Overall, this was a very disappointing swim. Once again, I panicked a bit. My goggles leaked early and I could not get my breathing right. I was not comfortable at all. This swim was far worse than Ironman NOLA 70.3 on a month before. I wish I could explain it, but I seem to struggle with this part.

I need to see a psychologist or something to get my mind right before the swim. The water temp played no part in my struggle. I swim 1:30/100 in the pool, and expected to be about 1:42 today. But I was no where close. I just need to continue working on putting myself in uncomfortable circumstance in my swim training.

I had a really rough time in transition. I'm almost embarrassed to say, but the ground was very rough. Yes...it hurt my feet. And I didn't like it. In fact, by the time I got to my bike and was looking at the bike exit, I was contemplating putting on my shoes and running in them so my feet wouldn't take any more damage.

I also have place arm warmers rolled up like donuts on my areo bars so I could put them on while riding. This turned out to be unnecessary and they were an annoyance while riding.

Other than these two issues, my transition was just SLOW. I took a little longer than normal to relax and to get my barings. I have had some pretty quick transitions, so this actually took me by surprise.

My T1 was only 1 minute quicker than NOLA 70.3, and the 70.3 was a much farther distance from the swim exit to transition and needed additional time for sunscreen, fueling, etc.

In the future, I will assess the ground to determine if barefoot is the best approach. Given my spot in transition, I'm not sure if I would have been faster to the bike exit with shoes on, than I was while hobbling.

I had a decent bike. I really thought I would average closer to 21mph, but overall I can't complain too much. It's always easy, after the fact, to say "you know, I could /should have gone harder"...but in the moment I felt my effort was good. There's still a mental aspect to this sport that I have not yet conquered.

I think I could have pushed the pace a little more.

T2 was much better than T1. My feet weren't screaming nearly as badly because they were warmer and dry.

My shoes went on cleanly and I was out ok. Not as quick as I've done in the past, but considering I didn't practice T1 at all, I'm not going to complain.

Not much

The first 1.5 miles of the run were bad. This is the point where I start feeling sorry for myself. As the parade of adequate runners goes by me, I begin to sulk and tell myself how terrible of a runner/triathlete I am. I wish that I would finally focus on dropping some extra weight which will undoubtedly help my run time. I wish that I had started running years and years before (instead of 2012) and I had an aerobic engine built.

All these things go through my mind but I just keep plugging along. As people pass me, I start to entertain myself by accusing them of being a) a Pro or b) a doper. (Relax folks, it's a joke).

At around mile 2.5 Jon from BT came behind me. I had introduced myself before the swim and as he passed he said something to me. I don't recall what it was, but instinctively I immediately called him a doper. I'm not sure if he heard me so he slowed down a bit and we chatted. As he slowed his pace a bit, I sped up a bit to chat. After a minute or two he went on his way. That was actually very helpful because the rest of run was much better. In hindsight, my run time turned out to be a personal best (actually, it's tied with my dubiously timed 2012 Nations tri run, which I've always doubted).

So, who can complain about a PR? Me, of course. The course was not grueling at all, the weather was perfect blah blah blah.

Run faster. Not be so fat.

Honestly, I'm not sure I could have done anything on race day to improve.

As I finished, I was eager to see Jamie and hear how her race went. I saw her twice on the bike course and once on the run course, but was never close enough to speak to her.

After the race, I cooled down with some water and then we took some photos and enjoyed some freebies.


Overall, I loved the race. I'm entering my 3rd season of triathlon and it's amazing that this is actually my first local race. We've typically travelled as a family for races in the past. It was nice to sleep in my own bed and to be so close. I wanted to love the Kansas City Tri as it is the flagship "hometown" race and I really feel they did a great job of trying to make it a bigger event. Nice freebies, good race support, perfect weather, well marked bike course, etc. I thought things went well. Sure, the ground in transition was rough...but that's a minor quibble. I will definitely do this race again. I'm also happy that the power struggle between the 5150 series and KC tri seems to be dead. Last year, both races were scheduled for the same day and I think everyone lost. I hope to see both events thrive.