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Comments: After reading some other RR's and Facebook posts, I am so glad I wussed out and wore my wetsuit. The swim was difficult, but I never felt uncomfortable or panicked. I drank almost no lake water and really had no issues breathing whatsoever. I'm a right-only breather, so I was afraid I would have issues breathing on the return trip, but I got to where I could time the waves ok, and avoided any trouble. My navigation was pretty poor, even for me. I'm sure I added a few hundred extra yards to the distance. There were several spots where I would sight 3 or 4 times before I could find the next buoy. For some reason, I felt like there was a lot more contact in this race than I'm accustomed to. As a BOP swimmer, I'm used to everyone getting out in front of me, leaving me alone to thrash wherever I feel like. I guess the conditions must have evened the field a little because I was getting swam into and smacked for pretty much the entire 1.2 miles. I took it pretty easy, just wanting to feel ok coming out of the water. No matter what effort I expended, I wasn't going to be fast. Based on my recent performance at 5150 Kansas City, I had expected to finish the swim in about 50 minutes. I was under that, even with the chop, so I was pretty happy. What would you do differently?: Besides getting swimming lessons (which I've actually already started), pretty much nothing. I felt like my pace was about as good as I could do at my current level of ability without sacrificing later disciplines.  Transition 1
Comments: I decided before the race even started that I wasn't going to go crazy trying to cut seconds from transition. I fumbled with my wetsuit, put on socks, applied extra sunscreen, double checked that I had everything in my transfer bag. Pretty much everything short of having a picnic right there in T1. What would you do differently?: My only real mistake was that I somehow unbuckled my race number belt at the mount line while trying to adjust it. Pretty much everything else that made me slow was a conscious decision.  Bike
Comments: The wind ate me alive on the bike. I'm already a pretty weak cyclist. When you add 25-30 MPH winds to the mix, it's not likely going to be a good day for me. Luckily with my stock Felt TTR2 wheels, I felt pretty comfortable in the cross winds. I heard a few horror stories out there about issues with race wheels. I got a good shove every now and then, but I really didn't have any white knuckle moments. Watching my average pace fluctuate throughout the ride was amusing, yet disheartening. Miles 3 through 8 or so were my first taste of the headwinds, and I think my average speed was something like 15.3 MPH when I made the turn back to the West. And so it would go all day. Anytime I'd be heading South, my speed would plummet. Then I'd get to a section with cross winds or tailwinds and pick up the pace a little bit. That was until I got to the out-and-back section of the course at about mile 35. It was getting later in the day and the winds were really howling. The next ~4 miles were some of the hardest riding I have ever done. By the time I got to the turnaround, I was in no form to take advantage of the tailwind. I just spun lightly, let the wind carry me and tried to get my heart rate down. Once my heart rate settled down, I discovered my new problem. I really didn't have any legs left. Luckily I didn't need much. The course is almost flat, save for one large hill toward the end. I summoned everything I had left and got over the final hill, and pretty much coasted (except for climbing the rollers) for the last 6 miles. I was pretty happy with my nutrition on the bike. I took 5 salt stick capsules, drank about 100 oz of fluid, and had probably 400 calories in GU products (Chomps and Roctane gels). What would you do differently?: Train more? Really, at my current level of ability, I think I had about as good of a ride in those conditions as possible. Transition 2
Comments: I was in a bad place in T2. Pretty damn tired and extremely worried about how the run would go. My legs felt terrible getting off the bike. This all lead to me having a pretty solid "f*** it" attitude toward the transition. I took my time, changed socks, grabbed a couple of pulls off a Gatorade bottle, etc. What would you do differently?: PMA. I could have EASILY shaved a minute off this transition simply by staying motivated and moving with some purpose.  Run
Comments: I couldn't believe how quickly I got my running legs. Within a quarter mile of leaving T2, I was feeling pretty strong. Despite the fact that it was nearing 90 degrees, I didn't feel overheated. The ice at the aid stations saved my bacon. I would dump a cup of ice into my tri top at every aid station, and it really helped me keep my core temperature down. I started conservatively, walking through aid stations even though I felt reasonably strong. I would drink 2 cups of Perform at every station as well. At this point, I knew I had enough gas to finish. My concern was that I would start cramping up, so I tried to continue taking electrolytes whenever possible. I had planned to take at least 2 GU gels on the run. But with all the fluid I was taking in, my stomach didn't seem receptive to GU, so I skipped it. I had to take a pee break at "asphalt beach" around mile 2.5. It probably cost me 30-45 seconds, but I'm really glad I drank enough to require a pee break. I kept my pace pretty slow throughout the run. The last thing I wanted to do was bonk with multiple miles left to go. I knew the heat had the potential to get to me at any point, so I played it very conservatively. I continued to walk through aid stations all the way up until the end. The last few probably weren't necessary. My strength was fading a bit, but not overly bad. I finished with my arms in the air and a smile on my face. Volunteers and spectators were AMAZING. I've done a lot of running races and tri's in the last few years, and I've never felt like such a rock star. The campground was full of spectators with misters, hoses and water guns. What would you do differently?: Spend less time at some of the later aid stations. I think I finished with some gas in the tank. Post race
Warm down: I walked around aimlessly for a bit. Went into the athlete lounge and discovered I had zero interest in food. Gathered my things and headed home as quickly as possible so I could help my very patient wife with the kids. What limited your ability to perform faster: Heat, wind and lack of cycling power/endurance. Profile Album Last updated: 2012-06-11 12:00 AM
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United States
World Triathlon Corporation
90F / 32C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 558/1176
Age Group = M 30-34
Age Group Rank = 78/140
My first HIM, so I had a lot of trouble going to sleep. I'd say I finally crashed around midnight. I woke up at 3:30 AM. Had a bagel with peanut butter. My plan was to have a Clif Bar as well, but my nervous stomach wanted nothing to do with it. I threw the Clif Bar and a banana in the car, planning to eat in on the way to Lawrence, but I never felt like I wanted it. I was out the door by 4 AM.
I have made the trek to Clinton Lake a few times over the past few weeks checking out the course and getting checked in. I expected it to take about an hour from Olathe, but the lack of traffic at 4:30 AM made for a quicker trip than I expected. I arrived at Clinton State Park around 4:45 or so.
My timing was impeccable, as I was one of the last people parked along the road that encircles athlete parking, so I was literally as far away from T2 as possible. It's ok, the long walk gave me some time to think. Unfortunately, my thoughts were along the lines of "what the hell am I doing here".
Got T2 set up first. I left my TYR transition bag there, and carried everything else down to T1 in the "transport bag". Almost forgot a ton of stuff in T2. Nutrition, my swim watch, etc. Next time I do a 2 transition race, I'm segregating gear the night before.
I waffled all morning about what I would do if the swim wasn't wetsuit legal. I decided to take my wetsuit to T1 to give me some more time to think about it.
I then made the journey to T1, and got it all set up. I borrowed my neighbor's bike pump since I had forgotten mine in the car. He didn't seem all that excited to let me use it. Note to self: Remember bike pump next year.
I was still undecided about whether to HTFU and go sans-wetsuit, or swim in the wetsuit wave. I was in the 3rd to last wave anyway, so it wasn't going to be much different. I didn't see too many people carrying around wetsuits, and that had me worried. I finally decided that I'd probably have a better day all around if I wore it. I knew I'd be several dozen AG spots away from worrying about Vegas, so that didn't matter.
I stood near the swim start for a while and changed my mind. I came to the race to challenge myself, and wearing the wetsuit was a copout. I started to make my way back into transition to drop off my suit, and I heard a staff member tell someone that transition was closed. Oh well.
As I stood around longer, I felt fortunate that things had worked out that way. I'm not a good swimmer, and feeling comfortable would go a long way toward me finishing. Plus you could tell that the chop in the lake was increasing.
My only big pre-race mistake was that I forgot to grab my pre-race GU from transition. I didn't feel hungry, but I probably could have used a little boost right before the race.
None, except for the mile or so walk from my car to T1 (with a stop at T2 mixed in). I almost always run a mile or so before a race, but I knew I'd have plenty of time to warm up in the water. With the #1 goal being to finish, I wanted to conserve energy.