Jackson County Triathlon - Long Course - Triathlon

I was lined up far left next to a swimmer with about the same ability as I (Scott). A better swimmer (Dave) was near the middle so I expected him to take the front of thise wave. I think our swim wave was all men 40+

Start was a little crowded at first, a lot of guys swimming hard that first few hundred. A little bumping around plus I nearly swam over a guy that was coming at a hard angle from my left, plus going much slower. Finally got into a groove to where I could take longer strokes and decrease the cadence a little. Going out Scott and I bumped each other a few times as we were taking the same line. I don't really think about drafting on my swims, I just swim. I like to control my own speed and I remember trying to draft once but that person slowed down too much and I had to pass him.

Near the end of the first lap I caught the wave in front of us so had to sight a bit more. Then on the 2nd lap I had to sight even more, due to even heavier traffic. When I came out of the water I could sense someone behind me and I figured it was Scott. I quickly ran up the beach as I wanted to be #1 in the swim even though I knew he would beat me out of transition, not to mention school me on the bike.

Yep, 1st in AG on the swim, 6th overall (might be 4th OA as two of those swim times look suspiciously one lap short).

Some have speculated the swim to be long. It might have been by 100-200 yards but not much more than that. You'll never hear me complaiining about a swim benig too long.

Swallow less water

For me this was a good transition. Peeled the wetsuit bottoms off fairly quickly, got helmet and sunglasses on pretty smoothly. This would normally take me a couple minutes so I'm getting a little faster at transitions. Now once past the timing chip line I did have trouble clipping in. I just recently went from Mavic to Shimano 105 pedals/cleats and I'm not so quick at clipping in yet.

???

An "just O.K." bike for me. I felt as if I were riding at a PR pace but turns out I was two minutes slower than this same exact ride two years ago. I think conditions were very similar. I don't remember wind being a factor in either ride. Of course the swim two years ago was 19 minutes shorter than this years. I did have some back pain on the 2nd laps so had to sit up for a few minutes a couple of times. That added a little time due to the poorer aerodynamics and reduced pedaling effort I suppose. I'm also thinking the "light" workout the day before may have been so light. I rode a little more than 11 miles on the mountain bike on the m/u trails but wasn't exactly lolligaggin' either. Think I averaged 15 mph with those huge knobby tires and such. Then I ran which seemed like an effortless 2.6 mile run but ended up at 8:23 pace but during the run it felt like 9:00 pace.

Oh yeah, then there's my diet......Never Mind .......

The ride itself was pretty free of any drama. On the first lap this dude on a road bike, probably 50 lbs lighter than I, would pass me on the uphills, then I'd get down in aero on the flats and pass by him. We please leapfrom for a while but once I got to the downhill section where I hit 45 mph, I never saw him again. The only other interesting thing happening on the bike was when I made the turn from Raytown Rd. into the park, there was this lady and her two kids riding 3 wide on the road in front of me. Was she not aware a race was happening? I veered left and shouted "there's a race going on, might want to ride single file to the right". I didn't see a race official or volunteer there. Could have been dangerous had a group of riders coming in.

Much easier or no workout at all the day before.

Again, a good transition for me.

Huh?

Legs felt tight. Thought they'd loosen up after a mile or so, Nope. When you come out of transition, short course goes right, long course left and saw a few go right but none left. Then for the first 1 mile or so I saw nobody ahead and nobody behind me. I knew this was the right way, I was wondering of others ran the wrong way. After I passed the first aid station, which was about the 1 mile mark, I couild hear the volunteers talking to one or two runners so I knew I was being reeled in. After another mile or so I finally saw the leaders coming back the other way. I was in heat #2 and heat #1 started 5 minutes prior so I was expecting the fast guys by this time.

Finally saw Pete and not too far behind him was Mark. Not too far behind them was Scott who I knew would be 1st or 2nd in our AG. After the turnaround there was this beautiful blonde young women wearing a white dress. She was just walking along side the trail carrying a book. I wasn't expecting that during my run this day. As I passed her I could help but say "Now you're a bit of sunshine on a tough race day". That's the best I could come up with given the short notice. I know, I've gotta work on that!

Legs started to have cramping sensations at about mile 3 so I had to fold back a bit the last few miles. No hard charge to the finish this day.

O.K. so the run wasn't my best but it was faster than the same exact run two years prior. My run training has been dismal, only 10 mpw for the last few months so I can't expect much better results.

Come up with a better line for cute blonde woman.....

Came across the finish line, got my glass beer mug and T-shirt, saw Pete drinking a MIchelob Ultra, went to grab my own. Chit-chatted with Pete, Scott, Mark among others. Put the bike on the rack then came walked back to transition to watch the awards and hope they pick my number in the drawing ....Nada of course.


Many things ......


This turned out to be a smaller race than I had expected. Two years ago there were 250 people in the long course race, this year only 148. Of course two years ago they did not have a 5150 and a new Kansas Triathlon, both costing more for race entry than this race. Who knows....

I did like the beer mug in lieu of a finishers medal.