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 Swim
Comments: I started on the outside and slowly but surely moved toward the inside buoy's that we were supposed to keep on our left. I wasn't overly nervous and maintained a good turnover and never felt tired or out of breath during the swim. I did do some zigging and zagging and in fact ran into a kayak at one point. Their seemed to be quite a few people in the water, but I never felt like it was crowded even though I started in one of the last waves. Overall it was a solid swim and I must have been quiet b/c none of my friends and family saw me exit the water. What would you do differently?: Navigate a bit better and learn to draft. I still haven't picked up that skill.  Transition 1
Comments: Not a bad transition, but it was a bit cramped. I was also disappointed that they didn't have wetsuit strippers. It makes life easier.  Bike
Comments: Their was much hype about the dreaded hills on this course. I was hoping to drive the course on Saturday, but a series of events on Saturday made that a bad idea. I started out feeling good. One of my training partners, Johnny came along side me in the first few miles and I decided to just hang out behind him and keep a smooth pace. I saw Chrissie Wellington go zooming in the opposite direction at about mile 10. That woman is amazing and a great ambassador for the sport! There were times on the bike when I felt like I was in an alternate universe. I missed picking up a water bottle at the second aid station which caused a bit of a problem later b/c I was almost empty when I came into that station. I was able to get another water bottle at aid station #3 but it threw me off my plan a bit. I tried to catch up on water after station #3, but the last 10 miles of the bike were difficult. I didn't have problems with fatigue on the bike while in training and I was going faster. I think it was playing on my mind a bit that I missed the water. I had about 6 salt tabs, half a bottle of gatorade endurance, and two power bars while on the bike. My nutrition was pretty good, but I feel like I could have drank a bit more gatorade. Overall it was a decent bike for my first HIM. The hills were fairly constant, but not too bad What would you do differently?: Not forget water bottles when setting up T1. Drink a bit more Gatorade. Do a few more long distance training rides and really focus on staying aero during training. I also need a new pair of cycling shoes. The arch on my right shoe was too high and it caused pain during the last 10 miles and the first few miles of the run. Transition 2
Comments: It was great to see and hear my family and friends. A bit tired from the bike so I took my time and didn't do a flying dismount. Another training partner Archie came in as I was getting ready to leave transition. It was good to see him. What would you do differently?: Bring a visor instead of a hat.  Run
Comments: I definitely didn't feel like running when I was coming into transition, but once on the course I was feeling pretty good. I was about 6 minutes behind Johnny and thought I might be able to catch him so I would have some company on the run. Luckily I had company, but not from Johnny. He was too fast for me this day. The first couple miles were uneventful. However on the way up the hill the first time I followed a pro woman that was on her second lap. When I made it to the top of the hill my right quad cramped, and I stopped for a few seconds to massage it. I took two more salt tabs and started running slowly. At this point I stopped thinking about trying to be fast and started focusing on finishing. I planned on walking every aid station, but not for as long as I did each time. I think it's good to look forward to aid stations, but I focused on them a bit too much. I didn't want to leave them. It was great to see family multiple times on the run course. I'm so thankful for their support. Somewhere around mile 11 I felt Archie tap me on the back and say "come on man let's go". We stayed together for the rest of the run. There were times when he was pulling me along other times when I returned the favor. We crossed the finish line together, which was fantastic since he is my friend, co-worker, and the first training partner I had when I moved to Texas. My best stand alone Half Marathon was 1:30 so I was a bit disappointed with this time. I was hoping for something closer to 1:40. We will see what happens next time. It's not horrible for my first HIM run. What would you do differently?: Not walk as long at the aid stations,and maybe only walk aid stations when I feel like I need it. Keep a more positive outlook even after cramping. A bit more long, slow mileage in training wouldn't hurt. Post race
Warm down: Gave my wife a big hug and congratulated Johnny on a great race. Headed to the Med tent area for an ice bath. It felt amazing. Since we were at a campsite we couldn't leave the race so we grabbed a picnic table, put it under a tree and relaxed as people finished. We were more than ready to go by 4 pm when we left. I realized that if I were doing an IM I would still be on the course, which caused me to shudder a bit. Do I really want to sign up for IM CDA? What limited your ability to perform faster: I don't think I smiled enough, which sounds a bit cheesy. However, I think it's true. Focus is a good thing, but it was a long day and I could have had fun more often while I was racing. This was also my first HIM and like most people it takes me a bit to adapt to longer distances. I'll be better next time. Event comments: I only have two complaints. 1.The transition areas were too cramped, especially the entrance to the bike finish. I think that was unsafe and the cause of multiple acciddents. 2. It made it too crowded to start the M35-39 and M30-34 AG's at the end. Since these are generally two of the fastest AG's. I think it was less safe to do it this way. More passing in the water and on the bike means more potential for problems. Last updated: 2009-03-24 12:00 AM
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United States
Overall Rank = 348/1450
Age Group = M 35-39
Age Group Rank = 65/
First time traveling more than a couple of hours to a race, and first HIM so I didn't really have a routine. I drove to Kansas from Dallas/Fort Worth in a caravan with my family and a couple of training partners and their families. My wife, who is awesome, did all of the driving. Arrived in Lawrence, checked into the Hampton Inn and drove to my friends restaurant in Leawood for some Pasta. I caught up with my old locker partner from High School.(side note: My wife who went to a private Catholic HS didn't have to share a locker. In public schools in Southern IL, you have to share a locker.) He is the owner of Cupini's restaurant, which is obviously where we ate. I recommend it if you haven't been. They have 5 locations in the KC area. Saturday we rode 5 miles, picked up our race packets, and put up a tent at the campsite I reserved so we would have a home base during the weekend. It was nice to have a place for our group to congregate, but we didn't have a single shade tree. Our families showed up around lunch time and wanted to take in all of the festivities. In retrospect I should have gone back to the hotel after registering. I got sunburned and spent more time on my feet than I wanted to the day before the race.
Saturday night was a good night of sleep. Up at 4 am on Sunday, took a shower and ate a bagel with peanut butter and two chocolate chip cookies.
Drove to the race site and was a bit worried about the long line of cars to get into the park. We made it in without too many troubles, but a bit later than I wanted.
Didn't really do anything except run to the transition area. I was a bit late getting to T1 and forgot to bring my water bottles. It was hectic b/c a guy kept screaming about disqualification if you were still in transition when one of the pro's came in. I grabbed an empty gatorade bottle and filled it with water and put it in my aero bottle and put a full bottle of gatorade endurance on my cage. I walked over to my family, put on my wetsuit, gave hugs to all my fam, and headed for the water.