Ironman Kansas 70.3 - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Well what can I say...this went about as well as I could expect for my swimming ability (or lack thereof) and since this was my first OWS of 2010 and my first time wearing my wetsuit...once the race got started it probably took me 500 yards until I was able to settle down and relax and stop hyperventilating out there. After getting caught up in a big pack and getting kicked and my legs grabbed I had a hard time relaxing, Once things got thinned out I was able to relax and swim like I do when I'm at the Y, For the most part the swim felt pretty good. As I was exiting the water attempting to remove my wetsuit on the run, I managed to yank the string from my zipper and couldn't reach the zipper to take it down and had to ask somebody to help me out (otherwise I'd had to bike in my wetsuit!).

Practice open water swims PRIOR to race day.

Once I got out of the water I grabbed the string attached to my wetsuit zipper to pull it down, but instead it decided to break off. I couldn't pull the zipper down by myself and had to find somebody to help me. This I think really put a kink into my T1 time.

Despite the hills of Lawrence I managed to do much better than I expected on the bike (I even got it up to 40 mph on one of the downhills!...a max speed for me!). I actually felt really good on the up hills and managed to pass quite a few people (which then passed me on the downhill)...maybe I used too much energy cranking up the hill because I started feeling some fatigue around mile 40 something and thought that was a bad sign since I still had the run coming up. I think I hammered the ride way too hard because by the time I got to T2 I felt zapped of energy and had nothing left to give for the run.

Ride more. Maybe relax more on the bike and try to save my legs for the run.

I pretty much felt defeated while riding into T2 and wasn't ready to endure the run since I had already hit the "wall." I took my time taking off my shoes and putting on my socks and racing flats. I realized as I was putting on my shoes that I left my body glide and sunscreen in T1. My neck and back were already getting roasted by the sun and I needed to reapply sunscreen, but couldn't.

The run (which I was looking forward to most prior to the race) turned out to be the most disappointing and hardest for me. By the time I got off the bike I had hit the wall. Usually in a marathon I hit it around mile 22, but today I hit it with 13.1 miles to got. Every step was just brutal for me. I looked forward to every water station just so I could walk through it and take my time. I really felt dead out there during this point of the race. I was putting ice down my tri suit, dumping cold water on my head, and doing just about everything I could think of to wake up and get going, but nothing seemed to help me for very long. Overall I am very pleased with my first Ironman 70.3 experience and learned quite a bit out there. I also managed to beat my goal time and finished in 5:28:39! I set a goal time of 5:59:59 for myself, but I really secretly wanted to get under 5:30 (which I did). I think that if I hadn't of bonked out there I could have easily knocked 10-15 minutes off my run time, but hey, I'm still pleased.

Not bonk.

Met Crissy Wellington and my wife (she was a volunteer) at the finish line. Got a hug from both of them. Drank some water, walked to the shade to (what felt like then) to die.


Lack of experience / decisions on the course.


I really enjoyed my first Ironman 70.3 experience. The race kicked my butt, but I was pleased that I beat my goal time.