Topeka Tinman Triathlon - Short Course - Triathlon

I was lined up front and center, ready to go. Typically, there are a handful of high school swimmers in this wave, and I wanted to see if I could hang on someone's feet for a bit.

At the gun, I took off hard. I was really flying. I never once was touched, I could tell no one was on my feet and I was in the lead. at the first turn, I grabbed a quick glance and couldn't see anyone within 75 yards of me. I kept up my rhythm and pace, and tried not to slow down. I felt like I maintained a quick and strong stroke throughout the whole swim, although that shouldn't be an issue with it only being 400 meters.

Soon enough, I was at the beach and running up the exit with no one near me. As I looked back, the second place swimmer had just turned to head back to shore, maybe 150 yards away.

I made only one small navigation error on the way in, got too far to the right. It may have only cost me a few seconds. I could have also worn my wetsuit, but I assumed it wasn't wetsuit legal. There was no announcement....

Swim was likely long, as this pace was slower than IMKS a few weeks ago... I think I went harder than that.

3rd OA, 1st in AG

No issues with the run. Found my rack quickly and got out.

The issues started as I tried to mount my bike. I missed my R shoe, but somehow broke the rubber band and my shoe was flipped over, dragging on the ground. I had to stop and hop off, run a bit, and try again. Pretty embarrassing, but I had a huge lead and I tried not to let it bother me.

I think trying to mount on a turn caused me to miss my shoe. I should have ran an extra 10 feet and not worried about it.

After the mounting issues, it took me forever to find a groove. I never felt like I was hammering till I was heading back on Paulen road.

I was the first racer on the course, and it showed. I was stopped twice on the bike by police officers blocking the intersections. Complete stop, unclip, foot on the ground, waiting for cars to pass. TWICE. Apparently the cops didn't know the race started....

This also likely affected my ride, that and the fact NO ONE was around. I never saw another racer till I was heading back on Paulen. This is great because I had a lead, but I am also the type of person that feeds off of other competitors. That's why racing is a hell of a lot more fun than just hard workouts. I definitely like being the wolf, not the rabbit.

Eventually I was back at T2, disappointed in the ride, but ready to run.

try not to let things out of my control affect my race. In the end, I don't think it really affected my overall placement, but who knows...

Due to the debacle at T1, I chose to stop my bike completely as I got off... usually I do a rolling hop of the bike. But luck wasn't on my side today....

Racked my bike, shoes on, good bye. I ran to the run exit, only to have the volunteers tell me it was at the bike exit. They were wrong and realized it, yelling for me to come back. Again, pissed, but likely didn't affect my overall placement and only cost me 10 seconds.

run harder

Again, I knew I had a fairly substantial lead, as I never saw anyone come in behind me at transition and I hadn't seen anyone come in while running. I just got a nice cadence and went. I froze a simple hydration bottle last night and stuck that above my a$$, thinking I'd have trouble keeping cool. This was perfect, and something I may continue to do in the future. I struggle in the heat...

I got to the turn, checked my watch, and started trying to see what my lead was. The next person I saw was HSmith, the 16yo girl crushing the race. She was 30 seconds back, although starting 3 minutes behind me. My goal was to stay ahead of her, which I did. The first person I saw from my wave was around 1.25 miles left in the race. I knew I had the win, which kinda sucked. I pushed hard to the finish, but it just felt like a harder workout, not a race....

I crossed the finish line first, which was pretty cool. Didn't get the OA win, but it was kinda neat to finish first. But no finish line tape... that would have been awesome.

Obviously run harder. I think I could have, but I was really content with my pace and happy with the split. It was about 3 minutes faster than last year.

Nada, found my parents. My mom was ecstatic, especially about me blowing away everyone on the swim. She really couldn't believe it. I told her all the talent was doing LC (absolutely true for my AG).

Finished almost 3 minutes faster than last year, which is great.


I hate to say this, but lack of competition. I had a 2 minute lead leaving T1, and built that to 5 minutes by the end of the bike. I had fun, but love being pushed by other athletes.

Also the issues with the police on the bike really affected my ability to get into a groove. I couldn't control it, and again I doubt it affected my overall placement, but it did stick in my mind and I did start moping...


Silverback did fine (although there were bikers on the bike course WITHOUT HELMETS which should not happen...), and the whole debacle with the police. I'm sure that happens more often than I think.

This race just missed something this year. Very ho hum, start the race, finish the race, had a piece of pizza, grabbed an award and left. No announcers, no hype at all. If this was my first triathlon, I'd be very turned off. Hope they address it next year...