Shawnee Mission Triathlon - Short Course - TriathlonShort Course

Made my way up to the front knowing I would be top 10 in this group and didn't want to swim around people etc. Horn went off and away we went. The first 100m I had a guy on either side of me and I couldn't go left or right as I was being hit from both sides. Nothing too terrible just kept my cool and patiently waited for an opening. Eventually both faded after 100m or so and there was some free space in front of me, probably a half dozen to 10 swimmers ahead of me. Navigation was good on this swim, I stayed close to the bouy line, made two good turns and headed towards the swim exit. The sun was shining right into my face on the way in and I pretty much swam into the back to two women swimming side by side. I guess that was my only "fail" for the swim, I quickly corrected my course and finished up my swim. As I came out of the water I glanced at the watch, 8:38, I wasn't to the timing strip yet but I was happy with that time, especially being a non-wetsuit swim.

Look up more frequently to avoid running into people.

Another slow transition for me. The run to my transition spot was pretty long but that whole time I neglexted to take off my swim cap and goggles. When I came out of the water I just flipped the goggles above my eyes. So as I stand there in front of my bike I then take off the cap and goggles, doh! What did I do it that way? I had never done that before.

Need I saw more?

Clipping in was fine, this is a multi-loop course so you have to merge into traffic coming out of transition. Luckily at that moment there were not a lot of riders so it was easy to get up to speed. The "dam hill" is less than one mile into the ride so there's not much time to get your bike legs on. I only know how to go up the dam hill one way......out of the saddle. The grade of this short hill peaks at around 13% then when you crest the steepest part, the climb continues for another half mile before the descent. Then you get to rest the legs during the descent which lasts about 30 seconds before the next small climb. After repeating this hill/descent business three or four times you finally get some flats to go aero on which lasts just under a mile before you get, you guessed it, another climb.

On a couple of occasions I had to yell "on your left", usually wne there were three riders abreast in front of me. On one occasion a gal was far left and I was coming up fast so I yelled "on your RIGHT", she then starting moving to the right, I then said, "YOUR right", she then held her line as I went by. I speak loudly and always say THANK YOU as I go by. It's all about communication out there and having what is referred to as a "command voice".

Since this ride is only 9 miles long it's pretty much go all out the whole way, regardless of the hills involved.

The real talent was doing the long course. As I came up on transition on my first lap, three guys whizz by me on TT bikes and head left into the bike entrance lane.

My second lap was very much like my first, but hurt more. I took in some hydration on one of the mild climbs. As I came into the bike entrance towards T2, there's a single file lane for at least 50 yards before dismount. I know you need to slow down here but this is a RACE. So I get behind three of the slowest riders I had seen all day. As we got to the dismount line, after the cones, one of the riders notices that I'm actually in a hurry and moves to the side. Love the athletes aware of their surroundings. Another "thank you" is dropped by the peanut butter man :)

I think I executed this ride to the best of my ability. I'm still far from 100% but maybe 85-90 now.

I had a pretty long run to my bike rack. Had no problem racking the bike, getting shoes off was O.K. I wore my Zoot race shoes which are just slip-ons so that went fine also. Grabbed my visor and race belt and took off. I think the fastest T2 time was 33 seconds but I would say 80% of them were over one minute.

What would help shave a little time is the ability to get my feet out of my shoes before dismounting the bike. I'll run with the bike quicker and get the run shoes on quicker as well.

There's a water station coming right out of transition so I took a cup of water, drank half, poured the rest on my head. By this time it was close to 90 degrees, humidity at around 60%.

There's nothing fun about running up that dam hill after hammering hills on the bike. That 13% grade results in a lot of walking going up. There was no way I was walking a single step of this race.

After the dam hill you loop around a small parking area where there's a water station. Again, I drink half, pour the other half on my head. I was holding a solid pace at that point and just before hitting the downhill section I was passed by a guy in my age group. There was no way I was going to chase him. The downhill section is a m/u trail with trees on both sides so it's a chance to recover from the hill a little and stay cool. But I saw it as an opportunity to pick up the pace and get moving!

The last water station is about 3/4 mile from the finish. I passed on the water and ran up that hill as fast as I could. I passed a few guys a few hundred yards from the finish. Was also passed by a guy doing the long course who facilitated my last swim clinic!

Crossed the line, saw Patrick & his family in the refueling area ahead. Got my finishers medal, girl took my timing chip, made my way to the cooler for my favorite recovery food, CHOCOLATE MILK! Ahhh



Nothing really. What limited me was lack of training. I can run much faster, even after that hilly bike ride, when I'm at 100%.

Walked around, talked to Patrick and his family, Mark, a few other friends that did the race.

When I checked the results I was quite pleased seeing I had placed 9th overall. Out of the top 9, FOUR of us were in the 45-49 Age group! Since Super Speed Sandy Cohen was the overall winner (47 years old), I was able to sneak in a 3rd place Age Group award. The other two in our AG were 6th and 7th overall. This was my first award (hardware wise) for a Tri event. It's nice to get some hardware everyone now and then.


Lack of training due to injury.


Shawnee Mission Parks & Rec puts on a great race. Wish they could do more. I like the numbered bike racks, the course is well marked and there were plenty of volunteers. Having the mobile TACO BELL truck there was a nice touch. With the Taco Bell truck there they could have dropped the pizza. Not sure how well the pizza went but they had Chocolate Milk, yogurt, fruit, water, sodas etc. so kudos to a complete refueling arrangement.