Kansas City Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic

The swim sucked, plain and simple. I ended up doing about as well as I wanted as far as timing goes, but I was really pushing the last 800m. There entire time I had someone right on my ass, constantly pulling my legs under from the surface. I felt like I was all alone, and didn't get to draft much.

Swim navigation was a huge issue. After the 'out' to the farthest buoy, we turned north and head 'across' the course, before heading back to shore (west). One of the middle buoys must have drifted closer to shore, and everyone headed there. When we got there (not before!!!), a lifeguard was yelling to head to a random buoy further East (away from shore). My guess is the miscommunication by race officials to explain the course caused us to swim an extra 100-200m. I understand the importance of knowing the course, but the RD needs to let athletes know if something is out of line.



Sight, work on navigation? I still need to figure out a way to keep my goggles from fogging! I've tried just about everything, and nothing seems to work!

No complaints here. Wanted faster than 3:00. Could have been faster if my wetsuit would come off my bony ankles faster, but I'm okay with the time.

Find someone to strip my wetsuit off!

The first loop of the ride went really well. I was watching my HR pretty closely, trying to stay in z3 for most of it, and felt like the course wasn't very crowded. The first loop ave was 20.2mph.

The 2nd go around was a bit different. The sprint athletes were just starting out, and I had a tough time getting around everyone. I saw quite a bit of drafting along some of the flat sections. Towards the end of the ride, I started slowing down to save some for the run.

Overall, despite dropping my chain every time I shifted back into my big ring (3 f! times), I thought the bike went about was well as I could have wanted.

I need a new bike.... Train more?

Nothing to complain about. I wanted closer to 1', but with the large transition area, I don't see how that could have happened.

Run went great. Took about a mile to loosen up my legs, but I felt like my pace wasn't crazy, but maintainable. Negative split the loops by 22 seconds. Thanks to the Missouri Tri guy for laughing at my KU kit. Gave me some motivation to outkick him in the end!

Training has been lacking this spring with injuries. But I still am good with the time. I may have saved a bit more in the tank than I should had, as I had a solid kick the last mile. But I'm training for 70.3, not olys.

Walked a bit, saw Jon in the med tent.... grabbed some food, a beer, and my results. Then headed back to the car and grabbed some food. I'm not one for post race stuff...


Not focusing on my speed in training, but increasing my endurance. I also have been dealing with IT band issues since January, which has hindered my run training. Overall, I'm pleased with the result, and look forward to getting faster this summer.


Overall, I thought this was a good race and I'm glad that this was my first olympic distance race (especially with a London Olympian racing!). What I'm most disappointed in was the lack of communication from race organizers. There was little to no info at packet pickups, nothing in the packets, all the athlete briefings were cancelled AT THE BRIEFINGS, and poor race day information about the swim course (unless I missed it). I would expect more from a WTC-branded race (5150), but I will be back in the future. It's the biggest race in KC, and I still had a great time.