Ultramax Kansas 50 - TriathlonLong Course

This swim was not very fun for me. I did ok, and am happy with my performance based on my level of training (not much), but as always, there is a lot of room for improvement. It started out all right - I seeded myself appropriately (in the BACK), so I didn't get bumped around at all, and I felt pretty strong. But maybe 300M in, when I got past the little protected cove area, the waves really picked up. I'm pretty sure it was due to the high wind. Every time I would breath to my right I had to turn waaaay back, so as not to get water in my mouth. Breathing to the left was fine though. I tried my best to stay on course, but I seemed to be way off the right always... even though I rounded the two far bouys perfectly, I was very far off the others. I couldn't figure that out, because I thought I'd been sighting pretty well, but when I'd really place myself I was definitely away from the main area. I was one of the last people out of the water.

Take swimming lessons, and train more

It's T1.

I have to start this section with a little (ok, long) rant. I'm a detail-oriented person, and this stuff bothers me. In my opinion, the race organizers did a very poor job of communicating the bike course info. The maps that they had on the website indicated different directions for the course, so I sent an email to the generic email address, and got back a response from a lady that said the loops were clockwise.
Then a few days before the race, the RD sent out an email saying the course was changed, and attached a new map, which clearly indicated clockwise loops, but then there was a note at the bottom that said "Kansas 50 racers will do the loops counter-clockwise." ok..... is it just me, or when you send out a "clarifying" email, shouldn't it be, uh... clear??? Honestly, until I actually reached the turn point - during the race - I wasn't sure which direction the course was going to go.

And every single map they used showed us taking Columbia Rd (a slight variation off the north end of Old KC road), which is gravel. But they didn't actually want us to turn there. Since there were no signs there either way, I think everybody just stayed on the paved road, which I guess works out in the end... but it bothers me that it's "the racer's responsibility" to know the course, but then they put incorrect maps out there. Not very professional, in my book. And that actually takes the course up to 43.3 miles. This is what my Cateye said, and I just mapped it out here on BT too (I'm very particular about my cycling metrics!), and whaddya know, it's exactly 43.3 miles. :P

Ok, one last thing: Since the last-minute change was apparently to the direction of the course, that means the lady that emailed me a couple weeks ago actually had given me the wrong information at the time. :(
Seriously, I am not impressed with this organization. But I suppose I should get over it, and actually write about my race! (Anyone still reading? I promise I'm not usually so negative!)


I tried really hard to do well on this bike. I felt strong from the beginning, and pushed myself, not slacking on any hills, keeping my cadence up, etc. I was doing really well, and had averaged 20.1 mph until we hit the south turn onto Old KC Road. That's when we hit the headwind. Despite this road being largely downhill, my average speed had fallen to 19.1 by the time we got back to Harmony Rd. I managed to work my way back up to 19.5 by the time I hit Old KC Road again, but that was it for me. The winds were just too strong. I don't know exactly how strong they were, but it felt very much like the day before (when it was 20 mph sustained). The worst part was Lake Road back to the park - I think I averaged maybe 13? for this section. It was miserable; I was so hot by then, and I'd run out of fluids a few miles back. There was only one water stop, that you would hit each loop, and when there two people there the first time around, I was able to pick up a water bottle, but on the second loop, there was only one kid - all alone, and I dropped the bottle as he handed it to me, and I wasn't going to stop. Poor kid, he must've been overwhelmed all by himself.

Race nutrition:
2 endurolytes & one GU at beginning of bike, then one endurolyte every half hour, and a GU every 45 min. Drank 1 gatorade and two bottles of water

hmmm... I wish it hadn't been so hot or windy, and that they'd had more people at the aid station... but those elements are kind of out of my hands! I wouldn't change anything about my personal ride - I put forth a solid effort, and am happy with my performance.

It's T2.

I was really not looking forward to this run. It was pushing 100* by this point, and I was definitely feeling it. But I was going to finish! I left transition right behind a lady named Kristen that was racked next to me, and who I'd talked to before the race. She seemed to have a pace going similar to what I wanted to do, so I paced her for about a mile, then ended up passing her. Around 2.5 miles in, there was a short steep hill covered in rocks. I was like "I'm walking this sucker!" and then kept walking a little bit, and Kristen caught up and joined me. We kind of decided to run the rest of the race together then. She was a huge morale boost. We stopped at all the aid stations to dump ice down our tops and towards the end were stuffing it up our tri shorts as well to help the hammys (my left one was hurting the whole time).

The best thing about the run was that there were aid stations every mile, and the volunteers there were wonderful! But I was surprised and a little disappointed to see that all they had were water, HEED, ice, oranges, Endurolytes, and HammerGels. I am not a HEED fan, but made myself drink it the last few miles. I took 2 gels on this run, and ate a lot of oranges. I saw Lisa, Pete, and Ken from BT on the run course, and my other friends Casey & Kathy and Tri coach Ryan out on the run. It was always nice to see somebody - a distraction from the sufferfest. This run was really HARD - besides the miserable heat, my feet were killing me for the last four miles. I don't think I would have finished so well without Kristen's company - she was very positive & encouraging the whole time. As it was, there were only 143 finishers for this race, and when I had checked the registration list the night before the race, there were around 340 signed up. Yeah.

Not much I could do differently. I guess since I was still standing at the end, and feeling somewhat decent, that I could've pushed myself more, but I'd probably be regretting it now.

Stretched a little, walked around, there wasn't very much to do. I talked to Kristen some more, and then cheered Lisa in. We all sat around under the tent and tried to cool off a little. I had a water and a turkey wrap and some chips. After a while, we just went and got our stuff, and walked back to the car. Pretty anti-climactic, really.


Heat and wind


I think I've ranted enough about this race already - if you're interested read the whole race report.
There were a lot of things I'd change if I were running this race (start earlier, have more drinks for the bike (I heard they actually ran out on the second loop), have a little more variety @ aid stations on the run. But that being said, I think the main detractor of this race was the heat. And it's not like you can really control that, but the first week of August is pretty much always the hottest of the year here, so I guess it's to be expected. I had a fun time at the race, but mostly because I got to hang out with Lisa and Kristen.
I really like the distance of this race, and I expect it will go smoother next year (this is the inagural year after all), but I don't know if I'll do it again or not. Just too darn hot this time of year.