Ironman Kansas 70.3 - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I lined up first. There was no one there with a better spot than me, and that's how I wanted it. I was racing. Although I've always thought of swimming as my weakest link, I wanted to swim like an expert today. As soon as the gun went off, I sprinted in the water and swam as hard as I could for the first 200-500 yards. I tried to find feet to draft off of, but there wasn't anyone in front of me. Before we even got to the first buoy, I was passing people from the previous wave. I felt awesome.

For the entire swim, I couldn't find a single silver cap, but instead, just kept coming up on the previous waves. I sighted perfectly, and rounded the buoys as close as I could. This was by far my best swim ever.

Although I didn't know it at the time, I was 3rd out in my AG, and even beat 3 of the pro women on this swim. Holy crap!!

Nothing

There was a long run from the swim to T1, which was included in the swim time, so that's why the times are a bit slower. However, this transition is my fastest ever. When I got to my bike and looked around, I couldn't believe how many bikes were still on the racks. No way I was that fast in the water! I even passed 2 girls running to the racks, and 2 others leaving T1.

Go even faster! Not get my wetsuit stuck on my heels.

The plan was to stay in Z3 for most of the ride, but my HR was at 180 off the swim. It took a lot of effort to hold back for the beginning of the ride, but it was worth it. The course was shaped like a giant cross, with 'rolling' hills. Whoever said Kansas was flat is on crack. There wasn't a single section of this course that had flat on it- you were either climbing or descending. Total elevation was something like 2800 feet.

I loved it. I love hills, and I love a challenge. This course had both. The hills were unrelenting and there was always some type of wind- headwind, tailwind or crosswind. Although I was holding back on the bike, I still started passing people right off the bat. Within the first 15 miles I had passed about 5-10 girls, but all of them were either older or younger. Eventually, I was only riding around guys. I would pass a whole bunch of P3 disc wheel riders on the uphills, and they would zoom by on the downside. It was fun!

Each arm of the course had an out and back section, so you could see who was in front of you. Each time, I was on the look-out for women, but I couldn't find any! I thought that they were just way far ahead of me or something. I had no idea that I was one of the top women, overall.

The whole ride I was very conscious of my eating and drinking amount, because Jorge drilled it into my head that on a hot day I needed to stay on top of my nutrition. I did. I was never hungry or thirsty on the bike. I also stayed aero almost the whole time, kept my cadence high on the hills, and didn't push myself outside of my zones. Towards the end of the ride, a girl in my AG finally caught me going downhill. We yo-yoed a few times, but she didn't look like a runner, so I let her go.

Did I mention how hilly the course was? It was ridiculous...just so ya know.

I wish I had more bike fitness so I could've pushed it harder out there, but I have 2 more HIMs this year, so this wasn't even really my 'A' race. I rode exactly within my means, and saved my legs for the run.

This is my fastest T2! I've never practiced a flying dismount, but at the last minute, I decided to try it. Perfect! I even passed a few people coming into T2.

Just get better at this.

My legs had felt great on the bike, and I thought I had saved enough in them to pull off a 1:35 half-mary. As soon as I started running, though, I could feel the pain creeping in. They hurt and they wanted to cramp, but I wasn't going to let that happen. The girl that passed me on the bike was only a little bit ahead of me, so I took off, trying to catch her. When we got to one of the first loops, I saw that she had gained a lot of distance on me, and I just knew I couldn't catch her. She was flying. I also didn't see any other girls in my AG around, so I stayed at a more comfortable pace.

It was a really hot, humid run. The road surface was all gravel, which made it a bit trickier to run on. The course took us through the campground and there were a decent number of spectators out there cheering us on. I passed a fair number of guys out there, and only 1 girl passed me, but there weren't any other girls that I could catch. I still didn't realize that I was so far ahead. The 2 girls ahead of me were the only 2 non-pro women out there!

Overall, I was pretty miserable out there. I wanted to be running faster, but my legs just weren't budging. It took a lot of mental effort to stay in the game. I kept telling myself that I was racing for a bike, and I had to keep it up. No more racing to just finish, I'm racing for real. The course also had a few more hills than expected, but it wasn't too bad. I just wanted to be done. And then finally, I was! God, what an awesome feeling! Now that it's over, I realized my run was pretty good. I beat 3 pro women on the run, so apparently I did something right!

I skipped a few runs in training, which I will never do again :)

Got a massage, then saw the black clouds roll in, so I scurried over to transition and got my stuff. It rained for a bit, so they canceled the rest of the race and the awards ceremony, which pissed a lot of people off. I was eager to know if I had won the bike, but they didn't have any info, so they said they'd e-mail me. Grrr... The race was run smoothly up until that point, but they kinda blew it at the end.

The best part of the weekend was making friends with BTers, especially mutri, amyjotris, and firstnet, who let me hang out with them all weekend. We had a blast!!

Now that the results are posted, I'm listed as winning the collegiate division! I got 2nd in my AG, 3rd overall amateur woman, and 10th OA woman. I even beat 1 pro woman! This course was really tough, so although it's not my fastest time, it was my best race by far.

Thank you Jorge for being such an awesome coach! My training and racing plan produced great results :)


Not much! I just need more time on my bike, which starts now :)


The race was run really well. The course is extremely challenging, but very rewarding. The town was supportive and accommodating, even if they thought we were all nuts. Camping was the best idea ever! If you do this race, you cannot practice on hills and wind enough.