Kansas City Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Normally swimming is my strongest event, however today was a near complete disaster. I started at the front, but it was very shallow for quite a ways out, maybe 30 yards, made for difficult swimming/running. Then once you got going the waves and the wind pushed you into towards the buoys, and that made for more difficult navigation. I drank so much lake water I actually started to sink at one point. Until I peed about three liters, then I floated back to the top. My stroke never felt good, and I couldn't seem to get my heart rate under control. This is very unusual for me with my swimming background. A lot of people got hauled in by the boats. Very disheartening to watch as we are waiting to start. I can't stress how cold the water was!

Practice more OWS, but I think today was just about survival. Not quite sure what I would do differently. The volunteers were great though out in the water, and were very helpful in pointing you along.

My T1 is a bit different as I had my wife meet me at waters edge with my prosthesis (its a leg). I crawled out of the water and slipped on my leg over my wetsuit, which was a great discovery that morning! Up until about 0645 I wasn't sure how T1 was actually going to work. So once I got to her I knelt on the bucket to get everything on and once the leg was secured, I ran up the hill like all the rest of the 'bipeds'.

Would like to work on getting on the bike smoother. I haven't practiced this all that much and need to work out a better system. There is always a bottle neck past the transition area, so being able to smoothly exit is a huge benefit.

I was just recovering on the bike and preparing for the run, which I knew was going to be hard. I have a tendency to go pretty hard on the bike, so with the run coming up I really tried to go easy. Overall I'm pretty pleased. Good course.

drink more and work on keeping upper body still during pedaling.

T2 went pretty smoothly. I walked about halfway just to get my heart rate down to a manageable level. Swapped shoes and got going in good shape.

work on a quicker dismount that allows me to maintain speed a little better.

Prosthesis felt good right off the bat, so I was pretty excited about that. Had to stop and pee at the 2mile marker, but afterwards was about three pounds lighter. Found my groove and was making pretty good time. Without my watch I had no idea how i was doing, but everything felt good. Began to cramp in my quads about the 2 1/2 mile mark, but that passed quickly. Once you break out of the trees you can hear people cheering and thats a huge boost.Volunteers at the water stops were great. Mostly high school kids, but they were very helpful.

Drink more during bike and then switch to gatoraide for the run to prevent the cramping. Go faster sooner and not be afraid to 'bonk' just before the finish line. Next time I'll let the crowd pull me that last little bit!

Sort of stretched and ate a banana. Was so excited to finish my first tri that I didn't really do anything! Hugged my wife. Hard. That was all the warm down i needed!


Not knowing what the next segment was going to feel like. I was so bummed by the swim, that I thought the other two events were going to be just as poor. But, as soon as one was over I forgot about it and just focused on what I had to do this moment to the next. During the run when I was getting tired I just thought of Team Hoyt and what they go through, and that was enough. I'll get more bike miles in and more running miles before the next one. I'll swim less, but it will be open water.


Would do it again next year. Wish the swim starter had his own sound system instead of a megaphone. He kept turning and looking at the water while he was talking, so much of the announcements were missed. Was hard to understand as well. But, overall I don't have much to compare it to, so since it was a milestone for me I'll give it a hearty 'fins up'!