Ironman Kansas 70.3 - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The day prior officials had announced that the water temp was 81 degrees, but somehow things worked out for a race day temp of 77.5 degrees. So wetsuit it is. I positioned myself up front in the middle. I wanted to be up front but I was also looking to avoid as much contact as possible in order to keep my heart rate from skyrocketing in efforts to out maneuver others at the start. I did this pretty successfully, in fact, the start was probably the least complicated part of the swim and I found myself in front of my wave and clean water.

The difficult part came from dodging the different waves that lied out in front of me for the last 3/4 of the swim. A lot more arm and leg collisions here. On the way back to shore I choose to swim to the wrong next buoy and I ended up completely veering off course - cost me some time here. All things considered this was a pretty smooth swim; good pull stroke through the water and a good pace without overly exhausting myself.

Site better, or better yet find someone from my wave to draft off of and lead me through the masses.

What a disaster of a transition. This was anything but fast. First, as I was running to my bike my cap and goggles slipped out of the sleeve of my wetsuit and by the time I realized it I had to run back about 50 yards to go pick them up off the ground. Then I completely lost my way to my bike. I looked like a lost fool in T1. Once I did get to my bike things were pretty standard but I spent way too much time in T1

Hold on to cap and goggles; know where my bike is and not *think* I know.

Going into this bike I was pretty fearful. I biked the course once before and it kicked my butt (for various reasons I would later conclude) and I was just hoping not to experience this again, not today. So, for me, this ride was going to be about playing a little defense with just a touch of conservatism. I knew the course well and I knew it was a mix of hillyness and flatness, I also had a more proper nutrition set-up.

Early on, if I was climbing up a hill and I felt like I may be pushing it too hard too soon I backed off a tad. And this seemed to work well for me in the end. Around mile 30 there was an oil spill on the road with a mandatory dismount. Many people commented on how nice it was to change body positions and get off the bike. I took advantage of it by running by a large group of people as they casually walked. As the leg segment went on I found myself having a great time out on the course, a sharp contrast to last time. Even on the long hill climbs I was doing just fine. On two of the hills there was one guy who kept popping up on the side of the rode throwing out encouragement for everyone suffering up the hills. Each time I passed him I slapped him a high-five and flashed a smile. I couldn't believe I how well I was feeling, all things considered (i.e. muscle twinges in my legs and tiredness), and I had a good chance of breaking 3hrs on the bike. As I rode into transition I flashed a big smile and a thumbs-up to my wife.

Be more competitive and ride with a little less fear.

A long run to the back of transition with my bike. I took a little longer than what I would've liked getting my bike shoes off and my socks on and but I'll take it.

Be a little more efficient.

To start I had a pretty good pace going for me. I was still reeling from a good bike split so I was doing just fine to start, but I decided early on that I would walk aid stations to get some rest in. Because of the course set up there were a lot of people put into a small space, but I didn't mind; I ended up seeing a lot of familiar faces out on the run. During a potty break I spotted lisac957 sporting her tutu and wand coming out of the restroom as I was coming in. I wished her luck as I went on to take care of business.

As the run went on I became more exhausted and found myself walking more than I wanted - something that seemed so un-me. In monitoring my overall time I tried not to use the excuse that I could "afford to walk," but eventually it became unavoidable. When I was running my running pace was pretty solid but I was hurting. The last three miles ended up being painful - every muscle in my body was seizing up and tightening. Just the act of putting a gel up to my mouth would cause my forearm muscle to tighten up into a cramped ball of pain. I would run a few 100 yards and then pull up in sharp pain as my hamstrings and quads would ball up. Gels, Gatorade and the salt packet only provided temporary relief - maybe 30 secs before the energy rush wore off and pain in my legs returned.

As I approached the finishers chute I was determined to run the whole way and fight the pain in my legs. Running with those cramps felt like marbles were rolling around my quads, hammies, and calves. But at the same time a lot of euphoria hit me as ran down the yellow bricked finish chute. I flashed a smile, slapped the Scarecrow a high five and raised my arms in the air as I crossed the finish line of my first 70.3.

Better nutrition? Coming off the bike I felt like I had done a great job on nutrition, in fact my stomach felt pretty full from what I had consumed. Maybe I need to experiment with salt tablets in the future. I also think I weenied out with the walking early on.

Immediately after I crossed the finish line my legs buckled from the cramps and I had an armed serviceman volunteer catch me and escort me down to get my finishers medal. I wish I could have taken more of the finish in, but I was too focused on staying on my own two feet.

I found my wife, downed a bottle of water and then found a kiddie pool full of ice water. I hopped in with some other athletes and enjoyed the what could only be described as pure heaven as I sat in the cold, refreshing water. I then hopped out and went to get some post race food. Solids didn't sound appealing at all so I passed on the pull-pork sandwich but I gobbled up as much orange wedges as I could get my hands on. I don't think there could've been a more perfect food for me at the time.


A below average month of May training. My real life schedule got in the way all month and limited many of my chances to get my last few long bike and run sessions in. Perhaps nutrition, but I'm a rookie at this distance, so we'll learn from this race and move on.


A great race. For the most part I liked the course and the volunteers were numerous and fabulous. It was pretty cool to run through the campgrounds with the many of the campsites playing music and cheering you on.