Topeka Tinman Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

The first of three waves was 39 and under men. The way the course was set-up was that you had to swim about 20 feet straight before making a right hand turn. So it was fairly intense for the first hundred yards as everyone was trying to get to the buoy and make the turn at the same time, and then trying to get some separation from the pack. I did this fairly well but as a result of my effort my heart rate and breathing were very high. I then spent the majority of the swim trying to calm myself down.

No one to draft off of as there were about four guys who ended up finishing about a minute ahead of me, but instead I had three others drafting off my own feet. I exited the water, saw my family cheering me on (my parents first triathlon experience) as I made my way up the hill and around to the far side of the transition while gasping for air.

Dropped my goggles on the run to transition (they fell out of my wetsuit sleeve), so I had to turn around for that. Gear change was fairly quick, but once it was time to mount my bike I couldn't for the life of me get my shoes to clip in.

15/177
1/25

Maybe I need to go back to leaving my shoes clipped in prior to racing.

I spent the first 5 miles playing around with my Garmin. I could not get it to record speed and distance (I wasn't paying attention to the HR or cadence readings), so I kept fudging around with that before completely giving up and focusing on my race instead.

It was fairly quiet once you were on the long course side of things. I think I had three people pass me on the bike and then I didn't see anyone else. Also, my bike racing mojo wasn't firing on all cylinders today. I was going hard but my pace felt very pedestrian. In hindsight I likely could've pushed the envelope a little harder on the bike.

Good transition all around, the only thing that kept it from being great was that I took off prematurely without my Garmin (hopefully it works on the run) and had to double back a few steps to retrieve it from my bike.

22/177
3/25

When I entered T2 I noticed Patrick (Jayhox) was right behind me. I started the run just before him, so I expected to see him at some point on the run. About a half mile in I saw my family standing on the side of the rode cheering. This was awesome. I almost always come to races alone so it was nice to see them. Plus, who can't get excited for my four-year old daughter and my three-year old niece cheering their heads off and going crazy for you. I stopped and high-fived them, as well as my bewildered one-year old son, before starting my journey around the lake.

The temps weren't too bad, cooler than the year before, so I figured to have an improved time. I saw some of the leaders starting the run when I was coming in on my bike, but they were no where in sight now. I very slowly reeled in and passed one guy, but it took me 3 or 4 miles to do it. I stopped and walked most of the aid stations purely for a short opportunity to cool off. I was sipping water, but primarily pouring it over my skin and to cool me down. Unfortunately, the water was luke warm and all I ended up with was squishy, wet shoes. Each time I stopped I was expecting Patrick to run by me, but he was never able to. We pretty much kept the same distance on each other for the entire run course.

It was a very quiet run. The only other runner I saw was Kevin Wait, and that was as he was passing me at around mile 5. After he passed me I eventually came to a climb around the south end of the lake/golf course. My heart rate had been steadily climbing from the high 160s to now the low 180s and I could feel my heart beating through my skull, so decided to walk up the second half of the hill. The walk helped, as did the last aid station, and I was able to tough out the last 1.5 miles to the finish. My screaming cheering section provided me a nice little push at the finish.

Pace wise I am a little slower than I would want, but the course is a little challenging with its short hill climbs so I'm OK with it. If I could get under 7min pace I would be very happy.

Talked with my family before sending them and the cranky kids home. Normal social chatter with some of the other racers.

Cleaned up transition, waited for results to become final, and then waited in line to pick it up.


For whatever reason I wasn't completely fired up mentally to give 100% effort today. I raced hard and had a good time but I probably picked up a couple of extra minutes of time due to my lack of competitive sharpness.


Very unimpressed this year. Having no announcer makes a huge difference, especially from an event-energy perspective. Plenty of volunteers, and everyone I came across did a great job. They were coordinated appropriately. No awards ceremony, just stood in line to pick it up. Just pizza for food.

The race production basics were there, but I feel like this race go the C/D level treatment from Silverback/Ultramax crew (not sure who the "blame" would fall on). I've had a much better experience with this race the previous times I've races it.