Ironman Kansas 68.3 - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

This was my worst OWS ever.

In previous races, I have had a little bumping and jostling near the start, but nothing significant. Today, I got the full washing machine effect. I was punched, grabbed and head butted numerous times, and kicked in the face hard twice. The first time, it dislodged my goggles and I had to flip over on my back and drain them out. Usually, things clear out some after the first 200 meters or so. Not today, it was full contact swimming until the final turn for home. They started the waves only 3 minutes apart, not the 5-8 minutes stated in the athlete guide. By the mid point in the race, I saw caps of every color around me.

There was just enough wind to create a little chop, which was just enough to effect my breathing. I got a mouth full of water about one out of every 10 strokes. The chop was also just enough that it make navigating much more difficult. I really had to lift my head up high out of the water to see the next buoy which threw my rythmn off. There must of been plenty of others having navigation problems, becuase several times someone crashed into to me head first at almost a 90 degree angle.

The water was very brown. I have never been very good at drafting, but today I was unable to see well enough to follow anyone.

With the full contact swimming, horrible navigation, and drinking all the lake water, I was just never able to get into a good rythmn. I had conservatively estimated a swim time of 38 minutes. With all the problems, I expected a slow time, but I was still shocked to see 45 minutes on my watch. The official time includes 2+ minutes of running to transition.

The only successful part of this swim was that I stayed calm and kept swimming and didn't use up too much energy.


Maybe I need more OWS practice. I have never had a problem before but this was the choppiest water I have swam in

After a long slow swim in choppy water, I was a bit disoriented, so I just tried to keep moving at a steady pace. I had stopped just out of the water to take the wetsuit off which resulted in my hands and feet being covered in sand. I had to take time to wipe it all off and to put on sunscreen.

Wait until I hit the grass to take the wetsuit off.

I rode 2 legs of the bike course on the Friday before the race and drove the other 2 legs, so I knew what I was in for. The course was just relentless. The course was one big roller after another for 56 miles.

I spent the first couple of miles trying to get my HR down and trying to shake the swim induced mental fog I was in. After a couple of miles I settled in pretty good.

I am normally a fairly strong hill climber and I typically pass a lot of people on the hills. Today, I made a real effort to take it easy on the hills on the early part of the course and everyone was passing me. I would see lots of these people again on the last leg of the course. I just kept telling myself to be patient and stick to my plan of keeping my HR at no more than 140 on the bike. I was feeling pretty good early on.

As we started the second leg of the bike course, you could really begin to feel the wind. As we continued to hit hill and hill, it became harder and harder to keep my HR down in the zone I wanted. I was still feeling good but I was working harder than I wanted too. Finally, once we hit the turnaround, we got some benefit from the wind, and I flew back to the Iron Cross.

When we made the turn to the final outbound leg, we hit the full force of the wind. This was where I started to lose patience. I was still feeling pretty good, and I was just tired of slowly spinning up the hills. I knew I would pay for it later, but I started getting out of the saddle and attacking the hills. After one final hill, I could see the turnaround point. Once I made the turn, with the wind at my back, I had a lot of fun. This was what I had hoped the hills would be like. I hit 40+ mph on the downhills, and my speed would carry me 2/3 of the way up the next hill.

I had expected to average around 18 mph. With a little less wind, I probably would have done so. Overall, I thought the bike course was great. But, I pushed it too hard. My average HR was 144 versus my plan of 140.

Stay patient for 56 miles instead of 35. I upped my sodium intake significantly from my last race, but I think I still need even more

Nothing to report here. I just tried to keep moving.

Nothing

That was hard work from the start, but at least I was running. In my first HIM, I ran most of it, but I spent most of the time running 2-3 minutes slower than my normal LSD run pace. Today I was slower than I wanted to be but I was running the first few miles at near my LSD run pace. Early on my HR was much higher than I wanted it to be, but I decided to just push on and continue at that pace as long as I could. The first few miles were hot and humid. Luckily they were giving out cold sponges and there were several people out with water hoses and one little girl with a super soaker. I knew if I took on all that water, it would end up in my shoes and I would likely end up with blisters, but I figured that blisters beat heat stroke, so every time I saw someone with water I said "Give me everything you got" and they hosed me down. The first 5 miles were at just under 10 minute pace. I was working hard, but doing OK

I had a few mucsle twinges in the first few miles, but right at the 5 mile mark, my right hamstring decided it had had enough and went into a full on spasm. I tried to stretch it out a little and then tried to walk. At first I couldn't even walk without it spasming, so I figured I might as well try to run. I found if I kept my stide really short I could still run and at almost the same pace I had been running before. I tried to forget the fact that I still had 8 miles to go. I just kept pushing on, counting down the miles. My paced had slowed a bit over the next 6 miles, but I was still running.

I was gearing myself up to make a final push over the last 2 miles when I saw that they had blocked off the rest of the course and they directed me toward the finish line. I briefly considered trying to push beyond the volunteers and try to continue running, but with my wife and kids right there, causing a scene just seemed downright stupid.

Nothing to do differnet on the run. I pushed the bike too hard and that made the run difficult.

None, it was raining. I just packed up and headed back towards town. By the time I got back to my car, the sun had come back out.


A really slow swim, a tough bike course and pushing too hard the last 1/3 of the bike course made the run difficult


For a first time event, it was run reasonably well. I would give it about a B. But this was an Ironman branded event, with the high price tag that goes with it, and for that, I expected the organization to be flawless, and it was far from flawless.