid, all of my triathlons had been cancelled in 2020, including my trip to Milwaukee for Age Group Nationals. I signed up for a few (Olympic distance) virtual races through Ironman to stay motivated, but it just wasn’t the same. Ironman announced a full-distance virtual race in October, and I toyed with the idea of doing that for a few weeks until I was talked out of it since I wasn’t in 140.6 shape. Eventually, I learned that Sportsbackers was putting on the Richmond Marathon as a quasi-live event on the Capital Trail. I hadn’t run a standalone marathon since 2016, so on a whim, I decided to sign up.

That decision didn’t come until October, with the race looming in November. I’d been training consistently during Covid, but I wasn’t trained up for 26.2 miles. I figured though, that I could get myself ready with a solid month of training, which was stupid decision number 1. Stupid decision number 2 was thinking that I should try to PR by beating my time of 3:48:01 from 2016, which I’d run a month after completing Ironman Maryland (and being in really good shape to go long). Stupid decision number 3 was targeting 3:45:00. I’m not sure why I thought that was doable, so I guess I’ll just blame the Covid crazies.

I escalated my long runs pretty quickly, and had done a few 15 milers and one 19 miler by the end of October. Still, I just wasn’t getting enough weekly mileage in, even counting my long runs. Busher was doing a virtual marathon in his neighborhood on November 7th, so I decided to run a large portion of it with him as his support crew. Between running at my house that morning and running with Busher in the afternoon, I did 20 total miles and felt pretty good. The next morning when I woke up, though, it felt like I’d been beaten with a 2×4 on the left side of my rib cage. I have no idea what happened, but for a week I was in severe pain and couldn’t work out at all. If I moved wrong, I’d have a sharp pain, and even sleeping was difficult.

I didn’t workout again until November 14th, when I did 6.5 slow miles with moderate pain in my ribs. At that point, I didn’t even know if I’d be able to race. The pain was slowly improving, but the race was only a week away. It was going to be a game-time decision. I continued to improve over the next week, but still refrained from working out. The night before the race, after a Covid scare that left me in limbo as to whether I’d be able to race until about 8 p.m., I decided to give it a go. Coach Karen agreed to ride her bike with me on the Capital Trail as my support crew, so at least I wouldn’t be alone.

Pre-Race

The marathon started at Dorey Park, and then there was a long out and back on the Capital Trail. The turnaround point was just after mile 12, and then you’d come back to the Dorey Park entrance just before mile 24. There was then a short out and back in the other direction, before running back into the park. There would be some self-serve aid stations along the way, but I’d given Karen some Powerade and gels to put in her backpack to carry for me.

The weather was abnormally warm for late November, and was supposed to get into the high 60’s. I was in shorts and a tank top, and met Karen at Dorey Park around 8:15 a.m. By the time that I got my bib, hit the portapotty and was ready to take off, it was about 8:45 a.m.

A 3:45 marathon equates to about an 8:35 min/mile average. I wanted to run the first three miles pretty conservatively, somewhere near a 9 minute pace, and then descend from there. The course was mostly downhill during that stretch though, so I knew that I really needed to run a tad faster at the beginning.

Race

GPS Data

Miles 1-3 (8:45)(8:50)(8:43)

Since the 8k, the half marathon and the marathon shared the same course, the beginning of the race was relatively crowded on the Capital Trail. The going was pretty easy early on, particularly since it was mostly downhill. Karen stayed a bit ahead of me on her bike, and thankfully, I wasn’t feeling any pain in my left side (for the first time since I’d injured myself). So far, so good.

Miles 4-6 (8:38)(8:44)(8:34)

After passing the three mile mark, I accelerated just a tad to try to move down towards my 8:35 goal pace. The crowd on the trail thinned out quite a bit after the 8k turnaround point, but there were still a decent amount of people around. I took a gel around mile 4.5, and continued to sip Powerade from my handheld bottle to stay hydrated. After 6 miles, I was still feeling really good.

Miles 7-9 (8:40)(8:24)(8:40)

By mile 7, the first signs of mild fatigue were beginning to set in, but nothing major. I still felt good and was on track with my pacing. Mile 8 was my fastest of the day at 8:24 thanks to another downhill portion, but there was a bit of a climb in mile 9, which slowed me down. By that point, the half-marathon folks had turned around, so it was getting pretty sparse and lonely out on the trail. I wasn’t overly fatigued, but I was missing the crowd support for sure. It really would have been lonely without Karen pacing me on her bike.

Miles 10-12 (8:29)(8:44)(8:32)

As I began to near the half-way point, I could definitely feel the fatigue creeping in on me. I still felt like there was a chance of making my goal pace, but the first doubts were coming on. I kept this to myself and continued moving foward. The turnaround point came just after mile 12, so there was a huge mental boost in knowing that I was headed back towards Dorey Park.

Miles 13-15 (8:40)(8:29)(8:31)

I hit the halfway point not long after turning around and told Karen for the first time that I was beginning to struggle. I told her that I felt like I was at mile 18 instead of 13, and she “encouraged” me to suck it up and keep going. Even though I wasn’t feeling great, I was still able to maintain my pace, but doing so was getting harder and harder.

Miles 16-18 (8:37)(9:17)(9:36)

I kept it together through mile 16, but there was a fairly long climb in mile 17 that brought it all crashing down on me. I’d kept my pace up longer than I thought I could, but halfway up a hill I gave out and started walking. This took Karen by surprise and she said something like, “hell no, keep running.” I got back to trotting, but not at the pace I’d been making before I began walking. Mile 18 was even worse – my quads were just giving out on me. To top things off, I started getting nauseous as well. It had gotten hotter than the forecast anticipated, and I was getting really overheated. I’d been drinking a fair amount of Powerade, but for some reason, I was starting to get repulsed by it. I was thirsty, but was having a tough time wanting to drink it. A full-on blow up was about to ensue.

Miles 19-21 (9:39)(10:46)(12:15)

I continued to run into mile 19, albeit at a reduced pace. Still, I was running sub-10 minute miles, which would have led to a pretty decent time if I’d been able to continue that way to the finish. Alas, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Karen had dropped behind me a bit on her bike since she was talking on her cell phone to one of her daughters. At mile 19.7 I took a swig of Powerade and then immediately began vomiting on the side of the trail. It was only liquid coming up, but when that ran out I began to dry heave. I rallied and began to run some more, but then got sick twice more within the next mile or so. The proverbial shit had hit the fan.

By mile 21 I had ballooned to more than 12 minute miles and was reduced to a walk/run. I would run for a couple of hundred yards, then my body would revolt, so I’d have to walk for 30 seconds or so. I was really overheated and really thirsty, but just thinking about taking in more Powerade made me nauseous. Thankfully, Karen had some water in her bag, and I was able to drink some of that and keep it down. Not enough to re-hydrate, but it was better than nothing.

Miles 22-24 (12:29)(11:58)(12:33)

It was a slow trudge back to the Dorey Park entrance, and then I had to run past the park on a short out and back. I told Karen that she could leave me, and I really felt bad that I was taking so long and holding her up. I think she was worried that I could go even more sideways at any moment, so she stayed with me to make sure I could finish. The last 10k was a total shit show.

Miles 25-26 (12:06)(12:18)

The last part of the course was back to the east again to Dorey Park, and then into the park to the finish line. As bad as I felt, I was at least able to keep running somewhat, and my pace was stable around 12 minute miles. As you can see from the heart rate chart below, my HR was the highest at the end of the race when I was running the slowest and maxed out a 198. That pretty much tells the tale of the dire straits I was in after things went sideways on me.

Mile 26.2

Eventually I found myself back in Dorey Park with the finish line in sight. There was no finishing kick in this race, only a slow trudge across the finish line and hanging my head in utter defeat. In the end, I finished in 4:13:12 – nearly 30 minutes off of my goal time. I was hot and bothered, and wondering where it all went wrong.

Post-Race

In hindsight, I think a lot of factors went into my explosion in this race. First and foremost, I was undertrained for a marathon. I decided to run it very late in the game, and simply did not have enough weekly mileage to run the race I wanted. I had some good long runs for sure, but not enough total mileage.

Second, I not only decided to shoot for a PR, I decided to shoot for a time about 3 minutes faster than my PR. That decision, coupled with mistake #1 above made for a bad time.

Third, I injured myself a few weeks before the race and hadn’t been able to run pain-free until race day. While the injury didn’t affect me on race day, it definitely cut down my training, and probably my mental state as well.

Lastly, it was too hot to run a marathon well. The forecast called for high 60’s, but it got into the low to mid-70’s on race day. I’d take that any day of the week for a triathlon, but not for a standalone marathon where I’m trying to PR.

Looking back, its easy to see where it all went wrong, but sometimes you just have to live and learn. I’d forgotten just how hard a marathon was, and I took my ability to run one well for granted. After the dust settled, I planned to shoot for a PR at the half marathon distance in the Spring. That attempt would go slightly better.

2020 Shamrock RVA 5k

Race Report

21:58     (7:04 min/mile)

5/35 AG     20/302 Overall

March 8, 2020 – My last race before Covid conquered the world was the Shamrock RVA 5k at Hardywood Brewery downtown. I still hadn’t gotten completely back into shape after my surgery in December, but I’d been training consistently and was hoping to have a reasonably good showing. Several of my ProK teammates decided to run, including Leigh Anne, Candace and Mindy. On top of that, our neighbor Kim decided to make this her first 5k, and somehow I was selected as the designated driver to the brewery.

After arriving at the race site, I ran into my friend and fellow triathlete, Jim Rosen, who was also racing. Historically, Jim is a faster runner than me, but I have a slight age advantage on him. He and I did a short warmup and then headed over into the starting corral. It was a self-seeded start, and Jim and I positioned ourselves near the front, but behind the super fast runners. My goal was to average just under 7-minute miles, and I knew that would be a tough task since I was still getting back into shape after the surgery. Still, the course was pretty flat, so I thought I had a chance.

Race

Mile 1 (7:04)

When the gun sounded, Jim and I took off, and he settled in right behind me. There was a bit of a crowd at first, but it thinned out pretty quickly. After the first few 100 yards I checked my Garmin and noticed that we were running at about a 6:40 pace. Too fast for sure, and that seems to happen more often than not in short races due to adrenaline and nerves. I backed off a bit, and Jim did as well. He was content to ride along in my wake for the draft. We saw Coach Karen spectating somewhere in the first mile, who gave us some Karen-style encouragement. I’m pretty sure it was something like, “go faster.”

I felt fairly good at the end of the first mile, and finished it in 7:04. That was pretty spot on for trying to average a 6:59 pace since I wanted to get faster with each mile.

Mile 2 (7:09)

The course took a left turn towards the west at mile 2 and the wind hit us right in our face. It wasn’t horrible – probably about 10-12 mph – but it was coming right at us and definitely slowed me down. Jim stayed tucked in behind me to stay in the draft, and I think I made a couple of comments to the effect that it was his turn to take the lead, which he politely declined.

We turned back towards the east around the 1.5 mile point, and I was happy to have a tailwind. By that point though, I was really starting to hurt, and I knew that the last mile was going to suck. The last mile of a 5k always hurts if you do it right, but I felt like the hurt came earlier than normal this time around. I finished mile 2 in 7:09, which wasn’t where I was aiming. The wind definitely hurt the pace, but I felt like I was fading pretty hard and didn’t know whether I was about to explode. Jim was still right behind me, and while I wasn’t really racing him, I certainly wanted to beat him if I could. I figured he felt the same. I knew he was sitting back and waiting to make a move near the end, but I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to go with him when he did.

Mile 3 (6:59)

The course turned south near the start of the third mile and I felt like I was hanging on for dear life at that point. Jim and I saw Karen again around the 2.5 mile point, and she yelled to me that I’d better get moving or Jim was going to beat me. No shit! I knew what was about to transpire, but I couldn’t go any faster and I couldn’t drop him.

At mile 2.6, we took a right to head towards the finish – back to the west and into the wind again. That stretch seemed to last forever. At about mile 2.9, Jim took off from behind me and I tried (ever so briefly) to go with him. With his burst, he was past me and leaving me behind pretty quickly, which was pretty demoralizing. I did run a bit faster, but I didn’t have enough juice left in the tank to catch him. He finished in 21:51 and I was seven seconds behind him at 21:58. His time was good enough for 3rd in his age group, and I was 5th in mine – missing 3rd by a measly 10 seconds. My overall pace was 7:04/mile, which was 5 seconds per mile over my goal. For still being in surgery-recovery mode, though I’d take it.

Mindy was super fast, and was the first female finisher in 19:53. Candace won her age group in 24:18 and Leigh Anne also won hers in 24:18. So yeah, I was the only ProK sad sap going home without any bling. That’s ok, I was pretty much just happy to be back to racing at that point after the cancer scare and surgery. Unfortunately, Covid was about to hit and shut down pretty much everything for the rest of the year. We weren’t really worried about that at the moment though, there were post-race beers to drink and bling to collect.

2019 was a weird year for me – it started off really well, took a turn for the worse and then finished with a wimper. There were also swim cancellations – lots of swim cancellations. Tri season started with the Smithfield Sprint, where I was 3/16 in my AG and won, perhaps, the greatest trophy in the history of triathlons.

I was then 3rd Masters Men (3/77) at the RTC Sprint, which included a 5k PR. That result actually qualified me for Age Group Nationals. I followed that up a week later with a huge Half-Iron PR of 5:04:02 at Ironman Virginia 70.3, and flirted with sub-5 hours for a while, before withering in the humidity on the run. That was the good.

The not so good began at the Robious Landing Triathlon in June, where a competitor in the first swim wave drowned about 50 feet from me and several other people in the second swim wave. Not a good day. The swim was ultimately cancelled, and I finished 2/14 in my AG, but I’d just assume forget that race entirely. The OBX Half-Iron Triathlon was next in September, which was a deferral from the 2018 race, which had been cancelled due to a hurricane. Well, another hurricane came through the week before the 2019 race, leading to the swim being cancelled due to high levels of bacteria in the water. The bike and the run still went well though, and I managed 1/11 in my AG. Still I was pretty disappointed in the swim cancellation.

The culmination of my season was supposed to be Ironman Louisville in October, but that turned out to be a shit-show from start to finish. First, I crashed my bike during my last century ride before Louisville, leaving me and my bike a bit beaten, bloodied and bruised.

Once I got to Louisville, the swim was cancelled due to toxic algae, leading to a time trial start on the bike. I made it exactly 1 minute into the ride before having a mechanical due to my rear tire rubbing the frame, then another rider pushed me over into a ditch around mile 50, leading to a neck and right shoulder injury and a bleeding hand. I ultimately managed to get off the bike in one piece, only to be hobbled by my left Achilles for the entire marathon. I finished in 11:05:19, but that was not how I wanted my Ironman to go after working towards it for two years.

Immediately after the Louisville debacle came my melanoma diagnosis, which resulted in surgery in December, including the removal of a lymph node under my right arm for a biopsy. Thankfully, 2019 ended on a high note when I received the biopsy results on Christmas Eve, confirming that the melanoma hadn’t spread to my bloodstream. The silver lining to that affair was the not-so-subtle reminder that racing is a privilege and not a right, and that it can all come crashing down at any time. No matter how well or how badly any particular race may go, I need to keep in mind that what really counts is just being out there and being able to compete.

Heading into 2020, I was convinced that the year would be full of races and good cheer…