KC Tri 5150 (Page 9)

So that's what happened on the back stretch of the swim, the old floating turn bouy trick, I was in last olympic wave, got to the green bouy and heard lifeguards yelling, pointing and splashing further out toward the orange bouy, dang! Swam well except for the extra yards, got rewarded with a big hamstring cramp when I stood up at the end of the swim, rode first lap very conservatively, spent the second lap dodging traffic, ran well, and finished 8.07 seconds behind my goal. 

Swim: 27:00

T1: 2:03

Bike: 1:08:23

T2: 1:14

Run: 41:30

Final 2:20:08.07

10th in age group, Hy-Vee qualification.  At least I can count on getting faster when I age up to 40-44 next year, my time was only good for 17th there.

Holiday Inn Downtown.  They have a HyVee Triathlon group rate at $89.00 per night.  Driving up Friday evening with the family and driving back Sunday evening after the race.

I suppose it's finally time for me to quit lurking and make a post.

First off, I wanted to thank everyone on this board for the info over the last couple of weeks.  This has been my "go-to" spot if I had a question...much better info than the official website or Facebook page

OK, so here are my thoughts on the race:

Pros:

• I thought the course ended up being great.  I think I got caught up in the "meandering buoy" issue, and the swim course seemed more difficult to navigate than it should have been (especially given the calm water), but otherwise A+ on the course.  I thought the bike offered a good mix of some moderate challenges, as well as some flats to allow you to hammer or take a little break.  The run was flat and super fast.  I set a 10k PR at the back end of my 2nd Oly, so I'm pretty pumped.  Volunteers were great, "on-land" courses were well marked, aid stations were fully stocked.
• I felt very safe throughout the race.  It seemed like there was an above-average number of lifeguards, which makes a thrasher like me relax a little easier in the water.  The second lap of the bike got a little crowded in spots, but I only had one "close call".  It would be nice if the couple of climbs (on Raytown Rd after the U-turn and the bigger hill on Scherer) could have had the full 2 lanes, instead of the descents.  The run was far more spaced out than I was expecting.  Since I'm a God-awful swimmer/below average biker/pretty good runner, I usually pick a ton of people off on the run and I was able to weave through traffic very easily.
• I won one of the wetsuits from Elite Cycling 

Cons:

• T-shirt debacle.  This has been covered on Facebook and on here, so I won't go too far into it.  I'll just say I was disappointed
• VIP "Experience".  I decided to spring for the VIP this year, after passing on it the last couple of years.  I feel a little mislead about what I was getting for my money. 
• Unless I missed it, there was no "swag" except for a transition towel.  I've heard stories about free shoes, etc in the past and they posted several items on their Facebook page about "gifts from sponsors"
• The line for the VIP tent toilet took pretty much as long as the other lines seemed to be taking.
• The "signed copy" of Chrissie's book was a copy of the book, with a loose sticker inside that had Chrissie's signature on it.  Maybe I'm being overly difficult, but this peeved me for some reason.

I was wondering about the VIP potty situation (the things that go through my mind when you have an hour between transition closing and your wave start. I'm not sure but I think transition closed at 7:00). I concluded that while that's a cool perk to advertise, the ratio of people to potty would be pretty much the same, no?

I timed my potty wait time in the commoner line, it was 10 minutes. Not bad?

I still can't believe the perfect weather. We really lucked out.

I didn't time my wait, but I'm certain it was over 10 minutes.  Granted, I waited until the worst possible time to go (right after the much-heralded 7:00 transition closing).

I suppose it's not really a big deal.  I had time to go, and was at the beach over a half hour before my wave.  I just feel a little silly that the "reserved" toilets were one of the things that swayed me to get the VIP, only to find out the ratio of people to toilets was about the same.

When I signed up the VIP package was only $10.  To me the parking alone was worth the $10.  Then they threw in Chrissie's book which I was planning on buying anyhow.  Admittedly I was hoping for more SWAG in the BAG as they talked up the VIP experience a little.  I guess when the T-shirts thing didn't pan out they just threw in the towel

I'm happy with the good parking and book, well worth the $10 extra.  If it's only $10 extra next year, I'm in!

But hey, we got to see Chris Lieto compete in person, right?  Right???

I am in complete agreement that the parking was worth $10.  Unfortunately I paid considerably more than that.  Ha.

Only $10?  I paid for VIP two years ago and it was $75.  But, we got parking, handicap sized port a potties, much larger tent, access to massages, our own food, bike mechanic to clean your bike, $100 worth of shoes from Gary Gribbles, sunglasses, socks... and they even gave me wife a goodie bag since not enough people came.

But then there was the incident at Gary Gribbles where people with $50 gift cards had them marked up for $100 by the RD.  Maybe that's why they don't do that anymore?

I was standing in the VIP tent when I heard the announcer give the 5 minute warning and say "Everyone has goggles and swim caps, right?"  I looked around, sighed, and then ran barefoot all the way around (I was probably 50' from my transition stall, but as far from the entries as possble).

My freaking feet still hurt today.  And yes, I know the line about starting the timing mats is BS, but I wasn't in the mood to be made an example of

Check this out:

- I pulled off another DFL. (At least I wasn't on the verge of heatstroke like at Mayhem last year...)

- Longest a triathlon has ever taken me.

- And I still qualified for the Championship!

I kinda hope I won't be able to attend Hy-Vee since I'm hoping to land a new job soon, but I now have a really good motivation to kick the training back up.

Oh, my swim lines came out really nice too!