Ironman Kansas 70.3 - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The day prior to the race, it was announced the water temp. was 81 degrees (not wetsuit legal). However, they were planning rechecking the temperature at 4 a.m. to determine the final ruling. The next morning they announced the water temperature was 77.5 degrees (78 degrees is the limit). Against my better judgement, I decided to wear the wetsuit. This was a poor decision since the warmer water combined with the wet suit made me overheat.

Overall swim has improved from last year (more confidence and spent more time doing free), however, I'm still not satisfied. My sighting wasn't the best, I overheated in the wetsuit, and spent more time than I'd like doing breast stroke.

I am happy with the swim.

Open water swimming is more mental than physical because you cant see where you are going. I'd work more on mental toughness and sighting when needed, not all the time.

Spent more time in T1 than I thought or liked. Dont really know where all the time went. My stuff was scattered and kicked everywhere and I did pack my swim gear into the bag to be transported to T2. I also remember waving at Bripod and Brynn as I was getting ready. Thinking back on it, I can see where some of the time went.

Focus more at the task on hand.

Biking is my weakest link, however, I'm very satisfied with the pace and the job that Ferb did. He came through. His response (especially going up hills) is truly amazing. Not to mention, my back feels so much better after riding him than P.O.S. (Piece of Schwinn).

Typical bike ride for me, more people passed me than I passed. I did enjoy every single mile though. My nutrition was dead on. I ate a gel every 45 minutes, ate granola bars at miles 20 and 45, and drank 3 bottles of Gatorade. I also coasted down the hills to conserve energy.

Speaking of Gels.....The night before when I was getting my gear ready, I realized I forgot my Gels at home. Naturally being 11:00 at night, I couldn't go buy any at the expo. I found one in my gear bag and began the race with that. At every bike aid station, I made sure I grabbed as many as I could while whizzing by (I didn't stop). After having them every 45 minutes on the bike and at miles 4 and 9 on the run, I ended with one left over. I thought this was kind've funny.

Only two exciting things happened on the ride. There was an oil spill on the highway near mile 30. We had a mandatory dismount to ensure our safety. Also, around mile 52 or 53 there was a cyclist being loaded on a stretcher into an ambulance and she had a neck brace on.

Very happy with the bike. Averaged over 18 mph and back felt good getting off the bike.

Don't forget my gels. I would've liked to focus more on biking than slowing down at aid stations to get as many gels as I could.

Over shot my rack number and had to retrace about 5 feet. I also had issues racking my bike because my aero bottle got into the way. Bike shoes came off great and running shoes went on great, but when I knelt down to tie the shoes, my right thigh muscle began cramping. I stood up and it went away. Last minute, I decided to look through my bag for some salt tablets, but I left them at home also. Naturally, this wasted some precious time.

Not overshoot my rack and have everything ready to go.

For some odd reason, I didn't use the port a potties during transition. Instead, I used one before mile #1. This decision ate a couple of minutes into my run time.

Anyway, I was very happy with the overall run. I drank water at every aid station, dumped water over my head at every aid station, kept a good solid pace, saw my family, and kept seeing Jeremy and Shawn throughout the course (I even saw T.J., a classmates husband, at mile 6ish). I was also passing people left and right. I took gels at mile 4 and at mile 9.

The first 6 miles felt awesome. I loved it.

Miles 6-10 felt like a normal 1/2 marathon where it's more mental than anything.

Miles 10-13 sucked. My stomach was hurting and I was feeling funky.

I was extremely happy that I broke 2 hours for the run portion.

Use the port a potties during transition instead of on the run. Drink more Gatorade on the run (see below).

After the race, I felt like I had to puke and my head felt fuzzy. I thought I would pass out. After catching some of my bearings, I took an ice bath and drank some water. This helped, but I still was feeling weird.

After the ice bath, I went and talked with Jeremy as he was sitting in the shade. He was trying to cool down. Afterwards, he asked me to check on Shawn in the medical tent. Shawn was just getting off of a cot. He had bad stomach cramps during the run. After some ice on the stomach and drinkage, he felt better. I walked back to the camper because I was still feeling sucky.

After performing the Nixon test on myself, I determined I was extremely dehydrated. I sucked down Gatorade, ate Strawberries, and ate tons of chips and salsa. This knocked me back into shape.

After thinking about it, I lost to much sodium on the run. Even though I was drinking water and sucking on ice, it wasn't replenishing my elecrolytes. Usually when I run, I try to alternate between Gatorade and water at the aid stations. On this run, I drank all water and it came back to bite me. I'm just fortunate it didn't kick my butt harder.


Overheated on the swim, minimal training in the open water, lack of Gatorade on the run, and sloppiness in transition.


Overall I like this race. The ice bath rules. Plan to do them again, even if I have to make my own. Hills were challenging on the bike course and the ones on the run. I'm glad God gave me the strength and ability to finally compete in this race (since I hurt my back last year). I just praise God that he gave me the strength, ability, and desire to do this race. My goal for this race was 6:15-6:30. He gave me the ability to finish this race in 5:47:36. Totally awesome.