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 Swim
Comments: The swim was a standing start, about knee deep so we ran a bit before diving in. I'm a bit slower in non-wetsuit swims compared to the fish so I knew the fast guys would be quite a few minutes ahead coming into transition. Our wave was mean 40+ and by the looks of things the top three overall finishers were in our group. This was a mediocre swim for me and I'm not in my best swim shape which didn't help. In years past I'd be a few minutes ahead of Bently but his swim has improved over the last year. He was right here with me after lap 1 and only about 10 seconds behind me coming out of the water. What would you do differently?: Nothing really.  Transition 1
Comments: Took a few seconds to get the swim skin off but nothing major. I never saw Bently in transition but he's much quicker than I, most people are anyhow so I figure I'd see him on the back leg of the run. What would you do differently?: Nothing  Bike
Comments: I started the bike knowing I had some work to do with the fish already on their way. I figured my best shot was to just go hard on the bike and try to get some distance on as many as I could heading into to run and just try to hold on. Lap 1 went pretty well, at least I didn't feel tight in the legs like the last race. I powered up the climbs as well as I could and tried to stay in turtle shrug mode as much as possible. I got passed by no one but the two faster riders were already ahead of me. The riders from the sprint race were already out on the course when I hit lap 2 so a lot of passing going on there. I felt as though lap 2 was faster than the first lap but it was actually 14 seconds slower. Must have been the climbs the second time around, I thought I hit the flats and slight dowhills faster. Coming into T2 I caught up to Kevin so I figured at that point my bike split must have been pretty good, I figured he beat me out of the water by at least 3 minutes or so. I ended up with the 3rd fastest bike split of the day, 1st and 2nd fastest bike splits were accomplished by number 1 and 2 overall of course. What would you do differently?: Not much, I rode to my ability. Looking at some race photos I think I'll take a look at my fit/talk to my fitter. Transition 2
Comments: Typical T2 for me. What would you do differently?: Nothing, just have to practice.  Run
Comments: Legs were a little tight as I started running through transition towards the run exit, Mark (the starter) yelled out "go catch Kevin" for which was not going to happen. I wasn't sure how many were ahead of me but I would eventually find out when the leaders made the turn at the 2.5 mile mark. I got water at the first aid station, skipped the second as I hydrated pretty well on the bike and I had some Hammer Perpetuem mixed in there as well. I finally saw the lead out biker with Jared behind him, WELL ahead of seconds place. A few minutes later I saw Bob with Bently right behind him. I figured Bently would have 2nd wrapped up as he would probably have the fastest run split of the day, and he did. I finally saw Kevin in the 4th position. There wasn't anyone between Kevin and I so at least I knew I was 5th overall in the 40+ group. But a minute or so after the turn I saw a couple what looked to be younger guys looking pretty solid. Then a few seconds later a third. Two of them and maybe a third eventually passed me as I was trotting along at my 7:45 pace. I didn't have a gadget for the run but was told it was one to two tenths of a mile long. I was able to hold that pace to the finish, nothing spectacular but my last run before that was my 10K run split 6 days prior at USAT nationals. I was glad it was over! What would you do differently?: Nothing, ran to my current ability and wasn't pushed by any in my AG near the finish, they were all too far ahead... Post race
Warm down: Cross the finish line, got my finishers medal and went over to congratulate Kevin, Bently, Jared and Jeff on his sprint race. I saw Debbie and Cecilia congratulated them as well. Here's a link to the news report telling a little about their day, very inspiring. http://fox4kc.com/2015/08/16/mom-teams-up-with-11-year-old-daughter... What limited your ability to perform faster: Well, my run volume has been quite low this year, also swimming to a lesser extend. I've been doing a lot more riding, but more on the road bike and maybe once a week on the time trial. So more riding this year but not optimal for triathlon performance. Event comments: A very well organized race and everything was on time. Kudos to Barry Ogden/Elite Cycling and nice work by Mark Horn our starter/event coordinator. There were just the right amount of volunteers out there so everything went like clockwork from what I could tell. I still wish there was some chocolate milk at the finish. No age group awards was a minor downside but there were only 109 in the long course to top 3 overall seemed to make sense. It would be nice to change the distances to true Olympic. The website states 40K as the bike distance but it turns out to be just over 23 miles. Just a couple of minor comments but still the race is a great event and I highly recommend it. Profile Album Last updated: 2015-07-08 12:00 AM
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United States
Jackson County Triathlon
80F / 27C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 9/109
Age Group = M45-49
Age Group Rank = 3/14
Woke up at 5:15, Made a PB&J sandwich, packed stuff, out the door by 5:45. Race was only 30 minutes away so wanted to get there around 6:15 to get a decent transition spot.
The racks closest to the bike exit were still only half full so I ended up with a good location. I run in cleats so I only had to travel about 50 feet or so to the bike mount line. Talked to Kevin and Jeff for a bit, with Kevin there I knew I'd finish no better than 2nd in AG as he'd be a few minutes ahead of me on the swim and even if I caught him on the bike, he'd run me down, especially given my current run fitness.
One last trip to the porta-potty, took a bit longer than I had anticipated so warmup swim was not going to happen. Walked down to the beach, put my skin suit on then saw Bently so now I knew I'd be fighting for 3rd in AG. The water was about 81 degrees so warmer than the air temperature, at least for the moment.
Our starter played the national anthem via boom box sitting on the lifeguard chair, not elegant but you make do with what you have.
The first "wave" was Debbie and Cecilia and this other male athlete, not sure of his story. Debbie Niemann pulls her 11 year old daughter, Cecilia who has Cerebral Palsy 750 meters on an inflatable raft, then pulls her 12 miles on the bike, then pushes her for the 5K run. I've seen Debbie and Cecilia at a half dozen times at local races as well as races like Hy-Vee. I love Debbie she's always smiling and she's such in inspiration.