Ironman Kansas 70.3 - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Maybe the best swim I have ever had. Very relaxed throughout. Start was relatively calm compared to my start a couple weeks ago at the KC tri. It was actually more physical coming back in as we caught a TON of people in the AGs before us. Sighting was dead on- actually ran squarely into one buoy and brushed two others on my way by. Just kept my head down and swam and it was over very quickly. Got a little warm in my full suit, but nothing too terrible. Had hoped to break 40 minutes and was very excited to see 34 on my watch as I headed to my bike.

Nothing. This was as well as I am currently capable of swimming.

Didn't rush this, wanted to be sure I stayed calm for the long day ahead of me. I don't usually wear socks, but did today just to be safe. No sense being more uncomfortable than necessary just to save a few seconds. Had almost the farthest spot from the bike exit as possible. Got about halfway out and realized I forgot my number belt (which was required) so I had to go back for that- probably cost me a minute or so.

Put the belt inside my helmet so I can't miss it.

Rode really well for me. Resisted the urge to keep up with all of the smoking fast dudes that were blowing by me on the first half. Stayed within myself and made the turn around at mi. 25 @ 17.5mph. Stayed around that pace until about mile 35 then picked it up just a bit. Passed a ton of people that looked to be hurting pretty bad- this is a pretty hilly course and can really be punishing the last few miles if you go out too hard at the start. Bike started making an AWFUL noise at about mile 10 that sounded like I had a bad bearing in my bottom bracket, but I just tried to ignore it and hoped the thing didn't come apart. Came off the bike feeling really good.

Didn't know it at the time, but I came up well short on calories. I was using a flask for gels and had 2 full servings left in it at the end. Pretty sure this contributed to my very poor run.

Pretty good transition. Took my time, but was excited to get to what was supposed to be my best leg...maybe not.

Came off the bike feeling really good. Wanted to run the first few miles around 8:30 pace, but hit mile 2 @ 15:00...oops. Slowed down to 8:30 pace and started walking the aid stations as it was getting REALLY hot. Finished the first loop around 55 minutes, still on pace for an ok run, but was fading fast. It was about mile 7 that I absolutely crashed- had nothing left at all and felt like going to sleep! Started walking between aid stations and lost it mentally. It is kind of a blur from there to the finish. When I turned the corner to the finish I wasn't positive that I was going to make it to the line until I saw how excited my family was- that gave me just the boost I needed to get across the line.

Need more runs in the sun. Almost all of my training runs were done at night and I was not prepared for the heat. Need to fuel better on the bike as well. Most importantly though- don't underestimate how damn hard this event is. Gotta respect the run a little more.

Walked around, waited for a friend of mine to finish. Collected my things from T1 and T2. Drank a cooler full of beer!!


I'm going to chalk it up to inexperience. I think I had it in me physically to do better, but made a few mental errors. Left it all out there though.


This was quite an amazing experience. I had two goals for this race- finish and have a good time and both were accomplished.

My 4 year old daughter was telling me this afternoon about how awesome Chrissie was. That was cool. She told me she wanted to be able to swim as fast as Chrissie when she grows up. What a great role model.

BTW- anyone reading this planning to do the race in 2011- you should definitely camp at the race site. My family stayed in a hotel in town and said the traffic getting into the park was awful, but they also had to park a couple miles away. It was pretty nice just waking up and walking to set up.