Ironman Kansas 70.3 - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Overall very good swim for my first 1.2 mile swim. I breathe to the left so I was looking in the sun on the way to the first turn bouy but my Kayenne goggles did a great job reducing the glare. I veered off course about mid way to the first turn and lost some time...need to sight more. Very smooth swim with limited bumping...much less than at the KC tri,

I would sight more often and add more kick to the swim.

I did not run to the bike as I wanted to keep my HR from spiking too much. I was able to quickly remove the upper part of the wet suit and the goggles and cap stayed in the sleeve...i love the Desoto 2 piece!!! I removed the bottom of the wet suit, put my socks and road shoes on, put my belt on, and them my Desoto arm coolers. The arm coolers took my the longest to put on and cost me a couple seconds but I love the cooling effect of these on the bike. Definitely recommend these.

I may push the run to and from the bike rack but with this being my first 1/2 I wanted to be cautious.

Nice steady ride...My goal was to average 3 hours for the ride to make sure I had some energy to run the 1/2. I took in 3 20 oz bottles of Gu (Blueberry Pom), one cliff bar (Chocolate brownie), one margarita Cliff block, and two shots of Chocolate Hammer gel. I also took water and all aid stations and took a small drink, poured water over my head, and on my arm coolers. I was able to maintain a steady pace until the BP oil spill. I dismounted at the same time a guy crashed to my right. He looked ok...but someone's aero bottle flew off in the process. But when I remounted the bike I tweeked my right hip. I was able to power through the pain but worried about the run....i did not practice my T1.5 in my training. I was happy with my split...knowing I could have pushed the pace more but wanted to finish the race!

Good transition..started to wait for the bathroom but then decided to start running!

Run with the arm coolers and eat off of the course...i had two Cliff Blocks in my back pockets that bounced around.

Decent run considering this was only my 2nd 1/2 marathon ever. I kept to my strategy and walked each aid station, popped 1 cliff block square every 2 miles, and used sponges to keep my cool during the run. I also grabbed a small piece of banana during the middle of the run along with a sip of coke...which helped my power through the run. I also grabbed ice at each aid station and ran with the ice cup sipping each piece of ice...this helped with the run and keeping my mind off of the pain. I made one bathroom stop down by the lake and about passed out in the hot porta potty....glad I escaped with my life!!! I saw Andy Potts going down to T1 to pick up his gear...and yelled "Go Blue" since he is Michigan man. He yelled back and said "Go Blue -Keep it up" which was a nice motivator facing that 2nd hill. I was able to push up the final hill without walking which was a good feeling since most people were walking at that time. I was happy with the run...and happy to finish and get my medal from Chrissie.

Leave the extra cliff blocks at T2....

Minimal warm down...grabbed 2 waters, coke, and potato chips. Saw the family and enjoyed some down time in the campground prior to leaving at around 3:30pm.


Confidence and run stamina....my goal was to finish without having to walk the 1/2 marathon (except for the aid stations) and I accomplished this. What an awesome day....


Awesome race..the only downside was the spectator parking was a disaster in the morning and was challenging for my wife to get to the race with the 3 kids.