DAM 2013

DAM Triathlon 
Amesbury, MA

1/2 mile swim
12.3 mile bike
3.3 mile run

Swim - 11:49 (1st)
T1 - :58
Bike - 32:19 (~23.3mph / 3rd)
T2 - :49
Run - 20:23 (~6:10/mi / 6th)
Total - 1:06:16
Result - 1st Overall

A lot has happened since my last race and race report. For starters, I read what I wrote after Pirate and I have to acknowledge that it was terrible. If you bothered to read it, I'm sorry! I considered removing it from the blog, but the words accurately reflected how I felt in the hours after the race. The words I wrote will remain and serve as a reminder that you can't win every race. They'll remind me that you can succeed without winning. And, most importantly, they'll stand as a reminder that I should sometimes wait a day or two before I type (and publish!). I promise that this DAM report will be much more entreating, so please, read on.

Oh, and a little less then two weeks after my last week Eileen and I got married. It was the happiest day of my life and one that I'll remember forever. Many of you were there with us - whether in person or celebrating from afar - and we appreciate all of the support you've expressed. I promise to write a full wedding report in the near future. Once we have all of our pictures, I'll give you something to read about other than a race. But to hold you over until that time, here's a picture!

Mr. and Mrs. Kyle Burnell!

Two days after the wedding Eileen and I boarded a plane for Disney World! This, of course, will all be lumped into the wedding report. (Unless, of course, there's some outcry from my many followers for separate accounts of the wedding and honeymoon!). Again, here's a picture from WDW to hook you for the next post!

Chef Mickey demanded that we pose like tough guys. Clearly that's right up my ally!

Fast forward two weeks and you arrive in Amesbury, MA, home of the DAM Triathlon. I happened to arrive there pretty exhausted as Stephen had been cracking the whip since my return from Disney! Despite the fatigue lingering in my legs, I was assured that I was capable of producing a decent race if my head was in the right place. He's generally (okay, always) right about these things so I did my best to follow his instructions.

DAM, formally Powow, is a race that I've done many times. As I've written in the past, it was the first race of my career back in 2007 and as such, I enjoy returning to the course whenever possible. The race has had issues, but it allows me to remember that first race. Sometimes it's easy to lose sight of why we get into the sport; it's easy to let your aspirations for the future overshadow the past. This race reminds me that I got into the sport to have fun and test my limits. Racing here allows me to rethink that first race and thinking back to the 2007 version of this race allows me to refocus in the present. Refocusing forces me to make sure that I'm continuing to enjoy the sport while finding new ways to push myself forward. 

A shot from my first race in 2007! No clue what I was doing, but I looked the part!

In 2012 I had a fantastic day at DAM. I finished second to Ethan Brown and put down one of the top times in the race's history (though, admittedly, these things are difficult to judge as course conditions/distances change from year to year. MUCH more to come on that in just a second!). With that in the back of my mind, I was hopeful for another breakthrough performance in 2013.

The day got off to a decent start in the water. From the gun I headed to the front and tried to break away early. I was largely successful, though found myself sharing the lead with one other swimmer. The first 300 meters were completely uneventful as we simply separated from the rest of the elite pack. By the first buoy, though, a gap had developed and I found myself being dropped. Getting left behind is never a good feeling, but there are times when there isn't anything you can do about it. Rather than panic, I decided to simply limit my losses. I knew my swim speed was lacking due to the time I'd spent out of the water during our honeymoon (in addition to the time I was limited by having bronchitis just before the wedding). That in mind, I decided against sprinting to regain the feet of first place. Instead I settled into a comfortably hard pace, confident in my ability to make up the ground later in the race. By the final turn buoy I'd been caught by the leader in the women's race. I took a few breaths to my off side to see who it was. I quickly realized it was Sonja Kent, 2012 Sprint National Champion, and did my best to make my way to shore with her.

 

Out of the water in near perfect position

Within the first mile of the bike I had overtaken the overall lead in the race. I'd managed to pass the leader of the men's race first and shortly after, Sonja. The speed at which I went by both gave me confidence that I could put serious time into everyone else in the race if I played my cards right. Stephen had urged me to be smart on the bike and not overcook things early. Following his advice, I raced within my limits and kept from blowing up before setting foot on the run course. I continued to make up serious time on the competition and was doing so in a way that set me up well for the overall win. 

Back in transition, I shed my bike and took off with time to spare. Eileen was able to relay word that I had more than minute - and was approaching two - on the competition. She'd not yet seen the second biker enter transition by the time I was out of the park and on the roads. Perfect. 

I ran smart. And semi-fast. But mostly smart.

The course is generally up hill on the way out and downhill on the way back. Knowing that I'd have a chance to judge my gap to second place at the turnaround allowed me to settle in at around 6:10/mile. I'd like to run under 6:00/mile, but I wasn't sure I could hold that pace given the wedding/honeymoon/huge training block trifecta so I backed of slightly to ensure that I didn't blow up and miss out on a win. It's much better to run thirty seconds slow than go out hard and lose two minutes on the return trip.

As I hit the turnaround at the top of the hill (a turnaround that was at least 300 meters further this year than last, but consistent with all the other years I've done the race), I saw that I had a mile lead on second place. That's an absolutely massive gap in a sprint event. Pleased with my lead, I was also happy to see that a Fit Werx teammate was in second and right behind him another was leading the women's race. High fives were exchanged with both as I marched on to the finish, a win, and a paycheck. 

The remainder of the race played out in a somewhat anti-climactic fashion. I enjoyed the applause and cheers as I made my way toward the finish. I made sure to soak in the moment as winning is rare. Most people will never experience how it feels to win a race and I was determined to take 10 seconds and enjoy things. And I did. I appreciate the support that the crowd gave me throughout the day and did my best to thank them with a few waves and a couple of thanks. They continued to cheer and congratulate me as I went back out to cool down for a few miles. This time I had a chance to slow down and thank each person that took the time to seek me out. 

I was able to enjoy the next few hours with Eileen, my dad, and with many of my Fit Werx teammates. The team dominated the overall podium and took home a great deal of hardware in the age group divisions as well. All around, it was a great day for the shop and its athletes. I appreciated the opportunity to race alongside my friends and was thrilled to win on behalf of the shop.

Hanging out with the rest of the Fit Werx crew during the awards ceremony

Thirty six hours post race I was still feeling pretty good about my effort. To win a race off your wedding and honeymoon while in the middle of a massive training block is an accomplishment. Then I was notified that my name appeared in a local newspaper because of the race. "Great," I thought. "I always like to see my name and picture in an article."

Then I read the article. Oh. My. God. It was brutal. The author went out of his way to absolutely slaughter my win. Apparently I'm a third rate amateur and it's shocking that I managed to finish the race, let alone win the thing. The fact that I was able to cross the line on my own two feet is astonishing. And the fact that nobody managed to pass me in that 1 hour, six minutes and 16 seconds is just unbelievable. According to him, had any legitimate athlete actually decided to enter the race, I probably would have finished near the back of the pack. Not only did I manage to win with the worst time in the history of the race, but I was not available to speak him afterwards about my utterly pathetic effort. Honestly, I was torn apart by this guy who hadn't even taken 6 seconds to look for me after the race. I mean how hard am I to find!? My race suit has my name plastered on the chest and the butt! And I sat in the finishing chute for more than six minutes waiting for the next finisher. I was there for a full two and a half hours after the finish of the race! Just standing around! To say that I was not available is absurd. The author should be ashamed of his complete inability to do his job. 

While butchering me, the author decided to to hit on a few of the race's flaws. In doing so he mentioned how a few athletes were sent off course (which, sadly, is incredibly common at this race and something that needs immediate attention). And, according to him, had this not happened the outcome of the event would have been much different (and perhaps we would have had a deserving winner). Really, guy? I put minutes on everyone else before anyone was sent off course. Had you actually talked to anyone, including the athletes it happened to, you would have known that things were wrapped up by the time that mistake occurred. I did talk to them and they confirmed that I was long gone before anyone took a wrong turn.

Had this joke of a news man actually talked to me he would have learned that the swim was a full 2 minutes slower than a year ago while the run was a solid 90 seconds longer. Would I have bested my time from last year had things been measured the same across the two years? No. I was slightly slower this year - maybe 20-45 seconds in total. But instead of providing some context to the race he saw fit to simply explain away the performance by demeaning unworthy of a champion.

Now that all that off my chest, I'm moving on. It was a tiny article in a tiny newspaper/website. It's not something worth carrying with me for too long. It was frustrating and aggravating to read, but it's not worth losing sleep over. So I won't. But I will, on those really hard training days, remember that someone out there doubts me. And with that I'll pick up the pace, finish my session, and become a better athlete as a result.

Whew! Moving on...

I'll be back in action this coming Sunday when I race in Lowell. After that I'll be back with another report and, of course, with a long overdue second-by-second accounting of our wedding!

As always, thanks for reading!